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Facebook has topped the charts of Experian Hitwise’s twice yearly ranking of the ten most searched-for online brands in 2010, followed closely by YouTube and eBay.  Even with 500 million users worldwide, there are apparently still quite a few out there who use search engines to find out where the social networking site lives. 

Here at Johnson King, we find it quite surprising to see so many sites at the top where the brand names are literally the domains – quite useful for the likes of Google...

 

LinkedIn reaches 100 million members – but why the sudden rush to sign up?

LinkedIn has always been billed as a professional networking site as opposed to a social networking forum.  Despite this business focus, the site reached an impressive milestone this week – attracting 100 million members.

To celebrate the occasion, LinkedIn created this infographic to give an insight into the current user base of the site, including information on where members are located geographically, what jobs they have, and the popular times of day to log on.

According to Mashable, LinkedIn jumped from 50 million users to 100 million users in less than a year (despite taking six years to reach 50 million).  Do you think that the new features such as following companies and popular mobile apps have led to this rapid increase in popularity?  Or is it the wide variety of groups, such as the one and only “Invest in cheese” group, as referenced in the infographic?

 

 

 

 

Strike a pose

When you’ve got snaps to share from your night on the town, that legendary work do, or even your picturesque walk to work, do you post them to Facebook in a tagging frenzy so your virtual friends can share the memories?  Thought so.  But how much do you really know about Facebook photos?

With six billion pictures uploaded each month (the most popular day for uploads being Sunday), by Summer 2011 there will be a whopping 100 billion photos on Facebook.  Stats from Pixable suggest that women are the most addicted, posting and tagging twice as many photos to Facebook than men, with girls also polling as the favourites to strike a pose with.  Check out the infographic below (via The Wall) for an idea of the phenomenon that is Facebook photos.

And in case you’re still fretting over those unflattering photos from last weekend’s mankini party, don’t panic.  The EU has just unveiled legislation to ensure your ‘right to be forgotten’, so you’ll soon be able to banish those dodgy photos forever!  

 

The 'Gamification' of life – losing touch with reality?

By Matt Tubbs

A recent Guardian article from SXSW raised some interesting questions about how computer game developers are looking to blur the boundaries between online and real life (or from OL to IRL, in technical parlance).  The article got me thinking about the gaming industry generally, and how companies are looking to use games as a means of getting their message across.

Statistics show that gaming is becoming a bigger and bigger industry. Black Ops, the latest title in the Call of Duty franchise, netted £233 million in its first 24 hours on sale and broached the £1 billion mark six weeks later. These figures put the game on a par with Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, and other massive entertainment releases. It is obvious that there is an enormous market for computer games that developers are looking to make their own. But do games really translate to life in the real world?

One would hope that in the case of Grand Theft Auto they do not, but other titles that replicate day-to-day life in a virtual environment seem to resonate particularly strongly with some. Who can forget the tragic case of the Korean couple who let their child starve while responding to the demands of their virtual baby? Or the deaths of two gamers who forgot to eat?

These are extreme examples, and the majority of those who buy into this multi-billion pound industry see gaming as a leisure activity. Due to the large audience potential, gaming also has a marketing application that companies are looking to exploit. Successful campaigns have hinged on encouraging people to “play” a game and receive rewards. An innovative recent campaign in Japan saw people competing to collect virtual butterflies scattered around the streets and trade them for vouchers.

Gaming as part of the entertainment industry has grown spectacularly in recent years. Sales continue to increase, and titles become more ambitious in their scope and audience. But will social gaming take off as a marketing tool? There is certainly a great deal of buzz around the topic, and it will appeal to creative brands looking to corner the market.

Those who begin to exploit social gaming’s marketing potential will, I believe, have an audience readily available – a smartphone equipped generation who are used to gaming for pleasure. This is almost certainly the audience that marketeers and PR firms will be looking to target with social games, and it is these people that will provide the impetus for growth in this sector.  

 

News: how do you like yours?

Technology has always played a critical role in the evolution of the delivery and consumption of news.  Clearly, it is currently the internet, coupled with increasingly advanced devices – such as smartphones and tablets – that is driving us news-hungry consumers to read and watch the news online.

McKinsey reported in April last year that here in the UK, the internet is in third place as a means of news consumption, just behind newspapers and TV.  But, in the US, the Pew Research Center has reported that the internet has overtaken newspapers to take second place.  With smartphones getting smarter and tablet PC sales set to rocket, we think it won’t be long ‘til the internet surpasses the newspaper here too.

 

 

Computer says no

By Fatima Meddad

Last month, Thierry Breton, the CEO of European IT services company Atos Origin, hit the headlines for his plans to ban internal email exchanges within his organisation in an effort to reduce information overload on staff.  A bold statement, the strategy was bound to garner a lot of interest – both in the media and the business world, where the email overload debate rages on. 

Arguing that the volume of email circulating within his company is now ‘unsustainable’, causing employees to waste between five and 25 hours per week just reading and responding to emails, the CEO announced his intention to enforce an internal e-death policy in 2014.

According to Breton, email is only necessary for external communications and employees should instead look to communicate with each other using a combination of social networking tools, like Facebook and Twitter, and collaborative social platforms.  It’s an ambitious idea, but can he really pull it off?

Email is practically second nature for most of us now, especially in a work context, so Breton will certainly have his work cut out eradicating internal email habits amongst his staff within the next three years.  But what’s more alarming is that, when it comes to communicating with co-workers in the office – be it over Facebook or IM – what’s to stop them chatting about sensitive work issues or disclosing confidential information during their conversations?

Social media tools are certainly an untapped resource within the corporate environment, but they can just as easily spiral out of control quicker than you can say “I heart Mark Zuckerberg”.  Unless measures are taken to adequately educate staff about the consequences of their actions and internal policies are properly enforced (at the very least), the information risk repercussions associated with such channels are vast for any organisation. 

Make no mistake Mr Breton, your intentions are admirable, but have you really thought this through?  Perhaps toughening up on email etiquette, encouraging more internal phone calls, or even a simple “no email” day once a month would be a more feasible place to start!

 

It’s a free world right? Not quite

When you hear the phrase ‘internet censorship’, does China usually spring to mind?  Of course it does.  The ‘Great Firewall of China’ has had a long and very public history when it comes to the censorship debate.

China’s policies are strict without a doubt, but in fact most countries that are connected to the internet conduct some level of internet censorship.  This could be anything from the obvious, such as blocking pornography sites, to restricting access to religious or political blogs and even social networking sites (like Facebook and Twitter) in some regions.

Check out this awareness project by Evan You for some interesting stats on the who, what, how and why of internet censorship and take a stance. 

 

It didn’t happen

by Mike King

I do find it strange how some people cling to blatant denial even when it is crystal clear to everyone that their denial is an outright lie.  There aren’t many ways to make yourself look more foolish than publically denying something that everyone else can clearly see.  I often find myself wondering what people could possibly hope to gain by taking such a position.  It certainly isn’t going to enhance their reputation.

The John Galliano racist rant was such an incident.  Maybe not a great example seeing as the man clearly has major problems, but he also has supposed professional advisors to guide him, like his lawyer.  How on earth can it be good advice to deny that he has made racist and anti-Semitic insults when there is live video footage that proves it?  Maybe if an insanity plea is going to be his defence it might make sense.  I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer.   My favourite report on the whole sordid affair was a great piece with the headline “Galliano denies allegations and offers apology”, an interesting position to take in anyone’s book.

Talking of professional advisors, I must admit to laughing out loud when I read this great story on Telecom TV about PR giant Weber Shandwick.  Another example of denial in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, in this case a press release it had issued itself.  Now I’d have thought that the world’s biggest PR firm would know better, but I guess I must be missing something.

All of which reminds me of a very odd meeting I had with the head of marketing from Enron’s broadband business way back in 2000.  This was before Enron’s financial meltdown and at the time Enron was very much a darling of American business.   The power-dressed executive came to our office in London to discuss a possible change of PR agency in the UK.  Being an awkward sort, I started asking her about Enron’s human rights record in India.  In particular, about reports of Enron sponsored violence against local villagers who were protesting against a new Enron power station.  Her reaction astounded me.  She simply said “It didn’t happen.”  I pulled out copies of several Amnesty International reports that covered the events in detail.  “It didn’t happen,” she repeated.  At that point I declined the offer to pitch for the business.   She was quite clearly insane.

It’s not easy being Green. But we’re learning!

Thanks to the constant news cycles and educational initiatives that have been teaching us the error of our ways over the last decade, we’re pretty well versed on how to be responsible ‘green’ citizens in both our personal and business lives by now.  Putting it into practice however, has always been a bit more challenging.

We know that every person, activity and event emits a certain amount of carbon into the atmosphere, which is ultimately destroying the planet.  In 2010, the UK Government even introduced several pieces of green legislation that target organisations to mitigate their impact on the environment, particularly on the technological front.  But do we really know the full extent of these carbon emissions?

This neat interactive visualisation from General Electric examines some of the more everyday scenarios we encounter.  Play around and learn some interesting and surprising information about how much carbon is released by just sending emails, watching TV and even making those tea rounds – it really does put things into perspective!

Are you shocked by Churnalism?

By Dana Hashem

Churnalism.com has got everyone talking.  The new website launched last week with the aim of showing up journalists and publications that recycle too much content from press releases.  To use it, all you have to do is paste a press release into the site to reveal how much content has been copied into various online news articles.

The concept already seems to have sparked something of a witch-hunt, with the Beeb and the Mail in particular rubbing salt in the wound by falling prey to some fairly ridiculous fake stories during the last few days.  To cut to the chase, the overall cry seems to be for less copying of PR-driven content.

Now forgive me if I’m missing something, but I’m not exactly bowled over by the hype – aren’t press releases meant to be copied, at least to a certain extent?  As a PR girl myself, I’m of the opinion that a press release serves two, mutually beneficial purposes; to bring facts to the journalistic table straight from the horse’s mouth and to raise awareness of a client’s messaging.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that it’s OK for journalists to take everything at face value without doing their homework.  I’m just saying that their role has always been to source and evaluate news, form their own opinion and praise or scorn it accordingly...and that there’s no shame in the fact that we help them along.