Erik Qualman's Blog, page 680

Social Media Case Study: Pacifico Beer

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Situation:

Crown Imports was looking for a way to introduce Pacifico on draft to five US markets. Pacifico caters to Journeymen, people who embrace a life of unexpected detours and adventures. It is along these roads less traveled where they collect many of their favorite memories.

Action:

Pacifico embarked on an Adventures On Tap road trip for three weeks in June and transported five kegs from Mexico to five cities: Phoenix, San Diego, LA, San Francisco, and finally Seattle. Along the way, they enlisted local artists to document the trip and represent the journey of the Pacifico kegs on each keg itself.  A Facebook App for Pacifico's Adventures On Tap was created at the beginning of the trip to document the travels and use interactive kegs to display their adventures. A resulting video was created to sum up the adventures. Pacifico: Adventures On Tap on Vimeo

During each stop, local writers were invited to attend unique parties, to try Pacifico on draft, and engage with Pacifico brand ambassadors. These writers then shared their experiences through their social media outlets of blogs, Twitter, Facebook and helped drive traffic to Pacifico's Facebook page.

Result:

As a result of the campaign, their Facebook increased 14,500 likes further increasing the awareness of the brand and the Pacifico Adventures On Tap campaign.

Key Learnings:

Detailing the journey: Built a fun and enriching experience for users to learn more about your brand events.

Targeting the demographic: Know your target and create a meaningful campaign that caters to him/her.

Giving local writers a voice: Build deep connections with local journalists and bloggers in order to generate word-of-mouth buzz and influencer recommendation within specific geographic regions.

Creating a uniquely branded item: Create a unique way to tell a story about your brand and engage your audience.

 

 

 

 

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What Goes Around, Comes Around…And Stays Around

"Instant karma's gonna get you."

~John Lennon

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Poor Charlie Wenzel. Poor, poor Charlie Wenzel. He's quite like the hapless fella in the cartoon above. To find out why, read on.

On October 2, 2005 at 9:21pm, this struggling 19-year-old decided to sell some truck gears. He listed them on an industry website for $100, plus $15 for shipping. Sounds fair. A buyer cut him a check, which Mr. Wenzel speedily cashed. Sounds good. Happy ending, right?

Wrong.

Actually, wrong is not a big enough word. People like money. It's nice to have. And Mr. Wenzel wanted more. So naturally, he surrepti- tiously edited the original post and "showed" the buyer the "real price": "$125, plus $15 for shipping." The buyer didn't buy it. He asked Mr. Wenzel to do the right thing. He didn't, so the buyer asked for his money back. Mr. Wenzel not-so-politely declined.

Then, all [h-e-double-toothpicks] broke loose.

Mr. Wenzel didn't nearly grasp a key aspect of social media, namely: people are in no mood. They don't want honesty and trans- parency. They demand it. And they're willing to defend it furiously.

A small but passion-driven army of red-faced people let loose on poor Mr. Wenzel. The threats eventually moved from "clicks to bricks"—in other words, from digital intimidations to real-life ones. One man, who claimed he knew where Mr. Wenzel lived, threatened to "back up a truck and pour cement" on his front lawn if he didn't return the buyer's money.

Naturally, Mr. Wenzel caved. I mean, concrete on your front lawn —for gears?

He genuflected on the forums, begging for forgiveness, and sent the gears back to the buyer. Too little, too late. In that time, the buyer learned the gears were not, in fact, shiny and new, but used…and used. Like any self-respecting gear buyer, the buyer wouldn't take them back.

What ensued likely stunned Charlie Wenzel and serves as a sobering lesson for us all: His last name became synonymous with the word "fraud" across the internet. In fact, "Wenzel" became an Internet "meme," which is essentially an idea that is propagated so far and so fast across the Web that it becomes a verb, like "google."

