The PR Warrior

BOOK REVIEW: Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead

Okay, this would have to be one of the coolest business book titles ever: MARKETING LESSONS FROM THE GRATEFUL DEAD.

The concept is also interesting - authors David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan draw parallels between the way the iconic rock band the Grateful Dead operated in the 60s (and 70s, 80s and 90s) and how successful businesses market their brands in today's hyper-connected environment.

 

Following is an excerpt of a post I wrote for the SWEAT EQUITY blog:

Firstly, I really enjoyed the book. It was a quick read and the book itself is small, compact and well designed.

The concept is pretty cool, especially for a business book. The title outlines the premise perfectly and is exactly what you get - marketing lessons from the Grateful Dead, a major-league band that became highly successful over a long period of time despite breaking many of the so-called 'rules' of the music industry.

My concern prior to reading was the authors might have tried retrofitting the content into the concept they had developed. Luckily, that wasn't the case and the lessons flow effortlessly.

Crucially, the book works perfectly for today's hyper-connected marketplace in which technology has levelled the playing field and consumers are rejecting the hard sales pitch.

Marketing today is less about broadcast advertising and more about sparking two-way conversation about your brand; it's less about incessantly trying to win over new customers but rather looking after the ones you've got and building a community of loyal fans from a solid base.

And this is exactly what the Grateful Dead was all about.

Click HERE for the full review on SWEAT EQUITY.

Summing up, if you're after a business book that brings to life an 'alternative view' of brand marketing (albeit using lessons from a bunch of hippies versus an accredited MBA curriculum), then you could do worse than check out 'Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead'.

MORE INFO:

• Podcast interview with David Meerman Scott on BNet
• Book excerpt from Personal Branding blog
• On-demand webinar with the book's two authors
• Article by David Meerman Scott in the Huffington Post

Project Blogger: PR Warrior Succumbs to the Blowtorch

The founder of online magazine LoveBento Melissa Peters (@its_mel) turned the blowtorch on me the other day to elicit responses to a number of questions for her wonderful Project Blogger series on the It's Geekchic blog.

Being a battle-hardened PR Warrior, I was able to withstand pressure received during the interrogation, but ultimately, I cracked - and Mel won!

Here is Mel's line of questioning complete with excerpts of answers (check out the full interview here):

 

#1 - What gave you the inspiration to set up your blog?

I wasn’t inspired by any particular blogger per se but more so a desire to learn more about blogging by diving in and getting my hands dirty. More

#2 - What does you blog mean to you?

My main blog prwarrior.com – it’s essentially a stream of consciousness “from the marketing frontline”; it’s skewed towards PR, communications and social media. More

#3 - What do you especially like to post?

I tend to focus on PR and marketing communications broadly, often with a skew towards the ever-changing new media landscape and what it means to our profession. More

#4 - Are there certain stories or categories you know will get a great reaction?

The two types of posts that in my experience have tended to generate more reaction are: Topical pieces -if timed right, with a hint of ‘strong opinion’, they’re generally good for getting people retweeting and talking about it. More

#5 - What are your top 5 tips for other bloggers? 

Write about a space you’re absolutely passionate about - if you don’t love the topic, you’ll probably end up getting bored. Be persistent - blogging is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t get a lot of traffic early. Just keep going! Check out the other three tips here

#6 - What is your top tip for someone just starting out?

I read stacks of great blogs. Ummm, where to start? Locally, I like Steve Sammartino’s Start-Up Blog for its short bursts of start-up inspiration and insights; Servant of Chaos by Gavin Heaton. More of the PR Warrior's favourite blogs here

#7 - Would you say blogging is a creative outlet for you/ and if so how? 

Absolutely! Writing is my schtick, and being able to get instant feedback on something you’ve written is pretty cool. But being able to incorporate images and audio etc just opens up a lot more avenues for the sharing of thoughts and ideas.

#8 - Has blogging opened up doors for you with new contacts and conversations you may never had otherwise had?

Again, absolutely. My blog is the hub, or heartbeat, of all my online efforts. It’s this combination of things – blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – that has grown my network exponentially. More

#9 - What’s the thing you like most about your blog? 

I truly love the design! Generally I’m a bit hard to please in that respect, but the boys (Aaron & Blaz) from Eleven Media did a fantastic job, especially as they’re WordPress specialists and my blog is on Typepad. More 

Here are some other Project Blogger interviews by Melissa Peters (above *) that you might like:

• Cheri from MsCritique
  
• Stan Lee from Brand DNA
• Lorraine Elliott from Not Quite Nigella
• Laura TJ from See Hear Say

Project Blogger is a great concept and is further proof of an emerging blogging community in this country - you might also be interested in my previous post: Australia's Blogging Community Comes of Age.

* PIC: Sourced via Mumbrella

Australia's Blogging Community Comes of Age

I've always been of the belief that Australia has very much lagged other countries in the blogging stakes, particularly the US.

Part of this could be cultural. Australians have never been great at putting themselves 'out there'. Put it down to the 'Tall Poppy Syndrome'.

But I think that's changing.

According to Nielsen Research, Australians are the heaviest users of social networking sites in the world. That statistic came out of nowhere earlier in the year and certainly changed my view of social media acceptance in this country.

While I haven't got any blogging statistics locally, gut feel tells me the space is 'maturing' as more sophisticated - indeed, semi-professional and corporate - bloggers start to establish themselves in the market.

Interestingly, just today the marketing magazine Adnews reported that Westfield Shopping Centres was "on the hunt for a $100,000 blogger".

