Posts tagged as: Social Media
Super Bowl Commercials Meet the Digital Age
I love sports. And competition. And Beyoncé. So naturally, I am pumped for Super Bowl XLVII. And as a member of the advertising industry, I look forward to the ads almost as much as the big game and half time show. And for good reason. Super Bowl ads are made to sell, but these days, it is imperative to entertain and engage as well.
We all know that Super Bowl commercials are big-time brand investments. Averaging at $4 million for 30 seconds or $7.5 for a full minute (a discount!), your commercials has to be a homerun. And while I may be mixing my sports metaphors, I’ll give it to you straight: one 30-second Super Bowl commercial doesn’t cut it anymore. You need a whole digital support network to really create buzz.
An example? Sure.
Chevy Sonic’s “LetsDoThis” campaign from last year’s big game is a wonderchild. From content to engagement to results, this was an amazing integrated campaign. It spanned YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, a microsite and the Super Bowl halftime commercial break. All without missing a beat. And it is not just me who was amazed. Google Creative Sandbox called it No. 2 in the top 10 integrated digital campaigns for auto brands.
The Challenge: Change the perception of Chevy from gas-guzzling, cowboy-hauling, dirt-road-riding truck to relevant, hip and new small car.
The Plan: Use a multi-faceted digital approach topped with a cherry that is a Super Bowl commercial focusing on 100-percent authentic Chevy Sonic “firsts.”
Leading Up: When I say integrated, I mean it. Lead creative agency Goodby, Silverstein and Partners hit every digital facet to support Super Bowl including 4 YouTube teasers in the weeks leading up to the big game. The night before kick off, the full 60-second commercial launched online.
The Big Game: The full-length commercial appeared during the half-time break and teased at its other online content, asking the viewer to participate by hopping on the interwebs to see more including a full-length music video and other crazy stunts.
The Results: This teasers and online content succeeded in driving strong interest on Game Day. Chevy Sonic Edmonds.com page views up 350-percent after ad; 200-percent for the rest of the game. No. 1 most viewed video on YouTube after the game? OK Go’s Chevy Sonic music video. A 680-percent increase in searches for Sonic on Google. And over 285,000 Facebook page likes. Looking for hard cold cash? Sonic’s share of the Small Car Segment shot up to over 6-percent a week after the Game – up 2.5-percent in 7 days.
So what did we see this year? Advertisers evolving in the digital age with Super Bowl commercials. We saw a surge in surrounding digital content for the content hungry consumer and a strong catering to the multi-screen viewer.
The CokeChase Campaign and the Volkswagen Get Happy campaign had opportunities to blossom. Both started as teasers with a myriad online content to accompany the shining Super Bowl moment. I can’t say that I focused on anything digital during the game. Outside of noticing a few Shazam icons and hashtags in commercials, I was more focused on the friends, conversation, and climatic game.
I do admit to a roomful of 20-somethings searching Twitter on their smart phones for news about the black out. The biggest winner this super bowl? Not the Ravens or Ray Lewis. The trophy clearly goes to Oreo.
Hope you got you chicken wing on, popped open a cold can of domestic and enjoyed the ads. And Beyoncé. And the game, too, I guess.
The Root of Social Media Leads to Restriction
Not so long ago, social media companies provided open, complete and unrestricted access to data. Through their Application Programming Interface (API), social networks were an open book for the developer community.
Many companies grew user bases by allowing access to social data via APIs and RSS data feeds. Twitter’s popularity is due in large part to the many clients, like Tweetbot and Tweetdeck, that utilize API access. Instagram gained users due to exposure on social networks like Twitter and Facebook.
Now social media companies are walling off access to their data. This has occurred in various forms including putting caps on data pulls, charging for access or simply restricting access.
Twitter pulled the rug out from under their developers, adopting a closed ecosystem and putting many companies out of business.
Most recently, Instagram, now owned by Facebook, pulled the ability to view it’s photos within Twitter posts.
Even formal agreements to syndicate data are failing as evidenced by Twitter’s breakup with LinkedIn.
It’s not too hard to see why this is happening: Money. As these companies mature, they must find a way to monetize their service amid greater competition. Allowing unbridled access to user data may dilute the brand experience and reduces opportunities to make money.
While shareholders may be happy with this trend, developers and entrepreneurs are left on the outside looking in.
Image from: The Connected Cause
Social Media with a Side of Maggots
Pulitzer Prize winner Gene Weingarten wasn’t the first journalist to notice the death of deadlines. As the Web expands like bacteria on a large, wet tablecloth, online news stories are constantly updated to satisfy the growing number of its users. But with constant content comes criticism.
No matter how irrelevant or ignorant, there may always be those online who voice unjust opinions just because they can. This is the New Journalist’s inheritance; the social media manager’s nightmare.
“It’s as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots,” Weingarten wrote in his Washington Post column.
Online, anything is criticized, no matter if it’s news, a Tweet or a Facebook post. And all evidence points that the only solution is a vigilante, proactive plan for when social media Hell breaks loose.
A horror story goes:
January 18, 2012 5:09 p.m. est.
A positive awareness campaign begins on Twitter in the late afternoon. But within three hours, the tweet and its hashtag are reported by the New York Observer for all the wrong reasons. What was meant to shed a limelight on McDonald’s hard working farmers quickly becomes a trending disaster. And thousands of brand detractors have something to say:
January 18, 2012 7:19 p.m. est.
By nightfall, #McDStories is an open casket for customers to complain. The words “high” and “Type 2 diabetes” are retweeted. The Golden Arches need to find a way to control a social media crisis. But how?
Let’s go back.
In the beginning there was SixDegrees.com. The first recognized social media site, according to a study by the University of California-Berkeley and Michigan State, that launched in 1997 with a handful of users. Fast forward nearly two decades and there are more than 450 million social media users worldwide.
Fortunately, the Web is not a dirty tablecloth, its users have a voice and the right to say anything.
“One of the things that makes bad social media marketing or advertising worse than bad TV or bad print is you’re going into the consumer’s backyard. This is their place,” said Henry Copeland, CEO of Blogads.
So a good social media strategy may be a constant debate. A forum where it’s good to know who your up against. And you’ll need to gear up with a broad awareness of trending topics, a quick positive response to any barb and an understanding of what makes your users happy and what makes them tick.
After all, constant content gave way to constant criticism. It only makes sense that a consistent social media monitoring and engagement strategy is now a part of your brand.
In the end, it’s invaluable as past crisis have shown, once social media users start chirping some never stop:
Six months later; June 14, 2012 5:40 p.m. est.
The internet is responsible for many things: faster news, decreased social tact, midnight impulse shopping….
Add to the list: the international renaissance of collaborative consumption. First, let’s define these buzz words and make sure we are all on the same page.
Sharing Economy – An economic model where that focuses on getting maximal use out of a product or asset by allowing others access to use.
Remix Culture - A term based on Lawrence Lessig’s Remix to describe a society which allows and encourages derivative works.
Collaborative Consumption – An economic model based on sharing, swapping, bartering, trading or renting access to products as opposed to ownership.
Mesh Business - A business that participates in and facilitates the collaborative consumption model. They tend to have 4 common characteristics: sharing, advanced use of Web and mobile information networks, a focus on physical goods and materials, and engagement with customers through social networks.
So what does this have to do with your favorite Michael J. Fox flick? Collaborative consumption and the sharing economy is an old way of life that pre-dates the hyper-consumption of 20th century and goes all the way back to our ape-like ancestors. Humans are made to share; experiences, knowledge, and, yes, even material goods. And thanks to the world wide web, we are reverting to our collaborative roots.
There are tons of options. From AirBNB and ZipCar to ParkAtMyHouse and TaskRabbit, there are social sharing options for you for nearly every aspect of life. Rachel Botsman, author of What’s Mine is Yours, classifies three types of collaborative consumption: product-services systems that provide shared use material goods (Zilock), redistribution markets that find new homes for used products (ThredUp), and collaborative lifestyles that allow people with similar or complementing interests to connect and interact (Lending Club).
