Screw You Recession: Using Social Media With Brands -- Virgin Mobile
Labels: blogging, brand building, Connection, Consumers, Content, Marketing, Mood Meter, social media, Twitter
Traditional brands have had a hard time figuring out social media. They are used to old marketing models where they keep firm control of the message.
Create a brand phrase or concept and then repeat it millions of time on whatever media platforms, getting as much exposure as possible. The adage "If they say it often enough, it must be true" has been the prevailing wisdom for decades. The hoped-for by-product? "Gosh, if they are willing to spend so much money to tell me something about their product, it must be true...so I'll buy it."
All the traditional ad markets have softened: TV, newspapers, radio, magazines. And the projections for the next few years look tough.
For decades, consumers have been sold, pitched, cajoled, and almost guilted in buying products through the magic of marketing and advertising.
Why are the ad markets hurting? Psychologically, making a purchase satisfies many possible things: taking care of a need; a want; a desire; or for preventing something they fear. That is no different today than from previous generations. Traditional media still "sells" needs, wants, desire and fear-fixers.
It's just that today's consumers want more than simply being told to buy something before they make a purchase.
They want to engage.
They want to hear from other consumers to validate their own thinking about the brand choice.
They want their own voice heard.
So far, traditional brand marketing has been slow and inconsistent in its success using social (or user-generated) media for marketing.
Remember the user-generated Dorito's Super Bowl TV ads?
What about the GM's Chevy Tahoe SUV ad contest?
Just in the last few weeks, Skittles set the Twitterverse afire by changing their main brand homepage to their Twitter profile, then to their Facebook profile. To help their customers "Interweb the rainbow", users create custom "garageband-like" audio themes using various Skittles audio clips. What did it get them? Lots of social media hype, more than 630,000 Facebook friends (M&M's Facebook site only has 25,000 fans)...and an increase of their web traffic by more than 1,325% the first day it launched the campaign.
So can a brand do well by saying "Screw You, Recession"? One is trying...and using social media to do it.
Here's a site blending social media merged with an established brand. Go to ScrewTheRecession.ca/ and it comes from the new thinkers over at Virgin. Virgin tends to embrace marketing experiments; I think it's worthwhile to check it out. Tying in recession concerns with younger people, it's a blog with a heavy user comment section, simple Virgin Mobile advertising and various topics sections on money, living, fashion, going out, tech and more. Plus they Twitter and Facebook it tying it together.
The impact: How can you (the consumer) screw the recession? You need your cellphone. Screw the recession by using a Virgin Mobile cellphone.
They've done some cool research through the site on their users.
As reported this week in Virgin Mobile press release of their JD Power study:
The only thing they miss is not tying it into their Virgin Radio sites. It's a natural partner.
"Virgin Mobile Canada has created a mood meter that ranges from "Everything Sucks Huge" (red) to "The Recession Ain't Getting Me Down" (green). The five-stage colourcoded system shows that – this week – young Canadians are on Yellow Alert ("Sorta' Freaking Out Right Now"), which means:
* Biting nails - 72% are anxious about their future
* Brand disloyalty - 41% have given up a brand they love
* Show me the value! - 52% are open to trying value brands
* Chic-onomics - 88% have changed their shopping habits
* Recessionistas - 42% are making "noticeable sacrifices"
* Unemployment - 42% fear being unemployed
* Politics - 57% say they don't believe a change in government would change anything
* The Simple Life - 75% want a simpler life.
The Mood Meter looks exclusively at the impact the recession is having on young people's (17-35s) lives, how they're feeling about the state of the economy and what the recession means to them. It's also a barometer of their thoughts and shopping habits, as well as their feelings on how brands are behaving. See Virgin Mobile’s www.screwyourecession.ca."
Cross-platform connection on contemporary consumer demands, needs, desires or fears...with the consumer front-and-centre contributing and sharing the content.
The audience (listeners/customers) are the drivers...all we in media have to do is provide the proper vehicles for them to get where they want to go and what they want right now.
That's how brand marketing can use social media to its advantage.
posted by Unknown @ Friday, March 20, 2009,
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Radio in the White House: Example of Radio Seizing Opportunity
Labels: Barack, community, Connection, Hot 99.5, Kane, Obama, Opportunity, Radio, Robert Gibbs, White House
Yesterday, we posted on how radio needs to listen more to its fans and give them what they need and want. The need to grow interaction opportunities. To be opportunistic.
Well, a station just did an excellent job doing exactly that. When it was reported earlier this week that Barack Obama didn't even own a radio (not exactly sure how that is even possible in today's world where radios are naturally part of several common products), radio station WIHT (the top-notch station Hot 99.5) came to the rescue, delivering several different kinds of radios, including an iPod with a radio adapter, a new HD Radio device, a new iPhone with ClearChannel "iheartradio" streaming app, and even a traditional counter-top radio.
Hot 99.5FM's morning man is Kane. Kane, you've done it again. Kudos for another outstanding example of reacting to news and turning it into a major opportunity to connect with your audience!
As reported by Radio and Records's Kevin Carter (hey, that's two straight days of referencing you, buddy...good work!):A few days ago, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs casually remarked that he didn’t own a radio ... which immediately opened up a whole world of promotional opportunities for certain enterprising radio types who generously wanted to help remedy Gibbs’ dire situation — with full brass-band press coverage, of course.
Yesterday afternoon, it was WIHT (Hot 99.5)/Washington morning personality Kane to the rescue! With the help of Clear Channel Communications Queen Lisa Dollinger, Kane organized a motorcade to the White House to personally deliver to Gibbs an assortment of gadgets and doohickeys that pick up radio signals, including an iPod with radio adapter, HD Radio and Clear Channel’s iheartradio app for the iPhone. Before the motorcade departed, Kane explained his bold actions: “Radio played a crucial role in getting Mr. Gibbs his current job. The Obama campaign outspent all others on radio and ran more ads than any other campaign. And while we realize that government salaries don’t always match those in the private sector, Clear Channel Radio believes that’s no reason to be without the most ubiquitous form of media in the country.”
Kane was one of several alert media types, including Ann Compton of ABC Radio News and WTOP/Washington’s Mark Plotkin, who were able to evade the Secret Service long enough to deliver their radios to Gibbs.
posted by Unknown @ Friday, March 06, 2009,
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Radiohead To Give Away New Album; Major Labels Freak Out
Labels: Being digital, Connection, Content, Control, Convenience, Corporate, Digital media, downloads, mainstream media, New Media, New music, Radiohead
The digital age causes headaches for all traditional media companies trying to hold onto their business models. They like the control of their content which they distribute through their owned connections to their consumers at the prices they decide, all at the media company's convenience.
Control, Content, Connection, Convenience -- the consumer battle over the four C's which the Jointblog and Joint Communications has referred to for years.
The digital age reverses these rules.
In the digital age, it is the consumer making the decisions.
The consumer decides the content they want -- how, when, were and even if it is consumed.
The consumer decides the price they want -- if they don't like the price, they find it for less (or for free) somewhere online.
The consumer decides -- at their own convenience -- what matters and what doesn't.
It is the consumer that is in control.
Now, there's news a major recording act -- considered by many fans and music critics to be among the best bands in the world over the last decade -- is offering their brand new album for free download. And the consumer can choose how much they want to pay for it, if they want to even pay anything at all.
The band: Radiohead.
It's an unusual -- but brilliant -- step to tell fans that they can pay as much or as little as they like for the band's new album "In Rainbows". In essence, they are telling their fans "it's up to you" what they pay to digitally download the album.
And they make it easy, without ripping anyone off or wasting anyone's time forcing them to watch an embedded commercial the consumer doesn't want to see.
As The Telegraph reports:Radiohead is free to sell its album directly from its official website because it is no longer tied to a record label. So far the album is only available to pre-order from the website, where it can be downloaded on release on October 10.
What exactly does this get Radiohead, since it doesn't guarantee revenue or profits?
While loyal fans are likely to want to pay the band something, customers could opt to pay as little (as) the credit card handling fee.
Credibility.
And it strikes a blow against corporate dominance.
It makes Radiohead fans love the band more.
And, my bet is plenty of fans will pay comparable fair value for a new CD anyway...because they know what is fair and what isn't.
Mainstream Media, are you listening?
Do you hear the rules changing?
posted by Unknown @ Monday, October 01, 2007,
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