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Study: From Fakes to Facebook Friends

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:17:51 +0000

In a recent research Barracuda Networks released some findings of their study “Facebook: Fake Profils vs. Real Users” which analyzed a random sampling of 2,884 active Facebook accounts. The idea of the study was to identify key differences between average real user and fake accounts which are coming form attackers and spammers.

As of their popularity in terms of personal and business communication, Facebook is consistently fighting attackers on their network in order to save their real users from spam or even worse attacks. According to their own stats Facebook has less than 4% of content shared on their network marked as spam. By comparison we could use some stats from Symantec which found that 74% of spam comes from email – however this will be filtered before it comes to our inboxes. Nevertheless, Facebook is in a lawsuit with a marketing firm that they accused of “spreading spam through misleading and deceptive tactics”.

These are some interesting findings of the Barracuda Networks study.

Fake accounts have..
…more friends than real users – six times more!
…use more photo tagging – over 100 times more!
…claim to be bisexual – 10 times more than real users!
…claim to be female (97%!) – only 40% for real user!

“Likes, News Feeds and Apps have helped lead Facebook to its social network dominance and now attackers are harnessing those same features to efficiently scale their efforts. These fake profiles and apps give attackers a long-lived path to continuously present malicious links to innocent users.” Dr. Paul Judge, chief research officer at Barracuda Networks

The study was done with Barracuda Profile Protector tool and illustrates how attacks and spam on Facebook are structured to undercuts real “friendships” concept and trust of widely-used applications. So, marketers and private people should watch out and check before friending an account. No matter if you are more addicted to Facebook or Twitter than smoking and drinking…

Tags:Communication, Comparison, Content, Email, Facebook, Inbox, Law, Marke, Marketing, Networks, Research, Search, Share, Study, Twitter, User

Study: Active social networking engagement has tripled during working hours in one year

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:53:56 +0000

©arrow - Fotolia.com

Are employees using social networks like Facebook or Twitter for private or business purpose? This is one of the question that management always asks me in workshops and seminars. Some new research called the “Palo Alto Networks Application Usage and Risk Report” could shed some light here. The report states explosive growth in global social networking and browser-based file sharing on corporate networks. In the last year, the activity has grown by 300% in active social networking (i.e. posting, applications) compared to 2010.

Some key findings of the study…

1. Social Media moves from passive to active engagement
Browsing Twitter at work alone grew by over 700% year-over-year which shows that the use of Twitter in the workplace has reached mainstream traction. Also Facebook usage has become more active with bandwidth consumption for Facebook Apps. Even more, Social Plugins and active engagement like posting has increased by 20% from October 2010 (5%) to December 2011 (25%) when measured as a percentage of total social networking bandwidth.

2. File sharing on social networks grows significantly
92% of the responding organizations reported that file sharing sites continue to be used on most networks. The report found 65 different browser-based file-sharing variants with an average of 13 being used in each of the organizations. The risks associated with browser-based file-sharing applications is based on the fact that these techniques are operating unchecked on corporate networks.

3. There is an evolution in types of traffic on company networks
While in earlier days, web applications using TCP port 80 were dominant, today it makes a minority of the traffic on enterprise networks for the first time ever with 25%, and 32% of the bandwidth observed. If companies don’t obey this development, it may cause problems as the standard web browsing-focused security model actually protects a minority of an organization’s traffic.

“Whether or not employees are using social networks or sharing files at work is no longer a question; this data clearly demonstrates that users are embracing and actively using such applications. Companies must determine how to safely enable these technologies on their networks so that users can maintain the levels of productivity that many of these applications can afford, while at the same time ensuring that their corporate networks and users are protected against all threats.” René Bonvanie, Chief Marketing Officer, Palo Alto Networks

Spot On!
Somehow these numbers might illustrate that companies and their bosses understand the value of Social Business and how the knowledge of employees might benefit from power of social networks. Especially the increase of the Twitter figures does not surprise at all, bearing in mind that European bosses support the use of Twitter for business purpose. And if you check out what people are actually doing on Facebook, then topics like consumer insights, work-life balance, or fun at work will reach different levels in organizations if CEOs or managing directors understand the real values of productivity.

Tags:CEO, Facebook, Management, Marke, Marketing, Media, Networks, Productivity, Rating, Research, Search, SEM, Social Business, Social Media, Social Networks, Study, Twitter, User

Study: Web-traffic boosts in-store sales

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:48:52 +0000

In a recent study the research companies comScore, Accenture and dunnhumbyUSA found some significant relevance between in-store sales and a company’s web presence. The study was based on a panel of CPG customers and one million U.S. Internet users who have given comScore explicit permission to have their online activities continuously measured and matched to their in-store brand buying behavior provided by dunnhumbyUSA.

The report comes to the conclusion that consumers who visit a website prior to their shopping experience in a company store spend 34% more with that company and 57% more on products or services based on their specific industry sector. It also states that visitors of brand websites are frequent buyers of the brand in retail stores. It shows that 42% more of these clients finish their transactions than non-visitors. Furthermore, website visitors are also heavier buyers in a brand’s product category. They are spending 53% more in their category dollars than non-visitors.

“Since website visitors have higher affinity to the brand and the overall product category, there is an opportunity for brand marketers to drive loyalty through personalizing the website experience, catering to the preferences of their best customers.”John LaRocca, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, dunnhumbyUSA

And again another study highlights the importance of content marketing as the new emerging trend in marketing. Shoppers were more aggressive in their approach to understand and evaluate their purchases prior to their visit in shops as a result of the massive information access through the web. According to the research, content marketing plays a significant role here. So, campaigns on the web not only add value to web shopping but also -and for some companies and brands more importantly- will help to drive and boost in-store habits and sales – apart from positioning a brand’s capability.

“Marketers who create compelling (brand) website experiences for consumers are extremely effective in driving incremental and profitable in-store sales. Analysis shows that consumers visiting the best of the 10 CPG brand websites evaluated in the research study, spent over 200% more on the brand than non-visitors.” Jerry Lohse, Senior Director, Accenture Interactive

Based on the fact that Brafton reported some weeks ago that the average consumer visits more than 10 web pages before a purchase decision, this study marks an important point in the relevance between online and offline shopping. This might be catalyzed by the new opportunities that smartphones, tablets or Augmented Reality (see real-life community shopping) offer, and shows the straight relationship between the two shopping experiences which more and more merge to one close shopping cycle.

Spot On!
More companies are realizing that offering web shoppers the same information and service as in-stores will lead to more purchase at both ends of the shopping cycle: online and at offline locations. The challenge for companies is to differentiate the shopping experience by using SoLoMo (social – local – mobile). Here the question for the future will remain whether in-store shopping needs to become more of a lifestyle experience or adventure to attract more consumers to join in-store activity (see IKEA Sleepover), or wether people will want to have real people around them and thus make it a social reality world, rather than a social web world…

Tags:Augmented Reality, Brand, Campaign, Community, Comscore, Content, Future, Marke, Marketing, Mobile, Relationship, Research, Search, Shopping, Study, Trend, User, Website

Study: Web economy expected to double in G20 by 2016

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:49:14 +0000

We all know that the web economy is exploding at the moment in terms of activity and users. In the next four years the value of the web is expected to achieve a valuation sum growing from 2.7 to 4,2 trillion pounds. This means that the value of the web economy in the G20 countries is nearly going to double in the next four years.

The global web user base is expected to increase foe 1,9 to 3 million users by 2016 – almost half the world’s current population. All these findings are based on a new report commissioned by the Boston Consulting Group. Still, the report also states that there is at present no standard way of measuring the parts of web economy that is ‘digital’.

Boston sees the growth in the evolution of the mobile web access as 80% are assumed to access the web via smart mobile phones. Thinking back to 2010, which is just about two years back, mobile internet access accounted for just over 4% of the G20 economies. The study makers claim that each household has an approximate valuation of 2,000 pounds worth of purchases online before buying.

Some more key conclusions from the study…  

- Digital transformation is key for companies. Companies have to build their digital assets and reduce the digital liabilities that limit their ability to tap rich opportunities. People, processes, and organizational structures need to change and adapt them to the digital world.

- IBM forecasts 1 trillion devices to be connected to the Internet by 2015. This has an effect on the ways companies interact with customers and run their supply chains but also how traditional industries have to build their business.

  - Companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google shape the Internet, in China this might be Baidu and Tencent or in Russia Yandex.

- The power of digital experience goes far more local in terms of impact on everyday life, reflecting economic, political, national characteristics and social influences specific to individual countries.

- The “Millennials” have different expectations as employees, consumers, and citizens. TheArab Spring protests and grass-roots “occupy” movements in the West are the most visible manifestations of the power of the Millennials to shape society and commerce.

Spot On!
Seeing the rapid economical and market changes, the intensity of competition will improve and increase. Companies and brands will need to plan more flexible in terms of their strategic approaches how to reach clients than in earlier years when long-term planning cycles were the common status. Today, it will be important to create an adaptive strategy planing and restructuring process.

PS. A challenge might be if evangelist entrepreneuers like this guy spread market distraction and confusion….

Tags:Amazon, Apple, Brand, Change, Consulting, Economy, Facebook, Google, Marke, Mobile, Study, User

Edelman Trust Barometer 2012: CEOs down, Social Media getting better…

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:39:40 +0000

Year on year, Edelman’s Trust Barometer checks the credibility and trustworthiness of politics, companies, CEOs and media from a quite generalistic point of view.

The findings for this year were published in the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer, a global survey which came out yesterday in its 12th year. The survey offers insights from over 30,000 people in 25 countries with the main focus on “Informed Publics”. By “Informed Publics” Edelman sees college-educated people between 25-64 years of age that are among the best earners in their countries and describe themselves as heavy consumers of media information.

Obviously interesting for me were two things… How are people trusting CEO’s after CEO’s criticized their marketers some month ago in a study by the Fournaise Marketing Group. And also, how are consumers worldwide gaining trust in social media as a source of business information.

Let’s start with the CEOs first.

When Edelman asked respondents how credible information coming from a CEO would be, 38% replied they would trust the information. Although this sounds not bad, it is a 50% dump from last year and the biggest drop since Edelman started doing the survey 12 years ago. And although government leaders were less trusted than CEOs, in more or less all the countries responding, 49% would want to see an increase of government regulation of business.

And how about consumers’ trust in Social Media?
Well, let’s put it that way… Social Media is on the rise but still lags behind corporate websites and traditional media. So, you marketers should better not rely solely on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages.
The 2012 survey tells us that 14% of respondents see Social Media as a trusted source of company information — an increase of 6% to one year ago. But it’s still getting the lowest trust score of the four options shown below. This comes close to the trust in company websites (16%). Traditional media still is top of “news pops” (32%).

Spot On!
So which business is trusted most? Technology companies are most trusted with 79% saying they believed tech companies do the right thing. Indian, Chinese and the United States tech companies earn most trust, UK, France and Germany rank lower. Trust in financial services companies and banks soars, and those companies are the least trusted businesses. 47% said they trusted banks to do what is right. 45% saying they trusted financial services companies.

Who do you trust? Would you agree with these Edelman findings?

Tags:CEO, Facebook, Google, Marke, Marketing, Media, Social Media, Study, Survey, Twitter, Website

At Mercedes augmented-reality lets gestures communicate

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:06:15 +0000

Some weeks ago, we have discussed the opportunity for car manufacturers with in-car internet access that KPMG sees as the “norm” in the near future. If this is to come true, then concepts like the Mercedes’ Dynamic and Intuitive Control Experience (DICE) is not far of, and the car windshield might get potentially more impact in terms of delivering essential contextual driving information.

The system was shown at CES for the first time and seems not to be too far away bearing in mind that we have seen smart windows from Samsung that become TV screens. Wether this is fiction or reaality soon, I definitely like the idea and the vision that Mercedes has…

The car manufacturer envisions complete new data transfer through windshields like seeing who is driving in front of you or getting relevant traffic data or restaurant tips. What sounds promising, might also become a challenge for the driver who needs to avoid being distracted by all that data. The Mercedes concept touches all new technology options that we know from smartphones and tablets in favor of gesture-based controls that communicate information while driving.

“With the DICE sculpture Mercedes-Benz provides a visionary perspective on how the vehicle becomes an intelligent mobility partner in the future. For this Mercedes-Benz uses a combination of Augmented Reality and natural gesture control to realize a completely new form of communication between people and their environment.”

Well, just have a look and decide if you like it or not..

Tags:Augmented Reality, Communication, Context, Future, Media, Mobile, Rating, Smart Window, Social Media, Video, Vision

comScore: Smartphones and tablets boost European media consumption ‎

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:18:37 +0000

The digital environment is chaining very fast, based on the evolution of the modern mobile devices which are offering new opportunities and challenges, depending on whether at home or at work. Some forecasts already proclaim the death of the desktop. Today, mobile devices like tablets and smartphones change the daily lives of Europeans, and the way we use our mobile devices was explained in one of my last posts. .

A recent study by comScore, Inc. and Telefónica Germany called Connected Europe -published during DLD Conference today- shows some five developments and gives an outlook where the mobile evolution is heading to. The study was based on a survey of mobile subscribers age 13+ and their primary device. These are the key findings the study is coming up with…

Smartphones and Tablets make PC more and more redundant.
Reasons: Lower hardware costs, increased subsidies, and aggressive operator price plans. A majority of non-computer web traffic comes from smartphones (65%) and especially tablets (25%) are picking up momentum in the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom).

Mobile Media is booming.
Reason: Ubiquitous 3G/4G networks delivering mobile ready content to multiple screens (PC, Smartphone, Tablets). 75% of the EU5 use mobile media users in October 2011 which is an increase by 62% in the past year.

Apple connected use wins in fragmented EU5 market across ecosystems.
Reason: However, there are powerful competitors (Nokia and Google), Apple’s iOS has the top spot when combining smartphones, tablets and other devices: 30% share of connected devices in use! Nokia’s Symbian and Google’s Android win in terms of the highest market share among smartphone.

iPad boost Apple’s market power.
Reason: iPad enthusiasm is not limited to Apple enthusiasts. Users of other phones such as LG (86% more likely) and Motorola (72% more likely) were overrepresented amongst iPad owners, as compared to their respective shares of the smartphone market. Obviously, iPhone owners were quite likely to have an iPad (66 times more likely).

Mobile commerce is increasing and changing expectations for the retail industry.
Reason: Smartphone users are massive mobile shoppers and push retail with double or triple digit growth rates across European countries. Just look at the use of modern mobile devices and their apps in the Prime Time and you won’t be surprised anymore.

Spot On!
According to the study, Germany had the fastest growing (increase of 112% year on year) user base and witnessed the quickest adoption of emerging technologies, such as QR codes. Interesting to me were two facts…
a) Men are still more likely to have a tablet than a smartphone compared to women, whether this is based on business issue or interest the study did not give an answer…

b) Smartphone and tablet is not an issue of income aspects. 65,4% of a household income under 40K EUR have a smartphone and 56% own a tablet.

Would you agree that calling a smartphone and a tablet your own will become as important as having a TV in the past?

Tags:Android, Apple, Change, Comscore, Content, Google, iPad, Iphone, Marke, Media, Mobile, Mobile Commerce, Networks, Share, Study, Survey, User, WOM

Study: Social Sign-in generates 50% more time spend on websites

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:35:26 +0000

Isn’t it hard to get people on websites in general? And even more to keep them there reading as much of your business information as possible? How much time do your customers spend on your site? If you are not satisfied with the results you achieve with your visitors, here is some information that might boost your website staying time.

A recent research by the SaaS technology company Gigya helps companies and brands to become more social in order to engage more with their customers. And if they are doing their job properly, their aim is always to get people from social platforms to their website for a better conversion.

The Gigya research states that companies and brands, and obviously their websites, can increase the stickiness of their desired target groups with their website just by encouraging the coming back effect of visitors through social logins.

The Gigya’s results illustrate that site owners who implement Facebook Connect, Twitter sign in or Yahoo Login will be the winners. Users spend 50% more time on websites when they’re logging in through social networks. Just imagine if users spend four more minutes after a social login – whether it be on the Web, the mobile web, or apps. All of these options were tracked by the Gigya study.

The value of Facebook Connect in terms of giving an option to easily log-in on different other platforms and sites makes people carrying around their social graphs wherever and wherever they are online. And with all these connections our closest fellows, fans and friends find our restaurant reviews, cinema recommendations and places where I am immediately. With a target group of approximately 800 million users Facebook states a case for social sign-in opportunities.

The findings also show that it is the most popular source of social logins with 61%. It gets followed by Yahoo with 15% and Google 12%. It surprises me that Twitter is only at 10% and LinkedIn just gets 2% although we have over 120 million LinkedIn user. And users who logged in with a social network double the view of pages on a website.

Another interesting aspect is that with social plugins, users generally spend the most amount of time on the site, and page impression increase does obviously follow. Companies and brands should think about integrating value-add areas with log-in or comment or Newsfeed functionalities as the later come in first when it comes to spending more time with the site. So, add a comment section.

Spot On!
Some months ago, we already mentioned the importance of social sign-in processes with a study by Janrain and Blue Research. In that study, 42% agreed that companies offering a social sign-in option “are more up-to-date, innovative and leave a positive impression compared to those which do not offer this capability” on their sites. Well, it seems I should start thinking about integrating social sign-in here… From a comment technology point of view, which option would you recommend? Livefyre, Disqus,or the WordPress standard…? Open to suggestions…

Tags:Brand, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Media, Mobile, Networks, Rating, Recommendation, Research, Review, Search, Social Networks, Social Sign-in, Study, Twitter, User, Website, Yahoo

ComScore study: 31% of banner ads get lost for viewers

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:05:28 +0000

Companies and brands love to book page impressions with publishers, shopping and trading sites. Users find themselves being bombarded with banner ads all over the web – and not often do these ads add any value on customer journeys and the digital shopping experience. Often they bore us (dresses and dishes), annoy us (gay ads for married people) or make us hate companies brands (you love a and get b beer brands). Real Time bidding (RTB), (Behavioral) Retargeting technology and demand side platforms (DSP) will become game changers in the ad space in the future.

Sounds good but do advertisers get what publishers promise today, just on the basis of ad impression buying? Well, not really…

Yesterday, ComScore announced their “Validated Campaign Essentials (vCE)” which is said to be a Holistic Measurement tool for verifying the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and their subsequent targeting tactics. Thus, ComScore can double-check of where the ads are being delivered, where they are positioned within a page and who’s eyeballs they meet with the optimization add-on to know where they can be better positioned and at what time. The new technology or tool (vCE) will allow ComScore check campaigns effectiveness on a demographics basis.

ComScore definitely recognizes clients need for a world of better performance with campaigns for a reasonable future of advertisements. However the good news, when you worried about the effectiveness of your last campaign, there is much worse stuff to think about…

ComScore has found, in a recent comprehensive study, that over 31% of online display ads get lost for eyeballs of potential viewers, and for some websites it is even a scary number of 91%. Reasons are obvious: Some of these ads are below the fold. User might not scroll down far enough to view them, and vice versa. Some people just scroll too quick and thus get passed them before they have been loading.

The findings also state that as many as 15% of campaign ads were delivered to viewers outside of the targeted media plan places. An average of 4% of ad impressions found viewers in locations that weren’t on the plan, or where products weren’t available. Do you still wonder why the above mentioned banner campaigns reach us? But ComScore works on the issue…

“One big issue with internet advertising is that not all ads that are served end up being seen. This is a core issue raised by the Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) initiative. In order for marketers to have the same confidence in the digital channel as they do in TV, we need measurement around the visibility of ads.” Mike Donahue, EVP, Strategic Partnerships, ComScore

Spot On!
Google will penalize companies and platforms that have too many ads above the fold in the future: 3 ads per page is sufficient and strategically clever, Google advices in this video. Just imagine your banners are being delivered to platforms that are damaging for your brand. It happens. Impressions appear beside content that were defined as “not brand safe” by the advertiser. Of all tested campaigns, 72% showed up on pages that had objectionable content, as defined by the brand. Now, that ComScore and advertisers like Chrysler, Discover, E*TRADE Financial, Ford, Kellogg’s, Kimberly Clark and Kraft among others push the development of the third-party tracking, there might be hope that consumers and clients get banners delivered that are targeted the right way. Nevertheless, companies need to start thinking about the right call-to-action in order to get the right conversation figures…

Tags:Ads, Banner, Brand, Campaign, Change, Comscore, Content, DSP, Future, Google, Marke, Media, Realtime bidding, RTB, SEM, Shopping, Study, User, Video, Website

Samsung unveils the new of the old future generation of TV

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:04:50 +0000

We have seen films in which James Bond (or his “friends”) stands in front of tranparent TV screens, planning to save or change the world. We have seen Minority Report where Tom Cruise catches whoever and whatever in an impossible mission which becomes mission possible before it even happens. And we have seen visions of future screens here and here.

These were films. Are we living in this cinema world soon…?

Well, this “Smart Window” technology Samsung which is being promoted at CES 2012 is somehow groundbreaking and breathtaking. Lovely Ashley Esqueda is definitely real and checks out the new Samsung technology at their booth with a little demo of the window.

Would you want that “Smart window” in your living room where you can switch from looking out at the blue sky and watching Roger Moore or Samantha Morton at the beach? Or would you just be happy to have one more free wall without a black screen? I would.

PS: And if this is going to be the future, then I doubt the Accenture study forecast that states consumers will buy fewer TVs. How about you…?

Tags:Change, Future, Future Screen, Future Window, Smart Window, Study, Vision

The Social Google: Google Search and Google+ unite

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:18:44 +0000

Google revolutionized the internet, the way we interact, we use our brains and thus, somehow it changed the world. And now they will do it for the second time… with “Search, plus Your World”. This new search engine technology does not only bring us information from across the web. It proclaims to make search even better better by including photos, posts, and “more from you and your friends”.

With an all new algorithm for their search they have changed their search strategy. Today, people are searching not only for content. Today people also want to find personal and private information and touchpoints. The normal result is one which we have all expected for a long time since Google+ launched: Google+ will be integrated in Google search which will definitely affect the power of Google against their hardest social competitor Facebook.

Google’s new “Search, plus Your World” integrates also personal data like personal content, pictures or videos from Google+. Here is their new promotion video…

On the official Google blog Amit Singhal explains how the new Google search works with an experience of his past.

“As a child, my favorite fruit was Chikoo, which is exceptionally sweet and tasty. A few years back when getting a family dog, we decided to name our sweet little puppy after my favorite fruit. Over the years we have privately shared many pictures of Chikoo (our dog) with our family. To me, the query [chikoo] means two very sweet and different things, and today’s improvements give me the magical experience of finding both the Chikoos I love, right in the results page.”

Google’s first step to integrate Social Search results gets now followed by the integration of Google+ which becomes a massive hub to “socially unite” all of their own products and services. The new search offers three main benefits…

1. Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts—both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;
2. Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following; and,
3. People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community.

Spot On!
However, this might sound as if Google makes us more transparent, users have the opportunity to select whether they want the new Google search algorith, or not. This gives users the ability to see either the good old search results or the brand new private search results. People just need to use the little buttons…

…or they will simply change it in the account settings. And Google extends the Google+ circles idea to their search: Every single result in the private search mode gets marked whether it is private, public or limited entry. Somehow a clever filter, don’t you think…?

Tags:Brand, Change, Community, Content, Facebook, Google, Google Search, Google Search plus the world, Marke, Media, Search, Share, User, Video

Study: In-car internet to become “the norm”

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:53:10 +0000

Never will I forget the day some time between 2001 and 2002 when I went to the BMW pavilion exhibition in Munich to get an understanding of what “Connected Drive” means. Those days, even the people in the pavilion could not help us, and it took BMW three days to give us some proper feedback on this term via telephone. Today, the term is clearly defined as driving with internet access which enables all sorts of connected infotainment, and if you want to know more about it, you can get plenty of information here.

Every day today, people are sitting in their cars, grapping their smartphones while waiting at traffic lights – although a great Facebook page tells us not “Text-and-Drive”. The future will be different though…

According to the world’s top car bosses, in-car internet access is close to becoming reality. A recent survey by KPMG called “Global Automotive Executive Survey 2011″ shows that speech recognition and internet connection with Wifi and 3G will become the norm in the future.

The results of the study state that 37% of the 200 responding car executives see “infotainment” to be almost as important as car safety. It makes clear that over the next five years, car buyers will see in-car gadgets provided by the big tech firms like Apple, Google or Microsoft.

The new Toyota Avensis commercial in Germany features in-car texting and internet.

Intel already announced some collaboration with Toyota at the end of last year. Intel forecasts that the connected car is the fastest growing technological device following smartphones and tablets.

According to Reuters, Mercedes-Benz USA is bringing Facebook to its cars with the new in-vehicle telematics system that will be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It allows drivers to access Facebook on the road. However it is not exactly the same as using the social network on a personal computer or a smartphone. “The version of Facebook offered in Daimler AG’s Mercedes is stripped down to a limited set of features, specially designed for drivers and centered around the locations of friends and businesses.” Audi’s A7 series already offers a built-in 3G wireless which shall be extended to other new models.

Spot On!
Car manufacturers will look out for cooperation opportunities with IT companies as well as telecoms and the music industry. It will be interesting to see how much the in-car technologies will evolve and develop in combination with the Hybrid technology that will get the main investment according to 53% of the car execs. Apart from that 57% see speech recognition and built-in navigation as important product issues for consumers in the future. Just imagine you can send your tweet, write a blogpost or a Google+ status update without taking your eyes from the streets. If speech recognition performs, a lot of the dangerous texting and driving could end. Although it will take some time for people to adapt to the nex technology.

Tags:Apple, Collaboration, CTR, Facebook, Future, Google, Microsoft, Study, Survey

Social Business: 84% of businesses have not fully integrated Social Media in their operations

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:46:29 +0000

©arrow - Fotolia.com

This report comes as no surprise to me as it justifies our Community Centric Strategy model. The study from InSites Consulting states that only 16% of businesses using Social Media have fully integrated Social Media platforms into their businesses operations. Nevertheless, business leaders believe better social integration will help improve and streamline their business operations. Their hope is that Social Media marketing and internal social apps will boost productivity of their business.

The study concludes that 27% of business executives are on the move to integrate Social Business in 2012. Moreover, another 20% are wishing that the integration of Social Media projects will increase business efficiency. As there are no reliable or established measurement and metrics standards most companies are still waiting to invest big budgets. Still, as competition is high companies start integrating social into their business to be competitive in their market.

The results of the inSites study show that most companies (69%) will invest in Social Media marketing and launch campaigns in 2012 hoping to improve online conversations and their web efforts. For now 64% of businesses have at least one person responsible for Social Media activities and platforms. With a reason: One-third are sure that Social Media is changing their operations.

Spot On!
The challenge for companies will be to set up the right Social Business strategy as it involves the right understanding of community centers as an external strategy issue. And it needs an appropriate internal company culture with social policies, social training and social commitment and the people. Apart from that, 45% of the respondents said that they cannot find the people for their Social Media efforts. The best option is to start investing in the people you have to integrate social in your business. The Community Centric Strategy could be one starting point…

Tags:Budget, business strategy, Campaign, Community, Community Centric Strategy, Consulting, Efficiency, Marke, Marketing, Media, Productivity, Rating, Social Business, Social Media, Study

Big Tech Players New Year’s Resolution 2012

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:45:02 +0000

What are the plans of the big tech players for 2012? Nitrozac and Snaggy have some great thoughts and ideas, well at least they suggested that this could be their visions, or let’s say their resolutions, or what ever you want to call it. Maybe you want to add something…?

Tags:Manager, Vision

2012: Think Social Business, live Community Centric Strategy

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:00:39 +0000

2011 was a great year for Social Business!

Social Business got the right attention and awareness. And those companies which thought that “social trend” might go away, found themselves in business meetings, workshops, seminars, webinars with me, or conferences where people gave me the honor to be the moderator. After all, the feedback was such that I can definitely summarize the 2011 Social Business success with the opening statement.

What happened in terms of Social Business in 2011 and what is the outlook for web marketers in 2012…?

Well, first of all companies spend more time and resources understanding the challenge Social Media and Social Networking from a business perspective. We got the proof that European bosses don’t have to be persuaded to see the benefits of Twitter, that Social Media is a big internal topic, and that Social Business is critical to future business success.

ROI aspects are still key for Social Business performance. Nevertheless CMO’s were often lacking the right plan even for their Social Media efforts – and often CEO’s doubt their business credibility.

Job offerings spread around Europe, although sometimes clients asked me whether the offering is correct from a capabilities point of view. Often these openings were meant to be Social Business, in terms of a team-orientated or community-centric positions, but ended up being a “one-man-show-responsibility”: the Social Media Manager – although we all know about the importance of a multi-layer framework to set up a proper Social Media strategy.

From a client perspective companies were still very much in the broadcast or advertising mode. And the perception gap could easily be made out. Although communities were their targets, and many companies and brands tried their best to generate engagement around their business, many of them were still in an advertising scenario and mindset, instead of trying to think about change management in terms of culture and people.

Ultimately, companies have a massive opportunity in 2012 to change their perspective and become Social Business driven with the right teams…
- Teams that work with customer market intelligence.
- Teams that scale the business with social commitment.
- Teams that crave content for leadership and insights.
- Teams that understand business touchpoints in new context.
- Teams that leverage synergies between companies and brands with an appropriate plan.

And these teams don’t work internal or external. These teams group together cross-channel through Community Centric Strategy by understanding the 5C’s as the engines of Social Business: Competition – Commitment – Content – Context – Collaboration.

Finally, Google+ started listing brand pages in organic search results. One of my successful posts from November appears in the first page of the organic search results (see picture last entry).

Status updates will become a game changer in the social ecosystem and boost brand awareness. If companies and brand are blogging they should consider this in their SEM/SEO and keyword strategy when posting your topics on Google+. Marketers should consider this and watch out if this should not affect Facebook and Twitter marketing activities. Maybe it is time to invest more in content marketing…

Spot On!
All roads might lead to Rom – not many to lead to a Social Business. Companies that will work with the Community Centric Strategy in 2012 can close the perception gap between consumer and customers on their journey to companies. Social Business is about people and culture. The 5C’s of the Community Centric Strategy is a new way to Rom… but it will leave the “customer chariot” at home.

Tags:Ads, Brand, CEO, Change, CMO, Collaboration, Community, Community Centric Strategy, Content, Context, Facebook, Future, Google, Management, Manager, Marke, Marketing, Media, Search, SEM, SEO, Social Business, Social Media, Trend, Twitter

Study: Social Media Marketing Budgets 2012

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:42:53 +0000

A recent research by StrongMail states that companies will increase their spendings for Social Media in 2012. Only Email marketing beats the Social Media hype with a budget boost of 60%. And this still happens in times when some high tech offices abandon email from their office already.

However, 47% of the responding companies see the integration of Social Media into their Email Marketing programs as a necessary step into the future. They strive to strengthen the reach of their company web pages in Social Networks like Facebook or Twitter.

Still surprising for me though is that the biggest portion of their budgets will be going into Facebook Marketing with 39% of the respondents planning to spend more in the leading Social Network. Is Facebook still seen as the best ROI driver from a marketing point of view? Is no marketer thinking back and remembering to the old MySpace era these days…?

A good sign for me is that companies also start investing Social Media Management Tools (25%) and in Twitter (24%). Let’s hope they also start to understand the value of context, and don’t just invest in the broadcasting part of Social Media (app development, content production, etc.).

Spot On!
According to the study, the mobile marketing invest that marketers are planning goes predominatly still in developing and building apps for the relevant smartphones in the market (29%), followed by mobile advertising (22%) and still… SMS programs (20%).

Somehow scary is the fact that 24% don’t plan to invest in mobile and another 24% are not sure/don’t know if they want to invest in mobile. Don’t you think it is time to start seeing the mobile future?

Tags:Budget, Content, Context, Email, Facebook, Future, Management, Marke, Marketing, Media, Mobile, Mobile Ad, MySpace, Networks, Research, Search, Social Media, Social Networks, Study, Tools, Twitter

Study shows: Customers are social, Brands not…!

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:44:01 +0000

The IT company IBM were the first to make brands aware of the perception gap between what customers want from brands on Social Media, and what companies see as necessary. Some new studies from the Chief Marketing Officer Council and Lithium make clear that this perception gap widens.

What customers want…
The CMO Council asked 1,300 customers from around the world in a multiple-choice study. They discovered that 67% followed or liked brands to receive discounts and special offers. 65% replied that they connected with brands in order to get access to games or competitions while 60% want to connect with other customers.

What brands see…
The astonishing fact is that when the same survey was held with 120 CMOs (chief marketing officer), the results showed similar figures with the IBM study: Only 33% of the CMOs believed that their Social Media fans and followers were engaging with the brand for some kind of incentive or reward. Even more, just 27% understood that their customers were after exclusivity in terms of experience and savings.

Spot On!
Social Media is not a top three priority for one in ten CMOs. The reason is not changing for years probably. 67% said a lack of time and resources makes up for their poor efforts. This is even more amazing when we consider that 72% of the customers use Social Media to connect with brands. AND: 80% are more likely to try a product based on a friend’s recommendation on Social Media, which probably means a Social Network. There is no explanation that could make sense for this Social Media ROI (=Risk of Ignorance).

PS: This little infographic illustrates the digital divide between customers and brands.

Tags:Brand, CMO, Discounts, Infographic, Marke, Marketing, Media, Recommendation, Social Media, Studie, Study, Survey

The near future of Augmented Reality (AR) and QR codes

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:49:48 +0000

Augmented reality (AR) has a glorious future according to a new market research published by MarketsandMarkets. It will be interesting to see which role QR codes play in that future as more and more technologies arise.

The new market research report “Global Augmented Reality (AR) Market Forecast by Product (HMD, HUD, Tablet PC, Smartphone) for Gaming, Automotive, Medical, Advertisement, Defense, E-Learning & GPS Applications (2011-2016)” states that the total Augmented Reality applications market will be growing by over 95% from 2011 to 2016. The research sees it reaching a market volume of $5151,74 million.

According to Comscore research almost 10% of all smartphone users have scanned QR codes in June this year. The interesting fact is that most users scan their QR codes from home (57,4%). In public only 20% use those QR scan options from outdoor advertising or in public transport.

Although screen technology (smartphone, tablet and eye-wear) is still in its infancy concerning AR, and also facing some challenges, the Universities of Washington and the MIT see a better future on the experience horizont. Especially, the head up and head mounted displays have become mature, finds the study. Leading and growing in use are online apps, gaming apps and GPS apps. So far, campaigns like the following by MIRAT Paris work on the basis of QR coding…

But what kind of Augmented Reality technologies are rocking the transformation from the physical to the virtual world, or shall we say to the mobile world?

Some months ago, we only had browser technology like Layar and Wikitude. Today, companies like Tesco are experimenting with other capabilities in their retail shops. For a long time, we had to use QR codes or trigger points to initiate some activity with AR technology.

Layar’s latest innovation called “Vision” is another reason why QR codes are becoming uncool. Vision is a tool that lets advertisers and content owners integrate Augmented Reality ads in publications. As an example you may watch the Dutch magazine Linda how the technology works…

Some other technology innovations are also evolving that might catalyze the technology shift in the AR sphere. Here are three of them…

Aurasma
The Aurasma technology -unlike the GPS based technologies Layar (until the Vision version) and Wikitude that merely recognizes what someone has tagged as locations or places- is a new generation augmented reality browser. Aurasma recognises images through cameras in a way search engines recognise words. The browser then creates so-called 2D or 3D „Auras“ which show animated audio-video content. Just watch some examples of Aurasma campaigns.

blippAR
With blippAR the whole advertisment becomes the response tool. It is enough to simply point in the direction of the ad with the app. Still, the awareness challenge needs to be solved. And, the need for a specific browser to use the technology. See some examples of blippAR usage. At the moment you can even participate in the interactive blippAR campaign “escape the map” by Mercedes Benz.

Printechnologics
Printechnologics is based on Touchcode carrier technology. It contains a blind or transparent code which is embedded via invisible data storage development inside print products like carton, foil or simply paper. Printechnologics turns the AR identification around as you lay the paper on top of the tablet or smartphone, and not the other way round. And you don’t even need to modify your device, download a browser, use NFC (near field communication), or a camera for it to identify and initiate the online activity form the offline trigger. The last issue from the ICONIST carried a Printechnologics card and here you can see how it connect the two worlds….

Spot On!
In some months, the QR codes might be gone as an AR trigger, and thus leave the advertising world. However, all AR technologies have one weakness: You need to know that these technologies are embedded in any forms of campaigns. You need some trigger point, button, picture, image or QR code that people see. Thus, the main challenge for QR codes and Augmented Reality is to build awareness and understanding what it can do. Nobody is using a browser or a camera if there is no “visual” reason for virtual interactivity. I see TV using any of the forms as an extension for their TV shows in order to promote their digital content and advertising opportunities, just like the print industry did in the past. One thing is for sure: Augmented Reality will definitely become a new playground that connects the TV and online markets in the future…

What’s your view on Augmented Reality and QR codes? Let us know…

Tags:Ads, Augmented Reality, Campaign, Change, Communication, Comscore, Content, Future, Marke, Mobile, Print, Research, Search, SEM, Study, User, Video, Vision

Study: Mobile and TV – Users beloved combination…

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:58:27 +0000

Some weeks ago, I have written about ConnectedTV as the new hype. And we have acknowledged that mobile apps and TV have got TV primt time as the main usage time. Still, we don’t really know how much people use mobile and TV at the same time. A new study sheds some light here…

According to a new survey issued by Yahoo and Razorfish, 80% of web-enabled mobile device owners say they multitask while watching television. They rely on smartphones and tablets to communicate with friends and family. They look up content which is related to the program they’re watching. They might also access information which has no relationship with the TV program.

And the combined usage of mobile and TV is not low. The study shows that 70% of mobile multitaskers use both platforms at least once per week. 49% even report multitasking daily. Over 60% use their mobiles at least once or twice during a TV program. And 15% don’t leave the mobile web for the time of the show they are „watching“.

The main categories for multitaskers are: reality, news, comedy sports, and food. The statement “Using the Internet on my mobile or tablet device while watching TV enhances my viewing experience” was agreed by 38% of the respondents. Nevertheless, another 38% „find using mobile devices while watching TV to be distracting”. Text content leads all channels, beating talking, email, social networking and IM.

“This seems to be an opportunity for content producers and advertisers alike. Some people find multitasking to be a boon, and we have only begun to scratch the surface in terms of providing an engaging dual-screen experience. It’s like the early days of smartphones where it was remarkable that people were making purchases from sites that were not mobile-optimized. If folks were willing to go through that much effort, it stands to reason that making the experience easier and more streamlined will lead to even more passionate participants.” Jeremy Lockhorn, Vice President Emerging Media, Razorfish

Some more findings from the study…
• 94% of multitaskers engage in some kind of mobile communication
• 58% of men “fact-check” information on their mobile browser while attending a live sporting event, with 47% checking out scores of other games and player updates.
• 52% use their mobile device to escape awkward social situations
• 44% seek information unrelated to the current program – 38% searching for data related to it
• Apple’s iPhone 4S leads all mobile phone searches according to Yahoo Shopping data, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S2, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the Motorola Razr and the Nokia N9

Spot On!
Men seem to be more comfortable with mobile shopping processes. A former Performics study suggests that men are social shoppers and women the “Likers”. This study also finds that 70% of men under the age of 35 have made online purchases on their smartphones, compared to 64% of women in the same age demographic. And obviously the extention of TV to mobile starts to work: 36% say they go looking for more information related to a commercial they just viewed. Marketers need to start thinking multiscreen when planning their campaigns and ideally sync their mobile and TV campaigns immediately…

Tags:Ads, Apple, Campaign, Communication, Content, Email, Food, Iphone, Marke, Media, Mobile, Mobile Communication, Mobile Shopping, Multitaskers, Relationship, Search, Study, Survey, User, Vision, WOM, Yahoo

Study: Men are social shoppers – Women the “Likers”?!

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 16:24:46 +0000

Jeanne Müller / pixelio.de

Sometimes studies find truths that don’t really match the expectations, or should we say the gender specific shopping prejudices? A recent report ROI Research illustrates some surprising facts which might eliminate these shopping behavior prejudices – at least from a social customer point if view.

The study we are talking about was conducted by Performics and analyzed the feedback of 1.000 social network users that use the Social Web “at least occasionally in the purchase process”. The results state that men are more likely to use social shopping and research sites before making a purchase.

According to the study men frequently research product information, compare products, read reviews, research availability and get store information via social networks, shopping and deal sites. Women are far more likely to search for deals, coupons and special promotions on social sites.

“Women are reported to control about 80% of household spending, so it may be surprising for some to see men play a more dominant role in the social shopping and research process. But given recent reports of ‘digital dads’ and increases in shared shopping activities across genders, this new data is intriguing.” Dana Todd, SVP, Marketing and Business Development, Performics

Some more key findings from the Performics’ 2011 Social Shopping study…
- 63% of men use shopping sites vs. 52% of women.
- 62% of men compare products on shopping sites vs. 50% of women;
- 57% of men research products on deal sites vs. 40% of women.
- 54% of men use social networks to research products vs. 43% of women.
- 56% of men compare products on deal sites vs. 41% of women;
- Men are more likely to use their mobile device in-store to compare prices – 62% vs. 50%.
- Men are more likely to visit a company or brand’s social network page – 71% vs. 64%.

Spot On!
Although men are heavy social shoppers, women are bigger “Likers” and use Social Media and Mobile platforms and technologies differently. After visiting a page, women are more likely to press the admiration button (78% vs. 72%). Another research by Shoppercentric shows that online retail sites better support male’s needs. They also found that men tend to spend more money online than women (£391 vs. £131) – but only if they have a need to buy something. Some Jacobs Media study also reveals men are the new decision makers in the categories of car maintenance (82%), clothing (80%), sporting events (67%), electronics/media and DIY (64%) and investments (63%).

Now, I am interested to see what men and women are thinking about these findings. Wouldn’t it be cool if ebay or asos are doing such a research? Give us your thoughts please…

Tags:Ads, Brand, Coupons, CTR, Marke, Marketing, Media, Mobile, Networks, Research, Review, Search, Share, Social Media, Social Networks, Studie, Study, User, WOM

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