Late last week, our team at Overdrive Interactive released the first version of the Social Media Map. This map is designed to help marketers and random people alike view the components of the social media landscape and determine how it can be best leveraged for their marketing or personal branding needs.
“We know how complex and overwhelming the social media landscape can be,” said Harry Gold, CEO of Overdrive Interactive. “We wanted to map it all out, so that marketing professionals can use it as a guide to what we believe are the most important social media tools out there. The power of social media is growing exponentially by the day, and now is the time to harness it.”
The map details the ‘key’ social media websites that Overdrive believes you should know about. As a key component in putting that list together - I can’t stress enough the importance of what we did with this social media map.
Our efforts to bring you the most up-to-date social media strategy for you company is key in our mission of social media branding. You have all heard me talk in the past about various websites that come and go, and the social media websites that seem to be flashes in the pan - but remember, they are all relevant in someway. They are helping us shape society on the Internet, and the way people, brands and identities communicate with each other.
Think about the various social engines that are present in the social community; micro-blogging, social bookmarking, groups, life-casting, travel, wikis, B2B social networks, blogs, and more! Many of these have become key points of interest in your daily Internet life, and many of you might still be wondering what certain websites do, and how you can utilize them. That is where this social media map comes into play - for you to see what type of ‘expressions’ on the web you might be curious about, and how you can get started involving yourself in them.
Soon, we will have an interactive version on the web - so stay tuned! Although for now, head to http://www.ovrdrv.com/social-media-map to download your copy today & take part in the revolution!
I came across a viral branding website yesterday for a popular television show on HBO, Flight of the Conchords. The TV show is about two men that live in NYC doing sketch comedy and singing their comedic folk songs inside a once a week half-hour show that looks at the everyday happenings of the two main characters, Bret and Jemaine
The idea.
Take a concept of the brand and distinguish it as a ’sensation’. I know that might sound complicated - but it’s really so easy, and I don’t understand why other companies aren’t utilizing their ‘usable’ assets for something similar.
This is exactly what the Flight of the Conchords are doing with their new micro-site - “Lip Dub Video Fansterpiece.” The concept is to learn the lyrics of one of the songs the two main characters sing, and then you are supposed to videotape yourself lip-synching the song, and then upload it to the website - where you might be added to a final “Fansterpiece” that will air on HBO. This content is being advertised only on social channels, and is completely viral - meaning this is not having any media or TV dollars spent on the campaign.
The contest was launched in mid-November, and will last until the new season of the show starts in mid-January.
Simple. Simple. Simple.
I can’t get over how simple this is, but how effective it has become. They don’t give away any lavish prizes, you don’t win a trip to any special destination or big lump sum of money - just about 10 seconds of a small amount of fame.
At the same time, they do a great job of implementing bookmarks or sometimes referred to as chicklets. These are the type of calls-to-action that include the ability to post the “contest” to Facebook, Digg, Twitter, Delicious, and you can also email to a friend. These are all tactics in “spreading” the word-of-mouth further into the social networks.
The video service they are using is YouTube, making it ‘free’, as well as very viral! This allows HBO to spread their contest through the social channels with little to zero promotion on their part, which was their full intention.
Statistics.
Since the website launched in mid-November - the main website where they utilize the videos, the YouTube channel that was created for the contest - has seen nearly 8,000 views since the project launched on Nov. 13. I know those numbers are not monumental, but you have to think about the ‘trickle’ down effect from this contest alone.
On the microsite, you also are able to access the Flight of the Conchord’s Facebook and MySpace pages. Their current Facebook page has a more than 245,000 fans, and they have a little over 25,000 friends on MySpace. These channels were setup well before the contest started…but both channels have seen an increase in activity in fans/friends since the middle of last month.
So What?
Well, I tell you this information because it’s important to consider the outreach of a ‘viral’ campaign, such as this one, and what it can do for a brand. Chances are, many people are going to submit videos to try and appear on the channel, and many more people may just watch the videos other people create. Either way, their creating a ‘buzz’ about the show and the new season, interest of not only current fans, but new fans of the show are found through the ability of allowing others to easily spread the contest into the social content networks, such as Digg, Delicious, Twitter, and so on. They attach links to the show’s page on the HBO website, as well as create easy access to the show’s MySpace and Facebook pages.
Through a viral campaign like this, you should explore your brand further to see what kind of similar outreach you may be able to do. This is social media branding 101 friends - don’t take something as small and ‘funky’ as this to be something silly - when in all honesty, they spent next to nothing to engage new fans and current fans of the show - to stay tuned to the new season, maybe buy the DVD, purchase some apparel, or some other Flight of the Conchords related materials. It’s genius.
The point is - you need to think about social media branding if you have not already. Agreed, for some brands social media might not be the way to go - but as they say so often - “don’t knock it before you try it.”
Chances are, I think it will.
For more information, and if you have any questions on viral or social media branding - feel free to contact me @ nicholas.cifuentes@gmail.com
I attended the 11th Annual MIT VC Conference Saturday, and was able to take a look at some upcoming technologies in a variety of spaces.
I wanted to highlight a company I ran into - as there outlook and technology look very promising:
movolu.
This new advertising network is built for the mobile platform - the application is quite simple. Movolu leverages location information to enhance the mobile experience and connect businesses with customers in their area.
Because many local businesses feel threatened by technology, the ecommerce ends up favoring larger brands and most likely could weaken their own in-store sales. In response, Movolu created a preformance-based advertising campaigns that directly result in sales for local businesses.
In creating interactive applications for smart phones that incorporate location-based information to enhance the user experience - it creates a strong funnel for location based advertising.
The process is simple - an advertiser joins the network, and their ads are distributed through content channels on mobile devices based on your ‘user’ characteristics - operating on an algorithm that utilizes location information, personal preferences, and behavioral patterns. So, if you enjoy eating Upper Crust Pizza in Boston, and you happen to be running an application or go onto a certain website in the network - their ad will flash on your mobile device. You can then click this ad - and take advantage of a ‘digital’ offer right on your cell phone. So, I just clicked this ad and now I have a coupon for a free large salad with the purchase of any pizza @ Upper Crust - and to go beyond the ‘regular’ coupon. This digital coupon is ‘timed’ and I have XXX amount of minutes to place my order and use this coupon - if I don’t use it…it expires, and more so, Upper Crust does not pay for that ‘click’. We all are familiar with the paid search process - normally you are paying for each click - whether a conversion happens or not - on movolu you don’t. You pay for each time the coupon is actually used.
This is a great way for smaller businesses to ‘pay’ for results - without burning money on useless conversions.
Now, for movolu to capitalize - there going to need to target highly populated locations. This system probably won’t do much in Wichita, KS - but could be very effective to start in some place like New York City. And as time goes on and this system grows in popularity - we could start to see this really take on popularity.
The two young guys I met who created this channel have stepped overboard, in terms of going all-in to create this application, and move to NYC to start putting their efforts into ovedrive. The network is set to be active in just about two months time - I wish them the best of luck!
OK…my apologies. I have been extremely busy @ work, and have failed to follow my own advice about blogging. So, my apologies. But now, with ‘insanity’ almost behind me – it is time to start up again, and I promise the commitment is there – I hate not listening to the words I preach on a daily basis.
So let’s begin.
Mobile Media.
It seems so long ago – the first time you purchased a cell phone. Do you remember that day? Maybe you remember graduating from that phone to a bulky PDA or clunky smartphone…and then it came. The iPhone. One day out of the blue – a mobile phone you can use not only for phone calls, but for something with a greater branding strength. A mobile game.
The iPhone swung a door open in June 2007 for mobile devices. A survey by iSuppli’s Consumer Track said that U.S. cell-phone users report spending less than 3 percent of phone-use time on games. However, on the iPhone, that percentage shoots up dramatically – more than 9 percent on the first iPhone and 3 percent on the iPhone 3G.
And when piling numbers together – it is hard to not recognize two platforms – Nintendo and Sony. Each of these giants created two handheld devices that allow you to play games and access online features – the Nintendo DS and Sony’s PSP. According to the industry analysts and sales data – Apple is on track to sell an easy 40 million devices (iPhones & iTouch) or more a year that are capable of playing games. So Apple is on pace to sell about as many game-capable handhelds in a single year as Nintendo had done with the DS.
Wow.
With these numbers in place, it seems Apple is poised to take the reigns when it comes to handheld gaming. Apple has said it’s had more than 200 million downloads from its App Store since the store debuted in July 2008. Of 8,000 applications on the App Store, more than 1,500 are games – just two months ago there were only 900 games. In addition, games hold the #1 spots as the most popular iPhone applications downloaded in the App Store.
In October, the Mobile Metrics Report by AdMob, said the iPhone has become the number one handset worldwide by count of ads requested. This is huge – overtaking giants such as Motorola and Nokia – who have held that placement for a number of years.
The Future.
The iPhone is no secret anymore – many, if not nearly everyone has heard of it at some point – the question for brands is – how do I monetize this? Brands alike need to be creative at their approach – whether they might be a ‘sticky’ brand who already has a name in the market, or maybe you’re a new brand thinking the mobile market is going to increase your exposure – you have to play it safe and think about it carefully.
iPhone applications and games are a fun way to create and place yourself into the market – but they can be expensive to develop. Another reason you have to consider this strategy would be to think ‘what potential does my application or game have in the market?” Just because it is there does not mean you should or have to do it. Don’t feel pressured by others pushing you away from that realistic outlook.
On the other side, don’t feel that it wouldn’t be worth it if you can develop it at a low to medium price range – the viral exposure and hundreds of millions of people your game or application might be downloaded by, and the pure exposure factor into the market – it is foolish to not at least try the market out. Your ROI may not be completely lost if you charged for the application/game - where you would take home 70 percent of any profits made through selling the application. But, chances are, your application/game will capture a much larger amount of downloads if you push it into the market as a ‘free’ download.
, CEO of Overdrive Interactive. “We wanted to map it all out, so that marketing professionals can use it as a guide to what we believe are the most important social media tools out there. The power of social media is growing exponentially by the day, and now is the time to harness it.”
