Catch Up Lady

Patagonia: Selling a Story

From Rob BonDurant, VP of Marketing at Patagonia – from today’s WOMMA Summit.

Patagonia…

• Uses business to inspire and implement solutions to the sustainability crisis
• Believes passion cannot be created
• Is a non profit thinly disguised as a company
• Makes money so they can demonstrate their business model works, and donate more money to their 1% Earth Tax
• Designs its products and communications to adhere to the natural law of simplicity – things are done when there is nothing left to take away
• Always has an answer to “Who we are? How did we get here? Where are we going?”
• Is driven by story telling – it’s the anecdote to logic
• Doesn’t create stories, it just publishes them
• Received 100,000 unsolicited stories and photos from customers last year - that number will double this year
• Is selling a story, a symbol and a badge
• Believes the only limit is imagination – never budget

Patagonia...

• Creates experiences that complement their customers’ journey, versus interrupting them
• Relies on customers motive and intent to keep their brand top of mind
• Uses social media as real time reviews that are shared internally
• Cares a LOT about SEO, user experience, and the online buying path
• Now has more people chatting with them online than calling on the phone
• Is dead focused on getting people to comment and share their experience online

Patagonia...

• Would rather inspire than promote
• Would rather earn credibility than buy it
• Advertises as a last resort

Patagonia...

• Is a30+ year old experiment 

Stream 2009: After the One Night Stand

At Stream, I helped facilitate a great session with Jory Des Jardins (co-founder of BlogHer) and Christine Cea (Director of Brand PR, Unilever) entitled After the One Night Stand – How To Get Beyond Buzz and Create Sustained WOM Programs. Our session focused on this challenge from three perspectives: the agency, the client, and the partner.

Getting Beyond the Campaign Think One of the biggest challenges in creating sustained WOM programs is that budgets and mindsets are locked into campaign cycles. This mentality is not conducive to social media programs, which are centered around creating a long-term, open ended dialogue with online stakeholders. While some WOM programs are specifically designed for short-term deployment, many others stop simply because the campaign the social media effort was attached to ended. Unilever has broken out of this with respect to social media by creating a taskforce that provides leadership and oversight for all social media efforts across brands. Many other companies have started hiring in-house social media experts who serve a similar purpose. On the agency side, we discussed selling the program you want to execute for your client. While you may be planning for a campaign that occurs over a finite period of time - build in a budget to maintain the relationship.

Organizational Structure

At present, few companies are set up internally to handle the "soft costs" associated with a sustained WOM campaign - from running a Twitter handle, to playing a community manager role. The ideal solution for brands at the moment is to have their agencies transparently assist in co-managing these aspects of the campaign, and, through trainings, help brands create internal capacity that can take on more of these responsibilities in the long term.

Understanding Audience Behavior and Partner Advantages

Rooting your WOM program in robust audience and partner research is another key ingredient in creating sustained programs. On the research side, understanding your target audiences online behaviors helps you craft a program they will want to engage with continuously. Choosing the right partner can afford you a deeper level of community understanding - as they are intimately familiar with not only metrics on their audience, but also smaller nuances that can help make your campaign a long-term success.

Optimizing a Program for the Long Haul

What works in Month 1, might not work in month 6 - so planning a program that evolves is key. There are two ways to make sure you're ready. The first is laying out a value exchange - understand what a brand can do for the campaign/influencers, and what the campaign/influencers can do for the brand over the long term. Make sure your value exchange is solid, and offers value as time goes by. Building on that concept, optimization is the second key. Don't build a cathedral and walk away - make sure the agency and the brand are involved in week to week fine tuning that ensures the campaign stays strong and meets needs.

Demonstrating Value Through Measurement

And what would our discussion have been without a long conversation on measurement?? All present agreed that measurement, and demonstrating the long term value of social media was integral to creating sustained WOM programs. I shared Ogilvy's Conversation Impact measurement model, which maps to the marketing funnel and focuses on metrics like reach (that tie out to existing marcom efforts), as well as engagement and action - which is where WOM programs can uniquely add value. Additionally, integrating social media measurement into brand's existing measurement reports helps demonstrate where social is adding value and can help make the case for longer-term planning and execution.

What are other obstacles to creating sustained WOM Programs, and how can collectively overcome them?

5 Things You Need to Know About Social Media in Mexico

Last night I returned from a whirlwind trip to Ogilvy in Mexico City, where I was lucky enough to conduct a day long training session for 15 of the office’s most social media savvy staff. Having the opportunity to broaden my horizons beyond the US, and look at social through a more global lens was invaluable. Below are FIVE key insights I picked up from my research, and great discussions I had with my Ogilvy team members and Jesus Hoyas (President of the Social Media Club – Mexico City):

1. Internet Penetration in Mexico is Growing Rapidly Internet penetration in Mexico is hovering between 25 – 30%. This rate that is low compared to many Asian and European countries, and while it trails a few other LATM countries (notably Brazil, Colombia and Argentina) percentage wise, Mexico is in fact second only to Brazil in terms of sheer number of people online (111,000,000+). Internet penetration will continue to grow at a rapid pace in Mexico. Stats on LATM internet penetration can be found here.

2. Social Media Adoption is STRONG and Driven by Young Influencers Internet growth is lead by Mexico’s youth - 48% of all Internet users in Mexico are 15 – 24, compared with 35% in Latin America, and 26% worldwide (ComScore State of Internet Report – Mexico, 2009). So, it’s no surprise that early adopters/heavy Internet users in Mexico are using social platforms at a rate higher than most countries in the world – beating worldwide averages for time spent online a month (Ibid). 

(Stats from Universal McCann Wave 3)
While the general population is inverted – using social at rates lower than most other large countries globally, these young early adopters represent the future of social media in Mexico. These are the trendsetters who are leading their lives online – for an increasing number of people in Mexico to see – and they will be the influencers of tomorrow.

3. Online Affinity Groups are Slow to Form – “Personal” Use Dominates in Social That being said, groups of online influencers organized around affinity groups have yet to truly emerge in Mexico. Unlike the online scene in the US (which is segmented out by Mom Bloggers, Food Bloggers, Tech Bloggers, Bloggers Who Have Red Hair, Ride Horses and Live Within 30 minutes of a Stateline, etc, etc, etc,) Mexico’s social media universe has not matured to the point of fragmentation. I discussed this with Ogilvy’s Gonzalo Fragoso, author of the popular Yo No Quiero Blog, who confirmed that many of the “biggest” bloggers in Mexico are using blogs for what they were originally intended – personal online journals – versus a platform for membership in a larger affinity group. Now, that doesn’t mean that Mexican’s aren’t interested in niche content – in fact many people I talked to note that when they are looking for specific blog content they turn to US sites, or Spanish language blogs from elsewhere in LATM and Europe. This has obvious implications for the types of social media campaigns one would create in Mexico at present, and it will be interesting to watch the space evolve vis-à-vis “special interest” influencers.

4. Digital Spends are Small, and Social Media Spend is Smaller Experts I spoke with approximate that 5% of budgets are going to digital – owning to Mexico’s Internet penetration, and the low-cost of advertising on television. Brands in Mexico run the gamut from those with no familiarity with social, to those who are getting ready to experiment. Among those experimenting, most all campaigns are channel focused (a Twitter account, a Facebook page…) and are rarely tied to a broader, ongoing social media strategy. This is something we still struggle to overcome in the US – and like here, the answer is education and internal trainings for clients, and seriously demonstrating the ROI of pilot social media programs in order to sell in more sustained, strategy driven campaigns.

5. Ogilvy Mexico is Ready to Go! I was super impressed with the team we have down in Mexico City – the 15 or so that I trained were all heavy social media users themselves, and extremely eager to apply their enthusiasm and creativity to client work. We’re lucky to have these guys on our global team, and I can’t wait to see what comes next for them.

Why I Love Working with Social Media Smart Asses

10thflrvending is not to be confused with its rival, 10thflrcandydish.

What Rockstars Can Teach You About Social Media

Great presentation from Mack Collier, with some really rad* visuals.

* I'm bringing rad back.  Deal with it.

What Rockstars Can Teach You About Kicking Ass With Social Media

View more presentations from Mack Collier.

Shit My Dad Says

Props to my mom for sending this gem my way.  Shit My Dad Says is a Twitter handle authored by 28-year old Justin who lives at home with his 78-year old father.  The handle is solely dedicated to transmitting pearls of ... wisdom (?)... from Justin's dad. 

Shit My Dad Says has over 150,000 followers - and is only following LeVar Burton back.  Which I find even more hilarious than the concept itself.

My Mom could definitely have a Twitter feed dedicated to her one liners.  One of my faves:  "How do you tell the difference between baking soda and powdered sugar? Taste it, if it tastes like shit it's baking soda."  I wonder if @ShitMyMomSays is taken yet...

Bing Goes the Internet! (SOS....)

Bing has a winner for its jingle contest.  And it's really really kind of creepy.  Overlooking the male camel toe (manel toe?) and the inexplicable apparitions behind the singer the song itself is so freaking catchy that I'm reluctantly predicting a Rick Roll type movement to shortly emerge.

If you're looking for a laugh, double click below and check out the comments on the YouTube page - "die in a fire, this is the worst shit I've heard in a long time", and "you should be tried as a war criminal and put to death in the most excruciating way for this act of audio/video terrorism" are definitely leading the pack in my opinion.

