Be all that you can be…in this video game
We certainly hear a lot about the U.S. army and military these days. America’s involvement in two armed conflicts has generated a lot of news coverage and publicity, sometimes positive and sometimes not. The strong sense of patriotism and national pride generated after the 9/11 terrorist attacks inspired pop songs, television specials, and other pro-America, and often pro-military culture references.
Recruitment for the military is not always easy, especially during times of war. The U.S. Army faced a decline in enrollment in the late 1990’s, with many teens showing strongly negative opinions of military service. The Army was also the least popular of all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.
In response to this recruitment need, U.S. Army Secretary Louis Caldera wisely decided to use new media tactics to attract young people to military service, saying “it was very clear, since the time that I came on board as secretary, that we needed to change the way that we communicate with the young people in America.” The Army hired marketing companies to research the attitudes of youth towards the military and to create marketing strategies to assist in recruitment.
These efforts resulted in a new slogan “Army of One,” and more individualized messages about how individuals can benefit from service in the U.S. Army. The other main shift was towards using new media advertising tactics in place of more traditional media.
The Army created a series of television ads following soldiers through basic training and inviting viewers to the goarmy.com site to learn more about their stories through webisodes. Online recruiting efforts improved by 75% and the Army even won a Cannes Cyber Lion award for their new campaign.
The goarmy.com site is, in my opinion, very well-designed with tons of information for a variety of audiences. The site takes advantage of new media technology with interactive “maps” of an army base, a virtual tour guide, and videos, discussion boards, blogs, and more.
Most recently, advergaming has become a large part of the U.S. Army’s new media recruitment efforts. Advergaming, if you aren’t familiar, is integrating marketing messages into video and computer games. Or, sometimes, creating games around a particular marketing message. These games can be as simple as the Kellogg’s Froot Loops site or as complex as America’s Army game, the official game of the U.S. Army. This game is distributed for free and is available online, for video game systems like XBOX 360, in arcades, and as a mobile download. The game ranks among the top ten online PC action games with over 95 million registered users.
And now the army is venturing in the world of Second Life, setting up two islands in the virtual world, one as a recruitment and welcome center, and another as a base for virtual activities, like jumping out of airplanes and shooting weapons. The army has recognized the possibilities of Second Life and is exploring the possibilities of recruiting among the estimated 4 million young Second Life users. And, just like at actual Army recruitment events, participants will have the opportunity to win prizes, in this case virtual Army t-shirts and hats.
The military often faces an uphill battle (pun intended) in their recruitment efforts, so its no suprise that they are pulling out all the stops and taking chances of new media to reach the young people they desperately seek. I just hope that these efforts are recognized for what they are: marketing. I think it can be easy to overlook this, especially when you are playing a fun action game. That is the problem with all advergaming, blurring the line between marketing and entertainment. Particular groups are more susceptible to this; children, for example, may not understand that the Froot Loops game mentioned above is trying to sell them cereal. And in the case of America’s Army and other virtual recruitment efforts, appealing to patriotism and the action/adventure so many young people seek and enjoy in video games can be a sly way to glamorize military service. And unlike other marketing efforts, where often money and little else is at stake for buying into the message, the U.S. Army’s marketing efforts can literally have life or death consequences for the consumer.
Hope Santa brings you a new cell phone!
I know, I know…you really want a Red Rider BB Gun.
But 1) you’ll shoot your eye out, and 2) Internet-ready mobile phones are, or will be, essential tools for daily life.
Why are internet-ready mobile phones so important, you ask? Well, mobile phones are becoming essential communication tools. Most people carry cell phones with them an a regular basis, if not constantly, in case they need to make a call. But 62% of Americans also use their cell phones for non-voice activities, like text messaging, taking/sending photos, accessing the Internet, downloading maps, or recording videos. And most of us (51%, actually) would rather give up their computer, television, and land line phone than their cell phone. Adults under 30, African-Americans and Hispanics are most likely highly attached to their cell phones and probably use many features other than voice-calling on a regular basis.
And, this trend will continue to increase, as Pew Internet & American Life Project is now predicting that mobile phones will be the primary Internet access tool worldwide by 2020. This prediction is based on the increasing affordability of mobile phones, mobile users’ willingness to use new features and applications on their cell phones, and increases in technology that have made accessing the Internet from a cell phone easier than ever.
What does this mean for you, the average consumer? As marketers continue to recognize and take advantage of the average consumer’s use of mobile phones for Internet access and other content, they are more likely to tailor messages, promotions, and websites for use of mobile devices. Consumers without reliable and efficient Internet access on their cell phones may miss out on exclusive content, sales, and other offers from their favorite companies and brands. Its also likely that more business and social enterprises will take place via mobile phones, so those of you without this access may find yourself out of the loop.
All the more reason to ask for a new phone, one with fast and reliable Internet access, and to get an unlimited data plan as well to take full advantage of your new phone’s capabilities.
The little search engine that could…
Some folks really object to advertising on search engines, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, my opinion is that as long as the advertising is labeled clearly, then there is no problem.
And in the interest of playing devil’s advocate, I thought I’d explain a little more about how everyone can benefit from this type of advertising.
So, who benefits from advertising on search engines?
The Consumer-
The consumer, or search engine user, benefits from advertising on search engines in the same way that consumers benefit from other types of advertising. Advertising provides information about new products or product benefits to assist or otherwise benefit the consumer. On a search engine, advertising is generally linked to the keywords you have entered and therefore should be in some way relevant to the topic you were searching and beneficial to you. And since somewhere between 15-33% of all search engine users are searching with the intention of shopping, chances are the advertising that pops up in your search results are just as, if not more beneficial, than the actual search results. And, just like magazines, newspapers, television, and radio, consumers benefit from the use of free search engines, that are supported by advertising dollars.
Search engines-
Search engines, as just mentioned, benefit from advertising financially. Google, for example, is able a hugely beneficial and easy to use search engine, as well as other services like gmail, google maps, igoogle, google chrome, blogger, and picasa completely free of charge because of advertising dollars. This allows google to bask in the positive public relations spotlight by providing innovative services at no cost. Google can also expand its customer base with these free services.
Businesses-
Businesses benefit from advertising on search engines in the same ways they benefit from other advertising- increasing brand and product awareness, forming positive relationships between companies and customers, and increasing sales. But unlike other forms of advertising, where Coca-cola, for example, might plaster a print ad in every Time magazine, spending millions of dollars without a real sense at the end of the day as to the benefits of that campaign. But most advertising on search engines, however, is pay-per-click. That means advertisers only pay when their ad is clicked, making this type of advertising cost-effective and easy to evaluate for effectiveness.
Pay-per-click is especially effective for small businesses. These companies often can’t afford huge advertising campaigns or nationally-televised commercials. And their site may not pop up on the first page of search results, especially if over sites are using meta-tags to ensure their page shows up for most keywords. Paid placement advertising is a good way to ensure that your small business’ site will appear for relevant keywords.
And since these ads only appear for specific keywords determined by the advertiser, the advertiser can be sure that the ad is appearing for customers who are already interested in that particular product. If you are a small business owner looking to use search engine advertising, I would suggest Google’s adwords. I know some business owners who have used it with good results and they have only positive things to say about it.
Trust me! I’m a search engine!
Do you trust your search engine?
Search engine users place a lot of trust in the results they receive from google, yahoo, ask, and other search engines. But were you aware of the influence of advertisers on these results?
Marketers pay search engines to make sure their company’s site or advertisement appear in the search results for particular keywords. If you search for “exercise ball” for example, you are likely to get a series of search results for companies and stores where you can buy an exercise ball. So what makes one site pop up before another? Some search engines, like google, use search algorithms to determine how relevant a particular site is to your keywords. Google, for example, produced www.exerciseballworkouts.net as the first search result. Other search engines, though, may show another site first, because that particular site paid to be shown first.
Advertising is incorporated into search results through either paid placement or paid inclusion.
Paid Placement
Marketers use paid placement to make sure that a particular website or ad is featured at the top the search results page. Sometimes this paid placement is clearly marked, as above, with the words “sponsored links” or “advertisement”. Other times, though, these links are integrated into the regular search results. It’s my personal opinion that paid placement is ethical as long as these placements are marked as advertising. But some disagree, citing a study by Pew Internet that found only 1 in 6 search engine users are able to distinguish paid search results from traditional search results.
Paid Inclusion
Paid inclusion ensures that a company’s site will be included somewhere in search results for certain keywords. Unlike paid placement, however, this inclusion could be anywhere in the search results, rather than at the top. Paid inclusion, to me, seems more deceptive than paid placement since it is less likely to be marked as advertising. And as a marketing tool, paid inclusion seems less effective to me, since there is no guarantee as to where your site will rank with other results, and only 10% of search engine users are likely to look beyond the first three pages of search results.
Making sure a company shows up in the search results for particular keywords can really drive traffic to your site, improve overall brand visibility, and increase sales. But, its important that marketers, in the interest of creating a positive relationship between brands and consumers, clearly indicate when a search result is advertising. Search engine users trust their search engines to provide unbiased and effective results. They don’t have time to mess around and dig through advertisements. Inconveniencing users like that reflects poorly on the search engine and the company whose ads distract users from their actual search results.
Social Networking Ads: Fan or Foe?
Could this be the end of advertising on social networking sites?
The New York Times just published an article pronouncing ads on social networking sites as “stillborn.”
The article mentions how traditional banner ads on Facebook and MySpace are largely ignored, and many companies attempts at larger ad campaigns on these sites must resort to traditional promotional tactics, like contests, to attract their audience.
The article mentions two campaigns by P&G on Facebook as examples of advertising dollars spent on campaigns that failed to live up to the hype. In 2006, Crest White Strips sent out invites to Facebook members in 20 college networks to become “fans” of the product. While over 14,000 fans signed up, this was attributed mainly to the free concerts movie screenings Crest used to entice them. These same promotions would have probably attracted a similar audience through a traditional campaign, according to the article, and these products start losing “fans” as soon as the promotions fizzle out. Another example is 2X Ultra Tide’s “America’s Favorite Stains” group, which invited Facebook users to describe their “favorite stain-making moments.” The group has been up for 11 months with only 18 submissions, only 6 of which appear to be legitimate stain-sharing comments.
The article is basically spelling doom for any marketers thinking about jumping into social network sites, pointing out that these ads are not as effective on these types of sites because users are looking to connect with their friends, and aren’t looking to learn more about products. These ads are largely ineffective, unless placed on sites like google or yahoo when a web-user is likely to be shopping online and in a spending mood. The article concludes with the idea that “Advertisers distract users; users ignore advertisers; advertisers distract better; users ignore better” and the ultimatum that unless advertisers are willing to create Super Bowl-like ads on social networking sites, they’d best not even bother.
So what do you think? Oh, you want to know what I think? Well…since you asked…
I’m not really buying into this article. First of all, the author only looked at Facebook, ignoring MySpace which is by far the larger venue for advertisements and other commercial ventures. Many people I know use Facebook specifically because it has fewer ads. Also, Facebook is a privately held company that doesn’t reveal info on its profits and results of ad campaigns. So the author relied primarily on info from P&G and his assumptions as a Facebook user to judge the success of these campaigns. So why did the author choose to look only at Facebook when doing so obviously would not provide a full picture of the success (of lack thereof) of advertising on social networking sites as a whole, and when concrete information about ad campaigns from several brands (and organizations like non-profits, colleges, etc.) could not be obtained?
I’d also like to point out that on the same New York Times online page where this article can be found, there is an ad for the New York Times LinkedIn newsfeed. Is this not advertising on a social network? Also, the only other cited source in this article, other than P&G, the author’s personal experiences, and “no comments” from Facebook, is Seth Goldstein of Social Media Networks, a company that creates social media advertising campaigns! And no, this source is not cited as a proponent of advertising on social networks, but rather Seth is quoted as poo-pooing banner ads on these sites. Since Social Media Networks appears to create applications for social networking sites (which is still advertising by the way) I don’t really see why they were the best choice for this article.
And I think the author’s assumptions about these campaigns are short-sighted. Yes, the Crest White Strips campaign used traditional promotional tactics but I doubt that the message about these promotions would have spread as quickly if not for Facebook’s enthusiastic audience. Facebook and other social networks make it easy for messages/videos/etc. to go viral. If Crest was trying to spread the word via television or magazines to these very specific audiences, I seriously doubt that they would have attracted 14, 000 of these users. And while I don’t personally like the Tide campaign, the author fails to mention that this group has 467 fans. While they may not all be leaving appropriate comments and interacting with Tide the way marketers would prefer, they at least took the time to become fans of the product and view the message. And by becoming a fan, they are attaching that marketing message to their personal page, passing the word along to anyone who views their page, thereby increasing the likelihood that more fans will join or at least view the page. The author also fails to mention the sites dedicated to the Tide To-Go Pen. I found at least 3 Tide To-Go pen fan groups, none of which appear to have been created by P&G. Perhaps P&G just chose the wrong product to promote on Facebook?
So, to summarize my thoughts, I think the author isn’t quite hitting the mark. I don’t disagree that traditional banner ads are often ignored on sites like these and that companies need to do more than that to attract customers. But I don’t think the author made an accurate assessment of all the advertising options available on these sites. I think non-profit groups, charities, schools, sports teams, musicians, and other companies can do really well advertising on social networking sites. Just because the college students who are primary users of Facebook don’t want to be friends with laundry detergent doesn’t mean that any advertising on social networking sites is a mistake. Just like with any advertising campaign, in traditional or new media, knowing your audience and what will engage that group is essential. We can’t throw that logic out the window just because we are using social networking sites rather than television commercials or other traditional media.
I would like to see an actual study, researching various types of advertisements and brand promotions for a variety of products/brands/companies on a variety of social networking sites. If this study concludes that these types of campaigns aren’t working then I’ll believe it. Until then, I would advise any company to consider creating an engaging advertising campaign for their product on a social networking site that is appealing to their target audience.
Any thoughts?
Looking for a new social network?
Social networking is in! and IMC and other marketing practitioners want in on the action! So, here is a recap of some social networking sites that are making it big time and some up-and-comers to watch for!
When I was your age, we only had Friendster, and we were happy to have it!
Friendster launched in 2003 and despite its falling out of favor in the U.S. still boasts 68 million or so users and is HUGE in Asia. Friendster came to be while I was in college and it was a very big deal. Not everyone was on Friendster, partially because not everyone “got it” and really understood what the big deal was. Friendster’s problem, in my opinion, is that it is limited. I know I got bored with Friendster once I had added all my friends and left them comments. I was able to log into my old Friendster account and confirmed that I didn’t do anything with the site after August 2003.
Which appropriately cooincides with the launch of MySpace.com.
Now, I did not immediately jump to MySpace. I lived without significant social networking involvement for awhile, joining MySpace later on. MySpace built on the success of Friendster and included the same basic structure, but MySpace included new features like groups and customizable pages. And, made famous by Tila Tequila, MySpace placed no limits on the number of friends you could add. Today, MySpace includes music, movies, celebrities, applications, and games that have kept it in one of the top, if not the top spot among social networking sites. MySpace boasted 100 million users in 2006, a number which has likely increased significantly.
I did, however, jump onto Facebook as soon as possible.
Facebook launched in February 2004 by a student at Harvard and when I joined was only open to college students. Now, Facebook is open to anyone over 13. What I appreciate about Facebook is the grouping capabilities and applications, and the lack of many businesses or ads. Facebook does have some ads and some businesses who use Facebook to promote their brands, but Facebook users have the option to “friend’ or “fan” these businesses and you can rate the ads you see. From an IMC perspective, this can provide extremely useful information about the types of products consumers of a certain profile prefer.
Looking for a more grown-up social networking experience? Try LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a business-oriented site where you can create a personal profile which reads more like a resume, reflecting your professional accomplishments rather than your favorite TV shows, and you can maintain connections with the folks you trust in your profession. LinkedIn is really an new application for traditional networking.
MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn are the most popular social networking sites based on total users.
But these are really mass communication tools, and just as magazines and other communication tools have shifted from addresses large general audiences to interest-specific groups, social networking is also seeing the growth of niche sites.
Here is a list of some niche social networking sites on the rise:
Dogster or Catster: These are social networking sites for dog or cat owners, allowing them to create sites for their pets. These sites have virtual currency that they can use to buy treats for their pets. Users can talk to eachother or chat with veterinarians.
Club Penguin: Sponsored by Disney, this is a social networking site for kids. Kids can create penguin avatars and play games, chat with friends, and send messages. Access to parts of the site is free, but some features require a paid membership. Parents can create accounts and regulate the time their child plays on the site.
Ravelry: social networking for knitters! Users can collect and share info on yarns, patterns, tools, etc.
Birdpost: This site allows birdwatchers to post locations of birds in their area on a satellite map shared with other users. You can also receive alerts when rare birds are spotted on the map and you can create a personal list of birds you have spotted.
VampireFreaks: It’s basically what it sounds like, social networking for those who are into vampires and gothic culture. Users create profiles and join “cults” instead of groups.
Elftown: A place for fantasy and sci0fi enthusiasts to network and share artwork. A user’s page is their “house” and users must apply to become members.
Ning: Not satisfied with any of the social networking sites out there? Ning lets you create your own social network focused on any topic you’d like! Just name your site and invite your friends.
And this is just a sample of some of the more personalized social networking sites. You can find a social network for most religons and ethnicities as well and for several other special interests.
So what do you think? Do you think the major social networks like MySpace will go the way of the dodo in favor of specialized sites?
Parents kicking you off myspace? Tell them to read this…
Tell your folks you are gaining valuable social skills and technological literacy that will be essential to your future success. If they ask, “Says who?,” tell them “The New York Times, and The MacArthur Foundation, that’s who!”
According to an New York Times article, a new MacArthur Foundation study has concluded that for most teens, the internet, texting, social networking and other new media activities help develop critical social and technological skills. Mizuko Ito, a lead researcher, said ” It may look as though kids are wasting a lot of time hanging out with new media, whether it’s on MySpace or sending instant messages. But their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They’re learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page.”
Researchers spent 3 years observing 800 young people and parents over 5,000 hours online to conclude that most teens engage in either friendship-driven or interest-driven activity, in ways their parents don’t understand or value. Friendship-driven activities focus on interacting online through Myspace and instant messaging, and is valuable, according to the study, because teens are learning the social skills of contemporary society. Online socializing is “public and permanent,” involves managing a complex network of friends and acquaintances, and is always on, creating a new social dynamic. Interest-driven activities are things like searching online for a topic of interest or editing Wikipedia. Researchers concluded that teens are motivated to learn online, from their peers and from adults.
So why do your parents give you a hard time?
Well, because they don’t understand. Really, you have to give your parents a break! They did not grow up with the internet and many are not internet savvy now, so they don’t have any context for why you care so much about your new media tools. Using new media for social interaction is a paradigm shift and is creating some very understandable confusion and distrust from those who cling to the old ways. It doesn’t help that, per the study, parents have been fed misleading informaiton about the potentially dangerous activity happening “on the line”.
Ito mentions, “Those concerns about predators and stranger danger have been overblown. There’s been some confusion about what kids are actually doing online. Mostly, they’re socializing with their friends, people they’ve met at school or camp or sports. There are myths about kids spending time online – that it is dangerous or making them lazy. But we found that spending time online is essential for young people to pick up the social and technical skills they need to be competent citizens in the digital age.”
Add to this the finding that social networking sites are more popular than porn and adult entertainment sites, and you may be able to convince mom and dad that your intentions online are more honorable than they may have imagined.
Now, be ready for your parents’ counter argument…
This research didn’t actually examine the effects of all this online activity and they did not draw conclusions as to whether or not this increase in popularity of online and new media social interaction was positive or negative. What they are actually saying is, since these activities are so prevalent in society it is likely that they will continue to be so in the future, and the basic online interactive skills you learn now will undoubtedly help you if new media continues to develop as expected.
What does this mean for IMC?
This study reinforces the understanding that social networking, texting, and other online activity is hugely popular and expected to remain so, particularly among teens, a key demographic. This study also pushes the idea that teens and others online are looking to learn online or “geek out,” researching information or personalizing their experience by creating websites, avatars, and videos. This research does NOT address the ethics of marketing to teens online through these new media tools or the overall value (positive or negative) of these activities.
My opinion is that these are important skills that teens are learning through myspace, youtube, meebo, and other new media activities. I also think that teens are pretty savvy about spotting an advertisement. So, as long as marketers are enhancing the online experience (providing entertaining, connective, or personalizing experiences) that are obviously also marketing a brand, I feel comfortable supporting that effort.
Thoughts?
Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday
Ever heard of Cyber Monday? Thats the Monday after Thanksgiving, when shoppers go online to find the items they weren’t able to pick up in brick-and-mortar stores over the weekend, including Black Friday.
Preparing your commercial website to handle Cyber Monday traffic is more important than ever, considering the downturn in consumer spending and the officially announced economic recession.
Yesterday, several huge online retailers lost an untold number of sales when their sites crashed. Victoria’s Secret, in particular had a rough day. Website monitoring company Gomez reported that between 6 am and midnight yesterday, the Victoria’s Secret website had an availability of 74.3 percent, meaning that out of every 100 transactions, about 25 percent were unable to be completed, most due to problems with the shopping cart feature of the site. Staples, Costco, Dell, and OfficeMax experienced similar problems.
The moral of this story? While its important to have a website with a lot of fancy features, make sure your site can handle the traffic those features will bring in. Customers won’t wait or put up with a difficult site, not while there are a ton of over sites probably offering the same products.
And speaking of which, check out the following helpful sites for online shopping this season:
PriceGrabber.com and MySimon.com include price ranges, product comparisons, and store ratings.
Dealio.com compares prices on Ebay and traditional stores for products your interested in.
CouponCabin.com, RetailMeNot.com, and DealCatcher.com offer those all-important coupon codes and printable coupons.
How was your shopping experience this weekend, online or otherwise? Did you experience any crashing websites just as you found the product you were looking for? Know any other helpful online shopping sites?
Advertorial? or Food Network Special?
Ever watch those Food Network shows like “Unwrapped,”? Ever wonder how the featured companies are selected? Chances are, the companies paid a production company to create a short marketing video and shop it around to different televsion networks and online video sites for publicity.
What? Are you surprised?
I mean, product placement is a HUGE part of the profitability of many shows and channels, not just Food Network. Shows like Bravo’s Top Chef make no secret of their corporate sponsorship, promoting their Kenmore Kitchen Appliances and Glad products. In fact, Top Chef was the third-highest ranked cable show in terms of product placements, with about 9,300 occurrences in the first half of the year. Discovery Channel’s American Chopper took the top prize, with Bravo’s Project Runway coming in second. Rounding out the top ten were MTV and TLC shows. Makes you wonder what we are really “discovering” and “learning” with shows filled and influenced by so much corporate sponsorship?
What I’m getting at is, since product placement has become so ubiquitous, its no surprise that whole sections of shows can be complete advertisements. These advertorials, as they are commonly known as, are particularly sticky issues in terms of marketing ethics, since it is not always apparent that a product is being marketed to you when you are watching some of these shows.
While I don’t have actual proof that channels are being paid to feature certain products, I think its pretty likely. Companies like Turnhere make it their business to solicit video production work from companies in hopes of then selling those segments to television and other venues. And Food Network (again, I’m only picking them for convenience , they are not alone in these efforts) states on their site that “Food Network appreciates your interest in suggesting ideas, but we only accept series and specials proposals only from television production companies with national or major market production credentials. If you are a production company, please send us your credentials and a history of your production experience only. After reviewing them, Food Network will determine whether or not to send you a release form with a request for further information.”
So, viewer beware!
