WWW Truly Going Global

It has been all over the news, in the last couple of days, that WWW will finally live up to its name. The Internet, born in the USA, for the first time in history, will incorporate non-Latin characters. This marks a great technological change in the way web works and is expected to open up access to millions of new users.

Being born in the Latin alphabet-world, this may not be such a radical change for most of us. However, in many countries like Korea, China, Thailand, it has been a great struggle and inconvenience for users to switch back and forth between their native alphabet and the Latin alphabet modes. It is also believed that this improvement will also help remove the inbuilt cultural bias.

At this point, I believe it would also be appropriate to look at the e-marketing implications of this change. Using the native language may help users locate what they are looking for more easily, let it be local flower-shops or consulting companies. As a result, the e-marketing efforts are bound to be more fruitful in the end, being able to target a more specific group of users, following up on their different ways to access information. Furthermore, in terms of local businesses and community projects, people will have the opportunity to describe themselves in their own language, and thus distinguishing themselves for better marketing techniques.

Of course, the change is not without its critics. However, it is also a small change on the bumpy road to a more "fair" WWW.

2 Great Online Ads

Wandering on the bcc.co.uk website I came across an article that has specially hand-picked some great ads from the industry. My favorites were the Burger King's Whopper Virgins and the Pringles' banner advert that has won a Cyber Lion award at Cannes this year. They both topped aspects of creativity and interaction. In addition to this, they have a deep understanding of who they are talking to and based on the success rates of the ads, also of what turns them on. They have engaged these two angles and have been successful in attracting people and piquing their curiosity through teasing them.

Burger King Whopper Virgins

I don't know if it's me or the music in the background, I have found this ad considerably touching. They have gone beyond the whole aspect of Big Mac vs. Whopper, and also have brought in a social ambience, the exchange of culture.

Pringles' online ad brings a new line with every click you make on the ad, all being very unexpected and humorous. Once you click this ad, it becomes seriously addictive to continue (usually with a smirk on your face), which seems to be in exact collaboration with Pringles' advertising motto, "once you pop, you can't stop".

Online advertising vs. TV advertising: Rivals or Allies?

Times have changed. The typical day of an average adult has changed. Thanks to the technology that allows us to check our e-mails even during the stretch break of a pilates class, we are a lot more engaged in the digital world. Facebook messages have replaced the SMS, and the online messengers have lessened the amount of time we spend talking on the phone a great deal in our daily lives, meaning: Internet ALWAYS ON, and TV? Ehh, I'd rather have my laptop close for the commercial breaks or even watch the my favorite shows online.

Changes in the advertising industry have also seem to fit the general trend we converge towards in our social lives. According to a BBC report, for the first time in the UK, online advertising spending has overtaken TV advertising expenditures. (You can check out the article, for the actual figures.) This is described as a huge milestone, since for years, online advertising has been seen as a "poor cousin" to TV advertising.

(I can't embed the video with Nick Fox from the DDP, but be sure to check it out!)

However, the question to be discussed is whether this comparison is fair. Online and TV advertising seem to be most fruitful when they go hand in hand. Furthermore, the description of online advertising in this case includes "E-mail campaigns, classified adverts, display ads and search marketing". How fair is it to bundle all that in one pot, without assessing the productivity of each tool?

Given the tough economic times, it is exciting to see online advertising thrive and bring out stimulating opportunities for online marketeers. Therefore, for my next entry, I will be taking another dive to the e-world to discuss what makes a great online ad!

uSocial: How would you like fries with that friend?

"How dare you to think you can own me? You can have my body, but never my soul!" may be a typical line from a Latin soap opera, but probably not the case with uSocial, an Australian online-marketing company that recommends potential friends to companies, after having trawled Facebook for users by criteria like age, location and interests. This is because, once you fall into the vicious network of uSocial (in other words, agree to be its friend), you are sold, both your cyber body and soul, to those companies who are willing to pay about 15 cents for you. So, if you are wondering, that is pretty much how much you are worth online. uSocial also sells Twitter followers to companies looking for the ever so desperately sought positive buzz.

The article I came across the Economist, September 19th issue, discusses whether the idea of selling friends makes for good marketing. Does purchasing friends or fans establish brand loyalty? How likely are you to bribe a friend to make them come to your party? Does that mean they will enjoy that party? Or is it more like you are demeaning your own idea of entertainment by making yourself seem so desperate? I think the bigger harm might be that websites like Twitter and Facebook may lose popularity if users feel that they are being 'used' for advertising, instead of being care-freely stalked and gossiped about. uSocial would not want to upend the big guys' revenue sources. Oh no.

Even though it is up to you to decide what you want to do with that body and soul, keep in mind the virtues of uSocial's business plan.

Start Hunching!

Hunch.com is a website that I have been invited to by a genius friend, Volkan, from high school. I say genius, because he is really one (MIT Engineering, full scholarship) but maybe I should leave my praising of Volkan for another blog entry.

The email he sent looked like this: "What's Hunch? It's a new way to help you make decisions and solve problems. Because Hunch is powered by user input, it gets smarter each time someone contributes to it. But what decisions, what problems? You name it. Volkan Gurel thought you might be particularly be interested in: *Laptops. "So accepting my friend's personal invite (you can only log on with a personal invite from someone who is already registered and Volkan works for them), I actually went onto the website to try the test for laptops. It asked me a couple of questions, some are somehow related to laptops, some completely off. The final result it gave me was actually the laptop I had bought a year ago. I was pretty impressed!

However, I didn't restart thinking about this website till I was studying for the midterm and going over Web 2.0. The power of collaboration among people and high interactivity rates were the underlying roots of this website since it is designed to help you make decisions through asking you 10 questions or less powered by collective knowledge.

So what could be the implications for e-marketing? Could marketers utilize this service through asking you totally unrelated questions about a topic but still find out your views on it? It could be used for doing customer research on more sensitive topics that people be more reluctant to answer questions about. Limits on individual human intelligence may be traceable, but there are no boundaries for collective intelligence!

Capucine for Edurelief!

Yesterday, one of my friends forwarded me this video on Facebook:

It is one of the cutest videos I've seen. (Even guys I have seen it with have said: "Oh! She's too adorable!")  On top of that I realized that her mom is using views of this video to raise money for a Mongolian charity called the Edurelif. Wanting to see more of this cute girl's videos, I went on to the website where the mother uploads more videos of her daughter, Capucine and explains her motivation of increasing awareness for Edurelif. 

Capucine for Edurelief in Mongolia from Capucha on Vimeo.

This is another example how social media can be used for cause marketing. Her mother has taken a great idea and has launched something cute, exciting and motivating enough to initiate a viral buzz. Placing the video on Youtube has also definitely increased the number of hits it has received. 

Check out the other funny videos and spread the word yourself!

Effective Use of Web 2.0 Tools

As we go through hard times in the economy, some Web 2.0 tools can come handier than expected for creating growth in companies. Through the use of tools like Twitter and Facebook, some companies have been creating an online buzz and implementing online marketing campaigns. Zappos.com is one of these companies. The online shoe and clothing company tweets about what happens to them at the airport, what they ate "between phone calls and state of the economy", stressing on the fact that their product is less important: It's more about the business. 

However, not all companies can benefit from Twitter and Facebook as much as other companies. The usage really depends on the products and services they offer. Twitter and Facebook greatly differ among themselves too: Even though Twitter may have less users than Facebook, their users seem to be hyper connected and are very different from mainstream Facebook users.

An article I came across talks about some key steps to take before enjoying a Twitter presence:

1)Listen and learn about Twitter

2)Establish your objectives and metrics for success

3)Set up your company's Twitter profile

4)Mind your Twitter etiquette

What it could be seen is that using Twitter as a marketing tool requires steps that should be taken when implementing any kind of an online marketing plan and greatly ties in with the Forrester objectives that should be taken as guidelines. You need to listen to your customers, and talk to them in the proper way. Furthermore, your success on Twitter depends on how much you are able to energize your customers. 

An Unintended Viral Campaign: The Story of Cumbio from Argentina

Agustina Vivero, aka Cumbio, is a 17 year old teenager from Argentina, who became the nation's Internet and television celebrity through turning Argentina's most popular social networking site into a marketing medium. Cumbio's fotolog site is among the most viewed Internet sites in Argentina, tallying 36 million visits over the past year. 

But how did it all start? Last year, she started to invite some friends over to her family's house in the poorer part of the city. They hung out and took photos of themselves with their trademarks: big tousled hair, bright V-neck t-shirts and sneakers.

As numbers increased, they decided to move the meetings somewhere else. Local kids gathering outside got the attention of the media. She was the one to make the explanation for the new movement: "People don't understand what this is about. People are used to fame coming from television or from sports but not from the Internet, where people are posting photos and bringing together and having fun".

Floggers do not want to change the world, they want to survive and have the best possible time they can.

Cumbio was soon featured in Nike commercials, TV shows, has signed modeling contracts, and has even written a book about her life.

This is the power of online social media. This is something that shows how a blog that started through friends getting together and taking pictures can influence other people in so many other ways. Cumbio, who is openly gay and comfortable with not being model-thin is giving out a message that was only deliverable with the support of the online social media. 

Facebook ads: Marketer's paradise, user's hell?

Scanning through some articles about latest Facebook news, I came across something (yet again!) brand new. The recent news is that now Facebook can have ads that target you by language and location. According to the article I read on New York Times, ads targeting languages were not surprising now that Facebook can be used in many languages. However, targeting users with location-specific ads is the more interesting one among two of the updates. With this feature, the advertisers can tap into detailed demographics of the users (if they have provided them) and even have the possibility to introduce hyperlocal ads.  Wouldn't that be marketer's paradise? Would that also be user's paradise? Or not? 

It really depends on how much the user is willing to share. With these new features, it gets harder to maintain your privacy online. Even though there is still the option of opting out, some people will just not bother with it. The ultimate level of interactivity and individualization! Will that add to our Facebook experience as we warmly welcome ads about near-by restaurants, gyms, theaters or cause some people withdraw usage as these ads get too nosy about our lives? Some people really do not want to know or be known about...

There is no way of telling now since the feature can only work in the USA, the UK and Canada.  As Facebook exploits all interactive features of Web 2.0, we can only sit back and see what it will do next.

Interactive Fashion from StyleShake

StyleShake is one of a kind! It is a website that allows you to become your own fashion designer: In this website, you can design a dress, decide on the fabric, color, shape, tailor it to fit your body and get it shipped to your house in 10 business days. From the very start, they have been trying to provide the highest quality, in addition to selling the garment at an affordable price. 

Could this be the revolution that saves so much time for millions of women that spend days looking for their dream look? Trying on hundreds on dresses, and still not finding what they are looking for? Most likely yes! For those women that know what they want, but are not able to obtain it in the desired color, size, texture, price etc. this is the greatest opportunity! Letting their users interact online with ultimate customization has shown some impressive statistics: 95% of the visitors at StyleShake design their own dresses and spend an average of 14 minutes perusing the site. The website also has a blog that brings the fashionistas together to discuss topics such as star style Oscars, style makeovers, sales and designers. Through creating an online community and coupling it up with creativity, interaction and individualization around a common interest, this website has successfully created a girls only fashion club!

Even if you are somewhat like me, with no creative skills, and more likely to fall in love with that Alberta Ferretti dress, this site is still amazing for experimenting with new styles and for trying to animate that latent creativity in you! 

Facebook Complaints

Every morning, we wake up to some Facebook news or a change that has been implemented on the site. The recent talk was about the right of the company over the uploaded material on the site. Who does it belong to? To the user or Facebook? Protests have caused Mark Zuckerberg to invite users to share their opinions about the terms of use. As its creator, Zuckerberg is aware of the power that a social networking site can have over owners, because the users see themselves as the owners. I wonder if he's thinking: "Oh no, I've created a monster!"
The monster that emerges from unification of voices is in fact pretty strong. This monster usually complains of the changes, is hardly satisfied and always wants to go back to the 'old way of things'. I remember how everyone was protesting the news feed, the new layout. What happened? The users got used to the new features, and now use them very frequently. Of course, it is important for a social networking site to listen to its customers, but it is sometimes good to stick to your guns. Being afraid of change prevents you from experimenting. And without experimenting, there is no way to keep this monster coming back to check its inbox and wall every 10 minutes. The truth is no one really knows what a good networking site should have. So this is a thin line we are talking about here. Yes, the users should complain. The site should listen. But not always! So maybe knowing when to respond to the complaints is what has made Facebook successful so far.

The Top 10 Viral Ad Campaigns

Surfing online I came across a Times article  that reports the top 10 viral ad campaigns of the web as presented by Mr.Maymann, GoViral's chairman. Unfortunately some of them were removed from Youtube.com by the companies that have created them. Nevertheless, the examples (that I have picked) below best illustrate the crucial components of a online viral campaign: making people feel something and doing something unexpected.

The Nike clip featuring famous football star Ronaldinho

Quicksilver Dynamite Surfing: How to go in a country without waves, Denmark

Dove Evolution: "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted"

>

Berlitz: "What are you zinking about?"

Pink MySpace Has Gone A Long Way

General Mill's most recent social viral campaign, Pink for the Cure,  has just been listed among the Viral Hall of Fame 2008. The campaign aims to spread "simple stories of hope" on its dedicated MySpace page. It targets those women between the ages of 25 and 50, whose lives have been touched by breast cancer. General Mills, being more than a trendy "pink-marketeer" has invested in the long term social networking movement and has proved to be very successful! As I read through some of the strategies they have employed, the Groundswell objectives were already echoing in my mind:

1) Go where people are: MySpace (listening, check!)

2) Walk the walk: create personal connections 

3) Empower the impassioned: let them become evangelists (energizing, check!)

And no wonder they have been so successful. Partnering up with a networking site that has allowed them to reach their desired audience through understanding their need for moral and emotional support and they have just provided this without further complications. 

Missing TURKCELL

While talking about LISTENING this week, the company that immediately popped into my mind was TURKCELL- a Turkish telecommunications company that was founded about 15 years ago (or so, I just remember when my dad got his first cell phone, he was among the first). After having to deal with Fido in Canada, Turkcell has even started to seem even more divine to me, not only because of its (way) superior service in terms of EVERYTHING, but also of that fact that they actually listen to their customers. The anecdote that I am going to tell happened about 6 years ago, when most companies in Turkey would not even dream of a website like Turkcell had, let alone the online services they had been providing. Anyways, I had just gotten my bill, stating that I had been charged for something that I thought I was not supposed to. Of course, being my dad's daughter (you got to fight all the injustice in this world, especially economical ones!!!), I went online in the hopes of finding some kind of feedback form that I could fill in instead of calling customer service (Not really my dad's daughter here, he would have called). Anyhow, I wrote them a polite message stating my complaint. To tell you the truth, that was actually it for me. I didn't really expect anything out of it, I wasn't even sure if I was supposed to be charged or not. Who is going to deal with a 10 TL extra charge (about $CAD 7) on some teenager's telephone bill? To my surprise, they actually called me back and explained to me the situation. Well, they were too surprised, for my over expression of gratitude since realistically thinking I did not believe a company would exist 1) in Turkey 2) that actually cared what their customers said. 

Of course, it is deadly important that the company is aware of what the customers really think about it. You could do so much with showing yourself as a hip, creative cooperation when the customers think the right opposite. Though, this is very difficult to achieve since it is hard to predict where to start the listening. Is website the best place for it? How about those users that don't really utilize the website, wouldn't they be left out? And even if you actually got some feedback, how would you interpret it? Aaah the mystifying world of e-marketing!

So briefly, the moral of the story: If Turkcell was a man, I'd marry him. 

www.turkcell.com

Pope on Youtube!!

As I have recently found out from bbc.com  Pope Benedetto XVI has launched his own channel on Youtube. Apparently being fond of new technologies, the Pope aims to reach a bigger cyber space that he refers as the 'digital generation'. He will be airing in English, German, Spanish and Italian. Will he gain more exposure? Is that his aim? "You must find new ways to spread -in a new manner- voice and pictures of hope, through the internet, which wraps all of our planet in an increasingly close knitted-way". So also the Pope has discovered the extramundane powers of the cyber world. However, I think it's ironic how Pope will be airing on a website that could also contain a lot of elements that would be condemned by the Catholic world. Having lived in Italy for 5 months and having conversed with the 'digital generation' that Pope hopes to reach to about such issues, it will be interesting for me follow up on the success of this channel.

www.youtube.com/vaticanit

Internet and Activism

Alreaaady- let my blogging experience begin:

Surfing on the bbc.com I came across an article that talks about how politics will change the web. Putting the USA presidential elections under the spot light yet ever again, Mr.Thompson mentions of the unplaceable vitality of internet in terms of politics and how it increases the level of conversation and interaction, though not yet displacing the more traditional methods. To contrary to the article title's "How politics will change web", to me the main idea is about how the web changes the delivery channels of politics. Use of digital tools, including advertising on computer games like Obama has done, is another way for politicians to market themselves to the public. Of course, not only another way, a very efficient (or is it?) way, I'd say, thinking of the multitudinous ways a form of activism can pop up on a surfer's screen. However for me the question remains: How willing are we to embrace the change of another set of traditional methods as e-marketing tries even harder to break down the walls of our apathetic life styles? Is all that

 activism something we really want to buy? Or would we rather stick to our search on Google on "where to buy leather iPhone cases"?