Social networked, user driven show hits the numbers

Sofia's Diary seems to really be taking off, which just offers more credence to the argument of how powerful good, social content can be. Launched by bebo it's obviously tying in nicely with the overall desire of the site's community, but i i think the brand association from Unilever and C&D just seems tacked on. The concept of creating these types of show is obviously working, but shoudl we be steering our client towards making them, or at least getting more involved than an annoying pre-roll?

LONDON - More than 5m viewers have logged on to social networking site Bebo to view the new interactive online soap opera 'Sofia's Diary' since it launched mid-March. From Brand Republic

The series started with the first episode attracting 305,000 views during the first 24 hours live on Bebo, rising to 1.3m views for the first four days online. Viewing figures consistently rose culminating in almost 2.5m hits for the first week online and 2.6m hits during the second week.

Sofia's Diary' is aimed at teenagers and twenty-somethings. It follows the adventures of 17-year-old Sofia Taylor and her friends as she adjusts to her new life in London.

Unilever's Sure Girl deodorant and Church & Dwight UK's teeth whitening product Pearl Drops Instant White have paid to feature in the series.

Fans are encouraged to interact with the show and contribute to storylines. Each week viewers decide which way Sofia should turn regarding an important decision in her life, with their vote determining the outcome.

Sarah Gavin, Bebo's global communications director, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to reach the five million mark during the all important launch weeks of 'Sofia's Diary'.

"The unique interactive element of the series encourages viewers to return daily to see if their individual vote has changed the next episode's outcome, giving fans a complete 360-degree personal experience."

Each weekday, Sofia and her friends update their video diaries with two- to three-minute instalments, as well as their own Bebo profiles.

Users can stay in touch with Sofia via mobile phone by receiving daily updates from her during the day, which lets them know what's happening in her world. The service is free to all users in the UK regardless of network and can be activated by texting "Sofia" to 60505.

10 Things to know about social networking

From: akispicer & Fallon Brainfood, 1 week ago

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Nice presentation delivering a top line on what marketers need to think about before entering the social space now, and where it might be going. My personal view is that both sides of the marketing industry is badly lagging here in Australia. We as creative agencies really need to start understanding, and driving the use of social approaches as opposed to advertising ones.
To make this happen do we need to begin working with site creators to bring their services to our market and getting clients involved, rather than trying to get client's to engage with something the can't see the local significance of? Do we need to start acting more like media houses and take create ideas directly to social sites so we can help our brands offer direct, relevant 'social currency', rather than just piggy backing. I think we do.

Fallon strategic planner Aki Spicer, explores 10 Trends Marketers Should Know About Social Networking.

Brainfood is a monthly all-agency lunch conducted by Fallon Planners. Wide-ranging topics explore trends, business issues, and actionable opportunities for our brands.

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Give real gifts on facebook

Contagious 25/02/2008 00:00:00

Obviously a stunning idea, but the problem with this in a market like Australia is the gaping break in the chain between mobile and POS. In store scanners that can read mobile vouchers are the holy grail here, but until they come along there are many ways to overcome the gap. We just need to convince our clients of the immense value in linking the most ubiquitous device directly with the till...

What do a blank piece of paper, a cow bell, a rock and a slightly crumpled jock-strap have in common? Answer - they are all examples of gifts which can be bought and exchanged on Facebook. Now in fear of sounding cynical, we can think of a few better ways to spend $1, or 50p than on a virtual lump of granite - unless of course it was to throw at the individual who thought of it in the first place. However, what does 50p buy you in the real world? A newspaper? A pint of milk? How about a Mars Bar? Now you're talking... Cue The Light Agency and their multi-award winning M BAR GO platform...

Mars Snackfood UK has become one of the first marketers to utilise the new 'Celebrate' application, which allows Facebook users to exchange real-world gifts as they would any other virtual pressie. The process is simple - the user selects their choice from a variety of popular Mars snacks, pays for it using their PayPal account and then the recipient is sent a voucher ID code via SMS, which can be scanned in a shop in exchange for the chocolate bar. The platform binds together mobile phone technology, retail terminals (EPoS systems) and a campaign database managed by The Light Agency, which facilitates the redeeming of these mobile offers.

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=7774284449&ref=s

Lynette Cowen, Client Services Director for The Light Agency, told Contagious: 'With more than 50 percent of Facebook users returning to the site each day, it gives us and Mars an unprecedented reach and opportunity to build a business highly relevant to people’s lives

'Our technology is currently deployed in the PayPoint branded network which consists of over 12,500 retailers with PayPoint terminals located in their shops (including SPAR, NISA-Today’s, Texaco and thousands of independents) in all parts of the UK.Therefore, we wanted to focus on products which can be purchased within these kind of retailers, that fit with the gifting theme - that is why the synergy with Mars is perfect.Their products are leading brands; ubiquitous within the shops and perfect for gifting on Facebook.'

M BAR GO has already scooped a number of industry accolades and awards including the Real Business/O2 50 to Watch in Mobile 2007 and the Most Innovative Digital Business (Revolution Awards 2006). Will it catch on with consumers and the die-hard social networking devotees though? The Celebrate application is now live on Facebook, so the proof will indeed be in the pudding, or Mars Bar - as it would seem.

Social shopping and retail

Another interesting article from Techcruch, this time on how some social shopping sites are starting to close the loop:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/01/rasba-brings-social-shoppers-and-retailers-together/

Not just apple doing sexy interface stuff

From Techcrunch: microsoft’s Surface computer will make its commercial debut April 17 in AT&T stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco.

Microsoft first unveiled the Surface back in May 2007; the coffee-table like computer allows touch screen interaction with various surfaces, can recognize objects places on it and even interact with things like mobile phones.

AT&T said it planned to use the Surface to allow customers “to learn about the growing universe of mobile applications and devices.”

I had the opportunity to have a quick play with a Surface earlier this year and it’s one of the cooler things to come out of Redmond in the last 12 months, but I can’t help but wonder: isn’t putting a Surface in an AT&T store like driving an Aston Martin into a Ghetto? To be fair, interacting with a Surface at an AT&T store will be better than trying to interact with AT&T staff; not only will it be quicker (even if you queue for an hour to use it), it will actually be more polite and be able to explain the product its offering competently.

Check out the video demo