Here’s a link to article about social networking in The Record by Joan Verdon. The article is also referenced below…

When North Jersey’s largest shopping mall, Westfield Garden State Plaza, was looking for a new way to connect with consumers, it turned to two marketing tools becoming increasingly popular with retailers — a Facebook fan site and a Twitter account.

For the past 10 days, the Paramus shopping center’s representatives have been posting news about sales and deals on the Facebook page, and sending out instant messages via Twitter.com about celebrity sightings and restaurant specials. Mall enthusiasts have been signing up as Facebook fans at the rate of about 100 per day. As of Monday at 10 a.m., the site had 1,067 fans.

“Social media is shifting the way we communicate with our customers,” said Lisa Herrmann, the mall’s marketing director. The Facebook site and Twitter account “allow us to send out information that is significant to our shoppers with real-time updates in a fun and engaging way,” she said. The mall plans to expand its offerings with fashion tips and shopping suggestions from style experts, and video clips of celebrity appearances at the mall.

The use of Facebook pages and fan sites has surged among retailers over the past year. A study released by Hamilton-based interactive marketing agency Rosetta in January found that 59 percent of the top 100 retailers had Facebook fan pages, and that the number of such sites doubled during the second half of 2008.

National department store chain Macy’s debuted a fan site in late June and already has more than 11,000 fans.

The return on investment for retail social networking sites has yet to be quantified, but the investment needed is minimal, although some sites have spent money for features such as interactive contests. Computer company Dell Inc. last month boosted the business credibility of social networks by announcing that it had made more than $3 million in sales through links to one of its Twitter accounts.

Marketing executives caution that malls and other retailers should have a clearly defined marketing strategy in mind before they jump on the Facebook and Twitter bandwagons.

“We haven’t surveyed retailers to see if they’re getting the ROI [return on investment],” said Adam Cohen, head of the social media practice for Rosetta. “But frankly, to set up a Twitter account and a Facebook page is not that expensive.”

The value of such networking lies in allowing retailers “to connect with their consumers in a different way,” Cohen said. The sites let companies build relationships and a sense of community with their customers, he said.

Retailers, Cohen said, need to dedicate time and effort to truly interact with online fans. “Otherwise, I think a lot of companies are going to be disappointed. Or they’re going to be measuring the buzz by how often someone comments on their page. They’re going to have a hard time being able to really attribute that to any quantifiable increase in sales,” he said.

“It’s very powerful if you do it right,” said Abe Kasbo, chief executive officer of Verasoni, a Little Falls marketing firm that has seen its social networking projects increase tenfold over the past year. “You can stay in constant touch literally on a daily basis with your clients and customers,” he said. “But the big caveat is you have to have a strategy and you have to do it right.”

The biggest mistake, Kasbo said, is launching a site and not maintaining it with frequent postings and relevant information. “It has to be relevant to the customer or they’re not going to hang out with you” online, Kasbo said.

Another potential pitfall with Facebook fan pages is any fan is free to post comments about the retailer’s news alerts, and those comments may be negative. The Plaza site has generated very little discussion thus far, and all of that has been positive. But some retailers have seen their sites hijacked by disgruntled shoppers or even their own employees.

On most sites, however, the Facebook fans live up to their name. The Target site, for example, gets daily postings by people proclaiming their love for the Minnesota-based retailer.

Westfield Garden State Plaza got a running start on building the fan base by launching it the week “Harry Potter” movie star Tom Felton (”Draco Malfoy”) appeared at the mall. His appearance drew 2,000 fans of the film series, and the mall used the event to promote its Facebook site.

The no-Sunday-shopping blue laws of Paramus and Bergen County don’t apply to shopping tweets and Facebook updates. Herrmann said the Plaza’s Facebook and Twitter followers can expect to get news alerts even on Sundays. This past Sunday, Plaza fans online at 6:21 a.m. could learn that the Tourneau store at the mall was offering a free pair of TAG Heuer sunglasses with any purchase of a TAG Heuer watch.

E-mail: verdon@northjersey.com

I was on fakeation (that’s a working vacation for the uninitiated), when my eyes turned to the television to catch Ford’s new advertising campaign.  The new ads feature Ford’s new tagline, “Drive the Ford Difference.”  But that’s not all, “Different is good,” they say.  Now with all the hurdles that Ford has to overcome, Ford is selling us “Driving the Ford Difference.”  I don’t know what that means, but I’m a good sport, I’ll play.  OK Ford, what is driving Ford difference?  If you can explain it beyond a tagline, I might be interested.  How does the Ford difference engage the customer? Was anyone at Ford’s advertising/MarCom department asking this question?

