MyThoughts

I (we?) are obsessed with why people share, how to build engagement and how to create real life value for brands and individuals alike utilizing online channels. We need to become more obsessed with rewards and with reinforcing on and offline behaviors.

We need to become more creative in the way we encourage and reinforce behavior, especially with all of the channels and tools that are now at our disposal. The possibilities for creating innovative rewards, tailored to types of social sharing, is something that’s really exciting.

Recently in WiredUK, John Battelle created a chart about how “The Check in extends the great database of human interactions”

Online here: (thanks Mobile Behavior)

Isn’t that awesome? We’ve created a whole new category of human interaction basically in the last year? While this is fine and dandy, the speed at which types of interactions are evolving leaves us  lagging.

While it is a daunting task to try and keep up with all of the technology, we can keep up with motivations. I love the “signal” category of John’s chart. Once we understand the signal and implications, we can effectively dream up ideas to reinforce and change behavior.

I took the liberty to make a chart using John’s “signal” category, and I added types of currency that can be utilized to affect behavior. The ideas in the chart are all rewards dreamed up by brands that I’ve come across, I may be leaving something out — the larger point is that we can do better. We don’t need to increase the size of online ads, we need to create online movements.

So help me out here. What innovative rewards should go in these boxes?

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I’m happy to announce that I’m joining the team at Imagination Publishing, as the Metrics and Analytics Manager on the General Mills account.

I could not be more excited about my new co-workers, employer, and challenge.

Bottom Line — It is my task to interpret numbers, make recommendations and help to develop strategies that fit with the clients business objectives.

The generic nature of this statement got me thinking, “What am I really doing?”

My answer (or goal) at this moment is to create, ignite, and measure online movements that change behavior both virtually and in real life.

These are a few of questions that have already made work interesting, that I will wrestle with daily:

How, and when, does an online community become an online movement that benefits both the participant and organizer?

What rewards, both tangible and virtual, change behavior?

What inspires collective action?

What are the big ideas that brands can support, to both better the world and motivate current and future customers?

While these questions may not be ever fully answered, this diagram helps me to visualize my thoughts, maybe you will find it useful too? Suggestions are, of course, welcome.

I’m excited to tackle these questions, and I’m so lucky to be working with and guided by such talented and smart individuals. Here’s to infinite curiosity, and maybe, just maybe, answering some of these questions.

On a side note, thanks to all who helped with my job search (there were so many of you), and most of all, thanks to everyone who takes the time to share and create  pieces of analysis, observation, and strategy that inspires me daily.

A second side note, my absurdly over-simplified  visualization above is inspired by two incredible posts by Mike Arauz , and “Harnessing Crowds: Mapping the Genome Of Collective Intelligence” from M.I.T.’s Center For Collective Intelligence. Thanks!

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Social sharing is a major behavioral shift. We are constantly answering questions like “Where are you? What are you doing? What are you buying?”

Sharing information allows one to show their personality, and connect and collaborate with others across the globe based on a mutual interest in a topic. In our hyper connected and information filled world, finding and sharing great content targeted at specific groups or audiences, is a skill that is increasingly important.

Even news publications, who sell online advertising by getting traffic to their site, are looking to increase the amount of offsite links included in news stories. Everyone is jumping on the curation bandwagon.

Ok, so now that we agree on that, here come the challenges–

If  you’re a brand how do you share and create content that keeps the interest and attention of all of your customers?

What is the right mix of news, press releases, and content from other sources that will keep  your audience on the edge of their seat?

Oh, you also have to mix in replies to customer service requests and intelligent banter with your current and potential customers?

This whole social sharing thing is starting to sound a bit more challenging.

From a personal perspective, you have many friends with a variety of interests. How do you appease all of them with a Tweet, or by sharing a blog post on Google Reader or Facebook?

Regardless of the larger privacy issues of the social web (What you want the world to potentially see, and what you do not), the question of relevancy is becoming increasingly important.

How do you control what you want some friends to see and not others?

In all honesty I’m less worried about Facebook having control over my data, then I am about clogging a high school friend’s FB stream who has little interest in me or digital culture.

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At the F8 conference Facebook released developer tools that allows Facebook to be powerfully integrated across the entire web. With a little line of code, you can now “like” anything on the web, and it will be published on your Facebook profile for all of your connections to see.

I can go to the Levi’s website and “like” a pair of jeans:

I can even see which of my Facebook connections have “liked” a certain product:

As of right now, none of my Facebook friends have “liked” a pair of jeans, but I’m sure that will change shortly.

News and culture sites are also integrating the “like” button in interesting ways:

Here’s a screenshot from CNN:

In the bottom right hand corner of the homepage, it shows you who, from your network,  has shared or recommended a certain story. Once you click on a specific article, it is easier than ever to “recommend” it to your friends on Facebook:

Facebook has become a recommendation engine, a news aggregator, and a social shopping facilitator. Social connections have become the currency for the web, and will soon surpass Google as the number 1 traffic driver to websites. Plenty of people have been saying this for months, even years. What’s most exciting about Facebook’s digital domination?

Facebook’s open graph expansion further blurs the line between online and offline connections and experiences. Facebook has succeed as a social network because, more than anything else, it fosters real world friendship and interaction. It allows users to control who sees what elements of their information, and it allows users to connect in ways that would have been virtually impossible years ago. Obviously, this is a rosy portrait.

There are absolutely privacy issues, and a majority of users are blissfully unaware of how to change or edit their sharing or privacy settings.

But as social currency becomes the fabric of the web, we are moving closer to a “oneline” world — where your online and offline worlds co-exist, where digital connections impact my real world experiences, and vice versa. Think of all the parties you’ve planned using Facebook, the music you learned about, or even all the times you remembered to send a card, yes, a physical card, because Facebook reminded you of a family members birthday.

Because Facebook is the network that is most in tune with our on and offline life, it is in a fantastic position to help brands create “oneline” experiences and to target the influencers that matter most — our real life friends and family.

In the latest Forrester report on online influence, they reported that 500 billion impressions were made last year on peer to peer brand recommendations (Nielsen). These impressions are infinitely more credible than a banner ad, as they come from a peer who you trust (Hopefully).

Currently the online influence landscape is dominated by news and media junkies who share everything to benefit their friends. They love to curate, and they  love to influence. They pride themselves in being ahead of the curve, and being an “expert” in their circle of friends.

Now, with the explosion of the Facebook “like” button, the opportunity for every Facebook user to become a “Mass Connector” and “Mass Maven” is easier than ever, with a huge broadcasting platform.

While traditional online influencers are still important, and may inform the choices of mass connectors and mass mavens alike, the Facebook open graph protocol makes it easier than ever to integrate on and offline experiences, and for consumers to listen to all of their friends for recommendations online, not just their friends who are early adopters or social media fiends.

Will the Facebook “like” button increase the ability for everyone to share and recommend products online, or will the usual suspects (the content creators, mass connectors, and mass mavens) continue their domination of online word of mouth?

FYI, here are all of the stuff that my connections have Liked, on major sites,  since the button was released last week:

If you want to see a mashup of what your friends are “liking” go to likebutton.me

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I realize that on this blog sometimes I talk a lot about what is wrong in the communications industry, and what needs to change.

Today, I’m going to take a break from thinking about how communications professionals can do better, and instead, celebrate a campaign that I  like:

I think this campaign is pretty intelligent for a few reasons.

1) It’s Effective Branded Entertainment

The commercials on TV feel more like a sitcom than an advertisement. You begin to know, feel for, and relate to the characters in the commercials. Even the Title, “Sienna Family” moves the focus of the advertisement away from the car, and instead to the characters involved.

2) Invested in a story rather than a lame attempt at “viral”

Toyota could have paid to make a 30 second video of a Sienna driving off a 30 foot parking garage, flying through flames, and saving a baby panda. 100 million people may have even watched that video. Guess what? I’d venture to guess that none of those people would have bought a Sienna because of that video.

Engaging storytelling, relatable characters, and smart direction on multiple channels where your target audience already spends their time (TV/Youtube)?  That sounds like a better bet to me.

3) Integration Into Overall Digital Strategy:

It is easy to check out the car once you have watched the video with one click access to Sienna Photos, and 360 views. You can even join the Sienna page on Facebook, to read what other people have to say about the car.

This being said, I can’t help but critique one or two things.

1) Have a Better Engagement Strategy:

There are plenty of negative comments on Youtube and on the Facebook channels. While Toyota is not deleting the comments  (a good first step), they should consider being more proactive in providing links and information in response to specific comments. To be fair, they are doing better on Facebook.

So how should Toyota respond to these comments? Should they at all? I’m not sure. I feel like it may be beneficial, at the very least, to show that they are listening?

2) Take This Even Farther, To More Media Entry Points

What are your favorite campaigns right now? Online, TV, Print, or otherwise?

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