My favorite commercials as of late have been the Old Spice “Man your man could smell like” ads, starring Isaiah Mustafa as The Old Spice Man. And he’s the BEST.

The ads are hilarious and great on their own, but today Old Spice started filming Isaiah responding to YouTube commenters, celebrities, Twitter followers and prominent bloggers with individual videos, all of them around 30 seconds apiece. Some of the best:

So many things work about the  video series- the Old Spice guy is consistently funny, the writing is snappy, he’s not hard to look at, etc. But lets talk about efficiency here- Old Spice is uploading a new video response from the Old Spice guy a few times an hour. Same guy, same background, every time. Really, it’s only limited by the time it takes to find a question,  craft a witty response, and record an acceptable take. With preparation, you could create dozens of these videos in a day. Less than a day. Old Spice Man made a response video to a tweet from Lisa Barone within a matter of hours. That’s efficiency. That’s brilliant marketing.

By creating these individual responses, they’ve come up with the viral ad version of microblogging. It’s taking a public conversation and making it a party line. These videos have made Old Spice the most-viewed YouTube channel today AND the #4 most-subscribed channel of all time. Before this campaign, Old Spice was just my grandfather’s brand. Now they’ve come roaring back to relevance in a big way, and our belly laughs are all the better for it.

Well played, Old Spice. Well played.

Hobby Lobby, on the other hand, offers coupons directly from their mobile site. Since it only takes a four-digit code to get the discount, it’s unnecessary to print out the coupon before going to the store so purchasing decisions can be made on the fly. Plus, the coupon can be used several times, meaning people can go back to the store over and over again, increasing the likelihood of repeat purchases and improving customer retention. People can effortlessly bookmark the site into their mobile browser and keep checking back to see what new coupon is offered.

The website also offers their weekly sales flyer and geolocation, thereby streamlining the process from identifying the need to purchasing the product. There are very few steps between accessing the coupon, finding a way to use the coupon, and then making the purchase. It’s a well-designed system that ensures ease of use for the consumer and, thankfully, for the cashiers. There’s nothing to scan, no app to download. Hobby Lobby’s mobile coupons are easy to use, and offer significant savings with just a scroll of a thumb. Other retail outlets, especially coupon-friendly establishments such as grocery stores, would do well to mimic their system.

Well played, Hobby Lobby. Well played.

It’s not everyday you see truly educational material on YouTube, and I wasn’t expecting as much when I was researching screenprinting techniques, but when I came across video content from Orlando-based t-shirt printers Real Thread I was completely hooked on their content.

Real Thread prides themselves on being eco-friendly, using water-based printing methods. In a world where it’s cool to be green, one can easily set themselves apart by showing their commitment to environmentally sound business practices rather than merely talking about them. For example, their videos educating consumers about the differences between water-based and plastisol ink are highly informative, and the way they’ve demonstrated their discharge-print process shows their quality print techniques quickly and effectively.

Aside from being totally fascinating to fashionistas, their videos are well-edited and concise. They’ve taken complicated printing processes and condensed them into fun, informational clips that can be repurposed not only for sales, case studies and branding, but education too.

Take notes from Real Thread on how to create interesting and relevant video for your audience, but make sure to embed video content on your website rather than send them directly to YouTube for more effective conversions. High-quality video + a simple path to your company’s contact information = your business moving forward.

Well played, Real Thread. Well played.

People started getting angry, and whether it was just BP executives being out of touch with social media or just holding their hands over their eyes until it’s over, the headlines about BP executives’ gaffes inundated Twitter: between BP CEO Tony Heyward saying he “wants his life back” rather than having to deal with the spill or BP Rep Randy Prescott saying “Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp“, the satirical hashtag #bpcares has trended consistently, tacked on to people’s angry or sarcastic tweets about the oil spill or BP’s insufficient response.

The ringleader of these efforts seems to be “Leroy Stick”, the creator of the @BPGlobalPR parody twitter account. With 135,000 followers, @BPGlobalPR’s tweets are retweeted and favorited hundreds of times.

Selected works:

“The good news: Mermaids are real. The bad news: They are now extinct. #bpcares ”
“Safety is our primary concern. Well, profits, then safety. Oh, no- profits, image, then safety, but still- it’s right up there.”
“Please do NOT take or clean any oil you find on the beach. That is the property of British Petroleum and we WILL sue you.”

BP has tried to shut down this Twitter account, which sparked an outrage that Twitter described succinctly with a widely-retweeted quote from comedian Jimmy Fallon: “BP wants Twitter to shut down a fake BP account that is mocking the oil company. In response, Twitter wants BP to shut down the oil leak that’s ruining the ocean.”

As Stick put it in his press release,

I’ve read a bunch of articles and blogs about this whole situation by publicists and marketing folk wondering what BP should do to save their brand from @BPGlobalPR.  First of all, who cares?  Second of all, what kind of business are you in?  I’m trashing a company that is literally trashing the ocean, and these idiots are trying to figure out how to protect that company?….

Do you want to know what BP should do about me?  Do you want to know what their PR strategy should be?  They should fire everyone in their joke of a PR department, starting with all-star Anne Womack-Kolto and focus on actually fixing the problems at hand.  Honestly, Cheney’s publicist?  That’s too easy.

As a social media enthusiast, I have to agree with Stick. If you want to manage your PR online, trying to destroy other people’s dissent only creates more dissent. Twitter should be used for crowdsourcing public opinion of your brand, the rapid dissemination of company news, and engaging with your audience.  One look at the real BP Twitter Account reveals one reply, and several RTs of tweets from government response initiatives, but no conversation. No outreach. No attempts to answer the angry or comfort the afflicted. BP is missing an opportunity here to polish their public image here simply by being transparent. People cry out because they want to be heard. If BP’s Public Relations team really used their Twitter account to engage, even with only 11,000 followers- if they made those 11,000 followers feel like they were listening, then millions more would listen too.

If BP wants to turn the tide of Twitter rage, they need to engage. As it stands, their reputation (and our ocean) may be an oily mess for years to come.

Globe Runner SEO is proud to offer a FREE workshop on social media on Thursday! Led by J.R. Atkins, this workshop will cover how social media can work for your business. As a speaker, J.R. is noted for “taking the mystery out of Social Media” and speaking in terms that “even a CEO can understand.” He is best known for working with Company Leaders, Sales Professionals and Marketing Managers on how Social Media Networks can make a positive impact on their organization. We hope you can join us at our offices on Thursday afternoon for this informational workshop!

May 27, 2010 4 – 6pm : Driving Business with Social Media at 808 Office Park Circle Lewisville, TX 75057

We sat down with creator of SXSW Free Noms Luis Mendoza, an entrepreneur and graphic designer from Los Angeles, to talk about building a brand with social media, capitalizing on passionate users, and jumping on a great idea.

If you don’t know what to write, look through your inbox. Do you consistently get the same questions over and over about a particular product or service from your customers? Your blog is a perfect place to spotlight that with an informative and useful post. Take a look at your analytics: does one of your main keywords need a rankings boost? Create a blog post with optimized links and anchor text back to your website. If you have an interesting take on a current event related to your industry (i.e. a software company’s opinion on the iPad) that’s a great topic too. You have a lot to say, but you may not have considered blogging as a marketing/PR channel for your brand. That should change.

If you simply haven’t got the time each week to sit down and blog, consider writing a few posts in one sitting and then using your Content Management System (what you use to manage your self-hosted blog, but we’ll get to that) to schedule the posts and stagger out the days they actually publish. That way your readers keep coming back all month long for new content, even if it only took you one morning’s work. If you’re just not the writing type, consider an audio podcast or video blog/vlog. These mediums can be used to great effect and can easily go viral if the content behind them is solid. Get creative! Post consistently on your company blog and new visitors and potential clients are sure to come your way.

Include Exclusive Offers

The most common and effective way to utilize social media is to provide valuable content, or to present special and exclusive offers to followers and fans. The more exclusive and immediate the offer, the more powerful! “Facebook fans can get a free coffee today only by mentioning this offer!” is a much stronger incentive than “We have a special running this month.” Your offer should immediately drive people to your store, be it your website or physical location, and encourage them to regularly check your updates on the social media platforms.

Provide Valuable Information

A second common tactic is the distribution of valuable information. For example, a home improvement store might regularly post “how to” and “do-it-yourself” tips. Globe Runner’s Twitter account frequently includes posts about technology news, as well as links to informative blog posts and videos that Globe Runner followers may find interesting. Providing valuable “insider” information can help to make you an authority on certain topics, especially in a specialty field, and can be very effective in generating referral business.

Organize Local Events

A third technique: If your business has a physical location, (i.e. a restaurant, coffee shop, bar, or even a retail store,) you can use social media profiles to organize live events, meet ups, or special happy hours. You can coordinate local events, as well as sponsor existing social media organizations or fan groups who are interested in your business’ subject matter. This can create loyalty among your existing customers, and serve as an incentive for them to mention your business or service to others.

These strategies can sometimes be used in conjunction with one another: you might organize a special event where there will be an exclusive offer, for example. The key to a successful social media campaign is to ensure that visitors to your site or social media page can clearly see the value you offer.