Pure Thinking

Twitter is becoming an International Tool

Did you know 50% of tweets are not in English?

In February, a research company conducted a study based on 2.8 million tweets gathered over a period of 48 hours which showed that only half of the messages on Twitter are in English.

Besides English, which accounts for some 50% of all messages on Twitter, the other most prominent languages on Twitter are Japanese (14% of messages), Portuguese (9%), Malay (6%) and Spanish (4%). Looking even further, Italian, Dutch and German each account for 1% – 2% of all messages on Twitter.

In 2009, English had a two-third share on Twitter, which implies a strong international growth for Twitter in the last six or so months. It’s good news for Twitter, which has lately been struggling to retain its high growth rates from 2008, but how are they reaching out to these markets?  I don’t know, do you?

 

From the Intern

After diving right into projects when I first stared at Pure a few weeks ago, things have yet to slow down for me. I have been busy working on a variety of research assignments that have allowed me to familiarize myself with some Pure’s clients and gain a better understanding of how an agency operates. Prior to Pure, I worked for in-house PR and marketing departments. Needless to say, I am already noticing a lot differences between in-house departments and agencies. I love the variety of projects I am assigned and I am learning so much from my colleagues and mentors.

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend my first PRSA luncheon at the Curtis Hotel with fellow Puritans. Vice president and managing partner of GroundFloor Media, Ramonna Tooley, led a discussion about “PR in the Digital Age” and shared a few case studies to highlight effective social media strategies.

As a social media enthusiast, I use social networks for both work and play. I have seen firsthand how social media can successfully drive a campaign or event promotion and I avidly use Facebook and Twitter on a personal basis. That said, I felt conflicted after hearing news of Twitter’s ad platform possibly launching as early as next month.

As a user, I loathe being bombarded by Facebook ads (especially since the latest ads to overwhelm my homepage are concerning weight loss and matchmaking websites...). Moreover, Twitter is an incubus of advertisements. As someone with a public profile, it seems as though I am constantly attracting followers who solely exist to promote a product or service. One of my tweets about Nuggets basketball resulted in six new followers, all of which were advertising some sort of athletic, sports or fitness related service or product. As a user, the introduction of ads to Twitter sounds a bit overwhelming.

 
The professional side of me, however, is thrilled at this idea. Twitter has proven to be a great tool in marketing campaigns and PR; the addition of ads allows for endless opportunities. Although Facebook’s ads can be irritating, they are not nearly as dominant or hindering as MySpace’s ads. Hopefully, Twitter will be just as cautious as Facebook when considering advertisement placement and prevalence. Read more about Twitter’s new ad platform here.

Is Facebook the New Google?

I ask that not in functionality alone but also in influence, scope, size of an internet company that is really changing the way we do business. Its growth in Market share reminds me of Microsoft’s growth with Internet Explorer as well as Google’s growth in search.

According to Hitwise in May of 2009 Facebook had 28% market share of U.S. social networks. In December it had climbed to 47%. What is interesting from this data is that twitter was only 1.46% in May and dropped to be in “other” at the end of the year. MySpace went from 31% market share in May ’09 down to 18% in December ’09.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, is on the cover of the March 2010 issue of Fastcompany magazine. The cover story is “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies”. Guess which one is #1? You guessed it, Facebook. What does that mean.

It’s a very interesting article talking about growth in number of users. Facebook doubled its users to 350 million last year. Google has 800 million.

When looking for something to buy now how many times have you searched in Facebook to see if there was a fan page? Did you see if it was a two-way communication between company and fans? And did you join the fan page? Facebook’s advertising agreement with Microsoft is now incorporating bing search.

One of the reasons why Google has become such a giant is the fact that there are statistics galore to measure for ROI. If Facebook does a good job of that it really will be the company to watch. And the team at Facebook is putting plans in place for that.

In the Fastcompany article a Facebook staffer is quoted as saying, “We always have a big dragon to slay, and this year it is Google.”

One area I believe Facebook really needs to grow in now (and slay their dragon) is measurement. Allowing companies to see ROI from it’s advertising with Facebook and more importantly what’s happening when an admin of a fanpage posts information. Who’s watching? Reacting? Facebook is working on tools for measurement. Facebook Insights is being tested in various areas.

What is Facebook Insights? Admins of authentic Pages can now see data on the performance of each of their posts. Each post now displays (to admins only) how many impressions the post has received (how many times it has been displayed to all users) and its feedback percentage, which is based on how many comments and Likes have been left on the post. This will allow Page admins to see which content better engages their fans.

This is a great start for business to do more measurement around their fan pages, Measurement to me is the final things needed to propel Facebook past Google as the most influential (and successful) company on the internet.

So the answer to my original question; is Facebook the new Google? It may be on the way based on these four things:

• 1.    Functionality; It has changed the way people socialize, and now do business.
• 2.    Measurement; It’s working on the tools needed to really propel itself as another new way to do business.
• 3.    Customers; Today is has over 350 million users, will it double its customer base again this year?
• 4.    Revenue growth. Facebook became cash flow positive in 2009. Will their revenue growth match the fast growth of people using Facebook for social media as well as advertising? Will the advertising/search deal with Microsoft/bing payoff? The tools they have to localize ads based on activity are phenomenal. Google is still huge when you look at its $28 billion in ’09 revenue and a stock price of over $500. But with everything going right for Facebook can it be far behind in this category as well?

Watch out Google.

 

-John

True colors...shining through

What does your favorite color say about you? More than you think! The Dewey Color System is the world’s most accurate, non-language, color-based career test. Instead of questions, pick your favorite colors to identify your greatest occupational interests, uncover your best-fit job, reveal workplace core competencies with advice on improvement, and depict your personality. And all in a measly 60 seconds.

Sound too good  and easy to be true? It is, thanks in large part to Dewey Sadka, who spent 16 years perfecting this colored career evaluation that calculates 27 different personality types and over 1,000 career choices. With a 750,000+ sample base, accuracy levels are over 80% higher than other current personality and career tests, including Myers Briggs.

The Dewey Color System was recently put to the test when nearly 900 members of USA Today’s CEO panel took the color test. Compared to the general public, CEOs prefer magenta and disregard red and yellow. This color preference reveals that the typical CEO is wired differently – more sensitive and private than the average person, and less dominant and confident.

I took the test and it was bizarrely spot on. According to the Color Career Counselor, I am a CREATOR. I’m "nonconforming, impulsive, expressive, romantic, intuitive, sensitive and emotional." It states that I place a high value on aesthetic qualities, have a great need for self-expression, enjoy working independently, being creative, using my imagination and constantly learning something new.

Suggested creator occupations catalogued a wide-ranging list of careers that included jobs I've once upon a time pondered (interior decorator, architect, broadcaster), jobs that others have told me I would be good at (photographer, English teacher), and jobs that are interrelated to my current occupation (public relations, advertising executive, creative director).

Skeptical? Take the test and judge for yourself!

--Janis

Happy Fat Tuesday

Despite the big super bowl win this year, New Orleans has experienced some lows, namely Katrina, that have earned them a not-so-solid reputation across the country.

Inspired by the power of social media transmitting real-time information during large events in recent months, a local NOLA agency ad man decided to change the public view of Mardis Gras via social media.

His mission:  Use mommy bloggers, food writers and Tweeted photos of families enjoying Mardi Gras to make people realize that Fat Tuesday does not have to be a half-naked, debauchery-filled drunk-fest. Especially not if you have children.

His methods: a web site and Twitter.

I can't help but think of Las Vegas' attempt to market themselves as "family-friendly" and what a big disaster that was.

Is New Orleans making a big mistake with this campaign? Don't people want the naked bead swaps and the insane drunk-fest that is Bourbon street? Will marketing to families with children be a huge turn off for the half-naked, drunken fan base that crowds the city's streets and runs up local bar tabs? I've never actually experienced Mardi Gras, so maybe I'm just another one of those ignorant people this campaign is trying to educate.

What's your take? This could get interesting.

--Kate

Olympics - with the good comes the ugly

 
Lara Day here, again.  Oh, the Olympics. This international sporting competition turns into another sort of competition for me...finding the athletes who can handle any and all media interviews with the grace and personality they displayed during competition and those who should be required to have a personal media coach to prep them before any and all public interaction.  The winners thus far: Apolo Anton Ohno and Hannah Kearney. Both are winners in my book.  During a post-competition interview with NBC, Ohno did a great job answering questions about the Koreans’ sketchy maneuvers. He was brief and concise, while at the same time, allowing his personality to come through.  Then, to my surprise, he did something most attention-hungry athletes would never dream of doing – he stepped out of the shot so young buck J.R. Celski could enjoy the post-media spotlight that comes with winning an Olympic medal.  And that Hannah Kearney.  After a nail-biter competition where she bumped hometown favorite Jen Heil down to a silver medal, Kearney showed humility – another key in delivering stellar interviews - in her response to Bob Costas when he asked about Heil’s disappointment and possible shame of not delivering the country's first gold medal.  Kearney focused her response on Heil’s accomplishments and shared praise for a fellow Olympian.  Kudos to you both.  Yet with the good comes the ugly – and this one is very ugly.  The American I’m talking about is lucky his name was on the screen for less than 2 seconds otherwise I’d include it in here and search for more bad interview clips.  During his interview Saturday – just a day after the tragic death of 21-year-old Georgian luge competitor, Nodar Kumaritashvili - an American luger did an interview with NBC complaining about the new course and describing it as boring.  Come one, buddy. A man just died.  Show some compassion.  Rather, next time, just keep your mouth shut. 

Building Relationships Online

What do happy people on Valentine's Day and successful social media campaigns have in common? Relationships. Both are engaged in meaningful relationships with their significant others whether it is a boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband or consumer/prospect/customer. Since I am no love doctor, I'm not going to discuss the merits of successful personal relationships, but I am going to take a look at social media relationships and what leads to a good one!

Twitter, Facebook, blogs and YouTube have created platforms for you to view, share and respond to information that is is relevant to you. However, a person is much less likely to respond and engage in a meaningful, relevant conversation with someone if they do not have some type of a relationship. Therefore, organizations must start all social media campaigns by building relationships with key audiences. If you don't build these relationships, your message won't resonate so your efforts will be wasted. By keeping in mind these four tips, you'll be well on your way to building strong online relationships with your audience:

Listen: Monitor what your target audience is talking about in their social media spheres of influence. What issues are important to them? What challenges are they facing? When and where to they spend most of their time talking? Use this information to guide your social media campaign. Domino's Pizza is a great study on how to effectively this.

Be Relevant: If your message distracts your target audience from what they are trying to do, it will be lost. You have to reach them at the right time, in the right place. Does it reach them at a time when they are looking for this type of information? Is it provided to them in a venue where they would be searching for this type of information or is it pushed on them when they are preoccupied with something else? Comcast's usage of @comcastcares to respond to issues that their customers are discussing on Twitter has been critical to responding to needs in a timely manner and increasing customer loyalty.

Add Value: Too often, we are caught up with promoting our product or service in our social media campaigns. We forget to think about what would be helpful to our audience. Maybe it's a white paper on an popular issue or video on how to better use your product. The goal is to give your target audience something that they find helpful, that makes their lives easier or helps them tackle a challenge they are facing. AMEX OPEN has relied on its social site OPEN Forum as a tool to offer business advice and insight to small business owners. It has become a go-to resource for small biz owners and helped AMEX build strong relationships with this audience.

Be Interesting: No one is attracted to a boring people. If you are insightful, cutting-edge, funny and even controversial, your audience will keep coming back for more. Last year, Skittles let conversations about their product take over their homepage. Some people thought it was brilliant, others thought it was a huge mistake. Either way, it started the conversation.

-Shannon

Release Your Inner Stalker

Google needs to take a chill pill. Yes, we are all interested in what everyone else is up to, clearly. We check Facebook and Twitter daily, but now Google has exposed Google Buzz, a way to keep an eye on every virtual activity of someone else in one scan. Google refers to Buzz as their “tool to share”, or over-share.

This tool sparked a thought for me... It takes away the actual action of sharing something with someone; another personal interaction letting someone know about your life, gone. You will automatically be up to date on everyone’s private life with no actual conversation.

On an optimistic note, I think this could potentially be a great, free monitoring tool to keep an eye on your client's social media presence.

Great and informational video on Google Buzz.

What are your thoughts?

-Gillian

Super Bowl XLI: Caught with its Pants Down.

Let's be honest, how many more minutes did you spend commenting and critiquing last nights Super Bowl ads, than rehashing the on-sides kick or game winning interception? A Minnesota Vikings fan at heart, I was certainly more excited to discuss the new ads, than the game itself.

First comment: What was the reasoning behind the men-with-their-pants-down theme? Coca-Cola's Sleepwalk and Career Builder's Casual Friday even ran back-to-back!

Beyond the no-pants-party, there were some astounding firsts worth recognizing (no, I am not referring to most amount of whitey-tighties viewed in Super Bowl history). 

Rather, 2010 marks the year that social media made the big play.

As many know, Pepsi boldly chose not to advertise during the Super Bowl and instead went 100 percent to social media through the Pepsi Refresh Project. Pepsi is not the only one leveraging social media. In fact, many companies opting-in to the large Super Bowl media spend are utilizing social media to analyze the success of their placements. 

Intel paid CBS between $3 million and $4 million to air two commercials during the football game and to sponsor the post-game show. Now Intel's marketing department will be monitoring the social networks to determine whether the commercials were a hit among viewers. "It's the first time [Intel has] gauged audience reaction around an event by using social networks," said Intel spokesman David Veneski in an interview prior to the Super Bowl.

With Facebook and Twitter reaching record membership numbers and mobile subscribers on the rise, tracking immediate responses and reactions can be done simultaneously.

The conversation is still continuing. Follow #SuperBowl to hear more reactions, favorites and flops.

- Michelle

Meet the New Intern

My name is Brianna Hernandez and I recently moved to Denver from Omaha, Nebraska.  I graduated last spring from Creighton University with a degree in News Journalism and Public Relations. I love music, fashion and film and I am an enthusiast and avid user of social media. While Pure will be my first experience working at an agency, I am no stranger to being an intern, as Pure marks my seventh internship. Prior to Pure, I worked for non-profit organizations, small businesses, fashion companies, event planning firms and news publications. After spending the past few years working for in-house marketing and public relations departments, I am eager to contribute to a full-service agency.

You can learn more about me on Twitter (@brianna_h) where I tweet about fashion, music, local events and anything else I feel like sharing with friends and followers. I also contribute to a local fashion blog, Shop Goldyn, where I offer my thoughts on current fashion trends and events.

I am thrilled to be part of the Pure team and cannot wait to contribute to projects and learn from such a talented group of professionals. In my first few days at Pure, I have already assisted with a research assignment and started the development of an extensive outreach list for an exciting event for a client. I love that the staff has allowed me to dive right in and I cannot wait to see what projects I work on in the future.

I am particularly eager to see how Pure infuses social media into new client endeavors, especially since 2009 saw a significant rise in older and professional users. According to USA Today, 47% of Baby Boomers actively maintained a Facebook account (both my parents created an account this year, although I think most of their activity is keeping an eye on my college-aged brother). Indeed, social media is beginning to transcend the young, tech-savvy demographic and businesses are learning that social media cannot be ignored. Read more here.