2010 Ford Fusion Launches with American Idol Houseparty

Ford Motor Company* has been receiving some really good press about about My Ford Touch (video demo here), which was shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show last week. Ford has been leading the automobile industry in building intelligence into automotive systems, but it's also pretty progressive when it comes to social marketing.

For example, I attended an interesting presentation by HouseParty during the WOMMA Summit last November that covered how Ford leveraged an existing sponsorship with American Idol to drive customer conversations and brand immersion across the social Web. The HouseParty case study made me think of a tupperware party on steroids, but the results were quite intriguing.

Living the Anthropologie Life

This is the second year I've received my Happy Birthday coupon in the mail from Anthropologie, except it's way more than a coupon. It's a necklace with a birthday candle charm (see left) PLUS a coupon.

The moment I opened the padded envelope from Anthropologie, I was both excited and touched - how sweet of them to think of me on my special day!

The back of the card has the following message:

This little gift is for you and only you and cannot be turned into chocolate, flowers or cash. It's a one time treat, gladly accepted in our retail stores (not online), so bring this note, along with your Anthro card, and enjoy!

Heck, yeah, I'm going to use this! Why? Because Anthropologie sells me more than clothing and accessories. It sells me an experience and I want to live the Anthropologie life.

SEO and PR – A Happy Marriage?

I attended a free webinar, "SEO + Public Relations = Your Secret Marketing Weapon in 2009," put on by the team at Webmarketing123.com yesterday hoping to find the proof in the pudding that SEO and PR should by joined at the hip.

I have to say, I'm still not convinced.

CEO, Paul Taylor, did a great job of walking us through the benefits of SEO-izing your PR and marketing collateral and results, but I've had experiences where that just doesn't work.

Example 1: Optimizing a press release for SEO and PR

I've tried this two ways:

1) Write a release, then look at a list of key words to insert.

2) Look at the key words, then write a press release with them in mind (try to use each 1-4 times and space them out).

The latter worked better for me, but if you're supposed to insert your URL and keywords ~3 times each for near optimal SEO, it gets rough and the news starts to sound like giberrish. If the release then needs to go through legal approval and potentially partner or customer approval, you're in trouble.

That's only one example, but I do think there's more beyond just blending SEO with PR and, voilà, you're on page one of wherever you want to be. The challenge often seems to be a classic case of having too many cooks in the kitchen. You've got the remote teams, such as the PR firm, the SEO firm, potentially the SEM consultant, and then all of the internal constituents, such as the corporate marketing/advertising team, sales, product marketing, etc., and each is focused on maximizing content value for his or her benefit.

BusinessWeek ran an insightful article by B.L. Ochman this morning, "Debunking Six Social Media Myths." Though I appreciated every myth debunked, I feel her pain with Myth #4: You can do it all in-house.

With regards to effective and viral social media campaigns, she writes:

"It is rare indeed to find an in-house team that can not only conceive and execute a social media campaign but also drive traffic to it with effective e-mail segmentation, search optimization, blogger outreach, blog advertising, Google ads, and more."

I do believe things like SEO and PR should work together – of course it's good to have a well-oiled machine running on all cylinders – but I don't think it's as easy as simply "working together." Further, given that both PR and SEO are often outsourced strategic services, is it reasonable to expect both sides to come together without the forcing factor of the client company embarking on a holistic marcomm campaign which takes months of pre-planning and coordination? That's hard to come by when you're working with startups, particularly high tech startups.

I remain optimistic, however, that there are definitely lessons both PR and SEO can learn from each other. Throw social media in there, and you've got a party!

I'd appreciate any wisdom out there about the evolution of these siloed services and think I will continue to attend free webinars on the topic to at least keep me engaged in thinking about the right combo of SEO + PR.

Enjoying the Wonderful World of Disney

It's no wonder that Disneyland is often called the "happiest place on Earth." Visiting the park yesterday reminded me that, besides its affable characters, one of Disney's strongest assets is customer service.

Disneyland is full of cheerful employees whose purpose is to perpetuate fairy tales and make your dreams come true. Why? Disney knows that satisfied customers will spend money and come back.

I realized yesterday what an ingenious idea the "FastPass" was a couple years ago. The premise: give people a ticket to the most popular rides that essentially holds their place in line. The ticket specifies a 60-minute time slot during which the holder has access to the front of the line for that attraction.

The FastPass is great – instead of spending 2 hours in line for the best rides, you can get a FastPass and wait no more than 10 minutes. The marketing behind the magic: now customers have an extra hour and fifty minutes to wander the park and spend money.

It's an easy gesture that makes a big of difference. The Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in San Francisco and many Los Angeles movie theaters give customers a break by assigning seats when you purchase a ticket. Rather than encouraging customers to waste time saving seats in the theater, they offer Zen-like concessions where customers can lounge around until it's time for their movie to start.

In the world of apparel, Nordstrom and Anthropologie are quick to start dressing rooms for customers. They initiate a relationship with customers and take clothing off your browsing hands so you can shop comfortably.

Give customers a break. Offer them a peaceful atmosphere and an enjoyable experience, and they'll be happy. It's a formula that Disney has almost perfected, but it's not magic – it's just common sense.

The Importance of Internal Marketing

I attended a client sales conference yesterday and was really impressed with their strategy and outlook for 2009. One of the top messages that stood out was, "play together and play nicely... the competition is outside these walls, not in the room."

(That's right - time for a *group hug* just like these puppies.)

As a PR person, I know what it's like to bug people to get what you want, but I hadn't thought about the increasing challenges to staying unified and well-oiled during a recession. After all, if you're worried about potential layoffs, why not start watching your neighbor or competing with that person across the hall?

I think humans are prone to competition – it's called Social Darwinism – but still, sitting in my first sales conference yesterday helped me realize just how important internal marketing can be.

Internal marketing is defined by Wikipedia as: an ongoing process that occurs strictly within a company or organization whereby the functional process aligns, motivates and empowers employees at all management levels to consistently deliver a satisfying customer experience.

I think of internal marketing as creating an enabling culture in which creativity and innovation are encouraged along with responsibility and accountability. It's a very communal approach to organizational management, but I think it's going to be key for companies that want to survive the recession.

I'm not saying grab hands and sing Kumbaya around a campfire, but everyone likes to be valued and given a voice., don't you?

Gap Inc's Merry Mix It Campaign – Social Media, Celebrities and Fun

Gap Inc. is ushering in the holiday season with some re-mixed celebrity Christmas carols and mix-able holiday separates, such as scarves, gloves and sweaters. The company has used a variety of social media tools and celebrity models in the past, but this is the first time I've seen them combined and acting goofy.
Check out the "Merry Mix It" campaign and see for yourself. You can choose from:

• Selma Blair and Rainn Wilson singing "Baby It's Cold Outside"
• Jon Heder and Janelle Monáe performing a unique version of "Winter Wonderland"
• Jason Biggs, Romany Malco and Freddy Rodriguez sounding bells to "We 3 Kingz"
• The Dixie Chicks and Sandra Bernhard belting out "Deck the Halls"
• Flo Rida and Trey Songz remixing "Jingle Bells"
• Special performance of the entire holiday cast performing a never-before seen remix of "Jingle Bells" led by Flo Rida and Trey Songz

The latter is by far my favorite (also embedded below), but that's not why this marketing campaign is brilliant. Continuing on the theme of "mix it," Gap encourages viewers to share these videos with friends and embed in social networking pages like Facebook and MySpace. iPhone users can download Gap's iTunes application to watch the videos on the go. You can even "mix" (or customize) your own version of Jingle Bells using various clips of the celebrity cast and send it to your family.

Gap's clever plan to virally spread their holiday collection gets even better because with a subtle call to action: if you like what you see, you can follow a link back to gap.com and purchase each celebrity's wardrobe.

I'm an off and on fan of Gap. And, though I had already planned to participate in Gap's friends and family "Give and Get Program" this weekend for 30% off clothes, with 5% going to a local charity of my choice, I'll probably come away with at least one more sweater or scarf than I had originally expected.

What holiday marketing campaigns have caught your eye?

Do Marketers Care About SWOT Analyses?

On the first day of class, Intro to Marketing teacher and Scalent VP of Marketing, Kevin Epstein, taught me an old Stanford Business School trick: how to conduct a SWOT analysis. In short, analyze key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) before building any marketing plan.

Over the last few months, I've been working with various clients who are currently preparing for major product launches. As a result, we've been constructing messaging platforms – this exercise isn't easy!

Surprisingly, I haven't seen a SWOT analysis in action, yet. Are they too basic and cliché, or perhaps simply irrelevant? I beg to differ. Clients often get caught up in how exciting and wonderful new products or services are and assume customers or prospective customers will understand by osmosis. Even worse, they believe words like ROI, TCO, best-of-blank, easy-to-blank and speed-to-blank will bowl over the competition.

That's when PR people like me ask questions like: Why is this exciting, important or relevant? How are you different from and better than your competitors? Who is your target audience?

Again, this exercise isn't easy, but it is absolutely essential, especially if expect press, blogger or analyst coverage. And while being honest about your product and/or company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats may seem mundane, remember that customers, partners, investors and other target audiences are unlikely to understand the niche details of your product or service. In other words, if you're Target, you don't want to be confused with Kmart. Highlight strengths, such as local, faster, easier, largest community, and quantify them if you can. Pursue opportunities, such as "first to X" or "burgeoning need for Y." Next, devise a plan to bolster your weaknesses and mitigate (or try to avoid) threats. From there, you'll be in a good position to construct your messaging platform. Believe me, your PR people will love you for it.

Nordstrom Uses Online Videos; Size Doesn't Matter

If you thought diamonds were a girl's best friend, it's time to consider denim. Nordstrom has taken this to a new level for online shoppers with its Denim ID Experience.

As denim becomes acceptable lady attire for most occasions, designer jeans flank the racks at department stores such as Nordstrom and Macy's. But, which brand and what size?

If you're faced with choosing amongst Seven For All Mankind, Citizens of Humanity, True Religion, Paige Premium, Hudson and more, deciding on a pair of jeans that are guaranteed to cost more than $150 each can be daunting.

So, when you're in the dressing room, how do you know if a pair of jeans that is too tight and too long will be the right $185 buy? Nordstrom's Denim ID Experience offers various online videos to teach women about how to shop for the right pair of designer jeans. The site emphasizes "size doesn't matter," and offers guides for fitting your hips and assessing each brand's "stretch factor."

The brilliance behind Nordstrom's Denim ID
Ladies may only need a little extra confidence to spend two to three times the price of household jeans for a designer pair. Nordstrom addresses the insecurities and concerns women have around denim shopping head on, and thereby empowers them.

By comparison, Bloomingdale's online Denim Shop isn't quite as user friendly as Nordstrom, but is leagues better than Macy's. Check out the video embedded below and see for yourself. After all, why be caught dead in Gap jeans when you've got a killer pair of Sevens or Citizens?

Online Reviews are Second to Word of Mouth Marketing

According to a study published Wednesday by Rubicon Consulting, word of mouth marketing is still the #1 driver of purchase decisions. Among web users, online content has moved into second place, ahead of advice from salespeople and printed reviews.

The study upholds that roughly 10 percent of users create 90 percent of user-generated content on any given social media site. The report argues, however: "Web discussion is a performance in which a small group of people interact with each other, and with companies, for the benefit, education, and amusement of everyone else."

What this really means: even though a company might only interact with 10 percent of users online, you can bet your end-of-year bonus that a much larger percentage of customers will judge the company based on its online interactions.

When I've talked to various clients at Page One PR about incorporating social media campaigns into their existing marketing and PR plans, they're often unsure if target customers are receptive to social media tools. Interestingly, a recent poll by Forrester Research indicates 75 percent of Internet users participate in some form of social media in 2008 versus 56 percent in 2007.

Analyst Josh Bernoff argues this may just be a fad: "The novelty of today's social technologies will eventually wear off, and consumer adoption will plateau as all new media eventually do." Don't think that means social media's effectiveness will fade away, however, as Bernoff continues: "But consumers will expect marketers to continue the relationship they've formed over time and still listen to what they have to say."

Still skeptical about social media marketing? When was the last time you used online user-generated content to decide which book to buy or choose a new restaurant to try?

Need a Job? Why Not Invest in an Alpaca?

When I first saw a TV commercial from the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association entreating me to invest in an alpaca as a "great source" of income, I thought some clever person must be offering a whiff of levity in the midst of our current economic crisis. Was I watching an SNL skit, perhaps?

Expecting to find a joke along the lines of the Pomegranate phone, I went to check out the Alpaca Info website and, yes, there is an Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association! Don't believe me? Check out the "just released" video and see for yourself. When I think about it, the timing of these commercials is prime to catch thousands of Americans disgruntled with Corporate America - why not turn to Alpaca farming?

