In our past  blog, The Future of Social TV , we described Social TV as “ a viewer…  engaging with a second screen while viewing TV”. This buzz topic, which has been  on the radar of marketers for a while, has now exploded into a full-blown trend. Just when advertisers were losing the battle to their nemesis, the DVR, Social TV came to their rescue, encouraging real-time tune in and engaging fans.

The conundrum epitomized by John Wanamaker’s iconic quote, “half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half” has always haunted advertisers.  This has been especially true with TV and print advertising because advertisers have had no way of  knowing how effective their campaigns were. However, the advent of social TV bridges media to data, generating a goldmine of statistics for marketers to profit from and to optimize campaigns with.

For example, Bluefin Labs, a social analytics firm, reports that the season finale of American Idol generated 5,956,134 social comments. Yes, that is 5 million comments in a few hours of TV! This powerful viewership data suggests that people are highly engaged with the show. As a result, advertisements stop being background noise and start becoming relevant to viewers.

Besides being a data-collecting machine, social TV is a mass reaching vehicle  that can  deliver innovative, and extremely engaging content while providing new avenues for people to interact with brands. Let’s see how Fox is raising the Social TV marketing bar.

• Fox has created online communities called hubs for Glee, American Idol, and X Factor where fans can interact live with  each other. Also, fan’s conversations across all social media platforms are captured, curated and delivered in the hub for the audience to engage with in real-time.

• The show Glee has a had its actors and even characters, like Rachel Berry Tweet during airtime engaging with  fans to encourage real-time tune in. As a result, they got over 20 million Facebook “likers” or “gleekers” as they are kindly dubbed by the network and about 1.5 million followers on Twitter.

• Idol created exclusive content to reward online engagement and direct people to its social media hub.  For example, the #idolbackstage hash tag unlocked exclusive content on AmericanIdol.com, but only after 10,000 fans joined in the conversation on Twitter!

In a recent AdAge article, Jack Wakshlag, Chief Research Officer at Turner Broadcasting said: “The most important overall finding is to understand that people use media to optimize their levels of interest and excitement“. The magnitude of online buzz generated as a result of these social media engagement strategies is  simple proof of that.  This is great news for advertisers because people who engage in social media while viewing TV are now paying attention to it and not skipping commercials! In fact, people engaging in social TV “proved 1.2 times more engaged than those viewing alone without a social app”.

This media opens the door to innumerable possibilities, such as synchronized advertisements, where a commercial is displayed on TV and on the second screen at the same time. But it also increases complexity for marketers, for example designing a cohesive social ecosystem for brands gets challenging when considering all screens— tablets, online, mobile and streaming media— that viewers are using.  Social TV is here to stay and the faster marketers implement it in their strategies, the faster they can monetize this trend.

Stay abreast of trends by following us on Twitter.

Check out our Facebook page to see some cool infographics on Social TV.

By: Angela Romero, Marketing Associate

Angela@bars-tone.com

@AngelaLRomero

In our previous post NFC: Disrupting QR Codes, we talked about how Near Field Communication (NFC) is the next game-changing technology for mobile advertising in the United States. For Asian markets, however, NFC is at a later stage, being a fully adopted technology with a wide variety of uses beyond marketing. For example, Pasmo, Tokyo subway’s rechargeable card has an embedded NFC chip, which allows passengers to enter the trains without having to take the cards out of their bags. Marketers in Asian markets are tapping into NFC’s huge potential as well. In Tokyo, advertising agency Shunkosha installed NFC chips in subway straps. When the user taps the straps the NFC chip sends a signal to the smartphone with URLs containing advertisements, discounts, or other information. “Strappy”, as the campaign was called, sent users advertisements from the travel agency H.I.S.

Asian markets, especially Japan and South Korea, have been ahead of the curve in numerous mobile innovations. The ill-fated QR code, 3G and 4G networks, and mobile email were ubiquitous in Japan when they were merely a buzz word in Western markets. David Steel, Executive VP of Strategy and Corporate Communications for Samsung Electronic explains that there are societal factors explaining why Western markets lag behind Asian markets in terms of the adoption of mobile innovations. He comments that 16% of Americans consider themselves “early adopters”, compared to 40% of their South Korean counterparts. In the interview video posted below,  Trevor Healy, CEO of [a•mo•bee], explains that an important factor fueling innovation and early adoption in mobile technology across South East Asia is the lack of personal computers and the pervasiveness of smartphones. He mentions that the increase in mobile advertising in this region is nothing short of 300- 400% in growth. Despite Asia’s head start in mobile advertising, the U.S. is trailing behind with noteworthy applications of NFC technology.

The emphasis for the U.S. seems to be on payment services like Google Wallet, Square, Intuit, and Paypal. Google Wallet uses an embedded NFC chip that stores credit card information on your smartphone. Instead of swiping a credit card, the NFC chip communicates with the payment receiver and completes the transaction wirelessly. According to Visa, this market is going to skyrocket with estimated transactions expected to increase from $27 million in 2012 to $40 billion in 2014.

In the U.S., companies are experimenting with a combination of print ads and mobile to create innovative campaigns, wooing costumers with their novel approach. In a pioneering effort, Lexus and Wired Magazine paired up to create the first print ad with an embedded NFC tag for their April 2012 issue. For readers with NFC-enabled phones, the ad brings up a video that showcases the new Enform® App Suite, which integrates popular mobile applications, such as Pandora, Yelp, and Open Table to the luxury vehicle.

NFC technology will disrupt the QR code trend with it’s more intuitive usage. For other areas of marketing like social media and location-based marketing, this technology will open the horizons to a more interactive arena. For print, NFC incorporates the web to a previously hard-to-track medium. With print ads directing people to the web, there is a bonanza of data for marketers to capitalize on. At the end, cutting through today’s clutter is a marketer’s Holy Grail and biggest challenge. NFC offers infinite possibilities for marketers to jump that hurdle.

By: Angela Romero

Twitter: @AngelaLRomero

Austin Allen, Marketing Associate

Austin@bars-tone.com

@austin_sf

NFC (Near Field Communication) is the next up and coming mobile technology that should change the game for mobile marketing, again.  You don’t have to have an App or try to fit that ugly little square into the capture area of your phone.  It takes away one step and requires less work than a QR Code.  In Tuesday’s blog I explained why I thought QR codes are dead as a marketing tactic, at least in the U.S.  NFC has a big potential in being more successful than QR Codes because it can transfer the same information without that extra step of having to load an app.  It’s easier to use too…

The future of mobile marketing will look like this.  A tag will be embedded in an ad, poster, and billboard (or on your dog’s collar if you feel the need).  Tap your NFC capable phone near the tag and information is sent directly to your phone.  You’re credit card might already have NFC in it, also called “Contact-less Payment”.  The excitement about NFC is currently building around payment, and receiving a receipt digitally as well, but it will have endless marketing uses as well.  The iPhone 5 is rumored to have this built-in technology as well as the Samsung/Google Nexus S which is already on sale.   When big name phones such as these implement the technology, there will be a new break-through in mobile marketing.  No more reaching over someone’s head on the BART trains to scan that tiny little square!  Bump and go.

Have you used NFC yet? Share your thoughts below!

Austin Allen, Marketing Associate

Austin@bars-tone.com

@austin_sf

If you still think QR Codes have a place in your marketing mix, you should reconsider.  A lot of us were really excited to see this mobile scanning technology take off, but it just isn’t.  We’ve written a few blogs about the subject, and filmed a man on the street short video as well.  Marketers have jumped on the QR Code bandwagon thinking they were becoming a part of a cutting edge marketing trend.  Yes, QR Codes can be found just about anywhere, and there might be more people who are scanning them.  But, it is still a relatively small portion of the people who actually see the add with the QR Code on it.  More non-marketing folk know how to use them and what they are, but it is just too inconvenient (if not socially awkward) to scan that QR Code conveniently located on the wall above someone’s head on that BART train.  There are a few big cities that might see a modest hit count on their ads but I would argue that for the most part, the buzz is waning.

I asked Craig Alexander, SVP of Client Services at Gumas what he thought about QR Codes.  Not surprisingly, he agreed with my position:  ”It’s hard to declare QR Codes dead because, frankly, they just never caught in with the American consumer like they did in Europe and Asia. Although marketers embraced the promise of QR Codes, I suspect that the extra step of having to scan a code to redeem a promotion or to learn more was a hindrance. By essentially eliminating that step, I believe that Near Field technology will allow mobile marketing to take hold in a way that QR Codes never achieved.”

In Bert Heymans’ presentation “QR Codes 2012 beyond the hype?” he touts the success of QR Codes as a marketing tactic because there has been a huge growth in use. For example, he sites a 1400% increase in scanning of codes from Q3 2010 to Q3 2011!  But if you look closely at the data, the “exponential growth” has stagnated toward the end of 2011.  It’s only a matter of time until that new car smell wears off.  It’s easy to achieve high growth numbers when you’re starting at a very small number.

In addition, while “Time on Page” metrics appear to be relatively high, keep in mind that mobile phones take a rather long to interact with on both 3G and Wifi networks. Time yourself the next time you try to fill out an information form on an iPhone.  ”Time on Page” isn’t a good measurement of success with QR Codes.  They aren’t interacting with your landing page for a longer period of time because of the QR Code.  Finally, the demographic most likely to be early adopters of a new technology (18- 22 yrs old), isn’t using them either.  I think that’s  a pretty good sign that they aren’t penetrating.  If the tech savvy demographic isn’t using them, the other demographics probably won’t ever use them.

I see two essential problems with QR Codes:

• QR Code Readers don’t come native on smart phones. It’s a lot of work for people to initially download the scanner apps and figure out how to use them.  The people that do use them know what they are about and how to do it.  Right there, a person must already be interested in using them.  Would you watch a TV ad if you had to go through a process to receive the information in the ad?

• Scanning QR Codes is a bit socially awkward. How cool is it to hold up your phone and try to scan the code?  Is this weirdo trying to film me? Take a picture? Oh, they are trying to scan that ugly bar code on that ad.

I have more faith in the up-and-coming, but not necessarily new, NFC (Near Field Communication) technology (which will be covered in a separate blog on Thursday).  The moral of the story is this: marketers are eager to tap into your handset and unlock mobile marketing, but QR Codes aren’t the solution, at least for the American consumer.  My view on this might be unpopular with marketers because the promise of mobile is so high. But take heart, the more exciting emerging marketing trend will be NFC, which I think has a more lasting place for mobile marketers. What do you think?

By Eric L. Steckel, GM

Over the years, BARS+TONE has had some very talented folks join our fold. Some have remained, some have moved on, but all are remembered. We’re a tight group, we stay in contact and we do our best to share in each other’s success. Recently, the Huffington Post ran a story about Instagram Users To Follow: 19 Stunning Accounts We Can’t Get Enough Of. BARS+TONE is proud to announce that number 4 on that list is Tyo Guritno, @tyoguritno, a former intern and graphic designer here at our agency. Tyo has moved on to Pandora, but he made big mark on what was a fledgling agency at the time.

Tyo was a marketing intern, of all things, but he always had a very keen eye for design and graphics. It’s no surprise that he’s been able to take an application like Instagram and make real artwork out of it. We take our hats off to you, Tyo. Keep it up!

In related news, Social Media Week has launched a contest, Instagram Your City.   Show the world, and other Instagramers, what makes your city unique by capturing a shot and tweet it with the hashtag: #InstagramYourCity.

Austin Allen

@austin_sf

austin@bars-tone.com

By Austin Allen, Social Media Ninja

Austin@bars-tone.com

@austin_sf

•  Length:  Keep your video under 2 minutes.  2 minutes seems to be the sweet spot for video lengths before viewers get bored and look for a new video.  Obviously, there are some cases where a longer or shorter video is necessary depending on the purpose.  The average length of a YouTube video is said to be about 4 minutes and 12 seconds according to this article, but unless you are uploading a music video or have a specific purpose for the video to be that long, it is good to keep it short and concise before your viewer clicks on the next recommended video in the right-hand column of your video.

•  Title:  Make sure your Title is a “Title”, not a sentence.  I always stand behind the rule, “less is more”.  Use your title to give a clear picture of what the video has in store in as few words as possible.  Don’t forget that the title should have a few important keywords just like the Tags and Descriptions.  Read this article for more tips on creating viral video titles.

•  Tags:  Add tags (meta-tags) to your video to make it more searchable.  Remember, SEO applies to videos, but a computer can’t read content from a video…just text.  Give the search engines the ability to rank and categorize your video just as it would do for your website.   Don’t “keyword stuff” your videos though.  You wouldn’t keyword stuff your website or blog right? Be creative with your tagging, tag categories and specific words as well.  Read here for a more in depth analysis of tagging.

•  Description:  This one falls along the same lines as tags.  Provide the context of your video and links to your website and social media accounts.  Use words that people would be searching for, but don’t overdo it.  Make your description natural, catchy, and easy to read. This should be a teaser of what the viewer is going to watch.

• Lastly, make a video that is engaging and makes viewers want to share, comment, and like your video.  The more these things happen on your video, the higher they will rank on search engines.  We like to think we’re experts at this part here at BARS+TONE.  Your audience will move on if they aren’t engaged in about 10 to 20 seconds.  Most of us don’t have time to watch something un-interesting, so it’s only natural to jump from video to video.  There isn’t really a formula for creating engaging content, but if your video is visually appealing and well produced, you’re well on your way.

 


Email us at info@bars-tone.com, if you’d like to talk to us about creating your next engaging and compelling video!

Check out our swanky new green logo!

Guess what! BARS+TONE is officially a Certified Green Business by the City of San Francisco and State of California! We couldn’t be happier to have received this certification, and so close to Earth Day.   At BARS+TONE we are constantly exploring ways to limit our eco-footprint by working to identify best practices, educate and empower our employees and clients to make more environmentally responsible choices from energy usage, to transportation and consumption of paper and other resources.   Here are a few things we are doing to help minimize our environmental impact while working and growing in San Francisco.

• Conserve energy by converting 80% of our incandescent and CFL lamps to LED lighting systems and continue to purchase Energy Star rated equipment and computers.
• Conserve natural resources by establishing a Commuter Benefits Program that enables employees to use a pre-tax deduction for public transit, vanpool, and biking costs. We also have bragging rights for winning the Great Race for Clean Air last year!
• Conserve water by undergoing facilities improvements to use low-flow toilets and water flow restrictors.
• Reduce waste by recycling, composting and using materials with 100% recycled content. As well as donate re-usable materials to local programs.
• Support other green and local businesses by making environmentally preferable purchasing decisions.
• Minimize paper waste by printing all marketing collateral on 50% post-consumer-recycled paper and using soy-based inks.
• Participating in a carbon offset programs.

Being a green business means more to us than just having a pretty green logo – it means we are helping to shape the world around us and working toward a better future for our industry.   Wondering how to get your business certified? Ask our GREEN Wizard questions in the comments below…

By: Austin Allen, Marketing Associate

@austin_sf

Austin@bars-tone.com

I’ve been following this phenomenon they call BranchOut for the last month, ever since I got an invite from a random individual who I never expected to be concerned about their career.  The circumstances surrounding the invite intrigued me.  Why was this person inviting me to join their network?  The answer: Automatic invites from people who joined via other automatic invites.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not writing this article to discourage anyone from checking it out.  I am always rooting for the hip new start-up companies that are working hard to make something cutting edge but in my time, I’ve seen a few networks come and go (MySpace, Unthink to name a few).  Unthink had nothing really different to offer over Facebook, and MySpace was the leader in social media for a long time until they allowed the users too much design control.  The key is to offer something different.  This new professional network is pretty much the same as LinkedIn but it is using the massive Facebook user base to spread like wildfire.  At over 5.5 million users, it would seem they are doing well.  I would be curious how many of them did what I did: Joined, checked it out, and never opened the tab again.

I don’t think BranchOut will be successful for a few reasons.  The first reason is: As a young professional with a Facebook page that now runs timeline, I don’t really want my professional career building contacts to have access to my Facebook page.  I won’t beat around the bush.  Many of us have our personal life out on Facebook for the world to see.  Why would I want to easily direct a potential employer to my personal life.  I once heard a past marketing teacher say, “All of us having something on our Facebook page that could lose us that potential job if you look hard enough”!

Many people are jumping on the BranchOut bandwagon right now to check it out.  Afterall, it’s on Facebook.  That makes it one step easier than building a LinkedIn profile.  I think a whole bunch of people are checking it out but not really using it.  My gut feeling is that, the droves of people that aren’t really professionals will check it out because it seems like a great idea to be serious about their career but will quickly forget about it.  I would like to say this happened to Hipstamatic, they blew up with this cutting edge concept, but in the end it was more of a novelty.  They didn’t find a way to make it stay relevant as Hipstamatic did with its sharing.  Although, they started the picture filter craze, they only made about $5Million in Revenue thus far.  Branch out will be a novelty on Facebook for some time, but in the end, LinkedIn has given us a reason to stay.  We want to keep our business and personal contacts separate (and for good reason too).

My last reason is, simply: I really don’t have time to manage more accounts.  Unless a network comes around that really changes the game, I don’t usually stick with it for very long.  I think that will be the norm in our saturated Social Media Network landscape of the 2010′s.  Most of the cutting edge start-ups right now are coming from the way they use apps.  I would argue that the future of Social is in mobile, I’m not just talking about apps that are just mini-websites but apps that bring something new such as: Instagram, Draw Something, Words with….

I did a search for marketing jobs the other day on BranchOut and narrowed it down to the experience levels I would be interested in and the positions all came up as Director, Manager, and Senior this or that.  I’m sure they just need some tweaking in their algorithms, but for now I’d say I gave it the ol’ benefit of the doubt by allowing it to connect to my Facebook.  To date I’ve been on BranchOut 3 times: The first day I loaded it, a second day to try some of the features out, and the last day to write this blog.  I’m hoping after I write this that there is a reason to check it out a 4th time to see if I was wrong (hopefully I am).

Have you “branched out” yet? What’s your take on this new LinkedIn competitor?

By: Austin Allen

austin@bars-tone.com

@austin_sf