Social Media Monitoring: Sharpie

An Introduction to Sharpie



    Sharpie is a product of the Sanford Ink company (The Sanford Manufacturing Company before 1940).  The Sanford Manufacturing Company was founded in Worcester, MA before moving to Chicago, IL. Sharpie’s home is now Shelbyville TN. For one day in March 2004 to celebrate Sharpie’s 40th anniversary, Shelbyville was named Sharpieville USA. The first Sharpie was introduced in 1964, and has since expanded to more than 47 unique products including markers, pens, pencils, highlighters, and specialty products with 24 different colors.


Sharpie on Social Media

     The Sharpie brand exists across many types of social media including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, StumbleUpon, and a blog. On Twitter, Sharpie has 232,632 followers and 8,121 tweets.

On Facebook, Sharpie is more popular than on Twitter with 2.9 Million likes






Sharpie does a good job engaging with their customers on these sites. They often engage with their Twitter followers by responding to their tweets:

This is a great use of social media because their customers feel empowered by being able to connect with the Sharpie brand. The majority of posts on Sharpie pages are positive. Customers are using it as a space to share artwork, and creative ways people are using their product. There are very few negative comments. Sharpie seems be responsive most often when there is a negative comment, or a comment that could potentially be negatively spun. This is also the case on Sharpie's Facebook page. While a lot of people are posting artwork and positive comments, Sharpie seems mostly to focus on the negatives. This is one example of Sharpie commenting on potentially negative posts:

Sharpie decides to handle this situation privately. While it is positive that Sharpie responds to the comment, it may have been more effective to have the conversation that likely followed these posts in a way so that they could be publicly viewed. This would further empower the groundswell to interact with Sharpie through social media. The positive posts stand wonderfully on their own, promoting to a strong brand image for Sharpie:

Sharpie's positive social media presence is also exemplified in their Sharpie Squad. The Sharpie Squad is a group of Sharpie artists that are featured for a year as the "Sharpie Squad." These artists use sharpies in a cool creative way, and their stories definitely promote people to use the product. One example of a Sharpie Squad member is Mark Rivard.

Mark appears in the advertisement above, on the Sharpie website, as well as in the following video advertisement:

The Sharpie Squad is a very effective way for Sharpie to expand their brand image and engage their customers.

Sharpies are very consistent in their social media presence. On February 22nd they had the exact same amount of Total Social Mentions according to samepoint.com.

Additionally, according to competitor.com and google.com/analytics, Sharpie has followed a pretty consistent trend with regards to interest and unique visitors. The two graphs below demonstrate Sharpie's consistency:

There is a significant peak in unique visitors in August 2011, and this corresponds with the introduction of the new Sharpie Mini markers.
 

What Should They Do?

Sharpie does a good job of utilizing social media such as Facebook, Twitter, etc, but has almost no presence in the phone/tablet application market. Phone apps are a new popular way that companies are connecting with the groundswell. Companies do this by creating creative or competitive apps. The top phone application that pops up when searching for Sharpie is Drunk Sharpie:

This application has some positive and some negative aspects. It puts the Sharpie name on the app market, but promotes an irresponsible behavior.

In order for Sharpie to be more affective in their social media marketing, they should target a high-school through college student audience. This audience has proven to be outspoken in social media about Sharpie, and uses them often for artwork and signs. To reach this audience, Sharpie could create a phone application that allows people to draw with different thicknesses and colors of Sharpie. Sharpie could also create a game like “Draw Something” where users have the opportunity to compete in a “Pictionary” type of game. This would make Sharpie more prevalent in consumers’ lives strengthening their image with current customers, and bringing them closer to potential customers.

Wrapping up Groundswell

Chapter 11 of the book Groundswell discusses the idea that tapping the groundswell within a company can be just as beneficial as tapping the groundswell with customers. As the people who know you company from the inside, the employees are vital to maintaining a positive overall brand image, and can also contribute new and interesting ideas.

One example of this that I have seen is in the pizza company Dominos. One of their recent commercials discusses how their new product, parmesan bread bites, was created by a manager at a local store:

What I find interesting about this example is that this company is utilizing their inner groundswell, but is also advertizing the fact that they're using it. I believe this commercial is a message to consumers about the type of company that Domino's is as much as it is about their new product. I also understand this commercial as a message to Domino's employees about their value to the company.

Also in chapter 11, the company Avenue A/Razorfish and the CEO, Clark Kokich is discussed. The piece I found particularly interesting is a quote from Clark discussing how their online community has contributed to his job as CEO: "It's the virtual equivalent to management by walking around" (222). While I believe that new communication technologies allow us new ways to be connected, I don't believe they are all positive. In this example, Clark was able to stay more connected with more employees, but at the same time, if this connection comes in place of personal face-to-face connections, he may begin to seem more removed from the employees at his company.


