Social Media Tools for Parents (Part 2 of 2)

August 19, 2010 @ 1:58am

Updated — August 22, 2010 @ 7:08pm

by Andrew Kim

Welcome to Part 2 of this week’s look into the significance of social media in hands of consumers. All it takes is one mother to take down Pampers’ new line of diapers overnight. Like I mentioned last week companies have used social media and networking intensively in their websites, packaging, and PR in all medias.  There is a dark side to this when your premier relaunch of your product line goes into a downward spiral.

Proctor & Gamble’s strongest baby brand is Pampers’ with a line of baby diapers and wipes. Pampers’ earlier this year revised certain diapers with Dry Max Technology. Without a doubt a prestige brand like Pampers’ would test their products extensively before releasing it. Slowly individual mothers have been reaching out to the internet and social media in sharing stories. The product that came into question was Pampers Swaddlers or Cruisers with Dry Max. At some point several mothers in different markets started a new movement on Facebook. The controversy started with a mom noticing several diaper rashes and investigated it with her pediatrician. Diaper rash has been a common problem for newborns and young toddlers, and there are plenty of solutions in dealing with it. No matter what advices, diaper creams or old wives tales that she encountered it didn’t help her baby. I personally used the product as well and my own child would have similar symptoms. These mothers eventually concluded that these several rashes or in some cases chemical burns have originated from the Pampers’ diapers.

Proctor & Gamble responded with normal PR practices in showing proven tests from various sources that these diapers were clearly 100% safe. With social media mothers continued to unite with one voice and demanded a recall of these diapers. Since May 2010 several mothers in Ohio have gone into court filings against Proctor & Gamble. What we can learn are companies cannot be naive any longer where social mediums have given mothers the tools to take down a Goliath. Of course I’m not scaring future businesses in avoiding social media, but to use it to stay ahead or be on guard of the modern consumer. The public are forgiving people, until a company thinks they know better. Elative marketing’s approach with clients is to look into long-term strategies and anticipate for anything.

Recent Article #1: Social media empowering parents with complaints against Pampers
Recent Article #2: Procter & Gamble in Bind Over Moms’ Web Attack on Pampers Brand
Recent Article #3: Pampers Parents Irritated at P&G Push-Back
Recent Article #4: Parents upset over P&G’s Pampers diapers

Tags

baby, child care, Facebook, newborn, Pampers, Parenting, pediatrician, Proctor & Gamble, social media, Swaddlers, twitter, Yelp

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HTML5 video solutions

August 17, 2010 @ 3:33pm

Updated — August 20, 2010 @ 8:23am

by Jeff Byrnes

So everybody’s excited about HTML5, and the native media capabilities it brings; specifically the <video> tag. But at the moment, support is a bit tricky. To quickly reiterate:

• Safari 3.0+ supports H.264 video & AAC audio in an MP4 container
• Firefox 3.5+ supports Theora video & Vorbis audio in an Ogg container, or WebM (VP8 video & Vorbis audio in a Matroska container.)
• Chrome 3.0+ supports both H.264 & AAC in an MP4 container as well as Theora & Vorbis in an Ogg container.
• iOS & Android support H.264 & AAC audio in an MP4 container.
• Opera 10.5+ supports Theora video & Vorbis audio in an Ogg container.
• IE9 will support both H.264 & AAC in an MP4 container as well as Theora & Vorbis in an Ogg container, but IE8 and earlier have no support for HTML5 video, and must rely on Flash.

So, as you can see, things are all over the place. To properly implement HTML5 video, we need to supply two video files: one file encoded with H.264/AAC contained in an MP4, and another encoded with Theora/Vorbis contained in an Ogg. It would also be wise to create a WebM version of your video as well, to future-proof yourself for the day when Theora is deprecated completely.

Now, once you’ve got your video files encoded, the matter of embedding them correctly raises its ugly head. Thankfully, there are a few ready-to-go solutions for this.

First up is Video for Everybody, created by Kroc Camen. VfE serves up HTML5 video (MP4 and either Ogg or WebM) without JavaScript. This is the very first solution put forth for easy HTML5 video support, and, as Kroc himself writes, should in no way be considered a long-term solution. But he’s being very forward-looking, and not very generous with his work. The primary goal with this player is to use no JavaScript, and thus make it as widely compatible as possible (think RSS readers & other JS-disabled avenues.)

Next, we’ve got Video JS, which, true to its name, relies on JS. However, unlike VfE, the controls are consistent between platforms, which is definitely a marked improvement.

The third and, in my opinion, most promising ready-made solution for HTML5 video is SublimeVideo by the gurus over at Jilion. This is a player with not only a consistent UI, but tons of additional features, a full-window mode (and a full-screen version in Safari!), and it’s being neatly packaged up. Unlike the other two, however, it’s still in-progress, and it will only be free for non-commercial use.

So there you have it folks; some readymade HTML5 video solutions; enjoy!

Tags

HTML5, javascript, video

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Social Media Tools for Parents (Part 1 of 2)

August 9, 2010 @ 10:42am

by Andrew Kim

Part 1: Sooner or later parents of different generations and ethnics are getting involved with the basics of social media. Not as intensive as tweeting, but Facebook has strengthen family networks and rapid fire feedback. In this week’s blog is about the highlights of search engines and social media networks for parents. Next week I’ll give an example of a PR disaster companies need to be aware when their brands can be disseminated and easily tarnished overnight.

Using Google, Bing, Yelp, and Wiki-Everything on the iPhone has given my wife, wealth of knowledge from the apple tree in a matter of seconds. As first time parents we are constantly seeking new methods and make split-second decisions as a family. What’s great is pulling information from several websites or batch of links from Google before getting it from the doctor’s office. Relying on the feedback of hundreds of other blogs has given us the second opinion we needed. Yelp has been the best in finding hopeful brick and mortar business where they have effective in seeking the right care for our child. Of course if something is obviously wrong and want more thorough information please consult with your pediatrician.

Facebook has been a great asset to get information, promotions and a structured way in giving back companies our feedback. How valuable is that? Companies not yet in online marketing must take advantage in these technologies, before spending critical funds elsewhere. Elative Marketing has the strong platforms for clients and companies can use to implement immediately.

Tune in next week.

Tags

baby, child care, Facebook, newborn, Parenting, pediatrician, social media, twitter, Yelp

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Facing the (Font) Future

August 6, 2010 @ 4:14pm

Updated — August 16, 2010 @ 8:37am

by Jeff Byrnes

It seems as though the technology for representing fonts on the web are finally coming to fruition. With the W3C’s near-adoption of the WOFF format (it has remarked that “…it expects WOFF to soon become the ‘single, interoperable format’ supported by all browsers.”), @font-face seems poised to become the firm technology for embedding fonts in a site.

Previously, techniques like cufón & sIFR were the best way to deploy a font not commonly installed across all systems, or to guarantee a particular font is used. These required JavaScript alone at best, or a combination of JavaScript & Flash.

So with that, I give you the most bulletproof, known as the smiley variation, way to deploy @font-face to your site (courtesy of Paul Irish):

@font-face {
    font-family: 'Graublau Web';
    src: url('GraublauWeb.eot');
    src: local('☺'),
         url('GraublauWeb.otf') format('opentype');
}

It’s always good to know how it all works, so definitely head over to Paul Irish’s article, but you can use Font Squirrel’s @font-face generator to simplify your life.

Now, however, the biggest hurdle is the licensing. Since we are basically allowing for the downloading of the font files, things can get a bit sticky. Thankfully, many of the font foundries are coming around and crafting new licensing, and even creating web versions of their typefaces. At the very least, they’re joining forces with other JavaScript-based solutions like Typekit and Fontdeck. We’ll see how it all turns out.

Tags

@font-face, CSS, CSS3, cufón, fonts, sIFR, typography

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Tweet Your Menus, Dine with Immediate Satisfaction

August 2, 2010 @ 12:39pm

Updated — August 2, 2010 @ 12:52pm

by Andrew Kim

Having that midnight craving or sick of fast food solutions at work? Give your local social media food trucks in your neighborhood a try. Out the door of the usual greasy, iced, and forgettable foods, say hello to the new tech buffet line. How can we say no to Twitter, Facebook, blogging and every other social media avenue? It’s the perfect vehicle for informing your customers instantly of your restaurant or event. You can actually enjoy something good and know when and where to be back for more. Significant challenges for meals on wheels are telling their customers when and where to find them. Today’s iPhones and smartphones give businesses affordable way to mass market their brands overnight.

A combination of Elative Events and Social Media services can provide businesses with direct marketing and cost-effective feedback. Utilizing social media for events, product release dates, PR alerts, and limited promotions are great to put information out there. Setting up these services for your website or business can save you on traditional marketing and reinvest where its more important.

So do yourself a favor find your local food trucks and treat yourself.

Kogi BBQ Truck, Greater Los Angeles, California
Dessert Truck, Greater NYC, New York
General Bao Bun Truck, San Francisco Bay Area, California

Tags

dessert, Facebook, food network, food service, food trucks, restaurants, social media, social networking, twitter

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Resolution Dependence, or why it’s ok to have different layouts

July 30, 2010 @ 4:38pm

by Jeff Byrnes

Recently, I came across a really brilliant technique, resolution dependent layout. I’ve been exploring this technique a little bit, and definitely want to discuss & highlight some awesome uses of it.

