Taking branded content to consumers at portals or on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter has emerged as an answer to the problem of finding or aggregating the perfect audience. That's because the audience already exists and it gives companies one-on-one conversations that provide an opportunity to fundamentally change how they market themselves. The portal Yahoo in the past two months launched destinations for three top brands: American Express: Business Solutions; Ram Truck: Ram Country on Yahoo Music; and State Farm: Ready, Set, Dance! And, updated new features on Bank of America: Financially Fit. Then in April, Toyota launched Who Knew? on Yahoo News. The American Express sponsorship, the latest in a series, offers small business owners access to tools and content aimed at helping businesses grow. New features will give Yahoo small businesses access to SearchManager, a platform to manage pay-per-click campaigns in one place; AcceptPay, an online payment and invoicing solution; and InsuranceEdge, a new way to do real-time quote comparisons and purchase customize business insurance. On the site visitors will find interviews with entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Diane Von Furstenberg. Years ago, brands built microsites, but not anymore, according to Mitch Spolan, Yahoo's VP of North American field sales. "It's all based on the insight that when consumers look for something we must fill that need on Yahoo," he says. "We took the formula and repeated it several times because it works." Within the first four months, Toyota's sponsored destination Who Knew? recorded 40 million streams, Spolan says. The sites leverage an existing audience. The brands know what that audience seeks. And the experience is enhanced through content from the brands and original content through Yahoo. Brands can take content to consumers wherever they go across the Web by following consumers to places that interest them most. It's no longer necessary to drag consumers back to branded Web sites, according to Andrew Solmssen, managing director at Schematic, an interactive ad agency. "Because guess what, they're not coming," he says. Brands shouldn't care where consumers experience content, but many still do. "The brands want you to go to mybrand.com because they can count the consumer as a unique visitor, but are those old metrics?" he says, suggesting it brings up the point of whether consumers really experience the brand or the content. "You don't need to worry about where they experience it." The "widgetization" of the Web, and the ability to plant content anywhere but retain branding, will support campaigns, Solmssen says. While brands can't necessarily control the stuff that surrounds "their stuff," they can control their stuff and give the user an experience that mirrors what happens on their site so it feels familiar when visitors come across it. Not many companies do it well. The National Hockey League began living that mantra earlier this year. They not only meet fans on their turf, but reward them for allowing the NHL to do so. The latest uses Foursquare check-ins during the NHL Face-off, where fans got a chance to win free subscriptions to NHL GameCenter LIVE, jerseys, and t-shifts. No one suggests that brands don't need a Web site. They need a great site because in the world of floaters, swimmers and divers, the floaters experience the content in passing, swimmer will grab it on the surface, and divers will jump in to learn more about Lady Gaga. So, brands better make sure the Web site experience supports amazing content.
Where were you the morning of Thursday, October 21, 2010? I happened to be in a series of meetings. Yet if you were walking down a certain street in Singapore, you would have seen my face projected on to the side of a building, clearly visible in the night given the 12-hour time difference. Much to my relief, this caused no major panic in the region; the Singapore Exchange Limited opened 10 points higher Friday morning (yes, I checked). I sadly missed the moment, choosing the wrong time to pay attention to my colleagues and thus missing the video feed. The event was made possible by Aviva, the world's sixth largest insurance group. That one fact is more than I knew about them when I submitted my face for global projection. All I knew at the time was that there was a press pitch involving something about a Facebook application, a marketer, and a chance to have my face momentarily flashed to people passing by a designated façade in Singapore, Warsaw, London, Paris, Mumbai, or Delhi. I've been to the last four cities, and now my face has been to the first, so I'm getting around. While it was great to visit somewhere new virtually, it would have been fun for a Frenchman to see my face and say to a friend, "Pourquoi ont-ils laisser M. Berkowitz revenir à notre pays? Je déménage en Suisse." ("Why did they let Mr. Berkowitz return to our country? I'm moving to Switzerland.") The program combined a lot of smart elements to make it successful, or at least memorable, as I don't know how they're measuring success. There's a cause marketing element, where you're asked to "donate your picture" with funds going to Save the Children. There are several points of engagement along the way: various calls to action to join, such as on a custom-branded Facebook tab; a personalized video preview that shows my face getting assembled on a skyscraper billboard; a customized Facebook event so I could share when my projection would happen; an email alert that my face would be projected; and then a final update with a link to my face on the building. There were a few things that, as a participant, I wish they did better. My biggest gripe is the overreliance on Flash. That's the main reason why I couldn't save the personalized video or the time-lapse projection to my PC. How much more effective would this be if, in a click or two, I could set my billboard-exposed face my Facebook profile, or if I could upload my video to YouTube? This was something out of the ordinary, and I wanted to save the moment. When else could this happen again? Well, it could happen next month. Corona Light has a new promotion where, if you like its Facebook page and upload a photo, it will put your face on a Times Square billboard. It will then send you proof of your appearance. The app updated my Facebook status without me realizing it, but overall it's got a good hook. If you've got assets like prime New York City real estate, social media is a great way to flaunt and share them. Corona's hardly the first marketer to pull a stunt like this. Last year, Kodak launched its Times Square Smile Gallery. Over the summer, Forever 21 put up a billboard that took real-time photos of pedestrians and streamed fans' Twitter messages. Coca-Cola showed fans' photos on its own Times Square billboard as part of its Expedition 206 program. It would be fascinating to study the demographics of who participates in these stunts. There's a scene in the movie "Up in the Air" where the ambitious wunderkind Natalie Keener (played by Anna Kendrick) remarks to the suave veteran Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) how men love putting their name on everything. "You guys don't grow up," she said. "It's like you need to pee on everything." Based on the number of marketers doing this, there's a lot of peeing going on, and if Forever 21 is any indication, it's not just about guys either. Aviva proved to be especially ambitious with its global approach. Some others will undoubtedly try to top that, whether it's showcasing fans in the Louvre, on the Great Wall of China, or even on the moon. If you've missed your chance to participate, don't worry -- because marketers won't rest until every man, woman, and child alive has the chance to fleetingly flicker their face on a famous façade.
