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Has this happened to anyone else? One day, I signed in to Facebook to see what my friends were up to and I didn’t recognize anyone’s profile pic. My Facebook page had been taken over by a bunch of babies. The moms and dads I know have every reason to be proud of those very cute baby faces, but there’s something wrong about seeing the face of a 2-year old next to a hangover-themed status update, or an ultrasound picture having a case of the Mondays. That’s not to mention the babies that now have their own accounts or this strange phenomenon of fetuses tweeting from the womb. (Personal rule – you must be at least 3 feet tall and able to form complete sentences before I will follow or friend you.)
Before they even type in their first www dot, the digital footprint of this next generation is going to be huge. With all the discussion around the permanence of anything uploaded to Facebook, Twitter or elsewhere on the Interwebs – will there soon be whole industries dedicated to pulling and cataloging someone’s digital journey, from their mom and dad’s first tweet or status update that baby was on the way? Or will there be entire industries devoted to creating blank digital slates for kids whose parents have shared every detail of their early lives? Potty and bathtub pictures used to be the ultimate in parental embarrassment, but they have nothing on some of the TMI details parents share, today.
I’m looking forward to following this trend over the next several years and seeing where and how I draw the lines, myself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go update my cat’s blog.
Image by TedsBlog on Flickr
We recently conducted a study of internet use among 1800 members of our opinions@trone consumer panel. Among the key findings was the projected increase in the number of internet-enabled phones. With their next phone purchase, consumers will more than double the collective penetration of iphone, itouch, Android-based and other smart phones. Once this purchase cycle completes itself, we’ll have the majority of adults with mobile internet access for the first time. This certainly bodes well for the continued success of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and suggests an increasing opportunity for many other internet-based services.
Having internet access does not necessarily mean that consumers will be engaged. The behavior of those who currently have internet access, however, suggests use will be significant. Measured by a top 2 box response to frequency of use, 65% are currently checking email, 39% are doing local-based searches and 31% are updating their status on social media sites.
There is no way to judge what the full impact of that many internet enabled users might be on brands and products but certainly the venues to which they’ll have access are affecting both brands and products today. An example is Saturday Night Live acquiescing to the 1,000,000 plus fans who utilized Facebook to lobby for Betty White as the guest host.
White as the host was a big win for SNL with over 12.5M households tuning in. This represents about a 35% lift over a typical SNL audience. While NBC was undoubtedly appreciative of Facebook and its many fans, White conveyed her old, immutable self with her remarks.
“I have to thank Facebook. I didn’t know what Facebook was before this, and I have to tell you, it seems like a waste of time”
A waste of time? Maybe. But, a popular one with nearly 2/3 of the adult internet enabled population spending a portion of their time on social networks. With that type of penetration, the ease of access provided by new technology and the power demonstrated by the SNL example this is a medium that marketers need take some risk to stay ahead of.
We recently reported some preliminary results of a study fielded to 425 moms in February, 2010. A significant portion of that study was dedicated to respondents’ interaction with wholesale clubs. And, some surprising facts came to the fore.
Our interest in clubs was driven by two key factors. The first was the notable shift in mom’s shopping behavior as a result of the economy. The second was the unique communication challenges of a member-only environment.
As expected, clubs have benefitted from the economic downturn.
46% of the moms in our sample are members of a club, with one in nine club members belonging to two or more. Of those members, just over half (54%) visit the club one or more times a month. And, 52% of the members indicated that they had increased the volume of their purchases at clubs as a means of controlling their spending during the economic downturn.
For members, the rise in club purchases approached the most popular money-saving activities identified by moms at large. In the aggregate, the two most popular means of controlling spending were using more coupons (63%) and paying more attention to in-store offers (72%).
Club shoppers still favor “old school” communication.
When queried about their preferences regarding communication from their club(s) on a range of subject matter, moms adopted a very traditional stance. General, top 2 box interest in the media were:
Twitter – 11%
Club blogs – 14%
Facebook page – 21%
Email – 51%
Direct Mail – 56%
Somewhat surprisingly, among those interested in specific topics, the disparity between the preference for “old media” and “new media” actually grew—categorically. For example, as it related to notification of upcoming promotions, top two box interest in the communication vehicles was:
Twitter – 7%
Club blogs – 8%
Facebook page – 14%
Email – 58%
Direct Mail – 75%
Even in lower-interest categories such as “money saving tips for their home,” club shoppers displayed a preference for being communicated to via a traditional medium over the more contemporary options. Of note in this category was the interest shift between email and direct mail.
Twitter – 5%
Club blogs – 11%
Facebook page – 17%
Email – 68%
Direct Mail – 49%
This study establishes an important framework for understanding the value of various communication vehicles, specifically for the club channel but, with implications for other retail and product brands. It does not, however, account for all the marketplace dynamics.
All customers are not created equal.
Retailers have long known that some customers are of substantially greater value than others based on the volume of their purchases. In recent years great strides have been made in leveraging that knowledge. Supermarkets, airlines, hotels and many other industries have successfully (or less so) created loyalty programs to track and reward customer purchase behavior.
All brands, be they retail, product or service, have also gained an appreciation of the value of their customers as brand advocates. For example, in this study, moms were half again as likely to identify family and friends as important sources of information on children’s products than any other source. The difficulty lies in identifying who the advocates are and how to provide them the necessary information and motivation to become active disciples for the brand.
Clearly, the results of the study referenced above indicate that while “new media” has some value for wholesale clubs, traditional vehicles such as email and direct mail offer a substantially greater opportunity. What the study does not take into account, but a future study will, is the importance of the various media to those moms who are most likely to influence others.
Organizations like Trone® and Forrester have identified that a relatively small group of people (~ 25%) are the primary contributors in social media environments. These moms can have an exponential impact on a brand’s spending. However, before they can disseminate information, they must first accumulate it and it will be the brands (retail, product or service) that best understand how and where to reach them that will be most successful.
After years of blocking their contestants from online outreach to fans, American Idol has released a statement saying that they will allow contestants to communicate via their “Idol-managed” Facebook, Twitter and MySpace pages. Sounds like a fantastic idea, but how will it change the competition?
Here are a few things I will be watching out for:
- The influence of social media on the outcome
As the Top 24 is narrowed to 12, we should see indication of popularity by visiting each participant’s social media site. Can you imagine how much influence each site will hold as fans of the show try to rally their friends and family to support each contestant? However, a new dynamic may enter as fans might become complacent and not vote if they see that their favorite has millions of supporters on their sites. - Each contestant’s ability to rally fans
It will be interesting to see how each contestant uses their outlets to rally support. This year’s winner could be decided on an artist’s ability to engage with fans to drive votes. A contestant’s social media savvy will be exposed. - Additional pressure on the contestants
There is no doubt that each contestant feels pressure from the judges and live audience. Will comments that critics place on the forums create more anxiety for the singers? - How much will Idol manage the forums?
The true beauty of social media is unfiltered, transparent conversations. I will be interested to see how much Idol allows.
Every year American Idol hooks me somehow, and now with this new dynamic, they have done it again. How do you think the new social media policy will change the competition?
If you’re like me, in the first hour I used Google Wave, I thought…”eeh. Kinda cool, but I don’t need another thing to check, why not just integrate these features into Gmail? Well, I pretty much got my wish and more with Google Buzz. Now I’m not sure if it’s what I wanted. I think the integration of social media and multimedia-email-like-objects could be cool. I could talk about the potential positives with this new google product, but I think those are pretty easy to see, here are some potential aspects I don’t like:
(If you don’t know what google buzz is, here is a video. In short, its Facebook and Twitter meet gmail. It will be in every gmail account, whether you ask for it or not. (but you can turn it off if you want))
Social Integration
I don’t know if I want / need another digital social touch point. I already use Twitter and Facebook. I don’t see myself abandoning them anytime soon. So right now gmail serves a pretty specific purpose for me right now, it’s my email. I’m not totally keen on the idea of inviting the whole world into my inbox.
Privacy Concerns
If you’ve activated buzz you’ll notice it’s already set up people to follow. Ditto for others. This article put it best “The problem is that — by default — the people you follow and the people that follow you are made public to anyone who looks at your profile.
In other words, before you ever touch any settings in Google Buzz, someone could go into your profile and see who are the people you email and chat with most.”
Must Google run everything?
To me Google feels a bit like the robber-barrons of the 21st century. Right now I have 1) a gmail account 2) an igoogle account 3)p google blog 4)a google phone 5) a google voice account 6) a google reader account 7) a google checkout account 8 ) a google wave account 9) a google picture account (picasa) 10) it’s my interne browser, its also 11) my text and video chat client and of course, my 12) search engine. Thats 12 prety major things, and who knows what I forgot. Twitter, Facebook and Apple are among the few major players I still interact with that aren’t google. Do I think google is pure evil like some people do? No. But I feel like I should be cautious. If they do turn out to be pure evil I don’t want them to be in control of everything I come into contact with, no matter how convenient it is.
I’m pretty set in my ways. Right now I like my social media with my social media and my email with my email. Can I resist or will I be fully dragged into the Googlesphere. I guess only time will tell.
(This was originally posted at Digital Pivot before being reposted here and at my website, but I did write it)
Remember when waiting by the mailbox for snail mail or running towards the ringing sound of your home phone were the only ways for someone to reach you?
In the past few years, I have become increasingly addicted to the fast connections of the latest technology. And while I’m usually not the first to embrace opening myself up to the possibility of having thousands of people being able to reach me, there is something thrilling about receiving communication in a variety of mediums at any given time.
Upon a recent trip home to visit my parents, I was made aware quickly that I needed to “unplug from the world,” as my mother stated. After receiving the ‘mom stare of death’ I plugged in the blackberry and vowed not to even look at the computer. The weekends conversations revolved around all the ways communication has changed over time. I mean, my dad can remember life without a home phone (and color televisions, but that’s another story.) Life pre-computer or ever, *gasp* pre-blackberry just isn’t something I like to fathom, nor do I have to.
After thinking about the many ways someone can someone reach me, (leaving out the obvious smoke signals, search light, sky writer and occasional flare) this became a fun challenge. I’m slightly embarrassed to share this list, but here it goes:
- One can dial me at work, on my cell phone or even the dinosaur landline at home.
- Remembering the office fax machine still works, one can send me a fax.
- Anyone can peck out an email to me at one of my three personal accounts or at work.
- If you’ve got the digits, anyone can text me or even BBM me.
- Professionals can network with me through an email via LinkedIn.
- If I’m online, one can IM me either through Gmail, AOL or Spark.
- Friends and acquaintances can write on my wall, IM me, message me, comment on a photo or include me in a note on Facebook.
- One can reply to a tweet via my Twitter account and even direct message me there.
- If found while visiting cyberspace, one can comment on my blog.
- And, finally, if you’re feeling old-fashioned and have a spare stamp, you can pen me a letter and send it to my home or work.
Twenty-four ways I can be contacted – almost all without someone leaving a seated position. So….why haven’t I heard from you?
If you’re like me, and most of your Twitter interaction is done not through accessing the twitter.com website, but by using one of the many applications out there that utilize their API, you might not have noticed their new home page. The obvious enhancements are 1) focusing on search instead of signup and 2) showing trending topics by minute, day and week.
Has Twitter decided that they’ve exhausted the people who will sign up just to see what the “new” social networking hype is? I would assume enabling first time users to the site to be able to immediately access the vast amount of information, updated constantly, would draw more to sign up. After all, 69% of adults don’t really know what Twitter is.
This is an interesting step that Twitter couldn’t have taken before it had critical mass. This is a step away from the social element of Twitter and a step toward the “news” element. Prior to this, someone who wasn’t “plugged in” to any social networks would have had no reason to join Twitter. Now, with millions of users agreeing on what is popular (vs. just your friends updating you with what they’re doing), those who have previously been only RSS users will (Twitter hopes) gravitate toward Twitter. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, there does not appear to be an easy way to get Twitter Trends via RSS (although there are those trying to make these “easily” accessible…examples here and here using Yahoo! Pipes).
So, spread the word, and hopefully expand your social network further.
I still remember where I was when I heard about Elvis Presley’s death – in the car with my cousins. The DJ came on the air and reported, “Elvis Presley is dead,” and then proceeded to play a song. By the time I heard the “news” he had likely been gone for several hours. Likewise, when Dale Earnhardt crashed and died I heard the news from a neighbor involved in the racing industry about 2 hours after his crash. When Michael Jackson died the world knew literally within minutes. The tweets were flying before his body had left the home.
