[ paul isakson ]

A Social Media Conspiracy Theory via The Kaiser Edition

The Kaiser Edition has posted some very insightful and interesting thoughts on the whole "social media" epidemic that is sweeping through the marketing world. On top of it being those things, it's also pretty entertaining.

It lines up with something I've been thinking about lately too. There are a lot of people out there who claim to be social media strategists and experts simply because they're doing some of these things themselves.

Just because you're doing something doesn't mean you're qualified to advise people on it. I know a lot of people who technically can drive a car but I'd never want them to try to teach someone else how to do it.

Anyway, give the presentation a browse. It's thought-provoking at a minimum.

You can also find it on SlideShare if you prefer to view it there.

Converse wants to converse

Gareth called my attention to these Converse videos/commercials making big, bold statements. In addition to the above video, there are five more on their conversetv YouTube channel. These same videos plus an additional one appear on their web site with the following statement:

"These short films are about being original. Feel free to share them, question them or better them. Just don't do nothing."

Below each of the videos on the Converse site, they link to a Facebook fan group that started in December of 2006 and encourage people to discuss them there. At least one person has taken them up on the request to "better them." Interesting conversations about the videos are taking place in the YouTube comments for each as well.

There is a lot I like about this campaign. They are using TV commercials to start a dialogue. They are pointing out the elephants in the room. They are recognizing fans of the brand where they already exist instead of trying to force the conversation on their own terms/own site. They are freely inviting people to challenge, alter or share their videos. They are provoking conversation and encouraging action.

All of this seems very appropriate for a brand whose name means, "to talk informally with another or others; exchange views, opinions, etc., by talking." And let's not forget the courage it took to see this approach through.

My challenge is, what is Converse doing to help right the things they're calling out? I can see that those who wear Chucks might have an anti-marketing voice. But let's not forget that Converse is a brand that sells product, I don't know if calling these things out into the open to start a dialogue between people is enough. I think people might expect more if you're going to make statements like these.

Yes, they're participating in (PRODUCT) RED™. But that doesn't really relate to what they're saying in these videos. As you can see in some of the comment threads on YouTube, more than a few people are calling them out for being hypocritical.

I'd love to know what others think. Comments are very, very welcome and encouraged...

a site to see: wolff olins

I happened across the new Wolff Olins site back in October sometime and mentally flagged it because the topic of their home page is one I've been noodling around since before getting up to Minneapolis and am going to put up a post about soon. (Posts are still slow and short due to spending time working on establishing a new life up here. I'm going to start getting back into the swing of things soon. Promise.)

Anyway, explore their site when you get a moment. I really like what they've done with it.

dove onslaught remix

Looks like Rye Clifton agrees that Unilever's doublespeak needs to be addressed.

found

unilever's doublespeak

Dove and Axe are both referenced frequently now for creating powerful, effective marketing communications that are focused and relevant to their respective audiences. Maybe doing such a good job with these two brands' marketing is why The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is calling out Unilever for saying one thing  and doing the opposite.

With Dove's Real Beauty campaign, they're taking a stand against marketing that creates an unrealistic and largely unattainable ideal for what beauty means for women. All the while with Axe (Lynx in the UK), they're using the exact form of marketing that Dove is going against - portraying models that fit this bill of unrealistic and unattainable beauty as lust-crazed women who can't help but ravish a man/boy wearing Axe.

It's a great example of how people are becoming more empowered to call for honesty from brands on a larger scale (or their parent companies in this case) and demand some kind of recourse. Sony Bravia is facing some of this same scrutiny right now, at least within the art and ad communities, and has addressed it publicly.

It will be very interesting to see if anything more happens here on the Unilever front beyond the quotes that appeared in the LA Times article.

JetBlue: A Brand Being Honest

JetBlue's struggles of late have been very well documented. So what do you do if you're JetBlue? You come out and admit you screwed up and explain what you are doing to try to fix it. Thank you for your courage and honesty JetBlue & David Neeleman. I find it quite refreshing.

Trends for 2007: My Contributions

Earlier I posted about PSFK requesting that people share their thoughts about trends for 2007 via YouTube videos. Since visiting the various videos back then and a few that have popped up since, I have had some thoughts of my own that didn't appear yet so I thought I'd go ahead and put them up.* Here they are...

Some thinking on green products and brands for 2007:

A thought on the space Second Life occupies and honesty in marketing for 2007:

[*please don't be too harsh on my iMovie skills. these two videos were my first cracks at using the program. i had to cut out the start where i turned the camera on and the end where i shut it off as well as wanting to add in some title cards and opening music.]