1. Moms won’t be won over by push messages. Brands need to join the conversation.
2. Mom is looking for a relationship — a two-way dialogue that shows the brand is listening and responding.
3. Moms like transparency.
4. Moms don’t expect brands to be perfect, but they expect honesty.
5. Moms work best when you give them tools and knowledge and then turn them loose to customize and make them their own.
6. Moms like relevancy. Fill a need, answer questions, value her opinion, and then let her see action taken. And don’t forget to make buying fun.
7. Moms like you to get to the point. They’re busy, so be authentic, clear, and genuine. Otherwise, the response will be skepticism.
8. Moms love to be comfortable with decisions, and information is key to comfort. Make their homework easier.
9. Moms think pragmatically and emotionally. Brands need to cover both sides of the conversation.
10. Moms like stories. Social media is about communicating — telling a story — which is extremely different than selling.

Thanks to Avi Savar of imedia connection for providing this nugget…

Combining online and offline ideas based around a solid goal is paramount for marketers in today’s economic environment.
Check out what Coca-Cola did for their new bottle redesign for customers in France.

Executions like this one and others are great, but my only question is why do all the coolest and most forward integrated “marketing ideas” seemingly happen outside the US?

I have many reasons why I think this happens but what do you think?

Kit Kat Japan had a major dilemma: How do they stand out from the clutter on a crowded snack aisle at convenience stores.  They didn’t want to buy their way to the top for many reasons - number one being cost - so what to do?

They went to the drawing board and saw an opening that was ripe for the taking and swooped in and did something extremely innovative, creative and “completely out of the box.” (I hate using that term but it works well in this setting.)

When Japan Post was privatized, kit kat went to them with a proposal with the idea of kit kat mail.  This newly packaged candy let users write notes to the attended recipients and then literally drop them in the mail to be sent on the fly.  To mass market this product kit kat took it to the next level. They proposed selling the items right at the register of the post office to maximize exposure.  And in some cases, changed dingy post office locales into kit kat shop in shops.  But the kicker of the campaign had to do with timing.  They slated the launch to coincide with university admission examinations to maximize reach and exposure in an already well traffic local where users primary goal was to send something already.  The assumption being that if they made a superior product; tweaked the packaging so that the box facilitated an ease of use to ship and receive seamlessly; and made it accessible to everyone at a location where it would be relevant - this would equate to a successful new product launch.

O how right they were.  The campaign won the Media Grand Prix this year at Cannes; Kit Kat has grounded itself as Japan Post’s candy of choice at the retail post level; and the social component of the campaign still continues today.

Yesterday adage digital published a column titled “Why I Hate Social Media.” Now I know in the world o publishing headlines sell and that’s what this was intended to do. Illicit a serious response to start a conversation be it positive or negative. And at the time I’m writing this it sure has. There are some 70+posts both lambasting and praising Matt Jones in their own right.

That said, good writing evokes thought; thought should evoke discussion; discussion a hypothesis; hypothesis some type of conclusion - I know I’m simplifying the process but you get the gist. So big picture adage succeeded with its goal but still the headline to this post thoroughly rubbed me the wrong way and in turn most of the article pissed me off as well.

As I was reading I was getting madder and madder disagreeing with everything only wanting to chew it up and spit it out and give him a piece of mind —>until I finished and started to reflect upon. Is it true that what Matt was saying I agreed with on some levels? I have to say yes BUT – I just don’t outwardly agree on every single point. I hate when I think i’m going somewhere and then I get pushed back to reality ever so cleverly.

I’m going to hit on a point and then share some of the insights that the staff here sent back after I asked them to reflect and share their thoughts on this post.

My main critique is in addressing the negativities that are discussed. When Matt notes we …”should also recognize that these exceptions merely prove the dismal rule of social media right now. Because for every Amazon or Adobe, brands with genuinely good ideas to share and good stories to tell, there’s a Skittles…and Pizza Hut.” While I do agree both of those brands (and others) didn’t do social the to the best in comparison, they took a chance and attempted to play in the social space.

Who is Matt to say that their step was less than stellar. Sure they maybe didn’t wow the masses but they (like all companies) are evolving and learning in this space. One man’s test is another’s discovery down the path of enlightenment. If companies didn’t take the risk, he as well as others wouldn’t have anything to post about.

I do believe the biggest thing this article did for me is to ensure that I and the staff here look at things from a 360 degree angle. None of us have THE ANSWER. There a multitude of players with different questions and agendas to reach the mountain top. So this in turn is just one more player with a great thought provoking post that we all need to read, reflect and respond to.

With that, here are some of the staff’s thoughts on the article. Read the rest of this entry »

While Twitter has been growing on me at a very steady rate (especially as a means for businesses to supplement their traditional CRM methods), I am in the camp that thinks politicians are misusing the service.

Far too many of them use it superficially for campaigning, or worse yet, to regurgitate talking points from partisan pundits (a la Newt Gingrich plagiarizing Rush Limbaugh regarding Sonia Sotomayor’s comments at Berkeley). While these tendencies are disheartening, the real problem with politicians’ use of Twitter is that the very essence of the medium perpetuates a growing problem in the political arena. That is, a real political conversation cannot be had 140 characters at a time.

Now I’m not trying to say that the use of Twitter for political activism by everyday citizens and the conversations that brings are problems at all. Those are a two of the very best aspects of Twitter. Everyday people are busy; quick and easy 140-character messages keep them in the loop and spark ideas. However, politicians should be engaged with issues and their constituents in a deeper way. Using Twitter personally (i.e. tweeting about family, hobbies, and vacations) would be a good way for politicians to humanize themselves. Also, the staff of members of congress could use the service to link to audio, video, and text of their boss engaging in in-depth, academic, and professional duties of their job – of making our government run better for our citizens.

All I’m really trying to say is: blatant campaigning and that alone, as well as curt and divisive rants are improper ways for politicians to behave, online or off. I appreciate them recognizing the value of social media, but most politicians are not adding anything to the conversation by being there. While it by no means needs to be so, their actions are making important political issues, and social media as an entity, seem petty. Twitter should be used to expose people to politicians’ real work, not as a replacement of it.

I was reading a lil seth godin today and came across his post on the too much free?

I was fascinated on his interpretation of how people get bored of free things. The example of “kraft services” on a set was perfect. After the sheer shock of all the goodies and treats post day one, you do start to realize “it’s only lunch!”

How then do we take free to the next level? Seth and others seem to think that the next iteration of free is paying people to use free things. As the world becomes more and more cluttered with free offerings, it will be in a brands best interest to raise the stakes to separate from the masses. So brands may start offering services like “we’ll buy ad space and alert our most cherished people when something is FREE” or “we’ll pay you upfront to try our stuff.”

What do you guys think?

This defines listening, learning and being rewarded…

Of course it’s coming from the minds at Forrester again, but we at Nostrum know talent, aren’t afraid to acknowledge great work, and yield to them (and any of their offspring) when it comes to these types of insights.

Check out the simplicity and insights gleaned just by listening to the people you already serve!
Ad Age: Dog Treats

How many times have you heard: I don’t understand twitter?  Or, I have an account and i tried using it but I just dont get it, so I gave up on it?

Well if you’re like me or you work in the new media biz - a hell of a lot of times.  But that doesn’t mean that just because you don’t understand something you give up.  I use twitter all the time for both work and personal things.  Yes I will admit some of it is for  mundane things like updating Lakers Scores while sitting at Staples or just tweeting out where or what i’m doing at some random time.  But that is only one small facet of what i use twitter for.

The main purpose of my twitter usage is for research and connecting to the best and brightest of the digerati set in real time.  Tapping into the minds of people like david armano and charlene li is something that the most privileged only got to do during their stints at Harvard or hearing them on the lecture circuit.  With Twitter, I can literally cherry pick thoughts and concepts and interact with them on a second by second basis.

Do they know me - Not from Adam.  Do they care about me - not really.  But does it build a relationship - most definitely.

Its a hard concept for people to truly grasp but i do believe the more you explore and participate with Twitter (or other Social Tools) the more you will see their true value.  Look at this to see how ” real people” are opening the twitter-universe to make it work for their lives.

Tweet us your insights and let us know how you use twitter: @nostruminc

Next time you want to hang out on the couch and watch a bit of tv, you might have a couple more options. Just curl up on the couch grab that pillow, blanket and contact all of your FACEBOOK or MYSPACE friends to join into a relatively new phenomena called SOCIAL TV.

Splashcast and Hulu hooked up a few months ago and in conjunction with a savvy app developer are ready to unveil to the masses true Social TV.

This app has a cool few features, specifically the integration of what the developers are calling “chatter.” Chatter is micro conversations between you and all your “social friends.”

“The cool thing is that this is not done in real-time, but instead any time you chatter, it is synced to the video. So if you watch The Simpsons and put in a comment 6 minutes into the show, future users will see that comment, even if they watch the episode the next day. It’s like a running commentary left by social network users. Splashcast claims that during the two week test-run, time spent in the apps increased 50%, showing that comments make videos much more engaging. Other social features include polls and ratings” - mashable 4/28

I feel theoretically it is a very interesting concept but will it replace the “hanging out with your REAL friends?” Or is this going to segway into a new NBC show called Friends 2.0?

Time will only tell - but what do you guys think???

Its everywhere. Twitter this. YouTube that. FaceBook is a must have because of X, Y and Z…

Brands just need to be aware of what is going out there.
Check out this link from last night’s Night Line to see what we’re talking about.

And know this is what Nostrum does for brands: Monitor Track and Advise about what is going on with your brand.

Nightline

Well we just got back from our East Coast Trip.
Another successful outing to the other coast and more work to do!
Read the rest of this entry »

Placing Media as a standalone offering is like winking at a girl in the dark. She will never see it happening so why even do it?!

In today’s world, it is rarely the case that a client dumps all of their money into one medium (ie Broadcast or print) and then their message is sprayed and they pray that it reaches the right demographic so that the desired goal is met. The world doesn’t work like that, nor do people consume media in that manner anymore. Read the rest of this entry »