(On this topic, why does Westfield feel the need to turn its "hunt for a blogger" initiative into a consumer competition? It's not like it's a bad idea but it does indicate Westfield considers blogging to be a bit of a novelty. Why not just try to attract the right person by recruiting via online channels and social networks and use them in an ongoing capacity...and you wouldn't need to pay them a hundred grand either. You'll end up with a better, smarter and more passionate blogger, one who really knows how to create and engage a growing community of fashion fans rather than going through the rigmarole and risk of a competition only to potentially end up with someone who loves shopping and fashion but may not add much value as a blogger...but I digress...)

In recent days, there have been a few local blogging articles/posts that have caught my eye. A sign of things to come, perhaps?

Australia's Blogging Revolution

In its September PR Report, communications conference organiser FROCOMM listed some of Australia's leading bloggers under a number of sectors including finance/business, fashion/events, style, food, wine/beer, education, parenting etc.

Here's the list:

• Craig Reardon - The E Team/Smart Company
• Fred Schebesta - Credit Card Finder 
• Carrie Choo - Daily Addict
• Matt Jordan - Imelda.com.au
• Lorraine Elliott - Not Quite Nigella
• Kylie Vowles - WineFoodHotel.com 
• Emma Stirling - The Scoop on Nutrition
• George Ujvary - The Foodologist
• Andrew Graham - Australian Wine Review
• Christie Connelly - Fig & Cherry
• Melissa Klemke - Frills in the Hills
• Neil Pierson - Our Convenant
• Ann Nolan - Babysitterdirectory.com
• Nikki Parkinson - Styling You
• Jen Dalitz - SheEO Blog
• Lara Solomon - Social Rabbit

Subscribe to the PR Report here.

Smart Company's Top 25 Business Blogs

Meanwhile, Smart Company has compiled a list of Australia's top 25 business blogs - here they are:

• 22michaels
• acidlabs
• Adspace pioneers
• Aussie Rules
• Bluewire Media
• Catalyst for Magic
• Delimiter
• Deloitte Digital Blog
• Digital Buzz Blog
• Emma Isaac's Blog
• Ideas Culture 
• Just Creative Design

• Michael Specht
• Mr MiniMovers
• mUmBRELLA
• New Retail Blog
• Pollenizer
• PR Warrior ('tis nice to be included!!)
• Problogger (Darren Rowse, pictured above)
• RedBalloon
• Start-up Blog (Steve Sammartino, pictured below)
• Tell Us Your Holden Story
• Telstra Exchange
• Trends in Living Networks
• The Pursuit of Luck 

These lists aren't exhaustive by any means but they do illustrate the beginnings of a vibrant local blogging community, which can only be a good thing.

While I wouldn't say blogging in Australia has reached hardcore mainstream acceptance just yet, I think it's definitely chipping away at the fringes and is on its way (in some sectors and industries especially).

The fact the PR industry has started to sit up and take notice of some of the more established (and emerging) bloggers, and are actively pitching them with story ideas means that some in the local blogging fraternity are starting to be recognised as key influencers in their own right.

Is this just the beginning? What are your thoughts?

FURTHER READING/VIEWING:

Valuable Insights from Melbourne's 'Power Bloggers' (videos)

Top 100 Australian Blogs

Directory of Australian Blogs (aggregated site)

 

Borders Books into Foursquare

Retail chain Borders has become one of the first major brands in Australia to run a promotional campaign based around the location-sharing platform, Foursquare.

The promotion, developed by Borders’ digital agency Tangent One, focuses on rewarding check-in loyalty (DISCLOSURE: Tangent One is a client of my company parkyoung).

For every third check-in at a Borders store, customers will receive a 10% discount off all full-priced books.

According to Borders, the Foursquare promotion will be rolled out to all 26 of its stores and will stay in the market for an initial two months with more offers and campaigns already planned.

Consumer Driven

Malcolm Neil, Group Communications Manager at RED group Retail, the company that owns Borders, says impetus for the Foursquare campaign was the consumers themselves.

“Foursquare users have been checking in to Borders stores for several months and there is some very friendly but fierce competition for mayorships.

“We wanted to get involved and give those users value for their check-in loyalty and thank them for putting Borders on the Foursquare map,” Neil says.

The Future of Foursquare in Australia

Foursquare has been ticking along in Australia for a while now but doesn't seem to have broken through like it has in the US. Globally, the service has hit the three million user mark.

I've no hard statistics to back this up but you get the feeling the platform is still very much in its 'early adopter' stage in Australia. (A June survey pegged the number of users in Sydney at 60,000).

Many people got on-board Foursquare early and then jumped off again pretty quickly because it simply didn't add any value to their lives. I'm in this category, although I'm still hanging in there (just!) waiting - hoping - the location-sharing service springs to life a bit locally.

To be truly effective, Foursquare needs lots of domestic users. Heaps of them!

A critical mass of users will drive two key outcomes - (a) increased numbers of peer reviews and recommendations of retail outlets, cafes and restaurants, bars etc, and (b) a proliferation of retail promotions such as the Borders campaign above.

It's the latter that's of most interest to me from a marketing perspective.

There's a bit of action on this front in Australia, although much of it appears to be of the 'dip-the-toe-in-the-water' variety. That said, it's not exactly a costly exercise to become involved in Foursquare and the benefit to the brand of having people actively tell their friends they're visiting your place of business is pretty compelling.

Likewise, receiving targeted promotions and special offers is beneficial for consumers.

It's a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation - as more and more businesses jump onboard, this in turn will likely attract increased numbers of users. However, will we see lots of brands getting involved without the 'safety blanket' of a critical mass of users?

Watch this space!

FURTHER READING:

Vibe Hotels 'Checks In' with Foursquare in Australia

Foursquare Checks In to Vodafone Australia

Office Hopes Pinned on Social Network Foursquare

Five Ways Local & Global Brands Are Using Foursquare

Aussie First for New Social Media Tool

Foursquare Courting Local Businesses