Are you making an ‘App-solute’ mistake?
Sep 3rd
Mat Diss, founder of bemoko explains why apps aren’t always the route to mobile marketing success.
Mobile content consumption has driven the spectacular success of mobile apps. With the Apple iTunes store heading towards 200,000 apps, the growth of Nokia’s Ovi app store and the Android Marketplace, you could be forgiven for thinking that the only way to go mobile is to create an app, deliver it to Apple and sit back and enjoy the rewards.
Unfortunately, as always, life is not that simple. Despite Apple’s success to date, the iPhone constitutes less than one in ten of all smartphones sold.
Creating an iPhone app will only cover a small proportion of people who can access the mobile internet and with the other phone manufacturers rapidly catching up with the iPhone’s functionality and usability, there is a real risk that compelling brand content created only for iPhone will become more and more niche, hidden amongst hundreds of thousands of other applications, difficult to discover and ultimately unrewarding.
An alternative is to create apps for every different kind of phone: Nokia; Blackberry; Windows Mobile; Android. The problem is this is expensive and time consuming. Imagine having to build different PC websites for Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Acer, IBM and every other brand of PC.
The reality is that the vast majority of apps are effectively mini mobile websites. The app simply accesses the relevant information from the server and renders it within a template on screen. So why can’t web designers simply build one site that works on every internet enabled phone?
To date the problem has been the sheer complexity of the mobile environment. Not only are there several different browsers and operating systems to consider, there are multiple screen sizes and a vast array of functions and standards supported by different phones. This has created a vastly complex environment in which to deliver content.
Web designers need to know that the content they are creating is delivering, not only on some, but on all devices. It is astonishing but true that some of the most popular destinations on the web still render content in a manner that it is almost illegible on a wide range of phones.
The solution lies in creating mobile websites using a development framework and delivery service that intelligently assesses the properties of each phone that accesses the server and only delivers content that the device can display effectively.
This creates a meaningful user experience for every device, delivering an app-style experience for advanced touch screen devices but also providing an effective mobile presence for internet enabled, but less capable phones, and ensures your customers have access to the best brand experience on their device.
What is the future of display advertising?
Sep 2nd
Google’s director of product management Jonathan Bellack looks at the tech giant’s efforts to help online publishers generate more advertising revenue without being intimidated by the pace of change in the industry.
“For millions of online publishers—from the smallest blogger to the largest entertainment, news, e-commerce and information sites—online advertising revenue is vital. When publishers can maximize their returns, everyone benefits from more vibrant online content and websites,” says Bellack.
But the pace of change in the industry can be intimidating—how can a publisher keep up with what’s new, let alone grow their business?
Google believes that the new technology it is currently developing to make display advertising work better will help to grow the display advertising pie for all publishers, by orders of magnitude.
Bellack says, “We shouldn’t be asking how publishers can eke another 5 or 10% out of display advertising in the next few years. We should be looking at how the industry can double or triple in size.”
Google has three core ad products for publishers: AdSense, DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange.
But what are the key principles guiding Google’s future product innovations for increasing online ad revenues for publishers? Here’s 5 points of explanation from the Google blog.
1. Making life more efficient
For most large publishers, directly sold ads (ads sold by their own sales force) comprise the vast majority of their ad revenues. But today, selling and managing these ads is frustrating, expensive and often involves tedious manual processes.
Imagine a TV network that receives TV commercials in 100 different formats, languages, lengths and video dimensions, and then has to manually convert, translate and edit them all, then manually count the number of TV sets on which the ad appeared before sending a bill.
Things like new standards for video ad serving and systems that connect buyers and sellers are helping publishers support the most engaging and creative ads across their sites. But there are quantum leaps to come in this area, for small and large publishers.
2. Total revenue management
AdSense selects the most valuable ad for publishers from a large number of ad networks, to maximize ad revenues every time a page loads.
New ad serving and “dynamic allocation” technology, like the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, is emerging that enables ad revenues to be maximized across both directly and indirectly sold ad space, ad impression by ad impression, using real-time prices. Second by second, across millions of ad impressions, this can meaningfully boost major publishers’ revenues. Using this technology, the average price that a publisher receives for ad space sold through the Ad Exchange is more than 130 percent higher than the average price of ad space sold directly to ad networks. In fact, without this type of dynamic allocation across sales channels, a publisher’s revenues can never truly be maximized.
