That’s why the new buzz terms are desired relevance and quality engagement. Larry Page always said his dream was to develop the “perfect search”, meaning someone would type in a couple of keywords and only one Google search result would appear because it was exactly what that person was looking for. That’s a great example of relevance and quality engagement, isn’t it? Hopefully that’s what they’re trying to accomplish with Google+, the 10,000 pound gorilla’s latest attempt to overpower Facebook. Watch a demo and see how one of Google+’s core benefits is focusing in on quality over quantity engagement. Google understands how quickly we have become fed up with TMI (too much information), and it appears they’re trying to offer an alternative that at least moves information overload into smaller buckets. We say good luck with that Google, but hey, at least they’re trying.

Yet the biggest challenge with achieving quality over quantity experiences is how the powers of the online world will most likely get there. We want relevance, so they need to know more about us. This is why search engines and websites are developing even creepier Big Brother tools to watch and respond to our every move. The more apparent this becomes, the more we complain. The powers that be say we’re spoiled; that we want to have our cake and eat it to. We say there’s got to be a better way. While that battle will take some time before it’s resolved, the average individual’s impatience with information overload is ready to explode.  Which is why we at Brandtailers foresee the next group of genius geeks will be those who can take a person’s way-too-big to be useful anymore world, and hone it back down into something meaningful, useful and, most of all, enjoyable.

In 2009, Chris Brogan came up with a great line in his book, Trust Agents, authored with Julien Smith, stating that Human is the new black. What a great way to explain that vulnerability, truthfulness and humility are what today’s consumers look for first when choosing a brand.  Yet the majority of marketers are still fearful of communication messages that embrace transparency, simplicity and telling emotional, human stories.

The Likeonomics concept is one more example of how people trust the opinions of strangers more than messages from well-known brands. Rohit Bhargava says it best in his book, “Wikipedia is only the most visible example of a revolution in trust that has meant that people are going online and trusting the opinions and expertise of people who they don’t know.  Content creation, aggregation and now … content curation are all new forms of microinfluence and they are shifting everything we know about trust.”

The potentially great outcome of this could result in marketers finally embracing the fact that truth sells. Advertising efforts will no longer be based on who has the biggest budgets and delivers the most jaw dropping creative. Instead it will be about who delivers the most believable message. This can level the playing field for the underdogs to have their shot at market share.  All we can say is, it’s about time. Bring it on.

In the song “Tracing” John Mayer sings the following verse that has always resonated with me:

And if you want to know the moment 
I knew that I was still alone

I found I’d never learned your number 
I only stored it in my phone

You’d think by now

I’d know the shape of calling home

“The shape of calling home” is the perfect way to describe the feeling of dialing a phone number from memory and seeing your finger trace that familiar shape across the keypad. There was a time, not so long ago, when we memorized all our most important phone numbers. Sure, details of infrequently used numbers could be stored in computers, address books or rolodexes but the good ones – the ones that really counted – we knew them by heart.

However, with the advent of the smart phone, speed dial and self-syncing contact lists, the day-to-day necessity for memorizing phone numbers has been eliminated; especially for younger generations that have grown up with this technology at their fingertips. When you hit “reply” to a text message, it barely crosses your mind that there is even a phone number involved.

There is no doubt that such new technology has brought with it a whole lot of convenience. Even if you lose your phone… no big deal… just update your Facebook status to request all those misplaced numbers.

But in certain situations, no amount of technology can quite replace a memorized phone number. This was starkly illustrated in the title of a blog entry I spotted recently quoting a survivor of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. It read, simply: “No phone, don’t remember parents’ number, no way to contact my family” [http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/2011/03/no-phone-dont-remember-parents-number.html]. This person’s contact list was, quite literally, washed away in the disaster.

Living in earthquake-prone California, it is hard to ignore the fact that unforeseen events might occur at any time and if they do an old-fashioned dial-it-yourself phone might just be your first means of contact to those nearest and dearest to you. So think of this as a public service announcement; memorize those important phone numbers and encourage your loved ones to do the same. Let’s hope there isn’t any reason for you to thank me for this advice anytime soon. But if there is, you might find great comfort in knowing the shape of calling home.

Cheap is a lazy way out of the battle for consumer awareness.

Why do some customers focus so much on price?  Because you’re not giving them anything else to think about.

With 84% of U.S. consumers using the internet to determine what they’re going to buy and who they’re going to buy from, having a brand is more important than ever.

Isn’t it true that in every market measured, the leading brand, the one with the highest positive name recognition, has a huge advantage over the others?  Whether it’s Honda, Nike or Tide Laundry Detergent, a lot of benefits go to the brand that wins.

Branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, it is about getting consumers to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem.  The great success stories are not the companies that did what others did, but a little cheaper.  They are companies that decided to do things a whole lot differently.  Don’t just think better.  Think different and establish your brand.

Written By: Kristen Roberts

You know, Groupon, the Chicago based company that went from zero to 1/2 billion in revenue within two years? Groupon, the company Google won’t confirm, but is most likely buying for a mere 2.5 billion dollars? Oh them. The email coupon company.

Email coupon company or not, Groupon has made a a loud boom in the world of online marketing. Loud enough for the likes of Google to pay attention to with their big fat wallet. Especially because small and medium businesses are expected to spend 10% less on Google’s core paid search in the next five years, according to Borrell Associates. In fact, email marketing is projected to double by 2015 while paid local-search spending is expected to plummet. Last month, Google even moved star exec Marissa Mayer to the helm of local services from search products. For those of us who understand the inner workings of Google, that’s a major event.

“Google has known for years that local is the major untapped area for online advertising,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst. Today’s online consumers are searching for their local online nesting areas, e-communities and virtual neighborhood hangouts. And, no surprise, Google wants to offer the small town solution in cyber space that can bring them additional local revenue.

But don’t forget, the online world of marketing success is all about data. Data beyond email addresses. Data that says “Sue likes this, and hates that. Sue shops in the mornings and loves dogs, and buys coupons for Thai Bistros, and supports local non-profits for blind children.” For Google to have Groupon as part of the company would mean having ten times more local data like this at their fingertips. And he who has more of this data wins. So 2.5 billion dollars may be a bargain. Unreal, huh?

We don’t mean hiring one of the current snake oil reputation management firms that promises to have negative reviews removed, while posting an untrustworthy number of fabricated positive comments. Studies show customers see through these even faster than Google and Yelp’s supposedly legitimate algorithms. By actively engaged we mean offering a variety of different places for customers to form an opinion of your brand. Certainly Facebook and Twitter are two obvious sources, but there are plenty of other powerhouses. For example, what about making a name for your company as an expert in answering questions on related forums, or Ask.com, or even Yahoo!answers?

How about not only having a blog, but sharing it’s content via Digg, Stumble Upon, and Reddit? And don’t forget about YouTube. As the online world over saturates us with written content, people will defer more and more to video for everything from shopping decisions to consumer opinion. What about telling your brand story in  pictures? There’s almost always a way, so use photo sharing sites like Flickr and Picasa.

And yet, just being on all these sites is not enough.  Updating new and interesting content at least twice a week is a must – everywhere. But even more important than staying active is being creative and interesting. If you give customers other online opportunities to get to know you, you’d better give them good reason why they should prefer you.

Sounds like a lot of work, huh? It is. But just having a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account is not enough these days. You need to create two-way conversations everywhere you can. That way, even if some negative reviews pop up, customers have a variety of other venues to learn more about you and what you sell. Venues that can tell a great story – the story you want them to know.

Domino’s ran commercials and print ads admitting its old pizza sucked. It then introduced a new recipe by showing it to its staunchest critics. It continued the transparency theme by encouraging customers to alert Domino’s when the pizzas they ordered were not up to par. With today’s instant media exposure thanks to Flips, G4 iPhones and good old fashioned video cameras, you can imagine how many Domino’s Pizza haters uploaded their less-than-par pizzas to YouTube.

Russell Weiner, Domino’s CEO at the time the campaign launched, said he was pretty scared but still willing to risk the company’s reputation. “You’re a 50-year-old pizza company with 5,000 stores out there, these guys first tell you to go on air and say your pizza sucks, and then go out there and show how crappy it’s made,” he said. You wonder if Russell Weiner would have taken such a risk if he were not planning on leaving soon after the campaign launched.  But after all, whatever happened with the campaign – and the company – would be his legacy, too. Lucky for everyone, it was working well enough that incoming CEO, Patrick Doyle, continued to support the effort with equal gusto.

How does one of a million “New and Improved” campaigns that today’s consumers are numb to have such dramatic success?  By shocking people with its honesty and transparency that exposed Domino’s humility and possibility of failure. Patrick Doyle admitted that, if they fail at this endeavor, it could most likely be the end of Domino’s. Year-to-date, same store sales just exceeded 12%. That’s a new record in the pizza business.

Look at your company. Are you even capable of being transparent? If so, are you willing to market your company as flawed, but humble and honest? Most business owners reading this think we’re crazy. But remember, people don’t trust most advertisements. If you can’t get your message past this initially huge roadblock, maybe you’re wasting your money advertising. If, on the other hand, you’re willing to offer your customers some radical transparency, you’ve at least got a shot at breaking through that tough core of consumer mistrust. And when consumers trust you, they become your advocates.

Are you willing to at least think about what it would take? It might not be as scary as it sounds. It’s the way things are going, and getting there first while doing it right could mean an awfully big increase in market share. Something to ponder, eh?

For business owners still trying to figure out why their company should use a Facebook Page for marketing strategy, here’s one great reason. According to a recent Mashable article, the average Facebook user who “Likes” your page has more than double the average number of friends. In social networking math, this means your name/brand/offer has more than twice the chance to be seen thanks to avid Facebook “Likers”. In fact, remember good old math problems like what does 100 squared equal? Yup. That’s the power of the “Like” button.

Facebook reports messages from publishers saying that when these users visit your Facebook Page and your website, “they are more engaged and stay longer because their real identity and real friends are driving the experience through social plugins.” As an example, NHL.com reported that pages per user was up by 92%, time on-site was up by 85%, video viewing increased by 86% more videos and overall visits went up by 36%.

For businesses still holding back from developing a Facebook Page, we suggest you stop asking why and start asking how. How can you turn your Page into a secondary website for your business, with plug-ins and content that your audience will stick around to read and interact with? How do you build a Page that can show up high in Search Engine results? And how do you get your target audience to complete whatever transaction your business needs via Facebook?

It’s happening every day with Facebook Pages like Sears, Ford, Target and even small businesses like Bubbles Car Wash and Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. Remember, these days people want to engage with businesses. They want to like you, but it’s your responsibility to give them the reasons why they should. The days of success revolving around the largest share of voice, the lowest price, or the longest running business success story are coming to an end. Fine tune your target audience down to where they “hang out” on line, learn what they want to hear from you, then give them something to talk about (hopefully good!). If you do it right, you’ll see the only button more powerful in the online world than “Like” is “Share“.

The company offers one “Groupon” per day in each of the markets it serves. The Groupon works as an assurance contract using ThePoint’s platform: if a certain number of people sign up for the offer, then the deal becomes available to all; if the predetermined minimum is not met, no one gets the deal that day. This reduces risk for retailers, who can treat the coupons as quantity discounts as well as sales promotion tools.

But many companies have tried similar programs and failed. What has made Groupon a success in comparison? First of all, unlike others, it is geographically and behaviorally targeted. The coupon offers are specific to cities and/or metropolitan areas and the offers are specific to what customers say they are interested in. But most of all, Groupon is not afraid to be picky. They will only accept very legitimate savings offers from well-established companies. In other words, they have an air of trust. Who wants to use a coupon that doesn’t really save you anything? Most consumers fear looking foolish, so the trust factor in a coupon had better be high. And the higher the trust factor, the more successful the coupon.

Once again, successful marketing is all about trust. And Groupon seems to understand that.

[edit]

How much does it cost to reach 45 million adult viewers on national television? About $917,300. How much did it cost Unilever to get 45 million views on this Axe viral video? Nuttin’ honey. How long did it take? About 2 months. How much did the production cost? We’re not sure, but it probably cost a bit more because it was 2:30 minutes long vs. the typical 30 second broadcast spot. Yet certainly not $917,000 more.

All these metrics look great, don’t they? But the biggest difference is not the cost, the savings, the reach, the time frame or the production. The biggest difference with this viral video is exactly that – it was all viral. People sent it to friends, showed it to family, and looked for it on their own. It wasn’t pushed into their personal media space. It was pulled into the viewer’s world by the viewer. How much would you pay to have 45 million people want to see your commercial?

Oh, yes, and the ultimate measurement: Unilever attributed a 22% increase in website activity and a 6% increase in sales while this viral video was running wild online. They called this a strong success.

What makes some viral videos generate millions of online views while others, often appearing to be equally well thought out, are left in the dust?  It centers around knowing your audience and offering them one or more emotions that stirs them into action. It causes them to want to share and want to buy.  Laughter, tenderness, fear, shock, even disgust, works if you’re directing the appropriate emotion to the appropriate audience with the appropriate retail message.  (Toss in a dash of surprise and you’re even better off!) In short, the success is in the IDEA. The question is, which advertisers are willing to re-think their agency/client compensation and pay well for a great IDEA?