Once again we’re subjected to mass communications lip service, the same came from General Motors‘ recent “inspiring” video.  In this video, accompanied by iconic images of American flags, city scapes, Pittsburgh Steelers Ben Roethlisberger’s Superbowl pass, GM seeks to “to be completely honest…start over in order to get stronger.” And another thing, GM wants us to know that they are “not going out of business,” but instead “is getting down to business…”

Once again, Madison Avenue and those buying Madison Avenue to continue to fail both the Auto Industry and the American Public.  Here’s how it probably went down (with the GM video):

Madison Avenue:  (this guy is wearing a pink open collar shirt with hair a little messed up, cause he’s creative…speaks real fast) Look, we need to appeal to the American public, so we’ll need a video of the Superbowl, Detroit skyline, and a bunch of robots building cars, sparks everywhere.  Strong, deep voice, authoritative.  We’ll use technology like Youtube, and it’ll be viral…and it’ll show the government and our investors we’re serious about this. What do you think?

GM Marketing Guy:  We’ve gotta do something fast, yeah, sounds good…

GM Marketing Guy’s Staff: (this is probably what they were thinking, but they didn’t say anything, because if they did they wouldn’t be team players)  Dude, what about the actual product, our finances, and actually selling cars? How do we do that, Madison Avenue?

I would be wary with businesses who lead with communications instead of good products.  Rebuilding brands, if that indeed is your direction, starts with rebuilding your products and business, not a one hit wonder PR video release. In Amazon’s most recent shareholder meeting, CEO Jeff Bezos said: “Advertising is the price you pay for having an unremarkable product or service.” Now, some may consider this media fodder, and Madison Avenue may have been offended by the statement, but as it applies to the American Automotive industry…if the shoe fits.  And now, the American Auto industry seems to be taking it’s own advertising to an unremarkable, new low.

Here some suggestions to ponder:

1. With all the technologies and brainpower resources available to both the automotive industry and their advertising firms, Ford and GM ought to invest business driven MarCom initiatives that engage people and drive people to their hard working dealerships.

2. Redefine the objectives of these campaigns to create more connections with the consumer.

3.  Develop a serious strategy to convert non-customers (meaning non-GM or Ford customers).  This would an on and offline strategy, and may or may not be advertising driven.

4. Continue to reach newly minted drivers. Get them young, satisfy them, and perhaps they become your brand champs.

5. Capitalize on the dealer’s strong local relationships by spending local dollars more effectively - perhaps helping local dealers upgrade dealer TV commercials produced by cable companies, that undermine both the national brand and the dealer’s brand. Or assisting the dealer by vetting marketing plans & not advertising plans to help drive business.

One last thing…I’d like to suggest that the American Auto Industry needs a chief marketing officer who is more connected to the products and consumer than Madison Avenue.  This person, let’s use the vernacular of the day to call him or her, the Auto Marketing Czar, would be responsible for the deployment of business driven MarCom initiatves to communicate the real value of American cars to the public, and perhaps that will make all “the difference.”

The American Auto Industry has the responsibility to its dealers, customers, and investors to step up their marketing strategy to truely reflect its business aspirations, and it has the resources to do it.

Come on Detroit, step up…take the challenge…we want you to succeed.

I am pleased to bring you an interview with Laura Occhipinti, entrepreneur and CEO of New Jersey Young Professionals. With over 800 members and growing, New Jersey Young Professionals takes social networking to a different level, allowing members to meet and connect both on and offline…

AK: So Laura, tell me about New Jersey Young Professionals?

LO: I tell people that NJYP is a social networking group but in real words it is for helping people to make friends.  I basically bring people together, stir them up, and in the end friendships are formed.  It would be impossible to tell you how many friendships were made over the last 5 years but I am sure the number is in the thousands.

AK: How did you get the idea for the business?
LO: I was 27 and living in Bergen County, where I grew up.  Then I got a new job and moved to Somerset County where I knew no one.  I wanted to have friends right there, where I was living so I search online for something to join and nothing came up so I started a group on Yahoo to make friends, and it worked.

AK:  From what I gather, you’re in the social networking sense in the true of the term. Tell a bit about how you build a network like yours.
LO: No one has ever asked me this.  Basically I go to many events and can easily meet 100 people a week.  People then connect to me/and vice versa via email, facebook, twitter, linkedin, and even via the NJYP.org website.  I have a great memory so I bring people together who should know each other.  Being self-employed you also attract others who are self-employed and those who want to “pick your brain.”

AK: Aside from your website, what online properties or websites have your used to grow or promote your business?

LO:  I do not think I’d be where I am today with out craigslist.  It is where I first listed my group and where I continue to post events.  I used Facebook a lot as well as LinkedIn and I just started to use Twitter.  Other than that I post events anywhere I can for free.  It’s easy to get stuff out there for free.

AK: What the main keys to the success and growth of your network?
LO: Word of mouth!  If you provide a good, quality service people will natrually tell others.  Young Professionals hang, almost exclusively, with other young professionals.  They’ll email each other about NJYP, share an event via a link, share via Facebook. It’s great!

AK:  What are the lessons that you have learned about online social media?
LO:  It’s a lot of work to keep up with everything!  The key is to be current and that means daily maintenance, sometimes hourly updating!  One day I’d love to hire a 20 year old intern to take care of all the online social media that drives traffic to NJYP.org.  They’d be so much better than me at it and they’d probably have fun too.

AK: What is your personal definition of social networking?
LO: Groups of strangers coming together at a set time/place for no other reason than to meet “strangers” and in most cases food and alcohol should be present:)