From the (in)frequency of my posts, it is clear that I have become the casual blogger I said I would try to avoid becoming. The good news is that I’ll try and put a few posts together on a regular basis; primarily as a resource for myself and anyone else who may find my random musings useful.
To that end, I recently ran across a great resource from Bazzaarvoice of Industry Statistics for anyone doing Integrated Marketing Communication research. This site has a collection of marketing-related statistics segmented by area of interest, such as:
• Word of Mouth (WOM)
• Consumer Demand Ratings
• Marketer Demand Ratings
• Conversion Results
• User-generated Content
• Advertising and Media
• Search
I found Bazzarvoice to be a great resource and they also have a Blog you may wish to review, as well. The Industry Statistics information proved beneficial when researching secondary sources for a recent assignment in my IMC Audience Insight class this term. The 2007 International Journal of Market Research review titled, “The Web of Insights. The Art and Practice of Webnography,” by Angali Puri, of AC Neilson India, was an interesting and insightful discussion on the topic of Webnography. Remember, I said interesting, not exciting.
Webnography, sometimes referred to as consumer generated media, really is a way marketers can gather consumer insights by studying the “natural conversations” found within various Internet forums, such as Blogs, newsgroups, social networking sites, message boards, or any other forum where consumer conversations are taking place online.
Like many marketers that are interested in how the Internet is changing the marketing communications landscape, the web, as an object of study for market research, presents an abundance of information that will enhance the future of product and service development and help marketers develop their integrated marketing communication strategies. Our challenge is to learn the best way to leverage and use that information.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Emerging Media, User reviews and B-to-B Web sites
If you conduct a search on Web 2.0 elements and B2B web sites, you may think that the only thing B-to-B marketers should be concerned with is SEO; it’s all about search. While this is an important element, I think there are some other important aspects of Web 2.0 and emerging media that B-to-B marketers should consider.
An interesting study cited on many blogs and articles is the B2B Usability Study in 2006 by Jakob Neilson. In this study, 179 websites were reviewed and some interesting results were found:
• Only 58% of users were able to accomplish a desired task
• B-to-B sites often prevent users from getting the information they need, usually due to poor design or excessive registration barriers
• Poor design and navigation keep customers segmented within a site and unable to easily find what they need
• One of the most important piece of information sought by visitors of B-to-B sites, pricing, is rarely made available.
Now I recognize that Mr. Neilson’s study was conducted in 2006, but I think that many sites could use to follow the guidance that this study offers. But what if your site has done a good job with SEO, navigation, pricing, and some of the other usability elements necessary to provide a good user experience? Are there any other emerging media tools a marketer can employ to improve a user’s experience?
I have a couple of recommendations. Some are not new. One is controversial. Let’s start with the safe ones.
As I mentioned in my post on Effective Use of Media on Websites, online demos and customer case studies using streaming media and video can bring any B-to-B site to life. Other elements such as live customer service chat, the ability to sign up for newsletters, blogs, and other tools that facilitate customer communication can provide the necessary tools that enable customers to stay engaged over the longer life cycles that are typical of B-to-B sales.
So those are safe elements, but what about the considering the “third rail” of B-to-B web site marketing: the user review?
User reviews have been considered as a form of crowdsourcing for building content on sites such as ebay, Travelocity, and Trip Advisor. But for some reason, many marketers seem to fear this idea of empowering actual user comments (and even product ratings) on their site. This strikes me odd because we often strive to place customer testimonials and actual quotes as window dressing to our product pages. Are user reviews that different?
Yes, but they are feared because we can’t control the message.
On the B2Blog, Dave J. posted on the same subject, Why not allow user reviews on your B2B website? On his post he and Julie Powers propose why some business web sites are reluctant to place user reviews on their site. Interestingly enough, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of studies that support the practice.
But many B-to-B sites, especially software download sites, offer user ratings of the products they carry. If a possible bad review can end up on those sites, is it any worse if it is on your own? I suppose that some can argue that it would be. However, if one of the purposes of using Web 2.0 tools is to facilitate ways to enhance communications with and among customers, it just seems to make sense that B-to-B companies will someday embrace the practice, just as sites like Download.com, Amazon.com, and other sites do.
I haven’t built this approach into my own web design strategies, but I’m getting close. I just think it is a great way to help customers in a sea of marketing noise.
An interesting study cited on many blogs and articles is the B2B Usability Study in 2006 by Jakob Neilson. In this study, 179 websites were reviewed and some interesting results were found:
• Only 58% of users were able to accomplish a desired task
• B-to-B sites often prevent users from getting the information they need, usually due to poor design or excessive registration barriers
• Poor design and navigation keep customers segmented within a site and unable to easily find what they need
• One of the most important piece of information sought by visitors of B-to-B sites, pricing, is rarely made available.
Now I recognize that Mr. Neilson’s study was conducted in 2006, but I think that many sites could use to follow the guidance that this study offers. But what if your site has done a good job with SEO, navigation, pricing, and some of the other usability elements necessary to provide a good user experience? Are there any other emerging media tools a marketer can employ to improve a user’s experience?
I have a couple of recommendations. Some are not new. One is controversial. Let’s start with the safe ones.
As I mentioned in my post on Effective Use of Media on Websites, online demos and customer case studies using streaming media and video can bring any B-to-B site to life. Other elements such as live customer service chat, the ability to sign up for newsletters, blogs, and other tools that facilitate customer communication can provide the necessary tools that enable customers to stay engaged over the longer life cycles that are typical of B-to-B sales.
So those are safe elements, but what about the considering the “third rail” of B-to-B web site marketing: the user review?
User reviews have been considered as a form of crowdsourcing for building content on sites such as ebay, Travelocity, and Trip Advisor. But for some reason, many marketers seem to fear this idea of empowering actual user comments (and even product ratings) on their site. This strikes me odd because we often strive to place customer testimonials and actual quotes as window dressing to our product pages. Are user reviews that different?
Yes, but they are feared because we can’t control the message.
On the B2Blog, Dave J. posted on the same subject, Why not allow user reviews on your B2B website? On his post he and Julie Powers propose why some business web sites are reluctant to place user reviews on their site. Interestingly enough, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of studies that support the practice.
But many B-to-B sites, especially software download sites, offer user ratings of the products they carry. If a possible bad review can end up on those sites, is it any worse if it is on your own? I suppose that some can argue that it would be. However, if one of the purposes of using Web 2.0 tools is to facilitate ways to enhance communications with and among customers, it just seems to make sense that B-to-B companies will someday embrace the practice, just as sites like Download.com, Amazon.com, and other sites do.
I haven’t built this approach into my own web design strategies, but I’m getting close. I just think it is a great way to help customers in a sea of marketing noise.
Is Crowdsourcing A New Name for An Old Approach?
Crowdsourcing is a term coined in 2006 by Wired magazine writer Jeff Howe to refer to a business model where content is created by a large number of users not formally affiliated with a company. Another explanation of the concept was summarized by Josh Catone where he describes crowdsourcing as an “application that uses that knowledge and talents of many to create content and solve problems.” Both authors cite examples of successful crowdsourcing tactics from Google, to ebay, and arguably Wikipedia. If I reach back to my days of studying sociology, someone may try to argue that using such an approach can run the risk of Group Think. But I think we’re talking apples and oranges in this case.
For IMC professionals, the concept of crowdsourcing is to use it as a marketing tool; both for gathering new ideas about product needs and leveraging awareness of products through these “crowds” that share a common interest and passion. And businesses seem to be taking a growing interest in the practice. As early as 2006, a Business Week article on the subject cited Getty Images’ purchase of the amateur photographer web site, iStockphoto, for $50 million or IBM’s use of the practice to collect 37,000 new ideas in a 72-hour time frame.
But is crowdsourcing just a new twist on the beta community concept found in the software industry? In some ways I see parallels between the two. In my experience, many product features have been created from beta user communities before a product is released for general availability. Once released, that same community can be quick to find areas of possible improvement. While crowdsourcing suggests that consumers create content, in the beta community environment, users do the same. In both cases, problems are being solved through active engagements.
The crowdsourcing article in Business Week lists 4 guidelines to follow for a successful crowdsourcing practice, one of which is to build communities into social networks. Under this guideline, the author cites how software company, Cambrian House, uses “royalty points” to reward product contributions that can be cashed in for stock. While I think that is particular example is an innovative approach, it doesn’t sound any different from the results companies can achieve through a robust beta community relationship.
Whether it is crowdsourcing or a beta community, the key is to build and then strengthen your relationships with a user community in order to harness their passion and feed new ideas to your organization. Understanding how to use both approaches can help a company stay competitive and relevant to your current an prospective customers.
For IMC professionals, the concept of crowdsourcing is to use it as a marketing tool; both for gathering new ideas about product needs and leveraging awareness of products through these “crowds” that share a common interest and passion. And businesses seem to be taking a growing interest in the practice. As early as 2006, a Business Week article on the subject cited Getty Images’ purchase of the amateur photographer web site, iStockphoto, for $50 million or IBM’s use of the practice to collect 37,000 new ideas in a 72-hour time frame.
But is crowdsourcing just a new twist on the beta community concept found in the software industry? In some ways I see parallels between the two. In my experience, many product features have been created from beta user communities before a product is released for general availability. Once released, that same community can be quick to find areas of possible improvement. While crowdsourcing suggests that consumers create content, in the beta community environment, users do the same. In both cases, problems are being solved through active engagements.
The crowdsourcing article in Business Week lists 4 guidelines to follow for a successful crowdsourcing practice, one of which is to build communities into social networks. Under this guideline, the author cites how software company, Cambrian House, uses “royalty points” to reward product contributions that can be cashed in for stock. While I think that is particular example is an innovative approach, it doesn’t sound any different from the results companies can achieve through a robust beta community relationship.
Whether it is crowdsourcing or a beta community, the key is to build and then strengthen your relationships with a user community in order to harness their passion and feed new ideas to your organization. Understanding how to use both approaches can help a company stay competitive and relevant to your current an prospective customers.
Social Media for B-to-B Marketers
Of the three most popular social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn), LinkedIn appears to be the most popular site for business professionals. Boasting more than 20 million professionals around the world and representing more than 150 industries, it can be a great networking tool. But can social networking sites be an effective component of the IMC mix?
For marketers wanting to reach the IT community, LinkedIn can be a very effective site. According to a Network World reader survey, 41% of the respondents said they used the site to cultivate business contacts. MySpace, Slashdot and Facebook were the other popular sites for more than 1 in 5 IT professionals. Forrester analyst, Rob Koplolwitz, who reviewed the survey results noted that IT professionals who use social networking sites are typically looking to build business contacts and learn about technology. That is an interesting point for B-to-B marketers trying to reach a very technical crowd.
I have recently noticed this trend by reviewing LinkedIn’s Answers tool. Viewers can review segments such as Technology, Sales and marketing, as well as other areas of interest. The technology area, for example, posts a wide variety of questions from members wanting to know things from the best CRM programs for small businesses to how will the recent HP announcement to acquire EDS impact the market.
Another important aspect where social media is impacting the business community is in the area customer service. And while customer service is not in the same discipline and marketing, there exists a symbiotic relationship between the two functions.
According to a recent study published by the Society for New Communication Research exploring the link between customer care and brand reputation in the age of social media, over 59% percent of respondents said they use social media to “vent” about customer care experiences. 81% of respondents also believe that blogs and other forums can give consumers a greater voice but sadly, only 33% believe that businesses take their opinions seriously.
For marketers, social media can be viewed as a dual-edged sword. But to build an effective Integrated Marketing Communications strategy, B-to-B marketers would be well served to embrace social media and leverage its potential.
For marketers wanting to reach the IT community, LinkedIn can be a very effective site. According to a Network World reader survey, 41% of the respondents said they used the site to cultivate business contacts. MySpace, Slashdot and Facebook were the other popular sites for more than 1 in 5 IT professionals. Forrester analyst, Rob Koplolwitz, who reviewed the survey results noted that IT professionals who use social networking sites are typically looking to build business contacts and learn about technology. That is an interesting point for B-to-B marketers trying to reach a very technical crowd.
I have recently noticed this trend by reviewing LinkedIn’s Answers tool. Viewers can review segments such as Technology, Sales and marketing, as well as other areas of interest. The technology area, for example, posts a wide variety of questions from members wanting to know things from the best CRM programs for small businesses to how will the recent HP announcement to acquire EDS impact the market.
Another important aspect where social media is impacting the business community is in the area customer service. And while customer service is not in the same discipline and marketing, there exists a symbiotic relationship between the two functions.
According to a recent study published by the Society for New Communication Research exploring the link between customer care and brand reputation in the age of social media, over 59% percent of respondents said they use social media to “vent” about customer care experiences. 81% of respondents also believe that blogs and other forums can give consumers a greater voice but sadly, only 33% believe that businesses take their opinions seriously.
For marketers, social media can be viewed as a dual-edged sword. But to build an effective Integrated Marketing Communications strategy, B-to-B marketers would be well served to embrace social media and leverage its potential.
Effective Use of Video on Websites
It’s always amazed me how many things exist in this world that I am not aware of until I have the need to find out about them. Researching a variety of topics this term for my emerging media class has shown me just how many aspects of emerging media tools are being used within the Integrated Marketing Communication discipline. Whether it is the growing use around mobile marketing or another topic I studied this term: Short Films.
I ran across films with elaborate productions, like those produced for Pirelli tires. One of their first films produced in 2006, was The Call, and starred John Malcovich and Naomi Campbell. It consumed 60 percent of Pirelli’s marketing budget that year according to reports and was used to set the stage for the company’s slogan, “Power is nothing without control.”
We reviewed a number of other short films from companies as varied as hotels, energy, soft drinks and automobiles. Some were short and to the point. Others didn’t seem to make a point. These short films lasted anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes and it got me thinking about how video can be used as an effective marketing communication tool to build online demos to help sell products, such as software.
According to a MarketingProfs article by Amy Gesenhues of Autodem, online demos can be an effective tool for customers still in the researching phase and should last in length from 3 to 6 minutes at max. From personal experience I would agree. A Marketing Sherpa Case Study on creating demos cited technical companies being successful with online demos lasting 10-15 minutes in length. Of course, the article qualified the times noting that content elements and audience target played an important role in establishing the right length of time to play a demo.
From my own experience, I know that videos can be some of the most accessed elements on a web site, but there are some key considerations that should be followed to be successful:
1) Make the videos easy to find. There is no point investing a lot of time and money on a video that visitors must hunt for to find.
2) Be sure to test your content with current customers or channel partners to be sure they are receiving the message you are intending to send.
3)Invest in making it look professional. Like the rest of your web site, if the quality is poor, chances are the prospect may infer that the quality of the product you are trying to sell is poor.
4) Find some videos that you like, and use them as templates to build the video you want for your own product or service.
Online demo videos, short films and live online demos are great uses of multimedia that provide another effective means to communicate with your customers.
I ran across films with elaborate productions, like those produced for Pirelli tires. One of their first films produced in 2006, was The Call, and starred John Malcovich and Naomi Campbell. It consumed 60 percent of Pirelli’s marketing budget that year according to reports and was used to set the stage for the company’s slogan, “Power is nothing without control.”
We reviewed a number of other short films from companies as varied as hotels, energy, soft drinks and automobiles. Some were short and to the point. Others didn’t seem to make a point. These short films lasted anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes and it got me thinking about how video can be used as an effective marketing communication tool to build online demos to help sell products, such as software.
According to a MarketingProfs article by Amy Gesenhues of Autodem, online demos can be an effective tool for customers still in the researching phase and should last in length from 3 to 6 minutes at max. From personal experience I would agree. A Marketing Sherpa Case Study on creating demos cited technical companies being successful with online demos lasting 10-15 minutes in length. Of course, the article qualified the times noting that content elements and audience target played an important role in establishing the right length of time to play a demo.
From my own experience, I know that videos can be some of the most accessed elements on a web site, but there are some key considerations that should be followed to be successful:
1) Make the videos easy to find. There is no point investing a lot of time and money on a video that visitors must hunt for to find.
2) Be sure to test your content with current customers or channel partners to be sure they are receiving the message you are intending to send.
3)Invest in making it look professional. Like the rest of your web site, if the quality is poor, chances are the prospect may infer that the quality of the product you are trying to sell is poor.
4) Find some videos that you like, and use them as templates to build the video you want for your own product or service.
Online demo videos, short films and live online demos are great uses of multimedia that provide another effective means to communicate with your customers.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Writing vs. Design: Seperate But Equal
In one of my classes this term on new/emerging media in the WVU IMC program, we were asked to review some articles from an interesting site: A List Apart. I was really interested in a particular article and had prepared my analysis only to find that another classmate had already selected the article by Derek Pawozek, blogging about how writing is an important element of a site’s overall design. Because I think writing is a critical element toward the overall success of a web site, particularly a B-to-B site, I thought I would share my thoughts anyway.
Mr. Pawozek’s article: Calling All Designers: Learn to Write, is an interesting piece that asserts that web site designers should play an active role in writing the content for a web site. As he puts it, “user experience isn’t just visual design.” I found this to be a particularly intriguing notion because I found myself agreeing in some ways with the premise of the article but felt he oversimplified the role of writing in web site design.
I have worked with many web site designers and admire their ability to bring the visual elements together to create an appealing structure that can help site visitors stay long enough to explore the content. I first learned about web site creation in 1998 from a really nice PhD-type when I worked at GTE (now Verizon). He was from the GTE Labs division and he taught me how to build a web page using HTML code. There were no easy WYSIWYG tools or web page design applications at that time. This was as basic as you can get. So I view web site design as a very special skill that cannot be overlooked. After all, how many times have you visited a site with a poor or overly basic, early 90’s design, and left it because the fact remains, many people judge a web site by its home page.
But I believe that for a B-to-B web site to be effective, you also need specialized writing skills because writing for SEO performance requires more than the creative flair that Mr. Pawozek notes. In fact, web site writing plays a key role that can impact two very important web site objectives: Communication and E-Commerce.
Communications Objectives
- Generating Awareness – Cleaver and innovative writing is one thing, but if you want to ensure your content is found you need to understand the importance of keyword density in SEO tactics.
- Distributing Information – If you information is dry and boring, it probably will not get read. This can be especially important if you use your web site as a main artery for your marketing communications.
- Creating and Maintaining a Strong Brand Image – What you say on your web site needs to be consistent with your company’s or product’s message points.
E-Commerce Objectives
- What do you want to accomplish? If the goal is selling a product, how you say it and understanding the language of your target audience is important.
But writing is an important aspect of a site’s ongoing evolution. And Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques have become an important specialization to be integrated within the site’s design elements.
