I've been out and about a lot recently. Here's a few things that crossed my mental desk in my travels.
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You want to be my friend? What's in it for me? At both the ACCM and IMX08 conferences this spring I spent a lot of time chatting with folks about social media — what they were doing and what we were doing, both on personal and professional levels. What made me very, very happy about these conversations was that everyone was thinking about how they could maximize the ROI of these investments.
Heck, I was just tickled that they were thinking about how to gauge the efficiency of it all. A few months ago I was starting to worry that social media was the CRM of 2008. Remember back around 1999-2000 when everybody was plowing oodles of their budgets into shiny CRM plans? It was swell…until you asked them how they were tracking the ROI. “Uh, I dunno. We just think customers will like it.”
Yep. Glad to see that — either because (a) people have smartened up or (b) dollars are just too tight. Everyone's diving into the social pool with their water wings firmly in place.
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Save the world! Plug your brand! Memorial Day weekend the family and I ventured into Boston to attend the EarthFest festivities at the Hatch Shell. It was a fun day — and boy, let me tell you, nothing says “Save the Planet” like corporate tie-ins.
In addition to the free music and “green is good” message, lots of companies took the opportunity to get free samples of their organic-y type products in the hands of consumers.
Did it all make branding sense? Eh. We snatched up samples of cereal, chips, salad, granola, lip balm and a bunch of reusable tote bags. The kiddos even got into the act. They loved the cardboard Dunkin' Donuts/Boston Bruins goalie masks and the Stonyfield Farms Yogurt red felt superhero capes.
And when I can tell you what either of those things had to do with making the earth a better place, I'll be sure to let you know.
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Now! I must know NOW! Is the amount of information online making you obsessive? I think it is for me.
If I order something online, once I get a tracking number I can't help but check it daily. Where is my package? Chicago? Albuquerque? The next town over? Is it on the truck? Will I have it this afternoon? Arrragh!
It's the same if the husband and I are planning a rare evening out away from the kids at a restaurant we haven't tried before. Do we wait until we get there to see what's on the menu? Of course not. A quick Google search and we're already drooling over that night's dinner.
It's summer, and I'm challenging you to put down your laptop. And your cell phone. And your BlackBerry, iPhone or whatever else you have to keep you connected…and do something unplanned. I know it goes against your marketing sensibilities, but hey: Consider it an A/B test and have some fun.
