Wesley Chapman » Buzz Words

Social—the most overplayed word in history!

Wesley Chapman — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 03:50:23 +0000

There is one reason and one reason only I dislike listening to music radio stations—that is repeats of the same songs over and over again. Songs quickly become overplayed and out wear their welcome fare too quickly. Nothing is simpler then plugging in my iPod and listening to what I chose and only what I chose. Sometimes it is an oldie and sometimes it is a little Black-eyed Peas. Okay I feel better now that I have gotten that out of system.

What does this and the title of this blog post have in common? Do a google search for me, better yet I did it for you. I searched the phrase ‘social media’ which returned 157,000,000 results and that is just the tip of it! ( see for yourself ) You turn on the TV and guaranteed some news station or some infomercial is talking about ‘social media’. Your email inbox is slammed with offers, updates, blog posts and the like all telling you about this ‘social media’. You go to conferences and meet ‘social media’ experts or hear of a speaker coming into town that is a ‘social media’ expert. Even my blog post has been shoving the word ‘social media’ into your eyeballs!

Enough. Enough with the most overplayed word in human history. Yes it is a hot topic, yes we have new vehicles of transportation in its’ world, but in no way is it new. Let me take you back to the 1950’s when homes were separated by 3 foot picket fences and neighbors talked about children, vacations and yes even products right there over that little picket fence. How incredible would it have been for Coca Cola to have installed microphones on the fences and each time someone said the word “Coca Cola” they would have it recorded? Well welcome to 2009 when business could start just that.

The art of communication as been around since the dawn of time and since the creation of the first wheel company, business owners have given anything to know and understand their consumers. Now businesses have these great tools in Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and so on, where endusers freely post truckloads of content and data and somehow this has transcended time and social media was just created. Somehow someone has made us believe that we don’t know how to be social and we need the media to educate us and train us. Somehow the word social has become another word for Facebook or Twitter. This is all just not the case.

Simply put as a business owner your social media has always been there and it will continue to be there long after Facebook and Twitter are gone ( yes they will be gone MySpace ). The word social has been overplayed and oversold. It is a very important and part of your business, but it always has been and always will be. Stop thinking you need to change yourself to be a part of a new transportation device. No matter what car you drive there is always a gas pedal, a brake system, a forward, a backward and a left and right. You may drive some cars faster and some may pull you out of the muck, but at the end of the day you will—drive.

For those of us out there that are looking to make this social world our world and consult others on it, lets remember the following; non of us are experts in Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or the like, yet. We have to put the ‘time’ into it to become an expert. We may have social experience, but the transportation devices are infants and we need to respect that for our clients. We are all experimenting. Further more lets stop overplaying the word and focus on the oldies which are still amazing goodies!

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Buzz Words, Content, Customers, Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Social Space, Website

An Opportunity for the Ages

Wesley Chapman — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 03:49:33 +0000

Back in August of 2010 a new company was born, www.orcamd.com, focusing on the mHealth ecosystem through the exploration and development of mobile technology. There is a lot in that little sentence and it has created quite a stir in the mobile world.

To date Orca MD has developed four iPad/iPhone apps and is currently working on 6 additional apps, with 10 more slated for this year. This is only the beginning. Without giving out too much information we are saving for conferences, I can state that apps are only a third of the Orca MD game plan. When you truly dive into mobile technology and into this ‘mHealth’ world you quickly see how lacking in quality solutions, it truly is.

Two months after Orca MD was launched I was asked to become the Chief Operating Officer and to help guide the company into the future of mHealth. This was an overwhelming offer especially when I saw the caliber of people involved. Individuals with degrees from Harvard, Stanford, University of Washington and USC just to name a few. I was honored and two months and a few days after the launch of Orca MD, I accepted the offer.

Now that five months have past I have had the privilege to be a part of something I can only compare to the revolution of the internet. I know a bold statement, but as this industry develops more and more is coming to the lime light and it only brightens its’ future. ( I know shameless plug for LIME )

My involvement with LIME is still 110% and growing. LIME is opening a new production office out of state and we are growing like mad. My family has truly supported me in these endeavors as my days are packed to the point of explosion! We live in a revolutionary time where only the imagination is our limitation.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Buzz Words, iPad, iPhone, LIME, mHealth, Orca MD, Personal, Updates

The digital door is wide open—Anyone ready to walk in?

Wesley Chapman — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:33:16 +0000

So this week we had another player enter the digital media world, WIRED. How did they do in this humble marketer’s opinion? I give it a two out of five stars. It is an okay start, but honestly coming from a leader in the geek world I truly expected more from WIRED.

They did nail down the rich media content, but the delivery of the content was still laced with the feel of print and not the feel of digital freedom. The ads are nothing more then copies from the print addition and lack zero capabilities of tracking success or impact. The navigation of content is basic and lacks natural user interaction. All and all the app is not worth the $4.99 price tag. I hope it is a first step for WIRED and they look to strip away the print limitations and change the price point delivery system. Only time will tell.

So what makes a good digital magazine and why am I so hard on all these guys? I will answer the latter question first. I expect more from companies that have budgets that are deep, brand penetration and have openly announced they have been planning these apps for the past year. Spending upwards of $100,000 just to produce one issue and 10 to 20 people working on each issue. Then in the end we get glorified PDF’s or an untraditional digital experience. I get just a bit frustrated, but again it leaves the door wide open for the little guy.

With that said now I will give the three keys needed to making digital media content successful. I won’t give away all the ‘how to’s’, but I will outline the basics.

Rich Media Content: This seems to be the obvious and simplest of the tasks. Creating content and rich media content should be a no brainer, a 1, 2, 3, type of deal for these companies. Sadly it just is not the case. For years publishers have mastered the art of ‘less is more’ and working in the realms of print restrictions. Now we are telling them to abandoned what they have thought, trained and done for centuries. This process is more of a culture change then anything else. It will take time, but it is key to the success of digital media. ( more to come on what exactly Rich Media content really is, in a future blog )

Track-ability of User Interaction: One of the greatest advantages to going digital is the ability to track not only the ads, but the content as well. Now publishers can rely on more than just letters and casual conversations about their content’s success, they can get hard cold facts. What do readers like? What don’t they like? Was the cover story the right story? What content was the most popular, what content was interacted with the most? All of these can now be answered. Advertisers can now track their print ads much like they do for online ads. Ad delivery becomes a whole new ball game and everyone benefits, the users, the publishers and the advertisers.

Social Integration: What are we as a society if we don’t share? We are nothing and the same fate befalls digital media. It is truly worthless if you can’t share it. We have to remember that not EVERYONE owns a tablet or a portable media device…but odds are they have access to some type of internet connection. This means that if I am reading the latest digital news story I can quickly share it to my social community. In turn they can share it to theirs and so on. Now the digital content is no longer ‘just’ on my device, but it has spread to thousands and do this enough times with the right content and users will pony up and get into the portable media revolution. As a note this does not mean that ALL content needs to be shared in an open platform. There are many ways to protect the publishers content and still share the experience.

Now these are just the building blocks. Of-course there are other issues to address such as; Pricing, UI design, Flow, Gesture control, Speed and Delivery. The three keys above are what is minimally required to truly compete in the digital media market place.

If you are interested here are the links to the ‘top’ digital magazines out right now:

WIRED ( 2 out of 5 stars )

TIME ( 2.5 out of 5 stars )

MEN’S HEALTH ( 3 out of 5 stars ) – there are a few bugs in the app, but those will be fixed. As for content and user experience they have the most—so far.

POPULAR SCIENCE ( 2 out of 5 stars )

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Apple, Apps, Blog, Buzz Words, Digital Media, iPad, LIME, Print

You don’t, you can’t, you just shouldn’t

Wesley Chapman — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:02:00 +0000

Why such a negative title? I have a strong point to make and sometimes adding a bit of negativity to your message helps send the message home.

