Sep
11
Written by:
Insights Account
9/11/2012 11:17 AM
The DC Ad Club has done it again, with an awe-inspiring line-up of speakers, a groundswell of awe, and an all- around awesome event. (If you hadn’t caught it yet, this year’s them is AWE.) As a nirvana sponsor of the event and avid enthusiasts of the DC Ad Club, Carousel30 wanted to share some of the awesome ideas we heard during day one of ADWKDC 2012.
Three Keys to Integrated Social Media:
By the end of the session, moderator Anthony Caponiti, co-founder of Activ8Social, and the three panelists agreed that the #3Keys to an integrated social media strategy are data, community and content. But their discussion revealed the depth that goes into each of those elements, from data mining and using that to target social influencers, to optimizing your content for the right audiences.
Scott Greenberg, division vp of thismoment, said you need to be “fishing where the fish are,” with a distributed, multi-platform content strategy, and not just being a digital billboard or aiming for “mobile first” if that’s not right for your brand. Along the same lines, Lee Bogner, vp of business development and social strategy at Kred, highlighted the benefits of data analytics, and using them to more efficiently get your message out to influencers who already have validity in your market. The third panelist, VP of Business Development at SocialCode Cary Lawrence, encouraged everyone to, “get in the mindset of your consumer,” so you can create content that truly resonates with them.
How Audi Uses Storytelling to Start the Conversation That Builds a Brand:
Benny Lawrence, manager of media/brand innovation at Audi, asked the ADWKDC crowd, “How do you start a conversation?” Audi is a testament to the fact that conversation has immense impact on brand momentum, and as Lawrence shared, you create those conversations using stories. The fundamental elements of those stories are authenticity, relevance, entertainment, education and engagement.
Lawrence shared several examples, ranging from documentaries about motor sports that Audi participates – demonstrating their authenticity and brand values – to the “Truth in Motion” documentary of the U.S Ski Team preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics – showing relevance with commonalities like technology, speed and passion that the ski team and Audi’s brand share.
Stories are just a “collection of words,” as Lawrence said, but Audi has used those words to build a brand. You’re doing it right, as she put it, “when people want to be a part of your story.”
Moving Beyond Pizza and Pool Tables to Create an Innovative Culture:
Andrew Graff, CEO of Allen & Gerritsen, shared his agency’s culture with ADWKDC attendees. But, he stressed that your agency’s culture shouldn’t be something you put X amount of hours into every week. It should be part of who you are.
To explain his general philosophy about how to run a business and interact with employees, Graff shared a few “random thoughts,” stressing that innovating isn’t linear (so neither was his presentation). Allen & Gerritsen embraces people’s passions and identifies what’s important to them. They “cook up some leadership” and let everyone play in the sandbox. This means employees get to know more about each other than how well they work. It means the CEO of the agency knows who in the office collects heavy metal memorabilia and who’s a foodie. It also means they consciously try to “surprise & delight” their employees with special events or just “recognition for doing an unbelievable job.”
Some of the most important lessons Graff shared were about creativity and failure. For example, Allen & Gerritsen has a reverse mentoring program so that Graff, the CEO, can learn from one of his youngest employees. They also want employees to know it’s ok to fail. It’s better to push your limits and challenge yourself – and potentially fail – than to never try something new or different. All that, as Graff put it, is why his agency is known for its innovative culture. It’s just how they do things.
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