DOVE “Selfie” Redefines How We Perceive Beauty

Dove is once again helping women to redefine the meaning of beauty. First introduced last week at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, the Selfie short film explores how social media is shaping the way we perceive beauty. You may have seen a trailer but the full video is here.

According to an article on Mashable, at the backbone of Selfie is research conducted by Dove which revealed 63% of women believe social media is influencing today’s definition of beauty more than print media, film and music. The film, directed by documentary filmmaker Cynthia Wade and produced by Sharon Liese, aims to empower women to redefine the traditional perception of beauty found in glossy magazines and movies.

“The way women are defining beauty today is changing dramatically, and social media has much to do with the change,” Wade said. “Now, we have the ability to photograph the beauty we see in our friends and ourselves. When we share these diverse images on our social networks, we are taking personal ownership and truly redefining beauty.”

It’s also really interesting to hear the Mom’s perspectives. That even as adults, teenage insecurities and social expectations still affect their attitudes and behavior.

I think this was a great strategy by Dove to increase its brand exposure and really use the power of social media (or at least a selfie) to drive its brand message across audiences. Not only is it already successful on a PR level by gaining national media exposure, I’m sure the added awareness is going to create record levels of social engagement.

Best Tip for 2014 – from the Marketing Pros

Recently Social Fresh Insights polled top Marketing Pros for their advice in one simple question:

“If you could make just one recommendation to companies to power their marketing succes in 2014, what would it be?”

Some of the answers gave advice I read again and again such as consistently provide targeted (and valuable) content to  your audience, build a customer/brand experience, and respond back to your followers/customers (I can’t believe a company with a social presence would leave questions unanswered but they do)… A few of them I felt really hit the mark with tips worth trying in 2014. You can read the full story here but I just wanted to highlight these key points.

Ekaterina Walter (@Ekaterina), Co-founder and CMO of BRANDERATI; Author of WSJ Bestseller “Think Like Zuck”:

Nurture advocacy! And instead of creating marketing campaigns, build movements around your brand.

In the age of infobesity, advocacy becomes the most relevant brand marketing filter. And by advocacy, I mean the highest expression of brand love by a brand’s consumers, partners, and employees. What’s more, in the social era, the right form of advocacy becomes true influence.

True influence is not about numbers ; it’s about impacting  behavior through passion, relevance, and trust. And genuine, organic love for a brand impacts behavior much more than a paid recommendation.

Only brands that focus deeply on building and nurturing long-term relationships with their true advocates will see sustainable business results.

We are entering an Age of Advocacy in which consumers are no longer buying brands; they are investing in them. Marketers will move from marketing to their fans to marketing with and through them.

Aliza Sherman (@alizasherman), Award-winning Digital Strategist, Author:

Stop doing what you’re doing. Unplug, take a step back, take a breather. Think about what you’ve done online over the last few years and what you’re thinking of doing in the new year.

Change it up. Don’t do “business as usual.” Experiment. Find a way to shake up the status quo. Take time away to look back with fresh eyes and ideas.

Disconnect to reconnect to what is truly important to you and those whom you’re trying to reach and influence.

Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld), Tech Blogger; Startup Advisor:

Value. That is my recommendation. Stop self-promoting and start providing value. Stop asking for likes and start giving me a reason to like your brand. Value can be in the form of a blog, video, or any other content, but your marketing strategy should be to provide value consistently.

 

Ten Twitter Tactics from the Pros

Ever wonder why certain brands have such high success on social media platforms?  They listen to their audience, then use the platforms unique benefits to provide great content for sharing and engagement.

Consider the impressive activity from the Travel + Leisure’s Twitter feed… More than 570,000 global followers (and growing at 3.6% per month). In October, 766 tweets drew 14,371 interactions with a potential reach of 14.2 million! The director of editorial product development, Peter Frank creates opportunities for engagement with these basic strategies:

1.  Think about what your audience is thinking about.
Time of Day Matters -Recommend restaurants around lunch/dinner or tips for traveling at 7:00am when people are getting ready to pack/leave for the day.

Jump into trending conversations – When CNN was breaking news at LA airport, T+L was tweeting followers about the incident with a link to it on CNN.

Know your evergreens – Play up content that you know has performed well and applies to anytime of year/season. Don’t be afraid to tweet the same story more than once.

2.  Tell your audience what to think about.
Distract your audience from their daily routine or announce holidays and anniversaries.

3.  Get their attention quickly and lead them like sheep.
Start with a short question or sentence like “How do you become a better traveler?” or explain whats behind links. Avoid hashtag overkill and test different locations for links, like in the middle of the tweet rather than always at the end.

4.  Let the picture tell the story.
Using images can help make your brand stand out. Repurpose images across platforms.

5.  Have a conversation.
Resolve complaints by taking swift action (and make it known you are taking action). Answer questions in a similar and timely manner.

6  … and Create a conversation.
Offer to chat with a panel of experts, brands and influencers on occasion (weekly, monthly) for about 15-20 minutes.

7.  Give followers the last word.
Crowdsource. For example, a photo of neighborhoods surrounding the Colesseum in Rome with added text boxes pointing to five fun or educational things to do right in that area suggested by friends and followers. Ask followers to share their pics and comment.

8.  Let followers take the reins.
Solicit nominations and give them what they want with review of suggestions.

9.  Keep your influencers happy.
Constantly engage with your influencers, retweet their content and acknowledge them.

10.  Know your audience.
Every medium is different and every social network is different so it’s important to reach each audience with relevant content.

 

2014 Technology Landscape – WHOA that’s complex

So after weeks of not really reading  anything of value for myself (or You), I finally found something that stopped me… this SUPERGRAPHIC chart of the 2014 Marketing Technology Landscape.

I don’t know where to start except to say that the MarComm profession just became a whole lot more complex. And don’t ever believe someone who claims to be an expert in all these areas…

Thanks Scott Brinker for sharing this on ChiefMarketingTechnologist.