Ok. This one has been bugging me for a while (yes… grumpy James is back). Putting existing marketing content (aka television commercials) into social networks such as YouTube is not social media marketing/viral marketing. It’s recycling. ANZ is the latest to tout their ‘viral’ campaign via Creative mag (hat tip to @nextbrett from Digital Oz for alerting me to it). Check it out below:

A fine production I must say, although I shudder to think of the budget that went into it. But a viral campaign… no. It’s a TV spot that’s been thrown on to YouTube. One of the core messages that resonated with me from reading ‘World Wide Rave‘ recently is that real viral marketing occurs when consumers organically share something of real value to them. Commercials don’t create real value. Branded messages don’t create real value. When they are shared it’s generally because they’re funny, or in this particular case, because of the production quality. But what next…?

Do consumers absorb the message? Perhaps. Do they buy the branded message? Not if you’re a bank. Check out some of the comments on YouTube and the Creative post:

• It’s a great commercial, well executed, but unfortunately, it’s a whole lot of spin. I am a small business owner and my dealings with the ANZ do not reflect what the ad is saying.
• That’s a lot of time (and money) spent showing us what ANZ are not. It intrigued me enough to want to watch it to the end but not send it on.
• It made me feel interested cause my bank manager is VERY HARD to get a hold of. I mean, really hard.
• Very entertaining, I can tell it is not cheap, a good idea but it didn’t end well, I believe the fact that ANZ is not a very ‘likeable’ bank it makes the story hard to believe.
• I’ve been with ANZ? for years. They used to be an awesome bank…. the best, really…. but lately, they really suck
• I love the ad but I hate all banks and that will never change.

Commercials don’t alter consumer perceptions. Actions do. If ANZ was intent on changing perceptions about how they service small business, why not create a resource that’s actually worth sharing. Like a free podcast with tips for small business management. Or… as a novel thought… why not use some of the massive advertising budget to simply employ more people dedicated to servicing the market?

Isn’t it better to show people you’re actually dedicated to servicing small business rather than trying to convince them of it…?

The following a guest post by my very good friend Lucio Ribeiro, founder of The Online Circle, Marketing Easy and Internet Marketing Academy. If you like what you read you can also follow him on Twitter.

Dell has always been known for its innovative distribution. Since being founded, their web based direct selling model has been one of their major competitive differentials. Most of you will still remember the Dell Dude back in 2000. This advertising campaign popularised the phrase “Dude, you’re getting a Dell.” The commercials would usually feature an actor ( Ben Curtis – aka Dell dude) informing prospective buyers of all the perks of owning a Dell. When the party was sold on the idea he would close with the catchphrase “Dude, you’re getting a Dell”. The campaign was a huge success and not only helped bring prominence to Dell, but to Curtis as well.

To circumvent an eroding distribution advantage, Dell is once more innovating within its sales process. And this time they’ve found a solution in social media. Dell Swarm is the new service launched by the company in Singapore, which allows customers to shop online in cooperative style.

It works like this:

You go and select your product. Being the first buyer to join a “Swarm” Dell promises to give a price lower than their best discounted price.

After selecting your product you set up a community. For every new buyer that joins the swarm, Dell drops the price a touch further up until 15 users have joined (or 72 hours have passed).

Ultimately, everybody gets a very significant discount. To achieve the maximum discount, buyers are to use social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, vertical forums and Social Sharing tools to find new partners. The more people who sign up, the cheaper the product gets until it reaches a pre-determined lowest price.

The service aims to attract students and buyers sensitive to price. It is a very interesting scenario, although not necessarily a real business innovation. Many companies have organised similar buying dynamics for years. Wholesales companies, for example, have been banding together to buy from manufacturers at lower prices.

Small retailers, who come together to achieve better terms in negotiations, also indicate that “social strategies” have existed for a long time. There are countless examples.

However what changes is the fact that with the emergence of social media, the “social thinking” is more easily spread among the common people. Tools that facilitate widespread connections have emerged, breaking down restrictions relating to geographical barriers.

Consequently, consumers gain negotiation power and increase their bargaining muscle. Companies that understand this (and the Dell seems to have done) may see great opportunities ahead.

Apparently, the project has started well for Dell, with the term Dell Swarm generating some buzz on Twitter. It will be very interesting to follow the results and watch for expansion to other countries.

What’s your opinion? Can Dell Swarm work?

A few weeks back I published the first article in my new mythbusting series. The series is dedicated to debunking common myths (aka excuses) middle managers use to block corporate entry into social media. The first post debunked the perception that social media only affects the vocal minority. This time round I’m taking on the argument that a product is too boring to succeed in social media. To bust this myth I’ve decided to take a look at a range of social media success stories born from some of the most boring products on the planet…

H&R Block

Have you heard this one before – When does a person decide to become an accountant? When they realise they don’t have the charisma to be an undertaker. Lame jokes aside… that pretty much sums up the perception of tax accountancy. So it would come as a surprise to many to hear of H&R Block’s successful ventures into social media.

Despite selling perhaps the most boring service in the world, H&R Block have managed to generate buzz in a range of social media channels. The most creative execution involves a fictional character named Truman Greene who’s obsessed with tax, or more specifically… spreading the message on how to get more from your return (via a series of YouTube videos). Truman’s a little annoying and most of his videos struggled to generate more than a couple of thousand views, but a couple hit the mark. My favourite is below, although it wasn’t nearly as successful as this one, which was viewed over half a million times.

YouTube success aside, H&R Block has also ventured into the world of Twitter, albeit with a more serious slant to their participation. H&R Block reps roam the Twitter-verse in order to connect with people talking tax (what an exciting bunch). They also regularly give away copies of tax software (even more exciting). But… mock them as I may, over 1,000 people find enough value in their participation to have followed them. So they must be doing something right. For more insight on their Twitter participation, check out this interview with Amy Worley of H&R Block.

And for those still unconvinced about the social web’s love of tax, take a look at TurboTax’s YouTube competition. TurboTax set out the challenge of creating a ‘tax rap’. The winning video has drawn over 350,000 views. Biggie Smalls must be rolling over in his grave…

Common Wealth Credit Union

The social goodiness in the financial sector doesn’t end with our accounting friends. Commonwealth Credit Union (CCU) joined in on the act, creating a multi-layered social campaign for…**drum roll**… a savings account. How Hollywood is that…? Convinced the Gen Y segment was being underserviced (and smelling the opportunity of lifetime value), CCU created a savings account exclusively for the under 25′ers. Perhaps pessimistic of their ability to connect authentically with the Gen Y audience, they decided instead to create an ambassador role  for an under 25′er to take up the challenege and spread the message to the people.

Entries to become the ambassador were submitted via video, with the audience themselves deciding who got the job. Once appointed, the ambassador’s role was to connect with the youth and discover what they wanted from their financial institution (duh… money). This was predominantly done via the Young & Free web site, where the ambassador used tools such as video, blogs & podcasts to connect with Gen Y. The results are impressive with 80,000 YouTube views and almost a thousand blog comments. Most important however was the 960% growth in new account openings in the 19 to 25 age group.

Boring product yes… but you can’t argue with those results!

Blendtec

It would be negligent of me to publish this post without mentioning BlendTec… not because it’s one of the most successful viral campaigns of all time, but because it was achieved with one of the most boring products in the world. You know the story… small time company hits it big by producing a series of short videos that showcase their product blending an assortment of weird and wonderful items. Tens of millions of viewers and 150,000+ subscribers later, Blendtec is now a household name. The iPhone video alone attracted almost 3 million views…

What’s most impressive about the campaign though is the product at the centre of it. A blender for goodness sakes. An everyday kitchen appliance. Actually, come to think of it a blender is hardly an everyday appliance. I’d be lucky to use mine more than once a month. Yet Blendtec have transformed their blender into a virtual rockstar.

Go figure…

Kleenex

The Klennex example is the least celebrated of the case studies, but I think it deserves some props. If I was working within the marketing department at Kleenex I suspect leveraging 2.0 tools would be the last of my concerns. After all, how glamorous can a disposable snot rag be…? Yet the folks at Kleenex have come up with a pretty interesting concept. It’s called Let It Out and is a variation of the Digg model.

Rather than focus on the product (or what may be inside it), they focused upon the emotions associated with a tissue… crying, laughter, joy and of course… blowing. A social network was built around these emotions with the tag line ‘experience the release’. The site encourages users to share their stories of laughter, joy and sorrow with the community. Other members can then show their support by giving a Kleenex tissue to the author (aka voting for it). The network isn’t experiencing server breaking traffic, but the most popular stories have over 100 tissues/votes.

Which isn’t bad for a snot rag…

And on that note I declare this myth… busted!!

No product is too boring to succeed in social media. If tax accountants and bankers can make it happen, anything is possible. Indeed, a product is only as boring as the marketing team around it. Creativity can bring any product alive in the social web. Of course, with creativity comes risk. But one thing is for sure… playing it safe in social media is a sure fire road to mediocrity.