Corporate Websites Versus Facebook

On the corner of Canal Street and West Broadway there's a billboard for Jack Daniels. At the bottom of the ad, where you would usually see the company's website information, it read www.facebook.com/jackdaniels.

This is the ultimate manifestation of the perceived value of word of mouth advertising versus straight marketing from the company. Jack Daniels has a robust website with lots of terrific content for someone who likes whiskey. It's the kind of digital home that promotes brand loyalty. But no one knows that a friend loves Jack Daniels if they visit the website; by contrast, all of a person's friends and acquaintances are alerted if the customer 'likes' the company's facebook page.

Of course, for liquor companies, facebook has an added advantage. The company need not ensure that a customer is 21 or over just to have that person 'like' them. On their own website, Jack Daniels must have users type in their birthdate, presumably to ensure that they are legal to drink. Not only is this a deterrent because it's an extra step, revealing personal information on an alcohol site feels a little creepy.

I wonder, though, how the role of facebook and other similar social networks will change the importance of a company's website, particularly if the product (liquor, for example) is sold through a distribution network versus directly to the customer. From a customer acquisition perspective, it may be a better investment to soup up a strong social media presence, with apps, badges, and plugins, than to build a blockbuster web platform.

After all, you can always do as Jack Daniels is doing: send people to your facebook page rather than your corporate website.

New challengers rising in China

On July 6th some in our group have pointed out how Google is gradually pulling out of China and Baidu is the strongest presence (today also with the collaboration of Bing).

However what is the future today of the fastest growing internet economy of the world? Does Baidu really have a sustainable competitive position in the Chinese market?

Despite a surprisingly strong market share of 75.9% on the Chinese market in Q2 2011, some experts point out that this share might be shrinking over the next term and that 2 increasingly strong companies are challenging Baidu's position. Alibaba Group’s e-commerce search engine Etao.com and Sina Corp.’s microblogging service Weibo.com. Etao.com started off as a focused player and Weibo.com is not positioned on search today. However, Etao.com has recently started adding other products to its search engine and Weibo's Twitter-like microblogging service has a strong customer base, which could be leveraged to offer an increasing number of services.

Etao.com and weibo.com will not represent a threat for Baidu in the search engine segment, however the increasing volume of customers and transactions could exacerbate the competition for ads and users.

Baidu's response has been to try to differentiate tapping into the competitor's domains. However it was not able to win the game on these segments yet..


Curious to see how the competitive scenario evolves....

Google+ vs. Facebook

Most of us have been following the hype about Google+, the new social networking platform that has picked up more than 10 million members over only two weeks. For the first time, it looks as though Facebook could be facing a real competitor in social media from an advertising opportunity. This week, Google closed its application process for companies to be included in the test phase of Google+ and companies are rushing to “get in on the ground floor.” http://adage.com Google’s expertise in search gives Google+ an incredible edge in advertising. As David Williams, CEO of Blinq Media, puts it: “While Facebook knows who you are, Google knows what you want…Facebook has interest data, but not intent data…Google will have a tremendous amount of intent data that could allow them to create a better ad model for social than Facebook -- a very, very powerful ad model." Despite these advantages, the extent of Google+’s success is still uncertain. The network is still a baby and we don’t know what it will do with its brand pages. We also don’t know what kinds of users it will capture. Finally, who is to say that its members will outnumber Facebook’s? It’s possible that Facebook’s 750 million active users are the only ones who will open a Google+ account, without closing their Facebook accounts, in which case both social networks would become equal rivals. Under that scenario, Google should still be very pleased. Google would have to find more ways to differentiate itself in its advertising capabilities. Any ideas on how Google+ could make itself more appealing to companies than Facebook?

YouTube.com planning to sell web series for $3.5 Million?

        As Professor Kagan mentioned in class, Youtube is one of the most visited site on the web. Youtube.com has been trying to monetize their site for a while and their latest idea to do so is to sell a web series. The idea is basically that they will "YouTube has pitched advertisers on funding big-budget web shows featuring stars like Kobe Bryant, Lady Gaga and "Dancing with the Stars" host Brooke Burke, asking millions of dollars to make them happen. The pitches are part of YouTube's foray into Hollywood for polished, TV-style web video that can attract the kind of advertisers that devote most of their ad budgets on TV." (http://www.adage.com/)
       The reasoning behind this is to create a concept that will combine fun for the audience as well as convey an advertising message. This will include highly paid stars to star in the video series in order to connect to the audience. "The celebrity shows that YouTube recently proposed to advertisers -- so-called YouTube Originals -- would make the video site, best known for user-generated content and music videos, look more like a traditional TV network than ever before, according to pitch documents obtained by Advertising Age."(http://www.adage.com/) The celebrities that have been pitched to so far include Lady Gaga and Kobe Bryant. Should this come through, it will revolutionize the way Youtube sells advertising spots and will begin to compete in the higher stakes. If they manage to get this amount, they will be changing the economics of online video.

Twitter Ads- Novel or Nuisance?

Twitter is set to launch a product called “Promoted Tweets To Followers” in early August. The “Promoted Tweet” ads that Twitter had been selling until now mostly came up in searches. The “Promoted Tweets To Followers” would appear in/disrupt followers’ actual timelines and not just be the result of a search. However, ads will only appear for brands that users already follow. The full article on Twitter’s new ads is available here. I think this is a good step that Twitter is taking- by limiting ads to users who follow brands, the site is ensuring that its feed remains relevant and adds value for users- as opposed to just ending up as spam. What do you think? Will you be annoyed to get ads from brands that you follow even if you’re interested in the company? Will this cause people to think twice about following brands on Twitter?

South Park Campaign Links to Facebook

Comedy Central has unveiled a large promotional campaign to celebrate the 15th season of South Park. The campaign will include limited editions of Cheesy Poofs distributed by Frito-Lay and an enormous exhibit at Comic-Con in San Diego. In an attempt to link in social media, they will have a station where you can create a South Park avatar of yourself which can then be uploaded as your profile pic on Facebook. They are using Comic-Con as a launch for this campaign which is budgeted between $3M - $5M.

More details can be found here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/business/media/campaign-marks-15th-season-of-south-park.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=south%20park&st=cse

Video Game Giant Goes Social

In an attempt to capture some of the social gaming market, Electronic Arts has acquired PopCap Games, a maker of online games such as Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies. EA is one of the largest video game publishers in the world and has been a pioneer in the console gaming market. It's interesting that they acquired another company to bolster their social gaming presence instead of creating their own department in-house. You would think with the resources they have, it would let itself to the creation of online content. The deal was worth about $750M in cash and stock.

Here is the full press release:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/electronic-arts-to-buy-popcap-games/?scp=2&sq=electronic%20arts&st=cse

Versace and the Dos and Donts of Facebook

In class on Monday we had a short introduction to the mistakes companies make in social media. Their faux pas sounded clear cut and egregious. Yet it’s easy to sit in a classroom and discuss the dos and donts with crystal clear hindsight vision. In such a new industry, where many companies and employees have little to no experience, how do you know what is truly the best practice?

Versace recently fell under attack for actions they took on their Facebook page. Some of Versace’s jeans are “sandblasted” to give them a worn look. Sandblasting is dangerous and has killed some workers. The human rights group “Clean Clothes Campaign” took to Versace’s Facebook page to protest. The company reacted by taking away the right for anyone to post to their wall. Versace obviously should not have revoked the right to comment, and could have given a standard but thoughtful response on their sandblasting practices and labor policies. If nothing else, this would have at least soothed tensions and not exasperated the situation. But imagining that you are the social media manager at Versace, how do you convince panicked executives that engagement, and not shutting yourself off, is the way to go? An extensive discussion of Versace’s actions can be found here. Any thoughts on how you would’ve handled the situation?

Small Businesses That Understand Social Media - By MP MUELLER - New York Times

July 11, 2011, 2:00 pm

Blake Cervenka and his Yeti cake.

Branded

An insider’s guide to small-business marketing.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post questioning whether all small businesses should invest time and money in social media. The post was a reminder that business owners need to consider the costs and potential returns of social media before taking the leap.

Especially because that post prompted a lively discussion, I’d like to share a couple of examples of small businesses that are doing it right and getting impressive returns on their social media investment — along with a graphic that serves as a nice one-sheet guide to getting the most out of social media tools.

Example No. 1: Melrose Jewelers is a three-year-old, 70-employee, e-commerce retailer based in Los Angeles that sells luxury watches — Cartier, Rolex, Breitling — at an average cost of $4,000. Kyle Mitnick, director of marketing, said that since Melrose introduced its Facebook page, blog and YouTube channel last fall, the company has seen a 71-percent increase in year-over-year sales (and collected more than 100,000 Facebook “likes”).

“Facebook is a great forum for really conveying the trust of our business and helps us level the playing field in reaching younger, aspiring individuals who are technologically savvy,” said Mr. Mitnick. “Older customers, who have purchased luxury watches at stores, are a little bit hesitant to make a purchase that large online. With this group, our social presence — reviews by other Facebook users, posts and interaction with our fans — builds credibility.”

Melrose ran four Facebook campaigns simultaneously over a five-month period — including one in December that the company credits with attracting $100,000 in sales. “We came up with a concept of associating a watch with a person’s identity,” Mr. Mitnick said. “We have over 600 watches on our site. Customers will say, ‘I know I want a Breitling, but I don’t know which one.’” So the company created a quiz that asked a series of questions and — based on the answers — tied the person’s personality to a specific watch. The answers were posted on the quiz taker’s Facebook page. (Apparently I’m a Men’s Stainless Steel Blue Stick Dial Rolex Datejust. Who knew?)

Mr. Mitnick said the costs of the quiz campaign were just $160 to Wildfire Apps to build and run the quiz application for 30 days and about $7,000 in staff time.

Example No. 2: Walk into the offices of Yeti Coolers and you feel as if you are somehow in a family fishing camp located inside a warehouse. On a hot summer day in Austin, Tex., the mostly male employees dress like they’re heading to troll for redfish on the flats. This five-year-old company makes rugged coolers — with premium pricing to match. You can get the feel from a YouTube video that shows a 500-pound wrestler, Big Bald Mike, attempting to destroy a Yeti. He’s unsuccessful with the Yeti — but quickly decimates a competitor’s cooler.

Yeti Coolers was started in 2006 by two brothers, Roy and Ryan Seiders. They owned, respectively, a company that built custom fishing boats and one that built fly-fishing rods, and Roy was looking for a more durable ice chest to outfit his boats. The more he learned the more interested he got; eventually, he decided to stop selling boats and start selling coolers. Working with a manufacturer in the Philippines, they incorporated features like full-length metal rod hinges, rubber molded key latches, and three-inch thick lids. Outdoorsmen responded. Today, the coolers sell through Yeti’s online store and 1,500 dealers nationally, including sporting-goods destinations like Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops. The 37-employee company has experienced 100-percent growth since its inception, and its inventory is moving rapidly through its new 35,000-square-foot complex. Every day, a 53-foot Fedex trailer leaves the warehouse full.

Yeti’s Facebook page, its blog and YouTube videos (more than 50, some with more than 10,000 views) are the watering holes where the tribe shares its enthusiasm. “Most of the time people are using coolers, they are doing something fun,” said Rick Wittenbraker, vice president of marketing. “They stop calling it a cooler and say, ‘Let’s go fill up the Yeti.’”

The Facebook page, with nearly 15,000 “likes,” is full of people sharing their Yeti moments, encouraged by photo contests and giveaways of hats, T-shirts and gear. “We are not in the game of saying, ‘Buy this cooler, on sale now!’ It’s about building our community and upselling. We have guest bloggers and profile our dealers. People on our Facebook page love sharing pictures of themselves in a Yeti hat in a cool place or sharing their fishing and hunting photos. Some of our customers created their own videos featuring their Yeti — one guy swimming with sharks and his Yeti — and uploaded it to their own YouTube channels.”

