Web 2.0 brand partnerships

Posted on 30. Apr, 2008 by Dean Whitney in Uncategorized   and has   0 Comments

Originally posted on Network World.

Web 2.0 applications leverage social media and open technology to deliver rich user experiences. The most successful Web 2.0 solutions solve problems in unique ways. Commonly these are simple often free solutions.Consumers are trying to avoid marketers Too often marketers try to add social media tools to advertising, create viral games or other marketing content intended to entertain consumers. Consumers are looking for tools and applications that solve problems; that are useful. Here are some examples:

  • Flickr: With almost 10,000,000 registered users Flickr is an image/video hosting website, web services suite and an online community platform. It was one of the earliest Web 2.0 applications and one of the most popular social photo sharing sites (Alexa Rank 39). Flickr offers its service free for up to 100MB of uploads per month and unlimited uploads for pro users; the account cost $25 per month. Flickr was purchased by Yahoo in March of 2005.
  • Remember the Milk (RTM): RTM is a very popular task and time management web application. On March 19th RTM reached 500,000 registered users. This is quite an achievement considering that it has been developed by two people working out of a home office in Sidney Australia. The site leverage all kinds of 3rd party api’s to offer extended services including Google Gears that allows users to use the application offline. The $25 Pro Account gets you a mobile client and some good karma.
  • Twitter: Twitter is all about “what are you doing right now?”, its a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to post content updates or “tweets” up to 140 characters long. Users can use a variety of methods; can post on the website, from instant messenger, SMS text, and a variety of 3rd party services such as Facebook, Twitterrific and TwitPics. Twitter gets about 1 million visits a month, there’s no ads and no paid or pro version.

How can marketers leverage Web 2.0 application?

Marketers should follow Web 2.0 technology and look for solutions that their constituents can benefit from, that fit into customer needs and relate to the brand. It could be a great mapping tool for a tire company or social stock picks website from an investment magazine. The relationship can be direct or complimentary.

Marketers and providers can both benefit

The marketer may expect to underwrite custom functionality or services geared toward their campaign; while the provider can benefit from the exposure and subscribers using their product and a source of development funding. Additionally the user insight can help inform the product roadmap.

How can the brand benefit?

Imagine if American Express Small Business introduced Remember the Milk to members globally? What if Wal-Mart funded the initial growth of Flickr so that members could click a button to ‘print at Wal-Mart’? What if a leading mobile carrier spotted the potential with Twitter and marketed the service to their clients? The brand benefits by association with the value added solution. The relationship can be structured in a variety of ways;

  1. Brand media campaign can promote the service as part of a campaign theme (get productive, share content etc.)
  2. The service can be customized and integrated with the member account. For example when making an online purchase at Wal-Mart I could be prompted to print my Flickr photos.
  3. Co-branding is an approach that should be taken carefully not to dilute the perceived value of the solution or negate the product relationship. There are subtle ways to integrate marketing that won’t disenfranchise consumers.
  4. Mashups or composite application may leverage the brand content using the Web 2.0 application to create a widget or service of value to their customers.

Concluding thoughts

A recent comScore study suggested that “heavy clickers” distort the reality of display advertising. Heavy clickers skew towards Internet users between the ages of 25-44 and households with an income under $40,000. This study suggests that most of the clicks are originated by this low value segment; that 6% are responsible for up to 50% of the clicks.

Marketers should avoid trying to make advertising more social or viral. Consumers that matter don’t want to view and share commercials and marketing games online. We have Tivo and spam blocker to avoid marketing. Marketers can leverage Web 2.0 solutions that add value, solve problems and that users benefit from. Focus on quality not quantity.