Andy Sernovitz: This One’s For You

Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated. In French its sérendipicité but also heureux hasard, “fortunate chance.”

And that my dears is the very definition of Social Media. Fortunate chance. Random reward. Luck on steroids. In the old (analog) days, the answer to “What are the odds?” would be a rueful chuckle. The only way to increase your possibilities of connecting, whether in business, opportunities, love, relationships, insights, anything, was either to up the elbow grease via traditional networking or bury a statue of St. Jude in the backyard.

Today in our Kevin-Bacon-World, serendipity now gets an upgrade. I call it “Strategic Serendipity” and when I teach Social Media workshops, this phrase gets a nod from newbies to experts alike. When you use Social Media effectively (note that vital word), what you’re doing is greatly increasingly the odds of stumbling across exactly who you want to stumble across:

* If you’re writing a book, agents, publishers and writing experts show up
* If you’re looking for a job, the right contact, the opportunities show up — including some you never imagined
* If you’re running a business and need help, the right virtual admin, the right CPA, the right insurance agent show up — and maybe even partnership and joint venture opportunities

Obviously this list could stretch to the end of the page. I cannot tell you how many people, opportunities and fruitful insights have come my way via Social Media. But make no mistake. Strategic Serendipity is no random, hippy-dippy flinging of one’s personal brand or business into the Universe. Yes, your personal message-in-a-bottle is floating quixotically in the tumultuous seas of Social Media. But you have a choice about when, where and in what direction you want it to bobble. You don’t have to toss it willy-nilly into the world. You can pick your ocean. For example, if you’re into music and entertainment and seeking fans, labels, producers, then you’d want to throw your bottle into the sea that’s MySpace. You’d tightly target your message so it’s immediately engaging to the people who find it washing up on shore. You research the influential beachcombers, learning where their favorite sandy patch is and when they’re out roaming.

Be prepared also, for whatever shows up. Often it’s not the way you imagined it. But even more often, it’s far more intriguing.

For example, I seldom use the Facebook “People You May Know” tool. Although I probably should be more concerned about pumping up my numbers of Facebook friends, I’d actually rather spend time trying to clip Mr. Pupper’s claws. But on this particular Sunday, I was doing some research for a project and needed to check out the filters on that feature. I checked a bunch and started to scroll. And there, many rows down were my fellow graduates of Nicolet High School, Glendale, Wisconsin. And one of them was (drumroll): Andy Sernovitz, Word-of-Mouth pioneer and master, bestselling author and someone I’d long wanted to meet. And for god’s sakes, he too was a Nicolet Knight. I pinged him. He responded. I was thrilled.

But it doesn’t end there.

The very next morning, I got a stunned message from Andy. Newly transplanted to Austin, he’d just met for the first time with genius graphic designer Cindy Friedman of Sparkle Creative. They discussed his projects, her background and work. Then she handed him MY business card, which Cindy just happened to have designed.

“Oh my god!” says Andy. “We just connected yesterday.”

Now I don’t know what the Universe has in mind for Andy Sernovitz and me. But I will discount nothing. We both have books coming out. I’m wondering if we should call on another Nicolet grad — book tour pro Ken Wilson (who works with Janet Evanovich, among others) to help us do our F2F tours.

There is an art and a science to putting the tools and technologies of Social Media to intelligent use. A few tips to tap into Strategic Serendipity:

* Remember the word ‘strategy.’ Before you run off and start tweeting like mad, friend your entire kindergarten class and zip through entire blogrolls, have a solid plan in mind. What do you want to achieve with your social media program? What business effect do you want to achieve? What personal effect do you want to achieve?
* Quantity versus Quality. This continues to be hotly debated in social media circles. My point of view, one that’s been reinforced recently, is that engagement is what counts, not huge networks of people who have no clue who you are. You want a healthy percentage of people who share your passion, including enough influentials to help you make things happen. But don’t always think the well-known ‘rockstars’ are the only ones to know. Many of them don’t manage their social networks anyway — all too often it’s still a “I’ll have my girl tweet your girl” world out there.
* Fish in lots of ponds. You’re far more likely to connect with a wide variety of people, networks and possibilities. One of the biggest mistakes networkers make is to spend too much time in professional networking groups. Why waste time in a pond of everybody trying to sell something? Find a pond of buyers instead.

I’d love it to hear your Strategic Serendipity stories. Please post below or email: Hello@guruofnew.com.

Was David Ogilvy the brainpower behind “The Power of Words” viral video?

I remember the day David Ogilvy came to “christen” the Chicago office of Ogilvy & Mather.

We copywriters were in tizzy. What should we be doing as the icon wound his way around the glossy new office space? We’d heard only that he would be marching through the halls, which felt a tad like the locker inspections conducted by Miss Erdlitz in 7th grade gym class.

So we flocked to ECD (Executive Creative Director) Joel Raphaelson, who was more than our fearless leader. He was also a confidante of the ad legend and would ultimately be his biographer. This was well before the Famous had an “entourage”. But if David Ogilvy had had one, Joel would have been the “E” of his posse.

“D.O. would want you to be doing what writers do. Write!”

So we geared up in (pre) Mavis Beacon mode and prepped our fingers for the coming frenzy.

Which worked just fine until …

What was that sound? Eerie music was wafting around the corridors and echoing throughout the 69th floor, making it harder to focus on Extreme Copywriting. Who wouldn’t want to peer out the doorway to see what was causing the hallway hullabaloo? BUT what if I snuck a peak just when Mr Legend was at my doorway?

In those days, well before Weimaraners roamed office halls and half soy-double foam cappuccino was served in company cafeterias, we were trained to revere the corporate rungs above us. To show disrespect to the Founder was unthinkable. (Nowadays the “Founder” is likely to be the guy who wore a full set of armor to Cal Day or who has the coolest mountain bike.)

Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore. Writers are supposed to be curious, yes? And being the youngest, newbie-est copywriter in the office, I said to hell with it and let myself fall into Full Gawk.

And there he was. The Legend. Surrounded by BAGPIPERS. Apparently someone had tried to honor his heritage by recreating the melancholy mood of a pub in Glasgow in downtown Chicago.

I decided I would be forgiven for not continuing to churn out reams of Sears Kenmore Dual Action Agitator headlines as the parade meandered past.

David Ogilvy very slightly inclined his head toward the general vicinity of the starstruck me and ever more slightly nodded.

Why am I reveling you with this ancient tale of Mad Men long gone?

Because I am both hopping-mad at the latest viral video (see below) and totally thrilled. You’ve probably seen “The Power of Words” video, as created by a UK company called Purplefeathers. It’s been shared with me umpteen times — and has garnered some 4 million + views on youtube.

And indeed, the message is awesome — as it was when David Ogilvy first conceived of it, way back in the 50′s.  It continued in its awesomeness when this concept became a short film that won in Cannes 2008.  Danny Brown has just uncovered yet another (also probably awesome) version.

So on one hand, it rocks that Ogilvy’s ‘big idea’ clearly has stood the proverbial test of time. It rocks that the concept been upgraded so beautifully to video. And it rocks that entire new generations may now be inspired by this legend’s unstoppably engaging perspective. Even the mighty efforts of today’s global giant, Ogilvy, (forever my fave agency) can’t touch what one youtube phenomenon can do to bring D.O. 2.0 to new audiences.

That is, if someone owns up to the fact that they were “inspired” by the original idea. So far, Purplefeathers has graciously thanked the Cannes winners — “Historia de un Letrero” — but no one seems to be stepping up to the plate to acknowledge anyone else. And it’s just too hard to believe that the same concept just randomly sprung from the ether. Attribution continues to be a problem, despite solutions like a Creative Commons license. Or hey, even the old-fashioned thank you.

I am also reminded that while technology brings new life and energy to media today, at the core of true genius is still a deep and often uncanny understanding of human beings. While we post-Peggy Olsons were steeped in the art of selling product, if you were fortunate enough to ever be at Ogilvy (even if you perpetually skipped Joel’s Magic Lanterns) you also learned plenty about the people who power the decisions.

Tell me. Do you think David Ogilvy deserves some credit here?

(Click here if the video doesn’t show up below)

6 Ways Pop-Up Shops Add Sizzle to your Launch.

The Pop-Up Shop trend is a retail phenomenon I’ve been tracking for years. As an evangelist for all things new, I love the way Pop-Ups celebrate a new product’s launch in unique, brand-enhancing ways:

• Create a sense of Brigadoon-like urgency (without that uber-salesy going-going-GONE feel)
• Enhance the product’s brand personality
• Create more opportunities to tap into new mobile technologies, from Augmented Reality, QRCode, new apps and even the controversial new Color
• Replace the traditional ho-hum Launch Party with a longer, more product-focused event
• Attract more (highly visual) media coverage, from social to traditional
• Allow for enhanced product demos delivered by well-trained product evangelists

Now this surprise-party-for-products has come to software via Danish software firm Podio, who launched a pop-up store on the streets of San Francisco last week. Here’s what they say about the shop:

Meet one of our founders over a coffee, get a quick demo of Podio or even a ukulele lesson. Our doors are open from 9am – 6pm Monday to Saturday.

Springwise reports: “Podio — whose social platform lets professional workers create their own work tools — entered private beta back in September. With more than 200 business applications now available for free in the Podio App Store, the service is priced at USD 99 per month for up to 25 users. Podio supports English, French, Spanish, German and Danish.“

As for me, I need that ukulele lesson bad.

E-Hole or E-Hero? You decide.

I’ve never been good with languages. But this tweet made me want to learn Dutch — or at least register for a few political conferences in Amsterdam.

The middle tweet — that of Dutch politician@FrankvderVorst — translates into:

“As you throbbingly climax for the first time I feel your juices in my mouth as if they were the nectar of love”

Happily, the pol isn’t married. So the National Enquirer need not follow him into hotels or restaurants. In fact, @Frankvdervorst says:

“Well, at least I’ve gained 20 new followers. a lot of people apparentl have needs they don’t dare to share”

Thanks to TNW.

Sympvertising Alert: Jones NY Promotes Closet Surfing for Style.

After surviving several days worth of the What Not To Wear Marathon , I was particularly psyched to hear about the launch of a new video series from fashion retailer Jones New York called JNY Style Miles. In a unique and timely display of sympvertising, Jones New York is actually encouraging women to shop in their own closets this season — in search of forgotten fashion treasures, style revivals and skirts and shirts with possible second lives.

Come Self-Improvement month (January), they’ll launch a 12-part online video series on jny.com, which aims to aid style-seeking ladies in the daunting task of looking chic on a budget. Hosted by style guru Lloyd Boston (seen on estro-shows such as The View and The Today Show), the webisodes will focus on women and their current wardrobes. Helping shoppers reevaluate the clothing they already own, Boston will teach viewers how to give new life to old pieces, with just a few key supplements from Jones New York. Shoulder pads anyone?

Guru’s Note: Bay area fashionistas can do more than merely surf for style– they can call on the local Style gurus at Urban Darling who love nothing more than roto-routering through your closet and unearthing your buried gems. Chic-Chief Corinne is near legendary in her ability to help up-the-image for that job interview or big date.

Twaddiction Alert! The new favorite on Twitter: @themediaisdying.

Everybody’s newest Twitter addiction in this season of lay-offs, dead pools, pub-downs and reorgs is @themediaisdying. So far, I’ve not managed to unearth exactly who this frequent tweeter is. All I know is his/her tweets appear to be devastatingly dead on. The media as we have known it is rapidly going poof, with old standbys and famous companies taking the hit. @themediaisdying, operating from ‘Earth’, is proportedly ‘helping flaks pitch better and update lists.’

Coming in the wake of recent events focusing on “Is Social Media Killing PR?” (Jennifer Leggio aka Mediphyter has a terrific and thoughtful post on this), it’s clear the above mentioned flaks better start roto-routing their Blackberry/iPhone addressbooks.

This cut-and-dried coverage feels radically different from the days of the dotcom era meltdown when Phil Kaplan’s F*cked Company (congratulations on your recent engagement, Phil) site regularly and comically chronicled the demise of the puffed-up, IPO-fueled e-businesses. In those days we all had a hefty case of schadenfreude as we happily watched the e-brats lose their pre-Threadless shirts and pre-Tesla test cars.

