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Instagram and LinkedIn Add Tagging

May 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Facebook is adding Hashtags. LinkedIn has added @tagging and now Instagram has followed suit. It seems the largest social networks are paying attention to the preferred features on Twitter and are incorporating them in a terrific show of follow-the-leader.

Here is the skinny:  In an update to their mobile apps, Instagram has added Facebook-like tagging to uploaded images. They are calling the feature Photos Of You.

To get started, grab the update and then open Instagram and upload a new image. Apply whatever filters you want and then proceed to the description and sharing screen. You’ll see  a new button to Add People. Tap that and you will go back to a screen displaying your image, only this time you can tap specific areas of the image and choose to tag that area with someone’s name, just like on Facebook. Once you’re finished, you can add a caption, map it, and choose to share to Facebook, Email, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickror Foursquare, just as before.

Tag, you're it! Instagram adds People Tagging

You can drag tags around and tap to remove them. Note that in order to tag someone, you need to search using their username. Hopefully Instagram will improve this feature to be more user friendly, as it would be more natural to search by name.

Once you save your image, it will appear within the Instagram feed with a small person icon in the lower left corner that you can tap to see tags.

Also note that all Instagram users are initially set to Automatically have tagged photos added to your profile. If you want to approve photos first, go to your profile and tap on the new Photos Of You icon, then tap the settings icon in the upper right. I’m sure many will be upset that Instagram has chosen to make this setting automatic rather than manual by default, and that the setting is buried within your photo gallery and not with other app settings and options.

The udpate is available for both iOS and Android users.

Screen shot 2013-05-03 at 11.50.19 AMMeanwhile, LinkedIn now lets you @mention companies and connections as the site continues to place a greater emphasis on followers and influencers.

I’ve also heard that Klout is (finally) going to start leveraging more of the activity and influence found on LinkedIn into their algorithm.

Filed Under: Content Marketing, Digital Media, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Professional Networking, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Social Ad Revenue to Hit $11 Billion by 2017

May 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Social media ad revenues are expected to grow to $11 billion dollars by the year 2017. Facebook alone is expected to make close to $1 billion from its mobile ad revenue in 2013.

Salesforce.com put together a helpful infoG detailing the allocation of the social ad spend.  Enjoy.

the-social-advertising-landscape-by-salesforce-socialcom_51814268f0c74-640x3345

 

Filed Under: Consumer Habits, Content Marketing, Digital Media, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , ,

PepsiCo Pulls Racist Mountain Dew Ad In Response to Social Media Backlash

May 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Screen Shot From The Mountain Dew Ad "The Line Up"

Screen Shot From The Mountain Dew Ad “The Line Up”

After enduring a relentless social media backlash for the past week, PepsiCo and Mountain Dew have pulled what AdWeek called “the most racist ad in history.”

The ad, one of a series from Odd Future leader Tyler, the Creator, shows a white woman who has been the obvious victim of an assault. The woman is asked to identify her assailant in a lineup populated entirely by black men along with the culprit, a goat, who threatens her with phrases like, “Ya better not snitch on a playa,” and “Snitches get stitches.”

In his review of the ad, author and social commentator, Dr. Boyce Watkins, noted that all the suspects are black and they’re “not just regular black people, but the kinds of ratchety negroes you might find in the middle of any hip-hop minstrel show,” and adding, “Apparently, this is the kind of ad you put out if you want to appeal to the black male demographic.”

Then, there are the ladies of BlogHer asking “how does Pepsi think promoting violence against women as humor will make someone want to drink their soda?”

An apology was issued today from PepsiCo: ”We understand how this video could be perceived by some as offensive, and we apologize to those who were offended,” the rep said. “We have removed the video from all Mountain Dew channels and have been informed that Tyler is removing it from his channels as well.”

Filed Under: Crisis Communications, Marketing, PR Blunders, Social Media Tagged With: , , ,

77 Percent of TV Viewers Use Second Screens

April 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

social tvWe all know social TV is here to stay. Well, a new online study from Accenture’s Media & Entertainment industry group, shows exactly how people’s viewing habits are changing.

