Info-Currents... May is the month of mobile

Emerging Trend #1: The latest Nielsen report on Hispanics' use of mobile and social media shows that this population segment is significantly more likely than the rest of the population to use mobile devices and social media to connect and communicate. 

Implication: Digitally savvy Hispanic consumers serve as a proxy for proactive consumers who are open to brand communications and who will pay for content. eMarketer projects Hispanics to spend $500 million on mobile apps in 2012.

Action: To augment multi-cultural campaigns, invest in social media and hyper target through mobile. Hispanic users are 25% more likely to follow a brand than the rest of the population.  

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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.

 

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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. 

 

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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.

 

 

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Cravebox - A Box of Consumer Interest

Cravebox is a new marketing service from the smart folks behind SheSpeaks, the word of mouth marketing company. The opt-in service sends a mix of products in a box to subscribers at $10/month. It's like 'an omnibus for new-to-market products' that get bundled when being presented to customers. 

Who picks the products? Consumer Curators who sign up to scour for products. Currently, they are looking for products in these categories:

• Health & Wellness
• Cooking, Baking & Grilling
• Beauty & Skincare
• Hobbies, Crafts & Recreation
• Kids, Babies & Parenting
• Home Organization & Home Cleaning Solutions

Why is all this so smart?

1- Influencers get to pick products and spread word of mouth through Cravebox subscribers -- brands that participate circumvent the challenges of finding their influencers and creating communities

2- Subscribers are paying to get a valuable package, but also covering some of the business costs

3- The opt-in trial process gets people more vested in using and talking about the products than your typical sampling program. The subscribers are so enthusiastic to receive this mix of new things, they don't hesitate to try, talk and post about them. Here are 4min+ videos of those who're going through their box.

Intrigued? To sign up for Cravebox, click here. 

 

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Phablets

What do you think of the phablet as a concept? Smart phone + tablet, that is. Samsung and LG are the two players offering this type of device now, with some saying that Samsung's Galaxy Note is ahead of LG's Optimus Vu is in the lead in terms of video, battery, display and overall user experience. Fans also gasped in shock when LG's Optimus Vu launched in Korea at close to $900. If you read Mike Elgan's post and reader comments here, most agree it is a step in the right direction. 

Phablets let you economize in terms of space (5" screens should be big enough to read, write and watch), without compromising on functionality. The winning models will be those that combine video, voice and basic work functions (note taking, graphics, email) while remaining on the light side. 

 

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Info-Currents March Issue is Out

In this issue: Women taking over social media, Asia Pacific and Middle East reigning mobile video viewing, young adults join teens in dropping email. Sign up here. Sneak peek below.

Emerging Trend: Women are becoming the predominant audience in social media. Recent research by NM Incite and Nielsen had show that more than one-half of video viewers (53%), social networkers (54%) are women, now image sharing sites such as Pinterest are boasting largely female audiences. 

Implication: Women have transgressed from being family chronologists with cameras to active online consumers who indicate their ‘wants’ through vivid visuals.

Action: Retailers and manufacturers can boost catalog sales by setting up profile areas on image-sharing sites such as Pinterest and Fancy. These areas can directly communicate product details to primary shoppers. 

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