I read an essay the other day written by my former Journalism professor at Wayne State University, Jack Lessenberry.
He wrote about Toyota’s woes and how Detroit car companies now have a chance to capitalize on sales during this drama.
I totally agree that the next strategy for the Big 3 is that they should swoop in like Superman and boast about all the changes that are to come for the future of American made cars.
Toyota seems to be in a panic and they don’t appear to be utilizing social media to get their name out of the gutter – a perfect “in” for GM, Ford and Chrysler.
What would be the first social media tactic you would do if you were an American car company?
Social Media and the Olympics combine to form the Twitter Olympics 2010. How amazing is this, athletes providing behind the scenes comments and photos that only the most elite competitors have ever been able to experience. But of course there is a catch with all of this, four pages of catches. According to Eddie Pells, the International Olympic Committee released an addendum that says blogs are permitted, so long as they are diary-like in nature, don’t include live action or ceremonies and don’t give “newsy” updates, such as injury reports or information about rivaling countries. The athletes can only report from a first person perspective , which has caused some confusion, and they can’t display any photos that include any of the sporting events taking place.
So what does this mean for the Olympics? Will the popularity of the Olympics increase because athletes are twittering about what is going on behind the scenes? Or is the information too restricted? Will you be more inclined to tune in because Shaun White is twittering about the weather?
Healthcare marketers are often challenged with to how to participate and ultimately lead health conversations through social media channels. In this highly regulated market, even marketers armed with great social strategies can find that they face seemingly insurmountable barriers thrown up by administration and information technology departments.
So how can you become part of the conversation when the thoughts you express could create a liability or privacy concern for your organization? Here’s one idea: borrow third party expertise. Turn the conversation away from your organization, your doctors, your services, and tap into some of the rich public health resources available online.
Why not get familiar with the major public health research publications such as Environmental Health Perspectives (fd: Brogan & Partners publishes and markets EHP on behalf of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). Stay ahead of the competition when it comes to understanding the major health concerns of today and tomorrow by commenting on the research or news provided by these publications and the esteemed researchers that contribute to them. You can then draw connections back to your service lines as a way of providing additional information.
You’ll appear smarter and better informed while fostering a feeling of goodwill among consumers because your organization is taking the time to help them understand how to live healthier lives. Got other ideas on how to insert your organization into the social sphere while limiting exposure? We’d love to hear them!
Is traditional going to become non-traditional media? Well it seems that the ever-evolving social media is the latest and greatest form of marketing and advertising. Newspaper is close to extinction, TV and cable spots can be fast-forwarded and people are tuning into satellite radio.
I went to MSU’s career fair earlier this week. All the students were familiar with social media and a few of them seemed to have a better grasp on it than others. What I’m really trying to say is - it should become a staple class among advertising college courses today. And it should be integrated into media buying courses as well.
I know it changes daily - but that’s the purpose of classroom discussions. Keeping it fresh!
Before becoming a mom, my knowledge of toys consisted of about 3 things: Sit’ N Spin, Big Wheel and Play-Doh. When realizing my dance rendition of Single Ladies by Beyonce and what I feel was a very well-thought out and entertaining reading of “Goodnight Moon” wasn’t quite enough to entertain my toddler for more than a few minutes, I entered a new realm – securing imaginative, stimulating kids toys. A trip to Toys “R” Us for me was comparable to a couch potato running the Boston Marathon. I almost passed out. There was no finish line in sight. I didn’t even break in my sneakers but I did break out in a sweat. I high-tailed it out of the store and headed home and jumped online. How many toy kitchens can there be? Seriously? Hundreds! Pure panic. Until I hit “read customer reviews” and felt immediate calm. Moms, just like me. Ones who have bought the product, took the time to write a review, and were kind enough to share it with millions of online users including little ol’ me. The one that I thought looked the best in the photo had terrible rankings - they had about 5 categories along with side notes, followed by complete reviews. So, thank you Katie from Minnesota, the anonymous grandma from New York, the mom of 3 from Wisconsin for your reviews, and the many more moms who saved my little one from having to endure my somewhat rusty dance skills. I knew which products were flimsy, which ones were hard to put together, seemed too big, and didn’t function well. I ended up with a fabulous Step2 kitchen which I found in stock using the store locator feature. I am no longer green to kids toys. In fact, I’m a rewards member now at Toys “R” Us – and I must say they send great coupons (read Jo’s blog about coupon use)! And really, Step2 has gained a very loyal customer via good feedback from current customers. I have quite a few Step2 products now – like the easel and outdoor climber. Reviews are important. And if your aiming to hit moms, pay close attention to what is said about your products online. Women are the primary purchase decision makers and word-of-mouth goes right to the pocketbook. Make it part of your marketing strategy. And if words aren’t enough, check out some stats in this blog by Robert Gorell, I can only imagine these stats have increased in terms of the power of customer feedback.
While doing social media training here at the agency, I finally figured out why so many people do not respond or follow on Twitter…
They don’t know how!
Although Twitter seems pretty self explanatory, especially to those of us that were in college when Facebook and MySpace first hit the social media scene, that doesn’t mean everyone can follow along and quickly grasp the concept. For those who need the extra help, it means there will be some research involved… yes, you have to google how to twitter. Sounds like a simple enough request, right? Wrong. Most people look to social media because it should be fun, easy and exciting… not one of those words implies having to LEARN first.
I can now say from experience, that little effort to learn something new goes a long way to gaining a positive new tool to promote your business and yourself. Do you disagree? I’d love to see your thoughts.
P.S. If you can’t get somebody’s attention through social media like this poor man, maybe you should try a new tactic!
We are just a few weeks out from the big event. That’s right folks, Super Bowl Sunday is fast approaching. Now it is no surprise that ad budgets have been drastically cut, but what comes as a surprise is Pepsi won’t be advertising.Like so many other people, I tune in to see all the great commercials that Budweiser, Pepsi, Doritos and other advertisers produce to premiere during the Super Bowl, but with some big name advertisers jumping ship in favor of interactive and social media, who will fill the void? New advertisers like KGB and TruTV now have the opportunity to jump on board with an extra incentive in drastically reduced rates.Such radical changes in advertising plans forces one question: why? Many advertisers may be heading in a different direction because interactive and social media seem to be leading the pack for so many things now (the hype surrounding Avatar, new product launches) and advertising budgets are being reallocated in ways that I never would have imagined years ago.With the world of advertising changing like it is I ask you is social media a little blip on the radar that will soon fade away or is it here to stay? What are your thoughts?
The thing that’s kind of numbing about Facebook is the number of messages suggesting “I’m going to the refrigerator now.” “I’m looking at my cat.” “I’m thinking of going to a movie. hmmmm.” It’s like your dog has begun talking and you’ve suddenly learned he’s dull. Geez. Disappointing. Friends have an obligation to be perky. Fun. Tell me something new. Show up interesting or stay home.
This seemed appropriate for the holiday season, because as we all know, online scams become much more prevalent this time of year.
We’ve all received bogus emails that lead to fake websites, where thieves try to phish for your credit card number, social security number, or log-in information to other websites. Well this year you could be scammed just by searching for a reputable company in your favorite search engine.
A recent experiment by a security researcher proved that he could fool the search engines into believing that his bogus bank website was legit and was even able to outrank the real banks website. His fake website was creditunionofsc.org, and the real bank’s url is cusocal.org. Within a year and a half, his website ranked #1 in Bing, #2 in Yahoo, and while Google wasn’t as easily deceived they still ranked it on page 6. His fake website is no longer live and now redirects to the official bank’s website.
While this was done to prove a point, it raises some interesting issues:
First of all, make sure that you are visiting the correct website. Especially when it requires you to log in, make an online purchase, enter your social security number or other personal information. If you are not sure, you can visit http://www.whois.com to verify the owner of the domain name.
It’s possible that any website that uses proper SEO techniques can top the search engine rankings.
If I were a customer of this bank, I would feel safer if they had considered a more strategic response. They vowed to purchase more domain names similar to their own to protect themselves. Shouldn’t they instead be monitoring search engines and implementing safeguards to prevent this from happening again? Or perhaps working to improve the search engine ranking of their own website?
They could learn lessons from eBay and PayPal, who have been plagued by this problem for years. Reporting mechanisms have been added to their own sites to identify deceptive websites. Email campaigns have been launched to raise awareness of the issue, in addition to information put online to educate customers.
Still not convinced non-traditional media is enough to solve all of your advertising woes? There may be a solution.
Non-traditional forms of advertising are great in terms of finding unique ways to show off a product or brand, but are they as effective if the same traditional mediums are being used to display it? I would think not.
Imagine the benefits of using a non-traditional advertisement and implementing it with social media. Combining the most innovative and cutting edge techniques of the media world would provide the ability to capture the audience’s interest with a unique idea while serving it in a relaxed, open environment. This also gives a viewer access to sharing capabilities which would conveniently be at the their fingertips.
The clip below provides us with a great example of a non-traditional social media advertisement.
Notice how they created an ad unlike others and placed it in blog. Like I said, innovative. How do you feel about the possibilities involved in this new advertising combo?
Girl power. As Americans, we’re all about empowering girls. But it wasn’t that long ago, women couldn’t vote, get equal pay for equal work or break through the glass ceiling in our country. In developing countries, gender discrimination and gender disenfranchisement are rampant. Women don’t have a voice, the means, the education or the power to impact their destiny as easily as we have in America. The Nike Foundation along with some other folks are trying to change that with the girl effect. This is a great effort and a powerful video about how with the right opportunities, young girls in developing countries can make a difference and ultimately save our world. Spread the girl power by becoming a facebook fan of the girl effect. Or better yet, donate. Do you think girls have the power to change the world? I do.
Many of us expected that the ever-increasingly popular social networking sites such as facebook and Twitter would start to creep into the healthcare world. One example is the trend we are seeing of primary care Dr.’s and specialists that are being friended by their patients. It’s now becoming an avenue for communicating with them about questions, concerns, RX refill needs, etc.
Personally, I like the idea. I remember how pleased I was when my doctor gave me his email address and said, “email me any time you have any questions.” For some reason, it made me feel connected and covered – like I really could reach him any time I needed him.
Deloitte Center for Health Solutions recently conducted research that stated 55% of patients would like to communicate with their physcians via email. I think facebook is just the next avenue and in turn a great way for doctors to build and maintain their patient relationships.
I would be interested to see what most doctors think though. Is it strange to have a patient see the post they sent to their best friend about the upcoming weekend? Is it too personal? We know it takes time out of their day… but then again, some insurance companies are beginning to compensate doctors for that time.
What do you think? Do you think it’s appropriate to friend your doctor?
