I had a personal experience this past week that I thought wonderfully demonstrates the power of social media. I hope that businesses will read this post and think twice about how they can easily repair circumstances just like the one I am about to SHARE.

I am currently using the third new Blackberry in the past year. In each instance of all three Blackberry’s I have had – there has been a malfunction – which precipitated the change. I am definitely not a technophile who needs the newest and greatest phone. It takes me that long to learn how to use all the functions and by the time I do that – I never want to change.

In the instance of the last Blackberry I received – within a week of using it, I recognized it was definitely not working properly. It was dropping calls, using all the bars of battery before the end of the day, I heard  echoing while talking on the phone, and others said I was always breaking up and was using a HUGE amount of data – that surpassed the data plan that I had – with the phone carrier I was using. I called several times over the next few weeks to try and get this rectified. I was dealing with a manager who felt he should trouble shoot options rather than just provide me a new phone so I went along with it. First he wanted me to get a new battery, which my local dealer did not have. I should pay for the new battery and they would credit my bill. Then I was asked to call tech support who then told me reload the software on the phone and remove all of the apps and not use them. I use Twitter and Facebook on my phone, as well as email and texting – but was and still do not do much internet browsing. Still – after all this  -the same problems continue. A month later I no longer hear back from the manager I was dealing with. He stops taking my calls and emails. I call back technical support explain this to them yet again and tada….he officially claims my phone is defective. Yes Defective I said. They then offer me a replacement – a refurbished phone. Not a new one that I was to pay $186.00 for – but rather – a refurbished phone – that as I had experienced with the phone before this one – that may once again not work. I refused the refurbished phone and demanded they provide me with a new phone and since I had such a history of difficulty with blackberry’s I ask, as per the suggestion of the last tech support person from their company for an iphone.

I am then sent to their customer relations department. A manager  calls me and says they have given me everything and on page 2 of my contract is says it is now 30 days past the time when the phone can be replaced new….. as it is now6 days past the one month deadline of replacing the phone to which they dragged out with trouble shooting as I have a phone record and list of people I spoke to with dates and employees during this 30 day period – does not count. I forgot to mention that my original contract with them was renewed with the phone for another 3 years.. By selling me a phone on March 15, 2010 they gave me a special price reduction of $50.00 of the cost of the phone to resign a 3 year contract with them.

She tells me how they gave me so much. Some extra minutes they offer all their new customers. I am a current customer who did make a renewed commitment to them and I am going to have to pay them $186.00 for  new phone that does not work or take another with problems that likely won’t work either. Better yet she tells me that either I do this and pay them as per my contract or pay that and an additional $490.00 to get out of the contract and that is all she can do. I tell this is outrageous, I am very disappointed in her behavior towards me and that of this company. I am so exasperated.

I take to Twitter and Facebook and start to post my frustration and disgust for this company. Here is where social media becomes spectacular. One of my Facebook friends tells me he now only uses a company – that indirectly interfaces with all of the phone companies- in order to allow the customer to select the plan and phone that works best for them. They even have a plan that allows you to pay a small fee to cover the cost – that if a phone does not work – they will replace it. Not with a refurbished one but rather a new one. I have not personally met this friend on Facebook but we exchange emails and he gives me a contact name and number. I call his reference and go see her immediately. She is kind and helpful and provides options. She immediately suggests that I call the carrier and ask to send the phone back and have my contract reversed so that I can extricate myself from my outstanding contract and then start fresh with a new company, a new plan and YES a new phone Which is all that I wanted in the first place – a new phone that works.

I call the company back with a cooler head and do just this. It turns out that my original contract ends on June 15, 2010. Such luck – it will not cost me really anything and I am free. Yippy! For this major company, they have now lost me as a customer and I have shared this experience on my Twitter page with 1250+ followers and 1500+  people I follow along with hundreds of my friends on Facebook page. I am sure their are others who had the same experience as I did and can now have a resource to go. As I write this I have not received an email or call of apology or how can we make this better from this carrier.

Imagine for the cost of $200.00 to provide me with a new phone and my happiness as a customer – they would  have received a monthly payment of approx. $100.00 a month or more for 3 years and the possibility of me upgrading my phone in that time and renewing yet another contract. That is $4320.00 just in cell phone use not counting a phone upgrade.  Instead I will now not go back, have used my social media community to vent about this experience using their company name – which could have impact on others who may second guess using this company.

Better yet I am meeting face to face with this new friend who from Facebook – took the time to support me and help me find an answer to a problem – that a very large company should have been well equipped and eager to do.

Not sure when businesses will take notice – but the power is no longer in their hands. They are still big and YES have lots of customers but the times are changing. Here in Canada their are 2 new mobile carriers who are offering amazing deals. The monopoly of Rogers and Bell are now changing and they can no longer  ignore customers like me. The power of social media has the ability to build positive experiences that can reverberate out into the market place and can be used as a tool to avert issues management situations like mine. I hope they are listening and taking to heart – that a little extra time on creating, connecting and cultivating their customer relationships – in conjunction with that ole saying ” the customer ALWAYS comes first” may be the real key to their marketing success. Hope they are listening!

Best Nicole

LinkedIn may have the answer for companies that have been trying to find out how social media will work for B2B. LinkedIn puts their members inside companies like never before with LinkedIn’s company following feature.

By following a company, you’ll know about job openings as they are posted, who’s been promoted and who’s left the company, other LinkedIn members that have joined the company’s network and business opportunities that may become available.

Example:

This feature can be beneficial for the follower and the company being followed.  Here’s a few tips on how to get the most out of LinkedIn’s company following:

Pay attention to your target audience

It may be fun following Starbucks, Google and Cisco, but if you’re a restaurant owner seeking franchisees, save the fanfare for Facebook. Follow companies that are relevant to your business for potential partnerships or referrals.

Add others to your network

If LinkedIn didn’t want its members to network with other business professionals, the company would never have been created in the first place.  Use company following as an opportunity to add more people to your network (refer to the previous tip for help on who to connect with).

Use the feature with Twitter

One of LinkedIn’s best partnerships is with Twitter.  As you add connections on LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter if they have an account.  People do not update their LinkedIn account as frequently as they do their Twitter account.

LinkedIn has always been a great way to use social media for B2B communications between companies.  As LinkedIn continues to upgrade their features, social media and B2B communications opportunities continue to improve.

The internet has done a lot of good things for brand communications. Talking to and hearing from your customers has never been easier. But faster, easier communication isn’t a one way street. You get to reach customers faster and easier, and customers get the same. Sounds great, right? But there’s a threshold after which this trade off can no longer be maintained at a one-to-one exchange. The good news is, despite what many social media gurus will tell you, one-to-one dialog is not the holy grail of marketing communications.

Social media is a powerful tool for one-to-one communication, but it really only works that way for small businesses. Brands like Saddleback Leather who intentionally limit their audience and establish a premium position are primed to take advantage of using social media as a conversation mechanism. Larger businesses can’t keep up with the size of the conversation, and so they really have two options: pretend to be one-to-one, or stop worrying about trying to talk to everybody.

Brands like Apple, Delta, Google, or Coke have no need to use social media to have conversations with all of their customers or potential customers; they’re much too busy building better products, increasing awareness, and making sure their companies are ready for the future. These companies use social media to provoke conversations amongst their customers (customer-to-customer, not customer-to-company) in order to increase awareness. They also use social media to listen to the market, finding problems and opportunities in their marketing strategy and in their products. What they don’t do is try to respond to every brand mention.

In between the small business and the mega-brands are a slew of mid-sized businesses who are also trying to figure out how to use social media. If you’re not Saddleback Leather and you’re not Coke, then there are still opportunities to use one-to-one conversations (customer support, rewards programs, expanding into new markets), but there is also significant value in letting your customers do the talking for you; whether you unleash a creative engagement to stir something up or simply monitor the pre-existing social media landscape, there are plenty of opportunities to benefit from the one-to-one conversations your customers are having without being a chatterbox yourself.

Tween:
[noun] – A youngster between 10 and 12 years of age, considered too old to be a child and too young to be a teenager*
[adj] – Very easy to market to, will usually follow any fashion trend set for them, will most likely go through a phase of “finding themselves” as they “grow up”**

This week on The Today Show, Matt Lauer interviewed David Vladeck with the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection. They discussed the power and influence that advertising has on today’s tweens. As the definition above mentions, the tween age group is heavily influenced by things they see. Therefore, the FTC has decided to take educating them on advertising and the sometimes hidden meanings behind them into their own hands.

The FTC has partnered with Scholastic to develop a program to teach tweens to look and think about the following things when they see an ad:…read the rest of this post»

Scouts needed!   Not the traditonal scout on horse back leading the way through rugged country.   No, you need scouts to venture through the ever changing world of social media.

 Not everyone is a scout and not everyone is cable of being a scout.  So choose your scouts wisely.  One thing is for sure you’ll need more than one scout.  Your scouts need to be ahead of the curve.  They need to see what’s coming and direct you down the right path.  Scouts will be critical to ensuring your continued success in social media.  

Here is a chart we use at Social Motive our social media division.   On the left hand side are the titles.  The center column would identifies who the primary scout is for this subject.  The far right is a short description of what the scout is responsible for.

The continual learning that is needed in each one of these areas is critical.  

One person can’t possibly be the scout in all these areas.  Make sure  your Automotive Ad Agency and your Internet staff are on board.

For example I have high lighted in red where  the internet staff in most stores thrive as a scout.

There’s so much depth in each of these areas.  Each scout must become the repository of the best practices taking place in social media.  This is the kind of expertise you need to have in front of you leading the way.  The stakes are too high.

Don’t get ambushed!  Get your team in order.

Where would you put your internet staff?

We are passionate about the brands and causes of our clients. That passion comes through in our creative work, our public relations efforts and our campaign work. RIESTER’s expertise is in finding ways to bring alive the activists for your customers or constituents.

I recently attended a 3 hour social media workshop on your behalf.  That’s right on your behalf. 

I recognize you don’t have the time, focus and usually the opportunity to attend a work ship like this. 

Up Your Ups is here to the rescue.

Dave Nelson of WeSocialize is a great resource for anyone and any business interested in social media.

One of his take away for us was a list of 21 social media ideas for business.

I selected the top 7 ideas I think you should be aware of:

1)    Set up Google alerts for you company, customers, competitors

This is not hard to do.  Just go to googlealert.com.

2) Use www.search.twiter.com to accelerate your learning and listen locally.

This is a great tool for staying in local converstations.

3) Read a blog & comment (search for blogs of interest)

Here’s a great tool to help find blogs of interest www.technorati.com)

4) Subscribe to something “RSS”

I like google reader as my reader.  Try subscribing to www. up-your-ups.com

5) Practice PIE + Authenticity

    Be sure your communication has Personality, is Interesting and Entertaining.

6)    Listen to a pod cast

Pod casts are the new books on tape.  They’re a great way to stay on connected with innovative ideas and concepts.

7)    Use.  www.getsatisfaction.com for customer support.

If you ever wanted to create automated customer support check this site out.  It really works and is easy to implement. 

Social Media is a big subject and there’s lots going on.  Be sure your automotive ad agency or your social media expert is engaged and on top of things.  Always use this blog for concepts and ideas. 

Let me know what you find out if you engage any of the above ideas.

Because I often feel like my superhero name is Grammar Girl as well (don’t call for me if there are people to be rescued from a burning building or an alien invasion of some sort; but should you ponder the correct use of a comma, I’m your girl) I found myself feeling right at home [...]

This weekend, I attend Tribe Camp, a great day of learning and networking for Memphis marketers, programmers, educators and social media explorers.

Aside from all of the fantastic presentations, many of which are available through SlideShare, I picked up a few book recommendations from attendees that I thought I’d share. Some are older, and some are just-released, but all are worthwhile reads if you’re into marketing, social media and communicating.

What books would you add to the list?

Engage, by Brian Solis…read the rest of this post»

I read the most wonderful post written by Seth Godin this morning. He called his article Quid Pro Quo (Santa Math) The idea that most people are selling something in the exchange for something. SO you buy a sandwich you pay $3.00 for the sandwich and you get it with no onions. “This for that he says“. He goes on to say “that when you engage online – like I am doing with this blog – he says “I don’t write this blog to get gigs or business, although it may happen” it is not the highest intention. It is more to build a relationship with the people that read it – in the hopes that on this long, fun and interesting journey – I can SHARE with others the knowledge, success and challenges that come – with the integration of social media – as an important marketing channel for your business.

I think that many miss that huge part. That brand evangelism stems from the relationship you build with a person, product, service or company. That relationship can only be grown one step at a time. We say in our strategic planning proposals – that you need to crawl, walk run. A hard thing to do for most of us (yes me especially), as we want to dash off and win the race – leaving dust behind – as we stretch for the trophy. Sometimes your heart has to lead you first  – and in that simple and honest gesture – in many cases you  find – that it leads you where you may of intended to go – with no intention being used as the motivation to get there.

Think there may be something to that Santa Math – definitely worth the consideration. Let me know how it works.

Enjoy Seth’s article! I sure did.

Best Nicole

Walk up to the falafel stand and hand the guy $3. He hands you a falafel, no onions.

This for that.

Something for something.

The time between surrendering the money and getting the sandwich is tiny. You gave him something, you got something. It’s simple.

Now, stretch it out a bit. You order dinner in a restaurant. They treat you nicely, the room is beautiful, you enjoy the evening, then you pay the bill. This, pause, pause, pause, that.

Go to law school. Pay a lot of money. Spend a lot of time. Be taught a bunch of things you don’t particularly want to know, things you probably don’t need. Get a degree with a modicum of scarcity. Pay for a bar review course. Pass the bar. Then you get a job that pays a lot of money.

This, then a multi-year pause, then, in return, that for the next forty years. We call it return on investment.

Online, though, I’m not sure the math is so obvious. You don’t write a blog to get gigs. You don’t help people out in a forum to build a freelance business. Sure, that might happen, but that’s not why you do it. If you are busy calculating quid pro quo, that means your heart isn’t in it, and the math won’t work out anyway.

Online, the something, the quid, the this, doesn’t cost cash. It takes heart and energy and caring, which are scarce but renewable resources. As a result, many people are able to spend them without seeking anything external in return. Even better, the act of generosity, of giving without expectation, makes it easier to do art, to create work that matters on its own.

I think it’s more like Santa math. Santa flies around the world, giving stuff away, and for what? He earns gratitude, trust and friendship, that’s what. Sure, one day he might decide to license his image or try to sell you something. But right here, right now, gratitude, trust and friendship are plenty. Especially if you enjoy doing what you’re doing. Quid, no quo.

I recently saw an outdoor board in another city touting a local hospital’s heart program as one of the 100 best in the nation. 100? Cleverly, I deduced there are 99 better ones.

When my kids were visiting colleges, I subscribed to the online edition of U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges rankings. It seemed important at the time that whichever schools they chose be somewhere on the list.

But, as with most consideration sets, there is first place and then there is everything else.

Among universities, the best, according to the rankings, are Harvard and Princeton (tie). The best cancer center is University of Texas M.D. Anderson. The best heart center is the Cleveland Clinic. And so on.

However, not being number one hasn’t stopped most of the others from promoting their also-ran standings.

Ads, TV spots and billboards proudly proclaim various institutions as “one of the top 25″ or “one of America’s best.” U.S. News & World Report badges are prominently displayed.

If you were planning to have your kidney removed at University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill (#28 in kidney disorders), would you instead drive to Winston-Salem to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (#26)? After all, it’s two positions “better.”

A major premise of brand positioning, as explained in Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, by Al Ries and Jack Trout, is that no one remembers more than the top couple of brands in a particular category.

Twenty-fourth best orthopedics program? Forget it.

Rankings may matter to employees, prospects, and referring physicians, but most institutions would be better served to find more unique ways to stand apart in the minds of health care consumers than proclaiming to be “one of America’s best.”

Disclaimer: This post was written by an employee of one of America’s best branding and marketing firms.

So glad you enjoyed the link and thank you for the blog mention!

The Arizona Lottery’s launch of Mega Millions was not only successful, it was a lot of fun. Now RIESTER is set to keep the momentum going with a series of statewide events and an advertising campaign that shows how Powerball and Mega Millions are living happily ever after in Arizona.

RIESTER is honored to have some of our green work recognized and highlighted this week by Los Angeles-based ScripPhd.

ScriptPhd is the brainchild of Dr. Jovana Grbic. Jovana is devoted to bringing science alive for the masses. She has a special interest and expertise in how science is portrayed in popular culture. At ScriptPhd, Jovana profiles leading creative minds who are successful at reaching out to the general public in a way that both educates and entertains them.

Recent articles at ScripPhd include: An interview with Stephanie Soechtig, the director and producer of “Tapped,” a documentary that highlights the devastating environmental impact of bottled water; a review of Disney’s new film “Oceans”; and an interview with Vince Gilligan, the creator and executive producer of AMC’s hit show “Breaking Bad.” The show is about a high school teacher who is also a meth dealer–and as ScriptPhd points out the writers brilliantly weave science into the plot.

We encourage you to read ScripPhd’s piece on RIESTER titled “Selling Science Smartly: Green Advertising with RIESTER.”

Today is a pinnacle day in the history of YouTube, as April 23, 2010 marks the five-year anniversary of YouTube’s very first uploaded video!

The video isn’t a showstopper, but it is a perfect example of what YouTube is all about. The video, shown below, stars YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego zoo.

YouTube, much like the elephants shown in Jawed’s video, is a mammoth Internet platform. YouTube is the third most visited website on all of the Internet, only behind Google, YouTube’s parent company, and Facebook, the web’s premiere social networking platform.…read the rest of this post»

…read the rest of this post»

I thought I would post a bunch of articles that I have found interesting and share some of the knowledge.  I know all of you that read this blog will be very disappointed that I am not sharing my vast knowledge and insight with you, but I think we can all learn a lot from [...]

I thought I would post a bunch of articles that I have found interesting and share some of the knowledge.  I know all of you that read this blog will be very disappointed that I am not sharing my vast knowledge and insight with you, but I think we can all learn a lot from [...]

With all the media hype around the new Facebook changes I’m sure you all are aware of some of the new aspects of the social media phenomenon. But, just incase you’ve been living in a cave on some uncivilized island off the coast of Fiji here they are:

Wouldn’t our job be easy if that was all it took?  Don’t know what I’m referring to?  Technology news has been rife with this “cloak and dagger” story that reads more like a Tom Clancy chapter than a real life birthday boy water cooler story.  The New York Times take on the chain of events can be found here, but here’s the one sentence summary: Apple employee carrying a prototype of the new iPhone leaves the device at a bar and Gizmodo (tech news outfit) buys it from the lucky finder and shows the world.  …read the rest of this post»