Blog or vlog?

Are we ready for video online? How is video adding to the social networking experience for women? As the world catches up to the concept of blogging we are now experimenting with new forms of social and professional networking with micro-updates at www.twitter.com and video-blogging.

Video adds a further level of personalization and context to the Internet experience but are we ready for it as a communication tool? For women, video adds a more visual experience to the communication mix which gives us a sense of familiarity and safety when connecting with others online. Adding video to your blog can be very effective depending on your objectives but here are some basic 101's to keep in mind;

-know what you want to communicate and why
-keep it short
-edit wherever possible to ensure a well-articulated point of view
-be honest and authentic in your delivery
-make it web-streamed, avoid downloads if you want it to be seen

We have been studying online video for three years with our www.defineyourself.ca campaign and learning about the magic formula for delivery online. Consumers will watch it if their 'equipment' allows and if you make it easily watchable.

Waking Up Hannah Appealing to online Ladies

As we are transitioning into winter and the evenings are becoming cold and gloomy I find myself watching a lot more t.v.. In between the celebrity dance-offs and police dramas, are commercials for an online show called “Waking up Hannah”. So I was curious and went onto the website to see what the hype was all about. It is a show sponsored by Dove, (really these days, what isn’t sponsored by Dove) and it is a ‘choose your own adventure’ romantic comedy geared to the 20 something’s where we get to decide what happens to Hannah next. It’s a cool concept. It builds on the reality t.v. show audience participation overlayed with the gritty dramatic acting of 90210, cleaned up ever so nicely by refreshing Dove.

This show is intriguing because it’s a brand that now is associated with real women on an emotional side. Women become brand ambassadors because they think the brand represents something more than just keeping clean. It’s about being part of community, of understanding, of belonging. What is great about this is that they aren’t hiding the fact that it is from Dove. They are very open with their sponsorship which to me, allows for the transparency of the brand and creates an even stronger loyalty. Waking up Hannah is essentially a big long commercial. But it’s interesting, so we watch.

This isn’t Unilever’s first stab at this targeted approach. They debuted “In the Motherhood” another online tv show, which is a Suave haircare initiative, designed to capture the attention of moms. Clearly this consumer giant is seeing that women are online, and they are spending their time and money there. It is a great space to create content, promote products, be entertained and interact all at the same time.

Megan Greysmith in "Waking Up Hannah" Dove Trailer from Megan Greysmith on Vimeo.

A different view from a Motrin mom...

Ok gals. So, for all of you Motrin moms out there who have had a negative reaction to the recent Motrin ad I say-- stop taking yourselves so seriously! You have to be able to laugh at this-- albeit poorly executed. I can understand if you take it at face value with provocative statements like 'official mom' and the poor transition from 'wearing your baby' to 'but what about us moms?' but the message could have been funny if it had been expressed differently. The whole mom universe and all of the over commercialization of the mom brand and mom experience has taken over. I mean really, I wore both of my collicy kids for 10 months and it nearly broke my back! So, yes, a little Motrin would have helped.

Here's the outcry response:



Now, for the marketing part. This ad was poorly executed. The tone was wrong and the tongue and cheek humor just did not come across. If you are trying to do this well you really need the mom community behind you and from what we can see, Motrin's agency did not test this throroughly enough with moms. I do want to say congrats for doing something different though, and it is not always necessary to please all audiences all of the times and clearly it is paying off from a visibility standpoint right now. Take it from an 'official mom'. I saw through it for the funny. Next time, call us if you want to connect with your consumer community before launching a new campaign.

This will take you to the commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmykFKjNpdY

Gen Y and bringing back face time.

With the growth of social media on the web and new communities springing up – particularly for the gen y demographic -- we are missing out on socializing in the real world. Somehow our reliance on those communities has meant that we don’t need or want to continue to connect outside of the basement – where entire dramas can unfold without moving from the couch. But by doing this are we really trying to avoid that face to face time?

In the new Dentyne gum campaign, which is both print and tv ads, they are targeting Gen Y and their socializing patterns and highlighting the shift from electronic communications to “Making Face Time”. I was really taken by the print ads as I made my way home on the subway. I was like, “Yeah, I do want more face time.” Which is, I am sure, so different from what everyone thinks Gen Y wants. We want to connect with people. Online, at home, on the train, in the pub. When I investigated more about the new Dentyne campaign I checked out their website which continues to reinforce the brand. It has a counter on it to limit the time you spend on it , promoting more face time. One interesting feature is the smiley chamber of doom, where emoticons which we all used are destroyed using interesting tactics like being squished, inflated to the point of explosion, you get the point.

With social networking uptake by women evidenced by recent Facebook statistics and what we know about women and their need to nurture relationships, are women less likely to fall victim to the online social vacuum and maintain their face to face time? Hard to say, I know that I am with Dentyne and want to go back to where you actually have a physical conversation with people. Face time is back! Woo hoo.

Cadillac and Kate Walsh, firing on all cylinders!

Critique: Cadillac CTS ad with Kate Walsh, when you turn your car on, does it return the favor? Now here is an ad that I can get excited about! They creators of the ad may have had the Kate sex appeal in mind when developing this creative for the male market given that the CTS is a model designed for the male market, however, it gets A's all across the gender board in also appealing to women. This liberated and luxurious female message hits all the right chords with women and goes further beyond brand to extend to product appeal. I found myself considering what it would be like to drive a Cadillac even though this is not my auto brand of choice.

SWING gives this ad top marks for smart marketing with women!

Social media, marketers and consumers

Going through my stack of Marketing Magazine's to catch up on, I was leafing through the August issue and came across the interview with Grant McCraken on Circle of Brands. Matt Semansky, staff writer for Marketing Magazine posed a great question in this interview asking "how can marketers gain the trust of consumers in the social media space?". Although I am not sure it was exactly answered by Grant, the proposition is extremely insightful. In a world of co-creation and UGC, consumers are designers, developers and producers for marketers. As it should be. Both marketers and consumers now have skin in the game which begs a greater need for an exchange of trust.

Some time ago when we first launched the www.defineyourself.ca community for women to discuss how they feel about aging, we were criticized by a well known journalist for 'using' women and their views as research for the marketer. At the time it struct me as a highly antiquated observation but I chalked it up to inexperience with social communities as consumer pipelines for co-creation, feedback and ideation. The notion of getting closer to the consumer is just smart business and good for everyone. The formation of a win-win value exchange model opens up new possibilities for an emerging marketplace that levels buyers and sellers on common ground.

Betty and Veronica Don’t Live Here Anymore: The Changing Role of Women in Comics

The American comic book industry has had a long tradition of introducing strong and empowering super heroines and villains, including Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Dazzler. Over the past decade, more titles have been adapted to feature films, and their popularity continues to grow. Do these and similar comic book films reflect how the role of women in comics have changed since the Golden Age, and do they draw new audiences to a literary and artistic medium they would not have otherwise considered?

According to the Friends of Lulu Retailer Handbook, women tend to purchase mysteries, fantasy, romance and science fiction. Even though the majority of comic book customers are men, female readers tend to lean towards genres that match their tastes in comparable media such as TV and movies.

Comic books and their audiences have evolved since the days of the Comics Code Authority, which sought to regulate and censor content it deemed inappropriate. Today, readers have a wider selection of genres and titles from which to choose. Comics have grown to reach mature audiences with grittier titles, adult themes, and a stronger focus on story and realism.

Romance comics have also been around since the 1940s. Originally aimed at older readers (and typically penned by men), the genre shifted to a younger audience. Storylines took on a more innocent tone, but the gender stereotypes and antiquated roles of women in the mid-twentieth century were reinforced by its content.

DC Comics recently announced it will be canceling Minx, a line of graphic novels aimed at young women. Distributors had difficulty pushing the title at mainstream retailers such as Barnes & Noble. Minx writer Mike Carey attributed the book’s poor sales to the expectations of the market. “It was an unusual format, and unusual formats have to elbow their way to the table,” Carey told CBR News.

Despite the disappointing sales of new titles like Minx, publishers continue to develop new products aimed at the ever-growing female comic book audience. As noted in The American Prospect, Marvel publisher Dan Buckley said that its growing female readership pushed the company to develop new storylines aimed at that demographic.

Writer Alyssa Rosenberg argues the disparity between superheroines in print and their translation to the big screen - evidenced by movies such as Elektra, Catwoman, and X-Men - which lessened the development of complex characters and presented audiences with two-dimensional reflections of the same.

Today’s comics have come a long way since the Comics Code to present strong, independent female role models in complex and intelligent stories. But while many in the mainstream will quickly associate traditional “female-friendly” comics to characters like Wonder Woman, the demand for new mature stories and characters continues. It’s just a matter of reaching readers.

And the next COVERGIRL is.... Ellen DeGeneres!

She’s funny, witty, successful, attractive and now SEXY too! And, she’s got great skin. Bravo to COVERGIRL for selecting her as their next... wait for it..... cover girl.

P&G explains it like this...
"Ms. DeGeneres appeals to consumers who are looking not so much for a role model as a woman they can relate to both physically and emotionally,” P&G V.P. Esi Eggleston Bracey tells The NYTimes. You may question what you actually have in common with a wealthy 50-year old talk show host/comedienne who's been the star of a successful sitcom, shills for American Express, and is a high-profile lesbian.
That is, you may question the connection until you take the "celebrity" out of Ellen's life and focus on where she's been, how she's re-invented herself and how comfortable she seems to be in her own skin these days...and then you get it. Or as CoverGirl's new tag line goes, "Easy, Breezy, Beautiful...Ellen."

So for me... mainstream just got a little better.

Do women vote for women... period?

John McCain is potentially committing political suicide with his VP pick in Sarah Palin. Or is he? McCain and his campaign advisors clearly feel that by putting a female -- any female-- on the ticket, he may bridge the gap and win over some disgruntled Clinton voters.

While Sarah is clearly charming and confident and may appeal to the conservative base with her strong pro-life position, she is no Hillary Clinton. In fact, Sarah and Hillary could not be further apart in their bios (or lack thereof in Palin's case).

While most of us women are thrilled to see a woman on the ticket in this election the presumption that Clinton voters will just 'come on over based on gender is mildly insulting. This clear misunderstanding on the part of political advisors to get in the minds of women is not uncommon. Women are not simply advocating women in positions of authority but more importantly getting the right person in the position to get the right job done. This means voting on the issues and by party ideology first, gender second.

Having said all that, in this case, I could be entirely wrong. Who will win this race is anyone's guess. Perhaps Palin will move the needle. Maybe women are so disgruntled that they will take this platform to make a point with their vote. One thing is for sure, I now have a reason to tune into the Republican convention.