Grown Up Thinking

Over the last year there has been an exponential increase in the number of websites asking users to sign in using Facebook connect. Some tout the ease of joining a community, others want to connect your interests with the interests of your friends, and some just ask you to do it for no apparent reason. Until recently I have yet to see any website give me something in return for taking that action. As a marketer I know that their desire to connect me with other people or make sign-up easier is just so they can make money. It’s about data collection, optimization and ad targeting. I get it, and most other consumers get it, so why not give me something worth my while? Why not show me what my data is worth to you?

Well, my dreams have come true. Hulu, in an effort to beat Netflix (and get their numbers up for a quick sale), is in the midst of a big push for their Hulu Plus offering. The online video provider has seen some success with the paid version of its free service, but not to the extent that Netflix has seen success. Their answer to that problem is free trials, and their ask form consumers is simple: Give us access to your Facebook data and one status update about Hulu Plus.

So, according to Hulu, your Facebook data and one status update is worth $7.99.

We are the Mr Youth interns. In honor of Social Media Day last Thursday we are sharing our POV on the good life of YouthNation, the present and future of social media, and whatever else crosses our young, millennial minds in 140 characters or less:

- Elizabeth C: Social media icon sheets & comforters will replace dinosaurs and rocket ships.

- Kara B: #D0M!N@T!0N

- Jon I: Some people think the internet is ruining are ability to comunikate, but I think we’re just fien. The future is #social.

- Thomas S: I am not witty enough for this, I defer to the Twitterverse.

- Vinny S: Emoticon Media, The future of Social: – A typical day.

- Annie D: Social media helps to engage the brand and the customer through dynamic, interactive, and unique experiences (games, applications and videos).

- Lauren F: I have a feeling Facebook is going to lose its spark soon. The site has lost its simplicity and exclusivity, #unlike.

- Alison W: SM lets me stalk a dog named Boo on Facebook, tweet at Barack Obama and keep in touch with my grandma in Florida #EndlessPossibilities…

- Adam P: In the modern battle of David versus Goliath, social media is the slingshot.

- Alexa D: Rule #76.5: Social Media plays like a champion.

We want to hear your musings on social.  Tell us in the comments!

This Thursday is National Social Media Day! With only two days left to prepare, how will you celebrate? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

- Pick a social media personality and claim it for the day. I recommend being the Fail Whale or the crying Foursquare girl with the crown  Make sure you dress to fit your part like this guy!

- Set some resolutions for the next year of social media. Example: “I will tweet more often because I haven’t in months” or “I will tweet less often because my friends want to slap me.”

- Make a video and upload it on YouTube. Need ideas? Start simple with a demonstrative speech – like how to make a sandwich, how to make a scene at work, or how to make a grown man cry.

- Get your favorite social media infographic and make it your desktop background. Like this one.

- Throw an internet meme party. I will make my friends wear narwhal horn party hats (and bring my pet narwhal), dress as chubby bubbles girl, put Double Dream Hands on repeat, Ice all the bros in attendance, and insert photo bomb seal into all of the party pics (which I will then make into animated gifs). Friday will be boycotted, though, since it will only be Thursday…

Happy Social Media Day to you and yours! Tell us what you’re scheming for the big day.

Of all the new ads, ideas, articles, videos, and trends we sift through every day, these are the fun nuggets that stuck with us last week:

- The Oxford Dictionary is the most generous in adding Internet jargon to the official English language. Check out the list of last month’s new additions, my favorites being: baby bump, bestie, infographic, meep, newb, social graph, and ZOMG.

- Axe Sprayaway lets you remove what you think stinks on the web. Negative YouTube comment? New pic of your arch nemesis on Facebook? Opinion you don’t agree with and want to lash out against in a non-threatening way? Make yourself feel better with this fun tool.

- This conceptual work for UNICEF, done by students at the Miami Ad School, poses a new way to contribute funds to education by donating your misspelled words. A very creative and inspiring concept.

- The launch of the Tweet Button adds an easier way to embed Twitter into your sites with options to show the number of times the item has been tweeted and preload mentions.

- The Intel® Museum of Me is our favorite rendition of the myriad “social history” tools we’ve seen.  Beautiful and well done.

- Improv Everywhere did a great stunt called “Gotta Share” – it gives the flashmob a facelift and has all the social media rhyming words we could ask for

What’s floating your boat this week?

We’ve found a lot that is inspiring and LOL-worthy this week (and it’s only Wednesday!) Here’s a shortlist – our spring gift to you, dear reader.

