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Twitter Brand Mentions are More Informational than Critical

twitter_tshirtA new study by Pennsylvania State University reveals that more brand mentions on Twitter are made by people seeking information about those brands than to praise or criticize them (as reported by eMarketer).

By studying almost 150,000 tweets that included brand mentions, it was found that nearly 50% of them were “comments”, which the study defined as tweets that mentioned a brand but were not about that brand.  18.1% of tweets that mentioned brands were posted by people who were providing information to others and 11.1% were made by people who were looking for information about a specific brand.  Nearly one-quarter (22.3%) of tweets that mentioned brands included an opinion about that brand, and most of those were positive comments about the brand.

Here is the breakdown of tweets that included opinions about brands:

How Not to Use Social Media to Market Your Brand or Anything Else – Ever

Microsoft brings us a great example of how NOT to use social media to market your business, your brand, your products, or anything else you might ever consider promoting online in any way shape or form with its Global Windows 7 Launch Party campaign.

I don’t think I could make this story much funnier than The Register did, so check out their take for a good laugh.  In the meantime, here’s my view on this marketing ‘miss’.

First, the Global Windows 7 Launch Party is a worldwide online event hosted on the HouseParty.com Web site, where anyone can sign up to host a party to celebrate the launch of Microsoft Vista 2 Windows 7 with their friends and loved ones.  So if you want to lose your friends and annoy your family members, go here and sign up to host your own Windows 7 launch party right now.

Why so negative, you ask?  It’s not so much the idea of the Global Windows 7 Launch Party, which seems lame enough in and of itself, as it is the promotional videos Microsoft has unleashed on the unsuspecting online world to teach people how to host a Global Windows 7 Launch Party.

I cannot do these videos justice in text summary.  You must either watch them or read the article on The Register for full humorous impact.  However, I will include them below for your analysis:

First, the “How to Host a Global Windows 7 Launch Party” video complete with preparation instructions, agenda suggestions, and more uncomfortable banter than an interview between Glen Beck and Richard Gere might be.

Next, the terrible party idea suggestion.  Copy music and send your friends home with it.  Notice the missing disclaimer that copying music you don’t own or have permission to copy is illegal.  Oops.

And now the final piece of torture.  Notice how at 30-seconds into the video, the over-zealous partier proclaims, “Cool!”  I believe the real-world exclamation at this point would be something more along the lines of, “Dude!  We can’t be friends anymore.”

So yes, this post was a bit more sarcastic than you might usually see here on Corporate Eye, but if you read any of my other blogs, then you know I’m very sarcastic in real life.  And I couldn’t resist this one.  This story was just too lame to ignore.  I’m waiting for the Windows 7 Launch Party skit on Saturday Night Live.  If only that show was as good as it used to be, but I digress.  What’s the SNL equivalent outside of the U.S.?  There’s parody gold here!

Consumers Friending Brands on Facebook Via Engagement

facebook_logo_imageIf you believe Facebook chief revenue officer Mike Murphy, then it is possible to convince Facebook users to friend brands on the social networking site.  According to an article from AdWeek, Murphy claims that, “ads on Facebook have a significantly higher engagement rate than ads elsewhere on the Internet.”

That’s possible since ads served via Facebook are typically well targeted.  But how does that advertising engagement rate translate into friending brands and building relationships with them that lead to sales?  A new partnership with Nielsen should make it more apparent.

Facebook and Nielsen signed a deal that will allow marketers to measure performance through more than the ubiquitous click rate metric.  The new metrics Facebook and Nielsen plan to deliver to Facebook advertisers and brands is one that will allow them to identify branding goals and serve ads that match those strategies.  For example, one of the first tools offered is called Learned Targeting which serves ads to Facebook users that have been identified through their online behavior and demographics to be more likely to become fans of brands on Facebook. [Read more…] about Consumers Friending Brands on Facebook Via Engagement

Amazon on Track to Take Over the Retail World

amazon_boxAmazon opened its online doors as a book, DVD and CD retailer just 15 years ago.  Today, the site sells more books, DVDs and CDs than any other retailer, and large book sellers such as Borders are struggling in Amazon’s wake.

But media products isn’t the only slice of retail market share that Amazon has stolen.  2009 marked the first year that sales of other merchandise on Amazon surpassed book, DVD and CD sales on the site.  If business continues the way it’s been going in 2009, worldwide sales of other merchandise on Amazon will surpass worldwide book, DVD, and CD sales before the year ends.

There is no doubt that Amazon has changed the retail landscape.  As the New York Times cites, remember neighborhood bookstores, record shops and video stores?  Few remain in 2009 with more and more consumers preferring the convenience, wide selection and free shipping from Amazon.  Even mass retailers like Walmart are feeling the Amazon pinch.

But retailers aren’t the only ones feeling threatened by Amazon.  Even auction sites like eBay are seeing buyers shift to Amazon since Amazon now allows third parties to sell products through its site (Amazon takes 15% from those sales).  Both Walmart and Sears are doing or planning to do the same thing on their Web sites.  Other companies such as Target and Toys ‘r Us which partnered with Amazon to sell their products in the past are ending those partnership agreements and striking out on their own.

So was Amazon in the right place at the right time during its early days?  One could argue that, but Amazon succeeded in the early days when other online retailers did not.  Today, the brand represents online shopping.  It’s the go-to place to purchase just about anything — or at the least, it’s the site people begin their shopping research.

Amazon created a new online business model that competitors are only starting to copy.  Does Amazon have enough of a foothold in its market to disregard that competition?  So far, it certainly doesn’t appear that another company can replicate what Amazon has built over the past 15 years.

What do you think?  Can anyone threaten Amazon?

This sounds like a job for Google.

Image: Flickr

Adobe – Losing Brand Focus or Extending the Brand Wisely

adobe creative suiteThis week, Adobe announced it is acquiring Omniture for $1.8 billion.  Adobe is a brand known for making graphic and web design software products.  Omniture is known for making web analytics tools.  Adobe claims the acquisition will allow designers, developers and online marketers to have an integrated workflow from design all the way to tracking results.  The Adobe press release even alludes to Adobe software including “optimization capabilities embedded in the creation tools.”

What do you think?  Has Adobe lost brand focus with the Omniture acquisition or is this an intelligent extension of the brand?

It seems like a big stretch to me.  If I were an Adobe stockholder, I’d really need to be sold on this acquisition, and not because financial analysts are suggesting that Adobe spent almost twice as much for Omniture as they should have.  My questions about this acquisition are related more closely to the fundamental roles and personalities of people who use design software and people who use metrics tools.  These are two very different user groups — the left-brained vs. the right-brained, and I think most members of these two groups are very happy where they are and want nothing to do with the “other side”.  I can’t think of many designers who would jump up and down enthusiastically at the thought of integrating analytics tools into their workflows.

Suffice it to say, Adobe has its work cut out for itself in terms of brand positioning in the future if the company does plan to integrate design and analytics into its existing products.  To many people, they’re like oil and water.  Can Adobe fuse the two mindsets into a coherent package?  Can the subjective creative process marry the objective analysis process?  It remains to be seen if these two opposites attract.  Can Adobe succeed?  What do you think?  At a time when most brands are working toward contraction and strength from focus, is Adobe making the right choice to extend its brand to include a seemingly disjointed product?

Can design and analytics live happily ever after together?

Image: Flickr