July 2010 Archives

Here Comes the (Social) Neighborhood
by Erik Sass, Wednesday July 28, 2010

This is something I've been wondering about (and hoping to see more of) for a long time: local social networks, functioning at the neighborhood level, which reflect real communities. That's the idea behind Neighbortree.com, a "free neighborhood website" which allows users to create their own neighborhood social networks, and businesses to deliver hyper-local targeted advertising.

True, there have been neighborhood discussion boards for a while, but as far as I know, these have been custom-built projects which are difficult to scale. They may also be subject to aggressive moderation or policing by interested parties. Neighbortree offers a potential solution to the problem of scale with its off-the-shelf social network technology, including templates with a range of options for user profiles, comments and moderation, and privacy settings. Neutrality is also an important part of its mission, as highlighted by the disclaimer: "We are not your Home Owners Association's website."

Neighbortree says the site is intended to facilitate the creation of user-managed online communities which allow residents to share content, chat, buy and sell goods and services, make announcements, and debate neighborhood issues (I'm imagining it as a safe virtual forum for discussions about, say, excessive use of lawn ornaments which might otherwise come to blows). Features include news and announcements, forums, calendars, photo albums, polling, messaging, and community newsletters.

On the advertising front, Neighbortree is probably about as local as you can get with ad targeting, short of delivering ads to GPS-enabled mobile devices, allowing advertisers to target individual neighborhoods as well as zip codes, metro areas or states. In a nice twist on the social network ad model, Neighbortree will share advertising revenue with neighborhoods on the site, and it will also try to raise funds from local businesses for each neighborhood. These funds could be used for improvements, block parties, or mini-scholarships for neighborhood kids.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Defining Social Media Marketing
by Joe Marchese, Tuesday July 27, 2010

What does it mean to do "social media marketing"? In talking with various brands and agencies, there are extremely wide-ranging thoughts on what tactics, goals and, most important, resources should be allocated to social media. Let's settle the debate: All marketing is social media marketing.

Most people agree that all media is meant to be social, and that sooner or later all effective media will incorporate more social elements into its creation and distribution. The same logic applies even more so to marketing. All effective marketing activities, from advertising to PR to CRM, will incorporate social media functionality, and the performance of all marketing will be better tracked through social media monitoring. Perhaps that's why there's so much confusion from one company to the next on the role of social media in their organization. Social media is not its own discipline in marketing, as much as a new skill set required for every other marketing discipline.

So when the debate comes up on whether social media is bought, earned or owned media, the answer is simply "yes." While it seems easy for most brands to understand how social media augments and extends their CRM, PR and communications practices, most struggle with properly incorporating the benefits of social technologies into their paid advertising efforts. Too often money is wasted when marketers buy advertising without incorporating social elements and without monitoring the social activities resulting from a paid campaign. Even more often, marketers miss opportunities to execute compelling campaigns by isolating "social media" with its own initiative rather than focusing on how social the larger paid media effort should be.

The first step is to realize that all digital advertising is already social media advertising. Every digital advertising campaign should be designed and trafficked to maximize consumer interaction and can be measured by resulting social activities (liking, sharing, commenting), because these are metrics that extend campaign ROI and can indicate how impactful the actual campaign was.

A media company could build a digital presence without social media elements, but it would be a terrible digital presence. In the same vein, a digital marketing campaign can be executed without social media elements, but it would be a terrible digital marketing campaign. Even television ads are ending in calls to connect on Facebook -- but I think you can expect your digital dollars to do a little better.

It was to address the challenge of understanding exactly how to standardize social media advertising practices that I agreed to join the board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium (if your company does any marketing, I highly recommend getting involved). The question of how to best incorporate social elements, practices and technologies into paid advertising efforts will define winners and losers in digital marketing for the next two years and the entire marketing industry over the next decade. Seems like a subject worth discussing to me.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Ford Makes New Friends the Right Way, Revealing Explorer On Facebook
by Erik Sass, Monday July 26, 2010

With everyone struggling to figure out how to use social media for marketing and advertising, it's obviously helpful to look at examples where a big company gets its right, demonstrating what can be done with an appropriate investment of time and money (and planning). Today, Ford hit the nail on the head with its "2011 Ford Explorer Reveal" on the Ford Explorer Facebook page. Let's take a quick tour of the multifaceted project.

