Even until today, it’s an uphill challenge trying to sell an idea that has nothing to do with traditional media. Once you’re done with all the convincing, you’ll be facing an even bigger challenge — finally deciding what you want to do. During this whole process, have you ever asked yourself if your target market is ready for whatever you’re going to dish out?

I was on my way to the office today when I heard a radio plug about Medicol’s “Winning Board” campaign.

One thing I like about this, is that they go through a very detailed data collection process. One common mistake companies make when trying to run an Internet Marketing initiative, is they always use a shotgun approach (Putting as many of their banners on other high traffic sites in hopes of generating visitors). Though the value to it may not be felt now, companies should start collecting data from their consumers.

Now we can go to the negatives.

• The campaign’s value proposition is not compelling enough – Medicol tied up with JobsDB to advertise “The most winning job of the day”. If I were looking for a job, I would go straight to Jobstreet or JobsDB instead.
• The campaign’s attempt to become social is half-baked – Aspiring entrepreneurs would rather share their ideas in more established forums such as Pinoyexchange or Entrepeneur Philippines. The E-buddy and MyAyala integration are also weak. As for the user interface, let’s just say I’d rather use Sandbox.
• Last, and certainly not the least, the Wordpress interface will not be for everyone – After having spent 10 minutes browsing the site, I still do not understand why I would need Wordpress to browse through the site posts and comments. It feels like a case of let’s put this in there just so we can keep up with the times.

While the attempt at running an online campaign to promote the brand is admirable, I feel like the campaign just has too many elements that the Filipino consumer isn’t ready for. In all honesty Medicol should have just come up with a killer Facebook fan page. At least people would know how to use that.

]]> http://www.alvinjimenez.info/2010/04/18/is-your-target-market-web-savvy-enough/feed/ 0 http://www.alvinjimenez.info/2010/04/05/why-plurk-will-not-survive-the-social-networking-wars/ http://www.alvinjimenez.info/2010/04/05/why-plurk-will-not-survive-the-social-networking-wars/#comments Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:24:17 +0000 admin http://www.alvinjimenez.info/?p=337

I logged into my Plurk profile today and said to myself, looks like I’m going to have to let this go. In roughly a month, my “karma” has gone down from a high 92 to a measly 72. The sad thing about it, is that I really don’t care.

Plurk became popular at the workplace in 2008 primarily for planning the occasional dinner or night out. A simple “Drinks tonight?” Plurk can collect as many comments as necessary, right down to how many tables the group should be reserving. In other instances, I was able to reconnect with former colleagues, and at the same time unknowingly become updated with whatever else was happening. I’ve even used Plurk to determine who I should be working with. More presence on Plurk meant less time for actual work.

Personal experiences aside, those are not the reasons why I think Plurk will not survive the social networking wars.

1. Badge System – A quick inspection of Plurk’s badge system will reveal that a user can acquire a total of 30 badges. These range from X number of “Plurks”, right down to how long you have been a user of the service. The biggest flaw here is that there’s really no substantial incentive to acquire the badges in the first place.
2. Notification system – As of this writing, I have a total of 6 badges on my profile, NONE OF WHICH I WAS AWARE OF. The Plurk team should have done a better job in taking care of user engagement.
3. Karma System – I never reached 100 karma points on Plurk, but was there any reason to? Plurk’s karma system, which is based on “Plurks”, replies, or reply volume to any of your plurks, was never really enough incentive to keep your account going. I know a few people who have already quit using Plurk after achieving 100 karma points.
4. User History – Browsing through your Plurk profile will prove to be frustrating at best. The timeline orientation, along with the different planes format of each individual Plurk, make it a frustrating experience.

The usual argument when letting a social network go, is usually, “What does Social Network A have the Social Network B doesn’t?” Or, “Most of my friends and family are on Social Network A, so why should I give Social Network B a shot?” It’s not about which social network was first, or which social network is bigger. It’s all about which social network was able to provide the most fulfilling user experience.

Plurk was very promising, more engaging than Twitter even. Sadly, my stint with Plurk has turned into nothing more than a social network novelty.

If you own an Iphone, Blackberry, or Nexus, you can readily download the app at here. This is basically how the process goes.

First of all, you need to understand how the technology works. Generally, people use lo-so apps on their phones to “check in” whenever they go places. Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) locate the users and determine what “venue” they might be at, giving them options to select a location or create a new listing. These “check ins” allow their friends to know where they are now, or where they frequently go. Some services allow users to leave location-based tips for friends to discover later, and several involve social competitions, or the ability to unlock digital badges, stickers, and prizes. Businesses can announce specials or promotions through these apps, so when users “check in,” they receive notifications of nearby deals.

Source: Mashable

In layman’s terms, you can say this is a bit like Twitter on steroids, though you can’t post any links, and it just tells everyone where you are. If that still doesn’t mean anything to you, imagine yourself taking a trip out of town (it doesn’t matter if the location is foreign or domestic). All you have is your backpack and your mobile phone. All you have to do is check into foursquare and see where other people have been going. Imagine having 10 restaurants to choose from, and then reading a tip from someone who was previously in the same area.

“Try out the Turkish Beef Shawarma at Jacob’s, and ask for extra lemon sauce. It’s beside the local clinic, so you might miss it.”

Foursquare Facebook Integration

Some existing practical applications? A lot of known brands have already started to take advantage of Foursquare. I don’t think I’d want to be a Starbuck’s Barista though.

What I’d like to see are foursquare specials in the Philippines, because currently, there are none. In foursquare, a user is granted a “mayor” badge once he or she becomes the most frequent visitor of that location. Here are just some of my ideas:

• Fitness First – Free membership for a month at any Fitness First branch (Disclaimer: I am the current mayor at Fitness First ABS-CBN). I say only for a month because it’s going to be hard for anyone to claim mayorship from someone else. Once a mayor has claimed his free membership, the following month’s incentive should go to someone else.
• Mc Donalds or any other fast food chain – First time check-ins shall receive a free upsize on their next visit (with a minimum purchase of course). I say only give the incentive to first time visitors since you don’t need to upsell to regular customers.
• Starbucks – Maybe make a special blend available for people who belong to the top 50 who check into a specific branch? It could be for a free cookie once a month too.
• Bench - Just read this article and get find another way to give tickets to the Bench Underwear fashion show.

After having used foursquare for about two months however, there are still a lot of loopholes to be taken advantage of. People can check into a specific coffee shop or restaurant without having to buy anything. What’s going to prevent anyone from checking into each of the 50 establishments they pass on the way to work everyday. It’s also possible to check into the same place more than once in a day. Somewhere down the line, I hope developers of similar apps such as Loopt and Gowalla can do something about it.

Right now, location marketing is still in its infancy stages, and while promising, still requires a high degree of engagement from consumers (not to mention data charges from telcos). But hey, people didn’t think Twitter would take off either. The possibilities between online and offline marketing are endless.

Do you know of any establishments in the Philippines that are already taking advantage of 4square?

To kick off the year for this blog (wedding preparations not withstanding), I have decided to make a conscious effort to embrace social media. We’re not talking about collecting “friends”on Friendster, Plurk, Twitter, or Facebook here. I am talking about building one’s online reputation. Being an Internet marketer after all means putting your name out there.

Here are two obvious basics you can start with.

1. Own your domain - Even if you don’t know anything about building a website, nail that <firstname><lastname>.com domain down. All it takes is a credit card and $9.99. You can take your time learning everything there is to know, but your domain name might be gone in the next hour.
2. Find uniformity – All of us have tried searching for our names online at least once or twice, and what are the first results that come up? Social networking. I have acquired the usernames alvinj on Linkedin, alvinjimenez on Facebook, and alvinj on Plurk. I wish all of them were alvinjimenez, but someone beat me to it on Linkedin and Plurk.

Doing the above will take more than 10 minutes, and will guarantee yourself a lifetime of controlled findability.

I think I’ve said my piece about the implications of spending for “equipment” when it comes to a person’s fitness. What I didn’t realize when I purchased my Nikeplus sensor about a month ago, was how exceptional Nike’s marketing ploy was. Not only did they succeed in upselling themselves (to me at least), they managed to create a well supported social media effort with their gear.

With Nike+ running shoes and a Nike+ iPod Sport Kit or Sensor, your iPod nano, iPod touch, or iPhone 3GS will motivate you mile after mile.

The following are some of the things I like about the Apple-Nike partnership.

1. They’ve encourage more people to run – Both Apple and Nike have succeeded in tapping the gadget freak (in other words, those who didn’t run but now do because of Nikeplus)
2. They’ve learned from the mistakes of others – Nike has learned a lot from Adidas’ mistake with the Adidas One. You don’t need a piece of overpriced (and useless) technology to reel in the consumer.
3. They make people feel good about their purchase – Though I got my 2nd gen Ipod touch as a gift, I was glad to see that it already supported Nike+. No need for that bulging transmitter. Same goes for the Nike+ ready shoes.

The convenience of tracking your runs online and sharing with the world? Pure genius.

Case in point — the Nike + Human Race

On 24.10.09, join runners from around the world and run a 10k from anywhere and any time using Nike+. Get registered, grab your Nike+ gear and start training.

I don’t know what you’ll get out of it other than idea of running with people around the globe, but what the hell, it’s one of the best worldwide marketing gimmicks I’ve ever seen been a part of (if that’s what you want to call it). Offline support, in-store merchandising, online buzz, you name it, it has been done. The idea of personalizing your avatar on Nikeplus and being able to accessorize depending on the kilometers you’ve accumulated is a cool touch. Now if only they can fit a hear rate monitor into their equation…

Now to log on those kilometers so I can proudly put my profile on my Facebook account.

*I’m going to earn my 10k during Adidas’ King of the Road next weekend. How ironic is that?

If the you haven’t seen any of the posts, then I suggest you go on ahead and announce it on all your online/social media accounts.

Philippineaid.com makes it easier for you to lend a helping hand to the victims of Tropical Storm Kestana (ondoy) in the Philippines. Send help to people in dire need using Pay Pal or your Credit Card.

The faster we get this out there, the easier it’ll be for everyone else out there to help this initiative make a difference for the hundreds of thousands who have been displaced from their homes.

UPDATE: As of 5:07 PM, Philippineaid.com has managed to raise $1,221.60! A sincere thank you to everyone out there. If you can’t spare any amount, a good re-post or re-tweet will suffice!

With the attention the micro-blogging tool has been getting the past few weeks, I was actually on the brink of letting the the thing go. The novelty behind gaining a “follower” has started to lose its luster. You don’t know if the person who added you wants to know what you think, or just added you in hopes of getting a reciprocated “follow”.

Unfortunately, I cannot let go of these micro-blogging platforms under my profile on the right. Not because I’m an Internet marketer (and is therefore bound by the unwritten rules of Internet Marketing), but because these tools are too valuable from a reputation building standpoint. How will I tell everyone who isn’t subscribed to my RSS feed that I just posted another blog post? How do I tell a bunch of people with no access to a computer what I’m thinking? A mass text to those people? That my friends is old school. As much as I admire this guy right here, I’m sorry to say he just has no idea what he’s talking about.

I Twit or Plurk, or blog, so I can share what I know — also in hopes the few people who “follow” me can find value in what I have to say. I also follow others out there because I know I’m not the only one with something to share. For ordinary guys like me, it doesn’t matter how fast you can get to a million.