Fashion houses have been especially quick to jump on board the Instagram bandwagon, such as the Art of the Trench project from Burberry. The brand encouraged fans to don their trench coats and submit photos via Instagram, which were featured at artofthetrench.com alongside professional “trench coat portraits” by The Sartorialist’s Scott Schuman. Those promiscuous folks at Sartorialist also teamed up with Tiffany & Co. to encourage fashionable couples in New York and Paris to document their True Love In Pictures via Instagram, as shown in the image to the right. But to really pull the whole thing together, the pair offered a special Instagram photo filter that users could apply to their lovely images.

Instagram’s aforementioned Seamlessness also makes it an ideal platform for promotions and sweepstakes, as entering can involve little more than a photo and a quick tag. Levi’s is using the service to find new faces for their 2012 brand campaign by asking folks to tag images of themselves with #iamlevis. The early results seem to be attracting quite the spectrum of participants, ranging from American Apparel-y hipsters to shirtless muscle-bound jocks. Oh, and this guy. We hope he wins.

GE is similarly tapping Instagrammers to find a “social media photographer,” a position that would require the winner to take behind-the-scenes photos at GE’s jet engine facility for sharing on sites like Instagram and Tumblr. Entrants are tasked with bringing one of GE’s four foci to life (Moving, Curing, Powering and Building) and tagging their images with #GEInspiredMe. (You can see some of the selections below). Regardless of who wins the contest, we find it particularly interesting that a brand as complicated and amorphous as GE could use this promotion to clearly and simply communicate their core areas of expertise. Moreover, like the Levi’s campaign mentioned earlier, the brand is leveraging the Collective Curation of their fans to compile a large collection of compelling images of their products and processes. These assets can subsequently be used in all kinds of smart ways in the future, even if the respective marketers don’t know exactly what that’ll be just yet. But along the way, these Instagramming brands have already developed (pun intended) a deeper engagement with their most expressive consumers.

Click the image below for the full-size infographic!

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.

Introducing: Kraft Smile Tagging!

Because I know we’ve all got places to be and stuff to sell, here’s my short but sweet explanation (with pictures, yay!).

Pick a site, any site (as long as it’s not a nudey one) and find something on it that warms your heart, that’s been hardened by long commutes and people cutting in front of you at McDonald’s, and makes you smile. If you’re having trouble finding something, you can borrow this example below from me.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While you’re letting said video or image turn that frown upside down, take a picture of your reaction at that moment with your web cam and upload it to the Smile Tagging Facebook app.

Along with your smile to tag the video, you can tag your link with categories like, Funny, Amazing, Cute, and Weird. (At first I considered this cheating, but then I realized that some people have cry-face when they’re actually laughing, and it’s really smart of Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese to give users a way to identify what they may actually find when they click a link).

Then, instead of sharing just a boring old link with a thumbnail, you can share your smiling face to let friends see just how funny that link is that you’re forcing them to watch when they should be working or eating a ham sandwich instead.

And, that’s it!

What do you think about this idea that’s been labeled as a way to “grin and share it”? Personally, I think it’s fan-freaking-tastic and if I had a web-cam I would show you what my face looks like right now**!

Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese, a brand that has been bringing smiles to the dinner and college dorm table for YEARS, has taken the simplest idea of sharing a link to something that makes you smile, (which everyone already does anyway) and attempted to own it by being the brand that not only lets you share the best content on the internet, but also lets you accompany said content with your reaction, and their logo, of course! And let’s face it, that’s pretty awesome marketing.

*Rolling On The Floor Laughing Until You Couldn’t Breath Anymore, Duh
**That’s a downright lie. I had 10 minutes to get ready today, so I would only show you what I looked like right now if right now meant 30 minutes from now and I had access to some P&G (client shout out) hair and makeup products or our design studio had time for some serious re-touching.

The video above is the latest installment in our Upshot Smartshot webinar series, and complements our recent Potty Posting that introduced the concept of marketers with Twitterphobia. This 15-minute episode goes a step further, assuaging marketers’ three biggest fears about the service:

• What should you say?
• What should you do?
• What should you make?

If you’ve missed any of our previous Smartshots, scoot on over to our YouTube playlist for the whole series. Of course, you wouldn’t have missed those if you’d just follow us on Twitter already, at twitter.com/upshotblog. Since you’ve now vanquished your Twitterphobia, you’ve got no excuse!