Strategy  Branding  Consumer Connections

CT PRSA
October 1, 2009
 Digital Branding Objectives

• What is it?
• Why is it important?
• Strategies to think about
• Actionable tips—NOW!

Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 2

 Secret #1

Today’s Branding Strategies Are The Same As

Those Used in 1950
•Consistency
•Clarity
•Competitive Differentiation
•Customer Understanding
•Compelling Messages

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 Secret #2

Branding Strategies Today Are Completely

Different Than They Were In 1950.

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 What Do I Mean By “Digital?”

• Websites • Email Marketing
– SEO Management – Enewsletters
– Content Management – Eblasts
• Social Media – E signature
– Blogging – Database Management
– Networking Sites • Mobile Marketing
– Twitter
– SMS/Text (Short 
• Content-Sharing Sites Message Service)
– User Generated • On‐Line Advertising
Content Sites
– Wikis – Banner/Display 
– News Sites Advertising
– Bookmarking Sites – PPPC (pay per click)
• Affiliate Programs – Rich Media

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 Why Should You Care?

• Benefits of Digital Branding

– Pervasive
– Inexpensive
– Targeted
– Leveragable
– Measurable

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 Questions

• Should We Be Looking At Social Media As A

Marketing Tool?
• How Should We Look At Social Media from A
PR Perspective
• How Are Others Using It?
• What Are Some Best Practices We Should Be
Thinking About?
• How Do We Maintain Top-of-Mind Awareness
And Relevance with Our Customers?
October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 7
 Social Media Objectives

• Engage Community
– Communicate
– Create Events
– Provide Additional Value
• Build Awareness
– Share News
– Promote Products/Services
• Provide Customer Service
• Sell
• Charitable Fundraising
• Learn

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 8

 Secret #3: Content is King

• Website Objectives
– Inform: Sell or pre-sell
– Engage
• Content (Secret #3!)
• Forums
• Blogs
• Widgets
• Podcasts
• Webinars/tele-seminars
– Capture information
• Squeeze pages
• E-books/Free Reports/Whitepapers
• E-newsletters

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 Secret #4: It’s All About
Engagement!

• Blogging
• Sharing
• Networking

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 10

 Missed Opportunities

What Happens When You Aren’t Fully Engaged?

• Don’t Connect With Your Consumer Base
• Miss Opportunities
• Open The Door To Competitive Entrants

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 11

 PR Nightmare:“Dell Hell”

Posts From Noted Blogger Jeff Jarvis

Mobilized Frustrated Customers And Created
A Public Relations Nightmare For Dell
June 21, 2005 Dell lies. Dell sucks.
I just got a new Dell laptop and paid a fortune for the four-year, in-home service.
The machine is a lemon and the service is a lie.
I’m having all kinds of trouble with the hardware: overheats, network doesn’t work, maxes out on
CPU usage. It’s a lemon.

June 26, 2005

“Is anybody at Dell listening? I know you are. What do you have to say, Dell?
While you’re at it, Dell, go here and here and here and read the comments and see how your
customers hate you…

We are in the new era of “Seller beware”. Now when you screw your customers, your customers
can fight back and publish and organize. I just sent this link to Dell’s media relations department
and told them to read the comments and see what their real public relations look like.”
October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 12
 PR Nightmare:“Dell Hell”

Dell Discovered That Over 50%

Of Comments About Dell In The
Blogosphere Were Negative
Dell’s Response:
• Listened First
• Created Blog Resolution Team
• Launched Direct2dell To Address The
Issues—now A Respected Blog And Part Of A
Larger Social Media Marketing Program
Source: Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 13

 Secret #4: LISTEN!

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 14

 Case Study: Social Media Audit

• Social Media Audit Monitors On-line

Conversations
– Brand Tracking Plus Up To 5 Competitors
– 5 Topics Or Themes (They Could Also Be Product
Lines)
– Influentials List
– Tonality
– Sample Posts
– Analysis And Recommendations

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 15

 Case Study: Social Media Audit

• Toy Company needed to monitor “recall”

conversations due to China manufacturing issues

• Evaluated:
– Consumer reactions to company responses

• Audit allowed them to

– Adjust reaction as crisis evolved
– Respond immediately to rumors & misinformation

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 16

 Monitor

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 17

 Blogs: Rising in Marketing Power

100 Million + Blogs In The Blogosphere; Expected

To Double Every 6 Months
Source: Technorati, 2008

Who Blogs?
• 12% Of Us Internet Users (Or 9% Of All Adults In The Us)
• Of That Group, 5% Blog Every Day
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2008

Blog Readers: Going Mainstream

• 33% Of Adult US Internet Users Say They Currently Read Blogs And
11% Of That Audience Reads Blogs On A Typical Day
• Among Internet Users Currently Reading Blogs, Men And Women Are
Equally Represented (35% For Men And 32% For Women)
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2008

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 18

 Blogging

• Three “R’s” of Blogging Success

– Reading
• Blogsearch.google.com
– ‘Riting
• Blog software downloaded to your website
• Frequency: at least once a week
• Promote through social media & on news media sites

– Responding
• Use your real name (although you can add a company name)

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 Twitter Case Study: Disney

Objective: Build Awareness of 70th Anniversary

Of The Release Of Pinnochio
•Strategy: Sponsor Twitterer Melanie NotkinOf
Savvyauntie.Com
– (Site For PANKS- “Professional Aunt, No Kids”)
•Tactics For 21-day Program:
– Trivia Questions
– Giveaways& Coupons
– Micro-site Destinations
– Video Links
•Results:
– 300 Tweets
– Wall Street Journal Campaign Coverage
– On-line buzz

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 20

 You Must Be Careful

You Must Control Your

October 23, 2009
Brand!
Produced By Beacon Marketing 21
 Secret #5

• Leverage Multimedia
– Podcasts
– Webinars
– Teleseminars
– Widgets
– Games
– Videos

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 The Multimedia Revolution

• Leverage Multimedia Who’s Watching On‐line?

– Podcasts
– Widgets Time per Index vs % change in
viewer average past six mos
– Games
– Videos Total 206 16%
• What Are They Watching? Male 249 1.21 19%
– User-gen Content 43% Female 170 0.83 12%
– Nat’l News 39%
– Movie Clips/Trailers 32% 2-11 116 0.56 3%
– Local News 32% 12-17 190 0.92 7%
– TV Show Clips 30%
– Full-length TV Shows 24% 18-24 349 1.69 15%
– Sports News/Highlights 23% 25-34 296 1.44 17%
– Full-length Movies 17%
– Adult Entertainment 13% 35-49 243 1.18 29%
– Commercials/Promos 13% 50-64 139 0.67 14%
– Sports Events 12% 65+ 81 0.39 21%
Source: Forrester Research & N American Technographics
Source: Neilsen VideoCensus April 2009

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 23

 Klondike

"What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar?" video contest

Objective: Refresh consumer connection with the well-

known Unilever Klondike brand.
• Offered Video contest
• Created viral videos with Celebrity Andy Samberg
• Viral tactics included:
– Twitter Campaign
– Facebook Fan Page
– Podcasting viral videos
– Social bookmarking
– Blogger outreach
– Video sharing

Agency: GolinHarris

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 24

 General Mills: Fruity Cheerios

Challenges:
• Maintain buzz eight months after
launch (March – June 2007)
• Reinforce brand messaging without
paid advertising

Strategy:
• Create photo contest
• Partner with a third-party
(ModernMom.com)
• Sample leading parent bloggers
Source: WOMMA Agency: Manning, Selvage & Lee Digital (MS&L Digital)

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 25

 General Mills: Fruity Cheerios

Results:
• 62 Review Posts
• 31 Contest-related Posts
• Over 920,000 Impressions
• Placements Dominated 70% Of
The Top Search Results On
Google When Searching For The
Term "Fruity Cheerios“
• Internet Traffic Increased 250%
During Campaign
Source: WOMMA Agency: Manning, Selvage & Lee Digital (MS&L Digital)

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 26

 Content-Sharing Sites

• User Generated Content Sites

• “Open Source” sites/Wikis

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Secret #6: Collaboration Is Critical

• Forward to a Friend
• Share with your network
• Affiliates
• Outsourcing

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 Content-Sharing Sites

News & Bookmarking Sites

http://www.doshdosh.com/list-of-social-media-news-websites/
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 Nintendo Case Study

• Situation:
– Video game sales flattening
– No true innovation
– Target audience males 18-34
– Tech spec wars between Xbox and Sony Playstation
• Obstacles
– Negative perception of gaming (outside of gamers)
– Narrow, bored target audience

