CaseCamp 7... Hobnobbing in Social Media

Toronto – Last night I attended my first social media conference, CaseCamp 7. Organized by Eli Singer, over 400 people showed up for the event – so many that people who had to work late (like myself) had nowhere to sit.

It felt like speed dating where case studies were presented in 15 minutes or less – although they could’ve been more… after all, who was counting?

There was a big networking dance party afterwards although I was still too shy to participate, I got to meet Sean Moffitt – a leader of buzz marketing. KOL's like Sean and Eli are a highly sought-after resource for any marketer today who wants to jump on the social media gravy train.

Here’s what went down…

Red Flag Deals

Derek Szeto, founder of RFD.com talked about their recent Boxing Week success, largely attributed to their SEO superiority built up over the past couple of years and the resources they devoted into building their community and their retailer relationships.

Story2Oh!

Jill Golick, a screen writer who has cracked into effective storytelling online using social media through two fictional characters: Simon Beals and Ali Barrett. She created these two characters on Facebook and used all aspects of social media (twitter, delicio.us, flickr, youtube) to create a storyline that engaged Simon and Ali’s friends (the real ones) in multiple touch-points.

It’s controversial because people expect their Facebook friends to be real, and although Jill tried to make it clear on all of Simon and Ali’s profiles that they were fictional – I don’t think most people really read profiles, and some people were annoyed that they were fooled by Simon and Ali just prior to CaseCamp.

Radiothon Diaries

Sick Kids Hospital increased their fundraising this year partially because of some really touching viral video content they put out. It was a last minute project and they shared some of the challenges they faced, but considering the increase in donations they saw, it was worth the hustle.

TD Canada Trust Facebook

TD Canada Trust used a Facebook group to get in touch with 18-25 demographic which tied into a really cool event which involved kids, discounts and a shopping tour. As a bank, they had to overcome a lot of challenges mainly PR related. This case shows that it’s OK for a company to allow their customers to speak their minds. We’re all saying shit anyway and their acceptance of transparency goes a long way in promoting trust.

the people want to keep it real

i suggested several polls on tuesday, and finally ONE of them got approved yesterday.

then this morning, i was informed that my poll is officially WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT!

unfortunately i don't get to make any claims to prizes or anything, and i don't live in NYC so i won't get to see i emblazoned in times square, but at least... if i see it being sold at my local vw dealership... i'll know that i contributed to what will henceforth be the best vw campaign since the lemon.

the people want to be famous

what people want campaign

this question grabbed my attention immediately and when was the last time you saw an interesting message in a banner ad?

the neatly built and branded vw What The People Want microsite asks:

"Do you want an end to political correctness?"

or fun question like, "Do you want to take the tiny soap and shampoo bottles from hotel rooms?"

(btw, last time i checked the majority of people want both!)
users are encouraged to suggest an opinion of their own and the poll that generates the most positive votes gets:

• printed on t-shirts, bumper stickers, mugs and pins
• giant interactive sign in Times Square, NYC

opinion polls are not the nkotb of the internet obviously, but i've got to give a not to vw for showing some courage and doing something not a lot of car companies are willing to promote - honesty.

this is a solid buzz campaign that makes the most of people's love of online polls and interactive spectacles in outdoor spaces. the campaign that i stumbled upon was clearly targeted towards new yorkers, but i think vw should take this all the major cities across north america... and even the world. they can stretch this for miles by comparing what the people want in each city.

this campaign is especially timely during the u.s. presidential primaries. people are ITCHIN to make their vote count. this may sound crazy, but do you think that the people that vw is engaging are more likely to vote in the elections than not???

the final word

brand experience has never been so accessible to the masses than online, and gives off the general vibe that vw is thoughtful and progressive. what do you bet that those are two psych descriptors for the consumers they're trying to engage? not only did i have fun submitting my opinion, i liked that the vehicle push was secondary to the overall brand experience.

great url - lazy campaign

getahappyface.com

there's such a disconnect in the way most consumer goods are being advertised online. i found out about this campaign on adotas today and it was such a disappointment.

but let's talk about the good stuff first. the design is gorgeous. very modern and user friendly.

the best part are the video demos for their collection of st. ives elements widgets because what i really hate about downloading widgets is often, i don't know what i'm gonna get until it's on my desktop. and i uninstall them almost immediately because i haven't yet come across a commercial widget that i don't already use iGoogle for. so there.

i don't really see why anyone would want these widgets anyway - especially the GOODNIGHT TXT MSGs. does anyone want st. ives to write them a goodnight txt msg? they don't even give you an example of what kind of messages to expect. it all just seems really kitchy to me.

here's where the campaign really starts to fall apart for me.

as a part of the audience (female, buys a lot of competitive skin products), there are some essential question that this site simply does not answer:

1. is this product right for my skin?
2. where's the swag??? (i.e. discounts, sample offers, etc.)

then there are the hot spots. why does a bottle of cream need to rotate and offer hot spots of information? this is not a car or even a cell phone. you can't even magnify the back details to see ingredients.







then i took a look at their current display ads and they appear to have a deal with instyle magazine to promote a sweepstakes both online and offline, which is great, but is that all you're going to do? we all know how much you can charge for a Flash microsite these days so wouldn't it make sense to dedicate a bigger portion of your ad budget to drive online traffic? don't they want anyone to see the site???

from an audience perspective, the internet is a fantastic place to advertising detailed product benefits because people go online to read and that's a fact. i was happy to see that st. ives did an advertorial which only appears in lime.com.

anyway, i'm sure their offline campaign more than makes up for their online attempt.