A case study of how wrong social media can go is when a Guardian reporter recently set up a Twitter account in the name of Shippam’s Paste. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/04/shippams-paste-ben-twitter-shippamspaste Purporting to be a new marketing intern, “Ben’s” naïve tweets displayed his company master’s voice telling him what to do rather than listening to and engaging with his audience. Whilst this has, and will continue to become, an iconic case study, it is true of so many brands and companies up and down the country who “do” social media because they’ve been told to (by someone looking to sell a ‘how to’ course), because they perceive it as free (whoever said ‘time is money’) and/or because they (or their kids) want them to be seen as ‘cool’!

Social media in business is no different to any other marketing communication channel in that it has to be used as part of an overall strategy. You wouldn’t put up a 48 sheet poster on the A4 on a whim or take out a double page spread in the Daily Mail so why on earth do you put you and your company’s message out into the world via social media without first going through the marketing fundamentals:

• Who am I?
• What do I / my brand stand for?
• Who do I want to talk to?
• Where can I find them?

If the answer is that the right place for your brand to engage with its audience is via social media (and defining which branch of social media as they do NOT all do the same job) then fine. Set a strategy, walk your walk and talk your talk and you should win through. But if you sell technical products or services to multinational conglomerates across the other side of the world, posting a status update on Facebook might not do it for you!

Engaging in social media takes resource commitment. There’s nothing worse than a brand that puts itself out there and says it wants to engage with people… and then doesn’t. If people don’t like what you do, don’t take the comment down or cover it up (unless it’s defamatory), admit your mistake and show how you resolved the problem. A customer who has a complaint properly dealt with is still likely to continue to be a customer and others will be impressed by your honesty. If someone poses a question it must be answered quickly – within an hour, not a week. When suggestions are offered, don’t just dismiss them out of hand, engage with the person as to what you can and can’t do with the idea, always giving reasons. Remember, whatever you say id there for all to see and will remain accessible for a long time so it needs to always be in keeping with your brand strategy and what you stand for.

I looked up an online dictionary definition of ‘social media’ and it said, “forms of electronic communication (as web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos).” NO IT ISN’T! They are using “sharing” in much the same way as traditional media is about “broadcasting”. The clue is in the name. Social media is …social! You don’t meet a friend and talk at them for five minutes and then walk away not letting them get a word in edgeways (OK, you might all know someone who does – but how does that make you feel on the receiving end?) Most social interaction is about engagement and that is not token engagement but real, genuine, two-way communication.

Social media may well be the right answer for you – but make sure you ask the right questions first. If you need help setting a strategy, give the Marketing Mentor a call.

Read more at:

http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletin/brandrepublicnewsbulletin/article/1042666/location-location-location-new-wave-social-networking/

Well, I have to say, McCall Smith did a great job today. This 62 year old ex professor of medical law denies the unwritten author’s code by being as prolific as Barbara Cartland, writing 1,000 words an hour, and publishing more than one book a year. And today he was certainly master of his own PR machine. Whether nerves, diet or dislike of roast beef, it was McCall Smith who told his publicist that he was going to go without his own lunch and instead tour the restaurant, pressing the flesh of every one of us who had paid to see him. Impressive.

Although Apple will have been disappointed t have been usurped for the number one spot, they do have the comfort that iPhone is number two, iPod number three and Apple itself the number 13^th (lucky for some) coolest brands.

So what does this result say for the new kids on the block? Well, it proves one marketing adage that it’s not the brand name you need to change to reignite your fortunes, but the marketing behind it. Other well established brands in the top 20 include Harley Davidson, Ferrari, Chanel and Dom Perignon – all good vintages. And what do these all have in common to have stood the test of time? Well, they all stand for luxury, sophistication and a certain timelessness; in fact, they’re cool brands!

The brands are chosen by a combination of 2,000 consumers in a survey and by a panel of 35 designers, style magazine editors and website executives. Here’s the top 20 CoolBrands:

1. Aston Martin

2. iPhone

3. iPod

4. BlackBerry

5. Bang & Olufsen

6. Harley-Davidson

7. Nintendo Wii

8. Google

9. Ferrari

10. Dom Perignon

11. BBC iPlayer

12. Vivienne Westwood

13. Apple

14. Tate Modern

15. You Tube

16. Mini

17. Chanel

18. Ray Ban

19. Alexander McQueen

20. Jimmy Choo

Check out the full top 500 at http://tinyurl.com/35n7h64. And, if you think the committee have got it wrong, well there’s a chance for you to nominate your own favourite CoolBrand for the 2011/12 awards at http://www.coolbrands.uk.com/.

Jumping on the Frank Lampard goal that was not given in the England – Germany game because the linesman from Uruguay did not see it, Asda have grasped the marketing opportunity and are offering anyone with a Uruguayan passport a free eye test!

As reported by Marketing, the first two newspaper ads capitalising on the defeat ran the day after the game by two car companies. Kia ran an ad in The Times to promotes their seven-year warranty with the headline “Oh well, at least our warranty beats the Germans”. Nissan chose The Sun to promote its GT-R with the headline “One match the Germans didn’t win”. Read more at http://tinyurl.com/2dznawa

Interestingly, the Nationwide sponsorship of the England team runs out at the end of June, just days after the crushing defeat. Their exclusive renewal period ran out earlier in the year but they claim that the brand is still in talks about the future. At least Sunday’s dire result should have brought the price down if they are still interested!