Slide 30
 Nintendo Case Study

• Looked beyond men

– Start with Moms
• Huge purchasing power
• Gatekeeper status
• Focus: Physical & Social Aspects
• Created Ambassador Program
– Hosted parties for up to 30 people
• Mom’s night out- every person ordered 1 or 2
– Word of mouth spread digitally
• CityMama blog
• Mommy bloggers

Slide 31
 Nintendo Case Study

+ 44%
+ 19%

• Redefined the industry:

– Creating fans by talking to them $10.5B        $12.5B      $18 B
where they were
• Doubled their audience without Aug 2007
doubling their budget Wii: $403.6 MM
$Xbox 360: $276.7 MM
PS3: $130.6 Source: NPD 

Slide 32
 Secret #7: Love Your Customer

• Email Marketing: Your database

is one of your most
valuable assets
– E-newsletters
– E-blasts
– E-signature
– Database
Management

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 Be Authentic:
On-line to Off-line

• Follow-Up

October 23, 2009 Produced By Beacon Marketing 34

 Secret #8: Automation =Efficiency

• Auto-responders
• Lead Generation Tools
• Lead Generation Lists
• RSS Readers

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ePR

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 Secret #9: Measurability

Track It Back! Digital things you can measure

• Visitors to your website
• Newsletter subscriptions
• Article links, comments, views, bookmarks
• RSS subscribers over time
• Visitors & leads from your blog
• Rank from keywords in search
• Blog rank on Technorati

Start with Google Analytics (it’s free!)

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 Evolving Measurement Tools

Direct:
• Advertising Value: Page Views At A CPM
• PR Value: Number Of Press Stories
• Word Of Mouth Value: Posts On Blogs
(Estimate Number Of Posts At $ Value, E.G.
$100 Each)
• Support Value: Reduced Support Calls
• Research Value: Customer Insights

Indirect:
Indirect Revenue Improvement
Increase Product Knowledge
More Targeted And Effective Marketing

October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 38

 Secret #10: Jump In!

Digital Marketing Mindset

• Listen
• Strategy Still Matters
• Provide Value
• Think Collaboratively
• Authenticity & Transparency Are
Critical
• Leverage Multimedia
• Seek To Engage—Permanently
• Go Beyond Basic Measurement
October 23, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 39
 LinkedIn Tips

• Complete Your Profile

• Add Your Picture!
• Update Your Professional
Headline
• Revisit Your Summary
• Refresh the
“Experiences” Section

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 40

 LinkedIn Tips

• Claim Your Public Profile

• Give and Ask for
Recommendations
• Join (or Start!) Groups
• Ask & Answer Questions at
least once a week
• Import Email Contacts
• Customize Invitations
• Build Your Connections

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 41

 LinkedIn Activities

• Promote Reading Lists

• Share Links to Articles
• Update Status
• Conduct Polls
• Consider applications to pull
in content
– Blog updates
– Slideshare

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 42

 Facebook Tips

• Complete Your Profile

• Add Your Picture!
• Import Email Contacts
• Build Your Connections
• Update Status
• Promote Reading Lists
• Start Conversations
• Share Links to Articles
• Share Videos

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 43

 Facebook Tips

• Build Communities
– Join (or Start!)
Groups or Fan Pages
• Show Your Personal
Side (Judiciously)
• Start a Poll
• Display Your Work
• Post Events
• Display Relevant
Applications

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 44

 Twitter Tips

• Post a picture
• Put in a description
• Customize your
background
• Consider Tweet Deck
or Hoot Suite
• Thank those who
mention or re-tweet
• Tweet live
• Check followers

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 45

 Twitter Tips

• What to Tweet?
– News &
Information
– Interesting blogs
– Valuable re-tweets
– Questions/Polls
– Status Updates
– Links
– Replies

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 46

 Twitter Tips

• How do I build a Twitter following?

– Learn if your target audience is there
• Use search.twitter.com
– Use the tools available
• Allow Twitter to search your contacts/email addresses
– Think Search
– Use the Hash Tag ( # )
– Add yourself to WeFollow.com
– Make a request to your constituents
– Be interesting & relevant
– Be realistic

October 21, 2009 Produced & Presented by Beacon Marketing Page 47

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Office: (860) 254-5907 • Fax: (860) 668-4157

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