All posts by jodiedavies

Social Media

e-Marketing, facebook, instagram, measurable data, social media, twitter, youtube Leave a comment


The above video has astounding figures, but what is amazing about the numbers presented is they’re 2 years out of date. As the semester draws to an end I’d like to make one last attempt at converting those companies out there who don’t have a functioning online presence to pull it together and make one!

One. Without a relevant Facebook page you are passing up the opportunity to connect with 1 billion Facebook users worldwide. Specifically, there are 18.6 million users right here in Canada. Can your company really afford to pass up the opportunity to reach 18.6 million people with a single status update?

Two. 600 million people access Facebook via smart phones – that’s an increase of 535 million people since this video was created in 2010! If your company website isn’t mobile friendly, that’s a whole lot of customers you’re missing out on. Not only that, when customers visit your store or restaurant, the content they create and post online is invaluable and more influential over consumer opinions than company generated content.

Three. However.. without an active Twitter account, how will they tag you in their content? How will you listen to their needs and join the conversation? Twitter hosts over 500 million users and sees over 400 million Tweets per day. Twitter is by far the easiest social media account to create and set up and its real time capabilities keep companies in the know all day every day.

Four. A restaurant without Instagram is a recipe for disaster. How are customers supposed to share your delicious food offerings if you don’t provide them a platform to do so? Instagram boasts over 80 million registered users who share over 5 million photos per day!

Five. YouTube has over 800 million new visitors each month and users watch over 4 billion hours of videos. Video is a perfect way to increase customer brand awareness while keeping viewers engaged and interacting with the brand. Is it really too hard for your company to create a video and upload it to YouTube? 

Below is an up to date social media video. The change in numbers since the 2010 video posted above is incredible. Companies avoiding the social media ‘craze’ are missing out on countless opportunities to listen and talk to their customers, to conduct priceless market research, to promote and generate buzz surrounding new product launches, to network with local companies and the list goes on. The opportunities are endless and it’s not too late to start now! Pick a single platform, monitor, listen and join the conversation. Master one platform and the transition into multiple platforms will get easier and easier. Good luck!

Commercials

advertising, e-Marketing Leave a comment

This weekend I saw James Bond in theatres (amazing movie, highly recommend it!). What was interesting to my friends and I was that while waiting for the movie to begin and before the previews had started we were shown commercials. Even more interesting was that after 3 or 4 commercials we all had the same realization that this was the first time we had watched a commercial in months. Thanks to our trusty DVR’s, we have perfected the art of watching a 30 minute show in 21 minutes – commercial free.

Due to the influx of DVR’s, commercial strategies have evolved in recent years to account for viewers skipping through them. Instead of being placed on TV, companies have adapted by placing their commercials in other locations such as movie theatres before the movie begins. Other places include:

1. YouTube – we’ve all experienced the 15 second YouTube ad before we can watch our video, or the 1 minute ad that gives us the option to “skip this ad in 5 seconds”. The disadvantage of this tactic is that YouTube videos are available to viewers around the globe making it challenging to target a specific market.

2. Playing ads while the show is on – Often at the start of  TV shows companies (overwhelmingly car companies place a moving ad at the bottom of the show. The advantage of this is that viewers have likely skipped the commercials and started to watch again as their show begins thus, having no choice but to watch the ad bouncing around the lower half of the screen.

3. Cabs – On the back of the front 2 seats in many cabs, mini TV’s have been placed playing commercials. The benefit of this is the ads can be very localized and specific to people in the city right now. Additionally, ads can change based on time of day or depending on where the customer is going.

From these examples alone we can see that companies are placing their ads away from TV and onto platforms where users can’t skip through them and where they don’t have much else to do except sit and watch them.

Whistler!

advertising, content, e-Marketing, social media, youtube Leave a comment

As avid skiers and snowboarders probably know, Whistler opens this weekend! It has been 203 days since Whistler closed its lifts last season and ski bums have been praying for snow ever since. Finally, the day has come!

Extreme sports are popular among younger generations today. Whether its skiing and snowboarding or sky diving and bungee jumping, it seems the more daring the activity, the more popular it’s becoming. A company that has capitalized on this trend is Red Bull. Red Bull is world renown for sponsoring extreme sports in all forms.

Although Red Bull has incredible marketing both online and offline, it is the company’s video content that spreads like wildfire. Red Bull’s YouTube channel has received over 470 million views since its launch in 2006 and has close to 1 million subscribers.

What makes Red Bulls videos so successful?

1) Selection of sponsored events – Red Bull carefully selects the events it sponsors and has its brand affiliated with. As mentioned previously, the company focuses largely on extreme sports. A prime example of this was the broadcast and sponsorship of Felix Baumgartner’s space jump. This video alone was watched by 8 million viewers form around the globe. Not all sports Red Bull affiliates itself with are this extreme, however, it is unlikely to see Red Bull being associated with horseback riding or tennis. As well as selecting extreme sports, Red Bull also seeks out bizarre and one of a kind events. For example, Red Bull hosts ‘Flying Day’ in nations around the world. This day consists of participants creating flying devices, launching them from a 10 m high platform and traveling as far as possible before plummeting into water below. This event combines innovation, creativity and sport.

2) Discrete advertising – As well as being selective in the events they sponsor, Red Bull is also selective in the way they promote their brand through their videos. Red Bull isn’t invasive. The company sponsors events but subtly places their advertising throughout the events, making sure not to take the attention away from the sports and the participants themselves. Instead, Red Bull focuses on the content, shooting and editing videos in compelling ways to promote the experience rather than the brand. This approach garners more respect form participants and viewers while still effectively increasing brand awareness.

Red Bull has one of the strongest brands in the world with an estimated value of $10 billion.* It has successfully found its niche, targeting extreme sports and generating excitement around them by shooting and posting videos online. By carefully selecting sporting events and dispersing their advertisements throughout, Red Bull has an increasing brand awareness without being overbearing for viewers.

* http://www.millwardbrown.com/brandz/2012/Documents/2012_BrandZ_Top100_Chart.pdf

Movember

content, e-Marketing, measurable data, social media, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Movember – an annual month long event that lets grown men around the world shave their moustaches in obscure designs while raising money for charity.

The Movember initiative is a great example of an online community. The company website ‘Movember and Sons’ offers several pages relating to its community such as:

1) Global Leaderboard – shows the number of participants registered from each country and the total amount of money they have raised for the Movember Foundation. This generates friendly global competition as well as giving Canada a pedestal to stand on for raising $14 million to date – more than any other nation.

2) Mo Stories – offers participants an opportunity to share their story whether it relates to Cancer and mental health issues, love stories stemming from Movember creations or just general observations relating to the movement as a whole.

3) Mo Photos – allows participants to post photos of their moustaches progress from their clean shaven state on November 1st to its fully blossomed state on November 30th. This platform encourages participants to get creative with their shaving and inspire others to do the same.

4) Hall of Fame – each year since Movember began in 2007, one man has been entered into the Hall of Fame for his beautifully terrible moustache creation. This serves as a goal for men worldwide to strive for.

As of 2011, $300 million dollars have been raised for the Movember Foundation supporting Prostate Cancer and mens mental health initiatives.

Since its creation, many companies have capitalized on the excitement and buzz generated by Movember. An example close to home is Granville Island Brewery. For the month of November, Granville Island drink coasters get into the Movember spirit by offering different cardboard moustaches attached to each coaster. This encourages all bar goers to participate in the event regardless of their moustache growing abilities. In return, Granville Island Brewery donates 10 cents from every Granville Island beer they sell.

The Movember initiative is such a simple concept yet it has the ability to join together men from opposites sides of the globe through a moustache growing competition. Not only that, but it has generated millions of dollars for charity and continues to grow exponentially as a movement each year.

#UWRightNow

content, e-Marketing Leave a comment

#UWRightNow

User generated content: users can create any content in a variety of forms: text, photos, videos and audio and this content can be placed on infinite platforms such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter, blog sites etc.

UGC offers many advantages to companies and users across the globe:

  1. It is free for the company – no salaries are paid and no company time is used.
  2. Increases search engine rankings by having frequently created content from a wide variety of sources.
  3. It is considered more trustworthy and authentic than company created content.
  4. Enriches user experience through engagement and provides a voice to the average person.

At UBC, students and professors have access to large amounts of information relating to the University and its practices. For example, students can locate the University newspaper the “Ubyssey” online, each faculty can access their faculty website, everyone has access to the UBC generic website, students and professors can subscribe to UBC tweets and Facebook page, UBC REC has their own site etc. However, these sites are not connected in any way and users have to access each site individually seeking the information they need. All of this information is available, yet it is so hard to locate.

Addressing this issue flawlessly, the University of Wisconsin-Madison launched a site on April 18th (just for a one day trial) called UWRightNow. The idea is simply to provide a single platform to compile all student/professor/faculty Tweets, Facebook statuses, videos, photos, blogs etc. that relate to UW in some form. For example, a professor Tweeting that his class is cancelled could use the hashtag #UW and his Tweet would appear on this platform. Similarly, videos from varsity football games could be uploaded in the same manner or photos from a Halloween party.

