Creative Concepts

When last we visited the pairing of social media and fashion, New York Fashion Week had just ended and everything was rosy.  Designers were livestreaming their shows, bloggers were thrilled to be wined and dined by brands, and social media was the new darling of the industry.

Fast forward just six short weeks.  A series of social media missteps has tangled the skirts of a few prominent fashion brands, and it may take some time for them, and the industry, to figure out how to better manage the new norm of transparency and authenticity in a traditionally closed, secretive world.

Kenneth Cole Cairo Explosion

In early February (actually before Fashion Week), just as Egypt was exploding, shoe and clothing designer Kenneth Cole waded into deep Twitter muck with an ill-conceived tweet suggesting that the Cairo uprisings were somehow related to the release of his Spring collection. Within minutes the Twittersphere was all abuzz, with outraged bloggers and influencers taking to their tweetstreams to put Mr. Cole in his place. A parody Twitter account, @KennethColePR, even popped up to take advantage of the situation, ensuring that the gaffe got maximum attention for the better part of the month.

John Galliano’s Firing From Dior

While designer John Galliano’s firing was his own undoing (he made blatantly anti-Semitic remarks, on video, which of course ended up on YouTube), it was Twitter, again, that amplified the message.  Non-fashionistas and fashionistas alike took to Twitter, and when Natalie Portman, Jewish spokescelebrity for Dior, weighed in and was broadcast all over social media – it was truly over for Galliano at Dior.

Marc Jacobs Intern Melts Down

The CEO of Marc Jacobs, Robert Duffy, had been at the helm (inexplicably) of their Twitter account for some time. In mid-February, they advertised for a new Twitterer – applications via Twitter only, of course. While they were looking, they installed an intern in the job. Um, not so smart. On March 25, said intern melted down via the company’s Twitter account, letting out a series of tweets berating the boss and firmly sinking any chance of him ever working in fashion again.

Brands make mistakes and brands recover from mistakes….and fashion is no exception. But, based on these gaffes, there will unquestionably be a “new norm” in the future for formerly freewheeling designers and fashion personalities when it comes to their social media presences.

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A decade ago, the idea of a green industry seemed like a pipe dream.  Environmentalism was still an “outsider” idea, and the smart money was on more (big, irresponsible) business as usual.

But in our post-9/11, post-Hurricane Katrina, post-An Inconvenient Truth society, something changed.  Suddenly, people were concerned about the environment, and about energy, and about the impact their daily actions might have on the planet’s future.

In the aftermath of this green awakening, people needed a way to ask questions, share suggestions, pitch policy reforms and raise environmental concerns.  Thus, from blogs to YouTube to Facebook to Twitter, social media became the hub for a wide array of environmental discussions — and today their collective conversation is louder than it’s ever been.

Blogs: The Spark for Green Journalism

Before the mainstream news media embraced the green movement, impassioned individuals were using blogs to bring attention to the environmental issues they were personally concerned about.  These grassroots movements flowered, and today some of the most trusted (and highly-trafficked) sources for green news are blogs like Grist, Sustainablog and TreeHugger.  In turn, larger news organizations like the New York Times and the Huffington Post now have blog channels dedicated to green content, further validating the environment as a mainstream subject.

Green News Travels Fast

A simple search of Twitter hashtags like #sustainable, #green and #EcoMonday reveal that hundreds of green conversations take place on Twitter every day.  Equally impressive is how often brands and corporations enter those conversations to share related tips (and to promote their related products and services).  This real-time information exchange helps brands monitor topics of interest to their customers, but it also means that breaking news like the BP gulf oil spill quickly becomes common knowledge (and stays in the public eye for months), making it harder for companies to manage the spin.

Common Bonds Create Communities

As young mothers become increasingly aware of the ingredients they’re introducing into their children’s lives, “green mommies” have become a swiftly-growing subset of the “mommy blogger” community, championing a renewed emphasis on natural and organic foods, fibers and cleaning products (like those made by our client, Ecover).

This same unifying “green” thread can be found in other eco-responsible communities, including designers, chefs, fashionistas and anyone seeking a little lifestyle improvement.  This provides consumers with universal access to information, support and resources, and it provides ecological brands with unified audiences to poll, connect with, learn from and sell to.

Greenpeace vs. Nestle: When Facebook Becomes a Battlefield

Sometimes, brands who use social media for sales and marketing find themselves trapped in a PR conundrum because they forget a basic online truth: they don’t control the conversations that happen on their channels.  For example, when Greenpeace activists hijacked the conversation on Nestle’s Facebook page, Nestle was slow to respond (and clumsy when they did), which caused the company to seem both evasive and dismissive.  News of their snafu spread like wildfire, causing Nestle a lengthy and time-consuming PR headache — and, ultimately, led to Nestle agreeing to meet Greenpeace’s demands.

It’s hard to imagine that kind of outcome occurring a decade ago, before social media provided the green industry with a collective voice.  And it’s fascinating to wonder where such a hyper-connected green future might lead both a green-obsessed world and the ecological companies that serve their needs.

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Image by Ken Colwell via Fickr.

The phrase “you’re doing it wrong” has long been the cause of many social media arguments.  When one of the basic principles of social marketing is to “just be yourself,”  how can you be wrong at being yourself?

While the merits of that question can be debated endlessly, we here at Creative Concepts do know one thing for sure: whatever “wrong” happens to be, it sure feels good to know we’re doing something right!

Sometimes, validation comes from metrics.  Social media can be unpredictable, so when the numbers prove that our theories (and campaigns) are bearing fruit for our clients, we feel good because they feel good.

Other times, validation comes directly from the clients themselves.  We’ve been working with some of our clients for more than 5 years, which means our methods are working for them.  And every time we sign a new client, or expand our responsibilities with an existing client, we know that we’re all moving confidently forward in a positive — and profitable — direction.

And then there’s the validation from our peers.  For example, when we read Mashable’s recent list of 10 Tips for Posting on Your Brand’s Facebook Page, we digitally high-fived ourselves because we already do each of these things for our clients. (See for yourself on their Facebook pages.)

Client love, new work and metric boosts are what keep us active and engaged, but there’s still nothing like reading a major advice column and realizing we’re already ahead of the curve.  (And we haven’t even had our coffee yet!)

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You may use social media to increase brand awareness, build a loyal community or manage customer service, but make no mistake: you are always selling.

Every tweet you send is a pitch.

Every Facebook status update is an advertisement.

Every YouTube video is a commercial.

Your company’s social media presence might provide the most friendly, engaging and community-oriented experience any human being has ever had online… but it’s still a sales tool.

This shouldn’t be surprising.  Think about your brick-and-mortar store, or your corporate headquarters, or your fulfillment center.  Why do any of those facilities exist?  To sell products.

Your store is a point of sale.

Your office is where you manage your employees… so they’ll increase sales.

Your fulfillment center is where product is shipped… completing sales.

Your customer service center helps keep customers happy… so they’ll buy more.

So while social media may be about “conversations” and “communities” — and we’d never deny that those are the social structures which make these tools useful — when it comes to brand interaction on these channels, the bottom line is always, always sales.

You tweet to give your followers a snapshot of your company’s personality… so they’ll buy more from a company they can relate to.

Your Facebook page gives your customers a place to ask questions and provide feedback… so you can optimize the sales process.

Your YouTube videos can be funny, informative or inspirational… as long as they incite viewers to buy what you’re selling.

Be as social as you want.  Be talkative, personable, informative and entertaining… but always be selling.

Because just being interesting won’t keep the lights on.

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Image by Gerard Stolk via Flickr.

Here’s a dirty little secret: you don’t need a degree, a portfolio or any experience to make a living at social media.

All you really need is a website.  (And, if you’re really fancy, a blog.)

Because the barrier to entry for this emerging field is still so low, the social media industry has been plagued by hundreds of self-appointed “gurus,” “experts” and “ninjas” who’ve never actually worked for a client, but they’re eager to convince you that their “expertise” will improve your business and make you a smashing success online — even if their expertise only consists of reading the blogs written by the people who actually do it for a living.

Fortunately, we at Creative Concepts are happy to give you a few tips to help tell the legitimate service providers apart from the social media charlatans.

5 Questions to Ask Your Potential Social Media Agency

Q1: “How long have you been managing social media for your clients?”

Granted, longevity is only one indicator of success.  But the longer an agency has been in business, the more likely it is that their collective experience can improve your bottom line.

(Our answer?  Since 2005.  Yup; even before Twitter.)

Q2: “Have you created any campaigns I might have seen?”

Again, a caveat: some social media successes occur far below the public radar, especially in terms of B2B or niche markets.  But if your potential agency has been working with brand-name clients (and can furnish portfolio proof thereof), it’s a good indicator that other decision-makers have considered them to be a smart hire.

(Our answer? While Ouidad and Ecover may be niche-specific brand names, and while you couldn’t have seen the internal media we created for Pitney Bowes, you just might be one of the 11,000 Facebook fans we’ve helped attract to the Bigelow Tea Facebook page.)

Q3: “What do you consider some of your greatest social media successes?”

This is really a two-pronged question: it allows the agency to list any wins it’s collected (even if they’re not “mainstream”), and it gives them an opportunity to explain how they judge their own successes or failures — via sales, traffic, engagement, awareness or any other metrics they might favor.  That way, you can see how your expected needs and their areas of expertise overlap.  (HINT: If they can’t point to a positive impact on client sales, you should be skeptical.)

(Our answer? Now that our clients list Facebook as one of their top 10 sales drivers, our clients’ YouTube videos have received industry awards, and both we and our clients have been invited to speak about social media at industry conferences, we think we’ve had quite a few successes — and counting!)

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Image by respres via Flickr.

In school, rarely does a jock fit in with the group of science nerds. That’s not to say the jock can’t make solid grades or like science; both may well be the case. But as we naturally discover our places within the social ecosystem (i.e., where we feel the most comfortable, where we shine), we generally fall into a single, primary bucket. Spreading too thin generally results in delivering lower value to more people.

“But I have diverse interests,” you admonish. Yes, we humans are multifaceted and capable of complex thinking. It stands to reason that there are many layers to our personalities and a slew of skills.  But as we grow, the fabric of our individual lives becomes more demanding and intense. Some of the peripheral stuff falls away, becoming less important. We emerge specialized because playing football, baseball, hockey and running track becomes too much.

Too much activity. Too little focus.  Too many conflicting priorities. Too little depth of field.

Business is similar to those sports dynamics. A company that chases products which complement existing suites doesn’t necessarily make a smart choice with their pursuit – even if research indicates market potential. Sometimes they’re just chasing rainbows trying to reach dollar signs. Similarly, a company that designs for the masses doesn’t ensure profitable success or even mass appeal (revenue). They may just be throwing spaghetti on the wall to see how much will stick.

According to a 2010 survey of 1,800 executives by Booz & Company:

• A great majority of executives (64% of the survey respondents) say that their biggest frustration factor is “having too many conflicting priorities.”
• Executives report that their biggest challenges are (a) ensuring that day-to-day decisions are in line with the strategy (56%) and (b) allocating resources in a way that really supports the strategy (56%).

The lesson?

1. You Shouldn’t Chase Every Promising Opportunity.
2. Your Business Can’t Afford To Be Vanilla.

Bolting on a new line to your existing business requires more than an additional balance sheet or square footage in the warehouse. It requires coreography of the entire business.  Designing your product or service for the masses means you’ve targeted the lowest common denominators in an effort to swim past a couple of low-level checkpoints. Is that really a long-term growth strategy?

This type of incoherence and lack of strategic focus drains employees and cripples organizations. It compromises resources and weakens results.  Very little actually gets shipped.

It comes down to this: all the pieces added together have to total 100%. Just how many ways are you willing to spit your energies?  Fewer cuts may just equal more reward.

Image from Stella Blu on Flickr.

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If you think writing novels (or blog posts) is hard, try tweeting for a living.

In most forms of communication, the audience invites you to spin your story and enchant them over time.  Even a 30 second TV commercial gives you half a minute to make your pitch.

But on Twitter, you only have milliseconds to capture someone’s attention as they scroll through a nonstop litany of links, promotions, inside jokes and regurgitated news stories, desperately in search of something interesting.  If you’re not immediately captivating on Twitter, your boring tweets will be buried under an avalanche of similarly blah messaging in the blink of an eye.

So how do you manage to stay interesting on Twitter, day after day?

