In a brave move that could prove to be a major turning point in big brand marketing, Pepsi has decided against doing a Super Bowl ad in 2010, and investing their $20M or so in social media instead.

Meanwhile, at Strutta HQ, we collectively raise an eyebrow. We used to point to Doritos' crowd-sourcing efforts to produce their Super Bowl spot as the ultimate use of user generated content in advertising. After all, that (now 3 year) campaign was birthed in part by our CEO, Ben Pickering. Now, a huge brand has publicly opted out of the bloated Super Bowl advertising one-uppance pissing contest, and is diverting all (not just some) of the funds they would have spent into connecting with Pepsi drinkers online. It makes you wonder whether the next step will involved abondoning tv ads altogether. Time will tell.

This news came to us in the form of a presser released this morning by our neighbors at Adhack. We also found this interview with a spokesperson for PepsiCo.

“Pepsi’s $20-million commitment to social media instead of its Super Bowl commercial is a substantial shift in where they put their marketing efforts, and a groundbreaking shift in how they can measure their return on investment," said Adhack Founder James Sherrett. "It’s a smart move.”

PepsiCo Spokesperson Nicole Bradley confirms that the soda pop company has given this some thought, and they expect it to be a better investment, long term. "...our beverage brands' marketing strategy in 2010 [is] less about a singular event and more about a movement, said Bradley. "We are always looking to further develop our two-way conversation with consumers."

So what comes next? How should Pepsi divert those funds to get the most out of the web, and best connect with fans of the syrupy, bubbly stuff? If you're asking us, we'd like to see some of that invested in online contests and with the talented creatives that make-up the Adhack community, for starters. Seems to us to be a great way to reflect Pepsi's fanbase, and help to distance them from the Britney Spears/Michael Jackson high budget spectacles of old.

If you want to know more about how to invest in marketing on the web and put online photo and video contests to work for you, contact us. We'd be happy to answer your questions. During office hours (Pacific time) we can be reached at 1-877-477-5717.

You're a savvy marketer. You know your stuff. You probably already have a company blog, a Twitter account you update regularly and you may already be building a fanbase on your Facebook Page. You're happy with the way these tools let your company and its people interact with the public, but you wish you could grow your numbers a bit.

It's no secret that we believe in the effectiveness of online contest promotions, especially those involving user generated content and popular vote. With the right mix of theme, prize, and outreach, an online contest can be the most effective marketing investment you make. You have to do things right though, or you risk running afowl of the community you're working so hard to foster.

Online contests have even gained a reputation in some circles as being just a shortcut as a lead generation tactic. Admit it- you think twice before filling out any online form, and one of your biggest fears is being bombarded with unwelcome marketing messages after the fact. Not every marketer in the world conducts themselves as ethically as they ought to, so like any other marketing tactic that gets abused, contests can get a bad rap.

But when done properly, there's no denying that video and photo sharing contests can be good for community interaction, for brand visibility and yes, dear friends (I'm going to say it, and I'm not going to apologize); they're good for data collection too. It's how you use that data and how you interact with your new community that matters.

Starting at the Beginning

We've said it before, but it bears repeating. Before proceeding with your promotion, decide first what your goals are for the campaign, and let those goals determine the decisions you make in putting to the contest together. If you're after the perfect piece of user generated video, for example, your tactics might be different than if you were just trying to boost your online traffic.

Theme

Your contest theme and prize should be relevant to your company and its fans. Your campaign should attract the kind of people that you want to stay in touch with. Ask yourself: Who are we trying to attract? What ideas do we have that will motivate that community to get involved and interact? If you are lucky enough to make it fun for the right kind of people, you're miles ahead. And make no mistake, they'll appreciate your attention to detail. Let the answers to these questions guide your decisions about prizing and entry requirements. Remember to include an "opt-in" question, to obtain permission to keep in touch with people in the future. Since you've already considered the audience for your promotion, you should be able to convert a percentage of people to your email lists, especially by offering some especially useful information in the mailings.

Outreach: Spreading the Word

If you've dabbled with Facebook Groups or Pages, and you have a company Twitter account that you've been using for while, then you may already have some idea as to how to correctly communicate with an online community. If you're a fan of any Pages or Groups on Facebook, then you likely also have firsthand experience with marketers that are DOING IT WRONG. Your marketing messages and interactions should provide value for your community, not barrage them with information that only benefits you. Remember this fact: Facebook, Twitter and other social networks require that people first give you PERMISSION to contact them. If you conduct the rest of your online marketing with this same guiding principle, people will respond more positively.

If you've created an online photo, video, text or song contest (with Strutta of course) then it's time to tell the world. Yes, our tools come with the ability for contestants to share their entries with friends, via email and the various networks, but don't sit back on your heels waiting for that to happen. Rally some activity among your Twitter followers and Facebook fans, but remember to keep it relevant. Always be adding value rather than always asking for people to vote and enter.

Ask us about how to include your contest in your Facebook page using our widget (Example in photo above) to spread the message of your campaign even further within the network.

The Extras

Depending on your audience and your outreach, you want to consider additional tools and materials to help you get the message out. For larger scale campaigns, you may include ad buys in your plan, and/or physical materials like postcards or flyers.

The Aftermath

A solid campaign plan will take into account what comes after the contest period is over. So you've collected a bunch of contest data, and you've announced your winner. What next? Well, it's time to start again, but this time you have a head start.

Following Up

Well look at you! You have several online marketing tools in action, and now you're growing a database a folks who have opted in to your future communications (because we asked them when they signed up, remember?) You should be quite proud of how far you've come. But before you start filling those wonderful (relevant, interested) people's inboxes with emails, think about the best and most effective ways of getting in touch.

The list of people who opt-in via your contest promotions are special. They have given you a most precious gift- permission to send marketing info to them. Abusing this permission could be fatal to your business' future success. Careful execution of this outreach could lead to growth, so let's do it right:

1. Consider segmenting these subscribers into groups based on how they first signed up (ie. contest entrants on one list, past customers on a separate list). The goal here is to treat people who have engaged with your company in a different ways a little bit differently. By keeping these lists separate and adding a little mail merge magic, you can keep your communications with them extremely specific to their experience:
   
   

   "Greetings <their-name-here>,
   
   Thank you again for your participation in the photo contest. It was a huge success, and you can bet we will be having others going forward. We also wanted to announce...
   

   
   You get the idea. Keeping these lists properly segmented improves the communication experience for each subscriber. The numbers will prove me right; If you're using email marketing software (we recommend Mailchimp, for their ease of use, affordability and API), this extra bit of time and attention will yield better open rates, and subsequently better click-through rates from your messages.
2. Always remember to keep your information of value. If you know, for example, that all of the subscribers on one your list were from a specific industry or job category, shaping your message to be pertinent to them will also yield better open rates.
3. Have another contest! On the success of your previous efforts, you can continue to improve the ideas and executions of your campaigns, and you can encourage participation among the people how have entered your contests so far. Plus, this gives you more to talk about on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and your email newsletters.

Summarizing, the lesson here is simple. Decide first what the success of your campaign looks like, and devise the best strategy to achieve those ends. Treat your community every bit as good as you would hope to be treated, and reward their faithfulness with information that is of value to them.

They'll love you for it.

In case you hadn't already heard, this week Motrin (the pain medication) released a new commercial. Days later they had already pulled it and issued a public apology.

Before we go into too much detail, let's start by watching the video in question, and then we'll try to figure out what all the fuss is about:

After the release of the commercial, the online buzz started. "Mommy bloggers" the internet over were incensed with the ad, and demanded a public apology. Twitter was, as they say atwitter, with requests for boycotts and plenty of other commentary on the matter. One letter, from the President of Babywearing International Inc (a non-profit promoting the benefits of wearing your baby) reads: 

We are deeply troubled by this campaign for the following reasons:

- It disparages babywearing mothers by portraying them as victims of a painful fashion trend;

- It falsely states that baby carriers "put a ton of strain" on the wearer's back, neck, and shoulders;

- It falsely implies that mothers who wear their babies "cry more" than those who don't;

- It portrays the research-proven benefits of babywearing as rumor or speculation subject to doubt;

- It disparagingly implies that babywearing mothers look "tired and crazy;" and

- It was timed to run during International Babywearing Week, November 12-18, 2008, when nonprofit babywearing groups all over the world are celebrating babywearing, and thousands of volunteers are working to publicize the benefits of babywearing and to encourage the practice of babywearing.

Just as we are working to create community support for this beneficial practice so that no parent will ever again be harassed or ridiculed for babywearing, McNeil is perpetuating an image of babywearing parents as silly people who make irrational choices to be in fashion. Your "mom-alogue" could hardly be more ill-timed, off-base, or damaging to babywearing parents or to parents who have yet to reap the benefits of babywearing.

That should help clear up why moms responded so passionately, but the real question is, "What was Motrin thinking?" 

Maybe it's the fact that I'm a dad who occasionally finds himself wearing just such a carrier, or maybe it's just the marketer in me, but I have to side with the baby wearers on this one. If Motrin had meant to target moms with their ad, then they had to have known it would be a dismal failure. The ad drips with sarcasm and flippancy, and offers very little in the way of empathy for moms at all.

A common response to the mommy blogger backlash has been to dismiss their response as hyper-sensitive, and I'm sure there are bloggers out there that fit that stereotype. But here's a newsflash: every parent I've met is sensitive in one way or another about their child-rearing practices, so a room full of ad agency-types should have known they should tread lightly around such a touchy subject. 

There's been plenty of discussion about it here in the office as well. James has already published his thoughts on the Adhack blog, linking to spoof vids that have already found their way to the web. Since he has already said what i intended to, I'll just reference him:

Perhaps Motrin will commission their next ad from their customers. They’ve proven able to create compelling ads. They’ve proven passionate about the products. They’ve proven they can connect and direct attention.

So, instead of guessing what they want, why not work with them and let them say what they want?

Now that sounds like it provides some pain relief.

Well said. I would go even further and say that since Motrin's brand has suffered such a huge blow, that they have no choice but to reconnect with that most influential demographic as quickly as possible, and only a sincere effort to listen will heal the wounds. 

Marketers, remember first and foremost that your customers now have a voice too, and you should never speak about them as if they're not listening. Instead, engage them at every opportunity and adapt to their feedback. Not just in a reactive way just when things go bad, but all the time. Their stories are more powerful than the ones written by your agency anyhow. 

Oh and Motrin...If you're listening, we'd be happy to provide the software platform that lets you bring these stories to light, and even lets the public or a panel of judges tell you which ones are the best ;) 

In one of many "Open Games" on Strutta (games awaiting challengers) social media darling Alana Taylor is still waiting for a challenger in the "Best Tech Song" game, with "The Twitter Song."