Real-World Stunt Finds Online Success

In anticipation of the new James Bond movie, "Skyfall," Coke Zero put unsuspecting travelers to the test with a series of obstacles separating them from free, exclusive tickets. While the experiential campaign (or PR stunt) is brilliant in and of itself, what I love most about the initiative is its durability well beyond the actual execution.  The video of the effort debuted on YouTube on October 18, and as of this post, has 6.6 million views and has been covered by Mashable, Business Week and others. To use a buzz phrase, you might say "it's gone viral."

From my chair, the execution beautifully illustrates why marketers and PR professionals need to consider whether or not the real-world executions they plan can be leveraged online to build brand excitement and buzz. Despite posts like "How to Make a Video go Viral," there is no exact formula or process to make a video go viral or determine what content will resonate with audiences, but Coke Zero's video does three things particularly well:

1. It uniquely plays on the Bond movies.  There may be videos (or challenges) similar to this, but I don't know if I've seen anything that takes its cues and inspiration from its source material in such a unique way.
2. It may have been initiated by Coke Zero, but the video isn't an over-the-top endorsement or commercial. The brand is secondary here.
3. And finally, the video and execution are fun, and because they are fun, viewers want to share the video with family and friends.

So when you're planning an execution, pay attention to what you're doing in the physical world, and let your imagination run wild. Give careful consideration to the possibility that what you're doing regionally may be of interest to a larger audience. I mean, really think about it. Play the video out in your head. You'll more than likely be biased, so consider another person's point of video. Is it something they'd want to share? Find fun? Have a unique angle? And most importantly, be honest with yourself or your boss or your client. If you don't think a video will work, don't force it. The descending voice isn't the popular one, but don't do something just to do it. You may have other opportunities; you just have to keep your eyes out (and your mind open) for them.

Why the Past is the Future of Yahoo

We spend so much of our time focusing on the new tools or latest pieces of technology to move our companies (or ourselves) forward that we often fail to look to the past. No, I'm talking about going back to the days of "horses and bayonets," but instead, I'm talking about our digital past.

That's exactly what new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is doing, and I for one am interested to see how it all plays out. In her first earnings call since being named CEO, Mayer touched on the specific products the company will focus on--such as search and mail--but her biggest observation [in my opinion] is the fact that the company's focus will be on the consumer experience. The consumer experience is everything in today's marketplace [for brands, media outlets and many others], and it's an experience that extends well beyond the desktop. By combining current tools (mobile and tablet) with past successes, Mayer is concocting an interesting formula for the future of the Yahoo--both as a company and as a brand.

In what is obviously an outdated media relations page detailing the company's history, Yahoo proclaims "Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally ..." Google [obviously] owns this mantle today, but under its new leadership, and with a blueprint for the future, it will be interesting to see where Yahoo goes from here. Sometimes, the simple answer is the best answer. We'll see if that's the case for Yahoo.

Have A Plan to Act In Real-Time

Politics aside, I think that few people will argue the fact that President Obama's campaign staff has done a wonderful job of leveraging digital communications and social media during both of his campaigns. So while it shouldn't come as a surprise, the team's decision to purchase keywords trending on Twitter during the vice presidential debate is just another example of their leadership in this space.

As Mashable points out, the campaign purchased not only "malarkey" (which was purchased for paid search purposes as well) but the trending terms "Jack Kennedy," "#VPDebate" and "Afghanistan in 2014" too. And I'm actually surprised that they didn't include the word "friend" based on Vice President Biden's repeated use of the word.

Though I was in class at the time, we were following the trending topics on Twitter in conjunction with the week's lecture, and using Zeebox, I noticed that NBC's debate coverage was drawing 895 tweets per minute at its peak. Sadly, I wasn't able to determine the total number of tweets per minute through Zeebox, but this limited sample goes to show the volume of conversation surrounding the live event compared to other programming at the same time.

Listening to the conversation and purchasing keywords in real-time is obviously important, but perhaps even more important is having the ability to act immediately when you see an opportunity. In my own career in corporate communications [and based on anecdotes from my peers], I've found that leadership can often be reluctant to give individuals the power to act upon such things without running the proverbial flag pole. Sadly, this can result in missed opportunities or worse, enabling the competition to act.

Similar to a crisis communications plan, PR and communications teams who handle paid search or promoted tweets should have processes in place to enable members of the team to act immediately if needed. Here are a few things you should keep in mind:

• Identify a few key individuals who will be responsible for activating the campaign. No one person should have this responsibility; we all have busy lives and don't spend every moment in front of a computer, so multiple people need to have the ability to act when needed. This should include someone who manages your website in the event that content needs to be added or updated.
• Establish criteria for determining when it's appropriate to activate a campaign. Does there need to be a specific amount of volume around a key term? Does sentiment around the word matter? 
• Determine how much are you willing to bid or pay for keywords.
• Create a roadmap with a variety of scenarios so you know where you'll be directing your traffic. In the case of the presidential campaign, this should be fairly easy as users can be directed to pages containing the candidate's view on a particular platform.
• Develop a reporting process to notify leadership once a campaign is live.  

Now, I know there are a handful of things I'm omitting here, but the idea remains the same: have a plan. The last thing you want is to try to play catch up, and in our real-time world, it's something you can't afford.

The Power of Mobile (& The Importance of An Apology)

If you're one of those people who has been unconvinced about the power of mobile as it pertains to the future of marketing and communication, last week's Apple Maps apology from Tim Cook should be all you need to make you a believer.

Even though a little more than half of the U.S. population owns a smartphone, Cook's apology for the underwhelming app shows that mobile devices are a key component in our daily lives. We spend approximately two hours on our phone each day according to a study from O2, and the marketplace is competitive.  Phones utilizing the Android operating system (48%) currently outnumber Apple's iOS (32%), and Samsung recently launched the below commercial to tout the superiority of the Galaxy S III compared to the iPhone.

Cook recognizes the simple truth that customers have options, and Apple can't afford not to meet customer satisfaction. In an analysis of Cook's apology, a USA Today article observes:

All of this suggests Apple is moving quickly to compete with Google on the latest and greatest features. But it also raises questions about the purveyor of premium devices as it ages. 

Steve Jobs brought Apple from a niche company with a cult following to a mainstream giant with a new role, says Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow at Stanford University. "With this come many responsibilities-like listening to customers and taking responsibility for their satisfaction. This is exactly what Cook is doing."

Smartphone usage/ownership will only continue to grow in the coming years, and I imagine that two of the factors that will drive this surge will include cheaper access to devices through contract renewals and phone upgrades and diversified data plans to reduce cost. As a result, mobile devices will play an increasingly important role in communicating with consumers. It was noted in my internent and interactive marketing class, the mobile delivers on the promise of the right message, to the right person and at the right time. Executives like Tim Cook know this, just as Steve Jobs did before him [Jobs apologized multiple times for a variety of reasons]. Isn't it time we all recognize the current and potential power of mobile?

Social Vs Search In Driving Online Purchases

Are we potentially over-estimating the power of social media and underestimating search in driving online shopping? The answer is yes according to the latest Forrester Research report, which found that less than one percent of online purchases were influenced by social networks while organic and paid search were responsible for driving 39 percent of new customer sales.

We've spent the past two weeks in my internet and interactive marketing class talking about the importance of SEO and paid search, so while this really shouldn't come as a surprise to me, it does. I talked about the potential power of electronic word-of-mouth in my previous post regarding Myspace, but what I failed to consider was the fact that in some cases, consumers know what they want to purchase when they go online. So rather than turning to their social networks for recommendations or ideas, they turn to search. Forrester calls these individuals "spear fishers."

Utilizing SEO and/or paid search to reach consumers and drive sales online seems like such a simple, logical idea, but it certainly isn't the first thing that pops into my mind. And I imagine I'm not the only one. As marketers, advertisers and PR professionals, we can't let the flashiness of social media distract us from some of the tried and true tools we have at our disposal. Granted, each situation isn't the same, and we have to choose those tools that fit our strategy, but we really have to remember to explore all of our options--not just those with the most buzz. As Forrester's report goes to show, sometimes the flashy tool isn't the most effective one.

The New Myspace Makes A Great First Impression

Ok. I'll admit it. I'm more than a little intrigued by the new Myspace teaser issued this week.

Even more than that, however, I can't wait to see what the company has planned for marketing the re-launch of the site over the next few weeks and months. The teaser video they created has set the bar high. I mean, the redesigned site actually looks, well ... cool. And by limiting the number of invitations that are being extended, they've managed to reach the early adopter in me who's shouting "Must. Try. New. Myspace. FIRST!"

News of the announcement is attracting a lot of positive feedback over Twitter as well as in the comments section of websites like Mashable, so they're off to a great start generating buzz. It's exactly what the brand needed to do if it's going to regain the prominence it once had. In my opinion, word-of-mouth is the best thing Myspace has going for it at the moment, especially when you consider this study that observes "in [electronic word-of-mouth] 1 person can affect the behavior of 8 other people." I'm interested to see how they build on this brief momentum; I'm especially looking forward to seeing to how they use Twitter and Facebook in their overall campaign strategy. That is, if they do at all.

But until we see more, consider this: we're using "cool" and "Myspace" in the same sentence. Who would have thought we'd be saying that about the brand in 2012?

My SEO Experiment with the iPhone 5

In case you missed it (and I'm sure you didn't), this week’s biggest tech news was undoubtedly Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 5, and with Week 2 of MKT 595 focused on SEO, I decided to conduct my own SEO experiment to answer the question—what do search results look like for the term “iPhone 5?”

Using search.yahoo.com and google.com to conduct my search, the top organic search results in both instances appeared as follows:

As you'll notice, CNET is #2 on Yahoo! and #1 on Google (following the News Results) with Apple.com nowhere insight other than paid search. In fact, Apple.com does not appear on Page 1 organically until below the scroll. And while I certainly don’t know all of the ins and outs of why Apple.com is so low while CNET is so high, I do have two ideas based on this week’s readings and materials. 

For starters, the file name for CNET’s webpage is cnet.com/iphone-5; this is in stark contrast to apple.com’s URL—apple.com/iPhone. And entering the following URLs—apple.com/iPhone5, apple.com/iPhone-5 and apple.com/iPhone_5—all take users to a “Page Not Found” page instead of being redirected to its iPhone page. In my opinion, the lack of the redirects is a huge missed opportunity by Apple.

The second factor that may be contributing to the search results can be found “under the hood” in the coding of each site. While the title and description of apple.com/iphone and cnet.com/iphone-5 both include the word “iPhone 5,” Apple’s website shows no sign of keywords. Meanwhile, CNET’s code appears as follows: <meta name="keywords" content="Apple iPhone 5, Apple iPhone 5 review, Apple iPhone 5 reviews, Smartphones reviews, Smartphones"/>. In fact, the word itself (iPhone 5) is used more than 50 times on the page containing CNET’s review of the device—with plenty of links to other CNET content—and only 20 times on Apple’s website. Given CNET’s prominence within the technology community (as evidenced by the number of comments and social media shares for their iPhone 5 review page) and the number of times iPhone 5 is used, it’s no doubt that it ranks so highly.  

Now, I'm sure there are other factors impacting these search results, and I’m not suggesting that Apple—or its marketing agencies—don’t have a firm handle on their digital presence. Apple's brand is so strong that it doesn't need to be the top result on the page to  sell the iPhone 5. As we know, pre-orders sold out in an hour. Instead, this search test shows the importance of SEO during a product launch. If you're making headlines as a new company or a company who doesn't have Apple's brand recognition, it's important to make sure you have SEO tactics in place to make sure your website ranks towards the top of the page in order to drive traffic to your website.

Starbucks and LivingSocial: A Winning Combination

If you're a Starbucks fan like me, you undoubtedly saw (and purchased) the coffee retailer's LivingSocial deal last Wednesday--a $10 gift card for $5. Even if you aren't a Starbucks fan, odds are you were exposed to the offer in one of your social networks as LivingSocial encourages customers to share purchases in an attempt to generate awareness and enable customers to get their purchase for free. In the case of Starbucks's offer, word seems to have traveled far and wide because the deal was so popular that it is now the best-selling LivingSocial daily deal according to this Mashable article.

Though deals such as a half-off gift card are nothing new, Starbucks's use of LivingSocial is a great illustration of why the brand continues to be a leader in social media as well as the larger digital landscape. By leveraging LivingSocial (as opposed to Groupon) for this marketing deal, Starbucks masterfully executed the first two stages of John Caples' seven stage process. Not only did the deal grab and hold customers' attention, but there was a ripple effect as news of the discount spread through users' social networks. The brand was also able to easily work through the remaining five stages in Caples's process by setting the price point to create desire, making the deal believable and easy to purchase by using LivingSocial, and of course, creating a sense of urgency by making it available for a limited time.

Starbucks certainly didn't need to offer the deal to get people in its doors, but by doing so, it showed why it's a digital leader. It presented its customers with a value proposition too good to ignore and made it easily shareable by choosing the right partner in LivingSocial. As of this post, the Starbucks Facebook page had received a combined 17,890 likes and 763 comments on its September 4th and 5th posts regarding the offer as well as 3,698 shares. Of course, these numbers don't take into account customers who posted content to their Facebook pages ... or tweets ... or other channels, so I'm sure the final numbers are staggering.

Big, established brands would be wise to follow Starbucks lead (the effectiveness of Groupon and LivingSocial for small businesses is up for debate). As this case study goes to show, even something as basic as a coupon can travel a long way in the digital world.