Gentlemen, Now You Can Pay with Your Balls!!

By Mina Borhani

Guys, I am not kidding! There is a new technology now that allows gentlemen to make a payment using their testicles! Ok, I’m partially joking. This November only, guys can pay with their balls to trim their ‘Staches! You are probably familiar with the Movember movement that encourages gents to grow moustaches for charity to raise awareness about men’s health issues – particularly testicular cancer. Every November brands join the cause and create incredibly creative campaigns to educate the male population. This year, a small campaign has raised a few eyebrows.

Allow me to introduce you to Barba, a high-end men’s grooming boutique in Chelsea, New York.  This year, Barba has joined the Movember movement and – with the help of Terri and Sandy Advertising Agency- created a remarkable campaign. #PayWithYourBalls campaign from this neighborhood boutique has even got the attention from marketing influencers such as Creativity-Online.com.

‘Our Ballsy Mission’ as Barba calls it clearly conveys why they are doing it: “At Barba, we believe men have a responsibility to take care of themselves. We promote the power of well-groomed physical appearance, but we also value the physical health of our clients.” In an easy-to-grasp illustration, Barba shows its customers how the campaign works, simply follow Step 1, 2 and 3!

But what stands out for me is the way they have positioned this promotion. Instead of saying ‘get a free testicular cancer screening’ and boring the audience to death, Barba says “Pay with your balls!” and gives away a free premium shave and a health screening. The message is incredibly eye catching, memorable and well put together.

In a simple announcement -a digital media release as we call it – Barba announced this campaign on Facebook followed by consistently promoting it on social media pages of the boutique. To also promote this campaign in the neighborhood, they have placed a few “Pay With Your Balls” posters throughout New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, where the salon is located.

#PayWithYourBalls campaign is promoted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. On each platform, Barba takes a different approach – as they should –  to communicate its message. For example, on Facebook, Barba showcases hilariously funny but simple statements bundled with awesome – somewhat educational – visuals. The masculine and minimalistic designs also help to grab the attention of their male target.

On twitter, their approach is different. It seems that they are using Twitter as a trailer for their Instagram. Almost none of the tweets have a visible photo, but a link to an Instagram photo, which is a risky approach because tweets with photos grab much higher attention than a wordy one. Again, they have done a great job by keeping it simple, funny and conversational.

Even though Barba is a rather small neighborhood salon, they have done a great job creating this campaign. At the time of writing this post, the campaign is still ongoing and I have no idea what the results will be for Barba. Nevertheless, I applaud them for their creative work.

My personal journey toward marketing and how Mark Schaefer’s blog can help all us ex-journalists and communicators figure it out

by Christina Parsons

I was 23 and about to finish my bachelor’s degree in journalism. I was filled with the angst that accompanies this stage in a young person’s journey.

Purpose and passion at work was/is a must for me. It was never all about a salary. I never imagined that one day I would be working in marketing! I equated that profession with selling.

Landing in the right place 
Back to 1998. Three months after graduation, I got a job as news editor at a community newspaper. I turned down a job that came with a brand new car and big pay cheque to accept a job at The Catholic Times newspaper. My boss was the best teacher I ever had and I loved it!

Image from Mark Schaefer’s blog

I was where I was meant to be. Why had I ever worried?

Fast forward through some other experiences and I found myself working in communications. I was using my skills to advance the mission of Health Partners International of Canada, a unique organization dedicated to increasing access to medicine for the most vulnerable people in the world.

Evolving world of communications 
My job has evolved so much since 2004, the year I began at HPIC.

I managed a big project to publish a magazine for our 15th anniversary in 2005 and for our 20th in 2010. The magazine featured profiles of some of our major donors and the impact of their partnership with HPIC. It was successful and raised a lot of money.

In 2016, I need to find new ways to engage our donors, build our community, tell our story and develop our brand- all with very limited resources. I am very motivated to do this and to continue improving because the better I do my job, the more people in need will receive medical treatment.

No one’s got this new world figured out- even marketers!
My job sounds a lot like marketing now, doesn’t it? And I feel quite untrained for this. However, I am in good company according to Mark Schaefer, the blogger I have chosen to follow. He quotes Unilever’s Keith Weed who says marketers in their 30s and 40s are unprepared to lead digital brands.

I feel I must learn more about marketing and how to apply its principles and tactics to my ever-changing job.

For this reason, I have decided to follow Mark, a globally recognized expert in marketing strategy and social media.

Practical and tactical 
Each blog entry has good content that is practical and tactical.

One of the entries that spoke to me:  How do I find time to create content? 25 ideas! I am a team of one with some pro-bono consulting help. Time tips always resonate with me.

Goals and KPIs for social analytics is another one that I will read through carefully since measurement and tracking is somewhat mysterious to me. I would really like to learn how to do this better.

More than anything, I would like to find someone to follow who can keep me up to date on what is happening in marketing and technology and give me practical information that I can put to use immediately. And it seems like Scott has led me to a great resource.

Working on the ‘why’ and following Mark 
I thought I would choose Simon Sinek’s blog before I looked into these four selected bloggers. I was enthusiastic about bringing his why conversation to my team. And I will continue to develop the why of HPIC. However, his blog did not seem as practical for me as Mark’s.

And so I am now developing a side of myself that my 23-year-old self would be perplexed about. In 2016, marketing skills are very much in demand for the charitable sector. Charities that can figure out marketing and cause marketing will thrive. I want to help mine do just that.

 

 

Finding my community

By Christine Akl.

As I was scrolling through the list of bloggers that I had to pick from for my content creation CBUS111 class assignment, one in particular caught my eye: Jeff Goins.

I have always been a right brain type of person and what struck me the most in Jeff’s description of topics is the word creativity. As I started to read his blog, something he said when describing himself made my choice crystal clear: “Here is where we wage war on the blank page, where we band together to discover our purpose and our art, where we find our true voices. If you have a passion for creativity and changing the world, this is the place for you.”

Jeff Goins is the author of four books including the national best seller, The Art of Work. On his blog, he shares his reflections on writing and life. He talks about creative professionals and how to pursue a passion without burning yourself out.
These topics struck a chord with me because I started my career as a designer and I do consider myself both an artist and a creative professional first. I’m going to be honest here, I had never really had any interest in blogging before this class, but I was slowly but surely getting excited for this assignment – I had found someone who I related to, his articles were clear and to the point as well as inspiring.

As I was looking through his articles two in particular stood out: “The World Needs More Artists” and “You must Ship”.
The first article talks about why we need art and how crucial it is in our lives. It talks about the importance of quality in a world full of mediocre and how the world in longing for a change and for great art. The second article discussed people seeking perfection that is unobtainable, those that get held back “shipping” their products or developing their ideas… because they are unsure of their work and themselves. I think that everyone can relate to that feeling of uncertainty.

I found myself hanging on to every word. I could relate to so much of what was being said. And that is what blogging is all about, finding your community of people who are interested in the same content as you!
So what are you waiting for? Go and check out Jeff Goins’ blog and you will not be disappointed. One thing is certain; He now has one new subscriber .

Ⓒ Photo Credit Adsoftheworld.com
Ⓒ Photo Credit Goinswriter.com
Ⓒ Photo Credit knowledge.insead.edu

Back to School: World Wide Web Edition

By Véronique Beaulieu-Fowler

The following is meant to be a generalized representation of the world wide web. Any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental.

I spend a lot of time online. I work, socialize and commute online. Like many others, I interact online mostly with friends and with strangers who share my interests and common experiences.

What I’ve come to realize is the World Wide Web is similar to a huge high school cafeteria. You have the fashion bloggers at one end, Imgur cat lover at the other, and in the middle industry professionals posting on LinkedIn, mommies blogging on WordPress, artists sharing on Tumblr, and models posing on Instagram. The room goes on and on.
Today is your first day at WWW High. Who will you sit with at lunch? How will you communicate with these potential new friends?

You can’t sit with us.

1. Know Thyself

Once you’ve decided to write content for the web, as a brand or person, you need to know what you are about and what you’d like the reader to take away from the visit Ask yourself what is your main value proposition and what can you bring to the table that is different?

2. Pick a table

Don’t be too stressed out about it BUT you have to pick a table. You could split your week’s lunches between tables but that may not result in very strong affiliations with each group. Many people don’t think about it but gaining an online audience requires brands to understand and cater to the interests and needs of a specific group of individuals. Start analyzing: who are the people sitting at the table you want to join? Does your value proposition align well with their interests and goals?

Would you vote for David Beckham to go #uncovered?

by Lilly Birdsong

By now, we’ve probably all seen David Beckham in his underwear.  Let’s be honest – nearly-naked Beckham is everywhere!  But is there something we can learn from the pervasive H&M campaign?

I think so.

David Beckham photograph for H&M

Gearing up for the Superbowl this year, many marketing teams were probably sitting around tables trying to figure out what their innovative hashtag could be.  How can we do something memorable? Fun? Sharable?

What made H&M different was that they decided to go a step further.  Rather than trying to just get people to mention their hashtag, they got people to choose which one they liked.

When they started filming commercial spots for the Superbowl, rather than simply filming a single ad, they decided to film an ad with alternate endings.  Let’s be honest – how many of us read those Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid?  What made those books fun?  Well, the nice thing about it was that we could choose our own ending.  Instead of simply reading the ending the author chose to write, we could pick the ending that most suited our own personalities.

So, H&M’s team sat around and said, hey, how can we get our audience involved?  Let’s let them choose the ending!  Not only that, but they did it with hashtags.

The campaign itself had its own hashtag –

#BeckhamForHM

But then fans could vote for how they wanted to see Beckham – #covered or #uncovered!  I know which one I would choose…

Beckham #Covered #Uncovered campaign #BeckhamHM

But back to the issue at hand.

This is one of the first advertising campaigns to be “interactive”.  In other words, the actions of the user determine the outcome.  That sounds pretty cool to me!

This campaign went cross-platform on different channels.  You could see it:

• On their website
• On Facebook, Twitter
• On YouTube
• And ultimately, at the Superbowl

H&M Website

They had two clear business goals before the campaign started: 1) to increase brand awareness, and 2) to generate increased foot-traffic in their stores.

What was interesting to me about the response to this campaign is that it appealed mainly to women and gay men, according to some of the tweets that I found on Twitter.  But also, this can appeal to men who want to be like Beckham, and attract the ladies.  Besides, who does most of the shopping anyway?  Women, right?  How often do we buy our guys underwear for Christmas, because they’re too lazy to go buy it themselves…

They even had Guy Ritchie direct a YouTube video which garnered over 10 Million views so far:

I’d call that pretty successful for brand awareness.  In terms of foot traffic?  Well, we can look at H&M’s financial reports to get an idea of their sales.  In Q1, they increased 13% YY.  Q2 sales were up 20% YY.  Wow!  Now of course, we can’t attribute this solely to a marketing campaign, but one thing’s for sure – they’re on the right track.

I think we can all take lessons from the #uncovered campaign – get your audience involved!

Match! When Media Release meets Social Needs

by Cintia Klein

Paper books were supposed to be dead. Have you been reading most of your news on line or on paper lately? What do you prefer?  I like reading long, complex concepts on paper. But still there is a pile of books waiting for me by my bed. When I have 30 minutes  before falling asleep, reading a book is a very pleasant activity. I believe there is time and place for traditional media release, for printed magazine and hand written letter.

Many PR professionals are  uncertain choosing which tool best fits their communication needs. Such a broad variety of medias can lead the more cautious brands to stick with the classic news release, while others advocate for more social ways of distributing news. How far must we go converting releases into  “social” products?

The Silicon Valley Watcher Tom Foremski’s famous blog post kicked off the debate of the social media release,  rising controversy at the time. See his main advice for planing and developing a useful, contemporary release:

–  Promote deconstruction of the press release into useful and versatile sections: tag the fragments of information so that publishers can pre-assemble some of the news story.
– Provide a brief description of the  announcement, however leave the spin to the journalists. The journalists are going to go with their own view on the story, so why bother? Keep it straightforward rather than spintastic.
– Provide a page of quotes from the CEO or other C-level execs. Quotes from customers and analysts, can be applicable.

Currently, the promises are that social media release  will allow “mobile” story telling from services and products, that actually matter to the customers. In theory, a social media release is well succeed if it travels around the web leaving people a window into the brand.  The results will be seen and measured – more and more often –  by the increase of website relevance via SEO technology, high level of interaction and content sharing. No matter the shape of the media release,  content is clearly leaning towards a conversational tone to engage readers reactions, not only the media professionals.

Sources:

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2010/04/social-media-release-must-evolve-to-replace-press-release113/
http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2006/02/die_press_relea.php

Your Media Release: All the facts or just the general picture?

by Victor Guerra

You have heard the advice to think first on your audience, and then prepare the content accordingly.

After all, there are introverts who need time to process the information you provide, while the extroverts would love to contact you and ask a lot of questions even before they finish reading your material. There is also people who want to see the details while some others just want to see the big picture and would love to see the conclusions up front.

I can clearly remember my former boss that would need to hear my suggestion first and then support it with just the key arguments (Nothing more, nothing less). While most of my teachers at university would demand to understand first the background, then my reasoning process, and then after that, to state my personal point of view.

Unless you are writing to your boss, your teacher, or your spouse, the most common problem you will face will be that your audience is a complex mix of different types of personalities.

In the past, when planning a Media Release, you would consider the average type of personality your primary audience was, in order to choose your writing style.[1]

But now, thanks to digitalization of media, the answer to my question is quite simple: You must include both, the general picture and all the details as well.

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

• Digital media is hierarchical. It allows you to provide a table of content and to your reader to expand a topic, if he or she needs more details.
• Digital media is multimedia. You can include photographs, infographics, audios, videos that will provide more detail but at the same make your Media Release more appealing to different audiences.
• Digital media is interactive. You can transform your communication into a conversation, including the main Q&A’s; a list of interview topics; links to other important resources, and even you can offer a live broadcast.[2]
• Digital media is timeless. You can update your Media Release with interviews and reviews from what the media and consumers are saying. And it allows you to distribute more than one press release, if you have something newsworthy to share.
• Digital media is social. You can include full product reviews, author’s bio, samples, incentives, ads, endorsements, and, of course, links to your social media pages.

In summary, more resources can be used (as long as you have access to them). And if you are going to sit in the same room my former boss and some of my old teachers, believe me, you will still need a very good strategy to make sense of all of the possibilities.

[1] http://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Associated-Press-Style-Press-Release

[2] Example: http://www.andyandrews.com/ms/the-final-summit/

Everyone’s Doing it. You know, social media marketing!

Everyone’s Doing It – Social Media Marketing

by Lilly Vogelesang

“Everyone’s doing it.”

How many times have you heard someone say that when talking about social media marketing?

In between attending trade shows, talking with customers, working with designers, web analysts, and reporting to management – how does the modern marketer have time to breathe, much less to pick up new skills?

I had that same thought myself. I honestly wondered, just because everyone is doing it, does that mean we should too?  Not wanting to get left behind in the pack, I stocked up on coffee, set my alarm to go off an extra half hour early, and started to teach myself.

Twitter?  Got it.  Facebook?  Yeah, okay, I use that for personal stuff – I can do that too.  YouTube?  Sure.  LinkedIn?  Ummm… yeah, okay, I can learn that one.  Google+?  Does anyone even use that?  Why bother?  Tumblr?  Are you serious?  Well, okay for my business, maybe we need it…

I realized soon that I felt like I was drowning.

In fact, I was probably drowning before I’d even gotten started.  Then, I did a deep dive without any air.

Bad idea.

I decided I needed to take a class, for a couple of reasons.

1.  Accountability.  If I’m required to do homework, that means I’m actively learning from one week to another.
2.  Group Discussions.  The best thing about learning in a class is being able to see things from other people’s point of view.

In a classroom, when you’re sitting there with other marketing gurus, there’s a little bit of magic that happens.  Someone might say something, and it sparks inspiration.  It’s like all the wires in my brain light up at once, synapses firing, and ideas spawn new ideas until I have to try to contain my excitement.

For example, when Jessie Sternthal came in to our class to talk about writing, she said, “Write like nobody’s watching.  Write like you’re dancing in the kitchen.  Write like you’re singing in the car at a red light.”  Not only did it make sense, but it resonated with me.

Jessie also spoke about giving your brand a voice, a personality.  Harriet Cummings, a copy editor, wrote this amazing article to help develop voice.

I had been so blinded by sifting through amazing resources on writing for SEO that I forgot that at the end of the day, it’s about speaking to your audience, adding value, and having a meaningful conversation with them.

I got my life vest, thanks to McGill.

Forming Meaningful Connections through Writing

by Lilly Birdsong

As human beings, we are always looking for a connection.  That feeling of belonging, that feeling of knowing that there are other people out there that understand your point of view, that are interested in the same things you are.

The most powerful factor in social media is the ability to forge a connection with someone that you’ve never even met.  Whether it’s that group of people online who all like the same books that you do, or even that brand that keeps releasing these revolutionary new products that you love, being able to connect with other people remotely has changed the way we interact.  It allows us to have meaningful conversations in an online space.

When writing content for readers online, it’s important to think the most about this type of connection.  Why are you writing something in the first place? Well, it’s always because you want someone to read it.  So: Who are you trying to reach?  Who are you trying to touch?  To have an impact on?

Thinking about who you’re writing to will not only have an impact on the way that you write, it will enable you to write about things which add value to your reader’s day.

Which brings us to the second most important question: Why?  Why should anyone bother reading what it is you write?  Is there something that you can teach your reader, or entertain them with?  If your goal is simply to sell something to someone, then writing that you want to sell is not going to engage anyone.  However if you are explaining how a person can improve their process, then you place the product on the side, this is a much more meaningful interaction.

For example, if someone is searching “How to:”, if your blog answers that question, then they will find value in reading what you’re writing about.

Now the question becomes: can you engage with your audience, now that you have their attention?  One of the benefits of writing online is being able to receive comments, have a dialogue and discussion about the topic that you’re writing.  This can be a great way to assess whether your story has achieved its goal in adding value.

Ultimately, in this new social space, we must not only get used to but embrace the opportunity to have a dialogue with our audience.  When successful, we can truly form a connection with our readers in a much more meaningful way than ever before.

Forget about the Content. Ask yourself these two questions first!

by Victor Guerra

They used to say that everybody knows at least 2 things in life: (1) how to run a restaurant and (2) how to create good advertising. After all, most of us have gone to a restaurant hundreds of times, and for sure we have been exposed to millions of messages trying to sell us something. Therefore, we know from our own experiences what can be done right and wrong, since we have been the judges on every one of those experiences.

But one thing is, to know how it “feels” to receive good services, products and messages; and another very different is to master the principles behind them, and to actually know how to do it properly.

Today, our usage of social networks has surpassed that of traditional media (where advertising used to live). Our frequent exposure to it can make us believe we know how to use it for business purposes.

In social media as in any other communication platform, an organization who wants to establish a connection with its customers, has to consider the basic principles of communication: There has to be a message, a sender, a receiver, a medium and contextual factors (language, tone, timing, environment, “noise”, etc.).

One simple but powerful model to analyze and create your content strategy is what I call “The six W’s”. A set of 6 questions to ask yourself about your communication intentions: Who, what, when, where, why and how. All of them are crucial to achieve a real connection between your company and its clients. But, in my opinion, two of them are the most important ones: The Who and the Why.

WHO?

The “Who” is in reality two questions in one: Who are you? and Who is your audience?

The first step is to be clear about who you are. A hard question to answer.

It is not just who you say you are, or who you may want to become. It is more about how you are perceived, it is your brand’s DNA, preferably written in few words (3 maximum, 2 or 1 much better): Who are you?

In marketing, it is called Brand Essence (your true nature). It is the cornerstone for the positioning strategy (what you want built as your public image). But it is a prior step to it.

The second part is defining your audience. Again, in marketing it is called Targeting. It has to do with segmenting your market and selecting just one segment to speak to (to have a conversation with, would be more appropriate to say these days).

We are referring here to the sender and the receiver. As opposed to the traditional media, where you are the sender and your audience is the receiver, here you will try to ignite the conversation, but you need to be willing to interchange roles with your audience. So you better know them well in order, not only to fulfill their expectations, but also to anticipate their needs and to positively surprise them.

WHY?

The second most important W, is the “Why”: Why are you trying to connect with them, what is the intent of your communication effort? It better be for a good reason. It better be because there is something of value for them, that will be of value for your brand as well.

The time and effort dedicated to determine the Who and the Why will show a clear path for the remaining 4 W’s: What (message), where (medium), when and how (contextual factors). The remaining W’s will provide in your favour, and not cause you unnecessary “noise” into the communication process.

Once you answer these first questions, your success will be determined by how easy or how hard it is to identify: (1) the what (pathways or topics for messages that you should embrace); (2) the where (the right platforms to reach effectively and efficiently your audience); and (3) the when and how (style, tone, graphics, etc.).

Ironically, in order to achieve a successful Content Strategy, you have to forget about the content first. Ask Who and Why instead. As the old quote says: “Think before you speak”.