RonAmok!

On December 9, 2008 at 6:10 p.m (EDT), Jim Oakes, administrator for a fan site called The Ranger Station posted to the group’s message boards saying that TRS is being attacked by the Ford Motor Company. Within two minutes the first response came in. Over the course of the day, 916 more posts flooded that thread, with all sorts of angry responses to the big bad Ford Motor Company who was obviously picking on a loyal 10-year old fan site. 22 hours and 26 minutes later, Jim Oakes posted Our (my) Agreement With Ford (remedy) to announce the resolution.

Frequently when an event like this happens, we acknowledge how well it was handled, perhaps write a blog post or record a podcast about it, and then collectively move on to the next example. This case contains too many of the subtleties of New Media to do that – subtleties that are frequently overlooked by executives who want to bring similar capabilities into their organizations. Therefore, I’ve spent the past week diving into the details to create a case study about it called:

The Ranger Station Fire: How Ford Motor Company Used Social Media to Extinguish a PR Fire in Less Than 24 Hours.

If you like it, please pass it onto a corporate executive near you!

Tags: Ford Motor Company Ford Twitter Scott Monty ronamok New Media Evangelist The Ranger Station Fire

Last December, my son took a Driver’s Education course. The course included two parts: classroom time and driving time. He loved the classroom time so much that he had plenty of funny stories to share with us around the family dinner table. So, when my daughter decided to take Driver’s Ed, she contacted the same Driving School to enroll. Unfortunately for her, much has changed in the past year as the school has since replaced its classroom time with an online version. Rather than signing up, she’s now looking elsewhere.

This morning, while driving her to school I asked, “Why do you prefer a classroom to an online course.”

Her answer is a lesson to us all.

“Because of the discipline and a better learning environment,” she said.

I’m an advocate for the online world. I’m a believer that companies need to rethink their content strategies to find better ways of connecting with their customers through the use of online tools. At the same time, we can’t do so at the risk of losing the benefits of physical world, such as the power of the human touch, the camaraderie of gathering together, and the side benefits of interacting through air as opposed to the ether.

There is a balance. We just haven’t found it yet.

Photo Credit: Oliver Beige

Tags: classroom online net-gen new media evangelist

I’m still working through my notes from the Marketing Profs Digital Mixer in Scottsdale, Arizona and wanted to share the ones I took from CC Chapman’s presentation on video. Listening to CC speak is a treat. His natural state of energetic curiosity and enthusiasm is infectious. Checkout any of his New Media productions at Accident Hash, Managing the Gray, or his New Media Agency called The Advanced Guard.

The talk that I attended occurred on October 22, 2008 (Yeah, I know. I’m really late!)

Here are the Top Ten things that I noted from CC’s talk:

1. Our viewing habits are changing
   With innovations such as Tivo and DVRs, we really don’t care WHEN something is on TV. All we need to know is that our favorite shows will be recorded and then be waiting for us when we’re ready to watch them. Time-shifting is a cultural phenomenon that online video producers must account for when creating their video programming.
2. No standalone marketing; Tie your marketing to your video
   Most attempts at using new a medium like online video results in a company building islands of content with no connections to other more traditional marketing efforts. Online video offers companies new ways to tell their stories. Use it’s unique capabilities to augment your company’s other marketing efforts.
3. Hypersyndicate your content. Do not force people to come to your website to see your video.
   New video hosting sites are popping up all over the place. We have Youtube, Vimeo, Seesmic, Viddler, Ustream, Blip, qik, just to name a few. Rather than choosing one or two hosts to make it easy on yourself, put your videos everywhere for people to find them — on their terms not yours. Tools such as TubeMogul help take the monotony out of the equation by giving you the ability to publish once yet syndicate to many.
4. Don’t censor criticism.
   Criticism is good. Poor manners are bad. Nuff said.
5. Tag Well, Tag Often
   Search engines are very good at indexing text, but they still have a while to go before they can index audio and video. And although much work is being done in these areas, by far, the easiest way to get your corporate videos indexed is to write descriptive text and tags.
6. Keep PR and the Lawyers away
   PR wants to control the message. Attorneys want to eliminate all risk. Both are impossible in New Media. So don’t even try.
7. Don’t be afraid to have conversations with people.
   As a culture, we’ve really gotten too familiar with communicating via email. Pick up the damn phone and talk with a human once in a while. Even better, take a real live customer out to lunch. Perhaps you can use your Flip Camera and record a short interview with them afterward. (Just make sure that they remove that spinach from their teeth first.)
8. Don’t be afraid to experiment
   By definition, New Media means that the rules haven’t been established yet. The next killer app of video is just around the corner, but if nobody is trying to find it, we never will. Be creative. Do things with video that would be impossible in any other medium. Have fun. Experiment. And remember: “Never confuse recording with releasing.”
9. You can never duplicate the success of something novel
   You aren’t going to create the next Diet Coke and Mentos video. You aren’t going to create the next Will It Blend? And you shouldn’t want to. Your company is unique. Use online video to demonstrate the unique aspects of YOUR company, not someone else’s.
10. The quality in it is more important than the quality of it.
    Perfect exposure is not required. Perfect sound isn’t either.  A good story with compelling content will overcome any imperfections in the representation of it. As long as the imperfections aren’t a distraction, consider the video good to go.

Tags: CC Chapman MPDM Online Video