Author: Drew Neisser

More Free Stuff

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Having figured out that giving away product is not such a bad thing with their controversial Guns N Roses promotion, Dr. Pepper is at it again with a “stimulus package” for their diet soda (as reported by MediaPost):

At www.freedietdrpepper.com, consumers can be one of the first two million to register to receive a coupon for a free 2-liter or 20-ounce bottle of Diet Dr Pepper. Consumers can take advantage of the giveaway through March 31 or until coupons run out. The coupon can be redeemed wherever Diet Dr Pepper is sold through June 30.

Giving away stuff free may scare marketers who hate the notion of “giving it away” but let’s look at the balance sheet of this promotion.

On the cost side:

  • Building & hosting the website (under $50k unless it was part of deal with Yahoo)
  • Distributing up to 2 million coupons by mail (probably under $4 million)
  • Spreading the word (PR, online ads, tagged TV/radio they would have run anyway = <$2mm)
  • Cost per trial including product under $4 per
  • Cost per name captured assuming 33% opt-in rate of under $12 per

On the gain side:

  • Up to 2 million new customers to try your product at very low trial costs
  • Store traffic for your grateful retailers who probably sell other products during store visit
  • A database of up to 1 million “fans” who opted in and can be activated for future promotions very cheaply

Assuming my math is close, and please let me know if it isn’t, this is the kind of math most marketers will drink up.

How Twitter is Killing this Blog

Posted on by Drew Neisser

When I first started playing with Twitter a few months ago, it seemed like the biggest waste of time since the invention of Chia pets. I simply couldn’t understand why anyone would want to track the inane utterances of the geeky-inclined or could find the time to share their own “every little moment” with a flock of clearly under-worked followers. Boy was I wrong.

Like so many things in life, appreciation for something only arrives after diving in head first. Critics of Twitter are simply modern-day Windys who are “always window shopping but never stopping to buy.” And sure enough, after about a month of sitting on the sidelines, I jumped into the game and have been fascinated, entertained and enlightened by practically every spare minute I have given over to Twitter.

The only downside I can find is that relentless Twittering has just about killed this blog (which may or may not be such a bad thing!) While I might post 2-5 times a day on Twitter in a matter of seconds, posts here require significant time for research, writing and editing. But more importantly, I find myself reading a lot more and writing a lot less. Each good Twitter post one reads (and yes there is a lot of worthless tripe to sift through even if you are as ruthless as I am about who you follow) is like opening a door to a new room of knowledge. That new room requires careful study and inevitably opens up yet another train of thought worth pursuing. Further evidence that Jim Collins’ mentor was right when he said “it is more important to be interested than interesting.”

Just in the last few weeks, consider these outcomes as a result of tweeting:

  • Recruiting–I found two qualified candidates for a client by tweeting about a Social Media Director job opening. This effort was aided by the fact that my tweets are also automatically posted as updates on my Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo pages.
  • Preparing–Discovering that a prospective client was also a Twitterer, it was very easy to get up to speed on the key category influencers based on the folks the client followed. Time will tell if that insight will help close the sale but it sure won’t hurt.
  • Connecting–Finishing a good book on Social Media, I started to follow the author via Twitter. From there I was able to open a dialog with the author, which is almost unimaginable via blogging.
  • Breaking news–Moments after the US Air flight hit the Hudson, tweets directed me to live video feeds as well as the best news coverage and photos. While following this story as it broke wasn’t necessarily that important, it did open my eyes to the likelihood that there will be stories of extraordinary personal relevance that I’ll learn about and be able to act upon faster because of Twitter.

So yes, suddenly I find myself proselytizing about Twitter and practically ignoring this blog. Of course, I take some comfort in the fact that this blog always has fresh content as a result of adding a Twitter box to upper right corner! And in another post sometime soon (don’t hold your breath), I will be to explain how Twitter is yet another way marketers can deliver Marketing as Service to customers, prospects and influencers.

Kraft iPhone is Tasty Service

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Food companies have been offering recipes as a form of Marketing as Service for years. Consumers appreciate these recipes knowing full well that they will include ingredients from that particular company. Even occasional cooks like me find themselves wanting to whip up savory dishes like the green bean casserole offered in print ads by Campbell’s Soup!  So it comes as no surprise that this recipe for success has been update via the iPhone.

As reported by AdAge, Kraft’s iFood Assistant for iPhones has become a sizzling star:

Kraft Food devotees are actually paying to be marketed to on their beloved iPhones that the company’s iFood Assistant is now one of the device’s 100 most popular paid apps, and No. 2 in the lifestyle category. With its endeavor, Kraft is pulling off a rare trick: getting consumers to pay a one-time 99-cent fee for the app and also sit through ads on it. And in the process, it’s collecting useful data for targeting them more closely.

Kraft's iFood Assistant is both a paid app and contains advertising.
The lesson: When a marketer creates something that’s actually useful, consumers don’t really see it as straight marketing, or they’re at least willing to accept advertising as the payoff.

Thanks AdAge. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Drinking in Social Media

Posted on by Drew Neisser

This article first appeared in Chief Marketer on January 12, 2009:

The word “liaise” is about as common in the U.S. as are reports of successful marketing efforts on Facebook and MySpace. To succeed in social media, brands would be wise to LIAISE, a word first coined by our genteel and cultivated cousins across the pond in the 1920’s. By definition, liaise means “to communicate and maintain contact with,” the fundamental goal of marketing on social networks. Modern synonyms like “link up” and “hook up” bring the word even closer to home. To tighten the connection, LIAISE becomes an acronym for a six-step process to connect with consumers via social media: Listen, Identify, Activate, Integrate, Socialize, Evaluate.

1. Listen

Listening to your customers is a marketing “no brainer” that seems to fall on deaf ears when it comes to social networks. Heavy-handed product messages are simply ignored on Facebook to the point that IDC labeled social advertising “stillborn” and Seth Goldstein of SocialMedia Networks wrote that banner ads are “universally disregarded.”

Bacardi found success on Facebook after customer research revealed its Mojito campaign had become wildly popular. Extending this campaign effectively meant engaging Facebookers via the Bacardi Mojito Party widget. This useful and entertaining application included a Mojito Cocktail Calculator and a game that allowed users to become bartenders. According to its creators, Buddy Media, over 100,000 adult Facebook members installed the “app-vertisment” in the first week.

2. Identify
Most of us come to realize at an early age that not everyone wants to be our friend. Painful as this may sound for mass brands, the same is true for marketers on social networks. Rather than fight this reality, savvy marketers will look at social networks as a unique opportunity to connect with well-defined micro-targets.

Absolut focused on aspiring bartenders with an application that connected Facebookers to a reality TV show called “On The Rocks: The Search for America’s Top Bartender.” To support the search, Absolute created a “Top Bartender” application that first served as a casting /bartender registration tool, and then enabled users to become an absolute bartender ‘fan,’ vote for their favorite bartender featured in the series, share photos, videos and post on the bartender wall.

3. Activate
A whole lot of marketers have fallen down and not gotten up again when they dropped into social networks ads first. Disappointed, they walk away not knowing in this case “A” is for Activate and not Advertise. To effectively leverage social platforms, marketers need to activate community by creating something of value that is either highly entertaining or extremely useful.

Bud Light found success by going the entertainment route. Their “Decode Your Dudeness” application on Facebook was a hilarious progression of silly photos requiring one to make a choice each time. At the end of the quiz, Bud Light fans scored a customized ”Dudeness” rating that was equally humorous and highly viral. Bud Light found a way to activate that was true to their brand and worthy of sharing with a friend (hmm, just like a nice cold beer.)

4. Integrate
One of the quickest ways to be anti-social is to think of your social media effort as a stand-alone program. This is the equivalent of planning a big party down to the last detail and then neglecting to send out invitations. Having an integrated effort that extends the engagement both within and beyond your social media partners is a sure fire way to get the party started.

Beck’s relatively fresh “Different By Choice” campaign includes a strong social media component that is surrounded by traditional advertising. “The Daily Different” blog features comedian Darius Davies as the content curator, and so far, the content is indeed different and entertaining. And the Beck’s wiki invites consumers to add and develop the brand’s story in a unique fashion. It remains to be seen whether the promised arrival of Darius on Facebook and YouTube will attract a crowd, but the consistently integrated approach of the overall campaign certainly gives it a fighting chance.

5. Socialize
Social media campaigns should not be confused with “pop-up stores” that come and go in a New York minute. Like good friendships they need to be cultivated over time. And like a great hostess, marketers need to truly socialize, working the room, offering a range of entertainment options to ensure that all of their “friends” continue to have a great time.

For Absolut, the InAnAbsolutWorld.com website, acted as a platform for social interaction, inviting consumers to share, request, vote for, and blog about their vision for a ‘perfect world.’ Tools for engagement were provided for users to create and upload images, films, words and sounds that depict their visions of an ABSOLUT world – you can even download desktop wallpaper for your favorite vision. The website also housed videos of celebs and artists’ visions [Kanye West] of an Absolut world.

6. Evaluate
It is generally ill advised to request a conjugal relationship from someone you’ve never even talked to. Nonetheless, marketer’s eager to close the sale are consistently disappointed that they couldn’t do so via social media. When evaluating the effects of your social media campaign, it is important to have realistic expectations and measure everything from “friends” gained to application downloads to time with brand to website traffic and yes, even sales if the romance period was sufficient.

Bud Light’s “Decode Your Dude” quiz was the most downloaded application on Facebook during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The original ‘Dude’ spot has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube alone, and the four ads have been viewed more than 13.5 million times from sites like YouTube, MSN.com, break.com and MySpace.

To sum up, while many brands are keen to make “friends” via social networks, few are willing to take the time to learn this new channel and treat it with the requisite finesse. These brands are like drunken sailors who charge into a bar shouting, “who wants to dance?” When no one responds they get testy and proclaim, “This place is useless.” By adding LIAISE to their repertoire, marketers can drink in the potential of social media.

The Value of Free

Posted on by Drew Neisser

There are a number of service companies out there that are loathe to give away free content, content for which their customers pay big money. This concern is understandable but nonetheless surprising given all that has been written on the value of free (see great Wired Mag article). In my discussion with one client facing this dilemma recently, I offered up a quick story:

  • Just back from a week of sun and fun in Florida this Sunday, my wife and I had a craving for lox and bagels. Of course, this meant visiting Sable’s (2nd Ave/78th) which we think is the best in the city. One of the reasons that we are so loyal is that while you are waiting in line for your bagel they always offer up a free taste of something and yesterday it was their amazing lobster salad. A generous gesture indeed given that their lobster salad goes for more than $20 a pound but oh the loyalty it buys. And of course, don’t forget the word of mouth this little freebie generates.

Now my client wasn’t exactly bowled over by this story so I started to think of a few other examples of when a mere taste became a tasty marketing dish:

  • Hale & Hearty Soup offers petite samples every day of every one of their soups. And of course, I always take a sample even if I know in advance which soup I’m going to order just because I can. By the way, I probably average two of their soups a week!
  • Crest gave out free samples of one of their new line extensions on a recent JetBlue flight. Trying the new version was a no brainer and reminded me that Crest is my favorite brand for good reason. They also made a potential convert out of my teenage son who simply loved the idea of getting something free.

In each of these examples, marketers gave me something of value for free in exchange for my time, my attention, my loyalty and or my word of mouth. This is the very essence of Marketing as Service. Doing something for your customers and prospects is simply more persuasive than saying something about what you’re going to do for them. I’m not saying to give away the store but surely a small taste will open up their mouths and their wallets in a big way.

Even Holiday Cards Should Cut Through

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Buried in holiday e-greetings, I’m finding myself deleting all but a random few. Why? Because the few that I do bother to click on are either self-serving drivel or simply banal. Like yours, my time is precious. If you are going to send a holiday ecard, make sure it is worthwhile. Better yet, send it in November or January when yours won’t be lost in a sea of sameness.

Of course, the same holds true for any kind of marketing. Zig when others zag. And ideally make sure your zig is a service of some kind. If it is, undoubtedly your target will be so grateful they’ll share it with all the friends and look forward to your communications in the months and year’s ahead. Elf Yourself zigged big time and in its third year was sent around a whopping 57 million times. On the odd chance that you didn’t get one, click here to see the one I created starring Pinky.

Finally, I did want to share an email I got from NYS Governor Patterson. It just seemed spot on. Happy Holidays to all. D

My Fellow New Yorkers,

As you read this, I am now returning from visiting our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Germany.

It is a tremendous honor to spend time with our servicemen and women, especially the many that I have met from New York. Each and every solider who I have had the pleasure of meeting embodies the very best traditions of America: a commitment to one another, a commitment to service, and an understanding about the necessity of shared sacrifice.

I am also asking New Yorkers back home to do much of the same. If there was ever a time to work together to make the best of a difficult situation, it is now.

During this holiday season we are reminded that it is the people we spend our important moments with that count the most, not the gifts that we receive. And it is not necessarily how we, as a people, react to the good times, but how we take on our challenges during the tough times, that defines us as a state, and as a nation.

That spirit of commitment is what binds us together, it is why we join with friends and family to celebrate the holiday season, and it is why we optimistically look forward to each New Year. The holiday season is, first and foremost, a time to renew our commitment to one another.

The choices that we make together right now are not easy, but they are necessary. The challenging times that we are facing make it even more important that we come together this holiday season and that we recommit ourselves to our shared values and our shared bond as New Yorkers.

I hope that you are able to spend some time this holiday season with those closest to you, and if you are able, please find some time to support a charitable organization in your community.

I wish every one of you a happy and safe holiday season.

Governor David A. Paterson