Posts tagged Interactive Media

Effective, Attractive & Dynamic Websites – IMC 616

January 15, 2011 · Filed under Emerging Media, Social Media, Word of Mouth (WOM) Strategies · Tagged , , , ,

Choose a company that has, in your opinion, an effective, attractive and dynamic Web site. Provide a very brief description of the company, then discuss how the Internet could be used by that company to provide top-notch customer service. Additionally, how do you think the Internet affects the company in terms of brand image and brand loyalty? Provide a link to the company’s Web site in your post.

Nike is the world’s largest, publicly traded, leader of men and women’s sporting goods and apparel. With its World Headquarters located in Beaverton, Oregon, it is home to more than 7,000 employees— employing more than 33,000 people globally. For the fiscal year ending May 31, 2009, Nike reported record revenues of $19.2 billion, a three percent increase over last year’s earnings (Nike, 2009). Visit the site: www.nike.com.

When faced with the challenge of choosing a company that has an effective, attractive and dynamic Web site, my mind immediately locked on Nike. It seems only natural that a company as dynamic as Nike would utilize a medium as dynamic as the Internet— The Internet has the fastest growth and acceptance rates of all other technological media.

Nike is globally known for its efforts in the many facets of marketing communications—having been previously honored for exceptional integrated marketing campaigns.

Interactivity is what makes marketing on the Internet different from other forms of direct marketing media. And interactivity is what Nike does so well. The multi-faceted site offers product/service information, purchasing abilities, merchandise research, company research, interactive videos, games—and much more.

“Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business…Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers (Ward, n.d.)”—It is about building and maintaining these valuable customer relationships.

Another thing that Nike does so well is utilizing the Internet to provide top-notch customer service.

Through the company Web site, customers and potential customers have an arsenal of assistance available to them—from specific product inquiries, account issues, expert help, FAQ’s, store locator, ordering/shipping questions—all can be resolved as a result of this interactive medium. In fact, “…at present, the Internet…is the only medium that is considered to be truly interactive according to the DMA (Baier and Spiller, 2005).”

Websites offer numerous benefits to their parent company.

More and more consumers relate experiences with company websites to the company itself, and more importantly to its brand image: “Increasingly, the corporate bottom line and customer Internet experiences go hand-in-hand (Jackson, 2006).” Efficiently executed websites build positive brand image.

Beyond that, with effective branding, developing trust, offering valuable services and streamlining interaction, websites like Nike work to build brand loyalty. Effective websites understand the consumer and work to meet their needs—positioning websites as a company resource: a readily available tool that provides quick, convenient and valuable services that enhance user experiences and build customer relationships.

References:

Baier, Martin and Spiller, Lisa (2005). Contemporary Direct Marketing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Jackson, Christina (2006). Driving Brand Loyalty on the Web. Retrieved on October 13, 2009 from website: http://www.dmi.org/dmi/html/interests/website/06171JAC62.pdf

Nike Corporate (2009). Company Overview. Retrieved on October 13, 2009 from website: http://www.nikebiz.com/company_overview/facts.html

Ward, Susan (n.d.) 8 Rules for Good Customer Service. Retrieved on October 14, 2009 from website: http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/customerservice/a/custservrules.htm

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Ta-Da!

October 16, 2010 · Filed under Blogs & Vlogs, Digital Storytelling, Emerging Media, Interactive Advertising · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Week 9: The Final Product

  • Submit your final work for a grade and provide links to all the locations in which you’re releasing your project

 

Carrie’s Blog—Carried Away—http://carriebowe.wordpress.com/2010/10/16/ta-da/

YouTube—MizzBowe—http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UTaDVfttgo

Facebook—Carrie Bowe—http://www.facebook.com

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Link Up

October 14, 2010 · Filed under Blogs & Vlogs, Digital Storytelling, Emerging Media, Interactive Advertising, Social Media · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Week 8: Channels of Delivery

  • Submit links committed to use for your project
  • Provide an explanation as to how/why each will be useful

While there are certainly many good and effective approaches of delivery for a short film, due to time and budget restrictions, and most appropriate for the scope of the class, the Internet will be the sole distribution channel.

In order to maximize the exposure for the film, as quickly (and realistically) as possible and considering budget constraints, the following websites have been determined to be used for film distribution:

Carrie’s Blog—Carried Away—carriebowe.wordpress.com

The true beauty of having a blog of this nature—especially with a relatively solid foundation of viewers to the site—is the ability to unlimited access to a highly interactive communication channel. Having primary ownership of the content flow on the site, information made available on the site is strictly under my own jurisdiction—this access offers the possibility for unrestricted information flow.

“Use your own personal website. This is free advertising and the best kind because it is international and sets great name recognition (CinemaRoll, 2009)”, and a wider, more diverse reach.

YouTube—MizzBowe— http://www.youtube.com/user/MizzBowe

“Put your trailer up in high definition on your website and on YouTube.com (CinemaRoll, 2009).”

Like other methods of Internet delivery, YouTube is cost free. YouTube videos can be uploaded and viewed for free. There is no required budget for a campaign and no cost per view or click.

The audience is global and has a “viral effect”—“ Interesting YouTube videos that evoke any kind of positive response from viewers are usually shared by viewers with their friends and family members. As a result, soon your popularity increases with minimum effort on your video. You simply have to upload a good video and your job is done (Hilton, 2009).”
Another very important and interesting advantage of using YouTube is for search engine marketing purposes. “Climbing up the ladder in Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) – As the video on YouTube highlights the URL of your main website; many viewers are often prompted to visit the site to know more about the services or products that are on offer. So, the hits on your site increases by leaps and bounds with YouTube marketing which enhances your search engine rankings (Hilton, 2009).”

Facebook—Carrie Bowe—http://www.facebook.com

A very powerful way of message delivery is by way of social media—specifically for this project, incorporating Facebook into the communication process. Utilize “Facebook for your film. Make friends (CinemaRoll, 2009).”

Along with similar advantages as a blog or YouTube, Facebook has grown to possess some advantages of its own. Facebook is assumingly relevant, as the site has an extremely diverse audience. It is highly likely that the audience on the site would have commonality to the audience being sought after for the YMCA film. With millions of active users every day, Facebook has become an incredibly effective method to utilize word-of-mouth marketing—since the basis of the site is socialization, it is a natural progression for information to be passed from one person to the next.

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Know Your Surroundings

September 17, 2010 · Filed under Digital Storytelling · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Week Four—Client Marketplace

  • Examine the marketplace for your client

I. Describe the appeal to different age groups and foreign markets

Generally speaking, the YMCA’s appeal essentially spans across all age group segments—from children to seniors—one major reason is due to the healthy lifestyle movement:

Healthy Lifestyle Movement— Around 65% of people in the U.S. are overweight, and 30% are obese (over 60 million), according to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Obesity Society states that obesity “has reached epidemic proportions in the United States” (www.obesity.org). An immense weight loss industry – $60 billion in 2008 revenue – has responded by offering a wide array of solutions. The industry itself is broken down into nine market segments (Profile America, 2009). There are “51 million people in the United States who are dieting to lose or control their weight (American Demographics, 2001).”

As separate age groups, the YMCA offers programs and services that specifically appeal to each, including but not limited to—

Children—pre-school, daycare, day camp, summer camps, sports leagues

Adults—fitness center, aerobics/other fitness classes, pool, availability of children’s services, sports leagues

Seniors—Silver Sneakers program, fitness center, pool, fellowship activities

The goal of the YMCA, however, is to reposition itself as a mission-centered organization, rather than the traditional program-centered focus. It is vitally important for members and non-members to understand that the YMCA is not only a “swim and gym” but a full-functioning hub for services to the children, families and the community.

In regard to “foreign markets”—the YMCA of Kanawha Valley was founded to serve the members of the local community, which includes an eight county radius around the main Charleston facility.

There are YMCAs across the country and into other countries that could be considered “foreign”, however, those individuals are not the target audience of the YMCA of Kanawha Valley.

