A student, 17, said in an interview: “‘No matter how high prices are, I’ll find a way to smoke. It’s quite an addiction now and it’s also a social habit.”

Reading some of the comments made in the article on the Straits Times Forum, one can’t help by feel that the best way to eradicate this smoking problem is to ban it. Well, I totally disagree with Singapore BANNING something again. For one, I am quite ashamed of chewing gums being banned in Singapore as it kind of reflects how our countrymen can’t handle a simple thing like a gum by sticking it all over the place. But that’s another story altogether.

I think that one of the suggestions by spfairley “e) introduce a “tobacco addiction ban” (like the gambling addiction ban), which can be filed by concerned family members or the Government.” is approaching the problem in the right manner. The target audience of anti-smoking messages should be directed at the NON-SMOKERS. Yes, that’s right.

The latest HPB Anti-smoking campaign is a flop in my opinion. They are trying to tell a story to SMOKERS who don’t have a problem with smoking. HPD tries to create a problem by telling the smokers that their kids will pick up smoking as well, but seriously, do they care? I found this post while finding pictures of the ads of the latest campaign and I think the blogger aptly pointed out the uselessness of the campaign. Click here to see HPB’s initiatives in their latest campaign.

Seth Godin is right when he says that people won’t take notice if they don’t have a problem. In this case, HPB marketers should create a “problem” for the non-smokers family members.

If we think carefully about the “worldviews” of young smokers, they won’t be deterred by gory images of blackened lungs or throats affected by cancer. As what the student has mentioned earlier, “it’s also a social habit”. Youths are concerned what their boyfriends/girlfriends/ friends think of them.

Anti-smoking messages should be directed at boyfriends/girlfriends of smoker youths. A message like “Have you ever wondered what the smell of a non-smoker boy/girlfriend breath? Kissing is sweeter that way” Now, we are creating a problem for the boy/girlfriends of smokers. I am pretty sure most non-smokers dislike the taste of smokers when they kiss them. With these messages going out to non-smokers, we are making them think about the possibility of having a non-smoker as a boy/girlfriend => future life companion.

They will tell a story to themselves and say,” Yeah, my previous boyfriend (non-smoker)’s breath smells way better.” Then, hopefully the persuasion to their loved ones is kickstarted, and with the power of their closed ones asking them to give up smoking, the smokers will be willing to give it a try.
For those with no boy/girlfriends, their close friends will come into effect. Make the message personal to the non-smoker friends and they will let the story run by itself.

Food for thoughts?

I like the way in which the NPS gives you a snapshot of how your brand stands out among your consumers, in terms of their loyalty towards the brand. It’s simple, but yet so common sensical.

But some questions/ thoughts came to mind as I read further on this concept…

How does the question “How likely is it that you would recommend Company X to a friend or colleague?” brings out the issue of brand loyalty? Does it mean that just because I recommend Nike, I will never buy Adidas?

But the question stands out as the key question across industries. I believe it is because it entails the following concepts
a) Top of Mind => Brand Leadership
b) Brand Favourability => created through Positive Experiences, supported by front line sales representatives.
c) Involvement of Opinion Leaders => if someone is very likely to recommend something, the WOM effect is huge, hence making the brand positioned for greater chance of success.

If NPS is indeed proven further to be THE one measure needed to calculate a brand’s success, then social media will indeed play a bigger role in brand’s strategy. By constantly engaging consumers on the online world through Facebook, Twitter and the Next Big Thing of Social Media, the familiarity effect breeds within the consumers, making them like the brand even more, and hence becoming a Promotor of the brand consciously/ subconciously.

What are your thoughts on this?

A question comes to mind. Why then are most brands still finding it hard to embrace social media in their marketing plans?

Possible answers that I thought of
1) Many marketers out there are still traditional. The ones who have been in the business long enough knows (or think they know) that Facebook, Twitter and the like will eventually die off. One way or another.

2) Many marketers are afraid to try. These tools are so new, the ROIs on them are well, unknown. Marketers are afterall employees. The ricebowls are still more important than creating the next big thing in marketing eh?

3) Marketers are often bogged down by too much day-to-day fire fighting to truly focus on social media, which sapps even more energy out of them. The constant monitoring (think Facebook updates, comments and Tweets) is no easy tasks, and seriously who wants to take up the extra responsibility?

The everlasting struggle between theoretical knowledge and actual implementation prevents marketers from doing great things for brands. A pity really. What’s your take on it?

There are many reasons why Facebook and Twitter are so much in the plans of marketers these days. Here’s my list of reasons why, because they are…

1)  Free for use! Good for showing your bosses extremely favourable ROIs!

2) Communication tools! Allow brands to instantly strike a conversation with their consumers

3) Where the consumers are! Millions around the world are getting on to Facebook and Twitter, and the growth rates are exponential. No reason why brands shouldn’t invade these space.

4) Engaging! Brings a whole new meaning to engaging your audience, with the ability to generate content and allowing your consumers to participate as well.

A question struck me today. Was MSN Messenger ever part of any online marketing strategy? Looking back at the list of reasons, online chat has exactly the same characteristics as Facebook and Twitter (other than generating content, in terms of pictures & videos). Was there ever a hype over such online chat tools back in those days when MSN took the world by storm?

