Buzz Builder

STORViNO Video Creates a Powerful Marketing Platform

Online video is a powerful way to make your products or services stand out in a crowded marketplace. It can be a surprisingly reasonable expense to create a professional video that highlights uniqueness and builds buzz.

Bob Stonhaus, one of my firm's current clients, is leveraging video in effective and inexpensive ways that many entrepreneurs should consider. Bob invented a unique wine storage product called STORViNO  which is made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastics like bread crates and milk container storage trays. If you speak directly with Bob or watch the video below, you can't help but feel the enthusiasm that he has for STORViNO. Working with the talented Max Fancher of Maximize Video Productions, Bob created a three minute video that captures the STORViNO story in a fun and interesting way.

Bob's video is serving many different marketing purposes. A link to the video is prominently displayed on STORViNO's home page. This is proving to be an effective tool  for driving consumer and retailer interest in the product. The video is also posted on YouTube and other popular video sharing websites with a variety of tags that a typical web searcher might use. I find it useful to send bloggers and journalists to the STORViNO video so they can learn about the product and experience Bob's enthusiasm in a visceral way that words can't describe. At trade shows, Bob plays the video on a continuous loop so people can learn about the product from him even if he's engaged in conversation with somebody else.

I love marketing efforts that you create once and can use time and time again.

Blogging for Business - Do You Agree with BusinessWeek Magazine?

In May 2005, BusinessWeek Magazine did one of the first cover stories on the blogging phenomenon. Last week, they published an interesting update of that piece in a blogging style with lots of active links. It's worth reading to see an important media outlet's take on on the future of blogging. BusinessWeek is bullish on blogging and social media as a tool for business. In fact, in the piece, they announced a BusinessWeek blog called Blogspotting which provides an interesting take on how cutting-edge technologies are changing business and society.

I've been blogging since January 2005 and my blog visitors now far exceeds my website audience since Google ranks blog posts much higher than website content. For instance, you'll find this blog in the top ten search results in Google under "publicity stunts"  while my website is invisible in this search even thought I talk about publicity stunts. 

While I've only landed one client who came to the blog first, the blog has proven to be an excellent way to show  prospects how I think. And, I know that a few clients have chosen my services over competitors since they identify with my creative word of mouth marketing approach over traditional advertising. If you're a blogger, I would be curious to know how blogging has helped grow your business. What have  you done to make blogging an effective business building tool?

Buzz Marketing Lessons from Cricketwood Bed and Breakfast in Bend, Oregon

Earlier this month, my wife and I spent four days and three nights at the Cricketwood Country Bed and Breakfast  in Bend, Oregon. We enjoyed our stay immensely and learned some excellent marketing lessons.

First, Jim and Tracy, the cordial husband-and-wife Cricketwood owners, go out of their way to deliver an experience that far exceeds the competition. Unusual amenities included a choice from a vast array of made-to-order gourmet breakfast items (try the delicious German apple pancakes); unlimited free soft drinks, water, beer, and wine; access to a large library of free DVDs which can be taken to your room to watch on a great high-definition TV; a book containing personal restaurant recommendations and menus; complimentary night time cookies and ice cream treats; massage table with free oil; and full-scale fountains in the middle of some rooms (thankfully they can be turned off when you want to go to sleep). We've paid a lot more at other places and gotten much less.

Second, Jim is so enthusiastic about his business and committed to guest services that he made a video explaining the Cricketwood story. He told me that he likes to tell the story in person but sometimes it's more convenient for folks to listen to the story on their own schedule. In each room, Jim has placed a DVD featuring his account of Cricketwood's story. I planned on watching just a few minutes but I got caught up in Jim's enthusiasm and  couldn't stop watching. I'll never forget the story and I'm sure that I'll pass it along to others.

Third, Jim and Tracy understand that it not enough to provide a differentiated and quality experience to get people buzzing. Rather, you have to ask for it. Throughout our stay, we heard them tell us and other guests that their business depends upon word of mouth for growth. We were specifically asked to put in a good word for Cricketwood on TripAdvisor, one of the largest and most reliable travel websites. In our room, we also found a small stack of business cards with instructions on how to submit TripAdvisor or Yahoo Travel reviews. I liked Cricketwood so much that I placed a review  and a three-minute video tour of Cricketwood on TripAdvisor - it's amazing to see that 80 people have watched the video in less than a week since I posted it. It's not a Coppola film but it does highlight what makes Cricketwood unique. 

Memorable amenities, excellent service, and the solicitation of reviews have earned Cricketwood the top B&B rating on TripAdvisor for Bend, Oregon and a five star rating (the highest possible) on Yahoo Travel. If you're in Bend, enjoy your stay at Cricketwood and the business inspiration you'll receive.

Why "Go for No!" Makes Sense for Businesses, Missionaries and More

If you're interested in building buzz for your product or service but don't have the luxury of a large marketing budget, it's important to tell people the "good news" about what you're selling. Sure, you will hear a lot of people say that they're not interested. Without question, hearing "no" can be so discouraging that many entrepreneurs and sales people simply stop  trying.

According to  Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz' excellent book  Go for No!, when you hear "no" from prospects, it means that you're on the right track. Rather than merely counting the number of times that you get rejected, figure out how many people that you must engage typically before you hear "yes." That way, every time you hear "no," you know that you're actually closer to success since negative feedback means you'll soon start hearing "yes."

I heard a wonderful illustration of  the "Go for No!" principle on This American Life, my favorite NPR program. Take about 10 minutes to listen to Act Three: Mission Impossible which describes the challenges of two young Mormon missionaries on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The young missionaries describe their typical 60 hour work week in which their sole objective is engaging people on the streets and inviting them to visit the Mormon temple.  Their average conversation is about 30 seconds and usually ends in a resounding "not interested" (or something much more colorful - it's NYC after all). A successful week means getting three or four people to attend a Mormon service.

Such a low number of conversations resulting in church attendance sounds like an abysmal number. But, consider the success of the Mormon Church in growing. Today, the Mormon Church has more than 12 million members, more than doubling its numbers in the past quarter-century. In large part, the growth of the Mormon Church can be attributed to young missionaries who haven't been afraid to "go for no."

It's no wonder that one of the missionaries in the radio story says that he is considering a career in life insurance sales. If he decides upon that course, I'm sure that he'll be successful because he has learned firsthand that "no"  is a word full of encouraging possibilities.

Barack's Video Buzz from Black Eyed Peas Singer Trumps Hillary's Hallmark Moment

After the Iowa caucuses, I predicted  that word of mouth not advertising would tip the balance in favor of one of the Democratic candidates for president. Recently released data is proving this prediction true.

Before the Iowa Caucus, Hillary Clinton spent approximately  $7.2 million on advertising in Iowa yet she came in third place. The day before Super Tuesday Clinton likely spent millions to buy a block of prime time on the Hallmark Channel, which reaches about 84 million households, for the "nation's first televised town hall" which gave voters in the 22 primary states an opportunity to ask her questions. The scripted questions and answers produced dull television. Although ratings aren't available, it's doubtful that the show had much impact on Super Tuesday's results in which Clinton and Barack Obama finished in a virtual tie.

In contrast to Clinton's reliance on advertising, Obama has been racking up primary and caucus victories based largely on the enthusiasm of his supporters lobbying friends and family on his behalf. Over the last week, a new video by the Black-Eyed Peas singer will.i.am featuring Scarlett Johansson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and others has become the most popular YouTube video.  The Obama campaign had nothing to do with the creation of the video nor with its dissemination. According to The USA Today , more than 3.7 million watched the video online its first week which far surpassed the size of Clinton's Hallmark audience. It's a certainty that people will continue forwarding the video to friends. As word of mouth spreads, more members of the media and blogosphere will report on the video which in turn will create more buzz. 

 

Super Bowl Ads Can Build Buzz

Today my wife and I joined 90 million other Americans in watching the Super Bowl on television. I was most interested in seeing the game but my wife, who never watches football, always makes a point of catching the Super Bowl to see the ads. It's the only time a year we actually use TiVo to rewind our favorite commercials.

Fox charged almost $3 million for some 30-second spots although most advertisers paid far less than that depending on when they bought the time, how much they bought and at what point in the game it's placed.

For such a princely sum of money, it's easy to be skeptical that a Super Bowl ad is a good marketing investment. While I'm usually very suspicious of the claim that television advertising is a good way to create buzz, the Super Bowl is an exception.

In an interesting Dow Jones article a couple of days ago, there are some interesting cases of companies that generated tremendous buzz from Super Bowl ads.

For instance, Nationwide Financial Services had one of last year's biggest buzz building commercials with a spot  featuring Kevin Federline, best-known as the estranged husband of Britney Spears, fantasizing about doing a music video while cooking up fries at a fast-food restaurant. That ad has passed into Super Bowl legend, largely because of the enormous publicity it generated, with free media exposure estimated at $23 million in value.

In addition, the company said the ad generated more than 600,000 visits to nationwide.com featured advertising page, with over 500,000 new visitors, and was viewed 832,579 times on its Website alone.

One of the few commercials from this year's Super Bowl which seems to be generating buzz in the blogosphere is the racy Danica Patrick ad for Go Daddy, an website registration company. The company has long been known for pushing the envelope when it comes to good taste. In fact, that seems to be strategy. This year, GoDaddy generated free media attention for having 10 spots rejected by Fox before the network finally accepted one to air. In fact, the company even created a website that features some of the rejected commercials.

Although the Go Daddy ads aren't very creative, I salute them for creating a web page that leverages their Super Bowl buzz. It's amazing that many other companies spent millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads and didn't attempt to drive consumers to their websites to watch the ad again or learn more about the company.