By all appearances that is exactly what happened.  Scott Brown’s upset, come from behind, win in the Massachusetts Senate race now represents the 41st vote in the Senate, breaking the Democrats filibuster-proof majority in Washington.  In another word passage of President Obama’s healthcare reform legislation is now very much in doubt.

When you dig a little (which we did) you’ll find not only that a Canadian orchestrate the victory but he utilized social media tools to pull off what some referred to as one of the biggest political upset in recent memory.   Whether you support or oppose healthcare reform in the US, the lesson is that social media marketing, properly leveraged, can significantly affect the outcome of a political race or, for that matter, the success of you company

For a good article on this check today’s National Post here or go to - http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2493174

In WWGD, Jeff Jarvis addresses a number of principles (he refers to them as laws) that have enabled Google to become so dominant so fast.  His first law is: “Give the people control and we will use it; don’t and you will lose us”. He speaks of it primarily in the context of the media business - where the fence between journalists, editors and the readers/consumers was tall and inviolable until the advent of the Internet and the rise of the Blog (not the “Borg”).

If you think about it, it also applies to many other industries.  Henry Ford’s old adage that “people can have a car in any colour they want as long as it’s black”, which held sway for decades, is no longer.  Companies that give their customers choice (read control) engender their audience’s trust and this translates into increased revenues and profits (see Google and Craigslist).

How can you apply this to your business? Engage your customers in the areas that are most important to them: product development and customer service.  For powerful examples, see - My Starbucks Idea and  Dell Idea Storm.  My favorite Starbucks idea: coffee ice cubes - brilliant!

Please share your experiences and post any questions you may about how to apply this to your business.

Side note:  Jeff Jarvis first came to prominence due a critical blog post of an experience he had with Dell and which ultimately led Dell to pay attention to blogs and to begin engaging their customers.  Check one of the posts here - http://www.buzzmachine.com/2005/08/17/dear-mr-dell/

One of the ways we make our clients’ lives easier is by reading and studying the latest marketing trends and then synthesizing them into actionable strategies and tactics. This way, we can help our clients keep up with the massive amount of information flying their way.  In fairness to my partners at AR, they often do come up with original thinking and ideas.  For me,  it only happens once in a very long while.  Most of the time I gather the best practices and strategies out there and tweak them so our clients can apply them to their businesses and industries.  It’s a win/win – they get a medley of the best that is available and I don’t have to over-tax my brain.

To this end, over the next few months I will be sharing some insights I’ve been gleaning from some leading thinkers and writers on marketing and social media/networking.

The first book I want to talk about is What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis, which I read (actually listened to, courtesy of Audible.com) over the holidays.  It will definitely influence some of our marketing strategies for clients in 2010.  To make life really easy (which is what the Internet is all about), before starting to discuss it, here is an excellent summary you can peruse to familiarize yourself with it.

Please share your thoughts once you’ve had a chance to check out the summary.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently approved new guidelines with respect to certain aspects of online marketing. These guidelines represent administrative interpretations concerning the application of Section 5 of the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. 45) regarding the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising, and are intended to prevent and eliminate deceptive practices. You can view the new FTC guidelines here - http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

While many of our clients are Canadian-based companies, a significant number of them market their products and services online to US-based customers and should therefore play close attention to these rules. As a first step, if you have an internal legal department, have it take a look at your current online practices.  If you don’t have an internal team, you may want to check with your legal counsel. Testimonials and endorsements are powerful tools in any marketer’s arsenal.  When used ethically, they can add significant equity to your brand.  Read the new guidelines and make sure your company is onside. If you have already done so, please share your insights by leaving us a comment.

For an excellent post on this, check out New York Times best selling author Joel Comm’s blog at - http://www.joelcomm.com/new_ftc_rules_for_testimonials_1.html