The line between consumer and marketer is getting increasingly blurry thanks to blogs, video-sharing sites and social networks.
These and other "social media" tools not only allow consumers to filter messages coming from companies and their marketers, but also let them create, shape and spread their own messages.
"Consumers and amateurs are really making their place in the (marketing) world as much as ad agencies," said Sheila Kloefkorn, president of the American Marketing Association's Phoenix chapter.
Organic Excellence in the News > Social Media Blurs the Lines in Modern Marketing
Social Media Blurs the Lines in Modern Marketing
Andrew Johnson
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 17, 2007 12:00 AM
The trend is not new.
Companies have been using "viral marketing" for the past several years, creating street armies of citizen marketers who distribute their messages for them.
Now, though, corporations large and small are trying to grab greater control of these tools.
A lot is at stake. Companies that fail, marketing experts warn, will miss out on reaching target audiences and give up what little control they still have over their image.
"Most advertisers have been conditioned for many, many years to totally control their message," said Dan Santy, president of Tempe-based marketing firm Santy. "The Web takes all that control away."
Using social-media tools at least gives firms a way to direct where their messages go.
"For a company who ignores it, they're going to ignore it at their own peril because it's going to continue to go on anyway," Kloefkorn said.
Consider: In a recent survey of search-engine marketers, nearly half said they had placed content on YouTube, LinkedIN, MySpace or other social-networking sites.
Last year, Scottsdale-based ice- cream chain Cold Stone Creamery used the popular video-sharing site YouTube to disseminate a video it created to promote a new flavor.
In the video, two ice cream flavors fell in love and got married.
The ice-cream couple even had their own MySpace profile.
"I think the power of YouTube and MySpace and the connection it's made with young people is important for not only Cold Stone, but for every company to investigate," said Kevin Donnellan, senior director of advertising and public relations for the company.
Cold Stone is just one example of a local firm harnessing the power of Web-based marketing.
• Cynthia Drasler, founder of Phoenix-based Organic Excellence, a company that makes chemical-free personal-care products, tapes an online radio show every week. Listeners can download it as a podcast - and about 10,000 do every month, Drasler said.
• ESS in Tempe believes that social-media tools can be valuable for businesses with similar products.
Robert Johnson, president and CEO of the company, which makes regulatory compliance software, started a blog several months ago to post items about issues and trends his industry is experiencing.
Companies have been using "viral marketing" for the past several years, creating street armies of citizen marketers who distribute their messages for them.
Now, though, corporations large and small are trying to grab greater control of these tools.
A lot is at stake. Companies that fail, marketing experts warn, will miss out on reaching target audiences and give up what little control they still have over their image.
"Most advertisers have been conditioned for many, many years to totally control their message," said Dan Santy, president of Tempe-based marketing firm Santy. "The Web takes all that control away."
Using social-media tools at least gives firms a way to direct where their messages go.
"For a company who ignores it, they're going to ignore it at their own peril because it's going to continue to go on anyway," Kloefkorn said.
Consider: In a recent survey of search-engine marketers, nearly half said they had placed content on YouTube, LinkedIN, MySpace or other social-networking sites.
Last year, Scottsdale-based ice- cream chain Cold Stone Creamery used the popular video-sharing site YouTube to disseminate a video it created to promote a new flavor.
In the video, two ice cream flavors fell in love and got married.
The ice-cream couple even had their own MySpace profile.
"I think the power of YouTube and MySpace and the connection it's made with young people is important for not only Cold Stone, but for every company to investigate," said Kevin Donnellan, senior director of advertising and public relations for the company.
Cold Stone is just one example of a local firm harnessing the power of Web-based marketing.
• Cynthia Drasler, founder of Phoenix-based Organic Excellence, a company that makes chemical-free personal-care products, tapes an online radio show every week. Listeners can download it as a podcast - and about 10,000 do every month, Drasler said.
• ESS in Tempe believes that social-media tools can be valuable for businesses with similar products.
Robert Johnson, president and CEO of the company, which makes regulatory compliance software, started a blog several months ago to post items about issues and trends his industry is experiencing.
Targeting an audience
Marketers are finding that with social-networking sites, they can reach specific audiences.That was a key reason Cold Stone used YouTube and MySpace to spread its ice-cream video last year.
"We were looking at a unique way to market on a unique and different channel," Donnellan said.
In the video, a strawberry ice-cream cone and a cheesecake ice-cream cone meet while walking their dogs at the park and, after Cupid hits them with his arrow, fall in love
The video, which came out around Valentine's Day and was used to promote the company's new strawberry-cheesecake flavor, shows the couple playing at the beach, riding in a horse-drawn carriage, lying together on a bearskin rug and other scenes, all while a voice that sounds like Barry White croons a tune about the couple to a smooth jazz beat.
In developing the video, Cold Stone worked with Santy on the story line and the song lyrics.
The company chose YouTube as the vehicle to spread the video because they knew it could reach the most people.
"After videos . . . are posted on YouTube, they take on a life of their own," Donnellan said.
While social-media tools provide companies like Cold Stone new venues to reach their target customers, Donnellan stresses they are just one piece of an overall puzzle.
"I think these types of initiatives are very complimentary pieces to an integrated program," he said. "Everything that we do in terms of marketing is to drive sales in the store, and one of the ways that we want to drive awareness is through traffic to our Web site."
"We were looking at a unique way to market on a unique and different channel," Donnellan said.
In the video, a strawberry ice-cream cone and a cheesecake ice-cream cone meet while walking their dogs at the park and, after Cupid hits them with his arrow, fall in love
The video, which came out around Valentine's Day and was used to promote the company's new strawberry-cheesecake flavor, shows the couple playing at the beach, riding in a horse-drawn carriage, lying together on a bearskin rug and other scenes, all while a voice that sounds like Barry White croons a tune about the couple to a smooth jazz beat.
In developing the video, Cold Stone worked with Santy on the story line and the song lyrics.
The company chose YouTube as the vehicle to spread the video because they knew it could reach the most people.
"After videos . . . are posted on YouTube, they take on a life of their own," Donnellan said.
While social-media tools provide companies like Cold Stone new venues to reach their target customers, Donnellan stresses they are just one piece of an overall puzzle.
"I think these types of initiatives are very complimentary pieces to an integrated program," he said. "Everything that we do in terms of marketing is to drive sales in the store, and one of the ways that we want to drive awareness is through traffic to our Web site."
Building a brand
Cynthia Drasler, the founder of Organic Excellence, said she used to become frustrated as a guest on radio shows because she was never fully able to explain why she felt it was important for people to use chemical-free personal-care products.
So she decided to take matters into her own hands by starting her own online radio show in May 2006.
The show, Chemical Free Living, airs once a week on an Internet radio station at contacttalkradio.com. Listeners can download podcasts of the shows after they air.
On the show, Drasler discusses topics that interest her target customers, and not necessarily Organic Excellence's products.
Even though she does not promote her products during the show, she said the show is helpful in building a brand.
"By having a weekly radio show and having certain shows where I do all the talking for the whole hour, people get to know me," Drasler said. "I become a real person to them, and I think when people know you and if they get to like you, then they go and pay attention to what you're saying."
Crafting honest messages is one key to successfully using social-media tools to shape marketing content, said Francine Hardaway, a local business consultant who helped form the Phoenix chapter of the Social Media Club.
The national organization has branches in cities around the country where members meet to discuss how blogs, podcasts and social networking can affect business.
"I don't think any consultant should ever sell a blog as a way to boost sales," Hardaway said. "It's really a way to brand you're company. It's a way to give out information. It's a way to get feedback from your customers and your suppliers.
So she decided to take matters into her own hands by starting her own online radio show in May 2006.
The show, Chemical Free Living, airs once a week on an Internet radio station at contacttalkradio.com. Listeners can download podcasts of the shows after they air.
On the show, Drasler discusses topics that interest her target customers, and not necessarily Organic Excellence's products.
Even though she does not promote her products during the show, she said the show is helpful in building a brand.
"By having a weekly radio show and having certain shows where I do all the talking for the whole hour, people get to know me," Drasler said. "I become a real person to them, and I think when people know you and if they get to like you, then they go and pay attention to what you're saying."
Crafting honest messages is one key to successfully using social-media tools to shape marketing content, said Francine Hardaway, a local business consultant who helped form the Phoenix chapter of the Social Media Club.
The national organization has branches in cities around the country where members meet to discuss how blogs, podcasts and social networking can affect business.
"I don't think any consultant should ever sell a blog as a way to boost sales," Hardaway said. "It's really a way to brand you're company. It's a way to give out information. It's a way to get feedback from your customers and your suppliers.
Industry blogging
Hardaway was instrumental in convincing Robert Johnson to start a blog.
Johnson's company, ESS, sells software programs to companies that help them comply with environmental and financial regulations and meet health and safety requirements.
Rather than directly promote the company, Johnson uses the blog to discuss environmental issues facing his industry.
"We thought this would be a good tool for us to kind of have an open dialogue with our partners . . . about these issues," he said. "Our blog is really geared toward telling people about what industry issues are and what's on the minds of the people that are involved in this industry."
Johnson typically posts once a week, screening his message through Hardaway before it goes online.
"I look at it as a way for people to get to know us better," Johnson said.
Johnson points out that the blog also provides an outlet to gather feedback from their customers.
Johnson's company, ESS, sells software programs to companies that help them comply with environmental and financial regulations and meet health and safety requirements.
Rather than directly promote the company, Johnson uses the blog to discuss environmental issues facing his industry.
"We thought this would be a good tool for us to kind of have an open dialogue with our partners . . . about these issues," he said. "Our blog is really geared toward telling people about what industry issues are and what's on the minds of the people that are involved in this industry."
Johnson typically posts once a week, screening his message through Hardaway before it goes online.
"I look at it as a way for people to get to know us better," Johnson said.
Johnson points out that the blog also provides an outlet to gather feedback from their customers.
