MTV’s public health campaign encourages young people to get routinely checked for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The Associated Press reports, “MTV says the idea is to remove the stigma attached to getting checked out for STDs.”
While this is a nice idea in theory and I applaud MTV for fully integrating mobile into their campaign outreach, I think most people, no matter how much they typically share via Foursquare, are unlikely to publicly broadcast their appointment for STD screenings.
This Foursquare partnership would be more successful if it was linked to MTV’s political campaign, “Rock the Vote” which encourages young people to register to vote and make their voices heard. If they offered a badge for checking in to a voting location, I think the response would be tremendous.
What do you think? Can MTV leverage Foursquare for such a person declaration?
This week Facebook announced the launch of a new feature – Facebook Places. Much like the mobile application Foursquare, Facebook Places will let you “check in” to your current location via Facebook on your smart phone. It will display your location updates to all of your Facebook friends.
You may find yourself asking – doesn’t this same application already exist with Foursquare, Gowalla and others? Why yes, yes it does. However, the Facebook Places application is also going to allow your friends to check you in to places, whether you like it or not.
Of course you can alter your Facebook privacy settings to disable the ability for other users to check you in, but the Facebook default settings will indeed allow your friends to check you in.
Facebook Places does allow businesses to “claim” their venue and provide updates to users who check in via the application (exactly like Foursquare).
While it may seem Facebook is simply duplicating an application that already exists by another provider, what the real concern is here is how Facebook is increasingly making moves to become a one-stop-shop for online and mobile activities.
For example, more people upload photos to Facebook than competing photos services like Kodak Gallery, Snapfish or Shutterfly. Facebook also has the Marketplace application which aims to compete with Craigslist. Businesses now consider their Facebook fan page as vital, if not more, than their company website. The addition of Facebook Places is another intentional move to gobble up competing online players.
Can Facebook extinguish enough competitors to ultimately become the singular destination for online and mobile sharing? What do you think?
If you’re a foodie, you have a login for restaurant reservation website OpenTable. If you’re gadget savvy, you may also have their mobile app on your smartphone. The popular reservation service has seen great success thus far in 2010, confirmed by their recently quarterly earnings announcement.
In a post by Erick Schonfeld of TechCruch, he reports “OpenTable is installed in 14,128 restaurants and seated 15.6 million diners last quarter, up 27 percent and 52 percent, respectively.” Not only is OpenTable becoming the go-to source for reservations, but users are also raising their level of engagement with the site.
Schonfeld wrote, “Those diners have now written more than 7 million restaurant reviews. As a point of comparison, Yelp has a total of 12 million reviews across all local businesses, and CEO Jeremy Stoppleman considers the those reviews to be Yelp’s single most important competitive advantage.”
Digest that for a second. Yelp, which reviews all types of businesses, not just restaurants, has 12 million reviews, and OpenTable, which exclusively provides restaurant information has 7 million?
OpenTable clearly understands the value of creating a site users want to spend time on, not just log in and log out. By allowing customers to write reviews of their dining experiences the site becomes about something more than just reserving your table.
Additionally, OpenTable is hopping on the “group buying” bandwagon and offering a new weekly special they are calling “Spotlight.” This will operate the same way Groupon, LivingSocial and BuyWithMe do, and offer specials like “$25 dollars for $50 dollars worth of food at Grill 23.”
As RaceTalk commented in a post last week, the group buying concept entices customers to try places they normally wouldn’t because they are being offered a discounted price (recession, anyone?). Additionally, the sites incorporate social media channels allowing users to post their purchase on Facebook, Twitter and more. Some sites also offer referral bonuses to customers who bring in new users.
Should OpenTable decide to incorporate social media sharing on their site and explore referral bonuses, the company’s growth potential is exponential. OpenTable is paying attention to emerging trends and adapting quickly.
Social Media Michelin awards OpenTable three stars!
Last night Racepoint Group hosted an event about social media and its return on investment (ROI). As social media continues to become a larger focal point in public relations and marketing campaigns, it’s critical to understand how to articulate it’s value to clients.
Last night’s event centered around a panel discussion with three social media experts: Larry Weber, Chairman of Racepoint Group, Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics and Mike Volpe, VP of Inbound Marketing for HubSpot.
After Larry Weber’s opening remarks, Qualman shared how he first dipped his toe into the digital space by sending a company-wide email instead of the standard hard copy memo. View his story here:
Volpe was up next and shared with the group the origins of his marketing career and the way tracking and reporting on ROI is evolving. Watch him provide tips here:
The evening was full of tremendous ideas and recommendations. The five big takeaways from the panel were:
1) Social media is not about technology. It’s about human interaction. It’s about sharing information and making connections. People who are intimidated by the technology aspect of engaging in social media should not view the applications as a hurdle. It’s simply the current mechanism to maintain relationships and reach out to new people.
2) When it comes to tracking social media, its important to focus not only on the quantitative (number of followers, number of re-postings) but also the qualitative. We need to take into account engagement and tone. Qualman said, “If social media is so trackable, we should just have robots running things. The human element is necessary here.”
3) Everyone and anyone can be a content creator, a publisher, a media property. As we shift away from traditional print and broadcast media, both we and our clients have the opportunity to get innovative and create and distribute our own content. Additionally, content creation should not be isolated to the PR and marketing staff. Volpe shared that, “50% of HubSpot employees have written posts for the HubSpot blog.”
4) Although much of PR and marketing is based in the written word, we need to start thinking more visually. We need to tell stories through pictures and videos. We need to make our content more authentic and dynamic.
5) On a personal level, Volpe stated, “The new resume is what comes up in Google when I type in your name.” As digital and social media continue to play an increasingly vital role in our PR and marketing efforts, we too have a digital and social persona, and that is now what employers are most interested in.
Thank you to Erik Qualman and Mike Volpe for joining us at Racepoint Group last night and providing such pragmatic, realistic, useful and inspiring guidance on the social media ROI frontier. Be sure to follow @equalman and @mvolpe on Twitter for real time updates on their social media adventures. You can also view all the live commentary during the event with the #smroi hashtag here.
Location-based News Use By the Wall Street Journal (Via Nieman Lab)
Twitter has been a great tool for the media since its inception. A fact that has attributed to its media darling status. However, as media organizations look for new ways to leverage social and digital technologies they’re becoming more sophisticated with their usage.
When the Wall Street Journal launched its ballyhooed New York Edition in April they also announced a partnership with Foursquare, the location-based social network. From the outside the partnership looked simple. The Journal wanted a way to get in front of early adopters in New York City and planned to offer three types of badges popular on the service — status symbols that Foursquare users earn for checking into a certain number locations. They also planned to offer bits of information on significant locations. For instance, when someone checked into the George Washington Bridge they might see from the WSJ: “Police were told to stop and search would-be subway bomber Najibullah Zazi’s car in September 2009 as he drove up to the bridge—but waved him across without finding two pounds of explosives hidden inside.”
While this was an interesting use, the Journal really took a step in social, location-based, news reporting when they broke news of the Time Square evacuation on May 7 by posting this message to folks checking into New York City locations: “Portions of Times Square have been evacuated after a report of a suspicious package.” According to the Journal, that message was posted simultaneously with additional alerts and coverage on WSJ.com.
The use of Foursquare for breaking news allowed the Journal to check-in with users who follow the media outlet on Foursquare and those who were in New York at the time would have seen the alert at the top of their Foursquare time-line. This type of targeted and localized editorial should be exciting for media organizations of all sizes. Just as marketers look for ways to improve targeting capabilities, media executives should be in the same mindset.
Meanwhile, as Facebook becomes a greater source for breaking news content and driving consumers to stories, media executives are looking at new ways to leverage the largest social network in the land. A division of Time Inc. recently began selling magazine subscriptions through its Facebook news feed, which allowed interested users to fill out their order information and pay directly through a form, without ever leaving Facebook. Meanwhile, GQ and Condé Nast, continue to leverage their Facebook page to personally engage consumers and attempt to interest them in their GQ iPad and iPhone applications, with direct links to the download pages on iTunes. Although, they’ve only sold 365 copies of their current issue to date on the iPad, they’ll be a time in the not too distant future when these more profitable subscriptions (no printing costs) surpass print subscriptions.
While this may make some folks squeamish, given Facebook’s privacy woes, they’re both examples of the progressive approaches media organizations are now taking with social media. As we’ve said before, these media organizations are becoming technology companies first and journalist organizations second. If you’re hoping they don’t disappear, it’s a change for the better.
Since unveiling its play into mobile advertising on April 8 with its iAd platform, questions have circled around how Apple will implement advertising on certain applications and how much ads or campaigns will cost for brands and media buyers. However, MocoNews.net is reporting today that “CPMs (on the iAd platform) could wind up being triple what marketers are used to paying for banners, and double the price of a current video ad on mobile devices.
The cost and appeal of reaching consumers through the iPhone, iPad and thousands of apps on Apple’s App Store could finally drive mobile marketing into a “big” business. Analysts have already been bullish on mobile coupons driving the fledgling mobile ad market this year. In fact, a new study from Borrell Associates sees mobile marketing growing into a $57 billion market by 2014. Coupons and the iAd platform alone, could make for a watershed year in 2010.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple will “charge close to $1 million for ads on its mobile devices this year and perhaps even more to be among the first brands featured (on the platform).” While some would think this limit would deter most advertisers, big name brands like Nike (who Apple is using in demoing with other media buyers) seem excited about the opportunity to reach consumers within application engagement on Apple’s line of mobile devices (video above).
Today is the first day of the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, TX. From all corners of the earth musicians, film makers and techies join forces for a week of round the clock events and celebrations.
This year, taking center stage on the tech side are GPS based social networks. If you are an active Twitter user, you have seen these updates in your feed. Perhaps a friend has announced they’ve become the mayor of Starbucks thanks to Foursquare. These social networks are becoming more popular and their hope is to become widely adopted by the end of this week.
Caroline Waxler wrote a piece today for Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Tech blog in which she explains that two heavy hitters in the location-tagging social network space, Foursquare and Austin based hometown hero Gowalla, are viewing South by Southwest as the perfect venue to show their network’s superiority. On the head-to-head match up she writes:
“This is so closely watched at South by Southwest not because people feel like they’re witnessing magic but more for two reasons: One, everyone loves a good rivalry and two, South By Southwest attendees by definition love to geek out. (It’s affectionately known as “spring break for nerds.”) And, what better way to do that than to compete over who is the top visitor to the various venues associated with it? Foursquare is even giving out temporary tattoos to commemorate those achievements.”
“For start-up hopefuls, capturing the fancy of the attendees is almost as important as checking out the panels and parties. The high concentration of tech savants supplies a rare opportunity for companies to woo the eyes and clicks of early adopters and influential Twitter users and bloggers capable of elevating their sites and services out of obscurity.”
SXSW runs today through Sunday March 21st and in that time frame Foursquare and Gowalla hope that the heavy hitters in tech will not only adopt their social networks into their daily lives, but spread the word to the masses. One location at a time.
Back in October 2008, I wrote a post about charitable organizations embracing donations via text message to help meet their end of year fundraising goals. This week the island nation of Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake and two high profile charities, the Red Cross and Yele (founded by Haitian musician Wyclef Jean), urged those wishing to send aid to make a donation not via check, email, or even online donations, instead they asked for one simple item – a text message.
By text messaging a special code to the Red Cross or Yele you could make a donation to relief efforts in Haiti with the push of just a few keys on your phone. Last week I wrote about some of the exciting mobile technologies unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and its clear that the mobile trend is not just for tech, it has spread to non-profit.
The Red Cross text message donations are being managed by a company called mGive. mGive’s chief executive, Tony Aiello, told Jenna Wortham of the New York Times, “Catastrophic fund-raising is different from the everyday fund-raising that we help facilitate. This is a huge tragedy, and we simply hope to help provide relief. . . Mobile giving is currently outpacing the early days of online giving.”
How popular is the donation method exactly?
In an interview with MSNBC’s Suzanne Choney, Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless said, “All mobile texters in the United States have contributed $4 million to the Red Cross Haiti earthquake relief effort, the largest outpouring of charitable support by texting in history — by far.”
Nelson went on to say, “Previous donating-via-text message efforts raised $400,000 after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and $200,000 after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami by all wireless customers in the U.S.”
And it doesn’t end there. To get out the word about donating via text, concerned individuals posted the text message codes on a plethora of social networks, making the plea viral.
Jennifer Van Grove of Mashable wrote a post today praising the Red Cross’ decision to use mobile and social media to raise awareness and more importantly, to raise funds. Van Grove said, “The Red Cross’s involvement in the relief effort is to be commended. Not only did it immediately set up the simplest donation method possible, but its social media presence and outreach, when combined with the State Department’s involvement, has turned this into a viral funding initiative, topping Twitter trends and inspiring action.”
This week it has become clear the most effective method of raising funds is to reach people where they are: on their phones and on social networks. When launching a fundraising campaign, in the wake of a crisis or otherwise, fundraisers should consider that their staring point is in fact mobile.
This week is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and each morning we’ve been inundated with updates on the newest unveilings from the electronics giants.
Today’s news seems to be focused on the internet going mobile. I am not talking about on your laptop or on your smart phone; I am talking, actually on the move. In your car.
Yes, that’s correct Ford has announced it will soon make an internet dashboard that will become a standard feature in all of its vehicles.
“A complex new dashboard console from Ford, which it plans to unveil Thursday, brings the car firmly into the land of electronic gadgets. The 4.2-inch color screen to the left of the speedometer displays information about the car, like the fuel level, while a companion screen on the right shows things like the name of a cellphone caller or the title of the digital song file being played. An eight-inch touch screen tops the central console, displaying things like control panels and, when the car is not moving, Web pages. The system has Wi-Fi capability, two U.S.B. ports and a place to plug in a keyboard — in short, many of the features of a standard PC. The automakers’ efforts are backed by companies that make chips for PCs and that want to see their processors slotted into the 70 million cars sold worldwide each year.”
Obviously the concern here is safety. What does Ford have to say for itself? Jim Buczkowski, the director of global electrical and electronics systems engineering at Ford said, “We are trying to make that driving experience one that is very engaging.”
While in general, the concern here is that distracted drivers make for unsafe driving conditions for all, from a PR and marketing perspective, this also changes the game.
Currently, tradition media, both print and broadcast, is struggling to hold onto it’s advertisers who are opting for the higher traffic online and mobile outlets. Without advertising it is impossible from some of these traditional outlets to stay afloat. Brining mobile off of laptops and smart phones and into people’s cars give those advertisers one more reason to choose to advertise with online and mobile, as opposed to with traditional print or broadcast media which could be the final nail in the coffin for some of these struggling outlets.
Is Ford driving away with the future of traditional media?
Today we’re happy to be announcing a new Friday, guest post feature. Our inaugural guest post was contributed by RaceTalk-reader Tara Miller, who writes about online management degree‘s. She welcomes your feedback here and at TaraMillerr00 at yahoo.com. If you’re interested in writing a guest post for RaceTalk please contact us at racetalk at racepointgroup.com.
Even if you do most of your business in the office, having a way to get connected with important information and better monitor your success is extremely useful. These mobile applications can help marketers of all kinds keep in touch, survey consumers, remember important tasks and much more.
Urbanspoon: If you need great place to take out potential clients, buyers or investors, then use this handy app to find something that suits the needs of all the suits in the room.
Salesforce Mobile: This CRM tool allows users to keep client and prospect information on hand. Update your records while you’re stuck in another endless wait on the tarmac at La Guardia.
iTalk: Make taking notes easy with this app that will also help you avoid carpal tunnel. Simply say it aloud and save it to your phone.
Surveyor: If you need to get in touch with and survey your target market, this portable application can make the whole process a little less painful.
Stay in Touch: Easily manage all of your business information with this helpful CRM tool.
Analytics Pro: With this app you can keep tabs on the performance of your websites or blog no matter where you are. Its functionality links you up with your Google Analytics account.
Keynote Remote: Mac users can take advantage of this budget app that turns your iPhone into a remote control, which can be used to go through a Keynote presentation – while taking advantage of the local wi-fi connection.
Remember the Milk: If you need a little help remembering the stuff you need to get done outside of work then try out the mobile version of this app. You’ll be able to keep track of mundane tasks like picking up the milk, as well as personal emails that need responses.
Scribble: Here you’ll find an app that will let you jot down ideas and share your designs with others, whether in person or through an email. Simply draw on the screen of your iPhone, which becomes a bit like a whiteboard. If you want to erase – give it a little shake.
Creative Whack Pack: If you’re experiencing a creative block, break out this application filled with exercises designed to stimulate the right side of your brain.
This morning the Associated Press reported that MTV has partnered with Foursquare to offer a special badge to users who check in to health clinics via the mobile application. The new Foursquare badge is part of MTV’s “GYT: Get Yourself Tested” campaign.