Now, while we may be fascinated by @themediaisdying and similar sites with lay-off coverage — AllthingsD and TechCrunch — I don’t think anyone is laughing all the way to the bank. (We’re too busy bailing them out)

Guru’s Note: Once you’ve followed @themediaisdying, feel free to follow me, too: @guruofnew

Shoot The Focus Groups? Not This Time.

It took more than a half-century for focus groups to die. From their invention in the 1940′s via noted sociologist Robert K. Merton through their glory days in the 80′s and 90′s, last century’s leading qualitative methodology had a great run. It wasn’t until 2005 or so, when then Yahoo CMO Cammie Dunaway plotted to ‘kill’ all the focus groups and author Douglas Rushkoff dubbed them ‘useless’ that the death knell officially sounded. Yes, there was a sputtering revival or two. (Online focus groups) But CNN finally nailed them completely with this year’s Election Coverage of perpetually undecided voters, ‘moderator’ Soledad O’Brien, and the ratings-friendly perceptual analyzer dials decorating the screen in happy primary colors.

Which is why (as a veteran Focus Group moderator and advocate) I was so surprised and gratified to read the latest news on last weekend’s wildfire VOM (Voice of Moms) aka Motrin Gate. Ad Age details the frenzied timeline plus the general take-away, including this paragraph:

Ultimately, Ms. Presnal (key Mommy blogger) said she sympathizes with J&J’s plight after having received at least two e-mails from (VP) Ms. Widmer last week. Reading from one, she noted that J&J had worked with focus groups of moms in developing the campaign.

“We listened extensively to moms, the insights about their lives, and how their pain impacts them,” Ms. Presnal said, reading from Ms. Widmer’s e-mail. She continued from the e-mail: “I think where this went wrong was the creative expression we used. … The tone was intended to be real and lighthearted, but it came off as irreverent. … We did conduct focus groups with moms. But truthfully they probably weren’t extensive enough to uncover this.”

Mon dieu! Amazingly, the ‘creative’ is getting blamed here. No quotes about how ‘useless’ or ‘dishonest’ the Focus Groups were. The only perceived glitch in the groups is that J&J believes they didn’t do enough of them.

With hundreds of Focus Groups under my moderator’s black belt, I certainly understand both the limitations of the tried-and-true and the temptation to switch to the newer, sexier Social Media Research methodologies.  I am deep into shiny new things myself: Twitter Product Parties, Hybrid Chats, Buzz Audits and Crowdsourcing Polls.  In fact, more than half of my research requests in the past 6 months have come from clients itching to jump on the intriguing Social Media Research bandwagon.  There’s good news from key social networking fronts: both Facebook and Linkedin have big plans to help researchers get uber-targeted, fresher data.

Still, I have to defend the original concept of Focus Groups, which I firmly believe is still viable — when effectively designed and conducted.

Guru’s Note:  Stay tuned for Part 2: Five tips to bring your (traditional, that is, f2f) Focus Groups into the 21st Century.

Improv Everywhere Strikes Again. This Time at JFK Airport.

Their slogan is “We Cause Scenes.” And that they did, as comedy performance masters Improv Everywhere flash-mobbed at JFK, apparently on behalf of Absolut. Their stated mission is to cause ‘chaos and joy.’ I would so love to see them do another Freeze like they did in Grand Central, only this time on a glacier as First Dude Todd Palin zips by on his snow machine.

Dentyne’s Anti-Facebook “Make Face Time” Campaign Encourages Us To Get Real.

So I was deep into editing Trend 6: The Return of Real & The Urgency of Touch for my upcoming book when I discovered this refreshing (pun intended) new campaign from gum-giant Dentyne and ad agency, McCann. The creative suggests we log off occasionally to go out and “make face time” with a friend.

“We’ve got nothing against the internet, but when people are surfing the web, they’re missing the best part of life — being together.”

It’s a compelling concept, one that reminds me a little of the YouTube phenom Free Hugs, now a user-generated-content classic with 33,644,908 views. The idea is made all the more engaging by the Make Face Time website that automatically shuts down after 3 minutes. The site also features a ‘Smiley Chamber of Doom’ intended to smash to smithereens those icons of fakery.

I’ve been kvetching lately about the importance of being a real friend during these recessionary times rather than just a Friended Friend. Then Jason Anello, Yahoo Buzz’s Ideologist, gave a great talk at the WOMMA Summit last week on the importance of connecting the online and offline worlds –and mentioned the increasing value of touch. Another project reminded me that massage therapy has been in explosive growth mode, jumping to $11 billion a year industry.

Then there was this weekend’s MotrinGate, in which Moms railed against the baby-wearing, baby-bonding experience being labeled ‘a fashion accessory.’ Mombotv.com has a nice post on this age-old practice, especially the way health workers in many developing countries promote skin to skin contact between mother and newborn.  Didn’t we all write termpapers in college citing the wire-mother-monkeys?

Author Desmond Morris says, “Something special happens when two people touch each other physically, whether it be a handshake, a pat on the back, or a slap on the face.”

Obviously I am a huge advocate of the life-changing, life-building, boundary shattering Internet. But I am also a huge advocate of getting the hell offline and LOL-ing the real way.

Does Spreading The Retail Gloom Help Us or Hurt Us?

I have very mixed feelings about an email I received from a friend early this evening.

On one hand, I appreciate the warning. I appreciate the sentiment about celebrating the holidays with family and friends, not bling and things.

But the business person in me can’t help but think that these email blasts only spread the gloom-and-doom that’s already keeping us out of the stores. Yes, we absolutely should slip the Visa cards into a drawer and head toward the mall bearing cash — a new study says 22.8% of us plan to, up from last year — or use our debit cards, like 41.5% plan to do. A return (even if possible) to the bloated excess of the boom-boom years doesn’t work either. But some of us believe firmly that innovation and new opportunities can emerge even in these highly unsettling times. These gloom and doom emails are a viral megaphone that threaten to to drown out our never-say-die American spirit.

Interestingly, the mood on the newer Social Media is much perkier. Tweeters tend to get het-up and pesky but try to share positives; bloggers get mad but share link love; Facebookers are tribal, joining groups, events, causes and status-donations. MySpacers are busy pitching their music while Ning’ers are simply passionate about their own thing. New Social Media is very different than the traditional old media world of email. Socialyzers are in-the-know junkies, wanting to be au courante 24/7. We feel our power (check my post on MotrinGate) and wield it deftly and swiftly. We’re passionately participating in this participatory media — not merely passing iffy information along as in the days of legendary email from Bill Gates, NPR, Disney, etc. If nothing else, Socialyzers want to believe we are in control; that crowdsourcing matters. After all, didn’t we just elect a new President? Traditional emailers are simply passing along the gloom-and-doom with scant hope of effecting change.

Hope and heart live on Social Media sites. Even in 140 characters life is bubbling up.

Here’s the email:

Wow, interesting times. I love gift cards but…maybe not this year.
Personally, it’s a good year to celebrate our family and friends.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
XXOO ~ Stores that informed the Security Exchange of closing plans between October 2008 and January 2009. PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Circuit City stores… most recent (? how many)

Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide are to be shuttered

Lane Bryant,, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine’s to close 150 store
nationwide

Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January

Cache will close all stores

Talbots closing down all stores

J. Jill closing all stores

GAP closing 85 stores

Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January

Wickes Furniture closing down

Levitz closing down remaining stores

Bombay closing remaining stores

Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January.

Whitehall closing all stores

Piercing Pagoda closing all stores

Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.

Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Guru’s Correction: I am thrilled to correct this — as Home Depot is one of my hang-outs. I’ve heard from them and this is very old news dating back to May.

Macys to close 9 stores after January

Linens and Things closing all stores

Movie Galley Closing all stores

Pacific Sunware closing stores

Pep Boys Closing 33 stores

Sprint/ Nextel closing 133 stores

JC Penney closing a number of stores after January

Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.

Wilson Leather closing down all stores

Sharper Image closing down all stores

K B Toys closing 356 stores

Loews to close down some stores

Dillard’s to close some stores.

Guru’s Note: I have not verified this information. It’s too depressing. I’d rather hang out at the Apple Store with the Nano Chromatix and drool over the juicy colors.

Here’s the update on store closings from Snopes.com.

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