Working in a marketing agency has given me rare and valuable perspective on decision making. Particularly for brands. The insight into our clients decision processes, priority assignment, and level of self-awareness would be valuable for any organization. Outsider perspective always has a way of revealing strengths and weaknesses that aren’t seen up close. What interests me the most is the correlation between how busy an organization seems and the time it takes for decisions to be made.
In case-based MBA programs, students are shown a real world example of a particular business misstep and are asked to identify the elements that lead to the misstep. In many cases, they are not hard to spot. They usually stem from simple, yet critical, factors being discarded or underestimated. Some of these decisions are made with the best intentions and may in fact be the best decision for the profitability of the company, at the time; however, when looking at the long term evolution of technology, consumer spending, demographics, etc they were indeed, short-sighted decisions that lead to the companies demise. Continue Reading
Is Facebook the new library card? Something everyone has but marginally uses? I lost my Library Card a couple years ago. There’s been formidable buzz about Facebook loosing it’s Hot Hot status, which is inevitable for anything popular. The ability for a brand to remain on top is directly linked to it’s ability to continually give it’s audience something new and shiny.
Many brands don’t have the stamina or talent to achieve such a status over and over, notably the exceptions being lifestyle brands such as Nike, Adidas, Diesel, and BMW. Clothing and apparel brands are forced to continually evolve with fashion trends, thereby forcing their management teams to unearth what their exactly excites their customers today.
Tech and relationship companies, such as Facebook, have a harder time maintaining a Hot factor because they rely heavily on inventing new ‘features’ of their product to keep users excited and satisfied. This is difficult. Apparel brands can simply invent or reinvent a style (a T-shirt is a T-shirt after all). What this means is that while Facebook created a solution to achieve easy digital relationships, the cat is out of the bag. It can’t re-solve the same problem. Facebook can only add features to it’s offering, which may enhance it’s product, but over the long run, I believe Facebook has already made it’s primary impact.
I don’t believe users will leave Facebook in droves…at least in the near future. General society is satisfied with the core solution Facebook has provided and until the next paradigm shift of digital social interaction occurs, Facebook will continue to dominate and grow users.
Facebook is entering is middle-age era…and aside from putting on some weight, it is likely to have a few middle age related crisis’ to challenge the younger and better looking solutions like Google+. Expect to see odd design changes, successive releases of new features, and maybe even a rebrand. Eventually, Facebook will remember what it is good at and return to the core focus of simply connecting people.
While the naysayers all point to Myspace as a precedent, Myspace in comparison to Facebook never achieved the global success that Facebook has seen. From the tech savvy to grandmas, family businesses to fortune 500 companies, Facebook truly has dominant reach across ALL demographics. Facebook has established itself as the 100 pound Gorilla, has taken 1st Place for social connections, and will remain in 1st Place until the next paradigm shift occurs.
In my opinion, this shift will happen when social connections fully integrate with digital consumer purchasing. Facebook MAY be overcome by a powerhouse who takes Facebook’s answer to social connections and integrates it with easy digital consumer purchasing. Google is the obvious contender when considering their suite of apps such as Google Wallet and Cart; however, Facebook COULD surprise us all and invent a new platform that combines their experience in social with an on and offline purchasing solution. Needless to say, there’s a long way to go and plenty of start-up contenders that have yet to be revealed.
As a companion piece to the previous post (Why on earth are you using social media?), this video is a comedic take on the adaptation businesses are undergoing with social media. While poking fun, it underscores the importance of knowing why you are using social media and what’s purpose is.
This article was originally written for Think Social Media by Joel Marc.
You’ve probably heard of Foursquare or seen a sticker encouraging you to Check-In at your local coffee shop. While some may write-off Foursquare as another social media platform to keep track of, Foursquare has been quietly picking up momentum to the tune of 10 million subscribers. Then on August 15th, Foursquare got it’s biggest endorsement yet as President Barrack Obama announced the White House’s official use of Foursquare.
So what is Foursquare? Foursquare creates personalized experiences among friends using location-based technologies within mobile smartphones. The entire goal of Foursquare is to share tips, insights, and deals from the businesses and areas you interact with on a daily basis.
Checking-In on your mobile phone unlocks the tips left by your friends and others for that particular business or area. I could Check-In to my favorite deli and leave a Tip for a particular sandwich that isn’t on the menu, or when running a trail in Stanley Park I could leave a tip for a particular place to get that perfect scenic view. When friends or others check-in to those locations, my tips are automatically displayed to them. My friends can even add these tips to a To-Do List to create their own mini adventures based on my experiences.
Recently, Foursquare launched support for Businesses, called Foursquare Pages. This is where Foursquare becomes really valuable for Retailer’s, especially those with multiple locations. Pages enables a businesses to brand the Page to their own graphical feel while displaying Lists of places they frequent and recommend. So if you decided to follow the Think! Social Media Foursquare Page you would see our List of places around Yaletown we love to go for lunch. Additionally you can see the tips we’ve left at all the locations around the world.
Foursquare Pages are a natural fit for Lifestyle Brands who want to bring all the elements of their Lifestyle to their avid followers. The trick is to make your Page appealing so visitors will want to follow it. We suggest providing tips, insights, and deals that only Foursquare users can experience. Luxury hotelier Ritz-Carlton took some of the knowledge from their esteemed Concierges and made them tips on their Foursquare Pages of each property. Their motivation? Take the renown insight of their Concierges and make it accessible to people who love the Ritz-Carlton brand online.
Encouraging members to offer small freebies to customers for checking-in on Foursquare is a great way to build some momentum. A cupcake shop offered an extra shot of icing if customers showed an employee a check-in on their mobile phone. Small items such as an “extra shot of espresso” work best.
Marketing material stating that your business is on Foursquare is a helpful way to remind people to check-in (as they’re thinking about what kind of sandwich they want). A small stand-up at the checkout counter goes a long way. I was buying groceries recently and the display showing my purchase had a graphic stating “Check-in to Foursquare and ask for a free apple.” Smart and simple.
Want a Free Foursquare Window Sticker for your business? Just verify your businesses location on Foursquare and they’ll mail you one. Or, to get Foursquare’s logo to use in your marketing material, visit this link and choose Buttons and Logo’s.
Have you used Foursquare in an innovative way already? We’d love to hear your story in the comments section below.
