A week after rolling out local updates, Foursquare on Wednesday announced “promoted updates” as part of its broader push to monetize the social location service. Like local updates, the new ad offering allows businesses to notify customers about things like specials, new products or other news. But unlike them, promoted updates will be paid ads appearing at the top of the Explore tab, where users find personalized recommendations based on their check-in history and the activity of friends on Foursquare. That makes it the company’s first paid ad format. “Promoted updates are like search ads for the real world,” explained Foursquare in announcing the new tool. “You might see updates that include places that are on your foursquare lists, places your friends have been to or liked, or places you’d likely want to check out given the time of day or neighborhood you’re in.” To separate them from other content, promoted updates (including promoted specials) are labeled as “promoted” and will only be shown to users close enough to stop by a restaurant, store or other venue. As the name suggests, promoted updates are similar to Promoted Tweets on Twitter, as well as Facebook’s Sponsored Story ads. The idea is to make ads blend as much as possible with the stream of organic recommendations or other unpaid updates that users see. Promoted updates, for instance, use the same algorithm that powers tailored recommendations based on location, time of day, past behavior and other factors. For local updates, which appear in the Foursquare app’s Friends tab, a user would have had to have “liked” or checked in several times to a particular business first. “For the first time, we’re offering a select group of pilot partners the ability to promote their locations on foursquare, through promoted updates, specials and credit card specials,” said Foursquare CRO Steven Rosenblatt. Among those initial partners are various brands, including The Gap, H&M, Hilton Hotels, Butter Lane, Batali Group and JCPenney. Foursquare plans to extend promoted updates to the more than 1 million merchants it works with in the coming months. The rollout of paid advertising comes almost two months after Foursquare launched a revamped version of its app that makes it a more direct competitor with recommendation services like Yelp, instead of merely a check-in service. Data released by the Pew Research Center in May showed that almost three-quarters (74%) of smartphone owners used their devices to get directions and other location-related information as of February -- up from 55% a year ago. Despite an active user base of 20 million, Foursquare faces competition not just from Yelp, but from others entering the mobile location or offers space including Zagat, Groupon and Square.
Advertising will contribute $9 billion to social media global revenue of nearly $17 billion this year, up from $12 billion in 2011, estimates Gartner. The approximate 43% uptick supports stronger social signals that find their way into search, mobile and premium display ads. Neha Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner, estimates more than 1 billion people worldwide will use social networks in 2012, but not just for social streams on sites like Facebook and Google+. Gaming revenue from social media more than doubled between 2010 and 2011, and is expected to reach $6.2 billion in 2012. According to Gupta: "There is now a social element to most websites, for example, most email services have integrated chat rooms for their users, and travel booking sites allow users to leave messages about their experiences. However, we have only included dedicated websites in our definition and not online environments with social features." Revenue from subscriptions is predicted to reach $278 million this year. The sale of virtual goods will remain the primary source of revenue. Some social developers, such as Zynga, GREE and DeNA, have moved to an open-platform strategy to support user convenience and choice. Along with the developers' move, marketers are allocating a higher percentage of their advertising budget to social networking sites -- not just traditional social sites like Facebook, but video services. Gupta predicts that ecommerce on social media sites will evolve into a payment platform for transactions of digital content to pay for applications and social gaming or to make a person-to-person payment to another user in the network site. These new revenue opportunities will augment mobile and TV platforms that integrate with social networks as a core service. Dan Salmon, equity research analyst for advertising and marketing services at BMO Capital Markets, views Google's YouTube as a social network. At the MediaPost OMMA Data & Targeting conference, he told attendees that Google built the service on paid media, but it's also an important earned media service. Salmon gave attendees a snapshot of how advertising budgets are allocated. He looked at earned and owned media, estimating that paid media takes about 87% of marketing spend; that advertising takes up about 53%; marketing services like direct mail makes up 34%; IP marketing ad agency fees, 8%; and data and intelligence, 4%. Despite all the hype, software and technology only makes up about 1% of spend; and IP marketing, 25% -- not just the Internet, but also mobile and connected TVs.
Sharpie knows it has a following of enthusiasts who think of it as more than a mere marker. In recent years, the brand has capitalized on its following to launch marketing programs that celebrate a creativity among its fans, such as last year’s takeover of YouTube’s home page with an ad full of user-generated art. And this year is no different. For 2012, the brand is encouraging followers to use their Sharpie markers to create artwork that will go into a music video featured as a commercial during the MTV Video Music Awards in September. For two weeks (until Aug. 6), fans will be encouraged to submit artwork designed with Sharpie markers via the brand’s Facebook page or Web site. That artwork will eventually be worked into a music video for California Wives, a Chicago-based indie-pop band that will be making its video debut with the ad. “What we’re really about is putting fans at the center of our story,” Ryan Rouse, global director of marketing for Sharpie, tells Marketing Daily. “It’s not about ambushing an audience with an ad; it’s about taking the passion within our community and amplifying that.” After the ad’s television debut, the brand is encouraging people to create their own cut of a music video featuring their own Sharpie artwork to share with friends and others. “We want to inspire self-expression.” Rouse says. “We’re viewing [the customizable video] as an opportunity for fans to express themselves with what they’ve started with Sharpie, and it will be shared with links back to Sharpie and Facebook, encouraging others to create their own.” In the run-up to the video’s debut, Sharpie will showcase the work of two fans -- Emmy Star Brown and Enrico Miguel Thomas -- in advertising, social media and public relations efforts. Television ads (and longer-form videos available online), from Draftfcb Chicago showcase the artists’ work using Sharpie products on salvaged glass (Brown) and maps (Thomas). “Our hope is that their stories of inspiration inspire all of us to create our own art,” Rouse says. “The thought process is to tell the story of members of our community that are starting something amazing and inspirational, and that will inspire people to use the product."
A week after rolling out local updates, Foursquare on Wednesday announced “promoted updates” as part of its broader push to monetize the social location service. Like local updates, the new ad offering allows businesses to notify customers about things like specials, new products or other news. But unlike them, promoted updates will be paid ads appearing at the top of the Explore tab, where users find personalized recommendations based on their check-in history and the activity of friends on Foursquare. That makes it the company’s first paid ad format. “Promoted updates are like search ads for the real world,” explained Foursquare in announcing the new tool. “You might see updates that include places that are on your foursquare lists, places your friends have been to or liked, or places you’d likely want to check out given the time of day or neighborhood you’re in.” To separate them from other content, promoted updates (including promoted specials) are labeled as “promoted” and will only be shown to users close enough to stop by a restaurant, store or other venue. As the name suggests, promoted updates are similar to Promoted Tweets on Twitter, as well as Facebook’s Sponsored Story ads. The idea is to make ads blend as much as possible with the stream of organic recommendations or other unpaid updates that users see. Promoted updates, for instance, use the same algorithm that powers tailored recommendations based on location, time of day, past behavior and other factors. For local updates, which appear in the Foursquare app’s Friends tab, a user would have had to have “liked” or checked in several times to a particular business first. “For the first time, we’re offering a select group of pilot partners the ability to promote their locations on foursquare, through promoted updates, specials and credit card specials,” said Foursquare CRO Steven Rosenblatt. Among those initial partners are various brands, including The Gap, H&M, Hilton Hotels, Butter Lane, Batali Group and JCPenney. Foursquare plans to extend promoted updates to the more than 1 million merchants it works with in the coming months. The rollout of paid advertising comes almost two months after Foursquare launched a revamped version of its app that makes it a more direct competitor with recommendation services like Yelp, instead of merely a check-in service. Data released by the Pew Research Center in May showed that almost three-quarters (74%) of smartphone owners used their devices to get directions and other location-related information as of February -- up from 55% a year ago. Despite an active user base of 20 million, Foursquare faces competition not just from Yelp, but from others entering the mobile location or offers space including Zagat, Groupon and Square.
Advertising will contribute $9 billion to social media global revenue of nearly $17 billion this year, up from $12 billion in 2011, estimates Gartner. The approximate 43% uptick supports stronger social signals that find their way into search, mobile and premium display ads. Neha Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner, estimates more than 1 billion people worldwide will use social networks in 2012, but not just for social streams on sites like Facebook and Google+. Gaming revenue from social media more than doubled between 2010 and 2011, and is expected to reach $6.2 billion in 2012. According to Gupta: "There is now a social element to most websites, for example, most email services have integrated chat rooms for their users, and travel booking sites allow users to leave messages about their experiences. However, we have only included dedicated websites in our definition and not online environments with social features." Revenue from subscriptions is predicted to reach $278 million this year. The sale of virtual goods will remain the primary source of revenue. Some social developers, such as Zynga, GREE and DeNA, have moved to an open-platform strategy to support user convenience and choice. Along with the developers' move, marketers are allocating a higher percentage of their advertising budget to social networking sites -- not just traditional social sites like Facebook, but video services. Gupta predicts that ecommerce on social media sites will evolve into a payment platform for transactions of digital content to pay for applications and social gaming or to make a person-to-person payment to another user in the network site. These new revenue opportunities will augment mobile and TV platforms that integrate with social networks as a core service. Dan Salmon, equity research analyst for advertising and marketing services at BMO Capital Markets, views Google's YouTube as a social network. At the MediaPost OMMA Data & Targeting conference, he told attendees that Google built the service on paid media, but it's also an important earned media service. Salmon gave attendees a snapshot of how advertising budgets are allocated. He looked at earned and owned media, estimating that paid media takes about 87% of marketing spend; that advertising takes up about 53%; marketing services like direct mail makes up 34%; IP marketing ad agency fees, 8%; and data and intelligence, 4%. Despite all the hype, software and technology only makes up about 1% of spend; and IP marketing, 25% -- not just the Internet, but also mobile and connected TVs.
Sharpie knows it has a following of enthusiasts who think of it as more than a mere marker. In recent years, the brand has capitalized on its following to launch marketing programs that celebrate a creativity among its fans, such as last year’s takeover of YouTube’s home page with an ad full of user-generated art. And this year is no different. For 2012, the brand is encouraging followers to use their Sharpie markers to create artwork that will go into a music video featured as a commercial during the MTV Video Music Awards in September. For two weeks (until Aug. 6), fans will be encouraged to submit artwork designed with Sharpie markers via the brand’s Facebook page or Web site. That artwork will eventually be worked into a music video for California Wives, a Chicago-based indie-pop band that will be making its video debut with the ad. “What we’re really about is putting fans at the center of our story,” Ryan Rouse, global director of marketing for Sharpie, tells Marketing Daily. “It’s not about ambushing an audience with an ad; it’s about taking the passion within our community and amplifying that.” After the ad’s television debut, the brand is encouraging people to create their own cut of a music video featuring their own Sharpie artwork to share with friends and others. “We want to inspire self-expression.” Rouse says. “We’re viewing [the customizable video] as an opportunity for fans to express themselves with what they’ve started with Sharpie, and it will be shared with links back to Sharpie and Facebook, encouraging others to create their own.” In the run-up to the video’s debut, Sharpie will showcase the work of two fans -- Emmy Star Brown and Enrico Miguel Thomas -- in advertising, social media and public relations efforts. Television ads (and longer-form videos available online), from Draftfcb Chicago showcase the artists’ work using Sharpie products on salvaged glass (Brown) and maps (Thomas). “Our hope is that their stories of inspiration inspire all of us to create our own art,” Rouse says. “The thought process is to tell the story of members of our community that are starting something amazing and inspirational, and that will inspire people to use the product."
