So, Gmail’s 170million users woke up today with a new social feature from Google; Buzz.
We all knew Google would introduce a new social offering. Orkut, although big in Brazil, hasn’t really had the widescale impact they would of hoped and it’s critical Google gains a slice of the realtime, social data pie. Afterall, if Facebook or Twitter stop sharing their stream for free, Google would be left with a hole and a missed opportunity.
The approach they have adopted in launching Buzz is interesting. That’s because, introducing a new social platform is no easy task. After all, why should people bother using an unfamiliar interface and go through the time-consuming task of convincing their network to do so too. particularly when platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are so established. Plus, the majority of users are far less likely to rebuild a network on something new, than they were five years ago. irrespective of the new, funky features Buzz delivers (location reporting and strong mobile integration, particularly on android phones)
Google recognises this and cleverly overcome this challenge by integrating Buzz into the highly successful and often used Gmail platform, therefore conveniently removing this barrier. It’s a better approach than creating another standalone offering, as the process of quickly building and connecting is infinitely easier, because the key social ingredients (contacts, interface ease/familiarity and trust/security) are already in place in Gmail.
I also hope this signals further development in Gmail. It’s a great product, with many people opening and frequently using it throughout the day. However, it is still a little basic and less intuitive than other offerings. So, the introduction of Buzz, which is a rather polished platform, is a welcome addition.
Some have already lorded it as the second coming, plugging a much needed gap between smartphones and laptops and others are confused about it’s offering and debating it’s size and portability.
The screen size is smaller than 10inch, traditionally anything larger has had limited success as it is seen as too cumbersome. As expected it leverages the Apples succesful OS and quickly syncs with Apple Mac software and a users existing iPhone apps. It also incorporates iphoto and itunes and introduces ebook functionality, with a number of third party deals with Penguin, Macmillian and Harper Collins.
Apps are being developed by Apple and as per the iphone, the iPad is open to developers to crate and sell apps. It will be interesting to see how developers make use of the larger screen and power.
But early sentiment and social buzz, seems to centre around the market gap (or lack of it) the iPad is currently being positioned to fill. The current perception is there isn’t a large one between a smartphone and laptop.
But, I think it is much too early to call.
We need to understand how it will make consumer’s every day life easier. What does it solve? For that, we need the well oiled Apple comms team to educate us.
Is it a high impact, portable entertainment device; delivering everything from ebooks you can read (as smartphones screens are too small), news and videos you can stream without squinting and high def browsing?
Following the launch, it feels like we have just finished the first chapter of a book. Will it turn out to be a best selling novel or a waste of time we quickly forget about. We will soon find out…
Over the last couple of weeks a number of clients have asked me what ‘emerging digital’ areas they should be focusing on. So, I thought I would post my thoughts on this question….
The first point I make is usually more of a reminder, but I think it’s necessary. Selecting an area to focus on, whether digital or not, should really come at the end of a marketing process. It’s an outcome, based on a clear understanding of a brand’s objectives and challenges and as it is tailored to each brand the area of focus will be different for each brand. Now, I am really not me trying to be clever, here! It’s simply an antidote to those ‘ experts’ who love to jump-in and show off their accumulated knowledge, suggesting AR platforms, branded content, real time advertising without a second thought about what the brand is trying to achieve.
The second point, is to take a long hard look at what a brand may already be doing in the digital space and identify what they can do better. It is sometimes easier to jump to the bright, new shiny thing, but by putting on the brakes and looking at how a brand is already interacting with customers or businesses it usually provides a better indication of gaps or new areas to focus on. For example, many leading brands can better leverage their existing social influence tools (and it doesn’t have to be a scary or complex process either). There is a wealth of data here, allowing brands to identify the nature of conversations about their products/services, sentiment, competition and industry trends. This leads to a better understanding about their customers and their sector and help identify the emerging channels they should participate in.
This then leads to my final point! A brand should focus on the emerging trends that allow them to be in the right place, in the right tone and ready to respond to a target audience’s needs. Whether that’s in the form of a promotional microsite, an interactive store wall or an AR mobile app. After all, if they aren’t doing this then all the ‘crowd sourcing product development platforms’* in the world won’t make up for the missed opportunity.
*…although, this was always my favourite one ….sorry!
Now we have got over the NY hangover successfully, I thought I would take a look at 2010…and this should be a really interesting year as the spectre of the GFC lifts and confidence returns.
Rather than add to the cacophony surrounding the expected announcement by Apple of their own tablet solution (see my post on Oct 22nd), I thought I would highlight some even more interesting things I have heard, read or think could well be just around the corner in 2010:
Stronger competitors start taking greater iphone share; Google’s own android phone (The Nexus One) and Blackberry and SONY Ericsson new product launches. Not sure we will see Nokia fight back with a truly decent product until 2011.
Keep an eye on the British election and party/politician use of social media platforms to motivate voters (and what party manages this the best and who reaps any fall out)
Greater integration and distribution of AR platforms
Increased consumer/SME understanding and use of the ‘cloud’
War of Netbooks (highly portable PC’s using Atom processors) vs. smartbooks (larger, more powerful mobile phones using ARM processors)
Increased talk about 3D TV – will early adopters buy into this with the glasses. Focus should be on getting glassless solutions down to a reasonable cost and deliver a headache free experience!
Increased video on demand options
Manufacturers clamour to develop and market the primary in-home entertainment system. SONY Playstation and Xbox beefing up VOD and app store offering and their will be increased web integrated HD TV solutions
I wonder if Apple itunes are looking to roll out a subscription based content streaming offering, following their purchase of lala.com in US
Facebook passing half a billion members and further ramping up revenue driving initiatives/inventory. Myspace launching new initiatives to reverse member free fall
Gear up of 4G mobile services in Europe and US, with downlink data speeds that can hit 100 megabits per second – about ten times quicker than the fastest 3G networks.
News International roll out ‘Freemium’ model (free content with extra paid for sections) to solve pay for content challenge. A prediction, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Social network platforms are better and more seamlessly integrated into brand campaigns
Google Wave rolled out to wider users and business community
If Oracle’s acquisition of Sun is finally approved this month, it could lead to some very interesting B2B developments.
Interesting to see what Skype does over the next year in the mobile to PC voice/data space, following ebay selling a majority stake to the original investors in 2009.
Increased online brand presence of FMCG companies, to attempt to build stronger loyalty
And some possibly further fetched thoughts; Google buying Twitter and News Int only allow BING to serve it’s news content, blocking Google using it’s content. Not entirely convinced about this, but who knows. We have seen stranger things happen!
I thought I would end the year, covering one of my favourite topics;
social media.
We are all aware of the user growth and engagement figures. But, I
thought I would look at celebrating social network business success to
highlight why it is such a useful business and marketing tool.
Here are my top 10 picks I have used to help convince my clients
social is a viable tool and in turn help them sell it into their own
business;
1. Dell sold $3,000,000 worth of computers on Twitter
2. Recent W/A study found business that were widely/deeply involved in
social media outstripped their competitors in terms of revenue &
profit e.g. company sales with the highest levels of social media
activity grew on average by +18% vs. those with the least amount of
social activity saw decline -6%.
3. Lenovo realised 20% reduction in call centre activity as customers
were redirected to community website for answers
4. Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice Facebook program incentivised users
to give up ten of their Facebook friends in return for a free Whopper.
The campaign cost c$50,000 and received 32 million media impressions
equating too c$400,000 in press/media value.
5. BlendTec sales increased five fold after running the “Will it
Blend” YouTube segments; blending everything from an iPhone to a
trainer.
6. 25% of Ford’s marketing spend has been shifted to digital/social
media initiatives and here’s why… they realised 37% of GenY audience
awareness through simply giving 100 Ford Fiesta’s to 100 influential
bloggers.
7. Over five million clicked on an “I voted for Obama” Facebook button and
this resulted in three million online donors contributed $500 million
in fundraising to his election campaign. An astounding 92% of the
donations were in increments of less than $100 (an old one, but a good
one!)
