Social Media Club (Part 2) - Social Media and PR

The second part of Auckland Social Media Club's first monthly seminar of 2013  focused on the use of social media as a avenue for PR. This centred around the recent launch of 'My Food Bag' which, pre-launch, targeted prominent media personalities that were active on Twitter to send samples to.

'My Food Bag' is a new concept targeted to affluent families. Based on the insight that many people tend to recycle the same recipes over and over again, 'My Food Bag' is a pre-packed bag of gourmet ingredients which are delivered to your door with an easy to follow recipe, so that you can avoid the hassle of shopping and also experience creating a new, tasty dish.

The main ideas shared from this campaign were quite common-sense and can be summed up as follows;

1) Target individuals with large followings who you believe will be an advocate of your product - this can apply to Twitter, blogs, Facebook etc.

2) Be open about sampling - do not try to hide or downplay that these individuals have been given free samples to try. Doing so may detract from the overall purpose of sparking conversation around the launch.

3) Don't dictate - it is generally agreed upon that you cannot tell an individual what to say (or not say). However, you can expect and tell them to use a hashtag (for Twitter) or keyword (e.g. product name) so that their review is easily found by others.

4) Don't expect too much - you need to realise that as careful as you are to select individuals for samples, not all of them will feel compelled to actually review it through a blog or social media. Through sampling across multiple campaigns  you can weed out those who do not contribute and keep sampling those who do.

5) The review belongs to the individual - if an individual is being criticised for accepting free product to review, it is generally agreed upon that it is the individual's reputation which is impacted, not the brands. If the individual is not up front about the sample being free, this will also affect the individual.

- Luke      

Social Media Club (Part 1) - Social Media and PR

Last night saw the first 2013 meeting of the Auckland Social Media Club's monthly seminars. Each month tackling a different topic in front of a panel consisting of a mixture of journalists, publishers, communications professionals, artists, amateur media creators, citizen journalists, teachers, students, tool makers, and other interested collaboraters.

After initial introductions the evening turned to an overview of the key digital highlights from the recent South by Southwest festival, highlights of digital spurred advertising techniques which look to be used increasingly more include:

Big Data - Big data usually includes data sets with sizes beyond the ability of commonly used software tools to capture, curate, manage, and process the data within a tolerable elapsed time. Big data sizes are a constantly moving target, as of 2012 ranging from a few dozen terabytes to many petabytes of data in a single data set. Marketers look to increasingly utilise big data in order to tailor advertising solutions to individuals.  

Recommendation Engines - Recommendation engines are systems that seek to predict preferences based on previous behaviour (e.g. suggesting movies based on movies that an individual has previously viewed and enjoyed). These are already in place to some capacity through sites such as Facebook who recommend friends based on existing friends. Expect more sites and digital platforms to utilise this technology moving forward.  

'The internet of things' - This refers to uniquely identifiable objects and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure. The general idea is that equipping all objects in the world with minuscule identifying devices could be transformative of daily life. For instance, business may no longer run out of stock or generate waste products, as involved parties would know which products are required and consumed. One's ability to interact with objects could be altered remotely based on immediate or present needs, in accordance with existing end-user agreements.

Native advertising - This is focusing on advertising to individuals who will have an interest or find your advertising informative in some way. Current examples include Facebook's sponsored stories and Youtube's Trueview.  

While each of these started as ideas for specific platforms, they have proven so successful that they now look to be used more widely across marketing Initiatives. 

- Luke

Qloo

Sometimes it's difficult to find out new things without the "word of mouth" from friends and family. Or maybe you just don't have to time to go and search for new things? Here's one word that will solve your problems: Qloo.

What is Qloo? At first impression, I thought it was somewhat related to Glee (They share a VERY similar logo/font). Actually this platform is designed to put together recommendations/suggestions of music/clothing/restaurants/bars etc based on your current interests. This will be very handy if you've recently moved into a city/town and are having trouble finding places that cater to your interests.

I visited the gloo.com, but it is still in its final stages of beta. I've registered my "invitation", and hoping they will grant me access because I'm very interested in testing this out. Recently I've struggled to open myself up to new music and clothing lines. I found myself feeling comfortable to sticking to what I know, while being incomprehensible of how my friends are discovering new things. Qloo to me, is a way to make people become more cultured and it will definitely be good for businesses in the area.

- Qloo can suggest new films to entertain you.

-UI design is aesthetically pleasing.

