August 4, 2009: summarized from Direct News -- The link between internet marketing and social media such as Facebook has grown by 46 per cent in the last two years, new research suggests.
According to a study from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), which was produced in conjunction with BtoB Magazine and marketing services group mktg, 66 per cent of marketers have utilised sites such as Facebook in 2009.
It was also discovered that 50 per cent of firms employ viral videos, which represented a 25 per cent increase on 2007's findings.
Bob Liodice, president and chief executive officer of the ANA, said: "As more media platforms become available, it is imperative that all marketers continue to assess their capabilities and select the platforms that are best suited to help them."
Earlier this week, Email Data Source reported that there has been a "dramatic" increase in the number of email marketing campaigns using Facebook and microblogging website Twitter as linked-to portals.
More at: http://tinyurl.com/latypn
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
QR Codes In U.S. Are Finally Starting To Catch On
LM Comment: Interesting technology, definitely worth keeping an eye on.
July 28, 2009: summarized from Advertising Age -- As anyone who has ever struggled to manually input a URL into a mobile phone browser will tell you, there are relatively few joys to be had in the physical act of "texting."
Sure Apple, Palm, Google and BlackBerry have made great strides in providing elegant, easier-to-use keypads on their latest mobile devices. But there more than 4.1 billion mobile devices in the world today and most of them are your standard, garden-variety handset with a small screens and numeric keypads.
Inputting long lines of text on such devices, even with normal-size fingers, is a clumsy experience at best that can leave even the deftest "text-er" feeling ham-handed. This poses a huge barrier to mobile internet service adoption and, of course, marketing.
Surprising, then, that the QR code -- sometimes dubbed the URL killer -- has yet to catch-on outside of Asia. Until now that is. A flurry of new QR code activity from cultural tastemakers and media platforms alike may finally push the barcode into the mainstream.
For those unfamiliar, QR codes are 2D bar codes that contain small bits of data, such as URL strings, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. To read the QR code, a user simply launches a "reader" on their mobile device and takes a snapshot of the image. The software will then trigger the appropriate response, which can include launching a URL in the phone's browser to streaming a video or MP3.
Long popular in Japan, where QR codes are used on everything from bananas to advertising to tombstones, the following developments may prove the tipping point for the technology worldwide:
"9": QR codes will play heavily into this fall's promotion of the Tim Burton-produced film "9." Consumers who have QR readers on their mobile devices will be able to scan the code for exclusive clips from the movie and commentary from the director. Focus Features debuted the campaign this past weekend at ComicCon in San Diego.
Green Day: For the band's new album, "21st Century Breakdown," Green Day employed QR codes in magazine ads, posters, stickers and more. The QR code directs users to a special mobile site that enables the downloading of exclusive images and videos. The group partnered with Delivr to provide the content and media.
YouTube: The largest video platform in the world began to embrace QR codes this year. If you access the mobile YouTube site through an iPhone or Android device, you will now have the option to generate a QR code that embeds a link to the video.
Firefox: Similarly, Mozilla's recently began to offer an add-on for its Firefox browser called Mobile Barcoder. The extension allows Firefox users to users to simply generate a 2D QR code of either a URL or selection of text for easy transfer to a mobile device.
Luis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami, Marc Jacobs: Japan still sets the bar for radical evolutions of the QR code. Tokyo-based creative agency SET is bringing a design sensibility to something that -- for the moment -- has been a geeky-aesthetic. The agency brought together Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami for a unique spin on the QR codes. And for Marc Jacobs, the QR code gets a decidedly artful hand-drawn rendering.
Of course there have been some early, but decidedly mixed, experiments with QR codes outside of Japan. Most notably, Citysearch ran a pilot program in San Francisco last year allowing users to get restaurant reviews from stickers placed in the windows of participating establishments. And advertisers like Pepsi, Siemens and Volvo have all run QR campaigns in the past few months.
But it's only more recently, with the rise of the iPhone and Google's Android, that QR codes are starting to see a rise in Europe and the U.S. Both of those devices, with simple-to-install QR apps, allow users to bypass handset/carrier relationships that previously stalled adoption, to download and use the readers of their choice.
And as consumers get more familiar with scanning the codes, the future for QR codes will only get brighter. PSFK recently reported that scientists in Australia have developed a color barcode called Mobile Multi-Colour Composite 2D-Barcode that can hold more complex data and entire images and videos, sans URL. Even better, the new codes will work with a mobile device whether or not an Internet connection is actually available -- which means nearly instant, immersive experiences.
