Well, almost on cue, Pepsi took a giant step towards redemption. Under the umbrella of their Refresh project, Pepsi earmarked $1.3 million to specifically address the Gulf recovery project, and are currently considering over 250 ideas. This approach is pitch perfect, with the smart folks at PSFK summing it up best:

“Pepsi’s approach feels honest and sincere – it doesn’t try to hype Pepsi’s role in the cleanup, but rather empowers consumers to play that role – the brand simply pledges financial backing to execute the best ideas. Additionally, it’s not overly sentimental (no images of dead birds, or burning turtles) – just an actionable, empowered attitude to help fix a problem.”

That’s exactly right, and brands looking to score an authentic CSR victory should take note. But, in the context of our earlier discussion about the Reputation Economy, there’s another lesson worth noting. We mentioned that reputation is now a long-term process that requires continuous attention, and if done properly, will resonate with consumers on a deep emotional level (even in spite of an occasional misstep). Sure, the Pepsi nutritional blog was a dumb move, but rather than fighting the blog’s critics, Pepsi acknowledged their mistake, took down the ill-advised project, and doubled-down on a cause program that will make a legitimate, impactful difference in the lives of an entire region’s population. Put another way, the way they undid their bad was to do even more good. And that, folks, is why it’s called the Reputation Economy. Your brand is the sum of a mental calculation, a tradeoff between the trust you’ve inspired in your consumers (both directly and indirectly) and the impacts you’re making on the world. Authentic, effective good deeds will go a long way towards tipping the scales in your favor.

Pepsi undoubtedly spent a lot of time considering this tradeoff before delving into their CSR campaign, but one thing they probably didn’t anticipate was that the perception of the Refresh campaign would be shaped by the company’s tangential actions elsewhere. Like, for instance, a Pepsi-sponsored nutrition blog with some questionable assertions.

Welcome to the Reputation Economy, where instantly-accessible information makes it infinitely easier for consumers to connect the dots between a brand’s disparate actions. While a massive company like Pepsi probably isn’t making any connection between the Refresh project the nutrition blog, the consumer experiences these efforts as a composite branded experience, and makes their judgments accordingly.

And Pepsi’s not alone. A recent article from Forbes touted a list of the most imaginative CSR campaigns, but many of brands lauded within have encountered some backlash for their own tangentially-related missteps. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is one of the most heralded CSR campaigns in recent memory, except by the critics who noted that Dove’s sister company Axe was doing just as much to undermine women’s self-images. Even the comment section on the Forbes article displays these sentiments, such as one poster who questioned how Levi’s could justify a campaign focused on the struggling American worker while producing their jeans in overseas factories.

So, is the lesson here that CSR campaigns aren’t worth the trouble? We wouldn’t go that far. The “economy” in Reputation Economy isn’t just jargon; rather, it signals that brand-building via CSR is a long-term process that requires continuous attention, and is bound to have its ups and downs. Still we believe that there’s a worthwhile long-term payoff. If Pepsi, Dove, Levi’s, and other brands stick to their guns, they have the opportunity to connect with consumers on a deeply resonant emotional level that goes far beyond the utility of their products. If done properly, these gaffes will ultimately be considered missteps, rather than fundamental flaws that derail their CSR efforts. Still, any company that chooses to invest in CSR campaigns must consider this high-risk/high-reward tradeoff, and be extra careful in ensuring that their company’s broader actions do not contradict or undermine their more noble efforts.

We weren’t being literal about the whole “pie” thing. Perhaps we should have been.

Domino’s is consciously bringing their pizza pies down-to-earth as part of their controversial efforts to combat the chain’s negative perceptions (which taps the Reputation Economy trend as much as D-t-E-ism). Taking a page from Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, Domino’s will only be using real pizzas (made by Domino’s employees) in future advertisements. Well, if that’s the case, why spend the money on a professional photographer? After all, there are plenty of real pizzas already sitting on consumers’ tables (although, considering the target audience, we should probably say “laps”). That explains their new “Show Us Your Pizza” campaign, in which they will feature photos of Domino’s pizzas submitted by their consumers.

We’ve got to hand it to Domino’s. This entire effort (starting with the Pizza Turnaround) has been a risky proposition from the start: acknowledging their product’s inferiority, making their transformation transparent, welcoming consumers’ feedback, and now, peeling back the glitz and glamor that’s prevalent through out the food industry. It will be interesting to see if this succeeds in the long run, and whether their product can live up to the promises of this campaign. But for now, you have to admit that Domino’s is clearly differentiating themselves from their pizza peers.

So, it’s not entirely surprising to see a number of articles about tweeting travelers getting the virtual concierge treatment. This article from the Wall Street Journal (thanks to Paul Marran for the tip) profiles a Orlando Marriott World Center employee named Zachary Long, who engages in a comprehensive program of social media monitoring. A selection of Long’s activities include:

• Monitoring Twitter for mentions of the hotel and the hotel’s competitors
• Monitoring the individual social media profiles of guests who will be staying in the hotel
• When applicable, interacting with guests before their stay via social media
• Monitoring check-ins on foursquare

This is a remarkably thorough way of addressing Consumer Controlled Conversations – so remarkable, in fact, that it may seem like an unreasonable amount of effort for other hotels, retailers, and brands. Moreover, this article (along with a number of others) seem to be encouraging consumers to whine and complain their way to free perks and special treatment. Is this really something that we want to incentivize? Do we want our customers to feel that the only way they can get an ideal experience is to beat our brands up online and then retract their criticisms?

Of course not. Monitoring social media is an absolute necessity in the age of Consumer Controlled Conversations, but proactively engaging consumers is the best way to ensure that these conversations play out in a positive manner. While it’s only mentioned in passing in the article, Long does reach out to hotel guests before their stay, interacting with them via social media if possible. Doing so enables the hotel to anticipate special requests before they become complaints, and even delight their guests with unexpected (and customized) surprises upon their arrival. Over time, these insights serve as a virtual suggestion box that can help the hotel develop refine their hospitality efforts. And when that happens, even Consumer Controlled Conversations will focus more on the brand’s successes than its shortcomings.

After all, the only thing better than actively monitoring online complaints is using these insights to prevent the complaints in the first place.

Yes, a recent study assessed over 3,000 brands to see how they measure up on down-to-earth-ism. Not surprisingly, many brands at the top of this list are dependable, traditional, long-running staples for American consumers: Kraft Foods, Morton Salt, Ace Hardware, John Deere, etc. And, the study seems to describe them in this manner, defining down-to-earth-ism with descriptors such as being real, true, grounded, authentic, and even “innovative” in some cases.

However, we think there’s more to down-to-earth-ism than these passive brand characteristics. Down-to-earth-ism is also about actions. When we originally introduced down-to-earth-ism, we pointed out that this trend replaced big, sweeping claims (which may feel unattainable in the current economic climate) with “an aggregate of small promises that are consistently achieved.” It’s easy to see how the aforementioned brands live up to this statement, as they create numerous tangible improvements to consumers everyday lives. The top ranking brand from the study – WalMart – essentially delivers this message in their “Save Money. Live Better” messaging, suggesting that the repeated action of saving a few pennies here and there will regularly pay off for consumers in their daily lives.

In an interesting parallel, Newsweek recently published an article that called out a corresponding trend in architecture. The author finds that the iconic, challenging, and flamboyant buildings of the past decade are increasingly giving way to subtle, efficient, and functional priorities (such as the North Caroline Museum of Art pictured above). While extravagant buildings have certainly been tempered in the short-run by the real-estate bust, there also seems to be an architectural corollary to the idea of the new austerity. Architects are finding the pull of eco-friendly buildings, smarter urban planning, and collaborative design to be, in some ways, just as fulfilling as creating the next Beijing Bird’s Nest (which, tellingly, is now occupied by tacky retail stalls, or – even worse – hampered with vacancies). The fact that this ascetic aesthetic so closely resembles consumer behavior seems to support the idea down-to-earth-ism is more than just a temporary response to tough times. Instead, brands that keep themselves grounded may find themselves best positioned for long-term success.

A recent campaign from the “outdoor” shoe company Hi-Tec executed this idea to absolute perfection in the video above. (Case in point: a local news team even took the bait, showing the video on air and encouraging viewers to check it out for themselves. Now THAT’s some effective viral marketing!) Interestingly, there are no camera tricks here; what you’re seeing is an unadulterated video of guys actually running across the surface of the water. Incidentally, there are tricks going on beneath the surface, but that’s besides the point.

The point, of course, is to subtly sell a pair of Hi-Tec shoes, which happen to be water repellent. So water repellent that, perhaps, they’d enable you to walk on water and become part of the emerging “liquid mountaineering” movement. Watch the video closely, and you’ll see some quick mentions of the shoes, but nothing too pronounced, which certainly helped drive debate about the video (which now has over 4.5 million hits on Youtube).

In the “making of” video (worth watching!), there are a number of points worth noting for brands considering these kinds of videos. Most importantly, there was a lot of smart thinking that went into the execution. But, it’s important to add that the “actors” weren’t actors at all. Rather, they were just normal athletes, which is why this video looks like any number of other extreme sports videos. The campaign was also supported by a clever blog (at liquidmountaineering.org) that documented other “successful” attempts around the world, further fueling the debate.

So, why isn’t this maddening? After all, in the Reputation Economy, brands have to be transparent and upfront, right? Well, yes, but they’re allowed to have a little fun too. Hi-Tec struck the balance just right, playfully denying their involvement, but only for a couple of weeks. Plus, the campaign has an uplifting message about challenging the impossible, which, once viewers are in on the joke, does a nice bit of branding beyond the “hey, we got you, dummies!” message that most of these campaigns end on. At this point, most viewers probably respect the brand for executing this campaign so effectively (and providing a nice bit of entertainment in the process), so no hard feelings.

Just don’t go trying this on Lake Michigan, kids.

So, you can do one or the other, but not both. Right?

Wrong.

Armchair Revolutionary is a social change effort that’s all about using small change to tackle big issues. Literally. Their model attempts to tackle “social problems as varied as global warming and education” with donations that are limited to 99 cents a pop. The price is (not at all coincidentally) the same as what it costs to by most songs at iTunes, so it’s an amount that consumers are accustomed to paying online. Moreover, there’s really no barrier to involvement; no matter how tough times are for you, you’ve probably got 99 cents to throw around, you big spender! ArmRev claims that this model will be sufficient to address projects that require at least $500,000 investments to get started; in other words, they’re confident that they can easily generate half a million (or 505,051 if you’re a nit-picker) participants through this system.

Seems like a crazy model, until we remind ourselves that the Red Cross raised $37 million for Haiti through their $10 per text campaign last year. I’m no mathematician, but that sure sounds like 3.7 million or so participants were willing to drop $10 on a worthy cause. If that donation were a tenth of the price, how much would those numbers have jumped? We’ve previously mentioned Petco’s smart campaign that rounds up your total to the nearest dollar for charity, so we know this works. Marketers, take note: it’s totally reasonable to ask consumers to make these donations, rather than committing these funds all by yourselves. (Although matching those contributions is the obvious compromise.)

Still, not every problem requires a financial solution. In fact, a lot of efforts require volunteers to help with the less glamorous tasks of making phone calls or compiling content. Don’t worry, ArmRev’s got that covered, too. For each completed task (limited to 5 minutes or less), users are awarded with points and milestones that can be shared on sites like Facebook… wait a minute, this sounds a lot like inserting gaming mechanisms into daily life. Oh, that’s because it is. Man, ArmRev, you guys are good! Now here’s a pretty unique angle for a marketer to consider: what if you  incentivized consumers to do charitable activities that went beyond mere donations? If you already have a loyalty program in place, you’ve got the infrastructure to offer points to members who lend a helping hand. If not, you can always offer coupons or other incentives to encourage consumers to make a difference. Either way, it’s clear that big cause marketing is no longer limited to big donations and big gestures. In the Reputation Economy, sometimes it pays to think smaller.

That’s what makes the above video from Puma so refreshing. The clip takes the viewer through the story behind the packaging change, and drives home the environmental benefits in a visually appealing manner. Conversations about megajoules don’t normally look this good.

The same can be said for Starbucks’ “The Big Picture” campaign, in which Starbucks’ drinkers pledge to switch from disposable cups to reusable travel mugs. Again, a nice gesture, but not too exciting. Yet, the campaign does a nice job quantifying the aggregate results of thousands of consumers making the switch. The campaign video (housed here) feels more like a lighthearted Apple ad than an environmental message, and it’s framed by a real-time counter showing the total environmental impact generated by the campaign (the latter being a nice example of using gaming mechanisms to make mundane tasks more fun).

Both of these campaigns go beyond simply touting their green credentials; they each tell stories about sustainability. In a recent article from Mediapost’s Marketing Green, the author claims that storytelling is “the antidote to information overload.” By connecting these somewhat mundane behaviors to an emotional context (i.e. being part of a worldwide cause), participation feels much more like an enthusiastic statement of values than a guilt-motivated chore.

Marketers who are touting their green credentials (and frankly, who isn’t these days) must recognize that there’s just as much clutter in the green space as there is elsewhere. For your efforts to really resonate, make that messaging sexy, emotional, and – gasp! – a lot more fun to digest.

So, when we say that Microsoft and Starbucks were (hometown) heroic in saving Seattle’s 4th of July fireworks, it’s no hyperbole. Each brand coughed up $125K to save the city’s fireworks display, which had been jeopardized by budget shortfalls. In the process, the two companies reaffirmed their connections to the town that’s supported their successes, and showed their dedication to a whole lot of folks in the area.

(Which reminds me: Hey, Chicago-based companies, who’s gonna step up for us?)

For brands that are trying to crack the code on regional marketing, it’s hard to think of a better way to build an authentic connection to the community than by improving the lives of an entire region’s population. These efforts go far beyond covering your butt under the guise of “corporate social responsibility.” In the era of the Reputation Economy and Consumer Controlled Conversations, these gestures are the building blocks for developing long-term consumer loyalty from the ground up.

So, really – someone swoop in and save Chicago’s fireworks! [And our movies in Grant Park, too!]

A quick programming note: We will be covering the upcoming SXSW Interactive Festival via Upshot’s Twitter profile. Please follow @upshot_agency to get up-to-the-minute updates from Austin!

A couple lingering points from our Here and Now (with Foursquare) Potty Posting, before we get back to your regularly scheduled awesomeness.

One caveat that we didn’t get to in the posting: at the moment, location-based services are occasionally susceptible to people gaming the system. One guy found a loophole that allowed him to check-in at the North Pole from the comfort of a cafe in Burbank, and proceeded to start checking in all over the world. While this guy’s obviously quite busy, his efforts do highlight an important point. If he wants to write a program to win the mayorship of a local bar in order to get a free beer, no big deal. But, if a marketer was giving away a large cash prize to whomever earned a particular mayorship, the hacker floodgates would come flying open. Until that loophole is closed, marketers should avoid doing big giveaways through these services.

And by “these services,” of course, we mean all the location-based social networks. While our Posting focused primarily on Foursquare, there are a number of other successful services in this space, including Google’s Latitude and Gowalla (which just landed the coveted coverage of SXSW). But, besides Foursquare, Loopt seems to be capturing the most headlines as of late. They’ve got their own stable of partnerships, such as their arrangement with Tasting Table to provide local food recommendations. Loopt has also experimented with charity tie-ins; a recent campaign raised money for Haiti for every visit to Chipotle, Panera, or Whole Foods. Looking ahead, Loopt is also testing location-based ads, which will push content to users based on their vicinity. Granted, we’ve heard rumblings about this kind of advertising via text messaging or bluetooth for years, with the same verdict every time: it’s just too intrusive. It’s hard to believe that Loopt’s version is any different, but we’ll keep an eye on the situation nonetheless.

Of course, if keeping all these services straight is stressing you out, you could always just create your own…