Arby's is the New Oreo

Ah, "opportunistic marketing" at its finest. Arby's tweeted about Pharrell's hat during the Grammy's and it has now generated over 83,000 retweets and 48,000 favorites. And for those of you keeping score at home, the now-infamous Oreo Super Bowl blackout tweet (only) has about 15,000 RTs and 6,000 favorites.

...will all of these happy Twitter people all get a hankering for roast beef sandwiches now? Likely not; however, you have to admit it was the right hat, right time.

Source: AdWeek

Tumbling Right Along...

The ups and downs of social media popularity are familiar to most (I can't take any more articles about how "kids" are leaving Facebook because their parents are on it); however, I am still trying to wrap my brain around the slow and steady race that Tumblr seems to be running.

Adobe's Q4 2013 Social Media Intelligence Report, which analyzes paid, earned and owned social media trends, claims that referral traffic from Tumblr is second only to Facebook -- when comparing the value of each referred visitor.\ ($1.10 and $1.22 per visit, respectively). Pinterest, which has been touted as an e-commerce magic wand (see: any article about Black Friday and Pinterest) was ranked third in this report at $0.93/visit. 

I find Tumblr's continued success to be surprising, given some struggles with their traffic and growth over the last few years. Can "micro-blogging" platforms still find their place among other visual platforms such as Pinterest? Or more robust blogging and publishing platforms? Tumblr still seems to have an edge as far as memes and random GIFs (What Happens in Media Planning is still a fave), but sites like BuzzFeed are making it easy to find all of the silliness of the interwebz in one place. 

And, while the Adobe report looked at data from various verticles (retail, media, entertainment, travel), I would be curious to know which one was most impacted by referral traffic from Tumblr. 

Source: AdWeek

Facebook Steps Up Its Mobile Ad Game

We've all been wondering (well, maybe not all of us!) what would happen after the Facebook acquisition of the Atlas ad server in Feb 2013. It turns out their sights are set on mobile first. They're running small tests with publishers and advertisers to serve Facebook ads across a number of third-party mobile apps. This test also gives Facebook the ability to track clicks and conversions without cookies.

Source: Getty Images

The breadth of data available to Facebook is unquestionable. From our engagement actions (likes, comments, shares) to the information within our profile pages, Facebook is set up on the back end to have a very successful ad network. I am anxious to learn more about the quality of inventory (they're remaining hush-hush about which apps they've partnered with) and the exact targeting parameters available for these mobile buys.

(BTW, yes -- this blog is alive and kicking again!)

Source: Facebook Mobile Ad Network to Match the Strength of Google AdSense

Get Back to Work!

A recent study from PopCap Games revealed that half of AT&T Wireless customers who play games on their mobile devices now play them at work -- especially when they need a short break or want to relieve stress.

The most popular games (which will probably not come as any surprise):

• Tetris (20%)
• Bejeweled (18%)
• Solitaire (17%)
  

Popular genres:

• Puzzle (66%)
• Card/casino (51%)
• Board games (15%)
• Action/Adventure (11%)
  

"Relaxing game play" is the number one motivating factor, but respondents also cited "addictiveness" as another influencer.

Source: MarketingVox

Discovery and Hasbro Bring Toy-Driven TV to the Masses

Hasbro and Discovery Communications are partnering to create a reformatted cable channel with programs based on popular toys such as My Little Pony and G.I. Joe. The 13-year old Discovery Kids Channel will be replaced by this venture, but it has yet to be named.

This is a huge opportunity for Hasbro to bring its classic toys to life in a new way, and it revives the Discovery Kids brand.

Source: NYTimes

It's an App, App World

Greystripe, a rich media mobile advertising network, just published their quarterly Consumer Insights Report. It shows that users average 9.6 minutes of engagement per session on free iPhone applications -- not to shabby. Based on data generated via the 600 free, ad-supported iPhone apps in their network, consumers access apps 19.9 times over before discontinuing use. I'd say that's about how many times I used iFog and TipStar before they fell off the face of the (iPhone) earth.

Additional findings worth noting:

• 42% of the firm's free iPhone app users have an HHI of $78K+
• 15% earn $165K+ (extremely affluent)
  
• 91% are involved in their household purchasing decisions
• 65% of Greystripe's users said they would interact more with an ad if it were an interactive ad, as opposed to a static ad
  

Greystripe has made a name for themselves as the only mobile ad company that offers full-screen Flash ads on the iPhone. One of these formats is the Tailgate rich media ad format that the user interacts with before they access the actual game before they download. Basically, this is an advergame for the iPhone with the benefit of reaching a wide audience.

Source: FierceMobileContent

SuperSecret.com Tries to Get the Word Out

SuperSecret.com is a new virtual world that allows users to "grow up" inside the world itself. It's catered specifically to the 9 - 13 year old group and uses a level system that allows players toage up from 10 to 18. Within the game, people use avatars to socialize, play mini-games and hang out with others.

When a "birthday" rolls around, users gain access to new features -- age 11 means they can own virtual pets; age 16 brings their first car; 18 allows them to vote. In-game currency called spenders is used to buy everything from clothes, hair styles, furniture and gifts.

Users are also connected with an in-game cell phone which shows the status and location of any of your online friends. Even if they are offline, you are able to leave them messages and send gifts (acting like a standard social network).

SuperSecret says that tweens were involved with the development of this virtual world, and parents also have an immense amount of control over chat filters, player blocking and the ability to moderate. With so many other major players in the space (NeoPets, ClubPenguin), it will be interesting to see if the "growing up" idea is enough to set SuperSecret apart.



Source: InsideSocialGames