Harmonic Aftershock

Another #TVnext Wraps

Looking back at my TVnext℠ recap posts from 2011 and 2012, at least one big thing is consistent: That “floored” feeling I have because of the people I work with every day. Over 80 Hill Holliday employees contributed to TVnext whether it be in planning, production, or speaking roles. And, of course, an enormous thanks to our speakers and sponsors as well as the judges and sponsors of our TVnext℠ Hack.

Relive this past Monday with a look back at the photos and videos from the day.

PHOTOS:

VIDEOS:

Also, be sure to check out my colleague Laura Nelson’s post about the participation results from our third annual TVnext℠ Summit.

Resonant marketing vs. hype: A tale of two TV spots.

Last week, I was asked to participate in #MojoUp & join my counterpart from A&G to give commentary on the car ads from the Super Bowl. Mike and I each chose one (car) TV spot that we felt was the strongest. It really came down to 2 spots: Volkswagen’s “The Force” vs. Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit.”

While Brand Bowl (kudos to the 2nd year partnership of Mullen, Radian6, and Boston.com) named the Chrysler spot as its overall Super Bowl winner, for me, it’s far more telling to look at what happens after the big game.

 
Using Radian6, I pulled mentions of VW/Volkswagen and Chrysler. Not only did VW benefit from a spike in conversation because they (brilliantly) seeded their ad a week before the Super Bowl, but they were clearly far more talked about the day after (and beyond).

Why? Because their ad resonated with people and compelled so many of us to want to share it with others. Sure, the Chrysler ad had a little more conversation during the game itself. But which ad was everyone was talking about the next day? VW’s ad.

There’s a reason why exactly 1 week after the Super Bowl the VW ad has close to 30 million views on YouTube while the Chrysler ad only has 6 million (a difference of 24 million)! A year from now, which ad will most people remember?

Resonant marketing always wins and, in this case, the prize goes to “The Force.”

The Social Media 180 #mashablesummit

“I was a social media skeptic turned evangelist” seemed to be a core theme at yesterday’s Mashable Media Summit. From Len Berman and Edward Norton to Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Josh Charles, the day long event in NYC showcased individuals from across every possible industry vertical who have been positively affected because they embraced social media.

Here are soundbites from just a few of my favorites:

Ricky Van Veen, College Humor

• Watching Web Video isn't the same as watching TV
• Companies get swept up in viral video fever a.k.a. “faith-based marketing”
• "Viral is spectacle" if you can make something that cool, people will pass it on
• Leverage power-users who have a built up subscriber base (team up with them)
• The "hook" should come within the first 20 seconds
• [making it onto] TV is a stamp of approval

 Len Berman @LenBermanSports

• Realized "You're not just a guy on air, you've got a brand"
• Where are young people turning to get their news? "I don't turn anywhere, the news comes to me"
• There’s faster way for me to give the news & info than on Twitter
• Convinced that last book made it to NYT best seller because of social media (3 previous books did not)
• "Any idiot can write anything they want and put it on the internet -where is the accuracy police?"
• "I basically reinvented myself [because of social media] -there's more than just reading sports scores at a teleprompter."

Dennis Crowley, Foursquare

• Closing in on 1.6 million users
• “It’s nice to have this ambient awareness of what your friends are doing"
• "The people that get most concerned about privacy are the ones who haven't used the app"
• "The product is changing so quickly when we sit down a year from now we will be talking about completely different things”
• Re: branded apps: “Why build your own checkin system when you can build off the foursquare API?”
• Foursquare is holding on to badges tightly because if there are too many then they lose their value
• How do you combat badge fatigue? Make then worth something in the real world.
• "I like software that challenges you to do something and then rewards you for when you do it."

An interesting interchange that took place was during  the “keynote conversation” with Mashable’s Pete Cashmore and CNN’s KC Estenson. KC mentioned, “The reason we don't yet have an iPad app is that we really like to build a great product and if we can't put something into marketing that we're really proud of, then we'll wait.” Pete’s perspective was the opposite, “We see an advantage of getting in early and being one of the only ones in there so we like to get on as many platforms as possible and as early as possible.” Who is right?

As I walked out of the Times Center, I was heartened by the fact that everyone who spoke ultimately were passionate about connecting with and nurturing their customers and constituents. Social media is simply a mechanism that greatly facilitates this. Brian Simpson of the Roger Smith Hotel said it best, "I'll take [the criticism of] sucking at social media as long as we are really good at the people business."