Follow McDonalds on Facebook, Are you Sure?

Several social media best practices - particularly on Facebook - come from big consumer brands: Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Rockstar, Vitamin Water, etc. McDonalds is arguably the biggest brand, but.... Go to McDonalds.com and notice prominent links to follow them on Facebook and Twitter. There is more real estate dedicated to each of these than, for instance, to their restaurant locator:

Click on Facebook and a shadowbox pops up that asks, "are you sure you want to leave?"

It's almost as though McDonald's wants to promote Facebook / Twitter... but doesn't like the consequence of having it occur on Facebook / Twitter. It is also bizarre because the call to action is clearly "Become a Fan on Facebook" - so if I have offered to do so, why ask me to confirm again?

The strangest part is the messaging below the Yes / No. The language is not particularly inviting.... nor does it suggest that McDonald's itself is involved with their various accounts:

"You are leaving the McDonald's Corporation web site for a site that is controlled by a third party, not affiliated with McDonald's."

... But we hope that eventually you do decide to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Dear John, The Facebook Ad Campaign With Everything

Earlier in the week, I got a lot of flack on Facebook for becoming a fan of the movie Dear John. I noted that it was for a purpose: my usual Facebook advertising and brand research.... and it was. The Dear John campaign is unique because it merges several of the Facebook ad formats in a way I have not yet seen before: Earlier in the week, I wrote that NBC ad campaign showcased the new 'become a fan' unit for users who RSVP'd as attending the Chuck premier. The Dear John ad behaves similarly and includes the "become a fan" and "like" functionality within the video button. Again, this is not new behavior (Chuck did it as well), but it shows significant evolution on the platform - it wasn't long ago that video, RSVP, invitations and "become a fan" ads were all separate formats and actions.

When combined, it creates a rich, comprehensive campaign that satisfies users' various interests or habits.

The ad unit as it appears in the right column

When you click the play button, the HD video plays and includes "like" and "become a fan" functionality"

When attending, you get the chance to invite friends and become a fan

Also interesting, the Dear John video units feature the actors (including Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried) speaking directly to viewers and encouraging them to become Facebook Fans. The video is also posted on the Dear John fan page and has its own public URL - but strangely, the video cannot be embedded (a probably next evolution of public content on Facebook).

The video of Channing Tatum had 2,250 likes and 275 comments:

Tiger Woods Propels TMZ to 51st Most Visited Website

These days, sponsors might not like Tiger Woods... but TMZ sure does. Steady at 3-4.5m daily pageviews, the news surrounding Tiger Woods over Thanksgiving doubled TMZ's traffic, propelled them to the 51st most visited website, and grew their audience to nearly 22m global uniques.

To put that in perspective, Hulu is 23.8m monthly uniques, Huffington Post is 25.5m, Pandora is 16m and LinkedIn is 31.7m (all are also directly measured via Quantcast).

The Tiger Woods scandal drove significant traffic for TMZ (and continues to do so as the story develops / continues) - and it drives traffic for other sites as well. But TMZ has become the leader in pop-culture gossip after breaking several key stories including Michael Jackson's passing... and they have clearly become the most trafficked gossip site (nearly twice the visitors of PerezHilton.com - although 2/5th of the pageviews per visitor).

Amidst their growth, TMZ has announced the upcoming launch of TMZ Sports site to expand the brand and reach new audiences.

Google Acquires AppJet (Creators of Etherpad) - Congratulations!

Dogpatch Labs resident Appjet - makers of the the collaborative, realtime document editor EtherPad - has been acquired by Google. As announced on their blog, AppJet will be joining the Google Wave team and "the EtherPad team will continue its work on realtime collaboration." Congratulations to the entire team!

Etherpad is a unique product and an engineering feat: it allows "really real-time" collaboration where users can create, edit and converse in documents at the same time. The applications are obvious and range from education to note taking (several Dogpatch Labs events were covered via Etherpad) to product planning (used during the Rails Rumble competition).

The fit within Google - and particularly with Wave - is natural: according to Techcrunch, "The two products share some overlapping features, but AppJet has built technology that can be deployed behind company firewalls. If Google ever decides to roll out Wave as an enterprise product, which seems logical, this technology and the team’s experience could prove valuable."

The Etherpad team is excellent and comprised of a cluster of ex-Googlers: CEO Aaron Iba, CTO J.D. Zamfirescu, and COO Daniel Clemens. They are sharp, savvy, hard working (an understatement) and highly collaborative with other entrepreneurs. They will be missed around Dogpatch Labs - but they will certainly add great value to Google and the Wave product.

a comment on TechCrunch's initial article... from another Dogpatch Labs resident:

More coverage: TechCrunch: Confirmed: Google Acquires AppJet, The Maker Of EtherPad Venturebeat: Google acquires AppJet. Maybe Wave will become usable now GigaOm: Google Buys EtherPad Maker for Google Wave

Modelinia Live Streams the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show via Facebook

Just a few weeks ago, Modelinia live streamed the Heidi Klum Halloween Party through Facebook and Facebook Connect. Tonight is the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and Modelinia is doing a live stream on Facebook for the "Pink Carpet". You can view everything live on Facebook or on Modelinia starting at 6:30pm est. The live stream will be shown here as well:

Watch live streaming video from victoriassecret at livestream.com

Here are the Victoria's Secret models themselves asking you to tune in to Modelinia's life stream:

See more videos on modelinia.com

Netflix Streaming Arrives on Playstation 3

I have been a Netflix subscriber for a few years - sometimes very active and other times 'pausing' my account. I was excited to have Netflix (finally) arrive on Playstation 3 because it is a potential solution to what many Netflix subscribers suffer from (including me): laziness and hassle. All things being equal, on-demand streaming certainly provides a better experience than mail rentals (which is why Comcast On-Demand is so great). So I was interested in three things about the Netflix / PS3 integration:

1. Activation and Netflix.com integration 2. User experience on the PS3 system 3. Picture quality

#1 and #3 were terrific - Netflix walked subscribers through the activation process clearly and easily. And the picture quality and movie controls are excellent. For starters, a disc arrives that has thorough instructions on the envelope, sleeve and disc:

Once you insert the disc into the system, you are asked to activate the unique code on Netflix.com. When you visit the site, you are immediately prompted to do the same:

A couple seconds later, the system activates and you arrive at a slick UI with movies from your online queue (which seems to be the best way to manage content):

The picture quality is crisp and the streaming was quick, uninterrupted and only required a slight delay before the movie started. A few hours after the movie's competition, Netflix follows up via email to ask about the picture quality and experience - a surprising but welcome email (excellent customer communication):

So what needs improvement? The finding experience (recognize a theme in usability issues across the web? iTunes, eBay, Facebook, etc all suffer these issues) is nearly unusable. The best way to find (search isn't even an option) and manage content is through Netflix.com - which historically is a leader in UI.

With full online support clearly available on the PS3, there is an opportunity to merge the two experiences with a Netflix-lite module that users can opt to browse through.

Very promising start that certainly makes my subscription more valuable / productive.

Wendy's Real Time: An Interactive, Social Ad Campaign About Bacon

Wendy's has been advertising their new Bacon Deluxe burger which features four strips of Applewood bacon:

So unless you love bacon, why is this interesting? Because Wendy's has been promoting the burger heavily in an interactive campaign that runs on prominent websites like ESPN and Gizmodo - and concurrent to a large television campaign... and that the campaign is billed as "Wendy's Real Time" - a play on the real time web and their focus on "real burger" taste.

The takeaway (which I moved up from the bottom of the post) is that this is a unique and interesting swing at real time advertising / branding... but it is too dynamic and too big. The interactions and user experience would be greatly simplified if they integrated with Twitter's OAuth and also with Facebook Connect. Why ask people to leave Wendys.com to post, interact, etc. Make it simple up front and then push the data both directions: on Wendys.com and on Twitter / Facebook (both of which have clear benefits).

Below is a screenshot of an expansion leaderboard ad that features the burger and invites you to "view Wendy's real time":

The leaderboard retracts into a traditional size, but it is also matched by a skyscraper with similar messaging:

The ad takes you to the "real time" experience - which is a mix of Twitter updates, user photos and videos, Wendy's messaging, etc. It is cooler than it is effective (or even decipherable) - content is dynamic and constantly moving, but much of it is neither about Wendy's nor bacon.

When you click on a post, it expands the Twitter message and displays the user's Twitter information (allowing you to follow him / her).

The video experience is easier to digest and the incentives for posting are more clear: hamburgers for a year. By posting videos of your Wendy's experience, you are eligible for the contest. The UI is slick and this content clearly be reusable for other campaigns (such as on Facebook).

Finally, Wendy's encourages you to Talk Bacon with their Twitter account (@urBaconMeCrazy).

The Facebook Halloween Costume

This clip from the office is great. And if you don't find this funny, then you clearly aren't as geeky as I am:

Live Streaming Heidi Klum's Halloween Party with Modelinia & Facebook

Two weeks ago, I wrote about Modelinia's Facebook contest that gave creative fans the opportunity to spend Halloween with Heidi Klum at her famous Halloween Costume Party.

Tonight, everyone has the opportunity to spend Halloween with Heidi Klum thanks to Modelinia's live stream of the party on their Facebook fan page.

TechCrunch covered the live stream and provided a great overview of the event and how to join:

You can find the live stream on Modelinia’s Facebook page starting at 9 PM PT tonight. The streaming itself is being handled by Livestream, who will run it through 11:30 PM, we’re told. Klum’s Facebook fan page along with Modelinia’s page have nearly 700,000 fans, so if you do watch this, you definitely won’t be alone. And there’s a chat widget running next to the stream to talk with others watching it.

To participate, become a fan of Modelinia on Facebook and watch the live stream there - or below: