Red Bull's YouTube Series

"After flying to an altitude of 39,045 meters (128,100 feet) in a helium-filled balloon, Felix Baumgartner completed a record breaking jump for the ages from the edge of space, exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket-powered airplane," goes the YouTube post.  "Felix reached a maximum of speed of 1,342.8 km/h (833mph) through the near vacuum of the stratosphere before being slowed by the atmosphere later during his 4:20 minute long freefall....Experience the world of Red Bull like you have never seen it before. With the best action sports clips on the web and YouTube exclusive series, prepare for your "stoke factor" to be at an all time high. Red Bull on Facebook: http://win.gs/redbullfb Red Bull on Twitter: http://win.gs/redbulltwitter Subscribe to Red Bull on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=redbull"

Just four days after Red Bull posted this video, it had more than 20 million views.

By the way, this is the last post for the semester.

Coke and P&G Angry about No-Track Default of IE 10

"Association of National Advertisers CEO Bob Liodice hasn't been shy about expressing his opposition to Microsoft's coming Internet Explorer 10 web browser, which will ship with a 'do-not-' feature as a default setting. The browser 'will likely cause irreparable damage to the advertising industry,' he said at the ANA annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., last week," according to Advertising Age. "But while the ANA has been forceful in its opposition to Microsoft's approach, the individual members of the organization had varied views on the issue, and while most said they support the ANA's position, the bigger issue they see is confusion it creates for consumers.
Wendy Clark, senior VP-integrated marketing communications and capabilities at Coca-Cola, said brands, including Microsoft, shouldn't be assuming choices for consumers. 'All we want is an opportunity for consumers to make their own choice rather than have the choice made for them.' Read more.

Ford's Social Media Strategy

"This is the keynote presentation from Scott Monty (Head of Social Media @Ford) at the 2009 OMMA Global conference in New York on September 21. It tells the story of Ford’s social media experience and highlights the key elements that make them one of the top companies using social media," notes Digital Buzz. "Ford’s Social Media Strategy is simple 'to humanize the company by connecting consumers with Ford employees and with each other when possible, providing value in the process' and when executed with creativity and passion like most of their campaigns so far, can deliver incredible results." Read more.

Yahoo Bing Outperforms Google

"Microsoft on its Bing Ads blog is still buzzing over last week's Global Search Advertising Trends Report from Kenshoo, which recommended the Yahoo! Bing Network (YBN) as a 'must buy,' suggesting the YBN should be considered the 'first place resources are allocated and maximized.'" So goes a post on Marketing Vox. "The research found that the YBN consistently outperformed Google in paid search campaign return on ad spend (ROAS). ROAS was almost 30% higher than that of Google in Q3 2012, and the YBN click-through rate (CTR) was 29% higher." Read more.

Impact of Rich Media Ads

"One thing that's become apparent throughout this growing stage is that interactive display ads outperform static display ads. Rich media ads provide six times higher engagement rates and are much better at capturing your audience's attention. On top of this, rich ads offer more than 150 measurable elements so that you can track what's working and what's not," according to a ClickZ post. "Brands that use interactive, rich media ads see a 300 percent to 1,000 percent increase in ad interactions. That's one of the reasons that probably explains why the use of video in online advertising is predicted to grow by 55 percent in the U.S. by 2016." Read more.

How 10 Companies Use the New Twitter Profiles

"On September 18, Twitter announced an addition to its profiles for both consumers and brands. The header photo complements background images and avatars to let people show their personalities with Twitter profiles. Many brands using the platform for social media marketing moved quickly to integrate header photos into their campaigns," according to Brafton News. "The capability has been live for about one month, and Brafton has seen some interesting images included to increase visibility and improve brand perception on Twitter." The report notes 10 examples of companies working header photos into their social strategies. Read more.

Search Advertising Still on Top

"The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released its first half of 2012 Internet Advertising Revenue Report conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and it is good reading," according to Marketing Pilgrim. "Considering our audience it will please you to know that despite cries of the death of SEO and the move to social leaving all other ad forms behind, search still accounts for 47% of the ad revenue from the Internet space as measured in this report. The report states ‘Search revenues totaled $4.1 billion in Q2 2012, up 17% from Q2 2011, when Search totaled $3.5 billion’. Sounds healthy to me." Read more and see the charts.

Mobile advertising, while having a great deal of potential, accounts for only 4% of the money spent on interactive (Internet) advertising. Remember this when writing your reports.

Tweet if You Like Mercedes

"Did everyone catch the Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race back in February this year?" That's the question from a Digital Buzz post. "Well, they were a few days late due to some bad weather, but they made it through and here is the campaign case study to prove it was a big success. The campaign had almost 30,000 active participants with over 72,000 Facebook Fans and 77,000 Twitter Followers who generated over 150,000+ tweets to power the cars. The campaign videos generated about 2 million views, while the twitter reach pushed over the 25 million mark." Read more.

Shaming People to Vote

"The campaigns have planted software known as cookies on voters’ computers to see if they frequent evangelical or erotic Web sites for clues to their moral perspectives," reports the New York Times. "Voters who visit religious Web sites might be greeted with religion-friendly messages when they return to mittromney.com or barackobama.com. The campaigns’ consultants have run experiments to determine if embarrassing someone for not voting by sending letters to their neighbors or posting their voting histories online is effective." Read more.

The Tip of Nike's Marketing Iceberg

1. "Nike is doing something a little different with projection mapping for the new Jordan Melo M8 shoe, this time throwing in water, in fact the whole thing is projected onto water fountains, which perfectly complement the movement and desired effects to create something pretty special for your eyes," reports Digital Buzz. "Sure, there isn’t any interactivity as we’ve seen of late, but the water really changes the game!" Read more. What amounts to a promo or advertisement has generated slightly fewer than 150,000 views.

2. ClickZ notes that "Nike and Adidas definitely get digital marketing...Those are the conclusions of a new report from New York-based digital consultancy L2...[It], in conjunction with the NYU Stern School of Business, recently released its first digital ranking of the sportswear industry...Nike and Adidas, the top-two ranked companies, were ranked in the "genius" level by L2." Read more.

3. "Sportswear maker Nike has extended its Nike Training Club program to mobile to target active women on the go," reports Mobile Marketer. "Nike agency R/GA, New York, created a Nike Training Club iPhone application that complements the wired Web site at http://www.nikewomen.com. The app was already among the top 10 on Apple's "What's Hot" section for iPhone apps a few weeks ago. 'It's actually a trend that we'll see more of,' said Richard Ting, executive creative director and vice president of mobile and emerging platforms at R/GA, an Interpublic Group interactive marketing agency in New York." Read more.

4. "Ten years ago, Nike spent 55 percent of its advertising budget on traditional media. This year that figure is down to 33 percent according to a story in the New York Times," goes the post on Sundog Interactive. "In the last 20 years, Nike has gone from its renowned 'Revolution' TV campaign in 1987 introducing its AirMax shoes (I’ve bought AirMax running shoes ever since), to another revolutionary approach today that substantially alters the way it approaches advertising and marketing. Nike has re-channelled large amounts of budget from traditional media, to instead connecting with the customer via the Internet and in-person events." Read more.

Keywords: Nike+"Digital Marketing", Nike+"Interactive Marketing".

Unilever's Digital Marketing Program

• "Dove's "evolution" video in 2006 generated hundreds of millions of viral views and received many creative awards. The parent company's evolution has been a bit rockier," reports Advertising Age. "Unilever had some digital successes on other products, too, but results were far from universal. So in early 2008, the company sent U.S. media executive Babs Rangaiah to London to help build a digital capability that was truly global. The appointments of Paul Polman as CEO a year later and of Keith Weed as chief marketing officer in 2010 meant more senior leaders committed to ramping up digital." Read more.
• "As internet users increasingly ignore static banner ads, marketers are producing more interactive creative units that encourage users to get involved with the product," notes Smarter Investing Covestor. "Here's a brilliant one incorporating game mechanics that's the talk of the marketing crowd today. It's from premium ice cream maker Magnum, a Unilever (NYSE: UN) brand." Read more.
• Chief Marketer notes that "Unilever has extended its series of Webisodes for its I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray. This one, including six animated Webisodes and one TV spot, plays off the presidential campaign. The latest storyline features 'Spraychel' in her quest to be president of the fridge. But Spraychel’s opponent, 'Maxwell Butterman' tries to block her effort with his stance on old-fashioned ways of eating." Read more.
• "In early 2010, Unilever launched a campaign 
• on Facebook to distribute samples of its new 
• Marmite Cereal Bar and to drive awareness of 
• the new product," goes a report from Facebook Ads. "As part of raising awareness, 
• the company also sought to increase the number 
• of users who connected to the Marmite Cereal 
• Bars Facebook Page, the free public profile that 
• enables companies to share their business and 
• products with Facebook users on an ongoing 
• basis. The activity on Facebook was part of an 
• integrated campaign that included print media to 
• raise awareness as well as additional sampling 
• initiatives through digital Transvision screens and 
• escalator panels." Read more.
• Keywords used in the search: Unilever "Digital Marketing", Unilever "Interactive Marketing". Another one: Unilever "Internet Marketing". 

The Tips of Coke's Internet Marketing Iceberg

• "Coca-Cola has struck a global partnership with Spotify that is set to help both brands expand around the world, and will produce a Coke app based on the music service in time for the Olympics," according to Brand Republic. Read more.
• Mobile Marketer reports that "Coca-Cola Co. continues to roll out applications for both smartphones and tablets in various markets as a key element of its global consumer engagement strategy, a company executive revealed." Read more.
• "Coca-Cola has marked its 50 millionth Facebook 'Like' with a new campaign, drawing upon its social media fan base to identifying simple ways to ‘make the world a happier place’. Coca-Cola will identify individuals developing ideas that enable people to become more active, give to others, be social or engage in other activities associated with increased happiness. These creators will then collaborate with Coca-Cola and its Facebook community to develop ideas that help spread happiness around the world." That's the word from Digital Strategy Consulting. Read more.
• See a Coke Zero slide show about a portion of its digital marketing campaign.
• Three years ago, Coke decided to make the digital realm its realm. Pop Sop reports that "Coca-Cola is planning to change a digital marketing strategy evolving into content management 'a far more aggressive digital presence,' – Coke’s top marketer Joseph Tripodi said." Read more.

Maturing Facebook Strategies

"As Facebook marketing matures, so should strategies and best practices for plotting investment," reports Advertising Age. "Winning strategies will look very different in 2013 from previous years. Now that many brands have acquired sizable 'fan' bases, the focus is on leveraging Facebook's new ad products to grow loyalty and retention." Read more.

2012 Presidential Election Gets Social

"In 2012, it is not enough for candidates to shake some hands, kiss a baby or two and run some TV ads. They also need to be posting funny little animations on the blogging site Tumblr," starts a New York Times post. "If the presidential campaigns of 2008 were dipping a toe into social media like Facebook and Twitter, their 2012 versions are well into the deep end. They are taking to fields of online battle that might seem obscure to the non-Internet-obsessed — sharing song playlists on Spotify, adding frosted pumpkin bread recipes to Pinterest and posting the candidates’ moments at home with the children on Instagram." Read more.

Comments to help you think: Do not the presidential campaigns of Obama and Romney resemble marketing campaigns for products/services? Of course they do. Each man is attempting to build confidence and trust so that one of them can "run" the country for the next four years. 

People build trust by sharing information, and that information starts off benign--such as a vetted playlist, bread recipes, or staged family pictures. The sites create the illusion that each man--reality  an annointed volunteer or paid staff member--has posted this material, thereby conveying the notion that the viewer becomes "closer" with each man. How does this play a role in today's election? 

For 90 percent of Americans who say that they will vote in the election, it does not matter, according to poll samples. They will hold firm in their opinions. Obama and Romney are chasing after the 10 percent who remain undecided--especially in swing states such as Ohio and Florida, which have a few dozen Electoral College votes. 

Remember your civics classes. Members of the Electoral College in each state vote for the president. They have 538 voting members. The results of the Electoral College vote determines the next president--not the results of the popular vote. As a result, a person running for President of the U.S. could lose the popular vote but win the election. It has happened three times (Adams, Hayes, and Bush Jr.). 

Each candidate, therefore, wants to win in the swing states to ensure that they have those Electoral College votes. Do you not think that marketers also must find certain consumers to efficiently improve market share (the percentage of sales for a particular product category) in a given region or country?

Tweet a Conversation

"While Facebook is busy not counting clicks, Twitter wants us to sit down and have a chat – one-on-one – just you, me, and the millions of other people who check out the site every day. It’s more wisdom from the IAB MIXX Conference, this time from Joel Lunenfeld, Twitter’s vice president of global brand strategy, coming to you via TechCrunch," so goes the Marketing Pilgrim post. "Lunenfeld says that '88% of Twitter users follow at least one brand, and that more than half of users follow six or more brands.' Six or more brands! That’s a lot of people asking for daily advertisements in their stream. Some of them are hoping for discounts and freebies but others are genuinely interested in the brand and they want to be up on what’s happening." If you read more, you will discover ideas about the programs from Taco Bell and Old Sprice.

KitchenAid Blunder during the Presidential Debates

"Like many of you, I watched the Presidential debate last night. And, like many of you, heard about the incident that led to a rather disgusting tweet being sent out from the KitchenAid Twitter account," notes the Marketing Pilgrim. "In case you have no clue as to what I am talking about, check out this recap and then come back. Hopefully, we are at the point where we all see the obvious online reputation issue here. In fact, most pundits are focusing on the simple fact that KitchenAid should be more careful about who they let use there Twitter account. Clearly, an employee (or contractor) forgot to sign out of the KitchenAid account–and into their personal Twitter account–before sending that tweet. But, here’s the bigger reputation issue at hand." Read more.

Tweeting, Pining, Liking Oreos

"In August Oreo reached the halfway mark of its 100-day Oreo Daily Twist campaign, which portrays historic and current events from the perspective of America's favorite cookie," notes Direct Marketing News. "Whether an Oreo cookie is rolling past the Eiffel Tower for the Tour de France or filled with red icing for the Mars rover landing, the Oreo brand displays milestones in a fun and engaging way. Viewers can “like,” tweet, and pin the cookies from Nabsico's Daily Twist website and suggest future events to include in the campaign. Some images are interactive; for example, consumers can help the chocolaty morsel pole vault into a glass of milk or perform different yo-yo tricks." Read more.

Facebook Tops One Billion

"Facebook announced on Thursday that it has surpassed the 1 billion-user mark, and the company unveiled a new television commercial to commemorate the milestone," says Brafton News "Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has undergone a series of transformations, but the goal of helping people connect continues to drive innovation from the company." Read more. Facebook nation has a population more than three times larger than the U.S.

Tweets Fly with Presidential Debate

"Twitter announced on Wednesday night that the presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney was the most popular political event in the microblogging site's history," notes Brafton News. "For marketers, sharing interesting content related to any event driving major activity on the web can help boost brand areness and attract prospects." Read more.

Car Companies Take a Spin on Social Networks

"One auto manufacturer accelerating its use of new marketing approaches is Kia Motors America. Its Kia Soul shuffle slam marketing campaign, created by David&Goliath, was designed to pitch potential buyers in a way that enabled Kia to 'engage consumers in a promotion that allowed them to be creative and communicate,' says George Haynes, social and digital media manager at Kia Motors America," reports Digital Marketing News. "The campaign invited consumers to submit videos of themselves dancing to electropop like Kia's music-loving mascots, the soul Hamsters, on the Kia Soul YouTube and Facebook channels for a chance to win prizes. The campaign was 'a really good way for people to get to know the personality of our brand,' Haynes says, noting that the Kia Soul YouTube channel has received more than 18 million views to date."  Read about other car companies.

Tweeting's Fun, but Give Content

"A report from AYTM Market Research found that consumers enjoy interacting with brands on Twitter, but many also want to see website content from these companies," reports Brafton News. "According to the study, 69 percent of Twitter users follow brands on the platform. Twenty-six percent of respondents said they monitor the activity of at least 10 companies on the network." Read more.

Customers Like "Liking" but Also Want Content

"A report from AYTM Market Research found that more than 73 percent of consumers have Liked at least one brand on Facebook. In fact, 31 percent of respondents said they have Liked 10 brands or more," reports Brafton News. "Perhaps more importantly, users who opt to Like brands typically interact with social content on a regular basis. Even with 25.5 percent saying they "never" pay attention, the overwhelming sentiment suggests that content that appeals to users is most likely to result in clicks, site traffic and eventual conversions. ...Compelling content is the key for social media marketing...Despite this interest in Facebook marketing content, 44 percent said they typically find the website of the brands they Like more useful." Read more.

Again, marketers need to discover with Internet marketing how and when to have a "conversation" with their customers, as reported in the HD Marketing Report. With most products or services, customers reach a point when the cutesy information on a social network site fails to pique their interest. They want "hard" content--meaning facts about the product, pricing, or shipping that aid making a buying decision. They typically find that information on a company's website. In other words, it appears that social network media works effectively with customers who are beginning their "journeys," as Demystifying Social Media notes. So could one argue the longer the customer's journey, the more content the need. Conversely, the shorter the journey, the more flash? In other words, compare the "content" needed to make a decision about a soft drink versus "buying" a college education. Do not let the idea drop at that point. What does this mean for marketers?

Do not copy the information that appears in brown. I intend it only as a means of sparking your thoughts for your short reports.

Small Businesses Getting Social

"In June 2012, LinkedIn analyzed the countries where worldwide small-business professionals with accounts on the site lived and found that, not surprisingly due to the site’s headquarters, the US was the top country, with more than 6.8 million small-business professionals. The UK and India were the next most popular countries, with 1.06 million and 1.01 million professionals, respectively," reports eMarketer. "It is not only small-business professionals who are jumping into social media. Small businesses themselves are getting more involved on these sites. August 2012 data from Newtek Business Services found that Facebook is seeing more activity from small businesses. The survey of independent business owners in the US found that 47% of small businesses had a Facebook account." Read more; see charts. 

Throughout the semester, I rarely have mentioned small businesses, emphasizing the marketing campaigns of companies such as Toyota, Coke, and P&G. Small businesses, meaning companies who employ fewer than 10 people, represent nearly 80 percent of all employer firms in the U.S. They tend to be local companies with less resources for broadcast marketing, meaning tv and radio. As a result they become ideal candidates for the use of Internet marketing. They also lack the resources to maintain extensive contacts in the business community and its necessary services, such as accounting and legal. A social network, such as LinkedIn, enables them to establish or to improve their connections in the business community while Facebook can help them market to local customers, therefore accounting for the increased usage of both types of social networks by small businesses. 

Do not copy the information that appears in brown. I intend it only as a means of sparking your thoughts for your short report.

Virtual and Real Worlds Collide--Yet Again

"Exponential Interactive...and MasterCard Advisors...have announced a partnership that will enable Exponential's brands [marketers/advertisers] to target their digital ads to audiences based on their offline spending behavior," says ClickZ. "Data on spending behavior, which the companies say is anonymous and not linked to any individual, will be extracted from the more than 25 billion transactions that U.S. MasterCard holders carry out at retail locations annually. Some 310 million people hold a MasterCard in the U.S." Read more.

By integrating the virtual and real worlds of consumers, marketers discover a distinction about their potential customers: how people behave online differs from how the behave in the real world. In other words, an individual, while surfing the Web, may scout out luxury car brands but walk into dealerships and buy an economy brand. By discovering these types of distinctions, marketers can more effectively target ads or change their marketing messages. Now remember the concepts of conversation in the HD Marketing Report and the journey concept found in the Demystifying Social Media report. Then ask: How does this partnership work with those concepts? 

Do not copy the information that appears in brown. I intend it only as a means of sparking your thoughts for your short reports.

Getting Customers to Return

"Google has recently announced a beta program called Remarketing in Search, which aims to take the benefits of remarketing and leverage them within the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) environment. The idea is simple: create remarketing lists as you do with display, but leverage this customer knowledge to impact you’re messaging and bidding strategy within your SEM campaigns to improve performance," according to ClickZ. "Remarketing - or retargeting - is now an established tactic leveraged by many (if not all) digital marketers trying to maximize conversion activity. Retargeting, in its simplest form, is the practice of delivering display advertisements to users who have visited owned content in the past, in order to get them to come back and take action. Retargeting on its own has many layers of complexity, including, determining which pages to track and which to exclude, developing relevant “cookie pools” against the tracked pages, and what creative messaging to deliver to each cookie pool." Read more.

To understand how remarketing/retargeting affects marketers, you should read the remainder of the article. In summary and without detail, it dovetails into the Demystifying Social Media (DSM) report. Remarketing continues the "conversation" with the viewer as she/he continues her "journey" for purchasing a product or service.  Google's "Remarketing in Search" and DSM differ in one respect. Google's deals with search results, and the report covers social media.

Do not copy the information that appears in brown. I intend it only as a means of sparking your thoughts for your short reports.

While Trying to Lure More Advertisers, Facebook Faces Concerns about Privacy

"Following a recent uptick in data-driven ad offerings and a rapidly expanding ad exchange, Facebook is responding to fresh privacy concerns with new details about how it collects user data and how users can opt out of certain features. A series of mechanisms have been put in place to protect user privacy under the framework of Facebook Exchange (FBX), custom audience targeting and Facebook's now year-long partnership with data matching firm DataLogix," reports ClickZ.
"Almost four months have passed since Facebook launched its real-time ad exchange and it continues to grow the exchange with new partners, most recently Criteo and Rocket Fuel. However, with FBX enabling Facebook to connect its platform to third-party data for targeting ads, it was only a matter of time before privacy issues bubbled to the surface." Read more.

The exchange and privacy protection works this way. A viewer goes to a Facebook page. If the person has previously visited the site, then his/her computer will have a ID number. Facebook notifies the ad exchnage, which then tells Facebook which marketers want to show what advertisement. Facebook does not send personal information to the advertiser.

The question for marketers: How might privacy concerns kill the goose that lays the golden eggs? Two ways come to mind. First, surfers might opt for private browsing, which the major browsers now provide, thereby denying information to websites. Second, surfers might avoid sites such as Facebook. Should a vast majority of web surfers do either or a combination, then marketers will lose access to the information used for effective Internet marketing.

Do not copy the information that appears in brown. I intend it only as a means of sparking your thoughts for your short reports.

Jaguar Land Rover Chase Customers after They Close a Deal

"Leverage new marketing channels for after-sales retention," notes Digital Marketing  News. "Many automobile brands commonly use a blend of traditional and digital strategies to attract new customers. But a growing number of brands, such as Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), are also leveraging cutting-edge technologies to retain customers in an after-sales environment." Read more.

Green Mountain Coffee Gets Its Buzz On

"Drive sales by educating consumers about fair trade and enhance their understanding of its benefits," goes the Digital Marketing News post. "Coffee drinking is often a social activity, which is why it made sense for Green Mountain to tap BzzAgent, the social arm of dunnhumby, when the brand embarked on a broad push to promote its fair trade-certified coffee line." Read more.

Investigate the Dark Knight

"A viral campaign orchestrated by Warner Bros. and DC Comics [for the recently released movie Dark Knight Rises] rewarded loyal Batman fans with a preview of a preview — if they were able to put the pieces together," reports Direct Marketing News. "In mimicry of a real investigation, visitors to the Dark Knight Rises site were given a series of clues in the form of fake police reports, wanted posters for an 'anonymous vigilante' known as 'The Batman' and other 'official' documents from the fictional Gotham City Police Department, including one mentioning that Batman-related graffiti had been spotted in cities across the globe. 'Citizens' who found and photographed the graffiti, and either uploaded the images to Twitter with the hashtag #tdkr07202012 or emailed them to tdkr07202012@gothampolicedepartment.com could help unlock the movie trailer frame-by-frame in advance of its theatrical release." Read more.

Nissan Goes Mobile To Show Off Park Assist

"To promote the park assist technology in its new Qashqai compact SUV, Nissan España tapped creative agency Plan Comunicación and media agency OMD to create multiscreen mobile ads that demonstrate the ease with which one can parallel park the Qashqai, even on narrow city streets." That's the start of a Direct Marketing News post. Read more.

Taco Bell and Doritos Team Up

"Taco Bell teamed up with Doritos to create “Doritos Locos Tacos,” a new product featuring Doritos-flavored shells," according to Direct Marketing News. "To promote the orange-encased tacos, Taco Bell called on Draftfcb Orange County, the brand's AOR, to spearhead a multichannel effort that included a midnight launch of the product at 5,600 Taco Bell drive-up windows nationwide on March 8. Consumers who scanned QR codes printed on drink cups and other packaging were prompted to download a branded augmented reality app that allows users to watch Locos Tacos-related tweets appear in real time. Some of the tweets were also broadcast live on digital billboards set up in New York's Time Square and on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles." Read more.

General Mills Takes New Avenues

"General Mills has taken to new avenues of social media to promote its Fiber One Chewy Bars," reports Direct Marketing News. "In addition to more traditional means of promotion, such as newspaper  coupons and television commercials, General Mills is using Pinterest for its latest campaign." Read more.

FTC Looks to Protect Privacy of Children Online

"The moves come at a time when major corporations, app developers and data miners appear to be collecting information about the online activities of millions of young Internet users without their parents’ awareness, children’s advocates say. Some sites and apps have also collected details like children’s photographs or locations of mobile devices; the concern is that the information could be used to identify or locate individual children," reports the New York Times. "These data-gathering practices are legal. But the development has so alarmed officials at the Federal Trade Commission that the agency is moving to overhaul rules that many experts say have not kept pace with the explosive growth of the Web and innovations like mobile apps. New rules are expected within weeks...The proposed changes could greatly increase the need for children’s sites to obtain parental permission for some practices that are now popular — like using cookies to track users’ activities around the Web over time. Marketers argue that the rule should not be changed so extensively, lest it cause companies to reduce their offerings for children." Read more.

B2B Marketers Changing the Way They Use Video

"Online video is not only changing the way B2B [busienss to business] marketers optimize content for better search results, but it's changing the way businesses engage with customers, interact with key decision makers, and better understand the impact of their marketing efforts," goes the Direct Marketing News post. Read more.

Gimmicks Can Fail

"Engagement is a good thing, of course. The preference to be not bored is pretty universal. But with time constraints and information overload, getting and maintaining people's already short attention spans is harder than ever. So, marketers and content specialists are turning to gamification as the latest Holy Grail," according to Direct Marketing News. "Too bad they don't know what they're doing." Read more.

Promotoing Honda with Other People's Videos

J Barbush of the marketing agency RPA, in Santa Monica, CA, spoke with ClickZ "after he was heads down in a Honda campaign that involved local band Monsters Calling Home getting a special musical guest spot on Jimmy Kimmel Live last Wednesday. The idea for the campaign really came out of nowhere. Someone within the agency discovered that the band recently shot a music video inside their Honda vehicles and the message eventually found its way to Barbush. 'It would have been easy for us to click, like, or repost it,' he said. 'We thought this was a really great opportunity.'

"A Honda-branded video that tells the story of the band and its road to the late night talk show has been viewed nearly 1.3 million times. The story also follows Barbush's passion for finding authentic, regular people that can become a spokespeople of sorts for the brand. 'It really is about promoting this regular person with a lot of passion… When people see it, their passion comes through,' he said." Read more.

Social Media Drives Customers to Websites

"A report from Forrester Research relayed by Marketing Land suggests that social media marketing's value for businesses lies in engaging new prospects and driving them to a website. Even though few consumers make purchases directly after reading social content, including links and making a presence more engaging has helped businesses improve their overall web presence," reports Brafton News. "The study found organic search and direct site visits are most likely to result in more conversions on the web, accounting for 20 and 16 percent of sales, respectively. Still, a social presence helps cultivate stronger positions in organic search and aids brand awareness. It's difficult for companies with even the best products to make sales if. A multi-channel web marketing strategy will help companies appeal to larger audiences." Read more.

Content Marketing Playing Big Role in Internet Marketing

"Ken Barhoover, marketing manager for Park Place Technologies, uses content marketing to make his company stand out on the web. His company publishes news articles, white papers and other forms of written content that drive search standing and help attract relevant site traffic. To stay on top of web audiences' growing demand for visual content, Barhoover recently opted to add infographics to his content marketing strategy, and the company has seen a variety of benefits." That's part of the story from Brafton News. Read more.

Organizations Not Prepared for Criticism on Social Media

"A report from Ethical Corp. suggests that companies and other organizations using social media marketing experience criticism on the channel. However, just 28 percent of organizations included in the poll are prepared to deal with it. The study illustrates that brands must be ready to engage negative feedback as it's a social reality they can't ignore," according to Brafton News. "Ethical Corp. found 20 percent of respondents are "completely unprepared" to deal with criticism on social media, and another 18 percent are also unprepared. Roughly one-third fall somewhere in the middle when it comes to fielding negative brand mentions." Read more.

More Individuals Turning to Pinterest and Tumblr

"According to Compete.com, both Pinterest and Tumblr's users bases are growing, and visitors spend more time on these sites than ever before," reports Brafton News. "The data that Pinterest.com has seen steady growth in 2012, topping off at more than 21 million unique visitors in July, while Tumblr reached nearly 23 million in the month. For companies looking to diversify their social media marketing presences, these sites offer a new visual dimension for their strategies, especially those hoping to reach younger adult audiences." Read more.

Pepsi's "Uncle Drew" Goes Viral

"It's been an exciting two weeks on social platforms for Pepsi. The beverage maker announced a yearlong music-focused partnership with Twitter earlier this week and a new candid-camera-esque video for Pepsi Max dubbed "Uncle Drew" exploded on YouTube over the past week," notes Advertising Age. "That five-minute video from Davie Brown Entertainment debuts this week on the Viral Video Chart at No. 3 with 5.4 million views. It features NBA Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving disguised as a sweatshirt-wearing, pot-belly-sporting elderly man named "Uncle Drew" who's attending an outdoors basketball game where his nephew is playing. When one of the players goes down with an injury, Uncle Drew takes the court and stuns everyone with a flurry of crossover dribbles, dunks, and three-point baskets, taunting his opponents all the while." Read more.

Unilever's Marketing Plan: Safe Drinking Water to 500 Million

"When Unilever launched its Sustainable Living Plan in late 2010, perhaps the most ambitious goal was to provide safe drinking water by 2020 to 500 million people -- more than currently live in South America. Now the consumer packaged-goods giant is tapping Facebook's 900 million global users for help," according to Advertising Age. "Unilever Global Marketing and Communications Officer Keith Weed was expected to announce the not-for-profit WaterWorks partnership with Facebook and Population Services International during a presentation at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes on Friday morning." Read more.

Internet Marketers to Spend $37 Billion + This Year

"eMarketer estimates that marketers will spend $37.31 billion on digital advertising in 2012. Digital ad spending will rise 16.6% this year, and will experience double-digit growth through 2014," says eMarketer. "Based on the Interactive Advertising Bureau/PricewaterhouseCoopers data for the first two quarters of 2012, and because the digital ad spending market is approaching maturity faster than expected, eMarketer has lowered the projected rate of increase for US digital ad spending slightly from its earlier forecast of 17.7% in 2012. However, eMarketer’s outlook remains optimistic—despite slower percentage gains, big dollar growth will continue." Read more.

It's a First. Google Dominates Display Advertising Market. Meanwhile Facebook Goes Mobile with Marketing

"Google will earn more US display advertising revenues [money paid by companies to place an image/video ad on a website] than any other company this year, topping the market with a 15.4% share, according to new estimates by eMarketer. The milestone means Google now holds more share than any other company in each of the US search, display and mobile advertising markets," according to eMarketer. "Google is expected to take home $2.31 billion in US display ad revenues this year, up 38.5% from $1.67 billion in 2011, eMarketer estimates. Facebook, by comparison, will earn $2.16 billion in US display ad revenues this year, up 24.4% from $1.73 billion last year. Yahoo!—the longtime leader before Facebook topped it last year—will see its share fall further." Read more.

Background: Google got its start in search ads, those ads that appear with search results on the right hand side of the screen. The company's revenue grew quickly. Then people got bored with the text ads. Meanwhile Yahoo dominated the marketplace for placing display ads, ads with pictures/video. Yahoo dominated the field until 2011 when Facebook took the lead. This year, Google will speed past Facebook and earn about eight percent of all money spent on Internet display advertising. As has been mentioned in class, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and many other sites have divisions or separate companies, called ad networks, that use their respective companies' demographic data to help would-be advertisers to place advertisers on the best possible websites, at the right time, and going to only the best potential customers.

Meanwhile, Brafton News reports that "companies...[that use] Facebook for social media marketing can now launch Sponsored Posts campaigns from smartphones....[In other words,] Marketers can select the content, control the maximum daily views they'll pay for and even access analytics information related to their campaigns. While the mobile measurement tools and capability aren't as robust as they are from desktop or laptop computers, this level of access helps social strategies keep pace with fans' social consumption and activity." Read more.

VW Starts New Campaign and Media Platform

"Volkswagen of America launched a new brand campaign and social media platform. The Why VW campaign will feature user-generated content on both a website and Facebook, along with brand content in a new voice," notes ClickZ. "The campaign began today with a new commercial called "Smiles," produced by Deutsch LA, that shows diverse people laughing out loud. The tagline: "It's not the miles. It's how you live them. Discover more at WhyVW.com." Volkswagen is airing the commercial during the presidential debates, Comedy Central's Indecision, and the season premieres of a variety of network sitcoms." Read more.

Are Viewers Turning from Search Engines to Social Media?

Marketing Pilgrim reports that "every marketer would like to see their brand land in the top spot on a search engine, but is top worth what it used to be? Experian Hitwise UK just released some interesting numbers concerning search in the land of Lords. What it shows is a slow decline in the number of people using search engines across the board. They say overall visits are down by 40 million since August of 2011. That means this past August was the first time this year that search didn’t show a year-over-year gain." Read more.

Grey Poupon Goes Retro with Social Media Campaign

"The scene is imbedded in TV commercial history. In the English countryside, one Rolls Royce pulls up next to another, in which a middle-aged patrician is dining on a roast. A jar of Grey Poupon perches prominently on his backseat dining tray. The gentleman in the first car asks the diner, in a high-toned British accent, 'Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?'  'Of course,' replies the diner, and motions to his chauffeur to drive away," reports Direct Marketing News. "Since that spot last ran in the1980s, several upscale competitors have joined Kraft Foods' aspirational mustard in the condiment aisles of American supermarkets, yet consumers still recall Grey Poupon's aristocratic heritage. Indeed, its awareness level is 97%, according to the brand's stewards. ...This week Kraft reprises the theme for a new generation with the launch of a Grey Poupon Facebook page that investigates a visitor's pedigree before allowing him or her to become a fan. " Read more.

Say It Ain't So, Jimmy Double O

"Heineken is flirting with the wrath of James Bond die-hards with a new $74m global ad campaign starring actor Daniel Craig," reports B&T. "The Dutch beer giant is heavily teasing the new 60 second TVC and “interactive experience” ahead of the global release of the new campaign on Thursday. But, a paid placement of Bond drinking from a Heineken bottle rather than his traditional “shaken not stirred” Martini has already incurred social media backlash. Facebook groups including “Boycott Heineken because they make James Bond drink their piss” and “Boo James Bond's Heineken Scene” have already sprung up." Read more.

L'Oreal Succeeds with Digital Marketing

"After spending as much on digital in 2011 as it did the prior two years combined, L'Oreal is devoting more than 10% of its marketing to digital in the U.S." So starts the Advertising Age post. "Now L'Oreal USA CMO Marc Speichert, who has made developing the company's digital-marketing capability a centerpiece of his work since joining from Colgate-Palmolive Co. in 2010, is taking some time to evaluate how that effort has paid off. The verdict: He's pretty happy." Read more.

Toyota Uses Mobile Sites for Lexus

"Toyota Corp.’s Lexus is drawing eyes to its new model through mobile banner advertisements on The New York Times mobile site," according to Luxury Marketing. "Likely in an attempt to engage with the New York Times’ affluent smartphone and tablet audience, Lexus chose a banner ad on the homepage of the news publication’s site. Lexus’ placement on the site follows on banner ads that the automaker has placed on other mobile sites." Read more.

Securities Trading Company Improve Social Standing

"As a company that focuses on assisting clients with commodity futures trading management, Daniels Trading realized social marketing has potential to demonstrate expertise and engage new audiences. Still, the brand was new to the social spaces, and felt it was in its best interest to enlist Brafton for help with establishing a stronger online presence," reports Brafton News. "At the beginning of Daniels Trading's relationship with Brafton, the focus was creating a robust website marketing industry-focused custom news content. Consistently updated, timely news articles related to the ever-changing trading market showed an increase in web traffic for Daniels Trading. As the company won more social traffic and started seeing brand mentions around shared headlines, Adam Nicholson, Daniels Trading's vice president of marketing, realized that it was time to bring his company’s expertise to social media to distribute the content more effectively." Read more.

B2B Marketers Prefer Content Marketing

"A report from Optify found that successful B2B [business to business--meaning companies marketing products/services to other companies] marketers are heavily focused on the creation of website content to improve visibility and niche authority [meaning defining the company as a leader in a small but important segment of a market] for their companies. Actively developing articles, white papers and other kinds of content to attract prospects or keep existing customers and clients engaged [blogs are simply but common examples] helps businesses consistently add to their sales pipeline and drive conversions," goes  Brafton News. "According to the study, 30 percent of marketers said content marketing creation and management occupied the most time, 17 percent pointed to various lead generation tasks and 16 percent named managing their websites as their most time-consuming activity. Each of these tasks are part of a strong inbound marketing strategy that focuses on developing a robust web presence, with content at the crux. Relevant site content pushes a brand's authority, while focusing on generating leads helps engage prospects and convert them effectively. Moreover, managing a website well helps ensure site pages are in line with SEO standards." Read more.

After GM Drops Facebook, Ford and Chrysler Stick Around

"General Motors famously pulled ad dollars from Facebook earlier this year, but the other two big Detroit automakers have stuck with the social site,:" according to  ClickZ. "Today, Chrysler is running an ad for its Town & Country minivan on Facebook's logout page, the largest paid ad unit on the site. The car company last week launched a campaign for the vehicle, one that includes a video-centric website touting the van's suitability for real family use." Read more.

Volvo Takes a Spin on Pinterest

"When most consumers think Volvo, they think safety.: That's the start of the Direct Marketing News post. "But Volvo Cars of North America also wants them to think design and aesthetics. Consequently, the automaker has revved up its social marketing, inviting Pinterest users to plan and share their ideal "joyride" by re-pinning their favorite images of the Volvo S60 T5, along with comments on where they'd like to go on a road trip, where they'd stop along the way, what they'd wear during their trip, and what music would enliven their travels." Read more.

Facebook Releases Its Marketing Exchange

"Three months to the day after it announced a beta round, Facebook has announced general release of its Facebook Exchange (FBX) real-time bidding (RTB) option," reports Marketing Vox. "FBX enables advertisers and agencies to use cookie-based targeting through Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) to reach their audiences on Facebook, with what Facebook promises are 'more timely and relevant messages.' For brands and agencies, it is a way to drive direct response goals on Facebook." Read more.

FYI: An exchange works similarly to the stock marketing (also called an exchange). Advertisers and/or advertising agencies bid for advertising space geared to individuals with specific demographics. In this case, it is based on the cookies that viewers' computers have collected, which frequently would reflect the type of products, movies, and even readings individuals view.

Social Image Goes with Images

"Images are one of the biggest trends of social media for 2012. While we often talk about the sites that are trending and the “next big thing” of social media, we seem to forget about the broader trends that have implications to our current and future strategies," according to ClickZ. "Images are the hottest thing is social media right now. Visual content is the consistent thread across the sites and tools that are growing." Read more.

How Adobe Uses Search Data

"Adobe SEO manager David Lloyd discussed how the company uses search data and content optimization to inform print collateral, advertising, social media and web design," writes ClickZ. Read more.

Yahoo Search Continues to Trail Thriving Competitors

"As part of its August search rankings analyzing American web queries, market research firm comScore found that Yahoo has seen a considerable drop in the last year. According to the report, Yahoo fielded 16.3 percent of all search queries in August to 2011, however, it's share fell to 12.8 percent of searches last month," according to Brafton. "In fact, Yahoo was the lone engine of the five measured by comScore that lost market share this year. As Brafton reported, Bing reached an all-time high in August 2012, and Microsoft has added 1.2 percentage points to its market share in the last 12 months. Google, Ask.com and AOL also made improvements in their shares of the market." Read more.

Social Media Finding New Ways of Presenting Ads

Brafton reports that "paid social content has changed substantially in 2012, with Facebook, Twitter and others finding new ways to present ads to users without disrupting their experiences on the site. Twitter rolled out Promoted Tweets, which insert ads into activity streams much like normal Tweets, differentiated only by text indicating they’re ads. As a result of this move, Twitter has seen a massive increase in ad revenue, which eMarketer said will reach $288.3 million by the end of the year, compared to the $139.5 million last year." Read more.

