Archives : 2011 : September

The Advent of Social Film: The Inside Experience with Jamie Robinson

By: Wendy Roe

Session Hashtag: #socialfilm

TOPIC:
Social films are a recent phenomenon and there are few precedents for their format. In this session learn about “The Inside Experience,” a social film project presented by Intel + Toshiba. Jaime Robinson, the creative lead on the project, worked alongside Director DJ Caruso and actress Emmy Rossum to assemble clues and drive successful audience participation in this unique Hollywood thriller. Learn about the opportunities for engagement, effective media placements and how far viewers will go to be a part of the big picture.

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Client Story: Intel and Toshiba: www.theinsideexperience.com
It was the best of briefs…

How do you mix a Hollywood movie with Facebook?  That is the question! An immersive storytelling experience…the advent of social film.  The client was focused on getting super creativity to WOW 20-year-olds.  Concept of a “First Look” trailer.  It was to be “an addictive experience.”

Film = Author-owned
Social Media = People-owned

“Social Film = An immersive plot-driven filmic collaboration between film-maker & audience.”

 Things that were important in the campaign:

1. Have a well versed Hollywood director and talent that knew the 20 something crowd.
2. A wide variety of touchpoints for major league crossover.  (24 hour screenwriter responding as the character online)

1. 8 film episodes
2. Facebook character pages
3. Live interactions
4. Clues and cyphers (to find out where she was)
5. Support videos
6. Socially-based challenges (characters making videos)
7. Fans crossing over into episodes
8. Twitter action
9. Real world participation
10. Final film…all 8 episodes with the highlights from social media stitched together.  WOW

The client didn’t want to shove their product down their viewers throat, they wanted them to feel like they were part of an experience not viewing an ad. – Jamie Robinson

Hybrid Track: Ask The Experts with Melissa Jensen, Sarah Kotlova, Will Scott, Derrick Wheeler and Todd Friesen

By: Wendy Roe

Session Hashtag: #askexperts

TOPIC:
After a mind-boggling two days at Bend WebCAM 2011, you still have a few burning questions. Maybe you’re confused about user experience, search engine optimization, calls to action, site design or site organization. No matter what your questions relate to – or how insignificant they may seem – bring them to our final breakout session of the day and “Ask the Experts!” Our group of seasoned professionals can address them individually and collectively, and remove the haze that may be buzzing around in your brain. Don’t go home in the dark. Leave enlightened.

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Quick switch…Hallie Janssen will be blogging this on…will get the link soon!  Wendy Roe will be blogging the last creative track: The advent of Social Film.

Hybrid Track: Online Reputation with Conrad Saam and Todd Friesen

By: Wendy Roe

Session Hashtag: #onlinerp

TOPIC:
Reputation management is hot button and major issue in online marketing today. Protecting your brand online is a challenge and requires some very specific strategies, including SEO, PR, PPC and Social Media. Online Reputation Management is only getting harder as more and more people are discovering how easy it to publish their own content online as well as contributing UGC to complaints boards and popular blogs. Cleaning up the mess and protecting you reputation going forward is an ongoing project.  Speakers are: Todd Friesen (Director of SEO of Performics, Conrad Saam (Director of Marketing at UrbanSpoon) and moderated by Meg Thompson (Rimm-Kaufman Group, formerly AudetteMedia)

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Conrad’s up first and is jumping into case studies of BAD online reputation examples.

1. Joseph’s Rakofsky’s 1st Degree murder trial that’s mistrial because of an incompetent lawyer…oh boy, the online media went wild. Now, when you search…over 100 blog posts all come up with bad press.
2. Think Geek vs. The National Pork Board
3. Mint vs. Quicken
4. Self Inflicted Online Reputation

“Online reputation management is displacing negative results.  Not going to get a lawyer.” – Todd Friesen

Hybrid Track: Facebook Don’ts with Will Scott

By: Wendy Roe

Session Hashtag: #fbdont

I’ve been looking forward to this one because getting more out of Facebook is a universal marketing need.  (In my opinion)

TOPIC:
Don’t be “that guy.” You know the guy in the middle of the room at the party, talking loud and slapping his card in the palm of every passerby. Data show that consumers want to interact with businesses online. They particularly want to see that businesses are engaged in Social Media. And they don’t necessarily want to be sold to. In this session we’ll look at some good, some bad, and some ugly ways businesses are engaging in Social Media and you’ll hopefully leave with a few new tools and ideas for how you can do it right.

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Will says, ” You Don’t Want To Be That Guy.”  Cheesy salespeople suck.

Let’s jump right to it: FACEBOOK DON’TS

1. Don’t be afraid of commitment
2. Don’t be a broadcaster
3. Don’t buy friends…the wrong way
4. Don’t be rude
5. Don’t let go of the reins…completely
6. Don’t believe there’s no ROI

 If a Tree Falls In The Forest and Nobody Hears It, Does It Really Make a Sound?

1. Seek out complimentary Facebook pages
2. Engage, respond, converse
3. Attract the right fans
4. Leverage your internal assets
5. Consider holistic befriending – a page can’t be my friend but it’s admins might

Q: What about Business-to-Business?
A:  You can focus Facebook Ads to job titles, likes and interests…

Q: Should I post on a competitors page if it’s something that may interest them?
A: It’s more appropriate to post a comment of their post or comment on others blogs instead of posting directly on their wall.

…ooops, got sucked into the great dialogue instead of posting q & a’s…great interactivity in this audience!

Hybrid Track: Harnessing Social Media to Build Brands with Andy Smith

By: Wendy Roe

Session Hashtag: #buildbrands

I’m situated at the front of the Tower Theatre (come join me if you are reading this and sitting in the back!) and ready for the next session with Andy Smith, co-author of The Dragonfly Effect and CEO of VonaVona Ventures.

TOPIC: 
Many workshops teach the mechanics of using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to compete in business. But few dive into the psychological insights that explain which Social Media strategies work and which don’t. In this session, we’ll pull back the curtain and help you understand the subtle elements of Social Media success. We’ll discuss the science of social persuasion, the strategies and tactics used by companies and causes that have successfully harnessed Social Media toward a specific goal. And we’ll provide a roadmap for infectious action by exploring:

• How the impact of a goal – when connected to happiness and meaning – can serve to create a resource that is often untapped.
• How the power of human-centered design and rapid prototyping can be used to fuel branded initiatives and experiences.
• How any individual can achieve unprecedented results – whether finding an almost impossible bone marrow match for a friend, building a brand inside-out, or electing the current President of the United States.

Social Media View with Andy Smith

Inbound Observations

1. We love to buy, but hate being sold to
2. Trust in institusions at all time lows
3. More categories are considered purchases
4. Old media dabbling in social elements
5. Consumers repelled by brand advocates, but respond to ambassadors

“My c0-author was skeptical about the role of social media and its effectiveness in building brands.  The co-author is my wife.”

Opening Keynote: The Four Pillars of Building Instant Trust Online with Tim Ash

By: Wendy Roe

It’s Friday and we’re all excited to be here at the Tower Theatre for conference day of Bend WebCAM 2011.  We’re lucky to have Tim Ash, CEO of SiteTuners, kicking off the big day today with the opening keynote.

As a reminder, here’s a recap of the live bloggers we have today: Todd Mintz (Left Brain), Hallie Jannsen (Right Brain), Wendy Roe (Hybrid).

Interested in keeping up with the conference?  Be sure to follow @bndwebcam on Twitter, Bend WebCAM on Facebook and use the hashtag #bwc11.  Each workshop has it’s own #hashtag as well!

TOPIC:
Websites and landing pages face very real trust issues – they are a scary and uncertain unknown to most visitors. Before people will act or transact, their concerns and anxieties must be alleviated. But how can you do this online when you only have seconds to establish trust? In this provocative keynote, SiteTuners CEO Tim Ash, will show you how to effectively use the Four Pillars Of Trust and smooth the way to your online conversion goals.

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Oh my, Tim’s giving out dollar bills for honesty for the audience – WOOT!  Okay, let’s get started:

“it’s not about technology, it’s about the brains in our heads”

Building Instant Trust Online

1. People form a first impression of a landing page in : 1/20 of a SECOND.
2. What do you know about your visitors?  Not much…technology, yes.  But we really don’t know who they are…and they don’t know about us.

Local University Search and Social Workshop

By: Wendy Roe

Whew, okay, I’m fueled up from lunch and ready to move my fingers at a break-neck pace again.  We’re here with Andre Jensen (SEO), David Mihm (Local) and Will Scott (Social) talking about a mash-up of these big 3 on the web.  We’re excited about some live reviews and Q/A after each presenter’s mini-presentations. Let’s do it!

Topic:
Your chance to get your website viewed by our star-studded “Nerd Herd,” featuring SEO wizard David Mihm of GetListed.org, Andre “the Search Giant” Jensen, owner of FreelanceSEM, and Will Scott, owner of Search Influence. After 60 minutes of each one sharing search and social tips, each member of the trio will offer randomly chosen attendees a 20-minute personal review of their website from an organic, local or social perspective (a $200 value). Attendees also have the opportunity to valuable insights from other site reviews along the way.

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Andre’s up first talking about SEO:

1. Optimize your site so that your home and your inside pages can be indexed and rank well, not just your home page
2. Andre is going to focus on the organic/natural side of SEO, not the paid search results today (just a heads up!)
3. Selecting the right keywords first is critical for your marketing campaign.  You gotta make sure that the keywords you want to rank for are the keywords that your customers will search for.
4. Use Google’s Keyword Tool for some helpful suggestions on what customers are search for.
5. Gather targeted keywords (ex: product model numbers).  Less volume but highly qualified traffic!  (ahhem, the tool doesn’t always know best but it’s helpful to read between the lines and use your best judgement).
6. On and of page factors to consider: Infrastructure and Navigation, Coding, Design, Content  (a whole bunch of factors in 10 px type is on the slide…lot’s o’ stuff).
7. Types of content that impacts relevancy and rankings: Body content, headlines, alt image tags, link text, titles, meta description.  In other words, make sure you have your keywords in these places.
8. Focus on a balance between keywords and brand.
9. Link text is another great factor to focus on.  Include your (keywords go here) in your link text…just like that!
10. Add Google Analytics to your site.  It gives you great metrics on traffic to your site.
11. Interested in more?  Andre teaches Search Strategies up at COCC, check it out!

Creative Research + Killer Briefs by Lynette Xanders

By: Wendy Roe

Welcome Bend WebCAMmers!  It’s a fantastic day and we’re excited to jump start the day learning, blogging and networking…can’t you just smell the Juniper?  Today, I’m channeling SEO live blogger guru Lisa Barone to assist in my first live blogging event.  My name is Wendy Roe (@wendyroe) and I’ll be your personal journalist with the ins and outs of the creative and web minds during the next two days for The Bend WebCAM blog.  Please be nice…I’m sure to make typos along the way!  If you like, don’t hesitate to leave a comment on the blogs below or SHARE with your friends!

Interested in keeping up with the conference?  Be sure to follow @bndwebcam on Twitter, Bend WebCAM on Facebook and use the hashtag #bwc11.  The #hashtag for this workshop is: #killerbriefs

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We are excited to have Lynette Xanders in the house (she’s a local from Hood River!). (She’s passing around colored 12 x 12 paper for note takers…a colorful creative from the start…)

Wild Alchemy is a momentum company, infusing companies with insights and inspiration to create something AMAZING.  She’s worked in every category their is…Deschutes Brewery, Microsoft, Nike, American Red Cross, …she says she works in “Beer, Banks and Baby Food.”

Why do we care about creative briefs?

It’s a way to get everyone on the same page, keep consistency, streamline decision making, create better stuff and gain efficiency, effectiveness.   It helps keep everyone accountable and help you sell better stuff too.  “It helps reduce stupid fights.” It also unifies fragmented services…which is important because there’s media, brands that are becoming increasingly fragmented. 

Demographics don’t mean anything: 30 yr old CEO, 40 year old moms, 40 year old student.  The world is ever-changing.  The filters that we have today create ‘info-tainment’…if it doesn’t entertain, people aren’t interested.

Why are we doing this?

To generate greater efficiency and effectiveness and help make life easier in the process.

What is it in its best light?

It is a springboard to ideation.  Its the first creative idea/place to play.  The last place we all agreed.

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Go back to basics…improving the brief will ALWAYS make things easier.

The creative brief must always be CREATIVE + BRIEF (1 page!).

What is the assignment?
Why are we doing it?
Who are we talking to?
What do they currently think?
What do we want them to think?
What’s the ONE thing we  need to tell them?
Why they should believe us?
What are we really selling?

Resistance to Briefs (or excuses):

We never have enough time to do it right but we always found time to do it over…“The investment on the front end will pay off on the back end.”

“If we can get the creative people to be more strategic and the strategic people more creative…we’re on our way.”

Creative People are: (from the audience…)

1. Emotional
2. Fashionable
3. Passionate
4. Out of the Box

Business People are: (from the audience)

1. Safe
2. Calculating
3. Goal Oriented
4. Focused

“Efficiency builds creativity, it doesn’t destroy it.”  Find a poster child that includes both sides, a model that reflects both attributes.

” A brief it not about information, it’s about inspiration.”  Make it clear, concise, unambiguous and INSPIRING.

Key Tenets:

1. Get in the right head space.  (Don’t feel like you have to write it in an office…surround yourself with inspiration and inspirational areas.  Even if it’s sitting in front of a fire place drinking wine…hmmm, sounds good!)
2. Seek the common threads.  (Between your core customers and prospective clients, between men and women…focus on speaking to both at the same time.)
3. Write longhand.  Yes. Really. (Ideas come from subconscious ramblings that you didn’t even know you wrote down.  Break out the thinking and don’t be afraid to misspell and use colors.)
4. Be clear about the deliverable…but ask if they’re open to other.  (It’s the greatest opportunity)
5. Think like a poet.  (Instead of giving rational details, make them “FALL IN LOVE.”)  Follow the love, follow the pride, follow the money….80% of revenues come from 20% of your customers; learn from the customers who love you.
6. Follow the money.
7. Know what the problem is we’re trying to solve.
8. Know what it is, and is not. (Don’t overwhelm them, keep it focused.  Oh, and the ‘briefing’ is just as important as the ‘brief’….don’t email or drop it off and leave.)
9. Seek to inspire, not just inform.
10. Be both creative, and brief.
11. Paint a picture of your customer (and make them likeable).
12. Avoid client-speak. (Jargon gets you no where….tell me what is DOES.)
13. Make sure it passes the tests. (1. Can you say it in an elevator ride? 2. Can you say it to your mom and she will know what you’re talking about? 3. Can you say it out lout without crinkling your nose?  It’s gotta be memorable, easy to understand and COOL.)
14. Make it hang together. (Make sure it makes sense when you’re saying it out loud.)
15. Use examples.  (“I love visual briefs”)
16. Think of possible ways to go. (Make sure you have ideas on how to get started to accompany the brief.)
17. Be a guide, not a policeman.
18. Do not expect the music to play.  (When the room goes quiet, you have a good idea.)
19. Use loaded language.

Manifesto – a poetic way to bring the brief to life.  You pull apart the personality and magnetic virtue of the brief (why you should care).  A way to talk to your tribe…it’s a large paragraph that’s inspirational and pulls the mission together.

“If the brand died tomorrow, how would it be remembered and who would morn it most?”

 Book Recommendation: Adam Morgan “Eat Big Fish”

Key takeaways in creative research:

1. Follow the money and the love. They’re the path to riches.
2. Seek possibilities, not proof.  Uncover the ideal amongst fans.
3. Find people at the point of stain. Know the emotional benefit.
4. Ask 3 juicy questions. And then stop talking.  Let them ponder.
5. Listen for what you’re not listening for. Let it wash over you.
6. Seek the magnetic virtue. Know what you’re really selling.
7. Pay attention to what they do. It’s not always what they say.
8. Understand the context. Look at the landscape and drivers.
9. Read between the lines. It’s not what was said, but what was meant that’s the key
10. Use techniques to dig.  Get past the ‘pat’ answers.
11. Ask permission but do it anyway. It’s creative development.

“When you start writing, find a wicked cool pen and a BIG piece of paper…the bigger the paper, the bigger the ideas.” – Lynette Xanders (Queen of Quotes!)

 

The Death (and Rebirth) of SEO

Rand Fishkin is CEO and co-founder of SEOmoz. He co-authored the Art of SEO from O’Reilly Media. So then who better to talk about SEO and how it died and its rebirth. Don’t miss this great keynote speaker. Afterwards come join us for a Free showing of the Cannes Lions International Award Winning TV Commercials. Just flash your badge and get in for Free, See everyone on Friday.

The Advent of Social Film

Want to learn about “The Inside Experience” a social film project presented by Intel + Toshiba. Then come listen to Jaime Robinson Creative Director at Pereira & O’Dell and the creative lead on the project. Hope to see everyone there tomorrow and come to the Brew Ha Ha and enjoy drinks and good company.