8. eBay found participants in online communities spend 54% more money
9. 71% of companies plan to increase investments in social media by an
average of 40% because: Low Cost Marketing or Getting Traction or We
Have To Do It
10. Finally, a great quote from McDonalds USA; “Our head of Social
Media is the customer”
Have a great Christmas and NY and see you in 2010!
The Brief; spread the message we have more PSP3’s to give away with our SONY Bravia. Oh, and we need it live in 2 weeks.
The idea; we’ve destroyed one. There are only 24,999 left. Better hurry.
Execution; book a car crash test studio. Slow-mo camera and lights are already there. Invite 2 prominent Tech Bloggers to watch the entire shoot (4 days). Give them the fragments and MP4 and ask them to spread it.
Great ideas can get caught up in overly complex online executions.
So, I thought I would celebrate the beauty of simplicity in this post! Here are two very different examples of good ideas, executed simply!
IKEA
A promotional idea that simply leverages Facebook’s familiar functionality. No Facebook apps in sight!
HP + GLOBAL CLEAN WATER CRISIS
They are the technology outfitter for Global clean water crisis Mt Kilimanjaro challenge. How do they bring the scale of the challenge the team of climbers (and the ‘technology’ that will support them) will face, to life? Answer; a website the ‘equivalent’ height of Mt Kilimanjaro in pixels.
Incudes a highly engaging basecamp at the bottom. Definitely worth checking out.
We have seen another flurry of research releases, to help guide the digital community on what online success looks like.
The latest was Nielsen’s 3 year study, which thudded on our desks late last week.
Highlights included:
“One third of consumers (33%) exposed to an online ad are able to recall it (when prompted), intention to purchase increased by 4.9% following exposure to an online advertising campaign, with brand sentiment increasing by 5.3%. Display advertising also correlated with a rise in awareness, with top-of-mind awareness jumping 3.1%. The likelihood of a consumer recommending a brand following exposure to an online advertising campaign also increased by 4.4%”
On first impression, this paper only seemed to build on already substantial evidence highlighting online display is a powerful brand ‘lever’ rather than simply a response channel.
However, it was surprising to see mainly traditional brand measures were being applied and reported in the research paper, the further I read. No sign of dwell ratio/time (sorry eyeblaster – it only tells half the story!) and thank goodness, no stray CTR graphs!
This then got me thinking…
Many recent papers and campaign evaluations measuring brand get themselves in a knot when using analytics and online ‘buzz’ data. Does this still mean many feel compelled to use it all, just because they have it (research publishers and campaign managers included)?
The trick, is both clearly articulating what your campaign objectives are and focusing on the right methods to test/measure success will be, up front.
Sounds simple, but when you have many tools to measure, selecting the right one isn’t easy. particularly, if you have to feed the results into a predefined global online performance spreadsheet, which nine times out of ten only include response fields and certainly not a focus group sentiment section!
However, like the Nielsen research, the best methods tend to be a careful blend of traditional brand (pre and post sentiment/NPS online polls/focus groups) and the right online analytics (engagement).
That way you deliver a clearer and more robust campaign evaluation with less tools. Far better than wasting time with more tools that simply present a cloudy, half story.
There has been a flurry of debate since Dynamic Logic’s study was released this month, which found creative factors (persistent branding, strong CTA and even human faces!?) and not super-targeted or high-profile ad placements make for better ad recall, brand awareness and purchase intent.
As the creative/media ‘discussion’ rages, I thought it would be worthwhile taking a look at what new solutions are available to improve and optimise creative served to users online. I have to say, not a lot surprised me until I came across a solution from a company in the US used by Travelocity.
The company (Teracent) have built an engine that tracks and trends what consumers are doing on a client website and then instantly serve pre-loaded creative/headlines to match these user trends into the clients online display ads across multiple sites.
So, in other words it matches and serves highly relevant creative based on overall user trends in real-time.
This breaks with a stop and start, high spiking online campaign approach and makes the campaign almost continuous, as it automatically updates creative based on what consumers are doing.
The results; Travelocity have seen a 230% increase in bookings and CTR jump 651%. Plus, cost per transactions have dropped 79% as fewer ad impressions are required to convert site visitors.
