The other day, I received, amongst the usual spam, an email from Fox Broadcasting inviting me to join their brand-new social network for fans of FOX shows. I wasn’t quite sure how I qualified since I don’t recall the last time I actually watched a FOX show.

But still, I’d been specially selected, and they promised me lots of special features once I signed up for their private social network. Heck, maybe I’d find something redeemable on their schedule to watch, or maybe get them to bring back one of their older shows that they canceled ahead of its time…

Project FOX

Excitedly I clicked on the link, I would be a voice of influence on their network. That sounded good. It took me to a page with one question on it. The question regarded my occupation. I know I could have lied.  But, that’s not me…I answered truthfully.  After all, I’d been selected to join this community. They probably just wanted this information for demographic purposes. Then, the next screen came up.

Fox Broadcasting says Thanks but No Thanks

But… but… I was specially selected… I was going to influence your programming… you asked me to join. Now, I’ll go back to not caring about the former home of Firefly and Futurama.

Lessons to be learned from this:

1. If you’re going to have pre-qualification criteria, it’s probably a good idea to mention it somewhere – rather than promise the moon and then snatch it back. I’ve no idea where they got my email address from, but I can say that I had a slightly better opinion of FOX when I was blissfully unaware of this network than now.
2. More and more companies are creating branded private social networks to use as their own internal ‘captive’ focus groups. By rewarding participants with special features for their participation, they’re not only getting the benefit of instant feedback, but they’re also creating and fostering a dedicated group of ambassadors.
3. Companies such as FOX Broadcasting are using tools such as email to seed their social network. They’re not just taking the ‘build it and they will come’ attitude, they’re using the other marketing tools at their disposal.

I’m gonna be honest and I’m not gonna pull any punches.

We’re just not sure if this relationship is working anymore.

I mean, I know we’re witty and we’re great with analytics and marketing.  But, you’re just not reading us anymore. Sure, you scan us for a provocative headline here and there.  But, I’m just not sure you’re getting much out of this relationship.

I know I promised you three more parts on Video Games last time, and I’m gonna come through, I swear.  But, we never talk anymore. You rarely comment and we just feel like we’re talking to the wall (who, by the way, does not happen to be a particularly responsive piece of stucco.)

This is no Dear John letter.  The last thing we want is you checking out that hot little technology blog from across the Internet. No, we want to get back to that place where you’re thrilled to read our content. Where you get that twinkle in your eye after you finish a story.

But, how do we get back there? How do we catch your interest and keep it? We don’t want to just slip into a hot new site design (which will be coming to better match our redesigned corporate site) and hope you’ll stick around for the long haul.

We want to catch your eye and your heart with stories, content, and perhaps videos that interest you, inform you, and make your day. We want to talk with you again, really talk, and listen, and try to bring the passion and fire back to your RSS reader.

We’re in the process of a full-rethinking of this blog, and we’d like your–scratch that–we yearn for your input like a meat-eater trapped in Vegan country longs for steak. What do you want to see in this blog? Is there something we used to do really well, but don’t anymore? Is there something we do particularly poorly that you never want to see again? How can we help you better? How can we provide better content?

You, our readers, are our most important resource and we want to make sure that your voice is always heard. So, leave us a comment or send me, John, an email directly at jrhea (at) serengeticom (dot) com.

Let me thank you in advance for joining the conversation and helping us be the best blog we can be. A warm thank you to all of our long-time readers (I’m looking at you Nate’s Mom), and I hope we can serve you even better in the future.

In case you were wondering, here’s our blog strategy so far. Let us know what you think

Can searches on Google for flu-related keywords predict increases and decreases in the number of flu cases?  That is a question the folks over at Google wanted to find out. 

After compiling the search-related data, they worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to compare the data to actual flu outbreaks around the country.  What they found was that there was a very close correlation between the two.

Google decided to use this data to try and help individuals across the country find out the level of flu activity in their area.  They have created a Flu Trends tool through Google.org that displays the data in a chart that can be drilled into – to show individual states. 

One really nice aspect of the tool is that the data is current where as the data that comes from the CDC lags by a couple weeks.  Because of this, you can better anticipate oncoming flu activity before the CDC releases its data and have already begun to take preventive measure to help avoid catching the flu. 

To get a better visual understanding of how the tool works, I pulled a few screenshots from the tool.  The first one shows the overall flu activity throughout the country. 

As you can see, the level of flu activity has been low so far this year.  But, based on previous years, it is likely about to begin to increase.  You can see that in certain states such as Mississippi, Arkansas, and Kentucky, the flu activity has already risen to the moderate level.  

That got me thinking of what it looks like around my area.

Filtering the data for the DC area shows that flu activity has begun to increase, but is still at the low level.

This would seem to indicate that there isn’t much risk of the flu at this point.  But, that it is beginning to have an upwards trend.  So, I should start being a bit more careful in my attempts to avoid contracting the flu this season. 

I’ll probably continue to revisit Google Flu Trends to see if what I see living in the DC area matches with what the tool is telling me.  And, who knows, maybe it can be one way that I can try to avoid the flu this year.      

“Twitter isn’t something that we plan to use right now.”

“We don’t have the resources to invest in a site like Digg or Mixx.”

“Plurk? Never heard of it, not something that we want to bother with until it reaches some kind of critical mass.”

Do any of these sound familiar? These aren’t a problem.  Not every company is ready for each social network, and not every social network is ready for your company. It may be that your company and social networks (some or all) never meet, because they’re just not a real fit.  So, what’s my point with this post?

Even if your company decides not to use a social network, you should make sure to secure your brand on each through user names. Because, if you don’t, the chance is that someone else will.  And, the potential is that that someone may be a detractor, someone who dislikes your brand, and uses that profile to spread messages contrary to your corporate message.

True, when you notice that someone is doing that you can, depending on the strength of our brand and the policies of the social network in question, have them turn that ID over to you  But, damage to your reputation may already be done.

So, you need to go out to social networks and secure your brand name(s). …and you might want to point this post out to a certain former President…

Yesterday morning, when I was thinking about this blog, it was actually shaping up to be quite a different post. But then, the events of yesterday changed things.

Originally, I was going to write about ways to encourage your customers to participate in your brand. I thought about some brands that I happily participate in. For example, having long been a Seth Godin fan, not just reading all his books and his blog daily, but occasionally posting a quote from him on our blog or recommending a book.  I’ve joined his ‘fan club’ and received his book ‘Tribes’ before it was officially released.

There are many examples in that one brand alone of great ways to encourage participation with your brand in a positive way.

But then, yesterday. Sure, it was election day. And, I was thrilled with the outcome (yay!!!). But then, it was also the day that I had quite possibly my worst ever experience as a customer (well, as a potential customer)…

Being relatively new to the area, I took the lazy, convenient way of finding a place to board my dogs (the Petsmart across the street). I won’t bore you with the exhaustive details but it started with three phone calls to their veterinary department, Banfield, to schedule a shot. (One that they are current on for every other kennel I have talked to since, but that is another story.) They ‘lost’ my information (apparently twice because I had to fill out a form that reiterated what I had told two other employees). 

I was forced (before any vet would see them) to watch their sales video (Sure, I get advertising to a captive audience [stuck in the exam room].  But please, this was more torturous than a time share experience).  I was told that my dogs (who, did I mention are current on all of their vaccines) needed hundreds of dollars of shots that Banfield recommends, ugh. I declined the ‘recommended vaccines.’  But, it got worse (didn’t think it could, but it did). So, I left.

I can’t think of any experience that I’ve EVER had as a customer that was worse. Apparently, Banfield has a system to generate the most revenue based on annoying sales tactics (the video), deceptive tactics (pulling up a list of vaccines that are not necessary), and trying other ways to charge for services that are unneccesary. So, I will participate in their brand. I will tell every pet owner who I talk to about my experience and never, ever even shop in Petsmart, as they must see this practice as not a problem.

My point is that there are two ways that customers who will participate in your brand can participate – and there are not that many customers who will. So, you can choose.  Choose by the way you treat your customers (or mistreat them).

Video games are the new Cadillac of mass marketing.  I’m not really sure what that means either, but video games can be a great way of promoting your brand and creating a devoted following. They can also be a disastrous waste of time, money, and customer goodwill.

This four part series will discuss To Play or Not to Play i.e. whether you should embark on this perilous yet rewarding journey (Part 1); those who have gone before i.e. companies who have succeeded and failed at this endeavor (Part 2); What do I do now? …or the types of decisions you need to make on how your game is going to look, feel, play, operate, and perform (Part 3).  And finally, The pitfalls (Part 4)…or the things to look out for along the way.

So let’s get down to it: is this a good idea?  Here are seven things to consider:

1. Know your audience.

Rolex should probably not make a video game.  Why?  Because their target demographics are generally not the type that would be interested in games.  Worse yet, a Rolex game would probably be a catastrophe as it would juvenilize their brand - making it irrelevant to the high-end customers they cater to.

So, make sure that your audience is one that would be interested in a game.  At the same time, do some research before assuming that your audience wouldn’t be interested.  The Entertainment Software Association in their 2008 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry states that “women 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game playing population (33%) than boys age 17 or younger (18%).”

2. Know your product.

Not every product should have a video game based around it.  Mortuary services seems to me a rather bad idea for a game.  Cotton swabs too seem like a bad idea.  But, if you can build a character or story around the cotton swabs, then it might be the perfect way to add depth and interest to a dull product. (No offense to any cotton swab makers who might be reading.)

3. It’s expensive.

Even with advent of Flash, Silverlight, and other technologies that vastly cut costs on design and development, it’s still no cheap beast to tame.  With artwork, programming, and interactive design, even the smallest of games will take time and money to produce whether you do it in-house or have an agency do it.  That being said if customers enjoy the game, it’ll be worth it.

4. Don’t expect direct revenue.

Directly selling the game is generally a bad idea.  Although, if you go so far as to create a console game, there’s probably room for a low-cost price tag to help reclaim some costs.  The best idea is to give this game away to your customers and perhaps, more importantly, to your potential customers.  This push of authenticity and good will can pay dividends for years to come.

5. It will be fun.

The whole point of this is to inject fun and entertainment into your brand/company.  If you don’t have fun making it, no one will enjoy playing it.

6. Thinly veiled marketing sucks.

Don’t make a game so you can stuff your product/service down your customers’ throat.  You seem manipulative and customers feels used.  No one wins.

7. They’re already interacting with you.

If customers take time to play your game you’re – by the nature of gaming - interacting with them.  Slap on a forum or game player blog and you’ve got a community of engaged people who are loyal to your brand.

***Warning*** Do not just tack on any portion of this experience.  Everything must be intelligently measured and decided on before you take any steps toward adding features.  Blundering through a campaign adding every Web 2.0 buzz word you can think of only makes you look bad.  Promise quality and deliver quality – just like you do with your products and services.

So, you’re cautiously optimistic about creating a video game.  Good.  Next time, we’ll discuss the trials, travails, and triumphs of marketing games in Those Who Have Gone Before.