Crayon, join the conversation

SXSW came and went. I wasn’t there, but crayonistas Jane Quigley and Greg Verdino represented us in full force.

They also represented two of our clients: ooVoo and Panasonic – with the latter being involved in a unique live taping of cultishly popular Diggnation, led by their two hosts Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht.

The partnership in question (episode #194) was to highlight Panasonic’s Living in High Definition initiative in a promotion called, “Diggnation lives in HD”

From Greg:

If you like taking pictures or shooting video — or just want to take a look at our latest social marketing tactic to promote the Living in HD community site – visit the promo page to find out how you can qualify for the competition.  Don’t forget to join LiHD, friend the Diggnation crew.You might win a sweet Panasonic digital still camera or HD camcorder.

Greg’s photos from the event are here.

A lot of “buzz” has been going on about Skittles “homepage redesign”

For those of you who’ve been spared from the tempest in a teapot, essentially Skittles decided to go all Modernista! (an agency that made Wikipedia their homepage; irked Wikipedia purists and as you can see, became a little too transparent) on us and cede their entire web presence to “the people” by presenting the amorphous “conversation” as their true digital presence.

You’d think I’d be elated with this authentic demonstration of cession of control to the masses. You’d be 100% wrong.

For starters, I don’t believe that we had control to start with and even if we did, the worst thing we could do is to give it 100% to consumers…who quite frankly, don’t necessarily even want it.

Let’s begin with Skittle’s first bowl (a bold attempt at getting a strike, but sadly nothing more than a gutterball) which was to overlay their site against Twitter. Exhbit 1 shows that when left to their own devices, the “conversationalists” (as defined as social media insiders, fishbowl dwellers and navel-gazers) are mishevious little imps who are also a little sado-masochistic.

Translation – Skittle’s entire web-presence AKA Twitter is skittled with gems like: @qwghlm More like: ARE SKITTLES MAKING PAEDOPHILES OBESE? or Skittles Skittles Skittles Skittles Capitalist Whore Skittles Skittles Skittles Capitalist Whore.

Like the Octo-Mom, very soon the media coverage turned on their once darling and Skittles swapped out Twitter for Facebook before settling it would appear on banal Wikipedia as their final resting place.

Rumor has it that this was always a short-term “campaign” and Skittles always intended to go back to a more traditional destination website presence i.e. revert back to the way things used to be. I find this suspect at best and loathsome at worst: suspect given Agency.com’s (the same agency behind Subway’s When we Roll…We Roll Big) involvement in this and their subsequent backpeddling from the Subway kerfuffle and loathsome if this entire move was nothing more than a short term attempt (campaign) at seeking “buzz” or “viral” response.

So why am I so irritated about all of this? Honestly, I’m not entirely myself. I think it’s because of the ridiculous lack of strategy behind this program. It epitomizes 90% of all the work out there right now, which continuously demonstrates “tactics in search of strategy” and an acute lack of understanding of the real power of conversational marketing.

I could go on for hours about the myriad of holes in this program. Here are a few examples:

* Exactly how many of Skittle’s core target audience are actively on Twitter? Even if the attempt is just to reflect the buzz, it’s a classic example of the Revenge of Second Life (there I said it)
* A company’s digital presence or storefront is arguably more important and inarguably as important as their physical presence. Why on Earth would a brand cede this equity or asset to an emerging, unproven and unstable platform like Twitter or a more stable, yet decentralized environment like Facebook or Wikipedia? This is 100% cart before the horse
* What exactly is the message or idea behind this entire effort? It’s not remotely clear what the intent or goal is? From a functional standpoint, the Wikipedia page is your boring “about us” tab, which is one of many tabs on a traditional website. From a form perspective, I still can’t possible think of what the takeaway is….do you?

I do want to add that a lot of people have said, “why chastise them for being bold and innovative; taking a risk; experimenting” – indeed, a big part of my and crayon’s message is about experimentation. That may be so, but there is a huge difference between experimenting with versus without any structure, cause, process or methodology. Case in point, would you casually experiment by playing with matches, gunpowder and a gas cylinder…I think not.

And so, although most mainstream media outlets have praised these efforts, I am not jumping up and down with the same excitement (an understatement) Perhaps they’re all right and I am wrong. All I know is that brands need to be adopting new approaches, technologies, platforms and experimenting accordingly….but NOT at the expense of a smart, integrated and solid strategic foundation.

It’s really that simple.

Just to be clear, I’ll gladly share sales data and mea culpa if I’m wrong about this and there is success at the cash register. However, I think the end result is another demonstration that short term buzz or viral success is relative when a) it is fleeting and b) it is predominantly negative.

So final result? At best, a “split” in keeping with the Skittles analogy.

Forrester just released a report titled “Add Sponsored Conversations To Your Toolbox,” authored by Sean Corcoran.

Kmart gave some bloggers a free shopping spree in exchange for a blog post about the experience — a practice we call sponsored conversation. With appropriate protections for disclosure and authenticity, this practice will take its place alongside public relations and advertising activities in the blogosphere. Marketers should take advantage of sponsored conversation as an entrée into the online conversation. To succeed, you should get to know the bloggers you plan to work with and set expectations across your organization.

What’s interesting is how Forrester is pretty deliberately putting this approach into a category of its own, alongside it’s predecessors or cohorts (depending on your position), advertising and P.R. and in doing so, plays a part in terms of legitimizing or formalizing an emerging practice.

His colleague Jeremiah Owyang covers it here and Brian Morrissey at Adweek covers it here. Marshall Kirkpatrick from ReadWriteWeb takes a strong counterposition here.

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Things have been so hectic lately that I've even forgotten how to blog. I feel like I'm going back to the original infant roots of blogging: "Dear Diary......"

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It’s hard to believe, but little infant crayon has just turned one. Not without its diaper rash, eczema, night feeds and spit-up, but equally not without its first smile, giggle, tooth and crawl.

One year ago, crayon was launched in Second Life. It was a day I’ll never forget. We walked our talk and stuck it out. We dueled with Urizenus Sklar and in the process, become crayonistas and made a friend in the process.

We’re proud to have done work with companies like The Coca-Cola Company, American Airlines, Firebrand, ooVoo, LaTeen, Luckie & Company, SpiralFrog, GSD&M and many, many more….with hopefully a few more to be announced very soon.

Along the way, we said hello and good-bye to a bunch of very special people in our family. To them. To you. To frequent participants in coffee with crayon. To the incredible community that believes so strongly in the power of community, dialogue and partnership – the recipe for conversation.

Thank You.

A raised glass and a toast to friendship, loyalty, passion and the pursuit of something better, as we close out the first year and look forward with hope, excitement and anticipation to becoming a toddler.

Cheers.

Like any company, crayon is a living breathing organism – and like any living organism, change is inevitable. Today, I’d like to let you know about a number of changes at crayon and talk a bit about what the future holds.

crayon relaunches itself today as a conversational marketing company, specializing in helping its clients engage advertising-weary consumers through the power of community, dialogue and partnership. Think of crayon as a cross between a think tank and a strategic consultancy, with one major difference. Unlike most (if not all) consultancies, crayon won’t flee the scene of the crime once the 600 page report is dumped on the Mahogany desk of the CEO. Instead, crayon will stay the course, and if asked and required, will help bring the strategies and ideas to life.

To achieve this objective, crayon will focus its efforts on transforming prolific thought leadership and vision into cutting-edge, differentiated and prescriptive strategic solutions.

With this renewed and refined focus, several changes have been put into effect. They are – in no particular order:

A honing of the team to reflect a core of strategic and relationship leadership

Our Chief Creative Officer, Steve Coulson, will transition into a freelance role and a “friend of crayon” best-in-class partner. We hope to continue working with Steve as often as is humanly possible

CC Chapman is also heading out on his own to spread his wings. We wish him the best of luck – not that he needs luck, as CC has built a solid platform and strong community over time. We will be cheering him on from the sidelines and hope our paths cross as we move into the future.

Additionally co-founder and CEO, Gary Cohen, has also decided that it is the appropriate time to pursue other opportunities. Both crayon and Gary are moving forward focusing on their core interests and will refer business to each other where appropriate.

This will be coupled with a rapidly expanding periphery of best in class freelancers, consultants, creative partners and mercenaries. This vision – to wrap our strategic core with an extensive network of partners that can help us activate our ideas and realize our vision with in-market programs – has always been part of the crayon plan. With these recent changes, we are putting that plan into overdrive.

We firmly believe this will be the working model of the future.

With all of these changes, where does crayon stand? Frankly, our refined core is solid. Greg Verdino, our Chief Strategy Officer, will oversee many of the aforementioned initiatives and together with Scott Monty, our Relationship Director and Consigliere, and the rest of our small but stellar team will bring these solutions to our clients and to life.

Over the past year, we’ve made some mistakes. We’ve underestimated how hard it is to run a remote and virtual company (although we will persevere) and miscalculated how long a lag there can be between pitching, winning an assignment, and getting the first payment in. On the other hand, we’ve overestimated the enormous leap between intent and commitment when it comes to change. The reality is this – talk is cheap. People want to change, but when it comes to actually changing they may be less aggressive about making things happen. We’ve been fortunate to partner with clients that are serious about change and not afraid to invest against new marketing innovation and experimentation.

In a nutshell, 2007 was a learning year for us. But it was also an incredibly gratifying year during which we found focus and built an incredible foundation on which to build for the future. As we wind down 2007 and head into 2008, we hope to play our part in continuing to build equity, trust, influence and business between our clients, their brands and their customers.

Who is Tim Coyne and what is he doing sponsoring an episode of my marketing podcast, Across the Sound?

Tim is an actor; a podcaster – check out: The Hollywood Podcast; a listener of Across the Sound.

Tim – not you, your company or your clients – responded to my original barter/sponsorship offer and I’m now the proud owner of 2 (two) iPhones.

It’s always terrific to meet a listener of the show; it’s even better when they are not necessarily in the marketing field (people like Matthew Ebel for example) Diversity of audience allows for a richer conversation and in most cases, these “non-marketing” people are in reality, better marketers than you or I. The reason is simple: marketing is not something you learn or study or buy…it’s something you either have or you don’t.

Take Tim for example. He’s using the Web and new marketing to differentiate himself. Amidst a sea of sameness, Tim is hoping that this sponsorship helps elevate himself.

Tim has a specific goal: leverage this sponsorship to achieve a very specific outcome: to secure an audition on either CSI, Criminal Minds, Shark or House. All four are terrific shows…I watch them all. I absolutely love Criminal Minds (probably one of the most underrated shows) and am a big James Woods fan.

You can hear it all right here

To help him narrow his search and focus, he’d like both his and my community to decide for him. You can leave your vote/choice as a comment on this thread or vote on his site.

As Tim explained to me on ATS #86, this is more “Fatblogging” than it is “One Red Paperclip” conceptually. By putting a stake in the ground and coming out with a goal, Tim is hoping that this will be “audition by community”.

Tim plans on documenting and sharing his journey with you as well. He’ll be podcasting about it, sending in audio updates to ATS. He’ll be twittering throughout: http://twitter.com/timcoyne. Tim really is Actor 2.0

…but it doesn’t stop there.

This sponsorship is going to involve you. In this new and wonderful world of social media and social networking; where book titles like “Wisdom of Crowds”, “Tipping Point”, “World is Flat”, “Long Tail”, “Life after the 30-second spot” and “Join the Conversation” are not cliches, but calls-to-action, each and every one of us can make incredible things happen.

You can help in one of the following ways:

* The direct way: social/networking. The ability to make the kind of introduction which helps secure Tim an audition. He’ll take it from there i.e. let his talent do the talking
* The indirect way: spread the word! Internalize this. Make it your own. We have the power to uplift a burgeoning brand. We can get Tim on The Today Show or Good Morning America. A combination of social media and mainstream media would do the trick
* The social way: help create an audio promo for Tim…or better yet, interview him on your podcast. His e-mail address is: thehollywoodpodcast [at] mac [dot] com
* The internal way: All you PR junkies out there…help Tim with his press strategy (social media releases etc) or marketing

NOTE: Do not approach any of these shows – or their personnel – directly. Hollywood is a relationship game and it’s really important not to burn bridges.

…but it doesn’t stop there!

Mack Collier, are you listening? I’m going to pay it forward and give the iPhone right back to the person that is ultimately *most* responsible for helping Tim realize his dream. You see…maybe I do know what I’m doing after all

This sponsorship is not about an iPhone (although there is tangential thread about the iPhone becoming a sort of creative currency if you think about it), it’s about Tim; it’s about the incredible community that is Across the Sound; it’s about the power of using new marketing to prove new marketing.

So do it for an iPhone if you must, but more importantly, do it for Tim. It’s a great opportunity for us to use new marketing to prove new marketing.

On your marks. Get set. GO!

It’s 6.24am on a Monday morning, but this week is very different to all other weeks.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome Greg Verdino to crayon as our newly created Chief Strategy Officer. Greg joins from Digitas and you can read all about it in Adweek or on his blog.

I’m still trying to figure out whether to add or deduct points for his Cindi Lauper reference

Greg joins Steve Coulson, our Chief Creative Officer, myself and Gary Cohen (our C.E.O.) as a member of our management team.

Greg will head up our strategy practice, which will include – amongst other functions – strategic planning, research, insights, analytics and I’m sure there are a few more roles to send his way (this is, after all his first day) Seni Thomas also joins the Strategy team today as a Strategist.

It also gives me great pleasure to officially welcome Scott Monty as Relationship Director and Consigliere as well as Melissa Parrish, who will provide invaluable support in Project Management.

In addition, 2 familiar crayonistas – Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson - are reverting back to their previously-established independent roles as trailblazers in Social Media. As I have always said – once a crayonista, always a crayonista (it’s a life sentence!) We wish them luck and express our thanks to Shel and Neville for their help in getting crayon to where it is today. We look forward to working with them in the future and listening to FIR!

The updated crayonville website should be up and running this morning.

OK OK OK…I’ve received enough comments to cause me to pause enough to consider a Macbook Pro as an alternative to the Vaio I’m looking to purchase.

This, coupled with CC’s discovery path, has given me enough cause to contemplate a hybrid solution i.e. Mac for all multimedia and PC for Office-apps (Outlook, Word, Excel) I’m even prepared to give up PowerPoint for Keynote

One variable that has influenced this process is the fact I’m hearing that Vista is just not compatible (yet) with many programs/applications. There’s no way I want to be stuck with hardware plug-and-play problems or apps like PowerGramo, Audacity or Castblaster giving me problems.

Marketing sidebar: Nowhere in this process is the presence or semblance of any life whatsoever from Microsoft, Sony or Apple. CC’s post irks me insofar that Apple’s inability (arrogance?) to participate in the conversation makes me less likely to consider switching. Whilst I love the fact his community came to his rescue (much like I’m proposing below), I can’t help but wonder why brands continue to sit on the sidelines and pretend they’re deaf.

So here’s what I’d like to do. As part of UNM2PNM, I’d like to invite one (or more) Jaffe Juice reader(s) – Mac lovers of course – to Westport, CT to spend a day with me and help “train me” AKA “convert me” to the cult of Mac. We’ll possibly head out to the Apple store at the Westchester Mall to pick up the machine (customized beforehand), spend the day in my Westport office, have a lavish lunch (with wine), takes photos with my Nikon D80 camera and record both an episode of Across the Sound and possibly an iMovie.

In fact the goal of the day will be to do all of this with the new Macbook Pro.

Who’s interested?