Insights

If Pepsi Owned Twitter

After reading Darryl Parker’s blog on why Pepsi should buy Twitter earlier today, I linked to the post on Twitter itself and asked whether the soft drinks giant should indeed buy Twitter. There were some interesting responses that came back:

Going by these responses and others that came up, it’s obvious that this could be a serious consideration for Pepsi. In their battle against Coke, having a handle with social media users would be a huge asset. As long as they weren’t intrusive, Pepsi could even stream new adverts or promotions through Twitter conversations.

For Twitter, it’s a win-win situation. They receive the funding that their infrastructure so obviously needs, and they’re also linked in to the hip brand of Pepsi. For any Pepsi drinker that isn’t aware of Twitter, the little blue bird icon on a can of Pepsi would get the social media tool in front of millions.

What started out as an interesting question by Darryl turns into a coming together of two ideally-suited brands. Although that shouldn’t be a surprise – Darryl has been tracking Pepsi’s social media experiment and also coined the meme “The Pepsi 25”.

It also raises the question of who else would be suited to Twitter. Although the service crosses all age groups, it definitely seems suited to a particular type of company. As Chris Brogan mentions in his latest blog, certain brands don’t sit well with certain products. So who’d be well-suited to Twitter?

How about Apple or Microsoft? They could incorporate Twitter into their systems as the standard Instant Messenger application. Microsoft could also incorporate it into its Xbox Live service, for example (as could Sony with its Playstation network).

Facebook could get rid of its flawed chat service and use Twitter instead. This would see the social network take another giant stride in overtaking MySpace for users.

Twitter definitely seems the ideal social media tool for any forward-thinking company to tap into. Its users are tech-smart, savvy and up-to-date with what’s happening online and offline.

They’re also very aware of brands and how companies promote theirs online. For any company smart enough to really connect with the Generation Y audience, it’s almost a given that Twitter would offer an instant advantage over their competitors.

So, who’s the smart money on?

When Tribes Go Bad

So, Seth Godin’s new book Tribes. A call to action for leaders to spring up everywhere, be decisive and make changes whether they’re wanted or not. Never mind if it’s wrong – there’s always time later to make it right.

(Although whether you’d get a chance to make it later after you’ve been fired from your job for what could amount to insubordination is another thing altogether).

Like many of Seth’s books, Tribes is a fairly short affair. It could have been even shorter – the main message in the book is repeated time and time again. The gist is never be afraid of change – always express your ideas.

This is an admirable message (when not repeated verbatim), so why do the very people that Seth’s book is aimed at struggle to actually put his advice into action?

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve seen the phrase, “Let the tribe decide” on blog comments, on blogs themselves, and on various social media outlets. Especially when there’s no “tribe” to speak of much of the time – it just seems like that would be the best buzzword to use.

Seth Godin wants people to stand up and be leaders. To rise up and build their own tribes and lead them. Crashing through the status quo like a runaway Backhoe. But that’s pretty difficult when the new leaders are still very much tied to Seth’s tribal apron strings.

Something I’m missing here?

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Would You Trust a Company That Ghost Blogs?

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about companies that ghost blog. Some are against it, while others see nothing wrong with it.

If you’re not sure what ghost blogging is, it’s exactly the same as ghost writing, with the difference being it’s blogs instead of articles or novels that are being written.

The term ghost writing simply means that the person recognized as the author didn’t actually write it. Instead, another writer does the work, usually receives a flat rate for his or her time, and the person they wrote for takes the credit.

As far as a book or instruction article goes, this is a pretty normal situation (I’ve done quite a bit of business ghost writing myself).

After all, a book (unless it’s an autobiography) or an instructional article is fairly impersonal – so does it really matter who wrote the piece in question?

With a blog, however, the rules change. A blog is the personal view of someone. Where they can release themselves from the shackles of a company, or what people expect them to say, and be honest and open with their opinions.

Additionally, a blog is about trust. People come to your blog initially through either curiosity or recommendation. If they like what you say, they may even stay around and read some more, whether by email subscription or RSS feed. And perhaps they’ll recommend you to their friends as well.

As I say, this comes from trust. Trust that you’ll be honest with your views, whether they agree with them or not. Trust that your views are yours and yours alone. Trust that if they’re listening to your advice or opinions, it’s because you believe them yourself.

Without that trust, a blog is virtually worthless. Which, by association, makes the blogger virtually worthless (and I don’t mean that in any derogatory or harsh way).

Which brings us back to ghost blogging. And, more specifically, corporate ghost blogging.

I own my own company and as someone who always encourages my clients to start a company blog if they don’t have one, it’d be fairly contradictory if I didn’t have my own. And it is my own – everything on here is written by me. After all, if it’s going to be a pointer of any kind about my business, I want to make sure it’s me that’s coming across in the message.

So what about businesses that use ghost bloggers? Do you look at them any differently than you would if one of the directors was the company blogger? Is there any difference between a director blogging or simply offering guidelines for a ghost blogger to follow? It is still the same message, after all.

Isn’t it?

The Completely Pointless Google Experiment

Sometimes it’s nice to have a little bit of fun. Taking time out, relaxing, playing silly games to ease the day. So it’s one of these chill-out moments that have led here.

I wanted to know ridiculous and obscure facts. So, cue typing various phrases into Google to discover what came back as the all-important #1 result.

So, in no particular order, I present the findings of the inaugural – and probably last – Completely Pointless Google Experiment. Feel free to add your own.

The Most Boring Page on the Internet.

I thought this might be a good place to start, so in it went. The result – a blog post from Pushmind Publishing that actually describes and links to “the most boring page on the Internet”. So, technically, there are two results, although I find the linked result from Pushmind the worthier winner. But, my thanks go to Pushmind for bringing the most boring page on the Internet to everyone’s attention!

What is the Weirdest Ear Wax Story Ever?

Now I’m not one of these people that have a fetish for ear wax (and yes, they DO exist!) but this seemed like a rather innocuous question. According to the #1 result on Google, it’s using ear wax as a remedy for cold sores, as found on the Remedicated website, under “15 of the Weirdest Home Remedies and Folk Treatments Ever”. So now you know.

Who has the Biggest Head in the World?

Admittedly, this could have gone either way, and I’d get some scientific fact about a large, over-sized cranium owner, or a silly answer about Hollywood egos. As it turned out, it was neither – although it was still entertaining in its own right. Thank you Hippie, for sharing your nugget of useful information with us!

Did Jesus Ever Get Laid?

Now, before everyone starts about blasphemy and mocking the Lord, let me just say here and now that I have no religious views either way – I’m neither a believer nor an anti-Christian.

However, I am a bit curious as to whether Jesus ever got the jiggy on – after all, a charismatic tall guy with a neat trick in everlasting wine had to have been a hit with the ladies, right? Well, according to the #1 result on Google, the guys at The Skeptics Society Forum seem to think so, with a whopping 45% claiming “Oh yes!”. You sly old dog, JC…

Where can I find the Best Hairless Baboons?

This was my final question for Google in this first part of my experiment. Quite why I was interested not only in hairless baboons, but the BEST hairless baboons at that, escapes me. However, the result is quite possibly even more abstract than the query that started it all! Salut, Homo Sapientropy!

So there you have it – some of the more obscure questions I could come up with, yet not once did Google falter. You have to hand it to their tech whiz-kids that can program the engine to find the sites listed here – and, of course, thank the posters of the results as well!

Now it’s your turn.

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When to Blame the Agency and When to Blame the Client

The recent online outcry about the Motrin advert has shown just how powerful a tool social media can be. For anyone who hasn’t heard the story, it’s about the pharmaceutical company upsetting mothers everywhere with an advert that was deemed condescending by the very mothers the company was targeting. You can read more about it here.

It comes after the furore over the poorly thought out press release issued by the BackUp Shotgun Rack company that took advantage of the Jennifer Hudson tragedy. These two events and others like them make it clear that some companies are still not getting the power of social media. Get something wrong online and boy you better be prepared for the backlash.

In Motrin’s case, the company has removed the ad from their website, although there are other versions that have made it to print so the damage could be long-running. In the BackUp example, the jury is still out on whether lessons have been learned.

Yet it’s also obvious in both cases that there have been some major lapses of co-ordinated and cohesive thinking. But who’s to blame for this – the agency that came up with these ideas, or the client that offered final approval?

Going by some of the comments doing the rounds on Twitter and the blogosphere, much of the thinking seems to be aimed at the marketing or advertising agency responsible for the Motrin campaign. After all, they’re the ones that came up with the idea in the first place, right?

So where does the final responsibility stand? Is it with the agency or the client? Someone must have approved the advert to go out, and that wouldn’t have been a decision that lay with the agency in question. It would have been one of the main decision-makers at Motrin.

And therein lies the quandary. Does the final decision really lie with the client? If I’m a pharmaceutical business owner that employs a marketing, PR or advertising agency to run a campaign for me, it’s because I trust them to do a job that I know nothing about. I’ll stick to making pills because that’s what I know. You’re my agency, you’re my specialist – you guide me.

But is that really true? I’m not so sure. Speaking from personal experience, when I’m putting together a PR campaign for a client, I’m there right up until the final decision. At that stage, I’ve offered all my recommendations, all my strategies and subsequent follow-ups. Now it’s up to my client to decide how he or she wants to move forward.

After all, this is their company that’s going to be out in the firing line if things go wrong, so they need to be 100% sure they’re happy with what they’re doing, and have the confidence to see it through. If they have any qualms at all, they don’t go ahead with the suggestions and we either start again or go our separate ways.

It’s a tough one to call. Company decision or agency recommendation.

What do you think? Should Motrin or businesses in the same situation be the ones that take responsibility? Or is it an agency problem?

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