How many Rogers are there? Well, there's Roger Federer the tennis great, Roger Federer the celebrity, Roger the fan machine...and Roger the parent of twin girls. All of them are on display in a new Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) campaign timed with the automaker's top-shelf sponsorship of the U.S. Open in Flushing, Queens, and the rollout of the 2013 GL-Class full-size luxury SUV. The TV ad, in which Federer is shown in his professional and personal roles, first appears Aug. 16 on Roger Federer's Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/federer), then at MBUSA.com/Mercedes/Index, before hitting the airwaves during US Open coverage on CBS on Aug. 27. But the company has been leveraging the relationship for months both on Facebook.com/MercedesBenzUSA and Federer's page. Back in June, MBUSA ran a program on Federer's page to allow the tennis champ's fans to choose the headline for print ads that will run in The New York Times, USA Today, Tennis Magazine and the official US Open tournament program, with the headline “Proud holder of 16 Majors, 74 Singles titles and twin daughters,” getting the most votes. The new TV ad shows Federer leaving a stadium, signing autographs, getting admiring glances from fans, jumping into his GL and joking with his kids. The spot, and another one that is focused entirely on the vehicle, will air for the duration of the Open on CBS, ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel. Federer's and MBUSA's Facebook pages will host other product videos, including one in which he does a walk-around of the GL-Class, explaining its virtues. Federer first appeared in Mercedes-Benz ad -- for the CLS sedan -- at this time last year. Bernie Glaser, MBUSA's VP of marketing, says the company first experimented with allowing fans to choose ad headlines for that campaign. He tells Marketing Daily that it was such a draw the company decided to bring it back. "This year we got something like 114,600 people engaging in the contest and over 100,000 'likes.'" He says the idea is to build suspense leading up to the spot. The automaker, for example, ran a "making of" video about the forthcoming TV spot around this year's Wimbledon (which Federer won.) After posting the behind-the-scenes content on June 28 on Federer's Facebook page, and then on MBUSA's Facebook page, MBUSA measured 120,000 people engaging in the content and garnered 98,000 fans, per Glaser. Similarly, the actual spot will live on Federer's Facebook page today (Thursday), on MBUSA on the 19th, and on TV by the start of US Open. The demographics for GL-Class are heavily family-centric and comparatively young, per Glaser, who says 62% of owners have children. Ninety-one percent are married, the median age is 48, and household income is around $292,000 per year. "[Federer] is a great fit for us," he says. "He's the best in his field, he's a legend, and he strives to be the best. And he drives a GL in real life." At the U.S. Open, with which MBUSA began a four-year sponsorship in 2010, the company will have a raft of experiential activations, plus a presence on USOpen.org The company is also running a separate social-media extension, “Best Summer,” in which fans can upload photos about how they spent the summer to try and win a 13 month lease of an SLK250 Roadster. As part of that, the company will give away two sets of box tickets via the MBUSA Facebook page to a national contest winner for the finals weekend, including airfare, hotel and ground transportation; and four box tickets will be given to NY metro-area fans as well. Mercedes-Benz has big sponsorship programs in other sports, including golf -- the PGA Tour, the Riders Cup and Masters -- and football. In fact the biggest and timeliest sports deal for MBUSA is going to be the NFL, because the automaker essentially owns the New Orleans Superdome -- now called the Mercedes-Benz Superdome -- from a brand identity perspective, and that's where next year's Super Bowl will be played. "The entire stadium inside is heavily covered with M-B logos and branding," says Glaser, adding that in addition to big Mercedes-Benz Superdome signage on the stadium, the three-pointed MB star is both inside and outside the Superdome's roof structure.
There were impressive results in the social media arena for NBC's London Olympics.NBC says the London Olympics telecasts were more social than the 2012 Super Bowl, 2012 Grammys, 2012 Oscars, 2012 Golden Globes, and all seven games of the 2011 World Series combined. It pulled in 36 million people versus 32.7 million.In addition, NBC says the Olympics completely dominated the prime-time social TV conversation. Between the hours of 7 p.m. and midnight, 99% of all social TV buzz was attributed to the prime-time Olympics telecasts.NBC says totaling 17 days, there were nearly 83 million social comments in total, and 36 million of these came by way of NBCU telecasts.Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, stated: “Actively joining the social conversation through our partnerships with these platforms, as well as calling out Olympic social trends and highlights in our linear television coverage, aided us in reassembling the ever-fragmenting media audience, most notably among that elusive younger demographic."NBC says it brought new people to social media -- 2.4 million, making the Olympics the single largest driver of social TV conversation of all time. This was two times larger than the Super Bowl, which pulled in 1 million people.The biggest single day: Sunday August 12, which registered 11.4 million comments. The Opening Ceremony telecast, pulled in 5 million comments.
