360DigitalInfluence

Hurry! Space is limited for this 30-minute webinar and registration is required.

Join the award-winning Social Media team from Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide for a free 30-minute online seminar powered by Citrix GoToWebinar and done in partnership with The Wall Street Journal Asia.

This webinar will provide concrete examples, action plans and case studies, including:

· 5 key steps for a business-to-business strategy;
· How to build and engage a community of potential and current customers;
· Real-life case studies from successful business-to-business strategies;
· The highly popular – and now extended – Question and Answer section;
· Much, much more…

The seminar will be led by Brian Giesen a senior regional strategist in Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence team and moderated by Graham White, Managing Director of Howorth Communications in Sydney.

Join us Wednesday, 3 March at 11:00am (Hong Kong time):

http://bit.ly/aWsvrI

Last week Google announced it’s real time search feature, which I believe is set to forever change the way we think about and use search.

If you haven’t seen it in action yet I recommend you go to the Google home page and search for something topical like climate change.

In the results some movement should catch your eye and there they’ll be - real time search results. Take a moment to just sit back, relax and let the strangely compelling waterfall of information wash over you.

Once you wake from the dull, Google-induced trance you’ll have hopefully experienced an epiphany similar to mine:

Right at this moment people all over the world are talking about you, your business, your brand, your event, whatever it may be, and now as soon as they say it - Google will display it.

So how are we going to influence the conversation and harness the power of real time in 2010?

What do hydrants, voicemails and denial have in common?  They’re all now closely associated with the Tiger Woods brand, according to new research from Nielsen Online.

Today, Nielsen Online provided me with a Brand Association Map demonstrating the impact of the controversy on the Tiger Woods brand - based on analysis of online discussion about Tiger Woods both before and after the controversy.

Not surprisingly, as a result of the recent controversy the Tiger Woods brand has gone from being closely associated with video games, golf and other sports to other, well, less wholesome topics.

While the jury’s still out on how long it will take for the Tiger Woods brand to recover, one thing’s for certain - these less wholesome associations will take far longer to fade away.

Mobile is increasingly becoming a medium for access of social networking.  According to a study conducted by e marketer on the mobile social network users, it was observed that the percentage of people accessing the social networking sites through mobile has increased at a rate of about 100% for the year 2007 to 2008 and by more than 50% by 2009 and is expected to continue at the same pace ultimately exceeding  800 million by 2012.

 Be it networking  by face book,  microblogging by twitter or videocasting by youtube,    mobile has  created an easy and seamless way to drive consumers to mobile content.

According to Nielsen, Facebook is the No. 7 mobile website in terms of reach. About 15% of Facebook users (11 million) in the U.S. regularly access the social network’s mobile web version (not to mention various downloadable versions and the roughly three million users who use SMS). More than 3 million Twitter users in the U.S. alone regularly access the service via the mobile web. Besides,  large number of  consumers are frequently using Twitter through SMS and a range of downloadable mobile applications for iPhone, BlackBerry and other mobile devices. The native versions of YouTube that come pre-installed on iPhones, Android phones like the G1, and the Palm Pre offer the best mobile user experience. However, the mobile web version is also outstanding, and has well over 4.6 million users that log in many times a month. This has all been possible owing to the success of internet growth across the globe.

 Therefore, as the telecom sector is one of the most successful  stories for India and is increasingly revolutionizing the way we  connect with the world, the widening of spectrum will  enhance the experience of the subscribers  thereby generating more and more demand for  staying connected and  also accessing social networking platforms through mobile .   It seems that  ICT success story in India will generate a sequel in the form of mobile social networking success story in India

For years and years, search has always been the number one reason people go online. Nearly 9 times out of 10 people will start out an Internet session by using Google, Yahoo! or Bing to find a new site or look for information about a product. Advertisers and marketers have spent countless dollars trying to get their attention through sponsored ads.

But, interestingly, new research released from Hitwise earlier this month suggests that in Australia and in other markets across Asia Pacific search may soon move to second most popular online activity - behind social networking. According to the Hitwise report:

Social networks and forums are set to eclipse Search Engines and become the most visited industry for the first time over the coming months, most likely during the weeks immediately before or after Christmas.

The report also shows that search is already the #2 online activity behind social networking in other APAC countries, including Hong Kong and Singapore. Other key findings from the report:

• 11.7% of all visits to social networks originated in Australia
• Facebook is currently the #2 Web site in Australia - and it’s projected to overtake Google
• Search is a popular activity within social networks (MySpace = artists, Facebook = entertainment/utility)
• 26 minutes, 13 seconds is the average time spent on Facebook per visit

These trends could have huge implications on the massive budgets that are spent very day on pay-per-click and search marketing globally. Already, consumers are spending exponentially more time on social networks (27 percent of all time spent online in Australia in the past month was spent on Facebook, according to Nielsen) than search engines.

As more and more brands become not only findable but engagable on social sites, we could start to see social networks as being not only the #1 online activity but the #1 place online where smart brands invest their marketing and advertising dollars to build community and engagement among their customers.

Consumers most distrust banks and telecommunications firms, according to new research released in Australia by Grey Group Australia and conducted by Sweeney Research

According to a report in AdNews, the Grey Sweeney Trust Scale Survey, will offer a new perspective on trust in brands and organisations. It was an online poll of 1500 people, conducted in Australia in August. Key highlights:

70% said firms are money hungry and too focused on profits.

20% highlighted banks or telcos as organisations they no longer trust

54% could think of an organisation or brand they no longer trust

59% placed more trust in Australian companies than overseas firms

Reassuringly, Aussies do have high levels of trust for charities, with The Salvation Army the most trusted brand. This is followed by Google, Australia Post and Medicare. When they look at the business sector, airlines are the most trusted, beating food manufacturers, sporting bodies and supermarket chains.

Does the rest of Asia concur with these findings, or are us Australians just a very different animal?

GreyReview | snippets of the realtime revolution |

Your walking social media encyclopedia… it’s all you’ll ever need (well, almost…).

Today the Charter for Compassion was unveiled to the world. To help raise awareness of this event, we have created a video about what compassion means to Australians.

We encourage everyone across Asia Pacific to blog and Tweet about what compassion means to you today and to read - and affirm - the Charter through an embeddable widget!

Now that “blogger engagements” are becoming ever-so popular among brands wanting to establish a long-term relationship with influential opinion leaders in the blogosphere, the public is seeking ways to avoid becoming victim of this new phenomena of brand-to-blogger bribery game.

Personally, my take to this question would be a “NO”. And Why?
First, one of the reasons blogging came about was because of distrust in the press. Before Web 2.0 we grew up believing that the journalists job was to defend our interests. But given that many journalists work for a privately-owned publication their outputs would in one way or the other be determined by the company CEO. Probably because too many people heard about the bad examples set by Rupert Murdoch that brought about the rise of “blogs” as the new watchdogs of society. “Bloggers” are basically “freedom writers”.

Bloggers wouldn’t RISK their reputation for a few bucks from brands because:
1. Bloggers take full ownership of the content in their blogs, thus they are liable of any fraud or inaccurate information on their blog.
2. Bloggers don’t want to drive away readers
3. A blog’s success is built on credibility (and building a successful blog is as hard as building a successful career)
4. Bloggers would not give away a forest in return for a tree.
5. A blog is probably the greatest establishment of a blogger. Bloggers can’t be bloggers without a blog. No one would kill their own babies.

I am sharing some research that was released from the Ogilvy PR Australia office earlier this week about what major issues are keeping Australians “up at night”. The research included a finding called the “One Kilometre Phenomenon” - or the fact that issues cosest to us are really top of mind for all. 

Here’s a bit more about the research:

A lack of respect for both other people and public property are two of the most common concerns raised by Australians in a new suite of research released today.

Conducted by advertising and communications group Ogilvy, the study was designed to discover what issues were concerning Australians, rate the level of concern and measure how much control we felt over those concerns. The study uncovered a spectrum of concern spanning relationships, juggling work and life, ageing, health and wellbeing, technology, food, finances, security and government.

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