facebook retooled

(My view: The latest move by team facebook is to offer business users more intuitive and redeeming feel to the facebook page. This is another way to counter the Google + syndrome slowly picking up...the argument I had already posted sometime back )

SOURCE : AdAge Digital  

Facebook today unveiled a major redesign to its profile pages called Timeline, which transforms the list of status messages and comments into a scrapbook of a user's entire history on the platform. Even though this transforms the entire aesthetic and function of profile pages, this doesn't apply to brands and their pages.

While the updates revealed at Facebook's F8 conference add a suite of new tools for users to express what they are interested in -- like music, recipes, TV shows and news -- there's little detail on what brand pages will look like going forward. What we do know is that they won't look exactly like Timeline, but, according to Facebook VP-Global Marketing Solutions David Fischer, will be "consistent" with the Timeline look-and-feel, which is picture-heavy and curated to highlight only the most important events in a user's life.

The new Timeline pages let users feature any content -- check-ins, photos or other updates -- in longer-view reverse chronological order. So instead of the status updates and likes from the last week or month of activity, a user profile page can look like a summary of his or her entire existence on the social network.

"It suddenly gives [users] the opportunity to share what business you're in, the products you're using or buying and sharing that with your friends," said Mr. Fischer.

Users can also tack applications from media companies and developers on their timelines. For example, with the Nike Plus app, users can publish the runs and distances recorded on its mobile app straight to Facebook pages. Media behavior can also be stored there with top-viewed movies or TV shows or favorite songs or albums gleaned from apps from Hulu, Netflix or Spotify respectively.

So what's the opportunity for marketers?

The most immediate implications are for entertainment marketers. Now that users can share what they are listening to, watching or reading on Facebook through media partner applications, marketers can grab those mentions and give them wider distribution through sponsored stories. So far, marketers have only been able to take users' check-ins or status updates about their brands and distribute them to a wider Facebook audience. Sony Pictures for the upcoming movie "Moneyball" plans to promote when users watch the trailer; the band Coldplay will promote when users are listening to its music.

"Marketers want to promote stories about the things they're affiliated with but don't always own the apps," said Gokul Rajaram, Facebook Ads director of product management, referring to apps from services such as Spotify, Netflix or Hulu that allow users to share what content they're consuming. "Now you can promote stories from any app about objects you own, not just from the page owned by the marketer."

But for Facebook, which eMarketer predicts will clear $3.8 billion from advertising this year, will all these changes add up to more revenue? "Anything that increases engagement on Facebook, and captures more user data, will drive up ad revenues," said Hussein Fazal, CEO of Ad Parlor. "The announcements today definitely hit both of these key points."

This also opens up a whole new way to target. What users are listening to, watching or reading now will become a filter to serve ads against. For now, this new way to target ads will only be available through Facebook Ads' API and its direct sales team.

I call this process re-Branding

As per sources, Google’s new social media platform, Google Plus, is the result of an ambitious and earnest effort by Google at social networking. However it is also revealed that Google was not investing heavily enough in social networking as rival Facebook. It seems the company is working hard to adding the millions of users with a PLUS. The PLUS will allow people to share links and media among people they have divided into “circles” based on their relationships. The trend I guess would be followed with the gamut of social media offers like YouTube.
Even if Google + team is not blindly following Facebook and Twitter, but they are following them :P
Google + will bring the cult back and dominate the socializing space … I have no idea. But let’s get some perspective into the argument.

Late realization
I guess it’s better to be late than never. And it also came from top executive “It is about time we have come to the realization, if you don’t know people, then you can’t organize the information for people.”
I think Google has the right platform already set, and it would be a natural progression to reorganize with social and search touch.
Also one should not forget several failed attempts by Google to create Buzz in the social space. But with mixed experience I think it should be a good for Google to PLUS.

Attempt is the other name for RISK in social networking domain
The first mover advantage is true in love, war and now socializing. Google is the best search engine. Facebook is the best social networking site. Any foray into another field, through imitating or whatever, though good for expansion and diversification of portfolio, would be a good attempt or rather a social RISK.

Why suddenly :
Is it…Google Plus to Challenge Facebook in Brand Ads???
Of course its just want to socialize ..its money and its big and growing. As per MAGNAGLOBAL, it is expected that the online advertising to collectively grow by 11.7% in 2011 and by an average rate of 11.0% through 2015, with a total global market size of $103 billion in 2010.
Though it is still early to take a call, Google+ has shown signs of keen user engagement, according to Google :)  with already millions of users in Google/gmail , it would be not difficult to convert them into Google plus. And I am sure in coming days there’s a lot of magic still in store for Google to offer the socially active consumers!
With Google+ profile page Google should be excited about boosting the business experience with rich analytics and the ability to connect that identity to Google’s major money-making AdWords business. Google is also testing on business page demand and guess will also cross sell the analytics as a service to them. So cross selling huh!
User interaction is also a buzz in the advertising word and I think Google through Plus should be encasing the shift. There are also more in advertising . This social media war is in essence the defining battle for the future of the advertising business, and we should all be paying close attention.

Backward Integration
Yes ..its BI for Google Plus with rest of universe to connect and reconnect not only with user profile but also to hone the loose treads on its advertising offerings / engines with Adsense and Adwords. Further adding it to the mobile online space, I think it’s gonna rock invinciblein virtual space.
Also we know that Google has Search engine capabilities, strong datacenter farming, browser, analytics, ad engines, etc etc. So this is just to integrate all together with a people and + experience.

Did I mention Tulalip!

Ok ..people ..MICROSOFT is working on its secret plan or call it just a coincident. Well whatever,

It was entitled Tulalip and promised users to “find what you need and share what you know easier than ever’. There was a page that displayed features which allowed users to connect via Facebook and Twitter, but no Google+. There were some links to ‘See how it works’ amongst others but obviously didn’t work. Source: http://www.socl.com/

So in coming days there would be so much to come.

Google + Dominate or not …it would be interesting to see if we dominate the sudden change, and shift our browser usage.

The analysis:

I am not sure if this theory hold true…but there’s no harm in trying

In the year 2005 (Mid 2005) I signed myself in Orkut. And there began a journey to a whole new world of time pass. This time it was a smart move, I said to myself. Days went by happily. Suddenly in 2008 (Mid 2008) I was introduced to Facebook. I felt I had hit the jack pot. I liked the color blue , and it was a refreshing feel coming out if the pink feel of Orkut. And now its mid 2011 my appetite for socializing is again challenged and I am in the verge of the shift.

So the point I want to bring in is if there is any logic to the social networking self life or cycle in the social networking space. With reference to the above situation, I SEE a trend - THAT in  every 3 years the social networking market wakes up to a new change, and people kind of starts adopt it . So the fact is how companies in the social media space is enticing the user preference and user experience. I see its again 3 years and its again time for Google to divide the market preferences by adding more users with Plus (ofcourse) which will help Google multiply the business.

Techno brAND syndrome

Technology is no longer an aspiration, and should be included in the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need!

So why I am saying is because of the recent survey By Afaqs.com on Buzziest Brands of 2011. Out of which The top 15 buzziest brands give out a peculiar trend. There are 6 technical brands and 5 telecommunication brands. This makes one realize how important technology has become in today’s world.

For more read : http://trak.in/tags/business/2011/02/28/top-buzziest-brands-india/