Consumers are creators too

... this was one of the conclusions of the 2007 New Media Academic Summit hosted by Edelman and PRWeek. Much of the discussion revolved around engaging consumers through online communities, social networks, virtual worlds and co-creating content – shifting from intrusion model to an invitation model of marketing.
Here are the key recommendations of the summit for engaging consumers through social networks. I believe these can be applied to online environment in general:
1. “Let go” and invite users to help shape the brand
2. Grant consumers control over how and when the interact with the brand
3. Deliver content that is relevant, interesting and entertaining. Consumers do not

differentiate between marketing and entertainment
4. Do not interact only to push your product or build your brand
5. Avoid intrusion. Consumers must decide if they want to interact with the brand
6. Be transparent. Admit weakness. Be honest.
Consumers are creative individuals, they want to express themselves, and be engaged. As one of the participants of the summit noted - most successful campaigns in the recent years have included consumers. He pointed to Dove as an example of successful online marketing. So, I decided to take a look at what they’re doing..
Dove recently launched an online channel which is meant to create a unified worldwide experience for their customers, enable the building of an online community and provide a personalized experience for each individual visitor. Visitors are encouraged to participate in ongoing discussion on real beauty, which reinforces their general marketing efforts.
One of the most interesting features of the channel are the Reality Diaries – four blogs written by ordinary teenage girls, covering their everyday experiences which are meant to engage young audience.
Dove’s well known “Evolution” video is also used to encourage people to participate in the debate around the beauty stereotypes. This video was posted on YouTube by fans and viewed over 8 million times. It triggered both online and offline conversations. It also triggered response in shape of parody videos such as “Slob evolution” and “Bush evolution”, which could be considered a downside; however, it is a way in which consumers interact with the brand.

All those efforts serve as a way to build the brand’s relationship with the customers which entails letting go of control and allowing customers to be equal in that relationship. Sometimes the results are opposing views and negative comments, but this is a tool of improving the brand and making it a perfect match to customers’ needs.
Consumers are creators too...

Calculating ROI of corporate blogging

One way of marketing a consultancy and attracting new clients is by developing new tools and services which help them develop utilize the new media to their advantage.
One example I find interesting is a framework for measuring Return of Investment of corporate blogging, developed by Forrester Research Inc., technology and marketing research company. This tool should allow their clients to measure four major benefits of corporate blogging which they have established through informal research. The entire report explaining the main principles and the research on which they base them is available only to their clients. However, this chart provides a rough summary:







There are a few questions which pop up after looking at this chart. Let’s take savings on customer insight, for example. Can blog comments be equated to focus group research? You cannot be sure that people behind the comments are representative of your target market. The ways of interacting are different. Instead of just guiding the discussion, the author of the blog usually participates. Not to mention that people who comment can have rather different views from those who just read the blog, or do not read it at all.
When it comes to increased sales efficiency, decrease in the cost of sale could be attributed to the corporate blog if a link is established between reading the blog and the decision to purchase. Otherwise, it could be a mere coincidence.
Looking at advertising value of blog traffic and blog-driven press coverage presents the same doubts as the Advertising Value Equivalent in general (it doesn’t tell us anything about changes in attitudes, knowledge or behaviour, for example)
As for the word of mouth benefit, the same value (cost of hiring a buzz agent) is used regardless of whether the number of people commenting on the blog is 4 or 5, or 200.
These are just a few doubts about this framework as an appropriate for measuring ROI. My guess is, most clients won’t be asking most of these questions, so it probably works quite well for Forrester in terms of getting new clients through the door.

Battlefield Facebook

According to a legend, there was a small fortress back in 16th century, attacked by the Ottoman Empire. After a long siege, food run out and the people in the fortress were hungry and exhausted. The commanding officer started to consider surrendering to the enemy. There was only one small rooster left to eat, not enough to feed them all. But then, an old and wise woman suggested to the commanding officer to fire the rooster out of a cannon to give the enemy the impression that they had plenty of food left. And it worked – the enemy retreated. It was a proper PR spin, good old fashioned propaganda.
Now, imagine the people in the fortress had Facebook... I bet you the siege would end differently!
“I’m hungry!”
“Looking at that rooster right now, reaching for the knife!”
“Not much to do but wait for surrender”
Last weak Siggi wrote about the problems Israeli army is facing in relation to Facebook. British Ministry of Defence has similar worries. Their soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq aren’t exactly happy campers and they often use social networking sites to channel their frustrations and complaints. So, guys at MoD developed the Defence Online Engagement Strategy which describes how these threats are going to be tackled. Words like dismissal and even court martial are mentioned. The document also describes how they intend to use social media as a PR weapon.
The document states: “...our own people are our most effective advocates in promoting our activities, and they can be our most damaging critics."
The same goes for all organizations. For MoD controlling the online activity of soldiers is a difficult task, but at least they have the court martial, unlike other types of organizations.

Croatia: Mediterranean as it once was. Tourism promotion as it once was.

When planning to go on a trip to a foreign country or looking for the next holiday destination, most of us go to YouTube for more information. What you find there will most certainly influence the decision you make in the end.
Last year, Tourism New Zealand, a commercial tourist company in New Zealand invested $320 000 for tourism promotion on YouTube as a part of a broader campaign. This included 24 hour paid video space on YouTube homepage showing their new commercial “100% Pure New Zealand”.
Apart from that, they’ve established New Zealand branded YouTube channel – the world’s first dedicated to a single country. The channel was updated regularly with new content such as mini-documentaries.

Within first 48 hours they recorded around 500 000 views of their TV ad. Not bad. This ad is the first video that shows up when you search for New Zealand on YouTube.
In words of Tourism NZ CEO, George Hickton, YouTube is a great example of how a small country can use technology to its advantage.

Like New Zealand, my homeland Croatia is a small country with tourism accounting for around 1/3 of GDP. So, tourism promotion should be one of the top priorities.
When you put “Croatia” into YouTube search engine, one of the first results you get is a video showing rapper 50 Cent sniffing coke prior to his concert in Croatia. Not exactly something you want potential visitors to see.
To get to the promotion video of the Croatian National Tourist Board you’d have to go through five pages of content, and it was uploaded by an anonymous user. So, it is safe to say the tourist board isn't using YouTube at all.
As for the quality of the videos, it is hard for me to be impartial, so feel free to comment on that.
According to New York Times, when you actually visit Croatia "You will cry when you see it. Bring tissues. You will need them."
According to me, when you watch these videos you will fall asleep. Make some coffee. You will need it.
Croatia, the Mediterranean as it once was - part 1


Croatia, the Mediterranean as it once was - par 2