Tweeting in the courtroom? Yes we can!

The Lord Chief Justice in the UK allows journalists to report some court proceedings by using Twitter, texting and email. He made it clear though that it would not happen if it could influence witnesses.

Media organizations and journalists can now apply for permission to use social media on a case-by-case basis. Non-journalists could still be barred in order to ensure the "proper administration of justice". This would prevent distractions in court and limit the potential for interference with courts' own recording equipment. The guidance applies only to courts in England and Wales.
For now, anyone who wants to tweet in court needs to get the judge’s permission. In criminal trials tweeting will quite likely be forbidden when there is a risk that witnesses who are out of court would be able to find out what is happening inside.

The Lord Chief Justice explained: "The judge has an overriding responsibility to ensure that proceedings are conducted consistently with the proper administration of justice, and so as to avoid any improper interference with its processes. There is no statutory prohibition on the use of live text-based communications in open court. But before such use is permitted, the court must be satisfied that its use does not pose a danger of interference to the proper administration of justice in the individual case. Subject to this consideration, the use of an unobtrusive, handheld, virtually silent piece of modern equipment for the purposes of simultaneous reporting of proceedings to the outside world as they unfold in court is generally unlikely to interfere with the proper administration of justice."

Interesting enough, the Twitter guidance comes days after WikiLeaks Assange's court hearing. Mr Justice Ouseley ruled during that hearing that supporters and journalists should tweet about was happening in real time. At an earlier bail hearing, district judge Howard Riddle did allow tweeting from Westminster Magistrates Court, saying journalists could send messages if they were discreet and did not interfere with the judicial process.

If the same policy would apply to let video cameras in court, justice would be seen on TV, online and on mobiles. Is this the way to go?

On the other side of the Pond, U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Marten allowed in 2009 a reporter to Twitter court proceedings in a trial of six Crips gang defendants taking place in his Wichita, Kansas courtroom.

"The more we can do to open the process to the public, the greater the public understanding," the judge said when asked about lawyers' concerns that jurors might be influenced by the tweets.

So where will it end? Does tweeting serve a purpose in court room?

To quote Andrew Cohen: “The difference between a reporter tweeting in the courtroom and a reporter doing the same during the breaks and phoning it in is not that great."

Ita Est

(Image courtesy of Courtoons & David E. Mills)

Facebook's Titan Messaging System Reviewed

Facebook announced its new Titan Messaging System (aka Fmail) on 11/17.

In an official blog post, Facebook software engineer Joel Seligstein explained that the service is different from email as we know it:

"There are no subject lines, no cc, no bcc, and you can send a message by hitting the Enter key. We modelled it more closely to chat and reduced the number of things you need to do to send a message. We wanted to make this more like a conversation."

In the video below, CNET editor Rafe Needleman (of Red Herring-fame) tried it out and talks about the features.

Not without my IP lawyer – Nexocial’s painful marketing lesson

The company Nexocial was forced by Apple (AAPL) to change the name of its nPad-tablet. Apple argued that the product name infringed on its trade marks. Nexocial also had to discontinue its nPad-website. It is unclear what new product name will be chosen by Nexocial. Hopefully this time they will check it with an IP lawyer first.

Nexocial was wise to comply with Apple’s demand. The nPad is the brainchild of Hugo Leijtens, the Dutch CEO of Chengdu–based Nexosial. He believes that the iPad lacks some important features. His tablet therefore is Windows 7-based in order to enable multitasking and support Flash. The tablet also has a USB-port and has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. However, the battery life is only 4 hours; about half of Apple’s iPad. The two products also look uncanningly alike - which puts Nexosial in hot legal water by default. By blocking Nexsocial to use the nPad product name, Apple effectively prevented it from entering the market. By losing the momentum, Nexosial decided not to enter the consumer market anymore, since it is now (over)crowded. The company stills sees possibilities in the enterprise market, where a few companies are experimenting with it.

Legal actions, including patent trolling, are used as marketing techniques to prevent market entrance or market expansion by competitors. Companies, and especially start-ups that could be a threat for behemoths such as Microsoft, Google or Apple, need to seek legal advice before launching a product or entering a market.. The fallout could otherwise break the company.
Will Nexocial be able to weather this storm? Not likely, unless Leijtens has another marketing ace up his sleeve...

Silly Bandz marketing success

Silly Bandz is a great example of how marketing of a fad item works.

Silly Bandz are silicone rubber bands in the form of animals (e.g., tree frogs, dolphins, geckos), objects, letters, Barbie, and Justin Bieber. They can be worn as bracelets, and revert to their original shape once taken off. They are mainly aimed at Tweens, who collect and trade them. But boys and girls as young as 5 have start wearing (and trading) them.

Robert Croak is the rubber band man who came up with the idea after seeing a similar product designed for Japanese offices. His business has grown 10 times in the past six months. Croak is currently shipping millions of Silly Bandz weekly.

What contributes to the marketing success of the Silly Bandz fad?

Appeal

The shapes and colors appeal to te target market. The bands are coveted by both boys and girls (the picture shows a 5-year old boy showing his collection), and several ages groups (from 5 up to 15). The appeal is global, which explains its quick adoption in non-US markets. The bands also give their owners a certain status and bargaining power among their peers.

Product strategy

Silly Bandz cleverly discontinues less popular shapes, while introducing new ones (e.g., Justin Bieber, Helllo Kitty, and iCarly).

Collecting and trading

Collectability always extends the lifespan of a fad. The longer the bands are collected, shared, and traded, the longer its product lifecycle (and income stream) will be.

Affordability and packaging

In a US retail store, Silly Bandz sell between $3 for a pack of 12 to $5 for a pack of 24 items.
The product is affordable for the target group that has the spending power. As Croak puts it: "Let's face it. In a tough economy, any parent can afford to spend $5 to get their kid something they really want." The packaging is a small, no-nonsense, transparent plastic bag; "what you see is what you get".

Promotion

Croak uses social media for marketing buzz, including a blog. The Silly Bandz Facebook page has over 700,000 fans. Its Twitter feed has more than more than 15,000 followers. As Michael Lewis, CEO of Forever Collectibles points out: "it's 100% viral. When one kid finds it at a store, in two seconds the kid or his mother is on the phone texting that they've found them."

Additional Products

In addition to Silly Bandz, there are also Silly Ringz, Silly Necklace, SillyBandz Caribinerz, and Silly Buttons.


But Silly Bandz is facing two major threats:

1. Some schools have banned the silicon bands since they could pose a distraction (e.g., kids trading in class) or pose a physical danger (e.g., used as rubber bands to snap others).
   
2. Although Silly Bandz is trademarked, it was only a matter of time, until other brands would appear. Silly Bandz has its share of imitations/competitors, e.g., Zanybandz and Crazy Bands.
   

But for now, Silly Bandz are still selling like crazy. Silly Bandz also seem to enter the adult market - as a flirtation tool. Singles at bars and clubs are slipping the object of their desire a Silly Band to show that they are interested in a stranger that they just met there. This could open a whole new market segment for Silly Bandz.

Disney launches its user-generated (UGC) marketing campaign

Disney (DIS) is leveraging user-generated content for its marketing. The new Disney Parks’ campaign will use visitors’ own home videos and snap shots. Disney dubbed its new marketing campaign "Let the Memories Begin".

It works as follows. Consumers can post their content (photos, videos) on the website Disneyparks.com/memories or via the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Facebook pages.

This content is used (with permission of its creators) for a TV spot dubbed "Hugs" that premiered on the Today Show and will air on several networks, including CBS, ABC and Animal Planet. It consists of a video collage of happy children at Disney parks, with the tagline "Where Dreams Come True."

The print ads will appear in the November/December 2010 issues of People, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and Parents, among others.

Disney will also collect memories from consumers during a tour in major cities. A Disney vehicle will make appearances to conduct interviews with consumers.

The “Let the Memories Begin” campaign embraces all aspects of social media: messages are shared on the website, including photos, videos and texts that are categorized by theme, emotion and location. Participants can register on the new site and then a user is offered the ability to opt-in for future Disney e-mails that include “Let the Memories Begin” updates and other information on the parks. The functionality will also be a part of the Disney park pages on Facebook, YouTube and MySpace.

The next piece of the campaign will be when photos taken daily in the parks become projections at night on the Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World Resort or “it's a small world” at Disneyland resort. Disney photographers will capture guests and will display about 500 photos per location per day.

Disney states that it got the idea for the campaign from its customers – according to Leslie Ferraro, Executive VP of global marketing, Disney Destinations: “the inspiration for this effort came from our guests. Each and every day people are making memories at our parks, posting them online and sharing them with friends and family."

Will it work? According to Forrester Research, consumer-generated content is still a fairly niche market.

But Disney is killing two birds with one stone. Firstly, Disney expects that its consumers will relate better to real people with real experiences, than to professional ads with professional actors. With the popularity of social media, a UGC marketing campaign is the way to go. Secondly, using (free) UGC saves a lot of marketing budget.

All in all, lots to gain with not much to lose....will this be the future of B2C marketing?

New social networks for enterprises: move over Yammer, Podio is coming!

A friend of mine in the Netherlands told me about Yammer, a new social network for enterprises. She was checking it out for her organization (Visio). On behalf of several companies I worked and freelanced for, I have been looking for a secure “in-company” social media platform. It seems that I finally found some.

Yammer is sort of a hybrid version of Facebook and Twitter that helps members of an organization to let their workers interact and collaborate. Yammer works according to the freemium-model: to start a Yammer network is free; but in order to own, control, and administer the data and content, it will cost between $3 to $5 per user/per month.

Yammer claims that it is being used by more than one million users and 80,000 companies worldwide for their internal communications. It offers access in three ways – through web login, a desktop application, and mobile apps.

According to an excellent article on TechCrunch, Yammer (aka Twitter for business or as an enterprise microblogging platform) is facing stiff competition from Podio. Podio describes itself as a ʻsocial work platformʼ similar to Facebook for companies. It claims to be a full work platform with messaging, calendars, tasks and contact management. It gives users the ability to build their own ‘apps’ without any technical knowledge, and allows for almost endless customization. According to Podio, over 2,000 apps have already been built by users, which include CRM systems, meeting planners, process facilitation, recruiting, contract drafting, and employee feedback.
To quote TechCrunch, Podio “is a full work platform with messaging, calendars, tasks and contact management, – not just another project management space.”

But Yammer is not giving up, and announced the launch of Yammer 2.0. Yammer’s CEO and founder David Sacks believes that the ability to create a go-to corporate social network is a Facebook sized opportunity.

Another new social network to watch is ZYB. It describes itself as a mobile phone utility and social networking site. It started in 2005 as a European service to provide easy back-up services for mobile phones. ZYB leveraged the data set into building a social networking platform with Twitter-like location-based functions.

For now, the race between Yammer and Podio to acquire enterprise customers is on. Depending how it will pan out, both Yammer and Podio could be targeted for acquisition by companies such as SalesForce or Google.

Relauching a website – the Doctor Who case study

The recent relaunch of the BBC Doctor Who website is an interesting one for many reasons.

The BBC team in Wales was aware that the entire franchise was going through something of a regeneration. The new Doctor, his companion and the creative team on the show meant that changes to the tone of the brand were coming that had to be reflected in the website.

BBC’s brief was a simple: 'make the site the no.1 destination to experience the world of Doctor Who, past, present and future'. In web design terms, this translated into extending the reality of a show with such rich subject matter.

The website was then built in a way that became a platform to distribute originated content associated with Doctor Who. The goal was to ensure that Doctor Who would be more than the Saturday night TV program. It transformed into a 24/7 experience of which the online element is a key component.

From a technology point of view, the team utilized the new BBC Platform. The use of this new platform opened up a new suite of development tools. It enhanced the speed of the site and it allows for producing more dynamic and customizable content.

The new Global Visual Language enables to (literally) think big with designs, using the metaphors of time and depth within the site.

Together with R&D , the web design team realized a powerful way of engaging with narratives online, which helps to explore how to tell stories that don't fit into single Doctor Who episodes.

For content, the BBC accrued feedback from its audience from its 'red site'.
Feedback included:

• The audience loves monsters. For this reason, a brand new section in the site for viewers to explore and learn more about them. Iconic foes like Daleks and Cybermen have had repeated encounters with the Doctor which is reflected within the sites designs.
  
• The Doctor Who site is the destination for Doctor Who fans and the news section is important for two reasons: to deliver level production news (which is a key request from users) and to break important Doctor Who news stories.
  
• The Fun & Games section of the site has a major priority; it's also extremely popular with the younger audience. A brand new look and feel was introduced to this section to keep it visually engaging and entertaining. The BBC is also working on the development of its own Adventure Games.
  
• Past series are unlocked from archives and content is migrated to the new site.
  
  The first phase is completed and the new site is available online now.

Startup providing “kwedit” to people without credit or debit cards

Kwedit (pronounced qwe-dit) is a new startup. Its focus is to help teenagers and other people without credit or debit cards to buy virtual goods online. It works like credit: a buyer promises (Kwedit Promise) to pay later in order to get an item now. If the buyer keeps his (or her) promise, the buyer’s Kwedit score goes up. This will enable the buyer to borrow larger amounts of money. If, on the other hand, a buyer doesn’t fulfill his/her promise, the score will go down.

