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Interactive Marketing: "Yes We Can" (Postcard from the Ohio)

Dawn is breaking, and I'm hours away from heading to the polls for today's "make or break" Ohio primary.  (Yes, I live in Ohio - the hilltop community of Mt. Adams, Cincinnati to be exact.)  Like millions of other voters here, I've been subjected to a barrage of TV ads, media headlines, big events, small events -- you name it -- related to the primary.  I've also had the opportunity to dive fairly deep into all the candidates interactive strategies, especially the Democrats. This is the topic of this morning's Clickz Column entitled "10 Interactive Marketing Tips from Barack and Hillary."  I've been quite impressed at how all the campaigns have taken full advantage of the their websites, especially around what I like to refer to as the "Third Moment of Truth" -- enabling expression, participation, involvement.  Here's brief recap of some key takeaways:

• Win on the home (page) front. Both candidates do an excellent job providing enough well-organized content and "click to engage" choices to maximize relevance to as many visitors as possible. Even if you visit for half-a-second, you get a great feel for the things you can do on your second visit. This is important because most brands make consumers zip through multiple levels to get to what they need.
• Engage, enroll, and participate. Unlike most Super Bowl advertisers, candidates are constantly teeing up "things to do." Barack and Hillary both have similar home page utilities to "Be a Volunteer," "Vote Early in Ohio," "House a Volunteer," "Make Phone Calls" or "Find and Plan Events." This, my friends, is what's known as engagement and when millions of consumers are engaging at some level, you know it can work.
• Roll up the TV set. The political campaigns exploit TV wherever they can go, and if your consumers can get it customized, oon-demand, or tailored to specific needs or constituencies on their Web sites via video, so be it. Video persuades, and connects emotionally. Both Clinton and Obama do a superb just exploiting the power of online video on their Web sites, and this has evolved nicely in the past six months or so. They are also both getting much better and making video embeddable and sharable, and they use to power of cross-promotion to power videos hosted on YouTube such as Obama's five million views -- an growing -- "Yes We Can."
• Hablamos con todas audiencias. While most automated teller machines open their first interaction with consumers with question about English or Spanish preference, most big brands give this short shrift. "That's not the focus of our interactive strategy," they'll say. The candidates, by contrast, are doing a great job teeing up parallel content in Spanish, and it doesn't take Bill Richardson to explain why this is important. Both candidates have very strong Spanish language sites, and they've done a commendable job developing tailored content. Blog links also suggest key influencers are paying attention. Both sites also do a nice job appealing to the "long tail" of audiences out there, whether by state, ethnicity, unique need (e.g. hearing impaired) and they do this without the core site looking too all over the place.
• Win with emotion. Obama's site does a brilliant job playing consumer emotion -- even more so than Hillary's. I'm not sure if it amounts to what Chris Matthews described as a "thrill going up my leg," but close. In particular, the use of video during and after the contribution process is very effective, and it almost makes you feel like there's the "emotional wind" behind your back in the giving process. Hillary's site is a bit more functional and operational, but also scores points here and there on emotion.
• Make it simple; make it friendly. I still marvel at the impenetrable unfriendliness of typical brand feedback or survey forms. Obama and Clinton are hardly perfect here, but they at least make their forms feel inviting. Oh, and I don't feel rushed, or forced to write it down in 50 letters before the software caves in on me. It's like the folks who designed the forms have felt the pain and anger over rude employees, lame call-center scripts, and more.
• Reinforce the loyalty immediately. Both Clinton and Obama appear to have solid relationship marketing tools in place to respond immediately to feedback or financial contributions. Both are customized but I give the edge to Obama on personalization and including yet another call-to-action in the follow-up. In my follow-up e-mail, it just felt more personal. Hillary encourages pass-along (e.g. "Click here to send an email to friends and family).
• Customize the loyalty. The Obama campaign goes well beyind reinforcing the loyalty to customizing the loyalty by encouraging people who sign up or give contributions to create their own mini-portal or blog platform via mybarackobama.com. You can blog, check your Barack points, build a profile and more. In some respects, this amounts to user-controlled panel management. Hillary allows users to create their own "groups" but the Obama campaign in on to something in driving deeper, more involved action at the what I call the "Ex-Spot."
• Share the assets. Both campaigns do a nice job empowering enthusiasts to share "official" content in their own content areas. Obama has a robust and comprehensive download areas for everything from Buddy icons to button designs, while Hillary's campaign offers a host of assets to share, embed, and beyond. Key lesson here: If you want to drive buzz, provide currency.
• Blog and promote the content creators and advocates. Both sites do a great job "mashing up" content from external sources, including individual blogs. Some of these are touted in the campaign-sponsored blogs (also a smart idea), but others are featured in stand along areas like Hillary's Spotlight section

2007 CGM Insights: It's All About the Personal!

The CGM that most provoked and inspired me in 2007 had far more to do with the personal than the professional.  That may sound a tad curious, since my day job at Nielsen Online (formerly BuzzMetrics) involves a heavy dose of analysis, interpretation, and brand strategy around, well, “consumer-generated media.” Indeed, on any given day I'm analyzing CGM-inspired trends, trouble-shooting client “pain” points like customer-service mishaps or product recalls, creating intriguing new evaluation frameworks around “co-creation” (CGM + marketer “RFP”) ad models where consumers are invited to participate, and so on and so forth. Still, as I look across 2007, there’s just no question personal endeavors most accelerated my command, authority, and intimacy with the CGM space. At the end of the day, I tend to “learn by doing" and most of my best experimentation comes in the off-work hours. As the barriers to generating media for personal needs plummets, we find ourselves testing expression vehicles we never imagined, and often at a very intimate level. Let me share a few examples, starting with the most painful: the death of my father.

Conversations with Dad: I’m still a bit raw from the death of my father, William J. Blackshaw. He passed away in early November this year, and while he lived a full 83 years, his death still came rather suddenly, and on the heels of what I thought was a successful Spring operation for colon cancer. About four years ago, mindful of my father's health situation, I started recording and archiving my conversations with him. I’d flip on the video camera, and just lead him into a conversation. It was awkward at first, but we both knew the importance of the exercise.  He opened up in ways I never imagined, and the excitement over what we were capturing and documenting prompted me to upgrade my Mac, deepen my expertise with tools like iMovie, and further experiment with video uploading of all forms. We covered a broad spectrum of topics, from his World War II experience to meeting my mom to raising seven kids. At one point, the conversations led me to create co-develop with him a blog about his WWII experiences (named www.wardiarist.com).  More recently, I started posting a few video conversations on YouTube, which I then shared with family members and others. We especially enjoyed picking apart the AMC TV series “Mad Men,” which my dad, who started his advertising career at BBDO in the early sixties, uniquely identified with. The key takeaway here, I suppose, is that my resolve to archive conversations with my father took both my appreciate and understanding of CGM to a new level. 

• Key Insight: Create CGM around the ones you love, and you’ll surf an incredible learning curve without even knowing you are trying.

Memorializing Dad: The second “aha” was a bit more sobering, but equally enlightening. Within hours of my dad dying, I created a blog with the modest objectives of posting his obituary, sharing directions and information about the service and funeral, and uploading a few heartwarming photos. What I didn’t fully anticipate was the degree to which the site became what I now call an Obitupedia: a living, breathing group testimonial about my father. We collected nearly one hundred thoughtful and detailed comments, which in turn became the driving content of the site. In the process, I gained an entirely new perspective about the notion of online community. Folks I completely stereotyped or ruled out as unlikely contributors jumped in. Beautiful stories I just hadn’t heard about emerged from unexpected contributors.  And the community itself became the catalyst for so much of the “offline” conversation that dominated the memorial service, family conversations, and beyond.  I also experienced a bit of an epiphany about the power of Facebook, a point I document in my ClickZ article “Death, Social Media, and Remembrance.”

• Key Insight: In the age of CGM and conversation, the obituary keeps writing itself, especially as those we love keep shaping our lives.

Taking on City Hall: Earlier in the year, a drunk driver side-swiped my car while racing down our narrow street in Mt Adams, Cincinnati. This wasn’t the first time, and just about every neighbor has lost a mirror or two because of reckless cars whipping down the street, especially late at night when the bars close. But I was really ticked this time, and it something I’ve always felt: we need speed bumps or “slow the hell down” signs on my street. Rather than write another letter to city hall, I created a blog called VoterCam.com, and recording a video testimonial explaining the problem, which included some reinforcements from my wife (with twins in hand I might add). I then got a dozen or so neighbors to offer their own first person testimonials about the issue. When I finally made my speed bump plea to our city councilman, I included a link to the site, which in turn set in motion a chain-reaction of events, a very responsive person from the city reaching out to me to talk through the issue. Although we didn’t get speed bumps (I’m not giving up), the city did place an electronic speed monitor on the street, and we’re still working through the best remedy for the issue. And yes, I felt darn empowered!

