People love to laugh. It is a basic human emotion. Marketers know this. A good laugh tied to a brand can keep the brand relevant and top of mind, increasing purchase intent. It is an old formula.
Social marketing is changing how the marketers can get laughs. In the past, a creative person conceived the idea and the agency built a plan to produce and distribute a campaign based on a humorous twist.
Today, we are seeing new phenomena where the brand can assume the identity of what is funny… with people becoming the character, being comedy writers for the brand in the stream of the brands facebook page.
The Most Interesting Man In The World
Dos Equis just passed 1M followers on facebook based on “The Most Interesting Man In The World… TMIMITW.” Dos Equis invested in TV commercials and TV media for the last five years setting the stage for a most interesting character people identify with and are now making their own.
People from all walks of life, from all over the world are topping each other with line after funny line connecting around what they think is humorous on the Dos Equis facebook page with posts like:
Anthony Jones
He can solve... Read more
Archive for March, 2011
Crowd Sourcing Humor – Secrets of the New Social Humor
Latest updates from Job Connection: deviantART, Harmelin Media, and Undertone
Associate Director, Digital Analytics, Omnicom Media Group Holdings, Los Angeles 03/29/2011
Account Executive, deviantART, Chicago, work from home03/29/2011
Account Executive, deviantART, Los Angeles 03/29/2011
Group Director - Strategy/digital, Omnicom Media Group Holdings, Chicago 03/29/2011
Online Media Search Strategist, Harmelin Media, Philly Suburbs 03/25/2011
Interactive Strategist, DDC Advocacy, National Harbor, 03/24/2011
Sales Engineer, Undertone, New York 03/23/2011
Product Marketing Manager, Undertone, New York 03/23/2011
Account Manager, Sharethrough, San Francisco 03/23/2011
Moderated UGC: Buyer Beware
There has been a lot of conversation recently about brand safety, white/black lists, and specifically about being able to identify certain types of content like mature or illegal. One group of content advertisers are very interested in identifying and avoiding is UGC.
I think we can all agree that UGC is more risky to advertise on then non-UGC due to the nature of the content and human expression. I can see why further segmenting Moderated UGC as an approach to identifying better quality UGC content is desirable to some. Unfortunately, in practice it doesn’t work. Blindly targeting ads to moderated UGC environments gives advertisers a false sense of security.
Take a look at the terms of service of some of the top content sites on the internet and you’ll start to see some commonality in how many of them address their responsibilities in moderating content that is posted by its users:
“While we do not and cannot review every message…” and “Although we strive to maintain high standards for this Site…” or “Although we have no obligation to screen, edit or monitor…”
The problem for sites is that although they have best intentions to moderate and police the content posted on their... Read more
Miracle Whip embraces its haters
Bold move, Miracle Whip.
In a world where many CMOs prefer to stick their fingers in their ears and chant la-la-la-la-la-la-la over the din of social media criticism directed at their brands, Miracle Whip is asking for its detractors to openly "Hate Us."
In a campaign that admits "We're not for everyone," the company has opened up its YouTube page for visitors to declare that they either like or hate the brand -- and why. While the lovers currently far outweigh the haters (about 40,000 to 3,000), the brand isn't discouraging comments such as, "This is close to being the WORST THING EVER MADE BY MAN."
The brand even has some well-known faces weighing in on the debate:
Kudos to the brand for embracing the polarizing effect it has on people. A solid social media win.
Stay informed. For more insights into the value of stellar social media listening and engagement, attend the iMedia iMoms Summit, May 1-4. Request your invitation today.
