Contributed By Dan Neely, founder and CEO of Networked Insights

There has been a lot of recent talk about “Engagement”. Engagement is the new metric for social media, the measure of success for social media marketing. Although clearly defining engagement has been a challenge and people have disagreed on setting standards, it is certainly a concept worth exploring.

As soon as social media started to change the way people communicate and share interests, values or concerns, it became a gold mine of customer intelligence and insight. The key to unlocking this intelligence is to understand engagement.

What is engagement? Engagement is a combination of how people interact with each other and content (viewing, posting, inviting, rating, etc.) and what causes people to change or define their behavior (how influential people or content are).

Engagement not only shows where people are spending their time, and what topics they are discussing and with whom, but also shows the degree and depth of customer-to-customer interactions. If ad placement is based on engagement, advertisers know that the advertising is more relevant to the people that see it because it is based on the topics and people that they engage with.

For advertisers and marketers, knowing facts about their audience before spending money on social media is a huge benefit. For example, if Nike notices that a large number of users on MySpace are engaging around a particular shoe model and that very few people are doing so on Facebook, it would make a lot more sense to spend more heavily on MySpace and know exactly where to place and direct that spend. This tactic uses engagement to ensure results, not just to measure them.

Marketers all acknowledge the importance of engagement. While the subjective aspects of the metric have yet to be defined, the factual elements taken from customer engagement provide the real value. Using engagement as a way to guide and predict your ad buy or marketing spend is a clear and simple method that leverages the customer intelligence that can be gained from engagement metrics. This intelligence can also help accurately inform the content and message of the resulting marketing collateral to ensure it resonates with the target audience.

Engagement is here to stay. Just like any new metric, it will take some time to take-hold and become fully standardized, but it is undeniably a multifaceted and powerful metric that can provide value to marketers throughout the marketing process – especially before it even starts.

About the Author:

Daniel Neely
Dan is the founder and CEO of Networked Insights, the leader in customer intelligence across social media. His 10 plus years of entrepreneurial, management and operational experience with technology companies, has given him the expertise in customer intelligence and experience with the challenges companies face in gathering relevant, real-time insights about their customers.
Before starting Networked Insights, Dan co-founded Market Performance Partners, which guided companies in market ownership through customer intelligence. Prior to that, he was the director of strategy at Scient, one of the fastest growing services company in history. Before Scient, Dan was part of the team that launched eSurance, the leading online insurance company.

No Comments | Gen-Y ideas, Marketing to college students, Marketing to young women, Voice of the customer, New Concepts & Ideas, Corporate Innovation, Managing Generation Y, BrainWaves Emagazine | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

Contributed by Anand Chhatpar

I had the chance to interview Dominick Martinetti, CEO of Slappa Distribution, a small but rapidly growing company that is making a great name for itself among DJs and music junkies as an innovative product company. Dominick is an inspiring young man, and I have shared in this article, excerpts from our conversation that reveal his thinking and journey into market leadership.

Slappa has been in business for four years now, and it started with an initial product range consisting of CD cases. It was not a particularly “sexy” business to get into. CD cases had been around for 15 years, and the CD business was not growing aggressively any more. DVDs, computer software and video games still used CD cases, but the margins had been declining for most companies in this space. Also, brands before Slappa had commoditized the product — there was no real choice available to the consumers. Most of the people using these disc cases were forced to not have choices… outside of cosmetic colors, no one was building quality and variety into the cases. Therein lay a problem with CD cases from the consumer’s perspective, which Dominick was able to spot.

To conduct his market research and with an Open Innovation mindset, Dominick went to online bulletin boards and chat rooms for audio professionals like Audiophile, Audio Asylum and Audioreview.com. He sought advice on what these target consumers needed from the ultimate CD case.

He heard back two major things from them:
1. More Protection: A majority of CD cases available in the market were not providing any real level of protection for a person’s disc collection. People wanted to protect discs even while moving formats towards MP3. They wanted to protect their investment. An individual’s music collection alone can amount to anywhere between $3,000 and $10,000 over 15 years depending on whether one is a general consumer or a DJ.

2. People wanted to keep their discs and covers together: People did not like jewel cases because they cracked and then one could not keep their CD artwork (cover) together with the disc.

Dominick created a series of prototypes and sent them to influential journalists who write product reviews for well read magazines and blogs and asked for their feedback and advice on the design. He kept iterating and improving the design based on feedback from these reviewers. After 2 years of prototype iteration, Dominick finally heard “Its perfect!” from several reviewers and he knew he had a winning product in his hand. Dominick had designed the D2 patented pocket system which has a rear pocket for the disc and a front pocket for the cover along with a 5-7 mm opening. The shell for the D2 was made out of X-EVA, a fire resistant, water resistant material.

Launching the product now became much easier for Dominick. He put up a website at slappa.com and told all his friends and the product reviewers he was in contact with that his product was now available for purchase. The reviewers wrote rave reviews of his $49.95 CD-case next to reviews of top of the line $2,000 music systems. Slappa’s products achieved very quick acceptance among the “Pro Audio” market, and Dominick has expanded into distribution via retail, mail order, catalogs and other media where people can pay attention to details of the product.

Dominick’s inspiration is the Fossil Watch Company that made people think they were getting a better deal with a $79 designer watch from Fossil in a tin can than with a $20 watch from Walmart. He already has plans to expand his product line into backpacks, high end bags, and other products, while also expanding distribution globally.

When asked about why Slappa’s customers become huge fans of the company, Dominick says, “We’ve made ourselves a customer focused company. Each customer is our most important customer. You CAN please everyone, in a million ways. You just have to find a different way for every person.”

1 Comment | Innovation Techniques, Generation-Y wants, Gen-Y ideas, Marketing to college students, Marketing to young women, Open Innovation, Voice of the customer, New Concepts & Ideas, BrainWaves Emagazine | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

Facebook is an incredible social phenomenon that I am sure most of you have heard about. If you have not yet experienced Facebook, consider joining it at http://www.facebook.com

BrainReactions has recently launched an application within Facebook called the “Most Creative People“. It allows you to view and connect with the most creative people on Facebook and vote for your friends who are very creative. You can join the application and nominate any of your friends from Facebook to provide them further global recognition for their creativity.

The application is available at
http://apps.facebook.com/fbcreative/

Our network now consists of over 35,000 highly creative people from 142 countries. If you’d like to leverage our network for brainstorming with your target market, product testing with a particular demographic, online focus groups, product launch marketing, or any consumer-focused needs, please contact us here.

No Comments | BrainReactions News, Creativity & Brainstorming, Generating Ideas & Ideation Techniques, Managing Ideas, Innovation Techniques, Generation-Y wants, Gen-Y ideas, Marketing to college students, Marketing to young women, Open Innovation, Voice of the customer, New Concepts & Ideas, Corporate Innovation, BrainWaves Emagazine | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

Reaching GEN Y and keeping their attention is one of the greatest marketing mysteries of our generation. Young people today are very fickle and are constantly changing what they consider to be “cool” and “hip”. As a current summer camp counselor and college student, I have had the chance to experience this up, close and personal. It is quite amazing that the amount of knowledge our young people today have on current culture, products, and lifestyle. That is very important to remember when marketing to GEN Y — never take them for granted or assume they are not capable of understanding complex situations or products. GEN Y is one of the smartest, tech savvy and idealistic generations of our time. They know what they want, but they do not always know how to get there, and that is where market research, focus groups, BrainReactions brainstorms, and other tools come in handy. It is important to not just understand the wants, likes, and dislikes of GEN Y, but also who they are and where they want to be in the future. The youth of today love to discuss themselves and they want to the world to know they are here to stay. Our generation has grown up knowing mostly that as long as they dream big and work hard they can achieve and get anything they want. Now, that is a tough group to create for and sell to, but with the amount of money GEN Y controls, either their own or their parent’s, companies cannot make the mistake of not listening and understanding their concerns.

