1. 6 Feb



    Stipple: Social Images Just Got a Little More Interactive

    Stipple, an image-based e-commerce company, recently released an awesome new feature that is aimed at driving engagement and purchases via news feed content directly within images.

    In the example below, the photo of Michelle Obama includes five tags. These tags link out to a variety of places where users can either engage further, or receive more information: her official Twitter account; designer Jason Wu’s sketch of the dress; a retail link to purchase the dress; a video about Mrs. Obama’s dress selection; and finally, the Stipple account that created the photo.
     image

    But, how does it work? Within your account on Stipple, you add tags, small descriptions, and destination links to your desired image. Once the tags are added, the interactive image can be shared across websites and social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Want to change your tags? No problem! Once the changes are made within your Stipple account, the tags will update anywhere the image has been shared.


    Why We Love This: This might be the dynamic experience we’ve been looking for as far as new social content is concerned. For brands that have been around for a while, Stipple provides an easy way to refresh stale photos with new, multimedia content. It also creates an opportunity for brands to provide our social audience with a conversion path that is direct and relevant. From an analytics standpoint, it allows you to track engagement (how many people are engaging with your images and what content inside the image is the most popular) and reach (where your images are traveling and who is seeing them). 

    (Source: mediapost.com)

     

  2. 31 Jan



    [OPINION] Why Facebook Shut Off Friend-Finding Access for Apps

    As Mashable has reported, in light of Twitter’s new video sharing app, Vine, Facebook has decided to clarify why it has removed the ability for “much smaller apps” to utilize its friend-finding feature.

    According to their Developer Blog:
    “For a much smaller number of apps that are using Facebook to either replicate our functionality or bootstrap their growth in a way that creates little value for people on Facebook, such as not providing users an easy way to share back to Facebook, we’ve had policies against this that we are further clarifying today (see I.10).”
     
    Section I.10, referenced above, reads:
    “Reciprocity and Replicating core functionality: (a) Reciprocity: Facebook Platform enables developers to build personalized, social experiences via the Graph API and related APIs. If you use any Facebook APIs to build personalized or social experiences, you must also enable people to easily share their experiences back with people on Facebook. (b) Replicating core functionality: You may not use Facebook Platform to promote, or to export user data to, a product or service that replicates a core Facebook product or service without our permission.”
     
    What falls under the umbrella of “a core Facebook product or service” seems to be more subjective than app developers might like, but if Vine is any indication, Facebook plans to corner the market on video sharing.

    image

    Our Two Cents: Any of this sounding familiar? Twitter threw a similar punch last summer when it made tweaks to their API that cut off the ability for users on the Facebook-owned Instagram to find photos from their Twitter contacts. In a social media world built on a foundation of sharing content, it’s a shame these two social media giants can’t play nice and create the best user experience for its overlapping users.

     

  3. 25 Dec



    Nielsen and Twitter Establish Social TV Rating

    The industry giants have announced an exclusive multi-year agreement to create “The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating” for the US market. What this means: the two will deliver a “syndicated standard metric” surrounding the reach of TV conversation on Twitter, to be available for commercial use in the fall of 2013.

    “The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating is a significant step forward for the industry, particularly as programmers develop increasingly captivating live TV and new second-screen experiences, and advertisers create integrated ad campaigns that combine paid and earned media,” said Steve Hasker, President, Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen.

    Of the effort, Chloe Sladden, Twitter’s vice president of media, said it “…reflects Nielsen’s foresight into the evolving nature of the TV viewing experience, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with Twitter ecosystem partners on this metric to help broadcasters and advertisers create truly social TV experiences.”

    Why We Like This: For some time, social media has been edging its way into television, creating new viewer opportunities and engagements (hashtags in the corner, etc.) This new ability to track and measure the reception to “social TV” and actions that result from social TV will only improve brand and company capabilities and allow us to use the breadth of information available to us in new and positive ways. It will be interesting to see if the new social rating system can be translated to our See It To Believe It brands. A similar Twitter ratings system can be used to track and factor in the longevity of a ticket holder’s experience with our clients.

     

  4. 24 Dec


    Twitter Rolls Out Downloadable Tweets to Select Users Have you ever wanted to go back and reminisce over your first tweets? For users who want a memento of their presence on the social giant, listen up. Twitter has begun a gradual roll out of the ability to download every tweet since you first opened your account way back when. The tweet archive resembles a calendar, making it easy for users to search for specific tweets if they wish it. Right now, this capability is only available to select users under the settings page. But Twitter CEO Dick Costolo assures full functionality by the end of 2012: “By the end of the year … so the engineers – when I promised it publicly they’re already mad at me… the engineers who are actually doing the work don’t necessarily agree that they’ll be done by the end of the year, but we’ll just keep having that argument and we’ll see where we end up year-end.” Why we Like This: The ability to download all tweets in a calendar-like format can really improve planning and internal research for any company, making the process more efficient, and the tweets more accessible. The added convenience: this digital space for social content wipes away the days of print-outs, and showcases a brands’ presence in one clean-cut locale.

    Twitter Rolls Out Downloadable Tweets to Select Users

    Have you ever wanted to go back and reminisce over your first tweets? For users who want a memento of their presence on the social giant, listen up. Twitter has begun a gradual roll out of the ability to download every tweet since you first opened your account way back when.

    The tweet archive resembles a calendar, making it easy for users to search for specific tweets if they wish it.

    Right now, this capability is only available to select users under the settings page. But Twitter CEO Dick Costolo assures full functionality by the end of 2012:

    “By the end of the year … so the engineers – when I promised it publicly they’re already mad at me… the engineers who are actually doing the work don’t necessarily agree that they’ll be done by the end of the year, but we’ll just keep having that argument and we’ll see where we end up year-end.”

    Why we Like This: The ability to download all tweets in a calendar-like format can really improve planning and internal research for any company, making the process more efficient, and the tweets more accessible. The added convenience: this digital space for social content wipes away the days of print-outs, and showcases a brands’ presence in one clean-cut locale.

     

  5. 23 Dec


    Twitter Photos: Put A Filter on It Twitter, after Instagram shut off the site’s ability to show Instagram photos, now offers photo filters. Some of the other exciting features: crop and pinch to zoom in order to focus attention, auto-enhance, and birds-eye view, where you can see how different filters affect your photos. Up to this point, relations between the two social sites had been on the rocks. Facebook bought Instagram, and Twitter blocked Instagram from letting users find people they were already connected to on Twitter. FYI: With this improved Twitter functionality, we may see a shift in recommendations as far as which social channels brands should have a presence. Twitter now offering their own filter capabilities could mean a much more inclusive, time-saving project for sharing social content.

    Twitter Photos: Put A Filter on It

    Twitter, after Instagram shut off the site’s ability to show Instagram photos, now offers photo filters.

    Some of the other exciting features: crop and pinch to zoom in order to focus attention, auto-enhance, and birds-eye view, where you can see how different filters affect your photos.

    Up to this point, relations between the two social sites had been on the rocks. Facebook bought Instagram, and Twitter blocked Instagram from letting users find people they were already connected to on Twitter.

    FYI: With this improved Twitter functionality, we may see a shift in recommendations as far as which social channels brands should have a presence. Twitter now offering their own filter capabilities could mean a much more inclusive, time-saving project for sharing social content.

     

  6. 21 Dec


    Soundgarden Tickets Up For Grabs Early for Twitter Users Are you an American Express card owner trying to get your hands on Soundgarden concert tickets? Get them early by syncing your card and tweeting #AmexSoundgardenTix. American Express’s twitter handle (@AmexSync) will respond to every tweet with instructions on how to buy 2 pre-sale tickets for the rock band’s January 16th concert at Terminal 5. The promotion, which is a part of American Express’s Twitter-based discounts program, lasts through January 6th. Why we Love This: No codes, no coupons, no links, no print outs! Offers are directly applied to the users synced AmEx card. This is a great and new way for our fans to access special offers on anything from merch to tickets. Instead of just clicking on the links provided on websites or mass broadcasting a code, we have them tweet with a hashtag, allowing us to measure how much conversation is going on around that hashtag and how much interest there is in converting on a specific offer.

    Soundgarden Tickets Up For Grabs Early for Twitter Users

    Are you an American Express card owner trying to get your hands on Soundgarden concert tickets? Get them early by syncing your card and tweeting #AmexSoundgardenTix.

    American Express’s twitter handle (@AmexSync) will respond to every tweet with instructions on how to buy 2 pre-sale tickets for the rock band’s January 16th concert at Terminal 5.

    The promotion, which is a part of American Express’s Twitter-based discounts program, lasts through January 6th.

    Why we Love This: No codes, no coupons, no links, no print outs! Offers are directly applied to the users synced AmEx card. This is a great and new way for our fans to access special offers on anything from merch to tickets. Instead of just clicking on the links provided on websites or mass broadcasting a code, we have them tweet with a hashtag, allowing us to measure how much conversation is going on around that hashtag and how much interest there is in converting on a specific offer.

     

  7. 21 Dec


    Jell-O Cashes in On the Mayan Apocalypse Will Jell-O save us all come the end of the world? Maybe. The brand, jumping on the Mayan Apocalypse bandwagon, has claimed itself as the “funnest sacrifice,” and that a box filled with hundreds of Jell-O puddings will appease the angry god, whom the ancient Mayans have historically snubbed in that department. To complement the campaign, Jell-O has invited fans to tweet about the one thing they’d do before doomsday (December 21st) with the hashtag #funpocalypse. Each day, for twelve days, Jello will choose twelve fans and gift them with $100 – talk about penny for your thoughts. A sequel to the ad will be introduced on December 22nd. Why we Love This: Not only is social media being used to engage fans, but the campaign is the perfect example for capitalizing on already existing trends and “current events.” This is a great buzz generator for Jell-O, for sure.

    Jell-O Cashes in On the Mayan Apocalypse

    Will Jell-O save us all come the end of the world? Maybe.

    The brand, jumping on the Mayan Apocalypse bandwagon, has claimed itself as the “funnest sacrifice,” and that a box filled with hundreds of Jell-O puddings will appease the angry god, whom the ancient Mayans have historically snubbed in that department.

    To complement the campaign, Jell-O has invited fans to tweet about the one thing they’d do before doomsday (December 21st) with the hashtag #funpocalypse. Each day, for twelve days, Jello will choose twelve fans and gift them with $100 – talk about penny for your thoughts.

    A sequel to the ad will be introduced on December 22nd.

    Why we Love This: Not only is social media being used to engage fans, but the campaign is the perfect example for capitalizing on already existing trends and “current events.” This is a great buzz generator for Jell-O, for sure.

     

  8. 1 Dec


    First- Ever Twitter Fiction Festival The five-day #twitterfiction festival , beginning November 28th, invites users to create “any literary experiment that challenges the limits of Twitter content sharing” (140 characters or less). Andrew Fitzgerald, a member of Twitter’s media team, said “From time to time, creative individuals undertake exciting Twitter-based projects that push the bounds of how we define storytelling on Twitter… we want to encourage more of that, by bringing storytellers together all at the same time and bringing an audience to them.” Why we Love This: Fan fiction has been around for years, and this kind of festival could be well-used for brands that spark creativity and ingenuity in fans. Keying into these moments that are already going on and harnessing the conversations that organically relate to a brand’s thematic elements will improve reach and flesh out a more holistic digital personality for brands.  

    First- Ever Twitter Fiction Festival

    The five-day #twitterfiction festival , beginning November 28th, invites users to create “any literary experiment that challenges the limits of Twitter content sharing” (140 characters or less).

    Andrew Fitzgerald, a member of Twitter’s media team, said “From time to time, creative individuals undertake exciting Twitter-based projects that push the bounds of how we define storytelling on Twitter… we want to encourage more of that, by bringing storytellers together all at the same time and bringing an audience to them.”

    Why we Love This: Fan fiction has been around for years, and this kind of festival could be well-used for brands that spark creativity and ingenuity in fans. Keying into these moments that are already going on and harnessing the conversations that organically relate to a brand’s thematic elements will improve reach and flesh out a more holistic digital personality for brands.



     

     

  9. 27 Nov


    Create a Custom Soundtrack to Go with Favorite Instagram Snaps Whiskey brand Ballantine has launched an extremely cool social media project that pairs your photographs with original music. To participate in the ‘Loud Blue’ project, fans are invited to take a photo on Instagram, tag it with #loudblue, and share on Twitter. A link with the original score that represents your picture will then be provided to fans. How it’s done: The system algorithm analyzes data to trigger different genres of music and sounds. Colors in the photo also play a role (among other things); photos that are more red = slower music, while more yellow in a photo means fast-paced. Why we Love This: This is a great engagement campaign that repays fans for creating original content for your brand by providing them with original content in return. It’s also perfect for big brands that have a large and extensive, engaged fan base. 

    Create a Custom Soundtrack to Go with Favorite Instagram Snaps

    Whiskey brand Ballantine has launched an extremely cool social media project that pairs your photographs with original music.

    To participate in the ‘Loud Blue’ project, fans are invited to take a photo on Instagram, tag it with #loudblue, and share on Twitter. A link with the original score that represents your picture will then be provided to fans.


    How it’s done: The system algorithm analyzes data to trigger different genres of music and sounds. Colors in the photo also play a role (among other things); photos that are more red = slower music, while more yellow in a photo means fast-paced.

    Why we Love This: This is a great engagement campaign that repays fans for creating original content for your brand by providing them with original content in return. It’s also perfect for big brands that have a large and extensive, engaged fan base. 

     

  10. 18 Nov


    Wonderful Pistachios Presents $10,000 Twitter PuzzleA new ad attempts to crack Twitter by challenging users to “unscramble our tweet @getcrackin.” The first one to do so gets $10,000.Why We Like This: These simple engagements can be extremely valuable especially in slower months, when coversations are at their lowest. This offers additional avenues to offer discounts, and generates buzz at the same time. It also speaks to the point we try to stress with social contests—if you’re going to ask fans to work hard in order to enter, the prize has to be that much more worth it.

    Wonderful Pistachios Presents $10,000 Twitter Puzzle

    A new ad attempts to crack Twitter by challenging users to “unscramble our tweet @getcrackin.” The first one to do so gets $10,000.

    Why We Like This: These simple engagements can be extremely valuable especially in slower months, when coversations are at their lowest. This offers additional avenues to offer discounts, and generates buzz at the same time. It also speaks to the point we try to stress with social contests—if you’re going to ask fans to work hard in order to enter, the prize has to be that much more worth it.