If not, I guess such online chat tools should also be incorporated as part of a brand’s strategy in reaching out to the consumers. From what I understand in a consumer insight interview that I was involved in, the teen interviewed mention that Facebook, though engaging and full of user-generated content, tend to be one way communication in the sense that replies are not instant. For example, comments on status updates/ photos are often not reciprocated immediately, and people may be too busy/ lazy to check back on the responses to their previous comment. In today’s  fast paced society (at least in Singapore), people are seeking instant gratification. When they are disengaged, it’s hard to get them interested once more.

That was how I thought about online chat. Imagine having  CLEO’s Aunt Agony as a MSN contact. Girls having relationship issues/ family problems can go online and get advice instantly. Being there for the consumers when they need you the most, talk about being “top-of-the-mind” among your consumers. 

So, was online chat ever fully utilised before by brands? Any best practices? Do let me know if you have heard of some success stories.

Do we
1) Wait for social media networks/ applications/ inventions to take shape before deciding to jump in with a proper strategy?

2) Jump right in like a headless chicken, mingle with the consumers immediately, wherever they are.

3) Don’t bother? Just stick to traditional advertising, since consumers will get tired of Facebook ultimately.

Personally, I am not fine with the idea of Option 1. Brand leadership is instantly lost should any company chase consumers, instead of leading the consumers along. By allowing the consumers to run ahead of the brand, you are simply giving consumers the power to understand things better than you. For example, Facebook Fan Pages, I think any consumers with an average level of IQ will subconsciously switch off to Fan Pages like these and say to themselves: ” Another one of those company XYZ’s marketing efforts. Don’t bother unless I love Company XYZ to bits!”

I am more inclined towards Option 2. When things are new and uncertain and no one knows where things will lead to, I guess it’s worth a gamble to just jump straight in and learn as we go along. Advantages being the experiential learning comes in with the whole experience and first mover advantages will prevail in one way or other. Also, when the dust settles, consumers can see for themselves the brands who are really in there not for the consumers, but for the love of changing with the times. That’s what makes a good company, a good brand. Something that evolves as we go along.

Of course, this is all too airy fairy in today’s corporate world, with all the regulations and slow processes involved in large MNCs. No sane management will tell their charges to “jump in like a headless chicken”. They will probably first ask the question ” Where’s the profit in this?” That’s what limits the creativity of marketers, but that’s a whole new story altogether.

As for Option 3, I guess no modern day employee will be daring enough to say that to their management. They won’t tell their bosses, ” If you are not going to trust me without seeing any credible results at the end of it all, then I can’t do anything about it.” Ultimately, like it or not, they have to engage in new social media somehow.

Think a marketer’s job is easy in the new age? Well, my only complain is that we ought to be paid more, for all the dumb-ass challenges we face in selling the brand’s products.

Read the interview with the creators of this interesting music video by Jeff Beer @ Creativity Online.

Things I like about this creative idea.

1) Involving the band’s fans
This act alone goes to show how much the band value their fans. Searching my limited knowledge vault on music videos in my brain resulted in a zero hit for MVs with fans in them. Kudos to Sour for this effort. I am sure the fans in their MV will remember Sour for the rest of their lifes. Talk about customer loyalty.

2) Recruitment of Fans through a Social Network
From the Inteview,
The people in the video are fans of the band. What was the recruitment process like?
Kirkland: It kicked off just by posting a little call on the band’s website.

Kawamura: That and a Japanese social network called Mixi, which is like Facebook there. That and just generally getting word out through the band.

More reasons for companies to at least jump on the social network wagon.

3) Working around budget constraints and keeping things in context of the song.
My first reaction to the song was that “A pity that the song isn’t catchy enough!” (See my Twitter update 45). But after reading the interview and the English translation of the song, I guess the meaning behind the song more than makes up for it. Still, a song that is as catchy as Wondergirl’s Nobody could have propelled Sour’s reputation to new heights.

Also, the budget constraint issue serves to show that with new technology, all we really need is a tinkering of the braincells. There’s no need for big budgets to film creative TVCs (in the case of companies and brands). Entrepreneurial creativity at its best!

I love the following points:

1) Long Term Thinking needed.
“You can’t just turn social media on and off; It’s about building long term relationships. Failure comes when your web vendor or digital team creates social media ‘campaigns’ that focus on short term acquisition or list building. Organizations need to ask themselves what kind of relationship they have today and what kind of relationship they want in the future.”

Once you start, you shouldn’t stop. For 2 very simple reasons:
1) You lose the trust of your very loyal customers; and that’s one thing that takes forever to get back.
2) Online presence is here to stay. Future lives are on it. There is no escaping from this fact. So why stop?

Start & Don’t Stop was also mentioned in my past post here. A resonating lesson.

2) Failure is inevitable, keep on pushing.
“The default state of a social media initiative is failure.” Developing a solid relationship with your constituents is hard. It takes commitment, experimentation and probably failure (or two) to get it right. Don’t let failure stop further innovation if your first initiative doesn’t create a community. Learn from your failure(s) to engage your audience on their terms.

There are no SOPs for social media intiatives, to each his own. Learn from your own experience and improve from there. What works for Nike, doesn’t necessary works for adidas.

Chanced upon this @ Technobabble 2.0

I love how it was summed up accurately & rightfully on Slide 30.

The Inconvenient Truth

There are no best practices
- Every project is a custom fit.
- You learn as you go.

What are the best practices for a conversation?
What about for a relationship?

You can read books, attend seminars, but it all comes back to who you are and who they are.

There is one best practice to which there is no exception…
BE REAL