The Social Media Conundrum for Franchises

Posted by gagan on April 21, 2010 under Social Media | 2 Comments to Read

Recently, we had a client face a challenge that I presume isn’t unique to them. You see, the client owns a local franchise that targets a specific geographic area, and wanted to leverage social media – namely Facebook and Twitter – to create a deeper user engagement. However, the corporate office has its own policies and wants to drive social media traffic to its own established areas within the two social networks. So after much wrangling, the local franchise had to capitulate to corporate’s wishes to not dilute the company’s national efforts by creating its own social media presence.

Now, I can certainly understand corporate’s desire to control the message and create one singular entity within Facebook and Twitter from which to push messaging and engage users. What company doesn’t want to create a unified front when it comes to the millions of potential eyeballs and users it can target? Right? Right.

However, in the instance of this particular brand, which is based on the premise of hyper-local customers within a very specific geographical area, this strategy isn’t the most effective. Look at it from the local franchise’s perspective for a moment. If I target a specific community and my franchise is solely responsible for growing sales within this community, and I am trying to build brand loyalty to my particular franchise, shouldn’t I be responsible for the level of social engagement with my audience? What good does it do me to have my customers, with whom I interact regularly and have built a rapport, engage with the parent company’s Facebook page?

The correct strategy for the parent company in this instance is to allow local franchises to leverage social media to the extent they feel is appropriate while offering some general guidelines for engagement and branding. Otherwise, the entire social media effort fails to do what set out to do – create regular interaction and brand loyalty with its local customers.

iPad’s REAL Product Testers

Posted by admin on April 16, 2010 under General | Be the First to Comment

Minutes after I got my iPad and opened it up, my five- and six-year-old were all over it and were doing all sorts of things on it without any prior knowledge or understanding. It was easy enough for them because they have logged hours on the iTouch already, interacting with all sorts of kid-oriented apps over the last year. And apparently it’s not a unique phenomenon that kids gravitate to these devices. Check the 2.5-year-old in the video below, and I’d have to agree with Mashable’s declaration that the best test of usability is no longer our parents, but our toddlers.

Apple-Google War Moves to Mobile Ads

Posted by admin on March 27, 2010 under Mobile Advertising | Be the First to Comment

The battle lines have been drawn for some time now, and despite the recent pics of Steve Jobs and Google’s Eric Schmidt chatting over coffee, the latest salvo in the battle for eyeballs between the two giants could come as early as April 7, when Apple is expected to unveil its mobile advertising platform, according to MediaPost.

Until now, Apple’s dominance has extended to devices and content, but it’s made minimal inroads into web and mobile advertising. However, with the new advertising platform – dubbed “iAd” by Online Media Daily- and coupled with the launch of the iPad, not to mention the popular iPhones and iTouch devices, Apple could be the first company to make a dent in Google’s advertising business model.

Of course, Google has hit back with the impressive proliferation of devices with its own Android operating system and app market in the last year, but it’s got a long way to go to catch up with Apple’s dominance in the gadget market.

However you look at the tech giants’ battle, it’s a good thing for us agencies and our clients, because it gives us more options when it comes to targeting eyeballs using mobile devices. Not to mention that the competition should ultimately result in lower rates as both companies bid for your business.