360DigitalInfluence

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.

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.

Malaysia records 3.4 million Facebook users, one of the 10 fastest growing countries over the past week. www.checkfacebook.com

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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I’ve actually got quite a fair bit to share, but i suppose the details can be further articulated in later posts. What i want to share is perhaps key takeaways that i got from Your Blog™ as a blogger from each of the presenters.

Overall
i know the session was about marketing your blog, but a great sense i got from each presenter, was that they actually don’t make money from their blog, but rather, their blog was both personal branding and a marketing tool for who they are as people, as personalities.

My suspicion (correct me if i’m wrong) is that earning a living from blog advertising for personally owned blogs is a bit of a myth. Whether it’s a question of eyeballs or sustainability, all three bloggers who shared use their blogs as pieces of thought leadership, reputation and authority. Only Arti, who was an ex-journalist was paid for her professional writing skills.

Yongfook: 8 profound and live changing things that happened because of my blog
Yongfook was one of my original heroes when i first started blogging in 2003. Back then, he was still writing his crazy Japanese food blog posts, talking about dealing with isolation in a rural Japanese village, and i thought “I want that! I want a really fun blog!” And so that’s my key takeaway, even as Yongfook matured and evolved to his current lifestream, he’s always maintained that unique Yongfook personality.

Arti Mulchand: Write Right
Key takeaway: You don’t have to use long flowery language to be a good writer. A good writer communicates clearly, gives readers content that is easily understood and makes a point. One good method to sustain reader interest, is by ’scattering gold coins’. Give them a good reason to read the next paragraph. Always.

Design Sojourn: How to be a __________ superstar
Key Takeaway: Managing your blog’s branding / personality so that you’re not an expert, but an authority on your given subject. My personal take on Brian Ling’s insight, is that it’s hard to be considered an expert in the field without actual accreditation, but being an authority is more feasible, valuable even perhaps. It allows you to share your opinions confidently, while always being open enough for discussion. Sometimes it’s not always about having the final say in things and have your words treated as ‘gold’, but being regarded in your area of interest / field of expertise. And you can play your cards right, is to share knowledge, share good things, invite different opinions, distill for further insights and maintaining both online and offline relationships. So those Technorati links that add to your authority? There’s some truth to that system!

Toysrevil: Eh, You Singaporean Meh?
Key takeaway: Original content. Toysrevil is the embodiment of passion when it comes to sharing knowledge, opinions on all things toys. But what really struck me, was how he puts his personal stamp on each picture he takes of a toy. In some sense, there is only one such picture in the world, they each tell a story, and convey important information for those in the toy scene. Each picture is uniquely his, and i believe that has helped add fans to his growing fan-base.

All’s well that ends well
And those were the key takeaways i got from the speakers! I’m sure everyone’s got an opinion and some key takeaways! May i invite you to share what yours were if you were here at Your Blog™ with us?