By Shannon Martin
January 13th, 2010
My colleague Emily just wrote a great post about not bashing your competition but what about intentionally bashing yourself or your own brand? This week Domino’s Pizza unveiled a new ad campaign that takes quite a jab at its own product.
These new campaigns focus on the less positive qualities of Domino’s Pizza and boldly state ‘their crust taste like cardboard and their sauce like ketchup.’
My question is: Is it ever a good idea to bash your own brand?
Rebranding can be a challenging project for any company, but the strategy behind a rebrand is often more important than the ‘new and improved’ image. While Domino’s Pizza’s ad agency is known for making bold statements, I wonder what focus group research, if any, was done to determine that customers were unhappy with its pizza. Domino’s Pizza’s ads give the impression that Twitter was an important source of customer feedback. With the rebrand, Domino’s has tried to off-set its own harsh critics with less-obvious tactics designed to show the favorability of its new product.
What do you think of Domino’s Pizza’s marketing direction? Will customers internalize too many former negative qualities that Domino’s is bringing to light or will customers embrace the new product?
By Emily Butler
December 2nd, 2009
Is it just me or has the activity on Twitter slowed down? Perhaps people have run out of compelling things to say in 140 characters or less.
I mostly follow folks in the marketing and PR industry and I’ve gained a lot of insight from quite a few of them. Then, there are those that initially held some interest for me, but now their tweets consist of where and with whom they’re off to lunch today or something about their cats.
It’s like people are compelled to Tweet at least five times a day, and it’s to the point that they’ll just say anything.
Frankly, I don’t have time for 140-character musings about date night. And, I find so much more value in other social media.
So, I’ve decided to cleanse my Twitter account and streamline it to follow only the Tweeps that really deliver valuable content to my day. I know, I know many of you may say Twitter should be a mix of personal and professional, but for me I’m going all pro from here on out. And, if that makes me a Twitter snob, then so be it.
Let the cleansing begin! What about you? Are you seeing the value of Twitter diminish over time?
By Tena Hartwig
October 27th, 2009
Dear Twitter,
Where do I begin? Life is so different since you came into the world.
I can now interface with brands and get immediate responses to my questions, comments and complaints. I can vent about annoyances and find others who share the same pet peeves. I can tell the world about the awesome service I received, the smokin’ deal I found at a shoe store or a fascinating article I read online.
And, as a B2B marketer, I can listen to and participate in conversations that are relevant to my clients’ industries and use the information to enhance their strategic marketing campaigns.
But Twitter, why haven’t YOU changed? Why are you still asking the same stale question that causes many to mock you? “What are you doing?” does not do justice to the wonderful information you can provide.
“What are you doing?” can lead to Tweets about what people have eaten for lunch and potentially even more mundane information about their day.
It’s time for a change, Twitter. How about asking something more thought provoking? I’ve prepared a list of suggestions for you to consider:
“What’s on your mind?”
“What’s new?”
“What do you think?”
Thanks for listening; I’ll talk to you soon!
xoxoxo
Tena
By Emily Butler
October 13th, 2009
Last week, the FTC approved final revisions to its guidance to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.
There’s been no shortage of discussion about these updates and the $11,000 fine per post that could be imposed on bloggers that break the rules. That’s right, social media is not exempt. And, there are plenty of deceptive marketers and bloggers pushing the limits of what’s ethical, so I certainly see the need.
For b2b marketers, there’s a lot to consider. The revisions could impact how you use results of product trials, how you conduct product review programs with bloggers, even how your PR rep retweets your news coverage, and the list goes on and on. For details on the changes, you can read the Revised Endorsement and Testimonial Guides here (or pass them along to your agency).
While I agree that the guidance is needed, it begs the question—how will this be enforced? Among social media, in particular, this seems like a daunting task. My money is on the community self-policing, but only time will tell.
What do you think? Are the new rules overkill?
By Shannon Martin
September 15th, 2009
Today, a news anchor found himself in hot water over a Twitter post that included a comment President Obama made off the record about Kanye West’s outburst at the VMAs earlier this week.
This is the perfect reminder about the power of social media and how, if used incorrectly, it can embarrass you, your company and even cost you your job.
Before you tweet—especially on behalf of your company—or utilize other social media tools, ask yourself these important questions:
- Could someone be offended by this information? If you have to ask, DO NOT POST IT!
- Would I be okay with my boss, kids or grandmother seeing this information? Never forget, the Internet is a public forum and not everything can be deleted.
- Does my company have a social media policy? If so, am I following it? To see why social media policies are so important check out this past B2B Fishbowl post.
Don’t be a reckless Tweeter. Be professional. You’ll thank yourself later and chances are, you’ll still be employed.
Whose moment did Kanye West steal? If you’re the first person to comment with the name of a song by that person, you win your own Canyon “buzz”ness card!
