microblogging platform – http://tumblr.com

TED sixth sense – http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

wikileaks – http://wikileaks.org

TED WikiLeaks – http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_assange_why_the_world_needs_wikileaks.html

trending site – http://springwise.com/marketing_advertising/

Twitter – Http://twitter.com (uhhh just register!!!)

Twitter fun – http://cursebird.com

Twitter rankings - http://klout.com

5 stages you will go through on twitter – http://ianbarnett.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/6-stages-you-will-go-through-on-twitter/

Fred Figglehorn – http://www.youtube.com/user/Fred

the rules of digital – http://weareblender.wordpress.com/we_rule_s/ (figure this one out!)

and I have no idea what the hell this is… – http://www.dailyhaha.com/_vids/flamethrower-trombone.htm

Within the social space consumers feel that they are awarded “permission to play” with you brand from 1 of 3 sources.

1. The brand has given permission – this is achieved by the brand amplifying the fun that society has had with the brand, and/or the brand creates its own content ie. Old Spice

2. The user assumes permission – while rare, this is typically the result of someone feeling so compelled to create content with the brand because they view themselves as a champion for the brand… and… they feel that the content they have produced is highly relevant for the brand (in their opinion).  This is the ultimate compliment for a brand, and these people are the first to give permission for others to play whether the brand likes it or not.
3. Society has given permission – this is achieved when point 2 – “User creation” is done really well, or ‘well enough’ many times, that other people feel that they too can create content for the brand.

A recent and great example of this is the double rainbow meme.  There have been many great remixes, greeting cards, more remixes, with many people inserting themselves into the meme or remixing it with other memes like Mel Gibson.  The double rainbow guy himself has been on Jimmy Kimmel, people have hunted him down to interview him and people are using his work as monologues and finally CBS has interviewed this guy.

As marketers we are constantly analyzing the reasons behind why and how this and other particular videos become such global successes.  Creating content that is shared to this degree is a goal of many marketers… and while some like Old Spice have had some success… there is still a sense of marketing behind the campaign vs. the authenticity of the double rainbow.

While marketers chase relevance in the social space, one strategy is to leverage viral videos like Double Rainbow.  Geico did this well in the past with Numa Numa (original) and saw good success from it. Success when they didn’t even include their logo in the video…

and now Microsoft is the latest brand to leverage a viral meme in their marketing by putting Double Rainbow in their marketing… only for them it is back firing.

Unlike people appreciating Geico’s attempt to leverage a meme, Microsoft is not receiving the same acceptance.

I see a few simple reasons for this (GEICO vs Microsoft)

1. Geico has always been a culturally relevant brand while Microsoft has not.

2. Geico maintained the integrity and point of the Numa Numa meme itself and simply inserted their marketing into it with subtle tweaks… where as Microsoft made a commercial out of the Double Rainbow meme.

3. Geico developed their content to entertain with a focus on you, the viewer, versus Microsoft creating their content to sell with the focus being on them, the seller.

Here are 2 good examples of my 2nd source of ‘Permission to Play’ where the user assumes permission to insert brands into a meme.

Taco Bell and KFC  have been injected into the Double Rainbow meme by @alexblagg. As per my 3 sources of ‘Permission to Play’ @alexblagg, a comedian in LA created this very funny video…

and DaveyWaveyRaw injected Starbucks into this meme with this video…

then we have the Double Rainbow Cheeseburger and many many others.

Because no meme is complete without a cat… I leave you with this final video and 1 question…

What would give you the permission to play with a brand?

Cheers,

which means at 12:15am i have just finished working… want to write a post… but my hand is tingling from typing and my eyes begging to close.

i am now the VP Digital Strategy & Innovation for OSL Marketing.

more will come.

until then… do something big.

at the same time, we have more and more social networks popping up.  each network having its own value proposition,  hence us investing our tenders into the chosen network with the expectation of a positive return.

and so, social networking and economics have much in common, which means that they may be destined to the same laws or theories.  one that strikes me in particular is the law of diminishing returns.

twitter. it is starting to show signs of diminishing returns.  suppose that following one person in your feed provides you with ‘X’ knowledge (marketing knowledge in my case), applied to your time to read which is a fixed size (only 24 hours in a day), produces 1 brain full of information. you might expect that following an additional person with ‘X’ knowledge would produce an additional full brain of information.  however, there are diminishing marginal returns, that following additional people with ‘X’ knowledge will produce less than one full brain.  for example, the second person with ‘X’ knowledge may only produce a half brain of extra knowledge. diminishing marginal returns also implies that following a third person with ‘X’ knowledge will produce an additional amount of information that is even less than a half brain of additional information, say, one quarter of a brain.

if your time and brain are fixed variables… then pumping more information into your brain by following 100,000 people who all tweet about the same information will inevitably result in a diminishing return in the amount of information.  the first person you followed provided you with 1 full brain. the second person could not provide you with more than 1 full brain, so they start to replace the 1st persons information with better information. hence still only 1 full brain, but now of better information. however, following 20 people who all provide you with different views of the same information will now compete against not only your 1 full brain limit, but your time limit.  hence you will not be able to digest the value of the 20 people and the value that you apply to twitter will diminish given that your return has.

how can we avoid twitter failing to this economic law?

keep it fresh. think different. don’t be a broadcaster of already tweeted information on twitter.  that’s what publications are for. if all you do is retweet information and fail to inject your personality into your tweets then you are adding to the growing issue of twitter losing its value.  we don’t need more people tweeting the same information. we need opinions. we need personality. we need uniqueness.

if all you do is retweet information that others have tweeted, and i follow the people that you retweet. then you have diminished your return for me. and so now you know why i unfollowed you!

personal branding is a popular topic right now.  my input on the conversation is to be unique through your personality and do not erode the value of twitter by providing ‘X’ information that others are already providing.  of course, retweet information that you learned from another tweeter… but inject your opinion into the information. inject you!

think in your tweets. innovate your thinking.  i follow people.  not robots.  regurgitators of information might as well be a bot!

add value to twitter… and to your personal brand!

i struggle with people who work in the digital space yet only get a fraction of it.  i struggle with brand sites, microsites or even the GENY of today thinking that social is the answer to everything.  digital is big world… allow me to define my perspective… and hey… add to it.

level 1 = infrastructure - this is the internet at its core.  a series of interconnected computers that permit communication of the global network.

level 2 = content – this is where the web lives. this is where the average person experiences digital through their browser (mobile or otherwise).

level 3 = devices – these devices access the content and communicate with the infrastructure.

level 4 = code – this is where the true innovation is happening. new code allows for new content, new devices and new capabilities on the infrastructure.

level 5 = monetization – money makes the world go round… why is digital any different?

level 6 = society – this is where pressures, legislation, lobbyists and more impact the first 5 levels.  what can and can’t you do? think privacy!

so… you see… to me digital is not about a web site or even a mobile or social strategy. digital is life.  because at level 3-devices… that level includes the computer obviously… but it also includes RFID or the microphone on the iPhone that has allowed for some incredible experiences in apps.  it includes the in-store network for WalMart or the ON STAR system for GM or SYNC for FORD.  this level includes the highway traffic cameras as devices that are accessed to display traffic on my mobile devices… my iPhone.  this level includes the POS network of any retailer… and so this is the level where you can truly create experiences.

to me digital is everywhere and everything and so… here is my beef with the agency world.

there are AD agencies, PROMO agencies, Event agencies, Media agencies and well… you get it.  these are all ‘communications agencies’ and typically… their strategies for digital solutions start and end with level 2-content.  why? because this is where you broadcast communications.  But brands then miss out on so many more opportunities within digital.  they get broadcast of messages vs. creation of experiences.  and please, don’t get me wrong, there are groups out there that get this… i am simplifying a lot within this post to make the simple point that…

digital is not a web site or a mobile app or a social strategy. digital is life and life is experiences.  ’experience strategies’ include social or mobile… sure… but more importantly they create ‘reason’… the reason to interact.  the reason could be utility, entertainment, or even broadcast of content in a cool way.

agencies need to start creating digital experiences that enhance all of our lives which gives brands a reason to be a part of them… a part of our lives!

think bigger… think possibility once you look at digital as more than simply that of level 2.

and connect with me… collaboration is what fuels my thoughts…

i love watching her. she tries everything. pick up a remote control… and she tries all the buttons. walk up to a person… and she tries to get them to talk to her.  everything is new… everything is a new discovery that unless she tries… she will never learn.

at what age did you stop trying?

it’s  the people that don’t stop trying that create the big idea… that idea that makes the room smile… the idea that changes the world. 1 word… aviation. man… talk about trying!

it’s the people that don’t stop trying that create their own happiness… they discover their hidden talents… and hence confidence consumes them… and then they try more! create more! they inspire more trying!

to try… is to explore.

to try… is to question. to experiment. to never give up and to never… ever assume the ’cause and effect’ of anything. ’cause = button pushed, effect *should* = turn on/change channel/whatever’… but what if that button was the one that changed your life?

try, trying tomorrow. TRY EVERYTHING.

when you are standing next to the person that looks sad… and you want to make them smile… try!

when you go to work tomorrow, try telling your boss about that awesome idea you have… i promise they will listen!

when you wake up tomorrow… try choosing to smile all day… and put on something extra sharp… i promise people will notice!

this weekend… try painting a picture… i don’t promise it will be good… but i do promise you will enjoy it!

and most of all… when that junior person in the company walks up to you… their hands shaking… their mind racing… their heart pumping… and their lungs regrettably  filling with confidence to tell you that there is a problem. try listening. try thanking them for telling you vs. reacting on them for the problem.  try helping them. try not being a complete asshole.

i promise that you will be amazed at what they tell you next… i promise that you will be amazed at what they accomplish next.

just try everything… hmmm… you might be surprised what you learn… or what you discover… or perhaps… who you really are and what you can really do!

dedicated to the poor jr. guy that that i saw today, try to tell his boss that there was a problem… his boss responded “then you better fix it”

what an asshole bossman is – good luck jr. dude on fixing that problem you tried to ask for help on… don’t stop trying!

have you ever had a conversation with someone where it is all you can do, to not shout out… “OK… BUT HOW DO I/WE DO THAT?”

that’s you falling into the ‘what trap’.  sure this happens in real life all the time… but in digital marketing it’s super easy to get trapped and there are many people doing the trapping.  it’s easy for someone to read the most recent blog postings and regurgitate ‘what’ they have heard… and sound smart.  it is even easy for someone to sound smart when preaching to a brand about entering social media… or to think of a killer idea.

what’s not so easy… is the how.  how exactly do you plan on making the ‘what’ come to life?  ideas are worthless without execution. business models are nothing without the ‘how’.  planning meetings can plan everything out… but if the person executing does not know how to make the plan come to life then it will go nowhere.

i was chatting with a friend the other day about his business. he went on this rant about all of the things that he needs for his business in order to sell it.  at the end i asked “how?”.  he just looked at me… repeated all of the “what’s” and said “i just need to do all of these things…”

again, i calmly said “how?… how are you going to get those things done?”… and that is where the conversation got interesting and we figured out the how!

i see a lot of people entering the digital space… i see developers turning into strategists… copywriters turning in UX designers… at the same time i see a lot of people talking about the what… and not the how.

next time you interview someone… pitch something… or are making a decision on anything… ask the person “how?” and then carefully listen.  if they repeat the “what!” that they just said… then you are falling into the trap and find someone that can answer “how!”

do we as marketers push fad’s onto our clients because we are excited for them?

do we help create the hype for the latest craze?

is it best to ‘be first to market’ for the brand… or for the agency who would get that award?

let’s do the right thing and first ensure that the fundamentals of marketing are being well executed, so that our brand can sustain the volatility, failing the ‘fad idea’, can bring.  i would absolutely apply a portion of any brands marketing spend to ‘fun money’, where we play with awesome new fads, and are first to see what happens.  just not at the expense of ensuring first, that there is brand health… then if marketing dollars permit… some are applied to ‘fun money’.

update

received a question in person on this – “what about targeting niche targets? like brands using twitter to target the early adopter when twitter was just a fad?”

good question James, and thanks for writing it in the comments section.  i agree with you and will add that if a brand has decided to market to niche markets one would assume that they are doing a great job marketing to their primary target.  or.  if the product is such that its primary target is the niche early adopter, then i agree with using fad’s to reach that target.

a starting point for a brand/digital strategy should not be the most current fad. the starting point should be brand health, meaning positive equity and positive relationships with our consumers that result in driving sales.  if that is present, then the next step may be expanding conversation/finding advocates – in which case you may use a fad (like twitter was) to find these people.

think of fads as dark water… you just don’t know exactly what you’re jumping into. so take a minute to evaluate it first… then jump in with success vs. rushing to be the first to hit a rock.

The book is simple and short. It only has 1 point to it really, which is to help you find your “special question”.  The book explains how to create your “special question” by breaking down the psychology behind its architecture.  When you ask people your “special question” 1 of 3 things will happen.

1. The person will embrace the question and talk for 23-minutes about themselves! This is your ideal.

2. The person will be confused.  This means that they don’t have clarity on their future, present or past. They are not in the ideal place.

3. The person will refuse to answer.  This is ok.  Not everyone will want to answer your ‘special question’. However strike this refuser off of your list as they will never let you in.  Focus on surrounding yourself with only those that embrace the question and answer it.

Here is a sample question:

“If we were chatting about this blog post three years from today, and you were looking back over those three years, what has to have happened in your life, both personally and professionally, for you to feel happy with reading this post?

Specifically what dangers do you have now that need to be eliminated, what opportunities need to be captured, and what strengths need to be maximized?”

Sure I get that using my blog as the object of the sample question doesn’t do it as much justice… but take this format and apply it to your business.  You must read the book to understand the psychology behind the architecture; but in short it forces the person to admit that they see a future with you.  If they don’t answer… they don’t or can’t see you in their future.  I am simplifying the message and welcome you to read the book.

Thanks,