HBO Goes digital in a move that may presage wholesale change in television, McDonalds gets more vocal, LEGO ends promotion after Greenpeace protests, Stickers are all the rage on Facebook, Twitter explains its suggested tweets strategy, social login rates across the web, improving how we value data, Whisper tacitly admits it's not so anonymous, Uber and Lyft claim another victim, the power shift between CIO and CMO, crafting a global digital strategy and more, it's This Week in Digital.
A roundup of relevant links affecting our industry.
Each week, I compose a newsletter that includes a series of links about current events and trends in the worlds of technology, social media, mobile, digital communications and marketing in order to keep leaders up to date on changes, newsworthy items and content that might be useful in your job. And now you have the option of just subscribing to this newsletter if you wish.
If you’re on Flipboard, you can get these links by subscribing to the This Week in Digital Magazine.
Industry
- Last week, we saw digital go traditional with Amazon's foray into a physical storefront. Now we see the opposite, as HBO will offer a web-only subscription option in 2015. (re/code)
- How much things have changed in a year and a half, when HBO originally said it wasn't ready for web subscriptions. (Deadline)
- As we were editing this edition, we were prepared to say that other networks would be looking at their models, and lo and behold, CBS announced that it will be creating an online subscription service, called CBS All Access. (TechCrunch)
- If social media doesn't tie well to the objectives of marketing departments, then maybe it's time to stop social media marketing and give others in the enterprise an opportunity to leverage it. (Experience: The Blog)
- Email marketing, search and webrooming are all forces to take into account as you think about targeting customers and beating the competition in mobile commerce. (Econsultancy)
- In an attempt to turn around lagging sales and boost its brand image, McDonalds is taking to social media to directly answer questions about its food. (Bloomberg)
- The company has even released a McDonalds Ambassador app for anyone who wants to be more informed about the company or its products. The app includes the ability to submit questions and search through answered questions. (iTunes)
- Speaking of ambassadors, here's a quick summary of what life as a brand ambassador is like. I can attest. (Seth Godin)
- LEGO has announced it is ending its 40-year co-promotion deal with Shell following
an extortion efforta PR campaign by Greenpeace to ban Arctic oil exploration by attacking firms associated with such activities. (Science 2.0) - Nestle has traditionally had one of the best digital immersion plans of any global company. Now 4 years in, here's a look at how some of its digerati - and the program - have fared. (AdAge)
Platforms
- Facebook's app strategy has been less than a home run so far. Will their anonymous app change that record? (Digiday)
- Not to worry; the social network rolled out Stickers within comments this week. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse were not in the Sticker Store. (AllFacebook)
- Facebook IQ, the company's insights unit, has released a study that indicates marketing to millennials is flawed and fails to acknowledge the vast differences in this group. (Brand Republic)
- The latest available Twitter card for media integration is for audio, beginning with SoundCloud and iTunes, in which users can play audio directly inside of tweets. (Twitter and The Verge)
- Twitter is finally explaining why they're placing suggested tweets in your timeline. Bottom line: they'd like to keep users more engaged, so they'll include content when your feed is slow or with related material that you might like. (re/code)
- 10 Twitter tips, hacks and tricks that you probably didn't know. (AllTwitter)
- Marketers are spending more time wooing top Instagram photographers to cover their events. (NY Times)
- A platform-by-platform look at what works and what doesn't work in social media. (The American Genius)
- YouTube videos on Facebook are lagging as Facebook's own video platform is taking a lead. (Mashable)
- Social logins across the web are tracked in this study, and it looks like Facebook is taking the lead, with 46% of sites preferring it; Google is second and is leading with B2B site logins. The study also looks at sites from other verticals such as media, entertainment and gaming, retail, music and more. (Janrain)
Metrics / Measurement / Big Data
- All that data that you throw off every day: the groceries you buy, the places you go, the people you interact with - what is it worth? At this point, companies have better accounting for their office furniture than their information assets. (WSJ)
- If you'd like to get better at understanding what to do with all of that data, here are four options at your disposal to get benchmarks that will give you invaluable context. (Occam's Razor)
- The convergence of physical and digital is inevitable, and the data that comes with it is extremely valuable - hence, Amazon's decision to open a store in Manhattan and the need for retailers to pay closer attention to what matters. (Twist Image)
- Smart marketers like Ditto are already figuring out how to use the images you take that include brand logos. (WSJ)
- The excellent CMO and the Cloud series continues with Part 5 and Part 6. (Olivier Blanchard)
Legal / HR
- Red Bull is paying a $13 million penalty in a class action lawsuit because of false advertising. The charge? Its popular energy drink didn't provide health benefits as stated. In other words, they didn't actually give customers wings. (The Week)
- The Guardian revealed how "anonymish" app Whisper actually tracks its users, which Whisper called "not true" and "false." And then Whisper suddenly changed its terms of service and privacy policy. (Guardian)\
Content
- Want a winning headline strategy? Try a little empathy. (The Next Web)
- Yahoo and Tumblr have learned some lessons from working with branded content, including the importance of not talking about yourself, scale, consistency and mobile optimization. (Contently)
- Hubspot's recent IPO was significant, in that inbound marketing - backed by content generation - is a key aspect of the future of marketing. (Venture Beat)
- If you're trying to ascertain your investment in and impact of your content, the ebook The ROI of Content Marketing is a must-read. (SHIFT Communications)
Essential Reading / Listening / Watching
- The Collaborative Economy continues to make inroads into traditional business. Hailo, the cab hailing app, is leaving North America, citing competition with Uber and Lyft. (Valleywag)
- And for a tale of Shakespearean proportions, check out the disruption that the taxi industry in San Francisco is suffering because of a business model (and customers) that have been neglected for years. (Web Strategy)
- The shift of power from CIO to CMO is under way as CIOs begin to be relegated to a supportive role rather than a strategic role. A look at how we've arrived at this juncture and where things are headed. [Spoiler: if you're a CIO, it doesn't look good.] (CIO)
- If you'd like a lesson in how to build a global digital strategy, Johnson & Johnson's example is a fine one to study. (McKinsey)
- The latest study from ShareThis indicates that timeliness around events is critical, as consumers are 5X more likely to share content within 24 hours of an event. Also worth noting is that channels are context-dependent, mobile is an early driver of engagement and that tablets are the true second screen. The report is embedded below. (ShareThis)
Image credit: Ruocaled (Flickr)
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