It is always fascinating to watch a marketing campaign go viral. As the United States Supreme Court took up the issue of marriage equality this week, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization) came up with a social media campaign that transformed the look of Facebook overnight.  They modified their logo from a blue box with a yellow equal sign, to a red box with a pink equal sign and invited people to use it as their Facebook profile picture to demonstrate their support for same sex marriage.

If you were logged in to Facebook on Tuesday for any period of time it was almost like watching a red wave wash over the site. Tens of thousands of people all over the world soon sported the image. And as this morning’s Media Post reported, big brands soon joined the effort.  Bud Light (shown above) created their own version of HRC’s logo replacing the equal sign with their beer cans. Kimpton Hotels used two pillows.  Martha Stewart Living posted a picture of a slice of red cake with icing as the equal sign. Even fans of southern chef Paul Deen (famous for her use of butter) came up with a version.

Creating content with the hope of going ‘viral’ is every marketer’s dream. So here’s a few quick takeaways from this successful campaign:

• Tap into what people are already talking about – your content has to trigger an emotional response.
• Find the audience likely to spread the message – make sure your target audience knows about it.
• Make it easy – don’t give people too much to do…just give them a quick, easy way to say “me too”.

It should also be noted that HRC doesn’t do this all the time – if they did, it wouldn’t be ask likely to catch on as quickly. So don’t overdo it and you’ll greatly improve your chances of going viral too. Great job HRC!!

This morning’s Advertising Age offers some great insight into the spots (created by BBDO). Turns out, “the spots are ‘guided’ improv” according to American actor and Caviar Director Jorma Taccone. Follow the link to learn more about the thought process behind this creative campaign.

P.S. The spot shown above is my personal favorite.

Happy birthday Gary Oldman* – you’re an alpha boomer!

In January I wrote a brief post about the shifting characteristics of generational cohorts (e.g. Gen X, Gen Y, Baby Boomers, etc.). I cited the oft-quoted statistic that roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers will reach retirement age every day for the next 19 years. That fact, combined with the very real differences between those on either end of the boomer demographic spectrum (those born between 1946 and 1964), has led to the coining of another demographic term: alpha boomers.

Marketers are realizing that if they hold strictly to the Nielsen cohort and market only to those 25-54, they are missing real opportunities. During a symposium on advertising and aging held at ZoomerMedia’s headquarters in Toronto on Monday night, Alan Wurtzel (president of research and media development at NBC Universal) dispelled myths about this lucrative – yet often overlooked – boomer subset. A MediaPost article reported that Wurtzel said: “Every 7 seconds someone in the U.S. turns 55, which immediately puts them outside the monetize-able Nielsen demo – basically forgotten but not gone. And yet they behave exactly as they did a year before – same purchasing decisions, same media choices – but they are no longer considered a part of the monetize-able advertising and television viewership ecosystem.”

So Wurtzel used the term alpha boomer for those younger boomers, like Mr. Oldman, who are turning 55. In fact, the term has gained some traction in describing the subset of Baby Boomers (born 1956-1964) that have long been seen as different than those born earlier (1946-1955). The need for this subset is increasingly evident as the behaviors and preferences of the alpha boomers become more distinct and more clearly understood. The MediaPost article even notes several myths about boomers in general that cannot and should not be applied to the alpha boomer.

So marketers, whether you adopt the new terminology or not, the question remains: are those over 55 years old falling off your radar screen? As Wurtzel summarized, “it’s not about ignoring younger consumers, it’s about including older ones.” You may want to take another look!

*Actor, (Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight Rises, Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series) born on March 21, 1958 in London, England.

So, you don’t have $35 million to mobilize your employees as brand champions…what lessons CAN you learn from Starbucks’ Leadership Lab?

Please, watch and share!

P.S. On social media as a tool, she says: “The perfect tools aren’t going to help us if we can’t face each other and give and receive fearlessly. But more important, to ask without shame.”

Founder of Craft and Colicchio & Sons restaurants and head judge on Bravo’s Top Chef, Tom Colicchio has built an amazing career since opening the Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan in 1994. What many don’t know is that Colicchio has also been fighting to end hunger in America since the earliest years of his cooking career. Today, he is fully leveraging his celebrity and strong personal brand to focus attention on the issue. As the executive producer of the new documentary film A Place at the Table, he, along with his wife, filmmaker Lori Silverbush, and her codirector, Kristi Jacobson, hope to bring to light the pervasive problem of hunger in this country.

.@placeatthetable is now playing in theaters, iTunes & OnDemand! #TakeYourPlace ow.ly/i/1A9aV

— A Place at the Table (@PlaceAtTheTable) March 1, 2013

The film reminds us that 50 million people in the U.S.-one in four children-don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans.  “Sometimes you look at this and as a problem, it seems so big that you can’t fix it, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start somewhere,” Colicchio says. Thanks Tom for leveraging your personal brand…hopefully, more of us will step up.

Backstage at the #oscars in the #ArchDigestGreenRoom with @barbrastreisand & Donna Karan twitter.com/TheAcademy/sta…

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 25, 2013

While Jay cites tweets like this one (from the official Academy account sharing photos from backstage) as effective, he points to several others as missed opportunities.  Don’t miss the full Ad Age article here.  Thanks Jay!

Last night, PBS presented the 3rd season finale episode of the period British drama Downton Abbey. Admittedly, I’ve been a fan ever since season one’s first episode and have followed both the series and its surprising impact on social media. With approximately 8 million viewers who watch on television each week and another 2.7 million streaming on the web, Downton has breathed new life into the financial future of PBS’ Masterpiece and created cultural buzz on many social media channels. This season alone the show’s ratings were 2nd only to the Super Bowl and Twitter traffic exploded following the unexpected ending last night (and in December when the show aired in the UK).

SPOILER ALERT: Major plot point to be revealed immediately.

An article in AdWeek earlier this month by David Griner noted that the influx of viewers has turned PBS’ Masterpiece into sponsorship gold. So why in the world did PBS find it necessary to roll out its tired old fundraising formula immediately following the griping finale? Viewers were still processing the images of the death of one of their favorite characters. Tweets were describing tears and shock and disbelief. But before viewers could even catch their breath, they were being beaten down by the relentless PBS-style pitch for support (e.g. for your gift of $120 you get…):

Fundraising premiums (also called contribution incentives) are a mainstay of PBS fundraising. Who hasn’t sat through one of their semi-annual fund drives and their infomercial style of fundraising through incentives (e.g. limited-time opportunity). Don’t get me wrong, I love that PBS is financially supported by the viewers that watch – and I expect them to ask us, frequently! But last night’s fundraising blitz made me wonder if perhaps they need to rethink their format or, at least, when and how they use it.

On the one hand, I can absolutely appreciate their desire to ride the wave of Downton’s popularity and convert all those brand new viewers to first-time donors. On the other hand, couldn’t the appeal been handled in a different way that actually engaged viewers (i.e. a brief, tasteful video featuring one of the cast; thanking viewers for watching and urging their support – rather than 30 minutes of non-stop premium pitch) and appealed to a broad demographic of their non-donor viewers.

Increasingly, surveys are showing that donors do not want to receive premium gifts of any kind. And younger individuals would be far more likely to respond to a different fundraising format, especially one that was authentically engaging and incorporated social media. I’ll be interested to see the result of last night’s fundraising effort. Did they strategy strengthen their brand and grow their donor base? Did donors stay tuned or tune out? We’ll follow up as data becomes available.

Until then, we’ll do our best to keep the topic of philanthropy current and relevant! In the words of Dame Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess of Grantham: “Oh good, let’s talk about money!”

By now you’ve read about the amazing tweet from Oreo during the infamous Super Bowl blackout. Within moments of the power going out in the Superdome, Oreo tweeted the above picture saying “Power Out. No Problem”.  Digital marketing agency 360i definitely showed us all what it means to be nimble, creative and engaging. Brilliant.

By contrast, there is Poland Spring. As Media Post’s Marketing Daily reported, during the live, televised GOP response to the State of the Union, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) stopped in mid-sentence to reach awkwardly for a bottle of Poland Spring. Unlike Oreo’s rapid response, any mention of their moment in the spotlight didn’t appear on the company’s social media until the next day. In fact, it unfortunately highlighted that their Twitter accounts had been inactive since January 2011. Awkward.

There are any number of lessons to be learned from both of these recent events in the Twitterverse. The most obvious one is “carpe diem” – if you’re going to be successful in social media, you have to be ready and able to seize the day. If you’re only logging in to Twitter, Facebook, etc., etc., once a week you could actually be diminishing your brand. Silence isn’t neutral.But an unexpected lesson comes from a closer analysis of the famous Oreo tweet.

Bryan Boettger, Chief Creative Officer of digital engagement agency The Buddy Group, wrote a great counterpoint to all of the Oreo accolades for the Social Media Insider. In “Everyone’s Dunking the Wrong Oreo” he points out that a closer analysis of the post-tweet activity shows that much of the Twitter traffic it generated was from ad industry pundits, professionals and news outlets…not the general consumer. He doesn’t take anything away from 360i’s creativity and I’m guessing he’d probably have encouraged Poland Spring to ramp up its game.

But ultimately, Bryan’s article and these two stories have reminded me that the social media landscape grows more crowded and complex every day. Success depends not just on creating relevant content, it increasingly requires attention to analytics and strategy must take center stage.

Success in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors depends on how well we know our audience. We often turn to demographics as the foundation of any audience profile. While demographic variables include age, gender, ethnicity, income, occupation, geographic location, etc., we frequently talk about demographics in terms of specific generational cohorts (Baby Boomers, GenY, etc.).

A MediaPost article by Nancy Shonka Padberg reminded me that it sometimes helps to put a face with a name when thinking about those generational cohorts.  Take a look at these famous faces as a reminder of how these cohorts continue to shift:

Gen Y – Justin Bieber: Age 18

While experts differ on Millennial birth dates, the cohort generally includes those born between 1980 and 1998 – that can mean anyone between age 15 to 33.  With a population estimated at roughly 70-80 million, they are often described as the most educated, diverse, tech-savvy generation ever. So if you thought that the cohort is too young for you to be concerned about…think again!

Gen X – Cameron Diaz: Age 40

Generation X includes those born between 1964 and 1980 (that’s the 33 to 49 age bracket). This cohort is often described as independent, ambitious and family-centric.  A Census Bureau study released last summer found that between 2005 and 2010, Gen X households saw the biggest percent decline in median household net worth.

Baby Boomer – Brad Pitt: Age 49

This is the one that shakes up many younger marketers, especially with so many researchers talking about the statistic that roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers will reach retirement age every day for the next 19 years. Take a good look at Brad. While he is among the younger half of the Baby Boomer generation, his entire cohort holds 70% of wealth in the United States and stand to inherit $15 trillion in the next 20 years.  A report by Nielsen in collaboration with BoomAgers, dubbed Baby Boomers the “Most Valuable Generation” and cautions marketers not to ignore them.

Silent Generation – Dustin Hoffman: Age 75

The Silent Generation is the label for those born between 1925–1945 notably during the Great Depression and World War II – that’s 68 to 88 years old. This cohort has generally experienced vast cultural shifts in their lifetime and, as a result, value traditional morals, safety and security as well as conformity, commitment and consistency. They are not, however, to be stereotyped as the frail and lonely; and marketers should understand the difference between chronological and cognitive age.

A Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends survey showed that many in this cohort feel younger than their actual age — in many cases much younger.  Most are retired from the workforce, but still shape the workplace and their communities by playing active roles on corporate and civic boards.  Thanks to advances in health and longevity, the unique communication preferences of this cohort must remain on most marketer’s radar screen.

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Developing a demographic and psychographic profile of your target is a crucial step in building a marketing or communication plan. Remember, your community’s demographics can shift significantly in as little as two years. If you thought you knew your market demographics, take another look. Take the time to understand the values and life stage of your target market.