Given that, it's not hard to imagine a not-too-distant future where QR codes will become the primary bridge connecting real and virtual worlds.
Imagine a QR code becoming the call-to-action on every print ad or billboard. We'll watch movie trailers while waiting for the bus and stream hit singles upon passing by a poster. Beyond that, QR codes will become affixed to every conceivable product in a retail environment. Imagine using QR codes on your next trip to the grocery store to view recipes, learn about the farmer who grew your lettuce and even snag a coupon -- it's already happening in Japan, now its time for the rest of the world to catch-up.
More at: http://tinyurl.com/npgtrt
July 28, 2009: summarized from Advertising Age -- As anyone who has ever struggled to manually input a URL into a mobile phone browser will tell you, there are relatively few joys to be had in the physical act of "texting."
Sure Apple, Palm, Google and BlackBerry have made great strides in providing elegant, easier-to-use keypads on their latest mobile devices. But there more than 4.1 billion mobile devices in the world today and most of them are your standard, garden-variety handset with a small screens and numeric keypads.
Inputting long lines of text on such devices, even with normal-size fingers, is a clumsy experience at best that can leave even the deftest "text-er" feeling ham-handed. This poses a huge barrier to mobile internet service adoption and, of course, marketing.
Surprising, then, that the QR code -- sometimes dubbed the URL killer -- has yet to catch-on outside of Asia. Until now that is. A flurry of new QR code activity from cultural tastemakers and media platforms alike may finally push the barcode into the mainstream.
For those unfamiliar, QR codes are 2D bar codes that contain small bits of data, such as URL strings, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. To read the QR code, a user simply launches a "reader" on their mobile device and takes a snapshot of the image. The software will then trigger the appropriate response, which can include launching a URL in the phone's browser to streaming a video or MP3.
Long popular in Japan, where QR codes are used on everything from bananas to advertising to tombstones, the following developments may prove the tipping point for the technology worldwide:
"9": QR codes will play heavily into this fall's promotion of the Tim Burton-produced film "9." Consumers who have QR readers on their mobile devices will be able to scan the code for exclusive clips from the movie and commentary from the director. Focus Features debuted the campaign this past weekend at ComicCon in San Diego.
Green Day: For the band's new album, "21st Century Breakdown," Green Day employed QR codes in magazine ads, posters, stickers and more. The QR code directs users to a special mobile site that enables the downloading of exclusive images and videos. The group partnered with Delivr to provide the content and media.
YouTube: The largest video platform in the world began to embrace QR codes this year. If you access the mobile YouTube site through an iPhone or Android device, you will now have the option to generate a QR code that embeds a link to the video.
Firefox: Similarly, Mozilla's recently began to offer an add-on for its Firefox browser called Mobile Barcoder. The extension allows Firefox users to users to simply generate a 2D QR code of either a URL or selection of text for easy transfer to a mobile device.
Luis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami, Marc Jacobs: Japan still sets the bar for radical evolutions of the QR code. Tokyo-based creative agency SET is bringing a design sensibility to something that -- for the moment -- has been a geeky-aesthetic. The agency brought together Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami for a unique spin on the QR codes. And for Marc Jacobs, the QR code gets a decidedly artful hand-drawn rendering.
Of course there have been some early, but decidedly mixed, experiments with QR codes outside of Japan. Most notably, Citysearch ran a pilot program in San Francisco last year allowing users to get restaurant reviews from stickers placed in the windows of participating establishments. And advertisers like Pepsi, Siemens and Volvo have all run QR campaigns in the past few months.
But it's only more recently, with the rise of the iPhone and Google's Android, that QR codes are starting to see a rise in Europe and the U.S. Both of those devices, with simple-to-install QR apps, allow users to bypass handset/carrier relationships that previously stalled adoption, to download and use the readers of their choice.
And as consumers get more familiar with scanning the codes, the future for QR codes will only get brighter. PSFK recently reported that scientists in Australia have developed a color barcode called Mobile Multi-Colour Composite 2D-Barcode that can hold more complex data and entire images and videos, sans URL. Even better, the new codes will work with a mobile device whether or not an Internet connection is actually available -- which means nearly instant, immersive experiences.
Given that, it's not hard to imagine a not-too-distant future where QR codes will become the primary bridge connecting real and virtual worlds.
Imagine a QR code becoming the call-to-action on every print ad or billboard. We'll watch movie trailers while waiting for the bus and stream hit singles upon passing by a poster. Beyond that, QR codes will become affixed to every conceivable product in a retail environment. Imagine using QR codes on your next trip to the grocery store to view recipes, learn about the farmer who grew your lettuce and even snag a coupon -- it's already happening in Japan, now its time for the rest of the world to catch-up.
More at: http://tinyurl.com/npgtrt
Research Report: The Audience for Online Video-Sharing Sites Shoots Up
LM Comment: Definitely a trend worth monitoring.
July 2009: from Pew Internet & American Life Project -- As the audience for online video continues to grow, a leading edge of internet users are migrating their viewing from their computer screens to their TV screens.
Young adults continue to lead the adoption curve in online video viewing. Nine in ten internet users ages 18-29 use video sharing sites, up from 72% one year ago. On a typical day in 2009, 36% of young adult internet users watched video on these sites, compared with just 30% in 2008.
Online adults ages 30-49 also showed big gains over the past year; 67% now use video sharing sites, up from 57% in 2008.
Online video viewing is still far from being the norm among internet users ages 50 and older, however, this segment of the internet audience continues to grow each year. Among internet users ages 50-64, 41% now say they watch video on sites like YouTube, which is up from 34% in 2008. Likewise, 27% of wired seniors ages 65 and older now access video on these sites, compared with just 19% who were doing so at this time last year.
The Audience for Online Video Sharing Sites Shoots Up
July 2009: from Pew Internet & American Life Project -- As the audience for online video continues to grow, a leading edge of internet users are migrating their viewing from their computer screens to their TV screens.
Young adults continue to lead the adoption curve in online video viewing. Nine in ten internet users ages 18-29 use video sharing sites, up from 72% one year ago. On a typical day in 2009, 36% of young adult internet users watched video on these sites, compared with just 30% in 2008.
Online adults ages 30-49 also showed big gains over the past year; 67% now use video sharing sites, up from 57% in 2008.
Online video viewing is still far from being the norm among internet users ages 50 and older, however, this segment of the internet audience continues to grow each year. Among internet users ages 50-64, 41% now say they watch video on sites like YouTube, which is up from 34% in 2008. Likewise, 27% of wired seniors ages 65 and older now access video on these sites, compared with just 19% who were doing so at this time last year.
The Audience for Online Video Sharing Sites Shoots Up
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Video: Social Media Revolution
LM Comment: Definitely watch this one! An updated look at the dramatic shift that is underway in how we communicate. Some points that standout:
- Generation Y and Z consider email passé ... in 2009 Boston College stopped distributing email addresses to incoming freshman.
- The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females.
- 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations, only 14% trust advertisements.
And, of course ...
- What happens in Vegas, stays --- on Facebook, on Twitter, on orkut, on bebo, on flickr, on digg, on myspace, on YouTube.
What does it all mean? "Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers then like traditional advertisers."
- Generation Y and Z consider email passé ... in 2009 Boston College stopped distributing email addresses to incoming freshman.
- The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females.
- 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations, only 14% trust advertisements.
And, of course ...
- What happens in Vegas, stays --- on Facebook, on Twitter, on orkut, on bebo, on flickr, on digg, on myspace, on YouTube.
What does it all mean? "Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers then like traditional advertisers."
The 4 Biggest Motivators For Social Media Marketing
LM Comment: Some great ideas to think about if you're considering incorporating social media into your marketing mix.
July 28, 2009: summarized from E-Commerce Times -- Whether people are online or offline, the motivators that spur people to share information fall into four buckets: Self-Expression, Status Achievement, Altruism and Self-Serving.
Self-Expression
In the traditional direct marketing world, people are motivated by cash -- or saving it in the form of coupons, discounts, etc. Within social media, the biggest motivator is often self-expression. That means finding a promotion that allows customers to express themselves, such as customizing a Nike (NYSE: NKE) shoe that they can share with their friends.
Status Achievement
Most people like to brag, and that tendency is multiplied by the Web. Creating a promotion that allows customers to improve their status amongst their peers is an effective way to get them to share with their network. For example, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) might reward loyal shoppers with early access to a new product release, and then encourage them to share this advanced access with their friends. Putting shoppers in a position of power among their peers is a big motivator.
Altruism
In addition to bragging, people also like to do good -- especially when it's convenient. In the above-mentioned airline example, allowing consumers to share carbon offsets taps into a person's altruistic nature. This promotion makes the consumer feel good, not only for helping to save the planet, but also for helping their friends feel good about joining the cause. In this scenario, consumers are motivated to share by the opportunity to do something good -- not because of some physical reward they are going to get back in return.
Self-Serving
While self-serving offers work really well in the offline world (coupons, discounts, etc.), this motivator is less potent in the realm of social networking. However, that's not to say that it can't be effective if done right. Combining a self serving-offer with one that taps into status achievement is one way to maximize results. For example, you can give a person a $100 gift certificate for forwarding a $20 coupon to 10 friends. The consumer wins big -- a financial reward plus status among friends.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nat8al
July 28, 2009: summarized from E-Commerce Times -- Whether people are online or offline, the motivators that spur people to share information fall into four buckets: Self-Expression, Status Achievement, Altruism and Self-Serving.
Self-Expression
In the traditional direct marketing world, people are motivated by cash -- or saving it in the form of coupons, discounts, etc. Within social media, the biggest motivator is often self-expression. That means finding a promotion that allows customers to express themselves, such as customizing a Nike (NYSE: NKE) shoe that they can share with their friends.
Status Achievement
Most people like to brag, and that tendency is multiplied by the Web. Creating a promotion that allows customers to improve their status amongst their peers is an effective way to get them to share with their network. For example, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) might reward loyal shoppers with early access to a new product release, and then encourage them to share this advanced access with their friends. Putting shoppers in a position of power among their peers is a big motivator.
Altruism
In addition to bragging, people also like to do good -- especially when it's convenient. In the above-mentioned airline example, allowing consumers to share carbon offsets taps into a person's altruistic nature. This promotion makes the consumer feel good, not only for helping to save the planet, but also for helping their friends feel good about joining the cause. In this scenario, consumers are motivated to share by the opportunity to do something good -- not because of some physical reward they are going to get back in return.
Self-Serving
While self-serving offers work really well in the offline world (coupons, discounts, etc.), this motivator is less potent in the realm of social networking. However, that's not to say that it can't be effective if done right. Combining a self serving-offer with one that taps into status achievement is one way to maximize results. For example, you can give a person a $100 gift certificate for forwarding a $20 coupon to 10 friends. The consumer wins big -- a financial reward plus status among friends.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nat8al
Media Moguls Rethink Web Advertising In Downturn
LM Comment: Favorite quote is "Internet advertising must evolve from displays and become integrated into the content of websites."
July 27, 2009: summarized from Yahoo News -- The recession-fueled advertising downturn underlines the urgency of using the Web to glean data and target consumers directly, rather than blasting them with a barrage of TV-style ads, media executives say.
At the Fortune Brainstorm: TECH conference in Pasadena last week, Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Robert Iger opened a discussion about new ways to market to consumers, when he described himself as, "pretty bullish about what technology is going to allow in terms of behavioral tracking."
Executives from AOL, a division of Time Warner Inc, News Corp and IAC/InterActiveCorp echoed similar hopes about the potential to reach consumers online.
As advertising dollars grow ever more scarce, companies have been forced to rethink how they reach consumers and have moved away from the traditional 30-second spot to the kinds of targeted, Internet-driven marketing campaigns that have been talked about for years.
Internet advertising in the United States -- a $23.4 billion market in 2008 -- was down 5 percent in the first quarter of this year and Iger and other executives say the sector may not return to the historic growth trajectory seen before the recession.
Jonathan Miller, head of News Corp's Digital Media Group, believes advertising is undergoing, "fundamental changes ... and you have to tease them out of the recession effects.
"Marketing is on an arc to become more efficient. My dollar should go further. And that says the advertising pool may not grow at the rate that it's traditionally grown at, even out of this recession."
Targeting consumers via demographics, profiling, and their social networks, "you learn a lot about people and you can identify them," Miller added.
The thinking among these media executives is that advances in technology is enabling them to build more detailed profiles of consumers -- which can then either be sold as a commodity or employed in their own marketing campaigns.
AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong, former sales chief at Google Inc, also sees new marketing opportunities from consumer referrals and tracking.
"Where people actually go, what they do, how they do it," he said. "It's not just about data, it's about the insight. If you're Procter & Gamble, or Kellogg's, or Coke or whatever, forget all the data. What is the insight you get out of it? How does that actually change your perception?"
But Ed Moran, director of product innovation for Deloitte, said tracking tastes and developing profiles is fine, as long as advertisers do not make the old media mistake of finding their optimum consumers, only to show them a commercial.
Moran said next-generation advertising will be driven by the tastes and habits of 14 to 24 year-old "millennials" whose lives center on social networks and Internet-enabled handsets.
"A more effective way of reaching these young folks ... is to use their social networks as influencers, rather than bombarding them with ads," Moran said.
To that end, Barry Diller, chief executive of Web giant IAC/InterActiveCorp, said Internet advertising must evolve from displays and become integrated into the content of website.
Even actor and media producer Ashton Kutcher chimed in at the conference, saying the billboard-style display ad is already outdated.
"People who have grown up on the Internet have trained themselves not to see it," he added.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/npt6ke
July 27, 2009: summarized from Yahoo News -- The recession-fueled advertising downturn underlines the urgency of using the Web to glean data and target consumers directly, rather than blasting them with a barrage of TV-style ads, media executives say.
At the Fortune Brainstorm: TECH conference in Pasadena last week, Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Robert Iger opened a discussion about new ways to market to consumers, when he described himself as, "pretty bullish about what technology is going to allow in terms of behavioral tracking."
Executives from AOL, a division of Time Warner Inc, News Corp and IAC/InterActiveCorp echoed similar hopes about the potential to reach consumers online.
As advertising dollars grow ever more scarce, companies have been forced to rethink how they reach consumers and have moved away from the traditional 30-second spot to the kinds of targeted, Internet-driven marketing campaigns that have been talked about for years.
Internet advertising in the United States -- a $23.4 billion market in 2008 -- was down 5 percent in the first quarter of this year and Iger and other executives say the sector may not return to the historic growth trajectory seen before the recession.
Jonathan Miller, head of News Corp's Digital Media Group, believes advertising is undergoing, "fundamental changes ... and you have to tease them out of the recession effects.
"Marketing is on an arc to become more efficient. My dollar should go further. And that says the advertising pool may not grow at the rate that it's traditionally grown at, even out of this recession."
Targeting consumers via demographics, profiling, and their social networks, "you learn a lot about people and you can identify them," Miller added.
The thinking among these media executives is that advances in technology is enabling them to build more detailed profiles of consumers -- which can then either be sold as a commodity or employed in their own marketing campaigns.
AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong, former sales chief at Google Inc, also sees new marketing opportunities from consumer referrals and tracking.
"Where people actually go, what they do, how they do it," he said. "It's not just about data, it's about the insight. If you're Procter & Gamble, or Kellogg's, or Coke or whatever, forget all the data. What is the insight you get out of it? How does that actually change your perception?"
But Ed Moran, director of product innovation for Deloitte, said tracking tastes and developing profiles is fine, as long as advertisers do not make the old media mistake of finding their optimum consumers, only to show them a commercial.
Moran said next-generation advertising will be driven by the tastes and habits of 14 to 24 year-old "millennials" whose lives center on social networks and Internet-enabled handsets.
"A more effective way of reaching these young folks ... is to use their social networks as influencers, rather than bombarding them with ads," Moran said.
To that end, Barry Diller, chief executive of Web giant IAC/InterActiveCorp, said Internet advertising must evolve from displays and become integrated into the content of website.
Even actor and media producer Ashton Kutcher chimed in at the conference, saying the billboard-style display ad is already outdated.
"People who have grown up on the Internet have trained themselves not to see it," he added.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/npt6ke
Research Report: Wired - Connecting to the Mobile Marketing Revolution
July 8, 2009: from comScore -- Mobile advertising is still in its infancy but it is expected to grow to $5.7 billion in the next five years. How has the explosion in mobile applications impacted mobile marketing practices? What impact will this most recent wave of smart phones have on mobile video and other more immersive adverting environments? What types of advertising works best on "dumb" phones? Which marketers are actually advertising in mobile and which sellers are attracting the most revenue?
Wired - Connecting to the Mobile Marketing Revolution
Wired - Connecting to the Mobile Marketing Revolution
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