Social Media

What Does the Fox Say? B2B Companies Need Visual Style

As storytelling becomes more and more part of marketing, another trend has emerged: Brands have become more visual. In the business-to-business space, this means companies are loosening up a bit, producing content with a greater emphasis on visual style and design and with a more compelling visual storyline. That’s happening on visual platforms like Pinterest and Instagram and in social media, of course — Ekaterina Walter and DunkinDonuts’ Jessica Giglio have a book coming out in March about that. But it’s also happening with the tried and true tactics like ebooks. My friend Lee Odden at TopRank Marketing has become a master at incorporating a compelling visual theme (two great examples are here and here); so has Doug Kessler at Velocity Partners. Working with Scorch, Jason Miller at LinkedIn recently produced an e-book featuring some of its marketing influencers (including me) as portly snowmen and women. People like pictures, as […]

What Does the Fox Say? B2B Companies Need Visual Style Read More »

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Justine Sacco: When Bad Gets Ugly Read More »

WestJet Christmas Not a Miracle, but a Mindset to Adopt in 2014 #BMTPPT [New Video Series]

What can marketers learn from the WestJet Christmas Miracle video? How can you coax buttoned-up executives to get on board with some playful improv? What’s it mean to give “generous content gifts”? In a special holiday edition of our new show – Better Marriage Through PowerPoint – Tim Washer and I discuss all this and more: A few show highlights follow. 1. A Heartwarming Story Paired With Powerful Brand Storytelling WestJet won Christmas this year, at least from a marketing perspective. WestJet’s Christmas Miracle video — wherein a purple-clad Santa stuns an airplane full of passengers by making their wishes come true — has attracted more than 23 million views on YouTube and plenty of social media love for the small Calgary-based airline. (Had you heard of WestJet before last week? I hadn’t.) Most importantly, the video is completely on-brand with the airline’s bigger story of a fun, friendly, caring

WestJet Christmas Not a Miracle, but a Mindset to Adopt in 2014 #BMTPPT [New Video Series] Read More »

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

The Funniest Mobile App Update: From Boring to Breakthrough Content Read More »

Marketing Needs a Built-in, Shockproof, Sh*t Detector

The subtitle of this post is: “What QR Codes Kill Kittens really communicates.” Because: “The most essential gift for a good marketer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector.” Hemingway is the author of that quote, although he said “writer” instead of “marketer.” But I think it applies equally well to marketing, because we have a responsibility to serve our customers first, and not our CEOs or bosses or clients. We need to call them on their shit, in other words. But hold up: Those are the people who sign our paychecks. The buck stops literally with them. Who are we to argue? Actually, we have every right. And a kind of duty. Why: For a business to be successful, your customers have to love your products, certainly. And for marketing to do its job, you have to make your customers love your marketing, too. Eww. Who loves being marketed to?

Marketing Needs a Built-in, Shockproof, Sh*t Detector Read More »

9 Qualities of Good Writing

👉 👉 👉  New newsletter! Get a letter from me to you in your inbox, every two weeks! Sign up for free right here. There are two kinds of people: Those who think they can write, and those who think they can’t. And, very often, both are wrong. The truth is, most of us fall somewhere in the middle. We are all capable of producing good writing. Or, at least, better writing. Why does good writing matter? Isn’t the best content marketing very often something short, snappy, and non-text? Like Skype’s Born Friends video, Lowe’s Vines, or Chipotle’s haunting video commentary? Sometimes, yes. But here I’m not just talking about content in a marketing context. I’m talking about content, period. Text is the backbone of the Web, and it’s often the backbone of any content you watch or listen to, as well. That Born Friends video started with a story

9 Qualities of Good Writing Read More »