To wrap up, Groundswell discusses how the groundswell has become, and continues to grow as, one of the most important things for a company to maintain a positive relationship with their customers and employees. In today's world, it has become almost expected that a company have a website, and even further, that it uses the internet and other communications technologies to interact with customers. Companies that are doing this well are clearly experiencing the benefits.

Kraaazy Glue

One brand that is using social media interestingly is Krazy Glue. This is a glue company that produces a type of "superglue" that is incredibly strong.






Krazy Glue released the following commercial in 2010. What's unique about this commercial is that it follows a trend of high adrenaline stunts in advertising, and it also urges people to go to their Facebook page to see if it is real or not:

I think that this commercial is effective at drawing people in to the product and the brand. I not only vividly remembered this commercial after airing it, but I remembered what brand it was for, what they produce, and also how strong their glue actually is.

Also interestingly, this company asks that you "Like" it's Facebook page before you get to see the behind-the-scenes footage.

Check out their page to see for yourself!

Write Out Loud

A company that is very prevalent in social media, especially for avid fans and users like myself, is Sharpie. Sharpie has a very strong social media presence, evidence that it is making good use of the groundswell and communicating with its customers well.

The screenshot above is from a samepoint search about Sharpie. As you can see, they have a decent social media presence given that they're a marker company. With 5,020 social mentions, it is clear to see that Sharpie is a point of discussion in social media.



One way that Sharpie communicates with its customers is through their blog. They post various types of media including articles, pictures and videos to share some creative ways that people are using sharpies. Check out their blog by clicking on the Sharpie logo!







Another way that I've been introduced to a lot of social media about Sharpie is StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon is a tool that allows users to stumble through websites based on their interests. When I've stumbled, I come across a lot of websites about Sharpie artists and Sharpie art. One of my favorite articles was about a man named Says Kratzer who decorated his entire basement with Sharpies! Click on this photo of his basement to read the full article.

Sharpie is also very prevalent on YouTube. Similar to their blog, the YouTube videos about Sharpie are mostly creative ways that people are using the markers. Sharpie has such a strong fan base who are posting videos like this one and inspiring people to figure out cool new ways to use Sharpie markers.








Finally, I recently found Sharpie on TED.com, a website that is "devoted to ideas worth spreading." I think it's pretty cool that Sharpie was featured in a TED video when they won the "ads worth spreading" contest.

What I love about this ad is that it is consistent with Sharpie's other messages. They are all about motivating people to be creative with their markers. Sharpie's videos and advertisements featured in social media are a powerful tool that they are using to motivate the groundswell to use their product.

Keeping the Customer at Heart

    Energizing a customer base is an effective way to increase word-of-mouth marketing. As Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff write in Groundswell on page 131, “people believe other people more than media.” This understanding has begun to transform the way that organizations relate to their customers. This newly redefined relationship has been made possible through organizations new ability to dynamically communicate with their customers.

    Organizations do, however, need to be cautious about how they do this. Without the proper intent, they will be transparent to consumers. While new relationships between customer and organization are allowing organizations to be more responsive, and customers to be more active participants, it also allows organizations to strategically use this new trend in their marketing.

This advertisement is an example of how this school, ITT Tech, utilizes their relationship with their customers to advertise to other customers. They have, for a while, had commercials of real students talking about how ITT Tech changed their lives. These commercials ride a fine line, and may be construed as insincere. Ultimately, what I believe is important is that organizations begin to keep the customers’ best interests as the most essential asset.

As we discussed in Social Media Marketing and Communication class last week, one way to measure the success of advertisements is to see if they are generating discussion in the online community. These commercials have earned a lot of attention and, for better or worse, there are many parodies of them right next to the actual commercials on YouTube.

                       As discussed in chapter 10 of Groundswell, there has been an interesting shift in organizational ideology because of their new ability to relate with their customers. A value that seems like the easiest thing for an organization to maintain, may have been lost in recent years by the way that marketing and customer support divides organizations from their customers. The new ability for organizations and their consumers to have engaged back-and-forths about products and services allows organizations to more easily keep customers at the center, as their main focus.

      Many companies have begun to use Twitter for these conversations. Sharpie is one such company. This screen shot shows how the processes of tagging and retweeting on Twitter allow Sharpie to engage with their customers:

This is only one of many examples of how Sharpie engages with customers. Other ways include tweeting questions and hashtags that relate to Sharpies or Sharpie artists. This type of honest engagement allows companies to improve based on their customers specific needs and desires.

GoPro

One company that is using social media, particularly Youtube as a huge part of their marketing is the GoPro camera company. GoPro cameras are being used by a wide range of people from extreme athletes to people who put them on their dogs. Their cameras can be worn and are shock and water proof. From trained athletes to amateur videographers, GoPro cameras are offering a unique perspective.



What is so effective about the way that GoPro is represented on youtube is that videos are a mixture of videos that are uploaded by the company itself, and videos uploaded by customers. The groundswell is working in this company because both users and the company are contributing content through the same social media outlet. One cool example of a video by GoPro is the following:





This video is exciting to watch because GoPro cameras put viewers in the shoes (or skiis) of the athletes.















In addition to being used by professional athletes, GoPro cameras have emerged in various experiments on Youtube. One type of experiment has resulted in videos like this one:








Videos like these have created a strong brand image for GoPro. They are coupling user and GoPro sponsored videos with the actual sponsoring of professional extreme athletes. At this years Winter X Games, GoPro sponsored athletes like Shaun White. Of course, some results of this partnership have emerged on Youtube as well:

A combination of social media marketing, and a strong response by average users have led GoPro to be a recognizeable, well represented brand.

Introduction to "Groundswell"

    The book “Groundswell” by Charliene Li and Josh Bernoff discusses the ways that new technologies have changed the way that people communicate and interact on a daily basis.

 

(Click image for more information)

Particularly, it discusses the ways that businesses are interacting with their customers. Customers, through these new mediums, have gained a lot of power to affect popular opinion, and as a result, the companies themselves.

    On page 13, the authors write “The groundswell has changed the balance of power.” They continue this point on page 17 when they write, “After all, businesses and other institutions are built on control, and the groundswell weakens and undermines control.” Since web forums, social networking sites, and all of the other ways people are interacting through the internet are unregulated, people are speaking freely about their opinions of and experiences with companies. These discussions have always been a powerful influence, but they’ve never had the reach that the internet now gives to word of mouth. The authors even used the tools that they discuss in the creation of this book. They write: “This book was researched and written on a wiki; the coauthors, editor, and others all contributed content and links to a shared repository that any of us could reference or edit” (p. 26).

    Since the tools the internet provides are still so new and continue to evolve, businesses have to constantly adapt in order to effectively reach and interact with their customers. On page 29 the authors write, “Those who classify and organize the online world will determine how we see the world.” This is important with content as well as with one tool called “tagging.” Users can tag comments, posts and videos so that they can be easily found by people searching information. These tags are of vital importance because they often times are indicators of the position of the customer. A tag could have negative or positive connotations, both of which are important for a company to understand.

    On page 36, the authors write “Technologies that mostly benefit companies don’t tend to catch on. Those that benefit people do.” As companies continue to evolve ways to interact with their customers online, their attempts to advertise are more transparent for viewers. In my own experiences on the internet, I have often been skeptical when I see information that seems like advertising. I prefer to find information about products through reviews of people that I believe to be sincere. Companies have certainly caught on to this as well, however, because now people are paid to post positive reviews. The authors expand on this idea when they write on page 78, “Your brand is whatever your customers say it is. And in the groundswell where they communicate with each other, they decide.”

    Although customers can be mislead by these conversations, businesses can as well. On page 81 the authors write “Don’t assume the people you hear from are representative.” This is very important for companies to consider because not all of their customers will be compelled to discuss their experiences online. Those that do share a certain type of outspokenness that excludes at least a part of a companies customer base. The people who are engaged, however, do hold a lot of power. They not only affect opinion of companies, but they can help companies understand their audience. This is discussed on page 97: “Listening to the groundswell will relentlessly reveal your stupidity.” The relationship between companies and their customers is more dynamic than ever before. Figuring out how to use this shift in power to benefit all parties involved is an ongoing process. This process is ever changing because the way that people are using the internet is constantly evolving.

The Evolution of Social Media Technology

One aspect of social media that is fascinating is the many different ways that people access the social media outlets. Social media tools such as Facebook can be accessed from computers, cell phones, and more recently tablets. The way that people access social media is directly related to how it is used. As new points of access emerge for social media tools, the way they are used is evolving to suit. For example, once Facebook was available in app form on cell phones, people started to use it more frequently with things like mobile uploads and "checking in."

Tablets are the platform for the newest evolution of social media applications. While tablets are an odd tool that fall somewhere in between laptop computers and cell phones, they are evidence that we are seeking tools that can serve many functions (like a computer) while maintaining portability (like a cell phone). Further evidence of this desire, the link below demonstrates one example of a tool that may move us a step closer in this direction in the near future:

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/the-internet-as-an-extension-of-self-2009026/

One of the developments I find most interesting that comes along with the ways that we interact with social media and new technologies is the way that younger generations use and understand them. This NY Times article speaks to this point:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/weekinreview/10stone.html

This is something that I've experienced in my own life with my youngest sister. I've watched her grow up in a way that she is very dependent on the technologies that she uses every day. It seems to me that instead of learning information, she instead is learning how to access information. GPSs are a perfect example of this because instead of learning how to get somewhere, we learn how to depend on technology to get us where we need to go. Similarly, instead of learning history in a more traditional way my sister is learning how to use the technology around her to access the information she needs. While I believe this is a good development, and that ultimately my sister is benefiting from having a wealth of knowledge so easily available to her, it is still unsettling because of the way that she is rarely without a phone tablet or computer within reach.

Some social media tools are even marketing themselves with the ways they can be used in interacting with younger generations. Here is an example from Google: