I love Zappos. I have twin girls. And, while I’m not so good at math, here’s one thing I do know:

Zappos + Twin Girls = LOTS of Shoes

Why do I love Zappos? I love their selection, the fact that they remember what I like and let me know when they’ve got more of it. I like Tony Hsieh and the culture he’s created. He’s a smart guy who’s built an empire based on common sense and being real. And managing to grow Zappos to over $1 billion in gross sales annually, while also regularly landing on Forbes’ list of Best Companies to Work For list are no small accomplishments. Gini Dietrich wrote a great post about Tony. it’s here if you’d like to read it. She likes him, too.

I really like Zappos because they make me smile. On a crazy busy day, when I’m wading through hundreds of emails and see an ad like this, well, I stop. After all, it’s about SHOES. And we chicks, we’ve got shoes in our blood. But when the ad copy actually makes me smile, that’s what I call winner winner, chicken dinner. That’s when I know that my love for Zappos is deserved.

They get me. And I want to buy more of their shoes.

Note to: Zappos Marketing Department + Ad Agency → Mission Accomplished!

Want to Sell More Stuff? Humanize Your Brand is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Addiction is still a topic that it is hard to find conversations about online.  It makes sense.  Most people want to put their best foot forward on Twitter, Facebook and Linked In.

Even in 2010, there’s still a stigma attached to addiction, depression and mental health issues.  Even in a Web 2.0 world, it makes people squirm to openly talk about drug problems or alcoholism. It’s not a crowd pleaser if you tweet:

My sister has a pain-killer addiction! Know any rehabs in the Tri-State area?

One of our clients here at V3 Worldwide is Challenges, a drug and alcohol addiction treatment facility in Fort Lauderdale Florida.  Working with the amazing team at Challenges is interesting and eye-opening in many ways.

But developing a marketing and social media strategy for Challenges has shown our team that many of the old stigmas still remain about addiction and mental health issues.

For example, it’s a fact that addiction and mental illness are both brain diseases. A person vulnerable to one type of brain disease (addiction) may also be vulnerable to another. They involve the same pathways, molecules, and chemicals in the brain and Mental illness and drug addiction often occur together.

Some people begin abusing drugs or alcohol as a form of self-medication for other  problems such as depression or bipolar disorder and other issues. Drugs of abuse may temporarily relieve some of the symptoms associated with mental illness, such as stress, anxiety, social inhibitions or depression.

But in our research for this client and as we monitor this topic online, I am stunned by the number of people who still think addicts could quit “if they wanted to” and look at mental health problems as character flaws.

As society uses new technology to communicate,  human behavior needs to catch up to the technology so more people will get help.

Addiction, Depression and Social Media? is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Subway

Subway has paired up with Brian Baumgartner of The Office to produce “Golf Therapy: Life, Lessons and the Pursuit of Par.”  The series will launch today on NBC  before the final round of the “U.S. Senior Open” golf tournament, and will spin-off as a web series.  The marketers at Subway will re-purpose the web series for a library of shows that Subway will air on screens the chain is installing in its 23,000 stores across the U.S.

“Golf Therapy: Life, Lessons and the Pursuit of Par” revolves around Baumgartner  telling his therapist about of his nightmares surrounding an appearance at a celebrity golf tournament.   The actor’s anxiety about his annual appearance at the Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament, the American Century Championship is our gain because the series is educational, funny and very smart marketing for Subway AND Kansas City based American Century.

In the series, Baumgartner visits athletes for tips to improve his game.  Athletes featured in the series include Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol; New York Yankees’ pitcher CC Sabathia; current and former New York Giants defensive linemen Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan; U.S. Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin; Muhammed Ali’s daughter Laila Ali, a former pro boxer; and Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Variety reports that Subway using the “Golf Therapy” series as a way to promote its Famous Fans program, made up of athletes who love Subway.

“Everybody talks the ‘content’ word,” Tony Pace, Subway’s chief marketing officer, told Daily Variety. “Having content that we can push out on different channels would be a big benefit for us and the people we work with. But you have to find a balance of entertainment and marketing messages. You need to have a little entertainment or you’ll get tuned out.”

Brilliant move by Subway! The fast food chain is way ahead of the competition, with the Subway TV network and online entertainment.  If you want to see a clip of the Golf Therapy video, check out the Subway Facebook Page.

(Photo: Engadget)

Subway’s ‘Golf Therapy’ Series is Brilliant Marketing is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

The commentary, actually part of a 2004 documentary, featured Earl talking about himself as compared to Tila, Tiger’s mom, and their different personality styles. But, in a very surreal way, it was perfectly tailored to the situation that the not-so-young anymore Woods finds himself in today.

Other brands – folks like P&G, Accenture, Gatorade and a host of others, scrambled to quickly rid themselves of Woods lest the tawdriness of his dirty liaisons rub off on them. In spite of all the controversy as the scandal played itself out and evidence of Woods’ harem emerged, Nike adroitly had the cojones to hang tight, in spite of a plethora of advice to do just the opposite. As a result, and not at all uncommon when cooler heads prevail, Nike managed to pull off an oft coveted but not as oft achieved marketing coup.

The spot, released just two days ago, already has almost 2 million hits on YouTube and is the subject of water cooler conversation the world over. Was it in poor taste? Was it disrespectful? Was it attention-getting? Was it over the top? Many think it was all those things and more, and there’s no dearth of commentary on this subject. Here’s a particularly passionate read by Greg Couch of National Fanhouse magazine.

Regardless of your opinion, it was the one thing that matters: attention getting. Hat tip to Nike – you’ve done it again. And, by ignoring the advice of the many naysayers, you’ve positioned NikeGolf at the forefront. What a nice place to be. You see, the essence of this spot isn’t really about Tiger, Earl or even Nike, for that matter. It’s a textbook example of marketing that focuses with laser sharp aim on the right subject, in the right spot, at the precisely right time. In my world – and for the clients who hire me to develop strategy for them, this is a perfect example of a home run.

What do you think?

Nike’s Giant Golden Balls is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Stories aren’t just for campfires and school children: they’re a powerful way for businesses to communicate their value, to create an emotional hook that sticks in their prospects’ imaginations.

Stories can make a business. Yet most businesses remain tongue-tied, not because they don’t have stories to tell, but because they don’t know how to tell them.

Your business story IS the core of your brand. It’s just that simple.

Fill in the blanks below and you’ve created your business story.

•    So-and-so wanted… [Fill in the desire].
•    But…[State the danger that stood in the way].
•    That’s why they used… [Insert your product and service]… that helped them… [Describe what your product or service did].

Desire is the engine that drives a story. For a story to begin, someone has to want something. Danger creates a compelling story, you must articulate the challenges that stand between the hero of the story (the customer) and the object of desire.  Finally, the Magic Sword is your product or service—the thing your customer will get from your brand to help them get what they desire.

The reason I love Kranz’s approach is because it forces businesses to see things from the customer’s point-of-view.  A business story creates a meaningful context for your product or service. By creating a story, your business offer has a compelling emotional necessity.

I’ve been a stalker fan of Jonathan Kranz for years, he is brilliant.  You can check out Jonathan Kranz of Kranz Communications on his website, www.kranzcom.com, or follow him on Twitter @ jonkranz. His website contains his article 3 Steps for Creating Compelling Business Stories.

I’ve got the article available for download in pdf format over on drop.io, see link below.

http://drop.io/clientinfo/asset/create-compelling-stories-in-3-simple-steps-pdf

Branding 101: Desire. Danger. Magic Sword. is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Pink offers sweats and pj’s versus teddies and push-up bras. The brand image is one of “cute and playful” versus the more overtly sexy image of the core brand. The Pink collection of “loungewear” (sweatpants, T-shirts, pajamas) has become a popular brand with young women—in 2008 Pink accounted for 17 percent of total retail sales for the brand.

As a marketer, I think Victoria’s Secret is wise to court the younger customers and gain their loyalty early. As a mother of two daughters, I cringe. But since I’m a ruthless marketer, I can’t help but give snaps to Victoria’s Secret for the strategy.

Thinking Ahead to Reach Future Customers

Pink was created because teens and college-age women increasingly wear loungewear (sweat pants) outside the home.  Victoria’s Secret was thinking ahead to create a “gateway” to acquire a new segment of customers.  Is your brand thinking ahead?  Are you reaching out to future customers?

In his brilliant book Trust Agents, Chris Brogan talks about the importance of moving first and investing in the future.  Brand leaders stay ahead of the pack by looking ahead and taking risks while their competitors stand on the sidelines.

Is your business looking at new markets?  How much of your time is spent planning for future sales? If your answer is ZERO, then check out a recent post to make a new plan for the new year.

Victoria’s Secret Pink is a Brilliant Strategy, Is Your Brand Thinking Ahead? is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

But branding, well, that’s a whole different ballgame. I’m a huge advocate of brand identity and being strategic when it comes to all things relative to your brand. And I also know that establishing brand identity takes resources, commitment and know-how. This is a message I preach to my clients on a daily basis, and no one needs to try twice to get my attention when it comes to a smart move relative to branding.

So, when a good friend recently introduced me to TweetBrand, a tool developed by the folks at @marketmetweets. I gave him the courtesy of listening. Then, when I did a little homework and saw that my friend @wchingya was also experimenting with and writing about TweetBrand, it further solidified the thought that it was, most definitely something that I wanted to know more about. And, as a final step, I went to some of my SEO friends and spent some time examining the TweetBrand app and its potential, with them. The verdict – TweetBrand is definitely worth exploring. Here’s an example from my Twitter stream of what the branded tweet looks like. Note that instead of saying “from web” or “from Tweetdeck” it has my url.

So now that I’ve done some of the legwork, here’s the skinny. TweetBrand is a free mini app that allows you to brand your tweets with your own name, a company name, a url or even a special message, depending on the situation. The cool thing about that is that instead of tweeting from Hootsuite or TweetDeck or Seesmic, etc. and having their respective links show up, what appears instead is your link. And in today’s day and age, it’s all about the links, baby. Or at least, that’s what my smarter-than-me SEO friends seem to think.

In a nutshell, some of the benefits to TweetBrand are:

– Establishing backlinks as a result of your interaction on Twitter
- Ability to establish brand awareness with each interaction
- Ability to differentiate yourself from your competitors in a classy manner
- Potential for increased traffic to your website
- Ability to identify special promotions or events via a specific message

I’m sure there are more potential benefits, these are just the ones that happen to come to mind right away.

TweetBrand is a first step in a larger application that is still in the development process. The as yet unnamed app, scheduled for launch in late January, will have the ability to schedule multiple tweets, organize groups, brand tweets from multiple users and brands as well as functionality like link shortening and other management tools, which we’ve all come to expect in any app. The folks at MarketMeTweets are excited about the app’s abilities to follow and track keyword (or key phrase) performance as well as utilize the app to auto respond. Personally, I’m on the fence about the auto-responder business – but I already admitted to being a snotty purist, so don’t hate me on that front. However, I’m not so naïve as to think there are not many others out there, major brands included, who think this will be a stellar feature of the application. And, who knows, I might even change my mind about it once I see the app in action. I can see a lot of upside, especially if used ethically, and it might even give entrenched apps like TweetDeck, Hootsuite, etc., a run for their money.

For the record, this new app will come with a monthly price tag that will probably start at about $15 for a personal account, with the price going up for more sophisticated professional accounts. Definitely not a huge investment if it turns out to be a bona fide traffic driver. But, as we all know, getting people interested in paying for anything is often a challenge, so the jury is out on that one.

Bottom line, I think, as a first step, TweetBrand is definitely worth checking out. As we know, both Google and Bing are in the process of rolling out Twitter integration, so the number of sites who aggregate the content is likely to go through the roof. I don’t know how many of those will include links, but to my way of thinking, if you have the opportunity to use your own, branded link when it comes to your engagement on Twitter, doesn’t it only make sense to do that, rather than promoting someone else’s link?

If you’re interested, sign up here to get a free download file. Watch the video tutorial that takes you through the set up (and even I managed it in record time), and then test it out. I will warn you in advance – it is still in beta format, so it’s a tiny little mini app, not something all-inclusive (yet) like TweetDeck. So you download and keep it on your desktop, and use it that way. For me, I am still using TweetDeck, but using TweetBrand, too, and just switching back and forth. I’ll be very interested to see what the larger app looks like once it’s rolled out.

Love it? Hate it? Have an idea that would make it better? Bring it – as always, I would love to know your thoughts.

Branded Tweets? It’s All About The Links, Baby. is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

Don’t need to be coy, Roy. Which is good, because coy has never been my style. Direct and to the point, however, work well for me. So here goes.

Here are five simple, yet integral steps for you to get motivated for the coming year and really doing all that you can to get your business growing and thriving. And it doesn’t really matter what business you’re in – the steps are pretty much the same, no matter what.

What do you believe in? I get tired of all the focus on fancy mission statements and all that stuff we so often get hung up on. My gut always tells me to ask clients to keep it simple. What do you believe in? And, once you answer that, what can you deliver? Obviously, if you can’t deliver what you believe in, it won’t work. So answer both of those questions, and then you’re on your way.

Who are your customers? What do you do, sell, provide, etc., that they need? Understanding your customers is a huge step in any marketing plan. And if you’re not sure, bring a focus group of some of your friends or business associates, or a mixture of each, together and ask them for their insight, opinions, etc.

Get on the bus, Gus!

Now, ask yourself this – Where do you find those customers? For example, if you’ve traditionally marketed via print advertising, that’s terrific. But what if your customers, the ones you identified above, aren’t reading newspapers or magazines? You have to go where your customers are, so before you make plans to spend any of your marketing dollars, figure out where those prospective buyers are, and put your money and your efforts there.

It all sounds so simple, doesn’t it? But I am always amazed how rarely people sit down and ask themselves these simple questions and use them to drive their marketing efforts moving forward.

The next two steps are often the most critical and, unfortunately, something rarely done by small business owners.

How much can I – actually, how much will I is the better statement, allocate for a marketing budget? Marketing isn’t a luxury, folks. Marketing is what makes your business grow, thrive and, ultimately, stay alive. If you make the mistake of thinking that just because you build it they will come, you may as well stop before you even get started and save yourself a ton of money.

So take a good, hard look at your books and make a commitment. Even if it’s just $500 or $1,000 a month, figure out what you can afford to live with and what you’re willing to irrevocably devote to the business of marketing and growing your business. And stick to it!

And, finally, commit to this: Making a new plan, Stan. Every business needs a strategic marketing plan. And once you know what you believe in and what you can deliver, who your customers are, where to reach them and how much you’ve got to do that, you have all the elements needed to make a plan. So, instead of “Ready, Set, REACT” you can instead be “Ready, Aim, Do —-> Succeed.”

Resolve to make 2010 the year that your business thrives!

And if you want to do something fun, join me and 30 other bloggers who are joining forces with @sarahrobinson, the veritable Queen of Escaping Mediocrity, for 30 Days to Change Your Game, beginning January 11, 2010. These blog posts will include inspiration for changing your game, as well as a specific game-changing task you can take action on right away. It’ll be fun, so register now to participate (it’s free!) and start escaping mediocrity right now!

Time to Make a New Plan, Stan is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

The most common complaint that I hear is that people just don’t have time to add social mediums to the mix of the things they do, whether work-related or personally, on a daily basis. And they aren’t really interested in sharing information about themselves, or think that Facebook is stupid and that Twitter is for idiots, and that all social media is nothing more than a huge time suck and so on and so forth, yadda yadda yadda.

Here’s what I say – new media is really all about the Brand of You. Whether you own a business or want to own a business, have a job or are looking for a job (or might some day be interested in looking for a new job), branding yourself, especially in today’s online world, is nothing less than imperative. Do you have an up-to-date profile on LinkedIn? Do you blog or have a personal website? Do you have a working knowledge and understanding of Facebook, even if you don’t choose to participate? Do you have any idea of the demographics of the user group that comprises a community like Twitter? Do you know what happens if you Google yourself? Do you have a Google profile? If you answer no to one or two of those questions, that’s probably not the end of the world. If you answer no to three or more, frankly, I feel sorry for you.

We used to operate in a world where people had resumes and business cards and static websites that never needed updating, and they networked face-to-face. We now live in a world where people have avatars and profiles and blogs and micro-blogs and are connected to, influenced by and collaborating with not only people who live in the same town, but people who live all over the world. The world isn’t changing – it HAS changed, and it is those of us who choose to acknowledge those changes and adapt ourselves accordingly who will reap the most benefit.

So, what about you? What’s the status of the Brand of You? How are you positioning yourself to let people know who YOU are, what you have to offer and why they should collaborate with or, from a personal standpoint, even get to know you? Are you sitting in your office waiting for them to call you on the phone or send you an email and ask to get together or see your resume? Are you feeling complacent and secure because today you happen to have a job and, as such, don’t need to concern yourself with what’s happening in the world around you? If so, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you could be sitting there, alone or, even worse, job hunting with little chance of success, for a long time to come.

As we close out a year and a decade and move into a fresh year, I suggest we all spend a few moments reflecting on the Brand of You. What is it today? What would you like it to be in the future? What makes you a valuable asset? What makes you worthy of attention? What do you do really, really well? What do you have to contribute that might make the world a better place? What do you have to contribute at all? And, most importantly, what are you going to do to make sure that people know about it? You. Who are you and why do you matter?

What have I forgotten? I would love to hear your thoughts on the Brand of You.

The Brand of You is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency