• Ryder Cup Figures Suggest It's Time To Forget Social Mentions And Focus On Brand Association
    The USA and Europe teams had 5m Twitter fans between them, yet the Ryder Cup achieved a "record" of 160,000 social mentions and the lead sponsor got 450 name checks. This should tell marketers all they need to know about chasing social share of voice and engagement and focusing on the original sponsorship intention -- brand association.
  • Beacons To Solve 'Click And Collect' Hassle - Just Add Mobile Payment And You'll Be Really Talking
    It's a great time for beacon technology as John Lewis pumps GBP100k in to Localz, which will help shoppers pick up orders and find items on their wish list. Solving problems like these is exactly where beacons need to start. Next up, however, is payment. Add mobile payment and rewards to the mix and you'll have a retail revolution on your hands.
  • Wearables, iBeacons And Internet Of Things - Make Or Break For The CMO And CIO?
    Marketers want to get intimate and build a one-on-one relationship with customers at exactly the time their journeys are set to become more confusing with more digital touchpoints than ever before. A new infrastructure and tools will be called for -- and that means working seamlessly with the IT team. Make or break time beckons.
  • Brands Must Be The Second Screen, Twitter The Third
    Yesterday we found out that the worth of Facebook 'likes' is highly questionable, and today the conundrum is whether all that second-screen activity actually means anything for television shows and their sponsors. With an app to direct comments through, does all this attention amount to anything worth having?
  • Facebook 'Likes' Really Could Be As Worthless As You Were Fearing, MIT Scientists Reveal
    Ever wondered what a "like" is really worth -- or even if a like is really worth having? Well, MIT researchers have lifted the lid on both like farms and Facebook advertising campaigns that saw thousand of "likes" for fake sites they set up warning real humans not to like the page as it was a fake. Still chasing those likes....?
  • Will Native Advertising Kill Blogging's Young Dream?
    It's a touchy subject, but new research shows bloggers are 50:50 -- depending on the brand and agency -- on whether to charge for content. It's not surprising, as low CPMs will not usually sustain a small site. Trouble is, the country's big publishers are now embracing native advertising. Who do you think will lose out? News UK or a first-jobber blogger?
  • Is Facebook Making A Play For Twitter's Second-Screeners?
    Is Facebook trying to muscle in on the second-screener action that Twitter appears to be enjoying? That is a potential conclusion to the news that Facebook has altered its algorithm to boost trending topics that Its users have been calling for news feeds to go back to being ordered by time, but this move looks to be more about second-screening than customer service.
  • Programmatic Concerns Are Real -- So Too Is The Virtuous Circle It Creates For Customer Data
    Programmatic will always receive positive and negative comments and headlines. However, what we must never lose sight of is not just campaign results and transparency issues, but that programmatic is an exciting way to hone and improve a brand's vision of the customer through constantly refined data.
  • Millennials Exposed -- Why All The Fuss?
    Sorry, but someone has to ask. Why are companies and marketers so apparently fixated on appealing to people just entering the workplace? Shouldn't it be the other way round? Why so much fuss about people who have yet to reach their economic potential? Consultants 'bigging up' the latest reason for listening to GBP500 per day advice, perhaps?
  • Let The Independence Vote Silence The Social 'Buzz' Gurus Forever -- Please!
    Social media is at its worst when snake oil merchants claim buzz measurements can predict outcomes and shape strategy. The folly of measuring social buzz and applying to a wider demographic is laid bare in the Scottish Independence referendum. Social says "Yes" while the bookies are already paying out on a "No." Who do you think has it right?
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