We Are Social's Monday Mashup #100
People talk about the defining moments of the 20th century: the Treaty of Versailles, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Well here at We Are Social, we think Mashup #100 is a pretty momentous occasion, and with Christmas just around the corner, we thought we’d bring out the perfect present – all 100 mashups, hand-bound into a hardback book by one of our interns.
You can see the making of the book here, and there’ll be more purchase info tomorrow. In the meantime here’s this week’s mashup…
Social networks used by over three quarters of consumers
A new study from Ofcom produced some interesting findings about the state of social:
Social networking is a global phenomenon, with over three quarters of consumers in the markets we surveyed saying that they have visited a social networking site, with the majority saying they visit them on a daily basis. This is much higher among 18-24 year olds, with eight in ten (83 per cent) visiting on a daily basis.
Social networking sites are most popular in Italy, with 91 per cent ever having visited and a quarter visiting over five times a day (24 per cent), while in the UK eight out of ten (79 per cent) have ever visited with one in five visiting over five times a day.
UK consumers are more likely to access social networking sites on a mobile phone than other countries, with 43 per cent of those with social networking site profiles saying they do so compared to just 30 per cent in the US.
More widely, the UK is Europe’s most digitally aware nation (second only to America) and this is underlined by Britons spending more time online, owning more smartphones and even watching more TV online.
Nonetheless, perhaps the most interesting graph in the whole report is how different age groups use social media to share news. The graph underscores how young people are ‘always active’:
Companies look to expand social media spend in 2012
An interesting bit of research from Grant Thornton highlighting how although just 43% of companies worldwide currently use social media, 61% plan to increase their usage, with it breaking down by country as follows:
The quicker growth amongst BRIC countries is backed up by the latest research from KPMG, which suggests that brands are keen to use social media in those markets as a cheap and effective way to boost brand awareness.
Judging by another survey, it seems the increased spend will go – unsurprisingly – mainly on Facebook and Twitter campaigns:
Facebook profits hit 1 billion – and flotation nears
According to Gawker, Facebook will make one billion Dollars in profit in the calendar year 2011 – double its profits from the previous year. More to the point, it’s limited outgoings means Facebook is swimming in cash.
These extraordinary profit figures mean that if and when a Facebook flotation does come, the social network will be valued at a least 100 billion Dollars. And that’s a lot of money.
Facebook Timeline now available worldwide and on mobile…
A long time after it was announced, Facebook Timeline is finally available worldwide. Once users activate Timeline, they get a seven-day review period to check what goes on the Timeline before it goes public. Timeline is also now available on iPhone, Android and Mobile Web.
Brands try to make the most of Timeline
Although Brand Pages don’t yet have Timelines, a couple of brands are already getting involved: both Mountain Dew and Volkswagen have added a tab to their Pages where users can download images and use them as cover images for their Timeline. Nifty.
Facebook considering new ad formats
AdAge reports that at the end of March, Facebook is planning its first push into mobile advertising – by putting Sponsored Stories into the mobile News Feed. It’s an interesting development as Facebook believes its userbase will be growing on mobile, meaning that this is almost certainly the first of several steps.
Judging by a post on Inside Facebook, the social network has also launched a new premium ad unit, allowing brands to post Coupons on their Pages and then push these through traditional Facebook social ads. This could be great for establishments like restaurants and bars.
LinkedIn launches Polls in Groups
LinkedIn last week launched Polls within their private Groups – a development they dub as ‘the easiest way to join the professional conversation’. They’ve clearly never spoken to anyone in real life.
New Google+ updates and changes to Hangouts
With the end of the year just a few days away, Google have decided to launch some new updates to Google+. First up, they’ve added the option to ‘change the volume’ of Circles, so that the overall stream can be better weighted to your interests:
They’ve also updated Brand Pages in a really positive way: they can now have multiple admins with a notification flow to enhance Page management, and they also have launched an aggregated count of all users who have engaged with a Page:
They’ve also launched a whole range of updates for Hangouts including video Hangouts on mobile which are designed to make them more accessible.
But how effective this all is, is rather questionable: for all Britney Spears now has a million followers, it’s hard to escape the truth: nobody cares. After Google Wave and Google Buzz, it’s like oops I did it again.
Miso launches a superb update
Social TV startup Miso has launched a nice update called Sideshows:
Basically, it’s a slideshow of additional content that can be synchronized to run alongside a TV show. In one example, Smillie showed a fan-created, fashion-focused SideShow for Gossip Girl. When a notable outfit appeared on screen, the SideShow would bring up a card with more information about the clothes, as well as an image and an online shopping link. Another example was a demo that SideShow created for MTV’s high school comedy Awkward. As a song played during show, Miso brought up a card with the title, artist, and a link to the song on Spotify.
In some ways, this may seem like an update to the on-screen captions and annotations that TV shows and DVDs have experimented with in the past. But the SideShows are more interactive, since they’re connected to the Web. And because they’re on your phone (it’s only available on the iPhone initially), they don’t interfere with the TV image itself.
It’s a tremendous update because it means that brand can socialise product placement in TV programmes, and really link their marketing strategy together.
MySpace now not even in the top 10 UK social networks
The decline of MySpace was again confirmed this week when it dropped out of the top 10 UK social networks – replaced by StumbleUpon. That it has been overtaken by StumbleUpon, one of the most useless websites around, is the final nail in the coffin. Time to be put out of its misery methinks.
Banks begin to use social data to decide credit ratings
An interesting – if somewhat scary – report from Betabeat on how banks might try to tap into customers’ social data in the future. Privacy is important to most social media users, and these development are somewhat worrying – essentially, your credit rating could depend as much on your friends as what you yourself do.
KLM to introduce in-flight matchmaker zone
KLM’s latest social campaign is one of the most brilliant ideas I’ve heard all year: customers will be allowed to see fellow passengers’ social media profiles, and based on their interests can choose to sit together.
This could go well, or really, really badly. And that’s what makes it so brilliant.
BrandAlley predicts 5% of sales in 2012 will come through F-Commerce
The success of sales directly through their Facebook Pages has led BrandAlley to predict that 5% of revenue next year will come directly from F-Commerce. Impressive.
Capital One offer bonus rewards based on Klout score
Capital One have launched a Christmas promotion with Klout to reward cardholders, offering bonus rewards based on individual Klout scores. This means that everyone who participates – with a Klout score of 10 to a Klout score of 100 – gets some form of bonus rewards based on their influence.
Heineken launch social Christmas tree – and hire We Are Social
Heineken have launched a Facebook campaign where fans can send a Merry Christmas message to 16 friends in a sendable graphic. These messages will then come alive on a real tree in Singapore.
In even more exciting news, Heineken have hired We Are Social (that’s us…) to work on Bulmers and Jacques, two of their cider brands. We’re looking forward to working together.
Sherlock Holmes film utilises Stephen Fry’s Twitter following
It’s not original using celebrities for endorsements, even in social, but this one caught our eye for its inventiveness: Stephen Fry has been posting Holmes-esque cryptic clues on his Twitter channel to promote the new Sherlock Holmes film, and the first person to crack them each day wins a prize. A good campaign, well executed, without any elementary mistakes.
All Saints reaches out to fashion bloggers
All Saints is to expand the number of UK bloggers it works with in a bid to drive greater advocacy. They will focus on nurturing partnerships with fashion fanatics.
Dunkin’ Donuts new Foursquare campaign
Dunkin’ Donuts are offering quite a cool Foursquare sweepstake in the New York area. If users connect their Foursquare account on the DD Facebook Page, they become eligible to win a whole host of prizes in-store. Nice.
Sweden lets citizens take over its Twitter account
In a bold move, Sweden is letting ordinary citizens take over its Twitter account and curate it for a week at a time. While this will obviously drive PR value, it could also go disastrously wrong. That’s the beauty of it.
Republicans compete to spend more on Twitter
Republican Presidential rivals Rick Perry and Mitt Romney seem to be competing as to who can spend more on Promoted Tweets. The real-time opportunities of Promoted Tweets is what seems to appeal to the different candidates.