Something I missed over the weekend, news that BitTorrent has gone straight.
As Jack Schofield comments:
So now you'll be able to use the same system to download a movie for free and keep it forever, or download it for $3.99 and have it expire a day later. Yeah, that'll fly....
For those that need the background, read the classic Wired article - The BitTorrent Effect.
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Mark Earls:
Marketers need to stop thinking about individuals acting on their own and throw out the notion of ‘the' consumer. They should recognise instead that human beings are first and foremost social animals; what they do, they always do in the company of others (real or imagined).Marketers should also change how they think about targeting. Forget the concept of individuals who can be reached by certain media channels; instead think of connected, social beings and social groups.Marketers should focus on the most influential customer; that is the consumer who holds the greatest sway over the majority of his or her peers.
Marketers need to stop thinking about individuals acting on their own and throw out the notion of ‘the' consumer. They should recognise instead that human beings are first and foremost social animals; what they do, they always do in the company of others (real or imagined).
Marketers should also change how they think about targeting. Forget the concept of individuals who can be reached by certain media channels; instead think of connected, social beings and social groups.
Marketers should focus on the most influential customer; that is the consumer who holds the greatest sway over the majority of his or her peers.
Read the whole thing.
You're a cash-strapped marketing manager who wants to jump on the Web 2.0 bandwagon and create a social network around your ailing brand, without having to pay an agency to develop it?
Well, it's your lucky day. TechCrunch has the scoop on Marc Andreesen's Ning, which
can be used to create a fully functional and customized social network in minutes The first step after naming and describing the new application is drag and drop desired modules- such as text boxes, RSS feeds photos, forums, blogs and videos - into the application in the area you want them. Adding the “members” module, for example, shows a list of the networks most popular members within that module.Customizable themes and templates can then be applied (again, by clicking and dragging, no coding), a logo uploaded, etc. The creator decides if it is a public or private network, and member profile questions can then be added.For users who want to do more customizing, CSS and HTML files can be uploaded. Very few aspects of the application are not customizable.The application is then ready to launch. It’s completely free, and Ning offers a la carte upgrades like ... domain name aliasing for $5/month.
can be used to create a fully functional and customized social network in minutes
The first step after naming and describing the new application is drag and drop desired modules- such as text boxes, RSS feeds photos, forums, blogs and videos - into the application in the area you want them. Adding the “members” module, for example, shows a list of the networks most popular members within that module.
Customizable themes and templates can then be applied (again, by clicking and dragging, no coding), a logo uploaded, etc. The creator decides if it is a public or private network, and member profile questions can then be added.
For users who want to do more customizing, CSS and HTML files can be uploaded. Very few aspects of the application are not customizable.
The application is then ready to launch. It’s completely free, and Ning offers a la carte upgrades like ... domain name aliasing for $5/month.
Go and check it out.
2 comment(s)
James Cooper, Creative Director at Dare, throws down the gauntlet:
We have already seen traditional agencies taking on digital briefs and digital agencies pitching for TV briefs. Where can it possibly end? Who knows, but I feel it would be remiss of me not to stick my neck out a titchy bit.Let’s have a look at the best digital work for the last few years. The last 3 top 10s in Campaigns’ Annual have not seen a single entry from a non-digital specialist. Indeed, of 30 entries only one (from Tribal DDB) is even related to a traditional agency and that was from 2003. There was a time when the digital departments of TV agencies, such as Ogilvy, were much stronger.So… if 2007 is the year that the big agencies make a push for digital how many of the top 10 digital pieces of work will come from non-specialists?Personally, I certainly think they will catch up quick, very quick, and no doubt there will be some great bits of work but I have a feeling the specialists will dominate again - for this year at least!
We have already seen traditional agencies taking on digital briefs and digital agencies pitching for TV briefs. Where can it possibly end? Who knows, but I feel it would be remiss of me not to stick my neck out a titchy bit.
Let’s have a look at the best digital work for the last few years. The last 3 top 10s in Campaigns’ Annual have not seen a single entry from a non-digital specialist. Indeed, of 30 entries only one (from Tribal DDB) is even related to a traditional agency and that was from 2003. There was a time when the digital departments of TV agencies, such as Ogilvy, were much stronger.
So… if 2007 is the year that the big agencies make a push for digital how many of the top 10 digital pieces of work will come from non-specialists?
Personally, I certainly think they will catch up quick, very quick, and no doubt there will be some great bits of work but I have a feeling the specialists will dominate again - for this year at least!
Lazar Dzamic, Planning Director at Underwired, comments:
DM agencies should be able to seize digital opportunities more than other agency 'species'. Many of the requirements that digital brings DM agencies are already close to. It is their historical chance. Whether they will spot it and sieze it, is another matter. Pigeonholing themselves into 'digital direct' is certainly not going to help.
Clive Thompson:
Google isn't a search engine. Google is a reputation-managment system.What do we search for, anyway? Mostly people, products, ideas - and what we want to know are, what do other people think about this stuff?All this blogging, Flickring, MySpacing, journaling - and, most of all, linking - has transformed the Internet into a world where it's incredibly easy to figure out what the world thinks about you, your neighbor, the company you work for, or the stuff you were blabbing about four years ago.It might seem paradoxical, but in a situation like that, it's better to be an active participant in the ongoing conversation than to stand off and refuse to participate.Because, okay, let's say you don't want to blog, or to Flickr, or to participate in online discussion threads. That means the next time someone Googles you they'll find ... everything that everyone else has said about you, rather than the stuff you've said yourself. (Again - just ask Sony about this one.)The only way to improve and buff your reputation is to dive in and participate.Be open. Be generous. Throw stuff out there - your thoughts, your ideas, your personality. Trust comes from transparency.
Google isn't a search engine. Google is a reputation-managment system.
What do we search for, anyway? Mostly people, products, ideas - and what we want to know are, what do other people think about this stuff?
All this blogging, Flickring, MySpacing, journaling - and, most of all, linking - has transformed the Internet into a world where it's incredibly easy to figure out what the world thinks about you, your neighbor, the company you work for, or the stuff you were blabbing about four years ago.
It might seem paradoxical, but in a situation like that, it's better to be an active participant in the ongoing conversation than to stand off and refuse to participate.
Because, okay, let's say you don't want to blog, or to Flickr, or to participate in online discussion threads. That means the next time someone Googles you they'll find ... everything that everyone else has said about you, rather than the stuff you've said yourself. (Again - just ask Sony about this one.)
The only way to improve and buff your reputation is to dive in and participate.
Be open. Be generous. Throw stuff out there - your thoughts, your ideas, your personality. Trust comes from transparency.
[via]
Richard Huntington, Planning Director of United London:
"There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."You may pour scorn on [Donald Rumsfeld] mangling of our english language and scrambling our brains but its sheer genius. Or at the very least it helps articulate the relationship between adveritsing and digital agencies and their practitioners.Clearly both parties know what they know about the other discipline. This knowledge may be clouded by prejudice, inadequate understanding and half truths on both sides but of one thing I am certain, I know what I know about digital. And of course those people in the digital space that hail from advertising have a more complete knowledge or what we do - albeit frozen in the late '90s.And we are starting to figure out the stuff we know we don't know and making up for this through an ongoing talent swap. Advertising agenices are falling over themselves to attract digital parctitioners into the fold. Partly in the belief that the whopping great salaries that are on offer are a damn sight better value than the multiples they will have to pay if they try to buy the agencies these luminaries work for. And of course we are also seeing digital agencies bringing in strategic and production talent (particularly in TV) from the ad agenices where these skills have been honed over decades.What fascinates me, however, is stuff that we don't know we don't know.The more people I meet with, talk to and argue with from the digital side of the divide the more I realise that the real issue is I don't know what I don't know - and I suspect neither do you.What I mean is that if you work in an ad agency exploration of the digital world is like playing a computer game where the map or terrain only becomes visible as you visit it. Every day I gain a better understanding of digital, and often about things that I previously had no idea happened or were important.Of course few people on either side of the fence will admit to their lack of understanding but for me its a rather liberating idea. Instead of starting the conversation on the basis of the stuff you think you don't know about and need to have some help with, you start it in a spirit of complete openess. help me understand the things I don't know I don't know.
"There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."
You may pour scorn on [Donald Rumsfeld] mangling of our english language and scrambling our brains but its sheer genius.
Or at the very least it helps articulate the relationship between adveritsing and digital agencies and their practitioners.
Clearly both parties know what they know about the other discipline. This knowledge may be clouded by prejudice, inadequate understanding and half truths on both sides but of one thing I am certain, I know what I know about digital. And of course those people in the digital space that hail from advertising have a more complete knowledge or what we do - albeit frozen in the late '90s.
And we are starting to figure out the stuff we know we don't know and making up for this through an ongoing talent swap. Advertising agenices are falling over themselves to attract digital parctitioners into the fold. Partly in the belief that the whopping great salaries that are on offer are a damn sight better value than the multiples they will have to pay if they try to buy the agencies these luminaries work for. And of course we are also seeing digital agencies bringing in strategic and production talent (particularly in TV) from the ad agenices where these skills have been honed over decades.
What fascinates me, however, is stuff that we don't know we don't know.
The more people I meet with, talk to and argue with from the digital side of the divide the more I realise that the real issue is I don't know what I don't know - and I suspect neither do you.
What I mean is that if you work in an ad agency exploration of the digital world is like playing a computer game where the map or terrain only becomes visible as you visit it. Every day I gain a better understanding of digital, and often about things that I previously had no idea happened or were important.
Of course few people on either side of the fence will admit to their lack of understanding but for me its a rather liberating idea. Instead of starting the conversation on the basis of the stuff you think you don't know about and need to have some help with, you start it in a spirit of complete openess. help me understand the things I don't know I don't know.
eModeration have released new whitepaer - 'Six Techniques for Safer User Generated Content Campaigns'
1. Craft your guidelines - create 'community guidelines' rather than 'terms and conditions'; these are much less intimidating to users. Use accessible language so that users will understand the rules of the site - the clearer the guidelines, the more likely users will abide by them.2. Build automated filters - the first line of defence against offensive, litigious, illegal or hijack-marketing content should be a smart filter. Filters should not replace human intervention - they will never understand slang trends or cultural sensitivities, for example - but they will get rid of the more obviously 'bad' content.3. Embrace your technology - use some basic mathematics and logic-informed algorithms to build tools that human moderators can use to review content. For example, keep an eye out for a single user that is making numerous submissions within a given time frame. Look at a user's site history - how many times have they been in agreement or dispute with the moderator? Is there a particular piece of content that is driving significant volumes of traffic - and is it for the right reason? Is it because of undesirable content?4. Enlist your users - most site users want a positive experience. Given the opportunity, many of them will help to protect the safety and quality of a project. Enlisting users can not only help moderators, but can engage users in the site itself.5. Make moderation actions visible - contrary to traditional thinking, human moderation does not work best when hidden from view. In fact, hiding moderation techniques can give an implicit invitation to a user to try to abuse or get round the system. If these controls are visible and clearly laid out, it can discourage people to post bad content. Moderators have a job not just to remove content, but also to work with the community to educate users as to what is and isn't acceptable. Some users make honest mistakes, so should be allowed to make amends and resubmit content.6. Moderation tools need love too - test the usability of the moderation tools, alongside site testing. You don't want to find that you've created a site that's difficult to moderate once the site has gone live. Smart interface design can significantly reduce moderation time (and cost). Consider moderation within the design of the site.
1. Craft your guidelines - create 'community guidelines' rather than 'terms and conditions'; these are much less intimidating to users. Use accessible language so that users will understand the rules of the site - the clearer the guidelines, the more likely users will abide by them.
2. Build automated filters - the first line of defence against offensive, litigious, illegal or hijack-marketing content should be a smart filter. Filters should not replace human intervention - they will never understand slang trends or cultural sensitivities, for example - but they will get rid of the more obviously 'bad' content.
3. Embrace your technology - use some basic mathematics and logic-informed algorithms to build tools that human moderators can use to review content. For example, keep an eye out for a single user that is making numerous submissions within a given time frame. Look at a user's site history - how many times have they been in agreement or dispute with the moderator? Is there a particular piece of content that is driving significant volumes of traffic - and is it for the right reason? Is it because of undesirable content?
4. Enlist your users - most site users want a positive experience. Given the opportunity, many of them will help to protect the safety and quality of a project. Enlisting users can not only help moderators, but can engage users in the site itself.
5. Make moderation actions visible - contrary to traditional thinking, human moderation does not work best when hidden from view. In fact, hiding moderation techniques can give an implicit invitation to a user to try to abuse or get round the system. If these controls are visible and clearly laid out, it can discourage people to post bad content. Moderators have a job not just to remove content, but also to work with the community to educate users as to what is and isn't acceptable. Some users make honest mistakes, so should be allowed to make amends and resubmit content.
6. Moderation tools need love too - test the usability of the moderation tools, alongside site testing. You don't want to find that you've created a site that's difficult to moderate once the site has gone live. Smart interface design can significantly reduce moderation time (and cost). Consider moderation within the design of the site.
6 comment(s)
Andrew McCormick reports:
The UK's leading social networks are promoting widgets as a crucial method for advertisers to reach their young audiences.Bebo and Piczo have moved to exploit the advertising opportunities of widgets to drive ad revenue beyond banner ads. Widgets are pieces of third-party code that can be embedded into social networks and often spread virally through communities. Following the rise of social networking, a raft of companies, such as Spring Widgets, have emerged, offering users additions to their social network profiles. Meanwhile social networks have started developing their own."We've been running a roadshow with agencies up and down the country and the response to widgets has been fantastic," said Sarah Gavin, communications director at Bebo."The idea is for advertising widgets to provide content that adds value to users while giving brands increased exposure," she added.Meanwhile, Piczo has been running trial campaigns with the likes of Apple, Nintendo, Sony Pictures and Colombia Records.Chris Seth, European MD of Piczo, said, "We've just created the Piczo Advertiser Immersion Development (PAID) team, which focuses on creating opportunities for brands to communicate with Piczo members in engaging and useful ways beyond traditional ad units."Branded widgets are a big area for us and we're seeing more and more advertisers wanting to get involved."
The UK's leading social networks are promoting widgets as a crucial method for advertisers to reach their young audiences.
Bebo and Piczo have moved to exploit the advertising opportunities of widgets to drive ad revenue beyond banner ads.
Widgets are pieces of third-party code that can be embedded into social networks and often spread virally through communities. Following the rise of social networking, a raft of companies, such as Spring Widgets, have emerged, offering users additions to their social network profiles. Meanwhile social networks have started developing their own.
"We've been running a roadshow with agencies up and down the country and the response to widgets has been fantastic," said Sarah Gavin, communications director at Bebo.
"The idea is for advertising widgets to provide content that adds value to users while giving brands increased exposure," she added.
Meanwhile, Piczo has been running trial campaigns with the likes of Apple, Nintendo, Sony Pictures and Colombia Records.
Chris Seth, European MD of Piczo, said, "We've just created the Piczo Advertiser Immersion Development (PAID) team, which focuses on creating opportunities for brands to communicate with Piczo members in engaging and useful ways beyond traditional ad units.
"Branded widgets are a big area for us and we're seeing more and more advertisers wanting to get involved."
Netimperative reports:
Downloading TV content via the internet is set to become this year's broadband phenomenon, according to price comparison and switching site, uSwitch.com.According to research by YouGov of 11,224 broadband users in October 2006, the average UK broadband user is already spending 30 minutes a week downloading films and a further 23 minutes a week watching TV online.USwitch predicts this trend will escalate rapidly as competition intensifies with Virgin Central channel launch, with more to follow this year from Sky, Tiscali TV, BT, Orange and the BBC.IPTV delivers high quality digital television content to consumers over their broadband connection. There are currently three main delivery methods: BT, Homechoice (soon to re-launched as Tiscali TV) and soon-to-launch Sky Anytime, use internet technology to deliver digital TV and 'on-demand' services straight to customers' television sets.Sky, Channel 4, the BBC and soon-to-launch ITV transfer TV content over a customer's broadband connection directly to their computer. Virgin Media's cable customers, on the other hand, receive 'on-demand' content via their cable connection.Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services at uSwitch.com, comments: "The UK is now in the midst of a full scale roll-out of IPTV. Sky has traditionally dominated this arena, broadcasting a vast array of viewing content, but this is going to be aggressively challenged with the influx of new providers set to launch rival services that will provide compelling content 'on-demand' this year.
Downloading TV content via the internet is set to become this year's broadband phenomenon, according to price comparison and switching site, uSwitch.com.
According to research by YouGov of 11,224 broadband users in October 2006, the average UK broadband user is already spending 30 minutes a week downloading films and a further 23 minutes a week watching TV online.
USwitch predicts this trend will escalate rapidly as competition intensifies with Virgin Central channel launch, with more to follow this year from Sky, Tiscali TV, BT, Orange and the BBC.
IPTV delivers high quality digital television content to consumers over their broadband connection. There are currently three main delivery methods: BT, Homechoice (soon to re-launched as Tiscali TV) and soon-to-launch Sky Anytime, use internet technology to deliver digital TV and 'on-demand' services straight to customers' television sets.
Sky, Channel 4, the BBC and soon-to-launch ITV transfer TV content over a customer's broadband connection directly to their computer. Virgin Media's cable customers, on the other hand, receive 'on-demand' content via their cable connection.
Steve Weller, Head of Communications Services at uSwitch.com, comments: "The UK is now in the midst of a full scale roll-out of IPTV. Sky has traditionally dominated this arena, broadcasting a vast array of viewing content, but this is going to be aggressively challenged with the influx of new providers set to launch rival services that will provide compelling content 'on-demand' this year.
Rolling Stone reports on Nine Inch Nails' transmedia campaign:
In what has to be the most innovative promotion scheme since the leaked sex tape, NIN have treated their fans to a sort of Where’s Waldo game that includes tour merchandising, a dizzying network of websites and, umm, bathrooms in European concert halls.
Graham Charlton:
Customer satisfaction with e-commerce sites improved for the second year in a row, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released by the University of Michigan.Online retail achieved a score of 83 on ACSI's 100 point scale, while offline retailers scored 74.4.
Customer satisfaction with e-commerce sites improved for the second year in a row, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released by the University of Michigan.
Online retail achieved a score of 83 on ACSI's 100 point scale, while offline retailers scored 74.4.
Richard Huntington:
The reality is that search optimisation ... should be seen as a safety net for a brand. It should be working as a final attempt to secure the attention of consumers if everything else has failed. But it is far better (and probably rather cheaper) if people approach their browsers with your brand already in pole position in their mental search engine - already ahead of the field because people know more about you and they care more about you.That instead of searching for low cost air fares to Barcelona they are looking up BA.com or Travelocity.After all how many of us search for 'book sellers' on Google rather than going straight Amazon?
The reality is that search optimisation ... should be seen as a safety net for a brand. It should be working as a final attempt to secure the attention of consumers if everything else has failed. But it is far better (and probably rather cheaper) if people approach their browsers with your brand already in pole position in their mental search engine - already ahead of the field because people know more about you and they care more about you.
That instead of searching for low cost air fares to Barcelona they are looking up BA.com or Travelocity.
After all how many of us search for 'book sellers' on Google rather than going straight Amazon?
Cheaper? I find that hard to believe...
WARC reports
L'Oréal is to shift a sizeable part of its advertising budget from traditional media to online. The French-headquartered beauty and cosmetics giant, whose brands include Lancôme and Maybelline, also announced a rise in profits last year of 4.5%.The company spent €4.78 billion ($6.28bn; £3.21bn) on advertising in 2006, a hike of 9.5% over the previous twelve months. Net profit rose to €2.06bn. Commented Patrick Rabain, head of the consumer-products division: "We are, of course, changing the way we spend our money on advertising. Typically for the retail consumer division we used to spend something like 75% on TV, 20% or more on print and the rest on billboards, etc." He added: "We will move away from the traditional media spend, but we are being careful because you have to be sure you are being more efficient. It's quite clear ... things are changing."Last year's launch of a new men's fragrance for the Cacharel brand eschewed traditional marketing channels in favor of heavy promotion via a blog.
L'Oréal is to shift a sizeable part of its advertising budget from traditional media to online. The French-headquartered beauty and cosmetics giant, whose brands include Lancôme and Maybelline, also announced a rise in profits last year of 4.5%.
The company spent €4.78 billion ($6.28bn; £3.21bn) on advertising in 2006, a hike of 9.5% over the previous twelve months. Net profit rose to €2.06bn.
Commented Patrick Rabain, head of the consumer-products division: "We are, of course, changing the way we spend our money on advertising. Typically for the retail consumer division we used to spend something like 75% on TV, 20% or more on print and the rest on billboards, etc."
He added: "We will move away from the traditional media spend, but we are being careful because you have to be sure you are being more efficient. It's quite clear ... things are changing."
Last year's launch of a new men's fragrance for the Cacharel brand eschewed traditional marketing channels in favor of heavy promotion via a blog.
Internet Retailing:
Internet retailing is predicted to make up 15% of all UK retail sales and be worth £40bn by the end of 2007, according to research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). [It also] predicts that online sales will make up 40% of retail sales by 2020 (equivalent to £162bn).
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