Don’t Believe the Hype

The Problem With Listening

by Josh Levine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image Source: PaulDunay.com

The biggest innovation of our time is not the ability to send brand messages directly to consumers through Twitter and Facebook. It is the ability to hear what they have to say in real time.

From a brand strategist’s perspective, there is a major problem with this realization. Why, you ask? Because of the harsh reality that we often tend to suffer from representative fallacy. That is, we think that because one person says something on a blog, there must be millions of others who feel the same way. This may or may not be true.

Turns out a majority of the original content shared on Twitter comes from a 0.04% of the actual user base. This hyper-engaged, extremely vocal minority is an important constituency, but keeping that group within context is equally important.

In other words, just because Radian 6 can tell you what’s being said, that really isn’t enough information to warrant bold shifts in direction. Sure, you’ll probably want to address an individual complaint if your customer voices one, but be careful about drawing exaggerated generalizations solely based on what you see in the sentiment analysis.

You’re not going to like the real answer, which is that it just ain’t that simple.

Today, smart social media strategies and decisions are based on what I call intuition, which involves a combination of your own gut instincts, real-time consumer insights, behavioral data, syndicated research, and a thoughtful eye toward making sense of all of these sources.

Striking the right balance and combination will be unique to each brand. Nobody can do it for you, but we can surely help you figure it out.

Tags: , , , ,


Pepsi Refresh Just Needs a Refresh

by Josh Levine

pepsi-refresh-optimisim-640

    Image Source: Mashable.com Back by popular demand, more rantings about why you should be thinking long-term about your marketing strategies. The Pepsi Refresh Project is catching a lot ...

Tags: , , ,


AA to Shanghai

by Josh Levine

AA to Shanghai

I fly a lot, and I've figured out how to make effective use of the time that would otherwise be wasted on travel. Last week I'm ...


4.5 Million Fans! So What?

by jlegarda

NutellaFacebook

You've got 4.5 million fans. What are you going to do next? Take the summer off. As marketers we evaluate a partner's social media profiles and ...

Tags: , , , , , ,


Social Media Gone Wrong… The New 5

by Josh Levine

Picture 10

Disclaimer: This post may not be all that helpful. I just need to vent. I've just come from the YouTube page for the United States Treasury, ...

Tags: , , , , ,


Shut Up and Let Me Market To You

by Josh Levine

Oftentimes I'll get an email from some company's list for which the sender's address is noreply@____.com. I'm sure there's an email marketing expert out there ...

Tags: , , , ,


Dear Audible.com…

by Josh Levine

rebelindustries.com Audible Screenshot

So I sign up and give you my money, and then show you more support by following you on Twitter. You respond by sending a ...

Tags: , , , ,


We the People…

by Josh Levine

There's so much evidence that in this World 2.0, it's power to the people. It's not just agency websites telling us this. The mainstream news ...

Tags: , , ,


The Tiger Woods Problem

by Josh Levine

tiger_woods_press

Let's dub today Tiger Woods Day, and make it the last day on which public apologies will be abided and accepted. I hereby call for ...

Tags: ,


Propel // Don’t Believe the Hype

by Josh Levine

Picture 6

You may have noticed by now that I like to report whenever I click on a web ad, mainly because it's such a rare ...

Tags: , , , , ,


Infiniti // Don’t Believe The Hype

by Josh Levine

Snapshot 2009-08-16 20-31-02

Disclosure: I drive an Infiniti and I love it. So, I sort of root for the brand because I like the product, and it benefits ...

Tags: , , , , , , ,


MySpace // Don’t Believe The Hype

by Josh Levine

old_v4_social_networks

Social networks are not brands... A recent TechCrunch article quotes MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta as saying “Our users don’t know if we’re a social portal, ...

Tags: , , , , , ,


Mine Magazine Part 2 // Don’t Believe The Hype

by Josh Levine

Mine Magazine

Second issue of Mine came today. Let's see if they did any better than the first issue... My name in the Lexus ad upfront: check. By ...

Tags: , , ,


Mine Magazine // Don’t Believe The Hype

by Josh Levine

-1

Time Inc. launched Mine Magazine earlier this year, leaving Slate and others wondering "Could a personalized magazine help save print media?" Seems like a fair ...

Tags: , , , ,


Lakers // Don’t Believe The Hype

by Josh Levine

6a00d83451e1dc69e2010536ed62f6970c-800wi

Listening to NPR this morning, two stories jumped out. No, it wasn't the latest on Jon and Kate — one was about California's raging debt ...

Tags: , ,


Engaging the $$$ Audience // Headlines: Rebel Makes News

by Josh Levine

rebel-lamborghini-event

Last month Rebel produced the first in a series of ultra-high-end house parties. This one, which we called A Taste of Tuscany, The Thrill of ...

Tags: , , , , ,


Pepsi Again // Don’t Believe The Hype

by Josh Levine

65093-pepsi-2009

I’ve already given Pepsi plenty of shit for its gross irresponsibility on the logo redesign. Today a writer from a leading business magazine, both of ...

Tags: , , ,


Rebels Are Like Pilots // Reading for Rebels

by Josh Levine

outliers

We've all read Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers by now, right? (Or it's sitting in that big pile of books you're meaning to read.) After I ...

Tags: , ,


Amsterdam // Don’t Believe The Hype

by Josh Levine

wallen111

The mayor of Amsterdam says he’s going to clean up his city. Translation: he’s shutting down the brothels. If you don’t know the story, Amsterdam has ...

Tags: , , , ,


Emirates // Don’t Believe the Hype

by Josh Levine

Emirates ad on the BART in San Francisco

Does this even need explaining? It's an ad for Emirates first class that I saw yesterday on the BART in San Francisco. I also saw the ...

Tags: , , , , , , ,


Ad Age Doesn’t Get Our New President // Don’t Believe the Hype

by Josh Levine

barack_obama_portrait_2005

Ad Age says now that we have a black president, the White House will now be the place from which urban trends emanate. I'm not ...

Tags: , , , ,


Pepsi’s New Logo // Don’t Believe the Hype

by Josh Levine

Old to the New

This story is a few days old, but with all the election hype, you may have missed it. The good people at Pepsico have seen fit ...

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Blackberry // Don’t Believe the Hype

by Josh Levine

blackberry-8800-12

BlackBerry is blowing it. The long-standing mobile email champ took the early lead by focusing on product, making devices that worked and appealing to consumers' ...

Tags: , , , , , ,


Demographics // Don’t Believe the Hype

by Josh Levine

images

In a blog called Influential Marketing, Rohit Bhargava makes a great observation about demographics: They suck. Actually, that's not exactly what he says. What he ...

Tags: , ,


Powered by WordPress using the High-Def Magazine Theme