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We’re community hopping today! Share a link to your community below and introduce new members to your world.

The idea is simple and so easy:

1. Choose one discussion from your BlogFrog community that you think is interesting and link it up below.
2. Hop around to the other BlogFrog communities you see linked up.
3. Take a moment to respond to their discussions and/or post a discussion in the communities you visit.

This is a great way to introduce new members to your community as well as infuse your community with an extra punch of energy for the day.

Everybody wins!

So what are you waiting for? Add your BlogFrog community URL to the linky below and let’s get hopping:

This past weekend, Jodi Dey and I attended the Mom 2.0 Summit in Key Biscayne, Florida. The experience was eye-opening and inspiring, with top-notch speakers such as Brené Brown, Pilar Guzman, Catherine Connors, Jenny Lawson, Liz Lange—the list goes on and on. We were able to meet some of our amazing blog partners face-to-face, and engage in open conversation with marketers and influencers about the transition from “old” to “new” media. Oh, and we got to go to the Versace mansion, which was crazy:

 Now that we’ve returned to Boulder and processed this whirlwind weekend, two words stick out as definitive indicators of the direction media is heading: storytelling and authenticity.

Storytelling, by Anne

It didn’t take long for Mom 2.0 to blow me away. The opening panel included conference organizer Laura Mayes, breathtakingly intelligent Brené Brown, and the woman behind Dove’s Real Women campaign, Jess Weiner. I was thrilled to be in the room with these three women, and they did not disappoint. As they spoke, I was “that girl” tweeting every sentence and kernel of wisdom to the world. And by “world,” I mean all 20 of my Twitter followers. Still, I was furiously tweeting when Jess Weiner described bloggers as “storytellers for social change.” I tweeted the phrase, prepared for the next profound thought, then stopped. The phrase sank in, and I realized “storyteller for social change” is the perfect way to define the collective power and possibility of the amazing women sitting around me. That phrase became the lens through which I experienced Mom 2.0, and ultimately, one of the most inspiring takeaways from the three days I spent immersed in the supportive, creative and passionate company of storytellers.

Stories are how we explain our belief systems and the morals we hold dear. They connect us to one another and help us comprehend loss, judgment, fear, joy and hope. The storytellers have their thumb on the pulse of society. They bring us human truths through tales. And that is exactly what the amazing women who attended Mom 2.0 Summit do. They capture our world and hearts with their words, and what’s even more powerful, through their personal stories.

What became apparent at Mom 2.0 is that the authenticity of these stories needs to be protected, and that influencers need to be heard, not just leveraged by brands or marketers.

Authenticity, by Jodi

As a consumer, we all understand that inauthenticity is repulsive, disconnecting, relationship destroying– it is in online content as it is in human relationships. We seem to be universally wired to identify sources of untruth and cast them aside, disgusted.

And yet so often brands and marketers pretend that the creation of non-genuine sponsored content is immune to the provocation of distrust (and in so doing ignore their own personal attraction to truth and transparency). This trend should come as no surprise, as it too is founded in a basic human condition—the condition of fear. Understandably, brands and marketers fear social and legal retaliation and the personal and professional repercussions of content-gone-wrong. As a result, layers of reviews, edits, filters and formal you’re-on-the-hook approval processes are now the norm– all of which, cannot help but to squeeze the creativity and authenticity out of published content.

The speakers and influencers of the Mom 2.0 Summit argue that online forums, more than offline mediums, are known and cherished for genuine content. Likewise, online content creators and influencers have developed a beloved (genuine) tenor that is attractive to their audience (the very same audience that brands are trying, often unsuccessfully, to reach and influence).

The takeaway for brands and marketers from Mom 2.0 is this: favor authenticity and let bloggers speak on your behalf, unfiltered—their organically generated online popularity has proven that they know how to reach and persuade readers in a way you do not and cannot.  Trust them.

We’re still reeling from everything we learned at Mom 2.0, but all is not said and done. Our challenge is to take these lessons to heart, and to help evolve media with respect to authenticity and the women telling their stories each and every day. Now that you’ve heard our thoughts, what were your takeaways from Mom 2.0? If you weren’t able to attend, how have you experienced storytelling and authenticity in content creation on your blog or blogs you read?

