Innovative mobile applications will drive insurance industry quoting behavior in 2012, according to a new white paper

lonelybrand’s new white paper, "Mobile Applications: Driving quoting behavior in 2012" uses custom data to guide insurance marketing strategy in 2012. The digital strategists at lonelybrand take a close look at ten innovative examples of how the industry can use mobile to drive quoting behavior. The white paper also provides trend analysis and tips on how to get the maximum value out of mobile.

For more information, download the free white paper here.

This 17-page white paper discusses:

• Game changing mobile white space in the insurance industry
• Why innovation trumps expectation in the mobile space for the insurance industry
• Why Apple leads development for mobile insurance applications
• Why offering free applications might be a symptom of a bigger problem
• Analysis of 10 leading insurance industry mobile applications
• Recommendations for mobile application development for 2012 and beyond

Kickstarter remains a largely untapped resource

Sometimes I wonder if Kickstarter will ever become a real thing. There's a huge untapped enterprise segment for big companies to test - in real time - if consumers will prepay for a potential new product or service. Even the business-to-business segment could take better advantage of a system that forces people who want something to put their money where their mouth is.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

LinkedIn IPO soars, but for how long?

Nothing much to say here. It's the stock market so nothing is certain and the market always has the final say. I'll be keeping a close eye on LNKD (along with the rest of the tech community).

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

Netflix Proves Americans Will Pay for Media

Unobtrusive access, affordable, multi-screen. All of these words define the Netflix experience. Not coincidentally the video streaming service has been measured by Sandvine to be the largest source of peak downstream traffic in the United States.

Digital advertisers take note: this is a trend that won't be slowing down any time soon.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

Facebook Kills it in Display Advertising

Who would have thought? The real question here is one of value. Is Facebook advertising worth the money? Is it an exercise in branding, conversion, or a little bit of both? Either way, you can't ignore numbers like these...

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

PMA Game Changers 2011 Chicago

This year we'll be at PMA's annual marketing conference aptly named, "Game Changers". It's April 5-6 at the Fairmont in downtown Chicago.

Notable presenters include:

• Bryan Reese, Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, Bolthouse Farms
• Dana Williams, Director of Marketing, Communications and Brand Integration, Southwest Airlines
• Terry O'Neil, Executive Vice President for Citi's North America Credit Card division
• Morgan Flatley, Senior Director for Consumer Engagement, Gatorade
• Dean M. Barrett, McDonald's Corporation, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing Officer
• Elisabeth Charles, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, PETCO

At any rate if you spot us say hello, and if you haven't already registered you can do so here.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

E-mail Marketing and Snowmageddon 2011

Much of the country is recovering from some wicked weather.

It got me thinking about segmentation.

When was the last time someone reminded you to cross-reference your e-mail marketing and customer outreach schedule against weather patterns?

If you know your customers (or, for the agencies and consultants, your clients' customers) will be stuck at home or an airport with nothing to do what are you waiting for?

Gently remind them to upgrade that weather-related insurance policy, buy that space heater they have been wanting or subscribe to your very entertaining content. Better yet - offer the affected region a special discount, trial or piece of content for the day to stimulate interest and sales while demonstrating how in-tune you are with their situation. Acknowledge those stuck in transit by ensuring your efforts are smartphone-friendly.

Help your customers solve their immediate needs when you know you'll have their attention. Digital communications tools backed by a disciplined process make it cost-effective and easy to turn on and off. So, much like the weather, you can keep stakeholders on their toes.

E-mail marketing is the tip of the iceberg. If you want to learn more about how digital communications tools can help you or your clients accomplish business goals you can always contact me or follow me on Twitter.

Content and Social Media Marketing Success Secret 2: Surrounding Consumers with Branded Experiences

Part 3 of a 3-Part Guest Series by Susan Gunelius. Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

In Part 2 of this content and social media marketing series, you learned the importance of creating a core branded online destination to act as the central hub for all of your content and social media marketing activities. The next step to achieving content and social media marketing success is to extend your brand further across the digital space.

People like to experience brands and content in different ways. Every consumer audience can be segmented into smaller groups of people who have different wants, needs and preferences for brands. Therefore, you need to offer your audience varied branded experiences so they can self-select how they want to experience your brand and content. One size does not fit all!

While your core branded online destination is always the nucleus of your online brand presence, it’s important that you take the time to offer multiple branded online destinations. For example, everyone doesn’t like to use Twitter, nor does everyone like to read e-books. Therefore, it’s essential that you offer a variety of methods for people to engage with you and your brand across the social Web.

Once your core branded online destination is established, begin spreading your brand tentacles across the Web. Create a Twitter profile, a Facebook page, a LinkedIn group, a YouTube channel, and so on. Quality of content and interactions always trumps quantity, so don’t spread yourself too thin. The objective is to offer varied branded experiences while continually publishing shareworthy content and participating in meaningful conversations. At the same time, all roads must lead back to your core branded online destination.

As you extend your online presence across the social Web, be sure to stay consistent to your brand’s promise. If your content, conversations, and destinations don’t accurately reflect your brand image and message, your audience will become confused and turn away from your brand in search of one that does consistently meet their expectations for it.

Think of content marketing and social media marketing as a long-term, brand-building strategy. Over time, your content will spread farther as more and more people engage with it across your varied online destinations. Inevitably, organic growth will drive your brand and business to new heights as long as you’re committed to sticking with it for the long-haul.

You can read more about creating a content and social media marketing strategy in Susan Gunelius' new book, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, which is now available in book stores and online. ADMAVEN readers can follow the link to get a free bonus chapter, which is available for download from McGraw-Hill.

Susan Gunelius spent over a decade directing marketing programs for some of the biggest companies in the world, and today, she is President and CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. You can follow Susan on the social Web on Twitter (@susangunelius), Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

lonelybrand’s Top Five Predictions for Digital Communications in 2011

Prediction, presage, prognosis, prevision or prophecy (yes; I know how to use a thesaurus). The only real measure of how reliable one “oracle” is over another is the measure of accuracy over time.

I’m not a digital advertising prophet, but I do get enough exposure to digital communications to have a pretty good idea what’s coming. Here’s the links to my 2009 and 2010 predictions for advertising, the economy and innovation. Take a few minutes and give them a read – or just skip below for my 2011 predictions for digital communications.

ADMAVEN’s 2009 Advertising Predictions

KEY EXCERPT: [Web] 2.0 strategies will be more palatable. Smaller budgets and the desire to be more frugal will make [Web] 2.0 much more attractive to medium and large companies around the world. Social media will play a big role in this development, and agencies poised to bring a solid, procedural model with built in metrics will find new business quickly.

2010 Predictions: Conscious Capitalism and Vertical Learning (written in partnership with Maddock Douglas)

KEY EXCERPT: Secondly, but more importantly, the consumers will drive this change. With the power to choose products and services created by companies who no longer see business as a machine driven by profit only, consumers will exercise this measure of control to empower companies that not only empower them, but also facilitate change for the world.

lonelybrand’s Top Five Predictions for Digital Communications in 2011

1) The economy has started to show signs of recovery. The last two months of 2010 display a stock market on the rebound and production creeping in the right direction. However many marketing jobs downsized during years past won’t be making a return. Agencies and brands will continue to juggle keeping up with ever-evolving technologies while executing day-to-day duties. 2011 will be the year of the outsourced digital expert. Firms that build themselves on pure-play digital will step in to help brands and agencies stay afloat while executing outstanding digital communications to their clients and customers. lonelybrand has seen the demand grow – even in the last two months. The good news is that the relationship provides a way to get an internal team up to speed on effective digital communications techniques without risking huge budgets needed to hire the six key individuals required to effectively connect with consumers online. OK – that last part was a dose of my personal ethos – but it’s how I work and so far it hasn’t failed to produce.

2) What’s all this talk about the coming “App Revolution” or “Appocolypse” that will fundamentally reshape the way consumers receive messaging? 2011 will be a year of continued trending to mobile, but I’ve got some news for you: the smartphone thing is already showing signs of hitting a plateau in America. The global market is still a major growth sector for smartphone technology, but the real lesson here is mobile marketing should be a key piece of your digital communications budget in 2011. It’s appropriate for almost every brand and agency, and the costs of entry are so low versus the potential upside it’s almost a no-brainer. Apps have already changed a lot about online behaviors, but the biggest shift has already happened. Expect to see more agencies and brands play catch up as new budgets ripen in early 2011.

3) The Music Industry is in a lot of trouble. It’s because they’ve spent their time and once considerable assets fighting digital communications trends rather than embracing them. 2011 will be a make-or-break year for something we all love: music. What does this have to do with trends in digital marketing and advertising? Think of it as a lesson in exploration. Agencies and brands that aggressively expand their digital communications programs will come out on top. Learning the key steps to reducing risky capital outlay while increasing success rate is the secret. As Quincy Jones, producer of "Thriller" and nominated for a record 79 Grammy awards recently told me, “Artists, producers, songwriters and A&R folks: rise up to the challenge and make your album so good that fans will want to buy the whole thing. I realize every album can’t have six or seven top ten singles like Michael Jackson and I were blessed with on “Thriller” and “Bad,” but you’ve got to try. If it’s good enough, the fans will buy it. Maybe they’ll want to whet their appetite by only buying a track or two at first, but if you keep coming out with good tracks and pique their interest, they’ll be back.” Remember prediction number one? Those are the folks who will help agencies and brands smart enough to bring in outsiders blossom in the year to come.

4) Disciplined CRM and email marketing will continue to generate a stable platform of inbound lead generation and conversions. We’ve been hearing it for years now: email marketing is old school, old hat and on it’s way out the door. Tell that to Groupon. Sometimes (yes, even in our fast-paced digital world) it’s less about exotic technology and more about the discipline to produce consistently. Email marketing combined with quality social CRM will continue to drive big results in 2011. Agencies and brands with a quality content calendar backed by the staff to execute will retain and grow their customer base. Look for more companies to begin injecting social data into their CRM toolset, producing targeted and increasingly relevant communications with outstanding open rates.

5) Analytics will finally make it to the boardroom. When you run a campaign or communications program in the digital world it only makes sense to measure progress. Look for large up-front spends on strategy and development to give way as more agencies and brands realize the risk posed by front-loading a digital marketing budget. The smartest companies will understand that incremental program execution combined with powerful analytics (and the personnel to quantify meaning from the raw data) is a great way to minimize risk and maximize reward. I recommend using an analytics package(s) that can read demographics, see long-term trends and analyze real-time data.

I hope you take these predictions to heart as you plan your business development strategies for 2011. I spend my days making sure agencies and brands are covering all the bases by augmenting and executing tactics that get results. Want to know more? Let’s talk.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

Content and Social Media Marketing Success Secret: Create Your Core Branded Destination

Part 2 of a 3-Part Guest Series by Susan Gunelius. Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Content marketing and social media marketing are hotter than ever, but with so many tools, tricks, and so-called experts telling you different things you have to be doing to be successful on the social web, you can end up feeling overwhelmed with no idea where to begin or what to do next.

Relax. Take a deep breath and remember that content marketing and social media marketing are exactly what they claim to be -- forms of marketing, and the underlying theories of marketing still apply.

Therefore, your content marketing and social media marketing efforts need to be based in the fundamental principles of marketing theory to be successful over the long-term. Before you create a Twitter account, add yourself to Facebook, or start a blog, you need to set yourself up for content and social media marketing success by understanding the most basic secrets to content marketing success, which are rooted in integrated marketing and cross-promotional theories. The first of those secrets is the importance of creating a core branded online destination.

As you participate in the social web conversation, publish content, and share information, you’ll do so on a wide variety of websites, blogs, social networks, forums, and so on. In order to make those various efforts a valuable part of your content and social media marketing plans, all roads must lead back to what I call your core branded online destination as mentioned in step 9 of my previous article published on ADMAVEN, “10 Tips to Develop a Content and Social Media Marketing Strategy.”

In other words, as you build your online reputation and develop relationships with people online, you should do so with the goal of bringing them back to your core branded online destination where they can get more of your amazing content and you can deepen your relationships with them. Never boldly demand that people come to your core branded online destination. Instead, quietly offer a link to your core branded destination or make a reference to your useful content, so your audience feels in control of your interactions. In time, your most engaged audience will follow you, tell their own connections about you, and share your amazing content, opening the doors for you to engage with even more people!

I always recommend a blog as the core branded online destination because of its flexibility in terms of the type of content you can publish as well as its search friendliness. Even if you don’t own an online business, blogging can help you as your core branded online destination because of one simple thing -- Google.

Think of it this way -- if you build a company website with 10 pages, that gives Google 10 entry points to find you, index your content, and deliver your site in keyword search results. Now, imagine that you add a blog to your website and publish a new post every day for a year. That gives you 365 more entry points for Google to index and deliver in search results. Now, imagine that you publish amazing content that people want to share with their own audiences (I call this shareworthy content). They write about your posts on their own blogs, tweet links to your posts, share them on LinkedIn, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg, and so on. Suddenly, your original 10 entry points have grown to hundreds or thousands simply because you did two things:

1. You connected with your target audience across the social Web and made an effort to bring them back to your core branded online destination.
   
