The Countdown Begins With Brands Flailing For Tabs

I’m sort of reminded of the Y2K excitement when people are now talking about the fact that the whole Facebook interface changes for good – across the board – in a matter of weeks.  It’s not that we didn’t know that the Timeline structure would be pushed to everyone, it’s just the effect it has on Facebook Pages. There is so much darn branded content that needs to be wholly redone to work within the new layout.  If you’re a brand that has one – or even a dozen – FB pages (and a number of tabs) then it shouldn’t be a problem.  But, if you have hundreds or even thousands of pages with bunches of tabs, you could be in trouble.

Other than the fact that the layout is changing (and that Facebook must be getting a lifetime supply of cupcakes with their sample of Magnolia Bakery on the Pages page), the main differences are in the control of the entry point and the amount of Tabs a brand can maintain.  Without being able to force people to either Like or enter an email upon first arriving at the page means that brands will now have to find a better way to get people to commit without their exploration seeming to need a gateway.  With the addition of 4 Favorites buttons that act more like navigation buttons, brands will have to put a little more thought into their presentation strategies. Will they use those to garner Likes or collect emails, or will those items be placed on the Wall for larger presence – which would also require closer management.  Brands can send users specifically to a Favorites tab page via a URL, but companies can no longer rely on that gateway upon entry.

The need to re-think or rework does present major challenges for those companies – like movie studios – who have hundreds (or thousands) of heavily designed pages up that they were hoping they could just leave up there forever. It now ends up they will be completely broken – and who knows what will happen to all those followers if the page owners decide to let the pages wither away…

On the good side, it seems like this major change will help to stop all the micro changes that the Facebook engineers unleashed on a seemingly bi-weekly schedule with no notice for the past few years.  Nothing created more headaches than waking up and seeing that your pages are broken and nobody was prepared (or paid) to update it.  The hope is that these more structured and formalized pages will make those micro-changes unnecessary.  Additionally, with the timeline, it will be easier to tell your corporate story by putting communications or newsletters on your pages and actually have them better reflect progression over time rather than a hodge-podge of items that might come if they weren’t anchored to an exact time. Additionally, the opportunity to push your creativity will be presented as the timeline will be more kind to graphic posts.

In the long run, it seems these changes will make population and content management more standardized.  This could make things a lot more easy and allow for companies to rely on Facebook as an even simpler way to even replace an unwieldy and expensive custom site.  I’m sure Facebook looked at the migration of companies from expensive sites to easy (and free) sites on platforms like WordPress caused them to take a deep look inward and provide their own solution.

Putting my user hat on, I’m very happy that I no longer have to Like something or submit my email address just to be able to see content for a possible vendor.  even from the marketing perspective, I would rather have unencumbered eyeballs on my content and then step up to the challenge of developing good incentives to have them Like my product or enter their email because they actually like what we’re about – not just because its what they’re about to see.

So, while many brand marketers may be flailing in the short-term to make things right with the transition, this could be the key to really providing stability and a strong presence for all who approach this new landscape smartly and strategically.

Linsanity Proves To Be A Vision For Business

The buzz this weekend has been all about Jeremy Lin. Whitney Houston’s death might have taken a little bit away, but even those in the music business were talking about Lin.  If you don’t know who he is, you’re not that much more out of the loop than almost everybody on the plan prior to last weekend. Jeremy Lin was a basketball player who did not get awarded any scholarships to play ball in college and was undrafted by any NBA team.  Even with that, he had spent some time warming the benches of the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets before being called up to warm the bench of the New York Knicks.  Luckily for Lin – and all the rest of us – the Knicks were suffering with key injuries and no answer at the point guard position and decided to give Lin the chance to play more minutes than he could have dreamed of.  Since playing well in the backup minutes of that first game (that he was key in winning), he has started the last four games for the Knicks and not only helped lead them to all wins, but he has done so by scoring the most points in the first four starts of his career than anyone since the mid-70s.  There was some excitement after the first couple of games, but the real buzz and excitement came when he lit up the perennial powers of the Los Angeles Lakers and their uber-star, Kobe Bryant, with a game leading 38 points. Needless to say, this is not a sports blog, but there are many take-aways from this chain of events that can help any company in staffing, marketing, innovation and business itself.

(Chris Chambers/Getty Images)

Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald wrote a good piece dissecting some of the many elements make this story shocking.  Where basketball and scouting are so developed it is almost a science, how is it possible that this young guy was able to do what he has done under such circumstances? While it has only been a few games and he most likely will come back down to Earth at some point, most teams would be happy to have even half of his scoring production and natural leadership on their team. But, when you think about it, this could not have happened with just any team.  The fact that the Knicks were doing so poorly that they would take a chance on Lin added to the fact that they are in a major market, are key to this being as big of a story as it is.

The Miami Heat have a Rookie, Norris Cole, who shows signs of greatness at point guard, but the team has three healthy superstars, so his play can be limited and he can hopefully grow into something phenomenal. Jeremy Lin first played for his hometown Golden State Warriors and, though he received applause whenever he got on the court, nobody knew about him outside of the Bay area – the market was just too small to make a difference.

So, again, what does this have to do with marketing, staffing, innovation or business? There are a number of points to focus on:

• Stepping Up – Jeremy Lin obviously worked hard to even get to a place where he would have the possibility of playing.  In the game of sports, players have to be ready because their opportunity can come at any time.  While there are more politics in play in business, when that opportunity arises for us to step up, we’ve got to show our true mettle.  Lin walked through the door when it was opened and he made the best out of it. Some people choose not to walk through the door when it is opened.  The difference between those who do and those who don’t is remarkable.
• Staffing – We know there are stereotypes at play when it comes to hiring.  In the least, we’ve got to do what we can on an individual basis to move beyond that.  It is definitely hard when many recruiters are only looking for the sure thing, but there are many hidden gems that are missed because the algorithm didn’t pick them up in an HR application or the recruiter just didn’t have the knowledge base to get what was really needed.  It’s too bad that there’s not a hiring solution that mimics online dating services that have been so successful.  Regardless, those talent gems can come from anywhere and everywhere.
• Resourcefulness – Companies too often focus on what they can’t do because of size or vertical.  What really matters is being true to oneself and have the confidence to move forward in a way that fits within the parameters of the product or vision.  There are so many options for making a positive splash using the tools that are already available.
• Opportunity – By knowing what your business realities are and recognizing what can be done to optimize what you already maintain by way of product, staff, timing or location, you can best leverage any opportunity to do something extraordinary for your business.  Too often, companies look at their revenues flattening or shrinking and start battening down the hatches and wait for an economic upturn.  That doesn’t always seem to be the best choice.  It’s those down times that can lead to the biggest opportunities for the company – perhaps in ways you’ve never imagined.  Had the Knicks coach not taken a chance and put Lin in the game while then creating specific plays for the personnel he had on the court, we might not be buzzing about Linsanity.
• Innovation – Perhaps it’s not about real change, just innovated approaches to what you’ve been doing for years. Once you start repeating the known and stop looking for ways to improve – whether your business is doing well or poorly – it’s almost like your company is doomed.  In this model, Lin isn’t doing anything different from what a true point guard should be doing. But, by placing someone whom nobody thought would be more than a bench-warmer and his energy in the line-up, everybody’s game is raising up a notch and the crowds are loving it.
• Success Breeds Success – Sadly, I have seen clients and other companies feel that they have hit their goals and call it a year rather than harnessing that success to build other things.  The Linsanity is an example of success being harnessed to grow other things.  Because of his popularity, the Timberwolves had to sell out their standing room only tickets because of the demand when the Knicks played there this weekend.  The NBA is getting a push because of it and, certainly, the Knicks are working the angle.  The biggest mistake you can make is when you let a success remain in its own vacuum and not look to leverage it.

There’s going to be much more to learn from Linsanity and everything that surrounds it as time moves on.  Hopefully, he continues his success once the two superstars return to the team. And, hopefully whatever is learned by this helps companies flourish beyond what they thought was possible – through opening eyes up to what is not imminently seen.

With a Foot in the Past and a Jump Into The Now, Dr. Pepper Steps Up

Nostalgia is a good thing as long as it doesn’t exclude the larger audience you are actually trying to reach.  With nods to the past that are too heavy-handed, the younger generation will think of the product as their parents’ domain, or worse, their grandparents’. Building on the “I’m A Pepper” theme that launched around a quarter-century ago, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group marketers have done a solid job bringing something from the past into the current environment in a fresh way.

Dr Pepper introduced the “I’m A Pepper” campaign in 1977 with an over-the-top dance number that seems to be time stamped specifically for the late seventies.  Beyond the dated aspect of it, it was singular or communal with everyone wanting to be a Pepper.

25 years later, it is only fitting that they reach back to that campaign and freshen it up.  The thing that’s commendable is not just in making it seem fresh, but in its incidental anthropology model.  This new version celebrates everyone’s individuality in ways the original didn’t.  They don’t even get to I’m A Pepper until the end of the spot.  Interestingly, they didn’t use the original jingle, but they did use an update of an Sammy Davis, Jr’s classic “I’ve Gotta Be Me.”

In an age where everyone if touting, or flaunting, their individuality on Facebook, Twitter or any other social site, the new spot’s themes fit perfectly with the times. While everyone touts their individuality with slogans on their shirts –  like I’m a Beginner, I’m A Dreamer, I’m A Vailable and even a bulldog’s canine-sized shirt touting I’m A Wingman – they all come together as a larger group in the end.  I know they weren’t making a political statement by comparing it to geopolitical instances like the Arab Spring, but the inference is spot on and energizing.

Besides making the strong spot, they placed the media beautifully during the NFL’s conference championships – whose ratings were the highest in 30 years. It has the celebratory feel that works perfectly on such a large stage.

Online, they hope to continue the excitement with a Twitter campaign under the #ImA hashtag and on the Dr. Pepper site.  I believe the entire campaign is run by Deutch LA.  On the site, a promotion allows users to create their own I’m A shirt.  I would be more inclined to purchase if a portion of the proceeds went to a charity.  Otherwise, it reminds me of another throwback to those Coca-Cola clothes that were in fashion in the eighties where I refused to be a walking billboard for a company – a sentiment that continues to this day.

The site shows thumbnails of people and what they purport to be.  Though they are repetitive now – probably due to it being early in the campaign – there were some that stuck out like, I’m A Wiccan Lesbian and Large Cocked Creature.  I imagine management would like to see much less repetition and more moderation, but at least they’re providing the opportunity to share.

Tapping into nostalgia is strong, but can sometimes be limiting.  This team has done a great job of tapping into that while bringing the sentiment to new eyes in ways that fit the times.

Now if only they can solve my dilemma of not giving proceeds to charity AND charging close to five dollars for S&H, I will be able to get myself a shirt or two!

A Challenge or Opportunity In Your Community

If you look at the results from a Pew Reasearch study that was just released a few weeks ago, it seems that Newspaper is not entirely dead when it comes to local information and events. It does seem to make perfectly clear that there are opportunities to fill the gap to provide comprehensive local community updates.  The question is whether the gap is worth the investment to fill it due to its many challenges.

How People Learn About Their Local Community
News Source	% Of All Adults Who Rely Most On Source
Local newspaper (includes print and web)	25%
Local TV (broadcast and web)	12
Radio	5
Internet (search, social, web)	17
Local government (office and web)	< 2
Word of mouth	6
Print bulletin or newsletter	4
Mobile phone (apps and email)	< 2
Other sources	8
Source: Pew Research, January 2011 data

The study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet & American Life Project, produced in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation covers a lot of ground without a clear guide on the future – but that should be expected with the proliferation and lack of consistent sources evident local media.

Depending on the market, local television news spends most of its time on the sensational news – which doesn’t carry much personal community relevance. Additionally, their viewership hits an older demographic as does Newspapers who do cover those local communities to an extent.  There are weeklies who might hit a younger audience – like the Village Voice, LA Weekly and Boston Phoenix – and even smaller community papers who do cover local items more fully, but they struggle to stay afloat and are seeing their distribution continue to shrink.  Most digital news aggregators don’t focus on the communities but the larger city, state and national news.  With many turning to those aggregators for information- bypassing the newspapers and television – it is that much harder to receive information about local happenings by chance.  In dense American cities and other global locations where public transportation and walking is prevalent, there is a bit more opportunity to come across news and events by chance – whether by seeing signs plastered throughout the city or picking up papers that are left on the Metro or Tube to flip through while commuting.

Radio does sometimes hit on the local events, but more and more people are moving from local radio to mp3 players, satellite radio or certainly replaying the same CD (or 6) in their cars.  NPR stations do a decent job of covering local news and events, but even those stations are having to cover more ground as numbers are shrinking.  In the case of Los Angeles’ KCRW, they are transmitted in other Southern California cities who do not receive their own community news to the extent that LA or Santa Monica news is covered.

Which leads us to online, mobile, apps and social communities.  With any of these, there is usually a bit of “searching out” that does not allow for the quick buzz generation that is needed to bring the subject and events into the larger community that will then lead to “chanced upon” awareness. Certainly, Twitter and Facebook have been highlighted as key  communication tools for drawing crowds – most recently in the political realm of the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street and others – but those political drivers are not really those community events that are underserved.

While there is a buzz about foursquare, Gowalla and other location-based networking apps, they don’t serve that community need. There is really not a lot that provides community news, event listings and opportunities for chatter based on where you are or where you are going.  Certainly, Facebook and Twitter provide opportunities for social sharing, but to get the information to those users is a bit of a challenge.  In the case of some larger events, the organizers spend a lot of money on traditional advertising like billboards and larger media spends to generate the traffic they need.  With that, it causes the price for community events to go high enough that it limits how much of the community can actually participate.

If there was a reasonable opportunity to provide a “go-to” outlet for local news and event announcements AND also allowed for the social sharing, that could fortify the local community news source.  But again, the challenge is whether people really care and if it is worth the expenditure.  If there were a cost-effective way that could reach a critical mass, it could be worth it.  Some possible solutions could be a digital network of broadcast affiliates or the publisher of local weeklies like Village Voice Media – who publishes New York Village Voice, LA Weekly, SF Weekly, Denver New Times and others – to offer that local community resource pulling on the data they already maintain.  They could certainly aggregate the news, advertising and event listings to handle local outlets nationally.

No matter how you slice it, the ways for local news, events and ideas is becoming more and more diverse and challenging as time goes on.  With money getting tighter, it’s a growing concern whether there will be a discovery resource at all.

Dear Forever 21, Please Take Notes On A Way To Manage Adversity

In a brilliant PR (err, News) move, the retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch has launched its first salvo against the use of its brand by the MTV’s Jersey Shore cast. They have effectively made the public offer to Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino that they will pay him to stop wearing their clothes.  The fact that the brand’s target audience is exactly the audience that is a fan of the show and the network it airs on.

With that in mind, it could be considered to be a risky move at first, but it is actually perfect.  They have handled it with an exquisite touch.  The news release from Abercrombie on Tuesday used phrases like “deep concern” concern about the use of the brand by Sorrentino.  Rather than reporting on discussions between the brand and the reality-star, they actually used the public release as the vehicle to make the offer of “substantial” compensation if he would just stop.

You can read a lot more of the detail on the Wall Street Journal’s website in an article by Elizabeth Holmes.

The reason why this strategy rings so true to me is in how it relates to everything that I found wrong when I wrote about WTForever21 back in June.  Forever 21 could have solved their issue smartly if they actually thought in a way that would resonate with their users instead of being litigious or grossly adversarial.  Obviously, there are strong differences between the Forever 21 issue and this Abercrombie “situation,” but the target audiences are absolutely similar.  Abercrombie was just smarter about how they could “manage” adversity and “brand image concerns” to bring a positive return.

Not only did the Abercrombie CEO, Mike Jeffries, bring the topic up in his quarterly earnings conference call on Wednesday morning, he mentioned that “We’re having a lot of fun with it.”  An MTV spokesperson even made the comment that “We’d love to work with them on other ways they can leverage Jersey Shore to reach the largest youth audience on television.”  Both of these comments and all the buzz around the entire thing are the byproduct of being smart about the PR strategy, timing and messaging to make something that could be an issue into something that is generating positive attention and even opening the doors to further growth.  It remains to be seen how Sorrentino will benefit other than the “substantial” compensation, but the whole thing certainly can’t hurt.

Ultimately, its a smile-inducing study on a proper resolution for a brand attempting to steer the direction when it is being led to a possibly undesirable position. Holmes references some other brands that have tried to do the same with varying tactics.  What it all comes down to is knowing your actual audience and your intended audience so that whatever strategy you devise is able to positively engage the intended without damning any revenue streams.  Whether it is entertainment, retail, service or any other business – Success is always about the story, the audience and the delivery.

The "Situation" in Vegas - WireImage/Getty Images