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Monthly Archives: June 2012
Find Friends Nearby Flops
This past Sunday, Facebook released yet another application; this one was deemed solely as “a test,” and for mobile use. Though somewhat “creepy” in nature, Facebook’s “Find Friends Nearby” feature was created to help the user to literally locate friends who may physically be nearby. Using a GPS add-on, the Facebook user can see whenever one of their Facebook friends (who also must have the feature) is nearby, hopefully prompting a spontaneous hangout.
Apparently many people on the social web felt as though the application was a bit invasive.
From June 25-June 27th, in relation to “Find Friends Nearby,” the word “creepy” was mentioned 1,194 times on the social web. The word “stalkers” was mentioned 456 times, and 1,130 posts asked or answered questions on how to remove the feature.
On Twitter alone “Find Friends Nearby” was mentioned 16,293 times out of a total 19,325 total social web mentions.
As quickly as the feature became available, it was taken down. “Find Friends Nearby” was removed the day after it was made public (Monday) due to concerns that it breached the privacy of its users, and that the feature’s power could be abused becoming dangerous for users. Facebook spokespeople told the public that this was simply a test at how consumers would take to the application. Charles Sankowich, CEO of Friendthem however, believed that Facebook took down said feature due to his threats of a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Sankowich said that he had told one of Facebook’s employees of his copyrighted Friendthem feature, and months later, a similar product with similar functions was released by Facebook.
Whatever the reason for taking it down, it seems as though Facebook did the right thing according to the response of the public. Would you consider using this feature? Do you too think that it poses a threat to the safety of Facebook users? Are there any perks to the feature?
Don’t Commit These 5 Social Media Errors
Source: www.mashable.com
Funny Friday!!
How Often Do We Use Twitter?
Enterprise 2.0 Conference!
Hello all! Just a quick note to let you know that we’re at the Enterprise 2.0 Conferencein Boston today and tomorrow! We’re so excited to meet others in the industry and to see the latest products/services that they have created, and to show them ours as well. The conference focuses on enlightening its participants of the emergence of bigger picture implications of technology and how we can expect to integrate such products/services into each of our own unique business plans and models.
This year, the conference is at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.
Moving from Enterprise 1.0 to Enterprise 2.0 includes but is not limited to the following changes:
Hierarchy to Flat organization
Friction to Ease of Organization Flow
Bureaucracy to Agility
Top down to Bottom Up
Need to know to Transparancy
As you can see the structure and nature of the workplace and work production is beginning to shift, and this conference is a great place for us to enhance one’s own business configuration to better fit into the future of business enterprises.
Stay updated on our conference ventures today and tomorrow via our social channels. www.facebook.com/viraltechnologies or www.twitter.com/viraltech
Top 5 Reasons to Properly “Brand” Your Brand
1. It can drive more traffic to your Web sites
If consumers identify certain descriptive words or slogans that represent your brand, it makes your company much more visible within the online marketplace. The more ways that people can describe and identify your brand, the more search results will be found in sites like Google and Bing. A great example of this is McDonalds. The following keywords/phrases would easily find the company on search engines:
• I’m Lovin’ It
• Golden Arches
• Big Mac
• McNuggets
• Ronald McDonald
• Filet-O-Fish
• Put a Smile On
• Happy Meal
2. It gives your company more credibility
Now That's Brand Loyalty!
Plain and simple, people go with what they know. If faced with a decision between two different products with similar price points, people will most probably always go with the better-known brand. Consumers have a very strong influence on one another and if a company has built their brand around a specific product or service, people will talk (good or bad). The more positive chatter, the greater chance your company has at becoming a credible organization and one within which consumers will become loyal to. There is a phenomenon called brand religion that explains this behavior. This means that the value of a company’s brand becomes so high that consumers will remain loyal to it even if it costs much more or its stock has depleted.
3. Helps your company to develop a recognizable identity
One piece of effective branding is that you have created an identity that can be recognized by the masses. Do you recognize all of the logos on the rest stop sign when driving on the highway? If yes, it means that that brand has done a good job in developing a recognizable brand identity. If you have made the products or services of your brand to represent something specific, your consumers will expect that consistency for all of your products/services. For example, Coach is a highly recognizable brand, and their products are identified as a high-end and good-quality alternative.
4. Makes your consumers view you in a certain way, and affects their behaviors
Being a recognized brand also comes with a lot of responsibility. People start to expect certain things from your brand, and they can turn on you just as easily if you disappoint them. An example of this would be finding out that a company that positioned themselves as a very environmentally responsible organization that prided themselves in using all green and natural products, was using artificial growth hormones on their animals, and emitting chemicals into the atmosphere. If your consumers viewed you as the way you marketed yourself (green and all natural), and you indulge in behaviors that prove otherwise, your consumers will most probably switch to a different brand no matter how loyal they had been to you previously. A strong brand also allows the transfer of the brand to new products, meaning your consumer will assume that because your brand has created the product, it will be as good as their other products that they love so much.
5. Distinguishes your company from competitors
This simply means that your entire brand make-up including products, designs, logo, and overall mission is unique to other companies in your field. Making sure to stand-out is important, especially in such a saturated market. A great example of a company that has made their brand distinguishable from their competitors is Apple. Not only do they develop high-tech and highly functional unique products, but they are the people that other brands mimic. Their products are so unique from their “competitors” that it almost seems as though they aren’t competing. Apple and HP are both computer companies, but Apple products are so different from other computer products that they almost can’t be lumped in the same category.
Why Web Design is Integral to the Success of Your Brand
The age old advice that our parents and grandparents have drilled into our heads, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” is nice in theory, but as hard as we try not to, the book’s cover will always be judged first.
Web design is a great example of this theory. Aesthetically pleasing and well-formatted design is judged to be more professional and more credible as a business that people would feel comfortable collaborating with.
Answer me this:
Would you rather do business with this company?
or this one?
Precisely.
Good businesses outcomes go hand-and-hand with well-designed websites and collateral. It’s so important to represent your business online and on paper in a way that you would present yourself in person to a prospective client or employee. You wouldn’t (hopefully) show up to a job interview in sweatpants and a t-shirt—exactly like you shouldn’t skimp out on the appearance of your Website because that is often the first way in which prospective clients will be introduced to your brand.
Good design helps business solve complex situations with creative solutions. To create value, remain competitive and gain customer trust and loyalty, web design is integral. Good Web design can represent your company in a multitude of ways. Say you’re a construction company that specializes in architectural exploration. Your Web site can mirror that idea by replicating the innovative and modern design style that you create in your buildings.
Creating a Website in a way that represents your company is critical in establishing your brand as a competitor and as a reputable contender in your field. Communicating this frame of mind through your Website through visual language is a great way to get the public to understand that you value your brand, and aim to portray that through each medium.
Good design is a crucial asset to your brand that is most effective when applied early in corporate business plans, not as the cherry on the sundae.
Funny Friday!!
The 5 W’s of Competitive Intelligence
Who:
Who are your Competitors? – discovering who your competitors are (as if you didn’t already know) is very important to ensure that you are offering the best product in your industry. Being able to identify your competitors can help you to find out more about what they are doing better or worse than your brand, and also can help you to listen to what their customers are saying about them.
Who are the Customers of Your Competition? – again this is important so that you can listen to their conversation about your competitor’s brand and see what they do/do not like about that company, and rework your product/service accordingly.
What:
What are the Customers of Your Competition Unhappy About? – are you repeating the same mistake that your competitor is doing? Well by monitoring what your competitor’s clients are complaining about can help your brand to not mimic whatever made these consumers unhappy. You can also take that one step further by advertising the anti-“whatever they didn’t like about competitor’s product/service.” For example if they are complaining about the slow and poor customer service, advertise your GREAT customer service and provide incentives to these people to switch over to your brand.
What Has Your Competition Been Successful With and What Have They Failed At? – as illustrated above, the opposite can also occur. Your competitor is has just created a great product that is very user-friendly and reliable. Your consumers have been complaining about the complicity of your product, and for that reason, your clients are switching over. In monitoring what your competition is doing well, you can do your best to replicate (in a lawful manner), and perhaps even surpass the user-experience of your product/service.
When:
When Did Your Competition Start Gaining/Losing Followers/Customers? (spotting trends) – this is a very important aspect of competitive intelligence to consider especially because in looking at time periods, you can then track it back to an event or experience that could have caused the gain or loss. For example, your competition started losing customers/followers around the same time that its well-respected and mature CEO retired—people may have lost faith and trust in the company enough so that they felt they didn’t want to give them the business anymore (this is your chance to swoop in, and ensure them that your brand will take care of them in the way that your competitor’s brand used to).
When and How Often Does Your Competition Engage With Customers? – engaging is such an important aspect in gaining a loyal and faithful brand following. If your clients know that you value their input, and respond to their questions/concerns/comments quickly and effectively, they will be more apt to return again for further product purchases/services.
Where:
Where Does Your Competition Put Most of Their Marketing Efforts? (what media types) – knowing this information is helpful when gathering competitive intelligence because we can start to understand their business strategies and plans. If we know they are putting most of their marketing efforts into their website, then we know that perhaps they are lacking in the social media marketing area, and we can zero in and capitalize on this hole. It’s also good to know where the unsaturated areas of your market lie in the online marketplace, so that you can take advantage of the lack of usage in this area and be one of the first to set up stake with little to no competition.
Where Do Most Customers Share Their Opinions About Your Competition? (what media types) – this is a great place to camp out because obviously if the majority of the competition’s clients are gathering and sharing thoughts in one specific area, then you will get the most insight in that specific area. Gaining customer insight is crucial to the success of your company for your own brand and for your competitor’s brand because there is always room for improvement, and customers will tell you which areas are lacking.
Why:
Why Are Customers Choosing Your Competition Over Your Brand? (what do customers value) – again listening to what customers are looking for in a product or service will help you to mold into the company that your customers dream of. Look to see what your competitor’s customers like about their brand and cross-reference it to that of your own…do you have similar programs, or are they lacking in comparison to your competition?
Why is Your Competition Making Certain Business Decisions? – Predictive Analytics allow you to be better prepared for future changes in the competitive landscape .