Last Sunday I spoke on a panel for the BBC's 'The Big Questions' program addressing the question"Is social media out of control?"
Nicky Campbell presented The Big Questions from King Edward VI Handsworth School in Birmingham. The other areas debated last week included "Should monarchs retire?" and "Should civil partnerships be available for heterosexual couples?"
It was a great discussion with a range of differing views. The program is now available to watch on the BBC iPlayer by clicking here
Below is a sample of some of our recent work carried out for DeadSocial. The first is a video using footage from the DeadSocial launch party and other sources in the wake of the platforms launch at SXSW. The second batch of work displays 3 (out of 18) cards that have been created for distributed on DeadSocial's social media accounts. All of the quotes in this series are taken from deceased individuals (both real and fictitious).
This is our new video for TVMOBiLi. TVMOBiLi is a free powerful software that allows you to stream your media (videos, photos and images) saved on your computer to your TV, Tablet, mobile phone, PS3, Xbox, Blu-Ray Player etc using the home WIFI network.
TVMOBiLi's new website will launch in the coming weeks. This video will placed on the 'Devices' page and be promoted and distributed across the web and social web once this has occured. A series of tutorials will soon follow.
On Wednesday McDonald's began to distribute fictional and non-fiction books with childrens 'Happy Meals' in the UK. This is an effort to boost literacy for British children backed by the National Literacy Trust. McDonald's will in effect become the UK's largest children's book distributor with more than 15 million books estimated to be given away over the next two years.
With the ongoing debate around the morals of marketing directly to children this is both an interesting and great strategic approach by McDonalds. It has already led to a lot of positive PR and will surely win the admiration from parents and the general public alike.
The first Mc Donald's TV advert featuring Willard Scott who is cited as the creator as well as the first actor to play "Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" in a TV commercial. This 1963 advert can be watched below:
Over the years and after changing his name, 'Ronald Mc Donald' became an iconic image. TV Adverts were directly marketed to children often with a buy, buy, buy, eat, eat, eat overtone. The video below is one of my personal favourites from McDonalds due to it's bizarre and surreal nature.
McDonalds new marketing approach encompasses learning and discovery. McDonalds initial trial found that 9/10 parents wanted to see more book promotions from the fast food chain following the Michal Morpurgo book promotion last year.
It will be interesting to see if Mc Donalds 'Happy Readers' campaign will evolve in time and whether integrations with e-books and SMART TV's are utalised.
Worldwide Tablet shipments to exceed Notebooks in 2013 (NPD DisplaySearch forecast)
I feel that there is a huge opportunity for fast food outlets to increase their reach and profit through education using books, mobile, tablets and SMART TV's over the next three years. Furthermore, when children are old enough to purchase fast food the loyalty built up from cheap toys (for most of us) has gone. If education is embraced and integrated within the ethos and digital engagement occurs across multiple platforms a lifetime of brand loyalty may be achievable.
Social TV is one of the hot areas of discussion, innovation and eye-catching communications strategy, and there are some great ideas, operational case studies, and inspirational thought-leadership
CloudNine are pleased to bring you the Social TV Conference. Driven around great content, learning, opinion, case study and debate; we want to explore some of the dynamics and viewpoints on the Social TV world; where it has been, where is it going, what is working and challenge on where it is not.
Tickets are £125 for the entire day and can be purchased here
Confirmed contributors are:
MATT LOCKE – Director of Storythings (formerly Head of Cross Platform for Channel 4 & Head of Innovation for BBC)
DAN PATTON – VP of Digital at Viacom/MTV
TIM WHIRLEDGE – Strategic Planner at Red Bee Media
ED HUMPHREY – UK Consultant at Telescope
TIFFANY ST JAMES – Social Business Consultant to TV companies (inc Channel 4)
JASON GEORGE – CEO of Telescope
GARRET KEOGH – Co-Founder of Telegraph Hill
BARRY PILLING – Co-Founder of Telegraph Hill
TED LITTLEDALE – Co-Founder & Product Director of SecondSync
JADIS TILLERY – Social Media Directror of Dot.Talent
NICHOLAS BARR – Director of New Media at The Global Media Alliance and owner of second-scream.com
JAMES WHATLEY – Social Media Director at Ogilvy
CONRAD POULSON – Head of NBD at Orange (Heading up their TVCheck app project)
KEITH JOHNSON – UK Chairman of the CTVMA
The event will be held on the afternoon of 22nd January 2013 at the Soho Theatre on Dean Street, London; with drinks, social and networking afterwards. The event starts at 11.30am, and light lunch will be provided. NEWS!! – Purchasing a Ticket will put you into a draw to win an IPad Mini Details: http://socialtvconf.com/2013/01/02/win-an-ipad-mini-at-the-social-tv-conference/ TV industry. If you work in this industry and wish to receive an invite – please email steve@socialtvconf.co.uk
Facebook has added the ability to send voice messages to its standalone Messenger app for IOS and Android. This feature is currently appears to be limited to Facebook Profiles. Meaning that you won’t be able to record and send messages through your company’s Page.
If you’re looking for a faster way to communicate with friends and industry colleagues, sending a voice message is simple. Just tap the + button near where you traditionally type a message and select Record.You must hold the button down to speak. When you release the Record button, your voice message will be sent to your recipient.
Facebook also recently announced that it’s testing VoIP (internet phone calling) functionality in Canada. While this feature is free to use, VoIP calls will use your existing data plan. iPhone users in Canada can try the feature by tapping the “I” button in the top right corner of a conversation and then tapping 'Free Call'.
While these updates likely won’t help with your marketing efforts, they do give Facebook users a new ways to communicate using the platform. It also is likely to send shivers down the spin of telecom network operators.
The World Map of Social Networks 2012 has just been released. It shows the most popular social networking sites by country, according to Alexa traffic data (Google Trends for Websites was shut down on September 2012).
Facebook now has over 1 billion active users has established its leadership position in 127 out of 137 countries analyzed. One of the drivers of its growth is Asia that with 278 million users, surpassed Europe, 251 million, as the largest continent on Facebook. North America has 243 million users, South America 142 million. Africa, almost 52 million, and Oceania just 15 million (source: Facebook Ads Platform). In the latest months Zuckerberg’s Army conquered Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia and Vietnam.
The World we used to live in used to look so different
Is it only a matter of time until Facebook rules the World??? (source The Next Web & Vincos)
The Nielsen Social Media Report 2012 was released this week. Facebook topped the list of most-visited social networks, as expected, but time spent on Pinterest’s website increased by more than 1000% year-over-year. Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter are also growing at a steady rate. It will be intereting to see if the newly relaunched 'Myspace' will be a big mover and shaker during 2013.
A great new set of Internet data has released as we approach the end of 2012. The data and PPT is by Mary Meeker, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers.
Key Internet Data Statistics for 2012:
1) 2.4 billion Internet users worldwide, a number that’s still growing eight percent yearly.
2) There are 1.1 billion smartphone subscribers worldwide — but that’s still just 17 percent of the global cellphone market.
3) 29 percent of adults in the U.S. now own either a tablet or an e-reader.
4) Mobile devices now account for 13 percent of worldwide Internet traffic, up from 4 percent in 2010.
5) Mobile app and advertising revenue has grown at an annual rate of 129 percent since 2008, and now tops $19 billion.
6) Mobile traffic app Waze has been adding users faster than all GPS makers combined have sold personal navigation units, and it’s been that way since the beginning of 2012.
On Wednesday McDonald's began to distribute fictional and non-fiction books with childrens 'Happy Meals' in the UK. This is an effort to boost literacy for British children backed by the National Literacy Trust. McDonald's will in effect become the UK's largest children's book distributor with more than 15 million books estimated to be given away over the next two years.