2. You published amazing content that your audience wanted to share and talk about with their own followers.
   

You’d be crazy to pass up that kind of access to people!

Therefore, the first secret you need to follow in order to put yourself on the path for successful content and social media marketing is to set up your core branded online destination, start publishing amazing content there, and then, work to build relationships across the web and bring people back to your core branded online destination for further interactions, learning, and sharing.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series where you’ll learn the second biggest secret to getting started on a path to content and social media marketing success -- Surrounding Consumers with Branded Experiences -- coming next week on ADMAVEN.

You can read more about creating a content and social media marketing strategy in Susan Gunelius' new book, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, which is now available in book stores and online. ADMAVEN readers can follow the link to get a free bonus chapter, which is available for download from McGraw-Hill.
Susan Gunelius spent over a decade directing marketing programs for some of the biggest companies in the world, and today, she is President and CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. You can follow Susan on the social Web on Twitter (@susangunelius), Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

10 Tips to Develop a Content and Social Media Marketing Strategy

Part 2 of a 3-Part Guest Series by Susan Gunelius. Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Content and social media marketing are hotter than ever, and you might be tempted to dive in and catch some of the so-called lightening in a bottle that you've heard about. While it's true that every day you wait to get started with content and social media marketing is a missed opportunity, you should take some time before you invest too much time and energy to do some research and create a strategy that will actually help you meet your goals.

With that in mind, take a step back and read through the following tips to develop a content and social media marketing strategy to ensure you set yourself up for success from the start:

1. Find out what your competitors are doing online. Look for gaps and opportunities.
   
2. Learn where your customers spend time online. Listen to their online conversations and join them to start building relationships with them.
   
3. Define the demographic and behavioral makeup of your best audience. This is your target audience.
   
4. Define your primary social media and content marketing messages and the added value you will bring to the online conversation.
   
5. Determine your 1-year objectives for your content and social media marketing efforts.
   
6. Define your brand promise and your brandís position relative to your competitors in the marketplace so you can differentiate yourself in consumersí minds.
   
7. Develop an honest assessment of the money and time you can invest into content and social media marketing over the next 12-months to determine what you can realistically afford in terms of outside help.
   
8. Find the online influencers who have the ears of your target audience and get on their radar screens by commenting on their blogs, tweeting them, and reaching out to them via social networking and/or email.
   
9. Create a great core branded destination to which all of your content and social media marketing efforts will lead back to. This is where youíll deepen relationships through interaction and providing amazing, shareworthy content that your audience will want to talk about and share with their own audiences thereby extending your exposure across the Web.
   
10. Surround consumers with branded online destinations, so they can self-select how they want to interact with your brand. You can't be everywhere, but itís important to provide alternative ways for people to engage with you (not everyone likes to read blogs or use Twitter). Give your audience more options without spreading yourself too thin. Quality of content and relationships trumps quantity when it comes to building long-term, sustainable, organic growth for both your online presence and your business.
    

You can read more about creating a content and social media marketing strategy in Susan Gunelius' new book, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, which is now available in book stores and online. ADMAVEN readers can follow the link to get a free bonus chapter, which is available for download from McGraw-Hill.

Susan Gunelius spent over a decade directing marketing programs for some of the biggest companies in the world, and today, she is President and CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. You can follow Susan on the social Web on Twitter (@susangunelius), Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how a complete digital communications program can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

Social Media in Action Series: Duck Sauce

I'm spending a few days highlighting my "best in class" picks for companies driven by social media. This series isn't about uncovering the latest viral phenomenon - it's about slowing your roll a little bit and observing the underlying principles of success in social media marketing. Day 4 in the series features Duck Sauce.

When an Internet phenomenon is reported by the New York Times it's usually regarded as having earned "viral" or "meme" status by the teeming hordes of social media experts. Watch the latest video to reach such status from the band Duck Sauce aptly named Barbara Streisand, then read my takeaways below.

One of the cornerstones to social media success (and some of this can be applied to the music industry as a whole) is producing something that many people will love. Not just "like" or tweet, but truly love. By combining a catchy beat with visuals and celebrity cameos that make most young New Yorkers swoon Duck Sauce created a juicy bit of video goodness that was championed by the largest city in America. The lesson here is simple: target your audience with remarkable content and they will... remark! Too many brands play it safe by generalizing content to apply to as many people as possible, not realizing in the process they are eroding viral potential.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how social technologies can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

Social Media in Action Series: List Blogging with Jeremiah Owyang

I'm spending a few days highlighting my "best in class" picks for companies driven by social media. This series isn't about uncovering the latest viral phenomenon - it's about slowing your roll a little bit and observing the underlying principles of success in social media marketing. The third case in this series features prominent blogger and digital strategy expert Jeremiah Owyang.

If you enjoy keeping up with the social web and learning about new technologies you may be familiar with Owyang's aptly named blog: Web Strategy. The blog has one area that I'm going to highlight: a rolling list of brands that were "punked" by social media. Take a look at the extensive article, then read my analysis below the image.

Building a unique, thoughtful list of (for lack of a better word) things, can be an incredible source of traffic, referrals and conversions. For marketers Jeremiah's list provides a chronological account of case studies in social media failure. Incredibly useful for client and prospect presentations, internal reports or as a way to check for probably issues before a campaign goes live.

There are many many examples of lists in social media, but remember this: if it doesn't already exist you may be passing up an opportunity to aggregate and store information that will be appreciated by thousands - if not millions - of adoring fans. Go get em!

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 9 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how social technologies can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

Social Media in Action Series: Google

I'm spending a few days highlighting my "best in class" picks for companies driven by social media. This series isn't about uncovering the latest viral phenomenon - it's about slowing your roll a little bit and observing the underlying principles of success in social media marketing. The third case in this series features Google.

You may have seen Patrick Boivin's hugely popular stop-motion animation series on YouTube. Watch his technique used in this Nexus One unboxing, then read my quick takeaway after the video.

Are there social media guns for hire? In this case, you bet! Google used a tried but true technique - combine meme with an already established personality to create a new and instantly viral phenomenon. Does it always work? Certainly not. In fact the Internet is littered with the wreckage of bad brand/social media personality collaborations.

It's all about finding the right blend of an existing Internet personality providing pure value (no ads already) to their fans, and then tapping it in a way that doesn't corrupt the very attraction that made the content viral to begin with.

It's a delicate balancing act illustrated above perfectly.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how social technologies can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

Social Media in Action Series: Department of Transportation

I'm spending a few days highlighting my "best in class" picks for companies driven by social media. This series isn't about uncovering the latest viral phenomenon - it's about slowing your roll a little bit and observing the underlying principles of success in social media marketing. Day 2 is all about the Texas Department of Transportation.

Let's face it: drunk driving is a serious problem in America. It's been an ongoing mission of the Department of Transportation to communicate the negative impacts of driving under the influence through various national television, radio and print campaigns. Local governments also get involved, but with budgets shrinking it's been tough to get the word out. I'll just say it. Most of these ads are cheesy and don't connect with drivers at an emotional level. Enter the Happy Hour FAIL campaign. Be prepared for a sting, and read my thoughts after the video.

Ouch. Did you have the same awkward and painful feeling watching a life set back by ten years?

The Happy Hour FAIL campaign is a great example of marketing to Millennials, and it's one of the first ads that plays to the fear of a damaged social media reputation. It's all part of a more robust campaign that connects on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Not bad for a traditional government department rooted in old media.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes. Want to talk to him about how social technologies can help your agency or brand grow? Email him at nick@lonelybrand.com

Social Media in Action Series: Blendtec

I'm spending a few days highlighting my "best in class" picks for companies driven by social media. This series isn't about uncovering the latest viral phenomenon - it's about slowing your roll a little bit and observing the underlying principles of success in social media marketing. I'll kick things off with Blendtec.

Chances are you're already familiar with the cooky lab tech that likes to destroy expensive and amusing items with blenders. If not I'll let the video do the talking. You'll find my quick takeaway below.

I've always been convinced the success of Blentec's YouTube campaign is rooted in discipline. Sure, it's amusing to watch things get destroyed - but translating that into sales is a more complex feat. You can find hundreds of thousands of videos on the Internet of wanton destruction. Blentec's secret is rooted in discipline. Any social media campaign must be consistently executed with predictable "tune in times". You can always cite one-off examples of single videos that went viral. That's different than a planned and produced campaign, or it's just plain lucky.

Consistency in look and feel as well as a disciplined content release schedule dramatically reduce the chances of failure. After over 100 well produced and executed videos, Blendtec is a great example of the disciplined approach to social media marketing success.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps agencies and brands find and connect to digital audiences for profitable outcomes.

The Social Conundrum

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps the Fortune 100 identify unmet consumer needs, create ideas to fill those needs, and bring them into market. He currently works at Maddock Douglas.

Double Bland Meme Advertising, What Does It Mean?

I'm working on a lot of content right now - it's been a big week in advertising with the announcement of commercial-free Apple TV, a social network from Apple and a slew of new Andriod mobile devices and tablets. Since I don't have that ready let's all bask in the glory of a full on double bland ad campaign from Microsoft. All the way.



Just because a meme generates insane amounts of online popularity does not excuse ad agencies from putting some creative effort into a campaign based off of the same nonsense.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 9 years, and helps the Fortune 100 identify unmet consumer needs, create ideas to fill those needs, and bring them into market. He currently works at Maddock Douglas.

Authors That Get Social Media: Marcus Sakey

Marcus Sakey was an award-winning copywriter on brands ranging from JCPenney to World Championship Wrestling until he left the business to write novels. His books have been translated into a dozen languages, labeled “nothing short of brilliant” by the Chicago Tribune, and chosen among Esquire Magazine’s Top 5 of the Year. Recently Marcus has aggressively expanded into eBook formats, publishing a series of short stores available online.

About a decade ago, something shifted in the publishing world. What used to be famed as a reclusive profession became a very public one. The novelist was expected to leave his garret and go sell himself.

I’m a novelist, and that’s fine with me. I come from advertising, a world where you fight for your ideas, and promoting my own work comes naturally.

However, what I’ve found interesting over the last few years is the ways in which social networking, the Internet, and lately, the rise of the e-book, have shaped these trends. I’ve written about the first two here before, so it’s the latter I’d like to talk about.

Everyone knows that e-books are the future. You don’t have to like it, but it’s foolish to ignore it. The thing is, right now, that future hasn’t arrived. It’s the Wild West out there. Fortunes were made in the West, but a lot of people died of dysentery, too.

For my money, the people who are hailing the end of publishing are short-sighted. I don’t know exactly how the industry will look, but I sure hope that traditional publishers don’t go away. Art shouldn’t be an entirely democratic process.

No, at this point in history, I view e-books is as a support tool. For example, I just released a bunch of short stories as inexpensive e-books. You can buy them for a buck a pop, or as an anthology of seven called SCAR TISSUE for $2.99.

My goals are simple. I want to offer people a way to try my stuff inexpensively. And I want to reach out to them through media that I can guide, e.g., the Internet. My hope is not that I sell a million copies and retire (although I wouldn’t say no). My real hope is that by taking advantage of a changing marketing landscape, I can reach a potential audience that may not otherwise know of me.

Like you.

To that end, allow me to give you one of my stories, absolutely free. It’s called “The Days When You Were Anything Else,” and it’s one of my personal favorites. It’s available for all e-book formats, or as a PDF you can print out.

I hope you’ll give it a read.

To get the story, just click here, add it to your cart, and use coupon code YB98Q.

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps the Fortune 100 identify unmet consumer needs, create ideas to fill those needs, and bring them into market. He currently works at Maddock Douglas.

Remember What You Used to Think About Social Media?

"It isn't about making content go viral—though that would be a wonderful byproduct, should it happen—or creating the next great Facebook application," Kinports says. "It's about structuring, and in some cases restructuring, how a business views and interacts with its customer base. The modern consumer is savvy, aware, and fully able to make informed decisions, thanks to a wealth of information freely available on the Internet. The consumer of the near future will make purchase decisions based on information gleaned from unbiased peers and influencers. Social media is the latest tool through which these interactions occur."
SOURCE: Bloomberg-Businessweek, May 26, 2009 (click here for the full article)

Sometimes it's useful to look back and remember what we were all saying about social media and the future of advertising. I was reminded of an article I co-authored in early 2009 that eventually made it's way to Bloomberg-Businessweek.

Here's an inspiring TEDx video from David Armano covering his current views on the topic:



We should all remember what made social media such a buzz word in the first place and why many marketers lost their way. Sometimes to move forward you really do have to look back. What did you used to think about social media and the future of advertising?

Nick Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years, and helps the Fortune 100 identify unmet consumer needs, create ideas to fill those needs, and bring them into market. He currently works at Maddock Douglas.