There is a new personality at play in the marketing world...

As reported on Adweek.com 28-November 2010

Focused on marketers, WME aims to replace shops

Ari Emanuel

Ari Emanuel wants your lead agency status.

With the launch of Lverage, WME Entertainment’s latest venture into brand marketing, Emanuel, co-CEO of WME, has set his sights on replacing, not supplementing ad agencies, said sources who’ve discussed the venture with him. To that end, he has surrounded himself with partners like former Omnicom Group vice chairman Michael Birkin who knows the ad game and is well connected with marketers.

Birkin is chief strategist for Red Peak Group, a New York-based specialist in brand consulting and experiential marketing that WME acquired for Lverage, said sources. Red Peak’s CEO is Jay Lenstrom, former CEO of Omnicom’s Radiate Group. WME also acquired the Red Interactive Agency in Santa Monica, Calif., and forged ties with Marc Byron, founder of Trivergance Business Resources, a direct marketing firm in Fort Lee, N.J., that remains a separate company.

In conversations with other potential partners, Emanuel has positioned WME as “more connected” than chief rival Creative Artists Agency and its more established marketing arm, which opened in 1998 after CAA shocked the ad industry by (briefly) overtaking McCann Erickson as lead agency on Coca-Cola. CAA Marketing today operates largely as an added resource for marketers who already have lead shops. As one source put it, “It doesn’t feel like CAA is trying to disintermediate advertising agencies. These guys (at WME), really their goal is to get some big accounts and be the AOR.”

The broader ambitions represent a break from WME’s past efforts in this space via Endeavor Marketing and its chief, Mark Dowley. While Dowley this summer helped introduce Emanuel to players in the ad world, he may not play a role in Lverage, said sources. Endeavor Marketing is now part of Lverage. Dowley could not be reached, and Emanuel, through a representative, declined to comment.

The simple reason, of course, why Emanuel’s marketing goals are bigger this time is that his agency is bigger. WME is the product of last year’s merger of the William Morris Agency and Endeavor, the shop Emanuel opened with three colleagues from ICM in 1995. Additionally, WME now has access to fresh capital via a $300 million private equity fund at The Raine Group, in which the agency has a minority stake. The fund will enable WME to make investments that, in turn, could aid efforts to link talent and brand marketers.

Marketers are particularly alluring to WME these days because their dollars represent a potentially sizeable source of revenue for the agency’s clients. As WME co-CEO Patrick Whitesell said of his clients at Google’s Zeitgeist 2010 conference in September, “We know what their value is to consumers. We know what they are to advertisers. So, the next step is for us is, how can they economically benefit from those things that are out there and happening?” At the same conference, Emanuel added: “We’re having more conversations with advertisers every day, whether it be the P&Gs, the GMs of the world. Almost on a daily basis now, you’re having those conversations.”

To move beyond transactional deals with such marketers and build brands long term, however, WME will likely need more strategic and creative firepower, said sources. That may explain why Emanuel approached former JWT North American president Rosemarie Ryan -- a strategic planner by trade -- and ex-JWT chief creative officer Ty Montague before the duo launched Co: in September, according to sources.

“There’s absolutely merit in finding a way to bring that kind of creative pool together with advertisers and marketing companies,” said a source. “What that (also) entails is really understanding brands, how they get built and all of that stuff. I think they see it solely as a creative endeavor and not necessarily a strategic endeavor as well. And I think you have to do both.”

NBC...It's Must House Clean TV!

As reported on Adweek.com...

Comcast Reveals NBCU Leadership Structure

Steve Burke

It was the worst-kept secret in the history of worst-kept secrets, but after weeks of leaks and speculation, Comcast at long last announced the new executive lineup at NBC Universal.

The cable giant detailed the roster in a memo from Comcast chief operating office and incoming NBCU CEO Steve Burke. Given the volume of leaks pouring out of NBCU, there were few (if any surprises), though a few new positions were introduced.

As Mediaweek previously reported, all but a handful of the bold-faced names at NBCU will retain their posts. (CEO Jeff Zucker in September announced he would leave after the deal closes, while NBCU entertainment president Jeff Gaspin was shown the door earlier this week.)

Moving to the top of the broadcast heap is ex-Showtime mastermind Bob Greenblatt, who will assume the role of chairman, NBC Entertainment. In his new role, Greenblatt will oversee NBC's prime-time and late-night programming, as well as business affairs, West Coast research, marketing, public relations, scheduling and NBC Universal Media Studios.

Joining Greenblatt (and moving back East) is current Comcast entertainment group CEO Ted Harbert, who joins NBCU as chairman of the broadcast flagship. Harbert will keep his eye on advertising sales, affiliate relations, research, domestic syndication and the NBC station group.

On the cable side of the ledger, Bonnie Hammer will become chairman, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and Cable Studios. In addition to her current charges, which include USA Network, SyFy, Chiller, Sleuth, Universal HD and Universal Cable Productions, Hammer will add oversight of Comcast's E! and G4. Neil Tiles will remain president of G4, reporting to Hammer, as will an as-yet unidentified new E! topper.

Lauren Zalaznick will become chairman, NBC Universal Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media. Bravo, Oxygen and iVillage will continue to report to Zalaznick, as will the Integrated Strategic Marketing Group, which includes Green Is Universal, Healthy at NBC Universal and Women at NBC Universal. Zalaznick will also manage the digital properties Daily Candy and Fandango, as well as the Spanish-language network Telemundo; moreover, she'll add cable nets mun2, Style and PBS Sprout to her roster.

Telemundo will continue to be led by president Don Browne and COO Jackie Hernandez, while Salaam Coleman Smith will stay on to lead Style.

In the early going, ad sales will take on a bifurcated structure, with Marianne Gambelli taking on the broadcast duties as the new president of NBC Network Advertising Sales and Dave Cassaro assuming oversight of all cable network and digital sales. Along with prime time, Gambelli will be responsible for news and sports ad sales.

Gambelli will report to Harbert, while cable ad sales president Cassaro will report to Hammer and Zalaznick. Steve Mandala, Peter Naylor and Mike Rodriguez will remain, reporting to Cassaro.

NBCU president of sales and marketing Mike Pilot will leave upon completion of the acquisition, which could close as soon as late December. In his memo to staffers, Burke addressed the departure of Gaspin and Pilot by noting, "These transitions are often difficult, and at times, people who have made great contributions end up leaving."

Pilot took the reins at the NBCU sales unit in 2006, after being shifted from his previous post as chief executive of the equipment finance group at GE.

Among those staying on at 30 Rock are: NBC News/MSNBC president Steve Capus, CNBC president Mark Hoffman and NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol. The veteran deal maker will add the Golf Channel, Versus and the Comcast Regional Sports Networks to his plate; Jon Litner (RSNs), Jamie Davis (Versus) and Earl Marshall (Golf) will report to Ebersol.

Jeff Shell will move to London to become chairman of NBC Universal International.

"The team described above will not begin to operate the company until after the transaction closes, which will occur following regulatory approval," Burke said. "Between now and then, each business will continue to be managed by its respective leadership team, and NBC Universal will continue to be led by Jeff Zucker, whose talent, hard work and commitment have been instrumental in building NBC Universal into the company it is today."

Burke said employees could expect further announcements before the $13.8 billion transaction is wrapped up. He signed off with a brief forward-looking statement: "I hope you are as excited as I am by the prospect of what we can accomplish together in the future."

Zucker earlier today said that NBCU and Comcast are now in the final stages of the regulatory review, adding that issues having to do with online video were of paramount concern to Washington lawmakers.

Yogurt anyone?...courtesy of Mullen

As reported on Adweek.com...

Interpublic Group's Mullen has picked up U.S. advertising chores for the Fage Greek yogurt brand, succeeding WPP's Ogilvy & Mather, which worked on the account for three years.

Fage spent almost $4 million on ads during the first two-thirds of 2010, almost as much as it spent in all of last year, per Nielsen.

Boston-based Mullen will handle traditional and digital chores including creative development, media planning and buying and social media outreach.

All told, domestic Yogurt sales tallied $4.97 billion in the 52-week period ended Oct. 2, a 7.6 percent increase vs. the same frame in 2009, Nielsen said. So the win gets the agency into growing category.

Ogilvy two months ago launched a major push for Fage online. One ad showed a woman's necklace pressed into a bed of "ridiculously thick yogurt." The tag: "Fashionably low in fat." Three blueberries -- dangling as pendants -- added a splash of color to the creamy white background.

The client called that effort one of its largest ad pushes ever, but the Ogilvy relationship apparently soured. The first fruit of its association with Mullen appears early next year.

Mr. Goodwrench is filing for unemployment benefits...

As posted on November 11, 2010 in Adweek.com

Why GM's Scrapping Mr. Goodwrench

After 38 years, the automaker plans to discontinue the long-running campaign in February

After 38 years, GM is sending its iconic "Mr. Goodwrench" to the junkyard. The automaker plans to discontinue the long-running campaign in February, as part of a de-emphasis on GM as a brand and a greater focus on the "new GM" -- meaning its roster of brands that include Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.

Despite the fact that GM is in the midst of a road show with institutional investors to promote its initial public offering this month, there is little appetite at GM for any marketing activity, outside of investor relations.

"It is ironic that most companies doing an IPO would do anything they could to promote their corporate brand, but GM is . . . [calling] attention to the stock and the IPO, and then changing the subject as quickly as possible to Chevy and Cadillac," said independent marketing consultant Dennis Keene.

Dating back to 1972, the idea behind Mr. Goodwrench was to embody in a single character a set of standards that all GM dealerships adhered to in providing good service with GM certified parts. The tactic was born out of an advertising tradition of conveying a product or service attribute through a fictionalized character. (Other examples are Mr. Clean, Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Mrs. Butterworth.)

The original Mr. Goodwrench was a bald, nerdy looking guy with black-rimmed glasses; he looked more like a high school science teacher than a mechanic. The idea back in the early 1970s was to use an image that would engender trust -- a father-figure who looked like he had knowledge and would never hoodwink a customer or take advantage of a woman. The campaign surrounding Mr. Goodwrench gained significant awareness among consumers throughout the decades.

The current embodiment of Mr. Goodwrench on the Goodwrench.com website is a buff-looking younger man, holding up a clipboard that displays completed service on a vehicle. For reasons beyond knowing, Mr. Goodwrench is on his knees. He also has shockingly clean and manicured hands, despite his profession.

But that's also part of the reason why Mr. Goodwrench is out of favor. There isn't actually a lot of grease and wrench-work going on with new cars today. If something goes wrong on a vehicle, it usually requires fixes to the on-board computer. "Goodwrench" doesn't quite reflect the technical sophistication of today's vehicles. Maybe "Mr. Goodchip" would be more appropriate.

Starting in September, each of GM's brands will advertise its own branded certified repair work with no connection to GM. De-emphasizing GM has been an ongoing campaign for the last few years. Small GM badges on the outside of cars, inside cars, on safety-belt buckles and keys have been disappearing.

The company's bankruptcy and government bailout last year is most associated with the GM brand, not with the individual brands, according to the automaker's research. It's no wonder GM wants to steer clear of that tarnished image.

Except for this month, when the company starts trading shares again. It's ticker symbol will be GM.

Mmmm...spam...just what I want on my vacation...

Spam and a slow tow for thousands on cruise ship

By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press Julie Watson, Associated Press –

SAN DIEGO – The former fun seekers of the Carnival Splendor are cruising again — but just barely.

In a scenario likely none of its more than 3,000 passengers pictured when they planned their seven-day jaunt on the Mexican Riviera, the disabled cruise liner was being towed to San Diego by tugboats. Instead of a lavish seafood buffet, passengers were subsisting on Spam.

After two days adrift, the ship began moving again Tuesday when the first of several Mexican tugboats arrived. Rocking gently with the waves, the ship was pulled along slowly with a Coast Guard boat along one side and the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier on the ship's other side. There were no visible signs of damage.

The 952-foot vessel was expected to arrive in San Diego on Thursday night, Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement.

The ship was 200 miles south of San Diego and about 44 miles off shore when an engine room fire Monday morning killed its power and set it adrift.

No one was hurt, but the nearly 4,500 passengers and crew were left without air conditioning, hot water, cell phone or Internet service. The ship's auxiliary power allowed for working toilets and cold water.

U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopters were ferrying supplies, including Spam, crab meat, croissants and Pop Tarts to the ship from the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier that reached the Splendor after it was diverted from training maneuvers to help.

The Splendor only had enough food to last through midday Tuesday because refrigerators on the ship stopped working after the power was knocked out, Navy Commander Greg Hicks said. But thousands of pounds of food was delivered by Tuesday night.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Mexican Navy also sent resources to the ship.

The tugboats were originally set to take the Splendor to Ensenada, Mexico, but the cruise line changed its plans and will attempt to have it towed to San Diego, where hotel and flight arrangements would await the passengers, Carnival said.

If the process moves too slowly, it may still be taken to Ensenada, the statement said.

As of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Splendor was about 190 miles south of San Diego, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The ship was being towed by one Mexican tugboat while a smaller counterpart helped the ship maneuver. A third tug boat, the U.S.-based Monterey Bay, was scheduled to arrive late Tuesday night, the paper said.

Toni Sweet, of San Pedro, Calif., was frustrated when she couldn't reach her cousin, Vicky Alvarez, aboard the ship. She said she called her cell phone and did not get an answer.

"We know everything is fine, but we're just worried," Sweet said. "She was nervous about going on a cruise ship even before this happened and now with this, I don't think she'll ever go again."

Carnival spokeswoman Joyce Oliva said the ship's command is able to communicate with outsiders on a backup system.

Carnival Corp.'s stock was down about 1 percent Tuesday.

The situation will be costly for Carnival, which is refunding passengers, offering vouchers for future cruises and may have to dry dock the ship if the damage is extensive.

"We know this has been an extremely trying situation for our guests and we sincerely thank them for their patience," Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill said in a statement.

Accidents like the engine-room fire are rare, said Monty Mathisen, of the New York-based publication Cruise Industry News.

The last major cruise accident was in 2007 when a ship with more than 1,500 people sank after hitting rocks near the Aegean island of Santorini, Mathisen said. Two French tourists died.

In May, a machine room fire in a cruise ship off the coast of Norway forced 607 people aboard to evacuate.

"The ships have to be safe, if not the market will collapse," Mathisen said.

Have No Fear -- the Social Water is Fine!

As posted by Sarah Fay on November 5th, 2010 at 9:36 pm on iMedia Connection:

A resounding message came through to me at the ad:tech conference this week and that is: Social Media Programs are moving the needle for big brand marketers. And not just a little bit -- a LOT. But companies who implemented these programs had to let go of some major hesitations before jumping into what Lauren Zalaznick, President of NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks described as “brackish waters”. In her keynote on opening day, Zalaznick made note of her reasons to be wary of new technologies that are disruptive to her business, changing the rules and undermining her revenue streams. And yet her mantra is “No Fear”, while focusing on the consumer, and creating the content that will win. She sees technology as an enabler to give consumers what they want, when they want it, so they can become more deeply involved in programming. In fact, she pointed out that there is a direct correlation between consumer involvement in social spaces and programming success.

In one instance, on Oxygen Live, a mobile marketing component for “The Bad Girls’ Club” turned viewers into marketers, and ratings jumped 87% on the east coast and 119% on the west coast on a season over season basis. Zalaznick also noted research that confirms 96% of women saying if they like your product, they will recommend it to everyone they know. It is no wonder that the NBC Universal Is weaving in all kinds of opportunities for audiences to interact with programming and has been first to execute with such new technologies as Foursquare and Groupon.

Jeffrey Hayzlett, the former CMO of Kodak, and keynote on Day 3 of ad:tech had a similar message that is drawn from his recently released book, “The Mirror Test – Is Your Business Breathing?” He talked about the need to innovate and to move quickly. In his hilarious and fast moving speech, he illustrated a brilliant use of Twitter: Kodak was on its way to market with a fantastic high resolution, waterproof product with a lackluster name, which was some combination of letters and numbers – Kodak style. In his frustration, Hayzlett sequestered his team until they came up with a better name. They thought of tapping Kodak’s huge Twitter following with a contest to come up with the best name. Great idea, but what about the legalities – all contests at Kodak have to be vetted through its vast legal department and there would not be enough time to make the launch deadline. Hayzlett calculated that the cost of a suit would be outweighed by the value of what was gained (not to mention the agency costs circumnavigated) so they did it – without Legal. What did they get? 28,000 submissions and a great name: “Play Sport”. Kodak brought the contest winners to CES and their pictures were inserted inside the product box, showcasing Kodak’s consumer involvement. Hayzlett went on to say that fear hobbles a company’s culture, and you have to fail at some things – he gamely made note of one opt in program that got just two responses. The good news: “No one died.” And the Kodak team was able to tweak the program and turn it into a winner.

Examples of harnessing the voices of influencers on behalf of brands are everywhere. I moderated a panel where Michele Sweeney, CRO of Netshelter demonstrated how marketers like Verizon and Microsoft garnered exponential returns on budget by immersing content into highly focused technology sites where influencers are engaged and actively weighing in with their opinions. High level executives on the panel, such as Lily Chakrabarty, an SVP of Starcom who heads up the Samsung account, and Stephanie Agresta, Managing Director of Social Media at Weber Shandwick are dedicated to creating long term social strategies for their clients.

This is happening! Why do I keep hearing reports of how hard it is to find people in the marketplace who believe in social media? The evidence is clear. For those who want to learn more about why social media is important, and how to go about creating successful programs for your company, you might want to read the recently released, “Perspectives on Social Media and Marketing” co-authored by Bonin Bough of Pepsico and Stephanie Agresta of Weber Shandwick.

Hopefully you will realize the water is safe – or at least worth the risk!

CP+B apparently better like slacks for Christmas...

As posted on Adweek.com 4 November 2010:

Though Best Buy's creative assignment stays at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the MDC Partners' shop was stung today by the retailer's decision to consolidate its $300 million media business at Publicis Groupe's Starcom. That shop, meanwhile, is enjoying a week of riches.

The assignment had been shared by the two agencies, with Starcom handling media buying and Crispin overseeing planning chores.

That marks two wins (MetLife and Cadbury's Milka brand) and a loss of note in the brief CEO tenure of Crispin's Andrew Keller, who was promoted to chief executive as October drew to a close after serving as the shop's creative leader. He has big shoes to fill, supplanting industry star Alex Bogusky as the agency's most visible human asset.

For Starcom, Best Buy was the second huge account acquisition this week. On Monday, Darden awarded the shop media duties for its Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants, with spending of about $300 million. Darden also cited integration as a key factor in its decision.

Along with Starcom, sister shops Razorfish and Tapestry will handle some duties on Best Buy as well. Razorfish is digital specialist while Tapestry focuses on multicultural assignments.

In a statement, the client said, "We regularly review all of our agency relationships and activities. In an effort to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our media investments, we recently made a decision to move our media planning and buying to Starcom, in an integrated partnership with Razorfish and Tapestry under the Publicis umbrella. In addition, this move supports Best Buy's objective to drive an integrated marketing model."

With this consolidation, all four remaining shops are surely hoping this is sufficient "integration" for now.

Tapping Into Email and Social Media Addictions

As Posted in iMediaConnection 3 November 2010:

Let's talk about how brands are approaching social integration in email marketing. I will be the first to admit that I (might) have an email and social media addiction. In fact, while we are on the topic, I might as well admit my addiction to digital media as whole. Once I acknowledged my condition, I did the natural thing: I Googled "addiction." According to the 12-steppers:

Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over our addiction -- that our lives had become unmanageable.

And after reading Step 1, I might argue that my life has become more manageable thanks to my addiction. In fact, my friendships, especially those that are geographically distant, seem to have been strengthened through email and social media. Alas, I have an addiction and might not be seeing the whole picture clearly.

Yet, as I walk through hotels, airports, office parks, schools, soccer fields, high school football games, and any other venue where people gather it seems that we are all sharing this addiction. We are looking for connectivity with brands, people, friends, heroes, and news sources 24 hours a day. A recent study put average time spent on social media at 4.6 hours a day and email at 4.4 hours a day, with the percentage of people doping it daily at 46 percent and 72 percent respectively. No other activities came close to social media and email -- so if you can effectively combine and harness these two forces, your marketing programs should soar.

On that same note, 30 percent of brands used social sharing in their holiday campaigns last year. This year, look for social integration in email campaigns to not only skyrocket, but also to truly impact sales.

So, when it comes to brands using social media in their email marketing, which ones are doing it right? And which ones are still figuring it out? Let's take a look at programs using the social-email combination in interesting ways -- both good and bad.

These first few examples are well-executed campaigns coming from our own team, after which I'll discuss some outside examples of brands that are making waves at the intersection of email and social media.

Wacom Pen Scrappers
If you have read my past articles, seen me speak, or worked with me on campaigns, you know how important I consider welcome emails. So why not integrate social media into these important messages? If social media is a prime part of your overall digital marketing, you need to make sure it is out in front of your audience. And adding -- not forcing -- social media introductions in a welcome campaign works well. Of course, choose your focus wisely. If you have other campaign goals, do not make social media front and center -- but do introduce it.

In looking at the Pen Scrappers community site we built for Wacom (now three versions in), we made sure social media was incorporated into the email template in a way that stood out but did not steal the attention from the goals of getting started and exploring content. In this way, social media becomes an expected element in future emails.

Banfield
Banfield wanted to use email to introduce its subscribers to what the company was doing in three social media channels. Instead of just saying follow us/friend us, the company chose to add some value by providing a glimpse of what it is doing in each channel -- yet still leaving a little bit behind the curtain to engage the click.

By providing context and showing subscribers what they might be able to add to the social media conversations, Banfield helped build value and a story around its brand. People love their pets. Providing content that nurtures these relationships helps to solidify the brand's connection with subscribers.

Starlicious.TV
After building a new branded entertainment game show and interactive game for Starlicious this year, we waited to engage with social channels until we had published a majority of the shows. We needed the content to support the marketing effort. When introducing a new brand or property, it is important to first build the relationship before asking your audience to take steps that might not make sense. If you simply tell people to jump in and engage in social channels without proving the value of your content, you create a reason for churn. The goal is not to battle for new points of engagement, but rather prolonged engagement that supports the building and continuing of relationships.

We also did something a little different by introducing one of Starlicious' partners, Gain, as the channel for the Facebook relationship, as the brand already had a commitment to the channel and content to support it. Why bite off more than you can chew? Sometimes it is better to focus on building and supporting an existing network than to try to start your own. If you're fortunate enough to have a partner that ties into your brand, promoting and supporting that partner can benefit all parties.

OK Magazine
Publishers are starting to get it as well. Social is about sharing, and a majority of people who are sharing content are not simply sharing deals and sales. We worked with OK Magazine and other publishers to incorporate social tools into their weekly and daily emails. We have experimented with many formats of sharing and found that people really love to share content from emails in this way. We live in an information society where people gain some social credibility by telling people first and being in the know. What amazes me is how often we see people simply scan and share content from an email -- at times more so than from the web page on which the full story resides.

Yet with some layouts, we like to pull the sharing elements into the stories that are the most likely to be shared. Some publications do better with this, as they have an ad model that needs to be supported from the website and not just from the email. If you are in publishing, you need to find the right balance between social sharing in emails and meeting your business goals.

Brands 5-7

Up next, I'd like to highlight some brands that I have developed mild crushes on lately due to how they are using social media as a driver and connector for their marketing goals and customer engagement.

Levi's
My top crush is a close tie between Levi's and Barneys. Over the past six months, the 100-year-old Levi's has done an impressive about-face when it comes to using social to lift its email programs. The company has done a great job in testing the location and content of its social-sharing elements as well as how those elements function within the overall context of the emails.

A recent example in which the company used email to launch its own community site called "Shape" demonstrates the importance Levi's places on email as an immediate impact channel. Notably, the company continues find a good mix with its email campaigns. Certain campaigns look to move the sales needle, while others are heavily focused on social-following incentives.

Barneys
Barneys has been one to watch this year. One stand-out campaign used email not to sell things (but do note that there is still a navigational shopping header in the email), but rather to showcase an interview of the people behind Barneys' social media work. This is a great idea for breaking up the monotony of the buy buy buy, sale sale sale, now now now retail approach. Being that it was a long holiday weekend, it gave people a chance to relax, enjoy, and become closer to the brand through email and social.

Nike
Stepping away from the fan-follow-friend-stalk technique employed by many marketers out there, Nike took a great approach when it used one of its Nike+ emails to get people to connect social accounts in order to inspire and reach more people about running. I see posts across Facebook and Twitter all day long, and it is quite motivating to see all the people you know getting out from behind their screens. In fact, just seeing these posts reminds me to pack my shoes when I travel so I can get out of those conference rooms and hotels for a run.

Nike keeps it simple yet makes a big impact. Social is not about the brand; it's about the users. Same with email, right? It is about the timely, relevant communications that users want, and that strategy works in both places.

6 Social Sharing Best Practices for Driving Traffic

As posted on iMedia Connection 3 November 2010:

Wondering when to use the Facebook "like" button on your site and when to use "share"? You're not alone. Used together and in the right combination, "like" and "share" are powerful tools for driving referral traffic from social networks, opening new communication channels with customers and prospects, and building relationships with your best advocates.

Driving referral traffic is the first significant benefit of social sharing, as shared activity, content, and products are now pushed to the user's network of friends, enabling them to discover what's new and worthwhile with little effort. But sharing technologies have evolved significantly in the last several months, making social sharing a renewed area of focus for most companies. In this article, you'll learn the best practices for "like" and "share," and how to put them to work for your business.

Best practice 1: Create a balanced "like" and "share" button strategy
Rather than choose one or the other, sites who combine "like" and "share" into the user experience see the greatest level of success in terms of driving referral traffic, building relationships, and learning more about their customers and visitors. Why? Not only do "like" and "share" have different strengths and different applications, they actually drive the most value when used in concert. Let's drill into the specifics.

The "like" button has many benefits. When clicked, an item is published to the person's Facebook feed, driving referral traffic to the website. If the user is already logged into Facebook, this is a one-click process. "Liking" adds data to the user's profile on Facebook: It is an easy way for users to make a connection with the things for which they have affinity -- just a single-click user experience. "Liking" also opens a new communication channel for the site that can subsequently publish news items to the feeds of Facebook users who have liked that item on their site.

Facebook recently released data on the value of a "liker," which provides compelling reasons for engaging them: "People who click the Facebook Like button are more engaged, active, and connected than the average Facebook user. The average "Liker" has 2.4x the amount of friends than that of a typical Facebook user. They are also more interested in exploring content they discover on Facebook -- they click on 5.3x more links to external sites than the typical Facebook user."

So where does the next generation of "share" functionality fit into this picture? Enabling share in addition to "like" enhances both the overall user experience as well as the power of the "like" button for the site. Sharing provides a way for people to express themselves and share with friends when "like" (or "recommend," which is another form of the "like" button) is not the appropriate sentiment. People typically "like" things or "social objects," but share activity. For example, if someone makes a comment on an article or reviews a product, they are more likely to want to "share" their point of view with friends rather than "like" it.

When a Facebook user clicks the "like" button, the website hosting the button does not get access to information about that user or about the "like." Adding sharing to the site effectively closes the data loop, as current social technologies -- including Facebook's Graph API -- ask a person to connect with a website the first time he or she chooses to share something. Once a user connects, the site then can access that specific user's "like" data and apply it to its own site to personalize the user experience.

Here is an example of an effective application of both "like" and "share."

Best practice 2: Enable sharing to multiple social networks
To drive the most referral traffic, enable your users to "share" to multiple social channels. Not only do people want choice when it comes to connecting and sharing, but many social channels have feeds and are quite effective at driving referral traffic. Facebook is clearly an important option, but the data below illustrates why providing multiple options matters when it comes to applying second-generation social technologies.

You can also help maximize referral traffic by enabling your site visitors to "share" to multiple social channels simultaneously, as New York Daily News and American Eagle Outfitters do in the examples below.

Best practice 3: Make sharing dynamic
There are two primary ways to make sharing an active, dynamic, and more social experience for your website. The first is to build sharing into key activity flows where appropriate so that it becomes a natural extension of the user experience. For example, when someone takes a poll, completes a quiz, makes a comment, or rates an item, it is natural to add the option to share as the final step in the process. You can also create a frictionless user experience by giving your users the option to "always share this type of activity" or "never share this activity" as YouTube has done effectively with video sharing. The YouTube user dashboard is shown below:

The second way to use sharing to create a dynamic site experience is to publish sharing activity to an on-site activity feed. In this example, The Home Depot brings a sense of activity and community to an otherwise static page by publishing the shares and other key actions of their users from all social platform to a site-specific feed.

Best practice 4: Use sharing to build relationships
Today's sharing technologies are based on the concept of first establishing a relationship between the user and the site, wherein the user connects their social identity to the website via an explicit permission or authentication step. This is an enormous win for both the site and marketers because it establishes the foundation for a relationship. Most people associate authentication with registration or log-in, but the process can be woven into a variety of social activities, from sharing to community features, creating far more opportunities for any site to make that connection. This is an enormous win for marketers, as a connected user typically comes with rich social network profile data, including a pre-validated email address, and that user's "likes" across the web, which can help the business personalize the site experience and communicate with that person more effectively.

The "like" button also provides an opportunity to build relationships. While the site does not have information on any individual user, the entity that was "liked" can publish relevant activity to the "likers" as a group. For example, a children's apparel retailer could promote an end of season sale to "likers" of its winter coats. A publisher could publish pieces by op-ed writers to people who "like" a particular op-ed piece.

Best practice 5: Optimize shared content for the feed and user profile
While some content might be intrinsically more interesting than others, one thing is certain: Presentation counts when it comes to driving referral traffic. Optimizing all the elements of what is published to a user's feed is important for both "likes" and "shares."

There are two different "like" button implementations, and while the iFrame version is easier to implement, the XFBML version gives you more opportunity to optimize. According to Facebook, "The XFBML dynamically re-sizes its height according to whether there are profile pictures to display, gives you the ability (through the Javascript library) to listen for Like events so that you know in real time when a user clicks the Like button, and it always gives the user the ability to add an optional comment to the Like. If users do add a comment, the story published back to Facebook is given more prominence."

Prominence on Facebook means it's more likely that the Facebook algorithm will actually display a "like" to people in the user's network, or to more people in their network, so taking the time to use the XFBML version and enable commenting is highly worthwhile. Optimizing "likes" for the feed also involves adding Open Graph tags with information that Facebook can pull when someone clicks the "like" button. To optimize for the feed, in addition to information that categorizes each item within the Open Graph, sites should also be sure to specify the image and text that will show in the feed item:

Shared items should similarly be optimized for maximum exposure. One of the advantages of the latest generation of sharing technologies is that you have full control over the image and body text for shared content, as well as the hyperlinks that appear at the bottom of the feed item. In this example, the item published includes a photo that supports the content, text that moves a user to take action, and a link at the bottom that specifically drives more people to the original site to take the poll:

Best practice 6: Track referral traffic from sharing activity
Capturing referral traffic data is a key part of optimizing your site for social referral traffic, not unlike how web analytics is applied for search engine optimization. If you are working with a social technology vendor, it should at a minimum provide consolidated cross-network analytics, and ideally more granular and actionable detail. Online businesses should track and act on three key areas:

Area 1: The percent of "shares" and referral traffic coming from each of the social networks. Including a shortened URL with each shared item enables tracking at this level. Key metrics include: monthly and yearly growth in traffic referred by social networks; referral traffic by users sharing content from the website, as differentiated from marketing efforts originating on social sites; and number of referral clicks per shared item and by referring social site.

Area 2: The specific site content and activities that drive the highest volume of sharing activity. Ask vendors if they are able to track sharing and referral traffic by content ID so that you can determine where to focus your efforts on both dynamic sharing activities and content development.

Area 3: Key influencers: When sharing is tied to authentication, you should be able to track which of your customers or visitors are sharing the most, which are driving the most referral traffic, and even which are driving sales. Businesses can then engage these key influencers with special offers, elite status, and by providing even more opportunities to spread the word.