Finding Unexpected Insights....at Tourneau

I love how Don McNichol, the Senior VP of Marketing for Tourneau, describes big data as a "“digital constellation” made up of his many marketing channels – stores, web site, social media, mobile, and call centers – all orbiting around a single database." This visual helps me appreciate the connectedness of a well-planned integrated marketing strategy; how all the pieces ideally return metrics into one space.

Enter the big data problem. Because of our relative inexperience with this rapidly evolving digital technology, I think it is easier to rely on this data more as a backup, than as a challenge. We are quicker to use the information to support or refute what we intuitively proposed, rather than to use the information to gain insights that might not match our initial assumptions. For marketers, it is challenging to take a leap of faith on a newfound insight into the customer's mindset, particularly in a more hierarchical company. We need to examine the why's behind the numbers. Why consumers behave in certain patterns is often more telling than the pattern emergence itself.

Another unique quality of this data is that much of it is time sensitive. As we get information, sometimes on a second by second clock, we need to make important judgments as to what to react to and what to monitor. To continue on McNichol's metaphor, much of what's shared in the digital sphere is like a shooting star, quick to rise and just as quick to disappear.

Thank goodness for B school classes where we can take on the data mining challenge and hone our innovativeness-quotients!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/philjohnson/2012/06/05/time-management-what-buying-a-luxury-watch-can-teach-you-about-big-data/

An introduction to SEO ethics for marketers

In the world of Search Engine Marketing (SEM), digital marketers seek to optimize their search rankings using various methods. However, in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), marketers need to abide by the SEO ethics, mainly the "Google Webmaster Quality Guidelines." The author of the article, Kevin Morley, describes the marketers following the guidelines as the good (White Hat). Conversely, the opposite is mentioned as the bad (Black Hat). Yet, most digital marketers are neither the White Hat nor the Black Hat, but they are so called Gray Hat because they are in between the two spectrum. Kevin Morley believes that all Gray Hats should put significant efforts to move to the White Hats - "the best way to be top of Google is to actually be the best - to have the best content, the best tools, the most amazing resources that encourage other sites to link to you in large numbers and thus boost you to the top."

The Google Webmaster Quality Guidelines are as follows:
1.      Avoid hidden text or hidden links

2.      Don’t use cloaking or sneaky redirects

3.      Don’t send automated queries to Google

4.      Don’t load pages with irrelevant keywords

5.      Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.

6.      Don’t create pages with malicious behavior, such as phishing or installing viruses, Trojans, or other badware

7.      Avoid “doorway” pages created just for search engines, or other “cookie cutter” approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content

8.      If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your side adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.

Link: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769

I believe that any kinds of professionals must follow ethics defined within their specific fields, such as engineering, science, or business. However, peoples' judgment on whether a professional is meeting the ethical guideline could become subjective if the ethics has not been defined concretely. For example, let's look into the quality guidelines specified by Google. For the 4^th guideline, what exactly does Google mean "irrelevant keywords?" For the 7^th guideline, how will Google distinguish and identify "other badware?" Moreover, for the 8^th guideline, what is the definition of providing "unique and relevant content?" In order to help the Gray Hats to progress towards the White Hats, I believe that Google must elaborate on the quality guidelines. Furthermore, Google needs to somehow make the guidelines easily available to all internet users because this will help not only digital marketers but also all internet users to be aware of the SEO ethics.

Article Link: http://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-optimisation-seo/seo-strategy/an-introduction-to-seo-ethics-for-marketers/

Facebook and the Originals

Facebook's problem: Ads aren't grabbing users, analysts say
You're shocked, I know.  We answered the question ourselves only a few days ago and I'll reaffirm that I have never actually clicked on an ad on Facebook.  In fact, as an actor, I have been told by producers that if I do see our show advertised, NOT to click it because it would be a waste of the 1,000 clicks they had purchased. 

