RSS FeedFiled under: David Berkowitz, Google, Search Insider, Video | Tags: advertising, AdWords, Google, Video, YouTube
Image via CrunchBase
Let’s agree right away that YouTube’s Sponsored Video isn’t the next Google Killer.
It’s not even the next Yahoo killer, even though comScore recently reported that YouTube is now the second largest search engine. Fittingly, around the time that the comScore news broke, Google publicly launched search-triggered Sponsored Video ads on YouTube. Does this mean marketers need to consider YouTube over Yahoo and Microsoft?
Filed under: Bylines, Search Insider | Tags: Amazon Kindle, chumby, Google, iPod Touch, Kindle
Amazon Kindle Image via Wikipedia
The biggest prediction I’ll make for 2009 is that it will be the first year where the device you search from will matter almost as much as what your query is. Having mobile scale as a viable search marketing channel will be the biggest driver, but this extends beyond smartphones. Consider how GPS is making in-car telematics mainstream.
As I’ve been trying out some alternative devices lately, today we’ll look at the search experience on the iPod Touch, Amazon’s Kindle, and the Chumby.
iPod Touch
It’s a different mentality searching from the iPod Touch than from an iPhone. Both devices are similar, except for three key differences: the iPod Touch relies on Wi-Fi rather than the 3G/Wi-Fi combo the iPhone uses; there’s no GPS for the Touch, but it can hone in on location via Wi-Fi signals; and the Touch doesn’t have a camera.
Searching Google from the Touch delivers a mobile version of search results, where some ads appear above the natural results, but there are no ads to the right. Yahoo and Live.com also use the single-column approach. While it can vary from publisher to publisher, the experience is generally a hybrid of the Web and mobile, and as it evolves will only get better as a practical but powerful search driver.
I’m not yet willing to rely on AT&T and switch to the iPhone as a phone, but I love the Touch interface more than my Samsung i760 smartphone. When I want to quickly check email in the morning or look up a few things on the road, I reach for the Touch first, with the Samsung as a backup. As more data comes out, marketers will come to have a better understanding of what Touch users search for.
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Kindle
I’m not ready to give up on books (or bookshelves) quite yet, but after plowing through Philip Roth’s “Indignation” on Amazon’s Kindle, I’ll keep it on me for awhile. It was great traveling on an overnight trip to Boston where I could finish “Indignation” and download another book on the road rather than taking two volumes with me.
The Kindle’s experimental options include a Web browser, with bookmarks to Google, Yahoo Finance, and the Yellow Pages. Amazon operates on what it calls the “Whispernet,” a free Wi-Fi based connection to Sprint’s EVDO data network that has worked well anywhere I’ve tried to use it.
Trying to search Google on the Kindle requires several extra clicks to enter the term in the field and search. The concept of the first page of results is different here too, as you generally need to hit the “next” button to cycle through a few screens. Google’s results come from its PDA-optimized browser, although on the Kindle it’s in black and white. I couldn’t find any ads running.
The most useful search engine on the Kindle is its NowNow service where you can ask a question and humans respond with the result, sometimes within minutes. I asked it which U.S. president was the first to be inaugurated in January, and I received a page of facts and links about Franklin D. Roosevelt and his 1937 inauguration.
Chumby
The Chumby, a Wi-Fi enabled touch-screen device, is an odd duck of a gadget. You can select from a constantly growing list of Web sites, games, and utilities to add, and the Chumby cycles through them every 30 to 60 seconds; if you interact with one, it will stay on longer.
Some selections are meant for viewing, like clocks, while others are designed for interaction, like the addictive game Chumball. Certain selections can be personalized, like Facebook or Twitter, where you can view friends’ updates. Most have some interactive component. The Chumby can even play videos such as David Letterman’s Top Ten lists, which update daily.
There’s no actual search engine on the Chumby. With Yahoo Buzz or Google Trends, you can view recent top movers, but you can’t search beyond that. Google News shows top stories, but no other information beyond a brief synopsis. You can preprogram a query for Google Blog Search and Chumby will show the latest results, but that’s it. The best search experience I found is with the Twitter Search module, where you can enter a query through the Chumby’s on-screen keyboard.
Looking Forward
If mobile devices are considered the third screen (after the TV and computer), the Kindle must rank somewhere around the 11th screen — and the Chumby might be the 28th. Don’t even try to figure out the iPod Touch, which alternates between acting like the first screen when playing videos, the second screen when running applications, and the third screen when accessing the mobile Web. With all of these Web-enabled screens, there are opportunities for searching. The nature of the device, from its usability to where and why people use it, will impact the queries.
Not all screens will be search drivers. I’d be surprised if any agencies started to specialize in CMO — Chumby marketing optimization — or KIBRO — Kindle browser optimization. But since it’s easier to build in Web accessibility to a wider array of affordable devices aimed at the mass market, search engines will spill over into the new frontiers — and when searches from these devices reach any magnitude of scale, marketers will inevitably follow.
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Filed under: Uncategorized
360i will be presenting social media case studies at a number of events this week. On Monday, Bryan Wiener, CEO of 360i, and Sarah Hofstetter, VP of Emerging Media & Client Strategy, will be speaking on social media optimization and co-presenting a case study with MSNBC on how they have increased awareness, consideration and reach across the social landscape. Also on Monday, David Berkowitz, 360i’s Director of Emerging Media, will be speaking on social media at the CTAM Summit in Boston. And on Friday, Sarah will head to WOMMA’s Word of Mouth Marketing Summit in Las Vegas, where she’ll be co-presenting a Digital Word of Mouth case study with HGTV.
