Revolver

A viral victory?

That’s the idea anyway. Coca-Cola is set to launch the UK version of its successful Happiness Machine viral, hoping to replicate their success in the US.

The gist of it is a vending machine giving out an assortment of items to surprised students in a university campus. Along the same lines, the UK version will see the addition of UK-specific items such as strawberries and cream or the board game Monopoly.

Quite a big deal really as the US version is now Coca-Cola’s most successful viral campaign and achieved over 2.5m views on YouTube.

From this, the drinks giant is obviously hopeful of repeating the same level of attention in the UK but it still remains to be seen of the actual added value of using virals in the first place. Can you really link it back to sales or should it be viewed as more an investment in building positive feelings towards the brand and spreading the message? In Coca-Cola’s case “happiness to all.” Cough.

For them, they can toss up the value of this investment in comparison to say, TV ads, and consider how many people viewed it to give them a cost per minute of engagement, which can then compare to other activities.

In this way, virals can be of use to companies and can be further supported by blogger outreach and traditional PR, not just digital PR, whilst viewers can be encouraged to add comments on the video and share through social media channels.

All talk-nae trousers. Substance Matters.

It sure does. In fact, a recent survey found that 60% of global journalists believe that their content has actually improved with the rise of digital media. This can be attributed to a number of factors but 48% surveyed explained that their publication offered journalist authored blogs on their site, along with 40% using Twitter channels to disseminate content.

So the journo’s have got it right. You’ve got to put things out there for the taking. By “there” I mean the online environment, from social media sites to platforms and forums. And by “things” I mean well constructed, beneficial information that will engage and entice readers and followers to interact with your brand offering.

There is apsolutely no point in congratulating yourself over regular digital content updates if they don’t actually attract and speak to the people that matter. Understand where and what they would be interested in reading and that will send you down the right path.

Who’s in the money on Facebook?

With Facebook users totalling a whopping 500 million users recently its little wonder that thousands of companies are now vying for a little slice of the Facebook ecommerce pie. But just who is cashing in?

One of the ideas adopted by a particular brand marketer uses Facebook to create buzz for its clients, which range from solo bloggers to megabrands like Coca-Cola. The aim is to win “fans” who, with one click, opt into further interaction with the advertiser.

Wildfire, who launched in summer 2008 and who won a grant from the Facebook Fund, has another little trick to hand by building marketing campaigns that include contests, coupons, quizzes and virtual gifts. The ultimate achievement for them is to get a campaign going viral, spreading brand recognition like, well, wildfire, says co-founder Victoria Ransom.

Companies can really benefit from viral channels but perhaps not all of them have the expertise to do this well. The key is not to be rash, take time to consider a strategic digital pr plan.

Engagement, connection, whatever you want to call it, get to know your customers to build and enhance your following by extending conversations into something meaningful.

Are you a follower?

There are many theories that circulate in industry circle over consumer behaviour but of particular interest is one of recent which suggests that people are more likely to buy brands their friends like. And from this, is tracking their social interactions the most effective way to target them accurately?

Let’s face it, if you need it it’s probably out there. The web has become so profoundly social and consumers share increasing amounts of information across various websites, that you can forgive marketers salivating at the power that’s possible.

Now, it would seem, a new sort of US companies have emerged who feel they have finally found a method of tapping into this wealth of data through a process of licensing data from third parties, largely social media sites, and tracing consumers’ social connections in order to target ads towards those most powerfully connected to brand fans (as touched upon in the last blog update).

It’s pretty easy to work out what they can then do. Marketers have begun to let the data tell them who to target, as opposed to past methods of them telling the the data who to target. They have apparently proven that by understanding who’s purchasing and who’s a fan of the brand, people strongly connected to it socially are highly likely to share the same interests, to purchase those same products and have the same gender, income etc. It appears that the social connection could be a very powerful predictor indeed.

However, unlike current ad platforms offered on the likes of Facebook, where companies target individuals based on their profile, social targeting focuses on targeting people based on their friends, not their interests.

Nevertheless, there is a certain amount of skepticism that surrounds this. There are those who feel that 99.9% of what we browse on the web does not fit into any commercial or behavioural category, meaning attempts to scale that inevitably include a load of irrelevant information.

Irrespective of either of these standpoints, what nobody can deny is the fact that online engagement can be extremely beneficial and enlightening for companies who wish to develop or maintain a strong brand culture. Don’t shy away from an online presence, understand and engage with it by developing a well-thought out digital pr strategy for the future.

A move in the right direction.

No longer focusing on the more traditional forms of customer communication, Ben & Jerry’s will become one of the first of many big brands to abandon regular email marketing and instead opt for a focus on social media.

Setting a good example, the ice-cream brand fully listened to the feedback it received from customers suggesting the majority of whom would prefer to be contacted on social media sites rather than through emailed monthly newsletters.

Whilst email marketing has long been established as one of the most successful digital marketing channels and remains a standard marketing outlet for most brands, Ben & Jerry’s have made a conscious decision to move away from the established practice.

This savvy move means that with only one email update to customers each year, Facebook and Twitter profiles will make up the main channels used to engaged with customers on a constant basis, both in-house and through its digital PR team.

A strategic move to focus on building relationships with customers, this approach is seen as being best achieved through social media. Developing friendships and relationships is key for them and thus far feedback has been largely positive. As it stands, Ben & Jerry’s UK has a Facebook fan base of over 76,000. So it would seem some are interested in the digital move.

Nevertheless, there are still those who feel that whilst there are persuasive arguments for focusing on social platforms but perhaps mainly for young people who do not use email in the same way as older people do. And so, to cut off a channel that is still used by large numbers seems impulsive and might need further development.

When things get rough..

There seems to be a growing trend of brand savvy customers becoming more wary than ever of insincere corporate apologies issued by emotionless committees, perhaps most recently publicised in the BP crisis, and thanks to social media they’re more able than ever to make your first strike count against you.

Yet, if you simply apply a little humility, making a mistake can actually lead to a better long-term relationship with your customers. 

Of course technical hi-cups occur and many on a daily basis, whether it be a minor hold-up or a colossal setback. And whilst Murphy’s law was a major difficulty in the past for PR teams, industry insiders reveal that a new wave of acceptance may be washing over the public and producing an entirely new way of building a good relationship with your customers , by failing them.

That’s not to say treat them mean keep them keen, far from it. Whilst customers in recent times do have a more evolved sensibility, and thanks to greater general knowledge regarding the nature of branding, slightly more realistic expectations, they nevertheless will not put up with bad service. Ruin their day through arrogance and lies and they will hunt you down on their nearest social network and and bury you under a ton of tweets.

But to own-up and admit you’re at fault is a different story, and one which could be your salvation. People aren’t stupid so don’t treat them that way. If handled in the correct way your mistakes can actually strengthen the relationship you have with your customers.

It does require something which most take for granted, but maybe not so much business: Honesty. Transparency is it, and with it customers will put up with mistakes providing you share with them some key pieces of information.

• You’re doing your best to fix this – constantly explain the progress through email, website, blog, and announce on Twitter. Just don’t wait until it has been resolved.
• Let them know you’ve learned your lesson - explain what went wrong, and what steps have been taken to safeguard against a repeat performance.

So there we have it. To slip up is human and if you respond in a candid manner and work hard to resolve the problem then customers will excuse this blunder, and may even feel more positively about you afterwards.

Of course mistakes happen but to prove you are an open and honest comapny and listen to customer complaints goes a long way. Just make sure you fully appreciate the influential standing of social media spaces through strategic digital pr and how they can be utilised to work in favour of your company when the ‘things’ hit the fan.

How Refreshing.

Coca-Cola has launched a new social media policy, or “social media principles” as they like to call them. Three pages of twenty “down and dirty” principles broken down into three categories.

The first has five principles of what Coca-Cola as a company commit to doing in the social media space; transparency, disclosure, safeguarding their consumers information etc.

The second category surrounds the guidelines and principles for official media spokespeople, and those who wish to be an official media spokeperson have to go through a social media certification class, this time covering then principles, again including such issues as transparency, disclosure and so on.

The third category contains a further five principles for those who are not official spokespeople but general associates of the company, which amount to over 1million. This is when these individuals are not acting on behalf of the company but come across a Facebook post or a Tweet or something in the social media space that either concerns or excites them, and how they should best interact with these conversations.

They say it’s about empowering their ambassadors and associates to be able to communicate but at the same time not giving them a bit too much rope that something goes tragically wrong.

I guess you could see this as rather encouraging to see such a major multinational conglomorate open its eyes and give power to the people but something inside is twinging at me to think otherwise.

Part of me questions whether they are merely playing the system and turning ’social media’ into just another form of ‘corporate media’. The best line may be where it says “always remember who we are (a marketing company)”, not a soft drinks company.  

Perhaps just my cynical side. Maybe I should be truly congratulating Coca-Cola to take this step when other major companies continue to ban Facebook and Twitter in the office. A large corporate organisation integrating social media into their existing principles of communication. Social media is certainly not a new concept or seperate ’thing’ its an evolution of digitally connected communication that all companies at some point will need to address.

It could be said that many will learn by the early adopters and their success or failures but they will gain ground on competitors by taking the lead! Nevertheless it’s never too late to get your foot on the ladder and do this by developing a strategic digital pr.

Be transparent and authentic. Be human.

The concept of social media is not new. By nature we social in the way we interact in our daily relationships with friends, family and colleagues. And generally, in those relationships we do not lie or deceive because nine times out of ten you’ll get caught out. And by lying it has a tendency to rub people up the wrong way.

In this way, theis life lesson should surely apply to social media. For those companies who choose to ignore this simple concept of ‘transparency’ therefore run the risk and jeopardise the name of the company or brand. Sure they will go viral but not with the message they were intending.

Social media is an opportunity for companies to represent themselves as real people and build real relationships with their potential customers. It’s an environment of engagement and conversation - a place where brands no longer just talk at their customers, but actually treat them wth respect.

And this won’t be free. Just like any other part of the marketing mix, social media is an investment and to make this successful businesses need a concrete strategy – a strategy that proposes where, when, and how you will spark dialogue with your audience. Like money, these strategies don’t grow on trees; they are the result of in-depth research and and creative brainstorming, both of which takes time.

Creating a strategy that fosters vubrant, organic discussions is a labour of love, foresight and planning. However, implementing that strategy is also an ongoing commitment of time and effort and if you want this done professionally why not consider getting in the pro’s to talk through how they can support your digital pr effectively.

Ok so Wimbledon fever has fizzled and the local tennis courts resume their status as tarmac spaces that seem to always be carpeted in broken glass.

But what can be taken from this year’s instalment of the country’s seasonal sporting darling than just the memory of Nadal pulling out his wedgey?

Well that would be the performance of its website. In light of some industry chat, it does seem it’s not exactly there to impress or excite. Despite the Wimbledon mobile site’s mobile URL being straightforward, it leaves you wondering why there’s no shortcode for those wanting to visit the site after being alerted to its presence on the Wimbledon website.

And whilst the sites features make it easy to use and navigate around, there’s something missing if you are looking for that little bit extra. The content is pretty basic with live scores, schedules and results but nothing too engaging, and nothing unique holding clever mobile user’s attention.

 As well as this, it seems strange that a live sporting event’s website would include an abundance of player information but no video. There is no excuse for this. Embarassingly, unlike The Guardian’s or the BBC’s Wimbledon offerings, there is a complete lack of live text commentary, resulting in an dull and tedious experience.

I guess if you’re looking for the simple things then it hits the spot but that’s as far as it goes. Not sure that a load of text is good enough to cut it though. Some explain this by a misguided placement of budgets not being balanced and all the pennies have gone on smartphone app development, leaving browser versions with a limited experience. This ain’t good enough. If you’re going to develop multi-platform applications, ensure you are maximising the experience for each one.

The goal or should I say match point (lame?) is making the end user happy and stimulated. Engagement is the whole point so why not make this the focus. Businesses often miss this but it should be the main focus in their digital pr strategies. After all, it’s the users that matter isn’t it?

Yet another digital convert.

Coca-Cola is launching a new form of digital presence for juice brand Capri Sun on teen virtual world Habbo.

The partnership between Coca-Cola’s Capri Sun and habbo is set to be cross-promotional including community activity within the virtual world, an ad sales deal worth over £250,000 and on-pack activity on 70m packs.

Capri Sun will have its own branded Capri Sun Summer Theme Park area and a fan  page on Habbo, as well as paid ads throughout the virtual world and editorial content.

In return, the on-pack activity will drive teens to habbo, with one in ten packs winning users special badges for their avatar.

The campaign will also include treasure hunts in which users can win additional virtual goods, along with competitions to win real prizes.

This campaign will stretch for four months and in this time the aim is to raise awareness of the Carpi sun brand among children in the run up to the new school year.

This is the first digital activity Coca Cola has run for the juice brand beyond a campaign site , realising that the company can no longer expect people to come to them but instead go to where people are and make sure they add value when doing so. Indeed, the first time they have used a social network instead of a more traditional approach.

This move is common of many brands of late who are beginning to adopt the view that they can no longer rest on their laurels but go to where their target audience lies through strategic digital pr.