cgm

The Consumer Revolution Starts in Cincinnati

Not sure why, but it seems like a good time to resurrect this old photo.  This is from the launch of PlanetFeedback.com, the start-up I started in 2000 following my stint in digital marketing at P&G.  Lots of passion and energy around this consumer-centered business model. Our motto back then was "The Voice of One, The Power of Many."

An Open Apology to My Blog for Lavishing Excessive Attention on Twitter

Dear Blog,

I owe you an apology.  I've been blowing you off.  I've barely paid attention to you this year, and I've allowed you to be stood up by this new, sexier, and arguably more addictive kid on the block known as Twitter.

Yes, I've been sucked in.  I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing -- no, to be clear, I'm pretty much clueless -- but I've somehow found myself following the Twittering herds of 140-character tipsters and mundane-glorifying prognosticators of anything that, well, beats others to the punch.  I'm twittering in idle moments, retweeting (er, backscratching) other folks tweets, and now starting to think in 140 characters. 

With Twitter I find myself twitting anything that might, if I'm lucky (or if someone feels charitable or sorry for me), hook a follower or two.  And what a random lot at that I'm lured to follow-me.  Who are these guys?

With you, things we're simpler.  Folks would just RSS the content, often under the radar. Now's the popularity contest is so blatant.  Every time I see @jowyang, @armano, @cbrogan, or even @prsarahevans add another 1000 followers, I start to sweat! It's harder than pushing the Rock of Sisyphus.

Bad habits have only intensified.  My vanity ritual has now shifted from Technorati and BlogPulse to Twitter Search.  It's like I no longer care about what people say about you.  What's up with that?  What's up with me?

Well, that's not entirely fair.   Twitter is cool, and there's real utility, and I'm pretty darn hooked on it.  I'm so obsessed with it I started a new site to analyze its behavior called TwitterbyMachiavelli.com. 

And let's not forget, I do tweet about you here and there, especially if I think it might boost my follower list.  So you are not exactly irrelevant!  And many of the folks I'm trying to catch up with Chris Brogan also do a very nice job cross promoting blog and twitter commentary.

So maybe we can all tango together?  Yes?

But seriously, here's the rub.  Dude, I miss you.  I miss the long form.  I miss the planning process, and the drafts, and the periodic pre-publishing send-offs to friends for feedback. I miss fine-tuning the categories, and tagging the content.  I miss looking a you and seeing a comprehensive, logical, well-tagged body of work around a common theme. 

You make me feel whole, and certainly a more substantive.  

You held me to a higher standard of writing.  You served as a seeding ground for my articles in ClickZ and Ad Age, and I pretty much wrote my first book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000, on the basis of what we cultivated together here in these pages.

I'm a bit embarrassed that it's come to this.

So here I pledge to you, two months into this new year, that I won't give up on you.  No way, Jose!   I'm going to do everything I can to claw back in; to trade a few extra tweets for more thoughtful time in your beautiful blog backyard. 

I'm not promising to be another Steve Rubel, but I do pledge to emulate more of his blog (not Twitter) behavior. 

I'm serious.  Don't give up on me. We all go through phases. 

Keep the door open. 

My First Ad Age "Twitterview": Government in Social Media

As a follow-up to my previous post about how the government can leverage social media to address the Salmonella issue -- as well as my follow-up post documenting the progress on this front at the Health and Human Services (HHS) department -- I ended up interviewing Andrew P Wilson for Ad Age's first ever TwitterView.  This was actually a fun, and relatively easy, format for conducting an interview, and I appreciate Andrew's willingness to give it a go. In fact, his flexibility, as a key "conversationalist" for HHS, reflects the very point I tried to underscore in the story.  What immediately struck me over the course of the interview is his sincerity, passion, and commitment to what he's doing.  His "brand" helps the HHS brand by breaking down  "faceless bureaucracy" perception barriers of government.  Can that "scale."  That's the big question for everyone in social media.  I love this particular snippet of the interview

Pblackshaw: Is it easier to advance your social-media agenda in this administration? After all, didn't President Obama have tons of followers on Twitter?

AndrewPWilson: My impression is that President Obama understands the value of social media. Not as a tool but as a way to engage with the public.

Pblackshaw: You used to be web editor at the USDA? Learn anything experience that's coming in handy with HHS? Farmers are a tough crowd, I'm told.

AndrewPWilson: Interesting you mention farmers. Was in Peace Corps, and my experiences with farmers helped me understand value of creating personal connections. 

At that last conversational sequence, it really hit me that he was the real deal, not just some "flavor of the month" social media convert.  Long before Twitter cranked out its first 140 character message, Wilson's been thinking hard about what it means to nurture "meaningful relationships."  Very well grounded and authentic.  Recall the "Six Drivers of Credibility" from my book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000."  Against this backdrop, I'd give HHS solid marks across a number of key driver areas, and my guess is that he's also meet the full or partial "torture test" of other authors who have thought deeply about the unique intersection of personal and professional branding like Dan Schwabel (Me 2.0) and Rohit Bhargava (Personality Not Included) 

In fairness, Andrew and his team have only been at this only been at this for a few weeks (the Twitter and Widget efforts at least), so I'll exercise a wee bit of restrain in my enthusiasm for now. But this is clearly a good one to watch. Again here's the article.

Salmonella Meets Social Media: Health & Human Services (HHS) Dept Starts a Social Media Team

The world moves fast in this new age of consumer control and social-media powered agility and responsiveness, even for government.  Earlier this week ConsumerGeneratedMedia.com took a deep dive on the FDA.gov's web and social media strategy in the context of the Peanut Butter & Salmonella issue.  The upshot, reinforced by in technicolor by the comment feed: the FDA is missing key opportunities to reach out to concerned consumers, or to "prime" its site for consumers "seeking" information.  

But again, things move really fast.  Yesterday, I noticed a Twitter message from Andrew P Wilson of the Health and Human Services (HHS) department -- the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is part of HHS -- who wanted to give me a courtesy heads up that HHS was already making progress against many of the issues outlined in my blog post.  More to the point, as of Friday his department just started a social media team, and he personally is now active on Twitter. Is this the government equivalent of Comcast's Frank Eliason twittering with me, or Scott Monty reaching out on behalf of Ford. (Full disclosure: Comcast is a client in my Nielsen job.)  Time will tell, but a cursory review of his Mr. Wilson's twitter messages suggests that he and his department is making a concerted effort to keep folks in the know across all dimensions of the recall.  One can also glean from his follower list that he's looking to stay wired to folks who have consistently offering commentary on the peanut butter recall. Yes, there's always understandable apprehension -- sometimes paranoia -- about goverment entering any type of conversation, but in this context, it feels like a win-win for all, especially concerned and information-hungry consumers. (Follow AndrewPWilson.)

Reading the Signals and Priming for Action:  How timely is "participation" on this issue? There's no shortage of commentary, and there plenty of fear around this recall issue, and the news just keeps intensifying the apprehension.  If you look at this recent post-recall Nielsen Brand Association Map (BAM), you'll note that once innocent conversation related to a once innocent term like "peanut butter" has taken an alarming turn for the worse.  BAMs reflect the density with which consumers consumers associate certain issues with the core topic. In this particular map, metered across tens of thousands of online messages across multiple expression platforms, you'll note that it's quite difficult to talk about "peanut butter" independent of the term "salmonella."   Whether through BAM maps, free blog search, or other social media tools, the big question is how can businesses and folks like Andrew P Wilson of the Health and Human Services sufficently tuned in so they can serve the unmet needs of concerned consumers and other stakeholders.  Might it impact the nature and tone of messaging, or even the level of empathy one might show toward an issue?  The other day I saw a Google keyword ad purchased by a major food company against the term "Salmonella," and in reviewing the choice of words in the headline, I kept asking myself...how well did they tune into the tenor and tone of the conversation before placing that ad.  Aperture matters!

More Comments from the Field:  It's worth recapping some of the feedback to the original post about what governmental agencies like FDA and HHS should consider in address this recall issue.

Friend and published social media author Dave Evans notes, among other things, that "there is a particularly compelling case for social media around food (and family!) issues given the role of the "Advocate Mom" in her specific online social setting."  He also calls out Wegman's for its use of Twitter to push recall notices. (Follow Dave Evans.) Fred Wilson notes that "open government is coming and it's going to be transformative.) (Follow: Fred Wilson)

Former colleague and first-rate thinker Kate Niederhoffer calls out the FDA.gov site's lack of "social graph credibility."  She notes: "You walk away from the site with the sense that the government thinks this is important, but do your personal friends and trusted advisors? This is where something like Facebook Connect could be an interesting build...anything that socializes the content and lets you know how your social graph is consuming the info, responding to the info, would be helpful." (Follow Kate Niederhoffer.)

Respected social media commentator Peter Kim insists the "FDA needs to transform itself from being a faceless 'administration' and show its composition of passionate and educated public health professionals. Then they'll be able to activate social media and benefit from its expediency, among other things."  He also suggests that the selection of Dr. Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General may well be a positive development. "Most people probably trust WebMD, Wikipedia, or Google search results more than an official government spokesperson these days."  (Follow Peter Kim)

Sam Decker, a WOMMA board colleague, and long-time social media expert who hails from Bazaar Voice and formerly Dell recommends, among other things, that the FDA "enable consumers to share stories of what actions they took and what they learned. Make that accessible to SEO, and share that across other sites on this topic via javascript widgets. Make FDA be the hub, but allow spokes to be distributed throughout blogs and other sites (even ecommerce sites that sell related products)." (Follow Peter Kim)

Social media expert (with lots of corporate experience) Nick Huhn points to the need for "alternative intersections with social media channels might be demonstrated in this case. Why not partner with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google, and other daily points of departure to spread the messages a la the Emergency Broadcast System via television? Moreover, dynamically updated information displays should present these notifications to consumers at point of purchase or via email if a retailer knows someone has purchased an affected item from the database of loyalty card transactions."  (Follow Peter Kim)

Lastly, a voice from the younger generation. Chandler Koglmeier, my former brilliant intern (hailing from Middlebury College) who I credit with successfully matriculating me to Facebook three years ago, echoes my point about video but add the following. "Why not post messages from all parts of the supply chain (especially the producer) explaining what is wrong and what is being done to rememdy this situation?  If there is anything to be learned from the Obama team, it's that more information on things which interest the public will be well received and passed around."

Let's keep this conversation going.  Very important!  Very timely!  Relevant to all of us, including our kids. 

From Six Sigma to "Six Signals" of Unprompted Listening

I just helped kick start the ARF's "Listening" leadership summit here in San Francisco.  The presentation revolved around the chart below.  You can follow the "live" conversation via real-time Twitter Feeds. 

10 Ways Social Media Can Improve FDA Communication & Education on the Salmonella Issue

Here's a critically important  "case study" question?  If you were in charge of digital or social media strategy for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amidst this Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak, what extra steps would you take to address consumer concerns and curiosity around the issue?  This is certainly a timely question, as we have a new administration that's already set a high bar on creative, if not breakthrough, use of the web as a communications channel, loyalty builder, and rapid-response tool --  a development the New York Times nicely captured this morning ("Melding Obama's Web to a YouTube Presidency").  Indeed, scarcely a minute after Obama took the oath last week, a new WhiteHouse.gov was up and running for business, receiving no shortage of blog and Twitter mentions and accolades.

Now we have an urgently pressing issue on the citizen-needs plate, and one that seems to share a close relationship with news headlines:  a legitimate public scare about Salmonella Typhimurium (that's already led to a growing number of product recalls).   Close analysis of web traffic trends suggest that consumers, media and other "influencers" are already linking to FDA site content.  But is that enough?  After watching my wife Erika remove a few peanut-butter laced food items and snack bars implicated by the scare from our food cabinets, I found myself wondering whether any business or government agency associated with such an issue could do more to service consumers in this time of anxiety and fear.

Current FDA Site Assessment:  This curioosity inevitably led me to a much closer look and critique of the FDA.gov website.  Overall, it's pretty good.  Relative to other government sites, the FDA.org site seems quite timely and relatively easy to use.  Real estate dedicated to the Salmonella issue is front and center of the website, and the site search engine sits prominently above it to the right (a place usability research frequently cites as ideal placement).  There's a separate, information rich-page dedicated to the crisis, and that page includes both email lists for recall alerts as well limited (albeit not prominently advertised) RSS feeds.  There's a recall-specific search engine dedicated exclusively to the products in question, and blog links suggests its getting decent traction from consumers, media, and other influencers.   I also really liked the fact that the FDA provides simple, rapid turn-around press release templates for food manufacturers to communicate specific recall related news to consumers.  Lastly, all the links on the site add value, including a link to a Salmonella specific page from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Both FDA.org and CDC include content in Spanish, but such content is a bit more readily accessible and visible via the CDC site.

Ten Strategies to Address the Issue

Still, it just seems -- amidst this unprecedented wave of digital innovation we're witnessing (and experienced ourselves) these days -- like there's more than can be done to make it easier for consumers to educate themselves (or others) about the Salmonella issue...and perhaps even take action.  With social media and Web 2.0 top of mind, here's a short list of potential strategies and tactics.  I invite/encourage others to fill the gaps or add additional perspective. 

-- Leverage Video to Address Concerns With Empathy:  There's nothing like the power of "sight, sound, and motion" to reassure consumers in times of anxiety or fear, and this is something the Obama campaign did extremely well with their campaign web strategy, and even during the transition period with the YouTube "weekly addresses."  We also saw this with the Mattel CEO's video response on one of the toy recalls.  Video connects emotionally better than text, and for millions of consumers, it might just be a better, more effective way to walk them through a difficult situation. But then again, let's not make this too complex. The web is now like a TV set, and video is getting easier and easier to produce. In addition to prominent "explain the situation" video content, the FDA or CDC could also leverage shorter-form videos in standard Frequently-Answered-Question (FAQ) formats.

 -- Enable Sharing of FDA Site Content Related to the Scare:  There's something about safety that triggers our desire to help or share things with others.  Put another way, safety and word-of-mouth share a symbiotic relationship.  There's no shortage of ways the FDA can enable more sharing and distribution of its content: Digg This, ShareThis, Discuss on FriendFeed, Save to Del.icio.us, Technorati links, etc.  This is all pretty serious stuff; it deserves to be shared.  We all do this in our blogs almost intuitively, but it's more important than ever in a safety crisis where there huge upside in getting relevant information to the right people at the right time. 

-- Create "Safety Satellites" on Social Networking Site:  With the massive migrations of consumer attention to social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, government agencies might consider setting up what we might term "safety satellites" on these platforms.  Good old fashioned advertising is an obvious way to get started, but I'm talking about a "co-created" (FDA + concerned consumer "fans") content. There's plenty of non-sanctioned FDA related content on these sites, but the specific and current Salmonella issue is terribly easy to find (and I'm still not sure if its there at all).  Just think about it, tens of thousands of folks became "fans" of the pilot, Captain CB Sully Sullenberger, of the US Airways flight; there's no question lots of concerned parents would join a site dedicated to this Salmonella issue.  The name of the game in these situations is to educate everybody, and not just the folks who visit brand or government websites.  

--  Create Embeddable "Issue Widgets":  In addition to providing "sharing" functionality on site content, the FDA might also consider syndicating widgets that can sit on top of other websites.  Again, when there's crisis, consumers go the distance to share and educate others.  So imagine making the "search engine" focused on finding certain products sitting on "moms" blogs or other sites. Such widgets could be especially impactful with wireless devices.No shortage of possibilities here.

-- Overlay "No Shopping List" Functionality on Top of the Product Search Engine: Second, not unlike an eCommerce site, make it really easy to bookmark, tag, or transfer to a "list" all the products that relate to the consumer. That way the consumer can easily inventory the products they need to clear from the shelf, or avoid while shopping. This too could be enabled through mobile.

-- Build a Simple "Event" Blog on the FDA.org Website:  While I'm a bit hesitant to over-hype the value of blogs -- there are plenty of "bad" examples out there -- I do think can be especially valuable in "event" situations, and a recall event -- where consumers are constantly looking to "reflesh" information is a perfect time to set up a blog to provide a constant stream of readily accessible and easily to subscribe to content. In all the recalls I've studied over the years, I've always been impressed at how well activist groups have leveraged blog publishing to efficiently and constantly share information. Blog content also indexes well in search engines, and much of the government content still feels sub-optimizes in the context of search.

-- Video Shopping Guides:  With the proliferation of iPhones and iPods, there's enormous potential to provide downloadable "video shopper guides" focused on helping consumers navigate the complexity of peanut butter products.  Mobile devices in general dramatically open up the possibilities to provide consumers with critical information at the very shopping experience.

-- Leverage WhiteHouse.gov:  Right now there's an extraordinary amount of "influencer" attention focused on the current and planned social media innovations on WhiteHouse.gov. Right now the site fires back blanks when you type Salmonella, but building type of bridge to the FDA.gov site would not only show administrative coordination, but further expand the "funnel of awareness" around the issue.

-- Help Refresh Wikipedia:  Editing or contributing to Wikipedia is no simple task, but given that wikipedia is such a dominant force in shaping consumer attitudes -- last week's Edelman Trust baromenter found Wikipedia to be #2 as a trusted resource among younger consumers - the FDA has a vested interest in ensuring it's most recent information is "refleshed" in the Wikipedia definition.  The current definition, which is #4 in Google search results against the term "Salmonella," lacks much of the update and essential content on the FDA.org or CDS.org websites, and while I may well be naive here, I can't imagine the Wikipedia a-list editors pushing back on such essential background.

-- Leverage Visual Search in Product Database:  While the "product search" tool on the FDA site is certainly adequate, it could be improved in two big ways.  One (an idea I stole from my wife and sister Gina) is to include photos of the products impacted to help consumers "jog their visual memory" when they are trying to find the product.  Said my sister Gina, mother of two, when I asked her for thoughts,"Photos of affected products is a great link in to layers. Photos, videos, almost always have higher appeal over text.

Again, in times of crisis, how can we make it easier to get consumers the information they need to make informed choices, and do so quickly.  Equally, how do we as communicators (whether on brand or government site) serve those needs?

So that's a start. What do you think?  What's missing? (More opportunities for feedback on FDA site?)

- Pete (www.twitter.com/pblackshaw)

Social Media Confessions & Choices (First Official Post of 2009)

And so this blog enters year five of its existence - hard to believe!  CGM has evolved from peripheral curiosity for companies and brands to major focus. True, the term "CGM" plays a big second fiddle to the all-encompassing term "social media," which includes media and brand initiated content (and beyond). That said, I still think the "consumer" side of the equation sets the pace in this new "age of participation." It's also what excites and energizes me!

In terms of 2008 recaps, I humbly (and introspectively) teed up both reflections and predictions.  In my latest Ad Age column, for instance, entitled "Consumers to Suffer from Social Media Indigestion in 2009," I offer a handful of predictions for the new year, many of them deeply grounded on my own personal experiences...and painpoints.  I write:

Many of us are going to wake up in 2009 wondering "what did we eat?" and "why did we devour it all so fast?" We impulsively adopted everything from hastily assembled Facebook friends and Twitter followers to groups, apps and widgets (usually while shadowing others, such as uber-early adopter Robert Scoble), yet rarely revisited them. Many of us will feel compelled to join the social media equivalent of Weight Watchers, eager to trim the excess and rediscover a modicum of don't-follow-everything discipline. Meanwhile, a new wave of "diet" apps and services from the still-revenue-hungry social media entrepreneurs will flood the market: "For $10 a month, we'll promise you a downsized, manageable, and authentic Friends list." In 2009, less may well become the new more.

On this point, I do worry we've all jumped into much of the "new" social media stuff too aggressively, often leading to an almost-compulsive need to post, twit, friend, link, and share every mundane detail of my life.  In many respects, it's hard to resist.  As an early leader and adopter -- even a published author on the topic of CGM & social media -- I almost feel an obligation and duty to "keep up with the crowd" and "walk my talk."  Despite all the Twitter banter about convenience, efficiency, empowerment, lower feedback barriers, at times it all feels a bit frenzied -- a perception perhaps biased by the fact that I now have three kids under four years.

Looking into 2009, I need to weigh in on a number of key choices:  

• Popularity versus Intimacy:  A huge friends list begets marketing opportunities (not unlike a good mailing list), and can obviously contribute to building a "personal brand," but is it really a "friends" list? It's hard to do both. Often, when I send a "Dude...let's catch up soon" blurb on Facebook I wonder whether I've cheapened or trivialized the relationship. (It feels that way on the receiving end.) Then again, I did send a wee small sign of life, right? 


• Short Form Versus Long Form:  My blog posts on ConsumerGeneratedMedia.com actually plummeted in 2008...mainly because I found myself perfecting short form messaging on Twitter, Facebook "what are you doing" forms, and Blackberry email.  I'm inclined to return to the longer format lest my Twitter-induced glorification of the "mundane" (e.g. "Hey, watched a movie tonight!") gets the better of me.  My blog played a huge role in laying foundation for my Tell 3000 book, and that's because it afforded me the opportunity to test hypotheses, write "pilot" chapters, take a big step back here and there, and the like.  I don't want to lose that discipline. Of course, like others, I can aim for that perfect symbiotic relationship between long and short form, but that also carries risks.