On your mark… Get set… Tweet! Or rather, tweet at your own risk; keep it personal; and if you take a picture of another athlete at the Olympic Games, be sure to get his or her permission before you share it! At least that’s what the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is telling athletes and other “accredited persons” in its remarkably archaic and anti-social social media guidelines. Despite a promising opening sentence in their four-page document -- “The IOC actively encourages and supports athletes and other accredited persons at the Olympic Games to take part in social media” -- the guidelines are the work of wishful thinking rooted in the 20th century, when “antisocial” simply described a shy jock and not an absurd attempt to control the uncontrollable. Based on IOC’s stringent guidelines, I’m imagining a swimmer from Albania (one of the 79 countries that have never, ever medaled) chasing down Michael Phelps with a release form in hand, begging him in broken English for permission to post his picture to Facebook. Or a hapless high-jumper from Papua New Guinea who posts a video of himself during the Opening Ceremony on YouTube, only to discover that he has violated IOC rule #4. Lest you think I’m being unduly harsh and alarmist, let me offer a few words of praise for the Olympic Athletes’ Hub, which is how the IOC hopes to channel (i.e., control) social media energy. The Hub is easy to join via your Twitter and Facebook accounts and is “gamified” to encourage ongoing participation. And while the Hub is not the only sanctioned social venue, it is the place the IOC wants you to connect with its socially obedient athletes. And if this Olympian Hub isn’t enough for you, NBC just announced its partnership with Twitter to aggregate “millions of messages from Olympic athletes, their families, fans and NBC television personalities” on a single Twitter page. That’s a lot of up-to-the-minute content that will no doubt keep the IOC’s social media police on their toes! However, if you are an ordinary person or business, you should think twice about using the word “Olympics” in your tweets and posts over the next few weeks. Simply put, non-sponsors are not allowed to endorse, promote, support or align themselves with the Olympic brand, teams or athletes. So plan to speak in factual terms with scintillating tweets such as “Today, the Games begin.” The guidelines for non-sponsoring businesses are outlined by the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), and of course, are designed to protect Olympic sponsors who spend millions upon millions for the rights to use the rings. Having worked with Olympic sponsors like Panasonic, I totally understand and appreciate the need to prevent ambush marketing by non-sponsors, but a tweet here and Facebook post there does not an ambush make! In the end, restricting athletes from tweeting in the third person or asking attendees not to share images on Facebook or videos on YouTube seems downright anti-social -- a fool’s errand at best and a PR nightmare at worst, especially if the IOC or LOCOG start issuing cease-and-desist orders for personal posts. So while this Olympic fan can’t wait for the Games to begin, I sure don’t have to “Like” their approach -- or their Facebook page.
Nine out of ten 13- to 17-year-olds have used some form of social media. Three out of four teenagers currently have a profile on a social networking site, and one in five has a current Twitter account. 68% of all teens say Facebook is their main social networking site, compared to 6% for Twitter, 1% for GooglePlus, and 1% for MySpace. For the vast majority of teens, social and other digital communications media are a daily part of life. 68% of teens text every day, 51% visit social networking sites daily, and 11% send or receive tweets at least once every day. In fact, 34% of teens visit their main social networking site several times a day. 23% of teens is a “heavy” social media user, meaning they use at least two different types of social media each and every day. Use of Social and Digital Communications (13- to 17-year-olds) Among AllPercent Who Have Ever Used any social media 90% Texted 87% Visited a social networking site 83% Used email 77% IM’d 63% Used a video chat 59% Text chatted in an online game 45% Visited a virtual world 35% Headset chatted in an online game2 9% Written/commented on a blog 28% Used Twitter 27% Source: Common Sense Study, July 2012 N.B. Social media includes social networking, Twitter, blogs, and chatting in online games or virtual worlds Daily Use of Social and Digital Communications Media (Among all 13- to 17 year-olds) Activity% Who Engage At Least Once A Day Text 68% Visit a social networking site 51% Use email 30% IM 19% Text chat in an online game 12% Headset chat in an online game 11% Use Twitter 11% Video chat 8% Write/comment on a blog 6% Visit a virtual world 5% Source: Common Sense Study, July 2012 More than one in four teens say that using their social networking site makes them feel less shy and more outgoing; one in five says it makes them feel more confident, more popular, and more sympathetic to others; and 15% say it makes them feel better about themselves. By comparison, only 5% say social networking makes them feel less outgoing; 4% feel worse about themselves, less confident, and less popular after using their social networking site; and 3% feel shyer. In particular, teens think that using social media has helped their relationships. Half of all teen social media users say using such media has mainly helped their relationships with friends, compared to just 4% who say social media use has mainly hurt their relationships. Similarly, more