This isn’t new advice. I learned this just over a year ago from Keith Ferrazzi in his awesome book “Never Eat Alone“. And this doesn’t just apply to you as an individual when you need help with a problem, some advice, or in my case a job search – this applies to your organisation if you’re even thinking of engaging in social media.
Something that happens all too often is a company realises it has a new product launch coming up, doesn’t have bloggers to seed to (what a dirty word) and begins the “relationship” process at that point.
That’s too late.
If you do that, don’t be surprised that no “advocates” leap to the defense of your brand when a crisis happens and blame social media.
If you start a blog before you built relationships with other blogs and then get no traffic when you post something, don’t blame the blog.
If you want to push a press release and follow the “best practices” and tweet it at the magical hour on Friday afternoon but no one in your network retweets it because you never engaged with them, don’t blame Twitter.
You need to build that network and goodwill way in advance, so that when you need it, it’s there for you. If you’re thinking about building it because you need it – you’re already too late.
I’d love to hear from either side of the coin: great stories where you invested in a network/community and reaped the benefits or stories as a blogger/influencer where you knew the other party had its back against the wall and was grasping at straws to just get anyone possible for their press event/product launch. The comments are yours!
For some reason today it hit me how many tweets I read from the local Singaporean bloggers have become increasingly brand-focused over the last few months. And in many instances not because they are genuinely fans of the brand, but because they’re part of this programme or that outreach or whatever it is.
If Twitter (and social media) is a channel, then these brand-pushed tweets are no different from the ad in the middle of my magazine, billboard when I drive on the road or 30 second ad in the middle of my tv show. They’re disruptive and we’re back where the whole problem with traditional media began.
The problem here is twofold:
1) Agencies are lazy
I think it’s time to go beyond blogger outreach. This is a whole blog post on its own so I won’t get into it here. The other problem is
2) Bloggers allow it
I don’t even know if this is a conscious or subconscious decision, but how many bloggers are blogging about what got them started in the first place? I look at a couple of blogs who I used to follow and now the word “advertorial” is in every other post. I think we (bloggers) need to remember what got us those readers to subscribe to our blogs in the first place. What got the first 10, 50, 100, 200, 500 people to follow us on Twitter in the first place. I’m pretty sure 9/10 times the reason is not “so they could get messages from brands” and to be free walking breathing tweeting advertisements for them. As Jo from Flowing Motion put it to me today while discussing the topic: “what about your reputation?”
The whole promise about social media was that it would be a conversation. People would feel passionately (or not) about products and services and by communicating with each other, hopefully community is built and advocacy is developed. And yes, I recognise that it won’t always be organic and that sometimes a brand will reach out and we bloggers will respond, but really, let’s try to maintain some decorum of self-dignity and refuse to be the new marketing vehicles of companies because we have worked hard to build up our credibility and to be relevant to our audiences and have their trust.
Is that really worth that extra blog post just so you’ll get invited to that next event that has barely anything to do with your blog content?
My blog has been quiet for the last week or so thanks to a trip to Hong Kong (which I enjoyed immensely), and imagine my reaction when I got home and found mutiple emails that just offended my senses. The gist usually is something like this:
Hello,
Our awesome event [insert name of event] has secured awesome speaker [insert name of speaker] to be at said event on this awesome date [insert date] together with other awesome speaker such as [name drop #1], [name drop #2] and [name drop #3]
Attached is the press release and a photograph of the awesome speaker. Please tell the world about it on your blog
Really? Dear PR person on the other end of the email, if you had such a request, would you do anything to act on it?
1) The pitch had better be relevant to me, my blog, and my readers. I’ll leave you to decipher what that means.
2) The pitch should not include a press release. A social media release or a link to graphs/videos is fine.
3) Provide a beneficial call to action. This is a mutually beneficial relationship. I’m not your news channel. If you think said awesome person is so interesting, offer me a chance to meet him or her over lunch or an invitation to the event so I can blog about how awesome I thought the person was after that.
I’m going to put it as plainly as I can: such emails are spam. And following this blog post, I will mark all emails as such and forward the email to whoever the contact person is on the company webpage (hopefully the CEO) and explain why it offends me. I’m also giving serious thought to starting a PR blacklist wiki. Sure I might miss out on some really relevant piece of news months down the line, but that is a price I’m gladly willing to pay.
I can’t speak for the people who are really into the tech sphere, but for consumers like me, I’m beginning to feel more and more like a laptop is a laptop is a laptop. Sure some will be marginally faster, some will have larger hard disk space, some will have a better webcam, but generally speaking, they’re pretty identical within certain ranges.
So what helps differentiate a laptop these days? I feel like it really comes down to physical differences, given that the inner workings are more or less identical. As a result, key aspects like weight and other dimensions as well as performance measures like battery life become increasingly more important.
It seems Acer knows this with the new Acer Inspire Timeline which is less than one inch thick, weighs 1.6kg for the 13” model, and boasts a battery life of up to eight hours. Also, they managed to fit in a dvd drive despite the size and weight, which is no easy feat!
One of the things that really made this laptop stand out for me was the Thermal Comfort technology, which uses a Laminar Wall Jet Technology, which is an advanced cooling technology used in modern jet engines. I have to admit I was reasonably sceptical that this would really work, but at the event, even after being switched on and played with for a couple of hours, the bottom of the laptop (where heat usually builds up) was almost as cool as a normal laptop is while switched off. Pretty darn cool.
What do you think are important attributes of laptops these days? What would you tell laptop manufacturers if they were looking for one key takeaway on how to improve their laptops?
On the 26th of March, I was invited to Supperclub at Odeon Towers to check out the new laptop from HP, the HP Pavilion dv2 entertainment notebook pc. If you’ve been reading this blog you probably know I don’t usually talk a lot about the gadget itself but more on the communications efforts behind it, but this time I’ll say this is one gadget I really do like.
In terms of what a laptop is, no biggie, it’s a regular laptop. Moderate processor, 12.1 screen, no cd drive. But the big plus points for me: It’s 1.6kg and its’ price starts at $1,299. I mean seriously, I bought my current laptop for double that. I think in the current day and age where mobility is a huge factor, the HP Pavilion dv2 stands out. Why would I buy a $800-$900 netbook and squint my eyes out at a 8 to 10 inch screen, when I could shell out a few more hundred bucks and get a proper laptop? It’s quite a no brainer.
The other thing that’s awesome is a width. Check out the picture below and you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s less than one inch thin. Oh, and it has a HDMI port too. Another thing my current laptop doesn’t have.
HP Pavilion dv2
The event itself was one of the more intimate ones, and that’s a good thing. I make it a point these days to try not to attend events that are shared with mainstream media, simply because it’s just too difficult to get someone’s attention and a demo of the product. With this event, no problem. Within three minutes (literally) of stepping into the room, I had a drink and a product manager letting me have a hands-on go at the Pavilion dv2, while he was there to handle any questions. I think the premise behind this is simple: The more the blogger plays with the product, the more he/she can talk about it.
One thing I will say (and I’m being cheeky here) with regards to the communication effort. I wanted to say that not having a cd drive isn’t a dealbreaker these days because seriously, how often does one use it anyway? Then I realised all the press materials they handed out were on a cd. It would’ve been nice to emphasise that cds are really not that important anymore with a small thumbdrive, sd card, or just a downloadable link!
All in all, if I were in the market for a second, backup laptop for school or travel, this would be it. Sure, it doesn’t have the gaming power that my current laptop does, but there are some days when I’m heading out for just a three hour class or I want to sit somewhere and just blog (like I’m doing now), and on those days, a lighter, slimmer laptop like the dv2 would just be awesome.
A couple of weeks ago, Ingrid and I had the privilege of being invited to HBO Asia’s blogger event for their new show, True Blood, with the promise of a bloody good time.
One thing that was obvious about this event, was that we certainly weren’t invited just to hear about True Blood and be treated to an exclusive screening of the first episode (though that certainly happened too), but there was really a nice mix of activities the first of which was to mimic the pose of the True Blood poster pictured above.
After some food, Karen from HBO told us a little bit more about True Blood as well as Max, the channel on which it will be airing:
After that and a preview of the show, an interesting segment came up, where a bartender took the stage to show us how to “make” Tru Blood, a drink that the vampires in the show drink. Incidentally, Tru Blood was a true *ahem* viral campaign that ran in the US prior to the airing of True Blood there.
Tru Blood
Following this, three volunteers were asked to replicate the drink, and Claudia, Ben and Nadia gamely stepped up to the plate, with Claudia winning.
Overall this was a pretty fun event and I really liked the fact that the HBO team brought a mixed bag of activities to the event, rather than the normal “thanks for coming, here’s our product” drill that we seem to get all the time.
True Blood airs tonight (April 9th) here in Asia at 9pm on Max, so don’t forget to fight for the remote!
A number of weeks ago, I was invited by Text 100 to attend an event by Norton (yes, the people who make the anti virus), held at Equinox here in Singapore.
The first thing that I noticed at the event, was that it was a huge event. There easily over 60 people present, and further investigation revealed that some were bloggers like us, some were people interested in technology (like Tech 65), others were Norton enthusiasts and fans, others still were Norton detractors.
What? Norton’s paying money to feed detractors?
Yes you heard me right. If you watch the video by Effendy Ibrahim, he explains why it’s important to have a variety of people present to get meaningful feedback and conversations.
Later in the presentation, Norton said that while they have always been known for providing good protection, they were also known for being a computer resource hog, and agreed with that assessment. However they have learned their lesson and their latest version of Norton 360 takes up minimal resources.
That really blew me away. How many companies are mature enough and secure in their product to invite people who don’t like them, interact with them, and openly admit past mistakes? Not many, I can tell you that.
After the presentations, we broke up into smaller groups, depending on interests. I ended up in the “lifestyle” segment, where we talked about how to be safe when surfing the web. During this session it was mentioned that Generation Y spends the most time online compared to any age group, which prompted me to ask if Norton was aggressively going after this segment, given that Norton programmes are expensive and most of us students just go for the freeware.
The reply was surprisingly open (or maybe not surprising, by this time), saying that it was indeed an issue and that they were looking for an “in route” to the tertiary crowd. I was also informed that the student edition is not as expensive as I thought it was, estimated in the mid double-digits.
All in all, I was impressed not by the new version of Norton 360, but the openness towards communication with which Norton approached the session. This wasn’t an instance of a client engaging an agency to do an outreach programme for the sake of it, but the client genuinely wanting to reach out and create that connection with their audiences, knowing it will benefit them in the long run.
I have a copy of Norton Anti Virus (Gaming Edition) and a copy of Norton Utilities to give out (generously provided by Norton, of course). And all you have to do is comment why you should receive either of the products (specify which you want). Also, if you tweet this blogpost with the hashtag #Norton, you stand double the chances of winning. Closes Monday, 6th April!
I was previously blown away by HBO’s level of personalisation with their outreach attempts, which was really the catalyst for me to meet Karen, Angela and Yin Qi for lunch awhile ago.
What They’ve Done
The first time I met anyone from HBO, was at Social Media Breakfast | Singapore 3 way back in August of 2008. Yin Qi was there and the first casual connection was made. Stemming from that, there was an event for one of HBO’s shows, “Flight of the Conchords“, and ended with a regional contest which was well-talked about.
The Inspiration
When I asked them about who/what prompted the dabble in social media, surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be an “Eureka!” moment, but rather something that grew organically. Ultimately, it all came down to fit: “Flight of the Conchords” is very heavily viewed via online channels like YouTube, they resonate with the younger audience who is online, and the very nature of the show made it the perfect talking point.
Obstacles
From our discussion, the difficulty faced wasn’t so much organising something in Singapore, but organising something regional. This is something agencies should definitely take note of in Asia, because differences between countries within the region can be pretty big, and at the minimum, a basic understanding of that would be added value.
Metrics
As their first foray into social media, it was as much an experiment as anything else, so hard metrics were not particularly the focus. However, they were sufficiently satisfied with the online discussions and conversations to be convinced it was a worthwhile avenue for future efforts. Even though no hard metrics are available, just looking at the YouTube videos produced on the “Flight of the Conchords” blog from all over the region, the comments and the links, it looks like it certainly did not go unnoticed by the blogosphere.
What’s Coming Next
I got the benefit of discovering that a second blogger outreach event will be happening this year, this time for a different show, “True Blood“. Given that I missed the “Flight of the Conchords” event as I wasn’t in Singapore, I’m looking forward to this
What do you think are they key points from HBO Asia’s social media journey? Is it an issue that agencies don’t have regional capabilities as yet? What do you think HBO Asia could do better? Comment away!
Do you know of a company that should be featured on this column? Would your company like to be featured on this column? Comment below or send me an email at uniquefrequency [AT] gmail (dot) com.
As a blogger and a social media enthusiast, I’m always excited to get invitations to blogger events because as a consumer, it’s always exciting to be the first to know about products and get to interact with brands, and observing how companies and their agencies are using social media to get communication going out to consumers is always very interesting to watch.
I have to say I am particularly excited about the “Comes With Music” launch by Nokia (organised by Text 100) primarily because it’s just a great fit (they did their research: knowing I am a Campus Radio DJ and that I have a weekly Music Mondays segment on my personal blog), but also because the event itself sounds awesome (the All-American Rejects are appearing!) and the invitation they sent over is just full of fun. Have a look:
"Comes With Music" Invitation
"Comes With Music" Invitation Contents
I think getting bloggers excited to talk about you and generate word of mouth and media is not difficult. Something fun, a talking point, or simple “exclusives” that they can have first dibs to is all that’s neccessary, and the Comes With Music launch is shaping up to be just that. More on Friday night/Saturday after I’ve attended the event!
In the meantime, if you’re interested in finding out more about the Earn Your Stripes party (where you can buy the Nokia 5800 for just 58 cents), check out the Earn Your Stripes website for more details. The party is open to the public.
Earlier tonight, about ten bloggers were invited to a Linksys event at the Hyatt to check out their newest product, the Media Hub. At first glance, the Media Hub sounds like a normal external hard drive, but it does have certain differences. For one, users can access items stored on the Media Hub remotely anywhere in the world and can be synced up with all your devices to keep files and media in one centralised space.
The Review
As an average home user, I was a little skeptical of the need to buy a relatively expensive external hard drive just to be able to access it remotely. I asked why I’d pay money, when Dropbox and Hordit are free, and got the relatively satisfying answer that not everyone knows how to sync their items up in the “cloud”, and it can be more intuitive to have everything on one single drive. Given the recent issues with helping my mum get all her data into one external hard disk, I can certainly see how this is an advantage.
Personally, between my family of four at home, we easily have 10 or more drives that each contain pictures and videos, and it would be ideal to be able to sync all our drives centrally, and then be able to access that at any time.
The Communications Challenge
The challenge for Linksys is to convince the average, non-tech savvy consumer, that this is not an overpriced external hard drive, and that it can make data storage and portability more intuitive than before. I could certainly see the benefit of such a system when I have a spokesperson explaining it to me and demonstrating the capabilities face to face, but for the average consumer passing it by on a shelf, $499 for 500GB can seem steep, especially since you can get 1.5TB for $300+ these days.
While the positioning seems to be geared to the normal consumer, I think there’s potential in the small business market too. I’m part of a media club in school dealing with TV and radio, and the capability to sync all our databases and then access them remotely, securely and wirelessly would be a huge plus. I suspect there are many other student clubs and small business that would similarly benefit.
Social Media Communications
There were a few things I really liked about the approach to this event.
Firstly, the bloggers had their own session, and mainstream media had their own session in another part of the day. This meant we could ask questions that were more important to our personal niches, instead of catering to the cookie cutter mass media questions.
Secondly, the press release had links to Facebook fan pages (Digital Cribs) as well as their forum page and even the Media Hub video on YouTube.
[edit: Wordpress is giving me issues while I'm trying to embed the video, so check it out here]
Finally, the press release had suggested tags for us bloggers at the bottom and a cd with the hi-res product pictures, which I found to be very useful to me. As a result I have the tags, the pictures and the video used one way or another in this blog entry.
I think it would be a fair assessment to say the Media Hub is a pretty good effort for a version 1.0 launch. There are features that I personally will be looking forward to like multi-user access (for club usage) and a HDMI cable for direct hookup to my TV.
Note: There is seemingly a subscription required for the remote access. The fee is not announced at the time of this blog post.
This isn’t new advice. I learned this just over a year ago from Keith Ferrazzi in his awesome book “Never Eat Alone“. And this doesn’t just apply to you as an individual when you need help with a problem, some advice, or in my case a job search – this applies to your organisation if you’re even thinking of engaging in social media.
