Zocalo Group

The Young, the Digital and the South By Southwest (SXSW) Conference

2010-03-10T15:26:13Z

If you haven't heard, the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference series commences this week in Austin, Texas. These week-long conferences and festivals bring together music, film and media minds alike in a unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. The Interactive portion of this event gives its participants a chance to not only shape the direction in which social media is headed, but puts into perspective the vast impact we as a generation have the ability to make by utilizing these channels.

Working in a field engrossed in social media, it is impossible to avoid the chatter surrounding an event that has the digital world doing what they do best - buzzing, digging, blogging and tweeting. This conference has been around for twenty three years, and the festival that many in the marketing and PR profession regard as a social media conference is much more than that, merging digital media with music and film elements. In some respects, it is a lot like a modern day Woodstock - drawing massive crowds, and bringing people together to enjoy a common passion and genuine desire to impact the world around them. It is a stimulating conference that is more than deserving of the buzz it creates.

It's amazing to realize how drastically the Interactive conference at this festival, which was started in 1994, has changed since its inception. Thousands of bloggers, consumers, and industry professionals come together from all over the world to learn, develop, teach and discuss topics that didn't even exist when the conference was first created; although these have quickly evolved in only a few short years. With keynote speakers such as Twitter CEO, Even Williams, and discussion panels on topics ranging from "The Broke Diaries: Using Blogs and Twitter to Live Cheaply" to "Crime Scene: Digital Identity Theft," this festival brings together thought-leaders, bright minds and new talent who are the driving force behind this rapid evolution of the social media world.

When you read the many Tweets and blog posts full of passion and enthusiasm surrounding this event, it becomes even easier to connect SXSW with this idea of it as a contemporary Woodstock - not just based on what it was, but on what it meant and what it stood for. Thanks to the abundant social media tools being - quite literally - at the fingertips of the current generation, we too have the opportunity to be involved in something significant and historic, and we take part in it every day.

The over arching movement and development of the digital world, furthered by events such as SXSW, is a defining moment in this generation. Social media is a powerful tool that gives everyone a voice and a platform to be heard. Gen Y-ers have the ability to make the same noise and impact as their Baby Boomer parents; we just have the capability of doing it with a few clicks and typed words. It's both exciting and rewarding to be a part of a generation that not only has the chance to experience the wonderful world of social media, but to appreciate and utilize this platform as a way to shape and directly affect marketers, brands and the world around us.

Working in a field where "Tweeting" is a common verb as well as a daily task, and updating client Facebook pages is second nature, it's easy to become wrapped up and lose sight of the bigger picture of how the world around us has changed and the vastness of what these social media tools have brought to us. I encourage all of you out there who are still skeptical of why anyone would care about what you have to say on Twitter, or what difference voicing your opinion of a product makes, to jump in and join the conversation. You will be surprised by the wealth of information you will learn, and may even find the voice you never knew you had. And at the very least, years down the road you can look back and tell the next generation - "yep, I was a part of that."

American Idol and the Predictive Power of Followers

2010-03-09T07:29:59Z

As a long-term and highly invested American Idol viewer (meaning I could still describe to you in great detail each one of the velour outfits worn by Season 2 semifinalist Julia DeMato's mom), I perked right up when I read the announcement that for the first time, FOX was going to allow the contestants to have their own officially sanctioned profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. This was a complete departure from the previous eight seasons of the show - in prior years, contestants have been forced to delete all existing social media profiles, and have been prohibited from creating new ones, as a condition of being on the show.

Two weeks in, FOX has gone back on this decision, citing their inability to hide the number of fans and followers each contestant had as a factor in the move to discontinue contestants' profiles.

Why is this a crucial question, anyway? Is there anything about being able to see a contestants' number of followers and fans that makes the competition less fair? Does the predictive power of followers affect the outcome of the show? Does this predictive power even exist?

Let's concern ourselves right now with that last question: What is the predictive power of followers? In other words... is the contestant with the most followers most likely to win the competition?

If we were to try to predict the outcome of American Idol using Zócalo Group's Digital Footprint Index [PDF], we'd take into account three different dimensions of the online conversation around each contestant:

Height - The sheer number of blog posts, forum conversations, status updates and pieces of multimedia connected to the person, from all sources - official and unofficial.
Width - The level of engagement and interaction with this stuff. Followers and fans would come in here, as would views, comments and sharing.
Depth - The tone and content of these conversations. Do people love or hate the contestant? Do they think someone is "pitchy, dawg," or maybe that they've got a Kevin Covais thing going on? Interestingly, WhatNotToSing.com has built an entire database around the potentially predictive nature of online sentiment alone.

From a Zócalo perspective, these indicators only create a comprehensive picture of the online conversation when taken together and compared across contestant. Of course, using that picture to predict the outcome of American Idol would require two major assumptions:

That online conversations are an accurate representation of all conversations - and that there is nothing distinct or disproportionate about a contestant's digital footprint as opposed to his or her overall cultural footprint.
That a bigger or "better" footprint (digital or cultural), will necessarily translate into more votes.

We have reason to believe that the first assumption is true in many cases. The second one would probably need to be tested. As for the question of whether revealing contestants' follower counts would compromise the integrity of the show... when was the last time American Idol had any integrity to preserve?

The Talkability of Victory

2010-03-08T15:08:16Z

Baseball is back. Pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training. Legions of fans (and fantasy gurus) are dusting off their allegiances and refreshing their commitment to following their hometown team's fate for a grueling stretch of 162 games. As a lifelong Cubs fan, I've learned that off-field affinity bears little to absolutely no impact upon on-field success. The world of sports is a rare arena in which consumer dialogue and endorsement of a brand fails to significantly impact that brand's "success" (as measured by victories, not dollars).

So, in this context, just how talkable is victory? How "engaged" do consumers remain in their favorite sports brand if the team hasn't given them an on-field justification to stay engaged?

With an off-season that provides countless rivalrous entertainment options, from the Super Bowl to Jersey Shore, baseball is often forgotten, shoved to the sidelines until fans have a reason to care yet again; until a blank slate and fresh start offer a new glimmer of "this year could be the year" hope.

However, some fans do engage in off-season dialogues. And some offseason dialogue is significantly more robust than others. Many who drive the off-season conversation are die-hards (brand evangelists). A good handful find their interest and conversation stirred back into action by the exciting announcement of an impending acquisition or the next great hope who can carry their team to victory.

The following chart attempts to uncover a correlation between on-field victory and off-season dialogue across online (blog) channels.

Comparative Graph of 2009 MLB Regular Season Victories and Offseason Blog posts (in Jan/Feb 2010) - Yankees v. Phillies v. Cubs v. White Sox + "Baseball"

New York Yankees - 103 regular season victories (World Series champion); 112.22 blog posts/day= 1.08 blog post/victory
Philadelphia Phillies - 93 regular season victories (World Series loser); 45.53 blog posts/day = 0.489 blog post/victory
Chicago Cubs - (83 regular season victories, no playoff presence); 53.7 blog posts/day = 0.646 blog post/victory
Chicago White Sox - (79 regular season victories, no playoff presence); 36.33 blog posts/day = 0.459 blog post/victory

Findings:

Although the World Series winners (Yankees) were the most talked about team, simply making the World Series (Phillies) doesn't guarantee more off-season dialogue than other teams
The Chicago Cubs, lacking a postseason appearance, drove significantly more off-season dialogue than the World Series runner-up Phillies

Conclusions:

Building a truly talkable brand requires more than just short-term salience (i.e. a World Series appearance)
Building a truly talkable brand requires building a deep, ongoing connection/relevance in shaping the identity/lives of its consumers (fans) - which the perennially-losing though deeply-revered Cubs have clearly achieved
Although the Philadelphia Phillies are the "oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports" (thanks, Wikipedia) - and have appeared in back-to-back World Series (actually winning in 2008) - short-term salience alone - aka "buzz" - is not enough to sustain talkability

Considerations/Limitations:

Please note, the sample size is painfully small and insignificant, as it features just four teams and tracks off-season dialogue over just one season.
It also doesn't account for varying rates of salient alternative off-season entertainment options among each of the four local markets.
Nor does it account for "control seasons," as postseason appearances could unfairly drive an increase in off-season dialogue, simply for prolonging the period of salience.
It fails to account for potential errors/limitations in the freeware IceRocket.com software used to generate the graph
Additionally, some might argue that "victories" is the incorrect metric by which we measure "success" - if truly trying to find similarities/parallels between a sports "brand" and a traditional consumer "brand" - the evaluative metrics ought to be ticket sales, ad revenue, TV revenue, food/beverage revenue, etc. - to truly understand the impact of talkability on the brand's bottom line.

FINAL 2009 MLB REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS - Source: ESPN.com

Comparative Off-season Dialogues - Brand Name + Baseball - Last 60 Days - Source: IceRocket.com (Blog posts only)

Coming to a Facebook News Feed Near You: Live Streaming Video

2010-03-04T15:29:30Z

Brands and marketers using Facebook know the less clicks a user has to make to access their content, the better the chance they will engage with it. Of course, the fastest way for content to get in front of fans is for it to appear directly in their news feeds. This already happens with some types of shared content - like links and uploaded videos - but until recently, it wasn't possible for live streaming video. The company that has made this possible is the Sweden based Bambuser.

Now, say your brand has a major announcement or event approaching and you want to get a live video feed of said event in front of as many of your fans as possible. Unless your announcement happens to involve The Jonas Brothers, it may be difficult to convince your fans to set their watches and click over to the special tab on your Facebook page to watch it. But what if your stream appeared directly in their news feeds when they first logged in, allowing them to watch it and chat with the rest of the audience without ever leaving that page? Think you might be able to attract a few more people who weren't planning on watching otherwise?

This is the definitive feature setting Bambuser apart from its competitors (namely UStream). The service allows users to broadcast live from their webcam or smartphone directly to a Facebook page, blog, or Web site (or all three simultaneously). To top it off, the service is currently free for personal or commercial use.
While Bambuser's Facebook integration is definitely a major step forward, the service isn't perfect. Although you can technically broadcast from your phone, video can be choppy or delayed unless you have a steady, perfect 3G connection. For this reason, if it is at all possible, I'd highly recommend connecting to a Wi-Fi network.

Currently, Bambuser is used primarily by individuals, but the opportunity it offers to brands is too significant for that to last much longer. As brands continue to expand the scope of their presence on Facebook, what role do you see live streaming video playing?

Old Spice Ad Reclaims and Redefines Advertising's Long-Held Pulpit By Inciting a Conversation

2010-03-02T15:40:35Z

1907 Men's Advertisment

We live in a post-TiVo era. Every schmo with a Twitter handle tells you how the world is changing. Social Media's rising! Two-way dialogues! But, advertising isn't dead. Smart advertising, that is. It's simply changed form, leveraging insights and best practices from Word of Mouth.

A recent Old Spice spot is a jolt to the jugular, breaking the "fourth wall" to spur direct dialogue with its Ikea-computer-chair-sitting consumer. Currently, it is infinitely talked about and recommended on Twitter. It has been viewed over a million times on YouTube.

It's a reminder of what great ads should be. Unforgettable. Fully-articulating and linking the product's functional and emotional benefits, in a way that you want to keep watching, appreciating and sharing, over and over again. Cleverly targeted to the product purchaser (the woman in the house), it still vehemently appeals to the product user (the man). By its very nature, it demands to be reckoned with. The ad reminds tech-savvy, video/photo sharing, self-sufficient, 21st century consumers that a larger, more powerful, and more expert force exists [the brand], able to create an experience and deliver a tangible benefit [the product] capable of improving their lives. The ad empowers the brand to spark and lead a dialogue with its consumers. It is a perfect example of how advertising and word of mouth work hand in hand.

It is reminiscent and perhaps inspired by the same consumer insights that sparked the recent (and highly talkable) Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World" formula:

Present holier than thou immortal to couch-slumping Americans.
Show him leading an extraordinary, ridiculous, adventurous life in a tongue in-cheek way that incites excitement and laughter.
Articulate that while you, mere consumer, will never be as immortal as he, you can take a first step to becoming like him.
Insert product and articulate or imply its benefits here.
Button up ad and reinforce recall of brand through clever tagline ("Stay Thirsty, My Friends") or non-lyrical jingle (the Old Spice whistle)

This ad, like the Dos Equis spot, effectively addresses the fact that consumers know they are being marketed to, and are resistant to it. Rather than trying to manipulate them into coveting something they don't have, it humors them into acknowledging it. It doesn't claim to elevate their lives to a wonderful new frontier. It implies it. And it tells you, directly, that it implies it. No, but seriously, go check the Brand's YouTube page. Transparency of intention. Thus sparking a conversation.

More Than Social Media, Are We Engaging Consumers in the Right Way?

2010-02-25T18:37:45Z

I was recently asked by a friend what I did. After giving her an elevator speech-style description of our company's work with social media and strategy behind making brands the most talked about and recommended in their category, I was shocked by her response. She looked at me and very simply stated,

"That's great, I'm glad you like it. Now someday, you're going to have to explain what you mean when you say social media."

