With the big game on Sunday, it’s almost impossible to go online without seeing something pertaining to the Super Bowl. While I enjoy hearing about the Patriots, one thing that really caught my attention has been all the talk regarding the widely anticipated Super Bowl commercials. I like Super Bowl commercials just as much as the next person, but I was surprised that I am already seeing the full commercials before the game has even happened. Did I miss something? Isn’t the point of paying 3 million dollars so the commercial will have its big debut during the Super Bowl, not weeks before on the internet? Well I really thought about this and tried to figure out the reasoning behind this new marketing strategy. While at first I was rather confused by this approach I do think it can have a positive impact for some companies, but definitely not all.

I just recently saw Chevy’s 2012 Super Bowl ad “Happy Grad,” a simple yet memorable commercial. Although it was posted early on the internet, it is greatly entertaining, which puts Chevy in a good position for when it does air. People are already talking about the commercial, which adds to the anticipation of other viewers. Instead of just being viewed during and after the Super Bowl, Chevy’s ad is being seen before the game has even started. The “Happy Grad” ad has already had 905,921 views on the popular site YouTube. The commercial will have a much longer lifespan than ads that are waiting to air on Super Bowl Sunday. This strategy has also given Chevy the advantage of having a larger return on investment by allowing their commercial to circulate for a longer amount of time on the internet and television. People will constantly be seeing the Chevy brand, giving them more incentive to buy from them. While this is a risky strategy, it works for Chevy because they have a good commercial that viewers find desirable.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While Chevy will most likely see a positive impact from releasing their commercial early, not all companies will get the same outcome. Another 2012 Super Bowl ad done by Lexus is called “The Beast.” Sounds pretty cool, huh? Well don’t let the name fool you because this commercial isn’t that special. When I began watching it, I was pretty interested, but then it became rather predictable and unexciting. I really didn’t find it entertaining and wouldn’t be too excited to see it again during the Super Bowl. While this may be my personal opinion on the ad, I think many people would feel the same way about seeing a commercial in the future that they didn’t even enjoy the first time. For me, now that I have already seen this commercial, I really don’t feel a need to pay attention to it again during the Super Bowl. I think this is a great downside to companies posting commercials that aren’t very entertaining and enjoyable before they are supposed to air. People already know what the ads are like and may not have an interest in them the second time around. Now that this Lexus ad has been around for over a week, people might even be sick of it by the time it actually airs.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Overall I think it’s a pretty risky strategy to post your Super Bowl commercial before the actual game. You really have no idea how people will react to your ad and once it’s out, it’s out.  Viewers like the element of surprise and seeing Super Bowls ads before the game just doesn’t have that same effect. While some companies like Chevy may see a positive outcome from posting their ad, not all will get the same response. I was really surprised to see this happen this year and while I may understand the reasoning a little better, nothing beats seeing new commercials on Super Bowl Sunday.

Do you think releasing Super Bowl ads early is a good strategy? Will it detract from watching on game day? Tweet us @451Heat to share your thoughts!

Thanks to @bonnielester530 for this week’s post!

Bonnie is a 451 Marketing Marketing Intern. She is a senior at Worcester State University majoring in Business Administration.

Whether you are trying to acquire new customers, generate more leads, or simply sell the product, paid advertising can come to your rescue. The advantage of paid advertising is that people are already searching for your product/service. As opposed to conventional marketing, a paid search audience already has the intent to buy or learn more about your product.

Apart from the benefit of having qualified traffic, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has many other positives. First off, it is easy to start. Setting up your account is simple; you can start off with a budget that you are comfortable spending. Secondly, PPC offers flexibility. You can test out different versions of ad copy, headlines, and call-to-actions. Lastly, paid ads are great way for increasing brand awareness. Even if people don’t click on your ad, just showing up in the search results for your key terms builds trust factor and brand recognition.

However, there are challenges involved in paid advertising. With more marketers turning to PPC advertising, the paid search space is becoming  competitive. More and more brands are fighting for the top ad positions. Because your competitors are bidding on some of the same keywords as you are, this could result in a price war. Keywords which once cost few cents a click now can cost considerably more. This isn’t a problem if you have a large budget to work with. But if you have a limited budget, you need to keep an eye out on your account spend.

So how do you stick to your budget and still get the most out of your PPC ads? Here are 5 tips to better optimize your PPC budget:

1.  Negative Keywords: Negative keywords are search terms that you don’t want your ads to show up for. Look through the search query report and make note of such keywords. Once you’ve identified these keywords, add them to the account. You can add negatives at the ad group, campaign, or account level.

2.  Device Targeting: You can set your ads to show up on desktops/laptops, tablets, mobile devices or on all of these devices. If your website is not mobile ready, users will struggle to read the content on your site. In such a case, it makes sense to exclude the mobile audience and just target your ads to people searching on desktops/laptops and tablets.

3.  Ad Scheduling: Ad scheduling lets you specify certain days of the week when you want your ads to appear. You can also adjust bids for your ads during certain time periods in a day. Review all of your campaigns and see what days and times are best converting. Shut off your ads during the low converting period.

4.  Ad Delivery: Ad delivery determines how quickly your ads are shown each day. You can have the ads show up evenly throughout the day, or you can have them show as quickly as possible. If your campaigns are consistently hitting the daily budget cap, switch the setting to allow your ads the opportunity to appear throughout the entire day.

5.  Bid: Keywords can be very expensive. If you are running on a tight budget, being at the top ad position might as well drain your daily budget in a few clicks. In such cases reduce your bid, be at a lower ad position and use that saved budget in getting more clicks.

These are some quick tips that we’ve found useful in better utilizing the budget. How do you optimize your account spend? Share your thoughts in the comments or tweet us @451Heat.

Top Story: Would You Like Fries With Your McDisaster?

Last week, McDonald’s embarked upon a new Twitter campaign that turned out less than stellar for the brand. But before we talk about it, a little background.

@McDonalds had a very successful Twitter campaign using the hashtag #MeetTheFarmers where McDonald’s suppliers talked about the pride and quality of the ingredients they provide to the company. Great idea.

Fast forward to a newer, vaguer hashtag: #McDStories. Seems harmless enough – ask your followers to tell stories about their experiences with your brand. That is, if you brand is not one that polarizes the masses. The backlash was fast, and in some cases, brutal, from the brand’s vocal detractors.

The lesson? If you know there are some that don’t feel so great about your brand, and you are not actively doing things to repair the things that they criticize (look to Dominoes – they did an AMAZING job admitting defeat and re-positioning themselves as a brand committed to rejuvenating and redefining their brands), it’s probably not the best idea to open the floodgate by asking people to share their experiences with your brands. Remember: the angriest always speak the loudest.

Under the Radar: Bank of America to Test Social Couponing

Have you had enough with daily deal and coupon sites already? Too bad. It seems like everyone has been jumping in on the couponing fun over the past couple years; and now Bank of America is next on the list. The oft-complained-about bank is launching targeted discount ads in an attempt to make you feel a more loyal connection to them.

With the ever so cleverly name BankAmeriDeals, you could begin seeing special offers from the stores you shop at most (and their competitors) when you log into your Bank of America account. It may sound crazy, but Bank of America’s system actually makes sense and sounds easier to use than most. When you opt into one of the deals, you don’t have to pay for the coupon, like you do with many of the other deal sites. Instead, Bank of America will pay you in cash back once you take advantage of the deal. So, if you get a deal for 30% off at your favorite restaurant, you’ll eat at the restaurant, pay full price, and then Bank of America will put the cash back in your account.

While it makes sense why Bank of America is launching these deals and we think the system actually sounds pretty good right now, we have a feeling many will be wondering why Bank of America is launching these new initiatives instead of working on their customer service. But maybe all these cash back rewards will make you love Bank of America a little more? BOA is certainly hoping it will get you to pull out your credit or debit card more than you already do. It sounds like the more you use your card at your favorite stores, the better your deals will be. Is that incentive enough for you to use your Bank of America credit or debit card more often?

Tool of the Week: The Proliferation of Brands on Tumblr

As social networks go, Tumblr isn’t brand new, having been founded in 2007 it has been an established and well-known site for a number of years. But not until recently had the site been looked at as a business tool like WordPress, Blogger and other blog platforms mainly because the blog is setup more for photos and quotes instead of text.

The easy-to-share-nature of Tumblr makes it a fantastic medium for businesses looking to spread their brand quickly across the Web, but it may scare some as well because of how easily buried their content can become (there are currently 38,000 posts every second).

With the rapid adoption of image based social networks (think Pinterest and Instagram), brands are starting to identify the value of imagery as well as rapid fire messaging (Twitter brought brands around to that). Of the industries adopting Tumblr, one of the fastest growing is the publishing community.

What is most interesting about this is the varying use of Tumblr among publishers. The Boston Globe posts large photos with a headline, while the Washington Post publishes full articles. Rolling Stone post snippits of articles, and GQ posts all kinds of funny photos and information. There seems to be no perfect formula yet, but lots of different publications are getting in the action.

Around The Hub: Tim Thomas Making Waves in Washington

Last week the Boston Bruins were honored by Barack Obama at the White House for their championship run last year. Besides the Bruins players and coaches, you could also find Mayor Menino and John Kerry (black eye and all) attending the celebration. But one key member of the Bruins was not in attendance, MVP Tim Thomas.

The only public statement Thomas made on the matter was posted on his Facebook:

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.

This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.

Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.

This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT”

The Bruins organization seemed disappointed Thomas was not there, and made sure to add that his beliefs were not shared by the organization as a whole. For the most part though, nobody wanted to broach the subject. It was smart of the Bruins players, coaches and management to stay away from this subject as much as possible, because when politics are involved there are too many people they could offend with any opinions either way.

The move by Thomas has caused a lot of arguments in the Boston area among sports and non-sports fans alike. Many believe it was an inappropriate way to handle an event where the entire team was honored, while others are 100% behind his actions. Either way he caused a stir in the Boston community, alienating some fans, but most likely gaining some as well. It will be interesting to see if this causes any backlash from fans and teammates in the future.

What do you think of the McDonald’s Disaster? Will you be using the BOA deals? Do you use Tumblr? What do you think of the Bruins player not visiting the White House? Follow the feedback with #451Labs hashtag and tweet us at @451heat.

Thank’s to @maxesilver, @susie, @halleyalice for contributing to this week’s #451Labs post!

This past Christmas, my parents surprised me with an iPad2. Being the ever-diligent Communications student, I decided to do a little research on the marketing approaches that can be useful when developing a tablet app for your company or product.

According to an article by TechCrunch, there will be an estimated 90 million tablet users in the U.S by the end of 2014.   Of those tablet owners, approximately 61 million will be using Apple’s iPad.  That offers a sizeable opportunity that cannot be ignored.  Logically, marketing strategies are adapting in order to cater to these devices. 

Image from Pluggd.in

So how can your company create a successful app?

Here are a few tips:

1.  Your app should be easy to use.  The first is fairly obvious, consumers aren’t going to waste their time trying to understand an app that is unnecessarily difficult to navigate.  I’m sure everyone has downloaded and later deleted an app because it wasn’t as simple as it claimed to be.

2.  Your app should be free of charge.  This is an opportunity for your company to build its brand and to gain exposure, not to make money.  Treating your app as a revenue channel will only deter potential consumers from downloading the app.  When I’m browsing the App Store, I filter my results based on those that are free.  I’ve never paid for an app before and don’t plan to start now.

3.  Your app should be compatible with multiple tablets.  While the iPad continues to be the most popular device, you should make sure anyone who wants to download it has that option.  Don’t limit your brand’s exposure by failing to offer it to everyone.

4.  Your app should offer an additional benefit that your website does not.  For example, I have an app called Nike Training Club, which I use to workout when I’m at home.  Nike promotes use of this app by offering to unveil a celebrity workout plan if you use it for a certain amount of time.  The incentive of receiving my childhood idol (no judgment please), Hilary Duff’s, workout was enough to convince me to use the app more often.

 Image from Plugged.in

5.  Your app should be creative.  While this may seem to be a no-brainer, a mobile-marketer article, found that tablets offer a more interactive canvas, which allows creators to be more imaginative in how they connect with consumers.  Therefore users may be more willing to engage with a campaign than they would if it were print advertising or a TV commercial because there’s the added opportunity for interaction.

6.  Your app should take full advantage of the tablet’s capabilities. Tablets offer the functionality of a desktop PC with the mobility of a cell phone.  Magazine and other reader apps are good examples of how to take full advantage of this.  Because the screen is larger than that of a smart phone, consumers are likely drawn to the increased ease of reading.  In addition, the lightweight model allows consumers to bring their entire stock of magazines, books, newspapers, etc. with them without monopolizing any further space.  Apps can also capitalize on the tablet’s capabilities by encouraging direct responses from users through simple feedback channels built-in to the app.

These are some tips that could help promote your brand or product on a tablet.   What are some additional attributes that you look for in an app?  What discourages you from downloading an app?  Which tablet do you have? Tweet us @451Heat to share your thoughts!

-Katie O’Brien, 451 Marketing Marketing Intern
Katie is a senior at Boston College majoring in Communications

1. Deadline Awareness: All the panelists emphasized how important it is for PR professionals to be aware of publication deadlines. While PR professionals are always eager to get news out to media ASAP, even non-breaking news, it’s beneficial to do your homework and be aware of the recipients’ schedules – which can vary based on their type of media.Joe noted that while early morning is the best time to reach him with news for broadcast, the worst times are when he first gets into the office (7 a.m.) and right before they go on air.  As for the print dailies, late morning or early afternoon is the best time to capture their attention.  Lisa pointed out that the Boston Business Journal’s deadline day is Wednesday, so it’s best to avoid pitching on that day. Katie recommended not contacting the Globe at 3 or 4 p.m.  While we always double check the time before sending out a pitch, this is a good reminder to make sure we do that every time!
2. Product News Pitching –One attendee brought up a good inquiry – since a popular announcement for clients is new product news, what is the best way to entice the media to cover them?   The panelists confirmed something we’ve heard many times: they will rarely cover straight product news.  However, there are a few ways to make the information interesting to the media:Tie the news into company strategy. Does the new product reflect a recent shift in what the company is doing as a whole?Explore other angles related to the company.  Is there an interesting story about the CEO or a non-profit initiative the company is doing?
3. Going beyond your client list when pitching trends – When asked what makes a really strong pitch, Katie made a great point that a lot of us lose sight of when writing trend pitches. According to her, using examples in your pitch from companies or brands that aren’t your clients not only shows a reporter that you’ve done your research and know the industry, but establishes your pitch as an actual trend; rather than merely news from your client. As PR professionals, we are constantly getting pressure from clients to get media coverage and it’s easy to put our blinders on and only focus on using their examples. Katie’s advice is a great reminder that looking at the bigger picture and staying on top of industry news pays off and gives you a better shot at your pitch becoming a story.
   
4. “On Background” versus “Off the Record” – One question that came up at the event was whether or not to advise clients to say things as “off the record.” As PR practitioner, our general rule of thumb is that nothing is ever off the record; however the panel seemed to be much more laid back about that question (or maybe we just had an especially lovely handful of journalists at this event!). Katie then explained to the audience the difference between “on background” and “off the record.” “On background” means that your client can offer information; however, saying upfront that it’s on background means that the journalist won’t attribute them as the source for the information. Depending on the journalist, they’ll either find a different source for the information or leave it as anonymous. When advising our clients, however, we think we’ll still stick with our “nothing is off the record” mantra and play it safe.
   
5. Twitter Pitching versus Email Pitching – More often than not, the subject of how social media affects journalism comes up at these types of events. Internally at agencies, Twitter seems to be the “next big thing” when connecting with journalists, and Laura had even been to “Twitter Pitching” seminars. However, we were so glad a member of the audience asked the panelists if they like to be pitched via Twitter because the resounding answer was “no!” They urged PR pros to stick with “old fashioned” email and phone. That’s not to say that they aren’t on Twitter, though – they are there and they are listening. Most panelists use Twitter as a news source and say it’s an especially useful tool for following influencers in their beat’s space. So, note to fellow PR folks, get those execs on Twitter and talkin’!

We would like to thank Katie, Lisa, Jim, Joe and Erin for sharing their insights and helping us to improve the way we reach out to and connect with them and to the Pub Club for organizing such a great panel!

Were there any takeaways that surprised you? If you are on the receiving end of PR pitches, do you have any tips to add? Check out the event with #pubclubofne hashtag and tweet us at @451heat.

-Alice DuBois @aedubois, Meredith D’Agostino @ladymusic, and Laura Christo @LauraChristo

Top Story: SOPA/PIPA and the Online Protest

Image via Google

By now, you’ve seen the infographic above and are aware of SOPA/PIPA and the rather voal calls to action from many prominent online companies.  Just in case, here’s a rundown on why many are outraged by the proposed legislation

• What do they stand for? SOPA is the “Stop Online Piracy Act” and PIPA stands for (deep breath) Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act.
• SOPA, in the House of Representatives, and PIPA, in the US Senate are both targeting foreign websites that infringe on copyrighted materials
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), one of the major opponents to the bills, argue that “The standard for immunity is incredibly low and the potential for abuse is off the charts.  Basically, sites can be cut off based on “reasonable belief of infringement” – so, event if the claims made against a site end up being false, the site suffers.
• Supporters of the legislation, mainly in the entertainment industry, feel that the charges brought on by SOPA/PIPA opponents have been blown out of proportion, the definition of infringement is clearly defined, and that the legislation is crucial in protecting their digital assets.

What we found most compelling about the reaction to the two pieces of legislation were the “protests” and banding together of many of the major social and search platforms in the US.  We’ve featured some of the most prominent below (click on images to enlarge):

Under the Radar: Super Bowl XLVI Will Have a Social Media Command Center

If you’re a social media user, chances are you’re posting to your Twitter feed and updating your Facebook status every time you’re watching a football game. And come Sunday, February 5, millions of users will be talking about the Super Bowl via social media, about everything from the players to the score to the commercials to the parking. Parking? Well, yes. The city of Indianapolis is expecting 150,000 visitors for Super Bowl weekend and they’ll be using social media to assist visitors with everything from finding parking to discovering the best the city has to offer.

The city will be setting up a Super Bowl Social Media Command Center today and it will remain in place until after the big game on February 5. The digital marketing agency managing the command center will set up advanced search tools and analytics to determine what fans need help and then will jump in and offer assistance where needed.

We can’t wait to see how the Social Media Command Center will manage to help people during the Super Bowl weekend and if it will set precedence for events in the future. Will all large-scale events begin to follow in suit and work to assist visitors and patrons? While we can see this working really well, we can also see people taking advantage of the increased customer service and getting extra upset when they can’t be helped. You know, like when there isn’t any close-by parking and they do have to walk a mile to get to the stadium.

Tool of the Week: Facebook Launches Timeline App Integration Platform

When the Spotify’s Facebook integration first launched, people either loved it or hated it. Some users thought it was fabulous that they could see what all their friends were listening to. And others were not happy that their Facebook friends could get such an up-close-and-personal look at their taste in music (perhaps they were a bit embarrassed?). Well, as of last week, there’s even more activity for you to see across your Facebook timeline. Facebook is now using the “open graph” API to allow developers to create apps that share user activitis on Facebook. From Pinterest to RunKeeper to TicketMaster, there are now close to 80 apps that you and your friends can integrate with your Facebook timeline.

Is this a good thing? Well, it depends on how you use Facebook. If you don’t care what articles your friends are reading, how many miles they’re running, what artists they’re listening to, or what food photos they’re taking, then this app integration will likely just annoy you and clog your newsfeed. But if you do care, or want to share your every move on the Internet with your own Facebook friends, you’ll find yourself loving the app integration. Luckily, Facebook makes it pretty easy to keep the integration shut off and to decide who you actually want to share details with. So, unlike the Spotify integration, you won’t find yourself unknowingly sharing your Justin Bieber obsession with all of your Facebook friends. Phew.

Of course, this is only the start with Facebook’s app integration and it’s likely we’ll be seeing more and more apps join in on the Facebook fun in the future. Before long, we might never have to leave Facebook.com. Which is exactly what they want.

Around The Hub: Samuel Adams Beer ‘Hops’ into Social

The Samuel Adams beer company has been the subject of social media scrutiny in the past because of its social media presence, or lack thereof. But that all changed in January, with the brewer launching a Twitter account, blog and crowd-sourced beer creation contest on Facebook.

Twitter: The account was officially launched on January 19^th, and between then and the morning of January 23^rd they had accumulated over 2500 followers and tweeted nearly 350 times. Almost every single one of their tweets is a response to someone who had engaged them. It looks like they were waiting to get their strategy in line before entering the space knowing they would be inundated and needed to be prepared for it. This was smart because if they had joined without a plan in action they may have ruined their chance at a strong account from the get-go. And as they said themselves…

Blog: Along with a Twitter account came a brand new Samuel Adams Blog. What is extremely interesting about this is the choice of content for the first ever blog post, that was written by founder Jim Koch. For the introductory post on the blog, Koch defended harsh words about Sam Calagione and his brewery Dogfish Head written in a Beer Advocate thread recently.

This demonstrates the tight-knit bond of the beer community, where they value their craft over rivalries with competing breweries. This also shows how fully invested in the social space the company now is, and that they are willing to push out original and possibly controversial topics.

Facebook: Samuel Adams has a decent size fan page (about 134,000 fans) with a fairly strong amount of engagement, but in the past had been lacking any really unique content. This changed when they partnered with Guy Kawasaki to create the ‘Crowd Craft Project’ – a beautifully designed and executed Facebook app that lets beer drinkers help create the next Sam Adams beer.

The app lets you choose different settings for types of yeast, hops, malt, body, clarity and color to create your ideal beer. The app lets each person submit one brew, with the top beer will be announced on February 5^th and it being debuted in Austin and Boston in March.

What do you think of the SOPA/PIPA online backlash? Do you have your Facebook timeline yet? Will you be tweeting during Super Bowl XLVI? Tell us what you think of the Sam Adams social strategy? Follow the feedback with #451Labs hashtag and tweet us at @451heat.

Thank’s to @maxesilver, @susie, @halleyalice for contributing to this week’s #451Labs post!

When I first saw this video of a FedEx employee throwing someone’s computer monitor package, I didn’t think there was much to it. I was dead wrong. Like my fellow members of the Y-Generation, there is nothing a like a viral YouTube video-turned-scandal to lift your spirits. However, even with all my psychic powers (that I believe are a direct result from watching Practical Magic too much), I could not have seen the public relations bomb that was about to hit this mega courier company. Eight million hits later, FedEx realized that they have a crisis at hand.

Let me give the back story: a stupid employee, in a rush for ‘outstanding’ service, simply tosses a flat-screen computer monitor over a customer’s gate, without even bothering to ring the bell first. Clearly, foolish people will always have jobs. I mean, Paris Hilton has her own business. Need I say more?

Click here to view the embedded video.

FedEx took what seemed to be the ideal route: address the problem upfront, and simply apologize.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now while Matthew Thornton, Senior VP of FedEx Express U.S. Operations, did hit the necessary points in his web address, I would not call this a victory for FedEx as some of my fellow PR professionals have. Yes, Thornton was upfront. Yes, he apologized as soon as the video started to go viral. These points were all good things for FedEx. But many consumers and employees alike feel the video is too scripted and inauthentic. Let’s just say, I wouldn’t want this guy to give the speech at my wedding, no matter how many luxury homes in Spain he offered to buy me (hint, hint family and friends). The fact of the matter is that many employees and customers are taking these videos as opportunities to vent their intense frustration with the company. While this video cooled some of the fire, it hardly extinguished it. For many, Thornton’s apology pissed them off even more, because it was so contrived and, to them, not genuine. Many have stories of their own about how FedEx has done them wrong.

What seemed to really bother many users was lack of disciplinary action they believe the employee received. Thornton only vaguely alludes to the fact that the employee won’t be directly dealing with customers. So now he’s just throwing the packages around where we can’t see him? Hmmm…

Did FedEx’s apology help? Yes. Was it necessary? Of course. Did the entire situation end in a victory? Now that might be going too far. Sometimes, you just can’t win, even with a great PR team, and especially with a poor public speaker.

What do you think? Do you consider Thornton’s video a victory, or even helpful at all? Let us know in the comments section below or tweet to us @451heat

-Ryan Schreiner, 451 Marketing Public Relations Intern
Ryan is a Junior at Boston University

Top Story: Google Integrates Google+ into Search Results

As I was scouting out a chili recipe online the other day, I was somewhat surprised to see so many Google results from people I actually know. Who knew that blogger’s chili was so popular that their image is the first result to come up on Google Images? That’s when I realized it had begun: Google had integrated Google+ into search. Up until now, I, like many other Google users, trusted that the search results I was getting on Google really were the top search results. But the other day, I quickly understood that the results I was getting for my chili search were showing up because I was logged in to my Google account. Results were showing up personalized just for me, not only from users I follow on Google+, but also for users it is recommended I follow on Google+. The thing is, I’m not very social on Google+. The social content that’s important to me can be found on Twitter and Facebook and most of the people I trust to get me that top chili recipe aren’t on Google+ just yet. Will the promise of your Google+ content showing up in the searches of others encourage you to use Google+ more actively? That’s certainly what Google hopes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Many are upset that Google is choosing to promote content from its own service, despite the fact that it’s not necessarily the most relevant content to them. And if Google wants to be trusted as the most reputable search engine, they need to be providing the best results; not the results that cater to their own commercial means. Google will argue that Facebook doesn’t make its content publicly searchable and that Twitter ended their contract to incorporate real-time tweets into search results. But most of that information on Twitter is public, which means Google’s crawlers could easily be bringing relevant tweets to us in their results, too. But they’re not.

There is a bright side, though. Yes, if you’re logged into your Google account, personal search results will automatically show up. But you can easily toggle personal results off with just the click of a button. And I have a strong feeling that’s what most users will be doing.

Under the Radar: Google and the FTC

Speaking of Google, according to a report by Bloomberg, they may be in a little hot water with the FTC. Basically, Google’s expansion into the social space and the implications social search implications raise concerns about anti-competitive behavior – a.k.a. all Google, all the time. Other companies and agencies, including Twitter and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, have spoken out about the narrowing of search results caused by the Search plus Your World feature. We’re looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Google has been criticized before for having selective results, and this could definitely have an impact on the results the search engine returns in the future.

Around the Hub: We Take it Back, MBTA

Last week we wrote about the MBTA missing out on a big PR and social opportunity by not endorsing a Tufts graduate student’s project to improve the design of an upcoming new T station location. Well, a few days after writing about this, the MBTA proved us wrong, launching its own initiative with Hubway.

Together, Hubway (the bike rental service) and the MBTA have launched the ‘MBTA + Boston Bikes Developer Challenge‘ that crowd-sources the creation of 2 different applications and a ‘visualization’. There will be a winner picked for each of the three categories, and the winner receives a one year membership to Hubway, a year of riding free on the T and passes to two food truck festivals. Those are some awesome prizes if you ask us!!

This is exactly what we thought the MBTA was missing out on doing – accessing Boston’s existing creative talent to build cool new stuff while gaining positive PR for working with its customers. The more initiatives the MBTA creates like this, the less the will be slammed on social media.

The three categories are as follows:

• Applications Challenge: This challenge calls on developers to create applications using MBTA data such as real-time and schedules bus, subway, and commuter rail data, together with New Balance Hubway Live Station Inventory Data to create an app, website, or other software application that provides an innovative way to access MBTA and New Balance Hubway information in real-time.
• Visualization Challenge: This challenge calls on developers to create a visualization of, “A day in the life of the MBTA and New Balance Hubway” using both MBTA and New Balance Hubway data such as  historical vehicle location, for the MBTA and Hubway origin-destination data.
• Bonus Challenge Bikes, Lunch, & T Challenge- This Challenge calls on developers to create innovative applications that help hungry residents learn about, locate and get to Boston′s food trucks. This app, for web or mobile, would ideally include locations of the trucks, menus, and routing information on how to get to them by walking, T or New Balance Hubway.

Tool of the Week: Pinterest

We’ll admit it: we’re addicted to Pinterest. In fact, it’s an obsession for some (we won’t name names) in our office. When it first came on the scene as a social tool to share images and ideas with our friends, we were on-board immediately.  Its integration with Facebook made it an awesome way to have a new conversation with existing contacts. And, due to its overwhelming popularity, Pinterest recently joined the illustrious list of the top ten social networks.

The mission of the company is simple enough: to connect everyone in the world through shared tastes and “things” they find interesting.  More recently, we’ve begun to think of Pinterest as a social tool for companies.  As an agency that focuses on consumer brands, having the ability to share images of your products and ideas that complement your brand in a visual way is a very appealing way for our clients to engage with their audience and help them picture their products in the home/in their closet/on their dinner table. Mashable recently released its top list of brands on Pinterest.  We put together our list of the top things we’ve seen brands do to leverage the hot new tool.

1. Clearly Defined Boards: the brands do a great job of dividing their content into themed boards, allowing users to easily follow the types of content that they want to see from the brand.
2. Stunning Images: people pin things they think are pretty.  Having high quality, beautiful images definitely make your pins more re-pinable.
3. It’s All In the Details: well-written descriptions explaining the content and context of an image makes it easier for pinners to add to your pin and share with their followers.
4. Complementary Content: just as with any good social media communication, adding complementary content in-line with the theme of your brand is a good call.  Don’t only talk about yourself: include content that contributes to the topic as a whole.
5. Encouraging Users to Pin Brand Content: Some brands have started to run promotions and contests that ask entrants to pin content from the brand to their own boards for a chance to win a prize. We’ll likely be seeing more and more brand promotions on Pinterest in the near future.
6. How-tos: Many brands are using Pinterest to show users how their fans use their product. For instance, Chobani has boards devoted to photos of dishes fans have created with their yogurt.

What do you think of the new Google social search results? How does your brand use Pinterest to engage with customers? Let us know in the comments section below or tweet us at @451heat.

As the prevalence of Facebook advertising continues to grow, more and more marketers are willing to spend on these ads. And I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t. The ads are well targeted, effective, and, most importantly, have a large audience. Facebook presents this unique opportunity of not only increasing awareness and branding, but also initiating engagement and fan creation.

The only problem with Facebook ads is that of Ad Fatigue. In general, people get tired of seeing the same ads again and again. Since people log into their accounts at least three to four times a day, they are bound to see the same ads multiple times. As a result, they are less likely to click on these ads. Facebook understands this phenomenon and reacts by decreasing the number of ad impressions. All these factors directly affect the click-through rate (CTR) which in turn affects the cost per click. Basically, now you’re stuck in a cycle where your ad impressions have decreased, the click-through rate has dropped, and the only way to improve is to increase the bid and/or budget.

So, how can you overcome the constant battle of Facebook ad fatigue? Similar to search engines, Facebook and its vast user base loves fresh content! You need to “freshen” up your ads every few days. Rotating the ads frequently will enhance their performance. Remember – the higher the click-through rate, the lower the cost per click. By refreshing your ads frequently, you’ll be able to maintain the same impression share at the same cost.

Here are some quick tips to keep your ads fresh:

• Images: Make sure you have at least two images ready for every ad. Rotate the images every few days to avoid ad fatigue. Use/test images that are known to do well on Facebook – company logos, headshots, product photos, and happy people. An image is the most important feature of a Facebook ad. Therefore, change the image as frequently as possible to prolong the lifespan of your ad copy.
• Headline: Every time you notice a drop in CTR, change the ad headline. Use a different call-to-action. Ask a question. Use the brand name in the headline. Test and find out what clicks best with your audience. This might seem to be a minor tweak, but can definitely help boost the CTR.
• Ad Copy: Similar to search, always perform A/B testing. Test out at least two different versions of ad copy at the same time. Ask questions. Use a strong call-to-action. Put segment-targeted language high in the body text. Ask users to ‘like’ your brand on Facebook. Often, short ad copy (<90 characters) outperforms  longer copy(>90 characters). Most importantly, replace the low performing ad with a new contender.

These are some tricks we’ve found useful in fighting Ad Fatigue. How often do you refresh your ads? How do you deal with this problem?

Top Story: Instagram Gets Deeper Facebook Integration

From the start, we haven’t had very many complaints about photo-sharing and social network app Instagram. Not only have we had the ability to share our photos with our Instagram network, but we’ve also been able to send our self-filtered photos to various social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and more. But this week, Instagram’s Facebook integration got a little deeper, making photo viewing and interacting much easier through the Facebook platform. Previously, when you sent an Instagram photo to Facebook, it would show up as a small thumbnail hosted on Instagram’s servers. If one of your friends clicked on the thumbnail, they would be taken to the external Instagram website to view the photo. Now, when you send an Instagram photo to Facebook, it shows up full-size and high resolution. If a friend clicks on the photo, it enlarges within the Facebook page, just like any other photo on Facebook does.

Going a step further, Instagram photos can now easily be shared, tagged, and commented on, just like any other Facebook photo. This means Facebook users will likely be seeing Instagram photos in their newsfeeds much more than in the past. Which also leads us to believe that more and more users will be signing up for Instagram in the near future.

We’re thrilled by this development as it means we can now use Instagram as our main photo-sharing application, without worrying about sending photos to Facebook that our friends wouldn’t be able to interact with or be tagged in. In case you didn’t hear, Instagram was just named the largest mobile social network- and this is only going to help it grow even larger!

Under the Radar: Who Owns Your Company’s Twitter Followers

We came across an interesting story this week about Twitter followers and “ownership.”  The story goes that Noah Kravitz, an employee at mobile app and device review site PhoneDog, began cultivating a Twitter following for the company in 2006.  Then, when he left the company in 2010, he changed the handle name and “took” the company’s 17,000 followers with him.  In July of the following year, PhoneDog sued Kravitz for $340,000  – $2.50/month/follower for 18 months.

There are a lot of arguments to consider in this ground-breaking case.  How do you calculate the value of a follower on Twitter ie how did PhoneDog decide $2.50/month was the value for them?  Who was the real value-add for the followers – PhoneDog or Kravitz? Also, the fundamental idea of having a fool-proof (is there such a thing?) social media policy in place at your company comes in to play – if it is clearly stated from the get-go that corporate Twitter handle followers “belong” to the company and not the individual user behind the handle, can a company prevent follower “theft?”

It will be interesting to see how this plays out –  a hearing in the case is scheduled for January 26 in San Francisco.

Around the Hub: MBTA, MassDOT Blow Opportunity for Good Press (Shocker)

A Tufts Graduate student has created a unique promotion to get the city of Boston involved with the design of the new train station at Gilman Square in Somerville that crowdsources to get ideas to improve the station design. The student has created an impressive kit to get you started as well, including creating a virtual tour of what the station is purposed to look like – to give everyone a chance to visualize and imagine more improvements.

As you would expect, the MBTA, MassDOT and any other government run organization has nothing to do with this. It would have made sense for these organizations to do so, especially with the large amount of bad press and social media chatter is always surrounding them. Simply approving of the contest and donating a 3 month pass (or something more exciting, like a years worth) would have got them a serious amount of positive press.

They are currently perceived as organizations that do not listen to customer feedback, have a record mechanical failures, and have trains in very poor shape. They hay be underfunded, but they also don’t do themselves any favors with their overall forward facing image.

By not embracing this creative use of the existing talent in Boston – the MBTA in particular – has demonstrated that even when presented with a no-effort-needed opportunity, they will not pursue it even when it would have been a large boost to reputation. If there was a good reason they decided not to affiliate themselves I would be interested to hear it.

Event of the Week: 2012 International CES (CES)

Today marks the beginning of the world’s largest consumer technology trade show, CES, held over four days in Las Vegas. The list of brands in attendance is a veritable who’s who when it comes to consumer brands: Microsoft, Ford, Verizon, AT&T, Unilever, Intel, Ericsson - and the list goes on.  For those who can’t be there, Spike TV is covering the trade show on television and online.

Some cool things happening at this year’s event:

• Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s Keynote Address (Monday, 6:30 PM PST): Microsoft has used the CES keynote stage in previous years to unveil innovative new products, including the original Xbox and Avatar Kinect.
• PMDA Awards (Monday, 7:30PM PST): While the The PhotoImaging Manufacturers and Distributors Association Awards may be a mouthful, there is an impressive line-up of honorees – the CEOs of Sony and Shutterfly, a Pullitzer Prize Winner, and a Nobel Prize Winner will all be recognized.
• Last Gadget Standing (Thursday, 10:30 AM PST): Last Gadget Standing challenges contenders to give the product demo of their lives. At stake: bragging rights as the product “most likely to change the face of technology.” See all the winners strut their stuff in this inventive, fast-paced competition. Guest emcees Gary Dell’Abate and Jon Hein from the Howard Stern Show will host the event.
• Mobile Apps Showdown (Thursday, 12:30 PM PST): Apps producers will have two minutes to demo their app, and an applause-o-meter will measure audience enthusiasm to determine the winners. Guest emcees Gary Dell’Abate and Jon Hein from the Howard Stern Show will host the event.

We’re excited to hear about the new, innovative ideas that surface from this year’s event.  How can you experience CES from your cubicle?  You can follow their handle, @intlces, or use the hashtag #CES

What are the top Social Media/PR stories on your radar this week?  Let us know in the comments section below or via Twitter at @451heat.