Sherwin-Williams new series of paint chip commercials is as gorgeous as it is creative and brilliant. They came onto the scene with this one:

And I fell in love. The simplicity of turning our world into their paint chips captured my attention, the music was simple and their tagline, classic. They allowed us to really feel like we were in a world of their colors, and that there was nothing their paint didn’t fit.
When they followed up that commercial with this one, they out did themselves.

Personally, I love the frog and the cardinal the most, but the entire commercial is beautifully done. Every single detail of every single object is made from paint, and if you pause the commercial at the right points, you can actually read the names of many of the paint colors, which means people can actually choose favorites from a commercial. My one hope is that those who work for the stores are well versed on the commercials so that were I to come in and say “I love the colors of the cardinal”, they could pull out the 30 or so paint swatches that make up the body for me to look at.

Well done Sherwin-Williams, well done.

Hey Huggies, You have got to be kidding me. A jean diaper? From personal experience, jeans are tight, not comfortable and definitely not something I would stick immediately next to the skin of a baby. They do not move, and definitely don’t seem like they’d serve their “purpose” well.

But, maybe they do. Maybe it’s just a normal diaper that looks like it’s made of jean. If that’s the case, then okay, fine. It’s slightly clever and gives parents something else to buy. I’ll give you some credit (small credit, but credit none the less).

But then you paired them with this slogan?

No, Huggies, this I just can’t accept.

No matter the marketing tool you choose, you must always remember:

You must know who you are talking to before you decide what you’ll say to them.

If you were a parent and your young child came to you and said “I don’t have many friends”, what would you do? You would probably suggest that they become friends with their friends friends, join a sport, find friends who have similar interests, go to their favorite places and find others who are there too, or to say hello to a random person that’s in their class or another class.

Twitter is much the same as being in school – when you start, you know almost no one. You have a few people that you know because they are in your immediate circle or you email address book and you can add them right away as followers. But then where do you go? How do you find other people who would be interesting to follow? Here are just a few great suggestions from my twitter friends and followers:

Sn0wSurF3r:  I looked for triathlon groups and followed people who followed them. Then it snowballed. I found more runners somehow.

brksndunngirl: usually with follow friday #FF the ppl u follow now recommend others

roogie:  I used location based twitter clients like Twinkle on iPhone, then read tweets to see if they were worth following

nickbrennan:  << searched 4 biz’s & products Im a fan of & use

elysiabrooker: My fave way is to go to people I love on Twitter, & follow people they are. Makes for relevant, like-minded twitterers

The key to finding friends anywhere in life, whether it is in school or on the web is connecting with others who are similar to you and then expanding your reach. Use the things that you like to do, read, see, and experience to find you new and interesting people to connect to. While twitter can be (and I think should be) used for business, you can’t build business from scratch…you need a foundation of trust and communication from building friendships first. Oh, and of course, you can start by following me @kirstenwright

What other ways do you have to find new friends on twitter?

Businesses do not have one type of customer. There is not a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy. And there is not only one way to connect with your potential customers.

• Some of your customers want to send you a message via email, others will want to call, and some will want to use alternative means (social networks, coming into your office, etc).
• Some of your customers will easily be able to afford your product, some will be scrounging to try and afford you and some will have no idea what your price points are.
• Some of your customers will be easy to work with, some will test your patience and some will drive you crazy.
• Some will need daily updates, some will want weekly updates and some will only want to hear from you if they need something.

But no matter what some do or don’t do, all of your customers will be important – and it will always be important to find more customers. I want to open the floor to our audience, and I want to hear from you: How do you appeal to different types of customers?

Twitter is a wonderful tool for both individuals and companies to use to grow their web presence and monitor their brand. It allows businesses to target keywords, locations and people to send their message. They can also connect on a deeper level by opening the communication channels without a huge overhead or the need for focus groups.

Unfortunately, it has also turned into a bit of a popularity contest, where companies want to collect as many followers and possible. The problem with this strategy is that many of those followers have zero benefit other than a number. If I asked you if you’d rather have 3 customers or 10 people who mayor may not  buy your product, which would you choose? Smart choice would be the 3 customers, right? With twitter, it seems that many businesses overlook this simple central ideal when working on their follower strategy.

So what can you do?You can clean up both your twitter account and your twitter strategy. To get started, focus on what you have already. Take a couple hours to look at your follower list, and unfollow anyone who is not beneficial to you. You can continue to follow some “fun” people, but remove any celebrities (unless they are your clients?) or people who you don’t ever read their tweets. Then, once your list is clean, focus on keeping it strong. Search for people that are within your niche or client base to follow instead of just following anyone and everyone. This will make the conversations more focused.

Once you have cleaned out and focused your list, you will be able to have a better response with less clutter.

Have you cleaned your twitter account?

KFC recently launched the new “Double Down” sandwich, and while it does look like a heart attack on a plate, it is just a sandwich! In fact, I am rather annoyed with the press and their response to the sandwich.

For example, Mark Morford, for the SF Chronicle wrote “Who are you, really, Mr. KFC executive? Who are you who just gave your approval to a rather shocking new KFC food item, who said “Oh holy hell, yes! Look at these great test-marketing numbers! F*&$ it, let’s go against every shred of human decency, common sense, and even the First Lady’s humble plea to get us to please quit making the country so stupidly obese and sick, and sell a truly disgusting creation.” And there are tons more articles just like Mark’s, knocking KFC for making this awful sandwich. Each article includes at least one comment about the fact that KFC and restaurants like it are making America fat. Really? Making this sandwich made people fat? Don’t think so! Yes, you are right, the sandwich does look truly disgusting. But so does cow brain, and yet there is no articles discussing how awful it is. Why? Because cow brain doesn’t “make you fat” therefore reporters don’t feel the need to bash the restaurants that serve it.

I am all for a healthier America, but let’s try putting the blame where it really belongs – on the people that eat the sandwich, not the company who makes it, because its success lies in the hands of us, if no one orders it, they won’t keep it around!

In fact, I think that KFC has every right to make this sandwich, regardless if I’d ever eat it.

What do you think about the sandwich?

Every business needs tools, and every business needs unique tools.  A carpenter couldn’t work well without a hammer and nails. A graphic designer couldn’t do much without adobe creative suite. And a musician would be pretty useless without their instrument. Without the right tools, businesses would cease to exist. In addition to the tools that we use that are specific to our own industries, there are also some tools that every business needs to have to succeed:

1. Website: Every business needs the ability to promote themselves, and a good website is one of the most important tools that a company has to get their name out there. More people search online than anywhere else when they are looking for a company. People like low barriers for entry, and having a strong website allows for your potential clients to learn more about you without having to call first.
2. Communication: Being reachable by both your clients, potential clients, employees and partners is a must. If you can’t be reached, business can’t get done. But, more important than just communication is good communication. When someone reaches out to your company, you want them to find the best, and your communication strategy is one of the first ways that you can prove you are the best.
3. An office: Whether it is in the second bedroom of your small condo, on a construction site, or on the 30th floor of a business high-rise in New York, having a place where you can focus on just work and nothing else is important for any type of business. Not only does it provide you a place to keep your other tools, it gives you a place to separate yourself from the real world. Business hours should be spent working on business, and unless you can separate work from everything else, you will never be at the top of your game.
4. Marketing materials: These include a business card, letterhead (yes, people do still like getting real letters!), marketing brochures, and branding on anything else that you give out. The more places that you can share your branding, the more likely people are to recognize it.
5. Food and drinks: It may seem like a ‘no kidding’ thing, but you would be surprised how many people skip lunch, run out of caffeine or forget to stay hydrated when they get focused on a project. The reality is, staying focused without food or drinks is much more difficult, and definitely not worth it. So, make sure that if you are feeling a little out of it, to get yourself a snack, a cup of coffee or at least some water!

What other tools can you think of that any business can use?

I get that presidential candidates and people vying for spots in the government need to create campaigns and advertisements to get elected, but I have to say, I was rather surprised to see the US Census’ ad campaigns. Starting on January 14th, the US Census started running a series of advertisements on both TV and through twitter. The first ad I saw was fairly normal, so I didn’t really think much of it. It simply made the point that it would be helpful if people could send them in – and the benefit for the government if we all cooperated. It was a clear and concise ad, but I didn’t really get why they needed it. 20 years ago, there were no census ads, there wasn’t huge amounts of money spent on convincing us to do the census, and yet we still figured out how to send it in and get the census done.

But, I still gave them credit that the ad made sense, and wasn’t poorly done. That is until I saw the next series of advertisements…

Really?? Singing and rapping to possibly the worst made up marketing song ever? About a government census? Now I am completely lost, and can no longer give them the benefit of the doubt.

Were these ads really necessary or is it just another example of the government spending money they don’t have?

We’ve all heard the stories – you send out a tweet or post a facebook status update, the wrong person sees it, and you no longer have a job! We like to laugh a little at the stories and think “How could they be so careless, don’t they know everything gets around on the web??” Unfortunately, we are all guilty of small snafu’s…I’ve done it, and if you think back, you know you have too. Even if they weren’t ones to lose your job over, you still wish you could take them back. It is so simple to think before you tweet or update. It is easy to forget how many people really do see what you say, and it is easier to press enter than it is to pick up the phone and deal with the situation.

For an individual, this can be troublesome, but for a large company or a sports team, this can be a PR nightmare. For example, Jon Buscall shared a story about a Liverpool Babel player causing issues when he released ahead of the game that he would not be playing, and maybe not even staying with the team! As Jon points out, what if it was an employee tweeting about a product in development? Or a meeting that know one was supposed to know you had? He wraps with the question: should companies have twitter/social media policies?

I think the answer is a definite yes. And not just because of these types of examples. What Jon’s article didn’t include, and actually the biggest reason I think a company needs a social media policy, is for blogs. Just like twitter or facebook, anyone can set up a free blog and start writing. Even if they create it under a pseudonym and keep their identity private, it is only a matter of time before they are discovered.

What if an Apple employee was touting Microsoft, and how much better a PC is than an iMac? How would Apple handle this situation? It should have been prevented with a social media policy in place.

What about an ex-Disney employee who starts an “I hate the mouse” blog? Yes, this could have been prevented too with a social media policy for terminated employees.

Think this is silly? That no one would really have these policies? Tell that to Cisco, IBM, Fellowship Church, Mayo Clinic, and many, many more*.

The key to remember is that a social media policy doesn’t need to be draconian, but it certainly needs to exist.

Does your company have a policy? What is included?

*note: some of these are outward facing, but most are internally facing for the employees*