Social Media: A Self-Reflexive Blog Post

   There is no denying that the emergence of social media has had a profound impact on society. It has effectively taken us to the point of living parallel lives: one life exists in the realm of the real and tangible, while the other exists in the world of technology. The farther this phenomenon takes us, the more we see these two sides of ourselves drifting apart. It becomes less about meeting up face to face to chat over a cup of coffee and more about chatting in the sidebar on Facebook.    While social media is an extremely powerful tool when used correctly, the simple fact that it is becoming so prevalent in our culture presents a significant problem for marketers. As Edward Boches wrote in his article “The World Has Changed: Time to Change with It” for Communication Arts:

“Right now being on Twitter or Facebook is still relatively new for advertisers. Marketing through a conversation remains novel. So simply engaging and listening is enough to grab a customer’s attention. But that won’t last. In another year, every company will post on Twitter, collect fans on Facebook, and broadcast on its YouTube channel. The cacophony of conversation will grow deafening and the proliferation of communities will be overwhelming.”

   

   I think Boche shares an important insight about social media. Presently, social media is the newest, hottest thing in advertising. But now, as one of my former teachers explained, even his smallest clients are asking him how he can “get them in The Facebook” or how they can become active on “The Twitter.” This shows that even people that have very little understanding of these mediums are catching wind of the importance and prevalence of social media. Soon, absolutely every business will be using these tools to try to develop stronger relationships with their customers. Once our culture become over-saturated with pleas from marketers via social media, it will be time for social media to evolve. 

   However, what makes social media so unique is that it provides the ultimate catalyst for expressing opinions. Within the social media sphere, every single person has an audience and their words have the power to influence the actions of others. This is precisely why social media can also be a frightening thing for marketers who go to great lengths to diligently monitor a brand’s messaging. Social media places these companies in a whole new arena where absolutely anything goes. The natural instinct of marketers might be to silence anyone expressing negative opinions about their brand, but with social media, ironically, this can actually hinder a brand’s success more than had they simply left it alone. In social media, you must let the people have their voice. Much to the chagrin of marketers, suddenly the people are controlling the message. 

   This very issue was the cause of a major blunder on the part of the generally inoffensive brand Chapstick. This article on AdWeek tells of how Chapstick posted an odd, sexualized image of a woman who is meant to be searching for her lost Chapstick behind her couch. Outraged by the image, a blogger attempted to express her objection to the image on their Facebook page and Chapstick proceeded to delete her comments. All the while, Chapstick is pushing its “Be Heard at Facebook.com,” which, as a result of the debacle, revealed itself to be somewhat of a farce. The whole thing snowballed out of control and ended with a textbook “we never meant to offend anyone apology” from Chapstick. 

   This just goes to show that people demand that social media be a space in which they can speak freely about whatever they like, whether in a negative or positive light. It is far more important that marketers respect this ultimate freedom than try to defend themselves sheepishly against the odd slanderous comment. 

Taking It To The Streets

Guerrilla marketing is easy to get excited about. It’s large-scale, surprising and subversive. Guerrilla marketing is constantly keeping you guessing. When it’s done well, the results are undeniable. You can expect to generate a lot of buzz which equals valuable word-of-mouth and bigger initiatives even garner attention from the media. Guerrilla marketing is advertising that people want to talk about.
   In my opinion, the best examples of guerrilla marketing are those that use traditional spaces in an unexpected way. This is the best way to get people’s attention. Once it has the public's attention, guerrilla marketing only has a small window of opportunity within which it needs to get the point across. Therefore the message cannot be too complicated. It needs to cut through the clutter of everyday life and deliver the driving idea behind the campaign.    
   In my life, I find it hard to believe that I cannot recall many examples of guerrilla marketing that I have personally witnessed. It’s not that I have lived in Ottawa my whole life and Ottawa, being a fairly conservative government town, is not the most likely place for large-scale, think-outside-the-box advertising (perhaps that's precisely the reason why this market is ripe for some innovative guerrilla?). I have lived for a period of time in all four of Canada’s major cities but for some reason, I still can't recall many examples of guerrilla marketing that I have witnessed first-hand. However, my mind keeps drifting back to a campaign that I saw when I was living in Montreal. There was a truck driving around downtown promoting a fitness club of some sort. The entire back of the truck was made of glass and inside, it contained a staged beach scene with real models sporting their "bikini-bodies." It was certainly eye-catching and very different from the type of advertising that you usually see in major Canadian cities.
   
   Nevertheless, here are some examples of guerrilla marketing that I think were nicely executed:

For this Halloween-themed campaign, American grocer Meijer had a van drive through the streets of Chicago, projecting a moving image of the headless horseman onto the walls of buildings. Upon spotting the projection, people were urged to text to a specified number, which entered them into a draw for a $1000 prize. They were also given a promo code that they could enter on Meijer’s website to receive a $10 coupon off of their next $75 purchase. This is a great example of guerrilla marketing done well. It is unexpected and it infiltrates the public space in an exciting and engaging way. No doubt this had Chicagoans talking. Additionally, the coupon gave people an incentive to make a purchase at Meijer and it also succeeded in driving traffic to their website. Nicely integrated and well executed.

   

   This is a video of a publicity stunt held to promote a new movie set to be released next month called Chronicle. Quite appropriately, the movie follows the story of three high school students who discover that they have the power of flight. As seen in the video, the guerrilla marketing ploy features kite-like contraptions shaped like people flying above New York City. This idea is extremely ambitious and unexpected. It’s the kind of stunt that makes passersby do a double-take. It certainly succeeded in generating a lot of word-of-mouth and it also spawned this viral video. As well, the idea was perfectly on-point given the story line of the movie it’s promoting. 

And finally, a great example of guerrilla marketing from Vancouver that I hadn’t seen but wish I had: 

This example of guerrilla marketing gets the point across immediately. It’s in-your-face and very hard to ignore. The message that it carries is real and quite scathing. Once it grasps your attention, which it’s sure to do, it drives you to visit the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s website. I can also see how this idea could be translated to fit statues in cities all over the world. 

Tools For Success

   When trying to appeal to the modern consumer, it is no longer sufficient to bombard him or her with advertising messages. The modern consumer is enlightened and engaged. Rather than sit idly and receive advertising messages, people want to interact with their favourite brands. Herein lies invaluable opportunities for brands to strengthen their relationships and form lasting bonds with consumers.
    One of the most heated debates surrounding branded utilities is whether or not they should exist in the form of toys or tools. In an article featured in Advertising Age, Tom Martin argues that tools, unlike toys, have staying power. With toys, people are likely to try them a handful of times and then lose interest. Tools, on the other hand, if executed properly, offer the user continuous and long-term benefits. Tom Martin states:
“A tool isn't trendy. A tool doesn't get tossed aside because I get bored. Because I don't buy the tool, I buy the solution the tool delivers. And that is the power of tool apps. You can build apps that virtually solve a consumer challenge while politely linking your client's brand to that solution. In fact, built correctly, you can actually charge people to buy a tool app.”
   To support his point, Martin cites the Kraft iFood Assistant app, which is undoubtedly a prime example of a branded utility done well. In many cases, branded utilities are free, but there is a fee associated with using the iFood Assistant. For 99 cents, the user has access to countless recipes and cooking tips that aim to make food preparation quick and easy. The user can browse based on ingredients and preparation time, and unsurprisingly most of the recipes are contingent on the use of Kraft products. This app has proven to be a skilled, targeted way to promote Kraft products and build brand loyalty. 

   Another example of a company using branded utilities to its full advantage is the LCBO. As previously mentioned in class, the LCBO has an app that you can download onto your phone that informs you of product availability in store as well as information and tasting notes about specific wines. Additionally, on their website, they offer all sorts of entertaining information and advice. The most useful utility that I have consulted more than once is the Party Calculator. The Party Calculator allows you to input the number of guests you will be entertaining and it will generate the precise amount of wine, spirits and/or beer that you should purchase to accommodate your party guests. It is a useful tool that solves a conundrum faced by many people who enjoy entertaining with the ultimate goal of promoting LCBO products.
    Finally, in trying to find some examples of branded utilities that emerged locally, I came across an article that describes how the Canadian Museum of Civilization and Canadian War Museum now offer free apps that you can download onto your phone and use on your next trip to the museum. The apps offer the user “standard audio tours, short quizzes on the exhibits, as well as general information like hours and location.” This struck me as an innovative way to enhance users' experience at the museum. While this kind of technologically advanced brand utility requires significant financial backing and is simply not in the cards for many local brands, I would love to see more examples of brand utilities emerging locally. 

The Future of Consumer Segmentation

It appears the in our modern, techno-centric society, the same old methods of consumer segmentation simply aren’t cutting it. Due to the ever increasing number of technological innovations that drive our lives, the ways that individuals interact with businesses are constantly changing. In this we see the inherent flaws of archaic segmentation based on simple demographic information and the new, evolving ways that we can better target the modern consumer.
   The most prominent flaw in traditional market segmentation is that in our everyday lives, we do not assume just one, clearly defined role, but rather we assume many different roles depending on the different situations that we find ourselves in. For example, from 9 to 5, Jane Smith may be playing a role of a responsible, conservative professional, who believes in X, but after hours, when Ms. Smith is at the lounge for happy hour, she takes on an entirely different persona and is now a carefree, zealous socialite who believes in Y. Simply put, traditional marketing segmentation is too black & white and does not take into consideration the fact that people are multi-faceted.   
   This, among others, is a powerful argument for consumer self-segmentation. Digital technologies are proving to be powerful tools for enabling self-segmentation. With social media, e-mail and internet-based loyalty programs, consumers are evermore willing to develop relationships with companies through interacting with them via digital platforms and sharing their personal information and preferences. These tools for self-segmentation allow the consumer to customize the type of information that companies to share with them, so instead of a company sending the consumer an e-mail and hoping it will somehow hit home with that consumer, the consumer will indicate exactly what type of e-mail he or she wants to receive. From a marketer’s perspective, this makes great sense; rather than wasting their precious resources trying to glean information to form consumer segments, why not allow the people to do this for themselves? The consumers will be receiving information that is fine-tuned to their specific need and interests. It’s a win/win situation. 
   In the future, I think it is a fair assumption to say that there will also be a further push towards targeting individuals specifically, rather than mass market segments. Once again, new innovative technologies are allowing marketers to do just that. In an interview on CBC’s Spark, Todd Pataky (a researcher in biomechanics) discusses how new developments are being made that will allow computers to identify specific individuals simply based on the way that they walk. Oddly enough, in the interview, they didn’t discuss at length the opportunities that this presents to marketers. Pataky elaborated on how his technology would be applied to a walkway and based on the unique way that you distribute your weight how you exert pressure onto the walkway’s surface, the technology would be able to determine who you are. And according to the interview, at this point, the technology is 99.6% accurate. Now say for example that this technology was applied to a sidewalk or the entrance to a mall – it could identify exactly who you are and based on information stored in its system, it would be able to present you with highly targeted advertising messaging, perhaps steering you towards a store directly across the street. 

   These kinds of fast-paced technological innovations are both exciting and alarming. In many ways, our evolving techno-centric society brings us further apart from each other and closer to corporations. An advertiser's ability to track our every movement calls into question issues of privacy and personal security. In a digital climate that is constantly evolving, it will be interesting to see how far it takes us. 

Time For...Tims?

   I'm not a Tim Hortons brand loyalist. I definitely enjoy their food and drinks given their relatively low price point, but Tim Hortons is more of a thing of convenience for me. If it's there, I will go.
That's why I was surprised by how much I felt personally affected when they recently decided to go ahead and change their slogan. All of the sudden, at the end of their commercials, viewers are faced with an obnoxious "Time For Tims." "Time For Tims"? Really? I don't know, I just don't know.
When it first struck me that I was so off-put by this new slogan, I tried to think of their old slogan. A slew of random jingles came to mind but upon second thought, these were all the jingles of other fast-food companies that I had just assigned some random, seemingly-fitting Tim Hortonsesque lyrics to.
   So I did a little digging. Alongside a long list of truly trivial trivia on the Tim Hortons website, I found my answer:

   Of course! "Always Fresh." I mean it's certainly boring but it gets the point across. Come to think of it, the "Always Fresh" slogan is plastered on all of their packaging and promotional materials. But it definitely never jumped out at me like the "Time For Tims" slogan remodel. So back to the original point of this post: why does "Time For Tims" irk me so much? Because it's exclusionary. It's fair to say that only a certain percentage of people actually refer to Tim Hortons as "Tims." I'm sure you have gathered at this point that I am not part of that small percentage. And, judging from my everyday interactions with my peers, I would say that the majority of my age group never refers to Tim Hortons as Tims. I think the only people I ever really hear referring to it as Tims are my middle-aged co-workers at my blue collar job. Sure, these individuals might actually comprise the core of the Tim Hortons target audience, but is it really a good strategy to alienate everyone else?
   I personally don't know Tim Hortons as Tims. They are essentially changing my whole idea of what Tim Hortons is. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Seems like a risky move on "Tims'" part.

Constructing Curiosity

   This week I wanted to talk about something that I've always thought of as being a bit of an anomaly. For lack of a more official term, I will refer to it as the construction site peephole. 

   Peepholes are not necessary for the advancement of construction projects. They are simply there to satisfy the public's curiosity. Peepholes stand out in my mind because it seems as though very little in our society is done without a fixed and obvious drive behind it (usually that drive is monetary gain). But with construction site peepholes, there is very little at play here other than to give people a look at what's on the other side of the fence. Often what you come to see isn't even very impressive. Usually it's just some machines digging holes or lifting things and burly construction workers milling about. But the simple fact of the matter is that on street level, people do not like to walk alongside a fence within clear earshot of the sounds of industry and not have an idea of what is being built. On the whole, we are preoccupied with productivity and advancement. People like to be in the know.

   Now, this led me to think about how construction site peepholes could be used to develop some very creative, off-the-wall (no pun intended) advertising. I find it surprising how so few companies, whether it be the construction company itself or the company responsible for what's being built, take advantage of this valuable advertising opportunity. 

   I did a quick search online to find some examples of peephole advertising that have been done in the past. I was expecting to see some really neat things and to be honest, it was difficult to find anything of substance. 

   So many advertisers slave over the simple task of grasping their audience’s attention. In the case of peepholes, they already have the people’s attention – why not give them something to look at? 

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

I revel in the magnificence of fine-tuned advertising copy as much as the next ad-junkie. However, there is a prevailing and undeniable trend of advertising that incorporates little, if any, copy. The central visual may be supported by a single tag line but nothing more than that. Any supplemental information is all construed by the viewer from the subtext of the image.
Here are some impressive examples pulled from the Communication Arts 2011 Advertising Annual issue:

BandSports: Family Portrait (follow link for more ads from the campaign at Ads Of The World)

Land Rover: Go Beyond

3M: Cushion Wrap