Social Media and the Generation Gap

Today’s teens are aware of Twitter but are certainly not using it. Thanks to Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher – they know what it is but are not interested in it or other micro-blogging tools – as you well know with teens this can change at any time. Instead teens are crazy about Facebook and spend a heck of a lot of time micro-blogging about their status. They constantly update their friends on what they are doing and enjoying. The primary forms of communication tools today are: text messages, video/Skype, IM, and Facebook.

As for email – I am yet to meet a teen that is hooked on email – in fact not many people under 20 use email. They use email only as a tool to respond to something related to work or to set up accounts on social media sites. As teen parents and grandparents become more involved in social media - email becomes less relevant.

Another distinct difference with teens and their parents and grandparents – is privacy. Although teens care about their privacy they do so differently than the previous generation. When their parents go out of town they have the lights set to come on and off automatically and have a friend get their mail – on the other hand teens broadcast to the world their whereabouts.

Ben & Jerry's New Social Cause - Hubby Hubby Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry’s has always carried a social message important to its founders. They are known for their euphoric ice cream flavors and dedication to social justice. They refused milk from cows injected with growth hormones before it became the trend, but because it was the right thing to do. They continue to use as much local milk as possible, supporting many Vermont farmers.

Ben & Jerry’s celebrates the beginning of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont with the symbolic renaming of its well-known ice cream flavor “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby.” In partnership with Freedom to Marry, Ben & Jerry’s hope is to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and, to show its support, by offering “Hubby Hubby” sundaes in Vermont Scoop Shops throughout the month of September.

The packaging features a wedding cake with two happy grooms perched on top. A campaign supporting the renaming says: “Now more than ever, Vermont is for lovers…and for lovers of marriage equality.”
I am anxious to see how this plays out for the Ben & Jerry’s brand as this is directly related to the brand itself. People know Ben & Jerry’s to be a socially conscious company, but this is new territory even for them. Consumers choose a brand based on their ability to identify with that brand. They buy a particular brand only because it feels right for them - as if it was specially made for them. For the past two presidential elections legalizing gay marriage has been a hot topic; one that even liberals are known to shy away from. Most Americans do not believe in same sex marriage and are pretty vocal about it. How many people will want to buy the gay marriage ice cream?

It will be interesting to watch how Ben & Jerry’s more conservative customers react to this. Although it’s a new age, especially one for social networking – Twitter and facebook and many companies use this avenue to dramatize their message. But will Hubby Hubby fall by the wayside just because of the association? Will the overall brand be in danger because of its link to the issue? There is also the chance that it will pay off for Ben & Jerry’s after all how many ice cream makers are as outspoken about social causes.
Let’s see what happens.

The Mommy Blogger Debate

So much media coverage on the Mommy Blog-Ola – I had to put my two sense in.

First off "Blog-ola" is the free goodies, products, trips and other perks many marketers give to bloggers with the hopes of getting favorable reviews about their products and services. This shift is very evident in the “mommy-blogger” world, where they are proving to be quite influential with their readers and therefore quite valuable to marketers.

Lines become very blurred between companies and mom bloggers. Bloggers would once have sponsors sponsor their writing, now it’s the other way around and many mom bloggers are writing for companies, like Wal-Mart. The authenticity is gone and you are left asking questions like what is the real motivation behind this blogger’s backing about a particular product.

Are marketing firms to be blamed – for luring innocent moms to blog about their clients’ products in exchange for free goodies and trips? I say no. After all I am the mother of three children myself and I hold all my children accountable for their actions! Period! So moms are writing at their own risk, and putting their own integrities on the line.

Bloggers really just need to be direct and upfront in disclosing whether they are paid or getting freebies. The site Blog With Integrity asks bloggers to sign and post an ethical pledge. The Federal Trade Commission is also considering new guidelines to help clarify advertising content in blogs.

Firefox reaches 1 billion downloads

In our offices at Sojo – you can tell the age difference of staff by the browser they use. Staff in their late 30s and higher, is more likely to use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. While those younger, use Mozilla’s Firefox. Firefox is on their way to Browser domination!

Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox browser passed the 1-billion download milestone on Friday, July 31, 2009.

The Internet browser was first released by Mountain View-based Mozilla in 2004 and today has an estimated 31 percent share of the world market or almost a third of the market. It’s a shrinking margin for Microsoft in an area that they formerly had near complete domination.

Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer is No. 1 with about 60 percent, far ahead of the rest of the pack which includes Google Inc.'s Chrome and Apple Inc.'s Safari which have less than 5 percent of the market. This lead however does not look very stable for Microsoft.

Use Twitter to your Advantage

Marketers should use Twitter to their advantage? Twitter is more than spitting out information about you or the company you represent – it’s about becoming involved in the ongoing dialogue... and staying involved. Twitter is not the place for one day or one night stands for that matter, but a place to build sincere and meaningful relationships that can last. Twitter demands lots of love and attention – in fact the very same ingredients in building any meaningful relationship.

Get to know your voice and your message well. Know that you must practice what you preach. If you tell your customers something on Twitter you have to deliver it.

You can use Twitter to:

• Expand and improve your customer service support
• Reach new customers and keep them informed on new product launches
• Get the message out about breaking news
• Create brand buzz
• Get the word out about events
• Alert customers to recent newsletters, blogs and articles
  
• Happy Tweeting!

Facebook valued at $6.5 billion

Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian Internet investment group plans to purchase at least $100 million of Facebook's common stock at $14.77 per share from common stockholders. This annoucement was made yesterday, Tuesday, July 14, 2009.

Search Engine Optimization and Michael Jackson

For my Blog this week I anticipated writing about Search Engine Optimization and the benefits of optimizing your website. However, as every possible human being on this planet knows our Pop Icon, Michael Jackson passed away last Thursday, June 25, 2009.


What does that have to do with search engines you might say? I’m here to tell you everything!
Last Thursday the news of the Pop star’s death took center stage around the world and on the Internet. The speed at which this story unfolded online was very fascinating and impressive and as a marketer and online strategist very appealing. The online news agents Wikipedia proved to be the fastest – faster than Google and Twitter.

In fact Google News had so many delays due to the searches for “Michael Jackson” they posted an official statement:

"The spike in searches related to Michael Jackson was so big that Google News initially mistook it for an automated attack. As a result, for about 25 minutes yesterday, when some people searched Google News they saw a "We're sorry" page before finding the articles they were looking for." - Source


Twitter has created a new real-time web. Google had a time lapse in indexing – more than 3 hours! With such a delay people were going directly to specific news websites to get the information on Michael Jackson’s status instead of doing the typical Google search, as the delay was so behind.

The following is how the news spread on the Internet – starts at 19:21 and ends 23:47

• x17online.com breaks the news about the pop star – a really small entertainment news agent and post photos and a brief story - 20 minutes before the larger entertainment sites like TMZ.com .


• TMZ.com posts "Michael Jackson -- Cardiac Arrest" - the story is distributed to hundreds of thousands of people via RSS.


• Wikipedia reports Jackson's Cardiac Arrest - A member of Wikipedia adds the news of the Cardiac Arrest to Jackson's Wikipedia article. Before any other news or social media source.


• Ten minutes after the first click from TMZs Twitter to TMZ.com where the story of his death is posted. Reports of his death start to show up on RSS feeds and eventually Twitter.


• 10 minutes later CNNbrk tweets that Jackson goes to hospital – to 2 million followers
  Wikipedia freezes Michael Jackson page - After an explosion of edits to Jackson's Wikipedia article, editors take the step of locking it down in protective status.


• Two and a half hours after it all started Wikipedia editors mention Jackson's death on the article discussion page.


• bit.ly link reaches high of 2,500 clicks a minute


• Three hours later - "RIP Michael Jackson" tops Trends on Twitter Story takes the next step and appears on Twitter's Trends. Tens of millions of Twitter users now can see the story.There are now over 2000 mentions a minute of Michael Jackson on Twitter and Twitter overloads and falters.

Google News Results of Jackson's death start showing up on the results page for the query "Michael Jackson" Finally after a whole three hours.

The Internet felt the loss of Michael Jackson just as much as the fans did. I would liek to hear your comments. If you want regular updates - follow us on twitter.