Tag, You're It!
Facebook recently introduced a subtle change and for once it won't change the appearance of your news feed. Facebook introduced a new feature that allows users to identify people or objects that have their own Facebook Pages.
Previously, users could only tag their friends. Now users can tag celebrities or public figures they meet or tag the brands and products they use. For example, if I posted a photo of myself running in Nike sneakers, I could label the shoes with a tag that links to Nike's official Facebook Page.
For now, this tagging feature is limited to Pages for people or brands and products, although Facebook plans to expand these categories.
If it catches on, this new feature could be great for brands looking to go viral and spread awareness about their products. Companies will no doubt run contests, forcing participants to tag products. It is essentially free advertising on one the coolest and most popular websites today. At least for now.
The new tagging feature could also be an opportunity for Facebook to monetize the site's photo service, perhaps adding sponsored tags.
After all, nothing evokes fond family memories like that tagged bottle of soda in the background!
Brand Refreshment: Belk vs. Gap
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Much of October's design buzz was focused on the new Gap logo. With the change came die-hard Gap customers commenting on blogs, Facebook sites, and within the design community.
Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America, initially defended the logo, writing that the move brings Gap into the modern age. "We want our customers to take notice of Gap and see what it stands for today," she said. "We chose this design as it's more contemporary and current. It honors our heritage through the blue box while still taking it forward."
Hmm. The iconic blue box of Gap was actually diminished, rather than honored in the new design. Adding a gradient and moving it into a submission position does nothing in my mind to 'honor its heritage.' After only a week, Gap decided to revert back to the original logo.
Belk Department Store debuted its new image right around the same time, but was somewhat overshadowed in the media. Both Belk and Gap stated that they wanted to move their respective brands into a more updated space, and redesigned the logos to coincide with the modern feel of the apparel and the stores. So why was Belk's change more widely accepted (individual design critiques aside), and Gap's new image was met with such passionate disapproval?
A couple of ideas:
1. Regional awareness. Belk is a regional brand, with a smaller target audience than the global presence of Gap. While Belk isn't just "your Grandmother's store" anymore, the company hasn't been as active over the years in building and defining their brand image, so their change could be met with less resistance.
2. Belk is a collection of individual brands. Gap IS a brand.
3. Lack of connection to the audience. Belk had a plan for change and is systematically making the change market by market, and Gap introduced the logo to the entire world without so much as a hint that something new was coming. For such a devout target audience and such a large presence, you have to be prepared for the response - positive or negative. No market research to find out what customers think prior to launch?
4. Redefining the brand ... consistently. The Gap logo is/was classic. "Classic" is actually what their brand was all about. If they wanted to modernize or talk about their new modern jeans, they could update their collateral, or use social media in a new way to talk to their audience. Create a contest to have customers help design the new logo. The same can be argued about Belk: the iconic script was regarded as a logo with "class and character" that many argued should have been retained. However, Belk complemented their change with a tagline: "Modern. Southern. Style." which helps to reinforce the overall change.
What are your thoughts on refreshing a brand? Total re-definition through a new name or logo? Change the tagline? Update your social media efforts? Any other positive examples?
How Much Is YOUR Facebook Page Worth?
A question Social Media Management Company, Vitrue, raised by creating a Social Page Evaluator, a tool designed to “provide an assessment of a brand's Facebook Page value and the effectiveness of its social media efforts.” According to Vitrue, Starbuck’s has an annual page value of $20.7 million. The basic calculation starts by assigning a value (a conservative default of $5) to each “like”, but also takes into account the number of posts and the number of interactions. A smaller fan base can earn more than a larger one if the brand uses Facebook to its full potential. Skittles pot of gold, for example, has 1 million fewer connections than beverage giant Coke but is valued higher because of a greater frequency of posts. Can a Brand go too far? Absolutely. With 147 posts in the last month, ESPN has maxed out their page value at $4.8 million. To maximize page value, Vitrue suggests brands post up to twice per day, post photos and videos, and use Facebook tools like the "share" button.
So who do you “like”? What brands have you “shared” recently? Are you doing your part to contribute to the how much your favorite brand is worth?
Contributed by: Allison Jobes
Twitter is watching you.
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Although Animal Farm is one of my favorite novels, George Orwell really annoyed me with 1984. Well, just kidding, I really liked that book too. I was just bitter that he picked my birth year to predict a totalitarian world where privacy and civil rights didn’t exist anywhere. I mean, I thought 1984 was great year for a baby. Anyway, he might have been onto something, just a decade or two too early.
Though mainly non-partisan when it comes to politics, it was hard not to see the door to our liberties close slightly with the Patriot Act of 2001. A statue that allowed the government to selectively access telephone, email, medical and financial records to protect our “freedom”, it made everyone wonder … is anything private anymore? Well, not really. And with the crazy technological boom of the past decade, it’s made the line between what is private and what is public not only blurry, but pretty much invisible.
