Posts Tagged ‘communication’


Marketing Brand Loyalty: How Far Would You Go?

Monday, November 28th, 2011
Yfrog: the_951

Yfrog: the_951

As I was going through my daily ritual of skimming through my Google Reader and industry headlines, this one caught my eye, “Zappos Founder Launches New Voyeuristic Ecommerce Site.” I figured it was a teaser headline so after only a brief pause, I continued on.  When I saw this one a minute later, “Zappos Founder Wants to Peek in Your Closet.” I knew it was something I had to read!

Nick Swinmurn does want to see what’s in your closet, as do many other marketers and advertisers. According to AdWeek, his new platform RNKD (pronounced ranked) opened to the public (in beta) on Wednesday, November 16th. In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Swinmurn said he felt there had to be a better way for vendors to know who their customers are and to create a channel of communication. 

Mashable explains, “The concept is simple: Take pictures of all the things you have in your closet. Tag them by brand and purchase location and get rewards and deals based on your proven likes.”

In a statement to Huffington Post Swinmurn says, “Every consumer has favorite brands and stores they are loyal to, but most have never been recognized or rewarded for their purchases. If you buy more shoes from Nike than anyone else – shouldn’t you be given early access to new lines and different pricing than someone who is trying the product for the first time and may never buy again? ” Swinmurn argued that RNKD, unlike many other social sites, gives people an incentive to share.

There are tiered rewards, presumably to make sure beginners are able to win some deals. Users can earn points, badges and discounts by uploading, “liking,” commenting, or accumulating a particular brand as well as inviting friends and sharing via Twitter and Facebook. There are also individual ranks for the various types of apparel. The user can even peruse other people’s closets to find new brands (although you are able to make your profile private if you prefer).

According to a WSJ blog, the catch right now is that not many brands have jumped onboard yet, and it could be a while before the site reaches the scale that brands really begin to offer discounts.  Currently the site shows users being rewarded based on weekly rankings with gift certificates from Zappos and Dethrone Royalty – two of Swinmurn’s own creations.  The blogger notes brands currently have no control over how their clothing items, shoes, and accessories are being portrayed on RNKD, since the content is user-generated – to which Swinmurn replied, “We’re telling brands, that’s just real life. Here are the $100 shoes in people’s closets, next to the $20 pair, because that’s what people really own.” 

So, as the old BASF tagline goes, “At BASF, we don’t make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.” Swinmurn is betting that RNKD will revolutionize the brand loyalty arena by allowing retailers to offer the biggest discounts to those who deserve them – their biggest fans.

What do you think? Will you whip out your phone (yes, there’s an app for that) and start uploading pictures of what’s in your closet? Do you think Swinmurn is on the right path? I look forward to your feedback!

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Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Public Relations | 4 Comments »

PRSA-NCC: The Changing Landscape of Social Media

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

“I don’t know what Facebook is going to look like a week from now because, you know, we move pretty fast,“ said Andrew Noyes, public policy communications, Facebook, at the National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA-NCC) event on the Changing Landscape of Social Media. The tools we use now are ever changing and new tools and platforms are always emerging.

Panelist Ricky Choi, social media strategist for LivingSocial, reminded the audience, “Social media should be visual, personal and conversational.” He noted that social media will be a better marketing tool than email in three to five years and that social media engagement is the sum of interaction and content. Communicators should try to include context without being salesy.

The evolution of the media is happening, but questions remain regarding the best way to translate personal use to the big picture, Noyes reiterated. Choi suggested more education as one possible solution. Facebook is trying to educate younger users on how to be good digital citizens and understand that reputation is important. The social media giant is working with outside thought leaders to encourage people to use their privacy settings effectively. (more…)

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Posted in Industry Events, Media Industry, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments »

Is Your Mobile Device the New Cigarette?

