Brands are just beginning to explore new storytelling and engagement opportunities with Google+ and its innovative Hangouts. Benefits of doing so include amplifying core messages, creating an innovative perception among early adopters and achieving specific business goals such as improving customer service. But there are a few established brands who have plugged in to amplify.
With the innovative and widely available videoconferencing feature so new, now would be the time to invest resources into testing the metaphorical waters. Brands that are willing to embrace the new Google+ network and Hangouts feature will set an example for their industry and competitors. This radiates the perception that the brand is accessible and innovative while also supplying consumers with an experience they can brag about to their social nets.
For Those Curious About What It Is
With Google+ Hangouts, brands can speak face to face to their audience members – whether they’re customers with questions or fans seeking fun. From a functional standpoint, it is a free online group videoconferencing application that lives within the Google+ platform, but can be used across multiple Google products such as iGoogle, Gmail and Orkut.
Up to 10 people can join a single Hangout. To improve the reach of that conversation, Google is currently beta testing a live streaming service called Hangouts On Air that broadcasts via YouTube. Once it’s made available to all brand pages, the new feature will expand viewership potential to the size of everyone on the Internet, or the amount of traffic Google’s YouTube servers can manage.
The only necessary item outside of a Google+ brand account, webcam and connected device is a topic that’s interesting enough to garner conversation. That means that anyone connected to the Internet, even through mobile, can participate in Hangouts. This opens up the door to striking up conversations with customers while they’re on the go or, say, comparison shopping.
Three Examples of Brands Learning, Exploring and Doing
Here are a few brands that use the tool to augment their core messages and achieve specific business goals, as well as establish a deeply visual and interactive experience with the audience.
Common themes in branded Hangouts include providing accessibility to top management, telling the story behind the brand in an authentic way and leveraging the viral elements of Hangouts to build buzz or promote a specific event.
Muppets: Host a Themed Hangout and Just Have Fun, But Build Buzz, Too
The creators of the most recent, Academy Award®-winning Muppets movie “hung out” last November to build buzz about the upcoming film. Individual Muppets, like Kermit and Miss Piggy, made appearances along with the movie’s co-writer and actor Jason Segel. They hosted closed and open Hangouts, giving consumers the opportunity to hang out with Kermit or another member of the fuzzy squad.
Overall, the experience gave consumers the opportunity to get to know various Muppet characters on a more personal level, increasing the human element of the brand. And by providing an avenue for consumers to connect with the stars in a new, unexpected way, the brand also provided a story for them to tell. Other brands can conclude from this that consumers want to know you and talk to you on a more personal level.
Bringing Out the Best Memories with Coca-Cola
You may or may not know about the Coca-Cola archives. Inside them are items that tell stories that speak to the heritage of the brand and how it has implanted itself into American culture – at the core of each product is a memory, a nostalgic emotion that transports consumers back in time.
In the past, the brand has worked with various media outlets to give fans and those interested an inside look at what is stored on the archives’ shelves. An interactive website also exists that allows fans to learn about the archives and explore aisle upon aisle of Coke memorabilia.
On February 16, Coca-Cola hosted an interactive video tour of the archives via Hangouts to give fans an insider’s view of the shelves. This provided them a new way to experience the archives by directly talking to the tour guides. So instead of passively watching a produced video or navigating an experiential site with a limited social dynamic, consumers were provided the opportunity to give direct feedback and interact in a way that is closer to what the in-person experience would be like.
Yes, It’s a Customer Service Tool
There are plenty of business cases for brands using Hangouts. From promoting your next movie flick (Muppets) to connecting brand loyalists with nostalgic memories (Coca-Cola), perhaps none stand out more than the ability to directly nurture customer service through face-to-face video chat. It’s a completely unexpected service brands can provide to stand out from the pack. And it’s perhaps the most-talked-about use case for the tool among media types and bloggers, pointing to great press opportunities for brands willing to take the plunge, such as Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, Inc.
Dell has a long history of taking the figurative social media bull by the horns and making itself an example that many of us industry nerds constantly refer to as a model of social success. In this specific case, CEO Michael Dell is often cited in blogs, forums and the media for hosting Hangouts. In them, he typically collaborates with techies, customers and the average consumer to talk about relevant issues and trends within the technology industry and Dell as a company.
By jumping right in, he has positioned himself and his company as comfortable with the hot seat and as more accessible than those without a Google+ Hangouts presence. So far, he has been well received, and it appears that Dell is developing a broader strategy for Hangouts as it sees the feature as a viable communications vehicle for the business, specifically in the customer support category.
Implications
If Google+ Hangouts continues to capture attention and investment from consumers, it will shift consumer expectations in how they communicate with brands on the Web. Instead of submitting an email to a brand’s inbox abyss or listening to a voice from a brand’s call center, they might expect to hear and see you face to face. Because Google has introduced that option to consumers in a very simple, cheap and accessible way, the technology could catch wind and take the social networking and sharing experience to new heights.
Regardless of its magnitude as a trend, the implication of connecting with consumers in a more human way is the beneficial gem of Hangouts. That human element is what drives most relationships, and this tool nurtures true, accurate and authentic communications online. Brands that identify a strategic alignment between their business and those benefits have one simple question to answer.
Will you dip your toes in, make a splash or sit and stand by as others have all the fun?
The buzz about Facebook’s storefronts, known as f-commerce, has been hot over the last few years. Recently, the temperature toward storefronts on Facebook has turned decidedly cooler, with retail giants like JCPenney, Nordstrom, The Gap and GameStop all closing their Facebook shops. Does this signal the end of social e-commerce? Absolutely not.
First, we must analyze why f-commerce did not pan out as expected. With too many unauthorized wall posts, unwanted messages and sudden terms of service changes, users are increasingly wary of trusting Facebook. Couple that distrust with the fact that it is a “sharing” site, and consumers are resistant to entering their credit card information on Facebook.
From a usability standpoint, viewing scads of products in a confined viewing area crammed between Facebook navigation and Facebook ads is not a particularly pleasant experience. Additionally, the browser back button returns the user to the previous Facebook page, not the previous shopping page. Companies can spend millions to create an online storefront, so why wouldn’t customers prefer to shop within the much more robust experience of a true e-commerce site?
Despite these challenges, there are terrific avenues for the savvy brand to leverage Facebook for e-commerce. And since one out of every seven minutes spent online is spent on Facebook (think about that!), it is only smart for brands to meet their customers where they spend the most time.
Rethinking F-Commerce
Developing a full Facebook storefront is probably not the most effective allocation of marketing dollars for most brands at this point. Using Facebook to leverage and enhance existing assets is the smart play.
Because consumers connect with and publicly declare that they “like” a particular brand or product, your company can benefit from powerful affinity marketing on Facebook. Allow users to comment on specific products, and friends of that user can see the product in their newsfeed, both exposing them to the product and letting them know what their friend thinks of it. Most consumers are more inclined to trust the uncensored reviews of friends or other consumers. Positive reviews can tip the scale in favor of purchase. Conversely, if the product is unfavorably reviewed, it can destroy sales.
Simplify Your Offering
To counter the crowded Facebook space, consider a limited product offering, like Starbucks. The only f-commerce they offer is the gift card. Starbucks is in a strong position for selling via Facebook since their customers tend to be passionately loyal and frequently online socially. Users may purchase a gift card and then send it to their friend, all within Facebook. Purchases under $25 may encourage users to sample Facebook f-commerce and directly share a gift with tangible physical value.
Traditional E-Commerce Support
Perhaps f-commerce in its literal sense is not right for your brand. Use your social network to support and spread your brand’s traditional e-commerce site. For instance, Scottevest Travel Clothing promotes current sales on their Facebook profile picture and offers a “Daily Sale!” section on their Facebook page so fans can easily find their specials and link directly to their e-commerce site. Scottevest responds quickly to consumer feedback on their Facebook page and Twitter feed (Twitter responses are directly from the CEO) and takes care of any issues that arise, building a loyal customer base that feels the brand truly cares for them.
The Home Depot has taken f-commerce in a more natural direction. Seasonal Facebook apps encourage different projects and, at the end of the how-to, offer a list of products that support the project. This very simplified product offering is far more palatable in Facebook’s limited space than a full product line. If a user chooses to purchase via a “buy now” button on Facebook, they are redirected to The Home Depot site and the product is placed in their shopping cart. Users can then take advantage of the robust offerings of The Home Depot e-commerce site, including product previews, multiple product views, specifications, extensive filtering and search, coordinating items and more. Instead of attempting to duplicate this cart on Facebook, The Home Depot may allocate those dollars to brand engagement and relationship building with their consumers.
Exclusivity and Limited Product Sales
Exclusivity is a powerful purchasing motivation, and Facebook can provide the perfect channel. Take Oscar de la Renta: the brand offers a monthly Facebook-exclusive product as the only item available to purchase through their Facebook store. Users may still click through to the main Oscar de la Renta e-commerce site to purchase other products, but this one product is only available to their Facebook fans. Or consider Gilt, which offers an hour-early preview of its sales. Not only do the fans feel as if they are insiders, they are reminded of the Gilt sale when they check their newsfeed.
Facebook is a viable nontraditional sales channel, but brands must treat their Facebook fans differently than they do their website visitors. Facebook is considered personal space by its users, and brands can build affinity with their products as long as they remain respectful of that space. Brands should use caution so as not to become the ugly relative who is always asking for money or pushing products they don’t want. Any f-commerce engagement must therefore tread gently to help brands build a trusted relationship with their consumers.
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The concept of personalized search – that each person’s search results will be optimized for their particular preferences and past behavior – has far-reaching consequences for how we use the Web. Because search is the fundamental navigation of the Web, personalized search can have implications for virtually every interaction in the digital space. While personalized search has been present since 2005 from Google and others, Google Search Plus Your World is the most dramatic alteration of organic search results to date. Google’s January announcement of Search Plus Your World is a prime example of social media’s continued infiltration of the underlying structure of the Web – building networks based on relationships and people instead of destinations.
What Has Changed
Google explains Search Plus Your World as an effort that is “transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content but also people and relationships.” For users of Google products, search results may now highlight items that have been shared through their network of Google contacts, as well as content deemed relevant by Google.
There are three principal changes to the results delivered through the universal search, elevating:
- People and brands
- Relevant status updates
- Shared links
People and Brands
Searching for individuals or brands through universal search will now promote a profile or page within the results page, prioritized above organic content in many cases. For businesses with a presence on Google+, this represents a great opportunity for increased visibility by positioning the brand’s profile as the category expert for a given topic.
When searching for a general topic, such as music or hockey, results will now also include recommended accounts for a user to follow on Google+. For example, a search for “Facebook” will show the link to take a user to Facebook.com, just as it would without personalized search, but it will
now also include any Google+ posts that friends have made about the competing network, as well as a box suggesting that the user put Mark Zuckerberg into their circles.
Relevant Status Updates
The second update to personalized search is the emphasis placed on status updates that have been shared with a user’s network. By highlighting commentary and links within search results, Google is “remembering” opinions from people you know and trust, giving the search results greater context. This will have substantial consequences for using digital as a word-of-mouth tool.
Shared Links
The third change to the search algorithm will place more emphasis on links and content that the user’s network has shared concerning the search terms. Included in this are links shared as a post to your circles, and items that have been +1’d.
Results that have been prioritized by Search Plus Your World will be clearly marked with an icon and will note which contact has shared the relevant content.
What Does This Mean for SEM, SEO?
First and foremost, this update emphasizes the idea that over time, search results will be different for each and every user. Accepting this reality, brands will need to place additional emphasis on paid search campaigns to defend critical brand keywords. Paid search campaigns traditionally have been used to offset volatility in organic search results, ensuring that your brand can remain relevant for strategic search terms. While this method will require budgetary support, it is the most reliable approach to ensuring visibility.
Search engine optimization will also require a change in approach. The fundamentals of this practice will not change, but the amplification of personalized search has altered the approach to these activities to be based on personal relationships. For example, optimization efforts will still rely heavily on third-party linking campaigns. With Search Plus Your World, link-building campaigns will refocus around building links, +1’s, or shares from people within your target’s networks.
The final adjustment that search optimization will need to account for is the ability for content creators to bypass traditional search results by pursuing your target’s online network. By leveraging the priority that is being placed on the network effect, brands generating timely niche content will be able to circumvent legacy search results.
Content Strategies
Rather than only leveraging this change to optimize for search campaigns, Google+ integration into universal search will enable marketers to bypass rankings through a word-of-mouth recommendation. The following represent three ways your brand can use personalized search to generate increased relevance.
Incorporate Google Action Buttons on Website
The inclusion of +1 recommendations in personalized search stresses the importance of including this button in prominent areas on your website and other digital media. Making this form of user feedback as seamless as possible will earn your content improved rankings in personalized search without requiring users to create a full post about your page.
Curate Brand-Relevant Links
Another major opportunity for brands is to become a curator of content around a specific topic, controlling the search real estate among Google+ users. For example, a search for spring fashion styles will surface content from H&M, a brand with a Google+ page, shared by your fashion-conscious classmate above the results for fashion blogs and magazines.
Maintain a Google+ Page
Given the resources necessary to maintain a robust and consistent social presence on Google+ in addition to existing social media efforts, it is possible that pursuing a content marketing approach will be most efficient for capitalizing on personalized search. Determining whether this tactic is appropriate requires a deeper examination of your brand’s social media strategy and the resources available to grow a Google+ user base.
Limitations
This update currently affects only registered Google users, and only when they’re signed in to the service. On January 19, Google CEO Larry Page announced that Google+ had more than 90 million users, but the population of users with active Google accounts was substantially higher, with over 350 million users having a Gmail account. Further, we can expect the number of Google+ accounts to grow, as new Google or Gmail accounts now require the creation of a Google+ profile. While this update is alternately referred to as social search, no data from Twitter or Facebook will be indexed; only +1’s and content shared through Google+ will be included.
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Our relationship to books and the information they contain is ever-changing, but it has accelerated in the past few years. We are seeing eBook readers become more mainstream, the rise of the digital textbook and more social networking devoted to reading.
eBook Readers Become More Mainstream
In May, Amazon announced that they now sell more books for the Kindle than print books. For Christmas 2011, both Barnes & Noble and Amazon debuted eBook readers with entry price points under $100. This marks a new era in the affordability of eBook readers for the masses and has led to more widespread adoption. Leading up to Christmas, Amazon purportedly sold over a million Kindles a week and some projections are saying the Kindle will make up over 10% of Amazon’s revenue stream in 2012.
With the increasing adoption of eBook readers that allow people to immediately purchase and read books without ever leaving the comfort of their couch, we’re seeing a corresponding decline in bookstores. This is yet another area where the digital marketplace appears to be cannibalizing typical sales channels.
Digital Textbooks
In an attempt to revolutionize yet another industry, last week Apple announced a new textbook app for the iPad, as well as a free program for anyone to create and publish textbooks. If this catches on in schools, it could revolutionize the way that students learn, but also revolutionize the way students relate to information.
Apple’s aim is to change the way students relate to their learning materials – making them more engaging and more up to date. This also marks a new accessibility to publishing – if professors or school districts can choose and easily publish their own materials, they will be less beholden to the large publishers catering to the larger states.
Social Reading
Who belongs to book clubs anymore? With online options like Goodreads and Shelfari, you and your friends can have a constant dialogue about which books you’re reading, what you think of them and which you recommend to each other. Social sites devoted to reading have continued to grow, albeit with a more niche audience. In September 2011, Goodreads surpassed six million members and over two hundred million catalogued books.
Goodreads has even introduced a new algorithm to suggest books based on the different shelves each user has. With the advent of online recommendation tools like these, the traditional bookstore is becoming obsolete – computers are largely taking over recommendations and even the delivery mechanisms.
Moving Forward
So where does the digitization of reading take us? Overall statistics are suggesting that more people are reading more books than ever before, and that’s a good thing no matter what device (or lack thereof) is being used to read.
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Traditionally, the Super Bowl is the biggest night for TV advertising, but Sunday night’s Super Bowl was a big night for digital, too. Trends from the 2011 Super Bowl were back, with advertisers releasing ads online prior to the Super Bowl in hopes of increasing viral spread and integrating mobile ads with the TV campaigns. In fact, this year over half of advertisers released ads online before the game, looking to draw on Volkswagen’s success last year. And mobile upped the ante from last year’s Anheuser-Busch iAd with a QR code in Go Daddy’s spot, linking to discounts off Go Daddy products. But this year, the digital showing went even further.
Mobile
Shazam announced just before the big night that the entire Super Bowl, the halftime show and many of the ads would be Shazamable. Viewers could Shazam the Toyota spot for the chance to win two Camrys, download an MP3 from Bud Light, watch a music video from Pepsi, vote for their favorite ads, access music content during the halftime show and check out stats about the plays and players during the game. While QR codes connect print to the digital world, Shazam is blazing the trail for connecting TV and audio to digital content. Shazam has not released exact participation stats, but has noted that with “millions” of viewers participating in the Super Bowl integration, 2012 will be “the year of the Shazamable TV ad.”
Chevy invited fans to “experience Super Bowl Sunday in a whole new way” with the Chevy Game Time mobile app, which allowed viewers to play trivia, take polls and enter to win one of 20 Chevrolets or other prizes.
This year, the Super Bowl was streamable both online and from mobile devices. Verizon cut a deal with the NFL to exclusively stream the Super Bowl on iOS and Android devices with the NFL mobile app, and for the first year the game was streamed on computers. Live streaming is a testament to the changing landscape of TV: the Super Bowl is the biggest moment for TV every year, and yet it’s recognizing the growing trend of streaming TV online. The live stream had 2.1 million unique viewers, making it the most-watched sports game online. While there were limitations (such as a lack of live commercials), online streaming allowed for embedded live streams from Facebook and Twitter, further enhancing the experience with social engagement.
Social Media
And speaking of social, perhaps the biggest story of the night was in social media. Viewers are no longer relying solely on their witty Super Bowl party friends for commentary, but are turning to the second screen for live running commentary about the ads, halftime show and plays. At the end of the game, Twitter saw 12,233 tweets per second, setting a record for the highest tweet frequency during a live sports event.
Brands were prepared for viewers’ connection with Twitter, and hashtags got their fair share of airtime in the TV spots. Audi’s #SoLongVampires, Bud Light’s #MakeItPlatinum and Jack in the Box’s #MarryBacon hashtags all looked to increase engagement on Twitter. Coca-Cola’s polar bears even used the hashtag #GameDayPolarBears to comment on the game from Twitter and point users to more polar bear content on YouTube. In most cases, including hashtags in the spots seemed to work, as #MakeItPlatinum and #SoLongVampires became trending topics in mere minutes.
Coca-Cola saw success on social media even before kickoff with its Facebook event app, which asked fans to RSVP to watch the Polar Bowl – a live stream of the Coca-Cola polar bears’ reactions to the game. Before kickoff, 32,000 people had RSVPed, and the live stream received so many views that the Coke team had to add six servers to accommodate the traffic. Its Twitter feed received a whopping 12.5% increase in followers before the game even started.
The Super Bowl’s social media integration went beyond Twitter and Facebook into the location-based arena with Pizza Hut and Amex’s Foursquare offer. By checking into “Super Swarm Sunday,” Amex members got $5 off any food ordered from Pizza Hut.
The Takeaway
The 2012 Super Bowl is leading the way for digital to further enhance the TV entertainment experience and enhance engagement with advertisers. TV spots are no longer simply 30–60 seconds of impression time; they can be the beginning of an engaging experience with a brand that lasts far beyond those few, short seconds. Instead of looking at TV advertising in a silo, it can be used in conjunction with digital to begin an engaging customer journey.
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In 2011, we saw major growth in tools for individual expression on the Web. No, this is not a post about the power of the so-called Mommy bloggers. This year, the democratization of media on the Internet focused on a new medium as content creators gravitated toward a more visual, more impactful medium than the typical blog format.
And it should not be surprising. The math has long been worked out:
One picture = 1,000 words
If we take this old adage about the worth of a picture as true, Instagram users definitely have a lot to say. With 15 million users having uploaded over 400 million photos in the year since the service’s launch, we’ve saved ourselves quite a bit of reading in 2011. It is also important to note that these users are solely posting from iOS devices through the Instagram network and on Twitter. We can expect these numbers are poised to grow even more rapidly with an expansion to Android devices and with Facebook instant-upload capabilities expected soon.
These snapshots are visual diaries that chronicle not only the events and sights that a user experiences, but emotions as well. The addition of filters after the picture has been taken allows the photographer the ability to infuse emotion and storytelling in a way that was previously only available to dedicated hobbyists. While many will lament the lack of craft that ready-made filters facilitate, the democratization of this ability will only serve to broaden the appreciation of the professional photographers who are elevating the medium.
But Instagram is only one example of a service that is taking advantage of this visual blogging trend; many others have attempted to catch the lightning in a bottle that makes Instagram so popular, both in mobile and on the Web. Within the mobile space, we have seen high-profile services like Foodspotting, Hipstamatic, Color and Path flood the social consciousness and make the act of picture-taking a social event once again.
Of these services, one that has shown particular merit in combining location-based sharing with this visual journaling is Path. The mobile social network is a companion app that registers location, music choices, musings, collaborators and photographs from the lives of its users. Limited to your 50 closest connections, this social service aims to create deeper connections and more honest sharing within networks.
Online, platforms like Tumblr and Pinterest have exploded in popularity because of their ease of use and ability to easily give others an inside look into our world. Compared to traditional blogs like WordPress or Blogger.com, Tumblr has gained significant ground over the past year in terms of unique visitors, visits and page views. Although trailing the more established blogging platforms in terms of total visitors, Tumblr users show more engagement with the content and view a significantly higher number of pages while on the site. Finally, while WordPress.com and Blogger.com have remained stagnant or declined, Tumblr continues to climb.
Likewise, Pinterest has rapidly grown in popularity among certain online groups, generating 6 million unique visitors in November despite an invite-only restriction. For a more in-depth examination of Pinterest, check out these profiles by Sarah Voges and Darlene Lo.
Both the simplicity of sharing and the emphasis on the user’s creativity are essential to these services’ adoption. Pinterest features dead-simple usability to create visual bookmarks for projects, inspiration and the ability to share boards with others. Tumblr is similarly designed for simplicity in getting started, choosing readily from free or premium templates to design your blog, and again in practice. Users are able to share text, images, videos and music through a streamlined editor, or find and consume blogs created by others through personalized streams. However, with less emphasis on long-form text posts, the creativity of the blogger is free to shine, leading to as many different Tumblr streams as can be managed.
Many factors have contributed to the rising popularity of these visual blogging services; among them, simplicity and self-expression are very important. But at a higher level, the idea that social networks are aligning to connect people with similar interests or passions in new ways has enormous implications for how brands can engage through social media. Rather than traditional message boards, forums or “fan sites,” there is now a broader range of interests being followed across the Web. As we move into 2012, we can expect to see visual blogging continue to grow in popularity, both in mobile and the Web, and we can also expect to see services start to leverage the vast amount of content that is created through this trend to “humanize” the web experience in new ways.
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Facebook Timeline. It’s probably the biggest thing to hit social media since the Kardashians (or “last week’s Facebook update”). With all the hype about how great (or horrible) the new Timeline feature was, I was skeptical. Facebook changes things all the time, and I never seem to notice much difference after a few days of use. I didn’t understand how using Facebook as a scrapbook was going to radically change my life. Nonetheless, I finally decided that – given the fact that I’m a “digital strategist” and am supposed to be on the cutting edge of all things cool, new and digital – I should activate my Facebook Timeline. So I did.
And it’s awesome. I may have a different perspective than most, but here’s why I love the new Facebook Timeline.
I joined Facebook when I was a freshman in college. “Back in the day” when you had to have an “.edu” email address to sign up, and before every tween and their grandmother had Facebook accounts. This is a key element of Facebook Timeline. I spent many years uploading pictures, writing “notes,” posting on others’ walls and sharing information. When I activated Timeline, I went back through all that I had done during my college years. I saw where I’d been, who I had spent a lot of time with, what I had said about classes or current events.
Granted, I can see the drawback to this. You probably won’t like Facebook Timeline if you’ve spent a considerable amount of time being a goofball. By that, I mean if you were tagged in a bunch of drunken frat-party pictures and you’re less than proud of them now, you’re probably not going to love the new Timeline. But have no fear! Facebook has thought about that! They let you turn on Timeline for only you to view for a week so that you can go through and delete all of the junk you’re not proud of.
The Timeline might not be so great for you if you’ve gotten married and your spouse was not a part of your life that Facebook timelines. I’m just saying: All of those pictures of you and your ex-girlfriend and the “I love you, sweetlips!” posts on your wall are going to show up. And your new wife is going to see them. She might not be amused. Again, this is an excellent opportunity to use the trial Timeline and remove every post you feel could later incriminate you with your loved ones.
But you know who else will love the Facebook Timeline? Grandparents. Why? Because not only can they see what their children are doing, but they can look at the lives of their grandchildren without having to pester their kids to send them pictures. Look at it this way: They’re already keeping up with birthdays using Facebook – why not use it to remember what kind of birthday cake you made last year or who you invited to the birthday party?
Given the fact that Facebook lets you remove whatever you don’t want on your Timeline, you can, in a way, recreate yourself. Or at the very least, delete the less attractive elements. Here’s an example. Childbirth. It’s an important time in a mother’s life. Some people feel the need to take pictures of the new, exhausted mother, then post them on Facebook.
The new mother, no doubt, will not be happy with these pictures, especially in two years. Pictures of baby = OK. Pictures of Mom, cheeks void of color in a hospital gown = not OK. The mother may opt to take down those photos.
But how awesome would it be for brands like, say, Pampers, if they could target this mother and track the baby’s growth and promote products that fit that life stage? Not only right when the baby is born, but in a few years when they need pull-ups instead of diapers? Or maybe Weight Watchers has a potential customer as Mom tries to get back into pre-baby form.
Because Facebook Timeline can let people know when important events (like childbirth) happen, they also allow brands to use a little deductive reasoning and think about what other important events are going on in the lives of users. Sixteen years after that childbirth picture? Hello, car insurance companies…
One more thing I love about Timeline. The huge picture, what Facebook calls the “Cover Photo.” That’s right, you can highlight a much larger picture on your profile while still having your little passport-style “this is what I really look like” picture (that is commonly used for the token keg stand picture among my friends). This opens up a lot of doors for creativity.
Check out http://mashable.com/2011/12/08/facebook-timeline-ideas/#375873-Pao-Abella for some great examples of how people are expressing themselves with the Cover Photo.
It will be interesting to see if Facebook allows brands to activate a new Timeline page. Many brands on Facebook will be reasonably new, as it’s a great promotional tool for young brands to get some word-of-mouth coverage. It’d be really cool for brands with a lot of rich history. For example, I’d like to see some timelines like this:
Coca-Cola
- 1992: Clear colas: Failure.
- 2008: Tested Diet Coke with Bacon…did not go into production.
- 2011: Fans reject white Coke can, saying it “tastes different.”
Ford
- 1908: Model T introduced.
- 1914: Ford introduces a $5/day minimum wage, double the existing wage.
- 2011: Ford Focus electric unveiled.
- 2004: Facebook launches.
- 2006: Facebook opened to everyone ages 13 or older with a valid email address.
- 2009: Facebook users freak out about privacy changes.
- 2010: Facebook users freak out about change to live news feed.
- 2011: Facebook users freak out about new Timeline feature.
To close, I’d encourage you to try Facebook Timeline. The longer you’ve been a user and the more you’ve posted, the more interesting your timeline will be. Who knows, maybe Facebook Timeline will serve as a gentle reminder for people to be responsible? Like my grandmother always said, “Don’t do anything if you don’t want it posted on Facebook.”
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Back in October, Sarah Voges introduced Pinterest to the blog. The rise of this online bookmarking site has been exponential. As of November 2011, TechCrunch reports that Pinterest is up more than 2,000% since June. Its audience is mainly female with boards centered on wedding, food, décor and many more.
Brands are beginning to find ways to utilize this new kind of social media to speak to their consumers. The greatest potential for success in this space is the rise of social shopping because people trust recommendations by friends more than marketers. By sharing and viewing Pinterest boards with your Facebook and Twitter networks, you can easily see what your friends are interested in and recommending. Advertisers that work in the retail, food and fashion industries can obviously benefit from pinning their pictures or products on the site and being part of users’ social sharing.
Here are few examples:
Nordstrom, one of the nation’s leading fashion specialty retailers, created Pinterest boards showcasing gift ideas and holiday outfits. Once you click into the picture, you’ll be redirected to the product page on the Nordstrom site for purchase. How convenient!
Real Simple magazine creates boards centered around tips for decorating, recipes, gifts and overall holiday inspiration. Every one of their pictures links back to the article or picture on their site. The popular magazine reports more referrals from Pinterest than Facebook for the month of October. Below are some of their recent boards.
Whole Foods, the national grocery store specializing in natural and organic foods, is interested in Pinterest by using it to be part of people’s passion points. To show brand personality, they’ve created a board for gardening and sweets. To raise awareness of their community involvement, they’ve made a board for their nonprofit organization, Whole Planet Foundation. All their boards create conversation starters and establish the company’s personality without selling anything directly.
As Pinterest gains more users and views, more brands will take notice and join the movement. They have the opportunity to showcase their products, link back to their site for purchase, converse with their followers, raise awareness of their community involvement and express brand personality.
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Each year, a bunch of new words creep into our lexicon. And a lucky few creep into the dictionary, becoming “real words.” This year we saw “retweet,” “sexting” and “bromance” become real words, as well as “LOL” and “OMG.”
OMG.
The most popular list of new words comes from the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary, which dubs one word the “word of the year.” Kinda like prom queen, for words. This year’s word: “Squeezed Middle.”
Among this year’s nominees were “occupy,” “tiger mother,” “bunga bunga” and this word, which those of us in the digital world of advertising might want to get to know: clicktivism.
Clicktivism: The use of social media and other online methods to promote a cause (a blend of “click” and “activism”).
Basically, the technique of clicktivism combines the tracking tools of marketing with the passion of a social movement. Activists use social media to promote a cause and get users to, well, act. You’ve probably been hit up by organizations like MoveOn.org or the other groups to sign a prewritten form letter and, with a simple click, send it off to your congressman. Protests are formed. Petitions are signed. Awareness is raised. People act.
This trend is highly effective, highly measurable and highly controversial. Oh, controversy!
The benefit of clicktivism is that results can be measured. Clickthrough rates can be tracked, testing can be employed, just like display ads. Future marketing efforts are decided based upon metrics and data gathered. Plus, awareness is raised and action is prompted. Right?
Not according to critics, who say this marketing tactic actually lowers real-life social engagement, reducing activism to a passive, dispassionate activity. Social issues are skewed to what will perform well, and involvement and interest levels, especially off-line, dwindle. The spirit of a social movement – which most recently has been demonstrated with the Occupy Wall Street movement – is squandered.
Is clicktivism good or evil? You decide. But the more relevant question is how we can use it, or if we can use it, for our clients. As cause marketing becomes more important to brands, can we employ this measurable, social trend in our digital strategies?
In Canada, Veterans Affairs used clicktivism to encourage citizens to honor war veterans any way they chose on Remembrance Day. Some changed their Facebook profile picture to show poppies, some used their status update to remember a veteran and some tweeted they were observing two minutes of silence on November 11.
In this case, clicktivism gave a younger generation a way to show their support. Again, critics believe this detracted from human interaction, but supporters believe it opened the experience to a new audience.
Either way, this is one new word that is here to stay. Just look it up in the dictionary.
See more information here:
- http://www.clicktivism.org/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacktivism
- http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/blackspot-blog/rejecting-clicktivism.html
See a list of words of the year here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/squeezed-middle-is-named-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-2011-134361588.html
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Digital Fun for the Holidays
Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah!
Wait, don’t groan. I know it’s still a little early, but if any of you are like me and pull out your Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, then it’s time to get in the holiday spirit! I love the holidays, so I’ve put together a quick collection of digital coolness to help add to your merriment this season.
Fun Stuff for You
Are you planning some special meals? Allrecipes is a standard favorite, but they’ve added some fun features to their website, like a personal recipe box, menu planners and shopping lists. They have an app, too, so you can figure out what to do with the leftover turkey without leaving the couch (we know, it’s the tryptophan). And for those of us in warmer climates who can still break out the grill, Weber’s On the Grill app is also full of yumminess.
Speaking of the couch, don’t forget to download ESPN’s ScoreCenter so you can keep up with all the great rivalry games and championships this time of year. Tell them who your favorite teams are, and they’ll make sure you always know the latest play. (It’s also good for keeping husbands happy when you take them to the work Christmas party on a Saturday during football season.)
For those of you planning on entertaining lots of guests, you can find great ideas on everything from holiday decoration ideas to inventive recipes to tips for great parties on Pinterest. Since I’ve talked about this bit of coolness before, let’s move on to finding the perfect gifts.
I
f you’ve been put in charge of the office or family Secret Santa tradition, check out Elfster. You can create gift exchanges, invite participants, manage drawings and send wish lists. It includes social integrations, so if my Facebook friends are using it, I can see what they want for Christmas or check out gifts that other people have liked to get ideas.
If you still want help finding just the right thing, check out Mashable’s list of gift recommendation tools that use social to personalize the suggestions.
Fun Stuff from Brands
This wouldn’t be an agency blog if I didn’t touch on a few of my favorite things that brands are up to this season.
This time of year, ads change, and we begin to see all kinds of representations of holiday magic. Sometimes those ads give us great ideas for ways we might start or add to our own traditions. In the new ads from The Home Depot, they feature some cool new ways to deck the halls with ornaments, and the best part is they tell you how to do it. If you go to the site at the end of the ad, you find a video about the project that will link you to printable instructions and all the products you need.
I’m sure we all remember Target’s Christmas Champ, the lovably certifiable lady who is WAY into holiday sales. This year, she’s back with her own Twitter handle spouting tips for your shopping adventures and a YouTube page where she walks you through the finer parts of her sales-hunting strategy.
If holidays for you mean peppermint mochas and red cups, then Starbucks has a fun way for you to pass the time between shots of espresso. Their new augmented reality app lets you scan their signature holiday cups and watch the characters animate. There are also special offers and e-gifting tools available, so you can send a cup to a few of the people left on your list.
This year, when you a buy gift from JCPenney, you can get a Santa Tag with a customizable QR code. You scan the code, record a greeting or message to the recipient and put it on your gift. Then when the recipient scans the code, they hear whatever warm wishes you recorded.
Coca-Cola has a new QR code campaign that takes you to an iPhone or iPad game where you can throw snowballs at your friends. While this might be a good way to pass time at the airport during the holiday travels, it’s part of a much larger “Arctic Home” campaign from Coca-Cola to support the work of the World Wildlife Fund to protect polar bears.
Happy Holidays!
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