Matt Rosenhaft, principal at Social Gastronomy, did a blog posting on the Jones Soda case study we featured at PR+MKTG Camp Seattle on March 3 – complete with some slides on SlideShare.

We chose Jones Soda because we wanted to highlight a Seattle based company (though it subsequently announced it is in talks to be acquired.) Mike Spear, brand manager, interactive/e-commerce at Jones Soda, agreed to let his company be the subject of a social marketing audit.  (Disclosure: My company, Bernaise Source Media, is working with Social Gastronomy on companies interested in a free social marketing audit.)

In our analysis, we wanted to go beyond Facebook and Twitter.  Jones Soda’s unique brand already is attracting a great many fans and followers.

Our aim was to see if Social Gastronomy’s audit could identify new retail sales and distribution channels for Jones Soda and demonstrate how social marketing could reach new audiences and influencers. We also wanted to explore the role that PR and marketing could play in driving social media across the entire organization.

Social Gastronomy found numerous examples of consumers, retailers, distributors, manufacturers’ blogs and conversations that are currently taking place, but that the premium soda industry is still in the early stages of adoption.

It also identified competitors like Monarch Beverage which has socially enabled its online presence to create community with retailers and fans, connecting producers with users, fostering discussion and insight, and providing solutions.

SOME RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the audit, here were a few recommendations for Jones Soda:

- Social media influencer marketing program targeted at the channel & retailers –Prioritize based upon credibility and reach

- Strengthen the value proposition and call to action for distributors and retailers –Focus on the “give to get”

- Listening program targeted to the channel and retailers –Target conversations for engagement and/or respond to lead opportunities

- Define tangible goals and integrate activities into existing channel marketing programs–Identify  areas to augment or replace for efficiency

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

This audit raises some interesting questions for PR and marketing professionals who are looking to identify new influencers, including:

- How do you use social media to target specific “influencers” whether geographic, distributor, retailer, or blogger enthusiast?

- Does this change the formula for channel building? Does it reinforce distributor relationships or dis-intermediate?

- What is the potential for building more effective channel marketing efforts? Is this going to be the next “big” growth area for communications?

- If so, how will this change the way we look at social media and the definition of influencers?

- And finally who manages these influencers?  Digital, PR, Channel? Or is it a new function?

Let us know what you think and let me get back to you.

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Obama Social Media Strategist Dan Siroker speaking at SoCon10

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to talk about social media storytelling at Kennesaw State University. I was there for  SoCon10, and it was great reconnecting with Dave Felfoldi, Bert Dumars, Toby Bloomberg, James Andrews, Carol Flammer and several others from Atlanta’s social media community. And congrats to Leonard Witt and the Center for Sustainable Journalism for pulling together the great day of talks and workshops on social media.

My workshop broke social media storytelling into some of its basic elements. It’s a topic we will explore in greater depth in the first session of PR+MKTG Camp Seattle, which is only a month away.

Storytelling is a core competency of any PR professional.  Good stories drive coverage, generate awareness and build relationships.  But today’s storytellers need more than a good pitch and a receptive reporter.  And a good press release needs to be more than a compelling lede and reasoned argument.

We work in an environment that is nonlinear, operates independently of news cycles, uses multiple authors and resides on a variety of platforms.

By viewing social media as another form of storytelling, we can be more effective in mastering the tools that are redefining our relationships and reshaping our stories.

Five Elements of Social Media Storytelling

1. Disintermediation

Disintermediation is giving the user or the consumer direct access to information that otherwise would require a mediator. In days gone by, that mediator was the reporter or industry analyst; today we go directly to the end user.  The New York Times said it best:

“Gone are the days when snaring attention…meant mentions in print and on television, or even spotlights on technology Web sites and blogs. Now PR gurus court influential voices on the social Web to endorse new companies, Web sites or gadgets – a transformation that analysts and practitioners say is likely to permanently change PR’s role in the business world.”

Journalists still clearly matter. I am quoting the NY Times. But today PR professionals no longer have to solely rely on journalistic filters to validate us. The challenge of course is identifying these “influentials,” gauging their influence and understanding their rules of engagement.

2. Word of Mouth

In the social media word, links, tweets, retweets, viral marketing and other forms of word of mouth are critical in rapidly reaching large numbers of influentials.  They can be more powerful than a well placed, stand alone story in a national paper.  The challenge here is tapping the right individuals to activate their network of followers, friends and connections.  And in the case of viral marketing, success may require leaving your brand’s comfort zone – infusing humor and the off beat to drive word of mouth. Think about the Will It Blend? campaign by Blendtec.  They took a big risk with the brand, but reaped even bigger rewards.

3. Messaging and Key Search Words

Both messaging and key search words are critical to telling their story, but they pose one of the greatest challenges to PR professionals. Messaging is generally a core responsibility of PR. It’s about repetition and consistency, control and limited flexibility over time.  Messaging is often driven top down from executives whose perception of their company is often different than their customers.

Conversely, key words generally fall in marketing’s camp and are about constant testing, experimentation, and access to feedback loops that allow for new ways to present the brand.  They are generally generated top up reflecting the way people search for the products we sell.

Unfortunately, PR and marketing often fail to align messaging and key words, which limits the power of both. We fail to track the effectiveness of our messaging in search results. Consequently, our messaging may be less effective in reaching and influencing our customers. By paying greater attention to key word/messaging alignment, we are also better positioned to minimize the technical jargon and the corporate speak that we are so accustomed to using.

4. Storytelling as Content Creation

Thinking broadly, our stories are essentially content.  PR is not only about telling stories for others to access; it’s also about customers sharing our stories across their networks.  By posting reports, surveys, graphics, pictures and video, we are giving customers the story elements they need carry our message and tell our stories for us in their own way.

5. Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is almost the flip side of disintermediation. It’s all about customers coming to us with their stories, brand experiences and suggestions.  Companies like Starbucks and Dell are successfully soliciting ideas from their customers – using them to not only tell stories for us, but creating story lines we may never have anticipated.

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Clearly, social media storytelling challenges our assumptions about news and narrative as well as message and messenger.  But I don’t want overstate social media’s role.  Mainstream journalism is not dead and still can exert tremendous influence on online traffic.

To share your ideas on storytelling and how to use social media more effectively to do, go to the PR Camp Facebook page or Linkedin Group.

Let me get back to you.

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PR+MKTG Camp (Facebook, Twitter) is coming March 3 to the Seattle Public Library. With successful 2009 events in Atlanta and New York, we will have camps in five more cities in 2010.  In addition to Seattle, we will be in Chicago, Toronto, London and by popular demand, a camp again in New York. For more information about Seattle, see the registration page at Eventbrite.

One recent notable change is our new name.  We were originally known as PR Camp,  The new name, PR+MKTG Camp, reflects how social media is blurring the boundaries between PR and marketing.  In addition, if PR+MKTG Camp has an agenda, it is to help align the two professions, create more effective account teams and serve the enterprise as the whole.  That name reflects these objectives.

I am working with Dean Landsman of the Landsman Communications Group. We are already building momentum in Seattle. SMC Seattle is also partnering with us,  given our mutual commitment to community building and social media.

Many of the moderators for the four different sessions are already on board.  Here are some of the moderators who are scheduled to participate:

- Elliott Pesut – Campaign Management Specialist, Alaska Airlines

- Sean O’Driscoll - Co-Founder and CEO, Ant’s Eye View

- Buzz Bruggeman – Active Words

- Shauna Causey – Communications/Community Relations Manager, Comcast

- Colleen Moffitt - Founding Partner, Communique PR

- Anne Marshall – Director, Public Relations, Drugstore.com

- Kat Tillman – Senior Account Supervisor, Edelman Digital

- Jon Winsell - Strategic Services Director, Emerge Partners

- Renay San Miguel - Reporter, King 5 TV

- Maya Bisineer – Founder, Memetales

- Betsy Aoki - Sr. Program/Product Manager, Social Media, Microsoft

- Rod Brooks – CMO, Pemco Insurance

- Bill Hankes – Vice President, Corporate Communications, Real Networks

- Monica Guzman – News Gatherer, Seattle P-I

- Kenton Olsen – Manager, Digital Media, Seattle Seahawks

- Brad Nelson - Starbucks

- Wade Rockett - Digital Strategist, Weber Shandwick

- Tac Anderson – Social Media Director, Waggener Edstrom

- Laura Porto Stockwell – Senior Director, Digital Strategy, Wongdoody Communications

NEW ADDITIONS:

- Tom Biro - Vice President, Allison & Partners

- Greg Shaw – Director of Advocacy and Policy
 United States Program, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

- Scott Porad – CTO, Cheezburger Network

- Ben Straley – CEO, Meteor Solutions

- Jeff Sandquist – Senior Director of Platform Evangelism, Microsoft

- Shannon Paul – Online Communications Manager, PEAK6

- Xavier Jimenez – Principal, Spring Creek Group

- Kevin Pedraja – Vice President, Sterling Communications

- Patricia Vaccarino – Managing Partner, Xanthus Communications

- Amy Bohutinsky – Vice President, Corporate Communications, Zillow

- John Henry Giddings – Director, West Region, PR Newswire

Agenda

8:00 AM - Registration and Breakfast

9:00 AM – Impact: Understanding how social media is reshaping traditional PR’s and marketing’s principal roles and core competencies

In this session, we examine the impact of social media on storytelling, relationship building, branding, conversations and transactions.

10:30 AM – Impact and Strategy: Aligning PR and Marketing

In this session, we explore how better alignment can improve outcomes.  Discussions will focus on identifying common disconnects between PR and marketing, integrating account teams and defining performance metrics.

12:00 Noon - Lunch

1:15 PM –

Execution: Measuring Success

In this session, we evaluate different tools used to measure success, looking at such criteria as their accuracy, effectiveness, usefulness and cost.

2:30 PM - Strategy and Execution: Achieving Internal Buy in for Your Social Media Programs

In this session, we focus on defining ROI and how PR and marketing can set realistic expectations for achieving buy in from clients and management.

4:15 PM - Wrap Up

Sponsors and Partners

We are still looking for additional partners and sponsors for our event.  We are grateful for the support of Social Media Club Seattle, PR Newswire and Emerge Partners for their support.

Let me get back to you.

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