Before his first official day on the job, President-elect Barack Obama was already able to help out the struggling newspaper industry by boosting their sales – in some cases – through the roof.
The New York Times saw a huge increase in demand, and their front page paper is already being auctioned off on eBay for upwards of $100. People have been standing in line for hours at their main office just to get their hands on a copy of Wednesday’s paper, which was sold out and needed to be re-printed.
The Silicon Alley Insider posted a list of the top eBay bids for some newspapers around the country (updated as of this morning):
$122.50 for the New York Times
$100.00 for the Chicago Tribune
$51.00 for the Chicago Sun-Times
$51.00 for the Los Angeles Times
$41.00 for the New York Post
$28.76 for the Chicago Daily Herald
$26.00 for the Chicago Northwest Herald
$16.50 for the Rockford Register Star (IL)
$14.49 for the New York Daily News
$12.50 for USA Today
$9.49 for the Indianapolis Star
At least the newspapers can enjoy one day of high demand before everyone goes back online.
One of the recurring themes being discussed at the Web 2.0 Summit this week is the opportunities to extend social networking into the enterprise. Yesterday, I blogged about SocialText, a developer of enterprise wikis and social networking applications, and this morning, Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini shared two new offerings in development that will further efforts to bring Web 2.0 tools into the business market. The first is what Otellini called “professional networking,” a social networking-based application that will enable employees of a corporation to quickly identify and search for critical information that will speed that employee’s productivity and engagement. Through a custom dashboard, an employee will be able to visually identify key contacts within her organization, secure information about learning and development courses that are specific to her job level, access project files and collaboration groups that she will be involved in and use email, IM and video all integrated into one easy to use interface.
The second offering is what Otellini calls the “personal Internet” which aims to use the power of computing to bring relevant information to a user when and where its needed via a mobile Internet device. A demo was shown to the audience higlighting the technology, which Intel envisions as being critical in aiding corporations with a growing, global workforce. By using a mobile device, a person traveling abroad in China for example, would be able to simply point her device viewer at a sign and automatically see the sign translated into English. By shifting the device’s viewer to a restaurant sign, she can connect to information about the restaurant, menu options, the restaurant’s Web page or video blog with instant translation. Another handy feature is a speech recognition recording capability that will translate a uses’s voice into that country’s local language. All pretty amazing technology that Otellini says will be here quicker than we think – a mere 3-4 years. In fact, Otellini stated that advanced chip techology that will bring the power of the desktop to mobile handsets will be available by 2011.
If we learned anything from the historic Barack Obama presidential win last night, it was that the president elect’s campaign team changed politics forever through the effective use of mobilizing the youth vote, recruiting a massive volunteer army and securing unprecedented campaign funds through the use of social networking. Experts and pundits will be analyzing the approach all week, but it begs the question that’s probably on the mind of any CMO today – how do I inject the power of social networking into my organization and more importantly, how does it work within the context of an established enterprise organization?
According to Ross Mayfield of SocialText, one of this morning’s workshop presenters at the Web 2.0 Summitin San Francisco, the answer lies in understanding the power of “connected collaboration” as a strategic tool to help companies not only survive, but win in the current economic downturn. Mayfield founded his company on the belief that in order for companies to remain competitive and agile in response to the rigors of change, companies must also increase productivity to stimulate innovation and emerge as leaders.
But it’s not as simple as applying consumer trends such as Facebook and MySpace to the enterprise environment. While Mayfield says that these social networks are great for getting people used to the concept of being able to identify who knows who and who a user knows, in order for its application to be effective in an enterprise organization, a social network must encourage adoption and collaboration that helps to also identify what an employee knows, which employee knows what and which employee knows who knows what in order to facilitate shared knowledge and ultimately accelerate workplace productivity.
Connected collaboration, exemplified through Mayfield’s Power Law of Participation theory, works to 1) accelerate project and process cycles 2) saves time looking for information and people 3) delivers content that amplifies point — the culmination of which helps companies do more with less and innovate.
And, if you think social networking is only for Millenials, Mayfield argues that people by nature want to share information. While it’s easy to downplay the value of social networks by older workers, setting up the right kind of social network for the enterprise that is designed to address cross-generational usage needs (eg. embedded email based communication features for older works vs. widgets for younger workers), an increasingly mobile workforce that wants and needs to stay connected to the mothership and providing training is important.
