Category Archives: Innovation

Can Digital Drive Brand Strategy?

1st November 2010

Last Wednesday, the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA) set out to debate: Can Digital Drive Brand Strategy? As a digital marketer myself, this is a common question among my colleagues and myself.

We hear the rumors day in and day out. Print is dead, commercials are Tevo’d and magazines only exist on a iPad. Sure it may seem that way as budgets are repurposed and less and less money is spent on “traditional” media each year, but does that mean a brand can rely on digital to propel them into the next few decades?

As Bert DuMars of Newell Rubbermaid pointed out, when a consumer goes to a store like Target, they generally enter the store with the intention of buying something, anything. From there an advertisement or display may catch their eye and do just that: purchase.

When shopping online the response can be vastly different. A consumer may visit a branded website to look up a product and read consumer reviews, they then may turn to another site to scope out prices, head to a social network to ask for advice and then – head to the store or buy online.

In the case of a new brand or product – sure digital is definitely the place to be. You will not find a better-engaged audience or test segment than those who seek out your product online. You can learn a lot, in a short amount of time and bear witness to large demographic of people.

For A.J. Brustein from Coca-Cola this is exactly what happened with this year’s Happiness Machine video. Users were able to spread the word and share their reactions quickly, but the video still  has  a little less than 3 million views on YouTube, pebbles compared to the amount of impressions other types of media have seen. But – if you can pass the same video along to global markets to share on TV, during events and maybe even in store, you will see those numbers will sky rocket.

A.J. said it best when he noted, “traditional media has had 100+ years to perfect itself, this is only the beginning of digital.”

So should you toss those TV ads or in-store placements goodbye? No. Should you dabble in digital and only spend money on there? No. The biggest shift we as marketers are facing is diversity.

A strategy must include all sides and all departments – cohesively. Your Facebook strategy should tie into your OOH, your Tweets match your print ads. Doing this successfully will be the key – and the brands that get it right will be the ones you remember in 100 years from now – you know, when digital becomes old news.

Tweets for Tacos

27th October 2010

New York and L.A. may be resident food truck fanatics, but to us here in the south, they are pretty new. I’ve been waiting for a while for the perfect moment to come along and experience a delicious restaurant on wheels for myself.

Today that moment arrived.

If you’ve heard of the ever popular Kogi BBQ taco truck in California, Yumbii is the hip Atlanta version. So why is food in a truck so appealing when I could just walk across the street to some of Midtown’s best places to eat?

1. Exclusivity: With street eateries on the go, you’ve got to catch it at the right place and time. Some may post their schedule on their website, but for most, you’ve got to be following them on Twitter to find out where they are heading next. It keeps things fun, interesting and leaves you wishing you worked a few blocks away on that day.

2. Sharability: Check-in on Foursquare and share on Twitter. It’s the main way to spread the word. Had it not been for my good friend Rene re-tweeting a message, I would have never known.

3. Availability: Sure I could get in my car and drive a mile to my favorite taco place, but  what makes it so great is it comes to you. As this model catches on, hopefully we will find something new and exciting just outside our office doors on a regular basis.

Interested in learning more about the food truck phenomenon? Follow @AtlantaStreetFood on Twitter for updates on various vendors around town, or join me during Social Media Atlanta for an Eat Up at the Hub…and yes, we hear the trucks will be there.

Kathlene and Rene show their excitement...even in the rain

Why I’m watching Sesame Street at age 22

22nd October 2010

When I was little you couldn’t tear me away from Sesame Street for hours everyday  and now it looks like I may be doing it again – but online.  Why you might ask would anyone over the age of 5 be watching Sesame Street? The gang has been hard at work these days – Tweeting, Facebooking and even singing along with Will.i.am on YouTube.

Lately the team has spoofed everything from the Old Spice guy to Mad Men and True Blood. Sure it makes adults laugh, but at the same time Sesame Street is staying true to their roots by infusing their content with educational moments for kids.

For instance, in the Mad Men reenactment below, the guys show off some ideas from the “Happy Honey Bear” account in search of a picture that show happiness instead of other emotions and in the end they all end up as Happy Men.

Amy Poehler, Rev Run, Jack Black and Jonah Hill have all stopped by to visit, each with their own take on education.

Be sure to check out the show on Facebook. Not only does the show have a page, but each of the characters as well. Elmo, Cookie Monster and Oscar The Grouch all have pages and you’ll event find the characters tweeting with  Twitter accounts.

As kids become more heavily involved in social media channels, it’s important to kind safe and relevant content to them, but it’s even better when it’s something you’ll enjoy watching as well!