It’s no secret that smartphone users index higher for just about every key mobile activity than those with feature phones. But the growth in social networking usage among smartphone users has been truly eye-popping. According to a recent study from Nielsen, the number of smartphone users engaging in social networking activities shot up 187% from July 2008 to July 2009, nearly tripling from 6.4 to 18.3 million users in total.

What’s even more interesting is that mobile users have begun to display similar
frequency and time spent patterns as those accessing the leading social networks
from their PCs. As I discussed in my “Mobile Users and Usage: It’s Personal” report, marketers, publishers and advertisers alike can get a sense of what tomorrow’s mobile media consumption landscape will look like from today’s smartphone users, and mobile social networkers in particular are on the leading edge.

Ford’s social media chief Scott Monty uses yesterday’s eMarketer article (“Hopes and Fears of Social Media Marketing”) as a jumping-off point to list his “5 Stages of Social Media Grief.” Here’s stage 1:

Denial – first stage of social media grief in which the marketer refuses to acknowledge the existence of social media. This was the case early on in the industry’s development. Luckily, I don’t think there are many companies left that think like this.
Common phrases: “It’s just a kid’s thing,” or “It’s just a fad.”
Common behaviors: avoiding the Internet, putting hands over ears and singing “I can’t heeeeeaaaarr yoooouuuuu. La la laaaaa.”

I think companies are finally moving away from the next stages — anger and bargaining — and toward acceptance. But there’s that pesky “depression” phase to watch out for in between. Where are you in the stages of social media grief?

Does this New York Times story imply even slower growth for online display advertising which is already down from $4.8 billion in 2008 to $4.6 billion in 2009, according to eMarketer estimates?

About two-thirds of Americans object to online tracking by advertisers — and that number rises once they learn the different ways marketers are following their online movements, according to a new survey from professors at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California-Berkeley. … The topic may be technical, but it has become a hot political issue. Privacy advocates are telling Congress and the Federal Trade Commission that tracking of online activities by Web sites and advertisers has gone too far, and the lawmakers seemto be listening. … Marketers are arguing that advertising supports free online content. Major advertising trade groups proposed in July some measures that they hoped would fend off regulation, like a clear notice to consumers when they were being tracked.

As Congress and the FTC weigh in on behavioral targeting, the implications for online display advertising are not great. Increasingly, marketers are turning to Facebook and other forms of social media,  behavioral targeting technologies and ad network tools to track consumers’ online behavior–their shopping, reading and browsing habits–to deliver the right kinds of messages to them with the appropriate frequency. These tools are par for the course as online advertising on the backend grows more sophisticated.

Will lawmakers place restrictions on what advertisers can and cannot do? Will they require advertisers or portals to issue disclosure statements? Whatever happens could have a significant impact on online ad growth.

Interesting from Business Week:

On Tuesday (9/29/09), Google announced that music videos by Jay-Z, Madonna, Green Day, and other Warner Music artists will return to YouTube after a nearly year-long breakdown in negotiations between the companies. The latest deal brings all four major music labels into revenue-sharing arrangements with the world’s largest video site.

This is exciting. According to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, a record £1.75 billion was spent online in the first half of 2009.

The internet now accounts for 23.5% of all advertising money spent in the UK, while TV ad spend accounts for 21.9% of marketing budgets. The IAB originally predicted that internet ad spend would overtake TV at the end of 2009; however, the crippling advertising recession accelerated this by six months. TV advertising fell about 17% year on year in the first half, to about £1.6bn, according to the report.

Naturally, we see some push-back from the TV industry.

“It is interesting but meaningless to sweep all the money spent on every aspect of online marketing into one big figure and celebrate it,” said Lindsey Clay, marketing director at Thinkbox. “Online marketing spend is made up of many things, including email, classified ads, display ads (including online TV advertising) and, overwhelmingly, search marketing. They should be judged individually.”

I suspect few interactive marketers will agree — especially when they’re credited with saving the UK ad industry from meltdown during the recession. (Via The Guardian)

One of the hardest lessons that marketers and retailers can learn in social media is when a promotion goes awry. You launch with the best of intentions–certain that a coupon or a discount will get you a whole bunch of fans–but somewhere along the line, something goes wrong. And it doesn’t take long for your new fans to become not-so-friendly.

Walgreens last week offered a free 5×7 photobook to anyone who becomes a Facebook fan by Oct. 2. As of today, Walgreens has over 200,000 fans. But when it told its new fans in an update on its Facebook wall that the free photobook actually will come with a $1.99 shipping and handling fee, the fans were not amused. They didn’t hesitate to voice their complaints on Walgreens’ Facebook page.

Sara Lee Deli, meanwhile, has been offering its new Facebook fans a $3-off coupon. But scores of them have had problems receiving the e-mail coupon, or printing it. Again, they have not been shy about expressing their frustration on Sara Lee’s Facebook page.

A similar thing happened to Starbucks a few months ago, when the company promoted its new line of pastries with a coupon offer on Facebook and other social outlets. Some stores ran out of pastries, and some consumers didn’t realize they needed to bring the coupon with them. They vented their frustrations on Facebook, Twitter and Starbucks’ own social media site.

The lesson here is that marketers and retailers must make sure a social media promotion is completely synced, both online and offline. It doesn’t take much for things to go awry. And if things do start going south, it is critical to respond positively–and quickly–and turn the negative energy back into goodwill.

I take issue with the title of a recent blog post by Greg Sterling – “Forecasts Don’t Matter, Consumers Do” – but just the title.  I agree with the substance of the post, and I appreciate the way Greg singles out eMarketer and me in particular for our cautious approach to forecasting (fair warning: I did speak to Greg extensively as I was preparing my latest mobile ad spending projections).

Greg is dead-on in underscoring that consumers should remain in focus as marketers look to mobile. Mobile usage patterns will continue to grow more sophisticated, whether ad spending forecasts go up or down. But forecasts do matter to the extent that they help marketers calibrate (and even obtain) budgets to run marketing programs to engage with mobile consumers. They are a gauge, not always a precisely accurate one, but a gauge nonetheless, and all marketers need some context for developing their plans.

Zynga reportedly contributes as much as $50 million in ad revenue to Facebook. But is it real money or is there some barter involved? Zynga drives an incredible amount of traffic and usage on Facebook. Both companies clearly benefit from Zynga’s success. As AllFacebook points out, Zynga has

“an extremely tight relationship with Facebook through private parties (which are buzzed about heavily) and through committing to large ad buys. In other words they’re helping out each other. As many developers have noticed, Zynga has managed to own entire sets of ads on a single page sometimes. In other words, all “three” advertisements on a single Facebook Page will link to Zynga’s Mafia wars game.”

Meanwhile, Zynga itself may generate as much as $200 million in revenue this year, mostly from virtual goods, but a small portion does come from advertising.

Tom Webster, VP of Strategy and Marketing, Edison Research:

Podcasting is a different dog than it was three years ago. I think it’s far from dead. If you look at the top 25 podcasts in the iTunes music store, which is responsible for 70% to 75% of their downloads, some 22 or 23 of the top 25 are big, mass-media programs.

(Read more…)

Recently I interviewed Carolyn Holba, Senior Vice President of US Marketing of Maybelline New York, who recently partnered with Sex and the City creator Candace Bushnell for an integrated marketing push and webisodes Interesting stuff:

The microsite Maybelline.com/ColorfulLife is running the Webisodes now, as well as excerpts from Candace’s novels, beauty and style tips and more. At retail, a contest call to action includes 1,200-plus Candace Bushnell custom displays in Barnes & Noble and Borders stores.

The series and the product appeal to women ages 15 and up. “The Broadroom” is a vehicle to help spread the news about our new lip color franchise, Color Sensational, which includes a palette of 48 shades designed to complement every complexion, mood or preference.

We’re excited to use this platform to help bring the Color Sensational and the Maybelline New York brands to life. This program has given us the ability to extend our brand’s DNA across multiple channels bringing different facets of it to life. Beyond our portfolio of trusted brands and our dynamic advertising, consumers can now see another side of Maybelline New York—in action with the confident women who wear our products.

The full version of this interview is available here, to eMarketer Total Access subscribers only. Every day they have access to new interviews with digital marketing leaders and trendsetting entrepreneurs.