Escape the Mundane + Experience the Remarkable

Who’s Behind the Brand? 15 Examples of Companies Rocking Social Media

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Marketing

The beauty of social media from a brand standpoint is the ease in which a community can be created. But all too often I see the company fail without knowing they failed. Let me explain in example form:

If you go to a convention, a meet & greet, a seminar, networking event or any other physical meeting with companies, do the booth representatives magically talk from a megaphone while hiding behind a huge logo? Hopefully no. But rather they have name badges on and are pressing palms with the folks. They’re answering questions and chatting with everyone they can, even the competition. To put in other words, they are being human.

So if this is how representatives act while on location, why are so many brands sitting faceless on a podium when it comes to Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and other social network websites? It makes no sense.

But lucky for us, there are also many brands who understand the power of social media. That it’s a two-way conversation and that listening is as powerful, if not more powerful, than speaking. Below are 15 examples of brands I adore. Nor just because they have an excellent company, but because they get the idea of being social. Here we go:

Twitter

First let’s look at a few companies that are rocking their Twitter following:

Dogfish Head Brewery

Dogfish Head Twitter

Besides having extremely tasty beer and an entertaining show on TV, Dogfish Head Brewery is the essence of a solid social media strategy. They interact with their fans and tweet nothing but valuable information.

SyFy

Craig does a wonderful job in promoting the SyFy brand on twitter. He frequently has Q&A sessions as well as many fun contests and giveaways.

Research in Motion (Blackberry)

If you have a Blackberry (& a Twitter account) and you are not following these guys, you’re missing out. They are on top of the ball when it comes to customer service and fan interaction. Have a question or concern about your Blackberry? Tweet it to them and you’ll quickly have your answer.

Foursquare

There’s not much to say other than the folks at Foursquare cannot shut up on Twitter. But I say this in a lovingly good way. They regularly chat with their followers.

Craftsman

I love Craftsman’s Twitter account almost as much as I love their tools. They do a great job in keeping strong brand recognition. A personal example: I once tweeted I wanted to bust out the power tools to make my desk. Twenty minutes later Rich from Craftsman kindly sent me a tweet to post a pic when I was done. No sales pitch or anything, just two guys chatting about power tools. (lesson: set a search query to alert you of keywords in your industry)
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What’s the Problem with Starbucks Refreshing their Brand?

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Marketing

The online world this week has been in an uproar. Why? Is it because of child starvation? Unfortunately, not really. Unjust wars? Nope, not this either. Global warming?

No, people have gone crazy because Starbucks announced a redesigned logo. I know, it’s preposterous, how could they change it? It’s iconic…

Are you kidding me? What’s the big deal?

We all know people don’t like change. Look at the constant rabble of Facebook users when change happens. Ok, bad example I don’t like most of Facebook’s changes either. How about the Gap Logo? Oh, I am not batting 1.000 with these.

But seriously, Starbucks has a legitimate reason for dropping coffee from its logo. They are looking towards the future. Without “Starbucks Coffee” circling the mermaid, they can branch out from coffee. The brand is powerful and known for its fast, quality service. Why not launch additional products and services around the Starbucks name? Makes sense to me.

Is the customer always right?

When a company proposes changes that don’t directly affect the end user, should they worry too much about what others think?
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12 Usability Resources to Improve Website Conversions

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Marketing

A usable, high-conversion website. It’s the goal of any Internet marketing campaign, but how do we do it?

While we all strive for a better converting website, we may find ourselves confused by all the different points-of-views of graphic designers basing answers on so-called design trends. Worse yet, our graphic designer may value a pretty website over a functional website.

So before you accept your next website design, take a look at these usability and conversion optimization articles and resources:

The Myth of the Page Fold

Summary: This article is a thorough write-up & images of what user’s look at on a website. Most importantly, they conclude that when the site is designed correctly, the content below the “fold” of your website still has a chance of being seen.

Google Labs: Browser Size

Summary: Input your website’s address and see what it looks like to the majority of users. But I would recommend those with centered website designs to shrink your browser to it’s smallest size without a horizontal scroll bar.

The $300 Million Button

Summary: By changing only one button, a company saw an increase of $300 million in sales in one year.
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There’s an Alternative to Cheese?

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Marketing

I was in the supermarket with my brother and sister buying ingredients for vegan macaroni & “cheese,” and realized something interesting. The grocery store assumes people know there is non-dairy cheese and that it’s located in the natural food aisle. This is fine for the folks who shop in that section of the store. But what about those who want to eat a bit healthier yet don’t travel up and down every aisle in the store? Without specifically seeing the couple offerings in a tiny corner of the natural food fridge, they may never know there is an alternative to dairy cheese.

Learning from Vegan Cheese

You can never assume your customers and clients know all of your offerings. But rather, you must make the effort to present all applicable options during the sales cycle. No matter how obvious the product or service is to you, keep in mind that your customers aren’t psychic.

Amazon.com does this extremely well with the “customers also bought,” “customers also viewed” and the “related items” showcases on each product’s info page.

What do you think? Do you have examples of this in your life or business?

Is This The Future Of TV Commercials?

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Marketing

With the ever evolving use of DVR’s and online video, it is only a matter of time before we see a drastic change in how advertisers market their products on TV.

As we all probably know by now, a growing number of shows and movies have started integrating products into the script. While some shows pull off the placement well, others fail horribly. Case in point:

If this is the future of product placement, I’m selling my TV.

Could you imagine someone doing this in real life? It would be ridiculous: