Search Marketing• Social Media

What’s Buzzing: Pinterest Self-Service Ads, WWDC 2014 & More

June 6, 2014

It was an exciting end of the week here at 360i, as we were honored at the North American Effie Awards alongside clients Hanes, Oreo and Oscar Mayer. In other news, soccer fans and marketers alike are gearing up for next week’s World Cup kick-off and Instagram unleashed a series of new editing features within its app to woo more serious content creators. Read on for our recap of the top stories in digital this week.

Pinterest Unveils Self-Service Ad Product
Pinterest announced a new marketing tool this week that emulates the CPC-based ad model of Facebook and Google. Different from the Promoted Pins product announced last September – which is reserved for premium advertisers and sold on a cost-per-impressions basis – the new product will democratize advertising on the platform by allowing smaller advertisers to bid on user queries. Read our blog post to learn what Pinterest’s maturation means for marketers.

Apple Emphasizes Search at WWDC 2014
While Apple CEO Tim Cook did not make any hardware announcements during his 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote, the company did address some significant changes to its operating systems for computers (Mac OS X “Yosemite”) and for smartphones and tablets (iOS 8). These updates will likely influence the way people engage with Apple products from a consumer search standpoint. Read our blog post to learn how the new features could alter user search behavior moving forward.

Newcastle Brown Ale and Ben & Jerry’s Reward Twitter Users
Newcastle Brown Ale is promising to pay 50,000 Twitters users $1 dollar in exchange for a follow and will be mailing physical checks to the somewhat-richer followers. The brand launched the initiative in line with its “No Bollocks” marketing mantra. 360i client Ben & Jerry’s is also rewarding users for Twitter activity. In an effort to promote its new “Core” flavors, the brand asked fans in the D.C. area to tweet at their Twitter truck account with their location, so the team could swing by and dole out free samples.

Photo via In the Capital

Amazon & HIT Entertainment Partner to Create Toy Content Hub
Amazon is partnering with HIT Entertainment (a 360i client) to exclusively bring the popular cartoon, “Fireman Sam,” to the online retailer through an episode-streaming content hub. The cartoon series will be available for download through Amazon Instant Video, Prime Instant Video and FreeTime Unlimited, and show-related merchandize including toys, apparel and e-books will also be featured in the hub. “Fireman Sam” isn’t the only cartoon making headlines this week: Disney’s “Frozen” has launched digital stickers for texting apps, allowing users to integrate the movie characters into their personal conversations.

Photo via The New York Times

Brazilian Designer Imagines Instagram via Google Glass
Brazilian designer and UX/UI specialist Leonardo Zem has created a design concept that would bring Instagram to Google Glass. Among the functionalities are the photo-sharing and editing features that are operated using voice commands. As wearable technology continues to grow in popularity, and users seek to perform all activities including social via the devices, it will be interesting to see which platforms adapt to the trend – and how.

Photo via PSFK

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Cover photo via Adweek

 

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