In January, 2011, Starbucks launched its Mobile Card payment program available on most smartphones. SMART. No doubt you’re already on your phone at 8:30 in the morning while ordering a Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte, so it’s easy to flash your “Touch to Pay” barcode and be on your way. The app replaces your reloadable Starbucks card (while keeping your rewards intact), and you can preload it from your bank account within the same screen.

With the release of Google Wallet, users can now pay with a simple tap at Mastercard paypass terminals. For now, this is advancement only for those with Google phones…and a Citi Mastercard. But, with this technological groundbreaking device, users are also able to receive offers and store loyalty points via the app.  We’re attached to our phones, so what better way to reach us directly when we’re making a transaction.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Shopkick offers rewards for simply stepping inside a store and scoping out merchandise. It displays deals and discounts close in proximity to your location. The more you peruse, the more points are earned for redemptions ranging from clothes to electronics.

While cashless-ness becomes the norm, we can only assume that consumers will rely less on the benjamins, but let’s not forget about Future Fear. A lot of emphasis is placed on convenience and practicality when we look at technological enhancements. It’s our job to find the perfect balance between convenience and trust.

What we can gather from our own shopping habits is that we rely heavily on the convenience factor, no doubt about it. We’ve become increasingly comfortable with everything being accessible through our phones. We can purchase a Groupon, find our way to Alaska and back, and even count the steps we take around the office with our smartphones.

“What? I can’t just show you the e-mail, I have to print it out?!”

As marketers, we should reach our consumers as soon as they walk into the store, making it harder not to refuse a great deal on the very same phone used to swipe and pay. It has been reported that 20% of smartphone users have compared prices while shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. Additionally, 15% of smartphone users have redeemed a mobile coupon (ladies more so than gentlemen). Let’s take advantage of these time-saving, less paper-wasting social platforms that deliver instantaneous results without hassle. Smartphones aren’t going anywhere, so creating more convenient methods of in-store redemption and offers will put us ahead of the game—and the checkout line.

What will it take for YOU to go CASH-LESS?

The invitation-only site has taken the creative world by storm. It’s given users access to a seemingly endless world of “pins” that can be saved on their own categorized pinboards and titled however they see fit. See a recipe on a blog that you want to make for dinner next weekend? Pin it to your “foodie” board. When you click on it later you’ll be taken back to the original recipe. Planning a wedding and trying to find the perfect bouquet inspiration? Do a search for flowers and pin photos of gorgeous bouquets to your little heart’s desire on your “tie the knot” board. See a quotation that makes you laugh, cry or think of a friend? Pin it!

Silbermann and his co-founders took the visual bookmarking to another level. Users may “follow” friends (and strangers), and comment on each other’s posts, much like on other social networking sites. Facebook users may also recognize the “like” button on Pinterest, while Twitterers can use their beloved hashtags in their pin captions. A recently updated iPhone app and brand-new mobile capabilities for other smartphones make for easy pinning on the go. In other words, the idea that inspiration is all around us has been “pinned” down, and you can quite literally take it with you wherever you go.

As Pinterest continues to grow, brands are taking note and jumping on the pinningwagon too. The popular home goods retailer West Elm uses the site to pin not only their own catalog of products, but other inspirational images as well. From there, followers can click on or repin images that link to the West Elm website where visitors can easily purchase. It’s that simple!

Go ahead. Request an invitation here. And start pinning!

Pros. The high demand created exponential word of mouth for the promotion. Created new news for the brand. Most likely, brought in new consumers that might not already shop there. And, sold out in record time. All great for a return on investment.

Cons. Frustrated shoppers that didn’t get the offer or product. Loss of other (non-promotion) sales during the downtime. Possible negative brand image impact.

In these two promotions (Missoni at Target and Whole Foods on LivingSocial), I’m convinced the pros outweighed the cons. The offers were compelling. They created high consumer demand and the site overloads made consumers want it even more. The offers alone gave consumers a reason to care about it, and more importantly, a reason to share it with others (Facebook posts were flooded with people bragging what they scored). Ultimately, it built equity for both the Target and Living Social brands. And, most importantly, doing what promotions do best—motivate behavior.