• Key Insight: In the age of CGM, you can always fight City Hall. And CGM glues common experiences together for bigger impact.

Celebrating Family: I’m now in year three of managing a blog dedicated to my kids, and it continues to teach me worlds about the power and potential of using CGM to fuse networks of “familiars.” And because it fundamentally appeals to my parental pride, the site’s dramatically ramped up my usage and expertise in multi-media, especially video. Moreover, every time I log into Typepad I feel like there’s another cool widget or device to take my “show the kids” passion to the next level. I’ve also learned that success in social media is less about “big numbers” than driving meaningful bonds and connections among smaller number of familiars. Indeed, it feels great when my wife, sister, or relative responds positively to  something posted on the blog (never underestimate the motivating power of an "atta boy"). In the process of seeking my own validation as a parent, I find myself deepening my understanding of why consumers are flocking to the self-validating CGM and social media platform in droves. At the same time, I’m now at what I’d call a “permission cross-roads,” and I doubt I’ll keep the blog open to anyone for longer. Yes, this contradicts so much the “open-platform” romanticism that oozes from my writing and speeches, but as a parent I’m starting to see the world a bit differently. Yes, I’m getting paranoid.

• Key Insight: Closed is the new open? (Well, maybe. We’ll see!)

Establishing Affinity Beachheads: I’m still relatively new to Facebook, but I’ve experimented a great deal with the platform, especially around the establishment of “groups” such as CGM, Web 2.0 Dads, and Digital Cincinnati. Consistent with my earlier commentary about “closed is the new open,” I’ve found in Facebook a certain comfort and satisfaction in its permission-based model which by its nature keeps intrusive or unwanted messaging to a minimum, as well as protects intimacy among relationships. I’ve also learned the hard way that you simply can’t bypass the basic pre-requisites of relationship marketing. Trust must be earned. Your content must always be timely and relevant. Friendships must be brokered with finesse and sensitivity, and never abused. Credibility is everything, and we’re all one stupid message away from being defriended.  In my own trials, successes, and failed experiments on Facebook, the new rules of marketing have become more obvious and transparent.

• Key Insight: There’s no free lunch…even on Facebook!

2007 Buzz Leaderboard: Wikipedia, Facebook, iPhone, Paris, Barry, and Lindsay (A Short List!)

Sometimes you just need let the numbers tell the story.  I'm beginning to pull together various notes and conclusions from 2007, and in the process ran a series of trend charts on BlogPulse.com.  This tool charts out the number of references against a given term or phrase among total new blog postings.  Nielsen's BlogPulse tracks about 66 million blogs, and roughly 700,000 new posts are indexed every day.  Here's a shortlist of buzzmakers for the year. 

Wikipedia Still Trumps the Encyclopedia: The meteoric rise of Wikipedia.com continues to fascinate me (and many others, obviously).  This form of "group CGM" continues to nurture trust and credibility across the web, and the number of blog links into Wikipedia punctuate that point.  Who would have imagined, only a few years ago, that quirky sounding utility like Wikipedia would draw over five-times as many references online as the ostensibly durable term encyclopedia? Go figure!

Facebook Takes a Leap, YouTube Keeps Marching:  As conversation goes, Facebook has jumped well ahead of peer social networking sites, especially Linked-In, and I suspect much of this stems from both the open-sourcing of application development on the platform and the hardly veiled discovery, if not embrace, by the marketing community.

 

Of course, these numbers may under-represent the true level of discussion about Facebook because most Facebook conversation is taking place on, well, Facebook, not just blogs.  My own Facebook group , Consumer Generated Media, quickly grew a membership base that now exceeds email subscribers to this blog. YouTube, meanwhile, continues to burrow itself even deeper into the conversational vibes, aided by user growth, many tipping points of critical mass, increasing diversified content, and aggressive marketing by just about anyone who puts up a video, including marketers.

Iphone Creates a Buzz Halo: But the Real Halo Also Impressive:  Unless there's a big surprise between now and December, it will be difficult to dethrone the iPhone as 2007's biggest buzz story.  The buzz was strong, sustained, and diversified, which in turn kept the popular device always conversational. Meanwhile, "Halo 3," designed by Bungie Studios for Microsoft's X-Box, also has been a big CGM winner this year, peaking shortly around its release on September 25. Sample the conversation.

As Buzz Goes, We'll Always Have Paris (Hilton, not France): Not sure if this is the best news for the French tourism bureau but Paris Hilton kept pace with overall buzz that explicitly referenced Paris, France, and even far exceeded that during the ubiquitous celebrity's more controversial moments.  It's hard to say whether any of this will die anytime soon.  You can peruse her HeyNielsen conversation to understand some of the root drivers behind her often-polarizing discussion.  Her David Letterman appearance probably takes the cake in terms of elevating her buzz levels above the competition out there.

Steroids Buzz Bonds to Barry Bonds:  Guilty or innocent, Barry Bonds just couldn't dodge the vast majority of conversation on blogs related to steroids. Where buzz about steroids spiked, conversation about Barry Bonds was even higher.  The only exception was around late June, when steroid related conversation spiked related to the death of professional wrestler Chris Benoit.

Rehab Talk Can't Quit With Lindsay Lohan: Similarly, where discussion related to "rehab" was concerned, it was mostly inseparable from the trials of Lindsay Lohan.  Then again, the discussion over rehabilitation programs was hardly monolithic. A much broader discussion ensued across blogs of every variety about whether rehab programs actually work.  Many bloggers shared first hand experiences.

 

Participatory Branding: The Alfred Peet Blend

My very first P&G brand manager, Chris Lansing, now CMO of Peets Coffee, just sent me a link to a simple yet noteworthy blog her company created in tribute to Peets founder Alfred H. Peet. There isn’t anything particularly fancy about the blog, but on the other hand it’s just brimming with participation in the form of user comment tributes from a diverse medley of customers, employees, industry pioneers, and many others.  Over 300 comments so far.  I’ve long believed the true measure of a brand’s equity and reputation is its ability to cultivate meaningful, authentic, and often unprompted advocacy and evangelism from others. And so I too tip my hat to Mr. Peet. Thanks for pouring new meaning and flavor into a powerful new blend of branding. (See my earlier post re: Peets participatory 40th Anniversary program.)

Son of Kryptonite: Unlocking the iPhone

I couldn't ignore this "Unlocking the iPhone" video because it spikes to the top of the blog charts with unusual fury. Classic CGM!

Calculating the Value of Starbucks Brand Fanatics (er, Addicts)

Every once and a while serendipitously surfing CGM venues I'll stumble into a forum, board, or "group" that forces a double-take.  Yesterday I noticed the Facebook Addicted to Starbucks" group, which as of press time features 53,395 members. This immediately got me thinking...what's the "marketing value" of this group?   After all, isn't this the type of free advertising (loyalty + word-of-mouth effect) that every brand seeks? 

Expresso Numbers:  Here's a back of the envelop calculation, and I'll err on the side of conservatism to protect myself from an attack of the calculators.  If one is truly addicted to Starbucks, he or she is probably spending no less than $8 bucks a day (which assumes at least two trips a day, and perhaps an occasional high-carb treat...who can resist?)  Assuming 250 days of purchasing power (again, conservative), we're looking a net contribution of about $10,670,000 from these self-proclaimed "addicts," which isn't a bad starting point.  But we can't stop there.  These folks are engaged, therefore we'd be remiss not to factor in the "word of mouth" effect. There's no question that folks who have deeper bond (dare I say "addiction") with the brand are more likely to let others about their, well, brand "love."   A safe and conservative bet is that folks who fall into the "addict" category are probably telling no fewer than four NEW folks about Starbucks every month.  By NEW I mean folks that have yet to either try Starbucks or yet to enter the sweet spot of Starbucks loyalty zone.  That's close to 50 new folks a year, which, if we factor in a conversion rate of 25% (meaning only 25% of those introduced to the brand become regular buyers),  means the "addiction multiplier" (I couldn't resist) puts the real sales value of the advocacy over $100 million.

Conservative Drawdown:  But in the spirit of being super convervative, let's assume these folks bring only five new regular Starbucks customers a year. That still more than doubles the current sales number.  Now, you may want to show some pity and compassion for the "addicts," but never under-estimate the power of word-of-mouth.  (More tips on running your own WOM ROI analysis on the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association, or WOMMA, site.)

The "Three Moments of Truth" Website Effectiveness Checklist

How do you know if your brand Web site is measuring up to its full capacity and potential? In this week's ClickZ column, The Three Moments of Truth Website checklist, I tee up a framework for assessing website effectiveness. I write:

I've always been a fan of Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley's "two moments of truth" concept because it simplifies and clarifies an otherwise complex consumer transaction. The first moment of truth is what you see on the shelf. The second is what happens when you experience the product. There are lots of moving parts in between, but if you win on those two fronts your brand has far greater odds of taking the whole cake.

But in the age of consumer control, that's just not enough. As I've insisted many times, there's another moment of truth marketers must factor into the equation. This third moment is about the emerging dynamic of consumer feedback, expression, and opinion.

Here's a simple grid that outlines what to look in assessing the three moments of truth on your brand website.  The third moment -- expression and participation -- is particularly relevant and important in the era of consumer control and consumer-generated media. As I note: "When Wal-Mart announced it was adding Bazaarvoice technology to its Web site to enable consumers to offer reviews, positive and negative, about its products, it was a classic example of shoring up the third moment of truth. When Dove's Real Beauty Web site begs women to speak up, participate, join a community, or provide feedback, that's another classic example. When American Express and Zappos.com move their toll-free numbers to the most easily accessible and obvious places on their Web sites, that's all about taking the third moment of truth to the next level."

 

CGM & Forecasting Product Launch: Nielsen BASES/BuzzMetrics Study

Last week I kicked off a New York based Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) workshop , and a key point I underscored -- and repeat in virtually every presentation -- is that buzz never occurs in a vacuum.  The digital trail of CGM is like a never-ending accountability scorecard that implicates just about everything in business, from advertising to customer service to employee relations.  The key challenge (and opportunity) for managers is to understand and take full advantage of the the "cause and effect" of the various inputs.

BUZZMETRICS/BASES STUDY:  Along these lines, the Nielsen BASES and BuzzMetrics divisions (disclosure/transparency check: Nielsen is my official employer) converged on a study and white paper this week underscoring the symbiotic relationship between CGM and paid media. Authored by Kate Niederhoffer (BuzzMetrics), Rob Mooth (BASES), David Wiesenfeld (AC Nielsen) and a few others, this first stage CPG brand and market-mix modeling study found that high blog interest, or buzz, around new product launches is tightly linked to paid media spending. Notes the study:

After analyzing blog buzz volume, ad spending, purchase intentions and actual product sales, Nielsen found the best predictor of buzz for newly launched consumer-packaged goods (CPG) is a large advertising budget. The study evaluated nearly 80 new CPG products across several subcategories, launched in the U.S. between 2005 and 2006. On average, the top 10% of products with the most buzz, spent nearly $20 million on paid media for the launch. In contrast, the companies that generated the next 40% of blog buzz spent an average of $15 million and the companies that generated the bottom 50% spent an average of only $5 million.

 

Worth also mentioning that 10% of brands accounted for 85% of total CPG buzz in the study. The study also suggests that blog buzz drive greater precision in market forecasting.

The news release is here, and the free white paper download is here (registration required). The authors of the study will host a special Web cast, with a Q&A moderated by Brandweek editor Todd Wasserman, on Friday, July 20 at 12PM EST. Sign up here.

Longer term, I think there are many other key variables that need to be modeled into the mix, and this study is just the first "toe in the water."   Other pieces of the mix that need to be evaluated and studied include the following:

• Ad Types: What are the key nuances between "types" of advertising and buzz; will the growth of ad spending online further confirm these conclusions?
• Role/Impact of Search: Where does online search figure into the mix?  There's no question the Apple iPhone benefited enormously from search placement, and we also know the pet food industry has been significantly scarred in search results because of negative buzz (potentially impacting future product launches)
• Intervention Impact: What's more important: the amount of spend, or how brands make key interventions against the spend, and ensuring buzz, to drive more efficiency?
• Negative Buzz: What if the buzz backfires because no one believes the advertising?  Should the concept of Negative GRPs be integrated into the planning mix?
• Forecasting Against Experience:  As brand "experiences" become more closely linked to word-of-mouth and CGM levels, should business processes like "customer service" also be factored into such forecast models?

This is all where the rubber meets the road with word-of-mouth analysis.  Very exciting!

Apple Wastes No Time In Exploiting Early iPhone Buzz & Testimonials

Why is it important to stay three steps ahead of early buzz?  Because every conversation -- every review, every post, every love letter or nasty-gram -- is material to your marketing strategy.  No one needs to send that memo to Apple computer, which continues to ride an unprecedented wave of pre-launch buzz/CGM around the iPhone.  Take a look at this morning's Apple.com startpage.  The centerpiece of the page is a list of all the positive reviews the brand has received around the iPhone -- from David Pogue of the New York Times, Walter Mosberg of the Wall Street Journal, USA Today's Edward Baig, and others.  Put simple, the brand is exploiting early buzz to drive further momentum.  Importantly, all of these media "influencers" have a material impact of broader conversation by other bloggers, and we're seeing an unprecedented number of links by top bloggers to these early reviews.  Key takeway: always stay close to the pulse of early feedback.  If it's working for you, don't hide it! 

Apple and the Website:  The other key point here is the extent to which Apple makes effective use of it's website.  If you carefully analyze Apple's buzz going as far back as the iPod and Video iPod, you'll note that the brand website has been a powerful ally in providing 'social currency" to buzz-makers and CGM creators.  Put another way, the site gets a huge number of links from bloggers, forum operators, and others. Moreover, the relevant content is always easy to find, easy to share, and often prominently featured during ideal time periods -- e.g. the start page featuring positive reviews.  Key Takeaway: Marketers still have control, and your brand website, if executed smartly, can be your best ally.

Want a Bigger Bite of the Apple?  Later today, I'm co-hosting a webinar entitled "iPhone Mania: Sales Leading Indicator or Evangelistic Hype?."  Starts at 12:30 PM today EST.  Sign up here.

Consumer-Fortified Media! Dove Wins Cannes Top Prize

Well this is a first!  The CGM-enabled "Dove Evolution" spot just won the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Award (see Ad Age article). Frankly, I'm not surprised, and I continue to believe this campaign opens up a host of lessons and insights for all marketers to internalize. Back in October, I articulated ten reasons why I felt this campaign fell into the breakthrough category, and I thought I'd just rehash the reason below.  One additional update. The campaign continues to drive discussion online at unprecedented levels, and I continue to get over 15-20 Nielsen BuzzMetrics email alerts a day on this campaign (30 in the last few hours), meaning bloggers and others continue to talk this up at an unprecedented level.  Apple's iPhone launch is one of the few exceptions of a brand campaign that's driven more meaningful, and extended, online conversation -- but then again, you'd expect gadgets to trump soap any day, right? Anyway, here article recap below.  Congrats to all who helped shape this breakthrough campaign.


Real Beauty, Real Breakthrough in Consumer-Fortified Media

By Pete Blackshaw,   October 31, 2006

Let me open with a curious confession. I've been a bit obsessed with the Dove brand's Evolution video spot. I'm watched it dozens of times, shared it with others, talked it up around the office, and tracked its progress with the intensity of monitoring the ups and downs of my own blog.

What gives? Yes, Unilever's a client in my day job, but it's miles off my beat. Plus, we're in the syndicated business and work with dozens of other consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands.

What makes this spot special and worthy of conversation is it brings a unique set of fresh new teachings about both consumer behavior and the future of digital marketing.

First, some background. As part of the already talk-worthy Dove Real Beauty campaign, the brand placed a highly provocative and well-produced 75-second video spot featuring an attractive woman sitting down for a rapid-fire beauty makeover against a backdrop of high-tempo music on both its Web site and YouTube. Ultimately, the transformation finds itself on a computer for a number of special effects and facial manipulations. When the overhauled face finally makes it onto a billboard, you practically have to squint to find a semblance of the original person. This leads to dramatic kicker tag line: "No wonder our perception of beauty is so distorted." Messaging around the Dove Self-Esteem Fund follows.

Ten Key Takeaways From Real Beauty

Needless to say, the spot has been a viral phenomenon. I've been monitoring online campaigns since my early days in interactive marketing at Procter & Gamble, and this still-unfolding campaign stands out for a host of reasons:

• Success by the numbers. The YouTube metrics along are quite impressive: nearly a million views, hundreds of comments, and about 2,400 "Favorites" rankings. Plus it made a host of YouTube honors. But, the YouTube metrics are only part of the story. The well-coordinated campaign deeply penetrated the blogosphere, crossed global boundaries, served as context for deeper textual discussion, and entered a host of social networks. For 10 days, it topped the charts of linked-to brand videos on both BlogPulse (owned by my firm and Technorati.
• Success by viewer engagement. In many respects, this spot perfectly puts the concept of viewer engagement in perspective. A key goal of the engagement initiative is to explore and qualify new metrics and measures that push well beyond the overly simplified reach and frequency metrics. In Dove's case, there were views, comments, blog entries, links to blog entries, forum entries, board mentions, video responses, tell a friend, and even video mashups and manipulation that took the message in different, yet mostly reinforcing, directions. Each of these metrics informs perspective on ad effectiveness.
• Evolution as consumer-fortified media (CFM). Unlike the vast majority of viral videos out there, this ad was 100 percent brand or agency created. But it was fortified by intense consumer commentary, conversation, and dialogue. Put another way, co-creation was an end results but not the starting point. Looking ahead, expect CFM to become a key success criteria for brands looking for tangible evidence of consumer appeal, involvement, and engagement. Every Super Bowl ad, for instance, has latent potential as CFM, but it's not a guarantee.
• Audience penetration. Far from the "Snakes on a Plane" phenomenon, where the folks who created the buzz were marketing bloggers, not the actual movie prospects, the Evolution ad resonates unusually well with the target audience. If you carefully analyze the buzz and conversation, it's clear this spot resonates with women quite deeply.
• Evolution as social currency. Part of what's fueled the virality and sustainability of this campaign are the thousands of consumers who have embedded the video into their own blogs. More important, the ad's content has social currency. This is also a driving force behind both YouTube's extraordinary growth. There's a huge misperception that most consumers find YouTube through the home page. What's powering the social media revolution right now is the notion of personalized content syndication, whereby we bake key features, utilities, or so-called widgets into our personal blogs and Web pages.
• Evolution and emotion. In reviewing hundreds of verbatims comments, what struck me was the sheer depth and intensity of emotion around this campaign. This is important because emotion is so central to brand loyalty; emotion also correlates with depth of word of mouth and consumer-generated media (CGM) creation. Evolution has succeeded in stirring emotions around notions of changing society and "I too am beautiful." If you put all the CGM related to this campaign in a blender, you'd see a unique set of emotions bubble to the top: empathy, compassion, rage, empowerment, excitement, and even cynicism and defeatism. Like it or not, all this feeds dialogue and conversation. The big caveat is all this is very difficult to repeat with consistency or precision; often it backfires.
• Search dividends. We won't really know for quite sometime whether this campaign truly sells cases, but one thing is very clear: the Dove brand will reap a massive dividend of targeted free advertising via search for years to come. This unprecedented volume of archived ad buzz for a beauty-care brand creates a wide long tail search funnel to the brand. Put another way, millions of new roads lead to Dove, even searches that may seem peripheral to personal care or beauty. This is the opposite of the damage Jeff Jarvis inflicted on Dell computer. This is a very big deal because women, especially influentials, increasingly use the Web to search for beauty solutions and answers. A joint study we just completed with AC Nielsen's Homescan Panel found nearly 70 percent of women actively use search to research products and services. Long term, this campaign may be a gift that keeps on giving.
• Synergy and consistency. What fortifies this campaign is a believability factor among consumers talking about it. They find the brand really cares and has compassion. This screams in the brand Web site's strong receptiveness to feedback. In contrast to most CPG brands, including many other Unilever brands, Dove steps up to the plate in a big way to invite consumers to provide candid feedback, participate in online communities, or exercise other-share-your-opinion venues. Put another way, there's harmony between the high-expression YouTube platform and the brand Web site. In digital marketing, everything must hang together, and consumers always value consistency.
• Freedom from :30 spots. At exactly 75 seconds, the video spot is two and a half times as long as a :30 spot. Had it been one second shorter, it just wouldn't have worked. Video production affords brands far greater flexibility and agility to take whatever time is needed to get the big idea across.. The only constraint is the consumer's attention and receptivity; ergo, it must be engaging.

There's clearly a strain of counterculture in this ad campaign, and it's just too early to tell if there will be any side effects from this approach. But clearly this campaign is pioneering a new genre of advertising that merits our closest attention and engagement.

Are you listening?