So I agree with Mr. Pawozek’s assertion that writing should be just as important as the overall design itself, but I disagree that it should be left to the designer to also write for the site.
Here’s why:
I think a web site needs many “artisans” to be effective. From graphic design to SEO writing to achieve visual stimulation once you arrive at a site, but developed using page header layouts, effective meta tags, and key word density percentages that will help prospective customers find what you are selling.
Mr. Pawozek asserts that a designer’s creative elements should not just end at the visual but also extend to the writing of the site’s content. In essence he is saying that you could have a visually appealing and well designed site but if it’s not creatively written, you are doing a disservice to the site’s overall design. On that point I understand.
But where I think Mr. Pawozek is loosing me is that his examples of Flikr.com and photojojo are too narrow and deal with very specific areas of web site writing. I can tell you that taking his approach with a B-to-B, technology site may provide entertaining reading for some, but loose credibility with the technical targets a site must reach.
And I suppose that is my point. Web sites must be written for not only and audience but for their intended purpose. Who am I addressing? How will they find my site? These questions only scratch the surface when writing for a site.
In my opinion, blending the talents of graphic design and SEO content writers is the best possible solution. Many agencies can offer these talents. Some companies bring it in house. But to ask a web designer to also be an effective writer for today’s B-to-B web sites is asking for a rare breed. If you have such a person, hold on to them.
I know it is not uncommon for people to wear many hats at work today. But design and writing are two disciplines that are better left specialized, in my opinion.
Mr. Pawozek’s article: Calling All Designers: Learn to Write, is an interesting piece that asserts that web site designers should play an active role in writing the content for a web site. As he puts it, “user experience isn’t just visual design.” I found this to be a particularly intriguing notion because I found myself agreeing in some ways with the premise of the article but felt he oversimplified the role of writing in web site design.
I have worked with many web site designers and admire their ability to bring the visual elements together to create an appealing structure that can help site visitors stay long enough to explore the content. I first learned about web site creation in 1998 from a really nice PhD-type when I worked at GTE (now Verizon). He was from the GTE Labs division and he taught me how to build a web page using HTML code. There were no easy WYSIWYG tools or web page design applications at that time. This was as basic as you can get. So I view web site design as a very special skill that cannot be overlooked. After all, how many times have you visited a site with a poor or overly basic, early 90’s design, and left it because the fact remains, many people judge a web site by its home page.
But I believe that for a B-to-B web site to be effective, you also need specialized writing skills because writing for SEO performance requires more than the creative flair that Mr. Pawozek notes. In fact, web site writing plays a key role that can impact two very important web site objectives: Communication and E-Commerce.
Communications Objectives
- Generating Awareness – Cleaver and innovative writing is one thing, but if you want to ensure your content is found you need to understand the importance of keyword density in SEO tactics.
- Distributing Information – If you information is dry and boring, it probably will not get read. This can be especially important if you use your web site as a main artery for your marketing communications.
- Creating and Maintaining a Strong Brand Image – What you say on your web site needs to be consistent with your company’s or product’s message points.
E-Commerce Objectives
- What do you want to accomplish? If the goal is selling a product, how you say it and understanding the language of your target audience is important.
But writing is an important aspect of a site’s ongoing evolution. And Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques have become an important specialization to be integrated within the site’s design elements.
So I agree with Mr. Pawozek’s assertion that writing should be just as important as the overall design itself, but I disagree that it should be left to the designer to also write for the site.
Here’s why:
I think a web site needs many “artisans” to be effective. From graphic design to SEO writing to achieve visual stimulation once you arrive at a site, but developed using page header layouts, effective meta tags, and key word density percentages that will help prospective customers find what you are selling.
Mr. Pawozek asserts that a designer’s creative elements should not just end at the visual but also extend to the writing of the site’s content. In essence he is saying that you could have a visually appealing and well designed site but if it’s not creatively written, you are doing a disservice to the site’s overall design. On that point I understand.
But where I think Mr. Pawozek is loosing me is that his examples of Flikr.com and photojojo are too narrow and deal with very specific areas of web site writing. I can tell you that taking his approach with a B-to-B, technology site may provide entertaining reading for some, but loose credibility with the technical targets a site must reach.
And I suppose that is my point. Web sites must be written for not only and audience but for their intended purpose. Who am I addressing? How will they find my site? These questions only scratch the surface when writing for a site.
In my opinion, blending the talents of graphic design and SEO content writers is the best possible solution. Many agencies can offer these talents. Some companies bring it in house. But to ask a web designer to also be an effective writer for today’s B-to-B web sites is asking for a rare breed. If you have such a person, hold on to them.
