I was flipping through the Economist the other day (because it exhausts me to try to actually read the whole thing) while I was on the plane and came across this insert in the magazine. I found it quite interesting and wanted to get your take.
The point of the service is to send a text message to receive alerts when the print publication is hitting newsstands. It's an interesting idea in the promotion of print with digital platforms. Obviously the content strategy is to release at the stands first and then online to keep print subs up.
What do you think of this? Would you sign up? Would you want this service for other printed materials? There are a number of magazines that I read but don't subscribe to for which this is an interesting idea.
Wouldn't you love to drive people from your physical world marketing efforts to the web in real time? Who wouldn't? This has been a dream of marketers since the popularization of the web and technology is starting to catch up. QR (or quick response) codes are, quite simply two dimensional bar codes. The codes were designed in Japan for the auto industry and they remain popular today.
In marketing, QR codes have started to pop up sporadically in ads and catalogs. I did a post on this technology in 2007 which you can read here. In that post, I noted that this was a potential technology for marketers to leverage in the future. To be blunt, this is still in the future, but the trend is one that is coming quickly (though it may take another form). The ability to grab information and go will build momentum over time.
The entire system works by taking a picture of the code with a cell phone camera, decoding the symbol on the device and taking an action. That action can be directing someone to a URL, passing them a phone number, giving them marketing copy or sending them a text message.
Here is a demo of the technology in this edition of Inside//Out
[Feed readers, click through to the post if you cannot see the video]
Able to be placed on myriad surfaces (paper, cloth, etc.)
Convey complex information to mobile customers
Cons:
Lack of consumer education about how QR works
Hardware/software readers are scarce
Lack of adoption in the US
Key Takeaways:
QR should be used for nothing more than a test/experiment at this point
The ability for mobile users to get complex content very quickly is a major trend
Scanning codes, text message response or the next generation of this idea will push the need further
You already see this in real estate in major markets using SMS
Integration between physical marketing and digital marketing will continue to converge using new technology
Have you seen these in mainstream ads? Would you consider using them in your campaign? Are you looking at SMS response? Let me know!
There are a number of readers out there. I use the NeoReader on the iPhone. The Kaywa Reader is probably the most popular.
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Little things are the new big thing, right? Well, in keeping with that notion, I wanted to share a couple of little tips on online identity. Whether you're a blogger or a corporation, these two items go a long way. One is very old school and the other is as new as new can be.
New school: apple-touch-icon.png
This one I found out when my lovely, amazing wife bought me an iPhone for Christmas. Thanks dear!! Through the iPhone you can add a blog/site to your menu just like an application. If you do this without following the next steps, however you get a very generic, non-identifiable icon. It looks something like this:
Not impressive, not readily identifiable. After a bit of digging, however I learned how to add an icon to replace the generic default. To do this you'll need to create a PNG file that is 158x158 pixels. Here is the one I created:
Now, rename that file to apple-touch-icon.png and upload it to the root directory on your website (meaning it will be at http://www.yourdomain.com/apple-touch-icon.png). The iPhone/iTouch does the rest. It resizes and rounds the corners and adds that shiny love to the image.
UPDATE: Here is a quick video overview of how this one works.
[Click through to the post if you cannot see the video.]
Old school: favicon.ico
Depending on how geeky you are, you may or may not know this little file. The favicon.ico controls the tiny logo/headshot that appears in the address bar for a site when you visit (see below). It's a small differentiator, but that's okay.
To create this file head over to this site. From here you can create one from scratch or upload an existing image. Keep in mind the output is around 15 pixels square so make sure you use something simple. Once you have the file, you need to upload it to the root directory for your site. (Ping me if you need more info on this one.)
Shows up in the address bar in your browser
Shows up in tabs when you have them open
Shows up in your bookmarks to help them stand out
These are both easy tactics to implement can make a big difference in user experience and usefulness. Feel free to add Techno//Marketer on your iPhone and let me know your thoughts.
When I was in college, I had a boss who had a massive prejudice against anyone who attempted to give themselves a nickname. You've probably heard people do this in a conversation that looks like this (please picture the guy to the right):
That Guy: Hey there! Do you mind if I join in your pickup game?
You: Not at all. My name is John.
That Guy: Nice to meet you John. My name is Dudley, but call me "Crusher"
You: Ummm...okay Dudley. Why don't you wait over there.
See, it just doesn't work. Now, let's parlay that into a marketing topic that I took issue with the other day. It seems that some enterprising individuals are trying to name the Tuesday after Cyber Monday "Mobile Tuesday". On this date, you're supposed to shop (or otherwise engage) on your phone. Really?
Here is a snippet from an Ad Age article on the topic:
Mobigosee, a mobile-marketing firm, is moving forward with the launch of Mobile Tuesday on Dec. 2, despite the loss of major marketing partners whose budgets have been decimated by the recession.
...(Mobigosee) is attempting to launch Mobile Tuesday with just three marketers onboard: McDonald's, Finish Line and RedTag. The company is hoping to attract additional retailers with couponing strategies, in which Mobigosee is paid only when the mobile coupons are redeemed."
This is one company trying to start a movement that would require at least one major US mobile carrier to get involved to be remotely successful. The only potential winner here is the company who attempted to launch this thing and I would not call it a success. Companies should, be looking at engaging on mobile if it makes sense, not for the bright shininess factor. Maybe in 3-6 years, but not today.
Permission is key on the mobile platform and each brand needs to build its own audience in its own way. The paths of mass marketing and mobile marketing should never, ever meet.
So let me ask you. Have you purchased on your mobile? Take the poll below.
Kwang works at Chiel Worldwide in their interactive group, "the i". The presentation focused on a case study for Samsung's HAPTIC device. The Haptic looks very similar to the iPhone, but the operating system is unique.
Here is a video overview of the phone's functionality:
Focus of the campaign was on brand experience and contagion
The Haptic phone launch is very similar to the iPhone (full screen touch)
Phone launched with a premium image/brand and technical image
"first is better than better" - Samsung was not the first mover in this space
The touch sensor provides feedback
Japanese book "HAPTIC" gave the team feedback on how to approach marketing the device
Had to explain the haptic term through many media outlets in a way people could understand
Launch show made to mirror Steve Jobs keynote addresses, invited power bloggers
Tagline "touch and it will react" driven through ads
Use of celebrity to drive the "touch" focal point in ads, online, screen saver
Haptic blog helped to engage users, also reached out to power bloggers to get their unique and personal experiences
Samsung also created a new ad where a building transforms in to the phone. The gist of the conversation is the guy with the phone says that his phone can become anything he wants. The other guy asks him to prove it by making the building transform.
Sung Lee is the VP of Operations for MySpace in Asia. Her presentation focused on the ways in which marketers should approach social network marketing.
Key takeaways:
Social networks are bigger than you think
People, brands and artists are able to create their presence on the web
The online experience is offline as well in the form of events, etc.
MySpace has 118M unique visitors with over 51% growth in the last two years
12M of those users are in Asia Pacific
70K videos uploaded daily
Self-expression, connection and discovery drive social networking
Driven by the "me" economy
Social media is redefining the marketing channels and the media mix
Reasons for friending brands; 29% notice of events, sales, offers / 28% recommended by a friend / 23% want to associate with them / 23% discounts, coupons, samples / 11% want to support the brand
Key stages of social network marketing: Create a community -> Cultivate relationships -> Build long-term CRM
Pass along from a peer drives 34 times the pass-through and 20 times the purchase intent versus ads on MySpace
Five steps to build momentum know the audience, keep it real, empower the audience, enable dreams, leverage the power of the platform
Cartier example drives traffic to download songs, MySpace allows for scale across languages and geography
Questions to ask yourself first: do you know your audience, can you customize the creative, do you have engaging assets to share, are you willing to continue an ongoing dialogue
Platforms are expanding into mobile and will continue to become more prevalent over time
Personal connections with the brand is the differentiation strategy for MySpace over Facebook
MySpace is relatively new in Korea, but is growing exponentially
I'm here in Seoul South Korea (after 21 hours of travel over the past day). It's 9:30am on Tuesday here in Seoul and I'm going to bring you the best points from the IDG Marketing 2.0 and Beyond conference.
I'm speaking tomorrow as the opening keynote and I'll post the Slideshare deck here tomorrow. The presenters are partially in English and partially in Korean, so it's the first time I've used a translator and they've pulled it off very well.
Key takeaways:
There is not digital media, it's all media
Viacom global youth study found three groups, the most interesting is the "Golden" age group
Golden age of youth - People age 25-34 continue to consume music, gaming, etc. in the same way they did when they were teens
Golden age groupers are more financially stable as well as happier about who they are as individuals
25 was found to be the ideal age that youth around the world to aspire to
Biggest global trend is a flight to quality
Move to more traditional platforms that deliver their needs
Deals usually span 3-4 media platforms, not 7-8
Examples of mobile campaigns that are well executed and truly integrated are lacking
ROI on mobile is tougher to get to
Video is a huge opportunity on mobile - paid content is very tough to pull off on mobile - ad supported content is the way he has seen success
British Airways - MetroTwin - Focuses on the similarities between London and New York - provides recommendations and matches you with a person/venue in the other city
Convergence within distribution platforms is a key factor
Music is a chaotic industry and is a portal to see the future of media. There are no set rules anymore.
Broadcast and online is HOT.
Credit crunch is hurting true integration. Digital was an afterthought. More advertisers pushing for true integration between broadcast and online. Mobile is left out.
Mass audiences are going away on single platforms, they're reached through 360 programs across multiple channels
Undoubtedly the iPhone is a game changing device that has turned the US mobile device market on its head. How many of the new devices that are coming out from manufacturers would exist today without the competition the iPhone provided.
With all of its features and its cool interface, there is one part of the new 3G iPhone (which launches today July 11th) that is the most important for marketers. That is GPS. For the first time ever, GPS will be fully integrated on a user-frindly, consumer device. It's intuitive, unlike previous phones where you had to hack to get it to work. Not only that, but the developer SDK allows you, the marketers, to create applications that use this technology.
Ask yourself, what would you do differently if you knew exactly where your customers were? Would you create an app that links people together who are physically close? Would you offer messages that were relevant to their present location? Here are a number of options that GPS location adds to the marketing mix unlike any time in the history of marketing.
Ask yourself, what would you do differently if you knew exactly where your customers were?
Geo-tagging - Now that the device knows where you are, it can add geo-tagging information to almost any data you collect. Shoot a photo at the Grand Canyon and upload it to Flickr and Flickr will pull the geo information and place the photo on the right place on the map. Send a message to Twitter and it could update your location to the nearest city name or even the exact location you're standing (creepy I know).
Proximity Awareness - Think about the possibilities of Facebook knowing where you are and where your friends are in real time. Facebook's iPhone app could alert you when any of your contacts are within 1/2 mile of your location. You could private message them to see if they can meet up or send them an SMS message.
For marketers, you could create an application (that people opt-in to by installing it) that allows them to receive promotions and offers whenever they are within a radius of a store. If Starbucks hasn't done this already I am not sure what they're waiting for. Users could adjust their radius or disable the messages at any time.
Mobile Commerce - This goes hand-in-hand with proximity awareness and is very powerful for marketers. The iPhone will allow easier commerce transactions to happen in a more trusted environment. From the application store to mobile song purchases, if you are serving up relevant, geo-targeted messages you can now follow that through purchase with micro transactions. This takes mobile messaging to a new level of effectiveness for marketing organizations.
Localized Search Relationships - Using search on the iPhone is effortless. Now, however, add in the location where the user is standing. Instead of searching for Chipotle and having to scan for the one near you, the phone will present you the closest location, give you the phone number and offer directions (which works like a car's GPS system with turn-by-turn options). Refer back to mobile commerce and apply that to search that is local and it's another way to drive business and conversions.
So, what do you think? More and more devices will surely follow suit. Are you ready for location? What value can you add to your customers that would help them adopt your product or service? What can you do before the competition to really set yourself apart?
UPDATE: Thanks to Jim Kukral's question I looked for car-based GPS info on the new iPhone and found the following video. Since this video veers away from the Apple device and into the actual AT&T service plan I want to have full disclosure in telling you that AT&T is a Fleishman-Hillard client.
Blyk, a free mobile service targeted at 16-24 year olds in Europe, has recently announced their expansion beyond their test markets in the UK, Germany and France. The company provides free minutes and text messages to its users, and in exchange they receive ads from marketers. The ads are targeted based on the profile of the user.
If you remember, this is the model that Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google talked about in November 2006 that got the whole world buzzing. Blyk has been so well received that they reached their initial subscriber goals of 100,000 users six months ahead of schedule.
Here is a short overview movie from Blyk that explains the whole process.
It is only a matter of time before this model comes to the US (though the way our mobile infrastructure is set up it will be much harder to gain the same level of traction). This does however, seem to be a fairly easy way for marketers to reach a targeted audience in a permission-based environment on a mobile device.
Heck, I could see the potential for a very small handful of global marketers try this on their own using this the MVNO model. MVNOs lease parts of a network from a major carrier and re-brand it as a new service. Examples of MVNOs include Virgin Mobile, mobileESPN, Firefly and Amp'd.
What are your thoughts on this model? Would you receive ads for mobile minutes? As a marketer, would you be interested in participating in something like this?
I promised early on with this blog not to talk very much about my work, but I do make exceptions when I think it will add value for you. Within Fleishman-Hillard there is a group of very talented folks in our Next Great Thing (NGT) practice who focus on youth and mobile marketing. It's amazing to have this group as a resource as both of these topics are, and will continue to be, crucial for PR and marketing practitioners to understand in the coming years.
Today, the NGT group released their spring 2008 youth trend report. The group works with young tastemakers around the globe to stay ahead of the curve. Some of the topics in the report include open source thinking, reflex in interactions, individualism, evolution of the language, the importance of RSS, in-game advertising and engagement marketing.
Matt Dickman is a blogger, speaker and technology evangelist working as SVP, Digital Marketing at Fleishman-Hillard.
This is his personal blog and the thoughts and opinions expressed here are his and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer or its clients.
If you use another podcatcher you can 
When I was in college, I had a boss who had a massive prejudice against anyone who attempted to give themselves a nickname. You've probably heard people do this in a conversation that looks like this (please picture the guy to the right):
Kwang works at Chiel Worldwide in their interactive group, "the i". The presentation focused on a case study for Samsung's 
Sung Lee is the VP of Operations for MySpace in Asia. Her presentation focused on the ways in which marketers should approach social network marketing. 
I'm here in Seoul South Korea (after 21 hours of travel over the past day). It's 9:30am on Tuesday here in Seoul and I'm going to bring you the best points from the IDG Marketing 2.0 and Beyond conference. 
Undoubtedly the 
I promised early on with this blog not to talk very much about my work, but I do make exceptions when I think it will add value for you. Within 
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