The Marketing Innovation Blog

A new image sharing platform has taken the web by storm and it’s time for marketers to pay attention.

Pinterest (combining the words pin and interest) is a ‘virtual pinboard’ that lets users collect, organize, share and link back to the images they find on the web. While most ‘pins’ and ‘boards’ are public, the platform is invite-only (users can invite friends) so there’s a perceived exclusivity helping drive growth. More importantly, there’s a familiar viral loop that creates user engagement. Following, repinning, liking and commenting all trigger notifications that keep users interacting. The usual social suspects are integrated as well, including buttons to Tweet, Facebook like, share, email and embed. These actions create awareness outside the Pinterest ecosystem. In addition to collecting the images you find on the web, the Pinterest mobile app encourages users to pin their own photos.

Pinterest feels like a combination of different services, yet it’s extremely simple and intuitive. That’s probably because most actions mirror those we are already familiar with due to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social sites. While many users create content on Pinterest, the platform is a fantastic discovery tool that many will find useful even if they never create an account. That’s a powerful draw and it’s making Pinterest one of the hottest sites on the web.

So, how do brands take advantage of the platform?

First, establish a profile. If you don’t have any friends to hit up for an invite, Pinterest seems to grant access within about two weeks of submitting a request. Next, create one or more boards and begin adding your own images, along with those you find on the web. Theme each board around products you offer or anything your target audience may find appealing. Don’t forget to follow fans, complimentary products and thought leaders in your space to begin building a Pinterest network. Remember to periodically add your own new images, as well as those you repin from others. All of this activity can be easily integrated with your existing social presence by sharing your Pinterest activity on other platforms.

Though we may be suffering from button fatigue, you’re going to see the ‘Pin It’ button popping up all over the web. That’s because in most cases a ‘pin’ is the equivalent of an endorsement or a ‘like’ on Facebook. Since the site is quickly becoming a destination for discovering everything from recipes to raincoats, the more pins of your product the better. If you’re selling anything online, you may want to test out this button next to product images.

Pin It

One of my favorite features is the ability to combine images found on the web with personal photos. This past week I had the opportunity to attend a number of events related to the New Hampshire Primary, and I decided to conduct a GY&K APPtitude test by using the Pinterest mobile app to create a Primary-themed board. You can view my NH Primary board here.

And, if you’re looking for more behind the scenes footage of the Primary, check out this original GY&K production.

Brady Sadler is the VP of Business Development & Marketing at GY&K. Connect with him on Twitter @BradySadler

Our TV viewing experience is on a collision course with the interwebs. Some of us already own internet enabled TVs, while others connect their TV through peripheral devices like AppleTVs, PS3s, DVD players, etc. Alternatively, we’re able to view TV programming online through sites like Hulu and apps from networks like HBO, ESPN and many more. In case you haven’t heard the rumors, Apple is apparently working on their own TV. Perhaps this will be the tipping point that moves the entire television industry forward as Apple did with telecom industry by introducing the iPhone.

We now regularly see traditional TV broadcasts encouraging viewers to multitask. Think about how often you see that little blue bird suggesting you should ‘join the conversation’ on Twitter. Now imagine the mediums were truly connected and you could respond directly without searching or typing a URL. This process may still involve a separate device like a tablet, phone or laptop, but the future integration could be seamless compared to today’s experience.

The use of the mobile app Shazaam by Bud Light and Old Navy is an interesting example. With one touch, Shazaam (using audio recognition software) provides the user with an online experience directly tied to the brand being promoted in that commercial. Merge this technology with TV check-in apps like Get Glue and social TV guides like Yap.TV, and you may have a glimpse into the viewing experience of the future.

But what will this convergence of TV and the Web mean for marketers?

Here are three distinct opportunities:

Paid Advertising

Paid advertising will certainly exist within this new paradigm, but the targeting will become much more precise and the opportunity to drive immediate action becomes more viable.

The TV/Web convergence will democratize content by cutting out the gatekeepers (cable providers), leading to many more choices for viewers. This also means more choice for marketers and more clutter for everyone to contend with.

Imagine you search for food and right next to the Cooking Channel and Food Network you have a list of the most popular cooking content on YouTube. YouTube is already betting on this by directly funding original content.

This means marketers will soon be exploring the opportunity to advertising around an even longer tail of niche video content. Shows that are popular with local and regional audiences also become more viable if a brand is interested in geo-targeting. From a creative standpoint, brands will be inclined to develop a variety of different spots for each campaign in an effort to be more relevant to specific audiences.

And what about the call-to-action? Brands that would otherwise focus their TV dollars on ‘image’ advertising will be motivated to promote offers that solicit an immediate reaction. A viewers social graph (Facebook friends, Twitter followers, etc.) will be tightly integrated into the viewing experience, so there will also be a unique opportunity to encourage sharing with group discounts and provide incentives for referrals. As you can see, these changes will impact a brand’s overall strategy, creative, merchandising, media placements and more.

Creative Partnerships

When it comes to paid advertising, marketers will not only have an opportunity to place spots around niche programming, they will be motivated to influence the actual content through creative partnerships. While traditionally this may have only been a viable tactic for large brands, more content will result in more producers looking to offset production costs with product placements, sponsorships, brand integration and more. If a brand is targeting a narrow audience in terms of  the subject matter or geography, a creative partnership could be a win-win.

For more on branded content check out the GY&K Theater of Public Influence podcast from earlier this year dedicated to the topic.

Original Content

While brands will certainly pay to advertise around third-party content and take advantage of creative partnerships, perhaps the most important opportunity will be to create original video content. This type of content is different from creative partnerships because the brand truly owns the production from start to finish.

If you sell organic food, why not produce a cooking show?

Own an apparel company? How about a weekly showcase pairing fashion and accessories?

Manage a healthcare practice? Consider a Q&A series with physicians.

Just like any original content you produce for the Web, the goal is to position your company as a trusted resource.

One big question is how will we find content when TV and the Web merge. We will certainly rely on filters to narrow down the options, but will this mirror our current online search experience in terms of paid placements and organic listings? Will content owners bid on search terms specifically for video content? Will collaborative filtering (think Amazon) provide suggestions based on our viewing history or will a social TV guide based on the preferences of our friends become the ultimate reference tool?

It’s too early to tell, but we know the volume of content is going to increase significantly, so marketers will be forced to think creatively about what they produce and the strategy for distribution…….especially when the Web is inextricably linked to the big screen in our living rooms.

Brady Sadler is the VP of Business Development & Marketing at GY&K. Connect with him on Twitter: @BradySadler

Today, we live in a “Google world” where everything is searchable via the touch of a few buttons.  As such, understanding what your target market is searching for and then developing an online strategy based around that is essential to your brand’s success.  Google currently offers key tools that give companies insight into content and keywords related to their brands, and is constantly looking for ways to update those tools to make them more effective for its clients.  In fact, just yesterday (12/1/11), Google changed how it indexes content in order to place greater emphasis on the ‘freshness’ of content in web searches.  Our very own Director of Digital, Dustin Ruoff, stresses that, “fresh content delivered through social media channels and ‘owned’ sources, such as corporate blogs and RSS feeds from content updates, all contribute to an increased ‘relevance’ of a brand’s keyword based content.”

More and more brands and public figures are cleverly aligning their strategic marketing campaigns with popular keyword searches that are relative to their target market. Most recently, brands like State Farm, Progressive, Safeway and The BBQ Guys all created YouTube marketing campaigns that were focused on proven-to-be-popular Thanksgiving keywords like “fried turkey” and “deep-fried turkey.” This year from October 11 to November 23, searches for “fried turkey” in the U.S. were up 615 percent, amounting to over 3,900 fried turkey-related YouTube searches alone.  Though some of the campaigns promoted and others opposed “fried turkey,” each uniquely placed their brand in front of thousands of internet users and positioned their products/services in a way that made them relevant to this particular turkey-frying audience.

Public figures, including Presidential candidates like Herman Cain, also use keyword strategies to help shape/control the conversations about them online.  Cain’s campaign successfully cashed in on the sexual harassment allegations against him by buying Google ads triggered by keywords like “Herman Cain and harassment” and “Herman Cain and allegations.”  Once those and similar keywords were searched, one of the first sites pulled up was “caintruth.com:” a site that addressed the allegations and encouraged supporters to donate to the campaign.  During the height of the scandal, Cain’s campaign was able to raise $9 million in only six weeks, some of which could be attributed to their online keyword strategy.

What other unique keyword strategies have you discovered or deployed?

Jenaleigh Landers is an Account Coordinator at Griffin York & Krause.

Facebook and the social space in general are channels that the financial industry has been slow to embrace.  Now, however, banks are starting to transfer traditional marketing dollars to non-traditional channels like social media.  Javelin Strategy & Research, a financial research group, predicts that, “[consumers] will start to interact through their bank the same way they interact through social media, totally online.” After a recent survey, it found that 12% of the 5,102 consumers questioned would review accounts via social media if it became available.  In addition to being a benefit and more convenient for consumers, driving them online and to social media will help banks gather insights on consumer spending habits through transaction tracking and consumer self-reporting.

Chase, for example, clearly believes in transferring marketing dollars to social media to start engaging and developing dialogues with its consumer base. Its latest Chase Freedom Credit Card Campaign encouraged Facebook users to “like” its page in order to be eligible to win $500 (given away each hour for three weeks) or the ultimate grand prize of $1 million. What an incentive! Despite the giveaway expense, Chase was able to grow its Facebook fan base and has said, “The opportunities for new customers and data’s value exceeds the $1.25 million [we are] giving away in total,” allowing the bank to push more information to those users in the future. Since the campaign, Chase has continued the two-way conversation by having fans vote on charities to receive donations, posting humorous “takes” from recent commercial shoots and providing resources for veterans searching for jobs.

Other financial companies are also using alternative strategies to reach consumers, establish a presence and gather data on Facebook outside of cash giveaways.  American Express, for example, has developed a Facebook application (“Link, Like, Love”) that makes it possible to drive offers that are unique to each user based on their Facebook “likes” and their friends’ “likes.” At one point, American Express was even running commercials with the tagline “The Social Currency” at the end of them, which complements the Link, Like Love app and campaign.  Capital One on the other hand has merged social gaming and advertising by integrating its brand into the popular Zynga Inc. Facebook games. The iconic Capitol One-branded goat seen in FarmVille has even found its way into the bank’s TV commercials and social media sites.

Unlike traditional mediums, Facebook opens the door for banks to establish stronger, more personal relationships with consumers and dive deeper into their spending habits and preferences.  Banks and any other companies, for that matter, have the opportunity to further their “reach” by offering unique social promotions and meaningful brand encounters  (like the ones listed in this Random Acts of Kindness article), all of which help to generate more fans and encourage them to share their positive brand experiences within their social networks.

Jenaleigh Landers is an Account Coordinator at Griffin York & Krause.

Main Source:  WSJ.com

A friend recently said that when it comes to rewarding customers, surprise leads to delight. I think he’s absolutely right, and I believe all brands should include a positive unexpected tactic in their marketing plan. That’s right, you have to plan for the unexpected, or at least develop a framework for how this can come to life in your organization.

When I worked for the Walt Disney Company, we called these ‘Magical Moments,’ and they were actually scheduled into our shifts by the computer system that deployed us. One of my favorite ”Magical Moments” was inviting a family to skip the line for one of the popular attractions. Following the experience, we would present a personalized certificate to the kids and then get back to our work. The cost? Ten minutes and a buck for the certificate. The return? Priceless.

There’s always been a benefit to this type of activity, but now that “mobile and social” trends amplify messages in real-time, creating magical moments becomes exponentially more valuable.

A similar concept was also the theme of a TED event I recently attended. TED is a nonprofit organization that hosts a series of invitation-only events where speakers are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less) and promote “ideas worth spreading.”

As an extension of this platform, TEDx aims to encourage a similar dialogue through independent local events. With the guidance of the parent TED organization, an amazing team here in NH organized TEDxAmoskeagMillyard and themed the event “The Unexpected.”

The day proved informative, inspiring, and of course, included plenty of unexpected moments. Howard Brodsky, the CEO of CCA Global Partners, spoke about “Delivering the Unexpected” in business. His comments focused on the idea that positive unexpected experiences help build employee morale, create customer loyalty and differentiate the business. In other words, ‘go one more step’ (to borrow from my friend Taylor’s blog).

While you don’t want the unexpected to seem contrived, there are ways to make sure it’s a common practice. Here are five simple ways to consistently surprise and delight customers:

1. Remember a customer’s name. We all love the sound of our own name.

2. Write a hand-written note. This can come from a customer service rep or an executive, but either way it will have a major impact.

3. Offer a small gift certificate when a customer provides constructive feedback (positive or negative). When our opinion matters, we’re more invested.

4. Throw in something extra the next time you fill an order. Do you believe in shopping karma? You should.

5. Provide an easy way to ‘sample’ your product or service (in software this is referred to as the ‘freemium’ model). Think about the feeling when we see someone handing out tablespoons of yogurt at the end of the grocery aisle. We might not even like yogurt, but we can’t wait to see if there’s another sample around the corner.

How do you make the unexpected a part of your customer experience?

Brady Sadler is the VP of Business Development & Marketing at GY&K. You can follow him on Twitter: @BradySadler

by Ben Peirce

As summer 2011 drew to a close (and before we skipped over fall and moved right into winter) I had the opportunity to travel to Sweden with one of our newest clients, Bauer Hockey. The trip included a full-day photo shoot with New York Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist for Bauer’s new line of goalie equipment. Being a life-long hockey fan and a goalie myself, the shoot was pretty cool – but believe it or not, it wasn’t the highlight of the trip for me.

Prior to joining the GY&K team I worked in professional sports, producing events for the Manchester Monarchs, Los Angeles Kings and AEG Sports. I’ve interacted with the likes of Jeremy Roenick, Ray Bourque and Serena Williams, and I’ve somewhat conditioned myself to not “geek out” around professional athletes. But when day two of our Scandinavian adventure took us to Vrigstad to visit the studio of world-renowned mask artist, David Gunnarsson, my professional facade gave way to a geyser of geekdom. Gunnarsson is the artistic force behind DaveArt Designs and his work adorns the faces of many of the NHL’s top netminders. Since goalies began painting their masks in the 1970’s the goalie mask has become a symbol of individual expression unlike anything else in sports. You can’t be a fan of hockey and of art without being enamored with the elaborately-airbrushed symbols of identity that goalies wear into battle. So to say I’m a fan of Dave Gunnarsson’s work would be an understatement.

Gunnarsson began painting goalie masks in the early 90’s and has since become one of the premier artists in the world working for pro and elite-level goalies. His studio, DaveArt Designs is dedicated solely to the creation of goalie mask art and they’ve refined the production and delivery of mask art to a science.  DaveArt produces about 175 masks per year and Gunnarsson personally designs and paints every single one of them.  There is a 4-month opening in the DaveArt calendar (January-April) in which they will accept commissions from non-professionals.  The rest of the year is dedicated to pro goalies in the NHL and European Elite Leagues.  Gunnarsson’s designs are seen by millions of people in arenas and on television and he’s helped to craft the identities of goalies around the world. Johan Hedberg, now of the New Jeyser Devils, was DaveArt’s first professional client.  The moose design that Gunnarson created for him while playing for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose became synonymous with Hedberg and he’s carried it with him throughout his NHL career.

During our visit to Vrigstad, we saw about a dozen NHL masks in production including Lundqvist and Hedberg’s new designs, Thomas Vokoun’s new lid (my favorite), and one for LA King and former Manchester Monarch, Jonathan Bernier, which NHL.com recently named the best mask of 2011.  It was a trip to think, while watching the Buffalo Sabres’ Jhonas Enroth of TV last night, that I’d seen his just-completed mask before he did.

Despite his relative celebrity among mask-admirers worldwide, David Gunnarsson is one of the most humble and appreciative people I’ve ever met. He was happy to show off his studio and seemed as excited for our visit as we were … though I don’t think anyone was as excited to be there as me.  Traveling halfway around the world to rub elbows with NHL stars was certainly a nice change from my typical work day here at GY&K. But meeting this unassuming family man in his one-man art studio was something I’ll never forget!

For more pictures of the DaveArt studio, visit the gallery on our Facebook page.

This is the saying our partners at Dyn live by. Dyn is a company powering DNS and email for enterprise, small businesses and personal users. You may remember them from our GY&K Field Trip earlier this summer. At Dyn, they understand the need for websites to function properly and load as quickly as possible. The longer customers are forced to wait for a website to load, the more revenue companies lose. Ryan O’Hara, a member of the Business Development team at Dyn, helped put this into perspective in a recent blog post.

In addition to lost revenue, companies are also losing customers to competitors with quicker functioning sites, especially those that are optimized for mobile. A Compuware survey found, “74% [of mobile users] are only willing to wait five seconds or less for a single web page to load before leaving the site… only 50% are willing to wait five seconds or less for an application to load before exiting and about a third will go to a competitor’s site.” One way to prevent customers from leaving your site is to utilize one of the many products in the market that help make sites faster such as the “Mobile Site Optimizer” product, improving loading speed by up to 60%.

eMarketer has projected a 50% increase in mobile commerce (m-commerce) for 2011 and with the holidays right around the corner, it’s even more crucial that companies’ websites are up and running, mobile-friendly and that their products are in-stock.  More shoppers are starting to avoid the masses and purchase their gifts online via their computers, smartphones or tablets—I know I am! Google predicts at least, “33% of both smarphone and tablet shoppers will plan to start their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving this year… and 44% of total searches for last minute gifts and store locator terms will be from mobile devices this holiday season.” Recognizing this, Amazon has positioned its newest tablet, Kindle Fire, as having a quicker mobile browser than the iPad in hopes that consumers will choose its product over Apple’s iPad due to the latest m-commerce trends.

What steps does your company take to ensure that your website is always running quickly, especially during the busiest buying seasons?

Jenaleigh Landers is an Account Coordinator at Griffin York & Krause.

Main Source: Marketingvox.com

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Last week, the world lost one of the most influential people of our generation. As a business man, an innovator and a visionary, Steve Jobs made an everlasting mark on the world through the products he helped develop and their influence on our culture.

In a very special episode of The Theater of Public Influence, our podcast team sits down to remember Steve Jobs. Join us as we reflect on the impact of his life, the reactions to his death and the incredible legacy he leaves behind. Whether you’re a Mac or a PC, you won’t want to miss this episode as we put our own “ding in the universe” in honor of Steve Jobs.

Editors Note: Please excuse the audio quality of this episode. We’re working out the kinks on a new recording setup and the recording suffered a bit as a result. This is not a reflection of what you can expect from past or future episodes of The Theater of Public Influence.