Month: March 2014

Facebook Advertising Just Got More Expensive, Twitter Reacts to Bad 1st Quarter, Bergdorfs Social Media Manager Uses SXSW to Become A Model and 6 Platforms Most-Used by Teenagers.

What You Missed On the Internet from MasonInteractive.com: Facebook “Gravy Train” Over for Big Brands. Ogilvy released a study that shows the decline by 50% in organic reach (non sponsored or promoted) brand posts particularly in brand pages with over 500,000 fans. [Mashable]

Twitter Video Ads: coming to a (now slow-loading) smartphone near you… Twitter taps former YouTube exec to help integrate and monetize video content for the social platform that is responding to first quarter loses. [TheVerge]

Bergdorf Goodman’s Social Media Manager created a “scavenger hunt” at SXSW, supposedly to promote their new contemporary collection. In order to enter, you have to spot the Social Media Manager (modeling pieces from its new contemporary collection), take a photo of her and post it to instagram. If you win, you get a highly-coveted Monsur Gavriel bucket bag. [LuxuryDaily]

The surprising 6 most used social platforms by teenagers is not what you thought… [SocialTimes]

#MarketSmart Quotes: Great quotes that inspire us to be better advertisers, communicators, innovators and content creators for our clients! Topics include: advertising, client relations, creativity and innovation. Seth Godin reminds us how to go viral… How to Go Viral by MasonInteractive.com. 

An Integrated and Customized Approach to E-commerce Marketing Yields Best Results in Online Marketing for Fashion Brands: The Task Tortoise & Blonde came to Mason to unify their online marketing efforts. In addition to boosting sales at a lower CPL, they sought us out to help establish their brand as an authority in their niche, while aggressively growing their customer base and marketshare.

The Results: We began targeting Media Buys on Google and Facebook and ultimately expanded to several other platforms. At the same time, we began implementing our Social Media Strategy, starting with cross-channel content creation on an editorial-like schedule growing their social audience and engagement steadily, month-over-month. Simultaneously, the SEO team began optimizing the website while implementing a successful backlinking strategy.

What The Client Said: Interested in our Online Marketing Solutions for Your Business? Seek more information from Mason Interactive Branding Services at MasonInteractive.com Digital Marketing today. 

Let’s file this under “people we wish were clients.” The Oru Kayak is a stylish, foldable kayak. We sponsored Oru on Kickstarter some months ago, it arrived on Tuesday, and we assembled it on Wednesday. As advertised, it is a super-gorgeous product, and easy to use. Full disclosure, it took three adults 30 minutes to get it right, and there were some instances where the instructions were inaccurate, but really these are minor quibbles – the Oru Kayak really is light, portable, easy to assemble, and gorgeous. It comes shipped by UPS or whoever, in a standard box.

Assembly step 1: Shipped in-box.

Once unboxed, you’ll see that this origami-inspired kayak folds into a compact carrying case. Ultimately, this is how you’ll carry it around (from your trunk, I guess) to the lake. Or in my case, how I’ll carry it down the street to the kayak launch at Valentino Pier in Red Hook.

Step 2: Unboxed! The top of the “box” comes off, you set it aside (it becomes the seat later) and get to work.

Step 3: Unboxed, seat removed. The Oru Kayak unfolded looks like origami.

Step 4: Origami! Julie Eydman and I got to work, flattening it out and then refolding it to create something closer to a boat.

Step 5: Unfolded, and taking shape.

Step 6: Just like a kayak! It’s almost there. Oru Kayak assembly step 7 – getting sea-worthy.

Step 7: Bow clearly forming. And finally, a sea-worthy kayak. On our conference room table in 29th St. So this begs the question – will I kayak to work? Oku Kayak fully assembled for the first time.

Step 8: Fully-assembled, and we’re off! 

Facebook McGruff’s Google: Takes A Bite Out of Google As Top Traffic Source, A Smart Speaker To Replace iPod DJs Everywhere, Wanna Tune In, Turn Off and Drop Out? There’s An App for That, plus J.Crew: The New Zara? Maybe… What You Missed On the Internet from MasonInteractive.com:

It’s not as if Google is going out of style any time soon, however Facebook is gaining on the search engine of record. Interestingly enough, Parse.ly shows that in January, Facebook took a rather big bite out of Google’s lead as top traffic source from major news publishers on the web. We wonder if it has anything to do with the launch of Facebook’s dedicated news reading app Paper? [MarketingLand]

Don’t call Aether’s Cone a speaker, it’s a “thinking media player”. This $399 ultimate techie gift not only tracks your music playing choices, but the days, and times you like to hear them. Set to launch over the summer, the music server (Spotify, Pandora, Rdio, etc) of choice has not been announced, but we suspect that the success of this admittedly stylish smart speaker hinges on it’s streaming music partner. [Wired] Yep, There’s An App For That.

There’s An App For That The App That Makes You Safe, Sort Of…One Llama, the app that listens for danger when you can’t, is developing a technology that mimics the human ear so that smartphones and wearable tech can constantly be monitoring nearby sounds and warn of approaching “dangers”. [DigitalTrends] One question: What noise do thief’s, pervs and other nefarious characters make?

Retail Watch Platform News Alert: The public Japanese Retail Holding Company, Fast Retailing (Theory, J Brand, Uniqlo, Comptoir des Cottoniers, Helmut Lang), is in talks to buy J.Crew in order to compete with global Middle Market brands (such as Zara, H&M) owned by rival companies like Inditex Corp. and Hennes & Mauritz AB. Decisions are the worst, am I right? Side salad or fires? Go public or stay private… WWMD (What Will Mickey Do)? [BrandChannel]