I sat in on a webinar on Wednesday by @angiepascale of @location3 on the twelve tenets of Twitter. While the content was fairly basic on how you should use Twitter - it was also a good reminder of some of the best practices. So whether you are a Twitter newbie or a Twitter heavy user you can still get something out of the Twelve Tenets of Twitter.
1) Ask questions and provide answers - participate is a good thing to do.
2) Share news and links - pass good stuff along
3) Give compliments and celebrate others - this is a social media so dole out the good stuff to fellow twitterers.
4) RT Generously - great way to be active
5) Recommend others - use #FF to mention the people you like to follow
6) Explain yourself - be transparent - who are you and what do you do
7) Help others - when questions are raised - try to answer them
8) Market yourself - do this sparingly
9) Insightfully sayings, quotes - post 'em if you have something great
10) Mundane info - where you are etc - keep it to a minimum or others won't follow you
11) Use sarcasm with caution
12) Get fired up with caution
All in all some good tenets to follow as you start up on Twitter. The one thing that is important from my perspective is to find "your own voice". What are you interested in and tweet about it.
I enjoy Twitter and I've learned a lot in the almost two years I've been tweeting. I've met some incredibly smart people through this platform and have learned from them. If you don't follow me - please do - @mjenson. I'd love to have you along for the ride.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Are you planting seeds of conversation?
It's springtime and the gardeners are definitely out in our neighborhood. As you see them carefully tending to their gardens they are planting seeds which will soon blossom and add color and beauty to the neighborhood.
This is very analogous to how you should be helping the brands you work on right now. Are you planting any seeds of conversation for your brands?
In today's marketplace brands that have conversations with their "guests" are on the path to success. If your brand is stuck in the "old" world and basically just shouting out to the target audience that we have the best this or the best that then you are indeed proceeding along a path that is not very healthy for your brand.
So how do you plant seeds of conversation with your guests? Is your brand on Facebook or Twitter? These social platforms allow for plenty of seeds to be started with your guests. You can ask them for feedback on your product or service - what types of improvements that could be made to your brand. Just think about it - a 24 hour a day FREE focus group.
If you plant seeds of conversation with your guests that avoids excess self-promotion and instead create questions that stimulate reaction and deliver content that is useful and welcome. At this point you have the chance to see your brand blossom. And then you add the fertilizer with offers and incentives and your brand will flourish throughout the year.
So are you planting the seeds of conversation for your brand? Will you have a colorful and healthy brand garden this year?
This is very analogous to how you should be helping the brands you work on right now. Are you planting any seeds of conversation for your brands?
In today's marketplace brands that have conversations with their "guests" are on the path to success. If your brand is stuck in the "old" world and basically just shouting out to the target audience that we have the best this or the best that then you are indeed proceeding along a path that is not very healthy for your brand.
So how do you plant seeds of conversation with your guests? Is your brand on Facebook or Twitter? These social platforms allow for plenty of seeds to be started with your guests. You can ask them for feedback on your product or service - what types of improvements that could be made to your brand. Just think about it - a 24 hour a day FREE focus group.
If you plant seeds of conversation with your guests that avoids excess self-promotion and instead create questions that stimulate reaction and deliver content that is useful and welcome. At this point you have the chance to see your brand blossom. And then you add the fertilizer with offers and incentives and your brand will flourish throughout the year.
So are you planting the seeds of conversation for your brand? Will you have a colorful and healthy brand garden this year?
Monday, April 26, 2010
Value of Mentoring
I have tried to be a mentor to potential advertising and marketing communication candidates throughout the years.
Why? I believe it is important to try and give back to this community in any way that I can.
I have benefited greatly from being involved in the advertising and marketing communications community and this is something that I can easily offer - to help others.
This past Thursday night I was at the University of Minnesota 2010 Mentor Appreciation Dinner along with many other mentors and their mentees. What a great chance to connect with others and understand why they enjoy mentoring. Time and time again it comes back to people having a desire to help prospective candidates get a head start in their careers.
What if each and everyone us would take the time to help others get a head start in their careers. The power of this is enormous and the benefit is oh so great.
Whether it is helping someone you know at work, helping a recent college graduate or even networking with a peer who is looking for a new opportunity - I believe it is very important to help others out.
So the next time that someone calls you and is looking for some advice - take a minute and try and help.
Why? I believe it is important to try and give back to this community in any way that I can.
I have benefited greatly from being involved in the advertising and marketing communications community and this is something that I can easily offer - to help others.
This past Thursday night I was at the University of Minnesota 2010 Mentor Appreciation Dinner along with many other mentors and their mentees. What a great chance to connect with others and understand why they enjoy mentoring. Time and time again it comes back to people having a desire to help prospective candidates get a head start in their careers.
