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Q&A: Chris Lindland, CEO of Betabrand on Newsjacking HP T-Gate (Video)

 

Betabrand knows how to break news. Or at least break into it.

The San Francisco-based online clothing company has a history of newsjacking—it made a name for itself when Mark Zuckerberg met with Wall Street bankers in (what else) a hoodie. Zuckerberg's sister Randi stumbled upon Betabrand's $148 Executive Hoodie (think worsted wool) and inventories instantly sold out.

Fast forward to this week, and the small brand has made an art of fast-turn content marketing that this week included a one-take video capitalizing on reports that Silicon Valley legend HP was banning t-shirts in its engineering department to recruit some engineers of its own.

That was Monday. On Tuesday I told CEO Chris Lindland that he had a hit on his hands. By Wednesday Adweek and FastCompany had covered the video. And whether responding to it or simply the news reports, HP Human Resources felt the need to post its own video reassuring employees that the ban was just an unfounded rumor.

I talked with Chris again this morning about his amazing week—and what is says about effective content marketing in general—and powerhouse newsjacking in particular.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO: Q&A: Chris Lindland, CEO of Betabrand on Newsjacking HP T-Gate

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'Like A Girl' Returns 'Unstoppable' (Video)

 

Don't look now, but this "Girl" is "Unstoppable."

A year—and countless awards—after the debut of Leo Burnett's "Like A Girl" video for Procter & Gamble's Always brand, the effort is out with a new spot dealing with a lack of confidence and perceived limitations—and conquering them.

It's worth noting that the themes here, including comments from one girl about how only boys can be heroes, play well with a TV platform that's custom-made for causes like this—if CBS rises to the challenge ("Supergirl," anyone?).

The new spot includes a call to action encouraging girls to share how they're unstoppable at the Twitter hashtag #likeagirl.

And stealing a page from Dove's long-running "Campaign for Real Beauty," viewers are urged to join the effort to champion girls' confidence at always.com.

According to ADWEEK, the brand is also partnering with TED to develop confidence-inspiring content through its educational unit, TED-Ed.

I can't say this spot resonates as much as the first.

But it's got a great message that's definitely worth sharing with girls and women everywhere.

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Rick Mathieson on Blasingame Show/Forbes Radio (Concl): Newsjacking

 

From "prankvertising" to "newsjacking."

In the conclusion of my recent appearance on the Jim Blasingame Show/Forbes Radio, we get into newsjacking, which is more popularly known as real-time marketing. 

If you're not familiar with the term, think Oreo's much ballyhooed Super Bowl moment, Arby's Grammy hit, and NASA's gravitational pull, among many others.

In truth, I would characterize this all as "real-time social media marketing," as real-time marketing has evolved to become more associated with real-time, personalized marketing-to-sales conversion on websites. Think personalized offers displayed to the right person at the right time as part of a retail website experience.

That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about marketing efforts to break through the clutter with highly-relevant social media marketing (and advertising) tied to real-time events in hopes of generating brand moments that get shared and gain widespread attention. The video above is a great summary of some of the most positive elements of Oreo's initiatives.

Of course, there are some who are more than skeptical over the ROI of such efforts—witness this recent piece from Content Strategist. And yes, given the infrastructure some brands deploy for it, real-time marketing may not make a lot of sense.

But for smaller brands, it may be a different story.

While I normally work within the world of larger brands, the Jim Blasingame show has me on from time to time to translate trends in world into possible opportunities for his audience, which is primarily SMBs.

In the conclusion of this recent interview, we'll talk about how for local businesses, newsjacking could make for a low-cost, low-bandwidth proposition that lets these companies demonstrate they are active members of their communities and dialed into the things that matter to their customers.

And they can do it in a way that larger brands will never be able to emulate.

LISTEN NOW:

2015 MIDYEAR DIGITAL MARKETING REPORT: AUTHOR RICK MATHIESON (CONCL): NEWSJACKING

(4-mins, 30-sec)

PLUS, LISTEN TO:

Part One of the Interview: Products Are The New Services

Part Two of the Interview: The Rise of 'Prankvertising'

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Rick Mathieson on Blasingame Show/Forbes Radio (Pt 2): The Rise of Prankvertising

 

My 2015 'Half-Time' Report on Digital Marketing Trends continues on the Jim Blasingame Show—with the rise of prankvertising.

As longtime readers know, I've always been a fan of prankvertising—some favorites are shared in this post, and you can find many more here and learn about the 3 Secrets to Successful Prankvertising, here.

 

But as you'll hear in the interview, while big brands long ago started to realize that it can pay big to pull pranks on their customers, the time seems ripe for members of Jim's audience—SMBs—to consider it, too.

It's not without risks, of course. One could easily see the danger of more mischievous efforts backfiring, or  kind gestures setting a precedent. But you'll see why it's something even the smallest brands should be assessing.

Along the way, Jim will share how he and his wife recently pulled a reverse prank on a local pizzeria. And we'll see that while in general the crueler, the better in these types of things, kindness always trumps all. 

 

LISTEN NOW:

JUNE 2015 DIGITAL MARKETING REPORT: AUTHOR RICK MATHIESON (PT 2): PRANKVERTISING

(4-mins, 30-sec)

PLUS: Listen to Part One of the Interview: Products Are The New Services

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