A key example of this was my relaxed browsing of the internet the other night. Sitting on the couch with the iPad I visited my favorite blogs; usually fashion, design and food related. It’s fun and inspiring and relaxing, but what struck me that night was how I stumbled upon content, created and posted in 2011, that I fell in love with; Kate Spade’s Year of Color campaign.

Kate Spade Website Homepage

The process of discovery was illuminating:

Starting on Part and Parcel’s (art production company) website, I found a video that was commissioned by Kate Spade, the clothing and accessories brand, on the theme of the color pink. My curiosity was so peaked that I wanted to know what other colors had been creatively conceptualized in films for Kate Spade.

Search via Google brought me a plethora of options including another blog (ATELIER TALLY) that shared more videos and directed me to the Kate Spade YouTube page. From there I watched every Year of Color video I could feast my eyes on (and then some)! They were fun, creative, inspiring and entertaining.

You can watch the Kate Spade Year of Color videos (and see the commissioned art prints as well) on their dedicated Special Projects pages. They describe the collaborations as this: “we’ve worked with a few of our favorite artists, creating a spirited series of limited edition prints and short films, designed to be released as each month’s color is revealed”.

Below you can see one of my favorites:

Blue by Celia Rowlson-Hall for Kate Spade New York

Although I loved the entire idea of the campaign and the sheer artsy fun of it all, the thing that really captured my attention (as a web marketer) was how the quality content that was created by Kate Spade was shared around the web, that I was able to find it through the magic of social media and further spread it to the masses (marketing multitasking® in full force!). In addition to that, this content was from a year ago! It goes to show that if you are providing your readers/clients/potential customers with quality web marketing content that educates, entertains or inspires it can continue to give back to your organization well past the release date.

I would love to know what types of content you provide for your clients and the types of content that you yourself enjoy reading/watching/listening to. Please share in the comments section!

Now that you’ve shared below, keep what you like in mind next time you create some web marketing content to live on the web!

To be creatively and educationally inspired by my favorite content follow me on Twitter @jenniejacobs!

Meet Jess Weiner - Positive Web Marketing Role Model and Wild Web Woman

I have been wanting to interview Jess for a LONG time, and the stars finally aligned to allow the tiniest break in her very busy schedule, so I got the chance to hear from Jess about how SHE became a Wild Web Woman as well as learn more about what drives her passion to “Create a Confident World Together” and how she creates such a wonderful online community.  Read on to be inspired, to laugh and to learn!  There is a reason that Forbes.com named Jess one of the top 14 Power Women to follow on Twitter – she has a LOT to say!

1.  Why did you choose your current career and how did you get started?

I don’t know if I chose this career or if this career chose me? I started my first business at the age of 21 and I’ve been an entrepreneur for 17 years. I wanted to find a way to turn my passion into a profitable business model and have been able to do so – running a boutique consulting firm specializing in media strategy, authentic brand management, and utilizing my skills as a speaker, author and confidence expert.

2.  What is your favorite tech-y word? (i.e. “tweet”, “Facebook poke”…etc.)

I love Tumblr – because of the horrible grammar involved – w/ tech talk we become masters of short cuts but I can hear all of my English teachers from school groan collectively when we leave out the “e” on Tumblr.

3.  As far as utilizing social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to communicate your business to your clients, what are some of the challenges and what are some of the benefits to your business?

A challenge is that I work with and sometimes represent large brands and businesses where my ability to be as candid or spontaneous in social media isn’t always an option due to corporate policy. But within my personal brand I find using social media tools gives my fans and clients such an instant access to what inspires me, informs me, and moves me in the world. It’s and efficient, concise and authentic way to connect and since those words define the DNA of my business – it’s great.

4.  Out of all the social media tools on the web you use, which one (if any) are you most “addicted” to just for fun?

Hands down: Facebook. I can lose hours of my life looking at your cute baby photos, your parent’s anniversary pictures, or reading crazy rants by my very outspoken friends!

5.  What are some of the valuable mistakes you have made in the past regarding online marketing and what have you learned from these past setbacks?

What I’ve learned in online marketing is that not everything is one size fits all. Even though something may be a great trend it doesn’t make it great for my business. So I try to be unafraid to take my time and find the best tools that work for my unique brand of work. Also, I’ve learned that everything – especially our websites are pretty much always in beta mode – so I am working on being more flexible creatively and within my own strategy online.

