Brands on Flickr

You don’t see nearly as many brands on Flickr as you do on YouTube or Facebook. But they do exist, and after a few conversations recently about what the opportunities for brands were on Flickr I thought I’d have a look. Having trawled through pages of Google and Flickr searches, I’ve grouped the results into three categories:

- Brand communities and extensions
- Branded resources
- Branded contests

And at the end of the review of what’s out there already, I’ve distilled a few learnings, a few things to watch out for, and a conclusion around the opportunities for brands on Flickr. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A great post from Geoff Northcott of AKQA London on how brands are using Flickr to connect, communicate and join communities. Unlike MySpace, YouTube and Facebook, which seem to be littered with brands, Geoff highlights why the few brands that are utilizing Flickr to begin a social conversation are benefiting from the lack of competitive social marketing.

The post provides case studies and examples from a variety of companies using Flickr as well as tips on how to begin you social presence on the photo-sharing site. And, if you listened to us last week, you should have your Flickr social URL in hand.

While Flickr might not the right fit for certain brands or industries, fields such as travel could benefit from the already built-in passion of travelers taking photos. A stretch, I know. Beyond building a community and increasing you social reputation among Flickr users (like AOT is doing with our Arizona Passages campaign), gaining a fan-base on Flickr can help greatly with UGC photo contests, sourcing new (and cheap, if not free!) images (just be sure to ask!) and adding content to your site via the Flickr API.

In fact, I even know of a few organizations who are currently using Flickr to house their entire photo library or catalog. Not a huge company mind you, but at $25 a year for unlimited file storage, it might be worth a look.

Even if you don't want to share those photos socially just yet.

Don't Want To Write A Blog? Have Someone Else Do It For You

With the Olympic Games just a month off, some brands are looking to extend their sponsorships with social media programs. Lenovo has created 100 athletes' blogs in an attempt to align itself with some less mainstream sports, such as field hockey and modern pentathlon. It gave the athletes laptops and video cameras to chronicle their preparation for the games.

"We wanted to do something that shows our tech prowess, not something that uses the Web as billboard," said David Churbuck, vp of global Web marketing at Lenovo. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A great story from Adweek on computer maker Lenovo's digital strategy for the upcoming Olympic Games. Rather than start an 'official Lenovo Olympic blog', they reversed the thinking and have hundreds of athletes blogging for them. Give them the tools...blog, video camera, hosting, etc...and let them provide the content.

The reason I love this story is the thinking behind it and how it could apply to travel.

If you are a DMO or destination, you will more than likely (if you are popular) already have consumers / bloggers in your area who are blogging about you, restaurants, attractions (roller coaster 'nuts' love to blog), etc, etc. Rather than compete with them, why not create a certification program, similar to what Lenovo has done with these athlete blogs, and issue an official 'DMO seal of approval' for each blog.

Here is a secret, bloggers love to be acknowledged! Give them an 'official blogger for DMO XYZ logo' (see the Lenovo version at the bottom-left of this page), a little praise and recognition and aggregate these blogs into one large DMO blog site.

Lenovo has asked the participating athletes to show a "Lenovo 2008 Olympics Blogger" badge on their sites. Most have done so, said Churbuck. It isn't asking for any mention of Lenovo products, he added.

"I don't want to be in the position of telling them what to write," he said. "It's their blog, they can do what they want."

Just like that you have updated content, in a blog without a major time and resource commitment from your organization.

Of course, keep in mind that these bloggers are representing your brand, so ensuring professional, relevant and proper content is critical. But, an interview process (I would actually have them come to your office for the interview), a basic agreement and some solid research on the person should result in finding the most qualified bloggers for your site.

Perhaps you can start that blog after all.