Deep in the dark caves and caverns of the Internet forest is a love letter that I wrote on Hi5 to a boy I don’t even know anymore... and I can’t get rid of it. I think that in the beginning of the present social networking era (Hi5, MySpace, Tagged, Facebook specifically) people my age may have very well underestimated how serious this is. On the other hand I think that people older than us may be making this a bigger deal than it has to be. I can’t remember the last time I went to a doctor’s office and judged his performance and credibility based on some silly quotes or pictures he may have posted to his personal profile somewhere. What matters to me is that he knows how to be a doctor. The plaque on the wall and numerous degrees are sufficient enough proof to me that he belongs there. What I’m saying is I feel that my Internet life and ‘real’ as far as a professional situation is concerned shouldn’t even be in the same conversation. With that being said, it would be rude of my supervisor to come up and ask me about my relationship status and drinking habits BUT if I decide to put it on the Internet under my government name Well ... we have another situation altogether. I have decided to put my profile on private so that people who are not my ‘friends’ have restricted and limited access to my information. At this point one would believe they were safe from cyber judgment unless of course your boss is uber resourceful and has decided to lure you in with a FAKE profile. GRRRRRRR!!!! (angry moment) Tim DeMello, owner of the Internet company Ziggs, says that he often checks out employees online via Facebook. DeMello was interviewed about one of these future employees Dunia Rkein. She is an Ive Leaguer with an amazing resume. Here is an excerpt from that article on CNN. Many employers admit they've even learned how to access profiles students think are "private" — and they're surprised by how many students don't care if everyone knows everything about them. Take Rkein's pictures. They don't show anything lewd or illegal, but ... It might have cost Rkein a job. "I think some of these sites out there are going to be the most expensive free Web sites to their careers that they've ever seen," says DeMello. There are sexy photos of Rkein that don't exactly scream "CEO material" How unethical is that? Now suppose I decided to pretend to be someone else to gain employment at a firm and then started using information gleaned throughout my stay AGAINST them? Can anyone say lawsuit? I just feel like there definitely need to be some boundaries established to protect ourselves from being wrongfully discriminated against. When does the line officially get crossed? Is there even a line? I am curious to know how legislation will adjust in the future to protect employees from being stalked online. I know that there are people who will read this and think; ‘just don’t put certain things online and you’ll be okay’. I would argue again that what I put online is my choice and I should not be judged professionally for it.
Taking branded content to consumers at portals or on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter has emerged as an answer to the problem of finding or aggregating the perfect audience. That's because the audience already exists and it gives companies one-on-one conversations that provide an opportunity to fundamentally change how they market themselves. The portal Yahoo in the past two months launched destinations for three top brands: American Express: Business Solutions; Ram Truck: Ram Country on Yahoo Music; and State Farm: Ready, Set, Dance! And, updated new features on Bank of America: Financially Fit. Then in April, Toyota launched Who Knew? on Yahoo News. The American Express sponsorship, the latest in a series, offers small business owners access to tools and content aimed at helping businesses grow. New features will give Yahoo small businesses access to SearchManager, a platform to manage pay-per-click campaigns in one place; AcceptPay, an online payment and invoicing solution; and InsuranceEdge, a new way to do real-time quote comparisons and purchase customize business insurance. On the site visitors will find interviews with entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Diane Von Furstenberg. Years ago, brands built microsites, but not anymore, according to Mitch Spolan, Yahoo's VP of North American field sales. "It's all based on the insight that when consumers look for something we must fill that need on Yahoo," he says. "We took the formula and repeated it several times because it works." Within the first four months, Toyota's sponsored destination Who Knew? recorded 40 million streams, Spolan says. The sites leverage an existing audience. The brands know what that audience seeks. And the experience is enhanced through content from the brands and original content through Yahoo. Brands can take content to consumers wherever they go across the Web by following consumers to places that interest them most. It's no longer necessary to drag consumers back to branded Web sites, according to Andrew Solmssen, managing director at Schematic, an interactive ad agency. "Because guess what, they're not coming," he says. Brands shouldn't care where consumers experience content, but many still do. "The brands want you to go to mybrand.com because they can count the consumer as a unique visitor, but are those old metrics?" he says, suggesting it brings up the point of whether consumers really experience the brand or the content. "You don't need to worry about where they experience it." The "widgetization" of the Web, and the ability to plant content anywhere but retain branding, will support campaigns, Solmssen says. While brands can't necessarily control the stuff that surrounds "their stuff," they can control their stuff and give the user an experience that mirrors what happens on their site so it feels familiar when visitors come across it. Not many companies do it well. The National Hockey League began living that mantra earlier this year. They not only meet fans on their turf, but reward them for allowing the NHL to do so. The latest uses Foursquare check-ins during the NHL Face-off, where fans got a chance to win free subscriptions to NHL GameCenter LIVE, jerseys, and t-shifts. No one suggests that brands don't need a Web site. They need a great site because in the world of floaters, swimmers and divers, the floaters experience the content in passing, swimmer will grab it on the surface, and divers will jump in to learn more about Lady Gaga. So, brands better make sure the Web site experience supports amazing content.