The @bronxzooscobra: Ok so it may be scary and awful that a 20-inch, pencil-thin, extremely venomous cobra is missing in the Bronx Zoo, but it is hilarious for us that our slithery, parseltongued friend is tweeting about her adventures.  Let’s hope that the zoo will find the amusement in this amidst their dismay, as 120k+ other Twitter users are.

Kraft Mac and Cheese “cnt sleep” Spots: With a speedy production turnaround reminiscent of Old Spice, these new clips (all are featured on the Kraft Facebook page) were inspired by consumer tweets about mac and cheese. One spot aired on Conan and Lopez Monday night, and it was so successful that agency CP&B repeated it again on TBS last night.

Stella Artois – Triple Filtered: From a gritty and sobbing Adrian Brody to this newest shabby and love-struck gentleman, the male cast of Stella ads play on a fun egocentrism that describes the brand itself.  In this London-created TV/Cinema campaign, our leading man finds himself chasing after a girl out of his league.  In three smooth steps he goes from scruffy to sophisticated.

Ashley Boo Facebook App – A take-down from the Hunter Shoots a Bear campaign, this Flash integration to promote Rounds (a video chat service) is intended to show the spirit and capabilities of the brand.  The fake profile of Ashley Boo gives you a taste of what you and your friends can do together using the service.

What’s on your radar this week?  Let us know in the comments!

Very interesting panel this morning on how brands can be proactive and reactive to extinguish ASAP. Key takeaways:

- Come up with a strategy in the beginning – are you or are you not going to allow consumers to engage with you? Brands should really allow consumers to engage with them, but set ground rules up front so consumers know when their posts might be taken down.

- Absolutely use a suite of social listening tools so you can be proactive in detecting and addressing potential crises before they become detrimental.

- The most credible thing out there is consumers who jump in and help you solve your problems. Ideally consumer support should happen organically, you don’t want to have to rally. This will happen if you foster your consumer relationships and create consumer loyalty from the beginning.

- Everyone loves to write on a wall so that their feedback – positive and negative – can be broadcast. Know that creating a customer support tab will not stop this. Brands need to accomodate how their consumers want to provide feedback.

- If you have a specific call to action to “Like” a page when a consumer arrives there for the first time, the fan conversion jumps from around 25% to around 45%.

- DO NOT hire an intern to run your Facebook page. You need to have one experienced person who knows the social media ropes to run your page on a daily basis. It is a full time job that requires someone who knows your brand and consumers inside and out.

Panel information: http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_IAP7900

On January 28th we posted our POV on the social media blackout in Egypt. Social media played a remarkable role in the ability for revolutionaries to communicate and mobilize, and this is not the first instance where social enabled incredible change for a country and its people.

With knowledge of the political and cultural power of their sites the executives of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, and others have unique approaches to their resulting responsibility and democratic role.

Google isn’t afraid of taking sides. Becoming part of the revolution, they worked with Twitter to create Speak2Tweet, allowing the people in Egypt to skirt the online access restrictions. YouTube also played a role on behalf of the protesters by quickly curating submitted content to be shared with the world.

While it is unquestionable that Facebook knows their power as a tool for social change, there is no intention to partner with movements as Google and Twitter have done. In part this is a crucial stance on behalf of social justice. If Facebook promoted themselves as a tool for uprising or gave statements in support of this activity, the site would be blocked by some regimes in a precautionary attempt to avoid a repeat of Tunisia or Egypt.

Some advocates for human rights see this as a mistake (more on this specifically in this NY Times article). The trust and authenticity we find so appealing about Facebook can be devastating to citizens of more oppressive nations as it stems from the prohibition of false identities. Facebook’s response is always in defense of overall user protection, so this policy is not currently up for negotiation.

This does not mean that Facebook will idly stand by. Last month we all jumped on the security upgrade to prevent stolen passwords. This was Facebook’s response to actions taken by the Tunisian government, worded as a technical solution across the board for greater user security. Facebook has also shut down activist pages with falsified admin names, solidifying their stance against overall abuse to their terms.

All social media sites have been threaded into historical progress. What do you think of the differences between Google and Twitter putting themselves in the front line and Facebook sticking to the sidelines?

It’s that time of year again – Social Media Week has come and gone, leaving us with actionable insights and much anticipated information around our favorite social platforms. For those of you who missed it (or realized an iPad is not actually an effective note-taking device) here are some of the highlights that #SMW11 had to offer:

Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley’s Gives Us A Peek Into The Company’s Future Plans:

The most interesting revelation to come from @dens was the possibility of location-based recommendations. Whether users are in Soho or South Beach, Foursquare would be able to recommend new spots to dine or explore based on their previous check-ins.

The new feature could prove extremely valuable for users exploring unfamiliar territory, and with a recommendation engine that learns with users’ base activity much like Amazon’s intelligent recommendations engine, Foursquare would position itself with a unique value proposition in the increasingly cluttered sphere of location-based services. Foursquare’s social platform could become more utilitarian guiding the decision-making process of its users.

DOTGO’s Integrative Text Messaging Service:

Through a newly developed coding language called CMRL (Concise Message Routing Language), DOTGO is helping to create a two-way dialogue “that makes accessing concise, relevant, and useful content from any web site as easy as sending a text message.”

Why does this matter? DOTGO could prove to be an extremely valuable tool for marketers to reach young teens, parents, and other audiences who don’t have smartphones or other Internet-enabled mobile devices.

Focusing on the Content:

The main take-away over at Red Bull space was that content is king.  As brands especially in entertainment finally understand the benefit of growing their social media communities, they are also realizing the importance of providing a constant stream of truly engaging content to fans.

Even Mike Lazerow CEO of Buddy Media, who has built his business around providing clients with powerful tools to grow fan bases agrees that brands must strategically work to grow engaged quality fans hubs around meaningful conversations, causes and continuous content.

Furthermore, in an age where content is so widely available, brands must intelligently curate their own content across branded channels if they want to foster growth and engagement. If they fail to provide compelling content, fans will find other resources for discovery.

For those of you who missed the week and would like to gain further insight, most of the panels have been recorded via Livestream.  In addition, Sysomos has provided some interesting monitoring and analytics information from the global event.

As we are all aware of by now, peer recommendations are the strongest drivers of purchase intent among consumers. We’ve seen the numbers. It all makes sense. We trust the recommendations of our friends the most.

If we trust our peers’ recommendations the most, why are marketers so obsessed with the ‘Like’ button and not the ‘Recommend’ button? Levi’s has become famous in the social/digital work for being the first major brand to completely socialize their shopping experience. After that, everyone else followed suit and ‘Like’ buttons went up all over the place.

As marketers we understand the power of one word over the other, even if it seems minuscule to most.  If we spend so much time talking about how peer recommendations are the most powerful form of WOM and drive purchase intent, why are we not asking people to ‘Recommend’ products? Why are we only asking people to ‘Like’ them? I think there’s a place for both plug-ins in the online experience. In many instances a consumer might prefer to ‘Like’ a product over recommending it, because they may not have used that product before and liking has a lower cognitive barrier to entry (in the same way that liking has a lower barrier to entry than commenting or sharing).

Where I’d most ‘Like’ to see ‘Recommend’ plug-ins implemented:

- On review sites and message boards discussing products
- During the e-commerce experience, maybe during purchase or post-purchase
- In follow-up emails after purchase
- In email marketing to existing customers and frequent purchasers

What are your views on Like vs Recommend as a marketer and/or as a Consumer? Have you used either of them? Do you see a larger place for the ‘Recommend’ button? Share your thoughts below.

If 3,029,062 people “Like” Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook, could 18,976,457 people “Like” New York City? Rumor has it Mayor Michael Bloomberg just had a powwow with the world’s most popular dweeb to discuss pushing the Big Apple into the social realm (which is really the least Zuckerberg could do to redeem himself for that painful SNL cameo.)

The NY Daily News reports that while Big Mike has been somewhat vague about the details of the meeting, he believes “there’s a lot of potential” in NYC having its own Facebook page. Bloomberg’s even gone so far as to hire a Millennial to man the helm as Chief Digital Officer – 27-year-old Rachel Sterne (<< follow her!) There has been some criticism that Sterne doesn’t have enough experience for the position or its reported $115,000 salary, but I beg to differ.

What does her resume look like? Our new CDO is founder and CEO of citizen journalism site GroundReport, and was named one of America’s most promising social entrepreneurs by Businessweek, at age 25. Rachel’s also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, despite the absence of her own graduate degree. AdWeek even claims she’s “a bit of a darling in New York’s digital scene“. So, what else do you want? Social and digital is a relatively new space for city government to play, and I believe it takes a fresh and eager mind to understand, embrace, and stay on top of it all.

Equipping the Big Apple with a social media presence will do more than give New Yorkers a greater sense of city pride, it could be an efficient way for NYC to both communicate and collaborate with those of us who live here. I’m curious to learn more about Zuckerberg’s plan for how New York can use Facebook, and what our new CDO will bring to the table. What’s your social media strategy for your city?