At that moment, amid the noise surrounding me as I walked down the street of one of the country's largest cities, I realized that I lived in a bubble. My work brings me front and center with a world guided by platforms like Facebook and Twitter, or technologies like augmented reality and geo-tagging. Brands are eager to be the most innovative and always, the most successful among their competitors. And so, as an agency, we must deliver. Although a strategic marketing plan guides our efforts, very often, the tactics used to execute involve some variant of social media--used as a way to reach consumers and inspire recommendations of and for the brand, sustainably, over time.

To me, using these tactics seems obvious in today's age of social networking and online sharing. All I could think was, how can any well-informed person not know what social media is, or what you can do with it?

The bubble had engulfed me and I was no longer looking at our consumerist society from the eyes of those we hope to target. Being able to experience a product in 3D via black squiggles of a jagtag may be cool, but do people really care? What's the point of having location-based services for finding the closest subway stop or restaurant if reliable and consistent cell-phone service has yet to exist? Is broadcasting on Foursquare exactly when and where someone is always a good idea?

As marketers we are responsible for creating effective programs that attract the attention of consumers. We must also remember that we have a biased view of the online landscape. Not everyone knows what we're talking about.

Despite the flurry of business, make sure to take a step back. At some point in your life, you weren't as plugged in as you are now. Even if you can't do without your Blackberry used during work, your iPhone used after work, the 10 online channels where you share with the world hourly status updates, or the multi-platform-HD-1000-channel entertainment system that can even sleep and eat for you, there are people who can. Those are the people we need to remember. Just like my friend -- well informed, smart, interesting -- they are just as eager to talk about and share their experiences with a brand.

So, I'm curious, what are other creative ways marketers are engaging consumers that perhaps use social media, but go beyond technology to successfully engage?

WOMMA Releases Social Media Best Practices

2010-02-19T19:43:58Z

As social media continues to evolve and align itself with many of today's marketing strategies, ethical disclosure along online channels becomes imperative to successful programming. Since the FTC's updated Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising took effect last December, the industry has continued to struggle for ways of understanding and practicing the new requirements around transparent disclosure.

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)--having worked closely with the FTC--has answered the call. If you haven't seen this week's release of their "Social Media Marketing Disclosrue Guide," then you're in for a treat. Designed to be incredibly hands-on and helpful, the simple two-page guide provides an overview and examples on how to disclose along a variety of social media platforms.

Hopefully, you find them to be a great resource. In my new role as President of WOMMA, please join me in a discussion around this topic in a webinar held on March 1, 11Am-12PM CST. To register, or learn more, visit www.womma.org.

Kindle for Blackberry: Wise diversification? Or desperate plea for continued relevance?

2010-02-18T17:42:06Z

Don't be fooled by the Kindle. Amazon is not a gadget maker. Amazon has never been a gadget maker. Amazon made its name as a low-overhead internet retailer that could ship you the stuff you want, when you want it, with relatively little hassle. Only problem, is that the "stuff" Amazon once became so famous for shipping, no longer needs to be shipped.

Just ten years ago, Amazon ousted local bookstore owners to the same classified newspaper sections that EZ-Pass-ousted toll-booth workers were already perusing. The brand now finds itself grasping to retain its leadership role in enabling Americans to read. At the end of the day, Amazon is more than happy to be a mere "App" on a Smartphone desktop, as long as users can buy books through that desktop.

As Blackberry moves to capture this shift, be sure to keep a lookout for promotions advertising Kindle for iPhone. And Kindle for iPad. You can bet they'll be coming soon.

The Kindle, in hindsight, will likely be viewed as never having actually posed a serious threat to Blackberrys, iPhones, Droids and other leading one-stop-shop mobile devices. Unlike a "TiVo," Amazon was not seriously seeking nor expecting to create and maintain ownership of a new category. Instead, one might infer that the long-term strategy behind launching the Kindle was simply to enjoy first-to-market status, while leveraging this status to eventually establish an Amazonian window through which consumers would ultimately purchase.

The bigger question remains, on whose desktop will the Kindle ultimately sit? Microsoft's? Google's? Apple's? When that answer is determined, Amazon prays you'll be reading about it (and paying to read about it) through their window.

Google Buzz: Gamechanger?

2010-02-12T14:38:08Z

For all the massive hype Google Wave stirred up a couple months back, Google Buzz could ultimately become the unassuming, unexpected and unlikely Facebook/Twitter killer. Why?

Google Buzz gains unprecedented benefit from the old maxim: "Location, Location, Location." Centrally positioned and easily accessible within the GMail interface, Google Buzz is immediately at the fingertips of millions and millions of people who already spend a great deal of their days, interacting with their friends, families and colleagues through the GMail platform. And its timeliness could not be better. As Facebook celebrates milestone birthdays and Twitter mourns vacant @ccounts, the way people converse, talk, recommend and share "stuff" has continued to evolve by the minute.

Increasingly, the questions are no longer:
- Will people share?
- What will people share?
- Who will they share it with?
- How frequently will they be willing to share?

The real question is becoming:
- What will be the primary, central platform through which people share?

Or, simply stated:
- What will be the single interface through which I communicate to my world?

From the Daily Jolt, to Friendster, to MySpace to Facebook to Twitter to FourSquare, many emerging platforms have vied to complement or even replace the communication platform which preceded it. All the while, each platform silently fearing that in their pursuit to become the next DVD, they'd become the next Laserdisc*.

Platforms such as TweetDeck and FriendFeed have attempted to capitalize upon our "social sharing" by attempting to corral all communications into a central hub. However, no matter how rapid the rise of "social" interaction, and the success of these relevant yet ancillary platforms -- email remains a vehemently central platform through which we "collect" and "contribute" to dialogues, projects and initiatives that fuel our professional and private lives. And while the Wall Street Journal is correct to recognize that the "Email Era" may soon indeed be over, no central hub has yet emerged as the platform to ultimately replace email.

In that context, no Brand is better positioned than Google to ultimately lead that migration. Google Buzz, bolstered by its unfair real estate and complemented by the functionality and cloud computing capabilities of Google Docs, empowers and positions Google as the Brand most likely to become our one-stop partner, resource and vehicle through which we engage and interact with our worlds.

*Aka, the same fear exhibited by bands seeking to become the next Radiohead, but who end up becoming the next Coldplay.

Super Bowl Marketers, Was the $2.6 Million Worth It?

2010-02-09T20:32:41Z

Ahh.. the Super Bowl - the night when we all eat too many carbs, too much taco dip and either watch the game with genuine interest or simply state," I'm watching it for the commercials."

It's also the night when marketers sit with bated breath to see how months of hard work will be received by the public at large. We review, critique and measure the reaction of those expensive 30-second spots.

I'm not here to argue the creativity of any one commercial, or the brands and agencies that produced them. Some were great; others... not so much. Personal opinions are just that - personal. AdFreak has some interesting ideas on 15 things you can purchase instead of a Super Bowl commercial for $2.6 million (4 games with Favre as QB? Really?). And here's an oft-debated question: is the Super Bowl spot worth it to the people not playing in it?

As word of mouth marketing grows and with 92% of folks trusting their friends and family for recommendations over anything else, the core question to ask yourself before putting your 30-seconds out there is: would anyone recommend my brand after seeing this? Sure, I laughed at the sight of Betty White being tackled to the ground, but it doesn't make me want to go out and buy a Snickers.

Spicing up Trade Shows with Social Media

2010-02-04T16:55:50Z

What do you think of when you hear "trade shows?"

A free business trip to a usually nice city?
Sore feet from walking around a large building multiple days in a row?
An overwhelming sea of new products, business pitches and opportunities?
An open door into the activities of competitors?

The exhibitions allow businesses in a specific industry to congregate, share and promote new products/services to retailers, media and potential partners. More than 2,500+ trade shows across the United States allow for face-to-face interaction with key people associated with your business, but getting their attention before, during and after the experience is competitive.

With social media becoming a larger part of marketing strategy, it provides a unique asset for ensuring a successful trade show experience. If you want your business to attract the right buyers or media attention to your trade show booth, incorporating social media tactics into engagement allows you to easily and in real-time, connect with those people in the online world. They'll be eager to see what's going on and share news related to your business and other trade show activities, even though they couldn't be there in person to check it out.

Today, even trade shows themselves are using social media, with Twitter the second-highest driver of participation at BlogWorld. To get started, here are some tips that can help:

Before a show -

Target attendees. Twitter is a great way to identify people attending a trade
show through hashtags (#) and searchable conversations. Start following them and have a dialogue about what your company will be doing. Send out event invites and tease images or information. You can also easily see if there are people who want to attend, but can't. Consider sponsoring a relevant blogger so they can check out the experience (with full disclosure).

During a show -

Share your day's activities. Every participant can't and won't visit your booth every day, so choose what and when you want to promote. Do giveaways at certain times throughout the day, or feature special promotions. For example, encourage people to visit by offering an incentive - like X dollars off an order, or a gift certificate to a restaurant while in town - to the first ten people that repport to your booth after seeing a tweet. Post photos of the event with attendees and share updates to Twitter or Facebook.

After a show -

Touch base again on Facebook or Twitter. Ask what your new followers or fans enjoyed about your booth/announcements and what they'd like to see next year. Keep them informed throughout the year with interesting news. Re-tweet articles they post, or share them on Facebook. The key post-show is to keep engagement consistent and relevant. In other words, don't forget about the people who showed interest.

What are your tactics for getting attention at a trade show and how could you use social media to enhance visibility and ROI of the experience? Follow me on Twitter (@Jessicah07) and share your recommendations!

Checking In: Location-Based Services That Marketers Should Check Out

2010-02-01T21:10:32Z

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of leading a brainstorm and learning session here at Zócalo about geotagging and location-based services. I figured as the current "mayor" of the agency on Foursquare, it was at least my mayoral duty!

Location-based services are mobile applications, utilities or games that use positioning technology to provide functions based on a user's geographical location. This can mean a variety of things to different users... from automatically detecting your bank's nearest ATM, to tracking the whereabouts of your friends as they bar-hop through the weekend.

These applications allow people to find services on the go, to broadcast their own location to their friends (or to the world... why not?), and to keep a record of where they've gone and when - like keeping a blog, but with latitude and longitude coordinates.

So what can businesses do with location-based services? Foursquare has some suggestions of their own, but, tools aside, here is how we break down the business benefits conceptually:

1. Become easier to find
Optimize location-based search to make sure people nearby know your business is around. Provide "anywhere" access to customer service by making your stores, branches and representatives dynamically visible on a map.

2. Target the right consumers
Analyze traffic and presence trends in order to plan your store openings and market expansion strategy. Watch where your brand advocates go in order to choose promotional event partners.

3. Engage with consumers
Create real-time promotional offers and loyalty incentives. Issue mobile calls-to-action, and obtain instant feedback/insights.

Want to read more? Check out these 7 ways marketers can use Foursquare, courtesy of MarketingProfs. Any other ideas?

Integrated Marketing: It's Finally Happening, What Does This Mean for Your Career?

2010-01-25T19:01:33Z

Marketing communications is finally becoming integrated. With the need to streamline operations, the silos of traditional PR, social media, word of mouth marketing, advertising, etc. are being broken down. A great example of this is a major CPG brand that recently changed the job title of their PR director to integrated marketing director. These companies are also looking for their agencies to do the same. So what does this mean for your career?

To become a director of integrated marketing communications, it might be quick to assume one needs to specialize in several practices to gain a broader understanding of how they all work together. However, if you look at the management skills needed for each of these specialties they are relatively similar: strategy development and execution. Instead of specializing in several practices, focus on one specialty and hone the skills needed for crafting and implementing an effective strategy.

An MBA was never crucial to reach senior leadership in communications, but those roles are changing. After the economic downturn, the bottom line has never been more important, requiring marketers to justify their campaigns through demonstrating a clear impact on business operations. Senior leadership needs to have an understanding of business practices beyond marketing strategy, and an MBA would further this understanding.

In this Business Week interview, Susanne Lyons, former chief marketing officer of Visa and Charles Schwab, gives a great explanation as to why business understanding is fundamental to the role.

"The CMO needs to be a businessperson first, and a marketer second. They need to demonstrate greater accountability and show how they are having a real impact on the bottom line... the key is for marketers to understand and speak the quantitative and financial language of business."

What changes have you seen in our industry that affect your career? How do you plan to address and incorporate them into your learning and development?

The Recommendation Index - Measuring The Value Of WOM

2009-12-07T17:12:00Z

Earlier this morning, we announced the product of a joint analysis with M/A/R/C Research that scores brands based upon the volume of positive recommendations versus negative recommendations. The result is the Recommendation Index.

To kick off the announcement, we'd like to invite everyone to a webinar next week, Monday Dec. 14th at 2:00 CT. Registration is live at www.recommendationindex.com.