Mr. Wenzel earned a lifetime achievement award—in the Urban Dictionary, a Web-based, user-generated dictionary of millions of slang words and phrases. Here it is: "To get wenzeled: 1. Defrauded by an Internet seller. 2. Publicly outed as fraudulent person of low char- acter. 3. The act of being screwed on a fraudulent internet sale, as in:

"Hey, wanna buy some brand new gears for your truck?" LOL ok, here's $115." "Now I want $140 for used gears out of my 2WD truck." "Oh snap! I just got wenzeled!"

Imagine how you'd feel if that were your last name being bandied about like that online. This "scarlet letter" will never fade. There's so much association between the words "Wenzel" and "fraud" online that Charlie Wenzel will forevermore be remembered as a fraud, unless he does something cosmically impressive to crowd out those search results—like discovering life on other planets.

Someone actually found Charlie Wenzel's yearbook photo, scanned it and made t-shirts with the photo and a line that says "Handtool." The t-shirts are selling. Just writing that makes me chuckle.

When Mr. Wenzel's children and grandchildren want to learn more about him, they'll go online and discover that grandpa was…a low-class, fraudulent hand tool. And there is nothing he can do about it.

Most people have a strong sense of social justice. Now they have the tools to inflict justice. I love how the new rules of social media are in fact old school.

Mr. Wenzel isn't old school—and in this new media, he got punished for that. He was dishonest and deceptive in his dealings with the buyer. The community made him pay more than $100, plus shipping. He paid with his reputation, plus humiliation. Sorry, Charlie.

Eric Harr is the Founder & President of Resonate Social Media, a leading, integrated social media agency in San Francisco. He is the award-winning host of "Your Social Media Minute" on CBS News. And, he is the best-selling author of the new book "The REAL TRUTH About Social Media: 8 Timeless Truths Uncovered & 8 Monumental Myths Revealed" available now on Amazon.com.

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Social Media Case Study: EMD Serono MS

[image error]Situation:

EMD Serono, a division of Merck and a leading manufacturer in the bio-pharmaceutical arena, had a new drug to bring to market and they wanted to begin establishing a brand presence.  The drug was to help fight muscular dystrophy (MS) and their objective was to increase registrations prior to the future release date.  EMD Serono hired Greater Than One to help spread their brand and messaging in an effort to own the MS community.  They were able to secure legal and regulatory buy-in on the front end.  Since this was not an approved drug at this point, they could have faced regulatory fines.

Action:

Greater Than One decided that the content and reach of bloggers would be a very effective and efficient way to get massive reach and their message to the MS community. They started by doing a social media scan for bloggers that focused on MS.  They found and video interviewed 20 active bloggers they felt had good, positive content.  And furthermore, were dealing with MS in their everyday lives.

From those 20 initially interviewed, they found 5 of them that would help with their endeavor.  But Greater Than One was not just interested in them blogging about the new EMD Serono drug, they were interested in them video blogging about it (vlogging for short).  Words can be powerful, but not nearly as powerful as video.  So Greater Than One armed each of their 5 vloggers with a video camera to post videos on their blog and in the social space.

Sufferers of MS just want to lead a normal life.  So the strategy behind the vlogging was not that MS is something you conquer, but something you learn to live with in order to lead a normal life.  The vloggers started spreading their message across YouTube, Blogs, Twitter and Facebook, driving those interested in additional information to HowIfightMS.com.  Greater Than One also helped to provide content topics that were top of mind in the MS community.

They were also successful in having cross agency integration of the digital and offline agencies.  Working in tandem, there was sharing of all creative and brand assets to ensure consistent messaging.  They also were diligent in working with their data base and vendor team, to ensure proper back-end data capture.  They had quarterly reviews to provide readouts on the data to further react and evolve their strategy based on what was working and what was not.

Result:

As a result, they were able to tap into 70% of the MS population.  They met their objectives of building brand presence and were successful in receiving thousands of pre-registrations for the new drug.  They've had thousands upon thousands of YouTube views and have received 14 awards to date for the campaign.

Key Learnings:

For regulated industries, ensure you have the proper front end approvals to avoid fines
Vlogging can be a more powerful medium for messaging than blogging
Do a social media scan and focus on those that have a natural passion or are invested in your product or service, the results will be much more impactful than someone just working for a paycheck
Ensure you are properly capturing the data on the back end.  Have regular readouts to adjust focus to what is working and what is not to maximize the efficiencies and effectiveness of your campaign

*As presented at the iStrategy Atlanta Conference, 9/14/11, Elizabeth Apelles, Greater Than One CEO and Co-Founder. 

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Periodic Table SEO & Social Infograh

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Thanks to the great folks at Search Engine Land for the Periodic SEO Table Infographic.

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Social Media Case Study: Insert Gamer

[image error]Situation:

Insert Gamer was looking to further penetrate into the social media arena and build their internet gaming network (IGN).  Facebook specifically, they were looking to significantly increase their fan base with qualified consumers.

Action:

They started by placing ads on their competitors Facebook pages, driving users to the Insert Gamer page.  The new visitors were then prompted to take an optional survey.  Insert Gamer was able to gather pertinent demographic information from their competitive conquests:  Age, HHI, gender, primary game counsels, and annual game purchases.  Of the 50,000 visitors, just under half took the survey.  They then whittled it down to 8,000 based on their target customer:  More than 5 game purchases annually.*

The next step was to figure out how they could most efficiently and effectively get more of their target customers to become fans of their Facebook page.  They focused on Facebook's Edge Rank algorithm.  This algorithm essentially figures out the 'top news' that shows in each users Facebook page, analogous to showing up at the top of someone's email or being placed in their spam folder.  You would think that the ideal target Facebook user is someone with tons of friends.  However, your messaging is most likely going to be lost in the myriad of posts those users must sift through.  Instead, Insert Gamer focused on their users with fewer than 300 friends and 30 pages to ensure there was 'less noise'.  They also focused on their users that had good connectivity, as in they had shared at least 1 game page with friends.  Lastly, they focused on the user's engagement (at least once a month) and their affinity for the brand (recently touched).

Based on the above criteria they were now down to a target segment of 2,500 from their original target group of 8,000.  They could now target ads more efficiently and effectively across Facebook based solely on the behaviors and similar actions of their new target group.  For example, they now knew that followers of Monster Energy and Portal 2 were roughly 20 times more likely to fall into their target consumer than other fan pages.*

Result:

They attracted an additional 509,000 fans in 120 days.  Over 60% of their fans buy more than 5 games per year; this is the inverse of the data they gathered from targeting their competitor's fans.   Their Facebook page gets 645% more engagement, an 811% higher comment rate per post, and 394% higher 'like' rate per post than the competition.*

Key Learnings:

Include an optional survey to gather important demographic data from your visitors
Identify the ideal customer based on their purchasing and user behavior:  Engagement, connectivity and brand affinity
Targeting is important:  Message to where your ideal customers are.  Spending $20K in advertising will be the equivalent of spending $60K.

 *Metrics and information as presented at the iStrategy Atlanta Conference on 9/13/11, by Jeff French, LOUDDOOR Co-founder and CEO

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Could Your Young Daughter's Racy Photos on Facebook Lead to a Lawsuit?

[image error]In a day and age when it seems like everyone is lawsuit hungry, yet another wild case has made its way to the social networking headlines.

As the BBC recently reported, an Irish father is suing Facebook for allowing the social networking giant to run racy photos of his 12-year-old daughter. The father's legal representation claims "She (the daughter) appears heavily made-up, she appears in a provocative pose and she appears much older than her 12 years."

According to the father, Facebook permitting the photos to run led to a number of sexually explicit emails landing in the girl's inbox from men worldwide. The BBC pointed out that, "As well as posting sexually explicit material, the girl gave personal details including where she lived and the school she attended."

Legitimate Case or Searching for Money?

So, does the father have a legitimate case here or is this just someone fishing for a payday?

On one hand, while parents cannot lock their kids in solitary confinement 24/7, where were mum and dad when these photos were being posted?

As the BBC reports, dad caught wind of us this problem a while back and closed out his daughter's Facebook account, only to have her open a new one. The girl, who reportedly has "emotional issues" to boot, was under the custody of Northern Health and Social Care Trust when the racy pictures went live. Oh, it turns out, dad is also suing NHSCT.

Given that the girl was only 12 when the photos appeared on the site, it would seem Facebook has an argument, especially since the company provides terms of use on its site, which in fact are violated by any user under 13 who continues to click on through.

Additionally, Facebook has language on its site's Safety Center that notes "We believe safety is a conversation and a shared responsibility among all of us." That being said, a 7-year-old could find their way onto the site and set up an account without any serious roadblocks to impede theme on Facebook and many other such sites.

So, are you too left wondering if dad and daughter ever had the 'talk' before she ventured into social networking? My belief is that even if they did, it fell on deaf ears.

My gut also tells me that one of three things is going on here:

The dad doesn't have control over the daughter and she will stop at nothing to seek attention;
Facebook needs to provide more road blocks for youngsters who can potentially put themselves in danger;
Dad cooked up a scheme to put his daughter in the limelight, only to go after a pay day from the social networking giant

While the thought of child sex abusers potentially contacting this young girl or any other child for that matter is no laughing matter, one must chuckle a little bit that this is what the world has come to.

Parenting is a 24/7 job, no matter what anyone may say.

In the end, hopefully both dad and daughter learn something from this matter and the Irish courts come face-to-face with more important issues.

Photo credit: boston.com

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18 Tips to Land a Job via LinkedIn

[image error]Leveraging LinkedIn during your career transition is a blog topic that I've put off writing for quite some time because LinkedIn has written about from every angle and I wasn't convinced that I could write anything about it that would be unique.  But, I'm going to give it a shot here.  As I talk with friends and former coworkers around the country I find myself sharing some of these tips and techniques repeatedly.  I hope this will be a valuable resource for anyone looking to make the leap into their next career.

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool that has extensive reach and resources that you can benefit from.

LinkedIn tips for your job search;

Use LinkedIn to create a target company list.  Start with about 40 companies.  This is not easy.  In fact, most give up when they are able to list about 10 companies.  This step is crucial.  It's the foundation of your job search so use this activity to brainstorm those companies you like to buy from, work for, have friends or families working for, might be interested in, etc.


Use the LinkedIn company profile page to research the company and to identify what senior leadership from that company is in your network or groups. Search by title of the person you would interview with (i.e. VP Sales, XYZ Company).  And, choose to "Follow" that company so you can stay abreast of their latest activity.


Reach out to senior leadership via LinkedIn "In mail".  Or, send them an email directly. i.e.  John.doe@abc.com or Jdoe@abc.com.  Sites such as www.mailtester.com,  can verify most email addresses and/or domains.


Be brief, be clear and be compelling in your communication with them. Tell them why you are emailing them, make sure your ask is crystal clear and always try answer the question "so what" when telling them about you.


When you find a company you're interested in, go to www.hoovers.com and see who their competitors are.  Then, look those companies up on LinkedIn and follow steps two and three above.


Complete your profile 100%.


Load up on recommendations.  Preferably 15 or more.  Ask those you've worked with, worked for and worked along side.  Ask those in your circle of influence for character references if they are not intimately familiar with your professional responsibilities.


Apply for membership to groups you are interested in and groups they are a member of (you can see their groups on their profile page).  Connect and communicate with them via LinkedIn groups.


Search for "talent acquisition specialists" for the company on your target list and reach out to them.  Most have In Mail but if they don't, go to step 3.


Use the advance search feature to identify the person(s) you would interview with (i.e. XYZ company, VP, Sales, South East).


Utilize your collegiate groups and ask the alumni to for connections, referrals, resources and assistance of any kind.


Post a resume video on your profile. Keep it 30 seconds or less.  Make sure it looks professional.  This is your value proposition.  Check outwww.15secondpitch.com to help you craft your message.


