The affable Eli Goodman from comScore gave a chat on the state of social media across the world and where it is heading. Social media is very much a Global phenomenon and Eli stresses that we cannot ignore the 500 pound gorilla in the room- Facebook.

Here are some comScore stats that help me sleep better at night:

-1 in 5 minutes spent online are spent social networking

-1/3 of the worlds social networkers are in Asia Pacific Region

-1 in 7 minutes spent online are spent on Facebook

-Since 2010 Facebook has taken the lead in 6 new Global markets

-There are only 6 markets where Facebook is not yet the lead social networking site

Tumblr and Weibo are on the rise, but the clear social media disrupters of the future are still very much undecided.

What was even more impressive was the journey that continued online. When I googled “Tim Tam Trees” I was served an SEM ad pointing to Facebook. While their Facebook page does have photos and posts from the activation, the accompanying Facebook application was quite limited and took me in a circle to share a standardised message on my wall.

While their Facebook page is alight with questions and photos from consumers it would have been nice to have their community manager active on the page. As of 10am this morning there are unanswered questions from consumers- including me. I wanted to know if the performers below are chickens. Chicken+ Orchard makes sense I guess.

All in all though a fantastic activation- only wish I had gotten to see the chicken’s performance!!

Fingers crossed we make the cut at the end of the month! Go here to register and vote for us, pronto: http://www.awwwards.com/best-websites/mercerbell

This news comes just weeks after we stole the show at the AIMIA awards, again for the MercerBell website, read more here.

The awards are for the best work in digital media across Australia-see a very grainy photo of the team on the night.

Check out our award statue which made it home safely from the awards night!

And here’s a close-up of the cutie!

The scores are in… according to Roy Morgan
Almost 7.8 million Australians – or 42% of the population – aged 14+ watch cricket on television almost always or occasionally. The second most popular sport watched on TV by Australians (14+) is AFL, recording 7.6 million viewers (or 41% of the population) across the 12-month period to September 2011, followed by Tennis with nearly 6.9 million viewers (representing 37% of all Australians aged 14+).

Facebook prepares to float
Google did it in 2004, raising $1.2bn at the time. Their expansion since has been exponential, valued today at approx $190bn. This week Facebook has announced plans to raise $10bn, pushing its value to up to $100bn (that’s the same as Maccas!). As it currently stands, Facebook manages most of the traffic on the internet, holds out social lives (and now with time line our pasts) and may very well be the future of the internet – so why not $100bn? One thing is certain, Facebook will need to ensure that they can continue to challenge the way people use the internet, and offer even more targeted ways to connect to it’s users with space that can be sold off to advertisers. Should it go ahead, it will certainly inject some heat the innovation from Facebook… and Google.

And in other Facebook news

Facebook has launched a new video that collects all of your data and information to show you what life will be like with Timeline. If you’re not one of the early adopters, this is what it will look like” Take a look at timeline.

Can you read this tweet? Please consult local law and try again later.
In efforts to aid its expansion into other countries and regions, free speech activists Twitter are doing what appears to some to be a 180. Twitter now says that it has the power to block tweets in a specific country if the government legally requires it to do so. Twitter will post a censorship notice whenever a tweet is removed, similar to what Google does. That’s right the tool has powered political protests throughout the world from Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring Uprisings, will be censoring tweets. Some experts say that Twitter has set the bar very high… but until we see the imapact, perhaps judgement should be held?

Commbank’s START 2012 campaign.
I’m a big fan of Commbank’s social strategy. This is their new campaign ‘Start with us’. A great campaign that showcases all of their products from mortgages to property Guides, their Kaching and Payfriends apps. Two competitions;
1. Chance to win $1000/week just for sharing your goals with the bank (and your social networks)
2. Chance to win $250,000 or $50,000 toward your home loan (to enter you’ll need to apply for a home loan with Commbank)
Why are these so great?
1. Encourages people to share their personal goals with the bank, a HUGE amount of customer insights can be generated from this that will inevitably shape their marketing comms for the coming year.
2. It is a great way to generate new prospects through customers/prospects/entrants social networks via email, twitter or FB.
3. The property market is suffering, lending is down, and this is a fantastic way to generate new applications without slashing rates.

Now for something completely random….

Facebook gets wheels

Mercedes has just launched their SL-range *drool* with a special version of facebook that is built-in to a new in-vehicle telematics system that will be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. That’s right, soon your car can check in for you. I wonder if it checks you in every time you go for a drive.
SMH

Anyone living in a studio?

Ikea France took over a 54sqm space to make an apartment for 6 people for 5 people (completion through their facebook page). The promotion aimed to show how much space you can have with Ikea styling and products.
Creativity Online

And the first timeline ad goes to:
Anti-drugs campaign that shows a compelling visual tale of two different paths a life can go.
Youtube

First 4G Phone on it’s way – thanks to Telstra and HTC
Telstra will launch the first 4G smartphone – an HTC Android handset with a 4.5-inch (4.1-cm) screen – in Australia late this month, sources said.
SMH

Check-in with Air China

Great Campaign from Air China who wanted to show people that they don’t only fly to China. Partnering with local Asian restaurants in Sweden including Japanese, Thai and Chinese, they used the Asian experience that people were already enjoying to make the connection. By creating a facebook promotion that encouraged customers and prospects to check in at the restaurants with Air China. Entrants were rewarded with the chance to win trips to Asia weekly by getting votes (using their own networks) which extended the reach of the campaign. Overall they built a database of new customer and prospects, generating 3000 and a reach extending over 1,200,000.
Creativity Online
And, on Malaysia Airlines, you can now choose who you sit next to based on their social media and linked in profiles and preferences.
Springwise

2012’s social media challenges: the shift from the ‘what’ to the ‘who’
Paul Borrud of Facebook Aus/NZ explores how the way people use the internet has changes and what as marketers we need to address in our strategies. From ensuring that social is baked into every aspect, but also understanding what works with campaign built around people and insights.
B&T

And now we live in Minority report…

WOW! Check out the latest Smart Window from Samsung.
Samsung

But while the rest of Australia has ads pulled left right and center
This week, two insurers has their ads pulled form TV for midgets and having a laptop in a jacuzzi. Maybe the Japanese have the right Fuckin’ idea.

Mumbrella 1, 2 & 3

Isn’t she cute!

Facebook Plugins keeps people on websites 50% longer…
According to Gigya, websurfers who connect onto third party websites through facebook spend 50% more time on the site – An average of 12 minutes via facebook, 8 minutes via standard log in and 5 minutes when browsing. Also, those users who logged in with a social network view twice as many pages (10 vs 5 with a standard log and 4 when browsing).
Gigya suggest that people are logging into sites with social networks such as facebook connect becuase they want to interact with sites, sharing pages, leaving comments etc…

Attention ladies…
A survey of Australian women has found that more than a third spend more than three hours a day on Facebook – and three in four women in business use Facebook as a marketing tool. 60% of businesswomen now use Twitter.
An incredible 75% said a blog or blog post had changed the way they felt about their life. (Mumbrella)

Jet star launch a new FB campaign…
Great way of generating content, likes and getting people to share out through their own social networks. With 150 prizes up for grabs, the value of the prize is dictated by the number of entries that they receive… further pushing entries and sharing. Best part is that it’s a cheap and effective way to get models for their next Australia day campaign and any other global campaigns they like. What are you waiting for – get jumping. You could be a STAR!

Something to note though… Clause 10: Eligible Entrants grants Jetstar the right to unlimited world-wide use of the photos for company brochures, promotion and advertising relating to products or services from Jetstar and other providers, including without limitation agreeing to the publication of any winning photographs…Note the entrant still retains ownerships of copyright, albeit with the grant of a broad licence to Jetstar to use the photos.

And that’s all folks!
After 130 years, American icon Kodak gas Filed for Chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court obtaining $950 credit facility to stay afloat while it tried to service more than $US6bn in liabilities.
This article from Technology Spectator is a fab read that explores the strategic oversights that saw a failure to effectively
create new revenue streams when their legacy business declined. It will be interesting to watch and see if the the sales of its patents will be enough for Kodak to pay off its debts, restructure and learn from previous oversights.

Twitter campaign with nuts.

Katie Price’s twitter account was hijacked! Her 1.5m followers were shocked, worried and fearful about the UK beauty with a series of tweets discussing the Eurozone debt crisis, and calling for ‘large scale quantitative easing in 2012’. All was uncovered though with the post “You’re not you when you’re hungry @snickersuk #hungry #spon” – which also contained a link to the photo above of Price holding up a Snickers bar.
More than a traditional twitter campaign relying on a sponsored #tag or competition, this is as eConsultancy reports, an imaginative Twitter campaign (probably working so well due to Ms Price being able to take this piss out of herself). But it does beg the question, should Twitter followers be subjected to paid posts?

Love this viral video from LG…

And of course, now for something random…
This is Elmo, and he knows it.

Thanks,
Cm
Charlem@mercerbell.com.au

From 11 January Facebook started rolling out (to a limited number of Facebook users in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand) Sponsored Stories ads in news feeds.

What are they?
Sponsored Stories are posts from your friends or Pages on Facebook that a business, organization or individual has paid to highlight so there’s a better chance you’ll see them. They are regular stories that a friend or Page you’re connected to has shared with you. As an example, if a friend likes the Starbucks Page and a story about it is published in your News Feed, you may see a sponsored story about it if Starbucks has opted to promote it.

Note: This ad type already exists but is confined to the right sidebar. It’s the filtration of the ad within the users news feed that is new to Facebook.

How do they work?
1. Users interact with a business – i.e, by liking a page, receiving a news feed update from a Page they already Like, checking in to a local business, sharing content from an external website, or using an application
2. An organic news feed story is generated about that action
3. Advertisers can pay to feature that story more prominently – this is the sponsored story ad

These ads only feature stories about friends or Pages that users already like. Users can see ads from both pages they have and have not “liked” elsewhere on Facebook. However, marketers only pay for sponsored stories to be featured in users’ news feeds if they have explicitly “liked” the page. In testing users didn’t actively protest having updates of their friends adulterated with ads. After all, the ads are only showing content that could already appear in the feed.

While users are attentively browsing photos and updates from friends, they’ll end up consuming ads as well. The ads look so similar to organic news feed stories and are only marked in the bottom right corner — the last place a user’s eyes will scan. That means users probably won’t notice the difference until they’ve already internalized an ad’s message.

When do they appear?
Initially no more than one ad per day will be shown to users.

Can users choose to see them?
Users won’t be able to opt out of seeing Sponsored Stories in the news feed or having their activity used in them, but they will be able to hide or remove posts if they choose. They also can choose which of their contacts’ own brand interactions appear.

Public opinion
Some users will likely be outraged by the presence of ads in the news feed, as well as by having their content so directly used to make Facebook money. Others may argue that Facebook provides a valuable service to users for free, and is therefore entitled to showing ads where it wants to. Most would rather see Sponsored Stories that inform them about the activity of friends than traditional ads that can be much less relevant.

Media buy
Sponsored Stories have been heralded as a highly successful ad format for the social networking site. Facebook hasn’t finalized whether advertisers will have the option to specifically request placement in the news feed. Studies have shown sidebar Sponsored Stories have a 46% higher click through rate than traditional ads, and you can expect the CTR of news feed Sponsored Stories to be even higher.
If Facebook can weather the protest of users who want an ad-free news feed, it will have managed to open a significant new revenue stream. The launch of news feed Sponsored Stories could also be a big turning point for online advertising. With prominent placement on one of the world’s most visited sites and their appeal to viewers from including the faces and activity of friends, Sponsored Stories news feed ads could help Facebook steal ad spend from paid search and traditional display such as Google AdWords and AdSense.

How does it affect clients?
There is still much information to be provided by Facebook (functionality and content) on these ads but once fully rolled out on Facebook these ads should be extremely effective due to their targeted nature. Businesses will need to analysis the types of interactions users have with their brand and provide tailored content accordingly (i.e., if it’s an ad that is related to a user’s ‘check in’ status at a coffee shop the ad could say ‘join your friend, and get $X off your coffee’ OR if the user has already liked a coffee shop page the ad could promote new types of products.

Some good news to kick off the week. We’re excited to announce that we have 3 finalists in this year’s 18th AIMIA Awards.

Our new MercerBell website, the “Be Super Ordinary Campaign” for NSW Fire and Rescue and the “Witnessing History” RWC Campaign for MasterCard.

Congratulations to the digital team and fingers crossed for March when the winners will be announced.

The goose has been plucked and eaten, the chestnuts roasted and Santa has been and gone for another year.
All that remains is a few extra kilos on the waistline and possibly the memory of a few never-to-be-repeated stories from the office Christmas party.
But wait! There’s still the small matter of the MercerBell Christmas Card competition to be judged.
Thanks to all of you who sent Santa Tori your entries. Some pretty entertaining stuff, and we’re pleased to announce that the winner of this year’s comp was…..Lauren Dudley of MasterCard.

Lauren wins a bottle of Verve courtesy of Nick, Dave and the team and a ride on Santa’s sleigh next year (he says to meet him on the roof of your building at around midnight on the 23rd).

Happy New Year to all!

Joined MercerBell August 2011

First impressions of MercerBell
Talented people. Lots of great snacks. Genuinely genuine.

My first job in advertising or marketing
Working for a London fashion retailer as the Marketing Assistant’s Assistant. Role comprised phoning couriers to send womenswear to magazines for editorial, then filing it all away again when returned. Oh…and making tea!

My career high to date has been
I was elated when I was made Account Director on the NSPCC – National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (UK’s leading children’s charity) in London – it is a prestigious account in the market, as well as the highest value and longest serving in the agency I worked at. I hadn’t managed a team that size before, nor a budget that big and was bursting with happiness that the management team had faith in me to do it, with all the pressure and expectation that came with it.

And, of course, every pitch that has been won that I’ve been part of rocks.

Initial impressions on the Australian vs. UK markets
My most profound initial impression and subsequent devastation was the difference in experience between Australian websites vs. the UK/US. Especially for retail and online shopping. It’s been harrowing. On the other hand, the customer service here face to face is far better than in the UK. But for online, there’s a massive gap.

What is it about your role that gets you excited?
I love working in a team – would go mental working alone. I love the expertise around me and have the utmost respect for all the specialists: creatives who start with a blank piece of paper, the planners who make complex problems simple, developers who build things from nothing.

What’s a quirky thing that no one knows about you?
I have a lot of bikes – have a penchant for racers.