So far, Facebook has received many criticisms for not finding their own way of doing things, however, our take is that, if it facilitates sharing and diffusing information, why not? Plus, why invent the wheel?

The new feature allows you to post other people’s shared items in your own activity stream, but of course, showing who the original poster of the item is. To stay on top of the game, or, top of Twitter’s game, Facebook has implemented this tool which makes promotion even more viral.

As shown on the above image, there’s an opt-out option (remove link) at the very top of the window that you select in order to avoid announcing the source from which your post comes from. However, it would make more sense to leave the shared option as default (give credit to what credit is due) and generate virality for the posts.

Another similar functionality which not many users are aware of yet, is the status tagging tool on Facebook. Just like in Twitter, Facebook users can add @ before any person’s name, page, group or company, and the person/business/page/group will be automatically tagged once post goes live. Unlike Twitter, the @ won’t be visible, it only works to activate the tagging feature and once the status update is published, only the selected ‘contact’ will appear for your friends to click on to find out more.

Millward Brown recently presented their predictions with regards to where the digital marketing is headed in 2010, suggesting a series of insights about viral videos, online display ads, location and mobile marketing.

The marketing research company disclosed that marketers will be experimenting with larger ad formats that will not only be innovative and eye-catching to consumers, they will also prove to perform quite well. However, one must not forget that large also equals intrusive, therefore, only the most efficient formats will be able to survive and be adopted by marketers and advertisers.

Online videos will continue to experiment continuous growth and in result, more sophisticated viral video analytics and services will be available for marketers to measure the impact of their campaigns. Rather than just placing videos and hoping for a massive viral effect, marketers will instead be able to invest in viral seeding strategies thanks to the information provided by the new and advanced viral monitoring tools.

According to the Mobile Marketing Association, mobile marketing spend will grow to $2.16 billion in 2010 from last year’s $1.7 billion. With the increase in iPhone usage (33.75 million units sold worldwide to date/Q4 2009) and popularity of the Google Android, mobile web usage is only bound to increase as access to the internet becomes cheaper. The advantage of mobile is that it provides the ability to target by site, phone model, demographics and location, all of which can be very useful to advertisers.

On a similar note, geo-targeting continues to rise thanks to the increasing number of GPS-enabled devices available in the market today. comScore has reported that 11% of their mobile panel is currently using map or direction-based applications on their devices, representing 41% year-on-year growth and potentially stealing market share from standalone GPS devices. The downside could be that consumers won’t always share their location with brands, however, brands are able to do so without a problem, and will often be seen making location a fundamental feature in their ad campaigns.

And it is due to the climbing popularity of these services and tools that brands are embracing these new technologies as new methods for better customer engagement and communication. Those who fail to join the bandwagon will have a lesser opportunity of profiting from the positive impact these strategies can generate as well as the easiness of connecting with their target audiences in an innovative manner that paves the way for an interactive two-way conversation with people.

Below I will highlight some great initiatives which have created significant online buzz.

First up, Quicksilver. Quicksilver The Spot is a video that has been embedded into the brand’s site. What’s cool about it is that just when you think you’re watching an ordinary video, you realize you can’t click anywhere, lower/increase the volume, make it into full screen mode because the spot is the website itself. Skateboarders are everywhere, the more they jump the more they dismantle the site (browser even shakes) and the different pieces that fall apart- Quicksilver logo, text, video window- are used as obstacles to do their tricks. Once video is over, viewers can either share through email or Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.

Prototype, is a new game by XBox 360, which I have to say, has been the coolest use of Facebook Connect I’ve seen so far. Once you go on to the page, it requires you to sign in with Facebook Connect, then it’ll launch the game preview that is actually customized with some of your Facebook personal data. Sit back and enjoy.

Next one up is a different use of phone applications while the previous two were mainly for social networks. The Nissan Cube Accessorizer is an iPhone application that let’s you design and customize your own Nissan Cube. Similar to the Nike ID website, except this time, you won’t be choosing the color of you shoe or gym bag, instead you’ll be ticking boxes for exterior and interior accessories that you’d like to see on your Cube: Fog lights, side mirror covers, roof spoiler, interior accenet lighting, utility pouch, etc.

Last but not least, is UPS’s Virtual Box Simulator. This is a video created using augmented reality or virtual reality, which is a new technology that will blur the line between what’s real and what’s computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell. The UPS Virtual Box Simulator was created to allow Ups customers to use their webcam and the Ups Virtual Box Simulator to project box holograms onto the image from the camera, explained the postal service site, then, compare the size of the real stuff you want to ship to size of the virtual box on your screen.

