Sunday Was No Walk In the Park

Last Sunday, Copy Extrovert Jamie Silverman (above, far right) braved the rain to take part in the annual NYC AIDs Walk. Here's her report:

The crowd roared, “EX-TRO-VERT-IC!, EX-TRO-VER-TIC!, EX-TRO-VER-TIC!,” as our band of merry Extroverts crossed the starting line at the NYC AIDS Walk this past Sunday. 

Okay, so maybe that didn’t happen. But, clad in our Extrovertic-branded shirts, we did make a fierce showing on a dreary, rainy day.

And we were just mere specks in the sea of thousands of dedicated folks who braved the elements to do their part in the fight against AIDS.

Young, old, gay, straight, in drag, or wearing their team T-shirts, every possible demographic was represented. Free snacks abounded (always a cause for excitement).

But I would say that the surprise appearance of the cast of the television comedy, “Modern Family” (Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell, and Julie Bowen), at the opening ceremony was the highlight of the day.

Briefly meeting a coworker’s mom en-route was the piéce de résistance.

(The festively clad cheerleaders showing their pride, and lubricant – brand sponsored garbage cans, tied for second.)  

The 6-mile walk began on the east side of Central Park, took us on a scenic (albeit extremely slow moving) tour up through Harlem, and back down the west side.

Celebrities and mom sightings aside, what really made the day special was the sense that every one of us – no matter our ethnicity or sexual orientation – were in this thing together. Slogging through the raindrops and mud, we all marched on, in the hope of making a real difference. A veritable army of Extroverts. All working towards the common goal of elevating the patient. We were walking for the brave people who suffer from AIDS.

It was a great experience. And, quite likely, the first of many Extrovertic AIDS Walks.

-Jamie

 

Unmasking an Extrovertic Hero

Last night, a number of  us at Extrovertic had the privilege of attending the Cielo Latino "Unmask AIDs" gala in support of the Latin Commission on AIDs, for which we were a sponsor.

It was an incredible night. The food was superb (the event was held at Cipriani Wall Street).

The crowd, extremely diverse and primed for a wonderful evening.

The presenters, top rate. (Rosie Perez was as hysterically raunchy as she was passionate about the night's cause.)

But Rosie wasn't the only person whose dedication to the evening's success was palpable.

Our Digital Creative Extrovert, Russell Wakelin (above left), was our personal master of ceremonies. Russ has sat, for the past few years, on the commission's board, and serves as Creative Director for the annual event. It's something he cares about deeply and it shows.

It quickly became clear that he was as much a part of the fabric of the evening as the red carpet we all got to pose on before entering the building. (Guillermo Chacon, the President of the Commission, greeted Russ – and the rest of us – with open arms for the paparazzi. Mr. Chacone also saluted Russ warmly from the podium during his opening remarks.)

And for good reason. Russ did terrific job, which was no surprise to us. He helped make the evening extremely powerful and memorable.
 
And his colleagues extremely proud. 

Russ showed the rest of the world why our Extroverts are truly something special.

-Mark 

 

When a Duck Tweets and Other Birdbrain Social Media Gaffes

Last month, comedian Gilbert Gottfried was relieved of his 11-year job as the voice of the Aflac spokes-duck, for tweeting a series of offensive jokes about the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

(While the jokes were truly in bad taste, the fact that 75% of Aflac’s business comes from Japan probably didn’t help Gottfried’s situation.)

He quickly offered an apology, but the damage had already been done. And while the duck had lost its voice, Aflac had smartly turned a major social media gaffe into a huge opportunity: it invited the public to audition for the role. Thousands have tried out so far and the press coverage has been a boon for the company. Also, Aflac got behind the Red Cross in Japan and created a Facebook page to raise funds for it that currently has about 249,000 “likes.”

The company’s quick response to Gottfried’s insensitivity was brilliant. Others have not been so smart:

1. Jordan Spriggs, a freshman defensive back for the Auburn Tigers sent out this tweet: “man who is good at writing papers?????????????? I pay.” Obviously, the young man is as unknowledgeable about tweeting as he is writing school papers. 
2. Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest and a number of other semi-celebs threatened to stop tweeting until the AIDs charity, Keep a Child Alive raised $1 million. The thought was nice. But seriously: who in his or her right mind could feel that a life deprived of Kardashian tweets is a life not worth living? 
3. In Syracuse, NY, a customer of the Price Chopper supermarket chain tweeted a complaint about the local store. A customer service person at Price Chopper responded by complaining to the complainer’s boss. Somehow this all ended up going viral.

These are just a few examples of the dangers of social media when it’s not used thoughtfully. There must be many, many more. I invite you to share any you’ve heard.

-Mark

Nice Party, But It Could Have Been Better

Well, I did it again: I hosted another House Party. This time, a “Celebrate Life at 50” party for AARP. (My previous one was for wine and cheese on behalf of the French government. Here's my post about that.) 