Here are 11 tips that we at Creative Concepts have developed internally on behalf of our clients to help them stay competitive in Twitter’s attention market:

1. Every tweet is a headline. For centuries, newspaper editors have been writing great headlines to draw attention to dense blocks of text that might otherwise go overlooked. Imagine that every tweet you send is going on the front page of The New York Times, and that you’re single-handedly responsible for increasing the paper’s circulation.  (No pressure, right?)
2. Be useful. “Interesting” is always a matter of perspective, but “useful” actually provides a service.  You may not be dazzled by the prose of a tweet, but if you want (or need) to know what it’s pitching, you’re far more likely to click.
3. Be direct. Addressing someone with the @ symbol in front of their Twitter handle ensures that they’ll see what you have to say.  (Now, just don’t be spammy…)
4. Be brief. The shorter your tweet is, the easier it is for others to add their own commentary as they retweet you — and people love adding their own two cents to your discussion.
5. Solve a problem. We search Twitter to find out what kinds of problems our clients’ customers (and potential customers) may be having, and then we help our clients offer their customers solutions via links to products, blog posts, or just good old-fashioned advice.
6. Remove doubt. People like to know what works. By sharing the positive reviews and accolades that others have tweeted about your products and services, you’re letting potential customers know that your existing customers would recommend you — because they just did.
7. Say thank-you. When you see kudos about your brand, thank that person directly. They’ll appreciate knowing that their kind words helped make someone else’s day.
8. Become an information resource. What are the hot topics in your brand’s industry right now?  What is everyone talking about? What is no one talking about? By sharing information about those topics great and small, your brand becomes your customers’ curator for a larger conversation about the field or the industry itself.
9. Be funny. Humor travels fast on Twitter, and while everyone’s sense of humor is different, a brand that can laugh at itself is a brand that others are more likely to take seriously.
10. Be positive. Twitter is occasionally a traffic jam of complaints and customer service debacles. Be the upside that cuts through the clutter and you’ll stand out simply for taking the high road.
11. Be yourself. What you say is important, but so is how you say it. No one stops to read a brochure, but they’ll linger to overhear a private conversation. Deliver your messages honestly and authentically — and in your own voice — and you’re less likely to be confused for an easily-ignored marketing robot.

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Image by Angie Muldowney on Flickr

If anyone can publish a blog, create a video or launch a meme, you’d think that Twitter, Facebook and YouTube would be the empires of the new, with the latest self-made stars forever in control of the cultural conversation.

And you’d be wrong.

A recent report from HP Labs confirms the exact opposite: the most popular sources of information on Twitter are actually traditional news media outlets like CNN, ESPN and (egad, a newspaper?) The New York Times.

Why?  Because people like to share information that impacts wide audiences, and because traditional media still has information-gathering resources and robust distribution platforms that “new” media can’t live without.

In other words, no matter how easy social media makes it to talk to others, people still need something to talk about.

Is that “something” your business?

It could be, if your brand is worth the buzz.  But even topical companies need more than just a social media hook to catch and hold an audience’s attention.

A tweet is gone in an instant.  A Facebook update crawls off the page and out of sight.  A YouTube video might be shared for weeks, months or years as new viewers continue to find it… but what’s driving them to it in the first place?

Periodic fame is always the cumulative result of widespread general awareness — and that includes mainstream publicity.  Is your company poised to take long-term advantage of short-term PR success?

Ask yourself:

• Is your social media team working hand-in-hand with your traditional PR and marketing teams?  (Or, even better, are they fully integrated?)
• Do you share your brand’s mainstream media mentions with your social media audiences?
• Are you trumpeting your online successes in offline media?  (Don’t forget: newspapers and magazines still write about the Internet.)
• Does your media contact list include reporters from all branches of journalism?
• Do your print ads include icons and URLs where interested customers can find you on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.?

Remember: whether it’s physical or digital, all ink is good ink, as long as it gets people talking about you.

And you can talk with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Image by Blue Mountains Library on Flickr.

Nothing makes a brand (or that brand’s agency) happier than seeing how much their customers love their products and services.  And when that love is shared in public via social media, so much the better — especially because that love is so often eclipsed by the increasingly public habit of complaining about bad customer service.

By now, we’re all used to seeing our friends rant about their latest perceived “retail fail” on Twitter and Facebook.  And the proactive approach that companies like Zappos and Comcast have taken to address these complaints publicly has created an expectation among casual customers that every complaint is valid and deserving of a swift response.

In our opinion, this is entirely understandable.  Social media is all about now, and when someone’s upset, they’re justified in expecting a quick remedy from companies who claim to care. In fact, we at Creative Concepts advocate proactive customer service among all of our social media clients, and we strive to help them create and employ practices that will turn those potential negatives into ultimate positives once a customer’s concerns have been alleviated.

But that very practice is what makes seeing unabashed (and unprompted) exhibitions of brand love from our client’s customers that much more rewarding.

Last week, a customer at the Ouidad salon enjoyed her hair care experience so much, she live-tweeted her experience throughout the day, including passing along tips from her stylist.  Needless to say, this made Ouidad’s day — and ours, since we were watching right alongside! ( In fact, it reminded us of a similarly enjoyable moment we observed last year, when a New York blogger shared her Ouidad hair model experience via Twitter and blog format.)

And here’s a helpful Twitter tip: if you really love a brand, make sure your tweets about them DON’T start with the @ symbol.  Why?  Because of the way Twitter categorizes conversations:

• Tweets that begin with @Ouidad, for example, will only be seen by three kinds of people: Ouidad, the sender of the tweetm and anyone who’s following both the sender and Ouidad.  (That’s probably a small cross-section of people who might see the tweet.)
• Tweets that include @Ouidad but which start with any character other than the @ symbol will still be seen by Ouidad, but they’ll also be seen by everybody who follows the sender.

Therefore, if you REALLY want someone to know about your awesome brand experience, make sure your tweets aren’t addressed solely to the brand.  That will give your praise the widest possible audience, and put an even bigger smile on the face of the employees who’ll be elated to see just how much you really love what they do.

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You’ve probably noticed by now, or been notified, that Facebook Pages for business have changed.  As of March 10, all pages will be in the new format.  Gone are the tabs and the fan images down the left.  Instead, photos march across the top and navigation has moved left.  But beyond the cosmetic, what has changed and what does this mean for your business?

Categories and Subcategories

Once upon a time you could set a category and never change it.  Now you can, and you can add a subcategory as well.  These settings dictate what information you can fill out on your info page – for example, local businesses include addresses, brands generally do not. If you were stuck with the wrong category, change it now.  And everyone should add a subcategory.

Use Facebook As Page

This is probably the most radical change to Pages.  It used to be that if you were an admin on a page, you could only post to that page as the page, never as yourself.  Now you can do both.  Toggle the choice under Account – Use Facebook As Page, or while you’re on the Page, select to Use Facebook as [Brand] on the right side under the Admins section.  While this allows for a great deal more interaction on the page from admins, do be careful that your admins are not the only people talking on your page – and, be careful to avoid the appearance of “astroturfing” – propping up your business by using hired guns (i.e., your administrators) to say nice things about you.

Relevant Posts

Facebook used to allow three choices for viewing the wall: [Brand] + Others, Just [Brand], or Just Others.  Those choices have been simplified to Everyone or [Brand].  But beyond that, the Wall is no longer chronological.  That’s right, just like your personal News Feed (which uses Facebook’s EdgeRank to determine which posts are most relevant to you), Fan Pages are now subject to a Facebook algorithm to determine which posts to show at the top.  In fact, at this moment I’m looking at a client page that’s showing, from top down, a post from today, then a post from last week, then a post from yesterday, then another from today.  Feels kinda weird to me, but it’s what we’ve got now.  So know that your most popular posts will rise to the top and new visitors (because that’s who mainly looks directly at your wall) will see those first. It’s probably mostly a good thing, but it could also trip you up if content you think is timely or important is not Liked or Commented on, because it may get buried by more popular content.

Public Admins

An interesting new feature that I have not seen widely adopted yet is the ability to add your admins to the left side of the page as “Featured Page Owners.”  This could be really good for brands with strong personalities involved, such as brand spokespeople or beloved community managers.  It could also help avoid the astroturfing issue described above, because if it’s totally transparent who your admins are, then the fact that they’re posting on your page a lot shouldn’t be a mystery.  Use this feature with caution, though – not all of your admins should necessarily be your front-facing social media presences, lest they get asked questions or connected to personally.  There may also be some employees who don’t really want to be the public face of the brand.

Featured Likes

You’ve always had the ability to “Like” another fan page, and now you can feature five of them prominently (even in rotation with others) on the left side of your page.  This option, and Public Admins, are both enabled from the main admin menu under “Featured.”  This can be a great way to showcase partnerships, stroke a potential client/customer, or otherwise show off an affiliation with another brand.  Remember, too, that brands can only tag other pages in their posts, and you have to Like the other page in order to do so – so even if you Like a lot of pages,  you can still make some of them special with the Featured Likes rotation.

What are you doing with your redesigned Page?  Have you included cool images? How are you managing the balance between page and admins?  We’d love to hear from you in the comments?

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