I first came across this video last week posted by my friend @alexasamuels and variations of this theme have been roaming on Twitter in the last couple of days. The discussion revolves around the success of social media. P&G made a huge declaration -“The nation’s largest advertiser said it would forgo further involvement with daytime television serials (called “soap operas” because P&G used them to sell soap, dish washing liquid and laundry detergent) in favor of a hefty investment in social media.” I say that is certainly putting a stake in the sand!

As we work to gear up with new campaigns for our clients in 2011 – using a digitally ahead- total communications outlook – leveraging tools like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube do and can work - not only for consumer engagement but to increase sales too! In a great article posted on Brandchannel.com – Going Social: Brands Large and Small Must Adapt to Social Media in 2011, Author Barry Silverstein says” Going social will demand a whole new level of consumer responsiveness from brand marketers – and a whole new way of looking at lead generation and qualifications process. Those who rise to that challenge will have the distinct advantage over their competitors in 2011. Click here to read more of this article.

For us the proof is always in the case studies and examples of success to show how powerful something can become. Everyone by now is familiar with the Old Spice campaign. That campaign garnered 140 million views on Twitter, an increase of Facebook fans of 2700% and 1.2 million Facebook fans. Sales rose 107%, according to Neilsen Data. You can’t get better than that. Here’s a link to a video from CREATIVITY that provides a case study for you to see how it worked so well.

The famed agency Weiden Kennedy knocked it out of the park with this one. What are you gonna do?

Best Nicole

One of the ways that companies can be successful with a  ROI via onine initiatives – is through search. Search defined as Search Engine Marketing is defined as “a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the use of search engine optimization, paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.” in Wikipedia.  One of the regular questions we receive from our clients both current and new is what is the next thing? Read the rest of this entry »

Remember those delicious Girl Guide Cookies? Or the Avon and Mary Kay representatives that used to come door to door – with their catalogs back in the day. They would have a bag of samples of products for you to try, you could leaf through their catalogs make your selections and then your representative would come back to your home and hand deliver your order. None of those things have disappeared – but like everything the methods for which some of those salespeople are now not only finding new customers, but communicating and engaging with their current customers is via social media online. Read the rest of this entry »

In light of the world cup soccer FIFA – taking place as I write this in South Africa – I thought it might be fun to write about sports and social media. As many sports fans know ,there are many sports that have embraced social media from NBA basketball ( which is in the midst of a nail biting finals), hockey congrats to the Chicago Black Hawks who won the Stanley Cup after a record draught of 49 years! WOW that is worth the celebration that took place on the streets of Chicago! Yes my beloved tennis just finished the French Open and all of these sports have embraced social media. Read the rest of this entry »

I am not sure how many of you are familiar with the Nestle social media backlash – in fact I may have touched on this debate some months back. In any event to fill in those that are unfamiliar – Greenpeace was very upset with Nestle claiming their practices contributed to rainforest deforestation. They then used Youtube to post a very graphic video to shock viewers. It came across my path more than 8 weeks ago and I am sure for many of our readers it crossed your path as well. Read the rest of this entry »

This concept began a few years ago with one of my favorite books on the digital world and social media – Groundswell. The concept of social computing behavior is understanding who your target market is and then how they like to communicate. For example -there are the early adapters or influencers who are the leaders – using the newest technology – then there are those – that are spectators – who might like to read blogs  -but don’t comment yet they too are engaged. Creating platforms that focus on the variety of people and they way they like to connect – is how you are going to – connect.create.cultivate – a relationship with your customers. Read the rest of this entry »

I did a speaking engagement last week to a group of Sr. Executive women. When asked my advice on what is most important when looking to engage your business with social media -” I said you need to understand who your target market is and then aptly find ways to understand what their social computing behavior is and go from there.” Using the right data and traffic analysis tools – to find out who your most influential followers are and how they utilize social media tools – is the key to connecting with them and all the people that follow them and so on. So many people as I wrote in an early post a few weeks ago – get focused on building thousands of fans and or followers -rather than focusing on who that early adopter and or influencer is – for their community and the best way to communicate with them and their many followers who are part of your target market. Read the rest of this entry »

One of my colleagues and friend – put forth a wonderful opportunity to me today – to pitch a new client. Nothing is more rewarding than receiving a referral. It came forth via the client – that the idea that I – as the leader of our firm – with a long career in the fashion business prior to building our agency – might only understand social media in the context of related products such as consumer packaged goods for instance. Read the rest of this entry »

We live in a world where consumers actively resist marketing. So it’s imperative to stop marketing at people. The idea is to create an environment where consumers will market to each other. (from Seth Godin’s Super Ideavirus Vook)

The best way to show our readers that a serious, planned approach to social media as a key marketing channel can lead to success (when integrated with offline channels), is to provide case studies or corporate examples of triumph and prosperity.

Today’s post is going to do just that. In 2008, Starbucks (YES, I am one of their devotees ) found themselves in some serious hot water. Sales were down, there were major corporate management changes (which included Starbucks former CEO Howard Shultz returning and some management being let go), store closings, and some of the rapid rate expansion was slowed so that the company could go back to basics. The challenge? “How do they get back their relationship with their customer — the one they had when they first began?” Shultz claimed that, “Starbucks had lost its soul.”
Read the rest of this entry »