Facebook's new service targets LinkedIn And Craigslist

Facebook is testing a way to monetize the huge user base. This time, it is for people on Facebook who are interested in either finding a staff to buy or finding a new job. This service, called "marketplace" is very similar to linked and craigslist. For the example, users can promote products and share them with the people living in the same area. Facebook would charge each posting for a $5 fee. In addition, Facebook allows the users to post their resumes or the job titles and it will connect these uses to other uses that have this information or tips. 

I thought this was an excellent idea. For the craigslist-like service, Facebook calling it “marketplace”, users can reach a larger group of active users than they would with Craigslist for a $5 fee. However, there are two potential problems with this service. 1) How to manage a large number of ads. One immediate thing that came to mind is that how to handle disputes from a transaction. Since Facebook charges a fee of $5, it will bear some responsibilities when a dispute occurs. 2) Privacy issues. For such service to work, Facebook needs to dig deeper in user’s information so that it can provide more tailored ads to the users. With respect to the linkedin-like service, it might work for Facebook. But problem is: People don't put a lot of career-related information on their Facebook profiles.

Source: http://www.thedaily.com/article/2012/10/31/103112-tech-news-facebook-hickey/

Poor Form: Hurricane Sandy & American Apparel

Title: "American Apparel Angers Twittersphere With Hurricane Sandy Sale"
Source: Mashable
Date: October 30, 2012
Link: http://mashable.com/2012/10/30/american-apparel-sandy/

In an effort to turn an imminent natural disaster, Hurricane Sandy, into a marketing opportunity, American Apparel sent out a blast email to customers promoting a "Hurricane Sandy" sale they were having for all states that were about to be impacted by the storm. The email went out on Monday, potentially before the worst of the storm had been felt by much of the Northeast, saying "In case you're bored with the storm..." here's a sale at American Apparel for you. Seriously, what were they thinking? My guess is that they figured a) a lot of people were sitting indoors and needed something to do. And b) internet was still available given the storm may not have taken power out in the area. While it's easy to criticize them after we've seen just how devastating the hurricane/tropical storm was, I'm still surprised someone at American Apparel didn't have the common sense to say, "Maybe this isn't such a good idea?"

It's not the idea behind it that I disagree with, but it's how it was framed. Yes, we all know that weather forecasters have gotten so many predictions wrong in the past, e.g. Hurricane Irene in 2011. But to think that still doesn't mean that you should consider that IF the storm does hit as they predicted, there will be potential lives lost, homes destroyed, and people to be misplaced for days? My suggestion? Maybe frame it with a little less "tongue and cheek" and more "sympathy" for those in the path of this natural disaster. Perhaps offering the sale and framing it as a special offer to those that are in need with the impending storm, and maybe just a "thoughts are with those affected" could be added to the bottom of the email? That in my mind would have been a slightly better idea, but still, I wouldn't have even gone near this if I were American Apparel. We'll have to see if this dent to American Apparel's brand/image, which is already not considered very strong, has any impact on sales in the future.

Musicians Pass the Hat Online

As most people familiar with the music industry know, iTunes and the rest of the “digital revolution” have pushed major labels and other gate keepers toward an increasing hit-centric business model.  Due to declining revenue from physical sales, a vast majority of the industry’s resources are spent promoting a small number of singles from a limited number of artists as the business can no longer take on the risk of supporting unproven acts.  At the same time however, the actual demand for music has never been greater – digital media has made artists and music more accessible than ever - the average fan is familiar with a larger number of bands and listens to more music than they had been in the past.  To me, the unsettling part is that despite the increased demand and broader listening habits of music consumers, most bands aren’t reaping the benefits – the Top 40 hit-makers are still pretty much the only ones making real money.  

NoiseTrade is among several startups attempting to tackle this problem by enabling users to directly “tip” artists has they listen to their music – a bit like crowdsourcing firms such as PledgeMusic or Kickstarter, but instead of funding a record before its made, fans pay as they listen.  Of course NoiseTrade takes its cut, 20%, but the other 80% of fan tips tends to add up to more than would be made through other outlets.   

The effectiveness of this business model for artists is reinforced by a number of studies which have shown that when fans are given the option of choosing how much to pay for music they like as opposed to being told what they should pay (think iTunes’ $0.99 policy) those fans actually have a tendency to pay more than the typical retail price.  Thus, instead of just giving music away as a way of marketing themselves, musicians can offer fans free music while also allowing them to compensate artists for that experience. 

Yahoo Reorganisation

http://www.businessinsider.com/marissa-mayer-makes-her-first-acquisition-and-its-one-of-her-former-colleagues-2012-10

The "New Yahoo" lead by Marissa Mayer is underway. The first major acquisition "Stamped" described in the above link is a fairly small start up but a good indication of the refocusing of the company.

Some groups of investors have historically been very sceptics about turnaround in the technology space. I wonder how this one is going to play out.

Please feel free to comment! Thank you!

Laurent

Microsoft Surface

Despite all of the attention on the iPad mini and Google's Nexus tablet expansions (a new $399 Nexus 10 is coming) and various and sundry Kindles, I am most interested in the effect of the Surface on the marketplace.

The existing paradigm in tablets is essentially Apple people vs Google people vs Readers/Suckers for a deal.

The PROMISE of the Surface is spot on (from MS sales site): From touch to type, office to living room, from your screen to the big screen, you can see more, share more, and do more with Surface. 

It's the focus on DOING MORE that has frustrated tablet users.  We want it all - ultra-portability and affordable price AND true productivity.  We have seen some people stretch tablets to their limit in terms of "doing," but it's pretty tough as a form factor in its current state.  How many people use their tablets to take notes in class?  Ultrabooks really are the killer hardware, but they are prohibitively priced. [Count the Macbook Airs in class doing that same note-taking - we can afford the premium product....]

Microsoft is doubling down on the "doing" by focusing on the integrated physical keyboard (although it doesn't come with it - a mistake) and the inclusion of Office.  Assuming Office works well on this Windows 8 platform, this a huge move forward for tablets, esp since most of the US is still a Windows/Office market.  The Surface also includes a nifty stylus for unique interactivity.

But as this article in Infoworld points out, Microsoft just can't get out of their own way as they have launched with confusing versions and licences relative to Office and Windows 8 vs RT.

http://www.infoworld.com/t/tablets/microsofts-meaningless-rt-license-could-sink-surface-205931

There's also the issue of app dev for yet another platform.  Microsoft PAID some developers so they could launch with apps - supposedly the most of any such launch.

Sandy shakes up the East; Cook shakes up Apple

Very interesting shake up at Apple flying under the radar of Sandy: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204840504578089102411834238.html

Classic new management cleaning of house: " With his revamp, Mr. Cook is putting his own stamp on Apple and its executive team.  

But if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?  It seems here part of the point was Apple was seen as losing its luster with the stock taking precipitous hits of late. Although who could expect that upward trajectory to continue?

Let's see how the markets view this when they finally open.

Winning the new battle for consumer influence

It’s not easy being a marketer in the era of social media. New kinds of digital advisers and opinion aggregators, which compile independent and unfiltered reviews from users and consumers, operate beyond marketers’ control and have significant power to shape consumer opinion, behavior and spending. This is a new fight for consumer influence, and companies that do not have adequate battle plans are at risk of being seriously wounded.

To do better, marketing executives and corporate leadership teams should work to understand all sources of influence on consumers and the impact those sources have on buying behaviors. They should consider their organization’s existing aptitude to exert influence through those sources and then decide on the most appropriate tactical approaches to positively affect their customers’ behaviors.

Consider the source:

Companies need to understand the different ways that the Internet and new media have changed how customers find and absorb information about their organization’s reputation and products. What’s most critical is for companies to take a comprehensive approach to understanding social media’s impact on customers—an approach that considers all major sources of influence. This chart illustrates the new and enhanced sources of buyer influence that can sway consumers. Companies should be aware of where customers are currently getting their information, and determine the extent to which each source of influence motivates their customers to make a purchase or, on the other hand, how it might be a demotivator. What is the primary influencing factor? Are typical customers looking for trusted advice, credible expertise or broad consensus about quality and reliability? Four responses: For each source of buyer influence noted in the chart, marketing departments should decide on the set of actions right for their company’s goals. Central to the effort: an assessment of their organization’s capabilities to exert influence through different sources, including social media. Four options—engage, redeploy, learn or monitor—should form the core of a marketer’s tactical playbook in the new battle for consumer influence. More details: http://www.accenture.com/us-en/outlook/Pages/outlook-online-2012-winning-the-new-battle-for-consumer-influence.aspx?c=outlk_outlkdcmpy_10000021&n=smc_0512

Hurricane Sandy Media Opportunists

Given most of us are holed up in our apartments today due to Hurricane Sandy, I thought this article was appropriate to discuss:

http://adage.com/article/news/adland-weathering-hurricane-sandy/238030/

The beginning of the article focused on the retailer response to the storm, which I didn't feel was that unexpected, but the more interesting portion of the article was the online media response to Sandy that is discussed later in the article.

Aereo, a NYC DMA service that allows you to watch live broadcast TV online, is offering a free trial for 12 hours.  This is to cater to those NYC users who either lose their cable during the storm or don't have cable, allowing them to watch broadcast updates on the storm.  They promoted this via tweets sent out Monday morning.  I think that is a smart idea to try to entice new users, although I feel their marketing strategy of this promotion was lacking as tweets go to their followers who likely already have the service.  I think a better strategy might have been a local street team approach (since they just need to spread the word in the NYC DMA) on Sunday and Monday before the storm became bad.  They could have briefly set up near grocery stores as people went out to buy last minute water or batteries.  Since the storm was slow moving, they could have planned to execute this street team promotion on a very small level and urged people to tweet about it or Facebook the promotion to their friends to gain some sort of promotion/discount themselves.  They would not look like they were taking advantage of a crisis situation, but rather trying to help people stay informed to those that may lose cable or don't have it.

Besides Aereo, NYTimes and Wall Street Journal took down their paywalls during Sandy to allow free access to coverage for online users.  The paywalls will stay down during the duration of the storm.  This is a good PR move for these channels as people will go on to use them for free and then may be more likely to sign up for their paid model if they like what they see.  Twitter is also pulling together a crisis content hub at twitter.com/hashtag/sandy where it agreed to pull together tweets about the storm from the NYC Mayor's office, FEMA, Red Cross, etc. This allows users that might not go to Twitter to use it for the first time so they can stay informed, which might help expand the user base after the storm is over.

Overall, the internet has become the interactive location for users to get the information in the face of a crisis such as a storm.  That is, until the power goes out :).

Digital History Mining and Campaign Targeting

Campaign consultants are using techniques employed by digital marketers to target and tailor messages to potential voters that are in-line with their online browsing habits.  The consultants have purchased demographic data that details shopping habits, gambling histories, financial problems, etc. based on social network exchanges and browsing history.  The campaigns have also been using cookies on voters' computers to see "if they frequent evangelical or erotic Web sites for clues to their moral perspectives. Voters who visit religious Web sites might be greeted with religion-friendly messages when they return to mittromney.com or barackobama.com."

According to the article, the campaigns have turned to companies like Acxion, Experian, Equifax, Rapleaf, and Intelius, several of which are subjects of Congressional scrutiny over privacy concerns.  

The campaigns are also focusing on research into social habits, specifically, the campaigns and affiliates have "asked their supporters to provide access to their profiles on Facebook and other social networks to chart connections to low-propensity voters in battleground states like Colorado, North Carolina and Ohio."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/us/politics/campaigns-mine-personal-lives-to-get-out-vote.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Alex Elawadi, 10 29 12

Pandora Beefs Up Mobile App

Source: http://adage.com/article/digital/pandora-beefs-mobile-apps-user-base-shifts-pcs/238027/

As Pandora’s customer base shifts away from PCs, Pandora must now center its focus on further development of its mobile app.  A product that was originally catered for the PC user must now shift its focus to its mobile only listeners, which now account for more than 50% of its users or over 175 million listeners.  Even those that do utilize the desktop version of Pandora spend most of their time listening to Pandora via mobile, given 75% of Pandora listening hours now come from phones and tablets.  Not surprisingly, most Pandora users have never even used Pandora on their desktops - myself included.  

Prior to the release of the new Pandora App, the Pandora PC version had many innovative features that were not yet available on the mobile app, such as the ability to view lyrics, information about artists, songs and albums, and most importantly social functionalities.  As consumers’ habits change, companies need to follow the Pandora trend and adapt quickly.  This relaunch of the Pandora app has also created an interesting opportunity for advertisers such as McDonald's, State Farm, Nike and Sony.  Listeners who visit Pandora after clicking on a link that was shared by a friend will be greeted by ads from these advertisers.  Pandora’s mobile revenue has reached $100 million; nevertheless, mobile ads have typically produced less revenue per ad than desktop ads. It will be interesting to see the impact of the app relaunch on the company’s mobile advertising revenues in the coming months.

Pinterest for Dudes?

source: http://business.time.com/2012/10/26/pinterest-for-dudes/

This article makes an interesting point about the digital marketing arena and how it is evolving to include marketing to men. That's right, men. 

It turns out that guys like shopping too--they just want to be able to do it from the comfort and convenience of their homes (or via laptops and mobile devices on the go). The articles sums up the difference between genders perfectly: "women make shopping an event... men just want to find what they're looking for and be done". One fact that struck me was just how much guys like to shop: during last year's Black Friday, men outspent women online 2 to 1!

The main thing that keeps me skeptical however, is the relevance of Pinterest or any other social scrap-booking platform to men. As the article itself states, men just like to find what they're looking for and be done with it. So if a man finds what he wants and buys it, will he then go out to "Pin" that item so that his bros can go buy that item as well? I am guessing no, but the jury is still out there...

Rethinking Mobile Ads

A New York Times article today has some interesting information about the current state of mobile advertising.  In the early days of mobile, just like in the early days of the internet, advertisers would basically just take the same types of ads that they were used to displaying in other media, slap them onto a web page or app, and be done with it.  Now, however, advertisers are beginning to get wise to the benefits of tailoring ads to the types of behaviors people are most likely to engage in while using their mobile phones.

For example, Google is displaying search ads with a direct link to place a phone call to local businesses - taking advantage of the fact that much of the time, when people make a search on a mobile device, they are looking for something right now.  Google says that 30 percent of restaurant searches and 25 percent of movie searches are made on mobile devices.  This strategy has been very successful - Starwood Hotels started using this type of advertising and saw their online bookings increase by 20 percent in just one month!

Other companies have used other techniques to take advantage of mobile ads.  Facebook, for example, started placing ads in users' news feeds because their traditional display ads wouldn't translate well to their mobile app or site.  Twitter offers the capability to advertisers of only showing particular ads to mobile users.  Even Pandora has been using audio ads in their mobile app to promote specials at local stores - which, ironically, is basically the same thing that terrestrial radio has done for years.

Another type of ad mentioned in the article is one hinted at by Google recently.  By taking advantage of the new "Google Now" service, Google may start displaying unprompted ads in the notification window of Android phones.  This, I think, would be a bad idea.  I think that may cross the line into the territory of "too annoying" and may result in protests from users.  Then again, the additional opportunities that this would make possible may be worth a certain degree of ill will.  Either way, it will be interesting to see the other kinds of innovations that companies come up with to take advantage of mobile advertising.

Manchester United Draws highest traffic but Manchester City wants to engage their fans.

Article Link: Manchester United is top draw in UK Searches

Not sure how many people follow the Premier League teams... 

Unsurprisingly ManU is at the top of the heap for search visibility and close to the top for social visibility (Chelsea is the top in that category).   

 

 This has put pressure on other teams to invest increasing amounts on their digital presence and driving traffic to their sites.   Although a lot of the teams put the focus on traffic some seem to be taking a slightly different approach. 

Manchester City is trying to change the paradigm. (Article Link:  Man City Approach ) 

Instead of translating site content into a different language they are creating custom content for regions outside the UK.   This is garnering them a whole new legion of fans.  To take it a step further they created sub-brands within that site and add a human face to the online presence. 

I think this has some potential implications on online ad content on a global site cross geographies.  

Google Takes on Hurricane Sandy!

Thanks to this helpful post on TechCrunch, I'm now aware of this helpful map on Google for tracking the progress of Hurricane Sandy:

http://google.org/crisismap/sandy-2012

It's a little overwhelming when you first look at it, because all the options for things you can see are "turned on" by default. But you can turn them off or on as you like by clicking on the checkboxes on the right-hand panel.

The "3-day forecast cone" shows Sandy's path as just missing Staten Island's southern tip. But I'm not banking on dry weather this week here in Jersey City.

Our local weather aside, it was cool to learn that Google has a whole program dedicated to doing this sort of thing whenever there's a weather emergency of sufficient size. The program is called "Google Crisis Response", and is part of their philanthropic arm, which is known as Google.org. You can read more about it on the FAQ here:

http://www.google.org/crisisresponse/faq.html

The concept sounds great to me, though I think the website could do a better job of showing what they're doing now. You have to hunt quite a bit to find their own post about their Sandy-tracker. The website looks more like a brochure advertising something that's still under development, when in actuality this is a project that has evidently been in operation since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Chief Digital Officer

After attending Gartner's Symposium IT Expo, the world largest gathering of CIO's, it is apparent there is a shift in technology.  The message from leading technologists is that IT must drive revenue and one of the keys ways to do so is implementing a Chief Digital Officer.  Gartner predicts by 2015, 80% of enterprises will have made this organizational change to show their dedication to reaching new customers, driving increased customer service, and finding new ways to make money.  Also, Gartner predicts that data is the key to driving increased revenue.  The three ways to use data is collecting new forms of data, intelligent analytics and automated systems the experts say.  The CIO has a choice to make.  Either try and fill this role or be related to support the chief digital marketing. 

A picture speaks a thousand words

The smartest companies today are using pictures on social media websites to reinforce or strengthen their brand. Research has shown that people prefer to look at pictures rather than read a status update on Facebook. Infact, while women prefer photos, men rank videos, links and jokes as a preference over text-based status updates. This makes sense given the limited time we have available to us and the veritable barrage of information we are subjected to on a daily basis.

Both Facebook and Google struggling to monetize mobile ads

Seems both Google and Facebook are learning to monetize mobile.  Lots of opporunity, but may take a bit for them to get past the growing pains involved in this space.  Facebook slightly beat earnings expectations last week but Google wasn't as fortunate.  Maybe Facebook's edge is that they are not as entrenched in the old search advertising model which seems to be harder for Google to re-tool:

Facebook Makes Mobile Gains

By EVELYN M. RUSLI

After a slow start, Facebook Inc.'s FB -2.74% effort to squeeze more money from advertisers on mobile devices is starting to pay off.

MarketWatch's Christopher Noble and Benjamin Pimentel discuss Facebook's Q3 earnings report that modestly beat Wall Street expectations with accelerating advertising revenue. (Photo: AP)

The social network, which faces mounting investor pressure about its growth, recorded another quarterly loss on Tuesday. But the Menlo Park, Calif., company also said it made $153 million in sales from mobile advertisements, a category of business that didn't exist at Facebook seven months ago.
The mobile boost helped revenue rise 32% in the quarter that ended on Sept. 30, to $1.26 billion, slightly topping Wall Street's expectations.
Shares of Facebook, which rose about 12% to $21.82 in after-hours trading on Tuesday, opened more than 20% higher at $24.12 on Wednesday, helped by some analyst upgrades.
On Facebook's earnings call, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg stridently defended the potential for the company's mobile business. "I think our opportunity on mobile is the most misunderstood aspect of Facebook today," he said. Mr. Zuckerberg added that he expects the company will ultimately make more money from user activity on mobile, based on time spent.

Bloomberg News

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

More

• Earnings Call Recap
• MarketBeat: Shares Jump
• Heard: Facebook Gets Its Mobile Mojo
• Heard: Facebook's Gift

Facebook's third-quarter report card provides the first real glimpse into how the social network is trying to win the battle on mobile phones.

The company only began to roll out ads to its 604 million mobile users in March, through a program called "sponsored posts," which insert paid marketer messages into the home screen of its mobile apps.
Since the summer, Facebook has increased its inventory of those ads, and introduced new products, such as an app ad service. Last month, Facebook also began testing a version of a mobile ad network, which places Facebook ads inside other apps. In the third quarter, mobile ads generated 14% of the company's advertising revenue.
"We've been very focused on getting more ads into news feeds—it's one of our primary priorities," said Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, in an interview.

IPO: Go, No-Go?

Initial public offerings aren't always good investments. See some highfliers and flame-outs of the past and present.

View Interactive

The rapid ascent of mobile has been a tricky challenge for Facebook and its peers.
While the proliferation of smartphones creates new opportunities, many Internet giants have floundered in their attempts to make as much money on mobile as the Web. The small screen of a cellphone poses design challenges for where and how to place ads. Meanwhile, advertisers, which are still trying to determine how to calculate the efficacy of digital ads, have been slow to spend as much on smartphones.
For many Web giants, the transition has been a costly one. Last week, Google Inc. GOOG -0.39% stunned investors with a weaker-than-expected earnings report. The search giant's revenue growth, excluding Motorola Mobility, slipped to 19%. Google managed to sell 33% more ads in the quarter but a larger portion were mobile ads, which are priced lower than Web ads.
Game maker Zynga Inc., ZNGA -3.35% which reports quarterly results on Wednesday, has several popular mobile franchises, such as "Draw Something" and "Words with Friends," but those games haven't made as much money Web-based games, like "FarmVille" and "CityVille."
As Facebook churns out new features, it runs the risk of creating a cluttered experience and alienating members.

Now Reporting

Track the performances of 150 companies as they report and compare their results with analysts' estimates. Sort by date and industry.

• More photos and interactive graphics

Some analysts questioned whether Facebook will be able to sustain robust mobile ad sales. "Can Facebook really keep jamming ads on a page without upsetting its users?" said Jordan Rohan, a Stifel Nicolaus analyst. "When a company like Facebook introduces new ad formats, many users click on those ads with no commercial intent. That activity tends to subside within a number of months."
The rise in mobile ads managed to offset the sequential decline in the company's payments business, which includes the money it makes from Zynga's games. Revenue from the payments segment fell 9% from the second quarter to $176 million, as users spent less money on virtual goods. On the earnings call, Mr. Zuckerberg said gaming on Facebook "isn't doing as well as I'd like," but he said he was encouraged by the growth of the overall ecosystem. Several game makers, like Kixeye and Electronic Arts, EA -2.46% have begun to take market share from Zynga.
Despite higher sales, Facebook's results were bogged down by the cost of paying employees in stock. Facebook recorded a net loss of $59 million versus a profit of $227 million for the year-ago-period.
Since its highly anticipated debut nearly six months ago, Facebook's stock has lost roughly half its value, amid large stock sales from early shareholders and worries that it will be crippled by the shift from desktop computers to mobile devices.
"By the evidence of one quarter, they are obviously showing some progress," said Colin Sebastian, a Robert W. Baird analyst. "But we still don't know which ad formats work and how much advertisers will pay, that's something we'll have to track over time."
For now, Facebook still makes the bulk of its revenue from the Web. In the last three months, the company introduced a number of new products, such as Gifts, a service to buy and send real-world gifts, Collections, an image-sharing program similar to Pinterest, and Offers, a promotion tool for virtual coupons. Facebook also recently rolled out a feature that will let individuals promote announcements to a larger group of friends for a fee of $7 per post.
Write to Evelyn M. Rusli at evelyn.rusli@dowjones.com

A version of this article appeared October 24, 2012, on page B1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Facebook Makes Mobile Gains.