Posted by: Meagen Ryan, Marketing Strategist Feb 05, 20100 Comments
The Open Gov conference shares info and ideas, Nextgov opens nominations, FCWtakes a look at what government agencies can do to improve communication across channels, and Drupal-powered government sites get a nod, all in this week’s version of the Rock Creek Roundup, brought to you from Gov 2.0 Camp LA in Los Angeles.
—Gov 2.0 Camp LA is getting ready to kick things off with Scott Johnson and me representing Rock Creek at the un-conference. Can’t make it to the event? TechZulu will be livestreaming the panels.
—Earlier this week, the Open Gov conference welcomed more than 250 government employees to share ideas and information about ways to meet the Obama Administration’s Open Government Directive. At the conference, representatives from a variety of government agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Transportation, spoke about how their agencies are using technology to fulfill the promise of the directive. For example, DOT’s Adam Schlicht explained how his organization has created a virtual world called Transportation Nation where DOT employees can interact, receive training, and share information, without ever having to leave their desks.
—Do you know a government employee who is making a positive impact on the way that government interacts with citizens? Is your boss or co-worker constantly pushing the envelope and spearheading initiatives that will move government in a new direction? Why not nominate them for the Nextgov Awards 2010, an award program designed to honor and recognize those public officials who “have demonstrated their ability to contend with numerous risks—entrenched bureaucratic interests, apathetic colleagues, and political minefields—to push through their ideas. And they have the results to show for it.” Nominations are open through March 12, 2010 and the winners will be recognized at the Gov 2.0 Expo in May 2010.
—Even with all of the strides that the government has made in communication and transparency, there is certainly still room for improvement. And in Federal Computer Week‘s recent “3 Must-Do’s for Agencies to Improve Citizen Engagement“ report, author Alan Joch talks with agency representatives, government consultants, and other experts to identify the top actions government agencies must take in order to improve communication with citizens via every available channel. The report’s action item number one? “Make internal collaboration someone’s job.” Joch’s article is worth a read for government agencies and other large enterprises that are in the process of figuring out how their communication structure will grow and scale, and the impact that new media channels will have on constituent and consumer satisfaction.
—Drupal. These days, you can’t go to a Gov 2.0 conference or read a government technology blog without hearing raves about this powerful open source publishing system. With more than half a million websites currently running on the platform, it’s the most popular content management system in the world…literally. And this week on GovFresh, author Jeff Walpole takes a look at how federal agencies are effectively using Drupal to make government more open and transparent. Walpole cites the Department of Commerce’s Recovery at Commerce and the Federal IT Spending Dashboard as excellent examples of Drupal design and development at its best—check out the entire post for info on what other agencies, both here and abroad, are doing with this open source gem.
Posted by: Chris Lester, Principal Jan 29, 20100 Comments
Yesterday morning, I had the opportunity to discuss the marketing implications of the Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad controversy with Fox News.
The controversy, if you haven’t already heard, is that CBS has approved a 30-second ad paid for by Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group, that recounts Tebow’s mother’s decision not to have an abortion while pregnant with Tim, against her doctor’s recommendations. CBS’s decision to accept the ad has brought the pro-life/pro-choice controversy to the surface, and some advocacy groups have called for CBS to reject the ad.
What’s motivating CBS to air the spot? Is this a smart business decision?
While the financial incentive is certainly there, most likely this isn’t just about the $2.5 million this specific ad will bring CBS. They may be taking a calculated risk and hoping for a huge payoff.
With every Super Bowl, there is controversy surrounding ads that have been submitted with the intention of being banned. Once rejected, the ads hit the Internet, where they get a great deal of visibility due to the buzz surrounding them—it’s a great deal for the advertisers who get tremendous media attention without having to invest in Super Bowl placements. CBS may see this ad as an opportunity to reverse that trend and leverage a controversy to benefit the network.
Super Bowl viewership will certainly increase due to the media attention, and viewers will focus on the ads more intensely. This will, in turn, create greater interest among potential advertisers.
From a marketing perspective, it’s a risky proposition. Certainly it’s going to benefit CBS in the short term, but in the long run, it has the potential to damage their brand and alienate viewers.
Potential Outcomes: What does CBS have to gain?
The controversy blows over and the CBS brand benefits from increased awareness brought on by the intense media attention—not to mention a healthy revenue boost.
In the future, advocacy ads may become more prevalent, and CBS will be better positioned to take advantage of them. The Supreme Court ruling reversing corporate campaign finance restrictions may play a role in changing the political and issue-based advertising landscape.
Potential Outcomes: What does CBS have to lose?
A backlash and call to boycott CBS, which could get momentum through blogs, Twitter, and social networks, where issues can be easily magnified.
They may be perceived as aligning themselves with highly controversial Focus on the Family, which could impact their brand and narrow their audience.
CBS will certainly have to stay on top of damage control and do everything in their power to demonstrate that their recently changed policy on advocacy/issue advertising had nothing to do with these particular politics, and that their willingness to air highly controversial ads will be extended to all perspectives on an issue.
Posted by: Meagen Ryan, Marketing Strategist Jan 29, 20100 Comments
The EPA issues an interim social media policy, Code for America issues an exciting invitation to city governments, OhMyGov! rates government social networks, and eConsultancy provides compelling social media stats, all in this week’s version of the Rock Creek Roundup.
—Earlier this week, the Environmental Protection Agency issued an interim social media policy to guide employees in appropriate social media interaction. Among other guidelines, the interim policy urges workers to employ the same level of professionalism and decorum in the social media capacity that they would use when speaking at conference or representing the EPA at a public meeting. The policy also states that employees should request approval from their supervisor before jumping in as an official representative of the EPA in a social media environment. This policy is just another example of how the EPA is one of the federal agencies leading the social media pack—I would anticipate that other agencies and perhaps even some private sector businesses will be reading the policy memo looking for ideas to incorporate in their own organization’s policies.
—What if your city’s government had access to some of the brightest, most innovative developers to help create applications that would make citizens’ lives better, and interaction with city government easier and more productive? Thanks to Code for America, this dream will be coming true for five lucky cities across the nation. Recruitment begins immediately; Code for America is currently accepting nominations from city governments through February 1, 2010 and will begin recruiting developers later on this year, with a plan to have fully functional applications in place by the end of 2011.
—Not sure which federal government online hangout makes the most sense for you? Check out the “Top 6 Government Social Networks“ post over on OhMyGov!. In this insightful and sometimes humorous piece, author Amelia Hassani details the ins-and-outs of some of today’s most important Gov 2.0 social networks, including GovLoop, The Federal Contractor Network, and Military.com. If you’re interested in the real inside scoop, Hassani’s article points out her opinion of the good, bad and otherwise when it comes to government-focused social networks. Definitely worth a read.
—UK-based digital marketing research firm eConsultancy recently updated their popular “20+ Mind Blowing Social Media Stats” blog post by revisiting the original stats and providing the latest information on how things have changed. Among other insights are that “Mobile is even bigger than before for Facebook, with more than 65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices. In six months, this is over 100% increase. (Previously 30m). As before, it’s no secret that users who access Facebook through mobile devices are almost 50% more active than those who don’t.” Read the whole list, and then forward the most relevant points to any remaining social media naysayers within your organization.
Posted by: Daniel Dahlman, Branding & Social Media Intern Jan 26, 20101 Comments
As the world’s financial institutions crumbled, unemployment skyrocketed, and the class of 2009 graduated in perfect sync, most of my friends and I let out deep sighs, swallowed our new and fragile feelings of adulthood, and moved back in with Mom and Dad. While home cooked meals and finding clean laundry on my bed were welcome improvements in lifestyle, the charms of living at home had completely worn off after several months of visiting employment agencies and blasting my resume into the black voids that are online job posting sites.
After a particularly rough day, during which I received a corporate postcard informing me that my BS in communication/advertising “didn’t match” what a large national book seller was “looking for” in their part time seasonal help, I decided that it was time to buckle down and reach out to anybody and everybody willing to help me find a job—from going on informational interviews to taking my dentist up on his offer to put me in touch with his residential properties-owning brother in Connecticut.
Two days after the postcard that made me question whether my education had any appreciable value at all, I found a sympathetic soul in one of my brother’s friends (shout out to Emily Lodish). After patiently listening to me describe the dark, winding, and barren journey that was my job search, she mentioned that her brother-in-law was Rock Creek Strategic Marketing principal Chris Lester and passed along his contact info.
In less than a second, Google had brought up Chris’s LinkedIn profile, led me to several of his posts on this very blog, and even showed me a Fox News clip of Chris’s analysis of last year’s Super Bowl spots. Armed with all this info with which to impress, I gave Chris a call. On his end, Chris already knew about my educational background and had even seen some of my work samples thanks to a Google/LinkedIn search of his own. With 95% of what we knew about each other coming from Google and the remaining 5% stemming from a five-minute phone call, Chris offered me an informal internship without ever having met me.
The crazy power of online networking pushed me closer toward employment on the first day of the actual internship. On my first day, the first person I was introduced to was Carla Briceno. Carla herself was beginning her first day in a strategic partnership with Rock Creek thanks to a relationship cultivated through social networks. Carla met Rock Creek principal and co-founder Scott Johnson through a mutual friend, they connected and stayed in touch via LinkedIn, and have since developed a business relationship that has recently brought them into the same office.
Two very different and tangled webs of online connections converged my first day in the office to put me in the same breathing space as the fireball that is Carla Briceno, who along with her husband, Jose Briceno, are the principals and founders of Bixal, a marketing and communication firm that specializes in the Hispanic and Latin American markets. It turns out that they were looking for someone with an interest in marketing who speaks Spanish, and hey would I be interested?
And just like that, I had a job. I never filled out an application. No one even checked my references; they checked Google. Thanks to the speed at which online networking can bring people together, I now intern at Rock Creek and work at Bixal, companies that I hadn’t even heard about two weeks ago.
Experiences like mine are becoming increasingly common. The popularity and ubiquity of sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter make it possible for people to connect in the marketplace, whether it be potential business partners, marketers and consumers, or employers and job seekers, many times before actually meeting. Social networking sites are rapidly replacing the Rolodex and business card and, as I recently learned, having immediate access to millions of people deep in cyberspace is a powerful thing.
Posted by: Jessica Richmond, Director of Client Services Jan 26, 20100 Comments
At Rock Creek, we’ve watched as our clients’ marketing projects have moved from layout and print projects to web design, to Web 2.0, and now onto new media. And one of the most exciting areas of new media is mobile marketing—a medium our clients are very interested in as a way to expand their brand reach.
No matter what the medium, one of our main goals is to make the interaction with the brand a memorable experience and encourage our clients’ target audiences to get involved. Having a great user experience on a website is critical to engagement, but an opportunity to reach out to and have an impact on mobile audiences—to truly become part of users’ everyday lives—is even more exciting.
As more people are accessing the Internet not via desktop computers but rather via an iPhone, Treo, Blackberry, or some other Web-enabled smartphone, the mobile medium is becoming increasingly important. Users demand a pleasant experience no matter how they’re accessing the information, and savvy marketers understand the potential of this in-motion audience.
Over the past year at Rock Creek, our team has helped several clients expand into mobile media. For example, with Rock Creek’s help, the Army National Guard’s Partners in Education program launched its first mobile applications during the summer of 2009—and the numbers indicate that they’ve been a terrific success thus far.
Are you thinking of developing a mobile version of your site or an app? Here are some things to consider as you embark on your mobile efforts:
1. What is your objective? Are your trying to help users locate your organic markets so they can make purchases, or do you want them to log on to your site for the latest industry news? No matter what your objective is, there is a mobile method that can help you meet your goals.
2. What areas of your site are users most likely to access via mobile devices? For our own clients, the Rock Creek team answers this question by reviewing analytics and then developing a content strategy around your most likely mobile-friendly content. For example, someone on-the-go is less likely to be interested in your company history, but may be extremely interested in finding your location or learning more about an event at which you are exhibiting.
3. What functionality would facilitate meaningful engagement? Mobile technology is advancing at lightening speed, and users can now use their mobile devices to dress their Barbie, read the latest news, and order a pizza—all within seconds. When strategizing for a mobile project, our team starts by looking at the client’s existing and potential content and resources in order to determine the functionality that would be most effective for the target audience.
4. What platform(s) should your focus on? Currently, mobile devices use different technology platforms, so an app that works on an iPhone would not work on a Blackberry or an Android. The majority of the smartphone market is dominated by iPhone, with Google’s Android mobile operating system coming on strong and RIM (Blackberry) holding steady. Due to the popularity of iPhone and the “early adopter” nature of its users, we are currently recommending that clients create an iPhone app first, and then consider creating a supplemental app to reach the Blackberry and/or Android users.
5. Is a mobile app enough? Mobile apps are great as a part of an overall mobile strategy, but they should not be your only mobile tactic. Regardless of the mobile application(s) you decide to develop, your web strategy should also include a mobile version of your site. Mobile versions should have a unique user experience and information architecture structured specifically to mobile use. At the least, make use of a simple mobile browser detect. Or even better, use an advanced detect service that identifies the specific device the user is using and routes them to site that works best for that device.
6. What are your constraints? Identify the parameters of the project. Are you looking for a quick app for an upcoming event, or are you interested in developing a series of interconnected applications? What is your budget? As you’re trying to answer these questions, don’t be afraid to ask for assistance. You can always contact Rock Creek to help you determine the best mobile approach that will fit both your goals and your project parameters.
And one more tip—keep your eye on the Rock Creek blog to learn more about where mobile is going. We’re in the process of scheduling an interview with our mobile partner PointAbout and will be sharing their insights with you in a future blog post