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MONDAY: 11.10.2008
IAB: The New Wizards of Digital Marketing
New York, NY
Bryan Wiener, CEO of 360i, and Sarah Hofstetter, VP of Emerging Media & Client Strategy, will be presenting on social media optimization at this IAB event.
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MONDAY: 11.10.2008
CTAM Summit
Boston, MA
David Berkowitz is speaking on the afternoon panel “Unleashing the Power of Social Media Technology”.
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FRIDAY: 11.14.2008
Word of Mouth Marketing Summit
Las Vegas, NV
Sarah Hofstetter is co-presenting a case study with HGTV on leveraging Digital Word of Mouth as part of an integrated digital marketing plan.
Filed under: Bylines
Online Marketing for Marketers is a new group blog from the producers of the Online Marketing Summit, and we’ll be posting contributions there periodically. Our first went live today, “The 4 Essential Elements of a Great Social Media Campaign.” While you can read the whole post on OMM, but here’s a brief synopsis.
The question of the week on OMM is about what makes for a good campaign, so to provide a little more focus, we zero in on these elements of social media campaigns:
- It achieves results.
- It extends beyond its original borders.
- It provides value to consumers on the platforms used.
- It ties into broader programs.
While you’re there, you’ll find a number of great posts from several friends of ours in the space; you can also rate posts without registering, so feel free to share your feedback there.
What don’t the major search engines do well?
That’s a burning question these days from way too many parties. It comes up in John Battelle’s most recent post (one that reminds me how effective a writer he is), which culminates in a plea for teaching search literacy in schools, and then journalist Cyrus Farivar’s thoughtful commentary on it. It’s a hot topic on Alt Search Engines, where Charles Knight finds and promotes startups that beat the engines at their own game. And of course it’s the raison d’être for all those engines.
There are two ways to address the problem of engines’ shortcomings. One way is to make the engines smarter. The other is to make the users smarter. With any luck we’ll meet somewhere in the middle.
It’s interesting to see startups’ different approaches to making themselves smarter.
The iPhone App Store has been open for less than four months and has already recorded more than 200 million application download
s. With such rapid consumer adoption, where do marketers fit in? The latest POV sent to 360i clients today tackles this in detail. First, it examines how marketers are using branded applications and reviews best practices. Then it explores advertising opportunities, along with a case study about an ad-supported app.
POVs are delivered regularly to 360i’s clients. If you’re interested in more information, please contact editor@360i.com.
by Orli Sharaby
From the hokey Juan Valdez to Burger King’s masked mascot The King, from the Budweiser iguanas to the Geico gecko, marketers have long used fictional characters to humanize their brands. Now some companies are taking advantage of social media tools to bring those characters to life in ways never before possible – connecting with consumers in fun, sometimes kitschy, and ultimately more meaningful ways.
Here are some success stories of brand mascots in social media:
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Wakamaru Nyt, Uniqlo’s blogging robot staffer
In early September 2008, a new face appeared at Uniqlo’s Soho flagship – the face of Wakamaru Nyt, reportedly the world’s first retail robot. While much of Wakamaru’s charm lies in his real-life presence at the store, the robot also has a blog and a Facebook page, often links to photos that people have tagged of him on Flickr, and also has plans for a Twitter feed and MySpace profile in the near future. In effect, Wakamaru Nyt has become like any other internet-savvy person living in New York in 2008, utilizing multiple online social platforms to make plans (such as the game of tag he organized in NYC’s Battery Park) and connect with his friends and fans.
Wakamaru, Uniqlo's newest intern
- Truman Greene, H&R Block’s biggest fan
In late 2007 and early 2008 leading up to Tax Day, 360i helped H&R Block roll out a multi-platform social media campaign that relied heavily on a character named Truman Greene. Billed as H&R Block’s biggest fan, Truman served as comic relief about a subject that, let’s face it, is hard to find humor in. His YouTube videos, which have racked up nearly 600,000 views, comprise mainly of improvised songs, skits, and guitar performances about doing your taxes, and his MySpace page serves as a place to get useful info on tax policy and test your tax knowledge – with a little humor thrown in as well. - Gil the Crab, Honda’s mascot on MySpace and beyond
A character that Honda developed in 2006 for web videos to promote the Element, Gil the Crab proved so popular that it made its way into TV ads and was given its very own MySpace profile and YouTube channel. An unlikely mascot for Honda, Gil is an absurd character – but sometimes, when it comes to online social media, absurd works best. Besides being the repository for his videos, commercials, and online games, Gil’s MySpace page chronicles the crab’s persistent troubles with the law. The page has nearly 70,000 friends, a petition to “Save the Crab” was signed by over 26,000 people, and Gil’s videos on YouTube have collectively received hundreds of thousands of views. - S.A.R.A.H., the Tweeting house from Sci Fi’s Eureka
In the Sci Fi Channel’s critically acclaimed show Eureka, there is an artificially intelligent house named S.A.R.A.H. (Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat). With an audience of gadget buffs and technology early adopters, the Sci Fi Channel astutely recognized that Twitter was the perfect platform on which to engage the show’s core fans. S.A.R.A.H.’s Twitter feed now has nearly 3,500 followers, and has received exponentially more exposure through good press. The tweeting house has even been the subject of the world’s first “Twitterview” – a live interview via Twitter – with the popular design site NOTCOT. While the initiative did not involve creating a new and unique “mascot” per se, the existing character of S.A.R.A.H. was given new life and greater depth in social media, allowing a broader connection with true fans of the show.
In the right context, fictional characters can have a powerful impact on the way consumers perceive your brand; this has been the case throughout the history of marketing. But now, with myriad social media platforms available, brands are able to use these characters to open a meaningful dialogue with consumers at the individual level. With the right mascot, the right platform, and the right timing, character-based social marketing can be hugely successful.
