Groundswell - Worth A Read

In order to prepare for an off site this week with Forrester, I picked up the new book Groundswell and gave it a quick read. My expectations going in were pretty low - I've been on a social technologies/networks/media kick as of late and found that the majority of experts are really just saying the same thing over and over again. Everyone has the same examples of success and failure (my favorite is still willitblend.com) and nobody really offers concrete information on how to work in the space.

Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, the co-authors of Groundswell, provide a text book analysis of social technologies and give key examples of strategies that can be designed to suit any brands needs.

What I really enjoy about the novel (still getting through it), is that they have their head around one key fact: think about your consumers first, not the latest technology trend.

By using social technologies, you can find out insights about your consumers that you can't get anywhere else. Shocking (I know), but when you actually think about how your target uses social media (do they create content, engage with it, or just read it?) it can help you determine the best way to approach them.

All in all, it's an easy read but a worthwhile one.

Young & Free Alberta - GroudSwell Winner

During my busy day at work I have been trying to follow the GroundSwell awards on Twitter. They are streaming the awards live from the Forrester Consumer COnferenece, but I am too busy to watch, so twitter updates it is.

Common Wealth Credit Union has just won a GroundSwell award for their campaign Young & Free and I wanted to share it....

Their challenge was to launch a free checking account for the under 25 group and connect with the youth market . But how do you raise brand awareness with members of the seemingly unreachable Generation Y and create excitement and understanding with all 400 staff members?

They named the new product Young & Free and created a fully integrated marketing campaign combined with a spokesperson search to find the voice of Alberta's under 25 crowd. The whole campaign comes to life on a dedicated microsite at YoungFreeAlberta.com.

To be seen as real and accepted by youth they embraced the power of the social web by tapping into popular sites like YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter to create an immersive experience where compelling user-generated content takes centre stage.

The program launched in October 2007 with a two-month search and competition to find a dedicated Young & Free Alberta Spokesperson. The winner, Larissa Walkiw, became a paid employee of the credit union, working full time with the job description: talk, type and tell good stories. For her nine-month term, Larissa was essentially a full time blogger for the credit union. They have now launched the year two search.

Results include:

• 63,431 site visits
• 197,529 page views
• 3:14 average visit
• 80,726 YouTube views
• 906 blog comments
• 230 Facebook fans
• 101 Twitter followers
• $179,000 unpaid media
• 2,000,000+ impressions
• 2,316 Y&F accounts
• $3,587,000 new funds

Account openings have been brisk, site traffic has exceeded expectations and media and youth interest in the program has been overwhelming. Since the program launched in October 2007, new account openings have grown by 960% over the same period one year prior in the 19 to 25 year old age group. Traffic and sales have been steady for the entire year even though all supporting traditional media stopped after the first two months of the program.

My Favorite Reads of 2008 [Another List]

In 2008, I made a resolution to read more. A lot more. 12 months, 30 novels and about 1,000 articles later, I feel more up to speed and interested (in everything) than I have before. Here is a short list of my favorites (warning: some are pretty random):

10. Click by Bill Tancer - interested in the world of Search? A must read (and a quick one) about how to use search data to influence your future decisions. Some cool stats and a great guide to understanding the digital world.

9. Whose Your City by Richard Florida - what's the most important decision you will ever have to make in your life? According to Florida, it's where you live. Want to understand the future of cities and how they directly impact your life? Check it out.

8. Tribes by Seth Godin - I like Godin. Like his blog and his stuff and this was a decent read (and if you have read anything before you can finish it in about 2 hours).

7. Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan - want to read the book that is mandatory for CP+B creatives? If you want to understand the creative mind, process and struggle (and laugh while doing it), pick it up.

6. The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright - Not ad related but important. Wright interviews thousands of people to understand the history of Al Qaeda and puts together a game-changing story about how 9/11 came to be. Mind blowing and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

5. Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff - I had the pleasure of hearing Bernoff speak in Toronto a few months ago and although a lot of the examples in Groundswell are very well known, the book does a good job at classifying digital behaviour in order to help ground strategy. Plus, almost every client has read it (well...any client that thinks digital is important)

4. Super Crunchers by Ian Ayres - I truly believe that data will drive the majority of our decisions in the years to come. This novel is about using data to be more accurate in your predictions and decisions (and has some mind blowing examples).

3. The Futurist by James P. Othemer - I don't read a lot of fiction but when I was given this as a gift (thanks Crowe) and found out that Othemer is a copywriter I thought I'd give it a try. 3 days of obsessive reading later and I was finished (and super satisfied).

2. Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman - the future of the world (if we have one) is green. This is the definitive plan on how we get there.

1. Wired - I'm a huge fan of Wired (and just got a subscription...finally). I think I'm most excited when I find the issue on my desk or grab one from my local store. If you love digital, if you are passionate about the space and want to learn more, read this magazine every month. Cover to cover.



Read every article, even if it seems - at first - like it's a topic that doesn't interest you (who knew that I would love reading about genetic sequences?). I'm a firm believer that if you want to be good at digital, you should learn from the best. And the writers, staff and stories found in this publication are all at the top of their game.

What about you? What were your favorite reads of 2008?

Tom Green Channel

Oh Tom Green you crazy canuck. He is at it again trying to find a way to broadcast his half-funny, half-annoying face to the masses. Remember his original show? The slut-mobile was my favourite episode, peeing statue was number two. Fast-forward 8 years...

The Tom Green channel on the web displays his real home phone number for any and all to call and ask questions on air. Celeb guests like Perez Hilton, Tony Hawk, Dr Drew and Kenny+Speny come on over to Tom's house and bring items for later resale on eBay to raise funds to keep the show on the air. Viewers get to vote on what the funds are actually spent on (necessary vid equipment or a useless stuffed bear, for instance). Podcasts on iTunes, yep. Blog, yep. Mass calls to submit user-gen YouTube vids of you watching him. All he needs now is a groundswell of viewers and paying advertisers and he has a disruptive model for the giants to be concerned about (or mimic).

Post found on Fallon Planning blog

The Six Groups of Social Media Behaviour

The book Groundswell by Bernoff and Li has been mentioned by Ty a couple of times on the blog. If you have read the book you will recognize this image:

Essentially it breaks consumers into six groups based on how they participate online. Well how does our population of consumers rank?

A lot of people are questioning the methodology of Forrester's data collection on this one, and I agree. There are previous studies showing that as many as 89% of Canadians have watched an online video in the last 12 months, completely throwing this 43% spectators percentage out the window.

Regardless I like the idea behing the ladder. It is a great way to filter your social media ideas. Who are your customers? Where on the ladder are they? Now make sure that your ideas, apps, tools, sites...whatever the hell you build makes sense. Don't expect them to create a video when all they do is watch them.

Charts found through Brad Mays twitter feed. See the full tweet here.

Social Media Best Practices

David Griner from the blog The Social Path posted today about what he thinks is are the "best practices" for social media marketing. In short he spoke about how we must be willing to drink the kool-aid - basically he said:

1. Don't over promise or over-sell what social media can do for your clients. Do not sell overnight success.
2. We’re talking to people one-on-one, trying to prove earnestly that we have more to offer than a sales pitch. Know your audience, know your stuff, and know your limitations. Mix all that together, sweeten it with some personality and wit, and I’ll be the first to knock back a glass and ask for a refill.

I agree but have a few thoughts about this important point that David spoke to:

Know your audience

1. Understanding how your target uses social media (do they create content, engage with it, or just read it?) can help you determine the best way to approach them. Want to learn more... maybe take a look at the book Groundswell.
2. Identify the challenges that your target faces. What can you deliver that will help your audience. (Why will they engage? What could be a positive outcome for them in regards to a social media experience?)
   
3. What is your audiences perception of your brand? Are you trying to deliver something through social media that is a stretch for you brand in the eyes of your audience?
4. What is your audiences current digital behaviour look like? Are you asking them to engage with something they are unfamiliar with or are you a year too late?
   
5. How can you assist your audience in sharing what you are doing?
6. When will your audience be engaging with social media? How does this impact the content? Impact when you update it? Impact what social media you select to include in your communications mix?
   

And then unrelated to know your audience but also important is to consider the impact on the user experience before you introduce new technologies, features or content.

Home Depot Canada using Twitter as a flyer (posting daily specials) shows me that they do not understand their audience. Maybe that is why they only have 50 followers (probably 10 from the marketing department and 5 from their agency).

If you have an intimate knowledge of your audience, stay within your brands personality (you don't change the brand just because it is in a different medium) and apply this knowledge accurately you will have a good chance at succeeding when you jump into the social media playground.