Tribal Seduction

Madison Avenue advertising firms do it. Mainstream marketers do it. Political campaigns do it. They all piggy-back on the emotional anchoring created by famous singers, actors, and sports figures. It’s a marketing strategy with a proven track-record. People bond emotionally with people, with personal brands, and with your Primal Key™.

But what about online you when you’re marketing with New Media? How can you harness the momentum created by emotional anchoring and piggy-back off of words, quotes, images, or sounds that people are already familiar with?

It starts by understanding the simple truth of why emotional anchoring works in marketing. That is…

People buy what they like, and they like what they know

Familiarity breeds comfort. When you’re familiar with something or someone, you know what to expect. That makes things comfortable. More importantly (for marketing and sales purposes) familiarity and it’s offspring comfort both act to turn off the natural defense mechanism (skepticism) we all employ to protect ourselves.

Leveraging emotional anchors works so well in marketing because it accelerates familiarity and comfort. Its’ impact is instant, subconscious, and undeniable when it comes to boosting conversions.

Now, you may not be able to afford to pay Beyonce or Tiger Woods to appear in commercials for you. But you CAN leverage existing visual and auditory anchors, and using New Media Marketing — tie them to you, your product or your service. And you can do it in much easier, and much more cost effective way!

Here’s an example to get those Tribal Seduction mindset wheels spinning in your head.

A few good marketing ideas…

If I say "You can’t handle the truth!"… what movie do you immediatley think of?

"A Few Good Men." Right! It’s one of the most often quoted movie lines.

On the outside chance you haven’t actually seen the movie, you probably know what movie it came from and the context in which it was said. It’s familiar and it’s comfortable because it’s known.

The line was used in the climax of the movie. In what also was the most emotionally charged scene of the movie.

So where does New Media come in on this?And how does this help you with your marketing?

Well, lets take a look at a couple examples of how this famous movie quote was used in online videos. A few notes on what was done right. What could be done better. And what creative ideas you can come up with after looking at this mini-case study.

First the original clip

Let’s put things in context with the actual unedited clip from the movie.

OK, pretty powerful scene right? One of the most memorable in recent movie history.

So what can be done with this in New Media?

Follow along with me for a few minutes and find out.

Now, two examples: the good, the bad, and the "could be better"…

First; here’s funny adaptation that you’ll get a kick out of… especially if you’ve ever been attacked for being a good creative marketer.

Video Example #1:

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Until now, when you posted a video to YouTube, tracking info was limited to how many times your video was viewed or commented on. Now Google has decided to boost YouTube’s tracking power allowing New Media Marketers to analyze video performance more effectively.

The new tools help put the performance of a video into context over time. You can see where your Tribe is coming from and how well your message is connecting to your audience. And… a big plus — you’re now better able to get ideas on how to improve your videos and track how your improvements translate into attention.

What YouTube now tracks for you

To access your new stats, log into to your account then “My account > Videos, Favorites, Playlists > About This Video.” Here’s what you’ll see when you do.

Obviously the wimpish stats that you had before are still available. (above)

The left side of your screen when in the “Views” tab will give you: (above)

• How many countries your video was viewed in any given time period
• An adjustable slider bar to select any time range you want since the video was posted

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You see it everywhere…. You Tube, Bright Cove, and MySpace. In-stream and overlay ads that marketers and advertising agencies count as New Media Marketing. Don’t give me that crap! That’s not New Media — especially when those overlays auto-open in the middle of a video. That’s the same old marketplace molestation on a new channel.

Christine Beardsell in a recent article The next Step in Online Video Marketing raises an interesting point, (and even more cutting question.)

“YouTube, Hulu, Joost, Brightcove, and endless other content providers are seeking fast, scalable advertising models. Now, with announcements from companies like FreeWheel, such interruptive models (in-stream video and overlay ads) will soon prevail.

The question: where do real conversations fit into these models? Sure, we can now market a car racing show within (or on top of) a video about cars, but what about the interactivity and conversations we keep hearing about?”

Now you guys and gals already know my thoughts on conversations. I feel like pulling a Bill Clinton circa 1992 whenever I here that word related to New Media and saying “It’s the CONNECTIONS stupid!” Conversations without connection are useless if your goal is to build a Tribe.

But that fine point aside, Christine hits the mark here in identifying the next freight train of pain to hit advertisers, marketers, and PR pros trying to use New Media Marketing.

Old school marketplace molester tactics will not do!

Online marketers better get the new rule book for the game. Or they should plan to get booted out of the game altogether, (at least the profitable end,) very soon.

Winning at the game of New Media Marketing has a new set of requirements. Whether you’re a mega marketing firm, PR agency pumping out promos for your clients, or an eager online entrepreneur fighting to build your business, expect to give extra:

- Attention to strategy
- Creativity in production
- Attention to emotional connection

These are the basic requirements. These are what will create, as Christine says so well, “experiences people want to seek out, rather than click away from.”

You do as your Tribe does

If you want to attract a Tribe, instead of trick the “herd” — then start to think about what YOU do online. Think about your natural actions and activities when it comes to developing your New Media Marketing strategy… instead of what “experts” write about in magazines or “gurus” tell you in emails that end up in your Spam filter.

Side note: In the last month or two we’ve been so busy with traveling, software and course development that I’ve admittedly (and quite obviously) neglected sharing insights and thoughts here at Tribal Seduction. But when I cam across Christine’s article and shared my thoughts with several clients I heard the same thing — “why don’t you share that type of stuff at Tribal Seduction?”

I will be doing my best to heed the advice of those wise men and women and open up my 3lbs. of gray matter in a more “free flow” format here from now on. It’s a long road to recovery, but I’m on my way.

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