SPARKIN' INTEREST

Recent regulation of a TV advertisement in the UK for an electronic-cigarette brand has once again caused controversy regarding the communication and classification of the contentious 4" device. But what issues does the debate revolve around?

Brand managers need to view social media as a tool for the forging of long lasting, profitable customer relationships and for the development of building strong brands. The emphasis of using social media for these tasks must not be regarded as online advertising. The aim of mere advertising online through PPC, banner ads etc., is to create awareness, recall and knowledge of the brand and its offerings. Social media on the other hand, is about the retention of attention for relationships to occur via consistent and regular engagement and interaction with branded content. It is not a matter of the sheer volume of those who saw the content, moreover it is how the content has created a potential for future interaction with the brand through this medium. So in terms of social media marketing and its aim, it really can be said that there should be more of an inclination towards quality as opposed to quantity when it comes to the numbers of users seeing the content.

Urban Outfitters have launched a new campaign which attempts to monetise social advocacy. through sales generated from User Generated Content (UGC). In this case, users can post photos of themselves wearing various Urban Outfitters products, which are then moderated and linked to the product page on the retailer's site. Images like these will be displayed on the Instagram page and the product page after approval

The latest statement coming from P&G's global brand building officer Marc Pritchard, is that there is a need to bring an end to 'digital marketing'. Moreover 'digital marketing' should not be differentiated from 'marketing', due to its quintessential presence in modern brand building.  I myself, being from the generation 'growing up digital', wholeheartedly agree with the remarks made by Pritchard. I cannot believe that in such a forward-thinking industry, 'digital marketing' and 'marketing' are referred to as separate entities and are often disconnected. I fear this may stem from an inability or ignorance to fully accept the current state of affairs, and a refusal to let go of traditional methods. Surely, as the P&G officer asserts, the 'digital' aspect of any marketing campaign is a given in our current environment? Surely the time has come for 'digital marketing' to be referred as merely 'marketin

Leaked Tizen OS on Samsung Device The two undisputed players in the mobile operating system (OS) industry have been iOS and Android in recent memory. Android in fact is beginning to quash the market share of iOS and is slowly building dominance, with projections for the next couple of years showing its mobile OS market share will continue to be over 70 percent. With this obvious fight for dominance at the top, there is another battle waging for the third spot in the market and a new contender emerging.  Currently there is a scrap between the likes of Blackberry OS (RIM), Windows , and Bada ( Samsung ). Windows particularly is in a strong position to claim this third spot within the next three years, especially with its acquisition of Nokia . Furthermore its great ambitions for capturing future market share, as the smartphone growth continues globally, is also shown through company plans to reach a 15% share of the market by 2018. In order to build their increasing share of

'Check-ins' a form of consumer brand-related activities on Facebook In a world dominated by social media applications and a consumer group who are no longer inhibited or afraid to ‘share’ about their recent purchases and even their personal interests, i t is vital for brand managers to understand and recognise the importance of consumer User-Generated Content (UGC) and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Consumers are now “ active communicators and creators of content” , transcending the traditional role of passive recipients of marketing activity (Page & Pitt, 2011, i).  Users can share adverts to other users In this article we explore the recent phenomenon of consumer brand-related activities on Facebook, with reference to my recent academic findings (Sparkes, 2013).