Friday 15 January 2010

POLO RALPH LAUREN 2009 MOBILE MARKETER OF THE YEAR



Mobile Marketer has awarded Ralph Lauren (RL) their 2009 Mobile Marketer of the Year identifying that, “RL serves as a role model for outstanding use of mobile advertising and marketing.” Here is an overview of the 2009 brand in the mobile space.

in-app advertising

Ralph Lauren was the launch sponsor of GQ magazine’s new mobile application in an effort to promote the retailer’s fragrances.  GQ Style Picks, the application for the iPhone and iPod touch, features style tips and options from the men’s magazine and a geotracked “click-to-find nearby” and a “click-to-find online” commerce option.  Ralph Lauren even has a channel within the application that includes tips and videos. The Ralph Lauren channel within the GQ application includes helpful grooming and fragrance tips such as how to moisturize the face, fragrance picks and downloadable videos.

mobile commerce strategy

The Rugby Make-Your-Own-application is truly something unique in terms of the experience that it provides users.  The application was a first of its kind within the Ralph Lauren family of innovative lifestyle marketing.  Consumers can make their own Rugby directly from their iPhone or iPod touch and share the style and buy it.  Consumers can customize their own Rugby with patches, share and order their Rugby styles within the application.  The application followed the successful launches of http://www.rugby.com and http://m.rugby.com and is meant to serve as a 360-degree retail innovation platform that engages with consumers through mobile, in-store kiosks and outdoor display content in store windows, and online.


Also, Rugby stores in New York and San Francisco have an interactive store window where pedestrians walking the streets are encouraged to stop and create their own Rugby or browse the gallery of Rugby’s created by users of the iPhone application.  Much like the iPhone experience, users just drag and drop by swiping their hands over the store window and can buy Rugby’s by swiping their credit cards.  In April, Ralph Lauren launched an iPhone-optimized site for Rugby.com, the site for its sporty line of Rugby apparel.  Like the existing WAP site that is optimized for all other mobile devices, the iPhone site lets consumers browse and buy all products that are available on Rugby.com.

Mobile presence

Ralph Lauren has a mobile shopping site at http://m.ralphlauren.com where consumers can shop on the site, read about what is new at Ralph Lauren and watch runway show videos of the brand's latest styles.  Last October, Ralph Lauren made mobile fashionable with the launch of an iPhone application that lets users experience the glamour of the Ralph Lauren Collection on the Apple device.  The application invites Apple iPhone users to view collection styles that are currently in stores via video highlights from its runway show. It also offers a look behind the scenes with its Backstage Pass photo gallery in addition to full run-of-show video and Lookbook feature.  Mobile advertising was also used to drive consumers to the application.  Four months after its launch, the application was upgraded with new features that reflect Ralph Lauren's haute couture line and products reflecting a luxury lifestyle.

Quick Response (QR) codes
Ralph Lauren was one of the first retailers to launch a mobile commerce service to let consumers buy products through their handsets.  The company claims to be one of the first luxury retailers nationwide to launch a mobile commerce site and incorporate Quick Response codes in advertisements.  Ralph Lauren included a QR code on a U.S. Open advertising campaign. If scanned by a mobile phone, the code would link a user directly to a new mobile site. 

This is the U.S. Open call to action:


Ongoing communications

Ralph Lauren invites consumers to sign up for text alerts on its mobile site in an effort to build a database of the brand’s aficionados to keep ongoing communication with Additionally, consumers can text the keyword RL to 23000 to join the mobile club. 

Ralph Lauren understands the times we live in - and the wants and needs of its consumers.  And, in this day and age, for Ralph Lauren that means having a robust set of mobile offerings and being present in the lives of their consumers.  Congratulations to Ralph Lauren on receiving this honor.

Read original article.

Monday 11 January 2010

TOP 100 SOCIAL BRANDS OF 2009


We are excited to release our second annual ranking of the most social brands, The Vitrue 100. 2009 certainly marked the tipping point for social media with Facebook crossing 350 million month active users worldwide (100 million US users) according to “Inside Facebook”, December 2009.

Adoption of social media by marketers has also followed suit, as eMarketer cites the percentage of the Fortune 500 not using social media has dropped dramatically - from 43% now to only 9%.   Forrester is also stating that social media marketing is projected to grow at an annual rate of 34%, faster than any other form of online marketing (US Interactive Marketing Spend 2009 to 2014 Report issued Summer 2009).

So what does all this mean as we head into 2010?  Marketers are adding social as a foundation into the marketing mix and need the infrastructure to manage their increasingly robust presences. TV spots are now tagged out with Facebook URLs instead of corporate web sites and point-of-sale call to actions now direct you to fan them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.  Marketers get that social works. So with this in mind we established The Vitrue 100 to help bring credibility and clarity to this emerging space. The changing world of online conversations results in significant movements up and down for brands.

The Vitrue 100 was determined by averaging the SMI scores for each brand across each day in December 2009. To further clarify, “annual” based on grouping of pull done once a year as the first Vitrue 100 was done December 2008 and we wanted to measure year over year. The result is a ranked list of the brands which are most talked about on the social web. Note: Some powerhouse technology brands were omitted from the list as they provide the backbone of many social networks.  While Google, Facebook and others are top brands, the Vitrue 100 is measuring companies that are using social technology, not those who are the technology.

Top 100 Social Brands of 2009

  1. iPhone
  2. Disney
  3. CNN
  4. MTV
  5. NBA
  6. iTunes
  7. Wii
  8. Apple
  9. Xbox
  10. Nike
  11. Starbucks
  12. NFL
  13. PlayStation
  14. Adidas
  15. BlackBerry
  16. Sony
  17. Mercedes
  18. Microsoft
  19. Samsung
  20. BMW
  21. Nintendo
  22. Best Buy
  23. ESPN
  24. Ford
  25. Honda
  26. Ferrari
  27. Gucci
  28. Nokia
  29. Major League Baseball
  30. Dell
  31. Coca-Cola
  32. CBS
  33. ABC
  34. iPod
  35. Mac
  36. Turner
  37. Nissan
  38. Toyota
  39. eBay
  40. Amazon
  41. Victoria’s Secret
  42. Nutella
  43. NASCAR
  44. Disneyland
  45. Audi
  46. NHL
  47. Red Bull
  48. Verizon
  49. Intel
  50. Subway
  51. Hewlett-Packard
  52. Puma
  53. Kia
  54. Fox News
  55. Porsche
  56. Jeep
  57. Dodge
  58. Pandora
  59. Walmart
  60. Zappos
  61. Suzuki
  62. McDonald’s
  63. Krystal
  64. T-Mobile
  65. Skittles
  66. KFC
  67. Volkswagen
  68. NBC
  69. Sprint
  70. Pixar
  71. Motorola
  72. IKEA
  73. Pepsi
  74. Cisco
  75. REI
  76. LG
  77. AT&T
  78. Converse
  79. The Gap
  80. Chevrolet
  81. Louis Vuitton
  82. Toys”R”Us
  83. H&M
  84. Philips
  85. General Motors
  86. Pringles
  87. Visa
  88. Prada
  89. Panasonic
  90. IBM
  91. VH1
  92. Hulu
  93. Oracle
  94. Burberry
  95. SEGA
  96. Sears
  97. Avon
  98. Jet Blue
  99. Lacoste
  100. Comcast


Read original article.

SOCIAL ANALYTICS LIFECYCLE FRAMEWORK


This helpful SIM Framework is by Ken Burbary (one of the organizers behind the Module 2010 Digital Conference.)  It starts with the social web, includes analysis, data segmentation, strategy, and execution.   

Sunday 10 January 2010

WHAT'S THE SOCIAL PROFILE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS?


According to Forrester, “companies often approach Social Computing as a list of technologies to be deployed as needed — a blog here, a community there —to achieve a marketing goal.  But a more coherent approach is to start with your target audience and determine what kind of relationship you want to build with them, based on what they are ready for”.


Forrester's Social Technographics® Profiler classifies consumers into six overlapping levels of participation (see short presentation). 
Based on Forrester survey data they can see how participation varies among different groups of consumers, globally. They also analyze the participation of people who buy technology. 

For your convenience, we have embedded Forrester’s Social Technographics® Profiler on our BLOG (at the bottom of the page.)  ;) It’s an excellent resource to start any social media initiative if you’re not sure what technologies to use.