While reviewing last year’s videos, we realised that we needed to challenge the industry assumptions further (your industry and ours). That’s if we want to trigger more radical changes through our video responses (yes, we want to).

You’ll have to wait a little bit to see what plan we come up with for you. Start by leaving a comment below with your company details. In the meantime, we can already tell you that we’ll be challenging the fact that our videos have to be made in an office environment and that the summer “twist” needs to happen in summer.

For that reason, we’re going away to Tenerife in two weeks to shoot these videos and we’ll deliver them in April during spring

Here’s how it works (submissions are now open until Monday, March 14th)

• Step 1: Leave a comment below with your name, company, website and social media presence (if any).
• Step 2: We will select THREE companies
• Step 3: The Channelship team will brainstorm some cool, actionable ideas to make your business different and remarkable online.
• Step 4: We will deliver a specific video-answer for each one of the companies selected.

After the lucky ones get their videos, it would be great to see their companies take action. Fair enough?

Go on, leave your comment below! (Submissions finish at 6PM (GMT) on Monday, March 14th)

Here are the 3 Winners & our specific video answers
(updated after the contest)

1. Social Media Tips for Saas Marketing
2. Social Media tips for the Gift Industry
3. Social Media for Beverage Companies

Enjoy the tips!

Here are some thoughts from a now “outsider” on how the industry could benefit from social media today.

Truckers love their trucks

Makers should allow them to share pics in a branded environment. See my friend Paul in action below. He’s sharing the pictures with his network of friends, but no doubt he would do it on a maker’s site if it was easy enough (e.g. iPhone/ Android App).
A good example of trucks and a strong community in social media is “Scania”. Type that word on Facebook search and find out how many official and unofficial pages were created. A lot of passion around it.

Imagine this Iveco pic properly shared in a branded environment!

Showing your pride

If brands encouraged people all over the world to share their preferences/ model’s they drive and their location via
FourSquare or similar, the brand could easily display an interactive map of the different models being driven all over the world.

Imagine the above video updates tied to a truck make & brand!

Studying remotely

All truck drivers & transport managers are required to pass a CPC examination which is really a bit of a torture. Back in the day, I spent 2 full weeks in a hotel learning a 400 page manual by heart. See, in order to prepare for these exams one needs to attend classes for a good few days prior to the exam (for drivers) and some months for managers. While I memorised a lot for the exams, I cannot say I remember half of all those specs. Trust me, an interactive & dynamic alternative would really suit.

There is  an opportunity for Transport Ministers to innovate through the delivery of some of the course material directly through a subscription based website hooked with a mobile application.

Transport companies would gladly pay if fees were appropriate &  drivers & managers could easily prepare at least part of the courses on the go and in their own time. If the studying platform allowed for student’s to share insights/ anecdotes, it would really become a source of learning & not mere memorizing.

For instance, customs officers differ in the way they deal with people and one driver’s experience could help another one in a similar situation.

Tracking loads/ parcels

I’m not to sure up to which extent, but if a driver updated it’s location (even privately) every now and then, a client could send a direct message to the company on Twitter, to know the whereabouts of a load (not necessarily exact for security purposes).

Very interesting suggestions by @derryo made after publishing (see Derry’s full comment in the comment boxes below for further insight): “Tweets or Facebook updates saying for instance ‘I’m at the AB bread store/XY guitar shop dropping off a batch of freshly baked bread/limited edition guitars if you’re in the area get down there fast” or uploading a photo of the premises for instance. If I was the bread or guitar shop I’d be happy to see that, and indeed the loading of said items beginning their journey could also be put in the public domain. I’d like any supplier to give me some extra publicity.

For a large haulage company/courier company head office could send a DM via Twitter saying ‘@RubberDuck is your driver today, follow his updates to track progress of your delivery’. RubberDuck (Yes, I was a big fan of Smokey and the Bandit) need only update his location and not reveal anything of his load, thereby not compromising the secrecy of his consignment.”

Blogging

Specially for Pan-European haulage, there’s a lot to a driver’s journey. Think about a journey through land and sea and you can picture adventures relating to paperwork, weather conditions, tough customs officers, and naturally waiting time. Many drivers are well known for their stories and they could easily blog on the company’s blog with their own view of a certain route. This would appeal to the transport community and fellow drivers looking for info, prospective employees looking to make a move, and why not those youngsters thinking about a career in the trade.

Insights from someone on the Road:

Drivers are in general talkative people who take every opportunity to build relationships, since the core of the job can sometimes be a little bit lonely. Twitter might be too real time for most of the drivers. Although running a quick search I found surprising examples of individuals like @TerenceSmelser who live and breath Twitter.

I think Facebook, together with “Facebook Places” and “FourSquare” can make the difference in the life of a driver.

Have a look at Paul’s encounter with some interesting “locals” below…

Here comes a quick interview with my former colleague Paul who is now a cool driver in Australia…

1. Would you mind updating your location often so other drivers or colleagues know where you are & would you make it public or restrict it to certain people?
   I would be ok with updating my location when I am staying in a place for a few days (eg waiting for a reload) so that other drivers or my friends know that I’m nearby and I wouldn’t say no to some company, and certainly wouldn’t say no to a few beers!
2. Do you feel safer now that people are more aware of your whereabouts & do you see any threat for burglars?
   Security is not a real issue for me, Australia is quite a safe country and there is very little risk of me being burgaled in the truck or the load being stolen. Howeven I think a bit of common sense would be useful, I would never update my location if I had a high-value load on my truck. I never add friends on Facebook that I have not met, so I personally know everyone on any social networking site which should mean they are no threat!
3. Are other truckers using Facebook or Twitter as much as you? If not, do you see it coming?
   Not many drivers use Facebook, as the average age of truck drivers is quite high, mostly people my own age use Facebook so I know a few younger drivers that use it. I guess it will grow as more and more people become familiar with computers and they become cheaper and easier to use with mobile internet more readily available.
4. Be honest on this one: In your free time, would you learn new stuff remotely (like preparing for an exam) if you had a cool App with the exam content/ courses on your phone?
   At the moment I’m not interested in remote learning as I really am too busy and any spare time is spent either sleeping, or eating/showering and chatting to other truck drivers. If i decide to further my training for sure it would be easy to have it available remotely.
5. How can a trucking company (drivers and/or management) use social media for their benefit?
   To be honest, i dont think interaction between management and employees on a social networking site is a very good idea, it is not really professional to have your bosses know (or be able to find out) details of your private life. Many people have been caught out having a bit of a moan about aspects of their job on Facebook, and although I am of the strong opinion that you should not comment on work issues on Facebook, I think it is too easy a tool for employers to treat employees unfairly.
6. Important: Being on the road constantly is not easy for meeting new ladies. How much has Facebook helped you in your latest lucky encounters?
   It has been great! I am in a different city almost every day, and if I meet someone cool on my travels that I want to stay in touch with, instead of exchanging numbers like the “old days” , nowadays its easier to add on Facebook and keep in touch that way, instead of constantly texting/calling just to stay in touch. It’s amazing how many paths have crossed for me in Australia simply from status updates and location updates, even though I may not have seen them since first meeting them a few months previously!

Have you enjoyed the post? Come one, leave a comment below!

The team got together again to brainstorm some social media ideas, this time for a global recruitment consultancy: Morgan McKinley.
Remember that two more companies will be chosen in the next few days so stand by for more videos!

The goal of these video-answers is to deliver, in a unique and engaging way, free ideas to make companies more remarkable and memorable using social media.

Have a look at the video and leave a quick comment below. What else would you suggest to Morgan McKinley?

Fred

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As promised, the Channelship team brainstormed a few cool social media ideas and created a video answer for the first company selected: a unique restaurant called “Make Your Own“. Remember that 4 more companies  will be chosen in the next few days so stand by for more videos!

The goal of these video-answers is to deliver, in a unique and engaging way, free ideas to make companies more remarkable and memorable using social media.

Have a look at the first video and please leave a quick comment below. What else would you suggest to “Make Your Own”?

Fred

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We believe that one of the best ways to start unraveling this question is with a simple approach: (Visualise) Write down the type of business you’re in, its characteristics and also each one of the activities that you do everyday. Now, because you do them everyday and exactly the same way, you took for granted that there is where the opportunity lies!

But don’t worry, this time you don’t have to come up with ideas. We will do it for you, using online tools and social networks! Here’s how it works:

• Step 1: Leave a comment below  with your name, company, website and social media presence (if any).
• Step 2: We will select FIVE companies
• Step 3: The Channelship team will brainstorm some cool ideas to make your business different and remarkable.
• Step 4: Within the next few days we will deliver a specific video-answer for each one of the companies selected.

…and since we will squeeze our brains for you, we would be delighted to see your company take action.  Fair enough?

Go on, leave your comment below!! (Submissions finish at 6PM (GMT) on Tuesday, June 22nd)

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*UPDATE* 30/06/10

Hi everyone.
Thank you so much for all your submissions. We’re working on the selection of companies and in the next few days, we’ll start delivering the video answers so stand by!

*UPDATE* 05/07/10

First video-answer goes to Make Your Own. Check it out here!

Best,

Fred

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The following are two recent examples that immediately sparked in my head a cool bunch of social media ideas for business:

Formal Menswear

Two weeks ago, I was looking for a nice suit for my wedding. Since I did not have a strong refference about where to go, I googled a few good spots to visit. First thing I realised is  how bad all the websites in this trade where. It took me a bit but finally got a nice deal. Over there, the manager told me that they had a lot of their suits & tuxes over at a trade event that day…

Here’re three ideas on how to make your formal menswear business different (and better):

1. The LIVE experience:  That day, the shop and the stand over at the trade show where very busy. Get two webcams and broadcast LIVE what’s going on in both places! Anyone coming in the shop will know that your company is “busy” doing business at an important event (They may even go there to see more!). Over at the trade show, then can see that your shop is “real”.
2. Build an offline database: Provide the option for people walking in the shop to leave their details (email, Twitter, Facebook) to stay in touch, share great offers and build your online community almost effortless! With this strategy, you’ll realise that a big percentage of your online community are people that have visited your shop already! That is priceless.
3. How do I look? After trying different suits, do we remember how all of them looked?  The simplest way to go about that is to take a few pictures (anyone has a digital camera these days!) and share them later with the prospect/customer. Even further: with the customer’s authorisation, you could share those pics (LIVE would be more interesting) and ask your community which one looked better. This task, could be easily done immediately with a multimedia mobile, uploading content instantly. Many companies struggle to come up with good content. This would take a bit of time (or almost no time from a mobile) and you would be pumping fresh, engaging content everyday to Twitter and your Facebook page!
   You can also go the pro-way with Nedap machines in your store to share how you look

The barber shop

I recently got a voucher for an old style, hot towel shave. Besides mentioning the obvious: it was fantastic!! I walked out of the shop thinking… “there’re so many simple things that could be done”.

Here’re four ideas on how to make your barber shop different (and better):

1. Build an offline database: Same as the previous example, collect email, Twitter and/or Facebook contacat details. Again, this is one of the easiest ways to strongly develop your community.
2. How do I look? Why not taking  “before” and “after” photos? and sending then by email/twitter/Facebook  with a nice template to your customers? I guarantee you, you’ll get a smile/laugh out of them and very likely, they’ll share it with their friends, colleagues and family. More people than now, will know your barber shop Also, if you take these pics with a multimedia mobile, the effort is almost “zero” and with your customer’s permission, you can share those before/after pics on social networks. I bet you’ll spark some conversations…
3. Making the slow day, a BIG day: In every shop, there’s a slow day during the week. Here’s the idea: Choose a good topic. A very simple, attractive and interesting one… those that you have with customers while you cut their hair!! Then, invite someone that could really add value to that topic and then, record a 30 minute chat with your customer (with permission of course) while cutting the hair. If you want to video-record it, even better!!! (people can get a taste also of what your shop looks like) You will be creating a series of weekly podcasts “…at the barber”.  Not only this approach will make your business unique, it also holds a cool story that could be interesting for great PR!
4. Share the experience: If your barber shop is already different by offering hot towel shaves for instance, how can you share this story so more people come by or folks like me, feel curious and go for a treat?
   Use the email database and your community on Twitter and Facebook to share pics of your shop in action! Again, with customers’ permission, get those before/after pics up there, share the series of weekly podcast and invite your customers to bring a photo or video camera,  in case they want to keep a record of the luxurious treat You will come accross these people…. Have a look

In the following weeks we’ll create a Wiki with social media marketing ideas by business category in which all you can share yours!! Stand by.

In the meantime, what do you think about the above ideas? What would you include?

Best,

Fred

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