The real originators of social networking?

Maybe not, but I think Coleman is on the money with this new campaign.

Great idea and they were able to pull off the message that Coleman invented social networking without coming off as arrogant. This works for Coleman mostly because they are staying true to what the brand really stands for and what it means to people. It’s also nice that their core products don’t get lost in the mix.

The old looking footage (real or not) and tongue in cheek tone help make the ads feel down to earth. On the other hand, I could easily see another brand trying a similar creative idea (alcohol/spirits come to mind) and coming across as egotistical or over the top. Just kind of feels right coming from Coleman.

There are lots of cool ways that they can and are starting to take this idea further. The iPhone apps are a terrific start – lantern and campfire story apps are fun and make sense coming from Coleman. The Facebook group is also a nice way to bring camping enthusiasts together while at the same time tying things back to the brand. Where else could they extend the idea?

A lot of brands are trying to figure out how to join the social media conversation. In an effort not to be left out, it’s easy to run with a “Just do something!” mentality, but misguided attempts can easily do more harm to a brand than just staying on the sidelines. It’s easy to spot a fake and consumers are a lot smarter than many advertisers give them credit. Nice to see a brand doing things in a thoughtful way, and from a credible position.

Research for marketers, by marketers

It’s been a while since our last post, but an exciting new project we’re working on seemed like the perfect excuse to get back in the game. With a good deal of help and inspiration from our friend Paul Soldera, we’re about to launch a first of its kind study (to our knowledge at least) designed by and for the marketing community.

Paul was able to hook Equation up with CK (Christina Kerley) who was drawn to the idea of developing a survey on industry trends with input directly from the marketing community. We’re very excited to be involved and CK has been absolutely great to collaborate with. She was able to help make this happen both through her own site and also via her blog on Marketing Profs.

CK explains the idea much more eloquently here but in short, we’re opening up the floor to questions from the marketing community for a survey to be sent to over 50,000 marketing and advertising professionals. The feedback has been great – quite diverse and very thoughtful questions including lots of good ones around social media and new ways of connecting with consumers.

We’re now in the (happily tough) process of picking ten questions that best reflect what resonated most with the community. These questions will be the focus of our annual Market Trends survey which we do to keep a pulse on what’s happening in the marketing and research world. Once the results are in, CK and her readers will get access to the information before it’s available anywhere else (it’s their data after all!)

As for Equation, we’re thrilled to facilitate this and to be part of a new way to think about research. Huge thanks to Paul, CK, Marketing Profs and especially the community for posing some great questions. We look forward to seeing the results and hopefully, making this an annual tradition.

Stay tuned!