The Uniform Project: Convergence of Philanthropy, Fashion, Sustainability, and Commerce

The Uniform Project was birthed by two women, Sheena Matheiken, and Eliza Starbuck, inspired to use a blog and social networks to raise funds for a worthy cause. The mantra: one black dress-365 days, complimented with Sheena's creative styling imagination appeals to women around the world, who ask themselves the question; "What Shall I Wear Today? Respectfully, millions more have little to wear but one piece of clothing, constrained by education, health, and cultural hardships.

As many of us are moving away from the "brand is me" to the "brand is we" I predict that the attributes which motivate us to shop and transact has reached an inflection or "tipping point". Competition for resources will give way to cooperative commerce systems. Communities will vote together and buy core product categories in bulk. Bloggers will move from complainers to composers, partnering with new platforms like the Uniform Project to converge philanthropy, fashion, sustainability, and commerce. The popularity of the Uniform Project, through its daily serial of blog posts, is sending digital signals, a weather report on whats to come. The rapid escalation of tags,links,keywords and the signals emitted from hyper-layered social connectivity will likely to force the extinction of the current business and distribution hierarchy as we know it! Just read the Twitter trend feeds on your favorite topic or brand and feel the power of the stream. Its early, but the trend is undeniable.

In fact, not too long ago, store-based retailing was forced to adopt and embrace the Internet. The movement to online e-commerce was powered by technology. Watch now, as the movement to networked commerce, is further empowered by the connectivity provided by it. The Uniform Project and other initiatives like it exemplify the power of "trust agents" as Chris Brogan and Julien Smith have aptly named their new book. These "trust agents" are changing the business of retailing. They will motivate buyers to enjoy consuming, fueled in part by an awareness that every transaction can have a far greater value and influence than ever before. Its no longer just about "me", its also about "we". That's a large audience of consumers, a few hatching,
and a large number incubating, who will buy most of what they need through "trust agents" and love doing it. Social network connectivity is spawning an evolutionary
uptick in how we conduct commerce. Lets help each think less like marketers, and
more like farmers and stewards.

I want to encourage you to take a few minutes and watch the movie on the birth, and mission for the Uniform Project and thank you for sharing.

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5 Attributes for Digital Engagement

Reading Minds
Marketers increasingly use web analytics and measurement tools for predictive inference of what you and I may be "seeking" in order to serve relevant messages - guided by a complex web of search terms.
24-7 Connectivity
As we become effectively "plugged in" marketers will advance more messages more frequently and consumers will seek applications to protect and prevent unwanted interference more efficiently. Passwords give way to advances in authenticity, and protection of identity.
Property Exchanges
Watch as a greater number of individuals join in the online exchange of goods and services. Micro-marketplaces develop as the connectivity deepens and segmentation becomes more focused.
Social Exchanges
Social networks stimulate individuals to express themselves, create identities, share values, and build social currency credits. A marketplace of communities develop around a new set of "trust" rules. Marketers become sponsors if invited as participants.
Cultural Exchanges
Artists, Designers, and Performers channel creativity, and produce content in smaller bites, shorter works, responding to networked "communities" and the dilution and ultimate demise of traditional distribution channels, Watch a global renaissance in consumption of art and culture. The margin between being famous and the rest of us becomes less so.
For More on the Emerging Trust Economy - http://trustedadvisor.com/trustmatters

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AND NOW A WORD ABOUT THE OFFER OF “FREE SHIPPING”

The concept of “free shipping” has proven to be a highly successful and compelling online offer for shoppers on the Internet. As a promotional tool, the cost to the seller is significantly better than what is required in the way of an equivalent discount to drive the same result.

One of the reasons consumers like free shipping offers, is that it makes an online transaction comparable with a local purchase at a neighborhood store. The buyer finds comfort in the offer, and this does not diminish the value of the product itself.
This is particularly valuable now for the smaller business, now that companies such as Amazon have made it a standard.

There is substantial evidence that packing and shipping fees are a primary cause of e-cart abandonment. Most of us have direct experience shopping online, where we are about to give our credit card, to complete their transaction, and then suddenly, the price of the total purchase skyrockets. Many shoppers exit quickly, leaving frustrated, and rarely, if ever return. Even in cases, where the fees are not excessive, we have been conditioned to expect higher online shipping fees, and this adds to the appeal of “free shipping”.

I encourage sellers to take advantage of this reality. Imagine an online shopping environment where the offer of “free shipping” is standardized. Now, analyze the cost structure of your products. When you arrive at your final retail selling price, add, what I call, a shipping fee offset. On a higher ticket item, add a smaller percentage, and on lower priced items, add a slightly higher percentage. The added percentage may not fully absorb shipping fees, but it will improve the margin of profit on your items, and give you “peace of mind”. Take these steps today. Once executed, your pricing structure will empower you to take advantage of “Free Shipping” without compromise to your brand, your items, and your costs.

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16 Reasons Why Some Companies Refrain From Social Media Adoption

With all the euphoria around social networks and their use by business, Why is there such hesitancy for a full embrace?


1. Potential to damage the company’s reputation
2. Executives Simply DO NOT KNOW enough about it.
3. Perception of social media foolish life-streaming without value.
4. No One Left on Marketing Team to Monitor - (Maybe CEO should)
5. Current Organizational Structure Ill-Suited to Maintain
6. Customers do not really use it at all.
7. No guaranteed results ( No one to really to blame on if it fails)
8. Tools for measurement are still immature.
9. Lose of Control over Brand. (Actually that is happening anyway!)
10.Fear of Making Mistakes. (Preventative health is better than curative)
11.Unwilling to be transparent. (Now that is the truth!)
12. No Money. (Use social currency, invest, and trade)
13. Ignorance. (That was a reasonable excuse in 2008 not now)
14. Confusion. (Paradigm shifts are notable for large amounts of confusion)
15. Expertise. (There are no experts. We are all learning together)
16. Too New. (Who knew?)

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Small Business Can Win with Social Networking

One can learn a great deal about the potential power of the social web by reflecting quietly on the comfort in service and social engagement from your favorite neighborhood store. A handshake, a smile, a conversation. Often, the first question being

"How can I help you?"

Strategically, a perfect question.

On Twitter, the question is

"What are you doing?"

For over sixty years, Anthony Dapolito (insert) managed his family's small Italian bakery with passion and compassion along Prince Street near Thompson. Anthony listened to the neighbors, whom often vented about something, somebody, or somewhere. He spoke quietly, offering advice, and over time, he became a man of local and social influence. He died in 2003, and the bakery continued to operate until this past February. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/nyregion/thecity/22vesu.html

There is a new paradigm emerging which will enable small business to leverage the qualities
of "small" to reach and service new customers via the Internet. The social web, and social
networks are going to empower the model. Small business will not simply appear as a store-front, so nostalgic and romantic. It will take form online, and redefine our perception of the "independents", and the freelance expert. The low cost of connectivity, and the abundance web-based digital content, offers an environment for small business to thrive. Storefront retailing
with its emphasis on touch, smell, and taste is being re-invented. The price of real estate for
storefront leases will go lower as the halo of Madison Avenue retrenches. Commerce will be
generated by a series of convergences and balances, online vs. offline, physical vs metaphysical,
social search, realtime news, and closer connectivity between the source of the product and
the customer....Stay tuned...The conversation begins now!

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Social Web Strategy: Status Report

Companies utilizing social networking platforms have primarily focused on its use as an extension of marketing and Public Relations. Most senior executives grasp the idea of building "brand awareness" and since entry costs appear to be low, why not? This is about the change.

The rapid adoption of social networking by a much larger base of users, across every demographic, and age group, is creating a new "context" for its use, and one that is incredibly timely given the challenges companies face to reach new customer prospects, and convert prospects into customers. For example, there is increasing evidence that traditional lead generation programs, offline and online, are in a deep state of fatigue...faltering at all points of measurement...particularly "conversion".

Many social web strategists, draw a correlation between the growth of social networking, as a primary communications tool, and growing resistence by many recipients to opening their opted-in email messages from favorite brands.

Using the social web to conduct social media campaigns focused on customer engagement, and prospecting for new customers has now taken center stage. What was just a novel "brand awareness" strategy just ten months ago, is giving way to "front-line" internal communication strategies within the companies, across many departments and team leaders. I anticipate that we are about to witness a fast-paced shift away from the use of Twitter, and Facebook as a general communications tool, to one focused on immediate and consistent contact with customers, engaged, and responsive. To be truly effective, and enable companies to move from social engagement to order transaction, there must be a strong commitment by management to implement "collaborative-type communications" internally. This will take place in many forms, some in a structured and measured form, others organically, and even a bit chaotic.

Its all good, so long we are involved, and listening...That is the world we live in now, and awareness to it is what social web strategy is all about.

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SohoNews10012 - The Social Web and Store-Based Business

SohoNews10012 is a hyperlocal news source reporting news, events, and daily offers taking place in Soho, a neighborhood where we live and work. We launched this news service on Twitter as a realtime testing bed in order to immerse ourselves deeply into a learning process on how Web 2.0 and social networking platforms, could be applied to the needs of neighborhood business. Our strategic interest is to demonstrate the power of the social web to connect residents, workers, visitors, and tourists to merchants, restaurants, salons, sightings, and daily value-based offers. We are learning every day, gathering business intelligence that we can share with our clients, and create an e-commerce business model that is convenient, efficient, and fun.
One interesting finding to date, has been the strong interest by single-store owners to adopt social media in order to secure a competitive advantage for lead generation, and reaching new customers against larger corporate-based brands, who maintain an outpost in Soho, but manage the location more "remotely". The ambient "intimacy" of the social web offers local business owners, more leverage via the Internet, than they have had to date with their websites. The demand by these smaller customers for tutorials, consultation, and updated web design work has been terrific. The benefits are significant. When we speak with store managers in store locations of well known brands, larger entities, we are often referred to the corporate office,
or the PR agency of the brand. This is enabling us to reach a much larger universe of contacts, and enabling us to promote the opportunity for hyperlocal news and e-commerce effectively.
Stay tuned.

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