Across the internet, it’s becoming more common to see individuals using single, or even multiple accounts for browsing and interacting with the web. The most apparent example is Facebook and their Open Graph, which has essentially weaved social information into the existing web.
Yes, this news isn’t groundbreaking, but this infographic by Gigya shows some interesting stats.
Personally, I would love to see some stats on the difference of MySpace from five years ago and today.
Nearly two weeks ago, Mini released a video on Facebook and YouTube calling out Porsche in a heads-up, David vs. Goliath race.
Mini Cooper S VS. Porsche 911 Carrera S â a difference of 200HP and $65K.
Jim McDowell, Mini North American chief (and former Porsche exec) lays out the guideline.
Mini, who is no stranger to clever advertising, created an extensive campaign around this throwdown, through Facebook e-petitions, a full page color ad in the New York Times and even rented a plane and flew a banner reading, “Dear Porsche, Bring it! Love, MINI,” over Porsche’s North American headquarters.
Days passed as Mini and automotive enthusiasts alike waited for a response. Blogs buzzed, online car communities roared, tweets echoed and Facebook e-petitions and e-signatures exploded â the conversation was thick and the automotive community held their breath as they waited for a response. People were tuned in. Will Porsche send out their best and play into Mini’s PR antics? What’s there to gain if Porsche does accept?
Finally, Porsche responds to the children at Mini.
While your challenge seems like a fun and lighthearted campaign, we’ll stick to racing the way we have over the decades. We welcome you at Sebring, Le Mans, Daytona or any other sanctioned race where there is more at stake than T-shirts and valet parking spaces.
-North America Porsche president, Detlev Von Platen
Owned.
Along with the letter, Porsche also linked them to this video.
This campaign initiated a ton of conversation, but has lost momentum since Porsche’s letter.
Hyundai, however, stepped in and joined the PR blitz with its own video challenge as they explained, âour driverâs a bit busy this week preparing to set the World Record at Pikes Peak⊠but July is looking good.â Mini’s response? None yet.
Yesterday, as the clock continued to count down on Mini’s Facebook page, it was still unclear where the campaign was going, or even if the event was still being held. 1 hour, then 20 minutes, then 3, then 00:00:00.
Nothing.
It was only till this morning did we discover the results.
Can you guess? Porsche came out to play, and Mini lost, big time.
Though a 2 second difference in laptime isn’t the greatest of margins, the embarrassing loss of losing a race Mini created, hyped and marketed was a great blow to Mini’s image. This campaign had tons of energy in the beginning, then completely flopped. Nice try Mini, maybe you can salvage your reputation with Hyundai’s challenge.
Today’s top trending topic on Twitter has been “UNIQLO LUCKY LINEă«èĄćăȘăă“, so what is it?
Japanese fashion retailer, Uniqlo, has created a campaign called “Lucky Line”, where fashion fans can auto-retweet their virtual line number on the Uniqlo website for a chance to be selected to win a 1,000 yen (9âŹ, $11) voucher.
Sound silly? Well hundreds of thousands of people are participating – and this isn’t the first time Uniqlo has activated users on Twitter, check out UTweet and Uniqlock.
Check out the site and look at the growing line. Ah, I need discounted skinny jeans now!
Engrossing and sometimes immensely frustrating, Lost has built an enormous fan base across the six years the show has aired. With its endless cliffhangers, complex characters and densely plotted story line, J.J. Abram’s creation has built an affinity with its viewers who seek closure to questions that have been burning since season one.
Last night, Lost fans across the world crowded around their TV to watch the finale – ending the six season series that so many devoted hours of their life to. As #LostFinale hash tags crowded Twitter, one of the main topics of conversation wasn’t the developing plot, but the excessive commercials.
ABC packed roughly 107 spots or, 45 minutes of commercial time, in the two-and-a half-hour finale. At an estimated $900,000 per 30-second slot, a spot on the series finale costed more than any of the 10 most-expensive programs on TV, according to Ad Age’s survey of prices paid in last year’s upfront.
So, why were advertisers willing to pay such a premium price?
The value of highly passionate and rabid fan base. With people increasingly watching TV programs through DVR, downloads and streams, assembling a large audience has become increasingly difficult. As a result, Advertisers are willing to dish out for “must-watch” events – which always bring in a larger than usual interest and audience. Just last week, Lost earned 8.8 million viewers according to Nielson, second to American Idol.
ABC and advertisers may be cashing in, but…
Did this ruin your experience?
Did you expect a lot of Lost content commercials (i.e. the Target ads)?
Okay, Iâll concede that those two are perhaps at the most extreme of either end of the spectrum. But there is still a point to be made: how effective are brand spokespersons? And more importantly, how much of an effect does their actions or image have on the brand itself?
Trite as it might be, the most recent and high profile example of a drastic shift in brand image is none other than Tiger Woods. Tiger lent his image and star-power to brands such as: Nike, Gatorade, AT&T, Tag Heuer, Gillette, Electronic Arts & Upper Deck â all for a small fee, of course. Some pulled the plug while others have remained by his side, for the sake of financial gains.
So the question remains: How does Tigerâs recently exposed marital infidelities effect how consumers perceive, and interact with, the brands he fronts?
joecannaday.com
Are people really switching from Nike to Reebok apparel in light of the recent developments?
Will men all across the nation swap their Gillettes for Bics for their morning shave, just because Mr. Woods can no longer look himself in the mirror?
Will once-devoted Gatorade drinkers suddenly switch to Powerade simply because Tigerâs sexual exploits left a bad taste in their mouth?
Letâs skip past the obvious innuendo of the third example and get straight to the answers. Last month, Adweek Media/Harris Poll asked the following: âWhen a celebrity endorser gets involved in a scandal, how does this make you feel about the brand(s) he/she endorses?â An astonishing 74% of respondents say that it âhas no impact.â
You canât argue with that kind of response. Three out of four people claim that the actions of a celebrity endorser has no effect whatsoever on their perception of their brand?
Obviously there is a major difference if PETA activist and sponsor Pamela Anderson were to start walking around in fur coats and eating burgers, than if Luke Wilson, the unfortunate face of AT&Tâs most recent wireless campaign, developed a drug addiction. Or worse, was exposed as a Verizon customer! GASP!
We want to know what you have to say :
How important are brand spokespersons?
How much do their actions really effect how you view their brand, for good or bad?
Do brand sponsors have a responsibility to serve as a role model?
Does it even matter if these fallen heroes learn lessons and right their wrongs when, regardless, theyâre making more money than us regular folk can even fathom?
From a PR standpoint, if a disaster is named after your company, then you have a major problem.
As the title âBP Oil Spillâ has been flashing across headlines this past week, it’s probably pretty safe to assume that BP must have a decisive plan to protect their image and carefully answer any flaring concerns from the public and media, right?
Some of us at CreativeFeed remember how poorly Exxon CEO, Lawrence Rawl, handled the Valdez oil spill of 1989, so we’re curious to see how BP will handle this disaster and if they will utilize social media as a PR tool.
In a crisis situation, social media is the fastest and most effective way to reach an audience. Itâs cost effective, instant and directâwithout the filtration and commentary of television, newspaper, radio journalists and bloggers.
BP spokesman David Nicholas said, ”We want to ensure that we can get out information about the response to this incident and spill as rapidly and widely as possibleâŠ. Twitter is a clearly popular medium.”
BP has focused their outreach under a different name, Deepwater Horizon Response. Nearly two weeks after the “BP Oil Spill”, it’s been interesting to see how the activation and connection of different social media platforms have created a humanized approach, adding a personal touch to relating to the public.
In contrast to a newsletter, a strategy used in traditional PR, the issues and progress of BP has become a topic of conversation, rather than a one-way message. There is a level of transparency, connectivity and accountability BP has taken through uncensored conversation and direct responses.
What do you think of BPâs response through social media platforms?
How does this change the nature of interaction between public and the corporation?
Do you think BP is hiding behind “Deep Water Horizon Response” and does this disconnect their efforts from their brand?
Large variety of images showing a collaborative effort of contracted workers, government organizations and volunteers working to restore the Gulf Coast
The next version of Facebook will publicly exchange user’s personal information to other sites and applications to create a more unique experience based on one’s interests, “likes” and more. As soon as you log into Facebook, then go to a different site, your profile will automatically connect and exchange your personal preferences. The more you use the web through Facebook, the more it learns about you.
For instance, based on your musical interests listed in your profile and past bands that you’ve “liked”, Pandora will already have a playlist ready for you…even if you have never been to their site. If you give a favorable rating of a band on Pandora, Facebook will store that information and may share it with Amazon, who will prompt you on that band’s newest album next time you visit their site. Other sites like The Wall Street Journal, HULU and IMDB will also be using the platform in similar ways.
These new string of features will completely reorganize the relationship between people and websites, goods and services – with huge advertising and search potential.
As the web becomes more dynamic with social media information, Facebook may become the source for finding information beyond social networks, as their individual social database expands and they continue to conquer more online territories.
Instant online publishing from blogs and social networks has created massive amounts of data existing within social networks, which is often difficult for Google to index and deliver in real time.
As the web is becoming more social and the demand for real time information increases, can Google keep up?
CreativeFeed wants to know your opinion! Cast your vote on the poll below.