Now, don’t get me wrong. There are some things we don’t share and probably never will. Think small cost, personal items with shorter shelf lives: your toothbrush, underwear, or lipstick. Some things lend themselves much better to be shared: your bread maker, vacation rental, or video camera. These things are items that your are not using constantly, are cost-prohibitive to everyone having one of his or her own and tend to have a long shelf life.
But why now? Why is collaborative living taking off in this very moment? The answer is multifaceted. A true convergence of market factors.
- Trust in online identities: We live in a world where your reputation is only as good as your reviews on eBay. We believe our peers, we read reviews and put trust in star ranking systems. As we continue to grow our online reputations and conglomerate our internet identity into a single username, we are allowing trustworthiness to be built online and we are moving full-steam ahead.
- Better shipping options: Our shipping infrastructure is not perfect, but it is pretty darn impressive. Your dinner tonight will probably consist of a fruit from South America, a vegetable grown in California, beef raised in the American midwest, and a Greek olive in that Mad-Men-esque martini on plates from somewhere in Asia. This is amazing in and of itself. The fact that you can get a used book including shipping costs from half way across the world rather than new at your local Barnes & Noble is an amazing feat. And it is making distance in collaborative consumption a non-issue.
- Growing concern for the environment: Green lifestyles are on the rise, and sharing is caring. More sharing of products leads to less waste. Shared rides is less gas. You know the drill.
- Budget conscious minds of a global recession: As we recover (albeit slowly) from a rather rough economic patch, every cent, yen and euro counts for just about all of us. (I have heard it’s about 99%.) Collaborative consumption can help remove the burden of cost. Renting for a few days is way cheaper than buying. And few people would say no to a few extra dollars in the wallet.
Who’s a part of this movement? I bet you’re thinking it is just for hippies and hipsters. Well, friend, you’d be wrong. Have you ever bought a used book on Amazon? How about rented a fancy bike while backpacking across Europe? Ordered a Valentine’s gift on Etsy or snagged a deal for patio furniture on Craigslist? You guessed it. You’re already participating, so why not dive in?
Some staggering stats:
- Car sharing is forecasted to be worth 12.5 million dollars by 2015.
- Freecycle has over 7 million members.
- Couchsurfing is the most visited hospitality service on the internet.
- Currently, peer-to-peer rentals from video games to surf board is estimated at 36 billion dollars. Yes, that is billion. With a “B.” Still looking for more?
Watch the amazing TEDTalk with Rachel Botsman and hop on the sharing economy bandwagon.
Sources & Resources:
Beyond Zipcar: Collaborative Consumption
CollaborativeConsumption.com
Etsy Raises $40 Million, Looks Beyond the Marketplace
The Rise of the Sharing Economy
The Sharing Economy: the next big business trend
Trust and Being Trusted in the Sharing Economy
Zipcar Wants to Make Your Car part of its Fleet
Digital Age Meets Relationship Era
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but now that pretty much anyone and everyone engages in social media the world of social is louder, busier and more disorderly than ever. Which means people carefully choose who makes it into their newsfeed, and consumers have less patience for uninteresting and irrelevant content. While brands understand the importance of social media, many don’t understand its most defining feature. The fact that humans don’t act social to get something, we act social because we are social.
Marketers need to stop thinking up ways to lure consumers in with tactical social strategies and start focusing on whether or not their message is worth sharing. Recently a study found that forty-four percent of social shoppers said they stopped interacting with brands on Facebook due to a lack of relevant or valuable posts. Brands and marketers say they understand this notion, but for some reason it’s difficult for them to change gears and implement relationship-building into their social media executions. It’s pretty simple. Consumers aren’t conquests. The more you try to sell, the more you scare — or simply bore — them away.
For brands to have real and lasting relationships with consumers, they need to keep it simple and look to their roots to find their true voice. They need know who they are, what they stand for, and why they’re in business in the first place before they start socializing. Shockingly enough, a lot of companies struggle to answer these basic questions.
Another reason the human component of social media is so important is because social media actually effects us biologically. When we make those social connections through Facebook and Twitter, our social behavior triggers a chemical release of dopamine into our brains. No joke. Which explains why it can be so addictive and powerful.
In conclusion, it’s time to embrace relationship-building not as the latest social media fad, but as the new reality. Big picture: If your brand is going to succeed in the Digital Age and the Relationship Era, you have to tap into that human component. Period.
The Next Generation of Online Couponing
Saving money is all the craze these days. Sites like Soap.com offer manufacturer’s coupons with a click of a check box. Reality shows like Extreme Couponing on TLC idolize the new hobby. Email specials like GroupOn and LivingSocial continue to grow in popularity.
Gen X and the Millennials are officially smitten. So what’s the latest? Wrapp wants you to give low-value gift certificates for free as birthday presents. It’s no joke. The European-based coupon king is coming to America and bringing the social side of saving money.
Rather than another “Happy Birthday!! xoxo,” the Swedish company wants you to post a $5 gift card to H&M, Gap, Sephora or 7 other brick-and-mortar retailers… so long as your social media birthday buddy meets certain demographic criteria.
The idea? Brands offer $2-$5 gift certificates online to gain exposure. You endorse the brand by posting it on a friend’s wall. Your friend gets a barcode sent directly to a smart phone, ventures out of the virtual world into the store, and spends far more than the original value based on your advice. And the brands only pay Wrapp when the gift certificate is redeemed. It’s a win-win.
Wrapp forgoes Facebook ad costs by convincing users to post for free. A few thousand posts later, and brands show up in newsfeeds across the country without so much as a cent going to Zuckerburg.
I admit it. I love Pinterest. I can spend hours skimming, pinning, and commenting. I use it for the typical things: crafts, recipes, and clothes to lust after. But, I also use it to keep track of books I have read and books I want to read, up-and-coming technology, amazing design, and a Christmas list. The user-friendly, visually stunning social media site is perfect for keeping track of things I like from articles fromSmashing Magazine to Jimmy Choos. And everything in between.
I’m not the only one, either. Pinterest is gaining dedicated users quickly much like yours truly so here is what you need to know to be ahead of the social media curve.
The facts:
- According to comScore, Pinterest holds the record for the fastest standalone site to cross the 10 million unique monthly visitors mark.
- Techcrunch says daily user count is over 2 million.
- While users are currently overwhelmingly female and American, male audience is growing and British men are leading the charge.
But what is it?
Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can post the fun, beautiful, funny, inspirational, outrageous things you find on the internet. The platform is highly visual– think of a late 80s teenage girl’s bedroom wall covered in cut-outs of the cutest new leg warmers, Molly Ringwald, big bangs and a pre-#winning Charlie Sheen.
It’s a social media platform where you can share images and video that you find interesting with your friends and others with similar tastes and hobbies. Like Pandora, it helps you find new things similar to what you already like.
The concept is amazingly simple: create boards on specific topics that interest you; find something on the internet that you like, want or enjoy; pin it to your board; watch it spread via repins, the Pinterest equivalent of a retweet. According to Emerson College’s Professor of Social Media David Gerzof Richard, “it’s about finding something that’s interesting to you and sharing it. It’s stupid simple to use. You don’t have to write anything. It’s essentially eye candy.”
But what does this have to do with brands?
Pinterest drives traffic. It drives more website traffic than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combines. In fact, Pinterest is driving 3.6% of website traffic for some 200 ShareHolic member publishers, only .02% less than Google. Some major brands are already on the wagon including Etsy, Whole Foods, STA Travel, and CBS Sports. According to Ad Age, Real Simple magazine is already getting more traffic from Pinterest than from Facebook.
But we don’t have recipes to share or pretty products to pin. How do I make it work for my business?
Make boards for internal use first. Create a board and add co-workers as collaborators. Share funny videos, cool new sites, witty SomeEcards, and 80s movies .gifs. As you grow comfortable and your team enjoys it, create new boards of things that inspire, projects you’re working on or technology in your field. Add a board of books you’ve read or infographics worth a look.
A few final tips to keep in mind:
- Avoid self promotion. Curate; don’t sell.
- Make your boards specific and relevant.
- Follow some big brands for inspiration.
- Pin original material. Don’t just repin. Add to the conversation.
- Re-pin material that you actually read, liked, admired or found inspired.
Why not check out Myjive’s Pinterest boards?
Sources:
“Tough to pin down, but too popular to ignore”
“Pinterest: How Do US and UK Users Compare”
“Where the Ladies At?”
“Brands, Businesses and Blogs on Pinterest”
“The Marketers Guide to Pinterest“
Social Trend Watching: Shifting from Facebook to Twitter
Are people really spending as much time on Facebook as we think?
For some time now, I’ve noticed a subtle but steady shift in the behavior of my social circle, as they spend increasingly less time on Facebook and more time on other social networks – most significantly, Twitter. Such a claim may seem trivial when you compare the two: In 2011 Facebook attained 800 million users with earnings of $4.27 billion while Twitter had 200 million users with earnings of $139.5 million. Even so, I’m not the only one who’s wondering if things are actually what they seem: Facebook vs. Twitter
While Facebook’s numbers still reflect positive growth, a closer look reveals that most of that growth, 60 percent yearly, comes from untapped global markets. Asia-Pacific and Latin America are two such markets with huge populations experiencing Facebook for the very first time. However growth is waning in western markets – with Europe at 35 percent and North America at only 25 percent. This pattern of growth is most certainly why Facebook keeps expanding in emerging markets as they continue to saturate seasoned ones.
So why do audiences grow so rapidly in emerging markets? Possibly because of a kind of “Facebook phenomenon,” in which a person’s highest point of interest is when they first join and are still making fresh connections. Then as time passes, some experience Facebook fatigue. As a user’s network expands and becomes more cluttered with irrelevant content, their social experience becomes more predictable. One way Facebook is trying to combat this issue is Timeline. While it’s still too soon to tell, it will be interesting to see if Timeline is able to re-ignite and prolong Facebook’s initial excitement of discovery for veteran Facebook users.
So who is the primary beneficiary of this subtle shift that is underway? Many would say Twitter. Even though the two social networks are seen quite differently (Facebook more as identity management and Twitter as news with possibility), people are making a choice between the two. This tweet captures it nicely: “Facebook is for friends who are now strangers; Twitter is for strangers who should be your friends.”
Perhaps Twitter’s biggest advantage is not its ability to constantly evolve, but rather that its evolution comes from users not just updates. With its organic user behavior, unpredictable nature and pure outpouring of ideas and opinions, Twitter is able to do what Facebook has not: consistently facilitate fresh experiences.
Our Digital History is History
In an article written by Lynne Brindley, the chief executive of the British Library, she makes a shocking assertion that in the future, the 21st century may just be a big black hole in our history.
With everyone storing their information online, we tend to casually delete any outdated information and upgrade with the new. So what happens to the old information? Does it disappear forever?
Lynne begins her article with a statement about the United States’ President website. Apparently, all old information on the site is erased forever when a new president comes into office:
“At the exact moment Barack Obama was inaugurated, all traces of President Bush vanished from the White House website, replaced by images of and speeches by his successor. Attached to the website had been a booklet entitled 100 Things Americans May Not Know About the Bush Administration – they may never know them now. When the website changed, the link was broken and the booklet became unavailable.”
Whether or not this statement is entirely true, it makes me think about my personal history on the Web. I delete, rewrite, redesign, and reorganize my life on a monthly- sometimes weekly- basis without ever thinking about losing those memories. The social Web of today is an amazing diary of so many people’s lives- How do we store this history of the human personality in 21st century America? Will it continue to be destroyed, and ultimately forgotten in the future?
Slides for Ron’s presentation: Social Media Marketing- Rethinking Traditional Marketing Plans.
