Tag Archives: web-2.0

Social Networking Profiling – The Missing Link Part 2

Mafia Wars - Facebook

In September 2007 we wrote an article about Browser based games. We showed you some examples and why they were growing – basically in a stresstetained world, users have less time to completely focus on full-fledged videogame. Browser based games were an intelligent and obvious solution to this problem as they would allow users to spend very little of their time on each login.
Two years later, we live on the Mafia rule. The article in question shows the rise to power of the Social Networking-based game Mafia, which spreads from Facebook to Myspace to the IPhone. The question that comes to mind is – although Browser Based Games were already strong, how do Social Networks helped them (in this case, the Mafia franchise) grow to a point where you can’t check your Facebook Notices without coming across a Mafia post?
Browser Based games took a natural evolution towards Social Networks due to their strong friend need component. Most of these games require the user to have friends in order to help grow your power – be it having more power in fights or gaining rare items, for example. Before entering the Social Networks, the users had to add users manually via e-mail addresses. Now you just post on your wall, broadcast to your friends or send massive invites and see how bites.
Not only is this, but the app itself is programmed to broadcast certain comments to users when you do specific actions. You can deactivate these posts via the app options, but most users will let it happen because they want other users to help them grow. It is a definite proof that, if it benefits the user and makes sense in the app nature, then they don’t mind letting brands or product communicate via their account.
Sure, it sounds obvious that this evolution was natural, but it doesn’t seem so obvious for some Brands who still aren’t dwelling on the Social Networks. The raw potential of users and their involvement can make wonders for a product or brand. Today Mafia is known by practically every user on Facebook – be it because they play on it or they have at least one friend who does. The bottom line is that they play Mafia, but Mafia also plays them.

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30 June 2009

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#: Is your brand ready to stream itself?

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UPDATE: On August 15, 2008 The Trendwatch received a cease and desist letter from the lawyers of a company named Fricken, which states that Fricken owns a trademark for the term ‘brandstream’ so that neither The Trendwatch nor Fullsix are allowed to use that term. I’ve edited the post accordingly.

According to a Universal McCann report, content consumed outside of websites has increased by 153% in the last 9 months. Furthermore, 53% of online users are consuming content outside of a publisher’s site (using widgets, RSS readers, social networks and mobile devices). A pretty good example is Ford’s Digital Snippets: YouTube videos, images from Flickr, extensive usage of tags, RSS…

Just by looking at what’s happening in our (new gorgeous) Fullsix office in New York, we’re helping four of our biggest clients to dive into this. And most of the other ones are convinced that they should develop their own content outside of their brand site. So based on this very unscientific poll, I would say that YES, brands are ready!

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29 July 2008

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Are you ready for the next leap?

I was stumbling upon the other day when I came across a certain video. This video, fan-made, was one of the most awesome stuff I’ve seen in a while. There are two reasons why – first of all, as a hardcore gamer myself, I couldn’t help but love to see my favorite familiar characters battling it out. But, in a second insight, I realised something far more deep – Generation C is already using certain concepts and symbologies that are considered to be “new” in a pre-web conception of reality.
The thing is that having a video focused on video game women battling it out might sound simple to the most, but in fact it retains a few aspects that are noteworthy:
- The amateur work around the 3D in this video is unbelievable, casting a shadow upon some million dollar productions I can think of (The Spirits Within, cough cough…);
- The use of women in a male-dominant cenario shows how the women’s role in this Generations conception is drastically shifting – none of them is bouncy or half naked – they are actually fighting it off in a “old fashion” manner;
- Most of the elements in the video are directed towards a hardcore videogame community, but most of them are already familiar. From Tifa using a Haste spell to Yuna’s drastic attempt to send a Mana potion, this might sound like something strange, but for this Generation these are familiar actions and symbols;
I could continue to describe the elements I think that are relevant, but this IS a sidenote. So the main focus of this sidenote is this – Generation C is already making path to a new Generation. Why so? Because certain elements that are “new” are becoming “old” – rapture is one of the key elements for a Generation shift. And taking into account how time is considered in the modern society, where Generation gap with only a few years difference, it’s not too soon to already start thinking about it. In a soon to come article, I will describe some elements that, when placed together, toggle the birth of a possible new generation. It’s not predicting the future, but yes provide some guidance into the path audiences are taking nowadays. And what is more important for a Marketer than to know his future target?
But for now, enjoy this inspiring video – it’s awesome!

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16 April 2008

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UGC experiences – or how i learned to stop worrying and love the bomb

dell regeneration campaign

In my last post, I talked about the dangers of user-generated content and asked you how you felt about UGC and how we should use it. Your replies allowed me to dig deeper into this subject.

There have been quite a few sucessfull UserGeneratedContent campaigns these last few years, and the first lesson I learned is that each UGC campaign is a different experience.

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14 April 2008

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The Trendwatch does SxSW, Zuckerberg turns us wild

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Damon and I arrived in Austin, Texas, last Thursday to do our best to represent the Trendwatch Daily team and the Fullsix Group in THE Interactive Festival of the Year, SxSW (pronounced South by South West). It’s our first time here and we’re thrilled by the high quality of the speakers, from Jason Fried (Founder of 37 Signal) to Michael Lopp (Senior Engineering Manager at Apple). Topics are definitively super inspiring (Top 10 Lessons learned in e-commerce by Zappo’s CEO, Social Marketing Metrics Strategies…).

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The main event was expected to be the Mark Zuckerberg’s Keynote, CEO of Facebook, and we haven’t been disappointed. The auditorium was packed with a super-excited crowd, ready to listen to the 23-year-old billionaire speak about the social network site and the challenges encountered in the recent past (think NewsFeed, Beacon, Privacy, Openness…). But it didn’t go that well, because of a very weird dynamic between him and the over-friendly and egocentric interviewer, author and journalist Sarah Lacy. Questions asked were boring, and she was mainly interested about talking about herself and her upcoming book than trying to challenge Zuckerberg.

Members of the audience were quick to express their frustration, both online (Twitter and Meebo dedicated channel for SxSW) and in the room, someone shouting her “Ask interesting questions”, while even the young CEO was being annoyed by her self-oriented endless questions, answering with a mere : “OK”, “Sure” and finishing her with a “You have to ask questions”, since she kept telling uncomfortable stories about their first encounters. Which generated a huge cheer from the crowd, booing the famous journalist, forcing her to give up on the interview and, Digg-style, pass the microphone to the crowd for a (disappointingly) super short Q&A session where topics like data portability, application saturation and privacy finally got a chance to be discussed.

Tomorrow, on the menu: Going social now, Judo moves for defending your reputation online, and more taco/margaritas overdose. We’ll certainly come back to our respective offices with great topics to share with you here but also in the next issue of the Trendwatch Keynote. So stay tuned by subscribe to our RSS feed or our daily digest email for your inbox.

By the way, if you’re like my friend Sylvie who was waiting for the French version of Facebook, Sarah Lacy broke the secrecy and announced it in front of a shocked Zuckerberg that it would be released on Sunday night. Still not spotted on the site though.

If you’re in Austin and want to meet at one of the 20+ party tomorrow, leave a comment or drop us a line!

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10 March 2008

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