You are here: Home / Archives for Mobile

Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 5-5-13

May 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Branding and Digital Marketing

Here are this week’s ‘Sunday Musings’ – the top five stories in branding and digital marketing.  You can find the archives of this weekly write-up under the Blog-Sunday Musings tab at the top of the page.

#1 – “Facebook Earnings Results Show Progress On Mobile” – ReadWrite.com

Premise: Facebook reported their financials from Q1’13 earlier this week and results were largely viewed as positive among investors.  Mobile advertising numbers grew significantly (23%) from Q4’12 o Q1’13.  Facebook also made several strong statements during the earning’s call regarding the advertising benefits of the site, driving traffic to app markets for downloads.  They also showed the overall growth of their mobile platform, a significant focus for the company now and moving forward.

Thoughts: The continued shift in focus towards mobile looks to be righting the ship that is Facebook and its stock performance.  It was also interesting to see the upward trend in the mobile numbers (usage, spend, etc.) from the call.  While brand new for the site, the article hints at weakness on several of the recent launches – Facebook Home and Graph Search – areas that will be of interest in future earnings’ reports through the remainder of 2013.

(In case you didn’t see it, here are our tips and recommendations for using Facebook for your brand or business, released earlier this week.)

#2 – “15 Stats Retailers Should Know About Pinterest” – DigiDay.com  

Premise: This article from DigiDay is a concise summary of why businesses need to strongly consider Pinterest as part of their digital marketing plan.  The articles provides facts and figures from various sources across the web, including the overall size of the site now (~25 million users) and the amount of money Pinterest shoppers are spending online at checkout relative to Facebook and Twitter shoppers.

Thoughts: There are a lot of eye opening numbers available here.  The spend levels mentioned above relative to the most popular social media sites certainly warrants a retailer’s attention.  Two other numbers that really caught my attention were the connection that Pinterest has with moms (a highly influential group) and the level of trust the site has built with its users.  

#3 – “Lowe’s Embraces Six-Second Vine Videos for Spring Campaign” – AdAge.com

Premise: Lowe’s home improvement stores have found a way to leverage Vine to provide customers with six second “how to” tip videos.  The store and its agency have put together twelve clips for various tips on home improvements including how to work with a stripped screw and using shower rings and a hangar to organize scarves.

Thoughts: This is another great example of a company using Vine to market to its consumers.  While marketers tinker with the platform, these companies that get ahead of the curve and in front of (potential) consumers before their competitors, are simply providing a strong point of difference for themselves in the online / digital marketing space.  To see more of Lowe’s videos, you can scroll through their Twitter feed (if Vine itself isn’t available to you).

#4 – “Dos Equis Resolves A “Cinco De Lemma” With Integrated Dos De Mayo Campaign” – ConvinceandConvert.com  

Premise: With today’s Cinco de Mayo holiday falling on a Sunday, Dos Equis decided to extend the holiday this past week with a holistic marketing program based on starting the celebrations on Dos de Mayo and having it run through the weekend.  Dos Equis used their SM sites, created a unique landing page for the marketing push, and included it in TV spots.

Thoughts: Dos Equis did a nice job of pulling several contact points together and focused their message on one area and on a major holiday, most specifically for the brand.  You will likely see the infographic created by Dos Equis again later this month, as I really like how they have branded this campaign and put a lot of effort around it.  For those interested, the microsite has a bar locator on where you can find a bar/pub in your area that sells Dos Equis.

#5 – “Zynga.org and New Schools Venture Fund take on ed-tech with launch of their learning games accelerator” – TheNextWeb.com

Premise: Zynga’s non-profit organization has provided funding for the formation of a learning games accelerator to help create social games that will have a positive impact on learning and learning experiences for users.  There are several groups that are already lined up to help produce the first round of games.

Thoughts: When playing several Zynga games in the past, I have seen a number of little campaigns for good causes or relief efforts.  You will also see this on the Zynga.com home page.  It is good to see a company that has this type/size of voice have a non-profit ‘on the side’ that promotes this type of positive message.  I wish we saw more of this.

Several other tech companies reported this week such as Yelp.  Were any of those of particular interest for you?  Was there anything else in branding or digital marketing that caught your eye this week?

Filed Under: Sunday Musings Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 4-7-13

April 6, 2013 By 1 Comment

Sunday Musings 1

Here are this week’s ‘Sunday Musings’ – the top five stories in branding and digital marketing from the past seven six days.  As always, you can find the archives of this weekly write-up under the Blog-Sunday Musings tab at the top of the page.

Please note that there will not be a Musings next Sunday, 4/14.  We’ll be returning to our regularly scheduled write-up the following weekend, 4/21.

#1 – “Facebook Home – Facebook take control over Android Phones” – HotInSocialMedia.com

Premise: On Thursday, Facebook announced its latest plans for mobile – Facebook Home.  This is not being billed as Facebook’s own mobile phone or operating system, but the means in which to create a more social device.  The first device that will have the Home feature will be from HTC on AT&T.

Thoughts: This seems like a good idea for Android and its open platform, bringing in the Facebook diehards onto their OS.  It seems a little counterintuitive to the direction Facebook has been heading with their partnerships with Microsoft and Bing.  Perhaps that is the intent however, to re-balance their positioning across the tech behemoths.  To be perfectly honest, I have no interest in a Facebook Home driven phone, but I can see the value in it for both companies.

#2 – “The Marketing Value of YouTube” – SEOMOZ.org 

Premise: Should you or your business have a YouTube page?  The article provides a lot of information on whether or not setting up a YouTube page is right for you and the rationale behind the decision.  Beyond building awareness for your brand, there are advantages to be found by using YouTube for your business, including its integration with other social networks.  The write-up then goes into the various types of content that can be put on your site, recommendations on whether or not you should have a page, how to measure success of the page itself, and FAQ’s.

Thoughts: There is a tremendous amount of information available in this write-up for consideration.  If your business is weighing whether or not you should start a YouTube page, I would consider this a very good starting point for that discussion.  The analytics piece towards the end will also help you better understand what is working and what might not be … while not relying on “view counts”.     

#3 – “April Fools’ Day: Brands Show Off Their Funny Side on Social Media” – BrandChannel.com

Premise: The week started off on April Fools’ Day and brands were quick to pounce on social media with a number of great gags for their brands and products.  BrandChannel.com has taken a stab at collecting some of the best from the web here in this write-up.

Thoughts: My favorite April Fools’ Day product came from Scope and its Bacon-flavored mouthwash.  I even fell for this for a second until I was reminded what day it was.  Their ad was well put together and the overall idea/concept isn’t too far from reality.  Also, how many different pranks does Google need to create?

#4 – “What digital marketing will look like in 5 years” – iMediaConnection.com 

Premise: In an exclusive interview, Intel’s Brian David Johnson answers questions on the future of digital marketing, technology, and role of TV’s, magazines, etc. through a Google+ Hangout.  You’ll see five separate videos here, each related to a particular topic and lasting between 1-2 minutes.

Thoughts: Good thoughts and answers here from Intel’s Futurist.  My favorite answer out of the five videos posted is under the “Will TV and magazines die?” headline.  Many are quick to say that X and Y are dead/done, and that isn’t necessarily the case, they are just evolving into something a little different.

#5 – “Why You Might Want to Be More Negative in Your Marketing” – blog.hubspot.com

Premise: The author provides 8 different areas in which one might choose to leverage a negative thought, expression, etc. in their marketing efforts.  The article goes through these various options and how/why consumers are engaged by this type of marketing.  Note that towards the end of the article, they are clear that a shift or push into negative marketing can backfire.

Thoughts: I wouldn’t have even classified several of these negative marketing efforts, but they all could create buzz or have you fall flat.  You’ve certainly seen negative titles and headlines, it is what drives you to click around on the Internet so often.  I’m not a fan of #6 on this list – ‘Stir up some controversy’.  This irks me the wrong way, particularly when it seems so unbelievable and that someone or some company is just putting it out there to drive reaction from others.  My favorite on the list: #8 – ‘Make fun of yourself’.  Self-deprecating humor is humor at its best.

Have you tried to go negative in any of your marketing?  If so, did it work?  Should I preface this article with “Do not click on this link, you will never be the same” when sharing on social networks?

What else may have caught your eye in branding and digital marketing news this week?