Kraft Foods’ Lunchables has launched an integrated “Never Be Bored Again” campaign that includes multiple kid-oriented elements, including an instant-win game, free game kiosks in malls in key markets, and a cause-related component. Digital/social efforts, TV and movie-theater ads, on-pack messaging and public relations are being used to drive kids (with their parents’ permission) to the campaign’s hub or “Fort” site. Once they enter the online instant-win game, they can also create their own avatars to play games or to create customized virtual treetop clubhouses and other “cool hangouts,” Sport Court backyard courts or “ultimate game rooms.” The instant-win game offers chances to win one of more than 1 million prizes, including video downloads, 25,000 toys and games, and three real-world grand prizes that parallel the online activities: a “treehouse of your dreams,” a Sport Court backyard court, or an ultimate game room. The free game kiosks, featuring “life-size” LCD screens, will be in place in select malls in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, New York and Los Angeles through Sept. 15. Players use their bodies to control avatars that compete in dodgeball, basketball or a “Run from Boredom” game with players in other metro areas. In the dodgeball game, Avatars represent users’ movements, but pictures of other players are present. After a match, users are presented with photos and can post their initials for other markets to see. In addition, the brand has partnered with celebrity mom Tori Spelling on a national program to support the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Starting Aug. 28, each time someone uploads a “boredom-busting” photo on the “Never Be Bored Again” app on Lunchables’ Facebook page, a $1 donation will be made to the charity (up to $100,000). To drive awareness and traffic to the instant-win game/online activities, Lunchables is running a TV spot (in 30- and 15-second versions) through late November that shows prizes dropping out of the sky on parachutes. The brand is also running its first long-form cinema spot, airing before kids’ movies, and display ads and editorial sponsorships on sites such as Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network and Miniclip. “The essence of the Lunchables brand is to promote freestyle fun that lets kids be kids, and the ‘Never Be Bored Again’ promotion is designed to help us extend that fun beyond lunch,” says the brand’s director of marketing, Joe Fragnito. The promotion is timed to reinforce the brand’s message during back-to-school time, and also serves to promote new offerings, including Lunchables with Smoothie and Lunchables with Fruit, Fragnito adds. Lunchables products are consumed primarily by kids in elementary through middle school, but 25% of the brand’s consumption is by adults, he reports. Importantly, the brand is consumed as an “occasional treat” (on average, its customer households buy one Lunch Combinations per month), according to Fragnito. This differentiates the products from daily brown-bag lunches -- hence its “fun” marketing positioning emphasis, he says. The creative team includes Mcgarrybowen (TV), Monster Media (out-of-home game), Razorfish (digital), Escape Pod of Chicago (cinema spot), Starcom (media buy) and Weber Shandwick/Chicago (PR).
In a big switch for Calvin Klein Underwear, it says it will launch its new Push Positive bra line via digital channels, in a splashy effort featuring Dutch supermodel Lara Stone. The black-and-white video, shot by Steven Klein, is expected to get 575 million impressions, and will begin appearing on YouTube next month. (The company intends to break it on its social media sites before then.) Overall, Calvin Klein says digital channels will account for 70% of the global media mix, and include an interactive Facebook application which allows users to share personalized images. There will also be a hashtag sweepstakes on Twitter as well as Weibo. The campaign will run in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Philippines, with additional support in Asia through placements on Youku, Yahoo and Nate. The brand, which is a division of The Warnaco Group, will also use designated in-store stations, arming sales associated with iPads loaded with a special app to aid in fitting. And of course, in what has become a given for Calvin Klein’s undies, there will be billboards, with the first appearing in New York’s SoHo this week. Billed it as “the perfect modern bra,” it uses soft-wire flexibility and microfiber, and will be offered in black, nude and a variety of colors. Business Insider, citing research from Citi, reports that Calvin Klein has less than a 1% share of the women’s intimates and socks/hosiery sales, as is true with most brands sold primarily in department stores. (Mass brands dominate the market, including Hanes with 6.5% and Fruit of the Loom with 3%. Overall, bras account for some 45.8% of dollar sales in the intimate business. Business Insider, citing research from Citi, reports that the women's intimates and socks/hosiery market grew to $14 billion in 2011, from $13 billion in 2010, including a 7% gain in intimates. While Calvin Klein has less than a 1% share of the total market, it is among the strongest of brands sold primarily in department stores. (Mass brands dominate the market, including Hanes, with a 6.5% share, and Fruit of the Loom with 3%, it reports.) Overall, bras account for some 45.8% of all dollar sales in the intimate business. Stone is currently ranked No. 1 in the world by Models.com, and has appeared in multiple global ad campaigns for the brand since Fall 2010, including clothes, jewelry and fragrances.
How many Rogers are there? Well, there's Roger Federer the tennis great, Roger Federer the celebrity, Roger the fan machine...and Roger the parent of twin girls. All of them are on display in a new Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) campaign timed with the automaker's top-shelf sponsorship of the U.S. Open in Flushing, Queens, and the rollout of the 2013 GL-Class full-size luxury SUV. The TV ad, in which Federer is shown in his professional and personal roles, first appears Aug. 16 on Roger Federer's Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/federer), then at MBUSA.com/Mercedes/Index, before hitting the airwaves during US Open coverage on CBS on Aug. 27. But the company has been leveraging the relationship for months both on Facebook.com/MercedesBenzUSA and Federer's page. Back in June, MBUSA ran a program on Federer's page to allow the tennis champ's fans to choose the headline for print ads that will run in The New York Times, USA Today, Tennis Magazine and the official US Open tournament program, with the headline “Proud holder of 16 Majors, 74 Singles titles and twin daughters,” getting the most votes. The new TV ad shows Federer leaving a stadium, signing autographs, getting admiring glances from fans, jumping into his GL and joking with his kids. The spot, and another one that is focused entirely on the vehicle, will air for the duration of the Open on CBS, ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel. Federer's and MBUSA's Facebook pages will host other product videos, including one in which he does a walk-around of the GL-Class, explaining its virtues. Federer first appeared in Mercedes-Benz ad -- for the CLS sedan -- at this time last year. Bernie Glaser, MBUSA's VP of marketing, says the company first experimented with allowing fans to choose ad headlines for that campaign. He tells Marketing Daily that it was such a draw the company decided to bring it back. "This year we got something like 114,600 people engaging in the contest and over 100,000 'likes.'" He says the idea is to build suspense leading up to the spot. The automaker, for example, ran a "making of" video about the forthcoming TV spot around this year's Wimbledon (which Federer won.) After posting the behind-the-scenes content on June 28 on Federer's Facebook page, and then on MBUSA's Facebook page, MBUSA measured 120,000 people engaging in the content and garnered 98,000 fans, per Glaser. Similarly, the actual spot will live on Federer's Facebook page today (Thursday), on MBUSA on the 19th, and on TV by the start of US Open. The demographics for GL-Class are heavily family-centric and comparatively young, per Glaser, who says 62% of owners have children. Ninety-one percent are married, the median age is 48, and household income is around $292,000 per year. "[Federer] is a great fit for us," he says. "He's the best in his field, he's a legend, and he strives to be the best. And he drives a GL in real life." At the U.S. Open, with which MBUSA began a four-year sponsorship in 2010, the company will have a raft of experiential activations, plus a presence on USOpen.org The company is also running a separate social-media extension, “Best Summer,” in which fans can upload photos about how they spent the summer to try and win a 13 month lease of an SLK250 Roadster. As part of that, the company will give away two sets of box tickets via the MBUSA Facebook page to a national contest winner for the finals weekend, including airfare, hotel and ground transportation; and four box tickets will be given to NY metro-area fans as well. Mercedes-Benz has big sponsorship programs in other sports, including golf -- the PGA Tour, the Riders Cup and Masters -- and football. In fact the biggest and timeliest sports deal for MBUSA is going to be the NFL, because the automaker essentially owns the New Orleans Superdome -- now called the Mercedes-Benz Superdome -- from a brand identity perspective, and that's where next year's Super Bowl will be played. "The entire stadium inside is heavily covered with M-B logos and branding," says Glaser, adding that in addition to big Mercedes-Benz Superdome signage on the stadium, the three-pointed MB star is both inside and outside the Superdome's roof structure.
There were impressive results in the social media arena for NBC's London Olympics.NBC says the London Olympics telecasts were more social than the 2012 Super Bowl, 2012 Grammys, 2012 Oscars, 2012 Golden Globes, and all seven games of the 2011 World Series combined. It pulled in 36 million people versus 32.7 million.In addition, NBC says the Olympics completely dominated the prime-time social TV conversation. Between the hours of 7 p.m. and midnight, 99% of all social TV buzz was attributed to the prime-time Olympics telecasts.NBC says totaling 17 days, there were nearly 83 million social comments in total, and 36 million of these came by way of NBCU telecasts.Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, stated: “Actively joining the social conversation through our partnerships with these platforms, as well as calling out Olympic social trends and highlights in our linear television coverage, aided us in reassembling the ever-fragmenting media audience, most notably among that elusive younger demographic."NBC says it brought new people to social media -- 2.4 million, making the Olympics the single largest driver of social TV conversation of all time. This was two times larger than the Super Bowl, which pulled in 1 million people.The biggest single day: Sunday August 12, which registered 11.4 million comments. The Opening Ceremony telecast, pulled in 5 million comments.
Kraft Foods’ Lunchables has launched an integrated “Never Be Bored Again” campaign that includes multiple kid-oriented elements, including an instant-win game, free game kiosks in malls in key markets, and a cause-related component. Digital/social efforts, TV and movie-theater ads, on-pack messaging and public relations are being used to drive kids (with their parents’ permission) to the campaign’s hub or “Fort” site. Once they enter the online instant-win game, they can also create their own avatars to play games or to create customized virtual treetop clubhouses and other “cool hangouts,” Sport Court backyard courts or “ultimate game rooms.” The instant-win game offers chances to win one of more than 1 million prizes, including video downloads, 25,000 toys and games, and three real-world grand prizes that parallel the online activities: a “treehouse of your dreams,” a Sport Court backyard court, or an ultimate game room. The free game kiosks, featuring “life-size” LCD screens, will be in place in select malls in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, New York and Los Angeles through Sept. 15. Players use their bodies to control avatars that compete in dodgeball, basketball or a “Run from Boredom” game with players in other metro areas. In the dodgeball game, Avatars represent users’ movements, but pictures of other players are present. After a match, users are presented with photos and can post their initials for other markets to see. In addition, the brand has partnered with celebrity mom Tori Spelling on a national program to support the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Starting Aug. 28, each time someone uploads a “boredom-busting” photo on the “Never Be Bored Again” app on Lunchables’ Facebook page, a $1 donation will be made to the charity (up to $100,000). To drive awareness and traffic to the instant-win game/online activities, Lunchables is running a TV spot (in 30- and 15-second versions) through late November that shows prizes dropping out of the sky on parachutes. The brand is also running its first long-form cinema spot, airing before kids’ movies, and display ads and editorial sponsorships on sites such as Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network and Miniclip. “The essence of the Lunchables brand is to promote freestyle fun that lets kids be kids, and the ‘Never Be Bored Again’ promotion is designed to help us extend that fun beyond lunch,” says the brand’s director of marketing, Joe Fragnito. The promotion is timed to reinforce the brand’s message during back-to-school time, and also serves to promote new offerings, including Lunchables with Smoothie and Lunchables with Fruit, Fragnito adds. Lunchables products are consumed primarily by kids in elementary through middle school, but 25% of the brand’s consumption is by adults, he reports. Importantly, the brand is consumed as an “occasional treat” (on average, its customer households buy one Lunch Combinations per month), according to Fragnito. This differentiates the products from daily brown-bag lunches -- hence its “fun” marketing positioning emphasis, he says. The creative team includes Mcgarrybowen (TV), Monster Media (out-of-home game), Razorfish (digital), Escape Pod of Chicago (cinema spot), Starcom (media buy) and Weber Shandwick/Chicago (PR).
In a big switch for Calvin Klein Underwear, it says it will launch its new Push Positive bra line via digital channels, in a splashy effort featuring Dutch supermodel Lara Stone. The black-and-white video, shot by Steven Klein, is expected to get 575 million impressions, and will begin appearing on YouTube next month. (The company intends to break it on its social media sites before then.) Overall, Calvin Klein says digital channels will account for 70% of the global media mix, and include an interactive Facebook application which allows users to share personalized images. There will also be a hashtag sweepstakes on Twitter as well as Weibo. The campaign will run in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Philippines, with additional support in Asia through placements on Youku, Yahoo and Nate. The brand, which is a division of The Warnaco Group, will also use designated in-store stations, arming sales associated with iPads loaded with a special app to aid in fitting. And of course, in what has become a given for Calvin Klein’s undies, there will be billboards, with the first appearing in New York’s SoHo this week. Billed it as “the perfect modern bra,” it uses soft-wire flexibility and microfiber, and will be offered in black, nude and a variety of colors. Business Insider, citing research from Citi, reports that Calvin Klein has less than a 1% share of the women’s intimates and socks/hosiery sales, as is true with most brands sold primarily in department stores. (Mass brands dominate the market, including Hanes with 6.5% and Fruit of the Loom with 3%. Overall, bras account for some 45.8% of dollar sales in the intimate business. Business Insider, citing research from Citi, reports that the women's intimates and socks/hosiery market grew to $14 billion in 2011, from $13 billion in 2010, including a 7% gain in intimates. While Calvin Klein has less than a 1% share of the total market, it is among the strongest of brands sold primarily in department stores. (Mass brands dominate the market, including Hanes, with a 6.5% share, and Fruit of the Loom with 3%, it reports.) Overall, bras account for some 45.8% of all dollar sales in the intimate business. Stone is currently ranked No. 1 in the world by Models.com, and has appeared in multiple global ad campaigns for the brand since Fall 2010, including clothes, jewelry and fragrances.
According to the e-tailing group and MyBuys, in a joint online survey, consumers are more comfortable sharing data with retailers than they are with social networks, especially if it enhances the shopping experience. The majority of survey respondents (55%) responded that they are “mostly willing” to provide shopping preferences to trusted retailers in exchange for an enhanced shopping experience. Willingness To Share Shopping Preferences With Favorite Retailers (Completely/Somewhat Agree; % of Respondents) Sharing Consideration% of Respondents Somewhat willing to share to get better shopping experience 57% Mostly willing to share to get better shopping experience 55 Nervous sharing because privacy might be compromised 44 Willing to share to expedite shopping experience 44 Nervous sharing because security might be compromised 44 Will share personalized information for more personalized shopping 43 Cautious sharing with retailers, but not with peers 40 Source: e-tailing Group/MyBuys, July 2012 In contrast, 52% of consumers responded that they are “much more concerned” or “somewhat more concerned” about sharing the same data on social networks Sharing Personal Information With Social Channels (% of Respondents) Level of ConcernPersonal InformationShopper Preferences Much more/somewhat concerned 57% 52% About same level of concern 38 42 Somewhat less/not at all concerned 5 7 Source: e-tailing Group/MyBuys, July 2012 Robert Cell, CEO of MyBuys, notes that “Today’s consumer... expects a tailored online experience... (but) they’re more comfortable sharing shopping preference information with retailers than they are with social networks... designed for this type of exchange... the data strongly shows that (sharing)... results in a better shopping experience... increases brand loyalty...” When asked about specific types of information they would share, 63% of respondents said they would share the types of offers they prefer; 61% said they would share the brands they buy; 60% would share the products they purchase. Preferences for Sharing Information With Retailer (Completely/Somewhat Agree) Most Likely Share% of Respondents Types of offers preferred 63% Brands purchased 61 Products purchased 60 Other stores shopped 46 Shopping behavior 46 Source: e-tailing Group/MyBuys, July 2012 On the mobile frontier, consumers remain more cautious. In fact, 76% of consumers indicated they have mixed feelings or find it somewhat undesirable to be geo-targeted on their mobile device. GeoTargeted Preference For Mobile DeviceReaction% of Respondents Highly/somewhat desirable 24% Somewhat undesirable 34 Mixed 42 Source: e-tailing Group/MyBuys, July 2012 Cell added that “Online privacy is a complex issue and there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer, but consumers are willing to share data when there is an equitable value exchange... " Please visit MyBuys here for additional information.
