The Next Latest and Greatest?

I haven't posted in a few weeks and the good news is it's because Simple is enjoying a mid-summer downpour of new clients. We'll be launching some exciting new client work soon and will keep you posted when things go live.

In the meantime, I had a great new client question last week that has been bouncing around in the back of my mind, writing itself as a blog post ever since. The client question ...

"Facebook is kind of old. What is the next latest and greatest social media thing?"

Now this is a great question for a few reasons:

Short Shelf Life Spurs Pioneers. The question is indicative of the one-day-lifespan-of-the-housefly type environment in which we marketers and business owners and customers now live. Facebook became a mass marketing tool only about three years ago, give or take a few months. Attention spans are waning, the economy is still a mess, and businesses of all sizes are pretty motivated (perhaps desperate) to find and implement the latest and great tool to win customers and make sales. Businesses are more willing than ever to try new approaches to marketing and customers eagerly looking for deals are open to trying new marketing tools, like Groupon and FourSqauare.

Awareness Into Innovation. The question also points to an expectation - a blind faith really - that there actually is another latest and greatest out there that will serve as the silver bullet that will achieve all marketing goals instantly and with wild success. While somewhat unrealistic, this is good because it means that even small business owners are becoming more aware of social media and smart phone apps and they want to experiment with new things. This demand is helping to spur innovation, both on the part of developers and business owners.

"Old" Doesn't Mean Stagnant. In the case of Facebook, just because it is one of the first and most used social media sites doesn't mean that it isn't constantly evolving. Just this week Facebook added Places, its new location based application designed to compete with FourSquare. At the same time Facebook added new tools for Notes. The week before this, they improved the way you browse Photo albums. Facebook is constantly evolving its functionality and all signs point to the fact that we can expect that to continue.

Before you discard the idea of Facebook as a social media marketing tool because it is "too old", here are a few pointers to make sure you're business page is taking advantage of all Facebook has to offer:

• Focus Your Strategy. Don't just have a business page to have a page. Make it strategic. Make sure the content, images, and voice all work toward reflecting your brand and achieving you marketing goals.
• Mix Your Media. Make your business page come alive with combination of text, video, and images.
• Use Tabs. Take the time to populate your Tabs with strategic, relevant content. Update your Tabs content frequently. Do a little research and create custom Tabs for your page.
• Talk With Friends. The whole point of social media is that it allows your customers to talk directly with you, the business owner. Give your Facebook friends reasons to communicate back with you via your Facebook page.
  
• Stay Current. Visit frequently or friend the Facebook page to get the official latest and greatest news and updates first.

Like I mentioned, this question has so many interesting aspects to consider.

And finally, you still may be asking your self, "Well, what really is the next latest and greatest social media has to offer?" Mashable has five suggestions in their recent piece, 5 Huge Trends in Social Media Right Now.

Enjoy!

Is your digital advertising alive?

One of the best things to happen to digital media in the past couple of years is how easy it has become to create multi-media content. From adding pictures, movies, or slide shows, the possibilities for creating dynamic content to your website or blog are endless.

And easy. Forget about needing to know how to program. In most cases, with just a flick of the "upload," "copy," and "paste," commands, your content is created, uploaded, and alive.

With all the ease of use, there is just one thing to remember: make it strategic!

Since multi-media content is so simple to use, like social media, it can be all to easy to approach it with a "I'll post it because I can" attitude.

And while it may be a nice decoration to your website or blog, if it is not working toward communicating your particular strategic marketing goals - getting more customers to visit, selling more of a particular product, etc. - it is not working as hard as it can be to bring your small business results.

For this post, I've included a little show that I created in PhotoPeach as an example.

It's Not Rocket Science on PhotoPeach

The Strategy

One of my strategic marketing goals is to get new clients and to do that I usually need to quickly show small business owners what Simple does and how we can be of value to their companies. To that end, the topic of the show I created is to breakdown exactly what Simple does in the most basic way.

The Creative

Content: For the content of the show I used familiar images that I've included on my website, blog, social media, and business identity materials. In this way I am providing viewers with a consistent look and feel that will help make Simple more familiar at a glance. The messaging is also consistent: we take something complicated like marketing and advertising and make it simple for our clients to use with great results. The copy is also simple; short, quick-to-scan sentences that users don't have too work hard to read.

Music: I used the free service of PhotoPeach, so the music is one of the free choices that they offer users. I looked for something light and soothing, but also a song that users are familiar to hearing related on funny content, such as cartoons. Peace of mind and humor are two things I like to bring to clients, so I felt the music worked well for this goal.

Call-to-action: The final slide has the look and feel of the Simple website and the URLs of our website and Facebook pages. In this way, we are inviting users in and giving them an easy way to interact with us further.

Now, Simple can use this content in several ways. We can post it here on the blog and then create a link on Facebook that invited our friends to come take a look and learn more. I can also use it as I'm out and about talking with potential clients. Just flip open the laptop, pull it up, and twenty seconds later I've provided a fun way to explain what Simple does.

Want to learn more about strategically adding multi-media to your advertising efforts? Shoot me an email at julianne@simplesbm.com.

Branding Expert Andrew Sabatier Comments on Yesterday's Post

Yesterday's post, "BP, Branding and ... You?" has generated some positive feedback. First, our Simple Facebook page has received several new friends, which is great and we welcome you.

Also, Andrew Sabatier, the author of the Layars magazine article that I cited in my post, took the time to leave a comment on the Simple blog in response to my post. He mentions a few factors that provide a bigger picture of his thoughts on BP and I wanted to make sure that everyone who read yesterday's post got a chance to read his comments as well:

Hi Julianne

You are correct in your assessment that I wrote the article before the oil disaster for which BP has taken responsibility. Had the accident happened before I wrote the article I would probably have caveated what I wrote more heavily. I would also have emphasised the fact that the leadership who committed themselves to the branding has since been replaced.

I stand by what I wrote. BP is still considered a break-away brand. Now, more than ever, BP's brand identity serves to remind us of the relationship of a company's image to its behaviour. At the risk of loosing all credibility BP now has to demonstrate a renewed commitment to their brand. The branding as it stands in all its apparent falsity will, in all likely-hood, become its saving grace.

I agree with Mr. Sabatier that BP is motivating people - everyday consumers - to think more about a company's image vs. its actual behavior, and that kind of awareness is a very good thing.

Mr. Sabatier's thoughts on BP changing their actual behavior to reflect their green branding also inspires hope; the current BP brand does provide them with a positive direction in which to move. If he is correct and BP can actually manage to put that brand into practice, whether they are sincerly helping out the environment or sincerly trying to save their business, the company actually executing more environmentally friendly business practices is a win for everyone.

Maybe more importantly for you, the small business owner, is whether or not BP can pull this off and illustrate the power of branding. Imagine, if they can go from the exact opposite of what they are today, what could you do with your branding?

One final thought for today: I want to point out that the BP rebranding was just one example in a very thought-provoking six-page article that Andrew Sabatier wrote for the May/June issue of Layers. The article as a whole is really insightful and a recommended read for anyone who wants to get a quick yet thorough overview of branding today.

bp, branding and ... you?

I was reading the latest issue of Adobe Layers magazine over the weekend, mainly because it had a good article on "strategies and realities of successful market branding." Apparently the article had been written pre-BP oil spill, because the first example that author Andrew Sabatier referenced was the BP branding make-over.

With no mention of the spill, Sabatier gamely explained how the BP brand embarked upon an image update in the late '90s. According to the article, BP wanted to shed its imperialist history, take on a more "green" personality, and distance itself from the "petroleum age at its worst."

As a result, BP began to change their outward image, including a fresh new lotus flower shaped logo.

Writes Sabatier of the makeover:

"To some degree, BP may be wearing a mask, but in time the features of the brand will take on the features of the mask. For die-hard eco-warriors, this kind of branding may appear as a superficial greenwash, a false mask, but in the realm of appropriatly mediated brand experiences, BP has now become a breakaway brand, leading by example. BP's transformed brand identify represents a set of ideas that drives an internal and external business culture that envisions a future (B)eyond (P)etroleum."

In light of the company's reality today, day 84 of the oil spill, amidst Presidential investigations and daily media allegations that BP's business practices were habitually unsafe, this trickle-down idea of "if we present ourselves as environmentally conscious company it will become true" would be laughable if it were not so frustrating and sad.

Which brings the subject of branding back to you, the small business owner. The BP example serves as perfect, dramatic example of what not to do in your own branding: don't portray yourself through branding to be something that you are not.

It's pretty simple: Be your brand; not just by what you say or how you look, but by everything that you do.

For example, if part of your branding is that your company is a proud member of your community, make sure you are actually involved in events, groups, and promotions that support the community.

Perhaps Sabatier hits the mark best when he writes "Simply put, a brand identity is a brand strategy made experiential."

For BP, despite their green brand make over, the current "experience" of their brand is the exact opposite of the one they outwardly portrayed.

join me in the small business challenge?

Not to brag, but today I came up with a really inspired marketing idea.

I was on the other side of town and needed some coffee. Really. Needed. Coffee. It had been one of those mad mornings and I hadn't had nearly enough before leaving the house. I thought over my options based on location and decided to skip the big chain cafe I usually visit and went to a local coffee shop called Bad Ass Cafe* instead.

While Bad Ass Cafe is a franchise, the one at the beach in Virginia Beach is the only one in Hampton Roads. It has a unique local, beachy feel. The staff were friendly and wearing whatever they wanted to wear. There was no obnoxious music playing. And my cafe au lait and breakfast wrap were delicious and reasonably priced. Best of all down at the beach - free parking.


So, there I was mid-sip of my delicious cafe au lait with Kona dark roast and it hit me - if I'm going to talk the small business talk, I want to do the walk, too.

And that is how I came up with the inspired idea of the the Small Business Challenge.

Want to join me? Here are the Small Business Challenge objectives:

1. Replace. Each week replace 5 big brand businesses that you use with local, privately owned small businesses.

2. Comment. On your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or whatever your social media marketing tool of choice, comment on your experiences. Tell which big brand shop you passed up and discuss the small business you chose instead.

3. Review. Share your experience at the small business via Yelp or any other reviewing site or tools. In this way, you can give the owner feedback while promoting their small business to other potential customers.

Now, when it comes to grocery shopping and items you can purchase at Target, using small businesses could be tricky and require some online searching on our part. Perhaps it will mean visiting more than one store to get what we need. And I'll admit it, one of my main concerns as a consumer is cost. Will it be more expensive to use local businesses?

I'm looking forward to finding out the answer to all of these questions and hope you are too.

After all, if you try it for a week or so, what do you have to lose? And, in the long run we're going to be supporting our local businesses and make our communities stronger.

So join me in the Small Business Challenge in your neighborhood and keep me updated with your experiences.

*Please note: Bad Ass Cafe is NOT a client. This is an honest review from an actual customer - me.

what makes a creative idea "good"?

Have you ever wondered why some creative ideas flourish while others fizzle? Being in the advertising business for a living, it's something I've given a lot of thought.

Over the years, I've seen ideas that were truly awful take off and I've seen really imaginative creative ideas die before even being presented. And then there are ideas that fall somewhere in the middle; ideas that are not all that great, but they get the job done by earning results, though not accolades or awards.

Working with clients on developing creative ideas for their advertising executions recently got me thinking about the question again - what really does make an idea for creative advertising "good"?

Simply put, here are some key factors:

Stratagy. The most important component of all. Having a passionate delivery of a new idea is good but when you can support that excitement and clearly articulate why the idea is strategic and will achieve your marketing objectives, you know that on some level the idea will be successful.

Nurtured. An idea needs to be nurtured carefully and allowed to take root and grow a bit before it is shared. Former Hallmark greeting card executive creative Gordon MacKenzie very eloquently discusses this point throughout his amazing book on corporate creativity, Orbiting the Giant Hairball.

Delivery. Sometimes it's all in how you deliver the idea. I've been in brainstorms where someone would blurt out the craziest, most absurd idea, but because they were excited and enthusiastic about the idea we listened, got excited, and got on board too.

Levels. Years ago a mentor explained this one to me. If the idea works on more than one level, such as in the abstract as well as the literal, or if it is culturally relevant, or if it has double meaning (or for some clients double entendre) it is more complex and will tend to engage people more deeply.

Buy-in. Often who supports your idea can be just as powerful as the idea itself. When people you respect or have sway in your industry like and back your idea, it not only supports the idea, it will give you the confidence to be fearless and execute the idea with passion.

Fearlessness. New ideas tend to make people uncomfortable. As a small business person, venturing your time or money on a creative advertising idea that has never been done by you or anyone in your industry is intimidating. If there is marketing strategy behind the idea, be fearless and let it loose.

Confidence. Just because you are not an advertising executive doesn't mean you aren't creative. You know your customers best. With a little coaching, research, and inventiveness you can gain the confidence you need to develop creative ideas that encompass all of these points.

do you have a mentor?

Sometimes owning and operating a small business seems like working in a vacuum. If you're a sole proprietor, you often don't have someone knowledgeable in your business to bounce ideas off and get reliable feedback. Or, you're so busy working on the day-to-day, you don't take time to look at the big picture. That's where the small business mentor can help.

When I was just starting Simple, I was lucky enough to stumble across SCORE, the Service Core of Retired Executives. I was even luckier when I was randomly assigned my mentor, an IT and marketing genius who pioneered early computers, opened trade agreements between the US and Asia, worked in the White House, and then founded a company that invented computer software that you've probably used at least once today.

I meet with my mentor each week. He's advised me on nuts and bolts tasks like developing my business plan and wading through cash flow spreadsheets. But the most valuable service he's provided is getting me to look at my business sideways, and upside down, and five years from now.

In the next week, I'll be rolling out some updates to Simple that have come out of our work together. None of my core services have changed, but the way I'm presenting them and pricing them have. Simpler and cheaper are the keywords, and those are two words that any small business owner likes to hear.

Find Your Mentor
If you don't have a mentor, here are some resources that can help you find one:

SCORE: A nationwide organization of retired C-level executives who provide free and confidential advice for entrepreneurs. 364 offices nationwide. Get started with the 60-Second Guide to Finding a Mentor, a quick tip sheet on how to find a mentor - online or face-to-face - that is right for you.

SCORE for Women Entrepreneurs: A part of SCORE run by retired female executives. Provides same SCORE expertise specifically for woman-owned small businesses.

Small Business Development Centers: A list of SBDC's compiled by the US Small Business Administration. SBDCs offer one-stop assistance to individuals and small businesses by providing a wide variety of information and guidance in central and easily accessible branch locations.

Office of Entrepreneurial Development: Also presented on the USBA website, the OED offers resources such as entrepreneurship education and the small business training network.