We marketers/ ad people have been devoting an awful lot of space on our blogs talking about engaging the community, understanding your customer, engaging in conversations, and all things social media. We’ve rightfully preached about transparency, authenticity, listening. But do we do the same with our direct customers, our clients?

As agency folks we typically work on more than one account, or brand, in our careers (or at one agency) and the expectation for each is that you are immersed in it. You understand the brand ID, the USP, the P&L, the sales cycle, the customer profile, the SWOT, you know, the whole enchilada of the product & the advertising. But what we often fail to do (as client services or creatives), is remember to understand the person we’re pitching or presenting to. How else to explain using a Sony laptop in a pitch for Dell? Or asking Bill Gates what’s on his iPod? Or talking about golf with the woman who just had a baby? Or bringing in a Starbucks when meeting with the Second Cup? [purely hypothetical situations of course...] Do we think the client won’t notice? They do. And it doesn’t help build the trust necessary to help them connect with their customers. If we don’t practice what we preach, why should they listen to us?

We need to be the shining examples of listening and communication… and the devil is always in the details. You wouldn’t let your PPT out the door with the wrong logo in it would you?

[photo credit: dotpolka on Flickr]

Continuing my Toronto culture theme today, I am loving the new National Ballet of Canada contest: Where’s the ballerina?

I received an email last week announcing the first week of the contest, as I have opted in to receive communications from the National. The email was elegant and simple, it matched the branding of the website, and it was compelling. The contest is fantastic & runs over a four week period - win two tickets to the gala opening of The Sleeping Beauty at the new Four Seasons Centre. And the hook… well, what can I say, I’m in love…

A ballerina has been sighted at various locations throughout the city of Toronto. Your job is to identify where she is from 4 multiple choice locations. The “clue” is a beautifully shot black and white video clip set to music from the ballet of the ballerina exploring the location. It’s visually stunning and engaging.

The contest, although simple and to the point, hits all the right privacy marks with opt-outs and policies upfront; and it encourages viral by building in a refer a friend for more chances to win option. Finally, the entry form design is excellent as it’s built into the page and doesn’t ask for more info than they need. In fact, they only ask for name and email address.

Bravo to the National Ballet for using the interactive medium in a intuitive way that speaks directly to the brand, the community, and the art.

Update: Although the campaign is terrific, one way to add depth and buzz would be to tie in the theme into an exclusive grand prize where those users who entered correctly all 4 weeks had an extra chance to participate… perhaps a 24 hour period where an exclusive ‘part 5′ is posted that is more difficult to decipher… with a chance to win tickets to a different ballet, or a pre-show chat with Karen Kain. Once you open the door to connecting so well with your brand and your audience, the possibilities are endless to increase the experience.

[photo credit: foreversouls on Flickr]

Tags: National Ballet of Canada; Where’s the ballerina?;

Sellaband is a new website based in Germany that enables independent artists to connect with fans who are willing to sponsor (buy a ’share’ in) their first album for a potential share of any profits off of advertising revenue - the album itself will be available for download free of charge. It’s a fantastic idea and one that I can see both bands and fans embracing. The long-term potential for loyalty and communication increases as consumers are able to feel a sense of ownership in “their” bands fate. In terms of marketing and word of mouth awareness it’s a winner as well. Fans have a vested interest in the band succeeding and will spread the word. On the flip side, with feedback mechanisms in place (i.e. purchasing shares/ parts and enabling community interaction), musicians are able to get a valuable sense of what’s resonating, and what is not.

According to the Springwise newsletter, a month after launch and Sellaband has signed over 250 artists from 30 countries, and has sold over 2,500 ‘parts’ at $10 a pop from a user base of 1,500.

Welcome to Indie Music 2.0.

Now if they just start making user-generated band tees, we’ll have a proper mash-up.

[photo credit: Poagao on Flickr]

Tags: Sellaband; Springwise

I’ve always been a Bengals fan. Well, perhaps more accurately, I was a Boomer Esiason fan (as well as a Joe Montana fan, which caused a huge problem when they faced each other in Super Bowl XXIII)… but I digress. My point is, I’m a fan of football (now, now, Canucks, my heart will always be with the Maple Leafs don’t worry), and I recognize the energy that a team gets from its fans, and that teams rely on customer loyalty to succeed - everything from filling seats to buying merch to TV ratings. But ultimately it’s a symbiotic relationship between spectator and participant with each getting something from the other. Which makes it a natural fit for social media.

And it’s good to see the Bengals get it. They are investing in UGC and integrating it into the experience at home games. A perfect fit.

The Cincinnati Bengals have become the first NFL team to launch a site where fans can post user-created videos. The new video site, hosted by technology firm ViTrue, … will be part of the Fan Zone section of the Bengals team site.

During a time-out in the Bengals-Patriots game on Sunday, an announcement invited fans to submit videos to the Bengals Web site showing their support for the team.

The Bengals will also send out e-mail messages today to 40,000 fans asking for user-created videos. The best videos as voted by fans will also be shown on the scoreboard during home games this season at Paul Brown Stadium.

This move is an investment by the Bengals in continuing to build relationships with their community & encouraging the community to build relationships with each other by participating in the decision of which videos get aired. They are allowing them to be part of the in-game experience and to celebrate their city, their team, and their love of the game. Hopefully more sports teams of all stripes will embrace the potential of social media and thinking outside the ordinary, as a way of giving back to their supporters/ customers.

[photo credit: Erik Eckel on Flickr]

Tags: Cincinnati Bengals; NFL

Poor Weird Al. His video “White & Nerdy” was leaked to YouTube before it had a chance to premiere on AOL, and now AOL has decided not to go ahead with the launch. Al posted on his blog his disappointment in not having the wider exposure AOL would have afforded him, and his fans lept to his defence in the comments and lamented the fact that they wouldn’t have the chance to see it on the portal & support Al.

Not a good PR situation for AOL all in all, as Al decided to post it for free on his MySpace page, he’s getting tons of press, and the video is enormously popular (and quite hilarious).

So what they need is a mash up. Pure and simple.

AOL made a mistake in backing away from the video because it leaked onto YouTube, and thereby walking away from Al’s community of fans, when a good strategy would have been (and still could be) to mash it up. Engage the community. Give them something exclusive. Ask them to create something themselves. Initiate and take it in stride.

Why doesn’t AOL mash up an exclusive re-mix of the Weird Al and Chamillionaire videos and post that instead?

Or ask users to submit their best mix?

The pre-release of the video actually affords AOL a chance to get into the social media space proactively and bring the community something additional of value. Unexpected? Yes. But not insurmountable if you’re thinking 2.0.

[Web 2.0-ized logo via Alex P - h/t ProPR.ca]

Tags: AOL; Weird Al; Chamillionaire; White and Nerdy; Ridin’ Dirty; YouTube