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Over the last decade, the shift from traditional advertising to online advertising has fuelled the growth of interactive agencies like Tocquigny. Another recent dramatic shift in budgets to mobile advertising is a wake-up call for agencies and advertisers to redefine their approach to building websites that include more than the “traditional” Web.

Is mobile stealing wallet share from traditional budgets or even “traditional” online budgets? One could argue the case using these recent stats: According to a survey by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), from 2010 to 2011, mobile marketing budgets will increase by 124%. Comparing that to other channels, digital as a whole is increasing 30–32%, while TV spending remains flat, at 16%. Outdoor is dropping by 26%, newspapers by 25%, and DM by 18%. Furthermore, according to a recent survey by J.P. Morgan in June, mobile budgets are projected to continue this pace into 2012, more than doubling 2010 budgets to $566 million.

What’s behind this dramatic change? Not surprisingly, iPhone and Android sales top of the list, but what are the other top factors influencing the growth of mobile advertising?

User Behavior and Expectations

Of course, we should start with the consumer. The expectations of today’s on-the-go user are changing, and our ability to deliver a user experience that matches those needs must keep up. These users are already captive and engaged, so the resulting opportunity to make a substantial impact by producing a great mobile experience is crucial for all marketers.

Google vs. Apple

As seen by the strategic purchase of ad networks AdMob and Quattro by Google and Apple respectively, both companies saw this growth opportunity long before the rest of us. In a recent article, Mashable points out that each corporate giant has an angle, with Google betting on mobile Web and Apple betting on the apps.

Apple had a head start on Google — it had a larger market share and a rabid fan base to launch its mobile platform. But Google has been in mobile for a couple years now with AdSense, and already has an established relationship with advertisers.

Since its introduction earlier this year, iAd, Apple’s advertising platform, has experienced slow growth due to a high barrier to entry and the focus on high-end ads within apps for advertising. With Android’s recent massive growth fueling the other side of the equation, you can count on significant R&D investment in mobile by both sides.

The takeaway here is that this friendly competition is also spurring the growth of the mobile advertising industry as a whole.

HTML5 and Mobile Rich Media

Speaking of Apple, their public battle against Flash and the push for HTML5 will definitely impact the user experience in mobile advertising. Way back in 2005, the first mobile ad networks started to pop up, but since then, the basic mobile banner ad hasn’t changed much.

HTML5 will alleviate many of the technical barriers for developers to enter the space. Another articlefrom Mashable highlights the “5 Ways HTML5 Is Changing Mobile Advertising” for the better — including the upcoming drop in the barriers to entry for mobile developers, mostly in the areas of development efficiencies, flexibility, speed, and measurement. It also mentions the continued need for more standards in cross-platform rich media.

As HTML5 gains adoption this year and next, look for more mobile-specific interaction with ads, including video, search, click to call, and maps.

The Mobile Inbox

While social media is seeing large increases in mobile use, we should not forget about the importance of email. A recent study by Nielsen shows that the majority of mobile time — 41% — is spent in email.

There is no doubt that the email industry as a whole is coming to terms with the growth of mobile. This is inspiring providers and marketers in general to improve the overall mobile email experience from the mobile inbox to the click-through destination.

Social media has a head start in mobile; for the most part, it comes out-of-the-box with mobile optimization for messages. For email, both the email and the destination need high customization to deliver a solid experience.

If your message ends up in someone’s mobile inbox and you don’t have a mobile-optimized destination, you are dead in the water — to that user at least. Email marketers are facing relatively low response rates to begin with, so every interaction and click is precious.

The Mobile Effect on Retail

Mobile search is also expanding at a rapid rate, not just for information, but also for local retailers. A recent Google blog post points out that 54% of users who shopped online but purchased offline used their mobile device to conduct that search. The iPad and many other entries in the tablet market are also causing this shift, as more and more consumers will be surfing not from their desktops, or even notebooks, but from their other, larger mobile device.

Now add mobile barcodes to the equation. More and more users are tapping into the power of their personal barcode scanners. In a trend report [pdf] from September 2010, ScanLife reported a spike in mobile barcode scanning in the last year.

Now that consumers are using their devices to price-shop “offline,” retail marketers need to keep their eye on this movement. While barcodes may not have a huge effect on mobile advertising the way we see it today, the future will most likely show that proximity-based ads will throw bar-code scanning into the mix.

Performance

This is where we as marketers need help. Sure, the ads have a great click-through rate, but then what? With less clutter and banner blindness and more ownership of ad space, we need to support this mobile evolution by providing a better place to land after the click.

In the past, mobile has been greatly constrained by many factors, including the fragmentation and a lack of standards in the mobile industry, privacy concerns, and a lack of mobile ad networks — until now. However, in my opinion — formed from 10 years of experience in direct response advertising — the most important obstacle has been the poor post-click conversion and the resulting impact on efficiency metrics related to ecommerce and lead generation. One of the primary drivers for this is non-optimized pages and forms.

Conclusion

While these problems are quickly becoming history, marketers need to adjust their mobile focus from apps and pick up the pace on mobile Web optimization to provide consumers a better basic mobile Web experience. So much focus has been paid to apps that marketers have been distracted from this bigger long-term opportunity.

A great example of a champion in the mobile optimization space is Taptu. Visit their website from your mobile device, and you will be served a great list of the early adopters of “touch-friendly” mobile websites. As we head toward the end of 2010 — “The Year of Mobile” — keep your eye on the trends in mobile advertising and mobile Web optimization. Push your agency peers and advertisers to get ahead of the curve and avoid losing opportunities to others that embrace the next big wave. Review other predictions, tips, and trends in mobile, and work on your mobile web strategy.

The consumers are already there…waiting for a better experience.

Consider the traditional cycle for a Ford Fiesta:

Awareness: Marketers place carefully planned Ford Fiesta messages across appropriate mass media outlets.

Consideration: Car & Driver test drives a Fiesta, you read the review and comparison to other vehicles. Consideration is also widely affected by word of mouth and consumer advocacy outlets.

Preference: You’re considering how others will perceive you and how it may affect your lifestyle. This is a big purchase, so you do a final round of research. After due diligence, it seems to be the car for you.

Action: …ahh the new car smell.

Loyalty: The car is great. It’s reliable, fun to drive, and efficient. After 110k miles, you reluctantly pass it along to your 16-year-old daughter and purchase a new Fiesta.

Advocacy: Anyone who mentions they’re in the market for a new car gets your authentic “Get a Fiesta” sales pitch.

Now, lets introduce social media to the cycle:

Awareness: Marketers provide cars to influential bloggers who then share their experience across the Web. You catch the buzz on your Twitter feed, and check out photos on Facebook and videos on YouTube. 

Consideration: Because you trust other people more than you trust companies, the online buzz has already piqued your interest when the Fiesta TV campaign hits the air. As such, you’re much more responsive to their claims; you hop on your computer and Google “Ford Fiesta” for more research.

Preference: At this point you’re considering how others will perceive you, and how the Fiesta may affect your lifestyle. This is a big purchase, so you do a final round of research. After due diligence, it seems to be the car for you.

Action: …ahh the new car smell.

Loyalty: The car is great. It’s reliable, fun to drive, and efficient. After 110k miles, you reluctantly pass it along to your 16-year-old daughter and purchase a new Fiesta.

Advocacy: You love your new car. And because Ford captured your email and home address, they reach out via direct mail and email suggesting you join their Fiesta fan page on Facebook. You oblige. Once there, you share photos, stories, and videos with thousands of other Fiesta lovers. New prospects hear the buzz about the Fiesta, and the cycle starts over again.

As you can see, social media is a great tool to generate momentum. Mass media, still a huge part of the machine, capitalizes on the rolling start, and the campaign quickly accelerates towards consideration. Here, users again rely on social media chatter for its credible insights. The preference and action stages are largely unchanged. Post-purchase, social media tools allow you, once an influencee, to become an influencer.

 And around we go again.

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In more than 60 speaking engagements addressing a total of more than 1,500 CEOs over the past two years, I have repeatedly bumped up against a set of common misconceptions on the topic of social media.

Many business leaders view social media as a young person’s game and a waste of time for a serious executive whose calendar is already overbooked. As a CEO myself, I understand how much competition there is for our attention. Social media can seem like a very low priority. It’s important to understand where these misconceptions originate and how to guide a busy executive toward a rewarding plan of action.

Misconception 1: Social media is optional.

Many CEOs are holding back to see what becomes of social media before committing to a company-wide strategy that requires the allocation of some serious resources. As a stopgap, some executives have identified a young person within their organization to set up a Facebook page or Twitter presence. And with this, the CEO has mentally checked off the social media box and moved on to focus on other things. They don’t realize that their company is exhibiting a social presence that hurts their business more than it helps. This approach gets a company the presence of a “twenty-something” individual (who most likely set it up), rather than the presence it needs or deserves.

Social media has become a required component of almost every company’s marketing mix. It should be considered an important part of every media plan. Each component of social media has a different purpose — any one social media outlet in and of itself isn't enough.

Misconception 2: “Someone on my staff” can write social media posts for me.

Most executives I speak with are delegating their social media. In the best cases, where this works, it looks like the executive is involved and sharing ideas even when he or she is hands-off in the process. The executive may or may not be reviewing this content prior to the posts. At any rate, executives often miss out on the action and settle for content attributed to them that is usually less insightful than what they might have generated. And they’re missing out on the responses from their audience.

Many executives point to the fact that they get no response to their social media blogs, tweets, posts, etc. as a justification for not allocating their time to it. The reason their posts get no attention is because they lack the true personality of the executive. This situation is difficult for the executive and the staff members who are beside themselves trying to drum up yet another pithy bit of content. Or staff members work themselves into a frenzy trying to imitate thought leadership beyond their personal scope of experience.

I recommend that CEOs genuinely participate in one social media tactic. Stick a toe into the water and give it a go for six months. See what can be learned. A marketing firm can provide direction, instruction, encouragement, and support. I see that this usually pays off for everyone. In the worst-case scenario, if the executive decides to revert to delegating the social media contributions, he or she will be much better at providing direction and support in the future.

Misconception 3: I can’t learn anything I’d value from social media.

“Who wants to hear about every time someone gets a cup of coffee or turns on the TV?” That’s the response I’ve heard from many CEOs to the topic of social media. They have taken a peek and saw little content that they value. They see it as a haystack of junk with a needle of wisdom buried somewhere within.

Once CEOs know where to go online, many are actually overwhelmed with information that is useful and beneficial to them. The key is to pick an area of interest or expertise and focus on a specific topic. Learn. See who the thought leaders are and engage them. Then, proceed to network and play with the big boys.

Misconception 4: The people I care about aren’t on social media.

Executives wonder why they should spend time participating in social media when their peers and customers aren’t there. They often hold the belief that it’s just the twenty-somethings and kids who are using social media. 

Yes, young people are there. And so are the media. Investors. Analysts. Professors. Prospective employees. And customers. You name it. There is a group of influential, highly informed movers and shakers of every ilk on social media. And it’s growing.

Misconception 5: My life and business activities are private, not public.

Executives are averse to allowing their thoughts to go public. It’s the practice of holding their cards close to the vest. They are uncomfortable leaving traces of interactions with their contacts on quasi-public sites like Twitter. Executives often prefer silence and secrecy when pursuing potential clients or new business strategies. CEOs experience enough public scrutiny without opening themselves up to more from utter strangers.

Even so, there is a place for discretion while using social media as an opportunity to monitor and learn as well as hold a conversation on selected topics.

All of these CEO misconceptions point to the need for a social media strategy that is integrated into a larger marketing picture that includes more traditional initiatives such as email marketing, search, and even direct mail. Once the tactics have been integrated to fully support each other, a measurement strategy is crucial. When CEOs receive regular data to understand how social media is helping to meet the company’s business goals, you’ll see a completely different attitude and willingness to play the game.

You may check sports scores on an application you downloaded to your mobile phone. Ideally, you access the desired information with minimal keystrokes and text entry. Go Cowboys.

At work, you order office supplies from your favorite online office supply store. You select your items and check out quickly and easily. You use this online store frequently, not only because they give you a deal, but also because it’s easy to purchase online.
 
After work, you stop at Red Box to grab a movie. Do you want to sort alphabetically, by genre, or by date of release? You heard Ironman 2 was good, and decide to read the synopsis. After 10 seconds, the kiosk asks, “Do you need more time?”

The overall user experience should be transparent. A successfully designed interface, online or offline, should provide the user with seamless prompts to help them seamlessly accomplish desired tasks. Ideally, experience design, including the design of online products and services, should strive to take the burden off of the user, not add to it. In the above example, you wanted to buy office supplies, not spend half an hour trying to learn how to buy office supplies on the website. If the office supply website is difficult to use, you’ll take your valuable time and money elsewhere.
 
Bottom line: When the user experience is good, users don’t pay much attention to it. Instead, they are focused on the satisfying product or service you’re providing. When the experience is bad, users will certainly notice it, and associate that with your brand. They, like you, will take their valuable time and money elsewhere.

Most common mistakes in interactive user experience are avoidable. An effective user-centered design methodology integrated from the beginning of an interactive project and carefully considered throughout will ensure that the experience is seamless and that the user can easily accomplish their tasks. Careful monitoring of metrics and user feedback after launch provides room for even further improvement.
 
A well-designed interactive user experience, like the cable carrying your elevator up to work today, may not always be appreciated when functioning properly ­— but everyone will notice if its broken. If your cables need a quick inspection, or if the elevator has stopped accomplishing it's task altogether, give us a shout, we totally dig this stuff.

 

Undergraduate enrollment for Regent is up 29 percent, and graduate enrollment has increased by 19 percent over the last year. Selected to guide the university’s efforts in reaching prospective students online, Tocquigny gained national recognition by winning the Six Sigma Award for “Best Organization Improvement” for its work in assisting Regent with recruitment.

"We can attribute our strong enrollment to several factors, including an effective online marketing programand superior student retention," said Tracy Stewart, vice president for information technology. Tracy received the 2009 CIO100 Award from the International Data Group’s CIO magazine. She was recognized for the effective and innovative use of technology in applying Tocquigny’s “A Measured Approach™” (for accountability in ROI and metrics) directly to the university’s recruitment efforts.

The efficiencies gained have been useful in offsetting the increased media costs incurred as more colleges and universities enter the online arena. Developing a strategy for connecting with prospective students while they are researching colleges on the Web, Tocquigny implemented an interactive campaign consisting of media, pay-per-click ads, Facebook advertising and other social media.

 “In a year when many colleges and universities are competing for new students, we consider the growth in campus and online classes to be quite significant,” comments Yvonne Tocquigny, founder and CEO of Tocquigny.  “Institutions of higher education now need to meet their prospective students online.”

About Tocquigny

Tocquigny is nationally recognized as a top-tier interactive agency serving global brands with creative branding and A Measured Approach™

to interactive. With an uncommon breadth of services, Tocquigny can harness the latest trends and technologies in social, interactive, direct response and mobile marketing.  Founded by Yvonne Tocquigny in 1980, the agency is propelled by innovation, proven methodologies and hands-on leadership. Tocquigny has been named the “No. 2 Interactive Agency in the Nation" by BtoB Magazine and a “Top 20 Interactive Agency” by Adweek. 

Visit www.tocquigny.com

 The event will showcase the forward-thinking strategies of leading digital marketers and how they are transforming the ways brands interact with their consumers using digital media.

Austin-based Tocquigny has been asked to participate in the summit to share expertise and best practices in a case study on how they assisted the Jeep_® brand with mobilizing its owner fan base to promote its brand. Yvonne Tocquigny, CEO of the interactive agency and Lucas Frank, Jeep Brand Manager, Chrysler Group LLC will review the strategy, challenges and lessons learned while entering the mobile space.

The companies worked in tandem to connect the brand with its adventure-loving customers through immersive, branded entertainment, catalyzed by the integration of geo-location and social sharing. Aware that the next era will belong to mobile, the duo will speak on how to capitalize on this emerging and evolving medium and the vision for future mobile trends.

“With mobile web revenue projected to reach close to $24 billion by 2013, we know global brands are contemplating how to best take advantage of the iPhone and smart phone consumption,” comments Tocquigny. “Our experience taught us that an understanding of the behavioral patterns of the target audience combined with core competencies in interactive, social and mobile technologies is integral for success.”

The summit will also  bring to  life the findings of MEDIA Magazine’s October “CMO Issue,” led by Guest Editor Julie Roehm (former CMO of Wal-Mart) and her hand-picked advisory board of top marketing visionaries including David C. Edelman, Partner-Marketing and Sales Practice, McKinsey & Company; Jim Garrity, Former CMO Wachovia, Former Chairman of the Association of National Advertisers; Bill Moult, Partner, Sequent Partners; and Kim Garretson, Partner, Ovative/Group.

With Citi, PepsiCo, SAP, American Express and other marketing trend setters sharing case studies and vision for the future, Change: The Digital Transformation Summit promises to be a fast-paced environment for adapting to new digital opportunities. Those interested in attending the event, may register at: Change: The Digital Transformation Summit.

About the Jeep brand
Built on nearly 70 years of legendary heritage, Jeep is the authentic SUV with class-leading capability, craftsmanship and versatility for people who seek extraordinary journeys. The Jeep brand delivers an open invitation to live life to the fullest by offering a full line of vehicles that continue to provide owners with a sense of security to handle any journey with confidence.

The Jeep vehicle lineup includes the Commander, Compass, Grand Cherokee, Liberty, Patriot, Wrangler and Wrangler Unlimited. To meet consumer demand around the world, all seven Jeep models are sold outside North America – and all are available in right-hand drive versions and with gasoline and diesel powertrain options. Chrysler Group LLC sells and services vehicles in approximately 120 countries around the world.

About Tocquigny

Tocquigny is nationally recognized as a top-tier interactive agency serving global brands with their Measured Approach™ to interactive. With an uncommon breadth of services, Tocquigny harnesses the latest trends and technologies in social, interactive, direct response and mobile marketing.  Founded by Yvonne Tocquigny in 1980, the agency is propelled by innovation, proven methodologies and hands-on leadership. Tocquigny has been named the “No. 2 Interactive Agency in the Nation" by BtoB Magazine and a “Top 20 Interactive Agency” by Adweek.

Of course we would always recommend strategic messaging and branding research, but what if you don’t have time for that, or are just looking for a quick yes or no answer? That, my 17 Stories readers, is one of the great benefits of your social media networks – Instant, real-time market research capabilities.

Below is a list of some of my favorite market research tools for social media that give you an opportunity to ask those quick “Should we offer this, or this” type questions.  And if you are an instant gratification type of person like me, these polling and survey tools are going to rock your world. 

PollDaddy– One of the biggest and most well known polling, survey or rating research tool out there.  You can customize your poll or survey to match your business’s brand then share it on Facebook, Twitter, Email, Wordpress and more.  PollDaddy also gives you real-time reporting with great visual analytic graphs.

Flisti– A quick and easy way to ask multiple choice questions without much hassle.  These polls are not customizable, but allow for fast distribution on Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz.  Flisti will also provide you with the HTML code to post on your website or blog.

MyndTrack– Ask a poll or trivia question and it will automatically display using your Twitter background. Doesn’t require any registration, provides real-time reporting and gives you instant branding.

LinkedIn Polls– This is a great way to poll specific industries or businesses.  You can target just your network, or expand the poll to select a specific group of professionals that you define by job title, company size, job function, age, gender or geography. 

Zoomerang– This polling tool is not as aesthetically pleasing as the others, but is great for professional, quick feedback. Get customer satisfaction surveys, employee satisfaction surveys, event planning surveys, market research surveys, nonprofit surveys and educational surveys.  These pools can be distributed on your website, blog, Facebook or and/or Twitter.

Of course these are just five of the many online polling tools out there, so if you have used a different online market research tool that has rocked your world, please do share with us!  

One of those, WeePlaces, visualizes Foursquare check-ins chronologically and allows a user to compare their check-ins with others within their social community. While it is a bit buggy and certainly could use some added functionality, the concept is both entertaining and intriguing (did I really check in at work 200 times in the past 6 months?)

While you’re at it, take a peek at Tripline, a web application with striking resemblance to WeePlaces – although it allows for the mashup of Gowalla, Facebook, Twitter and Tripit data in addition to Foursquare check-ins. After time on both platforms, it seems that Tripline is more useful as a trip-sharing tool than a location-services analytics platform.

The geo-social revolution is just in its infancy. As developers continue to cultivate new digital applications, businesses identify how to best monetize on the platforms and the public figures out how to effectively incorporate it into their lives, the space will eventually mature to become as commonplace as a Facebook status update or a Yelp review.

Now get checkin’ in!

So what exactly is Google Instant? According to Google, their new search service displays users’ real time search results as they type, giving them an opportunity to adapt their search on the fly and helping them find exactly what they are looking for. Google estimates this will save users two to five seconds per search. And if you Google as much as I do, this could end up saving you a couple of minutes in searches daily—just enough time to grab your third cup of coffee for the day. 

But time saving aside, now that search results instantly populate alongside relevant paid search ads, how are ad impressions counted in a world without pageviews? According to Google, an impression will not register unless the user views your ad for more than three seconds. This is good news for advertisers: impressions will be more qualified, rather than artificial padding in impression volume.

Google Instant may end up benefiting Big Name Brands. For example, as a user begins searching for “bug sprays” and types “b” into the search field, a number of results will display relating to Best Buy (See images below). In this instance, Best Buy’s brand awareness is significantly increased; however, the results related to Best Buy are irrelevant to the user’s original search causing temporary dissatisfaction.

Type 'b' and Google Instant suggests 'Best Buy', 'Bank of America', and 'Bing'

As we finished our search, Google returns our desired item, 'bug spray'

Advertisers can also expect stiffer competition for shorter and non-plural keywords. It is not difficult to predict that we will begin to notice a decline in long-tail searches: if a user finds what they are looking for before completing their original, more long-winded search, it is likely they will click on the instant results rather than finish typing their plural keywords. With that being said, advertisers can still expect long-tail searches to be performed if a user is not finding the results they are looking for as they instantly generate. From an advertiser’s perspective, it is important to monitor your keywords in the upcoming weeks to see if their cost-per-click (CPC) increases as a result of more competition bidding on shorter keywords and key phrases.

 Overall, it is too early to tell how Google Instant will affect advertisers in the long run. What we do know is that advertisers will need to adapt quickly to these changes and optimize their campaigns accordingly. One thing is for sure: you can always count on Google to shake things up right when you start to get comfortable.

1. Today, Tocquigny, an internationally-recognized interactive marketing firm, officially announced the release of TripCast™, an iPhone application developed for Jeep®.
2. TripCast is a free iPhone application that allows travelers to create an electronic journal of their adventures in real time by uploading photos, video, audio clips and status updates on location during their journey.
3. Adventurers can share their trips with family and friends in real time via Facebook, Twitter, and the TripCast website.
4. Includes “Points of Adventure” feature, offering more than 250,000 outdoor recreation spots in the United States to those users looking for their next adventure.
5. TripCast™ is compatible with iPhone 3G, 3Gs, and 4, and can be downloaded on the iTunes App Store [links to iTunes App Store] or from the TripCast™ website www.jeeptripcast.com.

To see Jeep’s announcement of today’s news, please follow this link.

“TripCast augments the spread of place-based social sharing already established by geo-location platforms like Foursquare, Gowalla, and the newly released Facebook Places, while fostering the true adventure associated with the Jeep brand. Our clients know that 2010 is the year for mobile. In addition to mobile application development, Tocquigny has seen a rise in demand for all mobile projects, including mobile website optimization and mobile media placement.”

--Yvonne Tocquigny, CEO, Tocquigny

Video demonstration of the iPhone application in action.

Tocquigny CEO Yvonne Tocquigny discusses Tocquigny’s role in leading Jeep into the mobile space.

Senior creative director Jeff Neely and creative producer Craig Saper discuss the marketing goals and concepts behind the development of the TripCast application.

Please contact Cynthia Baker for more information or to arrange an interview.

About Tocquigny

Tocquigny is a leading interactive marketing agency whose end-to-end offerings solve business challenges of every complexity. Tocquigny's proven methodology guides its marketing practices and provides clients with clarity, confidence, and precision. A full-service leader in interactive, social, direct response and mobile marketing, the agency is propelled by innovation and hands-on leadership. Tocquigny has been named the “No. 2 Interactive Agency in the Nation" by BtoB magazine and a “Top 20 Interactive Agency” by Adweek. To learn more, visit tocquigny.com.

Media Contact

Cynthia Baker
Accolades PR
512-586-8278
cynthia@accoladespr.com

(1) Mobile marketing is much more than just apps. Consider mobile devices as fully functional media platforms, just as the PC has been over the last two decades. Think about all the possibilities that the mobile platform provides:

• Mobile web optimization – How does your website look? How does your website look on a Blackberry Pearl? A Motorola Droid? What content are you offering these time-sensitive and location-sensitive users?
• SMS/MMS Marketing – What other form of communication has the ability to reach 95%+ of consumers?
• Native applications – iPhone Apps of course, but it’s also important to remember that almost every phone and OS manufacturer offers an application store.
• Mobile advertising – Generate brand awareness, leads, and sales for your business through mobile ad placements.

(2) Not everyone has an iPhone. It’s important to know exactly what devices your customers are using. Most web analytics tools can provide this information, but customer surveys or focus groups might help fill in the picture.

(3) Mobile users want different content than those on their computer. When was the last time you accessed a company’s investor relations’ information on your mobile phone?

(4) Mobile use often incorporates a location-based element. Do you have multiple store locations or offer location-dependent content on your site? Make sure access and navigation to this information is simple and intuitive for mobile users.

(5) All cell phones are mobile devices, but not all mobile devices are cell phones. With the success of the iPad and the emergence of similar portable tablets and touch screens, it’s important to include these devices in the targeting mix, if your audience are users.

Right now is the time to begin developing your mobile marketing plan. Hopefully these secrets make the process a little less daunting. Have any other mobile marketing tips to share? Let us know in the comments.

According to the Google Blog, a few of the main changes to the design are:

• Dense tiled layout designed to make it easy to look at lots of images at once. We want to get the app out of the way so you can find what you’re really looking for.
• Instant scrolling between pages, without letting you get lost in the images. You can now get up to 1,000 images, all in one scrolling page. And we’ll show small, unobtrusive page numbers so you don’t lose track of where you are.
• Larger thumbnail previews on the results page, designed for modern browsers and high-res screens.
• A hover pane that appears when you mouse over a given thumbnail image, giving you a larger preview, more info about the image and other image-specific features such as “Similar images.”
• Once you click on an image, you’re taken to a new landing page that displays a large image in context, with the website it’s hosted on visible right behind it. Click anywhere outside the image, and you’re right in the original page where you can learn more about the source and context.
• Optimized keyboard navigation for faster scrolling through many pages, taking advantage of standard web keyboard shortcuts such as Page Up / Page Down. It’s all about getting you to the info you need quickly, so you can get on with actually building that treehouse or buying those flowers.

All these upgrades are part of a master plan to make it easier to search for images and create a better user experience. Perhaps, it's also part of an underlying plan to keep the Microsoft/Yahoo supergroup from taking a bigger bite out of Google's market share when Microsoft takes over the ad system for both search engines this fall. Whatever the reason, I'm happy to take advantage. With this upgrade, daydreaming of a Cinque Terre vacation just got a whole lot cooler.

And, he’s been burned in our brains (and all over our computer screens) ever since.  I don’t fancy myself a gambler, but I’d be willing to place bets that we’ll see several interpretations of Old Spice Guy costumes this year come Halloween.

For many of us in the ad industry, the Old Spice Guy campaign has set the bar for what’s to come and what we should all strive to produce.  This doesn’t just mean producing great creative.  It means having smart account people to reign in all the moving parts and allowing media to do what media does: get in front of the right audience.

So, now the great debate begins: If a campaign is “popular” or “viral”, does that mean it’s also “successful”?  Many articles surfaced last week calling into question how the Old Spice Guy has impacted sales for Old Spice.  Yahoo! and BNET both claim sales are down while Mashable, PRWeek, and Forbes point to an increase in sales.

Either way, the underlying argument is: What is a great campaign really worth?  On paper, Old Spice sales are on par (or perhaps slightly on the rise, depending on the source).  But, in reality, they’ve created a social movement with its own set of viral “legs” on which to walk.  And, the most powerful thing is those legs are standing firmly on a well-executed platform of creative and media production/execution.

We are witnessing an evolution of analytics in an ever-changing media and creative landscape.  So what are the “right” success metrics – and, how should we deem something a success or a failure? Is it truly only about the successes we can tangibly see on paper (or on the Balance Sheet) – or, are those successes we see in reality (or in volume of YouTube video views) the ones that propel great brands further forward?

How would you define success for the Old Spice Guy? Sound off in the comments below.

Check it out now. TripCast is compatible with iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4 and can be downloaded free from the TripCast website, or from the iTunes App Store using “Jeep” or “Tripcast” as search words.

To make a splash in today’s interactive market, brands have to find innovative ways to facilitate sharing, especially as social media becomes a way of life for a new generation of consumers. As we’ve all read over and over, recommendations from personal acquaintances or opinions posted online are now the most trusted forms of advertising.

So, when it came time to concept Jeep’s mobile application, we wanted to associate this legendary automobile brand with the most cutting-edge trends in real-time sharing of content and geo-location in the social sphere. Phew - that’s a mouthful! Really, we layered popular technologies, like those that power Gowalla and Foursquare, on top of other popular technologies, like the real-time social sharing of content along an adventure via Facebook and Twitter.

Most important of all was to provide an application that would appeal to both the Jeep core consumer and a mass audience that could identify with the brand’s adventure-loving lifestyle.

Traveling across the southeastern U.S. just a month ago, I broadcasted my trip via Twitter and TwitPic. My friends and family loved it, following me along the way and sending texts of enjoyment. But, I wished there was an easier way to transmit my trip – for my friends (miles away) to enjoy in real-time, for my family (waiting at our vacation destination) to know my real-time location, and for me to relive all the memories at the end of the trip.

Enter TripCast by Jeep – not just a road trip tracker but an adventure tracker. Kayaking, hiking, or biking, TripCast by Jeep makes it easy to share an adventure in real-time and save it like a scrapbook. Too bad I took vacation last month…

In the end, the top-funnel awareness this sort of branded entertainment application can generate is just the kind of soft sell to which consumers respond more favorably. By offering an entertaining, utilitarian experience, the Jeep brand can build interest, engagement, and trust with its potential (and current) customers. That’s something everyone can love.

Do you love mobile?
But, unsure how to harness this emerging medium to invigorate your brand?
Take an adventure with the Tocquigny team – contact us today.

Why would anyone be interested in watching low-rated content? Does it work for Adult Swim because of its sub-cultural, “different is funny” target audience? Or, does it appeal to the more general market that enjoys rooting for the underdog?

Whatever the reason, Adult Swim’s unique and intriguing content delivery system seems to work: The most-viewed video in the “Top Rated” section is 50% higher in ratings but only 15% higher in views compared to the most-viewed video in the “Top Hated” section. Plus, I was immediately drawn to the section, wondering why these videos were hated from an anthropological perspective.

In general, “Top Rated” content sorting boosts views because videos, like all other viewable and downloadable content online, are subject to what sociologists refer to as the “Matthew effect,” or cumulative advantage. This is where “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” The theory goes that when others assign high social value to something – in this case, a video rating – that thing will tend to garner higher and higher social value still. We are, after all, a socially-influenced society.

Then why would a video with a rating 50% higher than another video only earn 15% more views?

The answer is clear. When it comes to online video consumption, it seems the factor that has the most impactful social influence is number of views – and not ratings. This certainly is not a surprise, but the technique that Adult Swim employs here is rather ingenious. While their low-rated videos usually might have fallen off the consumption map, they chose to highlight them instead – boosting views, popularity, and the quirky associations with their brand.



Would you ever highlight “Top Hated” content? Let us know in the comments.

Last Friday, June 11, 2010, Apple released the latest version of its Safari browser, sending tech news outlets spinning over a new feature known as Safari Reader. Safari Reader essentially lays a shade over a webpage that blocks ads and puts the focus strictly on the content of the page.

Apple’s website shows off the newest features of Safari 5, including Safari Reader. Safari detects when a user visits a site with significant content, giving the user the option to turn on Safari Reader and block out everything on the page except for relevant text and images. (Click image to view larger version)

The Guardian’s Organ Grinder blog called it a “threat to ad-supported online media,” while Wired said there are “grim implications for online publications.” Let’s ignore the fact that Safari only controls about 5% of the browser market.

Safari is at the bottom of the market share compared to other major browsers. However, every browser has seen an increase in usage over the past year except for Internet Explorer, which has gradually declined. (Statistics courtesy of Net Applications)

Then on the same day as some outlets claimed a “first blow” to online advertising, the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column wrote about Apple ramping up its iAds program, which sells advertising in iOS apps. So apparently Apple is not opposed to ads – they just seem to be opposed to ads on a platform they don’t control.

It goes back to the adage, “if you can’t change the rules, change the game.” Google controls the web and we all know who controls the app phenomenon. Who knows if it will work, but you can’t deny that it’s a brilliant strategy on Apple’s part.

To illustrate this point, let’s examine one way in which we recently assessed Tocquigny’s own search engine optimization efforts. Since we are an interactive marketing agency, the word “interactive” is very important to us for on-site content optimization purposes. A Google search for “interactive advertising agency” or “interactive advertising” reveals that Tocquigny places extremely well on results pages for interactive-related keywords. Using data from Google Analytics since Tocquigny’s new site launch at the beginning of March, we found that about 6% of all search engine traffic in fact came from keywords that include “interactive.” You might think that 6% doesn’t sound like very much, but the large majority of search engine traffic, about 64%, came from branded searches, or searches that included some form of “Tocquigny” (Tocquigny is easy to misspell, after all).

This keyword cloud uses all non-branded search keyword phrases that have driven traffic to Tocquigny.com since the new site launched in early March 2010. The larger the word, the greater number of times the word appears across all keyword search terms. A few big words indicate that our site is optimized for that group of words. (Click on image to view larger version)

Branded searches indicate different visitor intent than non-branded searches in that the visitor already knows what he wants, which is, of course, to find that particular brand. Also, branded searches often make up the “head” of keywords that drive the most traffic to any site, including Tocquigny’s. The long tail is full of multiple-word terms that individually may drive one or two visits, but collectively tend to drive the greatest volume of traffic to a site.

Keywords vs. Visits (Click on image to view larger version)

So, we know that the Tocquigny website is optimized and ranks well for interactive-related keywords, but how can we grow our visibility? One solution is to add keywords to our consideration set. Using tools such as Google’s Keyword Tool, we discovered that keyword phrases using “digital” in them were a common theme. More interestingly, Google’s keyword recommendations suggested that people are starting to use “digital” in place of “interactive” in their searches.

In order to test this hypothesis, we took a look at Google’s Insights for Search. This useful tool analyzes Google web searches to show how many searches have been done for a particular term relative to the number of searches for that term over time. The beautiful thing about Insights is that as more of the world uses search engines (especially Google) on a regular basis, the more accurate the data becomes as a tool for identifying market trends. Using Insights for Search, we were able to compare digital to interactive. The results were rather surprising:

Interactive Marketing vs. Digital Marketing since 2004 (Click on image to view larger version)

Up until the end of 2007, “interactive marketing” and “digital marketing” both saw roughly the same number of searches on Google. Then, by the beginning of 2008, something happened that caused “digital marketing” to totally diverge in a positive direction while “interactive marketing” has experienced a steady decline. Could it be that the term “interactive” in regards to marketing is on the way out? We used several other keyword combinations to help answer this question. The same phenomenon appeared when testing “interactive agency” to “digital agency,” “interactive advertising” to “digital advertising,” and others. In most of these cases, the digital-related term pulled away from the interactive-related term around the same time at the beginning of 2008. This indicates that more and more searchers have been looking to find information about digital marketing compared to interactive marketing, and this trend is quickly on the rise.

Using the Keyword Tool once more, we found that digital-related keywords gather a much greater global search volume than interactive-related phrases. The only exception we found is in the comparison of “digital advertising agency” to “interactive advertising agency.” This is probably because of the way advertising agencies within the interactive niche label themselves; the term “digital advertising agency” is just not as common in the advertising industry.

(Click on image to view larger version)

Certainly there are ways that we can refine this analysis. For example, we could segment our traffic to analyze only visitors that came to our site through a search engine and then contacted us for more information about our services. This would give us a very segmented view of our visitors that is much more aligned with our business goals and could allow insights into the terms they used to reach our site. All in all, web analytics provides an almost endless source of data to manipulate, interpret, and leverage for further business success.

So, what started as a mere SEO assessment turned into something much larger than we had expected. Using web analytics tools, we were able to identify a trend that has a potential impact on our own business. While any changes we make ultimately might be small, the key is analysis and optimization. Without data-driven analysis to inform optimization, any marketing effort will crumble.

Discover how we can apply the Measured Approach to analytics in your organization by contacting us.

We are in the business of interruption and acceleration.
It is our job to interrupt, disrupt, invade.
To have our message rise amid the noise, above the noise, despite the noise.
To say something unexpected, arresting, new.
To have our audience pause, take notice, halt.
To stir, to ponder, to prompt.
To act, react, and act again.
Without hesitation, reluctance, or doubt.
And then return to business as usual.

And because we want to win, we measure.
We define how the game is played, scored, won.
We are interested, intrigued, obsessed. Are we visible, seen, heard? (search engine rankings, impressions, views, ad position, plays, opens, reads)
Did we intrigue, resonate, engage? (clicks, reads, times viewed, time on site, clicks-to-opens, repost, tweets, forwards, return visitors, followers, likes, fans, posts, calls, queries, leads)
Did we hit the mark, the bull’s eye, the mother lode? (purchases, conversions, new customers, referrals)
And most important,
Can we do it again?
Consistently, efficiently, predictably?
Calibrate, innovate, accelerate.
Less waste, less time, less resources.
Faster, cheaper, better, more?
Yes. That’s our business.
To score, to win, to rule.
We love it.

Facebook itself calls the change a “more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things, and topics in which you are interested.” Light-weight? As in low-involvement. The thought here is that users will more readily “like” a brand than “fan” one since liking requires less cognitive or affective involvement with the brand.

So, we sent an informal survey to the office to find out the difference between liking and being a fan of a brand. We asked respondents to indicate their knowledge of and engagement with Interbrand’s top 15 best global brands of 2009. And, Facebook’s bet on users increased willingness to “like” was right on.

Only 16% of all responses denoted being a fan of a brand, where 53% of responses designated some form of “like.” Interestingly, 24% of all responses reported a delineation of liking a brand but not being a fan.

Brands like BMW, Coca-Cola, Disney, Google, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz, and Microsoft received a higher volume of users that “like” the brand than users who delineated liking but not being a fan. Brands like GE, Gillette, HP, IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toyota evoked more users to express their delineation of liking but not being a fan. Thus, it seems users are less likely to really engage with utilitarian, functional brands, like the latter set, and more likely to develop affinity for lifestyle brands, like the former set.

Click on image to view larger version.

In all age categories, users were more willing to report their “like” for a brand than their affinity as a “fan.” Two demographic groups in particular appear to offer some opportunities given the new button change. Users 25-30 “like” brands at a higher-than-average comparative rate (42.67%), and users 22-24 were the strongest in delineating liking a brand but not being a fan (29.63%). Both of these groups especially seem to be more willing to “like” than “fan.”

Click on image to view larger version.

So, great – more users expressing their “like” for my brand, more eyes seeing branded messaging on their feeds, more awareness, more engagement, right? Wrong. Since more users are willing to “like” a brand than “fan” one, the quality of the Facebook audience will now decrease. The true brand evangelists may get watered down with all the non-committal consumers who just “like” your brand. Plus, more liking means more brands getting inside more consumers’ feeds, increasing the noise and decreasing the involvement with your brand’s messaging.

All in all, there are quite a few opportunities and challenges arising from Facebook’s new change. What do you think will happen?