Gifts are about to completely transform Facebook

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Zenith Comment:  This is just start of Fcommerce.  I think once they introduce the Want button they'll have a lot of brands wanting to link into the "FB shop" to allow users to buy products direct through FB for themselves or their friends and family.

Facebook has announced something more important than you may realize: Facebook Gifts, and it’s happening just as we predicted.

Facebook’s $80 million+ post-IPO acquisition of Karma was enough to raise questions as to what would happen next, considering that Facebook made it clear that this was not merely a talent acquisition. Now, the future of Facebook may change.

Long-term users will remember that Facebook has tried to launch gifts in the past, but only with essentially worthless, digital goods. Today’s move is an entirely different animal, however, as the company is stepping foot into new territory by way of its Karma acquisition, with hundreds of physical goods already for sale. Facebook is now taking advantage of the growing popularity of social commerce trends (which it essentially caused), with a centralized gifting platform that lets the social giant gather countless addresses, credit card details and relationship data, all while further roping in 3rd party brands and skimming a little off the top.

As Facebook explains, its gifts are intended as a new way for “millions of people” to celebrate moments together. Users can now send gifts from birthday reminders, or from their friend’s timeline. Gifts can be public or private. Facebook even makes the process relatively frictionless, allowing you to pay right away or alterately add your card details later. Then, whomever receives the gift simply unwraps it digitally, enters in their address and finds it on their doorstep days later. Aunts, uncles and grandparents are about to have a field day, and kids will finally understand why it’s not such a bad idea to have their relatives on the social network.

Facebook will likely target which gifts it recommends as time goes on. For example, pricer, high-end products could be targeted towards users with (what look to be) higher paying jobs, while current college students could be targeted for more novel gifts like Dave Matthews Band tickets or beer posters. Of course, this could all feed into Facebook’s advertising network too, where as long as the gifting inventory eventually expands, users will be able to purchase whatever’s advertised withoutever leaving Facebook. That’s where the obvious Facebook VS Amazon comparison comes into play.

If this gifting practice becomes a standard activity for users, you can bet that Facebook’s entire monetization strategy will adapt — as we’ve said, there’s a $100 billion market in the US for pre-paid gift cards alone. The best part, however, is that this doesn’t even need to become common for the company to do extremely well. If every Facebook user receives just one gift for their birthday over the next year, Facebook will have sold 955 million gifts. Selling just a miniscule portion of that number could even be considered a success.

Now, we’re left wondering what will happen to the likes of Wrapp, Wantful, DropGifts and Give.it. It’s clear that Facebook is on track to taking up Apple’s old habits; letting creators innovate onto its platform, only to replicate those same features natively. Considering how deep Facebook Gifts will be integrated, this is pretty much a black spot for everyone else in the social gifting space.

How aggressively Facebook plans to pursue today’s launch has yet to be shown, but there’s no doubt that the potential is absolutely massive. Users, hide your credit cards. Investors, get those mouths watering. This is a big deal.

Source: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/09/28/facebook-gifts-the-future-entire-platform-change

Nike Rolls Out its First Social Loyalty Program via Facebook in Hong Kong

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Typically, using hashtags on Facebook is redundant. But for Nike Hong Kong, you can show off how sporty you are by posting on the social network sporting activities you’ve completed, earn points, and get rewarded.

Instead of a viral video traveling around the world inspiring fans, Nike Hong Kong knows the way to get youths in the city to participate and engage with its Make It Count campaign is by taking the gamification approach leveraging Facebook’s social graph.

Targeting youngsters aged 15 to 25, they first need to visit Nike Hong Kong’s campaign site to register via their Facebook logins.

The system will analyze the user’s account to determine how sporty they are and award basic points.

To earn more points, participants have to complete a number of “missions,” ranging from sporting activities such as running, skateboarding, football to basketball as well as other outdoor activities like walking a pet, taking a picture of their sports gear, or attending a Latin dance class.

After completing the missions, participants would need to share on Facebook either through a status update, photo upload, or location check-in using the #makeitcount hashtag to accumulate points.

The accumulated points will be used to redeem “rewards” for Nike products or join sporting events. For instance, with 7,000 points, a user can exchange for a gym sack but will need 22,000 points to attend Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco in October.

“It is the first loyalty program that leveraged on the organic function of social media,” said Jade Lau, brand communications manager for Nike Hong Kong.

She explained after users joined the campaign, they could tell their friends about the completed activities via the social platform and the system would automatically reward them with points that could be exchanged for rewards and special sporting events.

The campaign, supported by its digital agency Razorfish in Hong Kong, aims to educate users on the concept of “make it count” and get them to add the campaign hashtag on social media. The campaign will begin on Facebook initially, with plans to extend to China’s Weibo and photo sharing social network Instagram in the coming weeks.

Make It Count rolled out in March and has been gaining momentum since, with more than 20,000 users signed up and over 70,000 missions completed.

According to Nike, no traditional media was used in this campaign. Instead it is run mainly from its campaign site and Facebook, supported by major local media portals such as Yahoo, Sina, Apple Daily, On.cc, and vertical sites.

However, a recent mission under the football category is aligned with an outdoor event that featured a digital installation in Langham Place shopping mall. The mission merged with another campaign called My Time Is Now, which ran concurrently. Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNIky-Mb3m4

Because Make It Count Hong Kong relies heavily on Facebook’s API, one of the key challenges was to integrate with the social platform seamlessly as many unexpected issues occurred such as errors during deployment that were outside of the agency’s control.

Razorfish’s advice if you plan to do a similar campaign of this scale leveraging Facebook or other social media platforms: sufficient testing time is critical.

Make It Count in Hong Kong will run till the end of this year.

Source:  http://www.clickz.asia/7666/nike-rallies-hong-kong-youths-to-make-it-count-by-earning-points-off-facebook

Everything we know is wrong: 'Grumpy' duo takes on industry myths

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com


Zenith Comment: Good article on myths in marketing.  Excellent point on Facebook likes.

Campbell: "The reality is that very few people love very few brands"

Rob Campbell (pictured), regional head of strategy at Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai, and Charles Wigley, chairman of BBH Asia, took turns poking holes in the myths and unquestioned assumptions that often drive marketing and creative decisions.

The death of TV

"By rights, none of us should be making TV ads anymore, because the general belief is that digital will absolutely take its place," Wigley said. But if you look at actual data, TV spending is going "through the roof" in most regions. Moreover, the effectiveness of TV seems to be getting bigger and bigger each year, he continued. 

To explain why, Campbell made reference to an earlier presentation by Byron Sharp, a professor from the University of South Australia, who went through empirical data showing why predictions about brand growth are often so far off base and why so few brands actually succeed in increasing market share.  

"The reason why TV is not dead and is very, very unlikely to die in the future, is that it delivers a concentrated mass of light and medium users," Wigley said. And as Byron showed, those people are the most critical to your growth, a fundamental part of effectiveness."

Campbell pointed out that arguing over which medium is best is ridiculous. What we’re saying is not that TV beats the internet, or that the internet beats TV," he said. "But that we should stop talking about it in the sense of choosing one or the other. Would someone say, 'You can choose your right hand or your left hand?'"

Campbell reminded the audience that the Old Spice campaign, which is usually cited as the ultimate example of a successful viral effort, started with a TVC that aired during Super Bowl week. 

All you need is love

Stating with tongue in cheek that the pair relished another opportunity to make fun of "our friends at Saatchi" and Kevin Roberts in particular, Wigley turned attention to the notion that people love brands. He noted that in his years in the industry, the language used to describe activities has changed from inherently warlike (campaigns, blitzes, targets) to inherently "lovey-dovey".

"But are we being realistic about that?" he asked rhetorically. "And is our lack of realism about that actually potentially leading us in the wrong direction?”

Some people actually do love brands, Campbell allowed, but, "the reality is, very few people love very few brands. And when I read research that says people are in love with this particular mouthwash, they either have to get a life, or I am not on planet Earth.”

More importantly, those who love a brand are an insignificant factor in increasing sales. "When you look at actual data, the 100 per cent loyal buyers are on average 10 per cent of a category’s buyers." The truth is we are not very loyal as consumers--“because we’re not mad as hatters," Wigley added.

Given that fact, brands must reach out to the vast majority of buyers, the pair asserted, continuing into a discussion of how that requires a continual process of communication to earn loyalty. "The wooing must never, ever stop," Campbell said, adding that there is a difference between bursts of communication that don't look or feel alike and ongoing communication that works toward a common, long-term goal.

Facebook 'Likes' actually mean something

"There aren’t a lot of people sitting around at home going, ‘Ah, I’d really like to click a ‘Like’ button,” Campbell said. Looked at another way, they are very willing to give their "Likes" to frivolous things, he said, citing the example of a Facebook page for the clay head of Lionel Richie, which first appeared in the singer's 1984 video for the song "Hello" and today has more than 10,000 fans.

"People mistake quantified data for effectiveness," Wigley chimed in, after which Campbell added, "We fall into this trap that if it's social, it works. And it's not true."

While hastening to add that digital is without doubt absolutely critical to success, the pair went on to poke fun at the concept of "toothpaste fans" and the notion of building campaigns around people who would fit that description.

Pre-testing makes everything better

Perhaps not surprisingly, Wigley and Campbell saved some of their strongest jibes for the process or pre-testing creative. 

Wigley criticised the method as abdicating responsibility, while Campbell argued that because such research takes place in unreal conditions where the participants may very well be bored to tears, anything entertaining will win, resulting in lots of campaigns featuring puppies.

Wigley took this point further, asserting that when similar companies that make the same products and are trying to reach the same audiences use the same methods to test their advertising, it is not surprising that we end up with ads that are interchangeable apart from the logos. 

"Pre-testing is not about connecting with anybody," Campbell said, "but literally about making sure they’re not scaring anyone away. "

London and New York know everything

The next myth into the shredder was that ad executives in New York and London have much to teach professionals in Asia.

"If they did know everything, they might actually know that in this part of the world, we don’t speak English," Campbell said. ” They would also know that people in Asia are not 'me' but dressed up” in an Asian look.

They also wouldn't keep going on and on about global human truths, Campbell said. "It goes without saying that mothers love their children. The question is how mums in Wuhan express that in very different ways from someone in England."

Campbell cited three fundamental values in Asia: the need for progression, the importance of group acceptance, and filial responsibility. He went on to discuss how those values translate to the way people adopt brands, read communications, and respond to creativity.

Wigley closed by discussing the differences in worldview that come about because of the very different intellectual heritages of Asian versus western countries, and noted that these issues are only starting to get the attention they deserve from the marketing community. 

Source: http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/298472,everything-we-know-is-wrong-grumpy-duo-takes-on-industry-myths.aspx

Can f-commerce work for retailers?

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com


Zenith Comment:  Bit of an essay this one but I thought it was definitely worth posting, keeping with the theme over the last couple of weeks of the posts on f-commerce.  Worth a read when you have a spare 5 minutes.  Interesting points on usability of f-commerce apps but at the same time Facebook is driving quality traffic to retailer sites.

Thanks to the sheer size of the audience alone, it's clear that f-commerce has potential for retailers, but some brands are now deciding that the returns aren't worth the effort. 

So, does this mean f-commerce won't work for retailers or are they simply not trying hard enough? 

I've been speaking to some retailers using Facebook, as well as looking for examples of f-commerce working for small businesses. 

The problems with f-commerce

Usability

From a consumer perspective, there are a number of usability issues with f-commerce apps.

Take ASOS for example. As we have documented on this blog, ASOS is a great example of usability best practice, but its f-commerce app can't quite match these standards. 

The lack of the back button is a pain. while the fact that the site is squeezed into an area which roughly equates to half of the page doesn't help either. 

It's also slow when compared to the main site, with a noticeable delay when loading pages. According to stats, a one second delay in page response can mean a 7% reduction in conversions. 

This is not to single out ASOS, which is actually one of the better Facebook apps, but it cannot match the experience on its main site within the confines of a Facebook app. 

Essentially, when a user friendly site is just a click away, shoppers are being asked to make purchases through an inferior version. 

Are people in buying mode on Facebook? 

Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru observed that selling to consumers on Facebook is "like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar". 

This may not be true of everyone, but people are less likely to be in the mood to make a purchase on Facebook. 

It isn't delivering the returns for some retailers

Lyle & Scott opened its f-commerce site last year, and its essentially the mobile site repurposed for Facebook.   

This approach meant the f-commerce store was cost effective to set up and maintain, though Head of E-commerce Will Dymott hasn't been impressed with the results. 

It has been a bit of a damp squib to be honest. We’re pleased we didn’t pay anything for it. If it wasn’t for the fact that it’s basically our mobile site, and therefore easy to update and maintain, we wouldn’t be that interested. We have got a few sales through it, but not enough to justify any further investment. 

The fashion brand has 50,000 followers on Facebook, and this following has grown without being incentivised through competitions or other such methods. Will also points out that they are engaged and responsive on the site, and many are active customers. 

Facebook is also a valuable source of traffic for Lyle & Scott, delivering around 4% of total site visits. However, it doesn't convert as well as other channels, accounting for around 2.4% of sales.

According to Will: 

People are not in buying mode when on Facebook. Sales are so small that we would be better advised to spend time and money improving our email or search marketing than ploughing more money onto f-commerce.

It cost very little, so it was certainly worth trying, but we could achieve greater returns by, for example, opening a German language version of our website than spending money improving the f-commerce store. 

Privacy and security concerns

Some stats suggest that concerns about security and privacy are affecting consumer confidence.

According to research, 80% of UK and US adults are concerned that Facebook isn't a secure environment for online shopping.  

A similar survey from Lightspeed last year found that, due to security concerns, Facebook users would prefer to redeem special offers on a brand's website, rather than through Facebook. 

Can f-commerce work? 

Facebook drives valuable traffic to e-commerce sites

While some retailers are clearly unhappy about the returns from their f-commerce stores, Facebook can work well for retailers, even if the transactions are taking place away from the site. 

It can be an important driver of traffic for brands. For example, in September 2010, 1.9% of traffic to Burberry’s website in September 2010 came from Facebook. One year on, this figure rose to 29.1%. 

Stats from last year found that social media accounts for 3% of traffic to e-commerce sites but many brands, such as ASOS, are doing much better than that.  

So, even if all the transactions aren't taking place on the site, the brand exposure and publicity value (Burberry's perfume launch being a great example of this) are driving traffic to e-commerce sites. 

The importance of exclusivity

Essentially, retailers are putting versions of their e-commerce sites up on Facebook, often with limited ranges and inferior usability. So what is there to motivate customers to use f-commerce stores? 

Retailers need to work harder to give customers a real reason to shop on Facebook. The Lightspeed survey quoted above also found that people would buy from brands on Facebook if products and offers were exclusive to fans. 

For example luxury flash-sale site Gilt Groupe has been offering exclusive sales to Facebook fans. This gives people a real reason to use the brand's Facebook store. 

This article also has some excellent ideas on how retailers can incentivise customers, by treating Facebook fans as a VIP group, as well as offering special gifts and even points to encourage repeat purchases. 

Are retailers working hard enough on f-commerce? 

It is very early days for f-commerce, so brands like Gap may be being too hasty in closing their f-commerce stores.

After all, we're still in the experimental stage. Once the f-commerce experience is optimised for users, people become accustomed to the idea of buying through the site, and lessons are learned, the outlook may be much more positive for retailers. 

One iota CEO Damian Hanson, whose firm has developed f-commerce stores for retailers such as Foot Asylum, echoes this view:

Commerce within Facebook cannot be disputed, especially when you take a look at the social gaming sector. Retail orientated commerce has been slow to gain momentum in the past 12-months and its fair to say it is still in its experimental phase.

Ultimately brands need to work harder on 'in Facebook' product promotion and discovery and consumer adoption will follow. Retailers cannot simply plonk their websites into Facebook via an iframe and expect sales.

We are starting to see good customer demand to provide exclusive offers and deals which are only available within Facebook and to Fans of the brand, we think this type of exclusivity will drive F-commerce adoption in 2012.

Paul Dimmock of CultureLabel, which sells art from galleries and museums, feels that f-commerce is worth persevering with.

Around 100 of its 600 partners (museums, galleries etc) have installed the FB store on their Facebook pages, giving it greater reach and more exposure for its products. 

Though there are limitations, Paul believes that the effort is worthwhile: 

It is a very valuable channel for CultureLabel. We learn a lot from our fans' feedback on our FB page and together with our wish list feature which can also be accessed via the FB shop, we learn what our customers and fans want, what they think is beautiful and what they'd like to see more of. In terms of states we've had approximately 12,000 site visits via FB, with the FB shop driving a lot of that traffic.

F-commerce and small business

While some of the big brands may be getting cold feet, there are examples of f-commerce working for smaller, local businesses. 

According to Kate Hyslop of bookingbug.com, there's a "thriving community of small businesses out there promoting and selling their products and services through Facebook in a successful and dynamic way".

According to Kate: 

Service businesses in particular are doing this very well, businesses such as health and beauty salons, driving instructors, fitness classes, cookery courses and photographers.

So the idea the idea that "Facebook doesn't drive commerce" is essentially a very narrow-minded view of what Facebook commerce actually is. Where as for the big brands perhaps Facebook is just one minor ad-on channel in their multi-channel online strategy, but for the smaller business it can be a very significant part of their marketing, sales and relationship building armoury. 

One example of this comes from Horgis Driving, which allows people to book lessons via Facebook. 

Owner David Horgan believes that Facebook has great value for businesses like his. If someone books lessons with him, then their friends can see that, and are therefore more likely to use him. 

David explains:

Small service businesses have always relied heavily on word-of-mouth recommendations for client acquisition and Facebook has become the defacto sounding board. Tapping into that ready-made network of potential customers is a great way for small, local or service businesses to get themselves directly in front of a sitting audience of other potential new clients, without having to spend on costly and untargeted advertising.

In my experience, the key to successfully using Facebook for a small business is three-fold; really knowing your target audience, ensuring the online-offline experience is seamless, and convenience - being accessible wherever you clients want to find you.

Can Facebook improve the experience?  

It is in Facebook's interests for f-commerce to work, so can it do more to help retailers optimise the experience for users? 

Perhaps it could help retailers to make the most of user data to create a more personalised e-commerce experience on the site. 

If Facebook can increase the opportunities for monetisation on the site and lower the barriers to entry for both consumers and retailers, then take up will increase. 

Conclusion

While there are clearly issues with usability and generally convincing customers to buy via Facebook, there is clearly a lot more that retailers (and Facebook) can do to make f-commerce work. 

Customers need a reason to use a brand's Facebook store, so retailers need to look at example like Gilt Groupe and find ways to incentivise shoppers. 


Source: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/9092-can-f-commerce-work-for-retailers