DWP targets silver surfers with social networking site

by Staff Brand Republic 29-Oct-07, 10:30

LONDON - The Department for Work and Pensions has unveiled a social networking website to encourage direct communication with the government and debate among older people about the issues that matter to them.

The pilot scheme at generationxperience.wordpress.com has been developed in conjunction with the Hansard Society as part of DWP's Generation Xperience campaign, which earlier this month staged the first UK Older People's Day.

Representatives from DWP will regularly update the website, start new discussions and contribute to existing ones as well as moderating the site. The site will also link to other well-known social networking sites including MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.

The initiative follows recent research for DWP's Generation Xperience campaign, which revealed the popularity of the internet among older people. More than half of all over-50s have access to the internet, rising to three quarters (76%) of 50- to 64-year-olds.

Nearly one in six of those in the 50-64 age bracket have conquered instant messaging, social networking sites and internet chatrooms (15%), while emailing is becoming the norm (37%). More than half (56%) of respondents say they have set themselves the goal of ‘learning computer skills’ as they approach later life.

Mike O'Brien, Pensions Minister, said: "There are 20m people over the age of 50 in the UK who have helped build a prosperous economy, a strong society and a better country. It is crucial their views must be taken into consideration.

"With this pilot scheme, we’re using a method of communication that is becoming increasingly commonplace for this age group. As many of the popular social networking sites are oriented towards young internet users, this is an effective way of talking to and listening to older people in the UK and has great potential to reduce isolation and promote digital inclusion."

The Generation Xperience UK Older People's Day initiative is supported by the DWP and the Department of Health in conjunction with a range of other government departments and agencies.

Other partners include the Financial Services Authority, Help the Aged, Age Concern, LinkAge Plus Pilots, Better Government for Older People, The International Longevity Centre, B&Q, CSV RSVP and the Beth Johnson Foundation.

Mobile Insider: Sponsor The User

by Steve Smith, Tuesday, November 13, 2007

AT THE RISK OF REVEALING too much about my media-addicted ways and permanently embarrassing my family, I will say that I'm the kind of guy who reaches for the remote in movie theaters.

When that bridge in Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" blows to hell and death rays start vaporizing suburbanites, my reflex is to hit rewind, no matter where I am. "What are you doing?" my partner asks as I start to fidget. "Nothing," I answer, as the impulse fades into the cold realization that I am strapped into one of those old fashioned, lean-back entertainment experiences that satisfied generations of passive audiences that preceded me. I am spoiled, and I admit it, but I suspect so are the rest of you. Interactivity is more than a feature of modern life. I think it is bound to become a reflex. Ultimately we start to assume that all media are or should have some back channel.

This a reflex that is tailormade for mobile. I am struck again and again by the response rates marketers like HipCricket and Vibes Media report from their in-venue SMS/MMS programs at concerts and sporting events. For instance, at a KIIS Los Angeles concert last May 15,000 attendees produced 7,672 shout-outs and messages to the texting screens in the venue. And when presented with an offer to upgrade their seats, concert-goers sent 10,550 messages, according to HipCricket, which managed the mobile piece of the event. At another concert several weeks ago, a 10,000-member audience produced more than 13,000 messages and more than 8,000 upgrade requests.

Jeff Hasen, HipCricket's chief marketing officer, says it is all about the offer and the venue. "In live arenas so much of the phone is personalization and people get into throwing a photo up. It makes it more enjoyable." And simply by sponsoring the screen on which the exchanges take place, a brand is doing what the user wants, facilitating one-to-one communication rather than interrupting it. The neatest trick of mobile media is going to be finding ways for marketing to be present at the site of peer-to-peer communication without getting in the way. Facilitating conversations is the best promotional opportunity of all.

This is just the simple rule of marketing -- adding value rather than detracting from an experience. The offer of a seat upgrade in a venue speaks directly to an immediate desire on the part of the user to enhance her experience.

Not every marketer has the allure of a seat upgrade to offer users, but there is an important lesson in this. Perhaps we should be thinking less about sponsoring events or content, and more about sponsoring users. How can a brand enhance and extend an experience that a user is already enjoying? That may be the real question that a personalized interactivity tool like the phone demands. Because mobile phones are totally portable, perhaps marketers have to stop thinking about media placement -- how and where to wrap their messages around content -- and start thinking situationally. Where is my user at a given point in time, and how can my brand enhance the value of that moment? How can I sponsor the user in his or her world? How can I help them activate the interactive reflex at any given moment? In-venue mobile marketing is a wonderful example of the power of mobile, but I think we should be extrapolating its lessons elsewhere.

There is a real opportunity for mobile to change the game of marketing, to move from interruptive promotion to real partnership with customers. If the rest of you are anything like me (God help you), then at any given moment in the day you may find yourself reaching for the remote trying to exercise that newfound interactive reflex. Brands should be there to help me activate that moment.

If users are "in charge," as we like to say, then shouldn't we be sponsoring them?

Contributing writer Steve Smith is a longtime new-media consultant and columnist, and current editor of Digital Media Report for MinOnline.com and Mobile Media Report for TelecomWeb.com Contact him at popeyesmith@comcast.net.

Social-Network Traffic Surpasses Web-based Email’s in UK

October traffic to the top 25 social networks, such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, accounted for 5.17% of all UK internet visits, compared with 4.98% for the “Computers and Internet - Email Services” category, such as Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Gmail, according to Hitwise (via ResearchRecap).

That marks the first time that UK internet visits to social networks outnumber visits to web-based email services, Hitwise UK Research Director Robin Goad writes.

“A growing proportion of the UK online population is choosing to communicate with friends via social networks rather than email,” he adds.

Moreover, social networks now send as much traffic to retail websites as do web email sites, according to Hitwise data:

Younger internet users - those age 18 to 34 - tend to visit social-network sites more than they do web email sites, whereas the reverse is true for those 35+, Goad writes.

Why Gen Y are the most money-hungry generation

news.com.au, 9/11/2007

GEN Y workers are more career-focused and ambitious than any other
generation, but they are also the most money-hungry, according to a job
survey.

But HECS debts, a lack of affordable housing and the rising cost of living
because of the drought and high petrol prices are the driving force behind
their desire for cash, the report by employment website SEEK found.

Of the 5000 Australian employees polled in the website's annual satisfaction
and motivation survey, 30 per cent were identified as Gen Y - aged 18 to 26.

Gen Y are more motivated by money than previous generation and mostly work
to pay for their lifestyles, the study found.

Almost one-third said money was their main motivator, compared with 15 per
cent of Gen X respondents and 9 per cent of Baby Boomers.

As a result, many said they would readily leave their employer for better
money or career possibilities.

Generation Y have the itchiest feet out of all the generations, with 73 per
cent of respondents saying they intended to leave their current employer in
less than a year.

Almost four out of five Gen Y-ers surveyed said more money would keep them
in their current job.

But the younger generation could be justified in their money lust, with the
results showing money may buy happiness.

The most unsatisfied were those in the $30,000 to $49,000 salary bracket,
where most entry level or graduate professional salaries start, with half
saying they were unhappy in their jobs.

The happiest were those being paid more than $150,000 a year.

The study also found Australia's happiest employees work in HR and
recruitment, in government or defence jobs and in the community and sport
sector.

Employees in the real estate, insurance and superannuation sectors were the
country's unhappiest.

But Gen Y employees shouldn't be criticised for their money lust because
they are trying to develop their financial independence against tough odds,
SEEK spokesman Joe Powell said.

"Many believe that Generation Y is likely to be the first generation in
history to be financially worse off than their parents and for many in this
group that's got to be a scary prospect," he said.

facebook & advertising

Some more, vital reading on the recent developments on facebook and how we might apply them

This, a great post from Techcrunch on the new developments:

Within hours of Facebook’s announcement of its social advertising plans, the backlash began. What about privacy? What about relevance? (I know everyone is sick of hearing about Facebook, but there are some important business issues at stake here, so bear with me). As far as privacy goes, there is none on Facebook, in that any information you share is fair game for targeting by advertisers. So get used to it. You don’t want to be targeted, don’t share information on Facebook. Perhaps the more important question, though, is around the relevance of the ads themselves.

Already, there’s been some insightful critiques on this front. Nick Carr started things off with his tart summary: “The medium is the message from our sponsor.” He goes on to point out that becoming a fan of a animated Sprite can is not exactly a revolution in advertising:

It’s a nifty system: First you get your users to entrust their personal data to you, and then you not only sell that data to advertisers but you get the users to be the vector for the ads. And what do the users get in return? An animated Sprite Sips character to interact with.

Henry Blodget asks, not unreasonably: Will advertisers pay people to recommend their products to friends? (That would be a bad idea, but you never know what Madison Avenue will try to do next).

And Umair Haque warns of adverse selection with Facebook ads that are presented as updates to people’s feeds (aka Beacons). Excerpt:

Yes, we all know referrals are powerful. But real referrals aren’t what Facebook’s offering. Real referrals aren’t broadcasting preferences; they are matching preferences. See the difference?

Beacon is essentially a biased market mechanism. That is, advertisers have control - but connected consumers (despite Facebook’s hype) don’t.

The synthetic relevance Facebook is pushing is a drug for the strung-out advertisers of the world: they desperately need a hit of something to make them believe they matter again.

As advertisers buy into Facebook - no one will be better off - except Facebook.

Marketers and firms won’t gain true connection with consumers.

And, crucially, consumers will be trapped into not just receiving crappy ads - but sending them as well.

These are all valid points. The best referrals come from people who know you have a particular need or are looking for something. They usually come out of a conversation. “Have you seen any good movies lately?” “Oh yeah, just last week we rented . . .” I only want referrals when I need them. If all my friends and casual acquaintances start bombarding me with referrals that are not matched to what I need, that could very quickly just become another source of noise I need to filter out.

And yet, it is just too soon to tell where all this will go. Granted, many of the advertising partners that have jumped on board this bandwagon are faceless consumer products companies. I am not sure I want to be a fan of Sprite or Chase or Verizon (and I am a customer of all of these brands). But some of the partnerships do make sense. I don’t mind identifying myself as a fan of the New York Times.

The social ads that will work will tend to be niche or high-end brands that people really like to show off because it says something about who they are. They will also work for other media sites where people already interact in a social way.

For instance, Epicurious now knows if you are a Facebook member and broadcasts any recipe you rate or save on the site to all your friends on Facebook (via their feeds). You can opt out if you don’t want to share this information, but it seems to me to be very similar to what people are already seeing in their feeds. “I like this recipe, check it out.” The New York Times will be doing something similar for travel ratings, movie ratings and reviews, and articles you save or e-mail (except, in that case, you will have to opt in to share the information and it won’t say who you are emailing it to). That too seems to me to be in keeping with the spirit of the Mini feed. “Here’s an article you should read.”

But those are not product endorsements. They are more akin to other Facebook applications, except that they are surfacing activity from a different site. Which is why I think that for this to work advertisers need to think more like developers. Help people do something useful, informative, or fun, and they will gladly broadcast that experience to the world. If people see these as ads, they will revolt. If they see them as indistinguishable from the stream of Facebook chatter already in their feeds (which is often inane, but addictive nonetheless), the messages will have a better chance of getting through.

This, some resources and further inspiration on apps and what some companies are already doing out there

Best of facebook - a site where people vote on applications

Facebook ads - facebook's page with all you need to know about the new ad developments and how to use them

Oktoberfest Lives On – seems quite popular app that ties beer to an event!!!

Verizon Wireless – group page, more a content webspace within facebook, rather than an app

Coke – very basic ‘product’ profile page. They don’t even own their own url!

Sprite – quite extensive product profile page and interaction app

The New York times: – company profile page
The New York times: – company profile page

epicurious - quite extensive product profile page

My (Early) Predictions For 2008

Wednesday, November 7, 2007
By Cory Treffiletti

Can you believe it's already November? Where'd all the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was getting settled back in San Francisco, sitting around counting the days till the iPhone was released, and planning the way I'd ask my fiancé to marry me! Ahhh... how time flies.

Of course, now that it's November, there's no better time than the present to lay out my predictions for 2008! I know, I know... some of you might think it's a little early, but I like to be first, so that none of my predictions are too heavily influenced by what everyone else is thinking. So with that brief explanation for jumping the gun, here are some of my bold and not-so-bold predictions for 2008:

1. P2P will become an important, ad-supported vehicle for reaching consumers. The P2P market is fast trying to push forward with ad-supported models and they are being very aggressive in trying new ideas. Patience is no longer a virtue in the music business, as more people are recognizing that digital has effectively increased the opportunity for interaction directly between the artists and the consumers. This is especially important as it's not all about music in this environment now - it's about video as well. This market will mature quickly simply because there is a lot of volume, and it provides an untapped resource with detailed behavioral information. The dirty word of "P2P" will likely go away and advertisers will begin to be more enticed by this environment.

2. The maturation of mobile as an ad-supported medium is still 1-2 years away, but mobile search will increase dramatically and usher in the beginning of this stage of growth. Mobile has been promised for many years, but hasn't yet met expectations. This year saw the iPhone launch, and the game here effectively changed because of the interface and the integration of such application as Google Maps, etc. With the platform now open for developers and with Google becoming aggressive in this market, the opportunity to reach consumers here will increase. Video is still too far away to be a viable ad-supported mobile medium, but search is the killer app on phones, and advertising in this portion of the platform will dramatically increase attention toward mobile in much the same way it did on the Internet. Dollars will flow to mobile search quickly, ushering in mobile platforms as ad-supported vehicles. Which brings us to the next prediction...

3. The Google phone and version 2.0 of the iPhone (increased memory, more applications) will dominate the sales of smart phones. With the Google phone getting coverage in The New York Times, it is close to becoming a reality. Other players will launch new phones, but none will come as close to the cool factor as these two companies. 'Nuff said.

4. Standards for online video advertising will be announced... by NBC, CBS and ABC. The fact that standards will be announced is not the surprising part. The surprise is that this movement will be led by the major television networks, notoriously slow to lead the packaging of online video. Still, the networks are also the leading source of quality video content that is accessible and of interest to the mass audience! As eyeballs come from TV to the Web to see this content, and as tools emerge for the management of the syndication of video content and the associated advertising, the networks will be in a power position to manage these standards and lead the industry forward. For better or for worse, that's what I see happening.

5. Social media will develop the "killer app": an aggregate buying tool for groups. I have always said that social media is the digital extension of multi-level marketing (Amway, Mary Kay, etc.). The common element between these two models is commerce and the aggregation of consumers to purchase products (though in different ways).
I think that social media will become a VERY useful tool when social networks are used to benefit the individual user along with the group (as in business networking, etc.). I see the killer app as an aggregate commerce engine where you can gather together 10 of your friends looking to buy a flat-screen TV and buy them all in bulk at a discounted price, shipped to each separate location. It's Costco embedded in your social network, and it puts the "social graph" to a practical purpose. The logistics of this may be difficult, but I think it will be inevitable.
That leaves me to a couple of predictions related to Facebook:

· Facebook will not be bought in 2008, nor will it go public.

· The OpenSocial initiative will not hurt Facebook, but it might decrease its valuation slightly.

For my final prediction: The role of the media planner will become even more difficult, as these emerging formats become more widely used by consumers and a more viable opportunity for interaction with brands. There are lots of implications for these trends, but I'll have to hold off on that explanation for another day.

What do you think?

Google Coming To A Gas Station Near You

November 7 2007
By Duncan Riley

Google’s quest to be everywhere continues to grow with news that the Mountain View search giant will today announce a new deal that will see motorists in the United States hooking up to Google at the gas station.

Pumps made by Gilbarco Veeder-Root Inc will include an Internet connection and will display Google Maps on a small color screen. Motorists will be able to obtain directions to hotels, restaurants, hospitals, or other local landmarks as specified by the gas station owner and get a print out from the pump to take with them.

Google will not be displaying ads against the content, however there may be opportunities for coupons and similar revenue streams at a local level directly with each gas station owner. The initial roll out will be 3,500 gas stations with future expansion dependent on demand.

AP quotes Google’s Karen Roter Davis saying that the move is part of Google’s drive to make its services available whenever and wherever people need them; “This will be sort of a Googley, more stealthy way of getting directions,” she said. Googley indeed