Red Bricks Media’s News Blog

By Scott Tieman, Senior Marketing Strategist

Not long ago, seemingly every company rushed into the blogosphere with its home grown corporate blog. The thinking was the company could use this platform as a marketing megaphone to amplify the buzz around its latest products, events, and more. Companies soon realized that the excitement of hosting a blog soon died off and their blogs floundered, never to be touched again. At Red Bricks Media, we often encourage our clients to make the plunge, but not before a serious gut check. Many articles focus on the philosophy of blogging; we’re going to discuss the practicality and logistics of blog ownership, an oft overlooked topic.

Corporate blogs that fail are either conceived from the top down or bottom up, but not both at the same time. They need support from both ends to flourish.

Let’s examine top down first.

Corporate blogs can be excellent marketing tools when they’re aligned with the strategic marketing objectives of the company. Translation: what do I hope to accomplish with my corporate blog? Typically, the response is less than satisfying, something like “engender loyalty” or “proactively offset negative marketplace sentiment” or “inform our customers of new product releases or enhanced feature sets.” These are diffuse goals that are difficult to measure. How will you know if your campaign is succeeding without actionable measurement?

Next, companies need to make an important commitment to the employees who contribute to their corporate blogs. First, contributors shouldn’t feel like blogging is a side gig to be done when all other tasks are complete. On the contrary, you should write this activity into your employees’ job description. This will ensure that the contributors don’t feel like they need to always cut into their free time to write. Also, you should consider offering an attainable performance bonus for consistent, high quality contributions to the corporate blog. This will ensure a high level of contribution even during the times when the hours are demanding at the company.

Finally, a company should embrace the idea that their corporate bloggers are a precious, scarce resource. They will be the company champions and the company’s face to the rest of the world. As such, you should commit to not only promoting the corporate blog to increase audience size, but also recognition for the contributors. Making someone an anonymous contributor will most likely decrease that person’s sense of responsibility to the task.

Now let’s examine bottom up.

Corporate blogs require consistently active, passionate authors. When identifying employees to take on this new role, you should always start with hand-raisers. These are the employees most likely to embrace this new role as contributor. However, they shouldn’t stop there. We all know people that have great intentions when starting a new project, but quickly grow bored over the monotonous routine of completing the project. Corporate blogs have indefinite timelines, so it’s important to make this selection carefully. We typically recommend identifying multiple contributors for the same blog. That way, you can ensure that there will be some coverage when the initial excitement wanes and people get inevitably swamped with work.

Also, look for people that have something fresh to say. There are millions of blogs out there and probably more than you know that cover your own company. You should read some of them first and figure out what will differentiate what the company has to say from what has already been said. If the corporate blog is same old, same old, someone else will probably say it better than your company.

Finally, nothing saps the passion out of contributors more than muting their voice with unnecessary corporate blogging “guidelines.” Blogs are social media. The best blogs enable an authentic dialog between authors and their audience. Marketers LOVE control, but this is the wrong place for too much of it. Two thoughts come to mind. First, make sure to enable comments on blogs. Dialogs are inherently two-way communication. If you want a monologue, post another press release. Second, limit the number of bureaucratic filtering layers. Let the true voice of the author ring through. Anecdotally, I worked at Yahoo! two years ago. Before any article got posted to their corporate blog, two managers and the legal team needed to give their stamp of approval. The result was that all articles sounded the same, corporate, and boring. The author’s true voice had been stripped out. Don’t let this happen to you.

Corporate blogs fail for a host of reasons. Before starting a corporate blog, perform a serious gut check. If not, you’ll sign the death warrant on your own corporate blog before it’s ever launched.

This article is cross-posted from Scott’s blog.

By Bain Smith, Lead Copywriter

I’ve sequestered myself in the deepest recesses of the Red Bricks Media web laboratory this week, poring over mountains of data, reading exhaustive summaries of research from all over the world, and mixing beakers full of consumer behavior patterns, all in hopes of achieving that perfect alchemy known as Predictions for online marketing in 2008.

So without further ado, let’s get down to brass tacks.

1)    Social networking will continue its meteoric rise and touch more people in more places in 2008.

While “socialnetworkitis”—the fatigue from keeping up with all the social websites we belong to—is a real concern, any rumors of social networking’s demise are greatly exaggerated, and I’ll tell you why.

There are approximately two things that make the web interesting: content and people, especially people you know. So it stands to reason that social networks, whether Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn, or another as yet undiscovered network, will continue to attract zillions of eyeballs and provide unparalleled levels of “stickiness” to their users.

The difference in 2008? You create the content these social networks profit from, so expect to see new websites that pay users for their participation. I’m not saying it’s going to work, but if Web 1.0 meant paying to use something, and Web 2.0 meant you were free to use something, Web 3.0 may just mean you get paid to use something.

2)    StumbleUpon will become a household name in 2008, as more people will stop googlin’ and start stumblin’.

StumbleUpon uses collaborative filtering, an automated process combining human opinions and machine learning of personal preference, to help you explore a rich, vast variety of content you would never see otherwise, and rate it with a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down via an easily downloadable toolbar.

It leads to unexpected discoveries, and dare I say it: Fun. There are myriad features that make it even stickier, but StumbleUpon has single-handedly rekindled my love of the web.

3)    Twitter, while not for everyone, will continue to influence the influencers and make waves in 2008.

I mean it: Twitter is not for everyone. But for those who crave direct, brain-to-keypad-to-audience interaction with people they like, respect, look up to, or are just plain curious about, Twitter can be an experiential revelation, unearthing information, news and opinions literally as they are happening. Companies and others are catching on to this new info-delivery platform, and people are making a living from it.

4)    Advertising on video sharing sites and mobile devices will increase, but consumer noses will turn toward the sky in response. If you’re still in doubt, read this prescient manifesto for more on why.

Today’s consumers are not a TV generation. Video advertising is interruption marketing, and consumers don’t play that game anymore (TiVo anyone?). The same goes for mobile ads, except it’s an even more personal invasion of privacy and space.

Smart marketers, responding to the challenge, will come up with new, innovative ways to engage and “go steady” with the audience beyond sticking ads in their face. It’s already happening. While motion picture product placement has been going on forever, video and video game product placement is increasing, and mobile apps (widgets) that engage and help the audience will become more of the norm on mobile phones.

5)    A backlash occurs against obsessive, exhaustive communication, connectedness, and the glut of “gadgetry.”

It’s only a matter of time before people stop IM’ing the person two feet to their left, rest those stiff, fatigued Blackberry thumbs, remove the Bluetooths and iPod earbuds, and engage in old-fashioned, face-to-face discourse with other human beings.

Don’t forget that ultimately there is a reason they call it word of mouth marketing, because the real marketing gets going when face-to-face conversation is flowing.

These are my modest marketing-related predictions for 2008. Now back to the lab.

by Lauren Quan, Associate Marketing Manager

Guests who attended our recent NYC Open House party saw our first mobile marketing campaign in action. We set up a simple text messaging trivia game to test our guests’ knowledge of our New York-based clients for the chance to win an iPhone.

To start the game, guests text messaged the keyword “Applecado” to a predetermined short code. The contest, a series of five questions, was conducted entirely via automated text message. After receiving the first question, guests could text message their answers. They continued on in the game only if they got the previous question right.
Red Bricks Media’s mobile vendor tracked campaign data in real-time, keeping detailed statistics of phone numbers, dates, and times that messages were sent and received.

Red Bricks Media’s CEO Ed Kim predicts mobile marketing will become increasingly popular over the next few years. “Mobile marketing is a trend to watch in 2008,” he says. “A challenge for marketers has always been reaching consumers while they are on the go, and with mobile marketing you can bridge that gap.”

Although mobile is a new service offering for Red Bricks Media, mobile marketing strategy is similar to that of a current service line – email. “People may not realize that mobile marketing and email marketing are actually very similar,” explains Ed. “Both channels can be used to acquire new customers and market to in-house lists. More than half of our senior management team came from a background in email, and our experience will undoubtedly help shape our mobile strategy. ”

In addition to trivia-based campaigns, Red Bricks Media can set up more complicated campaigns including polls, voice and image messaging, and ringtone giveaways. Contact sales@redbricksmedia.com today and learn how you can use mobile to captivate your audience while they are on the go.

by Kathy Guis, Associate Copywriter

Ever get sick of marketing and yearn for something more glamorous? Neither do we. Just the same, people in the know at Red Bricks Media are alive with excitement about the recent launch of the CW Network and Academy of Art University’s Free to Be Famous contest, for which we designed a microsite, logo and posters.

Our beguiling microsite will serve as the contest’s hub. On the site, short clips from hit CW network shows Smallville, Veronica Mars and Everybody Hates Chris are available for viewing or downloading. Aspiring Bay Area actors are invited to upload video auditions of themselves re-enacting the scene of their choice.Finalists will be selected by a combination of online votes from the general public and expert opinion from contest judges (including Academy of Art University faculty). These three lucky finalists will be provided with teams of Academy of Art University students and faculty to coach them on acting, makeup and wardrobe for their final-round video audition. The experts will score the finalists’tapes, and the lucky winner will appear in a walk-on role on a CW network program, filmed on set in CW’s studios.

Entries will be available for viewing online starting June 8. First-round voting will begin July 1, finalists will be selected on August 11, and the winners will be announced on September 12.

We were also very excited to see our microsite featured in a TV commercial promoting the contest on CW—tune in to the CW network during prime time to catch it. Keep your eye out for our posters, too. They will be popping up all over the city!If you see account manager Jenny Chung, designer Alan Peng, search strategist Johnny Jiang or copywriter Peter Vaughan give them pats on the back for their hard work, creativity and good hair. In related news, Alan Peng recently won first place in the new media category for web/interactive design in Academy of Art University’s Spring Show. We’re glad he works here.

by Peter Vaughan, Associate Copywriter

Depending on who you talk to, the “Boston Bomb Scare” was either one of the biggest debacles in marketing history or an act of unpredictable genius.

How did a guerilla marketing effort escalate into a full-on bomb scare?

It all started with a campaign idea meant to promote the Cartoon Network’s show called Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens were paid by a guerilla marketing agency to place models of an Aqua Teen Hunger Force character around the city of Boston as a promotion for the show’s upcoming movie. The problem? The characters’ blinking lights and suspicious appearance caused authorities to mistake them for bombs. Soon, panicked news reports began to filter across the nation.

Major media outlets such as CNN and Fox News leaped all over the story using words like “hoax” and “devices” to insinuate that Berdovsky and Stevens planted the character in a premeditated effort to make him look like a bomb. Locally, the city of Boston cited a cost of $500,000 in false-alarm fees.

Turner Broadcasting, the company that helped create the campaign, focused on damage control. They issued a public apology and volunteered to pay one million dollars to the Boston Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security respectively. In the end, Turner Broadcasting paid an estimated two million dollars on top of whatever they originally paid for the campaign, not to mention reputation damage that could affect consumer trust.

Despite the aforementioned consequences, an argument in favor of the outcome of the “Boston Bomb Scare” can easily be supported by the reaction of the target audience; the Aqua Teen Hunger Force cult is already a group of counter-cultural, anti-authority individuals. In other words, the incident could be called one of the most impressive buzz events in history of web 2.0.

Almost immediately after the scare, bloggers began incessant rants and raves, sparking endless commentary threads, mostly poking fun at the stupidity and over-reaction of the Boston Police Department, exclaiming “1/31/07 – Never Forget!” Bloggers also used the popular Digg website to “digg” (or promote) numerous articles, propelling Aqua Teen Hunger Force into the coveted Top 10, with one article getting over 5,000 “support” diggs.

On YouTube, videos showcasing live news footage of the police blowing up one of the “devices,” the night-time video of Berdovsky and Stevens planting the models, and the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie trailer racked up over 100,000 views each. A “24” spin-off, complete with Bauer battling the character, also scored over 100,000 views. An extensive Wikipedia article entitled “2007 Boston Mooninite Scare” appeared almost overnight, and five pages of group listings on Facebook that specifically mention “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and “Bomb” in the group title were formed.

Those who preach against the unruly nature of guerilla marketing campaigns certainly have their reasons; the outcome of the “Mooninite Bomb Scare,” whether positive or negative, was completely unpredictable. Most corporations are not keen on continuing a relationship with any agency that has no control over consumer reaction. At the same time, it’s just as hard to condemn an agency for this tactic as it is to praise them for it – how can you control human nature? In several other cities the campaign went completely unnoticed, generating little or no reaction.

Furthermore, there is the tendency to equate buzz and guerilla campaigns with the idea of a low-cost marketing solution. In this instance, Turner Broadcasting certainly shelled out the type of money that one would place towards more traditional, safer forms of marketing.

Aside from sparking dialogue around “any press is good press”, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force incident revealed a lot of information about the current direction of online marketing. Social networks, blogs and user-generated media provide effective means to measure the success of buzz campaigns in a way that was never before possible. Direct consumer reaction is available in hard numbers if you know where to find it (e.g. views, searches, postings, diggs, traffic, groups, etc.). By allowing anyone and everyone to directly express their opinions, web 2.0 the equivalent of allowing marketers to see and measure water cooler conversation.

That being said, corporations must realize that consumers are ready for more interaction with their favorite brands – they want to actively participate, they want to be social, they want to be famous. This most definitely makes any attempt to influence the masses very tricky, if not dangerous. However, this does not mean that corporations should stay away from buzz, but rather, approach it with intelligence, creativity and a thicker skin. Providing a place for your “fans” to engage with your product and participate at a level that goes beyond, ahem, simply paying for a service, builds greater awareness, loyalty and excitement.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on buzz marketing, the “Boston Bomb Scare” and, well, anything that interests you. Feel free to email me at pvaughan [at] redbricksmedia.com.

by Elliott Easterling, VP of Marketing and Sales

Recently, I spoke at the Digital Hollywood conference regarding mobile search, an exciting emerging media channel. With mobile search, consumers can get personalized information anytime, anywhere. In no particular order, here are my top 6 trends in mobile search:

1) GPS/Location-Based Results

This type of search technology will allow you to search for a specific listing type (e.g. Pizza Restaurant) and then will return results based on your location. The many uses of information retrieval based on location will be a great service to people on the go. This technology could also add a whole new dimension to social relationships; for example, Google recently bought a company called Dodgeball.com that allows users to find friends or even dates based on their GPS locations.

2) Cell Cameras Acting as Barcode Scanners
In Japan, services like Mytago.com allow users to photograph special Mytago barcodes applied to products in-store using mobile phone cameras. Users can then retrieve information and promotions on that product at a later time at the Mytago website. Imagine the power of being able to easily scan any product in a store. You’ll no longer have to ask salespeople for product information, and you can get coupons and sales sent directly to you.

3) Search Integration with Mapping Applications
Search results mixed with mapping applications can really benefit people on the go. You’ll be able to find a restaurant or store and get directions based on your current location - all by using your phone.

4) Search and Real-Time Store Pricing
This involves taking search shopping engines such at Froogle or Shopping.com and then bringing them into a brick-and-mortar retail environment. Imagine walking into a store, finding a product you like and then querying a mobile application to get the lowest price online. This will empower consumers to negotiate down store prices – retailers beware, there may be dangerous waters ahead!

5) Voice Activated Search
Lets face it, when you are on the road, fidgeting with small cell phone buttons is unpleasant. In the future voice navigation will power many web browsers and search queries. What many people do not realize is that these services already exist. 1-800-FREE-411, for instance, offers free voice activated directory assistance. This service is the beginning of voice activated information retrieval.

6) SMS-Based Search
With SMS based search, you send a specific text message code to a search engine and are given back a result. These messages are sent to short code addresses such as “googl” for Google and “4info” for services like 4info.net. SMS search vendors provide an array of SMS information retrieval services. The table below shows the more powerful service features for 4info.

TYPE OF SEARCH: SAMPLE TEXT QUERY
———————————————–
Sports Scores: packers, nfl
Stock Quotes: ibm
WiFi Hotspots: wifi 94025
Weather: w 10001
Yellow Pages: sushi seattle
News: n nyc
Flight Status: swa 197
Movie Show Times: m 94025
Price Lookup: price xbox 360

What happens after you enter your query? How does the service work? As an example, if you send an SMS to 44636 (the numerical equivalent of 4info) with the message “ibm,” you will get a reply like:

International Business Machines Corporation
(IBM)
Last:97.20 +1.54(1.61%)
Hi:97.23
Lo:96.27
V:4,571,600

//Delayed Quote Data

Try sending one yourself and you will see the power of SMS based search. You should note that some cell providers have been blocking these types of services, so make sure that your provider allows them.

So those are my top 6 most exciting trends. I look forward to revisiting these in the future to see how these technologies fare.