6.  Looking at your history of great professional achievements, what are some of your proudest accomplishments? Reflecting upon these, what skill or personal factor do you believe helped you the most in achieving this accomplishment? (i.e. What motivates you to your success?)

My motivation is simple: I’ve wanted to entertain, inspire, and assist people as they grow personally. I’ve chosen the path to get me there by creating a platform that sits at the intersection of PR, Marketing, and Corporate Social Responsibility. I work directly within the media because it’s the greatest platform available to reach my audience of women and girls. The reason behind my success is also simple: My family, friends, and mentors. Without the strong foundation of a family who said, “YES” to my dreams and the everyday support of friends who are there to pick me up when I fall – I wouldn’t have been able to do this work. And mentors have literally opened doors for me in business that have made me lots of money and created my next level of success. I’m eternally grateful to this amazing group of cheerleaders.

7.  Do you have a personal mantra that you would like to share with other Web Marketing Therapy readers?

My new favorite quote – and one that I have written on the dry erase board in my office is my new mantra for 2012:  “Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.”  I use this to remember who I am when I’m making deals, cultivating my dreams, and reviewing offers for work. I choose now to create and participate in work that makes me feel alive!

8.  If you were shipwrecked on an island and had to run your business from there, what three web tools would you bring with you to use?

I’d really bring 2:  Facebook and LinkedIn. You can find anything and anyone between those two. And the third tool I’d bring is a stack of legal notebooks. I still do my best creating longhand (take that technology!)

Join us on Monday to hear more about what motivates Jess and how she has utilized social media to inspire women and girls all over the country !

Marketing isn’t just about advertising -  how you communicate can dictate your credibility and sellability.

Today’s Marketing RX is to read these Email Etiquette Tips for a healthy marketing reminder to present yourself in a way that is on-brand and on-purpose.

Thanks Paul for the great tips!  Here are my favorites:

-Create a concise and to the point subject line
-Do not over-use the ‘mark as important’ function
-To reply all, or not to reply all – be aware that ‘replying to all’ involves all the recipients in the entire email string.
-Say thank you, again – if someone completes a task, responds quickly, or simply ‘does their job’, a nice friendly thank-you email can go a long way for employee happy-tude.

Read the full Email Etiquette Reminders article!

Kudos to the Honda advertising team, not only for thinking of this *brilliant* commercial, but for also snagging Matthew Broderick to reprise his role as an adult-like Bueller, and for creating one helluva buzz on the internet to make sure that everyone, and their mother, father (mine included, who actually forwarded me the commercial, although I had already seen it), brother, and sister see this incredible mini-movie before millions of more people see it during the actual Super Bowl. How’d they do it? They simply sent out a newsletter to their entire opted-in email customer base saying “See our ad before 100 million people do” and embedded the extended version (a whopping 2 minutes, 25 seconds) of the commercial in the newsletter and invited people to “share with your friends and family too”.

What was the overall goal for releasing the commercial early and online? While I can’t speak on behalf of Honda, I can always speculate:

1. Possibly they were excited to show off the new CR-V.
2. Possibly they were thrilled with how the commercial turned out and just couldn’t wait to show it off.
3. Possibly they were testing out the effectiveness of internet marketing and wanted to see how fast the buzz about the commercial would spread.

Let’s go with option three because the whole point of making a commercial is to expose it to as many people as possible, right. (Note: no question mark needed in the previous sentence because I wasn’t asking a question, okay).  The beauty of internet marketing is the measurability of outreach. And this commercial certainly “outreached”. The commercial was emailed out 2 days ago. In about 48 hours, I see that the commercial (hosted on YouTube) has been viewed 6,518,483 times, garnering over 23,000 “likes”. Searching on Google for “Honda CRV Super Bowl Commercial” returns 5,880,000 results from the Christian Science Monitor to ABC News to people’s personal blogs and everything in between. The commercial posted on Honda’s Facebook page has 1,170 “likes” and 112 comments. Wow!

I would deem that Honda successfully used the power of the internet to leverage their commercial.  They reached over 6 million people in 2 days, some of whom may not necessarily have seen the commercial otherwise (me included: Super what?). The commercial has been talked about in countless online publications and the video will live forever on the web, available for viewing again and again. And for all the rest of the people that haven’t seen it, they will see it on Super Bowl Sunday. The combination of releasing the commercial early online and airing it on a day when 100 million people are expected to see it on TV, will insure that this commercial makes a lasting impact. Just as the original movie did. Well done, Honda!

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