Category: MicroMedia

Categories: MicroMedia Posted on

Don’t get BrandJacked: Confirming Your Corporate Twitter Account

I’m hearing of more and more brands starting to venture into the Twittersphere to listen, influence, and support customers. In fact, I’ve had 3-4 inquiry (client calls) at Forrester asking about Twitter for marketing. Challenge: Anyone can Create an Twitter Account and Cause BrandJacking A few months ago, many (myself included) were fooled by a brandjacking of “Janet” from Exxon Mobile, (see examples of others brands who were punk’d) who in reality wasn’t who she said she was. I’ve also heard from other brands that name squatters were taking corporate names and registering them, and some are saying negative things. Slow brands are often behind, and as a result have to deal with cleanup. I’ve heard from some brands that … Continue readingDon’t get BrandJacked: Confirming Your Corporate Twitter Account

Categories: MicroMedia, Social Media Measurement, Word of Mouth Posted on

Retweet: The Infectious Power Of Word Of Mouth

Word of Mouth, the Holy Grail of Marketing Word of mouth marketing is one of the most desirable activities to brands, why? Because research on trust shows that consumers (folks like you and me) trust the opinions of people we know more than anyone else. It makes sense of course, think about the next time you’re going to buy a car, who’s opinion are you going to trust, those of your friends or the opinion of the sales guy representing the product? [Information within Microblogging communities like Twitter encourage rapid word of mouth –of both positive and negative content] Twitter, Although Small, Continues to Demonstrate Influence Twitter, which I’m seeing informal stats of around 5 million users, has continued to … Continue readingRetweet: The Infectious Power Of Word Of Mouth

Categories: MicroMedia, Social Media, Web Advertising Posted on

Why Magpie’s Advertising System Is Self-Diminishing

Testing a Twitter Advertising System I tested out Magpie, an advertising system that creates tweets in my tweet stream, from third party advertisers then pays me. Some have already blogged about their opposing thoughts on it, and some are publicaly open that they are now Magpies. For me, it was just a test that I’ve now ceased. Part of my job as an analyst covering social media is to use the very tools in which I cover. I use this knowledge to write reports, help clients, and make suggestions to the vendors themselves. You can expect brands to ask me “how should we engage in Twitter” and I’ll point them to this very post. There was quite the vitriolic reaction … Continue readingWhy Magpie’s Advertising System Is Self-Diminishing

Categories: Groundswell, MicroMedia, Social Media, Web Usage Posted on

The Motrin Moms Backlash by the Numbers

If you weren’t following what was happening online this weekend (yes, yes, ok you’ve got a life) there was a Groundswell against Motrin’s latest viral advertisement that was rejected by mothers in Twitter, spread to blogs, and YouTube. I’m not a mom, so at first glance I didn’t understand the offense, but apparently, it was condescending to moms who perceived wearing babies in a sling as ‘fashionable’ accessory, and who didn’t wanted to be labeled as an ‘official mom’. The original video, which was trying to lean on the light side, took to many generalizations with mothers and resulted in a revolt capped by this backlash video. To learn more about the story, read Laura Fitton’s summary, Dave Knox of … Continue readingThe Motrin Moms Backlash by the Numbers

Categories: Interview, MicroMedia, Social Media, Video Posted on

Why does Comcast care about Twitter? (Video)

I was pleased to see Frank Eliason (he just launched his blog) from Comcast cares join us at Forrester ‘s Consumer Forum this week. In fact, I talked to many of the world’s largest brands about social media marketing during my 1 on 1 sessions with clients (almost 14 of them), it was really the common theme throughout many discussions. If you don’t know the story of Comcast Cares, well they’ve a pretty disliked reputation for service and support (see sleeping technician), but are trying to turn a new leaf by responding and supporting customers using Comcast Cares on twitter. I had to use this a few months ago, as my bandwidth was extremely slow at home, and they responded … Continue readingWhy does Comcast care about Twitter? (Video)

Categories: MicroMedia, Politics Posted on

Recap on the Tweetdebate experiment

A graph indicating the frequency of the term “#tweetdebate” Last night’s debate was truly an interactive experience for all. Although I setup some guidelines to score the candidates, things quickly took on a life of their own as the group formerly known as the audience assigned their own scoring –and the #tweetdebate tag was used for a variety of observations. Current TV overlayed tweets live on their TV station (see these pics of Al Gore) which I found interesting at first –then extremely distracting as the letters floating near the chins of the candidates and I eventually switched back to CNN. The Tweetdebate game morphed and evolved to something far bigger and greater than I intended, and although the graph … Continue readingRecap on the Tweetdebate experiment

Categories: MicroMedia, Politics, Social Media Posted on

Twitter Presidential Debates: Sept 26

UPDATE: McCain has committed to join. Why: Why let the media pundits and political analysts have all the fun? You can now be an armchair critic, all you need is a twitter account, a TV, and internet access. [On the first Presidential Debate on Sept 26, 2008, YOU get to be the armchair political analyst and use Twitter to score the candidates] What is it: With the success of the previous Twitter SuperBowl ads rating last Jan, let’s repeat this community based voting event for the upcoming presidential debates, this time, you’re in charge. When: 9PM Eastern. September 26, 2008: Presidential debate with domestic policy focus, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS. More details available from the commission of Presidential Debate. … Continue readingTwitter Presidential Debates: Sept 26

Categories: Analyst, MicroMedia Posted on

Should Analysts use Twitter?

I was recently asked this by a fellow analyst: “I don’t get Twitter, should I use it?” Well first of all, the mechanics of the tool are pretty simple to use, you simply share with others like you would in a chat room. In fact, despite my heavy volume, I’m strategic in my usage, see how I use Twitter. Often, analysis do a great job of analyzing and researching their assigned market, they forget to look inwards, this guide should help. Survey your environment Since you’ll never understand microblogging till you try it, to truly understand, you’ll have to dive in. Since analysts tend to be calculated in their ways (understatement) here are three questions to answer that will help … Continue readingShould Analysts use Twitter?

Categories: Enterprise Web, Industry Index, MicroMedia Posted on

List of Enterprise Microblogging Tools: Twitter for the Intranet

With the popularity to Twitter and other Microblogging tools, we should expect to see a flurry of simliar tools for project and program mangaement for the enterprises. Stemming from commodity technology, I’m sure I’ll have a hard time keeping this list up to date over a few months –expect IM vendors, blogging vendors, community platforms, enterprise 2.0 vendors, and a flurry of startups to offer similiar features, first read up on the pros and cons as well as some potential use cases. It’s interesting to see the need to justify enterprise needs of such tools that are already being adopted by consumers, typical of enterprise settings (I’m a former enterprise intranet manager). With that said, let’s start the definitive list. … Continue readingList of Enterprise Microblogging Tools: Twitter for the Intranet

Categories: MicroMedia, Social Media, Web Strategy Posted on

Web Strategy: The Evolution of Brands on Twitter

Last week, I listed out 9 reasons Why Brands Are Unsuccessful In Twitter, and other microblogging technologies. Companies are caught between the minutia of the discussions and their willingness to be human or add value to the conversations. Although a one-sided view of what’s going wrong, now let’s focus on what’s going right. I’m watching –and talking– to many brands that are choosing to engage with this seemingly endless stream of personal thoughts, updates, and conversations within Twitter. Web Strategy: The Evolution of Brands on Twitter Babysteps: First, identifying if this is the right marketplace Brands need to first evaluate if the community members within Twitter are the audience they’re trying to reach. Although we’ve yet to see any formal … Continue readingWeb Strategy: The Evolution of Brands on Twitter