#TeamCoco Takes Over the People of Earth...Social Media Style

The year was 2010. The month was January. The People of Earth were taking sides. You were either Team Coco or Team…Leno (which was pretty much non-existent). Team Coco banded together to exclaim “I’m with Coco” in anyway they could, mostly on the Internet. The battle for the NBC Late Night TV airwaves was something that any Conan fan, young or old, newbie or diehard, was emotionally invested in. To say it bluntly, NBC was screwing Conan. He had the coveted host of The Tonight Show spot for less than 7 months and now NBC was turning around and taking that away from him. Actually, worse than that, they wanted to move The Tonight Show to Midnight to make room for Jay Leno’s lameness at 11:30.  But let’s not dwell on the horribleness that is NBC and focus on the good that came out of a pretty horrible situation. Enter Team Coco as a social media phenomenon. People of Earth, behold the stages of the Team Coco evolution!

1. Birth of Team Coco.

While NBC and Conan were duking it out, on Twitter something incredible was happening. Whether it was #TeamCoco or #ImWithCoco, Conan fans were coming out of the woodwork on the Twitter streams expressing their love for Conan through these hashtags and many more. But what wasn’t so obvious then as it is now, #TeamCoco was much more than just a hashtag. It was a social media revolution in the making. As any Coco fan would know, there was even an image to go along with the uprising. Fans made this image their Facebook profile pic (I did), their Twitter avatar (I did), and even made t-shirts (I should have). Creator Mike Mitchell created the icon for what would become the Team Coco revolution. (See left.)

2. Conan joins Twitter! (And follows one person…@LovelyButton)

A few weeks after Conan made the announcement that we would be parting ways with NBC ($33 million richer), he joined Twitter and created @ConanOBrien. Conan joining Twitter was a revolution in itself…in just 24 hours he gained 300,000 followers. Coco would tweet on a daily basis, mostly about how he was spending his time now that he was unemployed. More importantly though, Conan used his Twitter to make two major announcements to Team Coco: 1. The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour announced on March 11^th; 2. His return to TV would be on November 8^th on TBS.  Enter excitement across the nation from Team Coco fans.

3. The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour.

So as you may or may not know, part of Conan’s settlement with NBC was that he would not be allowed to have a comedy show on television until after September 1^st.  He did appear on television in a 60 Minutes special on May 2^nd where we got a behind the scenes look at how Conan was spending his life after NBC but that was by no means the Conan any of us were used to.  The tour was exactly what the Team Coco fans needed and wanted, a chance to see the man live and in their hometowns. As soon as Coco announced the tour in one of his tweets, tickets started selling out in minutes. Naturally, I was able to snatch up some of these tickets myself to see Conan live in Connecticut at Mohegan Sun. Okay so Conan announces the tour on Twitter and tickets sell out, but is that the only role that social media plays in this? Absolutely not. At every Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour show, a hashtag was displayed on the big screens so that people at the show could tweet about it AND use the unique hashtag. For example, the hashtag for my show in CT was #conanecticut. Brilliant. Not to mention flipping awesome.

4. At last, teamcoco.com!

In conjunction with the live tour, teamcoco.com was created and started off as basically just a blog where all things regarding Conan were posted.  Teamcoco.com was in addition to the twitter account (@TeamCoco) and the Facebook page that were created as a home base for the Team Coco masses. Teamcoco.com really exploded more recently though which leads us to…

5. September 2010 = TBS HYPE!

Here’s where the masterminds behind Team Coco (the brand) got smart…all you social media junkies get ready because here comes the Team Coco climax…

BOOM!

The Conan Blimp! complete with Foursquare check in capabilities AND a snazzy badge.

BANG!

The #LiveCocoCam! 24 hours worth of streaming live footage from the Team Coco Headquarters featuring a dancing taco, 80’s aerobics, and a staring contest.

WOOSH!

Fan of the Week every Friday! On Thursdays, one fan was randomly chosen from the hundreds that would comment on a post on the Team Coco Facebook fan page. And for those of us who aren't lucky enough to be chosen, we all have equal chance of being on the teamcoco.com Fan Wall!

ZING!

FREE CONAN T-SHIRTS! In the 10 days leading up to Conan’s premiere on TBS, Team Coco gave out 1,000 free shirts per day to the first 1,000 people who entered a code that was posted on the @TeamCoco Twitter and Facebook page into the free tshirt portion of Teamcoco.com. (These bad boys were gone in a matter of seconds every day...but I managed to get one! Anyone else?)

BAM!

#ConanShowZero! One week before the TBS debut, Team Coco presented a livestream of what is hopefully the fabulous late night on TBS genius that is to come.

So as I sit here about 24 hours before the premiere of Conan on TBS I receive a mobile Twitter message on my iPhone from from @TeamCoco that reads: “Well those nine months just FLEW BY, didn't they? Conan on TBS. Monday @ 11/10c. #conanreturns.”

Actually (for me at least), it’s been a LONG 9 months without Conan on my TV screen every night, HOWEVER…with the help of the social media presence from Team Coco I’ve most certainly been able to get by.

socialmedia (& #TEAMCOCO!) #FTW!!!


-M

My “Conan on TBS premiere” expectations include the following: a kickass theme song; THE BEARD! (please Conan, don’t shave your beard!); LOTS of string dancing; awkward moments with Andy Richter; a shout out to #TeamCoco?; Conan's guitar playing; tons and tons and TONS of awesomeness (obviously). Please comment on my blog with likes/dislikes, agreements/disagreements, and your favorite part of Team Coco in the social media world and stay tuned for another Conan blog at the end of this week! I myself am a semi-long time Conan O'Brien fan...you can check out my previous "social media" tributes to him here and here. Enjoy :)

"I know you are but what am I?"--- A foursquare Promo DONE RIGHT by @peeweeherman

This is my take on how to do a foursquare promotion the right way and how to fail at one miserably. First I’ll start with two stories of how I was part of a vastly unsuccessful promotion and another one that couldn't have gone better. I’ll start with the bad…and I’ll try to keep it short and sweet.

The Bad

Earlier this week, my #Likeable co-workers and I discovered that there was a promotion going on through foursquare in Macy’s Herald Square (right near our *new* office) for a free Marc Jacobs Tote Bag upon checking in on foursquare at the Marc Jacobs fragrance counter. The Likeable crew and I are all fully competent individuals and had no reason to not believe that going there and simply checking in would get us our free stuff. There was no disclaimer on this offer. Nothing that noted that it was only for one person…just simply, “congratulations, you’ve won a Marc Jacobs silver tote bag with shower gel, etc. Redeem at counter.” (or something to that extent…I do not remember exact wording but that was surely the gist) Well when we arrived at the Marc Jacobs Fragrance Counter in Macy’s Herald Square, not one employee knew what we were talking about. They had never even heard of foursquare. They thought we all received some secret text message saying that we could get free stuff. In fact I’m pretty sure that they thought we were ambushing them because we all knew each other and had this same “secret text message.” They just did NOT get it. So needless to say…none of us got our free gift. Well actually, they gave us some samples of “cologne on cardboard" (the kind they hand out on the street) and some useless “Marc Jacobs BANG” windbreakers. This was a MAJOR foursquare promo fail.  It left me a little bit doubtful in what foursquare is all about. Until today…

The GOOD!

In the morning I found out via the Twitterverse that Pee-wee Herman was going to be parading around Manhattan throughout the day and that there was a Pee-wee foursquare badge up for grabs. This march around Manhattan was apparently to promote his new Broadway show, which will be starting October 26^th. It did take a little bit to figure out what exactly the key to unlocking this AWESOME badge (see right) was, but it was surely do-able: friend Pee-wee Herman on foursquare, then check-in to two of the places that he was going to be throughout the day. On the Pee-wee Twitter handle, @peeweeherman, there were updates all day saying were the man with the red bowtie was. There were even Twitpics to verify that this was actually going down. After checking myself into High Line Park and 4food NYC (two places Pee-wee travelled to and checked into that day), at approximately 5 PM I unlocked the Pee-wee Herman Show badge. The badge told me that I should go to the Sondheim Theater box office to redeem a surprise from Pee-wee. Based on the Twitter updates it was also a known fact that Pee-wee himself would be there around 5:30. So I headed to the Theater on west 43^rd street and low and behold, there was an actual crowd of people waiting because they unlocked the same badge as I did on foursquare. Pee-wee was a little bit behind schedule, but sure enough the man himself eventually showed up! The surprise: FREE RED BOWTIES!  It was fabulous. I got to meet the man from my favorite Playhouse as a kid AND I got something free. But wait…there’s more: there were quite a few people walking around with shirts that had the foursquare badge on them and I wanted one more than anything. I went up to a group of guys wearing them and asked how to attain one of these awesome tees and they said that they all worked for Pee-wee. I must have looked awfully sad knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get one because one of the guys said “here…just have mine” and proceeded to TAKE THE SHIRT OFF HIS BACK and give it to me. This guy’s name was Arthur and he is my new favorite person in the entire universe. THANK YOU ARTHUR!!! So, I left the area outside of the Sondheim Theater with:

1. Blackberry pic of Pee-wee Herman up close

2. FREE red bowtie

3. AUTHENTIC Pee-wee Herman Show foursquare badge shirt

4. A foursquare promotion success story

So here you have it folks, the 5 things that I think every foursquare promotion MUST HAVE to make it work!

1. Mysterious free stuff!

Get the people there by offering something free but don’t say exactly what it is. A lot of the people waiting for Pee-wee were optimistic that he would be giving out free tickets to his Broadway show but at the same time they were just excited to see what Pee-wee was going to give out. Unlike, Marc Jacobs where we went in expecting the product they listed and then we were even more disappointed when we couldn’t even get that. Mystery mixes in some fun to the promotion and being adventurous sometimes really pays off!

2. Make it fun!

All I wanted all day was that Pee-wee Herman badge on foursquare…ask anyone I work with at #Likeable, I’m sure they’d be able to tell you that it’s all I talked about all day. Just giving out free stuff is nice, but when it comes with a snazzy badge too it’s even better. Plus, you’ll have something to prove that you actually were part of the promotion.

3. Have exciting and #likeable people promote the promo!

While we were waiting for Pee-wee to show up outside the theater, those people walking around in the cool foursquare badge t-shirts were pumping us up, saying that Pee-wee would be here any minute. Some of them were even filming and taking pictures of the crowd getting excited. They were such fun and approachable people. Hence why I have an authentic Pee-wee shirt sitting in my apartment with me right now. That guy Arthur gave me the shirt off his back, which is AWESOME, and I will never forget him and I’m keeping the shirt forever. THAT’S a foursquare promotion at it’s best for you right there. Brought to you by people who are FUN and knew what was going on rather than  employees who don’t even know what foursquare is.

4. Team up the promotion with a Twitter account!

Following where Pee-wee was in Manhattan via Twitter all day long was pretty thrilling. Not to mention informative for anyone, like myself, who wanted to get involved in this Pee-wee parade. It gets people who might not know about the promo through just foursquare intrigued about what’s going on and it could even become a trending topic. I don’t know if Pee-wee was trending in the NYC area today, but I certainly would not be surprised if he was! Additionally, tweeting pictures of what’s happening gives the promo a sense of reality and will really make people want to be part of it!

5. Make sure people actually know about it!

Whether it’s your employees or your customers or (more importantly) BOTH, the way to have a successful foursquare promotion is to create a BUZZ about it. Whether you’re a Macy’s giving out free merch or Pee-wee Herman giving out free bowties…a foursquare promotion is a foursquare promotion no matter how big or how small. If no one knows about it, it’s going to create chaos because it’s still posted out in the foursquare world and chances are, someone is going to discover it. Luckily for Pee-wee, his promotional crew was on it’s game and it absolutely made my day and redeemed the validity of foursquare for me.

As someone in the crowd screamed as we were all anxiously waiting for Pee-wee to arrive: “YAY SOCIAL MEDIA!” I could not have said it better myself…

SOCIALMEDIA #FTW

-M

Four Square vs. foursquare

It was all the rage on the playground in 5th grade. Today it’s all the rage anywhere in the world as long as you have a Smartphone.  It’s foursquare. And in reality, that game you played back in grade school isn’t all that different from the game that you play on your phone today.

