Is Cottonelle rolling in the social media space?
For the past two years I have been telling people with boring products to identify related passions rather than leading with the pitch or product. The toilet paper company that might tap the passions around green living or the wall paint company that might appeal to the passion people feel about their dwellings are just two examples. Well, tonight I saw the manifestation of this very approach.
Who??
Cottenelle… yep the toilet paper company is approaching their newest campaign the 2010 Roll Poll with a pretty heavy slant towards digital and social media. Just an hour or so ago I was watching a bit of Sunday night television when I saw a Cottenelle commercial that asked you to vote on whether you like the toilet paper to come off the bottom or the top half of the roll. It seems that the company has set up a mini-site (landing page) dedicated to the campaign. This is very smart because the page is highly measurable. They will find that my click immediately headed over to their twitter page where I found what looked like a real human engaging with others about the poll. Let me tell you… people seem to have some pretty strong opinions about which way the TP rolls.
After a bit of digging around I found that they are not only leveraging Twitter and Facebook but they have created a YouTube series as well that looks seems to bolster the over/under debate.
It’s pretty early on but lets break the campaign down:
Right:
The brand did not lead with product. After all, no one cares about toilet paper right?
They are taking a holistic approach. Utilizing TV, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as primary drivers of communication and interest.
The campaign seems to be trying to insight debate among people inciting reactions and engagement from the digital community.
They have created a very measurable landing page.
They have thought of “What’s Next”. Much better than the TGI Friday’s campaign that failed to do so. The twitter and Facebook accounts seem to have true human engagement.
Wrong:
The TV spot asks for you to engage in the poll but they don’t seem to be taking the concept much farther than that. It’s unclear what their objective is past a brand awareness campaign.
The Twitter account has links to the YouTube videos but they are all broken. It looks like they created a custom short URL to track clicks and the URL has a period at the end breaking the link.
The twitter account asks you to make a video of your own but the YouTube videos do not ask for engagement or consumer generated content of any kind. (Maybe they plan to add this in the future)
Overall
Overall I think this is one of the more creative big brand uses of social media that I have seen. I would be really interested to know how they plan to measure their effectiveness and what their big objective is. I will keep an eye on this campaign as it grows (if it grows) and will update this post accordingly.
What do you think? I’m giving them a B grade. How does the Cottenelle 2010 Roll Poll campaign stack up on your score card?
More Ideas than Time Podcast ~ Evil Silo’s
Today we were very lucky to get Beth Harte on the podcast. Beth is a social media, PR and marketing professional with Marketing Profs. We got together to discuss everything from the dangers of business silo’s to integrated marketing. This is a tremendous discussion and we hope you enjoy it!
More Ideas than Time Podcast #3 ~ Evil Silo’s
01: Indroduce Special Guest Beth Harte
1:00 Effects of Silos in social media and business
5:00 Keith offers a definition for social media?
14:00 Sharing data across the organization
16:30 MarketingProfs and their use of Social Media. (Twitter, Blogs, Tracking, Culture
20:15 Beth talks about data collection, ROI and it’s importance.
30:00 Utilize incoming data and transparency.
35:00 Social media is NOT a department
36:00 Olivier on the C-Suite
38:00 Beth on the ground troops
41:00 keith on dropping the ego
45:00 Reader Mail Question from Robert Pickstone about the legal ramifications of banning social media within and outside the organization for employees.
Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes
Click to Play or Right Click to Download
Please feel free to leave any comments or questions right here at the blog. Or you may also call our podcast feedback line and leave us a recorded message that we will play in the show.
Call in Line: 1-206-888-4961
Twitter Hashtag: #MITTPODCAST
Music by John Meadows
The most important post I will write this year ~ Direction
Are you ready to take a journey of betterment with me? If you have been reading this blog for a month, a year or since it’s inception you have probably noticed that my actual blog posts have become less and less frequent recently. To be 100% transparent with you there are really multiple reasons for this. We have been much busier at Keith Burtis Consulting, my wife is pregnant with our first baby and frankly I haven’t been able to easily put to text exactly what is going through my head. So, besides having started the new More Ideas than Time Podcast with Olivier Blanchard the blog has been somewhat slow… at least in comparison to my frequency in past years.
As I stated in the opening line I would like you to take a journey of betterment with me. Last year I hinted at a sort of Social Media and digital education. We talked about what it would take to be a Social Media Ninja, and we also listed a few of the do’s and dont’s of this new digital media space. The feedback that I have received from my readers has been that the information is distilled into easily digestible chunks. I have also been informed that many of you have gotten a lot of education from my postings and that is tremendous…. it’s my ultimate goal here. So I have decided to pre-organize what will be coming in the very next year for this blog. I’m making changes and I hope they suit you.
For the last three to four years I have issued a love/hate relationship with the term social media. On the positive side I see social media as a blank canvas with wide open potential for creative and original uses. From the marketing and business side to niche content produced by the uber passionate. On the flip side however I have seen many of the social media gathering places like Twitter and Facebook getting more and more abused by spammers, trolls and businesses that believe this is a new and shiny free advertising channel. (That last one is the worst!) Do something original and entertaining would ya? These channels are opt-in! You scream once we stop listening forever. (We’ll get to that later)
So as I ramble here I should probably get to the point. Go on a journey of betterment with me. For years I have studied business, technology, kept up on emerging channels, read all the book and half the blogs, built wonderful relationships and have found amazing mentors. Lets put all of this stuff together. Through our travels we have learned a lot together but I see much of this going on at hyperwarp speed and a bit disparate and chaotic at times. One minute your reading about the latest and greatest SEO technique and the next minute some A-list blogger is telling you how to revolutionize your marketing with an e-newsletter. So what the heck do you do? What do you focus on and how do we make sense of the “Digital Space” I guess maybe we need to define what you want to get out of it huh?? Maybe we start there.
So here it is. For 2010 I have figured out my purpose here. The blog is going to focus on…. What exactly are the skills needed to be a full fledged, well rounded, geek speaking, marketing savvy digital Ninja!!! We will do our best not to go on tangents, we will do our best not to chase the shiny object, and I will make you this bring this oath to you.
In the year 2010, I will create for you a comprehensive, skill building, and educational experience on this site. My goal is to put myself in the top one half of one percent of all tech savvy, business minded, well balanced digital marketing geeks while sharing my past experiences as well as my future learnings with you. So I ask you one last time. Do you want to go on a journey of betterment with me? I hope so.
Subscribe to the RSS FEED here and lets get this geek-fest started!
More Ideas than Time ~ Podcast#2
Hey! We have a title for the Podcast! Olivier and I want to thank everyone that gave us great name suggestions, but our first suggestion stuck. The name is ‘More Ideas than Time’ and is inspired by the fact that Olivier and I tend to be full of ideas with not enough time to execute on them all. I’m betting many of the blog readers and podcast listeners can sympathize with that!
If your new here to the blog…welcome. If you are long time readers…. welcome back. Last week Olivier Blanchard and I started what is now known as the More Ideas than Time Podcast. We are discussing social media, business, enterprise 2.0 and addressing listener questions. We welcome your feedback and suggestions.
Todays Podcast:
:30 We named the Podcast!
1:00 The Social media ROI Rabbit Hole
3:00 Cargill Names Social Media Director Discussion
10:00 Internal Social Media?
12:40 Passion vs. Product ~ Are companies leading with product?
(Inspired by a post from Trey Pennington)
19:00 Social Media & Twitter too Noisy?
23:00 Do companies Understand the ‘Social’ in Social Media?
28:00 Companies doing Social well:
Ford, Starbucks, Coke, Roger Smith Hotel, Beachmere Inn
35:00 Call out to listeners. How can we help you?
Subscribe to the Podcast in iTunes(iTunes link)
Click to Play or Right Click to Download
Call in Line: 1-206-888-4961
Twitter Hashtag: #MITTPODCAST
Thank you for listening and feel free to call or leave a comment here on the blog with any questions or comments you might have! Thanks.
Music by John Meadows
Facebook Changing the Width of Custom Application Tabs
Facebook has recently announced that they would be reducing the width of the custom application tabs from 760 pixels to 520 pixels in early 2010. I have not yet seen this change take place but Facebook is saying that the change is being made to accommodate some changes in their home design. You can read more about the changes in the Facebook Developer Community or in the Developer Roadmap.
Facebook states,
“application Tabs will be the only way to integrate applications into profiles and Pages. Application tabs will shrink from 760 pixels wide (current) to 520* pixels wide to accommodate a slightly revised design. Boxes, info sections, and the Boxes tab will be removed in the near future.”
What does this mean?
Essentially it means that if you are a developer creating Facebook pages you might be best served planning for this event by changing your page width requirements. If you have hired someone to create fanpage for you or your business it might be smart to contact your service provider and ask them if your page or pages will meet the upcoming requirements. if you are in the process of creating a Facebook fan page make sure your provider is aware of the upcoming changes.
At Keith Burtis Consulting we have been creating more and more fanpages as part of a holistic approach to digital marketing. From this point forward we will be applying the new width requirements to all of our pages in anticipation of the changes.
Hope this helps.
Olivier Blanchard and Keith Burtis Discuss Enterprise 2.0 ~ Podcast #1
2010 has started as quite the busy year so Olivier Blanchard and myself have decided to add another project to our weekly work loads. Yes, we are producing a new podcast. The cast will be talking about all sorts of subjects from business, to web, digital marketing and beyond. We appreciate the time you are taking to listen and we look forward to your input. We are immediately looking for your feedback to properly name the show! Once we have that settled you will be able to subscribe to the cast in iTunes as well. We look forward to your feedback and many more podcasts to come.
Click to listen or Right Click to Download
Olivier and I want to thank John Meadows for his great original intro and outro music. If you would like to leave feedback please feel free to do so here in the blog comments or by calling our digital voicemail service. The number is 1-206-888-4961, give us a call and we will play and address your comments and questions on the next show.
The Transformative Nature of Social Media…. a metaphor.
I thought about this blog post… the last blog post of 2009. How would I make is special? Would I review the year in past or would I look forward to the future? Maybe neither. Rather, I’d like to use a metaphor that encompasses how I am feeling right now along with what I believe is the transformative nature of social media. I encourage you to watch these two videos and pay special attention to the lyrics.
The interwebs seem to change and adapt at the speed of light. I presume that this will only get more and more prevalent in the coming months and years. Maybe this is why I love this song so much. In my opinion those that can slow things down and give themselves the ability to contemplate and analyze will ultimately have a greater chance of success in this world of hyper speed.
The song is Fireflies by Owl City.
Great song huh? Now to the transformative nature of Social Media. As I was searching for this song I came across an amateur cover of this song. (by Huu) Frankly, I am more impressed by this acoustic cover than the professionally produced version!
Vote for Huu as Artist of the year on YouTube
Social media and these new technologies are truly leveling the playing field. How many of you would pay a cover charge to watch Huu play at a local venue? Raising my hand! Tremendous voice. How can you utilize these tools to entertain, educate or engage? For 2010 start thinking outside the box and beyond the numbers.
Write these two phrases down and keep them close by your computer this year!
Social Media Tools are a blank canvas just waiting for YOUR imprint. How will you change your world and effect the people around you?
Never approach a network or individual in a network with a greedy one sided agenda.
I hope this inspires you to do great things this year and beyond. Remember that I am always here. Feel free to email, call or skype. I love to connect especially with those whom I have never met. Thank you for your attention, comments and feedback in 2009!
Exploring Character vs. Human Face as the Digital Representative of a brand.
Much has been talked about in the social media space when it comes to brand representation by a social media or community manager. In fact as social media starts to grow I am seeing people from PR, marketing, Human Resources and even college interns handling responsibilities of the outward facing digital voice. I am not going to get deep into the choices about who should become the face of a brand or why, rather I will offer some alternatives to a single person or department having that role. Instead of an individual or group lets explore the use of a character.
For years now we have seen brands represented by characters. Companies like Geiko have a Gecko and McDonalds has well, Ronald McDonald with his cast of friends like the Hamburgler representing the different products. In the social media realm we are more likely to see skilled communicators such as Scott Monty with Ford and Jeffrey Hayzlett with Kodak becoming the primary digital speakers of the brand. I am actually all for this and I truly believe that real human connections are more powerful than any others but for the brands weary of a specific face I will offer an alternative.
Character Branding
If you look at the Treewise website below you will see that they are an ecological landscape company. By flipping through the pages of this site you get the distinct message that these folks are extremely passionate about their craft and they are very good at what they do. In my opinion this company is in the perfect position to begin blogging and sharing their work with the online community through sites like Twitter and Facebook. This might mean they name an individual within the organization to represent the brand in the digital space. This person would do everything from write blog posts on relevant ecological topics to sharing photos of before and after work on Facebook. However, The problem that arises for many brands is to the “who” and also to the “how long”. People move on from jobs and start lives elsewhere. Many brands are weary of naming a specific individual or department as the sole communicator in the digital space.
Now Look closer at the navigation of this website. In my opinion Treewise is in a perfect position to leverage their Soil Geek trademark! This would actually solve both the problem of the “who” and the “how long”. By utilizing the character of the Soil Geek any of the Treewise employees could write an article under that character name. People of different passions and knowledge could easily share their expertise. Meanwhile the “Soil Geek” trademark would become synonymous with the Treewise brand and will live on forever allowing the character to grow with the brand never losing it’s connection with the community so long as it is maintained.
In my opinion the above section of the Treewise website should house a blog showcasing the recent work and knowledge of the brand. What do you think? Do you know of a brand that could make use of a character rather than a human face? Share it with me and maybe I’ll break it down in a future post. Do you think that as much trust can be built with a character of a brand? I’d love to further explore this with you.
I have no particular affiliation with Treewise at this time.
My top 6 Digital Collaboration Tools
If you are a frequent reader of this blog you know that I have been talking a lot about the concepts around collaboration. I firmly believe that the web has created the most fertile ground in history for uber-powerful collaboration to take place. In this article I am going to share with you 6 tools that I use frequently for collaboration and why I use them. I would love any other suggestions you might have for tools that you find particularly usefull as well.
1. Twitter – Ok, Twitter might sound like a cliche tool but Twitter has become my large net. What I mean is that I am able to scan for specific terms and chat with many over the twitter interface using tweetdeck or seesmic desktop. If I am looking for information on a certain topic or people with a specific interest Twitter is the quickest way to do this. Not a lot of deep collaboration happens here for me but it provides massive access to people I might never have known.
2. Skype – Skype is a free tool that allows you to make free skype to skype audio and video calls as well as text chat. Skype is a great tool for one to one or one to few collaboration. I have been using it for one to one for many years and plan to use it for an upcoming mastermind group that I have formed with some close friends and colleagues. I suggest starting your own weekly mastermind session. heck, schedule a skype video lunch with someone who you want to connect with!
3. Google Docs – Google docs is a pretty well known tool for collaborating on documents with a team. In fact the entire google office like sweet allows for collaboration and editing. You have the ability to set permissions for those with editing capabilities as well as those that are only able to view.
4. Google Wave – Wave can be a bit choppy at times and not so easy to use, but it is still in beta. The potential of wave is huge, but I mainly use it for project notes and brainstorming. Wave allows multiple people to add to a document and threads together all of the workings within a specified project. If you are sharing websites, notes, documents, and actively brainstorming a project give wave a try.
5. Yammer – Much like twitter yammer is private and by invite only. Yammer works by email extensions. So if you have a number of people with a similar email extension then any of the updates made in yammer would be visible to them. You also have the ability to group and friend people the same way you can on twitter. This is very convenient in large organizations. If more organizations utilized the power of yammer they could possibly take a huge amount of weight off the email servers.
6. Dropbox – The final collaboration tool is perhaps the most powerful and underused. Dropbox is cloud storage for large files. If you work collaboratively on large documents, photo editing, video, or audio dropbox is a must have. These files are often too time consuming and large to send by email. Dropbox allows to to drop a file into a shared folder and distribute to the collaborators. When I was learning how to produce audio podcasts John Meadows and I wore out our dropbox accounts.
Tomorrow I will share my 6 favorite Wordpress plugins.
Random Friday. Blogs or Micro-blogs? Make your Work easily shared. Are you getting anything from twitter?
Sites like Facebook and Twitter seem to have a lot of bloggers consistency down the tubes. Only a year ago I could wake up on any day to find a pretty full RSS reader, but it seems that daily or even weekly blogging has been lost on many of my favorite writers. I ask, do you prefer Facebook and Twitter to blogs?
With this huge adoption of real time micro-blogging and conversations I am also seeing millions of links being exchanged daily bringing me to my second thought. Why don’t folks make it really easy to share out their hard work via blog or online magazine to these Microblog sites. I am still an avid reader of my favorite blogs and find that I am forced to copy and paste the link into twitter or Facebook to share it. While I may sound lazy, it would only benefit you to have a Tweet this Post or Share this on Facebook button with each of your posts. If you are running Wordpress these plugins are very easy to install.
The conundrum of microblog versus blog really fascinates me. The instant text messaging in twitter actually seems to take more time rather than less. The instant messages going out to your network have a very short life span and all of the content or google juice goes to the platform. The more followers you have, the more it starts to seem like broadcasting rather than conversations. Do we really want our twitter and linked in profiles to come up first in search engines?
The only thing I think I know for sure right now is that the Buffalo Sabers are clearly the best team in Hockey.
Leave your feedback in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
