Facebook is reaching out to the wider world with its Beacon programme (http://www.facebook.com/business/?beacon). A really interesting idea in extending their users' interactions beyond facebook and out into the wider web world. Where sites incorporate some script from Facebook, then any action which a facebook user takes on that site can be sent back as an update onto their facebook profile (as long as they dont opt out!). This in turn of course, is notified to their wider contacts in the style of “Ross is buying a book “Marketing for beginners” on Amazon.co.uk.
So far, so good. A nice way of extending facebook as your personal diary of activity, enabling users to share ever increasing detail on their lives with their friends.
However, their must be a real risk of a backlash against this. How much detail are you willing to share with your friends on your online browsing habits, and surely the opt-out should really be an opt-in?
But, in what is becoming the hottest web area since search, it is an interesting way of creating greater user commitment to sharing their lives online with friends and colleagues. Google has taken notice, and through the Open Social initiative, is hoping to reduce the dominance of Faceboook and lower the barriers to entry in the market, tying themselves neatly into the social advertisers slot in the process. Let battle commence.
Tis better to have sinned than to be sinned against...no, hang on....
Great Post from Iain - how many are you guilty of?
Gluttony, I would argue, is the one we are most in danger of - the desperate need to collect data. Maybe that is lust?
Amazon manage to provide a perfectly good service without the need to find out who you are and email you the whole time. As do ebay. And Google (iGoogle works via cookies). Which is not to say that they don't eventually get your email address. Just that they give you an awful lot without feeling the need for it.
What value are you providing for the consumer in return for their data? Have you got a campaign in mind?
Hola, amigos. I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but I got a lot on my plate these days, as theonion's Jim Anchower used to say.
Apparently a lot of folks went to Cannes last week and had a rare old time. In between the drinking, they handed out some awards.
In the digital (Cyber Lions - it already sounds a bit dated, doesn't it?) category Diesel, Nike+ and Dove won Grands Prix. Three great campaigns, very different, but all with interesting things to tell us.
Diesel
I blogged about Heidies before, and still think it is one of the best campaigns I have seen in a long time. The great thing about it was the low-fi feel of the site - minimum “design” no flash, content pulled in from flickr, youtube, myspace etc. It clearly demonstrated how your site can be a hub for much more interesting work in social media, and can be a lot more dynamic because of it. The level of interaction was awesome, as was the randomness (people suggested ideas for photoshoots, which led to the “Panda Head” shots.) You could also enter comments that would then appear on a screen in their hotel room. 50/50 whether they would notice or not. Which in itself was great fun.
It reminded of a conversation I was having with a friend about constructing and managing social media strategies. He said “The thing is, I've got mates in bands who just do this. They don't have an idea of why it works or what they'll get out of it - they just do it”
Nike+
Yes, clever technology. Yes, Nike and Apple combine in a kind of Brangelina for geeks way. Yes, beautiful design and execution. But, they genius of Nike Plus for me is the social aspect. This is a great example of NOT doing what Joshua calls “An Over-Focus on Social Value”. Instead of attempting to build an entire social networking site and building a community around it, Nike concentrated on running (which is the essence of Nike - loving sports, not as a consultant once told me “Owning street sports”. Whatever that meant.) They allowed you to track your time, distance etc so you could see improvement. And they added a few things to the site that allowed people to compete at running and share their routes. Competition and cooperation - the two great things about sport.
However, logging on today I see that as a result of the TV push (Share your Addiction) they have stuck a clunky User-Generated-Content thing on the front, which doesn't seem necessary. So I take back what I said, for the time being.
Dove.
Two things. First, if this had been a TV ad, would it have caused the stir that it did as a viral? If it appeared in the background as you were arguing about Big Brother, would so many people have been so blown away by it?
Secondly, what a great example of a consistent global positioning delivering great value. A viral idea made in Canada goes worldwide, beyond the control of agency/client, and does exactly the same job in every market? Genius. It also spawned some great spoofs.
Slashdot have a link to an excellent photo essay on recycling used computers in China.
It's fairly low on facts but the contrast between the relative richness in metals of the waste (e-waste is 17 times richer in gold than gold ore) and the absolute poverty of the people doing the work (average salary USD 2-4 per day) is astonishing. Most worrying are the environmental impact of the extraction process by-products and the health of the workers. Given the peak in demand (and price) of most metals markets over the last few years you might anticipate that this industry would have matured into something a bit more high tech than someone cooking a circuit board on a hot plate and collecting the runoff for resale.
I've just read an interesting article by Libby Copeland on washingtonpost.com that I thought I would share. It came through as a link on the IAB newsletter which I will kindly assume that most of us subscribe too, being that we are all naturally interested in the world of digital marketing. In short it discusses the marketing world we all live in where we believe our consumers are brand advocates and love to interact with the brand.
Marketers have always loved consumers who so identify with a brand that they become its evangelists, wearing the logo on their backsides and preaching to their friends about its virtues.
Now for many or some brands this is actually true (consumers do love their brand eg Marmite or Guinness) but what is interesting is that the article discusses how the internet, and UGC in particular, has enabled the consumer to progress from wearing a branded t-shirt to interacting with and truly advocating the brands they love, and the ones they hate. The progress that has been made is the ease with which consumers can now do this. Several examples are given and in relation to my previous post it mentions brands who 'seed' films on video sharing websites. Some may see this as a brand interupting a space which they shouldn't but as the article points out, it's the consumer who gets to choose who sees the film, not the brand.
Anyway, have a read of the article and decide yourself - who makes the ads, them or us?
Mapvertising is the instantly annoying term used for combining maps and ads. Excitingly, I was quoted in Marketing Direct magazine on the subject this month. Next week I'm guest presenting Have I got News For You. I said “Google Maps has the opportunity to overtake Google as a business search tool. It's a step on from the Yellow Pages”.
A bold claim, particularly with absolutely no back-up to illustrate what I meant.
What I meant was that Google Maps has a much easier and more intuitive interface if you are looking for a business than Google or Yell. As an example, let's say I want to find pubs in Surbiton.
A. I type it into Google. I get this. The top paid link is to Yell, funny enough. Then Beer in the Evening (a great site). It hasn't actually led me to any pubs in Surbiton, only other sites where I can find them.
B. I try Yell. I get this rather attractive list. I love lists, they're so, y'know, orderly. I can then click on each pub and see where it is on a map of Surbiton.
C. I type “Pubs in Surbiton” into Google Maps. I get this handy map and point and click interface. I can see where they are, in relation to my house, the station, the river, Kingston, etc. etc. I instantly have tons more information than Google or Yell gave me. Nice.
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight Home | Monday 8 January
There are times when I get thoroughly dis-heartened with all the trappings of this modern society and just want to go and live in one of those experimental communities where the participants live like neolithic humans. I'm sure that I'm not alone in this feeling and this time of year is probably a high water point for it. However, one of the things that I never get pi55ed off with is my mobile phone. I'm firmly of the belief that the phone is my servant and not my master and regularly choose not to answer a call much to the surprise of the people around me. And so to the point of this post. The BBC's Newsnight are running a series of items under the banner 'Geek Week' and last night's instalment (the first) was a fascinating and thoroughly uplifting analysis of the impact of mobile telephony on Kenyan society. Not only has the technology allowed Kenya to skip a costly infrastructure upgrade (have you seen the cost of copper these days?) which would probably never have happened anyway but it enabled a number of services that just don't exist in UK like P2P cash transfers.
Check it out on the BBC media player.
Recommended
A big thanks to Don at Creston for finding a great article in the New York Times called “Brands for the chattering masses”.
Unfortunately, unless you subscribe to the New York Times online, you wont be able to view it, so I'll provide you with a brief synopsis.
It's about a company called Nielson BuzzMetrics. Many of you will no doubt already be aware of Nielson, tracker of media usage, well BuzzMetrics is their blog monitoring division.
Now, as regular readers of the TMW blog, I know you are all well aware what a massive impact blogging is having on brand perception and how seriously brands are taking it (See Sony and MacDonalds for starters). We at TMW are also taking it very seriously, and the launch of our e-influence product is testament to that.
