cgm

Employee-Generated Media (EGM)?

My latest column in Ad Age ("Zappos Shows How Employees Can Be Brand Builders") focused on employee advocacy.  Can employees serve as a de facto advertising channel, I ask?  The answer is yes, but it obviously requires some finesse, and the right level of commitment. To kick off my exploratory, I tee up Zappos.com as a case study:

Every year Zappos.com, one of the fastest-growing e-commerce sites, publishes a "culture book." Three hundred pages in length, the book includes written -- and often gushy -- testimonials from employees about what it means to work at Zappos.com. "Our Zappos culture is truly the best work experience I have ever encountered," writes Chris V. "As a new employee of the company, I was blown away by how amazing the company really was. When I started I felt so unreal," notes David J. And on and on and on -- you get the idea.

If you talk to Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh or his marketing chief Brian Kalma,* you'll find a plan and a strategy, not to mention powerful, validating numbers to boot behind all this group love. Indeed, the vast majority of trial and repeat at Zappos.com is driven by word of mouth, and employees -- their motivation, their attentiveness to customers, their handling of feedback -- are foundational to that approach.

Here's a link to the article.

Glittering Gold, Viral Birdies, and Other Olympian Buzz Charts

Here's a few fun "data" views from Nielsen's BlogPulse monitoring tool, which tracks nearly 80 million blogs daily.  You can run your own trend charts. 

Don't Dis Badminton:  In the blogosphere at least, the birdie stayed in play with the hot, hip sands of beach volleyball.

Is Bela Karoyli the next Howard Cosell? You never know, but at one point he nearly eclipsed Costas on blog mentions.

Gold Glitters -- Disproportionately:  Yes, indeed.

If you are still hungry for Olympic data and bloggage, my work colleague Jon Gibs is blogging away on Nielsen's Analyst Blog.   

August "Tell 3000" Book Notes

A couple new interviews and podcasts have been published related to the book. If you are looking for a quick digest, here they are.

• Q&A with the Council of PR Firms Publication: "The Firm Voice: Trends, Insights and Analysis for PR Firms"  Helping Clients Communicate with Consumer in a Consumer Driven World
• BNet Podcast Interview of Pete Blackshaw: How to Build Credibility into Your Business

Mad Man Revisited: Conversations With Dad on the 1960's Ad World

After a long wait I'm watching the season opener for the much-buzzed AMC TV series Mad Men. The show has a special appeal to me, as my father, William Blackshaw, was an ad executive at BBDO (the firm on which the show is based) starting in the early 1960s.  Weeks after the first episode aired last year, and only two months before he died, we talked at length about the show: its accuracy, its reflection on the ad world he experienced, and host of other issues. It just feels right to re-run the interview.

The "Conversational Customs Office" and other Painpoints in Participation

There's a certain irony that in this "age of conversation," we're increasingly compelled to pre-qualify conversation lest undesirable noise, garbage, or spam infest the airwaves. This latest chapter in the "Tragedy of the Commons" is not only a buzzkill, but borders on comical.  This evening, after reading a thoughtful post on viral marketing by respected blogger B.L. Ochman, I attempted to toss in a short and sweet "great post" comment.  Before it could go up, I had to type in the term -- I hope I get this right -- BROWNLABRADOODLE. You've got to be kidding, I kept muttering to myself.  Of course I promptly and predictably flubbed the spelling of this tongue-twister-on-steroids on the first two go-arounds, eliciting this annoying "error" message.  Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  For some blogs, you practically need magnifying glasses (and a code-breaker) to figure out the weird bends and contortions of letters embedded in the cryptic words.  It all borders on tragic.  To keep our airwaves clean, we now have little choice but to subject consumers or users to what we might refer to as a "Conversational Customs Office."   

Don't Overstate Green Claims

Today's New York Times features an article entitled Cooling Off on Dubious Eco-Friendly Claims that hits a core theme in Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000: don't overstate claims.  In a world of attentive consumers, and detail-focused bloggers, gaps between product claim and reality are easily exposed. 

The problem...occurs when marketers make exaggerated claims about a product’s attributes, which may be fine when selling toothpaste or vacations. Most people probably know that the toothpaste will not actually make their teeth sparkle or help them get a date.But when a company says its product will improve the environment, consumers can sense if the claim is puffed up, Mr. Lawrence said. “This can really backfire with environmental advertising,” he said.

We see this constantly via unstructured text mining.  Skepticism abounds in the consumer-generated media airwaves about companies overstating green claims, and often the commentary will link to evidence, data, or corroborating commentary reinforcing the push-back.  This is why I keep pounding away at the theme of "credibility" throughout my book. If the claim, positioning, or ad-message lacks credibility, the "wisdom of the crowds" -- or even just the hyper-attentive minority -- will call out the inconsistencies and disconnects.

 

"Tell 3000" NYC Book Launch Notebook: I Love New York!

Time magazing just published a wonderfully positive review of my book, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000.  (The image to the left is from the article.) Notes reviewer Andrea Sachs: "This book deserves a spot on the desk of every executive who worries about his company's reputational risk."   Earlier in the week, CNBC wrote another flattering review in the "Bullish on Book" sections. 

“SATISFIED CUSTOMERS” is a great guide for business leaders and marketing officers who want to build a trusting, authentic and lasting relationship with today’s vocal consumer.

Launch Events: The reviews were just a couple highlights of an absolutely incredible week in NYC related to my book launch, and I'm just winding down. In addition to keeping up with my regular work flow, I participated in three successive book launch events: one by my classmates at HBS (thanks, Rick and Jen Lerner and Bill and Daphne Hildebolt or ExpoTV.com), another absolutely incredible of ("amazing" insists my wife Erika) hosted by Nielsen at the incredible Soho loft of Karen Watson (Nielsen's head of Corporate Communications), and the third hosted by the P&G Alumni Assocation NY chapter (big thanks to Tina Adolfsson) held at the breathtaking offices of Marina Maher communications (thanks, Marina). At each event I had a chance to catch up with old friends, talk briefly about the book themes, and answer a questions. 

Overall Engagement:  We're only a week into the book's official release, but I do sense a real and genuine level of engagement around its themes and issues. Everyone, it seems, is curious and engaged about the big questions: If consumers are in control, what does that mean for me as a business manager or stakeholder?   What is the proper and appropriate protocol for engaging with consumers in this environment?  And most importantly, how does my business stay credible in the process? 

Final Footnote: The ultimate irony of this amazing week is that it actually kicked off on Tuesday at at event entitled "How Should Research Leverage The Ability To Listen To Consumers In A Web 2.0 World?  Joel Rubinson, the new head of research of the Advertising Research Foundation, pulled together a dozen or so industry leaders in the field of market research to vet out this topic, especially around the power of the "unprompted consumer voice."  The discussion was deep, stimulating, uncomfortable and breakthrough -- one of the most gratifying sessions I've participated in all year.  (Huge thanks to Joel and ARF head Bob Barocci for leading this charge). 

If you want to stay engaged on the book or the book themes, here are a few options:

• The Tell 3000 Group on Facebook is almost up to 400 members.  I expect a host of superb conversation here.  The group draws in part from the Tell3000.com site.
• Twitter Feeds:  My personal feed or the Tell3000 feed (which tracks at the brands that actively use Twitter to engage companies: Dell, Southwest, JetBlue, Comcast, Virgin, Zappos, etc)
• Ad-Tech Chicago Keynote Panel 8/6 featuring Edelman, Nestle, Blogher, Dell, and Comcast.  I'm the moderator. 
• 8/30 Book Chat & Signing: Joseph Beth's Cincinnati

Tell 3000! My Book Just Launched! Keep Listening, Stay Credible!

I’m incredibly excited to announce today's release of my very first book, “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000: Running a Business in a Consumer-Driven World.”  Published by Doubleday Business, the book is now available in most major bookstores as well as Amazon.com and other online venues.   

The book’s core question is critically important, and one I’ve been thinking about since testing new feedback models in the California legislature back in the early 1990s (and all the way up through my tenure today at Nielsen Online):  how to establish and maintain credibility by being authentic, listening and responding to customers, and forming relationships built on openness, transparency, and trust.  The growth of the web, and the unprecedented power and leverage it provides consumers, puts this question in a unique, if not urgent, context.  This Q&A from Sunday's Edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer provides helpful background on the book themes.

Ongoing Participation: Beyond just reading the book, I also hope you will participate in a sustained conversation and debate about its themes.   Toward that end, I’ve created a website entitled Tell3000.com that provides key resources, open-forums, video reviews, and most importantly, a series of audio-based consumer interviews about brand experiences that I hope to update nearly every day.  Here’s the short list of ways you can stay involved.

• Participate (provide comments, even complain) on the Tell3000 blog

• Sign-Up for Tomorrow's Nielsen and Nielsen Online sponsored webinar

• Join a Discussion in the Tell3000 Open Forums

• Join a “Tell 3000” Facebook Group Dedicated to the “Service is Marketing” Theme

• Join Me at a New York, Cincinnati, Chicago, San Francisco, or Pasadena (My Home Town) Event.  All events will be posted here.

• Follow Me on Twitter or the Tell 3000 feed of brands that respond/engage

• Send ideas or suggestions for my new bi-weekly column in Ag Age about the symbiotic relationship between “service and marketing.”  Here's my last article. Send to the following.
  

• Share your candid (even critical) reviews, or join a discussion forum related to the book themes, on Amazon. 

A much longer list is cited in my book, but an enormous and grateful thanks to all of those who provided support and encouragement,  especially my wife Erika (who's featured in this "day before launch" commemorative photo along with my three kids: Liam, Leila, and Sophia.)

Kicking off the "Tell 3000" Book Launch With a Webinar

Time grows short.  My new book, "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3000" officially hits the bookstore Tuesday, July 8th.  The book takes a look at how marketers and brands can establish and maintain credibility in today’s consumer-driven, digital world. Launching a book is like having a party and waiting to see who shows up, and at what precise time. I'm excited and terrified at the same time.  Early buzz is really encouraging, and Amazon pre-sales certainly show signs of genuine interest.  On July 9th, I will be providing a sneak preview into book themes in a Nielsen hosted Webinar from 2-3 PM EST.  I'm deeply honored to have Beth Thomas-Kim, Director of Consumer Services, Nestle USA (and chairwoman of the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, SOCOP), and Tom Asher, Director of Consumer Relations North America, Levi Strauss & Co. join me to talk about the key book themes. As I walk through each of my "Six Drivers of Brand Credibility," Tom and Beth will offer candid reactions and perspectives based on their experience.  I'll be sharing more information about the book in the coming days, but if you want more information, here are a couple links:

• July 8th Webinar Sign-Up
• Official Book Website, Tell3000.com
• Official "Tell 3000" Blog

 

Just Gotta Love Social Media Ads

This just showed up on my profile page on Facebook.  Got my attention, all right!  Nice targeting too!