In my work as a marketing lecturer at the business department of the Hogeschool Windesheim, a Dutch University of Applied Sciences, I come across so many interesting aspects of marketing that I have decided to start a blog. Here you will find my personal completely random collected links, articles, video's, opinions and more.
Enjoy.
I have the impression that most people do not often talk about average fruit or vegetables like oranges, banana's or potatoes. Unless they are somehow asked by a food manufacturer to give their opinion.
Large food multinationals are always interested in the latest food trends among consumers. What are consumers talking about on the social media ? Sanoma and Unilever have their social platform Yunomi (http://www.yunomi.nl/) where they try to get women to talk about all kinds of products. With 280.000 women quite succesfull for a Dutch social platform.
Nielsen has chosen a different path to better understand emerging trends in nutrition, The market research company has been quantifying buzz among health enthusiasts, a passionate and informed consumer segment that Nielsen monitors across 400+ social networks, key blogs and forums. Below you can find a table of their findings.
Can you really detect in an early stage a change in consumer behaviour by monitoring the nutrition buzz on social media ?
Nielsen believes that listening to what health enthusiasts care about helps to see what’s next.
For average Europeans who know that unprocessed fresh fruit is the best option watching these statistics it is like a watching an artificial TV contest about who is the winning exotic fruit or vegetable of Q1. In Q2 the ranking can be completely different. Some entertaiment value but wether it does provide relevant consumer insight or spotting relevant food trends in an early stage remains the questions.
The growth of facebook is fenomenal. The use of facebook in our daily life has something articicial. In my daily work as a lecturer i see that some students are afraid to pick up the phone or to talk real life to somebody else. This briljant short movie illustrates the alienating effect of facebook.
Marketeers should be aware of these effects and the added value of being connected artificially.
Have you ever wondered what your dog is really thinking? Now, dog tweets are the new bark thanks to Puppy Tweets, a new product perfect for social media enthusiasts and dog lovers.
In its first-ever toy created for the canine community, Mattel introduced a product called "Puppy Tweets" that meshes the hugely popular Twitter with consumers' love of pets.
Puppy Tweets is a plastic tag with a sound and motion sensor that you attach to your pet's dog collar and connect its USB receiver to your computer. Then you create a Twitter account for your dog and enjoy updates all day from Sparky or whatever its name is on your computer or smartphone.
The tag is set with several pre-recorded tweets that are triggered by the dog's activities. So if he's running around, you might get a tweet that says "I finally caught that tail I've been chasing and...OOUUUCHH!"
Puppy Tweets is part of the No. 1 toymaker's line-up of new products for 2010 that it showcased to members of the media Thursday ahead of the industry's annual Toy Fair in New York 2010.
Puppy Tweets will be available at retailers in the fall, and will carry a suggested retail price of $29.99.
I wondered wether this product was a nice gadget with entertainment value. The price for a pink puppy tweet at Amazon has dropped to $14,95. Apparently according to Amazon user reviews this product is bad and sents out tweets all the time. A another devastating indepth review confirmed my suspicion. Thanks to the transparancy of social media a bad product can be detected soon.
A hit and run marketing strategy is never good for your corporate reputation.
A nice article about 11 unwritten laws of reputation management. “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
A nice quick read about reputation management and social media which puts you with both feet on the ground.
Drumroll please! Here are the Top 10 Trends on Twitter for 2010 that indicate what shapes our lives and are most meaningful! (Cymbal crash!)
1. Gulf Oil Spill
2. FIFA World Cup
3. Inception
4. Haiti Earthquake
5. Vuvuzela
6. Apple iPad
7. Google Android
8. Justin Bieber
9. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
10. Pulpo Paul
Confirms everyone´s suspicions about the meaningfullness of Twitter :)
As the internet becomes more a standard household facility like a telephone or a washing machine mothers can be reached online. This nice infographic gives some details of how mothers in the UK spend their time on line.
Facebook is on track to generate $2 billion in sales this year, a nice milestone for the social networking king.