From the time social media apps went mobile and tied social networks to GPS, a lot of us have gotten, well, creeped out. Being able to locate friends and family with radar-like precision on one’s cell phone takes some serious rewiring about our notions of personal space and privacy. For parents, the idea that even non-personalized identity cues could lead a potential predator to your mobile-savvy kid is a high-tech nightmare. One company in the space, Friendthem, believes it may take a female perspective to get the friend finder genre right. If their name is familiar, that is because the company initially threatened to sue Facebook when the social network implemented a Friend Finder feature that seemed to lift concepts directly from Friendthem. The company decided not to pursue that approach to a platform that, after all, they rely upon for their basic model. The Friendthem app helps users find Facebook connections nearby. But this developer says it felt from the outset that in order for the app to appeal to -- and feel safe to -- the key female demographic, a female perspective was important. Not only does Friendthem have a woman -- VP of Programming and Co-Founder, Liron Fishman Sabbah -- leading the company, along with CEO Charles Sankowich, but they also recruited psychologist Alina Yurkovsky to help them understand how women might approach an app like this differently from men. I found the idea of a possible "male bias" to social app programming enticing, so I engaged these principals in a series of questions about the role a female perspective might play in designing creepiness out of an app that locates you to strangers nearby. Q: What is Friendthem and how is it different from other friend finders? Sabbah: Friendthem is a location-based mobile app, designed to help you make connections with people near you. This application shows you all the people using Friendthem around you and lets you send out a friend request through different social networks in an easy and intuitive way. We have eliminated the search process and given the world a chance to connect 'seamlessly' with interesting people they meet. Q: What feedback led Friendthem to think that a female perspective was necessary? Sabbah: The female perspective was Friendthem's main concern from the initial design of the application. In the past I have used applications that have allowed "instant messaging" in addition to other features and within a very short period of time, I was bombarded with IM's, from people I don't know and don't want to meet. It became a bit creepy and weird. The privacy issue is what concerns me and Friendthem the most. This is why we created the Privacy and Safety Department, which is run by Alina Yurkovsky, board certified psychologist, and I. We want to minimize women’s exposure and maximize their experience. With Friendthem, once someone sends you a friend request, the power is no longer in their hands. The ball is on your side of the court. A lot of people don't think about the creepiness factor of location-based applications. Everybody wants attention, but they want it on their terms. Q: Are there general psychological insights about women engaging the privacy issue or even engaging with apps and smartphones differently from men? Yurkovsky: The single most prevalent issue that I deal with as a psychologist with my female clients is helping them fulfill their need to form relationships and form intimate bonds while still maintaining their emotional safety and boundaries with people who they already know. The online world -- social networking and now, location-based social networking -- presents a whole new arena of possibilities for making new connections that could ultimately lead to intimate social/emotional bonds. The key word for women is “Boundaries” when forming new relationships and with managing existing ones. The elements of good boundaries are “Space” and “Time” to allow a woman to test the safety of a new person little by little as they decide how safe it is to get close to that person. Friendthem facilitates connection with good boundaries by allowing women the choice and the time to decide if they will add someone to their online social network. They can also regulate how much information a new contact can see about them in their profile. Friendthem works compatibly with FB's privacy settings and controls rather than overriding them and "grabbing" as much info about a woman as possible and dumping that info into the lap of a stranger who may be within 1500 feet of her. Q: What are some of the ways you avoided the creepy factor in this design? Sabbah: Friendthem gives you the ability to hide your location, using "Hiding Spots." When you are at a place you feel is private (Home/Work) and you don't want to be seen, you can turn on your "Hiding Spot." Once you turn this feature on, you will no longer be seen by users around you. When you get out of your hiding location you will be seen by users around you once again. Q: Overall, is there a male bias to app design? Where do we see it most often apart from privacy issues? Sankowich: There is a male bias to apps when the application is a "social" one. Men are much more comfortable having the ability to reach out and IM others on an impromptu basis. This is exemplified with the tremendous success of a male-oriented application called "grindr".....it went viral and there were a few knock-offs that have also done well and they are solely focused on bringing males together instantaneously......."male biased" apps. It’s not uncomfortable for men to have this openness and availability/accessibility. Friendthem doesn't believe this will translate in 2012 with females. They don't need outlets for men to be able to reach out to them with no safeguards.
Since the summer of 2008 there has been explosive growth across the entire social media landscape with Facebook growing from approximately 100 million users in 2008 to more than 900 million in 2012 and Twitter growing from 6 million to 140 million in that same period. No wonder the International Olympic Committee (IOC) (and nearly everyone else) has described the 2012 Games as the most “social and tech-savvy Olympics ever,” with analysts predicting a record-breaking 100 million final in terms of number of tweets per second. As if further proof was needed, the IOC, recognizing the new importance of social media, launched the Olympic Athletes' Hub, a search engine-style website that connected fans to the hundreds of social networking streams of athletes and events on Twitter and Facebook. For what it’s worth, here are a few athletes that we kept an eye on this past few weeks: