· meng chao · annie · wang

LinkedIn’s free-mium model is proven a success where big corporations pay at a premium to amplify awareness and seek talent , while the free users make up  the talent pool.

Although all the online social platforms have different norms and purposes, many of them share similar functions. In late July, LinkedIn has introduced its new feature- Sponsored Updates which is replication of Facebook’s Sponsored Stories.

Now LinkedIn user’s newsfeed will also feature these ads. While Facebook users are accustomed to reading updates from their newsfeed homepage,most  LinkedIn users are more accustomed to job searching and polishing their online profile. Personally, I barely read any newsfeed from my homepage because most of them would be irrelevant to me. When I asked around, almost none of my friends pay attention to the feeds. It would be a great push strategy for companies to announce news to the public, but having no choice to hide or delete those voluntary posts, users who lack the interest in those post will feel the lack of customization.

Reaching to the right audience will be come a concern for this new feature since LinkedIn have a different behavior norm. To accommodate the need, LinkedIn has recently added its newest feature Showcase pages for corporations. This is a separate, less robust company pages that allow the firms to share content tailored to the interested target group. Let’s say for example Sephora can create separate pages for its different product categories like Sephora skincare or cosmetics. These showpages will also be followerable , creating a more niche follower group who shows a specific interest in this product category. Right now, the limit is ten showcase pages for one firm, but if larger firms have the need to create more that would not be a problem. This page as suggested in its title , only showcases content and does not have the features like careers, products and services however firms can advertise on showcase pages.This is indeed a good news for all the corporations, since the tailored ad can generate more foot traffic to their page and ideally can turn the followers to prospective clients.

What do people think of when they hear fatherhood?

like this?

or perhaps like this?

My point is people are stereotypical and when it comes to parenthood, people would point fingers and immediately think the men are irresponsible, lazy and unorganized. But is it true? That men are less likely to have a caring heart? That they lack the feeling of responsibility and the ability to pay attention to details when it comes to parenting? The Sound ,a qualitative market research firm took an unordinary approach to explore the modern fatherhood.

Rather than constantly monitoring the observed group, The Sound let the chosen Dads to take  the video cameras home and record video diaries for six months. This user-generated content allows the marketers to fully observe the behaviors unobtrusively.   The documentary was meant for analysis purposes, but the amount of love and emotion attached to it gave the public a different view of the contemporary men.  Here is a quick peak:

The video diaries featured seven dads with seven cameras and in three cities. Everyone of them has a unique circumstance, some are broken families and others are simply not biologically related. I was lucky to have seen the entire documentary in one of my lecture and I just couldn’t stop myself from tearing up. It was ordinary, there was sadness, there was delightfulness, most importantly there was LOVE. The documentary had such a big impact on me that my view on 21st century men has completely revised itself and with no doubt, The Sound has also marked its name in my memory.

Honestly,  I disagree with people who say going on Facebook is a complete waste of time. I simply love browsing through newsfeed for friends updates and their sharing of interesting contents. Here’s what I found yesterday:

As the Ad was playing, I couldn’t help but gasped on the number of views on the video considering how new it is. Over 4 million views within in just few days? That is insane! There are entrepreneurs everywhere in the market, but this Coin has made its name big  by being featured on Wall Street Journal, Forbes, ABC news, NBC… nearly EVERYWHERE that would spoil news.

What it is is just a normal physical card that enables bluetooth that will connect all your credit cards together so you can simply carry one card out and swipe any card any time. The concept is intriguing and is proven technologically feasible, no doubt there is so much hype in the public. Oh wait, there is the preorder! Coin hopes to raise $50,000 funds through crowd funding on its own website.What can be more exciting than watching the the days tick and you are able to get the deal before its off the table? Leveraging on all media, whether its online/offline, Coin was able to create the buzz and get people talking about its potential offering.

Despite all the hype, there are many skepticism among people. The feedbacks ranged from positive to negatives

and here is a more neutral one that brings up some criticism

I will skip the negative comments due to the improper language. But here is the thing, I do not see any responses to all the hate-messages! The skepticism isn’t going to resolve itself and Coin is not responding to clarify the grey area.  Poor monitoring I would say. Going viral is great, but watch out what you are being discussed , praises can bring the shine on you, but bad can go even worse. Will Coin be the next big thing and eventually make it to the market with its sufficient crowd funding? Let’s hope it would first  respond better online as it positions itself as a forefront technology trend setter.

If any online marketers had to categorize me into one of the technographic segements , I would be either a spectator in some communities and a collector in others.  I am a foodie and I do not only indulge in ready-to-eat meals but I also cook. Speaking of cooking, I abhor reading text only recipes because it is so hard to follow. Instead, I browse through Youtube videos and follow video demo instructions . I am very visual and watching video  tutorials  just make life way easier for me. Well thanks to Youtube, the miso grilled salmon has officially became my signature dish!

User generated tutorials are one of the most popular videos being watched online, in other words we all need help in one way or another. Google,a prominent player in the search engine area, has sensed the need of visual aid and recently brought the new tool to the public’s eye.

Introducing- Google Helpouts

The catch phrase: Get real help, with real people at real time perhaps has highlighted the uniqueness that this tool has to offer. Google has made a clever move by integrating its product through different functionalities such as doing the actual video call via Google Hangouts and payments through Google Wallet.  The tool adopts a free-mium model which should be a lucrative method. However everyone is so accustomed to the free user-generated video tutorials, how luring would it be for users to pay different increments just for the need of real-time help? The questions arise, as help is sought from all over the world, will availability becomes a issue for certain helps that real-time becomes a issue? The online environment is always full of loopholes for hackers to invade, privacy and safety issue would be major concern for those real-time video calls. Although Google has already addressed the  issue and enforce safeguards as a another layer of protections for its users but we shall wait and see the responses from the public after majority has adopted this new tool.

Recently my Facebook newsfeed has been bombarded by a series of hilarious comic posts starring …TA DA my darling friends. Here’s a quick peek:

The attitude, the caption and the character resemblance, there is something that is so intriguing about these post that I can’t get enough of them and yes, I LOLed.  As I asked around for this source of fun, I found out this comic status is generated from a phone app called Bitstrips.  Here is what you can do with this app:

• Design cartoon versions of yourself and your friends
• Put your friends in hilarious comics where anything can happen
• show how you’re feeling with cartoon status updates

Not only the app provides hysterical laughters, it also let its user to customize each strip. What led to this high diffusion among users? I would say  Bitstrips did an exceptional job with satisfying all five factors to Roger’s diffusion of innovations(ACCTO criteria).

• Relative advantage： Customization allows maximal character resemblance and personal relevancy. Rather than having mundane text status updates you are able to create vivid picture updates. This is also a network product, as more of your friends join the Bitstrips community, more friends you are able to incorporate into cartoon generation.
• Compatibility : Just like any other apps, Bitstrips is available in both Google Play and Apple store. There the app is compatible with both Android and Apple interface.
• Complexity: User friendly interface with clear navigation and instructions.
• Trailability: Since the app is free, anyone can download it and try it a no cost
• Observability: Connection with other social networks allow users to amplify awareness and increase adoption rate

Comic strips is no stranger to us, but it is an innovate idea to allow users to customize content and characters generated by the app and share them in other online platforms. By leveraging user’s social network ( Facebook) , Bitstrips is able to gain  high social network presence for the purpose of app adoption.

So why not add subtle hint of fun to your day at no cost? As it turns out, the app can be quite addictive, this is a picture collage made by my friend:

and here is my favorite one:

I couldn’t print screen the caption but it was the sweetest message from the guy to his long-d girlfriend : Stella has been on Allen’s mind all day.