In part because of this news, investors are piling into Facebook stock on the private markets at a $56 billion valuation. The assumption is that Facebook is the next Google, a money printing machine that might eventually even be BIGGER than Google.
While it's possible that scenario will play out, it's worth looking at how Facebook's revenue growth compares to other online-advertising-driven companies, such as Google and Yahoo.
It's true that Facebook did not emphasize revenue early in its early years, but neither did Google.
And as you can see below, when Google did put the pedal down, its revenue grew much more rapidly than Facebook's.
So those who are counting on Facebook becoming a bigger business than Google had better hope it has another ace up its sleeve.
Facebook and Google are waging a bitter battle over data portability and the control of your identity on the web. Unfortunately, it’s a battle in which nobody will emerge as the victor, certainly not the millions of users who are now caught in the crossfire.
Last week, Google changed its terms of service so that anybody utilizing its Contacts API is required to reciprocate by exporting its contacts back to Google. In other words, if a company or social network wants to let users import their Gmail friends so their users can find their friends, then it has to allow for the same type of importing.
For most companies, this isn’t a problem, but there is a big company that doesn’t offer reciprocity: Facebook. The social network doesn’t allow Google users to import their Facebook contacts for products like Gmail, Buzz or Orkut. Thus, Google blocked Facebook’s access to its Contacts API.
That’s when things got interesting. Following Google’s decision to deny Facebook API access, Facebook decided to circumvent Google by giving users an easy option to download their Gmail contacts and then upload them to Facebook. As AOL’s TechCrunch notes, it’s essentially Facebook’s way of telling the search giant to go to hell.
Google and Facebook’s battle isn’t simply about any one company blocking access to data or acting juvenile; the stakes are nothing less than complete dominance of the web. As we’ve noted in the past, Google and Facebook are locked in a heated battle to become your default social profile. Whichever company controls identity on the web, controls the web.
Currently Facebook and Google dominate third-party sign-in options on the web, but Facebook’s growth as an identity platform has been ascending; more than 10,000 websites integrate with Facebook every day, thanks in no small part to the explosive growth of the Facebook Open Graph. Can you believe that Facebook’s “Like” button, now ubiquitous across the web, launched not even seven months ago?
Facebook has become so aggressive that Google has reacted with some big social moves of its own. It recently acquired Slide and Ångströ, reportedly for Google Me, the search giant’s rumored next attempt at competing with social networks. However, rumors are no longer focused on Google building a social network; many now believe the company is likely building more social features into all of its products.
Regardless of what exactly Google is building, it’s clear that Google is building something. And the reason they’re reacting so feverishly is because the world’s largest social network is increasing its control of the web. Google can’t afford for Facebook to control identity on the web, which is what prompted the change to the search giant’s terms of service in the first place.
From Universal mccan The New Wace report. Based om 40.000 respondents. Full of statistics showing the importance and phenomenal growth of social media. Interesting read.
I just recently came across the business model from Alexander Osterwalder.
It uses 9 building blocks to structuring rethinking your organisation.
A very interesting slideshare presentation shows how they are connected and what you can do to rethink your business to create value for your customers by innovating your business model.
Food for strategic thought.
For further reading, which I plan to do later, there is a Book: Business Model Generation by Alex Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur.
As the website explains. " Disruptive new business models are emblematic of our generation. Yet they remain poorly understood, even as they transform competitive landscapes across industries. Business Model Generation offers powerful, simple, tested tools for understanding, designing, reworking, and implementing business models. Business Model Generation is a practical, inspiring handbook for anyone striving on business model design and innovation. In this unique project we based the book itself on an innovative business model. "
You used to have the 1-9-90 rule. 1 person creates someting new, 9 persons comment on it , and 90 persons watch what is happening. A more targeted approach to behaviour on social media is the social technographics ladder introduced by Forrester. The story behind this is pretty clear. The initial wave of consumers using social technologies has halted. Companies will now need to devise strategies to extend social applications past the early adopters. This means that you need to understand how your consumers use social media. Do you know the Social Technographics Profiles of your customers?
A nice example of cause marketing campaign Cool IT using a viral to get the message of using dirty coal for data centres accross to the public. Excellently well executed. Make the concept simple as seen through the eyes of a child. We will definitely hear more from this campaign.
Greenpeace has launched an effort to pressure Facebook to stop polluting with coal, but Facebook counters by saying its newest data center will be a model energy efficiency.
On Wednesday, Greenpeace executive director Kumi Naidoo sent a letter sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to take steps to lighten Facebook's environmental footprint.
Naidoo said that the environmental watchdog group was dismayed by Facebook's plans to build a large data center in Prineville, Oregon. Due to Facebook's rapid growth, that facility will be twice as large as first anticipated and the local utility runs an "electricity mix that is disproportionately powered by coal, the largest source of global warming pollution," Naidoo wrote.
Since February, meanwhile, Greenpeace has been running an "Unfriend Coal" protest on Facebook that has gathered more than 500,000 people. Backed by its supporters, Greenpeace wants Facebook to commit to phasing out coal-powered electricity, lobby for climate change and clean energy policies, and disclose its greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
On Thursday, Facebook's director of policy communications, Barry Schnitt, responded, saying that Facebook's planned Oregon facility was chosen with energy efficiency in mind. Also, he noted that Facebook, like any other company, doesn't have control over the fuel source for its electricity.
It's true that the local utility gets 58 percent of its power from coal, compared to a national average of about 50 percent, Schnitt said. But the location was chosen because of its temperate climate, which allows Facebook to use more efficient evaporative coolers rather than the traditional power-hungry mechanical chillers.
Also, by consolidating into a single location, rather than leasing space at various locations, Facebook can design for efficiency. He said that the Oregon facility will have a Power Usage Effectiveness rating of 1.15, far below the industry averages for efficiency. Google, considered an industry leader, was about 1.17 in the past quarter.
"We strongly believe that the best way to minimize our impact is to concentrate on efficiency and building servers that work towards that goal," Schnitt wrote.
The director of Greenpeace's Cool IT program then responded to Schnitt, arguing that Facebook and other Internet providers need to take a more active stance on energy policy.
"Efficiency is certainly important, but is only the beginning of taking responsibility for your rapidly growing energy and environmental footprint," wrote policy analyst Gary Cook.
The back-and-forth, done publicly to maximize exposure of the anticoal campaign, sheds some light on the reality of procuring huge amounts of electricity to run data centers.
Google, Facebook, Yahoo and others are investing billions of dollars to build out data centers to meet growing demand for Web services, adding to the pollution from computing.
Given that energy is a cost, these Web providers have a financial motivation to use as little electricity as possible. That, and growing environmental concerns, has led to designs that optimize cooling, which is about half the energy used in data centers.
Stacy Mackler June 30th, 2010
Social media isn’t just a way for friends to stay in touch—smart PR professionals and marketers know that SoMe can be the answer to their prayers. Though beauty is the rare—and lucky—industry that may have bucked the trend of dwindling budgets (because women want to look good no matter how much the economy is suffering!), it still benefits resourceful pros to understand how employing social media in their strategies can have a great impact with a small budget.
We at Euro RSCG Worldwide PR engage in social media everyday—for our company and for our clients. We know that the Web is not just important, it’s essential to reach consumers in today’s fully connected world. We embrace the opportunity to link up with people on such a micro-level; anyone can follow any (or all) of us at ERWW PR on Twitter, either at the company level (@ERWWPR) or at the personal level; each of us at the agency is a citizen of Twitterville.
Beauty brands may have the most to gain from engaging in social media marketing in all its forms. In the real world, beauty products have long been at the center of social gatherings—BFFs help each other decide the right shade of eye shadow, mothers tell daughters which lipstick color looks best (and vice versa!), sisters help each other do their hair just so…and the list goes on. So when a beauty brand is able to tap into the strength of online bonds, it’s really hit the SoMe jackpot.
Girls (and women) can be intimidated by the prospect of seeking out advice and how-to tips in person. Mainstream fashion and beauty media outlets are already aware of the demand for these services; the clever marketer or PR pro will figure out a way to supply this need via social media. How-tos online in the privacy of one’s home, behind closed doors or with a trusted pal, can be just as good as that magazine page…or even better, since it has the benefit of being multidimensional (in other words, the real deal).
If you look at the places where social media stars and the championing of brands have intersected, you’ll often find beauty products to be the subject. Look at YouTube sensation Blair Fowler, known as Juicystar07: The 16-year-old shares her fashion and beauty expertise (and her shopping “hauls”) with 330,000 subscribers. Her YouTube channel has been viewed almost 18 million times, and she has appeared on “Good Morning America.” Her older sister, Elle (now 21), has another ultrapopular channel, allthatglitters21.
These girls have scored by leveraging the power of social media; but what PR and marketing professionals need to realize is that their brands have scored, as well. The number of YouTube videos of unwitting teen brand ambassadors is astounding—they plug products with on-brand messaging that could make a PR maven weep with joy. They’re using their 15 minutes of fame to advertise their favorite merch, and the marketers who tease out the special sauce of really leveraging these unpaid brand ambassadors may actually revolutionize social media marketing.
Have there been companies that have done it well already? Procter & Gamble may be the closest to really getting it right. Its site and newsletter Vocalpoint engages women not just with free samples (which are always nice!) but also with a forum for women to talk to each other in a nonthreatening, inviting community. Many of P&G’s brands are big players in the social media space. Among them are Olay, which has an active social media presence, and has been able to broaden its user base and demo in recent years; Pantene, which recently became one of the first brands to launch a community manager (the Pantene Beauty Maven); Cover Girl and Herbal Essences.
There hasn’t been one knockout win yet in the beauty arena—but it will happen. The question at this point isn’t “Why not?” The question is “When?”
Marketing uses the "connnectors" in a network to promote a new product. Health authorities could use the connectors in a network to get an early warning signal of a disease outbreak. The spreading of a disease and the spreading of a new product through a network are remarkabely similar.
Social networks catch an early glimpse of disease outbreaks
Who will sneeze first?
CHANCES are your friends are more popular than you are. It is a basic feature of social networks that has been known about for some time. Consider both an avid cocktail party hostess with hundreds of acquaintances and a grumpy misanthrope, who may have one or two friends. Statistically speaking, the average person is much more likely to know the hostess simply because she has so many more friends. This, in essence, is what is called the “friendship paradox”: the friends of any random individual are likely to be more central to the social web than the individual himself.
Now researchers think this seemingly depressing fact can be made to work as an early warning system to detect outbreaks of contagious diseases. By studying the friends of a randomly selected group of individuals, epidemiologists can isolate those people who are more connected to one another and are therefore more likely to catch diseases like the flu early. This could allow health authorities to spot outbreaks weeks in advance of current surveillance methods.
In a report just posted on arXiv, an online repository of research papers, and which has been submitted to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nicholas Christakis from Harvard University and James Fowler from the University of California, San Diego put the friendship paradox to good use. In a trial carried out last autumn, they monitored the spread of both seasonal flu and H1N1, popularly known as swine flu, through students and their friends at Harvard University.
Dr Christakis and Dr Fowler selected a random group of 319 undergraduates and asked each to nominate up to three friends. Using these names, they collected another group of 425 friends. As the friend paradox predicts, the second group were both more popular (named more times by the random group) and more central to the connections among Harvard students. Flu infections were monitored from September 1st 2009 to the end of December by identifying those diagnosed by the university’s health services and by e-mail responses to a twice-weekly health survey. Overall, 8% of the students were formally diagnosed with the flu and 32% were self-diagnosed. But the infection rate peaked two weeks earlier among the group of more-connected friends. Their social links were indeed causing them to get infected sooner.
Early warning
As this result came with the benefit of hindsight, the researchers tried to come up with a real-time measure that could potentially provide an early warning sign of an outbreak as it began to spread. To do this they went back to the beginning and compared diagnoses between the two groups on a daily basis for each of the 122 days of the study. A significant difference between the two groups was first detectable a full 46 days before visits to health services peaked for the random group. For those with self-reported symptoms, there was a noticeable difference 83 days before the peak in self-reported symptoms.
These early results are impressive. Currently, the methods used to assess an infection by America’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention lag an outbreak by a week or two. Google’s Flu Trends, which monitors millions of queries submitted to the giant search engine for the occurrence of flu-related keywords, is at best contemporaneous with an outbreak. Dr Christakis and Dr Fowler suggest that a hybrid method might be developed in which the search queries of a group of highly connected (ie, popular) individuals could be scanned for signs of the flu.
Although the technique has so far only been demonstrated for the flu and in the social milieu of a university, the researchers nevertheless think that it could help predict other infectious diseases and do so on a larger scale, such as in cities and across regions. Nor should it be difficult to implement. Public-health officials already conduct random sampling, so getting the participants to name a few friends too should not be onerous. When it comes to infectious diseases, your friends really do say a lot about you.
Well here it is. The Old Spice Social Campaign Case Study from WK. To save the judges some time this year, I’d suggest sending the pencils, lions, grand pix’ and the like straight to the WK head office in an overnight express bag, no need for a tracking code, everyone know’s who those awards will belong to! Check out the video above, the results are just as you’d expect.
The Old Spice Case Study talks us through the insight around targeting men & women at the same time to generate conversation around body wash. When it was launched online for the super bowl weekend (and TV shortly after) the campaign managed to capture 75% of all conversations in the category (although I’m sure that was off a small base) before every man and his dog was talking about the Old Spice ads.
To continue that success Old Spice & WK needed to take the campaign to the next level, Mustafa was now a household hero, and they wanted to engage the fans directly. And so the response campaign was born.
Over 3 days, a team of creatives, digital strategists, developers and producers filmed 180 odd videos around the clock, creating videos and responding directly to fans and celebrities in near real time to create what is now known as the best social campaign ever to have been created.
So here are a few of the stats… hold your breath…
◦On day 1 the campaign received almost 6 million views
(that’s more than Obama’s victory speech)
◦On day 2 old spice had 8 of the 11 most popular videos online
◦On day 3 the campaign had reached over 20 million views
◦After the first week old spice had over 40 million views
◦The old spice twitter following increased 2700% (probably off a lowish base)
◦Facebook fan interaction was up 800%
◦Oldspice.com website traffic was up 300%
◦The old spice YouTube channel became the all time most viewed channel (amazing)
◦Thecampain has generated 1.4 billion impressions since launching the ads 6 months ago
◦The campaign increased sales by 27% over 6 months since launching (year on year)
◦In the last 3 months sales were up 55%
◦And in the last month sales were up 107% from the social responses campaign work
◦Old spice is now the #1 body wash brand for men.
I don’t think I need to add much more to that. I just really want to see what old spice has in store for us next, in fact i’m itching for it. (no pressure WK!) (via Creativity Online)
Back in 2006, Mentos became an early leader among brands in social media when it capitalized on two performance artists posting videos of what happens when you put the candy in Diet Coke. (Explosions.) After the resulting YouTube viral phenomenon, Mentos embraced the creators and rode a wave of viral buzz while Coke issued a dour statement that it wasn't amused.
Fast-forward to 2010. Coke now ranks as the third most popular brand on Facebook with 11.3 million fans. Mentos, as of March, had only 10,000 fans. But then its agency, Isobar, in an effort to play catch-up, paired a two-for-one offer with a pricey reach block on Facebook -- it can cost over $500,000 to reach every Facebook user for a day -- and Mentos saw its number of fans grow to 120,000 in a single day.
Brands that are only now establishing themselves on Facebook are playing a desperate game of catch-up. They're pulling out the stops to rack up what Facebook now calls Likes, social actions by which consumers express interest in a brand. To get Likes, they're going beyond ads and bartering for friendship with offers of exclusive content, discounts and special offers.
..........Read more ......
