+1 Friend Requests, +1 Events November 21, 2010

+1 for Social Media

This week, a new social media platform has emerged. It’s called Path, a photo-based social networking site that limits your connections to a mere 50 friends and whose name is very poorly optimized for search engines. The creators of Path have chosen to make these connection limitations because they believe that the more exclusive a person’s network is, the more willing they are to share any and all content. That sounds about right. Essentially, they want you to feel safe uploading anything you want. Unfortunately, it’s only available as an iPhone app, which means I cannot test drive it. Non-iphone users can create an account online. But that’s it. No photo uploading or anything. I’ve reserved my username already. Now I just have to wait until it comes to webOS or can be used online.

This is a very interesting concept for social media, for sure. But how will they monetize the site in the future? Without extensive user profile information or text-based content, it’ll be difficult to do any segmenting or targeting. I suppose these are features that can be rolled out with ease in the future. And I’m probably thinking way too far into the future. First, Path needs to gain a solid user base. Second, they need to really promote a worry-free content-sharing environment (something that is not prevalent on Facebook or Twitter). Should they achieve these two, I would say that they are on the right path to becoming a major player in the social media space. If not, then… eh.

(photo via psfk)

+1 for Facebook

We all know Facebook is king of social media, but with their announcement of a new “messages” feature, it seems like they are one step closer to becoming king of the internet. The new feature will give all users an @facebook.com email address and though Zuckerberg emphasizes that it is neither email nor an email killer, it sure does sound like encroachment into Google’s territory. Should Google be worried? I think in the long run, yes, they should. It’s easier for Facebook to do what Google does than it is for Google to do what Facebook has done. It’s kind of like McDonald’s v. Starbucks where Facebook is McDonald’s and Google is Starbucks.

In the short run, it seems like the feature is getting negative responses. But honestly Monica, how many times does Facebook roll out a new feature without the masses whining and complaining about how much they hate it? Give it a couple months and people will eventually just adapt – since we’re all too addicted to quit and all. We’re all eventually going to give Facebook more content that they can use to better target us. The ad industry should be ecstatic.

This Week in Aducation – Google, Google, & RockMEHlt. November 12, 2010

This week is a fair amount of Google news. Other than their recent announcement to increase employee salaries by 10% or their supposed $3.6M incentive to prevent one engineer from going to Facebook, how else did Google make headlines this week?

First of all, Wired reported that Google inadvertently caused the accidental invasion of Costa Rica by Nicaragua. Apparently, the border between the two countries was off by up to 2.7 kilometers. But they’ve since addressed the issue. What this means for marketing? Location-based services, however devised, should consider that technology to this day is still not 100% accurate. [Wired]

Google continues to fight with Facebook about data protectionism. Facebook allows you to import your Google contacts, but that there is no way to export this data out is Google’s complaint. The search engine giant blocks Facebook’s access  to this feature, Facebook finds their way around it, and Google issues a statement of disappointment. [Tech Crunch]

Non-Google related news:

A new Chromium-based browser called RockMelt debuted in limited beta this past week, which is a pretty brave move considering the browser space is already really crowded. What, then, is RockMelt’s differentiator? Well, it integrates your Facebook profile into the left sidebar of the browser, allowing you to update your status without actually having to go to the Facebook website. You can chat, tweet, and even pin RSS feeds to the right side. One big downside? You have to give RockMelt complete access to your Facebook account, which is potentially very scary. The feedback from tech reviewers is mostly lukewarm. That it’s similar to another browser called Flock, which most people probably don’t even know about, is just one more strike against this launch. Heavy social media users may make use of this, but that’s probably it. [PC World]

This Week in Aducation (Halloweekend) October 29, 2010

Facebook gets even creepier with a new feature: Friendship Pages! With this, you can check out each and every interaction two people have with each other on the social networking site so long as you are friends with one of them and have access to the other’s full profile. Ex-boy/girlfriend jealousies? Hindsight is 20/20. Now, you can confirm all of your suspicions!

Beloved Walmart launched a new promotion on Facebook a la the Groupon business model.  If enough people “LIKE” a certain promo, then Walmart will make it available to the public.

In the mobile phone sphere, Apple becomes the fourth largest phone vendor nudging past Rim, and Mount Everest gets 3G.

Then, the following video went viral this week. A woman appears to be talking on a cell phone in an extras clip from “The Circus,” the 1928 Charlie Chaplin film. Social media has called her the Time Traveler.

Reports though are saying that she was using a 1924 Siemens hearing aid.

Finally, iPhone on Verizon in 2011??

That’s all. Happy Halloween to everyone out there! Be safe this weekend!

This week in Aducation September 17, 2010

Global branding consultancy Interbrand releases its annual list of top 100 global brands. The top 10 are Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Google, GE, McDonald’s, Intel, Nokia, Disney, and HP in that order. Not surprisingly, huge tech giants dominate the list. Toyoto (#11) fell out of the top 10 this year, but that’s what happens when you have faulty brakes. Apple saw the largest increase in brand value (#17 with a 37% increase YOY) while BP saw the greatest decrease (they’re not even top 100 anymore).

Austin-based tech giant Dell is reviewing for creative agencies, which means Y&R San Francisco could be losing a $4.5 billion account. This is really bad news for the agency as they just recently lost Dr. Pepper Snapple Group’s 7Up brand to New York’s mcgarrybowen without a review.

Going back to Google, this bit of news was marked as “BREAKING NEWS” by cnet.com: GOOGLE JUST SAW A DECREASE IN MARKET SHARE according to marketing research company ComScore. Their share dropped to 65.4% from 65.8% between July and August. WHO TOOK THAT .4% FROM GOOGLE? Yahoo! And Microsoft, apparently.

In the social media space, we’ve got this thing called Diaspora (www.joindiaspora.com), which could maybe potentially compete as a legit rival to Facebook. Two of Diaspora’s differentiators: it focuses on maintaining users’ privacies, and it’s open source. I want in.

ID of the Week!

MORPH by Nokia

Nokia has concepted this phone of the future that they call “Morph,” which shows how nanotechnology can possibility affect the design and utility of future mobile communication devices. Though it looks really really cool, this is light years into the future.

Media as Usual – February 12th February 12, 2010

Just in case you missed it, here’s all the Super Bowl ads nicely compiled from last weekend. On with the news….

• With Buzz, Google Plunges Into Social Networking: This week Google introduced Buzz, a social media addition to Gmail accounts that lets users post photos, videos, and updates. Buzz doesn’t seem very innovative, taking a direct stab at its top two competitors: Facebook, with the ability to “comment” and “like” posts and Twitter, with its constant update of statuses from people that you “follow”.  Buzz seems a bit intrusive to email accounts, even though you can choose to hide Buzz just like with Google Chat. When you log onto Facebook or Twitter, it’s with the specific intent to engage in social networking. When you log onto Gmail, intent is to send or read an email. It will be interesting to see if Google Buzz catches on with consumers and if “Buzzing” becomes an adjective, as “Facebooking” or “Tweeting” have become common dialog today. In addition, Buzz has had a slew of privacy concerns, namely the fact that your followers are made public to anyone that views your profile. It seems that people who use Buzz will be existing Gmail users, as it’s unlikely that users would convert to Gmail simply to share updates with people that they are probably already connecting with on Facebook/Twitter.

• Why You Need a Strategy for Social Media: If anyone hasn’t gotten the message already, social media is here to stay. Sites such as Facebook have established themselves as legitimate media channels that should be part of any comprehensive marketing campaign. Integration is the key when it comes to working with social media. Ads must be strategically placed and content carefully planned out to align with the overall campaign or brand strategy. Social media can do a lot, but the vast majority of U.S. marketing executives say that their main reason for using social media is brand building and awareness. Ultimately purchases aren’t being made through social media, but first impressions are. High quality, informative ads and product pages are necessary for consumers to continue with their purchase decision process and go on a website or visit a store.

• Mobile Marketers Demand ROI: Mobile marketing is still uncharted territory for many companies. It’s not that companies are opposed to mobile marketing, but rather that they don’t know how to measure mobile campaign effectiveness. Like online advertising, one of the main goals of mobile marketing is to build company awareness and generate leads. Increase in customers or sales can certainly be one measure of mobile success, but it’s difficult to credit one media source in particular for an increase. While today’s consumer increasingly wants their information on the go, I can’t see many who would conduct an extensive product search for hours on end from their mobile device. Mobile marketing should give consumers general product or brand highlights, leaving other channels for more specific information. Mobile advertising also presents its own set of issues as banner ads are even smaller and more intrusive. Consumers are generally unwilling to click on ads on their laptops, even less so on their mobile devices.