Google Sunglasses – Closing Facebook Stores – Music Sharing
In today’s news, Google is set to release virtual-reality sunglasses, major retailers shut down their Facebook stores, and music proves to be an effective PR tool.
Google Sunglasses To Arrive By End of Year
By the end of 2012, Google plans to put information right in front of our eyes, at all times. Technicians inside Google’s X laboratory are developing a pair of sunglasses that will provide an information-based virtual reality. Using Android technology, the glasses will feature a camera that will register what the user is seeing, then provide information on surrounding businesses and nearby friends. The glasses are also equipped with a GPS.
The kind of information the glasses provide brings up some serious privacy issues. People may not want to broadcast their location and other information. Google will have to address this issue, especially in light of their recent privacy infringements.
If Google’s virtual reality glasses are successful, it will be almost impossible for businesses to avoid joining the digital revolution. Already, many people rely on sites such as Yelp! and Foursquare for dining and shopping information. Even if Google’s project fails, their attempt is sign that digital networks based on location are growing in popularity, and brands will need to make sure they make a great virtual first impression.
Top Retailers Closing Facebook Stores
In 2011, major retailers, such as Nordstrom, Gap, J.C. Penny and Gamestop, opened Facebook online stores. Now, less than a year later, they are all shut down.
There are two possible reasons for their failure. First, these companies began their f-commerce by importing part of their online catalogues into Facebook apps. These applications are notoriously slow, which may have dissuaded consumers from using the service. The second reason is that these Facebook stores did not provide enough products. Some retailers would only offer one or two items a month.
It will be interesting to see how Facebook deals with this situation. They recently chose to invest more in businesses with their Timeline format for brands. They could choose to adapt these pages to revise their f-commerce plan, or continue to rely on their role as a successful consumer-traffic driver.
Businesses Engage Customers Using Music-Sharing
Businesses are always looking to create positive associations between their brand and consumers, and digital music sharing can provide a solution.
Campo, a restaurant in Reno, Nevada, provides customers with a link to the playlist heard in their dining room. They use Grooveshark, a digital music provider, which allows the playlist to be embedded across social platforms. The idea is to associate these songs with the restaurant, so when customers hear these songs they are reminded of their meals and want to return.
Other businesses and organizations have explored the possibilities of music-sharing. The Obama administration just released its official playlist on Spotify, a service very similar to Grooveshark. By sharing his music preferences through Spotify, the President was able to create a personal link with a far-reaching audience.
Music is a great way for businesses engage customers and continue to build their brand.
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Reddit FIA – Social Media & Teens – How to go Viral
In today’s news, Reddit users draft legislation, social media raises empathy in teens, and the Huffington Post gives three tips on creating a viral video.
Reddit Writes Legislation
Users of Reddit, a popular media sharing site, have begun to draft up legislation they call the Free Internet Act. The FIA bill was conceived as a response to the SOPA and PIPA laws, which lost support last month due to widely demonstrated protest. Through their legislation, the Reddit community aims to “promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation by preventing the restriction of liberty and preventing the means of censorship.”
The Free Internet Act is meant for international application, and many of those responsible for it are non-US citizens.
It will be interesting to see whether Reddit’s attempt at lawmaking yields any results. Crowdsourced legislation has been used before. Last year, Iceland redrafted its constitution using heavy input from citizens. United States political figures have demonstrated open-mindedness toward social media, but social lawmaking it a whole different ballgame. Government acceptance of the Fair Internet Act could be the beginning of a stronger political presence in social networks. This could lead to stricter privacy laws, and in turn affect marketing research methods.
Social Media Spreads Teenage Empathy
We’ve seen how negative opinions, such as a bad customer review, can spread uncontrollably through social media channels. However, a new study shows that through digital platforms, empathy will catch on just as quickly.
According to Harris Interactive, a U.K. based research firm, 55 percent of teenagers accredit social media sites with raising their awareness for causes, both personal and nonprofit. The study attributes this to the fact that many young people are turning to sites such as Facebook and Twitter as emotional outlets.
Nonprofit organizations have noticed, and many are beginning to include fundraising tools in their social media pages.
This study suggests that appealing to empathy is a marketing strategy that will find success in social media channels. Brands that align themselves with causes have the ability to reach a wider audience than those that do not.
How Your Video Can Go Viral
We’ve seen that viral videos have proven to be the quickest way to create massively widespread brand value. However, it takes a bit more than wit and luck for a video to take off on YouTube. An article of the Huffington Post gives three tips on adding viral components to a video campaign:
- Subscribers have replaced views as the path to fame. Within the new YouTube format, videos will automatically be shared with subscribers to your channel, which means quicker sharing time.
- Content (obviously). You can work the YouTube infrastructure as much as you want, but if a video isn’t engaging, it will not catch on. Videos that are topical, relate to popular sympathy, and those that are visually stunning seem to be the most popular.
- Time the release of the video. You want people to discover your video at a time when quick sharing is optimal. Such points include right after school, Mondays, or the height of a political campaign. According to your target audience, such times will speed up the rate at which a video is shared.
Although there is no perfect formula for a viral video, these are some practices that can help speed the sharing time, and in turn create quick brand exposure.
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Google Tracking Safari Users – Tweets End Crime in Africa – MS Windows New Logo
In today’s news, Google illegally tracked Safari users, tweets end crime in Africa, and Microsoft Windows unveils a new logo.
Google Bypassed Privacy Settings on Safari Browser
Congress is calling on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google’s practice of circumventing Apple’s Safari browser privacy settings. Reports surface last week that Google has been bypassing the privacy settings of millions of people using Apple’s Safari Web browser. Safari, the most widely used browser on mobile devices, is designed to block such tracking by default.
Google used special computer code that tricks Apple’s Safari Web-browsing software into letting them monitor many users. Google disabled this code after being contacted by The Wall Street Journal.
While the decision is still pending, if the FTC investigates and finds Google guilty, it could lead to fines of $16,000 per violation per day. This is not the first time Google has been criticized for their privacy policies and we hope they take this situation seriously to protect user data.
African Chief Tweets to End Crime
Twitter is solving problems yet again. The Associated Press recently found an African chief who uses Twitter to help solve problems and maintain order in his Kenyan village.
Chief Francis Kariuki uses Twitter to decrease the crime rate in his village, locate missing children and farm animals, and organize village logistical matters. The chief’s Twitter account has just over 400 followers, but his messages reach thousands of the area’s 28,000 residents via forwarded text messages and third-party mobile application that works without smartphones.
Additionally, the Chief said, “Twitter has helped save time and money. I no longer have to write letters or print posters which take time to distribute and are expensive.”
This smart and effective use of Twitter is yet another example of how social media has evolved to reach even the most obscure corners of the globe.
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Microsoft Unveils New Logo for Windows
Earlier today Microsoft unveiled a new logo for Windows in preparation for the highly-anticipated Windows 8 operating system. The new logo returns to the company’s roots and is a simple window, doing away with the colorful flag-like logo they previously had.
The new logo is being met with a wide array of reviews. VentureBeat’s Sean Ludwig, commented saying, “It’s a simple one-color logo that emphasizes Windows 8?s simple design.” However, others find the new logo to be a welcomed change for Windows. Technologizer’s Ed Oswald says that, “Microsoft is simply following in Apple’s footsteps – in a good way – by finally shifting and adapting its logo to a “less is more” philosophy.”
We view the new logo design as an attempt to return to previous company sentiment and change consumer opinions for an often-criticized operating system. It will be interesting to see how this affects the Windows 8 launch.
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Twitter Expands Self Service Ad Platform
Twitter is partnering with American Express to offer their self-serve advertising platform to ten thousand small and midsized businesses. The new service takes the ad process out of Twitter’s hands, which allows them to cater to a larger volume of advertisers. It is an effort to entice more brands to start using Promoted pages and Promoted Tweets, which will lead to a revenue increase for the micro-blog.
The offer is open to anyone with an American Express account.
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo recognizes that many small businesses have been using his site under regular accounts, and he sees his self-serve advertising as “a mechanism for them to amplify the value they’re already creating.”
Advertising is something Twitter has slowly waded into. They recognize the importance of user experience, and have been trying to balance that concern with obtaining ad revenue. Promoted Tweets seems to be a fair compromise, and we will see how their self service platform develops this strategy.
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[http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2012/02/registration-for-twitter-self-serve-ad-platform-opens-for-10000-small-businesses.html]
Facebook Makes Time for Brands
On February 29th, Facebook is hosting its first marketing conference, and they are expected to announce their new Timeline page for brands.
Marketers have been anticipating Timeline for businesses ever since Facebook announced the change. Notable additions include a section for corporate history and an expansion of the ‘Like’ feature. Also, Timeline’s photo-rich nature allows brands more freedom to create visual engagement with fans.
From a business standpoint, the capabilities of Facebook have been pretty well defined, but now that may change. The Timeline format requires more visual creativity than the current Facebook page, and it will be interesting to see how marketers choose to adapt.
iPhone Sales Surpass Global Birth Rate
At 4.6 devices sold per second, iPhone sales have surpassed the global birth rate, which is currently at 4.2 births per second.
The rise in sales is attributed to a faster rate of device replacement. People used to purchase a new mobile phone every three to four years. Now, due to constant technological upgrades and a shorter device life span, people are replacing their phones every two years.
The rise in iPhone sales contributes to another prediction, that the number of mobile devices will overtake the world population by the end of 2012.
As the mobile device market becomes saturated, it is important for marketers to stay on top of trends and technology. Survival in such a market will depend on unique and innovative advertising.
New Search Engine Offers Total Privacy
A search engine built around total privacy. That is the founding idea behind the startup Stealth. The newest web surfing site promises not to store cookies, track IP addresses, or save browsing history.
Founder Jon Cook believes that the way Google tracks everything their users do is unnerving, and “people want real privacy.” He has even created his own algorithm for the search, which blocks user information from the sites they visit as well.
Stealth’s homepage is simple, containing no advertising. Cook says that he may allow advertising in the future, but ads will not be based on user data.
Although web surfers may find comfort in the total privacy of the new search engine, it will prove a challenge to marketers. A huge amount of consumer behavior information is garnered from search engine tracking, and marketers will have a much harder time targeting specific audiences without it. If Stealth’s total privacy idea starts to gain popularity, new sources of advertising information will need to be explored.
Startup Gives Lesson on Engagement
A new startup called Wander offers no product or service, but nevertheless is putting on a clinic in digital marketing. Their website, onwander.com, features nothing but a game called Click the Cow. Users receive points –they’re totally worthless –for three different actions. Clicking on a cow earns one point; sharing or liking the site earns 100 points.
Players can keep track of their progress on the “Utterly Pointless Leaderboard.” Already, the game has been played by ten thousand people. The leading player has over 900 million points.
For a site that has nothing to offer visitors, Wander has been gaining momentous exposure. On top their site traffic, they’ve already receive 3,000 mentions on Twitter.
Wander has shown how successful interactive Internet marketing can be. But they will need to produce content soon if they hope to retain visitors. They only information they provide is that their website will be launching soon. We can say that they have certainly begun to build up the anticipation.
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Start-up Creates Twitter Marketplace
A new company is looking to add some depth to Twitter’s limited capabilities. Start-up Chirpify has partnered with PayPal to launch a platform that will enable people to complete transactions on the microblog.
Twitter users can make purchases from brands using Chirpify, donate to charity, or transfer money to other users.
So far, PowerBar is the only brand using the service, but Chirpify executives are confident in their product’s appeal, mostly based on its ability to “instantly monetize followers.” If their confidence proves true, Chirpify would provide marketers with a new and direct way to target Twitter consumers.
