Tocquigny

Just a little sneak peak of interface designs and user-flow diagrams of an iPad app we’re developing…

At Tocquigny, we’re all about happy hours. We’re also pretty geeked out about SXSW… As such, it’s a no-brainer for us to kick off SXSW Interactive 2011 with our third annual Tocquigny View512 Happy Hour on the 17^th floor of the iconic Frost Tower. No other party offers a better vantage point of Austin’s famed March sunsets, top shelf artisan cocktails & beer, live music and interactive social art installations.

Enjoy the view and kick back some drinks while we celebrate our SXSW Interactive Awards finalist nomination and the launch of BuzzBrawl, our groundbreaking trend-tracking web app. This is one event (and view) you don’t wanna miss!

Badgeholders and invited guests only. 401 Congress Ave., 17th Floor. Friday, March 11. 6-8pm.

More information at www.tocquigny.com/sxsw

You must be living under a rock if you haven’t heard about the unrest in Egypt - and today’s dramatic conclusion: the stepping down of Egyptian President Mubarak. Now, the pundits have shifted quickly to pondering: What started this? Did social media cause a revolution in Egypt? Or Thailand? Or Iran?

The short answer is: No. But, the long answer is a bit more complex. Social media presents a manifestation of our new abilities to communicate with one another, facilitated by massive advances in technology. As a very wise colleague points out, revolutions have been going on since the dawn of time. So, why is this one different?

Speed  Social media may not have caused the revolution itself (in Egypt, Thailand, or Iran), but social media and the technology that facilitates them (i.e. mobile phones) has certainly sped up the process of rebellion. The American Revolution ostensibly took seven years to play out (from 1776 to 1783). The Egyptian Revolution has erupted and climaxed in a little over two weeks. Social media makes it easy for people to organize and magnify their voices, whether for political influence or business backlash.

Weapon of Choice  To disarm a movement of dissent in the past, governments and organizations had to battle against home-made grenades and AK-47’s. Now, shutting off social media is just - if not more - powerful. That’s because social media has become the weapon of choice for revolutionaries, looking to congregate around common interest and influence immediate action.

(AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

Why Does this Matter to Marketers?  Revolutions are not exclusive to political or social causes. The social media backlash against the new GAP logo, or Chic-Fil-A’s recent snafu are all examples of how audiences have mobilized on social media to speak out against things brands are doing with which they do not agree. Physical location is no longer a boundary for people looking to assemble and influence change in our digitally-interconnected world. Even if a company is not actively participating in social media, listening and monitoring the socialsphere is ever more critical to understand what people are talking about right now. It’s the new market research.

So - social media may not have caused the revolution in Egypt, or even revolutions in today’s business environment, but the power of this new communications platform continues to ignite the passion and action of all the world. Are you listening?

If I were the only Monday morning quarterback critiquing last night’s Super Bowl ads you might expect to see a list of my 5 favorites, 5 duds, and plenty of self-promoting discourse about product positioning, creative excellence, and blah, blah, blah. But I’m not the first, thousands of bloggers beat me to it.

Instead let’s chat about last night’s digital integration fails, citing my favorite spot of the night (ok I had to) as a perfect example of how marketers are just barely missing the mark. Watch the ad…

Very cool. And the curves on that thing, whoa, looks like Ms. Ladybug went through a gender transformation. Last night this made me thirst for more information about the 2011 Beetle - (this is also known as an ad doing its job). So, like most Americans, when I’m thirsty for more information I hop on Google to get the story. But apparently VW doesn’t think like me. Below is a screen grab of the results returned as I searched for “2011 Beetle”.

Concept car images, automobilemag, examiner, and motortrend…really? Hey V-dub, your $3 million spot did its job…I actually cared about a Beetle last night. So why didn’t you buy ‘2011’, ‘Beetle’, ‘VW’ and sponsor the results for the time frame during the Super Bowl so I could get some more info? I mean, why not drive me to an incredible purpose-built microsite with sneak-peek photos, behind the scenes design work and a history of the slug-bug to supplement this great ad? Integration fail.

Takeaways:

1. Understand and predict behavior; if this marketing effort goes exactly to plan, then what?
2. Timeliness is key; for one moment in time I was excited about the 2011 Beetle, it may never happen again.
3. Mass media and digital content are both the chicken and the egg; there are no rules for which comes first.

To VW’s credit, the Youtube page is very cool and they now (at 2:00pm Monday) are sponsoring results on Google (albeit to a youtube channel with no additional information).

Today, Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley announced that more than 6 million users have registered a Foursquare account. Check out all the check-ins in this stellar infographic:



2010 was obviously an amazing year for Foursquare. Will 2011 prove as successful? Or, will Facebook Places speed forward and dominate geo-location market share? Sound off in the comments!