Since virtual goods have no “real” value, buyers real credit score (for credit card applications or for buying a house) is not affected and the debts are not enforceable. Kwedit can be paid off through the mail, by paying cash at 7-Eleven stores, or by using a credit card from a friend/parent.

According to Danny Shader, CEO of Kwedit, it could broaden the market for virtual items and even teach kids about real credit. Shader headed Accept.com (a developer of online payment systems) before Amazon.com Inc. bought it in 1999.

Kwedit is not the first company to come up with a payment system for those without credit or bank accounts. San Francisco-based Boku Inc. lets users pay for virtual goods using their mobile phones. And many stores sell prepaid cards that can be used for online purchases. Kwedit is currently available on 100 social games, and also as an option on Social Gold.

The target audience for Kwedit and Boku is large - according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., an estimated 9 million U.S. households have no checking or savings account - and thus no debit card to go with it.

The idea of virtual buying is appealing to many. Just look at the popularity of games such as "Farmville" and "Pet Society" where users play for free. It’s the sales of virtual add-ons such as seeds and farmland that rake in millions of dollars. According to social games developer Zynga said its players raised more than $1.5 million for Haiti earthquake victims in five days by purchasing virtual items.

If Kwedit’s business model will be successful, gaming companies will be quick to follow. But also companies providing virtual goods and services, such as online music, will embrace the concept. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch wrote: “I’d love to pay for music on iTunes or MySpace music via Kwedit. At some point, we may just be able to.”

We will have to wait and see…..

How to have an effective international business card

The Globalization-Group published an interesting article. It helps business owners and their employees to understand why their business cards might not be effective in some countries.

Although business cards may seem small and uncomplicated, there are some issues when it comes to using them in foreign markets (and languages). The article provides some excellent tips to help business go smoothly when working with international clients.

Size, non-translation of certain elements, and even the way a business card is presented differ depending on the country and situation. Before traveling, the business card must be translated quickly, smoothly, and without incident. Various preferences and reference materials must be provided to the translation supplier in order to have the business card translation process run smoothly.

Standard Business Card Dimensions by Country
Standard business card dimensions differ from country to country, and the business card must have the correct size. If the corporate headquarters are in the U.S., but the business card is printed in multiple languages, U.S. standard dimensions can be used. However, if business cards are printed for someone based in one of the international offices, then the designer (or the translator) and the printer will want to use the standard dimensions for that country.

• United States, Canada: 88.9 × 50.8 cm / 3.5 × 2 inches;
• United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland: 85 × 55 cm / 3.346 × 2.165 inches;
• Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Sweden: 90 × 55cm / 3.54 × 2.165 inches
  Japan 91 × 55cm(or 90 x 55 cm) / 3.582 × 2.165 inches;
• China, Hong Kong: 90 × 54 cm / 3.543 × 2.125 inches;
• Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, & Multiple Latin American Countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and more): 90 × 50 cm /3.543 × 1.968 inches.

Culturally Appropriate Business Card Etiquette
Business cards hold differing importance in some countries. Know the appropriate way to give and receive business cards in each country. The most notable example is Japan. The book Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands includes the following recommendations for culturally appropriate exchange of business cards in Japanese business:

• Cards are presented after the bow or handshake. The card must be presented with the Japanese side facing the business partner, so that it can be read immediately.
• Read the card presented and memorize all the information. Ask for help in pronunciation and in comprehension of the title and make a relevant comment.
• Handle cards very carefully. Do not put them in a pocket or in wallet, and never write on a person’s business card in his/her presence).
• In Japanese culture, business cards are usually given and received using both hands, and Japanese business cards often contain additional details to emphasize qualifications.

Preferences for Business Card Translation
Indicate the following preferences where appropriate to ensure that the business card translation supplier provides what you need the first time:

• Preferred terminology used on other company cards (i.e. preferred job titles, department names, taglines, or product names).
• Existing name translations or whether to include names in both languages.
• Exclusion of address from translation.
• Preferred international contact information (i.e. non-toll-free phone number with country code that can be accessed outside the U.S.

Reference Materials for Business Card Translation
Provide the following optional reference materials to ensure that the business card translation supplier has everything needed for appropriate translation:

• Existing company style guide, especially if related to translation and/or business cards.
• Existing company glossary, especially if related to translation and/or business cards.
• Existing translation history.
• Example of an employee's business card that has been translated or created in the target language.
• Other reference material including existing translations for logos, slogans, names of products, names of people, etc.

How to Market on YouTube

YouTube has been used by companies to market themselves. These “viral videos” include videos like Miss Teen South Carolina , Smirnoff’s Tea Partay music video, the Sony Bravia ads , Soulja Boy . These videos have traveled all around the internet and been posted on YouTube, MySpace, Google Video, Facebook, Digg, blogs, etc. They have been viewed millions and millions of times.

Marketing campaigns can harness promotional videos and become truly viral. To get at least 100,000 people to watch a company’s “viral” video, keep the following in mind.

Not all viral videos are what they seem.
There are tens of thousands of videos uploaded to YouTube each day. A company needs to get at least 100,000 views to be considered successful; hopefully reaching 1.5 million views. In short, not all videos go viral organically – professional PR help might be needed.

Content is King (sort of)
If a company wants a truly viral video that will get millions of people to watch and share it, then content is king. But good content is not the only condition to get 100,000 views. A video must have a decent concept, an should not be forced to fit a brand. Rather, a brand should be fit into a great concept. Here are some guidelines:

• Make it short: 15-30 seconds is ideal; break down long stories into bite-sized clips.
• Don’t make an outright ad: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it unless it’s really amazing, such as Smirnoff’s Tea Partay.
• Make it inviting: make sure to give a viewer a call to action, such as the Geico commercials.

Core Strategy: Getting onto the “Most Viewed” page
The core concept of video marketing on YouTube is to harness the power of the site’s traffic. The goal is to get a video on that Videos page, which lists the Daily Most Viewed videos. When being one of the twenty videos on the Most Viewed page, it means that it grabs 1/20th of the clicks on that page. The higher up on the page the video is, the more views it will get.

To ensure the first 50,000 views onto the Most Viewed list:

• Blogs: reaching out to individuals who run relevant blogs and actually entice them to post the embedded video or the relating URL.
• Forums: embed the link to the video in a post as part of a relevant threat. Although a bit tedious and time-consuming, it can have a tremendous effect when done properly.
• MySpace: Plenty of users allow people to embed YouTube videos right in the comments section of their MySpace pages.
• Facebook: Sharing a video with friends lists can have a real impact. Another option is to create an event that announces the video launch and invite friends, writing notes and tagging friends, or posting the video on Facebook Video with a link back to the original YouTube video.
• Email lists: sending the video to email lists, including employees. Announce the launch of the video and tell recipients that they can forward the link. This can be a very effective strategy, leveraging the viral effect.

Each video has a shelf life of 48 hours before it’s moved from the Daily Most Viewed list to the Weekly Most Viewed list, so it’s important that this happens quickly. Once a video is on the Most Viewed page, the number of views must be maximized. People see hundreds of videos on YouTube, and the title and thumbnail are an easy way for video publishers to actively persuade someone to click on a video.

Titles can be changed a limitless number of times. For starters, the title can include phrases such as “exclusive” or “behind the scenes,” or “funny video.” Later on, the title can change to something more relevant to the brand.

If a video is sitting on the Most Viewed page with nineteen other videos, a compelling video thumbnail is the single best strategy to maximize the number of clicks the video gets. YouTube provides three choices for a video’s thumbnail, one of which is grabbed from the exact middle of the video. The frame at the very middle must therefore be interesting. The thumbnail should be high res and ideally it should have a face or at least a person/animal in it.

Strategic Tagging
YouTube allows for tagging videos with keywords that make the videos show up in relevant searches. Tags can also be used to control the videos that show up in the Related Videos box. Ideally, the tags are unique, and are not used by any other YouTube videos. Done correctly, this will for full control over the videos that show up as “Related Videos.
Once views start trailing off after a few days to a week, it’s time to add some more generic tags, tags that draw out the long tail of a video as it starts to appear in search results on YouTube and Google.

Metrics/Tracking: measuring effectiveness
Tweak the links on YouTube (whether in a YouTube channel or in a video description) by adding “?video=1” to the end of each URL. This makes it much easier to track inbound links using Google Analytics or another metrics tool. TubeMogul and VidMetrix also track views/comments/ratings on each individual video and generate graphs for review. These tools also follow the viral spread of a video outside of YouTube and throughout other social media sites and blogs.

Facebook’s Catch-22

Facebook is making another change to its website. Rather than asking people to "become a fan" of a company such as Starbucks or a celebrity, Facebook will instead let users click that they “like” the company, product or person.

Facebook already lets people show what they like by posting comments or pictures on the Facebook website. According to Facebook, its users click the term “like” almost twice as much as they click "become a fan."

Facebook announced that it will change the button in order for users to be more comfortable with linking up with a brand. It will also streamline the website.