If not, who else could take up the mantle? Here are just a few of my suggestions but feel free to send me your own:

• An obvious choice would be Avis who could adapt their well-known brand slogan to, ‘We must try harder’
• Or, how about an oil company (topical industry at the moment!?) with Esso’s old slogan ‘Put a Tiger in your Tank’!
• A tea brand makes sense – either the about to be revived Tetley Tea Folk for ‘the Gaffer’ or the PG Tips chimps (needs no further explanation!)
• Or how about Bahlsen’s Messino that is trying to steal share from McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes brand with the slogan ‘the future’s oblong’
• And back to sport, Nike’s brand slogan would sum up what we all think ‘Just do it!’

The leaders lined up on Thursday with Gordon Brown and Labour expected to get a kicking as the incumbent government; being on the receiving end of the electorate’s frustration with the current financial situation and issues around immigration, defence, crime, health and education. David Cameron and the Conservatives were said to have it all to lose, with market expectations on him to steal the show, attacking Labour’s record with the sort of style and panache he displays at prime minister’s questions. Oh yes, and there was that other chap, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats who many thought should be grateful to have been given the opportunity to turn up, whilst others thought his minority status was an unnecessary distraction.

And so they presented their (marketing) propositions with Labour and the Conservatives engaged in their usual sparring. Gordon Brown probably landed a few more punches than had been expected whilst David Cameron seemed decidedly uncomfortable and did not perform as imagined. And what both the big ‘brands’ ignored at their peril was the feisty number three brand. Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats had nothing to lose and were in the enviable position of not being accountable for the mistakes of the past twenty or thirty years. And Nick Clegg went for it, branding Labour and the Conservatives as the ‘old way’ of doing things and proposing a new, fair way. He struck a chord with the (target) audience and could, quite possibly, have changed the result of this general election.

They say that a week’s a long time in politics but the change from before and after last week’s debate on the UK political landscape is little short of extraordinary! As reported by The Guardian, before last week’s election debate, bookmakers William Hill gave Nick Clegg ‘at most a small chance’ of becoming the next prime minister. And by ‘small chance’, they meant it was about as likely as the Loch Ness monster turning up in the next five years. ‘And I’m not sure we weren’t taking more bets on the Loch Ness monster,’ said Graham Sharpe, the William Hill spokesman. Before the debate William Hill was offering odds of 300-1 on the Lib Dems winning an overall majority on 6 May. Today, William Hill is offering 20-1 odds on an overall Lib Dem majority and 12-1 on Nick Clegg becoming prime minister! What a difference an hour and a half TV appearance can make!

So, what are the marketing lessons to be learned?

• Don’t underestimate your target audience – listen to them and act on their comments if you want to win their brand loyalty
• Don’t assume your competition is the same as it always has been – that minority brand can do something to thrust it into the limelight and potentially steal your market share
• Always expect the unexpected!

One brand that chooses to adopt a group message is Heinz with its ‘It has to be Heinz’ umbrella campaign that has been responsible for noticeable sales growth since first being run in October 2009. And, if we are to believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Premier Foods has launched a brand campaign called ‘Great Little Ideas’, which aims to give mums hints, tips and twists on how to use ‘some of Britain’s best loved food brands’ such as Ambrosia Devon Custard, Hartley’s Jelly, Cadbury’s Mini Rolls, Mr Kipling, Batchelors, Bisto, OXO, Branston, Sharwood’s and Loyd Grossman. Here the individual brands will focus in recipes such as Ambrosia Devon Custard and bananas to make a Banana Brulee.

Another reason for a brand to adopt an umbrella strategy is that, with consumers becoming more and more individual and wanting interactive relationships with the brands they trust, there is a business reason for brands to develop a strong personality that can engage with their consumers and build brand loyalty.

In a move to build relevance for their brand and engage with its consumers, Beiersdorf has recently decided to group the marketing of all products bearing the Nivea brand under a new positioning strategy that encourages women to feel good in their own skin and carries the ‘Feel Closer’ strapline.

But an umbrella strategy does not mean that all parts of the brand have to be communicated together but rather that there is a synergy between the communications so that everything borrows from, and builds back to, the umbrella positioning.

An example of this approach, where the umbrella brand is the corporate identity, is Unilever who continue to run separate brand identity advertising but, since 2009, have included ‘signature’ corporate branding on its product brand advertising for the likes of Flora, Persil, PG Tips, Magnum, Sure, and Dove.

So, if you don’t want the stresses of finance, competition or consumer loyalty to rain on your brand, get an umbrella!

One of the latest uses of social media by forward-thinking companies is to inform New Product Development. But NPD through social media needs to be much more than an online focus group! Consumers are passionate about the brands they choose to buy and will interact with you about them as long as they believe that they are having an authentic conversation with the brand owner and that their views are being valued. They are talking on social media platforms about their experiences anyway and it makes sense that the conversations they have about your brand are positive and well informed.

