Business spend on Web 2.0 set to grow
It’s official. A recent Forrester report shows social networking tools will become a priority spend for businesses next year. Read the full article here.
Not sure on the ‘Disneyland for web nerds’ tag attached to the conference in San Francisco this week. Getting a bit bored of web technology supposedly being the niche domain of a few tech bods when every kid under-18 (in the Western World) uses the web as part of everyday life; with many starting to do their own app development as well.
Did we ever go through a stage where telecoms entrepreneurs were called geeks? Maybe I just need to lighten up 
[Thanks to stedavies for chucking this on Twitter]
Where’s Waldo 2.0?
I don’t come from a search marketing background but it’s something I like learning about right now as it so clearly crosses over into social media comms campaigns. Something else I like, is having misguided, tech dummy ideas about technology I think should exist or be invented. I’m going to create a new category for these posts called “Random Thoughts” so you can just skip through reading them, or, if you are a brand which has already invented this technology you can come and tell me about it.
So….I live in an area of London where there are a lot of tourists. Just walking to and from things in my area frequently puts me in the path of camera toting tourists and, although it demonstrates an intolerant part of my nature, I often don’t pause every metre so they get the perfect shot. Admittedly it’s not only recently I’ve developed this “outta the way tourists” attitude. Living in Rome, Bath and Wellington N.Z. during filming of Lord of the Rings may have finely tuned this approach.
But, I was thinking the other day “I wonder how many people have photos with me striding through the background?” Then I thought if I can Google my name and see how many people have mentioned me, why shouldn’t I be able to search for how many people have photographed me? There are probably a lot of places I’m captured on camera which I don’t know about, or where my friends haven’t told me they’ve posted the photos.
Reviving London’s West End: Social media at play?
Having somehow found myself watching ‘I’d do anything’, a TV show which aims to find the next music theatre stars of Oliver, I realised this canny idea to reinvigorate the West End is built on the same principles which have driven new media growth.
While the reality TV star search shows, and recent PR stunt which saw the new Sound of Music lead play a crossover character in TV soap Hollyoaks, weren’t web based or digital ideas they did bring social media elements into play.
Interactivity, creating a deeper audience engagement, and challenging the traditional process to provide a platform for new talent, are key differentiation points for web based media.
TV is still an extremely powerful medium but Lord Lloyd-Webber* has adapted his ability to appeal to popular culture to innovate, from Broadway to broadcast.
*I’m aware ideas like this are usually collaborative rather than solely attributable to an individual but nevertheless think his willingness to even try it shows great understanding of the opps where it might otherwise have been seen as too risky.
There are three types of mobile consumers…
…apparently. And, they’ve been handily labelled by InsightExpress as Mobile Pioneers, Mobile Wannabes and Mobile Traditionalists. I started thinking about the consumers behind the research. Below is my summary of the 3 types and my creative interpretation of which TV characters they might be.
Mobile Pioneers (15% of the market):
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Uses advanced features weekly e.g. internet, unique apps, video
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1/3 have a Smartphone
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Most likely to have thrown their mobile phone at someone or something
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Could be: Russell Owen from Hollyoaks. He fits the demographic and often seems to be both on his mobile and angry/stressed (could trigger a throw?). I’m not sure if it’s a Smartphone but generally other characters refer to how “smart” Russell is so I assume that would at least qualify him as ahead of peers. Russ was married but is currently single making him a close match for this category
Mobile Wannabes (25% of the market):
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Less than half are under 35
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Only 5% own a Smartphone
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Has tried some advanced features and would like to use them more
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Not as likely as the Mobile Pioneers to have walked into something while using device
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30% of Pioneers had taken a picture of a product using their phone and sent it to someone to get an opinion
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Could be: Kitty Walker from Brothers and Sisters. Kitty is 39 so pretty much sitting on the age cusp of this group. She looks confident on her Blackberry but I’m sure would be interested to try more advanced features. Kitty asks her family about everything before she makes a decision, so I think she’d take pics and send them round the Walker family. I still have an image of her as Ally McBeal so was troubled on the “walking in to things” criteria but think Kitty just scrapes in this category
Mobile Traditionalists (60% of the market):
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Most are over 35
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Mainly use phone for calls and texting
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Almost 1/4 have added ICE (in case of emergency) to their contacts list
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Could be: Dan Scott from One Tree Hill. He uses his mobile to call people and receive sinister texts from someone who knows he killed his brother (Dan thinks it actually *is* his dead brother texting him but I don’t think that qualifies as a mobile app). I’m pretty certain ICE would appeal to Dan as when he was having a heart attack his ex-wife threw his mobile at him and told him to call for help himself (N.B. If she threw the mobile could that class her as a Mobile Pioneer???)
2008 digital trends
Ok, so it’s quite late in the year to be saying “check out these predictions” but I came across e-consultancy’s list of trends to watch out for this year and thought it was a great round-up of what people are saying right now.
Here’s the full list “Ten digital trends to watch out for in 2008“
And the ten are:
The new pay-for-engagement models
With this Friday the traditional date for women to ask men to get engaged I took a look at the recent ‘pay-for-engagement’ models, announced by Microsoft and VideoEgg, where advertisers pay based on reader response to an ad (tenuous I know, but just go with it).
While it’s good to see developing technology which continues to delve into consumer behaviour online and prove the value of online advertising (e.g. see an ad for a travel agent, book a holiday with that travel agent a week later) I still feel introducing this model isn’t dealing with a major issue when it comes to online advertising – why is online advertising not as valuable as traditional advertising?
I may be over-simplifying the situation but I still can’t fathom why an advertiser is happy to pay for brand exposure via a billboard consumers walk past but not necessarily a website where it will be virtually “walked past”.
Online advertising campaigns already have quite stringent metrics relating to response e.g. watching a video, click through to the site, register etc. But it also has some other tricks over the billboard. For example the ability to do demographic targeting means that the advertiser is only paying for the ad to be seen by their ideal audience. Billboards tend to cost a lot of money due to the volume of people who will see them but how many of them are likely to be target consumers for the advertiser?
The Microsoft advertising model will show advertisers a great deal of value in their ad spend – so could we expect that this advertising would then be charged at a premium rate if the model proves itself?
Any thoughts on why online advertising won’t be taken seriously very welcome here.
About:
I'm Darika Ahrens and I help brands develop marketing strategies for Social Media. My background is in Public Relations for companies like Orange, Microsoft, Philips, HTC, Yell.com, and Estee Lauder. I've worked with and trained some of the UK's top agencies.