Posts Tagged ‘Tumblr’

Pinterest: The Continued Prominence, Popularity and Promise of the Pinning Platform

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

Since writing about our top five favourite uses of online pinboard back in March, brands have continued to use Pinterest in even more quirky and engaging ways. Consider four quick facts…

 

 

- Over 5 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every day
- Simply Measured has found that photos and videos drive the most engagement on Facebook’s top ten brand pages
- A study by ROI Research found that 44% of respondents are more likely to engage with brands if they post pictures
- 42% of Tumblr posts are photo, rather than quotes, text or video

…and it’s obvious that posting visually-led content is becoming an increasingly popular way of sharing information online. No wonder that Pinterest, with its slick interface and 7,985,316 site visitors in the UK in September 2012, has become one of the world’s top brands’ favourite social channels. Here are a few of our most recent favourite uses of Pinterest:

1. In an unusual twist, Honda offered five of the most active Pinterest users $500 to spend on the things they’ve been pinning… if they take a day off from Pinterest. Called #Pintermission, the campaign to promote Honda’s new CV-R saw the manufacturer tweet the offer to selected pinners and in return for the $500, the Pinterest users will share images from their $500 experience on Honda’s Pinterest page. Unconventional, but very clever!

2. Designer Oscar De La Renta used Pinterest to showcase looks from a brand new bridal collection as it hit the runway. Images of hair, makeup and products were pinned to a dedicated board, illustrating the runway show from preparation to the final reveal.

Although Oscar De Le Renta CEO Alex Bolen revealed that the idea was a very last-minute one, the Bridal board currently has over 32,000 followers. Not bad for spur-of-the-moment!

3. FedEx shows off its human side with its Community Involvement board, which showcases FedEx employees’ philanthropic efforts. Each pin includes a brief summary of whom, what and why, and is a great way of showing that there’s more to the company than just boxes and shipping. PetPlan Pet Insurance also uses its Meet the Team board to a similar effect, showing that ‘Behind every person on the Petplan pet insurance team is a pet. Sometimes lots of them!’  and relating customers to staff.

4. American cinema giant AMC Theatres capitalised on the Oscars buzz by asking Pinterest users to pin a photo of their personal favourite Oscar-nominees to a ‘My Oscar Picks’ board. AMC then rewarded those who got it right with tickets to the AMC Best Picture Showcase – a unique way to jump onto a current hot topic.

5. We couldn’t do a Pinterest round-up without mentioning this one! To celebrate Lec Refrigeration’s 70th birthday, Lec teamed up with artisan ice cream producers Simply Ice Cream and asked for its Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest friends’ help to create a brand new and unique ice cream flavour. Lec asked its fans to choose from 24 million possible flavour combinations of 70 flavours (including everything from creme brulee to grass and coffee to Guinness!) and create a Pinterest board using their four favourite flavours. Entrants then tweeted their ice cream flavour using the hashtag #LecIceCream – over one hundred unique entries were received.

 

The ten best flavours were shortlisted by Lec and Simply Ice Cream and went to a public Facebook vote, with CocoCherryFudgetastic being crowned the overall winner. The ice cream flavour is now being made by Simply Ice Cream and will be given out to 20,000 visitors at the BBC Good Food Show Winter at the Birmingham NEC at the end of November.

 

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Social Media Digest- Facebook’s Face-loss, Social Media Week & Tweet Shop

Friday, September 28th, 2012

1.Social Media Week

This being the social media digest I should probably start with this week being the official social media week. Talks have been held around the globe on a whole plethora of subjects, some have been streamed online, many have been discussed on social channels. There is too much to talk about in order to be specific here so please leave us a comment if you attended/watched or even disagreed with something from one of the talks and workshops this week.

http://socialmediaweek.org/

2. The Tweet Shop

This is simply a brilliant idea. In order to celebrate Kellogs move into the crisp market, a stand alone shop in Meard Street , Soho has been set up. The Tweet shop has a significant twist in that the only thing you need to spend is your time,  you post a message about the product on twitter and consequently  you will receive a free packet of crisps, genius. Hurry down though as it shuts today (28th September).

3. Facebook turns facial recognition off

Facebook has been ordered to turn off the facial recognition technology which automatically suggests tags for users photos. The ruling is being enforced within the EU where the system is automatically switched to on in a user’s settings. An Irish regulator deemed it the main security threat and has told the social networking giant it has 4 weeks to switch it off or face fines of £80,000.

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/09/22/facebook-turns-facial-recognition-technology-eu

4.The most popular Tumblr post of all time

Like a giant game of online Chinese whispers this post has been changing in content for over 8 million shares worth of time now. It started life as Mitt Romney sucks pass it on, a childish slogan relating to the presidential candiate over the Atlantic. It has since been changed and pushed on all around the world. An interesting piece of social media history, possibly.

http://wallblog.co.uk/2012/09/21/how-this-post-became-the-most-popular-tumblr-of-all-time-with-8-million-shares/

5. Myspace is back, erm , again but it’s the same well it looks better but you know what I mean

On the same day Facebook may or may not have revealed your deepest darkest secrets to the world, Myspace launched a radical new design for the former social media heavyweight. A hybrid of a few different services, it does have a kind of Google+ Ipad look about it. The ability to interact with music does still provide Myspace with a USP. It will be interesting to see if they are able to lure users back to the site. Either way you could now spend a night on myspace, bebo and MSN Messenger and pretend you are a teenager again, now where is my modem?

6. Squawka Sports receives investment from major advertising group

For those of you who don’t know what Squawka Sports is they produce sports companion apps, most notably 2nd screen software which tracks games using specific formulas and methods as well as providing live chat rooms during matches. They have secured a partnership with ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty in return for a share of the business.

The increase in use of second screen to watch sport has been remarkable in recent years and was heavily noticeable in peoples interaction with the London Olympics. 24% of UK people claimed to regularly use a second device whilst watching a main television set. The potential is all there for Squawka having already attracted to partnerships with Dominos , Gillette and PaddyPower.

Definitely one to watch.

 http://www.squawka.com/ 

 

 

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Social Media Digest: New Twitter (Again), Man City Hangouts and Exclusive Experiments

Friday, September 21st, 2012

1. A new study by Pew Internet and American Life Project is looking at social networking sites like Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram to see how they’re being used by online adults. The survey of over 1,000 people found that 46% of internet users are ‘creators’, who publish and share original images and videos. An additional 41% are curators, who share the creators’ content. Unsurprisingly, Pinterest is dominated by women although only 12% of online adults use the online pinboard. It was revealed that Instagram is dominated by young adults, but no conclusive data yet on how many photos are of cats!

2. Twitter has rolled out a redesigned version of both its desktop site and mobile apps, featuring a new ‘header image’ and ‘Me’ section. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo unveiled the updates this week, saying that “[The] changes are all about bringing that personality forward. More media forward, more photos forward, so it’s much easier to see these media experiences and flip through them”. What do you think of the new changes, and what’s your favourite use of the new header image so far? Batman wins our vote…

3. Manchester City Football Club has announced that it’s extending its social media arsenal and will be hosting pre-match question and answer sessions using Google+ Hangouts. Billed as a footballing first, ‘The Third Half’ Hangouts will be able to accommodate ten fans per session and will be hosted by Patrick Vieira, Retired World Cup winner and club ambassador. The first Hangout will take place on 23rd September ahead of Manchester City’s match against Arsenal.

4. Apple has launched iOS6 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch this week to both fanfare and disappointment. The new operating system now features even-better Facebook integration, allowing you to share a photo directly from the Camera or Photo Library or post a location from Maps. Siri can even post updates for you and events and info is shared across the Calendar and your Contacts. The update also features a new Panorama shooting feature for the iPhone 4S and upwards, but as it clocks in at 16MB you’ll need to resize before you can share it with the internet – check out this handy guide by Lance Ulanoff from Mashable here.

5. How curious are you? If you’re anything the team here at Umpf the answer is very, which is why we couldn’t resist signing up to The 11K Club. There are no clues about what it is, who it’s for, what will happen on 11th November or what the mystery benefit will be, but membership is restricted to 11,000 people and I want in. The team behind The 11K Club are treating membership as a bit of an experiment – co-founder Steve Whyley told Mashable: “I’m trying to see if people will sign up to a club that they know nothing about purely because it’s exclusive and because they fear they’ll miss out. What 11K Club is proving, at least in our minds, is that it almost doesn’t matter what your site does, how it looks, what the homepage says”. Wannabe-members have until 31st October to sign up – you can use my personalised invite link here to help me improve my chances of getting in!

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Pinterest: Creative uses of the pinning platform

Monday, March 19th, 2012

We’re big fans of Pinterest and although we’re iffy on the profile redesign, we’re sure the site’s popularity isn’t going to be on the wane any time soon. Here are our top five favourite examples of cool and creative uses of the platform…

1. First up is Peugeot Panama’s new competition which asks users to complete puzzles in order to win prizes. Peugeot has created a number of boards which show models with pieces missing – users can search for pieces of the puzzle on Peugeot’s website or

Peugeot Pinterest 1

Facebook page and repin them on their own Pinterest boards to complete the picture.

Peugeot explains on one of its competition boards: “This is a 5 piece puzzle of a Peugeot 207, as you can see there are 4 pieces missing. Look for them in our website (peugeot.com.pa) or in our Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1797346790), pin them in your own board and share it with us. The first 5 people to complete their boards win!”

The only downfall is that the competition dynamics are a little bit complex – maybe due in part to Peugeot having to change the competition following Pinterest’s redesign. Nonetheless, this is one of the more original competitions that we’ve seen run on Pinterest – well played, Peugeot.

2. More and more web-savvy job hunters are using Pinterest to pin images of a visual resume or create boards with examples of their work to serve as an online portfolio:

Michelle Magoffin showcases her skills with a clever infographic:

Michelle Magoffin

Michael Mahle makes his comms experience in the world of wine clear with a nice visual CV:

Michael Mahle

Christopher Penn has created a resume board including photographs, QR codes, an intro video, contact methods and examples of his work:

Christopher Penn

3. Lands’ End Canvas was an early adopter of Pinterest – the brand ran a successful ‘Pin It to Win It’ competition in December 2011. Users were asked to pin items from the Lands’ End Canvas website to their own boards, with the most creative pinners each winning a $250 gift card. Michelle Casper, Director of PR at Lands’ End, told Mom Blog Magazine: “We know our Lands’ End Canvas customers are very socially savvy, early adopters and currently engaged with us on Facebook and Twitter… Pinterest is the intersection of style and social and is a natural, visual platform to showcase the lifestyle and relevant appeal of Lands’ End Canvas”.

4. BMI also recently launched a similar competition appealing to holidaymakers, asking users to repin images from its boards ofBMI Pinterestwhere they’d most like to go on holiday, with the winner receiving free flight tickets. BMI also promotes the competition and announces winners via its Tumblr, creating more of a dialogue with users than Pinterest currently allows. Repinning competitions, increasingly common on Pinterest, are proving to be a great way of sharing products with a new audience while encouraging click-throughs back to your site. Most Pinterest users (myself included!) use the site to create visual wishlists, and repinning competitions appeal to these users without being overly commercial. Clever – yet simple – stuff.

5. Fashion brand Calypso St. Barth enlisted well-known fashion blogger Christine Martinez (the fourth most-followed Pinterest user) to ‘live pin’ a photo shoot for the brand’s summer 2012 look book. Before her trip, Christine pinned what she was packing to a board on Calypso St. Barth’s profile – allowing the brand to share Christine’s popularity on its profile and drive traffic back to its website.

BMI PinterestCalypso St. Barth then flew Christine to the Caribbean photo shoot in exchange for her pinning photographs of her trip to a board on her Pinterest profile.

Leslie Hall, President of Calypso St. Barth’s marketing agency ICED Media, told Mashable: “The reason this program is primed for success is because Christine is an actual Calypso shopper and her boards embody the Calypso aesthetic. Everything is measured so we can track referrers, traffic, and sales. It’s an example of efficient and qualified targeting at scale”. Calypso St. Barth appears to be the first brand to enlist a ‘power user’ for marketing purposes.

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Social Media Digest: Tumblr valued, Instagram grows, Flickr Android

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Welcome back to our weekly instalment of what’s hot in the world of social media. In case you missed what happened over the past week, here’s a run-down of our top five: Loyaltysocialmedia1

1. Rumours abound that the Google Drive is getting nearer. The Google Drive, which will use native syncing software, will be able to sync files across a range of devices including computers and mobile devices. With the Google Drive sync app, users will be able to drag and drop a file and immediately access that file on other devices. The Google Drive is expected to be located at drive.google.com, which is not currently live. Google currently provides users with an always increasing amount of free storage for Gmail, Google Docs, Picassa, and the other Google services. It is expected that the Google Drive will also provide users with a set amount of storage for free and allow the purchase of additional storage if needed.

2. Tumblr has announced $85m in new funding, which indicates a valuation of about $800m for the fast-growing multimedia blogging site. The investment adds Tumblr to the list of high-growth social media companies that are generating high levels of investor interest before they have generated proven revenues, and in spite of the recent stock market volatility that has forced companies such as Zynga and Groupon to delay their initial offerings.

3. Instagram has announced that it is signing up 78 users every minute. Co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom says Instagram hit a new peak upload record on Monday with 26 photos uploaded every second. In less than a year since launching, Instagram has amassed more than 10 million users, including celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Justin Bieber; comparatively, Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, all hot start-ups at one point, each took over two years to reach the same 10 million user mark.

4.Flickr has unveiled its official Android app, as well as a new feature known as Photo Session that will allows users to share photostreams in real-time. The Android app, available now, lets users take photos, enhance them with one of 10 optional filters, and then post them on social-networking sites like Flickr, Twitter, and Facebook. Before you take a photo, you can adjust camera settings with options like flash, ratio selection, and shutter focus. Once photos are uploaded, you can view them by swiping through a set or tapping to view in full screen or slideshow mode.

5. Our latest infographic (right) shows the incresing importance of loyalty schemes in the social media sphere.

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