What I'm looking forward to about Qloo is new music suggestions(I joined Spotify because I lacked the ability to discover new music now) and clothing labels... (I'm so sick of buying at Asos/Topshop/mid-class labels #becausetheyaretheonlyonesiknowonlinethatshipquicklytoNZ).

-Enna

Apple iWatch

Aren't we excited about the Google Glass (see post below)? I just wanted to add my two cents to this latest buzz around Google Glass. 

Now you know about the Google Glass, but what do you know about the iWatch? Who wears a watch nowaways? I certainly don't anymore- I rely 100% completely on my iPhone (yes, I had to name my phone as the iPhone itself has become a commodity. The need for smartphones has eliminated the need to use a watch to check our time. Our smartphones have been an extension of ourselves: we just can't leave without it or leave it alone. 

This sleek wristwatch is Siri-enabled and can take voice commands and keep you updated about emails, faccebook status updates and tweets while being wirelessly connected with your phone. However, this is all speculation and we don't know exactly what Apple are planning. I really do hope they can make a game changer as Samsung has released their Galaxy s4 which has generated much hype for Samsung. People are now awaiting Apple to bring out more innovative products as their iPhone5 was not too much different from its predecessors. On an interesting note, here is what Apple released to protect their iPhone5 against Samsung's new Galaxy.

- Mock up designs for the iWatch.

If this proves to be successful, this could be dangerous: our lives will be more completely immersed with technology. We would be eliminating the need to take our phone out to message because everything we need is now on our wrist. There are pros to this is that we won't lose our phones so easily! I unfortunately belong to the #Mybaghastoomanythingsinitandifreakoutwhenicantfindmyphone group. I'm all for Apple's iWatch idea and I think it's another solution to "hands-free" technology for driving. 

-Enna

Google Glass is coming

Google Glass is fast approaching with selected early adopters already being used to test the augmented reality  wearable computer. A retail ready option may be ready as soon as this year.

Google Glass promises to change how users conduct their day-to-day activities, this is perhaps best shown in the How it feels section of their site which shows individuals taking videos, pictures, using Google Search, skyping, translating, chatting and using Google Maps seamlessly in their lives. 

If Google Glass can work as fluidly as their teaser video suggests, then its potential is limitless. Of course, whether this actually happens is a big if. 

Person-to-device issues arise across multiple platforms. Look no further than iphone's Siri which often has problems with accents and tones.     

"Unless Google has made a quantum leap in voice recognition, I hope [it] is going to provide a back-up way to control their glasses," Cass said. "Via an Android phone for example, because otherwise people are going to run into problems ...  if they have a bad network connection — or even just a strong accent." - Stephen Cass    

- Luke

New Facebook Timeline...Again?!

-I'm sure that's how we are all feeling.

- Facebook's new design.

Facebook is constantly changing and redesigning the layout of it's page and timeline- now this is a real game changer (*cough eat your heart out Dominos Pizza NZ): different newsfeeds that is customised to your interests and larger real estate for pictures and updates.

- Consistent feel between the two platforms.

For example, the right side of the page allows you to select different categorised newsfeed. If you are only interested in what your friends are saying, then you can select that category and don't have to really worry about anything else. So what does this mean? GREAT NEWS for all the grumps who dislike seeing "spam" and "advertising", as they can now selectively choose what they want to read and from whom. BAD NEWS is for marketers. "Now how are we going to reach more people so they can like our page?"- We've relied quite heavily on Facebook's advertising features to reach out to different demographics. The current Facebook design features one newsfeed which does get clogged up with sponsored stories and advertisement (which unfortunately does not appeal to parts of the demographic). I personally don't mind advertisement/sponsored stories because it's another way to discover things (coming from an online shopaholic). The redesign was kept in mind to deliver a consistent platform between mobile and desktop versions.

- Mark Zuckerberg delivering the new features.

Marketers- this is not the end when you see a drop in engagement/likes etc. I see it as "quality control"- sentiment will rise rest assure. You will only have fans that actively like your brand and the possibility of "trolls" or non-fans making nasty comments will drop. Ever since Facebook took away the "fan gate" ability to comment on brand pages, anyone could comment without being a fan. This meant your page was open to all sorts of spam and complaints which defeats the whole purpose of a "Fan page". Now with the redesign, the engagement you will receive will be purely from Fans who are actively seeking to engage with you. Now the question is... How do I make my posts stand out from everyone else's????

