Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Happy Little Checkins: Bob Ross on Social Media

Have you ever wondered how iconic painter/television personality Bob Ross would portray Facebook or Instagram?

You haven’t? Well, we have a handy chart for you on that subject, anyhow. So get your iPad and your paintbrush stylus, and get ready to follow along.

On the canvases of Bob Ross, Facebook is a mega mountain with 600 happy little users, and Google Buzz is a desert with “swirly tumbleweeds.” We’ve also got Ross’s take on Path, Color, Digg, Reddit and a slew of other social web apps.

This infographic comes to us from Flowtown, a social marketing startup, and the designers at Column Five Media.

Click image to see full-size version.

 

Monday, May 16, 2011

LinkedIn IPO Is Set for Thursday

Liunkedin

LinkedIn is set to go public May 19. The business-oriented networking site hopes to raise as much as $274 million this week in what will be one of the first major social media IPOs.

LinkedIn will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LNKD. Its shares are expected to trade in the $32 to $35 range and 7.84 million shares will be available. The company will likely be valued around $3 billion after the IPO.

LinkedIn announced its intention to file for an IPO in January. At the time, the company was valued at $2.51 billion based on shares traded on secondary market SharesPost.

The eight-year-old company hit the 100 million user mark in March and became profitable in 2010 with a net income of $10.1 million and net revenues of $161.4 million in the first nine months of 2010. In Q1, LinkedIn’s revenues hit $93.9 million, a 110% increase from the year-ago period. Net income was $2 million, compared to $1.8 million in Q1 2010.

LinkedIn is the first of a slew of anticipated social media IPOs set for the next year or so. Others include Facebook, Zynga, Groupon, Pandora, Kayak, Yelp, Rovio and Zillow. Renren, billed as the “Facebook of China,” went public this month and raised $743.4 million.

 

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

GrouponLive: Online Ticketing Deals

Grouponlive

Local deals juggernaut Groupon and Live Nation have a formed a joint venture to develop a new online ticketing deals channel dubbed GrouponLive. The site will serve as a local resource for Live Nation events, ranging from concerts, sports, theater, arts and other live events, as well as clients of its ticketing business Ticketmaster, the companies said in a joint statement.

Visitors of the new marketplace will have access to limited-time discounts on a variety of Live Nation events, albeit limited to North America.

It isn’t clear exactly when GrouponLive will go fully live (pun intended), although the companies said they’re on schedule for the site to make its debut in time for the summer concert season.

 

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

My Morning Jacket - Unstaged And Streaming

My Morning Jacket will be joining forces with director Todd Haynes for a one-of-a-kind
live concert streaming event. Haynes will film the band’s sold out performance at
Louisville’s historic Palace Theater as part of American Express' "Unstaged" series.

 

My Morning Jacket - Unstaged And Streaming

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Shopkick - Earn Deals & Rewards From Your Phone

Shopkick

You need to download this app.  Today was the first time I had used shopkick and I found myself much more involved as a consumer during my shopping experience.  I found myself searching the shelves at Target to find the featured products in the app so I could scan them to collect kickbucks. I used the 25% off coupon provided at Macy's and saved $14.00 because of this app.  Ultimately, I got paid to be an involved comsumer.  Win win.  Download this app today.  Thank me later.

How shopkick works:

Checking in: You can collect kickbucks for checking in to millions of stores and restaurants across America, that means in many places around you!

Walking in: Collect kickbucks just for walking into Best Buy, Crate & Barrel, Macy's, American Eagle, Sports Authority, Target, Wet Seal and major Simon malls, in 18 major markets: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and Atlanta, Boston, D.C., Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis. More cities added all the time! Plus, you’ll get exclusive shopkick deals at those stores that will save you big bucks, and give you kickbucks (bad rhyme intended :).

Scanning: Collect kickbucks by scanning products with your phone at 250,000 different stores in America.

Redeem your kickbucks for rewards: Get cool rewards like iTunes gift cards, restaurant vouchers, Best Buy/Target/Macy’s/American Eagle/Sports Authority gift cards, Facebook Credits, movie tickets, or if you go all out, True Religion jeans, a Coach handbag, or a 3D 55” Sony Bravia HDTV. And if you feel altruistic, donate your kickbucks to 30 different causes!

