July 2nd, 2009 08:51am
Cindy Harris
Facebook’s chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, told reporters in a conference call yesterday that the social media behemoth will be streamlining its privacy settings for users and making them easier to customize. The new settings will allow users to pick and choose who sees photos, status updates and other personal data…something which, until now, has been difficult to figure out.
Kelly made clear that this move does not have anything to do do with advertising; rather, Facebook wants people to feel more comfortable sharing even more information with their “friends” and networks.
The social media network isn’t concerned, at the moment, about targeted text ads or pay-per-click models; they have their sights on becoming an Internet portal that rivals Google in influence and number of users.
Building their advertising revenue model will come later.
This month’s issue of Wired magazine features a fascinating look at where Facebook wants to be and how it could be a legitimate threat to Google’s dominance.
One of Facebook’s tent-poles in its plan to take on Google is the fact that FB data is tucked safely away in its fire-walled servers - Google’s crawlers and data-crunching algorithms cannot access it.
Facebook assumes that if, for example, you need a plumber, you’d rather take the recommendation of your friends and family than that of an anonymous Google search, hence making Facebook the logical choice for searching.
Facebook’s gamble on taking down Google is a pretty big one, but their basic instincts are right. Word-of-mouth and personal recommendations are always a more effective form of advertising than the yellow pages or blind Internet search.
For local advertisers, you have to get some skin in the social media game. I can’t tell you that social media will replace your traditional advertising model or even which services will come out on top six months from now. But I do know that social media should be a part of any marketing mix now and a year from now.
The key is to start figuring it out and keep your plans flexible. You have to be able to change and adapt in this new media reality. We’re moving at a million miles an hour here, so let’s get going.
July 2nd, 2009 08:35am
Mary Grimborg
According to The Guardian, Evan Weaver, Twitter’s lead engineer in its services team, revealed the following interesting Twitter stats at a QCon 2009 talk:
-the average user has 126 followers;
-only 20% of its traffic comes through the Twitter website; the other 80% (logically) comes from third-party programs on smartphones or computers. So if you’re looking at Twitter stats on your website, you’re probably underestimating that source of traffic by a factor of five;
-an early peak test of the service came during President Obama’s inauguration in January, when more than 300 tweets per second were being added to the message queue.
Click Here to read more
July 1st, 2009 09:21am
Cindy Harris
The good news is, the Leading National Advertisers (LNA) report from Ad Age says that advertising spending dipped only 2.7 percent in 2008. The bad news is, they’re predicting the LNA to trim spending by a 5.1 percent, the most in nearly a decade.
Why the discrepancy? The 2008 data includes the BR Days (”Before Recession”) prior to the markets’ collapse last fall; 2009 won’t be so lucky.
Ad Mix
The decline in spending shouldn’t be surprising by any means. What surprised me a bit is the advertising mix in 2008 - it remains pretty traditional, with the lion’s share of dollars being pumped into television advertising. Internet ads accounted for just 6.9 percent of the total spend in 2008, and my hunch is we’ll see that number rise once this year’s data is reported.
(chart courtesy of Advertising Age)
Top Spenders
The report also ranks LNAs based on total number of dollars and the percentage change from the year before. In 2008, the top 5 spenders were:
- Proctor & Gamble - $4.8 billion (- 6.6%)
- Verizon Communications - $3.7 billion (+9.5%)
- AT&T - $3.4 billion (-10.4%)
- General Motors - $2.9 billion (-5.2%)
- Johnson & Johnson - $2.5 billion (+5.0%)
If you really want to get into the data, here’s a chart on the top 100 LNA which breaks out how they spent their money.
By Category
Nearly every category trimmed its spending in 2008 as well - with “government, politics and religion” upping their buys by more than 46%.
And, no surprise, retail advertisers took the top spot from automotive advertisers in 2008.
It’s a sign of the times, my friends.
June 26th, 2009 09:52am
Doug Burton
How we consume information has changed so much over the past few years we often fail to realize just how far we have come. Until yesterday. A side story of the Jackson and Fawcett events will be how quickly information spreads around the world via the internet and that traditional media is no longer our first source of awareness.
A few examples: www.tmz.com origonally broke the news before any traditional media. The massive level of interest caused the site to go down temporarily but that did not stop the news spreading via blogs and social networking sites. Google servers thought the “Michael Jackson” requests were a denial of service attack for over a half hour. 22.6% of twitter posts were about Jackson. The BBC News website reported UK traffic was 48% higher than usual at 4am.
Take for a moment to think how you consume news. What is your first source of awareness? Have you noticed that you often become aware of an event before it is picked up by traditional forms of media such as CNN or BBC News? Share your stories.
Doug Burton
June 25th, 2009 10:15am
Mary Grimborg
Kit Kat won this year’s Cannes Media Grand Prix with their new campaign based in Japan. With an unlikely distribution channel, the post office, Kit Kat stood out at the 56th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
According to Ad Age, in Japan there is a tradition of sending students good luck wishes before they take higher-education entrance exams. JWT Japan, Kit Kat’s ad agency, was surprised to find that the Japanese translation of Kit Kat — Kitto Katso means “surely win”. So Nestle created ”Kit Kat Mail,” a postcard-like product sold only at the post office that could be mailed to students as a good-luck charm.
Reminding us to be innovative - even in tough times!