II. Recent successes

Despite the economic situation, the YMCA has managed to round out 2010 with a positive outlook for organizational operations—some of the recent successes of the YMCA include: Spirit of the Valley campaign, facility restoration, departmental restructuring, budget reallocation, increased marketing efforts and marketing/rebranding efforts.

III. What does the target want? Why should they connect with your client?

Due to the fact that target audiences for the YMCA span many different demographic, psychographic and economic segments, generalizations are made to most successfully answer these questions.

Target wants: clean and safe facility, friendly staff, value-added services, quality programs, community minded initiatives, a sense of belonging, volunteer opportunities and a worthy cause to support

Why connect? The hope for the final product of the YMCA commercial for this course will be to engage viewers and reintroduce the organization, its mission and its service to the community.

Specifically, the target viewers should connect with the YMCA based on this project concept because it aims to expand knowledge about programs and services offered at the YMCA while at the same time bringing understanding of the new mission-centered focus. The focus solidifies the organizations’ commitment to children, families and the community—and hopes to gain support through showing viewers the true mission of the YMCA.

Utilizing the relatable human element of involvement, service and betterment of the community will motivate interest and an increased, deeper engagement with the YMCA.

 IV. Genre

In researching the various genres of films, uncovered is a list developed by the AMC Filmsite that outlines the main genres and sub-genres. “These genres are broad enough to accommodate practically any film ever made, although film categories can never be precise. By isolating the various elements in a film and categorizing them in genres, it is possible to easily evaluate a film within its genre and allow for meaningful comparisons and some judgments on greatness (Dirks, 2010).” 

Based upon the definitions presented, the closest appropriate genre for my presentation would be a drama.

Drama— Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction (Dirks, 2010).

 Sub-genre would be a docu-drama.

Docu-drama—A combination of a documentary and drama. Recalling accounts from real-life experiences,  places, people and events make it a documentary; the depiction of realistic settings, life situations and stories make it a drama.

“Throughout its long history, drama documentary has been one of film and television’s most popular, but also most controversial, forms. Film and program makers are attracted to its combination of the languages of drama and documentary either to dramatize research, thereby stimulating interest in issues through empathy with characters and narrative, or to apply documentary style to fictional content, thereby enhancing its immediacy (Rolinson, 2010).”

 

After choosing a genre to define your work, answer the following questions for your project as compared to similar genre projects—

Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets; therefore, the generalization of the entire genre is incredibly difficult—thus, for our purposes, the sub-genre docu-drama will be the focus.

Setting [genre]

1. Where and when does the typical project take place? Typically, docu-dramas are set in historical scenes. Typically they are reconstructed previously witnessed or researched events.
2. What visual images are associated with the typical setting? Again, typically docu-dramas are reconstructed previously witnessed or researched events—thus, the scenes are recreated to mimic or dramatize the actual setting as it was originally, and/or as it is currently.

Characters [genre]

3. Describe the typical heroes or protagonists.While there is typically no standard hero or protagonist in docu-dramas, as the storyline depends on the situation—a drama characteristically has a protagonist that experiences significant action throughout the entirety of the film. There is normally an introduction to the main character, explanation of current situation/back story, conflict and resolution.
4. What types of supporting characters would you expect to find? Supporting characters in docu-dramas are typically those who are closest to, in direct connection with or are in close conflict with the main character. Again, depending on the situation, the supporting characters can play a number of roles in a film.
5. Are the roles in these generally more masculine or feminine? In general, dramas tend to have a more masculine edge with a feminine appeal.

Plot [genre]

6. What are the conflicts you would expect to find in this genre? Naturally, the recreation of historical events, there is room for interpretation of certain elements of a storyline. One argument in defense of the drama documentary form is that documentary and drama cannot be viewed as mutually exclusive, since the assumption that documentary is objective and innately factual is misguided. If factual programming is itself subject to editorial decision-making and narrative organization, then drama cannot ‘corrupt’ documentary. (Rolinson, 2010)

7. Describe typical plot structures in this genre.

Freytag’s depiction of dramatic structure—

 

Iconography [genre]

8. What objects and images do you expect to see in a film of this genre? Identifiable individuals, specific and recognizable locations, dramatic reenactments and/or images of realistic action, direct interaction between narrator and camera, potential interviews, one-on-one conversations, and the like.

Mood/Tone [my project]

9. Is the typical project optimistic or pessimistic? Typical – pessimistic; Project – Optimistic
10. Light or dark? Light
11. Comedic or serious?  Serious
12. Eerie or wholesome? Wholesome

Cinematic Style [genre]


13. What are typical shots (framing) and camera movements? Slow and deliberate—talking heads and cut scenes.
14. What is the typical lighting like? Lighting should be used to portray the mood/tone of the project. Mainly rely on natural light for outdoor shots, uses of studio lighting for the talking heads and dramatic lighting for interviews.
15. What editing techniques are typically used? Primarily uses cut scenes, with some panning scenes.
16. How is sound typically utilized? Often, music is an integral part of the nature of this genre. Music is used to portray a mood and is likely to heighten emotion and help convey the tone and nature of the story.

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The Situation – Not the Jersey Shore Kind.

September 7, 2010 · Filed under Digital Storytelling · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Week Three – Script Treatment      

• Write a 2-3 page treatment—the treatment is the story written in text.      

• Should explain the basic story idea and plot, describe major scenes and develop main characters.    

Essentially, the script treatment provides a rough overview of the script and is stylistically similar to a short story—a summary, or synopsis of the script. 

According to one source (Scriptologist, 2006), when outlining your script treatment, you should list and describe the most important elements of your story, which are—     

a. The main conflict.   

b. The person, place, or thing that is the subject of your story.   

c. Each action sequence.   

d. The main characters.   

e. The climax, which is the confrontation between the hero and the villain.   

f. The resolution of the main conflict.   

Working title: Here for You   

Working tagline: Here…For Youth Development. For Healthy Living. For Social Responsibility…for You.   

Working call to action: Won’t you be here with us?      

      

a. The main conflict. Describe the problem faced by the characters.   

There are several initial possibilities for story conflict for the YMCA of Kanawha Valley—funding, volunteers needed, membership, overall involvement, brand loyalty, organizational teamwork and/or community involvement.At this point, the overall focus of the script is to evoke emotion and create a connection between the narrators and the viewers—to motivate participation with the YMCA.   

b. The person, place or thing that is the subject of your story. Define the subject of your story by asking yourself whether the main characters in your story experience conflict as a result of a person, place, or thing.    

The situation that is the subject of the story is the premise that without funding, support and community involvement, the future of the YMCA is unsure. The conflict arises in the need to interact with the public and motivate action toward programs and services without speaking in a desperate or needy voice. Ultimately, the YMCA must effectively communicate the importance of the YMCA in the community and for the community—and form and develop the relationships that will further the YMCA.    

c. Each action sequence. Define each main action sequence by describing the action that takes place, the location of the action, the characters involved, and the conflict.   

Overall, the conflict in the three scenes is the need for the main character to connect with and relate to the viewer by sharing personal experiences and positive associations with the YMCA. Essentially, the script is written as a PSA—an informative and engaging piece about the YMCA and its need for community support.   

  1.  
    1. For Youth Development—Child introduction, narrative with YMCA facility and programs in background. Foreground shows main character giving a 10-15 second monologue about the impact of the YMCA on their life. Scholarships and youth programs are the focus of this scene.
    2. For Healthy Living— Adult introduction, narrative with YMCA facility and programs in background. Foreground shows main character giving a 10-15 second monologue about the impact of the YMCA on their life. Coaching and sports leagues are the focus of this scene.
    3. For Social Responsibility— Senior citizen introduction, narrative with YMCA facility and programs in background. Foreground shows main character giving a 10-15 second monologue about the impact of the YMCA on their life. Community service and volunteerism are the focus of this scene.

d. The main characters. Define the main characters by describing their physical appearance, the way they interact with other characters, the role they play in the story, and their family history.    

  1.  
    1. For Youth Development—Child Narrator. Female. Age 6-8. Red hair. Freckles. Quirky smile. Missing front tooth. Funny and energetic. Single-parent family.
    2. For Healthy Living— Adult Narrator. Male. Age 22-30. Brown hair, athletic build. Attractive and charismatic. Popular with friends. Oldest of 3 brothers.
    3. For Social Responsibility— Senior citizen Narrator. Female. Age 65-75. Gray or graying hair. Soft spoken and kind hearted. Approachable, experienced and pleasant. A retired widow with 3 children and 5 grandchildren.

e. The climax. Define the climax by describing the action sequence in which your hero and villain have a final confrontation with each other. The confrontation can be a physical and/or verbal battle. (Luttrell, n.d.)    

The style of the script makes it slightly difficult to outline a definite climax.   

In relation to the YMCA PSA-style script, the climax of the script will be the introduction and process of learning the characters lives and involvement with the YMCA.   

The script will play out with each narrator intermittently sharing their stories and personal interactions with the YMCA.   

f. The resolution. Define the resolution by describing what happens to your main characters after the climax.    

Again, the style of the script makes it a bit difficult to outline a “climax” and resolution necessarily. Since the goal of the script is to inform and involve, the resolution will ultimately be in the call to action portion of the film.   

A website and phone number will be featured as methods of communication between the viewer and the YMCA. Ultimately, measurement and effectiveness can be evaluated by rate of response.

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When Agencies Play Nice – I’m Lovin’ It

May 12, 2010 · Filed under Emerging Media · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

An expansion on my most recent discussion on the re-released and reinvented “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign by McDonald’s—

An additional article featured on AdAge online brought out some interesting points in regard to the campaign and the collaborative effort that was required to produce such a campaign.

McDonald’s employs a number of different agencies to aid in the global marketing and advertising efforts—and being a part of the industry—I certainly understand the difficulty on getting everyone on board (ego’s included) to collaborate on a project like the new “I’m Lovin’ It”.

As the article humorously points out, “What’s it take to get cut-throat agency competitors to play nice? A $2 billion global budget doesn’t hurt. It’s at least one reason McDonald’s can get its agencies to collaborate on strategy and major messaging before releasing them to develop their own spins.”

Mary Dillion, McDonald’s Global CMO, who orchestrated the reinvention of the iconic “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign extends a great deal of credit to the ability of the companies’ agencies to collaborate— In fact, the company sees that collaboration as crucial to its advertising success.

“I really fundamentally believe that our advertising wouldn’t be where it was today if our agencies didn’t collaborate,” explains CMO Mary Dillon said in an interview. And while it’s not always easy, she said, “They know that’s what the expectation is.”

Even in the midst of some extraordinary original and reinvented campaigns, analysts are hesitant to credit marketing for McDonald’s sales and market-share gains over the past several years.

David Palmer of UBS pointed to the chain’s operational improvements and increasing variety of better-for-you products that have overcome veto votes, particularly from women. He did acknowledge, though, that the chain does some of the industry’s most-effective marketing, and the idea of it getting better is “a little scary.” Stumbles from rivals Burger King and Wendy’s in recent years, he said, demonstrate just how easy it is to make big mistakes.

“McDonald’s is receptive to great creativity,” said Mark Tutssel, global chief creative officer, Leo Burnett. “And when you have a client demanding great creativity, demanding the bar is raised higher, of course it attracts the finest talent.”

McDonald’s marketing success has stemmed from forming clear expectations that motivate creative innovation that encourages collaboration.

 

Making the big kids play nice has resulted in a big impact for McDonald’s marketing.

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I’m Lovin’ It – Version 2.0

May 10, 2010 · Filed under Emerging Media · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

As has been discussed all semester long, the increased popularity and capabilities that come along with emerging media has brought on some major players to its roster.  This is just one of those instances.

America’s favorite fast food chain, McDonald’s recently re-released its epic “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign.  After more than a year of extensive consumer research, McDonald’s global chief marketing officer unveiled an updated campaign.

“I’m Lovin’ It” is now the company’s most successful and longest-running campaign, surpassing the iconic “You deserve a break today,” and “Food, Folks and Fun,” both in longevity and sales gains. The tagline actually predates CMO Mary Dillon, who took over McDonald’s global marketing in 2005. “If you look at the business success, there would have been no reason” for changing the campaign, she said in a subsequent interview, “except for ego.”

The company uses emerging media, combined with fresh creative in aim to make a significant mark on global business. The campaign seeks to bring out the company and to more effectively utilize a more consistent point-of-view and to celebrate “uniquely McDonald’s moments” all while creating advertising with a purpose—to build the brand and generate sales.

The new advertising is expected to raise the bar on McDonald’s global creative efforts. The work also appears to be using a more humorous and emotional-driven approach on a better grounded storyline— the messages “communicate key points like family bonding and fun with food. It also helps with unenviable task of getting marketing up to speed with the “I’m Lovin’ It” promise.”

A couple of those “McDonald’s moments” can be seen here:

I can say about McDonald’s 2.0—“I’m lovin’ it!”

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Who Do You Trust? You Might Be Surprised…

May 5, 2010 · Filed under E-mail Marketing, Emerging Media, Interactive Advertising, Mobile Marketing, Word of Mouth (WOM) Strategies · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My last post on privacy made me realize, that although I and others have concerns about the security of our information, at the same time we are so willing to trust the same media that we attempt to protect ourselves from.

We as consumers sign up for mailing lists, memberships, submit our credit card information over the Internet for purchases and give out our contact information for many different reasons…

…and while emerging media are certainly “emerging” in regard to consumer trust, overwhelmingly, more traditional media and methods still reign supreme –surprising to me, even with the younger “Internet” generation.

According to the results of a Nielsen Online survey, published by eMarketer, word-of-mouth still proves to be the most powerful and trusted method to reach 20-and-under Internet-using consumers, with ninety-two percent (92%) indicating “completely” or “somewhat”.

Not surprising is the impact that the Internet is playing in establishing trust for these young users—consumer opinions posted online (72%), brand Web sites (69%) and e-mails signed up for (67%).

What is surprising to me is the part that traditional media still plays for these younger consumers—newspaper article, ads in newspapers, brand sponsorships, ads in magazines, on TV and on the radio all had a significant response.

The platforms that really need to work on establishing credibility and earning consumer trust are the media we’ve been discussing throughout this course—emerging media. Online video ads, banner ads and mobile text advertising were among the lowest trusted forms of advertising tactics.

It could be that these methods are simply newer, so it will take more time to gain trust and establish a trustworthy reputation.

So the next time you entertain advertising, on whatever medium it rears its head, ask yourself…who do you trust? You might be surprised.

 ***

 The marketing moral of this story—regardless the force of the “new media” movement, do not completely abandon traditional media for advertising your product or brand, instead integrate newer, emerging methods with those proven traditional media to create a well-balanced mix for a comprehensive integrated marketing campaign.

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Privacy, please!?

May 3, 2010 · Filed under Emerging Media, Interactive Advertising, Social Media · Tagged , , , , , , , ,

As with any medium, there are potential disadvantages to utilizing certain platforms for marketing, including: the possibility for inconsistent experience (online vs. offline), damage of brand integrity or reputation, not a “fit” for a particular brand, improper use/underused of medium and of course privacy/security issues.

There is a potential for failure of security in both personal and business context. Businesses and individuals alike have the possibility of being over-exposed and under-protected when utilizing social media sites—stricter guidelines could help to regulate information sharing.

And for those of you (including myself) that are avid users of the social networking site, Facebook—our privacy may be threatened now, more than ever.

Facebook launched its “Open Graph Platform” that extends the social net’s web across third-party sites—Facebook now automatically shares user data with third-party sites, as well displaying user activities on those sites in the Facebook environment.

And this privacy threat is certainly not being taken lightly—by users or by Washington.

In fact, two days after the site announced its changes, Sen. Charles Schumer wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission in response to the launch of new features on Facebook. Schumer said new privacy policies limit the ability of users to control how much about themselves gets shared with sites that partner with Facebook. He said the FTC should set guidelines for how social networking sites use and share private information.” Vera-Phillips, 2010

And it’s not just Facebook—a federal regulation would extend to all online advertising. Online advertising is facing the very real possibility that it will be regulated in the form of privacy legislation that would require publishers, networks or marketers to receive specific consent to use consumer data for a variety of purposes on the web.

Some 20% of online ads are targeted based on online behavior, but that’s just the beginning. A new generation of companies, including Facebook and Twitter as well as Foursquare and GroupOn, are on the cusp of a new wave of location-based marketing. It’s not about where you are or where you’ve been on the web — it’s about who you are connected to and where you’ve shopped, dined out or just browsed shelves. Learmonth, 2010

 Also from the article:

The company sits on one of the most valuable troves of user information; not just interests but human connections — thought to be the single most powerful determinant of consumer behavior. Facebook has, in many ways, been circumspect about monetizing that and generally puts the consumer experience first in everything it does. But for a company all about sharing information, it has shown remarkable clumsiness in communicating what it is doing to the public.

In fact, Facebook’s creator Mark Zuckerberg has been quoted saying that the site basically offers little to no privacy. Todd Dagres, partner at Spark Capital noted “The Facebook presumption is that privacy is not important — so if you really want privacy you have to opt-in and turn the dials to get the privacy you want. The issue becomes when people have different expectations of what privacy is.”

One former Schumer staffer told Ad Age the senator has a strong bias toward “opt-in” — that consumers should be asked before their data is used.

That said, the thought is that Mr. Schumer may determine that in the open web, there’s no expectation of privacy, and that “opt-in” presents too big a burden on the emerging online ad industry.

I’m more concerned about my rights then the “burden” it might cause to the online ad and social networking industries—as a service to its participants, privacy should be respected and rights upheld.

What do you think?

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Having Words…Words with Friends

April 29, 2010 · Filed under Emerging Media, Interactive Advertising, Mobile Marketing, Social Media, Word of Mouth (WOM) Strategies · Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Technological capabilities and restrictions, along with evolving audience preferences and media capabilities has required marketers’ to find new ways to reach target audiences, has led them to explore the possibilities with mobile marketing and advertising.

“Mobile advertising remains one of the most exciting developments in the mobile market today and one which opens the door for marketers to target their customers and prospects more directly through an entirely new channel…” –Cristy Burgan, VP of Marketing Solutions, Acision

One form of mobile advertising is advergames –also known as mobile games, which are designed “to feature specific products in starring roles. The primary benefit of advergames is that they can create extremely immersive experiences for key demographic audiences.” WVU, 2010

- As discussed in a previous post on mobile marketing - Marketing on a mobile phone has become increasingly popular since the introduction of SMS (Short Message Service). And mobile marketing has certainly reached beyond kids and teens: “Given a choice of consumer electronic devices, boomer Internet users overwhelmingly chose PCs over mobile phones (51% and 21%, respectively), while the opposite was true for Gen Y and Gen X (47% and 38%), according to Accenture.” FuorDigital, 2008

More than a year after launch, there are 74,031 apps in the iPhone App store. Not exclusive to the Apple iPhone either, makers of competitor “smart phones” now offer a variety of cellular phone models that allow users to access cell phone applications.

Recently, I have become acquainted a cell phone application that has integrated mobile gaming, advertising and socialization through the Scrabble-inspired game, Words with Friends—that many call “the best word game application of today”.

The best part for marketers is that the FREE version allows third party advertisements to interrupt game play.

For users, compared to its competition, Words with Friends has some distinct differences and some lacking features; however, the speed of the application and the bounteous player group are enough to create a buzz and explode its popularity.

After registering (presumably for database marketing purposes), you are matched with a random opponent or you play a friend. Game play is essentially identical to Scrabble—creating words and scoring points.

Push notifications, offered by the mobile nature of the game, contribute to the active nature of the applications’ users—it creates a fast-pace that induces users to move quickly.

To be honest, I never really liked Scrabble—but for some reason, I cannot get enough of Words with Friends. 

If you can’t wait to try it, my player name is MizzBowe—it could be fun…and I need the practice.

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