A lot of people tease me because I’m “Always On.” If I’m not in the office, I can usually be found through any number of social media channels. Whether it’s my Twitter page, my check-ins on Foursquare or my Facebook page; it’s not very hard to find me – for good or bad.
This last week, though, I decided I’d take a vacation. You know, the “relaxing, kick-back-n-nap by the pool kind of week” that many of us need to recharge the branding battery and focus. Well, this is what I did…
I cleaned. Boy did I clean. My house looks like we just moved in.
I gardened. It finally stopped raining in central Iowa, so I pulled about 100 lbs of weeds and found that my garden still survived underneath it all…
I played with the kids. I have three great kids that are on Summer vacation, so after I made them help me weed and clean, we had some quality family time. Movies. Fireworks. Carnivals. Dinners out…
It really was a great week!
But I couldn’t stay away from social media, work and talking about branding. I tweeted and used social media to coordinate projects for work. I scheduled meetings. I went to business and sales improvement seminars… (relaxing?) My coworkers tease me, but maybe this will show them that I should get MORE vacation days. I seem to be pretty darn productive when I’m not sitting at my desk.
One of the activities I’m VERY proud of accomplishing this week was going on-air for the first time in 20 years with Michael Libbie and his Insight On Business webcast that airs daily at http://www.webcastliveone.com We talked branding, business, social media, banking, cause marketing and general current events. I had a blast!
Below is the stream. You may need to jump forward a minute-or-so to get through the set up, but it’s well worth the watch. Maybe I’ll do more of these in the future! (click here for the video in FaceBook and Feed readers)
So, today I decided to expound on the social media world’s fascination with BACON.
Yep, Bacon! It’s the American blogger’s food-porn aphrodisiac. If it came between naked pictures of Kaley Cuoco(Penny on “Big Bang Theory”) and bacon, I truly worry that the bacon would get more views. Maybe Kaley’s photos would have a lower bounce rate, but that’s a whole different blog (and innuendo)…
Anyway! I honestly can’t go a single day without seeing a tweet or a post or a photo(notice the bacon bra?) of something to do with bacon. It’s everywhere!
So, why bacon? Why? WHY!?!
1. Bacon Emotes True Passion - Starting out with the obvious, bacon is… FREAKIN’ bacon!
You can whisper “I have bacon” in a crowded room and it’s pretty certain that you get a glorious, harmonizing response of “yummmmmmm…” similar to those Tibetan Deep Throat Chants. (video)
that aside, the draw to bacon is so powerful, some retailers and hotels have been branded JUST by the bacon they serve! I’ve read of entire restaurant menus dedicated to bacon, but to have an endorsement like this,
“if Bacon had a God he would live at The Roger Smith Hotel!” – Chris Brogan
makes an impact for bacon’s case that knocks you off your feet.
2. Bacon Has Spanning Relevance - While I really don’t need to go into the origins of bacon, I would assume that it took some grunting relative of ours about 10 seconds to figure out the salting and curing of the fatty back parts of pigs turned a generally disgusting part of the animal into one of the most succulent slices of meat human kind would ever stumble upon. It can be fried, diced, baked, grilled and even made into ice cream. So how can bacon NOT be relevant to every social and economical demographic under the sun?
3. Bacon Is Ultimately Unique – It has a taste like no other meat product. It’s kind of a cross between glazed ham and beef jerky. The sheer individuality of bacon makes it the most utilitarian meat source on the planet. And just try to search for “Bacon Recipes.” You’ll be reading (and drooling) for days…
4. And Bacon Is Soooo Engaging – How can one food, one simple, solitary slice of meat become the biggest meme of the 21st century? How can bacon, a fat, salty slice of cholesterol become more consistently popular than Justin Bieber or Britney Spears put together?
Let’s just put it this way, have you ever been unhappy eating bacon?
UH OH… look what I just did…
Can you hear it? Sizzling like fat on a 400˚ griddle… my branding brain did it again.
Even when it comes to writing a silly post about the popularity of bacon, I pull in the TRUE Branding formula. It’s inevitable. When it comes to branding, like bacon, there has to be truth, relevance, uniqueness and engagement.
I haven’t asked pork producers but this could all be a big conspiracy to sell more pork product, but I’m sure they’re not complaining.
How would YOU like your brand to have the fan base bacon has? Imagine having your brand, your product, your name associated with everything personally rewarding and ultimately sinfully satisfying as bacon.
Try it.
Keep Cooking (until it’s crisp and satisfying.)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
And with a hat tip to my blogging buddy @AdMavericks(Josh Fleming) I give you another tribute to BACON!
Life spins around us pretty fast. It’s astounding that when we sit down to write, create, work, or whatever; the world comes to a screeching halt. Of course the distractions, the annoying emails, the tweets and post alerts seem to continue, but when creating really matters, you freeze.My last post talked about the need to conquer this writer’s block. If you don’t want to click back to read the whole post, here’s an excerpt:
It kills me every Wednesday night. While I’ve known all week that I have a personal deadline set to post every Thursday morning; I wait until Wednesday night (or later) to actually start writing. I take notes, jot ideas, scribble and doodle all week, but when it comes to Wednesday, I open TextEdit and just sit.
CRAP…
Suddenly, tonight, a voice in my head said “What the hell are you doing? Just start writing, you moron!” So I did. I wrote, “You’re going to die anyway.” and POW, the words started rolling.
So I challenged you to write the title of a future post for me – to kick-start some of the juices. And to my surprise, you stepped to the challenge (yay).
Now we – more to the point, YOU – get to vote on which title will be my next post! Read the entries below and vote for your favorite. You have until the end of the day (6:00 pm CST)Monday, June 21st to make your decision.
I will take the most popular title and interview the person that submitted it to get “the full story.” Who knows? It may reveal something about one of our fellow community of readers or it may just be cool to hear how they came up with the title. Any way we look at it, it’s going to prove to be interesting and challenging.
So, vote away! I look forward to seeing the results!
Keep Cooking! (free-flowing creative that saves the world!)
There are a lot of positive signs that small businesses are starting to adopt social media marketing as an integrated component of their overall business plans. One significant change, based on a February 2010 Small Business Success Index report, is the fact that social media usage among small business jumped from a meager 12% in 2008 to 24% in the following year (Yes, doubled).
Of those using social media, 69% post regular updates / articles of relevance to sites like FaceBook and LinkedIn. Two additional stats that made me smile were: 54% monitor positive / negative feedback via social networks, and almost 40% of the small businesses author a blog pertaining to their field of expertise.
OUTSTANDING!
But hold on, that’s still only 1-in-5 of those surveyed.
So, let’s address some of the restraints keeping small businesses form jumping on board?
According to the report, 50% of the users say it takes more time than they expected.
This is a surprise? Okay, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but the reason they may have been caught off guard is a result of one or a combination of following:
Some “Social Media Expert” duped them with dollar signs and drummed up statistics, set up a Twitter account and a FaceBook page and then ran off with little to no strategy or support.
They took it on by themselves with little to no understanding of building a social media community or marketing.
They underestimated how little they knew about their brand, the audience and the business.
Of course social media marketing takes time! Just like scheduling time to check voice-mail or email, small business owners need to adapt to make time for a little proactive community engagement. It pays off in the end.
Then there’s the statistic that made me laugh the hardest. 17% expressed that social media gives people a chance to criticize their business on the Internet.
Do they actually think criticism won’t happen if they stay away? Go ahead, try it. Then, call me when the business folds. I know Realtors that need the square footage.
***
Come on, folks, this should stand as a call to action for all small business owners (as well as those that market to/for them). Social media is not going away any time soon. And the quicker you figure out how to use it to your advantage, the better chances you’ll have for surviving the years to come.