Letter Assignment Tips

After yesterday's class, a student requested a critique of the letter she had begun writing for the assignment due Monday at 11:59 pm. I do not critique assignments before a student submits them.  I want the student to discover his/her own thoughts and how to express them without my influence. However, I will respond to specific questions about an assignment. The student's draft of the letter surprised me. On Monday I noted that reports and letters to strangers must not use first or second person--unless you are talking about your own experiences relevant to the topic and the reader. The student started the letter with "I."

Use of First/Second Person: A student reading this post may ask, "Then why did you use I in this post." In this environment, meaning the classes in Dana 238 on Monday's and Wednesday's between 1:30 and 4:15, students have recognized an expert in writing. When a group of individuals (readers, listeners) recognize an individual as an expert, then the individual has earned the right to use first (I, we, me, my, mine, our, ours) or second (you, your, yours) person in his/her presentation. When writing about Internet marketing, no one in Dana 238--including the teacher--has earned that right because no group recognizes any individual in that classroom as an expert in Internet marketing.

Focus on the How, Not the What: English 202 concentrates on the fundamental skills of writing (and thinking) effectively so that another individual will acknowledge the writer's credibility. The class is not teaching students about Internet marketing--at least not in the same manner as a marketing professor would present the material.

A few students have expressed concern about what they should write. After more than a dozen years in most education systems, students have learned--effectively--to repeat what they have heard or read. That method of "learning" will not work in English 202. What a student writes about Internet marketing will have little impact on his/her grade. How a student writes about Internet marketing will dramatically affect the student's grade.

Grades: Finally, a few students are concentrating on getting an A. The approach will not help. The fastest way to learn any subject comes from wanting to learn, from a willingness to endure the frustration that comes with learning a new task, from a desire to improve. Taking that tack, a student will achieve the grade he/she deserves, and more importantly, will leave the class in December with the skills that will help him/her achieve her goals in business.

By concentrating on a grade, a student sets himself up for failure. Should a student earn a B+, an excellent grade, but he wants an A, then he has failed--a silly notion. Should a student focus on learning, then in all likelihood, he will earn the A, at least on the undergraduate level.

Students also should remember that they can revise their assignments. They will receive the higher of the two grades for the assignment. In other words, should a student get a D on the first submission and earns an A on the revision, then the student will receive an A for the assignment. Should a student get a B on the first version but a C+ on the revision, then the student will receive a B.

Facebook "Button" Gets People to Vote

"A Facebook message, distributed during the 2010 United States congressional elections, influenced the voting behavior of millions of recipients and their friends," says NPR radio. "New research in the journal Nature highlights the potential of online social networks for shaping real-world behavior on a massive scale. Melissa Block talks to Shankar Vedantam." Listen to the story.

The story also appeared in the New York Times: "A study of millions of Facebook users on Election Day 2010 has found that online social networks can have a measurable if limited effect on voter turnout. The study, published online on Wednesday by the journal Nature, suggests that a special 'get out the vote' message, showing each user pictures of friends who said they had already voted, generated 340,000 additional votes nationwide — whether for Democrats or Republicans, the researchers could not determine." Read more.

Bing--The Next Collegiate Search Engine?

ClickZ reports: "Dorm decor, fall school fashion, and search engines? Microsoft wanted to show young women that its Bing search engine is worth checking out, so when it threw down the gauntlet last week, encouraging people to test its search engine against Google's, it worked with HerCampus.com to get the word out to influential collegiate women." Read more.

Timing Hype the Cycle of Social Media

"In 1995, Gartner introduced its renowned hype cycle to show different stages of introduction of new technologies. Gartner's hype cycle provides a research-backed antidote to what is often a searing level of hype surrounding many new technology and media products. The value for marketers is even clearer: The hype cycles serve as an objective guidebook for measuring the success (and inevitable downfall) of new-product launches," notes Advertising Age. "One market that has yet to receive the hype cycle treatment is social media. What might that hype cycle look like if it examined one of the fastest growing marketing sectors in history? It's time to examine what I call the "Social Media Hype Cycle." Doing so will help brands and marketers better understand the seesaw pattern of how social networks and platforms rise and fall in popularity and usage and how that affects companies' advertising spend and online engagement strategies." Read more.

Google Fiber Offering Gigabytes of Broadband Service

"The impending arrival of Google’s new Internet service highlighted a racial divide, spurring a push to expand Web access in poorer, mostly black neighborhoods." That's the post from the New York Times. Read more.

Different Groups Use Social Media Differently

"A report from the Association of Magazine Media found that varying demographics behave differently on the social web, which can help marketers inform their efforts more effectively. Much like other web strategies, social content's value for a business is heavily predicated on reaching the right audiences," according to Brafton. "The AMM studied the use of a series of social networks and broke down their user bases. According to the study, Facebook use is common among both American men and women across different age groups, while men are more likely to use Twitter than women. Moreover, younger adults are more active on Twitter than older generations." Read more.

LinkedIn, the Business Person's Facebook, Drawing Marketerers

"LinkedIn announced this week that it has rolled new Company Pages for businesses using the site for social media marketing. The adjustments place greater emphasis on articles and other content companies share on the website, as activities from the brand take up a majority of real estate on the new Pages. Moreover, the site borrows an idea or two from Facebook, with a cover photo for brands and a spot for the logo," notes Brafton. "In recent years, LinkedIn's user base among marketers has blossomed, and people turn to the site for more than just job postings. The additions of LinkedIn Answers and new marketing tools have made the site an ideal method for organizations to improve their position of authority within their industry by discussing trends, developments and other topics with colleagues or prospects." Read more.

Pinterest Referring More Websites than Bing and Yahoo Search

"A report from Shareaholic, analyzing traffic sources for its clients, found that Pinterest generated more website visits than both Bing and Yahoo in August. According to the data, Pinterest accounted for 1.84 percent of all visits last month, compared to 1.37 percent of traffic referred by Yahoo and 1.03 percent from Bing," reports Brafton. "Pinterest has seen a surge in traffic in recent months, consistently seeing improvements from May through August after a tough stretch to start the year. At its lowest point in 2012, Pinterest drove 0.74 percent of website visits for Shareaholic's clients. In the summer of 2011, Pinterest took off, as its user base swelled rapidly. The site's focus on visual content, helping marketers attract prospects with images provided an interesting alternative to Facebook, Twitter and other social media marketing mainstays." Read more.

Apple's Version of Pandora Affects Advertising

"The New York Times yesterday reported that Apple is negotiating with record labelsfor a Pandora-like service, and calls it a move that 'could shake up the growing field of internet radio.' The service would customize music to users' tastes - like Pandora does," reports Marketing Vox. "Just like Pandora, Apple's offering would carry advertising, but through Apple’s iAd platform. Terms of the deal are unclear (e.g., if Apple would share ad revenue with labels or pay them through a licensing fee). Also unclear, whether or not the service will be ad supported and free, or with an ad-free subscription offering (which Pandora offers for $36)." Read more: Apple Plans Pandora Rival (And Why That's Bad For Advertising)

'via Blog this'

What Is Becoming of Social Networking Strategy?

"Both Facebook and Twitter recently announced plans for enhancing their marketing capabilities in an effort to allow for more user-specific targeting.
Facebook’s plan involves allowing companies to match Facebook users’ email addresses, phone numbers, and game or app user IDs to their own customer lists," reports ClickZ. "Twitter, meanwhile, will be allowing marketers to target users based on what they are tweeting about and whom they are following. While keyword targeting was previously available, Twitter plans to increase search specificity, which will allow businesses to hone in and reach a more targeted audience. So what does this mean for strategic marketing plans?" Read more.

Imagine WWW.KNICKS.BBALL. Might Happen

"Earlier this year more than 1,900 applications were filed for generic top-level domain extensions. Think .food, .auto, .beauty and so on. Now brands are scrambling to figure out what do with all these domains when ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) begins releasing more than 1,400 new extensions in the second half of 2013 and early 2014," writes ClickZ. "One of Wolfe Domain's clients, Scripps Networks Interactive, filed for 13 gTLDs including .food, .diy and .HGTV. Like most brands that filed for gTLDs, Scripps's strategy will evolve over time and only after top-level domains reach their potential audiences. The media company plans to use the new domains to enhance brand equity and develop digital channels to better represent its core brands online." Read more.

U.S. Will Top All Countries on Mobile Internet Adveretising

"Spending on mobile Internet advertising in the US will top all other countries in the world for the first time this year, helping drive mobile ad spending worldwide above $6.43 billion in 2012, according to eMarketer’s first-ever forecast for worldwide mobile advertising spending." That's the post on eMarketers website. "Until this year, Japan was the world’s largest market for mobile advertising, with spending reaching nearly $1.37 billion in 2011, up from $1.01 billion in 2010." Read more.

Hackers Access a Million ID Numbers for Apple Devices/Apple Prevents Marketers from Tracking App Use

The New York Times blog Bits reports that "hackers released a file that they said contained a million identification numbers for Apple mobile devices, claiming that they had obtained it by hacking into the computer of an F.B.I. agent. The F.B.I. said it had no evidence that this was true....Apple’s unique device identifiers — known as U.D.I.D.’s — are 40-character strings of letters and numbers assigned to Apple devices...Apple stopped letting app developers take advantage of device identifiers last year, to make it harder for marketers to track its customers as they moved from app to app." Read more.

Coke's Facebook Site Tops 50 Million Fans

Coca-Cola recently topped 50 million fans on Facebook. The company celebrated by releasing the following statement, as noted by Marketing Pilgrim: “Throughout its history Coca-Cola has always had a role in bringing simple moments of happiness to people around the world every day,” said Joe Tripodi, chief marketing and commercial leadership officer, The Coca-Cola Company. “Today we have an engaged global community more than 50 million strong connected through Facebook. This provides an opportunity to engage our most supportive and enthusiastic fans in a quest to find ways to make the world a happier place.” Read more.

My Data = $$$

"There is a fundamental shift in attitudes towards privacy. Consumers know they are surrendering their data, and are willing to surrender privacy. But they treat it like cash: They want something in return," reports Marketing Vox. "So argues Dimitri Maex, Managing Director of OgilvyOne New York, the digital direct arm of Ogilvy & Mather, in his just-released book Sexy Little Numbers. As OgilvyOne describes Sexy Little Numbers, it 'shows how to grow your business using the data you already have.'" Read more.

Republicans Tweeting from Convention

"On Thursday when Mitt Romney is planned to give his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination here at the Party's convention, the Romney digital team will be aiming for big Twitter buzz. To facilitate that, the Romney camp will enter Twitter ad domain that is usually reserved for big Hollywood flicks or CPG brands: the Promoted Trend," goes the post on ClickZ. "Promoted Trends appear above Twitter's left-hand side list of organic trends, keywords that are getting lots of juice on Twitter at any given moment. Promoted Trends link to a list of tweets using the trend keyword - usually in hashtag form - topped by a Promoted Tweet by the same advertiser." Read more.

Twitter and Facebook Make Marketing Easier

"On August 30 Twitter announced the debut of “interest targeting” to Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts, in which brands can send tailored messages to Twitter users based on their interests." That's the word from Direct Marketeing News. "That same day, a rumor dropped that Facebook would enable businesses to target Facebook users based on email, user ID, or phone number—provided that the information had already been given to the business by the Facebook user." Read more.

Lead Generation and Brand Awareness Top Goals

"A report from WebMarketing123 found that 54 percent of B2B marketers consider lead generation the No. 1 digital marketing goal. Brand awareness came in at No. 2, cited by 28 percent. Developing a stronger presence on the web and building reputation among prospects has become more important for these companies in the last year, with more businesses actively marketing on the web," as found on the website Brafton. "According to the study, twice as many respondents named building awareness as a goal in this year's poll compared to last year. Internet marketing priorities are shifting, as just 10 percent of respondents said they consider increased sales their top goal." Read more.

You will notice that, as of yesterday, I have stopped using APA and restored to the more common use of links. If you click the name of the website quoted or the phrase "Read more," you will find the full article. For your reports in the class, you don't quote the blog. You quote the source, the article from which the blog quotation comes from.

Most-Liked Advertisers on Facebook

"When General Motors announced it was no longer buying ads on Facebook back in May 2012, it didn’t pull out of Facebook entirely. It still maintains a number of pages for its various brands with hundreds of thousands of “likes” each: its GM page: 403,000 likes; Chevrolet: 1.3 million likes; GMC Trucks: 703,000 likes; Corvette: 969,000 likes; and the Chevy Volt with 188,000 likes. Meanwhile, Facebook has GM back at the negotiating table, promising to give it and all its advertisers more data on how their ads turn into revenue," according to Say Daily. "The Ford Motor Company, meanwhile, has continued advertising on Facebook despite GM’s departure. How has that affected its likability? The Ford Motor Co Facebook page has 1.6 million likes (300,000 more than Chevy’s); Ford Trucks 651,000 likes (52,000 fewer than GMC); Ford Mustang 4.2 million likes (3.3 million more than Corvette); Ford Fusion Hybrid: 175,000 likes (13,000 fewer than the Volt).So, do ad dollars translate into likes? The answer is 'sometimes.'" Read more.

XBox Live Turns to Advertising

"Microsoft Corp has announced the general release of its NUads on Xbox LIVE," according to Media Buyer Planner. "Among the first buyers are Toyota, Unilever and Samsung Mobile USA, which are developing NUads campaigns to stream on Xbox LIVE this fall. NUads advertisements transform standard 30-second TV spots into actionable experiences using the power of voice and gesture controls of Kinect for Xbox 360." Read more.

Survey Says, Social Media Works

"Marketers dedicating more resources to social media marketing this year should be pleased to learn that new data suggests they’ll be seeing returns on their social investments. According to WebMarketing123‘s State of Digital Marketing report, B2C [business to consumer] and B2B [business to business] companies are winning leads and sales across social networks" (Survey: social marketing, 2012, Aug. 31).

Works Cited

Survey: social marketing drives sales, experts enhance success (2012, Aug. 31). Brafton.com. Retrieved from <http://www.brafton.com/news/survey-social-marketing-drives-sales-experts-enhance-success>.