Remember “Bait and Switch?”  An advertiser lures you in with a fantastic price only to tell you they are out of that particular item but they have something much more expensive that would fit your bill.  That hacked everybody off to the point that it’s a pretty rare occurrence today.  If a marketer does that today, they get skewered by ratings and social networks.  Pretty painful penance.

The bar for business integrity gets higher still when marketing to the Net Generation.  Not only do they expect more, they know how to complain by attacking the business where it hurts…in the cash register.

On the same hand, have integrity firmly on display in your day-to-day dealings, and you could create a customer for life…even an evangelist.

As you think about touting your brand, make sure you live your promise.  As you think about running your business, make sure you do it as green as possible.  Do what you say you will do and put the customer first and you’ll have loyal Net Geners as customers.    Pretty simple.

Last night, my 26 year-old son, home from a Miami Ad School gig with Crispen Porter Bulgoski told me that he was reviewing the Xbox 360 games I had been playing in my man cave in the basement.  I have to admit, I go in an out of mild addiction to video games.  He proceeded to tell me that I was missing some of the most highly rated games.

Then he asked me if I knew what E3 was.  To which I said of course I do (I didn’t).  Then he proceeded to tell me that Blizzard Activision was coming out with some outstanding games and that EA Sports had totally ruined the NCAA 2K basketball series by coming out with a boring 2K nine version.  He told me that he totally opposed the practice of EA buying up franchises so that other game makers couldn’t improve on the games.

Whoa…too much information about video games.  I thought he was supposed to be learning how to be a great copywriter.  But it did give me inspiration for this post.

My son’s pretty normal.  Or at least as normal as anybody who wants to be an advertising copywriter.  When he’s interested in something he spends time researching about the product and what people are saying about it.  While he looks to opinion leader, when he publishes ratings he becomes an opinion leader.  And when he discovers a great product, he’s more apt to broadcast his opinion.  Likewise, when he gets burned by a bad product, he gets even.

I really don’t know much about EA Sports strategies.  But I do know that they have an image issue with gamers…at least one anyway…that will affect their sales to some extent.

The time Net Geners spend scrutinizing their next purchase should cause all marketers to develop strategies to deal with both positive and negative reviews.  If you don’t join the conversation, your ears will ring with this audience talking behind your back.  That said, if your policies offend them, if your product doesn’t meet their expectations, or if it’s just a product that doesn’t perform, no amount of conversation will change their opinion.

Post by Nick Grant

Facebook and Myspace dominate social networking, but the emergence of African-American social networking sites proves the importance of appealing to different cultural views and values in creating communities.

There are 22 million African-American Internet users. Sites like BlackPlanet.com, MinoritySpace.com, and AfricanAmericanOpinion.com, which market directly to African-Americans, though they are not exclusive to them, have become extremely popular among African-Americans. For instance, BlackPlanet, has over 20 million users, 10 million monthly visits, and ranks highest amongst minority-driven social networking sites according to Compete Stats.

There are many commonalities and differences the African-American community.  It is, in fact, highly segmented. Social networking sites are attempting to get deep in the African-American culture by creating online subdivisions and communities within the community. Sites generally target things African-Americans are most passionate about. The urban lifestyle is a big, as is hip-hop/rap music, clothing, and cars.  Another large target is African-American owned businesses. In essence, the virtual African-American community mirrors the actual.

Niche-specific social networking sites are great ways to establish your product. They provide opportunities to target a very specific groups, something that is difficult to do with traditional advertising.  African-American social networks give you the chance to become a staple in the African-American community.

The time of silo interactive activities is over.  The time for integrated interactive strategies is now.

Integrated interactive planning is about producing measurable results for less.  This economy demands the reinvention of your marketing plan.  Most companies can no longer rely on a fat media budget to drive business.  Now is the time to look differently at your interactive strategy because it may provide a way for you get through this recession and come out stronger on the other side.

The first thing you have to do is forget about silos and remember that all of your interactive, traditional and non-traditional marketing activities must work together.

The first thing to do is to realize that your web site is the most efficient sales tool/retail location you have.  It’s open 24/7, you don’t have to feed it, clothe it, move it, pay it(much), or insure it.  It won’t call in sick, argue with you or goof off on the computer.  That’s why we’ve put it in the center of the Interactive Integration Wheel.

Second, forget about silos.  Forget about branding being separate from web development.  Forget about search being separate from online media.  Instead, consider how they all can fit together.  Duh?  Maybe it seems like I’m pointing out the obvious, but we see all too many marketers who keep everything separate.

Specialists often find it difficult to think about the interaction all the different marketing activities that go into a successful integrated plan and prefer to work only in their comfort zone.  So, the danger is that one activity will receive more attention than another, creating an imbalanced marketing plan.  It would be like spending 90 percent of the budget on a beautiful website and only 10 percent driving people to it….or vice versa.

Third, think of every circle outside the hub as being a hub of its own wheel.  For instance, social networking would be surrounded by Facebook, Myspace, twitter, YouTube, blogs  and a few hundred others. It’s kind of like a never ending galaxy of opportunity and much of it is in the economy of free except for the labor required to make it happen.

Fourth, some activities on the wheel are one way communications and some encourage a dialog with your customers or sales force.  Dialog that makes or saves money should receive top priority.  Customer service is a prime example.  You can provide customer service online with FAQs, chats, e-mails and as a last resort, phone support.  If you’re successful in supporting your customer without a phone call, you’ll save money and return more to the bottom line.  The best part is you can document the ROI.  If you have a call center, imagine the savings if you could cut 10 percent of the cost of phone support.  Think you could find something else to do with that money?

Fifth, somethings won’t fit.  Just as some media won’t fit your target audience, some interactive activities won’t fit your marketing needs.  For instance, if you’re marketing to teens, twitter is not a good choice.  Myspace might be.  On the same hand, don’t discount an activity until you’ve thought about it.

The more you want to prove ROI, the more attractive integrated interactive strategies become.  You can see the results.  Your CEO can see the results.  And you can soften the blow of a draconian budget cut by redirecting a little of the money into a highly effective arena.

We’ll be the first to admit that on the surface, integrated interactive strategies can look a little intimidating.  But there’s gold here.  If you’re interested we’d love to talk to you about how we can move your business forward with a comprehensive interactive plan.  Not just a website, not just an e-mail campaign, but an overall plan of attack to make your marketing budget more effective.

If you Google “web videos” you ‘ll see hundreds of listings for the funniest videos, the most passed around viral videos, animal videos and a hundred or so others.  What you won’t see much of is how to use web videos to your advantage.  Everyone knows about YouTube and its cultural significance and sometimes insignificance.  There are plenty of ways you can use web video to move your business forward.  Here are six ideas you can use:

1.  Instructional videos

If your product needs installation, maintenance, assembly or special operating procedures, a web video is an excellent way to communicate with your target audience.  You can put the videos on your website, or put them on YouTube or a host of other video sites.

2.  Product demonstrations

Do you have to see to believe?  You can do it on video

3.  Employee communications

Have an important message that employees all over the country need to hear?  Put it on video and publish it on your password protected employee site.

4.  Sales video

Reference your sales video in marketing materials with a URL that goes directly to it.  If you’ve got an email list, you can even monitor who watches it.

5.  Brand Manifesto

Need to communicate your brand far and wide?  You can produce an entertaining video that will drive your brand strategy home to employees, sales, dealers and customers alike.

6.  Testimonial

Testimonial videos done well can be effective, done poorly, deadly.

There are some guidelines that go along with web videos.  Don’t make them too long, don’t bore people, have enough professionalism so it reflects positively on your company, humor should be left to the funny and have realistic expectations.  Your installation video is not going to be a YouTube sensation and that’s okay.  Videos should accomplish an objective.  Unless you have experience in video production, consider hiring a company to produce them for you.  They’ll be better and more effective.  If you need the name of a company who can do it well, we have a name for you.

Here’s a great site about the video phenomenon.  Digital Ethnography