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Insight Categories: Marketing
Visual content: Part 1 — history of storytelling
The history of storytelling impacts the content we create for today’s social media. How? Check out the intro to my Mid-Atlantic Marketing Conference talk below:
Launching Carsquare
We’re always excited to take part in a client’s brand launch, but we were especially happy to host the launch party for Carsquare last week, right in our own studio. DC-based startup, Carsquare, came to Grafik earlier in the year looking to clearly define their brand and develop a richer user experience. On Tuesday evening, we unveiled the results of a six-month initiative that included a new logo, a new tagline, and sexy new website that puts Carsquare in high gear. Guests included investors, local media, and several new Grafik clients.
The newly launched site represents the first big step for this evolving brand. In the coming months, Carsquare will continue to change the way we shop for cars. This latest version offers a “garage” feature for shoppers who want to save their search results and share them with friends and family across their favorite SM channels. Soon, the site will deliver tools to create smarter, savvier carbuyers—all with the intention of consistently demonstrating Carsquare’s new mantra, Search Them All. Find The One.
We’ll have more on Carsquare in the next few weeks. For now, we offer up a big thanks to Khurrum, Phil, Ron, Mikah and Scott. They gave us the keys, and together we started up a powerful new engine.
For more images of the event check out our Facebook page.
Animating to save lives
After several deep dives with global power company (and Grafik client) AES, it became clear that to effectively promote safety we had to reframe the very concept of an accident.
AES had already taken the first step by changing their internal nomenclature to “incident” versus “accident.” What at first seemed a classic example of Orwellian double speak, was clearly a very canny move indeed, with no underlying desire to deceive or to shirk responsibility. Just the opposite—responsibility was at the heart of the matter. It’s easy to say “accidents happen” and chalk them up to something out of our control. But when you believably and creatively make the point that there is a root cause for absolutely everything, that there is causation for every action, then the word accident narrows in meaning—and the case can be made that every incident is indeed preventable.
Our charge for this year’s Safety Day—a worldwide celebration of safety at every AES venue—-was to make this point: nothing happens without someone making it happen.
Good things and bad things are all the result of humans taking action.
We did so with a brief, 1:14 animated video: “Always On for Safety.” It illustrates the point that every single person can make a difference. Animation allowed us to move away from the literal precautions that vary so widely based on type of power generation or distribution, yet still speak meaningfully to all the nearly 20,000 employees of AES around the world.
AES “Always On” from grafik on Vimeo.
We present the English version here. If you’d rather hear the Bulgarian, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Russian or Tagalog versions, give me a call.
Five takeaways from Facebook Fit
I recently attended Facebook Fit in NYC, a summer series hosted by Facebook around the U.S. to help small businesses achieve success. Below are my top five takeaways:
1. Be authentic.
It might sound like a no-brainer, but coming from a place of authenticity can make or break your online influence. Tell a story that is unique to you and own it.
2. Find your customers.
In addition to marketing to your current fanbase, Facebook now allows you to capitalize on customer data that you’ve collected from other sources. Implementing this new targeting feature is as easy as uploading the list for the segment you’d like to reach (email and phone numbers). Facebook will then display your ads to those individuals who are accessible via their platform.
3. Make new friends.
Leverage Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences tool to reach potential new customers. First, this feature creates a profile of your customer base, and then it identifies similar groups of people in your defined location. This allows you to target individuals whose interests mirror those of your existing fans. If you choose to use the Lookalike tool, you will not receive any personal information about the Facebook generated audience.
4. Engage and convert.
Conversions can be defined by a variety of consumer actions including closing a sale, generating a lead, downloading an app and subscribing to a newsletter. Facebook allows users to track conversions by placing a tracking pixel on their website. In addition, Facebook now recommends combining conversion tracking with their Optimized CPM which ensures marketers that their ads are being delivered against their set goals, therefore ensuring effective use of their budget.
5. Own your social presence.
Facebook offers many tools to help your grow your audience, but creating a strong social influence means being active on multiple social platforms. Create a work culture where employees are actively engaging with your brand whether it is checking into Foursquare, posting on Instagram, or sharing highlights on Twitter. Having an environment that allows your employees to be brand ambassadors and advocate for the value of your brand can be priceless when it comes to increasing your reach and adding to your authenticity and credibility.
I am Wonderfilled
The newest campaign from Oreo captured my attention last Sunday night when the anthem spot (a 90-second commercial) aired during Mad Men. The infectious tune has played in my head for almost a week now. And when I don’t hear it in my brain, my wife is actually singing it out loud.
So what is it about this campaign that’s so brilliant? Well, for one, it’s well executed. The Martin Agency has married smart lyrics and happy melody with vibrant animation. It’s impossible not to smile when you watch the commercials.
But there’s something deeper here — something very smart and insightful in all this wonderfullness. Oreo is reaching out to an audience that has forgotten what it’s like to be a kid. As adults, see the world through preconceptions, doubt, and cynicism. Oreo is reminding us to look with openness and curiosity.
For some, these reminders are impossible to miss. Earlier this week, many New Yorkers were greeted by groups of a cappella singers belting out the cheery Oreo anthem. AdAge reports that similar events are planned for Chicago and Los Angeles in the coming weeks.
Clearly, Oreo is intending to deliver complete brand engagement with these experiences. And I would expect there are many more in the works. Why? Because Martin understands the Oreo-buying world is happy to be “wonderfilled” if only for a few moments. And it’s perfectly logical to connect those moments with a brand they’ve loved for a lifetime.
For me, this is one of those advertising campaigns that makes me say, “Wow, I wish I’d done that.” And in the words of the song, I just wanted to pass my wonder on.
To reach the author, Chief Creative Strategist Hal Swetnam, you can email him at hal@grafik.com.
Abercrombie & Fitch: solid marketing or marketing faux pas?
In the interest of full disclosure, I am heavy—definitely overweight and probably have been all my life—except for the four months leading up to my wedding. So it is with a biased perspective that I read of Abercrombie & Fitch’s position towards fat people. According to an article in Business Insider, this clothing retailer does not want to sell its clothes to overweight women or men. The CEO, Mike Jefferies, has been given a lot of flak for stating that he only wants to sell his clothing to “cool kids.”
“It’s almost everything. That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that,” said Jeffries.
At Abercrombie & Fitch, women’s sizes stop at large, though men can get extra large and double extra large.
People are up in arms over his statement, and while I would never be caught dead in an Abercrombie & Fitch store—and apparently they don’t want me in their stores either—this is nothing but good positioning and a solid marketing strategy. Knowing that you can not be all things to all people is the benchmark of intelligent positioning. In retail, there are tons of examples of brands that clearly define their audiences from Forever 21 to DTLR. You will never see an ugly person in a Ralph Lauren broadside and Lily Pulitzer ads did not feature inner-city youth. In all of these cases it just was not their target market.
Looking at the plethora of comments to an article, Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Explains Why He Hates Fat Chicks, the vast majority of them are negative. But one particularly astute comment that stood out among the bashing.
Devon Houston, the CEO at True Artist Productions, comments, “It is a marketing strategy, but it being a marketing strategy does not make it a smart move to openly insult or discriminate openly against people that you sell to.”
Understanding and focusing on a niche audience is smart. Crowing about it in a public forum is not.
No worries when you move JK Moving–tune in to the new “worry free” campaign
Chances are, you’ll catch a radio spot for JK Moving on your morning drive. Grafik just launched the “Worry Free” campaign, a 10-week integrated effort geared towards both residential and commercial prospects. An extension of last year’s successful “Worry-Free” theme, the campaign includes two new spots, and two of the successful spots that originally ran last Fall. Interested listeners ready to make a move will find all they need to know on the “Worry Free” landing page, www.jkmoving.com/worryfree. Also complementing the audio are display ads across targeted media, print, and direct mail.
JK Moving’s “Worry Free” campaign landing page.
Click here to listen to the JK Moving Radio Spot
Twitter: the good, the bad, and the ugly
When news broke of the Penn State Scandal, the conversation took a life of its own on Twitter
Unless you have been hiding under a rock the past two weeks, the Jerry Sandusky and Penn State child abuse scandal has dominated headlines, talk/radio shows, and all forms of social media. And through the course of events, I have been particularly fascinated with how Twitter has been used (or not used) to take advantage of what it is good for: pushing out information instantly and engaging a broad audience that you may have no immediate connection to. Being the digital geek and spaghetti western fan that I am, I have selected a few examples from the past two weeks to highlight how Twitter was used or could have been used, and broken them down into the good, the bad, and the ugly.
However, before I go any further, I should note that as a Penn State graduate and husband to a wife who devoted hundreds of hours working with The Second Mile organization as a student, I was particularly transfixed by the unfolding events of this tragedy and consequently more obsessed and affected personally than the average American by the situation. And while this is not intended to be an op-ed, I do want to say that my heart goes out to the victims and their families, and also to the students, alum and all those associated to the University who are still trying to make sense of everything. My prayers are with you.
The Good: Twitter as a Breaking News Source
On November 5, the investigation into Jerry Sandusky became public knowledge as the formal grand jury presentment was released and Sandusky was formally accused of making sexual advances or assaults on eight boys. At the time, the news item was a footnote on ESPN’s website, and a small headline with local Pennsylvania news outlets. As a dedicated Penn State football fan, I needed more information, and not able to find anything of value on the web, I turned to Twitter to learn more. I did a quick search on Jerry Sandusky and found several Penn State users using the hashtag #PSUCharges to comment on the news. By following those users, I built a list of about 10–15 sources, most local to the State College area on Twitter that posted updates every 5–10 minutes over the next week. Not only did I have the latest news and information about the events as they happened, I also had an insight into what the students were going through and what the mood was like on campus, including photos and videos, as those local users retweeted tweets posted by Penn State students. Twitter continues to prove itself as the top source for breaking news and I recommend you use it as such for personal use, or as a means to disseminate your own news. Since Google ended their agreement with Twitter, real-time information is harder to come by in Google search results, and until Google Buzz catches on, you cannot rely on a search engine to surface the latest news.
The Bad: Twitter as a Form of Crisis Communication Management
The University knew about this investigation, and they also knew that the information would become public knowledge on November 5. And while most of the sports world was focused on the LSU-Alabama football game set to take place that night, which some argued was a game between the two best college football teams in the nation, Penn State’s public information department had an opportunity to set up a social media crisis response team, outline a strategy of information dissemination, and get ahead of the impending media storm. Social media has proven to be a critical component of any crisis communication management strategy, and as an example, Penn State could have established their own hashtag, could have set up a Twitter profile dedicated to distributing updates, facts, and contact information. This team (and I emphasize team as something this large would require many people) could also have used Twitter to engage the media in real time, and headed off the propagation of the multiple rumors that were flying fast and furiously. Sadly, Penn State stumbled out of the gates and chose to take a reactive approach which demonstrated their incompetency, led to the distribution of misinformation, and further fueled the media frenzy. As a digital strategist, it pained me to see my alma mater fall so short on something that should be PR 101 at this point and urge you to recognize the power of Twitter and never underestimate its value in defending your brand.
The Ugly: Twitter as a Means to Expand Your Audience
It became very clear at the outset of the media blitz that Twitter would not be exempt from sensationalism reporting, furthering personal agendas, and driving eyeballs, listeners, or in this case, followers. I have never been as disgusted as I was seeing people who styled themselves as “news” media shamelessly spouting off complete ignorance, conjecture, and speculation, taking advantage of an emotional and personal tragedy to make a name for themselves. What, ideally, should have been basic fact reporting turned into a contest to see who could denounce Penn State officials most vehemently, who was more against child abuse and Penn State, and who could criticize Penn State alums or students the hardest for being upset. 140 character pearls of wisdom have been tweeted and retweeted, effectively making the rounds within the Twitterverse similar to the email chain letters of old. And while I was personally disappointed with the content, I could not argue with the fact that these personalities were exposing themselves to new eyeballs, effectively growing their audience.
Finally, one other lesson I learned the hard way: use Twitter with caution when attempting to get work done at the same time. If you’re not careful, you will quickly get sucked in reading tweets, news articles, trading messages with users, and ultimately getting nothing done. Not that I’m speaking from experience…
EYA + Grafik: how effective marketing communications changed a business
Our President, Lance Wain, circulated an email that mandated all employees must attend a meeting to be held in the lobby of our building at exactly 12:10pm last Tuesday. There was no additional information given. Each of us tried in earnest to get out of him what this was all about—including Judy, our CEO. Greg Appler, (who refuses to attend any meetings without first being given the agenda) was particularly sour. I had an RFP due and a conference call at 2:00pm. Others speculated we were leaving to play paintball. This really agitated me. I had no time for paintball. I grabbed some soggy salad from the fridge. I was wearing heels—I had an earlier meeting. I was agitated. This had better be good.
Grafik team on the way to EYA luncheon
Lance started talking some B.S. about promising our insurance rep that we would get ten minutes of exercise in once a month and it was a gorgeous day and we were going to take a walk together. We filed out of the building as a group, (it was a really amazing day) and started walking down Fairfax Street in Old Town. Just as my heels really started to bug me, we arrived at the very nice Italian joint around the corner, and were directed into the private room in the rear of the restaurant where one of our longstanding clients, EYA, was waiting. This was a complete surprise to every one of us.
Terry Eakin, Bob Youngentob, Preston Innerst, Jennifer McIvor, Brian Jackson, Frank Connor—all of EYA were standing amidst a room set for a beautiful lunch. They invited us in and before sitting down, Terry and Bob, the founders and of the company told us that Preston (VP, Sales & Marketing) and Lance had been in cahoots to pull off this lunch, for the sole reason that EYA was so very grateful to Grafik for all of the hard work and the consistently excellent product that they had received over the years. That they were sincere and their remarks heartfelt, was beyond obvious. Bob Youngentob spoke with passion and authenticity when he said that Grafik had changed the way his company did business.
EYA’s logo
Now, I gotta say something. I “do” new business. And I have been listening for three years as many at my firm have been telling the story of how Life Within Walking Distance was more than a tagline, but a corporate mantra that had completely transformed the way EYA acquired and evaluated their properties, as well as developed their sales strategies. In short, the brand strategy we developed, transformed everything about their company.
Hearing this from Bob’s mouth and watching the faces of my coworkers, as well as those of the others on the EYA team, was a huge moment of pride for me. It made all of the versions I had previously heard completely credible, and erased all doubt. It is very rare to experience those moments in my business and it was a great day for my company. And, for a gal who “does new biz” I really got to feel the deep impact of what my people do. And even better, we all got to experience it together. It was awesome.
You probably thought I meant that effective marketing communications changed EYA . . . but really, it changed Grafik that day. I think we all felt, thanks to Lance being able to keep that very big mouth shut, knowing what we can do together when we have a great client like EYA.
Thanks Lance. And thanks EYA.
Got “fill-in-the-blank?”
I was driving into work this week and almost plowed into a Mid States Oil truck. I was captivated by the ad on the back of the truck. It was yet another rip off of the famous, and wildly popular Got Milk? ad campaign that was launched in 1995 for the National Milk Processor Board. Someone somewhere in the marketing department at Mid States Oil thought it would be a good idea to show a sexy female with an oil mustache. What were they thinking?
Got Oil? Campaign
The Got Milk? campaign was, and is, nothing short of brilliant.
Goodby Silverstein & Partners has probably won every award in the book and according to their website there is a 90 percent awareness factor for the campaign—nothing short of astounding. The campaign has been going strong and is kept relevant by using popular stars such as Hugh Jackman, Taylor Swift, and even the Simpsons.
Taylor Swift posing for the Got Milk? Campaign
Hugh Jackman showing off more than his milk mustache
But along with fame comes imitation.
Got Milk? has been spun off to: Got balls?, Got Beignets?, Got Rice?, Got Mold?, Got Pancakes?, Got Junk?, even Got Pigeons? It turns out that they have created a wonderful website called “milking ‘got milk?‘” Here you can find lists of imitators—each one sillier than the next. Their photo gallery is open to new examples submitted by anyone who finds a Got fill-in-the-blank image and it is supported by a Twitter feed and Facebook page.
Do any of the submissions come anywhere close to the original—not even in the same galaxy. In fact, looking at the milk rip–offs, I have only two words that perfectly describe what I see: Got Poop?
A funny Got Milk? spin-off…Got Poop?
Understand your web analytics better
Your Bounce Rate is 46 percent, your average page views have declined after a recent site redesign, and the average time on your site has fallen. What do these numbers really mean? How do they and other metrics drive increased revenue, decreased costs, customer retention, or other online objectives?
It depends.
Are users coming from a search engine to view one news article and leaving with their content goals met? Or do users arrive at the site, find it’s not the site they were looking for, and bolt? Either scenario would explain a high Bounce Rate.
How about an increase in overall visitors? That’s got to be a good thing, right?
Well, probably. But do visitor counts increase in general across your industry—maybe seasonally for holiday sales? And are your increases underperforming the industry average? If so, your gain may also be your lost opportunity.
Most site analytics are value-free, and generate more questions than answers—and smart questions are definitely needed. But further analyses or testing is required to answer those questions, and to understand how best to impact online behavior and grow your bottom line.
What do these figures mean?
There are a multiplicity of tools and measurement strategies you can engage—and you should be using more than one. One of the easiest to implement and most powerful is the on-exit, in-line site survey. You don’t need to be an expert to build one—just review your site metrics, generate hypotheses, and then craft a short set of questions that will test your hypotheses. You can be up and running in hours and have more meaningful quantitative and qualitative feedback than you ever imagined.
What do visitors come to the site for? Ask. Did they get what they came for? Ask. Would they like other content, features, or functions? Ask. Will they come back? Just ask.
Some of the things you’ll want to consider when building an online survey are:
- the number of questions—they should be limited to encourage participation and completion
- industry and competitive benchmarks that you can measure against (e.g., ACSI, Compete)
- Google Analytics—integration with survey tool for targeting and segmentation
- quantitative feedback—(e.g., rating from 1–10) that will make the case to management
- qualitative feedback—open-field, voice of customer that will seal the deal with management
Each survey you complete will generate new insights, new improvements, and new surveys that can and should grow into an important program of continuous learning and optimization. Again, you can be up and running in no time. Feel free to give us a call if you need an assist.
(In his book, Web Analytics 2.0, Avinash Kaushik updates and expands on his earlier work, Web Analytics: An Hour A Day. I highly recommend it for all of our clients. Pick up a copy at Amazon or, if you’re in the office, ask me for one of our extra copies. We keep a few on hand for our clients. Also, consider Q4 by iPerceptions, a free (or paid) on-exit survey tool developed in collaboration with Mr. Kaushik).