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Restaurants, Food-Oriented Small Businesses Find Social Media Quite Tasty For Driving Sales

Twitter Who says only big brands get in on all the soc-net fun?

As it happens, social media seems to be especially tasty Facebookto food-based small businesses.

Clikz, for instance, has a piece on how a 10-month-old ice cream sandwich start up called Coolhouse, which uses funky, architecturally inspired ice cream trucks to sell its confections, quickly discovered that sending offers for, say, trivia questions about architecture to Twitter and Facebook followers in its local area, boosted sales appreciably.

 And countless pizza shops offer weekly specials on soc-nets to get people into their stores. One shop, called GoldenKnights Pizza, has discovered 40% of its business can come from these efforts. 

Yet another restaurant, Axels' Food and Ice Cream has found great success by posting special offers through Facebook and Twitter. 

According to a recent Rice University study, Facebook fans of one Houston-based café chain visited 20% more often, and spent 33% more, than non-fans.

"Social media is not like direct mail or local print advertising," founder Kristen Costa tells Clickz. "Those marketing mediums don't make much difference with our customers. On the other hand, our Facebook fans and our Twitter followers want information from us."

Actually, it's exactly like direct mail or local print advertising, only done electronically among people who are expressing interest in your brand by following it on soc-nets.

The real difference is summed up by Jenny Cheifetz, whose confections company started using social media last year: "[Social media] is viral, and it's free....I'm a new business. I don't have the money to spend on a large advertising campaign."

In my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (out April 21 from AMACOM Books), I look at some of the most powerful ways to make use of social media to drive business. Among them: Limited time offers, which enable brands to get out promotional messages quickly to people just primed to take advantage of them. A growing number of food-based businesses are discovering that, but so are big players in several fields. Dell, for instance, makes millions off limited time, Twitter-only offers.

How is your company using social media to get people in the door and spending money? We'd love to hear from you.

In the meantime, read the Clickz piece, here.

And read more about THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, here.

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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO



>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

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NY Times Reports on Mobile's Role In Enhancing In-Store Shopping Experience - And Misses Biggest Factors

Retail_store_mobile_crash "Cellphones Let Shoppers, Point, Click and Purchase," shouted the headline from Saturday's New York Times.

The piece was about how retailers are incorporating mobile into the in-store experience to do things like enable you to point your camera phone at an item in the storefront window of designer Norma Kamali's boutique in Manhattan, and buy it, and for the ability for loyalty programs to be linked to your phone, and even tell you what aisle you'll find, say, the toothpaste on.

It's actually a nice piece, and covers some of the primary in-store enhances possible through mobile that I wrote about in my first book, BRANDING UNBOUND, five years ago. We've moved on.

In my new new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (coming April 21 from AMACOM Books), I look at a whole new generation of opportunities enabled by mobile, and the power of social retailing to propel it forward - a topic I explored as a speaker at the Global Retail Executive Council event at CTIA last fall.

Social retailing is the term coined by Tom Nicholson of IconNicholson, to explain ways in which consumers don't just comparison shop with their mobile phones, but also seek out the opinion of their posses before they loosen the purse strings.

Imagine an app that enables you to point your camera phone at an item of clothing, for instance, to instantly peruse customer reviews; view runway video associated with the garment on; snap a photo or video yourself in the dressing room mirror to send out instantly to your peeps via their mobile phones and PCs for feedback; and simply walk out the door, the anti-theft device deactivated and the transaction happening automatically thanks to the credit card you've entered on the app - without you ever digging for cash, writing a check, swiping a card or waiting in line.

That's the reality (actually, that's just scratching the surface, you'll read a lot more in the book) today in the ways some of our most innovative marketers are using mobile to transform the in-store shopping experience.

You'll want to read the Times piece here.

And see the real story on mobile's transformative impact on retailing, starting here.


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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO



>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

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Pepsi's 'Project Refresh' Fumbles, Calling Submission Rules Into Question

Say it aint' so.

For months now I've been posting about Pepsi's Project Refresh, the social networking cum crowdsourcing initiative where charitable groups vie for money to fund community enhancement projects, which are then voted on by users. 

So popular is the effort that it generated the most buzz among Super Bowl advertisers according to at least one survey - despite the fact that Pepsi didn't even run ads during the game.

Every month, thousands of organizations compete for grants ranging from, $5,000 to $250,000, using materials that they have to submit - and can not subsequently be altered - before each month's competition.

As today's New York Times reports, one group, called the Joyful Heart Foundation, a charity founded by "Law & Order'" Mariska Hargitay, designed to help victims of sexual assault, were updated by the staff at Pepsi after the submission deadline for that month's competition. 

The result is that some contestants are wondering if Pepsi's doing favors for a celebrity. If I'm following the thread correctly, Joyful Heart posted a video for the month's competition on YouTube, and Pepsi thought it would be better if users could view the video from the Project Refresh site, so they uploaded it themselves, despite the fact that it was past the submission deadline. At this writing, it's #3 in this month's ranking.

Pepsi tells the Times it was an honest mistake and that they're going to give away three $250,000 prizes instead of the usual two. And Joyful Heart, which looks to be a worthy cause like so many others in the competition, had nothing to do with the tardy upload.

Hell hath no fury like a soc-net scorned, so here's hoping Pepsi can get right with Project Refresh and its users. It's a great combo of cause and commerce, and I hope it succeeds - big time.

And read more about THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, here.

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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO



>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

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Forget YouTube: Internet Increases Viewership on Old-School Television

We hear a lot about how the Internet is seeing a revolution in online video, threatening to short circuit that ancient technology known as television.

Not so fast.

The Internet instead seems to be a viral engine pushing (more correctly, being used to push) "must-see" TV events like the Olympics and the Super Bowl, and The Grammy's. This year's Bowl, for instance, beat out 1983's final episode of "MASH" for most watched TV show ever.

The Olympics, thanks in part to many online promotional efforts, including numerous social media outlets, is enjoying record viewership. Heck, even advertisers without official Olympics sponsorships are pushing the games through Facebook, Twitter and yes, YouTube. 

And the Grammy's - representing the industry perhaps most impacted by the digital era - saw a 35% gain over last year thanks to initiatives on popular soc-nets and even an iPhone app.

“Increased usage of social media is definitely driving the ratings,” Jon Gibs, a vice president at Nielsen, tells the New York Times. He said the Olympic data showing simultaneous TV-and-Web viewing signaled the growing importance of interactivity to the television experience. Things like population growth and an economic downturn that has more people sitting in front of screens at home rather than going out have an impact, too.

In my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (out April 21 from AMACOM Books) looks at this phenomenon as well, dating back to the social media juggernaut known as "The Lost Experience," a massive online alternate reality game designed to push viewership of ABC-TV's hit show, "Lost;" virtual world initiatives for shows like "CSI," and an endless array of efforts to fuel fandamonium around popular sporting events. 

Today, such initiatives are not only commonplace in social media, but required to break through in an age when most TV shows don't get to episode two if they aren't generating enough viewership.

Look for more to come in the fall 2010 television season - and beyond.

Read the Times piece, here.

And read more about THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, here.

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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO



>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

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Johnny Depp as Elijah Wood in Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'

Seriously. Why would Tim Burton pay top dollar for Johnny Depp, only to spend so much more to make him look like Elijah Wood (...or is it Madonna)?

 

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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO


 

 

 

 

 

 

>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

 

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Conan O'Brien Joins Twitter; Is ChatRoulette Next?

 If you're with Coco, now you can follow him, too.

Conan O'Brien, fresh from the end of his run as star of NBC's Tonight Show, has followed in Ashton Kutcher's steps and set up his Twitter account earlier today (can a visit to ChatRoulette be far behind?). He already has 135,706 followers and 3,175 lists. With one tweet.

Makes sense. O'Brien was hobbled in some ways by his appeal to young people who spend a lot of time on the Internet - and are fickle television viewers at best. As a result, he couldn't quite build up a large enough audience relative to Jay Leno on the Tonight Show (though I much preferred it under his reign).

