Category Archives: Musings

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The pros and cons of rogue Twitter hashtags

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Twitter has quickly become the go-to marketing tool for many companies. From creating brand accounts, communicating news or changes in the company, to featuring company-generated hashtags in commercials and TV shows, it seems that everywhere we look we are being “gently nudged” towards the internet’s little blue bird. Unfortunately for marketers, relying heavily on social media can sometimes backfire because as it turns out, the public can have a mind of its own.

Twitter allows “promoted” posts, hashtags, and targeted ads, all utilized by marketers looking to get their brand names in front of individual users. Sometimes, though, individuals can use the promoted hashtags in ways that the company might not have expected. An example of this happened recently, when the #Obamaisnotsatan hashtag became popular after users noticed an interesting resemblance between the Satan character in the History Channel’s The Bible and our president.

According to an article by Adweek, “In the latest example of how marketers are using Twitter’s Promoted Tweets to jump on digital chatter as it happens, the AARP and Seamless… have gotten numerous ad impressions from consumers clicking on an #ObamaIsNotSatan hashtag. But this one has an unusually bizarre twist—even beyond the hashtag’s content—in that the marketers who purchased the ads probably only bid on the keyword ‘Obama’ rather than the randomness that is ‘ObamaIsNotSatan’…. And #ObamaIsNotSatan has sat atop Twitter’s trending topics section for much of Monday. Viewers who clicked on the hashtag have either seen a Social Security-focused ad from AARP or breezier copy about a soup-and-sandwich lunch from Seamless”.

This may seem like it would present a major setback to AARP and Seamless. Luckily, not all rogue hashtags are bad. This actually worked out well for AARP. The article continues, “It’s arguable that there’s nothing wrong with these ad impressions. That would especially seem to be the case for AARP, since many tweets around the hashtag have been pro-Obama. And because the org clearly wants the Democratic president to protect Social Security financing for its constituents, one could reasonably surmise that there’s positive association happening for the brand”.

Many top business executives believe in the idea that high risk equals high rewards. The unreliability, variability, and individuality associated with social media can make heavy usage, or any level of utilization, very risky in marketing plans. There are certainly examples of companies who made social media missteps, ultimately resulting in consumer backlash. And while it’s true that users ultimately determine the direction of the social media world, sometimes that surprising direction can benefit companies in ways they couldn’t even predict.

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Facebook to adopt Hashtag. All is right with the world.

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Praise to all that is holy in the social media world! Big news last week as rumors surfaced that Facebook is considering adopting the hashtag. I wrote a blog post a little while back about the power of the hashtag, made popular by Twitter and later adopted by Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+. Currently, Facebook is the only major social media platform that does not use hashtags (much to its users’ chagrin). But that’s all about to change.

According to an article by the Wall Street Journal, “Facebook is working on incorporating the hashtag, one of Twitter’s most iconic markers, into its service by using the symbol as a way to group conversations, said people familiar with the matter. It is unclear how far along Facebook’s work on the hashtag is and the feature isn’t likely to be introduced imminently, these people said…. Facebook is testing whether to follow Twitter’s lead and allow users to click on a hashtag to pull up all posts about similar topics or events so it can quickly index conversations around trending topics and build those conversations up, giving users more reason to stay logged in and see more ads. Instagram, which Facebook acquired last year, already uses hashtags, allowing users to sort photos by the symbol.”

While many industry experts speculate over how this development will affect the ongoing battle between the two social media titans, I’m more interested in the impact this will have for marketers.

THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING! Ok, this probably won’t change everything. But it will make campaign integration in social media much easier for marketers. In my marketing classes at DU, whenever we wanted to use social media to engage with consumers through our campaigns we would develop a hashtag for Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest while having to develop a separate way to promote on Facebook. And that was annoying enough as a student. I can’t imagine how frustrating it’s been for experienced marketers to deal with Facebook’s “uniqueness”.

Adweek speculated on how this change will imact marketing, saying, “If Facebook does adopt the hashtag, it will bring the feature to its biggest platform yet and conceivably bring more marketers than are currently on Twitter (definitely more than are on Google+ or Instagram). That “allows the hashtag to play out on all channels and become a bigger part of all advertising—OOH, print, TV, etc.—which will encourage more consumer conversation around brands,” Tuff said, adding that hashtags could boost brands’ use of Facebook’s People Talk About This metrics by easing the reliance on post-tagging.”

Marketers of the world, rejoice!

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Native Advertising: Adding to the conversation or disguising the same old message?

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One of the greatest challenges Marketers face right now is how to communicate with their target audience. We have to determine the right message, communicated in an engaging way, transmitted through the best mediums. Sounds like a big job, right? These days there are many different ways to go about this lofty task. Social media, online advertising, mobile marketing, traditional media… the possibilities seem endless. Ultimately, the goal is to create something consumers will connect with, not repel away. Therefore, it is crucial to create ads that can communicate in an unobtrusive way, seamlessly blending into the consumers’ world but standing out just enough to catch their interest.

I know this sounds like a lot. But advertisers may have come up with a new solution: Native Advertising. Before diving in, I should probably explain what native advertising is. According to Flip the Media, “Native advertising refers to a specific mode of monetization that aims to augment user experience by providing value through relevant content delivered in-stream. Native advertising is pretty revolutionary because it’s undisguised advertising that people find interesting enough to view, participate in, and share.” Native advertising can include social media posts, sponsored articles in publications, blog posts, and other forms of content creation.

This might help give you a better idea: Pando Daily did a round-up of the best examples of online advertising in 2012, many of which were brilliant examples of native advertising. While many of the examples given are huge brand names — Nike, Oreo, Sharpie — they were all able to successfully create relevant content that translated seamlessly onto their aptly chosen platforms.

However, native advertising can hurt a  brand if it doesn’t match up with consumers’ perceptions or interests. Recently, the concept of native advertising was highlighted in the news when a magazine, The Atlantic, posted controversial content sponsored by the Church of Scientology. Readers were outraged and The Atlantic was forced to remove the page, apologize to their readers, and reevaluate their advertising policies.

When done correctly, native advertising can be extremely beneficial to brands and consumers alike. Regardless of The Atlantic’s faux-pas, other online publishers are taking notice of those benefits. The Washington Post recently developed a new program for advertisers called BrandConnect that “lets them act as publishers, creating sponsored articles, videos and other forms of content for distribution on washingtonpost.com“. One particularly interesting feature of this new program is that readers will not be able to comment on the content posted by advertisers.

Love it or hate it, advertisers have found a new, better way to reach their consumers. Personally, I think native advertising is a great step for marketing to move forward with new channels. It adds to the overall consumer conversation, speaking to them directly, instead of jumping up and down in their peripheral vision.

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iPhone is to Siri as Android is to Google Now

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For years, the modern world has been embroiled in a war between two powerful forces: the Android and the iPhone. OK, so maybe it hasn’t been years, but the debate has been a long-standing one. Apple and Google have been battling it out for market share as they compete in apps, software, hardware, and so on. Each company has created a lifestyle and identity for their users. While the iPhone was the leader in smart phones for quite some time, it seems that some of their new features, including the new parameters of the iPhone 5 and the bugs in their Siri program, have led to some less than desirable reviews and even a loss in market share.

One of the most unique features available to iPhone users is Siri. According to Apple, “Siri lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more.* Ask Siri to do things just by talking the way you talk. Siri is so easy to use and does so much, you’ll keep finding more and more ways to use it.” Sounds amazing, right? Unfortunately, not. Many of my friends who have Siri complain that she can’t understand what they tell her, gives them irrelevant information, and can be frustrating to use.

In response to Apple’s Siri, Google has created and released Google Now. According to TechCrunch, “Google Now is less concerned with voice and more concerned with actually providing useful information. Google Now takes everything it knows about you — your schedule, location, the weather, etc. — and provides relevant information based on the time and place.” Google Now is meant to act as a personal assistant to Android users. By providing you with relevant information such as weather updates, travel routes and times, nearby restaurant information, sports games updates, past workout statistics, and so on, it’s meant keep your life organized and informed in real time right at your fingertips. 

