Not long ago I was listening to NPR on my way to work. The guest was a reporter from a major U.S. newspaper whose name is irrelevant to the conversation. The topic matter was Egypt and how “social media” had brought that government down.

Maybe I’m just a word nerd and this is all just semantics. But “social media” didn’t bring the Egyptian government down. It also didn’t spread the word about the events following the earthquake in Japan. PEOPLE DID.

Now, I say “I know, duh.” And I’m sure many of you do, too. What struck me was that here were two intelligent reporters from highly respected organizations referring to the people who had the passion and courage to stage those history-making protests in Egypt as “social media.”

I hear this time and time again. A certain global company infamously referred to people who questioned its policies on its Facebook page as “social media” in a written response, resulting in a ton of (deserved) backlash. Sadly, I continue to see this from brands – and individuals – who purport to “know social media.”

Fundamentally, those organizations who have failed (famously or not) at social media do so for one simple reason: they don’t know who “social media” is.

That wasn’t a typo: I said “Who” and not “what.”

Here I go again picking on “ gurus” who try to make social media out to be some newfangled and complex technology.

Well, it’s not. Social media is what email or cell phones were years ago. It’s a tool, a communications vehicle. And while these tools definitely help people to discover, connect and communicate in ground-breaking ways, they most certainly aren’t doing the work. People are doing the work.

You know whose voice is going through my head as I write this? Wait for it:

Charlton Heston in the movie Soylent Green when he discovers that the movie’s namesake meal is made from *gasp* people!!

Like soylent green, social media is people. I’m nearly as shocked as Mr. Heston was in this film to discover that many brands (and many of you?) forget that SOCIAL MEDIA is PEOPLE. According to Klout, people who use social media are influencers, activists and more. These people are sharing, connecting, bonding, arguing and fighting – using the Internet – with people from places near and far. But the important thing to remember is that all they’re doing is taking online what they’ve done since the cavemen days. The only difference is that now their voices can be projected with the click of a mouse.

So what does this mean for marketers? Well, um… that you’re dealing with people, and generally-accepted social rules apply. In some ways, you need to consider it a social situation with a group of people who might be beneficial to your business. You wouldn’t hand out a PowerPoint presentation at a party would you? Sadly, many marketers do the equivalent of that when they interact with people in social media. It just doesn’t work. So what to do? Some suggestions:

• Introduce yourself: Say hello, tell people what you’re about. But not in a spammy way (as in: auto DMs or “look at my site” tweets are simply not cool).
• Be polite: Listen, ask questions and interact with people based upon what you learn about them. It’s not all about you.
• Be responsive: If someone talks to you, respond! And this rule applies to people who are asking/telling you about things that you’d prefer to ignore.
• Be helpful: The best brands are service-oriented brands. And social media allows you to monitor what your customers are saying about you, even if they’re not talking to you. It’s important to be helpful. Social media tools can be outstanding for customer service.
• Be respectful: Don’t assume a thing about the people you interact with using social media. Read their bios and their blogs, and give them proper respect – no matter who they are.
• Be yourself: Every brand has a heart. If there’s any marketing tool that allows you show it, it’s social media. Keep the core tenets of your brand in mind as you interact with people.
• Don’t be pretentious: I hate the notion of  “followers” though I realize it’s a commonly used Twitter term. Just because you have a large number of Twitter followers it doesn’t mean you’re influential. What matters is the level and quality of engagement you have with your community. Trust me: I’ve analyzed people’s Klout scores. High “follower” count doesn’t automatically equal a high Klout score.

Most importantly: don’t forget that “social media” is people who have families, feelings, passions and more. I don’t care if you’re a brand or a person. If you keep that in mind your social media experience will be much more pleasant and effective.

Do you need a social media strategy? Call me. We can make it happen.

When “the experts” talk about social media, invariably the terms “engagement” “authenticity” “community” and more are thrown about. While these words are overused and are now buzz words, they actually are important aspects to a good social media campaign. As my friend Gregg Gallagher likes to say, I typically like to call the naked emperors out here (brands doing social media the wrong way), but this post is about a brand that “gets it” and is doing it right.

That brand is the University of Miami Athletic Department.

*waits for collective groan*

Listen, folks. It’s no secret I’m a die-hard Hurricanes fan. If I thought they were doing it wrong, I’d just say nothing publicly. I rarely (if ever) get pitched by fellow PR pros and have never *ever* written a PR-pitched post here. Not that I’m against it per se. I’m just saying that I’m not writing about The U here because they’re pitching me or giving me something in return. I’m talking about this because I’m truly impressed.

Last Friday The U’s Associate Athletic Director Chris Freet declared it was “social media day.” On that day, the U posted video, interviews, live chats and more via its various social media sites and encouraged the fan base to participate, share and get involved. If you visited Hurricanesports.com, you were directed to all of the content that was being created dynamically throughout the day – a “shut-down” of sorts of the department’s Web site. From a PR person’s perspective, this is a great way to get followers on your social media platforms. But it was a great deal more than that: it was an ode to the fans, a testament to the proud tradition of the University’s athletic programs, and a rallying cry for Canes fans to get excited and involved. (Read what Freet had to say about Social Media Day here)

At an important time, I might add.

Last football season at the U was brutal. We suffered some tough losses and were inconsistent on the field. Ultimately, we fired a coach I loved. (I still get grief, and am not apologetic for, liking Randy Shannon. However, I really do like the new coaching staff, too.) I can’t say it was an enjoyable season for me but I am really happy about one thing: the community of hundreds of Hurricanes fans I’ve met on Twitter and Facebook. We call ourselves the #CanesFam, and we’re proud, passionate, opinionated and LOUD. Just spend some time following the Twitter list I’ve created here. Throughout the season we cheered, celebrated, griped and cried together. We say good morning and good night, check on each other’s lives and make plans to get together at a game one day. And through the roughest times last season – particularly coaching and quarterback controversies – we’ve even argued with each other. I have to say it got pretty heated in there some days.

So now imagine what it was like for the Athletic Department, and the PR and social media teams. There was serious heat on them – to answer questions, provide public explanations and more. Remember the part about Canes fans being passionate? Some weren’t kind or polite as they voiced their concerns or asked questions of the UM PR and social media staff in the heat of the moment.

I’ve seen lesser brands respond to similar heat either by ignoring the commentary, firing back inappropriately or responding with non-answers. But not Freet and his team, despite the fact that it was a time filled with turmoil for them. Via the @Hurricanesports Twitter account as well as his own (@Chrisfreet), Freet was responsive to questions, comments, rants and more. Sure, there were times when questions couldn’t be answered and he stated honestly that he couldn’t. The department’s handling of a tough situation was a great example of authentic engagement of a community. (Like how I did that? Do I win Buzzword Bingo?) Another critical point – it was all handled with complete respect and empathy. The department understands that the #CanesFam is loud… because we are the Canes’ most passionate fans. Yes, we whined, complained and more. But we did it because we CARED.

The U listened, and they do every day. Yes, the athletic department hosted Social Media Day. But in my view, every day is social media over there. We’re mostly past all the controversy, and now the athletic department’s job is to “engage” the community. They need to get us to view and share their content, to get involved in campaigns, and to create our own “content” (and I did here). They’re also doing all they can to get our input on the new Web site, new programs, brand positioning statements and more, all the while still serving as “customer service” to the fans.

Folks, we have here a case study of a brand that did its best to communicate with its “core audience” during a time of crisis. A brand that could have retrenched and shut down communications during the coaching controversy and more, and simply stated: “These are confidential employment contract matters.”  This is a case study of a brand that had difficult public conversations with some very passionate “customers” instead of running scared from the tough questions. The approach earned the brand respect, admiration and loyalty. And now the #CanesFam is ready and willing to help the brand push out its marketing messages. Yes, because we love the brand. But also because we know that we’re helping to shape those messages.

And that makes all the difference. THIS, my friends is what social media is all about. THIS is what good PR is all about.

Show Your Pride and Throw Up the U!

See this picture? It was taken hours after the Canes lost to the Irish at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas on New Year’s Eve. I went on a road trip to see the game with my friend who is a Notre Dame fan (you can read about that here).  Pictured with me is El Paso resident and Canes fan Steve, who we met at the stadium. We decided to throw up the U because my ND fan friend was trash-talking post win.

It was Canes pride. Fine, we lost. But it’s great to be a Miami Hurricane regardless. There’s no better college football program to be a part of. Fact.

I’ve been seeing a great deal of Canes pride on Twitter these last few weeks. The fans are energized by Coach Al Golden and the rest of the new coaching staff, and impressed with their commitment to making the U a winning program again. And just last night I was brought in to a Twitter conversation by UM Associate AD Chris Freet (@ChrisFreet) about having our new Offensive Coordinator Jedd Fisch- presently coaching at the Seattle Seahawks –  throw up the U from the sidelines of this weekend’s NFL playoffs game.  The “brainstorm” continued and @joeUCane suggested we get all of the Pro Canes to throw up the U after a touchdown.

Know what? I’m down. I’d like to see that happen. I think getting the Canes Family together to show some pride would be a really good thing for our new coaching staff and our team. So here’s my challenge to you, Canes Nation: change your avatars on Facebook, Twitter and any other social networking sites you use. And if you use Twitter, ask these Pro Canes to show some U pride on the field and on the sidelines this weekend and beyond:

Greg Olsen (Bears): @gregolsen82

Devin Hester (Bears): @D_Hest23

Sam Shields (Packers): @stickyshields9

Vince Wilfork (Patriots):@wilfork75

Ray Lewis (Ravens): @raylewis52com

Willis McGahee(Ravens): @willismcgahee

And I’m looking at you @JoeUCane, @procanes, @chrisfreet and @hurricanesports for some help, too.

Let’s show the world what the Canes Nation is all about, folks. Throw up the U! And so we’re all sure to see it,  please post a link to your picture here.

Go Canes!

Ah, another two weeks have passed since I last wrote a CFBT post. Major fail. *Hangs head in shame.* Do I get a pass because I just started a new job on Nov. 15? Yes? OK I knew you guys would be forgiving. And I thank you for that.

I hope you’ll also forgive me if I’m less than entertaining in this new post for one reason: I have a belly full of turkey and Auburn’s ruining my picks this week. I mean – it was hard enough to pick Bama in the first place. Now they have to lose, too? ((Crying))

Anyway, here are the highlights for Week 12:

Who we loved? Wisconsin. Everyone correctly picked them to beat Michigan by 4 and they delivered big. It seems to be the nation’s doing the Bucky. (And somehow the BCS poll isn’t paying proper attention, in my opinion.)

Hatred ran deep for USC – everyone except for GameDayGamers picked them to beat Oregon St. by 3. But Oregon St. had a whipping on their minds – leaving USC with a shut-out by Oregon teams this season.

Who did well? I must confess I’m tempted to just say this:

Week 12 was ALL about NDGirl (@lkkelly). She racked up a crazy-impressive 180 points for the week. She picked 16 of the 20 games correctly, and her incorrect points combined only cost her 25 points. Wowza. By the way, she also came in first during week 11.

But I can’t do that because it would be breaking tradition, right? But I’ll say this. We have to drop down 32 points to find the #2 player in Week 12. That honor goes to TheJackB who picked up 15 out of the 20 games correctly. In his case, the USC pick alone cost him 16 points. And TAMU’s upset of Nebraska cost 18.

In 3^rd place was GSJensen with 136 points. He picked 13 games correctly, but lost big points to Nebraska. I believe this is his best place all season (please correct me if I’m wrong?).

The big story? NDGirl’s Week 11 and Week 12 performances vaulted her into first place overall. And with 1,274 points, she’s an impressive 42 points ahead of long-time leader WinnahWinnahChickenDinnah who’s in second with 1232. In 3^rd place overall with 1209 points is JennyQ who has held onto that spot for weeks.

So what’s next? Will NDGirl win out? Will WildCatStevens be sending us wine? Will Miami win the ACC? Oh wait…

At this point I just want the Gators to beat the Noles and for UCLA to pull another Texas action on USC. Oh, and for Miami to win its last game and the bowl game. #wecandoit.

We shall see. But for now, I know one thing:

Lots more football is still to be played this weekend. And there’s a piece of pie waiting for me downstairs.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. And happy game-picking, too!

Standings  Week 12

Standings Week 11

Even the Image You Choose to Use in Social Media is Reflective of Your Brand

Last weekend I was honored to be asked to speak about personal branding at the Los Angeles Latina Blogger event “Discovering Más,” which was (artfully, I should say) put on by Monique Frausto (@blogsbylatinas) of latinabloggers.com and blogsbylatinas.com. (Thanks to Elianne Ramos – @erkgeekgoddess – for the referral.)

It was a labor of love because for a year and a half now I’ve been observing a number of blogueras I met last year as they impressively developed their blogs and grew their stature in other social media touch-points. I loved seeing many of these ladies that day – including Marcela Beatty of Culturemami.com, Liz Cerezo of thoughtsofamommy.com, Ana Flores of spanglishbaby.com and Vanessa Torres of thathappenedtome.com. (I also totally geeked out upon finally meeting Marta Darby of mybigfatcubanfamily.com in person for the first time. And, yes, I asked her for a recipe for Cuban arroz con frijoles.)

Many more Latina bloggers I’d never met before – some I’d talked to on Twitter, others I’ve never heard of – were there, too . More than forty diverse chicas fabulosas in the same room!  I’ve written (ad nauseum, I know) about the fact that marketers aren’t completely in tune with the diversity of the Hispanic market, and that the popularity of blogging and social media in general among Latinos is confusing the issue (because we do it in Spanglish!). The ladies I met at the event were a true representation of the diversity of the Hispanic community – in terms of heritage, acculturation and more.

Impressively, their blogs are equally diverse – I’ll list them at the end of this post. The truth is it’s not necessary for these women to self-identify as Latinas – the content many of them produce is not about being a Latina –it’s about all kinds of things you find in the general blogosphere. These women are mothers, artists, sassy shoe-lovers and more. But the bit of culture they bring to their blogs really adds a nice “no sé qué” that I really love. These ladies truly are different, creative and extraordinarily talented.

So what did I have to teach them? I say probably not a whole lot. In my view I was simply there to remind them of a few things that they probably already knew at their core. The recap:

About Personal Branding

• Keep in mind that your brand is Brand You. Everything you do, and say, who you talk to and more. And even the picture you choose to use in social media is representative of you. (Which explains the multiple mug picture I chose to use here and in my presentation.)
• Be consistent In delivering Brand You. In content, voice, style, etc. And by all means: DON’T SELL OUT. Make sure your blog stays true to your brand. Always.
• Be different: don’t just copy what another successful blogger is doing. It’s OK to learn from others but keep in mind who you are at your core. Doing so will also ensure that you’re authentic – which makes for a more attractive brand.
• Be relevant. To your social media community, and to others who are interested in the content you produce. The reactions of your core audience to your content will be your guide as you decide what content is most successful.
• Build esteem. Be a part of your community. Retweet and share others’ content. Comment on their blogs. But also become involved in relevant causes that you and your community feel are important.
• Expand your reach. To other social networking sites, with organizations and networks that make sense for your niche. You can’t just post stuff and expect people to find it. You need to share it with the right people and in multiple places.

About Working with Brands
I find it interesting that many of the things that make you a good online brand are the same ones that make you more attractive to brands.

• Be clear about your brand. Remember? Brand You?
• Work with brands that make sense for you: if they don’t make sense to your blog, or if you would never use their product, don’t promote the brand. It will just dilute / confuse yours.
• Don’t sell out: (yes, this again). Brands don’t want to work with bloggers who do nothing but giveaways on their blogs. They want you to have good and interesting content first and foremost. Why? Because people read blogs for their content. The better the content, the better the traffic.
• Be professional and consistent about how you do business: Get a media kit, know your stats, and have guidelines about what you will and won’t do for a brand. Then stick to it. This will make your life easier in the end.
• Add value: Think creatively about the kinds of programs you can create with a brand. It’s not just about posts. How can you use your expanded network to add value to a marketing program? You should also add value to your community. But that’s social media 101 and I didn’t need to tell them that.

I shared nothing “guru-like.” (I’m so not a guru.) Rather, I applied some fundamentals of brand-building to personal blogging. One of my favorite creatives – Wally Sabria (@Wallysabria) of Weber Shandwick/The Axis Agency http://viscomla.com/blog/ followed with additional great information about visual branding and storytelling, social media tools and more.

But I think Wally would agree that the magic was in the organic conversations that happened that afternoon. (Check out Eva Smith’s Flickr photo stream for a bunch of wonderful pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/familyfriendskidz/sets/72157625346730832/) And even on Twitter after the event. (Just ask them about the Twitter #bacon bot @baconfeed).

The magic continues to happen as these smart Latinas sit down at their computers to create content that they believe in so passionately. So who are these lovely ladies?  Their blogs are listed below. I urge you to visit them and support them. And just maybe you too will be inspired. I also would love for those of you more experienced bloggers to share your tips. We could all use the support and inspiration.

Clearly I’m only capable of writing these updates every other week. Seriously? What’s my problem? I’ll tell you what it is… I feel the need to make it entertaining. And last week I was busy talking about personal branding for a bunch of really talented Latina bloggers. And doing some TV thingy for some local college students. Yeah, I was doing something helpful. Don’t judge.