GEN Y is always searching for the next big tech item, clothes, shoes, etc. to jump unto and call their own. Youth of today love the idea of interchangeable products, such as multiple shoe designs, backpacks that do more than just hold books, and they are very primitive to the art of multi-tasking, more so than past generations. They are used to playing XBOX, doing their homework, chatting and texting w/friends, and planning their schedule for the next day better than the best of us. Due to the globalization of our culture and economy, companies cannot wait for their competition to create the next big thing — being on the cutting edge of product research and development is vital to the growth and expansion of products/services marketed towards GEN Y. There are truly no perfect ways to keep the attention of GEN Yers, but there are some techniques that can be utilized to increase outreach and interest of youth in a company’s products or services. Along with these eight techniques, I would also like to say the most important way to learn from and market to GEN Y is to simply listen to them. They want to be heard, but they do not always have an applicable outlet to have their voices, ideas, and concerns heard. Your company’s future can be bright when it comes to targeting GEN Y, but only if you show GEN Y that you are ready to open up and listen to them.

1. Utilizing Buzz Marketing/Word of Mouth Marketing: Young people are very open and vocal about a product or service they see as useful and innovative and will not hesitate a bit to tell their friends. Buzz marketing can be a commercial that a GEN Yer saw on TV/Youtube that was hilarious and it had some memorable slogan or quote, or it could be an interesting product name, or it could be totally something created in a GEN Yers mind from personal use of that product or service.

2. Creating fresh and innovative products or services: GEN Yers were born in a generation where new products/services are created everyday. Everything from iPods to clothing. GEN Yers expect unique creations that stretch their imaginations to new heights and offer the creativity of new technologies we are used to seeing and envisioning in our everyday lives. GEN Yers also expect simplicity of use and function, but at the same time something out of this world!

3. Make Our Lives Easier: GEN Yers expect products/services that make our hectic lives a little less fast and more relaxing and organized. GEN Yers are used to working, going to classes, and being super involved in school clubs & sports, all at the same time. In addition, anything created to make things more integrated is a plus. That could be a music player that has a scheduler/calendar or a cell phone that is also a picture taker and moviemaker. GEN Yers expect multi-function capabilities in almost any new product created aimed at our generation.

4. Attach Product/Service to a good cause: GEN Yers love companies that help good causes. Most young people volunteer according to recent studies and are more attracted to companies who have the same giving philosophy. When they know that by buying a pair of new shoes or clothing, part of the proceeds go to an important charity, they are more likely to purchase from that store and the opposite is true for companies who do not engage in charitable causes. GEN Yers care about helping those less fortunate and expect the same ideals from companies they spend their money on.

5. Style/Image Branding: Style and image are everything when it comes to product buying by GEN Yers. If a new product or service is not deemed cool or something they can tell their friends about the next day, then that product has lost a chance to make that very important first impact on a young person. GEN Yers can either be brand loyal or fickle, so companies must regularly ensure that the way they design and package new products fit in the realm of what GEN Yers expect. GEN Yers expect sharp, creative, and innovative styles and creations.

6. Advertise/Market Where GEN Yers Are: Most young people spend countless hours and days in front of their computer, at the mall, and in the movies. So placing ads before popular youth market films will reach the GEN Y audience very well. It is important that any ads speak the language of young people. Young people feel more comfortable seeing ads with actors that can relate to their age group. Unique and funny ads are essential for creating buzz for a new product or service and giving something young people can tell their friends about. In addition, advertising in popular youth magazines is a vital way to reach the GEN Y market. Furthermore, most GEN Yers have computers and access to the Internet, so advertising and collaborating with popular youth sites, like MTV.com, is an awesome way to reach the GEN Y market.

