Vor kurzem hat Universal McCann die inzwischen vierte Ausgabe der Studie “Wave” vorgestellt. Auch wenn sich die Studie unter dem Motto “Power to the People” vor allem mit der Nutzung von Social Media beschäftigt, fallen doch noch ein paar Ergebnisse zum Thema Online-Video ab.

Weltweit sehen über 80 Prozent der aktiven Internet-Nutzer Online-Videos. In Deutschland sind es mit ca. 75 Prozent etwas weniger. Vor allem in den USA und dem asiatischen Raum ist das Ansehen von Online-Videos deutlich stärker verbreitet. Interessant ist der Vergleich mit früheren Wellen: Global lag die Video-Nutzung vor drei Jahren (Wave 1) noch bei 33 Prozent, in Deutschland sogar nur bei 20 Prozent. Im Vergleich zum Vorjahr sind Zahlen allerdings relativ stabil geblieben, die maximale Reichweite für Online-Video ist offenbar erreicht.

Auch das aktive Bereitstellen von Videos wird in der Studie erhoben. Diese Ergebnisse sind aber sehr schwer interpretierbar. Zum einen wurden sie im Vorjahr erstmals erhoben. Zum anderen schwankt die Entwicklung wie auch die absolute Verbreitung in den unterschiedlichen Ländern stark. Ein regionaler Einfluss ist hier nicht zu erkennen: Global betrachtet hat ungefähr jeder Dritte schon einmal Videos ins Internet gestellt – genau wie im Vorjahr. In Deutschland ist die Zahl dagegen von 33 auf 28 Prozent gesunken – ganz anders als z.B. in den Niederlanden oder Frankreich, wo die zahlen deutlich gestiegen bzw. gleich geblieben sind.

Spannend ist jedoch noch die Einbindung von Videos in Social Networking Sites und Blogs: Während diese Angebote früher sehr textlastig waren, werden heute immer öfter Videos eingebunden. Bei Social Networks waren es 33 Prozent, fast doppelt so viele wie noch vor einem Jahr. Online-Video ist also ein fester Bestandteil anderer Web2.0-Angebote geworden.

Mehr zur Studie Wave 4 gibt es hier und hier.

Methodisches: Die Basis der Studie sind aktive Internet-Nutzer, sie ist also weder bevölkerungs- noch internet-repräsentativ. Es wurden fast 23.000 Interviews in 38 Ländern durchgeführt.

I know, I know.  I totally abandoned this blog and now I am just linking to a presentation about Wave 4, by Universal McCann. I will be doing some analysis / writing soon. I have just been very busy working, that’s what happens when you actuall work in social media… you talk about it, but offline more than online. Paradoxes.

Several Polish clothing companies try to build strong and appealing brands that could compete also outside Poland with the international giants like H&M or Zara.  One of such companies is LPP SA based in Gdansk, an incorporated company noted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2001 which owns and distributes the following brands: Reserved (flagship mainstream brand), Cropp (urban & streetwear style fashion), House (youth fashion), Mohito (active women’s fashion), Esotiq (women’s underwear), Rene Vilard (exclusive women’s underwear), Henderson (basic men’s underwear) and Promo Stars (advertising clothing).

The Reserved brand (http://reserved.com/) is the apple of LPP’s eye and by far the most successful clothing brand started in Poland.  The first stores under Reserved brand were opened in mid-1990s in Poland and until now there are over 110 Reserved stores across Poland. LPP soon launched the Reserved brand also in other countries such as: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, Lotva, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Ukraine – until now there are over 120 stores under Reserved brand outside Poland.

Reserved is notable for its in-house advertising efforts to build the desirable image of a fashion brand. At the beginning Reserved had only outdoor campaigns targeting the areas where the first stores were located. As the Reserved chain grew and covered the whole country, the brand also started  TV, radio, print and internet campaigns. The models that presented Reserved clothes were always carefully selected and usually worked for other premium and luxury brands before.

Talidy Tomasi in Reserved 2005 Spring collection

In Fall 2005 Reserved launched first European campaign aimed at creating the fashion image for the brand. The campaign featured two models from Milan-based agency: Talidy Tomasi who presented the women collection and Ivan De Pineda who presented the men’s line. The campaign’s slogan was: Every Fashion Reserved for me.

Ivan De Pineda presenting Reserved's Fall/Winter 2005 men collection

The next big campaign started in Spring of 2006 to launch the Spring/Summer 2006 collection and the top models selected to advertise Reserved came from South Africa: Angie Schmidt (previously: Chanel and Dior) and Ruan Swanepoel (previously: Soviet Jeans). The campaign’s slogan was: Every Moment RE-Reserved for me.

Angie Schmidt in Reserved 2006 Spring/Summer campaign

The first TV campaign of Reserved was aired in Poland in March 2007. The TV spot was shot in Lisbon, Portugal and presented the new faces of Reserved brand: Polish top model Anna Jagodzinska (previously: Alexander McQueen, DKNY, Prada; currently in CK One spot) and Portugal model Hugo Garcia (previously: Cerutti). The campaign’s slogan was: With Love from Lisbon.

Anna Jagodzinska & Hugo Garcia in Reserved 2007 Spring/Summer Collection

Anna Jagodzinska remained the ambassador of Reserved brand for yet another big campaign which was launched in October 2007 to promote the 2007 Fall/Winter collection.

Anna Jagodzinska in Reserved 2007 Fall/Winter collection

Jagodzinska was teamed up with Paris-based Brazilian model Tiago Barcellos. The shooting for the campaign was set in Paris and thus the campaign’s slogan was: PARIS MON AMOUR.

Anna Jagodzinska & Tiago Barcellos in PARIS MON AMOUR campaign from Fall 2007

The TV spot was produced by Papaya Film and Universal McCann Warsaw was responsible for media-planning and buying. The concept for the campaign was developed in-house by LPP’s creative team.  The biggest advertising investments were made in Poland and Czech Republic.

Tiago Barcellos in Reserved 2007 Fall/Winter collection

The most recent success of Reserved is a striking campaign for Spring/Summer 2009  entitled Adventures Of The Stardust Girl which resembles the mood of the early James Bond movies.

The pair of new models featured in this campaign are:  Lindsay Ellingson and  Aaron Bruckner. Beautifull photos for this campaign were taken by Marcin Tyszka.

Reserved's megaboard promoting 2009 Spring/Summer women collection

Aaron Bruckner in Reserved 2009 Spring/Summer men collection

Simplus, the pay-as-you-go brand of Plus mobile network returned with another spectacular advertising campaign in Spring 2009. After the amazing horror-inspired campaign of December 2008  Simplus surprised everybody with its version of French Revolution which cut the price of 1 minute phonecall to just 0,29 PLN making Simplus the cheapest offer in the market at the time of the campaign.

The TV spot takes us back to France of 18th century when the French Revolution breaks out. The TV ad retains this unique touch of the feature film that singles out Simplus spot within a cluttered commercial break.  We witness the battles in the streets, decapitated heads roll down and the blood is shed. The shooting of the TV spot took place in the Old Town of Warsaw. There are French actors in the cast and they talk in French which is dubbed by a Polish speaker. The leader of the Revolution threatens the royal family with death as the price of  Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood, but suddenly a girl butts in with a suggestion that instead of bloodbath battles they could just call up everybody in Simplus since the tariff is just 29 gr per minute to everybody.

Simplus print lay-out / Copy: 29 gr to Everybody. Simple and Cheap.

The key visual of Simplus’ print lay-outs was strongly inspired by the famous painting of 1830 by Eugène Delacroix called Liberty Leading the People [La liberté guidant le peuple] . I think it’s the first case of Polish advertising that brings back visuals from French Romanticism of 19th century on such scale.

Eugène Delacroix's painting - La liberté guidant le peuple (1830)

 All the materials, including BTL such as promotional leaflets, also featured the Delacroix-inspired visuals.

Simplus promo leaflet (cover) / French Revolution campaign

Simplus promo leaflet (inside) / French Revolution campaign

The campaign had a very short slogan:  Simple and Cheap. 29 gr/min to Everybody which obviously layed stress on the low price that was introduced with this campaign.

Two years ago this week I was in New York, along with 10,000 others, attending Ad:Tech. From memory (ex capite) 3 floors of the New York  Hilton were decked out with 300+ exhibitors.

The atmosphere was electric. Full of energy and hope. For four whole days digital  media and advertising’s best minds gathered to share in the vision: “The Art of Conversation: Building Great Brands in the Digital Age”

That year Nick Brien, the Worldwide CEO of Universal McCann gave the opening key-note address on The New Media Universe: Forging a Model of Interdependence.

He was out to prove to the audience that, although it had taken almost 2 decades, the Ad Industry now got the “whole online, interactive, new media thing” and how it was rapidly reshaping the media landscape. 

I remember him speaking eloquently and energetically about the new strategic dynamic facing the ad industry. The new terms of engagement:

Yesterday advertising was all about the old persuaders. Today it is all about the new influencers.

How timing was now everything. The 80’s had been about content (i.e. Making great ads), the 90’s about contact (i.e. Relationship management) and today it was all about context.

The idea that the customer doesn’t want to be interrupted unless they are ready… and when you do interrupt it better be personal. Today it’s all about me not you!

All good strategic  insights but when it came to the punchline the story just didn’t gel.

Why? Simply because he pulled out an award winning TV Commercial and Billboard campaign from Australia to demonstrate how his Global Agency was leading the industry in interacting with this brave new world of young influencers.

What he was saying was: “Look everybody we finally get it”. What he was showing us was: “We make great TV commercials and now we can post them online too!”

A week earlier I had been in Chicago attending a conference where Professor Erik Brynjolfsson of MIT Sloan School of Digital Business gave a key-note presentation on Digital Organisations. As he closed the show he suggested that the best way to understand the nature of the enormous strategic challenges facing the USA was to simply consider this salient lesson from history.

Britain had invented the Industrial Revolution but it was the USA that had ultimately perfected and profited from it.

History tells us that the US became the world’s industrial powerhouse thanks to practical innovations like the production line.  What is not recorded is the idea that the British failed to fully capitalise on the industrial revolution because the very culture that allowed them to invent and give birth to the industrial revolution eventually became the primary barrier to Britain perfecting and profiting from it.

Listening to Nick, and watching his TV campaign, I could not help wondering what the future held for these pioneers of the Information Revolution.

End Note:

The advertising industry has a symbiotic relationship with the mass media. If newspaper and T.V. advertising revenues fall so do advertising agency revenues. The simple fact is the Advertising Industry and the Mass Media are facing and sharing the same challenges.

For example

• Is the internet really responsible for the decline of the newspapers?
• What If: Subscriptions become the New York Times’ main revenue stream?
• Who holds the key to MobCon profitability?
• What is the MobCon?
• The real problem is FLINK!
• Why putting ads on the menu won’t pay for lunch

Two Years on and eConsultancy is reporting that the “free versus paid” debate is  the key point of discussion on the first day of Ad:Tech NY 09. 

In the key note address Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP has apparently backed Rupert Murdoch’s idea of making customers pay for media content online.  Others, like Conde Nast’s Josh Stinchcomb, think the emerging mobile market offers the best hope for subscription content.  Mixed revenue models are being openly discussed and there is a recognition that there will be a lot of experimentation in the marketplace before the right formula is discovered for monetizing digital media.

Han inundado las ciudades con vallas, marquesinas, mupis…, con las letras ‘Re_’ sobre fondos de diferentes colores. Después llegó el anuncio de televisión, que incidía todavía más en el misterio. Pero aún seguiamos sin saber quién era el anunciante. Hoy, por fin, gracias a este spot emitido sobre las 22h00 en todas las cadenas de televisión, hemos descubierto a los responsables de esta amplia campaña de publicidad. ¿Quieres descubrirlo?

Seis meses han tardado Acciona y sus agencias colaboradoras (McCann Erickson, Universal McCann y Porter Novelli) en confeccionar ‘Re_’, una campaña que quiere convertirse en un plan estratégico de Comunicación cuyo epicentro es el desarrollo sostenible de la compañía y su interacción con sus stakeholders.

Desde el 20 de octubre, una sílaba se apoderó de las marquesinas españolas. Comenzaba así la primera fase teaserde ‘Re_’. Desde entonces, más de 7.000 vallas han ido desgranando un poco más acerca de una campaña creada por McCann Erickson y que pretende erigirse como el nuevo plan de Comunicación de la compañía de José Manuel Entrecanales. ‘Re_’ no es sólo una sílaba, sino la primera de cerca de 250 verbos en castellano y 450 en inglés, así como el inicio de una nueva manera de comunicarse con la sociedad, en la que el entorno digital será clave.

Sin embargo, antes de dar el paso definitivo al mundo online, Acciona ha preferido ‘tirar’ de los medios offline para generar la viralidad esperada en la Red. Marquesinas, inserciones en diarios generalistas, spots de 10 segundos en televisiones nacionales se han unido a una presencia en Internet que contará en su fase final con acciones especiales en Youtube, Tuenti o la tecnología Vibrant Media (busca en las webs contratadas los verbos que comienzan por ‘Re_’, los resalta y los enlaza al microsite creado, www.re.acciona.com).

Así mismo, la campaña no ha querido olvidar a dos grupos de Stakeholders, los medios internacionales y los propios empleados de la compañía. En el ámbito de la Comunicación Interna, Acciona ha rebautizado su intranet bajo el nombre ‘We’Re’, así como la edición de un número especial de la revista corporativa de la compañía, que también pretende implicar al personal menos ‘ejecutivo’ con la impresión de la campaña en las vallas de las obras más representativas actualmente en marcha.

Respecto a la Comunicación internacional, un collage del Re_ se insertará en las publicaciones como el Herald Tribune o el Financial Times, entre otros. Además, está previsto desarrollar una campaña de marketing de guerrilla durante la próxima cumbre del cambio climático que se celebrará en Copenhague el próximo 15 de diciembre.

Por último, y a pesar de que desde Acciona no se ha querido revelar el montante total de la Comunicación, lo que sí han querido destacar ha sido que esta nueva manera de relacionarse con los medios ‘puede suponer un antes y un después’: muestra de ello es que el presupuesto manejado está en torno a 4 o 5 veces por debajo de lo que habría costado una campaña convencional centrada en televisión.

Vía | prnoticias.com

El reciente pitch de la cuenta de Volkswagen, fue motivo de muchos comentarios desde su inicio. Lo retrató claramente Ad Age en el titulo de un artículo que publicó parafraseando las declaraciones de Tim Ellis, vicepresidente de Volkswagen Of America Inc: “Domination Wanted: VW Dumps Crispin in Bid to Triple U.S. Sales“. Triplicar las ventas en diez años y llegar a una posición dominante en el mercado norteamericano es un objetivo tan exuberante, que diarios, revistas y blogs replicaron con todo tipo de comentarios, haciendo algunos una correlación hitleriana (incluidos los símbolos) de los deseos de dominación de la marca alemana y otros, como Alan Wolk y el propio Ad Age, analizando lo imposible de la tarea. Tienen razón. Empezando porque el producto —el auto en diferentes modelos— tiene serios problemas de calidad y son frecuentes las devoluciones. Por ejemplo, en una sola semana de agosto la empresa retiró 13,500 vehículos incluyendo los modelos Jetta y GTI por problemas en la transmisión. Y terminado porque no es una agencia de publicidad la que tiene la magia que pudiese hacer realidad una tarea tan inverosímil. Quizás en tiempos de Don Draper —los sesenta y los setenta— el publicista de la serie Mad Men, pero no cincuenta años mas tarde.

La frase genial de Bill Bernbach para VW tiene ahora otras resonancias: la empresa debe rebajar sus aspiraciones y hacerlas razonables; la agencia estar dispuesta a reducir su remuneración hasta niveles vergonzosos.

Es un secreto a voces que Deutsch de Los Ángeles consiguió, hace unos días la cuenta, solo a punta de rebajar el precio de sus servicios a niveles que otros dicen que tiene que implicar, invariablemente, una pérdida. Lo sugiere, hoy mismo (26/10/09), Ad. Age y lo pregona el irreverente George Parker en su blog AdScam/The Horror!. Pero parece ser cierto también que el responsable de una de las agencias, al salir de la extenuante reunión con los responsables de VW, en la que tuvo que presentar detalles de la cantidad de personas a emplear la cuenta y discutir la compensación,  le susurró a los colegas de la agencia, que hacían antesala:  “Don´t cave”  que es algo así como “¡No sucumban, no cedan!”.

Se refería el colega a la presión que ejercen en las negociaciones los responsables de lo que en inglés se llama procurement y que se puede traducir por “gestión de adquisiciones, compras” que son ahora los encargados de negociar la remuneración de las agencias, inmiscuyéndose en cada detalle de sus costos y ajustando las cifras de acuerdo con sus propio criterio de lo que debe costar un servicio, que, en el caso de las agencias donde los costos son fundamentalmente en salarios y honorarios, implica valorizar lo que deben ganar sus especialistas. Sobre esto he publicado varios posts pero está mejor reseñado en La compensación por performance a toda vela, pero se está convirtiendo a la agencia de publicidad en un/una commodity.

Dice Ad Age en Unmasking the Procurement Executive, que los nuevos invitados a las negociaciones, antes encargados de comprar “cosas” y materiales de oficina, ahora tienen la responsabilidad de comprar el trabajo creativo de la empresa. O de ponerle precio a los medios y a la remuneración de la central de medios respectiva. Solo uno de cada diez “procuradores” en actividad, en la actualidad, de acuerdo con una investigación de Ad Age en LinkedIn, tenía experiencia previa en marketing. Incluso el más importante de todos, Stewart Atkinson, responsable de la compra de medios y otras comunicaciones para P&G como “manager-global marketing purchases”, tiene en su pasado inmediato haber sido el responsable de la manufactura de detergentes en Europa.

Russel Wohlwerth, fundador de Ark Advisors, una empresa de asesoría especializada en relaciones entre la agencia de marketing y el cliente comenta: “… a pesar de las dificultades que han afrontado en los últimos 12 meses (por la crisis) entienden que no es posible mantener una relación en la que desde el principio se pierde dinero. Las empresas tienen que respetar que las agencias ganen dinero. Ni más ni menos que como ellas mismas.”

JWT, filial del grupo WPP, anunció la semana pasada que abandonaba la licitación de UPS (una cuenta de unos $200 millones al año, que fue finalmente ganada por Ogilvy & Mather, también de WPP que fue en pareja con la agencia de medios Maxus).

Bob Jeffrey CEO de J Walter Thompson declara en un mail interno “ UPS es un negocio grande con un problema muy grande que afrontar. Tienen que tratarnos, a nosotros o a cualquier otra agencia, como a un socio y eso no parece estar dentro de su cultura. Hemos invertido una considerable cantidad de tiempo y energía en este proyecto y por lo tanto está claro que no hemos tomado la decisión (de retirarnos) a la ligera”. La agencia que tenía la cuenta The Martin Agency (con McCann Erickson, Universal McCann y MRM en la parte internacional), que en un principio había decidido participar en la licitación, se salió de ella pronto. La negociación fue mucho mas lenta de lo previsto y se dice que se debió a que los “procuradores” estuvieron fuertemente involucrados en el proceso.

Algo parecido sucedió con la cuenta del Grupo Danone ($100 millones) que escogió continuar con MPG de Havas a pesar de una negociación de 4 meses en la que estuvieron involucradas otras dos agencias, una de las cuales declaró: “desde el principio fue obvio que el tema crítico eran los fees y los precios de los medios” y la cosa era totalmente evidente porque las preguntas propuestas eran todas sobre precios “¿Puede asegurar una flexibilidad de presupuesto que mantenga estas garantías a lo largo del 2010”?, ¿”las mejoraría más allá del 2010”?, ¿”puede mejorar los GRP’s netos”?, ¿puede mejorar el nivel de garantía y penalización que está dispuesto a alcanzar para llegar al acuerdo financiero?, ¿puede confirmar que su método garantizado es válido para cada país más allá de los costos 2010?.

Es decir, exclusivamente cuestiones de dinero aunque la licitación fue presentada como para parecer que era sobre estrategia que se iba a discutir y un grupo importante de cada agencia perdió una buena cantidad de tiempo preparando las partes que no tenían ninguna importancia.

Dice Tom Finneran, el VP de servicios de gestión de agencias de la American Association of Advertising Agencies, que ese tipo de RFP (Request For Porposal) “se han vuelto cada vez más comunes y cada vez más un punto de desconcierto para la comunidad de las agencias”. Y ha agregado que en los últimos 12 meses se ha discutido mucho, entre las agencias en torno a estas nuevas practicas desbordantes, en algunas de las cuales ha habido RFP verdaderamente estrambóticas en las que de 300 preguntas solo 10 estaban relacionadas con el marketing de la marca. “Es probable que estén tomando el formato de RFP que usan para proveedores de productos manufacturados o de investigación y tecnología y lo estén usando con las agencias”. “En estas prácticas, concluye, el departamento de marketing ha quedado prácticamente aislado por los “procuradores” a cargo de adquisiciones”. Una auténtica aberración.

Lo cierto es que desde tiempos inmemoriales, las agencias han tenido márgenes con buenos colchones de seguridad y  no le ha resultado demasiado difícil, a los clientes, bajar sus costos. Pero este nivel de reducción de remuneración y confundir los servicios de una agencia con los de otra (la comoditización) va a tener que llegar a un fin y será necesario reacomodar las funciones, las responsabilidades y sin duda, los márgenes. Y como dice Finneran, el VP de la AAAA, “tiene que establecerse una discusión de dos vías; dos RPF, una por cada lado. Y la posibilidad de que la agencia le diga al cliente ‘nos encantará responder a las preguntas que ustedes han hecho pero también tenemos un cuestionario para ustedes. Y no tenemos ningún interés en competir por el manejo de su marca sin tener previamente sus respuestas’.”

Jonah Bloom, el editor en jefe de Ad Age, que fue el que denunció la comoditización en su artículo Agencies and Media Brands Turning Into Commodities, cuyo pensamiento planteamos en este blog, ha escrito un artículo con siete recomendaciones, emanadas incluso de sus propios lectores, para combatirla. Será objeto de mi siguiente post.

Hay que negociar y ponerse de acuerdo.

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Social media as a whole continues to surpass growth estimates. eMarketer reported earlier this month that Twitter has over 18 million adults who access on at least a monthly basis. That’s a 200% increase over last year.

Universal McCann’s “Power to the people-social media tracker” also sees social networking continuing to increase. eMarketer estimates that 44.2% of all Internet users in the U.S. are social network users. Worldwide, 62.5% of active users ages 16-54 have a social networking profile in 2009. Worldwide, 62.5% of active Internet users ages 16-54 have a social network profile.

  

Users are looking to social networking sites that can consolidate multiple social media into one place. As noted above, despite consolidation, social media is not a one-stop shop. Universal McCann advises marketers to give consumers options when engaging them through social media. Allowing individuals to share and discuss on their platform of choice remains important.

Have you ever wondered how many Filipinos are as active as you are right now in the Internet? That’s exactly what Universal Mccann had in mind. In fact, the organization conducted a social media study covering 29 countries (in Wave 3*) and 38 countries (in Wave 4**), both of which include the Philippines. In fact, Universal Mccann shows how Filipino Internet users grew from 3.3 million to 4.2 million in about a year—the different between Universal Mccann’s Wave 3 study (completed in March 2008) and Wave 4 study (completed in March 2009). By March 2009, the Internet has reached 21.5% percent penetration in the Philippines.

Let’s put this into perspective:

Uploading Videos

From 60.13%, 67.51% of Filipino Internet users have uploaded videos in the Internet. If you are one of the people who have uploaded a video in your profile, that makes you one of the 33% of active Internet users who have uploaded a video in their profile—a stark difference from the previous Wave, where only 16.9% of the entire Internet population  have tried uploading a video.

67.51% of active Filipino Internet users have uploaded a video

That’s not very surprising—with the way Filipinos love uploading videos about basically anything. From learning how to be  a Filipino to dancing inmates, Filipinos would upload anything and everything. And let’s not forget the fact that Halili’s scandal seeped to the public through a video upload.

What this statistic shows is that Filipinos are beginning  to contribute content to video sharing websites at an increasing rate. In fact, it is oe of the most remarkably improved–only next to Korea, that is.

Watching Videos

When it comes to watching videos, Filipinos take the top spot—98.1% have already watched a video. That means about 4.12 million Filipinos have watched a video in Youtube, Google Video or one of the many video sharing sites.

98.1% of active Filipino Internet users have watched a video

And why not? WithFilipino-made videos like Juana Change, Happyslip, Moymoy Palaboy, what kind of Filipino would not want to watch videos? With the way Filipinos absolutely love watching television, it’s not surprising they’ve carried the same practice online. In fact, there are plenty of website that air television shows in the Philippines, one of which is www.pinoychannel.tv. Stick around and maybe you’ll find a video of me playing in a certain game show.

Blog Readership

When it comes to reading blogs—otherwise known as online journals—how exactly do Filipinos fare? Mccann’s Wave 4 doesn’t mention the changes in the  blog readership of the Filipinos, but the statistic in Wave 3 give enough information as to how much Filipinos love reading blogs.

As a matter of fact, Filipinos are only second South Korea when it comes to reading blogs. The statistics of blog readership is in proportion to the total number of Internet users in that country.

90.3% of Filipino Internet users have read a blog

From 64%, 90% of Filipino Internet users have read a blog.

One of the greatest proofs of the bloggers’ clout in the Philippines are blog organizations like Bloggers Kapihan and Cebu Bloggers Society. The Philippine Blog Awards, also, remain to be one of the major events where popular bloggers gather.  Perhaps this also explains why companies are beginning to tap into bloggers for publicity. An example of this is the Trinoma Blogger’s Tour.

Social Networking

83.1% of Filipino Internet users belong to social networking sites–the highest ration in any other country. That’s fairly unsurprising to me.  In the Philippines, two social networking sites (Facebook and Friendster) are among the top 3 sites in the Philippines. Multiply is the ninth, while Twitter is the eleventh. Filipino companies are also beginning to enter the sphere of social networking sites and applying traditional advertising principles (ie., banners in social networking sites) in these sites. This statistic also explains why Filipinos constantly trend in Twitter’s trending topics.

83.1% of Filipino Internet users belong to a social network

The Lowdown

Universal Mccann tells us that only 4.2 million Filipinos–21.5% of our total population–are in the Internet. That makes us the fourth lowest country when it comes to Internet penetration.

Philippines, fourth to the lowest when it comes to social media penetration

Personally speaking, I find 21.5% Internet penetration as just too low a percentage. That’s why I checked the areas covered by the Universal Mccann study, the areas shaded with red:

The places covered by the Universal Mccann Study

If you examine closely, only two areas of the Philippines are shaded red: a part in Luzon and Mindanao. Does this immediately eliminate Internet users in other places in the country, like Visayas or Southern Mindanao? If yes, then a big portion of active Internet users in the Philippines may have been discounted.

The areas in the Philippines covered by the Universal Mccann study

What Mccann’s study proves is that, given the number of people in the Philippines included in their research, Filipinos are truly active Internet users in more ways than one. Moreover, it also calls for an in-depth study about Internet use in the Philippines–that which will give a clearer and more solid insight on how active Filipinos use the Internet. Will such an in-depth study be helpful at all? If companies really want to look more into the behavior of Filipino Internet users, then yes, it is.

The results showed by Universal Mccann for the areas that they covered are promising, what more if a study applies to the entire Philippines? Since the country is an archipelago, it will help companies determine where to concentrate their social media efforts.

*To view the entire slideshow of Universal Mccann’s Power to the People study Wave 3, click this.

***To view the entire slideshow of Universal Mccann’s Power to the People study Wave 4, click this.

Disclaimer: All photos were taken from the Wave 3 and Wave 4 studies of Universal Mccann.

Although our distinguished title of  “texting capital of the world” has been challenged in recent years, it has long been accepted that Filipinos have a penchant for utilizing our mobile phones for sending off SMS (Short Messaging Service). Every Juan and Maria in our overpopulated streets can be seen holding the ubiquitous cell phone, typing while walking or talking with a friend or constantly checking whether the beep they just heard came from that tiny tech device so easily stored in our pockets.

In more recent times, we have also seen another global phenomenon making its way to our shores — Social Media. And being such easy adopters, we have seen the rise of users — from the tech savvy bloggers to the ordinary housewife to even our household help. Everyone has a Facebook account, a Multiply account, perhaps a Flickr or Youtube, a Twitter or a Plurk… and yes, even Friendster is alive and well (though some would disagree). It’s not an uncommon phenomenon nowadays to hear the phrase “add me up in Facebook” or “i-Friendster mo ako.” Some would even go as far as to say that the social networks have now replaced the most commonly used form of communication (as opposed to text messaging).

Would I go as far as saying that the Philippines has become the social media capital of the world? Probably not. But, we could be heading in that direction. In the recent Wave 4 study done by Universal McCann, these are some internet usage stats that were discovered:

• 67.51% of online Pinoys have uploaded videos to a video sharing site
• while 98.1% have watched videos online

… and more stats from the Wave 3 study:

• 83% of online Filipinos are part of a social network
• 86.4% have uploaded photos
• 90% of online Pinoys have read a blog

Along with the rise in popularity of Microblogging in the Philippines, I will place my money on Social Media to be around for quite some time. And just today, I came across this article. Needless to say, we have learned to utilize the internet and a lot of its offerings — for the mundane to the life-changing. And in the coming years, I can only see our usage of these new mediums to increase, as we find more and more ways to connect, share and let people know what we are up to. Social media capital? Not just yet.

But in the meantime, i-Facebook niyo ako.

These days in India, ordinary auto rickshaw drivers flaunt the latest cell phone, making you cringe and hide your own aging handset.

What started with cell phones is now creeping into the web. India is getting wired and “logging in” with unparalleled gusto.

Statistics, however, are sketchy.

According to AC Nielsen, there are about 50 million Internet users in India, out of which 20 million engage in social networking. Another report by the Internet Government Forum suggest that India has nearly 80 million odd Internet subscribers.

Some claim that by 2013 India will have the third largest Internet penetration in the world. Forrester reckons India’s Internet will grow by 10-20% every year for next 5 years.

Whatever the real number, a billion people are powering the Internet’s growth in India and it is already fascinating to look at comScore’s analysis of social networking in India.

While Orkut clearly leads the pack, Facebook’s 150 per-cent growth over the last one year is catching up fast. Facebook quizzes like “How well do you know Anand Sharma” have become a national obsession for Indians like Anand Sharma and his friends during office lunch times.

comScore further states that, “Orkut reigned as the most visited social networking site in December 2008 with more than 12.8 million visitors, an increase of 81 percent from the previous year. Orkut’s audience was three times the size of its nearest competitor in the category.

Facebook.com captured the #2 position with 4 million visitors, up 150 percent versus year ago, followed by local social networking site Bharatstudent.com with 3.3 million visitors (up 88 percent) and hi5.com with 2 million visitors (up 182 percent).”

So if we do a study in percentages, one will come to the conclusion that when it comes to India and social networking, all relevant stats are growing at over 100%! Mind boggling isn’t it?

So how do Indians spend their time on social networks? As per a survey done by Universal McCann the findings are as follows

Study done by Universal McCann

Even  A C Nielsen, observed the following facts  on the usage pattern of the social media websites in India.

v  Top reasons for using the social networking sites

• Keeping in touch with people they know:  82 %.
• Reconnecting with old acquaintances they have lost touch with:  58%
• Making New friends :   53%
• Building professional network:      43%

v  Time spent on the social media sites

• Three quarters of Indian respondents have been using social networking  websites for two or more years
  • Two-thirds spend more than half an hour on each session

v  Attitude towards using the social networking sites

All had a very positive attitude towards social networking websites.

• The majority (71 per cent) consider social networking sites to be cool, but that is not to say that face-to-face interaction has become outdated or is on the decline
• 66 per cent believe that social networking sites are no substitute for actual face-to-face meetings with friends
• 43 per cent of respondents even consider it safe to meet people face-to-face whom they have met online

It is safe to predict that Social Media in India is starting to boom and organizations are waking up to its marketing opportunity. China is way ahead, but this gap will be lessening over a very short period of time.

Simplus, the biggest pay-as-you-go mobile network in Poland, is famous for its ongoing campaign of film genre’s parodies.  Until now Simplus has delivered successful parodies of latino soap opera, western movie, horror film (The Others),  historical epic (French Revolution) and submarine movie (Das Boot).  In its latest campaign entitled Italian Affair, Simplus has tackled the Italian movie Malena (2000, dir. Giuseppe Tornatore) which stars Monica Belucci. The print ads (posters placed in cinemas across Poland) imitate  the old-school film posters from the 1940-1950s.

Simplus' poster - headline: Non-limited talking with chosen person

Simplus’ Italian Affair campaign promotes a new service called Unrestricted Number [Swobodny Numer]  which allows the user of Simplus network to phone and text a chosen person within this network free-of-charge without any limits.  The TV commercial ends with a funny shot of Malena exposing her hairy armpit…

Well, perhaps in the 1940s when the history of Malena takes place women didn’t shave their armpits…

Malena's hairy armpit in Simplus TV ad

Lynx Shower Gel for men is being promoted in Australia with an interesting interactive web experience, “The Lynx Effect Party Across the Internet”.

This really needs to be seen to be truly appreciated.

It is consistent with the brand as well as being relevant, interesting and motivating to the target market of teenage boys to men (i.e. parties, girls and macho fantasy)

Anti Hangover, Shock and Fever Shower Gel provide the colours and fragrances for a range of male fantasy experiences, on-line at www.partyacrosstheinternet.com.au.

Users are swept through experiences at men’s magazine Ralph, surf magazine QuiksilverPro, MySpace and video site Heavy.com before landing at the Lynx Effect Facebook page.

The campaign includes the Lynx Party Pix Party facebook application, and is linked with lynxeffect.com.au and lynxeffect.co.nz.

Click here to kick it off: www.partyacrosstheinternet.com.au

This is truly innovative and brings new creative thinking to an established on-line medium.

Soap Creative are the agency behind it with media by Universal McCann. Thanks also to The Inspiration Room for an early post.

Looking for a better connection with your members?

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Sure, it’s important that your members have the freedom to choose and in no way do you want to discourage their participation in other sites. But being ready for this eventual consolidation with a product that not only covers all of their social networking needs but helps you run a more efficient organization through a powerful CMS, is smart. Positioning your organization to maximize the benefit of social input and interaction can be done quickly and affordably. YourMembership.com can have your new site and software ready in 72 hours and our straightforward, all-inclusive pricing makes it easy on the wallet as well.