Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Twitter Site Redesign
Friday, October 21, 2011
Heinz UK Creates Unique Facebook Campaign
Remember when (virtual) Facebook gifts were somewhat popular? Sending a virtual gift is about one of the most uncool things you can do on Facebook today. But here's something substantial.
Heinz UK, which makes canned soup in addition to tomato sauce, has launched a very innovative, yet simple campaign: send a personalized can of soup to a friend who's under the weather, at 3 USD. And it's not virtual. The can of soup can be customized with a friend or loved one's name at no extra cost, and will be delivered within 3-4 business days. This length of time may be too short for the common cold, but it's still a good gesture. Without a doubt, that unwell person will be smiling.
Another unique aspect to this campaign is that the order can be done entirely through Facebook. Heinz isn't trying to take you to their website to advertise more products--they are simply helping you help someone else, something we don't often see in e-commerce.
The campaign is currently only in the United Kingdom, but to see a century-old company doing something candidly thoughtful with social media is refreshing. Does your brand empower its customers to help someone else?
Friday, September 23, 2011
Facebook introduces Timeline and a more integrated app expereince
At the f8 developers conference, Andy Samberg.... er Mark Zuckerberg revealed Facebook Timeline. He stated it is "the heart of your Facebook experience, completely rethought from the ground up" where users can expand their profile to highlight certain interactions with the friends as far back as they want. No longer is Facebook just about the most recent news. With Timeline added, along with the new way news is featured, the Facebook experience will be a more holistic scrapbook of a person's life and their interactions with others.
Another key feature is the tighter integration of 3rd party apps. See what movies your friends are watching. What recipes they are cooking. They latest music they are jamming to. All tightly integrated into your pages. Of course, we have to think the likelihood of allowing these apps to be monetized is high. Especially since Facebook's Credits currency system is reportedly growing faster than it's ad revenue.
To see an overview of the new design, check out the video above or visit the Facebook Timeline page.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Facebook changes layout and news feed—Top and Recent Stories. Ticker. Bigger Photos.
In an effort to stay ahead of Google+, and to become more user friendly, Facebook has rolled out a new layout today. The main changes are how users receive news. It is set up more like a newspaper, with top stories highlighted for the user, much like a cover of a newspaper would include. Facebook suggests top stories, but users can now customize their settings to ensure they, as Facebook puts it, "see the things they’re most interested in." Also included is a ticker sidebar, which streams the most current news.
For businesses, Pages now includes a friend activity link so fans of pages can see how their friends have interacted with the page.
These changes, along with larger photos, a new subscribe button, and easier friends lists are all efforts to increase user experience.
What do you think? Do you like the new design? Or will this cause an uproar with users requesting a roll-back to a previous design version?
Monday, September 19, 2011
Online Luxury-Goods sales expected to grow 20% annually.
Bloomberg reports online sales of luxury goods may climb 20 percent a year by 2015 as producers build networks of potential customers on social media websites such as Facebook.com, according to a study.
“The explosion of social media and the increasing investments in the online channel by luxury companies has reinforced and enlarged the community of those who explore, comment upon and eventually purchase luxury goods,” Milan-based Altagamma said in a statement.
Read the full article on Bloomberg Businessweek
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Facebook Introduces Subscribe Button
Monday, August 29, 2011
If video is growing, so is social media
Undoubtedly, video is a staple of social media. People everyday stay on social media longer to view video, whether it is a funny YouTube clip or a concert that a friend recorded over the weekend.
The results are in: 71% of online adults visit sites like YouTube and Vimeo to access video content, according to a Pew research study. This number is up from last year's 66% by a substantial amount.
We know the range and amount of video content is as diverse and massive as ever. But what causes more people, particularly those who never did before, to want video?
The Washington Post attributes two forces at play for this increase:
1) More internet access, LAN and wireless, is becoming widely available in areas that it wasn't before.
2) Low-income minorities in urban and suburban areas, which have had internet availability for years, can now afford internet access, due to plans from discount internet providers like Clear, for example.
All in all, if more people are accessing video, it means they are staying on the internet for longer amounts of time. This inevitably raises the amount of time people are accessing social media, visiting websites, seeing paid ads and participating in blogs.
So, remember to include video in your online strategies.
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