Marcom this week: From A to zinc – 12/31/10 edition

From social networking sites dominating our search queries in 2010 to growing social media budgets in the year ahead, here’s a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

Facebook Beats Google in 2010 for “Most Visited Site” Title
According to Experian Hitwise’s analysis of the top 1,000 search terms for 2010, "facebook" was the top-searched term overall, accounting for 2.11 percent of all searches. This is the social networking site’s second year as the top-searched term. Not surprisingly, overall, social networking-related terms dominated the results, accounting for 4.18 percent of the top 50 searches. "YouTube" was the third most-searched term, followed by "craigslist," "myspace" and "facebook.com." Facebook also took top honors as the most-visited site in 2010, moving up from No. 3 and accounting for 8.93 percent of all U.S. visits. Google came in second with 7.19 percent of visits, followed by Yahoo Mail at 3.52 percent, Yahoo at 3.3 percent and YouTube at 2.65 percent. Bing popped up on the top-10 list for the first time in 2010, sitting at No. 10. Will be curious to see where the newbie search engine site goes from here.

Social Media Spending in 2011
With nearly 80 percent of corporations undertaking social media efforts, social media has quickly evolved from a shiny new object to a marketing toolkit must-have. So it’s no surprise that total budget for social strategy is projected to rise in 2011. Advisory firm Altimeter Group recently asked 140 corporate social media strategists how much they spent in 2010 and learned that the amount varies greatly based on the size of the organization. However, on average, companies spent $833,000 last year on social strategy. Next year, this number is expected to reach an average of $1.16 million. The following chart breaks down social media budgets and strategy based on an organization’s level of SM sophistication. We’d be curious to hear how this compares to your experience – let us know in the comments.

TaylorMade Scores a Hole-In-One with "Sesame Street"
The leading manufacturer of golf clubs, TaylorMade, has teamed up with the sounds of “Sesame Street” for a major TV ad campaign that will launch Jan. 3 on the Golf Channel, ESPN, NBC and CBS. The commercial features the song “One of These Things is Not Like the Others” – a “Sesame Street” staple – and will plug the company’s high-tech R11 driver, which has an unusual mostly white-colored clubhead. While we think the cutesy song will perk the ears of golf enthusiasts tuned into the season’s top competitions, we’re not sure these viewers will totally get the deeper meaning intended by TaylorMade’s ad agency, NYCA. As Michael Mark, CEO and creative director of the Encinitas, Calif.-based shop, explained in a recent AdAge interview, “We wanted to disarm the fear. We wanted to bring people back to a time of learning and openness when they would make personal leaps ahead without worry of what they didn’t know. That’s what ‘Sesame Street’ is all about.”

Marcom this Week: From A to Zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com. Miss your vitamins last week? Visit the Dec. 24th edition of “Marcom this Week."

Marcom this week: From A to zinc – 12/17/10 Edition

From PR headaches to monetization strategies for social media start-ups, here’s a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

‘Tis the Season for Damage Control
As if its logo debacle earlier this year wasn’t bad publicity enough, this week Gap launched an anti-hunger FEED campaign that touted the “Made in USA” status of the FEED-branded bags it’s currently selling. Oh, did we mention the bags are actually made in China? Ouch. But, who are the bigger victims in this latest gaffe by Gap? Try presidential niece and FEED founder Lauren Bush and the American children she had hoped to feed through the sale of her products at Gap. A recent poll by the Huffington Post shows that 75 percent of respondents would opt not to buy the bags as a result of the mislabeling.



Also taking some heat this week was eyelash growth product Latisse. Rumor has it Latisse spokesperson Claire Danes is suffering from a known side effect of the product: skin discoloration. The starlet is keeping a video diary of her experience using the lash grower, and we can’t imagine this side effect will make for good material. At the same time, the online diary could serve as a useful tool in dispelling the rumor, if it is just that. We’re staying tuned to see how Latisse handles.

Twitter: Web’s Next Golden Child?
Twitter is flush with cash after receiving $200 million in funding this week, valuing it at $3.7 billion. With 175 million registered users, the platform appears to be following in the footsteps of Facebook in its pursuit of World Wide Web domination. However, these big numbers aren’t adding up quite yet. This is because Twitter is still figuring out how to turn itself into a profitable business. It’s expected the web start-up will end the year with nearly $50 million in revenues – approximately $.29 per user. This is a far cry from rivals Facebook and Google, which generate around $2-$3 per user and $25 per user, respectively. However, with only eight months of ad service under its belt and former DoubleClick CEO David Rosenblatt joining Twitter’s board of directors, the company’s future appears promising.

“Go down your gullet, just like a mullet”
This week, our pick for ad of the week goes to Pepto Bismol. Or, rather, the star of its holiday campaign: Ken Jeong. Best known for his comedic roles in "Knocked Up," "The Hangover" and "Community," Jeong has set his sights on eradicating holiday party under-indulgence this season by introducing the power of Pepto to partygoers with sensitive stomachs. What the commercial lacks in taste and sophistication, it makes up for in awkward dance moves and strange lyrics. Go ahead, click replay a few times – it’s worth it. But, we’re not so sure we can say the same for Jeong’s career.



Marcom this week: From A to zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com. Miss your vitamins last week? Visit last week's “Marcom This Week."

Marcom this week: From A to zinc

From multi-billion-dollar takeover bids to warm-and-fuzzy car commercials, here’s a look at what made headlines this week in the integrated marketing communications industry.

Celebrating the Digital Decade

As the Digital Decade comes to a close, The One Club announced this week its favorite One Show Interactive winners from the past 10 years. From Burger King’s Subservient Chicken to Dove’s Evolution campaign, these works showcase how the real and interactive worlds were seamlessly brought together. The decade of digital may represent the successful launch of the first branded viral video and the birth of online social engagement, but what will its legacy be 10 years from now? And, what does the next decade have in store for us?

View the top 10 digital campaigns.

Groupon, Meet Google

Google is expected to make a staggering $5.3 billion bid for Groupon in the near future, a move that at first seems intuitive, as Google hasn’t had much success making a name for itself in online social technology. (Remember Google Buzz? We didn’t think so.) This acquisition could also serve as a remedy for its local advertising problem, an issue it attempted to solve by offering to acquire Yelp for $550 million in late 2009.

However, some industry experts are calling Google’s near-record-setting offer an act of desperation. Next in line to acquire Groupon would be Google’s arch nemesis, Facebook. The two sites have established a symbiotic relationship, and Facebook’s acquisition of Groupon would only strengthen its growing online advertising prowess. It seems likely that Google’s bid is merely to ensure Facebook can’t get its hands on Groupon. This especially seems probable when you consider that Groupon’s popularity peaked around the end of summer and has since dropped off substantially.

In related news, Groupon wasn’t the only discount email company making headlines this week. Its rival LivingSocial is reportedly in talks with Amazon to receive an investment of up to $150 million.

GM Falls Down

Vitamin IMC’s campaign pick of the week is General Motors’ heartfelt, but not too heavy-handed “Thank You (We All Fall Down)” commercial that aired over Thanksgiving weekend. The 60-second spot created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is a tribute to iconic American entities – GM, included – that have fallen hard, only to rise up and stand tall once again. A reminder that, perhaps, those things worth fixing are never broken beyond repair.

Marcom This Week: From A to Zinc is compiled by the Vitamin IMC editorial team. They can be reached at vitaminimc@gmail.com.