Corporate Eye

...compare, compete, excel

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Brands Launch Tablet Optimized Websites

The current hot gadget is the iPad and other tablets are launching quickly to compete with the iPad. It makes sense that brands would want to revamp their websites so they work well on tablets, but brands like MTV and VH1 are leading a new redesign trend. Instead of simply moving website elements around so they look better on tablets, MTV and VH1 have completely redesigned their websites to take advantage of touch screens, smaller screens, and vibrant screens.

For example, the new MTV and VH1 tablet-optimized websites use less text than their traditional websites. While many brands are simply releasing apps for people to access their web content on smartphones and tablets, MTV and VH1 are betting that some people will want to use apps to access content and others will want to browse the Internet on those devices and consume content in a more traditional way.

The new MTV and VH1 tablet-optimized sites allow anyone with an iPad to view those sites through their tablet web browser function without opening a separate app. For casual visitors, this is a big benefit. While all functions on the full websites aren’t available on the iPad-optimized versions, there is a good variety and one can expect more features are coming.

Currently, the content on the iPad-optimized MTV and VH1 sites are heavy on video, as you might expect from both brands. In other words, the iPad-optimized sites are excellent representations of both brands. Already, Starbucks has signed on for a rich-media ad campaign.

While many companies are focusing on creating tablet apps to deliver their content on iPads and other tablet devices, MTV and VH1 are choosing to cover all their bases and offer great content to all types of visitors. As the tablet user base expands beyond tech-savvy early adopters, this sounds like a wise strategy.

What do you think? Should companies create branded tablet apps as well as tablet-optimized websites, or do you think apps are enough? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on this tablet trend.

Image: Apple.com

Half of U.K. Population is on Facebook

Facebook reports that the social networking site is now used by 1 out of every 2 people in the U.K.  As eMarketer reports, 30 million of the 62.6 million people in the U.K. are now on the most popular social networking site in the world, Facebook. That’s up from 25.6 million in September 2010.

If you look at it another way, Facebook was responsible for 7.5% of all Internet visits by U.K. Internet users in January 2011, which isn’t far behind the leader, Google, which was responsible for 9% of all U.K. Internet user visits during the same time period. The website that landed in the third position during that same period was YouTube, which was responsible for just over 2% of all U.K. Internet user visits. That’s a big gap between the two leaders and everyone else.

Where are you going to invest your online marketing time, effort, and money?

Facebook growth shows no signs of slowing down in the U.K., and as eMarketer reports, advertising investments will continue to grow as well. By 2012, social networking advertising investments are expected to grow to 6% of total U.K. ad spending. That’s twice as much as the actual social network ad spending in 2010, which was just 3% of total online ad spending.

With the new Facebook social plugin updates that were launched this month, including analytics enhancements for the Facebook Like button, marketers will undoubtedly focus even more attention on building brand awareness, recall, and loyalty through branded Facebook pages and across social media tools. U.K. consumers are spending a lot of time on Facebook, and brands that want to connect with those consumers need to be on Facebook, too. However, those brands need to add value, meaning, and usefulness to the Facebook experience, or users will disregard them.

Bottom-line, brands who want to connect with U.K. customers shouldn’t ignore Facebook. It’s there waiting for you with your customers actively engaged already. You just need to jump in and join the conversation without delivering the hard sell.

Research Shows How Retail Brand Loyalty Programs Are Failing with Consumers

Retail brand loyalty programs are created to accomplish a primary goal — to encourage repeat purchases that evolve into brand loyalty. Unfortunately, research from ACI Worldwide reports that retail brand loyalty programs have a long way to go before they reach that goal.

According to the research survey, 62% of U.S. consumers join retail brand loyalty programs to get discounts but only 36% have received a reward or promotion from the program that actually made them come back to the retailer’s store again. One reason might be the fact that, according to the survey results, 81% of retail brand loyalty program members don’t understand the benefits they’re supposed to get from the program or how the program works at all.

Following are some highlights from the survey results reported by ACI Worldwide this week:

  • 3 out of 4 American consumers are members of at least one retail brand loyalty program.
  • 1 out of 4 U.S. retail brand loyalty program members have received a reward or promotion for something they didn’t want and wouldn’t buy.
  • 1 out of 5 U.S. retail brand loyalty program members have received a reward that was too small to take seriously.
  • 3 out of 4 U.S. retail brand loyalty program members have never received a reward or promotion that made them feel like a valued customer.
  • Nearly 9 out of 10 U.S. retail brand loyalty program members signed up and never heard from the program again.
  • Nearly 1 out of 2 U.S. retail brand loyalty program members have had a negative experience from a loyalty program.

For your brand’s loyalty program to be successful and actually turn customers into brand loyalists, you need to offer a program that’s simple and easy to understand with clear benefits that are specifically targeted to members. The statistics above demonstrate many of the biggest mistakes that companies make when developing loyalty programs. A loyalty program should make consumers proud to be a customer, not annoyed. If members don’t understand how to access rewards and if rewards are useless to them, then your loyalty program is likely to do more harm than good.

In other words, your brand loyalty program needs to sound good so consumers will join, but it also needs to deliver on consumer expectations based on the messaging that convinced them to join. Don’t make them regret joining. Instead, make sure they’re thrilled with your brand loyalty program so they come back again and again — and tell all their friends!

Image: stock.xchng

Heinz Launches Creative Facebook Promotion in U.K.

You might not expect a brand like Heinz to launch an innovative social media marketing promotion, but that’s exactly what happened in the U.K. when Heinz started selling limited edition ketchup from its Facebook page. Check out the image from the Heinz Facebook page below.

In an effort to boost the Heinz Tomato Ketchup UK Facebook page audience, the company released a limited edition Balsamic Vinegar ketchup product. Only 1,057,000 bottles of the limited edition product were produced, and according to Ad Age, 57 of those bottles were sent in advance of the promotion to key bloggers and VIPs. This was a smart move since connecting with online influencers in an effort to convince them to talk about your brand is a critical first step to social media marketing success. The next 3,000 bottles were offered for sale through the Heinz Tomato Ketchup UK Facebook page to the first 3,000 new people who “liked” the page. Facebook users could buy the bottles directly through the Facebook page using a built in payment system and a credit card.

In less than a week, the Heinz Facebook page rose from 45,000 likes to 58,896 at the time of this post’s writing. That’s a 30.88% change and the conversations happening on the Heinz Facebook page by people who are receiving their bottles of the limited edition ketchup are very positive.

Of course, the promotion didn’t go off without some glitches — primarily because the response was a lot bigger than Heinz anticipated. The Facebook page and ordering process were slow and didn’t always work as well as they should have, but overall, the promotion appears to have been a success for Heinz.

People are publishing on the Heinz Facebook page about how much they love the new ketchup flavor. They’re taking pictures of their bottles (including the packaging and accompanying note) as well as of themselves holding their new Heinz ketchup bottles and publishing those on the Heinz Facebook page, too. That means their comments and photos are being seen by a lot of people, which gives Heinz a significant amount of positive online buzz.

In simplest terms, this is a promotion that got people talking and undoubtedly provided Heinz with excellent information to use when developing future social media marketing initiatives.  For consumers, this promotion was interesting, easy to participate in (despite the order processing glitches), and fun. It’s not surprising that it was successful.

What do you think? Were you one of the 3,000 people who got a bottle of the limited edition Heinz Balsamic Vinegar Ketchup? Leave a comment and share your thoughts about this creative Facebook promotion.

Product Placements Launch on British Television

A new door has opened for advertisers in Britain since a ban on product placement in television programming has been lifted. However, making it possible for companies to get brand exposure through in-programming television product placement doesn’t mean those companies will be able to start stuffing products into every program on air.

In an effort to keep British programming from turning into U.S. versions of American Idol and Survivor, which are filled with product placements, there are some restrictions for advertisers who want to see their brands in British television programs.

First, the largest network in Britain, the BBC, is still off limits for product placements despite the lift on the ban. Second, some large advertisers like alcohol brands and junk food brands are still not allowed to participate in product placement per The New York Times. Third, several types of programs are not allowed to participate in product placement despite the lifting of the ban. These programs include news shows, children’s programs, and more.

But that’s not all of the restrictions. Paid product placements are not allowed to take center stage in any program, nor can they be part of the program’s plot or script. Furthermore, any program that includes paid product placements must display a small P in the corner of the screen at the beginning and end of the program as well as before and after commercial breaks.

The question is whether this is just the first step in paid product placements in British television or if the restrictions will remain in place for years to come. In time, will British television viewers come to expect product placements and become immune to them as American television viewers have?

In the U.S., unless a show is overflowing with blatant product placements (e.g., when contestants on Survivor won a Doritos and Mountain Dew feast after a reward challenge), these paid placements typically don’t draw much concern (or attention). It could be argued that U.S. television viewers have become immune to them. Will the same happen to the British audience (who already sees product placements in U.S. programs shown in Britain)?

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your opinion.

Image: stock.xchng

New Regulations for U.K.-based Online Brands and Marketers Now in Effect

If you’re a U.K.-based company that publishes content online (or shares content published by other people), then you need to know the new regulations from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that came into effect this month.

Before March 1, 2011, the ASA worked as an offline and online paid advertising watchdog. If a consumer came across a paid advertisement that was misleading, dishonest, or otherwise deceptive, they could file a complaint with the ASA who would dish out punishments to offenders. Beginning on March 1, 2011, consumers can now submit complaints to the ASA for content published by companies, too.

For example, if a company publishes a customer testimonial on its website and cannot prove the testimonial is real and comes from an actual consumer, they could be in violation of the new ASA regulations. Another regulation violation could happen if a company republishes or publicly shares content on Facebook, Twitter, etc., that was created by another person or entity and is found to be misleading, dishonest, or otherwise deceptive. In other words, unless online content published by a company is editorial or a press release, it’s subject to ASA policing.

The primary aspects of the ASA policy that companies need to follow are:

  • Companies and brands must be able to show documented evidence to substantiate claims published online.
  • Claims must be legal, decent, honest, transparent and truthful.
  • Ads and communications must not be likely to cause serious or widespread offense (e.g., race, religion, sex or disability).

Consumers can file complaints through the ASA website, and companies that are found guilty of violating the ASA regulations will be censured and asked to remove the problematic content. However, if a brand does not comply with that request, the ASA will be publicly named as a “non-complying digital advertiser.”

Be careful what you publish or share online!

Image: stock.xchng