Insert the social media craze. Whether searching for a job, investigating a crime, or just trying to spread a plethora of fast knowledge, outlets such as Facebook and Twitter have become catalysts for studying human behavior and examining an individual’s thoughts. Now some of these thoughts are being filed into public record ... and studied.
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3/50 Project
Have you heard about the 3/50 project? As of March 10, 2010, this project reached 50,000 Facebook fans and over one million page views. So what is it?
Project 3/50 was founded by Cinda Baxter and built on the simple premise that to build a stronger economy, we need to inspire and thank consumers for their support of independent, locally owned businesses.
Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy.
3: Think of three businesses you’d miss if they disappeared, then stop in. Say hello. Pick up a little something. That’s what keeps those businesses around.
50: If just half the employed U.S. population committed $50 of their current monthly spending to locally owned, independent brick and mortar businesses, those transactions would generate more than $42.6 billion annually. Imagine what would happen if 3/4 of the poplulation did that.
It's interesting to note that for for every $100 spent with local brick and mortars, more than $68 returns to the local economy; when spent with a chain or big box, $43 returns. If spent online, unless you live in the same community as the e-tailer, nothing comes home. In an era where we're glued to our computers and technology, and large superstores make it so easy and convenient to have our goods delivered to our doorstep, this figure hit home for me. Over half of the money stays in the community when you purchase locally. That's pretty impressive ... and is just one little way you can make a difference.
The organization is currently launching the "Eat Down the Street" Campaign, challenging individuals to eat at one locally owned, independent restaurant per week—no chains or national brands. Some of my favorite places are independently owned so this is a no-brainer for me.
For more information, check out The350Project.net.
What are specific things that you are doing to support your local economy and community?
What the buzz, Google?
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I woke up this morning to find out something was different with my Gmail. Overnight it seems as if Google and Facebook have fornicated their technological impulses and created the newest love child of the social networking world: Google Buzz. Though Twitter might demand a paternity test from Google, this “buzzing” community is the latest of social networks trying to innovate fast-track communication.
Google Buzz, channeled through Google's popular Gmail service, allows users to micro-blog and upload pictures as well as link to other users and websites. And like one of its predecessors, Twitter, it lets you “follow” other members and blog about, well, whatever you want. However, it definitely has Facebook’s eyes, allowing you to comment on updates directly without all the weird @, #, etc. symbols that I still don’t understand with “tweets”. It also has the highly coveted “like” feature that Facebookers obnoxiously seem to enjoy. (Hmm maybe Google Buzz will get a dislike option that Facebook has yet to cave to – could be interesting.)
However, unlike the launch of other social networks, Google Buzz has already taken the initiative for current Gmail account holders. Before I even heard the buzzing, I apparently was following a couple dozen of my closest Gmail contacts and a handful were following me. I also had a link to the “Buzz” conveniently placed under my Inbox link, equipped with a Simon Says-esque color wheel, just in case I missed it.
Carnival Introduces FunHub
Carnival Cruise Lines debuts its Dream ship this fall with a 12 day Grand Mediterranean Cruise departing from Rome. Onboard this grand ship will be the company's latest innovation, dubbed the FunHub, a comprehensive shipboard intranet portal featuring the cruise industry’s first on-board social network. The portal provides access to a wide variety of information on the ship’s services, facilities and daily activities. FunHub will allow guests to create online profiles, meet and interact with other guests, send and receive messages, check menus and weather reports, and more. Available free of charge 24 hours a day, the FunHub will serve as a resource to keep guests connected to everything related to their cruise experience.
Check out more on the Dream ship featuring the new FunHub portal here.
Facebook Face-Offs
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Facebook is moving into the global market with much success, but according to BusinessWeek, the competition overseas has the traffic, and the brands, to put up a decent fight. Here are the social networking sites defending their turf:
Hyves: The Netherlands: 5.7 million users
Hyves is based on the English word “beehive”. It has extended its brand beyond the title, naming the bulletin board feature (equivalent to Facebook’s ‘wall’) "krabbel." This created word has become so popular, it may find its way into the Dutch dictionary.
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Word Play and Word Loss
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This story I find amazingly ironic since my job is to solely work with words and letters, manipulate them, move them around, and create new ones to differentiate them from other existing brands. If any of you are familiar with and addicted to the Facebook application Scrabulous, then your life has probably changed recently. Here in the US and Canada, the application has been shut down due to toy giant Hasbro (who owns the US rights to Scrabble) handing down a copyright infringement lawsuit to the makers of Scrabulous. The India-based creators of Scrabulous are said to have never gotten permission to create the so called “knock-off” from Hasbro, nor Mattel, who owns the international rights to Scrabble. Although the game Scrabble is also an application provided on the site, it has recently been hit with an attack shutting its players out as well. With both games being blocked, the devoted Scrabulous players are making their widely disappointed opinions about Hasbro known all throughout the Facebook community.
So what does this mean for Hasbro? What will the judge decide, and more importantly, what will happen to all of the time spent playing Scrabulous on Facebook? I know…let’s get the traditional, hard-board game of Scrabble out and create a new name for Scrabulous!
By: Kelly Wilson