Spring has sprung and along with it a ton of exiting Social TV News. April was a wild month that included record-breaking premieres, flashy media upfronts, election developments and historic, digital signs of the times. Below are some of our favorite highlights from the past 30 days.
360i Social TV Spotlight – April
Since the Mad Men era, the widely held perception has been that consumers are only influenced by advertisements of shiny celebs and models – but social media and the rise of a new sect of influencers is turning this notion on its head.
Recent research shows that consumers would rather receive marketing messages from bloggers or influencers that they are familiar with than a celebrity. Moreover, this preference ultimately affects their purchasing behavior (53% of female readers have bought a product based on a recommendation from a blogger).

For many teens, the pinnacle of ‘Happiness’ would be hanging out with their favorite pop star – of course few people are ever afforded such an opportunity. Well, this dream is about to become a reality for seven lucky teens thanks to 360i client Coca-Cola and Google+.
As part of Coca-Cola and American Idol’s ‘Perfect Harmony’ program – in which fans can help singer Jason Derulo pen his next big hit – the brand has picked a handful of teens to participate in a live chat on the Coca-Cola Google+ page. You can watch the chat LIVE tonight at 7 p.m. EST, as Jason answers fan questions and takes live ones from the Coca-Cola community.

Image via College Candy
Coca-Cola hosted its first Google+ hangout in February. The broadcast featured archivists from the brand who fielded questions from the Coca-Cola archives. The brand, which touts one of the largest corporate presences on Facebook, has more than half a million fans on Google+.
Earlier this month, Google rolled out its ‘Hangouts on Air’ feature to all Google+ users. This update allows any G+ member to publicly broadcast a hangout for their network to see – either within the Google+ stream, from a website or from a YouTube channel.
Last week, Tumblr decided to throw their hat in the ring and start selling ads on their platform. Perhaps because they’ve had a chance to observe Facebook as they have publicly iterated on the core value proposition of their advertising products, Tumblr has skipped those steps and come out with a very clear stance on what they’re selling and who can buy it.

While advertisers have been flocking to Facebook – especially in light of media opportunities introduced at fMC earlier this year – measuring the impact of their efforts relative to other channels has left some media folks scratching their heads. A Wall Street Journal article published yesterday explores the sense of “doubt” some marketers feel toward their media investment within the world’s largest social network.

Graphic via the Wall Street Journal
Although Facebook has built out a full suite of media opportunities to bolster its $3 billion-a-year ad business, Suzanne Vranica and Shayndi Raice of the WSJ argue that “some marketers … are wondering whether they’re getting their money’s worth.” It’s a fair question – especially given Facebook’s impending IPO purported to happen later this month. By the way, Facebook’s valuation is projected to be nearly $100 billion – or 33x the company’s ad revenue, according to Vranica and Raice.
Yet more than doubt, advertisers are experiencing a sense of confusion regarding how media impact within Facebook can and should be measured. The discussion and debate surrounding social media ROI is nothing new – it’s a topic we’ve been hearing about for years – but it does take on a different weight as brands continue to up their investment in Facebook.
For example, one marketer featured in the WSJ piece cites that while he is increasing his investment, he’s still unsure of if an ad on the platform will lead to an eventual sale. Some brands, like Ford, have conducted research to tie social investment to sales and found that Facebook media can in fact provide a boost to sales. There is widespread agreement that social media is effective in helping reach such goals; however, marketers continue to wonder to what degree social media is driving the sale.
But is this the right way to evaluate success on Facebook? As 360i President Sarah Hofstetter notes in the article, Facebook might not be the right platform for marketers who measure ROI as direct sales from the Web. “If the goal is to move the needle on brand health metrics, whether its awareness or engagement, then Facebook should be a key part of the marketing mix for most consumer brands,” she says.
Social media has had a way of disrupting industries over the past five years, with the world of fashion being no different. The unique operational cycles of luxury fashion labels (i.e. the time lapse between runway shows and actual product availability) are being challenged by a real-time environment where bloggers and socially savvy fashion enthusiasts can drum up interest in a designer or particular look overnight.

What’s more, the proliferation of consumer content on emerging platforms like Pinterest and Tumblr, and within social shopping sites like Polyvore, is changing the way designers view their brand identity. Labels previously exclusive and “closed” are becoming more open to sharing content across multiple social platforms.
Inspired by the SXSW panel entitled “Who Needs Fashion Cycle? I’ve Got Social Media,” this post outlines three key ways social media has disrupted the luxury fashion cycle as we know it, and what marketers in this space can do to get ahead of the trend to better reach their customers.
1. The real time web is speeding up the traditional fashion communications cycle, sparking consumer interest from the moment products hit the runway.
Ten years ago the fashion communication cycle was highly controlled. Fashion houses put on two major shows per year – private events for 1,000 to 2,000 industry insiders. Photographs from the shows did not reach the general public for six months, when they were seen in the pages of fashion glossies at the same time apparel was made available in stores. This communication flow aligned with the fashion operations cycle post-show, during which buyers and designers coordinated their orders and created the pieces over the next six months before going to market.
You know those social symbols found across nearly every TV spot and program these days? As it turns out, people actually notice them. A recent Accenture study of US TV viewers found that nearly two-thirds of consumers have recalled a social media graphic while watching television, and one in three viewers have made the next step of interacting with social media after seeing a symbol.

A TV spot for “The Chronicle” prompts viewers to interact via YouTube and Twitter.
These findings are promising for brands actively marketing their social channels through on-air advertising, and even better news for TV networks and programmers — but the question remains: How can marketers move viewers from recognition to engagement?
First, let’s take a look at some of the key findings from the study: