Thursday, May 17, 2012

Some Big Brands Give Low Marks to Social Media

Here's some food for thought for all those planning social media buys, or purchase of Facebook stock. Two big brands recently gave low marks to social marketing results. First, Xerox's Chief Marketing Officer Christa Carone questioned the value of Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for b-to-b marketing. A foray into paid Twitter ads garnered "initial negative reaction from our more established clients," she noted. "I know that the CIOs of major companies are not going to be making a $5 million... deal based on their connection with Xerox on Facebook." See the full story at http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2170853/xerox-cmo-sold-twitter-pinterest Then General Motors Co., the third largest U.S. advertiser, announced it will stop its paid ads on Facebook, even as the social networking website prepared to go public. Sources are reported to have said the automaker decided Facebook's ads had little impact on consumers. See the full story at http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20120516&id=15115985  Meanwhile, Ford Motor Co. remains a Facebook fan, so maybe it's about the message not the media. "You just can't buy your way into Facebook," is the quote from Ford spokesman Scott Monty. "You need to have a credible presence and be doing innovative things."

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

USPS to Give More Space for Direct Mail Images

The U.S. Postal Service's proposed Picture Permit option hopes to entice direct mail marketers with the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. The USPS feature would allow direct mailers to include logos, trademarks, brand images and other kinds of marketing designs in the permit imprint indicia in the upper right-hand corner of mail pieces. There'd be a price, of course. The cost would be an extra 1 cent for first-class letters and cards, and 2 cents for standard-mail letters. If approved, the new image option will be available by the end of June. See the news story at http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120402/DIRECT0202/304029998