TRACTA :: 4eyes

It’s Friday the 13th.

That might be scary, but this assortment of news from around the web sure isn’t.

(Unless you’re centophobic.)

Facebook News

A new application for Facebook on mobile allows users to make free phone calls from smartphones to other smartphone users. Try it out here.

You can now access your Facebook pages, friends and conversations, through different software.  The Wowd software client (available here) includes real-time search and a “social dashboard”.

And if you’re worried that some of the stuff you (or others) have put on Facebook might come back to haunt you in the future, it might be time for you to hire an online reputation manager!

Google News

It’s an ongoing battle between Facebook and Google to become masters of the online universe.

Google has recently purchased or invested in two of the most popular apps developers for Facebook: Zynga and Slide.  This gives Google a very strong foothold with Facebook users and their data.  Where to from here?

You don’t hear much bad news from Google, but the much-hyped Google Wave is to be shut down.  The service that was supposed to allow freer sharing of content between users just hasn’t got to the critical mass of users that Google was hoping for.  Or is there something else in the pipeline that’s going to replace it really soon?

That’s not to say Google are sitting still though (as apparent from their multi-million dollar investments).  They have also just released an updated interface for GMail, showing that email is still a core activity for them.  It won’t be long until GMail includes all social media activity too, I reckon.

Twitter News

In previous posts I have highlighted how Facebook has set up policies for dealing with its users who have died, either removing their profiles or keeping them (minus some personal details) as memorial pages.  Twitter are catching up, and now doing the same.  Or if you’re willing to keep on your online reputation manager after your passing, he/she can take care of it for you!

Police News

This may seem an unusual category to include in Four Eyes, but these stories are all about technology and communications in policing…

Boston Police catch flasher via Twitter

NZ Police radio encryption is working

NZ Police using radio programmes to educate Samoan parents about the dangers of youth gangs

A couple of cool websites

To stimulate your creative juices…

The V Isokinetic website.  Very interactive.  Very cool.

A new shoe website.  Again, very interactive.  Quite sexy.  And the shoe has fingers for your toes!

Cheers,

Another week gone.  Two weeks, in fact, since the last Four Eyes post.

So there’s a bit to catch up on…

And what do you know?  Google just continues to grow!  They are now looking to infiltrate two of the biggest media industries we have: television and music.  Google TV is set to roll out on Sony televisions and with set-top boxes.  In short, it’s going to be an interface that allows your TV to connect to the internet, and gives access to all the functionality that represents.  It will be interesting to see whether Google TV will only present Google-owned sites (such as YouTube and Picasa), or give them prominence in search functions. Watch the video at the bottom of the page linked to above for a super-easy explanation.

Google is also setting up to take on the monolith that is Apple, as they prepare to launch a music download service in competition to iTunes.  Google isn’t confirming anything at this stage, but the news broke via the Wall Street Journal, a publication that does tend to check its facts before printing!

In Social Media news, the news is… there is no news.  Or at least that’s what marketers seem to think, as nearly half of corporates using social media are doing so with no strategy behind it.

Other corporates, who you would think do have a strategy, are seeing the benefit of just getting friendly with social media “influencers”.  Virgin Airlines are inviting selected social media influencers to fly for free, in the hope (we’d guess) that the influencers will write something good about VA.  Poignantly though, VA make the point that they don’t expect anything from the influencers.  Whether they say anything or not is up to them.

What are we going to call this new breed of social media influencers?  How about Hypersuaders??  Any other suggestions are welcome!

For some good examples of how social media can be integrated into above-the-line campaigns, check out my What’s Hot posts.

According to Wikipedia, Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.  With the mass connectivity of the internet, crowdsourcing is influencing everything from journalism to fashion.

You may have heard that Stuff.co.nz has recently experimented with crowdsourcing, asking its readers to go through thousands of MPs’ receipts, looking for “anything we can turn into a story”.  But did you know that YouTube has recently launched CitizenTube, a facility for anyone to load newsworthy videos, thus cutting out the need for news networks entirely.  As this article explains, the site is more than just a repository for videos, but is sorted and presented so that breaking news comes first, and only decent quality footage will be selected.

In other YouTube news, you’ll soon be able to edit your videos online with their new “cloud-based” video editor.  You can try it out here, or read about it here.

Thanks for reading!  I hope you learned something.

Cheers,

Another review of the weird, wonderful and wish-we’d-done-that campaigns happening around the world…

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 (NZ campaign)

The email I received from Smile City

The site it took me to, which encouraged me to download and install IE8, with a special window which would then present clues to “find Kevin”

The Facebook page which has a full profile for Kevin, to generate affinity with the 18-34 year old crowd

The result?  839 friends on Facebook actively following the campaign.  That’s really not many – perhaps the barrier to entry (using Internet Explorer) is too high?

Outdoor integration and a bit of digital…

Are these outdoor campaigns?  Ambient?  Creative?  Digital?  Interactive?  Integrated?  Or just clever stunts?

Sony branded jeans. 

Singapore Navy’s Where’s Wally?

Durex iPhone app (taking both brand engagement and friend-to-friend viral infection to a new level).

Danish energy company’s breakthrough power-saving tool (you can do it too)

For the football fans

I thought the digitally animated replays on news sites (NZ goal vs Slovakia here), but this is just awesome (except perhaps for England fans).

Enjoy the rest of the World Cup!

Cheers,

Social media. Heard of it?  Use it personally?  Professionally???

While recommendations from Social Media sites are still not as well regarded as true word-of-mouth from friends or family, social media channels are an important means of connecting with current and potential customers.  The common rule of “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket” still applies, so social media should not be seen as THE solution to all marketing problems, but should definitely be part of the mix.  And not just for da yoof, as Facebook is experiencing biggest growth amongst the 50+ age group. 

Pepsi are taking this on board, as they commit more to social media conversation and interaction with their customers, rather than just shouting messages.  They have even gone so far as not placing an ad in the Superbowl this year (the first time in 25 years), reasoning they get better return on investment from alternative media.

Here are some tips on effective use of video marketing for small-medium businesses.  Of course it includes social media distribution!  I hope we all know this already, but it doesn’t hurt to reinforce the basics!

So how will you access your favourite social media sites in 2011?  Desktop, laptop, netbook, smartphone, game console, television?  What about a games console/smartphone in one?  There are whispers that Sony is planning to launch a Playstation smartphone sometime in 2010.  Where will it end?  And when can I get my hologram-video-phone-watch like they have in the movies?!

In more local news, TVNZ have made a couple of announcements recently.  Reservoir Hill - TVNZ’s first online-only, interactive programme for teens – has been nominated for a Digital Emmy.  That’s the real deal, so they can be very proud of themselves.  It’s not often NZ-produced TV gets awarded anything!

TVNZ today also announced they will be launching a new channel on Sky.  It will be available as part of the Sky start-up package, and will be called TVNZ Heartland.  Content will be entirely NZ-made, sourced from TVNZ Archives.

My picks for programming: A Dog’s Show, Country Calendar, maybe University Challenge and Krypton Factor?  It will be a challenge to present “old” content that is relevant and not just reminiscing, but they say they are aiming for a 40-64 year old demographic, so perhaps reminiscing is the way to go.  The channel will carry advertising: TVNZ say they are in the process of approaching selected advertisers for exclusive agreements with the channel.  Read TVNZ’s report and see an interview with John Fellet (Sky TV) and Rick Ellis (TVNZ) here.

Ads of the week

Two more outdoor executions that utilise the environment to carry the message.

Painting the town red… and blue and pink and yellow and green…

Clever, but I don’t know about walking through in a white shirt…

Cheerio!

OK this might be a bit late, but better late than never, eh?!  To those of you that have been hanging out since Friday, eagerly awaiting your weekly fix of Internet Information, I sincerely apologise.  Apologies, though, are a little harder to come by in the world of advertising and social media.  Over the last couple of weeks I’ve heard about a few instances where an apology could be in order…

Not content with just posting a comment on Twitter, a “jilted mistress” paid what must have been tens of thousands of dollars to place huge billboards across the US telling everyone about their affair.  Probably not the sort of publicity the guy is after, since he’s co-president of Oracle and is on Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board!

And in “watch what you say online – you never know who is watching” news:

A comment on a Yahoo community message board was picked up by mainstream media, and turned into a scandal! The community had a bit to say about it too…

And see how this social media fail got picked up by Stoppress marketing website, generating a whole new lot of comments for Waiwera Water.  Not many of them positive!  Learning: honesty in social media is fine, arrogance is not. Nice to see that Waiwera did say sorry in the end though!

It all goes to show that there is no such thing as privacy on the mighty interweb.  The amount of information being shared, often without users’ explicit consent, is causing governments to look at whether privacy laws are being violated, potentially opening up a whole new can of worms for social media operators.  However in Australia, the reverse is happening.  The government is preparing to control what their population can access online.  How will this impact on user privacy?  And freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of belief?

According to a SMH Online Poll, Australian internet users aren’t keen:

Internet censorship : What do you think of Senator Conroy’s plan to filter the internet?

Yes, I think it’s a good idea – 2%
No, it impinges on my freedom – 96%
Not sure, it sounds good in theory – 2%
I don’ t understand it – 1%

So that was a pretty serious Four Eyes!  Tune in later this week (should be back on track for Friday!) for more of your favourite news, gossip and speculation.  Coming up in the next issue… the iPad.  Hot or not?  And what about the name?!?

Catch ya then!

WELCOME to the first Four Eyes for 2010.

It’s a pleasure to still be here and a pleasure to continue to bring you, my loyal readers, more of the ins and outs of the media and online world.

It’s gonna be a big year, so let’s crack straight into it!

Since it’s the holiday season, let’s take a look at what’s happening in the Tourism Industry… It is clear that just running ads isn’t enough to truly engage with today’s highly involved and highly connected holidaymakers.  Word of mouth has always been a powerful tool for promoting holiday destinations (how many best kept secrets can one country have?!) but with Social Media, word of mouth recommendations can come from complete strangers.

As Jasons Travel Media recently found out, 91% of holidaymakers research their destination online, and 65% read online reviews of accommodation and activities.  So how will our regions spend the money the Government has allocated to regional tourism marketing?  A one-week, broad-reach, everything-to-everyone ad campaign, or an ongoing campaign of engagement and interaction with qualified prospects?

Here are a couple of examples of NZ towns taking promotions to the next level… you have probably seen the Tourism Paeroa campaign (so tongue in cheek I’m surprised they can talk at all), but have you heard about the promotion coming out of Cambridge, raising the profile of the Waipa district and raising funds for a new community centre?  Giving away a million dollar house is always effective!

For those of you who haven’t been able to have a holiday, remember you can visit almost anywhere in the world – virtually – with Google Earth, Maps and StreetView.  Some people have too much time on their hands, and have found the unfindable… Top Gear’s “The Stig” (seen in a BBC building) and yes… Wally!  That’s where he was!

Finally, this “technical problem” shows that even in the age of Web 3.0, broadband cellphones and live streaming HDTV, things can still go wrong.  Can anyone tell me what that thing is, that Mr Bowden is frantically pressing buttons on?

Iain’s Interesting Internet Information wishes you a nice weekend!

WHAT?!?!? December??? Can you believe it?! You couldn’t tell from the weather, but hopefully these bytes of interesting internet information will sunny up your day!

News

NZHerald has made a few changes to their website lately, with a new article layout and a new shopping section that is very similar to Telecom’s failed Ferrit.  See the shopping section here, and read comments from StopPress here.

America’s Next Top Model is coming to New Zealand!  If you see any of the contestants, please give them a sandwich!

SKY TV are going back online, with plans to Live Stream of Winter Olympics planned.  They’re going to test this with a live stream of the 3rd Cricket Test NZ v Pakistan, which happens to be at McLean Park from next Friday.  So you won’t need to skive off work to watch – you’ll be able to do it from the comfort of your desk!

Despite the advertising downturn experienced recently, online advertising in NZ continues to grow, with a 16% increase in online ad spend for Q3 2009 over 2008.  Good news for online publishers, and good news for agencies with digital abilities!

We can also now promote YouTube content with text&image promo links, much like Google Adwords.  YouTube is the biggest repository of online video IN THE WORLD.

Warnings

If you’re on leave for “Health” reasons, don’t post party pictures of yourself on Facebook!

Don’t go keying any cars if it looks like there might be cameras around.  This is the man behind the newspaper that recently put together a 12-page advertiser-funded supplement for Farmlands’ new store opening in Cambridge.  They did a good job of that.   (I had to say that in case my car gets keyed too!)

Don’t go crashing your car at 2:30am if you’re the most famous golfer IN THE WORLD.  Someone will make a movie about it!  Subtitled in Taiwanese but I’m pretty sure you’ll understand!  What she said happened vs what we think happened.

Cool stuff

How much does it cost to buy all of the presents listed in The 12 Days of Christmas?

What have been the most searched terms on Google this year?  In NZ?

Winter Olympics 2010 social media effort: challenge the athletes.

Microsoft Bing’s social media effort.  It’s an application on Facebook so they get to collect all sorts of data from everyone who participates.  Good thinking Microsoft.

Happy sunny weekend!

Since it is Friday the 13th and we’re all petrified of black cats walking under our ladders and stepping on the cracks with their umbrellas up, I thought I’d keep this issue of 4Eyes fairly light.

But of course you can’t escape the Google Monster!  This week they’re in the news because they have completed StreetView mapping of all 50 US states, and are now ready to go off-road.  And in case Twitter, Facebook, Yammer et al aren’t enough to keep up to date with your friends, Google can now help find them in real life.  Also in the news is the newest iPhone feature “Monocle” which allows users to point their camera at a location and see real-time data about it, like restaurant reviews, movie times, sale items… the potential here is great!  No real Facebook news this week, but in a vote of confidence in the social network, major games producer Electronic Arts has bought Playfish for $400million.  Playfish make some of those annoyingly addictive Facebook games, but is not even the biggest player in that market.

Smart Wired

Kiwibank has launched its own social media site to connect young people in NZ (and connect them with Kiwibank by offering cool and relevant prizes a-plenty).

TVNZ are happy with their first foray into interactive web telly Reservoir Hill.

I enjoyed this site where you can mock up your own moustache (and see yourself morph really strangely), brought to you by Schick and GetFrank for Movember.

Weird Wired

Hastings new slogan/logo.  Contentious?  Check out the comments below the main article!

Tweeter lands book deal, sitcom.  Goes to show if you can create the content, someone else will market it for you!  Having looked at the twitter stream Shit My Dad Says (caution: explicit language) it could be funny…

The new Wii made especially for women (again, some content may offend…)

And with that, I leave you to your weekend.  Have a good one!

This week Four Eyes presents the usual wrap up of advertising and online news from around the traps, along with my favourite ad of the week (if not the year!).

It’s still all about Twitter!  Somewhat unsurprisingly, a recent study has found that Twitter is used more often on mobile devices than any other social network.  Given that when Twitter launched a big part of its appeal was its mobility, it’s really a no brainer!  It is also becoming increasingly evident that Twitter is giving fans of TV programmes, movies, music, etc a means to share their passion.  Perhaps a new measurement of engagement with TV programmes could be the amount of Twitter traffic, as shown in this article about Tweets following Hey Hey Its Saturday.  And this article says how negative Twitter comments substantially affected Bruno’s ticket sales.  The democratisation of marketing is upon us.  Advertising won’t make a difference if people don’t like the product!  Don’t try to go behind the backs of your customers (as Nestle have learned) but if people are saying good things about you – promote that!  NZ Tourism should be using these comments to market to Australians…

Cool ads.  Google consistently raises the bar with their logo (or Google Doodles) that change out to represent special days.  The one on the left was for the anniversary of the invention of the barcode.  If you scan it, it actually reads “Google”.  Clever eh?

In other entertaining and innovative ad campaigns, Coke Zero has launched a technologically innovative programme to “find your double” through Facebook, Orcon internet has a multimedia campaign offering the chance to help Iggy Pop record a single and TSB used a prime ad space to respond to Westpac’s issues with the IRD.

But my favourite ad of the week, month and maybe the year is an anti-ad for Kettle Chips from Australia.

Finally, whoever can tell me why so many men are searching for “snow caves” on TradeMe will win a chocolate fish!

Enjoy your weekend!

Welcome back to what I hope will be more regular contributions to Four Eyes.  That’s Iain’s Interesting Internet Information.  Hope it’s interesting for you!

Online stats – advertising and social media

Latest research from UK – online adspend more than TV @ 23.5% of total ad spend!!

Twitter tweets are 40% pointless babble (no surprise), 37% conversational and about 9% useful (according to US research)

Facebook NZ traffic and stats.  Did you know Facebook gets more NZ traffic than TradeMe?  Or that you can target advertising by gender, age, location, interests, relationship status, what they’re fans of… and more?!?

New Sites and Stuff

YahooXtra to launch new online shopping portal, incorporated into its site.  Partnering with Hubsta, can they do better than Telecom’s Ferret?

Described as “NZ’s first internet TV network”, Zild.co.nz features 7 local and 14 international TV channels available streaming and on demand

Did you know that NZ On Air is also making its catalogue available online?  At NZOnScreen.co.nz, the most popular request is “A Haunting We Will Go” from 1980

This is cool:  Coca Cola’s new vending machines that can dispense up to 100 different drink flavours.  And they’re doing cool things with it, like telling people through their mobile phones where the nearest one is.

This (free) startup website aggregates comments and activity about a brand, making everything about it really really “Public”.

Fails

Heard about the new Vegemite, iSnack 2.0?  They ran a competition and picked this name, and the initial reaction was not good (to say the least).  This article reviews all of the negative comment happening.

Well, that made Vegemite take notice (or was it a stunt all along?!?).  Another competition, for a new new name, to launch soon!

And here’s another example of misuse of Facebook.  Have you ever had to tell someone “You’re NOT my mother”?

Have a lovely weekend everyone!