Media

How to Innovate in Your Marketing: Ask a Teenager

If you’re a company looking to use social media and content in innovative ways, ask a teenager. And not because you want to market to teens (although you might), but because teenage behavior online draws a kind of road map to where marketing is going. Here’s what I mean: My 17-year-old daughter bought a prom dress online this week. Before it even shipped from the warehouse, she had already posted a photo of it in a private Facebook group that the girls in her school set up weeks ago expressly to showcase what dress they were wearing to the prom, which is in May. The girls are essentially staking their dress claim and (at the same time) soliciting validation for their choices with likes and comments of their peers. In other words: Then: You bought a dress at a dress shop. You wore it to prom and hoped no one […]

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How to Use Instagram in a Genius Way (and Grow Your Audience)

If you’ve seen me speak in the last few years, you know I’m a huge fan of Instagram, because of its understated simplicity that makes for a rich story platform. You might’ve even seen me present one of my favorite examples, of the Toronto Silent Film Festival’s 2013 effort to promote the silent film experience to a brand new audience of potential fans. Now, the Festival is back, releasing its 2014 effort that uses Instagram in an interactive, genius way to spread its message and grow its audience. As I’ve written in the past, there are five reasons I love Instagram for content: Instant content. Instagram, at its core, allows you to tell stories visually, but with a simplicity and immediacy and elegance that’s hard to beat. But artful content, too. Instagram allows you to create visual stories with an artfulness and elegance and a special kind of gravitas that’s

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Samsung Bans Competitor Logos at Sochi: Legit or Ludicrous?

Olympics sponsor Samsung reportedly gifted Galaxy Note 3 smartphones to Sochi athletes, but with a serious string attached, Slashgear reports: Athletes were banned from using any other mobile device during the opening ceremonies. Or, if they did use them, they were required to physically cover up any competitor logo so it wouldn’t accidentally be caught on camera during the televised ceremony. As an official Sochi sponsor, Samsung is technically within its rights (and Olympic rules) to request the ban. But in our social-sharing, tech-savvy world, the question becomes more nuanced: Has that kind of model been disrupted? Is that kind of ban reasonable? Or does it make a company look authoritarian and hopelessly old-school? All athletes, coaches, and other Olympics officials have long been required to abide by what’s known as Rule 40 of the Olympic charter, as enforced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Rule 40 forbids athletes from

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New Year, New You: 3 Things Every Marketer Should Be Doing in 2014

Last week, my MarketingProfs colleague Corey O’Loughlin and I gave a talk on what content-savvy marketers can do in this new year to impress their boss, get ahead of the curve, and tighten their bottom (line). January is, of course, a time of reset and renewal and 2014 resolutions: a time to re-examine your goals, reconsider your tactics, and refocus your content marketing and social media efforts. (January 17th is also the National Ditch Your New Year’s Resolutions Day. But that’s not you, is it? You’re better than that.) The set up was this: Your boss has a vision for what’s important in 2014. (That was me.) You need the tactics to make that happen. (That was Corey.) Together, we delivered ideas you can use to get your content marketing plans in shape and give your social media strategy a makeover. And, for the record, the throwback ’80s fitness photo

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TED Goes Corporate, Best Buy vs. Steve Garfield, a Saddleback Spat: #BMTPPT 3 [Video]

TED launches a pilot project for corporations to produce their own TED events; Tim gets cranky and disagrees with me on Saddleback’s latest video; we call the best PSA of the 2014 (thus far!); and name your best resource for audio/visual help. (Hint: It might be your local Best Buy, but it’s not mine.) All that and more is in this week’s episode of Better Marriage Through PowerPoint (BMTPPT), a weekly YouTube show featuring Tim Washer and me. Check it out: Show notes: 1. The TEDification of corporate events. TED last summer launched pilot programs to produce corporate TED events with corporations — specifically, State Street Bank, Boston Consulting Group, and Intel. Most recently, State Street hosted TED@StateStreet, when about 350 employees met at Boston’s Revere Hotel, where the stage had been set to look like an actual TED conference. TED plans to extend this new service to more businesses, which

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That Funny Saddleback Bag Video: Two Big Things to Love About It and One Thing That Would’ve Made It Even Better

Saddleback Leather Company a few days ago released a snarky “how to” video to reveal shortcuts and tricks to help knock-off manufacturers bypass quality, skimp on materials, and produce a richly inferior product — specifically, the Saddleback briefcase, which starts at $568. There’s so much to love about this funny 12-minute video featuring CEO and founder Dave Munson. But it could use an improvement that would help both this effort and any company looking to create memorable content. The video is a little long, but it’s worth watching: First, let’s talk about what’s excellent: It’s useful, inspired by real data, and it’s hilarious. It’s a brilliant concept: “targeting” counterfeiters while telling a bigger story of what your brand stands for. “If you want to make money knocking off my bag, you’re going to want to know about these materials here.” —Dave Munson First Thing to Love: Flipping “How-To” On Its

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Joint Effort: Why Ben & Jerry’s Won Social Media Last Week

Last week, Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. And Ben & Jerry‘s brilliantly tweeted this on Thursday, January 2: BREAKING NEWS: We're hearing reports of stores selling out of Ben & Jerry's in Colorado. What's up with that? pic.twitter.com/zBs8nyxZWn — Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) January 2, 2014 The tweet has been retweeted 9,584 times and favorited 5,750 times, to date. There are either a lot of stoners on Twitter, or it’s a great example of how to be engaging on social platforms. Or maybe both. “We didn’t plan to jump on Colorado’s news, but the idea came up during a meeting and we thought it was very funny,” says Mike Hayes, who handles social media for Ben & Jerry’s, based in Burlington, Vermont. “Because of the team we’ve developed here at Ben & Jerry’s over the last year, we were able to execute it within a few hours.” It’s not just that

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Justine Sacco: When Bad Gets Ugly

So now the news of Justine Sacco’s moronic tweet heard round the world is well-documented: The top PR person for InterActive Corp. (but otherwise unknown) Sacco stupidly tweets an offensive update (now deleted): “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white! —Justine Sacco (@JustineSacco) December 20, 2013” Her employer, IAC—a New York media company that owns the Daily Beast, Vimeo, CollegeHumor, About.com, Match.com and Ask.com, among others—issues a preemptive statement distancing themselves from her: “This is an outrageous, offensive comment that does not reflect the views and values of IAC,” the company said. “This is a very serious matter and we are taking appropriate action.” Sacco was on a long, apparently Wi-Fi-free British Airways flight from London to South Africa. And in the 11 hours it took for her to arrive, a kind of Twitter mob formed—mocking her, condemning her, threatening violence, and looting her other

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The Funniest Mobile App Update: From Boring to Breakthrough Content

I’m writing this post because TalkTo updated its app yesterday and it made me laugh out loud. Yes, you read that right: I’m calling out a mobile update as inspired content, because it’s just that good. TalkTo has taken the notion of a pedestrian smartphone update to a new level: Creating compelling content in a place most othersoverlook or completely ignore. It reminds me of the way my grandmother could root out a potato from under the sink and toss it into a pot with a handful of leftovers and create something magical: What others overlook can often be an opportunity to surprise—in business and… uh… at dinner! I talk about this a lot as relates to content: While other companies might do a fantastic job creating over-the-top experiences for their customers, those over-the-top experiences often require big budgets, big teams, big resources; but plenty of opportunities exist for smaller

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