Social Media for the advertising set



Here’s a look at how advertising agencies can jump into the Social Media sphere and survive the recession. Quick refresher of everything social media, good read!

Outdoor advertising still going strong

Click here for video

Here’s a quick bite on the outdoor advertising! Abby Johnson from Small Business Newz explains how outdoor advertising is targeted, cost-effective, and highly visible. According to the Outdoor Advertising Market Report: 2009 Edition from Aarkstore Entreprise, outdoor advertising is also the second fastest growing ad medium and is expected to grow in coming years.

WE THINK: most amazing video!!!!

Last Friday, we had Domenico from PI&C come to VCU Brandcenter for the Friday Speakers Series. He shared with all the attendees a video which has had a profound effect on me. Personally, this video attached below in the post is the most amazing video I’ve ever seen in my life. It summarizes all the right things to do in this dynamic digital  era. I cannot resist to share this video!

Internet is good!

Till two weeks back I’ve been arguing with myself about internet. A part of me felt, internet is awesome & other part felt, it is so intrusive & messed up my real life. I spend more than half of my day on internet. Become more responsive to emails or tweets than anything else. Newspapers sounds like a concept of 60′s and have more online friends than I have in real life. That’s my typical relationship with internet. My girl friends hates it, coz I am still browsing internet while talking to her. It’s so bad that iPhone or internet on my mobile will break the relationship. That sucks, but that’s reality

This Spring-Break I had to visit a my friends in Cleveland, Ohio. To most of my friends, it was a unusual Spring-Break destination. To me it was fun to be with my old friends! But this lasted only till I reached there. I realized that my friends had moved in to a new apartment has no access to internet and it was a place where ATT had very poor reception. So, to my surprise… I was disconnected to most of the world – couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I had no choice, but to read newspaper – watch boring television (I did not have the leisure to select the show I wanted to watch, at my convenience – as we can do it internet). I was again reading all the newspapers lying in front of me. Days suddenly became longer & started to realize how peaceful my mind has become without the information overload I was pushing into my brain. It was great talking to my friends and their families, suddenly felt I was enjoying this back in time. It was awesome! being disconnected to internet filled my heart with joy and felt  rejuvenated to some extent. It is this spring break I realized, life is beautiful – in real world too!

But, don’t get me wrong. I love internet and have understood the role it plays in my life. During the break, more than the internet… I missed being disconnected to awesome amount of information and new things I was learning. It is this internet that helps me learn about things that I would have never been exposed to. Following are 25 reasons why I still love internet

1. Quick & easy saves me time to process information

2. Postal service is way too slow for today, hence email works!

3. Twitter or live feed is even better.

4. To talk is boring, interacting is so much fun

5. Encyclopedia will be too heavy for me to carry around wit me, I am happy to have Google / Wikipedia … and innumerable other resources

6. In the business of marketing communications, focus group is a very important tool to generate insights – to me internet opens the door for 24hour long continuous focus group

7. Just a “hey, what’s up?” on a friend’s profile is good enough to be in touch

8. No one can beat the on-line discounts & promotions

9. Twitter brings me closer to so many wonderful people & information to empower my knowledge! I love Twitter, you should give it a try.

10. I can see & talk to my parents & loved ones through internet, anytime and how much ever I want to. By the way, at no extra cost!

11. Internet entertains me through on-line TV shows, movies, songs, social networking & almost real-time news

12. I am not a writer nor a journalist. Internet makes me want to express, hence this blog. Still not a writer, but at least a blogger

13. Internet is eco-friendly & so am I.

14. Internet has opened this wonderful digital world for me to explore, get inspired and enhance my point of view.

15. Internet gives me spreadability.

16. I have the power to make change, in quick & easy manner. (only thing is I have to be relevant and do it in a awesome manner that makes it contagious for people to talk about).

17. Internet was instrumental in making Barack Obama what he is today.

18. Thanks to internet I am still talking to most of my friends from my high school.

19. Internet has changed the world of advertising & brand management, now brands want to come closer to consumers! [probably this will be my next post ]

20. Wonderful internet has also been a huge job generator. I am happy to see millions of people making money only through internet.

21. This should have been the first point, but doesn’t matter… internet has erased boundaries. You have one real world divided into maximum pieces possible. And you have digital world, wherein people with similar interests are out to help  & share knowledge with each other.

22. Thanks again to internet, it has given rise to social media to a extent that it now has the power to make social change!

23. I keep coming back to advertising & marketing… I am sorry, but I love it! internet has made communicating with consumers so much fun! All those digital billboards, user-generated contents, interactive & engaging ads, digital platforms like Nike+ it has become so much fun! Sincerely feel, internet has spiced up the advertising!

24. Makes me feel like god, am connected to each and everything happening around the world, gives me opportunity to participate in anything and everything I choose to participate in, opened up a world with limitless opportunities.

25. The best thing about internet, it is so interconnected with the real life that most of the things you do affects your real life.

I have now learned to balance my real life with the digital… it took me a trip to friends house & be disconnected to internet compeletely. I am glad I realized this. I hope you too realize this in some way appropriate to you.

To life! (online & offline both)

Don’t Just Talk

This is my first video on this topic, diverse learnings have inspired my views in this video. I will request your feedback to help me create better videos in this area. The idea of “Don’t just talk” is inspired by Gareth Kay’s presentation at VCU Brandcenter.

Brands will fail in Social Media, until…

the brand manager…

1. thinks before entering the social media wagon: For god’s sake, don’t enter the social media wagon because everyone is on social media. Social media demands huge investment of resources, it’s not only about creating a platform & connecting with consumers.  A thorough social media strategy that adds value to the existing brand behavior has to be crafted. Content is an integral part of your social media success, if it’s not relevant or lacks creative brilliance it will not work.

2. stops viewing social media as just another marketing tool: Social media is a lifestyle. Consider a marketing tool & your brand is due for a toss! Social media is a platform for interaction & collaboration. It is not meant to generate sales, but to develop communities, create content & developing relationships.

3. have some patience: Think long-term when you think about social media. Building a relationship is never a quick and easy solution. A brand should resist the ‘one-night stand approach’ with the consumers, look forward to building a valuable & long-lasting relationship. To build a community  or get people actively involved takes time. Don’t see social media as a advertising campaign, it’s a long term approach.

4. have a dedicated staff responsible for social media: Where does social media fit in? Web Development, Content Generation, PR, Marketing, Communications? Unless you are sure & have a clearly defined objectives & role for your employee responsible to handle social media, you will fail.  There should be a dedicated team that is held accountable for delivering results as per the the brand’s social media strategy.

5. starts listening to consumers: Consumers are the biggest source of information. You stop interacting with them & you are gone is 60 secs (not literally). But, listening to consumers becomes all the more important in times like this…because a dissatisfied consumer can make or break brand’s image. Social media is very instrumental in making the brand behavior absolutely transparent. Hence a 24X7 vigil on consumers is the key to survival.

Inspite of doing everything properly, a brand can still fail in social media…

because usage and interaction in social media is totally dependent on the user. Unlike advertising, social media is a pull medium. Social Media Metric are also very new & still to prove their reliability. Also the criteria for measurement is also very different. Advertising is measured in terms of  page views, while social media is measured in terms of interactions, i.e. no. of friends, no. of comments, quality of content, etc. Interpreting these measures & analyzing effectives is difficult at this point of time.

… atleast we can avoid some blunders.

Welcome to the Participation Era.

As I watch numerous commercials, online or otherwise… I ask myself, “will I buy this brand because of this advertisement?” my answer is “No, not at all”. I believe advertising is mere a tool to create awareness or in some cases, generate interest about a particular brand of product or service.

As we entered the digital age, brands are not solely build by messaging or advertising, but by their behavior with the consumers. The most important thing today is not about what brand says, but it’s about ‘what brand does’ & how consistently it does. For a brand manager, integrating the brand with the product benefits is not enough… I’d say, it will be a recipe of disaster.

A brand manager has to think about the right mixture of integration between Brand-Product-Consumer.

Of all the above mentioned components of integration, ‘Consumer’ is the most important component. A brand has to seek ways to connect with the people and start a conversation, a conversation that is engaging & relevant enough for people to share among their communities.  Create a platform for participation, co-create with your consumers. I strongly feel that, a consumer has to be seen as a co-owner &  the key to success is to listen to the consumers & act accordingly.

First brand that comes to my mind is Starbucks! It’s a perfect example of a a brand adapting to the new digital revolution. The brand launched MyStarbucksIdea.com, an online platform for suggestion and virtual community to involve the brand followers. Many initiatives that Starbucks has launched have come from consumer’s mind. When a brand actually acts on consumer’s preference, a sense of belonging is created in the minds of consumer & this can be on of the core things that will turn a consumer into an advocate.

The Participation Era has arrived & the only way to survive  is to embrace ‘consumer’ as an integral part of marketing process. This is the era that demands ‘actions’ more than ‘advertising’  & ‘ brand experience’ more than just ‘product features’. The question we have to ask ourself is, “am I ready for the Participation Era?”

GE incorporates Augmented Reality in new advertising campaign for 2009

Just over a month ago I posted an article on Mini’s Augmented Reality Ad, now it seems GE has also joined the AR brigade along with Nissan, Volvo & Mini.

This film demonstrates how GE will leverage augmented reality technology to tell a story about Smart Grid.

This effort is a part of GE’s new advertising campaign called “NOW” to be launched during Super Bowl today on February 1, 2009. The theme of the campaign is “innovation you don’t have to wait for.” As per information on GE 2009 Advertising Overview, the campaign will incorporate three themes including ecomagination, healthcare and Global Research, with a key focus on Smart Grid technologies.. GE will use television, print, and digital mediums to tell this story:

Television – Super Bowl advertisement

• For the first time, GE will advertise on the Super Bowl with a 30-second ad called “Scarecrow” that focuses on Smart Grid technology
• Smart Grid is a vision for a smarter, more efficient, and sustainable electrical energy grid that GE technology is helping to bring to life and represents GE´s latest example of “ecomagination” at work
• The ad is a modern take on the classic song, “If I Only Had A Brain,” from the film The Wizard of Oz, imagining what can happen when old technologies have a brain and become smarter
• The ad is created by BBDO New York, GE´s long-time agency partner for more than 80 years
• The commercial was directed by Traktor and employs the latest computer and digital technology from Framestore
• The ad is scheduled to appear on US television networks including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, Bravo, USA, SciFi, Comedy Central, Discovery and ESPN after the Super Bowl

Digital

• GE is incorporating breakthrough technology called augmented reality that will be featured on its new microsite – PlugIntoTheSmartGrid.com
• Augmented reality is technology that augments real-world elements with digital holograms, so consumers can see a digital hologram of Smart Grid technology come to life in their hands
• This is the first time that augmented reality technology has been used to interact with a consumer in an advertising effort
• Banner advertisements, print ads, and web films will drive consumers to the microsite to experience the augmented reality technology
• The digital campaign was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

Print

• GE is launching an extensive global print and outdoor campaign
• Print and outdoor ads are focused on three areas:
  • Ecomagination: highlights GE´s renewable technologies
  • Healthcare: demonstrates how GE is providing worldwide healthcare solutions such as x-rays in China and ECG technology in rural India
  • Global Research: evaluates what the world needs and discusses how GE innovates solutions to redefine what´s possible
• The ads are created by BBDO New York and will run in publications such as the New York Times, Financial Times, Fortune, and Wired

Click on the image for a Sneak Peak of the commercial & brand’s integrated efforts to extend the Ecomagination campaign in 2009

I LOVE Economist!

I love most ads from Economist. I found this slide show of many ads, it does not include the new initiatives from the brand… but whatever this slide show has is pretty good!

The Economist – Ads (reklamy)

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: ads print)

Marketing Simplified!

1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say:

“I am very rich. Marry me!” – That’s Direct Marketing

2. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.

One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says:

“He’s very rich. Marry him.” – That’s Advertising

3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her

telephone number. The next day, you call and say:

“Hi, I’m very rich. Marry me.” – That’s Telemarketing

4. You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie,

you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car) for her,

pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say:

“By the way, I’m rich. Will you marry me?” – That’s Public Relations

5. You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says:

“You are very rich! Can you marry ! me?” – That’s Brand Recognition

6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say:

“I am very rich. Marry me!” She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. – That’s Customer Feedback

7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say:

“I am very rich. Marry me!” And she introduces you to her husband. – That’s demand and supply gap

8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say

anything, another person come and tell her: “I’m rich. Will you marry me?”

and she goes with him – That’s competition eating into your market share

9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say:

“I’m rich, Marry me!” your wife arrives. – That’s restriction for entering new markets

Ad Agency Christmas Greetings

Each year agencies use their creativity to spread a little holiday cheer. This is a list of what they did, via Brandrepublic.

AKQA (microwaves)

Grey London (they went green)

Albion (queen speech)

Lowe (employee tree)

MCBD (monster greeting)

McCann Erickson (animation)

Proximity (save children)

RKCR & Saint (winehouse spoof)

St Luke’s (snowball fight)

(source)

The Pitfalls of Judo Marketing – WSJ.com

One way brands get attention in their advertising is by mentioning a bigger brand — a strategy called “judo marketing.” However, the marketing style has its risks. Ross Petty, professor at Babson College, gives three reasons for why businesses should be wary of the strategy. WSJ’s Erin White reports.

more about “The Pitfalls of Judo Marketing – WSJ.com“, posted with vodpod

MINI’s ad with Augmented Reality (AR) hits stands!

This super cool!!! New advertisement for MINI uses augmented reality (AR) technology to create a truly interactive media piece out of a 2-dimensional magazine ad.

Using AR tracking technology, as you hold the ad up to your computer’s webcam, you’ll see a 3-D model of a MINI Cabrio convertible that moves as you turn the sheet of paper around.

All you need is a copy of the ad, a webcam, and a web browser (sorry, Internet Explorer/ActiveX only) to view the 3-D AR effect.

The ad campaign was created by Munich, Germany agencies Buzzin Monkey and die agentour GmbH.

The ad appeared recently in three German automotive magazines: Auto, Motor und Sport, Werben & Verkaufen and Autobild, but…

See how it works right now you can print out a PDF of the ad and head on over to the MINI augmented reality web site to check it out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

[I am sure to try this as soon as I manage to take a print out of this ad! will post how it goes. If anyone one of you try this, I will be greatful if you can share your experience]

SPOILER ALERT: Just realized that Nissan Cube used AR technology before Mini (watch here)

Thanks to Google & MySpace: Display ads are back again!

On October 14th, analysts lowered their expectations from internet biggies like Google & Yahoo. They also predicted that Display ads will be hit harder. “While we expect solid September quarter results from companies such as Google, IAC Interactive, and even Yahoo, all eyes are on 2009,” Canaccord Adams analyst Collin Gillis said. “Display-advertising business models are under siege, as revenue visibility is increasingly unpredictable…Display remains the domain of brand advertisers–and with its softer metrics is more readily seen as a source of spend that can be reduced.”

Everything said & done, display ads are back again! thanks to MySpace & now Google!

On October 12th 2008, MySpace launched their self serve ad platform (still a beta), called My Ads. Like Facebook, it allows anyone to quickly create a targeted ad and serve it on MySpace. But one thing that sets MySpace My Ads is display ads (Facebook only allows text ads). Users can choose between a 728×90 or 300×250 ad unit and can create an ad with pre-built templates and a Flash tool, or upload their own.

Soon after MySpace, Google announced the launch of display ads. I kind of find this funny. Because Google was the one to kill display advertising. Through its Google AdWords, company blew the lid off of online advertising with its simple text-based ads and its cost-per-click model. Advertisers were able to quickly create a terse, compelling chunk of text. Users were clicking. Revenues were rolling. All was right with the world. But, that is past now. Today, Google is getting into the market with the do-it-yourself display ads.

Keeping the value proposition of the brand intact, Google has made the ad design interface absolutely simple. Few clicks here & there will make your display ads. Here’s a video to see how simple it is to open your own advertising shop to design display ads:

When Google launched the ‘text based ads’ it revolutionized the industry. Will is be the same from the ‘display ads’? Lets see. No one knows, With MySpace & Google’s power anything is possible.

@ anishvshah