Social media, reviving already used campaigns and economic implications, drove the top ten marketing stories this past year in the travel, beer, financial services and pet industries. 1) Beer Faces Competition From Other Segments The top story focused on a study from the Beverage Information Group that showed consumers are gravitating to the wine and spirits industries with their new product offerings such as flavored vodkas, category-crossing whiskey liqueurs, sweet reds and high-end blends. Contributing factors to the loss include high unemployment rates among core consumers and a still struggling economy. 2) Social Media Drives Small Biz Growth Despite continued economic woes, small businesses found some salvation with social media, according to a Citibank survey in March. As small business owners are moving online, and relying more heavily on their company Web site, online channels represent an emerging opportunity to help grow their businesses. In fact, many small businesses planned to use digital and social media tools in the coming year, which proved to be true. 3) Geico Advertising Soars To $1 Billion GEICO Corp. wasn’t troubled by the economy and upped its ad spending as a result. The company topped all property and casualty writers in terms of advertising dollars spent in 2011, according to SNL Financial. The direct insurer spent just under $1 billion in 2011 on TV, radio, billboards and Internet banners across the country. 4) 50 Brands Name "Customer Service Champions" In the faltering economy, the importance of customer service has reached new highs, overtaking even price as a purchase determinant, according to a J.D. Power report. Many businesses cut costs and turned to automation technologies to handle customer needs, which had the effect of raising the importance of people in the service experience. The report, "Beyond Satisfaction: J.D. Power 2012 Customer Service Champions--Brands That Deliver Service Excellence to Maximize Business Results," also identifies 50 brands as J.D. Power 2012 Customer Service Champions, based on customer feedback attesting to their service excellence. 5) AmEx Turns Tweets Into Savings Another company using social media to its full advantage in 2012 was American Express, whose cardmembers can now sync their cards with Twitter and when they tweet using special hashtags, savings offers are loaded directly into their cards. When cardmembers use their synced card for qualifying purchases online or in-store at participating merchants, the savings are automatically delivered via a statement credit within days. 6) State Farm, Allstate Eclipse Geico, Progressive It might be time for GEICO to retire the gecko and the caveman. And Progressive may want to put the perky Flo out to pasture as well. Both brands were on a long-term downtrend in consumer perception since fall 2010 in the U.S., while State Farm and Allstate have eclipsed those brands riding on their own quirky campaigns, according to research released in March by YouGov BrandIndex, the daily consumer perception research service of brands. 7) Sales of Pet Supplies Defy Economy Another segment which seemed to defy the economy was pet supplies. Despite the tepid economy, U.S. retail sales of non-food pet supplies totaled $11.1 billion in 2011, up 2% over 2010, according to a Packaged Facts report. From a high of 5% in 2007, annual sales gains slowed during the economic recession of 2008-2009 and its aftermath, but still continued to make gains. 8) Infectious Meow Mix Jingle Returns DelMonte was banking on pet owners’ historic love of their pets in reviving a campaign. The Meow Mix Jingle returned to the airwaves in March for the first time since 1996 to launch the brand’s Tender Centers cat food. In a survey conducted by Kelton Research, 50% of respondents recall most -- if not all -- of the lyrics to the catchy tune. In addition, 81% of respondents claimed to have heard the Meow Mix Jingle in the last 18 months -- when in reality, the classic version of the jingle stopped airing in 1996, 16 years ago. 9) Corona Evolves "Find Your Beach" Meanwhile a beer company also decided to stick with the tried and true. Corona Extra evolved its “Find your beach” tagline that the brand has been using since 2010. Two TV spots and out-of-home advertising aim to strengthen the connection between the physical beach and the beach “state of mind.” Corona Extra’s 2012 out-of-home advertising depicts beaches in unexpected places -- in a city bar, on an urban rooftop or on a snowy mountaintop. 10) Emirates Airline Repositions Brand Emirates launched a campaign in April aimed at evolving the airline from a travel brand to a global lifestyle brand. With the tagline “Hello Tomorrow,” the creative seeks to paint the Dubai-based airline as an “enabler of global connectivity and meaningful experiences,” according to the company. “Emirates is not just offering a way to connect people from point A to point B, but is the catalyst to connect people’s hopes, dreams and aspirations,” said Sir Maurice Flanagan, vice chairman of Emirates Airline & Group, in a release. “Emirates is connecting people and cultures creating relevant and meaningful experiences that are shaping the world,” he added.
App and data manager TigerLogic just agreed to buy mobile app publisher Storycode in a deal valued at about $7.3 million. Per the deal, TigerLogic plans to integrate Storycode -- which helps brands develop story-driven mobile apps -- into Postano, its own social media visualization platform. With Storycode, “we believe we will be well positioned to close the social media communications gap between consumers and brands," said Richard Koe, TigerLogic’s interim CEO. To cut down on costs, the Storycode platform allows brands to use existing content management systems, social platforms and video channels to create and populate new apps. Based in Portland, Oregon, Storycode customers include CBS, NBC, Thomson Reuters, Entrepreneur Media, The Independent and Mindjet. TigerLogic's enterprise customer base includes more than 500,000 active users representing more than 20,000 Web sites globally. The acquisition is expected to close early in TigerLogic's fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013. Closing of the acquisition is conditional on certain conditions, including approval of the transaction by Storycode's stockholders and certain third parties.
Social media, reviving already used campaigns and economic implications, drove the top ten marketing stories this past year in the travel, beer, financial services and pet industries. 1) Beer Faces Competition From Other Segments The top story focused on a study from the Beverage Information Group that showed consumers are gravitating to the wine and spirits industries with their new product offerings such as flavored vodkas, category-crossing whiskey liqueurs, sweet reds and high-end blends. Contributing factors to the loss include high unemployment rates among core consumers and a still struggling economy. 2) Social Media Drives Small Biz Growth Despite continued economic woes, small businesses found some salvation with social media, according to a Citibank survey in March. As small business owners are moving online, and relying more heavily on their company Web site, online channels represent an emerging opportunity to help grow their businesses. In fact, many small businesses planned to use digital and social media tools in the coming year, which proved to be true. 3) Geico Advertising Soars To $1 Billion GEICO Corp. wasn’t troubled by the economy and upped its ad spending as a result. The company topped all property and casualty writers in terms of advertising dollars spent in 2011, according to SNL Financial. The direct insurer spent just under $1 billion in 2011 on TV, radio, billboards and Internet banners across the country. 4) 50 Brands Name "Customer Service Champions" In the faltering economy, the importance of customer service has reached new highs, overtaking even price as a purchase determinant, according to a J.D. Power report. Many businesses cut costs and turned to automation technologies to handle customer needs, which had the effect of raising the importance of people in the service experience. The report, "Beyond Satisfaction: J.D. Power 2012 Customer Service Champions--Brands That Deliver Service Excellence to Maximize Business Results," also identifies 50 brands as J.D. Power 2012 Customer Service Champions, based on customer feedback attesting to their service excellence. 5) AmEx Turns Tweets Into Savings Another company using social media to its full advantage in 2012 was American Express, whose cardmembers can now sync their cards with Twitter and when they tweet using special hashtags, savings offers are loaded directly into their cards. When cardmembers use their synced card for qualifying purchases online or in-store at participating merchants, the savings are automatically delivered via a statement credit within days. 6) State Farm, Allstate Eclipse Geico, Progressive It might be time for GEICO to retire the gecko and the caveman. And Progressive may want to put the perky Flo out to pasture as well. Both brands were on a long-term downtrend in consumer perception since fall 2010 in the U.S., while State Farm and Allstate have eclipsed those brands riding on their own quirky campaigns, according to research released in March by YouGov BrandIndex, the daily consumer perception research service of brands. 7) Sales of Pet Supplies Defy Economy Another segment which seemed to defy the economy was pet supplies. Despite the tepid economy, U.S. retail sales of non-food pet supplies totaled $11.1 billion in 2011, up 2% over 2010, according to a Packaged Facts report. From a high of 5% in 2007, annual sales gains slowed during the economic recession of 2008-2009 and its aftermath, but still continued to make gains. 8) Infectious Meow Mix Jingle Returns DelMonte was banking on pet owners’ historic love of their pets in reviving a campaign. The Meow Mix Jingle returned to the airwaves in March for the first time since 1996 to launch the brand’s Tender Centers cat food. In a survey conducted by Kelton Research, 50% of respondents recall most -- if not all -- of the lyrics to the catchy tune. In addition, 81% of respondents claimed to have heard the Meow Mix Jingle in the last 18 months -- when in reality, the classic version of the jingle stopped airing in 1996, 16 years ago. 9) Corona Evolves "Find Your Beach" Meanwhile a beer company also decided to stick with the tried and true. Corona Extra evolved its “Find your beach” tagline that the brand has been using since 2010. Two TV spots and out-of-home advertising aim to strengthen the connection between the physical beach and the beach “state of mind.” Corona Extra’s 2012 out-of-home advertising depicts beaches in unexpected places -- in a city bar, on an urban rooftop or on a snowy mountaintop. 10) Emirates Airline Repositions Brand Emirates launched a campaign in April aimed at evolving the airline from a travel brand to a global lifestyle brand. With the tagline “Hello Tomorrow,” the creative seeks to paint the Dubai-based airline as an “enabler of global connectivity and meaningful experiences,” according to the company. “Emirates is not just offering a way to connect people from point A to point B, but is the catalyst to connect people’s hopes, dreams and aspirations,” said Sir Maurice Flanagan, vice chairman of Emirates Airline & Group, in a release. “Emirates is connecting people and cultures creating relevant and meaningful experiences that are shaping the world,” he added.
App and data manager TigerLogic just agreed to buy mobile app publisher Storycode in a deal valued at about $7.3 million. Per the deal, TigerLogic plans to integrate Storycode -- which helps brands develop story-driven mobile apps -- into Postano, its own social media visualization platform. With Storycode, “we believe we will be well positioned to close the social media communications gap between consumers and brands," said Richard Koe, TigerLogic’s interim CEO. To cut down on costs, the Storycode platform allows brands to use existing content management systems, social platforms and video channels to create and populate new apps. Based in Portland, Oregon, Storycode customers include CBS, NBC, Thomson Reuters, Entrepreneur Media, The Independent and Mindjet. TigerLogic's enterprise customer base includes more than 500,000 active users representing more than 20,000 Web sites globally. The acquisition is expected to close early in TigerLogic's fourth quarter of fiscal year 2013. Closing of the acquisition is conditional on certain conditions, including approval of the transaction by Storycode's stockholders and certain third parties.
We're doing just fine, Instagram insisted late Friday after a widely circulated report that morning claimed the mobile image-sharing network had suffered a 25% decline as a result of its recent and rescinded terms of service changes. Working off of a shallow reading of metrics and a snap judgment from AppData, The New York Post reported that Instagram’s Daily Active Users had declined from 16.4 million during the week of its infamous TOS changes to 12.4 million Christmas week. An AppData spokesperson only encouraged linking the metrics to the TOS story by telling the Post: “We are pretty sure the decline in Instagram users was due to the terms of service announcement." Well -- not so fast, Instagram and many other analysts were quick to counter. The LA Times quoted an Instagram spokesperson claiming: “The data is inaccurate. We continue to see strong and steady growth in both registered and active users of Instagram.” Other analysts found that the purported decline actually mapped against a traditional Christmas lull that also impacted many other social network apps from Yahoo, Pinterest, Spotify, etc. Add to that AppData’s reliance on data coming only from people who have connected Instagram to Facebook, and the rigor behind the claims about a precipitous Instagram decline started evaporating. In fact, as Mashable points out, AppData’s own stats show that monthly users of the app actually increased from 42.5 million to 44 million. For its part Instagram celebrated the end of 2012 by touting the brands that had signed on this past year. Clearly moving toward a brand-friendly approach that promotes these high-profile partners, Instagram included among its “2012’s New Notable Brands” BMW (96,891 followers), Major League Baseball (110,946), GoPro camera (272,088), Luis Vuitton (100,539) and the WSJ (73,072). These consumer brands still can’t match the massive popularity of some of the major celebs posting to Instagram like Oprah Winfrey (977,741), Beyonce (956,563) and (wait for it) Kim Kardashian (5.8 million).