Brands in a Socially Networked World: "Passenger" Outline Rules for Navigation

amp160It39s the credo of Los Angelesbased Passenger that if we truly want to tap into audiences we have to collaborate with them The company amp8211 which recently raised 83M in funding from Steamboat Ventures Shelter Capital Partners and StarVest Partners amp8211 builds private branded communities But don39t confuse it with a technology solution Passenger is leveraging tools to drive innovation and build advocacy and next year will launch Conversation Mapping a new process for tracking information flow In an exclusive interview with JackMyers Media Business Report Passenger39s cofounder and Chief Innovation Marketing officer Justin Cooper discussed the paradigm shift in control in the context of Passenger39s client success storiesReach senior ad execs Advertise on JackMyerscomBeyond Kevin Roberts39 Love Marks or Bob Garfield39s Listenomics Passenger has a practice that leverages the stickiness of social networking Instead of a brand guessing even educated guesses what a customer wants it can instead nurture a product that is authentic and speaks to its community It39s illustrative to describe the challenges Passenger39s clients have faced and what methodologies were brought to bear to affect changeABC Studios Passenger39s first client has plugged into a community of thousands of passionate viewers and has opened up the quotpilot seasonquot process to them testing new and existing shows including rough cuts and even advertising But Cooper offers a warning to any industry ruled by buzz quotAs for buzz having a correlation with success I would generally answer absolutely not Buzz is not indicative of success it is indicative of itself Buzz can have a negative effect on success buzz can be misinterpreted and worst of all buzz can be bought paid mediaquot Another shibboleth Cooper is keen to dismantle is that of the quotInfluencerquot quotBrands still believe that influence and advocacy are something that can be purchased as a media buy Advocacy is a byproduct of Customer Collaboration and specifically something that inherently happens as brands involve people in their process It is a trusted message from a credible source Any company that is still trying to pay for advocacy is actually doing themselves a great disservicequot New Industry Data Daily at JackMyerscomPassenger has worked with a major sportswear and athletic footwear company in building its community for playerenthusiasts Cooper39s comments on the effort are universally applicable quotAuthenticity and trust is really what drives the relationship between people and brands In this case the client is demonstrating that they are willing to listen to people that they ordinarily would not have access to But because they are listening these people want to talk The longer the relationship the greater the trust the deeper the roots in authenticityquot Likewise JCPenney asked Passenger to build a community around Ambrielle its intimate line of apparel for women Both clients then are looking to their customers to shape their brand their products and yes amp8211 their cultureThis focus on customer collaboration can be more broadly defined to include both shareholders and peers BP created a platform for the BP Innovation Challenge wherein execs across the globe can exchange ideas on making the energy company quotgreenerquot and fostering ingenuity contributing to BP garnering a rating in the Top five of innovative companies worldwideCooper is convinced that brands will be rewarded by ongoing dialogue with customers Taking a page from Surowiecki he wagers quotI would challenge any CEO who would suggest that any one company is smarter than the collective intelligence of those people who consume the brands Isolating your company from the customer is a strategy for becoming part of historyquot Likewise Cooper reflects on Facebook39s recent Beacon debacle as a quotperfect example of how brands need to understand that transparency is key where the information is coming from and what it39s being used forquot List Your Job Openings at Jobs at JackMyerscom emPowered by mediabistrocomOne shouldn39t be left with the impression that Passenger isn39t an analytic powerhouse It has proprietary and patentpending technology behaviorallybased tools that according to Cooper quotdistill casual conversations into insightquot It might be plausible for a moderator to track discussion boards of a single episode of Heroes but what39s the big picture for the series not to mention the network How do you scale Passenger39s Influence Predictability Rating IPR is a set of algorithms designed to measure a member39s connectivity influence reliability and reach within a platform While knocking the overhyped status of the Influencer earlier Cooper is quick to assert that the IPR quotallows you to identify the members of the community who have the greatest potential to be influential within the context of the communityquot One39s ability to influence he qualifies is rooted in the context of the relationshipIn Q2 2008 Passenger is set to roll out Conversation Mapping a visual mapping of information for parsing complex data sets Cooper39s pitch quotImagine being able to visualize the social roles within conversations in turn using these tools to filter contextual information predict how information will flow from the introduction of a topic to behaviorinteractions over time Consider once a member becomes aware of his neighbor39s behavior under what conditions and based on what network relationships will the member adopt the behavior himselfquotWhat we bemoan as the loss of quotwatercooler conversationquot around network hits and blockbuster films has actually been eclipsed by Word of Mouth For the brand itself to maintain relevance and authenticity it39s essential to tap into the conversation not only for marketing and distribution but for product development where consumers have become quotcocreatorsquot For brands that fear they are losing control of their brands Passenger offers a solution and guide for accepting customers as brand navigatorsFor further information visit ThinkPassengercom Cofounder Justin Cooper may be contacted directly at jcooperthinkpassengercom

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE MYERS REPORT RESEARCH & WHITEPAPERS

Brands in a Socially Networked World: "Passenger" Outline Rules for Navigation

Author

Publish date

Channel

Jerry Weinstein

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

More Videos:

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE MYERS REPORT RESEARCH & WHITEPAPERS

Brands in a Socially Networked World: "Passenger" Outline Rules for Navigation

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Jerry Weinstein

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

The payment was successful

Cookies