Companies spend countless hours (years!) building their brands, but when news breaks, are they ready? Crisis communication plans are one of those things you hope to never use, but nonetheless you must have. In this age of instant “news” you won’t have time to gather your team and spend days, or even hours, painstakingly planning every word. You need to have a plan for getting your side of the story out. Silence may be golden, but in crisis communications it can also be deadly.
Most crisis plans are never used, even when a crisis arises, but by having gone through the process, and by having a plan you’ll be well ahead of the game. By getting well-thought out messages out to the market, even if no more compelling than “we’re looking into it,” can by a brand valuable time.
Tweet, you’re it!
So little of advertising is still advertising. But fortunately ideas are still ideas. I’ve collected a few examples here that show off some creative ways that ambient and social media have been used. These are brands that have gone beyond the standard Facebook product page or the CEO Twitter account to bring some creativity back to marketing.
Coffee Company PowerPoint Slide
This coffee company in the Netherlands offered a free cup of coffee to students who slipped a Coffee Company slide into their PowerPoint presentations. Pretty cool to have a word from your sponsor in the middle of your slideshow.
Terminator Salvation Twitter game
This nicely executed movie promotion enticed Twitter users to watch for tweets from @resistance2018 which contained fill-in-the-blank puzzles, word jumbles, and trivia. Players could rack up points by “decoding these transmissions” in a reply tweet.
Papa John’s Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality is one of the most notable new media tricks around. It’s a way of getting a users webcam to trigger a 3-D animation on screen. It really gives you the illusion of a hologram. (Is that redundant?) Papa John’s, GE, and Mini are some of the brands who are already making use of it.
Green Works Reverse Graffiti
This eco-friendly mural was created for the launch of Green Works, a 99% plant-based cleaner. San Francisco’s Broadway Tunnel was the filthy backdrop for the artwork of indigenous plant life, which was cleaned with the product. Pretty amazing product demo.
Milky Way Movie Theater Line Barrier
Although it’s questionable whether or not this was produced, it’s still a really fun idea—a great example of why it pays to think about where your target spends time.
Flea Spray Mall Floor Graphic
This giant floor decal lets the foot traffic on the ground floor of an Indonesian mall become the fleas on the dog. I do wish they had rotated the dog image 180 degrees so he wouldn’t look like a pork chop. And the line could be better. But still-great idea.
Iams Frisbee
While we’re on the topic of dogs, take a look at this cool giveaway from Iams dog food. To promote the healthy and strong dogs message, they created these plastic frisbees to look like 10kg weights to be distributed at dog parks.
STA Travel Facebook Page
Few brands with Facebook pages support their fanbase the way this student-focused travel agency does. They give their page a human voice with lots of interaction, contests, giveaways, etc. Plus, they constantly create incentives for users to become fans, which, when they do, ripples through the networks of Facebook friends.
There’s still so much discussion around marketing through social media and making the most of limited media budgets. We will have to not only master these media options, but continually find new touchpoints as well.
Let’s remember to send a postcard to our old friends Print and Television—let them know we’ll still visit from time to time.
On having a comment regarding Twitter.
I joined, I followed, I’m on the fence.
On the fence as it relates to my chosen profession versus my preferred means of personal interaction. As a marketer, what an amazing time to be in the business!! The explosion of social media brings new ways to communicate with your audience. Gone are the days of the cookie cutter approach and three month lead times. Think of the most outlandish idea and it can be implemented within days (or at least most clients think so)!!!
Yet, when I think about “tweeting” on an individual level, I don’t get it. Talk about random! And half the time I just don’t get it. Posts just seem to be the minutiae of day to day life. Do I really need to know what you are having for dinner? But then again we have become a society of voyeurs where reality TV, the latest celebrity gossip and horrific tragedies captures our attention.
Now I’m sure there is a niche who loves to communicate activities minute by minute, in broken sentences and a shorthand language. I for one am not convinced that on a personal level “tweeting” will have the following and staying power some other forms of social media do, i.e. Facebook.
So is Twitter to become a lasting component in the marketing tool box or a just fad catapulted to greater fame by Oprah joining the fray? And is it really a viable communication outlet for individuals or the next big wave in promoting all types of brands?
