Community Guy – Jake McKee

Craig Newmark on The Daily Show [VIDEO]

I stumbled across this funny Daily Show clip from Craig Newmark’s appearance. Fun stuff!

FFF: Olympic Stadium – HDR

(Original image from Rene Ehrhardt)

Imagine if every product was this personal

For years, comedians have made jokes about the “Inspector #34″ stickers, tags, and inserts we find in the products we buy. Most of these jokes were focused on the anonymity of said inspector.

Since I was a kid, I wondered who these inspectors were. What did they do? Were there more than one person filling the role of #13 or did each inspector have their own unique number and stickers? Were inspector number retired when an inspector would leave the company? If my product was broken, should I reference the fact that #13 was falling down on the job?

So I was a bit of a nerdy kid.

When I came across the recent Gizmodo story, “New iPhone Comes Loaded with Photos of the Girl Who Made It”, the gears in my head started spinning. Can you imagine if your iPhone or laptop or hard drive came with photos of the team who worked on it? It would probably make you feel a bit better about problems you might have, and certainly would make you feel more interested in buying more products from that company.

After all, it’s not #13, it’s the Asian girl in the funny pink hat.

UPDATE: Reuters picks up this story.

Rapid Fire – Thursday, August 28

Tiger Woods: Joining in the fun

Apparently this is the week of humorous videos that are also smart marketing. I stumbled on a video response that Tiger Woods and EA created as a response to a YouTube poster pointing out that a bug in Tiger Woods ‘08 allows Tiger to walk on water.

Rather than getting angry and lashing out (like far too many companies would have), they used the incident as an opportunity for a little fun and a lot of marketing. Check out the video below. It’s fantastic and smart.

Imagine how much fun work would be if we all had this kind of attitude…

Rapid Fire – Wednesday, August 27

WOM Offers the Sweet Taste of Success

Michael Rubin from Gaspedal asked me to guest blog as part of their “Guest Genius” series. Here’s the opening; to get the tips I share, you have to click through!

The medical community might tell you that blended fruit and ice don’t actually contain any addictive qualities, but I’m not convinced. I’m physically unable to pass a new smoothie shop without stopping to sample the wares. I can’t see “smoothie” on a menu without feeling a longing.

A few weeks ago, I downloaded the Yelp.com iPhone application and tested it by… you guessed it… looking for local smoothie shops. To my extreme pleasure, I discovered Icey, a new shop that had just opened down the street. Within hours, I was inside ordering my first smoothie. (It was far and away the best I’d ever had)

As I walked out of the store, tasty smoothie in hand, I found myself wanting to do whatever I could to ensure their ongoing existence. Horror stories abound about the failure rate of small businesses, and this simply can’t happen to Icey. Where would I get my fix if they close the doors??

If they ask (I’ve already volunteered), here are 6 points I’d share with them about how they can build Word of Mouth for their incredible business.

Thanks again to Michael for the invitation. I’m in incredible company! Here’s the collection so far, but they’re adding a a new post once a week.

Sean O’Driscoll, Social Media Conversations

“WOM @ my local Starbucks”
It was a simple exchange, but Sean recognized the powerful underlying message: by empowering your employees to act, you’re setting yourself up to be WOM-worthy.

David Alston, Radian6, as posted on Online Marketing Blog

“Social Media Monitoring – Top 10 Reasons for Monitoring Brands”
Tracking conversations about your company can be a daunting task. A good way to categorize the online chatter about your business. The article was referenced by Marcel LeBrun in a recent Twebinar; it’s a few months old, but provides the added bonus of dialogue in the comments section, which shows excellent follow-up in engaging potential customers!

Lou Cuming, iMedia Connection

“Best bets for branded word of mouth”
Lou shares insights on how to connect with the power of the consumer, citing some examples of those connections along the way. (link)

Erica O’Grady, Peanut Butter Media

“When Companies Get It Right: LinkedIn Hits the Mark”
We love examples of companies showing how to appropriately engage customers, because those experiences make such an impact.

Sean D’Souza, The New Zealand Herald

“Word of mouth still works wonders – but now it’s gone virtual”
Putting an end to the myth that Facebook is just for teens, Sean cites some good examples proving you need to be a part of the social network if you’re looking for an edge in word of mouth.

How to use current events for marketing

My buddy Jason Falls just emailed me about a new project that Maker’s Mark has kicked off. Using the election cycle crazy, they’ve launched an effort to promote…. the Cocktail Party. Certainly check out the site, but watch the video below ASAP. Quite amusing.

(Do you recognize anyone in that video?)

Good work, Doe Anderson and Maker’s. I’m crossing my fingers that you’re not done delivering hilarity. More from Jason here.

Rapid Fire – Tuesday, August 26

What if the White House had a community manager?

The NPR “Fresh Air” podcast recently had an episode made up of a collection of interview snippets from former White House press secretaries from Marlin Fitzwater to Scott McClellan.

As a huge fan of The West Wing, I was always fascinated by the role of CJ, the fictional Press Secretary. Here was a person largely responsible for the way the entire world perceived the actions of the White House, yet was only allowed (or able) to exert minimal control over the actions that lead to those perceptions. In listening to this podcast, it was fascinating to hear how these men had struggled to deliver on their sense of duty to country by being honest with the press, while simultaneously creating marketing for the White House.

This “caught between two worlds” feeling kicked my empathy production center into overdrive. I couldn’t understand why until it dawned on me that community managers and press secretaries have quite a lot in common.

• Both roles walk a thin line between “outside” (press corps/fan community) and “inside” (White House/company).
• Both roles bring the ire of both sides because they don’t seem to pay enough attention to “us” (whichever side is “us” at a given moment).
• There is an honest desire to both stick up for the outside, while defending the inside.
• Both roles are granted perceived power far greater than their actual job description probay grants them.
• Tenacity and the ability to take a good beating are a crucial skill.
• Both roles rely on a certain passion for the topic and a certain faith in the organization.

The similarities were eery, and made me want to learn more about how press secretaries hone their skills. Here’s a few things that I’d love to learn if I had a chance to sit down with a White House (or other governmental department) press secretary:

• How do you build mental stamina when people are yelling at and distrustful of you by default?
• How do you find a balance between representing the official position and your own beliefs?
• How do you add personality to the interaction with your external audiences without seeming disingenuous?
• Can you truly become any sort of friends with your external audience?

Without question community managers could learn many positive things from the press secretaries, but it’s also clear that they are a harbinger of doom as well. At the heart of the role, the goal of the press secretary is make the administration (or department) look good. Above all else, they are a defensive tool that has, at least in the past, inherently blocked true transparency. True discussion has not been the discourse of the day. Hell, they’ve been lampooned as heartless, half-alive robots who are absolutely unable to get off their talking points. See this hilarious video from The Onion for proof.

Perhaps that’s starting to change. Perhaps the rise of the social web principles have started to take root in government as well. Ann Compton, president of the White House Correspondents Association, said that Bush administration press secretary Tony Snow was “the first press secretary who chose to use the podium as a way to argue the president’s case — not just in the president’s words, but in his own.”

I would imagine that the White House will always have to have a press secretary. But can you imagine if the press secretary was replaced with a community manager? Someone charged specifically with doing a better job of connecting, explaining, discussing the issues of the day… oh to dream.

WIth the way the Millennials are impacting and redefining culture, maybe this is more than a silly dream of a silly community guy…

UPDATE: Thanks to @transitioner for pointing out the Citizen’s Solution Council.