Information at our fingertips was the old black. Information at our fingertips — wherever our fingertips actually are — is the new black. Worldwide sales of smartphones in 2009 were almost at 175 million and increasing rapidly. Of course, as advertisers, we'd love to reach out to consumers on this media. However, internet on the desktop and internet on the handheld machine were not created equal. Here are a few general key differences:

1. Pageviews and visits will be much lower on smartphones than the desktop/laptop. People browse and hang out on the internet; people use smartphones only when it's convenient and only to look up specific information and then put it away once they're done.

2. Consumers are more understanding of ads on mobile, probably because these ads do not interfere with the main content as much as ads on a regular browser which can create angry backlash by way of expandables, full-page overlays and sound that automatically plays when the ad loads… yet.

3. Quantifying results on mobile is not nearly as easy as quantifying results on desktop. There is no DFA/DFP type of program that exists on mobile today. Each publisher has their own impression and click numbers, sometimes making it difficult for the advertiser to assess the effectiveness of mobile campaigns.

We've worked on a number of multilingual sites over the last few years, each coming with its own set of challenges. Often it's easy to underestimate the extra amount of work an additional language will add. Design is the main area that needs to be considered, but it's also important not to forget about messaging and quality assurance.

Design needs to take into account the different amount of space each language will need to say the same thing. Problem areas include menus, dialogs and buttons. For example, on any given button, the text in French will be four times wider than in Chinese; this means that not only will the button have to be wider, but its container also needs to be able to accommodate the extra length.

There are roughly four main language groups:

• English: 100% width
• European: on average 130% wider than English
• Complex Scripts (Thai, Arabic, Hindi, etc.): generally about 80% of the width of English
  and can be right-to-left
• CJK (Chinese, Japanese and Korean): on average 50% of the width of English

If the design requires copy to fit tightly, then a separate layout for each language or language group is the best option. The alternative is a design with built-in flexibility to handle variations in content width. Designing for the longest language, and allowing for the layout to contract if necessary, tends to be the best plan of attack. Trying to build a design that works for all languages, unless it's very simple, generally ends up with a poor visual result.

Messaging is easy to overlook, but there are a lot of places where error messages can be generated. There's the front-end in form validation and the back-end in Ajax responses; all the possible error, confirmation and status messages need to be translated. In addition, Quality Assurance needs to test every combination in every language – and if several languages are involved, the amount of work can really add up.

Multilingual sites can be straightforward if they've been well planned, but it's never a case of just dropping in replacement copy over the English text!

You think about the future? Can you see it?

• The tablets are here. iPad is just the beginning.
• My 18 month old son is using a touch screen every day.
• Social networks are not going away. They will grow.
• It's true: The Semantic Web will change everything.
• The Cloud is real and powerful. Where is your data?
• Think your industry is different from music and publishing?
• Are you really thinking for a living? I hope so.
• Do you like to do what you did yesterday? You will loose.
• Don't like the 30 second spot? You can make it go away.
• I will choose my advertisements. I pull the information I want.
• Change is not optional. Commuting is. Ask for change. Today.

As we see more and more ad dollars move to online, everyone is rushing to make their mark in the webspace. Of course, the current source of online media right now is social marketing, and one of the most common question for brands in this area is which to use: Facebook or Twitter?

Keep in mind that not only are these two different platforms but that you're also reaching slightly different audiences with each. That being said, depending on your product or service, both or either of these community sites could be a great way for consumers with a common passion for your brand to get together and have you push news to them. Consumers joining your Facebook page is a voluntary move that is incredibly welcome in an age where people are more and more weary of spam and secretly paid sponsorships.

In a nutshell:

Facebook
- There are about 125,800,000 accounts open in the US. Of that:
12.7 million are 13-17 (10.1%)
31.1 million are 18-24 (24.7%)
31.4 million are 25-34 (25%)
21.8 million are 35-44 (17.3%)
28.8 million are 45+ (22.9%)
43.4% are male, 54.6% are female (the rest of the accounts are not specified)

Twitter
There are 100+ million registered accounts (most, however, are outside the US). According to ComScore, 30% of their users were under 25 at the end of 2009, with that number having increased about 10% since 2008. Like Facebook (and most social media sites in general), Twitter is slightly more female, but the discrepancy between female and male users isn't as large.

The few facts above touch the surface of what kind of research can be done on these sites, but it is a good start. Things are changing rapidly in the internet world; for example, on Facebook, the 35+ age group is growing the fastest.

Social media is a great tool if used effectively: dog lovers unite under the Dogasaur Facebook fan page, and the health-conscious as well as moms join the Lovin' Scoopful page. Oh, and another thing: it's easier to target peripheral audiences, like supporters of the Special Olympics, using social media if it is done correctly. A couple of months ago I contacted the marketing person running the Special Olympics Facebook page and asked him if the Special Olympics and Lovin' Scoopful could trade shout-outs just because I knew that the Special Olympics has a very broad audience and supporters would like an ice cream brand that donated to a cause they are passionate about:

Users engage by commenting on, “like”-ing and retweeting status updates and pictures while seeing relevant information that they opted in to receive. Tailor your messages to your specific audience via the specific medium; even if your entire audience is a certain demographic, your social media audience may or may not reflect the same. With the internet becoming increasingly available and portable and networking sites growing bigger and bigger, you may want to use the data above to determine how much time you should spend expanding your brand image in these areas.

It's been four long years since the last world cup took place in Germany, when Italy beat France for the prestigious cup! This Friday the referee’s whistle will mark the beginning of the first world cup of this decade, hosted for the first time in the African continent. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be in its 19^th edition and it’s scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. Soccer mania is seen everywhere: outdoor advertising, print, radio, mobile and online, with media spends this year higher than any other year.

Some of the biggest soccer stars today like: Messi, Torres, Ronaldo, Kaka, Beckham and many others will take part on the world's most-watched sporting event. According to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ / Infront Sports & Media, billions of people watched the World cup, and a good chuck of it did so in 2006 via online, from which we can only speculate that those numbers will rise tremendously this year. Here are the 2006 numbers: FIFAWorldCup.com became the most successful sports event website in history with 4.2 billion page views from June 9 - July 9 — more than double the traffic recorded during the 2002 event. More than 125 million video streams, and more than 73 million page views on the mobile web portal after FIFAWorldCup.com went mobile for the first time. So, this clearly demonstrates that the online medium has grown quite a bit and that there is a huge market that can be prove to be high lucrative to tap into.

New and existing brands that support FIFA are beginning to spend more time and money in online marketing and have come up with many different ways to capture the loyal soccer fans attention to grab a piece of the pie. It’s all about making a good and long lasting impression, capturing the most eye balls and highest participation possible. Smart branding for an event of this magnitude and scale is key!

But before taking a look at the participating brands involved in this whole marketing game, let’s see how the hosting nation is branding itself to impress the world.

In preparation to this worldwide event, South Africa spent billions of dollars to brand itself the best way possible. Five new stadiums were built for the tournament and five existing venues have been upgraded. In addition to the stadiums being built and upgraded, South Africa has also improved its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with state of the art transportation systems and projects. Hotels, restaurants, parks and many other hospitality establishments have also spent millions preparing for this big event to be ready to accommodate visitors to full capacity.

South Africa has also implemented safety and security measures for local and international tourists attending the largest event in the world. Overall, the country has invested almost $10 billion, in four years leading this event, which they hope to be a great success and view the whole thing as an investment in the long run. That’s a lot of money for a developing nation struggling with so many internal problems like health and crime. Let’s just hope that what happened to Greece at the Olympics doesn’t replicate here a few years later!

South Africa has put a lot on the line in the name of branding itself to the world the hard way, but are they investing money in social media channels the same way World Cup sponsors have?

