Nike Risks Viral Backlash With Kobe Video On YouTube April 22, 2008
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a comment| Nike Risks Viral Backlash With Kobe Video On YouTube | |
| by Sarah Mahoney, Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 5:00 AM ET | |
 The launch of Nike’s Hyperdunk recently, its lightest basketball shoe ever, is getting an unexpected boost from a viral video. But the footage, doctored to show basketball legend Kobe Bryant “jumping over” a speeding sports car, is sparking plenty of questions from observers-some about safety, and others about the role of authenticity in brand positioning.The 53-second video showing Bryant bounding over an Aston Martin has become a hit on YouTube, garnering nearly 2.5 million views in its different versions. In just a few weeks, it’s sparked lengthy-albeit fairly moronic-debates among viewers about whether it’s real or not. (Not, says Nike. Like the L.A. Lakers would let Bryant run the risk of turning into the world’s most expensive pancake?) On one level, it’s a marketing hit, too. “Just on the basis of word of mouth-are they building buzz and creating conversations? – it’s doing quite well,” says Pete Blackshaw, EVP of Nielsen Online Strategic Services and author of the upcoming Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today’s Consumer-Driven World. “There are companies that brag when 2,000 people watch their viral videos.” But it’s also sparked a handful of teenage copycat videos, and safety advocates are concerned. While Bryant opens and closes the video with the obligatory “Don’t try this at home” legalese, “we’ve got a lot of kids who are looking to be famous online,” says Parry Aftab, a security, privacy and cyberspace lawyer. “They are bored, and live anonymous lives, and are looking for something that would put them on top of the pack for being brave or cool or funny.” Certainly, many YouTubers (not to mention cranky parents) agree. “So when is the YouTube video [appearing] of the kids getting run [over] by Mom’s Toyota trying this?” writes one. “Think no one is that stupid?” Adds another: “You are gonna have about 5,000 kid Kobe fans who try this and all the retards who came up with this idea are gonna have blood on their hands,” adds another, helpfully linking to a handful of videos, all posted pre-Kobe, of teens actually getting mowed down trying to pull off similar stunts. “THIS IS THE WORST IDEA IN THE HISTORY OF SHOE ADS!! THE WORST! LEAVE IT TO KOBE!” screams another. While the flattening of potential shoe-shoppers is a concern, “certainly, if people get hurt as a result of this, it will turn out to be a big negative for Nike,” says Ed Keller, CEO of the Keller Fay Group, a word-of-mouth research consulting company in New Brunswick, N.J. A separate question for marketers is whether this kind of buzz can drive sales. “If the online conversation is mostly about whether the ads are fake or not, and centers on how they created that effect,” he asks, “does that help with overall brand momentum?” Certainly, there’s a contingent of outraged watchers: “This is as fake as Kobe,” snorts one of the more polite Kobe and Nike bashers, and there’s much debate about which other basketball stars might be able to pull off such a leap-for real. But for the most part, viewers seem to be pretty fascinated with just how the spot was shot. “Most people realize that sports figures’ contracts usually prevent them from even riding motorcycles, let alone leaping over moving vehicles-and this is lighthearted enough that it won’t turn people off,” says Blackshaw. Bryant himself has described the shot in two words that say it all: “That’s Hollywood!” Even some safety advocates agree. “Most teens are savvy enough to see through this,” says Liz Perle, editor-in-chief of Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based group that reviews media for parents. While she says the Nike video definitely “skirts the line” of what’s safe, “for most kids, there’s a real suspension of disbelief-they know about special effects and Photoshop.” Of course, she adds, that’s not to say some kid might not get hurt trying to recreate the Kobe jump. “But there will always be copy-cat behavior, and kids can find plenty of ways to hurt themselves without Kobe Bryant.” Aftab, who is also the founder of Wired Safety, a children’s advocacy group, disagrees. “At some point, I think the Federal Trade Commission will step in to rule on the safety of these viral ads, just as they do for TV.” Nike, meanwhile, maintains that the video is completely safe. “One of our goals at Nike is to always consider the safety of our athletes and others, and we wouldn’t want anyone to re-enact this,” says KeJuan Wilkins, a Nike spokesperson. “This was done with professional editing and something people practiced and rehearsed. ” Of course, whether it sells Hyperdunks is still to be determined-the shoe isn’t scheduled to hit U.S. stores until late July. “We wanted to get something out there to generate excitement and buzz as we head toward the Olympics,” says Wilkins. “The beauty of a project like this is that people can watch it as much as they want and as often as they want. And many of the kids we’re trying to reach live in this digital world.” Certainly, Keller says, “if you can put out a video and get a couple of million views, that will help seed a new product launch.” But it isn’t without risks. “This is the double edge sword of word-of-mouth and consumer-generated media,” says Blackshaw. “This is the new epicenter of consumer attention, but it doesn’t always cut in the brand’s best direction.”
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Overcome 6 Challenges & Increase Consumer Survey Participation May 8, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentOvercome 6 Challenges & Increase Consumer Survey Participation
If you conduct surveys online or by phone, you need to stay on top of state, federal and international regulations. We talked to experts on what best practices to follow. Includes six key challenges, common mistakes and tips to avoid them.
Privacy matters not just because of the huge list of federal and state laws regulating telephone and online research. There’s also a wary public, tired of spam and scams, who needs to be assured that survey research is legitimate and that their private information will be protected.
CMOR tracks federal laws and regulations as well as industry codes and best practices for telephone and online research. We checked in with Fienberg and others there to discuss some of the biggest concerns facing the survey research industry and tips on how to deal with them.
-> Challenge #1. Federal laws are complex
Privacy laws are constantly changing, making it hard for researchers to stay abreast of all the requirements. Remember, being unaware of a regulation won’t make you exempt from compliance. Here are a few regulatory areas to study carefully:
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. Even though legitimate researchers are familiar with this set of regulations governing solicitation calls, many are unaware of a provision that prevents researchers from using autodialers to call cell phone numbers. With a growing number of consumers ditching land lines and using only their cell phones, CMOR is working to get regulators to create an exemption to this rule for researchers.
In the meantime, researchers must be careful not to use autodialers to contact cell phones. If you’re having trouble identifying cell phone numbers in your database, you can turn to vendors that operates cell phone number recognition services.
- CAN-SPAM and COPPA. All online researchers must abide by the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, but depending on the audience you’re surveying, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act is just as important. Those rules govern the way information is collected from children under age 13 and require parental consent. But CMOR recommends that researchers follow COPPA procedures anytime they’re dealing with respondents under age 18.
-> Challenge #2. States have their own laws, too
Every state can create its own regulations and sub-requirements under federal laws, and, of course, every state handles survey privacy issues differently. For example, several states are looking to make their do-not-call logs more restrictive than the federal program, although LaToya Rembert-Lang, State Legislative Director, CMOR, says she hasn’t yet seen negative impacts for survey researchers.
Still, state laws differ in important areas, such as:
o Notification procedures for data security breaches
o The age of majority; in some states it’s 21, not 18
o Cell phone use in automobiles, which could affect telephone researchers’ best practices for when to contact respondents
Because of this, researchers need to follow the laws governing online and telephone research in every state in which they do business, not just the state they are headquartered in.
-> Challenge #3. Stricter international standards
If you conduct research with an international audience, you could get tripped up with laws enacted by foreign governments and regulators. For example, the European Union has strict standards on the collection and transfer of personal data to non-EU countries, as well as tricky language requiring things such as “unambiguous consent” from survey respondents.
Any researcher conducting a survey with EU members must adhere to the EU Directive on processing personal data or by safe harbor rules developed by the US Department of Commerce (see link below). “If you can’t follow those principals, you’re putting yourself in danger,” Fienberg says.
-> Challenge #4. Privacy and data security
Even researchers in full compliance with federal, state and international regulations face consumer concern and confusion about privacy rules. Here are three of the most common concerns and advice on how to deal with them:
#1. Survey respondents think you’re violating the Do-Not-Call Registry. Many consumers don’t know that survey research is exempt from the restrictions of the Do-Not-Call Registry and will react angrily when contacted. While it’s best to honor their wishes, you can also try to clear up confusion about the difference between survey research and sales-focused telemarketing.
Better training for telephone interviewers can help them explain what kind of data they’re collecting, why they’re collecting it and how it will be used for research purposes. CMOR also has an affiliate program called “Your Opinion Counts,” which certifies that research firms are conducting legitimate research and following best practices. The program has a website where researchers can send survey respondents for more information.
#2. Survey respondents are concerned about their privacy. A recent survey by CMOR revealed that 25% of people contacted by researchers said those surveys invaded their privacy. It’s essential that research firms have a comprehensive privacy polic
y in place and that they can communicate it to respondents. With online research, it’s easy to place a link to your privacy policy directly into your emails or on survey websites.
For telephone research, interviewers should be trained to explain the most important elements of the company’s privacy policy at the outset of a survey call, including who they are, what kind of data they’ll be collecting, how it will be aggregated and so on. That policy must be updated frequently to reflect changes in state or federal laws. “The privacy policy is an ever-evolving document. You can’t just develop it once and leave it aside somewhere,” says Lembert-Lang.
#3. Survey respondents are concerned about personally identifiable information. Laws governing the collection and use of personally identifiable information specify two types: ordinary personal data (name, address and marital status) and sensitive personal data (Social Security numbers and medical information). The definition of personal information for children is even broader, encompassing areas, including hobbies and team affiliations.
While researchers need to follow rules governing the collection of such data, they also need to remain sensitive to respondents’ concerns about information that might not be regulated under the law, but is sensitive to them, such as income ranges, age and education levels.
-> Challenge #5. Declining survey participation
Whether caused by the rise in caller ID or the general increase in online and telephone research, it’s becoming harder to get consumers to respond to surveys. One study found that telephone survey response rates dropped from 72% in 1979 to 48% in 2003.
In this environment, researchers need to design their surveys to reflect the factors that are most important in encouraging respondent participation. According to the recent CMOR survey on participation, the top three factors influencing a respondent’s decision to take a survey are:
o The survey doesn’t take too long
o The survey will be used to improve products/services
o The survey will be used by the government for policy decisions
Therefore, keep it short and focused on helping you change and improve your products or services.
-> Challenge #6. Choosing a research company to work on your behalf
If you’re thinking about hiring a research company to conduct surveys on your behalf, you need to think about privacy concerns and respondent compliance issues, too. The best way to protect yourself is to ask for these three items when hiring a research company:
- The research firm’s privacy policy. Review the policy and ask questions about their compliance with important regulations, such as the TCPA, COPPA and CAN-SPAM.
- A confidentiality agreement. Make sure the data they’re collecting on your behalf (and information they have about your company and project) will remain between you and the researcher.
- An indemnity agreement. This agreement will protect your company against fines and penalties related to violations that a research firm might commit.
Useful links related to this article
US Department of Commerce Safe Harbor Program for collecting data from the EU:
http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/
FCC’s TCPA site:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/tcpa.html
FTC’s COPPA site:
http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm
FTC’s Do-Not-Call Registry:
http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall
NeuStar – operates a cell phone number recognition service:
http://www.neustar.biz
Your Opinion Counts Program:
http://www.youropinioncounts.org/
CMOR:
http://www.cmor.org
See Also:
