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Digital News Consumption Grows, But Slowly on Social Media

posted on March 19, 2012

I have a friend who gets all of her news from Facebook. If it comes up there, she’s got it, if not, forget it.

Sometimes it seems like everyone in the US is this way, but new numbers from the Pew Research Center say it isn’t so.

The numbers come from their recently released State of the News Media 2012 report.

This extensive report looks at all the ways we consume news, from TV to print to digital.

Inside the report is a section devoted to Facebook and Twitter. In the past, we’ve seen news stories broken on Twitter and false news stories take hold in an instant.

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Pinterest Posers Present Possible Problems

posted on March 19, 2012

It comes as no surprise really and it may even be a sign that you have truly arrived, but Pinterest is seeing a proliferation of people serving as proxies for brands and celebrities.

Ars Technica reports of this growing concern that Pinterest is permitting to play out for now at least.

Each new social media service that crosses the threshold of public awareness sees two things: brands and celebrities rushing in to find out if they can use the service to their advantage and, right before that, squatters and jokers who got to the brand name first. The latest to experience this Wild West phenomenon is the visual bulletin board service, Pinterest, which recently announced a brief policy statement on usernames that hardly clears things up for companies, celebrities, and satirists alike.

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Marketers’ Desire for Big Data Often Leads to Big Disappointment

posted on March 19, 2012

Hunters like to hunt big game. Sports enthusiasts love the big game. Journalists look for the big story. Marketers? Well, more and more marketers are going after something big as well, big data, and, more often than not they are coming away disappointed.

Why? It’s because big data is elusive. It’s massive and it is swirling around us everywhere much like the pollen does everywhere this time of year (in some parts of the US that is). Much like that pollen it seems to land everywhere but it get washed away or pushed aside just as quickly as it falls. A recent study from the Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership and the New York American Marketing Association (as reported by eMarketer) shows these challenges.

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Microsoft’s Curious Plea to Stay with Their Browser

posted on March 16, 2012

Browser wars are a touchy subject, especially around the folks from Microsoft who have seen their Internet Explorer dominance be eroded by the likes of Mozilla’s Firefox and the dreaded Google Chrome browser among others.

Internet Explorer 9 is the latest and greatest from Microsoft. They need to promote its existence so earlier this month this ad surfaced on YouTube. I just saw it for the first time and, from a purely marketing perspective, it’s, well, puzzling to say the least.

Being self-deprecating can be an effective technique in modern day advertising. The humorous take on any ad is one proven way to get the attention of your target and the attention needed to get your message across.

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Inspiration Alley: New Promos from Guinness, Toyota and Cadbury

posted on March 16, 2012

Thomas Edison said that genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. I can’t help you with the second part, but I can help you with the first.

Every Friday, I’ll present to you a variety of new online, mobile, and social media marketing campaigns. It’s my hope that you’ll be inspired by the works of others because face it, even though inspiration is only 1%, it can be much harder to come by than the other 99.

Guinness Attempts to Break a World’s Record

Holidays are always a good time for a promo and no holiday could be better for Guinness Beer than St. Patrick’s Day. But simply asking folks to party responsibly on the Friendliest Day of the Year isn’t enough, so Guinness has added a second gimmick. They’re inviting folks to help them make it into the Guinness Book of Worlds Records for “The Largest St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.”

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NCAA March Madness Google Earth Style

posted on March 16, 2012

Google has given college hoops fans a neat video of 3D renderings of sites for the early round games in the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

It’s even complete with overdone sports ‘theme’ music in the background! Enjoy and here’s to happy brackets!

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1 Out of Every 5 People in the World Will Logon to a Social Network

posted on March 16, 2012

Let me repeat that headline. In 2012, 1 out of every 5 people in the world will logon to a social network at least once a month.

Incredible, isn’t it? eMarketer says those 1.43 billion social network users represent an increase of 19.2% over last year. Think that’s something? By 2014, they say it will be 1 in 4.

And for the people who believe that Facebook is part of an alien plot to take over the world, here’s a look at their success stories.

The good old U.S. of A is way out in front, but since almost everyone in America already has a Facebook account, other countries have a chance of catching up. Check out India with nearly 50% of the US number. And Brazil with their 45.4 million Facebook users.