I wish I could take credit for coming up with the term, "freemium," but I can't. The term was actually coined a few years ago to define the way in which many web-based products would give away their services for free in the hope that word of mouth would spread faster. 

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"Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone."

This memorable piece of Kevin Spacey dialogue from the 1995 movie "The Usual Suspects" is a great metaphor for an emerging trend in our business. It's an analogy for the real-time, earned digital engagement opportunities that present themselves to brands on a daily basis, but then disappear before a client can say, "approved!"

For example, this morning I awoke to a top twitter hashtag titled, "#twittercrush." After contributing to this spontaneous topic (no, I will not reveal who my crush is), I thought about how we might leverage this hashtag for one of our clients. Unfortunately, by the time this post is added to our blog, the twittercrush "phenomenon" will be over. Poof, just like Keyser Soze.

In other words, by the time we had shared an idea with the client, this opportunity would be yesterday's news. And, when you consider the realities of internal approvals and LEGAL reviews, it begs the question: Are brands (and agencies) able to move at the speed of online conversations?

There are certainly many cases of brands successfully moving on opportunities like these. One that comes to mind is Toys R Us, which leveraged the Cash for Clunkers conversations by inviting consumers to turn in used baby products, like car seats, for a 20 percent discount. The premiere of Mad Men's season 3 on AMC inspired several brands to leverage high volumes of conversation around the popular cable show. For example, Banana Republic created an entire window display around the show and offered the opportunity to win a walk-on role. The partnership found its way into many an online conversations about the show. But, both of these cases focus on a more sustainable topic - one that lived for days, not hours.

So, how can agencies, and the brands they work with, jump on short-lived opportunities in a timely manner?

Here are five best-practices that can help:

1. Plan ahead: Have a process in place for monitoring, flagging, brainstorming and merchandising these opportunities

2. Change the culture: Sure, you may have forwarded that funny YouTube video garnering millions of views to friends, but what about co-workers (within the context of an opportunity, of course)

3. Tie it back to the brand: If it can't be measured or tied back to the brand's over-arching strategy, it probably will take a long time to approve, if at all

4. Have a back-up plan: Don't be afraid to think big and push the envelope, but do have a Plan B ready that is more in line with a client's traditional comfort level

5. Be persistent: Assuming your email will communicate the urgent nature of the opportunity is a mistake - pick up the phone and clearly communicate the shelf life of the opportunity

As the role brands play in creating organic and sustainable online dialogue continues to evolve this will no doubt become a critical competency for Word of Mouth agencies, and the earned engagement practice of brands. Does anyone else have suggestions have tips to share?



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Widgets got their moment in the spotlight this past week at WidgetWebExpo (http://www.widgetwebexpo.com/) in Brooklyn, NY. The conference looked at a critical emerging online trends: How to utilize the power of widgets to carry a brand to the world.

No doubt, widgets - and tools like Twitter, Plurk and FriendFeed - are changing how Word of Mouth marketing is executed on behalf of brands.

In fact, a recent article to by Abbey Klaassen for AdAge attempts to define when a widget - once a fun aggregator of information - becomes a brand altering distributor of information.

The turning point? According to the article, when content from a widget becomes searchable on Google. One of the WidgetWebExpo panelists - Steve Rubel - put it this way: "companies fight for shelf space at Wal-Mart, brands are fighting for shelf space at Google." The article goes on to say that, "it's a reputation-management engine, and social media dictates what shows up on that shelf."

What this means for brand evangelism programs is that what goes on at the front end is just as important as what goes on at the back end. In other words, how information is disseminated in the beginning of an influencer marketing program will have a significant impact on how it is received at its conclusion.

This is no different than when a viral marketing effort contacts a blog. Naturally, that information is not only written for that blogger, but also his audience, and the other sites that link to his blog. Now add on widgets that comb the net for certain topics and you've got more "shelf space." Maybe someone should create a widget that can help measure that.

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