Let’s now take a look at how well some brands are doing branding themselves particularly in the online side of the business.

Official FIFA sponsors and sports/soccer centric brands have invested a great deal of money in social media for this World Cup. All of the official World Cup sponsors (and many non-official sponsors too) have been busy working on the newest application that can connect fans with a global social media audience via Facebook and their mobile phones, the most engaging viral marketing campaign and the most fun and simple ways to engage audiences and get them to participate.

Here is a list of brands that are present at this edition of the World Cup (some of them long-standing sponsors): McDonald’s, Powerade, Continental, Sony Ericsson, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Visa, Budweiser, Emirates, Nike, Puma, Umbro, and many others. However, not all of these made the cut on my short list of brands worth mentioning that have done a great job branding themselves at this year’s World Cup with solid online marketing campaigns and should capitalize from social media. These top player brands include: Sony Ericsson, Visa, Adidas, Coca-Cola and Budweiser.

Sony Ericsson - One of the long-term sponsors of the World Cup.

Power of Twitter - With Twittercup, Sony has proven to keep it as simple as possible, with a smart Twitter campaign that tells us social media and sports are a natural fit. The Twittercup collects and counts fan tweets, creating a competition among attending nations. The good is that since its launch in December 2009, the Twittercup has already amassed 43,000 tweets, the bad is that I cannot seem to easily find this on Twitter only the Sony site.

Visa – They have replicated a social application format used during the Olympics that proved to be highly successful called: social media match planner.

Facebook App – Visa’s game planner application with ability to share with friends and leave match related comments, scores high in terms of fun and functionality.

Adidas – A World Cup sponsor heavy weight in so many levels, Adidas has been a sponsor of the game since 1954.

TV Soccer Celebrity Ads – Adidas is relying heavily on a big budget TV ads with soccer celebrities like: Kaka, Michael Ballack, Messi, Villa and Zidane called: Fast vs Fast featuring their F50 adizero boots and trying to spark social media conversation on Facebook. At almost 80,000 views thus far, the video count is quite low for a big player in the game known for killer creative ads.

Nevertheless, Adidas has a huge advantage for being a close and strategic partner of the cup with the match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, manufactured by them and provides with boots and wear to many of the players and teams, giving them perhaps the most direct exposure and appeal to a fan.

Coca-Cola – Another brand heavy weight and present at the World Cup since 1974.

Funny UGC YouTube Video Contest – Coca-Cola has taken inspiration from Roger Milla’s 1990 corner flag dance to encourage users to upload their own unique celebrations on to YouTube, the winner of get to go to the World Cup. UGC funnies have proven to be very successful and the simplest the better, so Coke scores high here. Additionally, Coca-Cola is perhaps the largest brand on Facebook with 5.5 million fans and a huge following on Twitter, where the contest is nicely supported.

Budweiser – A well-known brand with a long standing history of success on branding and a sponsored of the World Cup since 1986.

YouTube Reality Show: Budweiser United – Budweiser held a global audition via YouTube to find 32 fans from respective World Cup countries who will live together in South Africa “Real World” style. Once the Cup kicks off Budweiser will create a YouTube reality show documenting the fans as they play out their rivalries en masse. As their team is eliminated so the house member will be kicked out. The two final fans will go to the World Cup final and the winner will present the Budweiser man of the match trophy to the best player. Facebook will play a supporting a strong supporting role.

This one can prove to be the most creative social media campaign that promises to have a lot of legs, since it uses the two strongest channels in social media to replicate a reality show that was very compelling and successful among fans altogether, and may take reality shows to a new level and platform.

What do you think?

Who is faring the best in Social Media?

How well has South Africa done preparing for this colossal event? Have they neglected social media?

Share your thoughts!

We're moving into an era where the line between companies and consumers is becoming more and more blurred. Social media sites like FB and Twitter allow companies to connect with the consumer quickly and on a familiar platform; review sites like Yelp and C-Net pit consumers against or with companies in order to keep companies on track with good business practices and good products; and of course, bloggers are able to reach the masses and over time become trusted resources for news and reviews.

Bloggers are all the rage lately. Anyone can have a blog with an internet connection. You can blog about ANYTHING (hell, I even have a blog about cookies!). And lots of people love to talk — they just need listeners. There are varying degrees of bloggers, too; each topic will have a few bloggers that rise to the top due to their expertise on the subject, their social network and their ability to communicate to the masses. Bloggers are like middlemen between the consumer and/or customer and the company, but they're usually on the consumer / customers' side.

If people were cities on a map, bloggers with a following would be a big dot with bold names. It is for this reason exactly that in my time here I reach out to bloggers. Recently we sent out a bunch of stuff to women with children who we thought would be interested in the Lovin' Scoopful brand — a light gourmet ice cream brand with less fat and fewer calories and they donate to the Special Olympics — to have an ice cream party. They blogged about it (examples can be found here and here) of course, and the positive reviews helped. Some important things to keep in mind when you're looking to reach out to bloggers:

1. You obviously want bloggers with a big following. Sometimes you can see how many people they have reading their blogs by seeing how many fans or followers on Facebook or Twitter they have. Other sites like compete.com and quantcast.com give a good ballpark number for visits to these sites. Unfortunately, you can't use Compete or Quantcast for sites like blogname.wordpress.com or blogname.blogspot.com, but most blogs have their own domain names. If you're a smaller brand though, or don't already have a direct connection with the writer, you may not want to shoot too high and go for the most popular bloggers because they get free stuff every single day and your money will be wasted on sending things to bloggers who won't review your stuff.
2. Relevancy is really important. Serious bloggers won't write about something that doesn't fit their audience.
3. Pictures captivate an audience. It helps if the bloggers you choose normally post pictures. It also gives the audience a visual perspective rather than a text one.
4. Bloggers are usually unbiased, and will post honest reviews and opinions. Don't let this discourage you, though; even the best products have critics.

Ideally it's a win-win-win situation: the blogger gets free stuff and popularity, the company gets information out to a targeted audience with very little cost, and readers get helpful tips and news from a trusted resource. There are still skeptics out there who don't see the utility in blogging or the importance of these online journals; however, incorporating bloggers into your media plan might surprise you.

Recently, I had a chance to speak with an influential Hispanic player in the digital space, and one who has made a difference in making his voice heard and who has been able to recruit a solid fan base from the bottom up.

In an exclusive interview with Matt Reyes the founder of Twitteros, we will get a chance to learn more about his role as a successful Latino influencer in the online world and how the Hispanic market has grown and become a key player in the marketplace. According to eMarketer there are currently over 26 million Hispanics using the Internet every day, and that number is growing just as fast as the total number of people within this minority, and by the end of 2012, it is estimated that there will be nearly 30 million Hispanics on the Web.

Let’s begin!

Have you ever heard of Twitteros?

According to Mat Reyes, the term Twitteros is a Spanish adjective that means, “Twitter user”.

Matt is the founder of Twitteros, a social media community hub for Latinos that Twitter, based on the Ning platform that launched in late 2008. The community hosts profiles, music, photos, blogs, forums, and other features.

As he explains: “The whole idea of Twitteros is to connect all Latinos that Twitter.  We have so much to say and so much to learn from each other, and this group will only connect us even more!”

In my 1:1 chat with Matt Reyes, he was very open to share with us more about Twitteros and his role as an influencer in the market, so influential that the 2010 US Census partnered with him and his social network to encourage Hispanics to be counted and share the importance of taking part in the act.

Who is Matt Reyes?

I’m a Texas-born and Washington, DC—based marketer, musician, politico, and Texas Longhorn. I am the founder of the Department of Influence, a new media initiative, and created Twitteros.net.

I am well-versed and active in bottom-up media, organizations, and theory, I believe in the marketing philosophies of Douglas Rushkoff and Seth Godin. As a follower of these principles, I have helped organizations ranging from major brands to cultural arts institutions define their purpose, create authentic word of mouth, and become innovative.

How big do you think is the Hispanic influence online these days?
It's growing each and every day. We are still yet to be on par with the general market, but influence is much greater among younger communities.

Do you consider yourself part of the generation Y and a web 2.0 junkie with the creation of Twitteros?
Yes, I definitely consider myself a millennial and consider those who join Twitteros millennial-minded.

Do you consider yourself a tech junky?
Yes, of course.

How did the whole idea of creating Twitteros come up?

Basically, I modeled Twitteros after Twitter Moms with the goal of uniting Latino Twitter users and showing their diverse interests. Twitteros is the network for digitally influential Latinos.  (His profile reads on Twitter Moms: “I am a fan of Twitter Moms…even though I'm a dude!” From this, we can infer that his approach of creating a community like this moms' hub for Latinos to connect, seems to have certainly worked.

Why a parrot?

A parrot humorously replaces the bird that is famous on Twitter. Matt further explains: “I wanted a character that is Latino and thought the parrot would be a pretty funny take on the Twitter bird!”

How long has it been since you began your online community and how far have you gotten from where you started–traffic, members etc.?
Twitteros hit its 1-year anniversary this past December and we've grown to over 600 strong, influential members (subscriber) who are well-connected on the Internet. We've surpassed 100,000 page views since we began.

How is your audience broken down in terms of geography, US versus Latin-American based members?
The site is mostly Latinos living in the US right now. However, there was a big jump of Chileans who joined after the earthquake. We are also gaining traction in other parts of Latin America.

Are you considering of migrating your community to any other platform—Face book?
For the time being, Twitteros is based solely on Twitter and allows users to show their extended presence to their blog/websites. There is a Facebook page, but that is mostly for those who want to keep up with the blog posts that users post daily.

Are you still a one man show or do you have bloggers who write for Twitteros?
Fortunately, the members help keep the website vibrant and full of content, especially when important issues come up.

What's your influence with this year's census and Latinos?
Twitteros is currently an Official Partner with ‘Voto Latino’ to reach out to digitally influential Latinos to get a complete, accurate count in the 2010 Census.

Have brands also reached out to you to help them get a WOM in the Hispanic community using Twitteros as the platform for it?
Yes, we've had some support from @southwestair and @tmobile. We did a great campaign with T-Mobile during the Latin Grammys.

Where do you see Twitteros a year from now?
A year from now, I see Twitteros connecting even more Latinos with their varied interests both in the US and in Latin America. 60% of tweets are in a language other than English.

What do you like most about social media and what do you foresee in the future of digital space?
Social media is only as good as the apps and open-source development that come from it. Content is nice (and key), but the tools are where the magic happens.

With the direction Mobile technology is gone in recent year, are you thinking of integrating your community to mobile in the near future?
We are already connected. If you visit Twitteros on an iPhone, you can see the iPhone version of the site. (But, still no phone or Android application for Twitteros though).

Matt Reyes is one of those people who had a vision to connect Latinos online and his hard work and perseverance has paid off, his influence in the digital space among Latinos has certainly resonated in this community.  This is a growing community who is very interested in following the latest trends in technology and innovation, shopping online and connecting with people online. Like Matt, there are many other influential young Latinos who have made their mark in the space, by creating an ecosystem that is necessary and useful for people among a specific community to connect and share their ideas and passions with each other.

Feel free to visit http://www.twitteros.net and check out Matt’s channel on Vimeo.

Ugh. Ok, so I tried giving this topic a few weeks to sink and see if I could calm down about it but, no, I'm still not happy. Usually I'm all about new technology, online services, gizmos, gadgets and digital products that make my already considerably cushy life just that much cushier. Particularly, little things like Amazon remembering who I am everytime I come back, recommending books and holding all my credit cards on file, or Google's slightly big-brothery-I-know-exactly-where-you-are-and-no-don't-bother-clearing-your-cache-'cause-we've got-your-click-pathing-profiled-already tweaks to Google Maps, search ads and every other product they've built. Seriously, who doesn't want their map to zoom to your current location on load? Maybe I've just become used to that level of creepiness.

But Facebook, man. Holy crap. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love technology. I loves me some technology, but this is getting a bit much. I seriously, absolutely, positively do not want to show up on some site for the first time and see my entire friends list laid out in front of me with message and product suggestions tailored specifically to my own unique brand of stupid Facebook comments. There's stuff all over my profile that I wouldn't want showing up when visiting another site in any circumstance - voluntary or not.

Now some people might say I'm splitting hairs. Amazon, among others, tailors their product offering directly to you based on your usage patterns - searches, favorites, purchases, etc - but that's a sort of walled garden of hyper-specific marketing. I have to sign in to access this data, at least once when setting up my account and possibly every time I return, to get all these targetted offerings. Facebook, on the other hand, is proposing to just sign you up. Seriously. You've never been there but you're signed up the second you land on the page.

“…we’ve also explained the possibility of working with some partner websites that we pre-approve to offer a more personalized experience at the moment you visit the site.”

Is this the end of the world? Well, no. But it certainly feels like an invasion of privacy and a betrayal of trust. [More on trust in a minute.] I'll give you an example that I don't find to be far-fetched at all. Let's say I go to Sports Illustrated for the first time because I've just got to get a Swimsuit Calendar for my wall. Why? Maybe I'm lonely. Maybe it's none of your business. Oh, snap. That's just it! It is none of your business. But my good buddy decides to go to Sports Illustrated too. Maybe he's there for the same calendar or maybe he's there to read an “article”. Haha. Anyway, he might see a great, big picture of my face saying, 'Hey Buddy, your friend Ryan just bought a steamy Swimsuit Calendar.' Probably because he's lonely… That sucks. You see where I'm going with it though.

Is Facebook going to protect users from situations like that? Will they stop it at merely signing you in to a site you've never been before and restricting the “general information” from spreading out in concentric circles of shame and irritation? I doubt it. Facebook has betrayed our trust before. Beacon anyone? New opt-in-only privacy settings? Facebook will of course give users the usual convoluted privacy settings but make no mistake, you'll be opted in until you find the stupid setting to turn it off. I hope…

I realize the web - and mobile for that matter - are travelling in this direction at break-neck speed but I feel like the old man in the corner going, “Back in my day, the web was anonymous! You could go anywhere and do anything without fear of persecution - or at least embarrassment. It was private dammit!” I'm just tired of having my personal information sold and traded about without my permission. And, NO, telling me you're going to opt me in ahead of time doesn't count. Couldn't Facebook start us opted-out and convince (read: bribe) us to turn it on?

Last week, I went to Seattle to see our client Lovin' Scoopful (get the ice cream – it’s amazing!) I travel with some frequency, but I’m all over the place on choosing my hotels. I tend to randomly choose the hotel that seems decent. No more of that.

I had a superb experience staying at Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle. Everything was perfect. From the time I walked in to the time I left, I felt that these people, this Hotel, and this Brand really got everything right. It was a new feeling as I’ve grown accustomed to varying degrees of quality at hotels all over the US.

It was all details. From the friendly service and the champagne when I checked in to the quality of the room and finishes in the bath room. Nothing was left to chance. Every detail was worked out. You could just feel the passion that went into the Brand.

I’ve told four people about this hotel in less than one week. I’ll put a review on Yelp and I’ll book it again next time I’m in town. How much did I pay? Not enough.

This is what a brand is all about. The passion. The detail. The love. You know it when you experience it. What is your brand about?