ANA Marketing Maestros

Have You Heard?

By Guest Blogger Lisa Neary

The digital landscape is changing. That was no clearer than after hearing Geoff Ramsey, CEO, Co-Founder eMarketer present at the ANA Digital and Social Media Conference last week. The downturned economy has decreased traditional media spend almost 20%. Marketers are being asked to do more with less and that has meant shifting discretionary dollars to digital initiatives.

With more than 57% of the US population participating in social media, many companies are attempting to leverage this space, but there is still confusion as marketers wonder if it is overrated. That is shocking considering that Geoff did note that only 10% of companies are effectively measuring the success of their social media programs.

While it still may be premature to tell, that fact is this: with a 60/40 split in terms of companies using social media to those not, you are behind the curve if you are at least exploring how to create an authentic dialogue with your audience and more importantly, you are at a severe competitive disadvantage if you are not listening to the buzz about your company, products or services across social media platforms.

With an ever-growing number of tools out there for "listening" to what your customers have to say, there's no excuse to not be taking advantage of this resource.  This valuable information is readily available and more importantly: free. Whether it's listening to what words they use to describe your product or brand or gaining a better understanding about their interests, intentions, real or perceived problems, the insights gained from harvesting this information can have a drastic effect on your messaging, product development and marketing strategy.

If you are still wondering if social media is a fad, watch this video, and make sure you listen.

Who Owns the Information on Your Facebook Page?

By Cara Brooke Schultz

Social media can be defined as "activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media," according to The Social Media Bible. Just a few months ago you might have read about Facebook’s privacy transition. With the transition, Facebook users’ names, profile photos, gender, and hometown suddenly became publicly available information, when previously only your name and network were publicly available.

 

Now Canada has slapped Facebook with a class-action suit saying the transition violated Canadian privacy and consumer protection laws. The class-action suit claims that Facebook made money from its customers’ personal data by letting third parties use it for targeted online advertising campaigns.

How do you feel about these new privacy transitions? Do you feel like you own the information on your Facebook page, or does Facebook own that information?

Chime in with your thoughts!

Videos: The Trend of the Moment or Here to Stay?

By Cara Brooke Schultz

Viral videos seem to be the “trend” of the moment in the social media world, but will it last? Most websites from CNN.com to HomeDepot.com are using videos for numerous reasons like broadcasting information, tutorials, or pure entertainment. And then you have YouTube—a video community where anyone can become an Internet star by simply uploading a homegrown video.

Recently, I stumbled upon craigslist TV on YouTube.  At first I wasn’t sure if these videos were real, they look professionally produced, and the personalities of the people in the videos seems so outlandish I thought they had to be actors.

 

According to the craigslist channel on YouTube, “craigslist tv is a new documentary series that follows real craigslist users, in real time, as they use craigslist to make things happen. The project remains active today. Interested craigslist users click an opt-in button if they think their posting deserves to be seen. The episodes in this series are the results of the project to date.”

Do you find yourself watching more videos online? If so, what do you watch online—news, entertainment, educational tutorials? 

The iPad Gets Wired

By Susan Burke

Wired magazine is now available on the iPad via a rich app, which enables users to read all content available in the print edition of the magazine and enjoy additional multi-media enhancements for $4.99 per issue. According to an article in the May 26, 2010 edition of The New York Times, examples of these multi-media enhancements include:

A Lamborghini Gallardos made of Legos…, which has six images in the print magazine, is shown being constructed in the app through a slide show of 180 images that a user can scroll through like a flip-book. The two images of Mars that ran in the print version become a rotating 3-D version on the app.

 However, content published on Wired.com will remain different and separate from the content in the printed magazine or on the iPad. In terms of the advertisers featured in the magazine, all advertisers who participated in the print version were part of the iPad version as well, which launched with the June issue of Wired (pictured above).
Condé Nast, which publishes Wired, worked with the makers of Adobe’s InDesign program for a year to develop this app. The resulting new Adobe feature will be made available to other publishers for purchase.   According to The New York Times, this addition to InDesign “allows the magazine’s editorial team to easily move the print design into the iPad design and vice versa. “

Wired’s work with the iPad is an important step for the print industry and an example as to how other magazines can start to blend more digital content into their existing offerings. Click here to read a piece from the ANA’s Marketing Insights Center on the future of magazines.

Facebook (And Other Websites) Banned from Pakistan

By Cara Brooke Schultz

Social media is popular in Pakistan with about 25 million people regular Internet users, however those 25 million people will need to live without Facebook and other social networking sites for an indefinite amount of time.

According to an article on CNN.com, “Pakistan is blocking access to Facebook in response to an online group calling on people to draw the Prophet Mohammed.”  The telecommunication authority in Pakistan said the site has been blocked for an indefinite amount of time.  The group could be considered offensive to devout Muslims—they consider it disrespectful to depict Mohammed.

Originally the creator of the Facebook group established the group as a means of protest. She was quoted in the CNN.com article as saying, “This is something I have felt strongly about for a long time: bullying by certain Muslim groups will not be tolerated in a free country.”

Facebook responded by saying that although the group may be considered objectionable to some people it does not violate Facebook policies.  Currently Facebook is looking into the situation.

From a marketing standpoint, how do you think Facebook should deal with the current situation and any future situations that may arise?  Share your thoughts!

The FTC Gives Tweens an “Ad-ucation”

By Cara Brooke Schultz

Can a video game be used as an educational tool? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would like to think so. They recently developed a new campaign—an educational video game—to educate kids about marketing and advertising. The FTC launched this campaign for three main reasons: to raise awareness of advertising messages among children ages 8 to 12; teach critical thinking skills that will allow tweens to analyze and interpret advertisements; and demonstrate the benefits of being an informed consumer.  

 

The FTC is hoping that not only will this video game help “ad-ucate” young consumers, but that it will help to enhance critical thinking skills.  The campaign’s website gives teachers educational tools to help raise advertising awareness among students. For example, teachers can download a lesson that invites students to explore what advertising is, what ads do, and who’s responsible for the messages being projected in the ads.  

The video game isn’t the most graphically enhanced, and with all the video-entertainment out there for tweens, I’m not sure how this will effectively hold their attention (although I’m sure they will find this video game more enjoyable then any old lesson plan).  However, I think it’s a great concept, tweens should understand advertising and anything that helps to generate critical thinking skills is a plus! Test out your ad-skills at admongo.

Your Tweets Have a New Home...Welcome to The Library of Congress

By Cara Brooke Schultz

Did you think the tweet you wrote publicly pronouncing your love for a new product would stay in “twitterspace” forever? The idea that tweets would slowly dissolve into Internet space is no longer! Twitter and the Library of Congress announced that every public tweet posted since the birth of Twitter in 2006 will be digitally archived.

According to the Library of Congress’ Web site, “The Twitter digital archive has extraordinary potential for research into our contemporary way of life. This information provides detailed evidence about how technology based social networks form and evolve over time. The collection also documents a remarkable range of social trends,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.

 

Only public tweets will be archived, and even Google is getting in on the action. Google is planning on creating an interactive archive. People can search tweets at any point in time and ‘replay’ what people were tweeting about at that very moment! Think historical moments like Barack Obama’s inauguration or the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Would you use the Twitter archive? If so, what chatter would you like to look-up?

 

From Thanksgiving Turkey to Springtime Favorite

By Duke Fanelli

I maybe a bit late to the party, but I was thinking about Tiger Woods and the hype surrounding his decision to play at the Masters Tournament. I have to admit, for all intents and purpose he played masterly…yeah some bad shots and he was highly critical of his own play, but he finished Sunday tied for fourth (-11 under par). Not bad after being out of commission for more than five months, dealing with personal and family issues.

Most striking throughout the four-day Tigerfest, was the media and gallery’s acceptance of Tiger. If you had spent the past five months living in a cave, you’d never have known how nasty things got. The #1 player in the world was back and he and his fans were basking in the glow. (Not to take anything away from Phil Mickelson’s win, which was spectacular, well deserved and a milestone in his career.) The Sports, marketing and armchair pundits, who earlier this year wanted to see Tiger’s head impaled on a fairway wood, were nowhere to be seen. Except for an errant Tiger-detractor, who paid to have a small plane fly over Augusta National—with a not so obvious reference to Tiger’s apology speech—the crowd loved watching his come back.

So where does this all leave us? American’s have notoriously short memories when it comes to celebrity misdeeds and we are certainly as forgiving when it comes to the idiotic behavior of our star athletes. So the question is: will Tiger get some of his old endorsements back? I’m guessing the answer is no. But a more intriguing question may be are new endorsements right around the corner? And, who is first in line?  Anyone want to weigh in with a guess?

By the way, Tiger’s comeback at the Masters gave ESPN the highest U.S. audience ever for a golf event on cable TV, as nearly 5 million people tuned in to watch Thursday’s first round. As the millions viewing the Master’s can attest, Tiger’s back, his fan base is strong and shooting 11 under par last week, is a clear indication that he is capable (which some doubted) of topping the list of golf’s superstars for some time to come. Is this a Rod Tidwell and Jerry McGuire moment?

Marketing for Cooking-Toys Might Need a Few New Ingredients

By Cara Brooke Schultz

Advertisers in the toy industry should pay attention to a new demographic: male ages 2-11. Yes you read that correctly, 2-11.

According to a recent Adweek article, data over a five-month period ending in February showed significant numbers for the Food Network, “The overall male audience for Throwdown with Bobby Flay is 36 percent, but jumps to 47 percent in the 2-11 age bracket; overall male audience for Iron Chef America, also 36 percent, jumps to 45 percent in the 2-11 bracket. And on TLC, the audience for Cake Boss, 30 percent male overall, jumps to 36 percent among those boys.”

It seems as if this large audience is going unnoticed—or maybe not? After taking a quick look through a few Web sites, I noticed more cooking-toys being manufactured in primary colors rather than in pastel pink and lavender. Another subtle difference, boys were being integrated into the advertisements alongside girls for the toy packaging. The Adweek article, “Half Baked” explained, “Today, male celebrity chefs are driving the current food craze and more boys than ever are watching those shows.” 

 

Although most of the toys are still advertised for young girls, keep an eye on how advertisers might soon be changing their ingredients for this stale recipe. 

 

Census Time!

By Bill Duggan

I mailed back my Census form today.  When the results are fully tallied, it will be exciting and enlightening to see how the demographic profile of the country has changed. Our population has likely reached a tipping point. In 2010, births to Hispanic, Black, and Asian women are projected to account for 50 percent of all births in the nation and that percentage will continue to increase going forward. The Census Bureau estimates that minorities will constitute a majority of the nation’s overall population in about three decades and a majority of Americans under age 18 in only one decade. The implications to marketers are now clearer than ever before—multicultural markets are no longer niche or “add on” segments. Rather, ethnic is the new mainstream and marketing as well as work-force diversity must reflect that.

 

Smart companies such as McDonald’s, General Mills, Coca-Cola, and State Farm are taking note and “leading with ethnic insights” (a line used by the CMO of McDonald’s at a recent ANA conference). It’s hard to believe that there are still companies either ignoring multicultural audiences or targeting these groups with only token spending. Just look at the numbers!  The Hispanic population is projected to grow 20 percent between 2000 and 2020 while the non-Hispanic population will grow just 12 percent. And the median age of Hispanics is almost ten years younger than the non-Hispanic population.  Plus, household sizes are much bigger—Hispanic households have 5+ people versus only 12 percent for non-Hispanics. 

The new Census info should be a game changer. Marketers are encouraged to be prepared rather than surprised by taking a hard look at the demographic data and projections available now.