Social media snake oil Pretty much sums it up for me when most people talk about being ‘social media experts’: the real ones are few and far between. That and ‘search engine optimization experts’. Caveat emptor. (Via pedroelrey.)
Inclusive Branding | Hispanic, Asian, European, African-American diversities of culture; also gender, age + sexual orientation factors.
Tumblr nearly tripled unique US visitors last year, and is third largest web brand by time in US, after Facebook and Blogger.
via Nielsen Social Media Report: Q3 2011
Tumblr gets bigger Ties in exactly with what Richard McManus was writing about in ReadWriteWeb. Tumblr is the platform of the early 2010s, buoyed by the amount of teenagers on it, who will likely stay with it into their 20s.
Alfred Hitchcock presents These are quite clever—minimalism rules!
Recently read a post: “Branding is dead, long live advertising”.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this theory. Its true that advertising agencies, and social media firms spend a large percentage of their billable hours doing creative production, creating ads.
However when looking at the theory related to “branding is dead”… it may simply imply many corporations and their adv agencies don’t expend enough time building the research models, which produces insightful content options to drive engagement a little closer to home.
Branding isn’t dead, or dying – could it be there are so many factors in flux that some fortune 1000 corps consider social media as the easy cure all? And their voices have been heard: “How do we signup for twitter, facebook or Google+ and when are consumers going to start buying”.
300M potential shoppers on Twitter, 500M on Facebook. Really who needs complex branding?
May 2011, 76.8 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones. Among smartphone owners, the Apple brand accounted for the largest share at 26.6% ~ComScore
A four year case study conducted from 2006 to 2009 shows how systematic creative pre-testing drives better advertising results and lowers upfront development costs. ComScore: The study results demonstrate a 23% gain in adv qualification rates over the course of the study, which generates more than $2 saved in production costs for every $1 spent on research. In conjunction with gains in efficiency, we can also see that average test scores of qualified copy increased by 22% over the four year period of this study. The airing of more effective advertising will result in improved levels of advertising ROI. http://www.comscoredatamine.com/2011/07/pre-testing-ad-creative-pays-for-itself/
Looking back on the history of advertising, one can see how it was used as a didactic tool to teach consumers, to help make living the American dream a little easier. Cultural advertising isn’t new to the sector. In the 1950s branding communicated effectively with the mothers, wives and families; they happened to also be consumers. It could be prospered that without branding, Television would not have become what it did in the 50s-60s.
David Ogilvy was so moved by the need to produce great creative research in support of his clients and reflect the core values of the era, that his remark to the advertising industry was simple:“ the consumer is not a moron she is your wife”.
“In a study of 292 television copy tests that accounted for about 200,000 respondents, comScore uncovered a finding that men may, in fact, be more difficult to persuade through advertising messages than women”.
Their findings showed “women respond more favorably to ads with product research information, more frequent brand name mentions and various types of product illustrations or demonstrations. Alternatively, men were significantly more responsive to ads containing superiority claims”. ~ComScore
It is easy to discern the societal shifts in the 60’s that effected and affected legal and cultural views. Prior, most American advertising was delivered to a mono-culture, by mad men, that understood that cultural norm.
The term Multiculturalism wasn’t even included in Random House until the 1960s. Moreover, the term Asian American wasn’t even a catch-all until the 1960s; before then people where called Japanese American, Chinese American and such.
We now live in a consumer-centric world, consumer education is lacking, and the narrative in 2011 is engage + buy. The diversity of “the new America” and their collective economic needs, culturally - can’t or doesn’t foster the reflection of core legacy values in the media, or those segment’s globally exported images.
Today corporations must consider how their message to Americans effects the manner people globally engage and or value a specific product, or even complete market sector ie: banking, auto, sneakers, healthcare.
For the most part, today — Advertising taglines lack cultural meanings that can link the broader consumer spheres.
Cultural meaning relates to specific lexicon of value: contextually to historical legacy, land(s) of origin, faith, education and 5 other factors. The branding matrix is a unified set of tools that inform and communicate thematic values. Without real and relational messages, advertising is simply riding a crest of temporal trends. By the time a consumer actually is exposed to the buy message, the trend is passe’.
In 2005, NewsCorp purchased Myspace for $580 million. Several weeks ago it was sold for $35M..
Myspace becomes a classic case study: Image over Substance. And, how that image was sold instead of presented. Facebook has learned well, that social media must be based on how consumers define it. The touch points relating to call to action, and sales in advertising are based on trends: buy now, cheaper, lower cost latest product. Friend me on facebook. But what happens when consumers realize Facebook is not so friendly.. just as Myspace was never really YourSpace.
Social Media is simply an interface, it is a carrier of a message; so what is the value carried?
Branding the innovation aspect of products and services are carried in a deeper meaning, and those values reduce parity between brands. Those messages are delivered in long term comunications; they stem from organic consumer needs, well — that assumes that product and services fill needs.
Today the largest growing segment(s) are Latino + Hispanic Americans at 50.5M; interestingly those catch-all terms allow advertising agencies to interchange Spanish speaking culture(s) without any element of meaning to legacy values.
We live in an age that has quickly shifted from mono-cultural, towards transculturalism (merging and converging of cultures) and transmedia, because of social media. Today the fastest rising brand is lady Gaga’s star .. and in her case, the medium is the message, for the diversity of young women of all colors and cultures.
US Census: the average white person in metropolitan America lives in a neighborhood that is 77 percent white. Black-white segregation averaged 65.2 in 2000 and 62.7 now. Hispanic-white segregation was 51.6 in 2000 and 50 today. Asian-white segregation has grown from 42.1 to 45.9.
Today, consumer-centric values consider land of origin(s), education, economics, faith, sexual orientation, plus five other key social indicators. The rules of engagement have shifted. Every touch point, and television spot, regardless of the branded medium must re-form the notion of culture.
Wednesday, 08. 27. 2008 Q+A between Jack Yan and William Shepherd
1) What is the role of branding in an age where there is great fragmentation of consumer segments, new Migrant-Americans, and the country is in an economic meltdown?
A:) Branding’s role is to provide a framework through which we can unify the vision of a
nation. While segmentation will continue, driven by consumerist forces, and mass customization, branding can highlight the issues in society that we share; whether one is an American of many generations or a recent arrival.
What is the responsibility of branding?
A) Branding is the means through which an organization differentiates, symbolizes and
communicates itself to all of its audiences. However, branding must have a responsibility if we wish our organizations to have a responsibility. It is the interface between that organization and its audiences. It can equally be an interface between a corporation and its consumers, or at least a way of thinking that can unify vision, strategy, exposition and image, with measurable end results.
2) America is on the verge of a cultural breakthrough: the branded display of diversity in context to the societal ethnic mix. Advertising and communications firms are struggling to find the “P.C.” methodology that will create sales for their client brands, and win awards.
A) And therein lies several problems. First, sales are going to be important but winning awards less so. Award-winning creative has not necessarily informed the American public suitably of its diversity and indeed, much creative has been marginalizing American minorities into neat, discrete boxes, bite-sized “knowledgettes” that incorrectly brand these groups. Political correctness exists as a counter, just as affirmative action exists as a counter, but we also know the ideal situation is one where neither is around.
So the branded display needs to have substance, not the bite-sized, digestible ideas that are really sophisticated, evolved stereotypes. But, to get to the accurate representation the underlying foundation has to change. Inclusive American branding must paint a picture of the modern United States; just as the modern Germany is warm rather than precise and just as the modern United Kingdom is creative rather than traditional.
What is the USA, what does your brand say to American and global consumers..?
Who are Americans and what is valued globally?
![jackyan:
lizzymaxia:
audreyparker / thedailywhat:
Tweet(s) of the Day: Immediately following tonight’s passage of the Marriage Equality Act in the New York Senate, Neil Patrick Harris and his partner David Burtka proposed to each other — and they both said yes.
[@actuallynph / @davidburtka.]
Meanwhile, in New York How sweet! Doogie Howser is getting hitched.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnbyjcs2iq1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Tweet(s) of the Day: Immediately following tonight’s passage of the Marriage Equality Act in the New York Senate, Neil Patrick Harris and his partner David Burtka proposed to each other — and they both said yes.
[@actuallynph / @davidburtka.]
Meanwhile, in New York How sweet! Doogie Howser is getting hitched.
Just tell those babies, “No”, New York Senate. Just try. Those are seriously the cutest babies I’ve seen in quite some time.
SO cute. That 51 year old creep from LOST can marry that 16-year old “aspiring country singer,” but Neil and David can’t get married in most states? There’s something seriously wrong with this country.
Perspective I love the above paragraph. I heard about some oldie marrying a teenager who looks a lot older than she claims—which, admittedly, sounds way more worrying than two blokes who love each other being hitched.
Quotes: “People are not numbers. It’s a simple statement, but practiced by so few organizations.” ~@jackyan
Often when we begin to consider activating new segments and emerging markets, we reflect on the stats, and numeric value. Sales are all about numbers… yet, to produce sustainable corporate growth, every link and element in the branding matrix must change.
Every touch point, point of sale collateral message, television spot, regardless of the branded medium — must re-form the notion of culture.
Branding is not specifically about logos, or twitter, nor theme music. It is a group of unified and thematic communications tools, that informs value and forms a bond with the complete audience. Contextually to their consumer culture legacy.
In 2011, Value is defined by the shopper, and their historic consumer experience.
This research process should begin to de-code and codify the merging and converging of cultures; immigration and its meaning… globally, what is the promised land concept, what direct value does it hold as specific ethnic segment emerge to form the new Americana. Some speak of the new general market… it can’t be a market until its defined and reflected. Currently, it is an unknown value, culturally —-
The past was cultural representation, the future of all branding/ advertising is in reflection.
That takes a specific process, if the corporate goal is to measure the results and replicate engagement from enclave to region, nationally — then global critical mass.
That takes a specific multicultural brand planning filter.
“Branded Multiculturalism | the business construct of reflecting different cultures + cultural IDs within a unified Nation to increase client engagement + ROI ” ~MBC 2007
(Source: engagecriticalmass.com)
Branding Corporate Identity:
Regardless of the communications medium, or design packaging, the usage of a social media, or television spot, brand planning has changed. Today, your corporation’s Branded Identity message and touch points must be reflective of the segments you seek to reach; locally and globally. The medium is only a carrier of a message… so, what is the value?
[context. content. connection. commitment]
Of recent there has been a swirl of chatter about multiculturalism, the social construct and the applied business strategy, of Branded Multiculturalism. Some memes labeled it as dead, and point to the post racial strides in America, main stream media and the election of a [truly] African American President. Still, others reflect on this month’s civil rights movements in Egypt, Libya and the mid-east region —- millions of people seeking equal voice, and finding worldwide support: in the press, on the streets and in the social media sphere.
“Random House Unabridged Dictionary | Multiculturalism: Preservation of different cultures and cultural IDs within a unified society (1960-65)”
But here in America, which is the global center of media and branded entertainment, do the numbers and stats reflect a more perfect union of diverse and economically empowered consumer segments?
=> Asian American and American White segregation has grown to 45.9%. While, Hispanics account for 15% of America’s population, fully 45% of their neighbors are also Hispanic.
=> 1 in 7 Americans use Foodstamps, and the median American worker makes $16hr. Correspondingly, of the 49 million Americans living in a multi-generational family household, 47% live in a household made up of two adult generations of the same family (with the youngest adult at least 25 years of age); another 47% live in a household with three or more generations of family members; and 6% are in a “skipped” generation household made up of a grandparent and grandchild, but no parent. via_ 2010 US Census
=> 1 of 7 new marriages in America are interracial or inter-ethnic.
Jack Yan, Director & Co-Founder:
” To give a sense of identity, you must not only understand your own, but understand that every person has their identity.
Reaching them means respectful, inclusive communications.
We know that business is global: it’s how our team formed in the first place. We understand how we all need to work together and create bridges.
Multicultural Brand Consultancy:
Strategically developed branding, considers ethnic ideals in context to world-view pop culture: Inclusive Branding, considers Hispanic, Asian, European and African-American diversities of culture; as well as gender, age and sexual orientation difference.
=> Those elements create a qualitative and quantitative equation, that also includes faith, economics, and education. Its not purely stories that engage and capture consumer attention, it is the placement of a story in relation to a familial and enclave based value system. A cultural brand planning filter extracts known and unknown keys, those keys help decode consumer speak.
=> Moreover, “Consumer Vision” is the manner consumers view your communications.
That tool, helps brand planners and C-level staff decode, and reconstruct specific ethnic enclave lexicons contextually to their land(s) of origin, and historical legacy as consumers in America. We live in a Transcultural Pop world, via social media, and globally exported imagery.
Well, it becomes pretty simple, if corporations don’t understand what a consumer region is speaking about, and what they hold of value — then how can you engage with sustainable success?
=> In the past, marketing and sales utilized a strategy of USP( Unique Sales Proposition)
=> However, today… we: MBC utilizes a different strategic matrix, UVP (Unique Value Proposition)
2) What is the role of branding in an age where there is great fragmentation of consumer segments, new Migrant-Americans, and the country is recovering from basically a global economic meltdown?
=> Branding’s role is to provide a framework through which we can unify the vision of a nation. While segmentation will continue, driven by consumerist forces, and mass customization, branding can highlight the issues in society that we share; whether one is an American of many generations or a recent arrival.
You see, it becomes simple… if a corporation can unify its branded identity and communications, as that relates to real, and relevant consumer values, the boardroom goals of sustainable revenue will be met in this new and exciting consumer-centric world.
The concept of race and how we view it culturally has changed~ ~E.M. Grieco, Chief of the Census Immigration Stats
Branding Global Fragmentation: Critical Mass American Consumers.
Several months ago, the PEW CENTER, released a study: Motherhood: No Typical American Mother; not older, nor more educated, unmarried.. not even a more specifically nonwhite mom segment via_pew Center.
“from 1990 to 2008 the proportion of new mothers ages 35 or older rose to 14% from 9%; that the nonwhite share rose to 47% from 35%; and that the unmarried share rose to 41% from 28%. Thanks in part to rising educational attainment, more than half of mothers of newborns (54% in 2006) have at least some college education, compared with 41% in 1990.”
As a year 2010 ending point, it might be nice to review the Advertising sector’s diverse views on culture. It is an internal debate on ethnic advertising, minority directed campaigns; what is the role and value of Advertising in America?
This post isn’t in response to the advertising sector, it is in response to the segmentation shifts.
“The new segregation of Hispanics is a consequence of recent immigration and pioneering movement to new communities” ~ 2010 Census, Migration, Race, Demographics, Cities , Senior Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program The Brookings Institution
It is a economic position — some argue the old construct of ”General Market”is passe’. Some prosper a new definition will embrace Multiculturalism, others assume it as a cross-cultural market position, where as, a General Market agency will direct the thrust of the branding effort.
Minority agencies fear that they will be pushed out of the business of representing “their ethnic specific people”. While tradition advertising agencies, and also social media firms compete for $100s of millions in advertising media dollars (research, planning, creative, media, account management) that was in one era ”set-aside” for minority markets. Frankly, maybe the entire global advertising spend, is up for grabs.. and winner take all.
On Dec 6, 2010:
Ken Muench: senior VP-director of multicultural strategic planning at DraftFCB, Chicago posted, on Adage: A Cross-cultural Manifesto: Why Both Sides Are Wrong About Multicultural” 31 people responded to this “manifesto”.
As a side note: DraftFCB also created the 2010 US Census advertising campaign.
Both sides of this chat have valid points, and a rather large stake in this debate. Moreover, both sides are missing the core aspects of branding insight; that is not opinion, but steeped in cultural research, and statistical fact.
Its no longer an issue of “advertising white or black imagery, nor ethnic specific themes” and indeed… that also has become passe’.
Social Media has become the great equalizer, and has afforded the masses to communicate when, and how it feels inclined, mobile is not a fade; it has become the norm, and even more so in a cash strapped economy, with a generation of new savvy immigrants and divergent lifestyles. Credit Cards are not simply a financial tool for the older generation; those that helped to create the old brand called Americana. Actually, the Japanese American segment has shown itself more credit worthy; in some studies ahead of every other white or non-white consumer group.
“The notion of Asian-Americans as ‘model minorities’ ignores the diversity amongst group members. Importantly, stereotyping Asian-Americans as model minorities makes it easy to dismiss or ignore the fact that many Asian-Americans may be suffering from unemployment or be living at or below poverty level.”
Liew explained that “historically the term ‘Asian-American’ was constructed and used only after the 1960s. The people included under the umbrella term ‘Asian-American’ have become increasingly diverse since then and encompasses over 20 ethnic subgroups, each of which has their own cultural, linguistic, religious, and historical backgrounds.” ~ Dr. Jeffrey Liew, assistant professor at the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University, in College Station, Tex.
The complete practice of brand advertising extends globally as the exported image of a nation, but much deeper, it becomes a symbol of the branded promise land… America is still the leading nation for immigration. Correspondingly, the USA is also the leading exporter of consumerism and its brand of entertainment.
Adults network on social media.. and assume your tweets reflect young consumer’s needs. Honestly, critical mass youth is not impressed, because your value system is outdated.
Several incorrect advertising asumptions that directly impact client profit, sustainable engagement. 1) New Latino segments are assimilating, on the same path their parents did: http://mbc2010.tumblr.com/post/391058436/hispaniconlinebrandingstudy 2) If you market to one Asian American segment, you can reach them all, or that their “looks” are interchangeable 3) If advertising’s Brand Planners utilize a strong African American male lead, they will capture the “black community spirit”. 4) That branding Cross-culturalism is a effectual manner to advertise to the masses.
The average white person in metropolitan America lives in a neighborhood that is 77 percent white. Black-white segregation averaged 65.2 in 2000 and 62.7 now. Hispanic-white segregation was 51.6 in 2000 and 50 today. Asian-white segregation has grown from 42.1 to 45.9.
America is far from the great multicultural land of diverse enclaves that some present.
What is your corporation doing to reach enclave segregation ?
Cultural assimilation “is a political response to the demographic fact of multi-ethnicity which encourages absorption of the minority into the dominant culture. It is opposed to affirmative philosophy (for example, multiculturalism) which recognizes and manages difference.”
The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants to a new land, such as the various ethnic groups who have settled in the United States. New customs and attitudes are acquired through contact and communication. The transfer of customs is not simply a one-way process. Each group of immigrants contributes some of its own cultural traits to its new society. Assimilation usually involves a gradual change and takes place in varying degrees; full assimilation occurs when new members of a society become indistinguishable from older members.
Study topic: Acculturation: the exchange of cultural features that results when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first hand contact; the original cultural patterns of either or both groups may be altered, but the groups remain distinct.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary | Multiculturalism: Preservation of different cultures and cultural IDs within a unified society (1960-65);
There must be a specific Multicultural Adv Planning filter, for clients. Or branding becomes random ..its not only faces of color. Hence, in business as in academics when we seek to define a practice area its best to review its specific meaning … such as Multiculturalism.
“Branded Multiculturalism | the business construct of reflecting different cultures + cultural IDs within a unified Nation to increase client engagement + ROI” ~MBC
TBC: to be continued:
(Source: brookings.edu)
Why is General Market Media and Advertising Missing Asian America?
By flooding the courtroom backdrops with her unadulterated, hypersexual snarkiness, Woo crushed the all-too-common meek and submissive Asian typecast with her sharp stilettos. However, another harmful oversimplification rose from her toxic pool – the Dragon Lady, a stereotype that cast Asian female characters as deceitful and yet mysterious as the dark side of the moon. Media images of Asian women depict one of two opposites: docile or domineering. Gwen Stefani exoticized her songs with four interchangeable back-up dancers called the Harajuku Girls.
Tom Cruise in “The Last Samurai” film becomes aroused by Japanese village woman Taka’s quiet, helpless nature. Twins Fook Mi and Fook Yu teased Austin Powers in the “Goldmember” movie with their oh-so-clever names, tiny skirts and insatiable desire for international spies.”
And K-TOWN still looms.. it is pitched as the “Asian Jersey Shore”, good example or more of the same stereotype?
1) Music often provides keys to specific culture(s), how do you decode “linked” segments?
2) But there is more to the culture(s)… faith plays a strong role.
Who Are Asian Americans; and why is traditional branded advertising media missing the sweet spot in these segments of culture(s).
tbc: to be continued…
DON’T VOTE: thats a very direct statement, seemingly political Advertising has been reduced to this new low. Yet, it is not only counter productive for the Latino and Hispanic voters, it also becomes a divisive tool that additionally attempts to restrict the freedoms of Americans. This advertising positions all Latino Americans as immigrants, or at the very lest plays on some vague notion that all Hispanics have not become Americanized citizens.
“Univision will not be running any spots from Latinos for Reform related to voting,” Univision spokeswoman Monica Talan told Politico. “Univision prides itself on promoting civic engagement and our extensive national campaigns encourage Hispanics to vote.”
The ad was widely seen as an effort to hurt the campaign of incumbent Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat, who is working hard to turn out Latino voters. Mr. de Posoda, who has long worked with the Republican Party, said he didn’t like either candidate but acknowledged that a Latino boycott would hurt Mr. Reid’s chances. via_ wall street journal
Latinos for Reform’ is headed by Robert De Posada, a conservative political analyst who makes occasional appearances on the spanish-speaking television network, Univision. The treasurer for the group is a high-powered Republican lobbyist named Juan Carlos Benitez who was named a special counsel for immigration related unfair employment practices in the Bush Administration.VIA_FORBES
Federal Judge Orders IMMEDIATE Suspension Of :Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell via_ cnn
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the U.S. military to stop enforcing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, effectively ending the ban on openly gay troops.
