In Defense of Broccoli
Published on: March 29, 2012While listening to NPR’s “All Things Considered” yesterday, I heard an interview with Ron Midyett, CEO of Apio Inc., a grower/shipper of broccoli. He was being interviewed because broccoli had been mentioned several times in the Supreme Court hearings about health care that took place this week. And apparently getting your product mentioned in the Supreme court is kind of a big deal:
MELISSA BLOCK, NPR HOST: Ron, were you paying attention to the Supreme Court arguments this week and hearing your vegetable coming up multiple times?
RON MIDYETT: To be honest with you, I became aware of the broccoli example this morning when some colleagues in the industry started sending me e-mails and wanting to know what I’m doing with my marketing program to get broccoli mentioned in the Supreme Court discussions.
The most interesting part to me was that Midyett jumped at the opportunity to actually do some marketing for his product:
BLOCK: Why do you think it’s broccoli that - out of all the vegetables - gets picked on, gets no respect. Why broccoli?
MIDYETT: Perhaps people have had bad experiences with broccoli and how their mother or grandmother prepared it when they were growing up and it’s - and it was a memorable experience. With that said though, I can only invite people to revisit it and give it a try, because it truly is - it’s a superfood.
This quick-thinking CEO took advantage of a rare chance to shine a positive light on his product with absolutely no real cost attached. To me, the moral of the story is: be nimble. As a professional marketer, or someone in charge of a brand, you need to take every opportunity to talk about what you’re selling. If you’re not thinking the way Ron Midyett was thinking yesterday, change the way you think. If you can create an opportunity to increase awareness or sales (or for someone to talk about your company/brand/product like I am right now), you should do it. And if you can combine that with your paid media, and your social strategy, you’ll likely find good results at the end of the year.
Now, make sure you eat your broccoli tonight (after all, it is a superfood). And in the coming weeks, watch out for a fresh advertising campaign for broccoli.
You can find audio and a transcript of the segment here.
When Social Media Spam Hurts Your Brand
Published on: March 13, 2012I spend a lot of time on social media — Facebook, Twitter, Google+, even Pinterest — and as a result, I see a lot of people get tricked into clicking spam links. Last weekend, I saw a very savvy friend repost a spam link on Facebook about Jennifer Lopez’s “wardrobe malfunction” on the Grammys. Then, I watched as Philadelphia agency Square 2 Marketing had their Twitter account taken over. That hacked account subsequently sent both public tweets and private Direct Messages with spam links to most or all of its followers. At the time, I tweeted a simple question: “What does Twitter spam mean for your brand? Your customers?”
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Square 2 got caught in a worst-case scenario: their account was hacked sometime on Saturday, when no one was in the office, and when they were unable to change the password and secure the account. I personally received one Direct Message and saw five tweets with spam links before Monday morning. Their social media team jumped into action once they got into the office and did a good job responding to followers that pointed out the issue, but it took two more days and intervention by Twitter to restore control. So, can social media spam hurt your business?
[Full disclosure: I once applied for the position of Social Media Manager at Square 2 Marketing, so it would have been my issue to deal with if I had been hired.]
The answer is fairly complex, and perhaps not clear at all. Looking at follower count only, @Square2 lost just five or seven followers during that weekend (about 1%), but by the time I was writing this post, they had won all of those back, and added at least 10 more. Square 2 Marketing certainly has digital expertise, but they seem to focus more on traditional website design and optimization than social media or influence marketing, so it’s probably not an issue for their business development team. I would also add that since spam is such a big part of social media (everyone knows someone who’s had their account hacked), there is probably some “forgive and forget” built into situations like this. However, if social media were a larger or more important part of their business operations — say customer service or technical response or a mechanism for promotion — it could present a HUGE issue, both in terms of public relations and the bottom line.
Brands spend countless hours, days, weeks, and even months trying to build up their social media presence and approach this emerging tool with grace and tenacity. When an account gets hacked, or you spread spam links, you hurt your brand or personal image and reduce the time you’ve put in to an examination of the mistake. It may not be totally clear what the consequences are, but it’s certainly clear that there are consequences. So please, change your password, be vigilant, and don’t ever click links with the promise of revealing the latest wardrobe malfunction.
Radio As A Metonym?
Published on: February 29, 2012From Wikipedia: Metonymy is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance, “Hollywood” is used as a metonym for US cinema, because of the fame and cultural identity of Hollywood as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars.
Using that definition, radio is being used as a metonym for any transmission of audio from a central source to an individual or a group. What started as AM radio and became AM/FM radio has now morphed into satellite radio, Internet radio, streaming radio, custom radio, listener-driven radio, on-demand radio, and a plethora of other audio services calling themselves radio. So, what is radio?
- Radio, as it has traditionally been known, is a one to many broadcast.
- Radio, as it has traditionally been known, was free to consumers and advertiser supported.
- Radio, as it has traditionally been known, acted to build a community of like-minded people.
- Radio, as it has traditionally been known, is curated by an expert such as a program director or news director filters content on behalf of the community.
Now, if you asked 100 people working for a traditional AM/FM radio station, you’d likely get 100 more definitions of radio, and even more reasons that some of the new products and services are not radio at all. Most of these new services do conform to at least three of the four definitions, and a select few meet all four criteria. But here’s the problem with defining every “audio delivery platform” as radio, based on what radio really is. Traditional AM/FM radio works much differently than any other media or medium ever invented. And while the content itself is portable to other formats and distribution methods, the inherent and intangible parts of radio are not. The unique combination of the four (or more) things that make AM/FM radio what it is need to be put together in a very specific way for it to work.
I love using metaphors to explain digital media, and in this case, a pancake recipe seems appropriate. When you make pancakes from scratch, you can add all sorts of spices (cinnamon!) and accents (chocolate chips!) to make them fit your personal preferences. What you can’t do is change the ratio of flour, milk, eggs, and butter beyond a certain level without compromising your breakfast or ending up with something that no one would ever call a pancake. I’ve tried it, and I ended up having scrambled eggs instead.
Traditional AM/FM radio is very much relevant in today’s world of marketing and advertising. That world is changing rapidly, however, and we are each being pulled in more and more directions and being asked to spend our time paying attention to more and more things. It should be noted that online radio listening is currently a complement to broadcast radio, not a substitute. According to The Infinite Dial research reports from 2010 & 2011 (conducted by Arbitron and Edison Media Research), 89% of weekly online radio listeners also listen to AM/FM radio versus just 11% who do not. Still, AM/FM radio has its own internal challenges as well but none of these issues takes away from AM/FM radio’s essence or blesses those other services with the the inherent and intangible. Maybe we shouldn’t rush to make radio a metonym after all.
When Social and Traditional Media Clash
Published on: February 22, 2012I’m a huge fan of the CBS show The Big Bang Theory. Now in it’s fifth season, the writing is delightful and the cast is like none other on TV. It’s also about a core group of four nerds that love everything that has to do with science (so it hits home just a bit too). Naturally, my fanaticism for the show leads me to joyfully watch trailers for upcoming episodes as well as follow the various social media streams produced by the network. Those habits led to a bit of trouble this week. To start, watch the trailer:
The core premise in the trailer — “What’s the matter with Sheldon?” — is left unanswered at the end, creating a great reason for both casual and super fans to tune in on Thursday. I first saw the trailer on Monday night, and was drawn to this episode more than usual (which is, as a fanatic, a lot). Now, read the social media post I saw on Tuesday morning:
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The show’s Facebook page, which also happens to link to the very same trailer I saw on TV, essentially answers the core premise in the first sentence: “[Sheldon's] barber gets sick.” And therein lies the problem. Apparently, the folks producing the traditional promotional vehicles like the trailer are not the same team managing the social media streams. Now, it’s possible that social media fans were intentionally given more information, are being treated differently because they have self-identified as super fans, or that I’m simply over-reacting. But because I’m such a huge fan, I was actually disappointed to read the “spoiler” and have the answer to “What’s the matter with Sheldon?” revealed before Thursday.
Even though I actually worked for CBS at one time, I do not know exactly how promotion of The Big Bang Theory is organized. This post is not necessarily a criticism either. My point in sharing this observation is simply to provide a cautionary tale. If this strategy was intentional, and I’m simply over-reacting, then no harm, no foul. However, if this was an oversight, or if the teams are not communicating and the strategies are truly in conflict, then that becomes a major issue. As you set out to produce traditional and social media to promote a product or service for your business, make sure everyone involved is walking the same path. If your teams are not communicating, you might just disappoint a super fan.
Price Pressure In Advertising
Published on: February 17, 2012This post was also published on Sounding Board, a blog from The Radio Agency where I serve as a Marketing Consultant.
Over the last two weeks, there has been a lot of conversation in the advertising community about statements made by Proctor & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald and CFO Jon Moeller on the company’s quarterly earnings call. McDonald and Moeller announced they would lay off 1,600 employees, including some in the marketing department, and that they would rely on digital marketing to help contain media spending long-term. With a $10 billion annual advertising budget, the traditional media folks have been doing a lot of hand wringing while the teams leading the “hot” digital properties have been twitching in anticipation.
It’s not news that digital is becoming a larger and larger part of every brand’s advertising strategy. What made this call grab everyone’s attention was McDonald’s expectation that digital will allow P&G to moderate advertising costs because of the massive number of options (read: unlimited inventory) and free distribution (read: social and viral sharing). But that’s a long-term goal for the company and for at least the next 9 months, everyone is likely to remain happy: heavy spending on the 2012 U.S. elections will drive up the cost of broadcast TV, which in turn will push more clients to broadcast and network radio (thus driving up costs there), which will then push even more clients into more affordable digital vehicles. P&G even acknowledged spending on TV and radio will tick up this year as a result of the elections.
So, it’s a win-win-win, right? The answer is complicated. Certainly, 2012 will be a good year for major traditional media outlets operating TV and radio stations. As we move closer to November, rates will be driven up while inventory will become more scarce. After all, a TV or radio station has a limited number of minutes that they can sell every day. Price pressure is upward. But on the digital front, more websites come online every day, and more people access existing sites. It’s a trend that has been speeding up and is not likely to change anytime soon. This means inventory is virtually unlimited - and still growing - even while demand is increasing. Price pressure is downward.
If you happen to run a digital property, you need to be wary. While you may get a pop in revenue this year, and even next year or the one after that, eventually the trend is going to catch up to you and your CPMs are going to drop. Average CPMs across the industry have already started falling over the last half-decade. You need to be wary of commoditizing your inventory and make sure you sell based on your unique value or the niche audience you are able to reach. Not every website is right for every client. Conversely, if you’re managing a brand or work for an agency representing a brand, you have an opportunity to be highly selective and still easily hit your ROI goals. The power to negotiate is squarely in the hands of the buyer.
Follow me on Twitter @Kondylas for research and reports about buying and selling digital media.
