Facebook, Spotify, Sonos and the Power of Relevance in Ads

This is among the best example of great advertising on Facebook I can find. Really is.I've seen more engaging ads. I've seen more creative or visually effective. But this is as relevant as it gets - and at the end of the day, I believe relevancy drives success. So what is it: an ad for Sonos, a product that allows me to "wirelessly play Spotify in every room of my house"

Of course it is not a coincidence that an ad for a Spotify related product appears on my Facebook timeline: I am a Spotify user. They know this and they are advertising against it. This ad is directly relevant to me and really the only reason I care to pay attention to it. It also sits beside the Spotify / Music portion of my timeline. That is equally powerful.

Note: the first screenshot is my Facebook profile page. The second screenshot is just an upclose of the Sonos ad sitting beside my Spotify unit.

Facebook Sparks Offer Virality with Sponsored Offers, Anchor Promotion

Just last week I wrote about the new Facebook Feature Posts that are being anchored atop the newsfeed (and are very lightly marked as ads). Well here is another example of the anchored ad unit but using a new format: Offers. The example is from Macy's and includes an in-line offer.

Visually it is very clearly separated, includes a big visual and a unique border (you really cannot miss this).

The ad appears both in anchor format (top screenshot) and in the actual feed. Obviously, the anchoring / promotion causes more visibility and thus virality - the examples here move from "5 friends" of 7,200 Facebook users claiming an offer to 22 friends of 26,000 users within a matter of hours.

Porsche + Facebook + Pinterest

So much is great about this: Porsche takes to Facebook to alert fans that the Macan is on Pinterest.... that drives 2,500 likes and 200 shares within 6 hours. That alone is interesting and somewhat ironic. Then go to Pinterest. Despite 10,000s of impressions of their Pinterest post on Facebook (are you following?) there are only 700 followers on Pinterest, 2 pins, and 150 Facebook Likes.

So many potential comments including: - kudos to Porsche for adopting Pinterest - the concept of driving traffic circularly across networks is far from simple - I'm not entirely sure Porsche's Facebook fans understand what Pinterest is - Which might be because Porsche's fans are male (?) or because they Like things without context (?), etc

Quirky & Cordies Demonstrates Great Packaging and the Power of Crowdsourcing

In January, I wrote a Klout-inspired piece on the impact of great packaging. I was reminded of that message when I bought this Cordies cable organizer by Quirky. Simple product that is great because of the simplicity. And while the product's design is great - the packaging is every bit as good, from the box to the booklet. It is also a testament to the why crowd sourcing efforts like KickStarter are so popular - buying products 'created' by the masses is fun and uplifting. The back of the box and the booklet describe creator (Stephen Stewart), the number of "influencers" (562 others), and their 'ownership' (it outlines how much revenue goes to each community member).

It always feels good to buy great products (strange to admit, but true). Quirky has made it feel extra special.

Facebook Rolling Out Featured Posts Atop Newsfeed

I always have to preface Facebook product updates by saying that it is an update to me! Facebook is continually rolling out new features and tests... and with 800m+ users, we all see different things. So this is new to me! For months now, the Facebook newsfeed has a sort features for Top Stories and Most Recent posts. Today, I noticed a story locked atop the feed that looked nearly identical to the others stories - except for: - a faint line separating it from the other feeds - small text that reads "featured"

When the 'featured' text is hovered over, it expands to explain that this is a sponsored story.... just appearing in a new format (see normal here) and arguably in the most prominent place of any prior Facebook ad.

This is reminiscent of Google AdWords - where top paying / converting ads appear atop the search results and the others appear on the right column. The interesting part to me is how blended and integrated (too much?) it is into the core experience.

Amazon Super Bowl Ad - A Week Later

Leading up to the Super Bowl, Amazon ran some clever sponsored story ads on Facebook asking fans to engage around the Super Bowl (will you be watching?). That of course leads to indirect transactions (clicking through takes users to a Super Bowl merchandising page)... but that is a different message than merely displaying product. And it leads to interactions:- 12,000 Facebook users liked the ad - 1,200 commented (10%) - 150 reshared it (1%)

That's unique and rather compelling. But: the ad is still running - a week later. So it's no longer relevant or even logical ("like this post if you'll be watching the game next Sunday"). I love the concept of ad timliness - but just as it's effective to promote current events (ie the Grammys are tonight!) it becomes ineffective and stale when creative isn't rotated.

Amazon Prime Instant Video Catalog Grows

Such is the online video content war: catalogs grow, compete and find their way into the homes / devices of as many eyeballs as possible.... after all, content wants to be seen and ultimately the economics for all are dictated on content being seen by as many eyeballs as possible. It's why I believe that over time libraries will exist and overlap on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, web, app stores, etc. It's inevitable... And here is:- continued proof of that trend - and yet another reason to be bullish on Amazon, Amazon Prime and Amazon Instant Video

And most importantly: Yo Gabba Gabba is now available with unlimited streaming from Amazon. Attention parents - this alone is reason enough to buy the Kindle Fire!!

Vacationist & Facebook: Great Progressive Registration Example

I write a lot about Facebook as more than an acquisition tool - it's a conversions tool, particularly through registration and activation. I bill it the "progressive registration" (read more here). Here is a terrific example from Vacationist. First, the registration box is done in a visually clever way: it hangs atop the background image and has six key fields (First Name, Last Name, etc). When the Facebook Connect button is clicked, the fields change, are all prepopulated except for zip code and the title changes from "Become a Vacationist today" to "Register with Facebook". All that is required to do is enter a zip code and press Register.

One other interesting piece: if I had any Facebook friends on Vacationist, they would appear directly next to the register button. Right now it just says "0 friends" (probably better to hide that!).

Make Your Content Accessible on Mobile - All Devices, All Formats. ESPN's Gamecast as Example.

I write a lot about tailoring your web experience for the environments where it is (and can) be used. That is particularly important for mobile which has its own UI needs, requirements, opportunities and challenges. Here is the latest example.

ESPN has done a good job creating product & content for specific environments and devices. Example here. While that is an effective treatment - this is not. When 'watching' an ESPN Gamecast on the iPad (which is an excellent product) - it requires you to watch it in landscape mode. There is literally no content and no experience otherwise. Even if ESPN believes that landscape is the best way to view Gamecast, you would think that they would either create a light version or showcase some other content? Very strange.