Klout looks to score points with brands Online influence-tracking startup Klout today launched Klout for Business to flip its scoring system for the benefit of brands. Founded in 2008, Klout measures influence by scoring a person's activity and relationships across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other sites. The San Francisco-based company has primarily used its scientific formula on status to show people how they measure up against their peers. Klout says it's scored more than 100 million people, and claims to analyze 2.7 billion pieces of content and connections each day. Klout does bring in some money -- likely low double-digit millions this year, according to Forbes -- with a small Perks program that lets brands offer goodies to people with online authority. Klout for Business, for the time being, is just a fancy title for a free product that gives brands a set of analytics that identifies influential folks who discuss their products or services on social media services.
| HOT COFFEE, a documentary feature film 5 Ways Brands Can Shine on Viddy Brian Honigman is the digital marketing manager at Marc Ecko Enterprises. He is a part of Ecko’s marketing and ecommerce team, ensuring a polished brand experience across all channels. Follow Ecko on Viddy. Viddy is the popular video app that is often called the Twitter equivalent for sharing video because of the 15-second time limit placed on each video. The app has quickly grown to 30 million users, which presents an opportunity for brands to interact with a new audience by utilizing a familiar form of media in an innovative way. There are many brands utilizing the Viddy platform using a variety of strategies. 1. Getting a look at the inner workings of a company, brand, or celebrity is one of the many delights users get from using Viddy. Britney Spears recently started using Viddy and decided to kick off her account with Viddys from her on the set of the X Factor. 2. ShoeMint.com has already done some testing with their brand. 3. 4. 5.
Danger of Over-Branding? You Bet. Take Lessons from Big Business When Building Your Brand Building a strong brand is essential in order to stay ahead of the competition and standing out from the crowd has become increasingly difficult. Companies like Apple, GE, and UPS have continued to skyrocket their success staying true to their brands, while other companies have drowned out the unique value of their brand with over-branding. Listen to the Customer Don’t lose sight of the real reasons your customers signed on with your brand to begin with. Stay Focused on a Small Product Portfolio Research over time has shown that when it comes to offering the customer a large variety of products, decision-making becomes much more difficult and brand perception can be confusing. Quality Will Brand Itself NOT Quantity Related Resources from B2C» Free Webcast: The Future of Marketing: Social Listening + Action Be Unique Offer a Consistent Message photo credit: brainware3000 via photopin cc
S’il Vous Plait – Brand Identity by Quattrolinee Quattrolinee is a Torino, Italy based group of multidisciplinary professionals working in different fields of visual art and design such as graphic design, branding, architecture, and illustration. The team was asked to develop the brand identity for S’il Vous Plait, a new plastic and paper store in Genova. The result is a visual design that is both classic and modern. S’il Vous Plait Business Cards Design by Quattrolinee S’il Vous Plait Brand Design by Quattrolinee S’il Vous Plait Brand Identity by Quattrolinee Viddy, the hot social video editing and sharing app, has racked up millions of ordinary users and a whole host of celebrity participants. Perhaps leery of video, brands are not signing up to the network quite as fast. Nonetheless, there are some early-adopter corporate Viddy accounts worth checking out. We've taken a look at six brands currently using Viddy in smart and savvy ways. SEE ALSO: How to Get Started With Viddy Discover which brands we're highlighting and why. The Diane von Furstenberg fashion brand is a big user of the social video platform. As well as using Viddy to show mini-clips of Diane and "everyday" footage, DVF joined forces with Viddy during New York's Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. DVF staffers used the app to shoot exclusive behind-the-scenes footage as they prepped for the show, encountered celebs. Giving fans an insider glimpse is a clever way to make the most of short-form video — viewers feel like they can enjoy special access to a brand they admire. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Why Your Brand Should Piss Someone Off The better you are at creating a strong, clear brand position, the more likely you are to find a group of people who really don’t like you. As Bill Cosby once said, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” Years ago, the And1 website used to feature an extreme example of this point. Addressing the meaning behind its name, the basketball apparel company announced: “If you don’t know what it means, we don’t want you wearing our shoes.” It’s like life: the only way to have everyone like you is to avoid taking a controversial stance on anything. In business, a dull existence means a weak brand. Nike's most controversial Olympic ad campaign, during the Atlanta games in 1996, stated "You don't win silver, you lose gold." Can you find fault with this kind of corporate culture? Las Vegas is a case study in how not to do it, followed by an even better case study in how to get it right. Vegas is clearly not for everybody. Apple. Polarization is good.
Five reasons to stop incentivizing brand recommendations By Rob Fuggetta On October 8, 2012 The term “brand advocacy” has been making its way up the social marketing buzz word ladder, and rightfully so, since advocacy is the top digital priority of CMOs worldwide, according to a recent IBM study. However, speaking with marketers every day, it has become clear to me that this new type of marketing has spurred different approaches behind getting people to “recommend” brands, some of which are not so good. Some companies are incentivizing customers to recommend through tactics like pay-for-referral, pay-for-review schemes, or promotional ploys that reward people for sharing coupons. Let’s be clear; that isn’t advocacy. The single biggest reason why advocate marketing is more effective than any other marketing is this: It’s more credible. Getting your trusted advocates to deliver authentic messages about your products or services may be the only way marketers can reach jaded, distrustful buyers. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.