Join us for #RRchat this Friday

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Facebook is taking over the world…literally. During last week’s #RRchat, we talked about how Facebook recently expanded into the photo sphere by purchasing Instagram. Now, the social media giant is “branching out” to reach a more professional audience with BranchOut, a professional networking app. Similar to LinkedIn, the new app allows you to find out which companies your friends work for and find connections in your career field, connecting you digitally to hundreds of thousands of professionals. (Maybe the six degrees of separation theory isn’t so far off after all.)

Join us for #RRchat on Friday from 3-4 p.m. Pacific Time (or until we run out of things to say) to discuss BranchOut, Facebook’s plans for going public and more. Plus, get the inside scoop on open positions in the coolest, most creative full-service advertising agency around. Who, you ask? Why, R&R Partners of course!

Check out the #RRchat questions ahead of time to come prepared for a low-key discussion on Friday. Talk to you soon!

1. Facebook targets May 17th for IPO date. Will you buy shares in Facebook? Why or why not?
2. Facebook’s app BranchOut encourages professional networking, similar to LinkedIn. Will you use your personal Facebook page to connect with professionals for job opportunities and professional networking?
3. We post open positions to two of the largest social media platforms for job searching – Twitter & LinkedIn. What social sites have you heard people using to find a job?

Don’t forget to follow @RRPartners, and use the hashtag #RRchat to join the conversation. See you on Friday at 3 p.m. Pacific Time!

This Week in Travel and Tourism – 4/16/2012

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INTERNATIONAL

MGM eyes Toronto for sprawling integrated resort and casino

MGM Resorts International has begun reaching out to Toronto officials to put forward a possible resort-casino project in the city. The potential $2 billion to $6 billion project could include hotels, convention space and restaurants. “It’s an amazing market, it’s an amazing city. We’d be prepared to invest an awful lot in the development of the concept,” said Alan Feldman, a senior vice president at MGM.

AIRLINE

Southwest’s AirTran to Keep Fees Three Years After Merger

Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), the only major U.S. carrier without bag-check and rebooking fees, will keep those charges at its AirTran Airways unit into 2014, three years after the two combined. That’s the target date to fully integrate AirTran into its Dallas-based parent, and the fees will stay in place until then, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said today in an interview.

AirTran to launch Orange County’s first Mexico service

AirTran will launch once-daily service from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif., to Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City on June 3. It is the airport’s first Mexico service.

CRUISE

Cruise lines and tour operators eat costs of higher fuel

As gas prices flirt with the $4-per-gallon mark for the first time since 2008, the travel industry is anxiously bracing for signs of what impact higher fuel costs will have on summer travel. While airlines have been steadily increasing fuel surcharges for transatlantic flights and raising domestic airfares to cover costs, tour operators and cruise lines interviewed for this report said they are still absorbing the additional costs. None were yet willing to say they planned to implement fuel surcharges this year.

Norwegian Getaway to sail from Miami year-round

Norwegian Cruise Line will base the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Getaway year-round in Miami when the ship enters service in the spring of 2014.
Theme Cruising Gains Popularity

Travel agents should seize on the growing popularity of theme cruises, which offer an opportunity for agents to attract first-time cruisers and increase their client base, travel sellers say. Suppliers are joining the trend with special-interest voyages, featuring a wide range of themes, including bowling and classical music.

ETC.

Airlines lose fewer bags, arrive on time more often in February

The nation’s largest airlines set new records in February for the best on-time arrival rates and the lowest lost luggage rates. The airlines had some help in providing such improved service: February’s weather was unusually mild across the country, and airline industry experts say airlines are losing fewer bags because passengers are packing less luggage to avoid bag-check fees. In February, 86.2% of the flights flown by the nation’s airlines arrived on time, up from 74.5% in February 2011 and 83.7% in January of this year, according to Department of Transportation data released Thursday.

Follow #RRchat this Friday

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Calling all music fans! Take a short break this Friday afternoon to chat with industry professionals about how brands are using social media to promote music.

Use the hashtag #RRchat on Twitter and join us on Friday from 3-4 Pacific Time to voice your opinions and comments. It’s fun!

1. The Tupac hologram “performed” @Coachella with @SnoopDogg and @DrDre. More than 23,000 people have followed @HologramTupac on Twitter. If you could bring a musician back from the dead, who would it be and why?

2. @MySpace trumps @Spotify’s collection of free music with 42 million songs. Do you think MySpace will make a comeback, trumping other major music sites?

3. @Coachella has created nine ways to follow them on Social Media. Which musician or festival do you think has the best brand presence on social and why?

Follow @rrpartners and remember to use the hashtag #RRchat!

See you on Friday!

This week in Travel and Tourism – 4/9/12

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DOMESTIC

Atlantic City, N.J., group plans $20M campaign to draw tourists

Nonprofit group Atlantic City Alliance is launching a $20 million marketing campaign aimed at promoting the New Jersey city’s nongaming tourist attractions to leisure travelers. Carrying the tagline “Do Anything. Do Everything,” the initiative will include advertisements in major cities. “We have to reposition Atlantic City as a tourism destination,” said Liza Cartmell, president of the alliance.

Delta breaks ground on $160M LaGuardia hub makeover

Delta Air Lines Inc. broke ground Wednesday on a $160 million renovation and expansion of its hub at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The project includes a 630-foot connector bridge linking Terminals C and D, a new Delta Sky Club in Terminal C and expanded security lanes in both terminals.

INTERNATIONAL

Mexico tourism officials report recovery

Mexico has taken a beating over the past several years, ever since the triple whammy of drug violence, the H1N1 flu scare and a prolonged recession that curtailed travel in the countries that supply the bulk of its tourism. But if the Tianguis Turistico at the end of March is any indication, the country’s tourism industry has bounced back in a big way.

AIRLINE

Allegiant Air to Start Hawaii Flights

The ultradiscount-airline business is spreading to the lucrative market of Hawaii, as Allegiant Air plans to start low-cost service to Honolulu from Las Vegas and Fresno, Calif. Parent company Allegiant Travel Co., which focuses on selling vacation packages along with its cut-rate airfares, is entering one of the nation’s biggest vacation destinations after two years of planning.

Pinnacle’s plan: Smaller operation would fly for Delta Air Lines only

Former managers of Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines Inc. spent four years expanding and diversifying it into a $1 billion regional airline holding company. Through Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings this week in New York, their successors seek to roll back the clock and return to serving a single master, Delta Air Lines.

OTA

IBM research: OTAs, suppliers are misreading buyers’ values

Growing consumer dissatisfaction with online travel agencies (OTAs) and suppliers’ websites offers traditional agents and agencies an opportunity to pick up market share, according to a recent IBM report. In an executive report titled “Travel 2020: The Distribution Dilemma,” IBM researchers said that fewer than half of leisure and business travelers believe they’re getting a fair value for their travel dollar when they book online.

CRUISE

Carnival introduces George Lopez-branded comedy club

The Carnival Miracle launched year-round Caribbean sailings from New York on Thursday, offering several new dining and entertainment options for Carnival Cruise Lines. Making its Carnival debut is the Punchliner Comedy Club presented by George Lopez. The comedian serves as Carnival’s “curator of comedy,” acting as a consultant on the hiring of comedians.

ETC.

Pinterest draws attention of agents, suppliers

More members of the travel industry are looking at the new social media tool Pinterest and recognizing its potential for marketing, this feature says. “The advantage Pinterest has is simple: pictures,” said Meghan Peters of social media news website Mashable.com. “Its photocentric design appeals to even the most casual social media user. … The site has quickly struck a chord with a mainstream audience, a difficult feat for a new social network.”

Free Wi-Fi is most desired amenity, survey says

Note to hotel owners: Americans really like free Wi-Fi. The most important amenity for prospective U.S. hotel guests is free wireless Internet access, Expedia’s Hotels.com division said, citing its survey of prospective U.S. travelers. Of those polled, 38% said free Wi-Fi was “a must when choosing hotel accommodations.” By comparison, 25% of those surveyed said free breakfast was essential, while 18% chose free parking as the most desired amenity. Room service came in at just 2%.

Join us for weekly #RRchat

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Photo-sharing is all the rage right now. Ten percent of all photos taken by mankind were taken within the last 12 months, and now Facebook has shelled out $1 billion on the social photo sharing mobile app Instagram, following its expansion to the Android platform. First, iPhone users grouched about the non-exclusivity about the app when it became available to Android users. Now, people can’t get over the fact that such a small photo-sharing company is raking in the big bucks with the huge sale of their brilliant idea to Facebook.

So that makes us wonder, what is the future of photo-sharing? How will Facebook integrate Instagram to maximize the visual benefits, engage users and increase the number of shares?

Join us this (and every) Friday on Twitter from 3-4 p.m. Pacific Time for #RRchat to talk about the latest topics in the media and digital landscape. It’s easy! Simply take a break from your more important work to chat with us on Twitter using the hashtag #RRchat. (Don’t worry…you have permission from your supervisor for this super important assignment.)

Question 1: @Facebook recently bought @Instagram for $1 billion. How do you think this will shape photo-sharing for Facebook users?

Question 2: Speaking of photo-sharing, check out #textsfromHilary on @Tumbr. What is your favorite and why?

Question 3: A new waterproof #iPhone case allows you to take pics and videos 20 feet under water. What would you take photos of and would you share your #swimsuit photos with followers?

Don’t forget to use the #RRChat hashtag! See you every Friday from 3-4 p.m. Pacific!


Metrics That Matter

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Ask any business professional what matters and you’re bound to get as many answers as people who have answered the question.  No two companies want the same thing, but they know that they want it, and that their marketing dollars better be delivering against it.

Keeping that in mind, I came across a very interesting research study conducted by Forrester Research that took a deeper look into what B2B/B2C companies should be looking for from their marketing dollars and how they can use their analytics to guide their future marketing decisions.

To start the conversation, it’s important to note that marketing now owns most of the buying cycle.  Think about that for a minute.  When was the last time you spoke to a sales person to “research” an item.  People are smart and are now researching items on their own…they simply go direct once they’ve made up their mind and are ready for a price quote.  And at that point, discovery is over and the product has been weighed and measured.

It’s also important to keep in mind the new customer life cycle.  Ultimately you want to drive you’re consumers from the “unknown” stage all the way down to “loyal customer”.  And once this is in place, marketers can measure and analyze important metrics such as:

In an environment that offers such a wide range of metrics, the above measurements gives marketers a great look into how they should be viewing their marketing campaigns.

You can purchase the study here, or R&R internal can contact Brandi Skrtich for a copy).

Brazil garners attention for ad spending

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As increasing attention in global marketing is being focused on the Latin American market, Brazil, sitting at the #6 economy in the world, has shown particularly astronomical increases in media growth and ad spend, with 2012 projected to surpass all existing bench markers.

IBOPE reports that in 2011, total ad spend in Brazil went up 16% to top 88.3 reales, the US equivalent of $51 billion, an increase of about 8% from 2010.

Leading the pack in terms of ad spend was free TV, with about 53% of total spend. Meanwhile, while pay TV has grown 118% since 2008 (the audience is currently 40 million strong), ad spend is only about 7%. Total TV spend is down a few percent from 2010, as heavier emphasis has been placed on digital.

Both IBOPE and IAB Brasil report that 5.3 billion reales (US $3 billion) was the total ad spend for online in 2011. This is a significant 69% increase compared to 2010, during which advertisers spent 3.1 billion reales for online advertising.  Interestingly, 50% of Brazil’s 2011 online ad spend went to search and the other 50% was for display.

As a result of increased digital spend and activity, heavy-hitting American brands have opened up shop in Brazil— Netflix, Google, Facebook and Yahoo, to name a few. These companies now compete with top Brazilian brands like UOL, iG and Globo.com.  Still, 75% of the page views in Brazil are generated by just 7 Web sites: AOL, Earth, iG, Globo.com, Google (including search, YouTube and Orkut), Microsoft Live and Yahoo. Additionally, 31.1 million Brazilians visit e-commerce sites every month; coupon sites alone grew 379% in visitors between May 2010 and May 2011.

Sitting at a surprising number two in ad spend in Brazil in 2011 was newspaper, while magazines ended up slightly behind pay TV.

From a consumption standpoint, newspaper circulation yielded a 3.5% increase in circulation and a 7% increase in subscription since 2010. In fact, 11% of the Brazilian population reads the newspaper every day. Meanwhile, magazines subscriptions were up 5% year over year, and subscriptions doubled!

The following is a survey of media outlets Brazilians most admire:

  • Free TV network: TV Globo
  • Pay TV channel: GNT, which is from the Globosat cable network
  • Magazine: Veja
  • Radio network: CBN
  • Internet portal: Google

Join us for our weekly #RRchat

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Hey you! Yes, you, the one reading this blog entry in between checking your Twitter stream and Facebook and all of the other things that you probably are not paid to do, but weave into your workday to keep it interesting.

We’re not knocking you. Social media and surfing the web ARE part of the workday in some ways, because they’re great tools to use to keep up with industry news, trends, and engage in discussion with both clients and other ad folks. At least that’s how you justify it to your boss while you look at pictures of cats using bad grammar.

Since you’re online all day anyway, make it productive — join us Friday from 3-4 p.m. Pacific time for our weekly Twitter discussion about all things advertising. Follow @rrpartners on Twitter and each week, you can give us your thoughts and insight on three short marketing-themed questions. Be sure to use #RRchat in your replies so we can retweet and holler back.

To give you a head start, here are the questions we’ll be tossing out to the Twittersphere this week. Read over them, formulate your responses and get ready to have some fun banter with other marketing agency tweeps!

Question 1: Do you think if a brand has a social presence, you are more likely to purchase from that brand over one that doesn’t? What’s the value in a brand name?

Question 2: Facebook may be rolling out a dating component. Would you date on FB?

Question 3: A recent study says Klout may not be an accurate view of your social influence. What do you think?

Don’t forget the #RRChat hashtag, and hope to see you every Friday from 3-4 p.m. Pacific!

Digital Content Developer/Social Media Specialist Sal DeFilippo contributed to this article.

Marketing, Monetization and Privacy, oh my!

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WAP’s and apps seem to be top of mind for clients, marketers and industry experts alike for the last 6 or 12 months.  This sort of focus tends to cause us to rush into mobile development without a clear strategy and solid privacy policy.  Earlier this month, I was able to attend the Digiday Mobile Summit in order to ensure we weren’t blindly following this trend just because.

One speaker really stuck out to me because of his candid views on mobile and its current role in marketing.  Matt Szymczyk of Zugara stated that marketers tend to only think as marketers and gloss over the needs of the consumer.  His exact statement was “Think like a consumer, not a marketer.”  While it seems like a pretty obvious statement, I think we, as marketers, are always chasing that next big idea that’s going to wow our clients or the industry.  This blind ambition comes at the expense of catering to our consumers.  The main question we need to ask ourselves is “What problem does this ‘next big thing’ solve for the consumer?”

QR codes are a perfect example.  In their infancy, I prepared a deck that discussed what they were and how we could utilize them to help tie the online experience to the offline world, dragging metrics and analytics behind it.  In my excitement I had failed to consider that the consumer wasn’t educated on this new technology and assumed adoption would be as inevitable as the demise of feature phones.  My mistake was solving for a marketing need, not a consumer need.  To this day, QR codes aren’t widely used or even understood by the vast majority of the population (except for young affluent males, according to ComScore) because they don’t solve a problem or enhance the consumers’ lives in any significant way.

One company that has enhanced consumers’ lives is Kiip.me.  Brian Wong (CEO of Kiip) sat on a panel discussing what publishers could learn from gaming.  Contrary to what his young age would imply, he had some unique insights into marketing that I found interesting.  If you’re unaware, Kiip (pronounced ‘keep’) goes beyond standard banner ads to provide consumers tangible rewards in a virtual environment.  For example, if I’m able to clear an Angry Birds level with 3 stars, I could be shown a voucher for a small order of fries at Carl’s Jr. (Hardee’s for you Midwest folks), where I’d simply have to provide my email address to obtain.  As Mr. Wong put it, the moment you reach the achievement is euphoric and Kiip monetizes that moment.

As a gamer, I can appreciate the moment you unlock an achievement and the feeling associated with it.  While the achievement itself is intangible, everything leading up to that achievement makes it a sensational moment.  Whether you’ve battled your way through a dungeon for 15 hours or you were finally able to make the cement block fall on top of the little green pig, the accomplishment makes all the effort and frustration worth it.  Adding to the elation by giving me something I can actually use?  That’s absolutely amazing and I will likely always have a positive perception of the advertiser, despite having to provide a small bit of personal information.

I must caveat that by saying that I’m in the minority when it comes to privacy and personal information.  To me, providing a bit of personal information in return for free content is a tradeoff I’m willing and able to accept.  I’m even fine with companies tracking my behavior online to help target ads that they think I’d be more inclined to be interested in.  However, the discussion by Chris Babel (CEO of TRUSTe) and Leslie Dunal (VP of Privacy, Policy and Trust at Yahoo) really make me question my previously held beliefs (a discussion with my director about privacy and worst-cast-scenarios afterwards didn’t help).

What has caused me pause, both personally and professionally, was the realization that the vast majority of mobile applications (and even some websites) don’t have a privacy policy and those that do have more holes than Swiss cheese.  Take that and compound it by the ability for nefarious types to hack into databases on a whim (not even government databases are safe) and I’m taking my online privacy a lot more seriously.  I will actually read through privacy policies now, looking not only for how they’ll use my information, but how long they intend to keep my information on file – which is the bigger threat, in my opinion.  Marketers need to also ensure the companies they are working with and the applications/websites they may represent have a solid privacy policy.  If you’re considering building your own application and/or mobile site, I encourage you to visit www.truste.com/mobile for more information on privacy.

Manifestation of screened interactions

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Screened interactions are popping up just about anywhere you can imagine. From fast food chains to high end retail stores, you can expect to have a more digitally enhanced shopping experience.

McDonald’s fast food chains in Europe have started implementing touch screen kiosks in place of humanoids to help take orders and money. “What’s next?” one might ask, computers to flip the hamburgers?

“It had to happen. Supermarkets have already started the shift in this direction, installing self-service tills so that their customers end up doing all the work.” — Giles Turnbull.

“The downsides? Hmm, touchscreen computers in a place stacked full of fried food. Sticky, greasy finger marks all over the screen. Ewww.” — Giles Turnbull.

Retailers are also jumping aboard the proverbial “touch screen” bandwagon.

“Retailers are placing interactive touch screens in and outside of stores to provide a more immersive and engaging experience.” JWT Intelligence.

The mass adoption of touch screens is escalating the number of digital screens with which consumers can potentially interact. Great! That’s just what we all need, another consumer touch point. These screens are not cheap and installation certainly isn’t free, which means that more and more of these units will begin to carry advertising to subsidize the cost. Our guess is that they will end up being a part of a digital network where you can purchase inventory in targeted locations like restaurants, retail stores and many others.

Note: Assistant Media Planner/Buyer Melody Loveday co-authored this article.