Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Speaking At University of Chicago - Booth Business Book Roundtable on 04/25

I will be speaking on my book Implementing Word of Mouth Marketing: Online Strategies to Identify Influencers, Craft Stories and Draw Customers tomorrow at the University of Chicago. The event is a joint effort by Chicago Booth Business Book and Marketing Roundtables as well as the Savvy Women in Marketing group. Networking starts at 6PM at Chicago Booth Gleacher Center, 450 City Front Plaza Drive, Room 100.

Here's a synopsis of my presentation:

Setting up for Success: How to Generate and Measure Business Impact in Social Media

The euphoria around social networking compelled many businesses to join consumer conversations, pen expert blogs, and set up social media communities. Yet many corporate players share the challenge of attracting the right audiences to these venues and showing a return on their initiatives.

 

There are systematic ways to set up for success in social media and scientific methods to gauge results. In this session, you will learn how to:

-          Understand conversation trends and get to know your influencers

-          Distinguish between sustainable social media initiatives vs. creative but short-lived ideas

-          Prepare your organization for social care

-          Set benchmarks and measure success

 

 Ping me a note if you will be there! Looking forward to the discussion.

 

Posted via email from dotwom's posterous

Monday, April 9, 2012

Faced with Declining Sales, Toy Makers Go Digital

My friend Stephen Baer, managing director of the Game Agency, published a terrific article on toy makers' transformation into digital content publishers on MediaPost. Stephen cites the NPD Group reports on declining toy sales (by 2% in 2011) and says that the industry is trying to revamp by acquiring 'digital customers'. Here's an excerpt from the article, giving Mattel's initiatives as examples of this emerging trend:

"Mattel is introducing a new platform called Apptivity that will allow kids to take a physical toy and safely play with it on their iPad’s screen. In May, the toy maker will begin with Hot Wheels Apptivity, which lets kids take a 1:64 scale Hot Wheels car and race through three game modes on the iPad. The company will also introduce Apptivity to the youngest techies-in-training with Fisher-Price’s Laugh & Learn Apptivity Monkey, an interactive plush learning toy for babies that give them their very own apps on mom or dad’s iPhone or iPod touch device. Later this year, Mattel plans to roll out this technology to Barbie, Monster High, WWE, Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja."

To read the full article, which is full of examples from brands such as Hasbro and Identity Games, click here. 

 

Posted via email from dotwom's posterous

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Online Ads Improve with Offline Cues -- Info-Currents April Issue

Info-Currents April issue went out to subscribers at the beginning of the month. Here's a sneak peek at the trends covered in April. If you would like to sign up for this monthly future social media trends newsletter, click here

Emerging Trend: Online/mobile advertising will improve with cues from offline data.

Implication: Location-based services will inform mobile and web-based services about users’ purchase intent. Consumers will get more relevant ads and coupons served to them on their mobile devices based on their physical paths.

Action: Watch retailers that integrate mobile payment systems such as Google Wallet and Square. Consider partnering with players digital marketing software companies such as Kenshoo and Proclivity Media. They will have the most detailed data on consumer decision journey.

 

 

Posted via email from dotwom's posterous