The best thing about life is people...family, friends, loved ones. But, very often, people who cross your path for but a moment. Today brought one of those encounters. I took a cab this morning to an appointment. I've taken tons of cabs - in plenty of cities - and this day was no different. But, the cab driver - the person was. In conversation, I asked him how long he would be out driving. It's a good question to ask cabbies. He told me "5 am tomorrow morning". This was at 9am! He went on to tell me about how he works an average of 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for 8 months a year. Sometimes going for 20+ hours at a time. That's crazy. But, he then takes 4 months off in a row - June through September. This coming year he'll go to Paris, Greece, Albania, Vancouver and all over Californai. Not a bad summer vacation! It certainly made me think...here's a guy who puts everything out there for 8 months then enjoys the fruits of his labor for 4. Not sure I could do that but an interesting life - and an interesting person.

With all of the focus in the past few weeks on the brave men and women of our U.S. Military and the particular interest in the Navy SEALs, I'm reminded of a story I heard some time ago...

The Navy's flight demonstration team, The Blue Angels, is made up of some of the best pilots in the world.  Their amazing maneuvers, performed at speeds nearly twice the speed of sound, entertain millions throughout the year.  And, amazingly, their wings are sometimes as close as 18 inches to the next plane. Blue Angels pilots train year round, six days a week to prepare and master their craft.

One tradition of the Blue Angels pilots is to begin and end each debriefing session by stating, "I'm glad to be here.".  Simple, effective.  That phrase highlights a simple appreciation for their job and recognizes the intense effort and dedication that each Blue Angels pilot brings with him each day.

"I'm glad to be here."

Do you bring that same commitment and dedication each day?  Are you able to say that in your job?  Can you appreciate the work, the focus and commitment required to be successful and, in fact, be "glad to be here"?

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No one disputes that social media is a phenomenon that is here to stay – Twitter has more than 105 million active users and is adding 370,000 new accounts per day, 70 million plus use LinkedIn for business networking and the biggest of all, Facebook, boasts more than half a billion members…If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s fourth largest.

Naturally, brands are eager to connect with their customers via social media and extend their marketing reach and message.  One very effective way to do this is promotions: sweepstakes, instant win games and contests.  Historically companies would run a promotion (enter to win, send a postcard, mail in a label) in order to acquire customers’ mailing addresses; followed shortly by programs designed to capture phone numbers.  Fifteen years ago, email addresses became the goal. 

Now, the game has changed completely – ‘Likes’, ‘Followers’ and ‘Engagement’ are the new acquisition.  Perhaps most importantly, the biggest change is the immediate ability for the consumer to communicate back with the brand and out to their network of friends and coworkers.  This “Viral Loop” is the outward expanding spiral of influence that occurs within the social media space.  Similar to word-of-mouth influence, the viral loop is a trackable spiral that works out from individuals through their networks, reinforcing and growing larger at every step.  The viral loop moves out from the initial media through additional outlets and social networks, especially if you provide the tools to make it easy for the distribution.

Traditional Marketing Practices Still Apply

These new environments have created exciting new applications for age-old marketing tools.  Sweepstakes (either traditional or digital/social media) are acquisition plays – designed to get the most number of people registered and into a database.  Instant win games provide more immediate gratification and get consumers back day after day to interact with your brand.  User-generated content contests allow customers to create and contribute content and establish a deeper connection while loyalty programs build relationships over time.  Finally, couponing and sampling programs are still effective tools to drive trial and sales.

It is the smart companies, brands and agencies that understand both the value of established business practices and how to apply them in the ever-evolving social media era. 

Expanding the Viral Loop

Social media has caused media to segment into three distinct pieces -  Paid Media, or the advertising you buy to create the initial push to your promotion; Owned Media - the content that you as a brand create and distribute;  And  Earned Media- the media that is created by the distribution of your content and the conversation that happens around your content or brand by participants and fans as part of the Viral Loop.  Creating tools that help extend your messaging by making it easy for people to share the promotional experience is a key component to the success of any campaign or promotion and the ability to track the spread and penetration of the sharing will increase the amount of earned media.  

As social media enables targeting of niche audiences, relevance is more important than ever.  Gone are the days of trying to be everything to everyone.  For a promotion to be successful, it must be targeted to a specific audience and this targeting needs to flow through the messaging, to the prizes or offer and through to the Viral Loop.

Compliance Still Matters

Finally, compliance and regulatory issues still must be considered.  The ins and outs of contest law can be tricky waters to navigate and the added obstacles of working within specific networks’ Terms and Conditions only amplifies this challenge.  For example, Facebook has specific guidelines for certain types of products (you can’t give away dairy items), marketing to certain people (you cannot market to anyone under 13) and utilizing their technology (you can’t use Facebook’s native applications to enter a promotion…instead you must use a third-party application to facilitate the promotion or contest).  Further, since November of last year, Facebook has required written permission before running a promotion on their site…very often this includes a minimum media spend.

Promotions and contests continue to be incredibly effective tools for engaging customers and extending your brand.  As companies focus more and more on ROI and measureable data, a well executed social media promotion can deliver proven results and give consumers the power to extend your messaging, become brand advocates and generate higher returns than ‘traditional’ online campaigns.

A full presentation, including relevant case studies, can be found here:

I’ve thought recently about an experience I had several years ago.  The company I was working for had been acquired by another.  The former company was a good place to work – good people, good environment and a company that took pride in having the latest equipment and the latest technology; while they were far from free spending, there were no shortage of resources and things were comfortable. 

The acquiring company, on the other hand, prided itself on efficiency and frugality; even being referred to by some in the industry as “cheap”.  They highlighted the fact that their equipment was old and used and sometimes held together with duct tape.  I distinctly remember the Market Manager standing in front of all of us, during his introductory speech, and presenting their philosophy – pointing out specifically that executives in the company always flew coach.

However, in spite of their ‘cheap’ moniker, they invested in marketing…they spent money to promote their brands and gain customers, they didn’t need the newest, flashiest things (or First Class accommodations for their execs) but preferred to invest wisely in fundamentally sound business needs.  And, that was the difference between the two companies: one which focused on the now and one which invested in the future.

(Incidentally, one is still around – the largest in their industry by the way while the other - the company that was acquired - is no longer around.  Hmmm.) 

It’s a lesson that’s never left me…invest in the right thing and focus on what’s important.  (Although I still aspire to fly First Class!)

Or, How Not to Manage Your E-Mail Marketing program, AT&T...

I, like many iPhone owners, have a love/hate relationship with AT&T.  I admit that the coverage has gotten slightly better over the past year (only 3-5 dropped calls a week vs. 3-5 A DAY two years ago).  And, in general, better data reception. 

But, here's how to lose me as a subscriber to your e-mails...send me THREE E-MAILS in ONE DAY telling me about new store openings in Michigan, Illinois and Missouri.  Being on the East Coast and living in Philadelphia, here's a surprise: I have no need to know about them!  Frankly, I would have unsubscribed if they were all within an hour of my house but REALLY...3 stores in the midwest?  #attfail.

 

I must admit, there's a bit of tarnish on the Apple for me these days. Like many, I'm a huge fan of their products.  To date I still own or have purchased:

- iPod 2nd Gen

- iPod Photo

- Powerbook G4

- iPod Nano (as a gift)

- iPod Shuffle (2 of them, actually)

- Apple TV (yes, even Apple TV)

- 4 years of Mobile Me subscription

iMac computer

-iPhone 3G

iPhone 3G (wife's)

- iPhone 4 (mine)

-iPhone 4 (wife's)

- Not to mention countless #s of songs, albums, movies, shows and various other iTunes offerings

 

In short, I've spent a good bit of money...again, as many have. Which is why it's so disappointing to see the company appear more and more propaganda-like.  The whole Gizmodo kerfuffle - actually involving the police to knock someone's door down and now with this page:

http://www.apple.com/antenna/

making it seem that EVERYBODY has these same antenna problems.  In addition to the gadget listed above, I've owned lots of phones - including 2 Palms, 2 BlackBerries and now 2 iPhones...and I've NEVER been able to reduce or eliminate my signal simply by holding it with my left hand.  Not even close.  So, for Jobs and company to tell me that I'M crazy...that it's not a big deal and it happens to everyone is simply a lie.

That said, I'm not giving my iPhone 4 back.  I could, I suppose...I could make a stand (not that they would notice among the 3 million phones sold in 3 weeks!) but I really wouldn't win.  See, I'm kinda stuck in the Apple universe...all of my music, apps, TV, photos, videos, etc. etc., etc. works so well within the eco-system I currently have.  So, I have no choice but to suck it up, get that free bumper case and "try not to hold it in that way".

It's just disappointing to see a good company handle things so poorly.

So, admittedly I've never been much of a blogger.  It's not the discipline, as I think I'm a pretty focused person...and, it's not that I don't have opinions because I certainly do. And, I've always thorougly enjoyed writing...even going so far as to write the great American novel.  (So, OK, maybe 'write' and 'great' are words that are too strong!).

It's just that I've never gone in whole hog and created a blog although I have done some postings for my company, Realtime Media here.  That said, I think it's time to start.  There's lots to talk about in my chosen field of Promotions and Marketing...and, no shortage of emerging and evolving platforms.  I'm still going to focus most of my efforts on Realtime Media and providing content that is relevant to our customers and clients.  BUT, it'll be good to have an outlet to vent about anything unrelated, trash talk sports and in general discuss things that interest me.

Heck, I could even complain about how it took nearly 6 hours to update to iOS 4 last night.  But, who really wants to hear about that?

Anyway, I guess I'm now blogging...but not sure that makes me a 'blogger'.  Guess we'll find out...

Before you think I'm trashing Foursquare, let me admit that I'm an avid user.  I'm not even sure why I feel compelled to tell people (most of whom I've never met) where I am at any given moment...but, I do.  I'll check in while getting coffee in the morning, while in the office, while travelling on sales calls and even while picking up food at the neighborhood pizza place.  I'm the proud holder of 11 badges and I'm the 'mayor' of 9 places.  If you don't know what this means, you can find my profile and more info here. 

Foursquare is basically an LBS (Location Based Service) where people "check in" and it allows you to follow other friends' check-ins.  You can discover new places and provide recommendations to others.  Smart businessses have jumped on board and are delivering mobile coupons or offering incentives.  PYT Philly in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia has offered free pints to the current 'Mayor' or free food just for checking in.  Pretty cool stuff and I love the business model.  This whole space is definitely worth paying attention to.

I've been reading a bunch of hubbub about how Foursqure is not transparent and there is no checks and balances...i.e. anyone can 'check in' whether they're actually at a place or not.  Here's a great blog about it from KrazyDad.com. 

To all of this I say, "Who Cares?"  It's a game, people.  And, it's not even real.  Who cares if Foursquare must be totally based on the honor system?  There's nothing to win, no cost to enter and nothing gained.  The 'mayorships', the badges...all meaningless really.  Let's just all have fun and go with it.

Which brings me to a great post my collegue, Kim, did yesterday about rules.  In some cases it matters...when there is a win state, where there are real prizes in play...when there is a cost to enter then yes, yes, yes be compliant and transparent.  If something is at stake, we always recommend all of the due dilligence necessary to stay on the right side of the law. 

However, Foursquare does not fit in this category...just 'check in', get your free pint and enjoy!