Again, just a reminder, there will not be a ‘Sunday Musings’ next week, 4/14.  We will return the following week with more thoughts and stories in branding and digital marketing on 4/21.

Filed Under: Sunday Musings Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 2/24/13

February 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Sunday Musings 1

Here are this week’s links and stories that caught my attention in digital marketing and branding across the Internet this week.

#1 – “Mobile World Congress – 2013 Preview” – MobileWorldCongress.com 

Premise: Starting today and continuing through 2/28, the Mobile World Congress conference is taking place in Barcelona, Spain.  As mobile continues to evolve and become more prevalent, the conference takes you through all of the new and forthcoming innovations in the mobile world/community.

Thoughts: While far too late to start looking into travel to Barcelona, there is content provided on the web from this conference that is worth looking at it if you are integrating mobile into your brand/business strategy.  Note that they do have live look-ins at conference materials within a few links on the site.  You can also read through the highlights of previous conferences.

#2 – “Google+ Communities and Why They’re Important To You” – SocialMediaRevolver.com

Premise: While detractors are quick to dismiss Google+, you/they may want to reconsider your/their plans to be on the platform to help build your social media presence.  The Communities pages on G+ are a valuable resource for businesses.  Andrew Scherer, the author of this articles, provides two major factors for consideration for why you should use G+ – Integration and Power.  A unique selling point (USP) for G+ remains the Hangout feature as well.

Thoughts: I have found G+ Communities to be a wealth of knowledge and opinions on a number of topics – social media strategy, branding, SEO, and Google Analytics.  I also find Communities to be much more engaging than LinkedIn’s pages.  (Note, I have never used Facebook Groups to discuss these topics.)  I completely agree with Andrew’s points that he makes in this article and would recommend to anyone to at least take a few days to search and read through Communities that have common interests to your specialty or field.

#3 – “Why Price Will Always Trump Brand and Why It Shouldn’t Matter To Marketers” – Forbes.com

Premise: The author of this article, Steve Olenski makes an interesting argument that says pricing has become more important than branding.  The article includes several data points that suggest fans of brands are typically looking for deals, rewards, promotions, etc.

Thoughts: I’ve cut this premise short because I don’t want to speak further for the article itself.  I found the article to be a walking contradiction and I’m interested to hear what others may think.  I do not believe that price always trumps branding, which is what the title of the article would lead one to think.  However, there are multiple contradictions throughout the article to say otherwise.  It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that people have ‘traded down’ in any number of products they use on a regular basis around the house, and elsewhere.  However, there are also items that I’m not willing to trade down on due to the strong connection I have made with them, their overall quality, etc.  What do you think of the premise on this one?  Am I reading into the title too deeply?

#4 – “Why LinkedIn is a Sleeping Giant in Publishing” – Digiday.com

Premise: The author of this article, Josh Sternberg takes us through how and why LinkedIn is an ideal place to put your content on LinkedIn and how the site is just beginning to scratch the surface of its potential in this arena.  With the launch of LinkedIn’s “Influencers” (examples: Richard Branson, Mark Cuban, Guy Kawasaki, etc.) the site has become much more “social”.

Thoughts: I have to admit that what LinkedIn has done since going public in May of 2011 has been very impressive.  What used to be a site that held my online resume and skillset, I now find myself checking into the site just about every day to read the news, several Influencers, and postings within the Groups that I’ve joined over time.  While the site has transformed itself into something much greater than what it was, there is still tremendous potential for LinkedIn to go much, much further.  There was one other interesting fact in the article that I never really thought of explicitly – but you see very little spam and ridiculous commentary on LinkedIn postings, given the straightforward nature of how those are published in the public and tie back to your name/account.

#5 – “How to Use Pinterest for Business” – desivelikova.com 

Premise: Pinterest is one of, if not the fastest growing sites the world has ever seen.  The author puts together a strong infographic for how to use Pinterest to build your business and then provides several detailed steps/recommendations on best practices.

Thoughts: Admittedly, I did not jump on the Pinterest bandwagon right away.  I found it to be full of content that wasn’t of interest to me originally.  However, over time and with the growth of infographics, I have found the site to be much more engaging and a place to peruse to find interesting content and recommendations for social media sites.  For more advanced users of the site, definitely look into recommendations #5 (measuring your page’s performance) and #7 (monitoring your pins).

What caught your eye this week?  Did any of the information above help you or your business?

Filed Under: Sunday Musings Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding – 2/10/13

February 10, 2013 By 1 Comment

Sunday Musings 2

Here is the first ‘Sunday Musings w/ Shore Branding’ entry. Here at Shore Branding we’ll be updating this section of the blog with up to a handful of articles that caught our attention over the course of the week, along with our own thoughts and perspective on any particulars from those links/stories. So go ahead and bookmark this page if you are interested in or engaged by digital marketing and branding efforts made by companies around the globe.

#1 – “What a $4 Mil. Super Bowl Ad Could Buy in Digital” – Digiday.com

Premise: With the going rate for a Super Bowl 30 second spot hovering around $4 million this year, the Digiday.com team takes a look just how far that $4 million could go if allocated towards digital marketing.

Thoughts: There were a few eye-openers in here. The two that caught my attention the most were:

  • 100+ million video impressions on Hulu – if you have a specific target audience and you know what show(s) are in that wheelhouse and available on Hulu, that is a heck of a strong investment.
  • Twitter’s promoted trending topic for a month – look, I love Twitter. I think it is a phenomenal medium to get your message out there. Stick with it, they will come.

#2 – “Get to Know Vine: Tips for Your Next Campaign” – Medium.com

Premise: Speaking of Twitter, you have likely seen the buzz on their new six second video sharing app, Vine. Brian Adams provides a few preliminary tips and early thoughts on the app.

Thoughts: I hate that Twitter only launched this in Apple’s App Store, as I am fully committed to Android in this household. While I wait for the app itself, there has been an app created to view other Vine videos. While still trying to think about appropriate/meaningful ways for businesses to leverage the medium, I think it can and will be fantastic for bloggers that cover sports, travel, food, etc.

#3 – “How to Maximize the Shareability of Your Blog Posts With Multiple Entry Points” – Dashburst.com

Premise: I think the title takes care of the premise, no? There are eight steps in the article to use / consider on how to better promote your blog, which can be synonymous with business here. There are a few technical items here to help strengthen your digital strategy and a few recommendations that can be easily applied, or at the very least considered, by small business owners.

Thoughts: Found this personally interesting as I am still debating on how to optimize the sharing tools for this blog myself. I have absolutely no interest in signing up for every SM site and trying to carry each article over to every single one of them. However, finding a scalable means to get content out there is critical and I’m still tinkering with that strategy as you read this.

#4 – “Forget about Social Media for a moment. What’s your mobile strategy?” – BrianSolis.com

Premise: Mobile is rapidly growing and that curve isn’t showing signs of slowing down. Is your brand or business focusing on its mobile strategy at all or are you solely focusing on “social media”. With the continued evolution of online behaviors, your business must be thinking about mobile.

Thoughts: Over the past few weeks, Facebook, Zynga, and others have released their Q4’12 earnings and one of the most talked about current and next steps for these companies is building and improving their presence in mobile. This is particularly true for these social media / digital companies, but it holds to form for any and all businesses as well. You do not want (potential) consumers going to your web site on their mobile devices and finding it difficult to use, read, search, etc. If you aren’t, please start thinking about your mobile strategy.

#5 – “Mobile Web Mastery: 25 Tips on Designing for Mobile Devices” – WeGraphics.net

Premise: Sticking with the mobile theme, I found this article in a Branding Community on Google+. The article provides more tips and thought starters when thinking about your mobile strategy.

Thoughts: The only recommendation in this article that I disagree with the notion of is choosing a separate URL for your mobile site. I just do not see the point in doing this in today’s environment. Most sites are building mobile friendly capabilities right from the start. On top of this, I hate the idea of having/sending mixed messages to your consumers when they visit your site from different access points. Keep it simple …

These are the stories that I found of particular interest over the past week or so. Barring unforeseen events, this will be a weekly write-up that I’ll be posting each Sunday with new stories and thoughts from the world of branding and digital marketing. I hope you stick around!

Filed Under: Sunday Musings Tagged With: , , , ,