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Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 5-19-13

May 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Branding and Digital Marketing

Branding and Digital Marketing

 

This week’s ‘Sunday Musings’ are ready to go, bringing you the top five stories in branding and digital marketing.

#1 – “Everything announced at the Google I/O 2013 keynote in one handy list” – TheNextWeb.com

Premise: Google’s I/O conference was held this week and The Next Web created a laundry list of announcements the tech giant made during its keynote speech.  Beyond the Android numbers and updates/upgrades for developers, there were also a number of updates to many of Google’s products this week.

Thoughts: Rather than run down the plethora of announcements, this article was a nice, quick summary of everything announced at the keynote.  These conferences are always exciting because I know a number of great updates are forthcoming for my devices.  Particular items that caught my attention:

  • Google Play Music announcing a monthly subscription fee for unlimited music
  • A number of updates to Google+, which does have a Pinterest feel to it after logging in after the update was pushed to the site
  • Hangouts, the new messaging service, replaces Talk and was pushed out to my devices on Friday
  • 15GB’s of free storage for pictures, etc. on Google
  • All attendees received a Chromebook Pixel which retails for ~$1,500!

#2 – “This Is The Most Epic Brand Meltdown On Facebook Ever” – Buzzfeed.com  

Premise: A company called “Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro” was recently on the TV show Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsey.  Well, apparently they were hit with several comments on their social media pages and took to their Facebook page to defend themselves.  The rest … well, you can probably tell from the title of the article.

Thoughts: This is absolutely fantastic and dreadful all at the same time.  The reactions and comments that they are firing off on their Facebook wall is both hysterical and nauseating.  I think you get the point.  As the night wore on, the owner’s comments* get more and more disturbing.  This is certainly not how you should take to social media to engage with people.  The owner’s overtake the Applebee’s fiasco as the number one fail in SM so far in 2013.  Well done!

(* The owners are saying their page was hacked and that it wasn’t them making these comments.  “I’m not here to talk about the past, I’m only here to talk about the future” – Mark McGwire.  This statement comes to mind when hearing this now common excuse/explanation of “my page was hacked”.) 

#3 – “Old Spice Takes Over YouTube in Viral Marketing Push” – ICUCModeration.com

Premise: Old Spice has brought back Terry Crews for two 30 second ads that have been launched on YouTube to sell their latest extension, shave gels.  The digital campaign will also include an interactive ad on YouTube’s masthead, which is said to include user-generated content.

Thoughts: Old Spice is at it again.  In our very first edition of Sunday Musings, there was an article regarding how much digital ad spend could be conducted for the price of one Super Bowl ad.  Old Spice seems to get it and have been very successful in the past with their digital campaigns.  The two new ads are pretty good, but may not show/explain the new product line as much as they might want or need to.

While we are here, don’t forget to vote on the new poll on the site.  The site with the most votes will be the premise for a future blog entry.  Of the two ads, “Baby” is the one I like a little more – this one has a bit more humor to it, but doesn’t do as well in branding the product line as the “Shave” ad.  Here is the “Baby” ad, what do you think?

#4 – “QR Codes: Are They Dead Yet?” – By Ilya Pozin on LinkedIn.com  

Premise: The author poses a great question about where the world is with QR codes – usage, engagement, etc.  QR codes have been around for ~20 years and adaptation to them continue to struggle, despite the tremendous growth in smartphones.  There are two points for consideration presented in the write-up for this: business aren’t using them correctly and/or smartphone users fail to see the value in scanning a QR code.

Thoughts: I happen to agree with both points and that it is a combination of the two as to why QR codes are nearly worthless in my opinion.  About three months ago, I scanned / tried to scan two QR codes the same day.  I noticed that the same agency had made the sale to two local establishments and it piqued my interest.  One QR code did not scan at all.  The second worked appropriately and I received an email the next day for a coupon/discount off of my next trip to the restaurant.  However, I haven’t heard from said restaurant ever again.  What was the point of becoming a “VIP member by scanning our QR code”?  I have no idea.  (Please stop wasting money and getting sold by others on needing QR codes in your marketing strategy.)

#5 – “4 Brands That Did Mother’s Day Campaigns Right” – Likeable.com

Premise: Likeable put together a list of the top branding efforts from last weekend’s Mother’s Day holiday.  There were four brands/companies selected here and the strategies for each are succinctly summarized by the author.

Thoughts: Out of the four selected, I thought Almay had the best campaign here.  The company did a nice job of tying in their brand with celebrity sponsorship (Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson), a prize for the winner (trip to NYC), and overall engagement by asking you to tell your mother-daughter moment.  This was a trifecta of winning elements and how to build a little buzz for your brand.

Did any of these stories in branding and digital marketing catch your attention this week?

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Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 5-5-13

May 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Branding and Digital Marketing

Here are this week’s ‘Sunday Musings’ – the top five stories in branding and digital marketing.  You can find the archives of this weekly write-up under the Blog-Sunday Musings tab at the top of the page.

#1 – “Facebook Earnings Results Show Progress On Mobile” – ReadWrite.com

Premise: Facebook reported their financials from Q1’13 earlier this week and results were largely viewed as positive among investors.  Mobile advertising numbers grew significantly (23%) from Q4’12 o Q1’13.  Facebook also made several strong statements during the earning’s call regarding the advertising benefits of the site, driving traffic to app markets for downloads.  They also showed the overall growth of their mobile platform, a significant focus for the company now and moving forward.

Thoughts: The continued shift in focus towards mobile looks to be righting the ship that is Facebook and its stock performance.  It was also interesting to see the upward trend in the mobile numbers (usage, spend, etc.) from the call.  While brand new for the site, the article hints at weakness on several of the recent launches – Facebook Home and Graph Search – areas that will be of interest in future earnings’ reports through the remainder of 2013.

(In case you didn’t see it, here are our tips and recommendations for using Facebook for your brand or business, released earlier this week.)

#2 – “15 Stats Retailers Should Know About Pinterest” – DigiDay.com  

Premise: This article from DigiDay is a concise summary of why businesses need to strongly consider Pinterest as part of their digital marketing plan.  The articles provides facts and figures from various sources across the web, including the overall size of the site now (~25 million users) and the amount of money Pinterest shoppers are spending online at checkout relative to Facebook and Twitter shoppers.

Thoughts: There are a lot of eye opening numbers available here.  The spend levels mentioned above relative to the most popular social media sites certainly warrants a retailer’s attention.  Two other numbers that really caught my attention were the connection that Pinterest has with moms (a highly influential group) and the level of trust the site has built with its users.  

#3 – “Lowe’s Embraces Six-Second Vine Videos for Spring Campaign” – AdAge.com

Premise: Lowe’s home improvement stores have found a way to leverage Vine to provide customers with six second “how to” tip videos.  The store and its agency have put together twelve clips for various tips on home improvements including how to work with a stripped screw and using shower rings and a hangar to organize scarves.

Thoughts: This is another great example of a company using Vine to market to its consumers.  While marketers tinker with the platform, these companies that get ahead of the curve and in front of (potential) consumers before their competitors, are simply providing a strong point of difference for themselves in the online / digital marketing space.  To see more of Lowe’s videos, you can scroll through their Twitter feed (if Vine itself isn’t available to you).

#4 – “Dos Equis Resolves A “Cinco De Lemma” With Integrated Dos De Mayo Campaign” – ConvinceandConvert.com  

Premise: With today’s Cinco de Mayo holiday falling on a Sunday, Dos Equis decided to extend the holiday this past week with a holistic marketing program based on starting the celebrations on Dos de Mayo and having it run through the weekend.  Dos Equis used their SM sites, created a unique landing page for the marketing push, and included it in TV spots.

Thoughts: Dos Equis did a nice job of pulling several contact points together and focused their message on one area and on a major holiday, most specifically for the brand.  You will likely see the infographic created by Dos Equis again later this month, as I really like how they have branded this campaign and put a lot of effort around it.  For those interested, the microsite has a bar locator on where you can find a bar/pub in your area that sells Dos Equis.

#5 – “Zynga.org and New Schools Venture Fund take on ed-tech with launch of their learning games accelerator” – TheNextWeb.com

Premise: Zynga’s non-profit organization has provided funding for the formation of a learning games accelerator to help create social games that will have a positive impact on learning and learning experiences for users.  There are several groups that are already lined up to help produce the first round of games.

Thoughts: When playing several Zynga games in the past, I have seen a number of little campaigns for good causes or relief efforts.  You will also see this on the Zynga.com home page.  It is good to see a company that has this type/size of voice have a non-profit ‘on the side’ that promotes this type of positive message.  I wish we saw more of this.

Several other tech companies reported this week such as Yelp.  Were any of those of particular interest for you?  Was there anything else in branding or digital marketing that caught your eye this week?

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Ten Tips When Leveraging Facebook for Your Brand

May 2, 2013 By 1 Comment

facebook

Over the next few months, we’ll be focusing on several of the most commonly used social media sites out there and providing recommendations on how to better leverage them to promote your brand and/or business.

Given the results from the first poll on our site, Facebook will be the first platform that we focus on.  This may not be too much of a surprise given the sheer size of Facebook – reporting over 1 billion monthly active users in Q1’13 earlier this week.  Without further ado, here are ten recommendations to consider when using Facebook Pages:

#1 – Engage with fans 

This is a pretty loaded first recommendation but is absolutely critical for your brand and business.  Beyond creating meaningful content, here are several ways in which you can easily engage with fans of your brand or business on Facebook:

  • When posting on your wall, ask questions for fans to respond to.  You don’t have to do this on every post, but open up the conversation for responses.
  • Aside from questions, use a fill-in-the-blank statement to probe for comments and thoughts.
  • Use the Polls feature/capability to garner feedback.
  • Create unique content for Facebook Fans only.

#2 – Like, comment, and share information from others  

Don’t use Facebook just to promote your brand or business, link to a specific post on your web page, and then walk away from the platform.  Click around and like other pages of interest (similar to your own or different), provide input and commentary on other’s wall posts, and share information from others that might be of interest to your own audience.  There is a certain level of trust that can be created by moving beyond self-promotion.  

#3 – Respond in a timely manner

Ensure that you, or the person responsible for your Facebook page, is responding in a timely manner.  Answer questions/messages within a 24 hour period at the bare minimum.  Respond to posts on your wall with some/any type of feedback – a follow-up comment, a simple ‘like’ of their post, etc.

Most importantly, respond to both positive and negative feedback/posts in a consistent manner.  Do not try to erase comments or thoughts on your page because it is negative.  Handle those comments in public, so that others see you are working through it.  You might be able to take the matter offline or to a private exchange, but do not try to hide negative feedback.  Those efforts will likely trickle down and become much worse in the long run.  Learn from Applebee’s mistake.

#4 – When pasting links, delete the HTML

 This is one of our biggest pet peeves.  When sharing an article or link on Facebook, after you paste in the HTML, let the story/link come up below.  As soon as it does, please go back and delete the HTML address in the status bar.  It looks infinitely cleaner and more “professional” when you clean out the HTML and just have the appropriate commentary around the story in the status itself.

#5 – Leverage Facebook’s Insights

In order to better understand your Facebook audience, it is important to utilize the insights that the site provides for you at no charge.  At the very least, on a weekly basis, take a look through your ‘Likes’, ‘Reach’, and ‘Talking About This’ information provided by Facebook.  Better understanding your audience will help you tailor your message and who you may consider putting more efforts towards on other online platforms and/or offline.

Using the Insights information may also help you realize when it is the best time to post content to your page.  I don’t necessarily believe that there is an optimal time to post on the web; if your content and message are strong, it will stick.  However, the Insights information might suggest when not to post; when are your fans more apt to be online, when are they able to click through to links you are posting, when are they more/less engaged with your message?  All of this can be analyzed by trial by fire and keeping an eye on the Insights tabs.

#6 – Try to post on a consistent frequency

As best you can, try to be consistent with getting your message out there.  Try not to post in peaks and valleys (15 posts one day, 4 days of silence, 10 posts late in the week, etc.).  Again, using the Insights information at your disposal should help you better understand when to / not to post, but being consistent will help you and your audience connect.

If you have a weekly or monthly post, try to ensure that it is going up at or around the same time each week or month.  You do not want to cause unnecessary confusion with your fans or readers and drive them away.

#7 – Use Events

Creating calendar events on your Facebook page let’s fans know where you will be, what you will be doing, and allows them to come see you or your brand in person.  This is a simple way of building stronger engagement and connections with your fans.  Let them know that they can come (watch, celebrate, play, etc.) and see you in action.

A second strength of Facebook Events is the ability send out invitations to your fans.  This will help you understand how large of an audience your Facebook page is or may be helping drive.  It may also help you prepare better for said event.

#8 – Use photos/images

You didn’t think there would be a top ten list of recommendations for using Facebook without including the use of photos and images, did you?  If you have looked at or for this type of information in the past on better leveraging Facebook, I’m confident that you’ve seen this recommendation before.  The only add I will provide here is that from first-hand experience, I can tell you that this works.

People are absolutely more engaged in status updates from brands and companies that also include some type of visual effect.  I’ve seen this impact for several fan pages I’ve been an admin on/for.  Your page’s “Talking about this” and “Virality” numbers are almost always stronger when a photo or image is attached to a status update.

#9 – Promote your page

When your brand/business is ready, consider promoting your page through Facebook’s advertising platform.  If you know your audience and target market, you can easily filter down to that exact space on Facebook.  It is also very easy to set your spending limits so that you don’t break the bank.  After setting up your first ad/promotion, the set-up for future ads/promotions should only take you about 10 minutes; figure the first time you go to set one up, it should take you about 30 minutes or so as you fine-tune your message and specifications.

#10 – Facebook is continuously evolving – pay attention!

Facebook is constantly tweaking its platform so you must pay attention to what these changes are, how they may affect your page, and what you may have to do moving forward to optimize your content on the site.  Seconds ago, a simple search for “Facebook changes” pulled up 943 million hits, so you know there is a lot of detail and information in this arena.

Among other tweaks over the past few months, the platform has recreated its mobile platform (again) and changed specifications and capabilities for your cover photos.  At the same time, Facebook announced that it will soon leverage/track hashtags (#PotentialGameChanger).

