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I'm Amused: Part 2 (of 2)

September 3, 2009 – 2:27 pm

clown_shoe copyShoe: Clown shoe. The best part of this post is that I’m getting back on track with my obsession o’ so me (social media).

So here’s why I’m also amused. Earlier this week I was conducting some research on Facebook for a client. Right after I signed on, I noticed I was logged in to Chat (an integrated instant messaging platform on Facebook). So I move my mouse to sign out and that’s where I saw it.

amused_1

I’m sorry. I’m having trouble reading that. Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

amused_2

BAM!

Dost my eyes deceive me? No. That’s Stephan Pastis, Creator of the most amazing comic known to (wo)mankind.

Also, author of an amusing blog that parallels the comic strip.

All I’m trying to say is, my obsession admiration for Stephan now knows no bounds. And that all should be warned that Facebook privacy settings should be monitored and set to deter stalkers admirers from having potentially immediate contact.

By meganmcq | Posted in personal | Comments (0)

I’m Amused: Part 1 (of 2)

August 27, 2009 – 10:09 pm

clown_shoe copyShoe: Clown shoe. Because to most of us, clowns attempt to be amusing and fail. Thus, I am going to relay my recent run-in with being amused and also fail be amusing. Also, this post is not meant to be scary. So if you’re scared of clowns, rest assured this post does not have anything to do with them.

So the other day I was driving to a client meeting and I was listening to the radio because I have a guilty pleasure of talk radio in the morning wanted to hear the news. During the commercials, I happened to catch a new Bud Light commercial that made me laugh out loud so that people in the cars next to me thought I was crazy I decided to share.

The “Real Men of Genius” commercial series promoting Bud Light are hilarious. The commercials are a faux-inspirational speech, complete with deep baritone narrator and tenor soul singer as back-up vocals that accentuate the mocking narrative.

My favorite motif includes the “cheers” to “Mr. Tee-Shirt-Launcher-Inventor” who will “give you the shirt off [his] back, at 180 feet per second.” He “Makes every section, a nosebleed section. [HIT THE DECK!]”

Okay, I don’t do it justice. Thus, listen to the whole thing below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b3pJYfv5eg]

This commercial makes me wish Bud Light was a quality beer so I could purchase it to support the production of more “Real Men of Genius” commercials.  Oh well.

Regardless, there are Web sites who have archived several of the commercials I have not heard. It should keep me amused for awhile.

Enjoy!

By Megan McQ | Posted in personal | Comments (0)

This Week in Writing 08.16-08.23.2009

August 25, 2009 – 7:32 am

Note: I’ve decided that because I write the “This Week in Writing” post the week AFTER I’ve written these posts, one of two things needs to occur: (1) I change the date I post on to be within the actual week that I wrote said posts, or (2) I change the post title to Last Week in Writing.

I’ve decided to go with option (1) because I do believe that ‘Now is Gone,’ so waiting until the next week to write about the previous week seems counter-intuitive (again, given the rapid pace of the Internet Age). I will probably write this post on Friday or Saturday. Please continue to bear with me as I figure this post series out.

Community Marketing Blog

Personal Branding as a Corporate Communication Function

Shoe Girls

Yet another post where I make some crazy link with social media because clearly I have no life. For real, ya’all. I have an overt obsession with this stuff.

By Megan McQ | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (0)

Yet another post where I make some crazy link with social media…

August 21, 2009 – 12:30 pm

concert_shoe

Shoe: Concert Shoe. Note:Yes I know this is a man’s shoe. All will reveal itself as you read.

Last week, I had coffee iced tea with Tim, a dear friend of mine. We were discussing his recent venture in Colorado, eight-week long music festival for some of the most talented musicians in the country.

colorado_1

One of the reasons he was so inclined to pursue this program was for the networking opportunity it would offer him. These musicians will become some of the most influential in their industry, and having such an intense program for these promising individuals will help them form the basis for many of their future job leads.

This festival fostered authentic interpersonal relationships between members in the same industry.

(Here’s the part where I make the connection between coffee iced tea and social media):

…So this conversation gets me thinking about social media. I personally am of the framework that social media is meant to enhance the capability for interpersonal interaction, not replace it. Tim has laid the groundwork for use of social media. He was telling me how since the orchestra festival had concluded, everyone has been befriending each other on Facebook and writing on each other’s Facebook walls.

I just wanted to give Tim a standing ovation for this perfect demonstration of the correct way to conduct social media relationship building. Of course, I recognize that there are some difficulties (i.e., propinquity), that surround having ‘real-life’ interpersonal interactions. Life is not without its complications.colorado_2

But here’s why I’m applauding Tim. Companies need to look to his example and recreate these gold standards with our constituencies when building our networks:

1. Being Authentic: Tim’s NBF’s (new best friends) were formed through a genuine passion for the music industry. They were all true to their roots and passions and by being true to oneself, we can better surround ourselves with those who have similar passions.

2. Storytelling: Imagine as if you’re conversing with your friends. You’re not *selling* what you do, you’re *telling* what you do. Communicating your story should enhance your audience’s perception of your personality alongside your knowledge about your profession. Just communicating with your audience, you will humanize your personal brand and become more respected and valued by your constituency.

3. Interpersonal relationships: If you want to use social media, use the tools to enhance the relationships you already have and foster genuine connections with new people.

4. Eliminating the “we/they” dichotomy: If you’re genuinely interacting with people, you are able to drop the “preaching” element of your story, and it’s an easier story to tell. What your network says to you should be as important (if not more important) as what you communicate to them. Ideally, you would want to respond and engage in open dialogue.

Ultimately, this list has one overarching theme: being true to oneself.

1.) To be authentic and 2) engage people via storytelling that 3) builds interpersonal relationships that 4) eliminate the we/they dichotomy, we must not lay an idea of who we want to be on top of our pre-existing personalities, we must live who we are.

Tim, congratulations on pursuing a field that embodies your true personality. You’re bound to reach your dreams by following what it is you are passionate about.

By meganmcq | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (0)

This Week in Writing 07.29-08.16

August 17, 2009 – 7:55 am

I blog in several locations. As such, I’m beginning a new series on Sundays to consolidate a location where you can find my previous week’s blog posts.

Beginning next week I’ll be adding a section for my top-5 picks for industry posts I found most pertinent.

Musings

IMC: A Juggling Act?–I reflected on a meeting with an acquaintance where we discussed his complex marketing campaign. From an integrated marketing communication standpoint, I determine

Traditional vs. Social Media Marketing Campaigns: Round 1–After a conflicting conversation with a friend, I outline some of the basic tenants of social media use that are sometimes misunderstood by social media practitioners.

Shoe Girls

Google: *Thee* Social Network–A quick post that discussed Google as a cumbersome, yet brilliant, entity.

I’m shoxed!–I analyzed Nike’s custom shoe product and President Obamas presidential campaign in terms of both digital and traditional word-of-mouth.

By Megan McQ | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

I’m shoxed!

August 13, 2009 – 12:10 pm

Nike_Shox_TurboShoe: Awesome NikeID Shox. Personalized with “Megan McQ” On back of the heels. (Real picture coming shortly) Did I mention they are Awesome?

So I just got back from my fist time playing volleyball in about a month due to a few injuries.

While I was playing this evening, I became aware that I am not as quick as I used to be, even in comparison to just a few years ago. I can’t do the cool things I once could (i.e., pancake/roll–see below), but this could be because I don’t play every day for 2 hours a day year-round. I also have to play with contacts now. Ouch.

vb_pancakeIn fact, I’m only approved to play once a week less any additional injury. (It’s a good thing I think the number “3” is the number “1”—let’s keep that between you and me).

For me, this realization that ‘every day we’re getting older’ was a ‘carpe diem’ moment. I didn’t touch a ball for about four years but I’m glad I’m back on the court for as much as I am able to be. (This was a shameless plug for insisting that you follow your dreams, no matter how far-fetched you may imagine them to be, bla bla, etc. I’ve found I’m typically my own worst road block.)

On another note, the best part of this evening was getting to break in my new pair of NikeID Shox. They are actually supposed to be running shoes but I need to break them in slowly, and I think my actual court shoes may not be supportive enough for my broken foot.

Despite a few moral issues I may have with Nike, I have to tell you I like Shox. I also think that Nike made an amazingly brilliant decision to allow for personalization of various shoes. With their NikeID Web site, I can customize virtually every element of a variety of different shoes. From the ’shox’ color to the color of my shoe laces–I even had the left heel personalized with my first name and the right heel with my last name. Pretty neat, huh?

In social media marketing, there’s a high debate that’s questioning the best way to determine if your campaign is successful. While this is one of the many issues that our industry seems to disagree on, I personally think that a campaign is successful by the amount of conversation that is generated about your company, product or message. (There are various ways to monitor for conversation and I’m sure this blog post may very well end up on a monitoring report about the company later this week.)

But I was thinking about it, and what a better way to generate a WOM conversation than by being able to create off-line user generated content (UGC)?  I can share my own individual story about Nike by purchasing these custom shoes. My shoes embody Nike’s corporate story. And since birds of a feather flock together, the people with which I converse with will ask me about my *totally awesome* shoes, and I’ll tell them to check out the site.

Win-Win. I get great shoes, Nike gets great publicity.

The same UGC concept holds true for other successful campaigns. President Obama’s campaign (Note: this blog is not politically affiliated) was very successful in garnering interest in his party for the election by having individuals create and display their own personalized version of his logo, among other social media tactics.

According to a white paper by Edelman entitled the Social Pulpit:

The MyBO Web site contained videos, speeches, photos and how-to guides that gave people the raw materials they needed to create their own compelling content in support of Obama. In return, supporters created more than 400,000 pro-Obama videos and posted them to YouTube. They also wrote more than 400,000 blog posts on the MyBO Web site.

In Obama’s case, this was all digital UGC. But the fact of the matter is that this digital UGC transferred from online to BO_logooff-line action on election day. Pretty neat, right?

In essence, UGC may be one of the more important elements of determining if a campaign is successful. And that’s what I thought about while playing volleyball.

PS: Yes. I’m making social media connections while playing volleyball. Deal.

PPS: This was not a sponsored post.

Images via Gauntlet and  Planspark’s Photostream

By meganmcq | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Traditional vs. Social Media Marketing Campaigns: Round 1

July 31, 2009 – 9:41 am

Note: This will probably turn into on post in a multi-series. I believe the conversation I was having with this individual will most likely be ongoing. However, he did approve this first post.

I had an intriguing conversation the other day with an acquaintance. We were discussing traditional marketing and branding campaigns in relation to those that utilize social media. He claimed that the traditional marketing campaigns (in particular: branding through corporate storytelling) were more effective for companies that seek to foster engaging relationships with their constituencies.

I happened to disagree with him.

I think his statement was putting a blanket on social media campaigns. First off, I don’t think that a social media campaign should be *the only* element of a marketing strategy, it’s a tactic that may be employed to enhance pre-existing strategies.

Second, I believe that social media allows for the creation of unique, personalized messages to a company’s constituencies. For example, Comcast has created a brilliant form of proactive customer service strategy through the tactic of Twitter. This strategy enhances their preexisting corporate story as defined in the Comcast Credo.

Third, he did say that there used to be extreme thought and strategy development before implementing a corporate story. I didn’t disagree with him. But I did find it a bit disconcerting that he thought social media campaigns weren’t highly strategized. If anything, they are the reverse.

Before beginning a social media marketing campaign, it’s important that companies do a considerable amount of listening and monitoring to ensure that any message will reverberate among their community. Understanding their network and generating authentic relationships with their customers on an individualized basis is the underlying principle.

Here are some of the most basic lessons of social media use, many that are misunderstood by a variety of social media practitioners:

1. Lead with Relationships: If a company wants to utilize these social media tools, they must first lead their efforts through building successful, valuable relationships with influencers in their field. Every SM tool has its own value and using SM shouldn’t detract from interpersonal relationships, only adds to ability to connect with people.

2. Authenticity is Imperative: Being transparent in interactions one has with their constituencies is absolutely key. For example, if you’re blogging about one of your clients, it’s imperative to disclose that they are a client, to ensure that the reader is not being tainted with what could be potentially biased information. Lead your SM efforts with the utmost truth.

3. 2 Ears, 1 Mouth Principle: It all starts and ends with listening. Understanding the needs of your constituencies will only help you level and reach them on the most personalized basis possible. Recognizing that you need your constituencies more than they need you means that companies have to spend twice as much time listening to their constituencies, ensuring that the content they deliver to their constituencies is effective the first time it is distributed.

Update 08.13: I wanted to include a link to a pertinent post written by Josh Bernoff from Groundswell on this topic.

By Megan McQ | Posted in social media | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Google: *Thee* Social Network

July 31, 2009 – 12:59 am

weird_shoe First let me say that this shoe will now represent all of the times I’m writing about a subject that I’m confused about. That is because this shoe literally has a Gameboy in it. It also has a Pokemon in it. I think that’s all of the explanation you need in order for me to begin this next post.

