Social Networking and the World

For those who might not know, Facebook is now the number one social networking platform in France.

According to the statistics by comScore, the social network grew at an amazing rate of 443% since the French interface was implemented in Febuary 08'.

This is just an example of how social networking is growing everywhere. Needless to say, the social media boom in Asia is rising more and more. Nearly 456 million users have embraced social networking in Asia, that is close to one third of the online population of the world.

Marketing agency OgilvyOne Asia Pacific performed a study on the adoption and use of social media in 12 Asian countries.

Read OgilvyOne Asia Pacific's Study, "Can Brands Have A Social Life"

Back to Basics: Content Marketing Tips

Last week I decided to do a post on content marketing, so I decided to return to the topic and include 5 good questions to ask yourself when implementing a content marketing strategy.

For those who haven't heard the term "Content Marketing" - keep your heads up, you soon will.

Content marketing is catching alot of attention at the moment, and it has become quite popular among marketing teams due to the growing influence of social media. Altough content marketing "MAY" sound new, it has been around for quite a while now.

Pretty much, if you are creating content around a particular subject, it adds value to the information you possess. If you can influence someone to purchase it or implement word-of-mouth for you, then you are doing a good job. Moreover, the question lays whether you are implementing strategical changes to make it even greater.

1. What is the question you are trying to anwser? Succesful content marketing revolves around the idea of providing a key solution or anwser to a business/organization.
   
   So pretty much what I mean by this is, you aren't trying to launch a marketing campaign for the business, you are trying to focus on key issues regarding it.
   
   
2. How to make it less about YOU, and more about THEM? If you read my last post on generation g, I mentioned the fact that people are fed up with sales pitches. In other words, the context of the solution you are providing needs to be USEFUL, and the context needs to go beyond the greatness of your product.
   
   Listen to what the client's problem is. Simplified; If you have a problem, and you have to deal with it, people do not want to hear about how great you are and how wonderful your solution is, then want to know IF that solution can SOLVE their problem or not, and do not want to WASTE TIME dealing with something that is not going to provide them any help.
   
   
3. Who's going to read it and share it? First of all, it must be interesting. Moreover, "interesting" is what is going to make people share it. How many of the people you know, can't help sharing a really interesting article with you? The same rule applies to your content.
   
   
4. How will you promote it? In modern times, promoting something is by far quite easy, however, the problem lays in who you are promoting to. Social networking can be of great help in this area. Moreover, spend some time thinking of who you would like to share that information you possess with, and find out how to do it.
   
   Remember your content is "INFORMATION" by promoting it you are implementing the process of "Communication". It is useless if you possess such valueble information and no one can access it.
   

Reading Your Mind With Infrared Brain Imaging

In Canada, a variety of technologies are being introduced into service, these technologies can actually read your mind.

The researchers have found that they can determine the subject's preference with 80% accuracy using Infrared Brain Imaging.

According to Sheena Luu, who led the research,

“This is the first system that decodes preference naturally from spontaneous thoughts. Preference is the basis for everyday decisions.”

The research was published by the Journal of Neural Engineering. According to the Press Release the main idea behind the technology is not to enhance neuromarketing, but to create a non-invasive brain-computer interface for use by handicapped individuals.

The 80% was obtained from a study performed by researchers who asked subjects to choose between one of two drinks. Four out of five times they were able to predict the subject's choice from the IBI's.

Interesting stuff huh? I couldn't help blogging on it after I read it this morning off the Neuroscience Marketing blog.

David Coldewey of Crunch Gear commentted,

"Patients are trained to think of something that lights up a certain area of their brain — a strong memory, a song sung in the head, or a particular image — and this is picked up by the sensor and the patient can decide whether that’s a “yes” or “no” answer. That’s about the limit of things, but consider that it can be used by someone with absolutely no motor control in their body, including eyes and mouth, often the last resort for getting information through. Being able to say “yes” and “no” may sound basic, and it is, but it’s the basic things we take for granted. Hopefully this relatively straightforward and inexpensive method of thought detection will see a rollout sometime soon in hospitals and long-term care facilities."

Generation G: A Mindset For Marketers and Business

In recent times, when the global economy is flooring, and people are sickened by the greedy (financial intermediaries) businessmen and politicians that caused this downturn, a new generation has taken the stand; Generation G.

This generation is not defined by date of birth nor traits that have been passed on. This generation grows on GENEROSITY and is deeply repulsed by corporate and political GREED, which is the main reason the global economy is tumbling.

Recently Trendwatching.com, conducted a huge study on Generation G, one of the main reasons why the research was conducted is because they see the need for this generation and find it vital for businesses and marketers in these bad times of economic climate.

"GENERATION G captures the growing importance of ‘generosity’ as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy—and while that same upheaval has them longing more than ever for institutions that care—the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate in large numbers." - Trendwatching.com

Moreover, the theory behind Generation "G" is not something new, and according to my theory many people throughout history and in present times have employed it.

Content Marketing Through These Times.

In these times, there is an on-going war for attention online. Thus the fight continues and for those who have been aware, people are not looking for a sales pitch right now and I don't blame them. People are looking for information which is valuable to them and will make an aspect of their lives better.

If you want attention, that is what you have to give them...

However, here's is the win-win situation. If you can provide this information in a smart way, not only do you receive that attention you wanted, and not only are you seen as generous, but you are demonstrating your expertise, rather than just proposing it.

You are building an authority with your prospects, they in return amplify your authority with word of mouth. If you have managed to attract great attention from your customers or clients which view you as a generous expert, you are way ahead of the competition.

Moreover, you can amplify your authority EVEN MORE thanks to social networking.

Amplifying Generosity Through Social Networking

Thanks to social networking platforms such as Twitter and Linkedin, the interaction between people may grow more personal, by doing so, one of the fundamental things of business grows; TRUST.

By proving your credibility, your value stands stronger because now you are not only valuable for the information and knowledge you possess, but you can be trusted as well. This, in my point is the main objective of social networking.

The main idea is to let your network know who you are, that there is a face behind that (expert) mask, that is what will bring you even more success. Communicating with those who follow you will allow a stronger bond to be built, allowing more trust to come in. For example, By posting other relevant data from other sources and promoting those who have helped you along the way will demonstrate generosity, the main thing supporting the idea and your strength.


This is the main thing which people are now looking at. However, don't forget about the value you possess, and continue to make it "valuable". Even though you are exposing your real Persona, it is still about your public at some point.


What I mean by this is, don't go out there and forget about the people who believed in you at first, start with the people who have followed you at first, they will open you network even more.

Generosity Vs. Greed

As I have, Trendwatching.com was fast to point out the the main thing about the study they made. In these times, it is hard to know who to trust and who not. What people are looking for is people want to work with people who's generosity gleams rather than people who are known to be greedy. The main point is to draw attention for yourself by sharing your knowledge and creating value for it by being generous.

Using Surprises to Generate Word-of-Mouth

I know this may sound funny or perhaps even awkward, but it is true, surprising your customers can help generate word-of-mouth.

When we go to our favorite shops, we tend to go through our habitual shopping style. We view, select and purchase items with a neutral point of view. We may be excited about purchasing an item, because perhaps you finally rounded up the cash to buy it, but more or less our emotions are neutral. Moreover, none of the actions or experiences encourage us to promote the experience with others. But perhaps, adding the element of surprise can encourage us to do so.

Think of it this way, if you went wine shopping to a wine shop, and unexpectedly right after your purchase they gave you an attractive wine bottle holder along with your bottle of wine, this would create a sentiment of surprise, and you are more likely to talk about the shop and share the experience with others, and you are most likely to return to that shop.

The goal of this is not to give away free bottle holders, but to enhance the experience of the customer positively and in an unexpected way. By making your customer feel special in a unique situation will encourage them to share or recommend your business. Invest time understanding your customer and what could make him/her recommend YOU.

It is always important to understand our customers. When I first began college, I used to work as a sales representative at a mobile phone accessory kiosk at the local mall, I remember a specific client who always stopped by to look at the accessories we offered, When I finally convinced him to buy a flashing battery from me, I threw in a car charger which wasn't a big deal. A couple of days later, some of his friends stopped by, and they ended up recommending some other friends. I did not know what WOM marketing was, but I did learn that surprising (positively) your customers can help generate word-of-mouth for your brand/business/service.

What Came First, The Chicken or The Egg?

Recently, I've heard and engaged in some debates whether marketing is the same thing as advertising. Thanks to a blog entry by Seth Godin, (read blog entry here) I decided to post this entry.

For those who don't know, MARKETING IS NOT THE SAME THING AS ADVERTISING! Advertising is a single component of a marketing plan, it tends to come in the final stages of launching a new product into the market. Without the proper marketing, the product cannot be advertised properly to the right market segment, and therefore, whoever it is is that is advertising the product, is wasting money.

Supporting my argument above, you can clearly see that in order to aim the product to the right segment, you have to analyze the market and see who you wish to sell the product to. Think of it this way; A business provides the solutions to the consumer's problem. The marketing campaign will provide the business with the idea of who they wish to provide the solution to. Advertising, will help the consumer see what the solution to their problem is.

Just about every "great" product out there, is a result of an effective marketing campaign, followed by the proper advertising of the product to the public.


"If someone comes to you with a 'great' product that just needs some marketing, the game is probably already over.''

- Seth Godin

Virgin's Culinary Journey of Hell

Word of mouth is something that can spread really fast, especially in this interconnected and network-orientated world. Think of it this way; remember high school, and rumors? That's word of mouth! Now apply it to business. On a B2C perspective, it can really affect the brand image of a business. It seems to be everywhere. It is also one of the strongest ways of communicating positive or negative feedback regarding any brand, product or service. In simpler terms: WOM can be seen as a way of getting our customers to spread the word of our solution.

However, we all know that the negative things seem to spread faster than positive things. (Look at celebrities.) I'm most positive that whoever is reading this post has participated or experienced such a thing. However the latest WOM sensation took place in Britain with an anonymous letter written to Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin, concerning a meal on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Mumbai to London.

It seems to be that the passenger, which maintains anonymity, felt the need to complain to Branson concerning his "culinary journey of hell" to London. Moreover, his complaint seems to have raised the bar for the time-honored tradition of complaining over Airline food and has been dubbed "the world's best complaint."

Some of the letter's highlights include:

"Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at the hands of your corporation."

and

"I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about. Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing. That’s how I felt when I peeled back the foil and saw this."

and last but not least,

"Well answer me this Richard, what sort of animal would serve a desert with peas in it?"
(read original letter here)

Although we may find the complaint eloquent and hilarious, what we don't know is that "the world's best complaint" triggered a chain reaction of complaints around the globe concerning the food on board the company's flights and Virgin's Press Office has received more than 200 complaints regarding other similar culinary experiences on board Virgin's flights.

Once again we can see the true power of WOM and how it can affect the brand image of a company. This incident is not the first and I can assure that it will not be the last, so what does this mean? LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!!! Perhaps providing the customers with a (brief and simple) feedback sheet at the end of the flight could have prevented that from happening. It is important to remember that someone is always going to complain, and that complaint can be viral.