Pepsi: Refreshes its Advertising Strategy and Goes Social

For years companies (including Pepsi and Coke) have spent millions and millions of dollars advertising their brands during the Superbowl. While many companies including Coke still chose to do that this year, Pepsi was not one of them. Coke spent the money on the bowl while Pepsi made the decision to invest $20 million in its social media efforts. This decision means many things for Pepsi and where advertising is heading today.

First, the decision to not advertise in the Superbowl and to instead commit $20 million to social media says that Pepsi is still after all these years embracing its "cola of the new generation" positioning. While Coke continues to go with the tried and true Pepsi is leading the way in new media - a better place to reach its target audience of hipsters.

Second, this decision proves that the power and value of social media as an advertising strategy is growing as other companies like The Gap have made it a central part of their advertising strategy and the main media for reaching its target audience. I believe we will continue to see more consumer products brands taking this approach although it will not work equally well for just any brand.

Finally, as brands like Pepsi continue to market to the customer through social campaigns and channels, we'll see that those consumers who are not as engaged in the new media will hear about it from their friends and colleagues and quickly find that they are missing out.

Social Media ROI

I've heard many people on both the agency side and client side say that it is difficult if not impossible to measure ROI for social media. I've also heard it said that social media only works for consumer marketing. I wanted to take a few moments to put in my two cents.

So let's start with the most fundamental question. Is social media a viable marketing tactic for your business or your client's business? You can qualify this by answering a few questions: What are your goals for social media? Can you have a social media account or do you need to go through legal, corp communications channels first? Is it okay if everyone knows about the updates you'll be sharing? etc.

Now, it is difficult to simply measure buzz and translate that into ROI. You'll need to set targets: mentions in blogs or social networks, inquiries, increased links, search rankings, leads from the social media sites you're using such as Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin, more media placements, etc. The best way to go about measuring ROI is to decide what your goals are and then measure your baseline. Once you have your baseline you can continuously monitor your progress.

You can measure and track some of these goals manually and there are also monitoring tools from companies that you can utilize for tracking the more difficult areas such as mentions.

As for Consumer versus B2B. Both need to be participating in some form of social media. A manufacturing plant that makes machine tools for example may not benefit greatly from having a Facebook presence but if they have a blog, a twitter account and participate in Linkedin and industry portals the benefits would be plenty.

It's really all in the planning. As with traditional advertising you need to have a strategy and track your progress to be successful.

New Runners Social Media Site: Dailymile!

Those of you who know me or follow my posts on social media probably already know that I'm a little fanatical about running. I basically eat, sleep, work, spend time with my family and run. So I was quite intrigued when I heard about a new social network dedicated to training and socializing about running. It's called Dailymile (www.dailymile.com) and it's easy-to-use, fun and motivational for anyone looking to run or just be fit. Go ahead...check it out!

Oh Christmas Brand! Oh Christmas Brand!

What is the Christmas brand? Some people would be offended that I ask. I'm not asking to be offensive but rather because the Christmas brand has taken on various meanings as opposed to the original Christian meaning it once had.

We know that the original Christmas brand is the Christian story of Jesus being born and three wise kings bringing gifts for the baby Jesus. Christmas in that sense is a religious holiday to remember and celebrate the holy birth of Jesus.

Then there is the commercialized Christmas. Some celebrate this holiday only in the commercial sense as in the sense of gift giving and receiving and spending time with loved ones without much thought for the Christian meaning.

Then of course we have the "Happy Holidays" version of Christmas that is the politically correct way of wishing someone who may or may not be of a different faith a happy holiday.

What does Christmas mean to you? One, more or none of these?

Best Brands for Runners

The last few years I've become what some would call a serious runner. Frequent disciplined practice, goal setting, competitive racing and an obsession with performance are some of the tell-tale signs that this subculture of runners is a place I belong. I've also learned what brands runners really love. Many of which I had no idea existed until running became a passion.

So here's my take on the best brands for runners by category. Please feel free to comment.

I know this will vary by individual runners but generally what I have experienced and heard from reliable sources is that the following brands are superior.

Shoes:

• Asics

• Brooks

• New Balance

• Nike

• Mizuno


Clothes:

• Under Armour

• Nike

• Adidas

• Asics

• Brooks


Gear:

• Garmin GPS watches

• Fuelbelt

• iPod

• Nike+ gear


Fuel & Hydration:

• Gatorade G2

• Cliff shots or Gu

• Cliff Protein bars


Advice:

• Runners World

• Running Times

• Local running stores like Second Sole, Vertical Runner or Fleet Feet

• Other runners and running groups like Road Runners

Celebrity Brands - Should Celebrities Be Better Examples?

Celebrities have powerful brands much like companies and products. Should celebrities be expected to have a higher standard of moral behavior, the same as everyday people or lesser standards because they have more power and money than the average Joe?

By now we've all heard about Tiger Wood's affair(s). Is it really that surprising? While he is a genius on the golf course he is still merely human. And apparently a human who makes bad decisions much like Kobe Bryant, Bill Clinton, David Letterman, Madonna, and all the others who have harmed their marriages because they didn't control their urges. Or what about Michael Phelps and Amy Winehouse - both talented individuals who indulged themselves in recreational drug use? Or what about Snoop Dogg and other celebrities that have been arrested for violent behaviors?

Does the fact that these celebrities have problems make us relate to them more? Does it affect our own views of what is and is not acceptable or moral behavior? I can't say and it's not my position to judge people only to ask if celebrity brands affect us.

AOL Rebranding

Is it just me or is society homogenizing to the point where all logos created today are trying to achieve that same modern look? It's like they all want to be Apple or Target clones or something? Case in point: take a look at the new AOL logos. Okay the two on the right upper and bottom are not too bad but look at some of these...the fish...the hand. I mean really?

AOL please take note. You are not Apple, You are not Google. You are not Target. You are more like a Microsoft (albeit not as successful) and changing your logo into a fish is not going to change that.