A confluence of factors led to my repeat engagement as a House Party hostess. First, I wanted to show clients the power of word of mouth marketing. Second, my best friend has a business relationship with AARP and was curious about the House Party experience. 

AARP definitely benefited from my party. One guest had been interested in joining, but thought she had to wait till age 55. Another claims to not have received any AARP mailings. If any one of them ends up enrolling by calling the special 800 number provided to the partygoers, then it may well yield a positive return on the $200 per party cost for AARP (my estimate). However, House Party could have been a far more powerful tool for AARP if a few more marketing basics were followed. Here are a few of my suggestions:

• Single-minded focus: The party theme was too general and the suggested activities ranged from tips for staying physically fit to a quiz on party etiquette around the world. (Did you know that in the Middle East you should leave a little food on your plate or else it will be refilled immediately?)

AARP would have done better to have focused on a single benefit area. For example,  building a compelling party around a travel theme. This would have naturally raised curiosity about AARP travel benefits. I ended up featuring food and cocktails from the '50’s as the hook for my party. (French onion dip and a Tom Collins anybody?) Fun for my guests, but not really “on message” for AARP.

• Clear consumer benefit: Hostesses are looking for some “social currency,” being the first on their block to know something. The AARP site features a travel section with a well-known travel expert, Peter Greenberg. On the site, Peter offers insider travel tips. For example, a list of small cruise lines with interesting destinations. This is the type of information hostesses could have internalized and actively shared with their guests  

From the guest standpoint, the party goody bag was very generous, but what 50 year-old really needs another water bottle? Most of us have too much stuff already. (Vintage Advil mini-marathon tee shirt anyone?) If the 50-55 age group is the target for membership growth, what about an activity helping us with our particular sandwich generation stresses?

• An organizational face and voice: Social media has raised customer expectations around engagement. They don’t want a nameless customer service representative, they want Comcast Frank! Staying with the travel theme, AARP could have leveraged Peter Greenberg. One way would be similar to the French Wine & Cheese party concierge who dispensed valuable tidbits and answered questions on the House Party Hostess site. Peter could have had a similar column and answered questions, leading hostesses to having a more meaningful engagement with AARP.

• Branding Assets: Beyond the AARP logo on party bag items, the branding was largely left up to chance. Hostesses were expected to print out the AARP brochure and list of AARP links. Being a marketing nerd, I did it, but I wonder how many others would have made the same investment of time and money. 

And where was AARP's magazine? One of my guests said she loved the magazine because all the famous over 50 celebrities made her feel more “on trend” about being over 50 herself. If the magazines were lying around the party, they would have been picked up and discussed. Better yet, what about a special issue devoted to travel? Part of me wonders if it wasn’t organizational silos getting in the way of providing customer value. I would bet that the magazine and customer acquisition teams are separate profit centers.

Net-net, I am still a big House Party fan and believe with the right attention to marketing basics and a little creativity, it can be a terrific business building and brand engagement tool.

-Dorothy 

 

Some Spend to Win an Account. At Extrovertic, We Tighten Our Belts

Recently, Extrovertic was given the opportunity to pitch the creative portion of an account for which we had already won the strategic part.

To ensure that our creatives truly appreciated the plight of those who suffer from the rarely discussed, but extremely disturbing and uncomfortable disease state that the drug treats, Planning Extrovert Laura Radosh had an interesting idea. On her invite to the creative briefing, she wrote, "Please wear or bring a belt."

At the briefing itself, Laura instructed everyone to take out – or off – their belt and to position it high up on their belly. Then to tighten it as much as we possibly could.

"Okay, now close your eyes and imagine you've just finished eating a big Thanksgiving dinner. How do you feel?" she asked.

"Stuffed," a writer responded.

"Do you feel like having desert now?"

"No," we all answered in unison.

"How about going to to the beach?" she asked.

"No, way," an art director answered. "I wouldn't be caught dead without a shirt on right now."

"And what about sex?" she asked, cheekily.

"No way." "Uh-uh." "Are you kidding?" "Uh, not right now, thank you..."

It was an interesting experience getting briefed in such a visceral way.  We really got a sense of what it feels like to suffer from the problem.

Says Laura, "We're talking about a condition that affects the sufferer in a deep emotional way. I felt it was important to try to have the creatives 'walk in their shoes' as much as possible. And the best way to do that was to have them try to physically feel like the sufferers feel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

The idea worked. Our work was not only great by creative standards, it demonstrated that we really understood how it feels to have this problem.

We won the account.  It was good to get that experience under our belts.

-Mark

 

Extrovertic's Social Media Guidelines

We recently created an Extrovertic task force to develop a set of social media guidelines for our own use at the agency. Here's what it came up with:

Social Media is a reality. It is ever present, all encompassing. We are connected to it on our phones, our computers, TV, advertising. It’s everywhere. As amazing as it is in certain respects, it also poses a whole new slew of problems for those who are plugged in. Who is exempt from viewing our Facebook pages, depicting incendiary pictures of our weekend debauchery? Who follows our tweets about who we hooked up with last night? There’s a lot of information out there and a lot of people we don’t want to see it.

 

Taking a step back, we must be cognizant of the positive aspects of social networking/media. Our clients are able to see us as well rounded individuals. Our networks can be used to locate new coworkers and connect with old friends. And most importantly, these mediums are integral to the promotion of the brands we support.

 

So where does that leave us? We need social media but, it has the potential to wreak havoc if used without due diligence. We also need to bear in mind the fact that as an advertising agency, we thrive on creative expression. Here are some simple guidelines to tweet, LinkIn, Facebook and YouTube by:

• If you wouldn’t want your mom to see it, the picture is probably not appropriate to post on the Web 
• If you wouldn't want it on the cover of the New York Times you shouldn't put it on your profile page 
• You know how when you write or create something, you want to get credit for it? So does everybody else. Respect copyrights and fair use whenever you publish anything onto the Web 
• The brands we represent trust us to be their advocates. They also trust us to treat their brands with respect. Make sure to not cite any of our clients or other people or agencies we work with, without their approval. Always make sure to link back to the source if you make a reference. Also, it’s a good idea to avoid publishing anything that has the potential to cast a less than stellar light on a client 
• Let's say you are cruising Facebook, and you come across an interesting article about a brand you work on. And you feel compelled to post the article to your page with a snazzy comment. Or you decide to write about Extrovertic on your personal blog. Even if you have something positive to say, you should include a disclaimer that whatever you write, are your opinions and your opinions alone 
• “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”. Aretha had it down. Show respect for your audience. Don’t use slurs, obscene words or personal insults when talking about clients 
• If you absolutely must post the picture of you in the adorable but obscenely short dress you bought for that “Jersey Shore”-themed party, make sure your picture settings are limited to viewing rights for your closest and best friends only 
• Same applies if you are incapable of resisting the urge to post the picture of you doing a keg stand last Thirsty Thursday 
• Try to add value to every piece of social media you participate in. Whether its promoting a brand you work on or highlighting an interesting article you read, try to make it have a      purpose 
• Facebook is sort of like Farmville in that if you let it, it can take over your life. And your job. Facebook’s a part of advertising so it makes sense that you spend some time on it every day. Same with YouTube. And Twitter. Just make sure you keep a good balance between work and surfing the social media channels 
• If you are going out with co-workers, and want to post pictures on Facebook, keep it kosher. Our clients may be less than inclined to see us slumped in the corner of a dusky bar, coworker turned nurse plying our lips apart with revitalizing liquids 
• These days, virtually everybody tweets. Maybe even your mom, sister or priest. Just make sure to tweet clean and if you tweet about/for work, keep it professional 
• Last but not least, the infamous YouTube. Videos of your kids having a food fight and putting mashed potatoes in each other’s hair; super cute. Videos of you drunkenly singing “I Will Always Love You” at a karaoke bar, you might want to leave that on your personal computer 

These guidelines were created for all of you, so please take advantage of them. They give you not only a great opportunity to practice what we preach, but also to get the word out to potential clients and employees about what sets Extrovertic apart from your average healthcare agency.

 

So be social. Be media savvy. Be respectful. Be Extrovertic.

 

And have fun.

 

Thanks to Jamie Silverman, Pete Van Bloem, Susan Wall, Richard Bloom and the rest of the Extrovertic Social Media Task Force. And an advance thank you to our readers, who I'm sure will be sending us their great thoughts and suggestions.

 

-Mark

 

 

Goodbye, Charlie

Like millions of other Americans, I found myself fascinated this week by the train wreck that is Charlie Sheen.

As much as I didn't want to, I still felt compelled to catch as much of his week-long interview binge as I could: On TV. Online. In the paper. In the tabloids at the supermarket checkout counter. 

How could I not? This guy has tiger blood. He's on a drug, "It’s called Charlie Sheen. It’s not available because if you try it once your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body."

His gnarly behavior is epic. Duh!?

But the more I watched, the sadder I got. Not just for him. Or for the two kids the authorities took away from him in the midst of this media mess.

I felt sad for all of us. For the way we collectively take pleasure in someone's obvious mental illness.

This man clearly has a problem beyond drugs. His grandiosity and sense of self-importance suggests major psychological issues. Yet we become an enabler, feeding his need to rant before the cameras with our need to gawk at him.

"C'mon, Charlie. Show us how low you can go! Take us to the depths of insanity. We love it! We love you! Really go off the deep end!"

Perhaps he unwittingly did us all a favor.

Now maybe the next time Brittany, Lindsey or Mel show their ugly sides, we'll just shrug it off and think it amateurish compared to the master. We'll be so desensitized that nothing will hold our attention in the same way.

Maybe then, our lack of interest will stop feeding into the needs of these celebrities who so clearly need our attention, regardless of how they attract it.

That would be winning.

-Mark