Tag Archives: Social media

Barclaycard meets social networking

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Barclaycard Ring MasterCard 300x249 Barclaycard meets social networkingI guess it is an age thing, but I was surprised to see a Barclaycard running on the MasterCard network. In my day Barclaycard seemed to become Visa and Access became MasterCard (I do know that it wasn’t quite like that!).

Anyway, park my misconceptions and this is actually an interesting story: Barclaycard US have launched Barclaycard Ring, a social network credit card/social credit card. Driven by the influence of an online community of card members, the new card will offer a low (8%) interest rate, low fees, simple terms and the opportunity for card members to shape and share in the product’s financial success.

For the first time, through a virtual card member community, Barclaycard Ring card members will have visibility into the card’s financial profit and loss statements. An online framework will provide card members with the ability to influence decisions that impact how the card is managed and serviced and a unique Giveback(TM) program will enable the community to share in the profit generated from its collective decisions.

Using social media, the community will also provide a forum where card members can exchange ideas, share knowledge and provide direct feedback to Barclaycard US to help determine future features of the product.

“Through simple and transparent terms, we want to pull back the curtain that has traditionally separated banks from their customers and give our community a say in weighing economic tradeoffs that can create a better card member experience,” said Paul Wilmore, Managing Director-Consumer Markets, Barclaycard US. Wilmore went on to say, “Some might say we’re creating a virtual credit union or community bank, but we’re taking that model much further by giving our members a seat at the table to help decide what card features and benefits are really best for them.”

Barclaycard Ring is currently in alpha testing and will be available to consumers later this spring.

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Should we all be talking about the riots on the streets of London

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Now here is an interesting debate in the offing: Rosie Baker, writing at Marketing Week, is talking about Coco Cola, Old El Paso and Peacocks marketing and use of Twitter during the riots in London.

There are many more serious issues at hand concerning the rioting that has taken over London and other cities in the UK for the past three days, but being glued to Twitter and social media even more than usual for the past 24 hours has made me question exactly what it is brands think they are using Twitter for.

Read the full article: Riots on the streets on London | Blogs | Marketing Week.

I wonder how this all extends? Should brands be changing their press, radio and TV advertising during the riots? Are we to allow the rioters and looters to make their agenda the only one being discussed.

I do agree that brands need to be very careful if they try and piggy back their message on what has been very distressing, large scale, criminal activity.

 

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This is what really killed MySpace

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One of the most basic but often overlooked possibilities of what really killed MySpace is News Corp. itself. Rupert Murdoch is accustomed to being king of the hill, but his company didn’t know the first thing about running a social-media website. Catering to the television audience and getting users to stay on your website are two completely different ventures. Murdoch took them as just one.

via This Is What Really Killed MySpace – Business – Motley Fool – msnbc.com.

Does social media cut it for B2B sales & marketing?

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The current hot stories about B2B marketing and sales eminating from the US are about Facebook and its use in the mix. This may well be valid but I guess these messages are also being propogated by people with a vested tech/social media interest.

Andy Maslen on his blog reports that his successes are primarily all techniques and approaches that could have been executed in the 18th century. In ranking order of business success Andy reports this list:

  1. Referrals/word-of-mouth
  2. Attending conferences
  3. Running workshops
  4. Having coffee/lunch with prospect
  5. Speculative meetings
  6. Writing books
  7. Writing article
  8. Giving speeches
  9. Telephoning client
  10. E-newsletter
  11. Sending emails
  12. Direct mail
  13. Search
  14. Blog
  15. Twitter
  16. Facebook

So if you read this blog and visit Andy Maslen’s Sunfish site, do let him know a blog got you there icon smile Does social media cut it for B2B sales & marketing?

But in all seriousness, if your business is B2B and you want to develop sustainable relationships I would wholeheartedly recommend referrals/word-of-mouth, attending conferences, running workshops, having coffee/lunch with prospect and speculative meetings as ways to get those conversations started.

Charity marketing using social media

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Charities often lead the way with marketing innovation. They cannot just hit the ‘spend’ button like some businesses appear to. This has led to charity fund raising leading the way with huge public engagement successes like Race For Life (> £38m raised) and Walk The Walk (> £8m).

Social media ticks the boxes for charities as well. This is low cost stuff that builds on engagement. Add to this a layer of celebrity involvement and success is in the making.

The latest low cost, social media innovation for charity is a wonderful campaign: celebrities leave Facebook and Twitter until their fans donate enough money to get them back. In one or two instances this could be an excellent opportunity for us to wave goodbye to irritating celebrities, but as the cause is World Aids Day and the celebs are the likes of Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and Usher … I anticipate success.

Bing, it bounced

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I was rather enthused about Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing. I Tweeted about this a few days ago saying, “Giving Bing www.bing.com a go. It’s good and localisation seems to work well. I also like the ‘format to phone’ feature; ace on Blackberry.”

Today I was further impressed by the following email that I received:

Hi Kevin,

I’m writing on behalf of Microsoft to invite you to a discussion about Bing, the new search engine that recently launched in beta in the UK.

The session will be a small round-table event to discuss Bing and since we saw your recent tweet regarding the use of Bing on a phone, we thought that you might be interested in coming along. The idea would be to get your initial thoughts and you’ll get an update on the future steps for Bing which are being developed specifically for the UK. During the session you’ll have the chance to talk with Microsoft representatives and other people from social media like yourself, who have expressed some early opinion.

This will take place in the next couple of weeks, so if you’re interested in coming along, or have any questions, just get in touch and I’ll send you some more details.

Thanks,

Colin Mercer

Excellent, cooking on gas, was my thoughts. I replied straight away and guess what? The email bounced with this message:  

Subject: Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender　

This is the mail system at host safetwo.sceur.ch.

I’m sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be delivered to one or more recipients. It’s attached below.

For further assistance, please send mail to postmaster. If you do so, please include this problem report. You can delete your own text from the attached returned message.

Perhaps Bing will struggle against Google? Or perhaps this was a freak occurrence.

Apparently Colin works for 1000heads. He was representing Life Without Walls which is a Microsoft sponsored initiative run by 1000heads that organises events, social gatherings, trials and a host of other enlightening activities.

Bing, it bounced

What brand do you most admire and why?

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Rose Champagne Bubbles What brand do you most admire and why?

Image via Wikipedia

Man and boy Scottish & Newcastle marketer Jeremy Blood said, in answer to “What brand do you most admire and why?:

Champagne. A brilliant combination. A simple gimmick (bubbles and a popping cork) global appeal, and ownership of ‘celebratory drinks’. And on top of that huge margins and enormous barriers to entry.

Excellent choice and an excellent answer. See his other replies to questions at the Marketing Society website.

 Jeremy Blood is the managing director of Heineken UK.

What brand do you most admire and why?

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