Whether we like it or not, companies are moving from file-forced communications to people-centric collaboration or as Mayfield puts it, the “pdf is where knowledge goes to die.”
Web 2.0 companies like Facebook and Google are actively encouraging Americans to vote today. Google has gone the traditional route with a graphic for the occasion:
Facebook is also encouraging people to vote, and is even tallying how many Facebook users have gone to the polls:
Meanwhile, The New York Times is also trying to figure out how voters are feeling, and have asked people to write the words that describe their current state of mind:
iPhone applications are great, but most marketers will wait until there is a significant audience (Carling Application Image – Courtesy of Gizmodo)
By RJ Bardsley and Derek Brookmeyer
RaceTalk got the chance to sit down with Mobile Marketer editor Mickey Alam Khan last week to talk about everything that’s happening in the brave new world of mobile marketing. We walked away from the interview with some great insight into the mobile web ecosystem and what’s in store for marketers, journalists and content publishers as the mobile web goes mainstream.
Here are five key takeaways from the conversation:
1 – It’s good to experiment
While experimenting might not always be a good thing when it comes to used cars and second-rate sushi restaurants, it’s definitely a good thing to do with your marketing mix – especially in this economic environment.
The shift in media consumption has got many brands moving away from traditional broadcast and print spots and looking for new online marketing strategies. Mickey says that mobile should be part of a 365 degree strategy that integrates traditional marketing and advertising elements with online and mobile components.
Marketers need to begin building relationships with their consumers via the mobile phone. Good marketers have spent years building trusted relationships with consumers online and they need to extend those relationships over the handset – whether through SMS or mobile web programs. The key to this, says Mickey, is building an opt-in database of consumers who want to communicate over the handset. Bank of America and Orbitz are two examples of brands that have built stellar mobile programs.
2 – Format vs. Content-What Happens on the Mobile Web doesn’t Necessarily Stay on the Mobile Web
For brands making the leap onto the mobile web there can be a lot of questions – a lot of marketers are wondering if they need to build a separate WAP site or iPhone application to build a mobile presence. The answer is that content doesn’t need to change, but format should be well suited for easy access by a handheld device. Mickey pointed out two beautiful mobile web sites – mobile.nytimes.com and mobile.time.com as examples of well constructed mobile sites.
Mobile websites should be easy to navigate; highlight important information in an easy-to-read way; and make top-level landing pages light on data so they render quickly over a cellular connection.
3 – Gap Time and the New Face of Journalism
When we asked Mickey about how he thought the move to the mobile web was going to impact journalism he had some interesting thoughts. Content will continue to be what brings people onto the mobile web, but that content will be different than what people look for on the traditional web. Mobile browsers will look for quick pieces of news that fill in the “gap time” in their day – while they’re waiting for the train or stuck in traffic. News is a key component of mobile content, but for the most part people want quick bits of information – Nobody clicks to page two on a handheld device.
4 – Who’s pushing the boundaries of the Mobile Web today -Nokia and Yahoo – and others
A lot of folks in the industry have named their top influencers in mobile. So who are Alam Khan’s? Right off the bat there’s #1 Apple, #2 Google, #3 RIM, #4 eBay and #5 Nokia. The first three are there for obvious reasons, however eBay (a surprise to us) is up there because of their huge play in mobile commerce and Nokia is on the list not necessarily just because of their play in handsets, but because of their rise in other areas of mobile including advertising, music and software. But wait.. we can’t forget Yahoo! who would probably actually rank between Apple and Google in the #2 spot. Their influence centers around the fact that they understand content better than any other company out there Alam Khan attributes Yahoo’s influence to guys like Marco Boerries, David Katz and Bruce Stewart who recently left to become CEO of kgb’s mobile division.
5 – iPhone apps – it’s great but marketers will wait until there is a significant audience
When it comes to mobile over the last six months, the availability and rise in popularity of third-party iPhone applications has been at the height of the buzz. However, the question that still remains is how and when will they be monetized and will it be a successful component of mobile marketing? According to Alam Khan, despite the buzz, the audience for iPhone applications is still small. Once audiences for the applications are established, there is potential for monetization. A piece of advice for those ready to experiment with marketing via the iPhone: link your mobile marketing campaign to your online. Look for marketing on the iPhone to gain traction next year, says Alam Khan.
