Books, Meet Your Future: Our Choice App

If happiness is about managing expectations, then books are seriously stoked right now.

We humans were promised hoverboards and self-lacing Nikes and our bitterness knows no limits. But thanks to Push Pop Press and former Vice President Al Gore, books can rest assured that their evolution is in safe hands.

The book-app they created provides an immersive experience that brings Our Choice, Gore’s book about the solutions to climate change, to full digital life. With all the interactive multimedia (photos, video, audio, geolocation), the experience more closely resembles game play than reading.

Frankly, the environmental movement needed this shot in the arm. It has been on life support recently.

When Apple first launched the iPhone and iPad, the company messaged the products as magical and revolutionary. I now understand that positioning as less hyperbole and brand braggadocio than a statement about the promise and potential that others would help them fulfill.

Through this app, the iPad’s potential is being realized.

Oh, and by the way. The crisis of climate change is, in fact, real. And there are solutions. Alas, only if more legislators could get their hands on a iPad and take less crazy pills.
-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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- Matthew DiGirolamo

Pepsi’s Social Vending: Consumer Mousetrap?

In its apparent quest to exceed every company in the world at being “social,” PepsiCo announced that it has designed a social component into its vending machines. What was once just a mundane, transactional and (better yet) anonymous experience has now been made social by the ability to give away your friend’s valuable contact information while you “gift” them a drink.

A prototype of the “Social Vending System” debuted this week at an incredibly wonky-sounding trade show — the National Automatic Merchandising Association’s One Show in Chicago. I’m kicking myself for not requesting a media credential.

While I applaud companies for doing something truly innovative in this space (and the Pepsi Refresh Project was just that), what this vending technology seems to really be about is how to take a consumer touch-point, apply social wrapping and a piece of social cheese, and turn it into a consumer mousetrap.

At its heart, I think being a “social company” is about transforming customers into better citizens, not better consumers.

I have a different standard for what constitutes a social technology. And “Social Vending” just doesn’t meet that standard.

What do you think?

-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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- Matthew DiGirolamo

The Micro-Mantra: Three Words To Live By

Yesterday, @MariaShriver created the worldwide trending topic on Twitter – #threewordstoliveby.

This is the tweet that started the trend. And this is the one that first established the hashtag.

People all over the world have been writing their three-word life credos. Other celebrities have chimed in. Brands like Nike and AMC have advertised around it.

Maria kicked it off with an inspirational tone — “Here are three words to live by: pass it on.” — and so it continued that way for hours: tens of thousands of messages — some uplifting, others profound, a few silly — circulating around the Twittersphere.

Maria shared dozens of her favorite micro-mantras through re-tweets to her nearly 700,000 followers.  Once it became a trending topic in the United States, she encouraged her followers to make it a global phenomenon.

And then it did.

When it went completely viral, it went beyond her. Over time, the original messenger was dropped. But, surprisingly, the original positive spirit of the message remained. Well, mostly.

A little less than 24 hours later, it’s still the top trending hashtag worldwide.

So, what three words guide your life? Join the conversation.

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- Matthew DiGirolamo

Unused Cell Phones, Meet Verizon Hopeline

After some vigorous New Year’s desk organizing, I unearthed two old Blackberrys in the back of one drawer. I’m fairly certain that I kept them around because I had no idea what to do with them at the time.

While working with the Verizon Wireless team on their sponsorship of a past project, I learned that the company has a charitable program called Hopeline that recycles and refurbishes unused cell phones and accessories to support domestic violence shelters. It’s a smart idea because it transforms recycling into something even more emotionally satisfying: donating.

So, I just brought the phones down to the Verizon Wireless store yesterday and dropped them in the collection bin. Being saintly is as simple as that.

The program really has had some impressive impact and reach. From their website:

Since the launch of the cell phone recycling program, HopeLine from Verizon has:
•    Collected more than 7 million phones
•    Awarded more than $7.9 million in cash grants to domestic violence agencies and organizations throughout the country
•    Distributed more than 90,000 phones with the equivalent of more than 300 million minutes of free wireless service to be used by victims of domestic violence
•    Properly disposed of 1.6 million no-longer-used wireless phones in an environmentally sound way
•    Kept more than 200 tons of electronic waste and batteries out of landfills

So now you know how to put an end to your own cell phone desk cemetery.

-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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Groupon: Get to Selfless Ends By Selfish Means

The Wall Street Journal’s Bari Weiss spent some time with Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason and wrote a flattering profile on the company.

Two key takeaways for all social marketers and entrepreneurs:

1. Build a business model, an organizational culture, and customer relationships — in other words, a brand — around one clear, essential organizing principle. For Apple, one could easily say that the company stands for revolutionary design. I was impressed by how well Andrew Mason was able to articulate what Groupon was fundamentally about at such an early stage: surprise. It’s the sign of a visionary leader.

Irreverence is part of daily life in the downtown office. Last Wednesday, someone brought a monkey dressed in a Santa suit. This past summer, Mr. Mason paid a male actor to strut around the office in a tutu for a week—totally mute. Less outrageously, the company has no dress code and no vacation policy, which Mr. Mason credits to Netflix.

“The way people think about jobs, the nine to five . . . it’s the same routine over and over again,” he says. “Groupon as a company—it’s built into the business model—is about surprise. A new deal that surprises you every day. We’ve carried that over to our brand, in the writing and the marketing that we do, and in the internal corporate culture.”

2. Groupon started — and failed — as a social action platform. It was a big idea, but it was too big, too abstract, too idealistic. Groupon caught fire once it focused on satisfying a basic “selfish” need that people already had (to save money on things they want to buy) in a social way. Because it has become a powerful business platform that enables “collective buying power” among millions of users, Groupon can now be used as a powerful change-making platform. In Andrew Mason’s words, “the world-changing ends up being a side-effect.” Groupon’s $15 for a $25 Kiva loan deal was a notable example of its potential to be a force for good.

Like so many other successful tech ventures, Groupon grew out of an earlier, less successful idea. ThePoint.org was a website for organizing campaigns like protests or fund-raising drives. And, like Groupon, it was built around the tipping point concept: The campaign was only carried out if enough people committed.

But ThePoint never took off. “The big problem with ThePoint is that it’s this huge, abstract idea. You can use this platform to do anything from boycotting a multinational company to getting 20% off a subscription to the Economist,” says Mr. Mason, who dropped out of the University of Chicago’s master’s program in public policy to build ThePoint with $1 million investment from Eric Lefkofsky, a former boss and serial investor who later helped found Groupon.

One lesson Mr. Mason learned is that for a site to be successful, it needs to be simple and easy to use. ThePoint, says Mr. Mason “was overly complex and we needed to pick . . . one application of the larger abstract idea and execute it really, really well.”

Another was a broader lesson about the nature of do-gooder ventures. “One of the things I realized . . . is how few success stories there are in websites or products or businesses that exist primarily for an altruistic purpose. Most of the time, the things that really change the world exist for something fundamentally selfish and then the world-changing ends up being a side-effect of that. Whether its Facebook, Flickr, YouTube or Twitter, all those things have made the world better by the way that they allow people to share information. But that’s not why they were created. It was so they could share pictures and videos of scantily clad women or kittens or whatever. And Groupon’s the same way. And it caught me by surprise.”

Full article here.

-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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Why CNN=Politics Is Not A Smart Brand Statement

With Larry King’s CNN career coming to a close tonight after 25 years, and the network experiencing its worst ratings year ever, I’ve been thinking through discussions I’ve had with people recently about the CNN brand and the way it plays out in practice through its programming.

For starters, I’ve never liked “CNN=Politics” as a brand statement. A few colleagues I respect greatly have argued in private conversations that CNN is a “well branded” media company and that the equals politics formula positions the network as the go-to source for political news and coverage, particularly during prime-time election seasons.

While I admire how CNN has been disciplined and consistent in the execution of that brand statement, I actually think it does more harm than good.

And here’s my logic. I like music, generally speaking, but what really excites me is hearing a new album, learning some tour news, or seeing a live show from The National or Arcade Fire, my favorite bands.

While I like sports of all kinds, and will casually watch most televised sporting events if I have extra time on my hands, I am intensely passionate about the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Giants, my favorite teams.

And the same goes for politics. People may take an interest in politics, but they are more likely to be fired up by their chosen political party, their favorite political personality, or a specific point of view that they subscribe to.

General interest is not a strong enough driver in today’s digital world where information is a cheap commodity, available anywhere and everywhere. To be successful now — and success is defined as increasing ratings and advertising dollars, which is about audience loyalty and depth of engagement — you must specialize. You must have a strong point of view. You must take a stand. You must cater to a well defined audience. You must tap into a tribal identity. You must focus everything you broadcast through a sharp lens.

Trying to be all things for all people, toeing the middle line, and owning an entire category (i.e. CNN=Politics) is a recipe for mediocrity and, ultimately, failure. At the very least, it only inspires yawns. The middle ground only worked when accessing and reaching audiences was monopolized by a few major newspapers and television channels.

Reaching general audiences is no longer enough to create lasting value for a media brand. Cultivating a targeted audience, burning them up, and turning them into deeply engaged fans and followers is where programming needs to be focused.

But it’s not surprising that CNN just issued a statement ahead of the year-end Nielsen’s ratings that emphasized its total reach, which is really just a happy face on a sad clown. By all metrics that matter, CNN doesn’t inspire the same loyalty, the same passion, the same intense following as its competitors, FOX News and MSNBC.

While CNN has been busy standing for politics, FOX News and MSNBC have been standing strong for conservative and progressive values, respectively. MSNBC’s new “Lean Forward” branding campaign shows they get where the industry needs to move:

To lean forward is to think bigger, listen closer, fight smarter, and act faster. To celebrate the best ideas, no matter where they come from. To dare to dream of a nation that’s better tomorrow than it is today.

This progressive mission statement of sorts helps MSNBC stake a contrary position, establish a relevant point of view, and push back against FOX News’s conservative worldview. We can argue separately about whether this move away from a neutral, middle ground media position is good for our country and our democracy.

But one thing is for sure: the bland middle is fast becoming a media no man’s land and a bad place to make money.
-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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Ego-Friendly the Best Way to Sell Eco-Friendly

I love the living Christmas tree concept as a marketing case study for how to sell green/environmentally-responsible/eco-friendly products and services.

The trick is: sell them as ego-friendly.

Notice how often the customers who are interviewed mention the “selling points” of valuing life, family, holiday traditions, emotional connections and personal convenience.

Just because a product or service happens to be eco-friendly, doesn’t mean it has to be primarily sold that way.  Some people will respond to the “environmental aspect” — as one customer indicates — but you will more likely appeal to the majority of potential customers by positioning your product or service as ego-friendly.

Now, I want one.

-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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Pop Up and Prosper

As someone who has seen firsthand the power of experiential marketing, I’m a big believer in the pop-up store as a brand engagement tool. I wrote about Levi’s “workshop” model back in July.

Matt Townsend investigates the marketing trend in Bloomberg Businessweek:

The P&G store, which drew 14,000 visitors in the 10 days it was open, represents a new iteration in the evolution of the pop-up. The first generation of stores, which cropped up in the early part of the decade, were often little more than shelving and cash registers in empty mall space with a makeshift sign draped over the old tenant’s marquee. They opened for a month, then disappeared. Many retailers have since hopped on the trend and upgraded the format with more spending on in-store displays and fancy signage to blend in better with their mall neighbors. And while pop-ups can bloom in any season, the holidays remain an ideal time for temporary stores, given the heavy foot traffic.

