It probably still comes as a surprise to many that if YouTube were a search engine rather than a video sharing tool it would rank #2 among search engines. It's true. Yet, if you were to strap on a set of headphones and search your favorite video sharing site for clips produced by or featuring your favorite local business, non-profit, government agency, or news source you'd very likely hear...crickets.
And if we've just described your organization, let's fix that.
Part of good conversation is engaging the senses of your listener so that your story comes alive in vivid detail. One of the best ways to get that done is through video but it's better to show than tell so have a look...
A case in point...
Which is more likely to inspire you to book a flight tour of the Golden Gate, a narrative explaining where you'll go and what you'll see or this?
Of course, we're also living at a time when video can affordably be recorded for posterity, delivered in real time, or both. Got an event that you want to broadcast across the Web? Get in touch with us during the early stages of your event planning. We'll walk you through your Webcast from concept through execution to event analysis.
John Deere (Deere & Co.), the world's leading manufacturer of farm equipment painted in that trademark bright green, has been inspiring unshakable brand loyalty since it was founded in 1837. Wherever two or more John Deere fans meet you can safely figure that an instant bond will be formed and a conversation will ensue, often at length and with great passion. Naturally, with the rapid rise of Web 2.0 technologies, John Deere found itself a little unprepared for the impacts of the social media revolution upon its brand. Like many organizations, it didn't take conversations in the Twitterspace or on Facebook especially seriously.
By mid-2008, however, there were already 500 Facebook groups dedicated to John Deere. All of them were created by fans and others within the enthusiast community. None of them were created with the oversight or permission of corporate headquarters. The top 10 John Deere Facebook groups contained over 10,000 members. One of those groups was named, "John Deere Sucks!!". To make matters even more uncomfortable for Deere & Co., it's primary competitor for industrial machinery sales, Caterpillar, was an early adopter of social networking and ranked among the top 10 corporations with an established Facebook community.
The potential for both hazard and opportunity for John Deere was high and could quickly be summed up like this:
In the vacuum created by the absence of Deere & Co. from the social media conversation, others had taken control of the John Deere brand and would continue to do so - for better or for worse.
The speed and scale at which John Deere fans mobilized within the social network was solid confirmation of the brand's relevance and strength.
That kind of mobilization provides powerful leverage to both users and competitors to shape or reshape the identity and brand of the company within the community.
Negative publicity driven from the "John Deere Sucks!!" group would necessarily rank high among search engines if not engaged or countered by the company.
Fortunately, Deere & Co. recognized both the opportunities and threats contained within its already powerful and mobilized community and joined the conversation, first - by listening to what the community was saying and, then, by engaging its fans within their own groups and with its own official Facebook pages and groups.
To its credit, the fast recovery by Deere & Co. earned its Facebook page over 1,000,000 fans by February, 2012.
Stories are everywhere, told and untold. They're told in personal conversation or through the media, one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many. Often, stories are just waiting to be told. Are you listening to the conversation about your brand? Is your story being heard? Is it still waiting to be told? Have you found your audience? Is your audience ready to listen to what you have to say?
Traditional media was designed to tell stories in one direction with enough force, frequency, and uniformity that few could escape the penetration of its messaging from above. But that approach belongs to another era. Interests, attitudes, lifestyles, demands, and tools for storytelling have evolved irrevocably and now demand responsive people and organizations that listen often,
“The most elegant business opportunity is one in which there is no competition.” - Paul Shipman, founder, Red Hook Brewery
Red Hook ESB Print Ad, Red Hook Brewery
While living in San Francisco’s Mission District, I found no shortage of neighborhood pubs serving up a broad range of the best craft beers on the market. Each pub and each brew had their niche at a time when the term “niche” was as fresh as the beer drawn from any number of taps fastened into the walls behind the bar.
It was at Zeitgeist at Valencia/Duboce St., one of these pubs that catered, especially, to the bike messenger crowd where I discovered Red Hook ESB, a buttery-flavored ale that ruined me for every other beer against the wall on any late Sunday afternoon following a full day of high-speed motorcycling along Hwy. 1, north or south. Even my beloved Guinness took a backseat to this northwest upstart. Red Hook was one of the first craft beers to develop a following large and fast enough to give Budweiser, Coors, and Miller a legitimate scare and, ultimately, force them into giving way to a new market for a 9,000 year old commodity.
Zeitgeist Bar, Valencia/Duboce St., San Francisco, CA.
Yet, while reading a profile of one of the founders of the Red Hook Brewery, Paul Shipman, in a popular business magazine three years later, I was both tickled and relieved to read the quote above by a man who had reinvented beer for so many hooligans like myself and turned a complacent industry on its ear. Not only was Shipman’s statement an endorsement of the enduring value of Pirsig’s Quality in wherever it may be found, but perhaps, and most importantly, it unlocked with just a few words an important secret of the successful marketing of Quality. You need to believe and know
The confidence of knowing that you’re so distinctly excellent in every way when you take yourself to market is at the essence of every great brand.
Goal-setting ought to be pretty clear and straightforward but, without discipline, those earnest brainstorms can meander and drift. Emergency planners don't have the luxury of chasing down poorly-defined daydreams prone to floating away. Instead, they employ a couple of strategies to give important ideas some necessary traction.
"If you have more than three objectives, you have no objectives."
This makes sense, doesn't it? Naturally, there may be an exception here or there but all too often projects get lost in a sea of conflicting or confused goal-setting that quickly dispatch the best of intentions to the dust heap. Don't let that happen to your project! We don't. Layering goals in the service of one clearly-worded purpose statement keeps everyone in focus.
What is a SMART objective?
A SMART objective regulates activity to reality so that the odds of success of project completion on time and within budget are improved. The 5 elements of SMART objectives work together to keep things real and in synch.
Specific - Is the objective precise and well-defined? Is it clear? Does everyone understand it?
Measurable - How will we know when the task is completed? What evidence is needed to confirm completion? Have you stated how you'll judge whether the task is completed or not?
Achievable - Are sufficient resources available? Is there enough capacity to make use of available resources? Can the project be completed at all?
Realistic - How sensible is the objective within the current business environment? Is it possible for staff to perform identified tasks? Do tasks fit within the overall pattern of work developed by staff?
Timely - Is there a hard deadline? Is the deadline feasible? Is it appropriate to meet the objective now? Have review dates been established from start to completion?