than a third say social media use has mainly helped their relationships with family members, compared to 2% who say it has mainly hurt them. A majority of teens say social media help them keep in touch with friends they can’t see regularly, get to know other students at their school better, and connect with new people who share a common interest. Perceived Effect of Social Networking on Social and Emotional Well-Being (13- to 17-year-olds with a social networking profile) Makes Them Feel:More Less Confident 20% 4% Depressed 5% 10% Outgoing 8% 5% Popular 9% 4% Shy 3% 29% Sympathetic to others 19% 7% Better about themselves 15% 4% Source: Common Sense Study, July 2012 Impact of Social Networking on Relationships (13- to 17-year-olds with a social networking site) RelationshipMainly helped Mainly Hurt Friends 52% 4% Family members (other than parents) 37% 2% Parents 8% 7% Teachers 6% 2% Source: Common Sense Study, July 2012 Despite being avid social media users, about half of all teens say their favorite way to communicate with their friends is in person. Texting is the next favorite, with social networking, talking on the phone, and Twitter far behind. Some teens think there is a trade-off between social media use and face-to-face communication. A third of teens agree either strongly or somewhat that using social media takes away from time they could be spending with people face-to-face, and 44% agree at least “somewhat” that using social media often distracts them from the people they’re with when they do get together in person. Social media use does affect how some teens interact with one another. Nearly a third of social media users say they’ve flirted with someone online that they wouldn’t have flirted with in person, and a fourth say they’ve said something bad about someone online that they wouldn’t have said in person. Favorite Way to Communicate with Friends (Among all 13- to 17-year-olds) Favorite Way To Communicate With Friends% of Respondents In person 49% Through texting 33% Through a social networking site 7% On the phone 4% In an online game 3% Through video chat 2% IM 1% Email 1% Twitter 1% Source: Common Sense Study, July 2012 Why Face-to-Face Communication Is PreferredMain Reason Preferred % of Respondents More fun 38% Can understand what people mean better 29% More comfortable talking about personal things 9% Can talk more seriously 6% It’s the easiest 5% It’s more private 3% It’s less awkward 2% It’s the quickest 2% Gives me time to think how to respond 1% Source: Common Sense Study, July 2012 Many teens recognize that they and their friends and family are increasingly tethered to their electronic gadgets, and a substantial number express a desire to disconnect sometimes. 43% of teens agree strongly or somewhat that they sometimes wish they could “unplug.” 25% of teens who aren’t currently using a social networking site strongly agree that they sometimes wish they could go back to a time when there was no Facebook, and a total of 54% agree at least somewhat. By comparison, among teens who are currently using a social networking site, just 8% strongly agree, and a total of 31% agree at least somewhat. Interestingly, the report says that 45% of teens say they sometimes get frustrated with their friends for texting, surfing the Internet, or checking their social networking sites while they’re hanging out together. For more information from Common Sense, and access to the complete report in PDF format, please visit here.
I tried to be stoic. I tried to be jaded. I was sure I wouldn’t shed a single tear. But P&G won. I cried when I finally watched this P&G “Best Job in the World” spot for the Olympic Games. I’m not the only one; the ad has racked up more than 12 million views across video sites, according to social video platform Unruly Media. P&G is also the top Olympics brand so far in terms of social video reach, the company said. I asked Unruly’s chief operating officer and founder Sarah Wood what other brands can learn from the Olympics example set by P&G. Sure, videos about the Olympics are bound to do well right now. But what takeaways can other brands implement year round? “You don’t need a track record in social video to do it well. It comes down to content creation and distribution,” she said. Any brand, small or large, can benefit by keeping a few guidelines in mind. For starters, research has shown that the top factor in generating shares is an emotional trigger. “People want to feel excited, happy, shocked, disgusted. All these physical emotions are needed to generate a share,” Wood said. Top triggers include videos that are funny, sexy, shocking, controversial, unbelievable, cute or uplifting, Unruly research has shown. Distribution is next, and the key to success is placing video in the right place -- be it Facebook or Twitter, mobile and tablet apps, games, blogs, social discovery engines such as BuzzFeed and StumbleUpon, and video search, she said. Those are often the sites where tastemakers and influencers uncover videos for the first time. Across the best-performing videos, both user-generated and branded videos have the same level of sharing-to-views ratio, she said. “If it’s awesome content they want to share it.” Last month, Unruly started testing many of the videos it distributes for brands in its labs, using biometric testing with panel groups, to make sure the videos meet content benchmarks. “It needs to not just be funny, but the funniest video you have seen all week,” Wood explained. The payoff can be worth it. Brand recall and brand association both jumped 7% for viewers who had been recommended videos, compared to those who found branded videos by browsing.