7. Street Teams/Peer-to-Peer Marketing: This is one of the best ways to reach GEN Yers. GEN Yers trust what their peers have to say, more than they do someone not their age. Street teams are an awesome way to rally youth around a new product or service and to get young people excited and engaged. It is important to ensure potential youth buyers trust the messenger. Young people are very smart and intelligent and can smell a fake ad or message a million miles away. Once a company loses that trust factor, it is very hard to regain that customer back. Street teams also are a good away to initiate buzz marketing.

8. Innovation/Incentives: Its important that a company marketing products/services to GEN Y consistently come out with new and innovative products on a regularly basis. GEN Yers expect continued new ideas and inventions on a regular basis, considering that we are used to such happenings from birth. GEN Yers also respond well to incentives, discounts, and free stuff. By utilizing a combination of those or all three, your company is sure to create a good initial buzz and interest in what you are trying to sell.

No Comments | Generation-Y wants, Gen-Y ideas, Marketing to college students, Voice of the customer, Managing Generation Y | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

I’ve got to hand it to the Onion, once again, they’ve written a hilarious article that sums up the crazy, hype-driven, marketing world we live in. Check it out “Apple Unveils New Product-Unveiling Product”

This article is not only entertaining, but also a valid critique of a consumer response to marketing. The proper marketing, it seems, can sell just about anything by generating enough buzz. And while that is great for most companies, we the consumers are sometimes left holding the proverbial bag when the product doesn’t meet expectations.

Reading this Onion article just re-enforced for me the importance of a comprehensive, online, peer review system for new products. Without some grounding, its too easy for consumers to get carried away by tornado that is an effective marketing campaign and end up far, far from home.

No Comments | Creativity & Brainstorming, Marketing to college students, Marketing to young women | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

What our peers buy influences our own decisions on purchases. What I’m suggesting here is a new way for companies to take advantage of the influence and respect the consumer has for the opinion of his peers.

The idea is, you sign up through a company or web search site (like google) to take part in this program and create a comprehensive profile. Upon purchasing an item, you write a review of it. Now, if a peer (based on analysis of your profile) searches for a similar product, they would receive not only relevant ads, but also their peers’ reviews of the product.

Companies would pay a slight premium to be part of this innovative marketing approach, and the consumer would get points for each review written. Those points could converted to $ and disbursed via pay-pal or some other incentive.

I would certainly pay more attention to a review or rating of a peer than I do to the search based ads one normally gets. Alternatively, a summary of your peers’ ratings could appear for each product. Another option could be weekly updates about what your peers are buying. And, to guard against unscrupulous bumping up of positive reviews, one could require a cell phone number to be eligible as a peer reviewer.

Using this approach, products could be marketed in a very specific and targeted way to different groups of consumers with little added cost to the company hawking the goods.

No Comments | Marketing to college students, Marketing to young women, New Concepts & Ideas, Corporate Innovation | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

We saw in the ad campaigns for the Super Bowl the first real push to get consumers to come up with marketing campaigns for products. This was a very successful approach for the companies involved as they not only produced innovative, consumer driven ads, but also received secondary publicity from the contests.

I’d like to see companies take this a step further and begin introducing contests in which the consumers come up with ways to make products more environmentally friendly. This would not only allow the eco-conscious among us make the world a little greener, but it would also provide secondary publicity not only from the contest itself, but also from news stories about the company’s environmental friendliness.

So many of us in Gen-Y want greener products and would respond positively to a company and their products given the knowledge that they are trying to innovate to provide a greener world.

No Comments | Creativity & Brainstorming, Generating Ideas & Ideation Techniques, Generation-Y wants, Marketing to college students, Corporate Innovation | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

Opening the latest Vogue or GQ, readers are flooded with images of Uma Thurman, Matthew McConaughey, and Lindsey Lohan telling you that their product makes you a star or is what the new hip thing. But in all reality, is this an effective way to advertise anymore?

As a college student, most of these types of items are out of reach and otherwise, the celeb is not someone I would like to associate myself with. What happened to the plain Jane model, why does every product need to be paired with a certain Hollywood star? If anything, the fact that stars like Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt get paid millions of dollars to be in a 30 second ad and endorse a product turns me off and makes me think that the company has run out of creativity choosing the overused celeb endorsement. Campaigns that are clever (e.g. the Truth campaign, iPod dancing people) are few and far between. It’s a fine line between projecting an image of cool by using a celeb and reflecting that it is simply something that a normal person would never look good in.

With all the computer technology that now allows a billboard or ad to literally change a person’s appearance to be more ‘appealing’, how can a person trust an ad in general? (Check out the transformation of a model from before makeup to billboard at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=v3YvvFbsj94) Do advertising campaigns ever think of the societal impact they can create in the minds of their target market? Is Mischa Barton really the best example of a normal young adult for a clothing line?

Basically, celebrity endorsements show laziness or create unreal views of how the ‘normal’ person should look like. Most people don’t find them realistic; yes, I wish I had lips like Angelina Jolie and a butt like Jennifer Lopez, but that isn’t real. What happened to the creativity seen in the Levi’s commercials in the mid 90s or cool Propel fitness water ads of people appearing from drops of water? Companies need to bring the ad campaigns back to reality and give people some fresh ideas to inspire new product consumption rather than the surrealism of a celebrity image.

No Comments | Generation-Y wants, Gen-Y ideas, Marketing to college students, Marketing to young women, Voice of the customer | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

It seems that its about time for me to weigh in again about the sorry state of marketing geared to Gen Y individuals. Granted, I can be a very judgmental individual, but there are so few really quality marketing campaigns out there that I often find myself telling my friends that there needs to be a group that has to approve all marketing campaigns and ads to save us from having to watch some of the truly awful ones.

On that note, I’d like to propose an option for companies looking to market to Gen Y and college students. Marketing firms should be making use of the internet to put together focus groups who watch the ad campaigns via streaming video or evaluate print ads on some website. By mining the data on social websites like Facebook and MySpace, companies could identify individuals that they want to be part of the focus group and invites could be sent to those individuals with a promise of compensation for participating.

I’m sure there must be online focus groups already in operation, but aside from using the social websites to identify individuals to take part in the group, my other innovation for this undertaking would incorporate a device to monitor physiological responses from the individual watching the ad. I remember a West Wing episode in which a focus group watching Bartlett giving a state of the union address were monitored using a simple dial that they adjusted in response to what Bartlett was saying. A simple extension of this approach would be a device that is shipped to the individual in the focus group. The group members would hook this device up to a USB port on their computer and before watching the ad, they would place their hand on the device, which would measure electrical and physiological responses to the ad. A baseline could be taken by also showing the group members ad campaigns that the company thinks are ones they either want to emulate or not emulate.

This approach would allow marketing firms to reach the ever so important Gen Y demographic in a very controlled manner and would also provide more information than they would get from a simple form that group members would also fill out after watching the ad campaign.

No Comments | Creativity & Brainstorming, Generation-Y wants, Gen-Y ideas, Marketing to college students, Marketing to young women, Open Innovation, Voice of the customer, New Concepts & Ideas, Corporate Innovation, Managing Generation Y | Email Article | Share on Facebook | del.icio.us | digg this

Dr. Bruce Barringer of the University of Central Florida’s business school has come up with the 2nd edition of his textbook on entrepreneurship, titled Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures (2nd Edition)
BrainReactions is featured as a case study in the second chapter of this book under the topic of “Opportunity Identification”, and it is supposed to be read by students in a 120 different colleges and universities! Holy smokes, I’m eager to see the impact of that!

An interesting way that they’re marketing this book to students is by creating podcasts using interviews with the subjects within the book. I’m expecting to see a podcast with my interview in it that I did for this book out very soon. I’ll blog about it when I get its link from the publisher.

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