So where does BuzzMetrics come in? Well BuzzMetrics is one of the tools we use to find out what's being talked about in the blogosphere and how much. You put in a brand name, and it'll tell you how much “Chatter” there is. And it doesn't stop there. Through cunning techie stuff, it can even tell you if the chatter is positive or negative. It's like knowing what people are saying about you behind your back!
The implications of the development of tools like this are huge. Firstly, we can see very easily how brands are being perceived in the ever more influential world of blogs. And secondly, it has the potential to overhaul the way market research is carried out. Why spend thousands of pounds asking 10 people in a focus group if they like your new ad, when you can put it online and see what millions of bloggers and commenters think about it?
I should point out that this isn't a 360 solution. It only tells you what's being said, not what to do about it - which is where our e-influence product comes to the fore. It's one thing knowing you're being slagged off, but that information is close to useless unless you know how to make them love you again.
An interesting post by Asi. I hadn't come across the 1% rule -
“It's an emerging rule of thumb that suggests that if you get a group of 100 people online then one will create content, 10 will “interact” with it (commenting or offering improvements) and the other 89 will just view it.” (Thanks, Guardian)
I suppose it's a combination of
confidence - viewing stuff is easy, interacting with it is slightly more difficult, generating can be very confusing (particularly if you're not the type to get who gets new technology easily)
instant reward - in my experience, people don't really see the point of generating stuff or writing their thoughts down if there is no ready made audience for it
Sorry for the delay in posting but interesting none the less…
Coca-Cola is online with one of the first YouTube co-marketing efforts. It's called Holiday Wishcast and it's a mini-site based on YouTube service which allows visitors to upload and share their video greetings. Among the users who have submitted content, we find the sweet Geriatric1927 who is already a star among YouTube fans.
Marketers look with interest Coca-Cola's initiative to exploit a new advertising space crowded with young users (read Contagious for example), while YouTube purists hope this is not the beginning of a brand invasion on the popular video sharing service. I don't want to sound pessimistic but, since in the end, someone has to pay the (bandwidth) bills, I'm not sure there's much we can do to stop the brand invasion…
As said Coke is not the first, but among the first brands which are launching campaigns through YouTube. New Media Age reports today that also Levi's has opened a channel for branded video content. It's called Levi's One To Watch Tour 2006 and it features exclusive video footage from upcoming (but already signed) bands like The Fratellis (I love them!), The View and Forward Russia.
Have you made a resolution yet? I have - allow me to share. That is the point of this blog thing, afterall. I'd like to encourage you to make the same resolution.
I'm going to try to be more interesting. That's not as silly as it sounds, and not as difficult either. The inspiration comes from Russell, and this great post.
I set up my own blog aaaaaages ago, and have managed (to my memory) three posts. I was slightly concerned about the implications of posting stuff to my own blog and then linking to the TMW blog, but I'm thinking sod it. What the hell. If you don't like it, use the comment button to tell me. I'm also going to put pressure on myself by linking it to the sidebar on the left there, for everyone to see.
So, I'm resolving to write one interesting thing, and take one interesting picture every day throughout 2007. I'm going to start using my flickr account, I'm going to get to grips with del.icio.us and all that, and generally start interacting a bit more with the wonderful world outside these four walls. And I'm going to annoy colleagues and friends into doing it as well.
(First off, get yourself a flickr account. It is the single best way to view, share, organise and generally have fun with photos that there is. Then, please, PLEASE set up an RSS feed. I've spoken about this before)
Do the same! Set up a blog, have a go, if you want, link it to this one. It'll be real. We'll start coming into work all excited about the interesting people we work with.
I was visiting a restaurant review site today, where I spotted an ad for a site called www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk
I was sufficiently intrigued to find out what it was all about so I clicked and found myself on a site that at first looked like a consumer forum for food and food suppliers.
Then I noticed the unmistakeble Golden Arches residing inconspicuously in the bottom right hand corner. But that was it in terms of branding. No “I'm loving it”, no pictures of Big Macs and fries.
Reading further , I discoivered this was McDonald's attempt to embrace the web, and start a dialogue with their consumers - just as we've been talking about on TMW Ideas for the last few months.
It invites real consumers to visit their kitchens and beef suppliers and write their own reviews.
It provides forums for consumers to chat both positively and negatively about McDonalds products. It lets consumers ask questions and actually receive answers.
In short - it's everything a brand (especially controvercial ones like MDs who are constantly on the receiving end of abuse like this and images like the above) should be doing to embrace and manage its consumer's opinions. And it's not even a blog!
This is what Web 2.0 is about - not sticking a picture of a clown on Myspace and making friends with 5 yr olds.
Amongst the myriad of sites and blogs that I read and like, iMedia Connection stands out from the crowd. The site is informative, never ceases to interest and educate and is well worth a browse every so often if you are even remotely interested in digital marketing. Granted, there is a strong US slant, but then given that there is a strong US bias amongst English speaking net users this is perhaps no bad thing. Here are a couple of recent gems from the vaults of iMedia:
A few stats from The USC-Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future's annual report on the overall impact of the Internet:
The internet now outranks television as a source of information and entertainment for the vast majority of internet users
35.5 percent of internet users say that they spend less time watching TV since they came online
Broadband penetration has reached 50 percent of the internet-using population (a conservative estimate, compared to numbers from some other research entities); dial-up modem use continues to plummet
Even though online tasks can be accomplished faster on a broadband connection, broadband users spend more time online than dial-up users
More generally, online community and user-generated content continue to increase both in levels of participation and also in the significance of that participation to internet users. “43 percent of internet users who are members of online communities say that they 'feel as strongly' about their virtual community as they do about their real-world communities,” the report highlights said, with 56.6 percent of participants logging into their communities at least once each day.
Relatedly, the number of blogging internet users has more than doubled in three years, from 3.2 percent in 2003 to 7.4 percent in 2006; 23.6 percent of internet users post photos online, up from 11 percent in 2003; and the number of users who maintain their own websites has grown steadily to 12.5 percent.
“More than a decade after the portals of the world wide web opened to the public, we are now witnessing the true emergence of the internet as the powerful personal and social phenomenon we knew it would become,” said Dr. Jeffrey Cole, the center's director.
I also enjoyed this podcast interview with Robert Brown, senior marketing manager, interactive, Nissan North America Consultancy. Amongst other topics discussed is Nissan's current interactive strategy and how the internet is becoming the medium of choice for comunicating larger amount of brand / product information and hence becoming increasingly important in the Automotive marketing mix. It's not necessarily revolutionary but it's definately interesting to hear his point of view.
Oh my, oh my. Quick browse of the web before heading home (after an honorable second in the Poker evening - strictly business you understand - if we are going to add value to Unibet we need to know what it's like to stare down the barrel of a pair of threes while heads up etc. etc.)
Part of what we do here at TMWblogs revolves around pooling knowledge as well as providing info for those still a little green to the online world. So…Search Marketing.
Historically this has been seen as the dull side of online marketing (many would say that it still is) but it is with out doubt an exceptionally important part of the online marketing mix and to ignore it could bring much PERIL!
To ensure you avoid this frightful fate those kind folks at Advertising Age have come up with an invaluable document. The Advertising Age Search Marketing Fact Pack (available as a .pdf here) contains a vast wealth of knowledge for both those who know nothing about this arcane subject, to those who do but just feel the need for a brush up. It unsurprisingly does have a strong American bias but the principles are the same so do not let this deter you.
It is an invaluable resource and well worth a read.
P.S. we would usually produce a Simple Guide for this sort of thing but why re-invent the wheel?
Hi all, I caught this interesting debate on a blog I like called adliterate. The replies are almost as interesting as the post itself but the gist seems to be something that I've always struggled with - trying to define digital from the technology and then force ideas to fit is not the best approach but is the one that most people seem to start from. Have a look and tell us what you think?
I don't know what this type of content should be categorised as. It certainly blurs a lot of boundaries between news classification but it also makes me feel somewhat confused about 'User generated content'. A term that I think is rapidly losing any meaning it may have had when it was first coined.
Behind the faceless mire of news websites, e-commerce, spam, porn and hotmail, the internet is a remarkable place. A place where people come together to create truly interesting stuff that simply wouldn't have been possible before the web, and often for free, something that in our 'cash is king' world of consumption, often seems wierd. These creations, whilst not being brand focused marketing activity, are particularly relevent to us as marketeers as we need to understand the world our brand messages appear in and the culture that they co-exist with out there in the cybersphere. We need to ensure that our sales pitches (and however we dress them up, that's what they are) are honest and sensitive to the moods and feelings that surround them. So it's good to know when people do stuff for free and what that stuff is.
Cafebabel.com is a not for profit net based magazine that publishes articles by hundreds of volunteer journos across Europe. They publish their site in seven (that's right, seven) different languages and specialise in content that's distinctly relevent to all Europeans. And, according to Mark Glaser's interview with Alexandre Heully, one of the co-founders, they have teams in 20 European countries who organise events, debates etc. and gather opinions from across the future superstate - ;). They get over 350,000 individual visitors per month, not to be sniffed at, and site their readership language breakdown as follows:
This site is great example of the coming together of heads of smart, driven people across geographical boundries to create pertinent content that fills a gap left by more traditional media. It is obviously particularly relevent to those of you with international clients but I also think it is a window into a culture where the idea is more important than the money it makes you. This is why the old ATL attitude to brand building and fostering consumer relationships with brands, where brands wade in with big budgets and loud noise, yelling about their great products just doesn't work online……..
and why trying to disguise this attitude by hiding behind new trends like blogging and user generated content without actually understanding and embracing the reasons these trends developed in the first place, will always fall short.
Now this may seem a little dry, but ajax is now a key component of the user experience. Our technical folk are using a framework that has a set of ajax libraries, but the performance of ajax applications has a huge hit on the quality of our stuff.
Dug talks a lot about “authenticity” - actually meaning what you are doing. Here's a great example of why, from Popbitch -
We went to see The Killers play last week. It was filmed for Vodaphone and Channel 4, which spoiled the effect somewhat as their performance was preceded by a man on stage telling us all to hide our drinks and cigarettes, “for compliance”, and if we got affected by the strobing lights we “should tell a member of staff who'll be able to give you some free CDs”, and that if we wanted to mosh, “mosh safely”.
Popbitch has a wider, and much more loyal circulation that some daily newspapers (300,000 is the last figure I heard), and they are exactly the audience Vodaphone want to reach through their Killers tie-ups and whatnot. So, although they'll be making light of it in the office, this is a bit of a cock up.
A bluffers guide to social media?
by Antony Mayfield Brand Republic 28 Sep 2006
Are you clear on exactly what social media is? Antony Mayfield, head of content and social media at Spannerworks explains.
Social media, which includes blogs, wikis, MySpace and YouTube, is not just a new set of media outlets or channels: is it is a fundamental re-writing of the rules of how media works.
The rate of innovation and change in online media at the moment is incredible. Many people are likely to have heard stats like “one blog is created every second” and “100m downloads are made from YouTube every day” without necessarily understanding what lies behind them, or what they mean for their brand.
Forgive me - this is a little test for an little idea we may be using on the Impulse pitch. Feel free to completely ignore it….
I'm a bit annoyed by the hobbit from Lost, mind.
If you'd like to do the same, go to www.myheritage.com. It's the link “Got a blog?”
Try to refrain from posting it here, though.
In the Digi Champs spirit of explaining, this is a great example of how tyou can merchandise a clever widget on your site through MySpace. People love customising their page, so if you can give them something to customise it with, you're doing OK…
Tullo Marshall Warren has promoted Ross Taylor, who set up the digital business digitaltmw within the company, as managing director of the division in recognition of its success.
Taylor joined TMW in 2000 from digital consultancy Razorfish, and since then digitaltmw has won a number of its own digital clients including Arriva Trains, L'Oreal and Coca-Cola Enterprises.
After working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a business consultant, Taylor moved to Bupa where he managed a major customer, product and partner relationship overhaul within the company.
He then moved to Sainsbury's to lead its Business Change programme and seven years ago he begun to use digital technology, and has focused on that area ever since.
The Economist has an interesting (although a bit short) article highlighting YouTube's current struggle to make money in the user-generated content world.
Roger Annies advised people how to reduce their junk mail
A postman who advised people how to stop junk mail being delivered to their home could lose his job after bosses suspended him for misconduct.
Roger Annies composed and circulated a leaflet about the Royal Mail's opt-out clause for unsolicited mail during his rounds in Barry, south Wales.
