An Interview with:

Jim Price
Vice President, Media Innovation, Empower MediaMarketing
October 20, 2008

Jim Price heads Empower MediaMarketing’s efforts to integrate digital media and marketing, including word-of-mouth and mobile marketing, into clients’ media plans. His 15-person team formulates digital media plans that include strategy, creative, search and analytics, and the assessment of the effectiveness of new media technologies. Among Empower’s clients are Bush’s Baked Beans, Evenflo, U.S. Bank, Stanley Steamer, Michaels Arts & Crafts Stores, Sylvan Learning Center, Lane Bryant and Long John Silver’s.

eMarketer: What do you consider social media?

Jim Price: Any tool that lets consumers share more information with more people faster. Social media can be used online and offline via virtual communities, mobile phones, social networking sites and experiential marketing. The social media tools you use depend on who your consumer is, where they are, your strategy for connecting with them in an impactful way. We don’t like to just define social media in the digital space [only]. It can be used offline and online.

eMarketer: How do you advise clients to use various forms of social media?

Mr. Price: We always start with the consumer in everything we do. In terms of helping our clients know when to use social media and Web 2.0 tools, we look at their consumer target and look at their behavior classification. For example, is the target a “creator,” “connector,” “critic” or “reactor.” Part of understanding the consumer is understanding their behavior online with social media. Then we ask what tool can we use. We analyze all the behaviors and what tools work best with those behaviors. Our challenge is to have our clients first understand how their target is most likely to use social media, and to use the right program to engage them. Sometimes clients think they need to do a Facebook page or a blog. First, they need to understand how their target is using the social Web.

eMarketer: Can you discuss specific programs you’ve done in the past six months for clients that show an unusual use of the online medium?

Mr. Price: For our client Bush’s Baked Beans, we developed a consumer-generated media contest, Bush’s Grillin’ Beans Perfect Pair Recipe Contest, an example of online and offline media integration involving Scripps Networks and the Food Network. Contestants submitted videotaped recipes for chicken, steak or chops dishes that pair with certain flavors of beans. There were 12 semifinalists chosen, three for each of the four types of beans. There was online voting for consumers’ favorite recipes and a chance to win instant prizes. The contest was promoted online and with 15- and 30-second commercials. We were able to negotiate with Scripps to have the commercials direct people to perfectpaircontest.com and Bush’s website, a non-Scripps property and firstever for Scripps. Bush’s also used the Food Network’s brand channel on YouTube to promote the contest, and to drive more entries and awareness. Finalists competed in a cook-off on the Food Network on Labor Day weekend. For Red Robin restaurants [a gourmet hamburger chain], we designed an interactive ad unit that runs during the breaks of long-form shows on NBC.com. We call it a branded canvas. It’s an interactive unit that allows you to do real-time polling. Visitors can opt-in to join the chain’s e-club and view ads and promotions.

eMarketer: Can you point to any social media campaigns that you think were successful?

Mr. Price: My favorite example to date is Burger King’s Whopper Freakout [whopperfreakout.com] campaign. It pairs digital and offline, it’s a viral, consumer-generated media campaign and a social media campaign wrapped into one. It uses impactful videos of people walking to Burger King realizing that all the Whoppers are gone. It created a lot of viral activity, drove traffic and discussion. People were trying to figure out why Burger King was talking about this.

eMarketer: How do you measure the marketing effectiveness or return on investment of social media, word-ofmouth and experiential marketing?

Mr. Price: We recommend that all our clients reserve budget for measurement and evaluation. We have several proprietary tools that help us measure effectiveness. “We recommend that all our clients reserve budget for measurement and evaluation.” One is a tool called ChatterWatch that allows us to measure consumer sentiment on the Internet. It monitors all the influential blogs and discussion forums. It identifies category-specific blogs, gauges mindset and message. It allows us to do measurement as well as ROI metrics and social media potential, which enables us to track and report how influential comments might be in the social media space related to a client’s brand or category. With all our digital campaigns, at a certain spending level, we recommend an online ad effectiveness study that goes beyond click-through rates.

eMarketer: What comes after Web 2.0? What do you envision?

Mr. Price: We’re in this world of ultimate personalization, of people wanting everything and wanting it now and only the information that’s relevant to them. The ultimate promise of the Internet was targetability and even more targeting options for every site. So I think we’ll see more interactivity and personalization options. Marketers, in order to get people’s attention, will make things even more personalized. I think the social Web will continue to grow. User needs are converging. Business tools are forcing people to adopt social media in the consumer world. More and more people are using technology for both personal and business needs.

eMarketer: What are your top three predictions for online marketing and media in the next year to 18 months?

Mr. Price: Aside from specific tools that will increase relevance, such as Twitter and mobile marketing, the biggest change will be an evolution of product- and brand-focused marketing. We can’t broadcast our message on a social network. Technology has put control into the consumer’s hands. Behavioral targeting is going to be huge as we move into the next 18 months. It’s a hot topic because of privacy concerns. I think marketers will continue to ride that fine line on privacy while also providing relevancy…focusing on delivering messages that are truly relevant. Facebook’s “Beacon” went too far. When consumers figure out that you know too much about them they don’t like it but they also appreciate relevant, targeted marketing. Marketers have to find that fine line.

We continually evaluate what’s coming up. Ninety-five percent of branded communications happen while the consumer has a phone in hand, so we recently decided to increase our concentration on mobile. Marketers in the next year are going to start to wake up to that and really understand how to use the mobile phone or device in the best way. We’re just trying to get clients to get their own short codes. For example, text a shortcode for Red Robin and you might get a coupon to go into the store for a limited time offer to buy one burger, get one free.