The Conversation Manager

Converse wants to get closer to its consumers. They decided to open up a recording studio where Converse-approved artists can record music tracks for free.Converse has announced that a 5,200 square foot space in Willamsburg, Brooklyn will be converted into a recording studio by the end of the year.

Musicians will submit applications online and those deemed worthy will be granted studio time to provide them with a helpful boost that many struggling artists most certainly need. The musicians will maintain all rights for the music created in the studio and Converse claim that it doesn’t intend to use any of the tracks created in advertising.

Where is the value for Converse then? Well, they connect more with consumers. It gives them the opportunity to discover the next big name. That way, they are gaining credibility among the creative types. Through the brand, many artists can make a recording. Without the help of Converse, that would have been impossible for most of them.

Converse chief marketing officer Geoff Cottrill came up with the idea and described the project in an interview with the New York Times as; "Think of a cul-de-sac with four garages, and in those garages are four bands… On the street are all the big brands of the world — Coke, Apple, the car companies — standing there waiting for the garage door to open and the cool band to step out so they can tell them they’re going to make them famous. But I would venture to say that inside those garages those kids are already wearing our shoes".

New Zealand vodka brand "42 Below" is helping reggae pop star Shaggy celebrate his 42nd birthday in Australia, with a geo-tagged man hunt.

For two days, Shaggy will be touring in Sydney. He plans to visit a large set of bars, restaurants and typical tourist attractions. Every time he arrives at his new location, he will check in through FourSquare and Places (Facebook). The first fifteen fans who find hem and wish him a "Happy 42 Below" win a ticket to his birthday party. The party is taking place in a small trendy club with a limited set of people there.

The fun thing about this campaign is the interaction between online and offline activation. People actually need to move around to track Shaggy down by using hints and tips on social media.

Most companies agree that joining the conversation is crucial for their brand and customer experience. Still, many of them (most of them) don't dare taking the step.
What is holding them you could wonder?

I call it the 95%-5% rule. During internal discussions there are always examples used of cases in which it's better that a brand is not joining in. Most of these cases are exceptional cases. Furthermore, they can be very well described and everyone in the company feels that in those circumstances it is indeed better not to join.

My conclusion: for most companies, these cases only count for 5% of the online conversations. For 95% of the cases, everyone feels very comfortable with the idea of joining the conversation. But that stupid 5% is holding us back.

Let's turn it around and make it more explicit. Organize a meeting in which you define the 5% and 95% cases very clearly. So everyone in the team knows what the policy is: when will be join and when will we not join. Making them explicit helps to break the resistance of joining in.

Let the 5% exceptional cases not stop you from reaching out to your consumer.