Kit Kat Wins Cannes Media Grand Prix for Edible Postcard
June 23rd, 2009 04:48pm
Cindy Harris
Back in January or February, I came across this 2-minute video of a flash mob that descended on London’s Liverpool station to promote T Mobile’s “Life’s for Sharing” campaign. I rediscovered it this afternoon when reading an article about some of the best creative of the year so far. Take a look; it’s a lot of fun.
What impresses me is the impact it has in the station itself - notice everyone recording it with their cell phones - and the 12.7 million views it’s had on YouTube…all with a relatively small group of dancers, a little creativity and sweat equity in putting it together.
Which leads me to the question: How can your business advertise differently?
June 23rd, 2009 07:58am
Doug Burton
Something that is lighting up the blogosphere is whether or not Apple is quietly changing the name of the “iPhone 3G S” to the “iPhone 3GS”.
A blog on Mac9to5 writes, “iPhone 3G S” is an uncharacteristically awkward name for an Apple product. Do you pause between the G and the S? How do you make it plural? Is it iPhones 3G S iPhone 3Gs S or…  In the logo, there is also the question of whether or not the “S” is capitalized (it is certainly smaller), or is it lower case like the iPod touch.”
In today’s Apple press release, Apple switched up the language and is now calling the hit device the “iPhone 3GS”.
While these types of small changes may seem trivial, companies with strong brands spend countless hours mulling over every minute detail of naming, fonts, sizes and such. Switching the iPhone 3G S to iPhone 3GS is a big deal. Let’s watch and learn how this all plays out.
Doug Burton
June 22nd, 2009 09:04am
Cindy Harris
In a study conducted in fall 2008 by consumer-data giant Experian, Americans need 38 hours in any given day to complete our tasks.
Now, you and I both know that we are limited - frustratingly so most days - to a measly 24 hours every day. So where do we make up the other 14 hours that we need to get stuff done? We multi-task our media habits.
Raise your hand if you watch TV in the evenings while replying to email. Or listen to the radio while surfing the web. Or scanning the paper while talking on the phone.
These types of media overlaps happen every day, which means your advertising on these channels faces an tough uphill climb if it wants to grab consumers’ attention.
Some tips on how to make your ads at least stand a chance at being noticed:
1. Keep it simple. Stay with one clear message in your ads.
2. Use clean creative. Whether it’s for television, radio, Internet or print, keep your design and copy clean and uncluttered. Again, focus on one clear message.
3. Tell them what to do. Be sure to include a strong “call to action” with your ad and provide clear, concise directions on how consumers can take you up on your offer.
About that Social Networking Thing
Another interesting tid-bit from the study: 54 percent of adults had visited a social media site like Facebook or MySpace in the past 30 days. That’s TRIPLE the percentage of users since the study was last conducted a year ago.
Social media is the new darling of the advertising world, but there is mass there in terms of users…how to use it to your company’s advantage is the tricky part. We’ve done social media campaigns for a few clients, and one thing I’ve learned is that social media is a conversation that takes on a life of its own.
So if you’re ready to have a multi-way conversation with your customers - or potential customers - then dive in. But if you or your CEO are still stuck in the 20th-century midset of “pushing” your message out, social media probably isn’t where you want to be. My advice in that situation - get unstuck and start talking.
June 19th, 2009 10:00am
Doug Burton
 In tradition with keeping the Friday blog light and fun, I came across the Summer of Social Good campaign and thought I would share. It is a unique way of running a charitable campaign, entirely through social media. Although your organization may not choose to go this route, it is worth learning more about how you might be able to incorporate social media into your next campaign.
Here is a quote from their site about who they are and what they hope to accomplish. “Summer of Social Good is the first large scale online charitable campaign to raise funds strictly online through the power of Social Media and the Internet. The goal is to use the power of “Social Influence” via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Blogs and other online media to raise an unprecedented amount for our fund benefiting The Humane Society, LIVESTRONG, Oxfam America and WWF from June 1st until August 28th, 2009.”
Doug Burton
June 18th, 2009 08:40am
Cindy Harris
If you haven’t yet discovered Hulu.com, get thee hence and change your viewing habits. It is now my platform of choice for viewing NBC content like The Office and Comedy Central shows like The Daily Show. And while reports of its death are greatly exaggerated, broadcast TV certainly is undergoing major changes.
On Hulu.com, the ad load is low, and I can call up a show nearly instantaneously anywhere I have my laptop and broadband. It is the future of broadcast TV, and that’s what is worrying TV executives and advertisers.
Calling Hulu “heroin,” Joe Earley, a marketing exec at Fox, said that he’s concerned Hulu’s success at getting eyeballs on programming is cannibalizing regular broadcast television. Once viewers tune in and see the shows with significantly fewer ads, they get spoiled and turn to Hulu for their regular viewing.
While the audience numbers who view their broadcast TV online are still low in comparison to the traditional model, advertisers are struggling to figure out how to get their message in front of consumers as things change.
Talk of paid membership for Hulu and other ideas are being floated, but broadcast TV - like all media outlets, including print and radio - is going through a nasty transition to a revenue model that no one has figured out yet.
As they say in the boardroom, it’s a “paradigm shift” that the market should sort out in due time…but not without some pain for newspapers, TV and radio stations and advertisers in the meantime.
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