I have written before about Amazon’s Kindle Ad Units – which are usually excellent. Here is the latest – and you will notice the similarity in prior units. Nevertheless, I love the tagline “Buy Once, Read Everywhere” because:

1. it sums up the Kindle’s value proposition perfectly (they won’t win on device, but portability is a big positive)

2. it leverages the success of other platforms – namely Apple (iPhone, iPad, Mac) and Android

3. it sums up so much of what consumers, publishers and developers alike are facing: the multi-platform conundrum (ie write once, read anyhwere)

I apologize for posting hurriedly and therefore without much context / commentary… nevertheless, the Altimeter group release this report, “The 8 Success Criteria for Facebook Page Marketing.”

As if often the case with guiding principles, they are generally intuitive, clear and achievable (of course practice proves to be more challenging!). Altimeter boiled it down to 8 guiding principles (see below) and I would go a step further and get it down to 4:

- Authenticity: this extends from being on brand to revealing content (images, insights, etc) from the company and its people.

- Consistency: be consistent in voice and presence

- Regularity: find the right rhythm with which to interact and engage. Too little is a non-starter but too much is equally painful.

- Engagement: more often than not, posts should be interactive and actionable… therefore giving fans and users their own voice

The full report:

At Dogpatch Labs, we try to host at least one event a week – whether it be formal or informal, social or academic, large or small. Last week we hosted a session on search engine marketing best practices.

It was led by David Rodnitzky of PPC Associates. The session was called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Search Engine Marketing” and David’s slideshow is included below.

When able and appropriate, we try to include presentations from Dogpatch Labs events and post them both on DogpatchLabs.com and on this blog (such as Facebook Connect Best Practices)

Earlier, I wrote about Facebook’s homepage promotion of their friend importer tool (“Friend Finder”). Those screenshots were of a module placed prominently above the Facebook newsfeed. Now I am seeing a similar unit – with similar copy and friends’ faces – in the premium ad slot. The messaging is slightly different:

Above newsfeed: Ryan, Who’s Missing? Hunter, Justin and Anette tried the automatic Friend Finder and found out.

In ad unit: Ryan, Try the Friend Finder: Hunter and Jed found friends using the Friend Finder. Give it a try!

I have written much about the importance of copy in advertising… particularly Facebook ads.

The below premium Facebook ad from McDonald’s is the best yet. McDonald’s dedicated ~20% of their allotted 135 characters to a disclaimer about the burger’s pre-cooking weight… and that is after they compressed “weight before cooking”: The Simple Joy of Burgers and Angus Third Pounder* downloads. Spend more time with the things you like. *wbc at least 5.33oz

The fact that I knew what ‘wbc’ stood for reveals my unfortunate food preferences… but assume not everyone shares my tastes and the ad is even stranger:

To put this in context – take a look at the Angus Third Pounder landing page from the ad. Huge burger. Big copy. And buried at the very bottom is the same legalese: wbc before cooking 5.33oz. But in this case it doesn’t interfere with the page / ad and is barely noticeable:

For the World Cup Finals, Nike Soccer took over ESPN.com with a big, interactive campaign asking fans “Who are you behind?” When clicked, users arrived at their Facebook application and were able to submit “headlines” for the game and their favorite players… which are of course published to Twitter (#NikeFuture) and Facebook.

More interesting though is that the ad shows results of their poll: “Who are you behind?” The screenshot below was taken just after Spain’s Iniesta won the game and, as such, its predictable that he led the vote 63% to 37% (over Sneijder).

It is a clever campaign that runs concurrently with a major, live event… and includes real-time results both in the unit and via the fans’ Twitter / Facebook publishings. The campaign’s look, messaging and action changed as the game developed and ended.

Minutes after the Spain won the World Cup, the Nike ads changed from “Who are you behind?” to “The future has been written”. Rather than polling users and focusing on Facebook and Twitter (though still available – screenshot also below), the ad drives users to NikeSoccer.com:

Again, after the World Cup’s conclusion, the interactive component of the campaign was relegated to the sidebar square:

Last week I wrote about a Nike Golf / Golfsmith social media campaign that rewarded Facebook fans with special giveaways and discounts. The following ad units appeared alongside that blog post. They appeared instantly – within seconds of publishing.

It is the first time I have seen units like this – but am sure they have existed beforehand (unsure how long?).

The ads feature the Twitter icon and and a “follow me on Twitter” badge for Golfsmith’s official Twitter account. Their latest tweets are included and cycled through the banner.

The ability to render these ads contextually and dynamically – and within seconds of publishing – is impressive. And the context and fresh content make the ads.

The only critique: the Twitter follow button should be functional within the ad unit (it currently requires users to click and then follow).

More than most people, I am very tolerant of advertising… the bigger and bolder, the better!

Below, USPS.com is promoting Toy Story 3. Its big and cute… but it is without context or action:
- there doesn’t seem to be a Toy Store 3 branded product or promotion
- there is no description of the ‘integration’ and/or promotion… and nothing is clickable
- which means that this is purely a branding play (USPS.com has 14m+ monthly uniques)

… but branding plays typically occur on content sites or portals (whereas USPS.com is more of a service) and usually have some sort of action: trailer view, click through, etc.

This weekend, your local Golfsmith will be hosting Nike’s National Golf Day – which features Nike product demos, discounts, etc. But Facebook fans of both Nike Golf and Golfsmith get the VIP treatment with a free sleeve of Nike ONE Vapor golf balls and a 30% trade-in bonus on new Nike clubs:

It is interesting to see Nike and Golfsmith tag-team across Facebook and provide exclusive, high value offers to fans. That’s just the first step: fans have to then “check in at the store”: Golfsmith will have in-store Facebook “fan check-in stations” for fans to broadcast and promote their experience.

Considering the partnership, in-store program and offer (which is compelling to golfers) – there are several steps to the program. Screenshots and explanation are below:

Visit your local Golfsmith store on June 26th for the Nike National Golf Day event (10am – 6pm) and, from 4:30pm – 6pm, facebook fans get exclusive prizes, discounts, and come to win big in the Guess Your Drive contest! It’s our way to say “Thanks” for joining the Golfsmith family!

• FREE sleeve of Nike golf balls – Limited to first 24 people.
• 30% trade-in bonus when you buy new Nike Golf clubs**
• Guess Your Drive Contest: Each local winner gets a $25 Golfsmith cash card and a chance to win the national prize, a Nike driver of your choice worth up to $399.99!*

Promotion on Nike Golf

First, Nike promotes the ‘fan exclusive’ to its ~200,000 fans – which in turn drives traffic to Golfsmith’s page (which had ~40,000 fans going into the promotion)

RSVP to the Facebook Fan Exclusive

The feed post on both Nike and Golfsmith is an event RSVP to the June 26th Nike National Golf Day Event at Golfsmith.

Become a Golfsmith Fan

The first requirement is becoming a fan of Golfsmith… which you can’t miss:

You Now Qualify for the Facebook Fan Exclusive

In advance of the US Open at Pebble Beach this Thursday – Sunday, Nike has taken to Facebook to reveal their sponsored golfer’s daily outfits. Each golfer has a page within their “Athlete Apparel: 2010 US OPEN” photo album. it features outfits with specific information and product IDs (hat, shirt and pants) for each day of the open. Facebook fans are then able to comment, like and share.

It is an interesting campaign by Nike – who rarely previews their player’s gear so specifically and in such a social setting. It also strikes me a test to gauge fan interest on Facebook – if users indeed interact around the players and their outfits, Nike could build a Facebook application to enable in-app purchasing, exploration, etc of each product / outfit. Fans could share specific products and ensembles – and even outfit their favorite players and share with their networks.

Even if a test, it seems that users are actively engaging (despite relatively moderate volume). Tiger Woods’ outfit, for example, has ~100 comments and ‘likes’ that are a mix of product feedback and interest:

Tiger Woods’ US Open Outfits: Day by Day

All Nike Golfers US Open Outfits