Agencies, brands and marketers are all dedicating more time and effort to get people’s attention in the online arena through the use of original and creative methods of advertising. The creative campaigns really show how brands are harnessing the power of social media and leveraging these instruments to boost their brands to their target audiences, generate awareness and create massive buzz.

Blogs, viral marketing, communities, forums, chats, social networks all fall under the same category- word of mouth marketing. These are all techniques that can be used to engage with current and potential customers as well as to get people talking about your products.

You can consider it both a marketing strategy as well as an interactive customer service strategy that works for gauging feedback and opinions together with earning customer respect. It’s a great and useful way not only to come a step closer to them but also serves as pathway to humanizing your brand by listening.

What are some ways in which you can use word of mouth for your brand or business? On one hand, you can leverage social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google together with many other social media platforms. Social media is very efficient to help you understand your audience by engaging with potential customers and open conversation while closely listening to them and their opinions. Online tools can also help you get an idea of what is being said about your brand on a daily basis.

Being transparent with your target audience is also important for building trust and remain a credible source of information. When engaging customers, be clear, respond honestly and participate openly to dicussions and blogs.

Do not forget to monitor your results. Track both offline and online conversations for word of mouth can take place anywhere. A high ROI and a sales increase are your final goals, therefore, regurlarly reviewing your marketing strategy and communication approach to meet your customer’s needs is a must. Extremely valuable information and ideas can be extracted from these activites that can lead to new and improved products made specifically for your target market, which can easily translate into sales!

Lastly, encourage word of mouth in the workplace. As I previously mentioned, word of mouth does not only take place online, you’ll be surprised to know that a lot of it comes from daily, face-to-face conversations amongst individuals or phone conversations. However, these should not be considered as two different set of activities. Offline word of mouth and online word of mouth go hand-in-hand. You can use online word of mouth to generate offline activities and vice versa.

Keep listening and sharing with your audience. The more connected you are to them, the better and the more brand endorses you’ll gain over time.

Click the image below for a larger view:

Can you guess the character? Yeap, it’s Facebook.

It’s a known fact we live in a technology driven society and that social networks have incredibly boomed over the past 3 years. The emergence of social networks, new applications, technologies are becoming more important by the day.

What do they offer corporations? A huge new market, where targeting can be enormously effective and marketers can pinpoint their precise audience demographic. The use of social networking is an indirect way to generate more traffic to your site and a way to reach vast communities that may not be aware of your website, products or services.

As a leading global new media agency, we consider that having such presence in the different social networks is fairly useful nowadays.

Let’s take Facebook for example, 77 in general has it’s own 77Agency Group, 77Academy Group, 77Lab Group as well as 77Agency Fan Page. The exchange of ideas, comments, arguments happen with no geographical boundaries over the internet through social networks. People influence eachother, changes happen, information flows freely and quickly, giving us the power to measure the reach, roi and cultivate close virtual relationships with clients and prospects.

A recent article published by Marco Lorusso from Top Trade Informatica,(pg. 12-15) a technology publication belonging to the publishing group Il Sole 24 Ore Business Media, quoted our New Media Strategist, Giovanni Lion, explaining the importance of listening to the cosumer and using social media as an instrument to interact and understand your target audience.

Facebook Fan Pages which have shown great success and understanding of the power of social media, added Lion, are Nutella with over 600,000 fans and most impressively Barack Obama’s with over 3 million fans, the last one proving to be a true mediatic phenomenon.

To read further into our article visit http://www.toptrade.it/01NET/Card_Library/TopTradeDic08 pages 12-15.

In the last few weeks, students, professors, researchers, and almost everyone involved in the education industry, have been protesting in the streets of Italy’s major cities expressing their opposition towards a new law put forward by Minister Mariastella Gelmini and approved by the parliament October 29th 2008.

The newly approved reforms will have an effect on all levels of the education system, from primary schools up to the higher education institutions.In primary education, the principal issue for both teachers and parents alike is the return of the “maestro unico”  – a single teacher assigned to teach all subjects to one class (as done in the UK). There is also discontent with regards to the cut-back in school hours- from 30-40 hours a week to 24, depending on the school.

