Axiom Wines and Dines at the Arboretum

Many of us from Team Axiom spent yesterday evening at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for their Toast and Taste in the Gardens event.

The Toast and Taste in the Gardens is a fundraising event for the Arboretum where people can sample food and drink from Minnesota restaurants, wineries and breweries.

The good:

• The Savgn Blanc and Sweet Red wines from the Cannon River Winery were fantastic.
• Schell's Brewery had a 150th anniversary dark beer that was great, and I'm usually not a fan of dark beer.
• When it came to food, the bruschetta-wrapped scallops from Crave were my personal favorite, and the food from LocoVores BBQ was a big hit with us as well.
• The biggest surprise for me was the zucchini bread cupcakes with goat cheese frosting topped with an edible snapdragon flower garnish. I don't really eat zucchini-based baked goods, flowers, or anything with goat cheese, but it was actually really good.
  

The not-so-good:

• There was a basketball-sized wasps' nest near one of the walking trails. And even though the wasps seemed well-behaved, I hate wasps and did my best not to scream like a girl when I saw them.

Wasps' nests aside, it was a fun night of wine, great food and lots of beautiful flowers and trees to walk around and look at. Add in the fact that the weather was gorgeous, and it's hard to imagine the evening going any better. Be sure to check out our Facebook page to see all of our photos from the event.

Questioning Facebook Questions

There's been quite a bit of buzz building around Facebook's launch of Facebook Questions. Currently in beta testing, the feature will allow users to post questions that can then be answered by the Facebook community.

The format sounds like it'll be very similar to Yahoo Answers or the question section on LinkedIn, but with one major exception: a few hundred million more users.

I have some reservations about how Facebook Questions will be received, because there is a strong possibility this feature will either become a platform for harassment (like we see in the comments sections of website across the Internet) or a sea of promotions and advertisements from companies.

The reason why I think the second one is likely is because most of this buzz around Facebook Questions has been from corporate and business blogs discussing its promotional potential.

Obviously, we have to wait for Facebook to open Facebook Questions to all 500 million users before we can accurately gauge its impact. And until that happens, the future of Facebook Questions will be a question in itself.

Old Spice and the Value of Video

Old Spice achieved viral status last week when their 'Old Spice Guy' videos featuring actor Isaiah Mustafa became a YouTube sensation. The videos were short, funny responses to Twitter followers, and were produced non-stop over a couple of days.

I can't say for sure, but I'm assuming the goal of this online video campaign was simply to increase brand awareness and generate a little buzz. That's because many companies are still feeling out those non-traditional styles of promotions from a financial return standpoint.

But Old Spice is one company that does know the financial value of a successful online video campaign, with the reports that sales of Old Spice Body Wash increased by 107% over the last month. And when your sales more than double, it's safe to say that there is value in video campaigns if it's done right.

Yelp-ing You Find Deals

Despite being relatively young, Foursquare has quickly surpassed competing location-based networks like Gowalla and Yelp.

Neither one seems content to go down without a fight, however. Yelp especially has tried to evolve, including the introduction of badges and a ruling system similiar to Foursquare mayorships. And yesterday, Yelp announced they are testing a deal-a-day coupon feature similiar to Groupon.

I really like this move, seeing as how Yelp is already well-established as a location-based network. That means that branching out into a deal-a-day service seems like a smart fit, because they can offer more localized deals without running into as many of the logistical problems that a startup company would.

Innovation is key in this type of social media market, and Yelp is the first of the three big location-based networks to adopt this sort of hybrid location/coupon method.

More importantly, this not only provides competition for Groupon, but could do wonders to help it compete with Gowalla and Foursquare for the location-based crown.

The Queen of Anti-Social Media

Last week Axiom took big strides to expand its online presence, including an Axiom Flickr account. Apparently we're not the only ones who want to expand, with the British Family creating a Flickr account of their own.

Now to be honest, the Flickr account itself isn't anything special, with picture sets for different Royal Family members and events. However, what is special (and not in a good way) is that comments are disabled on the account.

Actually that isn't too surprising, considering comments are also disabled on the British Monarchy's YouTube account. Also, their @BritishMonarchy Twitter account isn't used conversationally, only being used to publish stories and news links.

I applaud the effort by the Royal Family to branch out into more social media channels, but they are completely missing the point. Social media success or failure depends on the level of engagement you can generate, and eliminating the ability for others to comment eliminates the potential for that engagement.

I understand that the British Monarchy is probably worried about negative feedback or mean comments. But silencing everybody is not the answer, and will most likely only create the negative backlash that they were trying to avoid in the first place.

It's hard to categorize most social media decisions as "right" or "wrong." However, this kind of one-way social media contradicts the transparency and interaction that social media is all about.

Only Half of the Story

Facebook recently launched a campaign to celebrate reaching 500 million users. Called Facebook Stories, the point is to let users share quick blurbs about how Facebook has affected their lives.

Browsing through a few of the stories, they seem to be overwhelmingly positive...

Almost surprisingly positive, especially considering how damaged Facebook's image has been in the wake of changes and a heated privacy debate over the past couple of months.

And yes, I understand why there's so much positivity. People who hate Facebook have probably stopped using it, and anyone who's indifferent is not going to care enough either way to write a story. That leaves only those who are loyal to Facebook to share their stories.

But we all know Facebook isn't all rainbows and puppies like Facebook Stories makes it out to be. It's been a tool for online harassment and bullying, it's destroyed relationships, and led us as a society to completely redefine the nature of privacy and communication.

I'm not saying Facebook is evil, just that it's not the beacon of peace, love and hope that it's portrayed as. Facebook Stories could have been a platform to hear a balance of good and bad aspects of the social network, instead of the polarized love-hate view that we see around the blogosphere.

The "World" in "World Wide Web"

To a generation that came of age during the extinction of landlines and rise of smartphones, millennials know life is practically not worth living unless you can share it (digitally) with your friends, acquaintances and people you met a long time ago and can't remember where/when. A recent article in Harvard Business Review suggests that cultural differences can determine what kinds of information social media users share and who they share it with. These conclusions were drawn from Trendstream Global Web Index, a survey of more than 50,000 users of social platforms in 18 markets.

So how did North American countries measure up to others? Well, much the same as our comrades across the pond and down under (Europe and Australia) - of the users who have internet access, most maintain social networks and upload photos/ video, but only a small percentage maintain a microblog, such as Twitter. And although it seems the United States is socially obsessed, Brazil, Russia, India and China show the highest overall level of engagement with online networking tools.

North American users also seem to adhere to the good ol' American mantra "bigger is better," and tend to use social media platforms as a way to mass communicate to hundreds of online friends. Apparently Asian nations believe "less is more" and tend to treat blogging and social networking as a tool to connect with a select group of friends and family. For example, while users in North American countries are likely to have hundreds of friends on Facebook, Japanese users often have an average of 25 friends on mixi, a social networking site that never caught on in The States.

Surprisingly, users in other nations do not find themselves online for hours when they intended to log on just to tweet about the weather. The data revealed the prevalence of social networking does not correlate to any other online behavior. For example,although France and The Netherlands show similar levels of social media use, only 25 percent of French users report using internet banking while 87 percent of Dutch users do.

What does this really tell us? We're all going online to get and share information, just in different ways. Not a big surprise there. Do you fit into the category of the typical U.S. mass communicator?

The Next Best Thing To A Sarcasm Hashtag

There's been more than a few times that a seemingly-benign text or email I sent was taken the wrong way, leaving me to wonder why the person I sent that "too busy to meet now" email to is glaring at me from across the office because they thought I was blowing them off.

Miscommunications like this have been an issue for many people, as more and more conversations take place through email and texts rather than face-to-face. The problem is that nonverbal communication, which is such a vital part of face-to-face conversations, is lost with email.

This means sarcasm rarely makes sense, jokes tend to be taken the wrong way, and quick responses often come off as terse or rude.

Well, there's a new download called ToneCheck that reviews your emails before you send them, checking specifically for phrases that may be perceived as angry or passive-aggressive.

The free download is still in beta testing, and is currently only available for Microsoft Outlook. I don't know how well it works or if it would be embraced by users, but it does illustrate the growing trend for social media (and yes, I'm including email in this category) management tools.

Think about the rise in programs like Your Twitter Karma, ReFollow, HootSuite, and now ToneCheck. Many of the new products and services we're seeing aren't necessarily new social networks, but new ways of working with and monitoring existing social media outlets.

Obviously, double-checking that email (especially to the coworker you're already on thin ice with) is equally effective. But if ToneCheck takes off, we could see plenty more social management tools hit the market, and ones that are geared towards the more popular text-based social networks like Twitter or Facebook.

Until then, if you have a clever pun or sarcastic comment you just have to get out, it's probably a good idea to make sure that sarcasm is made clear.

In Video Veritas

There are a lot of misconceptions about how to incorporate video into a business plan. Several companies will say that simply having video will generate traffic and revenue. Others will tell you that there are simple steps you can follow to make your videos go "viral" overnight.

However, there is no formula for making a video go "viral" because that type of viral or cult status depends entirely on how the audience receives it. That would be like guaranteeing a product will skyrocket in popularity in a week. If you want a successful product, you start by creating a quality product. Video production works the same way, which means that you need to make a quality video if you expect it to be successful.

And the truth is video can help your company, generate revenue and make a difference if it is done right.

Our very own video virtuoso, Dave Sniadak, recently had an article published in Videomaker Magazine (August 2010 issue). Here are a couple key points from Dave's article that you should consider with your next video project:

• Mix It Up - Be sure to incorporate some flavor into your shooting. Don't just adhere to the old "wide-medium-tight" theory and certainly don't just pan and zoom.

• Plug In - Always wear headphones to monitor audio levels. Having that perfectly-focused shot is pointless if the audio quality is lacking.
  

• Think Like an Editor - When shooting your video, determine if you're really going to use the shot.
  

There are many other great topics Dave covers in his article, and I strongly suggest checking it out. With so many subtle intricacies that go into video production, this post is just scratching the surface.

The most important point to take away is that the notion of simply having video and expecting it to be enough is an outdated way of thinking. Video production needs to be serious, because it can have a real impact and generate results.

What Were They Thinking?

Instead of trying to set the scene about today's blog post, I'll just start with the headline I saw and go from there.

Coca-Cola Pulls Facebook Promotion Amid Porn Complaints.

The Dr. Pepper-focused promotion required Facebook users to allow Dr. Pepper to "hijack" their Facebook status and post a funny or embarrassing message. In return, users received a chance to win $1,000 each week.

Problems arose when a few of the 160,000 people who volunteered their accounts were underage, including a 14-year old girl from England. Again, nothing too inappropriate, but anytime age limits aren't defined you're asking for trouble.

Some messages weren't all that offensive, like the one that read "Lost my special blankie. How will I go sleepies?" Other statuses edged closer away from the line of good taste, like, "Never heard of it described as cute before."

However, the message that Dr. Pepper placed on the 14- year old girl's Facebook wall was, "I watched 2 girls one cup and felt hungry afterwards." For those of you who don't know, 2 girls one cup is a hardcore pornographic film.

Now it's safe to say that a line was crossed. Not surprisingly, the girl's mother wasn't too happy about the status, and her complaints led to Coca-Cola pulling the Dr. Pepper promotion altogether.

This is a great example of not only knowing the target demographic of the promotion, but the target demographic of the medium as well. A status like that might be funny to someone a little older, but the age range of Facebook users extends into that younger demographic.

Some will ask how Dr. Pepper could let that status go unnoticed, while others may ask who was writing such risque status updates. But anytime a big corporation slips up this badly, there's only one thing we can all ask...

What were they thinking?

The New Look of Axiom

We pride ourselves on our social media know-how here at Axiom. But working so much with our clients' emerging media efforts, we admittedly let our own social media channels get placed on the backburner. That's why we have spent the last few weeks working to revamp and rebrand Axiom from a social media standpoint.

I'm sure you've already noticed some changes here on the Daily Axioms blog, with a new header and color scheme. We've also expanded from our six existing social media channels to nine, as you can see from our new buttons on the right sidebar.

We also wanted to have a consistent social media logo across the board. Consistency has been the main thing we've kept in mind with these changes.

There will also be big changes made to our @AxiomCom Twitter account. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we decided to stick with @AxiomCom over the old @AxiomPR account. More importantly, we are in the process of adding a customized background with a sidebar to the Twitter page. Twitter's being stubborn so it's still in the works, but stay tuned and check it out later.

Finally, the catalyst for this overhaul is the launch of the new AxiomCom.com website, which will be going live today. We're aiming for a streamlined website that is easy to navigate but still looks nice.

This entire rebranding of Axiom's online presence has been a team effort, and we're very excited that its all finally ready to go public. As with any social media channel, it requires constant monitoring and engagement, so go check it out and let us know what you think!

Axiom Axes @AxiomPR

Back in mid-June, I wrote to you all about Axiom's Twitter troubles after our previously-hacked @AxiomPR account was returned to us. This left us with both the @AxiomPR and the @AxiomCom account that we had created in its place.

The problem we had was deciding between an account with over 3,000 followers (@AxiomPR) or an account with less than 250 followers, but ones that are more active and engaged (@AxiomCom).

Our fear with sticking to the @AxiomCom account was that we would lose a lot of blog traffic because of the lower number of followers. However, after a 2 week trial period with just that one account, we had some very surprising results. Daily Axiom's monthly blog traffic actually increased when using the @AxiomCom account.

That increase signaled the end of @AxiomPR. We decided to phase the account out, and we're currently in the process of mass unfollowing and making the switch. Additionally, the switch to @AxiomCom will maintain consistency with Axiom's big social media rebranding (which will be launching tomorrow by the way).

But this blog post isn't just me making a company announcement. Going through this decision process showed the importance of engagement with Twitter. Anyone who has worked with social media from an industry standpoint knows that it's no longer a race for fans or followers, and Axiom's Twitter problem proved that point for me on a personal level.

Do-It-Yourself Developer Dilemma

Mobile apps have been wildly successful these days, with Android and Apple jockeying for position in what is basically a two-horse race. This has been great for programmers and developers, because this emerging market has created huge opportunities for them to innovate.

However, Google recently introduced a program that could be a game-changer in the app developing industry. The program is called App Inventor and allows anyone to build an Android app with "blocks," eliminating the need for coding.

The reason why this program could have an enormous impact on the developing industry is that businesses who would normally consider hiring a programmer to create an app may choose to do it themselves through App Inventor.

But let's face it...the amateur apps from App Inventor won't be nearly as high a quality as professionally programmed ones.

It's very similar to using Blogger over Wordpress. Blogger, Google's blog creator, uses set layouts with very simple gadgets and text boxes arranged in blocks (just like App Inventor) that anyone can use to create a blog. Wordpress on the other hand, uses a bit more coding and is more difficult to use, but has a lot more room for customization.

Hopefully this move by Google won't alienate programmers, because App Inventor has the potential to hurt those developers by releasing a program that may make some people think twice before contracting them.

What do you think? Is this the future of apps? Or is this a case of just-because-you-can-doesn't-mean-you-should?

Yeah, I'm the new girl

Hi, I'm Bridget Aymar, the new intern here at Axiom. Although I'm struggling to avoid the clichés that often arise in writing one's own bio, let's address the unavoidable first: I am a recent University of Minnesota grad, with a degree in strategic communication. I have done a lot of work with Uptown Association, the producers of The Uptown Art Fair, in the past, but my professional experience has been fairly schizophrenic. I recently bought a house in north Minneapolis, but I grew up in New Brighton, a suburb about fifteen minutes north of the cities.

Beyond my resumé, I am happy as long as I get to write, be creative and work with others that like to do the same. I pay the bills off the spoils of pizza and beer, waiting tables at Old Chicago in Uptown. I remain on the steering committee of the art fair coordinating volunteers and taking on miscellaneous projects for other aspects of the event. Due to the time I spent as a copy editor at The Minnesota Daily, I am an AP-style stickler: I breathed a sigh of relief when "Web site," became "website," phew.

When I'm not writing, volunteering or wearing an apron, I like to spend time with friends and family. I love to go boating on Long Lake, throw the frisbee to my dog Sancho, watch movies and burn through as many books as possible on my new Amazon Kindle. I'm also getting pretty good at cooking, now that I have a kitchen larger than a postage stamp, and am looking forward to learning how to start a garden. (Hint, hint, Axiom home and garden clients who have products that need to be put to the test.)

As an intern at Axiom, I'm looking forward to writing blog posts, pitching stories, learning more about social media and enjoying margarita Fridays.

Redefining the Fine Print

The deal-a-day website Groupon has had a pretty good year. They've rocketed to fame, more than doubled their unique visitors (4.6 million in May, according to Compete.com), and just last week started partnering with a few major newspapers.

CorePower Yoga, one of the Twin Cities' most popular yoga studios, took advantage of Groupon's fame with a coupon for a free month of classes on Friday. However, the catch was that the coupon couldn't be used if you had purchased a package or taken a class within the last 60 days.

Obviously, this was CorePower's attempt to bring in people who were probably new to yoga or weren't familiar with the studio. However, the majority of people who would want to use the coupon were victims of that fine print stipulation.

This resulted in quite a backlash on Friday, with a flurry of angry and frustrated tweets and posts about not being able to use the CorePower deal.

This brings up an intriguing issue with these mass deal-a-day web coupons. With Groupon launching coupons back into the mainstream, at what point do promotions and deals like these factor into a company's social media plan? More importantly, what will be your response if that coupon isn't received all that positively?

Facebook Breaks An Egg To Make An Omelet

It's been a good morning for me. My morning coffee was strong, traffic wasn't too bad, and to top it all off I just read the news that Facebook is getting rid of Facebook Gifts.

I won't bash Facebook Gifts too much, but personally, I was never a fan of them. I did give and receive a few of them (provided they were free), but grew tired of them fast. My main problem with them was that I could never figure out how to hide them, so I would always have awkward gifts from ex-girlfriends on my profile.

However, personal venting aside, Facebook Gifts seemed to be a lucrative business. Facebook even projected it to grow by $35 million a year back in 2008. This begs the question as to why Facebook would kill off such a profitable business.

The reason for this Facebook failure is actually Facebook's success. That $35-million-per-year projection was before the rise of Farmville and the start of Facebook Credits. Services like those were obviously taking away from the Gifts, so Facebook is just refocusing on where the money is.

You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs. In this case, the Farmville/Credit omelet required the cracking of the Gift egg, and personally I think that egg was a little rotten anyway.

Online Video More Than Just a Blip on the Radar

For years, the vast majority of online videos were shot by amateurs...and looked like it. Most of these movies were either 2-minute clips of cats and dogs, or teenagers doing stupid things trying to be funny (admittedly I had been guilty of that second one in my younger days).

However, the trend that's been emerging lately has been for professionally-produced, original online content. Just think about how much more common phrases like webisodes and web series have become. There's even a Webby Awards recognizing original online content.

But as with any emerging media, the focus needs to be on content. You need innovative creators to make it. Web video platform Blip.tv has recognized this, and are planning to increase payouts to content creators by 77% between Q1 and Q2 of this year, after already having increased the payouts by 119% from last year.

I like where this trend is going, and hopefully Blip.tv's move will provide more incentive for both content creators and video hosting companies to get quality videos on the Internet.

Surprising Female Facebook Stats You Should See

A study was recently released by Oxygen Media about the Facebook habits of people ages 18-34. Feel free to check out Mashable's article about the study to get more details, but here's a quick breakdown of the surprising stats regarding females.

34% check Facebook first thing in the morning.

Mark Zuckerberg is probably loving this, because despite all of the warnings and threats of people leaving the social networking site, a third of women in that all-important 18-34 demographic are extremely loyal to Facebook.

42% feel it's okay to post photos of themselves intoxicated.

This was one of the more shocking stats I saw, especially when considering the number of companies who utilize Facebook to some extent in the hiring/interview process. As a side note, 89% also said that you shouldn't post anything on Facebook that you wouldn't want your parents to see, which means a lot of these women don't view public drunkenness as a major issue.

50% are fine with being Facebook friends with complete strangers.

This stat also surprised me, given the debate about Facebook privacy issues. However, the study was also done during the height of the privacy debate (May-June of this year) so it's possible that doing the study just a month or two later would've change things.

49% of women believe it’s fine to keep tabs on a boyfriend by having access to his accounts.

I'll start of by pointing out that 42% of men in this study felt the same way. But either way, this is alarming to me. This is basically saying hacking someone's profile is okay, as long as you're dating them.

I know that's a lot of percentages and stats, but I'm a numbers junkie. I'd highly recommend checking out the story to get more perspective. The one point out of all this that's abundantly clear is that the debate about social media and Facebook is still going strong.

4 Over 4th: 4 Big Stories From the 4th of July Weekend

With so many of us spending time on the lake, grilling hot dogs and watching fireworks over this past 4th of July weekend, it's safe to assume that we weren't able to stay up-to-date on all of the social media news that happened.

And since there's too much for me to pick just one story to write about, here's 4 of the biggest social media-related stories (in no particular order) from this past weekend.

Hackers apparently don't take time off for 4th of July.

The majority of us may have spent the weekend relaxing, but the slew of major Internet hacks shows that not everyone was taking time off. Yesterday, numerous iTunes accounts were stolen and charged hundreds of dollars for Vietnamese book apps.

However, Justin Bieber took the biggest hacker hit thanks to 4chan. Not only were many of his YouTube music videos hacked, but a Time.com poll about where the teen idol should go next was taken over, saying he should go to North Korea.

The Internet continues to go Gaga.

Another interesting tidbit from this weekend was Lady Gaga acquiring 10 million Facebook likes/fans, making her the first living musician to do so. Personally, I think this Gaga fever is getting a little out of hand, but obviously millions will think otherwise.

Groupon takes local approach to coupons.

Groupon, the fast-growing consumer deal website, also made headlines over the weekend with their partnership with newspapers in Miami and Sacramento. The partnership will feature very localized deals on the newspapers' websites. This is definitely a win-win situation, extending Groupon's reach while offering new revenue sources for struggling newspapers. We'll have to wait to see how effective this new tactic is, and whether or not it grows to more markets.

"The Internet is over."

This was said by Prince in an interview yesterday, and it's been buzzing around the Internet ever since. His prediction, a result of his much-publicized frustration with online music sharing sites, claims that the Internet is simply fad. He went on to say that the Internet is no different than MTV and will suffer the same decline in popularity. Needless to say, few of us are convinced this is going to happen.

So there you have it, 4 of the biggest social media stories from this past 4th of July weekend. Hopefully this will give you all some reading material while recovering from a weekend of grilling and fireworks.

3 Takeaways From Today's Java Meet Up 612

This morning Sara and I went to the Java Meet Up 612 (@jmu612) in Minneapolis for a discussion about social gaming's impact on marketing, with guest speakers Christopher Lower and Mark Hurlburt.

It was a great discussion, with a few eye opening statistics and points made. And since I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd share some of them here.

53% of adults, 81% of people ages 18-29, and 97% of teens are self-described gamers.

The numbers here don't lie. If you've wondered whether or not gaming is a viable marketing tool, the sheer number of people who utilize it shows its potential.

The average gamer is a 29 year old woman.

That's who you would get if you were to combine the average demographics for gamers. This stat surprised me the most, because I assumed the average gamer would be younger and likely a male.

This just goes to show that gamers who grew up with gaming have continued playing into adulthood. Also, the fact that the demographic has shifted to women illustrates the impact of social gaming.

90% of Foursquare tips, comments and reviews are positive.

This one was obviously more specific than the other stats, but Foursquare is the hottest trend in social gaming right now and needed to be addressed. There's all sorts of reasons why that number may be as high as it is, but it definitely sheds light on the possible applications of Foursquare in marketing.

There was a lot of other great insight and stats offered at the Java Meet Up 612 today, way more than I can cover in one post. I'd highly suggest going to the next one, as well as checking out their @jmu612 Twitter Feed.