Crowdsourced! Eight Ways to Involve Your Most Important Allies

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 01 Feb 2012

Brand-hatched crowdsourcing is nothing new. But constructive crowdsourcing with usable output? Crowdsourcing that evokes a palpable sense of togetherness? That’s new. Steps being taken by nimble branders like Warby Parker and Betabrand to engage (and we mean really engage) fans and enthrall newcomers will soon become tomorrow’s staples for sourcing success.

Want in on the unique new ways brands can use advanced crowdsourcing to engage followers? Read on. Each of the eight ideas we’ve carefully chosen has the potential to send your engagement numbers through the roof, as long as requests are within reason and rewards are provided.

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Balancing Privacy and Transparency in Social Media

Posted by Jon Thomas, 19 Dec 2011

This post originally appeared in our December issue of "Live Report from the Future of Marketing," our monthly Post-Advertising newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

The art of tightrope walking is one of those feats whose objective is simple but accomplishing it is not: The walker must travel from one end of the tightrope to the other without falling off. All of us at some point in our lives have tried a version of this, usually on the curb of a sidewalk, and have quickly realized that it’s not as easy as it looks. It takes balance and concentration to keep from falling. Make it a high wire and the difficulty increases exponentially: Failure now has much more dire consequences.

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The distention of consumers altered Coke, Gap, and Dominos in 2011

2011: The Year Consumers Took Over Brands

Posted by Andrea Fjeld, 08 Dec 2011

Out: brands barking at consumers.

In: consumers taking control.

From Coke’s recent cancelation of its white Christmas cans to Gap reverting back to its signature logo, 2011 seemed to be the year of empowered consumers. But we’ve been writing about this phenomenon for some time now. The proof is out there that we have major influence over what big corporations can and cannot do (just study the branding needs of Occupy Wall Street for inspiration). So what could 2012 have in store for us?

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Occupy Wall Street, Defining Your Brand, and Storytelling

Posted by Jon Thomas, 28 Nov 2011

This post originally appeared in our October issue of "Live Report from the Future of Marketing," our monthly Post-Advertising newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

As the Occupy Wall Street movement starting to fade with the public still confused as to exactly what their story exactly was, many lessons can be learned from their efforts to change the world and why their movement never really gained traction. Could it have been because they were letting others define who they were and what their message was?

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Three Secrets to Successful Branded Viral Marketing

Posted by Jon Thomas, 02 Nov 2011

Like the search for the Holy Grail, viral marketing success has been an elusive treasure. While we see a new wave of viral content every day, there’s no clear path toward creating the next big thing. If there were, I’d be teaching my cat ninja skills (maybe I already am) and filming my twin babies talking to each other while watching the money pour in.

As difficult as it is to create viral media, it’s even harder when it’s branded. Audiences typically wouldn’t dare be caught propagating viral content produced by a brand. It’s sort of like inviting your parents to your party: They may be perfectly fine people with a great sense of humor, but just the fact that they’re, well, parents makes them inherently uncool. So what's a brand to do?

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Occupy Wall Street Does Have a Message: Telling the Protesters’ Story

Posted by Andrea Fjeld, 20 Oct 2011

Contributing authors: Charles Coxe, Chuck Wentzel, Karen Nagy, and Katie Edmondson

CNN business reporter Alison Kosik tweeted to the world on October 4: “Purpose in 140 words or less: bang on the bongos, smoke weed!” She later apologized and deleted the tweet, but to be fair, she was far from the only otherwise sensible journalist who curiously dismissed a massive grassroots uprising taking hold, for many of them, right outside their front door. (Erin Burnett said on air, “What are they protesting? No one seems to know.” Most Fox News anchors and reporters dismissed the protestors as hippies, druggies, and do-nothing college kids, while presidential candidate Herman Cain dusted off The Man’s Woodstock-era exhortation to “get a job.” Even NPR executive editor Dick Meyer explained away his organization’s lack of coverage by claiming the protests didn’t “involve large numbers of people, prominent people, a great disruption or an especially clear objective.”)

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