Gotta catch 'em all

Netflix have learnt the hard way that social media can’t be a last minute consideration when it comes to a rebrand. Marketing has to be fully integrated with social media planning. On demand video service Netflix struck upon the name Qwikster for its DVD side of the business, you can find its official web holding page here. While the company may have managed to secure that prime piece of web real estate, it appears it was a little tardy in bagging relevant branded social media estates. Twitter was where it all came unstuck.

I urge you to visit the Twitter profile of Jason Castillo or @Qwikster as he is better known; Jason has an enviable way with words, a love of weed and an aversion to wasps. And he’s not beyond talking about the offers he has begun receiving from Netflix’s rapidly mobilising marketing dept to try and secure his Twitter handle (however, these references to money have been deleted from his account in the last 24 hours, it appears he doesn’t want to kill the goose that could lay some golden eggs.)

Dayum $1,000!

Jason has seen his follower count increase from the tens to more than 11k in just two days. This is high profile embarrassment for Netflix, more media attention is now on this social media faux pas and the expletives being pumped out from the @Qwikster profile than in the new service. The company’s online reputation had taken a knock on Sunday about the way it communicated its service update to customers, as seen in this apology from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

The reality is that the Jason Castillo incident could have been avoided.

If you’re a brand manager you simply have to remember that old Pokémon adage – ‘Gotta catch ‘em all.’

It’s a fine art, coming up with an original name and idea, but the proliferation of social media and the fact that anyone can own potentially valuable online real estate without out-laying cash means that brands are ever more likely to run into these clashes between the general public and their brand aspirations. Google +’s Huddle feature is another example of a big company (that really should know better) not researching new branding sufficiently.

The key learning?

Bag your brand handle and do your research. You can social media estate sense-check campaign and brand names via sites like Name Chk BEFORE an announcement or making your web site live. Prevention is better than cure, after all your online reputation is at stake.

Finally, you can’t Pikachus your social media estates after the fact, sorry, I had to put that in there.

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Those looking to ensure staff are equipped to represent their brand across social media platforms could do worse than learn from some of history’s most famous and infamous historical figures. So what can your social media training learn from the past?

“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Don’t take others at face value - Fake news stories spread like wildfire, especially on Twitter, from the reported death of Charlie Sheen to Rebecca Black’s pregnancy. Even seasoned journalists and media publications have been caught out by news that originated online without any facts behind to back it up. Even today, news that Madeline McCann has been found is a trending topic on Twitter, yet no news outlet has officially confirmed these reports at the time of writing this blog. Neville Chamberlain was easily swayed by a mixture of gullibility and persuasive argument from Hitler in Munich in September 1938. In short corroborate your news from a viable site prior to a blog, retweet or wall post. It pays to be vigilant and accurate rather than timely in many cases. It’s great to break some news early to fans and followers, but not at the cost of your brand integrity.

Wit and personality goes a long way – Brands looking to develop a voice and persona of their own, especially in a busy marketplace, should look to Oscar Wilde.  His belief that; ‘Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.’ should not be taken lightly, there are many brands on Facebook and Twitter who are happy to go along with the crowd and not distinguish themselves from the competition for fear of controversy. However, people are far more likely to retweet or share something that they find amusing or useful; this could range from the bizarre Skittles profile to the erudite and compelling Dr Samuel Johnson. However, Oscar’s theory that ‘It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information’ may now be somewhat redundant.

Controlled controversy - Kenneth Tynan made a name for himself as an outspoken theatre critic and writer, oh and the first man to say ‘fuck’ on television. Link baiting or controversy has a role to play in certain aspects of social media activity in order to excite debate and encourage shareability of branded content and messaging. On 13 November 1965, Tynan participated in a live TV debate and was asked whether he would allow a play to be staged in which sexual intercourse was represented on the stage, and replied: “Well, I think so, certainly. I doubt if there are any rational people to whom the word ‘fuck’ would be particularly diabolical, revolting or totally forbidden. I think that anything which can be printed or said can also be seen.” Critics later stated that Tynan’s use of the word was a “masterpiece of calculated self-publicity,” adding “for a time it made him the most notorious man in the country.” Notoriety is not always desired by brands, but publicity and the guts to say something out of the ordinary and that your competitors are afraid to, cannot be underestimated in terms of creating widespread brand awareness. Tynan was always one for breaking down linguistic inhibitions on the stage and in print and I’m positive that if he was still alive he would be confounding expectations on Twitter.

In the next part of the ‘Lessons from History’ series I’ll be delving into the training tips that can be gleaned from the lives of some recommended historical characters. Thanks to @photogirluk @Elle_Emmm @Carrot79 @nickhide @lesanto @Shinybiscuit for their input! Also please feel free to recommend your own historical characters who we could learn a few social media tips from.

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Way back in 2005 Arianna Huffington set up a small left wing blog on a ‘shoestring’ budget while AOL was part of the world’s fourth largest corporation, AOL Time Warner. Arianna’s blog quickly became on online sensation with a high ranking and growing unique visitors. While things were riding high for Arianna and her team at the Huffington Post, things weren’t so rosy for AOL. Its merger with Time Warner, which still sets records as the world’s biggest business merger, started to crumble and finally dissolved in 2009. Now the two online giants have announced they are joining forces in a whopping $315 million deal, creating a new media force to be reckoned with – ‘The Huffington Post Media Group’.

All of the sites AOL currently owns will fall under the newly created media group and will be headed up by Arianna Huffington herself, including Engadget, TechCrunch and PopEater. According to Tim Armstrong, chairman and CEO of AOL “the acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers.”

AOL’s reputation isn’t great right now. Following the failed Time Warner merger, AOL appears to be grabbing at every opportunity and piggybacking off something successful and unique to boost its own reputation and business. But, the merger could also be looked at as a good strategic move by teaming with a blog with firm political and editorial values. This could give AOL an identity – something it seems to have lost along the way.

So what does all this mean?  Is this the start of a new media contender, happy to take on the larger,  more traditional media conglomerates? Or will the merger suffer the same fate as AOL’s previous high profile business partnership? With the shrewd Arianna at the helm, this blogger is leaning towards the former. One thing is for certain, the deal has got us all talking and perhaps Mr Murdoch looking nervously over his shoulder. AOL is a trending topic on Twitter at the time of writing and opinion is split.

Related articles

• AOL buys Huffington Post: reaction (telegraph.co.uk)
• AOL to pay $315 million for Huffington Post – USA Today (news.google.com)

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We’re very pleased to let you know that at last night’s Reputation Online awards immediate future and Sony Europe picked up the ‘Best use of online media/blogger relations’ gong for 2009’s Twilight Football campaign.

It’s a just reward for the team that worked on the seven month campaign, taking a small nub of an idea (to hold seven football matches in seven stunning locations at twilight) and putting together a coherent social media strategy that would ensure that the end results far outstripped the initial investment.

If you’re not familiar with Twilight Football, you can read more about it in the case study on our website. What the case study doesn’t give you a flavour of though, is the amount of effort that the Sony Europe PR team and team at immediate future put into the campaign.

Anyone who has worked in PR/marketing/advertising will be no stranger to long nights and early starts, and at times Twilight Football was no exception to this. Managing multiple campaign strands at a time, dealing with over a hundred different competition winners, bloggers and players, live tweeting from games around the clock – all these things were managed with aplomb and dedication.

So, big shout outs to client lead Aisling McCarthy (if you meet her, ask about the lion costume), Mark Wyatt and Jonny Stark on the immediate future side. Similarly, Ruth Speakman, Silke Schild and Rachel Batchelor from Sony Europe. We wouldn’t have won it without you!

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I was casting my eye over the Facebook Places logo this morning, yes I know I have no life, and noticed something a little odd. Under the pink marker there is definitely a number 4 inside a square. Go on have a look yourself.

Facebook/Foursquare

Now this could be a mere coincidence or one of the following:

a) Mark Zuckerburg showing the middle finger to the current/former rulers of the geo location market

b) Mark Zuckerburg joking around with his users and the media in general

c) Mark Zuckerburg revealing that he is behind Foursquare as well as the most popular social network on the planet

Or, depending how you look at it, that could be an oblong and not a square. Anyway something for you to think about over your cornflakes.

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So I probably should have got round to writing this last week, but seeing as I’m STILL mentioning Social Media Influence in about 90% of my conversations, I’ve decided it does warrant a post.

Image via Wikipedia

Social Media Influence 2010 was held at London’s Marriott Hotel on June 22^nd. An all day conference, it was interesting because, for the most part, it wasn’t simply a lot of people saying ‘isn’t social media great?’ (although there was some of that.) We know social media is great, we wouldn’t be here otherwise. There was some real insight from global brands such as Starbucks, Pepsico and Dell, alongside discussion panels and Q&A sessions.

The main thing that I took away from the day was that brands and agencies need to be prepared to take risks. Social media is new; the rules haven’t been defined so it’s not always about following the tried and tested. Think big, think new: most of the time your ambition will be respected, even if the results aren’t what you hoped for. Starbucks in the States has built a reputation for being one of the most forward thinking brands globally – they’ve pioneered mayor offers and badges on foursquare, organised a global sing-along on YouTube and built a massive community along the way. How many sales have they generated directly from social media? (This was a question on the day). They’re not sure, but at this level of exposure, it’s not really the point: the intangible brand value of being seen as an innovator is huge.

Having the support to take risks in social media comes from making the tools, platforms and activities an integral part of all of your activity. Stakeholders love the immediacy of social media interaction and (sometimes) the results. Pepsico has tapped into this by creating a social media war room – a physical bank of computers and screens that sits in the middle of the office, providing live updates from its brands’ social media pages. Social media is THERE, in-your-face, the buzz of the activity clear for everyone to see. Check it out for yourself here. There are risks and implications in going down this route, but social media isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being good, and Pepsico are demonstrating that perfectly.

Ultimately, being bold and brave will bring rewards, but it might bring a little bit of egg on your face. It’s nothing to be afraid of; you’ll often learn more from an unsuccessful campaign than you will from an award winning one. Key phrase of the day? It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than to get permission. So what are you waiting for?

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This ash cloud has been quite a strain, my wife and baby are still stuck in Dubai five days after they were due to fly home. The good thing is that they are staying with friends and have a great support network.

What it has shown me is how great the internet really is. Searching for information on Twitter, airline websites with the latest information (sometimes), news sites with real time video and Skype to stay in touch and more has provided real peace of mind.

Let’s talk specifically about use of social media platforms to help deal with the crisis. Twitter has become the web user’s right hand. The way the platform is set up allows a number of really useful things. You can choose to follow everything from airports to sports personalities, each wrestling with the problem of the lack of air travel in their own way. I have put together a targeted list of some of my key sources for keeping up to date. It just takes a little time to search on the site.

With a mix of journalists and news sites as well as the likes of Jake Humhprey and the Formula1 teams struggling to get home from last weekend’s race in China, there is a lot of information out there to wade through. It gives real world insight into what might work for getting the family home and is building camaraderie online.

The next key feature of Twitter is the hash tag, a really useful way to gather conversations on the same topic together. You just need to make sure that you include the right one. It is also proving a great platform for people to help each other out. The #getmehome tag has been widely used and is enabling people to share rides across Europe. I have even seen organisations and companies – one is a car share organisation called Roadshare – that are using these tags to communicate out their services to people with a specific problem; clever.

What will be interesting is to see if there is any direct increase in Twitter users as a result of this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter does see a European surge on the back of Iceland’s latest contribution to the global economy – I know, an act of God.

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Everyone knows what press trips are about right? A chance to jet off to some sun-kissed location, get drunk with your journalist mates and generally avoid doing work for a few days. It’s all a big laugh. Well, no actually. Not always, anyway.

Especially not when the trip has eco-conscious thinking at its heart, as when I visited Sony’s Technology Centre in Stuttgart recently. We were there to get a closer look at the different ways a global technology manufacturer is ensuring that its activities display a real commitment to being eco conscious. It sounds dull, but it really wasn’t.

I spent the day at the Technology Centre, looking after a few of our contacts (Hi Cate, Maxim and Bonnie!) and also getting a chance to see firsthand some of the products and initiatives that we’ve been promoting on Sony’s behalf recently. One of the highlights of the day was definitely the semi-anechoic chambers where the teams of scientists check Sony products such as  BRAVIA TVs  to see what kind of emissions they make which could interfere with your neighbour’s radio. No interference in or out. No mobile signal. Lots of insulation. Very cool.

Not only that, but I also had some eye-opening experiences. Did you know, for example, that any product produced by a third party that includes Sony branding is pulled apart and tested for any potentially hazardous materials?

Obviously, it was a client trip so you know I’m not going to say anything negative, but it genuinely was extremely eye-opening, especially if you’re a bit of a geek like me. Dr Joachim and his team explained everything in layman’s terms that were easy to understand, even though this was only the second time they’ve opened their doors to journalists.

Goes to show that companies sometimes don’t know which of their assets could actually be a rich vein to tapped for PR purposes.

Check out some of the coverage from the attendees here:

Treehugger – http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/sony-bravia-3d.php

Gizmodo – http://www.gizmodo.de/2010/03/23/video-hinter-den-kulissen-sonys-forschungsabteilung.html

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This week I enjoyed ‘An Evening with Rufus Wainwright’ at Sadlers Wells in London. Watching the very unusual first half of the performance, I was mulling over the power of the performer, the generosity of the audience, the nature of being an expert and relationships. I know. High faluting stuff. It was that kind of show.

Why are these musings making it onto immediate future’s blog? The star, the performance and the audience illustrate perfectly a dynamic of the consultant/client relationship.

At the risk of quoting that yeast extract related cliché, Rufus Wainwright doesn’t appeal to everyone. But I think what is less contentious is his talent – he is often referred to as a ‘musical polymath’. Rufus is an expert; his fans know this. He regularly releases new material, stamped with his very particular style but still with the ability to surprise. He knows his stuff. He is consistently excellent, performing at a high level.

Sadlers Wells is a magnificent setting; we walked into the theatre ready to suspend our disbelief. As we sat down, an official appeared on stage. He read out a message to tell us the first act would be a ‘song cycle’ and that we were not to clap. The audience looked around at its companions to comment/laugh. Then we all obeyed!

There was total silence throughout the set. On came Rufus Wainwright, commanding the audience to just listen, and we did. It was just him, a piano and an extremely complicated set of lyrics and music. He took centre stage for a brave performance. We willed him to be successful. The trust circle was complete.

The interesting thing though is, that he fluffed it a couple of times. A couple of times in the first act and then maybe three times in the second act. As he tackled a particularly complex and pacey section of song with difficult key changes, he got it wrong and had to catch up with himself.

We had all paid our money and taken time out of our lives to travel across London to listen to this artist, who’d got it wrong. Yet nobody considered it a bad performance. The opposite in fact. People were commenting during the interval that ‘it made him human’, it ‘made the performance even better for not being absolutely perfect’.

What parallels do I draw from this? Firstly that clients are willing to take a leap of faith and trust us do a good job.

Secondly, if we deliver an excellent service, we will demonstrate that we are worthy of that faith.

And finally, if we are expert at our job and perform consistently at that high level, the occasional error will be tolerated. (Although I’m not sure a client would prize the fact it makes us human).

Essential to all of this of course is the real dedication to excellence. Anything less can quickly degenerate into complacency. Rufus doesn’t hold back from his performance and that commitment to being great is the life blood of a strong client/consultancy relationship.

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The latest volcanic eruption in Iceland has had a dramatic effect on many more millions of people than could have been imagined. As one person commented on Twitter this morning, interesting to see the hand of God can still command such control over us mere humans – or something like that.

It is a time like this that social media can really help stranded passengers and relatives waiting on news. Yet the airlines seem to be avoiding the channels there right in front of them. British Airways are Tweeting about the state of play and interestingly Heathrow Airport’s Twitter stream is also a good source of what little information there is right now.

How this plays out when there is no actual solution for people who are supposed to be in the air right now or have flights planned for the next few days is going to be interesting. Airlines, probably led by the aviation authorities, need to start managing customer expectations now. They have no control and have to wait on the National Air Traffic Service to open the skies again. Realistically there are unlikely to be flights into the UK in the next 48 hours and then how do the airlines manage the thousands of calls for people trying to get on flights? As I learnt in a previous life, news that there is no news and that the airline is doing all it can to solve passenger problems is better than no news at all.

The Twitter expert probably has a bit of an advantage, staying in touch with things through a series of feeds, managing both their own and their families’ expectations as to when they will be able to fly. Some suggested feeds are:

1. The Met Office – tracking the plume of ash and will provide NATS with the information it uses to decide to open UK airspace again
2. Heathrow Airport – for latest on the status on the ground at the airport
3. Aberdeen Airport – this airport should reopen before any other UK airports, so worth keeping an eye on its feed

Good luck to those trying to fly today and thoughts go out to the Icelanders feeling the full force of the eruption, no casualties reported, which is good news. As always better safe than sorry.

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