If (when) you vote tomorrow, make sure you stop by your local Starbucks to let them know. The massive coffee chain announced that they will be rewarding voters with a free cup of coffee if they vote on November 4th, and get this – they’re using the honor system.
Tori Blase is a Supervisor/Executive Producer for CNN, and she’s very active on Twitter (if you’re not following her then you should be: toriblaseCNN), posting links and info to many stories. In the middle of her busy schedule she was kind enough to answer a few questions about Twitter, and share some of the leads she’s had from her followers.
RaceTalk: CNN has really started to separate itself from some other news outlets through its involvement in Twitter. What triggered this involvement?
Tori Blase: Two of my co-workers told me about it: Victor Hernandez (victorhernandex) and Andreas Preuss (CNN_Newsroom), and I had been reading about it on-line.
I joined Twitter in August 2008 (toriblaseCNN). I only Tweet CNN news stories and promos, nothing personal with the exception of when I’m done at work…I normally will Tweet: “toriblaseCNN has left the CNN Newsroom and is heading home.” That way, the folks that follow me will know I might not respond right away.
I had also recently joined Facebook. I have Twitter automatically update my Facebook status as well. So my Facebook status is CNN related from 4p-12a ET…
RT: Many people at CNN, including both of you, have been very active on Twitter. How have you found this experience, and how much interaction have you had with your followers?
TB: I have truly enjoyed the interaction with the people that follow what I Twitter, as well as those that I follow. I get a lot of replies and direct messages with great feedback. I will get news tips, questions and comments. Just a few examples:
I had a follower tell me about a minor quake in the San Fran area late one Friday night while I was at work and we heard about it that way before it crossed the wires or any CNN employee living in the area called Atlanta. So I told the nat desk and CNN wires and we started making calls to confirm as well as check the USGS website.
I had a follower tell me that he was hearing over scanner traffic that ambulances were being sent to an Obama rally. I told the political desk who made calls. Turns out someone at the rally had fainted…not a big deal…but interesting non the less that a Twitter alerted us to it.
Another Twitter follower informed me the way that Larry King was saying “Blog with Me” sounded incorrect and suggested a way that sounded correct. I shared with the show.
Just last night when I got home from work I checked Twitter one more time before I went to bed and saw a Twitter post about a 5.1 quake off the coast of Japan. I emailed the overnight CNN supervisor who then got the internat desk checking.
Another interesting connection…is my insurance carrier, USAA, is one of my followers. That was a very surreal moment when I saw USAA was following me. I messaged them to say “thanks for the follow” and hey, “I’m a USAA member!”
At one point we had an official two minute warning to Paulson’s statement on the economy…and when we were one minute away…I Twittered a “one minute warning to Paulson live on CNN” … and I got a replay saying: “CNN just gained a viewer b/c of your one-minute Paulson remarks warning. Thanks” So it’s the little things like that that can really make you feel like Twitter is having an impact on the way people view CNN.
When we were reporting on the lack of gas in Nashville I was Twittering about it and a follower responded: “it’s not just Nashville, it’s all over the state of Tennessee” and another: “Three gas stations in Crossville, TN were out yesterday due to lack of transport abilities” so I shared that with the national desk and CNN wire staff.
I have also learned about other social media including: 12seconds.tv and have had great contact with local journalists all over the country.
RT: From a news angle, what part of Twitter do you think is more important – a way to distribute news quickly to a large audience, or way to drive people to CNN.com?
TB: It’s both of those things…as when I post stories I always try and post a CNN.com url so they can read more about it. If it’s breaking news…there is nothing on CNN.com right away so it’s important to update when it’s a story on CNN.com and then include the url. I also have found the tips I get from those who reply or message me can be very helpful and informative as noted above.
RT: Is there anything else you’d like to add that people should be aware of?
TB: What I have learned about Twitter so far, is that interaction is key. The whole point is to communicate with others…so it’s a two way street. If someone replies to one of your posts or sends you a direct message, it’s common courtesy to respond. And you might just learn something new along the way. I know I have.