Post your "Wow" presentation via Slideshare on your LinkedIn Profile.  3-5 slides that illustrate what you have to offer and how it will impact their bottom line.


Leverage Twitter and post your Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile.  See A Brand, Twitter and Jobs.


Don't pay for the premium LinkedIn subscription.  You don't need to.


Answer one question in the "Answers" section everyday.  Get known and be visible.


Comb the "Events" posted on LinkedIn.  See what's happening in your industry or in your geographical area that would be worth attending.  Be intentional.


Pay a professional to do your resume then post that resume on your LinkedIn profile.  Spend your time finding your next career, not thinking of key words and specialties to add to your profile.

LinkedIn is an amazing tool that's free and right at your fingertips.  Take the time to use all it has to offer.  It will pay off long after you land your next career.

 

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Need a Job? Get LinkedIn

[image error]Leveraging LinkedIn during your career transition is a blog topic that I've put off writing for quite some time because LinkedIn has written about from every angle and I wasn't convinced that I could write anything about it that would be unique.  But, I'm going to give it a shot here.  As I talk with friends and former coworkers around the country I find myself sharing some of these tips and techniques repeatedly.  I hope this will be a valuable resource for anyone looking to make the leap into their next career.

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool that has extensive reach and resources that you can benefit from.

LinkedIn tips for your job search;

Use LinkedIn to create a target company list.  Start with about 40 companies.  This is not easy.  In fact, most give up when they are able to list about 10 companies.  This step is crucial.  It's the foundation of your job search so use this activity to brainstorm those companies you like to buy from, work for, have friends or families working for, might be interested in, etc.


Use the LinkedIn company profile page to research the company and to identify what senior leadership from that company is in your network or groups. Search by title of the person you would interview with (i.e. VP Sales, XYZ Company).  And, choose to "Follow" that company so you can stay abreast of their latest activity.


Reach out to senior leadership via LinkedIn "In mail".  Or, send them an email directly. i.e.  John.doe@abc.com or Jdoe@abc.com.  Sites such as www.mailtester.com,  can verify most email addresses and/or domains.


Be brief, be clear and be compelling in your communication with them. Tell them why you are emailing them, make sure your ask is crystal clear and always try answer the question "so what" when telling them about you.


When you find a company you're interested in, go to www.hoovers.com and see who their competitors are.  Then, look those companies up on LinkedIn and follow steps two and three above.


Complete your profile 100%.


Load up on recommendations.  Preferably 15 or more.  Ask those you've worked with, worked for and worked along side.  Ask those in your circle of influence for character references if they are not intimately familiar with your professional responsibilities.


Apply for membership to groups you are interested in and groups they are a member of (you can see their groups on their profile page).  Connect and communicate with them via LinkedIn groups.


Search for "talent acquisition specialists" for the company on your target list and reach out to them.  Most have In Mail but if they don't, go to step 3.


Use the advance search feature to identify the person(s) you would interview with (i.e. XYZ company, VP, Sales, South East).


Utilize your collegiate groups and ask the alumni to for connections, referrals, resources and assistance of any kind.


Post a resume video on your profile. Keep it 30 seconds or less.  Make sure it looks professional.  This is your value proposition.  Check outwww.15secondpitch.com to help you craft your message.


Post your "Wow" presentation via Slideshare on your LinkedIn Profile.  3-5 slides that illustrate what you have to offer and how it will impact their bottom line.


Leverage Twitter and post your Twitter feed to your LinkedIn profile.  See A Brand, Twitter and Jobs.


Don't pay for the premium LinkedIn subscription.  You don't need to.


Answer one question in the "Answers" section everyday.  Get known and be visible.


Comb the "Events" posted on LinkedIn.  See what's happening in your industry or in your geographical area that would be worth attending.  Be intentional.


Pay a professional to do your resume then post that resume on your LinkedIn profile.  Spend your time finding your next career, not thinking of key words and specialties to add to your profile.

LinkedIn is an amazing tool that's free and right at your fingertips.  Take the time to use all it has to offer.  It will pay off long after you land your next career.

 

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What's In a Twitter Name? Apparently Everything

[image error]If you are a Netflix subscriber or have been following the company's news in recent months, you know that it stated it would begin charging separate costs for its DVDs-by-mail and streaming video options.

As a result, Netflix customers who desired both services saw their bills go from $10 a month to $16 a month, something that did not go over too well with many subscribers.

In just the last week, Netflix made news again when it announced it was splitting up its DVD-by-mail and video streaming services, once again leaving subscribers left with questions and concerns. The ensuing split would lead to the company calling its newly formed service Qwikster.

While price increases and changes to service offerings have led the company to do some explaining – they may have some explaining to do on what other small item – not doing their homework.

Social Media Challenges When Your Desired Name is Already in Use

According to an MSNBC report, Netflix officials failed to check Twitter to see if their newly created service's name, Qwikster, was available as an account name on the social networking site. Oops. As it turns out, an individual actually holds the registration keys on Twitter to the name @Qwikster.

The story goes on to note that the @Qwikster username on Twitter belongs to a student who has among his interests' women and recreational drug usage. Again, the term oops comes to mind.

Making matters even more interesting is that the individual's Twitter icon is a picture of Sesame street character Elmo in possession of a marijuana joint. You probably know where this story is going at this point.

While Netflix may not want to admit it, Twitter is a heavily used social networking site, and I'm guessing that Netflix aren't too thrilled with the idea of countless subscribers and others confusing the current @Qwikster account on Twitter with one that would be tied to the company.

So, will Netflix approach the individual holder of the @Qwikster name on Twitter in an effort to gain control of it? If so, will they offer money or a year's free subscription to Netflix, I mean Qwikster?

Two factors come into play here according to the MSNBC story. First, it appears Netflix does not hold a trademark filing for Qwikster, secondly, Twitter does not allow users to purchase handles from others.

It appears short of the individual user freeing up the handle that Netflix will have to wait and see if the tweeter goes on the inactive list for a while.

According to Twitter rules, users must log in and Tweet (i.e., provide an update) within 6 months of their last update. Accounts can be permanently removed as a result of prolonged inactivity.

So, will Netflix wait it out and hope this Twitter user gets bored with his account and they're able to eventually overtake it, or will Netflix have a "qwik" solution to the problem?

In the land of social media, even your user name has implications.

Photo credit: deadline.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Would You March on Facebook?

Interestingly enough there is a Facebook page called Send in the Troops, it has a crazy number of people who LIKE it – over 14,000.  Why I say crazy is that the page is all about you marching (in the dead of night, well 9pm UK time) and liking 100s of pages in that time frame with both your personal profile and business page.  On their page they "brag" about getting 16 pages (between them) over 1600 new LIKERs in one night….

Why Do they do it?

The idea is to……

Increase the number of people who LIKE your page
Promote your business to other "marchers"
Promote your page through having other pages LIKE it

If you are getting excited about this now and are about to run off and check out the page then DON'T.

Why I say DON'T

I totally disagree with the marching idea on all fronts… here's why

Yes, you will increase the number of LIKERs on your page BUT that doesn't mean…

Increased sales
Increased engagement
Increased impressions
Increased comments


Yes, your page gets LIKED aka recommended by another page, BUT

It doesn't mean that your page will show up in their page favourites on the left of the page, they may just have the 5 they want in there
It doesn't mean more sales
It doesn't mean more traffic
It doesn't mean much!


Yes, more people will have seen your page and therefore business, which MIGHT mean

More awareness, but unlikely, I mean if I was LIKING 100s pages in the space of an hour would I really check each one out?

You want people who LIKE your page to be people who are:

Actually interested in what you do
Want to know more
Ask questions
Get involved
Comment and like posts you put up
Aren't going to hide your updates in their newsfeed

Give this are you still keen to march?
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