Marketing Thoughts by Domus Inc.

Apple has officially announced their iAd development kit, “iAd JS”, which enables agencies to develop interactive ads for their clients. As explained in Apple’s technical documentation, it gives more interactive capabilities than any other existing interactive media, including Adobe Flash.

First, it can accept a user’s gestures, not only on the touch screen but also by motion. For example, you can create a banner ad showing a soda bottle, allowing users to shake it until it explodes. Using the kit, you can also develop ads that detect orientation.

Next, the iAd JS provides for integration with social media. When iAd is activated, the user is online; therefore, it can connect to a social network and download dynamic content to the banner. It’s also possible to update real-time status of an advertising campaign, such as competitive or ranking information.

Based on user interaction, it can also store an image generated by the banner to the iPhone’s photo gallery, so users can see ad images on their albums. For example, by utilizing social media integration, an iAd banner can create and save a user’s future baby photo with campaign copy based on a photo identified by Facebook ID.

Domus has full iAd creation capabilities and is actively involved in development projects for our clients. For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

Last year Microsoft introduced the world to an up-and-coming technology called “Project Natal”, its Xbox appliance that enables gamers to interact with Xbox games without any hand-held controllers. This week at the E3 conference Microsoft is finally introducing it for delivery this holiday season. But as part of all of the fanfare, Microsoft officially named the device “Kinect”.

Now, “Kinect” is actually a good name for the product, and the device has the potential to be incredibly successful, but that’s not the point of this blog post. Rather, I’d like to muse about the strategy to use one name for the many months leading up to the actual launch, and then change the name just before the launch. Microsoft has always done that with its operating systems. For example, Windows Server 2008 was referred to as “Codename Longhorn” from early 2005 through August, 2007, when Bill Gates announced its official name in anticipation of its February, 2008 release.

Although that might be fine with operating systems, especially those designed for the corporate server market, Project Natal – er, uh, Kinect – is different. It is a consumer product, not a corporate one. And 2010 is not 2005. When Microsoft announced Project Natal in 2009, it released a video showcasing its capabilities. That video has been on the Top 10 viral video charts every month since then. It has received millions of views, and virtually every gamer has heard about it. Moreover, forums and social media sites have been abuzz over it non-stop.

In other words, social media is the name of the game in 2009/2010, for those companies who know how to use it well. Microsoft certainly did use it well this past year, getting the whole gaming world knowing about and discussing their upcoming product. But they didn’t hit a home run because of their naming tactic. Some of that branding value will now disappear because the word “Natal” no longer exists for Microsoft. They absolutely can – and will – spend lots of money to imprint the new name in people’s minds, but a more nimble and cost-conscious company might have come up with the final brand name a year ago. Then they could have gotten their branding done for them without a massive advertising campaign (allowing that money to be used more effectively elsewhere).

Domus is a marketing communications agency specializing in integrating social media, digital, and traditional advertising and PR into effective brand strategies. For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

BP’s oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico might be the first true national calamity to occur during the social media era. As such, exploring what BP has done and has not done, along with the unfolding consequences, offers the rest of us an illustrative case study on how best to act before, during, and after events such as these – even if on much smaller scales.

Here’s one initial observation. Prior to the spill, BP’s overall reputation was generally neutral – relatively evenly split between people who had positive, neutral, and negative opinions about them. However, since the spill opinions are strongly skewed to the negative.

Also, prior to the explosion, BP had very litle presence on major social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. They did a lot of advertising (“Beyond Petroleum”), but not much engagement with the public, especially the online public.

So, whatever they have tried to do since then cannot be effective because they have no initial base of fans from which to draw help and support. As a counter example, consider what would happen if some disaster involved a company such as Starbucks. Excluding all discussions of the nature of the disaster itself, Starbucks would at least have a couple of million people with whom it has established an online relationship and who could (and would) join the discussions from an initially positive perspective.

So, one lesson to be learned is that engagement in social media is not just for ongoing brand strength; it’s also an insurance policy against unanticipated problems – even on scales much less than BP’s disaster.

Domus is a creative and digital marketing agency based in Philadelphia. We combine expertise in classic marketing, social media trends, technology, and business acumen to provide effective short- and long-term solutions for our customers’ marketing needs. For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

Volkswagen deserves kudos for creating an integrated campaign that spans traditional and new media in ways that support and enhance each other, while effectively working towards a classic marketing goal. Basically, Volkswagen is trying to own the word “fun” in consumers’ minds – VWs are fun, driving VWs is fun, VW is a fun company – and they’re doing a pretty good job laying claim to that brand position.

First VW started their “Fun Theory” campaign. This includes a number of experiential locations that entice people to choose a fun option that also coincides with useful behavior (walking stairs instead of an escalator, throwing trash in receptacles instead of littering, etc.). These locations have, in turn, become the basis of much local and worldwide PR. Moreover, videos of people experiencing the VW locations have been the basis of viral internet videos and other social media sites.

Finally, VW has complemented its “Fun Theory” campaign with its ubiquitous “Punch Dub” television advertising. Look at one of those commercials and one of the first words that comes to one’s mind is “fun”.

VW is successfully marrying a broad array of communication outlets with its one common brand positioning goal. They’re a textbook case study for how it should be done.

Domus is a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

As everyone knows, social media is an absolute must for any marketer today. It’s more important than measured media advertising, traditional customer service, and just about every classic marketing technique.

Everyone also knows that Starbucks is a case study example of how to do social media well. It has almost 200,000 Twitter followers, nearly 1.5 million Facebook fans, and a large, active blog. It regularly tweets, posts, and comments.

Except year-over-years same-store sales at Starbucks continue to decline. They’ve declined each quarter this year, even as their social media program has shined. On the other hand, social media wannabes like McDonald’s have continued to see sales increases based principally on good classic advertising and other marketing techniques.

The point here is not that social media marketing does not work; rather, the point is that it is just a tool in a company’s marketing bag, not an end in and of itself. Starbucks sells the experience of hand-made premium coffee at its many coffee houses. Just because they get a lot of people communicating with them online does not necessarily sell more coffee. (And, in fact, it hasn’t.)

Domus is a Philadelphia-based marketing communications agency. Please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com for more information.

Social Media consultants regularly point out that the metrics used for traditional or online advertising campaigns don’t apply to social media because they don’t take into account the more “social” component of “social media”. Metrics like “conversations started”, “comments generated”, etc. are often more appropriate even if they don’t directly correlate (at least in the short run) to sales. However, the same holds true for “measured media” (whether traditional or online). Just because certain metrics are available does not mean that they are effective metrics.

The purpose of display advertising is not always to induce people to action (e.g., to make a purchase). Rather, it is often just to implant or reinforce a brand position in people’s minds so that WHEN they are inclined to make a purchase, your brand is foremost (positively) in their mind. Therefore, there is not an immediate, direct relationship between metrics such as impressions and short-term results such as new leads or sales. The effect might happen at various future points in time. Moreover, they might seem to be correlated to other events or programs, but actually still be affected by the longer term display advertising campaign.

Consider Unilever. Unlike some of its other large consumer packaged goods rivals, Unilever did not cut back on its traditional advertising budget over the last couple of years; in fact, they increased their spending. As a result, they’ve seen sales and market share increases.

Also consider a recent ComScore study. In the online world, it found that only 16% of web users click on online ads (and that number has been dropping every year). Moreover, half of those users (8% of the total web users) account for 85% of all clicks. So, how valuable is display advertising when the metrics clearly show that most people ignore them? Well, digging deeper into the study, it turns out that when companies run both display advertising and paid search campaigns, although the number of people who click on the display ads is small, the number of people who later on search for the brand increases. In fact, not only is paid search more effective, but consumers who were exposed to both paid search and online ads were twice as likely to buy from a retailer’s online site. The result of the two tactics together was greater than the sum of each tactic individually.