Residents are said to be annoyed at their postman's suspension.
A Royal Mail spokeswoman confirmed that a postman employed in Barry was being investigated for “alleged misconduct”.
Interestingly, a counciller in Barry called Robert Curtis supported him, saying that “Millions of pounds are wasted on leaflets and the environmental damage that does is massive and it is just not needed.” A check of Barry Town Council website didn't list Robert as a counciller, so I couldn't email him and find out whether this was based on any fact, or whether he opened his mouth and his brain farted.
A great post from Crackunit responding to Tony Davison (Creative Director and W+K). I have to agree with Ian - it is a bit annoying the way he goes back to “big ideas, love design, want to express themselves” bumpf that we love to crank out about what we do. I agree with it in priciple, but it ignores the fact that most creative people gravitate towards (and I suppose excel in) a medium they get, and can see possibilities in. Therefore you do need digital thinkers, and if you don't have them you won't produce great digital work. Who was it that said “think inside the box”?
Tony Davidson on Digital Creativity
The above image is blatantly stolen from the excellent DigitalAgency blog. But short of retyping the whole thing I couldn?t think of any other way of doing it.
It?s from the D&AD Student Annual, written by Tony Davidson (Creative Director at Wieden Kennedy London) and it starts off well. It?s positive and upbeat, and the sentiments behind it are all bang on. But I read it a second time, and a third time (by the fourth read I started to feel like an oddball so I stopped).
Duran Duran become pioneers again with virtual live concert
by Jennifer Whitehead Brand Republic 10 Aug 2006
Duran Duran, one of the bands credited with making the music video a crucial marketing tool, are once again at the vanguard of pop promotion.
The band will be the first to stage an 'in-world' live concert for players of the online virtual world 'Second Life'.
All five original members - Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor - are taking part in the venture.
We really should start looking more closely at the second life thing. Interesting in conjunction with Jonathan's comment below.
Google strikes $900m deal with MySpace
By Philippe Naughton and agencies
Google is to pay nearly half a billion pounds to become the exclusive search partner for the MySpace.com social networking site and other youth-oriented websites owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
Sony is facing a struggle over its PlayStation 3, with critics concerned about the processor and the price. Jack Schofield reports on the next stage in the console wars
Getting personal
Jul 27th 2006
From The Economist print edition
It has had a glittering career. But are the PC's best days now behind it?
?ENDLESS LOVE? by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie was at the top of the charts. Ronald Reagan was staring down the Soviet Union. And Princess Diana, aged 20, was on her honeymoon with Prince Charles. It was August 12th, 1981?and International Business Machines of Armonk, New York, unveiled the IBM 5150, its new entry in the nascent market for ?personal computers?.
This beige box, with a starting price of $1,565, had a mere 16 kilobytes of memory and used audio cassettes to load and save data. (A floppy-disk drive was optional.) IBM's press release trumpeted the screen's ?green phosphor characters for reading comfort? and ?easily-understood operation manuals? that made it ?possible to begin using the computer within hours.?
I realised that I posted this (yesterday) and broke one of the new Digital Champions rules - we have to put things in context and show how good stuff can be applied. So - I posted this first and foremost because it is a lovely piece of creative work. However, there are two other interesting things. The first is that Comcast is a techy brand, and therefore have delivered massively against expectation. Compare this loveliness with Sky.com's guide through your options when signing up, and see who you would trust with your broadband?
The second is the puppets have taken MGM to a whole new level. Similar to the Mini campaign, which I'll try and find so I can post it, they have created something that you would want to forward to your friends - and more importantly, one they will enjoy recieving - imagine that.
An interesting interview with Howard Rheingold about how he sees digital communities developing (thanks Blogs for Companies)
Howard Rheingold is the well-known author of Smart Mobs and many other books describing the evolution of our societies.
His last book predicted the transformation of our society into a mobile one. Four years later, and with thousands of posts published on the collective blog organized around this theme, his forecast is more than confirmed. As one of the futurologists who can detect the emerging technology trends behind our daily lives, I wanted to know what Howard is thinking in 2006. And he was kind enough to agree for an interview which was conducted by e-mail in mid-June. Here are large excerpts from the exchange.
