Pottermore, Twilight Time Capsule and TheCapitolPN

In light of the Hunger Games movie and the official Pottermore launch (more on that this April), today's post will compare the official viral fansites of this generation's largest fandoms: Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games.

Pottermore
http://www.pottermore.com/

Overview
Pottermore is an interactive, illustrated companion to the Harry Potter books. The site is divided into chapters from the books, which users must unlock in chronological order.

Within each chapter, users can interact with key story "Moments" (such as buying a wand and getting Sorted), upload comments/artworks, or collect items which can be used later in the game. The site also features up to 18,000 words of unpublished information on the book's characters, places, items and events.

Students can earn House Points by successfully brewing a potion, winning a duel, collecting items or unlocking information.

Objective
To enhance the readers' experience by allowing them to interact with story elements and to gain more knowledge about the Wizarding World.

Current Status
The site received positive reviews during its beta period (mid-August to present) due to its beautiful artwork and exclusive content by J.K. Rowling. However, several problems pushed the official launch from October 2011 to April 2012.


Twilight Time Capsule
http://www.twilighttimecapsule.com/

Overview
Twilight Time Capsule is a user-generated online community that allows fans to commemorate and share Twilight memories with each other. Fans are encouraged to upload their own photos, videos and comments alongside the official posters and trailers in a timeline-like navigation bar.

Users can filter through thousands of content by source (fan vs. official), upload type (comment, image or video), movie, book character, etc. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Photobucket, MySpace and Instagram are also provided so fans can share them with other social networking sites.

Objective
To provide a single platform for fans to express their love for Twilight by sharing and reliving their favorite Twilight memories.

Current Status
The site is currently active and continues to gain traffic, with the final movie slated for release this November. It has been praised for being "the ultimate fan destination" and a great example on how to capitalize on a fandom's passion through social media.


TheCapitol.PN
http://thecapitol.pn

Overview
At present, TheCapitolPN allows users to be placed in a District, get a District Identification Pass and get other fans excited by sharing their passes on various social networks.

Other site features include movie reviews, District Tribute profiles, Capitol updates, movie screenshots and District information such as registered citizens per District, tracker jacker incidents, etc.

The site also acts as a portal to all the official Hunger Games social networking sites, website and the Capitol Couture microsite.

Objective
To get fans excited for the upcoming movies by inviting them to be a part of Panem and spreading the word through social media.

Current Status
Since its launch last fall, the site has gone viral with over 50,000 Facebook participants to date. As more features are slowly being released (Capitol Couture just launched in January), fans believe there can only be more to come. We'll see!


My Verdict
Note: I think it's too early to fairly assess TheCapitolPN, so we'll leave it out of this debate for now.

In terms of uniqueness and design, Pottermore wins. Although Twilight Time Capsule's timeline navigation is one of the firsts, user-generated fan pages are not unheard of these days. Pottermore's concept is truly unique, which is probably why it's so hard to explain to non-users.

However, looking at sustainability, TTC takes the crown. The problem with Pottermore is there is very little incentive to return once you've unlocked all the chapters and read the new information. If the Twilight fandom is as strong as it appears, then TTC will never have this problem. Even when the movies come to an end, loyal fans will continue to generate content, just as they still do for Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes and other literature that we love.

Check out these sites and let me know what you think! :)

xoxo
Mae

Looking for love? Get on Warcraft!

In one of my earliest blog posts, I talked about how WoW is the perfect example of an effective online community. Turns out, it's an effective online dating site as well!

A recent study by Online University shows that World of Warcraft may be more effective than eHarmony or Match.com in finding your potential mate.

Created by: OnlineUniversity.net

It's like when two leads end up together in action movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean or The Mummy. Unlike dating sites, you meet through a common experience (ex. a quest or an adventure) and not a survey, which tells you a lot more about each other than a list of characteristics you wrote yourself.

Much like "real life", two people don't necessarily have to share the same interests to make a good couple (something that most dating sites rely on when finding a match). What's important is that they trust and understand each other, have common goals, and work well as a team -- and aren't these what makes successful WoW players?

xoxo
Mae

Quality > Quantity when it comes to Social Media

Social media marketing does NOT mean joining every social media channel out there. Too often, I have seen brands that use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, Flickr and whatever else they can get their hands on.

Here's what happens when brands have too many accounts:

1. Inactive accounts, because they didn't actually prepare content for that specific platform (ex. an empty Pinterest board) or because they realized it wasn't right for their target market (ex. Flickr for a bank).
2. Copy-pasted content because they wanted to have a "strong online presence" but couldn't decide where to put what (ex. synching Facebook and Twitter accounts, uploading the same video on Facebook and YouTube).

Rather than enhance your brand, this can make you seem amateur and unfocused. Plus, it's highly unlikely that your consumers will visit each and every one of these pages. Chances are they'll engage with just 2-3.

Therefore, it's important to choose the platforms that best suit your brand strategy, available resources and target market. Make sure each platform has a unique, specific and valuable role to play. Not only is it less confusing (for you and your consumers), it is less time-consuming, more effective and more cost-efficient as well.

xoxo
Mae

Shave Time. Shave Money. Shave the Gimmicks.

Enter the latest viral video to hit the web! This time, it's an ad for a start-up company called the Dollar Shave Club, which just launched 2 weeks ago.

The Proposition: For a monthly fee of $1, the Dollar Shave Club will mail you a basic razor and five twin-blade heads every month. And guess what. Their blades are not just good -- they're F***ing Great!

As of today, the video has 3.6 million YouTube views and shows no signs of slowing down. Consumers and marketers can't help but praise the ad's simple, clear, cost-efficient yet effective communication strategy. 

"If everyone else made commercials like this I would buy everything." 

"I have decided to write to every single company to make commercials like this one."

"Great humor, I wish there was more advertisements like this..."

Hailed by many as "the new Old Spice", the success of the ad tells us at least one thing about today's consumers. You don't need money, celebrities or special effects to make a good ad. These days, all we really want are creativity, straightforwardness and a bit of good-natured humor.

Men, what do you think? Will you be signing up?

xoxo
Mae

Related links:
The Dollar Shave Club’s pitch is smooth, and razor sharp
Lessons In Razor's-Edge Creativity From The Dollar Shave Club
What Dollar Shave Club can Teach You About Making a Video for Your Startup

Time to Unfollow (you on Twitter)!

We've all done it -- "de-clutter" our Twitter feed by going through the list of friends/celebs/websites/brands/etc we follow and click Unfollow - click Unfollow - click Unfollow!

What atrocities could you have possibly done to make people who consciously followed you renege? Here are my top 10 reasons:

1. Tweeting too much

If I can't scroll down my Twitter feed without your profile pic being in every frame, then you're Tweeting too much. I don't need a minute-by-minute play of your life. A stream of consecutive Tweets within a certain time is okay as long as there's reason behind it. For instance, @hpsecrets usually has a Harry Potter trivia theme for the day and Tweets a series of fun facts at specific time.

2. Tweeting too little

If you only Tweet once a month, chances are I'll unfollow you because what's the point?

3. Twitter is not a chat room 

This is okay:

This is NOT okay:

4. @everybody

I stopped following @KatyPerry because of this. She had one of those "I'll answer all your questions!" moments and every single one of her Tweets was a reply. I know a lot of celebrities do this, but I don't think they should ever attempt to answer ALL the questions. Just the interesting ones.

At any rate, Katy's Tweets look okay now. I think I'll re-follow her.

5. #not #everything #has #to #be #a #hashtag

It's okay to Tweet purely in hashtag every now and then. Sometimes, it's hard to find words to describe how you feel so hashtags suffice.

  

 But not all the time.

6. Spam

I like to have it for breakfast but not on my Twitter feed. Unfollow.

7. Too much self-promotion

I stopped following @ddlovato and @britneyspears because all they did was promote their latest album, concert, photoshoot, etc. Yes, I understand that celebrities use their Twitter accounts for this reason. However, there is such thing as a healthy mix and I want to know I'm following the actual celebrity, not her (or his) PR team. I find @msleamichele from Glee to be great at this.

8. Not relevant (anymore)

People's interests change. I'm currently job-hunting so I've followed a ton of Canada-based job search accounts (@FreshGigsca @Jobsprout @BestJobsInVan). Chances are, I'll unfollow them once I'm employed.

9. Too whiny

It's normal to have a complaint or two and Tweet about it. But if all your Tweets contain rants and self-pity, then I'm sorry. I go to Twitter for happiness, not for negative vibes.

10. Fake

This goes without saying. If I find out you're a robot or an imposter, you will be unfollowed. Real humans only, please.

--------
Now, I'm no Twitter saint. I, too, have been guilty of doing these things at least once (well, except being a robot). In fact, I'm about to do #7 right now. The main takeaway is to not overdo it. Everything in moderation :)

What are some reasons why you've Unfollowed an account?

xoxo
Mae

3 Tips to Produce Approved Content on Time

"...how is it us 'small boutique agencies' with less resources think of [using Pinterest] and do it better.  Where is the lesson here Big Brands?"

I saw this comment while reading the article, Porsche Pinterest Fail. The writer calls out Porsche for creating a Pinterest account and then only uploading two boards, each with ~20 pins rather than "thousands of photos, and hundreds of videos."

I'm not an expert and I don't know Porsche's story. However, I do have experience working with a "big brand" and know that they tend to have long approval processes in terms of what gets published online. In come cases, materials need to be approved as far as the brand's legal team. As a result, little content is published, with large gaps of inactivity in between.

Here are some tips on how to produce approved, quality content in a timely manner without sacrificing quantity along the way:

Prepare content on a bi-monthly/monthly basis (or whatever works best) and have them approved in one go.

If you're planning to publish one Facebook status/day, try having all 30 messages pre-approved at the start of every month. That's just 12 approvals for the entire year, rather than 365! Make sure you provide enough lead time for the approval process before the first message is scheduled. Once everything is approved, use an app like HootSuite to schedule your updates.

The downside to this is that it doesn't cater to real-time events. Thus, you need to be vigilant in monitoring your page's activity so you can reply to fans as needed. Also, be ready to change a status message at the last minute in case something big happens that day.

Shorten the approval process by training and empowering the appropriate people.

Does the CEO really need to approve all your Tweets? Probably not. A well-trained and social media savvy Brand Manager may be the highest level of approval needed.

Don't nitpick.

Unlike print ads or billboards, an individual fan will likely encounter a specific status message, Tweet or photo just once. With social media, copy doesn't need to be perfect. Standard rules apply: no spelling or grammatical errors, nothing offensive or obscene, etc. But it doesn't have to be poetry.

The tips above are just from my personal experience. Feel free to add more or comment if you disagree :)

Til then,
Mae

20 Reasons why people should research before commenting

Edit:
So apparently the YouTube video has been removed. No worries. The original video is still available on the ChannelFix website. Hey, it's the Internet. You just can't hide things.
_____

When I first saw this video "20 reasons why I dislike the Philippines", it only had 2 comments and less than 50 views. I thought of sharing it, but was afraid people would accuse me of being unpatriotic. A day later, the video was all over my Facebook feed, with over 9,000 comments and 167,000 views. Surprisingly, most of my friends in the Philippines actually agree with it

Web 2.0 gives regular people like us more freedom of speech than ever. Traditional media would have never published these truths in such a raw, honest manner. And the reaction has been phenomenal, from outraged locals...

...to realists who, despite loving their country, have to admit the truth...

 ...to those who see this as a challenge to make things better.

"I salute this man for doing this video... The truth hurts but we need to accept..."

"This video hits close to home which is why we are so angry. But we have to accept the truth. Instead of getting mad, we should think of ways to improve our society."

I don't know what this says about me, but I love online debates. As with KONY 2012, it provides insight on the different types of people who prowl the web. For instance, half the angry folks probably don't know that the same group of people also made a "20 reasons why I love the Philippines" video. Yep, that's right, "20 reasons why I hate..." is only one side of the coin. Changes the context doesn't it? The Internet may have increased our access to information, but that doesn't mean everyone does their research before spewing out comments.

That said, here is where I stand. The Philippines is a beautiful country with a lot of potential, but obviously with a lot of problems as well. Hopefully this has been an eye-opener for those too proud to believe that certain issues need to be resolved. Rome wasn't built in a day, and I have faith that the country can improve as long as people are willing to accept criticism and take the right steps.

xoxo
Mae

Sophia Grace & Rosie: Youngest Celeb Endorsers?

