Archive for the ‘apple’ Category
The Moderation Dilemma: Hit Delete or Own It?
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010For many companies, the thought of having negative conversations about their brand, particularly on their own branded forums , is about as off-putting as having someone stand in front of their stores with giant signs saying “don’t buy stuff here!”
We all know there’s a problem with the iPhone 4 antenna. Gizmodo, Engadget, Consumer Reports (and even Apple) have talked about the problem (although Apple has flip-flopped a number of times). The Web is fraught with commentary on the issue and users, case providers, and hobbyists are clamoring to get their opinions, fixes and hacks on the Web. Now, with judges giving the go ahead to class-action lawsuits, things could get a little dicey for the Cupertino company.
While the online forums arena is one that is often overlooked from a social media perspective (overshadowed by the glitz and glam of other SM properties), brands which are active in the space have seen positive returns on their investment when deploying outreach teams focused on delivering information and guiding users to resources managed by the brand. Sentiments have shifted and messages that previously went un-sent are now spread through linking and sharing – not to mention the fact that users have that general “this brand cares” feeling after interacting with the outreach teams.
Apple doesn’t seem to “get it”
In the latest dust up, TUAW reports that Apple has yet again pulled conversations about the iPhone 4 antenna issues from their official forums. That’d be all fine and dandy if it weren’t for a little thing called Bing. The Microsoft-owned search crawler cached the pages for the entire world to see, even after an Apple employee seemingly wiped them from the Web.
So, the question is: When is it OK to delete something on your branded sites?
We work with branded communities for a number of our larger clients, and the rules for moderation are usually set at the onset of the project, or when entering a new social property, but the general rule of “have a thick skin” remains, regardless of the arena. Not every user is going the brand, but it’s not the role of the community manager to play censor to negative commentary.
Yes, we pull stuff down. We’ll be the first to admit that. However, we’re not censoring for negative comments or criticisms of the brand or products, but rather for objectionable content (swear words, racial slurs, sexual content – basically if it was part of a George Carlin sketch, you can place a safe bet that we’ll delete it) as the brands we work with are often focused on a wide range of ages and we never want some 13 year old kid stumbling across something on one of our pages that his mom could get angry about. We also pull spam down, because who wants that crap anyway?
In the end…
Negative discussions can actually lead to chances for brands to own up and show that “human side” of their brands by listening, making changes and addressing users’ concerns. What might be an engineering mistake could quickly turn into a PR and customer service win in the course of a few months.
While the egos of some might take a few bumps and bruises, the positive effects on consumer confidence in the brand and positive brand sentiment can swing greatly when attention is paid to consumer concerns and disappointments.
Microsoft, the creator of Bing, is a client of Spring Creek Group.
Apple + Ads: Must-Skip to Must-Touch
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
I’ll admit, I read a lot of magazines, but mostly only when I travel. The only magazine that gets sent to my apartment is actually in my roommate’s name and involves a small, furry, woodland creature and a very old man with way too many girlfriends. So, for me, a lover of WIRED when I’m on a plane, the fact that they were one of the first publications I cared about to release an iPad application was pretty huge. What I didn’t expect, though, was that instead of flipping past the ads like I did in my use-to-be-a-tree copy of the rag, I actually stopped and looked at the ads because (get this) they were actually engaging.
For the first time, rather than just telling you about a product, service, or idea, brands are able to bring you into the experience through clickable links, video, audio and animations.
Now, the iAds announcements of late don’t necessarily play into the experience of in-application advertising with the likes of The New York Times, WIRED, USA Today, etc., but Apple is quickly becoming a best friend to advertisers looking for a way to showcase their brands not only in traditional and non-traditional mediums, but in mediums where the experience is heightened to levels never before seen.
Developers will be able to create ad experiences in tandem that can work both in the iAd environment on the iPhone, and as integrated ads on the iPad in publications and applications, each delivering targeted info to publics that are more likely to be receptive to the message.
