Happy Social Media Day!

That's right, June 30th has now been dubbed Social Media Day! The day isn't formally celebrated here in MN, but our Axiom team is still excited! Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia were two of the first cities to recognize the new holiday, while San Carlos, CA and the entire state of Arizona also led the way. Recent additions include Las Vegas, San Jose, CA, and Dublin, Ireland.

Today is a chance to recognize all that social media does for us. Just imagine life now without it! Online news sources are the only news media that have seen increases in audience numbers throughout the past years; print, TV, and radio have had declining audience numbers. Then there are outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and the many blog sites.

All of these media channels help make our busy lives a little easier. Thanks to social media it is easy to keep in touch with people who are far away.

Brand Advocate Behavior

Brand advocacy has become big business in the last few years. With the increasing infatuation with celebrity, the influence of social media, and the era of “consumer power,” brand advocates have risen to become a powerful ally to the marketer.

Brand advocates are people who habitually share information on the products they use, whether it be online or around the water cooler. They are people of influence and they are able to use many different outlets to voice their reviews, opinions and thoughts on a brand. Understanding brand advocate behavior is very important for marketers and a recent study sheds more light on these highly influential people.

The study was conducted by Dr. Kathleen R. Ferris-Costa at the University of Rhode Island, College of Business Administration and a social marketing company called BzzAgent.
The study looked at brand advocates and the way they think, act, and influence others.

Some of the questions the study focused on were who exactly are these brand advocates? What do they do differently, and why do they do it? Where do they live online? How do they like to interact with companies?

Advocates were then surveyed about their online activities and their responses were compared to those from typical web users. The data set is based on a representative sample of Web users from BzzAgent’s Agent network and from the general Web population. The findings helped paint a picture of the motivations and actions of brand advocates.

Here’s a look at some of the more interesting findings:

-Brand advocates are more than 2.5x more likely to use social media to expand their social circles than normal web users.
-They are 50% more likely to influence a purchase than normal web users.
-They communicate frequently to relax and genuinely enjoy sharing product information.
-Brand advocates are 70% more likely to be seen as a good source of information by people around them.
-They have strong opinions about products and where to buy them.

In summary, brand advocates tend to use social media to spread "the word" about a product. However they aren't just mindlessly spitting product information, they generally want to help others by recommending a product they might enjoy. This study proves once again that brand advocates are a lucrative form of marketing.

Getting the Gist of Lists

I recently came across an article on ReadWriteWeb that discussed Twitter's inability to fully take advantage of its Lists feature, noting a recent report showing that 44% of their own employees don't even create lists.

The report went on to show that 30% of Twitter employees don't subscribe to lists, while 51% don't subscribe to the official Twitter list. These numbers led the article to conclude that Twitter is doing a poor job of taking advantage of a "super-powerful" feature.

But should these numbers really trouble Twitter all that much?

Personally, I don't feel this is much of an issue. Yes, building Twitter lists can be a useful tool, but at the end of the day it's really just an organizational system. And like all methods of organizing, there isn't one right way to do it and it may not work well for everyone.

To be honest, I myself don't subscribe to many lists, and I definitely don't utilize them on a regular basis.

However, my own (lack of) List use aside, I do agree with ReadWriteWeb that Twitter should consider expanding the List limit beyond its current 500 user maximum.

Do you create and subscribe to lists yourself? Let us know in the comment section below.

Branding Social Media

Tony. The King. The Captain. The Gecko. They are all ferociously joining your ranks on social media sites. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when the M&M’s start tweeting. That’s right, I’m talking about brand mascots, and they have also jumped on the social media bandwagon.

Mascots have been used for decades to increase brand awareness and create a more personal connection between consumer and business. Mostly relegated to meet and greets and traditional media, mascots haven’t had much exposure to status updates and 180 character limits. Until now.

With sites like Facebook and Twitter, brands now have a place to create a more personal and interactive relationship with consumers by using their mascot. The brand mascots that people have come to know and love are able to show off their unique personalities, while still promoting their company. Utilizing the mascot on social media allows companies to bridge the gap between professionalism and approachability.

Beth Mansfield, director of public relations for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, (whose mascot is Happy Star) puts it nicely, “With social media you have to be engaging and have a one-on-one voice. It’s much easier to have that one voice be Happy Star instead of the marketing department of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. If we signed our Facebook posts ‘from the marketing department,’ that would be a little awkward.”

Some of the more recent social media mascot campaigns include the ReuniteM Campaign with M&M’s, and Flo, the Progressive Insurance Girl. The ReuniteM campaign is offering consumers a chance to win prizes for finding the five M&M characters together. You just have to buy selected packages of M&M’s milk chocolate candies and look for all the five characters printed under the wrapper. The candy brand has about 2.2million fans on Facebook, where the “yellow” M&M posts updates.