Personally, yes I am looking very much for this. This is a change that I'm actually looking forward to as it looks uncluttered, clean and simple. I was always against the changes that Facebook made - I resisted the timeline change to the absolute end where I was forced to change. I accept the fact that technology is always changing, and in order to evolve ourselves we have to accept change. So I welcome you "New Facebook" with open arms.

-Enna

Facebook's no longer down with the kids

While Facebook has always had its detractors, anecdotal evidence points to a recent surge driven by younger demos towards navigating away from Facebook and finding a new social medium in which to interact with friends and document their lives. The main reasons for this active search for the next social medium in most cases comes down to issues around Facebook's privacy and the steps the platform has taken away from its original simple design.

Once troubled by a clear skew towards teenagers,  Facebook now has over 1 billion users worldwide and appears to have shaken its 'cool' persona in the process of such growth. Along with this growth a number of changes to privacy have irked the public, such as providing brand pages with personal data and turning users into marketing tools to endorse their brand. In addition to privacy issues, Facebook has changed its look and feel so much that many tweens and teenagers have begun searching for a more simple, straight-forward solution.

Leading the charge for a new social medium to represent teenagers is Instagram. Initially dismissed as just an app in which to catalogue photos, it was the younger audiences that first recognised Instagram as a social platform. Utilising the tried and tested formula of gaining 'likes' (which most demographics, let alone teenagers find addictive), Instagram provides a simplistic environment in which to interact with friends, strangers and celebrities. With 100 million users, Instagram has a swelling user base.  

Other social mediums receiving a lot of buzz at the moment are still in the early stages of their existence to be considered an immediate threat to Facebook's throne for the teenager demographic.

Vine launched at the beginning of this year to little fanfare and there saw a ground swell of excitement. Taking pre-existing technology and presenting it with an interesting new take, Vine fosters creative competition through creating users vying for the most engaging six seconds of video. It's appeal over Instagram can be summarised by the following gif:

     Pheed is another social platform receiving strong interest from teenagers. Launched late last year, Pheed allows users to share text, photos, video and audio (sounds like a slight extension on Facebook doesn't it?). With the user base made predominantly by 14 - 25 year olds (81%) and a landing page (as seen in the image above) that is clearly targeted towards younger demographics, Pheed is already being predicted as the next social craze.

Another thing that Vine and Pheed have over Facebook? They are both still fairly underground - a sure-fire way to attract teenagers.

- Luke

Clean up your Facebook page

Concerned that your Facebook page may have some content on it that you don't want your friends to see? SimpleWash is the answer.

A new app that links with your Facebook account, SimpleWash will check for any profanity or otherwise potentially offensive language on your page. It takes mere moments to check and will search your entire page.

Here's what NOT to do when things go wrong on Facebook

The Original California Burrito Company. Recently been in light of a scandal involving the labeling of their products involved in their Vegetarian/Vegan burritos.

There has been many angry comments targeted towards the Moderator as they claimed they have deleted comments and had been hypocritical on their responses. Read here to view the comments they deleted.
The moral of the story is:
1. Don't take comments personally- but you are allowed to defend the brand if customers are making false claims.
2. Don't delete posts! Thankfully Facebook has a filter spam that hides comments from the public- but only making it visible to the person who made the comment and their friends. Unfortunately California Burrito did not have a spam filter as they still commented on people's posts that contained profanity.

-Enna

Twitter advertising coming to New Zelaand

While Twitter has not seen the pick-up in New Zealand that it has from other countries, it has still proven itself as a useful social media for brands to reach their customers. Brands such as Burger Fuel twitter.com/BurgerFuel and Hell Pizza twitter.com/HELLpizza666 have built loyal followings that outnumber the likes of McDonalds and KFC.

But as a brand, how do you build a loyal following? The nature of a Twitter means that a tweet has a very short life span, much shorter than a facebook post, making it difficult to organically grow followers. Engaging tweets and competitions definitely does help, however can be a tough slog when it comes to acquiring new followers.

Another solution will soon be here. After being available in countries such as North America, UK and Japan, New Zealand will soon be able to advertise on Twitter, through promotion advertising.

Promoted accounts focuses on growing your following, much the same way that a Facebook sponsored brand story works; by advertising your brand page/account.

 
Promoted trends encourages users to tweet about your topic as it appears on their home page e.g. a brand that wants to create a lot of talkability around a new product may choose to do this to drive discussion.

Promoted tweets works in conjunction with an organic tweet to ensure the tweet is seen by a larger audience, therefore increasing awareness.

While still to go live, these advertising options look to open up Twitter a lot more in New Zealand for brands.

-Luke