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.

Which Media Type do People Trust the Most?

You'll find that the answer will vary according to whatever country it is you live in.

An interesting report from eMarketer here shows that online news scores highly, with recommendations from friends also playing a key role.


- Sam

Spotify arrives on the iPhone

Spotify has developed an iPhone application, allowing users to have the same experience on their mobile as when using Spotify on the web.

It was only a matter of time before Spotify tailored the service for mobile, however it is currently only available for premium subscribers, i.e. those who pay £9.99 per month.

The application, which will apparently be available from the App Store shortly, enables users to listen to tracks even when they are not connected to the network, so still functions on the underground or when in airplane mode.

It’s unclear whether the app will one day be ad-funded and therefore made available for free - something which would undoubtedly prove popular with music fans.

- Sam

Turn a Car into a Stylus?

Stuck for ideas in how to market an automobile? Two designers from Brussels threw out the rulebook and decided to find an innovative new way to promote the latest model from Toyota (Toyota iQ) by using the car itself to create a new font. By using the car as a stylus, the shapes and lines created by the car’s motions were a neat way of demonstrating the car’s agility, and make for a memorable, relevant campaign.

The various shapes and lines were tracked with four large coloured dots, a camera and custom motion tracking software called Open Frameworks.

The shapes created by the car were turned into a font called iQ font, downloadable from www.iqfont.com.

- Sam

The Role of Traditional Media Metrics in Online

Check out this interesting post on the Microsoft advertising blog which opens up the argument of traditional vs. digital media metrics in online advertising. Advocates tend to love digital advertising as it is so measurable, and this article takes a look at the role traditional media metrics can play in this area.

- Sam

Google to Launch Open Sourced Operating System

Google announced yesterday on its blog it will be launching an open-sourced operating system, Google Chrome OS. Hotting up the race for first place with Microsoft, it’s a direct challenge to the dominant Windows OS.

Google Chrome OS will be separate to Google’s existing mobile operating system, Android, and will be based off Google’s web browser, Chrome, which is regularly used by 30 million people after only nine months.
The system, which is launching later next year, will initially launch with netbooks, and after that the code will be open-sourced, with Google leveraging the knowledge and ideas of the developer community.

Google’s aim is to create a simple, fresh operating system tailored for the internet age, with most of the user experience being based on the web. Ambitious as ever, it states “we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.”

Being web based, information will be accessible to users wherever they are. Google claims the new OS will also do away with users having to worry about backing up their files or updating their software, making for an all-round improved computing experience, something which is certainly appealing to computer users of all levels of knowledge.

Watch this space.

- Sam

Google Wave - coming soon

Google is in the throws of developing what looks set to be a very useful tool for online collaboration and communication. Browser-based “Google Wave” allows people to communicate with each other while working together on documents, incorporating text, photos, videos, maps and more.

Wave is ‘live,’ meaning users will be able to see their conversation (in the style of messenger) while interacting and editing in real-time. As well as being embeddable in websites, allowing sites to become more collaborative, Wave will be open sourced, encouraging developers to contribute to the product’s evolving functionality.

Upon launch later this year, Wave promises to impact greatly on how, for example, we interact with colleagues across markets, or even in the next office. Imagine being able to do away with the endless to-ing and fro-ing of documents, updated using the untidy-looking ’tracked changes.’ This is something that will surely be useful for those working on documents which require a large number of edits and approvals.

However as it is browser-based, Google will perhaps have to work hard to convince users of the tool’s security.

- Sam

The Digital Britain Report

This week saw the launch of the Digital Britain report, the UK Government's strategic vision to ensure the UK is at the leading edge of the global digital economy.

Some of the highlights include a guaranteed 2MBps broadband for every household by 2012, a 50p tax on all broadband usage, and the possibility that profits from BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, will be used to pay for public service programming on other channels.

Key highlights and full report.

- Sam

Wolfram Alpha on the iPhone

Following on from the recent launch of Wolfram Alpha, the search engine has now been optimised for use on the iPhone and iPod devices.

The 'computational knowledge engine' works by calculating answers to specific questions, and the move follows pressure from users who posted their idea on the Alpha Community page. The company is also listening to fans' recommendations via the Community Page on what features they would like to see on the iPhone application, which is in development.

You can get it here

Augmented Reality Campaigns Round-up

We love Augmented Reality.

Here's something useful for brainstorming brand campaigns - see here a neat round-up of some of the latest and greatest AR campaigns, developed either for commercial or more artistic purposes.

- Sam

iPhone-Controlled Ads

The world’s first iPhone-controlled LCD adverts have been developed by UK-based digital comms agency, Clusta, and are proving popular in train stations and shopping centres globally. iPhone users passing by can interact with the contents displayed on the screens from their handset.

Objects on the screen can be moved by making finger movements on the iPhone’s screen, and users can even change colours and other features of the contents on the LCD screen. Clusta has essentially developed an API which allows for any input via the phone, including movement from the accelerometer or audio from the microphone.

This is truly a way of being able to engage the target audience, integrating digital OOH with mobile, with each experience being unique to each user. However, limiting the service to just iPhone users will have a massive impact on reach, and Clusta must soon extend the technology to cover interaction with all smartphones in order to reach its full potential and effectiveness.

The agency also claims that the technology is not just limited for exploitation in OOH, but could one day be used by people to interact with any Flash based process including banners or websites, implying the potential for brand involvement is endless.

- Antonia

Social Media Rules of Engagement

We often refer to the rules of engagement within social media.

Mashable neatly rounds-up the top 10 here. Handy for any brand or marketer considering dipping their toe into the social media space.

- Sam

Project Natal is born

There are some very exciting goings-on over at Xbox which promise to have serious impacts on the gaming industry.

Announced during Microsoft’s annual E3 press conference, Project Natal is the new hands-free control system for the Xbox. The motion sensing camera allows users to direct action within games by moving their hands or body, without the need for a controller. In this way Natal becomes one step more advanced than the Nintendo Wii.

It has huge implications on the Xbox’s appeal to a key hard-to-reach market – notably those who don’t consider themselves ‘gamers.’ Nintendo first tapped into this market with the launch of the Nintendo Wii, and games such as WiiFit and RockBand, demonstrating that the traditional two-hand controller is itself perhaps the biggest barrier to preventing people from taking up gaming.

The innovation isn’t solely limited to gaming though – users will be able to make use of the technology in the films and anything else they have on their Xbox, without touching any hardware. The introduction of Project Natal, which will apparently be compatible with every Xbox 360, clearly frees up people’s perception of gaming and the opportunities available.

Have a read here and here.

- Sam

bada-Bing?

Microsoft’s latest offering is the new search engine, Bing, its Live Search replacement and rival to Yahoo!, not Google, it claims.

Coined the 'decision engine', Bing aims to make search easier and more user friendly by serving up results based on similar previous searches. So if a user searches for a holiday or flight for example, they are served price offers, travel guides and destination information, rather than a list of websites. Information is served in tabbed categories such as shopping, travel, news, maps, videos and images. Users will also be presented with a ‘best match' and ‘instant result' without needing to navigate away from the results page.

The service is going live imminently in the US and in Q4 ’09 in the UK, with a beta version in the meantime.

Microsoft claims users abandon 30% of searches due to unsatisfactory results, something they wish to improve on to increase benefits to advertisers and maximise revenue.

- Sam