If you're a fan of Ellen, then you've probably heard about the "two most entertaining girls in England" by now: 8-year-old singer Sophia Grace and her 5-year old cousin and hype girl, Rosie.

Sophia Grace and Rosie shot to YouTube stardom after uploading a video of themselves singing Nikki Minaj's Super Bass. Since then, they have been on the Ellen Show multiple times, walked the red carpet and become the hottest new viral stars to hit the web.

Sophia Grace and Rosie in the 2012 Grammys

Most recent appearance on the Ellen Show

As a regular person and kid-lover, the first thing that came to mind when I saw them was "Omg they're the cutest kids ever!" As a marketer, what I saw was several kid-friendly brands lining up to have them as their newest brand ambassadors.

I swear, I'm not evil and I don't promote child labor! But the truth is, Sophia Grace and Rosie sell, and child endorsers is not a new concept in marketing. In fact, they're already brand ambassadors--just take a look at their Grammy outfits. You can't get more sponsored than that.

Do you guys think brands will start picking them up soon?

xoxo
Mae

Finally, Facebook Timeline for Brands!

It's inevitable! With Facebook Timeline for Brands launching this March 31, the webosphere is buzzing with what this means for brands. Here are my 2 cents.

Cover Photo

Goodbye old profile pic! Brands can now upload a 851x315 cover photo which functions as the page header. A simple 180x180 profile picture supplements this and also acts as the thumbnail.

Coca-Cola Timeline Cover and Profile Pic

I personally love it. The cover photo provides more flexibility in terms of how brands want to represent themselves and impact their visitors. It can be used to feature their latest campaigns/promos, while the profile pic (ideally a brand icon or logo) remains classic and consistent. Cover photo restrictions do apply, such as no displaying of call-to-actions that prompt users to Like the page or sharing price information.

Landing Page

In the old format, brands can choose a specific tab for users to land on, such as whichever contains their latest campaign/promo. In some cases, non-fans could be made to land on a "Like us now!" tab, while existing fans are directed straight to the wall. Now, everyone lands on the wall.
 

Old Red Bull Landing Page for Non-Fans

I actually like this because it encourages marketers to think of creative new ways to increase fans, instead of bullying them into Liking a page by restricting access.

Tabs
While tabs used to be displayed on the left side of the page, they are now shown directly under the cover photo. Up to 12 tabs tabs are allowed, but only 4 can be seen without expanding your view.

Dove Tabs in Expanded View

I see this as a positive thing because it forces brands to be more mindful about the content they're sharing. A Facebook page is not a website, a mistake I've seen with some clients I've handled. It's not a place to dump all your product information, but a channel for brands to interact with consumers and for consumers to interact with each other.

Pin and Highlight
You can pin a post to the top of your wall so it stays there even if newer content is published. Pinned posts are marked with an orange ribbon.

Lexus Pins an Article

You can highlight posts so it spans across both columns on your wall.

Burberry Highlights its 2012 Spring/Summer Collection

I'm sure brands would love these as it allows them to draw attention to more important posts.

Milestones
One of the best features about Timeline (and the reason why it's called such) is the ability to input data as far back as you want. Also, the timeline navigation on the right means no more clicking "See More" loads of times to look for older content. Milestones capitalizes on this by allowing brands to celebrate historically significant dates (i.e. milestones)!

Happy Birthday Manchester United!

Brands with a long, rich history will benefit from this the most.

Direct Message

Lastly, fans can now message brands directly. I reserve judgment for now--I can see it either as a great way for brands to have more personalized interactions with fans, or an invitation for fans to spam them. We'll see.

Needless to say, I'm a huge supporter of Timeline (having been a user since October 2011) and am excited for it to finally be available to everyone. It's a great opportunity for brands to tell their story, find exciting new ways to engage consumers, and is a means to weed out poorly managed pages. With Timeline, quality is key and the best shall prevail, which ultimately means an enhanced user experience.

xoxo
Mae

Social Media #Fails

Big brands are no strangers to failure, and with social media enabling consumers to voice out their opinions more than ever, brands ought to be more careful when putting themselves in the spotlight. Just ask Gap and United Airlines.