Mr. Wittenbraker makes a point to respond to every comment and finds it extremely useful as a customer-service forum. He estimates his team collectively spends at least 20 hours per week managing their social media and says the benefits have been immeasurable. Among the hundreds of photographs that members of Yeti Nation have posted online have been several wedding shots of proud grooms (that’s Blake Cervenka in the photo above) sharing their special day with Yeti-inspired wedding cakes, complete with ice cubes, fishtails and lures — the butter-cream frosting version of a real Yeti.

MP Mueller is the founder of Door Number 3, a boutique advertising agency in Austin, Tex. Follow Door Number 3 on Facebook.

Is social media investment good for everybody?

The entire world is crazy for social networks, every business small or big wants to be in there. And why shouldn’t they? As we have seen also in our today class, Facebook has 750 million users, Twitter 106 millions and youtube has over 2 billion vews a day. All the customers in the world seem to be there! But does it really make sense for every kind of businesses?! Certainly for many companies it does, but I’m not sure that’s a winning strategy for everybody. If you are a dry-cleaning company, a parking lot company, a funeral company or a divorce legal company with an average of 30 likes per page (it’s full of them on facebook, just check it out!), does it really make sense to have a social media advertising campaign?! I’m not sure!

As social media is the “hot topic” of those days and everybody believes it to be a very cheap advertising investment, all the companies, big and small, are getting into it. But the fact that is cheap should be enough to decide to invest in it? In many cases it could be a total waste of money and time that could be invested more effectively somewhere else. As I was pointing out last week, a playbook of success for digital/social media advertising is still missing, and even if it “sounds easy” to open an account and tweet or create a facebook page and make customers “like” it, it’s more difficult than what it seems. To generate buzz and more importantly sales, a company should dedicate some time to build up a precise strategy when investing in social media. For example in facebook, the company should create a page with advanced functionality (Static FBLM) and capable to fully engage the customers through promotions/contests/pools. It should be a “bridge” between the company’s current site and the other social media used by the company to help converting the customers into actual sales.

So to conclude, social media is a very attractive business, but i don't believe is the right choice for every company. Even if cheap, the opportunity cost might be higher somewhere else!

Lady Gaga & Farmville

Unicorns, crystals and sheep on motorcycles. The most unlikely of partnerships has created some pretty hilarious outcomes:
Starting May17th, Zynga added themed content to help Lady Gaga promote her newest album "Born this Way." A free download of her new album, with exclusive material like bonus tracks, will be available to those players who purchase a $25 Zynga Game Card. Farmville Farmers will also be able to unlock sections of songs through gameplay, prior to the albums release. There will also be other promoted prizes for Farmville Farmers, but the creativity behind this pairing is truly impressive.
The complete incompatibility of these two entities is interesting, as we discussed today, the primary users of online games are female and skew older, which is not Lady Gaga's audience. However, this cross fertilization has created some serious buzz, and hilarious results are sure to convert Lady Gaga fans to Farmville, and perhaps even vice versa. I never understood the appeal of Farmville, but if you add some interesting nuggets like biker sheep and unicorns, things start to get much more interesting.

Social Networking Backlash

I can’t help but feel jaded when I log on to Facebook these days. The volume of the content has just gotten overwhelming. My homepage and profile are constantly inundated with party invitations, game invitations, messages, product group requests… you name it. Moreover, people post pictures of every incident that’s of any interest in their lives. Every holiday and family event finds its place on Facebook, to the extent that it eats away my curiosity to travel anywhere new! To add to this confusion, Google has now jumped on the bandwagon. But Google+ is only getting popular because people are mentioning it all over Facebook!
I feel like tuning off and pulling a plug on the world of social media. Are there others like me? Is Facebook reaching its plateau? How is it going to evolve to manage the barrage of content?

Google+: Do we need this?

I was reading up on what this whole Google+ fervor is about. Maybe it's because I'm getting older but I find it frankly quite useless. Why do I need another social media outlet and why would I want to have to create another network from scratch (although I can see why that would be appealing to some)? Can't I just do it all on Facebook, Twitter or with real life conversations? There doesn't seem to be much differentiation in its services, however, the Circles feature is neat and helps users connect with different segments of their social groups. To me, Google+ seems a bit contrived; it is just a way for Google to compete with Facebook in terms of consumers and page views. Is this just a corporate initiative or is there something more substantive behind Google's new venture? I was recently reading an article about the privacy concerns with Google+, based on its Terms of Service:

You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.

This sounds a bit scary.

Google’s Social Side and Its Threat to Digital Marketers

The release of Gmail’s Priority Inbox is one of the most critical developments in the world of email marketing in recent years. Its release signals the increasing importance of recipients’ social networks in influencing the delivery and ranking of your message. Not only do email marketers have to worry about whether or not their messages will be opened, but now other factors come into play like whether or not the email will arrive be ranked high enough to be considered or whether or not the message will appear at all. While this service benefits consumers, it presents a great challenge for members of the digital marketing industry.

For those who think that the Google Priority Inbox is an anomaly, it may be time to think again. Google is increasingly emphasizing your contacts in other areas as well. In its field trial period, Google + is experimenting with different ways in which to classify and unite your different spheres of friends. Circles, hangouts, instant uploads and huddles are new tools designed by Google to bring together your various networks through email, video chat, photo sharing and group texting respectively.

Digital marketers must devise strategies to integrate their brands into the intended recipients’ contacts or social networks or risk being left behind.

The importance of shaping the unwritten rules of B2C communication in social media

Opening up a new channel to potential customers by tapping into communities through social media is what all corporate marketers strive to do nowadays. The new channel definitely offers benefits for both parties, consumers and companies alike. But just as with every new invention, the "rules of the game" are not perfectly defined in the early days. There are written rules that exist in the social networking era, rules that try to protect the privacy of users. But in reality nothing works properly if its only based on stone-carved rules. There are the unwritten rules that bring flexibility in the system and define those aspects of the interactions that written rules cannot regulate.

These unwritten rules for interactions through the new social media platforms are just taking shape now and users will need to take an active part to shape the whole in the right direction. As long as companies' entry to the social networks of people are initiated by the community, the system works fine. People like and recommend products and brands to each other because they know the given company and are satisfied with it. When the "liking" of a brand/product or company is enforced, things start to become messy. And that is exactly what some marketers try to do because they are so desperate to enter the social arena. Among the agressive examples is what gadgetfeel.com did, with a popup window that gave the choice to visitors to either like the company on Facebook or wait 15 seconds to be admitted to the site (http://imgur.com/sg2wr). Another example is Starwood's competition for business travelers, which you can only enter if you like the brand on Facebook first.

If enforcing likes becomes a common practice, the community will be misguided and a huge portion of customer value will be lost. That is why it is crucial that consumers take an active part in saying no to questionable practices and by doing so they help shaping the unwritten rules of the new era of communication.

Coupon Mama

A recent article in AdAge focused on the cultural phenomenon of extreme couponers, now brought online by several mom bloggers. Coupon enthusiasts are responsible for 70% of products purchased with coupons. Enthusiasts who have become bloggers, many of these suburban moms, not only share coupons but share advice on avoiding marketing lures and traps. A few of them are doing so well that they are bigger drivers of traffic to coupons.com than any of the retailer or manufacturer sites. These blogs may cut down on profit margins, but they are also important generators of increased awareness for brands. Blog readers place a lot of trust in the bloggers, because they are very relatable, and genuinely want to share their own experiences. The success of these mom coupon blogs echos a case we covered in Marketing class, regarding a website that specifically pulls together communities of women to given feedback on products for specific brands. This website, shespeaks.com, recognizes that women make ~80% of purchasing decisions in the US and connect brands with their target market to gain the input they need. As e-commerce and digital marketing continue to shift the consumer landscape, I wonder how purchasing statistics will shift between men and women, and how important specific communities will be for certain brands.

2011 : The best year for Online Advertising - US Ad Spending making history

With 20.2% Increase from last year, US Ad spending is expected to reach 31 billion dollar. With no surprise, Google will continue to lead by taking at least half i.e. 14+ billion dollars. That also leads Search Advertising to the top of the advertiser's list. The second is banner ads with 7.6 billion and Video Ads are on 3rd. Interestingly it is expected to be the fastest growing media with 52% increase from last year. Video ads are the most familiar form of advertising very much like TV Ads and that is the reason to win the confidence of the advertisers.



As Social media is the hotspot these days, Facebook is leading the top 5 list of ad selling web sites primarily focusing on display ads at this point.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif



Read this article for more information.

This is cross posted at my blog Web Technologist
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Does Facebook has a myspace feel to it?

Google+ is out and it looks nice. Will it kill Facebook? This is question that many people argue passionately on either side of.

While it is very difficult for Facebook to die it might lose it's crown. The argument that Facebook Is too big to fail relies mainly on 2 pillars: facbook's numbe of users is too huge (750 mn) and that it is too integrated into media, content and e-commerce (think about the thousands of magazine, movies and commerce websites that have the Facebook like or share buttons).

The upcoming threat is coming from google which did a really good job with design. The even mashed Facebook and twitter together in their network. Coming from google also means try have enough muscle power to bring in millions of users in no time. Furthermore, integrating their social network into meia, content, ecommerce and others will be a piece of cake.

While myspace lost it's crown dramatically to facebook and moved rapidly from king to pauper, Facebook is highly unlikely to end up in the same way. This is simply because while Facebook introduced a whole new social platform with tons of more interactions versus myspace, google+ yet has not done that. However, if they continue pushing the interface in the same way and end up with a mature interface that is just slightly more appealing than Facebook, the latter might end up being a prince.

Your Advertisers Are Waiting...

In an interesting story from AdWeek, Chip Bayers argues that brand advertising online is lagging badly because so many tech giants like Google refuse to think of themselves as media companies, with all the connotations that accompany that term. Hard to argue with Google's success at putting unattractive text ads next to humdrum search results. But Bayers' argument is that there is a lot of money on the sidelines, or in other media like TV, that would be coming to digital if Microsoft, Google and others embraced the things brands want in advertising: lots of audience context so they know who they're getting. As opposed to complicated algorithms, third-party verification etc., simply putting out content that appeals to a certain group is time-tested and easy to explain to ad buyers.

URL: http://bit.ly/rnGBeP

Google+: A New Spin on Your Email

Admittedly, I may be a few weeks behind on this, but I felt inclined to post about this because of two reasons:

1. Since Google+ has just released this new program to a select few this last month before they expand more – therefore, I don’t feel completely left in the dark.

2. Considering we were just discussing email on Friday, this felt relevant and interesting.

For those of in my same boat – what is Google+?

Google+ includes the updates and additions that Google has made to its email services and in a nutshell, another potential social networking platform.

A few cool highlights include:

Circles – Linking with your email, Circles, allows you to easily make “circles of friends,” “circles of family” or even more specific circles of any people you want – overall, making it easier to maintain lists, contact groups, etc.

Sparks – “Sparks looks for videos and articles it thinks you’ll like, so when you’re free, there’s always something to watch, read, and share.” Cool – as if we are not inundated with enough info on a daily basis, but okay.

Hangouts – This feature helps you “coordinate” or at least more openly orchestrate bumping into friends while out and about, by letting your buddies know where you are hanging out – you never know who may decide to drop by.

Google+ has also added some mobile features including:

Instant Upload – In order to combat the agony we all face when trying to upload and share photos, Instant Upload, automatically uploads your photos for easy access and sharing capabilities.

Huddle – My personal favorite is Huddle which allows you to turn the many different conversations you may be having with six different people, but about the same thing (i.e. coordinating a movie time) into one simple group chat – genius!

So this all seems great on a personal note, but I actually think this can help self-employed business owners, individual artists, small companies or non-profits start up and manage some of their email communication and events. I have yet to see if there are analytics linked to this, but knowing Google, it can’t be far behind.

To check out more - visit the website for Google+