Category Archives: Campaign Favorites

The power of influence: Nordstrom Rack’s newest addition

20th April 2012

Shopping bags in hand, success. Thanks to @Ktmel for the photo.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to attend a Tweet up for the opening of the new Nordstrom Rack store in Alpharetta. It didn’t take long to convince me that making the trek outside of 285 would be worth it: wine, appetizers and shopping the pristine merchandise selection before the store opened later in the week, yes please.

As a digital marketer myself, I am always captivated by the use of influencer marketing by other agencies and companies. “Influencer” seems to have become a social media darling buzz word in 2012 (and heck, 2011 for that matter) in our industry. It’s the golden opportunity: don’t market to the masses, but to the groups who are passionate and will have an impact on your brand beyond a passive Like. Like any golden opportunity, influencer outreach is much easier and prettier when on a powerpoint slide than real life.

Nordstrom Rack’s social team really hit this one out of the park. The conversation began with a personal conversation through email (not through DM or Tweet) inviting me to check out the event. Key word here: personal. I quickly replied to the team thanking them for the invite and (but of course) had to ask where they had come across my information. The team shared that they had found my Twitter handle and blog across a few Atlanta Twitter lists. Check box number two: this team did their homework. And a lot of it. Each attendee was allowed to bring one guest and was asked to share that guest’s social credentials as well.

The event itself could not have been more impressive. The store is gorgeous, Store Manager Marcella, could not have been more welcoming and the staff attended to our every need with more energy and excitement than I think I’ve ever seen in retail.

Throughout the night we enjoyed shopping (with a $50 gift card to each attendee for a little help, I was seriously blown away by that gesture), cocktails, appetizers and music from a DJ.

The entire night continued the theme of personalization and hospitality,exactly what you hope to feel when translating a brand to real life. At the end of the night, we each walked away with our fair share of deals and steals and the feeling that this would be a beyond 285 repeat adventure.

Finding influencers is hard. Making them fall in love with your brand (and not just for the prices and goodies) is even more difficult. Nordstrom Rack in Alpharetta delivered on it all and I can’t wait go back and experience it all again very soon.

Check out the store on Twitter for updates, sales and upcoming events.

How The Hunger Games is tapping social for teens

25th January 2012

1. I am mildly obsessed with the Hunger Games these days, having finished all three books in a two-week timeframe.

2. I geek out far further than I ever should admit over the ever changing mold of what communication means to different demographics.

OK, so those may not be the juiciest of secrets and I may be a total nerd for sharing both, but I love it even more when the things I’m in love with collide perfectly.

The Hunger Games, the first book of a wildly popular teen book series will make its film debut this March and, to no surprise, there is no shortage of promotion taking place. However, outside of your typical TV spots, product promos and sneak peak YouTube trailers, the team behind this blockbuster is building connections with their target teen audience through personal, whimsical content.

This week the film added Tumblr to its growing list of social and digital outreach, which already includes Facebook, Twitter and an interactive site to name a few.

By offering up content on Tumblr through a pseudo magazine, fans are taken directly into the world of the Capitol, the reigning government of the country of Panem, by sharing the fashions and culture of the society. I could go on about the wonderful behind the scenes clips and “articles” profiling the story’s main characters, but the true spark within this presence is the pure match that has been made to the film’s most valuable demographic.

According to Qantcast, nearly 50% of Tumblr’s visitors are under the age of 24 within the US. We also know the teen demographic does not view advertising the same way as their parents or grandparents once did. They want to make a connection, support things they believe in and share genuine content.

The Hunger Games is using Tumblr to do just that. Yes, they could share bland by comparison examples of products supporting the Hunger Games logo or a quick clip from the movie. Yes, it would still be shared 1000’s of times. However, by displaying a product as if it were a real ad in a real Panem government magazine or sharing a gif as if the paparazzi has spotted characters in real time, the content now embodies everything this generation seeks in the brands followed. The advertisements, brands and content featured within the posts to come will also bring a new air of whimsy, passion and sharability to the same content, which in a different voice may have been lost to this audience.

As we as marketers look to realign how we think of brand personality, consumption and real life translation, we must consider how this shift in the consumer mindset will not deter us from connecting messages for brands, but to think of new ways to create a build relationships with those consumers who desire them most.

The Perks of CES

11th January 2012

I’m in Atlanta this week, not Vegas drooling over the newest devices, but thanks to Klout, I just might be rewarded from the comfort of my desk.

This might be one of the most interesting uses of Klout Perks I have seen yet. Tapping into the massive amount of conversation taking place at CES this week, all Klout users are eligible to become the T-Mobile Social King (or Queen I suppose) of CES.

Entering is easy:
1. Opt in to the perk
2. Enter your email address
3. The topic CES2012 will be added to your topics
4. Spam your network to give you +K in that topic
5. Recieve the most +K in CES2012 by the end of the conference and you win a grand prize of a Samsung Galaxy S II with a year of service, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a T-Mobile 4G Mobile HotSpot

OK, so the last thing I want is to see a Twitter timeline full of beggars, but this is certainly a new way to look at a platform that so far has done little to engage me beyond the occasional quirky topic that somehow lands on my list.

Features within the Perk itself, such as seeing the top influencers, top +K recipients, and best content from top influencers at the conference, round out an engaging experience of what can be an overwhelming space of conference conversation.

As the influence space continues to grow, it’s interesting to look at how both platforms and brands can benefit from this type of exposure and added engagement.

Looking to test it out? I will violate all personal rules and beg for you to give a co-worker of mine, Joe Koufman, his due +K.