Businesses use Facebook pages, which are free to create, to connect with their customers and promote their brands. Facebook makes money from the advertisements these companies often use to draw users to their Facebook fan pages. The average user becomes a fan of four pages each month, according to Facebook.

"The idea of liking a brand is a much more natural action than (becoming a fan) of a brand," said Michael Lazerow, who is an expert in establishing corporate brands and advertise on social networks such as Facebook. "In many ways it's a lower threshold."

But while it might seem to be less of a commitment to declare that someone "likes" Coca-Cola than to announce being a fan of it, the meaning would essentially remain the same.

Facebook friends would see that their friend clicked that he or she "likes" a company’s webpage, and such pages would still be listed on a fan’s Facebook profile for anyone to see.

The world's largest online social network is known for constantly tweaking the way users experience the site. It did not always inform its audience, which resulted in harsh criticisms. Now that Facebook did announce its latest tweak, bloggers reacted by saying that it was just a PR trick to get exposure. It seems that Facebook is caught in a classic Catch-22 situation.

Facebook continues however to draw millions of new fans and more than half of its 400 million users log in every day. This is especially amazing considering the (many) security problems Facebook encountered.

A month ago, hundreds of Facebook users received personal emails that were not intended for them. Facebook reacted by saying: “during our regular code push yesterday evening, a bug caused some misrouting to a small number of users for a short period of time. Our engineers diagnosed the problem moments after it began and are working to get everything back in its rightful place. While they fix the issue, affected users will not be able to access the site.” The company said it was still investigating the problem and could not immediately respond to specific questions about the glitch.

Yesterday, private e-mail addresses that many Facebook users wanted to keep hidden were revealed publicly last night on a multitude of Facebook profiles, as reported by Gawker . The glitch lasted about 30 minutes before Facebook sealed the gap.

An anonymous tipster alerted Gawker of the breach in an expletive-riddled message: "6:46PM: I cannot [bleeping] believe it. Everybody's email has been turned on to the public for at least the past 30 min. I tried going into my account to remove my email b/c I have an issue with a crazed stalker. But I wasn't able to. God I [bleeping] hate FB!! When will they ever learn?!"

It is a question of time before Facebook users get fed up and close their accounts; especially if there will be strong competitor in the social media arena. Moreover, Facebook should shape up before being hit by a massive lawsuit.

Pepsi's Refresh is making marketing history

Pepsi's Refresh Project is a first-of-its-kind experiment in social media. Pepsi is shifting one-third of its marketing budget to interactive and social media. In a bold move, Pepsi pulled its high-profile Super Bowl spots in favor of heavy spending to push a digitally focused social-responsibility campaign. Consumers don't seem to mind; in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, Pepsi was the second-most discussed advertiser associated with the Super Bowl, according to Nielsen.

As part of the Project, launched on January 13th, consumers can apply for grants ranging from $5,000 to $250,000 in one of six areas: health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education. One thousand applications are accepted monthly via refresheverything.com. Consumers will vote on the winning projects. Pepsi expects it will give out more than $20 million in grants before the end of the year.

Bonin Bough, global director digital & social media for PepsiCo, is responsible for Pepsi’s social media programs. He explains that "it's not about digital as its own channel anymore. It's, how do we infuse digital across all of our marketing programs? The first step was socializing the brands and getting all the brands to quickly move away from destination sites and start creating experiences."

Refresh Project is closely watched by the industry for its scope and ambition to put digital media at its forefront, its purpose-driven strategy and the way it restructures relationships within Pepsi's agency circle.

Cheryl Damian, a director in the cause-branding group at Cone observed that "this is big, new, getting a lot of attention. It's impactful; it's innovative.” Many of her clients have been asking her about Pepsi's program and watching its progress.

The risk for Pepsi is acceptance. Pepsi has a reputation for amusing and entertaining. As Kevin Keller, professor of marketing at Dartmouth College, puts it: "Pepsi has been wonderful for years at entertaining us. This [program] is reflective of the times and the realities that people love entertainment but also care and have concerns about the world as a whole. But I would hate to see them stop entertaining us altogether."

Other brands in the PepsiCo portfolio have been successful in using non-traditional marketing. Mountain Dew shifted the creation and marketing of new flavors to consumers through its Dewmocracy campaign. Doritos has been a success with its user-generated Super Bowl ads.

Pepsi is hoping that the Refresh Project will deepen its relationship with consumers. Since this brand has a youthful target and appeal, going for social marketing seems to be smart move. According to Mr. Bough, the concept of creating a TV spot and then making that spot into an online or Facebook strategy is passé.