Monday, September 12th, 2011

When I first joined the workforce my colleagues were permitted to smoke in their offices. That’s right…ashtrays on their desks. Seriously! Then one day, a law was passed that forced all of the smokers outside. If they wanted to satisfy their craving, they had to go outside to a designated area. They were given a nice place to sit and smoke and visit so, except for the heat of Arizona summers, I don’t think they minded.iStock_000011719620XSmall

However, I do remember feeling bitter about the perceived special privileges given to smokers. It seemed no matter how much needed to be done – the smokers got their break. They were permitted extra time in some cases because they “needed” their cigarette in order to function. This got me thinking that maybe mobile devices are the new cigarette. We excuse mobile devices in work and social settings because people “need” to be connected.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m guilty of taking out my device when I’m surrounded by interesting people. I guess, one could say that the “need” to know if someone has tweeted or facebooked something that “must” be immediately reviewed is an addiction of mine…

I’m sick of being that person. I want to get more focused, enjoy the real live people in front of me, whenever I have the opportunity, and show respect when people make time for me face-to-face. Wall posts and tweets can be viewed anytime – so they’ll have to wait.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. So far, I’ve come up with these three reasons it’s ok to take out your mobile device when in a meeting or out socially:

  1. If you need to call 911
  2. If the room is dark and light from your device will illuminate the room or a menu/document to be viewed
  3. If something MUST be Googled to settle a debate and avoid a full out riot

So, the next time you’re at a meeting or out socially, think about your companion and the message you’re sending before you pull out your mobile device. If your mobile device was a cigarette would you take it out even just for a quick drag? If the answer is no, then I challenge you to have the same courtesy with your mobile device. Remember courteous smokers would ask people in their group if they “minded if they smoke” … at a minimum be conscious of your mobile addiction.

I don’t think a mobile courtesy law is in our near future, but we can still make a difference. Will you join me in this effort and step away from the device and enjoy the people? If so, leave your name in the comments section and we can police each other on our mobile “smoking” progress. :)

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Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Career Advice, Mobile Media, Public Relations | 1 Comment »

Cause Marketing – Personal Word-Of-Mouth and TV Most Influence Engagement of Generation Y

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Smiling business people standing togetherDeborah Gilbert-Rogers*

Earlier this week, Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communications and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide released some findings from the Dynamics of Cause Engagement study. The purpose of the study was to reveal trends in cause involvement and evaluate the impact activities play on engagement. Other results will be released in the coming weeks.

“Despite the growing popularity of social media as means of engaging with causes today, younger Americans still look to personal communication with friends and family as well as traditional media when learning about and telling others about causes,” confirms this press release announcing the study.

Below are some other findings highlighted in the release:

  • More than four out of ten Americans (ages 18-29) get their information from family (48%), friends (46%), and TV (45%).
  • Sixty-two percent of Americans say that “being told in person” is how they are most often informed about causes and other social issues.
  • Fifty-six percent of Generation Y (ages 18-29) and 59% of Generation X (ages 30-45) say that they are engaged via face-to-face communication regarding causes, despite them being more likely than other generations to also be sent social media or text messages about causes.
  • Thirty-six percent of Generation X and 37% of Generation Y say that they would support a cause online compared to offline, believing that social media helps increase the exposure of causes.
  • Seven out of ten participants indicated that cause-related emails sometimes feel like spam.
  • The Silent Generation (those over the age of 60) is more likely than other generations to be told about causes via email. However, 55% believe they receive too many cause-related emails.

As a member of GenY, I can relate to the idea of using social media to promote causes. However, most of the causes that I am involved with are ones that have been introduced to me by others (also confirmed by the study) or ones that I have researched because they speak to my personal values. However, I don’t get a lot of cause-related emails and the ones I do get are for causes that I already support so they don’t feel all that much like spam. What I find more ”spammy” are the banner ads that follow me around the web after I’ve visited a cause-related site or interacted with a cause or charity on Facebook. What are your experiences? Do you agree with the study?

Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

***

Bio: After graduating from Rider University, where she received a B.A. in English-writing and minor degrees in Gender Studies and French, Deborah joined the BurrellesLuce Marketing team in 2007.  As a marketing specialist she continues to help develop the company’s thought leadership and social media efforts, including the copywriting and editing of day-to-day marketing initiatives and management of the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas blog. Facebook: BurrellesLuce Twitter: @BurrellesLuce LinkedIn: dgrogers

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Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Media Industry, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments »

A Listening Exercise – Gaining Information and Encouraging Action from Your Social Media Communities

Monday, June 13th, 2011
Flickr Image: Sebastian Fritzon

Flickr Image: Sebastian Fritzon

Valerie Simon

Listening, as I define it, is not a passive exercise. Listening is not a matter of simply hearing words. Listening requires a concentrated method of digesting the information, and using that information to take action. So like any exercise program, I’ll recommend you do a quick check up before starting to strengthen your listening efforts.

Check Up
Take a quick pulse: Review your business objectives and marketing plan. Keep in mind that social media participation should be integrated with your overall communications plan.

Set Goals:  What business objectives will your social media participation help you to achieve?

  • Sales
  • Donations
  • Event attendance
  • Customer Service (response/retention/loyalty)
  • Brand Awareness
  • Crowd sourcing/ product development
  • Membership/Admissions
  • Communications amongst different stakeholders
  • Recruitment
  • Thought leadership

Warm Ups
Who are you trying to reach? Consider what social media channels will be most beneficial for your organization. Stretch. Extend beyond Facebook and Twitter. Consider Flickr, YouYube, Tumblr, LinkedIn and seek out forums and blogs with strong communities.  BurrellesLuce offers several tools to help get you warmed up quickly, including ContactsPlus™, which helps you to identify new blogs by matching up a current release with those bloggers who are writing on similar topics, and Social Media Monitoring and Engagement solution, Engage121, which enables you to explore what is being said across social media channels and effectively build and manage your online communities.

Speed
Are you planning/prepared to provide immediate responses? The W Hotels “Whatever/Whenever” promise may well be on its way to becoming the standard, rather than the exception, in customer service. Social media allows stories to break and quickly spread at any time of day. I encourage those using BurrellesLuce’s Social Media Monitoring and Engagement solution, to experiment with setting up alerts using filters such as Klout rank or sentiment to sift through the noise and make sure that they are advised of critical information whenever it breaks. Of course a quick, well thought out and efficient response across all channels is critical.

Strength
Do some heavy lifting, err, searching. Investigate the current conversations being said about you, your competitors and the industry. Identify recurring themes and study trends. Review sentiment and compare how the conversations vary across different platforms. Identify key influencers and pay attention to the language and tone. What topics evoke passionate responses?

Flexibility
Don’t get stuck monitoring the same keywords you have always deemed important. As you study industry trends and influencers, adjust your searches accordingly. Begin listening to your communities even when they are not actively speaking about “relevant” topics. What do they care about? Consider what new topics or audiences may be interested in your organization.

Endurance
Set yourself up to succeed over the long term. Put in place a structure to collect the data that will allow you to learn from both your communities and your own social behaviors. There are a myriad of ways to measure social media buzz, sentiment, link tracking, share of voice, fans and followers, geo-location check-ins… slow down and take another pulse check. Review business objectives and consider what metrics can best indicate whether your activity is supporting those business objectives. As you embark upon this listening exercise, look at the data in a number of different ways.

Cool Down
Evaluate all of the data you have collected and all your new knowledge regarding trends and influencers. Go back to your business goals and consider how you will align your social media activity to meet those goals. What channels are best suited for your organization? Where should your voice be heard? Where can you build a strong community that will offer business results? Participating in social media will require an investment of time, so consider the time and resources you can devote. 

Prepare to Play
Listening exercise complete, you are ready for the big game… engagement. But that, my friends, is another post!

What would you add to your listening exercise? What activities are included in your daily listening routine? Share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

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Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Career Advice, Media Measurement, Media Monitoring, Media Relations, Public Relations, Social Media | 2 Comments »

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