The online poll of 3,501 consumers in France, Brazil, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States revealed:

  • 90 percent of viewers watch some video content over the Internet, with the tablet seeing the biggest increase.
  • 77 percent regularly use a computer while watching television, an increase of 16 points from just a year ago.
  • But people also said their simultaneous computer usage is mostly unrelated to the programs they are watching. An exception was the use of tablets, which correlated more closely with what consumers were watching compared to laptops or smartphones.
  • Only 17 percent of people using tablets during TV time said their activity was unrelated to the TV content they were viewing.
  • Tablet use during television viewing also saw the biggest increase in the past year, soaring from 11 percent to 44 percent, despite fewer people owning them compared to computers or smartphones.
  • The survey also found that consumers are increasingly using local online video service providers, an increase from 37 to 40 percent, a similar amount to the decrease in use by global providers like Netflix and YouTube.
  • And a majority of respondents identified traditional TV broadcasters as the providers they trusted most to offer video over the Internet on their TV screen.

Filed Under: Consumer Habits, Content Marketing, Digital Media, Marketing, Social Media, Social TV, Youth Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Margaret Thatcher / Cher Hashtag Creates Confusion

April 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Margaret Thatcher Cher HashtagThe world is mourning today as news has spread of the death of a female icon, a talented rule-breaker and earth-shaker … and despite what you’ve read on Twitter, no, I do not mean Cher.

Former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher died of a stroke early this morning.

Some mourners created the hashtag #nowthatchersdead for the politician’s fans to share the news and their remembrances. However, the unnecessarily long and unclear hashtag confused millions on Twitter into thinking singer/actress, Cher died and they began posting their love of the  performer.

I bring this up today because as more and more brands are leveraging hashtags on Twitter – and with Facebook’s announcement that the site will (finally) follow suit and allow people to tag their topics – it’s never been more important to think before you tweet. So, here are some of my top tips for good hashtag creation.

1. CONCISE – Keep it short and to the point. This will avoid confusion like today’s Thatcher/Cher debacle and will give people more room for their own comments on Twitter.

2. INTEGRATION – Try to create a hashtag that naturally integrates into language and sentences. (For example, RIPMargaret or RIPThatcher) This will make it easier for your followers and fans to use the hashtag without requiring additional characters.

3. RELEVANCE –  Make your hashtag as relevant to your brand or campaign message as possible. Remember, hashtags are for public use and if yours is too vague, it will be adopted by other topics, diminishing its usefulness and damaging your measurement.

4. USAGE – Check Twitter and sites like Hashtags.org to determine if your desired hashtag is already in use. Sometimes, it makes sense to co-opt a hashtag from other brands or topics as this will get you a wider audience – just be sure you are relevant; no one likes a gatecrasher/spammer. Other times, you want something absolutely ownable by your brand. If you are creating your own hashtag, I recommend doing some research to see what words are being used in twitter conversation to gain better exposure.

5. CONSISTENCY – Be consistent in the use of your hashtag. So, often, marketers will create dozens of tags for their brand or change their hashtag mid-campaign and then they wonder why none of them stick. Consistency breeds familiar, which breeds brand recognition.

Filed Under: Content Marketing, Digital Media, Marketing, PR Blunders, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

Playskool’s Tweet Lands Them in Hot Water

March 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Playskool found itself in hot water after the brand Tweeted a question that many dad bloggers found offensive.

Playskool tweet about dads

As you can imagine, this sent dads into an uproar.

“Not sure where the question is coming from, but as a work-at-home Dad I’d say every day — unless the kids are actually ‘in charge,’” James Zahn, aka The Rock Father replied right away. John Wiley, whose blog is actually called Daddy’s In Charge, simply wrote, “Check out my Twitter Handle.”

The response indicates a move of dad become more vocal in social media and especially as bloggers.

Major media has reported extensively on the “daddy track,” meaning the rise of stay-at-home-dads, dads who are primary care-givers at home or whose work is purposely flexible in response to a sagging economy and high unemployment rates. Last May, The Wall Street Journal stated: “Even a casual observer of American family life knows that dads now drive kids to more doctors’ appointments, preside over more homework assignments and chaperone more playdates.”

And less than a week before Playskool’s misstep, The New York Times reported on this year’s Dad 2.0 conference, an event with the sole purpose of connecting influential fathers with marketers. The newspaper’s headline, which appeared on the front page of its business section, could not have been more clear: “Don’t Call Him Mom, or an Imbecile.”

Yet, the dad bloggers are the ones taking brands to task each day, making sure that a question like Playskool’s doesn’t go unnoticed. Before the first Dad 2.0 conference, they famously called out Huggies for launching an ad campaign based on stereotypical “bumbling dad” stereotypes, which resulted in commercials being pulled. And representatives from Kimberly Clarke, who owns Huggies, flew to Austin, Texas where the conference was held to apologize.

Meanwhile, some parents said they plan to stop buying Playskool products because of this comment.

Since the unfortunate Tweet on Friday, Playskool has been personally apologizing to bloggers and Twitterers the point of making their Twitter feed one big mess of sorry.

Screen Shot 2013-03-04 at 12.58.10 PM

 

“Our intent was that kids sometimes take over the household,” Playskool told Scout Masterson, a gay dad, who gained a following after appearing on “Tori and Dean.” Father of two, Chris, who blogs at CanadianDad.com, pointed out that they are usually pro-dad in their communications, and linked to this sweet image the brand posted on Facebook the day before their Twitter debacle.

This certainly raises the question of clarity of humor in social media. While it is important for brands to have a sense of humor about themselves, their products and the situations their customers often find themselves in, one must also consider the context of social content and how it could be interpreted.

 

 

Filed Under: Blogging, Consumer Habits, Consumer Products, Content Marketing, Crisis Communications, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

Subway’s Discrimination Problem: A Good Case for Updated Brand Guidelines

February 19, 2013 By 2 Comments

Screen shot 2013-02-18 at 4.56.45 PMOne of the greatest concerns of franchise business models is how trouble caused by one owner/operator can damage other locations nearby or the brand image as a whole.

Subway saw this over the Valentine’s Day weekend when the owner of a Subway shop in Angers, France decided – on his own – to discriminate against same sex couples when he launched a Valentine’s Day special available only to straights.

Citing the current status of gay marriage in France, the franchise owner defended his actions and invoked his freedom of expression in a note beneath the sandwich deal.

“Discrimination: No, the marriage for all law has advanced, but has yet to be ratified by the Senate. Until then, I’ll use my freedom of expression.” (Click over to French-language website Eteignez Votre Ordinateur to view images of the poster.)

According to French newspaper the Liberation, Subway’s corporate offices intervened after photos of the offer were widely circulated on social media, and the restaurant was swiftly closed Friday. In a statement released the same day, Subway France apologized and noted that franchise locations are managed independently. Following an influx of negative comments, Subway France also successfully took to Twitter to address concerns and apologized for the discriminatory special in a post on its Facebook page Saturday morning, writing:

The SUBWAY brand is strongly committed to maintaining the values ​​of diversity and inclusiveness in its restaurants around the world and does not endorse in any discrimination of any kind.We apologize to all those people who felt offended by the individual promotional initiative for Valentine’s Day of a restaurant in Angers, France.

Unfortunately, the discrimination of one owner impacted other owner/operators in France. Angers-area Subway restaurant also felt the blowback despite having nothing to do with the offense, French-language publication Ouest-France reports. Following an influx of “hateful and virulent” comments, the franchise location was forced to close its Facebook page and issue a press release, denouncing any association with the other Angers Subway that offered the heterosexuals-only deal.

While France is on its way to legalizing gay marriage, following the passage of the bill in the National Assembly Tuesday, the legislation must also be ratified by the Senate before the law can take effect. The marriage for all bill, which was first introduced in October, will go before the upper house of French Parliament on April 2, and is expected to pass.

This marks yet another example of why brands – especially franchise models – need clear social media and brand guidelines for all their owner/operators. While it is necessary to give  some promotional leeway so operators can engage in community-specific programs and tailor their marketing efforts to their location, everything the individual operators do impacts the brand as a whole. So, if you haven’t updated your branding, marketing and social media guidelines to fit current trends, tools, tactics, risks and the changing zeitgeist, you may want to do so.

Filed Under: Consumer Products, Crisis Communications, Digital Media, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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