The Weight of the Widget, Volume III: Pitfalls

There are a few hurdles to face in the fresh world of widgets. Complaints can be heard coming from users, advertisers, and website owners alike.

Loading Time
The biggest concern voiced by widget users and site owners is widget loading time. The time it takes to load a web page where a widget resides, is dependant on the third party code that exists on an entirely different server. Although some companies like Flickr are able to deliver fast and reliable service, smaller startup companies are often unable to handle the increase in demand, and end up failing to load the widget at all. And some critics predict that sites will become so cluttered with widgets that they won’t be effective whatsoever.

Profitability
Another question companies ask when contemplating widget development is "how can widgets help our business make money?". Experts acknowledge that the economy of this type of online marketing tool is still being shaped. Without a pricing strategy, advertisers are apprehensive about paying top dollar for a widget that’s influence is unknown. So as marketers wait with baited breath for an idea of how to make a profit, widgets will continue to serve as tools to achieve brand awareness and lead generation.

Measurement
The third obstacle lies in the measurement of usage. Given that users connect to widget content without opening any additional browser windows, counting page views and unique visitors will become obsolete. But people are getting closer to uncovering the answer with solutions to measuring widget usage. As well, companies may need to identify specifically what qualifies as a widget before Internet traffic analysts are able to measure penetration.

So is widget marketing here to stay? I know a lot of younger demographics would argue them as a new age necessity. Generations that have been raised on the Internet have no time for a static banner. Their attitude isn’t just “what’s your brand going to do for me?” It’s “what’s your ad going to do for me?” But will there ever be a comprehensive method of measurement? And will the demand for widgets continue?

The Weight of the Widget, Volume II: The Secret to Success

As a continuation of Volume I, this post explores the appropriate questions to ask when creating a widget and the key principles to a truly brand building application.

In an industry that is always enduring the trial and error of new trends, it’s fair to debate whether this new gadget will actually contribute to a brand’s success. Despite its popularity amongst hundreds of millions, widgets still need to serve a purpose in order to make a successful connection between brand and audience.

Here’s an example:

Purina created a mini-applet that alerts pet owners of good dog-walking weather. By extending its brand experience beyond dog food, the brand makes an even larger impact on the consumer’s life. This widget is a way of saying “We’re about more than just feeding your dog. We understand the life of a pet-owner and we are here for you.”

Widgets also tend to last longer than traditional advertising. If it’s something consistently entertaining or informative to the user, they are likely to keep it part of their routine, grow accustom to it, and potentially shudder at the thought of living without it.

So what key considerations must one make?

1. Consider Your Brand

Don’t just tack on your brand message to some flashy, unrelated function. Allow the widget to be a practical extension of your brand. Offer content that while useful or entertaining, also subtly enforces your brand’s identity. Acura is known for having the best navigation system on the market, so they developed the Acura RDX Traffic widget that delivers real-time traffic flow to a user’s computer. Not only is it an extremely useful application, but also a functioning extension of Acura’s brand attributes.
"It is important to raise the widget to the level of the brand, not reduce the brand to the level of the widget.” - Snipperoo Widget Blog

2. Consider Your Audience

While much of your effort will be spent designing and constructing a widget that is perfect for the user, you can’t forget about where you’ll be placing it. The placement is as important as the widget itself. There are millions of sites on the web that cover everything five times over, so it’s crucial to know the sites that not only achieve reach, but also have their own credible identity. And don’t forget, your widget should also enhance the site it’s on, making it a mutually beneficial partnership. But you may be considering a desktop widget that engages users in a deeper connection, in which case you better hope that your content can hold the interest of the user.

“There’s no free parking on the desktop: Keep it meaningful and fresh.” – Kate Donaho, Group Creative Director, T3

So what kind of content can hold the user’s attention every day? Are RSS feeds the key to keeping it fresh? Are there interactive games that can stand the test of time and wear out?

The Weight of the Widget, Volume I: The Next Level of Brand Engagement

As a facebook user, I can admit that as I stroll about the network, most advertising doesn’t penetrate anything more than my peripheral. Despite its close proximity to the content on my screen, it still isn’t content. And this quick assessment of what deserves my attention is second nature, much like someone watching television and switching channels the instant a commercial sneaks onscreen. We all know how the story goes: you can lead ‘em to a banner, but you can’t make ‘em click.

Enter Facebook Applications: Little gadgets that allow users to interact in unique, entertaining ways. Advertisers are fighting tooth and nail to develop these gadgets and further involve users in their brand. However, many of these applications are producing overwhelming clutter on the site and require users to solicit these apps to their peers, causing resentment among millions. But at the core of the clutter lies the key to new age brand engagement – Widget marketing.

Widgets can be defined simply as small pieces of desktop or web content that offer functions from simple weather updates to more sophisticated and interactive applications. They have recently become a popular way for marketers to not only reach their audience but also to incorporate their brand into a user’s everyday routine. Apple and Microsoft have desktop tools that feature stock tickers, news feeds and airline schedules. Google’s fastest growing products are ‘gadgets’ for its personalized start pages, or websites that allow users to customize the displayed information.


In today’s marketing world, the widget is proving its place as an effective media strategy. Such tools have been successfully weaved into marketing plans for brands like Adidas, Cingular, Sony Pictures, V05, and AT&T Wireless, along with countless others. Many sectors like financial services, automotive, and personal care are testing the widget waters, which makes one wonder just how varied the demographic for this tool is. eMarketer estimates that U.S. companies will spend $40 million this year to create, promote and distribute widgets, up from $15 million in 2007 (which was prematurely dubbed ‘The Year of the Widget’).

Not appearing to be a passing fad, widgets are used by 230 million people a day. But are widgets appropriate for every marketing strategy? Behind every brand, is there a widget waiting to happen?

Look for our next installment of The Weight of the Widget: Volume II: The Secret to a Successful Widget

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6 New Blogging Techniques

I was listening to a podcast episode of Six Pixels of Separation (#94), and here are 6 new blogging techniques, according to Mitch Joel, demonstrating how blogs have shifted as people learn what works and what doesn't.

1) Tell half the story - Instead of having a beginning, middle, and end to your posting, tell only part of the story so the other half can be generated by the community (and build traffic, essentially). A well-written blog posting may not generate many (or any) comments because there is nothing left to say, so leave the post open-ended.

2) Be provocative - With so many bloggers, your title needs to stand out. Being a bit provocative will help grab attention.

3) Use video - Embedding visuals and especially video will help get people excited, people often like to watch video rather than reading and it can really add to the content.

4) Write longer, well thought-out posts - Shorter, snappy posts are being filtered directly into Twitter or other micro-blogging platforms.

5) Blog frequently - If you don't blog frequently, your blog may be thought of as stale and will get lost in the sea of blogs.

6) Use your blog as your home destination - Instead of treating the blog your online journal, make it a core destination for your audience. This will also help with organic search rankings.

So these are a few things to think about as you set out to write your blog posts, and I know I will consider these suggestions for my own. Overall, I think it shows just how things are changing in the 'blogesphere'. What do you find is working for you?

Word of Mouth Marketing Seminar March 6, 2008

"...Word of mouth is the new black. Two thirds of customer purchase decisions are now primarily influenced by word of mouth..."

Read more

The Facebook 'Fad'?

Facebook is not a fad. I say this because I don't feel that its popularity will slow anytime soon. This is because of Metcalfe’s law. Let me explain...

The general idea behind Metcalfe’s law is that the larger a network grows, the more valuable it becomes, because every new person who joins the network adds value to everyone else who is on the network. A good example of this phenomenon at work is user forums. Online forums are where people go to get their questions answered. The more members that join a forum, the faster questions will be answered, and the more diverse the opinions and skill levels - thus adding value to the network.

This notion of more sign-ups raising the value of a program has the opposite effect for some things, however. If you consider how a contest works, your chances of winning go down the more people you invite to enter.

The value of Xbox Live, an online gaming community, certainly goes up as more people sign on, and it was a player's dream when it hit 10 million users over the holidays! (Marketing Profs Podcast, 2008).

The same can be said for iPods, but the type of value increase is slightly different. For every person who buys an iPod, the community of iPod fans is strengthened, increasing the 'bandwagon' effect, and resulting in higher sales for Apple.

Now back to my initial prediction for Facebook. Over the month of December, 2007, Toronto became the first North American city to have over one million subscribers to Facebook (Zinc Research, 2007), and approximately half of online Canadians were said to be on Facebook in December, which is almost double the rate of a few months earlier!

This constant growth for Facebook is a success that can be attributed to the workings of Metcalfe's law, and it is the reason I don't see the trend slowing down anytime soon.

Can you think of a product or tool, online or offline, which is self-reinforcing?

Magic 2008-Ball

Open any newspaper in the English-speaking world at the threshold of a new year and, invariably, you'll find loads of predictions for what's to come. In my view, it's wise to keep a couple of things in mind when it comes to predictions.

The first is that they tend to be either so vague that, while correct, they lack any real prognosticative power, or so precise that they have little chance of accuracy. The second is that they tend to say more about the person making the predictions than they say about the future. For example, a pessimist is likely to see dire outcomes. An optimist is likely to see positive things coming up. But this is as it should be.

And with those two caveats out of the way, this blogger will make some of his own predictions about brands and social marketing:

1. Most business models based around social marketing platforms that do not yet exist will be a tough sell. This is simply because of human behaviour — how many social networks can you really be a part of? With one in four (!) Canadians on Facebook - and so many of those Canadians spending A LOT of time on Facebook - you tell me how easy it will be to convince them of another, better social network (this year, anyway).

2. My parents' generation is about to start finding old classmates from the fifties and sixties through Facebook. That means baby boomers will soon be swarming all over Facebook if they aren't there already.

3. Products and brands will start to sponsor successful Facebook apps, and even start coming up with some of their own. There are two business plans to look out for in 2008. The first involves those savvy marketing departments (and their savvy agencies) leveraging the fun and sometimes silly apps that make Facebook what it is. The second is the makers of said apps going after cool sponsorship opportunities.

4. A fourth prediction far away from Facebook is that more brands will get busted for "greenwashing" (greenwashing is when you try to paint your brand green without actually doing anything for the environment), and yet more brands will start to get green product development right. Is the latter my hope for 2008? It is decidedly so.

Social Media Marketing: A Six Step Program

Recently, I have noticed a flurry of activity in my inbox from the usual e-newsletter suspects about what to make of the new social media.

Here are just a few of the e-mails I received this week: "How to Use YouTube to Generate Leads: 7 Video Posting Strategies & Tagging Tips" and "How to Use Social Networking Sites for Lead Generation" - both from Marketing Sherpa; "Social Media - Not Just for Kids" - from IMedia Connection; "The Build-it Yourself Approach to Social Marketing" - from IT Business Edge.

These newsletters attempt to answer a great question: as a marketer, how can you use, benefit from, and not get burned by sites like Facebook, MySpace or any of the more targeted social networking sites out there. Now is an appropriate time to share some answers, as we have been turning increasingly to social media (often with great success) on behalf of our clients.

Here is a six-step program for success in marketing with social media:

1. Research appropriate sites and groups to market to…
At the end of this article, I have put together a list of social media sites to get you started.

2. Or create your own.
If you can't find a group that meets your needs, create one on any of the more popular sites (Facebook is very popular - with about one in five Canadians using it).

3. Understand your target and create personas.
Due diligence requires that you a) Understand your target market and what they’re interested in by spending time reading what's being said, and b)Develop personas that fit in the reality of the social media group you’ve chosen.

In social media, every site is an expression of an individual’s "persona". In the context of social media personas sites sit somewhere between the literary definition and the user experience methodology definition of the word.

In literature, a persona is a "second self" through whom the narrative can develop. While they may share many characteristics, this persona should not be confused with the actual author.

In user-centred design, we create personas to help us understand the likes and dislikes of typical users and to define their goals and expectations.

Having a persona doesn't mean you need to say much. You may decide, having done your research, that your persona builds connections and mostly remains anonymous. Or, you may decide that your persona is quite gregarious, and will comment or offer insight on a regular basis. The most important thing about your online persona is authenticity. Be genuine or nobody will listen to you. The second most important thing is to remember you have to give something to get something.

4. Tread very carefully and post generously.
Marketing Sherpa describes a successful business-to-business intitiative1 using social media in which the company developed a mix of white paper titles to meet various expectations of the social media audience. These white papers spanned recommendations from the very specific to the very general. Each title resonated with different audiences, and was designed to generate leads.

5. Use a variety of channels for expression.
On many social media sites, there are many "media" being used, such as RSS feeds, blogs, and discussion forums. In sites like Facebook, many add-ons have been created to extend your presence (My Travels, photo galleries, event calendars, etc.). Facebook has received a lot of well-justified praise for enabling users to build applications that anybody can use.

6. Measure and follow-up.
Develop mechanisms to measure and enhance success. If you are using social media to generate leads, it is important to establish what information you want to receive, and to develop mechanisms to act on those leads. For more on social media and lead generation, click here.

As promised, here is a list of social media sites (other than Facebook and MySpace):
www.eons.com (a lifestyle portal for those over 50)
www.boomj.com (lifestyle portal aimed at boomers and "Generation Jones" (those between the boomers and Generation X)
prime.lavalife.com/ (dating for boomers)
http://www.cafemom.com(for active new moms)
http://www.mothersclick.com(for wired and active moms)

1 Marketing Sherpa referred to
http://www.ittoolbox.com

More than one way to get a gamer's dollar.

I’ve recently been taken in by an addictive little PC game called DriftCity. A free-to-play online driving game that launched earlier this month, and it had me reflecting on the changing economy of online video games.

The subscription revenue system has worked for a long time on game-behemoths like World of Warcraft and Everquest, both of which have been around for several years and have raked in billions (yes, with a B) of dollars. But games with lesser production values and hype have been left with a problem of not being able coax players away from the game they are paying for monthly in order to try something else they will need to pay another monthly fee for.

The result of this dilemma has been a number of interesting new ways of getting money out of gamers and games.

DriftCity for example uses a revenue structure that is very common among games originating from the east, Korea in particular. A player can download and play their games for free, but the player is also allowed to purchase in-game currency using real currency. This allows them to obtain special items which will either increase their character’s stats and/or decorate their character to fit the player’s liking. An example of this would be a new hat costing about 30 cents in real-world money, allowing a player to look unique while giving them an in-game advantage, such as making the character slightly stronger or faster. Only a small percentage of players will ever actually reach for their credit cards to do this, but it is enough to cover the game’s server/staff costs, and then some. This revenue model has been surprisingly successful. The genius here is that people with only a passive interest in a particular game will likely at least try it out, thus creating a large community of registered players, the larger the group is, the more likely that game will be mentioned in the media, thus getting the attention of even more potential players.

Second Life, for example saw a tidal wave of new players join its ranks over the past year, due to the all the hype it received from news sources reporting on large companies, like Sony and Ford buying space in the game simply to advertise their products. The game itself is, and has always been free to enter and explore, but real money is required to purchase property, very similar to the Korean free-to-play model. The hype from name-brand companies creating their presence sent Second Life’s population from the hundreds and thousands, which it had hovered at for years, into the hundreds of thousands. Many groups and organizations from political campaigns to musicians and fashion designers have jumped in, and are buying up their own virtual space to show-off their real-world products.

That’s all I’ll say for now, but perhaps next time, I’ll address a new spin an old idea, in-game advertising.

Marketing the Mundane: Ikea Goes Viral

When one thinks of furniture, and more specifically, mattresses, words like ‘exciting’ and ‘buzz worthy’ aren’t the first descriptors that come to mind. IKEA, however, has been able to accomplish just that with the ‘Swedish Guy’ character that has been the voice in their radio spots for over a decade.

The Swedish Guy is no longer just a voice. For the first time ever, IKEA is using him visually in some of their advertising campaigns. They've launched a ‘mattress microsite’, and Swedish Guy is featured as a ‘sleep coach’. He gives advice on how to choose a mattress, how to test it, etc, and his delivery is simple, yet hilarious, as would be expected.

“Click one of these to learn more about our mattresses, but don’t click anything if you like looking at me”.

Swedish Guy is recognizable, quirky, and lovable (although to some, annoying) and IKEA has most certainly succeeded in giving their brand more personality and strength by using him in their ads.

Check out the microsite and see if he looks like you imagined he would.

Your brand is a person. A person on Facebook

Sometimes when we talk “brands” with clients, we refer to them as "people". It's a way of helping clients understand what is at stake in their brand, how to manage its growth and direction. A brand, after all, has a personality, it acts in the world and it makes promises. Referring to a brand as a person is a way of bringing it right down to earth.

So I’ve had this thought: “if brand X is a person, what kind of presence would brand X have on Facebook? And would Facebook be a good place to understand brand X?

What if you used Facebook to better understand your brand?

I don't mean that your brand needs a real Facebook profile - unless of course Facebook is part of your marketing mix. But the Facebook model could be used to flesh out many important aspects that drive brand strategy.

Consider some of the core features of Facebook:

1. A Facebook profile has an image (could this be a logo?)
2. A Facebook profile supplies answers to a number of questions that reflect the person's personality and interests (what makes your brand different? what is your unique sales proposition? what is your unique selling language?)
3. Facebook invites networking (what is your sales force doing?)
4. Facebook includes e-mail (how do you communicate with your customers? does your brand reach consistently across all touch points?)

So here is a test you can try:
- Create a hypothetical Facebook profile for your brand
- Fill in all the blanks using the various features offered
- See how your brand behaves from the highest strategic level down to various brand touch points.
- See what you learn, and apply that learning to your brand.

SO del.icio.us

I recently started using the social bookmarking website del.icio.us and I’m beginning to thoroughly enjoy it. For those who haven’t heard of del.icio.us, it’s a web page where you can store all your ‘favourites', rather than saving them to your browser. It means that you can access your bookmarks from anywhere – without having to be on your home computer. It allows you to share them with friends, family, and other del.icio.us users. It’s a great tool for collaborating with co-workers on research projects.

Besides the benefits of access, flexibility, and collaboration, the next greatest advantage for me is that I don’t have to assign each bookmark to a folder. There are no folders. Instead I use tags (or ‘descriptive words’) and I'm able to choose which and how many tags I want to use. To make it even more simple, del.icio.us displays a list of ‘popular’ and ‘recommended’ tags I can choose from – or I can make up my own that are more relevant or meaningful to me.

del.icio.us also has a search tool, and I love having the option of using it when I know exactly what I’m looking for. My searches always turn up results comprised of my links and links (classified ‘public’) from other del.icio.us users. Generally, people bookmark sites they are especially fond of, and so the ability to share, pick, and choose sites from other people’s lists by subject category, is so efficient.

As I become better acquainted with del.icio.us I’m sure I’ll discover even more uses and benefits. You can visit my page and see my public links at http://del.icio.us/juliebudd.

For those of you who currently use del.icio.us, how do you use it, and what do you like or dislike about it?

Why wait? Web 2.0 is here to stay.

My colleague Tim and I recently attended an intensive one-day course in Montreal on the subject of social media marketing and Web 2.0. It was instructed by Mitch Joel, Owner of Twist Image (a digital media company in Montreal), and social media guru. I thought it was extremely well presented, and the content was a perfect mix of explanations and examples. I emerged at the end of the day feeling energized and excited to share all I had learned with my coworkers, not to mention, the rest of the world ;)

Web 2.0 seems to be all we’re hearing about these days - and rightly so. Mitch explained that this industry (marketing, advertising) has changed more in the last 2 years than it has in the last 20. He gave some startling statistics on web use – who is using it, how they are interacting with it, what they are doing and why. The hard numbers make it all very difficult to ignore, and hearing it inspired me to make a point of absorbing everything I can on the subject from here-on-in. Did you know that in 2006, Canadian online advertising exceeded $1 billion?! (IAB Canada)

Here's a brief list of things that I feel are definitive of the Web 2.0 concept, and what social media marketing is all about:

- Hands-on (user-generated content ie/YouTube, and virtual worlds ie/Second Life)
- Wikipedia
- Blogging
- Podcasting
- Wikis
- Syndication
- Tagging (ie/ Del.icio.us)
- Social Networking (ie/ facebook, MySpace, Linkedin)
- Viral Marketing
- Mobile devices

Participation, as opposed to push or pull, is the name of the game. Consumers want to feel a part of your brand, and so by allowing them to contribute by creating - they are helping to shape it. This also prevents your marketing campaign from fading into the background and from fading too quickly – if people are interacting with it you can be sure it lives on!

If there was ever a time that cookie-cutter approaches fail - it's now - today and tomorrow. We all must start to embrace Web 2.0 and make the necessary transition in the way we approach marketing our products and services.