But for me, the most interesting part of the entire article was early on - "The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that 34 percent of Facebook users surveyed were spending less time on the website than six months ago, whereas only 20 percent were spending more." I had been noticing that myself -  that some people, namely those that had been on it the longest (my undergrad school was in the 2nd wave to get FB and so I've had an account since October 2004), aren't on all that much anymore.  Many say it just takes up too much time, others want to spend time having meaningful conversations with what we like to call "Real Life Friends".... For most, I think the appeal has just worn thin and it started in 2007 when FB lifted the rule requiring all members to log on with a .edu email address. When that happened, I knew many people who either deleted their accounts all together or drastically cut the amount of time they spent on it. These are the people who accounted for helping build FB into what it is today. What would have happened if they  had been kept engaged?
I'd be very interested in seeing the activity levels of the original, say 1 million users - how many are still on the site? How many still actively use it? Compared to the average user, how much time do they spend on the site?  I think it is important because these first 1 million users were all students and eventual graduates of well respected universities and now are probably between 26-30 years old - a very important demographic for some marketers.

Internet Trends (KPCB's newly published report)

KPCB (a Silicon Valley venture capital firm) published a detailed report (link to the power point below) which covers today’s Internet growth and provides an in-depth look for the following new trends, including: 
1) review of Internet stats and notes that Internet growth remains robust and rapid mobile adoption is still in early stages; 
2) run through a number of examples of business models that are being re-imagined and re-invented thanks to mobile and social; 
3) highlight mixed economic trends and 
4) observe that while there’s a lot to be excited about in technology, there are things to be worried about regarding America’s financial situation.


KPCB on recent internet trends:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/95259089/KPCB-Internet-Trends-2012

Google to Charge Product Search Listings

Re: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18295884 - 1 June 2012


Google Shopping search engine will be charging companies for product search listings by autumn this year. Google's product search drives about $1.3bn worth of traffic in annual sales globally. For the last decade, Google has been providing listings for free with results based solely on relevance. Google expects this move to not only generate new profit but also make search results more reliable and up-to-date. This will change the game for companies like Amazon and eBay who will now face fees in order to appear in Google Shopping's search results.


I think that Bing Shopping (Bing.com/shopping) may try to take advantage of this opportunity to market their search engine which is similar to Google's and drives traffic to company websites for free. This enables both small and large retailers to play in the market.

Is Social Media Controllable? The Olympics are sure going to try…..

What do advertisers typically demand the most when paying for sponsorships? Presence and exclusivity. That’s exactly what the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is trying to give their sponsors for the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics. Sponsors such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, British Airways and Adidas have collectively paid $1 billion for the exclusive sponsorship status around the two week event. To protect sponsors the LOCOG is enforcing a one kilometer “Brand Exclusion Zone” which allows no brands to compete with official sponsors. This not only includes ads but also includes such things as people paying with the wrong credit card.

I was surprised to learn that there are also plans to try to control or limit social media. Social media takes conversation to the next level and invites a more organic two way dialogue. However, athletes are forbidden to upload pictures, footage, or post about their performance or anyone else’s. They cannot share or discuss anything about brands unless the brand is an official Olympic sponsor. Same holds true for the volunteers of the events. How is the Organizing Committee going to control the mass of volunteers and athletes from posting, tweeting, tagging etc…? What will it do if Lebron posts pictures of his Nike’s or if Michael Phelps tweets something pertaining to Speedo? It’s impossible to police. Some people are dubbing the upcoming Olympics as the first “social games” given the evolution and development of social media compared to 2008. Through viral sharing tools, the event will allow users to spread Olympic news throughout their social graph and reach millions of people. How will the LOCOG prevent this information flow from occurring and what would be the repercussions for socially savvy athletes or volunteers who violate the policy? In trying to prevent the official sponsors from losing their competitive advantage, the LOCOG/brands could face a backlash from a public outraged over the restrictions they are attempting to impose.

http://adage.com/article/global-news/brand-police-full-force-london-olympics/235136/

The business of Big Data...

We all know it comes to information era, or information explosion era. Because of cheap storage, and new technologies, large amounts of data are available.  The business of Big Data is to search patterns and revelation among these data. It has become a multibillion-dollar industry in less than 10 years.

With growing at speed in social media, like facebook and twitter, it becomes feasible to identify individual personality, what does he like, where has he been, etc.  Although it is still very challenging to analyze tons of refreshed information daily, marketer still can make use of the information to target right customer, to promote right product, to grow the business.

The business in Big Data is very promising. In fact, many corporate spends tons of money to analyze its ever growing corporate data, hopes to find out the interesting thing about its customer, competitor to support corporate growth.  It seems a right industry if you want to start a startup.

For more information, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/how-big-data-gets-real/

Facebook charged with child abuse...?

Its been reported that Facebook (FB) is developing tools to let children younger than 13 years old use the site.  This seems like a desperate attempt to reach out to new, untapped audiences in hope to boost its ad revenues now that FB is public.  I think it is just a matter of time until the FTC privacy issues arise (again).   
Shares of FB are under pressure again today given recent headlines as well as negative sell side research reports.  Sanford C. Bernstein & Co (arguably the gold standard of sell side research) issued an "underperform" (sell rating) and a $25 price target.  No one wants to catch this falling knife...
    

Google stuggles to compete ?

According to an article in the WSJ, “Google Inc. has repeatedly tried, and largely failed, to crack the market for local business advertising.” Despite its many attempts to attract small business owners to its services (i.e. Google+, AdWords, Google Wallet, free Google pages, etc.) Google has not been able to tap into this extremely large and potentially profitable market.   In order to further its campaign to attract small business owners to its services, Google has spent about a half a billion dollars since early 2011 purchasing a number of companies that when combined with existing Google products, may cater to the needs of small/local business owners.  Additionally, Google has created a dedicated team working specifically on smartphone apps related to local businesses.  Perhaps most importantly however, Google has spent millions of dollars on a campaign titled “Get Your Business Online” where multiday workshops are planned to help local businesses establish their own website and business listing on Google’s search engine – free of charge. 

Nevertheless, Google continues to struggle to gain any traction in the local business market.

This is problematic for Google; the article cites that digital-ad spending by local businesses last year reached $21.2 billion and is expected to increase by more than 12% annually.  It’s obvious then that local marketing has indeed adapted to the digital era.  Google however has not been one of the main players in this arena. This is interesting, especially considering the fact that so many small business owners have been using social media sites such as Facebook and even Groupon to promote goods and services. 

In my opinion, it seems to make more sense for local business owners to create a free page on Google instead of on Facebook.  The advertising on Google allows local business ads to appear in more Google searches (including helpful sites such as Google Maps, etc.)  I would argue that a significant portion of the patrons of local/small businesses are, generally speaking, those who do not have Facebook profiles (i.e. my parents) – ironically enough, these are exactly the people who utilize Google to search for local businesses!  Why then is Google having such a hard time winning over local businesses?  Are Google’s products too complex?  Or, are many local/small businesses simply unaware of Google’s capabilities?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304821304577443371490403652.html?KEYWORDS=google+readies+new

SEO is getting social!

BrightEdge (www.brightedge.com) is an interesting start-up that offers tools for companies to manage their search engine rankings. The company is based in San Mateo, California and it has been founded in 2008. While initially focused on “classic SEO”, it is now extending its sphere of activity also to social networks such as facebook and twitter, helping the companies to optimize their social presence. In few words: leverage social media for search. Accordingly to the founder and CEO Jim Yu “Search is evolving. It’s completely different than a year or two ago. One of the fundamental innovations of search was realizing that links are a great signal for authority. Now they’re also liking, they’re also sharing, and I think that’s going to help search”. The company is growing quickly. Recently it raised additional $12.6 million in a Series C round of funding and opened two new offices (New York and London).

Is facebook going in Groupon's direction?

In the last several weeks we have seen many discussions on whether Facebook’s IPO price of $38 is anywhere close to being reasonable. The +100x P/E multiple seemed crazy and could not be justified by any value investor. Since its IPO Facebook shares have dropped ~%27 but the real question now is where is the stock prices‘ bottom. Many of Facebook’s shares are now held by insiders and are in a lock period of 90 days post IPO. This lock period will soon be over and the market has a strong fear that there would be a huge selloff of the stock by the insiders once the restricted period would be over. Groupon’s shares suffered a ~10% decline this week due to this issue and many analyst are already predicting that Facebook would trade below $20 by then. Now what do you think Facebook is really worth and should the company think about changing their business model?  Can the price drop to below $10 such at the following article suggests:

http://www.valuewalk.com/2012/06/facebook-inc-fb-ipo-wall-street-wins-muppets-lose-yet-again/

Man's Search for Meaning

Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for —Viktor Frankl

Frankl is credited with coining the term ‘Sunday neurosis’ that refers to the dejection that is felt at the end of the working week when a person realizes just how empty and meaningless his/her life is. 

