Finally, eleven years after the popular animated movie Toy Story 2 the long awaited sequel Toy Story 3 is here. And Disney-Pixar is pulling out all the cards to ensure proper exposure for the film’s debut. Toy Story 3 has appeared in various commercials including US Postal Service priority rate shipping, Visa debit card, and Aflac.  But how are these efforts going to surpass other blockbusters like Shrek Forever After, geared toward the same target audience?

Disney-Pixar has aimed for the social media target, using both Facebook and Twitter to allow for more exposure of the popular film. On Facebook, Toy Story 3 has over 2 million likes, a very funny toy creator, interactive video games, and ticket purchasing options.  Fortunately, these features are fun for both adults and children and a wide variety of customers may be reached because of this.

On Twitter, Disney-Pixar is the first company ever to have a successfully promoted trending topic. Just like regular tweeting trends, Toy Story 3 appears at the bottom of the trending list but it’s highlighted yellow and clearly labeled “promoted.” The response has been great and Toy Story 3 has been a large topic of discussion on twitter and has countless retweets.  Yes, Toy Story 3 has become quite a buzz topic for their use of promoted tweets.

This popularity of promoted tweets leads us to think, has Disney-Pixar’s release of Toy story 3 sprouted a revolution for promoted tweets?  Well, slightly.  Twitter has stated they will not be running promoted tweets for every brand, but that promoted tweets have to “resonate with users.” This is aimed to cut out potential promotional tweets that will not be discussed or accepted by twitters users.  Other brands such as Best Buy, Red Bull, and Starbucks were brands that first used promotional tweeting, yet none have experienced such success as Toy Story 3.  The success from Disney-Pixar’s promotional efforts appears to be a perfect mixture of all the right ingredients which has no doubt made Toy Story 3 this summer’s biggest blockbuster.

I called  Dell’s support number and had a difficult time trying to get through to a person.  The automated system kept asking me for a number that I didn’t have since I had only bought a monitor.  ( I had the serial number but not this other number they were asking for.)  After about 20 minutes of getting passed around from menu to menu and finally to a person who told me I was in the wrong area, I got irritated and hung up.  Frustrated, I posted a comment on a Twitter account that I use to rant about things from time to time.

This is where things started to change.  I got a response from a person who asked if they could call me to resolve the issue.  I replied with my phone number, and a support rep from Dell called me.  (Yes he called me!) The rep asked me for my serial number and upon giving it to him he said that he saw I had purchased the unit on XX/XX/XXXX date, to which I replied, “yes that’s the one.”  He walked me through some steps to try to resolve the issue, and we ascertained that in fact it was a hardware issue and the unit was still under warranty and they would replace it.  (This was late in the day on Thursday mind you.)  The support rep then informed me that a new unit would be shipped to me and explained the return process to me.

This is the awesome part .  I worked from home on Friday, and at about 10 AM I heard a knock on the door.  It was FedEx standing there with a new monitor box.   I opened the box and there were simple to follow instructions on who to call to schedule a pick up after switching out the monitor.

Bottom line… this was a customer service issue that could have been a lousy experience, but it was resolved quickly and easily due to a simple posting on Twitter.  I just wanted to pass a good experience on.  Thanks Dell.

TULSA – Many companies are hiring social media directors, but Tulsa-based Cubic decided to go a different route.

In response to client demand, Cubic will open a Social Media Lab this summer.“We have been living social media because it’s been our passion, and we have been doing it for years,” said Jeff DeGarmo, vice president and chief technology officer for Cubic. “We’ve been on Facebook and Twitter and we do not have to hire one person to develop this.”

The Tulsa-based creative agency signed a lease to take over more than 1,800 square feet for the lab.

About a year ago, Cubic moved into a building that provided expansion capabilities at 1631 S. Boston Ave.

“From a sociology standpoint, social media has been around forever,” said Winston Peraza, creative director for Cubic. “It’s a good bridge between the digital realm and the offline world.”

Billy Kulkin, president of Cubic, said social media – like any form of communication – needs to have a strategy in place.
There are two aspects to Cubic’s Social Media Lab: one targeted toward students and the other for the business community.

Cubic plans to hire up to seven interns to work on projects for its clients, said Peraza.

“We also hope to learn from these kids because, for them, this idea of social media is a natural part of life,” he said. “The lab is more of an environment for experience.”

DeGarmo said he thinks the company will get value out of the interns’ social media knowledge.

“We are developing a strategy and giving them an opportunity to look at tactics while we are watching them,” he said. “These college kids are the ones that know what’s coming and the ones more engaged to what’s happening right now.”

Kris Oakes, director of interactive media, said the lab could serve as a marketing tool for Cubic.

“If we can get the brightest students in, this gives us an opportunity to mentor them and help them grow,” he said. “Ultimately, we find the brightest kids out of college and potentially hire them.”

Kulkin said he’s actively involved with organizations – like Tulsa Young Professionals – that aim to keep the younger population in Tulsa.
If Cubic can show the next generation that the agency is on the forefront of trends, people may be encouraged to stay local instead of find jobs in other cities, he said.

Cubic also wants the lab to provide an educational resource for the business community. DeGarmo said they are in talks to bring in speakers and possibly hold monthly social media forums.

These troubled economic times have not put a damper on business, said Kulkin. The company has charted steady growth at about 20 percent every year. Kulkin said this year’s first-quarter numbers were better than a year ago.

While they offer similar services to an advertising agency, Kulkin said Cubic is not designed like one.

“I believe most agencies sell a process,” he said. “We don’t sell a process; we are selling the way we think. We felt the term ‘creative agency’ doesn’t limit us.”

Peraza said when Cubic was created several years ago, the company believed in a strong focus on technology and how it can bring value to their clients.

At a traditional advertising agency, less than 10 percent of the staff is technologically trained. About 70 percent of Cubic employees have tech skills, said Peraza.

“I say being a tech person is a lifestyle,” he said. “Technology has already become so embedded in this world.”

Obviously, there’s the direct approach many companies have been trying (some failing miserably – Skittles anyone?). Companies have incorporated Twitter into their sites, created Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, Myspace pages, and hired blogger evangelists to get the word out.  These can be effective ways to market, but there exists a two-pronged fault with this route.  First, many companies don’t understand social media (SM).  They still attempt to engage their customers and potential customers as transactions.  Instead, these companies need to shift to building long term relationships with their customers and potentials, and focus on building their brand with these new SM utilities.  Secondly, the public is still skeptical of these tactics.  Businesses have begun encroaching on their domain, and are what many consider to be abusing it.  That is to say, in many minds bullish businesses and their outdated practices are unwelcome in this medium. Posting product information on Facebook and Twitter is not the answer. Succeeding in the social media world requires a well-developed strategy and execution.

Is there another way businesses can utilize this new medium? A more efficient way?  Let’s quickly analyze the user interaction with Twitter.  If something important (to the user) bubbles up in his/her mind, he/she now has an outlet for this thought a la Twitter. A simple blurb of information is broadcast to all of his/her followers, and some of their followers may even decide to ReTweet this information, broadcasting it to all of that user’s followers, and on it goes.  How can companies take advantage of this process?  It should be fairly obvious. They have to be the instigator of the initial bubble.  How do they do that?  They do it by creating something Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, refers to as the “Wow Factor.”

Creating the “Wow Factor” is pretty straightforward – make your customers happy.  Tony Hsieh cites this as the primary driving force behind Zappos – spreading happiness.

Case Study – Zappos

Zappos allocates many of its so-called marketing dollars into creating this wow factor.  First, they deliver world class customer service.  Customer service agents are expected to do whatever is required to please the customer, this can obviously incur expenses.  However, if for every 100 customers they deal with 3 of them experience the “Wow Factor” and go on to Tweet about the exchange on Twitter, this automatically reaches some number of Followers, commonly on the scale of hundreds. A small percentage of these Followers ReTweet the Tweet, resulting in an even larger number receiving the message, and so on.  You can see how the number of possible customers reached could easily grown into the thousands.

Zappos also surprises many of their repeat customers by sending their purchase overnight, instead of the usual 5-7 day shipping (another, possibly better way to create the “Wow Factor” and trigger the same potential social broadcast).

So, how can your company create the “Wow Factor”?  It’s simple –make your customers happy.  Beat deadlines. Exceed Expectations. If there’s ever been a time when doing the right thing can be directly tied to success and profit, that time is now.  Go make some people happy.

Twitter is a great resource for businesses but is one of many tools in the larger picture of social media marketing.  The success of a business marketing themselves on twitter will be directly related to how many users within their demographic are reachable through that medium. Although twitter works great for several businesses, not all businesses are suited for success by using Twitter.

In the world of social media marketing, information flows freely and quickly.  Good or bad, information about your business spreads.  The twitterverse allows businesses to reach their demographic through relationship building.  The old ways of face to face relationship selling which would happen over a series of weeks or months can now be condensed.  The days of push marketing are over and we are starting to see new ways of earning the trust of the consumer through the new media techniques. Personal thoughts are becoming the brand of business and blurring the lines between personal and business.  Within Twitter, personal is business and business is personal.

Now, what about the future of Twitter?  Twitter is thought by some to become the next search giant and maybe even take Google’s spot on top of the search heap.  The open API’s Twitter offers allows 3rd parties to develop Twitter based applications and there are many of these applications or add-ons popping up everywhere. This is allowing Twitter to expand its capabilities quickly.  With this sort of growth, Twitter is here to stay.