Just in the past couple of months, I’ve learned of countless pop-up store initiatives that are in the works for major consumer brands.

-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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Don’t Forget Men in Cause Marketing

The 2010 PRWeek/Barkley PR Cause Survey was just released with a male-centric headline. Men, the survey discovered, are just as likely to support cause marketing programs as women.

Though a handful of brands have directly or indirectly targeted men in their cause efforts, they are in the minority. This means there is a significant opportunity to engage a demographic that is highly invested – and interested – in supporting cause efforts, finds this year’s PRWeek/Barkley PR Cause Survey. For the first time, this year’s study polled 536 men about their attitudes toward cause marketing, in addition to 79 marketers about their companies’ cause marketing programs. Of those surveyed this year, 88% believe it’s important for companies to support a cause, compared to the 91% of women that responded the same way in last year’s survey.

I understand it’s the job of publicists to make news by teasing out a surprising angle in a study like this, but what surprises me most is that it took a national survey to find that men also connect on a deeper personal level with companies that are good citizens.

Sure, men and women may relate to different kinds of issues or causes based on their own gendered experience. And they may have different reasons for supporting a given cause.

But it has never been my experience as a marketer (and, well, as a human) that only women are interested in brands exhibiting a higher level of social consciousness.

Sure, if you brand a cause with the color pink then men will get that they are not being “targeted” and will tune out. But pink does not equal purpose. Promoting a brand’s core values cuts across gender. The desire of people to live with a deeper sense of purpose — a purpose motive — is not gendered. It’s a universal pursuit.

This is only breaking news to those who don’t understand the real power of cause marketing: uniting people with a common sense of purpose.

Supporting a cause as citizens — and as consumers — can lift us all up to the level of humanity.

-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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Best Companies Deliver Profits and Purpose

For the last few days, I’ve been cleaning up from my work on The Women’s Conference 2010. It was a massive event — 6 days, 7 events, 160 speakers, 70 sponsors and partners, 300 exhibitors, 350 credentialed media, and more than 30,000 attendees. I was enormously proud to be a part of it.

If you have worked on any event, you will understand this statement: I didn’t get a chance to see any of the speeches or conversations live. It was all just a behind-the-scenes blur.

I’m getting a chance to watch it all now on-demand and I was particularly charmed by this main stage conversation moderated by Brian Williams and featuring Nike Co-Founder and Chairman Phil Knight, Starbucks President & CEO Howard Schultz, and New York Times Columnist Nick Kristof.

The conversation was titled “Values, Vision and Voice: Men Who Get It” and it covered topics ranging from the influence of women, lessons learned and finding purpose in one’s career to business, philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.

The discussion builds slowly but all of the panelists seemed to get into their respective “zones” after Brian Williams introduced and played the Nike Foundation’s captivating and inspiring Girl Effect animated film. The video is not new but it generated quite a buzz during and after the conference. Attendees raved about it, and for good reason.

For me, the highlight of the conversation was Howard Schultz drawing meaning from a childhood story. When he was seven, his father broke his leg and hip, was unable to work, and lost his job. Schultz referred poetically to the experience of being injured and unable to work, with no health insurance and no workman’s compensation, as the “fracturing of the American Dream”.

This experience, Schultz notes, informed his business philosophy and inspired him to create a company that delivered not just profits, but a strong sense of purpose, too.

I never imagined on any level that one day I would be building or be responsible for a company the size of Starbucks. But I thought early on that we should imprint the values of Starbucks in a way that would make my father proud of a company that perhaps he never got a chance to work for. And so Starbucks became the first company in America to provide comprehensive health insurance to every single employee, including part timers. What I’ve learned over the years is that you can build a company with a conscience that makes a profit, that does good in the world, that attracts new employees…if you can build a company or brand that has a reservoir of trust — not because of its product but because of its values — then it endures.

I respect and admire each of the men involved (who knew Brian Williams was such a cut up?), but I thought Schultz was the star on that stage.
-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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