Author: Drew Neisser

The Viral Vote

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Four years ago I called the 2004 Presidential campaign the first “internet” election (see archived article here.) Things have progressed a bit since then and now campaigners are working hard to see who can get “the viral vote” by unleashing the most contagious, the most shared, the most viewed online content.

In the last week, I’ve received several emails encouraging me to check out various videos for Obama and for Hillary. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised given my party affiliation that the McCain camp has left me alone (we’ll see if that continues after the conventions). I already wrote about the massive success of Obama’s “Yes We Can” music video. On Friday I received an interesting request from a strong Hillary supporter (and good friend) to not only check out a website but also pass it on to friends in specific states (“especially to Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wyoming and Mississippi”).

Since video views on YouTube appears to be a new measure of campaign momentum (and Barack appears to be winning this popularity contest hands down), my friend’s email also included a link to a YouTube site. Unfortunately for the Clinton campaign, she appears to be losing the viral vote. A quick review of various pro-Hillary videos on YouTube suggests that her most watched segment has only garnered 160,000+ views. Compare that to the over 5 million of Obama’s “Yes We Can” music video on YouTube and another 6 million or so on DipDive.com it is easy to see who’s got the “big mo” with the viral vote.

Since comedy also plays a part with the viral vote (remember “this land is your land”), I also wanted to share a bit of light satire that compares Barack and Hillary. Clearly, the creators of this are fans of the former as continuous clicking on the solitary headlines reveals lines like “Barack Obama subscribed to your feed” and “Barack Obama built you a robot.” The complementary but not complimentary Hillary site offers up such lines as “Hillary knows all the words to all Celine Dion songs” and inside jokes like “Hillary voted for Sanjaya,” a reference to a not so gifted American Idol contestant. Don’t forget to click on the headlines to see a broad set and to seek out your pop-culture maven if you don’t understand a particular reference (my son caught one of the references to a Lost, the TV show, character).

I’m sure you’ve seen other examples of the viral vote in action. Keep ’em coming.

UPDATE 2/28/07 from MEDIAWEEK:

As crunch time approaches in the Texasand Ohio primaries, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has
launched an aggressive local Web campaign and first major Web effort by a presidential candidate to incorporate video. Mediaweek’s Mike Shields and Katy Bachman have the story.

For more details, and for breaking news throughout the day, go to http://www.elabs2.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=cc4,17l8,21,m887,kn0v,646q,7zwm

Inspiration from Perspiration

Posted on by Drew Neisser

I was reminded this morning why I like to start the day reading the Sports pages–there always seems to be a story that is inspirational, of individuals overcoming impossible odds to achieve their goals. Here are two of them from today’s New York Times:

The first story is about a Chinese table tennis player who is now pursuing her Olympic dream as an American with the help of a Holocaust survivor who happens to own a table tennis club in Manhattan. Having been selected for the sport by the Chinese system at the age of 3, Wang Chen narrowly missed playing table tennis for the Chinese team in the Atlanta and Australian Olympics. Frustrated by the experience she emigrated to the US in 1999 and all but gave up the sport. That’s where Jerry Wartski comes in–he convinced Chen to teach at his club and ultimately renamed it in her honor. Now 34, Chen is taking one more shot at the Olympic Games, ironically in her native country, but will be doing so in tremendous pain. Get this, when she is competing, she needs three back rubs a day just to be able to stand up straight. Amazingly, at 5′ 10″ she’s too tall for the sport and the strain on her back is extraordinary. Despite the back pain, she was one of only two non-Chinese citizens to reach the quarter finals of last year’s world championship. This automatically qualified her for the Beijing games at which she’ll be representing an under dog American team.

The other story was about high school basketball star from Brooklyn named Erving Walker. Walker, who is a puny 5′ 8″, plays like a giant, recently scoring 28 points including five three pointers in the final minutes of the game. A clutch shooter from just about anywhere, this teeny tiny teen is going to the University of Florida on a full scholarship after having been recruited by several D1 schools. I love this story. This veritable gnome is simply out-dribbling, out-hustling and out-shooting the big guys every where he goes.

The metaphorical opportunities abound here folks–whatever business obstacles you see on your horizon, think of Chen beating the pants off her younger rivals while fighting off near-paralyzing back pain AND Erving zooming past the lumbering giants, too busy being successful to worry about all the reasons he shouldn’t be.

Bad Sports
Now clearly I’m not referring to the scandalous saga of Bill Belichick and his sign stealing video cameras. Patriot fans must be wishing there was a magical delete button for this one–no such luck guys, despite the NFL HQ’s efforts to erase the past (and the tapes), this one will remain big box office until justice is served.

Is Obama a cult marketer?

Posted on by Drew Neisser

A reporter asked me the other day my thoughts on the Obama campaign and if it was a viral success story. Here’s what I said:

The Obama campaign is an unquestionable viral success and has all the makings of a cult. Obama’s “yes we can” music video has been an enormous success on YouTube with over 10 million views in under one month. That same video is running on a site called DipDive.com, which in less than three weeks has attracted over 6 million visitors. DipDive is ranked by Alexa in the top 7000 sites for US-based traffic [which is amazing given its short existence.] This is viral marketing at its best. By the way, my 17-year old daughter was the first in my household to see the video and she then shared it with the rest of our family. She had heard about it from one of her friends who linked to it from her Facebook page. And so it goes.

Obama has struck an emotional chord with millions of Americans. Not since JFK, has the word “charisma” been so often associated with a presidential candidate. People who know him speak highly off him. I was at lunch with a business associate in New York who had a good friend who knew him from Chicago. That friend heaped praise on him, sufficiently so that my friend in New York was prepared to support him even though she really had no idea what he had done or what he hoped to do. It is almost to the point of blind faith. And that’s what a cult is all about. Many want to follow a leader with a grand promise who exudes confidence. That’s Obama. He makes himself very easy to like. He makes it exciting to be excited about a candidate. My daughter, who turns 18 in August, will be voting for the first time this November and is simply thrilled at the prospect of casting her vote for such an exciting candidate.

Dogs Rule In Deed

Posted on by Drew Neisser

I’m excited to kick off the drew blog with a post about a campaign that is a faithful example of both marketing for good and marketing as service. The campaign for Pedigree by TBWA is just doggone great in my opinion. It builds from a simple yet profound insight—“people who have dogs love their dogs.” As legendary ad great and dog owner Lee Clow put it “if you convince me you [the company] love dogs, I’ll let you feed mine.” This insight became “dogma” for Pedigree employees who were told “everything that we do is because we love dogs, because dogs rule.”

A good start indeed but it could have become a specious hairball if not for some serious soul searching at Pedigree. Employees were encouraged to bring their dogs to work and take them on sales calls (I would love to see one of these!) They even moved to dog-friendly offices when landlords unleashed anti-dog policies. The point of all this was to demonstrate their love of dogs at every turn and to walk the walk so to speak.

The marketing as service part of the program involved setting up a nonprofit organization called the Pedigree Adoption Drive Foundation. This organization supports 3,500 dog shelters across the US and encourages dog adoptions and has raised $3.5 million so far. Pedigree uses its longtime sponsorship of the Westminster Dog Show to promote pet adoption with both advertising and a pop-up store in Times Square called the Pedigree Dogstore. At the store, they orchestrated numerous dog adoptions (8 per day) working with volunteers from a local shelter.

The “dogs rule” campaign has been a howling success for Pedigree with sales growing 6% versus a relatively flat category that grew a meager 2%. This case is worth studying in detail (see Adweek article by Eleftheria Parpis) because it goes way beyond the usual advertising fluff transforming the company, its employees and its customers into brand evangelists. It even touched a jaded ad guy like Lee Clow who noted in Adweek, “the idea that a marketing strategy and a way a company goes to market can also do some good in the world is a good feeling.”

The Next Level, Please

Posted on by Drew Neisser

If another client says “we need to take this to the next level” I’m going to shoot myself. The bottom line is that at the end of the day even if I go the extra mile I can’t for the life of me level set the conversation to ground zero let alone from 30,000 feet. Perhaps as an industry we need to circle the wagons and prioritize the tried and true, getting back to basics while pushing the envelop. Admittedly this a bit of goat rodeo but if we rally the troops and think outside box we can find the tipping point where content will again be king. I’m certainly prepared to belly up to the bar and do my share without fixing what ain’t broke. I hope we are on the same page here in saying that a little well-placed blocking and tackling will hit the nail on the head and we can all get down to business. Of course, the business at hand is a bit like herding cats requiring your best minds to collaborate synergistically rather than operating in a vacuum.

Dare I suggest that you make it your business to gather around the campfire at the ANA/BtoB Magazine conference called “Taking B-to-B Marketing to the Next Level.” I kid you not. They tell me if you order now you will also get more cliches than you can shake a stick at.

Marketing in a Recession: Be Brave or Be Gone

Posted on by Drew Neisser

A memorable moment in Monty Python and the Holy Grail is when a galloping minstrel sings of Brave Sir Robin and how “he ran away, he ran away” when faced with adversity. With a downturn (dare I say recession) looming, my advice is simple: don’t be Brave Sir. Robin. As the old saying goes, with each challenge comes opportunity and opportunities abound even in downturns.

1. Don’t Kill Your Budget (Yet)

The first thing we marketers must do is save the budget. I have no doubt your CFO is already calling for reductions in head count and spending. Now is the time to be brave. Since all your competitors won’t have the chutzpah to say no to their CFO, you must make the case that this is your chance to gain true competitive advantage with a share of voice you’ve been dreaming about all these years. Remind your CFO that top-of-mind awareness is an asset of the company that will devalue faster than he/she can say ROI. In truth, awareness can decline as fast as 50% a month when you go silent and the cost of buying back that awareness will be horrendous.

2. Cut Wisely
Given that my first point is probably a pipedream and that you will no more be able to avoid cuts than a deer can turn away from oncoming headlights, let’s consider where to cut. Traditional advertising has always been the first to go and depending on your media mix, that may make sense now. The one advertising channel that will be harder to cut is online since a steady stream of metrics provide the ROI data that is so often missing in other areas. Promotional dollars are harder to cut because your channel partners may very well depend (like the addicts they are) on the sales boosts coupons and other discounts provide. Events and trade shows should be reviewed on case-by-case basis, saving those that can demonstrate ROI and tossing the ones that have been of questionable worth all along.

3. Stay Focused
Now that you have less money to work with, it is all the more important that you concentrate your spending where it can have the greatest impact. This is not the time to consider new targets or new channels if that means losing focus on your core constituents. But staying focused doesn’t mean doing the same old same old. Get out there and talk to your customers and find out how the downturn is affecting their lives and their product choices. Just the mere process of talking to your customers will make them feel special and cement the bond you’ll really need to weather the economic storm.

4. New Stuff for the Old Gang
What you hear from your current customers may really surprise you and push your product or service offerings in new directions. With austerity looming like a black cloud on the horizon, some consumers may turn to affordable luxuries even more than usual. While more “value packs” seems like an obvious direction, it is also possible consumers will turn to smaller sizes just to keep their monthly spend down. On the other end, luxury customers may temporarily discard their “if you’ve got it, flaunt it” attitude choosing to spend their dollars more discretely. For example, furriers might want to think about putting the fur on the inside of the coat, offering the same warmth without the showy statement (animal rights activists would encourage you to put fake fur on the inside!) On the services side, tighter economic times could create all sorts of new opportunities. Those with two jobs might need more help at home, keeping things organized, walking the dogs and/or shopping for groceries (online services like Fresh Direct could indeed thrive in a downturn.)

5. Keep it Light
Just because the economy is sadly wanting doesn’t mean consumers want to be reminded of their uneasiness in every communication. A little humor, particularly of the self-deprecating variety, will be most appreciated by your otherwise stressed-out target. If there is humor to be found in your DNA, now is the time to unleash the smiles. Entertainment companies will be wise to breakout the comedies after finding a happy ending to the writer’s strike. I’m reminded of the depression era-based movie Sullivan’s Travels in which the protagonist (a movie director played by Joel McCrae) searches for a serious theme for his next feature. What he learns is that laughter is the ultimate tonic during tough times.

6. Avoid the Middle
A waning tide may lower all boats but some will surely ride this out better than others. My money is on strong brands with high net promoter scores who are consistently delivering genuine and perceived value. Weaker brands with little customer loyalty will find themselves stuck in the middle, neither cheap enough to overcome their shortcomings or expensive enough to attract the ever-spending affluent crowd. This is a bad time to be Sears and a better time to be Best Buy or Bergdorf’s. Sears is stuck in the middle without competitive advantage on price, value or service. Best Buy offers both value and service (via Geek Squad) and Bergdorf’s regulars are unlikely to cut back drastically. Mass consumer brands with a wide range of products would be smart to emphasize their high-end and entry-level models again with the goal of avoiding the middle.

7. Partner with Non-Profits
Non-profits will undoubtedly feel the pinch as their supports cut back on donations. This happens in every downturn and is really painful for the non-profits who continue to perform an incredible range of socially beneficial services. Mobilize your employees and your customers behind the non-profits you truly believe in and you will be amazed at the good will and good business you will do as a result. The non-profits will be so grateful for your support that they will bend over backwards to ensure you achieve your business goals not just now but for many years to come. It may seem counterintuitive to increase your CSR (corporate social responsibility) now BUT that is exactly why it is worth considering. Your employees will undoubtedly respond with increased loyalty that will also translate into higher productivity.

8. Hedge your Bets
Market volatility is not a new concept yet many companies are remarkably vulnerable to changes in the weather not to mention the economy. Savvy marketers are turning to sophisticated forecasters who can not only anticipate changes but also offer hedging solutions. With some progressive thinking, marketers can find some means of hedging against the key variables that impact their particular industry. In the field of weather, a new company called Storm (www.stormexchange.com) is helping a variety of companies from makers of outerwear to power companies determine the business cost of variable weather conditions and then helping them hedge against abnormal conditions.

9. Keep your Ear to the Ground
If you don’t have a full-time “social media director” on staff, get one quick. This individual needs to be on the internet every day, monitoring the chatter about your brand. Since bad news spreads faster than a blaze in the Malibu hills, active blog monitoring is the first line of defense, offering a firewall between your brand and an image-burning disaster. Your clearly identified (no pseudonyms please Mr. Mackey ) representative can set the record straight, respond to performance complaints and keep you informed when problems aren’t being addressed in the field. He/she may even turn a customer into an advocate simply by acknowledging their comments. Given how few companies bother to engage their customers, those that do are frequently met with “wow, I didn’t know you cared that much” and vows of eternal loyalty—loyalty that will float your boat long after your competitors succumb to the economic down currents.