360PR Blog

By John LeRoy

Would you give a hyper child a cup of coffee?  Most would answer “of course not,” but in a way this is what Google has done with its introduction of the Instant feature.  The attention span of today’s society seems to be shrinking by the second with the overwhelming amount of information that we consume each day.  Google’s new predictive thinking search feature throws a curve ball into this mix. Now, even when an individual may know EXACTLY what they are searching for, Google brings up new search results for each letter you type.  While this would be helpful in theory, it can prove to be the ultimate distraction.

In the short time I have been using Instant, I have found myself surfing web pages that had absolutely nothing to do with my original purpose for using Google, simply because of the options that Google brought to me.  Don’t get me wrong – I think that just about everything Google does is brilliant.  But Instant may have crossed the line, for me, from being useful to distractive.  In the hopes of maintaining focus, I have actually turned Instant off on my work computer.

On the other hand, and from a brand standpoint, this blog post touches on brand “winners” with Instant.  For example, when the letter “T” is typed, Target is the first website you will be directed to.  This must, I would imagine, impact the site traffic of certain brands immensely.  At the same time, where there are winners, there are losers.  It will be interesting to study the changes in site traffic as a result of Google Instant, and especially which of those brands took a hit after the introduction of Instant.

In closing, I came across this entertaining video on YouTube that I think sums up the power of Google Instant through one of the most fitting songs possible:

What are your thoughts on Google Instant?

Filed under: Digital PR, Interactive Marketing, Internet by Admin - No Comments →

A dress made of meat, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, and a DJ spinning the hottest records of the year while wearing a giant, glowing head resembling Mickey Mouse’s noggin.  Only at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The annual awards ceremony isn’t just a celebration of the most notable music videos of the year prior, but a cultural phenomenon buzzed about as much for the night’s star-studded appearances and often outrageous performances as it is for the music. 

According to CNN.com’s The Marquee Blog and an MTV press release, Sunday night’s live airing of the awards pulled in the largest audience of any telecast on MTV since 2002.  Whether to see Lady Gaga’s sure-to-be outlandish wardrobe choices, or Kanye’s apology (if you can call it that) to Taylor Swift after last year’s infamous spotlight-stealing incident, a reported 11.4 million people tuned in to watch the drama unfold.  In addition to watching the show, people were also tweeting about it.  LOTS of people.  TechCrunch reported that over 1.5 million tweets referring to the show had been sent in the three hours after the broadcast began.  MTV helped drive the Twitter frenzy, implementing their own Twitter tracker (image above) into the show’s broadcast, aiming to make the awards a trending topic.

We can’t wait to see what next year’s awards hold.  If Ellen Degeneres has anything to do with it, it might include veggie bikinis.

Filed under: Digital PR, Internet, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networking by SkyeMcIntyre - 1 Comment →

Who doesn’t love a good deal?  Let’s face it – we love getting things for free, and we love feeling like we’re privy to insider information. No wonder sites like Groupon, Buy with Me, Daily Deal, Living Social and Ever Save are catching on.

The basic premise behind these sites is simple. Sign up to receive a daily email alerting you of that day’s deal – whether it’s 25% off a skydiving trip, 50% off a whale watch, or today’s deal for Boston, $10 for $20 worth of “meats and more” at a local deli. The deals are enticing, and the retailers offering deep discounts benefit because the number of people purchasing the deal is usually remarkably high.

Take the meats and more example, for instance. The deal has only been offered for a few hours and 2,462 people have already thrown down 10 bucks for their choice of steaks and sausages!  And if people who have never experienced the animal offerings of this particular deli are happy with their purchase, it’s likely they’ll turn into regular customers. Another upside? Companies can often feature their offerings for free, and the risk is virtually nothing. It’s truly a win-win situation. 

The one catch – a certain amount of people have to purchase each daily deal for it to actually go into effect and be an active, usable coupon. That shouldn’t deter anyone, however. Most deals are ‘on’ within just a couple of hours of them being posted. And one more thing – these sites are not for the indecisive.  Most deals are available for a 24-hour period only.

Are you signed up for any of these social buying sites?  If so, has there been a killer deal you just couldn’t resist?

Filed under: Internet, Retail by SkyeMcIntyre - 3 Comments →