What Do 10 Million Facebook Friendships Look Like?

Recently, an intern working on Facebook’s data infrastructure engineering team took a sample of nearly 10 million pairs of friends from Facebook’s data warehouse and plotted out their relationships. The result? This intriguingly beautiful image and an accurate map of the world.

Here are the thoughts that Paul shared about the image and its creation:

After a few minutes of rendering, the new plot appeared, and I was a bit taken aback by what I saw. The blob had turned into a surprisingly detailed map of the world. Not only were continents visible, certain international borders were apparent as well. What really struck me, though, was knowing that the lines didn’t represent coasts or rivers or political borders, but real human relationships. Each line might represent a friendship made while travelling, a family member abroad, or an old college friend pulled away by the various forces of life.

We’d like to see an image of each individual Facebook user pinpointed on a map and see if it is attractive.

The Three Smartest Words in Advertising … Ever

What are the three smartest words ever penned in advertising? Any guesses as to what they might be? If you guessed Just Do It, Nike’s fabulous brand tag, you’d be off the mark. While certainly powerful, well crafted and fitting the three word limiter, there are three other words that have sold more product, driven more repeat business and caused a consumer behavior phenomenon that no other three words in advertising have ever accomplished.

How about Wendy’s Where’s the Beef? … guess again. Avis car rental had a good one with We Try Harder, but alas you would also be wrong. Regardless of how many words are used, there are four things that make a tag line, USP or brand message measure up.

• Longevity - do they stand the test of time? There are certainly great examples of this throughout advertising history, whether they be with three words or not. Think of Alka-Seltzer, Roto Rooter or the California Milk Board for those examples.
• Equity - Have they become synonymous with a company or product? Intel Inside is a good example of this, as is DeBeers A Diamond Is Forever.
• Memorability - Have they influenced our culture, media and language? I (Heart) NY, I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up and This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs. Any questions? are all perfect examples of how a brand can influence culture.
• Originality - Have they broken new ground in advertising? ¡Yo quiero Taco Bell! … Now that was original.

The three words to which I am referring meet all the aforementioned criteria. In use for decades and still today, they are synonymous with a product, are certainly memorable and while original and ground breaking at first, have been copied more than “Got Milk?“. These three words are used today on hundreds of different brands of the same type of product and have driven repeat sales like no other three words ever could. Determining the origin or mastermind behind the copy writing has proved to be fruitless so far, but I continue the quest to give honor and accolade to the man, woman or child that had the brilliant idea to put the words “Lather, rinse, Repeat.” on every bottle of shampoo that rattles of the conveyor belt and makes it’s way into the showers of American homes from sea to shining sea. Shampoo that lasts only half as long as if the packaging had merely said … lather, rinse … we buy twice as much product because we are programmed to do as we are told.

Like Lemmings to the sea, consumers the world over … oh yes, it’s a global phenomena … having lathered and rinsed … repeat the process. Why? Because we were told to, that’s why. I will agree with those of you say that this may be less so with millennials, but even they may follow directions if they think it will make them look/smell/feel better.

So hat’s off to the brilliant package design copy writer, crafty creative guru or brand manager with a “let’s just tell them to repeat it” gleam in their eye … I salute you Sir or Madam. There are not another three words that have affected our culture of cleanliness, stood the test of time or sold more product. Well done.

Now in case any of you skipped to the bottom of this piece to see what three words I was writing about (you know who you are …), let me see if I can influence you with anywhere near their power with three of my own … Read It Again.

Paul Evans is President and CMO of Evans Media Group and can be reached at paul@evansmediagroup.com

Evans Media Group adds Director of Social Media Strategies

Overland Park, KS (Evans Media Group) – MARCH 4, 2010, Evans MediaGroup, Kansas City’s Social Media Agency is very pleased to announce the latest addition to its team. Mark Van Baale of Olathe, KS has joined the firm as Director of Social Media Strategies and will be responsible for strengthening the company’s expanding need for key client service in the social media segment.

“We were impressed with Mark’s experience in the social space, but his background in traditional marketing mirrored our philosophy of bringing the two doctrines together,” said Sara Paxton, CTO and Partner at Evans Media Group.

“There are so many “experts” in social media today,” Said Paul Evans, President and CMO. “We come across them every day, victims of “Carpal Thumb” who want to work at a social media agency because they have been Tweeting about themselves or their habits for some time.”

“Our approach at Evans Media Group is much more structured than that, driven by sound business principles and founded on solid marketing experience. We understand and know that our clients needs as they relate to social media is the eventual success of a campaign, with no less weight or return that any other marketing or advertising segment. That is why Mark Van Baale is such a good fit for us.”

Paxton concurs, “Mark has held marketing management positions in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, was a combat engineer in the United States Army and is the education Chair of the Social Media Club of Kansas City. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from the University of Iowa and is the kind of well rounded individual that we look for when adding to our team. Mark will add a valuable layer to our existing offering.”

After a recent relocation from the New York City metro to the greater Kansas City area, Evans Media Group has focused on connecting with localbusiness owners to catapult their marketing initiatives into the online and social media marketing space. As a result of online and social media marketing, networking and word of mouth, the increased client base at Evans Media Group required a prompt addition of staff. The sudden growth also has the partners looking for larger office space.

With a strong background in corporate business strategy, public relations, sales, marketing, and consulting, the team at Evans Media Group also offers social media strategy, research, online, video and mobile marketing and a full suite of traditional agency services.

For additional inquiries contact Evans Media Group at their Overland Park, KS office 913-766-0364.
www.evansmediagroup.com
paul@evansmediagroup.com
sara@evansmediagroup.com
www.linkedin.com/in/evansmediagroup
www.linkedin.com/in/sarapaxton
www.twitter.com/evansmediagroup
www.facebook.com/evansmediagroup
www.google.com/profiles/Paulevansmediagroup

Written by Paul Evans is the President and CMO of Evans Media Group, a boutique agency located in Overland Park, KS that specializes in traditional marketing, social media marketing, online marketing, and public relations.

My Blog Has a First Name … It’s B.R.A.N.D.

In the old days … that is, before the web and more recently social media … choosing the name for your business was a simple matter. If your name was Bob and you were a plumber’s apprentice, there finally came a time for you to spread your wings and go off on your own. Now in charge of your own destiny, you set off for the local print shop to buy your first business cards and maybe some flyers and post cards. “Bob’s Plumbing Service”, you proudly said to the typesetter … “Serving the Metro Area Since …. well, today”.

The story repeats itself a million times worldwide. Naming conventions based on heritage, location, cute iterations (we love the myriad combinations of “Shear” when it comes to hair cutters), rhyme, industry or size. Historically, this was never much of a problem, in fact sometimes it was downright funny.

Examples of humorous names abound; Juan More Taco, A Den of Antiquity, Wok Around the Clock and Mickey Mao’s. But none of these businesses face the problem that arises today when a “commonly named” business tries to brand itself online or in the social space. Businesses with names longer than fifteen characters can forget about owning their brand on Twitter, and if you are thinking at all about (and you most definitely should be) extending your brand online, remember the web is global … so there is always a chance that one of the other 6.9 billion people on the planet might have already registered your name.

So what’s a new business to do? Well for a truly new business, as in one that is still in the planning stages, it is fairly simple. Research. Research, before you name your new business. Find out if the name is available online, on Twitter, on Facebook. Be sure the dot com is available if you have your heart set on that most popular of URL extensions, rather than dot biz, dot net, or dot tv. Plan on naming for ease of recall and intuitive keyboarding, for instance if your name is to be BiState,  don’t get cute and call it BuyState, unless you plan on spelling it every time you mention it, and buying both domain names so that someone doesn’t squat on it or worse, link it to a pornographic site.

For an established business, the challenge is much greater. Some true giants of industry have been caught embarrassingly unaware by the fact that somebody already owned their name. McDonald’s had to buy their domain name away from an individual, and Hyundai, GM and Kellogg were not fast enough to claim their names in the social space. In fact, some of the smartest marketers in business do not own their own names on Twitter. Surprisingly, Bank of America, Walt Disney, Sears, Macy’s, Walmart and Nike, Comcast and Volkswagen all blew it when it came to preparing for the social media wave. Even Burger King, Master Card and Berkshire Hathaway, a company owned by one of the smartest and wealthiest businessmen in the world, Warren Buffet do not own their own Twitter handles.

For business owners today, there are a few options. Some have actually (marketing shudder here …) changed or shortened their existing names, or added numbers like the Kansas City Chiefs with @KC_Chiefs1. Others have opted to incorporate a part or all of their USP or tag line or a convolution of their name that makes sense. So Bob’s Plumbing Service, while too long for Twitter, may settle for @PlumbBob, or @DripsNoMore.

So while http://www.juanmoretaco.com is available as a URL and as the @juanmoretaco Twitter handle (hurry if you want them), http://www.BobsPlumbingService.com is not. They are Proudly Serving the Columbia, SC Metro by the way. Need help with a naming convention? Seek out a professional. Seriously, this is not something left to amateurs. there are naming laboratories that charge six figures to come up with business names. This is not something the average business needs or can afford, but at least consult with a creative team, or spend time thinking about what makes the most sense, long term for your name or brand across the many social and online channels of today.

And for Pete’s Sake, (@ForPetesSake is gone by the way) … ask your customers to fan you, follow you and interact socially with you, but tell them how. Don’t just generically send them to the social media channel you’re on, give them a direct link to your profile. Search, in social media is not as intuitive as it is in a search engine, without a direct link, they might not even be able to find you. Just one more challenge in the brave new world of online and social marketing.

Paul Evans is the President and CMO of Evans Media Group, a boutique agency located in Overland Park, KS that specializes in traditional marketing, social media marketing, online marketing, and public relations.

Battle for A Senate Seat Determined by a GOP Tweet

Scott Brown, a little-known Republican state senator, pulled off an amazing upset utilizing Google, SEO, and social media avenues to leverage his campaign.  In an impressive margin, Scott Brown defeated Martha Coakley, the state’s Democratic attorney general, who was clearly favored to win in early polls and even up until a month ago.  Coakley easily won the Democratic primary. But with 84 percent of the vote in, Brown had 52 percent of the vote with only 47 percent going to Martha Coakley.  Tuesday night’s upset was achieved by filling a void among independent voters in the primarily Democratic state of Massachusetts, the Senate seat that was long held by Edward M. Kennedy.

Edward Kennedy

Martha Coakley called to concede to Scott Brown around 9:20 p.m. and this left Democrats scrambling to salvage the health care bill to overhaul the nation’s health care system, which the late Edward Kennedy called, “the cause of my life.”  Scott Brown has already come out strong against the bill, and due to his opposition,  the Democrats will lose their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Scott Brown was able to appeal to independent voters who were concerned about the economy and the direction that many Democrats had taken, with their control of all branches of government.  Scott campaigned and rallied voters by claiming that he wasn’t campaigning for Edward Kennedy’s seat but for the “people’s seat.”

Coakley’s defeat comes after Obama won the state in 2008 with over 60 percent of the vote. This defeat has lead to a lot of blame-shifting on the part of many Democrats.

The nation has been transfixed by the recent set of events and this candidate who rode a pickup truck and a growing sense of unease to an unlikely victory.  The consequences of the election drew nationwide attention and millions of outside dollars.  This seemingly low-turn out election in January exploded into a trending topic on twitter, fodder for many national newspapers, and a reason to tune into CNN on a Tuesday night.  Additionally, there were reports of traffic jams and requests for extra ballots at polling stations.

The late surge in popularity on Scott Brown’s part resulted in a last ditch effort from the Democrats to have an appearance by President Obama with Coakley on Sunday afternoon.  Obama’s used ominous words of warning and attempted to invoke Mr. Kennedy’s legacy.  “It’s whether we’re going forwards or backwards,” claimed Obama, in a futile attempt to motivate voters to support Coakley, the health care bill, and his agenda.

