Which is why this recent Fortune article on how Nike is “quietly engineering” a marketing revolution really hits home.

Their secret weapon? Nike Digital Sport, a division launched in 2010. Digital Sport is best known for creating devices and technologies that allow us to track our personal stats, whether it’s how many miles we’ve run in Golden Gate Park with our Nike+ Sport Watch, or our overall fitness goals with Nike Fuel (we knew that walking the dog could get us that much closer into our prized pair of Levi’s skinny jeans!).

Nike Digital Sport gets it: consumers no longer respond to the personality-cult direction of their earlier campaigns (let’s accept it: Tiger and Lance are fallible), and instead are now engaging directly with consumers about what’s ultimately most important to them–their own well-being and fitness.

The hard numbers spell it out: Nike’s ad spend on TV and print is down 40% over the past three years, while the revenue of the world’s largest sports company is soaring.

Source: Fortune

Yes, it’s still somewhat of a brave new world when it comes to social media and engagement marketing, but the results that Nike is achieving should embolden any company willing to challenge traditional rules of outreach and engagement. There’s an incredible community of potential customers out there who are ready to start a conversation. Let’s do it!

Pop-Up fans have a near Fight Club– reverence for ‘the world’s first live magazine.’  Issue 5 was held in San Francisco on Wednesday, November 9th at the Davies Symphony Hall — the event’s largest venue to date and it sold out in less than two hours — and brought together some of the country’s quirkiest and groundbreaking writers, musicians, an inventor, an environmentalist, a photo documentarian and even a deep sea diver to share their stories for one night only.

There is no event photography, video or transcription. Every issue is completely unique.

Even the ‘contributors’ were not announced until the day before the event. There are no theme or presentation requirements. There was poetry, PowerPoint and a classical trio.

For me, the common thread was adventure and the personal challenge to remember.

So many of us have conditioned ourselves to share and (if we’re very honest) remember through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. For people to willingly give up this precious documentation for an event makes Pop-Up incredibly special and refreshing.

From my vantage point in the ‘nose-bleed’ section I didn’t see the glow of a contraband smartphone even once after the magazine went ‘live.’

How many of us have gone to concerts and readings where people limit their experience to the tiny screen on their phone in an effort to capture and prove they were there? You have to wonder why they don’t save their money and watch it on YouTube.

We have incredible tools at our fingertips and in our pockets to share our experiences but there’s power in an event that requires you to just be present to experience it too.

Melinda

As a new intern, I am grateful to Grow Marketing for allowing me to join their world and see what engagement marketing and public relations work really entails. I am gaining insight about how the pieces of this puzzle fit together, and how brands can spark an emotional connection with consumers to create a dynamic and engaging relationship. This eye-opening experience has taken my understanding of the field deeper than the textbook theories and classroom concepts ever could.

I am also grateful for the GROWTH of public relations. The evolution of the Internet, blogs and social media have propelled public relations into uncharted territories and broadened the horizons of ways to reach and engage consumers. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has recognized this sea change and in response has created an industry-wide initiative: Public Relations Defined, which is using crowd sourcing to help create “A modern definition for the new era of public relations.”

A section of the PRSA website is accepting submissions that will be reviewed December 5 by PRSA leaders and allied associations who attended a special Definition Summit in September.  To add your two cents visit http://prdefinition.prsa.org

A John Maxwell quote reminds us  “Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.”  Not just becoming comfortable with change — but using it as a catalyst for growth –is essential to success.  So, this Thanksgiving let us remember to add the gift of GROWTH to our list of reasons to be grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving wishes!!

Lauren

It’s certainly one of the most fun holidays that becomes a barrage for the senses and speaks to us on an emotional level, the same way a really great engagement does. And, with a click you can instantly treat a few hundred of your closest Facebook friends to your imaginative costume and expose your freewheeling spirit, immortalizing it forever and contributing to what Facebook calls their busiest time for photo uploads, making this holiday more viral than ever! Check out how the Grow team, friends and family got plugged into the Halloween spirit!

Shari

For the first time, Le Dîner came to life in San Francisco - think of it as an invitation-only flash mob/pop-up that gathers people together for an epicurean experience of fine food and sophisticated picnic dining that thousands participate in, all dressed in white.

My husband held one of the 1,000 invitations that allowed 4 guests into the coveted event. With press from around the world citing these events, San Francisco as a community was ready to embrace and enhance the concept as nearly 10,000 enthusiasts requested an invitation to the night.

With roots that began in Paris at locales such as Notre Dame and the Louvre, we waited until the afternoon of the event to learn of our secret location and where our San Franciscan journey would lead us. It was an unusually warm day in San Francisco and I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful evening to celebrate outdoor dinner in this amazing city with over 3,000 fellow guests.

As promised by the organizers, and right on time, we received our coveted email unveiling the destination: we were headed to the music concourse in Golden Gate Park (nestled between The de Young and the Academy of Sciences). My husband and I were delighted, as the location is a short stroll from our home.

With our fabulous white outfits, white chairs, linens and a four-course culinary feast in tow, we began our pilgrimage with the excitement of teenagers. We were not alone: people of all backgrounds and walks of life came together that night to build the largest outdoor dining experience I have ever experienced. The set-up was executed perfectly: long communal tables blanketed the beautiful concourse and while it was a full house, there was plenty of room to stroll and enjoy the gardens and the fountains. The event felt like a fabulous French village.

Once our table was set for four with flowers, candles, silver and crystal (on par with how we set a formal holiday dinner at home and then some), we sipped champagne and strolled. Thousands of Bay Area residents were there, all joyous, and thrilled to be having this San Franciscan experience unlike any other. There was a calm sophistication that filled the air and a lovely French gypsy band entertained the crowd.

At 7:00pm we were all seated and participated in the “white napkin wave” to signal the official start to dinner. It was a sea of white, fluttery napkins and smiles across the entire concourse. It still gives me goose bumps thinking about it three days later. After too many courses to count and a few hours, the dining came to end and the event turned into a huge social gathering. You felt connected to everyone, yet you personally knew very few in a sea of thousands.  However, we all had a love for The City, an appreciation for fine food and the thrill of adventure.

To Garrett, Ryan, Elizabeth and all of the other organizers of Le Dîner, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart for an incredible experience. The event, the tone and all of the communication pre and post were executed seamlessly. As a life-long San Franciscan and experiential marketer, I found it to be a truly epic event. Thank you for giving us a truly memorable experience that we shall never forget.

Cassie

“This has turned into the Summer of the Pop-Up,” he writes, somewhat begrudgingly, wringing his hands over the impermanence of pop-ups and what effect they’ll have on tourists and children – oh, the children! – when they close up shop, departing forever like the final chapter of Harry Potter.

As seasoned pop-up experts, we at Grow agree with Mr. Genzlinger that pop-ups have moved past the guerrilla marketing phase, especially in a city like New York. They’ve evolved into distinctive spaces where consumers can experience a brand or service that engages them in ways that are more meaningful and timely — like customizing your own pair of Havaianas in July, just when you’re ready to rock flip-flops.

Pop-ups acknowledge change – both seasonal and cultural – in fashion, lifestyle and each city’s unique traditions, habits and habitats.

Mr. Genzlinger finds the phrase “pop-up” painful, akin to online pop up ads, but, “pop-up” is an industry term and not something commonly used by everyday shoppers. And didn’t we all activate our pop-up ad blockers back in 1998?

We think the language for the engagement marketing discipline is spot-on. “Pop-up” denotes an unexpected and innovative experience. Bringing something fresh and unusual to the daily lives of consumers is what makes pop-ups such pleasant surprises to find under the High Line Park in Manhattan, brightening up a previously empty storefront in Beverly Hills or transforming a super store in the heart of San Francisco’s Union Square into a 30-day EA training center.

Always changing, ever-innovative, pop-up experiences create indelible experiences. We covered this very topic in our May blog about the pop-up experience, “The Pop-up is Here to Stay”: http://grow-marketing.com/2011/05/the-pop-up-is-here-to-stay/

In the age of social media it is more critical than ever to deliver real-world experiences and engagement to fuel conversations, which, as it turns out, can fuel social media and online content that brands are desperately seeking.  But that’s a story for another day.

The article addresses advertising metrics that were developed ages ago, before social media came into play, and looks to the future of how engagement should be measured. Crowdtap’s CEO, Brandon Evans suggests that reach, impressions, and gross rating points are measures of quantity, but not quality. And we couldn’t agree more. We’ve been evangelists of securing qualified reach by driving authentic connections and quality engagement throughout our 10 year history. Mass advertising plays a strong role in the marketing mix, we’re merely suggesting that the weight each marketing discipline brings to the table (events, pop ups, third party endorsement via PR, advertising) be re-calibrated when marketers are crafting their plans.

The article goes on to talk about how a single impression can carry a lot of weight. If 100 target right consumers attend a 2-hour event and each attendee has robust Twitter followers, this small but qualified audience with their ability to amplify their experiences and brand preferences is incredibly powerful. Measuring the impact of this type of experience is not yet recalibrated within our industry and we applaud Crowdtap’s efforts to create the “Brand Influence” metric, which takes into account not only exposure and reach, but also “intensity” and “proximity,” (how close and trusted is the source.)

At Grow, we’ve been beating this drum since day one: surround the qualified target, engage them with an authentic experience they want to be part of both online and off and amplify it through PR, social media and peer-to-peer conversations. These pillars create an army of brand advocates, and we’re thrilled to see others in our industry are also working to change the conversation around marketing metrics and the weight carried by each discipline.

–Danny

I was recently on a search for a new home and quickly became discouraged by how little inventory was available in the rental market that met my requirements. When I saw a posting that looked perfect I knew without a doubt that the competition for this place would be intense.

As I prepared for the open house, I decided to approach it from the angle that I was marketing my family as the ideal tenants – and I wanted to make sure we had an edge. Having learned the importance of forging an emotional connection from years of watching Grow create successful marketing programs, I decided to create an “about us” top sheet for our family, complete with photos and individual bios for all of us (the Grow PR team was impressed!).

My husband and I toured the house, chatted up the landlord as much as possible and left her with our “about us” materials.

We knew that she received multiple applications so we waited anxiously for 2 days. When she called to inform us that our application had been selected she specifically stated that the materials were a key part of her decision to choose our family; she felt like she got to know us a bit and felt a bond that she didn’t experience with other applicants.

This experience validated for me personally that the more engaging and memorable the experience  – with whatever you are trying to market – the better your chances of influencing perceptions and decisions.

Lisa