Four Square (Playground Version): Played with a rubber playground ball on a square court with four players. When the ball is bounced into your square you must then bounce it back out without hitting twice in your own square, otherwise you are out. The object is to eliminate players in higher squares so that you can make it to the 'four square' and score the most points.

vs.

foursquare (Online Version): A mobile device application in which users "checkin" to venues, businesses, and restaurants. Users can then see where their friends are as well as what locations are "trending" (heavily attended at the moment.)

Ball:

The one physical object that is required to play your favorite childhood game.

vs.

-Smartphone:

The one physical object required to play your favorite social media game.

Court:

In order to play your favorite childhood game, you need a designated area with 4 large squares drawn with chalk on the ground.

vs.

Specific Location:

In order to play your favorite social media game, you have to be within a certain area that the GPS on your phone can pick up.

Serve:

When you play four square, you serve the ball in order to get other players “out” with the ultimate goal of getting to the 4 square.

vs.

Checkin:

Whenever you go to a venue or location, you checkin in order to get points and earn different rewards (specials and badges). When you checkin, you have the ultimate goal of becoming the “Mayor” of that specific place.

You always want to be in the “4 Square:”

The person in the 4 square is the one who calls the shots and basically runs the game. You are the head honcho.

vs.

You always want to be the “Mayor:”

When you have the most checkins at a specific place, you become the Mayor of that venue (which can potentially earn you a special if offered...one great example is Starbucks.)

“The Calls”

In four square, the 4 square could make different calls for how the game should be played…some of these universal calls include:
          -Popcorn: The 4 square would throw the ball up into the air, clap once, then pass it to the second person who would clap twice while the ball was in the air, and so on.
          -Around the World: Once this was called, the ball would either go clockwise or counterclockwise around the square until either the 4 square called “Peace”, a player broke the pattern, or a player got out.
          -Cherry Bomb: The 4 square would spike the ball hard into someone’s square making it difficult to pass the ball on.
          -War: Once declared, the 4 square and the chosen player would hit the ball back and forth between them only. If one of them messed up at anytime, that player would be out.

vs.

“Badges”

The one thing that makes foursquare so exciting, besides Mayorships, are of course the badges, which you earn by checking in at various places. Some of the more common and well-known ones include:

            -Newbie: You get this for checking into your first place!

            -Adventurer: This badge is gained when you check into 10 places.

            -Local: Checkin to one place 3 times in the same week and you’ll earn this.

            -I’m on a Boat: Checkin on a boat and you’ll get the “I’m on a Boat” badge.

“Calls” and “Badges” are very similar in the sense that you may never know when one is coming and it might seem like they are just being made up out of no where. I’m sure we all played a game of four square in our youth where the 4 square just randomly called a move (or called a known move by another name) and there’s badges out there that most foursquare users might not be able to attain or even know about.

You played with and against your friends when you were a kid, and today you’re doing the exact same thing. It was one of the coolest games then and the version in 2010 is just as cool and fun too. The only difference: when the sun goes down on the playground, you had to stop playing and with today’s foursquare, you can play all night long…you might even get the “School Night” badge.


socialmedia #FTW!


-M

Speaking of Social Media Changing the World...

Forget all of social media trying to make the world a better place...Twitter is tackling this on it's own today with TwitChange. Is it your dream for your favorite celebrity on Twitter to follow you or tweet you back? Well, starting today and for the next 9 days you can bid on eBay to make this dream come true. Celebrities such as @JustinBieber, @JoeJonas, @KimKardashian, @RyanSeacrest, and @TonyHawk (and the list goes on!) are all in on the using Twitter for charity action. @EvaLongoria seems to be the spokesperson for the whole auction which started this afternoon. All of the proceeds for this auction will be going to ahomeinHaiti.org which according to the website is a project to build a brand new orphanage and school for disabled children in Haiti. There are four ways to get in touch with your favorite celebrity through TwitChange: be followed by them, get re-tweeted by them, get mentioned by them, or get the ultimate package and have all three happen! 

Just after a few hours of bidding, the ultimate package for @alyssa_milano is up to $3,050. TwitChange truly exemplifies how powerful social media can be, as I spoke about in my previous post. People are willing to pay over $3,000 to just get recognized by a celebrity on Twitter. Who knows what the amounts will be like when the bidding ends on September 25th. This is a brilliant idea by all celebrities involved and a great use of a social media fad in order to do some good for humanity. The influence of social media, specifically Twitter in this instance, will never cease to amaze.

@SocialMedia #FTW!

-M

Have a Charitable Cause? Social Media Can Help.

Social media is a powerful thing. Using social media as a way to spread the word about a good cause can be the most powerful way for a charity (or even a small group or individual) to make an impact in the lives of almost anyone who is connected to the Internet. There are thousands of charities (big and small) that have created Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts in order to make a name for their good causes. It is a fact that when it comes to donating money in 2010, the average person will prefer to donate online. Social media can be the perfect solution to any fundraiser if the campaign is executed properly. The following are a few campaigns and charities that I think are doing the whole “using social media to promote a cause for the good of humanity” the right way…starting with the “big” and ending with the “small."

1. Social Good Summit 

I must start by promoting the Social Good Summit which will take place on Monday September 20, 2010 in NYC. The event is sponsored by Mashable and 92Y Street and will feature speakers such as Susan Smith Ellis (CEO (red)), Howard W. Buffet (advisor to the President), and Judy McGrath (CEO of MTV Networks). The goal of the Summit is: “to leverage social media for social good.” According to Mashable, “every speaker will explain how digital media and innovative ideas can combine to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the UN’s framework for creating a safer and healthier world for us all.” So there you have it. Some of the most important people in the world believe that digital and social media can be part of the fix to the world’s biggest problems. THAT’S how powerful social media is.

2. Stand Up to Cancer

Just this past Friday, the Stand Up to Cancer campaign aired an hour-long live telethon on all the major television networks in order to raise money for cancer research. But online, SU2C is a perfect example for how a charity should portray itself via social media. On the SU2C Facebook fan page (link) there is a tab to “Donate Now” where Facebook users can use their Facebook Credits to donate. SU2C has also teamed up with omg! from Yahoo on Facebook. omg! from Yahoo! has agreed to donate $1 to SU2C for every person who likes their Facebook Fan Page through Monday September 13, 2010. How easy is that? You don’t even have to spend a penny and you can support Stand Up 2 Cancer. DO IT!

3. Pepsi Refresh Project

Pepsi has dedicated millions of its earnings to fund ideas that will make America a better place with the Pepsi Refresh Project. ANYONE can submit an idea to the Pepsi Refresh website and ANYONE can vote for the ideas that Pepsi chooses to promote.  (They choose 1,000 ideas every month.) The ideas are separated by category and the amount of money that will be needed to make the idea come to life. This is an absolutely brilliant idea by Pepsi; letting anyone on the Internet vote for any of the ideas up to 10 times per day truly empowers the general population who just want to create something for a good cause. And the beauty of the Pepsi Refresh Project is that it is up to the idea creators to spread the word about being involved in the Project in order to get the most votes. With the power of social media promotion anything can be possible if carried out in an effective manner!

4. Sean's 2010 NYC Marathon Fundraising Quest

(Here comes perhaps a shameless plug…but an example of how social media can help a good cause nonetheless!)

My good friend Sean McGrath will be running in the NYC Marathon this November for a charity called Team for Kids. Sean’s goal is to raise $3,000 for TFK and one of the first places he started his fundraising efforts was on Facebook with a Page called Sean’s 2010 NYC Marathon Fundraising Quest. Sean has done an excellent job of keeping his fans updated on who is donating the most money, events going on in support of his fundraising, and how his overall marathon training is going in general.  On his page, there is a link to the Team for Kids website where anyone can donate any amount. Sean is just a grad student looking to do some good in the world and a perfect example of how anyone raising money for any good cause can go out and make a Facebook Page or a Twitter account and create some buzz for what they are trying to raise money for. It’s tough to get people to donate any amount of money in today’s world, but if you make a good connection with the help of social media, you just might be able to get something out of it. Please check out more about Sean’s 2010 NYC Marathon Fundraising Quest and Team For Kids here (http://www.runwithtfk.org/Member/PublicPage/104) and if you are the slightest bit inspired pretty please donate! Do it for the kids…and in honor of the power of social media!

@SocialMedia #FTW!

-M

7 Reasons to Embrace the Awesomeness of Social Media

1. You can connect with the entire world.
Just a few months ago, Facebook reached 500 million users. That means that there are 499,999,999 other people out there for you to meet via the Internet. Pretty incredible if you ask me. And the fact that you can interact with these people from the comfort of your own home is even more fascinating. You could be the laziest person on Earth, but social media makes you one of the most powerful purely because the world is at your fingertips with an Internet connection and a few logins & passwords. Social media is a revolution and more likely than not, you are part of it. Check out this video full of social media facts...some of which might scare you.


2. Consistency!
Social media will always be there for you. And most likely you will always be able to find some way to have social media make you happy as well. You could be angry at all of your friends but then you login to Twitter and you see a happy inspirational tweet from @RevRunWisdom and you feel instantaneously better (hopefully). Social media has taken over the world in full force and it's never going to go away, at least not anytime soon (see YouTube video from point #1).


3. Acts as a news source.
Don't have a TV nearby? No problem if you have Facebook or Twitter. On most days, I use Twitter as a source for what's going on in the world just by looking at the trending topics. Of course they're not always accurate...but at least I know what the big gossip topics of the day are. A lot of times, Twitter trends might not even make any sense to you. Use whatthetrend.com to figure out what all those confusing hashtags might mean. Even Facebook statuses are useful to get your news from. Most times, if a big event is going on in your area or in the world, your friends will update their Facebook statuses to reflect this.


4. Reach your consumers and give us free stuff.
"Like this status and be entered to get a free coffee." "RT this and get 10% off your next purchase of shoes." "Check-in here and get free chips!" From an advertising/PR and marketing point of view, it should be pretty clear for brands and companies that social media is where it's at for most of their consumers nowadays.  FourSquare is really revolutionizing this idea with its check-ins. (If you don't have FourSquare on your smartphone, get it. You will not be disappointed. Maybe this blog post on awesome check-in benefits will intrigue you.) Social media also provides a simple way to get a message out to not just pre-existing consumers, but the entire world. Brands are really catching on to the whole "give free things away and offer great deals" portion of social media and we, the consumers, are doing nothing but benefitting from it.




5. Celebrity stalking without even trying.
Hey. We didn't ask celebrities to share every little thing about their lives on Twitter, some of them just chose to. Are we complaining? Well, some of us are. But the majority of the population loves the fact that they can know what @LadyGaga ate for breakfast and what @OGochocinco is doing on the sidelines of a Bengals game. However, celebrities getting involved with social media (mainly Twitter) can be really toxic for their image...just ask @JohnCMayer. Nonetheless the celebrities will keep tweeting and you can find most of your favorites at celebritytweet.com (your #1 source to stalking celebrities via Twitter).


6. The ULTIMATE word of mouth.
With the simple update of a Facebook status or a tweet on Twitter, your friends and followers will know what's up with you. Need someone to go out with on a Friday night? Status update and tweet. Want people to read your new blog post? (What I'll be doing in a few minutes...) Status update and tweet. You can get any information out to your friends in just a matter of seconds. Fundraising for a charity? Running in a contest? Friends of mine have created Twitter pages just for specific fundraising or contest purposes and gained hundreds of followers to support them. If you have a cause or contest that you need supported, turn to social media, the best word of mouth around...it's the easiest way to get yourself recognized! Speaking of word of mouth, did you know that awards are given out for effective word of mouth marketing? Well, they're called the WOMMY Awards and this year a new category has been added for no other than...social media.


7. GET DISCOVERED through networking!
You never know where that dorky kid from middle school is now. He could be the connection to your next great job. Social media gives you the ability to find this kid on Facebook or LinkedIn just by entering what school you went to or what town you lived in. By creating a solid social media network, you can connect with people who can give you your next big break in the world. You could land a job with a tweet. The MTV TJ search is a perfect example. Contestants had to gain the most votes by promoting themselves through Twitter in order to become MTV's first ever Twitter-Jockey (TJ). With social media the possibilities and opportunities are endless. If you make a good name for yourself on the Internet, you never know where it might get you! 


@SocialMedia #FTW!


-M