So what does this have to do with marketing? One of the hottest topics in the industry right now is Mobile Marketing. Marketers are striving to figure out how to create relevant and engaging apps, format their campaigns to be mobile friendly, and communicate with consumers via their mobile devices. With the constant growth and improvement of all-inclusive, personal assistant apps that are perfectly formatted for their respective operating systems (Siri and Google Now), people will no longer need the myriad of apps they download that only perform one or two functions. 

According to an article on MIT Technology Review, “It may be that the era of apps being the main thing about mobile devices is ending. Apple and Google turned to app developers in the first place, and promoted what they came up with, because smartphones needed flashy features to appear worth buying (revenue from app sales has never been very significant). But people get a smoother experience if they can avoid having to think about apps, and Apple and Google get to be more intimate with their users. Data is valuable in itself, and if it becomes possible to buy things through Siri or Google Now there could be transaction fees to collect. If Google Now becomes more powerful it could be a useful way to discourage manufacturers from just taking the parts of the Android operating system not reliant on and branded by Google. Leaving it out would be removing the easiest way for people to use their phone.” Siri and Google now are going to dictate the future of mobile apps. Therefore, marketers will not only have to adapt to changing app requirements set forth by Apple and Google, but will also have to be more innovative in designing apps that will still be interesting to consumers without overlapping with Siri and Google Now’s functions.

Full disclosure: I have and Android. 

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Choosing the right wordssss

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A large part of marketing is communicating a specific message with consumers. Maybe you want to promote a new product feature. Or you’re interested in re-positioning your brand. Or perhaps you want to recognize all your loyal customers. Either way, marketers use the power of written or verbal language to elicit strong emotional or rational reactions from consumers that can benefit the brand.

Creating that message takes more than just stringing together a couple of buzzwords and hoping for the best. Marketers often have to decide how to communicate with their customers. Should they use colloquial language understood by their specific target market? Or is technical, straightforward wording more appropriate? Earlier today I read an article about the end of concise, specific wording in our culture’s dialogue, quickly being replaced by vague, unnecessary wordiness. I admit, I tend to be a little wordy in both my writing and my speech. My mother has always been a stickler about how much I use the word “like” as a filler. For marketers, this article highlights a good point about being able to convey your message using tight, accurate wording. Being able to identify and properly use the exact word necessary for the situation, instead of squishing together a bunch of “kind of right” words, is a powerful tool. One that should continue to be developed and honed as much as possible.

With that being said, there is also value in being able to connect with consumers in their own language. Use of slang words, syntax, sentence structure, etc. in conversation can change from group to group, year to year. Marketers can spark interest and gain the trust of target consumers by proving that they can talk the talk. One example is the recent popularity “word elongation” among women. This is when a woman writes “Thankssss” in an email or text message instead of just “Thanks”. There are a number of reasons women do this, including softening the blow of an otherwise unpleasant message, expressing passive aggression, intensifying the message, and so on. I will admit, I’ve been guilty of this on more than a few occasions (and I’m not ashamed of it). Many young women these days use word elongation, or at the very least know about it.

For brands trying to connect with their consumers in a fun way, identifying their specific speech patterns can create a more intimate, personal connection. Another example of this would be Dish’s Hopper commercials set in Boston. Not only does it feature the Boston accent, it also utilizes well known regional slang (“wicked smart”) and locations (“Kennebunkport”). While I admit this commercial is not all that creative or new, especially since people have been making fun of our Massachusetts slang since the dawn of time, it does draw connections between the product and a specific group of people through the use of language. Also, watching this commercial makes me miss home. Just saying. (And yes, some of us do really talk like that).

But be careful. There is a fine line between being in touch with your consumers and just sounding silly. It’s important to recognize if this strategy fits with your brand’s personality and, if so, how to best implement it seamlessly to strengthen your brand’s position. After all,  no one wants to look like a Try-Hard (look it up).

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Amazon shakes things up with its new Kindle commercial

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Our parents tell us that there are certain topics that must always be avoided in conversation: money, politics, religion, and so on. Traditional business sense tells us the same thing. However, there has been a growing trend of brands taking a stance on social issues. Kindle recently launched a commercial featuring a same-sex couple. Gay marriage is quite the hot button issue right now, so it might be considered risky for a huge company like Amazon to take a stance on such a sensitive issue. Risky? Yes. But wrong? I don’t think so. I give a lot of credit to Amazon for promoting something they believe in. Although it might alienate them from some potential consumers, I think people that share their opinion will really respect and support the company’s decision to promote it. This kind of move can humanize a company, impact brand equity, and lend support to important social issues. Learn more about the implications of Amazon’s ad here: http://articles.marketwatch.com/2013-02-22/finance/37233906_1_gay-marriage-witeck-communications-gay-brothers-and-sisters

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All the single ladies, now put your hands up!

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Well folks, Valentine’s Day has come and gone. But so has another up-and-coming yet under appreciated holiday. I’m talking about Singles Awareness Day. The exact date has been debated, some say it’s on February 14th, others February 15th following Valentine’s Day. Regardless, Singles Awareness Day grows in popularity with every passing February. 

Some of you may be thinking, “Oh, this is just an excuse for single girls to complain about their lack of romance and inability to snag a boyfriend”. While that may be the way some people interpret this holiday, I am here to tell you it isn’t so. Singles Awareness Day is a day to celebrate those leading a single life and the fun, growth, and experience that comes with it. Being single isn’t something to be ashamed of anymore. Look at the facts:

  • Single people above the age of 18 make up 44% of the US population
  • 53% of those people are women, 47% men
  • 46% of American households are maintained by unmarried men or women
  • The average age of first marriage is 28.9 for men, 26.9 for women

There have been countless studies about young people today delaying marriage, why so many Americans are single, the end of the traditional dating model, and so on. So what does this have to do with marketing?

These figures tell me that single people make up a huge percentage of American consumers. And yet, come February all we see are ads and discounts and images of happy couples, madly in love, presenting one another with jewelry, flowers, candy, and other gifts. While companies do have to target couples before Valentine’s Day, why are they ignoring the rest of the population? I was about ready to rip my eyeballs out after all of the cheesy, horribly acted jewelry store commercials (yes you, Jared and Kay). I doubt I’m the only single person to feel this way by the time February 14th rolls around.

One of the most interesting parts of Marketing is identifying new, undiscovered ways to reach different consumers. While most American consumers are aware of Singles Awareness Day, it seems like Marketers are either painfully unaware of it or simply ignoring it. Why should you only talk to less than half of the population when you could talk to all of them? I looked for some more single-oriented ads or promotions around Valentine’s Day, even did a Google News search for them, but sadly found nothing. Celebrating and utilizing Singles Awareness Day would be a new and refreshing way for businesses to reach an otherwise ignored audience during February. Some of the more obvious businesses that could benefit from this would be bars, restaurants, online dating sites (obviously), alcohol brands, travel sites, and so on. However, marketers would have to careful with the tone they take when using Singles Awareness Day to promote their brands. Ads must celebrate the single life and those who live it instead of shaming them or making them feel alone or empty.

In this day and age, I’m surprised no one has taken advantage of this rising holiday. Hopefully next year there will be a bit more variety in the promotions going on around mid-February.

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Harnessing the power of the hashtag

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Let’s face it: Social media is a HUGE part of our culture today. It’s not going away anytime soon. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and many others are fantastic ways for brands to engage with their consumers directly. But you already know that. The challenge in using social media is using effectively and authentically. Many different companies, from huge, multi-billion dollar brands all the way down to the one man start-ups and nonprofits, are trying to reach their consumers through social media because it is cheap, fast, and efficient. But are their efforts actually working?

One noticeable trend that highlights the power of social media is the increasing use of twitter “hashtags” in commercials. For those who have yet to join the twitterverse, “the # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages” (source). Marketers have realized that many consumers use Twitter to discuss and comment on cultural events and social trends. Big brands are now trying to utilize the power of Twitter to increase brand awareness, consumer insights, and word-of-mouth promotions because it’s a more organic, straightforward medium. The most efficient way to do this would be to create an official hashtag for consumers to use when they want to discuss a specific event, product, or ad. That way, the company can track consumer-generated content more quickly and cheaply than hiring a marketing research firm.

However, for this to work the consumers need to actually use the hashtag. Relying on consumers to do what you want can be tricky. I read an article about the effectiveness of official hashtags when used in Superbowl commercials this year. Yes, it’s another infographic but I promise there is writing too. The analysis found that when consumers wanted to talk about a specific Superbowl ad on Twitter, they were much more likely to use the brand name in a hashtag than the one featured in the ad. Therefore, commercials that promoted the brand name as the hashtag (Calvin Klein, Doritos) were used significantly more than the other hashtags promoting the specific brand. The popularity of the ad was also a factor in the use of its hashtag.

Social media can be a powerful tool for small companies and nonprofits such as Make A Hero to engage with potential donors and consumers. Or it can be a colossal waste of time. It all depends on how effectively you use it. Wandering blindly around social media, hoping consumers will care and, more importantly, share your content is like shouting into already crowded, noisy room. It just adds more noise that people block out. The trick is finding your target market on their social media platforms, identifying the way they use those platforms, and communicating with them one-on-one with content they will actually find intriguing and worth their time. Social media is our individual, personal outlet to show the world who we are. People use the platforms in many different ways for a variety of reasons. Tailoring your social media plan to accommodate that is the best way to ensure you are using it to your advantage. Otherwise, you will just keep shouting at people who don’t care.

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Jay-Z and Bing go guerrilla

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Today there was a guest speaker in not one but two of my Marketing classes. He showed us this case study of a campaign done by Bing to help create brand awareness, relevance, and increase market share. I am absolutely fascinated by guerrilla marketing campaigns. This campaign is one of the best examples of relevant guerrilla marketing I have seen in a while. If you love marketing, guerrilla tactics, or even Jay-Z (I’m a big fan of all three), then you should definitely check this out.

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Nothing can compete with baby horses. Ever.

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I wouldn’t be a true Marketer if I didn’t write about this year’s Superbowl ads. So, without further delay, here is my list of best and worst Superbowl commercials:

Best Commercial:

Budweiser’s “The Clydesdales: ‘Brotherhood’“: I am such a sucker for a sentimental, heart wrenching ads. Throw in a baby horse and the love of a farmer, and you’ve got me hooked.

Honorable Mentions:

Taco Bell’s “Viva Young“: I really liked the sentiment here of staying young on the inside and living life to the fullest. I thought using a Spanish version of Fun.’s “We Are Young” was interesting, but ultimately it added the right tone to the overall message.

Tide’s “Miracle Stain“: This was the best example I saw of using the sports fan’s mentality of loyalty and passion in a humorous, surprising, relevant way.

Coke’s “Security Camera“: I loved the message of this commercial. Taking something that is typically focused on capturing people doing bad things (a security camera) and using it to catch the good, loving side of humanity was a fantastic idea.

Least Favorites:

Anheuser-Busch’s “Beck’s Sapphire“: I thought it was irrelevant, didn’t send a clear message, and was boring. I’m not really sure what a black goldfish has to do with alcohol.

Speed Stick’s “Laundry“: It was funny enough, but I felt that this scenario is stale and overplayed. It was a safe attempt at humor and I felt like I had seen it a million times before.

Coke’s “Chase“: Maybe I wasn’t paying attention while this was on, but this commercial left me thinking “Um… what?” at the end. I understood it, but felt like it wasn’t relevant and didn’t really mean anything. It was good that Coke attempted to engage consumers in the campaign, but I thought it could have been done better.

Overall I thought some were good, some were not so good. Frankly, I was more entertained by the tweets being published during the Blackout than some of the commercials. However, Budweiser’s Clydesdale commercial is one of the best ads I’ve seen in a very long time.

And now, for everyone’s viewing pleasure, I present to you an added bonus: Queen B in all her glory:

Watch Beyonce’s Halftime Performance