Display Ads Stimulate Search, Confirms Eyeblaster Study

Eyeblaster have released a study that promotes the use of both search and display campaigns working together to provide marketers the biggest return on investment. This is in line with the realisation that simply typing a Web site address into the browser and landing on a page might not make the searcher's intent as apparent as typing a search term into the keyword query box.
The study released Tuesday "confirms" that display ads stimulate search by increasing the speed at which people searching enter the purchase funnel. The act of typing in the keyword "car insurance" for example, tells the search engine to serve up car insurance-related ads. But landing on an automotive Web site doesn't give the ad server much to go on.
The findings suggest that each channel plays a unique role in a campaign. Display increases reach by soliciting as many customers as possible and moving them into the funnel. The role of each is not exclusive onto itself. Conversions make it evident that marketers need a combination of search and display.

Facebook Patents The News Feed

According to a report by AllFacebook, the Facebook patent for its News Feed (submitted in 2006) has been approved. This could hold serious implications for all other social networking sites using this functionality. Twitter however, is not to fear as the patent covers “implicit actions” and not status updates which is what Twitter is based on. The patent covers stories about the actions of a user’s friends and so perhaps not as substantial as first thought, but it may still affect local social networks if the patent is applicable outside the US – watch this space!

Augmented Reality is Over-hyped and Abused

Augmented reality has seen a huge rise in recent months , the problem however is that it is meant to be a technology that is based on utility and yet it is overrun with gimmicks. It is able to create innovative and sustained engagement between its brands and its consumer but it is becoming more difficult to achieve that, even though it should be becoming easier! A high percentage of people will still not download browser plug-ins or software online, no matter how cool the app is.
What we should take away from this is that it may seem cool and cutting edge at the time but unless it serves a real purpose it probably won’t do well. We must think about why the user would bother, why do they need this?

Disaster at the Speed of Light

In this age where speed is King and the internet our support system (look at what happens in the office when the internet goes down), we can see that ever-shortening time frame reputations can be tarnished. Corporations now live in glass houses. If something can be known by the public, it will be!

When Dominos Pizza experienced its crisis involving employee videos aired on YouTube, it reacted with a press release – the lesson to be learnt here is that you have to fight like with like, and the trouble continued until the company responded with its own video.

We need to be prepared in all areas for a crisis, although quite a negative outlook on life, it is realistic. Don’t wait until the damage has been done to develop a presence online, play ahead of the game. The great thing about the internet is that you can react instantly whether the comment is good or bad, and interact with the public like never before.

Coca-Cola Facial Recognition Profiler

Coca-cola has teamed up with Christian Porter and Bogusky to launch their facial recognition Facebook app. The idea is that Coke Zero is so similar to Coca-Cola Classic that you can’t tell the difference. It uses the same software that is used by law enforcement to find faces in crowds but only uses photos of people that have signed up to the app, not of the entire network.

The interesting thing about this is not only that it is using cutting edge software with a riskily invasive hook; but that it propels the participants to rate on their match. This allows for the software to be improved and refined by the users. It also allows you to contact your twin and so potentially opening up another side of the social media site, allowing you to be in contact with someone with whom you do not share friends, but looks!

It’s Not Easy Being Popular. 77 Percent Of Facebook Fan Pages Have Under 1,000 Fans

Sysomos (a social media monitoring and analytics firm) have reported that a full 77 percent of Facebook fan pages have less than 1,000 fans, only 4 percent have over 10,000 fans and 0.047 percent have over 1,000,000 fans. That’s 297 pages in total, which is very small when you think that Facebook reports approximately 632,000 fan pages at the moment. Bearing in mind that many fans are passive and become a fan as a form of support, rather than for active participation (like with Twitter), I have to wonder: How many of these fans even care?

So what can we learn from this?

If we are to set up a Facebook fan page, we should set realistic metrics of success, having fans may be relevant but it is what we do with those fans that matters. We need to give them a reason to become a fan and actively communicate with them to encourage feedback. We need to be as valuable to them as they are to us.

Esprit Combine In-Store Experience With Digital Presence

Experimental agency Cunning have created an interactive installation “Mirror Mirror” in Esprit’s flagship Regent Street store, which went live yesterday.

The installation (inspired by the Cinderella fairytale) superimposes a photograph of a willing shopper onto a mannequin, allowing them to digitally dress themselves in a number of outfits. These images are then sent to the Esprit Facebook site, are also published on a large screen in store and on a mobile campaign site which can be accessed by customers and shared via mobile. Bluetooth has also been incorporated and offers passers-by vouchers and chances to win prizes in store.

What is really great about this is that they are taking digital experiences and making them available for the consumer offline.

It will be interesting to see how well this does as this is the type of “outside the box” thinking we have been coming up with that has not yet made the final cut. This could be an opportunity to prove to sceptics that outdoor campaigns supported by digital and mobile can work and do so not only by attracting customers inside and outside the store, but by creating a buzz around the activity that raises awareness of the brand and heightens customer loyalty.