Google Glass - Social Marketing

Its a pair of glasses for people who actually don't wear glasses that is not just a video camera it has a built in GPS and you can put Google searches. Is like having a computer right in front of your face  all the time. Is it just me or anyone else thought this is a bazar thing to explain to an average consumer who never imagined well... wearing a computer on their face?

 

With $1,500 price tag and an invisible screen that hover over your peripheral vision it is a lengthy explanation for an average user who carry a cell phone that can do most of the things Google Glass seems to be able to do. To add to the challenge, Google does not have a retail chain that customers can touch, feel the product and have the Google Glass staff explain the product to them. So, Google turned to the groundswell.  Now you can bet Google's strategy to engage with the groundswell ties very closely with our text book, Groundswell: Winning the World Transformed by Social Technologies. 

1. Embracing the Customer.

So, Google Glass created the Explorer Program in the Glass website to get people involved in the innovation process of the beta product. 

2. Energizing the Customer

The book recognize "energizing" as a word of mouth - "the most honest form of marketing, building upon people's natural desire to share their experience with family, friends, and colleagues". Glass certainly used the Explorer program as an avenue to let people, mostly tech video bloggers review the product and share their thoughts with the masses. It creates an opportunity for Google, Glass Developers and people to recognize how the Glass being used. Second, it created the  buzz around the product and finally, it gave an opportunity for people to hear from average user instead of Google's marketing team (or Mullen advertising agency).

This is one of the Glass reviews,

Google Glass Twitter  and website are constantly in touch with the Glass community re-tweeting about the Glass community engagements and sharing Explorer stories via their website. 

 

Because Google already managed to create an online community around the Glass, it would be great if Glass app development has the same democracy. May be Google can use the same social media channels to  have a Google apps ranking method on Twitter or Facebook and/or create an easy online channel between developers and the users to come up with Glass app ideas. After all like IPod and iTunes, most hardware depends on value and the pertinence of the software.                 

   

The retail version of the Google Glass is due to release this year. It is a product that is born out of Google but brewed in the groundswell. So, I for one is curious how it's going to taste like.    

 

 

 





Reading Reflection 1 - "Performance with Purpose"

Wondering what movie you want to watch this weekend? Do you read what the New York Times movie critic has to say? May be you want to read both critics reviews and the views from the movie audiences side by side on Rotten Tomatoes. Or would you rather watch a Youtube channel of a movie reviewer who has a similar taste for movies as you do?  Chaelene Li and Josh Bernoff call it the growndswell, “A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations”.

The book Growndswell: winning in aworld transformed by social technologies describes how the social media has changed the communication between brands and customers as well as how companies can use the trend in social media to understand and engage with the customer more than ever before. 

When I was reading the techniques for talk section of the book it reminded me of one of the most unforgettable marketing campaigns on 2013, Pantene Shine Strong campaign. It is a great example of using the talk techniques introduced in the Groundswell.

 This video advertisement was originally released on Pantene’s Philippines regional YouTube page on Nov. 9, 2013 and also aired twice on TV and the company did not have a worldwide campaign planed. Though advertisement’s strong message about the double standards at the workplace spread fast though the social media and when Sheryl Sandberg made a comment about the ad on her commercial Facebook page the simple advertisement became a viral video. 

With growing attention on the media and the public, Pantene expanded the campaign to a worldwide audience via social media. Brand's Twitter account and the YouTube video asked people to share their stories by creating a community around #ShineStrong hash tag. 

They engaged with the twitter community retweeting some of the comments and offering prizes for some of the twitter comments. 

Today, the YouTube video has 39 million views, and over 3,000 comments. It has also created further discussion within women organizations and media not just as a marketing campaign but providing attention to much debated topic. 

The campaign created a true wildfire phenomenon. Of course the social media played a major role in giving personality and meaning to otherwise would have been one minute commercial made by a hair care brand.