How Consumers Interact With Brands On Facebook
Mashable

People interact with their favorite brands on Facebook far more than on any other social network, according to a recent study of online consumer behavior.

The study, conducted by Constant Contact and research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey, analyzed the behavior of 1,491 consumers ages 18 and older throughout the United States and revealed a number of details about how people interact with brands on the world’s largest social network.

When it comes to “Liking” brands on Facebook, the reasons are varied, but for the most part, respondents said they “Like” a brand on Facebook because they are a customer (58%) or because they want to receive discounts and promotions (57%).

Being a fan, for the most part, is a rather passive activity. A whopping 77% of consumers said they interact with brands on Facebook primarily through reading posts and updates from the brands.

A measly 17% of respondents said they interact with brands by sharing experiences and news stories with others about the brand, and only 13% of respondents said they post updates about brands that they Like.

The study also pointed to a number of encouraging stats for businesses, including:

56% of consumers said they are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after becoming a fan on Facebook
51% of consumers said they are more likely to buy a product since becoming a fan on Facebook
78% of consumers who “Like” brands on Facebook said they “Like” fewer than ten brands

Contrary to another study published in February that stated that 81% of consumers have either “unliked” or removed a company’s posts from their Facebook News Feed, this study reports that 76% of consumers said they have never “unliked” a brand on Facebook.

For brands looking to make the biggest impact on Facebook, it is essential to share compelling content, minimize marketing messages and refrain from overwhelming readers with too frequent updates.

Is Digital Killing the Luxury Brand?
AdWeek

High-end fashion brands have a problem. Let’s call it the “Kreayshawn quandary,” after the young Bay Area rapper made famous by the Internet and her hit song “Gucci, Gucci,” which has gotten over 16 million views on YouTube. Sample lyrics: “Gucci, Gucci, Louis, Louis, Fendi, Fendi, Prada...the basic bitches wear that shit so I don’t even bother.”

It may have taken a rapper to say it best, but the message has been clear for a while: Luxury designers are losing their cachet. And the problem is only being intensified by the medium that made Kreayshawn a star.

Just a few years back, most high-end fashion brands distrusted all things digital. Their fear was understandable. Digital is democratizing; it’s about accessibility. The brand image for high-end fashion is all about inaccessibility: Keep the masses out so that the people who can afford to buy their way in feel they’re exceptional.

Then those haute couture designers who’d shunned new media took some hits—thanks to the recession—from price-slashing department stores and discount websites, at the same time they began paying attention to changing retail statistics. And an industry obsessed with being ahead of the curve realized it was dramatically behind.

“A couple of years ago, we were in Italy, and we met with [Donatella] Versace and [an executive at] Armani…and they were like, ‘Digital, whatever,’” remembers the CEO of an agency that deals with several luxe brands. “Now it’s, ‘How can I do it?’ There’s been almost a cataclysmic shift.”

“There is a sense of urgency associated with digital platforms,” adds Vera Wang CEO Mario Grauso. “We haven’t so much shifted [advertising] resources, but rather we have allocated additional resources to build, support, and promote our social media platforms.”

Now that they’ve embraced digital, though, high-end brands find themselves having to face the fears that kept them from it for so long. Digital isn’t as easy to do as some of them would like to think. And if the brands do it badly, the democratizing effect of digital can backfire on them, further eroding the aura of exclusivity that defined them for generations.

The reasons for going online are, as most other industries already know, compelling. Eighty percent of people with an income of over $250,000 are social media users according to Unity Marketing research, and 50 percent have used social media to learn more about a brand or see new products. Data from small business consulting firm Lex Consulting shows that those earning more than $150,000 are the only people spending more than they did before the recession. And a 2011 Digitas study notes over the next decade digitally entrenched millennials will become the next major luxury buyers—and should therefore be targeted now.

Marketers’ Risky New Pitch: We’ll Put America Back on Job
AdAge

With zero new jobs created in August and 9.1% unemployment, job creation is the hottest topic in corporate messaging. Execs including Starbucks' Howard Schultz and Goodby Silverstein's Rich Silverstein are launching pledge drives to harangue Congress (Mr. Schultz) or get businesses (Mr. Silverstein) to add jobs. And companies such as AT&T and Amazon are making it part of their public-affairs efforts, putting jobs on the table as government bargaining chips and leveraging consumers as constituents.

In the case of the pledge drives, the risks are minimal—some egg on the face if the numbers are small (and they are). Mr. Schultz's UpwardSpiral efforts, announced last week, ask business leaders to promise to either "accelerate job creation," withhold contributions to political campaigns or do both. Mr. Silverstein's One Job for America, launched in February, asks business leaders to pledge just one job.

But in the case of Amazon and AT&T, the companies, by promising jobs that may be counteracted by layoffs or by threatening to take business out of states that don't play ball, create a real risk of consumer backlash—especially if activists take the opportunity to whip up opposition.

AT&T, for example, is promising the creation of 5,000 jobs if the government approves its highly scrutinized $39 billion merger with T-Mobile. This promise was made the same day that the Department of Justice filed suit to prevent the merger.

Ad Spending Grows Again, but Growth Slows Again
AdAge

The growth in U.S. ad spending continued to slow in the second quarter of 2011, increasing 2.8% from the second quarter of 2010, according to a new report from Kantar Media. U.S. ad spending had increased 4.4% in the first quarter, the smallest rate of growth since ad outlays began rising again.

"Advertising grew at a slower rate in the second quarter, contributing to speculation about the durability of an advertising recovery that is into its second year," Jon Swallen, senior VP-research at Kantar Media North America, in said a statement accompanying the new numbers.

A majority of media sectors actually improved their performance between the first quarter and the second, Mr. Swallen said, but spending growth for the top 100 advertisers stalled in the second quarter, leaving the ad market more dependent on smaller spenders for increases.

Ad spending in the first half of 2011 increased 3.2% from the first half of 2010, Kantar said, pegging more than half the dollar gains to the internet and its 10.4% surge. Online display ad spending expanded 12.9% while search ad spending—or at least search at Google, Kantar's proxy—grew 8.6%, both aided by new activity in the travel, local service and insurance categories.

Fox Banks on NFL For ‘X Factor’ Kickoff
Media Post

Fox will look to leverage its NFL audience Sunday to build momentum for its highly anticipated Sept. 21 debut of "The X Factor." The network will run an eight-minute promo for the competition series following its NFL doubleheader. Judging by the numbers for Thursday's NFL season opener on NBC, Fox will draw a substantial audience.

Fox will re-air the lengthy promo again Sunday in the middle of a one-hour "Family Guy" episode. The promo offers footage from auditions held in Los Angeles and Seattle, plus "an inside look at the drama, raw emotion and behind-the-scenes action" of the show with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul among the judges.

"The X Factor" will air Wednesdays and Thursdays this fall, premiering with back-to-back two-hour shows.

Pepsi is the top-line sponsor of the series and the winner will be featured in a Super Bowl spot, while in-store displays will be used into 2012.Banner ads on "The X Factor" Web site plug the "Pepsi Refresh Project," which awards grants for projects that enrich society.

The Fox show offered an opening peek during a promo in the baseball All-Star game.

Brands Digitize Out-of-Home Campaigns to Bolster Consumer Interaction
Direct Marketing News

Billboards and installations usually remain static. However, after credit card company MasterCard rolled out its "Priceless New York" campaign in July, it wasn't the TV ads, the dedicated blog, the social media or online banner ads that were arguably the most direct digital components. It was the outdoor, or rather, out-of-home (OOH) campaign.

For the "Check-in to the Ballgame" campaign that ran in August, MasterCard placed 20 seats from the old New York Yankees Stadium throughout New York City and asked consumers to check into those locations via
Facebook Places, which then shares the campaign to consumers' friends on the social network. Consumers could check in by scanning a quick response code with their mobile devices and were entered into a sweepstakes to win tickets to sit in MasterCard's Batter's Eye Café section at Yankees Stadium.

"The digital aspect is hugely important because we want to make sure that when somebody sees the installation, they're interacting," says Julie Hogan, VP of consumer marketing at MasterCard Worldwide. "But the other piece of it is around the sharing and driving awareness that this program
is going on."

Marketers such as cable network TNT and food chain Domino's Pizza have also integrated digital with their outdoor campaigns to extend the campaign's lifespan beyond a consumer chancing on one of the installments.

PepsiCo and NFL Renew Sponsorship Deal
Associated Press

PepsiCo Inc. and the NFL said Tuesday that they are renewing their marketing deal with a new 10-year deal that begins next year. The financial terms of the contract weren't disclosed. However, a person close to the matter who asked not to be named because the person wasn't permitted to speak publicly told the Associated Press that PepsiCo would pay roughly $90 million a year in rights fees.

That's nearly $1 billion over the length of the contract to make its Pepsi, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, Tropicana and Quaker Oats brands official marketing partners of the league.

PepsiCo would then spend more on marketing and promoting its ties to the NFL. The company, based in Purchase, N.Y., said it does not disclose its marketing spending. But the Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed source, said that spending could run roughly $1.3 billion more during the length of the contract.

The deal also ensures that Gatorade would remain the featured drink on the sidelines at games. In addition, PepsiCo's Frito-Lay snack foods brand will promote big events like the Super Bowl.

David Carter, a sports business professor at the University of Southern California, said while the contract seems excessive at first glance, it might be worth it for Pepsi.

The company gets 10 years of promotion for five brands, and it is unclear if that marketing figure includes the millions it would already spend on Super Bowl or other expensive advertising during the period.

"What it might suggest to other partners or potential partners ... is what the NFL is expecting in terms of contracts," Carter said.