The Hello Bar is a simple web toolbar that engages users and communicates a call to action. By Ken Ashburn | Think Marketing and Design - Mount Pleasant, Michigan Web Design + Branding + Social Media

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My Foursquare Adventure: Satchel & Bullwhip Not Included

By On May 5, 2010 In By Ken Ashburn, Industry News With Permanent Link to My Foursquare Adventure: Satchel & Bullwhip Not IncludedPermalink

It’s only fair to actually try out a service for yourself before offering your opinion on it. So that is what I set out to do on one of the fastest growing topics in the social media world, geo-location. After reading articles on this subject, primarily focused on Foursquare and Gowala it was time to give it a try. So on Monday, April 26th the journey was started…and ready to be tracked.

Courtesy of Foursquare

I decided to go with Foursquare primarily being the larger of the two (based on an article I found on mashable.com). Setup was simple (since we have short attention spans) with entering basic user info and connecting through FB or Twitter. The program set itself up to recognize which of my friends were already using the application (a whole 4 of my 302 friends, just recognized the influencers in my peer network!). Then it had me invite up to four other friends if I felt it was necessary, so I did. Once my profiles were synched together (FB, Twitter and LinkedIN) I was ready to start. Well once I decided to leave the house.

It was only fair to document my Foursquare usage to properly give my opinion on it. The one glaring point is that I am a boring person that really does nothing important (besides work/gym) during the weekdays. It wasn’t until Saturday and Sunday, that I got to use Foursquare for its true potential; to let my three friends who use the program (and all the FB friends-until I turned that feature off) my exact whereabouts for a point in time. I have to admit I can see how it can become rather addicting since it turns the most mundane tasks into a much needed trip. I was unlocking new destinations left and right, mostly because I was not visiting your normal hangouts for the program’s base demographic.

I’m still waiting to see the true marketing potential, such as geolocation coupons and deals, but I also need to get out more…The journey continues

It’s Alive! A new image for Doner

By On April 26, 2010 In By Ken Ashburn, Industry News With Permanent Link to It’s Alive! A new image for DonerPermalink

How often do we see advertising companies “rebrand” themselves to be more hip, edgy and ahead of the trend curve? If you say a lot, you’re wrong, because they usually just go and buy a start-up that already holds those traits or create their own subsidiary with a name that sounds like an indie rock band, something like “Feet Full of Soda Pop”. But in the case of Doner it was like a digital team of Extreme Home Makeover came in, tore it down, and rebuilt it to be 500x better than the original (although I highly doubt it was originally littered with black mold, dilapidated windows and some ill-fated resident).

With a new site that displays it’s creative work like a red-light district worker in her window. You know from the beginning the goods you will get by going with this hook..err company. Make no mistake this is an advertising company so they should know how to at least advertise themselves, and if this is any indication (including the work provided) new business and retention shouldn’t be hard to come by. What is even more remarkable is that this is all being done in the state with one of (if not the) worst economic conditions (the lovely Murder Mitten, as known by the citizens of Flint and Detroit).

The site accomplishes two things a advertising companies needs, display it’s creative work for clients and look for new employees (still waiting on my interview). Four simple navigation links help guide the user to the companies work, top brass, info about the company and finally industry news (mostly about them, but they’re allowed to give themselves an “atta boy”). Filled with Flash-based guidance you can create a symphony of noises when hovering your mouse over topics such as; socializing your brand, strategic planning and creative approach.

You know you’re in good hands when the company has two CEO’s. One the strategic minded prophet and the other an award winning creative, two always important pieces for a successful campaign.

Check it out for yourself at Doner.com

It’s not the size of your BLOG. It’s how you use it.

By On April 14, 2010 In By Ken Ashburn, Industry News With Permanent Link to It’s not the size of your BLOG. It’s how you use it.Permalink

When you hear the expression “all the cool kids are doing it”, do you think of snap bracelets and Vanilla Ice? Maybe even Thundercats and Punky Brewster? (If so, you’ve just been dated, as well as me). But for companies all the “cool” ones have blogs. If this was a party, it would be Apple, GoDaddy, Southwest, and many more, we can even make an exception for Ford Motor Company (think Wooderson from Dazed and Confused). It’s one of the simplest tools each company can use is the blog. This handy little piece of communication allows companies the opportunity to reach customers, industry leaders, employees and the almighty media. It allows sharing your vision of the company, looking for potential feedback, best practices and even can help battle negative perception.

Before you rush into setting up your company blog (slow down there Ricky Bobby), it wouldn’t hurt to do a little research on your competitors blogs (if they are smart enough to have one), maybe pick up a book about blogging from Amazon (or Borders-they need the sales) and even looking at Technorati to see who has the best blogs out there to give yourself something to aim for (besides Sarah Palin). Your blog is only as good as writer(s) though (I grant myself an exception), so you will want to make sure the person (or people) contributing are knowledgeable about your company and the industry. Your CEO is probably the best primary voice of your blog. Take into consideration Southwest Airlines, their CEO Gary Kelly, posted a question on the Southwest Blog about possibly changing the seating arrangements which “die-hard” Southwest customers came to love. This possible change erupted into hundreds of comments ultimately resulting in the company keeping their current seating policy. This was smart, take the idea to the people, the ones who in the end are putting dinner on your employees table and paying for that Ice Rink of a engagement ring (did you go to Jared?) you just bought your future ex-wife.

