Marketing Strategy
What We Can Learn from Grasshoppers
Photo Credit: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2234
One of my favourite stories my father used to tell me when I was a girl was about a scientist and a grasshopper.
The scientist used the grasshopper to conduct an experiment.
He began by placing the insect in a metal box and telling it to jump. The grasshopper jumped.
Then the scientist picked up the grasshopper, removed one of its legs, set it back down in the metal box and asked it to jump again. It did.
The scientist then removed another leg and repeated the steps. Again, the grasshopper jumped.
The scientist removed a third leg, then a forth. Each time telling the grasshopper to jump. But each time, having to say it more than once, and with increasing volume.
Upon pulling the 5th leg off, the scientist set the grasshopper down and shouted at the top of his lungs “JUMP”. It did. Feebly.
Finally, once the 6th leg was plucked off, the scientist set the grasshopper down and said “Jump. Jump. JUMP!” until he was red in the face. The grasshopper did not jump.
Excitedly, the scientist reached for his notebook and proceeded to write his conclusion “The loss of all legs caused grasshopper to go deaf”.
I used to laugh at such a ridiculous conclusion. But now, such ridiculous conclusions are made at disturbing frequency in the land of all things Web. The reason might be attributed to too much data, not enough context. A common complaint from the wise Avinash Kaushik. Unhelpful piles of data with no one to correctly interpret them.
Or perhaps the reason is convenience. It’s convenient to conclude that no one is clicking “Buy My Book” on your website because people just aren’t interested in the book. Rather than, people aren’t clicking on it because the button is too small, or is hidden at the bottom of an internal web page. Or perhaps people ARE clicking on it, but can’t finish the purchase because no one conducted a usability test on your website – and there’s actually an error preventing people from completing a sale.
Ah… conclusions. They can be so wrong and so damaging. They can also make you deaf.
Tags: Google Analytics, Usability Testing, website
Think Differently
What if you turned right when you should have turned left?
You might drive into oncoming traffic, which would be bad. Or maybe you’ll end up somewhere you never expected. Sometimes doing the unusual, unnatural or unexpected thing will help you see something new and possibly inspire an idea for your next digital strategy.
Some of the most popular social media networks were built with an intended purpose. They have features and functions that allow users to perform intended tasks. For example, you’re suppose to post 140 character messages on Twitter. You’re suppose to upload videos to YouTube. You’re suppose to upload photos to Flickr. You’re suppose to pin images on Pinterest. You’re suppose to create a Facebook Timeline Business Page.
But what if we re-imagined how we used these networks?
What if you used Twitter solely for taking customer food purchase orders?
- Users would send an @reply to your account saying, Combo A, Combo B, etc.
What if you used Twitter to publish a collection of photos?
- Publish links to photos hosted on Instagram, TwitPic or YFrog.
YouTube
What if you used YouTube to conduct focus groups?
- Publish 3 videos, each with a different idea. Ask participants to like the video/idea they like best.
What if you used YouTube to as a customer service tool?
- Publish a video of the customer service representative describing himself/herself and his/her responsibilities. Ask customers to post inquires in the comments section. Monitor and respond to the comments.
Flickr
What if you used Flickr to publish a comic strip or a picture story?
- Each photo will act as one box in a comic strip. Different photos sets and photo galleries can be created for each story.
What if you used Pinterest to create a instructional manual?
- The step by step manual will have a picture and written instructions. Users can even comment on a specific step if they need clarification.
What if you used the new Facebook Page Timeline to post a fictional story?
- The story will be display chronologically along the timeline. Status updates with text can be added and photos can be added.
Victor Chan
Digital Strategist
Photo Credit: nestor galina
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Tags: facebook, flickr, pinterest, Twitter, youtube
What if Marketing Stopped Evolving
Change is difficult, but at times, necessary. There are many things in the world that we can understand, that we can predict, that we can control, people are not one of them.
At the core of any marketing or communications strategy is the connection between a person and a brand. As people and society continues to evolve and change, so does marketing and communications strategies. Failure to do so, and the connection between the person and brand is broken.
On March 9, Google published a post about its Project Re: Brief as part of a celebration to recognize 18 years of digital advertising. Google began an experiment to link the future of digital advertising to iconic ad campaigns of the past.
One of these past iconic campaigns was Coca-Cola’s ad in 1971 which featured young people from around the world singing on a hilltop. Google invited Harvey Gabor, the original art director of the ad, to join a Google creative team to re-imagine the Coca-Cola ad for the modern web. They created a video highlighting the journey they took to re-imagine the ad.
Technology plays an important role in changing consumer behaviour. How people choose to connect and interact today is very different from that in the 1970s. Coca-Cola’s TV commercial may have had a great impact in the 1970s, but if that same commercial was aired today, the reaction may be very different. Would consumers pay attention? Would consumers connect with the message? Would consumers even get exposed to the commercial?
Let’s continue to re-imagine marketing.
Victor
Digital Strategist
Photo Credit: skippyjon
- – - – - – - – -
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What If There Was a Formula for Viral Content?
Tags: advertising, coca-cola, evolve, marketing
What if You Had No Control of Your Brand? Oh Right. You Don’t!
A brand may consist of elements such as a name, image, design or personality. A company may have absolute control of these elements, but it is impossible for a company to control how people perceive or interpret these brand elements. As a result, it’s also impossible for a company to control how people think of its brand.
If that is the case, why do people spend so much time and money trying to?
We know a brand plays an important role in consumer purchases. A consumer might choose to buy a brand named product because they think it’s popular, it’s more credible or it has a reputation of doing the best job at whatever it’s meant to do. They might even choose to avoid a popular brand instead choosing to buy a lesser known brand because they think the popular brand is over-rated. Branding and the consumer’s perception of a brand played a part in these purchase decisions.
The goal of branding is to create positive sentiment between the brand and the consumer so that when a consumer is ready to make a purchase, they choose the company’s brand.
The tricky part with branding is if the consumer does not recognize your brand, all the positive sentiment they may have associated with your brand is lost. This is why it is important to ensure branding consistency online and off.
Online Brand Consistency Checklist
Here is a quick online brand consistency checklist:
- Do the company profiles use the same display name or handle?
- Do the company profiles use the same colour scheme, logo and design?
- Do the company profiles have a consistent URL path (vanity URL)?
(eg. /magnifydigital) - Do the company profiles publish messages with the same personality or tone of voice?
Although a company cannot control how consumers think of its brand, it can influence how they perceive the brand through the experiences the consumers have with the brand. This influence will be stronger if there is a consistent brand presented across online and offline channels.
Happy Branding!
Victor
Digital Strategist
Photo Credit: tkraska
- – - – - – - – -
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Tags: brand, branding, consistency, Social Media
5 Tips To Help With Your Transition to Facebook Timeline
Every week we hear of changes happening on the social media front whether it’s a new feature being added, a merger and/or an acquisition happening, or a new application being developed. Okay, who am I kidding it’s more like everyday. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with it all while trying to keep your job, raise your children, spend time with your friends, exercise, etc… you get the point! As part of my Human Impact series, I want to help our readers keep up-to-date without feeling left behind, or doing a ton of research, by leaving you with a few helpful tips. On March 30, 2012 Facebook is launching the new Timeline feature across all Pages and Profiles automatically. Currently you have the option to transfer to Timeline earlier if you wish to do so. Here are 5 tips to help with your integration to Facebook Timeline for your Pages Profile:
- Be Creative. Create a meaningful Cover Photo that represents your company and your brand and is more than just your logo. Find an image, a quote, or a picture that tells a story about your brand. This is an opportunity to show your company’s personality and tell a story. The company logo can go in the smaller box overlapping the cover photo, similar to where a profile picture would go, or can be integrated into your Cover Photo.
- Update Your Info. With this new layout there is prominent real estate for text just below the profile picture where it says About. Make sure to use this space to write something meaningful about your company since it’s front and center. Also, consider going through your Timeline to check out what pops up from the past. Make sure to hide anything that you feel is completely not relevant to the brand anymore or if you feel that company milestones are missing, this is your chance to add them, such as founding year, acquisitions, office locations, and important travels.
- Utilize Your Apps. Since your apps are at the top of the Page, in visible square boxes, they are kind of hard to miss. Facebook makes it mandatory to have Photos as one of the 4 visible applications, so choose the other 3 wisely. Use this opportunity to showcase your products and services. Create customized apps that advertise your company or attract fans to engage. In total, Facebook will allow you to post a maximum of 12 apps.
- Pin Your Posts. Facebook allows you to pin the most important posts to your Page so that they are highlighted at the top of your Page. To pin a post, select the pencil icon, and click on “Pin to Top.” Pinned posts will appear on the top left side of the Page for 7 days, after which they will return to the original date of post.
- Stay On Top Of Your Engagement. View your activity at the top of the Page when you are logged in as an admin. This allows you to view how many people have “liked” or commented on your Page, read any new messages, and analyze your statistics via Insights. You can hide this section by hitting the Hide tab on the top right hand corner of the screen when you are done.
Hope your transition to Facebook Timeline is a smooth and stress free one!
Maryam Mehrtash
@socialmaryam
Tags: branding, cover photo, digital strategy, engagement, facebook, features, pins, Social Media, timeline, tips
