A couple (more) cool social media initiative to share today. First, as part of Toyota's efforts to revive Prius sales (thanks to the economy, people ain't so keen on green), the automaker is launching some robust social media tactics (with Saatchi & Saatchi's guidance). (MediaPost) Overall, the plan is to "manage an ongoing relationship with enthusiasts and intenders on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter," (it's the first time Toyota will use Twitter) but their short on specifics at this time.
Over in condiment land, Miracle Whip has a very cool Firefox plugin (designed by AKQA) people can use to connect their comments on anything online to Facebook. (AdWeek) The app allows people to tag web pages with "Zings" (comments), which show up in their Facebook profile with a link back to the page. Here, as with many of the coolest ideas, you sort of need to see it to really get it...
Home › iMedia Connection Blog › facebook applications
Tagged 'facebook applications' 
Toyota, Miracle Whip planning bold social media activities
Tags: akqa, Facebook, facebook applications, firefox plugin, miracle whip, saatchi and saatchi, toyota, twitter
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »
Crispin is back with a new (underwhelming) Facebook App
I'm pretty underwhelmed by Crispin Porter + Bogusky's new Facebook app for Volkswagen. Maybe it's because (Crispin's previous Facebook work) Whopper Sacrifice was such a killer execution. Maybe it's because the Volkswagen app just didn't work for me.
Whatever the case, Meet the Volkswagens misses the mark. What it's supposed to do is comb through your profile and recommend a VW model for you. After scanning my info, it responded, "we didn't find much…. But we know there's a VW that's perfect for you." (For the record, there's a fair amount of stuff in under my profile's info tab.)
AdWeek's Brian Morrissey had more luck. But seemed to get results (two recommended models) that are pretty far-ranging. The results prompted him to wonder how the app bases it responses. I'm just wondering why the info in my profile says I'm not cool enough to match with any Volkswagens.
Tags: crispin porter + bogusky, Facebook, facebook applications, volkswagen
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »
Optimizing Virality in Social Applications
I'm at the iMedia Breakthrough Summit in Coconut Springs, Florida and just saw a great presentation from RockYou. RockYou makes may of the top apps on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut and the rest of the social nets. Their penetration of the audience across social networks is huge and they credit it to their expertise in understanding "virality."
I saw Jia Shen from RockYou give a presentation at the Web 2.0 Expo last year called "Design Learnings from Social Applications" and wrote this blog post on my personal blog. Wanted to share it here:
RockYou approach to app design:
1. Apply advertising principles to user facing web design - The main goal is impressions, conversions for every single touchpoint. You grow by maxing # of touchpoints and maxing conversions at each point. - Don't abuse the channel. consider implications for long-term use.
2. Build fast and launch ASAP. - Design really simple apps. - Focus is on virality and growth. - 'Channels' are more important than 'features'. 'Channels' are the viral mechanisms that get people to add apps (i.e. Facebook.
3. Iterate rapidly. - Viral channels should drive product development, not features. - tune the viral loop, release updates... Read more
Tags: breakthrough, Facebook, facebook applications, iMedia Summit, rockyou, social graph, social marketing, social media applications, viral, virality
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »
Marketing for Circular Narrative
As marketers, we’ve told persuasive stories as all stories have naturally been created, and listened to: beginning, middle, end. This has translated to the marketing funnel model quite literally as: consideration, preference, purchase. It’s a linear narrative, and with the linear media we were limited to using, telling stories and understanding consumer discourse the same way fits well. Aristotle articulated it in Poetics 350 years before the common era.
This luxury of creating simple narratives to sell down a funnel is fading away.
You won’t see this pop up in too many balance sheets today. Much like Cadillac sales in the late 70’s, our current framework of creating beginning-middle-end experiences does work in large numbers. Like Sienfeld and Gates appearing in the Microsoft campaign.
With every album-selling Wal-Mart, there is a song-selling iTunes. Recently, the second bible of the suburban home, the cookbook, has gotten a run on the iPhone from both Kraft and Betty Crocker. To the audience, the experience feels linear: they have a need, and the technology available helps to solve that problem in a beginning-middle-end way.
As a creator, though, this is anything but linear. It feels like an unmanageable mess. But there is a framework to describe this... Read more
Tags: facebook applications, kraft, narrative, Social Media
Posted in Emerging Platforms | No Comments »
'The next great Facebook app war'
Deep Focus' Ian Schafer has some pretty bold things to say about Facebook Connect at Ad Age this week. To sum it up, Facebook connect is the battleground for "the next great Facebook app war," he said.
Facebook Connect makes it easy for people to add stuff (like restaurant reviews) to their Facebook profiles. Schafer calls this the "holy grail of Facebook marketing success."
I agree. It's pretty slick. And it should provide a reality check for your online efforts.
Ask yourself, "what does my business allow people to do online that can be connected to a Facebook news feed?" If the answer is, "well, tons of stuff," lucky you. Your digital efforts are probably keeping up with the times, and your competitors are probably sweating. If the answer is, "I'm not really sure." Your job is going to be a lot harder, and your competitors may be a solid fixture in social networks before you have an angle to play.
Tags: Facebook, facebook applications, Facebook Connect, social marketing, social media applications
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »
