It’s an uphill battle for the laggards when it comes to social media. It moves at such a fast pace, to capture this year’s trends they would need to play catch up, quickly. I say start where you are and grow from there. If you try and ride the new trends you will most likely fail. Hedge your bets and start. Who cares what’s happening with “big data” if your Twitter account is still locked with no tweets. You shouldn’t jump onto the “gamification” bandwagon if you’ve never attempted a Foursquare deal. Start where you are and grow.

If you want to “sell”.

If “scale” is a key metric.

If you don’t want to talk to your consumers.

If you are afraid to say something wrong.

If you’re afraid to say something.

If you don’t have anything to say.

If you think “since everyone else is on it, so should we.”

If you don’t value consumer feedback.

If you have “skeletons in the closet” you don’t want to discuss. (anything from product sourcing to product efficacy)

If you don’t have the capacity to manage relationships.

If you don’t have a strategy.

If you’re not open to change.

If you expect to measure based on “universe.”

Most importantly, if you’re not passionate about its opportunities.

…but if you are… Good luck!

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe this is the direction that brands should travel. I wholeheartedly believe that the future of marketing isn’t marketing at all, but a combination of strong relationship building with awe-inspiring experiences built in. With that said, I’m not sure we’re quite there as brands (or as consumers for that matter).

As these expectations rise, I challenge all marketers to strive to achieve what we are communicating… Personal experiences with each of our consumers.

Digital has the ability to segment or even dynamically personalize messages, offers, or experiences that produces a more profound output for a brand than a simple blanket message to drain money from an unsuspecting small percentage of the communicated universe. It allows for dynamic interaction; in real-time, wherever the consumer may be.

So when thinking digital, please don’t ever say the word “scale:” for it kills the opportunities before anything commences. Instead, think loyalty, advocacy, passion, lifetime value, and incremental purchase… Expand a relationship, don’t squander it by treating people like sheep. We have a great opportunity to think beyond traditional and think about the future of our brands.

Scale is in the long term, lifetime value of consumers, not universes reached.

*** Caveat, I’m not saying that awareness building campaigns shouldn’t be a part of the overall marketing strategy. They most definitely should be discussed and executed, even in the digital display arena. What I am saying, is allow yourself to segment, allow your consumers to segment themselves, reward them for doing so.

A combination of craftsmanship, humanity, super-humanity, creativity, and aspiration develops these brands…

Don’t let all that work go to waste just to create mass-shopping-hysteria. Stay true to your brand this holiday season and your loyalists will love you even more. Ensure your sales are brand centric; be sure the craziness that happens in your store or around your products are being communicated in a way that would make your brand craftsmen proud. Don’t cave… overcome.

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… The ones who see things differently – they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Steve Jobs
Co-Founder Apple, Computer Engineer, Industrialist, Creative Genius, Visionary
RIP 1955-2011

Photo courtesy of Flickr – indigo_girl

I imagine Tim Cook is shaking in his new role, looking at the sustainability of any of the Apple product launches. If the expectations aren’t met for the masses, the position that Apple has developed in the mind of their consumers can quickly falter. With the rise and consistent wins of Microsoft, Google, and even Facebook, Apple needs to continue to find a way to exceed consumer expectations to continue their expanding growth.

I admit, I am reborn Apple follower and want to see a great success of the iPhone 5 and the future of what Apple will produce. But looking at the continuously evolving and growing mass hysteria for their product launches, I see an uphill battle for the realization for their success. Expectations are getting out of control. But if any single company can succeed in innovating success around these expectations, it’s Apple.

This uphill battle starts today. When religious expectations are met with mediocrity, we will see a shift in perception;we will see a drop in Faith; we may even see a revolt against the brand. Imagine if you heard the Divine stories of Jesus only to see that he was a mere mortal with no healing powers whatsoever… a strong let down that would make you reconsider your Faith in His word.

But we will see what happens.

What this means is that we get to turn back time and play a big game of “Connect the Dots.”

By understanding the various touch points and mapping out where they live in the lifecycle of purchase funnel, we can begin to track and develop user journeys that not only provide a positive decision, but also add value along the way, furthering the strength and engagement with our brand. This exercise also allows us to better understand where these touch points live within the daily lifestyle of the consumer and their cultural implications towards different communications within their life. This power has the potential to open doors of opportunity through effective messaging, through the proper channels at the most opportune time within the purchase journey.

Once identified, we take out our pen and start “Connecting the Dots.” Align the different platforms with the particular messaging and calls to action to ensure activity and sustainability throughout the process. A dead end or unfulfilled promise may lead to defection or confusion. Ensure the communication leads closer towards an objective or end goal. Working in silos will likely develop these dead ends or confused messages. To provide a holistic experience that is sustainable throughout a long-term relationship, the playing field has to be identified; which is why the aforementioned identification of the various touch points is critical.

A dead end or unfulfilled promise may lead to defection or confusion.

A successful game of connecting the dots allows us, as marketers, to see the entire picture vividly while the user is experiencing our brand the best way for their particular life, needs, and cultural implications. Along the way, delight your consumer, give them something exciting to engage with, fulfill promises, and over deliver. The best “connect the dots” from my child hood were the ones that rewarded with an amazing picture; the ones that delighted me when I could start seeing the holistic experience. This is what we strive for as brand advocates… The excitement for the integration of the holistic experience.

This is what we strive for as brand advocates… The excitement for the integration of the holistic experience.

Originally posted @ blackwhalegroup.com

Commoditizing a conversation forces engagement around features and benefits, not emotion.

But, for sake of communicating the valuable importance of this post, I will be using the term community (against my will) for what it truly is, as defined below.

So what is a community? Dictionary.com defines it as “[a] group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.”

Facebook defines these as “Groups.” Google+ defines them as “Circles.” Twitter even defines them as “Lists.” It seems as though the social space has really latched on to the idea of communities, but are we really setting our brands and companies up for success? Or are we approaching commoditized conversations with the real value exchange as being a coupon or an entry into a sweepstakes?

My personal thoughts, is that the end goal with any social venture is to develop and grow strong relationships with individuals whose values align with ours; whose ideals are shared among others; whose passions and affinities are aligned with those of our brand. Achieving this goal helps us create a place where like-minded individuals whose interests, values, and passions are shared; to develop a “community” around the core, emotionally driven differentiating factors of our brand. Doing so allows us to better understand and engage with those we serve. It provides us with the opportunity to learn and grow; make our products better; communicate them more effectively; identify opportunities for growth and expansion; and most of all, allows us to come together and accomplish the same goal, make our lives better.

So are you building a community or a commodity?

• Defection of consumers is at an all-time high. Defections are caused by increased communications from new channels, real time offers, and new shiny startups saturating the market.
• Consumerism is pushing for transparency and authenticity in corporate brands.
• High energy costs coupled with the economic recession is causing falling profits across the board dropping ad spend and forcing more targeted approaches to outreach.
• A shift in preference from manufactured goods to local and organically sourced materials.

That’s only scratching the surface of the business climate today. It’s time for a Shift // a shift in how we approach what a brand is. Not more “If you advertise they will come.” It’s time we engage our constituency and connect on a deeper level than products, features, or benefits. It’s time we have purpose, ideals, and passion with our brand; ideas that align with our sub-culture community, passions that are shared throughout our communications and engagements.

As we move into the future, brand loyalty, advocacy and passion will drive success and results. Not one-off advertising, but true relationships and engagements which develop the word of mouth that is so powerful in the marketplace. The Brand Shift model is sustainable… what we’re doing now is not.

What are you doing to prepare?