But I digress. You guys tell me: would you rather I just post every week and make it entertaining every other? Or do you mind if I’m sporadic? Hmmm?

Anyway….Here’s what happened in Week 10.

Who we love: Air Force. Everyone but TheJackB picked AFA to beat Army by 6.5, losing dear Jack 4 points. I guess it could have been worse for him – maybe I should send an Army recruiter his way. (I do know one.)

Who we hate: USC. Well, some of us already did but, bygones. It appears all of us had higher expectations of Troy. All of us except for Diverbh, who picked them to not beat Arizona State by 5.5. Too bad he only put 3 points on that pick – instead he put (and lost) his 20 on Hawaii.

Truthfully, it was a low-point week for all of us. But here are the top Week 10 performers:

Polish Powerhouse (@joekocinski) racked up 113 points this week, putting him in 1^st place.  I must point out that he also came in 1^st place last week with 150 points. He must be consulting with a woman to make his picks because he’s been doing so well lately. (*snicker*) His big call of the week was Kansas State over Texas – he racked up 19 points on that upset call.

My dear friend Razorbacks (@switzerblog) came in second place with 109 points. At some point in the day he declared he was the ruler of everything or some such silliness. But this week he ruled. He racked up big points on favored teams TCU and Boise State. If only he’d followed the Polish boy’s lead and picked Kansas State he would have finished in first.

In 3^rd place for the week was my U buddy Slave2mybulldog who – like me – put and lost big point on our Miami Hurricanes. Despite that point loss he put up 98 points – thanks in large part to Boise State and Stanford.  Dude: show UNC some love this week (they lost you 19 points last week). I’m thinking Butch can take care of some business for us in Blacksburg this weekend. Hmm?

And now for the standings…

Nothing’s changed in the top three for a few weeks – Winnah Winnah Chicken Dinnah (@rissadee), JennyQ and Game Day Gamers (@stevenh_9) have held on to their 1-3 spots for I want to say three weeks now.  But…wait….what’s that? Who’s in 4^th? For the last two weeks? Yeah, that would be me JenniferVidestheCane (@jennifervides). You see that, WildCatStevens (@GreggKnottLeMond)?. And in 5^th? Yes, that’s NDGirl (@lkkelly). For those of you not aware, WildCatStevens will be owing NDGirl and me some wine if we finish higher than he does. He better start saving his C-Notes. Mama wants a bottle of Caymus Caburnet. Just saying.

And with that, we enter week 11. Let the games begin, let Butch Davis and his Tar Heels beat VA Tech and let Randy Shannon and Stephen Morris  guide my ‘Canes to a big win over Georgia Tech. And most importantly… let my kid “get the flag” on Saturday, too!

Go ‘Canes!

Standings Week 10

Standings Week 9

Ah, what a wonderful weekend of college football it was, most notably because my University of Miami Hurricanes broke a three-year losing streak against North Carolina, finally waving away that pesky Butch Davis curse. And avoiding a repeat of this for me: http://mamideconstructed.blogspot.com/2009/11/unc-33-miami-24.html.

It wasn’t a week of major upsets except in one case: #11 Mizzou toppled #1 Oklahoma in what was a really exciting game – an upset called only by five CFBT members including yours truly, making Oklahoma one of two “Most hated” CFBT teams. The other was Baylor, who was upset by Kansas State – a pick taken by only five CFBT members (yes, including me again ).

Mississippi State was the group’s darling this week, with everyone but WildcatStevens picking them to beat Northwestern by five. He lost 14 points on that pick. The group netted 266 points on this pick.

I’d also like to point out that a bunch of you are jumping on the U bandwagon, with 17 picking Miami to beat UNC by a touchdown – and 13 of those were double-digit picks. I’m especially surprised that Razorbacks (@switzerblog) did not pick the U after my team has been so good to him in the past. #justsayin’

So, who did really well this week? Not who you would have expected.  The top three had their best performance all season in Week 8.

TheJackB (@thejackb) came in first with 181 points – he would have been close to 200 had he picked the Mizzou upset. But TCU and Arizona did right by him this week.

*Taking a bow* I (JenniferVidestheCane/ @jennifervides if it wasn’t obvious) came in second with 176 points. If I’d only gone with my gut picking against push-happy Notre Dame, I would have come in first. Bygones.

My awesome sister KLCanefan (@KLCanefan) came in third with 167 points. She liked the state of Oklahoma a little bit too much this week, picking both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. But she racked up big points on The U (shocking), TCU and Auburn.

I usually don’t point out who didn’t do so well but this week…it must be done. Clemson4Life (@antpruitt) came in next to last place (excluding those who made no picks) with 97 points (still a good score). I don’t blame him – he got to tailgate and watch Clemson beat Georgia Tech with @KerriaK and other Clemson alum. It appears a great time was had by all (and I’m jealous). But he suffered as a result, dropping five places to eight in the overall standings.

So about this week’s standings… the cards have shuffled yet again.

WinnahWinnahChickenDinnah (@rissadee) still holds an impressive lead in first place overall, with 837 points, despite finishing in 14^th place for the week. Like KLCanefan she liked Oklahoma a little too much this week.

JennyQ (@jennyQ) is holding strong in second place with 806 points, after an 11^th-place Week 8 finish. She, too, was hit with the Oklahoma curse, losing 20 points on the Sooners.

Coming in Third with a 5^th-place Week 8 performance is GameDayGamers (@stevenh_9) who came out of his slumber and clawed his way back up the standings from 6^th place last week.

The “most improved” this week award goes to TheJackB (@TheJackB) who moved up six spots in the overall standings with his Week 8 Pernformance. My sister KLCanefan (@klcanefan) and I followed, moving up five spots each.

The “going backwards” award goes to WildCatStevens (@gregknottlemond) who dropped seven places this week – from fourth place to 11^th. He was followed closely by Clemson4Life (@antpruitt) who – despite having dropped five spots last week, is already talking smack on Twitter tonight. (I like that.)

So it’s Week 9 and it’s already looking good because the Noles lost. Can I get a Wha Wha?

Have a good week, everyone. And Go ‘Canes!

Standings

By TheGeekyOne (@TheGeeky1)

The week that never was. It didn’t happen so we aren’t going to talk about it.

We won’t talk about the fact that we all picked Alabama to beat South Carolina by 6 1/2, costing us a combined 362 points. Certainly not going to talk about Utah giving us a total of 330 points – we all picked them to beat Iowa State by 6 and they won by 41.  We can’t talk about JenniferVidesTheCane (@jennifervides) being the only person to pick UK over Auburn (netting 1 point).  We also aren’t going to say that Notre Dame (yet again) pushed.

We won’t mention that TheJackB (@thejackB) won the week with 117 points, nailing his 19 & 20 point picks to close the night.

We won’t bring up that Polish Powerhouse (@danwenzel) finished the week 2^nd with 110 points despite not registering picks for the first four games of the day.

We won’t talk about the fact that WildCatStevens (@gregknottlemond) finished in 3^rd for the week, with 102 points even though he missed on his last seven picks of the day.

We also won’t mention that the week that didn’t happen resulted JennyQ (@JennyQ) displacing WinnahWinnahChickenDinnah (@risadee) at the top of the weekly standings for a week, with GameDayGamers (@stevenh_9) keeping his third-place spot.

We won’t talk about that game, yes that one. We’re not because, well, it’s her site and um…I’m not a stupid man. It didn’t happen, and if it didn’t happen then the entire week didn’t happen, so we’re not going to talk about it.

Last Friday marked the end of Hispanic Heritage Month – a 30-day celebration of Hispanic heritage and culture. September 15 was designated as the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month because it marks the day in 1821 when Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua declared their independence. Mexico, Chile and Belize declared their independence a few days later that same year.  This year’s theme, according to hispanicheritagemonth.gov:

“Heritage, Diversity, Integrity and Honor: The Renewed Hope of America.”

I’d like to talk about Heritage and Diversity. See, the Hispanic population is very diverse in heritage, language and culture. This includes people like me – who don’t appear to be Hispanic and who speak, write and read English fluently. All of this often raises the debate in the marketing industry:

Do Latinos need to be marketed to separately from the general market any longer?

This subject came up the Latino2 Conference held recently in Los Angeles by Latinos in Social Media (latino2.com and latism.org). Brian Solis (www.briansolis.com) – the keynote speaker – was interesting as expected. He noted on several occasions that he does not do Hispanic marketing. In fact he doesn’t do any form of marketing that’s targeted to ethnic groups – rather to groups of people based upon their interests. I can relate to that sentiment – I’m more of a niche marketer myself. But I’m not sure that I agree fully that when marketing to Latinos – and other ethnic groups for that matter – you don’t’ need to take into consideration culture and language to some degree.

This subject heated up a little bit during a marketing agency panel discussion I moderated whose purpose was to understand how the popularity of social media among Latinos has affected the Hispanic marketing industry.  Really? Popularity of social media among Latinos? Yes, really: 36 percent of English-preferring Hispanics (acculturated) and 27 percent of Spanish-preferring Hispanics surveyed by the Florida State University Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication with the support of DMS Research surveyed visit social networking sites at least 2 or 3 times a month – as opposed to only 18 percent of non-Hispanic whites.

The panelists – whose PR and advertising agencies use social media to reach Latinos – were Jose Villa (http://www.sensisagency.com/index.html), Wally Sabria (http://www.theaxisagency.com/home.html), Kety Esquivel (http://www.ogilvypr.com/) and Suzanne Cordero (http://www.edelman.com/). They cited similar social media challenges across the general market and Hispanic segments (e.g., measurement, over-emphasis on tools). They answered some questions from the audience: should brands be doing more mobile to reach Latinos? (Absolutely.) Is Myspace really still relevant o Hispanics? (Yep, sure is.) But the “meatiest” question was “Are culture and language are important – particularly with social media where most of the Hispanic users are fairly acculturated and therefore mostly speak/use English?”

Yes, no, sometimes, it depends.

So does this mean that brands are already effectively reaching acculturated Hispanics via their general market campaigns anyway?

No, yes, sometimes, it depends.

(Note: I said “No” first this time. We call this foreshadowing.)

It’s no secret that, generally, Hispanic marketing budgets are slim, and that some agencies’ positions on the need for  a separate Hispanic marketing campaign are based upon which way they want the budget dollars to flow. But I’d like to point out that each of the agencies represented on the panel do work in both the general and Hispanic markets. The fact that these traditionally general market firms are investing in the Hispanic arena tells me that they know a “general market for all” approach won’t work. Why won’t it? A few reasons.

Language. Diversity. Heritage. Language.

Let’s start with language. According to the 2009 American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Spanish is the primary language spoken at home by over 35.5 million people aged 5 or older. That’s a lot of people to miss, don’t you think?.

Convinced to market to Hispanics in Spanish? Great. Now: what “Spanish” to use? I’ve heard more times than I’d care to cite:

“Oh, just write it in Mexican Spanish. The rest of them will get it”?

Yeah, we’ll get it all-right. Try this on for size:

“Get” in my Spanish is “coger.” I dare you to say that to a Mexican. Or I dare you to use the term “bicho” – which to Salvadorans is a small bug (or slang for a small child) –  when addressing a Puerto Rican. Also, go ahead and flash the “a-ok” sign to a Brazilian. Let me know how that works out for you.  (Depending on your country of origin, I just cursed on my blog in Spanish.)

Keep that up for long enough and you’ll get a whole lot of this —————————–>

This is what happens when you try to speak Salvadoran Spanish to a Puerto Rican

But this isn’t just about colloquialisms. Earlier this year Will Rodriguez of Trisolt Video (http://www.trisoltvideo.com/ )and I were hired by the Alzheimer’s Association to help them develop video testimonials of Hispanic patients and their caretakers talking about the disease and its effects on their lives and the lives of those around them. The goal was to capture the impressions of a diverse group of Hispanics from a variety of countries of origin. Will and I were hired because we understand the cultural and language nuances of the various U.S. Hispanic populations. We could easily go from Mexican Spanish to Puerto Rican Spanish, for example. And we understood other nuances – like differences in how family units operate from one culture to another – as well as references to food, music and more. It was clear to the people we interviewed that we got it. We understood them and – importantly – could relate to them.

Many of the people we interviewed needed for us to speak to them in Spanish. Others could have easily conducted the interviews in English but preferred Spanish. And still others would have preferred to speak in English. However, pretty universally the people we interviewed indicated that they really needed more information about the Alzheimer’s disease in Spanish. Yes – even those who speak English fluently. Why? For one, they needed to share the information with their family members whose English varied in terms of fluency. Yes, the English-speakers can and will translate. But they would also prefer to share the information with their families directly. Secondly – and this is purely my opinion as an acculturated Latina – there are certain things that Latinos just prefer to do in Spanish. For many of the people we spoke to, caring for their sick parents as it related to this disease was just easier, more natural and more comfortable in Spanish.

So what about the acculturated Laino? I fall into this category. Do you really need to talk to me as a Latina? This is what really confuses marketers – particularly those who want to use social media. Statistics show  we are the ones who are using social media the most. Yes, you reach me in your general market campaigns. But you’re missing a huge opportunity if you don’t’ understand that there are certain Hispanic-oriented emotional triggers that are pretty powerful to me. Trust me – nothing’s going to get me more amped than a conversation with my friend Angel Magaňa (@cheleguanaco) about Salvadoran food (pupusas!). And I completely geeked out a year or so ago when I discovered that Target was selling Chavo del Ocho dolls.  So what’s the answer?  Well, while I don’t need Charmin to market to me as a Latina? It might pay for a grocer, airline, music downloading service and more to do so. It’s all about the connection, the experience.

So, what’s the answer?

Do Latinos need to be marketed to separately from the general market any longer?

Yes. No, Sometimes. It depends.

I think Brian Solis has it right. Demographics, psychographics and other factors are important and drive many aspects of a campaign. But for the best impact, remember that my language, my cultura and the fact that I’m a Guanaca are important. Let’s also not forget the heritage and diversity of the Hispanic culture – even beyond Hispanic Heritage Month.

Wow, was it ever a crazy weekend in college football – packed with upsets and movement in the polls. Funny thing: same thing happened in CFBT Week 7. (For those of you keeping track, Week 6 never happened. If you know me, you know why. But I’ll gladly accept a Week 6 post from any of you College Football Twitteratti folk if you feel like it.)

So what happened in Week 7? Here are some highlights:

Last week the CFBT group hated South Carolina and Florida equally. Only Purduefasure (@catbaloo14) called Kentucky’s upset of South Carolina – resulting in 5 points for her and a collective 253-point loss for the group. And only Diverbh (@diverbh) called Mississippi State over Florida – resulting in 2 points for him and a collective 246-point loss for the group. I have to point out that these two were the only ones to pick Iowa State over Texas Tech in Week 6.

This week saw the entire CFBT group singing “In the Navy.”  Everyone in the group picked Navy to beat SMU by 1.5, and we were all right. Navy won a combined 184 points for the group.

So let’s talk about the Twitteratti. Who did well?

In first place with 133 points was Clemson4Life (@antpruitt) whose biggest call of the day was that he would win the day. He even changed his name (again) to show his confidence. (Who knew Clemson fans had that much #swagga?) He racked up 57 points in 3 games by putting big points on favored teams: Iowa, Georgia and Baylor.

In second place with 125 points was WinnahWinnahChickenDinnah (@rissadee) who picked 10 games correctly. She did well despite missing her 19 and 18-point picks (she picked Air Force and Ohio State – both of which were upset by her opponents.)

In 3^rd place was MidwestSwag (@danwenzel) who picked all but 2 of the first 15 games correctly …then lost steam after Wisconsin’s upset of Ohio State. I’ll call this “Bucky’s Revenge” – if he’d picked his home team to win, maybe the rest of the day would have gone his way. I recommend he get on the train and start by watching this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVAZXZfIlNk. (I must also point out that TheGeekyOne – @TheGeeky1 – also picked against his team in this instance. Go ahead and defend yourself. That’s what the comments section is for.)

Now for the standings.

WinnahWinnahChickenDinnah (@rissadee) continues in  first place (that’s 3 weeks in a row) with 714 points. JennyQ (@jennyQ) remains in second place with 669 points – despite placing only in 17^th place for the week. In 3^rd place is Clemson4Life who with 663 points is determined to claw his way to the top. He was in 7^th place week 5.

Because I have to pick on someone… NDGirl (@lkkelly) has dropped to 5^th in the standings, and finished in 6h place week 7. I only tease her because she said she was going to start making her picks on her own, without outside input, which she blames for her declined performance over the weeks prior. *Cough* (Muah. I know – people in glass houses…)

So what will happen this week? I, for one, am hoping that this http://mamideconstructed.blogspot.com/2009/11/unc-33-miami-24.html won’t happen again this year. But who of the remaining unbeaten will lose this weekend? (Not Oregon…they put the smack-down on UCLA last night!) Missourri and Oklahoma (I like Mizzou)? LSU and Auburn (undecided on this one)? Will Nebraska beat Oklahoma State? All I can say is that it’s sure to be an exciting day of college football.

Go Canes!

Standings