I'm Just Sayin'

I'm Just Sayin'

Where does your brand fit into the story?

Dave Siekanowicz - Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Digital Media Summit- Canada's Premier Social Media and Interactive Marketing Conference at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. Infinity had the privilege of working with the Digital Media Summit since December of 2011, running their social media campaign, along with traditional PR and media relations. Now I'm not just saying (notice the clever pun) this because we were involved with the event, but it really was an amazing two days. Got to hear from lots of amazing speakers, make some great network connections and top it all of with a closing keynote address from Arianna Huffington.

I wanted to share an interesting thought with you that I picked up at DMS courtesy of Facebook's Steve Irvine, who was definitely one of the highlight speakers. Steve talked a lot about how social media has the power to take a brand that may seem very disconnected from the human experience and capture those special moments in life that the brand has always been a part of.

Take something as basic as nails: boring, cold, come in assorted cases at your local Home Depot for a couple of dollars. How could 'Example' Nails, as a brand have any sort of resonance with everyday life? What's the point in creating a Facebook page for nails- it's not as if people are nail enthusiasts or take great pride in the brand of nails they identify with. Yet nails can be a part of many special moments throughout our lives. The first time you built something with your dad or grandpa- hitting those nails into the wood and loving it no matter how crooked they were, that time you built a bird house as a gift for mom on mother's day, your first house- and how you and your friends renovated it on your own because you couldn't afford to hire a professional to help,the volunteers that come together to rebuild houses that have been destroyed by floods, tornados and fires and that tree house you built for your grandkids just because you could. (Are you teary eyed yet?)

I apologize for making the last part read like a bad Disney script, but this was just a short list of the many plausible "story" scenarios where something as bland as couple of nails become a part of a meaningful and memorable life experience. The brand now has power to project those moments via social media by creating a space where the stories can come to the forefront and remind the audience how that given brand now fits into their story.

Just a thought. Until next time*

David Siekanowicz

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#trending: the rise of infographics

Alana Seale - Friday, February 03, 2012

There are many trending topics happening this week. I could discuss this year’s best Super Bowl ad. The return of Ferris Bueller – hands down, am I right? Seriously... I think I’ll just watch FBDO for the 1,000^th time on Sunday instead of the Super Bowl. Why aren’t my days off half as glamorous as that one? Must be the car…

Anyways, today I’ll be talking about Infographics. Infographics are everywhere. Just go on Mashable and every other entry contains an Infographic. There are Infographics about what people look up on Facebook, how we use Twitter, the economy, the election…there are even infographics about infographics...lots of them

Wouldn’t all this information be better presented in a list? I know you’d love that Dave….

Some people just love Infographics.... here's what Blue Wheel Media says about them:

"Infographics have the ability to transform a boring collection of statistics, facts and figures, into a stunning masterpiece that you won't be able to keep to yourself. Upon finding a great infographic, the reader is overcome with a thrill of discovery - almost like an adrenaline rush, triggering desire to share."

So if this is true, how can you apply this latest trend to your business and have the biggest impact with your documents? If I had any design talent, I would create my own infographic with pie charts, symbols, squiggly lines and shiny colours, but I’ll just have to do a list

People respond to visuals – so don’t be too texty.

Using visuals to explain your position is a great way to draw people into your content. They draw the eye in and are a great tool to get people to finish reading something than pages and pages full of heavy text. Colours, graphics and different fonts can turn a dry subject into something really interesting to your audience.

Keep it short

People are busy, we have lots of things to do and we get distracted easily. So if you want us to read your quarterly sales report, keep it short…because after page 1, I’ll be bouncing over to YouTube or checking out Perez Hilton.

And it the same vein:

Keep it simple

Avoid jargon, fancy abbreviations or acronyms. Don’t use 4 words when 1 would suffice. Forget complicated – use simple, direct, easy-to-understand words that every single one of your audience will get. No one wants to feel condescended to when reading that ubiquitous sales pitch. Indubitably!

Don’t just dress it up, back it up

Graphics, charts and colours can make your document visually appealing, but unless you have the facts to back your content, you are wasting everyone’s time.

So to have the maximum impact with your documents, your reports, your fact sheets, the key is to compliment rich content with stunning visuals, not to mask it. Better get trending!

Alana Seale

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3 Reasons I hate blog posts that feature lists and # reasons

Dave Siekanowicz - Wednesday, January 25, 2012

See what I did there? Very tongue in cheek (if I do say so myself).

This blog is a combination rant,commentary and airing of grievances all in one. As part of my daily research to keep up-to-date with all things social, digital and PR, I go through a bookmarked list of blogs that feature the latest posts related to said areas of interest. I then check my Twitter lists to see what the important people are Tweeting about. Since Twitter is a great sharing platform I figure any worthwhile stories, blogs and articles will eventually be tweeted.

And I must report that I have noticed an annoying trend. Let me know if you see it:

5 Tips for First Time Managers
5 Ways Social Media is like a Networking Event
5 Facts You Didn't Know About Facebook Edge Rank
7 Reasons Every Job Seeker Should Have a Blog
11 Things That Annoy Journalists and Bloggers

Numbered Lists! The most frequent post titles read like the cover

of a Cosmo Magazine! I don't believe that everything we discuss

and share can be summed up in a list of points or steps. Since when

did everything become so black and white? Especially in the world

of new media! Those "4 Steps to Gaining more Followers on Twitter"

can become passe, annoying and outdated methods a week from now. On the other hand who says it takes 4 steps? Is there no 5th step, is there no way to take it down to 3 steps? Cheeses Murphy- what about those who have a 1 step method that gains them more followers than anyone else (having the name Justin Bieber usually helps with this).

So, what are we to say then? Is it the chicken, or the egg? Have we begun to expect a quick fix via a list of steps and procedure to the problems in the world of professional communications? Or is this step listing method the holy grail, the special sauce, the ancient Mayan paradigm that actually holds the answers to all our communication problems? Maybe numbers just intrigue us in a way words cannot; must be that shiny toy syndrome.

You may notice that I did not actually list 3 reasons as my title suggested- my point being it doesn't matter. It's fun to read said blogs and they are oh-so-easy to Tweet out to our followers, but we must remember that the numbers can change from day to day [correction- they do change day to day]. Just when you thought there are only 11 things that annoy journalists and bloggers you may be surprised to find out you subconsciously posses the hidden "12th thing".

Dave Siekanowicz

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Cutting through the clutter Part 3 - You're supposed to be social... Say something!

Dave Siekanowicz - Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Happy New Year!

I know, I'm only 4 days late but hey- it's been a while. I should have probably finished this series before the holidays but things just got crazy busy here (crazy is good)and the blog got put on the back burner. But alas! I have returned to finish this mini series: Cutting Through The Clutter. Here's a quick recap of what we discussed in the previous posts:

Of all the social networking sites out there, less than 5% really matter to your business
That 5% of the pie is also important to 95% of your competitors
Your 5% varies on your industry, location and culture- so make sure you get it right
Bottom line: everyone's putting all their eggs into the same basket
The goal: cut through the clutter and rise above your competitors to reach your audience

Today's final addition to your social media tool belt (think of it more as that cool belt Batman had with everything from shark repellant to ninja stars): being social. Now this may sound simple enough, but you'd be surprised how many people completely ignore this step. Once you have your tiny little piece of the social media landscape all set up and running it is crucial that you actually use it to communicate with your audience.

I find that the quiet individuals (the companies that will soon be left in the dust of the social media race) make one of two errors that result in their silence. Firstly, they are afraid to interact with their audience, quickly falling into the category of the faceless corporation. If someone writes a negative comment, don't be afraid to respond. If someone asks a question, especially a tough question, don't ignore it. Fear of taking on posts that may be challenging will usually result into your audience tuning you out. Interaction is key, it is not enough to just talk- you have to be a part of the conversation.

The second type of quiet death (creative eh?) comes as a result of fear to say anything that may draw an opinion. Companies make the mistake of assuming that playing it safe means not recognizing or making comments on anything related to politics, religion, international events, taboo topics, different holidays, important sporting matches or anything too scary, too emotional or too challenging. Everyone else knows what's going on, you might as well say something about it. If there is a major political election you should say something, you don't need to out right endorse a candidate but feel free to remind people to vote, volunteer or just get informed. If a local tragedy happens don't avoid it and write about the weather, instead make an appropriate post or comment that will help your audience remember you're also human- and sometimes life just sucks.

Regardless of what your approach is remember that in social media silence is deadly.

Dave Siekanowicz

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Cutting through the clutter Part 2: Wait, where am I supposed to be?

Dave Siekanowicz - Thursday, December 01, 2011

In my previous post we established the nature of this ‘weird devil’ known by many names but living under the umbrella term of “Social Media”. Our attempt at managing the digital strategies that go into a successful social media plan concluded with something that looked like an evil math equation (yes, yes- I know, ALL math is evil; but this equation is super evil!): Over 1000 “known” SMS+ less than 1% matter to your business+ that 1% also matters to 95% of your competitors= high risk of getting lost in the clutter.

In hopes of cutting through everyone else’s clutter (because of course your business is the only one that matters), it’s crucial that you manage your 1% at 100% capacity. But wait, where is YOUR 1% located? It’s easy to hop on the popularity bandwagon and do what everyone else is doing, but what if that’s not what’s best for your business? Sure Facebook is important to most businesses, but if you’re located anywhere in Brazil or India then forget about Facebook and focus on Orkut. This Google owned platform has exploded in Brazil since 2004, where it is now the top social networking website. What better way to reach your Brazilian audience then by switching to a Social Media platform they have embraced?

No biggie, after all you are located in Canada right? So you should go ahead and put all your effort on Twitter, but wait- your business is a restaurant. Well if you’re a restaurant then you will find that your 1% should focus on Yelp! Yelp, is a food/restaurant review social media website that encourages user generated content. Your customers can post reviews, highlight favourite menu items, post videos or pictures of the food and most importantly connect with other foodies via a platform that is popular in the foodie community.

One more? Alright, your business is a high-quality boutique film production studio interested in showcasing the highest standards of video to an exclusive community that can appreciate the work, effort and quality you put into every project. You had the bright idea of putting up your vides on MySpace, STOP- oh I jest, no one uses MySpace anymore. You had the idea of uploading your videos to YouTube, alright that’s pretty good- or maybe not. How about Vimeo? Vimeo is a video based social media platform that has less ads than YouTube, features higher viewing quality, nicer branding/graphics and most importantly has a community of passionate film makers who feel they are too good for YouTube. Boom- there’s audience. Vimeo it is.

The moral of the blog- to maximize your 1% don’t necessarily go running with the wolves. Instead find out which pack your audience is running with and go there (wow that’s a terrible analogy). Sorry about the length of this one, join me next time for Cutting Through The Clutter: You’re Supposed to be Social, SAY SOMETHING!

Dave Siekanowicz

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The passing of Steve Jobs

Dave Siekanowicz - Thursday, October 06, 2011

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Apple Co-Founder and one of the greatest innovators of our time Steve Jobs. Steve lost his battle with cancer last night, just 6 weeks after stepping down as Apple's CEO. Our hearts and prayers go out to his wife Laurene and four children.

As I write this I cannot hope but feel weird that my last blog entry was about Steve stepping down (I apologize about slacking on the posts) and now here I am, just 6 weeks later writing about his death. That's life. It's always funny how insignificant the once important things such as school, work, position, hierarchy, wealth or success seem when the realness of death, loss or sickness strikes.

But enough sentiment. I feel compelled to write this entry when I stop and think about how much of an impact Steve has had on our industry. Some of the most important tools we use: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and FourSquare, have all been impacted, developed and advanced through the technology that has come about as a result of Steve's vision. With Steve, Apple created a new trend of pushing developers of social media platforms to continue developing in an attempt to keep up with all of Apple's newest technologies and their capabilities. Each time Apple released a new product, say the iPad or the recent iPhone 4s, Facebook and Twitter scurried to come up with new versions of their apps that would be able to incorporate everything the newest piece of Apple technology had to offer.

So for all you've done to impact our lives, relationships and business, thank you Mr. Jobs. You will be truly missed.

Dave Siekanowicz

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Spidey senses foretell new PR in future

Dave Siekanowicz - Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Today as I was doing my morning blog roll, I came across an interesting line written by Alan Cross (a popular music historian and guru) in a recent post on his Explore Music blog. The post was in regards to the latest reviews of the new Broadway Musical written and scored by Bono & The Edge of U2 fame, entitled "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark". So far the musical, now dubbed The Most Expensive Broadway Production Ever*, has not been a favourite of the critics. With constant criticism, a poor story line and dangerous stunts that sent several actors to the emergency room, the new Spiderman musical couldn't catch a break.

Despite all the setbacks, the musical opened again to favorable reviews. Much work still needs to be done, but at least it is no longer a complete disaster. Alas I digress, the line which stuck out to me was Cross' final comment in regards to the future of the production "And there is still much work to be done on the PR front. It [Spiderman Musical] needs many weeks of big crowds just to break even".

Regardless of the many technical improvements, the poor PR the production has been plagued by thus far has left some deep scars the public will remember when buying tickets. This is just one of the many illustrations that helps put the weight of brand/image/public reception at level with basics concerns such as quality/product/expense. Without the proper framing, branding and marketing that PR professionals provide, even the greatest product can suffer. All the hard work and investment that goes into production, development and distribution can be time/money wasted if members of the public (future customers & clients) are not properly engaged.

What will happen to the Spiderman Musical in the coming months will either serve as an excellent case study of how much PR can accomplish if implemented properly or an example of how all the re-vamping and TLC’ing in the world can’t help resurrect a show if the PR misses the mark.

Is your PR working for you?

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The power of YouTube in Canadian politics

Dave Siekanowicz - Thursday, May 12, 2011

Last week Canadians witnessed a great change in Federal politics when the NDP and Jack Layton managed to become the leader of the opposition to Stephen Harper's majority, gaining 102 seats in the House of Commons. That's an amazing feat considering that five weeks earlier they had a mere 30-something seats. This sudden rise in NDP popularity was clearly reflected all across the country, especially in Quebec. Aside from partisan affiliations and individual vote based on research and conviction, it's interesting to see what other forces affect elections. Since we do specialize in Social Media and Digital Strategies at Infinity, I was quick to gravitate towards researching the role each of these played in the NDP's successful campaign.

I'm sure most of us have already read about the important role Facebook played in Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign. Using Facebook, Obama and his campaign team were able to notify. mobilize, network and connect with a myriad of young voters from across the US. Many political commentators say that it was Obama's smart use of Social Media that helped him gain these votes and spread his message. Early on Obama was smart enough to hire Facebook Co-Founder Chris Hughes to act as his Director of Online Operations (or Facebook Expert for short). While his campaign victory cannot be credited solely to Facebook and other Social Media outlets, it is important to acknowledge the important role each played in the success of his campaign.

In our recent election I witnessed the NDP hustle on YouTube like no other political party. You couldn't view your recent subscription update or search for that viral video of the little monkey riding on the back of a big without seeing Jack Layton's face on the giant masthead ads the NDP purchased during the election. Not only were viewers constantly exposed to these ads, targeted at Canadian IP addresses, but they were often forced to view a 10-30 second commercial clip before viewing the video they had selected. On top of that most of the ads were interactive, linking the viewers back to the NDP's YouTube channel where they would be able to consume more videos. While gaining views on their personal channel wasn't amazingly successful, their constant advertising and pre-video commercials exposed millions of users to their message and platform. Considering all of this came with a high price it's safe to assume that the NDP realized the value of YouTube in reaching and engaging with voters in a new way.
A great example of how much benefit can come about as a result of proper use and optimization of Social Media and Digital Strategies.

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#Happy Birthday in the world of @Social Media

Rachael Carswell - Thursday, April 28, 2011

I must credit the inspiration behind this blogpost to our very own Leanne who is celebrating her birthday today: Happy Birthday Leanne!

The impact of the internet of celebrations, rituals and ceremonies is not all that new. It feels like birthday e-cards have been around for at least 15 years and since then not much has improved. That is until social media helped take something as simple as "Happy Birthday" to the next level. Whether you're on a student budget or have money to spend, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube now offer more ways to wish happiness on the day of your friend's birth than ever before.

Sure you have your stereotypical wall post, tweet, video, fan page or private message, and those are all great. But what happens when social media decides to *really take it to the next level? We now live in a world where you don't have to spend money to buy real gifts or cards for your special someone. You now have the option to spend money on a non-existing virtual gift! Yay! Why buy something when you can buy nothing?

Facebook has their own Gift Buying network, where for a few dollars you can send a rose, a puppy or a bunch of balloons in an attempt to extend your warmest wishes. Since then we have seen a rise in third party applications which allow you to buy and send mini virtual dancing clowns, rabbits or whatever you please. But virtual gifts are nothing compare to virtual parties! For a fair price this application will allow you and a few friends to celebrate that special day by chatting, playing games and killing time together in community right on Facebook regardless of your physical location. But what birthday "gift" tops all of these? Well, how about taking out an ad wishing your friend a Happy Birthday? Using Facebook ads you can create an ad of warm wishes and target it towards all your friends and that special birthday celebrator.

Regardless of how you chose to express your birthday wishes there seems to be a divide between the free (I would argue sane*) method of a wall post or tweet and the excessive sending or creating of a virtual 'nothing'. I beg to ask why, but I feel that spending the money is what justifies the gift; it's what reflects your extra effort in wanting to be different and go the extra mile.

Words of wisdom- instead of spending money on a virtual gift why not head over to World Vision and buy the gift of food or medicine to those who desperately need it in the name of your birthday friend. There's an idea that will topple every virtual teddy bear Facebook has to offer*