Unlike previous metrics that only ask "Would you recommend this brand?" the Recommendation Index evolves the measurement to determine why, where and how often people recommend individual brands as well as how each brand compares to the overall category.

Each quarter, the report will focus on a different industry segment, providing an overall ranking of both positively and negatively recommended brands - as well as how and why people talk about them - both over time and against competitors.

By knowing the words and phrases with which people are making recommendations in a category, it becomes possible to deliberately drive and amplify those qualities that matter most to consumers. The Recommendation Index^SM provides a significant competitive advantage in intentionally shaping and tracking how you are being recommended. The result of which is a direct relationship between your volume of recommendations and its impact on sales.

Full details of the report are available on our site, and the presentation will be posted for those unable to join us for the webinar.

WOMMA Guide to Social Media Disclosure

2009-12-01T16:28:23Z

As most of you know, WOMMA has helped shape and lead the charge for effective and meaningful social media disclosure. The recently introduced FTC Guidelines, in fact, make numerous positive references to WOMMA's Ethics Code.

As a next step in the process, WOMMA is working to finalize the explicit best practices for social media disclosure for both marketers and bloggers* (like the FTC, WOMMA applies the term "bloggers" to refer to individual posting online content, whatever the channel).

Our goals: Facilitate dialog around and provide explicit recommendations around:

Where and how marketers can effectively and transparently disclose -- and be in compliance with FTC Guidelines
Where and how "bloggers" can effectively and transparently disclose -- and be in compliance with FTC Guidelines

WOMMA has been following a very deliberate process to gain membership and industry consensus on these issues.

Began dialog at 2008 WOMMA Summit
Convened expert panel on transparency and disclosure
Facilitated discussion on "Living Ethics" blog
Drafted preliminary disclosure guidelines
Reviewed preliminary disclosure guidelines at 2009 WOMMA Summit (November 20)

Our next steps are to post current guidelines on the Living Ethics blog for feedback and then to issue final recommendations. Please review all of the following information and go to www.womma.org/ethicsreview to provide any specific suggestions on what would make the direction either clearer or most consistent.

Key platforms we're covering:

Blogs/forums
Video and photo sharing sites
Social Networks
Review Sites
Twitter
Other forms of user generated content

Our Guiding Principles:

Disclosure must be clear and conspicuous
Language must be unambiguous
Considerations must be given to targeted consumers• Disclosure must appear "above the fold."

Marketers' responsibilities:

Educate "bloggers" regarding responsibilities
Educate internal corporate audiences regarding responsibilities: create a "culture of compliance"
Require disclosure from "bloggers"
Monitor to ensure disclosure is happening

"Blogger" Responsibilities

Confirm understanding of responsibilities with marketers
Disclose all material connections
Communicate proactively with marketer to demonstrate compliance

Best practices for: Blog Disclosure:

Editorial blog

Disclose any product, service or compensation provided by a marketer
Disclosure requirement:

As part of editorial copy
"I received ____ from (company X) as a sample, to review, etc."

Review blog

Disclose any product, service or compensation provided by a marketer
Disclosure requirements:

As part of editorial copy
"I received (X product or service) from (company X) to review"
"I was paid by (company X) to review"
Create "Disclosure and Relationships" section on web site

Best practices for: Video Sharing Sites

Disclosure options:

As part of video content
"I received (X product or service) from (company X) to review/create this video
"I was paid by (company X) to review/create this video"
As part of video description

Best practices for: Photo Sharing Sites

Disclosure requirement:

As part of photo description
"I received (X product or service) from (company X) to create this
"I was paid by (company X) to create this"

Best practices for: Social Networks

Disclosure options:

As part of photo or video description (see photo and video sharing sites best practices)
As part of status update
"I received (X product or service from (company X)
"I was paid by (company X)
Create "Disclosures and Relationships" section on profile

Best practices for: Review Sites

Disclose any product, service or compensation provided by a marketer
Disclosure requirements:

As part of editorial copy
"I received (X product or service) from (company X) to review"
I was paid by (company X) to review"
Create "Disclosure and Relationship" section on profile of website

Best practices for: Twitter

Disclosure requirement:

Must clearly state hash tag within tweet
#spon or #paid
Create link to "Disclosures and Relationships" section on profile

Feedback on this topic and the specific requirements for transparent disclosure online is requested and encouraged as we continue to make this process as clear as possible.