Online Video Soars to New Heights

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The Comscore 2009 U.S. Digital Year in Review recently published its annual report on the prevailing digital trends of the past year and their implications for the future. The trend line in videos viewers is what caught my eye. The report indicated in December, 2009, 86% of the total U.S. online population viewed video content and the average online viewer consumed 187 videos (up 95 percent vs. 2008) The average video view time also grew from 3.2 to 4.1 minutes.




I smashed the average view time record to smithereens after clocking 30-60 minutes of daily online viewing time during NBC’s coverage of the 2010 Olympics. The repurposing of the network coverage video content on MSNBC was highly engaging. Everything from the site page design, user interface, HD content viewing capability and timely access to all of the action in Vancouver eclipsed any passive, couch potato experience.



The packaging and repurposing of rich media content online is a rapidly growing trend with sports. ESPN, Fox Sports , Sports Illustrated (and more) are the rich media labs of today, constantly advancing the integration of content to deliver the most satisfying and personal user experience. The direct feedback received from users comments, site traffic measurement and analysis coupled with intense competition is surely driving this optimization process.


Network and cable news are very much in sync with sports, leveraging their video assets across their online channels. A growing number of newspaper publishers are sending their journalists out with camcorders to enhance the online version of the news story. Note to newspaper publishers; schedule some lessons in video journalism techniques for your reporters in order to better compete with the experts!


With the release of the iPad on April 3rd, new applications will soon be serving the next level of interactivity and user personalization to touch screen tablet computers. This demo created by Sports Illustrated is a great example and will provide a competitive advantage for all of the Time Inc. publications to deliver content in highly engaging ways that savvy online marketers will be clamoring to display their brands on.






Stay tuned for the Comscore 2010 Digital Year in Review. Any predictions for video consumption this year?

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The New Vision of a Digital Future: Monetizing Mobility

posted by Nick Cifuentes @ Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 2:25 PM
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The idea that there is an overabundance of content in today’s digital spectrum is no surprise. In earlier times, newspapers, magazines, and various publications alike made a push once the web turned circles in the early 2000’s and content distributors rushed to get their publications online. This rush has since grown, and seen an extreme swell of content on the web, much of it free, much of it paid – creating the big issue that stands in front of publishers today: how do I further monetize?

Digital media might be popular, but from a marketing standpoint, it has not been easy on publications. Ad rates on the web could not match what was being garnered in print, essentially endangering the publications lifespan because of a lack of monetization. What saving-grace could be sitting in the weeds waiting to peek it’s head over – mobile device, and by that, I mean devices that are MOBILE.


As mobile devices increase in use (seen in the eMarketer.com study above), publications are flocking to create applications that can live and function within this new space. Everything from portable phones, to the hot, soon-to-arrive e-readers, tablets and other wireless internet devices; content distributors are seeing these ‘apps’ as the opportunity to both expand their reach and monetize their content at the same time.

Mobility In Play

Conde’ Naste Publications were one of the first to deliver full magazine issues on apps, staring with GQ’s December issue. By mid-February, according to Advertising Age, it sold nearly 7,000 copies of the December issue app and more than 15,000 copies of the February issue app at $2.99 each. When comparing this to the magazine’s print publication, which averaged nearly 194,000 single-copy sales per issue over the second half of last year, it’s not anything mind-blowing – yet. Conde’ Nast refers to this as a start to something much larger, as they prepare to get in a position to make a major play on the iPad, which is opening many content distributor’s eyes. They have also planned to create digital editions of Wired, Vanity Fair and a number of other titles.

When considering the outcome, you have to imagine that a number of people who might download single issues of a publication, could, most likely be, already not a subscriber. And if you charge $3 for that one download, think of 100,00+ people taking that same idea and applying it to their app collection – that will all start to add up.

Also, Zinio, which has been selling digitized copies of its magazines for display on computer screens for years, recently created a free iPhone app that optimizes digital editions of its publications for the iPhone. Within the first few weeks of release and 20,000 downloads later, it surpassed the New York Times app as the No. 1 News application.

It’s also interesting to see how a number of publishers are not just “unlocking the safe” of web content to a mobile application, but actually releasing specialized apps that draw in related information, but still sell and monetize the brand at the same time. Rodale, best known for its Men’s Health and Women’s Health publications, offer apps that range from 99 cents for a Men’s Health Ultimate Fat Burning app to $4.99 for their Eat This, Not That! Diet app. All of this is not just timely craze being built in branded modules that will live for just a period of time. Advertiser’s see the potential behind these types of apps and the ability to reach more targeted users outside of something like a Facebook or Web widgets were every marketer’s obsession years ago.


E-readers & Tablets…And the iPad!

This isn’t just all hype – there is something very serious brewing behind the potential of advanced e-readers and tablets, most notably, and always setting off the first alarm when they announce anything new, Apple’s iPad and other similar devices, are going to be a new source of potential income for newspapers, magazines and other print publications looking to make a big push.

E-readers and tablets are going to become effective content distributors for content publishers, and in no doubt will grow in terms of advertising revenue and further branded distribution. According to a Mashable article from February 18, Director for Digital Publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, Roger Fidler, said major news companies such as the New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post will be focused on creating customized content standards for e-readers and tablets. He also predicted that within 10 years time, a majority of subscribers to newspapers and magazines will be reading digital editions delivered to mobile reading devices.



As of February 10, there were 99 newspapers from around the world already available on Amazon’s Kindle – and this current Kindle model is subscription-based without advertising. Newspapers get about 30% revenue from having their content on the Kindle, something likely to change because publishers have some leverage because e-reader vendors must have content to succeed and newspapers will have the ability to do more rich presentations – content will evolve in the end game.

With that being said, that rushes the issue of staying competitive and enters the first question – “who can hit the ball out of the park to start?,” so to speak. For example, the iPad’s rumored debut turned official last month when Apple announced a March launch date and featured a full-color device with touchscreen; something the Kindle falls well short of at the moment. However, it is being predicted that Amazon will introduce a similar color device before the end of 2010.



iPad Will Reign…for now

With the pending launch of Apple’s new device, Wired Magazine has been planning, for more than 6 months already, to launch an iPad-only edition of the publication this summer that includes rich media content. Wired’s Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson showcased a demo of the Wired Reader app at TED recently. The publisher of Wired, Conde Nast, also plans on launching iPad versions of GQ and Vanity Fair as well.



From a marketing and advertising standpoint, users that gravitate toward the e-reader subscriptions are looking for similar experiences they draw from the print publication. Those who will want to get even more out of that experience will be more attracted to the iPad. That being said, I see more of a harmonious relationship between the two, rather then one trumpeting over another – and this good news based on what experts reveal could be separate advertising models on each device.


New Medium = New Content

With the advancement of the iPad and many competitive devices, similar in functionality coming soon, media companies won’t simply be able to re-purpose content. According to Alan Mutter, an independent media analyst, who spoke to Mashable.com in a recent article, said content needs to be richer, offer more user control and interaction, and has to let the user manipulate it in a way that it becomes highly individualized.

Sport’s Illustrated recently created an iPad demo prototype on how that capability could be leveraged:



Mutter said that although he has reasons to be encouraged, it will take time before a mass amount of publishers go running to this new platform and spend a healthy investment to create these new formats. That will not happen until proof is made that they can generate significant revenue and ultimately become a clear marketing and advertising channel.

What is success here? Mutter said that when a number of around 100,000 subscribers are reached through e-readers and tablets alone per publication; then media companies will consider them successful tools to gain additional advertising revenue.



It’s All Dollars and Cents

In the end however, these are all cutting-edge devices that are clearly going to shake the content distribution channels at their very core. The hope is to generate not only additional advertising revenue, but also separate subscriptions, and potential syndication from other websites – all could be included in a new model of “charging for service.”

Mutter said, for example, CNN charges $3 for their iPhone app and the New York Times just gives it away for free.

A recent report from Gawker.com said that a New York Times source said that an iPad model of the NYT could run a user up to $20-$30 per month. Why such a high price…they are scared! Even more, they are worried that an advanced device like the iPad would have print subscribers cancelling pretty quickly, and running for the hills with their iPads in hand.

In the end however, it is about two pieces to this paradigm: The idea of having content optimized for the platform (whether it is an iPad, e-reader, tablet, iPhone, Android, other mobile device, even a gaming device), and then most importantly - coming up with the model that people will pay for.

I guess we’ll just close our eyes and see what happens in the next few months…

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Leaving Your Fate with Facebook

posted by Bianca Garcia @ Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 4:35 PM
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This Sunday, football fans will be glued to their TVs for the Superbowl, while we in the advertising industry will be glued to our TVs for the... Superbowl. Let's face it, some people watch the Superbowl just for the ads, and through the years I've seen some great TV spots debut on the big game day. This year, 30-second ad spots reportedly cost $2.5 million and up - that's A LOT of money so advertisers often spend months (even years) in advanced preparing for those Superbowl ads.

However, Budweiser - a huge Superbowl advertiser - decided to take a leap of faith on deciding which ad to play and leave its fate with Facebook. Yes, Facebook, particularly Budweiser Fans on Facebook. Budweiser proudly declares as its status:

Budweiser wants our fans to help us decide which commercial makes it to the Big Game. Click on the "Game Day Pick" tab for an exclusive preview of three new spots and vote for your favorite!

This "promo" first caught my eye when I saw a Facebook homepage engagement ad:


It was a basic "Become a Fan" ad unit and it actually made me wonder why Budweiser is targeting me - is it because of my age group/gender/location? Or is it because I have "advertising" in my profile? I'm not a big fan of beer but I am a big fan of (most) TV commercials so I still clicked the ad and became a fan.

I landed on the custom tab for "Game Day Pick:And proceeded to watch all three clips. My personal opinion: they were all... blah. I was not impressed by any but did end up voting for the "Payment" one (the only one that's slightly funny and more interesting than the others, I think).

But if I didn't like with the Budweiser ads, why am I using up precious blog space and brain energy to write about Budweiser on Facebook? Because while I wasn't impressed with the ads, I was impressed with their strategy.

This is one of the most well-known brands in the world, undoubtedly with millions of dollars invested in marketing and advertising, and it is wholly embracing the power of social media. I'm impressed that they are leveraging the power of Facebook to hype up their Superbowl ads, and are letting their fans become part of this big decision (what ad to run), encouraging user engagement and brand affinity. And I'm impressed that they got me - a non-beer drinker, non-Budweiser aficionado - to actually become a fan, and watch their ads, and vote!

And even more impressive? Budweiser is smart enough to encourage viral propagation not just by giving the user the option to post it on their feed:


But also asking them to comment on the "what do you think" area:

This is just basic social media strategy, but it is genius in its simplicity. The key here is user engagement and Budweiser is doing a really good job at it.

I'm definitely watching out for the Budweiser ad this Sunday to see if the one I voted for actually "won", and hey, I might even drink a bottle of Budweiser (just maybe)... Whether you're tuning in for the football or the ads, I hope you have a great time!

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Social Media comes to the Age of Aquarius

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Hair - "The American Tribal Love Rock Musical" - is going to try a new way of reaching out to its audience. Starting tomorrow, the show's finale number where the cast and audience mix and mingle and dance to "The Age of Aquarius" will be recorded in high definition video and posted to the show's web page. The camera, controlled from the show's light booth, will follow a pre-programmed path to pan across the stage and zoom in on cast and audience members. Anyone visiting the site can then download the video, post it to their Facebook page, or send out a tweet to all their friends.

Make no mistake - this is a first for the relatively stodgy Broadway theatre scene. Every new show these days has a web page, and some have videos of scenes or musical numbers from the show but Hair is about the only show where cast and audience actually interact during the show.

What's in it for Hair? The best possible publicity for a show heading into its second year on the great white way - favorable word of mouth. Being able to spread the word about the show through social networks will probably give the box office a significant boost and keep the show running (and profitable) for many months.

Here's link to a story in today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/theater/02hair.html?hpw

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Interactive TV Ads: Real-Life Examples

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My last column, "When TV and the Internet Converge," examined four points that marketers must understand about what's now happening with interactive television. In this column, let's review real-life examples of interactive television ads and explore where advertising will go from there.

Interactive Television Ads: Real-Life Examples

OK, let's look at some things that have been done that start to combine video and interactive TV with advertising, games, and even e-commerce.

Budweiser: Branding Game and Contest


Budweiser ran an interactive TV ad that rewarded "interactors" with a game and chance to win a trip to the World Cup. According to a case study examining this campaign, around 890,000 people interacted with the ad by "pressing red" or select and 90 percent of the interactors played the "Heads Up" game to win World Cup tickets. Interactors reportedly spent an average of just over seven minutes interacting, but 38 percent thought they'd spent 10 minutes or more interacting! See a video of the Budweiser interactive TV ad here on YouTube.

Axe Body Spray: Interactive Branding Game



For this interactive TV commercial, Axe created games where viewers controlled bikes and did a stunt using the arrow keys. Other options also brought up a slow-motion version of the stunt and information about Axe body spray. The ad was shown to 60 million homes that have either DirecTV or Dish Network. In just a few weeks, 3.5 million people watched the video and spent an average of five minutes playing with the ad.

Charmin: Coupon Distribution


This Charmin toilet paper interactive ad was delivered to TiVo users. When the ad appears, a green thumb appears in the right corner of the screen that reads, "Apply now for a valuable coupon from Charmin." When viewers click the thumb using their remote control, the program they are watching pauses and they are taken to a coupon request screen. Using the remote, they can choose that option and the coupons are sent by mail. The program resumes once the viewer completes the interactive ad. Although this ad was done via TiVo, it could be done with any cable system.

Domino's Pizza: Ordering Goods


OK, this was one of the first interactive TV promotions to really get some buzz. As described from the press release dated Nov. 17, 2008: "TiVo subscribers can seamlessly access their Domino's Pizza order from various advertising entry points on the TiVo user interface...by clicking on "Order Your Pizza"...they can log-in with a simple account number...build their pizza order right from the television set by selecting type of crust, toppings, and sauces, and get the pizza delivered by their local Domino's Pizza." This particular promotion was not e-commerce enabled, so you paid for your pizza when it arrived. But how hard would it be to add a pay feature now? Not too hard.

