Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup East: Tech Panel Highlights
Posted by meredith on 11-13-2008
In the true spirit of a Mashup, the crowd that gathered in Boston last week was a diverse intersection of marketing, media and educational professionals (Check out the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup East site to see who attended in the Who's Coming box!). And yet no matter their industry, whether corporate or nonprofit, high-tech or low-tech, all attendees shared one common goal: to get their message out. To help them do just that we assembled a series of panels featuring some of the sharpest minds in mobile marketing, social networking and online video. Here are some highlights…
"Make Your Message Mobile"
Panelists: Stephen Randall (CEO, LocaModa); Sarig Reichert (VP Marketing, Flixwagon); Thi Linh Wernau (Sr. Mobile Strategist, Nokia Interactive Advertising)
Moderator: Alison Mooney (Sr. Director Mobile Insights, Fleishman-Hillard)
Overall Highlights
- 3.1 billion mobile users worldwide; 4 out of 5 teens carry mobile phones
- Women texting more, guys using mobile web more
- Teens picked mobile phones as the most telling sign of social status
- Kids and teens are increasingly texting more than talking on their phone (also text more than Twitter)
Key Points From Panelists
Reichert:
- Look at integrating mobile as a lifestyle experience. Anything goes for the youth market. Almost nothing is private. (See my earlier post on Dan Hart’s preso to learn more about Flixwagon and their joint venture with MTV lifecasting The Jonas Brothers)
- It's not just pushing a message. It’s about engagement.
Randall:
- The future is connectivity. Mobile is the technology. Mobile can bridge the mobile and physical world (example given of texting in and getting Beck listening party locations back).
- The key is content plus connectivity (a summary of the argument for why teens prefer Facebook to Twitter).
- Brands who read about sexy technology (i.e. bluetooth) need to ask themselves, "Are you trying to reach an audience or are you just trying to be sexy?"
Wernau:
- The goal is to see mobile as a remote control for life.
- Technology is all about the ability to multi-task. Eventually all tech will be interactive.
- Apps have to make life better and be easy to use.
"How to Reach Youth On Social Networks"
Panelists: Manish Chandra (CEO, Kaboodle); Geoff Cook (CEO, MyYearbook); Jordan Goldman (Founder and CEO, Unigo); Joe Marchese (Social Vibe)
Moderator: Robin Raskin (Owner, Living in Digital Times)
Who's Who
- Kaboodle: a social shopping network where visitors can go to any retailer, add products and then share picks with friends
- MyYearbook: a social networking site for teens. The fastest growing network in the US
- Unigo: an online college guidebook written by students. The largest online collection of user-generated college content (text, videos, pics)
- SocialVibe: rewards users for sponsoring their favorite brands on their profiles
Key Points From Panelists
Chandra:
- User-generated content can’t be your reach strategy. You need content creators who then engage their friends to help you get there.
- There is going to be social media optimization movement. (i.e. Facebook Connect)
- People definitely going cross platform for content. (Flickr, YouTube, MySpace)
Cook:
- Social networks are like television networks. Each network has a unique identity. Why do you watch one TV network over another? It's content. (myYearbook does not embrace Open Social and has its own apps)
- The market is getting mature for social networking but it's not a fad. It's up the social network to keep innovating and stay fresh.
Marchese:
- Brands don't reach teens on social networks. Teens reach teens on social networks. If you give them something they want then they will share your brand.
- The killer app will be when social networks work together. When you use an aggregator you can't use the features that make each social network valuable to users.
Goldman:
- Unigo syndicates content and is a big fan of porting their content to any site and letting users take their Unigo identity with them.
- Mobile is a content capture device. Some users will come to Unigo to get content, others will use mobile to create content for the site.
- When you are offering niche content, launching with lots of it is very important (they have hundreds of interns writing content!).
"What Works In Online Video for Youth"
Panelists: Anthony Batt (Founder, Buzznet); Jason Hsiao (President, Animoto); Julie Hochheiser (Sr. Web Editor, Seventeen)
Moderator: Scott Kirsner (Innovation Economy Columnist, Boston Globe)
The Good News
- In the post-YouTube era online videos have never been easier to create and watch.
- Viewers value authenticity more than production quality (hence the popularity of vids created on mobile phones).
- Celebrity coverage and comedy generate a lot of attention on the web. Specifically, behind-the-scenes coverage and quick, smart bites of video (good writing is critical)
The Bad News
- [Most] users don't want to create video on demand. You can have 1 million hits a month on your site and still only get 60 videos entered into a contest (Interesting sidenote: a recent Pew study showed that guys create more video content. Hsiao confirmed this with Animoto and added that girls are more interested in making comments. Batt however indicated that the top video creators on Buzznet are female)
- Web-based TV shows don't work. Videos have to be kept short.
- Now that it's so easy, there are a lot of bad videos out there.
In Conclusion
The first step to delivering your message is choosing the right (read: appropriate) method for your purposes. Remember to be authentic (a word that came up in nearly every session!) and provide the content your audience wants.
Categorized under: 2008 Mashup East
