First up: Five big trends to look for in the world of social media marketing.

5. Social Gets More Physical

In the year ahead, look for an increasing number of social initiatives to move away from pure-play digital to the physical world. Coca-Cola has been a leader in this, with efforts like the Happiness Truck and Happiness Vending Machines, which engaged consumers in the physical world, and helped those consumers propagate the experience via digital.

You also saw Microsoft use branded mobile game apps like "Dance Cam" to engage in the physical world by enabling folks to create dance videos on their mobile phones and then share them.

And ad hoc physical world social networks will become commonplace. Look at efforts like Heineken's personalized QR codes for music festivals, where users can create their own customized QR code stickers that other attendees can scan to spark up conversation.

Factor in augmented reality, and "liking" things in the physical world will take on all-new forms.

In a world gone mobile, having a desktop presence or experience becomes increasingly irrelevant.

4. 'Presence' Takes A Backseat to Campaigns

As I write in my book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, the first question to ask about social media is not "how?" It's "why?" When you think in terms of objectives, you begin to see the value of augmenting social "presence" - that much vaunted, ongoing conversation with consumers - with specific, short term and very actionable campaigns.

Look at Mercedes' "You Drive," a TV campaign that viewers could "drive" via Twitter. Or Mustang's "Dream Mustang" social media street fight. And of course, Coca-Cola's live social Super Bowl experience - in which the brand's popular polar bears comment on the game and ad bowl commercials in real time.

These are short-term efforts designed to engage consumers for a specific amount of time, around a specific promotion. Look for more of that in 2013, especially in the form of games.

3. Brands Bash Social Media

We're all finding ourselves starting to unfriend "friends" who aren't really, well, friends in an effort to get as authentic in our online relationship building as we are offline. With growth rates for Facebook leveling off in mature markets, attrition may come to the fore. Already, a huge bulk of brand "likes" are from inactive accounts.

Perhaps it's no surprise that more brands are using social media to poke fun at social media instead of glorifying it. Mitsubishi's "Unpretentious" app enables you to run over your most annoying Facebook friends, for instance. And DKNY recently made fun of social media by creating a fake success story to build actual buzz through social media.

Indeed, I've said this before and I think it will continue in the year ahead: For some brands in some categories, a premium will be placed on how few friends and follows you have, instead of how many. Authentic, high quality connections will begin to mean far more to brands than mass, unqualified connections.

2. More Standalone Branded Social Platforms Emerge

To engage consumers in social, marketers have largely turned to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and so on - with good reason. You should reach consumers where consumers congregate. But as mentioned in trend #5, that doesn't mean in some desktop Internet experience anymore. It's the physical world.

In 2013, more brands will move beyond viewing social media as (just) a cool way to connect with consumers, and start viewing social media as a cool way to enable consumers to connect with one another, enabled by the brand.

One of my favorite examples actually emerged a few years ago, when Vail Resorts launched Epic Mix, a mobile app that enables groups of real friends to connect with one another while they're skiing. They can see where their friends are physically on the slopes. They can automate status updates based on those activities. They can earn points that they can redeem back at the lodge. And once they're back home, they can review their performance and share it with the broader community.

One need only look at PlayStation Home, AMEX OPEN, and Johnson & Johnson's BabyCenter to see that social media is about lot more than Facebook & Twitter - and that brands can be the enabler of community, instead of just a participant.

1. Social Media Go Geriatric - While Teens Keep on Texting

In 2013, more brands will begin to realize that social platforms like Facebook and Twitter have profound value for reaching people over the age of 40, the fastest-growing segment of users. But millennials use social far differently.

I'll put it this way. If a parent wants to know what a teen wants them to know about, check out the teen's Facebook page. To find out what a teen is really up to, check his or her text messages.

As the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported this year, 63% of teens say texting is their preferred mode of communication on a daily basis, compared to just 29% for social media sites (regardless of which device they're accessed on).

Teens just aren't as into sharing their lives with the world as adults think they are. They're far more interested in closed loop systems like text messaging where they can connect with friends - and, sometimes, the brands they know and trust.

Will consumers and brands really tune into social TV over the long term?

The whole field is getting a lot of buzz these days, from startups like Miso and GetGlue, to high-profile initiatives at this year's Super Bowl that included a branded app from Chevy and Coca-Cola's interactive Polar Bear experience on Facebook.

I have not seen solid figures on viewer engagement with the Chevy app, but the fact that GM announced this week it will sit out Super Bowl 2013, it stands to reason the initiative wasn't a touchdown.

Coca-Cola's experience, however, was another thing entirely. At last week's Social TV conference, Coca-Cola revealed some astonishing engagement figures for its Polar Bowl. Turns out that while Coke thought they'd engage a couple million people for an average of 2.5 minutes, the Bears - which reacted in real time to the game and even Super Bowl spots from other advertisers - attracted 9 million viewers who spent an average of 28 minutes with the brand.

In the conclusion of our May 2012 Mobile Roundtable, Dorrian Porter, CEO of longtime sponsor Mozes; Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president of brand and social media for American Express; and Rachel Pasqua, executive director of mobile marketing for Organic weigh in on the efficacy of various forms of branded social TV experiences, and prospects for the future.

MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (CONCL): BRAND MARKETING & THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL TV

Cick here to listen to: MOBILE ROUNDTABLE CONCL: Social TV

(7:56)

ALSO LISTEN TO:

MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (PT 1): JULIE FAJGENBAUM - HOW AMEX BANKS ON MOBILE MARKETING

MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 2): ORGANIC'S RACHEL PASQUA - KIMBERLY CLICK, SPECIALIZED BICYCLES RAMP UP MOBILE MARKETING

MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 3): MOZES ROCKS THE MOBILE REVOLUTION

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MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (PT 4): FACEBOOK'S MOBILE CHALLENGE POST IPO

(3:28)

Can Facebook monetize the mobile channel as well as it has its desktop experience?

In the run-up to last Friday's big Facebook IPO, there was considerable industry commentary on that outstanding question.

Here, our mobile marketing panel - Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president of brand and social media for American Express, Dorrian Porter, CEO of longtime sponsor Mozes, and Rachel Pasqua, executive director of mobile marketing for Organic (shown above from left) - put their views on opportunities for both Facebook and brand clients in the mobile space.

MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (PT 4): FACEBOOK'S MOBILE CHALLENGE POST IPO

Click here to listen to: Mobile Roundtable (Pt 4): Facebook's Mobile Challenges Post IPO

(3:28)

ALSO LISTEN TO:

MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (PT 1): JULIE FAJGENBAUM - HOW AMEX BANKS ON MOBILE MARKETING

MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 2): ORGANIC'S RACHEL PASQUA - KIMBERLY CLICK, SPECIALIZED BICYCLES RAMP UP MOBILE MARKETING

MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 3): MOZES ROCKS THE MOBILE REVOLUTION

(11:07)

You might say Mozes is on a rock-n-roll these days.

Within just the last few weeks, Wired ran a feature on how the Palo Alto, Calif-based Mozes powers Umphrey’s McGee’s interactive UMBowl, a concert series that enables fans to shape the concert – in real time – using their mobiles phones.

And just this last week, The Silicon Valley Business Journal ran a profile on the company, which focuses on mobile engagement at live events for brand clients such as Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company and Rock The Vote, among many others.

In part three of tour May Mobile Marketing Roundtable, we get the inside scoop from founder Dorrian Porter (full disclosure: A longtime friend, client, and sponsor of this blog), on how brands are leveraging the power of mobile at the all-important "point of inspiration."

MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (PT 3): MOZES ROCKS THE MOBILE REVOLUTION

Click here to listen to: Mobile Roundtable (Pt 3): Dorrian Porter - Mozes Rocks The Mobile Revolution

(11:07)

ALSO LISTEN TO:

MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (PT 1): Julie Fajgenbaum - How AMEX Banks on Mobile Marketing

MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 2): Organic's Rachel Pasqua - Kimberly Clark, Specialized Bicycles Ramp Up Mobile Marketing

In part two of the May 2012 GEN WOW Mobile Marketing Roundtable, I ask Rachel Pasqua, executive director of mobile marketing at New York City-based Organic about her upcoming book Mobile Marketing in An Hour A Day, and her insights into Kimberly Clark's plans to merge its social media and mobile marketing initiatives. 

Along the way, we'll hear about the future of mobile apps and wearable computing at brands like Specialized Bicycles, and much, much more.

MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 2): ORGANIC'S RACHEL PASQUA - KIMBERLY CLARK, SPECIALIZED BICYCLES RAMP UP MOBILE MARKETING

Click Here to Listen to: Mobile Roundtable Pt 2: Rachel Pasqua

(9:55)

ALSO LISTEN TO:

MOBILE ROUNDTABLE (PT 1): Julie Fajgenbaum - How AMEX Banks on Mobile Marketing

I'll just come out and say it: Last week's Mobile Marketing Roundtable was nothing short of awesome.

Three of my favorite people in mobile marketing teamed up to answer questions on the quickly evolving world of mobile + social + local + retailing + pop culture and more.

On hand: Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president of brand and social media for American Express; Rachel Pasqua, director of mobile for New York  City-based digital marketing powerhouse Organic; and Dorrian Porter, CEO of mobile marketing phenom Mozes, a longtime sponsor of this blog.

All this week, I'll post excerpts from this wide-ranging new roundtable, which spans mobile apps vs. mobile web; Facebook's prospects for monetizing the mobile channel post IPO; the future of social television and much, much more. 

Up first: Fajgenbaum, who gives us the scoop on AMEX Sync, which offers card members discounts for tweeting advertised hashtags; strategies for fighting "showrooming" - the dynamic where consumers go to stores to see products but then order via mobile phone - and how mobile + Jay-Z = astonishing success.

MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 1): JULIE FAJGENBAUM: HOW AMEX BANKS OF MOBILE MARKETING

Click here to listen to MOBILE ROUNDTABLE PT 1: JULIE FAJGENBAUM - HOW AMEX BANKS ON MOBILE MARKETING

(11:09)

With its entry into m-commerce, does American Express - its merchant partnerships and its massive database of customer preferences and purchase behavior - become the ultimate mobile marketing platform?

In the conclusion of our Fall 2011 Mobile Marketing Roundtable, our panelists - Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president of brand marketing and social media for American Express, Jeff Hasen, CMO of mobile marketing firm HipCricket, and Adam Broitman, CEO of digital ad agency Circ.us - talk QR codes and Near Field Communications (NFC) and their (to some, questionable) value to marketing and advertising.

And I ask them to consider the place payment companies like AMEX might hold in the future of mobile marketing.

FALL 2011 MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (CONCL): AMEX: the Ultimate Mobile Marketing Platform?

Click Here to Listen to Fall_2011_Mobile_Marketing_Roundtable_Conclusion

(Approx: 5:25)

PLUS: Don't miss the other installments from this exclusive roundtable:

In Part 1 of our Fall Mobile Marketing Roundtable, we talk to Julie Fajgenbaum, VP of Brand Marketing & Social Media for American Express about how AMEX is going social+mobile+commerce.

In Part 2, we talk to Adam Broitman, CEO of Circus about ways this equation will play out over the next five to 10 years (Let's just say the conversation includes NFC embedded in our skin) - and what it means to the world of advertising.

In Part 3, Jeff Hasen, CMO of Seattle-based HipCricket, illustrates the power of this dynamic in campaigns for Ford and Arby's.

In Part 4, Our panelists talk mobile marketing's role in Super Bowl 2012.

You'll be impressed with the results generated - and you'll see how social+mobile+commerce can work seamlessly within fully integrated communications campaigns.

Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president of brand marketing and social media for American Express, joins Jeff Hasen, CMO of mobile marketing firm HipCricket, and Adam Broitman, CEO of digital ad agency Circ.us, in discussing the use of mobile as a response mechanism for spots aired during the big game.

 Along the way, we hear about a largely overlooked role mobile plays regardless of its intentional integration with Super Bowl spots - and we try to get Julie to reveal AMEX's plans for game day.

FALL 2011 MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 4): MOBILE MARKETING'S ROLE IN SUPER BOWL 2012

Click Here to Listen to Fall 2011 Mobile Marketing Roundtable (Pt 4)

(Approx: 4:51)

TOMORROW: With converging trends such as they are, doesn't AMEX stand to become one of the world's top social CRM platforms? We'll discuss the prospects - and what it could mean to mobile marketing.

PLUS: Don't miss the other installments from this exclusive roundtable:

In Part 1 of our Fall Mobile Marketing Roundtable, we talk to Julie Fajgenbaum, VP of Brand Marketing & Social Media for American Express about how AMEX is going social+mobile+commerce.

In Part 2, we talk to Adam Broitman, CEO of Circus about ways this equation will play out over the next five to 10 years (Let's just say the conversation includes NFC embedded in our skin) - and what it means to the world of advertising.

In Part 3, Jeff Hasen, CMO of Seattle-based HipCricket, illustrates the power of this dynamic in campaigns for Ford and Arby's.

You'll be impressed with the results generated - and you'll see how social+mobile+commerce can work seamlessly within fully integrated communications campaigns.

As longtime readers know, this is a reoccurring theme in my books - and in part three of our Fall 2011 mobile marketing roundtable, Jeff Hasen, CMO of Seattle-based HipCricket, illustrates the power of this dynamic in campaigns for Ford and Arby's.

You'll be impressed with the results generated - and you'll see how social+mobile+commerce can work seamlessly within fully integrated communications campaigns.

FALL 2011 MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE (PT 3): DRIVING TRADITIONAL MARKETING SUCCESS VIA MOBILE

Click here to listen to: Fall 2011 Mobile Marketing Roundtable Pt 3

(Approx: 4:26)

TOMORROW: We'll talk more on mobile's role in traditional campaigns, and how it may effect 2012 Super Bowl advertising (hey, is it ever too early to talk about the Ad Bowl?)

PLUS: Don't miss the other installments from this exclusive roundtable:
 

In Part 1 of our Fall Mobile Marketing Roundtable, we talk to Julie Fajgenbaum, VP of Brand Marketing & Social Media for American Express about how AMEX is going social+mobile+commerce.

In Part 2, we talk to Adam Broitman, CEO of Circus about ways this equation will play out over the next five to 10 years (Let's just say the conversation includes NFC embedded in our skin) - and what it means to the world of advertising.

While not strictly a mobile marketing agency - Circ.us is complete transmedia - the firm has been highly active in the medium, having spearheaded initiatives for Ben & Jerry's, A&E and many others.

But one of my favorite projects from Circ.us has been the Red Bull 'Augmented Racer' Game, which you can hear much more detail about here.

In Part 1 of our Fall Mobile Marketing Roundtable, we talked to Julie Fajgenbaum, VP of Brand Marketing & Social Media for American Express about how AMEX is going social+mobile+commerce.

In Part 2, we talk to Broitman about ways this equation will play out over the next five to 10 years (Let's just say the conversation includes NFC embedded in our skin) - and what it means to the world of advertising.

FALL 2011 MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE PART ONE: RED BULL & WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR M-PAYMENTS & ADVERTISING

Click Here to Listen to: Mobile Roundtable Part 2

(Approx. 5:01)

 

At least that's the contention of Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president of brand, marketing and social media for American Express, in our Fall 2011 Mobile Marketing Roundtable.

  Joining Fajgenbaum: Adam Broitman, chief ringleader for New York City-based digital marketing agency Circ.us, and Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer for Seattle-based mobile marketing firm HipCricket - who we'll hear more from over the next few days.

In part one, Fajgenbaum offers insights into AMEX's mobile+social+local strategy, which includes new promotions with Foursquare and Facebook, as well as an initiative with Verizon and Sprint to enable you to make mobile payments using your phone using a prepaid account maintained by AMEX.

As you'll hear, AMEX has adopted "mobile first" design principles - meaning it now designs brand experiences for mobile first, because it will necessarily work on other devices.

Among our questions: What social+local+mobile might mean for AMEX in the next five years - and whether mobile payments spell the end of physical credit cards.

FALL 2011 MOBILE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE PART ONE: AMEX'S MOBILE STRATEGY

Click Here to Listen to: Fall Mobile Marketing Roundtable Part 1

(Approx. 6:45)

Recently Visa have dipped their toe into the "exclusive" card market. The "Visa Black Card", is supposedly an exclusive card limited to 1% of the population. It's annual fee is $495 a year and you can apply for the card and do not need to be "invited". The thing is, the card may be Black, (and made of snazzy carbon), but the deal is really rather grey.

 When the card arrived in its small, smart, matt black box, it had the credit details…my "exclusive" Black Card had a $5,000 monthly credit limit. The 1% of the population they were targeting, apparently would not need to spend over $5,000 a month on their card. When I stopped laughing, I called them to find out if I could have the limit raised, which they did, to a mere $25,000, and even then the number seemed to freak out the person in the credit department.

 One of the "exclusive" benefits to the "Black Card" is: Travel Priority Pass

"Priority Pass is the world's largest independent airport VIP lounge program, allowing you access to more than 600 airport lounges in over 100 countries worldwide." Certainly sounds good, you get a membership to the worlds largest VIP lounge program…so I get to use all these lounges for free.

No!

Visa have struck a deal with Priority Pass that you get the $99 membership fee waived, you also get two free entries to any lounge in their program, then after that, you pay $27 per visit to any of their lounges. Doesn't sound like too much of a free "exclusive" reward to me.

 So what about the other rewards program. Well you earn one point for every dollar you spend, and can redeem those points against travel and items to purchase. It works well but isn't "exclusive", in fact it's the same as my rewards system on my American Express card.

 What about the claim that the card is exclusive because it's limited to 1% of the population…"The Black Card is not for everyone. In fact, it is limited to only 1% of U.S. residents to ensure the highest caliber of personal service is provided to every Cardmember." Hold on, there are over 300,000,000 people in the US, so their limited "exclusive" audience is 3,000,000 people? If they got three million people how many concierge people would they have to hire to ensure, "the highest caliber of personal service is provided to every Cardmember." If $3,000,000 people all paid $495 membership fee, that's $1,485,000,000 in membership fees. Wow, that's a business I want to get into, before taking a percentage of any sales, this "Exclusive, limited" card grosses over a billion dollars!!!

The other perks are similar to other credit cards; travel injury insurance; baggage delay insurance; car hire collision damage insurance, purchase security. Things I do like are $1,500 Trip/Cancellation Insurance, but it has to be with a, "Qualifying event", which is not described and very vague.

There is the 24 hour concierge service…so let's give it a go. I called and asked for make a reservation at Boa restaurant in Santa Monica for four people at 8pm. That is about as basic as it gets. After giving my name, zip code for billing, then my address because my billing is in California at my business managers and I live in NY, (notice they didn't ask for my credit card number which would have given them all the information they needed), I was asked to stay on the line until she called the restaurant to see if she could get the reservation. The whole idea of having a concierge is that they do the work, not keep you hanging on the phone. I explained that it would be quicker myself if I were to do that and she should call me back with the reservation. This took 5 minutes to achieve. It would have taken me 3 minutes to do the reservation myself. Now to give them credit, they did call me back 10 minutes later with the reservation. Then came a slightly harder challenge, book dinner for two, on Friday night, at a New York restaurant. Again asked to hold on the line…again explained why it would be stupid to do so. Then the most bizarre thing ever, the concierge representative called me back, saying she couldn't get a hold of the restaurant, and was surfing the web to try and secure a table. An "exclusive" concierge…in fact the whole concierge business is about getting me things I cannot get myself, doing all the work for me. This is a totally lame service.

 So, let's recap this "Visa Black Card". It an exclusive card, limited to 3,000,000 people in the US. It charges you $495 for membership, but you end up paying cash for some of their "exclusive" rewards. They claim "Luxury Gifts", but it's very vague and not sure from who and how often. There seems to be no other "exclusive" rewards that are not included in other cards. The only real exclusive thing is the card itself; "Patent Pending Carbon Card", "The Black Card is made with carbon, creating a more 
unique card, guaranteed to get you noticed." So it really boils down to what started this whole thing. Do you want to pay $495 for a cool Black Card to stroke your over inflated ego? I contacted the company asking for someone to go on record to answer my questions and no one returned my call. The only thing I think is fair, is that I return their card, which I am doing, long live AMEX!