What The Fuck is Social Media: One Year Later

A great follow up to the original What the Fuck is Social Media presentation - featuring some really astonishing statistics on social platform usage and global social media adoption. 

Social media - fuck ya!  Here to save the motherfucking day ya!  ... I mean, I really like my industry and enjoy my job.   That is all.

What the F**K is Social Media: One Year Later

View more documents from Marta Kagan.

Ford's What Women Want Quality & Tech Event

As many of you know, Ford is one of my clients.  You may wonder what I do all day.  And now you have your answer.  I hang out outside Ford World Headquarters and pose on Ford vehicles.  That's right, I'm a car model. 

Tawny Kitaen would be jealous if my usually absurdly skinny calf didn't look like Tom Brady's for some odd reason in this photo.  (Or not.  But props to the Plaid Nation crew for snapping this beaut during their visit to Dearborn to pick up their sweet wrapped Ford Flex for their Plaid Nation 2009 Roadtrip.)

In all seriousness, one of the big social media programs I've been working on for Ford is an event that happened today in Chicago - the What Women Want Quality & Tech Event with BlogHer.com.  We worked with BlogHer to bring 60 of their awesomest* bloggers to Chicago a day ahead of the big BlogHer Conference for an all day event at the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant. 

The day was jam packed - and the women got to rotate between a number of different hands on modules around Safety, Sustainability, Technology, and Manufacturing.  Even though I helped organize the social media side of things and knew what was coming I was still impressed, as I was still seeing it all for the first time.  Some highlights included:

• One on One Access to Ford Insiders:  Various modules were lead by the actual movers and shakers at Ford - from Amy Marentic (North American Car and Crossover Planning Manager),  to Sheryl Connely (Global Trends & Futuring Manager), to Carrie Majeski (Sustainability, and 25 year veteran of Ford - at right.) It was truly amazing to hear these kick ass women speak about their passion and transfer their excitement to others.

• Technology Demos:  There were hands on demos set up for all Ford's latest and greatest smart technology - including MyKey, Active Park Assist, and Cross Traffic Alert.  Check out this video below for a demo by one of Ford's steering engineers, along with blogger reactions.

• Tour of Chicgao Assembly Plant: After receiving eye protection, yellow safety vests, and a small head set so we could hear our tour guide we were walked around the 2 million + square foot Chicago Assembly Plant where Ford manufactures Lincoln MKS and the new 2010 Ford Taurus.   If you ever have a chance to do something like this, jump.  It was really amazing to see how a car is put together - a total marriage of technology, machines, and humans.  Also, very impressed with the extent to which Ford goes to maintain quality.  If there is even the smallest quality issue on the line they shut it down until it's resolved so that no other vehicles are impacted.  Additionally, if you call your dealer with a complaint it takes less than 24 hours for that to travel back to the plant where your vehicle was manufactured.  I'll spare you the hideous picture of me in the plant tour get up, and instead give you this rad picture of cars in the air...

• Test Drives: Getting the chance to test driving 2010 vehicles that haven't hit the road yet was also a big hit.  Check out this great video of the BlogHer ladies test drive reactions:

• What Women Want Brainstorm: The day ended with break out brainstorms so that Ford could listen to what the bloggers learned from their readers and their day, and take the insights back with them to Dearborn.  Be on the look out for our What Women Want Vehicle Check List - which will summarize a lot of this great conversation.

• #fordblogher:  And finally, what would a blogger event be without a sweet hash tag and a constant stream of Twittering?  As always seeing reactions, suggestions and questions in real time helped make the experience all the more interactive. 

*I am aware this is not a word.

Yim Gnome Visits The Catch Up Lady

When I was at SXSW I was introduced to Yim Gnome, a traveling garden gnome who made his way around the country from person to person having interesting experiences and adventures. 

Recently Yim teamed up with Whrrl.com (through my home girls at Swarm Collective), and Yim's national and international travels are now officially being documented on the site - which allows you to upload images and text in a story board format in real time.  (Effectively you can create a slide show of photos and captions as they are happening, days of waiting until you get home to upload to Flickr or Facebook are gonzo...)

Yim Gnome is an awesome viral experiment that takes many of the principals we apply to generating online WOM and proves them out in the real world.  It's all about human to human connection (the physical kind, in this case) and creating something that's fun and quirky enough that people will care to share with others both online and off.

Yim and I chilled with my dad, who was in town for the weekend - click below to see a snapshot of our time with Yim.

Next Yim is headed to my good friend Paul McEnany - I truly can't wait to see what happens next!  (PAUL. TAKE. CARE. OF. YIM.)