First direct opens up to customer comments
Online bank first direct has launched a new social media-based campaign which showcases customer opinions, good or bad, on a microsite.
While it isn't quite as 'brave' as the Skittles decision to turn its site into a massive social media experiment (which it is still doing), it does at least link to it from straight from its homepage.
Should brands ignore social media criticism?
Social media has given brands a new medium in which consumers can be engaged. Most agree: there's something really important about this, even if we disagree on just what that is.
At the same time, social media has given consumers a powerful new tool for interacting with brands. It's now possible to provide feedback, issue praise and voice complaints in a manner that can have a real impact very quickly.
Five keys to social media launch planning
Companies planning a social media launch, upgrade, or even adjustment have a lot to live up to. Innovation has been impressive so far this year, and results have kept brands focused on making their own imprint.
Like most areas of internet marketing best practices are evident for social media, but rules are unwritten. As planning for the fourth quarter gets underway, many companies are starting their first social media initiative, or rethinking their entire strategy. Before you hit "send" on that meeting request or book the WebEx URL, five points to consider:
Mars shuts down unofficial Snickers social media site
A week or so after Mars pulled back from the Skittles social media experiment, it has forced a digital agency to close down an unauthorised Snickers website.
Poke, the agency in question, was sent a cease and desist order, which demanded the suspension of www.snckrz.com. The website allowed users to customise the Snickers packaging, with their own logo.
Snckrz.com had attracted more than 80,000 users since Poke launched it, seemingly in response to the brand’s official ‘Snacklish’ campaign. Poke tried to do this anonymously, but it didn’t stay that way for long. And feathers were suitably ruffled as a result.
Social media beyond the buzz
I was asked the other day what I thought about Skittles' social media experiment and whether it would have lasting effects.
My response: I wasn't sure. The buzz seems to have died down. Certainly it's nowhere near the pitch that it was when we all first learned that Skittles.com had been turned into Twitter.
Following Skittles is a state of mind
By now it's a fair assumption to say that the new Skittles social media drenched website has owned the week in internet marketing. According to the March 5 Google Trends index it spiked more than 100 percent in news reference volume this week, and more than 50 percent in actual searches.
Now that the buzz is fading just a little, we asked Mars PR Manager and spokesperson Ryan Bowling to put the launch in perspective.
Consumers control social media, and brands need to wise up
A recent study by Netpop Research serves to only further assert the fact that social media is rapidly changing the way brands operate, due to the increase of consumer control.
The report is purely US-based, but it certainly seems fair to suggest that this trend can be applied globally, as there is an ever-growing permeation of social media into daily consumer life. The study concludes that there is a shift in consumer internet usage from entertainment towards communication, and it's being driven by social media and networking sites.
Visa teams with Flickr for global community
It's shaping up to be a big week for social media. Now Visa is making some social media news, this time on a more conventional platform than other recent entries, like Skittles. The credit card is launching its first global advertising campaign, complete with a microsite, rich media banner ads with live video feeds from international locations, and a multicultural twist on Flickr.
The "More People Go With Visa" campaign's microsite will feature a
"Gosaic," which is Visa-speak for a collection of images submitted by
people through Flickr along with recommendations from them about
experiences that can be enabled through a Visa card. The "Gosaic" will
feature more than 200 merchant offers delivered to users depending on
their interests, location, and time of day. The whole thing launches
with ads on Fox's "American Idol" tomorrow night, March 4.
Skittles launches an amazing social media campaign
One lazy Friday a few weeks ago we rolled out an experiment by displaying all mentions of ‘Econsultancy’ on Twitter onto our homepage. It received a lot of attention, and some people thought we were nuts.
Now Skittles.com has gone one better by turning its entire site into a massive social media experiment. It is possibly the bravest move I have yet seen, in terms of a global brand getting into bed with social media and social networks.
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