• Big Tent or Narrow Tent:  Social media now encompasses just about everything -- it's as much of an "organizing principle" as marketing strategy -- and that makes it more difficult to focus content choices.  I also hate the thought of simply reinterating what hundreds of others are already saying, a reality that hits me everytime I inventory the fire-hydrant of self-described "social media consultants" on my Twitter follower list.  Even on this blog, I've noticed no shortage of "topic creep." (Just look at all my categories.)  I'll need to think a bit harder about where I'd like to focus my best thinking. Since taking on my new role as Chair of the Better Busines Bureau, my obsession with the issue of marketplace Trust has jumped to the next level, and I'll likely focus attention in that area.  

Despite all this, I enter 2009 with a great sense of optimism about what's possible.  In a recent post for Nielsen's Newswire entitled "Social Media Comes of Age," I outlined a number of key developments from which I drew inspiration and motivation in 2008, from all aspects of the Obama campaign's web and voter-participation strategy and MyStarbuckIdea.com  to Intel Chairman Scott Cook's Harvard Business Review cover story on "User Contribution Systems."   I welcome any and all feedback.

Experts Offer 2009 Social Media Predictions: What Do You Think?

What's in store for 2009 on the CGM & social media front?  Social media expert and thought-leader Peter Kim assembled of group social media passionistas to tee up key predictions for the coming year.  You can read his full post here. Somehow I managed to sneak onto this esteemed list, which includes David Armano, Rohit Bhargava, Chris Brogan, Todd Defren, Jason Falls, Ann Handley, Joe Jaffe, Charlene Li, Ben McConnell, Scott Monty, Andy Sernotitz, and Greg Verdino.  (All great folks to follow on Twitter, I might add.) A few highlights include:

• "Doors are going to close all over the social web. Why? Because the money didn't come the way people thought it would." - Chris Brogan
• "The tipping point has not only *not* been reached, but could still tilt *away* from Social Media." - Todd Defren
• "Dwindling budgets suddenly make low-cost social media look like the pretty girl at the ball." - Ann Handley
• "We're going to develop a set of better metrics to help guide, direct and validate 'commitment'." - Joseph Jaffe
• "The movement is rooted in a desire to have quality, not quantity, as people cocoon in the face of the economic crisis." - Charlene Li
• "These will be cumulative events and interactions that will build brand loyalty for the companies that pay attention to them." - Scott Monty
• "The recession will force revenue results out of social technologies." - Jeremiah Owyang
• "Companies that focus on earning love will thrive during hard times, and kick ass when good times return." - Andy Sernovitz

As for my specific thoughts, I focused on three key areas.

• Social Media Indigestion:  2009 will see a "correction" in our appetite for friends, followers, and other ostensible perks of social media membership
• Service Gets Personal:  Real intimacy among friends, or in the marketing process, will dial up in importance.  Don't write off the 800 number yet. Emotion powers conversation.
• Back to Fundamentals:  2009 will be the year we resdiscover timeless truths: friendship must be earned, fame is fleeting, excess begets backlash, and it always pays to listen, and credibility is our most enduring marketing asset. (The last point is the foundation of "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000.") 
  

My upcoming list of predictions in Ad Age echoes a few of these themes and expands a bit in other areas.  That article should drop sometime tomorrow.  Here's a embedded presentation of Peter Kim's list.  Thanks for pulling this together, Peter (Kim).

Social Media 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Management Business social media 2009

Brands Beware: The Speed of Negative Word-of-Mouth

Important read in USA Today this morning (Laura Petrecca) about the speed with which negative PR travels in this word-of-mouth (Twitter, YouTube, Blog, etc) world. I'm quoted suggesting that businesses in this environment need to think much more like "political advance people" -- always anticipating what can go wrong. Every large and small business, and certainly the advertising community, needs to internalize these realities.  From an "actionability" perspective, brands need to be a really disciplined around two of the key credibility drivers I articulate in my book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000: listening and responsiveness.  Listening is what provides the early radar to determine when things are headed in the right or wrong direction and "responsiveness" is all about how we address those early signals. Brands with strong feedback loops, social media experiments (e.g. Twitter accounts), and "sense and respond" websites tend to be in a much better position to respond to and remedy difficult issues.   Follow On Twitter

The Official Social Media Guide to Thanksgiving

Somehow amidst diaper changes, bedtime stories, and wrapping up final client work before the break, I managed to assemble what I’m generously dubbing “The Official Social Media Guide to Thanksgiving.”   Nothing scientific here – just a fun, insight-rich skim across search and conversational venues.  Interestingly, much of what I discovered amounted to “good ol’ fashioned” traditional media content – e.g. a TV clip on YouTube, or a NY Times Thanksgiving review – fortified by comments, ratings, and even the occasional “video response.”  Put another way, the power of “conversation” took ordinary content and made it (in most cases, at least) extraordinary. Will update this list via Twitter.

Wikipedia on Thanksgiving Dinner

How can we not start here?  This is the ultimate “cheat sheet” for every well-meaning parent or Thanksgiving aficionado.  Did you know Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that no "Citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day"?

Thanksgiving Fun With Numbers

A few fun stats and charts courtesy of the never-quiet blogosphere.  Most of these charts are sourced from Nielsen’s BlogPulse, which tracks 90 million blogs daily.

• Strawberry versus Cranberry
• Pumpkin Pie Versus Apple Pie
• Plymouth Rock versus the Mayflower
• Turkey vs Chicken vs Pork
• Black Friday versus Holiday Deals

Plymouth Rock by FlickR

Who needs to visit Plymouth Rock when thousands of FlickR users are capturing every possible angle, perspective, or wee-small indentation in the famous (albeit somewhat underwhelming) landmark. Saves a wee bit on the travel budget in these tough times!

A Very Twitter Thanksgiving

Of course, if you are bored or lonely or need some form of conversational stimulus, there’s no shortage of Thanksgiving talk on Twitter.  I counted 490 references in a ten-minute period last night.  From the instructional to the mundane to the outright insane. Why do we do this?

Thanksgiving Travel Tips by Blogger Ken Levine

An Emmy winning writer, producer, Levin produces a terrific list of Thanksgiving travel holiday tips.  Practical, spot-on, and humor-laced advice – I’m sure millions can relate.

Turkey Carving and Prep 101

• By the Washington Post This two year old video on YouTube, originally sourced by WashingtonPost.com,  has the highest “view count” and it’s quite good.  The comments affirm its popularity.  
• By Bill Cosby (Impersonating Julia Child): Fun interplay between father and son in the subtle nuances of cutting a cabbage substituting as a Turkey.   Cosby also does a mean impersonation of the late foodie Julie Child.
• Deep Fried Turkey Video Cooking Demo: OK, I’m biased here because Jim Lites, the content contributor, is one of my best friends, but if you are serious about pushing the limits of how you cook your bird, this is worth a review.   Warning: this does take a bit of extra time and prep, and no shortage of oil.
• Organic Turkeys and Green Thanksgiving Prep (at a Price?) – NY Times: For the “aspirationally-green,” this is worth a skim, and the comments are also rich with insight (or economic warning).   Another good example of how the traditional media “fortifies” content with conversation.

Guide to Black Friday Shopper Pain - by PlanetFeedback

Here’s a link to over 13,000 easy-to-organize letters consumers have written to large companies and brands about all dimensions of “shopper pain.”  If you don’t want to be surprised or ticked off leading into Black Friday, skim a few of these.   (PlanetFeedback is a site I started back in 2000)

BBB Offers Consumer Video Shopping Tips (and more) on Facebook

My friends at the BBB recently launched a section on Facebook (and other places) offering consumers and small business a host of "video tips" (aka "Scam Grams') on a host of shopping issues.  Some of this could also come in handy with Black Friday coming around.

Thanksgiving My Way by the Accidental Hedonist (Blog Entry)

This is a well-written, personal reflection on Thanksgiving dinner – representative, one presumes, of millions of personal “dinner table” narratives that will likely spill onto blogs and personal paged in the hours and days following the big meal.  

New York Times Blog Post on Sarah Palin YouTube Thanksgiving Video

I would have linked directly to YouTube but the nearly 300 comments on the NY Times reacting to this blog enty add critical context to this disturbing video.  While I suppose one might challenge the inclusion of this video on the list, the likelyhood that it will creep into dinner-table conversation compels me to “include the obvious.”   (Not for children.)

The Story of Thanksgiving by School House Rock: A quick, oversimplified – yet hum-worthy – three minute history of the Pilgrims coming ashore!  Who can’t get excited about School House rock!  The comments are fun too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

- Pete Blackshaw 

Twitter   http://twitter.com/pblackshaw