While I don’t have any numbers for advertising included in WIRED or the likes, you can bet that brands are paying top dollar for a chance to be part of the next wave in the field. Apple did, however, say they already have $60 million worth of advertising committed to their iAds platform for H2 FY10. That platform goes live July 1, 2010. The brands on board for the initial launch read like a who’s who of the big brands world: Nissan, Citi, Unilever, AT&T, Chanel, GE, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Geico, Campbells, Sears, JC Penny, Target, Best Buy, Direct TV, TBS and Disney.
During that same portion of the WWDC keynote, Jobs also said that iAds are projected to account for 48% of all mobile display advertising in the second half of 2010. Add those numbers to the number of people taking more than a passing glance at the ads in publication applications and you’ve got a whole new ballgame. The recent news about Symbian users being the most-active ad clickers in the mobile space could easily read much differently a quarter from now.
To tide you over, until we get a snazzy photo carousel on the blog, check out these eye-catching pages from the latest edition of WIRED on the iPad:
Not-so-live Coverage of Actual Live Coverage of Apple’s WWDC
Monday, June 7th, 2010
If you’ve ever actually been near Moscone Center during WWDC’s opening extravaganza, you know what the scene is like – crazy. If you haven’t been, imagine thousands of guys walking around with their iPhones, iPads, iPods, iEverthings all waiting to hear their cult leaderesque, black mock turtleneck wearing guru tell them the “one more thing…” Now, that’s WWDC. We obviously didn’t get an invite to this year’s festivities – Katie Cotton swears she gave our invite to Gray Powell for safe keeping, but we never received it – but we did take some time to follow the excellent live blogs out there (including Engadget, gdgt, MacRumors, Technologizer and Wired) to bring you what we think are some of the highlights.
iPad
The big item already in market for Apple is the iPad, the tablet device that’s changing the way we look at mobile computing. With over 2 million units sold, Apple is averaging one iPad going out the door every three seconds – say what?
Steve Jobs noted that there are 8,500 native iPad apps in the App Store and thousands of apps downloaded every day… blah, blah, make with the iPhone news, Steve.
iPhone
Just when you think it’s all iPad, Jobs brought out the trusty iPhone (3GS style) and showed us a couple new items in the arsenal, but the one that stood out most was Netflix streaming over WiFi and 3G for the iPhone coming soon (free). This means you can now watch your Netflix videos and pick up where you left off on your PC, Xbox, iPad, and now iPhone.
Zynga came on stage to show off Farmville for the iPhone (a meh for us, but wow for them). Activision also talked about Guitar Hero ($2.99 in the App Store).
The big numbers were:
- 5 Billion (with a B) downloads
- With Apple now paying 70% of revenues to devs
- $1 Billion in revenues to developers.
Jobs threw a study out that showed RIM with 35% of market, iPhone with 28%, Windows with 19% and Android with 9%. To give a more-telling look, he also noted that iPhone is accounting for 58.2% of mobile browser usage and Android is 22.7%
And then, the moment all the fanboys were waiting for… iPhone 4
Jobs actually joked about the fact that people had seen the phone “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this… you ain’t seen it.” This humble blogger still thinks it would have been great to have the guy who left his prototype in a bar bring the phone out.
“24% thinner than the 3GS. Thinnest smartphone on the planet.” We’re going to spare you all the actual physical specs here and just link you to Engadget, but the fact that the actual bezel/band of the phone is being used as part of the antenna system is engineering genius. You can catch the well-produced video featuring Ive and his crew here.
Retina Display is basically one of the big selling features of the new iPhone 4, with crazy specs. This does mean that existing apps will look better, but if devs do a bit of work, they can take even more advantage of the new resolution and deeper levels of color.
From the teardowns of prototypes left in bars and the likes, we knew the battery would have a much-improved life – we just didn’t know how much.
For the first time, Apple introduced a gyroscope to the iPhone, and coupled with the accelerometer and compass, created six-axis control movements – yay for gaming. Now you can actually drive the tractor to plow your crops in Farmville.
Camera updates to the iPhone were definitely expected, and with a 5 megapixel camera, Apple actually was able to up their megapixels and still capture great low-light images by increasing the number of photons that hit the sensor and adding an LED flash. The camera can also take 720p HD video at 30fps.
But, Steve, how will we ever edit those videos on the iPhone? Well, they’ve got an app for that – iMovie for iPhone ($4.99 from the App Store).
The ability to capture, create, and syndicate HD video that can use geolocation means you have a fully-functioning social video device right in your pocket. No longer will you have to run around with your Flip HD and your iPhone getting footage and then heading back to your computer to do a quick edit before uploading to YouTube. This single factor could change the way we look at self-produced video on the Web – it’s the next level of usability.
At this point in the talk, there had been problems with the live demoes which required WiFi access and Jobs actually asked attendees to turn off their laptops and stop using wireless… funny.
iPhone OS 4 = iOS 4
Here’s the good stuff, the stuff that actually changes the way we interact with the mobile device.
The biggest feature in the new OS is the ability to multitask (run numerous applications at one time). This means users aren’t logging out of their favorite applications, but simply switching to a new one just like they would on their laptop. This means more time in social networking applications, more time when advertisers can be running ads through iAds, and more time being productive (given that you’re not spending all your time playing Zynga games). It’s yet to be seen how much this chomps away at the battery life, but Jobs did mention that the reason Apple didn’t come out with multitasking in earlier versions was because they were perfecting how to do it with an eye on battery consumption and performance.
There are also folders on the home screen (like we all knew) which allow you to place applications within them.
The enterprise crowd will love the increased support for enterprise mail systems (exchange) and Bing has been added to the search engine list available on the iPhone.
iAds
This recently-announced program would bring standardized advertising to the iPhone and help developers continue making free and low-cost applications. The platform launches July 1, 2010. Brands on board already: Nissan, Citi, Unilever, AT&T, Chanel, GE, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Geico, Campbells, Sears, JC Penny, Target, Best Buy, Direct TV, TBS, and Disney. And they’re spending a lot of money, enough money in fact that Jobs said iAds are projected to represent 48% of all mobile display advertising in the second half of 2010. These numbers are big time when you think about the recent report on who is actually clicking on ads (hint: it’s not iPhone users).
And then, in classic Jobs style…
“It’s called FaceTime. WiFi only. iPhone 4 to iPhone 4. No setup.” The video chat feature uses both the front-facing and rear cameras to provide a face-to-face experience over WiFi, which is pretty awesome. The video they showed had some incredible uses, including the one below where users were actually chatting using American Sign Language (yay for accessibility!).
And that’s it! Check out the blogs I mentioned up above, and even Gizmodo, who wasn’t invited, but played nicely with everyone else throughout the day.
What’s Next?
Well, as Apple often does, they’ve changed the game a bit. This isn’t truly monumental, but whenever a product comes to market that shifts the way you use an everyday device, things change. It will be an interesting time as we see what comes out of Palm’s acquisition by HP, developments in the Android operating system and handsets, and the planned introduction of Windows Phone 7 Series devices further down the road. It’s an exciting time to be addicted to shiny objects.
Bye, Steve.
*Note: Microsoft, maker of Bing, Windows Phone and Xbox is a client of Spring Creek Group
**Another note: All photos in this piece are property of Engadget. We weren’t in attendance, and couldn’t take as beautiful of pictures even if we were.
Apple iPad: A Sentimental Journey, Quantified
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010Can social media sentiment make the analytical leap to Wall Street? You be the judge.
In the wake of Apple’s recent iPad unveiling, Spring Creek Group set out to quantify the impact of this product launch. Here’s a play-by-play for how we set out about that task…
In our WOMMA presentation about social media monitoring tools we discuss several of the key tools that can be used to track sentiment. Most of these tools use automated sentiment tracking that are based on NLP (natural language processing) and tell you an absolute number of positively scored posts for a given topic, during a given timeframe for a given media type. While it would be awesome to have a point and click solution for quantifying sentiment in the absolute, the social media measurement landscape has just not evolved to that place yet, and tools like Alterian SM2, Radian6, scout labs and Nielsen buzz metrics are all roughly similar in terms of the algorithm they use to calculate sentiment.
There was a recent blog post by web metrics guru Marshall Sponder trumpeting the need for a common set of shared methodologies for measuring sentiment across measurement platforms and we could not agree more. However, until that time comes we at SCG are not happy to just sit on our hands. So what we find most-actionable is using this data in a directional sense to determine whether a product launch, event, marketing campaign or meme is gaining traction or increasing its velocity in a positive or negative sense. That is why we use indexes to identify whether a brand, product, individual or idea is increasing positive or negative sentiment or losing its share of influence or increasing its popularity or authority. Index scores are a great way to determine the optimal and measure change over time as it relates to the optimal.
Using the iPad as an example, we plotted the company’s two most-recent product launches against its share price and found an interesting inverse relationship between our online perception sentiment index1 and share price. There’s not enough data to determine if this relationship is causal but if sentiment is taken as directional, the data might suggest we’ve witnessed a poor product launch as opposed to the launch of a poor product.
For this exercise we used the Alterian/Techrigy SM2 platform. We’d like to point out that the SM2 tool has a custom sentiment dictionary that you can add to and subtract from to highly configure your sentiment mix based on profile. Marshall Sponder forgot to note in his blog post, reviewing the quality of data derived from a common set of keywords and the scoring for sentiment that was applied out of the box. We understand he did this to compare out of the box tools, however as with most things the real values of a tool comes from how you implement the tool in conjunction with people and process.
By using a tool like Techrigy to gather sentimented content about your brand, product or competitors’ brands or products, and tracking that over time using a sentiment index score is one very actionable way that marketers could look at a product launch like the iPad and gain actionable insight into the impact that social media has or had on an event of this magnitude.
If you watched the latest launch or read any of the live streams, it seemed as though something was just a little off. If you didn’t, here’s a great three minute version on Gizmodo. There wasn’t that sort of child-like wonderment in the crowd and perhaps the iPad had seen a little too much hype in the days, weeks and months prior. There isn’t a shortage of negative-leaning articles on both the product and the launch itself, but what’s different is that even sites and publications that have traditionally drank the Apple Kool-Aid are making these statements.
When adding stock prices to the mix you run the risk of making assumptions that are based on forward-looking projections, but the overall story stays somewhat the same – people are trading based on their perception of company direction and product viability. Investors are thinking with their wallets, while Apple enthusiasts are thinking with their hearts in most cases, as Apple enthusiasts have proven a dedicated (and growing) fan base time and time again. At the last major MacBook announcement stock prices trended down while at the same time Mac fans were frothing at the mouth waiting for the updated line.
Likewise, how does iPad’s buzz compare to that of other recent news? Looks like Apple is taking full advantage of both rants and raves to drive buzz up, up, up and away…too bad that Wall Street is now getting smarter and not making business decision based solely on buzz…wait a minutes did we just say Wall Street is getting smarter?
The Final Word…
You get the final word on your blog, so we’re taking the final word on ours. If you feel like you just got a little peek behind the curtain at the great and powerful Oz, you kind of did. We’re not normally all about giving away our secrets, but the fact of the matter is that for too long now analytics and measurement professionals have been sitting back and creating these indexes based on spur-of-the-moment decisions and tired traditions – both equally detrimental – and that needs to change. We’re standing with Sponder and want to work toward standardized metrics and practices that can give brands and markets a clear picture of the social media landscape that’s forever expanding right in their own front yards. Consider this our flag in the ground. Feel free to discuss and, as always, leave a comment in the comment section and we’ll get back to you.
