Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5573/New-Research-Top-10-Ways-Buyers-Find-Professional-Services-Providers.aspx/?source=RT-CoW-hspd

Here we are in an era that’s spawned every conceivable communication technology breakthrough, and yet no one has managed to replace the “human referral.”

Is it possible that we’re not droids after all? Is it possible that we make irrational calculations? That we trust a data-driven, sophisticated Web site less than the unsubstantiated opinions of our 7-year-old’s beer-bellied, chain smoking soccer coach?

Sure, you might take your babysitter’s recommendation for a new non-dairy creamer. But complex professional services too?

You betcha.

And so it’s always been our goal to merge technology with the human factor—an effort that’s led to the recent social media revolution.

Balance is the key element. And that’s precisely why the most effective social media vehicles are technologically unobtrusive—mere conduits for distinctly human expressions.

So pay more attention to the man behind the curtain. Particularly if he’s a chain smoker.

For those unfamiliar, the effect basically observes that individuals have an easier time processing information they encounter at an early age—in other words, while their brains are still maturing.

Now, Andrew Ellis and colleagues have observed the same kind of hard-wiring effect for brands. Which means that the key marketing demographic may not be 18-49 at all, but rather 0-5.

Gives one a whole new appreciation for the Babies ‘R Us marketing strategy, doesn’t it?

Additionally in the experiment, Ellis observed that older participants had an easy time recognizing long-defunct brands from their youth, but a difficult time recognizing current popular brands.

In fact, participants over 80 professed nearly 100% brand loyalty to the Hudson Motor Company, even though it hasn’t produced a working automobile since 1954.

So what’s the takeaway? Maybe it’s something that I’ve long suspected, but secretly feared: that ubiquity is truly more powerful than logic.

Whatever the reason, it helps explain my persistent hankering for a Charleston Chew.

But soon a macabre reality hit home. Most of the positive social media activity had come from the iPhone/generation Y-Not community, hardly the target buyers of caskets. Worse, a large degree of the positive social response was, in fact, vicious sarcasm (including fake product reviews poking fun at Walmart’s virtual funeral parlor), a concept that social media monitoring tools are woefully unable to detect.

What can we learn from this marketing case study?

1. Social Media Metrics are only as good as the people who interpret them. All activity should be highly scrutinized in order to ascertain whether the target audience matches the target demographic. Misguided buzz is worthless, unless you believe that college kids are replacing their beds with comfortable padded coffins.
2. Even the most advanced software analytics have a difficult time discerning intent. When Walmart declares a spike in positive product reviews without having marketing professionals vet the data, the knowledge gained is as meaningful as a “How to Win the Lottery” book.
3. As Albert Einstein once said, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” And he said it before Twitter.

Bottom line: As corporate marketers and their agencies oversee the strategic shift to digital media (with the promise of more accountability and measurability), they must always remember that no computer or offshore $2/hour data monitor will ever replace critical, expert analysis. Forget that, and we just might end up financing our own marketing caskets.

(Kudos to Craig Daitch’s column on www.Adage.com)

Twitter, as with any other communications platform, sees a gradual acceptance of use among businesses. From my experience with the two different cable providers, Twitter offers better and faster customer service than I ever received while spending an evening on the phone to a call center. Companies looking for a competitive advantage should embrace the service, and engage with their customers and potential customers, in a way that is beneficial to both. Had the fictional company Horizon not had responsive representatives on Twitter to help me, I may very well have switched to yet a different company.

But in any case, I just happened to catch the ad campaign for Verizon’s new iPhone killer, the Motorola Droid, and I found myself asking: What were they thinking? From a branding perspective, this new product name is about as inspirational as hemorrhoid cream.

What’s in a product name? Everything. When I hear the word “droid,” it doesn’t make me feel happy, content, inspired, fun, or anything remotely related to personal or workplace productivity.

The brand persona initiated by the “droid” name is the exact opposite of what Verizon needs when competing against Apple’s brand of user-friendliness, easy navigation, clean design, and personable identity.

