From Stolen Van to Boosting Brand

Marketing firms and companies spend days, weeks, sometimes months trying to build the most effective Social Media Ad campaigns. Especially for start up companies, Social Media has become the building blocks for advertising push because of the ROI. In order to get some attention, they need to have fun with it. Be creative. Be Brave. Be different. Doing all this takes some great amount of marketing knowledge.  There will be forecasting and everything needs to be calculated to be successful in brand recognition. Right? not always.

2 years ago a Ottawa’s own local brewing company “Beyond the Pale” shared some unfortunate news on Facebook  that their company van had been stolen. They posted a picture of the branded van and asked their community to help find it. I saw the post and replied.. ” That’s too bad. I will keep my eyes open. Love your beer. Good Luck”. and went about my day.

Image by Beyond the Pale. Facebook

 

As the day went on, I was curious to now if the van was found. I went back to their page, It wasn’t. But I couldn’t believe the engagement level from the community. There were hundreds of posts, comments and people sharing their posts to help find their van. Local media commented on their post asking for an interview on the local news.

I went back on the site for a third time, to see a big thank you from the brewing company posting a pic of the Van and stating “we found the Van!! Thank you to Mr. XXXXX who found our VAN!” Beer is on us!” Even after the discovery, people replied in relief.

The amount of exposure and reach this company got in one day was remarkable and it was all due to an unfortunate event that brought the community together.  Current beer lovers that liked the company all went to the page to help and Beyond the Pale’s name spread like wild fire. They got a write up in the citizen and even made the 6 o’clock news!

Hintonburg brewer toasts return of stolen beer van

When we look at this story, we think an unfortunate event that brought relevance to a start up company. This happened in directly, it was a fluke. Or was it?

Ask the question: what if this WAS calculated? What if this was planned? What if the van wasn’t stolen and the company forecasted the communities reaction? I don’t think that is the case but it did cross my mind. Although they would be stepping into “unethical territory” apart of me would say this is Genius marketing.

What do you think?

 

Promotional Post:

From stolen van to boosting brand: How a local brewer found their way. http://bit.ly/2kEimK8

 From stolen van to boosting brand: How a local brewer found their way. #goodtobelucky #community #beerlovers #foundthevan http://bit.ly/2kEimK8

 

 

Social Media killed the Newspaper Company?

In 1977, Bruce and the Camera Club wrote a song called “Video killed the radio star. This song was written to express concern over new technology and the effects it would have on the media arts. Ironically it was the first music video to ever play on MTV. Their concern was that no one would listen anymore. They would care to much much about the “looks” of the song was and not the sound of it.

Is there a comparable case today?

When one innovative product hits the market, everyone gets excited. Then it goes through it’s natural life cycle. When hits it’s maturity stage, it will either redevelop or stay stagnant until another product out shines them.

Social Media has killed the newspaper company AND broadcasting. Current demographics who read the news VIA the paper or watch TV are a fairly narrow group. With Netflix here and Social media communities giving us live-up-to-the-minute updates, there is no need to tune in or wait for that morning paper. In the last few years newspapers were holding on to the baby boomer demographic knowing that even though there are these easily accessible news feeds and update at their finger tips, they still enjoyed picking up the paper in the morning with their cups of coffee.

   Well, in the past 5 years, there has been a huge rise in baby boomers and their social media usage. There previous fears of fast paced technology had diminished. In fact, the numbers are growing. Kids and grandkids now have introduced them to convenience of social media.

Companies are continuing to pull out of all media buys with TV and Newspapers or anything paper for that matter. They are recognizing this trend and also seeing the cost of ads would not provide the ROI.

Although this might be bad news for our friends at the newspaper printing press, it is good news for our environment. Save the trees!

Links

http://keywordsuggest.org/gallery/315771.html

https://blog.sysomos.com/2013/08/16/no-surprise-when-it-comes-to-seniors-and-social-media/

Promotional Posts

 Anyone still read the paper? Has twitter taken over? #noneedtowait #uptotheminute http://bit.ly/2kIeB4B

 Anyone still read the paper? Senior’s ditching their rituals for Social Media. http://bit.ly/2kIeB4B

But first…let me add a filter

Most of us can agree that social media communities such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are the prime networking sites for image sharing. Most of us can agree that when we post a story or picture, 95% of the time, we are sharing  a positive experience or moment in our lives.  This is wonderful. Nobody wants to see you after you just got out of bed or when you are sick with the flu. We expect to see you with a huge smile and winning in life. We expect to see you at your best. The key word is “expect”.  If I expect that from you, you expect that from me. And those expectations put pressure on us to be something we are not. Being perfect. Guess what? We are not perfect.

In the past decade, companies such as Dove, Kellogg’s and Mymilla have really turned the corner by having the consumers self-esteem in mind.  Still today, companies use models and actors to sell their products that only have one thing in common; Perfect teeth. Perfect Hair. Perfect bodies. You get the point. The desire and now expectation is “I need to look like this”. Thanks to the companies I mentioned, companies are starting to catch on that we as consumers don’t buy in to irrational ads. We are getting more and more comfortable in our own skin.

Although we have taking a step forward this positive direction,  we have taking a few backwards.

How many times have you taking a picture and said “let me see the photo before you post”.  Most of us do it. We don’t want the Facebook world to see my bad side. Having a selfie option gives you that control. You can take as many shots until you get the right one. I will bet that most of us still won’t be 100% satisfied with the pic. However, we will accept it because we just spent 15 minutes doing it. That 15 minutes wasn’t just taking pictures, it was feeding your insecurities.

These networking communities are aware of this. Emotion is the biggest driver in sales.

When you take a picture, there is the option to use a filter. This is fun. It allows you to enhance and image. Get creative and make art out of your photo. Adding Sepia to a sunset is beautiful. The person looking at the picture knows that it isn’t organic.  The sunset was beautiful to begin with. But we wanted more. That’s the way our minds work. We add filters to our selfies to enhance our looks. So we can look as good as our friends in their photos.

Here is a challenge. If you are the type to add a filter on your photos, stop. Challenge yourself to be proud and show you true self.  It’s not easy or might take convincing.  Just know and believe you are just like the sunset, beautiful in the first place.

 But first…let me add a filter: Enhance your selfie. Diminish your confidence.

    But first…let me add a filter: Enhance your selfie. Diminish your confidence. #beyourself #saynotofilters #theskinyourin

 

Links:

http://whatsknowledge.com/positive-and-negative-effects-of-selfies/

 

 

 

 

COM0011- Dreams to chase with so little space

You spent the last 6 years of your life working your tail off to get that Marketing degree. Your opportunity to take on the world and make a difference is staring you right in the face. You are ready. You have reached out to all potential employers you have dreamed of working for. Now you wait.You wait a little bit more. The time has come to enter the world of adulthood.  All that hard work spent trying to become that corporate difference maker is finally here.

The phone rings. It is THAT marketing firm from New York. The one that was second on your  short list and this is an opportunity you can’t throw away. They say you are a perfect fit. Of course you will take it! The job is ideal. The company is successful. The compensation and benefits are great! What next? The next step is to find that ideal apartment for you to show off and finally say “Hey Mom, I made it!”

You start the search for that apartment. You say “Well, with an $110k salary, I will entertain a 1200 square foot condo in Soho”, or maybe, “a modest bachelor on 5th”. NO.

The average price for a bachelor apartment in Soho is $3,500 and gives you a puny 350 square foot apartment. However, if you move 30 km outward, the price will decrease by $500 per month, which is closer to your budget. Is this the dream you dreamt? Not likely.

Here is where I am going with this. It’s not what what you have or how much, it is what you do with it.

See how you can make the most out of the little you have here

This video is obviously the extreme and there is obviously a hefty cost to design this concept.  The idea and concept is to use innovative approaches to maximize on minimal space. I wish I had this in mind when I was living in a small apartment.

 

Promotional Post:

 

       Living Big: How to turn your studio apartment into a 2 bedroom apartment

  Living Big: How to turn your a studio apartment into 2 bedroom apartment