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Archives for 2010

Online Video Viewing up 37% in U.K.

Online video presents an incredible opportunity for brands to reach consumers, and in the past year, that opportunity has increased by 37%.

According to a report from comScore, U.K. online video viewing grew by 37% between February 2009 and February 2010 among the U.K. audience age 15 and older accessing the Internet at home or at work.  Mirroring online video viewing statistics in the United States, the U.K. audience watches the vast majority of online video content on YouTube (99.6% in the U.K.).  You can see the specific results in the chart below.

comScore_uk_online_video_viewing_statistics

Clearly, online video is attracting more attention from audiences who are spending more time watching online video than ever before with no signs of that growth slowing down.  Many viewers are even shifting time away from broadcast television to watch traditional programs online instead, making the case for two opportunities: online video creation and publishing as well as online video advertising.

The question for brands is not whether or not you should consider leveraging online video to build your brand but how fast you can capitalize on the opportunity.  The problem, however, is identifying the best way to successfully capitalize on that opportunity, which is something no one knows how to do yet.

So what do you do?  First, you have to set your goals for online video and commit to the fact that it’s a long term marketing strategy that will take time to test, tweak and try again in order to figure out what works for your brand, business and audience.  The challenge is getting buy-in from senior management to invest time and resources into experimenting with and learning about online video in lieu of sure-fire, short-term tactic implementation that is practically guaranteed to bring results.  There is no doubt that shifting money and time into untested and unfamiliar territory is a risk.  The rewards are out there to reap, but it will take time to figure out how to reach them.

Has your business committed time and resources into testing online video marketing opportunities?  Leave a comment and share your story.

Can “Disability Humor” Really Work?


Beyond the Label

A television ad has been running in the U.S. to promote disability/diversity awareness.  Watch the spot online if you haven’t seen it—but basically, it’s a running (or actually, rolling) gag in which an African American woman in a wheelchair goes through the hallways of her workplace, commenting into the camera about the many types of “different” people in the office.

One of her co-workers is “Fashion Deficient,” another is “Copy Incapable,” and a third has “Volume Control Syndrome.”  But, explains the narrator, no one in the office is concerned about labels (not even her own label, which turns out to be “Coffee-making Impaired”) because everyone is appreciated for their individual skills and contributions.  A voiceover at the end says “Labels get in the way.  Disabilities rarely do.”  The viewer is invited to visit thinkbeyondthelabel.com, a website designed to educate decision-makers.

This ad is part of a $4 million campaign that will appear on television, in print, on the web and on billboards, according to the group Health and Disability Advocates (HDA).  “The goal of the humorous, edgy campaign,” according to HDA, “ is to change attitudes about hiring people with disabilities, raising awareness of the need for diversity in the workplace, and countering stereotypes about people with disabilities.”

A New York Times story on the campaign explains that “the ads are being financed largely by agencies in 30 states that provide employment services as well as health and human services to their citizens who are disabled. The agencies have set a goal of raising $10 million for the campaign’s budget for the full year.”  HDA spearheads this coalition, which has chosen to use a bold marketing approach rather than depending on Public Service Announcements to get their point across.  According to the Times story, the campaign—which is targeted toward senior management, HR staff, and hiring managers—is intended to be “on that fine line of provocative but not polarizing.”

The campaign apparently tested well, and I haven’t found any information about response levels in the couple of months since it launched.  I’m honestly not sure whether it’s a good idea or not.  But I will say this:  I really, really doubt that a “humorous” approach to disability/diversity would go down well on the corporate website, or in a board room, or—well, I just can’t think of a real workplace context in which this approach would seem acceptable.

And maybe that’s okay, since advertising is a special category of communication, with its own rules and goals.  But on the other hand, maybe there can be too much of a disconnect . . .

Corporate Executives Prefer Clicks over Brands

boardroomA new survey of Fortune 500 executives released by Datran Media reveals that the people who fill the C-suites favor clicks over brands when it comes to digital marketing.  In other words, digital marketing goals mirror financial goals — short-term gains are better than long-term sustainable growth.  Sadly, that’s a problem that keeps rearing its ugly head across the financial sector, but executives whose salaries and bonuses are tied to short-term growth continue to pursue those quick gains — in both finance and marketing.

The survey reveals executives’ top objectives for digital marketing:

  • 84% want to reach a target audience.
  • 74% want to generate high quality leads.
  • 63% want to convert leads into sales.
  • 60% want to measure and understand their audiences.
  • 57% want to digitally interact with consumers.

The power of social media marketing comes from the long-term, relationship and brand building opportunities that it presents.  Unfortunately, just over half of corporate executives surveyed cited interacting with consumers as an objective for their own digital marketing plans, which doesn’t bode well for social media marketing success.

But that’s not all.  When the same executives were asked to identify the digital channels that performed the strongest for their companies in 2009, the results revealed the following:

  • 39% email
  • 24% search
  • 9% affiliate marketing
  • 5% social media
  • 1% mobile

Clearly, the surveyed executives haven’t made the necessary shift in thinking that will help them understand how to measure social media marketing performance.  By measuring return on opportunity in terms of soft metrics such as long-term brand building and relationship building as opposed to only evaluating hard metrics, these companies are missing out on huge opportunities for long-term sustainable growth based on trust, brand advocacy, and word-of-mouth marketing that come from active participation in social media marketing activities.

Let’s face it.  Most large companies are a long way from being able to truly leverage the power of social media marketing for a myriad of reasons.  However, it’s very obvious from these survey results that the necessary shift won’t be made anytime soon — not until corporate executives understand the value of moving from a short-term tactical focus to a long-term strategic focus that relies on many of the intangible components of business strength (such as brand and customer relationships) rather than hard numbers.  However, for public corporations that must increase shareholder value year-over-year, that shift in thinking and engagement might never happen.

What do you think?

Image: sxc.hu

Facebook Like Opens Targeting Opportunities for Marketers

facebook_like_buttonYesterday, Facebook announced the new Like feature that enables businesses to add Like buttons to their Web sites and increase their presence on Facebook.  While the debate is just beginning about the new Like feature with marketers and consumers on very different sides, the addition of the Like button has also raised speculation that Facebook is preparing to launch its own ad network to add to its own bottom-line.

Whatever Facebook’s ultimate goals are (and I’m sure they’re huge given the 350 million Facebook users around the world), the addition of the Like button does add a new layer of targeting for marketers that is sure to be popular.  When Facebook users click on the Like button indicating that they like a brand or business, that preference will now show up in their own Facebook profile, adding a targeting element that advertiser’s can easily exploit to boost the return on investment on ads they place on Facebook.  On the flip side, when people click that Like button, it also makes it easier for brands to interact not only with that person, but also with that person’s network of friends.

For Facebook, the most interesting part of this story is the perception that Facebook is getting too big and powerful with too much access to too much personal information about its users.  The word “trust” is being used across the Web as social media professionals, marketers, and consumers wonder whether or not they can actually trust Facebook with all of this private information.  We’ll have to wait and see how that story develops, but it is certainly the trend for large online companies to attempt to access and control information about its users (Google has certainly been accused of this in the past).

I predict there will be some regulations and laws developed in the not so distant future related to accessing and using all of this information.  The hope is that there isn’t some kind of tragedy before those regulations are defined.  In the meantime, marketers who can exploit that information should enjoy some nice returns.

What do you think?  As a marketer?  As a consumer?

 

The Rush To Financial Literacy

In my last post I had a reference to Financial Literacy Education. In Europe this is known as Financial Capability. Many financial services companies are rushing to provide some type of financial education to existing and potential clients. What is behind the rush?

A number of developments converged to produce the 1000 year financial storm–

financial-issues

The global economic crisis, more complex investment choices and the shift of pension investment choices from the employer to the employee, when combined with widespread financial illiteracy, is causing increased stress among a significant number of the public.

Research suggests that 15–20 percent of employees have financial problems severe enough to negatively affect productivity. A financially stressed employee spends an average of 20 hours per month of work time on his/her personal financial problems.

The Case For Financial Education at the Workplace
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Too many people fail simple tests on the basics of compound interest and basic financial math. The result: poor financial decisions such as not investing in company-offered voluntary investment plans. This worsens individuals’ financial condition and puts their retirement at risk.

Many financial services companies, banks, credit unions and financial advisory firms are offering a variety of financial literacy education resources.

Some examples in the US

Bank Of America  FINANCIAL TOOLS

Wells Fargo HANDS ON BANKING

CitiBank  FINANCIAL CAPABILITY

Examples from Europe

Barclay’s BUILDING FINANCIAL CAPABILITY

Halifax MANAGING YOUR MONEY

Caixa Galicia SECURE YOUR FUTURE

Some are critical of these programs. They indicate the motivation is to restore the tarnished reputations of the financial services sector. Perhaps, but the educational services offered do assist in helping individuals to improve their knowledge of financial matters.

This subject is important enough to warrant additional posts in the future.

Facing Up to Facebook

I admit it.  I’m completely on board with Twitter, but can’t close the deal with Facebook.

That may be because I dismissed Facebook at an earlier stage in its evolution, and didn’t reconnect in time to “grow up” with this social media steamroller.  Now it’s now, however, and I’m trying to get with the program.

So I went in search of some really basic help in (a) understanding the world of Facebook and (b) using Facebook effectively as a business tool.  It seems like there is less lore available for Facebook than for Twitter—but that may just be my imagination.  Anyway, here are the best resources I found in my first round of looking:

  • A nice presentation from Sinuate Media, available on SlideShare.  Only the first half is about Facebook (the second half is about blogging), but a couple of slides in the presentation were really helpful to me.  One shows a Facebook home page, the other a Facebook profile page—and both have neat labels showing what’s on each part of the page.  (Seriously, I need this level of explanation.)  There’s also a useful summary of the difference between groups and fan pages, along with tips on making pages dynamic, using privacy settings, and advertising on Facebook
  • While at SlideShare, I discovered help from an unexpected source:  the United States Navy.    Facebook Basics for Navy Commands begins with some smart questions about why and whether to utilize Facebook, follows with step-by-step instructions, and includes a useful glossary.  (It’s really a document, not a presentation, therefore hard to read on the SlideShare page.  Click the Download tab to get a printable PDF version.)
  • It really helps me to see ideas in action, so I was glad to find 10 Examples of Facebook Fan Pages, a presentation from Social Media B2B.  See what Dell, Sodexo, Forrester, Gartner, and other companies are doing with the Facebook platform.
  • Although this presentation goes way beyond the basics, Fancy Facebook Fan Pages – A Step By Step Guide is worth a look, if only to get an idea of how much can be done with Facebook.  From Vanity URLs to Video Apps, this detailed guide by Ineternet strategist Olaf Nitz shows how to take Facebook to the max.  (There are 153 slides, mostly graphics with little text, and the presentation is not available for download.  So  kick it up to full screen and watch a few slides at a time.)

    • As you may have guessed, I never got past SlideShare–but these resources have actually put me on a better footing with Facebook.  I’ll let you know when I’ve tried some hands-on experimentation.