What if each and everyone us would take the time to help others get a head start in their careers. The power of this is enormous and the benefit is oh so great.
Whether it is helping someone you know at work, helping a recent college graduate or even networking with a peer who is looking for a new opportunity - I believe it is very important to help others out.
So the next time that someone calls you and is looking for some advice - take a minute and try and help.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
What I learned from @hashembajwa
Last night I had the opportunity with a few other Preston Kelly team members to take in another Conversation about the future of advertising (CATFOA) discussion at the Fine Line in Minneapolis. The speaker was Hasehem Bajwa (twitter.com/hashembajwa) the Director of Digital Strategy at Droga in NYC.
His topic was about what he envisions happening in the near future with advertising. He spoke of different platforms that are both very visible and others that are just appearing on the radar screen. He was the recent Chirp conference and quoted Evan Williams one of the founders of Twitter "Twitter is not a social network, it is an information network." What a great way to package what Twitter can be and not just what it is currently called.
Some cool new sites/platforms he mentioned that are worth checking out:
-Cabsense a tool in NYC to help you identify where cabs usually are at certain times - enabling you to be on the right corner at the right time.
-Morsel- a GE program that provides health tips every day kind of like a Foursquare to help incentify good health
-Hunch - a program that interprets what people will do or how they will answer questions.
Some other great quotes from Hashem were:
-"A media buy is not a social media strategy."
-"No campaign today is complete without an application."
-"Nobody knows everything right now - we are all learning together."
He summarized why Droga has been successful in four points:
1) No legacy to undo - new start-up versus an Ogilvy type agency
2) Walking our talk - do what they talk about
3) Looking outside for insight - they bring in lots of outside panelists and speakers looking for the great nugget
4) To do different things, they hire different people. Not just the traditional types.
It was another great night of learning and sharing at the CATFOA series put on jointly by MIMA and MCAD. The next session is on May 10th. Go ahead venture out and learn something new. I know that I do when I go to these sessions.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Importance of customer service
Over the past weekend I had several customer experiences that I want to talk about and stress the importance of delivering customer service experience at every point of contact.
I was dropping some books off at Half Price Books in Highland Park to sell. When I dropped off the books the clerk was quite rude. I was just bringing in some books but his attitude was one that turned me off and really gave a bad impression of the brand. When I told him I was leaving the store to drop my son across the street for his haircut and that I would be right back - he said you can not leave the store - I will have your books done in 15 minute. So after waiting 45 minutes I asked if he was done and he said I will call you when I'm done. Hold it here - shouldn't a customer be treated with some courtesy? I'm sure this is not what the owners of the store/brand want me to walk away with.
And then for lunch we went to a Dairy Queen Grill and Chill in Highland Park to use a coupon for a BOGO burger offer we got. Well again the person who took our order charged us for two burgers instead of one. She said she couldn't figure out how to make the coupon work and had to charge me for both burgers? Huh? Could you ask another person working at the store?
And I compare this with my experience at a local True Value hardware store on East Lake Street in Minneapolis. Went in to pick up my lawnmower after it's yearly check-up and I got great customer experience. Thoroughly went through the stuff they did to the mower and they helped me get the mower into the back of my vehicle. Great customer service and I place that I will always go back to.
Think about the customer service experiences that you get on a day-to-day basis. How can brands consistently deliver a great -well even good customer service experience each and every time. Clearly most brands want to do this but at the end of they day it is up to their employees and it really reinforces the manta that "every moment matters".
Let me know about some good or bad customer experiences that you have had recently.
I was dropping some books off at Half Price Books in Highland Park to sell. When I dropped off the books the clerk was quite rude. I was just bringing in some books but his attitude was one that turned me off and really gave a bad impression of the brand. When I told him I was leaving the store to drop my son across the street for his haircut and that I would be right back - he said you can not leave the store - I will have your books done in 15 minute. So after waiting 45 minutes I asked if he was done and he said I will call you when I'm done. Hold it here - shouldn't a customer be treated with some courtesy? I'm sure this is not what the owners of the store/brand want me to walk away with.
And then for lunch we went to a Dairy Queen Grill and Chill in Highland Park to use a coupon for a BOGO burger offer we got. Well again the person who took our order charged us for two burgers instead of one. She said she couldn't figure out how to make the coupon work and had to charge me for both burgers? Huh? Could you ask another person working at the store?
And I compare this with my experience at a local True Value hardware store on East Lake Street in Minneapolis. Went in to pick up my lawnmower after it's yearly check-up and I got great customer experience. Thoroughly went through the stuff they did to the mower and they helped me get the mower into the back of my vehicle. Great customer service and I place that I will always go back to.
