Newsweek asked us how we'd help the Republican Party revitalize its brand with Gen Y audiences using social media. I worked with the office social media leads and the ad creative team to send some ideas their way. In support of print media, I'm no going to give the idea away here (hint its the iPhone app). Buy a copy of the magazine and see for yourself!
I'm back from vacation now so expect regular blog updates once more. I hope you had a wonderful holidays.
We've talked a lot about social influence marketing over the last year and what it means to account for social influencers. From the trends, to the academic research, our client work and our own experiments we're methodically bringing social influence marketing to life for all our clients and for all our disciplines as well.
Well, now we've taken that a step further with a patent filed on how to measure social influence. This is one more proof point of how measurable and meaningful social influence marketing can be for marketers everywhere. Its not the whole solution but a key piece to understanding the measurement and why and how things go viral. Please tell me what you think about this. Is it a big deal, is it a no brainer, does it add value?
The Data Problem:
Today social media apps (widgets, applications, viral media, etc.) cannot track or account for unique individuals other than those who download the application and those that download the application from a friend. Couple that with the lack of known quantitative methods for identifying key influencers within a social network in regards to a specific application and you’ve got a big problem for the industry. Certainly a billion dollar problem and one that matters a lot if we want to make social influence marketing more real for marketers.
Core Questions We Tried To Answer:
- What is the value of a key influencer?
- How viral or how many generations of influence has my social media application achieved?
- What is the value of someone who receives a social application from a friend versus someone who receives it via media or a paid seeding strategy?
The Razorfish Incrementing Action Tag Solution:
Our solution is the Incrementing Action Tag which is a set of functions within a social media application that creates a variable that may be read externally based on where the user acquires the application. When a user downloads the application from the original source, the Incrementing Action Tag notes the source and assigns the downloader the value of first generation (or one). When another downloader obtains the application from somewhere other than the original source (e.g. a friend, other website, etc.), the Incrementing Action Tag looks at the variable (or generation) assigned to the current source and increments it by one; thus making the next downloader generation two or other appropriate generation number.
The Incrementing Action Tag is thus able to identify (via a cookie and unique identifier and not through personally identifiable information) and track social media, identify how far removed (generation) cookies are from the original source of the social media, and identify key influencers (again no PII- see note above) of users of social media. In essence, this technology enables our agency to create a system that allows us to value and reach key influencers across the Internet, regardless of property.
In everyday language, this is very important as social media spreads through the viral influence. Brands really need to know how and why something goes viral so that when they optimize who their efforts, they can target and seed more efficiently.
Successes Thus Far:
We’ve successfully used the action tag in three instances with three different clients. We’ve seen as many as four generations of pass-along for these social media applications and are now looking to begin using the Generational Tag on all social media applications so that we can build our knowledge of social media applications.
Thought this is still in its early days, we’ve definitely taken a big step forward towards tracking social influence across the web and maybe, just maybe, starting to crack a billion-dollar problem. We're excited about it and hope it contributes in its own small way to the evolution of our industry and social influence marketing in particular.
Congratulations to the Seattle team that made this all happen: Marc Sanford, Sandy Schlee, Steve Ebeling, Kelley Maves, David Niffin, Christopher Castle, Frank Kochenash, and Jesse Drogin.
Also visit our Digital Design Blog for more information on digital trends and consumer behavior.
Our Portable Social Graphs deck has been getting a lot of attention since we published it last Wednesday. Its been featured on ReadWriteWeb, Web-Strategist, The Huffington Post, MediaBistro and a bunch of other influential websites. Its been viewed by 13,002 people, embedded 90 times, favorited 142 times and has scores of tweets about it (one of the first written by Jeremiah over at Forrester). The fact that Facebook Connect has just left beta definitely made the deck more timely. We've also gotten a lot of positive direct feedback from clients, the press, peers in the industry and Facebook too. Within Razorfish, we've been discussing Facebook Connect for months on our social media list and as a result were a little surprised by all the attention the deck has gotten.
We're obviously bullish on Facebook Connect and really believe in its potential to allow for friends and family to influence each other across the web (something that's at the heart of social influence marketing). In many respects, it represents the true blurring of the social web and the mainstream web. Needless to say, every other social platform is paying close attention to Facebook Connect. LinkedIn has an API that lets websites integrate LinkedIn's social graph. Its not available to everyone but its a start nevertheless. MySpace just announced that they're formally joining the Google Friend Connect bandwagon allowing universal login. MySpaceID (as its now being called) uses the OAuth, OpenSocial and OpenID open standards. Facebook Connect is not built on open standards which is why it gets some criticism from the web community.
There's been a lot of talk about Facebook Connect lately as more websites integrate it. In fact, just today Techcrunch announced that they were integrating Facebook Connect and rumor has it that Digg and Hulu will be adding the functionality too.
Here at Razorfish we're big believers in the potential of portable social graphs and with Facebook Connect out of the gate first, we've been playing around with it quite a bit. In fact, its been a really hot topic on our voluminous internal social media list for six months now. So we thought we'd brainstorm some provocative uses of Facebook Connect. Here's what we came up with. Tell us what you think and whether as a digital marketer or web product manager you'd think of implementing ideas like these.
It has undoubtedly been the most difficult Thanksgiving for me with the Mumbai terrorist attacks starting virtually the moment my holiday began (around 2:00pm EST on Wednesday). Having spent several years in Mumbai as a child, I know both the hotels that were attacked rather well. I used to visit them often and I would drive past the Oberoi on my way to school every morning. But closer to home an old friend of my parents (who incidentally was at my wedding this January) was dining at the Taj Hotel when the terrorists attacked. His wife was able to escape but he was marched up to the 18th floor of the hotel by the terrorists and later shot. Yesterday, my mother attended the funeral of a fellow journalist who also died. All in all a horrible, tragic few days. And I can't begin to imagine how it must be for the families who were directly affected.
Nevertheless, I've been impressed by the courageous citizen journalism that kept the world abreast about the crisis as it unfolded hour by hour and minute by minute. It was another example of ordinary people using social technologies to get the word out, give each other faith, provide needed information when the authorities weren't communicating and help save lives too. Twitter, Flickr, SMS and the blogs were just some of the social technologies used as people communicated with the hotel guests holed up in their rooms telling them when to escape out of the buildings. In fact, 80 messages were being sent to Twitter every five seconds about the attacks. Twitter also reported that there was still gunfire inside the Taj Mahal hotel long after the mainstream media had said it was finished.
Sure in some cases sensitive information may have been transmitted but the social technologies and social media more broadly once again proved how central and useful it can be in times of crisis. But to me the most important benefit is that social media allows our all our ordinary voices to be heard loud and clear. The most encouraging and dynamic response to the terrorist attacks that I've come across is that of the Mumbai Twitter users. They decided to meet for beer at Leopold Cafe (one of the targets) yesterday. Why? Because they wanted to stand up defiantly and show the terrorists that nothing will stop them from living their lives the way they want to. How were they able to organize this so quickly? By using Twitter.
Nothing is going to lessen the pain of the tragedy for anyone even remotely connected to it. But we can all draw strength from the courage of others and recognize that as ordinary individuals that may get caught in the midst of events that are well beyond our control, there are social technologies that can help today in ways that we never thought possible even fifteen years ago.
Sometimes I find that many of us in social media are unnecessarily harsh on ourselves and overly critical of each other too. I felt this recently while discussing a JC Penny campaign with a few others in the blogosphere. The digital campaign called "Beware the Doghouse" allows women to put their husbands or boyfriends in the doghouse for misbehaving or being just plain stupid. The husbands can get themselves out of the doghouse by buying the partners diamonds!
Now its meant to be light, whimsical and fun. And the campaign (especially the introductory video clips) are just that. The campaign uses Facebook Connect to help you choose someone to put into the doghouse. Basically you are able to choose someone from your friends list in Facebook to add to the doghouse. In my opinion a straightforward and perfectly appropriate use of Facebook Connect. However, a couple of fellow bloggers felt that using Facebook Connect in the a digital marketing campaign is a "poor implementation" of it. And I couldn't disagree more.
Firstly Facebook Connect is new and there are a lot of potentially different uses for it. Just because Facebook Connect isn't being used on JCPenny.com for the retail experience but in a campaign doesn't make it a bad implementation. Furthermore, to use Facebook Connect to find friends (known peers) is exactly what's needed to make this campaign a success. It is a fun way to use a person's social graph. Why then is it a poor implementation?
Many of us in the social media space are techno-centric in our outlook and we're obviously bullish on social media. But we're definitely doing the cause a disservice by trying to judge what is and what isn't a good use of a social media technology. Let the users decide that. After all, social media is about democratization too. For more on interesting implementations of Facebook Connect read this post.
Disclaimer - Razorfish bought the media to support the campaign but was not responsible for the creative idea or the execution.
Intel is launching its new microprocessor, the Core i7, which is the most significant update to the Intel microprocessor since the Pentium Pro in 1995. But unlike any other processor Intel has produced, the Core i7 target audience consists of creative professionals, like film producers, gaming developers, and animators – a largely untapped audience for Intel. So they asked Razorfish to help them with the launch. We conceptualized, designed and launched the Digital Drag Race in partnership with Intel. Graphic designers and gamers are given the same software, system build and set of design assets to race against the clock in a timed, motion graphics design challenge. Go to Digital Drag Race to watch and to cast your vote too. The graphic designers have to use computers with the Intel i7 processor chip inside. The winners are being posted on a YouTube channel and the final race will take place at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Let me know what you think. Does this meet your criteria of a successful social media campaign?
I certainly believe so and was quoted in an Ad Age article discussing how this has already been proven in academic circles and is just seeping into mainstream digital marketing now. There's no question that by knowing what one person's interests are, you're likely to be able to target peers in his or her circle of friends more effectively. Also, people are most influenced by their social graphs than by any other form of advertising or influence dynamic.
Two companies were discussed in the article - the first was Media6Degrees which takes a tacit approach to leveraging somebody's social graph by using cookie data to target advertising to one's peers. The other is SocialMedia.com which uses a person's explicit actions as an advertisement for others in his or her social graph. They do this within the canvas pages of applications on Facebook. Both are very interesting approaches and time will tell how significant their results are.
One thing is certain, we're just beginning to understand how we can leverage our social graphs now that they're more explicit than ever before. To reduce this to advertising on a social network I believe is missing the larger point though that too has potential. I believe every website and every web interaction is going to become social and our social graphs will be a part of all those interactions. And just because we're harnessing our social graphs, it doesn't mean that brands won't have a place in those conversations.
For a more provocative perspective, read Kristen's post over at Social Times.
Adweek just published a piece by me on how we should start leveraging insights from academia once more to really tap into the power of social influence. A lot of what we talk about and practice has deep foundations in academic research and the goal of this piece was to draw attention to some of that research. Needless to say, each time I write an article like this it turns out to be a humbling experience as I learn how much I don't know!Marketing has always had an uneasy relationship with academia. However, with the rise of social media and its transformative impact on digital marketing, there's a new imperative to look towards academia -- to understand how people form networks, influence each other and organize into online communities.
This article highlights some of the thinking we should look towards while navigating the uncharted territories of marketing on the social Web. It is impossible to be comprehensive, so treat this as a sampling encompassing some key thoughts in academia and how they should impact marketing.
Continue reading Academia meets Social Marketing.
Not surprisingly, our recent Razorfish Consumer Report uncovers that social media directly influences purchasing decisions. And not just that but "connected consumers" are comfortable with seeing advertising on social networks and 4 out of 10 made purchasing decisions based on the social advertising. 76% welcome advertising on social networks.These findings are probably welcome news for the many social media platforms in the marketplace. With the slowing economy, many platforms including the social media ad networks are getting worried that fewer ad dollars will come their way. These findings tell a different story - a story about consumers pay attention to ads in social networks (even if they are not always clicking on them) and more importantly make purchasing decisions based off of what they see. Big news.
What's also interesting in the findings is that 7 out of 10 connected consumers are embracing social media like nothing before. 7 out of 10 have customized their home pages with content feeds, scheduled updates and other features. A startling 60 percent use widgets on websites. Little did we know how pervasive widgets were. It just shows much marketers need to pay attention to them. Other findings show that consumers value personalization and loyalty programs in purchasing environments - they definitely influence purchasing decisions.
Another interesting finding is that the social web has become the mainstream web. Regardless of which social media property consumers choose, they have spent a massive amount of time interacting with each other. The majority of them (75%) spend at least one hour a week on these properties with 19% spending more than seven hours a week on them. The report which also explored peer and anonymous influence showed that peer recommendations are playing a much larger role than ever before in purchasing decisions.
You can find the full report here in an interactive flash format or download the pdf if you want to print it. Don't miss my own article titled Twitterific on page 45! And lastly, here's some external coverage of the report.
For something as discussed as Social Influence Marketing, there are a surprising number of myths that still inhibit its adoption. Here some of the more common ones are debunked.
1. Social Influence Marketing is about targeting Generation Y. Some people equate social media with Facebook. They also equate Facebook with a college audience. Both assumptions are false. There is a lot more to social media than Facebook, or MySpace for that matter. And Social Influence Marketing is not just about targeting Generation Y on the social media platforms.
The largest demographic blogging in the country is the 25-34 demographic (36%), closely followed by the 34-44 one (24%). The 35-49 demographic is the largest on LinkedIn, with its 12 million visitors. In fact, LinkedIn increasingly competes with the Wall Street Journal for ad dollars online. For its own part, the Journal and Businessweek have just launched online communities catering to a much older and more affluent demographics. Finally, some of the most successful online communities are ones that cater to niche, older audiences whether they be Patientlikeme.com, Flixtser, A Small World or Café Mom.
Continue reading Fighting Social Influence Marketing Myths.
On Friday I presented at our Razorfish Publishers Summit in LA to 400 publishers - the people on whose websites we buy media for our clients. I discussed what social influence marketing is, the new imperative for publishers and how it is up to them to deliver the social graph to advertisers. Here's the deck.
HPs long running "The Computer is Personal Again" campaign has included some interesting social elements too. And those social media elements are making the brand increasingly social in a way that every brand needs to be.Last fall, they ran a contest in partnership with MTV inviting participants to submit designs for a special edition HP laptop. Called "Take Action, Make Art" the winner was rewarded with his design featuring on an HP laptop. The event drew 8,500 submissions from youth across the world with regional winners being selected by popular vote and the final winner being chosen by a panel of judges. The site drew 5 million hits.
Back in 2006, HP ran a viral campaign around the Soccer World Cup. In that effort, an anonymous site showed a man performing soccer tricks using two fingers and a paper ball on a desk. Visitors were intrigued with the tricks wondering if they were even possible. The site drew 180,000 unique visitors to the site prompting huge discussions in the blogosphere.
More recently, HP has launched a line of computers targeted at fashion conscious women. They partnered with fashion designer Vivienne Tam to design and launch these laptops. And not surprisingly, the laptops look more like digital purses than computers. By their very design (and an accompanying clothes lines that matches the laptops), these laptops will become social artifacts taking people to place that one wouldn't expect. The marketing effort around this launch harnesses social media - and because it brings the worlds of fashion and technology together it has been attracting a lot more attention in the blogosphere than one would expect.
What allows HP to successfully run these campaigns? Its the fact that their brand has become increasingly social. The tag line "The Computer is Personal Again" is inherently a social one focusing on the lives of consumers versus touting features of a specific technology. They're making their brand social and are inviting customers to participate and take ownership of it in different ways. More brands need to move in that direction.
I'm tired of hearing that social media is just a youth phenomena. Maybe because Facebook had its roots in colleges, people continue to believe that social media is just for Generation Y. People forget that there's so much more to social media than Facebook (targeting older demographics) and that Facebook too is getting older everyday.
The Technorati State of the Blogosphere report is another proof point showing that the average of bloggers is certainly higher than many people may have thought. 25-34 year olds make up 36%, 35-44 year olds make up 27%, 45-54 year olds make up 15% and 18-24 year olds make up only 13% of bloggers on the internet. Interestingly, more than half have a household income of greater than $75,000 and 59% have been blogging for two years or more. So the next time your CEO tells you that blogging is for children, show him or her these statistics.
Brands are also taking blogs a lot more seriously. They believe that within the next five years, 51% of internet users will get their news and entertainment information from blogs over traditional news sources. That's a fascinating numbers and highlights how much attention brands need to give to the blogosphere. What's interesting too, is that traditional media has been responding to this trend by becoming more blog like in many ways.
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