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>

Now, that’s not to say that any individual web site or Facebook page, or video, or flash game or iPhone app, etc.  is necessarily mediocre.  There are many award winning pieces out there I’m sure.  But when you look at the effectiveness of a balanced campaign on the whole–where online and offline compliment each other and work with each other–there are few examples that are really worth the $250-$450/hr price rates you are paying at those agencies.  Hell, I’d venture to say there are few campaigns out there worth $150/hr.

I’d also like to extend an olive branch out to the digital groups of those agencies: it’s not your fault.  From the colleagues I’ve met in the various groups, you are immensely talented.  And when I meet you at the next industry event, let me buy you a drink.  Because the tension and frustration of what you deal with on a daily basis, being relegated to the last few slides of the presentation, or the last 10% of the budget (only to be the first cut when there are ‘write offs’ to be dealt out for ‘client satisfaction’ and ‘over-servicing.’) and countless other battles you endure take their toll.

But the problem is that the ‘leaders’ haven’t figured it out yet, so the talent is mostly wasted.

Let’s look at it this way.  Have you had a Kolache?  They are fantastic for breakfast.  They are also a big trend (if you can call a breakfast food a trend after bacon has so dominated the foodscape pre-noon).  So imagine you are at the fancy hotel itching to order your $25 eggs benedict and $15 hash brown patty.  But you heard about this Kolache and you want to try it.  Now, there is this fantastic Czech bakery right across the street that has the best, authentic Kolaches in the city.  And they are $5.  But the hotel doesn’t want to see you and your 3 business partners leave to try one.  That’s lost revenue.  So they decide to make you one.  That way, they can still sell their $45 oatmeal bowls to your friends and keep all that revenue ‘in house.’  The hotel is a big name hotel with critically-acclaimed chefs, so you decide to stay and try their version of the Kolache and pay $25.  This is a win-win.  You don’t have to leave the comfort of the familiar name hotel, and the hotel gets to try and figure out how to make a Kolache on your dime.

Was it good?  I’m betting not.  I’m betting that it was mediocre at best.

But that is how digital is done at the big name agencies.  Don’t just take my word for it. B.L. Ochman just wrote about it in Advertising Age. It’s a very scary and accurate look into the sausage factory.  And it’s true.  I still remember being in very similar scenarios.  The pitch is tomorrow and somebody ‘upstairs’ wants ’some digital’ in the presentation.  “Can you knock out a couple of slides we can ’stick’ in the presentation?”

Better yet, in competing with the incumbent for one particular project, a compromise needed to be struck on who was going to do what part of the project.  My agency’s response?  “Our focus isn’t really digital, so why don’t you guys take that part?”

Let’s play a quick guessing game here.  What do you think happened when our digital team took the deck we were supposed to ’stick in a couple of slides’ and actually put a bullet or two on EVERY other tactic to tie in digital across the entire campaign and make it look more integrated?

But enough about the process.

You may be saying that in today’s economy, no one has the room to take a chance.  I think the phrase is “nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM?”  So to protect your job, why not pay for mediocre.  And middle of the road is not necessarily a “waste of money,” as my blog post title here suggests.

Well, let’s look at why it is a waste of money.  If I were to add one more thing to B.L. Ochman’s post, it would be that when a client does buy off on slide 29, typically the work on that slide is relegated to junior agency folk who may be experienced in social media, but not as it pertains to actual PR, reputation or other business goals.  And what happens?  Well, look at Jennifer Leggio’s post last year on social media failures.  (there are plenty more of these–just Google ’social media failure’).

Or, how about at a recent example: Nestle.

Now there is plenty already out there on Nestle.  But I will link you to this blog that interviewed Porter Novelli.  One of the takeaways from the Facebook debacle?  “One of the things Nestle did wrong was to use a junior position to respond to the comments, but they should have used a more experienced senior position to deal with the online attacks. ”

This is not all that uncommon, though.  The same arrogance or misunderstanding of the medium that causes Slide 29 to happen are the same people that don’t think highly enough of the medium to put skilled people on the project.  And as much as I disagree with a few points in this next blog (will be another post I’m sure), it still gives a great viewpoint of how agencies still think of the medium: 10 Ways digital agencies F up social media

So, I come back to my thesis statement.  The large traditional agencies do mediocre digital work at best, and overcharge you for it.  Perhaps it’s time to break out of your comfort zone and go try that Czech bakery across the street?  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  And at $5, what does it hurt?

If you are looking to try something new, here are some tips on how to choose an agency.

For further reading on Small Agencies vs. The Big Guys:
http://elasticthought.com/2008/09/a-case-for-small-agencies-part-1.html
http://elasticthought.com/2008/09/the-case-for-small-agencies—the-people.html
http://elasticthought.com/2008/09/the-case-for-small-agencies-part-3.html

Saturday Night Live has 30+ years of background in this.  They’ve poked fun at everything from presidents to popular culture and their Weekend Update has been the satirical news of record.  The Onion took a further step at creating new humorous antidotes, stories and otherwise and placing them out as a news media outlet (print, video, online, blog) like any other.

Then came the popularity of shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.  The Daily Show taking what was started with Weekend Update and expanding to new audiences and The Colbert Report taking on the political blow-hard pundits who are gaining in popularity as of late.

But the traditional news media continued to stand firm.  They did not even acknowledge the other avenues existed.  The news was paramount.  And important.  Important enough that humor, parody and satire had no place.  And those that delivered the news?  Just as important.  There were no humorous angles to Dan Rather or Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow.

And thus, public relations as an industry followed suit.

But things are changing now.  I’m sure there is no one instance that was the tipping point, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it was the Daily Show.  An IU study found the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to be as substantive as network news.  A Rasmussen Report showed 32% of adults ages 30-39 believe that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are capable of replacing traditional new outlets.  And nearly one-third of younger Americans see Colbert and Stewart as true alternatives to traditional news outlets.

That’s a big impact.  So how did traditional news outlets respond?  They started slowly.  They played clips on their shows (well, the cable news guys did–they have a lot of time to fill) to get a laugh, to prove a point that fit their political agenda, or attacked the satirical shows in retribution.

But then Brian Williams from ‘NBC Nightly News’ started showing up as a repeat guest on The Daily Show.  It was humorous, genuine, and a reach to cross into the audiences that watch the program.

But last night was a new milestone in my opinion.  If you haven’t seen the piece on Chatroulette, you must go now and watch it. (I’ll wait). Did you count the media personalities in that piece?  At least 5.  All 3 major new network anchorpersons (ABC,CBS, NBC) as well as some cable news for good measure– MSNBC and Fox Business.  And they weren’t just mocking the video roulette site.  They were poking fun of themselves.  They were poking fun of their industry.  And they were doing it on The Daily Show’s terms.

They showed that the news doesn’t have to always take itself so seriously.

Why?  Well, for one, to get viewers.  But it’s more than that.  It’s an attempt to show that they are human.  They are endearing themselves to their audience, or better yet, a new potential one.

And they did it through humor and self-deprecation.

So, if you made it with me this far into a long blog post, my question is this: why hasn’t the Public Relations Industry followed suit?  Why have they continued to act as if they are above the fray?  Why have they insisted that the news is more important than any humor based program you can think up.  (And by news, I mean EVERY press release ever written for any client need–big or small)  Why would they not follow the actual media they are working with?

This is not an indemnification of the industry as a whole, only to say this: lighten up, you may just actually be more effective as an agency/industry if you do.

We have found at Elasticity that humor, parody, and the lighter side of human nature have phenomenal appeal.  Stories are placed more frequently.  Programs take off and go “viral” with greater frequency, and we’re able to break through the clutter.  We’re able to endear our clients to their audiences.

Another example we talked about this week.  Ole’ Miss is replacing their beloved Col. Reb with a new mascot.  The story is that Admiral Ackbar is a leading contender.  We all heard this story and it took off like wildfire.  Do you think you would have heard about this story had they been thinking about replacing their mascot with a bear, or an eagle?  (though it may have been picked up by Colbert since he hates bears)

This is a highly controversial topic right now, and those who practice this type of communications are not taken serious.  But it is catching on.  There are more and more every day that see this.  And in time, the larger agencies may just play ball on our terms, much like the major news networks participated in Chatroulette.

Now, this is not to say that the news is all humorous, nor to say that no news is actually legitimate.  Only to say that humor often times breaks through clutter and the news media is starting to catch on.  You don’t have to be 100% serious 100% of the time.  Having a “human” face often times endears you to your audience.

And isn’t that what “public relations” is all about?  Endearing yourself to your audience?

]]> http://goelastic.com/theblog/index.php/2010/03/does-humor-belong-in-pr/feed/ 1 http://goelastic.com/theblog/index.php/2010/02/dialogues-are-a-girls-best-friend/ http://goelastic.com/theblog/index.php/2010/02/dialogues-are-a-girls-best-friend/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:54:44 +0000 Christine http://www.goelastic.com/theblog/?p=658

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?

And I’m not just talking about where a company’s prospective customers are getting their information. We’re talking about how consumers interact with the information, how they perceive the sources from which it comes, whether they trust corporate websites, if it’s more powerful coming from a friend or a third party review, and so on.

It’s all changed, and many corporate marketing budgets are being wasted on programs that have little to no impact.

This video does a nice job of poking fun at those who need to wake up and smell the consumer as they are still lost in the wilderness — and the wilderness is getting crowded.

You’re welcome.

So we found it, well, really funny when Eight O’Clock Coffee posted the video below which has received props from the likes of Ad Age, something called SearchPerspective, and MediaPost.

This video might have been instructive in, say, 2005 – 06. But today, it strikes me as, well, hilarious, I guess. I just wish she had included a Kermit the Frog reference like this version:

When virtual worlds like Second Life were capturing the fascination of some, pundits forecasted we’d be living our lives in them. But while that faded, the reality has become that in a self-informatory sense, many literally now live inside of Facebook.

It’s not just the chatting, ranting, IMing, games, meeting future spouses, or read targeted ads about “Hot Asian Singles In Your Area” that’s interested me.

What I find fascinating is that we’re beginning to use Facebook as our primary source for news.

Consider that more than 86 percent of our loitering in Facebook is spent meandering through the Feed section, clicking on links people are posting. We’re checking out what friends are up to and slowly moving down the list.

But then we see a Facebook friend – we’ll call him Dan — who posts, “Really interesting piece on the plight of primate yoga instructors” with a link. You and Dan both love monkeys, of course, so you click and read all about it.

Forget going to CNN.com. You do that a few times with varying friends and it’s back to work or time to go pick up the kids.

For companies and brands, the landscape is changing dramatically. And it’s something that again will make and landscape even more about people than the brands that have tried to leverage Facebook’s connectivity to the consumer.

We’ve seen that many companies now have Facebook Fan Pages. Most don’t know why they are doing it. They figure their competition is there, so they should be too. That, or their PR or ad agency, which understands the implications even less, suggested a “Facebook strategy” (which is hilarious in and of itself).

Until now, the unwitting value for brands or companies on Facebook has had nothing to do with the Page itself, but in getting in people’s Feeds. If the brand can get into consumers’ Feeds, it gains a direct channel to a consumer to broadcast a message that hopefully will create interest. And as Brenna Hanley notes on The Next Generation, if a company wants to reach, say, millennials, they’d better provide some incentives worth paying attention to (a pet monkey would really work for me).  All this just to  drive the consumer either back to the Page or another online portal. That’s the Facebook value proposition for most companies.

Now, however, Facebook has changed the rules in a development that will take hold any day now, as getting a company’s message into its fans’ Feeds is no longer a right but a privilege that will be earned by publishing content that a company’s fans must react to.

In the past, all updated content from a Fan page appeared in Feeds section of anyone who was a fan of your brand’s page.  Content will now be surfaced based on a Facebook algorithm that takes into account how people are engaging with the company’s content that it publishes. The more people visit the Page and the more they comment on, and like, the content, the more Facebook will insert your updates into their feeds.

So as it was designed, Facebook is once again going to become even more about the people who use it, and less about the companies struggling to understand its value.

What’s the next big thing to happen in the Facebook world? Who knows, but I’m sure I’ll read about it in someone’s Feed.

Carry on.