Hope you enjoyed and consider our recommendations for better using Facebook in your branding and digital marketing efforts.  Let us know if any of these have helped you in the comments below.  If you have other thoughts/recommendations that would help readers optimize their own page, please also feel free to drop them in the comments section as well.

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Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 4-28-13

April 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Branding and Digital Marketing

Branding and Digital Marketing

Here are this week’s ‘Sunday Musings’ – the top five stories in branding and digital marketing.  You can find the archives of this weekly write-up under the Blog-Sunday Musings tab at the top of the page.

#1 – “Starbucks Hopes to Grow Loyalty Program with Expansion to the Grocery Aisle” – AaramShopPro.com

Premise: Starbucks has some of the most loyal fans and brand ambassadors in the world.  The company is looking to increase their loyalty and engagement with the brand by allowing purchases in the grocery / retail store count towards their Starbucks Rewards program.  There will be a sticker on each product in the store that the shopper will need to peel off and add to their account themselves in order to receive credit for the purchase.

Thoughts: It looks like Starbucks has found another means of building/driving loyalty and engaging with those that are most connected with the brand.  Building stronger connections through retail and driving people to their rewards account online can/should help build an even stronger relationship between the brand and its customers.

#2 – “Facebook Challenges Yelp with Mobile Pages Redesign Featuring Actions, Local Biz Details and Ratings” – TechCrunch.com  

Premise: Facebook has redesigned its mobile Pages to more prominently show reviews of each page or business and what is local to the individual user.  The redesign was launched earlier this week on the iOS version and is coming to Android’s platform in May.  The article here provides several visuals comparing the old and new look to Facebook Pages.

Thoughts: In its continued shift toward mobile, Facebook’s latest updates certainly make Pages more actionable and more detailed at first glance.  I agree with the author of this article; the look of the redesign provides more easily accessible content and a better use of space.  The redesign does look a lot like a Yelp business page.  It will be interesting to see if Facebook can better compete in the local search space, given the strength of Yelp and others (Foursquare, Google Places, etc.).  

#3 – “Branding Like Apple: 20 Ways to Make Your Biz Stand Out” – BigGirlBranding.com

Premise: The article provides twenty different ways to help your brand or business stand out with others.  These recommendations or steps are presented in a straightforward manner with a few blurbs following each to provide a little more detail.

Thoughts: We’ve mentioned this a few times here; branding isn’t rocket science, but it is very easy to miss a step, focus in the wrong areas, and/or trip up along the way.  These steps/recommendations are good to keep by your side / in your back pocket as a reminder for your business on what to do and how to do it better than your competition.

To point to just one of the recommendations here, I particularly liked #18 – “Culture a tradition”.  I really like the thought behind this; make your customers comfortable right from the beginning.  They should know exactly what to expect from you or your company right away.

#4 – “Google+ for Brands: 4 Reasons Your Brand Should Be On It” – Blog.Hootsuite.com  

Premise: While many are quick to dismiss the platform, Google+ has grown to 500 million users, of which almost 350 million are considered active users.  This write-up provides more rationale as to why you or your brand/business need to be using the network.  With a lot more detail in the article itself, there are four steps or reasons for your brand to be on G+: 1. Better Discovery, 2. Deeper Engagement, 3. Marketing Performance, and 4. Measurable Impact.

Thoughts: Past Sunday Musings have focused on G+ and a need to leverage the site, particularly around #1 and #2 from this article – which includes our personal recommendations to engage in G+’s Communities.  The connections across Google’s platforms presented in #3 and #4 here are just as important to your brand/business.  Working with and fully understanding the capabilities of Google’s AdWords, Ripples, and Analytics will help your brand better understand your audience and to make the necessary tweaks to your online presence and to optimize your message/efforts.

#5 – “Celebrity Endorsement – 5 Key Questions You Should Ask” – Alison Cressey on BrandingMagazine.com

Premise: One would typically believe that celebrities help sell your brand or product.  Before spending money on hiring a celebrity to promote your business, this write-up provides a few questions you should ask yourself to ensure you are getting the most out of your investment.

Thoughts: Interesting take on how or when you should consider celebrity endorsement here, with an appropriate caveat to why you might consider passing on this marketing technique.  I particularly “enjoyed” reading about Oprah’s promotional efforts of the Surface tablet … while using an iPad.  I would not be happy if I was Steve Ballmer and I would be pretty embarrassed if that was my campaign … and/or infuriated with Oprah.

The questions and thoughts here make a lot of sense.  You need to make sure the celebrity endorsing your products connects with and is relevant to your target market / audience.  You can quickly waste a lot of cash by not fully understanding these components.

What caught your eye this week in branding and digital marketing?

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Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 4-21-13

April 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Sunday Musings 2

Branding and Digital Marketing

We’re back after a week’s hiatus with our ‘Sunday Musings’ – the top five stories in branding and digital marketing from the past week.  As always, you can find the archives of this weekly write-up under the Blog-Sunday Musings tab at the top of the page.

#1 – “9 Ways to Become a Better Facebook Community Manager” – SocialMediaExaminer.com

Premise: If you are looking to open a Facebook Community page or want to strengthen an existing one, SME provides nine easy to employ steps towards optimization.  Your community is a deep extension of your brand, so you’ll want to ensure you follow these steps to engage with your audience.

Thoughts: There are several items in here that may seem like commonsense to some but continue to trip up many.  Particularly of interest and importance was #4 – Know the industry; if you are running someone else’s Facebook Community, you must be engaged in said business or industry.

I am also a firm believer in each of the following; #2 – Have access to visuals, #6 – Answer questions quickly, and #8 – Respond calmly to negative posts.  While not always easy to do, particularly #6 and #8, you must take a step back and remember that your community is an extension of your brand and any trip-ups can have a large, negative influence on you or your brand.

#2 – “Google is testing One Today, an Android app for giving $1 micro-donations to good causes” – TheNextWeb.com  

Premise: Google has launched a new app, One Today, on its Android platform that allows users donate as little as $1 to charities and organizations of their own choice or preference as they are made available on the app.  The app is an extension of Google for Nonprofits.  While access is currently by invitation only, you can download the app in Google Play now and await the email invitation.

Thoughts: I love efforts like this from Google (and others).  As TNW states, while $1 may not seem like much, the ability to share your donation with others helps build word-of-mouth for each respective cause.  While I await the official invitation to join, in looking at screenshots, it seems as if you can donate more than $1 to any particular cause that may be of interest to you. 

#3 – “5 Reasons Why Building Your Online Brand is Vital” – 36Creative.com

Premise: In today’s world, building your brand online isn’t a choice or option, it is a necessity.  This article provides five solid reasons as to why you must build and leverage an online presence.

Thoughts: This felt like a nice summation of why you need to be online in order to build your brand in the 21st century.  It is a concise story that should help convince you and/or others to leverage the internet for your brand/business.  The fifth reason in the article – ‘Learn more about your customers’ – is an item that isn’t taken advantage of enough.  If you aren’t using analytics to better understand your audience, you are setting yourself up for failure.

#4 – “5 Easy Steps To Becoming A Google+ Wizard” – RivalIQ.com  

Premise: While people and brands continue to ignore Google+, the author creates a compelling case as to why this is a mistake.  There are clear benefits to being on Google+ right now – an engaged audience and advantages in SEO.  After this, there are five steps provided on setting up your G+ profile correctly and how to leverage the site appropriately.

Thoughts: When starting Shore Branding a few months ago, it was clear that beyond the web site itself, I was going to set up a Twitter page and a Google+ page; Facebook and Pinterest were added later on after thinking more about each.  Google+ is a tremendous tool to take advantage of for your business.  I completely agree with the two core benefits laid out in this article on why you should leverage G+.  As I have mentioned before, the Communities feature on G+ (the #3 step in this article) is a huge advantage for the platform that should be taken more advantage of by brands/companies.  Overall, this was a strong, in-depth summary of why you need to consider Google+.

#5 – “How Brands Shouldn’t Handle a Tragedy on Social Media” – Frank Eliason on LinkedIn.com

Premise: As you are likely all well aware, this past week presented more tragedy in the world, specifically in Boston and Texas.  While brands will always focus on their business, there always seems to be an outlier that takes things too far on social media.  Where is the line drawn?  This write-up provides a few thoughts, as well as secondary links, to help us remember what the appropriate balance is or should be.

Thoughts: The example provided at the top of this write-up from Epicurious and their tweets from the Boston Marathon makes my blood boil.  Brands and businesses need to draw the line and society really needs to get a grip of themselves sometimes.  Watching this week unfold, particularly on Friday through the news stations on TV and on Twitter, it was amazing to get a glimpse as to how things have changed so dramatically in just the past few years.

Twitter, and links from others on Twitter, provided “better” news than watching MSNBC, CNN, and/or Fox.  (Avoiding all political backlash by checking all three stations Friday; they were equally bad.)  Those stations were literally reading online comments, Twitter feeds, etc.  When they weren’t, they were making a mockery of news reporting.  The means of getting our news has certainly changed with the likes of Twitter and other online sources.  How far will this go and drastic will these changes get remains to be seen.

What caught your eye this week in branding and digital marketing?

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by this week’s events.

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Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 4-7-13

April 6, 2013 By 1 Comment

Sunday Musings 1

Here are this week’s ‘Sunday Musings’ – the top five stories in branding and digital marketing from the past seven six days.  As always, you can find the archives of this weekly write-up under the Blog-Sunday Musings tab at the top of the page.

Please note that there will not be a Musings next Sunday, 4/14.  We’ll be returning to our regularly scheduled write-up the following weekend, 4/21.

#1 – “Facebook Home – Facebook take control over Android Phones” – HotInSocialMedia.com

Premise: On Thursday, Facebook announced its latest plans for mobile – Facebook Home.  This is not being billed as Facebook’s own mobile phone or operating system, but the means in which to create a more social device.  The first device that will have the Home feature will be from HTC on AT&T.

Thoughts: This seems like a good idea for Android and its open platform, bringing in the Facebook diehards onto their OS.  It seems a little counterintuitive to the direction Facebook has been heading with their partnerships with Microsoft and Bing.  Perhaps that is the intent however, to re-balance their positioning across the tech behemoths.  To be perfectly honest, I have no interest in a Facebook Home driven phone, but I can see the value in it for both companies.

#2 – “The Marketing Value of YouTube” – SEOMOZ.org 

Premise: Should you or your business have a YouTube page?  The article provides a lot of information on whether or not setting up a YouTube page is right for you and the rationale behind the decision.  Beyond building awareness for your brand, there are advantages to be found by using YouTube for your business, including its integration with other social networks.  The write-up then goes into the various types of content that can be put on your site, recommendations on whether or not you should have a page, how to measure success of the page itself, and FAQ’s.

Thoughts: There is a tremendous amount of information available in this write-up for consideration.  If your business is weighing whether or not you should start a YouTube page, I would consider this a very good starting point for that discussion.  The analytics piece towards the end will also help you better understand what is working and what might not be … while not relying on “view counts”.     

#3 – “April Fools’ Day: Brands Show Off Their Funny Side on Social Media” – BrandChannel.com

Premise: The week started off on April Fools’ Day and brands were quick to pounce on social media with a number of great gags for their brands and products.  BrandChannel.com has taken a stab at collecting some of the best from the web here in this write-up.

Thoughts: My favorite April Fools’ Day product came from Scope and its Bacon-flavored mouthwash.  I even fell for this for a second until I was reminded what day it was.  Their ad was well put together and the overall idea/concept isn’t too far from reality.  Also, how many different pranks does Google need to create?

#4 – “What digital marketing will look like in 5 years” – iMediaConnection.com 

Premise: In an exclusive interview, Intel’s Brian David Johnson answers questions on the future of digital marketing, technology, and role of TV’s, magazines, etc. through a Google+ Hangout.  You’ll see five separate videos here, each related to a particular topic and lasting between 1-2 minutes.

Thoughts: Good thoughts and answers here from Intel’s Futurist.  My favorite answer out of the five videos posted is under the “Will TV and magazines die?” headline.  Many are quick to say that X and Y are dead/done, and that isn’t necessarily the case, they are just evolving into something a little different.

#5 – “Why You Might Want to Be More Negative in Your Marketing” – blog.hubspot.com

Premise: The author provides 8 different areas in which one might choose to leverage a negative thought, expression, etc. in their marketing efforts.  The article goes through these various options and how/why consumers are engaged by this type of marketing.  Note that towards the end of the article, they are clear that a shift or push into negative marketing can backfire.

Thoughts: I wouldn’t have even classified several of these negative marketing efforts, but they all could create buzz or have you fall flat.  You’ve certainly seen negative titles and headlines, it is what drives you to click around on the Internet so often.  I’m not a fan of #6 on this list – ‘Stir up some controversy’.  This irks me the wrong way, particularly when it seems so unbelievable and that someone or some company is just putting it out there to drive reaction from others.  My favorite on the list: #8 – ‘Make fun of yourself’.  Self-deprecating humor is humor at its best.

Have you tried to go negative in any of your marketing?  If so, did it work?  Should I preface this article with “Do not click on this link, you will never be the same” when sharing on social networks?

What else may have caught your eye in branding and digital marketing news this week?

Again, just a reminder, there will not be a ‘Sunday Musings’ next week, 4/14.  We will return the following week with more thoughts and stories in branding and digital marketing on 4/21.

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Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 3/24/13

March 24, 2013 By 2 Comments

Sunday Musings 2

Here are this week’s ‘Sunday Musings’ – the top five stories in branding and digital marketing from the past seven days.  For those interested, you can find the archives of this weekly write-up under the Blog-Sunday Musings tab at the top of the page.

#1 – “Google Keep Launches … For Real This Time” – Mashable.com 

Premise: Google launched its own version of Evernote this week – Google Keep.  The service allows you to take notes, create checklists, save pictures, and record voice reminders while you are on the go.  Google Keep is available for desktops and across Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich or higher.  The article also includes the official release video from Google.

Thoughts: I am not an avid user of a digital/mobile note keeper, but I downloaded Google Keep to see what it looked like.  I have to say that I’m a little disappointed with the service.  I don’t understand why it isn’t or wasn’t launched as a part of Google Drive / Docs.  It sounds like it will eventually be a part of Drive, but this really should have been an extension or added feature of that service vs. standing on its own in my opinion.

#2 – “Facebook launches hashtag feud with Twitter” – tednguyenusa.com

Premise: Earlier this week, Twitter celebrated its seventh birthday.  It is being reported that Facebook will begin using hashtags in order to boost their own search rankings and appeal to advertisers.  The use of hashtags will also help categorize conversations.  The author also presents a number of facts on the strengths of and rationale for using hashtags.  There are also a few paragraphs that critique Facebook and its branding efforts.

Thoughts: They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery and this is another perfect example, as Facebook recognizes the power of the hashtag.  The use of hashtags will help Facebook build advertising revenue but will also help marketers better understand and/or target users.  It is interesting to see Facebook essentially copy Twitter here.

Finally, happy 7th birthday to the greatest web site out there right now!  Twitter has changed the world and continues to be my preferred source for real-time news and information.  

#3 – “6 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty” – Entrepreneur.com

Premise: While it is important to look for new business, the author stresses the need to pay attention to your existing customers.  Any business needs to ensure that they are satisfying their current customers and the article provides six key steps in order to help drive stronger loyalty.

Thoughts: It is hard to argue with any of the six recommendations the author makes here.  While this feels second nature, it is amazing how many companies and businesses don’t follow these steps.

A perfect example of how not to do this happened recently.  We set up a large dinner party at a local restaurant.  Despite mediocre service (at best), I sent a follow-up “thank you” email to the restaurant.  Their response: (Silence).  Absolutely nothing.  It is safe to say that we will never frequent that establishment again.  All it would have taken is approximately three minutes of their time to reply to my email and say “thank you” or similar.

#4 – “Kit Kat Challenges Oreo to Tic-Tac-Toe for Twitter Fan’s Affection” – Mashable.com 

Premise: A fan of both Kit Kat and Oreo took to Twitter to profess her affection for chocolate and the two brands.  Kit Kat responded with a playful response, challenging Oreo to a game of tic-tac-toe for her loyalty.  However, Oreo’s Twitter team came back with a great response (see embedded images in the article).

Thoughts: Whoever is running Oreo’s Twitter feed deserves a raise.  They have been producing some witty responses and posts, but also using Twitter as a great source of engagement with fans.  I thought Kit Kat’s initial response was also well thought out.  My first thought was to check to make sure they weren’t owned by the same parent company (which would have made this more brilliant).  Kudos to both teams for well thought out responses.

#5 – “Grassroots Marketing And Community Outreach: 5 Questions With Bob Hilton Of The Jersey Shore Convention And Visitors Bureau” – websearchsocial.com

Premise: Since Superstorm Sandy, the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau has been hard at work to promote businesses in and around the Jersey Shore.  This is a brief interview with Bob Hilton who has helped spearhead the group/initiative.  Hilton provides the hard truths on the impact of the storm and looks to provide more of the facts, versus what has been reported by the media.

Thoughts: There may be a little bit of bias in this choice, but we’re going to have to live with this from time to time.  Fair?  Good.  The Q&A here provides much of the detail in how this area has been rebuilding since the storm, some of the hardships that local companies have faced, and some of the propaganda the media has used.  After taking a look at Hilton’s answers, don’t forget to take a look at the Jersey Shore page itself.  On the site you’ll find a PayPal link to donate to a number of different initiatives to help rebuild the Jersey Shore.  (Please consider this a subtle hint.)

Did anything in particular catch your interest here?  What other news did you find particularly appealing from the past week?

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Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 3/10/13

March 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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Here is the first ‘Sunday Musings’ since going live with the blog this past week.  You can find past entries under the Blog-Sunday Musings tab at the top of the page.  The top five stories to catch my attention in branding and digital marketing this week are as follows:

#1 – “McDonald’s takes No. 1 spot in 4Q Restaurant Social Media Index” – NRN.com

Premise: McDonald’s overtakes Starbucks as the number one brand in the ‘Restaurant Social Media Index’ (RSMI) in Q4’12.  McDonald’s has seen tremendous growth on Twitter and Facebook in recent months according to the index, particularly in building consumer engagement and sentiment – as tracked by Digital Coco.

Thoughts: McDonald’s surpassed the titan that is Starbucks on social media, building its presence on the most prominent SM sites.  See, you can still win there if you are doing it correctly!  At the time of writing, McDonald’s falls short of the overall number of Followers and Likes on Twitter and Facebook, respectively, but has made the conscious effort to engage its customer base.

While short vs. Starbucks, McDonald’s 27.5 million Likes on Facebook dwarf its direct competitors in fast food; Burger King has 6 million, Taco Bell almost 10 million, and Wendy’s is under 3 million.  While there is certainly a stronger global presence for McDonald’s vs. these competitors, those gaps are outstanding advantages for the golden arches.

It is also important to note that this isn’t a “sound the alarms” for Starbucks and their SM efforts, and the author of the article does a good job of making this point.  In the current world we live in of overreaction to any piece of news, it was nice to see them not take that tone “against” Starbucks and say that they were a diminishing brand on SM.

#2 – “How Starbucks Uses Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+” – Econsultancy.com

Premise: Econsultancy.com has been reviewing various company’s social media efforts and strategy across platforms and took a look at Starbucks this past week.  The author provides a quick overview of Starbucks’ efforts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram and highlights how well received the company is by its “followers” on each.

Thoughts: Reading through the article/review, I started to wonder how or why Starbucks has such a loyal following on SM platforms given the uninspiring review.  However, it clearly works with its fans and has come to be known as a golden star in social media – as mentioned above in the first article as well.

One note: I’ll be covering this in the near future specifically, but I have to mention it here given the content Starbucks puts out across platforms; I cannot stand posts/updates that are pushed out at the same time across SM sites.  Facebook posts that show up in Twitter feeds and vice versa make me cringe.  Take the ten minutes to write a unique message for your followers on each.  

#3 – “SXSWi Day 1: Grumpy Cat, 3D Printing and Other Highlights” – Mashable.com

Premise: The South by Southwest festival kicked off earlier this week and Mashable provides an overview on the highlights from day one.  Successes from SXSW include hubs from Las Vegas, American Airlines’ tent to help promote its merger, and 3D printing.  Cats also stole the show…

Thoughts: Even if Grumpy Cat makes me laugh every time, can we skip any further thoughts on cats?  Good.  I really need to get back to Austin and visit SXSW sooner rather than later.  As SXSW continues to grow, more and more brands are dedicating more resources to sponsorship and events for the festival.

Have you been to SXSW?  If so, what did you think and what were your personal highlights?

#4 – “Pizza Hut To Hold 140-Second Interviews For Social Media Manager Position at SXSW” – Forbes.com 

Premise: Pizza Hut is looking to hire a new Social Media Manager and is going about it in quite the unique way at SXSW.  You can take a look at the job description here as well: BecauseImGreat.com.  The pizza maker is interviewing candidates in record time and will continue to do so via Google+ Hangouts in a few days.  For those interested and on location at SXSW, interviewing is actually happening today at the Austin Hilton between 1pm – 5pm.

Thoughts: In one word: Phenomenal!  Yes, this is another article that points us to SXSW, but this is quite the unique means of trying to find the right person for such an important position in the company.  I have seen several articles and news stories where companies are leveraging G+ Hangouts and Skype to conduct interviews, but have never seen the coordination with Twitter’s mantra (140 characters / seconds).

Good luck to anyone that is reading this and heading over to the Hilton on Sunday.

#5 – “16 Ways Businesses Are Using Twitter Vine” – SocialMediaExaminer.com

Premise: Vine continues to pick up traction with brands and companies finding new ways to leverage the medium.  SME has a few tips and recommendations on what to do, based on what has been seen and shown from both large and small companies over the first few months of Vine’s existence.  Here’s the #1 rule: “Engage your followers in conversation”.

Thoughts: While Vine continues to be an Apple only app (?!?!) it continues to grow.  The power of Twitter speaks volumes here, as competitors to Vine such as Tout do not seem to be growing at the same rate.  SME provides a nice array of tips and recommendations here, as well as examples of what others have been doing with Vine thus far.  It should not be any surprise that the number one rule is “Engage”.  If it is a surprise, we need to talk.

As you can see, a lot of branding news caught my eye this week, particularly at SXSW.  What do you think of Vine and the future of online videos?  As mentioned earlier, I would love to hear more from those that have attended (or are attending) SXSW.

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Poll Question: Which social media sites do you leverage the most?

February 23, 2013 By 1 Comment
Which social media sites do you prefer?

Which social media sites do you prefer?

You have probably noticed the poll on the right sidebar of each page – Which social media sites do you leverage the most?  This poll will be leveraged to kick-off a series of write-ups that Shore Branding will be blogging about over the next few months.  The social media site with the most votes at the end of March ’13 will be the focal point of the first blog entry in the series.  The write-up on said site will consist of recommendations and thoughts on how to best leverage the site for businesses, a “do and don’t” list for your consideration, as well as infographics for the site that have been put together for each.

Over the course of time, each of the social media sites in this poll will become separate blog entries that include similar thoughts and recommendations for users and businesses of each.  Let us know which site you use most frequently and in the comments below and/or let us know what you like most about your selection and what benefits you may have already gained from leveraging the site.  We are interested in hearing what may have worked for you.

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