For months I have been hearing about an agency called we are social. I believe they first came to my attention while attended a Forrester event in London. Since then they have popped onto my radar now and again after hearing about their work from various sources. Recently, I decided to follow @wearesocial on Twitter and boy I’m glad I did! Today they tweeted a blog post about a Twitter campaign they did earlier this year with Mercedes Benz – the Tweet Race. First of all, good on them for putting together such a great case study video to showcase their work. That in and of itself is not really unique but it tells the story in a visual manner that is very compelling and can be easily shared via social networks. Naturally that ties well into the we are social brand and how one would expect to experience it. Secondly, this is a great example of how social media enables people to actually become active participants in a brand experience.  Take a look at the video - Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race from thepixel on Vimeo.

This week I attended NEXT Conference 2011 in Berlin. It was a fantastic opportunity to rub shoulders with some great marketers from Germany and abroad. The theme of the event was Data Love. I have to admit that although there were interesting discussions on the topic of data, what I found most valuable was to hear what companies were doing in realm of social media and branding. In these sessions, we were able hear some great case studies about companies like Ben & Jerry’s, Microsoft, SoundCloud, Deutsche Bank and Etsy. In later blog posts, I would like to drill down in more detail into what I learned from each of these sessions because each is a great example of how companies offer exceptional brand  experiences.

My biggest take aways/reminders from the event were these:

• Remember that not every member of your social media audience is created equal in terms of their affinity for social media. Much like you have to segment an audience to tailor your message to them, you also have to segment them in terms of the means through which the message is communicated. For example, you may notice a particular group that is very active on Twitter, while another focuses on Facebook or may be easier to reach by delivering digital media, such as a viral video on YouTube. Segment for how you deliver the message too.
• Using social gaming for internal collaboration works. I really cannot wait to share more about what Microsoft did in this regard. Stay tuned!
• The importance of community, whether it be in a B2B or B2C environment cannot be ignored. It takes time – a lot of time for a company to support and moderate but it can really pay off. SoundCloud and Etsy gave some great insight on this.
• Beware of the use of social games like Foursquare as a means to drive traffic to a booth at an event. I saw this done at the event in a way that failed miserably because the company did not anticipate people would circumvent the rules they set up for the game. As in all things we do, we simply need to think things through completely from beginning to end, doing the best we can to anticipate hiccups and pitfalls.  Otherwise, you risk doing damage to your brand by people who are disgruntled over problems you created. No one is perfect, you won’t catch everything but I was glad to be a participant in the game (not the organizer) who can learn from mistakes made.

In any case, the overall experience was great. I hope I get to attend NEXT year!

A campaign recently came to my attention that I found to be very creative. It was a PR campaign in the United Kingdom that was headed up by Hous PR and Frank PR called Extreme Vicar. This was a contest for 16 local vicars to win a chance to conduct a special service at one of two amusement parks, Alton Towers or Thorpe Park on Easter Sunday. The vicars were required to perform acts of clergical piety like holding a bible while on ride. It did provide some very nice photo opps and garnered some great press attention from a number of  the national and regional dailies in the UK.

Although the reality show format is not original, I find the vicar concept to be brilliant. What a great way to generate some interest in the brands from a campaign perspective. What I like most about it is that they could directly link the campaign to specific business results since they were likely trying to drive visitors to these parks on Easter Sunday. It would be interesting to know what the final numbers were. What a great way to not only promote these brands. I’ve personally been to Alton Towers and somehow this makes me want to return!

Today I came across a post by Brian Solis titled: The Curation Economy and the 3 C’s of Information Commerce. It was a great read and highly relevant to a project I’m working on right now at i.TV. This excerpt from Brian’s post especially hit home:

Tools, networks and services that cater to the role of the curator are already gaining traction… as they not only enable the repackaging and dissemination of information, they do so in captivating and engaging formats. Like social networks, these services also connect people to one another, but instead of creating social graphs, curation networks weave interest graphs. Rather than creating original content, curators discover relevant content and share it within their networks of relevance with added perspective. The stream of an interest graph is rich with context and narrative allowing anyone connected to learn and interact based on the subject matter that captivates them.

I think that what Brian says about interest graphs is spot on. I gain a huge amount of value from curators on Twitter because I mainly follow people aligned with my interests. Also, when they share a link with a bit of commentary, they augment the information consumption experience with their own insights.

Two weeks ago, I returned from a fantastic vacation to Greece. It was 10 days of pure pleasure as we enjoyed the sun, culture, food and friendly people. The best part was being able to spend time with my family. Our twins are moving into the toddler stage, so traveling can be quite an adventure. We spent the entire day on Monday traveling and were exhausted as we landed in Hamburg at 10:30 p.m. As we exited the plane, we expected to find our stroller waiting for us, the same as we had as we disembarked in Athens and during our layover in Amsterdam. We turned to one of the flight attendants from KLM who had assured us that our stroller would be there when we got off the plane and asked if she could help. She asked one of the ground crew to retrieve it but he informed us it had already been taken to the baggage area. This was the second time we had experienced disappointment with the ground crew at Hamburg Airport. The flight attendant indicated she had seen this before in Hamburg as well. Funnily enough, we heard something similar about Hamburg Airport from a flight attendant in December.