Barely 3 months into 2012 and we already have two social media #fails from two of the world's most famous brands.

McDonald's
In January 2012, in an attempt to get their fans to share heartwarming stories about Happy Meals, the fast-food giant created the #McDStories hashtag on Twitter. This quickly turned into a McNightmare when users started Tweeting less-than-heartwarming stories about their McD experiences.

Naturally the campaign was scrapped. However, as with most things that get online, the damage can't be undone and #McDStories is now a popular meme used by sarcastic fans.

Coca-Cola
In February 2012, the Coca-Cola Australia Facebook fan page tried a social media experiment that needless to say, failed.

As someone whose previous job included creating status messages for Coca-Cola Philippines (the link is IP-targeted so you'll only see status updates relevant to your country), I don't even know how this was approved. I'm sure you can guess what happened next.

Interestingly, Coke Australia has decided to keep the now-famous status update on its wall, rather than delete it. I guess they figured some harmless college humor is better than the accusations of censorship they'd probably get if it was removed.

Ah, social media. Giving consumers the power to chide, forfeiting brands the power to hide.

Til then,
Mae

Related links:
#McDStories: When A Hashtag Becomes A Bashtag
Coca-Cola’s Facebook word association game backfires into fan-on-fan scrum

Look ma! I'm a Slacktivist!

Last night, I finally watched KONY 2012, a 30-minute viral video produced by the non-profit organization Invisible Children. As of today, the video has 15.2 million views on Vimeo and 58.7 on YouTube--all within 2 weeks.

Well. No wonder my Twitter feed has been clogged with #stopkony hashtags in the past few days. Eager to learn more, I spent the afternoon Googling related articles. Today's blog entry was already forming in my head: "Social Media and Viral Marketing: Today's Superheroes!" Forget the Avengers!

Instead, what I found was a heated debate on the authenticity of the entire campaign. The backlash came as quickly as the views rose. KONY 2012 is a scam. KONY 2012 is sentimental and paternalistic. KONY 2012 promotes slacktivism.

What?

Slacktivism: A term formed out of the words slacker and activism. The word is usually considered a pejorative term that describes "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. (Wikipedia)

Ah. Can't say it doesn't fit the bill. How many of these viewers or Facebook fans have actually done something to help, other than share the video? On the other hand, supporters argue that sharing is helping--at least, it doesn't hurt the cause. A million slacktivists is still better than nobody caring. Right?

Other "slacktivist" campaigns that you may have encountered in the past year:
Breast Cancer Awareness Facebook Meme
Stop Child Abuse Facebook Meme

What do you guys think? Does "slacktivism" oversimplify important issues and promote laziness? Or does it harness the power of viral marketing and social media to spread the word and create real change?

xoxo
Mae

Sometimes I wonder...

...what people from the 70s or 80s would think if they heard us talk about the Internet now.

xoxo,

Mae

How Very Pinteresting!

Pinterest. I've been hearing the name for a while now, and you probably have too. It's no wonder--with more 11.7 million users as of January 2012, Pinterest seems to be the next big thing in social media. I finally succumbed to curiosity and requested for an invitation today. Here are my initial thoughts:

Pinterest is primarily a photo-sharing site. It's kind of like Tumblr, but with categories. Users can upload photos by "pinning it" on their "boards" as well as browse, comment on, like and "repin" other users' content. The site aims to "connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting."

The best thing about Pinterest is that you're able to browse by category such as Art, Food & Drink, etc--something that Tumblr and Flickr have only addressed via tags. The next best thing is the interface. True to the pin board allegory, images are presented in small panels with a brief description and a preview of how many likes, comments and repins it has. So far, I find it to be very intuitive and user-friendly.

Can Pinterest stand the test of time? It definitely looks promising, with social networking giants such as Facebook already mimicking the interface with its newly approved Friendsheet app. Big-name brands such as Gap and Whole Foods are jumping on the bandwagon as well, likely because it's another venue to showcase their products and get feedback, and because of its crowdsourcing potential.

Just another fad or a game-changer?

Til then,
Mae

Will the "Real" Influencers Please Stand Up?

I came across an article on Ad Age about online influencers and wanted to share my 2 cents. The gist of the article is that brands tend to turn to "influencers" with the highest Klout score (i.e. those with the most followers, responses and shares) when it comes to endorsing their products/services, even though they may not have the power to influence actual purchase decisions.

"Most consumers' purchases are not influenced by someone who tweets frequently or scores high on Klout, but rather by a person's tight-knit group of family, friends and peers who share common interests and have earned trust regarding purchasing decisions."

This is partially true. Celebrities come to mind. Just because I follow Lady Gaga (who just surpassed the 20 million follower mark on Twitter) doesn't mean I'll buy a product she Tweets about. At the end of the day, it boils down to what my mom or friends recommend.

For smaller brands or businesses, this is a positive thing. For instance, instead of spending time bidding on high-profile personalities (who undoubtedly cost more than your average Joe and will likely choose the bigger brand in the end), they can focus their energies on cost-efficient, niche bloggers whose content is highly relevant to their product and will therefore have stronger influence in terms of encouraging purchase. Save time + save money + more targeted reach.

For example: Your family runs a small bakery and you want to increase sales by attracting new customers. Reach out to your friends. Perhaps one of them is, or knows, a local food blogger. Once you find them, have them review your bakery. Although their reach may not be as wide, their followers are likely real-life friends or other locals who hold them with high regard (otherwise why follow a stranger?). If your bakery is good, the "pass-around power of everyday people" will take over.

But what about larger brands who don't really "need" more exposure, such as Coca-Cola? By the time you hit a certain age, you've pretty much decided whether you're a Coke person, a Pepsi person, or a non-soda drinker. How much difference would it really make to a non-soda drinker if his friend "recommended" Coke to him? Perhaps he'd remember to buy Coke instead of Pepsi the next time he threw a house party.

Sometimes, it's not about increasing your consumer base, but about keeping the interest of your existing one to encourage repeat purchase. Not to say brands like Coke don't want new converts. Of course they do! However, the bulk of their sales come from loyal consumers so it's important to keep them excited. And sometimes, all it takes is an encouraging Tweet from their favorite celebrity or Lady Gaga to keep their excitement going.

Thoughts? :)

xoxo
Mae

Welcome Back!

Hello folks! It's been 2 years since I updated this blog and since I'm in between jobs right now, what better time for a comeback! For those interested, here's a recap of how I ended up back here! (Don't worry. The blog will still primarily be about e-marketing after this special-edition all-about-myself entry).

I graduated from UBC with a Marketing degree in June 2010. My family flew from the Philippines to celebrate this joyous occasion with me and since Vancouver is so close to LA, we went to Disneyland!

Graduation Day

Disneyland, LA

After the trip, my parents convinced me to return to the Philippines so I went back home with them. An opportunity arose and come September, I ended up being a Digital Account Manager in MRM Worldwide, the leading digital and relationship marketing agency of McCann Worldgroup.

With the MRM team. I'm the one with bangs.

How would I describe that job? Let me see. The hours were CRAZY LONG (we're talking 9 to 9 on average), the deadlines were deadly and as an Account Manager, I was...well...accountable for everything! It was brutal and an eye-opener. Yet I somehow ended up being good at it and after just a month, I was given the prestigious Coca-Cola account! That's right. The Open Happiness, Christmas Truck, Santa Claus, polar bear Coca-Cola. It was a shock and an honor that they would trust me with such an important client. But there you go, it turns out I was built to be an Account Manager after all!

Glug, glug, glug. Ahhh!

The tides changed after one year. The work and opportunities were good, but I really began to miss Vancouver. I had never felt that type of "homesickness" towards the Philippines when I was studying here, but I was definitely feeling it the other way around. And that's how I ended up back in good ol' Vancouver, where it's cold and expensive and I'm jobless. And it's also how I ended up bringing this blog back to life: first, cuz I actually know a thing or two about e-marketing and social media now and second, I have time on my hands!

If you've gotten this far then I do hope you'll stay for the long run. Please tell me if you know any Vancouver-based ad agencies hiring as well. I'm experienced and I'm right here! :)

The end! Good night! Until tomorrow!

Mae