Archive for March 16th, 2011

On Wisconsin: We couldn’t have said it better …

March 16, 2011

Something troubled me watching the protesters camping in the Wisconsin state capitol.

Business Week hit the nail on the head:

Protesters chanted, sang, played drums, deployed yogic oms, and —though few gave the impression of being gainfully employed — they conducted long conversations about the sanctity of workers’ rights.

Business Week,  A Divided Wisconsin, March 9, 2011

And, from the WSJ: 

Whether Wisconsin represents the emergence of a broad-based, national campaign against reform-minded Republican leaders, however, depends on something far less clear: the ability of the protest movement to reach beyond its own echo chamber to the nonunion middle class.

 WSJ, Rules for Wisconsin Radicals, March 15, 2011. 

Funny how folks who don’t pay taxes aren’t fazed by wasted tax dollars …

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Want the impact of Facebook? Then, pay up!

March 16, 2011

TakeAway: Brands trying to get in front of their customers by utilizing sponsored stories may be surprised to find out where their stories are ending up. 

This latest attempt for brands to utilize free promotions via Facebook prove that there is still a need to pay for the customers’ attention.

* * * * *

Excerpted from AdAge, “How Brands are Getting Lost on Facebook”  by Brad McCormick, February 22, 2011

… Facebook recently announced the launch of sponsored stories … which allow marketers to insert certain user updates into paid advertisements … another blurring of the line between paid and earned media.

But …brands are stumbling in their quest to be heard on the world’s most popular social network.

… Not all friends are created equal … a principle that social networks have struggled to properly put into practice.

Facebook actually attempted to correct this with…”Top News” featuring the news and updates from your friends that Facebook’s thinks you will be most interested in. … a brand’s presence within a user’s “Top News” is as good as gold because it is the default page.

“Recent News,” is fast becoming the spam folder of Facebook. …with an overflow of updates from “friends” with whom you rarely interact …this is where branded updates are appearing.

… While Facebook’s marketing department may tell Starbucks that another customer’s affinity for a Double Espresso Venti Mocha holds value to its fanbase, Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm may be saying something entirely different. Otherwise, there would be no need to “ensure your fans see the content that your Page publishes” via purchasing sponsor stories ads.

More than anything, Facebook’s announcement shows that is still necessary for brands to pay for a customer’s attention. While that’s not astonishing, for brands to truly leverage the power of Facebook, they need to find better ways to earn it.

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