I get asked often how to create the perfect advertising campaign. At a lunch, in a meeting or at a business conference I will be asked, “How do I create a successful advertising campaign?” My reply is short, simple and to the point, “You don’t.”

That is right you do not create a successful or perfect advertising campaign—you let your audience do that for you. Advertising your product or service can not be successful thought out in a board room or by using fancy charts, you have to get face to face with your consumers. You can not leave the perfect message if you don’t know the right number to call.

How then do you let your audience create your advertising message? Start with hiring a marketer, listening, get creative and do not be scared to ask. What if you have just started your company and haven’t built your network of listeners? Then advertising is the last thing you want to do. You need to build a small ‘following’. Create a loyal group of clientele that will assist you in the growth of your company. Don’t be pushed into advertising, get set up with a marketing plan, social media and good old fashion word of mouth. Then you can build into the full blown advertising mode.

It is key to understand that advertising is not as simple as throwing out an ad and hoping it lands. It is a planned event and you have a much greater chance of success if you slow down, listen and obey. Once you understand what your current clientele see in you, you will be able to share that with a wider audience and if needed correct any misconceptions that may be out there. Every company needs a fan boy/girl and the best way to get them is by listening.

Now this does not mean that you will incorporate/use everything that you learn or that your audience will do all the heavy lifting for you. It is simply the way for you to truly understand how to focus your advertising message to the masses. Doritos has done several ‘audience based’ or social based user generated content campaigns, but they have not used all the generated content or information. They have learned from it, created perfected messages and then have been consistently successful in the implementation.

You will be successful in creating the perfect advertising campaign if you:

Seek professional assistance
Listen to your audience
Become creative
Are fearless and social
Plan, build, execute and track

We live in a world of talkers, simply open your door and let them in. Be educated by them, listen to them and then direct your message to the masses.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Buzz Words, Content, Customers, Design, LIME, Marketing, Print, Social Media, Social Space

Write it, type it, post it, tweet it, status it…what is it all?

Wesley Chapman — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:48:08 +0000

Another buzz word to really catching on fire in 2010 is ‘Content Marketing’, well what is it?

Funny how we use these words in hopes to identify a process in an industry ( whether that is the medical world, auto industry or anything really ) and then we have to write blogs and articles just to explain it. This is one said blog, an explaining blog.

‘Content Marketing’ is advertising or marketing with content. Simple right? Implementation of Content Marketing—not so simple. It is a way for businesses to utilize the ever expanding search market for consumers to find their products and or services. The problem with ‘Content Marketing’ is too many people don’t know what to do or how to truly take advantage of what it can offer. This leads to a lot of ‘junk’ on the internet and in the advertising world. It leads to a lot of businesses overloading their consumers with different messages. For example I just starting working with a client on a large marketing and advertising campaign and found out that they had 3 different FaceBook pages all run by different managers in the company. Oops. Yeah not the way to run your ‘Content Marketing’.

What counts as ‘Content Marketing’? There are all forms of Content Marketing. It can be ‘big’ or ‘small’. It can be a press release to a Twitter post. Content Marketing is not just limited to the web world. Your newspaper, magazine, billboards, radio ads are all part of your Content Marketing. Your employees personal blogs can also effect your Content Marketing as well. It is hard to tell your employees what to do in their personal time, but if they understand and buy into your mission for online media, they tend to ‘get it’.

The critical thing to remember in Content Marketing is to have a solid, concise and fluid message across ALL media/web outlets. It is imperative that you have strict Content Marketing Management system or CMM. See we just love to name things.

So today is the beginning of a new week and a great time for you to refocus your efforts. Spend some time with your team today and plan out how you are going to change your ‘Content Marketing’. How are you going to collectively spread the message? What medias are you going to use? How often are you going to use them? Make ‘Content Marketing your friend, not your enemy: Fired over my blog

The image credit used in this post goes to a talented art student: http://typophile.com/node/62809

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Blog, Blogging, Buzz Words, Content, SEO, Social Media, Social Space, Updates, Website