To work on the company's digital strategies, PepsiCo's beverage brands have developed a stable of digital-agency talent, including Huge, Firstborn, Tribal DDB and VML. An agency executive who participated in one of the recent digital reviews said that Pepsi is looking for something different – a combination of being a giant conglomerate with some genuinely new thinking and creative approaches.

Will Pepsi be successful? Up till now, the reactions have been good with an approval rate of 71%. Tweets lauded the brand's decision to "wise up and focus online" and applauded it for "exploring what matters". But in the end, it all depends on the sales figures. The industry is watching, and if Pepsi’s strategy pays off, more clients will walk away from million-dollar TV ads and embrace social marketing.

Using the Obamas as a marketing asset

The Obamas are a marketing asset – as quite a few companies and organizations know. Going by the assumption “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”, they use the Obamas in their PR.

The outdoor clothes company Weatherproof noticed that the President was wearing one of their coats when photographed on the Great Wall of China. The company promptly used this news picture for the advertisement touting the tagline 'A Leader In Style'. In the pic, Obama stands alone in a strike, rugged pose – perfect for the company’s image and brand. The picture was taken by the Associated Press, and the clothes company bought the right to use it in an advert. They promptly turned it into a giant-sized photograph on a Times Square billboard. AlthoughWeatherproof did not seek permission from the White House, claiming it didn’t need to since the billboard does not claim Mr Obama endorses the product.

Freddie Stollmack, CEO of Weatherproof stated: 'He didn't come to us. It's just a great looking jacket on a great looking president. Mr Stollmack said he thinks the White House should congratulate his company for making Mr Obama look so good. We did this in good faith. This is an image that we thought would enhance the President of the United States.' He added that although another advertising company had accepted the billboard, the New York Times, the New York Post and Women's Wear Daily had all rejected a similar advert for their newspapers.

The White House was not amused. Deputy press secretary Bill Burton said that the White House has a long-standing policy that disapproves of the use of President Obama's name and likeness for commercial purposes.

But also Mrs. Obama has been used for PR purposes –without her position. PETA used her image in a new ad. PETA states that the first lady has committed to not wearing fur and "the world should know that in PETA's eyes that makes her pretty fabulous." The anti-fur poster features an image of the U.S. First Lady along with presenter Oprah Winfrey, singer Carrie Underwood and supermodel Tyra Banks, under the slogan 'fur-free and fabulous!'

The image that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals used is the one from her first official White House portrait, taken in February last year. Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, confirmed that PETA had not asked for Mrs. Obama's permission to use the portrait, since they knew the First Lady could not officially endorse an anti-fur campaign advert. PETA also insisted, that they used her image in its Washington advertising campaign based on White House confirmation that she does not wear fur. The new adverts featuring Mrs. Obama appeared in Washington's Metro stations, magazines and PETA's website.

It is unclear whether the White House can prevent companies from using the Obamas’ images in advertising campaigns. Shortly after he took office last year, the White House launched a crackdown on 'Brand Obama' and insisted on control over the merchandising free-for-all in the wake of his inauguration. But it is difficult to enforce, especially since the chances for companies and organizations (especially outside of the US) to be sued are slim. Low cost, low risk, huge impact - a marketing dream come true…as the following clip shows....

Tweeting all the way to be bank

Celebrities used to tweet about their day-to-day life. “I must have pinched a nerve in my neck, I can hardly look to my left. I will pass on my workout today. I need a massage.”

But now, celebs have found out that tweeting-for-money is worth while. Top earner is socialite Kim Kardashian, who commands $10,000 per tweet. Her tweets include a Nestle commercial, and the background on her Twitter page features the fast-food chain Carl’s Jr. The number of followers (KK boasts a formidable 2.7 million), is the key to profitability.

Dr. Drew Pinsky (more than 1.8 million followers) promo-tweets include endorsements for Sonos music systems and Gogo’s in-flight Wi-Fi. Greg Grunberg (of Heroes fame, nearly 1.5 million followers) tweets about the Yowza iPhone application multiple times a day – for an estimated $ 7,000 and $ 10,000 per tweet. (In all fairness, he donates his twitter bounty to charity).

The deal broker between celebs and companies is ad.ly. According to Sean Rad, CEO of Ad.ly, the likes of Britney Spears or P. Diddy could earn up to $20,000 per tweet, should they ever go for Ad.ly’s pay-per-tweet model.

By law, celebs have to disclose if they are tweeting for money or just for fun/adoration/kicks. The FTC regulation applies to all bloggers, so cave bloggerati!

An FTC-compliant tweet looks like this:
U guys have to watch [http://bit.ly/] Dancing w Stars champ @ShawneyJ backflips over speeding bobsled! Pretty cool! (Ad) 10:59 AM Dec 29th, 2009 from Ad.ly Network

Violation comes with a steep price tag: up to $ 11,000 in fines. The FTC is on the lookout, stating: "celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media”. As it looks now, we might see a juicy Twittergate scandal in 2010….

The power of Facebook – the Pears soap campaign

Pears clear soap is a product consisting of a 221-year-old formula. It is also the world's first registered brand, and boasts a loyal customer base.

Recently Pears decided to change its age-old formula, changing and extending the number of ingredients and adding chemicals. The original Pears soap contains just eight ingredients, including rosemary and thyme extracts and “Pears fragrance essence”. The new soap replaced these with 24 new ingredients.

Customers labeled the new soap as “smelling and feeling disgusting”. The new soap, which is made in India, smelled strongly of frankincense, rather than the old “mild and spicy herbal fragrance”.

When customers found out that most shops were only selling the new variety, they started a Facebook campaign to force the makers of Pears Transparent Soap to abandon a new recipe after claims the formula. The group, called Bring Back The Original Pears Soap, was achieved what it wanted - the owners of the brand Hindustan Unilever Ltd (based in Mumbai) have agreed to produce something “much closer to the old soap” from March 2010.

The Pears case teaches us some important marketing lessons:

1. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. If customers are happy with the product, don’t try to change it.
   
2. Brand loyalty. Pears has built a loyal customer base throughout the ages and over generations based on its unique product.
   
3. Customers are active and vocal. In the age of Web 2.0, customers have the power to use social networks to get their point across. Journalists pick up stories from social networks; hence the impact of the small Facebook group.

Avatar – the marketing success of an expensive blockbuster

During the first weekend of 2010, Avatar passed the US$ 1 billion mark. This milestone has only be reached by a handufl of other movies.

This latest 20th Century Fox’s blockbuster was costly and complex to make. The accountants at the movie studio will be crunching numbers for the next few months to find out if investing in James Cameron’s Avatar will turn a hefty profit.

It is hard to determine the final cost of the movie – various numbers are flying around. The New Yorker quotes $230 million, while the New York Times estimates the total cost to be close to $500 million. Quite likely, the official budget lies somewhere in between – at $280 million for the production, plus marketing costs.

James Gianopulos, co-chairman and C.E.O. of Fox Filmed Entertainment, told CNN in early December: “it is the most expensive film we’ve made, but now, having the luxury of hindsight, it is money well spent, so I’m not concerned about it.”

However, a movie budget is limited to the production costs. In other words, it comprises of the wages of the actors, crew and special effects people. Marketing expenses, such as advertisements (billboards, trailers, etc.), promotion (events), merchandise (action figures, apparel, etc.) are not included in the movie budget.

In the case of Avatar, Fox cleverly shared the production costs with investor groups Dune Capital Management and Ingenious Film Partners to hedge the risk. They also took advantage of a tax credit in New Zealand (similar to Lord of the Rings), where they shot the live-action footage that comprises about a third of the film. These savings are estimated at $30 million. Fox is however responsible for the marketing (around $150 million).

Avatar has its unique selling point (USP) – it boasts its own 3D technologies, courtesy of Cameron who invested his own money, and backed by investors. They already got their investments back: the 3D cameras have been licensed for use in other films. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are making their 2011 film, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, using Avatar’s motion-capture tools.

From the movie industry’s perspective, much of Avatar’s value lies in the film’s ability to motivate cinema owners to convert to 3D screens, which would translate into an additional price increase of a movie ticket by $3-to-$5. Furthermore, blockbusters Star Wars and Titanic are slated to be released again in 3D at an investment of $30 million per movie, and an increase in consumer electronics sales of flat-screen 3D TVs is anticipated.

Anticipating the profitability of Avatar, Cameron already has the next two Avatar sequels plotted out. A lot will depend on Avatar’s global appeal. Although the US media are focusing on the earnings in the domestic market, it will be Europe, Russia, India, and China that will contribute to the movie’s bottom line. In its first three weeks, Avatar has earned twice as much overseas as domestically.

Avatar's foreign success is contributed to the marketing genius of Cameron, who zoomed in on the anti-American feelings abroad.

As it looks now, Avatar will enaable 20th Century Fox and Cameron to laugh all the way to the bank.