Clickable Video: Imagine Where This Can Go

Let's start to imagine where this can go. First, take a look at the images and videos below. They're examples of Web-based clickable video. Now, imagine that this Internet technology moves to television and the mouse-like remote control evolved to be a Wii-like remote control mouse where you can move a curser around a screen to play games and click on items in actual TV shows. Now, imagine watching your favorite shows and movies in catalog mode. Product placement will be huge and shows will generate click and commerce revenue from the highest bidders. It will be "The Truman Show" meets Google AdWords meets Amazon! There is no reason why this technology can't be applied to television now that the remote control, the Internet, and television video are fully merged and we can pause shows while people perform transactions. At the very least, we can tell people to click "OK" to see more info on a particular item. Then the DVR can pause the show and a consumer can view a pop-up Web page and make a transaction if she wants to. This could be done in millions of homes right now!

To see the below videos live, visit VideoClix, choose a category, and choose a video. When watching these videos, roll your curser over the products and click on them.

Vogue, 60 Seconds to Chic

This video includes links for consumers to obtain additional information and to make a purchase.


Progresso: Start Cooking

This is an example of a brand's informational video that could link to coupons.


Nike: Zappos Clickable Video Catalog

I couldn't find this on Zappos, but you can see it on YouTube here. I like this example because it integrates everything and shows where you could end up making a transaction at the end.


Bring It All Together, Mash It Up, Make a Wish List

So, here are a bunch of things I can imagine being done -- or are already being done -- with interactive TV. For the real-life examples, the items include links. What can you add to this list knowing what you know now?

  • Unrivaled behavioral, geographic, and demographic targeting
  • Unrivaled tracking
  • Voting and polling
  • Send an e-mail with more info
  • Send a coupon
  • Send a package by mail
  • Send a video
  • Call me
  • Text me
  • Find a store/location
  • Schedule an appointment
  • Order
  • Order and bill my credit card on file
  • Order and put it on my cable bill
  • Watch in catalog mode
  • Pause and click on a pop-up Web site or widget
  • Chat or a Twitter stream
  • Real-time social and wall posts
  • Multi-player/multi-viewer interaction
  • At home game show participation
  • Custom story lines and endings

In conclusion, the way to think about interactive TV is this: anything you can do on a Web site you will be able to do with interactive TV. Ads will become much more action oriented to encourage viewer/user behavior and shows will have new revenue opportunities with product placement and embedded calls to action (really saving them). Finally, tracking will be extended to television in a whole new way and will really raise the bar on marketing and advertising performance and accountability. So, what is the good news for online professionals? Online marketers already work under this kind of atmosphere!

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When TV and the Internet Converge

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OK, so 2009 was the year of social media and there's no reason to suspect that interest in social networks will slow down anytime soon. But what will be the next big thing that changes the way we, as consumers, consume media and how will marketers leverage that consumption? My prediction: the convergence of Web-based content, targeting, and functionality with cable television.

Call it enhanced TV or interactive TV. Either way, cable, satellite, and fiber-based broadband penetration combined with targeting, interactivity, DVRs, and the cable company's and TiVo's knowledge of our e-mail addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, and even our credit card numbers will launch a new era in advertising and marketing. Old-school video creative, television networks, DRTV, and new-economy interactivity will come together.

While this has been talked about for a long time -- kind of like the days when we would hear about the "information highway" -- the promise of this technology is now here. Comcast's planned acquisition of NBC Universal validates the value and potential of interactive television. The folks driving that deal understand where interactive television is headed and I'm sure they have an arsenal of advertising goodies that will rival, and even surpass, the targeting, interactivity, and tracking of anything the Web can deliver. Interactive television will save the medium we know as television and replenish budgets that pay for the star power, creativity, and shows we've all grown to love and expect from the networks. I'm looking forward to seeing some amazing things.

If you're not 100 percent up on this stuff, let's first look at some of the interactive functionality offered by video, TiVo, satellite TV, and cable boxes. These features just scratch the surface of where things will go. In my next column, I'll look at real-life examples of interactive television ads and offer some predictions on where interactive television advertising is headed.

Step 1: Understand the Term "Addressability"

Wikipedia defines it as: "Addressability is the ability of a digital device to individually respond to a message sent to many similar devices. Examples include pagers, mobile phones, and set-top boxes for pay TV."

So, how does addressability affect interactive TV? We can take the targeting and tracking we do online (the thing that marketers love) and combine it with a cable company's customer records and data about customer's viewing habits. Television ads will be able to be targeted and tracked with unrivaled accuracy. Here's the reality: cookies can be erased but a consumer's ID can't be erased from a set-top box. As Variety points out, some advertising executives consider addressable TV marketing a "holy grail."

Step 2: Understand the Remote

In the column, "Remote Control as Mouse: TV and Web Integration," I discussed how today's TV remote is becoming the mouse of the future. You can move a curser up and down and side to side, click "ok" or "select," access menus, guides, widgets, and enter numbers and/or characters like a cell phone keypad. Just look at the image of the Comcast remote below.


Kind of like a game mouse, joystick, and game controller all in one, right? Imagine the day when you are watching an Applebee's commercial and it will say, "To get an e-mail Buy-One-Meal-Get-One-Free coupon for your next visit to Applebee's, just hit OK now on your remote." Then, armed with your e-mail address, Comcast or Verizon will fulfill your request instantaneously. Or, to take it a step further, how about, "Order your Snuggie now by hitting OK on your remote and entering your PIN number." The cable company would then transmit your order to the vendor, process your payment, and even take a cut. Now one more thing, imagine crossing the remote with a Nintendo Wii joystick.

Step 3: Understand the Guide

When it comes to TV/Internet integration, the feature we use the most is the "guide." (See the red "guide" button on the left-hand side of the remote in the photo, above, and the screen capture of the FiOS guide, below.) The guide content, typically delivered via the Internet, is essentially a Web site accessed through a TiVo or cable box combined with functionality that enables a consumer to jump to channels, set shows to be recorded, and order on-demand content that may end up on the cable bill. Now, while millions of people use this functionality everyday, most people don't really understand the power of all these technologies combined at their fingertips. This guide is the Google of your televised world! How many hits a day does your guide get?


The guide can essentially be a portal into a whole universe of Web-based content, applications, and commerce. If you can do it online, you can do it via the guide. Now that we have the PC screen and the mobile screen, get ready to create Web pages and interfaces for the living room screen. Note: while there are no ads in the guide now, I have a feeling that will soon change.

Step 4: Understand TV Widgets

These are applications that draw content and functionality from the Internet right into your television, where consumers can access via a remote control mouse. A consumer can get the weather, sports scores, and even Facebook and Twitter. (See a screen capture of the Verizon FiOS Widget Bazaar and a video tour, below.) Just think of it as iPhone apps for your TV. Now, imagine brands advertising their widgets on television and letting people acquire them by hitting "select" on their remote control. Something like, "To get Domino's Pizza widget now, hit OK on your remote."


See a Verizon Widget Video Tour here on YouTube by one of Verizon's product managers.

In my next column, we'll look at real-life examples of interactive television ads and I'll offer predictions on where things will go.

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An Alternative Approach To Social Media Marketing - Your Social Brand

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“Your Brand is what identifies your business to consumers.
It resides in the hearts and minds of your customers and prospects
as the sum total of their experiences with and perceptions of your company.”

- SEMPO
Branding With Search Marketing

If you were to ask most people about ‘branding” as it applies to their business they will most likely respond with an answer rooted in a company’s products and services. Sure, they will speak to the importance of emotionally connecting with their target audience, but at the heart of it all it still boils down to what you do or the products you produce. In short, for your brand to be effective it needs to sell and move product or services.

As we all know, companies spend untold amounts of money to develop a brand that connects with the hearts and minds of consumers, so as to ensure that they understand who, not just what, they’re all about. Therefore, if a company can form an emotional bond with consumer, it will lead to a much more long term and profitable relationship, as it’s more about the connection, than just about the product. However, while many brand marketers will speak of the effectiveness of a brand in terms of “awareness”, success is ultimately tied to and measured by units sold or profitably. What I mean here is that if people are aware but no one actually buys, are you really being successful?

Transactional Branding
I like to call this approach “Transactional Branding”, due to the fact that at the end of the day, while you are looking to emotionally connect with the hearts and minds of your consumers, it’s really about promoting products and services. Now, I will say that Transactional Branding makes complete sense due to the fact that it's rooted in common business strategy, which is to grow revenue and improve profitability. It also makes complete sense when used in the context of traditional media…broadcast, print, display and even search. The reason being is that in most cases you are using these forms of media to push a message out to consumers with the hope of connecting with them and pulling them back to purchase your product or service. While this type of brand connection does have the opportunity to facilitate a dialogue and customer relationship, it's ultimately based on the sale and/or product/service experience.

However, when it comes to Social Media, the paradigm is changing and many companies are trying to figure out what to do. The reason being is that the “Transactional Brand model” just does not seem to fit. Companies want to speak, but not be spoken to. They want to hear, but are afraid what might happen if they actually start to listen. The challenge for many companies is that when it comes to branding, they have built and developed their brand as a means to sell to, not socialize with, their target audience. However, for companies to leverage social media effectively, they need to be willing to socialize their brand, because that is what social media is all about…Socializing!

Now for companies that have the good fortune of a having a transactional brand, with a social angle, jumping into social media is not that big a stretch. The reason being is that these kinds of companies, such as Harley-Davidson, already have a very strong social relationship with their user and customer base. The reason why these types of companies are successful when it comes to social media is that they have figured out a way to “socialize” the “Transactional Branding relationship”. Therefore, when it comes to socializing with their customer base via social media, they are ready, prepared and willing to do so, because it’s been part of their core business and brand strategy all along.

However, there are many companies, such as those in highly regulated industries such as financial services that don’t have the luxury of being able to readily socialize with their audience. While many have very strong and trusted brands, they have been built from the top down and are not readily structured to be dissected via social media. The fact is, many companies in this arena have very carefully crafted brands and images and the thought of being exposed to the world of social media, scares the heck out of them. At the same time, they realize that there is an audience to be had and that they need to figure out a way to communicate with them via social media and establish a presence.

In my opinion, the mistake that these types of companies are making is that they are rooted in one size fits all model when it comes to branding and are flustered by the fact that they can not seem to fit their Transaction-based Brand model into a social environment. The lack of control scares them, and as a result instead of jumping into the social media space they have opted to just sit on the sidelines.

The Social Brand
This is where the notion of the “Social Brand” comes into play. While a brand should always be rooted in a company’s core values, how it’s developed, presented and executed within different forms of media, can enable a company to enter new and uncharted waters much more readily. Hence, while your Transactional Brand is aimed a facilitating sales, your Social Brand is aimed at facilitating socialization. Of course both are rooted in the same values and at the core express the same ideas, the content you put forth with your Social Brand, does not have to exactly mirror what you are doing with your Transactional Brand.

For starters, in developing your Social Brand you need to look at your company and what it does from a “Social Perspective”. This will enable you understand how and where people might want to socialize with your brand and what components are ripe for socialization. Therefore, while you may be in a regulated industry where you can not openly endorse or make claims about a product, you need to take a step outside of these parameters and look at other components of your business. For example, does your organization sponsor sporting events, support particular philanthropic endeavors or back particular social initiatives? While these items might not be tied directly to your products and services they are tied to your company. They are a brand component and most importantly convey its value system. These are also aspects of your business/brand that people can also readily connect and socialize with.

Now, I’m not endorsing the fact that when it comes to social media you should deny what your business is rooted in. What I am saying is that when it comes to social media, you need to think differently about your brand and how it can be leveraged to socialize with your audience.

By identifying and developing your Social Brand, you also have the opportunity to steer and guide the social conversation. Of course there’s always the potential that someone will address and bring-up product or service related issues, but by focusing on your Social Brand, you can help to guide the conversation around particular topics. Additionally, by focusing on and developing your Social Brand, you have the opportunity introduce your audience to a completely new side of your organization. Simultaneously, you will be likely grow your base, as you will bring people into the fold, who would not have previously engaged with your company, as you are now tapping a whole new set of interests.

How To Develop Your Social Brand
So, how does a company go about developing a Social Brand? The following are a few key points:

  • Alignment
    For your Social Brand to be effective, it needs to be aligned with your core values and business plan. Therefore, it can’t just come out of left-field, rather people need to see how it relates and applies to your overall business positioning.

  • Social Segmentation
    Take a look at your organization from a “social perspective” and identify which aspects and segment are ripe for socialization. Taking this approach will enable you to see what opportunities exist and the different ways you could socialize with your audience.


  • Content
    After identifying how you can socialize with your audience, what are you going to say and communicate? This sounds more daunting than really is, as you are most likely doing this, but it's just not being surfaced within the context of outbound media channels. Rather the conent is being tied to the "social" initiative itself.
    For example, if your company sponsors a sporting event or is involved with a particular charity or social issue, focus on content that pertains and gets created in relation to these endeavors. Before you know it, you may find yourself becoming a hub for people passionate or connected to these issues, causes or events.

  • Socialization
    Now comes the big leap, you need to be ready to socialize. Do you set-up a MySpace profile, YouTube Channel, Facebook Page, Twitter Account…all of the above or just some? The key here is that you don’t need to jump into everything all at once, focus on those areas that make the most sense and that best complement your Social Branding strategy.

Social media is definitely changing how we market and connect with consumers. Therefore as marketers, we need to also think differently about how we approach our business and look to connect with consumers. In the end traditional branding models will not always work, because they were not constructed to deal with a high degree of social interaction and input from consumers. Therefore, we need to look at branding as a form of subsets, including how we will and want to socialize with our target.

Developing a Social Brand, will help you provide a vision for your organization to approach the social media space and be comfortable with doing so. Yes, it will require you to think differently, but the development of a Social Branding strategy will also provide the vision and clarity needed to enter the social media space in a manner that compliments your overall business strategy and enables you to harness all the power that social media has to offer.

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Yahoo Picks Up Baggage for the Holidays

posted by Bianca Garcia @ Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - 11:42 PM
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On December 23 (the busiest travel day of the year), Yahoo sent employees to the San Francisco International and San Jose International airports and paid for airline customer's baggage fees. According to NBC Bay Area, this was "not a bad deal for travelers, who likely booked --and payed for -- their tickets, only to learn that they'd have to cough up a bit more dough for the privilege of actually traveling with luggage. The timing couldn't be better for Yahoo. For one thing, people leaving town will have a warm feeling in their hearts about the search company."

And according to AdAge, who called it a brilliant holiday marketing stunt, Yahoo hoped to inspire the Yahoo community to create a wave of goodwill. "Goodwill? Great. Putting the idea in consumers' heads that Yahoo is a company that will make navigating the world simpler and cheaper? Brilliant."

However, the AdAge article points out that the only issue with the stunt is scale. Instead of sending employees to just two airports near Silicon Valley, Yahoo could have spent more money - a lot more money - sponsoring baggage fees throughout the country for the whole holiday season.

I wholeheartedly agree. I think a bigger scale approach would get more attention and possibly build stronger brand affinity among consumers. Yahoo already launched Yahoo! for Good with a campaign spotlight on spreading kindness. Yahoo declares on its website:

This holiday, create a ripple of happiness triggered by your single act of kindness. Update your status to share what you're doing to spread joy. Then inspire others to join you by asking "You in?" The more people you tell, the larger your ripple. We'll use our network to share your good deeds with others. We'll also be doing our own acts of kindness inspired by your updates. So whether you pay for someone's groceries or drop off a coat for the homeless, your actions will encourage others around the world to join in. How big will your ripple of happiness be?

I personally find it endearing that this web giant is encouraging people to do random acts of kindness. But as an online marketer, I think the AdAge article had the issue spot on - this definitely could have been a much, much bigger campaign. Where is the social media component? There is already an inherent viral spread there (by updating your Yahoo status with your act of kindness, your actions will encourage others to join in), why didn't Yahoo leverage the power of social media to blow up "Yahoo! for Good"? For instance, Yahoo could have incorporated their Facebook page - maybe create a tab for this campaign - and not only generate user interaction but also build their fan base and create lasting connections. Yahoo could also have used Twitter to send updates about making the holidays better by paying for your luggage fees. And last but not least, what about Flickr? It would have been great to see pictures of delighted customers who were treated to Yahoo's generosity. Yahoo could have encouraged more people to comment, share stories, photos, videos, and basically engage with the brand.

These are just some of my thoughts, but in spite of all the could have's, I still want to give kudos to Yahoo for doing its part in making the holidays easier and brighter. Maybe next time they can send some employees to the Boston Logan airport :)

I wish everyone a stress-free, kindness-filled, happy New Year!

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Predictive Modeling and Display Ads

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Often times we're approached by direct marketing clients who want to scale up their online sales, but have exhausted or saturated their successful channels. They're bidding on all the keywords that perform, they hit their e-mail list as much as they can, and they're applying all the focus in their power to SEO (define). The one channel they haven't successfully cracked open is display advertising.

Unlike search, where you're limited to the volume of consumer queries around your performing terms, display ads, particularly banners, have a lot more scalability if done right. The amount of inventory and opportunities in some cases (if your target audience is broad enough) is unlimited. The challenge is to crack the formula of what sites, placements, rates, creative (offers, images, messages, etc.), and conversion environments (landing pages, conversion paths, etc.) will ultimately form a scalable and reliable channel that grows your business.

The problem is that many companies have tried to use display advertising with sporadic bursts of banners, often in high CPM (define) and premium placements, without a foresight of predictive modeling and a sustained effort that applies an ROI (define) optimization process and methodology. They then fail and condemn the whole category of online display.

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If You Build It, They Will Come

posted by Bill Holmes @ Friday, October 30, 2009 - 1:09 PM
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Advertisers, that is. The 'IT' in this case being social media. The popularity of social media has finally reached the point where marketers believe they can profit from it, and it seems that everybody wants in on the game. For businesses & advertisers, social media is quickly becoming more of a Need To Have than a Nice To Have.

However, this is a path that must be traveled carefully. Social media has the power to connect people to their friends and the world around them. Many people have a very personal connection to their Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts. With this level of personal investment, marketers plastering these sites with ads could run the risk of alienating their customer base.

For example, the recent changes to Facebook allow for ads to be more prevalent and expand their reach, much to the chagrin of users. Less than a week after these changes were implemented, a Facebook group called "Change Facebook To Normal" has garnered over 1.2 million members.

Personally, I'm torn over the issue. As a person I tend to feel ads invading my online life somehow cheapens the experience and reduce my individuality - "Bill Holmes is brought to you by Jeep" just doesn't have that ring to it. As a marketer however, of course I want my ads to show up everywhere I can get them, with an unlimited budget and millions of impressions.

The inevitability of this argument is that people will eventually accept ads prevailing in social media. Until that time comes though, marketers will have to walk the line between getting their message out while not interrupting user experience.

Absolutely there are many ways to do this. Jeep in fact has a great game 'Boostin Nuts' along with forums for Jeep enthusiasts (myself included) to post pics and brag about their rigs. Other applications such as the Celtics 3-Point-Play are a great way to be involved with the team (brand) while still maintaining a good social media experience.

I think overall advertising will always be part of just about everything we do, but the most successful marketers will be those who can promote their products while still maintaining the personal user experience that social media provides.

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Turning One Ad Impression Into Ten

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Not long ago, I had a client say something really interesting. He said, "We need to make sure everything we can in our campaign to turn every one impression we buy into 10 actually being delivered -- that is my challenge to you." Of course, we're always doing that anyway. Added-value no cost or super low cost impressions generally improve the metrics of what we actually optimize against -- things like cost per action (define), cost per sale, etc.

So, I decided to list some tactics we employ to beef up the impressions we were able to generate without having to actually buy them (or at least list them as having a cost, i.e., value-added placements.) Some are easy, some are hard, and some may require an awful lot of client side buy-in, implementation, or participation. But these days, clients are much more open to difficult ideas and logistics if they have a chance to improve the success of a campaign.

Value-added placements: First and foremost, when doing a buy, ask for value-added placements. (I know this is obvious, but I still see plans from clients' past agencies that don't list any.) Go beyond just getting more run-of-site (ROS) banners. There are high-volume placements like text links, text-based e-mail newsletter ads, buttons, and advertorials that complement premium placements very nicely. They not only add impression volume, but boost click volume and the top-line performance of a property, often saving it from cancellation.

Offline to online value-added placements: This is another often overlooked nugget. Make a list of the offline deals being cut in print, broadcast, and radio. Nine times out of 10, those buys come with a ton of online value-added placements that you would have never really considered paying for in your online plan. Many organizations offer bundled deals, but for the most part, there's a lot of online juice to be had here for zero cost -- and zero cost impressions and resulting clicks and actions help the top line metrics of any report quite nicely.

Tweet this: Put a call to action based on a chiclet (define) in your banner that gets people to tweet the deal you're promoting. If even a tiny fraction of the people who see it, tweet it, that could equate into thousands or even millions of added impressions and clicks. You can track the tweets by monitoring Twitter search, and track clicks and actions from this by using a bit.ly tracking URL in your tweet that jumps through your ad server tracking URL. If you have Radian6, or write a quick little script, you can also add up the additional impressions/tweets you got by totaling the followers of the people who tweeted your message.

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Social Media Weekly Buzz

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Twitter and Myspace have teamed up to beat Facebook to two-way Twitter sync, this coming shortly after Facebook rolled-out a feature for page admins to post page status updates simultaneously to their Twitter feeds. The micro-blogging service will soon also be launching a location platform that will be integrated within the API, and will allow users to opt-in at choice. Also, beware of hacked accounts and unusual direct messages, as a recent worm has been quickly infiltrating the Twitterverse.

Also this week, the FCC pushed for net neutrality with the launch of OpenInternet.gov on Monday, while Nielson and Facebook have joined teams to help businesses better measure ROI from ads featured on the social networking service. A recent survey finds social media is most accessed while at work and while in the restroom, and will we soon be seeing a harmonization of social media and phone calls?


