If you’re a regular to this blog, well, even if you’ve read it just once or twice, you know I have an unhealthy obsession with brand utility. Every time I see a brand engage with consumers in a meaningful way, i.e. offer them something of value, my heart is filled with rainbows and unicorns:

A recent example of brand utility comes from Chrome, an urban cycling lifestyle brand.  They are well known for their bags, and were looking to build up awareness and sales for their burgeoning shoe brand.

Chrome came up with a trade in program:

On March 17 , at 9:06 a.m., Chrome posted the following status update on its wall:

“Hey Everyone! We’re doing a “Turds For Gold” Shoe Exchange and, starting RIGHT NOW, we’re sending a FREE PAIR OF CHROME SHOES to anyone that sends us a crappy, worn-out pair of kicks. The exchange is two days ONLY and packages MUST be postmarked by 3/18 to qualify. In your shipment, please include a return shipping address and shoe size info.”

The head of marketing for Chrome, expected to give out 500 or so shoes. Turns out, over 5,000 people sent in shoes. Every Chrome employee, plus volunteers found through Facebook, made sure that everyone go their shoes.

So, Chrome gave away a bunch of shoes, way more than they expected. Who cares?

1) The total cost of the promotion is about what it would have costed to advertise in the top two urban cycling trade magazines for the entire year.

2) Word of mouth: I found out about this story, via an article on Clickz , from a writer who actually swapped an old pair of shoes for a new pair of Chromes. How many other people, whether in the cycling world or communications world, now know about Chrome shoes?

3) This kind of marketing creativity, and playfulness, fits perfectly within the Chrome branding. As outfitters to urban cyclists, they are catering people who see themselves as unique, creative, and interesting. Marketing that reflects the identity of your customers– A huge branding plus.

All of this being said, there are many more metrics that Chrome could have/should have tracked, to accurately determine ROI from the campaign. In fact, there is no complete record of who they gave their shoes out to!  I would venture to guess that the earned media from the promotion + the cost of the promotion = less than advertising expenses for similar media exposure.

Brand utility doesn’t always have to be about giving something away, it can be about offering a better product, that your customers pay for, because it makes their lives better. The Kodak Share Button is a fantastic example of this kind of utility:

People love to share photos with their friends via social networks, email, or by any other means out there, electronically or otherwise. Kodak now has taken a step out of the sharing process, no need to upload the photos to your computer. The photos are also higher quality than the 2 or 5 megapixel cameras on the best mobile devices, so you get the convenience of mobile sharing with the quality of a digital camera.

So the next time your sitting in a meeting and ask, “how do we drive awareness, sales, or traffic”, don’t forget about utility. I know that this line of thinking isn’t revolutionary, but I thought these examples were especially impressive.

Here are some more examples, and explanation, of the power of brand utility from Ingmar De Lange:

What are some of the great ways you’ve seen utility in communications? What are some of the worst?

By now, many of you have seen this video, produced by Saatchi and Saatchi:

Many folks have called this video a wake-up call, a sign of the future, and a reflection of what’s to come in the advertising world. With the rise of social collaboration, crowdsourced ad campaigns, and the rise of user generated content, it may seem that ad agencies aren’t necessary.

If the goal of communication strategy these days is to create a group of brand ambassadors who market your product for you, where do advertising agencies fit in? As more and more users continue to adopt social tools where unfiltered conversations about brands are the norm, shouldn’t every brand solely focus on customer service, reputation management, and building a great product that will spur word of mouth?

At first glance, based on this thinking, it appears that PR agencies are going to dominate the world of communications. Once you scratch the surface of social media 101 type posts, you’ll realize that while customers do want interaction, engagement, and fantastic customer service they still want brands to help them define who they are.

Here Are 5 Reasons That (The Best) Ad Agencies Are Here To Stay:

1) Media Consumption is Growing Exponentially:

A recent survey of 2,000 children 8-18, by the Kaiser foundation found that kids consumed more media than ever, and managed to pack in a whopping 8.5 hours of media consumption a day. In 2004, the average was 6.5.

People are hungry for media with a storyline that translates over all entry points. Ad agencies that tell a great story and consistently deliver that “wow factor” , will see consumers that are hungry to not only engage with their projects, but share them as well.

2) (The Best) Ad Agencies Are Concerned With Why, and Not Only How, People Share

A great ad agency recognizes that the term “viral video” is at the very least a misnomer. Unlike a virus, a video doesn’t sneak its way into your computer and replicate itself, forcing all of your friends to watch. This terms implies that the “how” people share t is magical and important, rather than the content of the video itself, or understanding “why” people share.

via Mike Arauz

This line of thinking extends way beyond a video. Why would people “fan” your brand on Facebook? Because it says something about their personality. Every online action is part of the creation of a complex online identity, and (the best) ad agencies are consistently better at understanding online identity formation than their competition.

3) As the Novelty of Social Media Wears Off, People Will Want Beautiful, Creative, and Entertaining Brand Experiences

No one is impressed anymore that your “insert company name here” has a Facebook Fan Page, it is simply good business practice. What’s the next step? Offering value to your customers in a creative and targeted way . In other words, build something that makes your customers online experience memorable, inspirational, and informative. Build Something with social media.

Check out the CoolHunting.com/Cadillac Co branded Ipad app from BBH labs:

If you have an Ipad, chances are you’re into style and design. This is a fantastic way of making the newest Cadillac CTS coupe appeal to design obsessed IPad early adopters.

4) Ad Agencies Can Think of Creative Ways to Utilize User Generated Content for Brands

Generally, ad agencies pride themselves on creativity. User generated content is extremely valuable to brands, but it becomes more so when placed within an appealing package that accurately reflects the brand.

How do iconic and luxury brands retain brand equity when they have little control over the design of a specific channel? They build their own.

Check out Burberry’s “Art of the Trench“. This is a fantastic way of engaging customers without losing any brand equity:

5) Ad Agencies Understand Cool

This is what we share: Celebrities. Music. Sports. Design. Cooking Tips. Irreverent stories that make us chuckle during the work day. Media that inspires awe.

The best advertising changes behavior. In  new media, we want to inspire folks to share content, to talk about your brand, build engagement, and ultimately, drive sales.

Social media purists may argue that everyone has a voice, everyone is important, and anyone can become an “influencer”, overnight.While this is true, creating content that inspires awe, that makes consumers feel “cool” both when they experience and share that content — This is where the opportunity lies for ad agencies.

That being said, there are many aspects of the advertising world that aren’t working: Selling impressions, lauding a 3 to 5% conversion rate as industry standard, business practices based on an antiquated TV rating system… The list goes on, but that is another post for another day, and lots, who are smarter than I, have already written on that very topic.

Fundamentally, ad agencies have an advantage over other communication agencies — They are better at building brand experiences and making users feel special.

This post started as a conversation with @localcelebrity a few weeks back at @timjahn and @rebeccadenison‘s “Monday Rocks” Tweet up.

Regardless on your thoughts about the term, “personal branding” in the communications industry is rampant. Carefully crafted online identities present a package that shows off intelligence, business sense, communication skills and personality. Personal branding has exploded with the takeoff of blogging, and now the popularity of online streams can literally give an online lurker  or employer 24 hour access to your carefully constructed online identity.

Beyond merely what you write or say, streams allow you to illustrate what you read, placing your entire idea exchange in public, broadcasting to the world that you are doing cool/witty/ nerdy/ intelligent things at all times.

In our world of streams, the biggest personal brands in the communications industry are folks who share the content that inspires others to create. Brands used to pay handsomely for the amount of information that Jeremiah Owyang places on his blog for the public to see. Now he makes the big bucks because he has provided such informative information in a public setting. While public information allows for copycats, his reputation and influence earned by the quality of his blog’s information attracts top caliber clients.

Big clients have started paying attention to personal brands. Check out Chris Brogan’s brand list:

Big Agencies have taken notice, hiring names that will raise their profile and attract top caliber talent and clients alike. Hiring big personal brands are extremely attractive to agencies for a few reasons:

1) It makes agencies appear cutting edge.

• In an industry that is ever changing, hiring an “influencer” or “thought leader” assuages client concerns that you will miss the next big thing.

2) It garners industry respect.

• While people within the communications industry talk about big personal brands as if they are household names, most personal brands are well known solely within industry circles. As an agency, there is no better way to show you’re serious about social media than hiring someone who is well known within the circle already. If you’re looking for information about how to hire the best social media talent, check out this article.

3). Agencies can utilize enormous personal brands for clients (Whether directly or indirectly)

• Ethical dilemas galore

Have we reached a new era of personal brand influence over agencies? In the next five years will major brands choose to work with individual consultants like Amber Nausland, Liz Strauss or Shannon Paul instead of an Edelman?

The obvious answer is for agencies to begin snapping up personal brands like crazy — and they have been. But big personal brand hirings  lead to numerous questions:

Client Strategy

Will we see a world where a client asks an agency to target administrative assistants on social media, and in response the agency hires the administrative assistant with the biggest personal brand and online following? Is this already a reality?

Dilution of Trust

Does working at an agency dilute the trust of a personal brand? If you create a strategy around a certain social technology are you more likely to promote that technology on your personal streams? Even subconsciously? Obviously there is no such thing as true objectivity in blogging, but if trust, reputation, and relationship building are the foundation of this online economy, can you protect your personal brand while investing in technologies for clients that you may or may not believe in?

Intellectual Property

We’ve recently seen this come up with Forrester, when they banned their consultants from running personal blogs. If you’re in the business of selling ideas, strategy, and research your employees are your best assets. Where does individual intellectual property stop and agency intellectual property begin?

Melding the individual and corporate brand is of the utmost importance for any agency, and will continue to be even more so in the future.

Will personal brands ever outshine agency brands? How does where you work, or where you want to work, shape your online identity?

Online communities and connections are functioning more and more like real world ones.

We interact and connect with people who we admire, people who can help us achieve personal goals, and, even if we don’t like to admit it, people who make us feel good about ourselves.

We share data and content for the the same reasons that we share information in real life conversations: We are aiming to add value, and we want status and recognition for our contribution. Online Communities give us a powerful roadmap to understand a topic, group of people, or social norm. Never before have communal conversations been so public, so available, and so easily infiltrated– all from behind a screen.

As online communities begin to reflect our real life social circles, and as our online attention becomes even more scarce, will online communities  gain value?  Will they become overpopulated and flooded by networkers, marketers, and advertisers who will end up interrupting our sincere community building in their desperate attempts  to avoid interruption?

As a perennial optimist, I’m going to say that online communities will gain value. Niche online communities will grow to the point where one can completely avoid pandering for any kind of mass audience.

But there is a negative and cynical part of me(shocker), that asks: If a niche community is powerful enough to completely sustain an individual’s online interaction, can they even be considered a niche community anymore?

More than anything, I love the complexity of this topic, and cannot wait for online communities to change, for better or for worse, in the future.

What are some of your favorite online communities, and what do you think the future holds for them?

I also apologize for the philosophical post. Dealing with measurement and client screams for social media ROI creates a monster that idealizes big picture writing. So thanks for indulging me.

Yesterday, I flipped through a pretty awesome slideshare by Edward Booches, from Mullen.

It’s entitled “Everything Is Social”

You build a creative community, you create and aggregate great content, and identify memes and general cool shit just a little ahead of the curve.

Well, this sounds difficult and time consuming. Ok, it is. But there is a shortcut for creative types looking for inspiration: Tumblr.

Tumblr is a micro-blogging site that is fully and easily customizable, and ideal for sharing anything. Moreover, creative, fun, and trend-setting content are the pieces that have the greatest value (spreadability) in the network.

The Tumblr community encourages members to share the very content that advertisers strive daily to create: Content that is shareable, self-referential, and innovative.

As social media becomes the norm, the value in marketing, advertising, and communication agenciess will lie in innovation rather than their ability to define social media. Today, brands may still need Twitter guidelines or help setting up their Facebook or micro-blogging platforms.

But what happens when the “media becomes social, and social becomes the media?” , as Steve Rubel so eloquently put it in a recent interview.

What will shine throught the stream is storytelling that is creative, that builds relationships, and that is shareable from all media entry points.

Tumblr is where a majority of inspiration for this content lies today. Here are some of my favorite Tumblrs:

The Daily What

Hdot

Little Miss Jen

FuckYeahAdvertising

InfoT

KnickKnack

WeAreTheDigitalKids

Pinsuda

This is just a start.

Who inspires you creatively online, and what social networks do they use?