Pure Thinking

Dispruptive Thinking

In an Advertising Age article written by Steve Knox, CEO of Tremor, a word-of-mouth marketing organization inside Procter & Gamble, Knox writes, “The brain is designed not to think.”  He believes our brains function in a static state and to get consumers to talk, we need to cause a disruption.  A disruption is the core of all word-of-mouth marketing, and it occurs when we give consumers a surprise that doesn’t fit inside their mental model and  also ties to the core of a category or brand.  For instance, let’s take a WOM campaign by Secret brand to illustrate his point.  The core thought of consumers in the category is the more active you are, the more you sweat and the worse you smell.  Hence, a message that says “The more you move, the better you smell,” inherently disrupts our thinking.  The message remains at the core of the brand, but offers enough of an altered message that consumers want to talk about it. 

I believe Steve hits the nail on the head with his thinking, and if you don’t believe me, read the entire article for yourself. I know you’ll be on my side in the end.

 

 

Tablet Day

Not since the biblical days has a tablet caused so much excitement. That’s right, today is THE day. Tablet day. As Steve Jobs and company prepare to unveil their newest piece of what very might be game changing technology, I’d like to reflect on what the communications industry can expect. 

Not to sound too radical, but the tablet might be the answer to the “death of newspapers.”  Newspapers have tried a number of ways to increase revenue after realizing they were essentially giving their product away for free online for over a decade. We witnessed many papers charging for online subscriptions and an increase in pop-up ads, but nothing has been able to make up for their losses. And communication professionals know our society needs the press. It’s necessary to keep our government and corporate world in check – and an important vehicle to convey our messages. Apple’s tablet will be a game-changer for the industry. I’m going out on a limb here, but because of Apple’s prominence, I think readers will easily buy their favorite publications and they’ll be cheaper (and greener) than print editions. This could be the answer to the papers' woes and a way for them to finally capitalize on their product. Hold on world – the tablet is coming.

--Katie

2010: The Year of the Overshare

Ever heard of the term, TMI? It has become the known abbreviation for a commonly used term, ‘too much information’. This year, people have too gotten comfortable with social media and now feel the need to frequently update us on their thoughts and activities.

I was going to start this post out by saying, "pretty soon people will be tweeting from the shower and the toilet, because they just need to let everyone know what they are doing and thinking".

Funny thing is that this morning, when I looked into today’s trending topics, I realized, "wow, people already are sharing what they are thinking while they are on the toilet". One of today’s trending topics is, #thoughtsonthetoilet.

  

  

Please note: I had to censor these tweets in the image above. I actually should not have eaten before looking into others #thoughtsonthetoilet. I figured I would save you all a trip to the bathroom.

GQ points those individuals who are known to over share their life story through Facebook, whether it be happy, sad, useless, or just inappropriate.

My advice to those tweeting in 2010: please do not share TMI.

-Gillian

Changes to search engine king Google

According to the Nielsen MegaView Search Engine rankings, market leader Google continues to be the top search engine provider with approximately 67 percent of all searches being performed. In order to be successful in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you probably need to consider staying updated on whatever Google dictates. If you're interested in the latest Google updates, examine the article below.

http://boagworld.com/marketing/google-changes

Fighting through the noise

In early 2008, with one word, "Arrested," A University of Cailfornia-Berkley student showed the world the power of Twitter by using it to notify friends of his arrest and break free from an Egyptian prison. In that same article, Twitter was defined to readers as a tool "normally used to keep groups of people connected in less urgent situations."

Fast-forward to the summer of 2009 and the Iran Election crisis. A highly controversial election between Mousavi and Ahmadinejad escalated to become what was dubbed the worst civil unrest in Iran in over a decade. As the Iranian government attempted to censor information via traditional news sources, the social web took over, bringing information to protesters within the conflicting nation and generating an overwhelming outpouring of support from around the world, which reached its peak when a video of the now infamous Neda's death spread across web like wildfire.

Now we're experiencing the powerful effects of social media as a tool for disaster relief, as the whole world watches Haiti's slow and painful recovery from a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. A boy smiling as rescuers pull him from the rubble that trapped him for 7 1/2 days, a woman crying out in prayer as an aftershock strikes, doctors desperate for supplies and people trying to rescue family members still trapped are among the images bringing a wave of support to Haiti with $10 million coming from a text message campaign alone.

Meanwhile, Google is taking a stand against censorship in China with a threat to pull Google.cn entirely.

What does this tell us - that to be successful at social media, we have to do something big? Post something shocking/tragic/horrific to fight through the noise and capture the world's attention? Not necessarily, especially when you look at something like Sleep Talkin' Man. To be successful and change with the shift in online conversation, as before, it needs to be fast, and there needs to be a personal connection - answering the "who" instead of the "what." Social media continues to surprise us - I can't wait to see what's around the corner.

-- Kate

 

2010: The Year of Exposure - I Hope

In the interest of full disclosure - and in keeping with the title of this post - my name is Larry Holdren. I’m a partner at Pure Brand Communications where our clients include energy companies, an economic development group, a law firm, the inventor of the cowboy hat and numerous non-profits, among others. My father owned and operated a community newspaper. He wrote nearly every article in the weekly Syracuse Journal. He also regularly wrote a column and editorials and he clearly identified them as such.

In an era of declining readership, viewership and penmanship for that matter, the lines between what’s objective journalism and what’s not are, unfortunately, not as clear as they were in my dad’s day.

Sure, there are issues related to blogger transparency and “citizen journalism,” but those issues largely reveal themselves through natural dialogue online and, now, regulation. That’s not what this post is about.

This post is about the alarming number of activist individuals and organizations masquerading as news organizations.

Take the Examiner and ProPublica, for example. According to its website ProPublica “is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.”

Journalism? Really?

In a telling Q&A with PR Week, ProPublica’s Editor-in-chief, president and CEO Paul Steiger said, “…we will want to hear your side of the story and it's usually in your best interest to tell us.”

The key word there is usually. More than once, we’ve had clients who have shared their side of the story with ProPublica via hours upon hours of their time and expertise, only to have it ignored or, in other unfortunate situations, used against them in an effort to advance an agenda.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m completely in favor of investigative journalism. I think it plays a critically important role in our democracy. But, first-hand experience with ProPublica shows that’s not what they’re interested in. They’re interested in advancing an agenda. A quick look at its leadership and the other causes with which they’re involved and financially support reveals that.

We should expect certain things from “journalism,” particularly "investigative journalism." We should expect fairness. We should expect balance. We should expect that every effort has been made to uncover all of the facts and verify those facts. We should expect that, if there are multiple sides to a story, each of those sides is presented in a fair and balanced way.

ProPublica and others like it are letting us down.

So, in your memory Dad, I predict that 2010 will be the year of exposure. A year when the buzzwords that are authenticity and transparency actually mean something. A year when activist groups like ProPublica are honest about who they are and what they’re trying to achieve.

- Larry

Email: lholdren@pure-brand.com

Twitter: @lholdren

Digital Reach

It’s no secret, the techno bubble has burst and we're moving at light speed.

In my short lifetime, I have seen the emergence and extinction of cassettes, CDs, VCRs and VHS. I have witnessed the evolution of the original Nintendo to the virtual, Xbox Live. I’ve watched Star Wars as a child (yup, told ya I was young) and was amazed by the holograms of Princess Leia, just to later learn that many are already using the technology today. Needless to say, it has all happened so fast.

So what is different about 2010? Reach. Reach. Reach.

With the recent tsunami of mobile devices, accessibility to the Internet has surpassed any previous eras. What used to cost thousands of dollars for a computer just a few decades ago, can now be bought for less than a hundred dollars and a measly monthly, data charge. The upcoming Apple’s Tablet will offer an all-in-one option for just $500. Additionally, what used to be a difficult-to-access dial up connection can now be accessed via Wi-Fi, just about anywhere.

What impact has this had?

These drastic changes have expanded reach to households across all income thresholds, from developing nations, to third world countries, and encompassing both the young and old.

My 82-year old grandparents check email daily on their flat screen. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women over 55. Many survivors from the earthquake in Haiti are being located via text. The Red Cross has generated more than $22 million to date from U.S. text donations. When no journalists or reporters could reach Mumbai during the rebel forces attack this fall, Twitter updates from Indian citizens kept the world informed.

I predict 2010 as the year when all glass-ceilings will be broken; it is digital access for all.

-Michelle

Digital Marketing Predictions for 2010

I wonder what type of technology predictions there were in 1910. Just think about the technology advances that have occurred over the past 100 years. Automobiles displaced horse drawn carriages, Television displaced radio, the Internet displaced Television, CDs displaced record albums and 8 track tapes, and of course social media displaced traditional media. Ok, so maybe only a couple of those things occurred.

Here are four predictions for digital/internet/interactive marketing:

1.    Social Media or Narcissist Media? My prediction: Social media sites will incorporate better tracking tools to show interactive success and they will only be a success if there is an ongoing conversation with clients. You need to make sure if you start a fan page on Facebook you keep an open and ongoing interactive communication with your customers. Otherwise Social Media may be renamed Narcissist Media. Check out some of your favorite brands Facebook pages and see how interactive the fans are. Is there an ongoing conversation about different topics? Or a non-stop barrage of press releases? The companies that continue a conversation will see great results, the ones that do not will write off social media as a fad and continue announcing they just ate a really good sandwich on their personal page. :)

2.    Email Newsletter Marketing Remains ROI King (as long as “content is king”); Opt in permission-based newsletters continue to receive high open and click thru rates. Even higher when smart, targeted follow-up marketing is done. When we post something on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter that doesn’t mean everyone we are connected with looks at or responds to the post. And those responses are much smaller than the open and click through rates with an opt-in permission based email marketing campaign. Email Marketing will remain the backbone of social media through the direct opt-in relationship. As long as the newsletter has pertinent content on topics the reader cares about.

3.    Search Engine Optimization Trumps Pay Per Click. The fact that more and more people are understanding the process to improve organic search results through live link campaigns, “version 3” marketing tactics for Bing, and evolving (and hopefully improving) metric tools for all social media will make Google reposition itself and possibly review how they charge for PPC.

4.    Mobile Media Meet Traditional Media (see picture above). We will see the tip of the iceberg get bigger with ongoing 2D Barcodes and QR Code technologies and companies like Sony Ericcson preloading NeoReader. These types of technologies will really start seeing some traction with the 2D barcodes in print ads; scan with your mobile phone and you are at a website to learn more or act now. These 2D barcodes can be a wonderful learning tool in a retail store to learn more about a product before you buy and or send the information to friends.

Stay tuned for future blog posts an all the above topics.

- John

 

Communicating faster in 2010, is it better?

Are speed and right now the goal of most evolving communication technologies? Should we spend a little more time on the message content, the target audience and building of relationships driven to desired actions by the recipient? The answer to both questions is yes.

When we embrace the use of new communication tools we need to evaluate them within the content of our entire brand management. Just recommending that a brand needs to be where the hot action is such as Twitter is not enough.  When we plan an extension of the brand communications we must identify the target audience; define the reasons for the messages; select the appropriate communications channel; state the desired results; anticipate the reactions of the receivers; messages must be communicated in a language that fits the audience and monitoring/measurement protocols established.

All of the new technologies have their rightful place and appropriate uses. Use them when they can expand the brand and reach your target audiences.

Thank you for reading this abbreviated, fast communication!

Let's All Work Together

Twitter this…Facebook that…Blog, blog, blog… Social media may be all the craze right now and it still will carry momentum into the next year but it shouldn't be the only means that a brand turns to in order to communicate to it’s audience. Social media needs to line up with all of the rest of our media outlets that we as brand communicators use in our tool box to get the word out.

Admittedly, I am a member of the old regime in our industry. I can remember a day when cutting Rubylith was the norm, I wouldn't want to have to do that again, but I've practiced it. I do like the smell that assaults your olfactory senses when you walk out onto the pressroom floor when going to check a job. And there's nothing better than touching finger to paper when combing through the latest pub to see how your ad ran. However, I am not blind to the new medias that surround us. I have a Facebook account that I check regularly, I'm slowly adopting to Twitter and feel that LinkedIn is an invaluable tool for networking. Social media is everywhere and it is an exciting space to play in as a creative.

So, coming into this new year, I've looked into my cup filled with floating tea leaves and seen a future with harmony in it. All the medias will start to fall into line this year and help support one another, as they should. When a new brand challenge is facing us, we shouldn't approach it by saying, "We need to jump on the social media bandwagon for this campaign". Instead, as always, we need to evaluate the challenge presented to us, identify the messaging that needs to get out there and then figure out the best means of getting it heard. That's our job. If it means running an ad in the paper to help support an online initiative, so be it. If a TV spot is the best way to show off the results of a social media effort, run with it. We shouldn't feel like we're doing an injustice to a brand by doing our job. By letting each media outlet support the other, we're doing what all good communicators should do. We are providing a comprehensive, cohesive communication to the public.

This may not seem revelatory to most, in fact it is a bit elementary. However, in our industry it's easy to get caught up in the quest for that next award or "At-a-boy" from our industry peers, and we often resign to using what's new and exciting without reflecting on what truly is going to best serve our clients. This is just a reminder. Be true to the brands you represent, utilize the appropriate media outlets, and successful, creative communication will result.