Social media research firm newBrandAnalytics says surveys are defunct, since now companies can get all the data they want online. The firm says companies got a 25% increase in online customer reviews on their social sites. “Many of the more progressive brands have already decided to eliminate surveys and instead focus on social feedback as their primary source for customer experience information,” said the firm's CEO Kristin Muhlner. The firm also said companies will use consumers' online habits to find out how their competitors are doing by benchmarking competitors' social data. They will also use that competitive data for product creation. NewBrandAnalytics predicts that more than a third of businesses will products explicitly because of what their competition’s online customers are saying. Also, social intelligence will make real-time performance evaluation common, as companies figure out how to assess their performance from online chatter, and use comments -- from employees, customers, and consumers -- to help make hiring and firing decisions. What all of this suggests is that social media currents won't belong only to companies' marketing departments. The firm predicts that buzz content will work its way into the decision-making processes of operations, human resources, customer service, and product development. To the extent that such content is becoming richer and more sophisticated in terms of how it all gets parsed by analysis tools, companies' use of star ratings will become pretty much defunct, NewBrandAnalytics predicts. The firm says that marketers, rather, will look for themes in reviews to drive improvements. And brand level intelligence will also become more local. The consultancy suggests that focusing on general brand image will become less important than studying location-specific social reviews, alerts and trouble spots because that will let them do a better job of addressing issues at the source: stores, franchises, and local brand touchpoints and extensions of various kinds.
List-obsessed news and pop-culture publisher BuzzFeed just raised $19.3 million led by NEA. Michael and Kass Lazerow, co-founders of Buddy Media, joined the round as new investors, while existing investors RRE, Hearst, SoftBank and Lerer Ventures also participated.With the investment, Jonah Peretti, founder and CEO BuzzFeed, said he is determined to build “the next great media company.” What does that mean? For starters, one that is “socially native, tech enabled, with massive scale,” according to Peretti. In December 2012, BuzzFeed passed 40 million unique monthly visitors, according to the company, citing Google Analytics data. Peretti attributes its growth to close social integration with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and its strong mobile focus -- as mobile now makes up over one-third of all BuzzFeed traffic. The company also grew revenue more than threefold in 2012, exclusively from content-driven, social advertising, Peretti said. The company now boasts 180 employees, 70 of whom are part of its editorial team led by Editor in Chief Ben Smith. BuzzFeed also recently hired Jeff Greenspan from Facebook and BBDO as its first chief creative officer. Greenspan was brought in to keep the focus on sharable branded content for partners such as GE, Virgin Mobile USA, Campbell’s, Microsoft, Pepsi.
Some 35% of digital consumers will spend $25 or more per month on New Year’s resolutions, presenting an opportunity for marketers looking to reach specific segments, according to survey results released Thursday. Some 8% of SocialVibe survey participants said they would spend $51 to $75; followed by 6%, between $75 and $100; and 8%, more than $100. The SocialVibe survey, conducted in December 2012, and designed to gauge attitudes and behaviors around New Year’s resolutions for those spending time online, suggests 52% of consumers plan to improve eating and physical fitness habits -- women more so than men. Improving finances at 21% took the No. 2 most popular category after diet and exercise. Improving stress levels and well-being at 20% took the No. 3 spot. Compared with women, males are much more likely to quit unhealthy habits such as drinking or smoking, at 19% versus 11%. Consumers, however, have become more ego- than eco-focused -- and resolutions focusing on outreach, volunteering, recycling, and carbon footprint reductions were the least popular among the 19 measured, according to the findings. About 44% of consumers spending time online are likely to make New Year’s resolutions for 2013, compared with 38% who recall making one last year. Most don't follow through. Only 28% accomplish or get close to their goals. Some 26% are goal-oriented but fall short; 46% never get started. Still, 78% make one resolution, compared with 14% at 2, and 8% for 3 or more. Digital and social community support help to accomplish goals. In fact, one in 10 consumers feel that sharing goals with their social network and competing against friends, family and online groups improves their New Year's resolution performance and chances of accomplishing the goal. Overall, 39% of digital consumers feel that sharing, competing, combining and contributing to charities are highly likely to improve their New Year's resolution performance. Some 9% think sharing their goal on a social network like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn improves the outcome, another 9% think competing against friends, family or an online group helps them make the most progress, and 8% think recruiting a group of friends or family to participate works well.
Getting noticed amid the deluge of weight-loss ads at the start of each new year is tough, but Medifast and its agency, Minneapolis-based Solve, believe they’ve come up with an approach that’s hard to ignore. On Jan. 1, Medifast launched a national TV campaign in which the overweight and now-slender versions of weight-losers are shown conversing with each other. To create the effect, Solve worked with director John Haagen of New York-based Assembly Films. Each of the three individuals featured in three different spots was filmed in Los Angeles in January 2012, then shot again at the same location in September, after eight months on the Medifast weight-loss program. Matching the scenes and dialogue to create a believable conversation video was “a painstaking effort,” notes Hans Hansen, Solve creative director. The approach was designed to enable the brand to stand out from the celebrity endorsement and “vanity appeals” used by the three major weight-loss programs, and go beyond the physical aspects to dramatically portray the aspirations and emotional and lifestyle payoffs of weight loss, says Eric Sorensen, also creative director at the agency. “Instead of using the typical one-dimensional before-and-after approach, we set out to capture a deeper, more compelling story,” Sorensen says. “The idea was to show the true, unscripted feelings” that people experience as they evolve into the individuals they want to be, he adds. The content is undeniably emotional. For example, after the “new,” slender version of one of one woman, “Tina,” says “This is us -- this is who we’re supposed to be,” the “old,” overweight Tina chokes up as she says that she “can’t believe it.” A second woman, “Kimberly,” is also tearful as she confesses to her new self that she wanted the weight loss “so bad,” adding: “You look beautiful. We look beautiful.” The third subject, Joseph, expresses his pride in how great he now looks to his old self, adding: “No offense, but I hope I don’t see you again.” His old self responds: “You know what? I don’t blame you. I don’t ever want to see me like this again either.” The campaign’s tagline, “Become Yourself,” reinforces the message that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight can enable individuals to be who they truly are and open up their lives. Each of the three spots has 60- and 30-second versions. The campaign, to run through 2013, also includes a Web site trailer, digital content and social and print components.
Facing requirements to increase minority representation in its officer corps, the U.S. Army is launching a campaign targeted toward the African-American community, showcasing the leadership qualities and elite status becoming an Army officer yields. “The minority population in the Army’s officer corps is not representative of the total population even within the Army,” John Myers, director of marketing for the U.S. Army Marketing and Research Group, tells Marketing Daily. “We need [officers] to be representative of the total force that they lead.” A new television commercial, produced by McCann World Group and Carol H. Williams advertising, features Major Myles B. Caggins, III. In the spot, Caggins tells of his reluctance to initially join the Army (“I was one of those guys who didn’t think the Army had anything for me,” he says at the beginning of the spot), before showcasing his success as a leader within the organization and a mentor outside of it. He also mentions that less than one-tenth of 1% of Americans become Army officers. “It’s a small group of us, but we’re among the most highly educated, compared to many other corporations or institutions,” he says. “Through the use of testimonials, we’re putting the face of excellence in front of our prospects and their influencers. Major Caggins is not an actor,” Myers says. “He tells his individual story of choosing the career path and explains the tangible benefits through it.” The commercial, which will run in conjunction with a Hispanic-themed ad released last October, will make its debut during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on NBC on Jan. 5. Both ads target not only potential recruits, but also their “influencers” (in this case parents), Myers says. “If parents are not convinced the Army is a good recommendation for their son or daughter, the challenge becomes even deeper,” Myers says. “We are using all the tools to get the key messages out.” The commercial is part of a larger, integrated effort to increase minority officer recruitment. The campaign will also include video ads on YouTube, Facebook and GoArmy sites, rich media ads and updates from Major Caggins and Captain Ricardo Romo (who appears in the Hispanic-targeted campaign) on the Army Strong Stories blogs. The campaign will also include localized multicultural print and radio ads. “We have a number of platforms to showcase our messages,” Myers says.
Social media research firm newBrandAnalytics says surveys are defunct, since now companies can get all the data they want online. The firm says companies got a 25% increase in online customer reviews on their social sites. “Many of the more progressive brands have already decided to eliminate surveys and instead focus on social feedback as their primary source for customer experience information,” said the firm's CEO Kristin Muhlner. The firm also said companies will use consumers' online habits to find out how their competitors are doing by benchmarking competitors' social data. They will also use that competitive data for product creation. NewBrandAnalytics predicts that more than a third of businesses will products explicitly because of what their competition’s online customers are saying. Also, social intelligence will make real-time performance evaluation common, as companies figure out how to assess their performance from online chatter, and use comments -- from employees, customers, and consumers -- to help make hiring and firing decisions. What all of this suggests is that social media currents won't belong only to companies' marketing departments. The firm predicts that buzz content will work its way into the decision-making processes of operations, human resources, customer service, and product development. To the extent that such content is becoming richer and more sophisticated in terms of how it all gets parsed by analysis tools, companies' use of star ratings will become pretty much defunct, NewBrandAnalytics predicts. The firm says that marketers, rather, will look for themes in reviews to drive improvements. And brand level intelligence will also become more local. The consultancy suggests that focusing on general brand image will become less important than studying location-specific social reviews, alerts and trouble spots because that will let them do a better job of addressing issues at the source: stores, franchises, and local brand touchpoints and extensions of various kinds.
