We hope you’ve been enjoying our series on hiring an agency partner, social media and everything that could be categorized as rich and compelling stuff.  The questions for this three part Q&A with Brian Cross, Dan Callahan and Aaron Perlut came from SocialTrackr and Marketing Charts posts on hiring an agency and social media experience.

I bribed the final partner in the Elasticity Triumvirate with 10 pounds of bacon in order to go last in the series.  Being a man of great humility and a baconologist, he acquiesced.  Hold onto your bathrobes, an interview on Friday is never predictable.

How much of a campaign budget should go to digital?

Aaron Perlut, Chief Nuclear Mustache Grooming Specialist: Much of it depends on the specific target audience and their consumption of media.  A campaign for the Metamucil brand might be heavy on traditional media.  A campaign on Hispanic men might be purely mobile.  A campaign for 22-year-old women might target more social channels.  But there always needs to be balance between the varying mediums and the message must be consistent.

Has any of your digital work been leveraged for use in any medium such as print or broadcast?

Aaron: Yes. Generally when we develop a program, we build the creative backdrop first. Then we take that creative backdrop and lay out the channels, as well as the applications in those channels, for that creative approach. People’s attention spans are limited so we need to surround them with the same messages in multiple channels.

What is your philosophy on matching the appropriate technology to a campaign idea?

Aaron: Clearly you cannot create cookie cutter campaigns. They must be specific to the target demographic and the media consumption habits they demonstrate.

What has been your biggest viral marketing success story?

Aaron: Herpes……Oh, you said viRAL and not viRUS.  (Author note:  Yes, he really did say that.  It’s ok, he’s a creative genius.) Let me see here. The American Mustache Institute would have to be the one, especially when we used it as a medium for Quicken Online in 2009.

Who will create content? Can you share some samples of content creativity you have shown in the past?

Aaron:  My favorite one is an idea that got left on the cutting room floor. A pool manufacturer wanted to reach end-consumers, as opposed to pool and home builders, as a down economy meant fewer new pools and more upgrades. So we developed a “Pity the Pool” campaign around Mr. T who would show up in people’s back yards and verbally dress homeowners down for not having up-to-date pools.

Will you be able to transcend the messages on social media to connect to my brand?

Aaron: I am transcending to you now. Buy my product.

Fin.

^*Main Entry: ¹elas·tic
Pronunciation: \i-ˈlas-tik\
Function: adjective
a : capable of ready change or easy expansion or contraction : not rigid or constricted <an elastic concept> b : receptive to new ideas : adaptable <an elastic mind>

Recently, I published a few questions from SocialTrackr and Marketing Charts and responses from Brian Cross, managing partner of Elasticity.

Furious about my obvious disregard for their mustached excellence, the other partners demanded equal time on the blog which they produce.  Of course, I could not refuse.  I tracked down the most elusive of our partners who has never met an email thread-of-nonsense to which he did not unsubscribe.

So begins Part Deux of the series:

If you found yourself having to unilaterally make a decision on behalf of your client, would you execute work that builds the brand or makes the sale?

Dan Callahan, Director of Robot Strategies:  You can do both but, in this economic environment, I think you have to go for the sale with an eye toward using sales to build brand.  So much of social media seems to be aimlessly promoting brands that consumers, I think, are growing weary of a promotion without strategy.  Facebook, clearly, has become a ghetto of promotions gone wrong.   I believe consumers are looking for value and an efficient sales channel is one of the means to prove the value of the brand.

How have you spread awareness organically via social channels (or otherwise) as opposed to any paid media initiatives and how has that saved money for your clients?

Dan: We do this every day through all the social channels, creating communities for our clients who are willing to talk to customers directly and honestly. It’s turning into a new form of advertising that is more about information than hyperbole.

What’s your best example of integrating online and offline marketing?

Dan: My favorite was the digital treasure hunt we ran during the All-Star Game last summer. It combined both elements in as visual a means as possible – the contestants were literally running around downtown St. Louis looking for the tickets and answering questions at locations around the area.

Do you think small project teams have the ability to produce large scale digital assignments and if so how?

Dan: There are tools available to any agency that have pretty much erased the advantage larger organization have had. Beyond that, smaller organizations are proving to be more agile and less invested in traditional ideas. The key is the capabilities the company’s assets have and the projects they have worked on. The future is going to be written by those who learn from the past, not live in it.  (Author note:  Dan is a writer, don’t mess with him or you may end up in his book… about the future… which Elasticity is currently writing… because we’re elastic.  Sometimes I just can’t stop.)

^*Main Entry: ¹elas·tic
Pronunciation: \i-ˈlas-tik\
Function: adjective
a : capable of ready change or easy expansion or contraction : not rigid or constricted <an elastic concept> b : receptive to new ideas : adaptable <an elastic mind>

You have undoubtedly read the collection of blog posts and articles about choosing an agency.  For at least two years, posts from We Are Social and Digital Marketer to Unique Frequency and PR101 have outlined suggestions on how to cull the best from the herd.

In his post of the top 15 companies that “focus on social media” Jason Keath writes “Since almost every company would almost be it’s (SIC) own category, I am avoiding the categories for now.”  I don’t blame him.

In a marketing genre where the rules are being written (and broken) on a daily basis, it is no surprise that discerning an agency’s capabilities in the space is tricky.

Nevertheless, Social Media is the Shiny-Shiny.  It’s Hot and sometimes it’s a Hot Mess.  You need it, you know it, and you need help with it.

Don’t let fear or intimidation lead you to the wrong partnership.  There are some qualities to look for in an agency and secrecy and bravado are not among them.

Also, this just in:  Smoke and mirrors are out.

Since I’m really just here to raise the good-look factor and, of course, represent my gender, I posed a few of the questions from SocialTrackr and Marketing Charts to one of Elasticity’s managing partners:

How do you handle specialty work like mobile, social, eCRM, media, viral, digital OOH and other emerging channels?

Brian Cross, Director of Rocket Science: We are a specialty shop, so we fit some of these ‘specialty’ categories (hint: they won’t be specialty in the near future).  But to the core of what they are getting at – I believe that you should do what you do best and let the other experts do the rest.  A “Jack of all trades” doesn’t cut it anymore.  At Omnicom, I built the group by outsourcing the work we didn’t hold to our core.  We grew 10x in 2 years that way.  Look at digital shops that do their own CMS systems.  How do they expect to keep up with the open source community, or companies that specialize in CMS systems for their core?  And then wordpress comes along and wipes them all out.  Without a doubt, best-of-breed partnerships.

but that leads to another question (Author note: Brian is really smart and he likes to talk) which is “how do you handle best-of-breed partnerships?”  multi-agency collaboration and hand offs are difficult.  There is a special skill in that that comes with experience and building teams that know how to work together.  Throwing companies together to have a great partnership logo slide ain’t going to cut it.  Nor does a multi-office approach at the bigger agencies.  Too often, those city-specific PandL’s compete and even flying under the same banner doesn’t mean they can handle your work or that it will go as smoothly as promised at the new biz pitch.

Is there a particular design aesthetic your agency is known for and if not what is your approach to translating brands in the digital space?

Brian: Being a designer at heart, I’d like to say that we stand for a strong aesthetic, but the reality is that we are all about highlighting the personalities of our clients.  So our aesthetic is actually subdued with pops of creative color and personality.  That personality represents our clients.  So how do we translate a brand in the digital space?  Very easy.  We find out what the brand is about, who the people are.  We deconstruct the corporate speak.  The approved messaging that corp comm and the marketing science boys came up with.  We tear it all apart—disassemble the robot.  Then we reconstruct a human.  A personality.  A voice.  The cool thing is that the tools to express that voice are already there.  Digital media in the social sphere is made to amplify your voice.  Our voice just happens to carry further when it is more human.  Can I go back and describe our aesthetic as “human?”

How many of your online promotions have hit the million-person participation mark?

Brian: This is a crazy question.  I see the logic in that they are looking for successes, but shear numbers don’t always equate to success.  This shows a lack of understanding of the space.  Sure, if you want to define “participation” I can make an argument that we’ve done more than I can count on my fingers.  In things ranging from mustaches to TV content, to rental cars, and financial recruitment.  But were they successful in terms of the business goals?  Some were, some weren’t.  I think we’ve had more success reaching 5,000 influencers that participate heavily and recruit thousands more to our cause.  It’s the new math.  You no longer reach out to 1,000,000 in hopes of influencing 500.  You reach 500 and start to build advocates that can touch and reach 1,000,000.

How will you measure ROI? With what tools? What targets will you set and how will we benchmark these targets?

Brian: This is specific to each client.  But you need to define the “R” in ROI.  What are you trying to achieve?  If it’s a reputation management project, we may be monitoring online sentiment.  If it’s a search project, it may be how much 1st SERP real estate we take up.  If it’s an awareness campaign to drive trial of a new product, it’s the product trial numbers.  And so on and so forth.  This could be a blog post in and of itself, as I’ve been asked to calculate ROI several times.  It’s a financial equation that tracks money spent and money made.  It’s a very easy equation.  But what’s the ROI of the telephone?  What’s the ROI of a game of golf?  It’s important to draw digital marketing outcomes to bottom line business goals.  But blindly using ROI as a rallying cry isn’t the best way to judge an agency… (imho)

“H”, indeed, Mr. Cross.

^*Main Entry: ¹elas·tic
Pronunciation: \i-ˈlas-tik\
Function: adjective
a : capable of ready change or easy expansion or contraction : not rigid or constricted <an elastic concept> b : receptive to new ideas : adaptable <an elastic mind>

In Ken Auletta’s latest book, Zuckerberg is quoted saying, “Facebook is like a telephone conversation with all your friends on the same call. But on this call, your friends can share photographs, text, political summons to action, video, and music, or can click to make purchases… what [Social Networks] really are is a completely different paradigm for people sharing information.”

The critical piece of information here is the paradigm of sharing.  Within our social networks, it can be argued that our authentic selves have room to stretch.  Micro-blogging allows us pithy one-liners to communicate our deepest thoughts be they “TGIF” or a personal rant against whatever injustice has irked us that day.  Link uploads and ReTweets share the news that we find valuable, interesting or just plain hilarious and thereby defines us or further defines us to and within our circle.

The social environment is about showing our underbellies – the soft/gooey, the sarcastic or witty, the fiercely opinionated sides we don’t (always) show in our homogenized, politically correct, over-scheduled, constant-state-of-fear lives.  That’s why people are addicted to status updates – its personality voyeurism.

And while our country gets fat by eating our feelings, we are actually starving for personality – ours and others.  The social networking that occurs in digital environments like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Linked In, and Bebo satisfies a primal need to know and be known.   

When a company enters this revelation environment with nothing more to contribute than “Buy My Product,” the disconnect is jarring.  Rather than ingratiating themselves, companies risk discomfiting their audience of consumers and would-be consumers alike. 

Companies need a personality, not just a sales pitch.  This goes beyond a brand voice or a marketing message.  Advertising as usual will not ‘play in Peoria’ so to speak.  Whether a company gives a body to its personality as in “I’m a Mac,” borrows a famous body for endorsement, or just lets its humor loose on the world, showing some ‘flava’ in the social environment should be the lowest common denominator.

Sadly, it is not.

Too many companies confuse the social environment with a chance to push commerce.  Keep your business card; tell me about yourself.  Better yet, ask me about myself.  I’m an expert at something (even it that something is just consuming your products). 

Find out what I care about, what I worry about, what I laugh at, what irritates me.  Within community, there is a great opportunity to relate, bond, befriend, inspire, share, educate, and learn.  To do this, companies will need to show some personality.

Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.

I am a nerd for commercials.  I actually miss watching them sometimes and when I’m alone with my remote and a taped episode of “The Real Housewives” or “Life Unexpected,” I sometimes let them play rather than zip through them with the FF button.

As an admitted emotion-whore, I bestow L-O-V-E on commercials that evoke tears or outbursts of laughter.  To me, those are the very top of the tops.  I haven’t put too many spots in the “awesome” category.  Not because I’m picky or high-maintenance or judgmental, but because most TV commercials suck and they are SO not funny.

You know I’m right. 

The exception that set me off on this rant is the IKEA commercial where the husband and wife use sports analogies to praise their kitchen appliances.  This spot is LAUGH OUT LOUD funny.  They are high-fiving and hip-checking.  The wife gives an “ass-slap” to a utensil drawer and the husband chest-bumps the refrigerator.  I cackled with laughter the first time I saw it. 

I can’t point you toward IKEA’s brilliance because when I went looking for the commercial online, I couldn’t find it.  In fact, I went to Ikea.com, Youtube, Ikea’s Facebook Page, and did a Google search with no success.

This is a customer relations #FAIL. (favorite Twitter trend)

Why?  Because I would have posted it, sent it, endorsed it, and watched it over and over.  (I told you, I’m a nerd for commercials.)  If a brand is going to take the time and trouble to produce a clever, well-scripted commercial, why on earth wouldn’t that brand leverage it on every consumer touch-point imaginable?  The idea is to break-through the cluttered media landscape, no?  Why not give your brand message a fighting chance by employing a blend of media?  Companies need to cast their consumer net both broadly (TV) and deeply (Interactive).

Social media offers a way for consumers to opt-in to, talk about, and “Like” engagement with your brand.  But if they can’t find what they want because you forgot to employ some SEO to support your marketing efforts or can’t be bothered to refresh content on your website and fan page, you both lose. 

The opportunity to become part of an organic conversation with consumers is lost.  The content which could have added depth and character to the brand’s online identity is relegated to a one-way medium.  And most importantly, the company causes frustration by not providing findable content for a consumer’s search.

The consumer loses the chance to be funny, show off her taste and connections, and maybe influence the purchase decisions of her 600 or so closest friends.  If her friends are a representative sample, half of those will be planning some kind of remodeling on their homes this year.  Multiply this by the 69K fans IKEA has on their Facebook page and we are talking about a boatload of kitchens. 

IKEA, Are you picking up what I’m laying down?

The basic concept of Triangulated Marketing is leveraging each consumer touch-point to influence, promote, and grow the next.  The social component of Triangulation is where momentum happens.   

So, the moral for IKEA?

Don’t be so square.

Big Brother

Privacy has always been an issue in digital media, interactive or otherwise.  From the early days of unsecured transactions to profiling products using PII, technology has always outpaced integrity on the web.  As long as there are people on the internet, there will be others who take advantage of them.

The ACLU has a post urging people to write Google’s, Eric Schmidt, in an effort to convince the CEO not to enter into an agreement with the National Security Agency.  Plenty of attention was given to a site making fun of people who put themselves at risk of being robbed by what they disclose online, and yet, services like Foursquare, where your location is broadcast to your fans, friends, and followers, gain more users every day.

It doesn’t take much effort to track down friends online (and similarly, people with an ax to grind can easily find their mark).  More people are opening their lives to the WORLD (wide web) and in more transparent ways than ever before.  Inevitably, some of this information will be misused.

I would argue, however, that the joy of finding that friend from high school now facing her life’s battle with cancer or that generous soul who took a chance on hiring you for your first job or that old flame who happens to also be single is worth the risk of joining the party.  Cue Lee Ann Womack.

As writers all, we must now be fervent in our attention to the developments in social media.  It is in our interest to know AP Style (whether we adhere to it or not).  It is in our interest to uphold standards of integrity and to defend our values.  ‘Taste” and “Humor” are inherently subjective but decorum and dignity are always appropriate.  It is in our interest to follow laws and guidelines related to online publishing.  By participating in the public forum, you now have a vested interest.  With great power, comes great responsibility.

Icarus

I often wonder about the hubris involved in some social networking activities.  I think there is something wholly self-important about posting one’s thoughts and opinions everyday, several times a day.  There are times when I shake my head at myself and think, “Who can possibly care about this?!?!?!”  For many, Facebook and Twitter have become a digital diary.  In fact, there are even applications that allow you to read “your year in posts.”  I truly enjoy the personal insights of friends and colleagues and I absolutely depend upon the news posts and retweets to keep me current.

But I absolutely respect the democracy of the medium.  My blog posts are just as public as those by people with much fancier credentials.  Tweets, status updates, blog comments and news articles now vie for popularity in search results.  It is this reason that companies need take social communication by the you-know-whats before they are summarily you-know-what over the barrel by it.  Consumers are going to talk about your company, your product, your employees, your services.  Sometimes they are friends, sometimes they are frenemies, and sometimes they are just frightful.  The point is, social media is like voting, you can’t complain about the results unless you participate.

Crime and Punishment

Possibly the most serious threat that social media poses is to your livelihood (read: J-O-B and M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E).  Many a trusting n00b has left his privacy settings open for all, only to have some ’splaining to do when the boss (or the wife) questions him on Monday morning.  Indeed, your life is not your own if you post on open social networks.  Once the information is posted, it can be forwarded, tagged, retweeted, and even altered.  (*gasp*  Oh the horror!)

In a country where at-will employment is the norm and corporate rights out-weigh individual rights, employees need not say or do anything disparaging to themselves or their employer to put themselves at risk for termination.   Even the mere act of updating social networks during work hours is enough for dismissal.  It has been reported that as many as 8% of companies have fired employees for their (mis)use of social media.  Still, I have seen some furious Facebook posts about bosses, clients, and coworkers that have made me blush.  There is a fascinating article authored by William A. Herbert, Deputy Chair of the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, on the workplace consequences of online behavior.  In many ways, the law has yet to catch up with the growth in the space.

According to several articles, as many as 20% of divorces in the U.S. now cite Facebook as a factor.  Seriously.  Title this “What were they thinking?” and put it on Leno.

The Internet gives us a false sense of anonymity that can lead us to blab, boast, and belittle with little thought to consequence.  I am guilty, myself, of being less than cryptic in my proverbial flip-of-the-bird posts.  The lure of having your grievances heard (by anyone at all) is a stealthy siren.  But digital diarrhea can cause irreparable damage to your business, your reputation, and your relationships.

To err is human, to forgive divine.  As we learn and grow through this space, I hope people, companies, and governments navigate with a moral compass but then I am an optimist at heart.  In reality, we can only hope to learn from our mistakes and from those we trip over.

People have always used communication to share ideas, debate ideals, and promote information.  The written word allows for the sharing of information broadly, for better or for worse, across space and time.  Social media has become the medium of choice for the 6-second, 140 character, attention-deficit generation and the companies pursuing them.

If you want to keep your job, your friends, and your wits, what you say online should never be more than one-degree away from what you would say in-person… to your boss… with your grandmother listening.

Et tu, common sense?

And you know what? These aren’t going anywhere because they elicit chatter about the ads and by transitive property, the brand. Sometimes the halo-effect is enough. But clearly, they break through the cluttered information landscape.

Undoubtedly, you’ve also noticed a trend of late, where marketers are using a story unrelated to their brand attributes to sell themselves. This sudden influx of corporate responsibility and cause marketing ads is no accident.

The grotesque abuse of excess that led to the recent recession has made many consumers do a 180 from bling and instead to looking at companies (and corporate leadership) whose core values align with their own.

According to a study by cause-marketing agency, Cone Inc:

• (79%) Americans who are active on new media believe companies and nonprofits should use these
channels to raise money and awareness for causes.

• 60% have used some form of online or new media to support a cause, primarily through email (33%), Web sites (29%) and social networks (27%),

• 85% of respondents say new media provides them with an opportunity to learn about new issues

• (79%) Americans are inspired to support a cause through new media when they have the
opportunity to choose which issue a company will support.

And my favorites:

• 30% have made a purchase based on POSITIVE information learned about a product, company or brand.

• 23 percent have switched brands or boycotted a company based on NEGATIVE information learned about a product, company or brand.

S.C. Johnson has had “A Family Company” as their tagline for years but really brought it home when they announced efforts to convert landfill methane to power for their manufacturing facilities, wind turbines for power at their corporate offices, and put their Greenlist initiative in ads.

And of course, going “green” isn’t the only hot topic in corporate responsibility.

How many of us had heard about Tom’s footwear before they were featured in an AT&T ad campaign? Think Pepsi’s “Refresh Everything” campaign is a revolution? You must have missed American Express’ “Members Project.”

But even “giving” isn’t the end-game.

Check out recent ads from Allstate and State Farm, perennial combatants in the insurance racket. Both companies are going after heart strings and a sense of responsibility, honor, and the human instinct to survive. As much as I love Dennis Haysberts voice, both commercials come off forced next to Liberty Mutual’s “What’s your Policy?” campaign.

Cause marketing/ corporate social responsibility is a way to connect with your audience within an agnostic environment. By aligning your interests and contributions to those of your consumers, you can forge a stronger relationship with them. You give yourself the legitimacy of commonality to engage them in conversation. You invite your consumers to share their thoughts, emotions, and concerns with you. You give people a reason to believe that your company is run by people…and that those people are good.

Social Media is intrinsically about conversations. Marketing is about increasing a company’s bottom line. Companies who want to market in the social media space should focus on doing well by doing good.

If Sustainability is the new Greed, then Good is the new Sexy.

Bring it back.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock only Harry Winston could afford or ignoring posts by one of my partners in crime, you’ve seen the statistic touting “85 percent of all brand purchases are made by women.” But did you know that 85 percent translates to something like $7 TRILLION in spending power?

Chicks rule.

Many of the advertisers wooing them, however, do NOT.

Roughly 91 percent of women think advertisers don’t really understand them. That may have something to do with only 3 percent of creative directors actually being women. Or, it could be that brand managers often use a “focus group of one” to determine their marketing strategy. Or maybe it’s just that the typical demographic stereotypes are total bunk. (I’ll say ‘D’ – All of the above.)

Think I’m kidding? See for yourself. Mom Logic posted some of the worst of the worst in an effort to shame brands into higher standards.

The demographic dichotomy is that designing marketing to make men happy may, in fact, alienate all of your female consumers.

Case in point, Burger King(R) has missed the mark by targeting their ads to the lowest common denominator, yet their CEO recently “discovered” that women were a huge segment of their consumers. (Insert sarcasm here.) Weird, huh?

I have one word to describe a recent ad aimed at kids and moms for BK’s SpongeBob meal prize… FAIL.

Conversely, successful advertising to women can actually better serve your male consumers as well.

So, how do we engage this audience of material girls wielding their wealth willfully? The conversation with them has to match the Elasticity of the demographic itself. Women have been stretching boundaries for centuries. Isn’t it time you join them?

Clearly, it doesn’t take a rocket-scientist, social media guru or both to understand that women are social beings. Yes, on average we talk more (about 3 times as much as men). We (often) ask advice and seek opinions before formulating our own. We (usually) listen to our sisters, girlfriends, daughters, friends, mothers, and female colleagues. We rant (Ask Motrin).

As the saying goes, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”

But we also rave, especially to our female posse.

Kelly Skoloda, author of Too Busy To Shop, writes, “Gain the trust of one woman and you gain the trust of all who trust her.”

Social media has become a valued source of information and entertainment for many women. eMarketer published a study done by Blogher and iVillage about the growth of social media at the expense of other media.

Women use social media to gather information, express opinions, discuss topics/brands/ companies/ experiences, connect and share. Women are having conversations online everyday – women who spend $7 trillion a year, women talking about companies, women who are discussing brands.

Brands have the opportunity to engage and delight their female consumers by participating in social media. The rules are simple – just act like a veteran husband:

· Listen attentively

· Ask for input

· Invest TIME with the one(s) you love

This doesn’t just make sense intuitively; it makes cents financially… quite a lot of cents!  Reports (.pdf) show that the most socially engaged brands have grown 18% on average over last year.

Women’s friendships – on or offline – are the jewels of our lives.

If you want them married to your brand and your brand only, “put a ring on it,” socially speaking.

We do.

Do you?