In an unpredictable world, how can success be predictable? Les McKeown, author of Predictable Success, joins us for a candid chat about visionary leadership, and how Les uses social media to market his book. Interesting perspective from someone who’s by his own admission “very old” 
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Who represents your brand on social media? It’s a question that excites and agitates marketers all over the place. Some would prefer not to have to think about it at all.
And then you have companies like Coke, who recruit customers to be their ambassadors.
Expedition 206 is a year-long tour of three “happiness ambassadors” who are discovering what makes people happy in Coke’s 206 markets around the world.
I asked Coke’s digital marketing senior manager Anne Carelli how they came up with the idea, and how it’s working for them. You’ll be able to read more analysis on this in my online marketing column in the next NZ Marketing Magazine.
SY. What are your marketing and comms objectives for Expedition 206?
Coke: Our goal for this program is to unite people around the theme of happiness and bring our global “Open Happiness” campaign to life. Coca-Cola has been inviting people around the globe to enjoy the simple things in life for more than 120 years, and that spirit of positivity and optimism is at the heart of Expedition 206. Our objectives include creating the opportunity for engagement both off-line and online in social media in all the countries where we operate as well as increasing the positive chatter in the digital space related to our Company and brands.
SY. Where did the idea come from?
Coke: The idea originated from our desire to create a program which would increase positive mentions / discussions of our Company and brands in social media, create new presences on Social Network sites and in social communities as well as create a group of brand ambassadors around the world. We also wanted to research happiness and determine what are the similarities and differences in what makes people happy around the world.
SY. What challenges did you face getting it up and running?
Coke: Looking back on the planning of the program, we didn’t have any major obstacles. One particular challenge was selecting the finalists for the experience. We had so many incredible candidates that we had to work very hard to narrow the selection down to the three final teams. Candidates from all over the world submitted applications and audition videos, and we brought 18 people to Atlanta for a rigorous interview and audition process. We were looking for specific candidates with the right mix of personality, technical skill, health and mindset to complete this unprecedented journey. The final teams were presented to the online community for voting and it was a very close race!
SY. What has been the best thing about it so far?
Coke: One of the best elements of this program has been learning about the truly amazing people the Happiness Ambassadors have connected with in over 100 countries so far on their journey. By utilizing social media platforms we are able to share these stories with the world and create spaces where consumers are able to engage with the Ambassadors and their stories.
SY. What have you been able to do through social media that you couldn’t do with anything else?
Coke: Through sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and blog updates, Ambassadors have been able to maintain constant communication with the social media sphere and share their amazing stories. And vice-versa; fans can track and participate in the journey online and on the platform they chose. Additionally through crowdsourcing opportunities, fans participate in the journey by sending the Ambassadors messages, sharing their personal stories of happiness and giving the Ambassadors recommendations on how to find happiness when visiting their country.
SY. For a huge brand like Coke, having your customers represent the brand seems like a really smart idea. Any plans to continue this into the future with other, similar expeditions/campaigns?
Coke: This is a big part of how we do things at Coke. It’s not a gimmick; it’s a different way of operating. As for future programs building off of this expedition, you’ll just have to stay tuned!
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We're just like this guy ... every day
This blog has been a wee bit quiet lately, because there’s a lot going on with us.
I thought it might be helpful to get the word out about some of the upcoming excitement.
(That’s this Saturday!) BarCamp is an unconference, which means anyone can speak, which includes me. I’ll be debuting my Ragtag Leadership concept and look forward to some great discussions.
Our 2-day masterclass will be in Wellington on Monday and Tuesday next week. It’s very soon, but I don’t think BrightStar would mind a few late registrations! These are comprehensive and very interactive, we always come away with some good questions. Register here.
Social media affects everyone, including accountants. This presentation will look at how social media is affecting internal communication, and also introduce some Ragtag Leadership ideas. Register here.
I won’t be speaking but will be attending this gathering all about the popular blogging platform (and for many sites, including this one, a full content management system) WordPress. Details here.
Our very successful one-day workshop continues in Auckland at the University of Otago centre on Wednesday August 18th. We’ve had great feedback from these workshops, particularly about the personal touch we bring to the workshops. We’d love you to join us if you’re new to social media (or even in need of a refresher course).
Another BarCamp, but this time all about Google. Not speaking, just attending (as long as I’m in Auckland) and listening and learning! Info here.
I’ll be holding a special one-day workshop for educational marketers wanting to harness social media to reach potential students. I’ll also be giving a presentation in the main summit, alongside some pretty high-calibre presenters including our friend Charlotte Mayne from Lincoln University, who’ll talk about how Lincoln revitalised its brand without losing its essence. Register for the summit here.
We’ve also got some exciting in-house engagements with clients coming up, including a talk to some research scientists, educators and PR people. It’s really exciting to see awareness of social media’s influence beyond marketing and PR. These are truly exciting times to be alive.
If you’re interested in getting us in for a workshop, or to speak at an event, please contact us.
Okay, so maybe I exaggerated. Websites do work, and our website plays an important part in letting people know who we are and what we do.
But most of our enquiries don’t come through our website. Our latest two speaking engagements came through Twitter and Facebook respectively.
A simple benefit of social media is being available on multiple channels, so you can serve your clients/customers more effectively.
Also interesting; these enquiries came through a personal channel, rather than the official Twitter account or Facebook page. Again, it points back to the increasing importance of personal brand.
(Clever calendar pic borrowed from this ingenious page)
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Julien Smith, coauthor of Trust Agents, was a keynote speaker at the recent Social Media Junction conference. Before the day began, I asked Julien for his social media advice for newcomers to social media, as well as seasoned veterans. Here’s what he said:
I felt like I already knew Julien, because I listen to Media Hacks, the podcast where Julien joins Chris Brogan, Mitch Joel, Hugh McGuire, C.C. Chapman, and Christopher S Penn get together and have highly intelligent, advanced and entertaining conversations about social media – and stuff.
I met (and interviewed) Julien’s Trust Agents coauthor Chris Brogan at Marketing Now last year.
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Auckland Theatre Company‘s Anna Connell takes us behind the curtain of social media marketing for an arts organisation. A must for every service business, because we’re all in the entertainment industry now.
We’ve covered a very similar subject before with Josie Campbell from The Edge. Josie’s done some pretty awesome things recently using social media.
On a more sombre note, this episode is dedicated to one of New Zealand’s great advocates for social media in the arts and culture sector, Paul Reynolds, who we lost tragically over the weekend. Read one of the many online tributes to Paul.
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Simon's iPhone alarm goes off on stage, while Alistair Helms laughs
Didn’t make it to Social Media Junction? Missing a conference is never the same in the age of Twitter.
There’s photos, videos, and tweets. There’s a pretty darn thorough writeup in StopPress.
I got asked what I got out of it (see my comments and others’), especially considering I probably know a lot of the stuff already. Admittedly, I didn’t get a whole lot of new knowledge. But that’s not why people go to conferences.
Conferences are about making personal connections, meeting the “imaginary friends” you already know online (and making sure they’re real!).
Conferences are often about getting inspired to do what you already know you should do. Never underestimate inspiration.
I had a huge dose of inspiration from Julien Smith, one of the keynote speakers, who was also an “imaginary friend” I listen to on the Media Hacks podcast. Julien’s also co-author with Chris Brogan of the book Trust Agents.
Julien’s presentation, which kicked off the day, went to the heart of adopting social media – the need to be courageous and choose innovation. Here’s a taste of what he said.
It was great to speak to Julien before and after the conference (video coming soon), and to be challenged by this NYT bestselling author to do what I do (reasonably) well – write.
So watch this space. And it won’t be a book about social media, it’ll be about leadership, because that’s what social media will require of you. I’d better hurry up, the topic is on the radar already.
Other highlights:
I caught up with marketing veteran Steve Bridges, who at 69 years old has just bought an iPhone. He was loving the conference, enjoying the new information while also reassured that good marketing is what it always has been – creating a customer-centric organisation.
While Social Media Junction had good representation from telcos – with Telstra from Australia and Vodafone, Orcon and 2degrees from New Zealand – it was a bit of a mystery why Telecom weren’t part of the practitioners panel. It was a mystery to Rebecca from Telecom, too, who nevertheless was an enthusiastic live tweeter during the conference.
Fortunately, Rebecca gave a great presentation at last week’s Social Media Club Auckland. Video coming soon…
I had the privilege of chairing a bloggers’ panel made up of some veteran bloggers (and one newcomer): Bernard Hickey, Mauricio Freitas, Russell Brown, Alistair Helm and Greer McDonald.
Themes from the panel, in no particular order:
And finally, here are my top 5 tips for compelling content:
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What would business look like if we all had greater empathy? Tara Hunt, a speaker at the recent Connect Now conference, shares her vision of a world where companies and communities actually work together.
Because you’ve been so attentive, you also get to see Tara’s presentation slides. Well done!
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What was Connect Now like? It was a blast. It was also an absolute privilege to be involved, as MC and also as a workshop presenter on the third day of the conference.
I’ve tweeted and blogged about it elsewhere, but I thought now was a good time to sum up my personal highlights of the conference. I haven’t included everything, just the things that stood out to me most as I surveyed the clouds on my trip back to NZ.
One of the things I discussed with friends on the trip was the slow food movement. I’m going to take the same approach to these blog posts. One thought at a time. Here’s the first thought … are you ready?
It’s the second time I’ve met Gavin Heaton, and I am constantly impressed by how thoughtful he is, in both senses of the word.
Gavin’s thoughtful in the way he sees the strategic implications of social media (see his presentation here). And he’s also thoughtful in the sense of being considerate, recommending the Posterous blog for last year’s conference (which continued to be a valuable resource this year) and using Twitter to curate the conference experience, rather than just amplifying it.
It wasn’t anything that Gavin particularly said that struck me, it was who he was in the conference.
There’s something in that for brands.
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Social media has great potential to change the way we do business, and even run countries. But technology alone won’t get us there. In this interview I talk with Toke Møller, one of the people involved in the Art of Hosting, a way of thinking about communication.
The Art of Hosting is a bit hard to describe briefly, so I asked Toke to sum it up. His reflections are quite profound, not only for how we “do” social media but also how we “do” life.
I’d love to hear what you think.
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In May 2009 I talked to some Otago University students about why social media is important – not just because it’s new technology, but because it’s a symptom and enabler of a massive social shift that’s happening.
Over the next few weeks I’ll delve into the roots of this revolution, but first it would pay to explain what this revolution actually is.
In the book “Dawn to Decadence“, historian Jacques Barzun defines a revolution as “the violent transfer of power and property in the name of an idea”. He goes on:
We have got into the habit of calling too many things revolutions. Given a new device or practice that changes our homely habits, we exclaim: “revolutionary!” But revolutions change more than personal habits or a widespread practice. They give culture a new face.
Is this a time of violent transfer of power and property? Are we in genuinely revolutionary times?
Just ask the newspaper industry. Or the movie industry. Or music, or TV. There’s violence (financially speaking), and there’s transfer of power and property. And not all the news is bad, either.
But is it just technology driving this? No. There are a whole bunch of factors that have brought us where we are today. Starting soon, we’ll examine them in-depth.
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