This is especially useful for tailoring a site to a mobile device, and since all of them run on a WebKit-based browser, they can all understand @media queries, which is the crux of this particular way to accomplish this.

With that said, there’s two ways to do this:

1. Using @media queries in a <link> for a resolution-specific CSS file
2. Using @media queries inside a single CSS file.

I prefer the second method, but others who prefer multiple files vs. a single file for CSS can use the other. And we can do anything based on different devices, not just change widths, layout, etc. As another note, you can do checks for device-width or width (i.e., viewport width). Both will be useful, as we can use device-width queries to check for a particular device or class of devices.

As an example of a site that has a different layout based on the viewport width, check out Simon Collison’s website, Colly. If your viewport is set to ~950px wide or greater, we have the default layout: full-width, four-columns. However, as your shrink your viewport down width-wise, the layout changes to a two-column display, then finally to a one-column display where the single item is slightly larger in width than the single items are in the two- or four-column views. All-in-all, a rather lovely design to my eyes, but I’m sure my colleague Kyung could offer a more thorough critique in that arena. It’s a fascinating aesthetic, the whole “Celebrated Miscellany” idea. It reminds me of an old science journal, like something Darwin or Audubon might have drawn.

So how does he do it? Well, in this case, “Colly” has a series of @media rules at the very end of his stylesheet. Here’s one of the bits we’re talking about (edited for brevity):

@media (min-device-width:1024px) and (max-width:989px),
       screen and (max-device-width:480px),
             (max-device-width:480px) and (orientation:landscape),
       (min-device-width:481px) and (max-device-width:1024px) and (orientation:portrait) {
    div#page { width:468px; }
    .home ul#navigation_pri, .home ul#subnav-b { padding-bottom:30px; }
    …
        div#siteinfo p { font-size:14px; }
}

First off, to have this work at all, all of the CSS rules that would apply for this particular @media query need to be encapsulated between the brackets for the query, as if it were regular CSS rule itself. As for the query, it’s asking a number of different questions to cover quite a few bases; this particular piece of CSS covers the “less than ~950px viewport” eventuality. On a mobile device, this view comes into play if an iPhone is in landscape mode, or if an iPad is in portrait mode. The other, single-column view comes to pass if an iPhone is in portrait mode (and it fits just right), or if you shrink the viewport of your browser down far enough.

The second @media query looks like this:

@media (min-device-width:1024px) and (max-width:509px),
       (max-device-width:480px) and (orientation:portrait) {
    div#page { padding:30px 0px 10px 0px; width:306px; }
    …
}

It’s considerably simpler, as it doesn’t have to ask as many questions about your viewport or device width, since it’s really only going to activate on either an iPhone or other mobile phone, or if you shrink the viewport on a desktop browser; the iPad can’t change it’s viewport size, so it will never be presented this view. With that in mind, the first part of the query takes care of desktops, while the second handles the smaller display devices.

So there you have it folks, the ability to craft resolution dependent layouts and styles. Pretty spiffy stuff.

Tags

CSS, CSS3, iOS, iPhone, resolution dependent design

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Why Hire a Photographer

January 25, 2010 @ 10:20am

Updated — January 23, 2010 @ 3:22am

by Wilfredo Valle

Everyday we are bombarded with marketing visuals. It can be a photograph, an element of graphic design, or a video. For this blog entry, lets focus on that first item, photography. In the age of digital photography, where everyone and their neighbor has a digital camera and can essentially take a “good enough” picture for their business, I have to ask myself; Why hire a professional photographer, and what is it about a professionally photographed image that makes a business potentially stronger?

For example, as a photographer, I am constantly aware of the trends in photography being pushed by some of the big Fortune 500 companies, including Apple, Gap, Target, Macy’s, Zara, etc. The images seem simple enough; a white backdrop, one or two strobes, and a good model. The perfect combo for a great photography-based advertising campaign! But how easy it really? What kind of skill and understanding is needed to successfully pull off such a campaign? Simply owning the tools and becoming a shutter bug isn’t quite enough.

So how does a professionally photographed image become important to a company? Well, for starters, the obvious is that the people who stand behind the cameras are thinking in layers; after years of training and years of experience, what you are really paying for is not the final image, but rather the journey, the process to the final image. What businesses should consider is not just the final product, but how we get to this final product. Concept, creativity, and skill are all reasons why companies such as the ones named above produce such memorable and clean photo campaigns.