Apparently, there are two kinds of Alpacas: Huacaya and Suri. Their fur fibers are silky and therefore quite fashionable when woven into fleece for coats and outerwear. There's a whole web site dedicated to Alpaca Fashion, too!

Former Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns financiers - have you considered investing in Alpacas?

Video Your Vote; Dance for a Toyota

Two social media video and online voting campaigns caught my eye last night: Video Your Vote and Dance for Toyotas.

First up, Video Your Vote, a non-partisan channel launched by YouTube in partnership with PBS to encourage American voters to sound off at the polls. The site entreats: "It's Your Democracy... Shoot a video of your experience at the polls on Election Day..."

The buck doesn't stop there. Mashable's Paul Glazowski noted again yesterday that this year may indeed be a "YouTube election." CNET reports that select uploads from Video Your Vote will be shown on Jim Lehrer's The NewsHour on PBS during Election Day coverage. The YouTube channel also touts an educational component with "Voting 101" and a look at historical footage from the PBS archives reviewing voting through the years.

After you've learned the in's and out's of how to share your vote, dust off your dancing shoes and get ready to win a new car. Well, maybe it's not that easy, but Toyota announced yesterday Dancing for Toyotas, a ballroom dance competition to take place in February 2009 at the Washington Auto Show.

Though the theme of the competition reminds me of a contest hosted by GroundWork Open Source at LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, San Francisco, called "Who's The Next Open Source Idol?", Toyota isn't messing around with this brilliant PR stunt.

Winners will walk away with one of three cars! Enter by November 14 and you could win a Toyota Camry Hybrid or Prius. Even easier, vote online and you might win car #3: a Toyota Yaris.

Not a bad bounty for today's high oil prices and our bad economy.

Forget striking it rich with game shows like The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune. Why bother when you can just dance?

American Express Do-Gooder Campaign Leverages Customer Community with Social Media Tools

Claiming its the first company to launch a cause-related marketing campaign via a program benefiting the Statue of Liberty in 1983, American Express has been leveraging its customer community to support important causes for twenty-five years now.

This year's Members Project is yet another socially-minded campaign. American Express will split up $2.5 million amongst five different projects that "make a positive impact on the world." The online-only initiative allows any American to join the conversation and nominate their favorite do-gooder project.

American Express kicked off the Members Project by announcing results from a survey that showed 96 percent of Americans feel now, more than ever, the world needs "great ideas" to make a positive difference. In addition, 92 percent of respondents said they believe in the "power of ideas to help change the world."

So why is a credit card company bringing people together to share their ideas, passions and beliefs in order to help change the world?

The answer is offered by Jud Linville, president and CEO of Consumer Services at American Express: "... it's not just about ideas; it's about all participants galvanizing their own personal networks - friends, family members, colleagues - to get behind the causes that are meaningful to them." This should also read: and to encourage our customers to spend more money with American Express while they're at it.

Tapping the power of human networks - what a brilliant case of good marketing and PR. Inspire customers, enable them, make them heroes. It's not a new tactic.

This year, American Express is making good use of social media tools such as Facebook and MySpace to help people spread the word. They encourage customers to use photos, audio and video to enhance their nominations and promote their projects. The campaign will announce the Top Five projects at midnight tonight. From there, anyone can vote for their favorite project - the winners will be announced October 14.

To date, there are 1190 projects nominated by 213,522 nominations. There are 7651 comments on the discussion board.

I have to admit, I haven't voted, yet, but the Members Project has won my support as an American Express customer - I'm happy to align spending power with a company that prides itself on being a global "good citizen" by supporting worthy causes. After all, if I'm going to be spending money these days, I might as well help save the world, right?

My Dad is Starting a Blog!

As a full time chaplain at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, my dad's job is to reach out to patients and their families, help them find comfort, and support them during their hospital stay.

Whether you visit for a sprained ankle or something more serious, Rady Children's Hospital seeks to provide the best care in the country. Because of this mission, the hospital attracts families from all over the country. During his career as a chaplain, my dad has met with families from San Diego to Hawaii.

Rady Children's Hospital has built a strong network of community volunteers and maintains connections with former patients and their families. The hospital has a strong online presence, but I couldn't find any blogs associated. For this reason, I recommended my dad start a blog to offer security and comfort to anyone in need.

The excellence of Rady Children's Hospital largely depends on support from volunteers and donors. I'm hoping my dad's blog will prove an effective marketing and PR tool. I've noticed there are already several forward-thinking pastors and naval chaplains blogging.

In addition, Rady Children's Hospital actively cultivates community. For example, my dad's department, pastoral care, hosts various events for families who have lost a child. These events are often held near San Diego Bay in public parks. Families can come and grieve openly with each other - they can share their experiences, celebrate the children they've lost, and figure out how to cope. Families will return for years after they've lost a child.

I hope my dad's blog will reach out to families and individuals with non-denominational insight and inspiration. Of course, I'm a biased believer that my dad's intellect and empathy will attract a wide following. After all, while doctors and nurses must maintain a professional and detached demeanor, my dad has a unique role to reach out and touch people.

Plus, you might be surprised at the variety of adventures a children's hospital chaplain faces. Whether he's chasing Sea World's penguins around the halls or sitting in as Santa Claus for a playroom party, my dad never settles for a dull moment. And, despite all the sorrow you might imagine surrounds my dad's profession, he amazingly witnesses a lot of miracles, too.

So, I'm going to raise my hand and edit my dad's blog - it's just one more excuse to chat with my him weekly. I look forward to dad's blog launch next month and hope you might check it out, too. At the end of the day, we can all use some introspective inspiration, right?

From SlideShare to CNET - Popular Presentations Make News

Tired of sending around your presentation as a PDF email attachment? Check out SlideShare, a free online repository for PowerPoint presentations. It's a fast and easy way to share your presentations - chances are you'll get more eyes on it than you think.

For example, Funambol CEO, Fabrizio Capobianco, posted his keynote presentation from the World Computer Congress a week ago. Since then, the presentation has 409 views, 39 downloads, 3 embeds, 3 favorites and 1 comment. Even better, the slide deck caught the attention of CNET News open source blogger, Matt Asay, who wrote about Fabrizio's presentation yesterday.

This is what we PR types like to call "making our job easy." In the high tech startup space, you don't often get clients who make their own news. It's great when it happens.

OpenLogic, another Page One client, turned to SlideShare last month to post the results of its Open Source Census. That presentation got over 1300 views and was featured on SlideShare's homepage the same week.

The above numbers might not seem impressive, even after you consider the narrowed open source enthusiast audience both presentations target. In both cases, however, the presentations reached a greater audience than they would have otherwise. OpenLogic also saw some inbound leads and enthusiasm from the SlideShare community.

Using a social media tool like SlideShare not only immortalizes your content and brand in an easy-to-search-and-share environment, but also helps communicate key messages in a stripped down, no fluff way.

When I conduct research, I rely most heavily on the Internet to find any free information or data points I can use. SlideShare is great for providing this type of information - just search for "Forrester Research" or any top analyst firm and see what you find.

Especially if you're a small company exploring new marketing channels and avenues, I say go for it - you never know where you'll presentation will turn up or who will point right back at you.

Celebrity Chefs Are Everywhere!

What do M&Ms and wild Alaskan salmon have in common? Celebrity chefs as spokespeople, of course.

When I first saw this M&M ad, I chuckled and thought, "What the heck are M&Ms up to now?" I then realized the M&M "shell-ebrity" I was staring at (pictured left) is Bobby Flay - one of the Food Network's celebrity chefs.

You can check out more M&M "shell-ebrities" here.

Food Network chefs are popping up all over the place these days. Even the Rachael Ray Dunkin' Donuts terrorist scarf fiasco hasn't curbed corporate America's appetite to hire Food Network celebrity chefs as spokespeople. Some of these campaigns are more well-received than others - sorry Rachael Ray.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has been fairly successful in partnering with all-star chefs. In 1999, the aquarium embarked on a Seafood Watch campaign encouraging visitors to make sustainable seafood choices. It built up various promotional channels for its sustainable seafood campaign, including an enticing program of chic food, wine and cooking events that appeals to the sort of high-brow crowd that grassroots campaigns and "save the world" petitions might not reach.

This year, Food Network's Alton Brown hosted the "Food for Solutions" gala and 55 local restaurants participated. Talk about cultivating community. In fact, forget about snuggly sea otters and terrifying great white sharks - Monterey Bay Aquarium now markets to any "foodie" or "wino" on the planet. It was even named a Tastemaker by Bon Appétit magazine this month.

