My Latest Project: Plus Two Tuesdays

Here is my latest project/social experiment. Let me know what you think! I plan to launch early next month.

Meeting friends for happy hour is fun. Making new friends over happy hour is amazing. Welcome to Plus Two Tuesdays. Here is how it works:

Each person attending the event must invite two guests who’d enjoy being a part of a cool, casual community of interesting people and ideas. It’s that simple.

To sweeten the deal, our partner bar, The Dove Parlour, agrees to donate 20% of the night’s proceeds to charity:water.

What do you think? Is this something you’d be interested in? Have you seen this done anywhere else? Looking forward to your feedback!

An Ode To A “Failure”

So you failed on your first attempt. Big whoop. We all fail. That’s the risk (and reward) of acting on an idea rather than just sitting on it. The cool thing is you learned from your experience. Now it is time to apply what you learned. If you act on your learnings, your failures didn’t die in vain. You are starting your journey, not ending it.

Rock on!

I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. – Thomas Edison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*** Inspired by a comment I left on a close friend’s Facebook status. Thank you for the blog post inspiration. 🙂 ***

 

What If… An A-TEAM For Social Good

It is funny when #GOOD ideas come to you.  As I was getting ready for bed tonight, I had an idea: what if I created an “A-TEAM” for social good.  As you all (hopefully) know, The A-TEAM was a popular 80’s TV show about an ex US Army Special Forces unit who used their specialized skills and creativity to help people in need.  This usually included lots of explosives and no one getting hurt.

What if we did the same thing, but without the explosives?  What if there was an elite A-TEAM of social do-gooders who used their diverse skills to help local and global communities?  What if WE (the people reading this) were the first ones to do this?

So what would this look like?

The folks on the A-TEAM had different skills.  The Do-gooder A-TEAM would do the same.  Each team would be 5-7 people strong and include people with various skills. There could be fundraisers, construction experts, communication strategists, graphic designers, writers, financial analysts, techies, teachers, linguists, doctors, filmmakers, moms, etc.  The teams would be “deployed” to a particular cause or activity.  The mission would be filmed and shared on the social web.

Where would the A-TEAM be deployed? 

Teams could be deployed locally and internationally.  It could be as simple as a volunteer weekend in the city, or as complex as a volunteer trip out of the country.  Voluntourists travel around the world and soak up local culture by working with locals to better communities in need.  Depending on your interests you could monitor wildlife in the Amazon, teach Thai children English, or take care of orphans in Haiti.

The teams’ mission would start at home, where they would have to spread the word, fundraise and prepare for the trip.  Then once they are deployed, they will be able to use their diverse skills to make as big of impact on the community as possible.

This is an evolving idea, and far from fully-baked.  That’s why I shared it with you.  PLEASE share your thoughts and suggestions, and maybe together we can create our A-TEAM.

* For those of you not blessed with ever watching the A-TEAM, enlighten yourselves here.

Make Love Not War: Why I Hate “Targeting”

I can’t go a day without seeing or hearing phrases like this at work or in industry blogs/pubs: “Who’s our target?” “The target is middle aged men who like to watch Dancing With The Stars, drink Coke Zero and…” “Let’s be contrarian! We’ll target moms!”

Whoa! Hands of my momma!

Seriously though, enough already.  We’re in the business of communications, engagement and fostering relationships between brands and the people who love (or LIKE) them.  We aren’t Navy SEALS.

Using words like “targeting” gets us into a distant, cold and almost clinical mindset towards  the people we are trying to talk to.   It makes it harder for us to “stand [in our audience’s] shoes and walk around” as Atticus Finch might say.  As strategists, it is crucial to break into those shoes, take a stroll or two and discover insights.

So next time let’s try to resist the temptation to say “target.”

Here are a few of my favorite “target” alternatives:

Target as a noun

– People we want to talk to

– Audience

Target as a verb

– Talk to

– Communicate with

– Engage

What words do you like to use instead of “target?”

Cheers!

Ryan

What Collard Greens Taught Me About Humanity

It’s hard to believe Harlem is in Manhattan, yet there’s something about Harlem that I love. It is so raw. Gritty. And real. Maybe it reminds me more of home… Or maybe it was the collard greens I bought off the street this afternoon.

I was walking across 139th street today and came across this family BBQ’ing ribs on a street corner and selling it to people in the neighborhood. It was surreal. They were BBQ’ing under NYC scaffolding! Under scaffolding! On the street! In Manhattan!!!

At anyrate, I quickly started a conversation and made a b-line to the collards. It ended up the cook was from Hollywood, SC. I know folks from down there, so we started exchanging family names and seeing if I knew any of their kin. I didn’t, although I’m sure I know someone if we talked long enough. It was a nice (and short) moment. Two people having two very different NYC experiences sharing stories and commonalities all because of food. It all goes with my theory that the most beautiful thing about food is not the flavor or taste, but the ability it has to bring people together. Good food has no borders. Good food doesn’t care if you are black or white. It doesn’t care if you are Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddist, Hindu or agnostic. It doesn’t care if you are gay or straight. It doesn’t judge. It is just there to make you feel good. Give you strength. And bring people together. I love that, and I am pretty sure we could all learn from that as well.

As for the food… I’m definitely planning on going back. The collards were good, but they are also super authentic aka “fat back” seasoning. While I am authentically southern, I tend to prefer no fat in my collards. Next time I am having the ribs, and mac-n-cheese. When I do, I’ll try to sneak a pic. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pics today. I wanted them to know I took the food, and our moments we shared seriously. I didn’t want them thinking I saw them as a tourist attraction.

Cheers and bon appetit!

Ryan

A Night of Harlem Glamour And A Great Branded Experience

Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be a guest at Bootlegger 21 Homage to Harlem Glamour.  The event, a launch party for Prohibition Distillery’s new Bootlegger 21 New York Vodka, was much more of a multi-sensory branded experience, than an alcoholic beverage launch party.

As soon as I walked in the venue at 76 Wooster, I felt like I was in a 1920s speakeasy.  Everyone was dressed up in period clothing- including an actor at the front door dressed as a Temperance preacher.  He warned me to stay away from the “evil spirits” inside.

Needless-to-say, I ignored him and continued to explore this intriguing branded experience.

A variety of entertainers kept the guests engaged throughout the night- including a jazz band, pianists, tap dancers, and even a burlesque performer.  Not only did these performers add to the atmosphere and engage guests, but they also gave people something to talk about both at the event, and online.

There are three things marketers can learn from this branded experience:

1.)  Give a lot. Get a lot. – When Prohibition Distillery designed the event, it seems they focused less on pushing their product, and more on creating a branded experience with their audience in mind. While the brand was present, it felt more like a meal compliment than a main course.   This approach felt genuine, and made me more likely to share my experiences with friends.

2.)  Build it.  Use social. And they’ll come. – The main way Prohibition Distillery promoted the event was through the social commerce company, Living Social.  The company sold tickets for $35/person, and…  Ba da bing! A few days later over 700 gangsters and flapper girls were at the event.

3.)  The details make the experience.   All five of my senses were activated, creating a highly memorable and positive experience that I associate with Bootlegger 21.

Do you have any recent examples of great branded experiences?  What made them great?  Share below, and let’s start a conversation!

-Ryan

**Note:  Prohibition Distillery gave me three free tickets to the event.

Event Marketing: It Works

Senior marketing experts agree… event marketing works.

 

According to a recent marketing survey, 53% of marketing execs say event marketing, “is the discipline that best accelerates and deepens relationships with target audiences.”  

 

I wonder how exactly these questions are asked.  It seems like the effectiveness of the method relies on the target audience.  Some methods work better on certain TAs than others.  Nonetheless, it appears that event marketing is a relevant, effective and worth while weapon in your marketing arsenal. 

What do you think?  What is the best way to reach an audience?  

Let’s start a conversation, and share our thoughts!

 

To learn more about the study click HERE.

 

–Ryan Drumwright

@Ryan_Drumwright

Brand Tags: Online Brand Perception Experiment

Wanna see how your brand sits in the minds of internet users? Check out Noah Brier’s, Brand Tags. The interface is simple. Just look at the logo on the screen and type the one word or phrase that first pops into your mind. Click submit, and you will see another logo.  If you want to see a visual representation of the results click HERE and pick the brand you want to explore.  

Noah Brier is the head of planning and strategy at the Barbarian Group, and author of http://www.noahbrier.com .

Advertising Age calls the site “genius.” Seth Godin refers to Brand Tags as, “magical.”

Decide for yourself.   Click on http://www.brandtags.net/ and start tagging!

 

–Ryan Drumwright

Follow Me @Ryan_Drumwright

GIVE ME SOME SUGAR: Crest’s Kiss Me in 3D

The 3D craze continues… Crest’s agency Digitas teamed up with Luxurious Animals to give consumers a, “customizable kissing experience.” At Kiss Me in 3D, users can either smooch the macho Fernando or sensual Olivia. According to Heath Rudduck, executive creative director at Digitas, “The whole concept of Whitestrips is to give people the confidence to smile. We’re looking to find a way to best demo the product attributes. It’s something you need to demo before you understand the benefit.”

 

What are you waiting for? Get busy! Go to http://www.kissmein3d.com/

 

Ryan Drumwright

@Ryan_Drumwright

Leo Burnett Group Marketing / Advertising Predictions 2009

 

Do you have any predictions not mentioned?

 

 

Special thanks to Ben Hourahine (@benhourahine) for this video!  Check out his blog:  http://ispycool.typepad.com/benhourahine/

–Ryan Drumwright @Ryan_Drumwright