The 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing Blog

Weekly Blueliner Newsminer October 15, 2010 – 5:40 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Hello, everyone.  We have another edition of the Weekly Blueliner Newsminer unwrapping right now.

1.  Facebook, Microsoft Strengthen Partnership

This week, the two firms reached an agreement  to develop a more comprehensive stream of content by using Facebook’s treasured vault of personal data, which will enable Bing to reach new segments.  The move threatens to breach privacy boundaries, leading to more possible controversy for Facebook users.  According to the WSJournal link above, the new settings can be opted out from your personal profile, meaning that your name will not list unwanted information in search results.  Executives from both sides believe, however, that stronger integration will lead to lost acquaintances connecting on more authoritative levels.  The headline provides more details for those interested in more.

2.  Microsoft Releases Windows 7 Mobile Phone Portfolio

I wrote a piece earlier this week about Microsoft’s latest foray into mobile technology, and those who missed it can click the headline.  Again, Microsoft is coming behind into a market where the competition is starting to solidify after a year of rapid introductions.  The impetus for differentiation is dependent on their ability to develop mobile applications that stand out from others.  Financial Times talks about the strategy for Microsoft executives here.

3.  The iPad Lands On Verizon

It was only a short week or so that long-time news of Apple and Verizon creating an iPhone that will end the exclusivity between Apple & AT&T in early 2011.  Now with the iPad being pitched in conjunction with Verizon’s MiFi card, debate rages on whether the two companies are trying to pitch an improved product to consumers or just giving more hardware and the same inconsistent network at a higher cost.  According to Mashable, more data will be available on the plan menu.  Time will tell, but this alleged partnership reeks of the R. Kelly-Jay Z union, being full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing.

4.  Secretive Trial in Connecticut Covered By Twitter

In case you needed any doubt about the impact of social media in our world of endless content disbursal, here is another example.  According to the New York Times, the triple-murder of Dr. William A. Petit, Jr’s wife and two daughters seemed to be excluded from the local media affiliates.  No cameras were allowed entry into the courtroom.  Several media channels of the Connecticut media, however, tweeted the testimony’s gruesome details.  The New Haven Register had monthly views raised from 3 to 3.5 million in just the trial period.  Courts are wondering about permitting the use of mobile devices in future cases, especially those with sensationalist attention.  The integrity of our judicial system faces a challenging task in maintaining the privacy of case details. This could be a benchmark for future policies. Fascinating.

5.  New Gap Yesterday, Old Gap Today

The Gap didn’t heed the past when delivering their new logo last week.  Don’t mess with your seminal brand. Coca-Cola got this lesson when trying to roll out a new product (New Coke) over twenty years ago, and that was in an era without mainstream mobile technology and cyberspace.  As Mr. Garfield points out in his piece, when a firm’s impact reaches that level, the lay of the land feels an emotional ownership to the brand equity.  These brands are benchmarks for millions of customers in the transient nature of life, and management needs to start understanding that when looking to implement new marketing strategies.  It is far more prudent to take an extensive survey of your proposed changes in this situation.  The fact that Gap was surprised at the negative feedback alarms even more, and their swift action cements this belief.  It is impossible to strategize a new campaign when the product becomes acid in public view.  Companies that have managed social media for net gain have used it to really understand customer desire and tailor their products for those measures.  Gap clearly needs to get back in the lab and find out their identity once again.

That’s the Blue news for now.  Enjoy the weekend.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Business News, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, web development, Website Design, World | No Comments »
Tags: ad age, afi, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, digital marketing agency nyc, gap, mashable, new york mobile marketing agency, new york seo media agency, ny times, tech crunch, weekly blueliner newsminer, wsj

The Social Voice Network September 29, 2010 – 5:13 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

As if the publicity generated by the nationwide release of Sony’s The Social Network was not enough for Facebook. The social media giant plans to integrate further with Skype to bring voice capability to your smartphone.  Skype has a strategy of securing greater online advertising revenue and extend its network into corporate entities. Recently, the company applied for an IPO and this will not hurt the cause. Facebook Places, the location-based application, has paid dividends, especially with local entities. Rumors spread lately that Facebook was developing a mobile telephone, but I feel that integrating an established mobile application like Skype that has a solid balance sheet is more pragmatic as a venture. ESPN tried to create a telephone that would synthesize the sports information experience with assorted images and data. Nobody bit, and it fell into a dustbin with the Motorola StarTac, Samsung SCH-8500, and Palm Pixi.

For the consumer, the abilities to communicate will be pure dexterity.  You can text, call Facebook friends from Skype, which will now also use Facebook Connect, where you can affix your personal page to any site.  Third-party members have the option to engage you from different perspectives.  A Virtual Swiss Army Knife, if you will.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Interactive Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Video Sharing, World | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, digital marketing agency nyc, facebook applications, facebook skype integration, facebook skype partnership, mobile marketing agency new york, skype mobile, the social network

Social CRM: The Future of Customer Relationship Management September 28, 2010 – 10:10 am				admin

There are a number of companies engaging their customers in conversation on social media networks. It is obvious that social media is changing the rules of customer engagement. Hence, Social CRM will change the way of doing businesses in the coming years. So each and every company needs to understand how to make use of social CRM to meet their needs and ultimately, their business objectives. In the recent past, budgets allotted to traditional CRM are shifting towards social CRM.

What are the subjects that are being discussed on social networks? They are various, ranging from information on products or services, customer queries, product improvement ideas, customer assistance requests, and helping each other with their own views on product related issues and market conditions. This kind of interaction helps business owners respond quickly to customer queries and solve any open issues with ease. At this stage, companies will have to analyze what their customers are talking about, what they expect and their social behavior. This helps the business owners to make useful decision during their future sales campaigns.

I think both Twitter and Facebook have a unique opportunity to tap into the beneficial CRM market. With people sharing more about their personal likes and dislikes, professional information, location, and others, social media helps marketers to define highly targeted and personalized marketing campaigns based on the user data. Marketers can use social CRM as an application to study the social profile of their customers to know more about their connections and to build better relationships.

The future of customer relationship management is in social networks, as there is a huge increase in the level of interaction with the customers by way of online communities and social networks. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are the best in class platforms for word of mouth marketing. About two thirds of companies gained increased customer satisfaction utilizing social media as a tool. Business people have to realize that it is not possible to market without social networks in the next few years.

Posted by admin
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Social Media Marketing, web 2.0, World | 1 Comment »
Tags: Content Marketing, customer relationship management, facebook, Mohamed Mohideen, Social CRM, Social Media Marketing, twitter

Think About Deliverables, Act With Receivables Exchange September 27, 2010 – 4:14 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Receivables Exchange, LLC was a recipient of a 2010 Technology Innovators award from the Wall Street Journal for its unique e-commerce mission.  The New Orleans-based firm runs an online marketplace where small and mid-sized businesses can auction receivables that need capital.  In a credit market that still remains tough, Receivables Exchange provides a platform for auctioneers to generate liquid cash to invest in new technologies and production equipment.  As a result, businesses can leverage their debts into long-terms assets, critical especially for nascent technology firms who want to research mobile ventures.  Qualified applicants gain immediate access online to the marketplace and can post their invoices, where bidders come to the forefront with offers.

The website design is fairly crisp, with a small Flash banner scrolling corporate news along with a rich level of interactive marketing tools such as an email newsletter, client testimonials, online application, and a video. The website also provides opportunities to request a live demonstration at your office setting and a list of special events supported with webinars on their portfolio.  Reviews have come in droves from leading news sources, so the enterprise is clearly on the rise during this economic period.  For more information, click on the logo above.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Business News, eCommerce, Flash, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Small Business, Website Design, World | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, digital marketing agency nyc, e-commerce agency ny, mobile marketing agency nyc, receivables exchange, receivables exchange wsj award winner, web development agency nyc

Weekly Blueliner Newsminer September 24, 2010 – 3:32 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

1.  CEO Jeff Zucker to leave NBC.

The news is hardly shocking, as the impending transfer of management to Comcast meant that his leadership would be in jeopardy.  It will be interesting to see the future direction of online media, especially with advertisers. This video interview on FT.com from June reveals more insight into those strategies.

2.  Facebook Outage From Yesterday.

I noticed the issue on several instances of my laptop space, when the Top Sites view had a status in Bold Type stating “Service Unavailable DNS Error”.  The Like button on Blueliner’s blog had a similar statement.  Then you had a tweet from Facebook’s user profile about the outage.  Many were shocked at the turn of events, wondering if the mighty social media network had fallen.  All jokes aside, it happens in the viral world.  It meant that everyone would just have to tweet or watch YouTube. The engineer explains the fiasco above in the headline.

3.  Blockbuster Enters Bankruptcy Protection

I think the biggest shock from this news is how it took this long for the chain to claim bankruptcy.  Once Netflix arrived on the scene with such a seamless business model in 1997, the clock was ticking on Blockbuster as a brick-and-mortar enterprise. When I lived in Washington, D.C., and saw a Redbox machine on 18th and Kalorama, where you can instantly rent videos at a fraction of the Blockbuster cost, the grave was in cement.  Blockbuster tried to copy both business models, but it was too little, too late.  Renegade investor Carl Icahn is still a shareholder, so the company’s future direction is unclear.  They do have an extensive video library, so a future for online advertising and web development still exists once the business model is settled.

4.  FCC Approves White Spaces For Mobile Broadband

This news, reported nationwide today, would seem to eliminate the need for a net neutrality showdown since the major technological players who plan to push internet television now have space to distribute content and market hardware. Time will tell if internet television becomes the next foray into content distribution.  Network libraries are still limited, and the average American watches over 35 hours of television a week. This could be an opportunity for Blockbuster to resuscitate their brand and develop a business model that spearheads the digital content wave, as the name still holds cache with advertisers.  If they can partner with a service like Google TV, who knows?

5.  The Social Network Debuts Today at The New York Film Festival Written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, the impending release is doing more than creating buzz in cyberspace.  The supposedly negative light shown on Mark Zuckerberg manifested into quick public defense.  Today, he donated $100 million to the Newark public system, one which has actually done a good job of raising funds but a poor one of leveraging them into top graduates.  Regardless, the discussion add another dimension to Facebook’s brand development, which has been heavily criticized this year for privacy issues amongst a long outage yesterday.  I take it that this isn’t Mr. Zuckerberg’s year.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Business News, Email Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, World | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, digital marketing agency nyc, new york seo media agency, the social network, weekly blueliner newsminer

Twitters’ Advantages As A Social Media Tool September 23, 2010 – 11:03 am				admin

Social media has increasingly become very popular in a very short frame of time. Social media is the latest tool used by most of the marketers to build relationships and to acquire customers with ease at an affordable means. Every day it is becoming more popular with a range of social media websites.  The heavyweights include Facebook and Twitter, which are largely used by small business owners to get the maximum benefit for their businesses. Twitter is a social media tool, where one knows what fellow users are doing at the very moment.

Twitter not only lets you know about what others are doing and offers a tool to spread product deals, launches, and job openings. Everything is for free, where you can allow your followers to view your profile and share ideas, trends, and solicit feedback about your business with them.

Twitter offers flexibility that allows marketers to target a diverse market. The content posted via Twitter multiplies exponentially and good content serves as a tiny press release. As a result, content distribution improves, increasing traffic. The viral marketing feature of twitter is one good reason for B2B companies to choose Twitter as a social media tool. With the help of the in-built features and other third party resources, marketers can easily monitor, track and analyze the flow of information, trends and business opportunities.

The main goal of a marketer in using social media tool is to increase the sales volume by engaging the consumers and target audience to develop brand equity. So all companies must try to understand how to make use of Twitter as a social media marketing tool to create awareness about their brands, engage customers, and maximize profit.

Posted by admin
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Marketing Agencies, Social Media Marketing, web 2.0, World | No Comments »
Tags: google, Mohamed Mohideen, new york interactive marketing agency, new york social media agency, social media, Social Media Marketing, twitter

Keep Pitching, Creatives September 16, 2010 – 3:32 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

The marketing and advertising industry has always been thought of with a general axiom:  ”It’s a tough business to enter and even tougher to leave.”  Our current economic climate has many still dying to get back in the game, then run full court without a timeout.  According to a report from AdWeek, ten percent of marketing executives think they’ll increase their personnel quotas during the fourth quarter.  The majority think that staffing will remain constant.  Also, the piece mentions that only seven percent of ad agencies are seeking interactive candidates, and copywriters are only at five percent. Oy vey.  Website and production designers lead the tally at ten percent.  

In short, it still depends on the economy, stupid.  Once currency rates stabilize in the emerging markets and Europe, we will get a clearer sense of direction.  Growth is developing slowly in certain industries, with technology firms spreading cash around like sunflower seeds.  Banks are doing the same, and their dispersing will now come under reforms from Basel.  Both sectors, however, are reinvesting into technological research rather than manpower.  The advent of social media, however, has forced companies to explore the potential of mobile marketing and applications.  Certain industries depend on a certain base headed by millennials to inform and participate in the consumer landscape.  These nascent technologies need minds who have a thorough understanding of the engineering dynamics needed to develop software that can move across channels.  Whimsical minds will be needed to create content that stokes our imagination with phrases, tailoring them for our digital experiences. Audial too. Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge.  He was right then, and in the case of creative business, will be proved so again.

Tweet

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Business News, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, World | No Comments »
Tags: adweek, Blueliner Marketing, digital marketing nyc, internet marketing agency ny, marketing and advertising jobs, online advertising agency nyc, Social Media Marketing

Weekly Blueliner Newsminer September 3, 2010 – 8:17 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Good evening, everyone. We once again start with the Weekly Blueliner Newsminer.

1.  Apple Relaunches A Campaign For Internet Television

This week, Apple launched a lower price point for its internet television console that starts at $99. The upgraded service will allow streaming of content rented through iTunes and Netflix.  Amazon, the online retail superstore, also offered a similar package, except certain television shows are priced at 99¢.  What does this all mean for advertisers?  On the surface, the market for internet television is still in development.  Networks do not want to undercut their relationships with cable service providers. Some networks also carry film studios and worry about a conflict of interest.  Actualized profits from online advertising for programming are also nebulous.  Therefore, many major networks, while open to the development of  internet television, do not want to bite a hand that feeds them. Tune in.

2.  Samsung Steps In With The Galaxy Tablet

Samsung releases the Galaxy Tab yesterday to a crowd of reporters in Seoul.  The Galaxy Tab aims to enter the tablet market with visions of not only competing with the iPad, but also to recoup lost market share in the smartphone industry.  Currently, the electronics giant is in dialogue to sell the device through its stable of mobile carriers, debuting in Italy next month before heading stateside.  Android 2.2 will be the software platform, making it a boon for Droid consumers and small businesses that utilize Google Applications.  Like the internet television market, mobile advertising continues to shape itself amidst the issues over net neutrality.  Pay per click advertisers will have a new audience to demonstrate innovate Flash campaigns with the Tab, and a camera is featured on both sides of the device.  According to the newsbrief, the device needs a proprietary device to connect with a PC.  If a customer is already synched with Google Applications, this will hardly pose a problem.  At a cheaper price point, the Tab could develop a respectable base. Tablets keep coming.

3.  The Next Oxford Dictionary Could Be Published For Online. Only.

This report from Mashable about the publication of Oxford’s next dictionary volumes is hardly surprising, with the nascent rise of mobile devices.  The venerable British publisher will not develop the volumes for another decade, which should then have a clearer marketplace for mobile devices in which advertisers have price points for platforms. It is also too simple to lament the passing of a household staple in a tangible form, where the obtuse linguistics of certain literature clarify themselves with a leaden turn of slight pages.  I feel that developing products for a new demographic to appreciate is the proper method in this case. Mobile applications are a starting point, strengthened with a push towards millennials in segmented strategies to demonstrate the value of a dictionary when understanding human language.  Oxford is moving forward with the era, and I commend their vision.

4.  AOL Renews Search Partnership With Google

The digital industry felt that Microsoft would be a strong bidder for AOL, especially after cementing their partnership with Yahoo last week.  Officials from the firm, however, felt that AOL’s shaky stock price was a deterrent and passed on a bid.  AOL and Google aim to revitalize the internet service provider’s price quote with expansion of mobile search capability and video streaming through the YouTube portal.  AOL traditionally has been a solid source of pay-per-click advertising and conversions due to its inception as a dial-up business, where subscribers needed to go through ads to experience video or Flash interaction. It’s a steady deal for Google, and a vital shot for AOL.

5.  Japanese Billboards See You First

NEC, based in Tokyo, is using cellphone technology to sense the viewership at electronic displays.  I noticed a recent electronic billboard on Wall Street, but it’s unclear whether this technology was installed for that particular screen.  According to this press release, the images collected will be used for marketing strategies and not stored into a permanent database.  I hardly believe this, for the simple reason that no regulatory board exists to monitor those actions.  Therefore, if they are able to use the images for future campaigns, it would behoove them to use these collections for trend reports and other analysis.  Not unlike geolocation, privacy issues will surface on a major level.  QR codes are also another link to visual advertising, used to promote exclusive savings and content. The codes are gaining traction in the West, and getting bigger in Japan.  Hmmm..

That’s the Blue News this Friday.  For those observing Labor Day this weekend, safe times and travels.

Tweet

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Business News, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, World | 1 Comment »
Tags: Blueliner, digital marketing news, digital marketing nyc, internet marketing agency ny, new york interactive marketing agency, online advertising agency ny, online advertising news, weekly blueliner newsminer

True Cybercrimes September 2, 2010 – 3:16 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

As social media gains popularity in our common lives, protection of our identity becomes paramount.  One who is more of a dilettante to viral socializing may just decide to deactivate themselves, which is fine.  Others who value social media as a portal to entertainment and interaction plan to investigate their privacy rights according to the website policy, seeking loopholes in data accessibility in order to close them.  

The advancement of smartphone technology will only intensify the sharing of personal information across hardware and channels, so diligence need apply.  We are already seeing this with the development of geolocation, a practice where one can update their point on Earth in real time.  Security concerns have been shared on this space and the cyberworld, so delving in farther is unnecessary.

Despite all of this emerging concern with the increase of channel platforms to transfer data between your laptop, mobile phone, video game console, and the like, the public remains concerned about traditional cybercrimes such as identity theft.  Banks remain the least trusted business, according to recent survey done by Kindsight.  I have heard stories about security fraud in the past and present, as banks would infiltrate their customers with phishing messages while touting the finest security emblems on their webpage.  Credit histories are at stake when e-commerce transactions go haywire. When it comes to banking, however, many people have lifestyles today that do not permit the time to wait in a teller line for routine transactions. Larger firms, in light of the financial settlement passed by Congress, have taken steps to mitigate this personal service by assessing fees.  It will affect several demographics, namely senior citizens who are not technologically efficient.  This situation deserves monitoring by all, as the restrictive legal elements have yet to make a measurable impact.

Millennial who are savvy with their hardware and software easily make the adjustments necessary to protect their personal identity online.  Others struggle with the societal shift to online distribution of personal data, and whether they become successful remains to be seen.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Blog Marketing, Click Fraud, Content Marketing, eCommerce, Interactive Marketing, Social Media Marketing, World | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, Click Fraud, click fraud security, identity theft, kindsight, preventing click fraud, Social Media Marketing

Target Stays On Point With and Without Gilt August 17, 2010 – 6:03 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

In today’s news, Target will enter a partnership with Gilt Groupe to do an exclusive flash-sale of its fall collection.  It’s a deft move for brands to leverage two popular consumer bases and improve their online advertising metrics.  Target, for years, has cemented their reach as a haute purveyor with thrifty price points through esteemed labels such as Isaac Mizrahi and Alexander McQueen.  This experiment with Gilt Groupe takes their interactive marketing reach to a higher level, but one must wonder the inverse effect for Gilt?  This is the second premiere retailer they are working with on an exclusive sale campaign.  They initially ran a Rewards Program Sale with Starbucks earlier this month.  Are they trying to sell out for mainstream fervor?  The economic downturn has been a blessing for this online apparel retailer, which gained popularity through exclusive membership offers that allow entrants to purchase quality products at a reasonable price within a certain amount of time.  Their e-commerce model is sound, and the navigable, metallic website creates an aura of mystique.  Why the rush to outreach?

Brands that emerge from obscurity often face a crossroads from an equity standpoint and must decide on whether to branch far beyond their niche on a broad level or make incremental growth strategies.  Some have the product that stands the test of durability and competition, allowing profitability to flow from above.  The other side of that coin are those that do not have the vision to see pitfalls in the marketplace nor make the necessary adjustments to keep the brand afloat.

The partnership of these two firms is interesting in that their approach mirrors the scenario explained in the prior paragraph.  Target has clear advantages in their retail market strategy with a wider level of products and stores to maintain fixed cash flow, such as personal care items.  Their marketing team can afford to create niche strategies, while giving them the resources to develop their own unique consumer base.  

Gilt Groupe, as a novice e-commerce retailer, doesn’t have this same flexibility in terms of risk.  They could be compromising the integrity of their mission, for all we know.  It will be interesting to see if they maintain this aggressive outreach into mainstream brand partnerships.  The sale starts at high noon Eastern Time on Friday, at Gilt.com.  Your fingers and debit card should be ready.

Tweet

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Small Business, World | 1 Comment »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, gilt groupe, internet marketing agency ny, new york interactive marketing agency, new york web design agency, search marketing agency ny, target fashion labels, target mashable