As Facebook proved when it went public, shareholders are everything but friendly when social media fails to deliver financial value.
In light of this, the blue social bird has been flying from new security features to keyword targeting to integrated apps, as it looks to prove its ability to monetise on its users before potentially going public in 2014.
This week, Ruder Finn’s digital roundup shows you Twitter’s latest money-making feature, Microsoft’s Siri-baiting advert, the efficiency of flat design and more.
Twitter has introduced a new advertising product known as Twitter Amplify, which allows media brands and their advertising partners to promote television clips, accompanied by ads, on Twitter.
Here’s an example from ESPN and the NBA, which last week streamed clips from an NBA game accompanied by commercials for the upcoming blockbuster After Earth.
Twitter Amplify will help advertisers extend their messages beyond broadcasters’ TV audiences in order to reach their Twitter followers as well.
Moreover, the follow button in the bottom right corner of the advert gives advertisers much greater visibility and makes it easier for users to follow them without having to leave their timeline.
Since Twitter is rumored to go public next year, Amplify plays an important role in showing the world Twitter’s efforts, and ability, to monetise on video content within the platform.
The competition is heating up between tablet rivals in one of the most amusing advert we’ve seen this week, as Microsoft poke fun at Apple’s Siri.
The video compares the the Surface tablet with the iPad on different parameters, such as business apps and price, highlighting the difference between the two using responses from Siri, before leaving the voice app to conclude “Let’s play Chopsticks,”
Will Apple play to Microsoft’s tune though? Both are powerful machines but Microsoft is clearly going after the business market by highlighting the multitasking nature of the surface.
On the other hand, it’s worth noting that Microsoft has left its flagship Surface Pro out of this comparison, perhaps because, pricewise, the iPad would have had an easy win.
Will Apple respond to Microsoft latest tease? Do you think it’s an affective strategy? Let us know you opinion in the comments below.
After several security breaches over the past year, Twitter has announced it will introduce login verification to improve security for its users.
The new feature is similar to other two-factor authentication services across the Web. When a user tries to log in to his or her profile, they’re asked to provide a cellphone number. Twitter sends an SMS message to that phone, and the user will be asked to enter the code into his browser to continue the login.
For months, many have called for Twitter to introduce this new security feature to remedy the ongoing hacks of high-profile feeds, including The Guardian, The Financial Times and BBC Weather.
The reasons why Twitter has been holding back might be that higher security measures could potentially make it harder for brands and agencies to access their Twitter accounts, if these are managed by multiple people in different places.
Although the login verification feature is optional, and can be turned on and off anytime from the settings, shared Twitter accounts will struggle to use this new feature and may find themselves just as vulnerable to hacking as they were before.
Could an admin structure similar to that of Facebook pages solve the problem?
Flat seems to be new design trend in User Interface (UI) that’s recently appeared on several pieces of software such as Facebook and Windows 8.
This type of design doesn’t rely on shadowing, shines, textures, and 3D effects. Instead, it takes a minimalist approach using simple shapes, colors, and iconography to create designs that are instantly informative.
In a time when instant usability is starting to outweigh the need for visual cues, design needs to be, not just esthetically pleasing, but also efficient.
Since it doesn’t have all the noise that comes with visual effects, flat design is lean with information and maximises usability.
However, flat design also assumes some level of knowledge. So far, users’ experience was controlled by an eye catchy fancy tables and buttons that instantly captured the attention. Now that this kind of embellishment is gone, some users may feel a bit lost at first.
What’s your take on flat design? Let us know in the comment if you’ve embraced it and why.
The appetite for art online is constantly growing and online galleries and art communities on social media are thriving.
This week we’ve taken a look at the Google Art Project’s Google+ page that posts daily about paintings, artists and events and is highly engaged with its five million plus followers.
What’s important isn’t how many followers Google Art Project has, but the fact that it’s using digital to help art overcome its often physical constrains and be appreciated by anyone, anywhere in the world.
Google Art Project is just one of the several art communities blossoming online, which are a successful example of high quality content, high number of fans/users and great engagement.
What’s your favorite online art gallery? Share it with us and let us know why.
Whether Twitter will go public in 2014 is still to be confirmed. But its latest money-making features, seem to suggest so.
Do you agree? Leave a comment below and join the conversation.
Video consumption around world is growing at a stellar rate, but despite the huge volume of video out there, we are becoming increasingly selective about what we watch.
This week all you need to know is how humour can help marketers make the most out of video, Nintendo’s plans to monetise on fan-made YouTube content, Disney’s 3D printing experiment and more.
According to Social Media Examiner, video was the number one content investment tool of 2012, with a 12 per cent rise over the year.
This is very much inline with the findings of the latest Experian Hitwise report stating that UK online video consumption is now exceeding one billion visits a month. [client]
Added to this, nearly half (46 per cent) of consumers say they would be more likely to seek out information about a product or service after seeing it in an online video.
What’s important for marketers is to know that people are likely to engage with video more deeply than simple text articles so that they can maximise the effectiveness of their campaigns.
But who said that business can’t be fun?
Another study conducted by Usurv showed that 51 per cent of the people interviewed said they had shared, commented on or liked a video because it was “humorous” and a third (30 per cent) because they “knew others would want to see it”.
Marketers need to think not only about engaging effectively with their audience, but also about what motivates their audience to further spread the message and, according to the aforementioned studies, amusing content may be just what they need.
To promote its Star Wars Weekends event, Disney is offering a ten-minute experience, named D-Tech Me, in which fans get the chance to put their face on a 3D printed Stormtrooper figurine.
D-Tech Me uses a single-shot 3D face scanner created by Disney Research labs and materialises the figurine with a high-resolution 3D printer.
Despite the high expectations, 3D printing is yet to revolutionise the manufacturing industry, as the purpose of the two is still too different.
The manufacturing industry relies on mass-production and, although personalisation is available in some cases, standardisation is the key to reduce costs and generate higher income.
On the other hand, the value of 3D printing lies, at least for now, in the uniqueness and customisability of the product “printed”.
But manufacturing is not the only arena for 3D printing. D-Tech Me seems to be a great example of how 3D printing can be used as an effective and affordable marketing tool, as well as to produce something that is unique and extremely valuable for the consumer.
These figures show not only how apps have proliferated dramatically in the past couple of years, but they’re proof of the astonishing rate of smartphone growth.
Apps and smartphone are strictly interconnected, and now that almost one billion people own a smartphone, they’ve begun to change how we think about computing, from something complex and expensive to something simple and affordable.
So what does all this mean for brands?
Richard Dodd, of the British Retail Consortium, believes that this is a precise illustration of how rapidly the ways in which customers are choosing to shop and the things that they are shopping for are changing.
But all that glitters isn’t gold. The huge number of apps available has meant getting noticed has become increasingly difficult and so has become making money.
Moreover, Apple’s insistence on taking 30% of any sales made through the App Store has meant that even developers of top selling apps see a third of their profit going directly into Apple’s pockets.
The app-world is a tough environment but it’s vital for brands to be in it in order to pay attention to technological and behavioural changes and adjust their strategies accordingly.
Are you reaching your customers on their smartphones? Let us know how.
Nintendo has decided to monetise on fan-made YouTube videos featuring content from its games.
Any time someone uploads a walkthrough or “let’s play” video, Nintendo will be able to collect royalties on it.
Moreover, adverts promoting Nintendo’s products will appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips, Nintendo revealed to GameFront.
This will be accomplished by using YouTube’s Content Match ID system, which allows publishers, television networks or record labels to identify if content being used in a video is something from their products.
Is this the right move for Nintendo?
Initially Nintendo, unlike other entertainment companies, gained the sympathy of online communities by chosing not to block people using their intellectual property on YouTube or anywhere else online. But its recent decision to monetise on the positive relationship with its fans may easily backfire.
Several YouTubers, including Zack Scott who has gained a huge following (over 81 million views) for his Let’s Play videos, have already chosen, as a sign of protest, no longer to feature Nintendo games on their channels.
How should Nintendo, and other companies, try to monetise on videos of their products? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Having the latest gadget on the market is cool, but there is a thin line between looking cool and trying to hard.
Google glass promises to be the coolest piece of tech of 2014 so here are some guidelines to help you make sure too much coolness won’t backlash on you and make you look like a glasshole.
If you’ve recently watched a humorous video, share it in the comments below and let us know what made you engage with it. The best video, and comment, will be posted on our Facebook page and Twitter and shared with our community.
If you thought wearable technology was only designed for humans you might want to think again.
For the past eight months, Asger Christensen, a Danish farmer, has been involved in trialling GEA CowView, technology that lets him track the movement and the behaviour of every animal in his herd.
Each cow wears a special collar, fitted with a wireless RTLS (real time locating system) tag, which is read several times a second by sensors fitted in a grid in the roof of their barn.
From this, the system can tell the farmer via real time alerts delivered to his smartphone whether the cow is ill, or is ready to be inseminated.
Wearable technology is increasingly becoming an integrated part of every industry, including healthcare and, now, more traditional ones such as farming and agriculture.
The value of this new technology is still underestimated and its costs are often still too high for the masses, but it’s undeniable that they have the potential to revolutionise processes and in some cases the industry as a whole.
Keld Florczak, the man behind the CowView technology, believes so and estimates the technology should pay for itself in one to two years. Of course, assuming that cows will overcome their privacy concerns.
Facebook has been criticised for changing its look too often, automatically resetting privacy settings and sharing personal information with third-party apps.
It seems that just when we start getting our head around our “new” wall or page, Facebook unveils a new design and moves things around with the purpose of optimising the space and giving users a better experience.
Here is how Facebook Updates Would Look in Real Life.
Do you still think these changes are worth the frustration?
To celebrate Vine’s 100-day birthday, video technology company Unruly has released the results of its study of Twitter’s new video app.
Collecting data from over 10 million Vines during a one-month period, the research found that the young app is becoming increasingly popular, as five Vines are sent every second. Moreover, marketers will be interested to know that branded Vines are four times more likely to be shared than branded videos.
This data is important news for brands that are using Vine or planning to add it to their marketing portfolio, as it allows drawing a more effective marketing strategy for the six-second video app, according to Matt Cooke, CTO and co-founder at Unruly.
Unruly, has also developed aSocial Video Playerplug-in that allows brand to integrate Vine into their current social video campaigns, as well as a Guide For Brands On Vine, that helps users to get greater insights on the Twitter’s app.
YouTube has, at last, launched its much-rumoured paid channels, that can only be accessed after paying a subscription fee starting at $0.99 (around £0.64) per month.
For now the programming is quite small, around 50 channels, but YouTube will be rolling it out in the coming weeks for current qualifying partners.
So what do YouTube paid channels mean for brands? Viewers will not be willing to pay for something they can get elsewhere for free, so brands that are planning to get a paid channel will have to ask themselves whether their videos are producing additional value for their audience.
For this reason, YouTubers and brands that are trying to monetise their efforts on the platform will have to invest more time and resources in their content strategy.
Moreover, quality will override quantity. Of course the number of subscriber will always be important, but brands will have to focus more on retaining and engaging with current viewers, since these represent a constant source of income.
A full list of channels can be found onYouTube’s Channels page, including offerings from film distributors Magnet and comedy channel Laugh Factory.
What channels are you planning to subscribe to? Let us know in the comments below.
If emails are part of your marketing strategy, then you’ll probably be interested to know what times and days emails have the potential to deliver a better ROI.
As every business is different, the only way to find out exactly when emails work best for you company is through testing. However, according to the Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Industry Census 2013 only half of businesses are currently testing the time and day of their email messages.
Want to get an idea of what times your testing should focus on? Here is an infographic showing best time and day of the week to send emails.
If you’ve seen any other bizare wearable technolgies around the web, don’t forget to share them with us on the Ruder Finn’s Facebook page and Twitter. Till next week… Gabs (@gabrielegenola)
Working in the healthcare sector, it’s quite clear from conversations with contacts in the industry that pharmaceutical companies are well aware of the opportunities that exist for them on social media. What they’re also aware of is the risks that come with this medium in such a heavily regulated environment.
A recent report from eMarketer stated this caution from the pharma industry is causing them to fall behind on social platforms. That may well be true in a broader marketing sense, but from a pharma perspective there are very good reasons to be hesitant.
Firstly, it’s worth pointing out the report is solely focused on the US, where there’s a slightly different regulatory environment (even if the Food and Drug Agency are still yet to issue definitive social media guidelines in this area). And in many respects the report is nothing new. The pharma industry has always been cautious in utilising social media and will continue to be so.
The biggest issue around pharma and social in the UK is that direct to consumer (DTC) marketing is illegal. So while companies may be cutting DTC budgets in the States, in the UK thereís nothing really much to cut in the first place. And the idea of using social media for discounts in pharma could never be used in the UK as regulations stand.
But even so, there have been tentative steps and some of the stats from eMarketer are fascinating. Research quoted from Capgemini says 33% of pharma companies rate as digital beginners, but it’s doubtful the other 67% are experts.
Where the numbers start to tally with our experience is how pharma plans to use social media in the future. The research says around 43% of pharma companies plan to increase their social media activity, which is a very high number and shows that it is on the industryís radar, even if there’s still plenty of debate on best practice.
One of the more realistic recommendations from the report is around listening points on social, and this is definitely an area we see plenty of value in, especially given the UKís growing use of the web for health advice.
A recent Ofcom report (PDF) noted that around 68% of adults in this country had, at some point, used the web to find information about health-related issues, while 9% of the internet-using population did this on a weekly basis. These figures certainly show why listening exercises across social are useful to the industry.
Ultimately, though, many of the concerns and challenges listed by the pharma industry - from measuring ROI to educating staff on social media to compliance concerns - closely mirror those of non-pharma marketers.
We may work in very different regulatory environments compared to other brands, but the driving principles, interests and concerns are no different from our colleagues in more social-friendly industries.
Viral video trends often follow a similar lifespan to 1840s folk rhyme Solomon Grundy: Born on a Monday, trending by Tuesday, global by Wednesday, overexposed by Thursday, imitated to death by Friday and dead and buried by the weekend.
The Harlem Shake certainly hasn’t breathed its last, although it is by now vastly overexposed and towards the end of last week (and even into the start of this week), the number of new Harlem Shake versions keeps rising. As RF’s Gabriele Genola noted on Monday, 40,000 people a day are doing the Harlem Shake. That’s a lot of shaking.
As with any popular meme, it’s no surprise to see other brands and organisations leaping on the bandwagon and producing their own Harlem Shake, but it’s here that brands need to be careful when attempting to crash a popular trend. Unless you get in early enough or are adding something a little different, your version has a hell of a job to do to cut through the general noise.
For example, at the time of writing, there are currently 79,913 results for Harlem Shake on YouTube, and growing. Over the ten days between February 14 through to February 24, a quick analysis of the conversation using social media monitoring tool Sysomos showed 203,934 mentions of Harlem Shake, of which 201,910 were on Twitter. That’s a lot of conversation.
For a brand or agency it’s quite easy to be sucked into a seemingly quick win to produce your own version, but the longer a meme goes on, you’re faced with a rule of diminishing returns. Yes, it might be fun, but is the cost and time taking worth the effort and investment in not just producing the video but also promoting it in social channels so it stands out from the noise.
While versions of popular virals need to be produced reasonably quickly, it’s worth asking a few questions. What’s the aim for your brand? Are you looking to raise awareness, gain new followers, give something back to the community or make an impact in other ways? Are you just producing this video for the sake of it? A badly made version or one that attracts a low level of views can be pounced on as evidence of a brand fail.
One brand who got it right, both in terms of timing and audience, was Manchester City Football Club. Their version of the Shake has attracted over three and a half million YouTube views, while their initial Tweet about the video has 3,713 retweets and a reach of 3.6m.
The video was posted on Wednesday, meaning it had a head start on many subsequent UK versions, while the club understood the appeal of the meme to their existing community, who were likely to spread the word, while they then followed it up with subsequent content around the making of.
This was a well-planned idea that the club had the resources to turn around quickly. Not every brand has the resources of the audience to achieve the same level of cohesion as Manchester City.
A Harlem Shake or parody of other popular memes may seem like a quick win for a brand but unless you’ve put in some forward planning and, most importantly, know what, why and how you’re trying to capitalise on it, your booty shaking could get lost in the general noise and lowered into the social media coffin quicker than Mr Grundy.
Welcome to 2013. Is this is the year digital will seal the bond with our economy? Not only will digital continue to grow in many industries but it will also completely revolutionise others, such as healthcare, development and TV advertising.
After seeing its reputation damaged by the statement on tax avoidance and Microsoft’s accusation of biased shopping search, Google has regained its glory as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the results of the 2 year-long investigation saying that the company had not violated antitrust in the way it presents web search results.
Google, which attracts around 70% of web search queries in the US, has been accused of prioritising its own products and services in search results to the detriment of rival companies, such as Microsoft and Yelp.
However, despite the concerns, the FTC found in its investigation that there was no evidence to demonstrate that Google had violated US antitrust or anti-competition statuses in the way it presents web search results.
Moreover, Google has made the voluntary commitment to remove restrictions on the use of its online search advertising platform AdWords and confirmed its prior commitments to allow competitors access to patents on critical standard technologies needed to make devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and games consoles.
Google has obtained the ‘all clear’ in the US, however the verdict potentially puts the FTC in conflict with European officials, who are also working with Google to resolve similar concerns about the way it operates its web search in Europe, where it has an even more dominant position.
‘The next generation of video games will be completely new’ is a commonly used phrase when a new console is about to be released.
However, this time Sony has decided to take this saying literately and has patented a new disc-tagging technology, which will potentially eliminate the ability to play pre-owned games on the PS4.
The technology tags discs with information such as whether the game has been played on another device, meaning it may suppress second-hand sales and purchases.
It’s not clear yet whether the new disc tagging technology will feature in the PS4 but, if it does, Sony must be prepared to loose market shares, as consumers are unlike to enjoy this new feature.
The company will launch an update to its Messenger app for iOS and Android on Thursday afternoon, allowing users to send short voice messages to one another inside of the application, up to a minute in length.
This will put Facebook Messenger on the same level of Apple’s iMessage service, which lets users send voice messages, and BlackBerry Messenger.
However, Facebook is not launching the new feature just to be on par with competitors but especially to fulfil its own growth strategy. Now that Facebook has saturated most areas of the developed world, it must think how to become part of the ways people communicate with one anotheroutsideof Facebook. Hence, owning all chains of communication seems to be Facebook’s best path to growth.
Several new Smart TVs are expected this year and the potential for connected gaming is increasingly growing.
This has been confirmed by the chief creative officer of EA, who believes that the rise ofsmart TV will bring a new gaming audience.
However, he suggests that TV manufacturers should stop making their own proprietary platforms in favour of open platform systems like Android, which give a lot more leverage and still have the freedom to redefine a new user experience.
Furthermore, this would be an efficient way of making product development cost-effective in the short term and satisfying the need for different experiences in different parts of the world.
Hence, the opportunity for a bigger and more integrated gaming industry is starting to materialise but the question is whether TV manufacturers will be willing to give up their own platforms.
Being a child in the digital age is not quite the same as it was 15 years ago. Parents are used to funding their children’s entertainment with the so-called pocket money but in this world of apps, e-books and digital music, how will parents fund their children’s spending?
How does a digital budget managed by your children sound to you?
This article opens the conversation on the split between physical and digital pocket money.
Do you think there is the need to have one? And how would you manage it for your own children if you’re a parent?
Post your views as comments, and we’ll see where the conversation leads.
2012 has come to an end but it wouldn’t be right to start the New Year without summing up the past 12 months. Here is my thought: all you needed in 2012 was a mobile device.
Almost 30% of Black Friday retail spending was generated via mobile devices and, according to eDigital Research, 64% of Smartphone users now shop online with their mobiles. eBay has seen a sale from a Mobile device every 2 seconds, accounting for over 15% of all eBay sales; while Facebook has spent $300m on a mobile-only platform just over one year old. Lastly, 4G connections have been rolled out across the UK in the last quarter of 2012 and updated devices have recently been launched to utilise these services.
There’s no doubt that 2012 has been the year of mobile, but, looking ahead, what should we expect from 2013? Well, m-commerce and m-ads will certainly play a major role in the New Year but many believe that the brightest star of 2013 will be the TV. Call it smart, call it social the new Internet-connected TVs will change the way we interact with the big screen in our living rooms and revolutionise the concept of TV marketing.
So to start the New Year in the ‘techiest’ possible way all you need is:
2013 will symbolise the rebirth of TV advertising. This is confirmed by Social Media Specialist Liam Shepherd, who thinks targeted TV advertising will be the big thing of 2013.
Traditional TV advertising has always been a grey area as it wasn’t able to target a specific audience and measure its sentiment in real time.
However, with the increasing number of Smart TVs making their appearing in our living rooms in 2013, and the higher number of users logging onto Facebook and Twitter through their television sets, it’s very likely that precise demographics will become available, making accurate targeting of TV adverts more viable.
Predictions of Apple’s next move and various reports from the supply chain in Taiwan and China suggest that Apple is planning to enter the TV market in 2013.
Given Apple’s ability to disrupt the market, the expectations about the Apple TV are certainly huge.
So what should we expect from the new Apple toy?
An Apple TV will be personal: Given the importance of the iPad and iPhone in Apple’s ecosystem strategy it’s likely that they could serve as each person’s personal remote and, when watching the TV by themselves, used to deliver custom viewing experiences. Apple TV will be social: The screen is likely to be very large and designed for viewing by more than one person.
Apple TV will be interactive: Apple could make it easier for people to instantly vote for their favourite performer on a programme and give instant feedback to the producers of TV shows.
Apple TV will revolutionise TV advertising: Apple will deliver to advertisers and TV producers a whole new way to determine people’s interests and or find ways to target their commercials and deliver ads based on people’s preferences. Apple could build into the user interface a type of like or dislike button that would allow a person to instantly register how they feel about a show or commercial.
Does this sound like sci-fi to you? Well, the Apple TV is not here yet but you can bet that once it’s released, it’ll change forever the way we interact with the big screen and its content.
More proof that TV will be the big deal of 2013 is that advertiser and channel providers increasingly feel the need for more accurate and real-time data.
For this reason Twitter has partnered with Nielsen to launch the “Nielsen Twitter TV Rating”, a new metric designed to be a syndicated-standard on the reach of the TV conversation on Twitter.
Increasingly advertisers are looking to measure both the “paid” and “earned” media impact of their integrated campaigns, and this new metric aims to track comments about TV programmes and ads generated on second screens of tablets and smartphones.
So the Nielsen Twitter TV Rating will serve to complement Nielsen’s existing TV ratings, giving TV networks and advertisers the real-time metrics required to understand TV audience social activity.
However, the percentage of people interacting with social media while watching TV is still small and so is the amount of data available. Hence, it wouldn’t be surprising if, in order to produce and capture more data, TV programmes will become more social and will enable watchers to engage with the program using social media.
Talking about TV, both Samsung and Apple are expected to launch their new smart/social TV in 2013. However, it seems that they are not the only ones who have recognised the potential of the smart TV. As a matter of fact, rumours say that LG is cooperating with Gram on developing an Open webOS television in order to try to secure a slice of the multimillion pound smart TV industry.
If this is true, LG will have to overcome the speed issues related to webOS as even the most recent Open webOS release can take a while to start up on current PC hardware.
It’s possible that LG and Gram may have something to show off as soon as CES 2013, although it might take a lot longer to see the open webOS TV on the tech-shops’ shelves.
Looking forward to it? Here’s what it could look like.
It seems that smart TVs will replace regular TVs for good in 2013 in many countries and one in particular seems to have already ‘fallen’ for the new technology.
The Ofcom International Communications Market Report claimed that 15 per cent of surveyed Brits now own an Internet connected Smart TV, compared with just ten per cent of people in the United States.
23 per cent of Brits are also accessing live online and catch-up TV services like Sky Go, BBC iPlayer and 4oD, compared with just 17 per cent of Americans and 16 per cent of viewers in Spain.
Hence, according to the Ofcom report, smart TVs will populate our living rooms in 2013 and tech-obsessed Brits are leading the way in adopting new televisual technologies.
Remember that ‘sharing is caring’ and expressing your opinion is the only way to make it count.
Look forward to your comments…until next week…. Gabs (@gabrielegenola)
Everyone is nicer at Christmas’ is a saying that certainly doesn’t apply to the digital world. While we all try to be kinder and friendlier during this time of the year, the big tech companies seem to be in the spirit for a fight. This is confirmed by the digital headlines of the past few weeks, which have been populated by ‘virtual’ hostility, denial, and beating between digital giants. So, move over Christmas, it is all about BOXING DAY!
‘ALL YOU NEED IS…’ is the weekly blog post that, in a few lines, informs you about what is new in the digital world and comments on the ‘worth reading’ articles so that you can stay updated while enjoying your Christmas holiday.
For this digital Christmas battle ‘ALL YOU NEED IS…’ suggests:
The first Christmas battle is between tablet devices, specifically between the Kindle fire and the iPad, which are fighting to secure the highest number of sales over Christmas.
According to a GfK survey, 24% of shoppers looking to buy a tablet computer this Christmas are planning to buy a Kindle Fire, while only 18% aims to buy an iPad.
This is surprising, considering that the new iPad 3 was launched recently and its launch generated a huge buzz and great excitement.
Hence, the survey confirms that tablets are becoming an intrinsic part of the household, however, when it comes to Christmas shopping, price is still a key factor as people look to buy cheaper models to save money.
Do you agree? Tell us which one you’ve bought and why.
The recent Microsoft ‘don’t get scroogled’ campaign against Google shopping search has showed the world that Microsoft is in for a fight this Christmas.
NORAD, the official Santa tracker website, is the last battlefield Bing and Google have been competing in.
For the past decade or so, NORAD has used Google Maps as the brain behind its Santa Tracker. But this year Google has been replaced by Bing.
This seems to be an inexplicable decision, given that, in the UK, for example, Bing’s market share is 4%, compared to Google’s 89%.
Whether this is related to the ‘Internet boogieman’ reputation that Google has gained in last couple of months it’s unknown but one thing is sure, Bing vs. Google relations have never been so hostile as it is this Christmas.
Just days after Instagram stopped allowing Twitter to embed images in tweets, the two social media giants are back under the spotlight as hostility deepens over Instagram acquisition bid.
Neither side has commented on the report that Mr Systrom “verbally agreed” a $525m acquisition deal with Twitter executives March, weeks before the $1bn Facebook deal was announced.
However, Twitter is aggressively pursuing a strategy of encouraging people to share more “rich” multimedia material, including photographs, which brings it into more direct competition with Instagram and Facebook.
On the other hand, Instagram is increasingly reducing integration of its platform with Twitter in favour of Facebook.
Therefore, it seems that the two social media prefer to keep quiet in front of the public and rather battle in terms of functionalities of their platforms.
Another epic battle, which started in September but dragged on all the way to Christmas, saw Apple and Google competing over their map apps.
Since Apple revealed its iPhone 5, the shortcomings of Maps, the default mapping service on iOS 6 devices, it’s all people and papers have been talking about.
Now, Google Maps is back with a vengeance and when the app became available in the Apps Store last week it reached 10 million downloads within 48 hours.
While Google has literally mapped its way forward, Apple’s Maps seems to be struggling to find its place in the market.
Here are a few images from both apps for you to judge.
Last, but definitely not the least, is the court battle that saw Apple suing Samsung for copying several patented features of the iPhone.
The first stage of the trial ended last week, just in time for the two companies to have a peaceful Christmas holiday.
But the final verdict came unexpected for both parties.
The judge has denied Apple’s request for a permanent injunction on Samsung devices although, earlier this summer, the jury in the case ruled that multiple Samsung smartphones infringed Apple patents and awarded $1.05 billion for damages.
On the other hand Samsung was also denied to call for a new trial based on allegation of bias of the jury foreman who established that the Korean tech giant has infringed Apple’s patents.
So this battle has ended even, but looking at the trial expenses this Christmas will be a poor one for both Smartphone’s producers.
Remember that ‘sharing is caring’ and expressing your opinion is the only way to make it count.
On the first day of Christmas my smartphone said to me, 50% off on that Samsung HD TV.
On the second day of Christmas my smartphone said to me, a new follower on Twitter, who would it be?
On the third day of Christmas my smartphone said to me, Google will change the rules and gmail will no longer be free.
On the fourth day of Christmas my smartphone said to me, an Amazon kindle in my Christmas list there’ll be.
On the fifth day of Christmas my smartphone said to me, iPad mini, one for you and one for me.
On the last day of Christmas my smartphone said to me, enjoy ‘ALL YOU NEED IS…” with a nice cup of tea.
‘ALL YOU NEED IS…’ is the weekly blog post that, in a few lines, informs you about what is new in the digital world and comments on the ‘worth reading’ articles so that you can learn while enjoying your daily dose of caffeine.
‘Do no evil’ Google is under the spotlight again for its ‘not so good’ response to the UK tax avoidance accusation. The head of the Internet giant has defiantly defended his company’s tax avoidance strategy claiming he was “proud” of the steps it had taken to cut its tax bill. Steps he described as just “capitalism”.
Perhaps, Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt needs to be reminded that capitalism is based on the concept that businesses are positive entities both for the economy, as they increase employment and stimulate sales, and for society, as the higher the profit the more they contribute to the wealth of the country.
Moreover, money should never be the only objective of a business, especially when a business preaches about doing no evil, as it rarely connected the real needs of the society. Of course Google claims that its tax avoidance strategy is in line with the law, however, from the eyes of a consumer, it seems that Google has forgotten to verify whether its strategy is in line with its values.
Facebook has decided to end its experiment with democracy in a democratic way. The social media giant asked users to vote on their right to vote and unless a third of its users stood up to protect it, Facebook would reacquire full control over governance, which includes being able to make changes to the site’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Data Use Policy.
Democracy seems to have become an expense that Facebook is not willing to pay for. Having always praised itself for moving fast, Facebook decided the opinion of its users on how their data should be used, was no longer needed as it was costing time and money.
Voting ended yesterday and with less than a million users having cast a vote, it’s fair to say that democracy is dead on Facebook.
The social network who has redefined the concept of ‘social’ seems to have taken an antisocial approach to its governance, thus it will be interesting to see how the Facebook community will react to the next ‘Data Use Policy’ change.
Some companies haven’t been so good this year, but there is one that is really trying hard to gain a place into everyone’s heart. This is Microsoft, which has decided to enable a Do Not Track feature by default in the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship browser, Internet Explorer 10.
The industry, for obvious reasons, has expressed concern that is going to make it harder for advertisers to target consumers with relevant ads, but despite the pressure from advertisers and publishers, Microsoft remains committed to its default Do Not Track and has suggested that more complexity, such as giving consumers more fine-grained control over their privacy and allow them to give specific permission to individual websites, is the way forward.
However, Facebook is a vivid example of how fine-grained control can be more confusing than helpful. So, Microsoft’s umpteenth attempt to convince consumers that it’s on their side might turn out to be a dangerous double-edged sword.
Here is an interesting infographic on how Generation Y (us) uses the Internet and mobile devices to connect with the world around them.
The data has been extrapolated from the 2012 Cisco Connected World Technology Report and it shows that for Gen Y, information is constant and immediate. Twenty-nine per cent of survey respondents said they check their smartphones so constantly that they lose count and that two out of five would feel anxious if they couldn’t constantly check their smartphone.
Does this sound like you? You’ll be surprised how easily you can identify yourself with the findings below. Enjoy it!
“What’s next?” is the question that we’ve all been constantly asking since we realised that stability was no longer a trait of our economy and new technologies started changing the way we live and do business on a regular basis.
There are mainly two problems related to this question.
The first is that a ‘black swan’, or the next big thing, is not detectable before it becomes apparent.
The second and more important issue is how inadequately most organisations respond when the unexpected happens.
It’s exactly these organisations that most feel the need to know what’s next so that they will have more time available to develop a response to a new situation and make it more manageable.
However, foreseeing what’s next would only give short-term relief to a business. The real solution for businesses operating in this economy is to increase their ability to deal effectively with constant change, a concept also known as “organizational liquidity.”
Therefore, given the ever-increasing volatile state of our economy, where change seems to be the only constant, introducing organistaion liquidity should be the New Year resolution of every business.
Remember that ‘sharing is caring’ and expressing your opinion is the only way to make it count.
Look forward to your comments…until next week…. Gabs (@gabrielegenola)
Christmas is just around the corner. Once again, celebrations have started, decorations have gone up in the streets and people have written their Christmas lists.
However, things seem to be very different this year as even Santa has embraced the digital world…
Many people are avoiding shopping malls and busy high streets in favour of a more relaxing shopping experience online according to the work we did last week with Experian around Cyber Monday. So all you need to make your family happy this ‘digital’ Christmas is a mobile device or a laptop, an Internet connection and a lot of imagination.
To stay up to date in the world of digital marketing, this week all you need is…..
As mentioned in the intro, the mass adoption of digital channels has shifted the customer buying process from offline to online. This article suggests that digital marketing will influence more than 85% of B2C commerce, by 2014.
Within each stage of the buying process marketers have an opportunity to improve the customer experience and influence a purchase.
The main issue of digital and social marketing is the difficulty in measuring its performance as a sales driver.
The solution could be mapping the digital marketing tools used at each stage of the process, as this would not only help to identify what influences customers to buy, but also to measure the performance of digital marketing in each stage of the purchases process.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens at Google goes around the world in no time and Microsoft loves giving its contribute to spread the word.
Microsoft has launched scroogled.com, which warns consumers that the new Google Shopping Search is not as honest as it limits choices and ranks them by payment.
Moreover, Microsoft encourages visitors who want an honest shopping search not to get scroogled and to use Bing Shopping Search instead.
Of course all of Microsoft’s Christmases would come at once if scroogled.com convinced most of the people that Google has turned his back to its values.
However, it will be the antitrust regulator to decide whether ‘do no evil’ Google has been good this year and whether it will find anything under the Christmas tree.
Christmas it’s the time of good will to all, but Instagram definitely forgot to include Twitter in its Christmas wishes this year. Instagram and Twitter worked closely together during Instagram’s early days but the relations between the two companies have deteriorated since the Facebook acquisition.
Instagram on Wednesday disabled the ability for Twitter to properly display Instagram photos on its Web site and in its applications and is planning to completely cut off embedding pictures on the Twitter Web site.
Photo sharing is the main cause of friction for social networking services due to the potential advertising dollars at stake; hence the tensions will likely continue to grow.
The question is what will happen to social networking sites when they’ll stop socialising with each other?
Here is an easy to read article about how the news that the duchess of Cambridge was pregnant has spread out at light speed on twitter.
According to statistics, there are more than one thousand related tweets appearing on Twitter every few minutes and #royalbaby became the quickest trending Twitter hashtag of all time.
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was one of the first to retweet the joyful news and in less than an hour his tweet got retweeted 1,460 times.
He’s not born yet but the royal baby has already deserved the title of ‘king’, not king of England yet but definitely the king of social media.
Next up, an interesting article that defines mobile computing as the catalyst of the global Internet surge.
This is confirmed by Meeker reports on mobile commerce stating that almost 30% of Black Friday retail spending was generated via mobile devices. This is an incredible performance considering that the role of tablets was unclear till not long ago.
Adding the fact that 54 of Americans use their tablets and Smartphones while watching TV, it appears the mobile computing is acting more and more as the connective tissue between online an offline experiences.
Hence, mobile computing seems to have found its place not only in the market but also in our lives; and the opportunities arising from it will continue to flourish in 2013.
We know, we haven’t even had the binge yet but we’re already planning the diet. Seems like Weightwatchers has been getting busy with a rebrand ahead of the inevitable January detox/diet rush. What do you think of the new logo? Fading away like a fat person in a sauna or paling into creative insignificance?
•Porting you, porting me
And finally…..if you’re planning on a boozy Christmas break, you might want to get involved in the new craze that is sweeping the student community. Porting. Or not….
According to The Drum, “Take one student, a bottle of port and a video camera and what do you get? Porting, the latest bizarre internet prank to sweep the student community.
Instead of ingesting the beverage as has been customary through the years the new practice entails upending the bottle over your head whilst an accomplice videos the stunt for posterity.
It has been adopted by those for whom ‘milking’ which involves a bottle of milk, a…. well you get the idea, just isn’t hard-core enough.”
Call us old fashioned but we’ll be keeping ours for the stilton…..
Remember now that ‘sharing is caring’ and expressing you opinion is the only way to make it count.
Look forward to your comments…until next week…. Gabs (@gabrielegenola)
