ReBlogs of the Week: "Social vs Brand" and "PSAs Come to Mobile"
We have a double feature today! The first post is from Kristina Horner who delivers a powerful video piece on why brands and bloggers need to work together. The second is from Meghan Keane, who discusses the potential of mobile donations and their implications for mobile payments. Enjoy...
Social vs Brand
This is a very passionate video response by YouTube blogger Kristina Horner about communities working with brands.
‘Kristina is a 21 year old girl from Seattle who is currently studying at the University of Washington, but in her spare time you can find her making videos for YouTube, playing music, or writing. She’s in a band that plays music about Harry Potter and through that, has traveled all over the country (and sometimes further) playing shows and attending conferences. In the past year she’s also been to numerous YouTube related gatherings and events and loves meeting new people and seeing new sights. Kristina has a slight addiction to broadcasting her life and thoughts in various forms on the Internet.‘
Motivated by criticism of her partnership with Ford for the (pretty smart) FiestaMovement work. Kristina argues that for both bloggers and brands to be successful they need to accept the fact that traditional advertising is not-effective (and often rejected) in social spaces. But, brands and publishers like Kristina can easily find win-win situations when brands support their work without compromise. If you work in ‘advertising and or marketing’ and struggle to understand the social media space, have a butchers:
The original post at Rubbishcorp
Kristina's blog italktosnakes
Follow her on Twitter @KristinaHorner
PSA's Come to Mobile. Along with Additional Purchasing Options. by Meghan Keane
How do you get people to start charging purchases on their mobile phones? Have them to do it for charity.
This week mobile gaming company Cellufun will launch the first ever mobile public service announcement campaign. In conjunction with The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Cellufan is offering free in-game advertising, as well as mobile donation opportunities to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
The mobile PSA could be very profitable for the ASPCA. But it's also a smart move on Cellufan's part. Getting new groups of users to spend money through their phones will help pave the way for monetizing the mobile web.
Cellufun allows users to play social games, connect with friends and shop for virtual goods. The service has over 7 million unique monthly mobile visitors, who generate more than 220 million monthly impressions. The average user spends about 6.9 hours using Cellufun. The company estimates the value of the PSA campaign to be more than $10,000 per month.
"Cellufun’s social games — such as Mobile Pet Online and Cellufun Farming — provide not only entertainment, but the perfect venue for raising social awareness by partnering with leading charities and non-profits,” said Neil Edwards, chief executive officer of Cellufun.
Clearly the ASPCA thinks that mobile is a place that has fundraising potential. In addition, it's a great way for Cellufun to get its users accustomed to parting with a little extra money on their mobile devices. Already in the gaming space, these users aren't exactly shy about such things, but for the mobile space to reach its potential as a marketplace, users who have historically been uninterested in buying ringtones or purchasing gaming software need to start getting comfortable with giving money on their phones. And that's already happening.
Apple's App Store has gotten hordes of iPhone users to purchase products on their cellphones, and a key to tapping into the monetization potential of mobile will be proving to people that cellphones are a safe and easy way to make purchasing decisions.
Already consumers are getting more comfortable with many mobile decisions that they skipped on the computer. One proof of this is the fact that mobile Internet usage is far more diverse than the way it has typically worked online. For starters, African Americans are the group quickest to adopt mobile Internet usage this year.
Last week, a Pew Research Center survey found that 32% of Americans have accessed the Internet through a mobile device this year and 48% of African Americans are using their mobile phones to access the Internet. For many groups — especially low income users — the cellphone is the way that they access the Internet altogether.
John Horrigan, associate director of the Pew Internet Project, tells the New York Times:
“The cost of broadband and personal computers drives some users to adopt mobile Internet instead of the traditional wire-line,” Mr. Horrigan said. “It might make sense to invest the money in a smartphone and a monthly plan that enables you to do so many different things, like make calls and send e-mails.”
In addition, consumers who are sympathetic to a cause might make a spur of the moment purchasing decision that they would hesitate on for something more frivolous — from gaming to paid advertising. And once a purchase has been made in a new environment in a space that a consumer trusts, getting them to buy something again is that much easier.
The original post on Econsultancy
Follow her on twitter @keanesian