Using famous chefs to talk about sustainable seafood to drooling crowds is a brilliant way to drive buzz around the aquarium's core message. It probably doesn't hurt fund raising campaigns, either. What an ingenious PR and Marketing plan! Just last week I read in an e-mail (btw, I'm an MBA member):

Thanks to you and other Seafood Watch supporters, we’ve succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Major buyers, from Wal-Mart to Compass Group and ARAMARK, are shifting to sustainable seafood. We’ve distributed more than 24 million consumer pocket guides, created a Seafood Watch Mobile service, and won the allegiance of noted chefs across North America.

Lessons learned? Food brings people together. If you're looking to promote your next product or service, consider bringing in a Food Network celebrity chef, even if they don't belong. After all, they're fun, talented and family-friendly - what more could you need?

Penguins, Foxes, Cows, Oh My! "Open Source Idol" Exceeds Client Business Goals

If you went to LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco this summer, you might have noticed a herd of young ladies dressed up as open source mascots. Tux the penguin, the GNU, Mozilla's Firefox and BSD's Beastie devil roamed the show floor asking "Who's The Next Open Source Idol?" and searching for willing souls to sing and dance on behalf of their favorite OSS mascot. Don't worry if you didn't make it to LinuxWorld this year, we were caught on tape. You can check out the outlandish fun here.

You might wonder what spurred this madness. Well, it wasn't all fun and games. We had concrete goals to accomplish on behalf of our client, GroundWork Open Source. First, demonstrate that GroundWork is a dedicated member of the open source developer community. Second, attract over 1000 views to GroundWork's YouTube channel over two months.

We needed to produce videos that would appeal to any open source enthusiast around the world. So, why not go straight for the patriotic spirit mascots have been known to inspire?

At this point, various forces in the universe collided: I was addicted to the popular reality show "So You Think You Can Dance?" which kept dancing on my mind. In addition, I had just learned about Cisco's first social media product launch, which helped me understand ways to integrate various social media tools for PR and marketing.

Lying in bed at 3 am the morning before we were to brainstorm fun ideas for GroundWork, the first flash of "Who's The Next Open Source Idol?" popped into my head. I immediately jumped up and started researching iconic open source animals. Before dawn, I had begun brainstorming various traditional marketing and social media tools we could use to promote the contest. Of course, this all hinged on my confidence that we could convince a bunch of open source developers to sing and dance on camera. No problem, right?

The rest of the project is almost a blur as we proposed the idea to GroundWork only two days before the start of LinuxWorld. There was a lot to prepare and the Page One PR social media team worked hard to turn a crazy idea into reality. Our fearless leader, Craig Oda, and social media guru, Shelly Milam, led the charge while Kim Terca, Ariana Parasco and I were eager to dive in.

Here are some stats for what the social media team was able to produce in about a week's time:

Campaign Promotion and Social Media Integration

First, we needed to figure out creative ways to promote open source idol. We didn't have the luxury of building up momentum before the show because we only had a couple days to throw this project together. The videos for GroundWork's YouTube channel were required for the project, but we used them as "teasers" to drive traffic to an online polling widget posted on GroundWork's open source community site. We put out a social media release and used Twitter and Facebook to help promote our videos and online voting. We also took votes from people at LinuxWorld and offered them "I Voted" stickers. We gave out free "Who's The Next Open Source Idol?" t-shirts to people for singing and dancing on camera. GroundWork blogged about the contest while we appealed to Mitchell Baker, Chairperson of Mozilla Foundation, and blasted open source community mailing lists encouraging developers to vote.

Outstanding Results

GroundWork's corporate website traffic increased by 43% during the first three days of the contest. 1,113 people went to GroundWork's open source community site to vote online. Combined, all four videos received 5000 views in one week (our goal was 1000 views over two months). GroundWork received a lot of chatter in the Twittersphere and also gained new followers. "Who's The Next Open Source Idol?" was posted to Fark.com and was covered by Wired.com, Network World, and bounced around the blogosphere as well.

Highs and Lows
The amount of energy and adrenaline that went into "Who's The Next Open Source Idol?" was amazing. I guess there weren't any lows here. Though the project was time-intensive and exhausting, it was really fun. If you watch the fourth video, you'll even see GroundWork's VP of Marketing hopping in on the open source idol conga line.

