digital axle

Hey Starbucks, what's up? Wanna chat? JKLOL!

The New York Times tells us today that Starbucks is launching a major social media blitz to tie in with their latest advertising campaign. Among other things, a contest to be the first to post a photo of new ad posters on Twitter.

They already have large followings on Facebook (1.5 million fans) and Twitter (183,000 followers) and this campaign is sure to get them more. So will social media get people to drink more coffee? Or buy more cars?

No one knows yet how to measure the ROI on social media, yet we all secretly believe it makes a difference. These grand experiments are laying the foundation for the future if nothing else.

Relationships are supposed to be the cornerstones to success on the social web. So what does this mean for brands? We find ourselves wondering how Starbucks (or any other brand) plans to have a personal relationship with millions of people. What's the point of social media if not to be social? Don't get us wrong, we are all for expanding into the social web. In fact, we think it is necessary and only a matter of time until all aspects of the web are social.

And yet, we find ourselves wondering where it's headed. Will social media continue to be part of advertising? Residing within the marketing department? Or is it something else, like, say, how a company does business everyday, up there with answering the phone. Because carrying on a conversation is what customer service representatives do. Not necessarily marketers.

As for Starbucks? We don't make friends with our coffee. We drink coffee with our friends. So we're going to grab a latte, sit down at the keyboard, and check in on Facebook. Maybe we'll tell our friends how great this coffee is.

App-ver-what? Mobile Advertising Comes of Age

Ad Age tells us that mobile advertising may finally be coming into its own. People can't seem to get enough applications for their smart phones, and even welcome branded apps. Assuming the apps don't suck, that is.

Sounds easy! Of course, when you realize that the average user installs 20-40 apps on his phone, and there are tens of thousands of applications out there, you realize that the real challenge is getting those eyeballs in the first place.

OK, so it's not quite so simple. Nonetheless, the opportunities are there -- and only getting better. Branded apps are brilliant when executed well. They take some serious development savvy and a good push to get them found by users. There is also a second option: in-application advertising. Piggy-back on someone else's awesome app and show off your product inside.

Want inspiration? Check out the Ad Age article for some examples.
Don't believe this is the next great thing? Analysts do. Maybe time for a little more research.

Look Mom, No Hands: Interactive Marketing Flies High

Isn't this a pretty chart? Thanks, Forrester (via Mediapost).

For the sake of brevity, I'll give you the good news first: Interactive marketing spending will hit $25.6 billion this year, a 11% increase from the $23.1 billion of 2008. 

The figure includes search, email, social media, and mobile marketing fund-age. Yes, that is a real word - at least according to legendary linguist Pauly Shore.

And now, the better news: spending is expected to more than double to nearly $55 billion by 2014.

B2B Marketing Pubs Cater to Panicky Industry

Browsing the feeds from publications like Ad Age, PR Week, ClickZ, and DM News, I can't help but wonder: where are the glorious stories of yesteryear? Articles about incredible (and expensive) ad campaigns, eager PR folk writing the new, can't-fail rules of the industry, and stories of VCs showering young, blushing startups with pretty piles of cash.

Now what do we get? Facebook's credit lines can't keep up with its incredible user growth, unspectacular campaigns abound, newspapers are dying, and even those we thought were untouchable are laying off workers left and right. (Though apparently, there's some hope, as courageous VCs sniff out opportunity in a crumbled market.)

But one of the most noticeable changes is that B2B pubs are starting to get seriously pragmatic on us. "7 Tips for Marketing During a Recession." "Email Marketing on a Budget." And of course the infamous "How-Tos" for social media marketing, where they tell you that you can get 1,000 new customers via Twitter: just equip a few baby-interns (cost: $0) with TwitterFon apps (cost: $0) and some targeted adspeak (cost: $0).

What they don't tell you is you're going to need someone to QA all that jazz. The cost of the wrong message going out to those potential customers? Infinite. Who is going to make sure they stay consistent with the strategy and message? And who is going to literally sit down and fix the mistakes that are inevitably going to be made? Finally, how do you make up for the time lost with "experimentation" that you had to scrap not one month in, but several, because it takes time to find out what works?

Don't get us wrong: We heart social media. We just don't think it's the solution to slashed budgets during a recession.

Get your priorities crooked