Social media is hyperactive word of mouth, only there are so many mouths talking you need a way to know how your brand is influencing and who it is reaching. It’s not new news that brands want to connect with consumers. What is new to the speed at which they can track and affect their influence digitally. This media channel is a main conduit for brands to express their voice, promote new products and even tell a larger brand story. It’s not hard to see why and how social media efforts have become the most valuable back-channel way to communicate and build a following. (If your brand isn’t into it, work on that.)

So how do you track all your social media efforts? Who’s talking? How do we keep them talking? With Klout, the current leader in the “social analytics” provider, it all boils down to engagement based on click-throughs, comments, likes, retweets or how often your message is passed along. The number of services they track for you is growing (it now includes the top 10 digital forums, with 3 more coming soon).

Recently celebrities have been using Klout for PR pushes and testing. Brands are also reaching into the system to understand how their audience is listening or if they’re listening at all. They’re taking notes on what topics resonate and using that information to build a stronger brand presence and gaining followers as well as traction in the marketplace as a resource, leader or otherwise. Klout’s easy-to-digest “social analytics” has potential to build smarter partnerships, promotions and more believable categories of influence. Plus, you’ve got to love the dynamic nature of the data. In my opinion, “instant” is the new “ASAP.”

Don’t forget the perks for having influence. Klout Perks are great place for brands to highlight and use those influential talkers directly. It’s kinda like a social media pat on the back from brands to their fans. I’m on board—are you?

Who’s Talking?

Someone needs to spread the message. Called connectors, accelerators and influencers, they have deep and wide social networks and pass along information they care about to others. The key is to tap into the right people for your specific product or service. Here are three types of “go-to” people:

Enthusiast. The stereotypical brand advocate who serves as a passionate brand ambassador.
Local Expert. The know-all about a specific category—car or gadget nut, knows about new restaurants or TV shows.
Jack-of-All-Interest. An interesting know-a-lot vs. an annoying know-it-all.

What Are They Talking About?

First of all, forget everything you learned about traditional brand management. If this process starts by trying to convert a well-crafted brand statement into a word-of-mouth campaign, it won’t be successful. The product or service must be looked at through a different lens.

It’s not what you want to say about your product or service, but what consumers find talkable about it. Finding the relevance in a product or service is crucial. If it’s relevant, the more likely it will be deemed worth sharing. Once something is worth sharing, it has value. High-involvement categories tend to increase information value. The collision of talkability and relevancy becomes the social currency in the message.

Dig deep to understand the consumer. Think about what people like to talk about, why they like to talk, and how an actual conversation might transpire. Remember the book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray? It’s quite appropriate when creating word-of-mouth messages.

When developing word-of-mouth messages directed toward men, think in terms of Guysmanship. Male word-of-mouth triggers tend to be competitive, fact-based and opinionated. Men talk to “show that they know” or “be first.” Look at ESPN or read the sports page—facts and opinions are expressed in sound bites.

For women, it’s all about Fempathy. Female triggers are more empathetic or deal with community building and emotional outreach. They talk “to help” and “to be heard.” And far from sound bites, their conversations are centered on shared experiences and expressed as complete stories. It’s Oprah and Lifetime and their stories of women facing their challenges, from the life-changing to the day-to-day.

So Get to It.

Find the right people to spread the word. Craft the right message that’s talkable and relevant. Activate it using the tactics most appropriate for the topic. There’s a world of technological options; be sure to find the tools that will best seed or spark the conversation. And remember, the true magic lies in the social currency of the idea—it’s what keeps the idea moving to others.

This doesn’t need to be the case.
B2B does not have to be one completely expected, borderline cheesy execution after another. In fact, I would argue B2B could be one of the most creatively innovative spaces in marketing. It offers everything you could want to deliver great creative. A well-defined target. An informed consumer (yes, IBM does not buy something from 3M, a person buys something from another person). Something to sell that is inherently necessary to the audience. And a lot of freedom since no one is really paying attention.

Clear your mind and forget the formula that seems to exist.
Don’t think, “Oh crap, it’s B2B!” Think, “Damn. This could be cool.” Even if there is an assignment you are supposed to answer (print ad, email, website, whatever), ignore it for a moment and think about what you might really want to use as communication vehicles. Too often, marketers want to apply the same things that work for consumer marketing to B2B, with the exception of television, but all this does is continue to nail the box shut.

Do you really think the way to sell a multi-million dollar jet to a Fortune 500 company is with a print ad? Do you really think the subject line of an email will convince Publix to purchase your shelving system? Of course not. But the better question is, what will? B2B is dying for that answer because usually, the products being sold and the contracts being signed are for millions of dollars and multiple years. These are big decisions. Way bigger than which color lipstick should I buy? And creative, innovative and inspiring ideas, brilliantly executed will make those decisions a little easier to make.

Remember, this is an informed audience, regardless of the product. People who purchase real estate for corporations, for example, are not neophytes. They are single minded already. You don’t need to get them into the ‘real estate’ aisle. You need to engage them in your real estate option. You need to engage a person, not a company. Ultimately, you need to motivate that person and I’m pretty sure another trade rag ad with a gleaming high rise and smiling agent is not going to do it. But something different would. Something smarter and more creative would.

B2B marketing only has to suck if you let it. And currently, most people do.

Twitterphobia affects over 83.72% of marketers* in the US every year.

We’ve seen the devastation it causes. We’ve heard your cries for a cure. And, we’ve found the vaccine in… our latest Potty Posting!

Twitterphobics Anonymous

Click the link above for the PDF version, or continue reading below for the online version. As always, please feel free to share this post with colleagues, clients, or anyone who may be suffering from this absolutely-curable condition.

*No it doesn’t. We made that up. But it definitely exists.

Twitterphobics Anonymous

The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem

We’ve noticed something funny happening in recent meetings. While we’re thumping our chests about Driven by Data Twitter visualizations and using the Twitter API for Life in the OOC applications, we’re often met with nodding approval…along with some shifting eyes and simmering discomfort. We wondered: was there something in our teeth? Did we have bad breath? Probably, and possibly, but neither was the real problem. Eventually, we got people both inside and outside the agency to admit (in shamed whispers) that they’d previously dismissed Twitter as a fad, or thought their consumers weren’t using it, or were (understandably) confused by conflicting reports about Twitter’s dominance / irrelevance / significance / shallowness / growth / stagnation / obsession with why #youdeservetobesingle. Realizing their mistake, they asked us to take it back to step one. Luckily, they’ve found a safe place.

First things first. You’ll never understand the nuances of this service if you don’t set up a Twitter account… like, right now. (Being on the throne is no excuse – Google already told us how often you surf in the bathroom. Eww.) If you’re in marketing and you don’t have a Twitter account, you are #FAILing. We’re not saying you have to tweet. But, we are saying you have to follow a handful of marketers, brands, and industry smarties to see how they’re using the service (a good place to start: Upshot’s own The Awesome Blog.) In fact, having an account would’ve clarified why there’s a pound sign in front of “FAILing” above. On Twitter, any phrase preceded by the pound sign is called a hashtag, and its purpose is to organize disparate tweets into a single conversation stream. (Oh yeah, we’d already put the cart before the horse with a blog post describing how brands can advertise via those hashtags.) For instance, let’s say I wanted to have a wine tasting with some friends who are spread out across the globe. Option one: everyone flies out just to sit in my too-cramped living room and resent having to pick cat hair out of their wine glasses. A better idea: tell anyone who’s interested to grab a bottle of this week’s selection and tweet their comments, including a predetermined hashtag in each tweet. Without that tag, our comments would get lost in the stream of other tweets, but the hashtag allows anyone to track or contribute to this particular conversation, regardless of geographical (or shedding feline) obstacles. We’ll even give you a chance to sample some hashtags yourselves – read or contribute any tweets about this posting using the hashtag #twitterphobia. Unfortunately, #pottytweet was already taken because… well, see that aforementioned Google study.

But, following a couple of Twitter conversations isn’t going to quiet your inner skeptic who continues to question the significance of Twitter. With countless social networks vying for consumers’ attention (and giving old-school ad-types heart palpitations), what makes the tweet so special? How about its ridiculous, lightning-quick, superpower-esque speed? You can argue about the ramifications of Twitter all you want, but there’s no debating that Twitter is the fastest system for information dispersal ever created. With a click of a button, users can re-broadcast another persons’ tweet to their own social network (called re-tweeting), enabling information to jump across social circles in a matter of seconds. Case in point: hours before the official announcement about the demise of one particularly evil Abbottabad resident, many Twitter users had already passed around a tweet from a Washington insider revealing this information. Still, the most widely-shared tweets generally include links to online content outside of Twitter; for instance, when the Bulls’ Taj Gibson dropped bombs on another embodiment of evil, the documenting images, videos, and commentaries were racing across Twitter mere moments after impact. Plus, unlike Facebook, Twitter tends to be radically public, meaning strangers can see (and respond to) tweets on any topic from anyone around the world. In fact, many tweets are written with the expectation that total strangers – including marketers like you! – will read them, share them, and respond to them.

And that’s the whole point here. Don’t get hung up on the insatiable efforts to build up or tear down this service. Instead, take it for what it’s worth – a chance for marketers to step into the conversation. Twitter isn’t just about tweeting on your brand’s behalf (although that’s a whole ‘nother topic – see this site for tons of great thought-starters). And while Twitter’s one of the most powerful PR tools ever created, even that doesn’t tell the whole story. Those who dismiss Twitter as a bunch of self-important narcissists who are just tweeting about their Nikon ads and their new TV shows with one and a half other men… well, okay, that does describe one user pretty well. But dismissing Twitter altogether because of a handful of twits is just undermining your own ability to keep up with what’s captivating the public, why those things are captivating the public, and the shifting ways in which the public digests, shares, evaluates, disbelieves, mocks, and mashes-up information in the modern world. In this case, the medium really is the message.

Still have questions we didn’t answer here? Of course you do. How do you generate followers? How often should you tweet? Did this post convince Dave Nigh to finally open a Twitter account? Tweet any additional questions with the hashtag #twitterphobia and we’ll keep the conversation going. In the meantime, Mashable’s Twitter guide book is a great introduction to the service’s component parts.

P.S. Thanks to historicaltweets.com for the images used in this posting.

the hotspot for haute thought is the pot at upshot

we admit we’re awesomeholics at theawesomeblog.net

• Awakening & Awareness
• Transparency & Traceability
• and Self-Sufficiency & Empowerment

As always, we encourage a family-style approach to our Smartshot webinars, so please be generous in sharing this video with colleagues and clients. And, make sure you follow us on Twitter (@upshotblog) for information on upcoming Smartshots.

Once marketers buy into Brand Patronage, there’s an understandable temptation to go after the biggest stars on the biggest stages. From a PR perspective, you’re pretty much guaranteed a big splash if you grab yourself a Lady Gaga or Black Eyed Pea (both will be making appearances in subsequent Brand Patronage coverage). But, remember that Brand Patronage isn’t just about half-assed testimonials from megastars; rather, it’s about forging partnerships where both the brand and the artist can flex their creative muscles in a collaborative effort. For this to work effectively, marketers must be careful about choosing artists (and a medium) that are the right fit for their brand.

That’d explain why you don’t see Macallan scotch working with, say, Katy Perry. In fact, the brand isn’t working with musicians at all. Rather, they’ve created a series called The Macallan Masters of Photography, which enlists some of the sharpest shooters in the field to tell the story of the Macallan production process. The latest installment features a project from Albert Watson, in which he is tasked with highlighting the Spanish sherry oak casks in which Macallan is aged. Fortunately, the brand didn’t add any other stipulations to the project; even Watson remarked, “The freedom and encouragement given to me allowed the creation of a visual journey demanding complete artistic integrity.” Watson settled on a story about a couple traveling from a Spanish forest to Scotland, and the end product (as seen in the video above) certainly evokes luxury, refinement, and distinction.

Of course, highlighting the wood is a pretty straightforward way of bringing the brand into the exhibition. But, there’s also more subtle branding being done through the choice of the medium. Photography is a slow process (in terms of setting up the shot), has a rich heritage, and focuses on minute details when it’s done right. These elements are certainly consistent with the brand attributes that Macallan is trying to cultivate, so their choice of both Watson and the medium of photography are appropriate for the brand. The campaign also supports amateur photographers with a contest, which encourages consumers to submit their own photos to be judged by Watson for a chance to win Nikon equipment. It’s a picture perfect extension to an already-compelling campaign.

But Macallan isn’t the only marketer peering through a viewfinder for inspiration. The Dali Museum, which recently opened in St. Petersburg, Florida, also turned to photography to promote (and help fund) the new attraction, although their campaign presents a stark contrast to the slow refinement of the Macallan project. For one, the Dali execution takes the traditional camera out of the mix, opting instead for a twist on the mega-popular Hipstamatic iPhone app. While the standard version of this app allows iPhone users to add all kinds of analog effects to their photos, the museum’s version (named the GoodPak – shown in the image below) expands these features to include elements of Dali-esque surrealism. They’ve also got their own user-submission contest, judged by – wait for it – John Waters. (C’mon, you know you chuckled at that.) While there are some other goodies included in the GoodPak, the most good comes from that fact that all proceeds from the Pak’s sales will go toward the museum. For more info on the app, head this way.

Is it a little bold to equate the check-in with being the “king” of emerging marketing trends? Perhaps. But now that the tweet has gained a (perhaps reluctant) legitimacy, that leaves the check-in as the most hotly debated element in social media. And with good reason – as we’ve hammed home with our Find Your Place trend, location has the potential to provide contextual information that can drastically improve the relevance of your marketing, and ultimately create more meaningful engagements with consumers.

Now, if we can only settle on a way to get that location data in the first place.

We’ll be the first to admit that the check-in process is flawed. While check-ins are (currently) our best option for protecting users’ privacy and ensuring that they’re not accidentally sharing their location without their approval, they’re also annoying, disruptive, and easy to forget. Each of those problems poses a significant obstacle for checking-in becoming a mainstream phenomenon, but those obstacles also beg the question: if checking-in is such a pain in the butt, why are millions of people doing it? Clearly, they’re getting something out of the check-in. (The dorky among us would call this a “value exchange.”) Fortunately, a couple of discussions at Mashable and The Daily Marauder have uncovered some intriguing answers to these questions. We’ll save you from having to wade through the whole argument by highlighting some of the most relevant points for marketers.

For starters, why do people check-in to locations? Because they want deals, of course (as anyone who’s had an array of free suds at their local bar can attest), but to also enable serendipitous experiences – you know, the “crazy seeing you here!” interactions that allow us to unexpectedly reconnect with lost contacts. This becomes especially applicable at large events, where huge numbers of attendees are checking-in together. So, when you’re considering event marketing executions, the idea of encouraging serendipity can produce delightful surprises for your consumer.

There’s another often-ignored reason to check-in to locations – doing so creates a personal record of where you’ve been. This is especially relevant when consumers are traveling (“What was the name of that BBQ place I liked in Nashville? Oh, Jack’s Bar-B-Que!”). But, other than the nifty PepsiCo-Safeway arrangement we recently highlighted, it’s surprising to see a lack of campaigns that apply users’ histories in more insightful ways. As that Pepsi example shows, the spots where your consumer hangs out say a lot about them – yes, we’re looking at you, “mayor” of the tanning salon.

There have also been a rise of check-ins that have nothing to do with locations. Consumers can check-in to sporting events, TV shows, or even brands. Some of the motivations are the same: serendipitously discovering that your friends are watching the same show, or the having a personal record of you watching a sporting event that you know will be memorable. But this is where the concept of badge brands comes in – and we’re not referring to the badges you earn on foursquare. We’re referring to the same reasons that people Like a brand on Facebook – many of these brands say something about who you are. Are you a Mac or PC? Liking one or the other symbolizes your views on technology, and sharing your check-ins is no different. If your brand has this kind of badge cache, ask yourself if there’s a way to apply it as a movement via location-based services.

So, check-ins probably aren’t the ultimate solution to the location question, and someone (foursquare? Facebook? A service that’s not yet invented?) will inevitably figure out a better solution. But for now, they provide a peek into consumer psyches that marketers dismiss at their peril.

P.S. Thanks to the Daily Marauder for the images used in this post.