Flo, the Progressive Insurance mascot, has also become increasingly social. She has her own Facebook page separate from Progressive Insurance. With over 3 million likes, her fan page allows people to interact with Flo’s character, while gaining exposure for Progressive.

I’m sure more and more brands will recognize the potential social media has for increasing mascot value, and in turn, increasing product value. It’s a great way to have consumers connect with the often original and entertaining spokespeople, cartoons and characters of companies. Now if only I could Facebook chat the Aflac duck...

Isn't it Ironic?

Alanis Morissette describes irony best in her 1995 hit song "Ironic" (click here to spark your memory). Yesterday I mentioned my initial disappointment in Facebook's restricted page design capabilities. Well what do you think I stumbled across today? News that now you can customize your page! Sit back, relax, and let Alanis serenade you while reading further.

Access to page designs is based on your Klout score. This is a measurement of your online influence -- the amount of interactions and visits your page and posts receive. The higher your influence, the higher your score. Simple, right? As mentioned in my previous blog, Facebook is great at seeing the bigger picture. The bigger picture in this case is the ability for companies to get free publicity through high Klout scores.

Company Facebook pages are able to create page designs that are available to users with high Klout scores. The higher the Klout score, the more designs available. The organizations can create designs that promote their brand. For instance, Audi has a background with a picture of the LeMans.

When someone gains access to the backgrounds and applies them to their page, anyone who visits their page will see the images. So if a user applied the LeMans image to their page, everyone who visits will see the product and be exposed to Audi's brand.

To add further irony to this post, companies hardly do any work to gain the publicity! The user works to increase their Klout score, only to benefit their organization and gain an eye-catching page. What a win-win situation!

Facebook Getting Their Hands in Yet Another Industry

Six years ago I received an email saying I was invited to join Facebook -- yes, back when you had to be invited to be on the site. After much contemplation I decided to make the big switch from MySpace to Facebook. I remember being so confused and having no idea what to do with the site. It took me a long time to adjust to the site, and as someone who is in love with color I had to learn to appreciate the simple color pallet provided.

Facebook has come so far in the last five-some years. Now anyone can join the network: people, companies, products . . . heck, my cousin's cat even has a profile. Advertisers have caught onto the site's potential and now post ads on sidebars that are user-specific. This is one of Facebook's biggest money-makers, but they have another idea in the works that will make the site even more attractive.

The site is teaming up with Spotify and creating a Music Dashboard. This tool will allow users to listen to their favorite music just like other sites currently available. What sets this music stream apart from the others is that users will be able to view what their friends are listening to in real time. Users will even be able to sync up their playlists and listen to the same songs at the same time.

This is yet another example of Facebook's constant innovation. The Music Dashboard may not directly bring in profits, but it will keep people from going to other sites in order to listen to music. This additional time on the network will expose people to more advertisements, indirectly creating profits. Facebook has done a great job at looking past the immediate results and seeing the big picture -- something everyone can learn from.

Mobile App Usage Higher than the Web

Every day we see people who are paying more attention to their phones than their surroundings. Walking and texting took over streets, malls, and high school halls. This phenomenon has become even more prevalent with the introduction of smartphones and mobile apps.

A recent study, conducted by Flurry, tracked the amount of time people spent on the internet versus mobile apps. They found that June is the first month in which mobile app usage has surpassed internet usage. Consumers spent 81 minutes per day on mobile apps and 74 minutes a day on the internet. 6 months ago internet usage was in the lead with 70 minutes per day and 66 minutes per day on mobile apps.

Data from June 2010 shows that mobile app usage has almost doubled over the course of the year. Last June the ratio was 64:43, with internet usage winning. This June's stats are mere 5 minutes a day away from doubling last June's stats.

This means that companies need to change their marketing habits and figure out how to reach the growing number of app users. It will be exciting to see what the creative juices of advertisers come up with!

Words of Wisdom for Bloggers

So I'm guessing most of you reading this have blogged yourself. How weird does that sound? Blogged. Blogging. Say the words over and over and they start to sound like a made-up language. Not long ago there would have been no mental connection with any form of "blog," but the rend has grown so fast that is part of most people's vocabulary (just not Word's or T9's). Blogging has become so commonplace that it is now an industry -- and with that comes liability.

Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com, advises bloggers on some of the liabilities and how to avoid trouble. Her first word of wisdom? Disclosure. Whenever you have a "material relationship" with an organization you need to make the public aware of it. So any time a company sponsors you, gives you a product, etc. and it ends up in your blog, tell all your readers about your relationship with the organization.

The next words of wisdom are to give typical results. We've all seen thousands of commercials for diet pills and other products that advertise extreme results, but then in tiny print at the bottom say "results not typical." While this might be acceptable for television advertising, this is not okay in the blogging world. You need to report the standard results of the product being reviewed.

The last piece of advice, for now, is to protect your personal assets by starting an LLC or incorporation of your blog. This means that, on the off-chance you do get pinned with a lawsuit, only assets of your corporation or LLC will be at risk and your personal assets will be safe and sound.

Many wise teachers told me this catchy phrase: "when in doubt, leave it out." While this is applicable to commas, think the opposite with blog content. If there is a question of whether what you wrote crosses the lines of the law, put in the extra details that will prevent any trouble.

To read more on blogging tips, click here!

The Bathtub's Been Drained, Now Back to Blogging

It's been a hectic week here around the Axiom office, which is why there's been of a lull in new blog posts. But now that the dust has settled a little bit I thought it'd be a good time to share some of what's been behind our busy schedule.

Axiom was lucky enough to be chosen by The Village Company to spearhead the celebration for Mr. Bubble (yeah, the Mr. Bubble) turning 50 this year. We've been handling the various PR efforts all year long, culminating in a World's Largest Bubble Bath party at the Water Park of America in Bloomington.

It was a lot of work, but I'm happy to say the event was a huge success! This was an Axiom-wide effort, and we were all pleased to see it pay off.

PRWeek recently wrote about Axiom pulling off this campaign, and you can find that article here.

Is the Cloud for real?

My family and I, along with many other Mac enthusiasts, spent some time yesterday absorbing all the news from the Apple World Wide Developer's Conference in San Francisco. The most compelling was of course Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiling the company's new iCloud service.

We've all been trained over the past 20 years to: "Save your stuff!" over and over again so your computer doesn't lose anything. It's going to take a little while to get used to the ability of Apple's apps to automatically save documents for you without having to think about it. And it will be even more amazing to see those same documents magically appear on your iPhone and/or iPad.

Don't plan on Microsoft's Office suite doing any of this any time soon...our office has been working on weaning itself off of Microsoft and moving towards Apple's iWork, not without some bumps in the road. But the iCloud service should make this transition a no brainer.

To be able to create documents, store images and music across your 'i' devices will be a revolutionary step towards freeing us from our desktops. I can't wait.

Virtual worlds boost healthier lifestyles?

I think most of us would consider ourselves big fans of technology. Smart phones, the internet, not to mention the internet on our smart phones, Facebook, Twitter.....the list goes on forever.

And although many people equate heavy gadget use with laziness, developers have tried to help people get in better shape through the use of technology. The Nintendo Wii was an innovative thing that got people moving and off the couch.

Since the Wii, there have been greater developments in activity-related technologies. So far these advancements have had positive impacts on helping people get in better shape and adding more physical activity to daily lives.

Researchers at Indiana University conducted a study to measure weightloss results from going to virtual gyms. The participants were split into two groups: one that physically worked out, and one that virtually worked out. They partnered with Second Life, an online world where people can interact with others. Both groups had specified amounts of time they needed to spend at the gym -- whether online or in real life. Over a 12-week period both groups lost similar amounts of weight, according to the researchers. And what is even more puzzling is that virtual-gym users seemed to have more behavioral changes towards healthier lifestyles.

I don't doubt the results of the study, but I hope that people don't take this news and go overboard on their reliance on technology. While the experience of being at a virtual gym may promote healthier eating habits, the person is also still sitting at a computer. I know very well that lives can become stressful and busy, but it is important to make time for activities. And with all the advancements in technology, people can combine physical activity with the virtual world -- heck, why not go to the virtual gym while up walking or at the real-world gym?

Video Post: Employment benefits include insurance, 401K and...an iPad?

Companies are buying up ipads and other tablets for their employees, or plan to in the near future. However, a recent report shows that those companies don't exactly have a plan for how to use for them. So is this just a case of technology for the sake of technology? Steve discusses this and more in today's Daily Axioms video post.

Intel Steps Up Competition with Mac

Intel announced at this year's Computex trade show their new product that will blur the lines between Windows products and Microsoft products. The new Ultrabook is meant to be a cross between Apple's MacBook Air and iPad.

ASUS's UX21 will be the premier Ultrabook laptop, scheduled for release during the 2011 holiday season. At its thickest point the laptop will measure .67 inches and weighs in at only 2.4 pounds. This first version will run on Intel's Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors. Two future versions are already in the making as well, and each time will run on newer and faster processors. The second version, planned to hit stores in the first half of 2012, will use Intel's new Ivy Bridge processor.

This new technology is 37% faster than current technology, based on its 22-nm processing that can support 3D transistors. According to an article posted on PCWorld.com, the new chips use half the energy as 2D supporters. Not much information is available for the third wave of Ultrabooks, but it is reported that they will use an even more innovative Intel Core processor, Haswell, and will be released in 2013.

The dwindling market for Netbooks has forced Intel to create an all-new product for the computer world. The Ultrabook will attract consumers that enjoy the convenience of a smaller and lighter laptop, but need the fast responses of high-end technology. As someone who has been considering switching from being a PC to a Mac user, this product may get me to stick with Windows. Finally something light, small, and fast is combined in one Windows product!