The Beam Global Interview with Jason Falls Continues

A SERIES in the quest to know more about the offline world

Part 2 in A 2-Part Interview with Jason Falls

Recently, I asked Jason Falls, Social Media Explorer. if he’d check in with with Beam Global. to see whether we might share the story of their cultural switch to a social media relationship with their customers — as it started and as it goes through it’s life cycle. I’m delighted to say that everyone thought the idea was great way to let folks see how things are working — this is part two of the first of those interviews.

Hi Jason! Can you share some of the growth of the social media ideas from conception to final version, you’re calling “The Stuff Inside”?

The great thing about “The Stuff Inside” is that the concept about who we are and what we stand for was already in place before we fully developed the social media strategy. And, as you can tell, the concept is tailor made for the social media audience. Our research told us that the adult, male consumer of legal drinking age is tired of a fake world – he is looking for something genuine and authentic to hold on to. This parallels the same quest many social media users are on and why they’ve flocked to the web to get away from the mainstream media experience. So drafting some tactical compliments to “The Stuff Inside,” which allows people to be authentic, genuine and engage with one another and the brand, was almost easy.

I can’t say how impressed I am that you offered to have your work critiqued in an focus group of social media pros at SOBCon. Were you anxious to hear what they had to say? Did they say what you thought they would?

I was not only anxious, but nervous. The folks in that focus group are my peers. They do many of the same things I do and even one in particular (Chris Brogan) is a friend and professional hero of mine. To have them look at the campaign with constructive criticism was nerve racking. To make it worse, I couldn’t be there to hear the feedback first hand since my daughter was born the week before. Needless to say, I was a wreck that weekend down in Kentucky wondering what they had to say.

The good thing is that they said what I thought they would. They had positive feedback, a few minor criticisms here and there, but generally embraced it as well thought out. Perhaps an even better result of the weekend was that, by not being able to attend, J.J. Betts and Scott Kolbe from the Beam Team went in my stead and got to hear that feedback about our social media efforts from third party folks and not just me. It allowed them to verify that my ideas weren’t crazy and know that we were on the right track from a strategic standpoint. Shashi Bellamkonda’s video with J.J. bounced around the web a few days later and literally helped the Beam Team see that just participating in the conversation is a powerful act.

Is there more that you think we should know about the story of this social media endeavor and the Beam Global sponsorship at SOBCon?

We don’t think of “The Stuff Inside” as a campaign. This really is a change in how we behave as a brand and how we market our product. Instead of pushing bourbon, we’re helping people identify the qualities of our brand in themselves and others. Instigating and facilitating a greater conversation about character, integrity is our ultimate goal. This is a journey, not so much a destination. The community that participates at www.theTheStuffInside.com will have a lot of say in where we go next.

That, and we think Liz is fabulous. Thanks for welcoming us both at SOBCon and here.

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More to come as we report what happened when we shared the Beam Global social media plans with a few select folks at SOBCon08.

Thanks, Jason and Thanks, Beam!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Get your voice into the conversation!

You can read the first Beam Global Cultural Shift Interview here:
The Beam Global Cultural Switch to Social Media: How It Began