Hey Summerfest, thanks for the free tickets!

Now here are a few ways this promotion could have been leveraged even better…

Intro – Jeanette Pham

Being loyal Summerfest-goers with digs in the Third Ward, the sōsh office was happy to hear that Summerfest was giving out free tickets to opening day on July 14^th.  We wasted no time printing our tickets, planning for a lunchtime outing to our favorite Milwaukee festival come summer.

But then the question came: Will we be able to find these tickets five months from now? Five people with five tickets and five months to misplace them? The odds aren’t great that we’re all going to be able to lay our hands on those printouts when the big day arrives.

Which got us thinking about how we would have implemented Summerfest’s very generous free opening day promotion – not only to alleviate the need to keep track of these printed passes, but also to better leverage the overall promotion to the benefit of both Summerfest and its fans. Here are some thoughts from our team:

Michelle D’Attilio

I went through the process of entering my contact information into the form which asks only for your email address and a company code. Initially I am thinking this is great, it’s a simple form and I think those are the best when you are reaching out to the masses. So I continue on and am taken to the page where I am told to print my ticket. Being a versed internet user, I know that I can do a quick Save As and just save my ticket, but I’m guessing a lot of people may not know this.

Here is where I feel the biggest misstep is: Regardless of whether I print my ticket or save the document, this event is 5 months away. I am likely to lose the ticket or forget where it’s been saved. It’s my impression that Summerfest has at least two goals with the promotion, one: to collect contact information of those who attend the fest; and two: to get as many people as possible through the gates on opening day.

Our solution: Collect cell phone numbers and distribute a scan-able code via text message days before the event. Think of it as you would your boarding pass for an airplane. That puts the ticket right in the palm of the fest-goer’s hand, when and where they need it.

Jeanette Pham

Once you have those cell phone numbers, it’s a natural to text updates to interested fans on the musical acts as they book with Summerfest. How great would it be to opt in for those updates, be the first to know who’ll be taking the stages, and have a handy link supplied to let you spread the news to your friends via social media? Summerfest could also include a direct link in the text updates to buy tickets for the Marcus Amphitheater shows, helping fans to purchase their tickets as soon as the act is announced. It’s a win for the fans, who are eagerly waiting to find out who’ll be performing, and it’s a win for Summerfest as they provide a great fest-goer experience even before Summerfest opens its gates with timely information delivered in a personal way and a means to spread the Summerfest message exponentially. Throughout Summerfest, ticket specials could also be sent as text alerts. Or, all of this – and more – could be done through a Summerfest app…

Jabril Faraj

One of the many packed, free concerts at the week-and-a-half-long Summerfest music festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

We stand strong behind that idea that Summerfest’s most important upgrade should be venue wifi. If Summerfest were to partner with local providers in order to provide wifi across the grounds, there are so many possibilities. With this service, festival-goers would have the ability to easily access the Internet (currently, in part because of the volume of people, 3G Internet access is extremely limited and slow), which would then allow attendees to post via Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms online as well as uploading pictures, videos and other content of concerts immediately, right from the fairgrounds. Right now, that content is there but Summerfest is missing a huge opportunity to take advantage of — and aggregate — some incredible user-generated content simply because people are unable to share the content they want to (because of the current lack of Internet accessibility). This is an issue that Summerfest needs to address as soon as possible.

One of the best ways to utilize this content, as previously mentioned, would also be through a dedicated Summerfest smartphone app. Currently 62 percent of cell phone users in the U.S. between the ages of 25 and 34 own a smartphone — and that number is up from 41 percent in the third quarter of 2010. A Summerfest app would not only allow the festival to include show times and specials announcements to reach attendees while they are on the grounds but could also be used in order to collect this shared content and, then, utilize it even after Summerfest is over.

Here we are in this great city with this great festival and even after all these years there is so much potential. We see Summerfest and social media/mobile initiatives as natural partners and would like to see The World’s Largest Music Festival benefit from the incredible potential of these initiatives.

In Closing – Jeanette Pham
So, in closing, we’d all like to say “Thanks” again to Summerfest for the free opening day tickets! As always, we’re looking forward to it, and we can’t wait to see what’s new this year

Content Is King

In my last post I talked about the importance of (online) conversation for brands and the value that it provides. But don’t get me wrong — it’s not merely ”talking” that we’re doing. The naysayers of social media will say that it’s all gibberish and small talk; how can you actually be building your brand like that?!

This is where content comes in. What are you sharing with your fans? Why should they look at it? Why should they talk back? Believe it or not, what you’re sharing with your fans really does make a difference. Let’s think about it in terms of value. Why do you do engage in certain activities? Because you believe, in some way, engaging in that action will provide you with some sort of value, something you didn’t have before. Talking with your friends, going to work, buying something new: all these actions provide you with something you didn’t have before.

What, then, is the magic formula for businesses who want to keep their audience/following engaged? I call it The ‘three Cs’: Constant, Compelling Content. OK, it’s not really three Cs…it’s really not even two Cs (give me a break, will ya!). However, regardless of the label or distinction, I’ve found this is one of the best ways to describe what brands should be sharing with their followers.

Think about it. What is the best way to both gain and retain fans online? Make sure you’re giving them something that will benefit them and make sure you’re giving it often. Yes, it’s true that some of your content may (read: will) be slightly less compelling — at least to different people. For example, for a food manufacturer or retailer, tweets containing coupons may (read: will) be more valuable to some people than other, just as other fans or followers will adore the signature recipes you’re sharing with them and others, yet, will simply await the clever tidbits of language you construct. This is what people will interact with. This is what people will share. And that is one of the many ways an online presence can dramatically increase brand awareness. But it all starts with the content.

A professor once told me: “Just give me what I want and I’ll be happy.” Isn’t that really all that people are looking for? They want something that is valuable to them, something they can use, something that can make them more knowledgable, something that they find funny. It’s that simple. So, what have you been sharing lately?

Why conversation matters

I recently read the article “Why We Need Less Talking, More Actual Marketing” by Ken Wheaton. What I was most surprised — almost dumbfounded — by was his complete misunderstanding of, in his words, “Social media, conversation, whatever you want to call it.” Wheaton says that conversation (social media) might be able to build personal brands but that it fails when it comes to actual brands. He claims that, “Only solid products and smart marketing will.” It’s very interesting that he separates “products” and “marketing” here…but we’ll get to that later.

So what is Wheaton really arguing? He gives three examples. First, Wheaton points to TimeWarner and USAA who he applauds for having attentive and impressive social media working for them. However, he then goes on to say that TimeWarner’s great Twitter presence in the New York area didn’t stop him from switching to DirecTV (after all, you do get every NFL game free, included in your DirecTV package…) and that Twitter didn’t even exist when he switched to USAA — that, instead, it was “horrible service from other banks intent on nickel-and-diming customers,” that made him switch. Wheaton’s third example is a brand we all know well: Apple. He goes through a list of potentially objectionable events, which Apple was involved in, but then goes on to say that we didn’t really care about any of those instances when it came to buying Apple products. Why? Because, Wheaton says, “…what Apple did do is meet consumer needs.”

And, in this, he is precisely right. Why is he correct? Because, throughout these three examples, we see the same trend pop up. Product is paramount (surprise, surprise). And it really is — what is the biggest thing that will make people buy your product (and keep coming back)? “Marketing” can only get you so far; marketing can only get people in the proverbial door. Marketing doesn’t make sales. Superior products make sales. Laurie Fallucca, vice president of marketing for Palermo Villa, Inc., the parent company of Palermo’s Pizza, a national frozen pizza brand based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, talked about the importance of providing quality to your customers in a recent interview with BizTimes Milwaukee. “The best advice I ever received was to make a quality product that you would not think twice about serving to your own family.” She said, “When was the last time you ever regretted buying the very best?”

Now, traditional marketers will probably disagree with me. After retweeting the Wheaton article and expressing my dismay at its subject matter, I had a Twitter discussion with a marketer about what ”marketing” actually is. She pointed to a long marketing mainstay — the four “P’s”. They are, of course: product, price, promotion (communication of the marketer in the marketplace) and place (getting the product to the consumer). So, most marketers (and I’m assuming Wheaton, as well) would then ascribe to the idea that product is marketing. But is it?

First, we can look at Wheaton himself…even he separates “product” from “marketing” — not once but — twice throughout the article. Second, we can look at the three examples he presents in order to, essentially, denounce the effect of social media. In the cases of TimeWarner/DirecTV, USAA and Apple, all of his complaints/praises were product-based. A better cable package, better customer service (yes, still product) and “meeting consumer needs” with better computers, the iPod, iPhone and iPad. None of his examples even touch on any other “facet” of marketing. Finally, let’s do a real-world analysis that doesn’t take any of Wheaton’s assertions into account. Out of the four “P’s” (product, price, promotion and place), what does a traditional marketing department/agency really have control over? Promotion? Of course; this is their main function. Price? Yes, it is often the marketing department that proposes a certain price-cut or special in order to drive sales. Place? Yes, marketers research target markets, etc. and then are able to recommend where to place the product! That’s the thing — most marketing departments, and certainly agencies, have little to no real effect on the quality of the products they are “marketing”. That’s why most companies have both a marketing and a product team.

So, if we’ve distilled the argument down enough to agree that we are actually arguing, not for more marketing, but for better products, then I completely agree (and, I hope, Wheaton would too). This is where the catch is: social media adds a great deal of transparency to your company and your products. If you want to “re-brand” you actually have to re-brand, you can’t just make new ads that say you are. But if you have a product you believe in, this is where social media and conversation can add true value. How else do you educate people about your great products than talking about them and, in turn, hoping that other people start talking about them too? At a time where we have an unprecedented access to extremely rapid and far-flung communication, what better way to reach people? You can reach people all over the country (or world, for that matter) with the click of a mouse. Yes, I agree with Wheaton, to an extent, that social media is only a piece of the puzzle — but, “oh my!”, is it a big piece. And it’s just getting bigger.

This infographic from Mashable shows the shift that is happening right now from traditional media, advertising and marketing to the social web. Some of the most telling numbers: 44 percent of direct mail is never opened, 86 percent of people no longer watch television commercials and 84 percent of 25 to 34 year olds have left a website because of an “irrelevant or intrusive ad.” People are buying XM radio instead. Ninety-one percent of users have unsubscribed to a company’s email they had previously opted into. What people are saying is, “I’m fed up with being bombarded with useless ads!” They want something real…and, like it or not, conversation is real. Both B2C and B2B companies are using social media in extraordinary and revolutionary ways in order to get more business and increase their sales.

The bottom line, which a commenter on Wheaton’s piece pointed out, is that, “[his] experience with a sponsored tweet [isn't] any different than one with a traditional ad that you could have just as easily ignored. ” No type of marketing is a sure-fire way to generate sales…that’s why it’s called marketing and not sales. The advantage, however, that social media gives you is that you’re building real relationships with your (potential) customers. It might not work right away — but that’s how relationships go, isn’t it? Just keep talking, keep listening and maybe, just maybe, you’ll earn their trust. And I’ll take that over a one-time sale any day.