First of all, Ford isn't treating the Facebook push as a mere adjunct to an official unveiling elsewhere -- this is the big "reveal," which usually takes place at the Detroit auto shows. Of course most people don't attend the Detroit auto shows, and press reports about the unveilings always tend to be a bit humdrum, at least in my opinion. They also don't do justice to individual models, lumping all the new vehicles together with scarcely a paragraph each.

While clearly unsatisfactory from the carmakers' perspective, in the days of broadcast media that was about all they could hope for. But Ford is using social media to give users an interactive, multimedia tour with videos, text and images on the Explorer's Facebook page, all anchored by live video of the "reveal" in New York City (taking place on an elaborate set recreating some wilderness getaway in the middle of the urban landscape -- very weird). These include celebratory mini-events with live music, etc. At the top of the page is a timeline, showing all the different real and virtual events taking place over the course of the day as part of the unveiling. Users can click on any of the previous times to see events that already happened.

Below that are a series of videos, some filmed ahead of time, some filmed live at unveiling events. The live events are hosted by Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery's "Dirty Jobs," who pokes around the new 2011 Ford Explorer with Ford CEO Alan Mulally. Mulally also appears in a pre-filmed Q&A. That's a gold star for Ford: recognizing that social media is supposed to feel "real," there are no anonymous actors or B-list celebrities taking a prominent role in the launch, but rather the guy who is responsible for the new model (facilitated by Rowe as the rugged media personality).

Meanwhile the pre-filmed video also includes a tour of the new Explorer with Mark Fields, president of Ford Americas, and Julie Levine, the Ford Explorer product manager, and a Q&A about the Explorer's "green" aspects with Sue Cischke, vice-president for sustainability environment and safety engineering (more gold stars for hitting hot-button issues, again with the actual executive in charge leading the discussion).

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Tweeters Star In Wheat Thins TV Ads
by Karlene Lukovitz, Monday July 26, 2010

Kraft Foods/Nabisco Wheat Thins will take social media marketing integration to a new level this week, when it debuts the first of at least two 30-second national TV commercials featuring consumers who have tweeted positively about the brand.

The TV spots employ two of three videos already posted on Wheat Thins' "The Crunch is Calling" YouTube channel and in a tab on its Facebook page, which have collectively drawn more than 623,000 views since being posted just over three weeks ago.

The videos show a team of brand representatives, in a van prominently displaying Wheat Thins' "The Crunch Is Calling" theme, tracking down and surprising tweeters who have indicated their attachment to the crackers. Each tweeter is presented with a Wheat Thins gift that ties into the content of his/her tweet.

Each video starts with a close-up of a screenshot showing an actual brand-related tweet (the tweeter's "handle" is visible), with the mobile team discussing the tweet's content as they arrive to have a close encounter with a fan.

The first video to be aired as a TV spot (for two weeks, starting July 26) shows a tweet from Tabitha, a young woman who had lamented: "AAAHHHH ... I'm outta Wheat Thins ... Mi [sic] life is officially over!" As she opens her front door to the Crunch team and verifies that she indeed tweeted that message, an entire pallet of Wheat Thins boxes is being deposited in her driveway -- the brand's gift to ensure that she has plenty on hand for the foreseeable future. As the team zooms away, the stunned but smiling fan gives them the thumbs-up as she stands beside the pallet, with a dumbfounded neighbor looking on.

The second video/TV ad captures the team presenting a set of custom-made "Crunch is Calling" headphones to Timmy (on a restaurant deck among friends/onlookers), who had tweeted: "Does anyone else have to turn up the volume when they eat Wheat Thins? Someone needs to invent crunch-proof headphones." After testing the headphones (a brand rep crunches a Wheat Thin, amplifying it through a megaphone), Timmy is left eating a cracker as he wonders aloud: "Don't I have to sign anything?" This ad will begin airing Aug. 30.

A third video -- which may or may not be used for a TV ad -- shows the team surprising Dan, who had tweeted that he was using a Wheat Thin to pick his air guitar, with a Wheat Thins-branded guitar case containing ... nothing. Dan demos his cracker-pick air-guitar moves, and also receives a custom Wheat Thins box bearing his photo and tweet.

The brand is being mysterious in responding to social media queries from fans wondering how Wheat Thins located the folks shown in the videos ("The videos are the real deal, but, unfortunately, we can't reveal our intervention secrets!"), but a spokesperson confirms that the subjects were tracked down with the help of their Facebook friends and family members.

Interestingly, to enhance the surprise factor, Wheat Thins chose to video consumers who were selected based on "random" tweets picked up about the brand, rather than approaching Wheat Thins Twitter followers/Facebook fans.

The TV spots will be aired on a variety of network prime-time shows and cable outlets with high viewership among the recently repositioned brand's new core target audience, women and men age 25 to 45, reports Jim Low, director of wheat snack crackers for Kraft Foods.

The videos will also be employed in new online advertising, as pre-rolls for Web-posted episodes of targeted TV shows. Adjacent ad blocks will encourage viewers to click into the brand's Facebook page/Twitter presence.

The social media-driven videos and their use as TV spots and pre-rolls represent a natural next step in the evolution of the brand and its marketing, Low tells Marketing Daily.

The brand's repositioning process began over a year ago, when Wheat Thins used consumer research to identify the cracker's crunch, flavor and texture as its key attractions to a younger and more gender-balanced demographic group.

Last summer, the brand introduced product changes to further enhance its appeal to this group (adding more whole-grain content to many varieties and eliminating high-fructose corn syrup); unveiled a more contemporary package design; and launched its "Crunch is Calling" tagline and an integrated campaign that included crunch-focused TV spots featuring young adults.

Low reports that efforts in this year's first half focused on in-person engagement with the target audience through event sponsorships -- including high-visibility sponsorships during March's NCAA tournament and June's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (where Conan O'Brien serendipitously mentioned the brand from stage).

The TV campaign and events helped drive engagement with Wheat Thins' new, app-heavy Facebook fan page (which has drawn nearly 111,000 fans since its launch in December '09), as well as its new Twitter. com/crunchiscalling presence (about 900 followers to date) and its revamped wheatthins.com site.

The tweeter videos/TV spots/pre-rolls are designed to build on that engagement. "The social media conversations about Wheat Thins and viral effect are really underway now, and the enthusiasm for the brand is very clear," says Low, noting that celebrities (including "American Idol"'s Kris Allen and R&B singer Chris Brown) have tweeted about the brand.

"These conversations continue to become increasingly important, and we're actively engaged in them on an ongoing basis" -- taking care to engage as a meaningful participant, rather than come off as promotional or intrusive, Low adds.

To date, all signs point to substantial success in engaging the new target audience via social media and the other "Crunch" marketing efforts, according to Low. Importantly, these younger fans view Wheat Thins as a snack product to be enjoyed on an everyday basis, in contrast to the brand's traditional consumer base of women 45 and older, who viewed it "just as a traditional cracker," he points out.

Escape Pod developed the new videos, and AKQA implemented social media/online elements. Edelman handles the brand's public relations.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Starbucks Surpasses 10 Million Fans, Closing In On Lady Gaga
by Mark Walsh, Wednesday July 14, 2010

A year ago, Starbucks knocked off Coca-Cola as the most popular corporate brand on Facebook, with its page on the social network drawing 3.7 million fans. Now the coffee giant has become the first brand to clear the 10 million-fan mark on Facebook, with its nearest rivals -- Coke and Skittles -- both trailing behind at about 6.5 million.

To put Starbucks' social ascent in perspective, the company is close to catching up to pop icon Lady Gaga in Facebook fans. She's just ahead in the rankings, with about 10.4 million, according to data compiled by the Inside Facebook blog. Only other celebrities (Michael Jackson, Vin Diesel), games ("Texas Hold'em Poker," "Mafia Wars"), "Family Guy," Facebook, and the President himself, stand ahead of Starbucks in the number of Facebook fans.

So what's the secret of the coffee chain's success on the site? Making social media a key part of its marketing mix, a steady stream of promotions, and advertising heavily on Facebook to drive traffic to its page, according to social media marketing experts. "Starbucks has provided Facebook users a reason to become a fan," said Michael Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media, which oversees brands' social media efforts.

Indeed, special offers, coupons and discounts distributed via Facebook seem to be at the heart of Starbucks' magnetic appeal on the social network. Last July, it added 200,000 fans in one week through its Free Pastry Day promo, allowing fans to print out coupons for complimentary confections with a beverage purchase.

Last year, it also promoted its launch of branded ice cream by offering coupons for free pints through its Facebook application. More recently, it used Facebook to run a "Taste Challenge" tied to the rollout of its VIA instant coffee, offering participants a free brewed coffee on their next visit and a $1 off a VIA purchase.

Starbucks' success with emphasizing product promotions on Facebook seems to validate the results of a Razorfish study last year that found that traditional direct marketing techniques like offering discounts and deals are the keys to building engagement on social networking sites rather counting on some deeper connection to a brand.

Reggie Bradford, CEO of social media management firm ViTrue, noted that Starbucks has the advantage of owning all of its stores, making it easier to run uniform marketing programs that can be tied into Facebook. "Where if you have a franchise model, you can't do that," he said.

But he and Lazerow also say Starbucks has been active in the conversational aspect of social marketing through posts on their Wall and into fans' news feeds, whether content, questions or updates aimed at stimulating discussion around the brand. On top of that, the company has invested in advertising in Engagement Ads on the home page and elsewhere on Facebook to drive traffic to its page.

"Starbucks got started early, and over the last couple of years has actively used Facebook events, discussions, and notes in conjunction with well-coordinated ad campaigns to drive traffic both to physical stores and online promotions," said Justin Smith, editor of Inside Facebook. He added that just over a year ago, the company had only 1.7 million fans.

Its activity on Facebook is also part of a broader commitment to social media by Starbucks that includes its MyStarbucksIdea site for soliciting and implementing customer suggestions, and push onto popular social location properties like Foursquare and Brightkite. "For the last several years, Starbucks has embraced social media as a core of its strategy," said Bradford. Starbucks declined to comment for this article.

But other retailers don't seem to be following the company's example. According to a study earlier this year by Foresee Results, only a quarter of the top 100 online retailers by sales volume had a formal Facebook presence.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

iAd Is No iFad: Study Finds Agencies Most Interested In Apple's Mobile Platform
by Joe Mandese, Wednesday July 14, 2010

Asked what capabilities their clients are most interested in developing, a third of agency executives surveyed recently by media-buying processing systems provider Strata said mobile advertising, and an overwhelming majority of those respondents cited Apple's new iAds. Details of the study, part of a regular series of periodic surveys of its agency clients, will be released soon, but in a preview given to Online Media Daily, Strata President-CEO John Shelton said the percentage of agency executives citing mobile advertising as their clients' top interest has more than doubled from 16% last spring.

While not necessarily representative of the entire advertising industry, the findings are significant, because Strata, which is owned by Comcast Corp., tends to service a diverse array of geographically dispersed smaller and regional agencies that comprise the heartland of Madison Avenue, and are not necessarily the kind of bleeding edge shops likely to push the next shiny object to come on the media scene.

"We have a pool of just under 1,000 agencies across country," Shelton explained. "They tend to be more regional agencies, and some national ones. We kind of like the regional ones, because they tend to be all U.S. and tend to give us a more on-the-ground view. These guys tend to be much more hands-on, and they tend to float up and down with their clients based on what their clients are buying now."

While that agency base likely represents more of the "long tail" of the advertising business, Shelton noted many of them represent "huge clients" such as Walmart, Geico and Progressive.

He said the speed with which they've embraced mobile, and especially Apple's new advertising platform, was surprising.

Asked which mobile device or platform their clients are most interested in, Shelton said 87% cited the iPhone, while less than 50% cited the BlackBerry of Android systems.

"The iPhone has 50% higher interest than any other phone out there, even though BlackBerry has more phones out there," Shelton noted, adding that agencies don't seem to be interested in "coverage" as much as, "they're interested in being associated with the iPhone."

Shelton said the response likely reflects an overall interest in Apple's mobile advertising operating system, including the iPad, iTouch and iPhone devices, and said the interest was likely influenced by all the attention surrounding Apple's launch of the iPad, the iAds advertising system, and its new iPhone.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Twitter Gets Video Ad Network
by Gavin O'Malley, Monday July 12, 2010

Is the Twitter ecosystem robust enough to support its own video ad network? Betting on it, Twitter video hosting service TwitVid on Monday debuted a stand-alone network dubbed SocialAds. SocialAds is being positioned as a way to help advertisers increase their social media presence, as well as an alternative to pre-roll video ads.

"Traditional means of monetizing video has heavily relied on pre-roll ads, which work great for premium content but can be quite suffocating for an end-user who may only be trying to watch a short video," said Mo Al Adham, co-founder of TwitVid. "SocialAds offers an alternative."

Among other selling points, the video ad network differentiates itself by providing quantifiable social media results, including Twitter followers and retweets.

SocialAds' prices are based on a price-per-action model. Advertisers pay a set, agreed upon amount per follow or retweet, and are not charged for impressions that do not result in actions. Bidding begins at one dollar per follower and seventy-five cents per retweet, with higher bids receiving better placement on ad units. For example, advertisers can place bids on popular content producers and videos from celebrities, musical artists, and pro athletes who have chosen TwitVid as their preferred video tweeting service.

TwitVid was founded in 2008, and has so far received an undisclosed investment from Amidzad Partners. Its main competitor, Vidly -- formerly known as Twitvid.io -- has received $500,000 in angel funding. Other services helping users share videos via Twitter include 12seconds, Twiddeo, yfrog, Bubbletweet.

Through SocialAds' self-service advertising network, advertisers create customized campaigns, with specific audience targeting, to promote their desired social media channels. Depending on the specific objective of a campaign, advertisers are prompted to select their desired combination of SocialAds' retweet-to-watch or follow-to-watch functionalities. Allowing users to opt out, SocialAds doesn't require viewers to retweet or follow brands.

During a private alpha test of SocialAds, unnamed brand participants received more than 400 new followers in less than an hour, while 2% of viewers who were shown an ad followed a brand.

Going forward, TwitVid plans to add proprietary relevance technology to SocialAds, which will allow advertisers to better match their advertisements with highly relevant video content, as well as target geographic locations and specific languages.

Twitter now has 190 million users producing 65 million tweets per day, the company's COO Dick Costolo said last month.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Facebook Campaign Hits On PC Virus Woes
by Laurie Sullivan, Friday, July 9, 2010

PowerMark designed a new Facebook page for NortonLive that went live Friday, and a discount code feature will follow this week. The code enables Fans of NortonLive's Facebook page to take advantage of special pricing and deals. Part of the campaign will focus on members ages 55 and above.

In the redesigned Fan page, the "What's Hot" tab became the default tab for the page. Specials are posted on the page, grayed out just enough to allow people to see the offer, without providing the ability to take advantage of the deal. Facebook members must "like" the page and become a Fan before redeeming any discounted services NortonLive promotes on the page.

NortonLive, a startup within Symantec, provides computer optimization services such as Virus Removal, PC Power Boost, Expert Install, PC Jumpstart, and Health Check Pro.

The grayed-out Facebook Fan page was not easy to design and implement. "Facebook doesn't offer a lot of service with the campaigns unless you spend $50,000 or more," PowerMark President and CEO Colleen Edwards says. "We opted not to spend that much, so you're stuck entirely with self-serve practices."

Without spending the minimum, benchmark and other types of data is not available through Facebook, unless the client purchases and integrates a third-party product, which makes processes more manual, according to Edwards.

PowerMark also embedded text on the page that search engines would index. Relevant keywords include "slow computer" and "computer problems" and "service."

Building out the campaign began with five paid ads that began to run earlier this year. PowerMark designed the paid ads to drive consumers to a unique landing page where consumers could download PC Checkup, a free tool and the first step to optimizing PCs. It evaluates the computer to provide a list of hang-ups and slowdowns.

The objective was to boost awareness for NortonLive Services and generate demand for PC Checkup. PowerMark used zany characters as the foundation for the campaign to quickly attract Facebook members.

Although "funny" is not typically associated with poor PC performance, PowerMark went with the humor strategy because Facebook creates a social "hangout." Members participate to connect with friends and have fun, something advertisers understand.

Demographic targets were broken into four age groups: 13 to 17, 18 to 22, 23 to 35, and 36 to 55. The most responsive group, 36-55, did not grow up with computers in their laps. This group is generating a particularly high download rate -- more than 387% higher than other age group targets. This is a high growth category on Facebook. It grew 330% from January 2009 to January 2010, representing about 30% of all Facebook members.

PowerMark used Facebook's pay-per-click-based campaign, rather than CPM. Click-through rate is an important metric for NortonLive. Through this metric, the 1% goal for downloads hit 13% rapidly. The agency has been testing minor copy changes and bidding to reach the high rate.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

MTV Networks Acquires Social Express, Forays Into Social Gaming
by Gavin O'Malley Thursday July 8, 2010

Hoping to refresh Nickelodeon Digital's offerings, MTV Networks on Thursday agreed to buy games developer Social Express. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to MTV, the acquisition marks its first entry into the popular social gaming space.

Per the deal, MTV Networks will develop social games based on original IP, as well as shows and characters from MTV, Nickelodeon and its other brands, with the first games expected to be introduced in the third quarter of the year.

MTV Networks also expected to leverage Social Express to launch a publishing platform for independent game developers.

Social Express will be integrated into Nickelodeon Digital, with Social Express co-founder and CEO Tony Espinoza overseeing social gaming strategy and development as vice president and general manager of social gaming for MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group.

Neil Souza, co-founder of Social Express and FoulPlay Media, will be vice president of technology, social games.

Both will report to Dave Williams, senior vice president and general manager of games, Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group, who reports to Stephen Youngwood, executive vice president for Digital, Nickelodeon /MTVN Kids & Family Group.

"They are set to be a key part of our growth strategy," Youngwood said regarding Social Express and MTV's broader gaming strategy. In May, MTV Networks game sites attracted more than 22 million unique visitors and ranked as the number one destination in the online gaming category.

MTV Networks game sites include AddictingGames.com, Shockwave.com, Nick.com Games, Nick.com Arcade, Neopets, GameTrailers, and Xfire.

The acquisition of Social Express is the latest gaming initiative for the Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group, which has also launched AddictingGames on the iPhone with the AG iNetwork and introduced a virtual goods platform to the site in the past year.

Based in San Francisco, Social Express's veteran management team boasts former executives and developers from Apple, AOL, Yahoo and Zynga.

Casual games are serious business these days. For one, they are believed to be largely responsible for continued traffic gains at Facebook. Over the past year, traffic to the social network increased 185% compared to the same week last year. As a result, Facebook surpassed Google in terms of overall traffic for the week ending March 13, according to Hitwise.

Perhaps in response, Google in April announced the acquisition of an Israeli startup named Labpixies, which develops casual games for both the Web and mobile devices. Terms of the deal were not released, but an Israeli news source reported that Google paid $25 million for the company.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Twitter, Facebook Lack Mobile Influence
by Laurie Sullivan Thursday July 8, 2010

Twitter and other social services like Facebook that allow people to update their status still lack clout on wireless devices. Only 10% of the 59% of adult Americans who go online wirelessly have used their mobile phone or wireless laptop to access a status update service, according to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

  While the percentage who access status update apps via a wireless device remains relatively low, the study reveals that adults tap into technology to do a variety of other tasks. Fifty-four percent have used their mobile device to send someone a photo or video, 23% have accessed a social networking site, 20% watched a video, and 15% posted a photo or a video online. A smaller number -- 11% -- admit to purchasing at least one product using their mobile phone, and 11% say they made a charitable donation through a text message.

  Aaron Smith, Pew research specialist, points to the growing number of adults ages 30 to 49 who access the Internet through mobile devices. Seniors are the group with the lowest levels of wireless Internet use. Eight in 10 seniors ages 65 and older are either Internet users who do not go online wirelessly or do not go online at all. "Aside from older adults, we also noticed a lot of growth among lower-income households, too, something that we hadn't necessarily seen before," he says.

  Income and education makes a difference. Seventeen percent of those earning less than $30,000 per year are mobile-phone-only users, as are 20% who have not graduated from high school and 15% of those who graduated from high school but not attended college. It makes sense that people earning less income would have only have a mobile phone.

The study also finds that the use of non-voice data applications has grown in the past year. Taking pictures with a camera mobile phone tops the list. In May 2010, 76% of survey participants admit to taking pictures from their camera phone, up from 66% in April 2009. Sending and receiving text messages followed, with 72% and 65%; accessing the Internet, 38% and 23%; playing a game, 34% and 27%; sending or receiving email, 34% and 25%; recording a video, 34% and 19%; playing music, 33% and 21%; and sending or receiving instant messages, 30% and 20%, respectively.

  People are going online via mobile devices more frequently. Forty-three percent of adult mobile phone Internet users go online through their device several times daily, up from 37% in September 2009, and 24% in April 2009; followed by 12% once daily, up from 15% and 12%; and 8% three to five times weekly, up from 9% and 10%, respectively.

  When it comes to data applications, African-Americans and Latinos outpace Caucasians on handheld devices, a trend that Pew first identified in 2009. Sixty-four percent of African-Americans and 63% of Latinos use the wireless Internet. It turn out that minorities living in America are significantly more likely to own a mobile phone than are their Caucasians counterparts.

  African-Americans and Latinos tend to take advantage of more types of data functions, compared with Caucasian cell phone owners. Eighty-seven percent of African-Americans and English-speaking Hispanics own a cell phone, compared with 80% of whites, according to Pew.

  This year, for the first time, Pew asked survey participants whether they own a tablet such as an iPad, and 3% said "yes." About six in 10 of the 3 percent who own tablets use their device to access the Internet. Given the small amount of tablet owners, these findings are not detailed in the study.

  About 2,252 adults participated in the study, conducted through telephone interviews between April 19 and May 30, 210.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Got Milk? Campaign Goes IPad, SMS
by Karlene Lukovitz, Tuesday July 6, 2010

The iconic, 15-year-old "Got Milk?"/milk-mustachioed celebrity campaign is moving with the times by using new digital channels and their interactive/rich media capabilities.

The campaign's two most recent celebrity marketing efforts are appearing as print ads, as usual. But in addition, one interactive version (featuring St. Louis Cardinals star player Albert Pujols) is being featured in Sports Illustrated's new iPad edition, and the other (featuring Lauren Conrad of TV shows "The Hills" and "Laguna Beach") is available via text messaging.

"Continuing to make the 'Got Milk?' campaign stimulating and exciting has always been an important goal for us, and the advent of various new media channels has challenged us to think differently about how to connect with our various consumer groups most effectively," sums up Vivien Godfrey, CEO of the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), which manages the multifaceted marketing program for its milk-processor sponsors.

The new digitally based efforts cost-effectively make use of opportunities to film new Got Milk? (a/k/a "Milk Mustache") campaign stars while they're being shot for print ads, explains Sal Taibi, partner/general manager of Deutsch Inc., who has led the agency's management of the integrated campaign since its inception.

The Pujols iPad ad version -- which placed MilkPEP among the first round of advertisers in SI's first iPad issue (released June 24), along with AT&T, Sprint, Lexus, Toyota, Nissan, Gatorade and others -- offers, for example, video of the baseball star explaining the reasons that he makes milk part of his training nutrition regimen.

Prior to the iPad's launch, MilkPEP had been working with Pujols to star in a "Got Milk?" print ad as part of its outreach to young males/ male teens (the campaign regularly encompasses various ads targeted to specific audience segments, including moms with growing kids, as well as young/teen males and females, and Hispanic market segments), Godfrey tells Marketing Daily. As a regular SI print advertiser, the debut of the iPad device and SI's plan to launch its iPad edition happened to present a "great" opportunity to achieve "richer, deeper engagement" with the target audience, she says.

Meanwhile, text messaging is enabling MilkPEP to offer female teens access to an exclusive video of Conrad (by snapping a photo of the ad with their smartphones and texting to get immediate video access in return). Again, the video drives home the milk-is-cool message, with the actress/fashion designer explaining why milk is a favorite beverage.

As usual, MilkPEP is running the celebrity print ads in numerous vehicles (the Pujols ad is appearing in ESPN Magazine, Boy's Life, Rolling Stone, gaming titles and comics among others, while the Conrad ad first appeared in USA Today and is also appearing in People, Girl's Life, Rolling Stone and several key teen magazines).

In addition, the availability of the iPad/text messaging interactive media efforts are being promoted via online advertising on a variety of sites heavily trafficked by teens, including Facebook and MyYearbook.com, plus sites specifically geared to male teens and female teens. (MilkPEP also has five of its own sites, each dedicated to serving a different milk-marketing target audience.)

MilkPEP/Deutsch won't try to go back and use previous Got Milk? print ad celebs for new digital/rich media efforts (in part for practical, contractual reasons), says Godfrey. However, she and Taibi report that new creative underway and developed going forward will definitely incorporate the interactive/rich-media capabilities and seek to use what is learned from these initial efforts to expand and hone the campaign's effectiveness at reaching/engaging consumers via new channels/formats.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com

Moms Is A Subset of Women
Tuesday July 6, 2010

On the heels of women's Web preferences in yesterday's Research Brief, Lucid Marketing presents a slice of that total market by exposing Twitter preferences among those who are "hooked on Twitter." 57.9% of moms Twitter from their cell phone, iPhone, Blackberry or smartphone.

According to the study by Lucid and Lisa Finn, not only do the majority of moms use Twitter to find out about new products and keep up with businesses they like, but they're also interested in getting links to news and articles on topics that matter to them.

The most important motivator for moms to follow a business on Twitter is that the business provides useful information in its Twitter feed (68%).

Other important factors are:

• A desire to find out about the company's products or services (67%)
• To get good deals (60%).
• To follow businesses on Twitter because they're already customers. (67%)
• To follow up on a retweet (41%)
• Famous person doing the tweeting for a business carries little clout with moms (6%).

Moms' top two reasons for using Twitter, says the report, are networking/meeting new people (77%), and keeping up with news (60%). And, 54% of moms who use Twitter check their feeds 10 or more times daily; only 13% check once a day or less.

Moms want businesses to tweet with links to articles that interest them, special offers or sales, and downloadable coupons. They're also receptive to tweets that are simply entertaining.

Kevin Burke, President of Lucid Marketing, says "Twitter is often thought of as a broadcast medium for the latest news, but for many people it is a very personal experience... "

The majority of moms like to see humor in businesses' tweets, and in open-ended responses describing what they like about the businesses they follow, moms say they like tweets with personality, and companies that interact with them on Twitter. 

"Marketers are looking for ways to forge personal, authentic connections with consumers, and I was struck by how much moms appreciate getting a sense that there's a real person behind the company. Not only are they open to companies showing some personality in tweets; they actively want that," said Lisa Finn, coauthor of the report. 

When compared with the results from the authors' previous study of moms on Facebook, moms appear to be more open to a range of interactions with companies on Twitter. Moms on Facebook use it primarily to keep in touch with friends and family, while moms on Twitter use it to network with a wider array of contacts.

• 53% Tweet to learn about new products
• 52% Tweet to keep up with their professional contacts

While moms are receptive to marketing on both sites, they're a bit more protective of their personal space on Facebook, and a bit more focused on getting coupons and special offers there. On Twitter they're looking for good deals, too, but they also want to be kept informed about news and articles that are relevant to their lives. 

For more information or to purchase the report, please visit here.

Mobile Ads Pointing To Social Sites Increasing
by Mark Walsh, Thursday July 1, 2010

The expansion of social media on mobile phones is no secret. In a June report, comScore identified social networking as the fastest-growing content category across both mobile browsers and applications. And then there are the 100 million people worldwide accessing Facebook on mobile devices.

The latest piece of evidence in that vein is a 50% rise in mobile ad campaigns that send users to multiple social networking sites in the last six months, according to the May metrics report released today by mobile ad network Millennial Media. Overall, 12% of campaigns direct people to social sites as a call to action within ads, a higher proportion than send users to m-commerce sites or store locator maps.

While mobile advertisers are increasingly trying to drive users to brand pages or promotions on social sites, click-to-call remains the most common type of action they encourage in ads at 36%, followed by signing up for a service (29%), submitting a form (28%), application download (24%) and watching a video (23%).

More than three-quarters (77%) of campaigns overall directed users either to a mobile site or a custom landing page. When it comes to ad formats, Millennial said spending on rich media units was up 85% as marketers that use the higher-impact units "doubled down, making sure it was a key component of their May campaigns."

Spending on mobile rich media ads more broadly will increase dramatically with the launch of the iAd platform today, for which Apple has said it has already taken in $60 million in ad buys from a group of initial sponsors that includes Nike, Nissan, Sears and Target. Whether competing mobile ad networks like Millennial and AdMob enjoy a halo effect from higher spending on the iAd -- or just the reverse -- remains to be seen.

Among other findings from the Millennial report, the number of ad requests per page view was just over one (1.03) and the average monthly page views per user was 108. The average session time was up by a minute to five minutes -- three seconds -- as the ending of the school year led to more time spent on mobile phones.

Millennial's audience grew slightly in April to 61.5 million from 60 million unique users, or 82% of U.S. mobile Web users.

For more information visit www.mediapost.com