For a cool, confident and creative Nick F. Nelson, his corporate designation as Liquid Soul Media’s chief marketing officer is fitting. An expert in multicultural lifestyles, he’s deemed a trusted adviser for brands seeking to find impactful ways to target emerging markets.
Nelson believes innovation in marketing occurs, “When big ideas turn into big results. Developing and successfully launching big ideas is not easy to do. It requires research to obtain an understanding of what has been done, solid knowledge of today s technical landscape to understand what can be done and vision to do what has never been done before.”
Here, Nelson, who also holds the title principal, discusses brand evolution, the benefits of social media, and why he enjoys the latest commercial venture with the NBA’s top earner. –yvette caslin
What are some of the best marketing ideas currently on the Internet and in social media?
The very best social media campaigns are those wrapped around a great idea that generate online buzz, which have media, publicity and offline extensions. One example comes compliments of Microsoft search engine Bing. Bing wanted to connect with a younger audience and therefore chose to partner with Jay-Z on the launch of his book, Decode. The book was seeded out into the real world, one page at a time, in a number of innovative ways including on billboards, on the bottom of swimming pools and even wrapped on a car. Fans were able to track down the new pages in the book using Bing maps and clues left within Bing search engines and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Brands are able to evolve and grow when they …
1. Get Real – In order for a brand to evolve, those managing that brand must understand how that brand is perceived in the marketplace. Listening to consumers to learn how the brand is perceived will guide the savvy marketer on the best next move.
2. Get Quality Products – Quality brands are backed by quality products. You can have the best marketing plan, however if the end product is not a good one, word gets out at the speed of Twitter.
3. Get Engaged – Consumers want and desire personal attention from brands. Social media and grassroots activations are perfect vehicles to help establish that bond. This personal interaction helps to establish brand loyalty and creates additional avenues for prolonged communication and engagement.
Describe your favorite television commercial and share why?
I love the new Kobe Bryant Kobe System commercials. This is a perfect example of taking a big idea and then leveraging star power along with some off-the-wall commentary to force consumers to literally stop, watch, react, and talk about it.
Who is your favorite brand spokesperson or endorser?
Hands down, it’s “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”
Describe a brand that you work with and how it interacts with the consumer in a social way successfully.
Just about every brand we touch interacts with consumers through social media in some shape or form. One campaign that I am particularly proud of is the social media campaign we launched last year to promote our internship program. We leveraged Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Skype to implement a Final Four-style internship tournament that generated a great awareness for Liquid Soul and produced some dynamic interns who went on to do a fantastic job for us.