The State of the American Traveler - July Report

Our friends at Destination Analysts passed along the newest edition of their extremely informative 'The State of the American Traveler' report. You can view the entire report here (.pdf), but here are some interactive-specific highlights:

Plus, be sure to take a look at the larger chart on page 4, for the question 'In the past 12 months, which of these resources or internet technologies have you used to specifically help plan your leisure travel?' Some of the results:

UGC Reviews of Hotels - 23.2%
UGC Travel Itinerary or Blog - 16.7%
UGC Destination Reviews - 16.1%
DMO Pages on a Social Media Site - 6.8%
Mobile / PDA To Access Travel Info - 17.2%
Google Earth - 19.2%
Online Travel Videos - 8.8%
Word of Mouth - 32.1%

The numbers that really jump out at me are the 16.7% who used an 'UGC Itinerary or Blog' and the 6.8% that used a 'DMO Page on a Social Media Site.' Both of those are pretty healthy numbers.

As far as the 17.2% who used a mobile device, I would like to see a deeper analysis into those results. My guess is the majority of those mobile visits are for such activities as checking flights, checking-in for flights and weather, rather than actual requests for decision-making travel info.

'Google Earth' seems surprising high, but it should be a little red flag that causes you to examine your organizations possible uses for Google Earth. See our recent post about Walt Disney World.

'Online Travel Videos' seems a little low, but I would attribute that to the lack of quality content. The majority of 'travel videos' currently online are simply re-purposed TV ads, not useful or informative travel pieces. Once that content becomes available, I would expect to see the number increase.

And finally, remember that while even those online, social, interactive marketing efforts might not result in convenient to track conversions, they could be increasing the 'word of mouth' about your destination. Which is still one of, if not the, best way to get your message out.

Travel Trends - Luggage, UGC, Twitter, More JetBlue, Bad Photoshop

Checking 2 bags? That will be $40, thanks! - Wow. American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers as it grapples with record-high fuel prices. That's right, $15 for the first bag. So, if you are a family of 4 flying from Chicago to Phoenix for a week vacation, each carrying 2 bags each, that means you will have to pay $160 just to get your bags to Sky Harbor. Now, I am the first to admit I do not know the intricate economic factors that affect the airline industry, but rather than charging for the first bag, just lie to us. Stick that $15 in another fee...environmental conservation fee, new tire fee, landing taxes, whatever...but telling us (and yes, this is completely opposite all of the transparency we push on the blog) it is for the first bag feels like a slap in the face.

My two 'trends' from this announcement...(1) carry-on bags will get even bigger and will hurt even more when they hit you in the head...(2) companies such as baggagequest.com and luggageconcierge.com will become much more popular.
http://news.yahoo.com/

Big Media Is Dead...Again...Really - Interesting stats from eMarketer on the attitudes of our fellow marketing professionals. Bye-bye TV!
http://www.emarketer.com/



JetBlue 'Following' Consumer Trends Via Twitter - A very interesting post from Joel at the socialized blog. Basically jetBlue was or is following conversations on Twitter (confused about Twitter, here is the explanation) to improve customer service, look for trends, etc, etc. Twitter is a great way to communicate quickly with your friends and peers, so if you are stuck at JFK because the ground crew is late and decide to rant about it via Twitter, (in theory) the JetBlue communications team will have a head start on resolving the issue. A fascinating read and an interesting us of new technology by a large company. Now, how do you feel about JetBlue 'following' your conversations?
http://www.socializedpr.com/

More JetBlue - JetBlue has recently launched a new 'Happy Jetting' campaign, complete with a new Happy Jetting website. The site 'aims to bring back humanity to flying' not to mention push the companies new Green initiative (who doesn't have one?), show off some of the new creative, allow users to play games and generally feel warm and fussy about flying JetBlue. Which, I will admit, TV in-seat is nice! If nothing else check out the 'almost totally real pilot name' generator, an old trick that interactive folks love to add to sites like these, but still fun.

This is your captain, Troy 'Romance' Thompson, speaking, enjoy your flight.
http://www.happyjetting.com/

My New Favorite Blog - Photoshop is a dangerous program in the wrong hands. Having been a photoshop 'guru' in a previous life (sorry, the new versions confuse me), I love the Photoshop Disasters blog. It just goes to show that we all make mistakes (some larger than others) and that not everyone should be using Photoshop!
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

Random Thoughts: Interactive (Web 2.0) Media

Typically, I don't like using the word Web 2.0, but I figured it would be the quickest way to connect you with this post.

While speaking today at the Oregon Governor's Conference on Tourism (a full report in a later post), during both Josh Hallett's presentation and our own panel discussion, a lot of conversation centered around engagement (thank you) and what social / UGC / Web 2.0 projects you should and should not undertake.

Here was the highlight from the talk:

You should not and cannot do everything. There are far too many sites and options for your product that are simply not right for your audience. Just because some other state, restaurant, hotel launches a Facebook app (see post below) does not automatically mean that you should.

Take a step back and figure out which of these new media / interactive opportunities are really worth doing, make sense for your goals and will create a return on your efforts.

Are Facebook Apps The New Brand Wasteland? Or Why Facebook Will and Will Not Work For the Travel Industry - Part 2

...Second Life today, post-hype-apocalypse, contains scattered groupings of people in a whole sea of empty space, containing a number of eerily abandoned brand islands. When recently digging through every press release I could find about a brand launching a new Facebook App, I started to wonder if this was the new brand wasteland. At the front of the Facebook list are a myriad of highly social applications with hundreds of thousands, even millions of active users. But to the back are all of the big names (Coke, Honda, Adidas, Verizon) with applications drawing in... 12 active users? >>Full Story

Thoughts// A great post from the threeminds blog that discusses the abundance of underutilized, forgotten Facebook applications. The post ties in perfectly into an article we discussed a few months ago, 'Why Facebook Will and Will Not Work For the Travel Industry - Part 1.'

The post cites several examples of Facebook applications, created by large corporations, which do not deliver the amount of users or views of non-sponsored applications or widgets. Of course, for a lot of these companies a Facebook application is not a large expenditure, and probably viewed as more of an experiment. Still, 12 active users is a remarkably small amount.

The article is very similar to our previous post discussing how companies and organizations created Facebook profiles, hoping to gather thousands of 'friends' for their product or brand, only to be 'friended' by a few, let us say, less-than-perfect users.

Most interesting was the example of the Sony sponsorship of an already existing, already popular (vampire) Facebook application. Brilliant. A built-in audience, interested in the same subject, why wouldn't you take advantage of it?

The article also goes onto to mention the use of groups, (built-in audience!) to create 'mini-sites' for your brand / product. Not sure if I would go that far, but it is certainly a good option.

Finally, I love the App Don'ts, which could work for any new media / interactive project / website:

App Don'ts
1. Don't start a new version of something that is already popular.
2. Don't overcomplicate the concept or interface.
3. Don't extend a campaign without thinking about the social context.
4. Don't separate your fans, reach them where they already exist.

Words to live, and network, by.

Too Much TripAdvisor

Jim Brody, our rep at TripAdvisor, passed along this email earlier in the week. Apparently it is making the rounds at TripAdvisor HQ not because it is negative, but actually because TripAdvisor has sent our friend Bob too much business.

Behold the power of the internet. And specifically, user-generated content / reviews.

From: "Bob Wombacher, Jr."

To: hotelrelations@tripadvisor.com

Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 1:26:21 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern

Subject: A different kind of problem...

My name is Bob Wombacher and I am the owner of a small motel - Bashful Bob's Motel - in Page, AZ 86040. A few weeks ago you printed some glowing reviews and comments about my business. Shortly after, we began getting phone calls and inquiries and reservation requests from people, mostly French, who wanted to patronize our establishment. To say it was overwhelming is an understatement.

To date we have received nearly 400 requests for information or to apply for reservations. Unfortunately we are not equipped to handle such volume. We have a small business and, while we are happy for the help you have given us, we need to "turn off the spigot," so to speak.

The e-mails and phone calls your help has given us have resulted in over 600 reservation/nights, spread out over the next 7 months.

Is there a way to stop your reports, at least temporarily? Any suggestions you can make will be helpful in solving this problem.

You certainly do have great coverage in France.

Thanks.

Bob Wombacher

Bashful Bob's Motel
928-645-3919
P.O. Box 2990
Page, AZ 86040

www.bashfulbobsmotel.com

All Content Is Dead

Content, it seems, is no longer king. User experience is high on the agenda as ‘lookers’ seek more a compelling offering. “I spent 40 minutes online trying to book a trip to White Plains, New York, with United Airlines. But the site kept telling me an upgrade wasn’t available. It shouldn’t be as difficult as this to book a flight.”

“I’ve spent four hours researching a single trip to Germany, and I still don’t know if I’ve got the best deal.”

A couple of not-so frequent flyers, you might think, who are not used to booking travel online, and have yet to cut their teeth on travel websites. Actually, no. These two quotes are from Henry Harteveldt, vice-president and principal analyst for travel at Forrester Research, and Joe Buhler, senior destination marketing analyst at PhoCusWright, two of the world’s leading analysts of the online travel market. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Okay, so that headline is just for dramatic effect. As a follow-up to yesterday's article (User-Generated Content Is Dead), our friends at Travolution posted a quick comment highlighting the article above, 'User experience - Time for the personal touch.' A great follow-up and a very well written article...thank you David...that we wanted to call attention to.

While I am the first to say that content is key, especially unique, engaging content, there does come a point where 10, 20 or 100 websites will have the same content as yours. And guess what, that probably already happened.

For example, how many ways can you creatively say that your flight to Milwaukee is $172? Or that the Washington Monument is 555ft tall?

The way you begin to differentiate yourself from the competition is user experience. And a combination of user experience, engagement and content will set your site apart.

Enough of my comments, I would highly recommend reading the article.

Long live the user experience!

(Editor's Note: Special guest appearance by the 'Burger King' made possible by your local Burger King restaurant.)

User-Generated Content Is Dead

The proliferation of user-generated opinions on various Web sites is increasingly being challenged.

“In short, the expert is back,” writes Newsweek.

“People are beginning to recognize that the world is too dangerous a place for faulty information," said Charlotte Beal, a consumer strategist for the Minneapolis-based research firm Iconoculture. She adds that choice fatigue and fear of bad advice are creating a "perfect storm of demand for expert information." >>Full Story

Thoughts// This type of story is the reason why I started the Travel 2.0 blog. The headline, from travel news site Travel Mole reads 'Tourists saying ‘no’ to user-generated opinions.' The 'story' goes on to quote the original Newsweek article that discusses the growing popularity of 'expert' sites. And, if you were just to read the headline and some of the article, you might think that the entire UGC trend is collapsing around us...which is not the case.

The article on Travel Mole does cite a few references of these new expert sites (BigThink.com, Mahalo and About.com), however none of them have very much relevance to the travel industry, let alone that headline. The article goes on to say pretty much nothing and probably leaves most readers even more confused about UGC than they were in the first place.

Typically, I am not this direct in an opinion, I try to give the benefit of the doubt, but it is this kind of lethargic journalism that is partially responsible for the out-of-control UGC buzz in the first place. And now you are telling me it is over?

Not so fast. No facts, no evidence, no proof that TripAdvisor has seen a X% of decline in travel reviews. Unless you have some evidence, don't make blanket statements that scare most VPs and CEOs into running down to the interactive department and ask them what happened.

Just stop it.

Now, about that Newsweek article. It is fair, but not great. True, there has been some significant growth in the 'expert' advice area with sites such as BigThink.com, but that should not come at a surprise. Everything in the online world (if not the entire world) is cyclical...constantly moving back and forth...too many vague, random opinions on which can-opener works the best, let's get some experts in here to tell us the truth.

And it should also come as no surprise that the founder of Mahalo thinks the site is a great idea. I would hope so.

Let's show a little restraint here.

Personally, I have been asking the question for a while if consumer interest in UGC will decline (see our comments from October on Will Human Laziness Burst The Web 2.0 Bubble?) . However, I think we can agree that UGC is not going away. Consumers know the power of their opinion. There is some balancing that will occur between 'amateur UGC' and 'expert UGC', but either way, user-generated content is here to stay.

So, how does a DMO fit into this puzzle? Who better to be an expert on your city, state, country, etc. than you?

Now, how do you start communicating with those consumers using UGC?

That is the real question.

Travel Trends - Everywhere Magazine

Everywhere Magazine - I have been waiting patiently to write a post about the new travel magazine 'Everywhere' until my first (trial) issued arrived, and guess what showed up in my mailbox yesterday?

Everywhere, from 8020 Publishing (who also publish JPG), takes online user-submitted content and packages it in a 'beautiful printed magazine that is distributed internationally.' A bit of a process reversal, but still an intriguing concept. As far as the magazine itself, it is put together very well with a professional yet 'hip' feeling about it (ugh, I can't believe I said 'hip'). The articles and columns are interesting and certainly not what you would expect in a typical 'send everyone to Paris' travel magazine. Plus, an impressive lineup of advertisers (not sure of the commitment) give the publication some instant credibility. I would encourage you to visit the site, take a look around and order a trial issue.

It will be interesting to watch the progress of Everywhere, could this be a new trend in print publishing or just a flash in the pan? And, from a DMO perspective, if this is a larger trend should we begin thinking about how we can incorporate user-generate content in our printed pieces as well as our websites?

Ah, more questions. And more reasons to keep reading the Travel 2.0 blog.
http://www.everywheremag.com/

Study Finds Online Reviews A Powerful Tool

Do travel and other consumers use online reviews? Yes. Are they willing to pay more for high ratings? Yes. So says a recent study that found consumers were willing to pay at least 20% more for services receiving "excellent" or 5-star rating opposed to those receiving "good" or 4-star ratings. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Ok. If you're already a subscriber to this blog, chances are you're already drunk on the user-generated-social-media-web-2.o concoction Troy and I have been eagerly serving. But in case you happen to be someone who has never researched a trip online or purchased something on E-Bay and Amazon...YES it's true! All the hoopla about user generated content and reviews maybe right after all.

According to a recent study conducted by the Kelsey Group, 25% of consumers reported using online reviews for a service delivered offline and a significant portion of these consumers subsequently "converted" by either eating at a restaurant or staying at a hotel. More importantly however, consumers are willing to pay 20% more for brands receiving extremely good reviews from like minded consumers. Again not a very big surprise. But as more destinations start building "fan" sites such as GoSeeOregon.com, GoSeeArizona.com and GoSeePortland.com, this study is yet another validation that we're on the right path. Now the challenge before us all is how do we sustain our communities?

Travel Trends - Delta, Sweden, Ad Agencies, TripIt

Planeguage from Delta - Delta and Delta.com, who have been rapidly adopting to some of the latest interactive trends since emerging from bankrupcy, (see Delta SiteSeer Challenge, Delta SiteSeer Video and Under the Wing) have just launched a series of short, animated videos titled 'Planeguage.' The videos put a humorous spin on some of the most common challenges/hassles of airline travel. You can view the first video above or, if reading via email/rss, view the video online.

Personally, I think the videos are fantastic, from the intro music to the characters to the stories, and the spots appear to be a great way to create a viral marketing campaign around the new Delta brand. Notice that the videos are already on YouTube, and in the case of the one above, have been viewed 10,000+ times. While the videos themselves are entertaining, it will be interesting to see if consumer response is 'that is creative and fun' or 'so they are telling me they have no room on there planes.' Communicating with consumers online, what a tricky endeavor.
http://blog.delta.com/

Community of Sweden - Always under the radar, those Swedes have been busy. Visit Sweden has just introduced what it is calling the 'Community of Sweden', the ' the official online community for Sweden,' where visitors can 'share and enjoy photos, travel stories tips and more from friends in Sweden and all over the world.' Think of it as it MySpace for people who love traveling to Sweden. As numerous DMOs begin to experiment in the UGC / Social Networking space, look for more of these communities to begin appearing. Hands down, the best feature of the site is the fantastic flash map / update tool on the homepage. Great execution on the map.
http://communityofsweden.com

Forrester: Web Shops Not Ready to Lead - During the recent HSMAI Internet Marketing Strategy Conference, which I attended last Monday, one of the topics brought up by the attendees was what the ad agency of the future looks like. The popular answer was that the ad agency of the future has a deeper understanding of the interactive world with a solid background of 'traditional' advertising. While several interactive / online agencies are getting closer to this ideal situation, it would appear...according to this report...that we still have a while to go.
http://www.adweek.com/

TripIt Is In Sync With You - Semantic Web here we come. Travel planning service TripIt...introduced to the blog a few months ago...has launched a new service that will automatically sync your travel plans with your calendar such as Office, iCal, Google, etc. So, no more manually entering your travel dates into the calendar, TripIt does it for you. Just as a refresher, the 'hook' of TripIt is that you can forward your confirmation email to the service, which will automatically create a complete trip itinerary for you. Convenient.
http://www.tripit.com/

You Never Would Have Seen This Without The Internet

I try not to clutter up the Interactive Trend Report with too many of those 'amazing' videos floating around the internet (the kind you get from your Uncle or roommate), but every once and while a video will catch my eye.

From our friends at Upgrade: Travel Better, check out this amazing video (see above or follow this link if you are reading this post via email) of a passenger train in Bangkok street market. Not only is the video amazing (be sure to watch the whole clip), but it also serves as another example of how our world is becoming smaller due to technology.

Prior to YouTube and other video sharing sites, most of us would probably never have seen, heard or read the countless videos, pictures and stories now available online...unless we were to travel there ourselves.

User Reaction To The New Mexico Ad Campaign

Ah, the benefits of connectivity, anyone can say (almost) anything they like instantly. The current story about the New Mexico ad campaign provides an interesting real-time look into consumer reaction and the internet. Here are just a few of the responses from a variety of websites covering the New Mexico ad campaign story:

--

Who says boomers would not like aliens? I'm a boomer's mom, and I LIKE ALIENS!

--

A few aliens on the train will not keep me from enjoying the ride on the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad. That is truely beautiful country!

--

The complaining tourism officials are full of themselves, taking themselves far too seriously. It is I, a baby boomer, that understand what this campaign is all about. I would guess the younger, hipper crowd might never have heard of Roswell and the UFOs.

What do you think happened to some Volkswagen executives when the "Think small" campaign began? "We do not want to point out we are small," they probably said. They too would have been full of themselves.

--

Personally, I had plans to go to Roswell do the space aliens thing, head over to the Trinity site and see some other "out of this world" stuff in NM. Damn those marketing gurus...they may have ruined my plans to see these sites without the crowds.

For those who feel offended, grow thicker skin there are better things to get offended over. Now on the other hand...if you are a space alien and plan to visit NM or already live there, please try and coordinate with my trip the and please, I beg of you, shed your human form or some how make your presence known. I would appreciate it.

--

They (NM) are getting more bang for their buck with this campaign....simply because of this controversy. The whole idea behind advertising is gaining attention and exposure from your audience. I would say that this campaign has succeeded at reaching that objective.

Besides, we already know about "picturesque desert landscapes, art galleries or centuries-old culture"...tell us something we don't already know that isn't boring. Dare to be Bold!

--

it's sad when you can't laugh at yourself. the ads are great. if i avoid NM it will be becuase of people like Ken Mompellier.

--

If I didnt know New Mexico so well, I sure wouldnt visit it now. They have monsters, but the Gila ones, not outer space junk

--

I saw the ads on youtube and frankly speaking; they are quite clever and conveys a sense of humor. Come on folks, lighten up!!!!

--

Okay, are we trying to bring tourists to the state of New Mexico or to the city of Roswell? We really should be promoting the positive things about the state. Pueblos, Beautiful mountains, glorious sunrises and sunsets. Aliens??? Get real, what an embarassment.

--

This whole nonsense of aliens is stupid! New Mexico has so much more going for it than little green men. You are making our state a laughing stock!

--

Highlights of some of the comments generated by the recent AP story on New Mexico's ad campaign. Comments are from the USA Today, KOB.com (New Mexico) and the Albuquerque Tribune.

Travel Trends - AMEX Travel, Experience Finder

Members Know Travel - Earlier this week American Express jumped into the very deep social networking / UGC / recommendation pool with a new, card-member only travel site. The site, Members Know Travel is designed to be an 'online community where Cardmembers share their collective wisdom and experiences about travel.' Interestingly, the site also promotes that AMEX members know more about travel because:

• 94% more likely to travel frequently
• 90% more likely to travel abroad
• 73% more likely to take long trips within the U.S.

Overall, a nice looking site with some nice features...the question is are you a loyal enough member to join the official AMEX social network?
https://membersknow.com/

Travelocity ExperienceFinder - Travelocity allows users to experience 'the fun' of planning a trip with the ExperienceFinder Planning Tool from the Travelocity Labs. The site, which features several destinations such as Hawaii, New Orleans and Orlando (among others) provides users the option of selecting one of four themes to bring planning a trip. The site, which relies heavily on Flash, provides videos, photos and reviews in, what Travelocity calls, an inspirational way.
http://labs.travelocity.com/experiencefinder/

I Work In Phodalona

Now that Mo and I have shown several examples of missed online advertising opportunities, let's take a look at the way AT&T has tied an online component into a new ad campaign.

Thoughts// Most people have recently interacted with AT&T's first non-Cingular ad campaign, titled 'Where Do You Live.' The ads, filmed in Wes Anderson's cinematic style, show several people working in a variety of locations, such as Kantucornia (Kansas, Kentucky and California). The campaign has also included an outdoor and print component.

For our purposes, let's take a look at the www.attwheredoyoulive.com interactive component. While the site relies heavily on Flash, the payoff is worth the possible compatibility issues. Users can enter the locations they work in (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Arizona) and the site generates your own 'location.' Then, you can select a motto (Honk, if your from...). At this point, the site resembles several previous online campaigns.

Where this campaign begins to differentiate itself is the combination of creating your own custom product (see my bumper sticker above) and the letting you order this customized product from on-demand retailer Zazzle.com. So instead of simply emailing your funny saying to all your (very interested) friends, you can actually order products...in this case shirts, mugs, bags and stickers...with your user-created content on it.

Granted, while most people, even people who love AT&T, are not going to order 2 or 3 custom Calidolina t-shirts, this type of execution at least creates a path to a valuable viral marketing opportunity. Instead of AT&T, what if your organization was actually loved by millions of consumers...such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks or Southwest...then a viral marketing campaign such as this could be very powerful.

For example, the Discovery Channel store on the popular on-demand product site cafepress.com.

Or, how could a campaign such as Colorado's 'Let's Talk Colorado' take advantage of sites such as Zazzle.com and on-demand products?

Wondering whether or not someone would actually purchase Oregon-branded products? Do a quick search on cafepress.com for 'Oregon.' Regular users (you and I) have created over 13,200 Oregon-related designs, which are available on 443,000 products.

Say it with me, that is a lot of brand advocates wearing an 'I (tree) Oregon' t-shirt...

...which, just in case you are wondering, is available in 8 different styles starting at $18.00.

Online Influencers Wary of Fakes

The most influential consumers—those who are likely to recommend products to friends and family—are growing skeptical of the opinions they find on product review sites and community forums, according to a new study.

WPP Group PR shop Burson-Marsteller in August surveyed 1,000 influential consumers' trust of online reviews. The study found that, compared to a similar poll conducted five years ago, an increasing number of consumers believed that fake reviews or positive comments left by corporations are a problem. About 30 percent said this is a big problem, compared with 20 percent in 2001. >>Full Story

Thoughts// While marketers may have figured out that seeding comments on a blog or message board is a great way to gain publicity and buzz, it turns out that consumers have figured that they don't like it. While the study does not present any ground-breaking results, it does begin to discuss the issue that some consumers are becoming skeptical of some forms of user-generated content.

To that point, as marketers, we have a responsibility to ensure that we use this medium properly or risk alienating consumers from user-generated content sites (as we know them).

"There's now a skepticism of what is happening online and an expectation [that] if you're in a community site and a commercial entity [is] being discussed, there's someone paid to be weighing in."

While the article should not deter open and honest marketers from using new media and social sites to communicate with an audience, it should make you pause and consider if your approach to this type of marketing is completely transparent.

"There's no rocket science here: transparency matters," she said. "Those entities that are the most transparent and say, 'It's us and we're proud of what we're saying,' do far better than those organizations that don't reveal themselves."

I could not have said it better myself.

Do Web Ads Lack Credibility?

A new global study of consumers found that the most popular forms of Internet advertising score at the bottom when it comes to consumer trust. Nielsen, the parent company of Adweek, surveyed consumers in 47 markets about their perceptions of different forms of advertising, both traditional and digital. It found that the older forms of ad messages—appearing in newspapers, magazines and on TV—far outscored the most popular forms of Web ads, search links and banner placements. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Despite a 17% increase in online spending over the first half of this year, this study serves as a grounding revelation that marketing and brand building is a long term process and not a short term problem that can be solved by buying a ton of ads - be it offline or online. That said, marketers have to realize that trust is earned and the fact that the first 15 years of the web has been/(is still!) awash with dancing cowboys, phishing schemes and other deceptive advertising. Other results from the study:

• 63% of survey trusted newspaper ads
• 56% trusted TV spots and magazine placements
• 26% trusted banner ads
• 34% trusted search ads (Pay Per Click)
  

The big bright spot for digital (and the travel industry) was social media! 78% of respondents trusted recommendations from peers and 61% placed confidence in blogs and other user generated media.

The key takeaway here again is that trust of the consumer is earned over the long term and that relevance, creative and context are critical factors when designing any advertising plan.

Will Human Laziness Burst The Web 2.0 Bubble?

...without your neighbor/classmate/sister/girlfriend’s tireless devotion to keeping her profile up-to-date, MySpace would merely be a place for FOX to promote its properties. Without a horde of news junkies yearning to see their username in digital print, Digg would be an ugly page of yellow and white.

And that is why the Web 2.0 era will come to end sooner rather than later. Because if there is one immutable law of humankind, it is that we are really, really lazy. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A thought provoking and possibly ridiculous (at the same time) post from Seth Porges at the CrunchGear blog. The post poses the argument that the 'Web 2.0' bubble, i.e., MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Wikipedia, et al., will burst because of basic human laziness. An idea which has some parallels with a San Francisco Chronicle article we covered last week. While certain elements of the article are valid points, like the idea of losing interest in a project (in this case a social networking site), the overall article should be taken with a grain of salt.

However, the article does make you think about the state of this Web 2.0 movement. In the travel industry, we should be aware of the possible effects because of too much user-generated content. Although we have seemingly not reached that point, when does 459 posts about the buffet at a hotel in Las Vegas become too much? When does a user say to themselves, 'I just want to read what a expert thinks.' Or do we ever reach the point?

In addition, the post does bring to light another 'law of humankind'...that we are always looking for an easier way to do anything. It is the same basic reason why people starting using Google, because it was easier (to search and find what you are looking for) than previous search engines. So, the question is not if the concept of UGC and social networking sites will fail, but what is the next site that will make connecting with your friends, co-workers or book club even easier.

Social Sites Becoming Too Much Of A Good Thing

Aarica Caro is sick of sharing. That is, sharing online.

She has shared the lives of her cats. She has shared a list of her favorite television shows and movies ("Grey's Anatomy," chick flicks). She has shared her reviews of Bay Area haunts (two stars for the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Jose, five stars for the Starbucks in Morgan Hill). And she has been invited to share some more.

If you believe the buzz, the latest incarnation of the Web is all about sharing, connecting and community. Social networking sites such as MySpace and Palo Alto's Facebook have exploded in popularity, drawing new users into the fold each day. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A good article from the San Francisco Chronicle which raises the question of a social networking burnout. While the users featured in the article are certainly not representative of all social networking users, they do suggest that the wealth of social sites available to consumers is becoming a bit overwhelming.

Some of the attrition at these sites can simply be explained by users signing up to learn more about the service and then deciding the do not want to participate or just fading away. Of course, in the case of MySpace and Facebook, daily sign-ups are far out pacing this number.

However, the question is out there...with so many sites, major investors (who want major profits), scams and a host of other factors...how many social networking sites are too many? How long until the market is saturated? How long until there is consolidation (at least via profile) of these sites? Are the current group of social networking sites strong enough to remain relevant in 5 years?

Personally, I think we can start by consolidating catster and dogster into 'petster' (Don't bother looking up the domain name, I have already locked it up).