Month: April 2015
An Ad-Free Social Network: Say Ello!
Have you heard of Ello? Although it’s still in beta version, it’s one of the upcoming social networks that’s creating a stir. As we become more aware of social media advertising and marketers keep spending more and more money on promoting their message on social media, Ello’s creators have promised to not data mine, meaning no advertising to users on the site. Ello has agreed to never make money from selling ads, nor will it profit from selling user data. Is this too good to be true? How will users adopt the site? Although you can only access the site by invitation, the notion of an ad-free network is appealing to many.
Whether or not the channel actually plays out and becomes a large social media network, I feel that it will change the expectation for other social media sites. Ello plans on making money by selling widgets and apps that will allow users to customize their profile. While I am against having to pay to access a social media site, I would be apt to being able to have a free profile and then adding on as needed. This will give marketers the opportunity to fully customize their site and make it a destination for their audience. Instead of pushing ads to consumers, marketers will need to hone in on what is important to their audience and make their Ello page engaging, entertaining, and relevant, forcing marketers to rely on content resources instead of just increasing their budgets.
As Ello grows in popularity, other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter will have to take Ello’s ad-free stance into consideration. Just like capitalism, if consumers are wanting what Ello is offering as opposed to what Facebook and Twitter are offering, these sites will decrease in popularity and will have to make changes in order to keep with what the audience is demanding.
While I think that the ad-free concept is great, I am not completely convinced on how people will respond to having to purchase widgets and apps for their profile. Because we are so accustomed to not paying anything in order to be a part of social networking sites, that will be an adjustment. Personally, unless the widgets are really cool and really cheap (less than a dollar), I don’t think I would want to purchase any. If the majority of users on the site are not willing to purchase these widgets and Ello has already agreed to be ad-free and not sell data mining, Ello will have to find new ways to be profitable. I feel like this is a make or break for the channel. I don’t feel like we will really know what the site until it is out of beta mode. Ello is doing a good thing by bringing up the idea of an ad-free network and I wish them the best of luck.
CPR, Dogs & Running Shoes: Reputation Management Lessons from Pearl Izumi
A person giving a dog CRP to promote running shoes? Doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. As social media as continued to evolve and become widely adapted, marketers have been taking the opportunity to use their social media voice to market to consumers. While being able to promote your brand in a social environment and having the ability to have a real conversation with your customer is a very positive thing, the actions that some brands have took on social media have ended up damaging the brand’s reputation.
In a 2013 Canadian running magazine, Pearl Izumi, a high-quality running shoe designer released an add that showed a runner (wearing Pearl Izumi running shoes) having to give his dog CPR. While the ad was actually created for and distributed in a print publication, consumers took to social media to voice their concerns and opinions regarding the advertisement. This is significant because it shows that even though the ad was in print, consumers reach out to social media to voice their concerns and get their message across to the brand. The brand definitely took some hard hits on social media:
As an animal lover, the ad was offensive to me. Because many people feel a special bond with animals, why would a company want to post an ad that makes people feel empathy for a dog that has passed away? Personally, that did not make we want to purchase new running shoes! What were they thinking?
Pearl Izumi responded by pulling the ad from all future publications as well as issuing an apology on their Facebook page. In addition to the apology, the company donated $10,000 to the Boulder Valley Humane Society in Colorado (where the US corporate offices are located). While I do feel that they were sincere with their apology and attempted to “put their money where their mouth is” by making the $10,000 donation, I feel that they could have took the opportunity to educate their audience (while the audience was being extra attentive to the brand) about the proper way to run with dogs. Because dogs can’t tell you that they are exhausted and need to take a break, there actually have been instances where dogs have ran themselves to death trying to keep up with their owner. While this is a very unfortunate circumstance that people don’t want to think about, it happens. Since Pearl Izumi already opened up this can of worms, why not take the opportunity to educate and help prevent actual occurrences like this from happening?
Since the reputation blunder, Pearl Izumi has posted more photos of man’s best friend- only this time, they have been more careful about their posts!
The Social Potter 