Think about the customer service experiences that you get on a day-to-day basis. How can brands consistently deliver a great -well even good customer service experience each and every time. Clearly most brands want to do this but at the end of they day it is up to their employees and it really reinforces the manta that "every moment matters".
Let me know about some good or bad customer experiences that you have had recently.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Spring Cleaning for Brands
This past weekend I was cleaning out the garage - just some normal spring cleaning chores. Sweep the floor, put the Christmas decorations up in the rafters and in general put the winter stuff away and make room for the spring/summer garden stuff.
As was I doing this cleansing and refreshing I was thinking about the brands out there that we all work on - should we be doing some spring cleaning for them? Absolutely and today is as good as any to do a little inventory check on the health of the brand that you are working on.
So here is my spring cleaning checklist for your brand.
1) Innovate or die. This is a marketing mantra that we have often heard but in today's hyper-connected society this is truly the success path for any business. Are you reshaping the product, the product's offering and experiences that your product delivers to customers. What are the things that you should be tuning up?
2) It's not just 24/7 it is really 365. As social media is leading to customers touching and interacting with your brand every day - you need to shift from thinking about just campaigns to conversations. Are you building a long-term conversation platform that will make your brand indispensable in today's marketplace?
3) Be interesting. Duh - of course your brand is interesting. But do you practice this each and every day? A brand that generates little conversation today is doomed. People today are talking about brands that matter to them. Are you doing things to make your brand part of consumer's conversations?
My three spring cleaning tips for your brand are quite simple but very important to execute. Doing this will make your business more innovative and importantly more interesting. Happy spring cleaning.
As was I doing this cleansing and refreshing I was thinking about the brands out there that we all work on - should we be doing some spring cleaning for them? Absolutely and today is as good as any to do a little inventory check on the health of the brand that you are working on.
So here is my spring cleaning checklist for your brand.
1) Innovate or die. This is a marketing mantra that we have often heard but in today's hyper-connected society this is truly the success path for any business. Are you reshaping the product, the product's offering and experiences that your product delivers to customers. What are the things that you should be tuning up?
2) It's not just 24/7 it is really 365. As social media is leading to customers touching and interacting with your brand every day - you need to shift from thinking about just campaigns to conversations. Are you building a long-term conversation platform that will make your brand indispensable in today's marketplace?
3) Be interesting. Duh - of course your brand is interesting. But do you practice this each and every day? A brand that generates little conversation today is doomed. People today are talking about brands that matter to them. Are you doing things to make your brand part of consumer's conversations?
My three spring cleaning tips for your brand are quite simple but very important to execute. Doing this will make your business more innovative and importantly more interesting. Happy spring cleaning.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Lessons from a Leader
This past Wednesday morning I had the opportunity to hear Richard Anderson the CEO of Delta Airlines speak at the Thrivent Leadership Speaker Series here in Minneapolis.
He began his career as a lawyer in Houston and then eventually was at Northwest Airlines and United Healthcare before being named the CEO of Delta. His speech was based on an organizational guide he has developed for Delta called "The Rules of the Road". Essentially it is a guideline on how he expects the team at Delta to perform on a day-to-day basis.
The rules he described are:
1) Connect with your customers - he actually rides coach to experience what his customers do every day.
2) Know your business cold - don't let up until you understand EVERYTHING about your business - especially your strengths and weaknesses.
3) Know thyself - understand your own personal strengths and weaknesses.
4) Always be honest - integrity is the only way to operate
5) Speed wins - in today's world you need to address things quickly. "Perfection is the enemy of good".
6) Always respect the competition - don't denigrate the competition and don't burn bridges.
7) No politics - enough said
8) Be open minded - listen, listen and listen - let people get their messages out - be patient
9) Mange to five goals - you can't handle more than five major goals as an enterprise at a time - more than five and you lose focus
What terrific guidelines to follow. Simple and practical and easy to implement. Clearly you understand what he is all about based on this.
He is impressive and while I watched and listened to him - you could feel the integrity he has a person and as a leader. The team at Delta should feel fortunate to have a leader such as Richard leading their organization.
He told of something that he his in his conference room - a bell. Why a bell? If someone in the room takes a cheap shot at someone else - the bell is rung and the offending person has to make a personal donation to the Susan Komen foundation. I'd love to know how many times the bell clangs.
I have friends at the former Northwest Airlines who speak very highly of Richard and after seeing him in person - I get it also. He is impressive and clearly a leader with a vision and an unbelievably high Emotional Quotient. Delta clearly is in good hands. America needs more leaders like Richard Anderson.
If you ever have the chance to see him speak - make the time - it will be well worth your time investment.
He began his career as a lawyer in Houston and then eventually was at Northwest Airlines and United Healthcare before being named the CEO of Delta. His speech was based on an organizational guide he has developed for Delta called "The Rules of the Road". Essentially it is a guideline on how he expects the team at Delta to perform on a day-to-day basis.
The rules he described are:
1) Connect with your customers - he actually rides coach to experience what his customers do every day.
2) Know your business cold - don't let up until you understand EVERYTHING about your business - especially your strengths and weaknesses.
3) Know thyself - understand your own personal strengths and weaknesses.
4) Always be honest - integrity is the only way to operate
5) Speed wins - in today's world you need to address things quickly. "Perfection is the enemy of good".
6) Always respect the competition - don't denigrate the competition and don't burn bridges.
7) No politics - enough said
8) Be open minded - listen, listen and listen - let people get their messages out - be patient
9) Mange to five goals - you can't handle more than five major goals as an enterprise at a time - more than five and you lose focus
What terrific guidelines to follow. Simple and practical and easy to implement. Clearly you understand what he is all about based on this.
He is impressive and while I watched and listened to him - you could feel the integrity he has a person and as a leader. The team at Delta should feel fortunate to have a leader such as Richard leading their organization.
He told of something that he his in his conference room - a bell. Why a bell? If someone in the room takes a cheap shot at someone else - the bell is rung and the offending person has to make a personal donation to the Susan Komen foundation. I'd love to know how many times the bell clangs.
I have friends at the former Northwest Airlines who speak very highly of Richard and after seeing him in person - I get it also. He is impressive and clearly a leader with a vision and an unbelievably high Emotional Quotient. Delta clearly is in good hands. America needs more leaders like Richard Anderson.
If you ever have the chance to see him speak - make the time - it will be well worth your time investment.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
It is an App World for me
Back from vacation and wanted to share my perspective on how apps continue to grow in importance - especially in my world.
The apps on my iPhone pretty much ruled our existence down in Florida. We did not turn on the TV once while staying at my Mom's house or the radio. What a different media experience from five years ago and even two years ago - before apps were around.
I wanted to see how it was to exist only via the iPhone. And the experiment was very easy.
We used the Weather Channel app to give us weather updates. We used the WCCO-TV app to get national and Minnesota news updates. And also the USA Today app for news and entertainment happenings I used the ESPN SportsCenter app to get up-to-date sports results and the MLB.com to get the latest baseball scores. And I could listen to Patrick Reusee on the KSTP-AM 1500 app.
And one very important app that we used at the Walt Disney World parks was a cool app that showed the wait times at all the rides at the parks. This allowed us to use our time most efficiently during our visits to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. How did we ever enjoy the parks without knowing how long the wait time was for the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride as we walked over from Frontierland?
We used our iPhone to get us directions via Maps to Kennedy Space Center and keep up with the markets via Stocks. And it was easily to stay in touch on social media platforms with Foursquare, Tweetie and Facebook.
Clearly this demonstrated and reinforced for me how powerful the iPhone and apps are to how we go about our daily lives. It is the one technology device that truly does it all.
So why don't you try to use your smartphone as your only technology device for a weekend. Give up your laptop, give up your TV, give up your newspapers (ok most of you have done this), give up your radio and give up your landline phone.
So truly when someone says "do they have an app for that" - the answer is usually yes.
How important are apps to your world?
The apps on my iPhone pretty much ruled our existence down in Florida. We did not turn on the TV once while staying at my Mom's house or the radio. What a different media experience from five years ago and even two years ago - before apps were around.
I wanted to see how it was to exist only via the iPhone. And the experiment was very easy.
We used the Weather Channel app to give us weather updates. We used the WCCO-TV app to get national and Minnesota news updates. And also the USA Today app for news and entertainment happenings I used the ESPN SportsCenter app to get up-to-date sports results and the MLB.com to get the latest baseball scores. And I could listen to Patrick Reusee on the KSTP-AM 1500 app.
And one very important app that we used at the Walt Disney World parks was a cool app that showed the wait times at all the rides at the parks. This allowed us to use our time most efficiently during our visits to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. How did we ever enjoy the parks without knowing how long the wait time was for the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride as we walked over from Frontierland?
We used our iPhone to get us directions via Maps to Kennedy Space Center and keep up with the markets via Stocks. And it was easily to stay in touch on social media platforms with Foursquare, Tweetie and Facebook.
Clearly this demonstrated and reinforced for me how powerful the iPhone and apps are to how we go about our daily lives. It is the one technology device that truly does it all.
So why don't you try to use your smartphone as your only technology device for a weekend. Give up your laptop, give up your TV, give up your newspapers (ok most of you have done this), give up your radio and give up your landline phone.
So truly when someone says "do they have an app for that" - the answer is usually yes.
How important are apps to your world?
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