3. More insight and control
Our vision is to provide all publishers the smartest possible advertising system that can give them knowledge and control of everything going on with their ad business. The vision is already becoming a reality: the upgraded DoubleClick for Publishers platform offers publishers 4,000 times more data than its predecessor. And in recent years, we’ve been constantly adding new reporting options for our AdSense partners.
4. Betting on openness
An open ecosystem drives meaningful results for publishers. When a wide range of buyers can bid for a publisher’s ad space, through an advertising exchange or network, this creates more competition for that ad space, while giving publishers choice over whose ads they want to appear. On the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, an enormous number of advertisers, belonging to over 50 ad networks, compete for publishers’ ad space. Of course, at the same time, we’re also providing publishers robust technologies and controls that can block any unwanted ads or networks.
Similarly, we believe that one of the best ways to encourage innovation is to open code to the web developer community. of better, more valuable ad innovations.
5. Everything is going to be “display”
Display advertising is about much more than ads in web browsers. People are watching video, reading newspapers, magazines, books and listening to digital music at an ever-increasing rate. They’re turning to a plethora of new devices—smartphones, tablets, e-readers and even video game consoles. We’ve designed our platform, and are continuing to invest in it, to give publishers a single base that can deliver ads into this expanding world—including streaming video, mobile ad delivery and more.
Which social site is the most powerful country in the world?
Sep 1st
With so many social networking sites springing up every month, its becoming increasingly hard to keep track of which ones really matter to marketers.
To ease the pain, Flowtown have released this social media infographic, that draws the worlds top social networks as country like shapes according to the size of their user base.
The map includes things like the land of defunct social networks, the stumbleupon sea and the triangle of YouTube viral videos.
BBDO is the Most Awarded Network of the decade
Aug 31st
BBDO, the network which also owns creative shops including Clemenger, Proximity and AMV, has topped topped the YoungGuns Top 10 Most Awarded Networks of the past decade.
The award recognises BBDO’s position as the number one network in the world for emerging and young creatives.
The Top 10 Networks YoungGuns ranking identifies the global marketing groups that have produced the most awarded creative talent in the 10 years since the YoungGuns were founded.
BBDO has been consistently awarded over the nine years of YoungGuns, with 148 Bullets or finalist positions won.
Saatchi & Saatchi took second place in the ranking, followed by Leo Burnett, DDB and TBWA to round out the top five.
Over the next month, YoungGuns will release a number of other Top 10 rankings that celebrate young talent and the agencies that have nurtured them.
Last month, YoungGuns awarded the UK as the fourth most creatively rewarded country. third most creatively awarded country. The USA took away the top spot with New Zealand coming in second and Australia third.
The complete Top 10 Awarded Networks list is:
1 BBDO
2 Saatchi & Saatchi
3 Leo Burnett
4 DDB
5 TBWA
6 Ogilvy & Mather
7 Young & Rubicam
8 JWT
9 Publicis
10 Lowe
The UK’s digital Startup 100 champions
Aug 27th
This year’s Startups 100 list contains some of the UK’s most innovative companies, but its digital companies that have been the true heroes during a turbulent recession.
Startups 100 is the definitive countdown to the UK’s most innovative, inspiring and ground-breaking new companies.
The list is unashamedly unscientific in its methodology for this year’s Startups 100 - it represents the best, most exciting, promising, disruptive new businesses and entrepreneurs shaping the start-up market right now.
Top of the list is Huddle, one of the most successful tech companies to come
out of the UK in years.
Founded by Alastair Mitchell and Andy McLouglin, Huddle provides packages of project management and online collaboration software and, while there are many players in this market, has managed to gain a remarkable stronghold both in the UK and the US, securing some impressive blue-chip and public sector clients including Nokia, Panasonic, Kia Motors and the NHS.
Sara Rizk, editor of Startups.co.uk, said, “Huddle was an obvious choice to top this year’s Startups 100 list. In just a few years Alastair and Andy have created a market-leading brand with global reach. What these two entrepreneurs have achieved, supported by an enthusiastic, fast-growing team, is proof that world-beating technology companies are not the preserve of Silicon Valley. We’re incredibly proud to have them heading up our list.”
The list also contains other such digital champions including TweetDeck - a personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting users with their contacts across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and more.
But most importantly, every single company on the 2010 list has felt the effects of launching during one of the most turbulent economic periods in modern history, says Rizk.
“For some it has presented unexpected challenges, while others have relished the opportunities the downturn has thrown up. The result is a list of companies and entrepreneurs to be proud of. The Startups 100 is made up of a truly eclectic group of businesses and entrepreneurs. On our list, global
brands sit alongside one-man bands in what we believe is an accurate reflection of the UK’s colourful, diverse and vibrant start-up community.”
To be eligible, businesses had to have started trading post January 2007 and demonstrate:
* Innovation, in concept or delivery
* Ability to disrupt existing market places
* Demonstratable growth potential
* Strong management, bright thinkers
* Evidence of existing or future revenues
Startups 100, selected by the startups.co.uk team, celebrates the 100 most exciting, promising, disruptive new businesses and entrepreneurs shaping the start-up market right now.
Here’s the full list: Read the rest of this entry »
Time’s top 50 websites champion the smaller players
Aug 26th
Time magazine has released its annual Top 50 websites feature and this year - unlike last year’s list - isn’t as predictable as you think.
In a sometimes strained bid to remove itself from the predictability of last year’s list - which included Google, YouTube, Facebook and Skype - Time magazine’s Top 50 Website’s of 2010 has opted to give some of the smaller hitters a boost in 2010.
By a boost we mean that the likes of Google, YouTube and Facebook didn’t even make the list.
YouTube rival Vimeo - a “respectful” community website of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos - made the number one spot -for being more intuitive than YouTube.
Gowalla was dubbed more fun than Foursquare and LinkedIn was rated as “informative without being intrusive, for opening the channels of communication without veering too casual or random, LinkedIn is the forum we still believe in,” according to the magazine.
WikiLeaks has made the top five News and Info list, but then again, so has The Onion.
The list is accompanied by the magazine’s own complementary piece, “The Five Most Overratted Websites”.
News Corp’s MySpace gets its regular pasting for not being innovative enough, while Craigslist is too boring, even for a classifieds listing.
The real interest is the vote against news aggregator slash social network Digg, criticised again for not keeping up with the likes of social networking heavyweight Facebook.
Here’s the full Top 50 list: Read the rest of this entry »
Google’s ‘streaming’ search engine – impressive but that’s about where it ends
Aug 25th
Google’s new streaming search engine will be well liked by users, but marketers are dubious of its benefits. Adam Bunn, head of SEO at Greenlight is one such marketer.
Google is supposedly testing a ‘streaming’ search engine which gives the searcher results even before they ask. Captured on video, the results pages can be seen to change according to the characters the enquirer types into the search box.
Google literally updates the results whilst the searcher is typing. According to Adam Bunn, Head of SEO at UK-based independent specialist search and social marketing agency Greenlight, although it is a very impressive demonstration of processing power, that’s about where it ends.
He said, “This is the second bizarre experiment we’ve seen Google try in the space of a few days, the first being the search engine results page (SERP) being dominated by one site. I’m dubious about the value it adds, and think if anything, people will be confused and turned off by it. Consequently, however Google is measuring success of this, the results probably won’t be positive enough to warrant rolling this out to all. In both cases I would be highly surprised if the experiment works.”
Adams notes the SERPS being dominated by one domain would obviously be big news if it happens, making brands searches that are dominated by one site all but pointless to target with SEO. However, he also stresses that the likelihood of Google rolling out either of these tests is low, and points out that Google does lots of tests all the time in its quest to improve the search experience.
“Given the number of tests Google conducts there are always going to be some that miss the mark,” he concludes.
See what campaigns have made the Social Media Hall of Fame
Aug 24th
From small companies to global organisations, social media campaigns are playing an increasingly important role in brand marketing. Now, social media agency Umpf has compiled a Social Media Campaign Hall of Fame.
The agency haslisted 54 of the world’s best social media campaigns, from iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Ford, Nike and Nokia to lesser known names such as Ascendgence and DARPA.
Whether you’re one of the world’s superbrands or a small, local supplier, clever social media campaigns can help raise product awareness, increase sales, drive footfall, add fans, improve SEO and online visibility, or just make people think ‘cool, I like that company’, says Umpf.
The Social Media Campaign Hall of Fame is in no particular order and, as is the case with lists like this, there’ll be great campaigns you love that are not yet listed, says the Umpf blog.
This is not a list of the campaigns that have the most followers/biggest fan base/most views. It’s about doing creative, interesting campaigns. And, of course, that’s subjective.
Campaigns that made the list include Nike’s ‘Grid’ (below), Blendtec’s ‘Will it blend?’, Nokia’s ‘You are here’
Coca Cola’s ‘Happiness Machine’ and Ford Fiesta’s ‘The social media fast lane’. To see all the campaigns that made the list click here.
Adrian Johnson, Umpf owner, said: “Whether they’ve been created to raise product awareness, increase sales, drive footfall, add fans, improve SEO or enhance audience engagement, one simple thread links all these social media campaigns together, a clever concept.
“At the heart of any great marketing campaign, whether it’s a press ad, a piece of DM, sales promotion, PR, or in this case social media, you’ll typically find a brilliant idea – each of the campaigns in our Hall of Fame exhibits that trait helping generate brand buzz, conversations, interaction and engagement.”
Why Apple TV will change everything
Aug 23rd
Apple TV, a new set-top box from Apple running iOS, will not only be out in September but will “change everything.”
They are the stern words from Digg founder Kevin Rose who earlier this year was also dropping rumours about Google working on a new social network project called ‘Google Me’.
Now he is saying that Apple TV will be renamed and that he expects an App Store for interactive TV apps that will eventually “destroy the TV side of the cable and satellite industry”.
He says your only requirement will be to access “on-demand stations” with an Internet connection. “Say goodbye to your monthly cable bill,” he proclaims. Apple’s product is rumoured to cost around $US99, which would be substantially less than Dish Network’s Google TV offering if a recent survey from the company is any indication.
At such a cheap price, everyone has the potential to afford iTV (another rumoured name).
“Sharing pictures/videos from your iPhone will happen with the push of a button. Imagine getting a notification of new family videos the next time you turn on your TV. My mom will love this feature,” says Rose. Who happens to have quite a lot of interest in the new up and coming product.
Rose also reckons the iPad will become one big remote.
It certainly looks like Google has its work cut out for it if it wants a chance of competing in this space. It’s already had trouble trying to get broadcasters and partners on board in time to launch a compelling offer.
However, users won’t have to give up the channels they like to use Google TV. They will get the best of both worlds - TV and internet/apps where as Apple is offering one or the other. Google TV will be integrated with Android, making a wide range of Android devices remote controls in a sense.
Furthermore, given that Android runs on so many devices, whereas iOS only runs on select Apple devices, the window for integration via TV would appear to be much greater for Google. The battle for the TV space lives on. But what do consumers want?
Just last week it was revealed that while the UK is a nation of ‘multitaskers’, Britons spend
almost one-fifth of their time watching TV - albeit accompanied by laptop or mobile activity.
To integrate the two seems to make sense, but as long as it is done properly. Advertisers and marketers will have to think carefully about how to integrate ads in a landscape where consumers are so used to skipping the ads. Lucky for broadcasters product placement is set to take off from next year. As for ads, they are about to change beyond recognition and I predict we’ll be seeing a lot more brands getting into sponsorships.
Can marketers benefit from being in the right Facebook Places?
Aug 20th
Facebook has been very publicly battered when it comes to privacy, so why launch a feature that tells users where you are at all times? It must be about money and ad dollars…
Facebook is finally turning into a business. It’s recognising where others have a monopoly in the market and then it is coming in all huffing and buffing and blowing those businesses down. In this case, it was Foursquare.
The launch of Facebook Places comes as a surprise to some but for many others, it seems the next logical step.
Here’s the sell by Facebook:
“If you’re like me, when you find a place you really like, you want to tell your friends you’re there. Maybe it’s a new restaurant, a beautiful hiking trail or an amazing live show.
Starting today, you can immediately tell people about that favourite spot with Facebook Places. You can share where you are and the friends you’re with in real time from your mobile device.”
Places might eventually open new financial opportunities for Facebook through partnerships with retailers and restaurants, and location-specific advertising. But what are the possibilities for marketers?
The feature primarily works as a iPhone application. So people have to be on the go to use it. It is proven that people are more willing to share information when they are already in a social environment. All marketers have to do is cash in on that.
I can see this Places feature working like text when it first became apparent to marketers as a medium.
Remember brands were always trying to get you to text a photo to this “number and you could win” or sign up for more details and various other things.
Now marketers can entice their consumers to direct their friends to sales, events, ‘places’, or even just get more people through the doors.
It’ll have to be done right though, and be seen as rewarding by the consumers spreading the word.
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