The Semantic Web: It's what they say it is...

Note: Image is a real-time search on Twitter for Manchester United

With the rise in consumer-generated content – an increase in people willing to create it and wanting to consume it – we are going to see the creation of something called the “Semantic Web”. This means the web isn’t going to be based, solely, on set content like it is now, but rather around people’s sentiment around topics, ideas, organizations, people, etc.

We already can begin to see the rise of the semantic web through things like Twitter, where we can search real-time sentiment on a topic. For instance, I learned about Michael Jackson’s death not on a news site, but rather on Twitter! We even see Twitter being integrated into Bing’s search results.

Even sites like GoodGuide, which help consumers find healthy, socially responsible products, are establishing the semantic web by having people rate products they feel are the best.

Or who needs to research a product, when they can use Facebook Connect to message all their friends who have the same product and ask them how they like it and would they recommend buying it!

This is a very interesting concept to take into consideration by brands as the web and how we use it continues to evolve!

So, what does this mean for brands?

Less control of external communcation!

What Marty Neumeier says about brand, “It’s not what you say it is. It’s what they say it is” is only going to become more and more prevalent as consumers become less and less dependent on established web content/messaging and look more to sentiment from friends, family and other consumers to make their buying decisions!

We already know that 74% of consumers’ purchase decisions are influenced by the opinions of others, and online social network users are 3 times more likely to trust their peers over advertising when making a decision. In addition we know people trust their own experience (58%), followed by word-of-mouth (51%) when short-listing brands. And only 17% consider advertising in this process! (note: figures from Bazaarvoice)

So what does this tell us?

It tells us that delivering on the brand promise consistently and continuously, through product/services, customer care (post-purchase experiences), new innovations and corporate responsibility are becoming a brand’s strongest force when influencing purchase decisions!

This is because these elements stimulate word-of-mouth. Or in terms of the semantic web: stimulating sentiment that, if done correctly, is consistent with how the organization wants to be perceived!

So let’s re-look at the brand experience cycle I wrote about in September:

Making promises is something the organization usually creates for the brand. But as the semantic web begins to take charge, the brand’s customers will be the dominant ones making those promises!

So, it becomes more and more essential that brands do everything they can to establish their brand internally to be able to prove their brand through actions and delivering the brand promise to its customers. This will help influence how customers will communicate the brand and its promise!

The Purposeful Organization: TOMS Shoes

I have fallen in love with an organization after my own heart! An organization that is driven solely by purpose and is seeing tremendous success because of it!

This amazing company is TOMS shoes.

TOMS is a shoe company built on a one for one program - meaning that for every pair of shoes someone buys, they give a pair of shoes to a person in need!! What a meaningful purpose!

Here’s a brief video of Blake Mycoskie, founder and CEO of TOMS shoes, talking about how the company began:

Here is an organization that is truly built with purpose. If they aren’t selling shoes, they are unable to deliver their promise!

The product TOMS is selling is a means to accomplishing its brand promise – the shoes are not the brand. Rather, the brand is about supplying shoes on a regular basis giving people a chance to avoid disease and serious injuries, even giving children the opportunity to go to school (as some countries don’t allow children to go to school without shoes).

It is their purpose that has enabled them to sell close to 500,000 pairs of shoes, since its inception in 2006 without any advertising. Actually, I shouldn’t even say sold, because that’s not how TOMS measures success. It measures success in terms of how many shoes they have been able to give to people in need! Here we can see that the purpose is so ingrained in the fabric of this organization, that their success metrics reflect its purpose!

TOMS is a fabulous example of how brand purpose can build a strong organization from the inside and out!

Half a million shoes purchased without major advertising. That speaks volumes to how moving the purpose is – it’s so moving that everyone who hears about this organization wants to tell someone about it. When someone comments on the TOMS shoes they are wearing, they become so excited to tell people the story behind their shoes (I have become one of those people, hence I’m sharing this amazing brand story with all of you!!) making advertising completely unnecessary.

People with Ivy League educations and senior level backgrounds from Nike & Asics are jumping at the opportunity to work at TOMS, knowing they’re not going to make the same hefty salaries had they continued on their path. But this is what purpose evokes: passion and motivation to deliver on the brand promise!

After working at TOMS shoes for a year, you are given the opportunity to go on a shoe drop (this is where TOMS shoes are given to those in need first hand) compliments of TOMS. They have found this to be a great way to further motivate & ingrain the purpose of what TOMS is all about in the minds of its employees. Going back to my post the other week on internal branding, this exemplifies a great way to engage staff in the organization’s purpose first hand.

Blake notes in the video that they need to be a profit oriented organization and charge a premium on its shoes in order to attract top talent, as it is the people who deliver the promise by creating the shoes and keeping them current so they can sell more, which enables them to supply more shoes to those in need around the world!

This is a great example of how an organization sees profit as a means to its purpose, rather than profit being the purpose. I believe if more organizations took to this philosophy, we would see much greater initiatives coming out of organizations.

The devotion and love held by TOMS’ employees, interns & volunteers for the organization’s purpose is what helps spread the story to consumers and equally motivating them!

The purpose is so moving, that it has encouraged customers to find their own way to get involved. Customers have hosted parties to customize shoes, they even take pictures of themselves in their TOMS and post them to Facebook and/or the company’s website to show how they are wearing them.

Here’s a picture my friend, Dylan, took of his new TOMS shoes!

Here is another picture of a happy customer from the TOMS Facebook page:

People are also getting involved in events like “One Day Without Shoes” which happened last Thursday, where people were asked to go a day without shoes to raise awareness of the importance of what a simple pair of shoes can do for someone.

I participated in this day, with a colleague from work, Adam Bracegirdle, and we were amazed to learn how much we took shoes for granted – and it didn’t help that it snowed in Calgary last Thursday either - haha!

Here’s a picture of me at work without shoes! It’s definitely an odd sensation leaving your home without shoes – you become so much more aware of your surroundings as you try and avoid stones while walking around!

But from this event, I became even more attached to the TOMS brand that I bought a second pair of shoes and am going to try and volunteer for a shoe drop! So, it’s clear that with a meaningful purpose and allowing customers to embrace it on their own terms only furthers their devotion to the brand!

From this amazing brand example, it is clear to see that having a meaningful purpose drives your organization forward internally, and it also creates external love and admiration for the brand by its customers! Personally, I will continue buying shoes, so that TOMS can continue its purpose giving shoes to those in need!!

If you want to give a pair of shoes (and receive a pretty awesome pair as thanks) go to www.toms.com.

Got to love a brand with purpose!!
Here are a couple more shots I took on the "One Day Without Shoes":

My feet on the walk to work:

Adam rocking his bare feet at work:

Adam's feet managed to stay clean all day, where as mine went black! I think his feet are meant to be without shoes - even though they became icicles throughout the day!

Brands: Not My Friends But My Enablers!

Note: Image created by James Pedrazzini

Here is my latest post for Experience Matters:

Last year, the ENGAGEMENTdb Report came out proving the more socially engaged a brand is the better it performs in both conversations (building consistent brand perceptions) and financial performance. And last month, eMarketer came out with a report finding that people who follow brands on social platforms have an increased intent to purchase that brand. In addition, 60% of respondents claim their Facebook fandom for brands increases their chance of recommending that brand to a friend – this is almost 80% for people following brands on Twitter.

So, this makes it very clear that online brand engagement leads to positive business results: increased purchase intent, positive word of mouth & brand affinity. However, if not approached from the appropriate angle, things can turn very sour, as bad news travels faster than ever because of social platforms! More importantly, if a brand is not being honest & genuine in its actions, consumers will discover its falsities just as fast!

So, when a brand engages with its customers, it must do so genuinely and with purpose.

The other day, one of my colleagues mentioned that his dentist sent him a Happy Birthday email. He explained how out of place it felt, as it was a generic, insert-name-here kind of email, plus he doesn’t have that kind of relationship with his dentist – a person he sees once, maybe twice, a year. Now, if he sent a Happy Anniversary: Thank you for being a valued patient for ‘X’ number of years, that would have made more sense, because it would have been in context with his brand relationship.

This got me thinking: if engaging with customers can lead to such fantastic results, yet becoming too buddy-buddy can sour that relationship, where is the line for appropriate brand engagement? Because, really, there is a fine line between treating customers like revenue generating units and going to far in trying to “friend” customers.

So, I began looking into how customers want to engage with brands online. What I found was 4 key things customers want from an online brand relationship – they want to:

1. Ask questions / make suggestions and be answered / heard
2. Be “in the know” with exclusive content about new products, features, services, etc.
3. Be rewarded for showing their support with exclusive offers & promotions
4. Be introduced to others who are associated with the brand as well

In essence, customers don’t want to become friends with their favorite brands; rather, they want to form a utilitarian relationship with brands. This helps them get the most out of their brand experience, whether it be insider tips & tricks, deals on the next hot thing, recognition for being a valued customer, etc.

So, in the end, social media should be leveraged to enable brands to reach the middle ground, between treating customers like numbers and close friends, and, instead, treating them like people, who want to get the most out of their brand experience, beyond the product and/or service!

Just a Thought

The other day, while working out, I was watching the Michael Jackson movie, This Is It, which features the rehearsals and preparation going into his final show, prior to his death. And this got me thinking about great brands.

Michael Jackson is one of the most recognized and iconic brands of the 20th Century. He was a marketing machine - well at least the empire surrounding him! But I began to think of how much he was loved and hated around the world! It seemed like with Michael Jackson, you either loved him or you hated him. There was no middle ground - it was binary.

I believe this to be true with all great brands - you either love them or you hate them - you're either for them or against them! There is no middle ground.

I mean look at Wal-Mart: you either love it or you hate it. McDonalds: you love it or hate it. Apple: you are either for Apple or against Apple. Even Barack Obama: you either loved him or you hated him!

This is because these brands have purpose - a set of goals and values - that not everyone will agree with. To be great, you can't be all things to all people, or you're bound to create confusion. Because to be all things to all people you can't stand for anything! And if you don't stand for something, you have no way to guide your company forward, or be innovative since you are always making compromises in the moment with no long-term vision!

We can look to Tiger Woods today - an icon that has confused the world because he wasn't living his brand - the family man that was always in control - and we find out that he is far from a family man who wasn't in control of all aspects of his life. Rather than embracing who he is and ending the confusion, he is making short-term compromises to go to sex rehab and try to get back together with his wife. Let's face it, this is not a long-term strategy as old habits die hard! He should stick to who he is, rather than trying to have the whole world come to love him again! I mean Wal-Mart doesn't care if the whole world loves them - that is not their purpose.

So, when creating or managing your brand, if you want to be great, you need to stand for something and stick to it, knowing not everyone will love you. Rather, the people who appreciate what you are doing and creating, through your organization, are the ones you care most about. Otherwise you are left making short-term compromises that impact your long-term value!