Social media is changing the world for the better.

I know this because of the conversation I have, over and over again, every time I run a social media workshop for companies. It starts with an honest and understandable question: “What if we get on Twitter and people say horrible things?”

For companies who aren’t yet engaging with customers on social media, this is a worst-case scenario. People will be complaining, in public, and these complaints will be visible to everyone, and other people who see those complaints might not like us anymore, and then the good times will be over. Providing a soapbox on which our customers can advertise their dissatisfaction runs counter to every protective instinct we have.

The problem, of course, is that those complaints are already being aired online. Anyone upset enough to go to your Facebook page and tell you what they don’t like is upset enough to tell their friends and followers in your absence. Staying off social media doesn’t stop the problem; it merely removes the discomfort of having to deal with it. Being on social media at least gives you the chance to respond.

And here’s where the second question comes in: “What if we respond the wrong way? What if we say something stupid?”

On social media, we’re afraid of the same things we were afraid of back in eighth grade: that people will be mean to us, and that we’ll make fools of ourselves. For the most part, we’ve overcome these fears for our personal Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts; as companies, though, it’s still the first day at a new school.

The good news is we’re grownups now. We get a chance to do it again, and do it right. To allay those anxieties, I propose Two Golden Rules for Not Making Your Company Look Stupid on Social Media:

Rule 1: Act With Integrity

The first rule isn’t about turning your company into a group of enlightened monks or save-the-world superheros. Integrity is about being consistent. It’s about (to use a horrible consultant phrase) living up to the brand promise. It’s about making sure that what you see is what you get.

Sometimes, what you see isn’t peaceful, or wholesome, or spiritual — and that’s fine. But where companies get in trouble is when they pretend to be something they’re not. SIGG found this out the hard way, when their “eco-friendly” water bottles turned out to have BPA in the liner.

Rule 2: Admit Your Mistakes We all mess up, especially on social media. But the optimal way to deal with a mistake is to admit it, take any steps necessary to correct the situation, and then move on.

A few years ago, Hugh MacLeod shared an email he’d filed under the category: “When It’s Time To Bitchslap The Newbie.” The message was a clumsy and overbearing link-exchange request; MacLeod was gracious enough to anonymize it and spare the sender visits from his readers (one commenter complained: “Aww, you should have given the url so readers can troll the crap out of it”).

Imagine for a second you’re the person who sent the email. Imagine you’re seeing those responses, and imagine further that the original post doesn’t mention your name or your company. What would you do? Me, I’d want to run for the hills — after all, nobody knows who I am. The email’s author, however, took a different tack, and left the following comment on the post:

Hugh – First of all, sorry for starting off on the wrong foot and creating a bad first impression with you and your readers. After more than 10 years in traditional media, we are learning this new way of talking and we’re just taking our first steps. So thanks for not biting our heads off.

Secondly, a big thank you to the folks who commented – especially Rachel and Joaquin – for pointing out what we did wrong and how we can go about doing it right.

Like everyone else, we’re learning as we do and your post is a lesson for us. And this time we’ve learned our lesson.

Cheers

Johnny Boston

CEO Raw Digital

Cheers to you, Johnny Boston. Well done for acting with integrity and admitting your mistakes. When more companies make that shift, the world will be a better place.

Do you believe social media is changing the world for the better? Let me know, in the comments or via @kcolbin.

The bucolic woods of Weston hardly resemble Madison Avenue: however, the creative minds generating development projects – and adroitly executing their ideas cost-efficiently – are a formidable rival for their urban counterparts.
Johnny Boston, founder and chief creative officer of Raw Digital, a Manhattan-based video production company known for its cutting edge spots, recently announced the opening of its Connecticut division. Christine Fulton, a producer and researcher for Raw Digital, will oversee the Weston-based operation. She is also married to Boston.
An award-winning production company, Raw Digital has successfully worked with a diverse group of clients, such as Moet Hennessy, Amnesty International, Ladies Home Journal and the Clinton Global Initiative, to name a few.
In addition, Raw Digital has garnered the reputation for taking a non-traditional approach in creating brand opportunities for its clients. An all-encompassing, one-stop shop, Boston said that the company is responsible for all creative solutions, strategy, distribution and digital work.
“It’s all about finding an entertaining way to engage your audience,” said Boston. “It’s about storytelling and delivering your message quickly and successfully.”
The town of Weston was the backdrop this summer for a series of webisodes produced by Raw Digital for a British dairy export company. As business development manager for Coombe Castle USA, Melissa Chesman approached Boston, her Weston neighbor, about heading up the project.
“Raw Digital was the perfect fit,” Chesman said. “I needed someone who could think outside the box. I wanted to find a balance between providing a branding opportunity for Coombe Castle and also help create awareness for this particular product, which most Americans are not all that familiar with.”
Born and raised in Great Britain, Boston provided not only a keen sense of the product itself but also insight into how the video would be received across the pond.
The collaboration between Chesman and Boston’s respective companies resulted in a clever, sexy spot that pleased both the American and English audiences.
“We wanted to make it entertaining and fun,” said Boston. “You don’t want to hammer people over the head with your message.”
This summer Boston also filmed a webisode for Ladies Home Journal. The popular women’s magazine commissioned Raw Digital to explore “What Defines a Lady?”
Using local talent, including Fulton and Chesman, Boston shot a fast-paced lively spot entirely at local venues, such as Compo Beach and private residences in Westport and Weston. Chesman has since joined the Raw Digital team as its development director for the Connecticut office.
Boston also recently took the helm of a production team creating promotional videos for a local dance company, Chi Dance. The business had recently been taken over by new owners and they were also opening up a second studio. Raw Digital was able to contribute its branding expertise as well as video production experience.
“I have wanted to do more producing in Connecticut,” Boston said. “I hate my commute. I hate the train, especially.”
Although he could cite problems with Metro-North – or traffic issues inherently found in commuting by car – Boston also acknowledged that expanding Raw Digital’s business to Connecticut has much to do with being closer to his family.
“I’ve been a bat for so long,” he said, smiling. He often leaves before the sun comes up in the morning and returns to his Weston home late at night when his two children, Alex, 6, and Zoe, 4, are asleep.
However, the smooth execution of this summer’s projects encouraged Boston to establish a Connecticut base for Raw Digital.
“We’re thrilled to be working in Connecticut for a number of reasons: first and foremost being it is our home,” said Boston. “There are also a lot of great tax incentives for film and television and a lot of supportive regional institutions. A large body of our work is branded content, and of course there are a lot of wonderful Connecticut companies we are looking to work and establish relationships with.”
According to Chesman, Raw Digital has several ongoing projects such as the sidekick version of “Desperate Housewives,” which reveal the underlying juicy truths about the seemingly normal participants in a suburban book club. Boston and Chesman admit that some of the anecdotes are based on real-life tales that they heard from people they met when they moved from Manhattan to Connecticut.
However, they are also quick to point out that they have also been introduced to interesting people who support their creative work.

Two representative groups of CNBC viewers from the UK, France and Germany were shown a segment from the CNBC produced Healthy Horizons programme, with half exposed to five second Philips branded bumpers at the beginning and end. Both groups then watched a spot advert from another advertiser and then a Philips advert. The group exposed to the strategic branded content associated with Philips were:

• 35% more able to recall unprompted, the brand involved
• 29% more found the accompanying spot advertising got their attention
• 33% more were able to remember the message from the accompanying spot advert
• 82% of those who watched the strategic branded content segment enjoyed the programme and felt more positive about the brand.

The research, conducted on behalf of CNBC by Continental Research, also showed that those exposed to the strategic branded content associated with Philips had:

Better engagement – they were more positive about the brand and related spot advertising

• 27% more viewers found the accompanying Philips advert interesting
• 30% more felt the spot advertising for Philips was relevant to them
• 32% more preferred the strategic branded content to other advertising and publicity they had seen.

Better awareness – viewers were significantly more likely to remember the subject of the Philips spot ad

• 83% of all viewers said they were more likely to notice a sponsor that has been associated with a programme over a period of time than one featured in an advert
• Those who saw the strategic branded content were twice as likely to be aware of Philips’ involvement in the health and wellbeing initiatives.

Brand advocates – advertisers benefit from being associated with engaging content

• 73% of those who had seen the strategic branded content were likely to recommend Philips products to a colleague or acquaintance
• 82% of all viewers said that if they enjoy a programme they tend to feel more positive about a brand which sponsors it.

Paul Maraviglia, Vice President Sales, EMEA at CNBC said: “This research sheds new light on how strategic branded content makes a direct impact on the viewer and the brand. The study shows an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards branded content. Viewers get great content and brands benefit from greater recall, engagement and awareness with the audience.

“The findings show how the positive association that viewers have towards a programme can rub off directly onto the brand partner. Strategic branded content offers advertisers the chance to associate with powerful programming and enhance their brand equity.

“It’s also interesting to note that viewers exposed to strategic branded content develop a greater appetite for advertising and have higher interest levels. Ultimately branded content viewers are significantly more likely to purchase or recommend the brand they’ve seen. Far from being taken for granted, this research puts strategic branded content on the agenda as a powerful marketing tool.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/32355980

Check it out here

Last week I wrote about NY’s best current asset being online video. Afterwards I had the chance to meet with another video company based in NYC named Raw Digital. They have created shows for television and are now focusing on online video. I sat down with Chief Creative Officer Johnny Boston (love that name) and here are my notes.

Johnny has been in the industry for many years and has produced some of the top music groups music videos. One of his most popular new online efforts with Raw Digital is a video show that is in production called The Revengers which is a group of women who go after everyone who has done them wrong. Check out a sample clip on The Revengers page.

Johnny talked about the importance of creating good content and then interacting with the audience to create something very powerful. But the key is that people want to watch good content.

Raw Digital was staffed about 6-7 months ago and has signed some major deals for distribution including Hearst publications.

One of the discussion points we disagreed on was around monetization. From what I gather, Johnny believes that you must be able to completely monetize (on a large scale) before beginning production of the video show. While I believe having some monetization in place, it’s also important to move forward. Though I understand that creating a video production is different than a blog or Web application.

Lastly, we reviewed another show called One Minute Tricks. I really like this idea and think it has some viral/user generated potential. I have embedded one of the videos below. This could work similar to 5min in that users could upload their own one minute tricks. These tricks are great ice-breakers and conversation starters.

See the article here

If you haven’t been following the exclusive web-only reality series, catch up on the episodes where three girls competed for the chance to design Kat DeLuna’s red carpet dress and find out who will win tonight!

Check it out at:

http://prom.about.com/b/2009/06/05/ultimate-prom-dress-design-competition.htm

There are lots of surprises along the way…and the fun starts now! Meet the contestants and celebrities of the Ultimate Prom on www.mypromstyle.com plus enter to win free dresses, makeup and more!

Check it out at:

http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/ultimate-prom-2009/17380466