It’s a medium that allows you to be yourself and candid, share your thoughts and expect feedback. You may not like all of it but if you can’t learn from your customers you’re doomed to fail (I’m looking at you NBC-your time is a ticking). Speaking of NBC, blogs and their viral appeal helped bring back Chuck (I was one of the many –according to the ratings- who never seen it). It was a grassroots movement started by those who embraced the show and fought for it. We live in a time where this is going to happen every day and products that were once gone are back because of the revolution of the devoted followers that took to their blogs and bitched long enough and loud enough for the change to work. So…what do you want to blog about in hopes of bringing back? (And do not say George W. Bush or New Coke).

To FaceBook or not to FaceBook? That is a marketer’s question.

By On March 31, 2010 In By Ken Ashburn, Industry News With Permanent Link to To FaceBook or not to FaceBook? That is a marketer’s question.Permalink

Since the emergence of Facebook as the Social Media titan, it seems that everyone is eager and ready to offer insight and ideas on how their brands can use the medium as a launching point for increased brand awareness and potential sales. The article titled Why Your Brand Needs to Be on Facebook Now is intelligent, thought out and also misses the mark, not completely though. The author Dallas Lawrence (found on Twitter: @dallaslawrence) displays what seems like a call to action for all of those who are on the sidelines waiting to hop aboard the social media train. Like a group of investors waiting to see what happens after a short sell for stock. His three ways to get you’re your brand started on Facebook is on mark. It certainly makes sense to see who in your company is affluent to the medium and “savvy” enough to offer genuine insight and ideas to help the company create a positive image. This could be why we are seeing a younger group of executives that “excel” in the field of social marketing. Because they are the ones who grew up with it, helped define it and ultimately made it what it is today.

So, does every brand need to be on Facebook (I’m sure Facebook says yes because Mr. Zuckerburg wants a jet)? Facebook offers the opportunity for people to “talk” about your brand both directly and indirectly. You can create corporate pages and fan sites, but do they have inherent value? Can you sell the idea to your board that the awareness of your company is up because your solar panel fan page has 760 fans (and you have over 1500 employees)? Case in point, a pickle, that’s right, a pickle has more fans than Nickleback.

Facebook should be held for brands that look to speak directly to its core customers. It should be used by companies to look for insights into product development and marketing. Facebook is an excellent tool for data mining with a plethora of information that people share with one another. There is more value if you have REAL people backing your company and making the connection with customers, not just a company page or fan page.

We have to remember that what made Facebook so popular in the beginning compared to MySpace was that it wasn’t riddled with ad banners, home page takeovers and superstitial. The irrelevant ads that sit idle on the right hand side hold little to no value. But if you can actually create a connection with your page, allow interaction with customers and deliver the goods…Then you do belong on Facebook.

This is Social Media. Facebook Confirmed

By On March 26, 2010 In By Ken Ashburn, Industry News With Permanent Link to This is Social Media. Facebook ConfirmedPermalink

It was evolution happening before us (sans David Duchnovy and Orlando Jones) with AOL chat being the Neanderthal man and his simple communication (A/S/L?). As the years progressed, we watched with our own eyes the growing of our caveman, as he evolved into a more complex character with a unique characteristic of being “Instant”. This new species created a whole new way to speak and interact with friends and unknowns. He was the guy at the party who would talk to anyone, because if things went south, there was always someone else to talk to.

It was the year 1999 and a charitable period for social media. Well, charitable for everyone but music executives and main stream musicians. It was people sharing with other people. You knew very little of them but gave them so much in return and it only took you about 23 minutes per song. It was like handing out food to the homeless, only you stole that food from your neighbor’s house while he was on vacation.

It wasn’t until we saw things like Friendster (you can make a case for SixDegrees but there was like only 7 people on it) and LiveJournal where people would connect with others and open up about their actual thoughts, feelings or suicidal rage. Then came along MySpace, which helped Chris Hansen gain publicity thanks to the openness the site allowed and wide range of people using it. How many parents actually knew that while their 13yr old was using this site to “meet new people” the average user age was around 35. The site widely famous in the beginning became the poster child for how to ruin a site with advertising, bad privacy and way too many options (do you really need your mouse cursor to have a glitter trail when it runs over your spring break pictures).

It really wasn’t until the Facebook was created and smartly opened only to college students (not for their superior buying behavior) but to create some unique and only available to select group of individuals (like health care). Then after a few years it opened its doors like Willy Wonka to the public and invited everyone to come in. Now there are over 400 million people taking a tour through the factory, a good amount inebriated on fizzy lifting drink and making some poor choices by posting on their ex’s wall.

Nowadays you barely hear a peep out of the old relics like AOL or MySpace, as if they are some sort of out-dated electronics (think Laser Disc or even Sega CD) as their younger more popular sibling (insert own Baldwin reference here) Facebook roles around in piles of cash as if they just traded their wife away for the night to a millionaire. It was an idea so good it even took a simple part of it and created a spin-off. Twitter you are like the new Scrubs, and a whole new conversation.