Like everything these days, especially in the competitive world of selling yourself, a product or service, if you’re not using social and digital media you’re probably not going to win the race. This became all too clear in the recent win by everyone’s candidate you love to hate, mayor-elect, Rob Ford. According to an analysis that was conducted (earlier in the race) on the social media usage of the mayoral candidates that were in the running, the candidate (with the exception of the surprisingly superior online efforts of Rocco Rossi’s camp – but let’s not focus on the quitters) with the best online presence was our newly elected mayor Mr. Rob Ford.

Taking a lesson from the power of social media in the not so far back Obama win two years ago and recent elected mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi’s our own Toronto’s mayoral candidates tapped (ever so slightly) into the digital world. Perhaps helping the Ford campaign and hindering the other candidates, it was very clear that, yes they were partaking, but there was definitely not enough effort put into turning the social and digital media side of things into a campaign tool. The power of these online sources could have been a huge factor if a team had taken advantage of its potential. As it turns out, most of the teams forgot about bringing on their social media expert and should have possibly looked into hiring on campaign social media wizard, National Post columnist Steve Murray (let’s overlook his minor mix-up of not registering to be a candidate on time and focus on his stand out online performance) whose website http://www.murray4mayor.biz/ and digital and social media exploits have drawn in thousands of support (who couldn’t actually vote for him but probably would have).

As most people involved in the digital and social world, it’s quite well known that Toronto has been on board the social media train since day one being the first metropolitan city to overtake the one million user mark on facebook. This just shows how impactful a strong and engaged online presence could have been in rallying voters.

A large part of social media networking especially for public personalities (in this case politicians) is interacting online with your fans and followers etc., however, there was a campaign fail to really reach out, react and retweet. Perhaps if those under dogs and candidates not so far behind put more focus online it could have grabbed that ever so engaged media population and nabbed their votes. For the most part online presence was half-assed, however rewardingly; Ford’s team did put up the best fight. And so, as Torontonians ourselves, we congratulate him and hope for the best for the future of our city.

Check out our own VMG Co-owner Nick Haffie-Emslie discusses working remotely using software instead of hardware with itbusiness.

http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=59380

Big name brands are referring to a whole new list of celebrities for their new online ad campaigns. The celebrities on this list are more well known for their descriptions “those guys that make those impossible basketball shots” as opposed to first and last names, but are in the ranks with b-list celebs when it comes to pay rates. These self-made celebrities of youtube are being approached by brands to pitch their products. Not only are brands going to these web celebs, these youtube stars are putting themselves out there to the brands. They know their own popularity and their demographics and use this to the brand’s advantage.

It poses a win-win situation for both the brand hitting their target market without having to shell out the big bucks for those a-list celebrities and these self-made celebrities are making a killing doing what they do best. One that I happened across that is using a number of different youtubers is Carl’s Jr. (American fast food burger joint). Check out “Younghungryguy’s” commercial for the fast food chain. That’s right, even youtube celeb’s can sell out.

Like most of our parents and grandparents trying to catch up to the digital age so are those age old companies that have been around forever. In my mind everything is online and every company has an online marketing presence so it was surprising and a little bit humbling to see the internationally known brand Kellogg’s has just recently put out their very first web only video.  The well-known brand took a leap into digital media and came out with a really great entertaining 2-minute video that does everything it should. It has an interesting split screen concept, a cute and funny storyline with their “make time for breakfast” messaging….way to join the online video marketing ranks!

Online video has had at least one key advantage over TV from the very beginning: there’s no list of words you can’t say on the internet. While this has opened up a powerful avenue to viral success for shock humorists, brands often struggle to find their place among internet memes that aren’t burdened by maintaining a friendly brand image or helping their parent company avoid boycotts. No one, not even Axe, is going to touch a 2 Girls 1 Cup, no matter what the view count and viral response tail.

And, of course, they shouldn’t. But it’s still nice to see a brand go out on a limb and test the waters with a too-hot-for-primetime web spot. Last month, Wrigley’s Orbit brand teamed up with DumbDumb, a production company led by Arrested Development alumni Will Arnett and Jason Bateman and backed by IAC (CollegeHumor, Vimeo, tons of others).

In the digital short (embedded below, NSFW), Arnett and Bateman revive their impeccable AD chemistry and are joined by Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Recreation, Funny People) and Rachel Harris (The Hangover, various shows and films about cougars). It definitely goes too far for most brands, which is part of the viral appeal.

The real story here is DumbDumb’s new initiative, and how they’re trying to create truly shareable digital shorts that communicate the brand message without feeling bogged down by it. Interviewed in the New York Times, Bateman compares what they’re doing to an improv show, where the audience throws out a random word, and the actors create a sketch out of it. In the case of branded content, they start with the tagline (this time, “A good clean feeling no matter what”) and ride it well into the sunset.

In the Times article, Bateman comes off a little more independent from branding than he probably is. He says they make funny entertainment and then “just arbitrarily make that subject matter a brand’s message.” DumbDumb admits Energy BBDO “provided creative insight into the campaign development,” and the resulting short is certainly more on-target than your average SNL digital short.

But the spot is still pretty compelling, and pushes brand comfort farther than most efforts out there. “Prom Date” is just the first in a series for Orbit, and it will be interesting to see where DumbDumb drags other excited, if hesitant, brands in the future.

It may seem like old news considering most of our friends and family spend more time online than watching TV but now there are official stats from Ipsos Reid to support this statement:

First time ever, Canadians are spending more time each week online than watching television.

The report finds that overall, Canadians are now spending more than 18 hours a week online, compared with 16.9 hours watching television.

Internet usage is up from 14.9 hours last year. The number of hours watching television also rose in the last year, from 15.8 hours in 2009. Usage of newspapers, radio and magazines have all remained relatively stable in the last year.

Some industry watchers have noted that the cost of watching TV is rising as cable TV companies and satellite operators raise the monthly cost of service. As that happens more people are watching TV online for free.

Later today, the CRTC is expected to rule on a so-called TV tax or fee for carriage, a cost cable companies have said could add another $10 a month to consumers’ bills if the regulator rules they have to pay broadcasters for their local signals.

In breaking down its survey, Ipsos Reid noted that males are spending significantly more time online than females–20 hours compared with 16.

In addition, 18-34 year olds are spending 20 hours a week online on average, compared with 18 hours for those over 35.

“In previous years we’ve seen significant differences between the generations and the amount of time they spend online,” said study author Mark Laver.

“The data indicates that not only are people of all ages spending more and more time online, but it also points to a shift in how online Canadians are consuming media and where they are spending their free time.

“Today, online Canadians are finding a myriad of entertainment options available to them within the walls of their homes. While some entertainment content has simply shifted from television to online, the Internet is also providing new content to Canadians.”

Take a look at a Style Agents feature from Metro Toronto:

& don’t forget to tune in to the Vaughan Mills YouTube Channel to catch the latest episodes of Style Agents Season 2!

Some say failure with social media is a sort of “rite of passage”…. but why not get it right the first time?

Here’s a list of not-to-dos:

1. Be fake

The social web isn’t meant to be the easy way to deceive people’s trust.
Example: Originally, companies like Walmart and Sony foolishly saw an easy opportunity in creating artificial relationships and tried to bluff their way into making consumers believe sites like Sony PSP or the Walmarting Across America blogs were written by the brand leaders themselves – when that wasn’t the case at all. However since then, both Sony and Walmart have learned from their early mistakes and now have social media sites that follow more honest (and effective) practices. If only they got it right the first time!

2. Fail to listen to your customers

Information must flow two ways. Social media and non traditional marketing succeed on customer interaction that personalizes the experiences. Listening is really the most important step in learning about social communities on the web. It’s important to monitor conversations on an ongoing basis about brands and analyzing what can be done differently. Luckily, there’s a great deal of social media monitoring tools to choose from.

