Is social media still an option for businesses?

Today I'n not writing an article as I'll let the video below do the job...

Do you think that Social Media is an option for Businesses today? Well think about the internet, do you think business have an option whether to have a presence there? The same can be said for social media...the number of users there is not small at all, so it might be worth a try.

Have a look at this video and then let me know what you think...



For those who cannot access Youtube, you can access the video from the following free proxy site:- www.myprxy.com

Sony PS3 faced calendar problem...now solved

Sony's competition with Nintendo Wii and Microsoft XBOX has taken another small dip yesterday as a problem with the PS3 has left many owners unable to access the PlayStation Network or even worse play some other the most sought after games including Heavy Rain.

PlayStation 3 owners worldwide yesterday report huge issues where they were actually locked out of their online accounts and were unable to use any of the PlayStation 3’s online features. An undisclosed number of games have fallen prey to the problem too, presenting perplexed PlayStation punters with a mystifying error code whenever they try to log on.

The issue has been taken very seriously by Sony who has put most of its engineers at work to identify the issue and come up with a solution. The solution was found a few hours after a it was discovered that the PS3 was recognising the year 2010 as a leap year and hence affected the switch from February 28 to March 1 date.

Sony took all steps to communicate updates to the public and has also been using its twitter account to distribute updates (http://twitter.com/SonyPlayStation)...this helped a lot relieving some of the pressure that gaming groups could have exercised if left in the dark!

Taxi's go 2.0

The new Taxi Service is called greentomatocars (http://twitter.com/greentomatocars) and the company claims to be the first private hire service in the UK to take Taxi bookings via Twitter. The company's green credentials are based on using what it claims to be the greenest car on the market - the Toyota Prius.

Bookings can be made by sending a direct or private message to greentomatocars with the details of the journey required. The company will then Tweet back, containing a unique booking reference confirming and hence confirming the booking.



The company is trying to build a community about it...a way of increasing word of mouth about it's service riding the wave of it's green credentials. Visitors can participate in an online conversation around environmental issues. Asked about why Twitter, founder Tom Pakenham, said: "Twitter has become such a phenomenon and with so many people in London using it, we are delighted to be able to use Twitter to build a closer relationship with our customers and make booking a car simpler and easier than ever."





This is not the only booking service via Twitter, last week, a Twitter-based hotel booking engine launched called Inoqo. This booking engine enables customers to book and check-in within 48 hours and take advantage of special deals.

Best Buy offering Unbelievable prices during the recession.

About two weeks ago I have told you about the launch of Palm Pre and the Pricing mistake that Best Buy did (issued it at a fantastic price of $99). Did you think this was going to be the last mistake done as they would pay extra attention from now on? Unfortunately this was not the case...

Best Buy is apparently trying it's best to try to help customers through through the recession, but no one could have imaged that they could go as far as offering a 52-inch TV for just $9.99! It happened on Wednesday however as usual it was too good to be true.

As soon as the people noticed the price Bloggers and Twitterers lit up the Internet with posts about the offer, some insisting Best Buy must honor it, others making jokes. However the decision of the retailer this time, unlike with the Palm Pre mistake was not to honor the $9.99 price posted Wednesday morning on its Web site for a 52-inch Samsung flat-screen TV but to refund those that bought it. The price was then adjusted by early afternoon to $1,799.99, almost half off the original $3,399.99 price.

Obvious such repeated mistake left it's mark on the share price as it fell 27 cents to close at $36.50 Wednesday. Do you think they should at least subscribe to their own newsletter maybe in this way they can check their own best offers?

Twitter documents hacked...strategy revealed

Twitter has been affected from a security breech...a hacker managed to access a number of files that had been saved by one of its employees google files online and disclosed these files to the media. The files contained a number of confidential documents outlining the strategy of the company and the bank account figures.

The strategy documents outline Twitter ambition to roll out roll out a five-pronged commercial strategy aimed at helping it generate $140 million in revenue by 2010 and $1.5 billion in sales by 2013.

According to stolen documents published by Techcrunch, Twitter's long-awaited money-making strategy will focus on verified accounts, search ads, sponsored tweets, AdSense widgets and payments. The use of Verified accounts, will see the creation of paid accounts that can be used by corporate and celebrity users (like facebook does with users/advertisers wishing to create Fan Pages, as opposed to setting up a profile). Search ads would see heavy users of Twitter's search API required to run ads on the service. According to the leaked documents, Twitter will invest in engineering to make the offering ‘flawless' and ‘timely'.

The thirds phase of the strategy will focus on generating revenue via sponsored Tweets that could see advertisers charged for targeting consumers with direct messages offering coupons and discount vouchers.Twitter's strategy will also include AdSense widgets.

All these initiatives will enable Tweeter to turn from a free for all microblogging website to a money making machine. The importance of Twitter has also been highlighted recently with the turmoil in Iran. Tweeter in fact was the tool the US government was using to keep up to date with what was happening in a country that they have little access to. Hundreds of people were using Tweeter to organise themselves and report what was happening. All these have made the world even more global...will adverting on the other hand reduce the amount of people registering for Twitter's services?

Is it worth to keep a blog?

Who said that blogs and mini blogs are just a waste of time? This could have been the case some time ago however this is not surely the case today...the question today is - How many Twitter followers does it take to get a job?

Best Buy has the answer to this question...The answer is 250. This is the amount that Best Buy require from candidates wishing to apply for a marketing role with them. The ideal candidate should also have a ‘two plus years of mobile or social media marketing experience' and ‘one plus year of active blogging experience', as well as a Bachelor's degree and at least 250 Twitter. So now actually blogging really pays.

While a lot of companies are specifying the need for people to have social media experience, Best Buy is believe to have been the first one to actually ask for a specific minimum number of Twitter followers. Best Buy explains this requirement as Twitter is part of the corporate culture at Best Buy, in fact chief executive Brian Dunn recently encouraged customer and investors unable to attend the company's annual shareholder meeting to follow the proceedings via Twitter.

Dunn in fact has an active twitter account and has currently over 1650 Twitter followers, so he is surely more than qualified for the role. So I'll better start increasing my followers as I'm quite behind when it comes to number of followers :)

Very Innovative Stealth Marketing Campaign...you must read!

I was sitting at home in front of my laptop and I was searching for innovative marketing campaigns when I came across the new advert series by Procter & Gamble...It is a very unusual campaign for Procter & Gamble and in fact from what I could find it was only launched of a blog....maybe to test people's reaction to it.

I found a blog featuring a series of short short films about a schoolboy who one day wakes up with "girl parts" instead of "boy parts". The videos show you the problems this guy faces in adapting to the menstruation cycle and finally when the D-Day arrives how this guy deals with the issue. I was quite amazed at this viral campaign and continued to search for the marketer behind this stealth campaign when I found it was none other than Procter & Gamble's Tampax.

Since April Procter & Gamble has been quietly promoting Tampax tampons through the blog www.zack16.com, which features a series of regularly updated short films, starring Zack Johnson.

As of this week, the most viewed of nine online videos produced had been seen fewer than 6,000 times on YouTube, though it's had a few thousand additional views on such sites as StupidVideos.com. The fictitious Mr. Johnson also has a Twitter account, @ZackJohnson16, with 949 followers.

Advertising - Much needed by companies but sometimes frustrating for Customers

I was reading the Financial Times and came across one of a series of articles that reports on the dire state of the print media advertising market in the US as it has been heavily hit by the economic crises. The article (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/daa86abe-2e77-11de-b7d3-00144feabdc0.html)reports the further drop in New York's Times aadvertising revenue (it fell 27% leading to a first quarter loss of $74.5m). This drop is not as accentuated in the digital media industry as it is in the print media.

Facebook is one of the companies which is seeking to increase or at least limit the damage of the economic crisis. With the deployment of the last makeover of its social networking site it is aiming to make advertising more targeted so that companies can benefit from better return of investment. However this apparently is leaving its toll on Facebook and other social networking sites who have followed the same trend. A study done by Interactive Advertising Bureau shows that such a strategy is turning off users of these sites (31% of social networking users are fed up with constant requests by brands). This could be a blow to these sites as they are trying to take the opportunity to consolidate their revenue base with the potential to expand further (especially with future economic recovery).



However the same survey highlights the fact that users would be happy to join groups if offered exclusive content or something relevant. This could be the an Ace for another company - Twitter - and could also explain it huge growth. Users can choose to follow mini blogs which they have an interest in and hence pick up the information the want. However Twitter still has to find a business model that will allow it to produce some form of revenue stream that could ensure its long-term survival. Hence the battle still remains for such companies as they need to satisfy their users while at the same time ensure their long term survival.