• Do you make your customers feel at home?

    Posted on April 19th, 2012 by and currently 5 commenting.


    I’ve always loved the front door of Brains on Fire’s worldwide headquarters. Do you see the face?

    The other day Cordell and I had a little email exchange. I’m not sure how it even began, but somewhere along the way he shared this thought:

    I sometimes wonder if our modern age has created an entire generation of people simply trying to find their way home. What is home? Where do I feel rooted? Where do I feel known and respected?

    Where do I feel like me?

    Perhaps that’s the real opportunity before us in this wonderful, fast moving connected world. We can now connect in a way with our employees and customers that they feel like they are home. A place where they are surrounded by kindred spirits who share their same passions and dreams and hopes.

    Hmmmm.

    Where do you feel like you? Can a brand or organization connect so deep emotionally with you that you feel more you when you sharing, wearing or supporting them?

  • Start Something.

    Posted on April 17th, 2012 by and currently 4 commenting.


    Photo from my friend John Bielenberg‘s iphone. Don’t you just want to know where that road leads?

    I love the start of things.

    Start up companies and organizations fascinate me.

    I love hearing stories of first kisses and first dates.

    And first jobs and first cars.

    I cry at weddings.

    And when babies are born.

    I underline the first sentences of almost all my books as I imagine the author’s moment of quietly deciding:

    This is where I will begin.

    And since we are in the conversation business, I often think of the first conversations in my life.

    How so many things get decided in that very first exchange. Sometimes those first conversations evolve into amazing friendships or wonderful business relationships.

    So my advice for you this Tuesday morning is simple. Become aware of the firsts around you today. See the possibilities in each new conversation. Each new road. Each new meeting or phone call. Keep your heart and your mind wide open.

    Chances are something really amazing and magical will begin today…

  • It’s About People.

    Posted on March 26th, 2012 by and currently 0 commenting.

    We’re all in marketing grad school.

    Surrounded by massive changes in how we communicate, we need to study and share and listen hard with an open hearts and minds.

    The good folks at KellerFay are some of the best “professors” I know in the Word in the Mouth Marketing world. At Brains on Fire, we discuss and share their research and findings with each other and our clients often. Which is why I’m super excited about their new book coming out on May 22nd called The Face-to-Face Book. Last night I sat down to write a post inspired one of Ed’s recent posts:

    Social Media is Word of Mouth on Steroids, or is It? Part II

    When I was almost done, I went back and re-read Ed’s words again and here’s what hit me:

    I really want to share all of Ed words with you.

    So with Ed’s permission, enjoy. (I’ve highlighted some remarks that really hit home.)
    ______________________________________________________________________________________

    I have heard it said on a number of occasions that social media is word of mouth on steroids. The argument goes like this: Whereas face-to-face conversations only reach people one-on-one or one-on-several, social media allows people to reach hundreds and often thousands of people with a single post. As a result, it has a far greater reach than word of mouth.

    I have been skeptical of this view, arguing that while social media is certainly a piece of the social influence puzzle for brands that deserves to be leveraged, it is just one piece among many. And the premise that social media is word of mouth on steroids ignores the facts. A singular focus on social media is misguided, in my view, as it can blind brands to the full array of opportunities available to them to drive brand advocacy. This is the subject of my forthcoming book, The Face-to-Face Book: Why Real Relationships Rule in a Digital Marketplace, co-authored with Brad Fay and coming in May.

    A few months ago I wrote a blog under the headline, “Social Media is Word of Mouth on Steroids, or is It?” In the piece I shared research that shows for brands with tens of millions of Facebook fans, active engagement by those fans is quite small. In fact just 0.45% are active fans. In a similar vein, research was released last month from the prestigious Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science in Australia showing that after the initial click to “like” the brand, consumers rarely interact again with the brand on Facebook. Here too, less than 1 percent of people remained active on Facebook after the initial engagement. Ehrenberg-Bass summarized its results as follows: “Big Brands Snubbed by Fans on Facebook.” The message here is that the large numbers associated with social media can be seductive, but they are not always exactly as they appear to be.

    Now comes a very different type of study that further debunks the “social media is word of mouth on steroids” argument. This research, conducted by BuzzFeed and StumbleUpon, looks at the sources of shared content online across their respective networks and comes to this conclusion: “Put simply, the vast majority of sharing occurs in the normal fashion evidenced in real-world word-of- mouth.”

    More specifically, they report that the average Facebook share leads only nine people to visit the story. The median for Twitter was even lower, with each story shared on Twitter leading to five people visiting the story. This reality is far from the “one-to-many” image of social media that many proponents postulate and would be consistent with the “word of mouth on steroid” claim.

    The conclusion from BuzzFeed and StumbleUpon: “What emerges is a picture of social networks where stories go viral when lots of people engage with their normal-sized circles to share content. . . In looking to get content shared, marketers and publishers should focus on content that will resonate and get people talking to their colleagues, friends and families. Social media is about engaging people in conversations that mirror the offline world.”

    The research that is emerging helps to separate fact from fiction. Yes, social media has the potential to reach hundreds or thousands of people at a time, but the reality is that it rarely does. It should be considered as a part of today’s marketing mix, but it is becoming increasingly clear that for brands which wish to spark the conversations that will move their business forward, it is not a panacea nor is it “word of mouth on steroids.” Remember, for each conversation people share with their colleagues, friends and families via social media, there are many multiples more that get shared at the dinner table, at the water cooler, on the sidelines at youth sports events, and anywhere else people congregate. Those conversations collectively generate far more sharing. Let’s take a holistic perspective on the best and most productive ways to engage today’s social consumer.
    ______________________________________________________________________________________

    Ed Keller, CEO of the Keller Fay Group, has been called “one of the most recognized names in word of mouth.” The publication of Keller’s book, The Influentials, has been called the “seminal moment in the development of word of mouth.” His new book, The Face-to-Face Book, is coming out in May 2012. You can follow Ed Keller on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, or contact him directly at ekeller@kellerfay.com.

  • Missed Opportunity by Nokia

    Posted on March 7th, 2012 by and currently 2 commenting.

    Today’s post will be short and to the point. I have a bandaid on my index finger, and it makes typing laborious and error-laden.

    Not too long ago I ran across a unique feature length film called Olive (1). While the storyline seems intriguing, what drew many people’s attention was the fact that the makers claimed that it would be the first feature length film shot entirely on a smartphone.

    What really caught my attention were the sources of funding for the film. The producers launched an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign (2) and were eventually able to find funding from other sources (3). Here’s the interesting bit, though: the phone they used was a Nokia, and they initially tried to get funding from the manufacturer. Nokia declined.

    I couldn’t dig up specific reasons why, but I have a theory. The filmmakers had to hack the phone to disable auto-focus and auto-zoom (4). I’m sure that little production trick didn’t excite Nokia. I’d also bet that discussions with the legal about promoting a hacked product would be brief, in the ‘absolutely not’ sense of the word.

    I fully acknowledge that the marketing managers are likely much more suited to be at the helm of the brand than I am, but I find it very interesting (and dissapointing) that they didn’t do anything to support the film. Who cares if it’s hacked? What if Nokia had their engineers help the people modify the phone in order to solve their problems?

    It’s not everyday that someone comes along and tells you that they’re using your product to do something that has never been done before, and that they want you to get in on the action.

    Though different, IKEA capitalized on a similar offer for a video series that has been a productive piece of their marketing plan (5).

    Next time, Nokia. Next time.

    • (1) You can visit the “Olive” website here.
    • (2) You can find the unfunded Kickstarter for the film here.
    • (3) You can read more about the process of funding and creating the film here.
    • (4) You can a bit more about the hacking of the phone here.
    • (5) You can read about IKEA’s “Easy to Assemble” video series here. Hats off to Greg Cordell for the find.

  • A Kinder, Gentler Capitalism.

    Posted on February 13th, 2012 by and currently 1 commenting.


    Photo from Libby William’s wonderful, heartfelt photoblog.

    The other day I received an email from someone who had recently read our book and often reads our blog. He wanted to see if I would help him re-frame his background and past experiences to ignite his next career adventure.

    I agreed to coffee.

    As he sat down, he said he had come to believe, after getting to know us through our writings, that we were cheerleaders for a “kinder, gentler capitalism.”

    What a gift he gave me. I’ve been thinking about those three simple little words since our brief meeting that cold, rainy Tuesday morning.

    As humans, it’s in our DNA to search for our higher purpose.

    We long to be a part of a story bigger than our own lives. I believe that companies and organizations that believe they are our changing our world for the better have a competitive advantage. Because, as the authors of Firms of Endearment say so beautifully, they are capturing “Share of Heart” along with share of wallet.

    Our purpose as a company is to help our clients connect on a deep, personal and emotional level with their advocates and customers, so that they in turn want to share those experiences with the world. We believe we are touching and changing lives every single day.

    Do you know your purpose?

    Do you preach it from the rooftops? If you stopped someone in your organization and asked them the “purpose” question would you be surprised by what you hear?

    Do you believe in a kinder, gentler capitalism?

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »