buzz Archives | waveSpawn Marketing

August 3, 2010

Market your regional product or service with foursquare

foursquare marketing If you haven’t familiarized yourself with foursquare yet, it may be worth your while. Foursquare is gaining popularity quickly. Many businesses are leveraging it to create customer loyalty programs. It’s GPS integrated features allow people to “check-in” when they are at or near your business. This allows you to track frequent visitors. You can structure incentives for your targeted community. For example, if you run a pizza shop, you can offer a free pizza to the member who “checks-in” the most within a given timeframe (month or week). If you have a hair salon, you can give a product away for every 10 check-ins. You can be creative in your offers, but it’s an ideal way to entice potential prospects and reward existing customers.

A powerful feature of foursquare, like most social media platforms, is that it shares information with all of a user’s friends. This creates instant viral marketing. If someone checks-into your establishment, everyone in that person’s network will get updates. It’s like a free plug for your business. As frequent users strive to collect prizes or discounts, this creates competition between various patrons. The better the prize, the bigger the interest. It’s almost like a virtual scavenger hunt.

When you have time, “check-in” to foursquare and see for yourself. If you have questions or not sure where to start, waveSpawn can help…

February 25, 2010

Facebook, what about the tree of trust?

Now that both Google and Bing have access to Facebook status updates, should you be concerned about the privacy of your posts? Of course you should… you need to control how the information you share is being rebroadcast or accessed by others. You probably don’t want to see your private information randomly appearing in a stranger’s search results.

Remember the therapy scene in Old School, where the marriage counselor says: “This is a safe place, a place where we can feel free sharing our feelings… a nest in a tree of trust and understanding… we can say anything.” Then after the information is exposed (on major search engines, in your case), your reaction is going to be similar to Will Ferrell’s: “What? I thought we were in the trust tree, in the nest. Are we not?”

While it’s an interesting concept (indexing status updates on Facebook), it’s contradictory to the purpose of a closed circuit social network. Since Google currently only has access to the public Facebook Pages – which are vehicles for marketing rather than personal content, it doesn’t appear pose an immediate personal threat. Bing on the other hand, does have full access to this personal data, since Microsoft has an investment in Facebook and provides the site’s search functionality.

Fortunately there are methods to restrict search engine access to certain information. It’s highly recommended to take some time and review your Facebook > Account > Account Settings and Privacy Settings. There are many options to restrict all of your information including photos, posts, comments, etc to only friends. Take full control of your social media usage. Understand your options and use settings that you are comfortable with.

What are your thoughts on search engines displaying status updates? Is this a positive trend?

February 11, 2010

Making sense of Google Buzz

I’ve been an avid user of Gmail for the past six years. Yesterday I was reading all about Google Buzz and their attempt to succeed in the social media frenzy. Sure enough when I logged into my Gmail account, I saw the “Buzz” icon right below my inbox… so naturally I clicked on it. Wow, I already have several people following me and following several people. Apparently, I’m connected with everyone in my address book. Since Google Buzz integrates with Gmail without the need for users to sign up, Google instantly added 176 million users to their social network platform… not too shabby of a start.

It’s no secret that Google is anxious to compete in the social media space. While their social media platform Orkut has not reached the masses as Facebook has, this has not seemed to deter Google. Buzz seems to be a much more strategic way of penetrating the market.

While it’s intriguing to have built-in connectivity features in my email, I must admit it feels a little invasive. There comes a time when consumers want the convenience of aggregated information on a single platform. Who has time to login to dozens of different systems to manage their information, respond to questions, and provide updates? I’ve got login credentials for so many accounts – I can’t even keep track of them all. It would literally take me a few hours just to login to each of them for 5 minutes each on a daily basis.

In order to solve this issue, I think we’ll begin to see a convergence of the top players in this space. While some of the systems are already compatible, most users want a single stop destination. Think Facebook on steroids. The best features of the top platforms need to collaborate and partner to develop the ultimate social media networking destination.

What are your thoughts? Is there an easy solution to all of these disparate systems? Is Google Buzz the savior?

February 7, 2010

Doritos best Super Bowl ad for first half

The Doritos ad with the boy slapping his mother’s date was the most memorable during the first half. It was simple, witty, and effective.

While Anheuser-Busch had several good ads for Bud Light and the human bridge for Budweiser beer, I think the Doritos commercial had more stickiness and will stand the test of time.

I’d be curious to hear other thoughts. Do you disagree? Was there a better commercial?

Anheuser–Busch

January 28, 2010

Google activates social search

Ever wanted more control over your Google searches? Perhaps filter and highlight relevant information from your network of friends, family, colleagues, and online contacts. Basically, have the ability to filter out a lot of the noise and take advantage of the knowledge of your network. I sure do. Well, this new beta release of Google Social Search is intended to do just that.

By releasing the facilities to enable social networking search, Google is adding more purpose to all of the various social communities being created online. You can quickly setup a profile and link social content. Let’s say you’re in the market for a new Gibson Les Paul guitar. Traditionally, you may go to Google and do a random search for “Gibson Les Paul” guitars (or some variation). You may get results from Gibson, Guitar Center, eBay, Craigslist, and many other distributors. Ok, that’s great… but wouldn’t it be cool to instantly search your network of musical friends who may have some personal insight or photos uploaded right from the Google search results page? You could interact with your contacts directly to answer basic questions that they may have already experienced. See for yourself at google.com/profiles

While this is an early release, certainly there is a lot of future potential… especially as more people embrace the various social networking tools. It allows integration with blogs, Picasa, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, etc. I just gave it a test drive… pretty slick. The video to the right gives a nice brief overview.

January 27, 2010

Will the Apple iPad kill Amazon’s Kindle with iBooks?

Apple iPad with iBooks Steve Jobs has just announced the introduction of the much anticipated Apple iPad for only $499! While it had been dubbed the tablet for a while, it has officially been named the iPad. I have been following along on gdgt’s live coverage.

Here are some features:

Can be rotated and held in any direction
Web-enabled (um, duh) and extremely fast
Has a virtual keyboard
Video playback is HD, not widescreen however
iBook store enables instant download and display of books, newspapers, and magazines
Enhanced iTunes interface

At a glance this device appears to be an overgrown iPhone. I should admit, I am a huge fan of the iPhone, I like its portability and slick design. I also like my laptop for what it does. Do I really need a new “netbook” device to combine the best of both features? It seems to be eerily similar to the infamous Chevey El Camino – that mutant-like hybrid of a car and truck that some people had the nerve to buy. Let’s be honest, the back had enough space to fit a 30 pound bag of dog food.

I don’t know that I would consider the iPad a replacement for either device. Instead, it appears to be forging a new market. A market catered to gamers, scholars, and hobbyist. It is a device which allows reading of books, textbooks and changing of fonts, etc. It seems to be in direct competition with Amazon’s Kindle device. Although it has a lot more to offer – and a much more robust interface. While the market has been somewhat slow to embrace the Kindle, we’ll see if things speed up now that Apple has entered the game.

I’m curious to see how the market will respond to this device. Would you buy one?

January 24, 2010

Pants on the Ground for the Minnesota Vikings

Pants on the ground for the Minnesota Vikings “Pants on the Ground” was an instant sensation when Larry Platt first sang his self-written song on American Idol. It became so catchy that Brett Favre even sang a tribute version after the Minnesota Vikings beat the Dallas Cowboys. That’s some powerful viral marketing. It’s now crossed over from American Idol to the NFL.

According to NBC Sports, the Vikings loved the song so much that they flew Larry Platt along with them to their playoff game against the New Orleans Saints to perform for the team.

I’m sure round 2 of this song will be circulating soon. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from Mr. Platt. Stay tuned…

January 24, 2010

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie break up – a marketing scheme?

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie break up It’s been reported that the powerful Hollywood couple Brangelina, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, have officially called it quits. With a brand as recognizable as Brangelina, why would this pair consider separating? Could this be a stunt to generate even more publicity? When you’re on top of the entertainment world for five years, what else is there to do?

With six children between them and arguably the most popular Hollywood icons of our time, is this just a silly rumor circulating around the Internet? That’s what Perez Hilton says. However, it seems there is more validity to this report than is apparent.

Was Jennifer Aniston a better fit for Brad… what do you think?

January 23, 2010

Buffalo shines on primetime

Buffalo Extreme Makeover Home Edition Buffalo will get the spotlight for 2 hours this Sunday night (January 24) on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The renovations that were completed last fall on Buffalo’s West Side will be airing at 8:00pm EST. The Powell family is the home of a Jamaican immigrant who has done extensive work on the domicile over the past few years. Apparently the local Buffalo community generated the most volunteers and biggest turnout ever for the final reveal.

Shea’s Theater is hosting a free event tomorrow evening to broadcast the event on the big screen. It will be interesting to see if they can sellout the theater as the community rallies around the Powell family in support.

January 21, 2010

Conan blows $1.5 million of NBC’s cash

Conan O’Brien, who recently walked away from NBC with a reported $45 million settlement after the late night fiasco with Jay Leno, decided that wasn’t enough. Since his show is running through the end of the week, he is on a mission to run up a tab for NBC by broadcasting songs and media bits which demand high royalty fees.

“We can do whatever they want, and they have to pay for it,” said O’Brien at the beginning of the sketch. And later, while describing the reason for playing the Stones’ “Satisfaction,” he said, “Is it crazy expensive to play on the air, not to mention the rights to re-air this clip on the internet? Hell yes!”

Perhaps the buzz will actually help NBC attract a spike in viewers over the next two nights. We’ll have to wait and see. Is he doing the right thing, give the way NBC treated him? Or is he entitled to express his resentment for getting bumped off of the air?