It feels like yesterday at times when the Cluetrain Manifesto was published, but in reality it’s been 10 years since the seminal, and controversial, book was published. To mark the anniversary, Keith McArthur began the “Cluetrain Plus 10” project which has 95 bloggers covering one of the 95 Theses that make up the book.

Cluetrain, for me, helped articulate the changing landscape of customer/ company interactions as the Internet began to come of age, along with other more brand/ e-comm focused books of the time. Although I see some parts as a tad one-sided and biased in terms of forcing a point, versus the natural evolution (and constraints) of business, the manifesto I’ve chosen to write about – Companies attempting to “position” themselves need to take a position. Optimally, it should relate to something their market actually cares about – rings truer than ever at this stage of the game in my view.

When companies decide to exist and build a product, one of the most natural and necessary things, for company wide alignment, is to develop a market position. All too often the way they go about it is internally, or shareholder, focused vs. allowing the focus to rest on their customer and their needs, insight, and focus.

Unfortunately it’s not surprising to sometimes find a force-fit approach lacking the fundamental questions all sustainable, successful companies in today’s market answer:

Why would anyone care?

What do they care about on a personal/ group level vs. as a “market”

Who are you really – are you part of the solution, or part of a problem?

What you do and who you are matter, especially as the world becomes increasingly wired and we become billions of loose threads interconnected 24/7. The absence of the connection – to something tangible we can relate to, be interested in, give a second thought to, and know there isn’t a hidden agenda, outside of making fair profits – means the potential loss of: trust; perceived value; a sale; a future sale; a referral; knowledge; social capital.

People still buy from companies they don’t really “connect” with (be it at a product, customer service, or emotional-brand level), but they do so grudgingly, and, on the whole, are open to other, more fulfilling, options. A company who is committed to a goal that makes sense to them as people, whatever that goal may be, in context, wins.

If you wanted to reach the people who may be interested in your product, would you want to be a company people understand & respect, or a company that’s a last resort?

Wouldn’t it be great to have your customers, and potential customers, on your side & providing you with actionable feedback, or would you prefer to be under siege & on the defensive?

The Internet offers one platform to become aware, and active, with the people who may benefit from what you have to offer them. But a strong position, in whatever regard, transcends the medium, and becomes part of the overall experience. The feedback loop in action. For this to truly work, the position has to be a real thing, not a product of a myopic “communications” view driven by expediency, lack of imagination, interest or insight, into the very “demographic” you are attempting to position for. Sometimes, when you dig deep enough, what you find will surprise, delight, and perhaps scare you. Maybe even open up a whole new opportunity you wouldn’t have considered if the “market” didn’t provide it to those who interacted with and listened to them.

How is that not the way to go in the long-term?

[photo credit: RichardLowkes via Flickr]

Social media is taking people powered organizing to a new level – the relative ease, speed, and agility with which groups of like-minded people can get together and affect change is amazing. The real life examples of this power continue to roll in and while the case studies are intoxicating, from a marketing and brand standpoint, it’s a good idea to separate the insights from the actions and ultimately to manage our expectations as marketers/ communicators.

A recent example of the power of social networks to rapidly mobilize and pull together an amazing “crowdsourced” event is the #hohoto.ca geek holiday party in Toronto which benefits the Daily Bread Food Bank. This event didn’t exist prior to a week ago and so far has raised over $8k for charity based only on Twitter communications (while the event will use other channels – Flickr, YouTube, etc. the organizing and promotion has happened almost exclusively via Twitter networks) by a group of people who got together and decided to throw a party. The money raised from ticket sales is impressive with over 100 folks signed up to attend, but the small business community has stepped up as well and sponsored the event, and the venue (Mod Club) and ticket agent (Eventbrite) have also waived their fees to help with a good cause. All in all this mobilization and the resulting support has been something to behold – check out the twitter search stream for a sampling of how active and generous the community has been!

(Other recent examples are of course the #motrinmoms recent controversy and the #mumbai tragedy, but those have been well covered, and for these purposes I’m going to focus on what brands can learn from the #hohoto example.)

However, the temptation will be to say this is another proof of concept that social media works and use this as a case study for how brands should jump on board and harness this crowdsourcing. Yes and no. While this does prove in the power of the tools to mobilize and activate individuals, it’s not something brands should *expect* to happen for them just by participating in the social web. There is a difference between passion for an IDEA and passion for a BRAND after all.

Here are a few key insights that companies can learn from #hohoto and what makes it different from outreach and participation in SocMed for a brand -

1. This event needed influential catalysts – the Mesh Conference team who are well known and liked influencers on the Toronto scene stepped in at the outset and pledged their support & promoted and “re-tweeted” the details non-stop to their network of “influencers” in the Toronto tech & communications community.
2. It’s the holiday season and geeks like any reason to get out and network in person – throw in a charity angle and you’ve got a winner of an idea.
3. Low commitment on behalf of the attendees – it’s a party after all, not providing intellectual property for the benefit of a company brand.
4. Lowered expectations surrounding the implementation – the website and promotion was a work-in-progress by a loose group of individuals. There were some snafus – the website didn’t actually list the event details when it first went up, the date changed after the launch & tickets were sold, and there were spelling mistakes, etc on the site. No harm, no foul, but if this was a “brand” event I expect the reaction would have been a tad harsh to the “launch & learn” approach.
5. The timeline for the event is tight – it’s being held on December 15th and therefore the constant stream of #hohoto hashtags and promotion is tolerated and embraced. If this were for a brand program I think we may have seen some “cease & desist” snark and comments from the Twitter community when every other tweet is about the event from personal accounts.
6. The tools are powerful and the “cool factor” of tweet streams, on-site video streaming, twitter DJ requests, etc. etc. are important to extending the reach and motivating this particular community, *but* without the two key IDEAS – holiday party networking & charity – they are just that, cool tools.

For a brand venturing or participating in the space it would be dangerous to expect the same type of response for a purely commercial endeavour. Crowdsourcing can be powerful, but it can also backfire if the right insights aren’t there at the outset. Planning matters and a good idea will still rule.

Participating and building a network honestly is the rule of the day, and ensuring that you’re tapping into the passions of individuals for something they care about will motivate people far more than any shiny tool will.

If you don’t receive the same type of response to your brand, don’t be discouraged, it’s a different experience. Your response is probably just fine for your goals… if they were realistically set to begin with.

See you at #hohoto on the 15th? :)

[photo credit: Derektor via Flickr]

Since moving back to Toronto in late 2001 I’ve moved around quite a bit. Part of it was born of a desire to rediscover my hometown after being away for over a decade, and determine where I wanted to finally ’settle’. I’ve recently done so again and am out in a neighbourhood I’ve wanted to live in for way too long to remember.

As I’ve been out and about exploring the new ‘hood, I’ve been consciously aware that although we are all Torontonians, and Canadians, the folks out here roll differently. If I want to get the most out of this community, I have to find out what makes it tick and what the ‘when in Rome’ rules are. Reflecting back, I’ve only gotten enjoyment and fulfillment out of any new community (work, home, play, study) when I take the time to listen and explore vs. bulldoze my way through, oblivious.

The same principles apply online and with social networks. Each network, although they may look outwardly similar, or have the same type of backbone software, is unique based on the individuals who populate it, and, drilling down, those who are its "power users" are, in a fashion, the ‘community elders’ and have more say in what the norms are. Of course, as with everything in life, as new people move in (join), the standards can begin to shift, but this usually (unless it’s a revolt, but that’s a different tale altogether) happens organically from within the network vs. by external pressures.

It’s important to keep the thoughts of your ‘real life’ community in mind while exploring and engaging in the social space online. Just because something worked a certain way on MySpace, doesn’t mean it’ll be the same on Flickr or Twitter. Just because you’d say something a certain way in an opt-in email or on a brand forum, doesn’t mean it works in a Facebook group.

Each community, and each community subset, is just as unique as the folks who populate your neighbourhood, or mine.

[photo credit: gracias! via Flickr]

The rules haven’t changed THAT much.

Molson has pulled it’s Facebook advertising campaign after public pressure and denunciations accused the beer company of promoting drinking amongst young adults. There’s always been a fine line alcohol companies have had to navigate in their marketing campaigns, especially considering the target market for mass vs. premium beer brands has always been 19-24 year olds (or 21-25 in the USA) who the beer brands try to make loyal customers for life by targeting them when they can first start drinking legally. That’s the nature of the biz, and one rainy day during patio season can heavily impact sales. When I worked on the LBOC and LUSA (Labatt Breweries of Canada and Labatt USA respectively) interactive brands back in 2002 this was something we had to be acutely aware of, and submitted our campaigns to rigorous scrutiny and approval by the AGCO. Frankly I’m more surprised this got past the AGCO than I am that Molson tried to push the envelope.

According to Molson this campaign is a result of the social media space being relatively new.

‚ÄúThe whole realm of social media ‚Äì there’s lots to learn,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúIt’s really a new area. We’re probably groundbreaking and leading in a lot of things we’ve been doing.‚Äù

Social media tools, the Read/Write Web, and CGC may be relatively new, but the regulations surrounding alcohol marketing and advertising are not, and strategies that involve getting young adults to drink to excess to promote a product are not “groundbreaking”.

Social media does not mean throwing common sense out the window, no matter how much you’d like to get a beer version of Girls Gone Wild going to encourage sales (and believe me, sex sells and there’s nothing wrong with that… when done responsibly). Social media is not “one size fits all”, nor should it be. If you’re tying your brand to a campaign, there still may need to be rules in place (especially if you are a regulated industry), and Molson, and their agency, should have had the sense to have moderators in place before allowing a video picture to be posted or entered into the contest at the very least, and should have nixed the idea of having the contest revolve around students “partying on campus” at the brainstorming level. There are other ways to promote a product and engage in the social media space.

The campaign, pure and simple, involved getting young adults, with whom binge drinking is already a huge concern, to drink beer and post videos about it for a chance to win a trip to Cancun; what other message were they supposed to take away from “partying around campus”? Tupperware? Tea? And anyone who has been to Cancun knows it’s the haven for drinking to excess, so the underlining message is quite clear. If Molson and their agency didn’t think through the ramifications of this, I’m truly surprised. “One upmanship” amongst young adults is well known, and it’s one of the reasons why drinking games like quarters and keg party’s are still around; to think that giving them a chance to do so to win a trip wasn’t going to happen, or indirectly encourage it in order to create the most provocative video pic, was irresponsible. They were right to pull it and they are right to be called out in two subsequent Globe and Mail articles (the power of the print medium is still alive and well).

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Owning up to a mistake is a key part of the transparency and authenticity of social media… that may be the “groundbreaking” part Molson is missing here. There are a ton of ways I can see to have gotten the same message across, had fun, and engaged the demographic they were trying to reach. Hopefully they’ll have learned from it and my guess is the regulatory agency’s won’t be too far behind.

It would have been a different thing had they targeted it generally vs. specifically to colleges in my opinion.

Update – and viewing the creative where “Molson Cold Shot 6.0″ cans are front and centre leaves the premise that the campaign was “misunderstood” sorely lacking.

Update 2 – From one of the comments on the article:

If anyone should be worried about anything, it should be about pictures being on Facebook. Has anyone said anything about the fact that unflattering pictures may end up being within the public domain without someone’s consent? Has anyone mentioned that such pictures bein used by Molson as part of a commercial undertaking without the express consent of those being captured? [i.e. anyone in the photo who didn't enter the contest]

ps – before anyone accuses me of being anti-partying… I’ll see you at the Firkin during a Leafs game ;)

h/t – Traffick

[photo credit: AffiliateBob via Flickr]

I love this. It really speaks to the ability of the internet to create a global community; building on each others thoughts, experiences and perspectives. I know the readers of my blog come from all over the world and I always appreciate the larger, global view; I think it is essential to moving forward. Which is why I am so pleased to see that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the current President of India recently posted a question for the world wide web community to respond to -

What should we do to free our planet from terrorism?

If you’d like to join the conversation head over to Yahoo! Answers and tell the world (and the President) what you think we should do… I’d venture we need to put our collective heads together on this one.

[h/t - mythbuster33 on digg]

[photo credit: NikAt on Flickr]

Tags: President of India; Yahoo! Answers

In their Millenium Campaign to eradicate poverty, the UN is actively & innovatively engaging in the social media space. In order to reach as broad an audience as possible, and push the limits of how you can ‘be counted’, they are organizing events, and have kiosks throughout Second Life, as well as engaging ‘Lonelygirl15′ star Jessica Lee Rose to make an anti-poverty video that’s posted on YouTube.

This is a bold move by a nonprofit to utilize the strengths of the internet and social networking sites to raise awareness for the cause, as well as provide an additional platform for disparate people to get involved and build a movement. The foray into Second Life is quite interesting for its social implications, but a great alternative way for those who wish to, to ’stand up’ and contribute. It will be interesting to see how the move to engage a personality who caused quite a bit of controversy around authenticity is received, but with over 11k views since it was posted on October 5th, it’s off to a good start.

I’d like to see more active engagement with niche social networking sites, community building, and blogger awareness campaigns, but regardless, for an activism campaign it is off to a great and imaginative start.

[photo credit: pbo31 on Flickr]

Tags: United Nations; Second Life; Millenium Campaign; Lonelygirl15; YouTube

iBegin is a Toronto-based social reviewed search engine which enables the community to provide feedback on establishments, events, and residences, etc. in and around the city. Ahmed Farooq dropped me a line to let me know about a great charity drive iBegin has started which directly helps the Assaulted Women’s Helpline in Toronto. For each review or picture submitted to iBegin, 50 cents will be donated to charity with the goal being at least $10,000.

It’s an amazing venture and one I am proud to support – I plan on adding my first review today and will be snapping some shots of the Kensington Market area establishments later this week.

I asked Ahmed a few questions via email about how iBegin got started and the goal of the charity drive:

1. When did iBegin get off the ground? Who are the founders?

iBegin went live on March 4, 2006. You can read a bit more about how we think here. I run the site alone (I own a successful web development company).

2. What differentiates you from a RedToronto or Toronto.com?

This post sums it up well. It is quality results extended with useful information (pictures, reviews, tags, etc).

3. How are you spreading the word?

Bloggers, our own sites, and friends. Bloggers are the key ingredient here. We have opted to skip around traditional marketing methods for all of iBegin, and this donation drive is no different. It is so simple – add reviews or pictures, get money donated to charity, that I expect it to do well. It is a win-win situation for everyone. [note: you can download a banner for your blog at the iBegin site]

4. What motivated iBegin to undertake the charity campaign with the Assaulted Women’s Helpline?

Really it is more of a ‘why not?’ From my own point of view, I think a lot of people are teetering on the edge – they really want to be independent, they really want to make a difference, but they just need a little bit of a boost. And who appreciates life and needs a boost more than the women who call the helpline? Rhetorical question of course :)

5. Are you planning to expand to other cities outside of the GTA?

We will be expanding ’soon’. Our next city will be Ottawa, but there is no confirmed time-line on that.

The campaign runs from August 28th – October 15th with a daily goal of $200-300. So far they’re at $48 and counting so get those reviews going Torontonians – I know you have an opinion of your local watering hole or favourite restaurant! Share them with the world for a good cause!

[photo credit: moonpointer 1 on Flickr]

Tags: iBegin

Check out this extraordinary new outdoor campaign developed by Walker Werbeagentur Zuerich for Amnesty International, Switzerland. It’s provocative, stunning visually and brings their cause directly into your environment. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better use of outdoor media.

The campaign tag is “It’s not happening here but it’s happening now” and portrays human rights issues from countries such as Iraq, China, and Sudan.

The only thing missing is their website URL so the people who are motivated by this campaign remember they can do something to help.

[H/T Three Minds @ Organic]

Technorati tags: Amnesty International, Walker Werbeagentur Zurich, Outdoor media

Looks like the agency’s are starting to explore social networking and community relations. Tara points us to a new online review site developed by Blast Radius (a Canadian agency) called Sutori. It’s a good concept and one that I’m sure I’m not the only one who has talked about ways to implement in recent months… community reviews and feedback on companies.

What’s really interesting about this, aside from the idea of direct and meaningful feedback to begin with, is that an ad agency is building it. Good on Blast for taking this chance. I get how, from their perspective, this can provide a wealth of information on what consumers think about a particular company, or product, which Blast can monetize and use in their client campaigns (sorry, I’m never one to think anyone does anything for altruistic reasons… not in the agency world at least…)…(I could see it as two levels of packages: free summary and aggregate data which the brand can then try and disseminate and manage themselves and the “premium” package, available free of charge to current Blast customers, and for a fee to non-Blast customers… the premium package will most likely provide metrics and analysis of the data for the company). But it’s still taking a chance nonetheless; you never know what people will tell you if you give them an easy way to do so.

I like that the “three j’s” are thinking in terms of how to maintain civility in the reviews, and the plea to “contain a certain level of goodwill towards the brand, product or company you‚Äôre writing about” is a noble one, but, like I said, people are people and if they’re pissed off they’ll say so… and that could make a Blast client cranky. So it’s a chance, but a good one.

Of course, as with anything social networking related that is initiated by a company, it will need to remain authentic and transparent. Consumers are getting wise to PR, marketing and ad agency folk jumping into message boards and saying positive things about a brand without disclosure… I hope Blast has a strategy for combating this inevitable trend.

[Update] John from Blast clarifies the issue surrounding their intent to monetize in the comments. And, I apologize for the muddy title… the “are you ready” refers to brands hearing from consumers, not Sutori from me ;)

Technorati Tags: Sutori, consumer feedback, reviews

Al Gore is making waves these days. Seems like everytime you turn around, there he is. SNL, Wired, Sundance, and now MySpace.

Gore & Paramount Classics announced a broad partnership with social networking site MySpace to promote his documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” and promote activism with regards to global warming and climate change.

The partnership, as well as the totality of the marketing campaign surrounding the film, is a window into how non-profits (and business) can participate in an established online community, or social network, and engage in a conversation, provide rich content and value, and leverage multiple channels to build on each other… and remain true to the unique atributes of each of them.

MySpace’s campaign… includes a custom-designed site where the community’s more than 70 million registered members can meet and exchange ideas. Among other features, the page offers a “personal environmental impact calculator” for users to assess their personal contribution to global warming.

… the campaign will culminate in a 10-city MySpace theater buyout on June 16, with free tickets going to select members of “ An Inconvenient Truth“’s MySpace community.

In addition, MySpace’s music channel is featuring an artist-on-artist interview between the former vice president and a to-be-announced rock-star who also happens to be part of the MySpace community. The MySpace movies channel will spotlight an interview with the film’s director, Davis Guggenheim.

The integration doesn’t start, or end, with MySpace however. The entire campaign is designed with new media & social networking in mind. The website for the film features:

• Streaming RSS feeds about articles relating to climate change
• A blog which is updated regularly
• News relating to the film
• Testimonials
• Featured posts from other blogs
• A “Find a theatre” page with links to Google maps
• Multiple cool downloads (ecards, flyers, wallpaper, buddy icons and a screensaver)
• Commentary regarding the science
• A “take action” page with tools and tips on what a person could do to get involved, on a personal and global level.

Powerful stuff used correctly. It’s authentic, transparent and seeks to engage the audience. As of opening day, over 110k people had signed the pledge to see the film in theatres on the first day.

The final word goes to Gore:

“MySpace has a unique ability to mobilize its community around an urgent cause,”

Technorati Tags: Al Gore, MySpace, Paramount, An Inconvenient Truth