Over at the DraftFCBlog I have a new post up all about how to be a savvy marketer you need stop simply reading about new products & services like Twitter and Foursquare and you need to jump in and experience them for true insights:
It’s clear to everyone that old world disruption advertising models have a smaller role in the future of marketing. As advertisers we need to be able to know how to engage with our audiences in meaningful and valuable ways. The only way we can do this is if we invest real time in experiencing and learning the new media landscape. We need to stop asking what tweets are or why someone just became “mayor of the 33rd & 5th street Starbucks.” We need to sign up for these new and unusual (or possibly scary or stupid) products and services, or we’ll be left behind.
Read the post and let us know what you think. Are you jumping in?
Yesterday I wrote a post for my company’s blog (DRAFTFCBBlog) about the evolution of older social networks that is taking place:
Early entrants into the social networking space MySpace and Hi-5 are no longer competing to be the main social-net in people’s lives, rather they’re refocusing on Entertainment content. For MySpace that means Music, and for Hi-5 that means games; in both cases, the early returns look good.
The evolutions aren’t just about audience numbers, it’s about monetization & compatibility with advertising:
it’s easier to to develop ad-products around music consumption and sharing because advertisers prefer professional content to UGC content
with gaming advertisers have the opportunity to create more involved ad-experiences than run-of-network banners
Facebook itself is focusing on social engagement advertising, which is important when their environment is all about social interaction. More traditional forms of display advertising are proving not to work when it’s wrapped around your friend’s profile or when you’re looking at pictures from the weekend (CTR’s on social-nets are tanking). But multi-media content like video & gaming can still help produce content that is capable of tying with more pure-play branding efforts.
Oh and if there’s any question about where MySpace sees its future, rumors yesterday that MySpace will trade implementing Facebook Connect on their site for increased MySpace music & video share functionality on Facebook should say a lot.
A key part of marketing is understanding the right way to engage your audience and message within an environment. This is particularly challenging in the online space because the web is changing rapidly and so with it the user experience, as well as user expectations. To be successful in building relationships with their consumers online, brands need to invest more time understanding the landscape. Recently emerging web evangelist Robert Scoble wrote an interesting blog post outlining his thoughts on the characterstics of the web in 2010. While I believe he has keyed in on many of the important trends defining the web experience today from an infrastructure standpoint, I am more interested in exploring the trends in terms of how they shape the user experience. I’ve embedded below a short presentation I put together interpreting Scoble’s “principles of the 2010 web” from a user perspective. As marketers we need to continually develop these insights into the ever changing web to be smarter about how we provide value to our audience within the digital space. Visualizing & Interpreting Robert Scoble’s 2010 Web From the User Perspective
This is a work in progress and meant to be a thought starter. I’d love to hear your feedback and your own interpretations on the 2010 web, the implications to marketing, and your outlook on web marketing moving forward. Also, what are your expectations for the web as user? And thank you to Robert Scoble for starting the conversation.
Today has been a big day for Facebook. In the last few hours we’ve learned that Facebook will open up its news feed stream so 3rd parties can integrate reading and writing content from Facebook directly into 3rd party applications. We’ve also learned that Facebook will begin accepting OpenID log-in; soon you will be able to log-in to Facebook with your AIM or Yahoo ID info (for example). Shortly after Facebook’s news, 3rd party developers such as Seesmic and Xobni made announcements that they will integrate the Facebook stream into their desktop applications. All of this means users will now be able to fulfill many of their Facebook cravings without actually going to Facebook.com. Along with Facebook Connect, we can see a clear vision of the social web being architected by Facebook, one that fully embraces decentralization and lets us exist as social entities with our Facebook identities as we live out across the web digital ecosystem. (more…)
Over the last few months we at UC have been testing Foursquare, a mobile social network that launched at SXSWi in March. Foursquare is the latest in mobile social networking, following in the vein of Dodgeball (created by the same founders years earlier), Loopt, Brightkite, and many others. Before Foursquare, I had not yet played with a mobile social network; rather, I had been satisfied with signing on to Facebook via my phone to keep up on what my friends are doing. As I’ve spent some time with Foursquare, however, it’s become more clear to me how useful and valuable mobile-specific features are. This doesn’t necessarily mean the social network features have to be designed for the phone, rather the content has to leverage and contribute to the power of movement and location.
To be clear, I’m not evaluating foursquare itself. It’s certainly in it’s infancy, and unless you’re on an iPhone using their iPhone app (I have an Android phone), it relies on a WAP site that is not all that impressive. However, the basic elements that are being developed are engaging, addictive, and very useful. (more…)
Earlier this month, the Online Publishers Association announced that a broad set of its members would be adopting new larger ad units. The initial list of participants is fairly impressive, including more than 2 dozen top tier publishers such as CNN, The NY Times, WSJ Network and ESPN. The full list of publishers reaches over 66% of the total Internet audience, or roughly 108 million visitors. These heavy hitters are adding some truly massive units to their arsenal of ad units.
The “Fixed Panel” – a 336×860 pixel banner. It’s wider than standard skyscraper and follows users as they scroll down the page.
The “XXL” – a 468×648 pixel box with expandable video capability.
The “Pushdown” – a 970×418 pixel unit that takes up over half of a page before rolling up.
There’s little doubt that these ads performed in tests leading to rollout. On a limited basis I’m sure they resulted in a lift in CTR, engagement, and possibly even conversions or transactions. It’s hard to disagree with the OPA’s intent to foster innovation and efficacy in the online space, but this particular move is a dangerous one that could easily backfire in the long term.
I am a Senior Strategist at SS+K. I handle digital & social media strategy for a number of clients. I also keep a personal blog here. View Kevin Skobac's profile
Yesterday I wrote a 
A key part of marketing is understanding the right way to engage your audience and message within an environment. This is particularly challenging in the online space because the web is changing rapidly and so with it the user experience, as well as user expectations. To be successful in building relationships with their consumers online, brands need to invest more time understanding the landscape. Recently emerging web evangelist Robert Scoble wrote an interesting blog post outlining 
View Kevin Skobac's profile