Seiden Says

By: Carina Liebmann

How many times does a meal time discussion involve the solution “Google it”?  I’m guessing this has happened to you most of you. In fact, research shows trivia questions are most often googled at meal times on smartphones, involving Google in social settings. This reminds me of a less technology driven version, dinner time discussions started at my grandparents’ house. Dinners always end up with someone pulling out a book about the given topic so they can look up information to end a debate. Compared to that a click of a smartphone is pretty simple, but Google wants to be even more seamless with the conversation it often finds itself a part of. One idea is to have Google constantly listening and updating what is displayed on screen as conversations move along. In a few years, Google may become a constant dinner guest, even hanging as a screen by the table joining in on discussions. Google Glass, already in the making and predicted to be available in 2014, uses a tiny computer in a pair of glasses.

How many of the most common trivia questions asked on Google do you know? Try them here  Just don’t cheat by googling them.

By: Carina Liebmann

The MTA has been selling the space on backs of MetroCards for advertising, but now the front is fair game too. Gap was the first to try out this new offer from the MTA, adding their design into the mix of traditional yellow MetroCards. The cards caused brief confusion among some on how to swipe it or even what it was. These cards mark the opening of Gap’s flagship store, and are available at 10 stations, chosen for their locations near the store and for high traffic flow.

Opinions? Right now people seem torn. The MetroCard design has become a symbol and some people are offended that the traditional MetroCard is being messed with. Others see the value in increasing the MTA’s revenue by selling more ad space.

Now, if I could pick from a list of brands or designs when I get my next MetroCard, I would get excited. In these times of people personalizing everything it’d only be fitting. It would also provide some interesting research on target audiences and where they are in the subway system, based on chosen designs in different locations. But it could be that the traditional MetroCard will remain, as the Gap cards initiate a testing period.  If the cards cause too much confusion or distress for the subway riders the MTA might change their mind. Despite this, there is already talk of other front and back ads to appear on MetroCards in December/January.

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By: Carina Liebmann

Social Radar is a platform that provides consumer analytics by tracking trends online. Infegy, the company behind the technology, is bringing it to the public. Using Social Radar, Infegy has produced an interactive weekly report on the current top 50 brands, based on positive online conversations. And it is not only a list 1 to 50 updated weekly with the brand names. Gender distribution, comment types (positive or negative) and conversation flow (number of posts about the brand each day during the past week) is shown. Clicking on a brand name brings you to a page of infographics focusing on that specific brand, where data shown on the first page is explored further. In addition there is a word cloud with different topics that were brought up when the brand was mentioned, each color coded based on whether it was brought up in a positive or negative mention of the brand.



There is a lot of information, but it is all well organized in infographics, so it’s very easy to take it all in. It is fun to see the details of each brand, my personal favorite probably being the word clouds. Recently princess in relation to disney was brought up 487,000 times in one week, villains 122,000 times. Grey was mentioned with 100% positivity in reference to Nike while Brown was mentioned with only 20% positivity. This information provides a fascinating insight on consumer opinion and word choice.

I find this weekly brand report engaging, fun, and informative, and hopefully you do to. See it here.

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By: Carina Liebmann

When a struggling band, Monsters Calling Home, recorded a music video in their Hondas and posted it to youtube, Honda saw it. To show Honda’s appreciation of the band using their cars, they contacted the band and offered an opportunity for the band to play in front of hundreds of executives. Unfortunately when Monsters Calling Home arrived they were told by the five or so people there that no one else could make it, but were asked if they could still play a song. Right when Monsters Calling Home began playing they got cut off, and were told the truth… Honda got the band onto Jimmy Kimmel Live, where they played a few hours later.

Honda created an amazing experience for these customers as a thank you for their loyalty, loyalty they had shown without expecting anything in return. Then Honda made the story into an exciting and “feel good” ad to watch. Rewarding customers on a personal level, rooting for the underdog, recognizing talent and hard work, showing nice and fun people who drive your car, and all while getting the story out there to get more customers. Not bad. And it is pretty hard to not love Honda after seeing how happy they made the members of the band. 

Watch it and feel good here

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By: Carina Liebmann

Oscar Mayer has sent comedian Josh Sankey on a cross-country adventure. All he has to get from NY to LA is a trailer full of Oscar Mayer’s new Butcher Thick Cut Bacon, which he is using instead of cash. As he travels along, he tweets what he needs. Anyone can make an offer through twitter, facebook or email, and say what they’ll give and for how much bacon. If the deal goes through Josh gets what he needs and the person gets bricks of bacon. To see where he is currently and what he needs, as well as past deals and the current exchange rates, go to baconbarter.com. 

This campaign gets all of the US involved and shows how valuable people find this bacon. People are given the chance to interact physically with this campaign as Josh travels. The campaign is powered by and documented by social media, allowing for trades to be made and people who weren’t able to barter for some bacon to be entertained by those who do. By using social media to organize the trades, social media is used as a tool for a brand to meet people outside of the web. Oscar Mayer is really getting to know their target audience, and proving how much people love their brand, all while getting their new product into homes across the US.  One of my favorite deals so far is 137 bricks of bacon for a guy to get a bacon tattoo resembling the Oscar Mayer logo.

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