Church of the Customer Blog
May 08, 2013, 12:37 AM
#MonsterLoyalty book tour and other speaking events
Hi there!
Here's my speaking schedule including book tour events. If you live in one these cities, I looking forward to seeing you!!
- May 8: Austin - book tour event (private)
- May 10: Orlando - book tour event (private)
- May 21: Chicago - WOMMA WOMM-U Conference. Use my discount code WUSpeak50 to get $50 off registration.
- Jun 2: Orlando - book tour event (private)
- Jun 12: Milan, Italy - private event
- Jun 20: Salt Lake City - book tour event (public) sponsored by SoulSalt. Get tickets here.
- Jun 27: Las Vegas - Confirmit Conference
- Jul 11: Chicago - book tour event (public), details TBD
- Juy 16: Portland - book tour event (public). Get tickets here.
- Sept 17: Las Vegas: Brand ManageCamp conference
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May 02, 2013, 06:24 PM
The winners of the Monster Loyalty pre-order giveaway are....
Thanks to all who participated in the Monster Loyalty pre-order giveaway by purchasing a book before launch. The winners are:
1st PRIZE: Joey Coleman, Chief Experience Composer at Design Symphony
- 5 copies of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics
- 2 Lady Gaga art prints by rock and roll pop artist Kii Arens, signed and numbered
- 5 copies of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics
- 3 Lady Gaga prints designed by Kii Arens (unsigned)
3rd PRIZE: Lori Magno, DIGITAS
- 5 copies of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics
Congratulations everyone!
Monster Loyalty is now available!
I am excited to announce that Monster Loyalty is now available!
This is a book that I am extremely excited about because it argues that Lady Gaga didn’t become the success she is today based solely on her talent. She did so by engendering immense loyalty from her fans – not just through her music – but through the message she embodies and the community she has built around that message. In four short years, Lady Gaga has built an army of passionate fans that numbers in the tens of millions around the globe. My book explores how she did it, uncovering seven loyalty lessons and providing a playbook for building this kind of loyalty in any organization.
I’m big on inspiring examples and this book is no exception. With examples from businesses such as MINI, Fiskars, and Maker’s Mark, Monster Loyalty offers a complete case study that can be modeled in companies large and small to build, maintain, and expand the core customer base central to their success.
My hope is that by studying and employing Lady Gaga’s intuitive customer strategies, readers will be equipped to improve their customer loyalty.
Monster Loyalty is available on Amazon, B&N, 800-CEO-READ and anywhere books are sold.
For those who read the book and enjoy it, I would so appreciate it if you would consider writing a review for the book on Amazon and sharing your thoughts via social media.
In addition, I’d love for you to consider a simple question: when have you either exhibited profound customer loyalty? I’d love for you to share an anecdote about the time (and why it occurred) on your blog, Twitter or even Instagram. Tag the post #monsterloyalty (My post is here.)
Thanks for sharing in the excitement of this launch—I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the book!
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April 29, 2013, 10:49 AM
Monster Loyalty Ball Benefiting Equality Texas 5/1
If you live in Austin, Texas, or will be here on May 1, I hope you will join me for the launch party for my new book, Monster Loyalty. The Gaga-themed party is also a benefit with 100% of ticket sales going to Equality Texas which educates and advocates on behalf of LGBT Texans, a non-profit doing amazing work to fight for a cause that I, and Lady Gaga, believe in.
We will also have:
- A Gaga-themed performance from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4 finalist Phi Phi O'Hara
- Showcasing your Poker Face at the Gaga Photo Booth
- Gaga-themed cocktails
- And more surprises!
If you can't make it to the party, please consider making a contribution to Equality Texas by purchasing a "Money Honey" ticket and giving what you can.
Thanks to our sponsors for making this fundraiser possible:
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April 18, 2013, 06:00 PM
How to think like a rock star
Mack Collier is a social media strategist, trainer, and speaker who specializes in helping companies better connect with their customers and cultivate fans for their brands. His brand new book, "Think Like a Rock Star," examines the marketing and social media strategies of actual rock stars like Taylor Swift, Johnny Cash, Jewel, Amanda Palmer and others and shares how any company can learn from them to create emotional connections with customers. Here's a Q&A I did with Mack about the book:
Q. What does it mean to '"Think Like a Rock Star?"
A. If you look at any number of studies and surveys designed to assess the top marketing goals for most companies, 'Acquire New Customers' is usually the top priority. This is where most companies spend the majority of their marketing dollars, and expanding the customer base is what they focus most of their efforts on.
The difference with rock stars is that they focus on connecting with their fans. And not just their fans, but they purposely seek out their biggest and most passionate fans, and look for ways to create amazing experiences for them, and to create deeper connections with them. Of course you know this from studying how Lady Gaga has created a special bond with her Little Monsters (I have already pre-ordered Monster Loyalty, can't wait to read it!).
The rock stars' approach is so interesting because they are connecting with their biggest fan with the understanding that those fans will acquire new customers for them. They aren't spending millions on crappy marketing designed to get the attention of people (new customers) that have little to no affinity for them. Instead rock stars understand that their ability to acquire new customers tomorrow depends on how they delight their existing fans today.
Q. What was the biggest surprise in writing this book?
A. Really the main reason why I wanted to write this book was to learn how rock stars can so easily create and cultivate fans, so that companies could then apply that same process, and more easily cultivate fans themselves. I assumed there was some "secret sauce" and a "trick" that rock stars did that simply made it easier for them to cultivate fans.
Instead, I learned that rock stars relentless communicate two very important messages to their fans: 1 - "I appreciate you" 2 - "I love you". That's it. And as a result, their biggest fans appreciate them and love them right back. Rock stars also thrive off connecting with their most passionate customers, whereas most companies want to keep their customers at arm's length. Rock stars look for ways to embrace their fans, and that makes it much easier for their fans to trust them, which makes it easier for their fans to advocate on the rock star's behalf.
Q. And that makes it easier for fans to buy from that rock star right?
A. Exactly. I think most companies strive to have a transactional relationship with their customers. They want to create a product, and sell it to their customers. That's it. I think most rock stars want to have an emotional relationship with their fans. As Kathy Sierra said in the foreword of the book, rock stars want to make their fans better. They honestly do love their fans, and they want that emotional relationship with their fans, because they understand that it will lead to sales. Rock stars understand that customers buy from brands that they love and trust. And they tell others to buy from that brand as well. It doesn't matter if that brand is a company or a rock star.
Rock stars have always understand the value of connecting directly with their customers, whereas thanks to new social media tools, companies are having to learn these lessons the hard way. The future of successful marketing lies with the companies that learn to speak in the same voice as their customer. Think Like a Rock Star was written to help companies get to that place where they not only understand their customers, but actually cultivate fans that love them.
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April 12, 2013, 12:57 PM
What do you have #monsterloyalty for?
I love the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was born near Pittsburgh and watched them win 4 four Super Bowls as I was growing up in the '70's. I run the Steelers fan club here in Austin. I own six Terrible Towels and went to the Super Bowl in 2011 to see the Steelers play. When I was considering getting a tattoo -- almost all Austin, Texas residents have one -- I knew getting the Steelers logo was a safe bet because I knew I would love them for life.
I am a Steelers "One Percenter," one of the die-hard super fans that make up about 1% of a customer base. This One Percenter concept is based on research from my previous book, Citizen Marketers. My coauthor and I discovered that the most highly engaged particpants in a community make up a tiny percentage of the overall customer base but are vocal passionate evangelists who bring new customers into the fold through word of mouth.
In my upcoming book Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics, I discuss how Lady Gaga has built a following numbering in the millions worldwide but focuses most of her efforts on engaging her One Percenters, her "Little Monsters." In my four years of research, I've been amazed at the depth of "monster loyalty" that these fans show for Gaga.
In consulting with companies over the years, I find that many companies and brands don't know who their One Percenters are, or even if they have any. So let's find out how much monster loyalty is out there for products and brands.
What product/company/brand/non-profit do YOU have monster loyalty for? What is the craziest thing you have ever done to show your love for a brand? Maybe not a tattoo but I would love to hear about how much you love this product or brand and have you share your loyalty for the world to see.
Share your story in a blog post, upload an Instagram picture, or write a tweet about your fanaticism for a brand/product/company and tag it #monsterloyalty. The amazing folks at FeedMagnet are aggregating all of the social content based on the #monsterloyalty hashtag for all to see. Check it out here!
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April 08, 2013, 10:28 AM
Exclusive online Q&A on customer loyalty when you pre-order #MonsterLoyalty
With more than 35 million Twitter followers and 56 million Facebook fans, the woman previously known as Stefani Germanotta is now one of most well-known pop stars in the world. Without a day of business school, Lady Gaga has cultivated the kind of passionate following that businesses dream about.
Now you can learn exactly what it is that Gaga does to build her following, and learn how to apply those lessons to your own goals. On May 2nd, you’ll be able to buy my book Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics and read the 7 concepts that any customer-focused industry needs to know.
But, if you pre-order 20 copies or more before April 29th, you’ll have access to an exclusive, one-time-only, online conference with me on April 29th at 1pm CT where I’ll discuss what I learned while writing this book. Plus, you can ask me any questions you have about customer loyalty or Gaga’s business savvy. I’ll try to get to as many as I can.
What You Need to Do:
1. Go to your favorite bookseller’s website (some links below).
2. Order 20 copies or more of my upcoming book, Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics before 2 AM CT on April 29th.
3. E-mail your receipt to IWantMonsterLoyalty@gmail.com. We’ll send you an invite to the web conference shortly after that, along with instructions for joining the chat.
4. Clear your calendar for April 29th at 1pm CT for your exclusive early-access web conference with me.
Questions? E-mail IWantMonsterLoyalty@gmail.com.
April 07, 2013, 09:44 PM
Monster Loyalty giveaway contest
This contest is especially for all the Lady Gaga fans out there!
There are a million reasons to remain a loyal fan to Mother Monster, and I want to hear yours. Pre-order my upcoming book Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics (Portfolio, May 2) and send your receipt to monsterloyalty@gmail.com, along with the reason you’re an unwavering Gaga fanatic, and you could win one of these prizes:
1st PRIZE:
- 5 copies of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics
- 2 Lady Gaga art prints by rock and roll pop artist Kii Arens, signed and numbered
2nd PRIZE:
- 5 copies of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics
- 3 Lady Gaga prints designed by Kii Arens (unsigned)
3rd PRIZE:
- 5 copies of Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics
The contest ends Tuesday, April 30th at midnight PST*. The winners will be e-mailed individually and announced on May 2nd on this blog
Good luck and paws up, little monsters! #monsterloyalty
Suggested retailers:
* One entry per person.
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March 28, 2013, 10:26 AM
Changing the world, one Gaga at a time
It's Lady Gaga's 27th birthday today. Her passionately loyal, worldwide fan base is sending her birthday wishes today but also sharing how she has changed their world for the better, through her music and actions. Her message of kindness, acceptance and tolerance is making a difference. Skeptical? Watch this video from Indonesian Little Monsters.
Happy birthday Mother Monster. Paws up!
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March 21, 2013, 10:28 AM
70% of people trust online product recommendations from friends
[Click image to see a bigger version]
A new study from Forrester shows that online content in the form of product or brands reviews is trusted by 70% of U.S. consumers. Not suprising but it adds to the voluminous set of resarch showing that word of mouth continues to be the most trusted form of advertising.
Least trusted? Text messages from brands. Only 9% of people believe what is being sent to their iPhones. Time to rethink your mobile strategy?
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February 17, 2013, 05:46 PM
Maker's Mark listens to customers, reverses course on diluting bourbon
Almost one week ago, Bill Samuels Jr., son of the founder of Marker's Mark bourbon, told customers he had made a giant mistake. He failed to forsee a worldwide surge in demand for premium bourbon when he was in charge of the brand six years ago. He said, as a result, Maker's Mark was going to be diluted to 42 percent alcohol by volume, from 45 percent, so more of the whiskey can be bottled to meet demand. That's a cut from 90 proof to 84 proof. He embarrassly admitted, "I was the forecaster in chief around here. ... I must have been asleep at the wheel.” He, and his son Rob, the CEO of Marker's Mark, assured customers that they wouldn't notice the change. Even Maker's Mark professional taste testers couldn't tell the difference, Rob Samuels said.
However, customers were pissed. Comments like this one began pouring in on the company's Facebook page:
"so now you're saying no will notice because you ASSUME your customers use [Maker's Mark] in mixed drinks instead of neat??? wow not only are you cheapening your product you are insulting your customers...count me out, time to try some other bourbons who still value quality"
After a week of listening to customers' negative comments about the change on their social media sites and through email, Maker's Mark management changed course. Today Rob and Bill Samuels told fans in a letter on their website and Facebook page:
We’re humbled by your overwhelming response and passion for Maker’s Mark. While we thought we were doing what’s right, this is your brand – and you told us in large numbers to change our decision.
You spoke. We listened. And we’re sincerely sorry we let you down.So effective immediately, we are reversing our decision to lower the ABV of Maker’s Mark, and resuming production at 45% alcohol by volume (90 proof). Just like we’ve made it since the very beginning.
Read the entire letter here.
Every company makes mistakes. The way Makers Mark's handled this situation -- by listening to customers concerns and quickly changing course -- is a model for other companies to follow. With their Ambassadors program, Maker's Mark has long been a company that understands loyalty. Today they showed that that loyalty goes both ways.
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February 07, 2013, 12:21 AM
Want to be part of the Monster Loyalty book tour?
My forthcoming book, Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics, ships May 2, 2013. I'm planning a book tour and I'd love for you to help determine the tour schedule.
From May through June 2013, I will visit 10 companies, association chapters, member groups, or what-have-you anywhere in North America to deliver a 60-minute, informative keynote presentation about how Lady Gaga has built a worldwide passionate fan base that number in the tens of millions, and the lessons that businesses can learn in engendering loyalty in their own customers.
I'll explain the methods behind Lady Gaga’s success and isolate the seven strategies businesses can learn from her, including how Gaga focuses mainly on her “one percenters.” She spends most of her efforts on just 1% of her audience, the highly-engaged superfans who drive word of mouth. I'll explain how Gaga leads with her values: she is consistent in her message of being yourself and loving others for who they are. That type of display of values creates a deep emotional connection with customers. I'll unpack how Gaga constantly gives her One Percenters something to talk about. Whether by wearing a meat dress or ‘dying’ in a pool of blood onstage, she knows what will get people talking. I'll share these lessons and more from Gaga on how to create intense loyalty in your customer base.
If you want me to speak at your event, just purchase at least 200 books for attendees, pick up my travel expenses and I'll be there. The tour dates are first-come, first-serve. Once 10 dates are booked, they're gone. (Outside of May and June, normal speaking fees will apply.)
If you're interested, email me asap at jackie [at] jackiehuba.com. The first group to have a signed agreement for a date gets it!
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January 27, 2013, 11:11 AM
New news about my upcoming book: Monster Loyalty
Readers of this blog have been hearing about my upcoming book about Lady Gaga's loyalty lessons since last fall. A lots has changed in the last few months and I can finally announce some new news.
The book has a new publisher, a new title, a new cover and a new availability date. My initial plan was to self-publish my book on Lady Gaga's loyalty lessons for creating a passionate fan base. I soft-launched the book at the WOMMA conference in November. Since we last chatted, I have sold the book to Portfolio, one of the best business book publishers around and home to authors such as Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, and Don Tapscott. The new title is Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers into Fanatics and it will be available May 2. You can see the new cover below. It is now available for pre-order. More info here. I am super excited for you to read it!
P.S. News about the book tour coming soon.
January 02, 2013, 06:02 PM
How high will you fly in 2013?
Seth Godin wants you to fly closer to the sun.
As a marketer, I've been inspired over the years by Seth's advice on permission marketing, being a Purple Cow, building a tribe and other customer-related activities. In recent years, I've watched Seth morph from marketing guru to the "Oprah of Business." Seth wants us to be the best people we can be and make a difference in the world with our work. The title of Seth's new business self-help book, The Icarus Deception, refers to Greek mythology and story of Icarus. Icarus' father built him wings constructed of feathers and wax and instructed him to not fly too close to the sun as he escaped the island of Crete. The wax would melt and he would fall into the sea and drown. As Icarus was excited and curious about flying, he did fly too close to the sun, the wax melted, and he did drown in the sea.
In his new book, Seth says that today, in the connected economy, we must not fall into the trap of flying just in our comfort zone. Those who want to make a difference with their work (or art, as Seth calls it) must use bravery, insight, creativity and boldness to challenge the status quo. Seth says that creating ideas that spread and connecting the disconnected are the two pillars of our new society, and both of them require the posture of an artist. He says that art isn't a result but a journey, and the challenge of our time is to find a journey worthy of your heart and your soul.
This book really hit home for me regarding my lastest project. I will admit to you that when I thought about actually writing a business book about Lady Gaga, I was fearful. I had previously written two...how should I say...more conventional business books, and with a coauthor. Could I do the next book by myself? Would businesspeople take a book about flamboyant Lady Gaga as a case study seriously? I procrastinated on the book idea for months, hating that I didn't have the balls to just do it. Finally I realized I was going to regret not putting something into the world that I was so passionate about. I hired some great people to help me with the book: brilliant publishing consultant/agent Todd Sattersten and amazing editor Kate Sage. The book will come out in May, and regardless of how well it does or doesn't do, it is a piece of art that that I felt compelled to create and I'm glad I did.
I think this is what Seth is talking about in this book. Take action. Make a ruckus. Create art. Make connections to others.
As you are thinking and planning for this year, you should definitely read this book. I hope you will be as inspired as I was reading it. I'm already thinking of my next project. And it's a doosey : ) Thanks Seth.
BONUS: Here's the video trailer for The Icarus Deception:
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December 18, 2012, 05:29 PM
8 things I learned at Dell World 2012
Last week I was at Dell World 2012, the company's annual customer and partner conference, attended by over 6,200 people from around the world in Austin, Texas. I was given a press pass by Dell and was able to chat with company executives about the latest iniatives in social business and customer experience. I also was a panelist for two panels in the Social Networking Neighborhood on the Expo floor. It was a packed three days and here's what I took away:
- It's surprising that the 28-year old company has never had a user conference until recently.This is only the 2nd time Dell has held this conference, with the first time being last year with a much smaller audience.
- The company knows that social is everyone's job and has put many programs in place to get employees engaged. Dell has an impressive program for getting employees trained in social. Liz Bullock, who leads Dell's Social Media and Communities (SMaC) University, says over 7,500 employees have been certified in social business courses. One program pairs 150 Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the company with mentors who will help them learn how to publish and and engage audiences on social sites.
- Ideastorm, the website where Dell customers can submit ideas to improve the company's products and services, is still going strong. Over 18,323 ideas have been submitted since 2007 and over 522 of them have been implemented. Cy Jervis, a Dell customer and the top contributor to the site, was hired in 2011 to run Ideastorm for Dell.
- Dell has an amazing social media analytics tool to measure the impact of the company's social efforts. This tool measures an internal Social Net Advocacy (SNA) score overall, by product, and other business areas by looking at insights gathered from online conversations, examining sentiment, influence and other factors. The idea is that it can be used by Dell business managers for decision making. I got a demo by Rajiv Narang, Executive Director Marketing Decision Sciences and Social Media Analytics at Dell. It is amazing and I can imagine that if it was sold on the market, other companies would love to buy it.
- Dell has been using the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure customer advocacy for the last three years. According to Bobbi Dangerfield, Dell's VP of Commercial Sales Operations, the company is now able to show that improvements in NPS score directly tie to revenue growth (which is what Bain's research behind NPS is all about). Employees' peferformance plans are all linked to achievlng annual customer NPS goals.
- Dell is also using Employee NPS (eNPS), to measure employee advocacy and engagement.The company has built its people stragegy around their eNPS efforts and managers are held accountable for meeting departmental eNPS goals.
- Bill Clinton loves to talk. The President was a keynote speaker. He was almost an hour late and went way over his time limit. But he, as you already know, is a magnificant speaker and talked about how technology has aided his work with this Clinton Global Initiative, among many other topics.
- Camp Freddy rocks. Dell had the band kick off the opening party at the Austin City Limit's Moody Theater in downtown Austin. I had no idea who the band was until I saw the likes of these guys take the stage: Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers), Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots), Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Fred Durst (Lim Bizkit), Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses) and Billy Morrison (The Cult). Holy crap! Rock all-stars covering the best head-banging rock songs in history. I'm not a rock chick (Lady Gaga is more my style : ) but this concert rocked my socks off. Wow.
Dell spared no expense and put on a terrific conference for its customers and partners. Very impressed with the event as well as what the company is doing with social media and customer and employee advocacy.
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December 07, 2012, 02:04 PM
11 nuggets of wisdom from Apple CEO Tim Cook
Tim Cook has been in the Apple CEO job for 16 months and Businessweek sat down with him for a extensive interview. The article is quite long but worth the read. Here's my Cliff Notes version of the wisdom he imparted:
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- "In creating these great products we focus on enriching people’s lives—a higher cause for the product."
- "You know, we want to really enrich people’s lives at the end of the day, not just make money. Making money might be a byproduct, but it’s not our North Star."
- "That’s a part of our base principle, that we will only do a few things. And we’ll only do things where we can make a significant contribution. I don’t mean financially. I mean some significant contribution to the society at large."
- "Creativity is not a process...It’s people who care enough to keep thinking about something until they find the simplest way to do it."
- "Creativity and innovation are something you can’t flowchart out...A lot of companies have innovation departments, and this is always a sign that something is wrong when you have a VP of innovation or something. You know, put a for-sale sign on the door."
- "Everybody in our company is responsible to be innovative, whether they’re doing operational work or product work or customer service work."
- "The most important things in life, whether they’re personal or professional, are decided on intuition."
- "I despise politics. There is no room for it in a company. ...No bureaucracy. We want this fast-moving, agile company where there are no politics, no agendas."
- "We want ideas coming from all of our 80,000 people, not five or three. A much smaller number of people have to decide and edit and move forward, but you want ideas coming from everywhere. You want people to explore."
- "So I’ll walk around our stores. You can learn a tremendous amount in a store. I get a lot of e-mails and so forth, but it’s a different dimension when you’re in a store and talking to customers face to face."
- "Not allowing yourself to become insular is very important—maybe the most important thing, I think, as a CEO."
November 17, 2012, 01:21 PM
The making of a word of mouth-worthy keynote: WOMMA Summit 2012
"Give them something to talk about."
That's one of the lessons from Lady Gaga that I shared in my keynote, based on my upcoming book Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers Into Fanatics (formerly Monster Business) (May 2013), at the WOMMA Summit earlier this week in Las Vegas. It's also something I tried to apply to my keynote. And that is how this happened:
After I spoke about Gaga's strategy of focusing on just 1% of her fans --the diehard superfans -- to engender passionate loyalty, and shared the six lessons of how she engages them, Gaga herself took the stage to perform a few numbers. Ok, it wasn't really Gaga, but it was the next best thing. It was Derrick Barry, female impersonator extraordinaire. Derrick has been a Top 40 finalist on America's Got Talent for his Britney Spears impersonation, but he also does an amazing Gaga. I heard later that some people thought, impossibly, that Gaga herself might actualy be there because of the "special entertainment" tease in the session description and because WOMMA President Suzanne Fanning told the audience earlier in the day that "the session will be talked about for years." And other attendees told me that they had no idea that our Gaga was a man, until I introduced him at the end of the performance as "Mr. Derrick Barry."
I am a huge fan of RuPaul's Drag Race and to have a drag queen/female impersonator of Derrick's level be part of one of my keynotes was amazing. Thanks to Brad Fay of the Keller Fay Group for challenging me to make this talk one of the most talked about I have ever done and brainstorming this idea. And thanks to Virginia Miracle and Jim Rudden of Spredfast, who sponsored the talk, and helped make this whole thing happen. Thanks to Suzanne and the WOMMA staff for supporting the idea.
Gaga is one of the best word-of-mouth marketers I have ever seen. She gives her Little Monsters and the rest of us lots to talk about. I have been so inspired by Gaga's creativity and risk-taking in all of her endeavors. Examples in my upcoming book of how she has gotten people talking include:
- The meat dress that she wore to 2010 MTV Video Music Wards to draw attention to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell,"
- The egg-shaped "vessel" that an alien-looking Gaga emerged from at the 2011 Grammy Awards show to draw attention to her new song and album, Born This Way. The performance was meant to symbolize the birth of a new race of people who are free of predujice and judgement.
- Her perfume, Fame, that she insisted had to be different from anything in the market. She pushed Coty, the fragrance manufacturer, to invent a new technology that would allow the perfume to be black in the bottle but spray on clear.
So the lesson here is to look at everything you do in your business, from the product to the marketing to the customer service, and push yourself to make it word of mouth-worthy. Make sure you are giving your best customers lots of reasons to talk about you to others. After all, they are your best sales force.
BONUS: See more pictures of the keynote and Derrick on the WOMMA Facebook page.
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October 17, 2012, 11:25 AM
Preview of my keynote at upcoming WOMMA Summit
I'm a long-time supporter of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). It is the premier community of marketers focused on word of mouth marketing. I was on the very first board back in 2006.I an honored to be doing a keynote for their annual Summit again. Here's a preview of my talk which is based on my upcoming book, Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers Into Fanatics (formerly Monster Business). Hope to see you there!
October 08, 2012, 11:56 PM
My new book: Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers Into Fanatics
I want to tell you about a new project I have been working on.
After coauthoring two books on customer loyalty, I have decided to write another one, this time as a solo effort and from an angle that you wouldn’t expect.
The new book is called Monster Loyalty: How Lady Gaga Turns Followers Into Fanatics.
Why Lady Gaga? Because she is quite frankly one of the best loyalty marketers I have ever seen.
I first wrote about this topic in February 2010 for this blog with a post entitled “Loyalty Lessons from Lady Gaga.” It was the most retweeted and passed-along post I had ever written in my seven years of blogging. When celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton retweeted it, I realized that I was onto something.
I began adding Gaga as a case study in my keynote speaking and got a terrific response from my audiences. People told me that they did not realize all of things she was doing to engage fans and that learning about her as a person and what she has accomplished helps them think about their own customers in a different way.
I was intrigued by the fact that some of the largest consumer companies in the world, like Coca-Cola, are benchmarking Gaga's engagement with fans and are bringing her manager, Troy Carter, to their companies to speak with their about her strategies.
After I became well versed in Gaga’s fan loyalty, BBC Radio in London interviewed me about her marketing abilities when her third album, Born This Way was released in May 2011. It was then that the idea for the book was born as well. I call it Monster Loyalty, because I want to detail how to create “Little Monster”-like loyalty (“Little Monsters” is the name that Gaga has given her fans). And I want to encourage readers to create "monster loyalty" of their own.
I've been working on this book since I left Ant's Eye View in September 2011. I am excited to announce that we are doing a limited release of the book at the WOMMA Summit on November 12 where I will be doing a keynote. Full release of the book will be May 2, 2013. It is available for pre-order now.
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August 27, 2012, 09:53 AM
5 types of social media strategies
The awesome marketing cartoonist Tom Fishburne's commentary on social media strategies:
It's important to consider not just the merits of social media in general but also how social media can be used in particular. Social media is not a magic bullet. It’s an enabler. Social media won’t make an antisocial brand suddenly social. But it can facilitate and amplify the role that brands play with their audiences.
Which strategy are you employing?
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August 15, 2012, 10:51 AM
How to ride a meme to create word of mouth
Ann Handley is not impressed.
Ann is the Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs and yesterday she starred in 10 photos posted to company's Facebook page. The photos were a takeoff on the "McKayla is not impressed" meme that parodied US Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney’s hilariously sour expression after settling for a silver medal in the women’s vault final. Already getting lots of likes, comments, shares and tweets, Ann's photos are creating buzz for MarketingProfs.
Riding a meme can be a great short-term buzz spreader. It shows that your organization is fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. It also gives your fans and evangelists one more thing to spread to their networks about you.
Another example is the "Sh*t [People] Say" meme which spawned business versions for HOW Magazine, Sanuk Footwear, and 325 Media Group.
One caution: Be fast. Memes have a short half-life so jump on them quickly.
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June 28, 2012, 06:14 PM
Dell Customer Service Think Tank Recap
This past Monday in Austin, I moderated a Customer Service Think Tank that was hosted by Dell. Companies such as Intuit, Citrix, Nationwide and Wells Fargo as well as customer experience experts Liz Strauss, Becky Carroll, and Susan Abbott were in attendance. We discussed challenges and best practices in social service, internal issues, mobile, tools and technology, and more. We also talked about trends and the future of service.
Find the graphic recordings, tweets, photos and videos of the event here. . Thanks to Dell for inviting me to be part of the event!
June 22, 2012, 12:25 PM
Tune in to the Dell Customer Service Think Tank, Mon 6/25
If you want to get the latesting thinking, best practies, and trends in Customer Service, Dell will be livestreaming a Think Tank that will be held in Austin this Monday. I will be moderating an esteemed group of customer service practitioners from various companies, such as Intuit, Citrix, Nationwide and Wells Fargo as well as customer experience experts Liz Strauss and Becky Carroll.
You can follow the event in Twitter at #WinningService, and tune into the live-stream to listen in live.
Agenda:
9:00 -10:00 am (all times in CST): Welcome, introductions, review goals for the day
10:00 - 11:15am: Social Service. How to integrate social into the service mix, how to scale social service, how to deliver consistent service across social and traditional channels. We will discuss the challenges with social service as well as solutions and best practices.
11:30am - 12:30pm: Internal Challenges. How to bring together customer service, marketing, PR and corporate communications for the good of the customer experience. How organizational culture and values affect customer service. How to get the rest of the business to see service as a sales tool. We will discuss internal service challenges as well as solutions and best practices.
1:30 - 2:45 pm: Break-out topics. We will use this time to break out into small groups to discuss topics that the group is most interested in, unconference-style. Topics could include: mobile, metrics, tools and technology, etc.
3:00 - 4:00pm: The Future of Service: What will customer service look like 3-5 years from now? What are the game-changing trends that will affect how we deliver service? How will we best prepare and capitalize on these changes?
4:00 - 4:30pm– Closing remarks
Hope you can join us!
May 21, 2012, 03:34 PM
5 surprising things about word of mouth marketing
Social media marketing is still all the rage, but an important new book out from Ed Keller and Bray Fay reminds marketers where and how customers are actually talking about brands,services and companies. From their book, "The Face-to-Face Book: Why Real Relationships Rule in a Digital Marketplace," here's 5 important things you need to know before putting that integrated marketing plan together:
- 90% of all conversations about brands happen offline. Ed and Brad's company Keller Fay has been tracking Americans' conversations, a new sample of 700 people every week since 2006, and have found that the majority of brand conversations happen offline: face-to-face (76%) and on the phone (14%). Online conversations only make up 8% of total conversations.
- Online conversations and offline conversations are not the same. Research shows that the people who talk about brands offline are different than the people who talk about brands online, especially in age. Also the types of brands dictate where most conversations happen: Brands that get the most online WOM skew toward those that offer uniqueness, and thus encourage people to express opinions as a way of signaling their own uniqueness and social status. Offline sharing had more to do with expressing emotions like satisfaction and excitement.
- It doesn't take high-tech, innovative products to get people talking. Keller Fay's TalkTrack research shows that products that consumers use in their everyday lives are the brands that get the most talk-value. Apple might have the coolest products but Coke products are the most ubiquitous.
- Traditional marketing methods still matter.The TalkTrack study finds that about 25% of all consumer conversations about brands involve one consumer telling another about an advertisement that he or she has seen. Another 30% of conversations mention retail displays, coupons, direct mail and public relations. Pretty old school, huh?
- Most word of mouth is positive. Keller Group's research shows that overall, only 8% of brand conversations are truly negative, and 66% of brand conversations are truly positive. Another 11% is neutral, and 15% is a mix of positive and negative. Also, positive WOM is more credible than negative WOM. When people hear something positive about a brand, 66% of them assign a high credibility rating to it, rating it 9 or 10 on a scale of 0-10. Only 47% of people give the same credibility rating to negative opinions about brands.
BONUS: To hear more about the findings in the book, check out the video interview Ed Keller did with the Wall Street Journal.
March 13, 2012, 02:24 PM
Get me a Kony 2012, stat!
This cartoon
from our friend Tom Fishburne, "marketoonist" extrordinaire, was perfectly timed this week. With the Kony 2012 video becoming the most viral video of all time -- 100 million views in 6 days -- I'm wondering if it has renewed demands by the C-suite that their team get them a viral video ASAP.Smart marketers know that producing a video that spreads like Kony 2012 is like catching lightening in a bottle. You can try it, but the odds are stacked against you.
March 09, 2012, 11:31 AM
Awkward conversation starters for SXSW
Here's something my team at Ant's Eye View put together for SXSW, which starts today.
February 06, 2012, 10:30 AM
Playbooks and visual explanations
By the time the New York Giants and the New England Patriots took the field Sunday for their Super Bowl matchup, the players on both teams had read, re-read and rehearsed their respective game playbooks dozens, if not hundreds of times. They'd studied each play via multiple diagrams and photographs, stats and descriptions of assignments for every player on the field.
A playbook is an apt metaphor for any business team that needs concise, how-to plans to deal with the complexity of systems, processes and moving variables, especially with social business. Whether it's for one of the world's largest companies or one a fraction of its size, a playbook quickly becomes a go-to reference for learning, planning and doing.
I've discovered this by quietly leading a playbook practice for the past year at Ant's Eye View, and it's been some of the best fun i've ever had. I've been building a team that works with clients to gather as much data, knowledge and practices about social business inside a company, then we distill all of that data into a visually rich, how-to playbook. Many of the playbooks we're producing are stunning in the breadth of their scope and design approach.
Today, too, we're announcing that David J. Neff is joining our playbook team as a senior consultant. He's a well-regarded figure in social media, especially in Austin. He wrote a must-read book for non-profits on preparing for the social age. Combine that with experience in documentary filmmaking and helping non-profits like the American Cancer Society enter the social era, Dave will make a great addition to our burgeoning team.
Bonus: Bill Belichik's playbook from Super Bowl XXV when he was the Giants' defensive coordinator.
February 01, 2012, 02:27 PM
People trust people
[Click on chart to see larger version.]
The latest edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer study just came out showing CEO's in the dog house when it comes to being trusted. Who do people trust? Academic and tech experts, sure.
But the biggest movers in the study are "a person just like me" and "regular employee."
Look at your 2012 marketing plan.
- Are you providing ways for your customers to get together in-person and online to encourage word of mouth?
- Are you showcasing your best employees in social media, at conferences, and at private events with customers?
Source: 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer study
December 21, 2011, 10:29 PM
FedEx's apology: expertly delivered
We've seen this before: 1) company makes an egregious service mistake and is outed by a customer via a YouTube video, 2) video goes viral, 3) mainstream media picks up the story and amplifies it, 4) PR nightmare begins.
This week's culprit is FedEx. A California FedEx driver is caught on a security-camera video flinging a package containing a computer monitor over the fence of a gated Southern California house. At no time does the driver attempt to ring the bell for delivery. Just a toss over the fence, and he jumps back into his truck. In two days, the video has over three million views.
News media around the world have jumped on the story and FedEx public relations is in a world of hurt.
However, what we haven't seen before is the speed in a company's response to the PR hit. In less than 48 hours after the video is posted, FedEx has gone to YouTube to acknowledge the video, and explain that this behavior is, in their words "Absolutely. Positively Unacceptable." A senior VP from the company says the company has apologized to the customer, has replaced the monitor and is building this example into their training programs as a "constant reminder of the importance of earning -- and keeping -- [customers'] trust with every single delivery."
This is a terrific lesson for companies in how to respond quickly and expertly to these types of fast-moving, negative customer service stories. Nice job, FedEx.
November 28, 2011, 02:38 PM
The simplest definition of word of mouth marketing
Nice video from WOMMA on the basics of word of mouth marketing.
