interaction vs proximity graph

Brands are no longer able pitch the credentials of their products to the current social media generation. Push is almost out, but pull is sky rocketing in. Buyers and consumers want trusted and real information from people like themselves and know where to go, to get it. They need it stamped as trustworthy and good for usage (with extra features) not by any company that dreamed up the slogan at a coffee shop meeting, but by the members of a social network that they can see, interact with, and most importantly something that they chose to join. They all have an appetite for the real interaction that generate buzz in which they are a part of. Facebook’s 350 million user posts and its shared 3.5 Billion different content per week, is what these consumers want.

Talk about a lot of possible brand awareness and brand management. People know the members of their social media networks and trust what they have to say. They can access all this information quickly and easily to help them learn about the product, and step into a shop knowing more about the goods compared to the shopkeeper himself.

Social media is about investing in relationships that create more economic value than they cost. It is about engaging with the people who decide whether to buy or not buy what you are selling, like it or dislike it, recommend it or trash it, and even to mould it or to throw it out the window.

A great (and very fun) way to show the power of social media marketing is to enter “(BRAND NAME) sucks” into Google. Put into consideration the fact that around 80% of the information read on the Internet today is not read on the site that it was originally published, but through social media, the word is spread to different websites, blogs, forums and networks. It is no longer just a fad for kids or a way to spread the word about your fart app; social media is evolving as a powerful and a fast paced low-cost, high-reward tool for making the sales, turning profits and taking home the big prize.  The price tag is appealing and it is no holds barred.

TOP 10 CAMPAIGNS 2000 – 2009

1.      2006: Eepybird.com – Mentos + Diet Coke experiments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM]

This campaign was never planned, neither by The Coca Cola Company nor Mentos. It started out as an experiment by Eepybird. A qualified guess would be that more than 60 million people have seen the clips that made Eepybird, Coke and Mentos internet stars.

2.      2006: Dove – Evolution:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U]

A great example of a corporate brand using the web to gain the trust of consumers. Taking internet users behind the scenes of the fashion industry allowed Dove to occupy the moral high ground, no mean feat I think you’ll agree!

3.      2006: Blendtec – Will it blend

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI]

Some people and marketing campaigns succeed in life against all odds. Tom Dickson and Blendtec are two great examples. 90 videos and 100 million views later he, Blendtec and “will it blend” are forever part of internet history.

4.      2007: Diesel – Heidies 15mb of fame

http://www.farfar.se/awards/cannes2007/heidies/

Heidies was all the reason Diesel usually succeeds. Doing something the others wouldn’t dare and doing it in a way that is highly surprising – and very sexy.

5.      2004: Burger King – Subservient Chicken

http://www.bk.com/en/us/campaigns/subservient-chicken.html

A man in a chicken suit willing to do whatever you tell him: what’s not to like? This is undoubtedly one of the most memorable campaigns of all time.

6.      2008: Obama’s online campaign

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/ofasplashpresident/

Barack Obama’s digital campaign was truly game changing. A great use of online advertising, social media and mobile allowed Obama to connect with millions of young, influential voters in a way that will act as a blueprint for all future political campaigns.

7.      2000: John West – Bear

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVS1UfCfxlU]

One of the most forwarded videos ever, Leo Burnett’s ad featuring a kickboxing Kodiac bear arguably marked the birth of viral marketing.

8.      2009: Tourism Queensland – Best Job in the World

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI-rsong4xs]

This campaign extended far beyond the web to effectively become the world’s greatest PR stunt – generating more than £50m of equivalent paid-for ad space. Anyone still need convincing of the power of social media? No, I didn’t think so.

9.      2008: Burger King – Whopper sacrifice

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI4uzOAtPiE]

Delete ten friends and get a free whopper. Eventually removed by Facebook itself. Genius because it tapped into an existing truth – everyone has friends on Facebook you care so little about, you’d swap them for a whopper.

10.     2008: Cadbury’s – Gorilla

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo]

This was a game-changer in its humour, broad appeal and in showcasing that digital advertising can reach a wider (non-web-centric) audience.
Read the full article with analysis from Jimmy Mayman over at NetImperative

Watch the sad Nestle employees as they see off this chocolate wonder…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kozh2TPeebs]

…but what’s this? Has someone inserted a coin in the StreetFighter machine? Do we have a New Challenger? What is this unknown wonder called KitKat Chunky Caramel?

"the Park & Ride shoppers definitely looked different this year"

Because the Wii girlfriend was just to subtle, Alton Towers and Ultimo combined for this viral.

“Alton Towers Resort teamed up with Britains leading underwear brand, Ultimo to make sure women don’t make a boob on the rides this summer.

A group of test-riders donned a variety of Ultimo bras and were put through their paces on several rides, including Rita Queen of Speed and Spinball Whizzer, to test the durability and lift support of bras-and to make sure they were a snug fit.”

Whilst it’s an obvious viral choice for the guys, it just feels a little a little wide of the mark for the core audiences of Alton Towers and Ultimo. Yes, it will no doubt get a lot of viewers and maybe even some press but are they right viewers? Will it be the right press? We constantly work with clients to educate them about the difference between quantity and quality when it comes ot social media and this is a good example of quantity at the expense of quality. It’s much better to have lower exposure but to a more targetted audience. Neoco have delivered loads of word of mouth, viral and social media campaigns and consistently, when you look at the ROI, 1,000 qualitive targeted users are better than 50,000 quantitive broad-base users. Don’t fall for the trap of thinking high viewers/ fans/ friends = success.

One user posted “I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women.”

But unfortunately manufacturers don’t quite see the funny side and were quoted on the BBC saying “Not everyone can start out at the top and not everyone from our neck of the woods lives in a trailer or cruises Walmart to hook up.”

Quite… But not everyone has a Three Wolf Moon T-shirt!

Improve your life

This is great example of a successful (although involuntary) seeding and viral campaign. Neoco help brands do this all the time to great effect. Look at the brand, product or service that needs promoting, then identify a niche that we can use to amplify the message.

Thanks to BBC

new mini clubman - check out the viral

New viral launches for Mini which is a parody of all things viral. It’s small and fun but well worth a look – just like Mini!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HUmrDa5PPE&]

We often get clients asking us about all these different channels and the best way to communicate across them. Good news is that we are going to start running workshops and training days to help expand the knowledge and ability of our clients and their internal teams. This is open to people on either side of the fence (client or agency side).

Are you interested in any of the following? If so, go to http://ping.fm/rSWYc and register your interest.

* Mobile Marketing – Harnessing the power and potential of media targeting
* Online Marketing – Getting to grips with the power of online marketing
* PR – Getting to grips with how online fits into the PR mix
* Audience Building – Unlocking the keys to boosting your traffic and retaining customers
* Blogging – Authoring blogs that get readers and ratings
* Community & Web 2.0 – Building effective online communities
* How the Internet works – Understanding the key components that make up the Internet
* Podcasting – Getting to grips with designing and building podcasting strategies
* Media Targeting – Harnessing the power and potential of media targeting
* Search for Advertisers – Getting more profitable customers through search
* Search for Agencies – Getting more profitable customers for your clients through search
* Email Marketing – Getting to grips with email marketing
* Viral Marketing – Creating effective viral marketing messages
* Research for Online Audience Behaviour – Understanding your customers
* Word of Mouth & Advocacy – Engaging and motivating your audience to promote your brand
* Widgets – The way to create widgets that get results and exposure
* Trends – Understanding the strategic trends driving the digital economy
* Web 2.0 – Harnessing Web 2.0 practices and technologies in your business
* Web Project Management – Running web projects to deliver on time and within budget
Go to http://ping.fm/IqnOz and register your interest.

Earlier this month Facebook removed a branded application by fast food giant Burger King over fears that it was against their privacy code. But then that’s probably what Burger King wanted, seeing as it has won them global press beyond the capabilities of just a facebook application, not matter how ingenious. The whole affair has triggered multiple debates on the state of social networks, the place of applications and the effectiveness of simple but extreme marketing stunts.

The facebook application in point invited users to ditch their friends (or defriend as it is now technically known) in return for a free whopper. A fun concept that’s win:win for all. By exploiting the fact that adding friends on facebook has become rampant and meaningless they can offer the user a freebie in return for practically no cost (we can all think of 10 friends we only added out of politeness/drunkenness/confusion/because we have to work with them!!) and BK makes a very powerful point in the process. On one level they are proving that whoppers rank above some of our friends, but they are also proving that they understand their audience very well and they are not afraid of sticking their necks out.

Like other’s that have picked up on this over here, I’m sad that BK was only running the offer in the US. In terms of marketing strategy they have always seemed to be less locally focused than their biggest competitor, and it’s a shame that a campaign with such appeal to a UK market as well wasn’t rolled out over here – sometimes I even think that the clown cares about us Brits more!

A real strength of the application is that it’s non-intrusive. By its nature it doesn’t require you to pass it on virally to your friends and it’s temporary. This is a shift that Neoco is also embracing in the facebook applications we build for clients. It’s better to make a statement that people want to pass on of their own accord. What BK have done so well is grab hold of the right statement at the right time.

To those unfortunate enough to be forced to listen to my rants of personal grievance it will be known that Burger King have been my thoughts for other reasons of late. I had an interesting ‘debate’ with a member of their staff last week on being told that not only would BBQ sauce cost me extra, but it was not possible to swap the tomato sauce that had been forced upon me for a condiment of my own choosing. The next day at another branch of the same chain I was informed that, over night, the price of BBQ sauce had risen from 10p to 15p. Particularly irksome because I was all ready to swallow my pride and hand over my 10p but I didn’t have another 5 little pennies! I understand that this is probably my own fault for eating at Burger King twice in one week!

The moral of the story, however, is that actually going to a fast food chain is often not the nicest experience – involving bad service, dashed expectations, and pointless, faceless, policy (I’m not involving the quality of the food for obvious reasons). The challenge in marketing such brands is to manage expectation and get consumers engaged with a brand image that makes sense. As BK have shown, there’s still a lot of fun to be had, and that doesn’t have to mean just ticking new ‘healthy,’ ‘eco-friendly,’ ‘caring’ boxes.

And now I’m off to clear out my facebook of the friends I can do without and then reward myself with a burger…but without the incentive over here I will probably just buy it from the nearest store!

The husband ponders the wife's shopping bill

An utterly fantastic video from 1966 that speculates on what life will be like in 1999… so I thought I’d upload it to celebrate 2009! Unlike most videos from the past that speculated on flying cars and robots doing all our chores, this one went for the ‘home shopping’ angle, bank account unification and a way to send letters electronically all over the world… It is so funny the way they talk about ‘the wife’ and her shopping with ‘the husband’ picking up the bill. Aw, nuclear families.

[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EC5sbdvnvQM]

The possibilities are endless, and could open up a whole new set of opportunities for viral marketing. Check out the instructional video, or check out the example below:

[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CYlUcXs5xGQ&feature=iv]