Hannah Smith-Existential Crisis Management (the Musings of a Content Strategist)

@hannah_bo_banna Existential Crisis Management Hannah Smith Content Strategist, Distilled @hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna seo is *not* dead

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna but seo is constantly evolving

@hannah_bo_banna ranking 1st doesn’t mean what it used to

@hannah_bo_banna this is the fold BBC rank 1st

@hannah_bo_banna it’s not just informational queries either

@hannah_bo_banna this is the fold SkyScanner rank 1st

@hannah_bo_banna google are even targeting some companies’ branded terms

@hannah_bo_banna MoneySuperMarket’s organic listing is above the fold - but
Google are being very aggressive

@hannah_bo_banna you used to be able to build an amazing
business just by being great at seo

@hannah_bo_banna in the future that’s unlikely to be enough

@hannah_bo_banna as a consequence, seos are being asked to do
different things

@hannah_bo_banna get us links! clients of yesteryear

@hannah_bo_banna get us press coverage, social shares, & exposure [links]
on sites our target audience reads clients today

@hannah_bo_banna so whilst clients might not explicitly ask us to
help them build a brand

@hannah_bo_banna many of the things we do today look a
lot like brand building

@hannah_bo_banna that’s why I’m giving this presentation today

@hannah_bo_banna but it’s a big ask

@hannah_bo_banna because, brand apathy is rife

@hannah_bo_banna “In Europe and the US, consumers would not care
if 92% of brands ceased to exist” source: http://dis.tl/brand-apathy

@hannah_bo_banna that means consumers would only miss 8% of brands
source: http://dis.tl/brand-apathy

@hannah_bo_banna building a brand is *really* tough

@hannah_bo_banna particularly on ‘seo’ retainer budgets

@hannah_bo_banna but you know what?

@hannah_bo_banna challenge accepted

@hannah_bo_banna but where do I start?

@hannah_bo_banna first up - what the hell is a brand?

@hannah_bo_banna we have a tendency to use ‘company’ & ‘brand’
interchangeably

@hannah_bo_banna but what does ‘brand’ actually mean?

@hannah_bo_banna brand to impress firmly; fix ineradicably; place indelibly

@hannah_bo_banna therefore...

@hannah_bo_banna a brand is not a brand unless it leaves
a lasting impression

@hannah_bo_banna & it needs to be a favourable impression

@hannah_bo_banna companies need to build brands that mean something to
people

@hannah_bo_banna so I need to build meaningful brands

@hannah_bo_banna that sounds really f*cking hard!

@hannah_bo_banna existential crisis (for a company) when a company struggles
to find a way for their brand to be meaningful for consumers

@hannah_bo_banna existential crisis management (I think this is my job)
help companies find a way to make their brands meaningful for consumers

@hannah_bo_banna how on earth do I do that?

@hannah_bo_banna you can learn a lot by deconstructing the success
of others

@hannah_bo_banna so I started studying what ‘meaningful’ brands do

@hannah_bo_banna I uncovered 3 core principles

@hannah_bo_banna some meaningful brands do all 3

@hannah_bo_banna some meaningful brands do just 1 or 2

@hannah_bo_banna I’ll deal with them each in turn

@hannah_bo_banna 1. ‘meaningful’ brands find opportunities to delight consumers

@hannah_bo_banna most people’s interactions with brands suck

@hannah_bo_banna great interactions stand out & are shared

@hannah_bo_banna this is how @smartcarusa responded when someone inferred that
a single bird dropping would total one of their vehicles

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway here is not: ‘make more sh*tty infographics’

@hannah_bo_banna I don’t think the infographic out of context would
have yielded any sort of return

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway here is: ‘going the extra mile to
respond in a novel way can yield out-sized returns’

@hannah_bo_banna & this doesn’t need to be a resource-heavy activity

@hannah_bo_banna this is how @DunkinDonuts responded to a customer who
asked if their coffee syrups were available on the black market

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the team at Dunkin’Donuts have a library of images
they use to delight their customers

@hannah_bo_banna this is how @ArgosHelpers responded to a customer who
asked when PS4s would be back in stock

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway here is not: ‘people love brands who
use slang’

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway here is: ‘if you can speak the
same language without being condescending you’ll go far’

@hannah_bo_banna this is how @TescoMobile responded to a customer who
claimed their network was a ‘turn off’

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna whoa! that is *really* close to the line

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway here is not: ‘be a dick to
people who are dicks to you’

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway here is: ‘a well-judged, ‘cheeky’ response can
travel’

@hannah_bo_banna to do this you need a deep understanding of
your audience what can you get away with? what’s funny & what’s just rude?

@hannah_bo_banna be mindful - there is a line...

