Pravda on Media and Tech » Business

Facebook and Twitter: One Helluva Party

Sarah Tuttle-Singer — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:11:18 +0000

Social Media is like the party after prom where all the good stuff really happens.

Sometimes it's a little confusing. Even a little dangerous. But, life on Facebook and Twitter can enhance your "IRL" experience.

Sure, while there is nothing quite like meeting in person, by keeping up with friends and family through Facebook and Twitter feeds, you can eliminate some of the B.S. smalltalk when you do get together - and more than that, you actually have some salient talking points to rally around.

From the flippant:

("Oh, did you see Krystal from Palms Middle School is sporting a mullet?")

("Eamon's new girlfriend looks like her face got caught in a wind tunnel.")

To the life-changing:

("I love all the pictures you posted of your new baby - He's absolutely perfect!")

("I read the status about your mom's passing. I'm so sorry. What can I do to help?")

Not only that, but since everyone and their mother -- literally -- seem to be using Social Media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, if you're a company or a consumer brand, then these are great outlets to get your message across to clients and prospective clients.

For instance, Facebook has over 800 million users.

I'll repeat that: Facebook has over 800 million users. That is one banging party, people.

But, if a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, then does it make a sound?

Philosophy 101 was a long time ago, my friends, but I do know this: The more "likeable" your posts are, the more apt people are to share them on Facebook. In essence, if you put out great content, then your fans will do the work for you and your message will be heard.

According to Mashable, more than ever, now is a great time for companies and brands to open a Facebook page:

"When Facebook unveiled Timeline... many users were struck by the idea of humanizing your profile by summarizing your life and connections... Timeline may have a similar effect on brands as well. In fact, the brand benefits of Timeline could be huge, and will let companies tell a more engaging and authentic story." (Mashable)

Yeah, of course traditional means of advertising are great, and should be used. Who doesn't like a great billboard ad, or a catchy radio jingle? But at a fraction of the cost, companies and brands can engage with consumers (and potential consumers) through live updates, dynamic pictures, and relevant article and blog links.

In other words, your company or brand will seem more human when using this kind of digital media interface. And you sure don't want to be left out of one helluva party.

5 tips on how to prepare your brand for the new Facebook Timeline

Natasha Szczerb — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:11:06 +0000

Facebook’s biggest change so far - The Timeline - was announced last month, but it still hasn’t reached the masses. Nevertheless, as many speculate as to when the public launch will happen, some eager users couldn’t wait and have already enabled the new profile for their accounts. ( Want to do the same? Learn how to do it here.) And while everyone is talking about how these changes will affect users, many companies wonder: How will all of this affect our brand(s)?

Since Facebook has yet to announce how branded Fan Pages will look in the new format, we don’t have all the answers. (Yet!) Still, we can definitely help you understand how you can get your brand ready for these changes with 5 simple tips:

1. We don’t like “Like” anymore

Ok, you may want to sit down for this part. (And if you’re already sitting, then take a deep, cleansing breath): Yes, it’s true. The magic word everyone pursued since the “Like” button was created in April, 2010 is about to go out of fashion. See, when you have “Timelines” with people’s stories, what they “Facebook-Liked” along the way becomes a minor detail and loses its relevancy. At first you will also notice a drop in your numbers, like less visitors and less interactions.

The only advice we can give right now is to wait. (Or hyperventilate into a paper bag if absolutely necessary.) Seriously though, Facebook is not stupid - we hope - and we are sure that they have a trick up their sleeve to fix this issue for Facebook Ads payers.

2. Don’t be a brand, be part of people’s lives

With the reign of “Like” down, brands will have to think about ways of belonging in people’s lives. In other words, in order to be seen in the Facebook timeline, the user will have to want your brand there. So the old concept of wooing your target audience instead of shoving your message down their throats is becoming more relevant than ever.

Companies will have to provide value, to engage users, and to have them as brand ambassadors if they want to enjoy their place in the (virtual) sun. Our advice? Stop for a second and think about what your brand really does to engage people. Is it enough? Or should you try harder? Here’s another idea: Ask your Facebook users what they think!

3. Get creative

From the new profile format we can speculate as to how the new fan pages will look. We think these changes are going to be awesome.Take a look at the profile pages -- what do you see? The option for much more customization, starting with the big image in the header. If we are right and the fan pages have the same possibilities, you should be totally cheering right now. Want clear examples? Check out some mock ups of how the new branded pages could look.

We think you’ll be inspired.

4. Tell Stories

The Timeline creates a record of our life on Facebook. In other words, the strongest concept behind the Timeline is the way it shares our life stories. As we said before, brands will have to think about ways of getting inside these personal stories, becoming at the end of the day, storytellers. Literally. Look, if you want to be relevant to your audience, your company will need a strong story to tell, and the key question to ask yourself is this: How can your brand make consumer’s lives more interesting?

5. Relax! Everything will be fine

We get it: Change can be scary. Our minds get used to things working in a specific way, and when they change we must re-learn how to deal with them. But that’s the great thing about being human: We adapt. Remember when Facebook changed the homepage and everyone freaked out? And now, most of us can barely remember what the old profile page even looked like! With Facebook’s Timeline it’s the same. It might seem like too much of a change, to hard to understand, to unclear as to how the new functions will work.

Eventually, things will get easier. And you may even prefer the changes! And here’s our final tip: Relax, drink your coffee or tea or whatever, and save your white hairs for more serious issues. Because at the end of the day, if you really get stuck, we are here to help your brand stand out in the Digital world.

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Is Viewbix the answer for Video ROI?

Kfir Pravda — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:28:20 +0000

Video production is a tricky thing. Even though production cost has plummeted, video as a marketing tool still requires more effort than other marketing material (such as blog posts, newsletters, and ads). And now, when businesses need to spend their marketing budget more wisely, it all boils down to ROI: How can businesses generate more revenues from their videos?

ViewBix, a client of Pravda Media Group, is releasing a new product that answers the ROI challenge. It allows everyone to add Call For Action buttons to their videos. In literally 5 minutes users can add links, Skype Click to Call buttons, Twitter and Facebook feeds, and many other capabilities to their video. These buttons, called apps, are then integrated to create a video player that can be embedded in sites, blogs, Facebook feeds, and more.

Some of the real users examples that are presented in their site include a cabin owner that added Google maps to his video player, A band that added links to their tour info and online ticket purchasing site and a non profit that added a donation button on their promotional videos.

These examples show many ways in which the Viewbix product can enrich videos. But the possibilities are pretty much endless. For instance, we are looking into ways to add voting buttons to the video player so it can be used for an international online video competition. Others are using the ViewBix player for affiliate marketing by adding customized links to promotional videos. Also, the ability to add coupons and QR codes opens a whole new array of possibilities for call for action that can be measured in ROI terms.

There is no need to change anything in the video itself. Apps and call for action buttons can be added to videos hosted on YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo, and a clickable link can be configured at the top of the screen that will lead prospects to a chosen site. And as I've mentioned before, the process itself is pretty straight forward, so in 5 minutes or less you can have your video enriched with Viewbix and shared with the world.

ViewBix is offering a simple way to enrich your videos, and it is also a great way to measure the ROI of video production efforts. If your video drives traffic to your site or generates sales, the value is clear and measurable. ViewBix brings this ROI to SMB videos.

If you are at TechCrunch Disrupt, look for Viewbix at the Israeli Startup Pavilion. Jonathan Stefansky, CEO, will be happy to answer your questions, and can be reached at jon AT viewbix DOT com. You can also ping me for questions.

End of an Era

Kfir Pravda — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 05:41:44 +0000

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things...

Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Click. Boom. Amazing!

Congrats Babylon!

Kfir Pravda — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:55:41 +0000

Babylon, a client of Pravda Media Group, won a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® certificate for the Most downloads of a translation software. This was achieved thanks to over 100 million users of Babylon translation software worldwide.
Our very own Tzahi filmed this interview with Alon Carmeli, Babylon's CEO, and Rob Molloy, from GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS®, interviewed by Aya Shapir.

The No Story of Forbes

Kfir Pravda — Sun, 01 May 2011 11:49:58 +0000

Cover of Cry Baby (Director's Cut)

Come on, this is perfectly ok:

The technology was of interest to a number of acquirers, including Zappos.com which tried to buy it, and Kumar rounded up a group of angels for its first funding–a $500,000 angel round in August/September 2009.

The only problem—another start-up, Like.com, was doing something similar. Modista’s technology was better, according to Kumar..... But Like.com had a patent on product applications of computer vision. Like.com, which was well-funded with $47 million in venture backing, filed a lawsuit against Modista the day before its funding was going to close. (Like.com was later acquired by Google in August 2010, showing the value of the idea.)...The lawsuit caused investors including Kumar to drop out, for fear of dealing with an expensive lawsuit that could cost more than they had even planned to invest. Because Modista had no money to defend the suit in court, the company later shut down.

So where is the news here? Companies are built to win, not to be nice.

The investment that didn't happen (k9ventures.com)
The Story Of The Greatest Shopping Technology That Never Was (businessinsider.com)

Gatekeepers Make a Lot of Sense

Kfir Pravda — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:18:46 +0000

I love Techdirt. Their cynical writing style is fun to read. Their in-depth knowledge is amazing. But they are missing the point in their post about entertainment industry:

Gatekeepers don't make much sense.

Actually they do. In a world where media distribution was complex and expensive, gatekeepers enabled the whole industry to exist. But now, the internet is changing the game, as Mike says clearly in his post:

But the amazing thing about the internet is that it knocks down fences and walls with ease.

In a world without fences there are still gatekeepers - they are just different ones. Facebook and Google are the new gatekeepers. We need them. We need them to help us find what we want and communicate with our friends. By providing this value they become the new gatekeepers.

I fully agree with Mike's statement, that the entertainment industry doing as much as possible to cripple innovation. These guys are not ready yet to change their business model. It is probably because there isn't any viable alternative that will provide the same revenues and profits. But there is no free love - when one gatekeeper collapse, another one is taking its place.

Image by Pink Sherbet

Playbook – #Fail

Kfir Pravda — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:52:14 +0000

I was really looking forward to see a major company releasing a proper contender to the iPad. RIM looked like the best one to do just that. But Walt has some bad news:

"....But that isn’t the biggest distinction between the PlayBook and the other tablets. This first edition of the PlayBook has no built-in cellular data connection and lacks such basic built-in apps as an email program, a contacts program, a calendar, a memo pad and even RIM’s popular BlackBerry Messenger chat system.
To get these features with your $500 PlayBook, you must use it with a nearby BlackBerry phone connected to it wirelessly over a short-range Bluetooth connection. Once this link is made, these critical applications pop up on the PlayBook’s screen, via a system called Bridge.
But these are essentially ghosts of the same apps on the phone. In my tests, I could use them from the tablet, where they looked nicer, and they did synchronize with the phone. But when I broke the connection, the apps became grayed-out and the data they held disappeared. It is all stored on the phone...."

You can't beat a great product with crap.

New Media Roadshow to NY – Last Chance to Apply (HBO, Time inc.,News Corporation)

Kfir Pravda — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 12:21:51 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

The Israeli Export Institute, New Media Branch, is organizing a delegation to News Corp and Time Warner. Israeli companies participating in the delegation will meet decision makers in these leading media companies. Key technologies of interest include Internet TV, innovative user interfaces, multi platform solutions and location based services.

The good news is that it is an affordable business development event. The bad news is that last application date is TOMORROW.

More details here.

4 Keys to Quora’s Success

Kfir Pravda — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:33:13 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

The recently launched Quora grabbed my attention as soon as I started using it. I find myself spending more and more time on this question and answers site and it seems that I am not alone.

What makes it so awesome?
1. Authority - I am still amazed with the depth of the answers on the site. Let me give you an example - a question was asked about the causes failure of AOL Time Warner merger. While on Facebook and Twitter such a question would be answered by many, but not the most knowledgeable, on Quora, Steve Case (AOL chief at the time) himself gave his point of view on the matter. When a person asked how did Amazon decide to enter the cloud computing market, Amazon's CTO answered him directly. What else could you ask for? In a sense, the fact that content is edited and removed if not informative enough, makes this platform so great.
2. Content discovery - Quora is all about topics and people. You can follow a topic or person over time and continuously learn more. This is just awesome. I follow the topics I am interested in, and people I value their opinion and knowledge.
3. Ease of use - first time you use it, you already know how to find relevant questions, as well as post your own.
4. Diversity - whenever I login, I find a question about SEO techniques, followed by a philosophical question about the meaning of life. As a guy who loves to read random Wikipedia articles, this site is a great way to learn about topics in the world around us that normally we don't stop to think about. This thread is a great example.

I love Quora - it's a key part of my online toolbox. If you didn't try it yet - I highly recommend you do.