So how does one effectively measure online and traditional “measured media”? Ultimately, tests have to be run over long periods of time, because the effects of advertising are long term. But in the meantime, marketers should understand that there is an inherent long-term value to display advertising if it properly communicates an effective brand message, regardless of whether or not it can be measured in the short run.

Domus, Inc. has its roots in strong, classic marketing principles. Combining that with a pulse on the changing technological and social environment, we consistently deliver effective results for our clients. For more information on a dynamic marketing communications agency, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

Social media marketing is supposed to focus on online conversations with consumers, not disruptive advertising displays. But display advertising is still where the money is being spent and earned. Social networking sites, led by MySpace and Facebook, now account for over 20% of US online display advertising. And with sites like Twitter now opening up to display ads, the numbers will continue to grow.

Display advertising will always be an important component of marketing – whether offline or online. Display advertising is where companies put and keep their brands in the forefront – and the back – of people’s minds. If companies are only active at the points when people are ready to buy (search engine marketing) or converse (social media participation), then those companies will have lost consumers who could have been customers but never knew to search or discuss their brands.

In fact, recent comScore research showed quantitatively how the combination of display advertising and search advertising was more potent than the sum of either individually. The same, I’m sure, will be shown for social media marketing – in combination with both search and display.

Domus, Inc. is a Philadelphia-based full-service advertising, PR, and social media marketing communications firm. We focus on applying classic marketing principles in unique and innovative ways to modern marketing needs and channels. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.

“Social Media” is a broad term that encompasses many consumer-generated content avenues, including blogs, forums, micro-blogs, social networks, product review sites, media sharing sites, virtual worlds, and more. Each of these, by its very nature, involves very different usage patterns from the others. This, in turn, has strong implications for marketers who wish to be socially active.

Two dimensions of usage patterns are of particular interest – reach and influence. Some media, such as the social networking sites Facebook and MySpace, have broad (and rapidly growing) audiences, and hence reach. However, because large percentages of the time spent on those sites are for personal connections and communications with friends/acquaintances, little time or focus is typically devoted to other communications. This, in turn, means that these sites have lower overall influence on consumers’ buying habits and decisions.

On the other hand, media such as blogs and special interest forums, are generally topically focused; therefore, the people who visit and participate in these media are more inclined to be aware of, pay attention to, and consider opinions and other communications on the central or related topics of that media. As an example, a site like Chowhound, including all of its message boards and forums, is focused on culinary experiences. Therefore, participation in communities like this by a kitchen appliance manufacturer might have more impact than the same participation in a general social networking site. However, blogs and special interest forums have much smaller reaches than the large social networking sites. So, the number of impacted people on Facebook might still be as or more significant, because a low percentage times a huge population base can be large.

As another example, product review sites generally have an even lower reach than the other social media sites (especially when you narrow down the site visits to the general category of interest). However, the influence is probably higher than any other media because the people visiting these sites are specifically interested in your brand category and are also further along the sales cycle.

Domus is a full service marketing communications firm. We integrate classic marketing principles with a strong understanding of today’s social media environment to develop and execute effective, state-of-the-art marketing communications. Please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com for more.

These two terms (“Social Media” and “Internet Presence Management”) might at first glance seem contrary to each other. However, if embraced in the appropriate spirit, social media is really just an important component of effective internet presence management.

Social media marketing starts with the realization and acceptance that people will be talking about you, your competition, and just about everything else online. It then continues with the marketer embracing the conversations, joining them, encouraging them, and occasionally leading them. Internet Presence Management, on the other hand, is the process of monitoring and guiding the online thoughts about your company or brand. So how can one accept and participate in independent conversations while at the same time managing and guiding those online thoughts?

Internet Presence Management is also about recognizing that independent conversations exist, but it’s not about resigning oneself to the complete content, distribution, or frequency of those conversations. Rather, it is the understanding that by honest, dilligent engagement strategies, marketers can expand and highlight the positive impressions of a brand or company.

Domus is an integrated marketing communications firm based in Philadelphia. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.