So here’s the deal.Whenever I find a social media topic interesting, I like to conduct a fair amount of research on it before I begin a post so that I sound like I know what I’m talking about.  A few weeks ago, I noticed how many blog posts I had been reading about Google. Thus, I decided that it was time for me to understand more about Google’s capabilities.

Here’s the reason. I’m a Google child at heart. I’ve been on Gmail and Gchat since the time when you needed an invite to join (aka ancient Mesopotamia times).  I’ve noticed that there are so many more capabilities of Google that I probably don’t use but should. I mean, Google is a translator, a search engine, a navigator, an operating system, an Internet browser, a television, etc.

Google. When I joined. We communicated with hieroglyphics. No foolin'.

Google. When I joined. We communicated with hieroglyphics. No foolin'.

Ultimately, the reason why I wanted to begin this blog post was because Google is a social network. It’s the all-in-one. The creme-de-la-creme of social networking.

It’s like an iPhone commercial for applications, except for Google: Need a translator? There’s a Google for that. Need an email? There’s a Google for that…I’m already sick of the commercials and they don’t even exist (yet).

Point being is, Google is a social network, so I wanted to demystify it for my clients on my company blog.  And, I’ve been working on this blog post for awhile now. The problem is that Google is so large, every time I try to understand it all, it becomes more overwhelming. Luckly I’ve found a few great resources to help me out.

However, I’ve decided to narrow my post to the forthcoming Google Wave. I hope that I can secure an invite when it’s first released in September.

Image via For Ladies by Ladies

By meganmcq | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments (0)

IMC: A Juggling Act?

July 29, 2009 – 11:21 pm

juggling

The other day I met with Lou, President of ValueStar, a customer ratings and reviews service from confirmed customers. (Disclosure: personal acquaintance).

The directory service provides companies (such as Company XYZ) the opportunity to have Company XYZ’s previous customers rate their experience on ValueStar’s Web site. This service varies from other social network rating systems, because it ensures that actual customers of Company XYZ are rating the company. Of course, it’s up to Company XYZ to complete quality work to obtain good reviews, and not all of the reviews on the site are positive.

Lou and I were discussing social media and it was enlightening to discuss the marketing element of a directory service, due to the variety of constituencies such service like ValueStar has to reach.

On the one hand, ValueStar has to draw customers to their web site and ask them to review a company with whom they have had an interaction, and use the companies listed on the Web site. On the other, the company has to obtain companies seeking the marketing opportunity ValueStar has to offer.

The problem arises where Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategy is concerned: How does one company diversify their message to such different constituencies? It would seem an IMC campaign that unifies messages across platforms would leave something to be desired for each constituency ValueStar is trying to reach. Juggling the communication needs of either constituency would be dangerous.

Because I’m an advocate of using the same communication messages across platforms, here’s my take on the situation:

Everyone is a customer of some sort. At some given time, we’ve all been the purchaser in a transaction. In my opinion, then, I think that ValueStar should focus its marketing efforts to the customers of the “Company XYZ’s” on the Web site. Utilizing a SM strategy that fosters genuine human interaction, ValueStar could cultivate relationships with this constituency and encourage them to become reviewers and users of other companies listed on the site. (Insert the 80/20 rule here). This communication strategy would inevitably include company owners and marketers who will see the value in the site, and want to become certified and listed on the directory.

A social media campaign would then be able to identify the business owners among the primary communication target. A specific, tailored message could be constructed for these new constituencies. Due to the highly-specific nature of these messages, they should resonate with the constituencies–eliminating the need for message repetition. After all, that’s the whole purpose of social media: building meaningful relationships with potential customers, and reach those customers with valuable messages.

But that’s my take, anyway. I’m curious to hear your input on this type of communication campaign.

photo via Mark Pummell

By Megan McQ | Posted in IMC, social media | Tagged , | Comments (1)

This Week in Writing

July 26, 2009 – 6:26 pm

I’m currently blogging in several locations. As such, I’m planning on beginning a new series on Sundays on this blog to let you know where I’ve been posting in the previous week.

Community Marketing Blog

Semantic Web: An Intro

Shoe Girls

Fractures, Feet and Crocks, Oh my!

Bloggers Block

Major League Baseball Tryouts

You know what really grinds my gears? Twitter Followers.

Musings

If this arm were a GPS, it would be *my* GPS. It’s just that broken.

By Megan McQ | Posted in Blog | Tagged | Comments (0)