That however, is not the reason that I am sitting on my couch on a Sunday afternoon scratching my head trying to figure out how to turn this psychological blabber into an intelligent digital piece. So I turn to Google and search for the meaning of life only to read the Wikipedia page on Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning. I am impressed reading about him and his work but can't help thinking jestingly how his thoughts would be translated in our current digital world.

Well, according to Frankl, meaning can be found through:

• Creativity or giving something to the world through self- expression
  
   Hmm, maybe that's why so many people are on Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites posting pictures and making status updates. That reminds me, it's been a while since I updated my fb status. Lemme do that right now... back again, wait a minute, isn't this blog my creative piece of self-expression. Duh!
• Experiencing the world by interacting authentically with our environment and with others
   Hmm, I figure checking out my friends posts, commenting on them and poking a few girlfriends on fb can count as interaction with the environment and others. Wait a minute, does that make me a nerd? Though I guess in today's time that is a good thing, because wasn't it Bill Gates, the original nerd and one of the world's richest man who said, "Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one"
  
• Changing our attitude when we are faced with a situation or circumstance that we cannot change.
  
   Well there is the prayer, "God, give me courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference" But it's difficult!! Can't I just de-friend them on facebook??
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

I feel used...

Have any of you been used by a retail company to help them advertise their product via Facebook?  So there is a men's e-retail clothing company called Bonobos (http://www.bonobos.com/)  that is targeting social media to help spread its user base.  Bonobos was founded in 2007 by a few UVA grads; Bonobos has no brick and mortar stores.  Everything (until a recent deal with Nordstrom) has to be purchased online (they offer free shipping on all delivery and returns).  The other day they sent me a coupon via gmail for 30% off.  I clicked on it and it said to check my Facebook account as they discount password was sent there.  When I went to FB to retrieve the coupon, it then post to my entire network that I am fan of Bonobos and offers others the coupon as well if they want it.
Not sure if they have to pay FB for this, I do not think so... if not, seems like a good approach and better than paying Google.

The King & I

A Thai webmaster, Chiranuch Premchaiporn, recently criminally convicted this week for failing to delete in a timely manner user-posted comments critical of the Thai royal family. Having lived in Thailand for a period during college, I have been following the case closely not only because of an interest in the local politics, but for the broad implications of countries trying to police the internet.

Thailand’s lèse-majesté law prohibits anyone from defaming, threatening, or insulting, the king, queen, or crown prince. The ruling king Bhumibol Aduladej is incredibly respected; in fact, before any movie plays at a theater in Thailand, a brief film appears of the King performing benevolent acts among the Thai people. The national anthem plays, and all theatergoers (including foreigners) stand up in respect. However, not all royal family members are so popular. 

 

While the lèse-majesté law in and of itself is not so unusual – it is illegal in multiple communist countries, such as Vietnam, to criticize the ruling party – what makes this case alarming is that a webmaster is being held criminally liable for posts made by other users. It is raising concern in the internet community as a dangerous precedent for the future of policing the internet.

Google came out with a response against the verdict, highlighting their own sense of unease regarding liability for users’ posts in internet forums:

“Today’s guilty verdict for Chiranuch Premchaiporn, for something somebody else wrote on her website, is a serious threat to the future of the Internet in Thailand,” Taj Meadows, Asia Pacific spokesman for Internet services giant Google, said by email.

“Telephone companies are not penalized for things people say on the phone and responsible website owners should not be punished for comments users post on their sites,” he wrote. “The precedent set today is bad for Thai businesses, users and the innovative potential of Thailand’s Internet economy.”

Of course, Google has also been tussling with censorship issues in China, recently warning users when they are typing search terms that are censored, to the consternation of the Chinese government.

How responsible should webmasters or portals be held for user’s content? Are Google and other webmasters condoning censorship by playing by these countries’ rules?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303674004577435373324265632.html?KEYWORDS=thailand

Facebook or bust?

So...  This is the first blog I've ever written.  I'd like to open up the conversation by asking if you feel Facebook is worth investing in?  Would you buy the stock? And of so, what's the right price?

Google's major revamp of it's search engine to provide localized search results (called Venice update) : Its impact on current in-place SEO strategies of advertisers and businesses.

Possible impacts include:
i)Rewriting the SEO technical aspects of the companies websites , such that they are aligned with Google Venice updates.Google’s Venice update has caused surprisingly few ripples in the search engine marketing industry given the scale of its impact on search: it’s easily as important as Big Daddy from 2006, itself the most significant update made by Google up to that point.
Most important among the 50+ changes announced from our multinational / global point of view, is Google’s new handling of generic search queries which previously would not have been localised.
Where in the past a search such as ‘seo’ or ‘jacket’ would have simply returned Google’s non-local result set, now Google will include results specific to your location (whether you have actively set your location or not: Google will locate you based on your IP address).


http://searchengineland.com/why-googles-venice-update-fundamentally-changes-global-seo-121484

ii)Leverage the local search results functionality introduced by Google Venice update

Potential benefits to Google include:
a)Sell Adwords at the localized level, increasing the potential of multiple sales of the same AdWord to multiple vendors ...
b) Especially with the recent acquisition of Zagat etc, will help ward off market share being eaten up by localized content providers like Yelp, Groupon etc.

Ram

Facebook’s Mobile Advertising Strategy (or no strategy)

Facebook has been on the cutting edge of successfully blending technology with psychology for few years now. Its deciphered the secret code of social networking and its sucking in new users at a ballistic pace, at last count the site has 900+ million users. Last year, 85 per cent of Facebook’s $3.7bn revenues came from advertising. The firm’s own figures show that more than half of its users in March accessed their account on the move (tablets & smart phones). What’s surprising is that Facebook does not have a comprehensive mobile advertising strategy; advertisements are not delivered to its users via its mobile application. The heartening news for investors is that this lack of consumer insight may also prove to be an untapped revenue stream in the near future.

For more details:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9257232/Facebook-issues-revenue-warning-over-mobile-growth.html

TV or Internet Advertising: Which one annoys you more?

     “Are you one of those people who put those annoying ads up?!”  That’s the reaction I usually get when I tell people that I did advertising for CNNMoney.com.   In the past few years I’ve seen internet advertising evolve where now more dynamic rich media display units are constantly being introduced.  Although advertisers love that and demand it, does it come at a cost? 
     I stumbled across an interesting article in the Guardian that talks about how the internet is close to overtaking television as the most complained about advertising medium in the UK.  The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), who monitors consumer complaints on advertising content, said the YOY increase is typically 25% for all UK advertising.  Since last year, complaints on the number of internet ads by consumers have jumped by 300%!  The article claims this was due to the ASA changing its criteria to include investigating marketing messages on a media owner’s own website, which thus increased the number of complaints it recognizes.  This jump puts internet advertising in close range to dethrone television which is currently the most complained about advertising medium.  But I have to think that this solely can’t be the reason.  As more publishers are rushing to fill empty spaces on their website with ad space, we see that this can directly impact the user experience.  As more homepage takeovers, overlays and expanding rich media units are becoming more intrusive, one has to wonder if this could also be a cause.  Advertisers are increasingly asking us to push the envelope and come up with new placements to reach its target audience.  Gone are the days when advertisers were ok with just leaderboards (728x90) and large rectangle units (336x280). Now they seek out such units as: filmstrip, pushdown, sidekick, slider, peel back, short tail, 3D Glider, Hover ad etc… (http://www.iab.net/risingstars)  Although annoying for visitors, it’s considered effective for advertisers because it gives them a crucial element they seek; brand recognition. You may hate it (Geico caveman commercials) but you’ll remember it.  
     Surprisingly in the article, while YOY complaints in internet advertising spiked by 300%, television in comparison; saw a decline of 20%.  Could this be due to the large number of people using DVRs now and bypassing commercials?   I know I’m one of them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/may/30/internet-overtake-tv-complained-about-ad-medium