One of the biggest criticisms is that Gelmini has decided to make drastic changes to the very part of the education system that works well in Italy. European research has shown that Italian primary schooling is one of the most effective systems in the EU. Proposed changes to higher education are currently under debate in the Parliament and the government has shown willingness to listen to the protests. However, we can expect continued protests in the wake of the announcement of indiscriminate cuts and the potential privatisation of the Universities and higher education institutions. Whilst it is generally agreed that the system is inefficient and in need of reform, it has always been considered a public service, based on equal opportunities for everyone.

The protesters particularly criticize the reduction in funding for Universities and research budgets when weighed against all the money recently spent to “save” national airline Alitalia together with recent military spending.

Demonstrations as such have existed in the past, but what distinguishes this from other protests is the use of the internet.  The internet was the principal source of information for many who participated and it enabled the manifestations to be coordinated on a national scale.  Social networks, forums and blogs played a key role in spreading the news virally, allowing numerous people to participate in the debate and plan the initiatives to spread almost instantly across online communities.

Once again the people have chosen the internet as a source of information, a way to meet like-minded people and for coordination purposes.  The internet evidently shows to be an instrument for democracy, where ideas can be generated from the bottom up and where the public can influence and respond to decisions made by policy-makers. If only the Italian politicians were a bit more Web 2.0 and up-to-date with the current communication channels, the people and politicians could “meet each other” on the internet which, in my opinion, could bring great benefit to the country.

Will Sony Ericsson’s new thriller impulse consumers into acquiring the new, out-of-the-oven Xperia X1?

Sony Ericsson is virally streaming a short trailer introducing a man, known as Johnny X, (a hot guy) who has partially lost his memory and the only way to go about investigating on his life is through his handy Xperia X1.

Personally, after seeing the Who is Johnny X trailer, all I could think of was the Bourne Identity, starring Matt Damon.

Wasn’t it something like this? A guy living on the edge, escaping from life-threatening situations, who is then persecuted by…the bad guys.

Sony Ericsson hopes to attract consumers through this viral video which will soon have a sequel to it, but for now, it remains an intriguing campaign.

Cool thing is that adverts for mobile phones generally don’t have much oomph to them. They mainly focus on the phone itself and shooting it at different angles along with the usual hot chick who’s always there.

It’s the first initiative coming from a phone manufacturer to use the viral route to promote a new device.

Check out the trailer!

Michael Moore, the liberal filmmaker is not one to keep his mouth shut about making political statements. Oh, that much we know. Among the many efforts he’s made in addressing America on what he thinks should be the ways of politics, his second to last being: Mike’s Election Guide 2008 available at Amazon.com.

Today, the new buzz sounds more like, “Slacker Uprising,” Moore’s new major film to be released online for FREE!

“This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans. The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November.”
– Michael Moore

Inspirational I would say. The movie will be released this Sept. 23rd and will be available to everyone for a free download, plus, a DVD will be released as well, available at Amazon starting in October.

Let’s go back to the movie one second. It’s the first ever major feature-length film to be released for free on Internet,- not a YouTube streaming-, it’s an actual movie download.

“Slacker Uprising” traces Moore’s odyssey during his 62-city tour of the swing states during the 2004 US Elections and on this tour he recorded the thrilling response he received across the country.

The documentary features Moore trying to persuade and convince the ‘young America’ to give up couch-potatoism, referred by Moore as ’slackers,’ and give voting a try. To encourage these impossibly-to-convince slackers, he offered free Ramen Noodles and promised there would be absolutely no politicians featured during his tour.

His big hope- all slackers to get up and vote in this year’s Presidential elections.

Demand is going to be huge for this, so go ahead and book your download TODAY!

I’m gonna leave something nice and sweet for you today. But I have to clear up one, small detail before I can go on explaining.

I stumbled upon this site for the first time last week and came back to it again today out of curiosity. It so happens something slightly changed- luckily, it still works to prove my point.

Last week, the Natural Confectionery Company was offering a bag of free sweets!:-) which at the end engaged the viewer into putting in their contact details in order to get the treat delivered to them.  Due to the campaign’s utter success, they ran out of treats :-(.

My point though, is that the campaign is a great example of viral marketing through the act of giving away yummy treats. You say the word FREE and you’re virally spreading at the speed of light.

Not only that, but I must admit I love their creativity; it’s a cool/funny/catchy campaign.

Check it out the natural confectionery site!

————-                   ————-                      ————-                     ————-

PS: Dear 77LABers, tomorrow is national holiday in Italy, dubbed Ferragosto, hence, I will not be posting anything up. You’ll see me up again on Monday. Thanks  :-)