The Power of the Cellphone…

Earlier this month Google launched its location-aware friend-finding system Latitude in 27 countries.  It allows you to find out exactly where your friends are, and other usefull information e.g. locating that restaurant you’re looking for.  As with existing social media it will help you stay in touch with friends and help parents keep track of their kids.

John Markoff, covering technology for The New York Times since 1988, recently wrote a thought-provoking article about the increasing importance of cellphones.  According to him businesses and researchers will use Latitude and other similar programs to learn more about the whereabouts of their customers.  The possibilities are huge for companies – studying consumers’ travel patterns – which routes they take, or where they have that weekly Wednesday business lunch!  Imagine the value of this information for marketing purposes…

Preceding Google’s Latitude were Loopt, a social mapping application that displays the user’s location on cellphones.  Although the business and social value of these fantastic tools are obvious, Markoff raises an interesting point: What about privacy issues?  Do I really want ad agencies or the government to be able to keep track of my every move?  Do I want my boss to know I’m sitting in an Ale House over lunchtime?!

Markoff argues that this new generation, adapt at using an i-Phone blindfolded and used to sharing personal information on social media sites might not mind.  Time will tell.

One thing is for sure though, social media and mobile hand-held devices has changed the marketplace forever.  Are you connected to your audience?  Do you know how to effectively communicate with them using these tools?

(Read the full article in The New York Times.)

By Marco Bouwer

Thoughts on Facebook’s 5th Birthday

On Wednesday, February 4, 2009, Facebook (FB) celebrated its 5th birthday.  Who could have guessed that this company, founded in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, a then 20-year old undergrad, would grow so fast to become the social networking and Internet phenomena that it is today?  Although not the first social media networking site of the twenty first century, FB is indeed changing the way marketing and advertising is strategized, just like social networking is revolutionizing the printed news media (See http://tinyurl.com/cvovvj).
 
Just after lunchtime on January 8th, CEO Zuckerberg announced on the company’s blog the near unthinkable – the website had just added its 150 millionth member.  “If FB were a country, it would be the eight most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia, and Nigeria.” he wrote.  Incredible.  In August 2008 the site’s 100 millionth user signed up (Facebook blog).  This means that since then approximately 374, 000 people have signed up… every day!  According to ReadWriteWeb.com Myspace took 3 years to reach it’s 100 million members, while it took FB 4yrs and 6 months to accomplish the same milestone.  However, where MySpace’s numbers are declining (Mashable), FB is fast gaining ground.
 
This exponential growth shows that social utility sites such as FB works better as more people become members.  The more members, the more value added.  This is the classic Network Effect.  Some sources estimate that more than half of all FB users sign in every day.  According to FB more than 3 billion minutes are spent on the site each day!  A statistic to make your manager cringe!  (The Network Effect again – you go there ’cause all your friends and family are there already.)

It’s a marketer and advertiser’s dream – a captive, easily reachable audience meeting in a central location.  Not only that, but FB’s search options enable you to zoom in on extremely specific target audiences, or FB groups.  In addition, what makes social media – and FB in particular – so unique, is the “place” - or psychological mindset of your audience – where you meet them at.  “FB is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family, and coworkers…”, states the official FB Company Factsheet.  Visiting FB is like relaxing on the couch and watching a TV sitcom after a day of grind at the office.  Your mindset is different.  You are ready to meet people.  You’re relaxed and more accepting of outside influences and suggestions.
 
From a business perspective FB presents a definite paradigm shift with regards to marketing and brand management.  FB is a platform that facilitates the sharing of information through social interaction, in a trusted environment.  It is certainly not an advertising and marketing platform.  It is also not a tool for listening to and tracking consumers of your brand.  It goes beyond that, it is about engaging your audience and becoming one voice in a thousand.  It’s about putting the “social” in front of “marketing”.
Apart from some remarkable responsive corporations like Coca-Cola and BMW, the corporate world is too slowly waking up to FB’s possibilities.  Everyone wants a part of it, and no-one wants the competition to have the first say in the global discussion forum that is FB.
 
But fools are rushing in.  Many companies, large and small, are setting up their business presence on FB, instead of tasking expert communicators with the job.  The wrong message could cost you, and public opinion (read FB-opinion) is a fickle thing.  Let the experts take care of your online corporate socializing.  You’ll thank them.
 
Contact SCC for a free consultation.

By Marco Bouwer