An example of how these audiences can be engaged and their views integrated into NPD is Unilever’s experiment with men’s fragrance Lynx Twist in the UK and the USA. The company used an invite-only online community of a large number of young people for market research and discussions. But then they took the engagement idea one step further and selected an elite group of 16 to go to New York to work on developing the best ideas, leading to the launch of Lynx Twist in December 2009. Unilever have judged their trial a success and are planning to replicate the process in other categories such as savoury foods and haircare.

MyLook is the customer community site for UK retailer New Look that was launched in July 2008. So far the site has informed a number of business decisions including NPD and advertising. The choice of Kimberley Walsh, of Girls Aloud, to be the face of a recent New Look clothing range was influenced by MyLook.

These communities are a rich source of information for marketers but, as with any strategy execution, the venture has to be properly planned and funded for it to work. Interaction means a true two-way conversation and that, in turn, means constant new content to engage and interest consumers. They will not be interested in, or respond to, corporate wallpaper.

Social media has granted consumers an unprecedented power to comment on brands, positively or negatively. Brand owners can choose not to engage in two-way conversations with their audiences but they cannot stop the conversation. Those brands that listen and interact with their consumers will be the ones building brand loyalty and advocacy.

So why don’t we in the UK punch above our weight? We are praised internationally for the quality of our TV advertising yet we are more keen to ridicule brands for the most irritating ads of the year as published by Marketing Magazine (http://tinyurl.com/yc5acdh). Number one of that chart was GoCompare.com with the over-inflated opera singer. This was an in-house produced ad as were the ads at position five (confused.com) and seven (WeBuyAnyCar.com), also for internet brands.

The price comparison industry is over ten tears old and visitor numbers to some of the largest sites fell by 30 per cent in the first four months of 2009; so it’s no surprise that GoCompare.com and confused.com are battling it out in the irritating jingle stakes. It’s undeniable that irritating ads stand out; GoCompare’s own consumer research boasts a 200% increase in brand awareness since the activity began in August.

But the ten million dollar question is… does awareness translate to sales? Previous annoying ads, such as Cillit Bang, created sales spikes that could not be maintained post advertising. In fact, Cillit Bang has just been voted the UK’s most disliked brand name according to a survey by branding consultants G2 (http://tinyurl.com/yesbqbb)

A poll by TellyAds.com (http://tinyurl.com/yaxwe94) for the most popular TV ads of the noughties had GoCompare.com at seventh position with the only other brand to appear on the most irritating AND most viewed top 10 lists was Churchill, the world’s most famous nodding dog. Top of the TellyAds poll was Cadbury’s Dairy Milk ad featuring a boy and a girl with dancing eyebrows. But where has the most viewed ad got Cadbury? A hostile take over bid that is being given more likelihood of success, despite warnings of up to 7,000 job cuts, with the withdrawal of Ferrero from the race.

So, what’s in a brand? A brand allows you to give your product or service a personality and there’s nothing to stop your brand being as important to your specific target audience as the giant brands are to theirs. In fact, the more specific and ‘niche’ you are, the more you can gain a competitive advantage over the big guys. These are often called challenger brands. Think of Innocent versus Tropicana or Apple versus Microsoft. The key thing is to engage with your audience and, ideally, not irritate them to death!

Both Limelight PR’s ComputerTan campaign, in partnership with McCann Erickson, for skin charity Skcin and Blue Rubicon-led Green Streets campaign for British Gas proved that, for a campaign to be successful, it must be truly integrated. Which, as explained by Limelight’s Patrick Barrett, means more than adding PR to a creative idea. According to Neil Daugherty of Blue Rubicon, neither advertising nor PR can stand alone. Both need to work together but, in his view, the PR agency needs to be more ‘ballsy’. PR practitioners should shape the narrative and manage reputation and advertising should amplify the message.

Both campaigns used a rich mix of traditional and innovative PR techniques to deliver a rounded campaign and yet both had their challenges to overcome. In the case of Skcin, was Limelight brave enough to hoax an entire set of journalists with the ComputerTan idea? Barrett decided it was, on the basis that the underlying message was a serious one and that it was for a charity, not a commercial brand. With only one exception, the journalists accepted their approach. For Green Streets, Daugherty had to handle the challenge presented by British Gas increasing prices by 35% during the campaign! But, unlike ComputerTan that was designed as a short, sharp campaign to drive web traffic, Green Streets was an 18-month customer engagement campaign, playing the long game.

One key point for both campaigns was that the clients were prepared to take a risk. Skcin had to convince its charity trustees that using the fake device of ComputerTan would engage the young target audience in a way they would find accessible and yet still get the real message across that sunbeds are dangerous and that five people in the UK are killed by skin cancer every day. British Gas had to be brave enough to engage with their consumers (and staff) who, as it turned out, rose admirably to the challenge and provided them with an amazing group of British Gas advocates and a rich bank of case studies.

So, the overriding message from both teams was that integrated campaigns are the way forward and that PR has a big opportunity to take the lead role, especially as implementation should be around engaging with, rather than shouting at, the target audience.