Giants? Patriots? Mobile and Social to Win Super Bowl XLVI


The New York Giants and New England Patriots face off for gridiron glory this Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI. But the game’s real winners could be social networks and mobile technologies — as well as the marketers who best leverage those platforms.

A look back at how fans engaged with last year’s game provides an interesting insight into the huge role that social and mobile now play in people’s Super Bowl experience. The analysis comes from a recent study by digital marketing agency iProspect, which has worked with a list of sports-related clients including Adidas, Under Armour, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Finish Line.

Dawn Zencka, iProspect’s vice president of strategic insights, connected with Mashable to go over some of her team’s findings and dissect a bit of what it all means. But first, here are some of iProspect’s numbers that most jumped out at us:

  • 61% of Facebook users who identified as Super Bowl fans posted status updates during the game in 2011.
  • 28% of users who identified as fans directly chatted or messaged with friends.
  • On Twitter, the record for most sports-related posts per second was broken six times, culminating at game’s end with 4,064 tweets per second.
  • Overall, last year’s Super Bowl generated more than 4.5 million tweets in six hours.
  • In the United States, Twitter traffic during the game increased by 50% over the previous day.
  • 2011 Super Bowl ads have been viewed more than 360 million times online.
  • 39% of Super Bowl related searches from mobile devices in the week surrounding last year’s game came on Super Bowl Sunday itself.
  • Traffic to Yahoo‘s mobile homepage jumped by as much as 34% over normal during breaks in the action.
  • Sports-focused mobile traffic on Yahoo jumped by as much as 387% over normal during commercial breaks.

“The point is becoming that there’s a much bigger opportunity than just buying ads during the game itself,” Zencka said.

With 30-second Super Bowl slots going for $3.5 million this year, Zencka said, brands may want to get more value for their money by finding ways to target fans’ heavy mobile use and social presence. Examples could include commercials that spread virally on YouTube in addition to their broadcast slots, as well as marketing campaigns that encourage simple consumer interaction.

“People have to do something while the teams are in the huddle or during timeouts, so their phones are a good activity,” Zencka said.

Facebook and Twitter have been recognized for some years now as conversation hubs during major live events like the Super Bowl and Academy Awards. But with mobile tablets and smartphones proliferating as consumers’ tech of choice, Zencka said that marketers will “absolutely” need to think beyond broadcast more and more.

“As we see the growth in mobile devices continue, it’s going to be very interesting to see how it all plays out with marketers getting more savvy,” she said.

How do you think brands can best leverage sports fans’ mobile and social emphasis? What are some of the best campaigns you’ve seen to date? Let us know in the comments.

More About: Facebook, Mobile, Super Bowl XLVI, Twitter

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from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/01/30/mobile-and-social-to-win-super-bowl-xlvi/?utm_...

Kill the Competition with Collaboration

There has been a lot of discussion of late in the media, at conferences, and at my own speaking engagements about the merits of West Coast vs. East Coast and large vs. small.  To paint with a broad brush, the West houses our technology giants – Google, Microsoft, Intel, Facebook – and the East hosts an ever growing list of small, innovative start-ups, most probably hoping to be acquired by the aforementioned power houses. But if you were to take out your smart phone while waiting to be seen by your doctor, almost every small piece of technology – from microchips to the software your doctor uses to track your diagnosis – was most likely made right here in Boston.  We have the know-how, it’s time we start utilizing it.

I’d like to encourage a shift in how we think about competition, big vs. small, and a start-up’s end goal.  It’s time we move away from the standard behemoth corporation business model, and look more towards building ecosystems of like-minded small business to support innovation, discovery, job growth and economic stability.

Tech incubators and collaborative workspaces are becoming increasingly popular in Boston and similar markets like Austin and Raleigh, NC.  This new way of building a business is the ground work for further collaboration and idea sharing amongst companies with similar ideas and even products – co-opetition if you will.

Since my last article here at BostInno, I had the great privilege to sit down with Joi Ito, the new director of MIT’s Media Lab during a Fireside Chat put on by MITX.  The lab applies an unorthodox research approach to envision the impact of emerging technologies on everyday life, and with Joi at its helm; I’m sure it’s bound for some shocking innovations in the next few years.  To date, the Media Lab is responsible for the founding technology behind iRobot, One Laptop Per Child and Blue Fin Labs just to name a few.

It was during this chat (video can be found at Digital Influence Group) that I realized ecosystems of collaborative companies will soon displace the monopoly business structure we’re currently used to.  It’s the cooperatives and ecosystems that are formed around an idea, where everyone involved can benefit, that drive true growth.  Small, more nimble businesses often drive breakthrough technologies but are then quickly bought up by larger corporations that don’t have the ability to move quickly, or are hindered by a lack of collaboration.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is a company that these ecosystems should be modeled after – ARM. To put it simply, ARM creates IP (Internet Protocol) for mobile devices and then licenses that knowledge out to partners who become the designers and manufacturers. These partners include Canonical, Marvell, and GLOBALFOUNDRIES. This collaborative ecosystem allows for a great deal of creativity, diversity, discoveries and, at the end of the day, a higher profit business.

I’m very bullish on this approach working well in Massachusetts.  We are on the cusp of next big wave of technology growth like we saw in 1995-1996.  We have a real opportunity to solidify ourselves as an epicenter for the next generation of life-altering technology brands that will fuel the region for years to come. If you don’t believe we are on the next big threshold in Boston take a look at the stats below:

 Recent unemployment rates for metropolitan areas (as of November 2011):

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA 5.7%

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 9.2%

United States 8.2%

Our region has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.  Much of this is fueled by our deep entrenchment in healthcare and life sciences, as well as a new wave of emerging businesses that are simply thriving in their respective industries.  Again, we are on the cusp.

When you get down to the bottom of it, Boston does house some of the world’s largest and most successful companies, including Staples, Raytheon, ACI Worldwide, iRobot and many more that can go head to head with Silicon Valley’s biggest and baddest.  But we’re also in the unique position to change how business is done and begin to collaborate within these ecosystems that inspire much of today’s ground breaking technology, bio-tech and life sciences advancements. And most importantly, the exciting new companies hatching from this market have the potential to drive our region to a level of superiority we have not seen since the late 1990’s.  It’s going to fun to watch it unfold and contribute to its success.

Editor’s note: Larry Weber, founder and chairman of W2 Group, writes a monthly column for Bostinno, Larry’s Digital Hub. 

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2012/01/30/kill-the-competition-with-collaboration/

Swole.me Automatically Plans Your Meals Based on Your Dieting Goals [Webapps]

One of the hardest parts of dieting is figuring out what you can actually eat. Swole.me is an app that figures out your meals for you. You simply tell it your calorie goal, what meals you want to eat, and what foods you want to include in those meals and it'll generate a plan in seconds. More »


from Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/5880653/swoleme-automatically-plans-your-meals-based-on...

6 Ways to Give Your App a Leg Up on the Competition


Paul Baldwin is the chief marketing officer of Outfit7 Inc., a subsidiary of Out Fit 7 Ltd, the leading entertainment app developer. Paul has more than 17 years of experience developing, marketing and monetizing digital entertainment content.

Spend a few minutes browsing through both the Android and Apple app stores and it’s easy to see the fierce competition for user attention. The number of apps has grown to more than 1 million, each vying for downloads and market share.

The app development world is still very top-heavy, with a very small percentage of developers controlling the majority of downloads and revenue. But that in no way means that a newcomer can’t build a successful app that captures the hearts and minds of consumers, and becomes the next big thing.

Since the app stores themselves control which apps are elevated and highlighted, how can you ensure your app gets time in the spotlight and the attention it deserves? Here are six tips drawn from experience.


1. Focus on Product


The best way to get your app noticed is to build a unique and engaging product. Although that’s an article all on its own, let’s sum it up in a few key points.

Know your exact market and who you’re competing against. This will help you understand your target user — what he expects and likes and who else is offering apps to him.  

Great apps are also usually the first in their category, or apps that completely reinvent existing categories. A big sign that you have a great app is when you start seeing copycat apps. Embrace them and use them as motivation to continue.

Another element that great apps have in common is fun. You want to make your app something that users will come back to again and again, rather than a one-time, disposable thrill. Whether that means creating lovable characters or tapping into the human desire to compete, remember to deliver fun the first time and every time after.

Also, great apps are simple. No user guides should be necessary to participate, and there should be nothing to “figure out” from a user standpoint. They are intuitive and immediately easy to grasp.

Finally, the last big hallmark of a phenomenal app product is the ability for users to make the app personal through customization features. Today’s app audience is constantly wondering what’s in it for them. Allow them to make it theirs and they’ll more likely become instantly enamored.


2. Allow Users to Engage Others with Your App


These days, more developers are using social media as part of the app as a major key to its success. Your customers’ word-of-mouth multiplies your network a hundred times over without costing you a dime, so be sure to put mechanisms in place that allow users to talk about the app and share experiences with friends.

For example, if your app enables users to create fun videos, make sure they can share those videos with others. This type of direct experience sharing will go a long way in spreading the word about your app.  

Caveat: Don’t “over-viralize” your app with too many social features that don’t make sense.


3. Get Media and Blogger Attention: Make It Simple


Media attention and especially reviews of your app can really help to spread recognition. To get that kind of attention, though, you have to have a solid app to begin with, a great story around your app, and it absolutely must be easy to talk about.

The tendency is to come up with the most ingenious, compelling app, filled with loads of features but none that really stand out. This is called “feature creep” and usually spells disaster. Remember, the launch is just the beginning. Successful apps are always adding new content months after launch. If reporters and bloggers (and users for that matter) have a hard time explaining what your app is, what it does or why they like it, they’re less likely to talk about your app. Keep version one simple.

To make your app easier for media to cover, provide materials like press kits, beta codes (if necessary) and reviewer guides. It also helps to identify technology and pop culture trend stories that your app can fit into.


4. Continue Your Marketing Efforts


When your app launches, you’ll definitely want to have a marketing strategy in place to seize your launch window of opportunity, but it’s also important to continue marketing long after launch.

Many developers find pre-launch strategies helpful for grabbing attention. This includes creating a “coming soon” page that teases your app a bit, collecting emails for those interested in the first look, and even extending first invites to target publication audiences.

Make sure you exhaust every “co-marketing” opportunity out there with other app developers. Some major publishers will trade their app installs for your app installs. Everybody is in the same boat, in the same huge ocean of apps. You might be surprised to find that other developers are more than happy to participate in reciprocal marketing.

The important thing to remember is that app marketing windows are perpetual, meaning you should establish marketing vehicles that you can trigger at your discretion over long periods of time. That means plan, plan, plan.


5. Use Analytics 


When developing apps, you have all kinds of data at your fingertips to evaluate how your app is being received. Use analytics to monitor your ranking and as a marketing tool.

Become a student of the Android and iOS category rankings (e.g., entertainment vs. games). Each category has its own nuances for determining “top” rankings, so be sure to evaluate each one. Understand why the app moved up in the rankings in order to iterate and improve your own ranking over time. Additionally, if you have a good sense of what is moving the bar for your app, you can also learn from what the top developers are doing.

More importantly, in my opinion, is that you leverage the wealth of analytics available from your app to make your app better over time. Not only will the data help you iterate and improve your app from a technical standpoint, but it will also allow you to create the right content to which users connect. Once the app is live, analyze the data to update your release schedule and product roadmap.

You can also learn when your customers are willing to “rate your app” or be pitched another app in your portfolio. Analytics can shed light on how frequently you should attempt to cross-sale or suggest another item for purchase.


6. Prepare for Success


This tip may seem a little strange at first — who wouldn’t be thinking about success? But in reality, many apps start strong then fade and fizzle. Preparing for success is as much about your product as it is about the team behind it.

It’s crucial to structure your team in a way that supports hyper growth. It’s good to rely on a more fluid and dynamic network of expertise and project teams than a rigid structure.

Think of your app as a brand that will enable you to leverage brand extension opportunities. Build your apps to welcome future cross-promotion opportunities, rather than intrusions on the user experience.

The best way to prepare for app success is to constantly focus on keeping your users engaged. Give them more than just product updates once they’ve downloaded and become fans of your app. Give them instant fun, addictive experiences that they will want to share with friends.

Whatever your secret sauce is or has been, be sure to nurture it to keep your users wanting more — and deliver your app in a way that surpasses user expectations.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, svariophoto, Flickr, ItzaFineDay

More About: android, apple, contributor, developers, features, Marketing, Mobile, mobile apps

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/01/30/app-competition-tips/?utm_source=feedburner&ut...

Obama to host first Google+ Hangout tonight at 5:30PM

Hangout Obama
Barack Obama is no stranger to social networks, but Google+ is still relatively new territory for him (and everyone else for that matter). The president doesn't seem afraid of mixing it up with the online riffraff, though, and will be hosting his very first Hangout tonight at 5:30pm ET. He'll be answering questions submitted via YouTube and selected by Google based on viewer rating. Sadly (or, perhaps, mercifully) this won't be a public free-for-all. Obama will be joined by five of his fellow Americans, but there won't be a rotating cast of random folks popping in and out of the group video chat queueing up clips of Maru. Hit up the source link to watch it live later this afternoon.

Obama to host first Google+ Hangout tonight at 5:30PM originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceWhite House (Google+), CNN  | Email this | Comments

from Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/30/obama-to-host-first-google-hangout-tonight...

UCLA Professor Says Conventional Wisdom on Study Habits Is All Washed Up

An anonymous reader writes "Taking notes during class? Topic-focused study? A consistent learning environment? According to Robert Bjork, director of the UCLA Learning and Forgetting Lab, distinguished professor of psychology, and massively renowned expert on packing things in your brain in a way that keeps them from leaking out, all are three are exactly opposite the best strategies for learning."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

from Slashdot http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/29/2244203/ucla-professor-says-conven...

Why Twitter’s New Policy is Helpful for Free-Speech Advocates

I know many people are upset with Twitter’s announcement that it will now be able to block tweets country by country. There has been a lot of excellent writing / reporting on the content explaining that this is not as bad as it looks. (Check out good posts by my friend Jillian York here or Alex Howardhere). My initial reaction upon a cursory reading of the announcement was also that it wasn’t too bad, given the alternatives. However I’ve since looked at the policy in more detail and my conclusion is that this isn’t a mediocre but acceptable policy; rather, this is an excellent policy which will be helpful to free-speech advocates.

I often criticize companies on this blog so I want to take a moment to recognize Twitter for a model policy and explain why these should be the kind of practices that I hope other Internet companies follow.

In my opinion, with this policy, Twitter is fighting to protect free speech on Twitter as best it possibly can. (It also fits with its business model so I am not going to argue they are uniquely angelic, but Twitter does have a good track record. Twitter was the only company which first fought the US government to protect user information in the Wikileaks cas,e and then informed the users when it lost the fight. In fact, Twitter’s transparency is the only reason we even know of this; other companies, it appears, silently caved and complied.)

Twitter’s latest policy is purposefully designed to allow Twitter to exist as a platform as broadly as possible while making it as hard as possible for governments to censor content, either tweet by tweet or more, all the while giving free-speech advocates a lot of tools to fight censorship.

Let’s look at the policy.

1-      The policy is narrower than before. Previously, when Twitter would take down content when forced to do so by a court order, it would disappear globally. Now, it will only be gone in the specific country in which the court order is applicable. This is a great improvement.

2-      The policy is realistic–and non-realistic policies are not better as they won’t work. The idea that Twitter can just ignore court orders everywhere is not only unrealistic, it would result in more countries to try to block Twitter completely–or make it accessible only via proxies and thus greatly restrict its power. The Internet is not a “virtual” space, and cyberspace is not a planet which can float above all jurisdictions forever. In this move, Twitter is acknowledging this fact while complying within the bare minimum framework.

3-      The policy is transparent. Blocked tweets will be shown as “blocked” along with the blocking country. This is excellent! This level of transparency should be the model for all Internet companies. Companies should not remove content globally; rather they should do so in as few jurisdictions as possible with as much notice as possible. (for a negative example, check out the story of how Blogger iscensoring Egyptian activist Ramy Raoof’s post on brutality by security forces in Egypt. In that case, Ramy’s content is blocked globally and the post just *disappeared* without a clear indication of the censorship).

4-      The policy provides tools for free-speech advocates. Twitter will publish list of blocked tweets, along with links to the original tweet –so everyone who is not at that particular country can see what it’s about–as well as a copy of the court order or enforceable takedown notice athttp://chillingeffects.org/twitter. Free-speech advocates have a transparent and powerful tool.

5-      The policy is not made hard to circumvent. Twitter helpfully included instructions on how to change your country (“manually override” the country setting which is determined by IP). I don’t know about you, but does this sound like Twitter is caving? Also, obviously, Tor users and proxy users will be able to access the content fairly easily.

6-      Twitter spokespeople have repeatedly said they will only block content in “In the face of a valid and applicable legal order.” This is a good standard and I don’t think any company can get around this in jurisdictions where they have physical presence; nor is it clear that they should. Of course, we all need to be watching carefully to ensure that they do so and not just cooperate with governments based on “requests.”

I suspect this policy will cause some governments to continue to block Twitter on the whole because it doesn’t make it easy for governments to block content (they have to at least follow some level of procedure) and it creates a “Streisand effect” on censored tweets

Twitter can’t fight all free speech battles by itself; and it can’t change laws or governments around the world, nor can it ignore issues of jurisdiction. In particular, if faced with a court order that requires Twitter to identify dissidents in a country where torture or severe repression is in place, I hope Twitter first makes this as public as possible, and then choses to pull out of that country rather than comply (as Yahoo did in the shameful case of Wang Xiaoning and others in China – and some these people remain in prison after almost a decade).

There is a lot more to be said about the dangers of centralization, the emergence of corporate platforms as larger and larger portions of our political and social commons, and the conflicts between control, profit motives, and free and civic speech these recent developments raise. I don’t want to sound like I am happy to trust a few corporations and that’s it. On the contrary, I’ve repeatedly tried to warn against these dangers. All that said, I don’t think it is helpful if we don’t recognize a good policy when we see one.

In this particular policy, Twitter has done everything it can do to help free-speech advocates around the world except deliver coffee and bagels in the morning.  This is a model of how Internet companies should behave.  I hope Twitter practices this policy as it outlined, and practices maximum transparency and minimum compliance with restrictive laws.

Editor’s note: Zeynep Tufekci is part of BostInno’s Insider network. This post first appeared on her personal blog and was re-published with her permission.

from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2012/01/29/why-twitters-new-policy-is-helpful-for-free-sp...

39 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed

Social Media Icons


Been away from Mashable for a few days? Here’s something that’ll get you caught up in a flash: it’s our weekly roundup of Mashable features.

Look at all the coolness you missed: We have tips for the transition into Facebook Timeline, tricks for improving your productivity via Google Calendar and Safari and links to the most popular memes. We’ve covered social networking in the workplace, using networks for social good and even using plugins to help you get the old Facebook back.

So if you wanted to catch up on the best of our digital media resources, you’ve come to the right place:


Editor’s Picks



Social Media


For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.


Business & Marketing


For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.


Tech & Mobile


For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

More About: digital media, features, roundup

from Mashable! http://mashable.com/2012/01/29/39-digital-media-resources/?utm_source=feedbur...

Hugelkultur Can Create Irrigation-Free Garden Beds [In Brief]

If your yard is big enough that you might have a felled tree from time to time due to lightning or winter storms, you may wonder how you can put the wood to good use. Most people who don't regularly heat with wood just post an ad on Craigslist for free wood if someone picks it up. Instead consider using the wood to form the backbone of a type of gardening bed known as Hugelkultur, that is, burying wood in your garden bed to gain many benefits including eliminitating irrigation. More »


from Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/5880237/hugelkultur-can-create-irrigation+free-garden-beds