Back in December last year, we kicked off a huge global word of mouth campaign for Nokia entitled ‘N8 Producers‘.
We’re about one week away from the final closing date and the standard of entries we’ve had in is absolutely astonishing. Covering off extreme sports, special effects and just plain awesome story telling (sometimes a combination of all three) we can quite honestly say that there cannot be a more fantastic collection of campaign-based user generated content anywhere else in the world.
Here are some hard numbers (as of ten days ago)
9million opportunities to view content
10,000likes & comments in social
250,000 views across both YouTube and Vimeo
(withoutany bought media support)
3,700 episodes of conversation
With one awesome entry even being shown on ESPN!
(average audience of 275,000)
Every single entry is brilliant in its own way but, to whet your appetite, here’s a selection of what we’ve had in so far… and remember: each and every producer shot their film with their very own Nokia N8.
Hello, my name’s Alex and I’m a Strategy Executive here at 1000heads. Nice to meet you.
I recently found this presentation on the rise of the internet as an entertainment medium by Tom Smith, the founder of GlobalWebindex and, well, I thought I’d share. Take a look…
Looking through, one of the things that stood out more for me than anything was the rise of what Tom refers to as ‘The Packaged Web’. Some internet purists may get worried about this idea, particularly in how this shift might threaten the democracy of the internet and prompt a divergence of power away from media gatekeepers.
However, to those that may be a little worried about ‘the man’ taking over, I can’t help but feel that Tom’s inclusion of how important peer recommendation and brands actually listening and engaging in a more human way cannot be forgotten.
The internet is for all, and that includes businesses. The strength of this democratic communication shines through with the demonstration of how influential consumers opinions online really are and, when you think about it, always have been.
The first time I was shown a web annotation service was 10 years ago by a German entrepreneur at a conference in Budapest.
He was convinced it was going to change the web; but despite his persuasive patter that particular service now lies in the DEadpool, as do many of the annotation services that have come since.
In theory, web annotation is the missing part of the social web – one example would be if I left a note on an electrical retailers site praising the service, or pointing out that the TV they are advertising is 20% cheaper elsewhere.
And yet – and yet – no-one has got it quite right. Many have been hailed but most have failed.
Pushnote comments on the BBC homepage
That might be about to change with the launch of Pushnote. Simple to use, with an uncluttered interface and plenty of features (but not too many), it provides an easy way to enter into conversation with friends and strangers who have visited, or are visiting, the same sites as you.
If Pushnote can achieve critical mass it becomes an incredibly powerful tool for people to share critical information about retailers, suppliers, advisers and so on.
All these different organisations will be undoubtedly afraid; but reputable companies should embrace Pushnote and actively encourage their customers and clients to leave open, honest and independent feedback for their peers.
Spam will be a major issue which Pushnote has to contend with, but if they can weed out the genuine from the disingenous they could be onto a winner here.
Pushnote have the added advantage that one of their backers and vocal supporters is Twitter Bard @stephenfry
If he can’t give Pushnote the Push it needs, nobody can.
Today, I want to talk about hedgehogs because many years ago, Arthur Schopenhauer wanted to talk about hedgehogs. Schopey (as we’ll call him from now on) used the spiny little creatures in an analogy, a parable if you prefer, known as the Hedgehog’s dilemma.
One day, a group of hedgehogs were cold, and being cold felt the need to huddle together to warm up. But there was a problem. Given their spines, they couldn’t get close enough to share body heat. And so they had a choice: get warm, but in pain, or remain comfortable, if less warm. Ultimately the hedgehogs remained apart.
This story was used by old Schopey to argue that humans themselves do not need society (and specifically the harsh trials and tribulations associated with living a life full of social interaction).
Thing is, Schopey was a grumpy man. A right pessimist really. It’s not hard to see that his conclusion would be to suggest people wish to avoid pain, even at the expense of social interaction. But of course, that’s (hedge)hogwash.
Humans are passionate creatures. We thrive on the potential for there to be amazing moments in our lives. It’s those first kisses and someone to grow old with that make us feel alive. Or maybe it’s the pursuit of Oscar nominations and Olympic gold medals that makes it all feel worth it.
Whatever you see as the peak of your existence however, you don’t get close without getting hurt somewhere along the line.