This site is a great example of primarily UGC (although some University generated content) being provided in real time through a variety of mediums onto one platform. A possible improvement might be to allow users to ‘subscribe’ or select who they wish to see when they enter the site. Being able to tailor the site to their needs will reduce noise, irrelevant content and information overload. I definitely think this idea has a lot of potential for Universities worldwide –  it keeps students in the loop of events going on, opportunities for involvement and how to make the most of their University experience.

Viral Videos

content, e-Marketing, social media, twitter, youtube Leave a comment

Last lecture we spoke about viral videos and the use of social media. Since then, a celebrity sensation has created the latest viral video.

Of all celebrities, Justin Bieber easily takes the title of Twitter king. With 29 million follows/fans/”Beliebers” there doesn’t seem to be anything they can’t achieve together. Most recently, Justin leveraged his influential status to promote his new music video “Beauty and a Beat” featuring Nicki Minaj. With such a large number of followers, Justin could simply have tweeted the link to his new video and it would have achieved millions of hits within the day. However, he decided to take a different approach..

On October 10th, Justin Bieber sent these tweets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later in the day, someone using the name “gexwy” tweeted Justin the following messages:

And so the speculation began.. countless media articles were posted speculating everything from sex tapes and naked photographs to drug use and violence. Little did they know that Justin was in the middle of a prank..

After days of speculation and publicity, at noon on October 12th, Justin Bieber released his new music video “Beauty and a Beat.” The music video received the most hits in 24 hours of any Vevo music videos on YouTube – 10.6 million and growing.

So what made the launch of this video so successful?

  1. Justin Bieber’s influential celebrity status
  2. The online community of “Beliebers” he has established and nurtured on his rise to fame
  3. The “buzz” he created over 2 days with a fake Twitter account
  4. The video serves as an outlet for Justin to share his story with fans
  5. Production of the video is original, relateable and funny

This story is a prime example of the power of social media and its impact on the world when used to its full potential.

Tumblr

content, e-Marketing, social media, tumblr Leave a comment

Tumblr is a social network that allows users to create blogs to share anything: text, photos, quotes, links, music and videos. A successful Tumblr blog that has many UBC students talking is:

 www.whatweshouldcallubc.tumblr.com

 

This blog and similar “what we should call me” blogs capitalize on the humor of everyday situations. The UBC version takes situations, places, annoyances etc. around UBC that most students encounter on a daily basis and finds the humor in them and expresses it using GIF’s. Often UBC is criticized by students for being cliquey within faculties and for getting limited opportunities to interact with students beyond their faculty. The success of this blog has sparked the beginning of a campus wide community, connecting students from all faculties and years through one common goal: finding humour in everyday frustrations.

This blog capitalizes on the “community” aspect of the 7 C’s of E-Marketing.  It unites a broad community of students through the simplicity of moving images. It allows users to interact and provide feedback by posting comments or questions relating to posts.

Sauderites

 

When someone asks a really stupid question with one minute left in lecture

The popularity and success of this site stems from several sources.

1. Firstly, the anonymity of the blogger creates a sense of mystery. Without knowing if the student is male or female, a Psychology major or an aspiring Marketing student, a social butterfly or a nerd allows users to create their own sense of who the blogger is and diminishes cross-faculty stereotypes.

2. Secondly, the content of the site is relateable. All UBC students have experienced fellow students asking questions just as class is supposed to end or having to detour for miles around campus just to reach their class. Students experience these frustrations daily and this blog offers a place to vent with other likeminded students.

3. Lastly, the bloggers ability to turn frustration and anger into something laughable. After a stressful day, students love to relax and laugh at something that happened to them and frustrated them just hours before.

Finding out my professors know about this blog

Sites with a cause

e-Marketing, keywords, measurable data, social media, twitter Leave a comment

www.NoHomophobes.com

On July 5th 2012, a website was launched by the University of Alberta titled: No Homophobes. As the site states:

“It is designed as a social mirror to show the prevalence of casual homophobia in our society. Words and phrases like “faggot,” “dyke,” “no homo,” and “so gay” are used casually in everyday language, despite promoting the continued alienation, isolation and — in some tragic cases — suicide of sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ) youth.”

The website searches Twitter for 4 words: Faggot, No Homo, So Gay and Dyke. With these Tweets, the site simply compiles a count of the number of times each word is used that day. Below, it posts every single Tweet from people around the world that contains one or more of these 4 words.

What interests me about this site is its ability to show these Tweets in real time. When individuals see the amount of Tweets using homophobic language the instant they happen, the impact is far greater than a simple number that happened yesterday. This impact is heightened when the Tweets are occurring so frequently that they are unable to be read before they have left the screen. In addition to daily statistics, a count is kept of how many Tweets containing each of these 4 words have been posted in the last week and since the site began 3 months ago.

Also of interest is the simplicity of the site. The design and interface is easy to read and understand within seconds of clicking the link. The clever use of colour and the lack of words allows the user to observe the facts and interpret them as they please. Searching Twitter for 4 words and plotting their use over time is such a simple concept yet so powerful. Like most people, I was absolutely shocked at the volume of homophobic remarks on such a global social platform. A site like this compiles all of these Tweets and displays them in a meaningful way that sparks a multitude of emotion. I think the success of this site lies in the volume of Tweets. When individuals see a single homophobic remark on their Twitter feed, it is unlikely to spark much emotion. However, when placed side by side and tallied throughout a day reaching numbers of over 60,000, the affect of these Tweets multiplies and demands action. This site provokes thought and demands change.

Search Process

advertising, e-Marketing, keywords, search engine Leave a comment

4 Step Process to Information

Step One: An idea. All searches, big or small, start with an idea. Ideas stem from a myriad of possibilities:   problems, curiosities, needs, wants, desires and the list goes on. Searchers conclude that using a search engine will provide the most efficient results in their quest for answers, and so step two begins.


Step Two: Search Engine Selection. Whatever the trigger, Google is the search engine of choice by 66% of searchers, followed by Bing with a mere 15%.* Google’s capacity to filter the most relevant websites from an infinite abyss of information is unparalleled by any search engine.

Step Three: Word Selection. Refining a search using precise, keywords ensures that optimal results are achieved. For example, when looking to purchase a new television, keywords such as: television, flat screen and Vancouver would be preferable. Specifying a location significantly narrows search results and complements the other precise keywords. Based on these keywords, Google offers a list of websites in order of relevance.

 

Step Four: Website Selection. The conclusion to a successful search is the selection of a website. Assuming websites are selected based on their relevance to the search, it is likely that desirable results can be found on page one. Each page offered by Google begins with paid advertisements set on a yellow background. Below these advertisements are results ordered by perceived relevance. Each website is followed by a brief 1-2 sentence summary of the websites content. When users see a promising website, a world of useful information is simply a click away.

Although this process seems detailed and long-winded, Internet savvy individuals travel from steps 1 through 4 in a matter of seconds. This process has become second nature and will continue to increase in simplicity as technology advances.

*http://www.pcworld.com/article/254405/bing_versus_google_search_engine_showdown.html

Facebook advertising – a goldmine or a scam?

advertising, e-Marketing, facebook, social media Leave a comment

As a Facebook reliant generation, we’ve all experienced the “oops, I accidentally clicked that annoying ad on the side of the webpage” scenario. Which begs the question: How effective are Facebook advertisements? As a frequent user myself, I’ll admit I’ve never noticed the ads on Facebook, which leads me to Facebook’s first “no-no”.

1) From a Marketing perspective, Facebook’s advertisements are incredibly underwhelming, so much so, that they often slip under the radar of its users. Facebook’s ads are placed discreetly throughout the site however, with such a large amount of information provided on any given page, it is far too easy to ignore their dull coloured, non-attention grabbing ads. Companies paying Facebook per click on their ad are being scammed. Not once have I logged into Facebook to search through ads, these ads are only being clicked accidentally by users and are immediately exited from without a second glance, which leads me to my second point.

2) Facebook’s primary function is to connect people from across the world and allow them to share their life’s milestones with one another whether it is through status updates, photos albums or personal messages. Never has a Facebook user logged in to the site with the purpose of perusing the advertisements searching for something that appeals to them. Google is highly capable of achieving this goal with better accuracy, relevance and ease than Facebook ever can.

So why is it that companies are spending thousands of dollars each month to have their dull, boring advertisement accidentally clicked on and exited by Facebook users? The thought process of “our competitors think it’s profitable to advertise on Facebook, they must be right” is common. It seems like a case of the blind leading the blind. Sure, Facebook offers a convenient way to reach desired target markets using keywords, but does this make it any more likely that a Facebook user will click an advertisement when their primary reason for logging into the site was to share a few photos or message their best friend on the other side of the world? Unlikely.

Facebook has the potential to provide a positive source of advertisement from companies to their desired target market. However, Facebook is struggling to maintain a balance between pleasing users who would ideally seek an advertisement free Facebook and companies trying to justify the large amounts of money they are spending to receive a single click.