Nike, I'm taking your bait

Reactions are running the gamut from love to hate to confusion. I can't decide my reaction because I can't decide what Nike's goal was. Help me figure it out?

• Setting the stage to move forward. "We're not going to ignore the Tiger issue. We can yank his ads or we can run them like nothing happened...or we can do something awesome."
  
• Generate some BUZZ! "Dude, let's do something controversial about Tiger Woods. The bloggers will love it!"
• Branding. "Everybody fucks up, even the most successful athletes in the world. Face your shit, own up to it, get past it, and just do it. It's totally on brand. Let's get a writer on this."

I hope it's the third one but I'm not sure. What do you think? Is it succeeding?

How to get a job in advertising

I met with some NDSU kids last week and gave them the scoop on how to get a job in advertising. I can't lie, I was shocked to see the blank faces when we explained to them how potential employers check out your Facebook and how you need to be on LinkedIn. I told them, "Get a blog. You have. To get. A blog." It's 2010, am I right? You must take every single opportunity to surround your potential employers with your brilliance. When they Google you, don't you want to explode their search results with glowing insights and evidence that you get integrated communication?

It's like social media for brands, I guess. If you can post behind-the-scenes footage in social media and help your audience feel like they know you, why wouldn't you? If you have the opportunity to preview the product online as much as possible, aren't you way more likely to buy?

Go read my tips and please leave me some comment love over there so my co-workers can see that I have really smart friends and I don't just creep in my basement lair all day long.

(Also: all the Yaybies have stellar Google results. I love us.)

Second Favorite Commercial of All Time

You should remember that my favorite commercial of all time is Coca-Cola Ringtone. But the Vancouver Olympics and P&G have given me my second favorite.

Can't embed but click for the YouTube

Perfectly simple, perfectly emotional, perfectly on brand. I cannot get enough of this spot. Love.

And maybe in life, too.

me: all you have to do to succeed in social media is be nice and be real

Erin: fact



Debate in the comments.

Pizza Turnaround; Breadstick Standstill

Jameson and I ordered Domino's tonight at my insistence because I've been totally mesmerized by the Pizza Turnaround campaign. Some will argue that it's an admission that Domino's had shitty pizza. Well, yeah, it is. But it's also the only way they could ever get customers (like me) who had made up our minds that Domino's = failfest to try it again. Also, it's an admission that they are listening to what people are saying, and their social media has gone from crisis management to being reactive and receptive.

Anyway.

The new pizza was pretty, pretty, pretty good. I'd say at least Pizza Hut quality. But I'm not here to talk about pizza. I'm here because online we ordered breadsticks:

Pretty standard, 8 pieces with dipping sauce. Yum. We received:

Perhaps Pizza Turnaround really was just an ad campaign, and not an actual recommitment to quality? Sad face.

Farmville Dreamin'

me: farmville now sometimes redirects to famrville.com from facebook...

Erin: whaat

me: right!
i mean the FB connectivity is still there
i bet they're getting more ad opportunities

Erin: right

me: there are no advertisers on farmville.com yet
but
there can be
if i were an advertiser i'd insist on game integration, not banners
i mean cmon
yes i want to gift my friends a Ford pickup

Erin: RIGHT

me: or they have these theme limited edition items, they just had all these fair-type decorations. yes i want the minnesota users to see MINNESOTA STATE FAIR gear
or like wells fargo has the college effort. i want the college users to have a wells fargo sponsored coin box
frickin that would be insane

i'm gonna just yaybia this snippet

Erin: SNIPPLET

I Want TwitterPeek to Die

For your Friday reading pleasure, I present: The most bullshit device to ever grace Holiday 2009 shopping lists, the TwitterPeek.

I can't even fully describe how ridiculous this is, so I will resort to a list of reasons I hate it.

1. BULLSHIT FLAG on "expensive data plans" and people without smart phones. The last survey from ChangeWave Research says that a full 39% of US mobile users own smartphones. I have a hard time believing that number but they have the trend to back it up, so we'll go with it.
2. YOU DON'T NEED A SMARTPHONE TO USE TWITTER. Unlimited texting is not that expensive and if you're that in love with Twitter/communications, you probably have it.
3. Let's say you're a Twitter user. Odds are you're somewhat tech savvy in general. You're also extremely like to own or want to own a smartphone...not carry around another single-purpose device. Multitasking, I can has?
4. It's $100 with service for the first 6 months and $8/month service after that. How is that expense justified, but a smartphone with OH, I DON'T KNOW, THE ENTIRE INTERNET isn't?? (Or you can get lifetime service for $199. The extra $100 works out to about 12 additional months' service fees. Because Twitter will be the micromessaging service of choice for the next another 18 months. Er, wait, no. Moving on...)
5. If nothing else, there's the iPod Touch. Starts at $199 with no service plan. "Oh, but you need Wi-Fi." Honestly, how many places do you go that you will need Twitter but don't have Wi-Fi? Your car? A bike ride?
6. Devices should do more, not less. Don't you want to kill several birds with one high-functioning stone?

I want TwitterPeek to crash and burn. Its stupidity infuriates me.

Special thanks to Alicia for the graphic. I <3>

Case Study in Awesome

You know that feeling you get see something you wish you'd thought of? The one that reminds you why you love this godforsaken industry in the first place?

@UrBaconMeCrazy gives me that delicious bacon-y feeling. Perfect fit for how consumers actually use Twitter. Specifically: conversational tone, Twitpics, and random "I'm eating lunch" / "I love bacon" posts. Good job, Wendy's. You made me remember why I love advertising (and bacon).

One strike against them: they have yet to respond to Lam's inquiry...

Review of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

Any book with "winning" in the subtitle is off to a good start for me. Groundswell didn't disappoint. If I ever write a book, it will be laid out like this--straightforward, parallel structures and packed with powerful case studies and numbers.

Groundswell (by then-Forrester researchers Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff) is divided into three sections. First the idea of "groundswell" and prominent tools like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are defined. More importantly, the book introduces and defines technographics and their tool for measuring how different groups of consumers use social media. See the free profile tool which lets you specify age and country here. The next section explains how to tap into the groundswell and make it work for your company. There are five ways that they categorize involvement, each building on the one before:

1. Listening. Monitor the groundswell for research and to gauge overall sentiment about your brand and competitors. It's a free, always-on, completely honest focus group; you just need to know where to find it.
2. Talking. Use the groundswell to spread marketing messages.
3. Energizing. Turn brand enthusiasts into brand ambassadors.
4. Supporting. Best suited for complex brands. Mobilize your customers into a support group for one another.
5. Embracing. Bring your customers and their needs, wants, and ideas into your brand. Let them directly help you in improving your product, services, and marketing.

This section is filled with amazing case studies and action items for brands who want to get involved in these ways. The final section helps you implement groundswell techniques within your company. I recommend partnering that section with Tribes for full effect.

I also suggest having a highlighter and notepad handy while you devour this book. It's an easy read but it's saturated with statistics, tips, and sites to visit later. The only downside? The book was finished in late 2007 and published in 2008--in other words, pre-Twitter. To their credit, the authors cite Twitter as an emerging tool that they think will really explode into the groundswell. More importantly, they maintain a blog on the Forrester site to keep the conversation going and apply the content to modern case studies.

Bottom line: Read this book now, no matter what level of understanding you have of social media. Until you can get your hands on it, read the blog. Your co-workers will thank you when someone in the room can be truly knowledgeable about social media, and your brands will thank you when you approach them about entering or improving their presence in this brave new world.

There's that word again.... VIRAL

With YouTube videos like the recently popular St. Paul Wedding Entrance (over 9 million views!) exploding into VIRAL status, it's no wonder communications clients are clamoring to create their own viral videos. Nine million views? That's a HUGE measure. In digital content such as social media it can sometimes be hard to measure the return on investment, which is why viral videos are so appealing to communications clients.

Viral videos can't be created out of thin air, however. Local video expert Jake Nyberg states in WCCO's recent Good Question segment, "I often tell people who want to go viral: viral is not a strategy, it's an outcome. Can you make a good attempt? Certainly." Nyberg is a partner at Three Volts, a Minneapolis video production and marketing firm, and has been enlisted to create many of these attempts in his career.

Nyberg makes a great point, viral isn't a strategy. Often, people assume slapping a branded video together and uploading it to YouTube makes it "viral." In fact, viral can't be promised to any client. Libby Issendorf put it this way: "I still use the word viral, but I'm careful to say it 'could have viral potential'"

That's not to say we in the communications biz should stop trying. "You have to do something authentic that you had no intention of going viral," Nyberg said in his WCCO interview, and it's good advice. Online video can be great exposure to a brand, even without the viral status. And every so often, a viral attempt succeeds.

But we have to realize that in the end, we might get outshined by videos that are very real and human, and tug at the heartstrings ever so slightly.

Review of Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us

Last month I heard Sally Hogshead speak at an IPG Women’s Leadership Network event. She told a story about striking out on her own with her business partner and starting their own agency. They were signing the lease on their office, a 12-month contract that finally made everything real, when her business partner turned to her. He said, “You know the way you’re feeling right now, the nerves and excitement and fear in the pit of your stomach? That’s risk. It's not necessarily bad, and you shouldn’t be afraid of it, but you need to be able to recognize it. You're going to be feeling it a lot more.” Seth Godin must be quite familiar with that feeling, because his book is all about taking a deep breath and doing something terrifying because you believe in it.

Tribes made me nervous every time I picked it up. It doesn’t shout, but fervently whispers in your ear: Stop pushing papers. It’s 2009 and the world is changing. Go make the change you want to see. And before I could fully form all my logical objections—but I don’t have any money, it’s not that easy and no one will listen to me, everything is safe the way it is now—it has blazed through them by providing pages of examples of heretics who wanted change and got it.

Here’s a sampling of the best lessons learned:

If your organization requires success before commitment, it will never have either.

Find leaders (the heretics who are doing things differently and making change), and then amplify their work, give them a platform, and help them find followers—and things get better. They always get better.

This is what advertisers need to pay the most attention to. Find leaders, brand advocates, people with opinions, and fuel their fire. Conversely, don’t try to squelch the heretics. If you don’t amplify their leadership efforts, someone else will. You’ll be in trouble.

Marketers need to read Tribes to understand how to turn brand advocates into brand heroes. Junior-level employees need to read it to remind themselves of the passion they had in college when they dreamed of striking out and following their dreams. On the last page, Godin urges readers to pass the book along if we found it worthwhile. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share my copy.

Libby Issendorf likes this: Modern Amusement

Remember when Erin and I yelled about social media not being an awareness driver? There are a few rare exceptions. One I'd like to highlight comes from apparel brand Modern Amusement. They're a relatively obscure (some might say hipster) brand looking to get their name out with, presumably, no budget. They asked existing Facebook fans to submit photos of them in Modern Amusement clothing. The photo with the most "Likes" wins. That's it. It requires minimal effort for existing fans (most already have a photo on their computer or on Facebook), it's dead simple for Modern Amusement to track the leaders, and it invites fans organically through their network.

For brands with huge awareness already, like Volkswagen or Starbucks, a contest like this might not invite the level of engagement they're seeking. These brands also have highly recognizable products that don't require an entire fan photo album to showcase. But for Modern Amusement, this is the perfect way to introduce themselves. Fans are basically building them a free catalog and endorsing it. When the contest is over, they should comment on these photos with Buy links to the merchandise in the photos, or tag them with the name of the clothing item.

And all you Yaybia readers should absolutely become fans of Modern Amusement and click "Like" on the photo of my co-worker Chase (the entry pictured here), who introduced me to the contest in the first place.

*Side note: Remember BMW films and how revolutionary it was to put VIDEO on the INTERNET? Moment of silence for Fallon's glory days.

Who You're Really Talking To

Christian at Idea Drunk shares this pearl of wisdom:

I’m not saying that it isn’t correct to have an aspirational target. I’m saying that you shouldn’t forget that the majority of [your target] doesn’t live in the city where you’re making your advertising. The majority of [your target] doesn’t frequent hipster bars on Ossington and shop at H&M. They drink beer at their campsites, shop at Wal-Mart and go to Boston Pizza for a nice meal. And sometimes, they have handlebar amazing moustaches.

Couldn't agree more. So often we are marketing to the people we'd like to buy our product, but we ignore the people who actually do. Fortunately, it's getting easier to identify our true fans.

Facebook Insights is now offering in-depth looks into the people who are using Pages and interacting with brands. Insights has been rolling out new metrics regularly, so I hope top interests and keywords will soon be a component of the analytics. In the meantime, why not take a random sample of Twitter followers and Facebook fans and figure out who's really listening to your messaging? If it's die-hards who will fight to the death about Pizza Hut vs. Domino's, offer incentives to share stories and media. If it's college kids looking to score coupons, show them some cheap pizza love. But figure out who you're talking to. It's never been easier to do it.

Social Media is Not an Awareness Driver

(9:03:11 AM) Libby Issendorf: DID YOU KNOW THAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT AN AWARENESS DRIVER?

(9:03:19 AM) Erin Lamberty: LIBBY, I DID KNOW.

Daily Biz couldn't have said it much better, we're so glad to have him back!

"In fact, it [the brand] isn’t really all that well known yet. Which, to my mind, means that we need to get the word out…even if that means using Pleistocene-era tactics like broadcast television and other broad-reach media. Because we need people to know about the brand. And to like it. Because unless they already know about and like the brand, why would they want to be its Facebook friend? "

Social media is about connecting and building relationships with your existing fans, potential fans and those that may have started to root for another team because you lost one too many games in their eyes.

Social media becomes an awareness driver when that core target is already engaged and starts sharing, either intentionally with a forward or passively in their news feed. But all on its own, social media is not an awareness driver.

The Biggest Cookie in Iowa

(For the recent grads)

Jennifer Johnson and I were once talking about small towns and resumes and how to get a job in advertising, and she told me that what makes you different is sometimes more important than internships and grades.  "What if you baked the biggest cookie in Iowa?  You should put that on your resume.  People are like, wow, the biggest cookie in Iowa?  How did you do that?  You'd have to find a recipe, and find an oven big enough, and a way to maneuver the dough... I'm always going to want to talk to the kid who baked the biggest cookie in Iowa over the kid with the 4.0 GPA."

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: May 11-15

YAYBIA LINK LOVE: BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!

ON THE WEBS

• We learned three strengths of Twitter this week: it enables fandom, it breaks news, and it effects conversations. "Oprah mentions Twitter and registrations surge. That’s not the power of Twitter, that’s the power of Oprah’s fan community." (I'm looking at you, KFC.)
  
  
• Attention agencies: You won't know social media until you do it. And when you do, here's what you should be listening for.
  
  
• National brands take a step into "locally grown" with Lays chip tracker, which shows you which farmer grew yer taters.
  
  
• Moms love blogs. Will they love The Juice, Tropicana's branded section of BlogHer?
  
  
• Thanks to Miracle Whip, now there's an app to help me visualize all the snarky comments I make in my head. ZING!
  
  
• VitaminWater uses clever copy on the labels to partner with an online social network. LOVE.

ON YAYBIA

• Sometimes it's okay for brands to be my friend.

LOVERS & FRIENDS

• CATFOA wrapped up with Michael Lebowitz of Big Spaceship. I think we've decided that the future of advertising is better with cupcakes. 
  
  
• Have you seen Mullet Like Me yet? We're lucky enough to have seen it in person.
  
  
• Stuff About Minneapolis has been posting some exceptionally awesome pictures this week.

LAWL

• PRESIDENTIAL HEADPATS!!! Our greatest fantasy realized. 
  
  
• This is pretty much how I see the world anyway...I imagine it's similar to wearing Kanye shutter shades, only I just see Excel rows and columns.
  
  
• SOMEBODY ADOPT THIS PUPPY RIGHT NOW AND LET ME COME PLAY WITH IT

Next on MTV: The 'SAC

Rumors are swirling this morning about AAF president James Edmund Datri's remarks to turn NSAC into a reality TV show.  Its impact on perceptions of the ad industry is debatable, but there are only two ways it could affect NSAC students:

SUPER AWESOME

• Potential employers would see the blood, sweat, and tears students pour into the campaign and would take NSAC seriously when considering job applicants.
  
  
• Speaking of taking NSAC seriously--the case for AIM referred to NSAC as an "exercise," and sometimes I feel like the AAF wants NSAC to exist in its own make-believe world as something "those kids" are working on.  I know NSAC is different from real industry work, but I hope the AAF would realize that NSAC participants view their campaigns in the context of real-world advertising, not just a paper assignment.
  

TOTAL DESTRUCTION

• I don't know about other schools, but the University of Minnesota's NSAC team has seen its fair share of drama that I wouldn't enjoy being broadcast.
  
  
• Teams once comprised of geeky ad kids could morph into attention-seeking actors.  Nothing could be worse for the perception of the ad industry.
  

Of course, selling an NSAC sponsorship as a reality TV tie-in will also attract certain sponsors and deter others.  Any brand to sign on will be bold and unafraid to try new things, which would be fun for students to work on, but not representative of real-world advertising.  Also, the past three campaigns have been targeted to Gen Y consumers, and I don't see this trend shifting if a TV element is added.

I sure wouldn't have minded having my ideas showcased on national TV for agencies around the country to see, though...

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: 4/4/09 - 4/10/09

ON THE WEBS

Nissan Cube marketed to Gen Y as a "mobile device." Yeah, but in MN, I still can't text from behind the wheel.

Facebook hits 200 million users, but for some, fatigue may be setting in. Twitter's growing faster, but it just reached 10 million worldwide uniques this month. We're ready for something new.

How to figure out whether your brand/company should Tweet. Pretty much dead-on.


ON YAYBIA

Coke's Ringtone spot is back!

We're digging Tide's "take care of your clothes" campaign, especially this promo.


LOVERS & FRIENDS

Aaron Landry helped us bid adieu to the best TV show of all time.

On Ypulse, Anastasia and Libby each talk about how Facebook might be on the decline among its original users.

ELY 2016!



LAWL

We didn't laugh at all this week. Send us links!

It's For You

I had only seen it on TV once. Jameson and I were watching Whose Line Is It Anyway in my living room back in high school and this spot came on:



We looked at each other in disbelief at how good it was. I'd like to say that was the moment that I knew I wanted to be in advertising, but that's probably not true. But this spot has been my favorite ever since.

AND TONIGHT I SAW IT ON FOX!!! The ending was edited to say "Open Happiness" to match the new campaign, and it's promoting 99 cent 16-oz bottles. The fact that the spot transcends five years and two campaigns proves how much it truly embodies the Coke brand. I know that Nokia ringtone is on its way out, so I won't call it timeless, but it's as close as I've ever seen.

LOVE IT!!!

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: 3.28 - 4.3.2009

On the Webs

• Good job, Iowa! We still won't change our thoughts on your sports teams. Go Gophers!
• MA in Social Media? Sounds more like a MA in BS. Good luck with that useless degree as everything you learned in the classroom will be irrelevant because you weren't out exploring the webs.  Internet, you're doing it wrong.
• Ypulse expands upon an idea from danah boyd about the fading passion that Gen Y has for Facebook. The Yaybies have had FB since before the photo feature was available. We'll continue to stick around, but things have definitely changed.
• TV Guide is no longer a TV guide. WTF. Why else would you ever even think about stopping on that channel?

On Yaybia

• In case you didn't know, Spam is made in MN. Gross. Social spam is also gross. 
• Beer + social doesn't just have to be at happy hour. 
• Even though we're new to the biz, we've already seen our fair share of killed ideas. A little fatherly advice in the comments keeps us tuned in to reality.

Lovers & Friends

• Loyal reader and drinking buddy Michael helped rock the social efforts at his agency to keep Fargo's head above the water.  Cheers!
• Our oldest ad friend could not have said this better - "Persuasion is not so much about making "strong arguments" as it is about making a human connection."

LAWL

• Why isn't Erin hanging out with this guy? They could be crutch buddies!
• And people wonder why we don't like kids?!
• I almost pee my pants every time I look at this. So effing cute.