3. Not understand formal & unwritten social rules

One of the few (only?) times it’s okay to be a stalker is in the participation with social communities, especially with commercial intentions in mind. You should try to know what you’re talking about in an effort to improve your brand’s online presence and encourage relationships. Not only do the web sites have their own Terms of Service guidelines, but the communities also have an unwritten code for behavior that can only be understood by observing and participating. Ignoring these guidelines will most likely result in alienation by the community.

4. Be pushy

One of the worst things a marketer can do is be overly pushy. I think we all speak from experience when we say these methods turn customers away from the brand. Being pushy in social media and expecting traditional marketing outcomes are common among companies that see social media as content distribution channels for existing marketing programs. (See Online Video For Newbies: Tip #3)  Straight forward sales pitches are frowned upon in social communities. A social (media) environment is meant for interaction amongst “friends” and likeminded individuals not sales message interruption sales messaging. Provide information in interactive ways facilitating choices that lead to sales, and you’ll get better results.

5. Approach social media channels as silos

Many companies make the prevalent mistake of approaching social media via individual web sites rather than as a collective execution.
Example: having one division do a blog, another Facebook page, and yet another a LinkedIn group does not create a consistent image. Not working together is inefficient and can create mixed messages for consumers that participate in more than one social media outlets for the brand.

6. Not know how to assess ROI

Let’s face it, marketers are concerned with the same bottom line – ROI. This is why it’s essential that a social media strategy includes a goal and ways of assessing business value by focusing on increased product awareness, sales or cost savings. Regardless of how value is determined, social media should be validated as a profitable marketing channel.

It’s no longer only about the “4 Ps” (product, promotion, price, placement) of the marketing mix. If anything, social media has helped us evolve past the initial mix into a more consumer friendly mix of “8 Cs” – Conversation, Connections, Community, Consumer, Control, Creative, Collaboration and Content.

Test your knowledge of online video marketing presented in a quiz by EyeView. Not to brag, but we got 5/5….

CLICK TO TAKE THE QUIZ

Hint:

The quiz reinforces popular online video assumptions with stats addressing launch triggers, call to action, auto play, landing pages and voice over accents. What’s important to take away from here is that results vary sometimes in drastic measures based on video presentations. It’s substantial for marketers to understand which video experiences drive the best performance for their specific target audience in order to bring the highest value to their videos.

A notable presentation from the 2nd annual Marketing Week was carried out by Steve Mast, vice-president of Delvinia, who discussed business digital diseases, how they ruin users’ online experiences and their possible cures. These “diseases” occur when brands attempt to use social media without a great deal of success wondering why the digital world is not in sync with their goals. Each of these social media diseases can be avoided, or “cured”, without falling in the trap of lower online sales, visitors and return on digital investment.

The “diseases” were determined using survey data from Asking Canadians (Delvinia’s own research division).

Participants were asked to grade familiar complaints about websites, producing this top six list of diseases which include:

Ad-Theria
The over use of ads on websites because marketers feel so strongly about advertising products and services at the expense of the customer’s experience.

Mono-typosis
Not listening or responding to your customers and prohibiting conversation and a connection with a brand.

Widgetitis
The overuse of trendy tech gadgets.

Navigation Deficiency Virus
Confusing site navigation because there’s too much content.

Obsessive Content Disorder
Information clutter and inundation due to irrational fear of removing old content from a website.

Datapox
Asking for customer information in confusing ways making the site’s core purpose difficult and frustrating.

Although these problems appear to be part of a new medium development cycle, similar to how advertisers struggled with television in the 1950s; there are ways to prevent these common mistakes, “curing the diseases” with an easy formula. The 5 step formula as suggested by Mast includes understanding your customer, focusing on the customer experience, providing people with a voice, communicating and learning from the experience. In other words, it’s presenting your brand as approachable and customer oriented as possible in the digital world that makes your brand the “healthiest” and “disease free”.

Source: Marketing Magazine