@hannah_bo_banna but it’s not just interactions that delight

@hannah_bo_banna sometimes just being nimble delights consumers

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway here is not: ‘you need a bit
of luck’

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway here is: ‘be ready, willing & able
to take advantage of opportunities as & when they arise’

@hannah_bo_banna if @Arbys hadn’t tweeted that someone else probably would
have & they wouldn’t have benefitted

@hannah_bo_banna so, we’ve covered off principle 1: ‘meaningful brands find
opportunities to delight consumers’

@hannah_bo_banna 2. ‘meaningful’ brands give people the ability to define
themselves to others

@hannah_bo_banna this is a little tougher to parse - let
me talk you through it

@hannah_bo_banna have you ever thought about why you share what
you share on social media?

@hannah_bo_banna why did I tweet this?

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna I didn’t think about it too much at the
time

@hannah_bo_banna but I’ve thought about it some more since

@hannah_bo_banna I’m embarrassed to admit that I posted that because
I was on my own & bored

@hannah_bo_banna ...it worked like a charm

@hannah_bo_banna yay! with twitter fwends you need never be bored

@hannah_bo_banna fortunately I don’t just share stuff like that, I
also share stuff like this:

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna because I want people to think I read hbr.org

@hannah_bo_banna because I want people to think I’m smart

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna because I want people to think I have an
excellent sense of humour

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna because I want people to know where I stand
on important issues

@hannah_bo_banna I share things to shape other people’s impressions of
me

@hannah_bo_banna on social media I have two modes: cries for
help (oh the shame!) & defining myself to others

@hannah_bo_banna it’s not just me, we all do this

@hannah_bo_banna but not necessarily consciously

@hannah_bo_banna 68% said they share things via social media to
give people a better sense of who they are & what they care about source: http://dis.tl/psych-of-sharing

@hannah_bo_banna this is an excellent place for brands to play

@hannah_bo_banna brands can give people the ability to define themselves
to others...

@hannah_bo_banna I don’t *necessarily* mean stuff that literally defines people:

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna brands can also help people define themselves to others
by creating things people will ‘look good’ sharing

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway is not: ‘do stuff on vine’

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway is not: ‘#f*ckyeah science’

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway is: ‘create something tangentially related to your
brand, that people will look good sharing’

@hannah_bo_banna in a similar vein ‘meaningful’ brands create commercials that
don’t feel like commercials

@hannah_bo_banna these are things people ‘look good’ sharing

@hannah_bo_banna touching? awkward?

@hannah_bo_banna http://dis.tl/wren-kiss

@hannah_bo_banna my desire was to create something that was interesting
to people beyond a fashion angle... Melissa Coker ~ Wren

@hannah_bo_banna [it’s] an interesting film that exists on its own,
rather than something that feels like a commercial… Melissa Coker ~ Wren

@hannah_bo_banna it definitely got people talking

@hannah_bo_banna 92m YouTube views & coverage from over 1300 sites

@hannah_bo_banna but this isn’t just a video content play

@hannah_bo_banna when oreo turned 100, they created 100 pieces of
content over 100 days

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the campaign got over 1m facebook ‘likes’ & thousands
of pieces of press coverage

@hannah_bo_banna this highly topical content put the cookie the centre
of people’s conversations without being self-serving

@hannah_bo_banna speaking of being self-serving, here’s what not to do

@hannah_bo_banna 45 days worth of planning went into this tweet

@hannah_bo_banna source: http://dis.tl/erm-wtf

@hannah_bo_banna yuck

@hannah_bo_banna I’m really not sure what the thinking behind this
was

@hannah_bo_banna source: http://dis.tl/erm-wtf

@hannah_bo_banna it just looks like a commercial...

@hannah_bo_banna the only people who will ‘look good’ sharing this
are people who wish to prove their social media expertise by ridiculing others who don’t get it

@hannah_bo_banna I’m guessing this wasn’t the intention

@hannah_bo_banna so, we’ve covered off principle 1: ‘meaningful brands find
opportunities to delight consumers’ & principle 2: ‘meaningful brands give people the ability to define themselves to others’

@hannah_bo_banna still with me?

@hannah_bo_banna 3. ‘meaningful’ brands stand for something above & beyond
their products or services

@hannah_bo_banna this is tricky to explain in the abstract so
I’m going to shoot straight to the examples

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna BrewDog’s values are pulled from punk subculture, they are
anti-establishment & believe in individual freedom

@hannah_bo_banna so when Dead Pony Club ale was ‘banned’ because
the phrase: "rip it up down empty streets" was printed on the label... http://dis.tl/sorry-not-sorry

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna & Mark wasn’t the only one who loved their
response

@hannah_bo_banna but it’s not just about sweary press releases

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna when you embrace values like that, your creative looks
like this:

@hannah_bo_banna http://dis.tl/nike-greatness

@hannah_bo_banna to be clear - that is exceptional creative

@hannah_bo_banna & it’s powerful because nike aren’t talking about how
their trainers enhance your performance

@hannah_bo_banna they’re talking about celebrating everyone’s athletic endeavours

@hannah_bo_banna standing for something beyond your products & services is
most potent when it could cost you

@hannah_bo_banna when Mozilla got a new CEO, OKCupid showed this
message to Firefox users:

@hannah_bo_banna why should you do this?

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway from this is not: ‘align your brand
with a cause & win the internet’

@hannah_bo_banna the takeaway is: ‘taking a bold stance on a
relevant issue, even if it could actually hurt your business can create a lasting impression’

@hannah_bo_banna so here’s where we’re at:

@hannah_bo_banna principle 1: ‘meaningful brands find opportunities to delight consumers’
principle 2: ‘meaningful brands give people the ability to define themselves to others’ principle 3: ‘meaningful brands stand for something above & beyond their products & services’

@hannah_bo_banna how has this shaped the way I work today?

@hannah_bo_banna overarchingly it’s made me much more mindful of what
we’re doing

@hannah_bo_banna but much of this I can’t affect right now

@hannah_bo_banna sadly, to date, no one’s offered me several million
to create them an ad like Nike’s

@hannah_bo_banna this is the place we play most frequently at
the moment

@hannah_bo_banna principle 2: ‘meaningful brands give people the ability to
define themselves to others’

@hannah_bo_banna 396k visits 354 LRDs 19,4k facebook ‘likes’ 6.5k tweets

@hannah_bo_banna we made this to appeal to people working in
the creative industry

@hannah_bo_banna we think people shared this because it: made them
look smart and/or made them look interested & interesting and/or made them look literary

@hannah_bo_banna 360k visits 54 LRDs 50k facebook ‘likes’ 1.6k tweets

@hannah_bo_banna we made this to appeal to people who love
reading

@hannah_bo_banna we think people shared it because it enabled them
to share this love of reading oh, & maybe brag, just a little

@hannah_bo_banna 2m visits 961 LRDs 102k facebook ‘likes’ 4.4k tweets

@hannah_bo_banna we made this to appeal to music fans (&
music journalists)

@hannah_bo_banna we think people shared it because it allowed them
to express their opinions

@hannah_bo_banna so we’re trying to create things that people ‘look
good’ sharing

@hannah_bo_banna & we’re seeing success with that approach

@hannah_bo_banna but more importantly

@hannah_bo_banna we’re taking the time to try to understand the
brands we work with better

@hannah_bo_banna so our creative work is better aligned with the
brand’s values

@hannah_bo_banna & it’s opening doors for us

@hannah_bo_banna we’re getting access to people higher up in the
organisations we work with

@hannah_bo_banna & we’re able to do better work as a
result

@hannah_bo_banna this industry is filled with incredible talent

@hannah_bo_banna you are bright, passionate & hard-working

@hannah_bo_banna you are curious

@hannah_bo_banna you take stuff apart to figure out how it
works

@hannah_bo_banna you build stuff for fun

@hannah_bo_banna you thrive on being outside of your comfort zone

@hannah_bo_banna build a brand on shoe-string?

@hannah_bo_banna challenge accepted

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna good luck out there x

@hannah_bo_banna @hannah_bo_banna Hannah Smith Content Strategist, Distilled caffeine addict; book
worm; would really like a unicorn... send cat pictures or questions to: [email protected]

@hannah_bo_banna moar stuff! how to produce content people will share
http://dis.tl/MJ-share how to produce better content ideas http://dis.tl/MJ-idea lessons in virality from axl rose http://dis.tl/HS-axl

@hannah_bo_banna credits barney - http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw7a6htwhy1qif1s5o1_500.png quote - http://www.dumpaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/the-best-feeling-is-doing-what-people-say-you-can-not-do-motivational-quotes. jpg pharrell
- http://www.ibtimes.com/arbys-blasts-pharrells-grammys-hat-twitter-can-we-have-our-hat-back-1548140 if you have a body - http://www.swimbikerunningonempty.com/1/post/2012/12/five-things-friday.html Big love to to the wonderful Distilled folks who helped me put this together: Beverley Reinemann, Duncan Morris, Jess Champion, Lynsey Little, Mark Johnstone, Paddy Moogan, Phil Nottingham, Rich Westenra, & Will Critchlow

Hannah Smith-Existential Crisis Management (the...

Hannah Smith-Existential Crisis Management (the Musings of a Content Strategist)

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