If he can find a way to meld soc-nets and television, including original online content, he may find the advertisers - and audience - he's been looking for.

At least, here's hoping.

Read more, here.

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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO


 

 

 

 

 

 

>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

 

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Pew Study: Millennials? More Like Generation Text

Teenagers Not sure we needed Pew to tell us this, but at least its putting some new numbers to what was already apparent:

Those born after 1980 are the mobile generation, the texting generation, or, as Pew actually puts it, "history's first 'always connected' generation."

Some stats:

• 80% go to sleep with their mobile phone with them

• 34% say they have texted while driving

• 48% say they've been in a car while the driver is texting

• In the last 24 hours, the average Millennial has sent 20 texts, compared to a dozen for Gen Xers (those born between 1965 and 1980) or 5 for the average boomer (those born between 1946 and 1964)

• 41% say they only have a mobile and no landline

• They're less likely to have watched TV in the last 24 hours, though most still did so -  a full 57%'s worth

In my first book, BRANDING UNBOUND, and in my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (out April 21 from AMACOM Books), I look at today's phenomenally tech-savvy generation and what it means to marketers. Needless to say, it portends seismic changes in the way we market products and services.

You'll want to find out more about that here.

You're going to want to read more about the Pew study, here.


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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO



>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

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Is ChatRoulette Video Version of Facebook, Or Porn-In-The-Pan?

 It's not even working just now, but a notice at the bottom of the home page says it'll be working in about nine hours.

I bet all the buzz about ChatRoulette has crashed its servers, what with word that this "game" enables you to chat via webcam with random people (even, surprise, surprise, Ashton Kutcher) from around the world in a kind of speed soc-net - live video of lots (and lots) of naked people included.

The site says it does not tolerate obscene, offending, pornographic material. I'm just not sure it's blocking it, either.

Can marketers use this?

Kutcher's already there - and you know what he did for Twitter.

But in an age built on targeted communications, you have to wonder if the random approach will really work for much else than porn.

Catch some of the funniest Chatroulette screen captures (including the one shown above), here.

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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO


 

 

 

 

 

 

>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

 

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Video: Point Phone, Get Augmented Reality Feed On People Around You Based On Social Network Data

This particular example seems to be trying way too hard - why do facial recognition when an app can make it so anyone can choose to have their profile info presented via mobile augmented reality based on their phone, not scanning their faces. I also think the information could be more easily displayed.

The possibilities are huge. Imagine event sponsors enabling fans at say, a concert, to hold up their phone to learn about the people around them - likes dislikes...proclivities....to spark conversation and act as a social lubricant. It also helps brands become social glue, and help consumers not just connect with each other in the physical world. 

In my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (coming April 21 from AMACOM Books), I look at how mobile augmented reality will transform the way the virtual and physical worlds converge - and how brands like Coca-Cola, Ray-Ban, Legos, Doritos, Papa Johns and others are already putting it to good use. 

Read more, here.

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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Excellent  ..."

 “Through persuasive arguments and q&a’s with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas.” – Publishers Weekly



>>> IN STORES APRIL 28 - READ MORE HERE <<<

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Survey: More People Using Facebook, Twitter to End Real Relationships

Suddenly the decision from New Oxford American Dictionary to make "unfriend" the word of the year is making a lot more sense - just not how it was intended. 

According to a survey of 2,000 people, 34% said they've ended a relationship via email, 13% by changing their status on Facebook - without telling their partners, and 6% have announced the news (unilaterally) on Twitter.

Mobile's not so bad; only 2% have broken up with someone via text messaging.

"Digital Dumping will soon take over when it comes to ending a relationship," Sean Wood, Marketing Manager for DateTheUk dating service, for whom the survey was carried out, tells Reuters. "It's often easier, quicker and avoids any misunderstandings."

Maybe so. But who ever thought we'd use soc-nets to inform fake friends that we're dumping real ones?

Read more, here.

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LAUNCHES APRIL 21 - PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW:

OD_cover "... Witty, Insightful, Dynamic and Highly Inspiring..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO



>>> IN STORES APRIL 21 - READ MORE HERE <<<

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