With “Droid,” it sounds like Verizon should have used Preparation-H for their naming scheme. Moreover, the whole notion that they can take a bite out of Apple by highlighting features—like full keyboard, simultaneous apps, and open development—just reinforces Verizon’s lack of  understanding about what makes the iPhone so popular.

It’s the brand persona, stupid.

Sorry, Verizon. Love your service, but your product naming needs help.

So, what have we learned? Be generous and don’t ask for too much in return. Or, as in the famous line, “build it, and they will come.”

Sidewiki is a relatively new tool that allows any user with a Google login to post comments (positive or negative, benign or mischievous) about any webpage that will appear in a sidebar frame of the browser for any other user to see. Furthermore, the owners of the website have no power to remove said comments (Google reserves sole moderation rights). Imagine if you will, the din of a flame war going on directly adjacent to your homepage for the world, and more importantly your prospects, to see. Yikes! (see The Google Sidewiki Controversy) Even more scary, the idea that these posters are now given the power to define your brand for you if you are not monitoring carefully and maintaining a steady stream of corrective comments. (see Don’t Blame Google Sidewiki if Your Brand Takes Another Hit) Brand management in the age of social media is not really a new idea anymore, but this particular application brings into shocking clarity the need for such management due to its extreme proximity to your most important outward facing channel, your website.

Google Sidewiki is still relatively new and adoption rates are unclear at this point but regardless of any personal feelings I may hold about Google overstepping here, the point is clear, social media, while no panacea, is a force that must be recognized in strategic brand management for the foreseeable future.

Google Sidewiki may just be the flavor of the month social media tool, but make no mistake; other tools are currently under development in some garage somewhere in the world that will one day be the next outlet demanding your direct and immediate attention. The only way to truly prepare for the onslaught is to make sure you have a well thought out and defensible brand platform and a strategy that allows for the rapid adoption of new channels to manage that brand.

As communicators, it is our job is to know a client’s business, target audience and services offered and seek inspiration for the most resonant messages – be it for a PR campaign, marketing strategy or social media initiative – through our understanding of their business environment.

Like the robotics engineers looking to nature to help them develop the next generation of robots, business ideas can come from anywhere, and often come from observing what is around you. Once sparked, it is the job of communicators to help that business grow and thrive – to give potentially innovative ideas the support they need to become truly innovative.

Among the worst performing service providers were: commercial banks (-31%), investment banks (-29%), management consulting (-17%), insurance (-15%), telecommunications (-11%), auditors (-7%), tech consulting (-6%), software (-5%), and hardware (-3%).

In a year defined by a lack of trust—spurred by broken promises from financial institutions, Wall Street, bankrupted corporations, and politicians—the question to ask in branding is: How does one restore credibility?

I view this as an opportunity rather than a crisis. It’s a tremendous chance for marketers to revamp their brand promises by:

1. Identifying gaps between customer perceptions and your brand promise as delivered by marketing, advertising, and public relations.
2. Listening to your sphere of influence, and watching social media outlets to discover what customers are complaining about.
3. Redefining your brand (in terms of both visuals and content) to enhance credibility, then redeploying across your marketing communications enterprise.

It won’t be easy; you can bank on that. But there’s much to gain, and even more to lose. So be sure to define your new brand before your competitors define it for you.

First off, Estee Lauder has a target audience of 35-55 year old females, which is now one of the fastest growing segments on social media sites. Secondly, since there is a large majority of younger women currently on social media sites, they can possibly break into an even younger audience category. In addition, they will be able to capture contact info for future email lists, if the customers opt in. And it will no doubt increase sales if many women feel even a small obligation to purchase some makeup after receiving a free makeover. And I haven’t even touched on the brand visibility/coverage they will receive.

We promote ourselves each day online, why not take it to the next level and really make it polished? There might be an untapped business here, especially for professional sites such as LinkedIn. And I have a feeling they will be popular with the younger crowd soon enough, particularly if they can create a slightly less expensive category for the younger folks, that is, without watering down their current brand.

So, are you ready for your close-up?