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| Deals Site Flies High at Fashion Week, Focuses on Social | |  It wasn't long ago that Ideeli may have felt a little like the ugly duckling of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. It seems an odd match - daily deals and haute couture runway shows. But in two short years as an official show sponsor, Ideeli says, the relationship has blossomed because brands, designers, and retailers are cottoning to the value of moving product through the deals provider. Like other deals sites, Ideeli offers consumers 40 to 80 percent discounts on specific items and has attracted a sizable email list. The New York-based company claims 5 million subscribers for its so-called flash sale offers that often last 40 hours. Its site caters to a demographic of fashion-minded women. David Manela, SVP of strategic marketing at Ideeli, explained his company's ascent within the high fashion scene. Fashion Week, he suggested, has bolstered the company's subscriber growth. "Since our first season of sponsorship,membership has nearly tripled, and our relationships within the brand and retail industry have continued to grow," he told ClickZ News on Wednesday. Ideeli, which operates a photography studio in Manhattan for product shoots, has focused on exclusive content for Fashion Week 2012 (through Feb. 16). Its team has been authoring live updates from the runway shows on Facebook (192,000 fans/likes) and Twitter (29,000 followers). The company has created an app tab on Facebook labeled "The Buzz" to anchor the reporting. Its content team has also been posting runway videos from the event on the social site, while adding topical blog posts. But perhaps more importantly, the company this week is delivering what it's best known for - deals. Ideeli has partnered with Carmen MarValvo, BCBG Max Azria, Nicole Miller, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Betsey Johnson, and other well-known fashion shops to pitch exclusive Fashion Week-focused offers from those designers. Manela added, "The fact that now…we can offer customers not only a strong lineup offeatured designer sale events, but also exclusive on-site interviews and insight from designers themselves can be directly attributed to the strong relationshipsbuilt across the industry." Can Ideeli Keep Soaring Amid Daily Deal Fall-out? Ideeli's chief challengers are Gilt City, HauteLook, and Rue La La. Ideeli, which has raised around $65 million in venture funding in the last four years, is competing in a market sector that some fear is ripe for departures in 2012. Three weeks ago, Gilt City dismissed 80 to 90 employees, according to a BetaBeat report, while closing six regional offices. A recent Daily Deals Media study found that there are 800 fewer daily deals sites now when compared to six months ago. Daily deals aggregator and promotional codes provider Digital Doorstep filed for bankruptcy last month, citing in an email more than $3 million in past due receivables by 23 partner companies. And No. 1 Groupon last week released Q4 earnings that left investors feeling skittish about the firm. It recorded a net loss of $43 million for the quarter, on global revenue of $506 million. |
| Facebook Will Verify Celebs -- And Let Them Use a Fake Name | |  Facebook will today start offering some users the possibility to verify their accounts, TechCrunch reports. The feature will start as invite-only, allowing public figures (in the beginning, only users with high subscriber counts will be invited) to change their account to verified status. Once the account is verified, it will appear more frequently in the "people to subscribe to" list. Twitter launched verified accounts back in 2009, and Google+ launched a similar feature shortly after launch. However, unlike Twitter's version of this feature, Facebook won't display any sort of badge on verified accounts - a somewhat odd decision, since having a way to distinguish the real person from impostors is precisely why this feature is useful to most users. Instead, verified users will have the option to display a nickname (Facebook normally requires all users to use their real name) instead of a real name, or have their real name places in parentheses. To verify your account, you'll have to send Facebook an image of a government-issued photo ID, or a combination of two alternate IDs (such as birth certificate and credit card). While this will certainly make some users uneasy, Facebook promises to delete this data after verification. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Jirsak |
| MSN Launches msnNOW Social Trends App on Facebook, Web and Mobile | |  One of the Web's oldest portals, MSN, is about to dive headfirst into one of the Internet's hottest trends: Social Media. No, Microsoft, which runs MSN, is not launching its own social network. Instead, the 17-year-old content destination is unveiling a new social reader, msnNOW, on Facebook, the Web and in a new web-based mobile interface. The initiative is actually two components. According to MSN General Manager Bob Visse, a team of 20 editors will use a new Demand Dashboard to measure velocity and volume of trending topics across Facebook, Twitter, the Bing search engine and BreakingNews.com (a joint MSN/NBC venture). Stories that are trending will appear on msnNOW in a constantly updating "Biggest Movers" box. In addition, a team of editors will select topics and stories from among those social (and search) trends and create 100 word write-ups for posts that will appear in msnNOW's What's Trending homepage. The page, which will look pretty much the same on the web and in the new Facebook app, will feature a large main story and a grid of other popular stories below. Visse described it as a "river of real-time content". Within each area, reader will find small icons for Twitter, Facebook and BreakingNews.com. The presence of each will indicate on which social networks the stories and topics are trending. These are not icons for sharing these posts, but Visse promised that sharing options would be obvious on the Web site and in the Facebook app, where there will be opportunities to share and comment. Along with each MSN-created post, readers will find related Bing search terms, Tweets and other content. Not every topic or story will get an MSN write-up. For those, What's Trending will link to a Bing result, which will also offer a link directly to the original content source. "We give the best of the web regardless of where that content or hot story originated from," Visse told us. Visse explained that MSN is targeting a younger "always socially connected consumer who lives an online lifestyle for information gathering and seeking." That may mean that some of the trending content will be a little edgier than what you traditionally see on the portal. It's all designed to start a conversation. Even the design has the younger demo in mind. It's image-centric, with what Visse calls "short, pithy headlines." It's also one of the first times that MSN has launched a new product across three separate platforms at once and, as Visse noted, it's the first time MSN "has done anything interesting with the Facebook social reader experience." msnNOW, however, will not launch with Google+ integration, though Visse said Microsoft is open to tracking volume and acceleration on the still young social network at a future date. Visse calls the msnNOW project a "transformative experience for MSN." Even so, the design is still decidedly MSN-centric across all platforms. Visse contends that while msnNOW is not yet a Metro design (the cubist-look Microsoft is painting across virtually all of its interfaces), msnNOW's "component-like design is not a big leap to get a Metro-like design." The intention with the current look is for a really good, super-easy-to-use interface. The mobile interface, in particular, is designed for easy touch and swipe consumption across multiple mobile devices (the mobile web site should work well on the latest iOS, Windows Phone and Android browsers). Though MSN currently enjoys a reported 125 million monthly visitors, with 75 million visiting the MSN portal homepage each month, msnNOW will not take over that hot destination. Visse told Mashable that msnNOW will have a hard and visible link from the MSN homepage and msnNOW content that does make the main homepage will feature msnNOW artwork and insignias. msnNOW is an interesting bet for Microsoft, the big software company without its own big social network. Can it be the aggregator instead of the creator? And will content and media companies like the 100-word write-ups -- or will they think such stories are cannibalizing their content? Visse, though, has other concerns. "I'm waiting to see how it works out. Did we connect with the younger demo in the way I think we're going to? Are the edit choices and the way we package them together interesting and exciting for users?" All good questions and Visse acknowledges that he won't know the answers until they launch the product. What do you think of msnNOW? Check it out and then give us your critique in the comments below. Video: msnNOW Arrives Today: Know About It |
| The Jeremy Lin Meme Roundup [PICS] | | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 11:42 PM | Sam Laird |
|  New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has certainly taken the Internet by storm over the past week or so. But his legend has not yet birthed a single, definitive uber-meme akin to "Tebowing," the drop-to-one-knee-and-pray craze that dominate the web a few months ago in honor of (or perhaps mocking) Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. The closest Lin has come yet is the endless stream of puns that capitalize on using his surname as a springboard. A number of other tributes have popped up online as well, in a variety of forms: a fan who converted a jersey of the Knicks' highly paid megastar Carmelo Anthony into a Lin shirt, multiple YouTube raps in his honor, and other edited images that play off his unique underdog persona. The #Linsanity hashtag has also been extremely popular, trending on Twitter multiple times over the past week as an umbrella under which fans pay homage to his greatness. But is Lin-(insert word here) as cohesive as the Internet's collective meme-generating brain trust will get? Or will a more precise meme emerge to rule them all? As that drama plays out, check out the gallery above to see some of Mashable's favorite tributes so far. And for those who aren't yet familiar, here's the #Linsanity backstory, in Cliff's Notes form: No major college teams wanted him out of high school, so he played at Harvard University. Then no NBA teams drafted him in 2010. He later caught on as a rookie free agent before getting cut twice by teams. He joined the Knicks at the end of last December and barely got any playing time until about ten days ago, when he got his first chance to start. Since then, he's somehow scored more points in his first five starts than any player in modern NBA history. If you need more, check out Mashable's previous coverage here, here, here and here. Which Jeremy Lin tribute is your favorite so far? How long can the #Linsanity last? Let us know in the comments. |
| How Much Do Sports Fans Love Social Media? [INFOGRAPHIC] | | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 9:31 PM | Sam Laird |
|  Sports and social media are a marriage made in heaven. News and score updates break constantly. Heated debate is a big part of the fun. And fans love any chance to interact with the athletes they idolize. But just how much do sports fans love and use social media overall? The brand-engagement firm GMR Marketing recently conducted a study and came up with interesting results, presented in the infographic below. According to GMR, people today are 10 times more likely to check the Internet for breaking sports news than they are to turn to sports radio. Slightly more people use Facebook and Twitter than national news websites, at 41% to 40%. By comparison, just 13% said they get their breaking sports news from TV, and 4% from radio. And it doesn't matter where fans are; social media lets them get their sports fix in any place, any time. Nearly three quarters of respondents said they've checked social media for sports news at a party, nearly 70% during a meal, and 58% said they've done so while in the bathroom. Don't just take our word for it, though. Check out this infographic and then let us know in the comments what jumped out at you: Infographic courtesy of GMR Marketing |
| Adele Raked in More Than 10,000 Tweets Per Second During Grammys | | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 6:45 PM | Samantha Murphy |
|  Throngs of Twitter users logged on to the site during the 54th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night, with over 10,000 tweets sent every second in the moments after Adele won Record of the Year. Twitter wrote via a blog post on Wednesday that a whopping 10,901 tweets were sent each second after the soulful singer raked in her sixth Grammy award of the night. This was the most tweeted moment of the night, as many quoted her charming acceptance and emotional acceptance speech and commented on her award sweep. Tweets about the Grammys started to pick up hours before the broadcast and lasted long after the show wrapped, Twitter said. In fact, "Grammys" was mentioned in more than 5 million Tweets on Sunday between noon and midnight PT. Not surprisingly, tweets about Whitney Houston -- who was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel room just a day before the Grammys -- also made the rounds online. Houston was the fifth most frequently mentioned artist during that 12-hour period. The most-mentioned artists during that time was @OfficialAdele (no. 1), @ChrisBrown (no. 2), @NickiMinaj (no. 3) and @Rihanna (no. 4). SEE ALSO: Social Media Helps Grammys Achieve Huge Ratings in Broadcast and Social TV According to Bluefin Labs, the Grammys earned 13 million social comments across all social networks. That breaks the record from last week's Super Bowl and dwarfs every other entertainment event from the last year. The Grammys wasn't just a hit on Twitter -- it attracted 39.9 million TV viewers, making it the second-largest audience ever and the best ratings since 1984, according to CBS. Social media monitoring company NetBase ran sentiment analysis on the Twitter chatter surrounding the show and found that Adele was the most mentioned celebrity with positive sentiment from Feb. 11 - 13. Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj had the most negative sentiment, followed by Chris Brown. However, negative sentiment regarding Chris Brown picked up steam on Tuesday night when he tweeted -- and then deleted -- a series of messages addressing all of his "haters" (shown below).
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| Golf, Meet Social Media: PGA Tour Gets First Branded Hashtag | | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 4:51 PM | Sam Laird |
|  Even golf -- that centuries-old Scottish sport stereotyped as rich old white guys puttering around in goofy outfits -- has hopped aboard the social media train. At the Northern Trust Open this week, golfers sponsored by the TaylorMade brand are sporting hats emblazoned with the Twitter hashtag #driverlove. The hashtag references TaylorMade's larger campaign that plays off the special connection that some players feel with their clubs. It appears to be the first time a hashtag or explicit social media reference has appeared on PGA Tour golfers or playing surfaces. While other sports have added interesting social media twists to their players and fields, golf is a game deeply rooted in tradition and not necessarily eager to humor cutting-edge fashion trends and tech fads. But that leaves an opening for brands willing to innovate, according to TaylorMade's chief marketing officer, Bob Maggiore. "For our sport as whole, the social media space has really been a slow-moving river," Maggiore told Mashable. "So it's interesting for us, because we've kind of given up on doing certain things the old way. We like to get out in front and try different things." TaylorMade is among golf's most prominent brands, and Maggiore said the company had a record setting year financially in 2011. He said the hashtag plan was hatched in December, and has already sparked a modest "cult following" among golfers and fans after less than two days of practice rounds and pro-am play at the Northern Trust. (The first round officially tees off Thursday morning.) The front of the hat features a simple heart design, and the #driverlove hashtag is emblazoned on the side of the cap, where Maggiore said a pedestrian company logo would usually appear. According to Maggiore, the hashtagged hat is an example of how social media allows TaylorMade to market in more abstract -- but possibly more effective -- ways. "Versus just directing people to these brand homes, we're able to get people engaged with these bigger, great ideas, like here that it's okay to love your golf equipment," he said. "The hashtag has been really powerful in our TV spots, but once we activate it with live athletes it's going to be that much more powerful." At the Northern Trust, top TaylorMade golfers including Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Sergio Garcia are donning the caps. If they make it into the tournament's final rounds, where there is increased broadcast and fan attention, the hashtag should gain even more attention and drive more conversation. "We just want people to jump right into the space and get tangled up in the fun that we're having with it," Maggiore said. "The win for us is people taking it and going as deep as they want with it." Do you think sports teams and brands should do a better job of incorporating social media in their marketing efforts? Let us know in the comments. |
| Google+ iPhone Update Makes iCloud's Photo Stream Redundant | | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 4:23 PM | Pete Pachal |
|  Google snuck out an update to its Google+ iPhone app Tuesday, adding a powerful feature that should make people interested in sharing photos and videos (read: everyone) take notice. Google+ for iOS now has instant upload, a feature previously available only on Android devices. Now, whenever you snap some photos or record video with your iPhone, it's automatically uploaded to Google+, accessible -- and shareable -- from any device. All media is private by default, only visible to others if you explicitly share it. How is that different from iCloud's Photo Stream feature? Photo Stream fundamentally is more about making sure the photos you take on all your iOS devices are accessible from all your iOS devices. Although those photos also exist in the cloud for a time, they're pushed to your devices' storage, so they're treated like any other piece of media. Google+ pics are in the cloud. Practically, this translates into four key differences:Cloud sharing: When you share a photo or video from Google+, it's already online, so there's no data transfer when you want to share or email it. If you're on a stingy data plan, and you upload lots of video, that can help a lot. No expiry date: Apple says Photo Stream pics are only in the cloud for 30 days. There's no expiry date for Google+ photos, and you can store as many as you like (Photo Stream maxes out at 1,000). It works with videos: Just what it says on the tin -- Photo Stream is only for photos whereas Google+ does video as well. Cross platform: Google+ instant upload will work with any device that has the app, which includes all your Android devices, too. Now, nothing's free or unlimited, so there are trade-offs. The maximum resolution for photos handled by the instant uploader is 2,048 x 2,048 pixels. If you're on an iPhone 4S, those 8-megapixel pics are going to be down-rezzed. And for video, your clip can't be any longer than 15 minutes. Last but not least, the Google+ app will only upload your content when it's launched or recently put in the background, so it's not quite as automatic as photo stream. Of course, users can decide whether or not to upload over both Wi-Fi and cellular networks or Wi-Fi only -- something the app will ask you when you launch the updated version for the first time. Are you an iPhone user? What's your take on the introduction of instant upload to the Google+ app? Have your say in the comments. BONUS: Google Merges Search and Google+ Into Social Media Juggernaut Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mkurtbas |
| Facebook Police: German Cops Get Social Media Users to ID Suspects [VIDEO] | | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 3:55 PM | Alissa Skelton |
|  Police lineups in Germany have gone digital, with Hanover Police asking people to identify photofits of crime suspects on its Facebook page. The police department has nabbed eight criminals since March 2011 when it started crowdsourcing suspects' photos via Facebook for its pilot manhunt called "Fahndung via Facebook." The success has prompted the rest of Germany's law enforcement to consider using Facebook in the same way. The Hanover Police Department wrote this on its Facebook wall: "Dear Facebook Community, We are pleased with the positive response to our pilot.us greatly if you 'share' the witness calls and messages." SEE ALSO: British Tourists Barred From Entering U.S. Over Tweet About 'Destroying America' While police have seen success, citizens of Germany aren't so sure of the department's new suspect identification method. Some are concerned the wrongly accused may face undeserved public scrutiny that suspects wouldn't receive if the photographs were kept confidential. Additionally, photofits - the digital method of constructing a suspect's image based on a witness' description - aren't always accurate. What do you think of law enforcement's use of social media in Germany? Tell us in the comments below. Thumbnail photo courtesy of Flickr, Keith Allison |
| Samsung's Anti-Apple Ad Wins Twitter's First Ad Scrimmage | | Wednesday, February 15, 2012 3:38 PM | Joann Pan |
|  The 2012 Twitter Ad Scrimmage pitted Marvel superheroes against David Beckham, M&M characters and supermodel Adriana Lima. But Samsung's "Thing Called Love" ad, featuring the upcoming Galaxy Note, was this year's Twitter favorite, taking home the title of 2012's favorite Super Bowl ad. The commercial, which aired during the fourth quarter of SuperBowl XLVI made fun of Apple fans who wait on long lines outside stores on product release days -- without ever actually naming their product. In the ad, the fans kick down metal fences to play with the Note to the tune of The Darkness's "I Believe in a Thing Called Love." Fans voted with the hashtag #VoteForNote, bringing in 13.4% of the votes for users' favorite commercials. Marvel's "The Avengers" trailer came in second place, receiving 12.4% of the votes, followed by H&M's "David Beckham Bodywear," M&M's "Just My Shell," and Kia's "A Dream Car, for Real Life." Social media made marketers big winners in this year's Super Bowl. One in five commercials used a hashtag to drive conversation. Though Beckham was third in this race, the H&M commercial received the most Twitter mentions during the game. You can watch the Twitter Ad Scrimmage Winner Samsung's "Thing Called Love" above, and the full slideshow of Super Bowl commercials are included below. |
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