With heavy hand luggage and two tired toddlers in tow, my wife and I started our arduous trek from the far end of Terminal 2 to the baggage area. The terminal was practically empty, except for the KLM flight crew who passed us and the lone information desk attendant who gave me a card to fill out so I could express my disappointment in what had happened. I decided to briefly leave my wife to hurry ahead and make sure all was well with our luggage and stroller. Carrying my daughter and a very heavy piece of hand luggage, I arrived at the baggage claim area. All other passengers had gone and a worker was getting ready to collect our bags to mark them as unclaimed. I asked him why they had not delivered our stroller at the gate and he said it would violate some sort of rule or regulation. Incensed, I took my stroller and ran to rescue my wife and son who were both still making their way to the baggage claim. We then returned, picked up our luggage and left the airport. It was definitely not the way we had expected to end our vacation.

I am shocked at the way we were treated. Our stroller had been marked for delivery at the gate. We had benefited from this at two other airports. Even if there is some special restriction at Hamburg Airport, the least they could do is offer assistance to weary travelers who need an extra hand. Since we had a similar experience departing from the airport last December, I can only imagine we are not alone in "benefitting" from the terrible customer service at Hamburg Airport.

It is difficult for me to understand how a professional organization can be run in this manner. Customers have memories like elephants - they do not forget but unlike elephants, they tell other people about their experience, whether it be good or bad. My hope is that Hamburg Airport will turn over a new leaf and treat travelers differently. To me, this was a terrible brand experience.

Here's a tip Hamburg Airport: customer service matters! Your customers do not forget.

My wife and I are finally catching up with life after a year of extreme parenting (twins). Every day is a pure delight but it has been crazily intense. I am now trying to catch up on interesting happenings I missed during the last year plus and have noticed that Groupon has come to Germany. I know, I know – we’re behind. In any case, we signed up today and have already found some great deals near where we live. It’s great when novel ideas like this make the leap across the pond. Now I just need to get some friends so I can get some free vouchers.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Groupon, let me give you a quick overview. Groupon is a U.S.-based company offering “an easy way to get huge discounts while discovering fun activities in your city. Each day (they) feature a cool new experience at an unbeatable price in dozens of cities across the country.” It is a great concept and the revenue potential is huge, since they generally keep 50 percent of the coupon’s value. This year alone, they are projected to pull in $400 million in revenue according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.

Groupon got their real foothold in Germany after purchasing Citydeal from the (in)famous Samwer brothers (they are worth their own blog post). Now it will be interesting to see if this concept takes off in the here. With deals in close to 100 German cities, I am confident it will. I am also fairly sure our household will become a power user.

Visit Groupon.com or Groupon.de and see if you like it.

I recently had breakfast with an amateur-turned-professional blogger here in Germany. He is now part of the Mercedes editorial team, tasked with following Mercedes-Benz’ SLS AMG from launch to road and beyond. First of all, it is a great blog and I think you need to check it out – SLS AMG Reporter. As I spoke with him, he said something that was a great reminder about one of the keys to successful blogging – authenticity. We who blog pick topics that truly interest us. We write because we are passionate and that is in part what we write compelling and even credible. My goal is to keep it real. Blog about things that truly interest me and I hope it will interest you.

My conversation also made me think about social media adoption here in Germany. Of course social media is hot here like it is everywhere else. Many companies are looking for people to manage their social media strategies. Digital PR agencies are popping up and traditional PR agencies are creating social media practices to compliment the usual PR practices. However, I still feel adoption lagging far behind what one sees in English-speaking countries.  Corporate social media strategies lack the sophistication that many companies have developed in North America and the UK to address customer service, increase brand loyalty and promote thought leadership. However, there is a growing number of companies tapping into the power of social media in Germany. For example, in recent months I have seen the o2 Crew campaigns on Facebook. This was sponsored by mega-telco o2, starting with a campaign for the MTV music awards in Berlin. o2 invited people to follow them on Facebook and to recruit “crews” composed of as many friends and acquaintances as they could find to join. The biggest crews won tickets to the concert. It appears to have been a success for o2 because they are carrying on with additional campaigns. The car manufacturers are catching on to this too, as evidenced by the example I gave previously. I also know that Forrester has praised BMW for its social media savvy. Even with all of these examples, I am still left with a hollow social media vibe in Germany. I am waiting for the day where I will see invitations in German enticing me to follow a company on Facebook or Twitter. I am still waiting for the day when I do not almost immediately become the Foursquare mayor of various places I visit – except for HH Hbf – I cannot seem to oust the mayor there !  I guess until social media becomes more ubiquitous in Germany,  I can enjoy Foursquare political domination.