Will Twitter’s paid search be a fail whale?

By Shawna Robinson  |  19 April 2010

When it comes to paid advertising in social media outlets, Twitter has been a hold out. For the past four years, generating a revenue stream has not been part of their business model – making Twitter one of the last remaining social media outlets without an infiltration of eager marketers keen to take advantage of the over 18 million users.

Let the keyword auction begin.

Last week, a “promoted tweet” business model was announced.  Similar to paid search advertising, advertisers and Tweeters will be able to bid on keywords. A promoted tweet – only one per page – will then appear with the search results. Tweeps will then get a targeted message presented at the top of their twitter stream. As a real-time information network, with a massive quantity of information available in a single stream, is this system really going to be effective?

Cutting through the Twitter clutter.

Many marketers have been successful in the twittersphere without the use of a paid advertising model. Companies from @SouthwestAir who post promotions and deals on flights and hotels – to @Starbucks and @HoltRenfrew tweet their latest deals and news all while supporting their customers with real time response. To avoid getting stuck down a rabbit hole of information overload, RT’s and #’s are two twitter functions already built in to connect, cross-reference to easily locate content. Promoted tweets are going to have to have a super juicy offer to make a user click through so their message doesn’t get buried and lost in the twitterstream — along with the dozens of other tweets that don’t catch your attention in the first 40 characters.

Getting the right message out to the right people in more ways is one to ensuring good product or corporate awareness, but loyal twitter users may find the promoted tweets tool a distraction. However, only time will tell.

Do you think Twitter’s promoted tweet model will be a successful tool for marketers – or just another post lost?

3D-failwhale

Shawna Robinson has the heart of a farm girl and a razor-sharp mind for strategy – and spends as much time online as offline with her clients to keep their campaigns fresh and current. She can be reached directly at Shawna.Robinson@adfarmonline.com.

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Happy Birthday YouTube!

By Mary-Jane Turcotte  |  8 April 2010

YouTube is celebrating its 5th birthday and is stronger than ever. YouTube started as a community where people could post their homemade videos for friends and family to see. As it grew, more and more companies, community groups, politicians, etc. saw YouTube as a new way to get their message to millions of people.

Companies also saw a way to make an inexpensive “how-to” video for their clients. Instead of using traditional television commercials, some companies have chosen to sell their brand through YouTube and reach a much wider and diversified audience. Over the last five years YouTube has staked its place as not only an entertainment venue but as a learning tool as well. What will YouTube do in the next five years? The possibilities are endless! Type in AdFarm and see how we have incorporated YouTube into our online experience.

Assorted agriculture “How-to’s” on YouTube

I recently discovered a few “how-to” videos related to Agriculture. One was for The Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP). It gave me information about AALP but also showed a video that taught cost and how to apply.

Another video was called Online Social Networking for Farmers – How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business. It is a step-by-step video made by The Country Farm Club House. There are even whimsical videos demonstrating the many uses of duct tape on the farm. I tried typing in agriculture, farming, farm, agriculture growers, agriculture producers, agriculture retailers and agriculture companies. The resulting list was vast.

Try typing in your own list and explore the videos you find interesting. Whether you are looking for pure entertainment, information to help you grow the perfect crop, or how to become more technically savvy, YouTube has a video for you.

How do you incorporate YouTube into your business and personal life?

Mary-Jane Turcotte brings an eye for design to the work she does for our clients. You can contact her directly at MaryJane.Turcotte@adfarmonline.com

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The power of choice – liberating or debilitating?

By Ron Wall  |  1 April 2010

diceAn article about consumer choice in the Globe and Mail’s Adhocracy column caught my attention the other day.

The article focuses on a new book called The Art of Choosing.  Author Sheena Iyengar, a professor at Columbia Business School, asks why we make the choices we do, when it comes to making a purchase. Is it science or just the luck of the draw?

In the article, Iyengar offers plenty of support for the theory that although we might think we make  well-considered choices, we really don’t. As an example, she points to the 2000 U.S. federal election. Ms Iyengar states that thousands of Florida voters cast their ballots for George W. Bush simply because his name was at the top of the ballot.

 We can’t get no satisfaction.

Part of our problem is the barrier of too much. Without question, consumers have more choices in the marketplace than ever before. In her book, Iyengar notes that “while the average U.S. grocery store offered 3,700 products in 1957, it now offers about 45,000. Meanwhile, the number of consumer goods available in the United States jumped from about 500,000 in 1994 to almost 700,000 by 2003. Yet research shows that consumers are perhaps more restless and certainly less satisfied than they’ve ever been.”

Far from creating more personal freedom, one of Ms. Iyengar’s studies suggests that too much choice might instead caise a kind of “consumer paralysis.” But we’re in complete control of our wallets, right? Maybe not.   

Iyengar finds “compelling evidence that people may not really know what they want, or even why they want what they say they want. (This alone has the potential not just to throw marketing research into a spin, but also the very basis of economics, which seeks to study how people maximize their utility.)”

So what does this have to do with agri-marketing? Everything, because whether you’re in the market for a soft drink or a post-emergent herbicide, you have to make a choice.

How do you decide which products to choose? How do marketers influence those choices? 

For more on the subject, you can watch a one-on-one interview with Sheena Iyengar and Globe and Mail writer Simon Houpt. And whether you watch it or not, you’ve made a choice.

 Ron Wall is a writer at AdFarm. He believes in free will, as it applies to online shopping.

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Does agriculture think different?

By Scott Samoleski  |  31 March 2010

Risk. It’s a concept that infiltrates more business and personal conversations than you can imagine.  We manage risk, deflect risk, accept risk, analyze risk, cut risk and absorb risk. Heck, we even play Risk.  But what does taking a risk really mean?

 Start with a simple definition: risk is the quantifiable likelihood of loss or less-than-expected returns.

 So if you risk, you might lose. And the reality is that nobody likes to lose, especially in front of their peers.  Losing doesn’t look good and it doesn’t feel good.

 How far do we go to avoid losing? 

When an outcome is tangible, sometimes public and most often embarrassing it’s tempting to run the other way.  And even if you miss a tremendous opportunity by playing it safe, who’s to know?  Lost opportunity can just silently drift by, with nobody being the wiser. No public shame, no negative judgments of competence issued.  Just safety and comfort, thank you very much.

 But avoiding risk doesn’t make for great communications.

Take Apple computers, for example. In my humble opinion, the greatest ads ever run were the 1997 “Crazy Ones” series developed for Apple by Chiat/Day.  They anchored the Think Different campaign – which is credited with restoring  Apple’s then-lagging reputation.

The commercials featured black and white film footage of the “Crazy Ones,” people like Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon and Gandhi. The voiceover was performed by actor Richard Dreyfus and the script came from Chiat/Day’s Craig Tanimoto.

 

The significance of the spot is much bigger than marketing or brand development: it’s about inspiring courage.  It’s also about client and agency pushing themselves to a point of vulnerability because taking that risk was fundamental to achieving truly great things.

“Crazy Ones” risked failure because they knew it could lead to significant success.

On any given day in agriculture we make decisions that favor managing risk and mitigating failure.  But hopefully we also make other, tougher decisions — accepting failure as a possible outcome.

Because we know that taking risks is OK, right?

 

Scott Samoleski is Team Lead at AdFarm. He takes more risks than most of us – and wins more often than he loses.

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Four key steps to bridge the farm relationship gap.

By Colin N. Clarke  |  24 March 2010

Consolidation in the agriculture industry is well recognized – be it manufacturers, distributors, retailers, or farm entities themselves. There is no question that North American agriculture has been steadily evolving.Bridge photo

As the ag industry has evolved, so has the business engagement among farmers and agribusiness. Where one time local dealers were present every 20 miles, a “local” dealer may now be 60 miles down the highway or further. So how is a manufacturer to build and maintain customer relationships when local is no longer really local?

Farm customers are relying more and more on digital tools to help them search for products and equipment. The process can be quick, or it can be exhaustive, but the truth is, farmers do their homework. Trouble is, manufacturers have not kept pace with farm customers’ quest for relevant information and farmers are left frustrated and disconnected. So the problem compounds. Local is no longer local, and farmers are struggling to find helpful, relevant information on products and equipment.

So how can a manufacturer remedy these problems and build a closer relationship with the farm customer? Bring digital to a local level. Here’s how:

1) MORE testing and trial results in MORE locations. Farmers rely on testing and trial results for data, but every farmer has different needs and they will be suspect of posted results unless it closely matches their situation. Soil type, growing season, annual rainfall, rotation, pest pressure and fertility are all highly variable. On-farm cooperative tests and trials of equipment and products in more locations will allow manufacturers to break down that “suspect” barrier.

2) Open forums for peer reviews. Farmers trust their fellow farmers. No question. Word of mouth has been and will continue to be of huge value to farmers as they seek out information on new equipment and products. Manufacturers need to create digital forums where farmers can share their experiences and encourage farmers to post their experiences.

3) Search engine friendly. Manufacturer websites are rarely designed with the customer in mind. Often company-centric, the information shared is generally corporate in nature and backed up with heavy digital brochure ware. Build your site from the ground up and address the farm customer’s needs first. Think ahead on what farmers will be searching for and search engine optimize your site so you can provide outstanding, relevant information on the first click.

4) Customize for my farm. With more testing and trial results and peer reviews and product information organized in a way the farm customer can use, take ease to the next level and allow the user to “customize for my farm.” Provide the farmer an easy option to take ALL results right down to their zip code. Comments, forums, data, testing, results, local dealers and other allied support. Bring it all home and make it easy, “For my farm.”

Agriculture continues to evolve and relationships are evolving right along with it. Farmers are adapting and making great use of new and existing digital tools. Today a farmer can stump Google in 10 seconds flat. By bringing digital to a local level manufacturers can close the widening information gap and begin building new relationships with this progressive customer base.

What manufacturers do you feel are doing a great job of using digital to help put the farmer first? Any who are faltering?

 

Colin is a senior strategist for AdFarm who enjoys the deep dive into marketing strategy. Follow him on Twitter @ClarkeAgWorld or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke.

(Photo courtesy of Alyce Lee on Flickr)

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The one staff member every agency needs.

By Lexie Bexson  |  17 March 2010

In an agency, we’re all a team. No one could survive alone, whether you’re an art director, copywriter, account manager or first-year intern who gets stuck mounting things on foamcore – everyone is important.

But there is one role that is often overlooked that can be so valuable – a role that is often responsible for preventing unwanted client issues and huge embarrassments – and it’s a proofreader.

ING Typo

The trick to proofreading is that almost anyone can do it. They just need time, focus and a relatively strong understanding of the English language. In an agency environment, so often is this important step over-looked. And while we might get away with it sometimes, the day when an ad goes out with a miss-spelled word, or a duplicated phrase, or cut-off logo – is a day we want to avoid. Even worse if the client finds it before you.

Ouch.

It can happen so quickly, a rush project, copy sent from a blackberry, a deadline at 3:00 p.m. – and *poof* a print ad appears with a glaring spelling error and it feels like it’s pointing right. at. you.

I once did a travel ad for a local client, trying to make a rush deadline into a daily paper (which I still have, btw). It left my desk approved by the client and in good shape. But when production was sending the ad to the paper, a tiny typo appeared by the travel deal to Great Britain. It read: Londong – starting from only $899.

Boy, did I hear about that one.

There isn’t always one person to blame, we all touch the ad before it goes out the door – but there is only one way we can make sure it doesn’t happen. Proofread. Twice. Just to be sure.

Have any proof-reading disasters to share?

With her keen mind for  strategy Lexie is an idea machine with an eye for a good solutions when she sees it. You can contact her directly at Lexie.Bexson@adfarmonline.com.

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What Avatar can learn from agriculture.

By Warren Fick  |  15 March 2010

Why should a box office-busting, technologically ground-breaking Hollywood movie listen to the world’s oldest profession about anything? Well since Avatar didn’t sweep the 2010 Oscars or even manage the Best Direction awarded a true agriculture classic like The Grapes of Wrath , just think of it as a little neighbourly advice.

 

Do these 3-D glasses make my crop look big?

James Cameron had a pretty clear picture of what Avatar was going to be, over a decade before the rest of the world did. But the technology was lagging, he decided. So he seeded. And waited.  In the end, Mr. Cameron didn’t harvest the bumper crop of Oscars he had hoped for, and any farmer could tell him why.

Avatar learning #1: Technology will take you only so far.

Farmers who grow crops know that geography and weather are huge factors in determining their success. They can research and ask questions and make informed decisions about seed. But in the end, growers who have the best land and who luck into the best weather conditions, win.

Daddy, tell me a story.

Avatar looks better than any movie has a right to, unless it’s also a $237 million US epic about a computer generated world in outer space. But at the end of the day, there’s a certain amount of value lacking if the movie doesn’t tell a great story. You could do better, Mr. Cameron. And you wouldn’t have to go to Pandora for the premise.

In fact, the next time you’re stuck for a riveting storyline ask a rancher about preg checking cows. Or a farmer about the anxiety of losing a wheat crop to fusarium head blight . Or sit at a business meeting where US soybean growers struggle to understand how they can compete in a global commodities market.

Avatar learning #2: Real life breeds real drama.

You can’t make up the kind of drama that comes from generations of winning and losing in agriculture.  You don’t need to. If we’re facing Avatar Two, the writers should buy a farmer a coffee. Then just sit back and really listen.

Take off your 3-D glasses and let’s hear about one of the bazillion other ways Avatar can learn from agriculture.  If you’re in animal science and can discuss flying dragons in 140 characters or less, tweet @adfarmtweets.

Warren Fick has no Facebook photo, just a silhouette. His big picture thinking gives our clients a unique face in agribusiness. And he writes. Contact him directly at warren.fick@adfarmonline.com

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Good commercials don’t have to be budget busting — just have a fitting and unforgettable message.

By Melissa Sawatzky  |  10 March 2010

My boyfriend and I faithfully check out the World’s Best Commercials from The London International Awards every year, and so this year we headed to the theatre hoping for some good laughs delivered by the boundless-budget beer companies and ground-breaking concepts put forth by agencies from around the world.

Coins Spilling from a Jar

I suppose whilst mentioning good laughs, I should give credit to BBDO in São Paulo for their hilarious, albeit slightly disturbing, Dog Fish commercial – it features a likable surfer dude and his special pet (you guessed it, a hybrid dog and fish) as they gallivant through their bizarre yet cozy life. However, even the tagline ‘Anything you imagine’ doesn’t quite clear up what the message in this advertising is, nor would I have ever recalled it was for Volkswagen.

But the campaign that really stood out this year for us was a fairly simple yet shocking take on Alzheimer’s Disease by Colenso BBDO in Auckland, New Zealand. You know the almost unbearable Candid Camera joke show by Just for Laughs they play on? This awareness ad is basically a spoof on that, where people end up in laughable situations for the viewers to enjoy. Then all of a sudden the goofy pranksters and laugh tracks fade and you realize the person is in that situation because their mind is playing tricks on them – one of the very sad effects that Alzheimer’s has. I highly recommend you check out all three of them: Car, Restaurant and Changing Room.

Strong message + strong connection to what your company does = wicked ad

The reason I want to make special note of this campaign is because it’s one of the occasions where advertising not only carries a heavy impact (your heart might hurt as you watch), but it also connects the viewer so strongly to the unique experiences of Alzheimer’s and sends a clear, unforgettable message about the disease. I’m doubtful you could ever describe the ad to someone and not be able to recall what it was for, whereas in the Dog Fish commercial I mentioned the brand could’ve easily been a different car maker or even a company in a whole different industry.

Do you agree?

Kudos to the Alzheimer’s association and BBDO in New Zealand for challenging people to briefly live through what the disease might be like and to think hard about it. I believe it’s an effective (World’s Best) ad, and even more importantly, an effective message.

Let us know what you think about these ads or share your own favourite commercials here.

Melissa works in Account Services at AdFarm and is always looking to share, learn, and spurn ideas with others. Contact her directly at Melissa.Gottlieb@adfarmonline.com

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Three problems more pressing than your social media strategy.

By Jacob Edenfield  |  3 March 2010

For some companies, social networks are kind of like monsters under the bed. Instead of thinking about the great upsides, these folks worry about over-sharing by employees, losing control over intellectual property, damaging their brands, losing productivity, fielding sensitive questions, unleashing embarrassing secrets and all manner of other bumps in the night.

monsterUnderBed

But when you think about it, none of these things are any more of a threat because of social media. They stem from deeper business problems. And deeper business problems make prime fodder for snarky conversations on social networks.

So, while I believe it’s a great idea for every company to have a social media policy and a functioning understanding of the various channels, there are sometimes more pressing matters than choosing the right Twitter handle.

If any of the following apply to you, it might be time to work on something other than your Facebook Fan Page.

1. You’re leaky

If your company holds onto private information as well as a sieve holds onto water, the problem might be your employee training or internal security practices.

Journalists will tell you most of the whistleblowers and leaks they talk to are people who feel they’ve been silenced or punished for disagreeing with something they find objectionable. Fixing the problem might be as simple as training employees and managers on how to better voice and field complaints. It might also mean fixing what I call confidentially overload – or overusing confidentiality and secrecy to the point where they lose their seriousness. Product development memos are confidential. Birthday party memos probably don’t need to be.

2. You create customer service horror stories

If you’re a regular feature on The Consumerist, social media shouldn’t be your top priority. You may want to review your procedures before you start fielding complaints on the public stage. It’s a proving ground everyone can see, so if you say you provide great service, it needs to be a promise you can keep.

Handling customer issues can make or break your brand. And if you do a bad job, you’re undermining all your other efforts. That’s just as true online.

3. You ignore and/or take legal measures against your critics

If this applies to you, you’ll find your entry into social media a bumpy ride. Odds are there’s a flotilla of critics just waiting to take shots at you. And while I think you should absolutely face your critics wherever they may be, you need to figure out how you’re going to do it first.

Letting your lawyers do your dirty work only gives your critics an incredibly effective us vs them story to tell. Half-hearted apologies feel just as fake to those who receive them as to those who give them. Fighting emotion with pure fact works against everything we know about the human brain.

Honest dealings are the second most valuable currency online. The most valuable is reputation, and you’re not going to make a very good one if you can’t deal with disagreements.

Anything else?

Sometimes we all miss the forest for the trees. Take a step back and see if you can think of some other fundamental business problems that prevent companies from finding success in social media. I came up with three. Let’s see how many you can come up with in the comments.

Jacob can do horrible, unspeakable things with words. But he’s chosen to use his powers for good, not evil. Follow him @jacobedenfield or contact him directly at Jacob.Edenfield@adfarmonline.com.

Photo courtesy of http://jesshillis.com


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