For the last two years I have had the honor of speaking at the #140 Character Conference held in Des Moines, Iowa. It’s a tremendous, national series of events that originated with Jeff Pulver ( @JeffPulver ) as a call-to-action for the Twitter and social media community as a whole. With great PR and some passionate participants, the event has turned into one of the most prolific social media events in the nation (maybe the world).

So, on April 23rd, a couple hundred of our close Des Moines social media friends as well as some connected through the wonders of technology, gathered to explore “The State Of Now” at the 2012 140 Character Conference Des Moines!

As a marketing and branding professional, I love to create passion with my words, but I was in for a treat on this day.  We had speakers make connections professionally and personally throughout the whole day. As I watched the event roll via Ustream, I was thrilled and honored to be included in this event. For some, it was educational. For some it was entertaining. For most, it was a day of passionate sharing that they’ll never forget.

Some of my favorite speakers include (click to see their video on YouStream):

Michael Libbie, Speaking on Marketing & Social Media ROI (EYE-OPENING) ( Find him on Twitter @MichaelLibbie )

Laura Wynn, Speaking on Bullying through Social Media (HEART-WRENCHING) ( Find her on Twitter @LauraWynn )

Angela Maiers, Speaking on #YouMatter and Education (POWERFUL) ( Find her on Twitter @AngelaMaiers )

Ben Smith, Speaking on the Social connection and the tremendous experienced he’s had in his “New Home.” (MAKES ME PROUD TO LIVE HERE) ( Find him on Twitter @BenASmith )

While I’ve linked to four of the presentations I liked, PLEASE go to the UStream channel and watch others. You’re going to be amazed!

And for those that know me and know about TRUE Branding: Here, in a neat 10-minute nutshell is how TRUE Branding can change your life and your business for ever!

If you’d like to read more about TRUE Branding, click the link here –>  TRUE BRANDING!

Thanks so much to Deb During ( @DebWorks ) for allowing me to experience the event.  I look forward to future ones!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

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

As CreateWOW embarked on decorating our new office space, I sent out a tweet asking if someone new of a product or a solution to make an entire wall an erasable white board.  I did get some answers, but none that I would have been comfortable with.  Some required a VERY EXPENSIVE paint. Others suggested large sheets of melonite that I’d have to secure to the walls (landlord frowned on that idea).  So, eventually, I gave up on the idea.

It was hard at first, because I am such a visual person, I use an easel and HUGE note pads just to flesh out illustration ideas.  Imagine the space it takes to really flesh out a social media marketing campaign!

Well, yesterday, during a client planning session, I realized what my brain had been telling me for a few months now.  The dry erase wall is a good idea.

A Plan Is Worth 1,000 Words:

a plan is worth 1,000 words

In a matter of minutes, the clients and I flew through sheet after sheet of pad paper and pasted them to the wall.  The conversation was flowing so quickly that just keeping up with the ideas was a challenge. After we’d “Dumped” our wish list on the papers, we then, rearranged the pages and put the plan in systematic, chronological order.

PERFECT.

The clients left assured that the directives they assigned us were understood and the plan to achieve their goals was in place.  Smiles. Handshakes. Pats on the back. It all seemed so simple, but without the plan up on the wall, it was just words.

Try this approach next time you’re in a planning or strategy session with your clients or coworkers. It’s a little overwhelming for the “Non-visual” people in the room, but I guarantee when they see the path ahead of them, they’ll take the next step with you without asking another question.

My friends Mike Wagner and Jocelyn Wallace may have a thing-or-two to add to this post, yes?

Do you have other tips or techniques to help clients or coworkers visualize a plan?  Is it a whiteboard? Is it PowerPoint (God I hope not…

Let us know.  Or better yet…  show us…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

(This was originally posted on the CreateWOWmarketing Blog on 10/19/10)

Have you ever seen a great NFL quarterback run to the sidelines and look into the playbook? Neither have I… So why is it that so many marketers out there are generating rote, boring plans for their clients based on “plays” they learned back in the bush leagues?

The traditional approach to marketing is too linear for today’s world. Today’s target audience is constantly moving, growing and learning new technologies. But much of the marketing we see today is still formulaic and trite, as if someone in 1976 created “The Playbook For Successful Marketing” and it’s been dogmatically followed ever since? Cold. Unfeeling. Corporate.

How ’bout I let you in on a secret…

Dogmatic playbook-marketing isn’t viable any longer. The game has changed. Sure, marketing can follow a plan / structure. Marketing can (should) have strategy. But if you think the formulaic mindset you (they) used in 1976 (or earlier for you MadMen fans) will work, you’re going to fail abjectly!

The playbooks are outdated. The systems set forth by or mentors, while still brilliant, are tired. And they (dare I say it?) are singular-minded, focusing on agency award hardware… not the client nor its community. The days of super-star agency quarterbacks in the big, Manhattan corner office are over!

Stop and look around your office (if you have one). There’s value there, you just have to see it. The biggest asset you’ll find are the actual human beings that work WITH you!

Here’s a note for our “Super-Star” marketing quarterbacks:

Marketing Has Taken A More Emotional, Community-Focused Approach

That’s what I like about social media. Adding social media to marketing has taken the ritualistic, dogma of “old school” and turned it on its ear. It allows fresh minds, the “rebels” of the community to work organically on the sidelines, changing the plays and calling options as they see the defense set up. Sure, the goal is the same – get the client’s product or service noticed and to generate actions or a purchase.

I’ll say it again. Our job is to, “… get the client’s product or service noticed and to generate actions or a purchase.”

That’s IT. No more. No less.

GOAL!

When a client brings their product or service to you, the first thing that happens to you and your team is you form an EMOTIONAL response or “Feeling” about it. Immediately, that elicits a LOGICAL action plan on how to deal with it.

STOP THERE!

Don’t pick up the “1976 Playbook For Successful Marketing.” Because I guarantee, if the client hasn’t heard the rhetoric yet, the marketplace has and you’re going to get sacked. You need to out-think the defense! Create marketing that makes people say “WOW!!” (Or something similar).

Be quicker. Be original. Be passionate. Call the option. Use a flea-flicker or the hail-Mary pass from time-to-time. It may be unexpected, but THAT’s what people respond to.

Have you seen marketing that’s disregarded all the traditional plays and succeeded? I have.

Do you have a client that needs a passionate, community-driven plan instead of the same old rhetoric? Create even a little “WOW” and they’ll see the end-zone.

Until the next huddle…

Keep Cooking (silly sports metaphors for everything),
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Have you ever wondered how I became The Brand Chef? It’s not a story I tell often, but in a recent  interview with Johnny Wright (Twitter: @unsecretshopper), better known as The UnSecret Shopper the TRUTH was revealed.

The request came out of the blue (proof of building a good personal brand), but after a few Twitter direct messages and a phone call-or-two, I decided Johnny had some great things to talk about and was very interested in learning more about The Brand Chef, marketing strategies and generally what I do… (go figure).

In 19 short minutes, we covered everything from marketing strategies, social media marketing, customer service (which Johnny is brilliant at, by the way), and we even talked a little about how I became The Brand Chef!

Here’s a link to his post of his full 1-hour show.  Or you can listen to just my interview below.

Enjoy!

The Brand Chef and Johnny Wright – The Unsecret Shopper Interview 7/24/10

Again, I’d like to thank Johnny Wright for taking the time and giving me the honor of being on his show.  It was a great conversation and I look forward to hearing / seeing more from him in the future!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Johnny Wright can also be heard on 1350 AM, KRNT radio  in Des Moines Iowa.  Every Saturday at 8 AM.  Check it out!