Pinterest Marketing?

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Monica McMahen

Pinterest launched its first marketing campaign since it became hugely popular late last year: 30 Days of Pinsperation. Starting today, and continuing for the next 30 days, a board created by a famous brand, person or company will be released. Creators apparently include the US Marines, Starbucks, and today’s board creator Katie Couric.

I’m not quite sure what the point of this is, though. First off, despite being a fairly regular Pinterest user, I did not notice the “30 days of Pinsperation” button at the top of the page. Additionally, despite being a fairly aware consumer, I only realized this campaign was happening by reading Ad Age. Based on the fact that is is only being communicated through Pinterest channels, I assume that this campaign is to get people already on Pinterest to use it to buy gifts or to follow new people. However, it is unclear the benefits to Pinterest.

If they are planning to use the 30 days of Pinspiration to increase Pinterest interest (:D), they may need to push it a little harder. However, only time will tell, and maybe pinterest followers will start to share it on social media and new pinners will be converted! As a pinner, I am about to share it on facebook, so maybe it will work, after all.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Pre-emptive Search

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Monica McMahen

Yesterday, Ad Age posted about the future of search, in which there is no search. Google or other providers will preemptively know what a consumer wants and provide it for them. However, I question how realistic this is. Sure, it may minimize my need to search for instructions or reviews, but how will one do a school project- my computer will suddenly know that I want to look at mommy blogger sites that compete with Vitamin Daily? By listening to conversations it may be able to bring up topics that are being debated, but somehow I do not see this being able to read minds. It seems unlikely that this preemptive data finding will be able to automatically answer the random questions I come up with while running, or know exactly what measurement conversion I need for the recipe in my recipe box.

Additionally, Google recently released (or I recently discovered) Google Ad Preferences which shows what Google has you classified under in order to target ads to you. I HATE coffee. I can’t even stand mocha ice cream. And yet, check out my preferences below. Apparently Google thinks I am a coffee lover. Maybe this is because I email people about going for coffee, even if I don’t mean the literal coffee. They also got my age wrong. There is a disconnect between our real lives and actions, and our online lives. While I am sure Google is capable of omitting mistakes from slang and words with an unusual connotation, I am unsure a device or the internet will ever be able to fulfill all of our search needs without typing in, saying, or some how signalling it to search every once in a while.

 

 

Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Personalizing Your Online Voice

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Monica McMahen

The voice of a brand is very important. Brands such as Taco Bell and Old Spice have chosen witty, sarcastic personae. Others have chosen kind, even bland personalities. The key, regardless of the brand, is in keeping it consistent. This is something that is particularly challenging when the front line social media staff are not very well trained- often the intern gets put on facebook and twitter.

As a result, you see small brands such as AMotherWorld with a handle that matches the brand, but the name attached is the tweeters name. It is so much easier to identify with the brand when someone is attached. The prime example of this is the Dogwood Initiative. The blog page has posts by different authors, and encourages readers to get to know different writers by reading their bio and seeing which posts identify with them. The writers, in turn, are not stifled and forced to sound like the same voice.

Ultimately, using brand personalities is a great way to help people identify with a brand, and listen to what they have to say. It also minimizes the risk of saying completely inconsistent things under the guise of the same name- a harsh reality that many upper level managers today are not even aware of.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Sharpie 1 up for Creativity

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Monica McMahen

Sharpie recently launched a twitter campaign to “drive product awareness with teenagers interested in self expression through a campaign that associated its brand with creativity.” They used promoted tweets and creative avatars to attract creative twitter users, increasing their following 6 times, and having creative tweet hashtagged with #sharpie.

Many companies have tried campaigns along these lines, and failed. However, I believe that Sharpie’s ability to respond positively to individuals and encourage offline behavior was key. They took the thousands of people that use sharpie everyday and are already online, caught their attention, and received followers because of it.

However, my concern is that this is a success on twitter and less of a success for Sharpie. A lot of people purchasing felts are price sensitive, and although sharpie has almost become synonymous with a brand of felts, people may not pay attention to this when they purchase. Sharpie has successfully engaged followers online using offline mediums, but the company needs to find ways to translate social media presence to increasing offline purchase behaviour. What is to say this campaign is generating sales further down the funnel, and not just general awareness among people who will not ultimately convert?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Email Engagement- Getting the consumer to play games

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Monica McMahen

Get Elastic recently published an article about App-like email campaigns- “taking the functionality of a mobile app and baking it into your email campaign.” This allowed a TV station to imbed a “record” button that connected to a users DVR and automatically set it to record the show that was advertised. StyleCampaign made their email a game and refreshing the email could help them accrue points. The implications of this are huge! Over and over, marketers ask themselves how they can get readers to follow a link or follow a call to action. However, brands now have the ability to cut out the middle man- no more link, just a game or interaction delivered straight through email.

For example, brand often have contests to increase engagement. Email marketing is still the most successful online marketing, and those receiving the email have given the brand permission to market to them at some point. It’s a natural place to start such a campaign. However, every time readers need to click a link and wait for a page to load, you lose some.

This is particularly prevalent before the consumer has engaged with the brand- I personally am much more willing to wait for facebook to load when I want to share something I really enjoyed than i am to follow a link to a brand’s game that I’m not sure I will be interested in. By embedding activities right in the email, additional online and word of mouth marketing will happen much more automatically through users that like the options/games given to them. The overall engagement that marketers will receive by sending an “app-like” email far outweighs a facebook contest (not to mention it ensures the right users engage)- now the marketers just need to make sure engagement leads to conversion.

The email sent by StyleCampaign, more “game” than email.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Trouble with Infographics

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Monica McMahen

Infographics are a huge trend these days for a reason- they make information more interesting and easier to convey. If manuals came in infographic form, I’m sure I would read way more of them. However, there is a problem with infographics: many of them present information and make erroneous conclusions from the info.

For example, take the infographic below that comes from GetElastic.com. This infographic shows plenty of facts about how check-outs are currently set up. Four pages, black or red required asterisks, black writing on white back grounds. This information is great, but at the bottom of the infographic, it summarizes by giving tips on how to have an effective check-out. However, all of the findings that were presented are based on averages, not A/B testing of what is effective. Perhaps they did tests, but we have no way of easily knowing without checking the citations, or in this case going to a website and doing further research. But doesn’t this defeat the purpose of infographics- to inform readers quickly and easily?

While this is one example of an infographic that makes illogical conclusions, it is one of many. Readers, don’t get carried away by a fun and pretty infographic! Keep your wits about you and evaluate the content as you would any other article.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Error: Child Not Found

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Monica McMahen

Everyone has experienced a 404-Error message page at some point while surfing the web. Most people have also seen milk cartons and visa bills with missing photos on them. It is surprising that despite almost every activity that once happened in person is now happening on line, missing person photos have not shown up in a similar fashion…until now.

The NotFound Project allows websites to sign up and add information about missing children to error pages. Although the “page not found” analogy to the children is depressing, it is a strong idea in the age of paperless billing, PVR, and fewer offline consumer touch points.

Missing child projects are always looking for new ways to communicate the message that children are missing to those who are not going out of their way to look it up. It seems to have taken a surprisingly long time to bring this method online, but hopefully more innovation in this area will allow Missing Children Europe or any other missing child foundation to increase awareness far beyond that of print advertising in this age of globalization and ease of communication.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Tweets for goods…again!

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Monica McMahen

In follow up to my post on September 17th, I thought I would post the latest version of sampling using twitter. Special K now has a pop-up booth that shows up in unexpected places and gives away a bag of their new Special K chips in return for a positive tweet.

In my last post, I questioned whether this was a short term idea or a long term trend. As it pops up in more and more places, it appears as though it may become the newest marketing idea- at least until the next thing comes along. However, you will notice that while Bev the vending machine traded iced tea for tweets, Special K requires positive tweets. Will social media platforms survive if companies force or dictate what individuals are tweeting? The exact placement of that line is still being tested.

 

Source: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/kelloggs-pop-store-lets-you-pay-snacks-tweet-144023

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Goggle Business View

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Monica McMahen

This is an interior photo of a hut in Antarctica. Google viewers can move left or right to see the whole 360 degree photo.

Yesterday Google added a new feature to Google maps and street view. An orange dot now indicates businesses that are taking part in Google Business Photo, and by putting the streetview man over the dot, an interior photo of the business appears. All of these photos have been volunteered by the businesses, and are professional photos. This allows customers to have a preview of the building they will be entering before making the trip. Some businesses even offer digital tours. The liability issues faced by street view are also circumvented as businesses submit their own photos.

But how useful is this? I find more often than not, street view gives me the block but I have no idea what building it is. It would be more useful for me to have the exterior picture of the exact location of a business, rather than the interior. The businesses that I would like to see the interior of are either not eligible (potential houses or apartments for sale), or already have online tours if they can afford to (spas, etc.).

On the flip side, putting interior business pictures with a program such as Yelp will allow consumers to make more informed decisions. Reviews tell me about the food and service and 360 degree panoramas show me the ambiance. That’s almost as close as I can get to the real experience! Unless, of course, the enhanced photo shows an unusually tidy, good looking room.

 

Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Free drinks for Tweets: Meet Bev

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Monica McMahen

BEV is a vending machine that dispenses BOS Iced Tea. But ladies and gentlement, keep your toonies and loonies (or in this case, South African Rand), because all BEV want is your tweets. Using the hashtag #BOStweet4t, those passing by can tweet at her and she will dispense them an iced tea. She has the ability not only to connect to twitter and act on tweets, but also to check the location of the tweeter to ensure they are nearby. Still confused? Watch the video.

What are the implications of this for the future of marketing? Grocery stores and consumable product companies can stop employing people to hand out samples. People may be able to receive discounts and special offers by using a hashtag or posting on a facebook wall. Perhaps these robots will be able to decide how much of a discount is given based on how complimentary the tweet is, or combine with a customer’s loyalty card to give discounts or product suggestions based on previous purchases. By having a robot connect a person shopping in a brick and mortar store to a loyalty card account, many of the marketing techniques used by online companies such as amazon could be brought to life.

However, techniques such as this one will always hit a narrow demographic, and may have negative consequences if the majority of the target market does not have twitter or a smartphone. For companies aimed at the young, tech savvy demographic such as Koodo, social media techniques will lead to a new level or price discrimination and consumer satisfaction.

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/twitter-activated-vending-machine-offers-iced-tea-for-tweets/

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment