TheSocialCMO

The tribe or the person?

A parade of tourists is going to walk past your store today. Each is a separate opportunity for you to tell a story, to engage, to make a sale.

A connected community of readers is going to read what you wrote today. A cultural shift will occur among a small group of people because they will share, discuss and engage with each other about what you wrote.

Here’s the key question: are you trying to change an individual or are you trying to incite/inspire/redirect the tribe?

Direct marketers traditionally deal with separate events. Each catalog, each clickable ad is a unique transaction. In the world of separates, the simple test makes sense. You don’t pollute the pool when you try different transactions or different products with different people.

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My Recent Abomni-Channel Retail Experiences

OMNICHANNELThe entire retail channel is ablaze these days with talk of Omni-channel retail. Who’s doing it right, what are the best logistics strategies to support and the like.

Well those of you who know me will agree that for a retail guy I’m really not that much of a shopper. And funnily enough on two recent store visits to different retailers in the Greater Toronto Area I experienced not one but two abomni-channel retail trainwrecks.

Recently I went to a store in Newmarket around 4 pm to get two products with my son. He had seen the products on the retailer’s website and site did not say it was only available online so we went to store to pick one up.

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Understanding Luxury Goods

A luxury good gets its value from its lack of utility and value. A typical consumer would look at what it costs and what it does and say, “that’s ridiculous.”

When a good like this (and it might be a service as well) comes to market, it sometimes transcends the value equation and enters a new realm, one of scarcity and social proof. The value, ironically, comes from its lack of value.

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How to Become a B2B Social Sales Machine

Social adoption rates are rocketing and the impact of social networking within society continues to grow. But surprisingly enough, there are many in the business to business marketing sphere who still don’t “get” it. With this in mind I recently put together a fast moving and to the point keynote presentation to open the eyes of B2B salesforces and socially energize them!

“Becoming a B2B Social Sales Machine” in simple, sales oriented terms explains what the B2B social networking sales opportunity means. Sharing how both individuals and ultimately the combined organization can leverage content, connections, context, collaboration and community to drive real results!

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The magic of a spec

“If I build this, will it delight you?”

Time spent building a spec that gets a ‘yes’ to this question is always time well spent. The spec describes what victory feels like, not necessarily every element of what’s to be built. A spec is an agreement before the agreement, it moves the difficult job of getting in sync with your client from the end of the process to the beginning.

Creatives of every stripe are so happy to get the assignment, so eager to get to work that we often forget to agree on what we’re setting out to do in the first place. It’s fun to nod your head and say, “I understand,” but even something as simple as cooking dinner deserves a few more moments of interaction before the knives are sharpened and the oven is turned on.

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Evolving stories FROM: Corporate Size & Stats TO: The People Within

Humanizing Storytelling for Business & Brands: Evolution theme #1

 

“There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.”  – M. Scott Peck

The traditional stats such as the number of employees, office locations and number of years in business used to be the lead-in, if not the main points in a corporate introduction and story.   Phrases such as “In business since..” or “the largest manufacturer of…” was often believed to provide credibility by its very declaration.  Thereby commanding respect from others.  Employees were usually referred to as a number or in general and in aggregate form.  The typical exceptions for highlighting an employee by name was reserved for the prominent leaders that businesses felt should be of interest to investors and the public.

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Seven Ways to Humanize Storytelling for Business & Brands

New post series by Anneliza Humlen @ADHumlen exploring the evolution of storytelling and themes.

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“Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it” – Hannah Arendt

Prior to the emergence of social networks, brand stories would typically unfold as a controlled narrative told from the perspective and interests of the business/brand.   As traditional media such as TV, print and digital brought such stories to life, distinct traditions formed in how stories were communicated and the content of the stories themselves.   The combination of absolute control and the limits imposed by such traditions, would often limit the growth and appeal of the stories.  Many of the story themes that were once regarded best practice and believed to be useful, we now know via social media as ineffective in generating meaningful and enduring interest.   The new tradition of storytelling for business/brands evolves from what “THEY (corporation) want people to know,” to the stories that people can relate to on a human level.  The story themes that support a more “human” centered form of storytelling have now become the  “new traditions” in growing business/brand interest.

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Make every piece of social content count

I hate the phrase ‘content is king.’ Content isn’t king. Content is as common as dirt, and there’s far too much of it about. If you really think the world is waiting for your brand to pump more ‘visual creativity’ into the space, you are deluded.

We want to see pictures, stories and opinions from friends, family and independent, likeminded strangers. The last thing we need is more white noise from brands who make the following statements in their weekly content meetings:

“Let’s make sure we push all that out in social too.”

“Tell the intern what you’re doing so she can put it on Facebook.”

“We need to be relevant. We should definitely do a Wimbledon/summer festivals/Egyptian riots themed quiz.”

“But people can never get enough pictures of cats/food/Cara Delevingne.”

However. There is a place for brand-created content in social, as long as every single piece is designed to serve a purpose and provoke a reaction. We’re not talking retweets or likes. We’re talking about three simple categories:

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The Accidental Narcissist And The Future Of [Connected] Customer Engagement

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Have you ever noticed that your Facebook News Feed is the digital equivalent to “It’s a Wonderful Life?” Perhaps you’ve likened your Instagram stream to that of  “Lifestyles of the Digital Rich and Internet Famous.”

In each network, and across multiple social streams, you’re fed a visual buffet of seflies, travel, food, fashion, and celebrations. In assemblage, they tell the story of life well lived, or at least a life well curated. At the center of each of these experiences is the person living and sharing them in real time.  Every day that passes, it seems that a growing network of our friends, family, and colleagues are charmed with this picturesque life.

Some may see this behavior as self-centered, self-promotional, or view it as a form of attention seeking, but at a human level, it’s simply a new form of self-expression and an open invitation to interact.

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Social Business Strategy: Vision, Purpose and Value drive a new era of digital engagement

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In an era when media is largely created and broadcast by the few to the many, social media emerged to facilitate the co-creation of media in addition to creating it. While difficult to trace its origins, the philosophy of social media dates back to the mid-1990s. It wasn’t until the mid 2000s however, that businesses would encounter the idea of a new medium where brand democracy prevailed over brand dictatorship.

Suddenly the voice of the customer took on an entirely new meaning and the promise of customer-centricity and engagement was thrust into the spotlight. But after all these years, businesses remain confounded. Even though most are experimenting with social media, how it improves relationships while impacting important business metrics is persistently elusive.

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