It is seemingly unclear as to the focus of this race for the local voters in Massachusetts, who stand with little to gain with the health care bill hanging in the balance. That is because Massachusetts has near-universal health care coverage, thanks to a law passed when another Republican was elected in the state,  governor, Mitt Romney.

Based on a study revealed by Emerging Media Research, this extraordinary victory is no surprise. Scott Brown had already won the race on many fronts, one that is becoming increasingly important for brands, businesses, television shows, movies, and now it seems, politics.  An effective strategy of utilizing social media catapulted Scott Brown to the forefront of voters minds and developed a rapport and relationship as only social media can.

As most early adopters of social media can attest, social media can drive name recognition and brand development, which are key in any campaign, from a marketing or political perspective. The use of social media drove name recognition from 51% in November to 95% by January 14. An excellent social media and branding campaign, coupled with prominent display of chosen social media networks on his website, and in all traditional advertising, significantly improving Brown’s overall marketability.

Check out the statistics behind Scott Brown’s campaign:

Facebook Posts since Jan. 1: Brown (128), Coakley (58)

Facebook Fans: Brown (70,800), Coakley (13,529)

Tweets since Jan. 1: Brown (142), Coakley (144)

Twitter Followers: Brown (9,679), Coakley (3,385)

YouTube Videos: Brown (57), Coakley (52)

YouTube Video Views: Brown (578,271), Coakley (51,173)

In a report released last week, early indicators show that Republican lawmakers are taking advantage of the Twittersphere in exponentially larger proportion than their Democratic counterparts. In the House, GOP lawmakers send out 529% more tweets than Democrats.

The U.S. Twongress: A report on lawmakers’ use of Twitter is out today and the results may surprise. “Twongress: The Power of Twitter in Congress” by Mark Senak, a Democrat, finds that as of this month, Republican House members have sent out 529% more tweets than their Democratic counterparts. Notable tweeters include Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, who has the most followers of any senator, and House Minority Leader John Boehner, who has the most followers compared to his GOP colleagues. Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill tweets the most, while South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint has more “clout and influence” than any other senator based on a formula that measures in part the number of followers against the number of tweets and the number of times the lawmaker is re-tweeted by others. Senak theorizes the GOP is more aggressively courting social media networks as they refocus their message as the minority party, while Democrats are paying less attention to the resources that were so crucial to President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Still think social media is a fad?

Written by: Sara Paxton, managing partner, CTO, and Social Media Officer of Evans Media Group, Kansas City’s Social Media Agency, a boutique agency located in Overland Park, KS that specializes in traditional marketing, social media marketing, online marketing, and public relations.

Related Links:

The Battle For A Senate Seat

Information sourced from the Wall Street Journal and the WSJ Blogs.

Written by: Sara Paxton, managing partner, CTO, and Social Media Officer of Evans Media Group, Kansas City’s Social Media Agency, a boutique agency located in Overland Park, KS that specializes in traditional marketing, social media marketing, online marketing, and public relations.

Tired of Snow?

Tired of snow? Enjoy a chuckle from Evans Media Group to warm up these wintry days.

Images From Zazzle.com

Written by: Sara Paxton, managing partner, CTO, and Social Media Officer of Evans Media Group, Kansas City’s Social Media Agency, a boutique agency located in Overland Park, KS that specializes in traditional marketing, social media marketing, online marketing, and public relations.

Dunkin Donuts opening has George Brett fielding Donuts and coffee at the drive-thru

Overland Park, KS (Evans Media Group) – November 13, 2009 …  George Brett fields donuts and coffee for  a great cause at Grand Opening yesterday.

George Brett’s 3,154 career hits may be the most by any third baseman in major league history, but his drive-thru performance may actually over shadow his famous hit record. Brett did admit that he “messed up a few orders” at the drive-thru window at the grand opening of the Dunkin Donuts today at 7722 W. 151^st Street in Overland Park yesterday … but nobody complained. Fans of baseball and Dunkin Donuts alike lined up dozens-deep to get a glimpse of the former Kansas City Royals legend and sample what is arguably the best tasting coffee available.

The social media networks had been abuzz with activity in the weeks and months preceding the opening with tweets and Facebook updates increasing in frequency as the event drew near and reaching a fever pitch the morning of. Flat boxes of Dunkin Dozens and gallons of the tasty brew were served by Brett and others starting at around 5:00 a.m. this morning with a portion of the proceeds going to support Harvesters, The Community Food Network who were also at the scheduled 9:00 a.m. grand opening event. Kansas City’s Rock and Roll radio station, 98.9 The Rock was on hand doing a live remote, drumming up even more attention from listeners and passers by.

The ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by Harvesters President and CEO Karen Haren and City Council President Fred Spears , along with other city officials and dignitaries from all levels of government, along with George Brett who watched new owners Jennifer Benjamin and Kristen Rhyne McClure of Verona Key slice the actual ribbon and then present a check for $2,000.00 to the Community Food Network. This amount will feed 10,000 people and was met by raucous cheers and applause from the gathering of fans and onlookers.

Dunkin Donuts, a staple on the east coast, with millions of dedicated, die-hard customers makes its debut into the Kansas City market with this first location but Benjamin and McClure plan on their franchise group, Verona Key opening another fifteen locations in the KC Metro area within the next few years. A hearty welcome from us at Evans Media Group … I’ll take mine “Light ‘n Sweet”.

Paul Evans is the President and CMO of Evans Media Group, a boutique agency located in Overland Park, KS that specializes in traditional marketing, social media marketing, online marketing, and public relations.

Bed Bugs, Cold Food and Bent Sheetmetal … Going after the Thin Market (your customer).

Collision repair is what we call in the ad biz … a thin market. That is, on any given day there are only a finite number of people that will have a need for our service. Unfortunately, we do not know who those people are, or will be.

We do know that on average, people have an accident about every 7-10 years … so that narrows it down a bit. But it also means that we have a shorter sales cycle than say … a mattress company. The sales cycle there can be an astonishing 15 years! (OK stop thinking about what takes up residence in that mattress during those fifteen years) …

Here’s the lesson we can learn from our friends in the mattress business, or refrigerator business (another 15 year sales cycle) … how often do you see a mattress or refrigerator ad or commercial? I guarantee that somewhere, sometime, you saw one today … either in your newspaper, or on television or on a billboard. The fact is those purveyors understand “The Thin Market”.

They know, that in order to reach that finite number of people that will need a fridge or mattress TODAY … they have to advertise EVERY DAY or there about … now when was the last time you saw a print ad or commercial for a collision repair shop?

Think about it … average sales price of a mattress? … about $2500.00 – Average refrigerator? … about the same? The average collision repair is also about $2500 and we have a shorter sales cycle. The major difference is that in any given geography there are probably more body shops than mattress or white goods dealers.

But no matter, as my friend in the earlier post said (coulda told you Jeff was a newspaper guy when he said top of mind awareness!) T.O.M.A. as it’s called, is actually a trade marked acronym owned by a guy named Steve Wasserman, but it is true … if you want somebody’s business whether you are selling mattresses, refrigerators or collision repair … you need to be Top Of Mind when they get in an accident!

Yes, it IS rocket science … now think about ways to own mind share … think of the video professor (you’ve all seen him on TV) … “Try my product” he says at the end of every commercial. Be funny, be provocative, but for Pete’s sake, be something … and but be it often enough to make it memorable! Today, someone will buy a fridge, decide to finally get rid of the dust mite farm they’ve been sleeping on, or have an accident. Be in front of them as often as the mattress and refrigerator advertiser so that if they decide that TODAY is the day to have that sheet metal adjustment, it’s YOU that they think about.

That’s just my opinion … I could be wrong.

Comments welcome, call me if you like 203-512-0250