. . . if they follow this advice from the Forrester Research group [independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology].
As a long-time teacher of advertising to college students, I threw out all my textbooks last year [for which I was applauded by Seth Godin], and I now depend on Twitter to send me links on Advertising’s Future.
Here’s what the agencies MUST DO:
1. Understand HOW and WHERE to engage Today’s Consumer . . . and coach their clients to get engaged.
2. Because consumers trust consumer more than brands, companies need to mobilize their fans and followers to be the organization’s cheerleaders.
NOTE: Consumers are now the “creators” and “sharers” and “distributors.”
4. Firms must be more honest and authentic: (a) only 5% of people say they believe ad claims and (b) half of consumers say brands don’t live up to promises.
5. Forget MASS anything; it’s all about customization.
6. Learn Digital or Die
7. Measure as much as you can: learn analytics and USE them.
8. Social media does not promise to do everything; there needs to be integration with traditional vehicles of communication, but “pushing” tactics don’t work. It’s now all about Inbound, i.e., the customers pulling in a company’s message.
9. Successful agencies will think more about community than campaigns, learning to crowdsource.
10. Clients need IDEAS, INTERACTION, and INTELLIGENCE.
Who knew that back in Feb 2005 three former Pay Pal employees would introduce a video-sharing website that would be gobbled up by Google a year-and-a-half later and now seems very likely to herald a powerful new way for people to sell products and services?
What’s viral and how do you do it?
My Public Relations students studied many of the top Social Media platforms this summer and one group focused on “Maximizing the Power of YouTube.” This week’s blog will feature three of their reports.
A few years ago, the term “viral video” wasn’t in the vocabulary of the average person. In fact, the word viral was always considered a bad thing, insinuating an uncontrollable replication and spread. Currently, that is exactly what has happened as ordinary people’s videos have gone viral, spreading to our email inboxes, being posted on our Facebook feeds, and showing up continually as tweets and retweets to our Twitter accounts.
On July 19, a video of a fun-loving wedding party featured the bridesmaids and groomsmen dancing down the aisle to the Chris Brown song “Forever.” Within one week, the JK Wedding Entrance Dance had accumulated more than a million views and was picked up by both local and national TV shows including “The Today Show.”
Amateur production reveals real life
Shot by amateurs, the video lacked professional sound quality and a high resolution image, but it has now received more than 19 million views, 80,000 comments, and a five-star rating.
How is it that an amateur video that wasn’t intended to be broadcast very far from friends and family has now been seen around the world?
Answer: Because it fits the criteria of a successful viral video perfectly: it wasn’t meant to go viral.
The Wedding Entrance Dance is funny and engaging, but most of all, it is real. These people could have been our college roommates or people in surrounding cubicles.
An interesting side effect of this viral sensation is the impact it has had on Chris Brown, the artist of the song used in the video. Chris Brown has had some very public problems with the law. In February, he was arrested for domestic violence against his girlfriend, singer Rihanna. On July 20, a day after the JK Wedding Entrance Video was posted, Chris issued an apology video on YouTube, which to date has gotten just under three million views. There are so many parody videos of his apology that it actually takes a bit of digging to find the original.
Public has forgotten they disliked Chris Brown
After unsuccessfully trying to repair the damage done to his reputation, Chris’ record label Sony decided to embrace the use of the song in this video. That was the best decision they could have made because just three weeks after the video’s appearance, the public has forgotten they hated Chris Brown.
A year since its release, “Forever” is now back on the iTunes and Amazon Top Ten singles chart and the pop-up ad to buy the song averages twice as many sales as other click-to-buy items.
Good news doesn’t stop there
The Wedding Dance video has increased profits to Google, but also to a new fund set up to dontate money for victims of domestic violence. You simply can’t put a price on this kind of publicity: Without spending any money, Chris has gotten back on the charts with a year old song. When people hear “Chris Brown,” chances are they think about the dancing wedding party, not the images of him pleading guilty to domestic violence in court.
In this case, the viral video was pure luck for Sony and Chris Brown. However, a few companies have successfully released publicity videos that went viral. Blender company Blendtec has released a series of videos showcasing their blenders blending their blenders blending things like glowsticks, and iPhone and Bic lighters.
British mattress company, Bensons for Beds, recently released a video of their attempt to bread the world record number of people playing Mattress Dominoes, which is quickly catching on.
Though Blendtec and Bensons for Beds have successfully created viral videos, the key for success is really luck and timing. You can never predict what will catch on; you just have to be prepared for it when it does.
Jack Dorsey is a REGULAR GUY whose idea is revolutionizing the way the world communicates
**GUEST POST**Cody Ramlan is a San Francisco State senior whose taken several courses with me and has, like me, caught the Social Media Fever. Agreeing to guest “host,” he told me that he now intends to take his future into his own hands through the many resources available on the Internet.
Twitter is only as valuable as you make it
Jack Dorsey created Twitter in 2006 and remains dedicated to continually refining it, but he took some time from his busy schedule Thursday, April 30, to talk to Shari Weiss’ PR class at San Francisco State.
“Twitter sparks interaction”
“The Future of Advertising is all about discovery.”
The class spent well over an hour asking questions and gaining inside knowledge from the currently most talked about entrepreneur on the planet.
My favorite fact was that it only took $10,000 of marketing expenses to create the word-of-mouth that has made Twitter today’s Sensation. This is a testament to the culture Jack encourages in his company — making a product that sells itself.
Where the idea of Twitter first started in Jack’s mind:
Twitter’s 40 employees do this by listening to users and building a platform that supports what people want. However, Jack emphasized that it is important to know when to say NO in order to make a successful product because some requests may be too specific to benefit enough of an audience.
Is Twitter merely a fad? Jack’s response was that it is only as valuable as you make it. He believes that it was created with the flexibility to become a utility of life and that one day people will take it for granted like email.
Since Twitter doesn’t currently turn a profit, we wondered about the business model for the future. Many ideas are being considered including “verifications” involving companies and celebrities. No matter how they will monetize, Jack made it clear that his goal was to never force advertising on users.
Friendfeed an aggregator, and Twitter is not. It’s more of a communication tool:
In fact, he said that the future of advertising is all about discovery and introductions. “If you start with that and lead to a conversation, you will have the respect and attention of your audience, which is a much more productive form of relaying a message,” he said.
How Twitter has grown . . . since Jack was 16:
Twitter’s vision includes evolution through listening to users, and after hearing Jack’s discussion with us, I have no doubt that his company will be around for a long time to come.
by Cody Ramlan
Videos embedded by Shari — once I found out how to do it.
. . . if they follow this advice from the Forrester Research group [independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology].
