RTCRM Sparkblog » Carlen Lea Lesser

Social Media Needs Real Strategy

Carlen Lea Lesser — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:33:09 +0000

This video is well worth the watch. If you are a digital strategist, you will be cheering. If you are new to social media in your marketing mix, it may change your life.

Newell Rubbermaid: Social Media from a Multi-Brand Perspective, by Bert DuMars; presented by GasPedal and the SMBC from GasPedal on Vimeo.

Key things to really hear:

The importance of understanding the culture of Twitter, Facebook or other platforms
Don’t start with the technology. Facebook might not be right for your goals.
You have to immerse yourself, not just publish.
Don’t just talk about business, have fun.
It’s an eco-system – how does social media fit with your entire PR & Marketing plan?
Scale it! Test and Learn
Monetize when the time or place is right

Cross Posted on www.carlenlea.com

We Heart Mad Men

Carlen Lea Lesser — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:23:51 +0000

I’m not sure I know anyone who works in advertising who doesn’t love the show Mad Men. Their season 3 promotion allows you to create your Mad Men avatar! I had to jump right on this. That’s me in the bright blue in the middle.

I noticed that the cartoon versions of Don Draper and Roger Sterling (left) are looking a lot like RTC’s Matt Connor and Jeff Ross. Does that make Barry Kessel the Bertram Cooper of RTC?

Needless to say, I think this promotion is a brilliant use of social media and viral marketing. Check the Twitter avatar of half the people who work in advertising and they have changed over to Mad Men avatars in the past few days. But the question always becomes, how do you prove success on promotions like this. RTC wasn’t involved in this promotion, but here’s what I’d do. Until the show airs, you can’t determine real ROI of increased viewers. So, right now we’d be watching the leading indicators. But what are those leading indicators? Here are a few of the stats we’d be watching:

Stats as of 07/29/2009 for past 7 days:

URL posted to Twitter 685 times
URL posted to 112 blogs
“Mad Men Yourself” mentioned on 84 blogs
“Mad Men Avatar” mentioned on 65 blogs
315 results on Flickr for “mad men yourself”
Posted to Delicious 224 times

One thing we learn right away is that Twitter fans are Mad Men fans. It’s an interesting piece of data for future promotions. A quick check on my Facebook friends showed more than a few have also utilized and shared their avatars! Names are obscured to protect their privacy.

Lots to learn from this promotion, and lots of fun to be had!

Gadflies and Gladhanders

Carlen Lea Lesser — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:40:07 +0000

Gadflies and Gladhanders are on opposite ends of a spectrum of life. I’m a big fan of definitions, so let’s start there.

Gadfly: a person who persistently annoys or provokes others with criticism, schemes, ideas, demands, requests, etc.
Gladhander: to greet in an insincerely effusive manner

Custom Illustration by Josh Scott, Senior Interactive Art Director

Both of these types are prevelent in any industry, and Pharma Marketing is no exception. Most people fall somewhere in the middle. Just honest people trying to do the best job they can, and wanting some recognition for a job well done. And let me be clear, I’m not trying to pick a fight. I actually think we need both types.

We need gadflies constantly pushing us to go further, do more, and work harder. We need gladhanders tells us how great and special we are. And we need the regular folks trying to get the job done. Usually it’s the gladhanders that bother me. Overly self-congratulatory people bug me, but this tends to be restricted to industry award nights.

Right now there has been a shift in the cosmic underpinnings of the universe, because it’s the Pharma Marketing gadflies that are driving me crazy. I’ve now spent two years learning the complex world of pharmaceutical marketing. I’ve worked in a lot of industries during my ten years in the interactive space. Each has it’s own unique set of challenges and jargon to learn, but Pharma is it’s own special beast. Not only do most people think you are the slime of the universe for working in Pharma Marketing, but there are also an insanely complex and vague set of regulations that you have to navigate.

Until I started working with this industry, I had no idea why TV commercials listed out every horrifying possible side effect a drug could have, or why every drug commercial seemed to be identical. FDA regulations require us to talk about side-effects, but the regulations aren’t always the clearest. Pharmaceutical company advertising goes through many rounds of medical and legal reviews to ensure accuracy and legality. In some cases you are literally only able to say three things, so you have to find as many ways to say them as possible. In this environment, no one really wants to experiment and risk FDA warning letters.

But, all that beings said, there is movement. Everyone is working to do better by patients and healthcare professionals. Everyone is working to come up with new ideas and better ways to provide “fair balance” in their ads. Everyone is working to better utilize the Web and digital channels to better serve patients. There is more work to do, especially with the new draft guidance released by the FDA.

I guess the gadflies should keep poking us to ensure we don’t get self-congratulatory and turn into gladhanders. But it doesn’t mean we can’t swat back at them.

And special thanks to RTCRM Senior Interactive Art Director, Josh Scott for that great illustration!

The Day the Media Died

Carlen Lea Lesser — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:26:17 +0000

It’s a really long video, but darn funny if you work in marketing & advertising. Possibly a little to the gallows humor side, depending on your specialty. It’s definitely time to get over the past, stop complaining, and move into the new world. Adapt or die — that’s the clear message of this one. And could we have fun again? Those Mad Men enjoyed themselves.

Thanks to AgencySpy for this one.

Back Channel Networking at ePharma Summit

Carlen Lea Lesser — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:48:47 +0000

(x-posted from CarlenLea.com )

Despite my outgoing personality and insane level on social media involvment, I’m not very good at the conference/cocktail party networking thing. I attribute this to my being an INTJ and a Virgo . The "I" of INTJ means I tend to be introverted, and not comfy making small talk with tons of strangers. The Virgo means that I like to control situations and have things neat and orderly (not my house, just my life).

Nutshell is I suck at just chatting up strangers unless I have some specific thing I wish to say to them.

Thank goodness for the "back-channel ." I’m at the ePharma Marketing Summit and if it weren’t for Twitter (and my colleague Croom), I wouldn’t have spoken to a soul. Twitter is the introduction to a whole bunch of new people and thanks to one smart person, Shwen , we had a "tweeple" lunch yesterday where many of us met in person. Social media and technology has opened up an entirely new avenue of conference and post-conference networking.

Here’s my approach:

Twitter during the conference. always using the conference "tweme" code (trust me they all have them now, and they are usually pretty simple to figure out). I do it almost as a way of taking notes on what is being said more than commenting and giving my opinions.
Start following interesting conference tweeple , be sure to "@" them when they say something interesting and "retweet" good posts by other people. Be sure to look for the official conference Twitter person . There’s probably one there.
Ask at least a couple of public questions during QA sessions, if you can come up with anything good. It gives other people a reason to come and talk to you! Do start with your name. I’m terrible about remembering that part. Today I would have been the "woman in lavender."
Organize tweeple meals or at least attend them. You can just listen and nod attentively, if nothing else.
When you do talk to people in person don’t just take the business card and file it away. That night, the next morning — hit LinkedIn.com ! Send them a network invite( mention that you just met them at the conference, refer to your conversation to jog their memory).

My boss insists that I at least talk to a couple of people at every conference and convince at least one person that I know what I’m talking about when it comes to social media, so I’ll get invited to participate on panels at future conferences. I guess you could call the whole approach "influencer networking." Often conference back-channels can be thoroughly overwhelming and distracting, thank goodness for the back-channel at ePharma or I’d never speak to anyone!

[tags]networking, social networking, conferences, back channel, twitter, linkedin[/tags]

DCK: Twitter Redux

Carlen Lea Lesser — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:42:53 +0000

There were so many people who wanted to come to the first Digital Coffee Klatch on Twitter that we did it again. I used the same basic, but since that first DCK there’s been a host of new Twitter activity. So I’m posting a refreshed version with some new elements.

Here is the discussion guide used at the Digital Coffee Klatch (Twitter Redux), I hope it helps to illuminate Twitter and the marketing possibilities for you. Questions? Twitter @carlenlea.

DCK: Twitter Redux Discussion Guide (Items with an asterisk are new for this DCK)

Meet Twitter

*Twitter Strategy*

Brands using Twitter
Questions for Discussion: Why use Twitter? Is it good for Awareness, Acquisition, or Retention? What are key business or marketing goals that Twitter would be a good tactic to achieve? How would you measure success? What are the operational issues to plan for? Is Twitter the new SecondLife? (no, no it’s not)

Tools to Manage your Brand Reputation

Twitter Alternatives

Cool stuff with Twitter

Twitter in the News

Twitter Terms:

Tweets = Twitter Posts
@username = reply to someone else
#word = twitter meme
retweet = reposting someone else’s amazing tweet

5 Myths of Social Media & Marketing

Carlen Lea Lesser — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:20:06 +0000

(x-posted to Connecting.the.Dots)

Last week I had the privelege of speaking at a 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies) meeting of Kansas City advertising agencies executives. They were in NYC for a day of marketing & advertising fun for the Kansas City Council Board of Governors meeting at AAAA headquarters. It was quite a full bill of speakers with topics ranging from trends in media planning to consumer insights, and of course social media.

I decided to take advantage of SlideShare.net to socialize my social media presentation to the folks at AAAA, and anyone else who might be interested.

5 Myths of Social Computing & Marketing 2008

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: strategy computing )

This is the second or third time I’ve done this presentation, and I’m now inspired to do a part two. So look out for the 5 Myths of Social Media & Marketing (Part II) in the near future. Here are the Ten Myths of Social Media & Marketing, the first five are covered in this presentation:

Social computing is a niche activity
Only a few people are involved in social computing/media
Only millenials are into social media
It doesn’t matter if your audience are "inactives"
Social computing has hit its peak
If you build it they will come
Social media is free
I should build a community for my brand
Social media has no trackable ROI
Blogging is done

[tags]social media, presentation, myths, marketing, 4as, aaaa[/tags]

DCK: Twitter Me This

Carlen Lea Lesser — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:00:39 +0000

There’s been lots of buzz around Twitter since it launched in 2006 . Twitter really came onto the scene at 2006′s SXSW conference and has been growing steadily since. Lots of brands are jumping on the Twitter wagon and more are wondering why anyone would care. At today’s Digital Coffee Klatch (DCK) for the RTCRM staff in DC, we’ll be discussing what Twitter is and how it is used for personal and marketing reasons.

One of the biggest issues right now with social media and marketing is that people seem to forget to match the technology to the business goals. There are specific types of social media technologies that lend themselves to specific types of business goals. Before jumping on the Twitter wagon you should know what it is you want to achieve and how you will measure success.

However, it’s good to have an understanding of what Twitter is first.

Here is the dicussion guide used at the Digital Coffee Klatch, I hope it helps to illuminate Twitter and the marketing possibilities for you. Questions? Twitter @carlenlea.

Meet Twitter

Brands using Twitter
Questions for Discussion: Why use Twitter? Is it good for Awareness, Aquistion, or Retention? What are key business or marketing goals that Twitter would be a good tactic to achieve? How would you measure success? What are the operational issues to plan for?

Tools to Manage your Brand Reputation

Twitter Alternatives

Cool stuff with Twitter

Twitter Terms:

Tweets = Twitter Posts
@username = reply to someone else
#word = twitter meme

[tags]twitter, lunch and learn, social media, education, coffee klatch[/tags]

Real Conversational Marketing

Carlen Lea Lesser — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:52:18 +0000

Everyone is talking about about social media and word-of-mouth marketing these days and acting like it’s a new phenomenon. When, in reality, it’s the same thing that’s been happening for centuries (if not longer) just now we use fancy technology to do it. Word-of-mouth referrals are the holy grail of marketing. Just how do you convince someone to tell someone else about your product? How do you convince someone to share their opinion on their blog, on your website or in a cafe? Really, it’s quite simple — do something that is actually worth talking about.

That’s why I really prefer the term “conversational marketing,” because the goal is to start people talking. Ideally people will share their positive thoughts to the widest possible audience, but the overall goal is to enable and encourage conversation about a product, brand, or idea. You can’t control what people will say. Maybe they will hate your commercial — but they are still talking about it.

The thing is, what’s interesting to one person won’t necessarily be of interest to the entire world. That’s why it is so important to know who you are trying to reach. Here at RTC, we do Relationship Marketing . You can’t develop a relationship with a total stranger or a demographic group. You need to really know who you are talking to and what that individual cares about. Many people are afraid to reach out to a specific individual because they think they may alienate others. You might. But when you reach out to everyone, you speak to no one. It’s like shouting in the middle of a crowded market place.

It’s risky to learn about your customer and see what moves and motivates them. But, it can also be highly rewarding. A great example of this right now is the campaigns supporting the NBC television show Heroes . If you’ve never seen the show or the marketing campaign — well — it may not be targeted to you. But that’s why it’s brilliant. The show is very high quality and it knows its audience. It’s basically a comic book storyline and a comic book played a big role in the first season, so what’s a natural extension — a comic book , of course. But a printed comic book would cost a fortune and you’d have to do surveys and other slow response research to see if people dig the comic book. So, how about a digital comic book ? Better yet, how about an interactive comic book and a PDF version that people can print out, and for even more innovation how about video version that plays through the comic book and adds a musical score? Just for fun — let’s add the ability for people to leave comments, rate it, email it to someone, or link to it ! And of course, let’s provide a variety of other community features and additional materials that will appeal to people who might read comic books.

Now, before you think — great I’m advertising to a 7 year old. Not so fast. You’d be surprised at who these people really are.

Persona of a Comic Book Reader:

Female

30-34

Lives in Major East Coast City

Owns a house or condo

Professional

Tech-savvy

Blogger

Motivators: eco-friendly, quality, style, value

Would you expect a 30+ year-old woman who owns a home/condo and lives in a major metropolitan area to be into comic books? Maybe not — but maybe you should. That person may not spend her life on the Heroes site, but what level of engagement do you want? What’s the outcome you are looking for. Would you want her to be able to talk about the show? How about notice the cool car that was blatantly product placed in the show? What if she thought the show and the marketing was quality enough to write about it on a blog and link to the site ?

Heroes know its audience and is doing a great job building a relationship with those people. The show may have broader appeal than this core — but this group of highly active fans provide more eyeballs for advertising than just the weekly television broadcast. They provide market insight and, with all the interactive features , great metrics for proving to value to advertisers. So why is this a great example of conversational marketing — because people are talking and to each other.

Resources, Resources, Resources …

Carlen Lea Lesser — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:51:40 +0000

One of the great things about working at RTC Relationship Marketing is the incredible resources at my fingertips. RTCRM is part of the Wunderman, YR, and WPP networks, which is an incredible global network of marketing and communication professionals. I’m only beginning to understand the benefits from an agency perspective, as I’m still new to RTCRM, but there’s at least one extremely tangible benefits worth sharing.

I’m currently working on requirements for RTC’s new intranet and I wanted to be sure that we were basing our work on best practices. I remembered the Nielsen/Norman does an annual best intranets report, so I went to the site to check it out. Instead of my next step being to just purchase it and hope it clears my expense report – I headed over to website of Young & Rubicam’s Global Intelligence Group. This is the amazing research team that serves all of WPP. The website has an incredible number of research and reports available and the best part are the research librarians.

If I don’t find what I need on the website, I just fill out a form and tell them what I need. If they don’t have the exact report, they don’t just say, “Sorry – don’t have it.” They send me whatever they DO have on the same subject matter. I shouldn’t be shocked at that kind of customer service, but it’s just really rare these days. After the first request I sent them was so promptly and fabulously handled – I ended up telling my librarian friends (yes, I have several) about our amazing corporate librarians.

So if you’ve ever wondered why you might want to consider an marketing agency that’s part of a larger network like WPP – the research and resources alone can make it worthwhile.