A few weeks ago I conducted a one on one training session and I remember saying to my client that what differentiates the working photographer from the occasional photographer is that the images you see produced by a working photographer is deliberate, not mere happenstance or a mishmash of happy accidents (though that can happen at times). A single good photograph for the most part can be done by anyone with any camera, but to produce a successful photo campaign requires someone with skill, creativity, commitment and an excellent understanding of the clients needs.

My suggestion for any company looking to incorporate photography into their marketing plans; don’t settle, photography done well is a proven tool. A single image might not be enough, so think in terms of a photo campaign in such cases.

Look around at advertising by Nike, Apple, and Gap; the images they use are all part of a larger campaign. They are unified and simplistic in getting their messages communicated to the viewer. One of those messages includes “our products are great, look!”.

Also, find a photographer that you can bond with; relationships are huge. A happy client + a happy photographer = happy results.

Tags

advertising, campaign, corporate photography, digital photography, photographer, photography campaign, professional

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The Last Wave?

November 5, 2009 @ 12:40pm

Updated — November 16, 2009 @ 3:25pm

by Austin Edgington

Every twenty five years or so, a really big communication wave comes along that sweeps innovation and change into our lives. The first one I remember occurred when network television replaced radio as a focus for info-tainment and created modern advertising; so nicely portrayed by the butt puffing men of Mad Man. Yes, I’m old enough to remember when a ‘Winston tasted good like a cigarette should,’ and other tobacco pedaling jingles. In the 80’s, cable TV launched and undermined the network’s dominance by decimating advertising revenues with lower costs and wider choice of programs, characterized by re-runs, ESPN, and faux news show.

Then Web 2.0 crashed on our shores a few years ago, washing in social media and revolutionary web platforms like Facebook and Hulu.com. What’s interesting about this shift is the audience social media created. Techies, artists, writers, housewives, students, innovative business leaders, anyone with an opinion and others looking for connections beyond their daily toil flocked to Vox, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, Linked In, and more. They formed communities, groups, relationships, and trust arising from dialogue among one another in ways not imaginable by marketers in the past. It’s weird, it’s wonderful and it’s happening now.

The reality is that this new media, a term I use to describe the aggregate of social media and new web offerings, has disrupted marketing. For example, blogging news sites like the Huffington Post changed the way public relations is conducted. Social utilities like Facebook allow businesses to easily run ads and changes the way ad agencies can reach target audiences, while social media platforms like Vox, where people from tight, trusted neighborhoods converse about everything from their parents divorce to whether to purchase a VW or a BMW…changed web marketing as we knew it.

The traditional paradigm of engaging customers based on creating awareness, to create interest, which leads to a desire that prompts a consumer to purchase has been replaced by a new model that has more steps, but, paradoxically is more immediate and happens virtually 24/7.

In the new media model consumers take different steps purchasing. We call it the “Five R’s”;

• Referral – A potential customer can easily be referred to your product or service by a friend or neighbor from their social network, and often the customer has never met the friend or even know their real name.
• Research – Based on their online buddy’s referral (or not), they can research your brand on Google, Yahoo, or Bing. Conversely, you must now research where they are, what sites they travel, and what they have to say about your brand to be effective in reaching them.
• Relationship – In doing so they may develop relationships with other brand users and further discuss brand attributes. They are developing a now have a relationship with your brand and are arriving at the purchase decision.
• Reliability – Now the ball is in your court, and you must easily, seamlessly capture the purchase, facilitate the delivery, and follow up with customer service. This is more and more becoming what is known as the annoying ‘pile-on’ method, which often erodes your credibility. Comcast will drive you nuts with this approach after a botched service implementation.
• Responsiveness – Being responsive to your customers needs in a reliable manner is most important. Drop the ball on this and immediately negative responses will begin to emerge on the very sites you are searching for customers. Two great examples of doing this right are Zappos and Amazon.

With the current wave washing away the way marketing has been conducted in the past, which is often last month in new media time, the question often posed by clients is: What’s a marketer to do? The answer is innovate. As the late great Hunter S. Thompson once quipped, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Marketers need to look the weirdness of social media in the eye and turn social media pro. They need to think like those they wish to engage and go where they are; and do so with the credibility and authenticity the defines the trust that hinges the culture of the new media together. If you’re a CEO you will get much more mileage out your blog or tweets if you pen them yourself, even if you are not a witty communicator like Tony Hsieh of Zappos. The medium is the message, and authenticity rules the message.

The way to ride this wave is to embrace change, innovate, and partner with those who are riding it with knowledge of the waters they navigate and an eye on the future. After all, in new media time, it will soon be the last wave.

Tags

Bing, communications, Facebook, Google, marketing, social marketing, social media, twitter, web 2.0, Yahoo

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Is Starbucks Diluting It’s Brand with Via?

October 7, 2009 @ 11:07am

by Mason Razavi

When Starbucks announced that they are launching their version of instant coffee, a thought went through my head: Good job Starbucks, way to take the “luxury” out of “luxury brand”. Known to many as providers of premium coffee, and to others still as simply carrying a premium price tag, entering the instant coffee market seems like a diversion from Starbucks’ overall plan of being the top coffee vendor in the world.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, it’s become trendy to slam Starbucks by making a snide comment on paying $5 for a cup of coffee. I always found that statement slightly inaccurate; after all, can a triple grande non-fat, no whip, peppermint zebra mocha (my old supervisor’s drink of choice) really be considered just another cup of coffee?

Still, Starbucks has made efforts to downsize their organization and readjust their strategy to provide some lower priced options. Most notable was that they began to offer breakfast combos including a hot drink and a meal item for around $4. Now with their instant brew, Via, Starbucks takes another step in becoming a value-driven retailer.

One has to wonder how much this will impact Starbucks’ image in the long term. I once read something intriguing in a book on management and motivation about how you should play to your strengths instead of trying to be everything to everyone. Stick to your guns, do what you do best, and get even better at it. In another book I read that was geared to songwriters, the author very specifically and emphatically noted that it is paramount to make 1 or maybe 2 styles your own, and not try to become the be-all and end-all of songwriters who can write beautifully in every style. To that end, is Starbucks diluting it’s own brand by trying to be everything to everyone?

After all, people don’t drive BMWs because they’re practical, they don’t buy Tiffany’s because they’re affordable, and they certainly don’t wear Diesel jeans because of some “everyman” sort of image. People certainly don’t visit Starbucks for affordable, practical coffee buys. Most people walk into a Starbucks knowing what it is and expecting to spend a few bucks.

With the economy being the way it is, it’s certainly not a bad idea for Starbucks to reposition themselves as value-based retailer, or at least to have those options, and I trust that greater minds than mine are concerning themselves with the long-term affects of such decisions.

For what it’s worth, yes, I tried the taste challenge, and yes, they did taste remarkably similar. And no, unfortunately I’m not getting paid to say that.

Tags

branding, marketing, Starbucks

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To Tweet or Not to Tweet

September 10, 2009 @ 3:11pm

Updated — September 10, 2009 @ 3:14pm

by Mason Razavi

I’ve had a few people ask me about the frequency of tweets lately. Usually they’re wondering how often their business should tweet, and if they really need to let the world know that they like the  sandwhich from Vinnies, but could have done without the pepperoncinis. Of course I tell them that would be ridiculous…the word ‘pepperoncini’ takes up far too much real estate in a tweet.

Poor humor aside, the question of how often you make contact on Twitter is a valid one, particularly for businesses who count each tweet as a marketing effort.

As a general rule of thumb, if you’re unsure, play it safe and tweet less. People on the web are usually pretty sensitive to spam and information overload, so if you overdo it, you’ll find people quickly losing interest.

Let’s say you have a new promotion that runs for a few days. Let people know no more than 2-3 times a day. Make sure you phrase your messages a little differently each time. This is a subtle indicator that there is an actual human being on the other end, which is always well-perceived by consumers.

What if your promotion is one day only?  I would recommend no more than once per 2 hours tops throughout the business day.

Then there are tweets that describe events in your personal dealings throughout the day. Depending on the size of your company, and whether or not your Twitter strategy focuses on your personal brand or the company brand, you may want to post tidbits from your personal daily life. When done judiciously, it adds a human element to your company and allows people to more closely identify with your brand. When done in excess, you look like an attention-starved teen without a prom date. Feel free to post a tweet about things like your business lunch, a conference you’re attending, your graduate level classes, or anything of the like. Suffice it to say, personal talk should be present, but kept to a minimum.

Of course, there are many other times you’ll want to communicate through Twitter, and there is just not enough space here to break it all down. If I were to summarize it is the most boneheaded way possible, I’d say to tweet when you have something interesting to say. Advice so simple, it’s frustrating. However, if some companies (and individuals for that matter) would keep that little nugget of wisdom tucked away in their noggins, Twitter would be a better place.

All that being said, it’s important to remember that there are no hard and fast rules. The best way to figure out the optimal rate of contact is to keep your finger on the pulse of activity, monitor how people respond to your messaging, then make adjustments on the fly.

Tags

tweets, twitter

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