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Welcome to another fun week at the BlogFrog Hop! We want to see what’s been happening in your community this week. Please share a favorite conversation you saw happening this week and hop around to meet other fun communities!

The idea is simple and so easy:

1. Choose one discussion from your BlogFrog community that you think is interesting and link it up below.
2. Hop around to the other BlogFrog communities you see linked up.
3. Take a moment to respond to their discussions and/or post a discussion in the communities you visit.

This is a great way to introduce new members to your community as well as infuse your community with an extra punch of energy for the day.

Everybody wins!

So what are you waiting for? Add your BlogFrog community URL to the linky below and let’s get hopping:

I love old people. Always have. When I was in high school, I was required to do Community Service, and I opted to volunteer at a Retirement Home. I loved it. Old people are just people with usually a lot more knowledge, wit and perspective. In my humble opinion they are the best of humanity. Apparently Google agrees. Last week I had the honor of watching Google’s movie Project Re:Brief. You can see the trailer here:

It was an incredibly inspirational and well-produced documentary about bringing the halcyon days of advertising to 2012. I walked away inspired to do something creative and to get back to the heart of a great story. But I am getting ahead of myself, let me back up.

The movie follows 5 veteran advertising creatives – copywriters and art directors currently in their 70’s and 80’s who created some of the most iconic advertising 40+ years ago, much of which is still recognizable and/or used today. The campaigns included:

Coca Colas “Hilltop” – “I’d like to buy the world a coke…”
Avis Rental Car “We try harder.”
Alka Seltzer “I can’t believe I at the whole thing”
Volvo “Drive It Like You Hate It”

Google found the talent behind these iconic campaigns and paired them with the creative talent of today to answer this question – “Can America’s most iconic advertising campaigns be re-imagined for the web?”

Original "We try harder" ad, 1962

I’ll cut to the chase – the short answer is yes. The original ideas behind the campaigns are solid, creative, and rooted in simple human truths that transcend any sort of medium. The longer answer is – yes, if you have the time, money and resources of Google. Yes, if you are Google in 2012 and your stock price is $614.98, anything is possible.

I finished the movie inspired. And then 2 minutes later I was annoyed. I was annoyed because as a former Account Director at an Ad Agency I know two things: 1. Convincing a client that this effort is a compelling business strategy is an extremely difficult job and 2. Who’s paying for it?

Google created this project, Google paid for this project, and I have no doubt that it is running them tens of millions of dollars when you consider all the talent, travel and high-value production behind these four projects. And for what? To prove that banner advertising is not dying, it just needs to be injected with the best ideas in advertising?

Volvo Print Ad, 1962

So once I came off my inspirational high of seeing the old and young creative minds literally giving the world a coke through rigged vending machines all around the world; and following the journey of the loveable and faithful Volvo owner who has 3,000,000 miles on his Volvo, and seeing the life of “Ralph” the Alka Seltzer man come to life in a sitcom spoof, it became very clear, a great story isn’t going to save or regenerate digital banner advertising, because in 2012 digital advertising is social advertising. I daresay the banner ad is in its final act. And Google really doesn’t want to hear that.

At one point, Paula Green, the copywriter who wrote the Avis line, “We try harder,” said (and I’m paraphrasing because I don’t have access to the full movie), “Brands are created by people. They are created by the copywriters and art directors at ad agencies. They decide what a brand is going to look like, feel like; how it will appear to the public.” And she was right. But not anymore. The wall is down. The lines are blurred. A brand is a two-way street, and the consumer is shaping it just as much as any copywriter or art director. Today, a brand is formed with its interactions with the consumer when they are using the product, and the interactions of their friends and family when using that product (i.e., social), and much less than by a video ad or print campaign. Let’s look at three examples:

1. Zappos
2. Starbucks
3. Google

Yes, all three of theses brands run some traditional advertising. But their brands were not built by advertising. They have built their brands through customer experience and deep levels of social media engagement. The Zappos brand was (and is) built during its interaction with its customers, and with the efficiency of its online store. And then, by those happy customers sharing their amazing customer service experience with everyone they know. Starbuck’s primary advertising is its in-store experience and its cups. They re-design their cups with the seasons, and all their stores offer the same experience. And I believe their loyalty program is working with 29,867,118 Facebook fans. Google’s brand has been solidified by the search experience (their product) and press about their culture. Google’s TV ad didn’t create my brand perception – my thousands of successful searches did that.

So let’s circle back to Project RE:Brief. Can the ideas that resonated 40 years ago, resonate today? Absolutely. We all still eat too much, can’t believe it, and need an Alka Seltzer. There isn’t a red blooded male American alive who doesn’t want to drive his car like he hates it. Avis still uses the “We Try Harder” tagline! But my advice to Volvo, Alka Seltzer, Avis and Coke – make your product stellar, surprise and delight your customers, and create dialogue with your audience that is compelling– be more social all-around. Avis – make your rental car areas show that you TRY HARDER – play area for kids? Couches? Bottled water? Alka Seltzer, start a Facebook page or Instagram campaign (call Foodspotting!) where people share the food where they “ate the whole thing.” Volvo – let people test drive a car and drive it like they hate it on Volvo branded obstacle courses. And put the video of their drive on a branded You Tube page; make it a competition. These truths were right 40+ years ago, and they are right today. A human insight will always transcend time and always be compelling. And that is why it is inspirational! But they need to become social both in-person & online, not upgraded banner ads with bells and whistles far out of the reach of most companies marketing budgets.

I appreciate Google’s tenacity to show that digital advertising could be more. They do have the money and the means to be the thought leader, and push us all to think bigger. But it was fairly obvious to me by the end of the movie that not all the Clients “bought” it, there was not a huge ROI at the end of the story, and the money it would take to get people to really participate – well only Google has that.

If you do get a chance to view the movie, I do recommend it. I love that the wisdom of the old is the true hero in this story. It really is an inspirational movie pushing us all to create and tell the best story, no matter our age. Kudos to Google for showing us that brilliance, no matter the era, is always in vogue.

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Welcome back to another week of community building! The BlogFrog Community Hop is designed to connect communities and support one another by contributing to each others discussions.

The idea is simple and so easy:

1. Choose one discussion from your BlogFrog community that you think is interesting and link it up below.
2. Hop around to the other BlogFrog communities you see linked up.
3. Take a moment to respond to their discussions and/or post a discussion in the communities you visit.

This is a great way to introduce new members to your community as well as infuse your community with an extra punch of energy for the day.

Everybody wins!

So what are you waiting for? Add your BlogFrog community URL to the linky below and let’s get hopping:

Giveaways, sweepstakes and contests can be a great way to increase traffic and engagement on your blog…and they can be a lot of fun! We’ve run our fair share of sweeps at BlogFrog, and with each new program, we make sure our bloggers are protected and the contest rules reflect the latest in social media guidelines (with the help of a rock star legal team). And since we’re firm believers in opening up the conversation, we passed along some of our biggest takeaways and asked influencers to share what they’ve learned about running their own contests.

With that in mind, here are 10 tips for running sweepstakes and giveaways, brought to you by Nicole, Lyz, Arizona Moms Network, Sara, Yolanda, Iris, Justin, Kristin, Shari, Jennifer, DM and BlogFrog:

10 Tips for Running a Giveaway or Sweepstakes:

1. Whenever using a social platform (Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, BlogFrog) in a sweepstakes or contest, it’s important to reference and link to the agreement of those terms in your rules.
2. It’s important to list who can enter the giveaway. Sometimes sponsors will only ship the prizes to USA addresses, so make sure to let entrants know if the giveaway is open to the USA, Canada, Worldwide, etc.
3. Work out fulfillment ahead of time. Are you shipping prizes? Is the brand? If it’s the brand, do you need the brand to sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect the personal information from your winners?
4. Have a reason for running a contest. In the long-term, how is the contest going to make your blog sticky, or give me more exposure? Answering that question will help you define your goals, streamline your contest and avoid unnecessary entry guidelines that will confuse and frustrate your readers. For example, if you want to grow your Twitter presence, make Twitter the focus of your contest.
5. If you’re giving away prizes during a Twitter party, state the approximate retail value of each prize when you mention it. For example: “Join in for your chance to win a Prize Pack~$50 value #giveaway”.
6. If you’re awarding Twitter party prizes for answering specific questions, you must tell the participants how long they have to answer. You only have to tweet it once during the Twitter party. For example: “You will have 5 minutes after each question to provide an answer to be eligible to win prizes. #giveaway”
7. Per the Facebook Promotional Guidelines, you cannot condition entry upon the person using Facebook features other than liking a page, checking in to a place or connecting to your app. Using the share functionality is not permitted by Facebook.
8. Leverage a Facebook event and invite everyone who can participate. This can drive a big boost to your contests. You can also give extra entries to participants who share, host or promote your contest, but again, make sure this is allowed via that platforms promotional guidelines. For example, a Facebook share is NOT a valid first entry, but a Facebook share IS a valid EXTRA entry as long as the it is one option of many (for example, must also include Twitter and Pinterest shares as extra entries).
9. Still not sure? Check out companies that make it their job to run legal, successful giveaways. Right now, influencers are raving about Rafflecopter, which takes the guessing out of giveaways.
10. Last but not least, plan ahead and do your research! Hopefully, these tidbits help. But if you still have questions and don’t have access to a lawyer who specializes in online giveaways and contests (yes, these social media angels DO exist!), then make sure to do your homework! Avoid unnecessary fire hazards ahead of time—it’ll save you A LOT of headaches in the long run.

We hope this smorgasbord of tips provides you with some insight into the world of giveaways! If you come up with more, share them with your communities and on BlogFrog. Thanks to all of our smart and brilliant contributors (Nicole, Lyz, Arizona Moms Network, Sara, Yolanda, Iris, Justin, Kristin, Shari, Jennifer, DM), and we look forward to keeping this conversation going!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Ad Age Digital Conference in NYC. It was a firehose of information and I was genuinely impressed by many of the presentations from top brand marketers. Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar kicked off the conference with an inspiring look at Disney’s (now part owner in Hulu) innovative history, Hulu’s start-up roots and Hulu’s vision to “Relentlessly improve TV.”

Jason Kilar, Hulu CEO talking about Disney's history of innovation

GAP’s Global CMO, Seth Farbman also gave us a history lesson going back down memory lane to GAP’s founders Don & Dorris Fisher, even creating the hashtag #WWDDD (What would Don and Dorris do?). Although, it was embarrassingly co-opted by Mad Men maniacs who used the hashtag for “What would Don Draper do?” But that’s besides the point, the point is this– everyone is looking to the past and to the future to figure out digital. Brands are looking at their roots, their values and digging deep to their foundation in order to use the tools of digital to build their brand. Seth Farbman went so far as to show a photo from Woodstock in 1969 and an almost identical photo from Coachella two weeks ago — one used Kodak, the other Instagram — but the values, the shared interests, the community, those remain the same, even if the tools do not.

Woodstock via Kodak, 1969

Coachella via Instagram, 2012

This same sentiment was echoed again by Randall Brown, the Global Director of Digital Strategy at Gatorade when he said, “Social media is a ‘where’ not a ‘what.’ It’s simply a new place for the same human needs, wants and behaviors.” Humans have not changed. Just the tools we use have. So marketers are being asked to go back to their roots, look at their audiences needs,wants and behaviors. Look at their audience’s values. And use the tools of this age to connect.

And that is where the future comes in. It was very clear from the conference that agencies must start investing in innovation and experimentation to thrive. The best marketers in the world are openly and actively looking to the start-up world to help them reach their audience. Anheuser-Busch sponsored a Brand Hack at the conference where 6 Start-ups pitched them ideas for Budweiser and a chance to win $25,000 to make the partnership happen. You can see the winner here.

Anheuser-Busch Inbev executives listening to start-ups pitch them for a $25,000 prize.

Honestly, BlogFrog’s technology and content curation could’ve blown them all out of the water, and I openly said this to Winston Wang the Global Director of Strategic Innovation for Anheuser-Busch Inbev. Seeing the Global Directors of Strategic Innovation from Marketing and Technology of a 9 billion dollar brand actively seeking start-up technology and smarts, was more than refreshing, it was thrilling! It was thrilling to confirm on all levels, BlogFrog is at the right place, the right time with the right technology. Major brands are actively building communities, conversation and using start-ups to do so!

Later this week I’ll write why I believe Google is headed in the wrong direction with their Project Re:Brief.