Three and a half years ago, I joined as a ‘copywriter’. It was a bit of a misnomer, as back then every ‘head did pretty much everything – research, engagement, client services, reports. But although I have now moved into the more strategic realms of our social business consultancy, I have always remained a logophile at heart.
Talking about copy is slightly unfashionable in social media; it has intimations of that awkwardly formal, bizarrely enthusiastic, one-way unpersonalised PR-speak most of us have experienced via letter, email, or tweet.
But great copy is still just as essential nowadays, perhaps even more so. Our conversational world demands a sophisticated brand voice that combines the personal and professional, the emotive and the direct, the casual and the respectful. Most of us find it easy to strike that balance when talking to people face-to-face, but social media, particularly for brands, is a bizarre mixture of publication and conversation, requiring a balance between the natural and the self-aware.
Competitions such as the recent London Long Copy Challenge run by CBS Outdoor have attempted to prove that long copy is still an effective word of mouth trigger – judge the results for yourself – and The Chip Shop Awards always demonstrate some great examples of WOM-worthy words.
But conversational copy is no longer the preserve of the ad man. It infiltrates most consumer touchpoints, from the Twitter feed to that email approaching a prospective advocate.
I was reminded of this last year when I stayed in the Felin Fach Griffin Inn in Brecon, on my way to talk WOM with Arts Council Wales. With gorgeous food, warm service and meticulously designed rooms, the inn drove my advocacy simply with the quality of its product, not to mention some basic word of mouth tactics:
However, the detail that really got me was the in-room pamphlet:
Any regular traveller is used to these ordinarily dry and functional documents informing you of WiFi passwords and breakfast times, but this was a very different compilation of quirky, witty copy, written by the owners of the inn themselves and really articulating the warm, witty and personalised ethos of the inn – as well as specifically encouraging word of mouth online and offline.
What are the best and most subtle examples of conversational copy you’ve seen?
A few times every week, I like to set aside the research and the theory and the opinion pieces, and get back to a bit of human experience. I sidle up to my friends, my family, the other ‘heads in the office, or if I’m feeling brave even strangers in the street (which can be a dangerous pastime in Soho), and ask:
When was the last time you were truly compelled to share something?
One interesting observation is that they nearly always tell me about something that they experienced offline, and that they shared offline – despite the fact that many of these people break into a cold sweat if disconnected from Twitter for more than ten minutes (imagine all the things that could happen to Justin Bieber in ten minutes! Actually, don’t.)
With Keller Fay continuing to reiterate that offline WOM scoops 90% of brand conversation, this can be a healthy wake-up call; particularly with Social Media Week, with its inevitable focus on digital platforms, tools and strategies, on the way.
Another interesting observation is that it’s often hard for people to remember their latest stint of advocacy. We remember our big episodes of soapboxing, but most brand recommendations form a barely conscious part of our everyday socialising, occurring when some deeply ingrained little sentiment fires thanks to an appropriate trigger.
‘I happened to see someone using the same eyeliner as me in the loo and we discussed how amazing it is; the smell of my mate’s lunch reminded me of last night’s awesome restaurant; the guy juggling a map made me turn to my friend and praise my new navigation app.’
Those are just a few responses I’ve heard this month. Because however deeply you love a product, however emotionally involved you are with a brand, you simply won’t share unless something prompts you to.
Traditional advertising tends to focus on triggers – a billboard-sized image, an email alert – and social marketing tends to focus on building emotional advocacy. But we cannot forget that success demands both. And when those triggers are in fact not blog posts or videos or ads but multi-sensory, physical experiences and observations embedded in real life, the creativity of the word of mouth marketer really comes into play. But where to start?
Well, sense checking you own experience is always a good first step. There are a world of triggers out there, all around us. Which ones set you off today?
If you’ve not heard about it yet, it’s pretty big (with events being held all over the world) and it’sonly going toget bigger.
Globally, we’re going to be keeping ourselves busy supporting different activities on behalf of the headline sponsor (who also happens to be one of our clients) while locally, here in London, we’ll be doing our bit in the office with our very own:
“What the hell is that then?” – I hear you cry…
Allow me to explain:
To kick Social Media Week off with a bang, we’ve decided to setup the official#smwlondon / 1000heads Social Media Surgery.
With resident ‘Doctors’ Molly Flatt (WOM Evangelist), James Whatley (Marketing Director) and Tim Denyer (Group Development Director) each giving up their day to help all and sundry with their social media ailments, why not make an appointment now?
Tim’s your man if you want to talk integration, performance and measurement
Molls specialises in ethics, training and social business
And James (that’s me) will bring you the low-down on engagement, tools and presences
One-on-one private sessions are available (as are larger group sessions for up to eight people) throughout the day, and coffee and biscuits (quite nice ones) will be provided. While we can’t guarantee all problems will be solved immediately, we can promise to bring a little TLC to those in need.
Every Friday here at 1000heads HQ, we host an internal event called ’3 Cool Things’. At around 5pm ish a certain ‘head gathers up the rest the hard-working bunch and gathers them all into the breakout area to share the three coolest things they’ve seen that week.
Take this example for instance (demonstrating some of the 3D awesomeness we worked on late last year)
It’s a veritable goldmine of content/fun/awesome shenanigans. Some bits are bloggable, some definitely aren’t. This past Friday one particular ‘head presented this video, from The Sartorialist, entitled ‘A Visual Life’.
Coming in at seven minutes long, it’s no short snappy piece for the attention-deficit generation. However, it is quite an interesting look at one of the world’s most well-respected fashion bloggers, providing both an insight into what it is that inspires him and also how he goes about looking for that inspiration.
It really is a great short film (and well worth a watch).
But what I found most thought-provoking overall was that the whole presentation as it were, was brought to you/us by Intel. ‘Visibly Smart’ their product line says, and ‘Sponsors of Tomorrow’.
Why Intel? Why The Sartorialist? Like I said, I love the video, I just don’t quite get the connection…
Imagine for a moment you run a restaurant. You want people to talk about and recommend your establishment to their friends, relations and colleagues.
So what is the trigger for that conversation?
The obvious answer is the food.
And of course when you have visited a restaurant, the food is potentially a topic of conversation but generally only if it is exceptionally good, exceptionally bad, or exceptionally unusual; Heston Blumenthal take a bow.
Food is what you expect, so unless there is something extra-ordinary about it, widespread conversation is unlikely.
That is the very crux of word of mouth. People don’t talk about the norm; they talk about anything that is out of the norm. And if you want to amplify word of mouth around your brand or organisation you need to look at the whole experience, what is it that makes you different, what is it that is going to spark conversation about you?
London’s Sketch Gallery clearly understand this. Undoubtedly a fine restaurant but it is not the food that drives conversation – it’s the toilets!
These aren’t just your common garden toilets they are toilets from another dimension. Each cubicle is based within an all-white egg capsule and all the eggs rest on a white platform which you reach via a white staircase.
More Bond or Barbarella than bathroom but I defy anyone who visits the toilets at Sketch Gallery not to talk about them afterwards.
Using toilets to promote a restaurant may not be an obvious course of action but actually they are a great conversation starter. Once the conversation begins everything else follows.
We’ve been talking with the DMA Social Media Council for a while about how word of mouth fits into the direct marketing mix (see my recent workshop on direct mail and WOM for the Royal Mail.)
One outcome of the working group is this new survey which asks the industry right across the UK - not just London – about The Value of Social Media.
So if you’re involved in social, go fill it in now – the more of us participate, the more useful the results will be. And you might even win a Kindle, which according to Digital Trends outstrips the mighty iPad for e-reading joy.
I’ll be on the rather excellent panel that will also include Stephen Groom (Head of Marketing & Privacy Law, Osborne Clarke Solicitors), Justin Pearse (Editor, New Media Age), Adam Paulisick (Senior Director, The Nielsen Company’s Online Division) and Geoff Hughes (Biz Dev Manager, Syncapse & Facebook Developer Garage), all chaired by Roger Warner from C&M.
There will be free booze, lively conversation, and maybe even some reckless dancing – what more could man or beast desire? Sign up now before space runs out and I look forward to seeing you there.
We’ll also be involved in SMW in a bunch of other ways, including a drop-in WOM surgery here at 1000heads, so keep an eye on this here blog and our delightful Twitter feed for more info imminently…
Imagine for a moment you run a restaurant. You want people to talk about and recommend your establishment to their friends, relations and colleagues.
