Facebook Taps Consumer Card†

Social Networking Site Wants to Know More Than Just Who Your Friends Are

Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2010 — Facebook Inc. announced an ambitious plan to get its tentacles further out into the Internet by better linking people, places and things, as it looks to turn a massive audience into a pool of well-understood consumers.

A centerpiece of the changes involves a simple button, offered to other Web sites, that says "Like." For free, other Web sites can install a Facebook "Like" button that users can click on to signal their interest in a piece of content, such as a band, article or particular pair of sunglasses. The user's approval then shows up on his or her Facebook page, with a link back to the site.

Marketers Watch as Friends Interact Online†

Using Data From Social Networking Sites, Companies Are Able to Target Ads to Like-Minded Acquaintances of Customers

Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2010 — Birds of a feather flock together. Or, in the Internet age, a customer's friend is a potential customer.

Embracing those truisms, some big marketers, including Sprint and eBay, are turning to small start-ups to help them tap social-networking data to find would-be clients among the friends and acquaintances of existing customers, to the dismay of some privacy advocates.

Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead

The Atlantic, March 1, 2010 — The Grateful Dead Archive, scheduled to open soon at the University of California at Santa Cruz, will be a mecca for academics of all stripes: from ethno­musicologists to philosophers, sociologists to historians. But the biggest beneficiaries may prove to be business scholars and management theorists, who are discovering that the Dead were visionary geniuses in the way they created “customer value,” promoted social networking, and did strategic business planning

Mountain Dew Crowd Sources Product Design

MediaPost Publications, December 15, 2009 — Mountain Dew collaborated with passionate soft drink fans to create three products that will hit store shelves in April 2010. Through social media, grassroots campaigns and in-home trials, the company determined products, flavor, color, tastes, advertising and brand message.

Burberry Looks Online for Ways to Gain Customers

New York Times, November 9, 2009 — Angela Ahrendts still remembers when she bought her first Burberry trench coat. She was 21 years old, had just finished her studies in Indiana and was looking for a smart but warm coat to wear for her first job at a small men’s wear firm in New York.

Those raincoats, a 95-year-old fashion icon, remain Burberry’s best-selling item, and Ms. Ahrendts — who now runs the company — is hoping to move the quintessentially British brand into the age of the Internet to attract a new generation of shoppers.

For Moms, Offline Friends Still Wield Heavy Brand Influence†

Study: Social Media Is Kept, Well, Social, While Marketers' Website Become Important Tool for Product Info

Advertising Age, November 6, 2009 — Technology's influence is widely assumed to have morphed the over-the-fence backyard chat into mommy blogs and Twitter networks. But when moms are seeking product advice, it's not all social-media all the time. A study due out next week from the Parenting Group found that while moms are avid web and social-media users, they still turn to family and friends first, whether by phone, e-mail or in-person, when making decisions about product purchases

The next 15 trends in social networking

Smart Company, July 14, 2009 — There is no hotter trend in the internet, marketing and media space than social networking. What started out as a way for ‘cool kids’ to talk to each other has now become essential part of every company’s marketing strategy.

Beware Social Media Marketing Myths

MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook are all the rage, but for most business owners there are better ways to stay close to customers

BusinessWeek, May 26, 2009 — Comedian Jim Gaffigan has a suggestion for preparing a Hot Pockets frozen entrée: "Take out of package. Place directly in toilet." Gaffigan is not a big fan of Hot Pockets. He doesn't like exercise, either. But he loves bacon. "Without bacon, no one would even know what a water chestnut is," he says. Gaffigan's also a fan of social networking sites.

You'll see him on Facebook, Twitter, and News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace. He keeps fans up to date on his concerts, albums, TV appearances—and naps. In short, he's a social networking success story. For a one-man band like Gaffigan, who probably has a decent amount of free time between eating bacon and being on stage, social networks and blogs have proved effective vehicles for marketing his business and... continue reading

Nielsen: Facebook use outstrips e-mail

The Deal, April 22, 2009 — In the last year, people somehow found a way to spend 73% more time on Facebook Inc. and other social networking sites, if that were possible.

The stat comes from Nielsen Co.'s The Global Online Media Landscape, released Wednesday. In February, Nielsen found, people used social network sites more than they used Web-based e-mail for the first time ever.

Study: ROI May Be Measurable in Facebook, MySpace After All†

Package-Goods Brand Earns $1.28 Million in Sales From $1 Million Social-Media Campaign

Advertising Age, April 13, 2009 — Package-goods brands are still cautious about social media, figuring that the return on investment can't be accurately measured. After all, marketing on Facebook or MySpace might generate a conversation but not necessarily a sale. Now, however, a method is emerging to relate one to the other, potentially eliminating a major impediment.