Creativitiy and Individuality in Social Media
Posted May 29th, 2009 by RickBurnes
Rebecca Corliss and Mike Volpe have some interviews on the HubSpot blog today with Paula Bergs, Manager of Emerging Media at Southwest Airlines. Paula explains how Southwest encourages creativity (notably this rapping flight attendant).
It might look simple, but it's not easy to enable that kind of creative expression. How does your company do it?
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Creativity and Individuality in Social Media
Jeff Louis 2 years 34 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago
After thinking about the question, I drifted back to the purpose of Social Media, which was to put a "face" on a brand. Thus, while creativity is more appealing to most of us, I would not want to a rapping cancer treatment specialist. Being creative for the sake of being creative is one of those traps that agencies and marketing companies seem to fall into when they don't understand the brand well.
While the Southwest rapper and other flight attendants (from flights I have been on) are very creative with their safety talks, I would not choose SW over another airline based on a humorous persona. If my family is on the plane it's a bit more "serious" to me. Then again, I don't check the safety records for airlines, either (it's a matter of destination, cost, and timing).
In my opinion, Home Depot has a decentTwitter presence. It's not funny, but informational. It does lack some personality, though.
Personality and individuality are quite different: It is imperative for corporations, especially airlines, car manufacturers, and other "faceless" entities to not rely on their logos, or their CEOs, to front their brands, but to add personality into them. One good example would be Allstate. In the last 5 or 6 years, they went from logo to caring, concerned, and intelligent. Allstate worries about your children. They try to save you money. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace...they are on all of the "biggies" and their brand's persona is carried across each one.
If the decision were mine, I would either find the personality within the company that fit, or simply hire someone to play a role that would be the brand's identity. I am waiting for The King to finish his contract with BK....
Jeff Louis
Before you begin to shoot...
Rena Bernstein 2 years 34 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago
There are several approaches that you can take when creating online content. Like all forms of marketing, the answer depends on what you want to acheive.
While there are success stories of someone picking up a video camera and shooting a wonderful video, tthe internet is full of videos that are unsuccessful and unflattering.
In my opinion, you must first answer the question "What do I want to communicate?" before ever begining to shoot. If your message is filled with details and specific info, you may actually be better off with a well done Powerpoint. Or if you goal is to get the attention of your market and have your video go viral you probably want to deal with a creative professional that knows how to craft the message, work the medium, and plant the seeds for a better chance at a successful viral spread. If on the otherhand, your goal is to speak casually to your audience without alot of fanfare, then by all means "roll the tape" on your own.
Whatever you do, don't forget that the first rule of marketing is to begin at the end and know what your goals are.
Rena Bernstein
Elektrik Ink www.elektrik.com
www.twitter.com/Mrktgeek
yes, and ...
RickBurnes 2 years 34 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago
When you ask "What do I want to communicate?" your answer needs to be formed with your users' needs and interests in mind.
YOU may want to communicate things about your product, but your customers and prospects probably don't care much about their product. They care about the problems they're trying to solve in their business, and in their lives. You need to communicate great solutions to those problems.
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Prashant Kaw 2 years 35 weeks 4 days 22 hours ago
The first company I saw do this in a structured manner was Google. Employees could spend a certain amount of time every week to explore pet projects or ideas they have.
I think this is great way to encourage out of the box thinking and getting ideas into more tangible form.
I would encourage all companies to allow their employees spend some time on pursuing ideas they think are interesting!
Check out this book if you get the chance (2-3 hours - quick read):
Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment: How to Improve Productivity, Quality, and Employee Satisfaction
Some ideas on creativity and in house viral video
Mike Volpe 2 years 35 weeks 6 days 3 hours ago
Here are a bunch of ideas:
1) Hire someone creative. We try to hire creative people here, including Rebecca (who is also a musician besides being a marketer) and she can do things like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-lGe5MnBlY Hiring someone young and hungry can be cheaper than hiring an agencey to do 4-5 videos, and you'll get more videos and they will be more focused on your brand.
2) Find creativity you already have. You might be surprised. Inside HubSpot we have talent I never knew about until I started asking. We have 2 people with their SAG (Scrren actors guild) union cards because they ahve been in commercials - one salesperson, one developer. We also have a buunch of folks who are into photography, one who makes homemade jewelry, plus lots of other talents.
3) Be yourself. If you are a geek, be a geek. That is part of your company brand. Maybe a video about something scientific will get your target audience going. Don;t copy what you think the world wants, find what your niche of the world will like about you.
4) Give it a shot. These campaigns are less about being successful every time and more about trying 10 things and seeing what works. We try things that are not successful every time. Just see http://youtube.com/hubspot for examples.
- MIke Volpe
http://twitter.com/mvolpe