I have been reading a lot of late about "sponsored conversations." This is where companies search out bloggers and offer them free product or perks like free trips to "test" products and then blog about them. It seems to be the standard business model for parenting or "mommy" blogs. Sometimes the bloggers mention that they have been given products, but more frequently, they talk about the products in glowing terms as part of their blogging conversations. The bloggers do not hold paid positions for the companies that they talk about, but they do receive free product or other perks.
Obviously, there have been paid product placements in movies and TV for many years. Although not acknowledged as such, except in the credits, most viewers understand that payment was made for the products to appear within the content of a movie or TV show.
Should the same system be employed for bloggers? Apparently, I'm not the only person who thinks so. The FTC is currently revising their truthful advertising guidelines to include bloggers. The revised guidelines should be published later this year.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Social Media -- Mainstream and No Longer Cool
You knew it was going to happen. Social media, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, is used by so many people, it finally becomes mainstream . . . and no longer cool. Even older boomers are using social media. And we can mark the date when social media when mainstream as 4/17/09.
Last week marked several major milestones that, unless you live in a cave, you could not have missed. First, there was Ashton Kutcher hitting 1 million followers on Twitter. This was followed by Oprah's first tweet. And, lest we forget the impact user-generated content can have on corporations, the CEO of Domino's Pizza responded to the employee video with his own YouTube video. All of this was reported by Brian Williams on the NBC national news on Friday, April 17th. And so, that day marks the official Social Media Goes Mainstream day.
As with everything that goes mainstream, though, a price is going to be paid. More and more people feel like they should put a profile on Facebook, or Twitter, or create a video. The pressure mounts to be seen as somewhat with it, even though that time has long since past. We remember the iPod or the iPhone. Those who are cool are always the first to adopt new technology and new products, and they are always on to the next big thing about the time the old big thing went mainstream.
Who knows what will come next? One thing is always certain, like death and taxes, is that there will be a "next big thing."
Last week marked several major milestones that, unless you live in a cave, you could not have missed. First, there was Ashton Kutcher hitting 1 million followers on Twitter. This was followed by Oprah's first tweet. And, lest we forget the impact user-generated content can have on corporations, the CEO of Domino's Pizza responded to the employee video with his own YouTube video. All of this was reported by Brian Williams on the NBC national news on Friday, April 17th. And so, that day marks the official Social Media Goes Mainstream day.
As with everything that goes mainstream, though, a price is going to be paid. More and more people feel like they should put a profile on Facebook, or Twitter, or create a video. The pressure mounts to be seen as somewhat with it, even though that time has long since past. We remember the iPod or the iPhone. Those who are cool are always the first to adopt new technology and new products, and they are always on to the next big thing about the time the old big thing went mainstream.
Who knows what will come next? One thing is always certain, like death and taxes, is that there will be a "next big thing."
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
What is This Twitter Thing?
More and more of my friends have been asking me lately: What is this Twitter thing? Do I need to Twitter? Why would I use Twitter?
It's been interesting to watch the spread of Twitter and the ever-increasing pressure to join the crowd who tweets. My advice goes back to Marketing 101 and a few simple questions you have to ask yourself.
(1) What are your marketing objectives?
(2) Who is the target audience you are trying to reach? How are they using Twitter?
(3) What channels are you currently using to achieve your marketing objectives?
(4) Can Twitter help you to reach this target audience and achieve your marketing objectives?
(5) Do your competitors use Twitter?
(6) Is Twitter a better channel? Can Twitter help you communicate your message more quickly and consistently?
There isn't a right or wrong answer to the "Should I Twitter?" question. Even though it is free to set up a Twitter account, it takes a lot of resources in terms of time.
An easy way to try it out is to offer a Twitter channel when you run a webinar or event. This provides attendees with another way to converse before, during, and after the event. And, it allows you the time needed to see how many resources are necessary.
Of course, you might find that you get hooked on Twitter and that it is a great channel for communication.
It's been interesting to watch the spread of Twitter and the ever-increasing pressure to join the crowd who tweets. My advice goes back to Marketing 101 and a few simple questions you have to ask yourself.
(1) What are your marketing objectives?
(2) Who is the target audience you are trying to reach? How are they using Twitter?
(3) What channels are you currently using to achieve your marketing objectives?
(4) Can Twitter help you to reach this target audience and achieve your marketing objectives?
(5) Do your competitors use Twitter?
(6) Is Twitter a better channel? Can Twitter help you communicate your message more quickly and consistently?
There isn't a right or wrong answer to the "Should I Twitter?" question. Even though it is free to set up a Twitter account, it takes a lot of resources in terms of time.
An easy way to try it out is to offer a Twitter channel when you run a webinar or event. This provides attendees with another way to converse before, during, and after the event. And, it allows you the time needed to see how many resources are necessary.
Of course, you might find that you get hooked on Twitter and that it is a great channel for communication.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Personal Transparency
We hear so much about transparency these days and the need for corporations and government to be more transparent about their actions. The move to transparency from the government and corporations is very much welcomed, as it seems that too much has been hidden for too long. However, this move to transparency has extended to personal transparency, or the revelation of personal details in public places. I'm not sure that this is, as Martha Stewart used to say, a good thing.
Social media is driving this new personal transparency, and the revelation of personal details on one's blog, Facebook page, or Twitter is everywhere. Examples are everywhere from "sexting" to tweeting about how one really feels about accepting a job at Cisco. A senior executive at a social media company was recently asked about his disappearance from social media channels. The expected response might be something like illness, family demands, or a personal situation. Instead, we were treated to a rather in-depth description of the person's divorce and the impact on their social networking and interaction. I found the revelation to be unnecessary, but many of that executive's followers responded as if they were close personal friends.
Since this is one of those areas where new technology is generating new social patterns and behavior, there is clearly no right or wrong. It is very interesting to see how people are broadcasting more and more personal information across social media channels at the same time that privacy issues are at the forefront.
Social media is driving this new personal transparency, and the revelation of personal details on one's blog, Facebook page, or Twitter is everywhere. Examples are everywhere from "sexting" to tweeting about how one really feels about accepting a job at Cisco. A senior executive at a social media company was recently asked about his disappearance from social media channels. The expected response might be something like illness, family demands, or a personal situation. Instead, we were treated to a rather in-depth description of the person's divorce and the impact on their social networking and interaction. I found the revelation to be unnecessary, but many of that executive's followers responded as if they were close personal friends.
Since this is one of those areas where new technology is generating new social patterns and behavior, there is clearly no right or wrong. It is very interesting to see how people are broadcasting more and more personal information across social media channels at the same time that privacy issues are at the forefront.
Monday, March 23, 2009
When Analysts Cross The Line
High tech analysts have always provoked their vendors. On the one hand, the analyst needs to develop relationships with the vendors in their area of focus in order to really understand the market and what is going on in it. On the other hand, they ultimately want the vendor to pay for their firm's services. Some analyst firms have made it very clear how vendors can "pay to play" while others pretend that they are objective. When analysts from the firms that insist they are objective cross the line, a lot of damage is done to the credibility of the analyst and their firm. Recently, a very high profile analyst from one of the leading high tech analyst firms crossed the line. First, he tweeted that a potential vendor that he follows was having financial difficulties. Now, if this is true, then he does a service to report that fact as soon as possible to the people who purchase his services. Unfortunately, the tweet was based on 4 emails and was not confirmed before he tweeted about it. And, to add to the injury, he arrogantly demanded that the company in question "brief him immediately." This was irresponsible on the part of the analyst, and in many other industries, would have been all that was necessary to ask for his resignation. While that hasn't happened, his credibility has now been called into question and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, and potentially undermines the quality of whatever he says in the future. We not only hope that he learned his lesson, but we hope that the industry treats his "objectivity" carefully in the future.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Newspapers -- Finding a New Business Model
There has been a lot written lately about the demise of newspapers. We know that the old business model no longer works. More people get their news and entertainment online. And, fewer people purchasing newspapers means fewer eyeballs, and fewer eyeballs mean that newspapers can't attract advertisers nor can they get them to pay a premium for more eyeballs.
Instead of experimenting with new models, most newspapers just post the news online for free. This makes it even more unlikely that anyone will pay for a newspaper, since the news is no longer news when you receive it in print. To add to their problems, newspapers have decided that the few remaining subscribers should pay what it costs to deliver the newspaper. The San Francisco Chronicle has raised the six month delivery charge for Fri-Sun from $29 in 2007 to $52 in 2008 and now to $117. If they were doing pricing research, they found my price barrier. In order to find a new business model, newspapers have to become NeoMarketeers. They need to ask online and offline readers as well as non-readers to differentiate and separate types of content into the following 4 buckets. And, they need to determine the price elasticity for each. Add this to a demographic and geographic profile, and -- surprise, surprise -- newspapers will have a very nice segmentation on which to build their new business model:
Instead of experimenting with new models, most newspapers just post the news online for free. This makes it even more unlikely that anyone will pay for a newspaper, since the news is no longer news when you receive it in print. To add to their problems, newspapers have decided that the few remaining subscribers should pay what it costs to deliver the newspaper. The San Francisco Chronicle has raised the six month delivery charge for Fri-Sun from $29 in 2007 to $52 in 2008 and now to $117. If they were doing pricing research, they found my price barrier. In order to find a new business model, newspapers have to become NeoMarketeers. They need to ask online and offline readers as well as non-readers to differentiate and separate types of content into the following 4 buckets. And, they need to determine the price elasticity for each. Add this to a demographic and geographic profile, and -- surprise, surprise -- newspapers will have a very nice segmentation on which to build their new business model:
- What I Need to Know
- What I Want to Know [use of RSS feeds]
- What I Didn't Know I Need to Know [education]
- What I Know I Don't Need to Know -- But Want Anyway [entertainment]
I think we need to get the conversation going here -- for the sake of newspapers and for the sake of those of us who still relish holding a newspaper in our hands in the morning.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
www.USAservice.org -- Tapping the Power of Community
Last night I got an email from Michell [Obama] asking that I donate time on January 19th in honor of MLK Day. It was a typical social media email complete with video of Michelle and a request to sign up for service.
The Web site http://www.USAservice.org/calltoservice literally blew me away. I could put in my zip code and determine what days (even what year) and how far I wanted to go to volunteer. Once I input this information, I was taken to a Google map with American flags marking all of the volunteer opportunities that met my requirements. Each flag is clickable and gives the details of the service event -- type, date, address, length of commitment -- even an RSVP button to make it effortless.
It is so wonderful to have the first "Internet President" who really gets what a community is and can do. Remembering back to the famous Sarah Palin comment that President-elect Obama was "just a community organizer," I have to laugh. If only everyone got it and knew that the true value of the community he built in just two years to get him elected was also going to be an amazing resource for research and input on issues as well as a source for volunteers.
And to sum it up, I just quote Michelle's email: "It will take ordinary citizens working together with a common purpose to get this country back on track. This national day of service is an important first step in our continuing commitment. Now is the time to remind all Americans what ordinary people can accomplish when we stand together."
The Web site http://www.USAservice.org/calltoservice literally blew me away. I could put in my zip code and determine what days (even what year) and how far I wanted to go to volunteer. Once I input this information, I was taken to a Google map with American flags marking all of the volunteer opportunities that met my requirements. Each flag is clickable and gives the details of the service event -- type, date, address, length of commitment -- even an RSVP button to make it effortless.
It is so wonderful to have the first "Internet President" who really gets what a community is and can do. Remembering back to the famous Sarah Palin comment that President-elect Obama was "just a community organizer," I have to laugh. If only everyone got it and knew that the true value of the community he built in just two years to get him elected was also going to be an amazing resource for research and input on issues as well as a source for volunteers.
And to sum it up, I just quote Michelle's email: "It will take ordinary citizens working together with a common purpose to get this country back on track. This national day of service is an important first step in our continuing commitment. Now is the time to remind all Americans what ordinary people can accomplish when we stand together."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
