]]> http://www.sageisland.com/blog/2010/08/28/norco-management-lauches/feed/ 0 http://www.sageisland.com/blog/2010/08/06/results-production-post-launches/ http://www.sageisland.com/blog/2010/08/06/results-production-post-launches/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:09:59 +0000 Candace http://www.sageisland.com/blog/?p=1018 Today we launched the new Results Production and Post website.  The site is a redesign of the site we developed several years ago.  The new website was developed in DotNetNuke and will allow the client to keep it up to date with their latest work and clients.  The site features YouTube videos and audio clips of their past work and provides a way for potential customers to contact Results Production and Post.

Well, the Sage team, or should I say “Cow Crew”, couldn’t pass this opportunity up! Taking a moment to create our best last minute cow costumes, we attached spots, ears, noses and tails to ourselves and entered the CFA as proud as ever for lunch. The Wilmington herd of cows was all present, and Chic-fil-A did a fabulous job promoting this event. Complete with balloons, magicians, the CFA cow, spin the wheel coupons and much more, we at Sage Island feel this marketing tactic was a success and brought in a tremendous amount of foot traffic! Great job and thank you CFA! Always a pleasure to participate in the food, festivities and fun!

Twitter is a great way to reach out to your target audience for conversation, marketing, and customer service. But social media outlets require a big time investment, and with ROI still not certain, many businesses choose to invest their time elsewhere.

Here are some of the key points for business owners who want to use Twitter to their advantage but are short on time:

Determine a strategy.

Twitter allows users to follow information in real time. That means instant access to your customers to listen to what they’re saying about your brand, share information with them, and offer instant customer service. Decide which of these objectives you want to accomplish, and develop a strategy to achieve it.

Choose your audience.

Build a network of customers, competitors, strategic partners, experts, colleagues, and other people within your industry circle. Start following them to get their attention, and maintain constant conversation.

Choose your tone.

While traditional marketing is formal, Twitter allows you to converse with your network casually and personally. Don’t just focus on marketing and PR, and don’t automate your conversation. Automated direct messages and tweets make followers think you’re a robot. Social media works best when it involves people connecting with people. Talk to your customers, listen closely to what they’re saying, and keep it casual.

Decide who will represent your brand online.

Twitter and all social media is an online representation of your brand. Be careful when choosing who will represent your business and how. Whether it’s the CEO, an employee, or an in-house community manager, be sure they’re putting the right face on your company.

Start talking.

Initiate conversation about your brand, listen to what people are saying, and be proactive in responding to @ replies and direct messages. Offer information that customers and other people in your network will find interesting — not just marketing and PR messages. Don’t toot your own horn too much, and don’t bombard users with links or repetitive marketing messages. Just like any conversation, these common mistakes will make you boring or annoying to followers.

Twitter tools

Build your network:

Twitter Search (search.twitter.com) – Search for your brand name and key phrases associated with your industry to find users who are interested in you and your products.

We Follow (wefollow.com) – User powered Twitter directory helps you find users that may fit in your network.

Just Tweet It (justtweetit.com) – Another Twitter directory where you can find followers.

Mr. Tweet (mrtweet.net) – A Twitter networking client that helps you discover new people in your industry, find relevant followers, and track usage stats.

Use Twitter:

Tinyurl.com, bit.ly, is.gd and countless other URL shortening services shrink long URLs to Twitter-friendly sizes.

Monitor your conversation & brand:

TweetDeck (tweetdeck.com) – The Twitter client of choice for many busy users, this free program allows you to track your feed, specific searches, and replies in one window.

TweetScan (tweetscan.com) – Alerts you when users mention your brand and related keywords.

TweetBeep (tweetbeep.com) – Google alerts for Twitter. Set it up to tell you when people are talking about your brand or industry.

Twollow (twollow.com) – Auto-follow users who mention your brand or products to build your network.

Qwitter (useqwitter.com) – Notifies you of the last tweet you sent before losing followers. Great tool to find out what you could be doing to turn off followers.

Twitterless (twitterless.com) – Graphs your followers and tells you who stops following you.

Engage your users:

TwtQpon (twtqpon.com) – Create coupons for Twitter to give users incentive to follow you.

StrawPoll (strawpollnow.com) – Poll your followers to find out what they think about your brand and pertinent questions related to your industry.

TwitPic (twitpic.com) – Share photos of new products, office antics, and other cool stuff they may find interesting.

The commercial can be seen below and includes iconic American imagery and an honesty that they are hoping will resonate with all Americans.  It is the great American dream in a 1-minute commercial spot.  There is the element of defeat, the one-in-a-million odds for success, to illustrate how GM can no longer continue with their past business practices of many weak brands and an inferior cost structure.

The message of hope provides solutions on how GM plans to give rebirth to the American car. Clearly and concisely GM states how it will change for the future of their company.  By focusing on few stronger brands and models, increasing efficiency, striving for better fuel economy and developing new technology, GM hopes that they can re-emerge as a strong contender in the automobile industry.

The conclusion of the advertisement encourages a focus on success, reinvention and Chapter 1.  For GM, this is a great opportunity to streamline their business to reinstate themselves as a powerhouse in the American automobile industry.  While many Americans and news channels focus on Chapter 11, GM is focusing on Chapter 1, the beginning of a new era of innovation for General Motors.

Feel free to browse the new GM micro-site for their Reinvention of GM campaign to further explore how GM is connecting with their customers.  They are reaching out to answer customer questions and begin a conversation about the reinvention and recent court filing.  While we all hope the best for this American company, it will be interesting to follow how this positioning and conversation will affect American and world-wide consumers.

The implications for the Domino’s brand are catastrophic. Though it was an isolated incident in one store, it spread throughout the country through various social media channels. Domino’s franchises on the other side of the country will most likely feel the fallout of this incident. It’s a scary reminder of the power of viral marketing.

While the impact is unavoidable, Domino’s acted swiftly to respond to the incident on YouTube. Today Domino’s posted this personal response from the company’s president, Patrick Doyle.

What can we learn from Domino’s response?

Act fast.

Domino’s issued a press release immediately, but it was two full days before they responded to the video directly on YouTube. Two days is a lifetime when it comes to viral content. The faster you respond, the faster you can steer the conversation.

Viral content lasts forever — so should your response.

The most effective response will reach out directly to the viral audience that spread the damaging content. Today’s YouTube statement was much more effective than Tuesday’s press release, and it will continue to reach customers even as the press coverage dies down.

Viral content lasts forever, but a press release only lasts through one news cycle. To ensure that the video will continue to reach their customers affected by the damaging content, Domino’s wisely included the title from the original video in their response and added “Domino’s Responds.” When people search YouTube to find the video they’ve heard so much about, they’ll also find a direct response from the company. Like the damaging viral video, this response will last forever.

Don’t just apologize, take action.

Instead of playing the victim and placing all the blame on the employees, Doyle clearly outlines the actions Domino’s will take to protect their customers in the future. Not only does he assure customers that the specific store has been sterilized, but he assures them that Domino’s is working to prevent this from happening again. “We’re re-examining all of our hiring practices to make sure that people like this don’t make it into our stores,” he says.

Make the last word a good one.

The last minute of the Domino’s response is devoted to displaying the brand in a positive light. Your response is your opportunity to get the last word in. Don’t waste it rehashing the negative press. Use it to remind your customers why they should trust you.

Unfortunately, social media and user generated content have made it much harder for brands to shield themselves from this type of damage. That’s why it’s more important than ever that you know and understand how to use social media channels to promote your company positively and protect your brand from damaging viral content. Through smart use of social media, you can shift the conversation to correct the damage just as quickly as it was done.

In an effort to compete with advertising across a social platform, Downy is promoting a new way to stay connected with friends and family. Until May 31, those who enter a snapshot photo with a pledge caption are automatically entered to win the ultimate reunion trip. Downy, the fragrant fabric softener, wants you to share this pledge with the world and connect with family and friends in a whole new atmosphere. So check it out, submit your own Downy pledge and stay connected with family and friends in a whole new way.

Despite a sales slump of 20 percent, Mattel is investing in an extravagant marketing campaign in honor of Barbie’s milestone birthday. They’re hoping the multimedia campaign will increase sales by reaching out to 3 generations of consumers.

Though Barbie’s actual birthday was March 9, Mattel will promote the 50th anniversary campaign throughout the remainder of the year. Not only does Barbie the doll get a makeover with the 2009 Golden Anniversary Barbie, but the official website also has a new look and feel.

By partnering with other companies and brands, Mattel extends marketing beyond the basic media relations and aims to touch everyone from brick and mortar stores to online events and much more! Here’s a small sampling of some of the promotional campaigns seen in honor of our plastic symbol of pop culture:

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week

Barbie marketers tag teamed with Mercedes Benz for a Broadway Runway Show produced during the coveted fashion week. With a live broadcast of the show on Barbie.com, viewers witnessed a beautiful runway in which 50 designers showed off Barbie-inspired collections.

Limited Edition Barbie VW Beetle

In celebration of the big 5-0, Volkswagen of America created 13 hot pink Beetle convertibles. The limited edition car is fully equipped with rhinestones, paint that sparkles and a motorized vanity.

Facebook Page

The Barbie Facebook page shares Barbie’s secrets, favorite things, messages and a regularly updated status.

Malibu Dream House

On the eve of Barbie’s birthday celebration, interior decorators spruced up a 3,500-square-foot villa overlooking the Pacific Ocean. After 6 months of planning, this Dream House became a Real House that hosted Monday’s 50th birthday bash. One word to describe the dream house: PINK! Decorators thought of everything when decorating for the 11.5” doll. This fantasy land was complete with wall-to-wall pink carpeting, 50 pairs of pink heeled shoes lining the closet, an original Andy Warhol portrait of Barbie and much more!

Bloomingdale’s

Bloomingdale’s in New York is uniting with Mattel to promote the Barbie celebration. This retail partner dolled up the store to feature amazing window décor honoring Barbie, an in-store display of 120 historic Barbie dolls, and a 242-square-foot in-store Barbie boutique that highlights accessories, apparel, and dolls.

Jeopardy

Contestants were put to the test on Monday, March 9th as Jeopardy included a whole category dedicated to Barbie. Trivia questions such as Barbie’s history, favorite designer, and favorite shoes were presented on the show.

Barbie Candy Bar

Partnering with Dylan’s Candy Bar, the creation of a sassy and all girl candy line is scheduled to make an appearance in early April. This candy line will include fun chocolate assortments, such as a shoebox of “The Perfect Pair of Chocolate Heels.”

The homepage lands you on the Twitter search stream for Skittles. Anytime a Twitter user mentions the word “skittles” in an update, it will show up on the homepage.

The navigation is a simple widget that directs users to Skittles’ YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook pages. When you click on a specific product, you’re redirected to the Wikipedia entry for individual Skittles products.

The new site is essentially an aggregator of all Skittles’ social media channels. It’s a great idea, and it’s certainly paid off this morning. Everyone is talking about it, and the Twitter stream is full of commentary on the new site and great press. For now.

But what happens when the chatter dies down? I applaud Skittles’ willingness to open themselves up to consumers this way, and for right now it’s working, but what happens when the Skittles Twitter updates become more sporadic? Will the Twitter stream homepage remain relevant? What will happen to the site when the novelty wears off?

I guess we’ll find out. For now, I’m enjoying the experiment. An approach this extreme may not work in the long term, but Twitter has earned some invaluable publicity for their bold move and hopefully cleared the way for more brands to integrate social media into their websites.

Regardless of how well the strategy works long term, we can definitely learn something from them about cohesive branding across multiple social media channels. Each profile fits together as part of a whole to create an identity for Skittles on the Web, which is how all social media profiles for a brand should work. Skittles has just taken it one step further by linking them directly to their website.