By the conclusion of this project, GroundWork had received remarkable attention from open source enthusiasts around the world. I am also proud to say that Firefox was the official contest winner! There are at least three different Firefox character throughout the four videos we produced. I wonder if you can recognize which one was me?

Is There Truth to the Twitter Song?

"If you haven't been bookmarked, re-tweeted and blogged - you might as well not have existed..."

This line comes from Ben Walker's Twitter song, "You're No One If You're Not On Twitter." With over 200K views in just 3 weeks, Walker's song pokes fun at Twitter fanatics who publicly announce their every sneeze on Twitter.

I picked up the video yesterday from VentureBeat and found the song pretty hilarious. As far as I've seen, there is a lot of truth to the lyrics.

I've been holding off from blogging about Twitter because it seems almost cliche by now. Surprisingly, some of my high tech clients are NOT on Twitter. Those who are avoiding it have reactions that are similar to my college friends who boycotted Facebook four years ago - they don't want to share dull moments like "I'm having a hot dog for dinner" in a public forum.

I admit I had the same "I'm too cool for Twitter" reaction at first. Since the tool is becoming essential for PR pros, I joined and now find it pretty useful for business. For example, I have arranged client interviews based on blogger "tweets." In addition, following analysts, journalists and other outlets helps me catch breaking news faster than Google Alerts. For rapid response pitching, Twitter has been great.

At the same time, Twitter can be incredibly distracting. The New York Times elaborated today on how Google and Twitter ultimately expand our minds while also limiting our attention spans. I enjoy following my friends' updates, but there are definitely characters on Twitter who are just too noisy. I sometimes wonder if people like Tim O'Reilly have hired someone else to tweet for them. I mean, how can you tweet every ten minutes - or more - while still functioning as a normal person?

If you aren't on Twitter, I recommend you check it out. When used correctly, Twitter can be an effective marketing and customer service tool. For this reason, as you search for friends and family to follow, you might look for retailers, service providers, magazines, newspapers and non-profits, too. You'll probably be surprised by the number of feeds you want to follow.

Twitter keeps people, organizations, causes and companies that I care about high on my radar. Do remember that standard rules of social etiquette may apply. For example, please don't use Twitter for shameless self-promotion. As you get connected to more people, it's easy to get into the "tweeting" groove, but don't forget that distance can sometimes make the heart grow fonder. In other words, you don't have to tweet more than a few times a day to stay connected. Pick a few tweets and save everything else for conversations with real people.

Concerned you'll be overwhelmed if you sign up? Don't let Walker's song scare you off. One of the best things about Twitter: you can always tune it out. Just start small by checking Twitter a couple times a day and go from there. After all, what is there to lose?

Can You Cheat The Social Media System?

Word of mouth has long been a good marketing tool. In the social media world, however, the stakes change. Online, one person can influence thousands, even millions of people. Traditional word of mouth embodies a viral, yet transient spirit. By contrast, comments made online can live forever.

So, what's to stop people from cheating the "social media system"?

Yesterday, my friend and colleague blogged about how SourceForge, a premier online media site targeting techies, monitors the Web for negative customer comments. Using tools like Twitter and Facebook, Sourceforge will pursue disgruntled customers and users. The process has yielded positive feedback and provides Sourceforge with key product management and marketing feedback - a healthy example of customer service instigated by online feedback.

By contrast, other sites like Yelp, the popular review site, seem to be easily manipulated. Some of my friends have used Yelp to voice their anger over poor food service. In one case, a friend complained after going to a restaurant's Grand Opening and waiting for more than an hour for her meal. She wrote a negative review, posted it to Yelp, and the restaurant immediately contacted her offering a free meal.

Couldn't I choose a random restaurant I've been wanting to try, do the same thing and reap the benefits?

What about online competitor bashing? If I were AT&T, what would stop me from asking my employees to throttle ComcastCares on Twitter under the guise of an online alias?

Robin Stavinsky, high tech PR and online communications specialist, has assured me that online fraud in the form of competitor bashing would never work because there are too many ways to track down the source.

I remain skeptical. No matter how altruistic I'd like to be, why not test out being a professional online whiner to see what benefits (or punishments) I might reap? Wouldn't you?