Picture this.  How do you share those “special moments?” Think back.  Is there an old family photo album somewhere gathering dust in the living room?  Sure.  Ours has one of me and brother in the bathtub, naked! Thanks mom. As disturbing as it is, it certainly is a memory (probably not one I wish to share with you).  How about those old school portraits? Reunions? Sporting events? Birthdays? Vacations?  How do you share those memories?  From the early 1900′s and on into today’s digital age, we’ve all done the same thing.

Take a picture, it lasts longer…

Last night, while watching Glee (yes, I’m a Gleek), I was sitting and lamenting over the how Miss Sylvester  was treating poor Mercedes, and off to a commercial break we went.  Now, I normally channel surf or jump up to get another Popsicle at commercial breaks, but last night I was held in my seat by the following Kodak spot.

I loved it immediately.  While I’m a sucker for any squeaking baby, I thought the spot, from a brand marketing standpoint, was perfect! It was targeted, engaging, current and allowed a brand, Kodak, who has been languishing in technological and directional confusion to stand up and re-root itself in our communication and social culture.

On the Kodak blog, A Thousand Words, Leslie Dance, VP of Brand Marketing & Communications for Kodak shared their vision with for the new marketing:

“As our agency Partners + Napier, who helped us create our new campaign defined it, the core insight into what really motivates our consumer (whom we call Katie) is that ‘My memories make me, me, but it’s only when I share them that I become complete.’

Which led us to the campaign idea, ‘the real Kodak moment happens when you share’.
 We’re taking the Kodak Moment of the past 50 years and redefining it to make it relevant for today.  The Kodak Moment that used to be the moment of capture, when we take the picture, is now more powerful when we apply it to the moment of sharing the picture.”

As a photographer, I’ve been painfully aware of the dilemma the photography industry has been in.  Since the mid 1990′s, it’s been go digital or pack up your lenses. While I love digital photography for its ease and speed, as someone that was educated in the techniques of traditional photography, processing and lab printing, I long for the days when I can turn a photo over and see “Printed by Kodak.” And with online printing taking quality and speed, and economy to new levels, I’d basically given up on Kodak.

Boy, was I wrong!

This is why Kodak has been around for over a century:

Kodak took the right (smart) approach to the technology challenges that faced them and their industry.  Instead of folding up and saying “Woah, It’s been a great 120 years, we’ll see ya’ later…” they chose to innovate, recreate and re-engage, sidestepping the “road block” and blazing a new trail for future market growth.

By providing people easier, more economical digital access – just push the button to share your memories - Kodak has positioned itself as the leader in the (previously unoccupied) “memory sharing” niche…  A brilliant way to redefine your brand for changing times and subtly shut my doubting mouth for ever.

Kudos!

So, what’s the next step for Kodak?  How can they continue to broaden their relevance with their new campaign.  How do they compete with the ever evolving mobile phone/camera niche? Can you think of other companies that have created a brand shift like Kodak’s?  I’d love to hear more!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

I want to preempt any debate from this post and explain to you all, I am no outdoors man.  I don’t like camping.  “Roughing it,” to me, is a Super 8 without a whirlpool. I don’t like hunting and I’ve been fishing once in the last 10 years.  But, I’ll tell ya’ what,  that one fishing trip resulted more than a pile of smelly clothes and a few days of hangovers.

As we sat, through torrential rain, heat, mosquitoes the size of mature poodles and some pretty overwhelming odors (from more than the fish), conversations turned from day-to-day work issues and family musings to some pretty unbelievable fishing strategies.  While I, the novice of the group, simply jabbed a leech (yes, the blood-sucking invertebrate) on the end of the hook and threw it out in the water, others in the group pulled out what seemed to be a Roland Martin-esque playbook for the event.  Even before we boarded the “boat,” (I put that in quotes, because a boat, to me, is something you can sail or ski behind… not these little canoes) there would be long, deep discussions about the strategy behind our expedition.

Can see where I’m going with this?  Yep…  Marketing is a lot like fishing…  I’m sure you’ve heard that before, but I wonder how many people really think about the similarities.

When you’re working up your “plan of attack” in marketing sessions, do you ask your team (or yourself) these questions?

• What EXACTLY are we fishing for?
• What bait / lure is better for muskie versus trout?
• What time of day is best for fishing here?
• Is it better to cast multiple lines or to target a specific area with one line and diligent effort?
• Are others having success in this area of the lake?
• Should we cast our line in uncharted territories?
• Are there limits to the size of fish we want (too big or too small)?
• Are there limits to the amount of fish we can catch (Is one enough? Can we handle 100?)?
• Do these hip-waders make my butt look big?

Never the less, if that one fishing trip taught me anything, it was that you need a plan before casting your line into the waters. Fish (like clients) are capricious little buggers and unless you have the right strategy, you’re going to pull back an empty hook.

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”— Chinese Proverb

Keep Cooking (with a little lemon and butter sauce)!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Look deeply into my eyes… you are feeling veeeery sleepy… sleeeeepy… deeeeper… deeeeeeeeper… relax and let the social media mystique take you to a happier place. Deeeeper…

Yeah, sometimes I feel like social media has cast some kind of spell over businesses, specifically the marketing departments of some companies. It’s easy to be seduced. It’s easy to be swayed by viral videos, tweets and blogs with thousands of readers. It’s easy to think that social media can be the magic pill to fix marketing mishaps. But in our passionate pursuit to capture the social media magic, maybe we should be mindful of the limits to ANY marketing tool – ESPECIALLY social media.

Social media can’t fix a broken branding model.
Broken brands need to back up to the beginning and find the TRUE Brand (Truthful, Relevant, Unique, Engaging) that lies within. I’ve written about this before, so I won’t go into the specifics, but social media won’t make you something you’re simply not ABLE to be. What social media WILL do is amplify and accelerate the core values and attributes (as well as the ugly flaws) of your brand. So be cautious of where you step.

Social media can’t substitute for strategy.
Obvious? I guess not. Sure, we’ve all seen those companies with the languishing Twitter account or empty FaceBook pages. Or the contrary – companies screaming, “Become our fan on FaceBook,” without much further engagement or incentive for the end users… WHY? Without strategy and objectives how do you know if social media is a successful addition to your marketing? And the number of fans or followers of your account does NOT equate to marketing success.

Social media can’t succeed without a TRUE focus on the customer.
While this should be part of the above strategy, I wanted to make sure that I brought attention to it. If all you’re about is pushing messages about your company / product / service, etc… then you need an ego check. This is SOCIAL media. If you want to have TRUE customer engagement, you need to show you care for the benefits of the customer, not just pumping your own bloated ego.

Social media is not a stand-alone solution.
I’ve been in the marketing and advertising industry since… well, let’s just say my first job didn’t involve a single computer. And guess what, companies successfully marketed themselves. Some even made money! In all seriousness, being a practitioner of social media does not make one a marketing guru. Sure the tools are great and they have their applications in “modern communications,” but without EXPERIENCED marketing strategy, advertising, public relations, traditional media and a good understanding of digital technologies, you’re just adding to the noise.

So before that “Social Media Magician” starts with their hocus-pocus pitch that social media is the answer to all of your marketing woes, just blink. Clear your eyes of the social media smoke-n-mirrors and take a clear look at your marketing. If social media can be integrated into your marketing plan, you’ll see it. If you can’t see it, and still need to know, then consult a professional marketer with a mastery of social media marketing tactics.

When you’re looking for TRUE social media marketing integration. Think of those you follow online. Who would you trust with your company’s brand? Then, ask the question SOCIALLY.

Keep Cooking! (Strategic marketing decisions…)
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

Hello, my name is Andy…  I’m a Social Media Addict. (all together now…  Hellooooo Andy!) Can you see it – some big, mental-ward-like facility filled with a circle of gray, plastic chairs…  smoke hanging heavy in the air like some support group meeting (enter Nurse Rached)?  Is this what we’ve come to?

Sure.  I AM a social media addict.  I’m also a procrastinator.  I’m a last-minute Marty.  If I have 12 hours to get a post written, I’ll start it on the 10th.  If I have a week’s worth of vacation, I start planning events on the 5th day of it… (like now) It’s a sickness…

And then entered SOCIAL MEDIA…

(Da, Da, Duuuuuuuuuuuummmm!)

The BIG time-waster…  How was I going to read or educate myself / my family / my clients when there was Farmville and Mafia Wars to manage? Who was going to manage my clients’ marketing plans, media buys… OH THE HORROR…

I had tweets to read! Now I’m REALLY going to get behind…

I say, “Horse pucky!”

Social media and productivity CAN go hand-in-hand. As a matter of fact, they can help support one-another.

Six years ago, I read maybe a book a year (maybe).  Today I read about a book a week (give or take the occasional audio-book on the way into work). Can I attribute that to social media?  Not entirely, but I can say, if I didn’t start educating myself pretty quickly (reading, researching, engaging) I was going to be left behind!

Social media works.  You just need a plan.  You need to be diligent about tasks that make you “productive” versus distractions that make you “mush.”

So, how do I manage in intake of information with my propensity for procrastination?  The answer is simple. Tasty, bite-sized, manageable “Edu-tizers.”

Instead of taking on books, movies, articles as a “gotta-finish-it-all-right-now” type Mega Meals, I’ve taken my diet of books, newspapers, magazines, social media and television (yes, I still learn from television) and broken it all up into small, but frequent portioned snacks that I take in throughout the day.

Appetizers to Edu-tizers…  easy to remember and fun to say…

Yes, just how your trainers tell you to maintain higher metabolism with food intake, I’m doing the same with media, social media and education. With this approach, I avoid the mind-numbing coma of a 200 page marathon read or a 2 hour span of The Discovery Channel to more manageable segments of information that my brain can digest and still be nimble enough to move on throughout the day. I also avoid hours upon hours of social media time-wasters… (you know who you are).

Simple? So, how do you start?  Or better yet, how do you cut back to a manageable level?

Below I’ve listed a few “best practices” that have worked for me.  It’s better to set up your own program, but maybe this will help those that can’t seem to manage time and intake with logic and diligence.

#1 Where book stores and libraries fall short, there’s social media!
SHOCK, GASP! — okay get that out of your systems.  I buy books – at least one every week.  But the social media wave/tsunami has hit.  If you’re not in a boat that floats or at least a dingy with a good compass, you’re going to be left back in the devastation.

There are volumes upon volumes of information being put out into the social media waters every day.  Why not tap into the biggest wave of information known to human kind since the discovery of spoken word? When I can’t get my “fill” from books, television or any number of publications at the local magazine rack, it’s just a click and search away.  You just need to be willing to look. It takes less time than you think.

#2 – All good things in moderation! (VERY IMPORTANT)
Facebook, MySpace, et al have their attractive (and addictive) features, but remember that social media is about the sharing of information.  If you spend hours a day on one site, you’re bound to lose contact with your productivity, your interests, your LIFE.  Diversification is key!

I use Facebook (for instance) strictly for social and business-social communication.  I get on to post what I’m up to, to learn what friends, family members and coworkers have going on in their lives, respond (only if necessary), and then I move on (about 10 minutes of my day).  No games. No surveys. No nonsense.

#3 – You must feed the monster.
I had a professor that, during the first week of classes, would get to know which students over-engaged (raising hands on every question, writing 20 page compositions instead of the requested five, etc. – you know ‘em…), and then, for the rest of the semester would ignore them. Why?  Because it was his intention to drive the conversation to those that needed it the most. The quiet ones.  The ones that sat in the back of the auditorium hoping to learn through osmosis (me).  If you don’t participate in the conversation, you’re not going to get anything out of it.

With that professor in mind, I spend about a half hour each day (often more) sorting through blog posts or comments that I intend to add value to (sometimes marked days/weeks before to come back to later).

Is it presumptuous to think that what I have to say is important enough to post it to someone’s blog or Facebook page?  Heck no! That’s what SOCIAL media is all about. With that single post or comment, I’ve started a conversation that will, in turn, further the learning process and be of value to both parties.  Does it happen every time?  No.  But for those that really know how to engage, they are some of the most educational conversations I’ve had since… college!

#4 – Find your “Happy Place” (then file it away).
When I first started this “journey,” I subscribed to every feed and every alert under the sun.  From “Bob the Australian Cat Wrangler” to “The Marketing Gods of Melrose Place,” I wanted to read it all!  But I learned one important thing…  time is an unforgiving bitch!

Sure, I’m “friends with” or “connected to” thousands of people via social media, but I have no question that I can’t absorb all of the conversations going on at all times.  Nor would I want to. I honestly couldn’t care less about Bob from Australia’s cats and the huge dingo they devoured last night (okay, maybe THAT would make me pause).

Break your input streams up into logical lines of conversation. While I have access to thousands of stories, I only read the ones that will make a difference in my life, my career, my well-being.  So, I have my feeds broken up into the following categories:

• News
• Branding
• Marketing
• Leadership
• Management
• Education
• Personal Fun
• Music
• Photography
• Feed-Specific (generally client-based)

The only categories I read (thoroughly) every day are “News” and “Feed-Specific.”  Otherwise, I skim, mark for future research or commenting and I move on.  This takes me about a half hour every day.  It’s a great way to start the day and a great way to wake up my brain.

#5 All posts have their place:
The social media waters get pretty muddy from time-to-time.  It’s constantly churning and dredging up things that, well, just don’t need to be seen / read / heard.  Think of it this way, if you don’t want “it” displayed on a billboard in the middle of the town square, delete, delete, delete!

Do I use Facebook for business?  Certainly.  But I separate what I do for my company and clients from what I do personally.  Don’t bring your work home with you and don’t bring your home to work with you.

***

God knows how many blogs / online publications I read on a yearly basis (right now, my Google feed reader has 1,373 RSS feeds pumping knowledge through my keyboard and into my brain…).   And without social media, I wouldn’t be able to provide my clients (or my family) with the quality information and support that I do today.

Don’t get me wrong, social media can be a slippery slope. But with the right plan and just a little discipline, you can make it work for you.

How does your social media diet stack up?  Are you a lean, mean fighting machine or has the weight of the social media tsunami washed away all hope? (please make the metaphors stop)…

Hope to see you in the social media stew!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef