DC Interactive Group’s SmartMarketing Blog

Is it nearly impossible for you to go a couple hours without checking Facebook? Do you check Twitter on your phone before you get out of bed? You’re not alone.

In a recent article on SFGate.com, 1,000 were people surveyed by Retrevo, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) in order to grasp the hold social media currently has. Some of the numbers:

“18 percent of those under 25, and 11 percent over 25, said they can’t stay away from Facebook for more than a couple of hours without checking.

And 61 percent under 25, and 55 percent over 25, check Facebook at least once daily.

Also, 28 percent of iPhone owners check or update Twitter before they get out of bed in the morning. And 26 percent check or tweet before they turn on their TV. That leads to the 23 percent who rely on Twitter for their morning news.”

Click here for the full SF Gate article.

How often are you using social media? Whether you work in the industry or not, it’s important to remember that it’s good to unplug every once in a while.

Demi and Cooper is excited to announce that we will be closing for three months beginning July 1, 2010 to support Charles Falls, President, as he competes on NBC’s "The Apprentice: Season 10." Falls was selected at an open casting call held March 1, and after an extensive interview process and business review, received word that he will be one of the contestants last week.

"I attended the casting call on a whim. Clients and associates had told me that I would make a good contestant, and I happened to be in Chicago the day of the call," said Falls. "The Donald was friendly, and much shorter in person than I’d imagined. And his hair is as interesting in person as it is on TV."

Season 10 begins filming July 1, and this season offers a new twist: contestants can rely on a team of employees for research, brainstorming, and support. So Demi and Cooper will take a break from all work to assist Falls as he earns his standing as Donald Trump’s next Apprentice.

"I simply couldn’t ask for a better team of people standing behind me," said Falls. "And all clients have approved the scheduled pause in work, since this will certainly get them extra exposure once the show airs."

Falls explained that he plans to wear ties that display Demi and Cooper client logos, and he will mention clients by name at every opportunity. "For example, ‘Well, The Donald, when this same situation happened at Sherman Hospital, one of the best community hospitals in the nation, here is what we did…’"

"The Apprentice: Season 10" will air beginning in September. Stay tuned for more information as we approach our scheduled closing, and be prepared to cheer Falls on.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end…now please note the post date of the article!

Facebook has undergone several changes in recent months, making a difference in how brands build their presence on the social media site. There are implications to these changes that businesses should be aware of.

News Feeds have changed

Facebook no longer defaults to the most recent updates for the news feed. Instead, it opts to display posts that have the most interaction, including comments and “likes.” While it still offers the live news feed as an option, it is no longer the default. This means you will need to make sure that people care about what you are posting and are participating in your message to guarantee a spot on your audience’s news feeds.

Email will soon be an option

Originally, Facebook had hidden user email addresses; however, it will soon be allowing developers access to these users’ verified email addresses. Obviously, email is an important tool to marketers and a positive way to reconnect with old fans or friends that may have fallen to the wayside.

Brands gain more control on application appearance

The application canvas pages have removed the Facebook header, allowing brands to make better use of the page to be more customized. Users can still return to Facebook via a link near the top of the page, but the removal of the header has given brands significant control over how they are able to portray themselves to customers.

The “share” option is more dynamic

Facebook will be enhancing its share button to include a counter displaying the number of times a piece of content has been shared by users. For brands that have a large audience, this is a positive development and really allows them to leverage the word of mouth aspect of Facebook. Facebook will essentially be doing more of the work to make your content social.

The Open Graph

In the near future, Facebook will allow every webpage the potential to become a fan page. Soon, users will be able to fan not only your company or brand, but also a specific product, page, movie or SKU. Not only will users be able to fan these separate elements, but they will also show up in users’ profiles and in search results. This is one of the most significant changes that Facebook will be making in the near future.

These changes will allow brands to leverage more control over their message and perception on Facebook’s platform, making it easier to engage customers and build personal relationships. For brands that can manage to stay ahead of the curve, 2010 should bring a positive wave of social media for strong brands.

See the “share” button at the bottom of this post? It’s thanks to AddThis, the “#1 Bookmarking & Sharing Service.” You might already be aware of the button and may in fact use it on your blog posts, but you may not know that it can be placed into the HTML code of your email as well.

Whether you’re sending an email to one or thousands of people, utilizing an AddThis share button makes it easy for the recipients of your email to pass your information along. It’s just up to you to have captivating content!

Here’s a screen capture of what you’ll see. Click to enlarge.

To add the button to your email, you’ll want to click on the ‘more options’ link at the bottom, then specify you’d like to use the button in an email newsletter. From that point you just choose the design of the button and the link of the article you’re sharing, and you’re good to go!

Setting up an account is free and anayltics are provided by AddThis, so you’ll easily see if taking advantage of their share buttons is worth your time. If your content is interesting, chances are it’ll be well worth the couple extra minutes.

From its inception, advertising has been used to sell everything: shoes, food, cars, charities and even causes.  That’s because in its most simple form, advertising simply connects those with a need with those who can fulfill that need.  Suffering from credit card debt? Here’s a debt relief program.  Pipes clogged?  Meet Draino.  Looking for public bathrooms?  There’s an app for that.

But “needs” aren’t always obvious if you’re just looking at your product/service as a solution.  Indeed, nobody “needs” a 5,000 sq foot home, or a $1,500 watch.  What those markets “need” are things that demonstrate their importance to themselves and others.

These psychological needs are really the foundation on which much of today’s advertising is built.  And it works really, really well.

So well, in fact, that when Columbia looked for ways to persuade rebels to drop their arms and turn themselves in, they turned to TV advertising.  Yes, TV.  But their spots didn’t criticize the rebels’ cause.  They didn’t try to tell convince them that they were in a losing battle.  Instead, they attacked their pyschological need for freedom which wasn’t being met by being a guerrilla.

Many in-depth interviews with former guerrillas made it clear to the government that the best way to get rebels to quit was to shine a spotlight on what was upsetting to them in their current situation.  The life of a rebel isn’t pretty.  Sure, they had money from drug dealing and other things to have plasma TVs with satellite service, good food and other trappings.  But they also were always hiding, always running and always fearing for their lives.  Some had families that they couldn’t even see for fear of getting those members killed.  They weren’t free, despite the fact that they were fighting for freedom.

So Columbia used an advertising agency to produce TV spots that focused on the needs of these rebels to get their lives back — basically to get their freedom back.  The spots, using actual rebels who turned themselves in, highlighted the feelings these men had when they had to kill a commander and an innocent couple.  Another rebel spoke of the disappointment he felt when he had to miss another birthday being celebrated by his child.  A third described the empty feeling he had when he had to bury his best friend.  The ads end with “Think about it.  There’s another life.  Demobilization is the way out.”

Since the agency knew the rebels watched soccer, these spots ran almost exclusively during soccer matches.  In addition to getting rebels to turn themselves in, the media buy had an added bonus of showing non-rebels that the government was serious (and humane) in its effort to end the guerrilla warfare.

The results?  In 1999, there were as many as 30,000 rebels.  After the aggressive program began in 2002, that number is now down to an estimated 5,000 — despite new recruits.  In fact, one of the most recent spots touts that 8,900 rebels have quit.  And much of the success is due to the fact that they did not advertise to the obvious need (quit the warfare), but rather to the rebels innate need to secure their freedom.