Social media has fundamentally changed the way that people discover products, services and content. It's no longer simply about the old method of product, price and placement, it's about relevance, value and virality. As the effectiveness of traditional online marketing continues to decline, how can you be sure that your message is not only absorbed, but embraced, passed along and viewed as valuable?
Maximizing Social Discovery Opportunities on the Social Web |
Brand Hijacking Results in a Win For a Risk Averse Company |
As many already know, Scrabulous, the wildly popular Facebook game based on Scrabble, developed by bothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla of Calcutta, India were sent a cease and desist letter back in January from the lawyers of rights holders to the Scrabble's concept and brand; Hasbro (US and Canada) and Mattel (international), and then latter sued in July. Between January and July, Hasbro licensed the rights to Scrabble to Electronic Arts (warning: superfluous press release) and they began development on the official version of the game.
Making the Case for Social Communications |
There is a lot of buzz these days about social media. Everyone's trying to figure it out. There are some who understand it, and some who might be missing the mark. The "web" is quickly, and deservedly, becoming a science unto itself. The web is still perceived by the majrity as a platform. A medium. An "it". When, as I observe it to be, the web is much more, it's "where," "when," "how," and "why." And most importantly "who." My friend Stowe Boyd refers to practitioners of social media as "the people formerly known as the audience" - a term I am quite fond of. In general, this is a concept that the world of marketing communications has yet to catch on to.
The Fastest Talking Guy in Social Media Tells Us Where All of This Might Be Going |
A guest post I contributed to Mashable, see the whole story here: http://mashable.com/2008/05/22/future-of-social-media/
I’m here at day two of the Executing Social Media conference in Pasadena, CA. Blogger, PR stuntman, and social media maven Peter Shankman gave a very energetic keynote on how the social web is changing the way we do business and make money. Peter is CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc. and has recently launched Help A Reporter Out (HARO,) a service that helps journalists connect with sources.
Brand Immersion with a Web-Centric Approach |
Marketing News – Oct 1, 2006 Issue
By Jackie Peters
Chief Creative Officer, Multi-Media
Heavybag Media (New Haven, CT)
The latest lingo is always good to know. However, when terms get overused they can get misinterpreted. Interactive Marketing is term that is getting a lot of lip service lately. However, as integrated marketing schemes blur categories, marketers need to redefine "interactive."
Consider "interactive" in terms of the broader definition of the word. As a marketing strategy "interactive" is a two-way relationship. Interactive marketing should sponsor voluntary participation from the consumer to interact with a message. When implementing an interactive marketing strategy, the goal is to create the most effective program to encourage consumer involvement.
Bluecasting for Marketers |
A relatively new addition to the marketing world is Bluecasting. Bluecasting is a process in which a message is broadcast to BlueTooth-enabled devices within a given physical area. This technology opens the door for a wide array of outdoor, point-of-purchase, and mobile marketing opportunities. Given the amount of Bluetooth headsets I see on people walking down the street, I would guess that quite a large percentage of mobile users have their BlueTooth turned on. I think the key to Bluecasting, as with any form of marketing, is relevance. I'm going to coin a phrase here: we don't want to Blam people (BlueTooth Spam.) But if the content that is broadcasted, or Bluecasted, is relevant to the recipient, and is introduced in a non-invasive way, Bluecasting has the potential to be really big.
Entrepreneur Magazine eBiz Interview - Part I |
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed on the Entrepreneur Magazine eBiz Show. We talked about interactive marketing and brand immersion. Here is a transcript from the first segment.
Rob: Jackie, welcome to the show.
Jackie: Hi Rob, thanks.
Rob: So let’s start right out with what is interactive marketing?
Jackie: Interactive marketing is a marketing strategy and it’s designed to encourage your target audience to interact with your marketing message. So this means we’re basically creating a two-way conversation between your brand and your target audience.
Rob: So can you give me just a couple of small examples to illustrate that?
Mobile Monday in NYC |
Geoff Brenna from Heavybag Media, Jason Cirillo from Roboutbe Games and myself all headed down to the city yesterday to check out Mobile Monday at the Samsung Center at Columbus Circle. We met all sorts of people who were invloved in the mobile community. I had the pleasure of meeting David Harper from WINKsite for dinner and drinks. We had some great converstaions about the future of the mobile space in the US.
Brand Immersion |
Brand immersion is the result of an interactive marketing campaign. Encourage your target audience to interact with your brand on their terms, not yours. Give them something useful, something meaningful, something that provides them with entertainment. Content must be useful within the context of how and where it is delivered. Consider mobile content vs. online content. How and when are people using their mobile phones? What is the context? This should determine the nature of the content that gets delivered.
Brand immersion is about pull, not push, it's about encouraging your target audience to become emerged in your brand. Provide them with the tools, information and entertainment that they find valuable, and you will succeed in immersing them in your message.
Mobile Marketing |
Though still in it's infancy, mobile marketing is gaining momentum. New marketing channels don't emerge often, and this one is a biggie. There's not another channel that keeps you hooked into your customer as constantly as mobile. Mobile marketing utilizes a complex mix of multiple technologies, marketing techniques and design principals.
According to a 2006 study by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) over 38% of US subscribers play mobile games on their phones. About the same number use text messaging. Nearly 12,000,000 subscribers participated in a TV or radio poll via SMS. These numbers are staggering considering that mobile phones currently outnumber land-lines in the global marketplace.