List-obsessed news and pop-culture publisher BuzzFeed just raised $19.3 million led by NEA. Michael and Kass Lazerow, co-founders of Buddy Media, joined the round as new investors, while existing investors RRE, Hearst, SoftBank and Lerer Ventures also participated.With the investment, Jonah Peretti, founder and CEO BuzzFeed, said he is determined to build “the next great media company.” What does that mean? For starters, one that is “socially native, tech enabled, with massive scale,” according to Peretti. In December 2012, BuzzFeed passed 40 million unique monthly visitors, according to the company, citing Google Analytics data. Peretti attributes its growth to close social integration with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and its strong mobile focus -- as mobile now makes up over one-third of all BuzzFeed traffic. The company also grew revenue more than threefold in 2012, exclusively from content-driven, social advertising, Peretti said. The company now boasts 180 employees, 70 of whom are part of its editorial team led by Editor in Chief Ben Smith. BuzzFeed also recently hired Jeff Greenspan from Facebook and BBDO as its first chief creative officer. Greenspan was brought in to keep the focus on sharable branded content for partners such as GE, Virgin Mobile USA, Campbell’s, Microsoft, Pepsi.
Some 35% of digital consumers will spend $25 or more per month on New Year’s resolutions, presenting an opportunity for marketers looking to reach specific segments, according to survey results released Thursday. Some 8% of SocialVibe survey participants said they would spend $51 to $75; followed by 6%, between $75 and $100; and 8%, more than $100. The SocialVibe survey, conducted in December 2012, and designed to gauge attitudes and behaviors around New Year’s resolutions for those spending time online, suggests 52% of consumers plan to improve eating and physical fitness habits -- women more so than men. Improving finances at 21% took the No. 2 most popular category after diet and exercise. Improving stress levels and well-being at 20% took the No. 3 spot. Compared with women, males are much more likely to quit unhealthy habits such as drinking or smoking, at 19% versus 11%. Consumers, however, have become more ego- than eco-focused -- and resolutions focusing on outreach, volunteering, recycling, and carbon footprint reductions were the least popular among the 19 measured, according to the findings. About 44% of consumers spending time online are likely to make New Year’s resolutions for 2013, compared with 38% who recall making one last year. Most don't follow through. Only 28% accomplish or get close to their goals. Some 26% are goal-oriented but fall short; 46% never get started. Still, 78% make one resolution, compared with 14% at 2, and 8% for 3 or more. Digital and social community support help to accomplish goals. In fact, one in 10 consumers feel that sharing goals with their social network and competing against friends, family and online groups improves their New Year's resolution performance and chances of accomplishing the goal. Overall, 39% of digital consumers feel that sharing, competing, combining and contributing to charities are highly likely to improve their New Year's resolution performance. Some 9% think sharing their goal on a social network like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn improves the outcome, another 9% think competing against friends, family or an online group helps them make the most progress, and 8% think recruiting a group of friends or family to participate works well.
Getting noticed amid the deluge of weight-loss ads at the start of each new year is tough, but Medifast and its agency, Minneapolis-based Solve, believe they’ve come up with an approach that’s hard to ignore. On Jan. 1, Medifast launched a national TV campaign in which the overweight and now-slender versions of weight-losers are shown conversing with each other. To create the effect, Solve worked with director John Haagen of New York-based Assembly Films. Each of the three individuals featured in three different spots was filmed in Los Angeles in January 2012, then shot again at the same location in September, after eight months on the Medifast weight-loss program. Matching the scenes and dialogue to create a believable conversation video was “a painstaking effort,” notes Hans Hansen, Solve creative director. The approach was designed to enable the brand to stand out from the celebrity endorsement and “vanity appeals” used by the three major weight-loss programs, and go beyond the physical aspects to dramatically portray the aspirations and emotional and lifestyle payoffs of weight loss, says Eric Sorensen, also creative director at the agency. “Instead of using the typical one-dimensional before-and-after approach, we set out to capture a deeper, more compelling story,” Sorensen says. “The idea was to show the true, unscripted feelings” that people experience as they evolve into the individuals they want to be, he adds. The content is undeniably emotional. For example, after the “new,” slender version of one of one woman, “Tina,” says “This is us -- this is who we’re supposed to be,” the “old,” overweight Tina chokes up as she says that she “can’t believe it.” A second woman, “Kimberly,” is also tearful as she confesses to her new self that she wanted the weight loss “so bad,” adding: “You look beautiful. We look beautiful.” The third subject, Joseph, expresses his pride in how great he now looks to his old self, adding: “No offense, but I hope I don’t see you again.” His old self responds: “You know what? I don’t blame you. I don’t ever want to see me like this again either.” The campaign’s tagline, “Become Yourself,” reinforces the message that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight can enable individuals to be who they truly are and open up their lives. Each of the three spots has 60- and 30-second versions. The campaign, to run through 2013, also includes a Web site trailer, digital content and social and print components.
Facing requirements to increase minority representation in its officer corps, the U.S. Army is launching a campaign targeted toward the African-American community, showcasing the leadership qualities and elite status becoming an Army officer yields. “The minority population in the Army’s officer corps is not representative of the total population even within the Army,” John Myers, director of marketing for the U.S. Army Marketing and Research Group, tells Marketing Daily. “We need [officers] to be representative of the total force that they lead.” A new television commercial, produced by McCann World Group and Carol H. Williams advertising, features Major Myles B. Caggins, III. In the spot, Caggins tells of his reluctance to initially join the Army (“I was one of those guys who didn’t think the Army had anything for me,” he says at the beginning of the spot), before showcasing his success as a leader within the organization and a mentor outside of it. He also mentions that less than one-tenth of 1% of Americans become Army officers. “It’s a small group of us, but we’re among the most highly educated, compared to many other corporations or institutions,” he says. “Through the use of testimonials, we’re putting the face of excellence in front of our prospects and their influencers. Major Caggins is not an actor,” Myers says. “He tells his individual story of choosing the career path and explains the tangible benefits through it.” The commercial, which will run in conjunction with a Hispanic-themed ad released last October, will make its debut during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on NBC on Jan. 5. Both ads target not only potential recruits, but also their “influencers” (in this case parents), Myers says. “If parents are not convinced the Army is a good recommendation for their son or daughter, the challenge becomes even deeper,” Myers says. “We are using all the tools to get the key messages out.” The commercial is part of a larger, integrated effort to increase minority officer recruitment. The campaign will also include video ads on YouTube, Facebook and GoArmy sites, rich media ads and updates from Major Caggins and Captain Ricardo Romo (who appears in the Hispanic-targeted campaign) on the Army Strong Stories blogs. The campaign will also include localized multicultural print and radio ads. “We have a number of platforms to showcase our messages,” Myers says.
You had some big successes in social media last year. Here's the thing: you had even more failures. And, that's to be expected. Success can happen without failure, but they’ll be small successes. Big successes come hand-in-hand with some happy failures. So, go out there and talk about your successes. But also talk about your failures. Social media is new. You don't know what you're doing. There are few experts. There are just a lot of people with unique skill sets that make them more likely for social media success. Don't be secretive -- share. After all, if you work in social media, your failures are already public. Celebrate them. Share the lessons. Be proud that you tried, failed and came back out swinging to win the next round. If you're lucky enough to focus solely on social media in your job, a recent survey by Ragan/NASDAQ found that 42% of you are a department of one and 40% of you are a department of two to three. That means of companies with dedicated social media teams, 82% of those teams wouldn't have enough people to pull together a game of Hearts during their lunch breaks. The survey found these dedicated social media teams accounted for 27% of respondents. A substantial 65% of respondents said they do social media on top of other, current responsibilities -- aka, they are not 100% focused on social media. So, it's not surprising that there are few experts out there. 10,000 hours -- that's the commonly accepted amount of time it takes to become an expert at something. Imagine you worked 60 hours a week, every week. Let's say you did this 48 weeks of the year (to account for some holidays, sick days, etc.). It would still take you 3.5 years to become an expert at social media. And, that's if you were working on social media for the entirety of those 60 hours of those 48 weeks of those 3.5 years. More likely, you probably average 50 hours a week of work. Of that, you'd probably be lucky to get in a solid 30 hours focused on social media. You've now doubled your expert qualification timeline to seven years. Keep in mind: Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter are all under seven years old. YouTube just turned seven. Facebook and LinkedIn -- those are the ones you could be an expert in given the above scenario. That means if you want to be an expert, you have to be a broker of experiences. You need to trade stories of successes and failures. Go to a conference and present a case study of your single biggest success and your single biggest failure from 2012. Sit on a panel, be confident in your approach -- and, at the same time, admit what you don't know. Reach out via Twitter to someone who does what you do, go grab lunch or a drink, laugh over shared mistakes and toast well-earned achievements. Arguably the most successful social marketing (or brand marketing, or digital content marketing, or whatever you want to call it) venture in 2012 was the Red Bull Stratos space walk. Its first attempt was aborted when high winds toppled the balloon during liftoff. And, leading up to the launch, space walker Felix Baumgartner suffered from massive claustrophobia that required professional help to conquer. Those are some big hiccups. Don’t be afraid. Double or triple your experience by borrowing from others. It’s not like you’re mounting an expedition to space. And, even if you were, you can see it’s still okay to fail.