Accenture has released a report called “Onward and Up, How Marketers Are Refocusing the Front Office for Growth”
The top three business issues facing marketers are “Improving customer retention/loyalty,” “Acquiring new customers,” and “Increasing sales to current customers.”
It’s a worthwhile read (20 slides).
One of the benefits to working in the field of social commerce is its nascence. Because of this there is a lot of green field and thinking about the art of the possible is well still, possible.
When we seek to spread the word about how brands can better spread their word we are regularly meeting with clients, friends, and prospects. These are smart folks typically working for a major brand, advertising agency, or PR agency.
Over the last year I've gained a lot of experience in the generation of targeted video content, the distribution of commerce videos, and advisory on commerce optimization. Over the last year we’ve had a chance to see a variety of implementations as well as a good look at what brands and agencies are looking to do in the future.
As the summer approached I came up with an idea to see how peoples perspectives compared based upon the chair they are sitting – agency or brand; and then PR agency or Advertising agency and CPG brand or CE brand. So I sent out an informal survey to major brands and agencies that I've worked with.
All in all I received 45 responses from just over 50 emails I sent out. The question I asked was around sharing thoughts on the topic of video. Specifically I was trying to determine where brands thing there is the most value in using consumer generated video content.
The top five areas that brands and agencies would use consumer generated video content are:
Brand website or microsite – 64%
Facebook page – 62%
YouTube – 58%
eCommerce site product page (i.e. BestBuy.com, Amazon.com) – 53%
In stream advertising (ie. Hulu) – 31%
Sales presentations – 31%
Selling ideas internally (i.e. “I told you the remote is clunky, watch this”) – 31%
* three ideas tied for 5th.
Below is a breakout of how PR Firms, advertising agencies, CPG brands, and CE brands use (or would use) consumer video content.
In the agency world:
The top five areas that public relations agencies would use consumer generated video content are:
Brand website or microsite – 80%
Facebook page – 60%
Mobile Application – 60%
Mobile Website – 60%
YouTube – 40%
eCommerce site product page (i.e. BestBuy.com, Amazon.com) – 40%
The top five areas that advertising agencies would use consumer generated video content are:
YouTube- 59%
Facebook page – 52%
eCommerce site product page (i.e. BestBuy.com, Amazon.com) – 48%
In stream advertising (i.e. Hulu) – 48%
Brand website or microsite – 44%
And in the brand world:
The top five areas that Consumer Electronics brands would use consumer generated video content are:
Brand website or microsite – 100%
Facebook page – 75%
eCommerce site product page (i.e. BestBuy.com, Amazon.com) – 75%
YouTube – 50%
Product Development – 50%
The top five areas that CPG brands would use consumer generated video content are:
Brand website or microsite – 80%
Facebook page – 80%
YouTube – 60%
Sales presentation – 60%
Selling ideas internally – 60%
Logged into Facebook today and saw a pop-up that said “Introducing Questions – Ask the Facebook community a question on any topic and get quality answers from people in the know.”
What Facebook is enabling with Questions is the ability for users to basically do five things:
- Ask questions that will show up in your friends news feeds (nice and personal)
- Ask questions that can be answered by the collective wisdom of 500 million (or so) Facebook users.
- Explore topics and trends.
- Answer questions.
- Rate questions.
Below is a screenshot of a question asked about Physics. The answer given is well thought out and rated by 5 people as being helpful (the answers seem to be ranked in order of highest rated to not rated).
The breadth of topics makes it seem like a blend of Wikipedia and your favorite question site (Yahoo Answers, the startup Quora, Mahalo). Just in the screenshot above there are questions on physics, the best bar in Seattle, icing for cupcakes, and some philosophy (“Are good and evil absolute or relative?”).
There appear to be several interesting features (I haven’t tested all of them out) such as creating a quick poll, posting a question about a picture (i.e. where is this surf break?), and tagging (view all questions about San Diego Restaurants).
Having only spent a limited amount of time I believe this will make Facebook even stickier than it is today. Questions really will enhance the newsfeed and should give us all a chance to learn a lot more about the friends, families, and colleagues we’ve decided to link up with on Facebook.
It’s not live for everybody yet so if you don’t see Questions on your profile page you likely will soon.
Great updated presentation by Marta Kagan, who leads the Boston office of Espresso (http://www.brandinfiltration.com/).
Her blog may be found - mzkagan.posterous.com
The presentation is exactly what it says it is. And its current, updated with information on case studies like LeBron James and BP Global PR. It is on-point and when you see its 100 slides you’ll get scared, but don’t, it’s a short 100 slides. Promise.
(download)Forbes got a copy of the presentation given to LeBron James by the NY Knicks.
The story is titled - What The Knicks Told LeBron: Come To New York And Make $1 Billion
While not providing a ton of information on the methodology, it compares the likelihood of King James making $1 billion dollars in NY, Cleveland, Chicago and Miami.
I found the deck interesting on a variety of levels and thought you may as well.
If you don’t feel like reading through the deck, Interbrand concludes that LeBron James (assuming he plays until the age of 38, he’s now 26 ½) has a 48.6% chance of making $1 billion if he joins the Knickerbockers, a 1.3% chance if he stays with Cleveland, a 1.0% percent chance if he follows in Jordan’s footsteps in Chicago, and no chance if he is welcomed to Miami.
(download)
All the games are televised on ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC. If you have a Sprint smartphone the games will be available on your phone. The games are live on the web at http://futbol.univision.com/ or http://atdhe.net/ and some internet providers carry ESPN360.com.
NEW: Updated the scores and schedules
World Cup Schedule – Pacific Time Zone –
Fri 6/11
7 a.m. - South Africa vs. Mexico A (Tie Game, 1-1)
11:30 a.m. - Uruguay vs. France A (Tie Game, 0-0)
Sat 6/12
4:30 a.m. - Korea Republic vs. Greece B (Korea wins 2-0)
7 a.m. - Argentina vs. Nigeria B (Argentina wins 1-0)
11:30 a.m. - England vs. USA C (USA WINS 1-1!!!)
Sun 6/13
4:30 a.m. - Algeria vs. Slovenia C (Slovenia wins 1-0)
7 a.m. - Serbia vs. Ghana D (Ghana wins 1-0)
11:30 a.m. - Germany vs. Australia D (Germany wins 4-0)
Mon 6/14
4:30 a.m. - Netherlands vs. Denmark E (Dutch win 2-0)
7 a.m. - Japan vs. Cameroon E (Japan wins 1-0)
11:30 a.m. - Italy vs. Paraguay F (Tie game, 1-1)
Tue 6/15
4:30 a.m. - New Zealand vs. Slovakia F (Tie game, 1-1)
7 a.m. - Ivory Coast vs. Portugal G (Tie game, 0-0)
11:30 a.m. - Brazil vs. Korea DPR G (Brazil wins, 2-1)
Wed 6/16
4:30 a.m. - Honduras vs. Chile H (Chile wins, 1-0)
7 a.m. - Spain vs. Switzerland H (Switzerland pulls MONSTER upset, wins 1-0)
11:30 a.m. - South Africa vs. Uruguay A (Uruguay wins, 3-0)
Thu 6/17
4:30 a.m. - Argentina vs. Korea Rep. B (Argentina wins, hat trick from Higuain, 4-1, advances)
7 a.m. - Greece vs. Nigeria B (Greece wins, 2-1)
11:30 a.m. - France vs. Mexico A (Mexico wins, 2-0)
Fri 6/18
4:30 a.m. - Germany vs. Serbia D (Serbia wins, 1-0)
7 a.m. - Slovenia vs. USA C (Tie game, 2-2)
11:30 a.m. - England vs. Algeria C (Tie game, 0-0)
Sat 6/19
4:30 a.m. - Netherlands vs. Japan E (Dutch win, 1-0)
7 a.m. - Ghana vs. Australia D (Tie game, 1-1)
11:30 a.m. - Cameroon vs. Denmark E (Denmark wins, 2-1)
Sun 6/20
4:30 a.m. - Slovakia vs. Paraguay F (Paraguay wins, 2-0)
7 a.m. - Italy vs. New Zealand F (Tie game, 1-1)
11:30 a.m. - Brazil vs. Ivory Coast G (Brazil wins, 3-1)
Mon 6/21
4:30 a.m. - Portugal vs. Korea DPR G (Portugal wins, 7-0)
7 a.m. - Chile vs. Switzerland H (Chile wins, 1-0)
11:30 a.m. - Spain vs. Honduras H (Spain wins, 2-0)
Tue 6/22
7 a.m. - Mexico vs. Uruguay A (Uruguay wins, 1-0, both Mexico and Uruguay advance)
7 a.m. - France vs. South Africa A (South Africa wins 2-0, neither advance, French embarassing display)
11:30 a.m. - Nigeria vs. Korea Republic B (Tie game, 2-2, South Korea Advances)
11:30 a.m. - Greece vs. Argentina B (Argentina wins, 2-0)
Wed 6/23
7 a.m. - Slovenia vs. England C (England wins 1-0, English advance)
7 a.m. - USA vs. Algeria C (USA wins 1-0, USA wins group and advances)
11:30 a.m. - Ghana vs. Germany D (Germany wins 1-0, Germany wins group and advances)
11:30 a.m. - Australia vs. Serbia D (Australia wins 2-1)
Thu 6/24
7 a.m. - Slovakia vs. Italy E (Slovakia wins, 3-2)
7 a.m. - Paraguay vs. New Zealand E (Tie game, 0-0)
11:30 a.m. - Denmark vs. Japan F (Japan wins, 3-1)
11:30 a.m. - Cameroon vs. Netherlands F (Netherlands wins, 2-1)
Fri 6/25
7 a.m. - Portugal vs. Brazil G (Tie game, 0-0)
7 a.m. - Ivory Coast vs. Korea DPR G (Ivory Coast wins, 3-0)
11:30 a.m. - Chile vs. Spain H (Spain wins, 2-1)
11:30 a.m. - Switzerland vs. Honduras H (Tie game, 0-0)
Saturday 6/26 (Round of 16)
7 a.m. - Uruguay vs. Korea Republic (Uruguay wins, 2-1)
11:30am - Ghana vs. Los Estados Unidos (Ghana wins, 2-1)
Sunday 6/27 (Round of 16)
7 a.m. - Germany vs. England (Germany wins, 4-1)
11:30 a.m. - Argentina vs. Mexico (Argentina wins, 3-1)
Monday 6/28 (Round of 16)
7 a.m. - Netherlands vs. Slovakia (Netherlands wins, 2-1)
11:30 a.m. - Brazil vs. Chile (Brazil wins, 3-0)
Tuesday 6/29 (Round of 16)
7 a.m. - Paraguay vs. Japan (Paraguay wins 5-3 on penalty kicks, score was 0-0 )
11:30 a.m. - Spain vs. Portugal (Spain wins, 1-0)
Friday 7/2 (Elite Eight)
7 a.m. - Brazil vs. Netherlands (Dutch win, 2-1)
11:30 a.m. - Uruguay vs. Ghana (Uruguay wins 4-2 on penalty kicks, score was 1-1)
Saturday 7/3 (Elite Eight)
7 a.m. - Argentina vs. Germany (Germany wins, 4-0)
11:30 a.m. - Paraguay vs. Spain (Spain wins, 1-0)
Tuesday 7/6 (Semifinals)
11:30 a.m. - Uruguay vs. Netherlands (Dutch win, 3-2)
Wednesday 7/7 (Semifinals)
11:30 a.m. - Germany vs. Spain (Spain wins, 1-0)
Saturday 7/10 (Third place game)
11:30 a.m. - Uruguay vs. Germany (Germany wins, 3-2)
Sunday 7/11 (Finals)
11:30 a.m. - Spain vs. Netherlands (Spain wins, 1-0)
Congratulations to Spain for being the champions that you are, to the Netherlands for hanging tough, and to South Africa for hosting a great FIFA World Cup.
Vivaldi Partners recently published a report on the effect social currency has on brand performance.
Social currency, as defined by the study is “the extent to which people share the brand or information about the brand as part of their everyday social lives at work or at home.”
There are six levers for social currency – Affiliation, Conversation, Utility, Advocacy, Information, Identity
The Winners in Social Currency –
Airlines –
Jet Blue, Virgin, Southwest
Automotive –
BMW, Mercedes, Lexus
Beer –
Sam Adams, Guinness, Heineken
Fast Food –
Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, KFC
Skin Care –
Clinique, Axe, Avon
Sportswear –
Puma, Skechers, Adidas
Online Retail –
iTunes, eBay, Amazon
Consumer IT –
Apple, Microsoft, Google
B2B Tech –
Oracle, SAP, IBM
The link to the original report - http://www.vivaldipartners.com/pdfs/Vivaldi_Partners_Social_Currency_US_Report_2010WEB.pdf
And to the company website - http://www.vivaldipartners.com/
Enjoy.
How do you do it?
Go to Facebook.
Click “Account”
Highlight Privacy Settings.
There are three basic options –
“Everyone” – this means everyone (friends, friends of friends, the public, people Googling you, people oogling you) can see everything –
- My status, photos, and posts
- Bio and favorite quotations
- Family and relationships
- Photos and videos you are tagged in
- Religious and political views
- Birthday
- Can comment on posts
- Email addresses and IM
- Phone numbers and address
-
“Friends of Friends” – this means that friends of friends can see
- My status, photos, and posts
- Bio and favorite quotations
- Family and relationships
- Photos and videos you are tagged in
And just your friends can see
- Religious and political views
- Birthday
- Can comment on posts
- Email addresses and IM
- Phone numbers and address
“Friends Only” – this means only your friends can see the information above.
Facebook also offers a “recommended settings” which puts you’re “my status, photos, and posts”, “Bio and favorite quotations” and “family and relationships” in the public domain, “Photos and videos you are tagged in”, “religious and political views” and “Birthday” in the Friends of Friends category, and “Can comment on posts”, “Email address and IM”, and “Phone numbers and address” in the Friends only category.
I went with Friends Only.
Before the World Cup, UBS puts out a great investors guide. This one gets into depth on Africa.
Interesting economic stat - South Africa has the highest mobile phone subscription growth.
UBS used to make predictions to the winners of the tournament but this time has altered its format and is posting odds. Odds of making it out of the first round and into the sweet 16, the semis, and to win it all.
Interesting soccer stat – the field in 2010 is the weakest overall field since 1994.
The top three countries in order of likelihood to advance –
To reach the Round of 16 –
South Africa – 78% chance
Brazil – 74% chance
Spain – 73% chance
*United States – 33% chance
To reach the Semifinals –
Brazil – 49% chance
Germany – 38% chance
Netherlands – 34% chance
To win it all –
Brazil – 22% chance
Germany – 18% chance
Italy – 13% chance
I enjoyed the format of the 2006 report which gave backgrounds and key stats on the economic state of all of the participating countries. In 2006 UBS selected Italy to beat Brazil in the Finals…Italy did win, but it beat Zinedine Zidane and the French team. The 2006 report also gave predictions for how it expected each of the countries to fare.
It all starts on June 11th! (official schedule attached)
Summary -
Great insightful and educational book. It shares real life how to's on the areas around openness, transparency, authenticity, and listening. Tackles tough questions such as failure, how to handle a curmudgeon, why your company can't be like Apple.
Real life case studies from the Red Cross, US Navy, President Obama, United Airlines, Dell, P&G, Johnson and Johnson, Comcast, SunTrust, Ford, Cisco, Zappos, Kaiser Permanente, HP, Netflix, Starbucks, Best Buy, Kodak, Bank of America, Marriott.
