Tag Archives: social

Are You Game?

March 7, 2012

Technology has always been about making tasks faster, easier, and painless. Here’s a new twist; making a mundane task faster, easier, painless AND fun. That’s right, fun. More and more companies are climbing into the realm of gamification using apps, websites and other tech mediums to assist in rehabilitation, study disease control, and even strengthen adults brains pre-Alzheimer’s.

But why? Because that to-do list of yours gets longer everyday.

Your in-laws want that video of that cute thing your kid did, your spouse is on a crazy fitness swing, and did I mention the kids’ chores aren’t getting done, so guess what’s next on the list? Sounds exhausting and downright boring. Gamification has become popular because it creates a way for things to get done, without the tediousness of actually doing them. To gamify an activity allows for a pleasant distraction while the task is being completed. Some of those brainiacs behind technology were gamers and they listened to your qualms and came up with gamification. It turns your to-do list into a game accessed on your computer, tablet, or mobile device. Churn out that adorable video while playing a game on your ipad, download that fitness app and sign your kids up on chorewars.com. To-do list? HA. You now have a whole lazy Saturday afternoon ahead of you. Mission complete.

Is it working? It seems to be, especially given the exponentially rising number of gamifying technologies out there. But why is this working? What about games that encourages people to accomplish something?

Some say that games are the highest element of distraction; convincing you into thinking you’re indulging in a game instead of finishing a task. And that’s partially true, especially in regards to a cancer patient, playing Re-Mission. Competition might also have something to do with it. We live in a highly competitive society, just ask the crazy soccer moms and dads of the world. Turning everything into a game just fuels the fire. But maybe it’s all a little more scientific than that. My colleague, Art Young recently wrote an article shedding some light on the concept of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity refers to our brains being “plastic” or in other words malleable. Are our brains re-training themselves to finish tasks in game format? The appealing nature of games now paired with retraining our brains might be a solid reason to why gamification is taking the lead.

Can you picture a world where everything is a game? When everything adds up to points? Maybe, maybe not. This popular idea seems to be the next best thing to sweep technology of its feet. What tasks do you want gamified?

- Dhanya Yalamanchi, Public Relations Associate

Photo credit: Flickr user KB35

“Mine! No, Mine!” A Twitter Tug-of-War

February 8, 2012

 

You and I are hot commodities. Don’t believe it? Just ask PhoneDog and their former employee, Noah Kravitz. Or better yet, ask the lawyers handling the lawsuit. Kravitz was employed by PhoneDog to create content that encouraged people to follow him on Twitter. When he left PhoneDog, he took his followers with him and his former company sued him- asking the court to award him over $300,000 ($2.50 per follower) in damages.

Yes, that’s right, a social media lawsuit. It’s finally happened folks, that mindless click on the “follow” button now has legal implications. Companies using social media marketing for engaging with customers and developing solid relationships are now thinking twice about the free reign previously given to employees. Does our Constitution, created over 200 years ago, have a remedy for this? More importantly, is social media the latest and greatest version of the customer list?

Putting yourself on an official customer list used to go a something like this: You stand in line at the store. You’re in hurry, but the sales person moves like a snail, not to mention the difficult, pretentious guy asking a million questions about socks, the soccer mom behind you with her baby screaming like a banshee; you finally make it up to the counter and you’re about to pay and here it comes, the inevitable, “Would you like to sign up to be a member of our rewards club?” The extra discounts sound nice, until they give you a 4-page form to fill out and suddenly you’re having flashbacks to the paperwork at your office. Once you handed over the information, the company owned it and bombarded you with information as they pleased.

Then, social media happened and companies got smarter. Companies capitalized on our social media frenzy and since we spent hours surfing anyways nobody minded liking a Facebook page or following a company on Twitter, especially when the discounts came to you when you wanted them. And suddenly, the new customer list was born. Information was now routed through social media, not email. It was painless, quick and easy, and it spread like wildfire.

If these social media followers are being built on company time and company money, doesn’t the company own the fruits of its labor from their investment? Sure, an employee’s witty remarks or subtle irony built a following but wasn’t it his job to build that following? How the employee accomplished that is irrelevant. The company related content being distributed to its followers correlated to a customer list and companies own those.

It’s about time the law of the land caught up with the technology of the world, and a Twitter lawsuit might give us clarification of intellectual property rights. Social media is no longer just a place to connect with friends and family. It is now a business tool.

- Dhanya Yalamanchi, Public Relations Associate

Photo credit: Flickr user xelusionx

Pin It to Win It

January 30, 2012

 

Move over Words with Friends, we’ve found a new online obsession: Pinterest. The days of flipping through magazines and tearing out recipes and design inspirations are over. The new social-sharing platform allows users to upload images from the web and post them in an organized and shareable format.

Pinterest has quickly become the fastest growing social site with an increase of 429% new visitors since September. Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp and Ben Silbermann, the geniuses behind the latest social addiction, say the idea behind Pinterest was to create a platform that was able to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” With brands such a Bergdorf Goodman providing pages and pages of beautiful shoes on their “Shoes that make us swoon” board, it’s no wonder that the Pinterest obsession is catching on.

Besides providing an escape for people to dream up fairy tale weddings and wishful designs for their future homes, Pinterest has become a valuable new site for many large brands and retailers. With over 7.5 million visitors to the site during the month of December, the social site is now one of the top 5 referrers for several apparel retailers including Nordstrom and West Elm. Earlier this month Facebook announced Pinterest as one of the 59 apps that are now integrated with their platform. Word around town is that with the steep increase of member growth and their new integration with Facebook, Pinterest is in line to be the next social commerce game changer.

Are you Pinterested yet? Before you get to pinning check out this article from Media Bistro for some great tips to help you get started. Just don’t blame me if you find yourself at Pinterest anonymous meetings.

- Katherine Cohen, Creative Services Coordinator

Photo credit: Flickr user Pinkpoppy

Clearing the Clutter in 2012

January 9, 2012

 

Last week I read “30 Social Media Predictions for 2012 from the Pros” on SocialMediaExaminer.com. I didn’t get past reading the title before I was struck with my first twinge of fear. One of the biggest pain points I hear from people is the confusion they feel because they perceive Social Media as an ever-moving target that they struggle to get their arms around. Now, here I am reading an article about what will change again in 2012, and not only that but by canvassing all of these experts they couldn’t narrow the list down to less than 30 different things? Oh dear! It’s no wonder people are confused when even the professionals that live and breathe it everyday struggle to agree.

However as I began to read the article I was pleasantly surprised. There were four things that remained consistent:

  1. Focus on strategy rather than tactics.
  2. Increase the depth of the user experience.
  3. Effort should produce analytics for the brand.
  4. Consolidation and integration is key.

First, strategy over tactics. We have all been inundated over the past few years by the next “thing” or the newest shiny toy. As I speak to clients their must-have list within the world of social and mobile, it is often built up on a “me too” mentality. My belief is that in 2012 we will begin to see clients start by asking themselves the question, “What are my overall marketing objectives?” and then “How does social and mobile fit into that?” rather than vise versa.

Depth of the user experience. Just being somewhere (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Foursquare, blogging etc.) is not enough. A statistic I learned this year is that the average consumer is only a fan of 9.8 brands on Facebook. What you say and the experience they have when they get there will determine if you stay 1 of the 9.8. Video, photos and a strong focus on rich content creation is key. Let’s hope we move away from the premise that an entry-level college grad is best suited to be your brand’s voice.

Analytics come from knowing who we are interacting with. Let’s make sure there is a two-way dialogue, not just self-promotion. As a result of all of our efforts, we need to go beyond the “like” button and actually learn Anna’s name and what her preferences are and give her the ability to choose what information she gets and how she receives it. Not only should we know who is participating with us on this journey, but why they are there and thus what trends can we expect in the future and how should we adapt to take advantage with this information.

Lastly, consolidation and integration. It has long been our view here at Pocketstop that there are so many invaluable tools available to us today across social, mobile and the traditional worlds. However those tools are not right for everyone and the ones we choose should all work together to accomplish that strategy we were talking about earlier. Our company is built on not letting databases sit in silos, but rather compliment and enhance each other.

- Daniel Wagstaff, VP Client Development

Photo courtesy of Flickr user alborzshawn

2012 Resolutions

January 3, 2012

As CEO of a wildly growing startup company, it sometimes feels like setting goals is just about as easy as putting a flagpole into jello. But I do believe that the core of what is our company is always constant, and with that I have a few resolutions for 2012 that I feel confident in sharing.

1. Be Smart.
I believe it is our job everyday to learn, educate and inform our audience, clients and friends on the radically shifting world of mobile. As mobile shifts from being a device to a lifestyle, every member of our team has a responsibility to be ahead of the curve. I have an iPhone, and iPad or a Macbook tethered to me 24/7. I need to keep reading more, writing more and exploring the ideas that are out there.

2. Be Present.
When leading an organization that’s growing so rapidly, it’s enticing to always be living in the future. Who do we need to add? What’s the next thing? What if we had that or did this next month, next quarter, next year? These are thoughts that fuel my excitement and energy, but all too often they distract me from the today. They take my eyes off of seeing the work my team is doing today. It hazes the gifts that are sitting right in front of me in just what we are accomplishing today.

3. Love and Believe in Design.
To be clear this doesn’t mean that client’s design needs to be mine. It just means I have to believe that it will accomplish the outcome both the client and I want to see out of the message or campaign. Too many times we compromise. I know it hurts my clients. They pay me and my organization to stop them from making mistakes as much as they pay us for achievements. Life is too short to do work I do not believe in and wholeheartedly believe pushes the clients objectives towards crazy, wild success.

4. Get Fit.
Ok, this one is personal as much as professional. Being part of a fast paced organization has no time for those who can’t keep up. I have packed on a few (no comments everyone) extra pounds that just need to go so that my energy is always top and my clothes actually fit.

5. Hire Great People not Great Positions.
We only have time for A players. I need the smartest, craziest, most critical of team members that see the vision and want to own a part of it. That is not found in a UI Designer job description. We have people from all backgrounds and industries but they have one common thread. They are great people that are unbelievably creative and critical thinkers. If you are bold, creative and a good person we want to talk to you.

I think I will start there. Change happens by changing your critical thinking process on behaviors you do, changing your physical actions and then systematially repeating that every day.

- Jeff Kilman, CEO

Photo credit: Flickr user Rochelle, just rochelle

Time to Party

December 20, 2011

 

Think about the number 9.8. Does it mean anything to you? This is the number of company pages the average Facebook user likes. Seems kind of low, doesn’t it?

In trying to figure out why this number is so unimpressive, I thought about my own brand-based behavior. On an average day, I interact with more than 9.8 brands just between waking up and arriving at the office. I wake up to the alarm on my iPhone, make myself a cup of Lipton English breakfast tea and eat some Kellogg’s cornflakes while watching the news on my Sony TV. That’s four! (Five if you count Channel 8.) After leaving the bathroom, I add Dove, Pantene and Gillette to the list. I put on my Seven Jeans, a Polo shirt and get in my Jeep and head off to work. For those who are counting, that’s eleven before I leave the garage. My ritual is the same almost everyday, so I consider myself a brand loyalist. So why are none of these brands part of the 9.8?

The answer is that I don’t want to be sold to on Facebook. In fact, 39% of all Facebook users do not interpret their own “likes” of a company to equate to permission for that company to deliver marketing messages. Facebook is a community, not a storefront. If every time I invited a friend over to my house, they pulled me aside and tried to sell me car insurance I would stop inviting them. If you want to be part of the magic 9.8 number, make sure your brand is someone people want to invite to their party. Can I get useful info, ask questions, watch fun videos, earn a chance to win something or play a game? With the ever-growing number of brands finding their way to Facebook, users are presented with so many more brands to connect with. Finding a useful place in consumers’ social sphere is becoming a mandatory.

- Daniel Wagstaff, VP Client Development

Finding Foursquare Love

November 14, 2011

“If a check in occurs and nobody acknowledges it or comments on it, did a check in occur at all?”

For years now (two to be exact… because it was started in 2009), I have been on the fence about using Foursquare for personal check-ins. Foursquare has so many useful applications for our clients, but I just couldn’t decide where it fit into my life. One day I decided to just start checking in to see where it took me. I checked in here and there and I noticed other people doing the same, but there was nothing beyond the check in… no fireworks, no contests, no payday. I wondered if my check-ins were even relevant to the few people who followed me. I also worried about wasting bandwidth on my mobile data plan, because I’m the kind of guy who worries about every little detail.

Then one day I decided to do something about my lackluster interest in Foursquare and create something useful. I teamed up with the Pocketstop developer, Adam, to learn more about the API so that we could build an app that would display Foursquare check-ins on a screen. My vision was a “red carpet” type experience for live events.  A couple of late nights later, Adam and I had built a live check-in engine. We debuted it at the Jingle Mingle last week.

Now my relationship with Foursquare is a full on love affair. The ways the API allow us to combine creativity and technology is amazing. Even better are the possibilities of what we can build by integrating our Social CRM platform. I’ll keep blogging about Foursquare over the next year or so as we dive deeper into the API and integrate more and more with our platform.

- Brian Teague, Chief Technology Director