The idea for Expedition 206 was kick-started by Clyde Tuggle, the senior vice president of Global Public Affairs and Communications for Coca-Cola. This is interesting for two reasons: 1) this initiative started from the top — the higher-ups didn’t have to be convinced of the power of social media and 2) this blurs the traditional lines and roles that exist between PR and marketing teams.

Tuggle made it clear that Coke knows that they don’t own the brand — the consumers own the brand. Thus, who better to trust to spread the message of happiness than those consumers? Mr. Tuggle reiterated the importance of authenticity, accountability and transparency when communicating with customers and is committed to making sure those are key parts of the Expedition 206 adventure.

For more on Expedition 206 click.

Last week I was once again working with the Sustainable Scotland Network, capturing audio interviews for their annual podcast. This year they wanted to experiment with video a little, so I produced this for them.

courtesy of Whitney Hoffman

Recommended further reading;

"Touching Up the Grassroots"

A lot of virtual ink is being spilt trying to define the moral boundary between viral and stealth marketing, and between slick political organising and voter manipulation. An EU directive enacted in Britain last year made astroturfing illegal, and there have been similar moves in the US. But it is hard to police: lawmakers are swimming against a huge technological and commercial tide.

However, DDB Stockholm via the video below have ticked another couple of boxes that I'd recommend any client seriously consider;

• while the video is well produced, it isn't Madison Avenue glossy in its production and delivery. It's very simply put together. It's the content of the video, the message the video seeks to deliver that's king, not the fancy production standard
• they also show you how it was all set up. That's always key, according to my own sensibilities. Don't be afraid to show people what goes on behind the curtain. A bit of time lapse, a bit of setting up footage always goes a long way

Great video and one that no one is going to be ashamed embedding onto their blog, Facebook page or email to all of their friends.

And that's surely the point.

No prizes for guessing that lots of spade work are required, but you already knew that...

- is it fear of losing control of your brand?

- is it fear of not being able to do it properly?

Recent reports suggest these are the two most likely objections to using social media. However, more and more companies are planning to use social media, they're just not 'in that place' yet. Perhaps that describes your current position.

Scott Monty has put together a very useful article on what he describes are the 5 stages of social media grief. I highly recommend you read through his list and examine your own concerns, fears and objections to using social media.

And remember, if you want to discuss social media and who's doing it well in their business, please get in touch with me.

Here's an example of a fairly high profile person doing that very thing;

"Wilson hires professional Tweeter"

The Republican Senator who called President Obama a liar has decided to fight his PR battle using social media. And to do it well, he's brought in a professional.

While he's working hard to put a positive spin on his public image, he's realised that if we bungle or fluff our image via social media, we can actually end up doing a lot more damage. That's why it's important to seek professional assistance.

It's also worth bearing in mind the time it takes to manage your social media strategy, whether you can afford the time to do it properly and whether you have the knowledge to know which social media tools to use when and how.

Senator Wilson obviously realises that he doesn't have the time or the knowledge to make a good job of turning around this PR nightmare.

An example of badly handled social media PR;

•  Habitat's hashtag spam

I personally don't think it's the best social networking site to be involved in, but I do recognise the strength in it's very narrow focus.

If you're interested in squeezing a bit more functionality out of LinkedIn consider doing the following;

• if you blog (and you should be blogging...), get your blog's RSS feed and add it to your LinkedIn profile
• sign up for Ping.fm and add Twitter (you should be using Twitter...) and LinkedIn to your dashboard; post short (less than 140 characters) "what am I doing?" updates. This is a great way to personalise your social media presence, but remember to keep your updates relevant, not only to your business, but also to who you are and what you're actually doing. For example, "I'm heading to Edinburgh for a meeting with _____ ". Your online business card - via LinkedIn - will be updated with the news that you're going to be in Edinburgh for a meeting. You never know who'll read this and want to cross paths with you as well
• customise your LinkedIn profile URL; your public profile page has a unique URL. LinkedIn lets you customise this by clicking here. A well-chosen unique URL can help Google find you easier. Here's mine; http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottishsocialmediaconsultant

I personally recommend outsourcing your social media management to people who are skilled at quickly and effectively interfacing with these outposts.

However, there's a lot of stuff you can do on your own for free. For starters;

• sign up for all of the social media outposts you want to be present on
• upload your own photo as the avatar, or a photo of your team rather than use your corporate logo
• if you must have your corporate logo present on your avatar, shrink it down and have it in one of the lower corners of the picture
• spend time watching how people are interacting with each other
• add relevance by joining conversations, commenting on posts etc, but don't just use this as a quick-fix marketing exploit; actually add value through your participation
• try and use your own name rather than your company name. By all means make reference to your company, but social media is about conversations between real people; hiding behind a corporate brand, in my opinion, is incongruent with social media interaction

Below are some further tips taken from the Open Circles Solutions blog;

• You can find many networks for your targeted demographic.  Usually the smaller the network, the easier it will be to connect with them.
• Don’t just sign up to the social networks you have chosen and think you have done the trick.  Interact and spend some time networking with the other members that is part of your group and network.
• Decide on what your goals are and what you want to accomplish with your social network and the people you would like to reach.
• Create interesting topics and content.  Once again conversation is king but you need content to start communicating.
• Don’t look for customers to do a quick sale.  Go in with the plan that you are building relationships.  You might find many unexpected alliances that can benefit your business in unexpected ways.
• Constantly monitor your approach and don’t be scared to try new things to get better results.
• Don’t count on the benefits you will be receiving from day 1.  Real benefits usually comes over a long period of time.  There’s no such thing as instant results.
• Research other networks within the same industry as your business.  You can find many new ideas on these that might help you.
• If you have any questions, ask them in your social networks.  These can be very helpful to find solutions.

So, I was pleased this popped up earlier in the month and I'm glad to be able to share it on the blog.

Via Mashable.

5 tips to freshen up your social media marketing ideas, from creating marketing themes (along the lines of "blogging mommies") to embracing the Twitter Effect (as heard at tonight's presentation!).