  • Myspace beats Facebook to Two-Way Twitter Sync – Myspace will now allow users to synchronize their Twitter and Myspace updates using the Twitter OAuth service. While Facebook currently allows individuals to post status updates on Twitter, and Twitter offers an app to push updates to Facebook, there is a lack of any simultaneous syncing among the services. Will Facebook soon follow suite and offer a comparable feature?
  • Twitter to Soon Feature Location Functionality – While current mobile applications such as Ubertwitter offer location based features for mobile Twitter users, there is yet to be a geolocation feature built directly within the Twitter API. This is soon to change with the release of Twitter Local, which, if a user chooses to opt-in, will assign a longitude and latitude to each of their tweets. Ever wonder what your next-door neighbor was tweeting about?
  • Twitter Worm On the Loose: Login Information at Risk – A rather convincing worm has been spreading throughout the Twitter world through direct messages from infected friends. The phishing scam attempts to steal login information through a cleverly disguised Twitter landing page. Mashable did alert Twitter to the threat, and the service is quickly taking measures to stop any future distribution.
  • FCC Pushes for Net Neutrality – The FCC launched on Monday a website promoting web neutrality. In a nutshell, this important development should help to keep the Internet free and open, and is targeted at discrimination by Broadband providers in particular. This important act should help sustain users’ freedom in deciding which applications and services they wish to use.
  • ROI Soon to be More Easily Measured on Facebook – A recent study featured on our Stats Blog noted that 84% of businesses do not measure the ROI of their social media programs. Nielson and Facebook have teamed up to offer a better way to gauge ROI through a new product called Brand Lift. Ad measurement will be improved by showing viewers a poll after viewing the ad on Facebook. The responses will be compared to those who haven’t seen the ad, with the data then being distributed to advertisers in a succinct report.
  • Survey Says: Social Media Most Commonly Accessed from Work – A study published this week by Crowd Science explored and compared the usage patterns of Twitter users to that of users of other social media services. While the trends in general mirrored each other, there were some interesting differences. Twitter users were much more likely to access the service from work, from the toilet, and from a car. These findings could have potentially dirty and deadly consequences respectively.
  • Social Media and Phone Calls Collide – It looks as if the phone call will soon be getting a facelift thanks in part to social media and an iPhone app called CallSpark. The app will pull social media information from Facebook, LinkedIn, Salesforce, and Twitter and display this info while you call a friend. In addition, CallSpark can also act as a search engine for phone numbers, utilizing whitepages, yellow pages, Facebook, and Salesforce. GPS will help to rank the results to make sure you are receiving the most accurate information.


Facebook, which seemed to be ahead of the game with its integration of Twitter support, has just been jumped over by Myspace, a social networking service that until recently had been making very little noise. The two-way synchronization will allow users to update their Myspace status from Twitter, and vice-versa. Not only is this a way for current Twitter users to revitalize their deserted Myspace accounts (if they ever had one in the first place), but it may also encourage current Myspace users to make the jump to Twitter, or at least test the waters. Either way it’s a win-win situation for both services, and leaves Facebook in the dust.

The survey conducted by Crowd Science leaves us with some interesting, and scary findings on the usage patterns of social media users in general, and Twitter advocates in particular. In terms of location, Twitter users are more apt to access the service in all categories except during a class or lecture. The frightening statistic is that many Twitter users post updates while driving in the car. With all the recent news about texting and driving, it’s hard to believe usage levels are still this high. On the other hand, tweeting in the bathroom is also quite popular, and one that might make you think twice before using a friend’s phone. One notable find is the fact that many Twitter users have only been on the service for less than 6 months, most likely due to the micro-blogging service’s significant growth as of late.

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Socially Enabled Ads: An Update

posted by Harry Gold @ Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 5:02 PM
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More online ads are becoming less about impressions and clicks and more about engagement, interaction, and sharing. All the ad units integrating social sharing functionality and content are taking this trend to the next level. Here's a quick list of just a few I compiled with the help of Bianca Garcia, one of our social media planners.

Facebook's Engagement Ads

By now, we all should know that Facebook's engagement ads are the socially engaging/interactive home page ads. But some people may not have noticed that Facebook now combines certain ad functionalities to give the user (and advertiser) more opportunities to engage and connect.

For instance, these ads used to be just plain graphic plus text copy, or a single-focus ad: Give a Gift ad, Watch a Video, or Become a Fan. Now there are so many things we can do, all in one ad unit. For example, you can Watch a Video, RSVP to an Event, Take a Poll, and Become a Fan.

Of course, the two best things about these ads remain: the viral component and the ability to custom target. Any of these social actions taken by the user shows up in his/her news feed, and is then seen by their friends, spawning basically free publicity and viral spread. Custom targeting still lets advertisers target their Facebook ads by demographics (age, gender, geographic location), keywords found in the user's profile, education, workplaces, relationships, and even languages.

An example of this is the engagement ad for "Grey's Anatomy" season finale. Users can watch the video within the ad unit (it expands once the play button is hit) and RSVP to the event, virtually keeping the brand ("Grey's Anatomy") and the event (season ender episode) in their personal calendars.

Read more...

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A New Pricing System for Online

posted by Harry Gold @ Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - 10:01 AM
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There are a few pricing models for online advertising and we all know them well: CPM (define), CPC (define), and CPA (define) being the major ones.

But recently, Ari Rosenberg brought me a very novel and intriguing pricing model. It's so unique that he patented it and has some pretty major advertisers and publishers using it. It's called IPC, or impressions per connections pricing.

Maybe we'll all be buying media with this new pricing structure some day. Here's what Ari had to say about it.

Harry Gold: Ari, please tell me a bit about your background and how you came up with IPC pricing.

Ari Rosenberg: I used to be sales manager at Snowball.com (we changed our name to IGN in 2001). We had three "hub sites" at the time, including IGN.com, Chickclick.com, and Powerstudents.com.

While on our sites, I had noticed how often we were running ads that didn't seem to fit. Our sales folks were great at pumping in ads that made very little sense for the audience our brands attracted (Ameritrade running on Chickclick.com, for example).

At the same time, I also learned firsthand what it was like to have a campaign I sold get canceled because the ads did not perform well. This was a strange feeling coming from traditional media sales and I was resentful that revenue I booked would cancel because "their" creative didn't work on my site. I knew there had to be a better way to formulate a deal structure where everyone could benefit and performance on all sides was incentives.

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Twitter is A-Buzz with Starbuck’s New Campaign

posted by Meryl Pinette @ Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - 4:28 PM
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Starbucks has launched a campaign with the hope to target a new generation of coffee drinkers. The goal? To get them to tweet about it, of course!

Starbucks is putting up posters in six major cities, and has challenged people to post a picture on Twitter of one of the posters today. The first five to post are rewarded with a Starbucks Gold Card with $20 on it.



As one of the biggest marketing efforts Starbucks has had to date, the goal of this particular campaign is to tell the Starbucks story- about a company that truly values the quality of their coffee. This message is particularly important to those of the new generation who have grown up with Starbucks as a commodity.

The ads themselves are a flashback to ads in the ‘60s and ‘70s, heavy on the copy- as Starbucks hopes to evoke the message that there’s a lot to say about coffee. Some worry this is not the approach to take with this generation- for which Starbucks may not be about the coffee for this generation, but rather is about the atmosphere and a place to hang out.

Starbucks understands that Social Media Marketing is key for this campaign. Some of you might remember that on Election Day, Starbucks gave away free coffee to anyone who voted. What you may not know is how all the buzz about the giveaway started. Leading up to Election Day, Starbucks had a single 60-second TV commercial on SNL advertising the giveaway, and posted the video online. By the time Election Day came, this video was the 4th most viewed on YouTube- not to mention, Starbucks was being tweeted about every eight seconds.

With 1.5 million fans on Facebook and 183,000 followers on Twitter, Starbucks hopes this campaign will create the buzz it’s looking for.

For more on this new Starbuck's campaign, check out the NY Times Article.

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YouTube Masthead Goes UG

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There have been a lot of buzz recently about Sprint’s user-generated “Human Clock” which will launch this week on YouTube. The ad, which supports Sprint’s “Now Network,” will feature videos of people holding up one number that will be strung together similar to a clock. “For example, at 12:09 the ad would display four people, each holding up one number to represent 1, 2, 0 and 9,” MediaPost writes. The images will change as the minutes and hours tick by.



The ad will utilize YouTube’s masthead ad unit which works with other ad units on the homepage. This placement is great for advertisers who want to make a big splash. Zal Bilimoria, product manager for homepage at YouTube states, “On average, these rich media masthead units have 14% interaction rates, compared to the industry average noted by DoubleClick for similar-size units of just under 5%.”

The ad unit will also be available as a widget at Sprint’s Now Network micro-site. The site also features interesting facts of things happening “Now,” such as the number of bicycles being produced worldwide, traffic updates in major cities, and even the number of people stuck in elevators. Overwhelming at first, the montage of stats is artfully displayed as a series of interesting stats happening around the world. I admit, I have been on the site for over 42 minutes and I haven’t even clicked on half of the stats. To find out more about the number of coffee cups being produced or the next bus arriving in Portland, visit the site at http://www.sprint.com/network

For more information about this post please visit MediaPost's article, "Sprint Takes Over YouTube Home Page With UG Human Clock"

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Twitter Dips into Advertising/Sponsorships?

posted by Bianca Garcia @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 - 2:44 PM
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Yesterday, Twitter launched ExecTweets, a cross between a Twitter app and a sponsored site. A joint effort by Twitter and Federated Media, ExecTweets is still in beta but is basically a Microsoft-sponsored page that aggregates the tweets of various executives. Although this is not exactly the traditional advertising revenue-model, the launch of ExecTweets opens up more branding and sponsorship opportunities. Because now, we can look at Microsoft as the pioneer "advertiser" - and who know what other brands will follow soon?

Some interesting soundbites -
According to the Federated Media blog, "Federated Media, Twitter and Microsoft have created ExecTweets, a real-time tool that helps you to find, follow and engage with the world’s most prolific and successful business executives on Twitter... ExecTweets cuts through the clutter and provides only the most relevant and insightful business-focused conversations - all curated and aggregated into industry verticals..."
And according to the Twitter blog, "Twitter is contacted regularly by brands interested in sponsoring innovative experiences based on topics of interest.... So if you're a major brand and you want to sponsor a topic-focused social media experience with Twitter, we suggest Federated Media—they'll fix you up right." (good job promoting partners!)


An article on All Things Digital states that this seems to be a fairly cautious step into marketing, and I agree - but at least Twitter is finally venturing into sponsorship opportunities. Another article on CNET talks about how this is not yet the big, evasive revenue model users were expecting...

Well, whatever it is, it is definitely something new that could become an avenue for future advertising opportunities! Besides, if you scroll down the bottom of ExecTweets, what do you see? A Microsoft leaderboard...

Exciting news, and I can't wait to see what the future of (advertising on) Twitter holds!

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New Facebook Redesign Creates a Brilliant Marketing Platform for Brands

posted by Nick Cifuentes @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 7:43 AM
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Facebook made a bit of noise last week when they introduced the new Business Pages layout. Then, several days later, made changes to the Home page of all user profiles, and integrated a 'Twitter' like wall stream - Facebook's strategy in building out a more real-time conversation tool.

As usual, when Facebook decides to make changes, your entire office, your close friends and other random people you might see throughout the day - they all have something to say, and I am sure you've heard the complaints already. However, I am here to bring calm to the storm...rest assured, Facebook is making a very intelligent change in status here. And most importantly, businesses will be able to flourish greatly from this move.

When it comes to the new business pages - it will now look and function much like personal profiles, offering stronger brand connections via the wall stream, which now takes center stage. When a fan comes to your page now, the very first page they look at is the 'wall stream'. On this page, businesses that create content often, will thrive in this new environment. As a brand, the wall stream page will gather content and post information about the page and posts by the page itself. Also, content shared by you, links, photos, videos and short text updates via the status updates, and posts by your fans left for you - all now show up in the wall.

In this update, which is really the holy grail here, the wall updates you post will publish to your Fans' news feeds, and posts by your Fans will go to their friends' news feeds as well. So, think about this a second - the more content you are able to place and create in your channel, the more you engage with your fans, in turn, the more people you will be able to reach constantly. A single status update of your business profile seeds through Facebook into your fan's news streams. Now, all their friend's see this, and can 'like' or 'comment' on the update, and possibly go one step further and become a Fan of the page.

The wall stream will be a large key in driving attention to your page - use it wisely! You are familiar with how Twitter works, Facebook is integrating the same concept using this wall stream - homepage stream. The more frequency of status updates on your page, the more chance you have to stand out with your fans in the Facebook stream.




When it comes to the layout of the page, Facebook rid themselves of the long 'leaderboard' layout, and moved to a tabbed layout - exactly how your user profile pages now function. And now, when a fan goes to your business page, they are defaulted to the Wall tab, so that fans can see the most recent added content to the page. And for non-Fans that visit your page, you can set a default landing page within your business profile page.





With the ability to send new potential fans to your business page, you can highlight a specific default tab to send them to that might have the most appealing or interactive elements within your page. This will allow users to better promote different portions of their page by driving ad traffic or new fans to certain sections of your profile. By driving potential fans to landing pages within Facebook, you can dramatically grow your fans and leads that ultimately improve conversion rates.

If you are running a specific campaign, or have a new application, event, or interactive element on your page you want new users to connect with - now you can easily create that conversion path for the user.

Some interesting analytics were also integrated into new business pages. Facebook now allows you to track video views, comments posted, news feed posts viewed, and this is all in addition to page views and unique views. And even better, all this data is exportable via CSV sheets.

New Design Makes Advertising on Facebook Irresistible

Facebook is clearly trying to drive more advertisers to use the platform, and it makes a lot of sense now with Facebook allowing you to drive non-fans to specific pages inside your business profile. This is going to add value and interest for users who will make their way to your Facebook page. Brands should embrace this tactic and give Facebook advertising a shot - you won't be disappointed this time around.

People in the past have been reluctant to spend money on advertising within social networks. The real fact is, social network members are co-creators of content, and in turn, feel they have a sense of ownership within the site. Advertising needs to be more about participating in relevant conversation with consumers rather than simply pushing ads onto a social network user. Advertising should focus on being part of the conversation, not invading the social space.

Advertising needs to be about adding value to a user's experience, as social networks are built around members adding value to each other's lives through interaction. This is why fan sites and sponsored groups are truly one of the most successful strategies when marketing within the platforms. This act touches on the principles of interactivity, and adds value to a user's experience via offers, previews, and the ability for user's to help create content.

The true challenge though in creating a perfect marriage between social network advertising - marketing and that network's user, is time. There is no quick-fix in social network marketing, sure there can be exceptions, but those are few and far between. Much like a friendship, social media marketing requires effort, time and a continual investment in the platform to build and foster relationships. Remember, your messaging needs to be authentic and humble, and built on two-way conversation, not a push (one-way) model - in the end, this will add value to the consumer's decision.

For more information on social media marketing, please review our services, and contact us or myself if you have any questions.

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Common Tracking Issues and How to Address Them

posted by Harry Gold @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 - 10:22 AM
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Questions and issues over tracking and reporting online ads have persisted among agencies, media vendors, ad servers, Webmasters, and clients since I started my career. Terms and procedures around tracking have not been standardized, resulting in lots of confusion.

Last time, I listed five common tracking and reporting issues and offered sensible approaches to deal with the first two. In this column, let's examine ways to address the latter three tracking issues.

The five most common tracking and reporting issues are:

  • Why online reports aren't 100 percent accurate.

  • Why view-through conversions are not conversions.

  • How double counting occurs in different systems.

  • Why tracking from different systems don't always match.

  • How to compare first-click conversions versus last-click conversions.


Read more...

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View-Through Conversions Are Not Conversions

posted by Harry Gold @ Tuesday, March 3, 2009 - 10:19 AM
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Just in the last couple of months, we have dealt with some tracking questions and issues. Throughout my career, these types of issues have persisted among agencies, media vendors, ad servers, Webmasters, and clients. One thing's clear: the terms and procedures around tracking have not been standardized. As a result, there's lots of confusion in the marketplace around tracking and analytics.

This two-part column will examine five common tracking and reporting issues and offer sensible approaches and explanations to deal with them. The tracking issues are:

  • Why online reports aren't 100 percent accurate.

  • Why view-through conversions are not conversions.

  • How double counting occurs in different systems.

  • Why tracking from different systems don't always have to match.

  • How to compare first-click conversions versus last-click conversions.

In this column, I will dig deep into the first two items and follow up next time with the other three.

Read more...

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Listening to your Consumers

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Tropicana found out the hard way that consumers who are passionate about the brand, will talk about the brand; and it's not always in the most positive light. In January, Tropicana launched a new packaging design for its Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice. Previously, the design featured an orange with a straw sticking out. The brand name with the type of juice, such as “No Pulp” stood out on the design. The new design features a glass of orange juice, with less prominence placed on the brand and type of OJ, and more on the “100% orange” guarantee.

Upset consumers wrote letters, emails, and called to complain about the new packaging. They even turned to social networks to rally against the new design. If you search for "Tropicana packaging" in Facebook, 4 group profiles appear with names such as "I loathe the new Tropicana repackaging." These group pages may not have a lot of members (the one I mentioned only had 99), but Tropicana took notice.

Tropicana underestimated the emotional bond that consumers had with the brand. As a result of consumer feedback, Tropicana is pulling the redesigned packaging from the shelf in favor of the previous packaging. A recent NY Times article by Stuart Elliot, stated that "It was not the volume of the outcries that led to the corporate change of heart," because according to Neil Campbell, president at Tropicana North America, "it was a fraction of a percent of the people who buy the product.” However the feedback was from loyal consumers who are passionate about the brand.

"You used to wait to go to the water cooler or a cocktail party to talk over something," said Richard Laermer, chief executive at RLM Public Relations in New York. "Now, every minute is a cocktail party," he added. "You write an e-mail and in an hour, you’ve got a fan base agreeing with you."

This is a good example of how a company has listened to its consumers and made changes in response to feedback. Social media has helped to build relationships between companies and consumers. However, instead of being reactive to consumer feedback, companies need to embrace social media to gather feedback before something such as a package redesign launches. Tools such as polling and surveying on Facebook can give companies insight into the minds of the consumer. As Mr. Campbell mentioned, "…if consumers are speaking, you have to listen."

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Google Suggest Extension for Firefox displaying PPC Ads?

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This morning I discovered what appears to be partial paid search ad within the Google Suggest drop-down menu. It appears that the Firefox extension is pulling the 25 character ad headline and display URL right into the drop-down menu. As an advertiser on Google, I was surprised not to have heard of this development. It has yet to be determined if these partial impressions are counted in the AdWords tally. What is more concerning is the fact that none of these paid ads actually appear to work. All of the paid partial ads point to the page below showing the page www.google.com/www.displayurl.com/ does not exist.

I would assume that these "clicks" to the partial ads within the Suggest menu are not actually being counted since the user never hits the destination page, but this has yet to be confirmed. It looks like there are still some bugs to be worked out here obviously, but this is something advertisers should be aware of.

Impressions on text ads might not be as valuable as impressions for other ad units, but they can still have a major impact, especially for users early in the decision making process that are compiling a short list of potential solutions or products. So, if 70 characters of your impression are missing, the value is undoubtedly decreased, as benefit statements and offers that most often influence click behavior are missing. Furthermore, as an advertiser I would be concerned about the partial impressions and how these partial impressions could bring down the click through rate, which in turn decreases the Quality Score and brings down the performance of the AdGroup and Campaign as a whole.

Hopefully Google will allow for an option to block these impressions so that advertisers have the ability to save their limited funds for full ad impressions that don't dilute Quality Score overall campaign metrics.

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Paying Less for More Buzz

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Miller High Life is approaching the Super Bowl in a unique way this year. Instead of committing $3 million for a 30-second spot, the beer company will be airing a one-second ad, known as a “blink,” for a fraction of the price. The commercial will feature actor Windell Middlebrooks who has been the spokesperson for the Miller High Life commercials since 2007.

To generate buzz about the ad, Miller High Life launched a website, http://www.1secondad.com/, where people can view the full 30-second commercial and a series of one-second ads. The site also features list of items that you could also get for $3 million, besides a 30-second Super Bowl ad. Items include 230 tons of smokehouse bacon, 79,000 porterhouse steaks and 15,000 sky dive jumps.

"Miller High Life is all about high quality and great value, so it wouldn’t make sense for this brand to pay $3 million for a 30-second ad. Just like our consumers, High Life strives to make smart choices. One second should be plenty of time to remind viewers that Miller High Life is common sense in a bottle,” Kevin Oglesby, Senior Brand Manager at Miller High Life.

Even though Miller High Life will be the only advertiser with the one-second spot, other advertisers share Mr. Oglesby sentiment. In years past, companies have aired ads that asked consumers to buy products at regular prices. This year however, advertisers will appeal to consumer’s wallets and funnybone. For example, wallet-friendly restaurant, Denny’s, will feature gangsters sitting around a booth having a serious conservation when a Denny’s waitress walks up starts spraying whip cream in smiley faces on their pancakes.

Whether an advertiser will be airing a one-second ad or a 30-second ad, the Super Bowl is one televised event where viewers actually watch the commercials. There has been so much buzz around this year's ads, I'm more excited about the commercials than the game. Not only that, I'm interested to see what other people at my Super Bowl party will say about the one-second ad (if they even see it).


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