EDU Interactive » News

“Paranormal” Marketing

Melissa Lopez — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:08:36 +0000

It is refreshing to hear of the current success of the non-traditional marketing campaign Paramount Pictures has pursued for the new Independent Movie release, “Paranormal Activity”. Rather than developing a standard movie trailer and advertising widespread across various broadcast mediums, the marketing campaign has been made up of a grassroots campaign consisting of social media, limited showings and word-of-mouth fan buzz. It’s marketing slogan? “The first ever major film release demanded by you.” By engaging directly with the target viewers of this film, Paramount has broken box office records with the opening weekend, with approximately $7.1 million through the weekend, all for a film that cost roughly $11,000 to produce.

Fans hailed the film on Twitter, while other social media outlets urged consumers to visit www.paranormalmovie.com to have people urge their local theaters to showcase the film. You Tube was used to engage with the fans and to continue to encourage them to spread the word on the film.

The film has been sold as an “experience”, rather than just a movie. Paramount’s experience has ultimately led them to the bank. Another case in point that showcases the power of WOM and social media.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/12/paranormal.activity.movie/index.html

Facebook Allies with Nielsen to Provide Ad Measurement

Jen Lawrence — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:19:53 +0000

Facebook announced this week its partnership with Nielsen to provide ad measurement to advertisers. The product, Nielsen BrandLift, is expected to prove the performance of Facebook display ads. The information will be gathered using surveys that will ask users about their attitudes and purchase intent based on display ads that run throughout Facebook. The surveys will appear on Facebook’s homepage in the same space where sponsored messages currently are. The goal is to have a look and feel that fits within the existing Facebook experience. The frequency of the surveys will be closely monitored. Nielsen BrandLift will launch in the U.S. first with select advertisers and then roll out to all Facebook partners. According to comScore, Facebook pulled a 9.1% share of display ad views in the U.S. in July, landing behind Yahoo but ahead of AOL and Microsoft. I am very interested to see what sort of quantifiable results they report because it will allow me to better evaluate placements on Facebook. Social networking sites accounted for more than 20% of ads viewed online, with MySpace and Facebook accounting for 80% of them. We know there has been a shift in user behavior online and it is only fitting that we begin accurately measuring performance as we do with other leading content sites.

http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/entry/45288/facebook-allies-with-nielsen-to-provide-ad-measurement

Bing Gaining Momentum

Jen Lawrence — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:06:29 +0000

According to Nielsen, Microsoft’s Bing grew 22% in August, increasing it’s share of searches to 10.7%. To many critics surprise, it appears as though Microsoft has reinvented its search business. Taking advantage of the recent merger with Yahoo, the two search engines now provide close to 27% of all searches, pleading their case to be included into marketer’s campaigns. These finding indicate that Bing’s massive marketing campaign was successful by resulting in a boost. Will Bing’s novelty wear off, or has it become a real competitor in the space? I guess only time will tell. What are your predictions?

Google Wave

Brad Dierking — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:03:39 +0000

Coming later this year, Google Wave is an open-source communication and collaboration tool that pushes the limits of what is possible in a web browser. After having recently received a developer account for Google Wave, I watched the Google Wave Developer Preview on YouTube again. At just over 80 minutes, the presentation is lengthy for the average user, so I created quick links below to jump right to some of the main points.

Why go to the movie theaters when you can watch on YouTube?

Leann Freeman — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:01:35 +0000

YouTube began as a place where people could post home-made videos, but now it has become increasingly aggressive to promote more viewers and advertisers with striking deals to host movies and television shows. YouTube is now emerging as a big competitor to entertainment companies such as Blockbuster Inc., Netflix, iTunes and Amazon.com Inc.

Google Inc.’s YouTube is in the process of discussing with major movie studios ways they can stream movies on a rental basis. YouTube is talking with Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, Sony Corp, Time Warner Inc. and a few others about charging for new titles on the YouTube site. In some cases, these titles might be available on the site the same day that the movie comes out on DVD.

For Hollywood, this move could represent a big step in attempt to offset its dwindling DVD sales with online revenue. Movie studios have been pursing these kind of deals, as revenue from DVD sales has fallen more rapidly than they have anticipated. Studio revenue from DVD sales would fall by about $850 million this year to $12.9 billion.

YouTube and the studios are still debating how this whole process is going to work and how much revenue YouTube is going to give the studios. Under current plans, 10,000 Google employees will test the service for a period of three months starting in September, but the trial has been postponed as negotiations drag on.

Many consumers are not too trilled at watching a full-length movie on a computer screen, but if you think about it, it might be worth it. The price would be about par with On-Demand movies from your TV and you could watch your computer screen anywhere at any time, not just from your home television. This could be the next big online revenue center for advertisers and entertainment businesses.

Wikipedia Attempting to Improve Site Relevancy

Jill Bruckart — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:50:49 +0000

With the surge in user-generated content on the internet, it is oftentimes difficult to decipher if what you are reading online is, in fact, accurate. Personally, if I am on a site where other visitors to the site are able to add content simply if they have internet connection, I am typically very reluctant to deem what I am reading as factual and would certainly check other sources to verify what I was reading is correct information.

Wikipedia has long sought criticism because of the ease ability to add/use vandalism, bias and misinformation freely on the site.

Researchers from the Wiki Lab at the University of California Santa Cruz have developed a system called WikiTrust that will help visitors to the site decipher whether or not the information consumed is relevant and reliable. The system developed (which, by the way, is optional to use) will color code every word of the encyclopedia based on the reliability of its author and the length of time the content has been on the page. If the “trust tab” has been clicked, this tool has any text from questionable sources start out with a bright orange background, while text from trusted authors gets a lighter shade. As more people view and edit the new text, it gradually gains more “trust” and turns from orange to white. The authors creditability is determined by using an algorithm that calculates their reputation from the lifespan of their past contributions.

Where you should be cautious is that WikiTrust can “detect” questionable content, but this does not mean that it measures “truth.” Trustworthiness is determined by the number of people that agree with a certain passage of text. There is also the option to flag content as unreliable, if questionable or controversial content is added and supported.

This new system is a step in the right direction. Although it is not completely accurate, it does help eliminate the authors who are not providing applicable and worthy information to the site. Ultimately, the site will prove to be a more reputable source of information with this feature implemented.

Read Full Article

Gap Drops TV Campaign and Allocates Dollars to Social Media

Jen Lawrence — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:39:19 +0000

I have to say I was surprised to hear that Gap will not be advertising its new denim line on-air in any capacity. The brand has been known for some of its past TV commercials so I think this shift is really confirming the new direction of advertising. The new ad campaign “Born to Fit” will be placing a significant emphasis on online advertising and social media, specifically facebook. Caroline Tall recently wrote a blog post about the Gap’s facebook page and how it landed on Creativity Online’s top 20 list. The Facebook page will act as the centerpiece for the online campaign, all initiatives will drive consumers to their page where they can view video, upload their own photos, etc. What I found the most interesting is that they have set no numerical benchmarks to determine success, but will look at “how much consumers interact with the brand” to gauge ROI. The Gap has struggled with their brand for some time; however, by shifting direction and focusing on emerging social marketing and online media initiatives that allow for audience interaction, Gap is beginning to reposition themselves again as a leader in the industry.

http://www.clickz.com/3634707

Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Brad Dierking — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:55:36 +0000

It’s no secret that Microsoft dominates the productivity suite market. Free alternatives exist that many people are still unaware of. In these recessionary times, the appeal of “free” software is stronger than ever. Today I am going to focus on my two favorites – OpenOffice.org and Google Docs. Both products can read and write the native Microsoft Office formats, making migration easier than ever.

OpenOffice.org remains the most popular open source answer to Microsoft’s ubiquitous Office suite. OpenOffice.org is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. Many of the components are designed to mirror those available in Microsoft Office. It supports the OpenDocument standard for data interchange as its default file format, as well as Microsoft Office ‘97-2003 formats – among many others and can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.

OpenOffice.org is based on StarOffice, an office suite developed by StarDivision acquired by Sun Microsystems in August 1999. The source code of the suite was released in July 2000 with the aim of reducing the dominant market share of Microsoft Office by providing a free, open and high-quality alternative to users. OpenOffice.org is a free software, available under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). The project and software are informally referred to as OpenOffice, but this term is a trademark held by another party requiring the project to adopt OpenOffice.org as its formal name.

Google Docs handles the nuts and bolts of daily office work, such as composing and editing text documents, crunching numbers in a spreadsheet, and creating slide show presentations. It can read and write the native Microsoft Office formats so you can share files with co-workers and friends. This free online service conveniently lets you do your work anywhere and collaborate with other users. Google Docs requires no software installation or additional hardware, resulting in tremendous time and cost savings for businesses.

Google Docs is compatible with all of the most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc. The familiar desktop feel makes editing a breeze. Multiple people can view and make changes at the same time. There’s an on-screen chat window for spreadsheets, and document revisions show you exactly who changed what, and when. Viewing a presentation together is a breeze, as anyone joined in a presentation can automatically follow along with the presenter.

Creating Effective Facebook Pages: Gap’s “Born to Fit” Case Study

Caroline Tall — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:16:35 +0000

Every week, advertising publication Creativity Online delivers a weekly round-up of the top 20 latest and greatest creative marketing campaigns. This week, Creativity Online released its current AdCritic Top 20 list with the Gap “Born to Fit” campaign situated at number one: http://borntofit.com. The Facebook hub for Gap’s “Born to Fit” 1969 premium jeans, the website provides an excellent example of how to execute an effective Facebook Page to promote a product or service.

Here’s a breakdown of just what makes this campaign so compelling, using Facebook Page management strategies utilized by EDU Interactive and Castle Advertising as a guideline:

Strong Vanity URL

Facebook recently launched the ability to create a unique vanity URL for Facebook profiles and company pages. In the Gap: Born to Fit campaign, Gap capitalized on this opportunity and opted to use the campaign tagline as the URL. The result: A short, memorable URL that simultaneously creates brand reinforcement, authentically represents the company and enhances SEO.

Specific Landing Page for Non-Fans

Currently, Facebook Pages are set up so that the “Wall” tab is the point of entry for all fans when visiting the page. However, Facebook allows company pages to choose which tab to use as a point of entry for all non-fans. In the case of Gap, the “Born to Fit” tab is set as the landing page for all non-fans, thus exposing all new visitors to the latest Gap promotion.

Fan Interaction

You’ve heard the phrase– “Social marketing is about building relationships.” In the “Born to Fit” campaign, Gap puts this adage into practice by encouraging fan interaction through a variety of methods. Visitors can trade fashion tips in a discussion forum under the “Style Tips” tab. Visitors can create their own “Born to” Gap ads and share their own styles through Polyvore, an online image-mixing app. And visitors can also view videos featuring designer Patrick Robinson and Gap models about what they were “born to do.” By providing value back to the customer, the Gap “Born to Fit” campaign facilitates buzz and awareness, builds consumer loyalty and reinforces branding.

Cross-Promotion

On the main page, the Gap Facebook hub makes excellent use of cross-promotion by featuring the Facebook pages of sister companies Banana Republic, Me&Ro, Piperlime, Old Navy and Athleta in the “Favorite Pages” box. In addition, viewers are invited to further delve into the brand by following Gap on Twitter, checking out the YouTube channel and downloading Gap’s latest iPhone app.

With 332,360 fans and counting, the Gap “Born to Fit” campaign is clearly yielding excellent results for the company. And the website not only produces results, but does so in a fun, engaging manner that creates brand loyal customers. What are some of YOUR favorite company Facebook Pages?

The Social Marketing Manager

Maybritt Haeling — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:36:36 +0000

We all know that social web matters to businesses, but many companies are struggling to find ways to jump in and figure out who is going to manage it. The social web allows businesses to engage and develop relationships with customers – to share opionions, feedback, knowledge, and hold conversations. But immediacy is at the heart of the social web, especially when it comes to defusing any negative buzz in the online space. It’s imperative to find and/or hire people who are willing to make participating in the social networks one of their number one priorities. Here are some helpful skills that a social marketing manager must have:

1) Understand how people interact, network and talk in the social space

2) Strategically build optimized profiles on key, appropriate sites

3) Know where the brand’s customer hangs out, and how to speak with them depending on the channel

4) Listen more than s/he talks. It’s about tracking and learning from the conversational flow.

5) Be alert to opportunities, ideas and suggestions that can lead to desirable new products or innovative changes to current ones.