Zazza Media Stragegies Media Relations, Public Relations, Branding, Marketing and Advertising

I was totally deceived for a while!

Ever have a nagging feeling only to find “definitive facts” that shoot your feeling down? Here’s the deal: companies are always looking for new ways to make money, buy advertising and reign supreme. Of the larger brands in the US, McDonald’s is a ferocious beast. Who else would try to take on Starbucks at their own game?

So imagine a staple of Online Media at the center of a swirl of rumors. Facebook was rumored to start geo-location support. It’s been the nerd talk for 2010: geo-location. Sites like Foursquare and Gowalla are leading the way. But just like Twitter, Facebook seemed poised to announce a new geo-location feature for accounts. With a huge user base, Facebook could easily put Foursquare and Gowalla on the path to shut down.

Facebook’s big developer conference ended without squat about geo-location. Then yesterday, the advertising world was buzzing about McDonald’s and Facebook. Turns out McDonald’s will be the launch advertiser to use Facebook’s upcoming geo-location feature. Check in at a McDonald’s and get a free fries or something. Can you imagine being enticed to show your phone the next time you order a Big Mac?

I’ve been hesitant to mention geo-location until this very moment. Mainly because if you’re not in New York City, maybe 5,000 people are using either Foursquare or Gowalla. On top of that, there was no clear leader between the two. No reason to invest in the idea until now. The moment Facebook launches it’s time for every company or business to analyze implementation to their media strategies.

Rewarding people for sharing their patronage with friends is network marketing making things happen. “Free” advertising for minimal cost. Chipotle still engages in a similar form of “free” network advertising. At locations near college campuses, Chipotle would offer free burritos on Saturday. What college kid gives up a free lunch? Chipotle would spread the word a bit and before you knew it, college kids loved Chipotle. They loved it so much Chipotle has an entire college campus marketing division.

With the impending launch of geo-location on Facebook, I don’t recommend panicking. It’s ok to get an extra cup of coffee and visit sites like Foursquare. Just don’t feel overwhelmed quite yet. It is the weekend in a few hours after all.

The potential from this news is extraordinary. It will also quell any detractors out there as well. It is very clear that McDonald’s is getting this unique privilege from a very large media buy. The full details are not clear but in what will sure be a big splash, McDonald’s will help transform Online Media trends.

For the average small business there might be a learning curve. That’s expected. Considering that you want people to visit your business you will probably catch on quickly. Sending “Check-In” promotions to friends who hopefully then visit and “Check-In” themselves. From there their friends see where they “Checked-In” and love the promotion so they show up and “Check-In.” After that it gets quite cyclical and the potential becomes beyond incredible.

Have you already been having fun with Foursquare or Gowalla? Let me know! I’ve been trying it out myself a bit under a pseudonym and it can get addicting fast!

Have a fantastic weekend and I look forward to seeing you here again on Monday!

Tell a Friend,

TZ

It’s the end of Google Search…

I’m not joking at all. I’m completely serious that ‘Googling’ will come to an end. I may just be a few decades ahead of myself is all.

Ya know how they refer to Facebook and Twitter as ‘Web 2.0′? It’s not because they’re social media, it’s because of the technology behind the websites. Back when Web 2.0 started a good friend explained to me the underlying principle guiding the technology. After building a Web 2.0 company himself he was best to describe it. Web 2.0 is designed to respond to you before you act. In other words, it should know what you want to see and show it to you before you even click a button.

Creepy?

You’re already getting used to it right now. I wrote this week about Facebook’s privacy and new features. Facebook announced today that over 50,000 websites have adopted their new plug-ins that essentially help Facebook dominate content across the web. Now you have over 50,000 different websites that you can ‘Like’ and suggest to friends. Facebook then passes that along to your friends and your friends pass their likes along to you.

Have you seen those Microsoft Bing commercials? They always take a jab at Google, the dominate search engine, for not being very visually appealing. Do you agree? Google is very simple. It’s text and list based. You search and their engine gives you results with very few images (unless you search for images) and it’s just very pure data. Bing is a very visual search engine. But even the typical search engine is slowly seeing a fate worse than death.

For marketers, Google is an amazing way to track and analyze where advertising dollars are spent and their results. Facebook, Twitter and others do not have that “graphing power.” You can’t walk into a room of high-dollar executives and show them results on a dry erase board because there’s only very select information. Facebook’s new methods of ‘Like’ and commentary centralize social media interaction in a way easier to potentially analyze.

That’s been the biggest problem for social media to date. So many others, including myself, know that social media is a valuable tool. Putting an exact number on that value has been the hardest thing to do yet. But what is very clear is that Facebook and Twitter are recognized by about 85% of the US population. That’s more than the percentage of people with regular internet access. Social Media strikes a chord with most people. Here’s what I think the major reason is:

Everyone wants to be involved in a community and share experiences and opinions with others.

To date, there has been no way that a single person can in theory interact with billions of others in the blink of an eye. Connecting with someone on the opposite side of the planet is easier than ever imagined. Google is very single-user focused. Facebook has been too mass-mob focused. Blending and bridging the gap makes for a very clear message:

Media Strategies is an active method to be seen and be heard in a community environment of instant action and instant response.

Searching will be dead. Finding will be king. Bookmarking will be a habit and sharing is only natural. If you’re not getting on board now you’re only delaying the inevitable. Until Monday friends, have a great weekend!

Tell a Friend,

TZ

Tony Zazza, a 15-year media, marketing and advertising expert, is the Principal of Zazza Media Strategies, a Dallas Texas Marketing Firm, that specializes in growing small to medium sized businesses to their fullest potential.

This adds to the List of the Worst Ever!

So maybe you were following me this weekend when I had a gaffe with a local Italian eatery? When I say gaffe I really mean FIASCO!

Quick recap: I call to order dinner for my friends and I. I’ve ordered before and I’ve loved the food. Some new person answers and has no respect for me and no clue what she was doing. She lacked any sense of professionalism. After a difficult time of ordering a certain sauce (she constantly mispronounced it after I spelt it to her THEN asked, when I described it as an Italian Spicy Sauce, why I didn’t just call it that) my order finally arrives.

Here’s where it escalates:

My order is completely lacking the sauce I spent almost 5 minutes trying to order. I’ve ordered the sauce by name many times before and there has never been a problem. Now tonight, I get a rude, obnoxious and unprofessional person that cannot just ask someone with more experience for help. So when I call back and tell her there’s no sauce, she tells me that my food should arrive shortly. WHAT?! I just got done telling her my food had arrived. My reason for calling was … no sauce.

Now this person abruptly tells me to wait, puts me on hold and doesn’t even say ‘sorry’ for no sauce. Really? She comes back and says someone will bring me the sauce. I then ask for a manager. She then yells to someone: “they want to talk to you!” The reply I hear? “I’m too busy to talk to them!” Now I’m furious and the rest you can follow on Facebook.

What does this have to do with media strategies? Well, in a few days my status will pop up via search engines. My local network already knows of my troubles and eventually the poor review will be easily searchable. That business will not go under because of me but it will have a slight ding against its record. Right now there is one review on Google – there will soon be two. One good and one bad. For a fledgling business, that does not do much for positive branding.

In one instance, any company’s branding can get a ding or become slightly tarnished. With the explosion of social networking, reviews are much more available to consumers. Consumers can interact and automatically avoid places with poor branding and poor service reviews. Online media was originally a collaboration tool and if you’re not careful, people can collaborate against you.

The internet is a huge tool. Never avoid using it!

Hopefully I have enough time to cook at home for a while – I don’t feel like ordering out again soon! I’ll check back here on Wednesday, take care!

Tell a Friend,

TZ

Tony Zazza, a 15-year media, marketing and advertising expert, is the Principal of Zazza Media Strategies, a Dallas Texas Marketing Firm, that specializes in growing small to medium sized businesses to their fullest potential.