I know it is not uncommon for people to wear many hats at work today. But design and writing are two disciplines that are better left specialized, in my opinion.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The Future of Mobile Marketing
Last week I had the opportunity to take my first trip to Europe. I traveled with colleagues to the UK, Italy and Germany to promote a new email security product designed to protect businesses from spam and other forms of malware. Although the trip was fast and furious, one of the things I really enjoyed was experiencing the different cultures and observing the ways in which our channel partners need to communicate and market products in their respective countries. Despite the differences I observed between the cities we visited, it was interesting to note how spam and other threats to email have grown to represent a common plague to legitimate email communications around the world.
During our presentations in Milan, our CEO talked about how the guys who designed the protocols and standards by which email is transmitted today never dreamed of it being hijacked by spam, viruses, botnets, and phishing schemes. What was once a trusted form of communication, has become a marketplace for Viagra sales, PayPal account “verifications,” and wealthy businessmen from Africa willing to offer “processing fees” to any kind soul willing to help them set-up a Western bank account. In fact, an October 2007 study by the email compliance and reputation management company, Habeas, reported on the growing levels of insecurity around email communications citing that 62 percent of its study respondents acknowledged concerns about becoming a victim of fraud or another form of cyber crime.
All of this got me thinking about the use of mobile marketing and how this growing form of marketing communication is ripe for abuse; just as the abuse of email has diminished trust of its users and increased the level of frustration for marketers.
During my trip to Milan, I had lunch with an Italian IT journalist who confirmed the growing use of mobile marketing in Italy. In fact, according to the 2007 mobile data report from m:metrics, Italy is the 3rd largest Western market receiving SMS ads at 51%, behind leader Spain (74%) and France (54%). As a point of reference, the US ranks last at 14%. The journalist told me that they believe the SMS marketing trend is dangerously close to becoming perceived as just another channel for spam senders if abuse grows in this medium. As an example, she reported that she is seeing more messages for offers from companies she is not familiar with and finds the solicitations extremely annoying.
But despite the potential for abuse, many marketers see mobility as the next frontier to reach millions of users via mobile gaming or SMS ads.
On Read Write Web, Josh Catone writes about the growth of location based mobile ads, which some argue, like Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, is the key to the growth of mobile advertising. Through the integration of GPS, companies will more easily be able to reach targets with relevant ads on a user’s mobile phone. Wow, imagine my relief knowing that soon I may receive a discount the next time I swing by to pick up my wife’s iced caramel macchiato at Starbucks!
Ah, but beware the hackers. Just leave it to some cyber-thugs to spoil the next best thing for marketers. And it appears that the trends are already happening. According to mobile security firm, Cloudmark, a recent study with YouGov found 66 percent of UK mobile users reported receiving spam with more than a third including a phishing link to a malicious web site. Cloudmark also noted that 40-50 percent of text messages in China and Japan are spam. Yikes!
There is no doubt that mobile marketing will grow, but exactly how effective it will be and if abuse will occur in the same fashion as it has with email remains to be seen. I will try and remain and optimist and not think that another marketing vehicle will be hijacked by the Dark Side, but the signs are not looking promising.
During our presentations in Milan, our CEO talked about how the guys who designed the protocols and standards by which email is transmitted today never dreamed of it being hijacked by spam, viruses, botnets, and phishing schemes. What was once a trusted form of communication, has become a marketplace for Viagra sales, PayPal account “verifications,” and wealthy businessmen from Africa willing to offer “processing fees” to any kind soul willing to help them set-up a Western bank account. In fact, an October 2007 study by the email compliance and reputation management company, Habeas, reported on the growing levels of insecurity around email communications citing that 62 percent of its study respondents acknowledged concerns about becoming a victim of fraud or another form of cyber crime.
All of this got me thinking about the use of mobile marketing and how this growing form of marketing communication is ripe for abuse; just as the abuse of email has diminished trust of its users and increased the level of frustration for marketers.
During my trip to Milan, I had lunch with an Italian IT journalist who confirmed the growing use of mobile marketing in Italy. In fact, according to the 2007 mobile data report from m:metrics, Italy is the 3rd largest Western market receiving SMS ads at 51%, behind leader Spain (74%) and France (54%). As a point of reference, the US ranks last at 14%. The journalist told me that they believe the SMS marketing trend is dangerously close to becoming perceived as just another channel for spam senders if abuse grows in this medium. As an example, she reported that she is seeing more messages for offers from companies she is not familiar with and finds the solicitations extremely annoying.
But despite the potential for abuse, many marketers see mobility as the next frontier to reach millions of users via mobile gaming or SMS ads.
On Read Write Web, Josh Catone writes about the growth of location based mobile ads, which some argue, like Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, is the key to the growth of mobile advertising. Through the integration of GPS, companies will more easily be able to reach targets with relevant ads on a user’s mobile phone. Wow, imagine my relief knowing that soon I may receive a discount the next time I swing by to pick up my wife’s iced caramel macchiato at Starbucks!
Ah, but beware the hackers. Just leave it to some cyber-thugs to spoil the next best thing for marketers. And it appears that the trends are already happening. According to mobile security firm, Cloudmark, a recent study with YouGov found 66 percent of UK mobile users reported receiving spam with more than a third including a phishing link to a malicious web site. Cloudmark also noted that 40-50 percent of text messages in China and Japan are spam. Yikes!
There is no doubt that mobile marketing will grow, but exactly how effective it will be and if abuse will occur in the same fashion as it has with email remains to be seen. I will try and remain and optimist and not think that another marketing vehicle will be hijacked by the Dark Side, but the signs are not looking promising.
Monday, April 7, 2008
What Ever Happened to Advergaming?
Whenever people talk about viral marketing, I always think back to the time I first heard the term, advergaming. It was 2002 and I was attending an IT Services Marketing Association (ITSMA) conference. One of the keynote speakers was a dynamic young marketer named Keith Ferrazzi. Mr. Ferrazzi was CEO of Ya Ya, LLC., a new company that was bringing marketing and gaming together in a whole new way. He told the story about this great new way to create brand exposure by developing games that enabled the consumer to both learn about a product while being entertained. He made a great a great case for this new media, and I was intrigued.
I’ll admit it, I’m no gamer. I’m either getting the snot knocked out of me by my 10 year-old in Wii Boxing or helplessly crashing my snow speeder into the ground, unable to save the Rebel Force from the Republic’s menacing AT-ATs in one of the many Star Wars games I also suck at.
But the mixture of adverting and video games is big business. And it has grown substantially since my first exposure to it in 2002. According to PQ Media, spending on advergaming in 2007 grew nearly 35% to $217 million.
For anyone not familiar with advergaming, I came across a pretty good explanation by Lee Ann Orbringer titled, How Advergaming Works. Essentially, advergaming mixes advertising with video games to create an experience that exposes the player to a brand within the context of a game. It is reported to date back to the 1980’s when it was first used by Kool-Aid and Pepsi to promote their products with games for the Atari 2600. However, New Jersey-based Skyworks Technologies claims to have pioneered advergaming through the creation of the first “portal” in 1996: the Lifesavers CandyStand. Candystand, now known as Wrigley’s Candystand, is teeming with all sorts of games and is a great example of how this type of new media has grown. And Sykworks has done a great job of creating games targeted at specific audience demographics.
But advergaming is not just for kids. Back in September 2004, an article by Jack Gordan in Electronic Retailer Magazine talked about how companies like Chrysler, Totoyta, and even the TV Series C.S.I. were all interjecting there brands into games for the Xbox and Xbox live service. And Sykworks has done a great job of creating games targeted at specific audience demographics, such as adult male and female audiences.
And advergaming is not going away. In his article, Top 10 things NOT to do in advergaming, author John O’Green cites a Gartner research study that notes by 2010, as many as 20 percent of tier-one retailers will have a some form of marketing presence in online games and virtual worlds. For any marketer considering this form of IMC, Mr. O’Green has some great advice about the importance of planning and expectations if using and advergaming strategy.
Gone are the days of reading the back of the cereal box during breakfast. Now it’s hearing, “Dad, can I go to postpopia.com and play the game I just saw?” As a marketer, I think, wow, what a great use of technology. As a father, I’m a little torn by another way to keep my child glued to the computer screen. But for adults, well, we need all the practice we can get. So what does a little brand exposure hurt while playing a fun game of Skywork’s Hole in One Shootout!
For me, I guess it is back to the Wii Boxing and another workout trying to keep myself from getting knocked around by my 10 year-old.
I’ll admit it, I’m no gamer. I’m either getting the snot knocked out of me by my 10 year-old in Wii Boxing or helplessly crashing my snow speeder into the ground, unable to save the Rebel Force from the Republic’s menacing AT-ATs in one of the many Star Wars games I also suck at.
But the mixture of adverting and video games is big business. And it has grown substantially since my first exposure to it in 2002. According to PQ Media, spending on advergaming in 2007 grew nearly 35% to $217 million.
For anyone not familiar with advergaming, I came across a pretty good explanation by Lee Ann Orbringer titled, How Advergaming Works. Essentially, advergaming mixes advertising with video games to create an experience that exposes the player to a brand within the context of a game. It is reported to date back to the 1980’s when it was first used by Kool-Aid and Pepsi to promote their products with games for the Atari 2600. However, New Jersey-based Skyworks Technologies claims to have pioneered advergaming through the creation of the first “portal” in 1996: the Lifesavers CandyStand. Candystand, now known as Wrigley’s Candystand, is teeming with all sorts of games and is a great example of how this type of new media has grown. And Sykworks has done a great job of creating games targeted at specific audience demographics.
But advergaming is not just for kids. Back in September 2004, an article by Jack Gordan in Electronic Retailer Magazine talked about how companies like Chrysler, Totoyta, and even the TV Series C.S.I. were all interjecting there brands into games for the Xbox and Xbox live service. And Sykworks has done a great job of creating games targeted at specific audience demographics, such as adult male and female audiences.
And advergaming is not going away. In his article, Top 10 things NOT to do in advergaming, author John O’Green cites a Gartner research study that notes by 2010, as many as 20 percent of tier-one retailers will have a some form of marketing presence in online games and virtual worlds. For any marketer considering this form of IMC, Mr. O’Green has some great advice about the importance of planning and expectations if using and advergaming strategy.
Gone are the days of reading the back of the cereal box during breakfast. Now it’s hearing, “Dad, can I go to postpopia.com and play the game I just saw?” As a marketer, I think, wow, what a great use of technology. As a father, I’m a little torn by another way to keep my child glued to the computer screen. But for adults, well, we need all the practice we can get. So what does a little brand exposure hurt while playing a fun game of Skywork’s Hole in One Shootout!
For me, I guess it is back to the Wii Boxing and another workout trying to keep myself from getting knocked around by my 10 year-old.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
My New Blog and Getting Attention
OK, I Finally Did It!
I have never been one to start the year with resolutions. But I do keep goals in mind and for 2008, one of my goals was to start a Blog. So here I am.
It’s not exactly the way I imagined.
As a graduate student in West Virginia University’s Integrated Marketing Communications Program, the course I am taking this term is New Media. One of the requirements for the class… you guessed it – start a Blog.
I like to joke that I know enough to confuse myself and others, which I think is a fair statement. But working in the technology industry has given me a fair amount of exposure to new technologies (not to mention people who should be walking around with large brains similar to the Star Trek "Return To Tomorrow" episode; you know the one with the three super-intelligent alien survivors who lure the Enterprise to their dead planet). And the new technologies and new media used in IMC is what this Blog is about.
I was recently reviewing the use of banners and whether or not they can still be an effective IMC tool. Banners have come a long way from the static header and skyscraper versions to ones that show movement – and I’m not talking about the annoying dancing silhouettes. But the main point of the banner is to draw attention and get the visitor of one site, to take action and go to your site. And a couple of interesting banner technologies seem to be trying to do just that.
One interesting resource promoting talking banners is called BannerBots. They seem to be taking the e-surance cartoon approach. I suppose this minimizes costs of production from a more traditional actor talking in an ad. It seems interesting and weird at the same time. And for some, I’m sure the approach might be considered annoying. But the more interesting one I found is called Tailgate ™ and is developed by London based Fhlame Limited. This banner technology is billed as the “Worlds First fully transactional web 2.0 banner system.”
Tailgate is designed to enable ecommerce transactions directly from the banner itself and eliminating the need to send the visitor to another page of the banner. While this technology seems somewhat limited in its application, the idea is great and does the thing that all good web designs should do – minimize the number of clicks a visitor must take to complete an intended action.
I have never been one to start the year with resolutions. But I do keep goals in mind and for 2008, one of my goals was to start a Blog. So here I am.
It’s not exactly the way I imagined.
As a graduate student in West Virginia University’s Integrated Marketing Communications Program, the course I am taking this term is New Media. One of the requirements for the class… you guessed it – start a Blog.
I like to joke that I know enough to confuse myself and others, which I think is a fair statement. But working in the technology industry has given me a fair amount of exposure to new technologies (not to mention people who should be walking around with large brains similar to the Star Trek "Return To Tomorrow" episode; you know the one with the three super-intelligent alien survivors who lure the Enterprise to their dead planet). And the new technologies and new media used in IMC is what this Blog is about.
I was recently reviewing the use of banners and whether or not they can still be an effective IMC tool. Banners have come a long way from the static header and skyscraper versions to ones that show movement – and I’m not talking about the annoying dancing silhouettes. But the main point of the banner is to draw attention and get the visitor of one site, to take action and go to your site. And a couple of interesting banner technologies seem to be trying to do just that.
One interesting resource promoting talking banners is called BannerBots. They seem to be taking the e-surance cartoon approach. I suppose this minimizes costs of production from a more traditional actor talking in an ad. It seems interesting and weird at the same time. And for some, I’m sure the approach might be considered annoying. But the more interesting one I found is called Tailgate ™ and is developed by London based Fhlame Limited. This banner technology is billed as the “Worlds First fully transactional web 2.0 banner system.”
Tailgate is designed to enable ecommerce transactions directly from the banner itself and eliminating the need to send the visitor to another page of the banner. While this technology seems somewhat limited in its application, the idea is great and does the thing that all good web designs should do – minimize the number of clicks a visitor must take to complete an intended action.
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