Social, Mobile Marketing Trends in 2011 CPG, Restaurant Categories

Babelfish Articles
December 2011
Brian Crotty
Babelfish.Brazil@gmail.com

Articles that caught my attention this month

Index
1. Social, Mobile Hotter Than Ever in 2011
2. How Mobile Will Change Search And Display In 2012
3. Yes, the Feds Are Spying on Social Media
4. Top 14 Things Marketers Need to Know About QR Codes
5. Gamification: A Fad Or The Future
6. Healthcare Takes It Up A Level On Gaming
7. Leadership for the Marketing Optimization Team
8. Cash in on Content and Social Media Marketing in 2012
9. 'Social Media Agency': Fad or Revolution?
10. M.I.T. Game-Changer: Free Online Education For All
11. Content and Device Separate
12. Listen Without Reacting
13. Push Notifications: Keep Mobile Users In Touch
14. 2012 Forecast: Mobile Marketing
15. Kiip Raises Stakes On Mobile Game Rewards, Partners With Disney
16. The Ten Most Annoying Management Terms Of 2011
17. CPG Shopping Habits Reduced To Four Kinds of Trips
18. You're Using the Wrong Social Media Metrics!
19. Mobile Devices Have Eclipsed the Desktop Experience; Get Over It
20. Look At The Big Picture In 2012
21. 5 Innovative Campaigns You Might Have Missed
22. Use Your Facebook Timeline Profile for Your Career
23. 10 facts of the marketing year (Brazil)
24. Top 5 Most Common Networking Mistakes
25. ERIC-SCHMIDT-DISCUSSES-GOOGLES-COMPETITORS-CHINA-ACQUISITIONS-AND-MORE
26. 2012 Digital Planning Guide
27. 6 Game-Changing Digital Journalism Events of 2011
28. 5 Tech Trends to Watch in 2012
29. Fjord: Year-End Round-Up: Digital In 2011
30. Online Love: Amazon Earns Highest Marks Yet
31. Don't Worry About Your First Job
32. Exposure to Social Media Linked with Changes in Sales and Brand Perception
33. Set the Stage for your Next Meeting
34. Digitas' Bitterman On Owned, Earned And Hype -- And Why Google+ Has Been A Negative
35. How to Ace a Google Interview
36. The iPhone App Store Generates 4X The Revenue The Android App Store
37. For Google, Fixing Android Is Like Herding Cats
38. Creating an Engagement Index
39. Time to Change Our Thinking...Again
40. Publishers Challenge Audience Report
41. Want Digital Content Domination - Accelerate content innovation?
42. Traditional Brick-And-Mortar Retailers Slowly Catching On To Online Search Marketing
43. 3 Marketing Mega Trends For 2012
44. Optify Forecasts Trends For Marketing and Social Media in 2012
45. Will Digital Media Folks Own the Next-Gen TV Conversations At CES?
46. Biggest Trend Of 2011 In Online Video
47. How Data From Social Media Will Impact Marketing
48. FCC Moves Toward 'WiFi On Steriods' By Approving 'White Spaces' Devices
49. ComScore’s 2011 Social Report: Facebook Leading, Microblogging Growing, World Connecting
50. 2012 Trends: Sports Sponsorship Meets Digital Media And Entertainment
51. Where Are the Talent Shortages As We Start 2012?
52. 4 Megatrends in Social Media and Social Business
53. A Few Link Building Predictions For 2012
54. Why Discovery Must Evolve To Save Social Commerce
55. 5 Reasons Why real-time bidding Is Not About Price
56. Marc Andreessen: Predictions for 2012 (and beyond)
57. With Bluefin Labs, Publicis' SMG Looks Beyond TV Ratings
58. A New Words Resolution
59. Moms Say Social Media Impacts Retail Purchases
60. New Year's Predictions? No Time For Them!
61. The Problem With Gamification
62. The Age of And - The mix is where the marketing alchemy comes in

Babelfish Articles Dec 2011 Page 2

63. Five Things You Should Stop Doing in 2012
64. Stop Competing to Be the Best
65. McDonald's Digital Promos Geotarget College Kids
66. Global Executives Treading Cautiously Into '12
67. Marketers Struggle With Social Media
68. EA Sports Creating Real-World Experiences
69. Social Business Planning in 2012
70. Microsoft Mixes Social Networking With Search
71. Choosing the Right Social Technology Vendors
72. Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent
73. Ten Issues Marketers Should Have on Their 2012 Agenda
74. Enhance Your Agency-Client Relationships for The New Normal
75. Digital Works to Lift Brand Awareness and Sales -- Without Direct Response
76. 7 Things Highly Productive People Do
77. Study Finds Google Wallet Could Leak Consumer Data
78. Use Jugaad to Innovate Faster, Cheaper, Better
79. Take Control of Your To-Do List
80. Crises in rich countries the major challenge for emerging economies
81. Forrester's "Three Social Thunderstorms" At LeWeb
82. David Armano: Six Social Media Trends for 2012
83. 5 Ways to Spot a Bad Boss In An Interview
84. Web no celular é o maior desejo das classes C, D e E
85. Why I Hire People Who Fail
86. Augmented Reality Apps Are The New QR Codes
87. Top Trends To Keep In Mind In '12: Mediapost Engage Moms
88. 10 Strategies For Building A Successful Social Business
89. How to Be a Social Media Power Influencer (And Why!)
90. Beyond The Dashboard: Online Advocacy And Offline Sales
91. How Online Publishers Should Approach Mobile Ad Networks (With Caution)
92. Twitter Just Fired A Cannonball At Facebook And Google+
93. Twitter Announces Redesign And New Features
94. Don't Short-Sell App Engagement -- Or Video
95. Tech Trends: Increasing Traffic With HTML5 Microdata
96. SEO: Obstacles, Opportunities and the Future
97. The Horse's Mouth
98. Asking Better Questions
99. Trick Questions
100. Chief Analytical Officer
101. The New Social Order
102. Test Your Innovation IQ
103. Cutting Through the Remarketing Clutter With Real Time Bidding (RTB)
104. Social Media ROI Remains a High Priority for Marketers
105. 3 Online Advertising Trends To Watch In '12
106. More QR Codes In Store (And Elsewhere) For '12
107. Goodbye QR Codes, Hello Near Field Communication?
108. Implementing 'Digital Is a Philosophy'
109. How to Know When You Should Advertise to Tablet Users
110. Digital Is a Philosophy: A New Looking Glass for Common Digital Tactics
111. Brands face "big data" test
112. Google Adds Graphical Math Calculator To Search Results
113. The 20 Best New Startups Of 2011
114. Who Are the Top 10 Influencers in Social Media?
115. 15 Ways to Bring Social Media to Events
116. DATA CRUNCHED: How email deluge makes workers go postal
117. MAGNAGLOBAL MEDIA OWNERS ADVERTISING REVENUE FORECAST:
118. Social Media - It's Not About Technology
119. Social Media Connections Between Consumers and Brands That Inspire Sales
120. Do We Need Stinkin' Badges?
121. Casting the Right Hook Into the Digital Talent Pool


SymphonyRI: The CPG Basket: Fostering Growth in a Time of Conservation Dec…

Ogilvy: Exposure to Social Media Linked with Changes in Sales and Brand Pe…

Interbrand Best Retail Brands 2011

Edelman: Social Business Planning

Comscore Top 10 need-to-knows about social networking_and_where_it_is_head…

Comscore The power of like

ICT facts figures 2011

MMA mobile advertising white paper english

MMA spain mobile white paper spanish


Buddy Media + Booz co campaigns-to-capabilities-social-media-and-marketing…

Break Media Video study 2012-12-8

PWC Millennials At Work 2011

Most Contagious 2011

MIllward Brown: 12 digital predictions for 2012

JWT10 trends for 2012 executive summary 11 12 05

Magnaglobal global advertising forecast 20 december 2011

Babelfish Articles Nov 2011

Earnst & Young: Innovating for the next three billion

CMO council survey: Localize to optimize sales channel effectiveness


Social, Mobile Hotter Than Ever in 2011
by Karlene Lukovitz

Social media and mobile marketing continued to heat up in the food/beverage and restaurant categories in 2011 --
as Marketing Daily’s most-read stories in these areas amply demonstrate:
1. Location-Based Marketing To Diners To 'Explode'
Consumers today want a moveable feast -- sometimes quite literally, as the remarkable growth of specialty and even chain-
owned food trucks has shown. And in another tough year for much of the restaurant industry, location-based and social media
enabled chains and independent operators to target diners in ways that can only be described as revolutionary. Starbucks,
McDonald's, Chipotle and Burger King were among the biggies that leveraged Foursquare, Facebook and (in some cases) Twitter
to drive folks through their doors, increase per-diner spend and engender loyalty/repeat business with rewards and offers
targeted via consumers' profiles and transactions data. Not to mention the continuing explosion of mobile ordering and
electronic payments…
2. A First: Pepsi Using Foursquare on Global Basis
Speaking of location-based marketing, restaurants are far from alone in employing this hyper-targeted platform to the max. In
the beverage category, Pepsi pulled off an ingenious marketing first: Using a Foursquare badge on a global basis. During the
prime soda-drinking July 4th weekend, the brand previewed a fun new TV commercial -- featuring a hip polar bear and his
brown-bear friend by the pool -- on its Facebook page and YouTube. The spot -- the first-ever from a major CPG brand to
employ Foursquare messaging -- debuted on "America's Got Talent" the same evening. The ad encouraged fans around the
world to follow Pepsi on Foursquare to ―unlock summer fun‖ (those who checked in from specified locations like beaches and
parks earned badges and entry in a sweeps). It was supported by Twitter ads, takeovers of Yahoo and other mass-reach sites,
and QR codes on in-store promotions that linked fans to the campaign commercials. Marketing Daily readers were wowed by
this campaign's innovation, integration and sheer logistics.
3. Dunkin' Launches K-Cups; Starbucks Soon to Follow
If there’s anything that’s hotter than single-serve coffee, it’s the rivalry among the major brands pushing to grab maximum
market share in this lucrative, rapidly growing category. In August, Dunkin’ Donuts made its extremely popular coffee brand
available for sale in its stores in single-serve Keurig K-Cups, for at-home enjoyment. Soon after, Starbucks, also through a deal
with Keurig parent Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, launched its own single-serve packs for the brewing system in food, drug,
mass, club, specialty and department stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. Starbucks also has a deal with Courtesy Products,
the leading provider of in-room coffee service to U.S. hotels, to make Starbucks ground coffees available in up to 500,000
luxury and premium hotel rooms across the U.S., for use in Courtesy's CV1 in-room and on-demand brewed coffee system. Now,
we’re awaiting Starbucks’ next moves. Might the coffee titan create its own brewing system?
4. Brand Keys: Loyalty Now Hinges On 'Delight'
Marketing Daily brought readers an exclusive first look at the results of this year’s always much-anticipated Brand Keys
Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, based on tracking key loyalty factors across 528 brands and 79 categories. Just one
food/restaurant brand made the overall top 10: McDonald’s, at #7. The other brands that rose to the top by ―delighting‖
consumers with innovative, life-enhancing products and services were #1 Netflix (prior to its ill-advised jacking up of
subscription pricing), Apple, Walgreens, Discover, Hyundai, Mary Kay, J. Crew, Samsung and Nikon.
5. Report: Gluten-Free Momentum Accelerating
What’s causing so many Americans to develop allergies or intolerance to gluten? No one seems to know for certain, but
addressing this problem has proved a bonanza for a major CPG makers, private-label purveyors and specialty brands alike.
Packaged Facts documented the trend, estimating that the gluten-free food and beverage category had experienced startling
30% sales growth in the U.S. between 2006 and 2010. Indeed, the researcher upped its previous sales projection for 2011 to
$2.64 billion, from $2.3 billion. With annual compound growth projected at 14% between 2011 and 2015 (to $5.6 billion), the
continuing stream of new gluten-free products should keep a lot of marketers very busy for the foreseeable future.


6. Cabot Soup Swap Mixes Events, Social Media
Cabot Creamery, a cooperative of 1,200 family dairy farmers, demonstrates that leveraging social media in sophisticated, highly
effective ways need not require big budgets. Case in point: Cabot's "Community Soup Swap," which combines at-home events
thrown by popular bloggers, a social media-driven recipe contest, donations to food banks, and Facebook and Twitter
outreach. Cabot also employs its extensive social media and blogger networks to marshal volunteers who organize cheese-
sampling events in their localities. Furthermore, it recognizes people who serve their communities via programs in partnership
with national organizations and its online ―Random Acts of Cheddar‖ initiative.
7. Millennials: Big On Cause-Marketing, Not On TV
Research of relevance to virtually all categories, including food/beverages and restaurants. A study from Barkley marketing
agency, Service Management Group and The Boston Consulting Group confirmed that Millennials are more aware than
Americans of other generations of cause-marketing-based ad campaigns, and more likely to be exposed to these through
social media and online channels. Equally important, just 26% watch 20-plus hours of TV per week, versus 49% of the rest of
the population. Among the other key findings: Millennials seek peer affirmation/advice; they crave adventure and fun; they
use their mobile devices to scope out deals and products while shopping; they’re more likely to grocery shop in groups;
they’re big on snacking, and they prefer casual dining.

8. McDonald's Using Foursquare in N.Y.C.
The QSR giant's first use of Foursquare in the New York metro area focused on driving awareness and sampling of its McCafé
beverages. McDonald's encouraged residents of nine metro areas to celebrate their hometowns and engage in three separate
rounds of friendly competition to win McCafé ―parties.‖ The three boroughs/towns with the most Foursquare check-ins from
McDonald’s locations each won a full day during which free, small McCafé drinks were distributed at a local McD’s. The concept
was supported by a Twitter campaign, mobile banners, radio, out-of-home and in-store merchandising. In addition to
supporting McCafé sales and boosting brand loyalty, the initiative yielded ample marketing intelligence about regional
product preferences and behaviors.
9. Brand Keys: Amazon Is 2011's #1 Loyalty Leader
More insights from Brand Keys’ 2011 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index study, this time showing the top 100 Loyalty Leaders.
Topping the list: Amazon, Apple (smartphone), Facebook, Samsung, Apple (computer), Zappos, Hyundai, Kindle, Patron tequila and
Mary Kay.
10. Gen Y Changing Alcoholic Beverages Marketplace
Another piece resonated with readers because of the pressing need to understand Millennials’ behaviors across all product
categories. Nielsen's Millennial Study found that those in this age cohort are more open to exploring new alcoholic beverage
products; consume more wine and spirits than their parents did (although they still drink beer most); are more likely to equate
cost with quality; and are heavily influenced by social media. The researchers stressed the impact of multicultural Gen Y’s, in
particular, on the alcoholic beverages market.

How Mobile Will Change Search And Display In 2012
by Laurie Sullivan, Dec 28, 2011, 12:49 PM

Google has developed a framework for the AdWhirl SDK that allows developers to display banner ads from different networks
in their iOS and Android applications, but it also enables them to turn off the refresh rate for ads serving up in apps on mobile
devices. Allowing developers to turn off the refresh rate is significant because the longer the ad remains on the screen visible
to the user, the better the chance it will be clicked on.
Eric Leichtenschlag on the Google AdMob team tells us that advertisers need only indicate to AdWhirl the ad networks where
ads should appear, along with the percentage of requests to allocate to each network. AdWhirl handles the ad requests
through Ad Mob. Eliminating the refresh rate prevents AdMob from grabbing and serving up another ad on its own.
Framingham, Mass.-based IDC estimates Google will take 24% market share of the $2.1 billion U.S. mobile ad biz this year -- up
from 19% and $877 million, respectively, in 2010. IDC believes Google holds about 91% share of the mobile search market.
Combine mobile search with mobile display, and IDC pegs Google's share at 71%, up 11% in the past year.
No doubt about it -- mobile search and display ads will become the hot trend for 2012. In November, IgnitionOne reported that


consumer mobile searches rose 355% in the past year, since Q4 2010.
During the Search Insider Summit earlier this month, we asked marketers attending the event to name the percentage of their
online budgets earmarked for mobile in 2012. Half of the respondents said they would allocate between 11% and 20%, followed
by one-quarter who said between 1% and 5%, and another quarter that said they would allocate between 6% and 10%.
Marketers and advertisers should expect major changes to occur in search for 2012. Brands now imprint QR codes on
everything from pickup trucks to billboards, helping consumers find information on the go through smartphones. In a blog
recap posted last week, Googlers wrote that 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help when shopping by
comparing prices and finding more product info. About 70% use their smartphones in a store, and 77% have contacted a
business via mobile, with 61% calling and 59% visiting the local business.
Aside from QR codes, marketers should expect a higher dependency on voice search in 2012. Google and Bing launched versions
first, but Apple's Siri for the iPhone showed us a better way to get answers and produce actions without typing keywords into
a search engine.

Yes, the Feds Are Spying on Social Media
by Erik Sass,
Just in case anyone still harbors illusions on this score, the answer is ―Yes, the federal government is definitely spying on
social media.‖ In the latest development, a group of online privacy advocates is suing the Department of Homeland Security for
failing to release records of its online spying -- which isn’t terribly surprising, considering that it’s not really spying anymore if
everyone knows what you’re doing.
The DHS has admitted in a public statement that it creates profiles to monitor ―publicly available online forums, blogs, public
websites, and message boards,‖ including social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, in what is known as the ―Publicly
Available Social Media Monitoring and Situational Awareness Initiative.‖ The aim is to ―to provide situational awareness‖ for
the federal, state, and local governments; the DHS ―may also share this de-identified information with international partners
and the private sector where necessary and appropriate for coordination.‖ Crucially, the DHS statement also reveals that
participating agencies may reveal personally identifying information about Internet users in emergency, life-and-death
situations.
The list of search and monitoring tools used by the DHS includes Collecta, RSSOwl, Social Mention, Spy, Who’s Talkin, and Shrook
RSS Reader, while public content and media sharing sites monitored by DHS include Hulu, iReport.com, Live Leak, Magma, Time
Tube, Vimeo, YouTube, and MySpace Video. Twitter alone is monitored through a score of Twitter-specific search engines and
trend monitoring services.
The array of search terms used by DHS to keep tabs on social media includes ―Secret Service,‖ ―Border Patrol,‖ ―Agent,‖ ―Task
Force,‖ ―Air Marshal,‖ ―Assassination,‖ ―Attack,‖ ―Drill,‖ ―Exercise,‖ ―Cops,‖ ―Dirty Bomb,‖ ―Militia,‖ ―Shooting,‖ ―Shots fired,‖ ―Deaths,‖
―Explosion,‖ ―Gangs,‖ ―Breach,‖ and ―Lockdown,‖ as well as -- surprise -- the names of agencies like the CIA, the FBI, and of
course the DHS itself.
Back in April 2011 an organization called the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a Freedom of Information Act request
for records pertaining to the DHS use of social media monitoring -- a request that EPIC says the DHS has failed to respond to.
Thus on December 20 EPIC filed an FOIA lawsuit against DHS for these records, which EPIC director Marc Rotenberg told ABC
News will supply more information about when, where, and how social media monitoring is used.
ABC News quotes Rotenberg: ―We want to know how they're collecting information online, what they're collecting online and if
there's legal basis to do this… We are trying to understand what the circumstances are when the DHS is engaged in tracking to
social media sites.‖
In an earlier post I wrote about the fact that the DHS is using social networks to ferret out fake "green card" marriages
between U.S. citizens and immigrants for the purpose of obtaining residency or citizenship for the latter. According to
awesomely frank internal DHS records obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation under a Freedom of Information Act
request, ―Narcissistic tendencies in many people fuels a need to have a large group of ‘friends’ link to their pages and many of
these people accept cyber-friends that they don't even know. This provides an excellent vantage point for [the Office of Fraud
Detection and National Security] to observe the daily life of beneficiaries and petitioners who are suspected of fraudulent
activities.‖

Top 14 Things Marketers Need to Know About QR Codes
Angie Schottmuller, December 30, 2011118 Comments
I recently spoke at SES New York on best practices for mobile marketing with QR codes. Here's a follow-up crash course on
tools, tactics, and best practices to confidently help you jumpstart a 2D barcode marketing campaign.
1. A QR Code is a 2D Barcode
QR codes are an encoded barcode image resembling a square-like maze. Unlike a 1-dimensional UPC code, a 2-dimensional


barcode stores data in both directions and can be scanned vertically or horizontally to be decoded.

2. 2D Barcodes Can Store a Variety of Data
A traditional 1D barcode (UPC/EAN) stores up to 30 numbers, while a 2D barcode (QR) can store up to 7,089 numbers. The
additional storage capacity accommodates a variety of data beyond numbers:
 Text
 Hyperlink
 Telephone number (Phone call)
 SMS/MMS message
 Email (Send message)
 Contact entry (vCard or meCard)
 Calendar entry (vCalendar)
Storing a hyperlink presents a myriad of possibilities beyond just loading a web page -- play a video, download a mobile app,
check-in on Foursquare, update a Twitter status, "Like" a Facebook page, display map directions, and more.
3. Read/Decode a 2D Barcode by Scanning it With a Smartphone
(A 2D barcode reader app is required to decode the encoded data.)

4. 2D Barcodes Can be Placed in and on Nearly Any Location
Once the barcode image is created, it can be printed on nearly any surface and location -- newspapers, TV ads, billboards,
temporary tattoos, product packaging, clothing labels, cake frosting, and more. This enables you to drive traffic, interaction,
and conversion from anywhere. 2D barcodes excel at bringing non-digital media to life.
Note: Use caution placing barcodes online. They should always enhance the user experience. If a user could click a hyperlink,
don't make them scan a code to complete the same task.
Bear in mind the location must be easily scannable. Plastic frames and packaging can reflect light. Lighting can cast shadows,
and hillsides and subways can kill Wi-Fi access. Consider all contextual factors that could impact the scanning experience.
5. Mobile Barcode Scanning is on the Rise
 2D barcode scanning outnumbered 1D (UPC) scans in Q1 2011.
- ScanLife's Q1 2011 Trend Report

 Mobile barcode scanning grew 1,600 percent in the year 2010.
- ScanLife's 2010 Trend Report (PDF)

 QR barcode scanning was up 1,200 percent in the second half of 2010.
- Mobio's Naked Facts Report

 22 percent of the Fortune 50 have already used mobile barcodes.
- Burson-Marsteller Report


QR codes can be used for nearly any function (logistics, advertising, customer service, etc.) for B2B and B2C across a variety of
industries:
 Best Buy uses QR codes on in-store price tags for quick access to online reviews.
 Golf Digest uses Microsoft Tag in their magazine to accompany tips with interactive video.
 Real estate agents use 2D barcodes on "for sale" signs providing prospective buyers access to virtual tours.
 Libraries are using QR codes to facilitate learning via interactive scavenger hunts.
6. QR Isn't the Only Type of 2D Barcode
The most popular 2D barcode formats are QR code, DataMatrix, ScanLife EZcode, and Microsoft Tag (Tag).

There are several key differences in these code formats. ScanLife EZcode and Microsoft Tag are proprietary formats only
decodable by their tools, while QR and DataMatrix formats are open standard. (Additional format differences can be addressed
in another blog post.)
A Google Trends analysis of these 2D barcodes shows "QR code" dominates by far from a search popularity perspective. QR has
become a common term used to reference a 2D barcode (2D code, mobile tag, mobile barcode, etc.) even when codes are
technically a different format. Even@MicrosoftTag uses the #QRcode hashtag on Twitter.
7. Tools to Generate and Read 2D Barcodes are Free
Tools are available for all major mobile phone handsets. To run a 2D barcode campaign you'll need to following:
1. 2D barcode generator (Website service)
2. 2D barcode reader (Mobile app)
3. [Optional‖ 2D barcode management/tracking tool (Website service)
Generators:
Different generators have varying features. Choose a generator based on the options for:
 Code Format (i.e. QR, EZcode, Tag, etc.)
 Stored Data (i.e. hyperlink, meCard, SMS, etc.)
 Output (i.e. color, size, download file type, etc.)
QRstuff.com is a comprehensive QR generator providing a variety of stored content, color, size, and output options. ScanLife's
generator creates their proprietary EZcode as well as QR and DataMatrix formats. Microsoft Tag only generates Tag.
Note: To generate a code on the ScanLife or Microsoft Tag sites, you'll first need to create an account. (Tag requires providing
personal info like birth date, gender, etc.)
Readers:
Microsoft Tag and ScanLife EZcode can only be decoded by their respective reader apps. Because of the open standard for QR
codes, dozens of reader apps are available. (DataMatrix is usually supported on most QR readers.) Some mobile handsets come
with a reader app pre-installed.
The following 2D barcode reader apps work on the majority of phones/handsets.
Download Link
Reader App Code Formats (from your mobile phone)
RedLaser QR, UPC/EAN redlaser.com
BeeTagg Reader QR, DataMatrix, BeeTagg get.beetagg.com
AT&T Code Scanner QR, DataMatrix, UPC/EAN scan.mobi
ScanLife EZcode, QR, DataMatrix, UPC/EAN getscanlife.com
Microsoft Tag Tag gettag.mobi

RedLaser and AT&T Code Scanner also have geolocation features for local price comparison shopping.


8. Management Tools are Available to Track Scanning Analytics
URL-shortener and web analytics for 2D barcodes storing URL hyperlinks are a great start. For comprehensive scan tracking,
you'll need to use a barcode generator tool that includes tracking analytics. (These tools are not independent.) Some
management tools will merely track the number of scans while others provide detailed metrics like demographics, repeat
scans, geolocation, and more. Collected analytics depends on the reader app used for scanning, so data results may vary.
Management tools are relatively inexpensive and sometimes free. Paid plans typically have a free trial with fees based on the
number of scans.
2D Barcode Management & Tracking Tools:
 Microsoft Tag (Tag)
 ScanLife (EZcode, QR, DataMatrix, UPC)
 Tappinn (QR, UPC)
 Paperlinks (QR)
 QReateBUZZ (QR)
 BeQRious (QR)
 SPARQCode (QR)
 QReate and Track (QR)
9. 2D Barcode Content Should Provide Special Value for the Customer
It's work to scan a barcode, so users have higher expectations as to what content they will find. Reward the user with
discounts, exclusive content, or useful tips relevant to the code's context. Consider scenarios that leverage smartphone
features (email, SMS, phone call, video, map, apps, etc.) to save the user time.
For example, including a QR code on a business card that links to a meCard would be a lot easier than the user manually
entering the contact record. In contrast, a QR code that links to a website homepage adds limited value.
Note: If you link to a web page, make sure that it's mobile-friendly.
10. Small or Complex QR Codes Can't be Scanned by Smartphones With Lesser Quality Cameras
Complex 2D barcodes (a lot going on, not very dense) are more challenging and time consuming to scan. In the case of QR
codes, more stored content forces a larger code size. In general, it's best to minimize data stored in 2D barcodes. Always use a
URL-shortener to shrink hyperlinks. (Add analytics tracking parameters before shortening the link.)
Warning: Small, complex QR codes are the biggest mistake currently being made by marketers. (Microsoft Tag and EZcode
formats generally don't have this issue.) Smartphone cameras with resolution less than 4-megapixels can't scan a QR code
smaller than about 1"x1". Moreover, without the auto-focus (AF) camera feature, a complex QR code will have the same scanning
issue, even if the code is larger. The iPhone 3GS and Blackberry are popular handset examples that lack both of these camera
features. Unscannable codes kill and delay the adoption rate for 2D barcode campaigns.
Tip: Always provide a back-up (i.e. hyperlink, SMS text message, etc.) option for users to retrieve info within the code. A back-
up enables non-smartphone users to also participate.
11. Consumers Need Guidance to Scan 2D Barcodes
The variety of code types, readers, and different terminology is confusing to consumers. Nielsen Company estimates that only
40 percent of U.S. mobile devices are smartphones as of Q1 2011, growing to almost 50 percent by Q3 2011. That means there are
a lot of smartphone rookies that barely know how to use their phone, much less distinguish differences in mobile barcode
formats and reader apps. As long as 2D barcodes are a novelty concept, always include a brief step-by-step guide with the
context of your code.
Logical steps:
1. Get the reader app
2. Scan the code with your mobile device
3. (Action that happens upon scanning)
Tip: For the reader app download, include a URL link or SMS shortcut to expedite the process. This step is imperative when
using proprietary Microsoft Tag or ScanLife EZcode formats since only one reader is capable of scanning their codes.
Steps two and three can be combined as a call-to-action. Example: "Scan to ____." (... watch a video, download our app, call
customer support, etc.)
12. 2D Barcodes can be Customized Artistically


QR codes include an Error Correction Level (ECL) that enables "damaged" codes to still be scanned. The error
level tolerance (set by the code generator) can be as high as 30%. As a result, creative license can be used
to create designer QR codes from a variety of colors or materials (i.e. jelly beans, sand castles, product
packaging, etc.) as long as there is adequate contrast to read the code.
When it comes to advanced QR code graphic design, it's harder than it looks. If you want to get fancy, I
recommend connecting with QR art experts at QRarts.com or Delivr.com.
Microsoft Tag also allows for artistic codes. Their custom tag tool allows users to generate art from codes
or even overlay codes on top of photographs.

Tip: Some artistic design is fun and good to see; however, don't go overboard. As long as 2D barcodes are novelty, it's
important that users easily recognize a scannable code from a distance.
13. Testing Scannability is Imperative.
Before you mass print or distribute barcodes be sure to test for scannability. Testing factors:
 Smartphone cameras (resolution/auto-focus)
 Reader apps
 Scan context (i.e. lighting, shadows, surfaces)
 Scan distance
 Scan timing
14. Seek Expertise to Ensure Successful Campaigns
To ensure campaign success, consider consulting with a mobile barcode marketing expert, especially if it's your first time
running a mobile barcode campaign. Technology, trends, and tools in this arena are rapidly changing. A few hours of expert
consulting can bring your team up to speed, help optimize campaigns for success, and avoid unnecessary embarrassment for
poor implementation.
Expertise goes beyond consultants: Talk to your web analytics guru and learn all you can about the mobile users currently
accessing your website. Seek out mobile marketing industry statistics regarding popular devices and demographics to
appropriately target your audience. (Compete,ScanLife, and eMarketer provide regular useful reports.) Follow
the #QRcode Twitter hashtag or subscribe to "QR Code News & Mobile Trends" (Paper.li) for the latest news and case studies.
Finally, download my QR Code Best Practices Checklist & Campaign Worksheet to help plan and manage your campaigns:
Next Steps...Are you ready to jump start a QR code campaign? What questions do you have about the technology, tools or
tactics? Please let me know in the comments below. I'll be sure to address the most popular topics in upcoming articles.

Gamification: A Fad Or The Future
There is lots of evidence that brands see loyalty increases when they invite consumers to participate in an experience. Even
Facebook ―likes‖ increase with the smallest gesture of asking people for their opinion in a survey. People collect experiences
and they value the involvement that an experience offers. For that reason ―gamification‖ or the application of game mechanics
to other types of experiences is interesting because it increases involvement and it’s been shown to create consumer loyalty.
And as we all know, loyalty has real business value.
While we’ve seen success applying gaming principles to experiences we’ve built for Millennials, there seems to be an
emerging debate as to whether or not gamification is here to stay or if it’s currently at the tail end of what Gartner Research
deems a hype cycle.
This marketer for one thinks gamification will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. There sure doesn’t seem to be a
slow down in gaming. Fifty-seven million Americans have played games in a social network (the highest percentage of which
are 18 - 34) and according to Research by Pop Cap Games, the number of people spending 6+ hours a week playing social
games has doubled since January 2010.
But beyond the rise of gaming, here are a few reasons why the relevance of gamification might continue to be applied to


other types of experiences:
1. People want it. In a recent study by Latitude Research on the Future of Gaming, they found that more than 50% of
smartphone users who identify as casual gamers would like to see game dynamics applied to issues outside of
traditional games including learning and education, healthcare, and financial planning.
2. The principles of game thinking are very aligned with Millennial values: competition, community, self-expression and
reward are all things Millennials value and they are core to a great game experience. These principles are being
applied to everything from sport participation (Nike+) to loyalty programs (Starbucks) and health management. I am
currently using a new app called The Eatery by Massive Health that helps people improve their health through better
eating habits using a game like interface.
3. Entertainment and work have collided. With increased mobility today, there is little separation between the two and
as Gartner Group predicts, gamification is something that every CIO, IT Planner and Enterprise Architect must be aware
of. As Millennials look for gratifying work experiences, gamification in work can improve results and satisfaction.
Salesforce.com has already adopted a Bunchball plugin called Nitro that uses game-like progress tracking, team
standings and rewards to increase motivation, engagement and performance.
4. Millennials and Gen Z have grown up as gamers: As such they are very familiar with gaming interfaces in a variety of
user experience scenarios. Who hasn’t given their kid their iPhone to keep them busy while in line at Starbucks? What
Windows was to baby boomers, gaming interface is to these generations. Ford recognized that and has brought
gaming principles into its new Ford Fusion dashboard display. Drivers compete to add leaves to a digital tree by
driving more efficiently.
5. Gaming principles have been proven effective for problem solving. In fact, in a study published in the journal Natural
Structural & Molecular Biology, players without backgrounds in biochemistry used a game called Foldit to help
scientists predict the structure of the retroviral protease, which plays a critical role in the way HIV multiplies.
According to Seth Cooper, the game designer, using Foldit to turn a scientific problem into a competitive game
―provides a framework for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans.‖ Computers don’t have great
special reasoning skills whereas humans do.
If gamification is here to stay, how do we as marketers use that to our advantage? Successfully applying game mechanics to
create engaging experiences that increase loyalty requires recognizing that just as all people are not the same, neither are all
gamers. Before designing any game driven brand experience, marketers need to understand who their target is and what they
favor as an interaction mode. Are they competitive and strive for status (Foursquare), community and sharing oriented
(Turntable.fm), curatorial (Digg), or creative (SETIquest).
And finally, gamification requires that brand experiences support people on their journey from novice to expert because they
will have different needs to stay engaged as they progress:
1. Make it easy to learn so on-boarding is fast and engaging.
2. To be involving, show them the way to mastery so there is a path to accomplishment.
3. Increase challenge and reward along the way with fresh content, activities and access.
Whether or not you believe gamification is here to stay, at least for Millennials, bringing game mechanics to a brand
experience can help add familiarity and fun, deepen involvement, increase performance, and most of all, build loyalty. I for one
say game on.

Healthcare Takes It Up A Level On Gaming
Gamification, the tactic of applying game mechanics to traditional activities, has officially realized its self-fulfilling prophecy
from early 2011 predictions of becoming the next big thing.
In March, we blogged about our experience at SXSW, noting Seth Priebatsch's belief that the next decade will likely see the
game layer prevail over social media. Gamification is slated to lead a new era of incentives, giving users a way to interact with
traditionally non-game activities.
If you think adding a game layer to a marketing experience will benefit your brand, there are a few ways to up the ante when
incorporating it into your strategy.
The concept of gaming, rewards and incentives isn't new. Companies have been helping brands do it for years with
sweepstakes, instant win games, loyalty solutions and more. But we are now shaping it in new ways, in new places and for
newer audiences.
Making Health Fun
AARP launched a program this fall under its Brain Health channel, inviting site visitors to a photo memory challenge and
offering a chance to win an Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad2, iTunes gift cards, Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit Plus, and $250 toward


nutrition counseling – all prizes that tie in to users' overall health and wellbeing. Games, according to health experts, can help
ward off diseases like memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer's.
"Our brain health games are some of the most popular on the site,‖ said Nataki Edwards, vice president, digital strategy &
operations for AARP. ―The Photo Recall Challenge brought together our users' love of games, as well as their interest in staying
healthy and vibrant. We knew that a game challenging memory would work well with our audience and the results did not
disappoint –more than 134K people entered this sweeps."
Think games are just for kids?
Games also are effective for repeated brand engagement, and a surprising gamer segment is the over-55 crowd, who enjoy
playing games, puzzles and trivia in the online environment.
"It’s not surprising that the over-50 crowd loves games,‖ Edwards added. ―Sudoku, solitaire and mah-jongg were all very
popular games played in the 'real world' and now they can be enjoyed online as well."
Blue Cross Blue Shield gets in the game
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida was looking for new ways to encourage Floridians to live an active, healthy lifestyle.
"In February 2011, we refreshed our brand promise with three core tenets: affordability, access and community support,‖ said
Kate Warnock, social media community manager for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF). ―The Pursuit was created as a way
to connect Floridians with nonprofit organizations who expand the reach of our brand promise and help more Floridians in their
pursuit of health."
To drive awareness, a social media campaign highlighted three non-profit organizations on BCBSF's Facebook page, inviting
Floridians to vote for the organization that should win the monthly mash-up. Each monthly winner was awarded $3,000, while
each of the runners-up received $1,000.
A leaderboard posting the monthly winners put visibility behind the initiative, showing which organizations were benefiting
from users' votes, as well as the total amount donated to date.
Don't think gaming aligns with your audience?
Maybe that's a perfect reason that it does. Gaming by nature is fun, interesting and even competitive. What audience doesn't
want to be captivated? Rather than using the same old tactics to convince, persuade, and educate, reprogram and think about
the entertainment factor.
The questions every brand should think out loud are, "Is my brand providing organic value to the consumer?" and, if not, "Can
we at least make their experience interesting so they spend more time with us?"
Whether or not your brand marketing aligns with a true gamification strategy, remember that in today's world, the consumer is
always assessing ―what's in it for me.‖ If your brand, service, or organization can provide extra value, you'll be sure to lock in
their attention.

Leadership for the Marketing Optimization Team
Bryan Eisenberg
I rarely get new questions I haven't written about before in this column - as I mark my 11th year as a ClickZ columnist. Yet, at
SES Chicago in November, one of the attendees asked me how you go about building out a marketing optimization team. What
kind of people do you need? What kind of backgrounds should they have? I know I've discussed this with clients, but I haven't
written about it before.
First, please notice that I didn't call the team the landing page optimization team or the conversion optimization team. This
organizational monstrosity is part of the we-work-in-silos-but-pretend-to-cooperate mentality that produces poor and
disconnected experiences for customers. For digital marketing efforts to maintain consistency across all channels, traffic
generation needs to be intimately connected to your website and, if appropriate, your offline experience - after all, those are
the experiences promised. Never forget that your website is the glue that binds all your channels together.
Jeffrey Eisenberg, my brother, likes to remind people that in our increasingly transparent experience economy, marketers are
no longer paid to make promises that the business has no intention of keeping. If you're still in an organization that thinks
they can promote their way to success, bail now. Experience is what matters and you better deliver better than what you
promise or the world will quickly know.
Is building a successful optimization team possible? Yes! Based on my experiences working with and training successful
optimization teams and the research I've seen from Econsultancy and MarketingSherpa on the topic, I can tell you how to
make optimization succeed.
The first and most critical position is to have someone at a vice president or above level that is in control of the conversion
rates directly responsible for your optimization efforts. They, along with their staff (we'll discuss shortly), should all be
incentivized directly based on their results of improving conversion rates and revenue. The KPI should relate to marketing


efficiency. There are a few ways to calculate this but gross margin over marketing expenses is my favorite.
This leader should be the online equivalent of your offline VP of sales. This executive should have direct accountability to
someone in the C-suite who supports the effort. This person should be both extremely curious and driven. This person should
also possess a high degree of empathy for the customer and the customer's experience. This person is also a competent jack
of all trades with significant understanding of online marketing methods including: search engine marketing (SEO and PPC),
affiliate marketing, social media, etc. They've probably been reading a bunch of the books on this list I put together. They will
need to work collaboratively with all those teams and the web analytics group to segment and continuously tweak both the
traffic driving efforts along with the site experience efforts.
I'm not done. This person should be comfortable working with a variety of methods of identifying insights and optimization
techniques. Econsultancy's 2011 conversion report found that companies whose conversion rates have improved over the
previous 12 months are using on average 26 percent more methods to improve conversion than those companies whose
conversion rates have not improved.
Irrespective of the leader of the team, it's very important that the culture of your organization allow for intelligent risk taking
so that this person is empowered to try radical efforts to improve conversions and not simple methodical efforts. A strong
analytic background is truly not required. Nevertheless, this person should have the ability to be able to use data to tell the
story of what is happening to your visitors based on that data they gather themselves or they get directly from an analyst. I
can't emphasize strongly enough how much more important it is to be connected to the narrative of the experience than the
data it leaves as residue.
This is generally why most traditional web analysts don't make for good optimization team leaders. They love the data diving
but not the storytelling and brand value.
This person must also have the authority to draw upon a steady stream of talent ranging from web analysts, creative
resources (designers, copywriters, videographers, merchandisers, etc.), as well as IT resources in order to be able to execute on
a continuous basis. Ideally there are resources dedicated to the optimization team, but they can be shared as long as there is
a strong value placed on prioritization and execution in the organization. This team should not exist as a vacuum within the
marketing organization but should draw upon the knowledge and experience of the media team including search, display,
email, affiliates, and even offline media. The research shows that organizations that have more people dedicated to improving
conversion rates tend to improve their conversion rate the most. Not a big surprise, I'm sure.
Lastly, in order to be successful, you need the tools in place to have the agility to gather insights, create ads and landing
pages (or paths), refine marketing campaigns and pages, launch tests, and segment and personalize website experiences.
Allow this person to be trained and train your team in the art and science of marketing optimization and allow them to create
a structured approach to conversion and you can virtually guarantee you'll squeeze a lot more conversions from all your
marketing efforts.
The reality is I have only met a few dozen of these individuals who have this experience over the past decade. I'm sure there
are some I haven't met yet, but they are a rare breed. These leaders are going to have to be trained and mentored in order for
more companies to see the massive traction that these leaders have brought to their organizations. You can't outsource this
core competency or downplay it. It's a serious commitment, but one that has a high payout over the long term.
P.S. Ever wonder why the leaders in conversion outperform the average conversion rates by a factor of 500 to 1,000 percent?
Think compounding! For example, a 5 percent improvement every month for a year is an 80 percent increase. Steady
disciplined optimization is not a project, it's a core competence for industry leaders.

Cash in on Content and Social Media Marketing in 2012
It has been predicted that 2012 will be the year of content. Whether you’re building your personal brand for career
development and professional growth or you’re building your business brand to reach new levels of success in the new year,
content marketing and social media marketing should be part of your 2012 marketing strategy.
Following are strategic steps you should take (if you haven’t already) to ensure you’re poised for social media marketing and
content marketing success in 2012 and beyond (adapted from 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, McGraw-Hill 2010;
and Content Marketing for Dummies, Wiley 2011).
1. Begin with Branding
The first step to joining the digital age and starting your journey on the social Web is to evaluate your own brand promise.
How do you want to position yourself in the marketplace? A focused brand is a strong brand, so determine your niche and use
it as your primary brand message and image.
Your audience needs to develop expectations for your brand in order to develop loyalty to it and feel secure enough in your
brand message to talk about it with their own friends and connections, particularly across the social Web. You must meet
audience expectations in every brand interaction or they will feel confused and turn away from your brand in search of
another that does consistently meet their expectations. Don’t let your audience get away. Determine your brand promise and


position and stick to it at all times.
2. Create Your Branded Online Destinations
Once you know how you want to position your brand in your audience’s minds, you can create your own branded online
destinations. The destination you choose to start with is up to you and depends on the types of tools you enjoy using and
feel like you can stick with for the long-term. Start a blog, create a Twitter account, get on Facebook, connect with people on
LinkedIn, and get active on Google+.
Most importantly, choose one branded online destination to be your core branded online destination. This is the place where
all of your online content and conversations will lead back to. It will be the central hub of your online presence and will
become the go-to place for people to learn anything and everything about your brand. I recommend a blog for a core branded
online destination because blogs are so search engine friendly and flexible, but the choice is yours. The most important factor
is that your core branded online destination is kept fresh with new content that effectively represents your brand promise
and invites interaction and sharing.
3. Find Your Best Audience
Who do you want to connect with online in order to build your brand, business and career? You can engage with existing and
potential clients, online influencers, experts, customers, and more on the social Web. You simply need to determine who you
want to talk to and go out and find them. Visit Google.com and type in the keywords your audience is likely to use to find
brands, businesses, content and conversations like yours. Follow the links. Chances are you’ll end up finding multiple sites
where your target audience already spends time.
When you find your target audiences’ online hangouts, spend some time listening to the conversations happening on those
sites. What topics are important to them? What gets them excited? This type of information-gathering is extremely valuable
and allows you to create your own content strategy to best meet your target audience’s existing wants and needs.
4. Join the Conversation
Look for social destinations such as blogs, Twitter profiles, Facebook pages, forums, and so on where you can interact with
other people by publishing comments, asking questions, and answering questions. However, you must avoid self-promotion.
No one will want to engage with you if you spend all your time trying to sell yourself or your business. Instead, apply the 80-
20 rule of marketing to your activities, and make sure at least 80% of the time you spend on social media activities is not
self-promotional and only 20% is self-promotional.
In time, those audiences will get to know you and develop expectations for your conversations. Eventually, you can lead them
back to your own branded online destinations through links to related content. There you can deepen relationships. It’s this
type of relationship-building that enables you to develop a band of brand advocates online who will talk about your brand
and defend your brand against naysayers. There has never been a more powerful form of word-of-mouth marketing, and you
can tap into it thanks to the social Web!
5. Publish Shareworthy Content
Believe it or not, everyone can benefit from social media because of a phenomenon I call the compounding effect of social
media participation.
Here is how it works:
How do people find information about businesses in the 21st century? Do they pick up the printed Yellow Pages directory?
No. They log into their computers or pick up their smartphones and visit Google where they type in keywords related to the
business or professionals they want to find. You need to be represented when people search for keywords related to you and
your business!
Here is how the compounding effect of social media participation can help you do it:
Imagine that you have a website for yourself or your business with 10 pages. That’s 10 entry points for Google to find your
site through keyword searches. Now, imagine that you add a blog to your website and write a new blog post every day for a
year. That’s 365 more entry points for Google to find your site. Next, imagine that your blog posts are incredibly useful and
meaningful to your target audience. Your amazing content, which I refer to as shareworthy content, is good enough that your
audience shares it with their own online connections. They might share links to your content via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,
social bookmarking sites, and even in their own blog posts. Each of those links back to your blog creates additional entry
points to your website.
Google ranks search engine results with a lot of incoming links (particularly from authoritative sites) higher than results with
few incoming links under the assumption that no one would link to a page if the content on it was terrible. More incoming
links to your website increases the likelihood that it might appear on one of the first few pages for Google keyword searches
related to your business thereby driving more traffic to your site. You’ve gone from 10 entry points to your website to
hundreds or thousands and increased your search engine results rankings all because you published amazing, shareworthy
content.


'Social Media Agency': Fad or Revolution?
Gary Stein
Have you noticed a growing number of companies hiring "social media" agencies?
I certainly have. In fact, I've been responding to calls from companies for social media agencies for at least two years or so
and some of these calls have been for pretty lucrative projects and long-term engagements. But, to be honest, I've wondered
if this was a fad that would hit hard but quick, or if we were experiencing something new. That is, were we actually
experiencing the formation of a different sort of an agency being brought to life through a new kind of need?
Whatever the case was at that point, we (meaning me and many others in this industry) certainly jumped on the opportunity,
responding back to those requests for proposals and carefully crafting new agency raps extolling our abilities. I don't mean to
say that we were merely opportunists, but rather we responded to the current need that our clients had and (the best of us)
saw this as a new-but-unique channel through which we could drive business and achieve goals. That is to say, none of us
really knew in 2008 if we would be getting social media request for proposals (RFPs) in 2011.
Well, guess what: we are. In fact, the pace of this line of business seems to be picking up. The agency Big Fuel (which has
modern advertising legend Jon Bond as its CEO) recently won what was reported to be a seven-figure engagement to perform
social media duties for T-Mobile. This assignment from T-Mobile is not to replace its interactive, creative, or media agency.
This is a net-new piece of work, and a significant one at that.
Our industry has expanded. It's time to figure out what it means.
Social Media Services
The problem with social media (and therefore, the problem with hiring a company to do social media for you) is that social
media is not so much a thing as it is a way. What we generally call social is really a collection of business practices from
advertising to support to retention services to satisfaction and advocacy. While the consumer has a solid and clear
understanding of the difference between a commercial on television and a call to customer service, the same can't necessarily
be said of their concept of a Twitter feed.
When the calls go out for a social media agency, there tends to be at least 5 big areas of services that a brand is looking for:
 Acquisition (brands want help increasing their audience in social media)
 Engagement (brands want help getting fans involved in the conversation)
 Advocacy (brands want help having messages spread through the network)
 Governance (brands want clear rules on operating in social media)
 Creative (brands want content that can be used in social media)

Of course, the best RFPs and the most serious brands are going to look first and foremost for a strategy that is going to
underpin all of this. I'd love to say that, over the years, social media RFPs have evolved away from simple tactics ("we want a
Facebook page") and gotten more sophisticated. But the RFPs that ask for social media services to serve a particular goal
remain in the minority. Of course, those are also the ones that produce the best work. The reason is simple: if you can get
smart marketing people to think about a goal, and then give them a tool, you'll get success. It doesn't matter what the tool is,
as long as the smart people understand it. If you go the other way (give smart people a tool and ask them to do something
with it), your chances of success are no better than a roll of the dice.

How to Send Out/Respond to a Social Media RFP
I do believe that we will continue to see more social media RFPs in the near future, which really means that we'll see more
brands establishing specific social media practices in the near future. While this is a net-new agency service, I don't think it is
necessarily an entirely new practice. Not considering strategy, which should be a consistent element through all work, we
should think of social media services as a mashup of a few other, more familiar services. If you are on either end of a social
media RFP (sending or receiving), you should think about these core practices first.
The first service is creative development. There are certainly some new formats and guidelines for the building content to go
on social media. But don't think about it as just some tweet or set of images. These are impressions that you are placing upon
your audience and they should be of the best quality you can muster.
The other is media placement. I have long used the language of media to describe the work done within a social campaign. For
example, we don't "post" content, we "traffic" it, just like we would with an ad. That means it is planned, placed, and measured.
The last big one is community management. This is a tricky one. I've had community managers working on projects for a long,
long time. But we always thought of their work based on their title: they managed a community. They kept it focused on the
topic, kicked off the bad people, and provided topics for discussion. Now, we want them to do all that, but the goal is not to
manage the community; it is to manage the community to grow value for our clients. These people are now the most front-
facing component of a campaign. They can't just be there to manage the community, because "the community" is the entire
point of the campaign.
And that, I suppose, is the bottom line on all of this. There are more social media RFPs coming because more brands are taking


social media very seriously. And they are taking it very seriously because they are not just seeking to fill a new channel with
their message. They are not thinking about social media as a thing, but as a way - a way to connect more closely with their
consumers.
Which is really a good thing for all of us. Let's agree to make sure that we take the opportunity to either bring in an agency or
be the agency brought in to social media to make sure that this isn't just a trend, but in fact a revolution. The dollars are there
to justify, for sure. But most importantly, so is the opportunity.

M.I.T. Game-Changer: Free Online Education For All

M.I.T.'s Simmons Hall
For Wall Street Occupiers or other decriers of the ―social injustice‖ of college tuition, here’s a curveball bound to scramble your
worldview: a totally free college education regardless of your academic performance or background. TheMassachusetts
Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) will announce on Monday that they intend to launch an online learning initiative called
M.I.T.x,which will offer the online teaching of M.I.T. courses free of charge to anyone in the world.
The program will not allow students to earn an M.I.T. degree. Instead, those who are able to exhibit a mastery of the subjects
taught on the platform will receive an official certificate of completion. The certificate will obviously not carry the weight of a
traditional M.I.T. diploma, but it will provide an incentive to finish the online material. According to the New York Times, in order
to prevent confusion, the certificate will be a credential bearing the distinct name of a new not-for-profit body that will be
created within M.I.T.
The new online platform will look to build upon the decade-long success of the university’s original free online
platform, OpenCourseWare (OCW), which has been used by over 100 million students and contains course material for roughly
2,100 classes. The new M.I.T.x online program will not compete with OCW in the number of courses that it offers. However, the
program will offer students a greater interactive experience.
Students using the program will be able to communicate with their peers through student-to-student discussions, allowing
them an opportunity to ask questions or simply brainstorm with others, while also being able to access online laboratories
and self-assessments. In the future, students and faculty will be able to control which classes will be available on the system
based on their interests, creating a personalized education setting.
M.I.T.x represents the next logical evolution in the mushrooming business of free online education by giving students an
interactive experience as opposed to a simple videotaped lecture. Academic Earth(picked by Time Magazine as one of the 50
best websites of 2009) has cornered the market on free online education by making a smorgasbord of online course content –
from prestigious universities such as Stanford and Princeton – accessible and free to anyone in the world. Users on Academic
Earth can watch lectures from some of the brightest minds our universities have to offer from the comfort of their own
computer screen. However, that is all they can do: watch. Khan Academy, another notable online education site, offers a
largely free interactive experience to its users through assessments and exercises, but it limits itself to K-12 education. By
contrast, M.I.T.x will combine the interactivity of the Khan Academy with the collegiate focus of Academic Earth, while drawing
primarily from M.I.T.’s advanced course material.
―M.I.T. has long believed that anyone in the world with the motivation and ability to engage M.I.T. coursework should have the
opportunity to attain the best M.I.T.-based educational experience that Internet technology enables,‖ said M.I.T. President
Susan Hockfield in the university’s press release.
According to the university, residential M.I.T. students can expect to use M.I.T.x in a different way than online-only students.
For instance, the program will be used to augment on-campus course work by expanding upon what students learn in class
(faculty and students will determine how to incorporate the program into their courses). The university intends to run the two
programs simultaneously with no reduction in OCW offerings.
According to the New York Times, access to the software will be free. However, there will most likely be an ―affordable‖


charge, not yet determined, for a credential. The program will also save individuals from the rigors of the cutthroat M.I.T.
admissions process, as online-only students will not have to be enrolled in the prestigious, yet expensive, university to access
its online teaching resources.
Those chomping at the bit to dive into M.I.T.x will have to wait, as the university doesn’t plan to launch a prototype of the
platform until the spring of 2012. According to M.I.T. Provost L. Rafael Reif and Anant Agarwal, director of the Computer Science
and Artificial Intelligence Lab, the prototype might include only one course, but it would quickly expand to include many more
courses.
Once launched, M.I.T. officials expect the M.I.T.x platform to be a giant hit amongst other universities looking to create or
expand upon their online course materials. ―Creating an open learning infrastructure will enable other communities of
developers to contribute to it, thereby making it self-sustaining,‖ said Agarwal in the M.I.T. press release.
Whether M.I.T.x will directly threaten the margins at for-profit online universities, such as the University of Phoenix, APUS, or
DeVry remains to be seen. But as M.I.T.x starts to provide many of the salient virtues of for-profit online colleges, such as a
robust learning management systems and real-time virtual interaction, these publicly traded education companies might have
to lower fees in order to compete with M.I.T.x’s compelling free price. In addition, the success of M.I.T.x, OCW, and Academic
Earth may push dramatic technological innovation at for-profits, so that they can maintain a unique selling proposition versus
their free competitors. Moreover, as the rapidly growing number of what are termed ―self educators‖ choose free college
education, a cottage industry of social media support services might evolve to bring them together for free in-person study
and help sessions.
Which is all to say that, against this country’s sizable need for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) graduates,
M.I.T.x is nothing short of revolutionary. This is especially true if you aren’t a credential freak and, like me, just want to improve
your chops in a marketable subject area. Heck, maybe Gene Marks’ (―If I Were a Black Kid‖) tech-based view of education can
become a reality after all.

Content and Device Separate
Gary Stein The papers have come through and the divorce is final.
I know. This is a bit of a shock, but really, I'm sure we'll all agree that the two parties will be much happier separate from each
other than they were together. This is one of those cases where, separately, each one will be able to grow in new directions
and achieve new things. Things that, I have to say, they never were able to do together.
I'm talking, of course, about content and devices. I know. You thought this was going to be another article about Ashton and
Demi. I'll save that for Twitter.
No, the big split that has happened that we in the world of online advertising and marketing need to be concerned with is that
content - sound, movies, documents, and so on - is no longer necessarily tied directly to the devices that we use to view and
listen.
The last few months of this year have seen a real growth in technology and services that are fueling this split. Apple
introduced iTunes Match, a pay-for service that allows you to have all your music and movies up in the cloud, and accessible
on your laptop, connected iPod, or television. Google introduced Google Music, which offers much of the same functionality
(but also tied to the Google+ social network).
Earlier this year, Amazon shifted the concept of the Kindle toward being more of a service: buy a book and you can read it on
your Kindle device or any other thing (such as a smartphone) that has the Kindle software installed. I can start reading a book
on my Kindle, place a bookmark, pick up my HTC Sensation 4G (a very cool phone, btw), launch the Kindle app, and find myself
in the exact same spot that I left off.
This is, of course, the next evolution in cloud computing, which, more than a simple technology, is a redefinition of what it
means to be "online." Long ago (in the 1990's), going online meant finding a computer that was able to dial into the Internet and
spending time sitting there. Today, it's more like we live inside a bubble that allows us to connect to content and functionality
anywhere, anytime.
Marketing With Content
The trend in technology of separating content from devices is running smack into another major trend in marketing: the
consistent communication cycle. Consider the work of past brand marketers. They would have the chance to encounter their
consumer only a few times a week, at most, since the nature of the media they had to work with moved so slowly. People
would only read a few magazines a week and would only do so in the evenings. Or they would just listen to the radio as they
drove to and from work.
Today, consumers are connected constantly and brands have the opportunity to speak far more frequently. Which means that
we need to find more things to say. The closest analogy we have to what is happening inside advertising right now is the
massive disruption that occurred to the news industry when CNN burst on the scene. When news went from being something
we got in 30-minute doses, once a day at 11 at night to a constant stream of information that never quit, it changed not only


the news industry, but also politics, business, and more.
Advertisers now find themselves in much the same situation. A consumer no longer simply encounters your ad as they flip
through a magazine. Rather, they have connected to you on a social network and now…expect you to give them stuff. As a
result, a great many marketers have invested in developing content that is relevant to the brand but also seen as valuable to
the consumer.
But, as we do this, we need to be aware that we are stepping from one spinning disk to another. Content consumption patterns
are going through a dramatic shift from download-and-enjoy to open-up-access.
This actually creates a great set of opportunities for marketers, if we operate within the media channels correctly. In
particular, we need to:
Build a Library
Brands that are going to invest in content should put a significant amount of their overall budget (that is, more than 60
percent) toward creating a high-quality, long piece of content. This could be a film that describes your product. Or a set of
recipes that complement your product. Or a series of interviews with thought leaders in the field where your product is
relevant. Build a very solid library of content, way more than you think you might possibly need.
Break It Up
Once you have created your content library, break it up into a bunch of small pieces and group those pieces in new ways. Find
all of the recipes that use a particular ingredient. Identify all of the times in all of the interviews where a certain topic is
mentioned. Catalog all of these pieces so that you can quickly find and group them.
Spread the Content
Once you have all of these content elements, begin to place them in strategic spots. Bundle all of those recipes with the
particular ingredient into a downloadable PDF and tweet links to it. Place all of those quotes about the particular topic, create
a PowerPoint, and place it on SlideShare. You can have a single place where the full-length content lives, of course. But you
can also split that content into new pieces that can be mixed up and redistributed in new ways.
The result of all this is that your consumer will go from being someone who has to be driven to content to someone who is
consistently surrounded by your brand. When you achieve this, you are in the exact same place where people want to be.

Listen Without Reacting
Listening is harder than speaking. Even the best listeners sometimes have to bite their tongues to stop from reacting,
interrupting, or trying to console the person talking. Here are three ways you can truly listen:
 Avoid distractions. This doesn't just mean putting down the Blackberry or closing your web browser. Try not to think about
what you're going to say next. Simply focus on what the other person says.
 Repeat back. This sometimes feels silly, but repeating back what you heard shows the other person that you're listening.
 Ask thoughtful questions. Ask open-ended questions that help you see the issue more clearly and allow your conversation
partner to go deeper into what he cares about.
How to Really Listen
One morning, my wife Eleanor woke up, turned over, and said, "I am not looking forward to this day." I asked her why.
What came out is that we were at the start of the Jewish high holy day season, which means colder weather and three weeks of
big social meals, long religious services, broken routines, and children out of school. Eleanor didn't grow up with these traditions,
and they can be overwhelming.
Now, I run a management consulting company; problem solving is what I do. So it didn't take me long to jump in.
"Cold weather means ski season is about to start," I said. "You love skiing. And these holiday meals are fun and filled with people
you love — they'll make you feel better. And I'll be with you; you won't be alone with the kids. Also, you know, Jesus was Jewish,
so it's kind of your tradition too."
Even as I said it, I knew that last one was a reach. It became clear that I was making her feel worse and now she wasn't just sad,
she was angry.
And when she got angry, I felt myself get angry too. And self-righteous. Here I am trying to help her and this is what I get?
But then I smartened up. Instead of giving in to my anger, which would have really blown things up, I shut up and listened. When I
did, I began to hear the real stuff, the things that neither of us was actually saying.
What I discovered was that she was upset because the focus on mothers during the Jewish holidays taps into her insecurities
about motherhood, not being a Jewish mom, and not having time to spend on her own work.


I also discovered that my own babbling wasn't so much to help her feel better as to help me feel better. I'm the reason she's in
New York City, living through cold winters, and part of a Jewish family.
In other words, by trying to make her feel better, I was doing the opposite of making her feel better. I was arguing with her. In
fact, most of the time when we try to make people feel better, we end up arguing with them because we're contradicting what
they're feeling. Which, inevitably, makes them feel worse.
Listening, it turns out, is magic. Not only did it help me understand what was going on with both of us, but it helped Eleanor feel
better, too. It made her feel that she wasn't alone in her feelings; I was with her.
All I had to do was listen.
But listening isn't easy. The more we listen to others, the more likely we will react — or overreact — to what they say. Listening,
it turns out, is much harder than speaking. We have to allow things we might disagree with to hang in the air. We have to move
over a little and create space for those things to linger.
That kind of listening takes tremendous courage.
But if we're interested in learning — about ourselves as well as others — then it's worth it. And if we're interested in being
connected to others, showing them respect, helping them feel better, and solving problems between us, then it's more than
worth it. It's essential.
Until people feel heard, they will fight to be heard. But once they are heard, there is little left to fight for, and then we can move
on, not as "us vs. them" but simply as "us."
So how do you listen in a way that transforms conversations and relationships?
1. Actually listen. And only listen. That means don't multitask. I'm not just talking about doing email, surfing the web, or
creating a grocery list. Thinking about what you're going to say next counts as multitasking. Simply focus on what the
other person is saying.
2. Repeat back. This feels a little silly at first but works magic. If someone says she is angry about the decision you just
made, you can say "you're angry about the decision I just made." I know, I know, she just said that. But it shows you're
listening and it communicates to the other person that she's been heard. If you don't have the courage to try it with an
adult, try it with a child. You'll see what a difference it makes and it will embolden you to try it with a colleague or your
spouse.
3. Ask questions. Explore the other person's thoughts and feelings more deeply. And "You don't really believe that, do you?"
does not count as a question. You are not using the Socratic method to prove your point; you are trying to better
understand what's going on so you can better understand your partner in this conversation.
Really listening can feel risky, which seems strange because listening doesn't materially change anything. But sometimes you'll
hear things that are hard to hear.
Remember that listening is not the same thing as agreeing. And it will never force you to take any particular action. If anything,
it will reduce the intensity of people's insistence that you take a specific action. Because in many cases what they're looking for
is proof that you've heard them. So if they feel you've really heard them, their need for action diminishes.
As Eleanor spoke, I noticed my own resistance to various things she was saying. There's no question that it's hard to really listen.
But once I relaxed into it, I heard her in a much deeper way. That made her feel better. Call me co-dependent, but it made me
feel better too.
It turns out that sometimes, just listening is problem-solving.

Push Notifications: Keep Mobile Users In Touch
ADOTAS – Push notifications are a messaging medium that allow applications installed on any connected device to actively
communicate with an end user, even if the device is inactive. It’s called ―push‖ because the technology enables a device to listen
for messages being ―pushed‖ to it from the application owner’s servers. Push notifications are a powerful new mobile
communications channel that create a persistent, streamlined and engaging mobile messaging experience. Similar to email
marketing, push notifications can consist of plain text or rich HTML and must be opted into. Messages can be generated
automatically from a server; triggered based on user activity, context (like user location) and preference; or sent manually
through a web interface. Audience groups can be segmented providing the ability to create campaigns. Like SMS, push gives you
the same ability to engage users directly on their mobile devices, but at a fraction of the cost. Push costs less because it utilizes
data and wifi networks instead of cellular networks. Push notifications are a direct, persistent, user-controlled and cost-
effective mobile communications channel.

Why are Push Notifications important?


With the average lifespan of a mobile app hovering at 30 days after being downloaded, push notifications are becoming the
centerpiece of solid, long-term mobile strategies. By driving increased consumer engagement, awareness and conversions, push
notifications extend the life of an app and add usefulness to consumers. Push is catching on for companies big and small across
all industries, giving brands a voice in the mobile channel and allowing them to create deep customer relationships. Push
notifications provide personalized experiences, giving users control to personalize preferences and opt in or out at any time.

So what does it take to get started? To send push notifications, you first have to build an app. Smart phone users spend the
majority of their time with the device in apps, creating a large opportunity for brands to connect with consumers in new ways.
This opportunity is creating a demand for companies to invest more on building solid apps and measuring success in more
tangible ways. Gone are the days of building throwaway apps and measuring success using download count and app store rating.
Today success is measured by how many times users open the app, how much time is spent in the app, and conversion rates,
among other metrics.

Mobile networks, like Verizon, and platforms, like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, are investing in push notifications too. They
are answering the demand to build better user experiences on their devices and enhance capabilities for their customers. This
evolution is providing businesses with a new ability to use social, local and mobile context to create more engaging and
personal experiences. Social integration, geo-based messaging, the ability to create campaign landing pages within apps,
business-friendly composition and measurement tools, along with investments in new offerings such as Notification Center and
Newsstand, are helping to bring push notifications into the core of mobile strategies.

Use cases

Companies like ESPN, New York Times, Groupon, Dictionary.com, Warner Brothers and thousands of companies are using push
notifications to drive user engagement, awareness and conversions. Push notifications are delivering new content, news, media,
local information and deals, and they’re providing social dialogue between people. These companies all benefit from increased
interaction and decreased messaging costs, while getting a ―built for mobile‖ experience that can’t be matched by other
messaging channels. Here are a few examples of how Push is driving business results:

Delivering A Daily Dose Of Learning

Push notifications gave the world’s largest and most authoritative online dictionary, Dictionary.com, the ability to create a Word
of the Day app that could actively engage their users. Dictionary.com uses push as a vehicle to deliver a new vocabulary-
building word every day, directly to millions of iPhones and Androids. ―We wanted to provide our popular Word of the Day to app
users direct to their mobile device,‖ said Lisa Sullivan-Cross, Dictionary.com’s general manager for mobile. ―Our word-lovers can
enjoy our features without needing to launch another program or app.‖

Making Radio Social

The Jelli music app aims to provide a dynamic, social, and gamified approach to radio. To better realize this goal, Jelli began
promoting community and game features with a social strategy. It used push notifications through my company, Urban Airship, to
revitalize social sharing and rating functions, delivering real-time alerts to highlight the app’s unique features. When users
suggest a song to Jelli, they will get a push if their song makes it to the radio and if the community enjoys their song. The push
notifications drove a 30 percent increase in user engagement along with dramatic increases in app usage and frequency

Driving Commerce
According to comScore, 14 percent of users respond to offers via push notifications. LivingSocial, Groupon, and Swirl by Daily
Candy all offer their daily deals to customers using push notifications. With push, these companies can assure that their
customers never miss a sale, even when they are on the go. Giving users the ability to click from a daily push directly into the
app has given Swirl a 60 percent increase in mobile traffic and a 20 percent increase in total mobile orders. They are
experiencing 40 percent higher conversion rates than through their mobile browser, which is driven primarily through email.

2012 Forecast: Mobile Marketing
ADOTAS – Having been involved in the mobile and advertising industries for over two decades, I can say with confidence that 2011
was a banner year for the discipline. Over the past year, consumers have proven that the mobile phone has become an integral
part of the shopping experience. This is creating a number of exciting new opportunities for marketers to reach consumers at
multiple touchpoints throughout the buying process.


Lessons From 2011
Let’s start by taking a look back at 2011. The biggest lesson we learned is that campaigns must tie directly to return on
investment. Mobile campaigns are no longer experimental: Brands have significantly increased their budgets, and with this,
expectations to show ROI have also increased.
A big factor in achieving desired ROI is reach. Despite what some may think, Apple does not have a lock on market share. Mobile
marketers must think beyond iOS to reach consumers on all types of devices and networks. Mobile campaigns such as Macy’s
Backstage Pass proved that providing consumers with choice in the call to action (i.e. providing a QR code and an SMS short code)
drives strong results. It is with these lessons in mind that we look to 2012 and where the coming year will take us.
Thinking Beyond the Click
In the coming year, we can expect more pressure to produce results from mobile campaigns. This means it is critical to think
beyond a one-time transaction. In 2012 we will see more long-term engagement opportunities and learn to think ―beyond the
click.‖ There will be even more device types in the hands of consumers (new smartphones, tablets, e-readers, etc.), making it
important to provide positive user experiences, rather than catering to the least common denominator.
Successful mobile campaigns have prominent calls to action and provide multiple ways to engage. Brands should consider using
an SMS call to action and QR code on print advertising campaigns that point to a mobile website that can capture the customer’s
information. This engages the consumer and introduces a concept of immediacy.
Social Media is Here to Stay
We can safely expect more social interaction via mobile device at the point of sale, making customer service vital. In a world
where a good experience – and, unfortunately, a bad one – can end up on Twitter and Facebook in seconds, the mobile phone has
become a megaphone from which customers broadcast thoughts in real time. Savvy brands can integrate mobile and social in a
smart way to ensure positive customer experiences and avoid potential disasters.
More Vendors, More Promises
In such a high growth industry, we can expect more new vendors will enter the marketplace in 2012. My advice to brands and
agencies is to proceed with caution. There is a lot to be said for experience when it comes to driving results. Any ―two guys in a
garage‖ startup and claim to know what they’re doing, but it’s important to ask questions and read case studies to make sure
they can back up these claims beforehanding over your precious budget.
Patent Litigation Will Abound
Along with more vendors often come more ―me too‖ technologies. This means patent lawyers will be busy in 2012. Patent
infringements are continually identified and enforced, making it imperative to work with a company that has protected its
industry knowledge and can keep you out of trouble.
Year of the Mobile Web
If I were to predict a breakout star for 2012, I would nominate the mobile web. As we move closer to the time when mobile web
access eclipses PC web access, brands, agencies and others will realize they need a mobile Web offering that over-delivers. This
has not yet happened, but we’re getting closer every day, and soon the time will come when consumers will demand it.
2012 Surprises
Social networks will play a more important role in the way we buy and recommend products. We don’t know yet what Twitter or
Facebook will launch regarding product recommendation or commerce initiatives, but we should be prepared to react to new
products and make sure all our initiatives are integrated with these social networks. Will others join the race to become the
killer app and be able to deliver in such a crowded category? Will price points continue to be brought down with offers of
discounted product in exchange for receiving ads a laKindle? These answers remain to be seen.
New Year’s Mobile Resolutions?
In the New Year, we should all resolve to tie CRM into our mobile programs, ensuring a deeper relationship and more relevant
information to the opted-in subscriber. Think after-the-click in mobile advertising – provide a means to an ongoing relationship.
Follow behavior and interest research – just because you can do something technically doesn’t mean you should. Know your
customers and prospects and market to them in ways that you have the best chance to succeed.
Happy Holiday’s and happy marketing in the New Year!

Kiip Raises Stakes On Mobile Game Rewards, Partners With Disney
ADOTAS – Kiip, the company that pioneered offering real-life, physical rewards for mobile game players, announced today it had
leveled up and has begun incorporating big-ticket items into its rewards. Kiip has partnered with Disney during this holiday
weekend in a promotion whereby people playing mobile games can enter flash competitions to win prizes as large as a

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