Welcome!
When your directors are nominated for the O2/Arena ward for Young Entrepreneurs of the Year, it is definitely something to write home about. We've let Mum and Dad know and now, as a much-loved member of the Rubber family, we're letting you know too! Before you head off into the Bank Holiday weekend, sit back, relax and let us show you what we've seen going on in our world....
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News Round-up:
French mis-connection
French Connection have entered into the world of social networking with the launch of their anewmovement.com website. We stumbled across the site getting a slagging in the Sunday Times Style supplement, which wasn't the best endorsement . . .
The site itself is fairly simple in its format - and leaves much room for User-generated content. The main problem is that it's a complete ghost-town, without very much going on and seemingly very few people engaged in the campaign. We'd be interested to see the real numbers behind the campaign - but at the mo it seems to be a turkey.
Where French Connection seem to have gone wrong is in assuming that as a big brand it's got the pull and the relationship with its consumers to be able to create their own walled-community. This is a big mistake, and one we've seen a number of brands fall into.
What brands should be doing is creating brand related content to be distributed via existing social networks (e.g. Facebook / Myspace), rather than trying to create their own social networks from scratch. The BBC are spot on with their strategy here. At no point has the BBC attempted to create a massive BBC network. Instead, it sees itself as a content / entertainment provider, whose content is consumed by whoever wherever. And it's the "wherever" bit that's most important - hence their creation of the Radio 1 Music Cube project, which embodies this to the full.
Women Play Games, Spend Money and Dominate U.K. Net
New research from Nielsen/NetRatings show young women, which comprise 18 percent of the population, are the most dominant online group in the United Kingdom, the BBC reports.
The study accounts for women between ages 18 and 34. Their online presence accounts for 27 percent more than computer time elapsed by male counterparts. Of males, the age group exceeding 50 is most prevalent over the Internet.
Childrearing sites dominate the top 10 most popular for women ages 18-34, but high-end stores and social networking destinations are also popular choices. Top sites for the group include Huggies, BBC Parenting, FCUK, and iVillage Parenting Network.
Analyst Alex Burmaster of Nielsen/Netratings pointed out, "if you asked the question 'who spends the most time on the computer' - most people would still answer 'men'."
He notes the data represents a "seismic shift" from the "techno-geek" days of the Internet domain. Speaking of geek, women also represent 42 percent of online gamers. A recent Forrester study also reported that online clothing sales have finally elapsed those of computer equipment.
MarketingCharts provides more NetRatings data, including charts.
Source: Marketing Vox
Gamers more than geeks (research)
Long tagged the pursuit of choice for teenage males, the profile of today's gamer casts a broad demographic net, reports Ad Age. Today, teenagers account for only 17 percent.
The popularity of online gaming comprises the source of the shift, according to an NPD study entitled Online Gaming 2007: The Virtual Landscape.
Advertising in games is a $200 million industry, with multiplayer online games accounting for just 19 percent of gamers. Casual gaming, or card, puzzle and arcade games, accounts for 44 percent of all gamers. This category has been especially savory for advertisers.
Seventeen percent of gamers keep online casinos afloat, while at the other end of the spectrum, 20 percent of gamers include kids aged 6 to 12. Fifty-four percent of gamers are console owners, while 41 percent are on a handheld system, like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.
Surprisingly, women represent 42 percent of gamers and typically play casual, single-person games online. And finally, 80 percent of online gamers hail from middle class backgrounds, pulling in between $35,000 to $75,000 per year.
Source: Marketing Vox
US survey shows need to engage with social networks
Media Screen have released a report showing a measured shift in habits of internet users away from accessing news and information towards communicating and finding entertainment.
While we have been aware of this for some time, the report throws up some interesting trends and figures:- broadband users spend nearly half their spare time online on a typical weekday.
These users are online an average of five hours and 20 minutes between work and personal use on a typical workday. Personal Internet usage accounts for about one hour and 40 minutes, or 48 percent of their three daily hours of spare time.
"Fifty-eight percent of the sample included in the study said the amount of time spent online has increased over the last two years," said Josh Crandall, managing director of Media-Screen.
Entertainment and communications are the top activities for broadband users, accounting for 54 percent of online discretionary time. Communication activities include e-mail, instant messenger, and posting information on social networking sites like YouTube and MySpace.
"We definitely see the draw towards increased time online coming from entertainment. That can be attributed to broadband and more availability of content online," said Crandall.
Among younger users, 48 percent said they learn about new forms of entertainment through user-generated content sites. Only 25 percent said they learn about new entertainment through television.
The finding identifies "a need for brands and advertisers to tap into the dialog around products and services, tap into the conversation and draw out a relationship with the consumer rather than presenting them with an intentional offer that pulls them out of the dialog occurring on that social network," said Crandall.
Source: ClickZ
Following on from this... Facebook to unveil social marketing
The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook are about to unveil plans to let companies advertise within (and to) specific groups and networks on Facebook. These companies will be able to link into Facebook users' networks of online friends.
For instance, an online retailer could build a service in Facebook to let people recommend music or books to their friends, based on the relationships they've already established on the site. Or a media company could let groups of users share news articles with each other on a page inside Facebook.
Previously some companies have had pages within Facebook, but they didn't interact with the Web site's user networks. This move is significant because it could turn Facebook into a central hub for Web users, akin to an Internet portal like Yahoo. Rather than using Facebook only to keep in touch with friends and going elsewhere for other content, users could now gain access to that content inside Facebook. That could keep people on Facebook for longer periods of time, which would also appeal to advertisers.
A recent count showed that Facebook has 23 million users, with an extra 100,000 joining every day.
5 of the best
Ever wondered what ideas other people are having? Here's a showcase of some ideas from this month, cunningly recorded onto the internet for your enjoyment...
BA Club World Quest
BA have just launched their new Club World cabin with a whole range of new features. To celebrate this they’ve created an uber-slick game called “Club World Quest”, offering the chance to win two British Airways Club World return tickets to New York and get to stay in the seriously bling Intercontinental Barclay Hotel.
Get The Message
Last month we reported about a US army game to drive recruitment. Never wanting to be outdone, here's the Royal Navy's personal message delivery system that delivers messages by helicopter...to your phone!
Phil and Skip
Do you have 'The Filter'?- if you don't it could be fatal. Phil and Skip show how this iTunes/iPod utility can make life SO much better.
Volvo Freewill
Respect to the mega-viral that is the new C30 ad. Based around a series of 12 TV ads this boasts an array of games, tools and films to help you decide if you love or hate their new car.
McFly for Charity
OK, OK, so this isn't particularly cool on the face of it but Mcfly's people have come up with this innovative little vid to show their support for education charity Global Campaign for Education. We reckon they're miming....
