Friday Find: Marketing Chitchat

I have several half-written posts languishing in the drafts folder. I had all the best intentions this week, but you know how some weeks are.
One such post involved touching on a few recent marketing tidbits I'd discovered, including conversation around a marketing event that was basically over as fast as it began. But the thing is, I never tire of talking about marketing. I always enjoy reading/hearing others' perspectives, and if there's something to learn then it's never too late to discuss. I spend a lot of time reading about this type of thing, and while I do share some of it over on Twitter, there's always more to discuss and I've been meaning to bring more of that to this space.

So first, are you up on the Beyoncé/Red Lobster brouhaha? In a nutshell, Beyoncé released a song just before the Super Bowl that was, as always, perfectly timed. It sailed through pop culture on a wave of Beyoncé hype just before the Super Bowl. There was mention of Red Lobster being used as a reward for, let's say, good behavior. It was vulgar (listen, Google it. We're all adults, but I'm trying to keep things at least PG-13), but it was certainly a golden opportunity to be capitalized on by a nimble, agile, on-the-ball Red Lobster marketing team. Unfortunately for them, social media moves at lightning speed, and if you don't respond in kind, you get left behind. As social media was blowing up with jokes and mentions of Red Lobster & Bey, Red Lobster took an excruciating 8 hours to reply; and so instead of also being lifted up by that hype wave and riding it victoriously to shore, their misjudgement in timing caused them to instead be crushed by said wave.

When Red Lobset did finally arrive with a joke about Cheddar Bey biscuits, the response was swift and cutting. From what I saw, the general consensus was that it was kind of lame on its own, but could've been mostly-sort-of okay if it were to have been tweeted out immediately.

At any rate, here's a breakdown of it all that I enjoyed.

One of the highlights for me is this quote: ""If there was a template, everyone would do it," says Hofstetter. "That’s why the Oreo tweet won and so many others failed trying. It’s critical to take into consideration both content and context, the author and what their POV represents, and whether or not that’s part of your brand’s belief system.""

Which reminded me of another great discovery this week: this interview with BuzzFeed's publisher, about where data and content meet. There are so many gems in it that I'd essentially like to just quote the entire thing, which is why I recommend you read it. I particularly love what she has to say about what data can and can't tell you, and the importance of intuition, team work, and other factors in determining what will/won't/currently does work. I love everything about this piece. Fascinating.

Have a great weekend, folks!