I missed the webinar and a chance to win his new book, but, courtesy of Hubspot’s Internet Marketing Webinars, here’s the video with David Meerman Scott discussing viral marketing, Feb 13, 2009.

David Meerman Scott’s World Wide Rave rules:

• Nobody cares about your products (except you).
• No coercion required.
• Lose control.
• Put down roots.
• Create triggers that encourage people to share.
• Point the world to your (virtual) doorstep.

Viral marketing. World wide rave. Looks like Mr. Scott is trying to brand a new social media phrase. I have no problem with this, but here’s real social media at work: he can do this because he’s become a “thought leader”, and we’re virally spreading his message. 

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Post from: Marketing Autopsy Blog
© 2009 Marketing Autopsy Blog.

Viral Marketing: Create a World Wide Rave with David Meerman Scott

Back in August 2008, Peter Kim blogged about “How to set an ego trap” on his beingpeterkim.com site. He received lots of feedbacks from both regular readers and the “influentials”, as Guy Kawasaki calls them.

Mr. Kim wrote, “In a nutshell, social technologies use game mechanics to get users hooked on participation.  People often get addicted to ego-stroking system feedback, until they can temper their usage (addiction?)” He gave a few examples to illustrate how well-known bloggers have used social networking for viral marketing and promotion, for both products and services. These can be read on his blog so I won’t repeat them here. For each example Mr. Kim observed some simple yet important characteristics. In one, he noted, “So why did it work?  The offer was simple.  It was personalized.” In other, “So why did it work?  The offer was limited.  It was relevant to the bloggers and their readers.” And in the third example, “Why did it work?  Game mechanics – competition and a somewhat objective comparison scale…” Mr. Kim ended the blog with the some suggestions on how to set an effective “ego trap” with your own offer:

• Keep it simple.
• Make it scarce.
• Personalize it.
• Use numbers.
• Appeal to the head…and the heart.

So now you may ask, “Ego trap or just human nature?” I would say probably both. It’s all about feeling good and important. We’re all humans, and many would agree that feeling good and important are two of human’s strongest straits – they’ve helped build empires and cause wars in our history. It’s all about self-importance. That’s why face-to-face networking works. That’s also why social networking works.

It’s no surprise we’ll use social media and networking to our benefits, and we’ll be glad to be used by the medium. So here’s a question: We’ve done face-to-face networking in older times. We’re now doing social networking in the Internet age. How do you suppose we’ll network next? Let your imagination flows.

Post from: Marketing Autopsy Blog
© 2009 Marketing Autopsy Blog.

Getting Used by Social Media Marketing?

So here I am talking/blogging about the new Pepsi logo. It’s really what Pepsi wanted in the first place.

For those not familiar with this marketing event, just Google something like “pepsi 25 new logo marketing” and you’ll have plenty to read. In a nutshell, Pepsi recently released a new logo on their cans by sending out 3 individual packages to 25 select members and thought leaders of the online social media crowd. This Pepsi’s innovative new campaign is being dubbed by many the “Pepsi 25″.

Darryl Parker over at Parker Web Marketing is keeping a list of who actually received the packages, and then blogged about it. Apparently only Pepsi knows who the 25 are, so the identities of these bloggers have to be pinpointed manually,

I would expect that, if you’re one of these 25, there is no obligation on your part to participate. It is not known if they were compensated other than receiving the packages. In fact receiving any compensation would all together defeat the purpose of this whole campaign, so therefore I think it’s safe to say that if any one of these folks blog about this event, then Pepsi would have achieved a successful viral marketing campaign.

Here are what a few other bloggers say about this:

• Pepsi Cooler at FriendFeed.
• Jennifer Laycock’s The Choice of a Social Media Generation.
• Mack’s post over at his The Viral Garden.

I think this is a bold move on Pepsi’s part. Let’s pick it apart shall we? First off, many bloggers feel that Pepsi should target the smaller, more relevant group of Pepsi evangelists instead. But I tend to disagree. By choosing the supposedly biggest 25 marketing bloggers, Pepsi is shooting for the largest potential spread of viral marketing. Why go small when you can go big. This takes guts but it was a strong business reason.

Furthermore, if only one blogger decides to say anything about this, then Pepsi would have a success. By the very nature of social media, the selected “experts” cannot NOT blog about it. By the very nature of viral communication, the selected “experts” cannot by themselves find out who’s who, then agree among themselves not to blog about it. This is the beauty of social media. Even in the case of Mack’s post, where he absolutely refuses to mention the brand or company name, it’s hard to hide what he’s talking about. His post even made the list of 25 kept by Darryl Parker at Parker Web Marketing.

In the end, this is actually only part of a much wider, longer campaign that Pepsi’s running. According to AdAge, Pepsi finally seems intent on regaining its share. Its strategy involves three years; $1.2 billion; a complete packaging, merchandising and marketing overhaul of its soft drinks. So this is only the beginning.

Pepsi is a very large company with a very large marketing budget, and they will do what they need to do. Large corporations have done great marketing before, and creative marketing have been achieved way before social media arrives on the scene. This is another example that big corporations are making an effort in the social networking arena. And it’s refreshing to see Pepsi finding a good way to mix it up with their marketing push.

If you’re not approaching social media like Pepsi does, with bold creativity, detailed planning, clear goals, high intelligence and most importantly, utmost respect, then don’t get into it at all.

So what’s your take on Pepsi’s approach?

Post from: Marketing Autopsy Blog
© 2009 Marketing Autopsy Blog.

Don’t Get Into Social Media: The “Pepsi 25″ Social Media Rebranding Campaign.

Cuong Huynh advises businesses and individuals on marketing communications, social networking, and new media strategies.

Specialties:

Marketing Communications, Brand Identity, Social Media & Viral Marketing, Trade Shows, Press Releases, Public Relations, Marketing Metrics and ROI, Advertising, Marketing Plan, Client/Vendor Management, Creative Services, Art Direction, Search Engine Optimization, Web 2.0, Blogs, Web Applications, Graphic Design, Marketing Video, Desktop Publishing

View my presentation: Social Media Marketing: Creating Cost Effective Marketing Channels For Small and Medium Businesses.

If you need to talk to me about your social media marketing strategy, please contact me via the Contact Page.

View my profile on cthmedia.net. And if you haven’t done so,  subscribe to my RSS feed.

Also follow me on Twitter
@CuongHuynh
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Post from: Marketing Autopsy Blog
© 2009 Marketing Autopsy Blog.

About Cuong Huynh

Post-It Jaguar

One of the more well-know events, the 3M Carjacks of the Post-It Note Jaguar, is an interesting case study of mine because it is so simple and so big. Of course in hindsight it’s easy to critique, but if one looks at this as an observer and marketer, what is the real learning opportunity here?

Well there are obvious things, although I won’t waste time discussing them here as others have beat them to death around the Net. One only has to read the way the event unfolded. And it is easy to just say, “Oh 3M did this” or “3M should have done that.” But to me the one thing that still puzzles me is the inaction from 3M’s part. Maybe silence is the best new damage control in this case, I don’t know. I’m still searching for some indication or response from the company. Still not successful. Valeria Maltoni asks the same question in her article “Where is 3M in the Conversation About the Post-It Note Promotion?“.

Without being judgmental, I’m wondering how a large company like 3M would respond to the world about an event like this. Here’s a theory: there’s really no need to publicly respond to this. Internally, maybe 3M managers had meetings, decided that it’s in their best interest to learn the lesson and move on. They may have reprimanded the employee(s) responsible for this, or they may not. The proper thing to do is sending their marketing personnel to a refresher/crash course on marketing in the new social networking age. There are lots to be learned and relearned.

Aside from all the blogs in the web, I don’t think 3M lost much out of this. The campaign itself may have been very successful financially (I’ll have to check on this and update this sentence at a later time).

View the original Post-It Notes Jaguar photos on flickr.

View a video: ABC News with Scott Ableman telling his story, as shown on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EZuEvOv7ug

Post from: Marketing Autopsy Blog
© 2009 Marketing Autopsy Blog.

3M Post-It Note Carjacks: Still searching for the answer…