When PR misfortunes strike a company, the prudent remedy is an immediate, open and honest response to the issue. Assuming that’s been done, the other factor which can determine how quickly a company rebounds is brand loyalty.

To demonstrate this, a good example would be to compare BP’s current troubles in the gulf to Toyota’s recent recall. Both companies face high profile PR catastrophes with the potential to threaten their brands for years to come. Despite the recalls, which called into question a notable safety record, Toyota recently reported $1.2 billion in profit according to the NY Times. Toyota seems to have recovered faster than BP probably will because they first corrected the problem in an open manner, but then were able to rely on the strong brand loyalty they had with their customers going into the crisis.

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Not only has the current Old Spice campaign generated enormous consumer buzz, it’s also generated a healthy debate within the marketing community.  Since my earlier post about the campaign, there have been numerous trade articles written debating the sales numbers, what caused them, and the campaign’s still unproven long-term impact.

The most insightful piece to-date was from Advertising Age.  It includes new data showing a healthy sales increase for Old Spice.  However, since the category saw simultaneous growth, the brand has yet to see any change in market share.  In addition, it argues that much of the growth could have been driven by aggressive national couponing in the first quarter.

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The emergence of social media has changed the face of marketing; it’s no longer about the push, it’s about the relationship.  And social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide the perfect platform for these conversations to take place.  Companies are competing for the limited attention of consumers today and Ford figured out the right way to do it with their launch of the 2011 Explorer.

The “old’ way was out; revealing the redesigned 2011 Explorer model at the Detroit Auto Show with the hopes of broadcast coverage or a small photo and write up to compete against the gaggle of other new designs wasn’t going to do it for Ford this year.  Tapping into a medium where they knew would grab attention, Ford utilized Facebook in the way it was meant: to give users a unique experience that would be customizable.  To allow for interactive, multimedia tours, videos, text and images on the Explorer’s Facebook page; for the experience to be unique but feel “real” to each user.

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Image by stevegarfield via Flickr

This morning, Facebook announced that it would be taking it’s highly praised and highly controversial Open Graph and Like Button to the streets.  Soon, this functionality will be available on mobile phones via mobile applications.  Given the explosion of mobile internet and app use in the past few months/years, this was the next logical step in the progression of Open Graph.

Perhaps what’s most interesting about this announcement is the language used by Eric Tseng, Facebook’s Head of Mobile Products.  He said Facebook “really sees mobile as the future.”  With Facebook’s recent usage and cross-platform functionality explosions, it seems as though the overall digital landscape will be largely influenced by moves made by Facebook.  Mobile sites and applications will soon be able to take advantage of this new social functionality.

Let’s take Foursquare or Yelp for example; Many of us are used to checking in or reading reviews on this type of mobile app.  When Facebook brings the Like Button to these apps, we’ll not only be able to check into these locations on Foursquare, we’ll be able to see which of our Facebook friends have liked that venue.  We’ll be able to read reviews or see Likes from those same friends from a nearby restaurant on Yelp or Urbanspoon as well.  Sure, we have “friends” on these applications already, but the potential is much greater with the bucket of hundreds of my Facebook friends than it is with the 15 or 20 close friends I have on Foursquare.

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As a recovering Farmville addict, I am keenly aware of my friends’ social gaming activities. It seems like half of my Facebook news feed posts are about friends needing respect for Mafia Wars or a wheelbarrow to build a yard in Petville.

eMarketer recently reported that over half of social media users play social games, making it the fifth most popular social media activity.  Not only is this a large group, but one that advertisers frequently target. Here are some quick stats on this audience from a study done by PopCap:

• 55% of players are women
• The average age is 48
• 26% of all players are above 50
• 68% play at least once a day
• 29% have purchased virtual currency with real-world dollars
• Over 95% play multiple times a day.

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Last night, many of us fell witness to a remarkable event in sports that has only happened 20 other times in major league baseball history – a perfect game.  Well… almost.  The Detroit Tigers’ Armando Galarraga came as close as it gets to baseball history (2 outs in the 9th inning) before being snubbed by a horrific call by the first base umpire.  In what should have been the last at-bat of the game, the Indians batter was clearly thrown out at first base.  However, MLB umpire Jim Joyce saw it differently.  He called the runner safe, thereby extending the game and ruining Galarraga’s shot at baseball immortality.

At this point, you’re probably wondering what a sports story like this is doing on a blog devoted to media and marketing.  It’s not just because I’m a big sports fan and want to talk more about it in true “water-cooler” fashion with our readers.  The real purpose for this post is to highlight the way the situation was handled by all parties involved.

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As many of you have probably noticed, Google took another unique approach to its homepage logo today.  In the past, we’ve seen logo celebrations ranging from children’s artwork to Dr. Seuss scenes.  Today, however, marked a new level of interest and engagement for users of the google.com search page.  Instead of a traditional celebratory static gif, today’s searchers have been greeted with a fully interactive and completely enjoyable version of everyone’s true favorite video game – Pac-Man.  The simple game has been posted to recognize Pac-Man’s 30th birthday.

So why would Google make the effort to implement such a different concept on perhaps the most recognizable page on the web today?  It may seem like just a quirky addition that some developer at Google threw together in 12 minutes (in reality it probably took him or her 7), but this “cute” little game has had a big impact for Google in a very short time.  By providing users with an engagement aspect besides search, they are providing a utility that extends beyond the page’s normal offerings.  In this case, that utility is entertainment.

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Over the last few days, there has been a great deal of talk surrounding Facebook’s immanent “check-in” to the geolocation space.  Sources close to Facebook have admitted that users will soon have the ability to tag their location within their status updates.  So, is this feature a direct threat to location-based applications like Foursquare and Gowalla?  Probably.  But… maybe not.

It appears that Facebook will be launching its location service in the form of a custom application for McDonalds.  What’s interesting about the discussion surrounding the McDonalds example is the speculation of how Facebook will monetize this feature – especially since it is launching with one of the world’s largest advertisers.  Initial signs point to Facebook not making money from the actual application or functionality, but from an associated media buy.  A lot of the impact Foursquare and Gowalla will feel from this move will be determined by just how “local” Facebook decides to go.  If Facebook allows every mom and pop under the sun with a Facebook page to create a “Place” for their business, Foursquare and Gowalla could be in trouble.  After all, a majority of the locations in those apps are user created and not part of huge national/multinational chains.  If, however, Facebook decides to keep the locations to major partner chains as an incentive for media buys, the current location players may be ok.

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For some B2B companies, including social media in the overall marketing mix makes a lot of sense, as many business professionals are already using social media.  Using this tactic as part of the marketing mix is like any other aspect – you must first determine objectives, strategy, and key performance indicators.  However, there are some unique aspects to social media that you need to keep in mind:

1.  Build up your presence with content. Content is king! Create content for your customers that they can use – whether it be a whitepaper they can pass on to their colleagues, a graph they can use in a presentation, or a quick fact they can retweet. Give them something of value and they will share your brand name and content. You should be using existing material and repurposing it for your needs.

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Typically, the next “big thing” in the digital world generates new users much faster than it generates profits.  If savvy marketers take advantage of the opportunity Foursquare provides, the fast growing social app may prove an exception.

If you’re not familiar with Foursquare, members use their phones to “check in” when they visit various locations.  By doing so, their Twitter and/or Facebook accounts are updated with their location, and they accumulate points and badges which can be used in a variety of ways.

What Foursquare represents to retailers is the opportunity to track when and how often customers visit them, as well as what other activities they combine with those trips.  Who wouldn’t want to know the days of the week, peak times, etc. that their most loyal customers visit…or reward them for their loyalty?

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