360DigitalInfluence

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become synonymous with big deals… and holiday season chaos. In fact, some say that the name ‘Black Friday’ first originated in Philadelphia where it was used to describe the disruptive traffic that occurred the day after Thanksgiving. Others say it was named for the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, otherwise known as ‘in the black’ because most retailers during the year were ‘in the red’ (ie. using red pens on their balance sheets).

Anyway you slice it, given the history of disruptive traffic (and potential in-store madness), the online and mobile shopping holiday experience is looking even more appealing as offline purchases continue to migrate online with online shopping statistics demonstrating that 71% of all U.S. adults now shop on the Internet. So, for those looking for Cyber Monday Deals, brands and social media networks are raising the bar.

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Has mobile planning been little more than an afterthought for your brand’s or your client’s overall communications strategy? Or, does mobile live as a silo, distinct from your larger communications and outreach plans?  In 2011, mobile reached a point of critical mass with over 75 million of U.S. consumers owning smart phones - and the number continues to grow rapidly. We have passed the point in the industry where mobile can be put on the back burner, to be sprinkled on like magic fairy dust in the form of an afterthought app, and have entered the era when mobile needs to be top of mind.

As part of our “Brand Planning 2012″ series this week, Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence sat down with Martin Lange, Executive Marketing Director of Mobile@Ogilvy and learned, among other insights,  his top five steps for brands to integrate mobile into their marketing and communications strategies.

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They say pictures are worth a thousand words, but you only get 140 characters to Tweet it to the world. Just months after a $40 million TweetDeck acquistion, in-the-know tech site, All Things D confirms that Twitter is looking to further expand their offerings and create their own photo-sharing service. Twitter reps are not commenting on the reports, but the social media kings are buzzing with crystal-ball predictions of what the empire’s latest brainchild will look like.

I wanted to add my two cents to the conversation. Currently, users who want to share photos in their tweets have to post them on secondary sights and include links to their photos within tweets. That’s all too time consuming. Let’s cut to the chase. We need those 140 characters to tell everyone just how cute Baby Ali is and include a picture. We can’t just go wasting those precious characters with link space. So, in the spirit of all things twit-tastic, below are my top three photo-sharing sites and what I am looking for in Twitter’s revamp in 140 characters or less.

Twitpic – Share media in real-time. Iphone, email, website platforms using in-site API. CON: Links too lengthy, need more room for text. #nicetry

Yfrog – Served by ImageShack and optimized for mobile viewing. No frills, fast and easy to use. CON: Too many platform bugs make it less reliable. #almostthere

Instagram – Enhances pics with various effects and has seamless social integration on FB, TW, Flickr, Foursquare and Tumblr. CON: Only available for iphones. #Ihaveandroid

What I’m really hoping for in a Twitter platform as an in-house photo-sharing device as clean, quirky, and creative as the namesake’s currently successful products. A hybrid Yfrog, Twitpic, and Instagram will suffice, but I am hoping Twitter will take this opportunity and will go one step further in order to bring us something not even the social media world could have predicted. What are you looking for in the new Twitter photo-sharing service? All Things D reports plans for the platform’s unveiling at the D9 conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., this week. Stay tuned!

Definition: Badge fatigue – noun. c. May 2010

• a reduction in the effectiveness of mobile loyalty programs that use status or icons as incentives
• being so over the idea that you’ll be rewarded with some intangible thingy for identifying yourself as a fan

About a year ago, the discussion around “badge fatigue” began. Fans and followers were starting have trouble seeing through the clutter of countless gaming programs that offered incentives. So, plans were hatched to reinvigorate the model before it became another fad.

In the initial format, a user was given the incentive to go to an establishment because he or she would be rewarded with an intangible prize: a title (e.g. “mayor” Foursquare or royalty titles on Yelp!) or an icon (e.g. “badges” on Foursquare or “pins” on Gowalla). Users competed with their friends and unknown competitors to get the best status and personal gratification. As users achieved higher status and left check-in competitors in the dust, they got an even greater incentive: a discount or something for free.  This discount wasn’t targeted to the individual’s tastes specifically, but more so, whoever got the reward first.

The model grew and companies began to experiment; people gained VIP access to parties (Internet Week 2010) and points for existing rewards programs (Top Guest). And this is where we stand today – with a lot of great experiments, but also a lot of clutter.

So, what will happen next?

There seem to be three (somewhat nebulous) schools of thought:

1. We continue along the same lines with this gamification model that has a broad reach, because, in all honesty, it has worked. These indicators of status in the “game” continue to get people in to the cash register even without targeted (and often intangible) incentive. (Note: Some are questioning the impact on business)
2. We move on. Since the market is becoming saturated with these types of programs, it is worth the effort to focus efforts elsewhere.  “Call me crazy, but I say that Foursquare badges go the way of POGS, Tamagotchis, and Farmville – interesting ideas that captivated our attention for a time, but ultimately lost out,” hypothesizes Colin Slasheimer.
3. We repurpose and rebuild these programs a highly relevant, laser-focused marketing tool. Two examples of how this can happen include finding a way to hyper-locate down to the layout of a store or revaluating how the data is used (see pilot launched by Foursquare).

I fall in the third group. I want to be found where I already need to go and told about specifically what I want with hyper-relevant offers. I want to check into the toothpaste aisle of the drug store, and be told what toothpaste brand sale right now.  (Ok, I know this probably isn’t possible right now, but could be pretty cool.)  If I go to the hairdressers, I want to come across an incentive in 3 months when I need my next haircut, instead of right when I check-in.

So, what do you think?  Have we jumped the shark?

In recent weeks, many of our government clients have been asking if they should incorporate QR codes into their educational materials. This is great news as QR codes can be an excellent tool for connect citizens to government services and educational information while they are on the go.  However, as with all new communication vehicles it is important to take a few things into consideration before deciding if QR codes are right for your agency.  continue reading

Your mobile phone probably hasn’t replaced your wallet yet, but it could in the next few years. Several retailers have tested or implemented in-store mobile payment systems, including Starbucks, which launched its mobile payment program at stores nationwide in January 2011. Using the Starbucks Card Mobile App, customers can pay for purchases with their BlackBerry, iPhone, or iPod Touch by scanning the on-screen barcode at the point of sale.

Beyond mobile applications, advancements in near field communication (NFC)—the wireless technology that connects devices over a short range of a few centimeters—will drive adoption of in-store mobile payment systems.

NFC isn’t new, but it has recently created a lot of buzz stateside and companies are getting behind it. The NFC Forum recently welcomed 32 new members, including Google. Among the industry association’s highest level of members are Microsoft, Visa, MasterCard, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony.

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Ten years ago, sharing photographs and videos meant snail-mailing content to family and friends. Now, sharing photographs and videos are a digital activity, with online sharing sites and smart phones applications like Instagram, Path, and PicPlz being quickly integrated into daily social media regimens.

Enter Color: the latest mobile photo application drawing mixed reviews about the application. Prior to Color’s launch, Sequoia Capital, considered “one of the highest caliber venture firms” by Wall Street Journal, invested $25 million,  Bain Capital invested $9 million, and Silicon Valley Bank provided $7 million in venture debt, presenting Color with an accumulative $41 million in funding.  Since its launch, the application has received 2/5 stars based on over 600 reviews on the iTunes App Store. Commentary has noted the application’s function as a stalking mechanism, others have expressed that the user interface is not very intuitive, and the most reoccurring question I’ve encountered is, “is Color worth $41 million?”

Despite this feedback, Color attracted adoption and positive reactions from technology elites, including Tristan Walker of FourSquare, Joshua Williams of Gowalla, and David Heinemeier Hansson of Ruby on Rails. Within a week of its public debut, Color is ranked second in number of downloads for social network applications, just behind Facebook. After having the opportunity to use this application over the past few days, I have come to two conclusions: 1.) I am shamelessly addicted and 2.) It is indeed an important product that has high business potential.

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This week marks the beginning of arguably the most exciting sports event of the year – the NCAA Tournament. From frantically preparing brackets, diehards planning out their wardrobe to optimize their sporting of team colors, to heated discussion on who will be this year’s Cinderella team, March Madness is one of the most social sports experiences around.

Last year, social media was the talk of the tournament, and it will continue to play a major role in how Americans experience the madness. In fact, research released by IMRE Sports found that nearly a quarter of online American adults (23%) plan to use some sort of social media to follow this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament.

The more interesting finding of this research is that 27% of those who will use social media plan to use a mobile application, and those with higher household incomes ($75K+) and college graduates are even more likely to use mobile applications and Twitter to catch the action.

In 2010, 8.3 million unique viewers watched or listened to 11.7 million hours of online streams of the NCAA tournament, and those numbers should increase this year. Turner Sports has seen these two trends and has taken an exciting step to continue to drive viewership of the tournament through their NCAA’s online platform – FREE March Madness On Demand for iPhone and iPad (goodbye productivity at work!).

The app – did I mention that it’s now free? (last year, this app would run you $9.99) – allows users to watch live streaming games, provide enhanced statistics – but more importantly, fully integrate their social media life into their tournament experience. One of the things I was most excited to see (other than the games, of course) was that the sharing functionality is front and center in the interface - and conveniently positioned next to the second most important element…My Bracket.

As we see more media networks investing in this trend toward mobile capabilities, I expect we’ll see social networking get continually higher billing.

No matter how you plan to follow the action this year, one thing is clear. It’s going to be “Awesome, with a capital A!”

Headline image courtesy Sports Chump

Nielsen released a report last week detailing the consumer market share of smartphone manufacturers in the US. Android, iOS, and Blackberry lead the pack with 29%, 27% and 27% share respectively. The remaining share was split between Windows Phone 7, Symbian, and HP/Palm WebOS devices.

What’s clear about these results is that the fight between the phone manufacturers is tough, and consumers are the winners with a wealth of devices to choose from. And they are choosing, with an estimated 40 million smartphone users in February of 2010, and an expected 80 million users sometime this year.

While majority of the excitement in the mobile marketplace generally surrounds native apps, mobile sites are a cost-effective standard for any brand hoping to reach potential consumers. Here are a few design and development considerations to take when stating a mobile site project.

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How many mobile devices do you think the average adult carries? One? Two? Not quite. The average adult carries 2.5 phones. That’s pretty amazing when you think about how the growth in number of voice minutes used by consumers has stagnated in recent years. continue reading