Online Branding Blog – reactorr.com

Building Brands In a Digital World

Interesting discussion about online branding, the old and the new, and the shift happening.

Tags: online branding

Preparing for Mobile Branding

Having doubled each year for the last four, the ad spend in mobile branding is hard to ignore. And experts forecast the same for next year as well.

As smart phones become increasingly more powerful, the mobile web will change how we live, work and play. Mobile web adoption is increasing at rate that is eight times higher than the desktop just 10 years ago.

We’ve just begun to scratch the surface for location based potential, and the apps keep on coming. But imagine what the future holds for marketers as we start to integrate proximity detection through RFID, bluetooth and other technologies so we can begin to deliver advertising messages that are not only timely, but of relevance to your surroundings. It won’t be long before we walk past a store and receive  sms promo codes.

Mobile apps have grown at an exponential rate, and according to a study from the Pew Internet Project its estimated 1 in 4 U.S. adults now use them. The iTunes store is home to over 200,00 mobile apps, and the iPhone was created only a few years ago. And Juniper Research suggests that mobile phone apps will reach an astonishing 25 billion by 2015. The mobile technology is advancing faster than probably any technology in history and exciting new uses like augmented reality keep on coming. The most recent advance is something called LTE, which is often referred to as 4G and allows improved speeds that will bring us closer to mobile tv and more.

But what’s really exciting is mobile commerce, or M-commerce. Between 2008 and 2009 mobile transactions grew from $25 million to $141 million in one year, and things are expected to exceed $500 million in 2010.

Concerns about whether location will outweigh SEO in mobile search have come up in the last few months, and it seems unlikely that one will replace the other. It’s more likely that marketers will have to factor in yet another channel, that being location based marketing.

Social media and mobile marketing provide exciting opportunities, considering most individuals have their smart phone with them throughout the day more so than any other device. We’re now hyper connected, and companies like Google, Apple, and Nokia are driving the industry forward.

Exciting times indeed, but what’s the take away from this? We’ve heard the mobile gospel before, but now is the time to get serious. And if you’re venturing into mobile branding, you’ll not only want to be on FourSquare, you’ll want to make sure your app is available for the main OS options like Android, iPhone, Blackberry and others.

Tags: branding, mobile

The Shift of Brand Marketing With Social Media

Marketers are no longer in control of their branding. After decades of listening to advertisers broadcasting and force feeding their message, consumers have the upper hand. As advertising experiences a steady decline in terms of effectiveness, there is a consumer epidemic called social media that leaves many marketers grasping at straws and trying to adapt.

Social media has changed the game, and consumers are communicating with one another about brands, products and services. Much to the horror of many marketers as they stand at the sidelines confused about how to get involved.

It’s estimated that about 70% of bloggers write about brands organically, and almost half of that is product reviews. About 65% of blog readers access blogs specifically to get an opinion, and over 90% trust user reviews over an in-store clerk.

The new marketing – its not about marketing. Today’s brands need to be transparent, engage, and participate with the conversation that exists. It’s already going on, and its up to the marketer to find it and leverage these new opportunities.

What some don’t realize is the new social media tools allow a dialogue that essentially make your customer base more accessible, and almost like a giant focus group. Rather than diving in and reverting to broadcasting, they need to listen, and be part of the dialogue when the moment is right.

Traditional advertising has been about attacking the masses with their marketing messages, and justifying campaigns with repetition. Phrases like “we need to build awareness” and “a consumer needs to see an advertisement at least 7 times” became common place. But with poor targeting (aka segmentation) the ROI has called into the question of accountability in recent years.

From print and outdoors to broadcast and direct mail, it was never clear what the return was. And when it was measured, the results took weeks at a time. Usually it wasn’t until after a campaign was over before a tally could give any idea whether it was a success.

And now marketers have online advertising, where they can fine tune, shift spending, and track the results almost as quick as things happen. But there is one drawback, advertising is still advertising.

Social media integration isn’t an after thought to a campaign anymore, its a key component.

In a recent study, 40% of brand representatives world wide believe social media poses new challenges to the integrity of their brand. With more than a third saying that social networking sites affect brands significantly enough to bring about changes in their marketing strategy.

So where does this leave marketers? It starts with breaking old habits, and communicating instead of broadcasting. But to make social media work effectively, it often involves several layers rather than the “let’s make a facebook page” approach.

Google Instant Search

Notice something odd going on when using Google today?

The release of their new Instant Search could be an indicator of the strength of online brands. Type a letter, and it will pre-populate the search field along with the pending results. Results can be different depending on your location.

A – AOL

B – Best Buy

C – Craigslist (now more family friendly)

D – dictionary (ok, that one doesn’t apply)

E – Ebay

F – Facebook

G – Gmail

H – Hotmail

I – Ikea

And so on. See a pictorial on search results at Huff.

Predictive text results in the search field aren’t new, but dynamic page loads are. I sort of like it, and hope they keep it. I also hope there is an option to turn off if I choose when logged in.

Notice the above presenter had the excitement of an Apple announcement in his presentation?
But here’s how its done;

Most Viral Brands of 2010

A look at how of different brands online performance this year (so far) in terms of how they were shared across popular social spaces.