Andy Boyer

I have to write things down here or I'll forget them.

Category: Marketing (Page 11 of 25)

Recap from WOMMU

May 15, 2009 /

So this is simply for the Social Media folk in the massive crowd that visits AndyBoyer.com.  Here are a few notes I took away from WOMMU in Miami this week.  This is certainly not representative of all the things that were said down there, but a few things I remember while jotting down notes on the plane.

  • Loved that a Disney SVP said, “You don’t own your brand.  Your customers do.”  I know thi sis not a revolutionary thought, but it’s noteworthy that someone from Disney said it.
  • There really is no good way from Seattle to Miami and back again.
  • Everyone Twitters.  Everyone.
  • It’s time to stop bashing Motrin for the Motrin Mom debacle.  Sure their ad was shite, but by now, Motrin actually gets more sympathy than outrage.  Every conference in America talks about Motrin now, so in the long term, the lunatic fringe that attacked them to no end has actually done Motrin more good than harm.
  • Facebook no longer views MySpace as a competitor.  Think about how intersting that is for a sec.
  • The marketing folks from Ore-Ida gave a brilliant presentation on how they used Social Media to sell Frozen Mashed Potatoes.  When Frozen Mashed Potatoes are using Social Media, we are no longer in Innovator and Early Adopter territory.  Social Media has reached Mainstream plus some.
  • I ran into two brand managers who’s clients had sponsored full-show in product placement on The Celebrity Apprentice.  Cost to run these promos is multi-multi million dollars, and both brands felt they received a positive ROI.
  • BlogTalkRadio.com might actually be the coolest thing I’m not using but should be.
  • 15 minutes of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute.  So when someone in your marketing department says, “We should create a Viral Video,” just continue with the meeting like you heard nothing.
  • If you go to Prime Italian, get the Kobe Meatball.  Just know that the meatball is the size of a small moon, so your table only needs one.
  • The Lenovo Bejing Olympic Promotion is worth looking at from a case study perspective to see how to run a major international promotion.  

More to be added as I remember.

Spring Creek Group at SVC Thursday

May 7, 2009 /

If you are sitting in a classroom at the School of Visual Concepts right now, then chances are good that you’ll come across this post.  

Now if you are at this site because you are using your laptop to search on the names of your presenters in order to find out who the heck we are, well pay attention to the front of the room.  We spent a lot of time on this powerpoint – far more time than was spent on this blog post.  

But, if you are here because we are at the part of the preso where we talk about discoverability and why it’s important to control your SEO fate, then thanks for attending.  Also, I think we’re almost done with the boring part of the discussion, and start getting to some case studies soon.

Now if we’ve completely bored you to tears already, I suggest you tune us out, and enjoy the Social Media commentary from the experts at www.springcreekgroup.com/blog.  The small group workshops are only a few hours away.

Offline, Un-Social Marketing, from Seattle’s Fuel

April 29, 2009 /

One of the funny things about Social Media is that the whole idea is based on the theory that the Product and Marketing teams care about what is being said out in the blogosphere.  Sure it seems obvious that they would care, but then again….

Consider an offline situation I’ve run across from a Pioneer Square bar called Fuel.  Other than being the proud host of a party hosted by Mary Kay Latorneau and DJ’d by her young husband, the bar’s claim to fame is being the home of the hardcore Sounders supporters before each home game.  The bar is a natural choice for a rowdy supporters’ group because no one else really goes there.  So the supporters can sing, chant and spend money for 4-5 hours before kickoff.

You’d think the owner of this bar would be appreciative.  At least, if one of these customers mentioned to the waitress that the beer tasted of soap, that offline customer feedback would be registered, and the beer taps examined.  I myself have been a victim of these soapy taps, going as far to recommend other bars to friends thinking of pre-game settings.  It surprised me when I heard the same soapy beer was beiing served weeks later.

What’s shocking though, is when a bar owner serves the same soapy beer week after week, and instead of fixing the problem, basically throws a patron out for protesting the taste of soapy beer, using the rationale, “The rest of the crowd doesn’t seem to notice.”  Now the people associated with that patron have shifted their dollars to the bar across the street, called McCoy’s.

So back to my point.  Igoring what you hear in social media is no different than being a bar owner who ignores a patron.  If someone is going to take the time to say, “Your product is causing me harm and pain.  Here’s an easy way to fix it,” then you really should listen.  Otherwise, you are simply the equivalent of an ignorant bar owner serving soapy beer.

What Does Oprah on Twitter Mean for Social Media

April 18, 2009 /

So this is a time sensitive topic, and I’m already a day late, so this quick stream of consciousness will probably not be very well thought out and hence cause people to vehemently comment about how wrong I am.  Oh well.

So Oprah has joined the Twittierverse with the appropriately chosen moniker @oprah.  She was basically dragged kicking and screaming into it by Ashton Kutcher on his race with CNN to One Million followers.  (BTW, different topic, but you will never hear me say anything negative about Ashton Kutcher.  He is very high on my list of business minded entertainers that I hope to meet someday, not for the star power or Hollywood “glow,” but for the business and marketing insights I could learn.)

Now the social media world has fallen into a few camps on this.  

– Predictably, there is the camp who feels like their baby is being exploited now that Oprah has gotten involved.  These are the same type of people who listened to Pearl Jam at a dive bar in downtown Seattle in 1990 and then got mad when they showed up on David Letterman and sold out Madison Square Garden.

– There’s a camp who thinks Oprah is late to Social Media, and shouldn’t be given any credit at all.

– There’s a group of people who have never heard of Twitter who are about to sign up for accounts just so they can follow Oprah.

– And finally, there’s a bunch of people in mainstream media who are going to be calling the “Social Media Expert” in their city to do a 90 second interview on this “blossoming company called Twitter.”

So here’s my synthesis:  

Oprah never has and never will need Social Media.  She has the most popular syndicated television program in the history of mankind.  Combine all the impressions from the top 100 “social media superstars,” and I bet that number doesn’t even sniff the kind of eyeballs Oprah generates in TV and print.   And let’s not even begin to joke about revenue.  Take Harpo’s annual revenue in one hand.  Start counting up all the revenue generated by Social Media Superstars in the other.  And let me know when you get to an even balance.

I work in Social Media, so this may seem like blasphemy, but honestly, Social Media is what you do when you can”t get on Oprah.  If I build the world’s first economical and reliable jet pack, and post videos on YouTube of me flying back and forth to work all day, guys like Michael Arrington and Guy Kawaskai are going to cover it.  But if I get on Oprah, or even 60 Minutes, I better have an army of telephone operators ready to take orders.  It’s a subtle but distinct difference.  

Said more succinctly, Social Media is what we do to get NOTICED by Oprah’s producers.  It’s not what Oprah needs to do to get noticed by us.  

That being said, Oprah, as a teacher and educator, please use proper capitalization on your Twitter page.  There’s no reason to join the Twitterverse and then show 50 million kids that the only reason to ever use the “Shift” key on their laptop is to create a smiley face.  

So Oprah, welcome to our world here in Social Media-ville.  This is what has been created by all of us with lots to say, but nowhere to previously say it.  So come hang out for a while, and then remember us fondly when you are in front of your camera, in your studio, talking to 200 million people.

The Sustainable Group

March 29, 2009 /

I’ve been meaning to endorse / promote / plug this company for awhile.  I’m a big fan of The Sustainable Group, an organization run by Brant Williams.  In a nutshell, imagine if all the binders, notebooks and other office items you buy, lose and throw away could be made of bio-degrabable materials instead of plastic.  Now imagine that there are even more benefits.  

Rather than try to convince you, I’ll just provide a link over to their web site.  Check it out, and email Brant if you have ideas for how to get the word out.

Dori Monson Show Experiments with Web Only Cast

March 12, 2009 /

I’m a pretty big fan of talk radio, and the Dori Monson show is near the top of my favorite 3 hours in radio.  Tomorrow (Friday), Monson’s show will get bumped for Mariners baseball at 12:55pm.  For most people, getting an extra 2 hours off on a Friday afternoon in March is a pretty good reason to head home, grab the kids and hit the park.

But I appreciate Monson’s experiment.  He’s going to continue ot broadcast, only on the web, from his page at MyNorthwest.com.  He’s merely curious what kind of listenership he’ll get.

Now some people in management might fear this.  After all, suppose he steals people from the Mariners Spring Training broadcast that they paid all those duckets for rights to?  But on the flip side, suppose they now DON’T lose the news talk junkies who hate sports and wouldn’t stick around to listen to a practice game being played by a 101 loss team?

If it works, it opens up all kinds of neat ideas for broadcasters.  Imagine if Monson did a 45 minute call with a politician, and ran the best 12 minutes on the radio, but you had the chance to listen to the whole thing online?  Or if there’s a topic important to Monson, but not necessarily radio worthy.  He could do an extra hour, complete with call-ins, and have it be Web only.

Bottom line is that the media needs to figure out that the 24-hour programming cycle is becoming a thing of the past.  It’s good to see Monson not only recognizing it, but figuring out ways to embrace it.

Social Media APB – Who has a Biznik Success Story?

March 5, 2009 /

At Spring Creek Group, all we do is work in Social Media channels.  Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and probably 30-40 other channels you barely remember you have heard of.

From time to time we have to audit our list of recommended channels.  One site on the bubble right now is Biznik.  To use NCAA terms, they are that school in a lower conference that you hear a lot about, but never seem to get a win over a Top 25 school.  Look great on paper, but every time you see them on TV they are down by 15 to Loyola Marymount.  Do you take the time and chance on them, or add in a more predictable 4th or 5th team/property from a more established conference/channel? Basically, do you take the flyer on Biznik, or go with something where you can predict a result, even if that result is not going to be a championship?

So to be fair to everyone, I’m leaving it in the hands of the Social Media sphere.  I have sent out an APB across all my personal Social Media Channels looking for ANY small/medium business (or product group from a larger business) with a success story or “Big Win” in Biznik.  I understand how it’s useful for Mortgage brokers, Yoga instructors, Life coaches and Spanish Tutors, but I haven’t figured out how a coffee shop, toy manufacturer or software company can recruit partners and/or employees.  I’ll take any type of “Win” from anyone who is not a one-person company.  Email me or DM me @aboyer.  

Thanks.  Results to be posted. 

Drawing a Line in the Twitter Sand

February 26, 2009 /

I still like Twitter.  I do not feel any shame about posting 140 characters from time to time at http://twitter.com/aboyer. (Or as they say…. @aboyer)

However, a line must be drawn.  When you go to an industry party, you put your name and company on your name tag.  You DO NOT put your Twitter name.  I’m sorry, I have to simply insist that putting your @address on your name tag is just weird, and a tad creepy.  Put it on your biz card, your email signature and your blog if you want.  But your name tag is for your name.  If we are at an event and you have @MyTwitterURL on your name tag, I will have to ignore you.  That’s just the way it is.  I have to set a limit to how far Twitter is allowed to spread.  Thanks for understanding.

KomoNews Gets Twitter (Sometimes)

February 18, 2009 /

It’s almost lunch time, so perhaps I might head down to Dad Watson’s for a Voodoo Chicken sandwich.  But I am saved from being stuck in traffic by none other than KomoNews, who alerts me via Twitter (through my Digsby application) that there is a head-on crash on the Fremont Bridge.  

This is much more valuable than the story they reposted from the AP earlier today, and shows that they are kind of starting to get the local aspect.  Eventually, I believe they will have KomoNews_Seattle, KomoNews_Tacoma, and KomoNews_Wallingford (character issues notwithstanding) as a way for me to customize how niche I want the feeds to be.  But this is a good start.

Now, if you want just plain humor, go check out ChuckNorris_

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