Here are 10 starting questions I like to ask those looking into social media for marketing.
What will make you stand out among the others “yelling into the chasm?”
Who is your target audience?
Who are your direct competitors?
What could be some indirect inhibitors?
Do you have a marketing plan – written down with goals, strategies, tactics and a reasonable budget?
Is there a strategy or tactic within your marketing plan that social media could compliment / support(Public Relations, etc.)?
Do you have the manpower/ time for social media marketing?
(If not) Do you have the budget to outsource components of social media marketing?
Do you know how to carry on an engaging conversation?
Do you have patience?
As with any marketing tool, social media has a unique profile in each company’s marketing plan. While a blog is a great core component to a social media marketing strategy, Twitter, YouTube and FaceBook may not always apply. Heck, If your target audience isn’t active online, don’t be a fool and put your time into broad social media integration. Just make sure to do a little research before jumping in and you’ll know what’s right for you / your company.
Where does your small business stand when it comes to integrating social media into your marketing plan? Is it an add-on that will eventually fade away? Or do you have the plan and vision to make social media work for you?
If you’re a small business that hasn’t embraced social media as a marketing tool, then I have two things to say:
You’re losing out on a fantastic way to extend your marketing message as well as build brand equity.
You’re probably not reading this and I’m writing for my already savvy followers and this is pointless.
Food for thought.
Keep Cooking! (Purposeful, results-oriented decisions)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
Today is a landmark date for The Brand Chef, a true anniversary to be recognized. Can you guess what it is?
No, it’s not my marriage to the beautiful Mrs. BrandChef. It’s not the anniversary of being hired at Love Scott. Nope. Not even the anniversary of my first kiss. Nope.
But it’s almost as exciting…
Today is the 15th anniversary of my induction into the elite club of mobile device users. YES! On this day in 1995, I was given a “Work cell phone” as “a perk” while working as creative director at a local advertising agency.
While I knew it was really so my boss could call me, guilt-free at 2 a.m., I didn’t care. I HAD A FREAKIN’ CELL PHONE! I was on cloud nine. I could drive down the “hustle-bustle” of I-235 while drinking my Jolt Cola and talk to clients, vendors, my wife, my mom and my boss… all on my bitchen-cool cell phone.
Momentous? Heck yeah! It was my personal introduction to the most revolutionary change in communication since grunts and cave paintings.
Well, okay, maybe there were a few other more significant milestones, but this was MY revolution…
Think of it… (and this is just a snapshot!)
45,000 to 10,000 BC: Grunts and cave paintings
1450: Guttenberg uses block printing press to print a love poem
1841: The advertising agency is born (Then all hell breaks lose!)
1860: Pony Express carries mail between St. Joseph, Mo. and Sacramento
1865: Atlantic cable ties Europe and U.S. for instant communication
1991: Baby Bells get government permission to offer information services
1994: Prodigy bulletin board fields 12,000 messages in one after L.A. quake
1995: Andrew B. Clark (The Brand Chef) gets his first Nokia 6100 cell phone -AND life changes forever!
Simplistic? Dreamy? Sure… but technology is evolving faster every day, and I’ve been trying to keep up since THAT day.
The vision of the future is in the palm of your hand – figuratively and literally. If you take into consideration that my first cell phone (sporting capabilities like incoming & outgoing calls as well as all the dropped signals I could manage) was less than 15 years ago, and today I can create this entire post (excluding graphics) on a BlackBerry mobile device that hangs right beneath my love handles; think of what the next 15 years will hold!
What was the first technology experience that you consider to be “Life altering?” Was it a cell phone? Was it an electric typewriter? Or was it the recent iPad?
What ever it was, I bet Twitter still crashes on it…
How does your technology future look?
Keep Cooking (with the latest and greatest)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef
This last week, though, I decided I’d take a vacation. You know, the “relaxing, kick-back-n-nap by the pool kind of week” that many of us need to recharge the branding battery and focus. Well, this is what I did…
