Marketing

Phoenix, AZ Tech Scene…in 2011

December 17th, 2011

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This is a list I compiled about the Phoenix Tech Scene in 2011.

The Nissan Leaf Tour

October 20th, 2010

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Nissan is doing so many things right with the release of the Leaf.  Why? It’s part of something bigger than the release of a product.  The release is really a complete rebranding and an effort to take market share from it’s competitors.

Here’s a list of what Nissan has done right in the marketing release of the Leaf.

1) They are creating meaningful, lasting experiences with customers.  A 6 month tour with 23 city stops is being executed as we speak.  At these locations, Nissan is answering customer questions, allowing them to kick the tires, and most of all, allowing them to test drive.

2) To test drive, people must go online and reserve their time slot.  This gives Nissan the opportunity to either a) get a customer’s information at sign up so they can market to them at a later date or b) get them to be a part of their Facebook fan page, and market to them continuously.  Either way, it’s a win for Nissan.  (Comparison: Volt, their competitor, just has people show up)

3) Content creation.  At each one of these city stops, Nissan looks like they’ve contracted an agency to do amazing video work.  Like, really amazing.  If they do that for every city, which I’m assuming they will, it will be some of the best compilation of video ever compiled for a project.  Just in Orange County, where they stopped first, they were able to film a man singing his praises for the Leaf along with a minute and a half video that recapped their time in the OC.  Fantastic.

4) Their Facebook page has all that you could ask for.  42 videos.  Fan photos.  A tour schedule.  Events that coordinate with that tour schedule that allow you to RSVP.  A shiny profile photo of the Leaf.  And a bunch of other stuff that makes you feel closer to the Leaf.

5) They are doing such a good job at addressing customer concerns, like how will I charge my car…how much does it cost…how many miles does it get…etc. Going out and answering these questions in person…can’t stress that enough for how important it is to rebrand Nissan.

6) They have tangible benchmarks to try and accomplish, and they’re building that into the videos.  50,000 test drives of the Leaf is what they are aiming for.  At the end of the OC video, they gave out how many test drives they delivered (2,000), and how many test drives they had left to go (48,000).  That’s good stuff that allows you to come along on the journey.

7) Stops coincide with the first markets where each car will be available. There is a methodology to the tour.  And, stops coincide with major events in each city…ie the Street Fair in Tucson.  The more stops you can coincide with events, the better because there will be more people around.  AND, they stopped at major places like Griot’s Garage, a Tacoma institution that encourages people to have fun in their garage.

Movies + Social Media Tweet Rates

August 7th, 2010

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Two researchers from HP Labs had a question: could you predict box office revenues for movies based off of the activity in social media? What they found is that their ‘social media analysis model’ was more powerful of a predictor than the Hollywood Stock Exchange.

Their model? Analyzing the tweet rates per movie, and then factoring in positive and negative sentiment with each tweet.

They found that the movie Blind Side made more money the second weekend than it did the opening weekend. The reason? More people talked about the movie that week than in the week leading up to release.

This paper raised a question in my mind: If social media can be used to predict box office revenues, can studios influence social media to increase revenues?

Here is my hypothesis for how movies can make more money based off of social media activity: increase the rate at which people talk about your movie.

Here’s how I would go about increases the ‘tweet rate.’

1) I would employ a team of community managers whose sole purpose is to increase the ‘tweet rate.’ They can do this in the following ways:

a) Engage people who are talking about the movie by having a conversation. The community manager can find these people through searches on both Twitter and Facebook.
b) Share inside information on social media pages throughout the movie making process with the goal of increasing chatter and branding the movie with the consumer.
c) Run promotions to increase the rate at which people share personal information

Start early in the process because it takes time to develop a community around a movie, and it takes time to build an audience.

Hustling in 2007

May 16th, 2007

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Our daily checklist when on the road…

  • Call 3 organizations for interview referrals
  • Book two interviews
  • Find one couch to crash on
    • Craigslist.org
    • Facebook
    • Website?
  • Find one person to fill up gas tank
    • Craigslist.org
    • Website?
  • Find one person to have lunch with
    • Craigslist.org
    • Website?
  • Contact 6 teachers to see if we can submit surveys in their class.
  • Contact one sorority for clothing sales opportunity
  • Design one promotional material
    • T-Shirt
    • Gift Bag
    • Button
    • Marketing Page

Daily Marketing Plan in 2007

May 16th, 2007

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Here’s what we did in 2007 to market stuff.

  • Make 5 Digg Friends (20 minutes)
  • Post on 5 Facebook Walls (15 minutes)
  • Email 2 bloggers to see if they’d like to join the tour for a day (25 minutes)
  • Email 2 separate blogs to see if they’d like to add us to their blogroll. (25 minutes)
  • Make one thoughtful post to StartupNation.com (20 min)
  • Make one thoughtful post to YoungGogetter.com (10 min)
  • Contact two people a day for June contributions to interview blog (20 minutes)
  • Submit blog article to digg.com, complore.com (20 min)
  • Visit 5 new websites a day on mybloglog.com and comment on site. (25 minutes)
  • Contact 4 press outlets a day for possible interviews and coverage. (1 hour) (15 minutes a call)
  • Post on Journey blog (45 minutes)
  • Total time (4 hours 45 minutes)