Of course Pinterest isn’t on par with smashing numbers like 800 million Facebook users or 465 million Twitter users. The invite-only system is keeping the Pinterest eco-system small for the time being, but is it ready to fully open their doors to the public in 2012?

Before we dive into the added value of Pinterest, let’s first take a look what it actually offers.

What is Pinterest?

A place where users can organize and share online photos. Think of it as the evolution of social bookmarking sites like Delicious. But it goes way beyond a bookmarking site, it’s the visual aspect that really makes the difference. Images can be uploaded or shared on Pinterest, this is called a ‘Pin’. These pins can be categorized by user defined categories, also known as ‘Boards’.

Another added layer is the ability to comment, like and share photos. Users can follow each other like Twitter, no need to give permission as it’s an open network. Pins can also be shared on Facebook and Twitter.

How is it currently used?

It depends on the user but it’s safe to say there’s a big difference between brand and personal users. For personal experience Pinterest seems widely popular for designers, architects and travellers. Think of a showcase of your own work or those beautiful places you always wanted to visit.

For brands it can be a very natural environment to be in. Take Etsy for example, an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. Etsy brought their catalogue to the Pinterest audience, and why wouldn’t they since the Pinterest audience is 70% female. Sounds like a perfect match to me.

Why brands should stay on top of Pinterest

No doubt about it that Pinterest wouldn’t match every brand. As a matter of fact it seems that mostly small retail businesses are using Pinterest to inspire, showcase and sell their products.

However, think about this for a minute. There’s a huge potential if Pinterest steps off from their invite-only registration model, gaining millions of new users. This means people will start ‘pinning’ what they love, and most certainly branded products will be in there as well.

Think of Fashionistas, showcasing all their Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada bags. You name it, they will Pin it. Fashion brands can really start adding value in this space by showing more than just pictures of products. Show how different bags can fit each specific occasion.

In other words, lots of new opportunities for brands to reach and engage their consumers.

How do you think Pinterest can add value for brands? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: The Next Web

And why is this important again? Because you’re an early bird and are eager understand a market that will most likely change the world economy. Chinese New Year is a very interesting holiday marketers should pay close attention to.

Chinese New Year festivities lasts almost two weeks. During this time they eat festive meals, visit relatives, gift red envelopes which contains money. The list goes on but you can probably look it up in Google for more detailed info about these traditions.

There’s a big chance you’re reading this and your current business opportunities probably are in the Western countries. So why should you even bother investing and reaching out to Chinese consumers?

1. The digital space growing at an insane pace

Twitter has over 465 million registered users. The last milestone from Twitter was reported by The Next Web with 25,088 tweets per second.

During this year’s  Chinese New Year festivity Twitter-like service Sina Weibo reported a smashing 32,312 tweets per second. Sina Weibo has 250 million registered users. And let’s not forget about the 500 million internet users China holds.

2. Western brand preference

According to a study from China Market Research Group one of the main concerns Chinese consumers have is product safety. With scandals going on about poisoned baby food or paper made out of garbage it’s no wonder these concerns arise. As an alternative consumers tend to switch to the safer Western brands.

3. Global shifting markets

According to Reuters the middle class will see a dramatic shift globally. Asian countries China, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia currently represent 30% of the middle-class income. By 2030 this number will jump up to 64%, this will account for over 40% of global middle-class consumption.

As countries are shifting in the global economy so should brands. Learn all the important Chinese holidays and turn it to your advantage.

The Chinese market may be crowded by copycat brands, however the need for top quality brands delivering high standard products is higher than ever. So are you focusing your business on the Chinese market yet?

In China online marketing is still mostly pushing banners in people’s faces. It’s so annoying that sometimes users cannot even click it away.

The Chinese government knows users are constantly bombarded with these pop-up ads. They are  taking some action by issuing new internet regulations, and it’s slightly beneficial for the user experience.

Our friends at Wall Street Journal reported a couple of these new rules:

• No maliciously blocking users from accessing services offered by other Internet companies
• No tricking users into downloading software
• No suspending services to users without a good reason
• Pop-up ads will need  to have an obvious way to close them

The government didn’t ban pop-up ads and they have a good reason to do that. According to the Chinese government the internet industry is built on ad revenue, by banning pop-up ads would significantly change the industry’s current business model. Which in the end would hurt the interest of users and affecting the internet industry developments.

It’s easy to point fingers at the government but the fundamental problem doesn’t lie there.

Advertisers
A lot of Chinese advertisers still think 1.0, they are used to pushing ads. Media buying guarantees views, clicks etc. but the audience will probably not share it, and even worse they might dislike your brand for pushing commercials all the time. Even in the western countries this is still where most media is spent, although some brands do know how to earn attention and engage with users.

Pop-up ads aren’t everywhere on the Chinese web of course, but just take a moment and look at video portals such as Tudou or Youku. First they show you a pre-roll before you can actually watch a video, second they throw in an advertisement when you pause a video.

Consumers
Of course the whole problem doesn’t lie with advertisers – Chinese consumers are also to blame. They are spoiled with everything being free, consumers can stream whole tv shows or movies using programs like Funshion.

Music is also easy to come by, music downloads are handled through  Tencent’s QQ Music. So a lot of advertisers are taking the easy way out – pushing ads in people’s faces..

With over 500 million Chinese internet users brands can do much better than that. Do you have any good examples of Chinese campaigns? Or do you have some tips to share? Let us know in the comments below.

But the same as media companies must adapt to this shifting climate, so must, advertisers. Getting a strong, consistent message out in such a difficult landscape is a challenge, but one that advertisers are quickly changing to meet.

Here are just five ways they are doing exactly that:

1. Create Entertaining Ads

A few decades ago, ads were seen as a necessary part of life. There was little anyone could do to avoid ads on TV, print, etc., other than change the channel or pick up a different paper. However, with so many ways to get media, there are more possibilities for blocking or escaping ads.

As a result, advertisers are working harder and harder to create engaging ads that people actually want to see and share, such as with the AllState “Mayhem” commercials and The Old Spice Guy ads.

2. Focus On Engagement

Historically, advertising has been sold based on the number of eyes that viewed the ad. However, advertisers are now becoming more focused on viewer engagement.

The Web and social media offer a slew of new ways to track how engaged consumers are what they are saying. Mentions in social media, Twitter followers and Facebook fans are just some of the metrics that can be used to learn how engaged people actually are.

These changes not only affect how advertising results are tracked, but increasingly how it is planned as different metrics are being targeted.

3. Encouraging Discovery

If a new restaurant wants to promote itself, it could take an ad out in the major local paper or it could get a paid listing in Google Places or Yelp.

Google and Yelp are places people go to when they are looking to discover something. Whether it’s a new restaurant, a good auto dealer or a reliable shoe store. Advertisements there not only target those who are interested in a particular product, but are helping them discover what they are looking for.

In this regard, the ads are much more like those in the Yellow Pages, but more modern and user-friendly.

4. Controlling The Medium And The Message

Traditionally, advertisers have simply paid others to carry their message, but with the Web advertisers are increasingly building sites and apps that they can control and advertise in.

For example, Mastercard has an “ATM Hunter” app for iOS and Android that not only helps find nearby ATMs, but is heavily branded by Mastercard and focuses on PayPass, a Mastercard exclusive service.

With the cost of building apps and sites dropping rapidly, advertisers are finding it cost-effective to control the medium as well as the message and give users fun, useful and interesting places to spend more time with their brand.

5. The Merging Of All Corporate Communications

What’s the difference between advertising, public relations and customer support when it comes to social media? Very little.

All corporate communications have to be on the same page. This can be difficult when, previously, advertising, PR and customer relations were often different departments, if not different contractors, but it’s what customers expect and need.

A company no longer knows when or how a potential customer will “touch” their brand. It could be a Tweet about the company, a commercial on TV or a review on a site. Companies have to speak in all of these situations with one voice and one message, even though they are across roles.

That, in turn, is possibly the greatest challenge of non-linear media, keeping a consistent message and making it one that people can pick up and put down easily.

That is also part of what makes the Old Spice and AllState campaigns so great, that each commercial and each interaction is separate. Meaning that you can enjoy watching just one commercial or all of them.

But despite the progress, it’s still very clear that advertisers have a lot of adapting to do. The ways in which advertising was purchased, produced and tracked 25 years ago are no longer relevant.

That’s a major upheaval in a very short period of time, unlike anything advertising has ever seen, but it’s a change that, overall, marketers seem to be adapting well to.

This guest post is written by Lior Levin, a marketing consultant for a neon sign store that specialises in custom made neon and LED signs, and who also consults for a css company.

There are several different ways how to approach this season of the year to boost sales and get as much as possible – by strategic planning, special promotions or with a simple Free Shipping Day.

A recent press release by comScore reported this season retail e-commerce spending from this year’s holiday season, November till December with a blowing $30.9 billion spent on-line.

Free Shipping Day, Cyber Monday

Some more fascinating numbers – it’s a 15% year-to-year increase and the most recent work week from December 12-16 saw four individual days surpass $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday ( Dec. 12) with $1.13 billion and Free Shipping Day (December 16) with $1.07 billion. Curious about the stats of today, the Cyber Monday.

“More than $1 billion in spending on Free Shipping Day put the exclamation point on what will almost certainly be the heaviest week of the online holiday shopping season,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

“Four individual days surpassed $1 billion in spending this week, with Green Monday leading the way at $1.13 billion. While next week may see another strong day or two at the beginning of the week, it’s clear that we have now reached the crescendo for this season and that spending will begin to slow as we get closer to Christmas, leaving Cyber Monday as the top ranked shopping day for the second year in a row.”

It can be said that the spending trends can be successfully boosted by simple promotions and not only by all the pricey banners, video ads and home page takeovers. A discount voucher, free shipping, guaranteed delivery before a certain date – you would be amazed, but it still works. Or am I a captain obvious here…

Also according to Mr. Fulongi “Free shipping is undoubtedly one of the most important incentives for consumers and has become a key driver of online buying activity over the past few years.”

Social Media Makes The Sale

What else influences the purchase habits and decision making process? Except for price, message exposure and the usual marketing around.

Yes, it’s social media, to be more precise it’s recommendation from friends, peers and most importantly – interaction with brands! How many did so you ask? Well the answer and much more is below. I know, another infographic, but I just love them.

How did you prepare for Q4 madness? And also, are you done with your Christmas shopping yet? I know some free shipping sites with guaranteed delivery before 12/25!

Sources: comscore.com; allfacebook.com; mryouth.com

New available Top-Level Domains will bring opportunities for brand owners, firms and organizations. Some examples? Category TLDs: .bank .jewellers .sport .film .gay and .shop

Place TLDs: .nyc .london .barcelona and Brand TLDs: .nike .redbull .canon

Why do I think that CMOs should be relaxed about new TLDs, and why they certainly should ignore some of the hysteric goeroes that have called the new TLDs “one of the biggest changes on the Internet in a decade”.

A brand TLD will have very little value, unless it is used heavily in marketing campaigns – it’s the marketing that creates the value — not the domain name itself.

Next, Google is also favoring large brands in its organic search results, so it’s already discounting other TLDs that belong to squatters or small businesses. That means that brand TLDs will offer very little SEO value.

Last but not least, more and more brands are not longer using their .com domain in their messaging, they advertise their Facebook domain in TVCs like: facebook.com/adidas, facebook.com/nike etc.

So stressing CMOs and giving them a headache about new TLDs? Aggegrated and hysterical nonsense if you ask me. I do hope that CMOs will worry more about their Internet, CRM and Social strategies.

Some CMOs still have not invested in building mutual beneficial relationships with their consumers yet. Those brands will drop tremedously the coming years.

They will see their clients leave which will entitle them to run even more ad campaigns. Wow, entitled to advertising, pretty old fashioned. Invest in your owned media channels, would be my advice.

And to some of the online goeroes I would like to say: Keep your head cool. New TLDs are certainly not one of the biggest changes on the internet. Blogs are. Online video is. Social Media is.

Please share our readers your thoughts on new TLDs…

Want to know more about TLDs? Read 9 Things You Need to Know About ICANN’s New Top Level Domains at Mashable.

It is the first time that such a huge research among CMO’s has taken place, asking them on their views and opinions on the rapid changing and evolving markets, consumers and new methods of research.

Today’s customers can shop around the globe, find out more than ever before about the organizations they’re dealing with, and share their views with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of fellow customers. The expectations of  consumers, citizens and business customers are soaring. And they can make or break brands overnight.

After face-to-face interviews with 1,734 CMOs, spanning 19 industries and 64 countries, IBM discovered that CMOs are feeling stretched, but also experience great excitement about the future of marketing. These conversations and their in-depth  analysis of study findings underscore the need to respond to three new realities:

• The empowered customer is now in control of the business relationship
• Delivering customer value is paramount — and an organization’s behavior is as important as the products and services it provides
• The pressure to be accountable to the business is not just a symptom of hard times, but a permanent shift that requires new approaches, tools and skills

A quick conclusion of the report is that CMO’s from across the world are struggeling with the internet era and in particular with these kind of questions; “How are we going to deliver value to a consumer that has never been more powerful? How are we going to build sustainable relationships? How will we consolidate these values? And how will we measure them?” Social Media remeans an ongoing issue for most of them and the shift from Push to Pull in marketing is an continues battle between consumer and marketeer.

Sign up for your free copy now!

In recent years the traditional birthday Google doodle appeared on the homepage on the 27th of September, making it more of an official celebration date.

What have you been doing thirteen years ago? Probably searching through altavista.com, setting up free web e-mail and maybe waiting for the modem to finish dialing. And I still remember my schoolmate telling me to try Google one day in 1998.

Since that a lot changed and obviously it’s not only about search anymore. With more products and services added every year, and now becoming active in social media as well with Google+ the users have basically everything in one place, up and running without the need to log-in to many different platforms.

As the history of Google is for several long articles, I’d recommend to have a look at Google Timeline (looking forward to an update) and for the full list of products and services at Google products or at extensive list of Google products at Wikipedia.

And of course with millions of users worldwide the privacy questions are in the right place. It’s not about being paranoid, but even if you are paranoid that doesn’t mean you are not being spied on. One thing are AdWords ads in the search results and on websites, the other are ads in Gmail.

Click here to view the embedded video.

All in all, Google is a phenomenon and makes our lives, studies and business a bit easier, so thanks and Happy Birthday!

However, it’s becoming a teenager, hope the puberty will be painless.

What impact has and had Google on your life? And please don’t blame it that it still cannot find your lost car keys. It’s coming.

Sources: mashable.com, jezebel.com, mememachine.viralvideochart.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

The campaign is called Project: S2theTest and via social media and a website people can submit  their challenges. With this campaign  Samsung has clearly puts their (potential) customers in the drivers seat.

The idea of the campaign is that customer sent in their challenge and if their challenge gets picked out by the jury, then Samsung will execute it. Not important to forget is that the winning customer also receives an Galaxy SII.

In the first few weeks of the campaign nearly a 1000 challenges where sent in through Facebook, Twitter and the campaign site, www.S2theTest.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The challenges do not only create engagement and new Facebook and Twitter fans, it also provides Samsung with great new insights about the whishes of their customers concerning mobile phones.

The campaign has been running for only a couple of weeks. In the next phase they have asked influential Dutch bloggers to work with them on the execution of the challenges.

This thought was the inspiration for Menno Braakman, evangelist for MarketGiving and Marketing Talent of the Year Nominee in the Netherlands to start writing a MarketGiving manifest. Interested on how to create a viral brand story, told by your customers for you? Keep on reading!

Giving is the new Taking! MarketGiving, a new marketing vision

More and more Brands are starting to understand, though an integral approach and strategy is too often lacking. Simply broadcasting your brand message no longer builds your brand and revenue growth in a structural way. Consumers are less influenced by traditional media. The short term effect is still measurable and visible, but the ROI on traditional media is declining. The consumer bases purchasing decisions primarily on opinions and recommendations of friends, family, colleagues, consumers with the same need and existing customers. Research by McKinsey (McKinsey Quarterly, April 2010) found that a consumer is mainly influenced by Word Of Mouth in 20-50% of purchasing decisions.

Superpromoters
So brands are forced to go back to the basics: focus on the end consumer. They have to, just like incthe Middle Ages on the market, invest in the relation with their customers, especially in the relationcwith current satisfied customers. Main objective: create positive Word Of Mouth, stimulatecrecommendation behavior. Converting current customers and brand fans to active ambassadors andceven to Superpromoters (Vogelaar, R. (2010), The Superpromoter).

Social Media
To accomplish this, brands massively jump into social media. Here, marketers hope to make a real connections with their consumers and build a relation. A concrete strategy is often lacking. Rest assured, this is not another article promoting the power of social media and trashing traditional media. It is about something bigger: a new vision on marketing where new and traditional media can very well work together, supporting and complementing each other.

MarketGetting vs. MarketGiving
I would like to challenge all marketers to review their current marketing strategies, based on the previously mentioned developments. Marketing has traditionally always evolved around MarketGetting: reach as many people as possible, to draw as much of the market to your product/brand as possible. I believe, to be successful in the years to come, marketers should formulate a MarketGiving strategy. MarketGiving stands for everything you as a brand does to add value to the lives of your customers. Everything you do to fulfill their needs on different places(online and offline) and moments. Of course fitting within the brand values and brand story. In exchange for your MarketGiving, your customers will give back!. Below I will tell you what that Return On Investment exactly is.

Brand Karma
Surprise your customers, touch them, help them, support them, or facilitate them so they can help each other. Make them truly enthusiastic about what you did for them and they will share this with their network. Like people share most strong emotions with other people. Definitely try to facilitate them in the most important human needs of present day: Responsibility, Learning, Recognition and Joy. That is how you build your Brand Karma, raise your Brand’s Likeability and convert your target Group to customer, your customers to fan and your fans to active ambassadors and loyal customers that love to be part of your brand story. You structurally build your brand value, revenue and most of all: you build a good relationship with the people you so passionately work for every day, your customers!!

Viral Brand Story
Within your MarketGiving strategy, social media offers the optimal infrastructure and culture of sharing and liking to make your MarketGiving activities visible, buzzing and shareable. This way, social media is used as an amplifier in your MarketGiving strategy. The potential result: a viral brand story told by your customers for you.

Love to read your feedback on this manifesto. If you agree with Menno, you can start supporting by voting on him for the Marketing Talent Of The Year. With your vote you’ll give him the ultimate chance to share his vision with even more people. You can also support him with a tweet using #mtoty_menno.

If you’re interested in discussing more about the MarketGiving conversation, you can join the MarketGiving LinkedIn Group.

Source: ICON&CO