So this post is a sort of an extension to my last post about “Flipping” your Blog.
From what I can tell, video,as with web development and content management systems, has hit a consumer marketing pace that is going to change the way we (you and I and the whole marketing communications world) will communicate in the VERY near future. While writing and posting blogs and articles will be of continued value for content and SEO, I think the video enterprise of social media is going to make short work of the roadblocks facing the “non-writers” out there.
Also think of the affect video communications has on:
Instant gratification
Personal relationships
Eye contact when speaking
Professional credibility
Brand engagement
On the other hand, production, encoding, storage space and other factors will still come into play when using video over the written word.
So, what do we do? Continue to write post after post about our key subject or flip a camera on and tag the heck out of a few videos for virtually the same results.
What say you?
So on that point, I’d like to offer today’s Get-Going Groove of the Day below. I look forward to hearing (or seeing more) from you all!
Keep Cooking (great, visual engagement)!
The Brand Chef
Andrew B. Clark
Well, I found one. In an article I read a few months ago, Kohi Vinh brought to the foreground the alarmingly BAD illustration and exposure artists are getting online. While I could have written a post agreeing with his post… I wanted to do one better.
Below is a narrative of the post – Kohi’s article driven down to its core – an automated, web-static dramatization of what’s wrong with online illustration (or the lack thereof).
Video… Feed readers may need to click through to the post to view the video properly.
I know a lot of my readers are artists, or used to be and now find themselves in “The Digital Wonderland.” What say you? Is this digital age making it harder for Illustrators and artists of all kinds to make a living at their chosen trade, or are we just a bunch of crybabies?
Differentiation. It’s one of the keys to good branding. Branding and marketing professionals have been beating that drum since the dawn of communication. But being “Different” in simple separation from the competition isn’t enough. Differentiation needs to add value. Otherwise what good does it do for the consumer?
Take for instance the recent “change” MillerCoors Brewing has made to their packaging. We’ve all seen the “Vortex Bottles” and the new big-mouth aluminum bottles. Sure that’s different, but the product is the same, watered down, tasteless swill. There hasn’t been any value proposition or improvement in the actual product. So unless the marketers and MillerCoors Brewing think their consumers are completely ignorant, belly-scratching mouth-breathers, there won’t be a return on the repackaging investment. Even msnMoney has called this effort for more brand awareness a “gimmick.”
“and MillerCoors fight it out. They are boosting their advertising budgets and even trying gimmicks like a “Vortex Bottle” that aerates the beer as it pours.”
Does their target audience really care about aeration of their beer? I could put even money that their target audience doesn’t even aerate their lawns!
Gimmicks don’t work.
To give you a little insight on how the beer market has changed, take a look at another article from msnMoney. In brief, it says that while beer sales over the past year have plummeted by 10% the “Craft Beer” market (think Sam Adams) has seen an uptick of 2.2%.
Why?
Beers like those that Sam Adams brews offer taste, quality and variety focused on the micro-brew-lovers palate not a feeble innovation to the “dump-it-down-your-throat faster” need… Their marketing sticks to their quality brewing process and attention to the needs of their discerning customers. No gimmicks… just great brand marketing.
It comes down to adding a value proposition to their differentiation. Sure, MillerCoors brews wheat beer and has special “flavors” like Miller Chill, but it hasn’t improved overall sales or brand awareness. In this writer’s opinion, it’s just watered down (further) their brand and left a bad taste in consumers mouths (pun intended).
So, Pull up a bar stool and join the conversation. What can commodity beers like the MillerCoors products and the Anheuser-Busch line do to compete with the Sam Adams and “Craft Beer” makers? We’d love to hear what you have to say. Maybe MillerCoors is listening in?
What say you?
Until next time…
Keep Cooking (great value branding)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
This morning, one of my Des Moines social media cohorts wrote a post about the recent onslaught of social media companies, consultants and “Superstars” that have recently dotted our fine city. Troy Rutter hasn’t hidden his distaste for the trend of social media consultants popping up out of nowhere (here,here, and here). But in this morning’s post, he created a correlation to other markets and specifically to the hotbed of social media action that is Boston – calling names like Chris Brogan, CC Chapman andChris Penn as the benchmark to which all social media “Superstars” would be measured.
While Troy opens his post with a slight “hat tip” to the growth of Des Moines’ social media industry, he quickly jumps into a bit of a “back-handed” compliment:
“What is it about Des Moines that is a breeding ground for so-called Social Media Experts? Is it the corn? Can the city support three social media firms, and countless wannabes who think they have all the answers?
“The Des Moines social media scene is concerned more with being local leaders than global. They fight with/over each other to be the definitive “expert” while simultaneously patting each other on the back to make themselves feel good.”
And in comparison to the Bostonians:
“Maybe that’s the biggest difference. The Bostonians give back to the social media community, not really looking for their own accolades. While Des Moines experts seem bent on making a name for themselves any way they can.”
Okay, Troy, let’s talk this out objectively…
While I can’t comment on the national scene, personally, I’ve felt nothing but camaraderie and compassion from the other local social media citizens. As a matter of fact, in March of 2006, I wrote my first blog post and was immediately welcomed by Drew McLellan – a national Superstar in his own right. I’d say that was pretty encouraging.
I’m also thrilled with the growth of social media in the Des Moines area. And while I agree that Des Moines is “Saturated” with “Social Media Stars,”to compare Des Moines’ social media community to Boston’s is a bit shortsighted.
The “Stars” in Boston certainly have “street cred.”They’ve built the foundation that others all over the country (and the world) are hoping to stand on. And while people like Penn and Brogan can pull crowds and garner attention better than E.F. Hutton, setting the “Social Media Star” standard by their reputations alone is unfair to the efforts being made here in Des Moines.
A simple marketing lesson I learned years ago states (and I’m paraphrasing):
“The first to the market will define and own that market until, 1) They are knocked out of the top position by a competitor
or (and this is the bigger point), 2) Another “segment” of the market is designed for the competitors to shine.”
Brogan and the rest of the Bostonians established the “Social Media Superstar” market. So, for now, it’s theirs as defined to own and defend. And it’s entirely what they’ve built their personal and business brands on.
I say, “Genius!”
What I see Des Moines social media practitioners doing is taking a loose model of what our East Coast brethren designed and creating a niche segment within the social media marketplace that better fits our community and the Midwestern economy. We (the Midwest) don’t need superstars to swoop in and save the day. On certain levels, I think the conservative nature of our neighbors would reject that model, anyway. The business model Des Moines companies gravitate to do not tolerate “Ego,” whether it’s intentionally inflated self-worth or not. Companies like LavaRow, Catchfire and One Social Media are capitalizing on that fact and creating a new “Relational Social Media” niche to fill that need.
So, to your point, Des Moines DOES deserve recognition for the social media acumen it possesses and encourages. Definitely! Should the social media practitioners strive to be some kind of hero or super star to warrant that credibility? Hell no.
To appease your hunger for national recognition, we could cite the recent feature CNN did on regional social media and the noise being made here. Many of the people you point at in your post were linchpins in many aspects to those events.
It’s just a matter of time before this model of “Relational Social Media” to break through to a bigger, more national level. But for now these companies are providing astounding insight, customer service, education and pride for Des Moines, central Iowa and the Midwest as a whole!
With that, I ask plead with my readers. Let’s keep the conversation going.
Does Des Moines (and the Midwest in general)have the social media chutzpa that will bring us to a national and / or international light? Or do you think that we have too many “wanna-be” practitioners muddying the waters?
Back to you…
Until next time,
Keep Cooking! (’cause social media is yummy for EVERYONE!)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
Sure, right now it’s 93 degrees (in my neighborhood) and Christmas is a whole 156 days away, but I can almost see all of the commercials now. Don’t they start airing some time in September?!? And shortly after, my kids start communicating with every sentence starting with, “I NEED…”
It’s as predictable as the tides. What do you do?
The Child’s Mind And The “Want vs. Need” Paradigm
About mid October, when the kids finally succumb to the hypnotizing din of “New and improved this…” or “Now with 3D and smell-o-vision that,”I stop making lists and start asking two simple questions.
“How many do you actually NEED?” and “Do you really NEED that… Really?”
“… or is it that you just ‘WANT’ it?”
That usually stops the munchkins mid-sentence like they’re hoping not to be caught for audibly farting. But what it really does is open the door to a more reasonable conversation centered on the “Want vs. Need” paradigm. (No, my kids don’t use the word “paradigm…” yet, but it works…)
The Nightmare Of The Perpetual Christmas And The Ever-Elusive Groovy Doohickey
In the marketing world, Christmas comes on almost a daily basis. Day after day, week-in and week-out, clients approach their marketing teams with stars in their eyes and dreams of some ever-elusive groovy doohickey that’s going to revolutionize the industry. And day after day, week-in and week-out, advertising agencies, marketing boutiques, freelancers and consultants alike accommodate them like Daddy Warbucks on Christmas morning. But should we really?
What would happen if the advertising agencies, marketing boutiques, freelancers and consultants asked one of two simple questions?
“How many do you actually NEED?”
Has the affect of the last 40 ad-hock attempts at knee-jerk marketing been successful? Have you taken the time to let a strategy take hold? Will another direct mailer or another sales spot on every radio station in the city really make it better? Doesn’t it eventually all add up to more noise?
OR (my favorite) “Do you really NEED that… Really?”
Too many companies are out there listening to “gurus” preaching on everything from social media and branding to voo-doo for solutions to their marketing woes. Maybe it’s not the next groovy doohickey that your marketing needs.
What would happen if we treated our customers like children? Would they listen? Would they walk away? Could you do it? Maybe some of you already have (I know some of you and it’s true).
Food for thought…
Keep Cooking (the bravest decisions for your customers – whether they like it or not.)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
