‘online world’

It is no surprise that Facebook leads the way into merging of online and offline marketing. Most recently Facebook itself, the Coca-Cola brand and also car manufacturer Renault, made use of Facebook RFID to bring the offline and online worlds together at events with tremendous success.

Reality games played online and in the offline world have been around for quite a while now, but getting the chance to share what you like with your friends online by just swiping your Facebook RFID is something totally different and it is catching on fast.

The line between the offline world and the online world is blurring faster than you can swipe your bank card. With the latest technologies available you have tagging of photos taken offline and sharing those simply by swiping your card and you have mobisites, instant messaging services and ongoing chat rooms.

You find your way around town with the help of Google Maps loaded onto your phone or use an online service to track the whereabouts of your lost phone. Banking is done from your cell phone and money received through Facebook orders with electronic purses such as Monster Pay. For some the world of online and offline marketing is still complex and they are about to become more confused with the latest trend of merging the online and offline worlds.

Facebook Developer Conference

Some examples will make it easier to understand and it is best to start with Facebook first. Attendees at the recent F8 Developer’s Conference received small plastic tokens which were securely fitted to their badges. The secret to the merging of online and offline worlds, however, was not the plastic token, but what was in it. The RFID chip neatly tugged in the token was what made everything so exciting. At the back of the token you could find a unique identification code.

The developers entered their personal codes at the Facebook Presence site and it activated the Facebook RFID. It was with this little token that attendees could use to browse the venue and whatever an attendee liked appeared on their Facebook Profile.

Attendees could become fans of games by simply tapping their Facebook RFID chips against the readers. Sharing experiences with friends became a whole new game.

Coca-Cola Village Amusement Park

When a bunch of teenagers visited the Coca-Cola Village Amusement Park in 2010 they had no idea that they would be one of the first groups of Facebook RFID bracelets. The teenagers each received a bracelet with a RFID chip embedded upon entrance. They had to activate their bracelets and could then login to their Facebook accounts to share which rides they liked and could even tag photos of themselves on rides by simply flashing their bracelets in front of the photo where they wanted to be tagged.

It wasn’t long before every teenager joined in and shared their experiences at the amusement park with their friends online. With this then offline world experiences became online marketing tools in an instant. Publicis E-dologic, an innovative ad agency came up with the idea to join the two worlds together for maximum exposure.

Renault At AutoRAI 2011

At the latest vehicle show in The Netherlands visitors to the show experienced the power of merging offline experiences with the online world of Facebook. Armed with a Facebook RFID, visitors had the chance to share what they Like with their online friends at Facebook. At the front of each Renault you could find a special Facebook pillar. The visitors could hold their Facebook passes in front of the well placed pillars where every car they liked appeared on their Facebook profile.

Who Else Will Benefit From RFID Technology?

The hospitality industry will benefit the most from merging offline and online worlds. Trends suggest that it will soon be possible to connect Blackberries in the same way ensuring that offline experiences can be shared with hundreds of friends rather quickly.

What Is The Secret?

If you simply plan to use technology such as the RFID for the sake of a gimmick you will not reap the benefits. Whatever technology used to merge offline and online worlds should add value to the offline event and be worth the while to share online.

The Perfect Online & Offline Marketing Mix

With all the hype about Facebook as the marketing tool of the future, some business owners have completely moved away from offline marketing. It is a mistake. Although the virtual world is global and gives you endless reach, you still want to ensure that the two comes together. The idea of a website is to:

• Attract attention
• Create more ways for customers to buy from you
• Extend your office hours
• Expand your market beyond your normal boundaries
• Create a convenient method for browsing
• Generate leads for follow-ups
• Increase profits
• Lower overheads

How To Use Online & Offline Marketing Effectively Together

When you use online tools such as “Refer a Friend”, “Subscribe” and of course collect customer details on your Pay Per Click landing pages, you build a large customer base. Auto responders can be used for follow-ups for many months. The trick is to bring the online technology and the offline world together. Whenever you are at an event you should enable visitors to Like your products or services on Facebook with RFID.

In addition you should give them the chance to refer friends, write short reviews there and then about the products and thus build your testimonial database, and also ensure that they can purchase online what they see offline at special prices. Make it worth their while to visit your site where more information is available and give an incentive for referrals and of course, Likes at Facebook.

Get The Full Power of Online And Offline Marketing

The other end of the spectrum must also be considered. You want the visitor to your website to be able to take something from your website to your store. As such special vouchers should be available for printing allowing for discounts when taken in store. In addition you may want the customer to review your offline stores online and notify others through Facebook of amazing products. Get the perfect online and offline marketing mix through effective merging of the two worlds. Contact us to help you bring reality and virtual reality together for optimal exposure.

Social media marketing is the new buzz phrase in online marketing and for good reason. Web 2.0 although still relatively new, is here to stay and has increased interactivity in online world. Social media marketing thus also entails online promotion by means of conversations. Markets have turned into conversation boards. If you don’t engage with clients, competitors and users, you fail to realise the full potential of social media marketing as an online marketing tool.

The age-old “by word of mouth” is the most trusted tool in social media marketing. People read reviews and trust them, even more so when given by a friend or colleague. More often than not users will not buy a product online or even offline without first discussing such with a friend or colleague. If a close friend recommends a product, one is more likely to try it, especially when you trust the opinion of the friend. Here is another keyword in social media marketing regarding online marketing: opinion given in conversation.

Companies must tap into the conversation power. The idea is to create a buzz about a product or brand. Once there is a buzz, the next phase in social media marketing can take place. Online marketing allows one to get an overview as well as an in-depth understanding of what the consumer wants, desires, dislikes, prefers and is willing to pay without having to spend millions in the process.

It is estimated that almost 80% of businesses with an online presence use social media marketing in some form of online promotion. If you haven’t done so yet, the time is now. Issuing information in the hope that it will reach consumers by means of magazines, newspapers or the television is a hit and run method. Maybe you get a few hits, but if you are serious about online marketing today, you need to create conversations and then tap into the conversations to help you develop even more presence in the online world.

Social media marketing is about conversations. The conversations if used correctly can help create new positive perceptions about a product or brand. The opposite is also true and you thus need to keep close tabs on any conversations to ensure that any negative comments can be turned into something positive. Do it right and you have a powerful online marketing tool. Alternatively, you can call upon the experts to use their extensive knowledge and experience to your advantage within the online sphere.

On Monday, 16 August 2010, Carla Franklin filed a lawful appeal in which she wants to force YouTube, owned by Google, to provide her with the identity of a cyber cipher who posted unauthorized videos of her on the online channel. Various derogatory comments were made about her “indie film” which caused Franklin “personal humiliation” according to her attorney, David Fish. Although Franklin isn’t suing Google, she is demanding that her taunter’s actual identity, i.e. name, address and phone number, be disclosed to her.

In a recent interview on CBS News, Franklin stated that Google has thus far been very communicative towards her and that the only reason she filed this case was because of an ongoing harassment situation where she has been stalked offline for over 4 years. In order to get a restraining order though it is required that all the connections be made between the person’s harassing behaviour both online and offline.

Thus far Google has not been accepting any interviews from the media, neither have they made any comments with regards to the Franklin case. They did however issue a response via a spokesperson stating the following: “When we receive a subpoena or court order, we check to see if it meets both the letter and spirit of the law before complying… Google has a track record of advocating on behalf of its users.”

Only last week Google had to deal with a similar case when Liskula Cohen requested that a blogger’s name be made public. After winning her landmark case in a New York Supreme Court, Google supplied Cohen with the identity of the blogger. A media frenzy erupted around Rosemary Port’s blog “Skanks in NYC”, which angered the former model. According to Port her right of privacy has been violated and as a result she is now suing Google for $15million.

As the Franklin case continues it would be interesting to see what effects this case is going to have within the online world. For one thing a High Court ruling was made in June in the United Kingdom stating that bloggers do not have the right to keep their identities secret anymore. In South Africa, well its citizens enjoy the freedom of expression…but only to an extent.