The Space-hoppers take a 5 min smokers break during the morning shoot.

Early this morning we headed out to Hyde Park for a photo shoot al fresco with our clients from charity organisation ‘See The Difference’. Together we created some great imagery for their new website, which is due to go live in April 2010.

As usual, it didn't take the team long before they started pulling...

Here are some behind the scenes snaps for you lucky blog readers. We could get used to spending Wednesday mornings in the park, playing ball games and jumping around on orange space hoppers!

the premise behind social media is nothing new

In a recent survey of our clients, one of the most highly rated tools in their marketing and PR arsenal was our Social Effectiveness rating system. This enables neoco clients to benchmark their activity, measure impact and online effectiveness of other channels (like Radio and TV) and importantly compare against their key competitors.

before and after wheel rating

Our system assess 7 key criteria, combining both automated and manual assessment. This gives a clear understanding of what has been effective during the activity.

compare against competition

OK, so the above graph looks a little confusing but that is because all layers are displayed. Individually it enables our clients to see how they measure up against the competition, where the growth is and who is making waves.

If you are interested in a social rating report on your brand then just get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.

the budget version of the BBC testcard was not liked by all

What’s this? The BBC coming to neoco? awesome. Following on from our other iPhone app project success, the BBC have asked neoco to take part in a new series that will involve iPhone development. Part of this involves filming the team at work from brainstorm and concept stage, through development and launch.

Presenting the iPad. Coming soon... keyboard, additional screen, mouse and desktop unit.

As the iPad nears it’s launch date, coverage is starting to focus on the content, or lack thereof. It seems that several apps are missing for reasons that seem obvious to professional app producers (like us) and perplexing to others.

The simple reason is space. The iPad can run iPhone apps in a scaled up version. The issue is that (forgetting the pixelation if there is not a HD version of the app) the original apps were designed for a screen substantially smaller. Increasing this proportionally will disporportionally increase white/ negative space in the app. And that is just going to look bad. Real bad. This is one of the reasosn why we are working with clients right now in parallel development of their iPhone and iPad apps.

So let’s put aside personal views on what the iPad means for consumers, Apple and web developers and focus on the facts that it will sell. As a branded app content owner, you (the client) need to make an informed decision regarding the ROI value (even if just PR) of developing an iPad specific version of the app because it is not going to be a straight copy of the iPhone app, though unfortunately, that’s what we can happening right now as people look to save money on a quick port.

Why not also read our developers viewpoint on the iPad.

EDIT***

John Gruber has touched on this same point on his blog.

Peter Griffin hates Facebook new Terms too.

Sometimes you just wish for the freedom of being a cartoon character – even if that is Peter Griffin from Family Guy. He’s an idiot but fans of the show will know and love the episode where he gets his own News section on things that wind him up. If he were working in digital marketing I’m sure he would of adapted his famous rant to “You know what really grinds my gears America? Facebook. F**k Facebook!” because Facebook have recently changed their Terms and Conditions.

They say it is to improve the service, reduce spam and unwanted news feed items. The problem was that they then froze several client pages for reasons known only to the technical team. The UK account team were zero help. We were actually working with them in advance of the new T&Cs yet it turns out that everything they told us became null and void 48 hours later. Grr. So let’s be clear, no competitions run on or from Facebook.

Their change to the wall publishing nullified the functionality in several iPhone apps and Flash widgets. Great.

The main issue here is not all the wasted development time in corecting the functionality or the tiny amount of consideration given to our clients. It’s the fact they are working the circuit really hard right now trying to promote Facebook as the ultimate channel for brands to spend their cash. This is a hard pill to swallow when in the last 72 hours we’ve had several client campaigns hampered by new terms that for the most part don’t make much sense.

Oh and they could do with improving their targted ad service too.

The Topman trouser shoot did not go to plan.

We’ve been working with Topman on their social media and developed their profiles from a standing start to thriving communities providing rich consumer insight and sales. One of our recent projects for London Fashion Week was identified by Yahoo! as the most viewed and searched show during the period. This is a great example of how involving the community demonstrates real value, providing more impact and exposure than competitors. Independent pat on the backs from brands like Yahoo! are always welcome but we also have our own way of tracking results – just ask about our social rating tool.

The press release is below but we think it is a powerful testament to our social work when our male only campaign trumped unisex campaigns by other brands.

***TOPMAN REIGNS SUPREME ON LONDON FASHION WEEK’S CATWALK***
Men’s Growing Passion for Fashion Revealed By Yahoo! Search

Friday 26th February 2010.  As the curtain falls on London Fashion Week, Yahoo! Search has been looking at who reigned fashion supreme as King or Queen of this season’s catwalk.

The Yahoo! Search data over the last week revealed the Topman Design collection made the greatest impact and buzz.  Proving that consumers still have a passion for high street fashion the show generated the highest search reaction and greatest keyword spike of the entire London Fashion Week.

Usually incorporated into the successful MAN event, this year’s AW2010 showcase is the first time Topman Design stepped out on its own.

Following on the smartly polished heels of Topman’s premium collection, the ever popular Vivienne Westwood and Burberry collections ranked in runner-up positions.

Top 5 London Fashion Week Collections by Popularity

1 Topman Design
2 Vivienne Westwood
3 Burberry
4 Jaeger
5 Jasper Conran

After being selected as the Twitter logo, Kevin the bird piled on the pounds (dollars)

Yeah, I know. That title is pretty cool huh? Twitter is catching up as a sales channel but I switch the ‘catching’ with ‘ka-ching’ (the sound of money ringing the tills). I’m certain my talent as a newspaper headline writer is lost in this job. Anyway, the twittering right now is about Sony Vaio generating £1m in sales from their Twitter channel.

Quite a few people have picked up on this and response seems to be quite mixed. Many figures are taking it with a pinch of salt but it’s not that much of a stretch. This is a global channel and part of their integrated marketing and PR. From our own experience with clients we’ve delivered social campaigns with a crazy high sales ROI, that if you scaled up to the Vaio activity would be substantially higher. A good example would be our work for Topman… but Sir Phil Green would likely slap me if said any more than that. Needless to say that the main costs are in the set up and once you have a critical mass, directing traffic, response and importantly sales becomes easier and increasingly more effective.

this ball is tracked bouncing across windows. Yeah, I bet you love my Firefox theme too huh?

Ignore my awesome Firefox theme (or download here) and check out this cool little tech test. It’s extremely basic and simply let’s you bounce a beach ball. The interesting part is that you can bounce the ball across multiple windows. It’s interesting. Not sure right now how this is going to develop but there is definitely something in this.

It’s these little fun/ interesting/ weird/ quirky links that we find and post on our twitter feed so make sure you follow and stay in the loop.

interaction vs proximity graph

Brands are no longer able pitch the credentials of their products to the current social media generation. Push is almost out, but pull is sky rocketing in. Buyers and consumers want trusted and real information from people like themselves and know where to go, to get it. They need it stamped as trustworthy and good for usage (with extra features) not by any company that dreamed up the slogan at a coffee shop meeting, but by the members of a social network that they can see, interact with, and most importantly something that they chose to join. They all have an appetite for the real interaction that generate buzz in which they are a part of. Facebook’s 350 million user posts and its shared 3.5 Billion different content per week, is what these consumers want.

Talk about a lot of possible brand awareness and brand management. People know the members of their social media networks and trust what they have to say. They can access all this information quickly and easily to help them learn about the product, and step into a shop knowing more about the goods compared to the shopkeeper himself.

Social media is about investing in relationships that create more economic value than they cost. It is about engaging with the people who decide whether to buy or not buy what you are selling, like it or dislike it, recommend it or trash it, and even to mould it or to throw it out the window.

A great (and very fun) way to show the power of social media marketing is to enter “(BRAND NAME) sucks” into Google. Put into consideration the fact that around 80% of the information read on the Internet today is not read on the site that it was originally published, but through social media, the word is spread to different websites, blogs, forums and networks. It is no longer just a fad for kids or a way to spread the word about your fart app; social media is evolving as a powerful and a fast paced low-cost, high-reward tool for making the sales, turning profits and taking home the big prize.  The price tag is appealing and it is no holds barred.

Be as happy as Larry (pictured) and get the most from your social media activity (picture credit: VideoJug)

What does Social Media deliver? It can generate new business partnerships, it can generate exposure, it can help you close more sales, it can generate qualified leads, it can increase your search rankings, it can increase your web traffic or registrations… it does the same as practically every other marketing and PR media/channel does. Yet how many marketers would let their printers create their TV campaign or let their brand agency devise the CRM and Data strategy? Strangely, when it comes to Social Media, there are all number of bandwagon-jumping agencies ready to claim they do it – often at the client’s expense.

Set Measurable goals.
“Not increase awareness”. How much awareness? of who?

Set a realistic budget to test with.
Measurements of general research/samples require a proper/significant campaign spend. On small campaigns this becomes almost impossible.

Work with an experienced agency or professional.
Developing a Social Media strategy is more than choosing someone in the office to tweet! Get professional help and advice on factors like:

1. Networking with other platforms and existing, established communities
2. Creating a resource
3. Participation lead contests
4. Empowering pre-existing networks
5. Targeting the proper demographic

Make sure you have FULL tracking in place.
If you are not going to purchase specific analytics software and intend to stick with Google then you need to get those funnels, paths and goals set up from day one.

Measure and monitor during campaign, not after!
“What on earth is the point in measuring after a campaign has finished, when it is to late do react and do anything about it?” Social Media insights can give strategic business insight.

Make sure you have the ability to respond.
More customers are communicating with brands through their Social Media channels and they expect more responsive and helpful answers than if they went direct (e.g. website contact form). CRM is evolving: Customer is in charge – CMR – Customer Managed Relations!

If you are looking for help with your Social Media strategy then get in touch with us here http://www.neoco.com/contact/