travelocity becomes first brand to use chatroulette for marketing.

via mashable.com

it was only a matter of time before the first marketers discovered chatroulette and use it for marketing purposes. the official travelocity gnome is the first to jump in and use chatroulette for marketing purposes.

screenshots sent to mashable.com by travelocity confirm that the gnome is hiding out there in chatroulette’s mysterious corridors on people to market travelocity's services to: he wants to motivate chatroulette users to step away from their webcams for a moment and take vacations.

according to adweek, “the idea is that folks sitting around video-chatting with strangers could use the excitement of travel.”

the iconic gnome uses signs to get his message across (see above). they read messages like, “this would be more fun if we were in rio.”

when asked if they are tracking activity or offering special promotions, travelocity responded, “we’re still experimenting so we haven’t applied any measurements just yet. once we figure out how we’ll move forward we will think about other applications like deals and offers.”

i believe that chatroulette is more than just seeing random penises, so it’s great to see that companies like travelocity agree. it still remains to be seen what becomes of this experimental test run, but it's definitely a clever approach to utilizing this new channel for marketing purposes.

how will the future of chatroulette marketing look? as always with any new form of digital media i believe that solid marketing / advertising strategy is that backbone to any success: focus on the marketing objectives, marketing strategies, and then the marketing tactics.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

No more mac.com?

Please update your bookmarks to www.me.com

As of January 21st, 2010, www.mac.com will no longer redirect to www.me.com. Please be sure to update your bookmarks. This change will not affect any of your MobileMe services or published web pages.

Continue to me.com Add Bookmark

via mac.com

I wanted to check my email online this morning and I was welcomed to mac.com by this message. As much as like "MobileMe" I do not like the idea of "me.com" or having a "@me.com" email address versus a "@mac.com" email address. Being a longtime Apple user and fan I enjoy having an email address that helps me identify with the brand.

Is Apple working on putting something else up on mac.com? Is this part of a major rebranding effort?

As Apple does not give out the "@mac.com" address anymore I can only hope that do not pal on getting rid of the "@mac.com" addresses in the future.

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

Blogs can help brands get started with social media

via 10e20.com

I've often thought about how Blogs fill in nicely as the bridge between a stale corporate website and social networking websites(Thanks for the info-graphic 10e20). Moreover, it helps a brand jump-start their online presence in the world of social media.

The simple creation of a blog in order to bridge the space between a site and a full-blown social media presence is often overlooked. I am often asked by overwhelmed clients what they should create first in this fast-moving online world where the groundswell is in full effect. My answer 9 out of 10 times is: A Blog.

A good blog is very powerful in the online world. Instead of simply adding social networking badges on a homepage saying “Follow us on Twitter” or “Find us on Facebook" a blog can help a brand successfully create social awareness for itself rather than just pointing website visitors to where the official social media account are.

According to 10e20, online social media users "are constantly looking for new and fresh content." I couldn't agree more - that is why my number one advice to clients is that 'content is king.' This mantra applies to all aspects of Interactive Marketing. Using SEO as an example: Having great content creates strong links to your site which in turn will increase your rankings in the Search Engines. A blog can create this great content for your brand. You may not always be able to change the contents of a corporate site, but you can almost always make new posts to a blog. A blog helps you reach users that are constantly on the search for fresh content. With ongoing, strong and effective content creation related to the brands business and sharing by the brand of the blog content into the social presence a brand can create a tremendously effective link between its social networking presences and its main company website.

Of course, there is always the question about how to create content for a blog. The answer will vary and depend very much on the brands industry and comfort level with the online world. However, most of the time it can start out by simply turning a newsletter into "bite-size" pieces on a blog. Getting on a fairly regular schedule and figuring out who will contribute are also very important considerations.

The most important thing is to remember that a brand can easily live and thrive in the world of the Groundswell & Social Media: It can all start with the creation of a blog.

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

Is AT&T ready for iPhone MMS rollout tomorrow?

We've just heard from AT&T that new carrier settings for the iPhone 3G and 3GS will be available "late morning" Pacific Time (which would be early afternoon Eastern) this Friday, September 25, which will finally enable MMS support. Owners will have to tether up to iTunes to grab those settings, so fish out your cable (as if you don't have it permanently attached to your machine already) and make sure you've got some solid time in front of the computer to check for the update over and over (and over) again, alright?


How long have iPhone owners been waiting on this? Too long!!!! Still WAY to overpriced. AT&T, quick question: Where would you be today without the iPhone? Huh?!?! This could be potentially disastrous for the AT&T brand if they don'r pull this off - no wonder they are scared right now. We'll know more in 24 hours.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

AT&T doing Social Media? - Go check it out!

via att.com

Very interesting how AT&T is trying to embrace social media to it's fullest. Should be interesting to watch, to say the least.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Is Apple toying with Google? [iPhone and Google Voice]

According to Google's statement from last Friday, in contrast to previous statements Apple rejected the Google Voice app outright.
So, it Google yelling: "You're a Liar!" to Apple? Sort of, but not fully. This may be the first chapter in the Apple Google war of the second decade of the 21st Century. It all started when Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, left Apple's board earlier this year after sitting on it since 2006.
The issue is that Apple ahs always run a very tight ship, maybe a little too tights. But, now that all of a sudden there are millions of Apple users via the iPhone they are just "enjoying" this tight ship that Apple runs. There really is nothing wrong with what Apple is doing - it is doing waht Steve Jobs loves: Controlling the end-user experience to the t. However, why doesn't Apple simply come out and admit to this? Well, becasue there would be about a millin and one lawsuits files that day by companies that want their apps or programs to run on the iPhone regardless of what Apple thinks.
This brings us to the problem that Apple does not have the structures in place to properly monitor app submissions to the app store. Apple is making 30% of every app sold, so wouldn't it be in their own best interest to approve as many apps as possibel to increase revenue? That's where Steve Jobs and his tight ship come in.
So, in other words what we are witnessing is not the prelude to Google versus Apple, but rather Google versus Steve Jobs.
Since this story broke laste last week, Apple has again denied rejecting the Google Voice App to spite Google.
Read more: Gizmodo and Macrumors.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

What does Facebook Lite mean for brands?

Facebook Lite (http://lite.facebook.com/)

What is Facebook Lite? According to Facebook it  is a new streamlined version designed for people with slow internet connections (However, contrary to this it still includes "post video" & "post photos"...). But, it really is a competition to other social networking sites such as twitter. Facebook has proclaimed that they don't want to be the next MySpace, but rather the next Google.  This was reaffirmed by their purchase of friendfeed - a social networking startup by a few former Google employees - a total talent grab.

So, the next step in Facebook's battle plan is the introduction of Facebook Lite. A potentially bad thing for brands: no applications, no chat, and the biggest change:  users can't find Brand/Business Fan Pages in the search results - only people. 

Why is this bad for brands? No instant messaging or applications. Period. But, it's not all bad news.

I believe that Facebook Lite is simply Facebook expanding its service offerings to entice users of other social networks (twitter, friendfeed, etc) and get them hooked on the Facebook dope. Check out Mashable's Stan Schroeder's article on how he likes the Lite version better: http://mashable.com/2009/09/11/facebook-lite-like/

What can you do as a brand or business? Keep an eye on Quantcast's traffic report to Facebook Lite (not up yet) http://www.quantcast.com/lite.facebook.com to see if this new Facebook "microsite" really does gain traction. No matter what this change does, one thing is for sure it will definitely only help the spread of  the Facebook Virus. 

Want to read more on Facebook Lite? Head over to mashable and check their post on the launch of the new service: http://mashable.com/2009/09/10/facebook-lite-live/

In breaking news from yesterday, and another step to cater to twitter users, it was annouced that Facebook adds "@" Tags... Stay tuned!

Posted via email from Eric's posterous blog

What a joke: Food Industry introduces new "Smart Choices" Labeling Campaign

G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times

When I first heard about the "Smart Choices" Food Labeling campaign backed by most of the nation’s largest food manufacturers, I thought it was a great idea. Read the article in the NY Times here.  But, now after reading more about it and seeing that the nothing but sugar and artificial flavor ridden Coca Krispies and Froot Loops are included in this campaign, I'm not so sure anymore. 

This looks like great idea from a marketing and branding standpoint as big name brands are loosing huge chunks of market share to store brands, local brands, and natural or organic choices. However, isn't this really just another marketing gimmick that is attempting to fix the Fourth P of Product from the Marketing Mix developed by Professor Borden in the 1960s? What's worse is that just like the American car industry, instead of actually fixing the PRODUCT they are trying to pull the wool over the consumers eyes with new and fancy packaging. Just like the American car industry - where if they had kept up with the competition and innovated instead of resting comfortably and EXPECTING demand to continuously increase- the food manufactures wouldn't be in a bind if they offered less expensive and innovate (organic/natural/green/local/etc) product.

This is the label that is starting to show up on products

I can honestly say that the inclusion of  Coca Krispies and Froot Loops prove that this new "Smart Choices" labeling is nothing but a farce by the industry to try and artificially create a spike in demand for the food that once consumers see the truth will backfire and end up hurting them. 

Hey US Food Industry: Fix the product, do actual branding! Don't just slap a new "made up" label that deceives consumers on you products!

Smart Choices official site

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Tampa Bay Lightning marketing campaign to hit the streets of Tampa

via rawcharge.com

Yellow Cab in Tampa will be sporting these new Lightning ads. Innovative? sort of. New? sort of. New and innovative to Tampa? Most definitely!

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Ads integrated into content are the most effective for branding

This is for all the research and number geeks like me out there.

According to a new study conducted byDynamic Logic and published by media post, "ads integrated into the content of the page are the most effective in driving online ad awareness and purchase intent". So, according to this new study, banners and skyscrapers are actually LESS effective in advertising terms than rectangular ads that sit in the copy!

Ken Mallon, Dynamic Logic's SVP of Custom Solutions, puts it best when he says: "...creative quality is the most important factor driving the success of online advertising... (but) bigger doesn't always mean better..."

In addition, the research revealed that advertising campaigns utilizing Rich Media with Video created the strongest brand impact (across most branding goals, including aided brand awareness, online ad awareness, brand favorability, and purchase intent) compared to campaigns using Simple Flash and Rich Media without Video formats. Very insightful, is that the worst performer was Simple Flash, the format used most often by agencies and advertisers.

And in conclusion here hare some great takeaways from the study:

• Try delivering a Rich Media with Video ad as the first ad exposure to addressable online audience.
• On a tight budget, select less expensive formats and consider frequency capping to extend reach.
• Factor media fees and rich media fees in together and optimize most effective formats
• For message association goals, consider adding the message to every frame of the ad for best results.
• For every branding goal studied, a different rich media format was better than Simple Flash at getting results.

Source: Media Post Research Brief (September 1, 2009)

Check out my latest podcast on Online Branding

Head over to my company's INSIDEsolutions Live! section to hear my latest podcast that features practical tips for Online Branding with Social Media:

Social Media Emerging-Five Tips to help with Online Branding for Business | INSIDESolutions Live! |

In this 11 minute podcast I share how to take your customer relationships to the next level with effective online branding and leveraging social media for effective online branding for business.

In this podcast learn:

• Migrating the Offline Brand Personality to Online Branding
• Taking Your Customer Relationships to the Next Level
• Five Tips to Help you with Effective Online Branding
• Using the Real World to Enhance Your Online Brand

Alternatively, you can click here to listen to it in a popup window.

Using Online Communities to Grow Your Brand

A Looser Form of Brand Control
In order for a brand to succeed on the Internet a looser form of brand control is necessary. The inevitable active participation of consumers needs to be actively encouraged. One way of achieving this is by providing an unmoderated discussion forum, such as a Facebook fanpage or being present on Twitter. This ensures that a brand becomes part of a community. To an extent this is making a virtue out of modern necessity. Power has shifted from businesses to customers.

An example is AT&T which was able to react to customers outcries on twitter over the pricing of the new iPhone. They were able to act based on this feedback and thus squash any negative word of mouth spreading online like a wildfire.

The benefits to a company that has flexible design and production processes are great; flaws can be picked up and failure patterns can be identified sooner than they might have been. Design changes can then be made sooner, resulting in a better product, happier customers, and improved brand equity.

For example, customers on twitter complained about the arrow keys on the series 9 Dell Laptops being too small. In direct response to this Dell made sure that the arrow keys on the new series 10 Laptops are big enough.

There is a misguided perception that such collaborations between businesses and their customers can be potentially damaging as user comments can be unhelpful in the short term. But by encouraging unmoderated discussions, not only do new brand identities emerge, but also the distinction between the brand owner and its consumers disappears, thus increasing consumer identification and loyalty with the brand.

The Demise of the Brand?
Many experts are predicting the demise of marketing and branding on the Internet. We would argue that a closer understanding of the nature of branding on-line indicates a strengthening, not a weakening, of the importance of branding. By developing enhancements suggested or approved by the customers themselves, brands are responding to the marketplace in a way that protects them from a downward pressure on price and volume of sales.

The future of communication is online, the future of branding is personal.