1.  Logo – (Noun) “A symbol adopted by an organization to identify its products or services” We all know it’s never about what you have, it’s about how you use it that makes the difference! Since you've spent the time and/or money on this masterpiece called your "logo," make sure it shows up everywhere including business cards, social media sites, and any other promotional materials. Your logo is your company's identity in a picture and the more you show it off, the quicker your brand recognition will grow.

Does this really matter, you ask? Consider this… how likely are you to remember a random fast-food restaurant you visited when they use generic bags and soda cups versus the restaurant that brands every cup and bag with their logo? That garbage in your car becomes advertising and will make an impression every time you see it.

2. Interact – Who knew this was a part of branding? Speak directly with your target and, even more importantly, with your clients. Share and respond to social media comments, answer your phone using your company name and/or slogan, and use interactive communication tools such as surveys and email marketing. Remember, everything you send and share should always include your logo and slogan.

3. Solve – Your mission should be simple. Every business offers a product or service that offers results and/or a solution; and just because you know that, it does not mean your target market does. Leverage your interactive tools to share a clear, concise, and consistent solution that is unique to your brand identity. Remember, the process you use to help your clients may be complicated but your message should be simple enough to earn the trust and comfort of your clients.

Branding is more of an art than a science; it takes creativity, time, patience, and just like a painting, it will even go through an ugly stage. An initial brand launch should focus on creating awareness for your unique product or services. Luckily you have a friend in the industry- whether your current brand is sour or your business is brand new, HMG can help you too!

I don’t pretend to be a savvy shopper, but when I dive wallet-first into the clearance section at The Gap, I tend to stock up on accessories in my favorite color — black. Why? It’s a universal truth that black goes with everything.

So does branded journalism. In the words of veteran digital content guru Ann Handley, “Content is the new black.”

Handley is right, branded journalism (also known as brand journalism or branded content) has caught on like a wildfire this year. From Tory Burch’s fantastic branded blog to Mint.com’s MintLife section, brands realize the value of consumer-facing content like articles, photos or videos, and are rushing to create some with the company name on it.

Why? For a lot of the reasons we discussed in the first post in this series and mainly because consumers are demanding it. As brands become more accessible to fans through social media, people want more from brands than their products and services. So much so, even Twitter is looking to hire a Head of News. That leads us to branded journalism.

But branded journalism breaks the natural order of business that advertisers, journalists and businesses have subscribed to for decades. This makes some people nervous, traditionalists angry and opportunists jumping on the branded content bandwagon faster than Baltimore fans during the last Super Bowl.

So that leaves the question, if you’re going to start creating content for a brand, be it a local business or a Fortune 500 company, what are the best practices? Better yet, how do you do it ethically?

Try these simple steps for better branded journalism:

1. Build a process

Journalistic content should be more than an article or blog post thrown together quickly. Create an editorial plan, support whatever content you create with strategy, edit it, review it with key company team members and a set time to distribute it via a medium that will reach your intended audience.

2. Share something valuable

Share something that your target market will respond to. For example, Home Depot’s YouTube page features an array of do-it-yourself garden tutorials. Completely different from Red Bull’s adrenalin-pumping YouTube page that offers an array of video features on the brand’s extreme athletes. Both give their fans journalistic content in the same medium, but do it completely different ways to reach separate audiences.

3. Know your boundaries

Producing journalistic content doesn’t equate to producing a Pulitzer winning news article, so stick to your industry and the topics surrounding it. Create content targeted at a company’s audience, on subjects related to your company’s industry. Find creative ways to make content relevant to trends and new stories without reporting the news.

4. Stick to the facts and cite your sources

People want transparency from their favorite brands. Always support your content with facts from experts and credible sources. Back up your claims with research, data or testimonials from credible experts that you mention by name.

5. Strike a balance

Don’t use branded journalism as an opportunity to knock a competitor’s product or service, use it as an opportunity to share valuable content. If needed, acknowledge competitors professionally when it’s appropriate. Focus instead on sharing real insight about a subject consumers are interested in.

6. List a byline

If possible, list the author or producer of a branded journalism piece. This gives your work credibility and gives audience members a face representing the brand to connect with. Melissa Lafsky Wall left her job at USA Today to head up content production at dating site How About We, where every article or column in the site’s Date Report section is credited with a byline.

7. Track results

Producing branded journalism is useless if it doesn’t reach the correct audience to support business goals. Use analytics to track your results and SEO to shape the strategy behind your content. This ensures that you don’t just produce quality branded journalism; you produce branded content that gets results.

*as posted by Sarah Giarratana on IQ's blog

In the pre-digital days there really wasn’t a need for brands to produce more than the ads that went on traditional media. Now they need to produce an almost constant stream of fresh content to keep up with digital channels and social media. For most companies it’s a pretty tall order because making content is a completely different business from what they know. And it gets even harder when so much of the content that they now need is video.

Since cheap bandwidth has made high-quality video so easy to get, people want more and more of it. Projections have video representing over 85% of all Internet traffic in a couple of years. So brands need to make lots of videos. The problem, of course, is not just the quantity, but how does a brand make videos that are good enough to stand out? While cameras and equipment are cheap and easy to get, creativity and know-how are still in short supply. Of course, what makes a video good is in the eye of the beholder, but most of us know bad video when we see it, and the last thing any brand needs is to be spreading bad videos.

So the challenge is for companies to put in place the capability to produce lots of “good” videos, consistently over time. The problem is that because the budgets are much smaller, it’s not like producing TV commercials, which brands have a lot of experience with. According to the 4A’s, the average cost to make a TV spot is over $300,000 -- but for video content, that may be your entire budget for the year.

The big question is -- do you try and do it in-house or hire pros? While you may need a lot of videos, you may not need enough to justify the large expense of hiring a full-time team. So another approach is to hire an in-house video producer whose job it is to put together freelance teams for each production. This is not a creative person, but a video project manager, and you still need to be doing enough work to justify a full-time person.

For most brands the answer is to hire pros. The advantage, of course, is the wide range of talent and capabilities you can access. The problem is how to keep the costs down. Most agencies focus on developing the creative, and then hire a production company for the execution. As a result, the costs mount quickly. Some TV production companies do creative, but their focus is really on the production and they are rarely able to develop the creative or the strategy for the video, which is critical. So that leaves companies and agencies that specialize in video content for digital channels.

The ideal is to have digital content strategy, plus creative, plus production under one roof. A company that can do all of that -- and that is set up to produce a lot of video content over time, cost-effectively -- has found the perfect solution. Of course, the videos still have to be good in the eye of the beholder, which to start with would be you.

Click to view on SlideShare

Follow IQ on Twitter: @IQ_Agency

Click here to view the embedded video.

As I write in my book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, we've reached a point now where brands should no longer view social media as a cool new way to connect with consumers.

We must now view social media as a means by which we as brands can enable consumers not just to connect with us, but to each other. And not just in some virtual space, but in the physical world as well.

This initiative can help break the ice in a social setting - as well as continue the conversation (and/or flirtation) after that beer (or the many, many beers, as the case may be) is gone.

Cheers to Bud for the bold idea.

Read all about it, here.

Call it 3D projection writ small. Very, very small.

In January, I posted about an initiative we spearheaded to super-size a client's core message on a 12-story building through the power and magic of 3D projection mapping.

In celebrating its 10th anniversary, Ropongi Hills - a renowned Tokyo landmark, decided to use the technology in reverse - with a remarkable digital campaign called "Tokyo City Symphony," an interactive website where you can experience playing with 3D projection mapping on a 1:1000 miniature model of Tokyo.

According to the Mori Building Company, the handcrafted model is an exact replica of the cityscape of Tokyo in every detail. Three visual motifs are projected onto the city in sync with music: "Future City," conjuring futuristic images, "Rock City" that playfully transforms Roppongi Hills into colorful musical instruments and monsters, and "Edo City," or "Traditional Tokyo," that portrays beautiful Japanese images.

One very big small idea.

Check it all out yourself, here.

Marketers have started to tackle their social media needs, similar to how they have historically approached every other marketing tactic - by isolating and siloing their strategic parameters, success metrics, and analytics. We’ve seen this time and time again. This is how marketers dealt with banner advertising in the ‘90s, SEM and email in the early ‘00s, and mobile and in-game advertising in the late ‘00s. Over a decade later and the same mistakes are being made. Next it will be real-time-bidding and then most likely video; especially as digital convergence really takes form and everything (i.e. TV, radio, print, etc.) is technically “digital”. Agencies and media providers are always ready to reposition themselves based on the flavor of the month. Social is the new black. Or is it the new pink? Most trends are just that – “trendy”.

Don’t get me wrong, social marketing is extremely important. In fact, it is too important to think you can just silo it out and hire a specialized social media agency to manage it on your company’s behalf. The most successful marketers are not experts in analog media, digital media, social media, search marketing, or real-time-bidding; they are efficient in communication and understanding how to serve people’s needs. Once you understand what your audience/customers’ needs are and their communication requirements, you can determine the most effective channels and tactics to satisfy those needs - just like establishing any human relationship.

I realize most marketing disciplines these days require specialists to deploy and manage specific tactics. However, we must not confuse strategy with execution. You must have an integrated communication strategy that puts your customers and target prospects at the core. Through the communication planning process you should determine how much social marketing support is required and how it should be managed. Additionally, we should stop referring to social as a tactic and think of it more as the fabric that weaves throughout your entire marketing program. There’s no such thing as a social media campaign. You don’t make friends with someone and then decide to abruptly end that friendship because he/she had plans on the same night you wanted to go out.

A strong relationship is cultivated over time and this means you need to be willing to allocate the necessary resources to building those high value relationships and plan on managing them indefinitely. The only way to assure this can be done is by centralizing your customer relationship management internally. Yes, social is a component of CRM. Only now, it is a multi-dimensional dialogue and your refer-a-friend programs have exponential potential. Those that are positioning themselves as “social media experts” are less concerned about the long term value of the relationships between you and your customers, and really trying to capitalize on the ignorance that exists in the marketplace to, once again, provide false value – kind of like that “friend” who is always there to console you during a really bad time. They appear to be genuine, but we all know there is an ulterior motive which is driven by taking advantage of your vulnerability.

Be less concerned about the new, bright, shiny objects and focus on better understanding your audience and customers. The more you learn about what people want, the better you can serve their needs. Marketing channels and tactics are just the delivery mechanisms to serving those needs. With all that being said, I do recommend partnering with those that are proficient at managing the execution of each tactic. Many tactics are extremely labor-intensive and require a deep understanding of the market and the various technology platforms used to effectively manage these programs. However, when it comes to building your strategy, focus on the communication needs of your audience, then determine the channels and tactics that will help facilitate how you address those needs.

Remember this, there is no such thing as a category called “social media”. All media is social. It always has been and always will be. Only now, you can actually see what people are saying behind your back. You just need to determine what value you can contribute to the conversation – more importantly, make sure it is a reciprocal dialogue. Leave your “push, push” mentality back in the 20th century. And if you plan on playing in the social sandbox, make sure you are welcoming, respectful, appreciative, and provide value. Treat those the way you would like to be treated.

Sometimes I think marketers forget what it means to be human. In the words of Robert Fulghum, “all you really need to know, you learned in kindergarten”. Play fair. Share everything. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Don’t hit people. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Clean up your own mess. Now, stop your wining and go make some friends!

*As posted by Sarah Giarratana on IQ's blog

As a growing copywriter with a print journalism background, I love the idea of “branded journalism.” Editorial content written for brands, targeted at consumers, supported by analytics, published in digital spaces, that raises a big middle finger to the rule that advertising and journalism can never mix? Sounds good to me.

For brands, the need for journalistic content stems from growing branded communities in social spaces. As brands and consumers engage in more personal conversations via social, consumers simply demand more from them.

More than ever, consumers want brands to give them things of value outside of their products or services. A sense of community that includes transparency, responsiveness and quality branded content. That’s where brand journalists and copywriters come in.

Last week, I stumbled on the work of Kevin Maney, a veteran USA Today reporter who turned his attention to advertising after two decades of writing and reporting as a journalist.

After a successful reporting career, Maney made an interesting move. He started working with big brands like IBM to create journalistic content.

Maney co-authored a book in conjunction with IBM, but branded journalism can include works of art, articles, blog posts, books, photos or videos produced by a brand to reach an identifiable market.

Couple creating content with the market downturn, and many wannabe journalists and former reporters are turning to jobs in advertising, marketing and digital. Many seek jobs that offer more security but still challenge them to use skills from writing in the newsroom like critical thinking, deadline management and creativity.

According to Robert McChesney, co-author of Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights: The Collapse of Journalism and What Can Be Done to Fix It, public relations professionals now outnumber reporters 4-to-1. With print journalism seeing a continual decline in revenue, it isn’t surprising that some journalists are now writing for brands. Market aside however, branded journalism still causes some debate.

Critics fear that branded journalism might fully eclipse traditional journalism. Will the news report about a damaging tornado suddenly be sponsored by a home insurance company? I highly doubt it. The audience would be too quick to call a news organization on it, like they did with The Atlantic’s big advertorial fail in January.

The Atlantic fiasco highlights that we’re working in a time where the line between advertising and journalism is blurrier than ever. Marketing, digital and journalism just came crashing together, giving us a choice. We can either sit here staring or use this opportunity to create new, innovative content that people will respond to.

By we, I mean brands or agencies working on behalf of brands. New organizations don’t have the freedom to pepper advertising content in their editorial work, but ad professionals now have the unique opportunity to produce journalistic content. If done right in digital spaces, that journalistic content will likely produce results.

The key lies in planning responsibly. Branded journalism needs to be intentional, driven by strategy as much as it is by good writing. It must be targeted and audience-specific and not overstep it’s bounds. Producing journalistic content doesn’t equate to producing a Pulitzer winning news article, so brands shouldn’t try to.

How each company executes branded journalism will vary, but hopefully by the end of the year we will see more fact-based, journalistic content reaching consumers and generating revenue.

To track branded journalism, its growth and the debate surrounding it, a good place to start is Maney’s blog. Ignore the clunky WordPress theme and focus on the journalistic content. After all, content is becoming very valuable.

Pop quiz: Which company first treated online retail as a revolution and not an evolution of traditional retail? (The answer is at the end of the article).

Retailers generally understand that customers are increasingly using their mobile devices to help them shop. But more often than not, the strategy retailers use is to take their existing ecommerce website and “optimize” it for delivery on the smaller mobile screen. Not surprisingly, the usual result is the same old, traditional ecommerce.

Much of this situation is driven by the omnichannel and “responsive design” approaches where “all channels need to look and feel the same.” Part of it is because the ecommerce team is given the responsibility to extend the mobile presence (“digital is digital”) and views the mobile phone user as just another home-or-office online shopper. Another reason is that repurposed ecommerce sites are usually the fastest thing that can be done and be loosely called “mobile.”

Lastly, part of the issue is that retailers approach “mobile” as a problem to be fixed and do not appreciate the significant new opportunity it offers.

The key to understanding the potential of mobile in retail and how to leverage it comes in two steps.

First, it’s important to understand what’s different about mobile. Instead of looking at the similarities of mobile with traditional PCs and PC-based browsing, focus on what is unique both in terms of the technology and, more importantly, what is different about how people are using it.

Second, determine how to best take advantage of it in the context of retailers’ goals. Can mobile be used to increase sales, deliver better customer service, and increase customer loyalty? Can it help the retailer understand the customer better?

On the first point, mobile devices are just that: mobile. Customers are increasingly taking their phones into stores to assist them with their shopping decisions – currently more than 66% of them. That’s very different than PCs. With more than 90% of retail occurring in-store, that’s significant (and begs the question of why the ecommerce tail is wagging the in-store dog).

When a shopper is inside a store, the primary influence comes from the physical brick and mortar experience. Customers intuitively expect mobile to augment and enhance that environment and not drag them into the disassociated online world (where, incidentally, they are one click away from every other retailers’ online offerings).

Secondly, how can physical store assets be turned into a competitive advantage? How can retailers help customers? How can they deliver more of the retail brand promise?

Shoppers expect their mobile devices to connect them with the physical store. Mobile can help customers find products in-store using indoor maps and graphically show them exact product locations. It can take the shopping list and turn it into an efficient path through the store. And now that retailers know a customer’s shopping list, they can offer highly personalized offers and product suggestions.

A recent study shows that by integrating these indoor locations technologies into retail apps shoppers become five times more engaged - more engaged with products, stores and brands. And that drives increased sales and greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.

It also provides the retailer deep insights into what their customers want, what they respond to and how the retailer can improve merchandising and marketing.

That’s the true retailer – and shopper – opportunity with mobile.

And it’s just the beginning. As with many new technologies, we’re just scratching the surface. It’s impossible to look more than a few years out and predict how retailers and shoppers will connect using mobile. But one thing is for sure: it will look less like ecommerce and be more connected to the store.

Mobile also turns your physical store into an incredible asset that online retailers cannot compete with.

So, don’t treat the mobile opportunity in retail as a problem to be fixed. It’s an incredible opportunity that will provide traditional retailers a whole new set of positive interactions with their customers. Take advantage of it.

Pop quiz answer: Amazon

It’s customary for mobile tech companies to show off their new products at heavy-hitter trade show events like the Consumer Electronics Show and Mobile World Congress (MWC). However, mobile phone marketers are increasingly hawking their wares via traditional TV advertising and social media, banner ads, point-of-purchase displays and more.

Marketing execs at Apple, Samsung and Google (to name a few) are feeding hungry consumers their newest models and features with marketing slogans, celebrity endorsements and special YouTube content. The tactics successfully tease potential and existing customers into a state of anticipation for the latest new-phone launch.

There's the upcoming Google Nexus phone, which is enjoying a strong run-up in sales due its increasingly low price point for consumers and its relentless focus on quality. Vic Gundotra, vice president of engineering for Google, recently promised on a Google+ thread that the next Nexus phone will have “insanely great cameras.”

And of course, there was the recent launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 on March 14 in New York City. As one of the most anticipated gadgets slated for a 2013 release, the Galaxy S4 is featured in Samsung’s star-studded ad campaigns featuring Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan (for Galaxy S4) and Tim Burton (for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0).

In the global mobile landscape, Samsung's “Next Big Thing” campaign appears to be working; according to the Communities Dominate blog, they're dominating worldwide sales of smartphones, with almost 31 percent of the market share. Apple is second with 19.5 percent.

Where Was Apple at the MWC?

At the recent Mobile World Congress, Apple was intentionally absent. Part of the reason is that Apple famously chooses to throw Apple-branded events for big announcements. But even more eye-opening is the very public fact that Apple hasn’t released a new product for six months. Industry speculation points to a possible next iPhone launch as early as Q3 of this year.

There are the ongoing and endless rumors of an iTV launch, though TV/tech enthusiasts will tell you they've been hearing about that one for a while now. Apple investors haven’t been impressed with the brand’s stagnate performance and it’s one of the reasons stocks have plummeted in the last six months.

Samsung Winning the Mobile Race?

It’s hard to ignore Samsung’s constant innovation; they're the tortoise to the Apple’s hare in the adage, “slow and steady wins the race.” The New York Times agrees, writing, "Senior executives at mobile network operators, the companies that sell the bulk of Samsung and Apple phones around the world, said Samsung's rise to the top had not been an accident but the product of a methodical, longterm strategy to offer a more affordable, accessible alternative to Apple.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

What Mobile Markets Are Big for 2013?

According to BrandChannel.com, Apple, like Samsung and other technology giants, has been seeking growth opportunities in the emerging markets commonly referred to as the "BRIC" countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), contrary to the maturing mobile markets in Europe and the United States.

The Apple-Samsung war is tough going – in India, for example, Apple is struggling to make headway against a dominant Samsung, which was recently ranked as one of India's top three most trusted brands. The other two top brands were Sony and Nokia. Apple has yet to create a solid brand strategy in that notable market.

The most significant finding was that adding indoor location technologies to retailer mobile apps improves shopper engagement by five times. And while it’s been known that these features are beneficial for both the shopper and the retailer, this data shows that indoor location has a significant, measurable and positive impact on in-store shopping.

The data resulted from a year-long A|B test conducted by Point Inside with the goal of understanding the influence of indoor location technologies on shopper engagement. The test involved identical retail apps where one had indoor location technologies and the other did not. Collectively known as “store mode,” these capabilities include indoor maps, product locations and efficient routing through the store.

The data covers 2012 and is aggregated from multiple clients. The test included more than 1 million sessions from more than 25,000 unique users.

Turns out it’s the integration of the physical store with the app that drives the increased engagement. Store mode connects the in-store mobile shopper to the store and, in doing so, delivers significant value for both the customer and the retailer.

Shoppers can more easily find the products they want by seeing the products’ exact locations as pins on an indoor map. Shoppers can also view an entire shopping list mapped in the store, showing the most efficient route covering everything on the list. All in all, it delivers a more efficient and enjoyable experience.

Retailers benefit greatly, too: they can see customer’s shopping lists and use it to create a more compelling shopping experience through personalized offers and product suggestions. Store mode also provides deep analytics into in-store behavior, including the where time is spent in the store and the efficacy of promotions.

The increased engagement drives better connections between retailers and shoppers. Customers get better service and value. Retailers gain a better understanding of their customers and increased loyalty. Retailers also get increased sales and more efficient marketing programs.

Additional results from the study include:
• The study also shows the fastest growing segment to be shoppers who used the apps 5 or more times in a month. This segment more than doubled in size throughout the year.
• In comparing the use of coupons, those who used the app clipped more than four times as many coupons as non-app users.

In-store shopping still accounts for more than 90% of retail sales, and with more than 80% of smartphone owners using their mobile devices for shopping, the new world of shopping is already here. Pretty solid math that shows retailers have a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of store mode capabilities in their apps and increase their customer engagement five-fold.

Take advantage of it before your competition does.

Click here to view the embedded video.

More importantly, what might they do with it?

An insurance company called RSA in the Middle East has created an interactive print ad that enables readers to ask for a quote, no mobile phone or other consumer device required, though the quote comes back via the reader's mobile phone (which obviously provides the brand with contact information it could use for follow up communications).

As PSFK points out, the ad, developed by OgilvyOne, is targeted to prospective customers in Dubai, and supports the brand's "Easy as Ever" promise.

Sure it's early days in this kind of thing - a first step toward some of the interactive print concepts we saw in 'Minority Report' a decade ago - and it will need to be enhanced before it gets truly compelling.

But here, the medium is quite literally the message - an innovative "wow" moment that directly delivers on the brand's positioning.

Read more here.

SI is taking this Strip thing to a whole new level - with a little help from Lexus.

On the heels of the duo's QR code-enabled interactive print ad, the brands used Caesars Las Vegas as the canvas for a rip-roaring 3D projection mapping experience last night, featuring models from this year's big Swimsuit Edition.

The event was managed by Pearl Media, and the 3D projection experience was developed by Go2 Productions - the same team we worked with to develop our big LA Traffic Jam with Train, presented by LoopNet last month.

There are lots of things for fans of the annual issue to like - including building-size views of Kate Upton and her fellow SI models - with 3D elements, no less.

My view: As SI's first 3D experience, this is a sure sign the venerable SI "Swimsuit Edition" brand means business - and that Lexus is more than happy to help it hit the accelerator.

But what's your view? Is this whole spectacle a sign of overexposure?

Or a major splash for what is becoming a powerhouse media event?

The news will probably lead many brands to re-assess any slightly controversial advertising they have lined up, but that isn't the only thing they should consider - they also need to take into account any content marketing they have planned. After all, this really is a form of advertising; albeit subtle. Really, the question is this: is there a place for controversy in content marketing?

Talk about a grey area...

Really, it depends on a) the controversial topic in question and b) how it is handled. Yes, sex sells, but taking a controversial stance over anything - especially within branded content - is risky, so brands need to know how to take advantage of slightly dangerous topics without negatively impacting their reputation.

You should only be controversial if you're really sure that the risk will pay off. For example, if you fancy capitalising on a recent news story by writing a blog that reflects your brand's (perhaps scandalous) opinion on the matter, compare the potential benefits with the risks.

Yes, newsjacking could help you boost traffic, take advantage of Google's Query Deserves Freshness algorithm and heighten awareness of your brand. However if, in your haste to capitalise on the news, you get the facts wrong - or really rub your prospects up the wrong way - it could have a really negative impact on your reputation.

Make A/B testing your friend

If you aren't sure if the potential benefits outweigh the chance of disaster, embrace A/B testing before making any content public. For example, if you've made some great visual content that uses adult themes or language, set up a focus group for said testing. Split the group in two; present one half with the controversial content and the other with a less controversial prototype. You should be able to get a better grasp on the potential value of publishing your original idea from the responses.

Plus, take the time to learn from mistakes made by other brands or publishers. By taking these into account, you can - to a certain extent - judge what your brand can and cannot get away with.

Don't be scared of a little controversy

The important thing is not to rule out being a bit dangerous altogether. Taking a chance can get people talking about your brand (even more pertinent in this age of social media) and can elevate your traffic/rankings. Just be careful that you're handling any controversial content and its promotion with care. If you do the appropriate testing and steer clear of being scandalous for the sake of it, you should find your brand reaping all the benefits and none of the risk. Good luck!

Click here to view the embedded video.

There was that 3D projection mapping experience on an LA Hotel a while back. And in October, the brand brought a print ad to life with the help of a handy iPad.

This time out, Lexus is going a bit simpler, keying into QR codes - the scanning of which reveals models kinda-sorta hidden in SI print ads for the new IS.

Still, the pursuit of perfection could have added a little more punch to the reveals than just having the models strut toward us. Integrating with the car in some fashion - or really just doing anything a little more interesting - would have been a better pay off for going to all the trouble.

Okay, it's still pretty cool. And it's apparently just the opening act. According to ADWEEK, the Lexus IS is also included in Sport Illustrated's first-ever 3D projection mapping experience on the facade at Caesar's Las Vegas.

Get the full scoop here.

2012 could be dubbed the ‘Year of the Recall’ for the auto industry with various automakers calling back more than 14 million cars in 12 months for inspections and repairs involving safety issues.  For perspective, nearly 14.5 million cars and light trucks were sold last year.  The number of cars sold versus those recalled was a near wash by year’s end.

And it was recently announced that Toyota plans to settle an estimated $1.3 billion in class action claims involving sudden, unintended acceleration first reported in 2009 in certain Toyota, Scion and Lexus vehicles.  The anticipated settlement would be the largest payout by any auto company, ever.

What’s interesting about 2012 is that in spite of widespread safety issues, auto shopper interest saw negligible impact.  In fact, year-end sales were 13 percent better than 2011 and the best we’ve seen in the past five years.

So, what’s going on here?

Maybe it’s a recovering economy or a testament to the loyalty of certain car shoppers who, despite all odds, remain steadfastly devoted to a particular brand. Or, perhaps it’s consumer indifference, which has adapted over time to safety issues that, in recent years, have become the norm rather than the exception.

More than any other factors, I believe the reasons automakers have fared well in the midst of seemingly insurmountable obstacles are twofold.  First, there have been drastic improvements in the way auto recalls are handled. In tandem, auto marketers have optimized digital to successfully speak to—and listen to—their customers in times of crisis.

Toyota in Crisis

In 2009, on the heels of a crash reportedly caused by sudden, unintended acceleration that claimed the lives of four people, additional reports began emerging of sudden acceleration problems in a number of Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

The automaker’s top-down management style was cited as the culprit for the fundamental curtness in which an ever-growing wave of consumer complaints was addressed.  Amid accusations of ignoring hundreds of complaints for almost 10 years prior and being rebuked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for “misleading” comments in a press release, Toyota was criticized for sitting on its hands by failing to effectively communicate with its customers along the way that there was indeed a problem it was making every effort to fix.

In a February 2010 Jumpstart Automotive Group Survey, 80 percent of respondents indicated they’d buy American on the heels of the Toyota crisis and 51 percent indicated the automaker’s safety issues had changed their perception of the brand, leading them to eliminate it as a consideration for their next vehicle purchase.

Turning to Social to Calm Concerns

That same month, Toyota realized the need for open lines of communication with its customers in the wake of public backlash and turned to Digg (with roughly 40 million monthly unique visitors at the time)  to offer up Jim Lentz, Toyota Motor Sales USA president, to answer questions voted on by fans in a video Digg Dialogg.

Around the time of the first Digg campaign, the automaker also launched “Toyota Conversations” on TweetMeme to aggregate top stories being tweeted about Toyota.  It took to YouTube to post an apology by Lentz explaining the sticking accelerator pedal situation in recalled Toyota vehicles while assuring customers its dealers had already begun repairs on floor mat issues from an earlier recall.

Toyota’s better late than never PR and social media campaign proved effective, bottoming out negative consumer opinions about the brand.  Industry analysts praised Toyota’s proactive social media approach, crediting it in part to helping lessen the recall blow.

Toyota in Fast Forward: A New Approach

This past October, the automaker announced a recall of 7.4 million vehicles worldwide—the largest number of units in Toyota’s 75-year history as well as the auto industry’s single largest recall since 1996—due to a faulty power window switch that could melt and potentially catch fire.  One month later, it announced another recall involving 2.8 million vehicles due to a steering glitch.

Not only were the latest Toyota call backs mass and swift, digital communications efforts were candid and clear.  Malfunctioning components and potential hazards were outlined, and the repair process was described in detail.

Recently, Jumpstart gauged the behaviors of approximately 19 million monthly car shoppers across our network of 14 automotive websites in the weeks following the October and November recalls.  Our analysis revealed that interest in Toyota cars and trucks was virtually unaffected.

During the four-week period following news of the 7.4 million vehicle recall (from October 10 to November 10), shopper interest in Toyota cars and trucks across Jumpstart's suite of websites remained relatively strong with a meager 0.4 percent decline in share at an average of 9.0 percent compared to the first 10 months of 2012.

Following November 14, when it was announced that 2.8 million vehicles were being recalled, Toyota's shopper interest held relatively steady at a tiny 0.1 percent decline over the prior two weeks.

Sales data indicates consumers are embracing the brand in record numbers, with 9.7 million Toyota vehicles sold in 2012—its biggest sales year ever. Granted, Toyota customers are fiercely loyal in general, but the manner in which Toyota handled its latest mass recalls proved much more effective in mitigating negative opinions.

Digital marketers have access to the most powerful communications channels available today.  Never before have we had the capability of real-time, two-way dialogue—an immediate and reciprocal communications stream enabling us to allay concerns, answer questions, address problems and tap into the opinions of the people who matter most—our customers.

Using these channels to 1) acknowledge problems clearly and quickly 2) explain solutions to problems and distribute messages broadly and 3) address consumer concerns in real time is always the best approach when mitigating a crisis.

Nick Matarazzo is CEO of Jumpstart Automotive Group, an innovative marketing solutions provider for automotive advertisers.

As the name implies, crowdsourcing represents the act of a company taking a function once performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined network of people via an open call. To be effective, the network must be large. While a business can outsource the final result to the crowd, it’s important to remember that crowdsourcing isn’t the same as outsourcing. There are still significant resources that must be applied to produce the open call, generate interest, evaluate submissions, and announce winners.

Predictions for this year’s crowdsourced campaigns: The Old G in Super Bowl crowdsourcing, Doritos, is back again, and the brand is joined by Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Pizza Hut, Lincoln, Audi, and newbie, Dunder Mifflin.

Doritos: this crowdsourcing pioneer is revisiting its “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign for the sixth year in a row. It’s become a familiar favorite, but the audience’s appetite for a repeat next year will hinge on the quality of the winning submission. In this case, Doritos has thoroughly handed its brand over to its consumers, and the Super Bowl ad is the ultimate trust fall.

Pepsi: The use of user-submitted images during the half-time show with Beyonce teeters on the line of user-submitted content and true crowdsourcing. It’s an easy campaign to participate in, and the timing of its release is predictable enough that audience members will stay tuned in. It doesn’t exactly break any new ground, but it’s simple and fun.

Coca-Cola: The “Mirage” spots follow three different teams as they pursue a mirage of a Coke bottle in a hot desert. Coca-Cola has a massive social following, so even “weak” response will deliver enough content to make the spots effective. The drama of the race may be overshadowed by the excitement of the game.

Pizza Hut: The call to action for this campaign is simple: Submit videos that use the phrase, “hut hut hut” – it’s a terrific tie in to the game, and easy to participate in. Pizza Hut will show 18 clips as part of a campaign to take maximum advantage of “the big game.”

Lincoln: This brand is shaking up their stodgy image by airing humorous dramatizations of tweets regarding wacky road trips taken in a Lincoln. There will be enough elements of surprise that we expect viewers to stay tuned. This could be an important step in Lincoln’s efforts to reenergize their brand.

Audi: Audi kept the campaign simple and the risk low by allowing fans to vote on three different ads, with the ultimate choice being aired during the game. The stakes are so much lower than even the Doritos campaign, that it will be tough for the crowdsourcing gamble to pay off in any measurable way.

Dunder Mifflin: This paper company, named after the fictional paper company on “The Office” is going to garner curiosity simply by the odd nature of their brand. Dunder Mifflin has actually partnered with a crowdsourcing platform, Tongal, to create the spot, which will air in Scranton. This one is weird enough that people will likely be talking about it on Monday.

It’s critical to consider the complexity of your brand positioning if you are going to hand your brand message over to the public. Doritos fans simply need to articulate, “Doritos taste good.” Will Audi have the same success with a more complex message? Crowdsourcing is most effective for brands with well-established social channels. Brands should not use crowdsourcing to establish a social community; it’s best to build momentum within an existing and engaged community.

So, you're one of the seemingly millions of brands out there using Facebook to lure people over to your website. Chances are you've viewed recent reports about Facebook's surprisingly low activity rates ("Only 1% of people who like a Facebook page ever go back to that page") as vindication of what you've always suspected: marketing on Facebook just doesn't work.

You're not alone. The following are the 10 top reasons brands fail to tap into the real potential of Facebook. (Hint: zero of them are Facebook's fault.)

1. You made a bad first impression.
Most fans won't ever come back to a brand's page unless they feel they have good reason to. This is not totally different from how they interact with their friends' pages when you think about it. Unless the new friend has great content to go back to, there's not much of a reason to go directly to their page very often, if at all.

2. Your copy and visuals are boring.
A successful Facebook page must have concise, engaging text that's relevant to both the brand and the fans' interests. Overly long, humdrum copy will fail to capture fans' attention. Crisp, eye-catching, high-resolution visuals (photos, videos, illustrations) that clearly speak to those things visitors like about the brand in the first place will draw them in for more.

3. Your content is stale.
If fans stop by more than once only to find the same old Facebook page, they might assume the page is outdated — or worse, abandoned. It's important for marketers to give fans new ways to connect and advance their relationship with the brand or product being promoted. Keep to a consistent schedule with fresh content and ever-improving offers, and be sure to test what works with your audience.

4. Inconsistent or lazy branding.
If there's no stylistic connection between a company's Facebook page and its main website, visitors may not trust that the page is legit. Brands often spend a disproportionate amount of time, money and effort on website branding efforts, in comparison to the relative pittance reserved for complementary Facebook efforts. Keep branding consistent across all channels, so that visitors know exactly where they're going and whom they're dealing with.

5. Confusing calls to action.
Once fans arrive at a brand's Facebook page, they should have a clear idea of what to do and what's available to them. Offers and calls-to-action should be prominently displayed, and any associated instructions should be easy to follow. Be aware, however, that Facebook has guidelines concerning calls-to-actions, offers and anything else resembling blatant advertising on company pages, so it's important to make sure you're current on usage guidelines.

6. Too many clicks.
People are impatient—and want immediate gratification—especially on Facebook. If you have to use forms to give visitors access to the content they want, they're likely to click away. Make sure the desired destination can be reached in the fewest amount of clicks possible. Also, if you have to use a form to capture data, keep it short and simple.

7. You're treating all your fans the same way.
All fans are not alike – so why treat them all the same? With the right tools, marketers can compile profiles using Facebook data authorized by the user (age, gender, location, name, relationship status, etc.) as well as previous site behaviors, to get a better sense of the type of people they're reaching on Facebook. Those profiles can then be used to present offers, content and/or experiences that are the most effective in attracting fans, "Likes", website traffic or any other relevant conversion metrics.

8. You're playing it too safe.
As excited as marketers may get about shiny new objects—especially social media objects—they're often reluctant to spend the time and money to truly develop new efforts for them. Why not step out of your comfort zone and try to develop specific content based on customer segments? An even crazier idea—consider developing Facebook-specific campaigns rather than repurposing ones created with a different platform in mind.

9. Ineffective plugin use.
If Facebook plugins aren't integrated into the main company website, a great deal of potential traffic—and revenue—is being lost. Plugin tools turn consumers into brand advocates, making it easy to share site information with Facebook friends. Let visitors like or share website pages back to their Facebook profile with one click. Better yet, provide personalized suggestions to your website visitors, based on what other people are sharing as well as their own click behavior.

10. You're getting the metrics wrong.
Getting just one side of the story isn't enough. Marketing programs need to be set up so that Facebook stats and user profiles are fully integrated with all other online and offline ecommerce channels' information to create rich, detailed and fully comprehensive user profiles. Profile reports should be updated on a regular basis, so the most recent user information is always available.

With the proper attention to detail and willingness to dedicate the same energy to Facebook efforts as they do to other initiatives, online marketers will no doubt find that their 1% conversion rate is something they can control—and that it's not Facebook's fault their customers aren't more engaged.

New brands are acknowledging this shift in consumer behavior, and, in order to build quick awareness, they are encapsulating their key message—either the functional product benefit, point of difference, or positioning—into their brand name. Take for instance the brand “Eat Well Enjoy Life” that conveys the functional and emotional benefit in its name. In these instances, the brand name becomes the brand sound bite. We’ve seen several examples in food and pharmaceuticals where brands are developing their distinct sound bites to build affinity and awareness in seconds.

Thomas Keller of French Laundry fame has created a new 100% gluten-free flour. Leveraging the standard cooking instruction, “cup for cup”, and distilling it further by using the abbreviation, the brand C4C is a new product that can be used to replace regular cooking flour. C4C telegraphs the key benefit that this product can be easily used with current recipes in the same proportions to create favorite baked goods, now just gluten-free.

The pharmaceutical brand, Help, purposely chose its name to minimize consumer confusion. Each product starts with Help followed by a consumer problem, such as Help I’m tired. With such communication, consumers clearly understand the product benefit, leaving nothing to doubt. A brilliant example of naming that gets to the point and stands out against the industry norm of fanciful, scientific sounding nomenclature.

Being direct about its product promise is the brand Good Food Made Simple. While the brand name is a bit lengthy, it is so straightforward that it effectively builds affinity. The brand then backs up the promise and gives its name meaning with these statements on its website: “Our commitment is in our name: we make good food, simple. Simple to make. Simple to trust. Simple to enjoy.”

As a marketer, what can you do to pique the interest of your over-messaged, skimming consumer? Imagine yourself in a brand speed-dating situation. You have five seconds to tell your target shopper your story and what you can bring to the relationship. Try taking your positioning statement, key brand benefit, or elevator pitch and put it into plain English to create a brand name. For existing brands, apply this clarity and simplicity of messaging to all forms of communication from packaging to digital. Consumers are pleading: skip the marketing jargon and just get to the point!

How are you bringing B2C approaches to your B2B marketing?

Are you doing it at all?

For far too many B2B marketers, there's a view that never the two should meet. But as I write in my book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, it's critical that B2B marketers realize business people are just that - people. And their exposure to B2C marketing approaches in their personal lives sets expectations for B2B marketing, whether B2B marketers like it or not.

But some savvy B2B marketers have caught on - big time.

Case in point: Our client LoopNet, the #1 online marketplace for commercial real estate.

Over the last few months, LoopNet has launched an integrated campaign that's predicated on a simple, yet powerful message: If your commercial listings aren't advertised on LoopNet, they may as well be invisible. That's because only LoopNet drives traffic to commercial real estate listings like literally no other option can.

Print, direct mail and online advertising developed by has articulated this theme in compelling, brand consistent fashion.

So when LoopNet decided to fete the luminaries of Los Angeles commercial real estate, we got to thinking: What if we took our message and super-sized it? What if we used a full-motion, building-size canvass to drive home the LoopNet value proposition in an amazing new way?

In short: I wanted to bring 3D projection to our campaign.

So I reached out to Josh Cohen, the CEO of Pearl Media (and its partner Go2 Productions), which has worked on a number of 3D projection mapping experiences for B2C brands like Lexus, Perrier and Chevy Sonic.

I asked him straight up: "Do you think you can make a building in downtown LA go invisible?" He thought about it, and then said: "Yes, I think we can do that."

The concept began gaining traction, and eventually became LA Traffic Jam, Presented by LoopNet - a spectacular, VIP event featuring a private concert by TRAIN ("Drive-by") and our 3D projection experience.

Multidimensional direct mail invites featured cool, die-cut guitar bodies, iPods featuring TRAIN music and a call to action to join LoopNet "at the Corner of Epic & Mind-Blowing."

Fans, attendees and participants could join the conversation via mobile & online at the hashtag #looptrafficjam.

And video of the projection was placed on a special landing page and on YouTube. The client even decided to give viewers the ability to share the video via social media for the chance to win a $1250 Fender guitar signed by the band.

The event was last Thursday night - and it was a blast. Testament to a client who thrives on innovation and embraces a decidedly B2C approach to blockbuster B2B campaigns.

There's a making-of video in the works that I'll share when it's ready, along with more details of what worked, and what didn't, as client and team analysis comes in.

In the meantime, give it a view - and enter for your own chance to win that signed guitar.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though! First, let’s look at the differences between stock and flow content. Stock content is timeless, durable and boasts enduring relevancy. Flow content is timely, fresh and of-the-moment.

Imagine the red line represents stock and the white lines represent flow. The two must be used in conjunction for best success, allowing marketers to simultaneously reap the respective benefits.

What’s so great about stock content?

It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Stock content drives steady, continuous traffic to websites; providing guidance and education that will be as relevant in six months’ time as it is now. It supports any long-term brand strategies, too and creates lots of content-rich pages for Google to crawl – which can only benefit brands’ traffic/rankings.

I still need flow content though, right?

Absolutely... flow content helps keep brands in the public eye on a day-to-day basis – particularly through the publication of fresh industry news and updates on the various social media channels. These updates can create social signals too (such as shares, RTs and likes) which again can boost traffic/rankings. What’s more, flow helps brands engage with their fans/followers and allows them to take advantage of the Query Deserves Freshness algorithm favoured by Google. Basically, it keeps brands hot!

...and used in partnership with each other?

Used in conjunction, stock and flow content helps brands effortlessly reach prospects at different stages of the buying cycle.This partnership helps steadily build the brand’s reputation as a publisher of high-quality, valuable content; all the while keeping it firmly in the public eye.

The pair are great apart, of course - but to get the best of both, using them together in content marketing strategies is the best way forward.