Shopkickmascot

 

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Introductory Guide to Location-Based Marketing

So you've read about location. You've sat through many presentations with the cliché "Location, Location, Location" somewhere in the title, and you're still clueless about how to get started in tying location-based services (LBS) back to your marketing efforts. Here's a quick introductory guide to get you on the right path:

Register Your Stores

The obvious but important first step to location-based services is the simplest: make sure your retail locations are accurately listed with the services you want to work with. If the location data isn't accurate, users won't be able to find your stores or products. Discovery is a key feature of location-based services, so you want to make sure your locations are as easy as possible for search engines and consumers to find.

Know the Landscape

When it comes to awareness and reach, name recognition counts:

  • Google Places and Facebook Places will be the first place for most brands to look. Google Places doesn't prominently feature many social features such as check-ins, but Google has been updating its offering to include more of these tools. It currently functions as an easy way for users to find businesses and rate them via Google Hotpot in order to receive personalized recommendations of restaurants and other local spots.
  • Facebook Places is linked closely to its Facebook Deals platform, which gives consumers discounts on products and services when they check in to a business or venue. Places is available on every major smartphone platform through the respective Facebook app as well as through Facebook's touch-based site
  • Foursquare has the largest profile among services that are completely dedicated to location with around 6 million registered users. Brands can partner with Foursquare to give users badges in exchange for checking in, award deals and discounts in a way similar to Facebook Deals, and also create tips and things to do at specific locations. Plus, Foursquare continues to launch features to make the check-in more worthwhile – a great example is the Tips feature allowing users to share info on their experiences such as what to eat/not eat.
  • Daily deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial will continue to increase in adoption. Currently over half of female consumers say they are "very likely" to visit a restaurant or store that provides a coupon via a location-based app.

Know What You're Trying to Accomplish

LBS can focus on a variety of engagement and marketing aspects including awareness, deal distribution, traffic increases, new performance measurements, and good old fun. It's important to define your objectives as you migrate into LBS:

  • Facebook Places will mainly look toward incentivizing check-ins with a deal and measure redemption to see if it drives traffic or repeat customers.
  • If your brand wants to look for opportunities beyond deals, there are different tactics that can be used on other services:
  • Google Places: For businesses looking to dip their toes into location, Google Places makes it simple to get relevant information to consumers searching for your business. Google Places listings show up in Google searches, and they can be augmented with "tags" that make it possible to attach photos, videos, coupons, menus, and other content to one's listing. This added information makes it easier for consumers to engage with the brand online and can translate into increased foot traffic for local stores.
  • Foursquare: Establish your brand as a local expert by creating a Foursquare account for it. MTV and Gossip Girl have not only used Foursquare to reward users with branded badges, they also provide relevant local tips on cool places and events going on around town (New York City, in both cases).
  • Gowalla: Gowalla is a smaller location-based service, with only around 1 million users, but it won a key partnership with Disney theme parks due to its focus on travel. Sometimes turning to these smaller services can be a way to differentiate and provide a fun experience that simply isn't possible on a service like Facebook Deals or Foursquare.
  • Scvngr: Scvngr focuses on making the real world more like a video game by providing challenges for players to accomplish wherever they show up. They can range from the simple: check in, take a photo, add a comment, to the more complex: scan a QR code, pose next to a mannequin, etc. Scvngr adds a scavenger hunt feel to location-based services, potentially making it more engaging and a good source for gathering user-generated content such as photos and videos tied to the location.

We're now in the middle of the "initial" wave of major LBS platforms in the market, so it's a great time to update your marketing strategies to include location services. By going ahead and taking the leap, you'll be better positioned to quickly capitalize on the pending second wave of LBS. Rapid increase of mobile access to social networks will pave the way for a variety of new services and startups that will transition LBS into much broader location engagement, utility features, and other user centric behaviors.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Game of Thrones Companion iTunes App

Fans of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series “A Song of Ice and Fire” and HBO’s forthcoming series “Game of Thrones” now have a comprehensive companion at their fingertips. Simply browse through characters, houses, maps, and more to refresh your memory before reading "A Dance with Dragons" or watching the HBO series (April 17, 2011). With all of the characters arranged in a Contacts-like interface, you can explore the most loved and most obscure characters in the realm. Dig deeper and read about the major houses, their histories and castles. Pinch-and-zoom your way across Westoros from the Winterfell to King's Landing to Dorne in the South.

 

 

 

Valar morghulis.

*Search Characters by Name: first name, last name, or title
*Fewer Spoilers (for those who use "Hide Spoilers" mode)

Screenshots

iPhone Screenshot 1
iPhone Screenshot 2
iPhone Screenshot 3
iPhone Screenshot 4
iPhone Screenshot 5

 

 

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Behaviorgraphics: The "Me" in Social Media

Which one/s are you?

At the center is Benevolence -- The unselfish and kindhearted behavior that engenders and promotes recognition and reciprocity, and in doing so, earns the goodwill of those around them. This is the hub of social networking with a purpose, mission, and a genuine intent to grow communities based on trust, vision, and collaboration.

Problem Solvers -- One of the most common sources of conversations and updates in social media are questions…people seeking information in the hopes that commenters will respond with resolution or direction.

Commenters -- Providing thoughts, opinions, observations, experiences, and sometimes, unfiltered reactions to the information shared online. They are less likely to produce original content, but are compelled to share their views based on the introduction of content by others in and around their social graph.

Researchers -- Peer to peer influence is prominent in social networks and researchers rely on their social graphs for information and direction to make qualified decisions. They are also active in championing polls and surveys to truly learn about the thoughts and opinions of those connected to them.

Conversationalists -- Participation in conversations through proactive updates seeking responses or direct responses to other content, conversationalists fuel threads within and across networks.

Curators -- In the context of behaviorgraphics, curators carry a different role. This group works diligently to find and only share what captivates them as filtered by what they believe will interest their followers.

Producers -- Among the more elite group of online participants, their stature is earned by the amount of content they generate within multiple networks.

Broadcasters -- Social media is proving to be both an effective broadcast and conversational platform. Broadcasters are mostly one-way communicators who either intentionally or unintentionally push information to followers without injecting conversational aspects into the mix.

Marketers -- Profiles dedicated to marketing ideas, products, or services and may or may not include content outside of their portfolio, unless the account is focused on funneling beneficial and value-added solutions to specific audiences regardless of origin.

Socialites -- Individuals who have earned varying levels of weblebrity, these new internet famous personae earn recognition and attention in online networks which is increasingly spilling over in real world fame.

Self-promoters -- Unlike broadcasters and marketers, self-promoters are unconcealed in their intentions through constant updating of activities, events, and accomplishments.

Egocasters -- Contribute to the "ego" in the egosystem and represent the evolution of self-promoters. Through constant promotion and the activities and responses that ensue, promoters graduate to a position of perceived prominence and collective unawareness. What they think and say is what they believe to be the reality for one and for all. They lose touch with perspective as listening gives way to telling…

Observers -- Often referred to as inactives, lurkers, or simply consumers, Observers represent the majority of the social Web today, defined by those who read and also share information in the backchannel, including email, and also in the real world.

Social Climbers -- Social capital is not only something that is earned in social networking, it is something that is proactively pursued by those whose sole mission is to rise to the top. These individuals intentionally climb ladders on the avatars, profiles, and social capital of others most often misrepresenting their purpose and stature to earn an audience based on disingenuous intentions.

TMI -- The things some share in social media continue to blur the line between what's relegated to inner monologue versus that for sharing with others in public. The state of sharing "Too much information" is dictated by those on the receiving end of the update, not those who publish it.

Spammers -- Those accounts and profiles that are created to push messages blindly and without regard for those with whom they come into contact. Often times they're tied to current events (using trending keywords or hashtags) or targeting influential voices to lure them into clicking through to their desired goal.

Leachers -Not included in the graph, but an important category to recognize as leachers take the good work of others and channel it into their own accounts almost exclusively for the sake of promoting their cause.

Complainers -- When we love something, we tell a few people; when something bothers us, we tell everyone. Complainers are often sharing their discontent as a primary ingredient in their social stream. And, as customer service takes to the social web, these complainers are only encouraged to share their experiences to achieve satisfaction and earn recognition for their role as the new social customer.

 

Volkswagen: Fox Twitter Zoom

Volkswagen promoted its Fox car to a young audience in Sao Paolo, Brazil, by sponsoring music festival the Planeta Terra Festival - and launching a hunt for 'lost' tickets to the festival via Twitter. It hid 10 tickets in places throughout Sao Paolo and launched an online platform using Google Maps of the city. To find them, people had to tweet #foxatplanetaterra, and the more tweets, the closer the zoom became on the map. The first one to get to the ticket's location won it. The four-day competition saw the Fox's appearance at Planeta Terra become a trending topic within hours.

via creativity-online

Amazing SPIN Magazine Tweet

SPIN Magazine

Win Butler just casually placed a Grammy on top of his amp. Then started playing the best song he ever wrote.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Charlie Sheen to Earn One Million Annually by Tweeting

charlie_sheen_twitter_milk.jpg
Right in line with the insanity that is the Charlie Sheen Saga, the Two and a Half Men star has hooked up with Celebu-tweet company Ad.ly and could earn a million dollars in his first year of sponsored tweets. Of course that's a drop in the bucket compared to what he currently earns but it never hurts to have a back up plan. Especially when you're Charlie Sheen.
As you may have heard, Sheen gained a million followers in the 25 hours and 17 minutes following his opening a Twitter account.

The History of Social Networking

The Life Cycle of a Social Media Sin

Kenneth Cole probably regrets using a political revolution in Egypt and widespread unrest in North Africa as a way to promote his Spring Collection on Twitter. But, luckily for him, the whole event was basically concluded within 10 hours.

The Gulf Oil Spill's spurring of the @BPGlobalPR parody Twitter account this past summer set the tone and has formed a template for how companies' mistakes are treated in the social-media world. It happened when Gap changed its logo and birthed @GapLogo; it happened when the world decided it hated the latest ITunes icon, and @ITunes10Icon started; and it happened on Thursday when someone out there set up @KennethColePR.

In each case, the cycle of how consumers react to a brand is generally the same, but what's changing is that the cycle is speeding up. Each time a brand experiences a social-media blunder, the event blows up and moves through the seven stages below faster and faster before the whole thing vanishes in a puff of smoke.

While some out there are dubbing blunders like the one Kenneth Cole made brand suicide, it seems brands are having an easier time returning to everyday life than they did before.

Why? Largely because those folks who are out there looking to yuk it up with a parody account on Twitter quickly distract folks from the distasteful mistake that made people mad in the first place. We don't suspect a marketer has yet been smart enough to set one up themselves, but going forward, you never know

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Mashable's Guide Book to Facebook

“Facebook is the world’s leading social network, with over 300 million users and more than 900 employees. But how do you get the most out of it? To answer this question and more, Mashable has created The Facebook Guide Book, a complete collection of resources to help you master Facebook.”
- Pete Cashmore, Mashable

 

Mashable's Guide Book to Twitter

“Twitter is a social network used by millions of people, and thousands more are signing up every day to send short messages to groups of friends. But where’s the user manual for Twitter? Where do new Twitter users go to learn about Tweeting, retweets, hashtags and customizing your Twitter profile? Where do you go if you want to know all about building a community on Twitter, or using Twitter for business? How can you find advanced tools for using Twitter on your phone or your desktop? To answer all these questions and more, we’ve assembled The Twitter Guide Book, a complete collection of resources for mastering Twitter. Happy Tweeting!”
- Pete Cashmore, @Mashable

via mashable.com

 

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The "Anti-Irritation Zone"

Edge Shave Gel is curing more than razor irritation these days. Edge has recently launched a new interactive ad campaign that's more concerned about your problems than it is your face. By following Edge via its @EdgeShaveZone Twitter handle and using the #soirritating hashtag, Edge is slowly developing a following of complainers as part of a long-term campaign with big aspirations to own the position of irritation prevention.

The shave gel brand is doing more than just listening to your problems; their solving them. Matthew DeCoste, an interactive designer at Euro RSCG, New York, a devout New England Patriots fan was irritated last month at his inability to get tickets to a game against the New York Jets, he tweeted his issues to the Edge shaving gel brand. Within days, the football fan had tickets to the game compliments of the "anti-irritation" campaign. Edge has also sent a megaphone to a University of Alabama professor who said her husband wasn't listening to her and a Blu-ray disc player and the movie "Office Space" on DVD to ease the irritation of an employee annoyed by a coworker.

"We may find someone who's really irritated about the traffic jam they're in and offer to send them a GPS unit," said Jeffrey Wolf, senior brand manager at Edge. "Or maybe someone's tweeting about being stuck in the rain. Well, we've got an umbrella with your name on it. The other day we gave a guy whose hard drive had crashed a brand new one." Edge is slowly developing an irritated group of followers and its certain the the group will swell to viral proportions once people find out Edge is willing to provide solutions to their irritating problems.

The brand has also started an "anti-irritation community" on its website, which encourages its visitors to enter complaints that are "irritating" into their "Anti-Irritation Index". The index is search friendly and it breaks the complaints down by state so you can easily see what people are bitching about close to home!

The brand says it has bigger things in store for the effort, including undisclosed work coming later this year under development by WPP's JWT, New York, promo shop Ryan Partnership and media shop MEC. "What I'm most encouraged about is where we're going to take this brand moving forward with this robust campaign we'll roll out within the next year," Mr. Wolf said.

I love this campaign. Edge Shave Gel is pushing their brand forward and setting the social media standards for its competition and the brand interaction it generates with its consumers is invaluable.

And hey, you finally have someone to complain to who actually gives a shit.