Ustrategy

No Tweeting at Bill Clinton’s Keynote? Try again. A Lesson in the Economies of Control

Dreamforce—the celebrated salesforce.com Cloud Computing annual event—drummed up some buzz earlier this week when Salesforce.com announced, via its PR agency, that no tweeting and blogging will be allowed during President Bill Clinton’s keynote address at the event.

In a matter of hours, mocking posts were published and the twittersphere was filled with head-scratching tweets.

Today, ReadWriteWeb posted that the Clinton administration is revising its policy and it is only traditional media (not attendees) who will not be allowed to do live reporting over social media channels.

If you are reading this blogpost, you are probably savvy enough to know that in today’s socio-digital age, it is preposterous to demand that people (media or other) not post information—especially at a public event hosted by salesforce.com—a web pioneer.

But this isn’t about the Clinton team nor is it about Salesforce.com. This is just another light shining on a deeper issue: the fate of private and confidential information.

Social media has been forcing change on many levels. When it comes to disclosing information, it is still perplexing to most companies and organizations.  Companies used to conduct regular analyst briefings, authors used to give private talks about their upcoming books, and researchers used to speak about new findings and developments in closed doors—almost no information would leak to the general public. But the practice of information disclosure is being tested these very days. And often, it is the PR agencies in the front line, trying buffer the no-longer-insulated doors of information channels and cover for lack of true understanding of the shifting psychology in the age of Social.

What should the Clinton team do now?

1. Reverse the directive. Invite everyone to tweet, blog, take pictures. Accordingly, just in case Clinton’s keynote was to contain confidential information (highly doubtful), it should be revised. In a public event with hundreds of attendees, Clinton’s speech is most likely designed to inspire—and with attendees’ help, it can inspire many more than the lucky few who made it in.
2. Be helpful. Just like companies do when they launch a new product or service, the Clinton team can help the media prepare for the kind of coverage the team wants to have by providing helpful information ahead of time, such as key messaging, an open Q&A channel, and ways to get connected during the event. This would give reporters time to research the topics of conversation, add their own flavor, as well as—and very importantly—build trust between the Clinton team and the tech-focused media.
3. Learn. Attempting to sanction people from tweeting or blogging during the event was obviously a mistake. While we don’t know the back-story, it is a shame Outcast, the agency in charge of the PR for the Clinton team, was not able to better educate the team about the importance of free press and social openness to the Clinton brand.

The rules of the game have been changing on all levels. Trying to hold on to old ways is futile. Instead, organizations should focus on understanding, and leveraging, the power of Social and utilize it to help propel their mission. Anything short of Open is bound to backfire…as it has for the Clinton team this week.

Picture from NewsBuster.org

New Update: Hootsuite Strips Down User Accounts; Only Pro Users Can Opt Out of Promoted Tweets

We first discussed Hootsuite’s new account models and forced advertisement here and updated the post here. Since then, Hootsuite users who hadn’t been yet rolled over to the new model, reported some confusion about what they can and cannot do with their current (free) account.

Yesterday, Dave from Hoosuite provided an official and thoughtful explanation in the comments to our previous post.

“Basic (free) plan holders cannot disable the Promoted Tweets, however Pro plan holders are able to opt-out using the process you described above.

The confusion likely came from the HootSuite users who were onboard before the Freemium plans went into effect in August. While we were migrating these customers to the freemium plans, this subset of users were temporarily able to opt-out.”

So. What does this mean to users? We’re basically back to square one.  Basic plan users will see a stripped down version of what they’ve become accustomed to: no statistics, no added users, and—no ability to opt out of spam rolling into their feed by random users. Only pro account users (at $5.95/month, or roughly $72/year) will be able to keep the features they’ve been using until now and have the option to opt out of getting those pesky promoted tweets popping up.

This is a risky step for Hootsuite.

1. Hootsuite’s strategy is akin to forcing people to take off their clothes and charging them to put them back on. No one wants to stand in their underwear. This change may be just annoying enough that if another service (Seesmic, Twitter, Co-Tweet, other) offers similar features, we’re likely to see a migration. To use a business term: the cost of switching is just low enough that there’s no real barrier.

2. There are many other ways for Hootsuite to make money—some of which I discussed in my earlier post. They include charging for the iPhone and iPad apps, strategic partnerships, etc.

3. We’ve all become used to ads and commercials. Hulu, for example, has become the king of fine-commercial-experience by deeply focusing on the user experience. Forcing users to see those pesky promoted tweets in their feed (read: in perceived personal space), by random people (read: can’t filter my feed even if I try to)—is far from being user focused and, as we’ve said before, demonstrate Hootsuite doesn’t understand today’s user psychology. Far from it.

On the upside, Hootsuite should be commanded for its bold move. It has agreed to experiment with sponsored ads on its users and has challenged the perception of social media being free. This could be a market shifting step.

Or not.

It remains to be seen what Hootsuite users will do if and when a substitute solution that offers the same ease of use and same features, gets sufficient buzz. I, for one, am planning to test out different options once my 7 days “pay or strip down” period runs out.

Adaptive Path on Streaming Video--5 Basic Viewer Needs

Adaptive Path is known for their focus on creating highly user-centric experiences through the application of Design Thinking methodology.  Today, Peter Merholz, President and co-founder of Adaptive Path, is sharing findings from recent work the company has done in the areas of video/broadcast content consumption.  Merholz focused on 5 main consumer needs: 

Not everyone wants all the bells and whistles. Some people just want to have the same experience they always had.

 Keep it simple. Simplicity will beat complexity all things held equal.  Netflix has been brilliant about making experiences simpler: Eliminated the need to go to store, stream to TV without having to go to PC.

Apple TV remote control- simple. Sony/GTV remote—extremely complicated. (By the end of the day, Merholz’ acronym: YHGTBFKM used for complex experiences replaced the earlier reigning term of the day: Cord Cutters)

It should just work. Complex manuals and diagrams are out. (Unless it’s an Ikea armoire. RL)

It should be Frictionless. People have less tolerance for traditional Technical friction and Experiential friction. Users expect to “think of it and it appears.” Kindle is an example for a frictionless experience (not to be confused with Simple).

It should be balanced. Companies should focus on creating a balanced experience between Content, Control, Connection, Simplicity, Frictionless-ness.

 

HULU CEO Jason Kilar on the Future of TV Advertising Online

Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu is presenting Hulu’s perspective on the future of TV viewing online at GigaOm’s NewTeeVee Live 2010. The company, only 3 years ago the company was referred to as “dead on arrival,” will be making 240 million dollars in 2010. Below are some of the key points Kilar made today:

• Hulu, says Kilar, is in the business of creating services that users, advertisers, and content owners “unabashedly love.”
• Consumers will be able to consume content where they want, when they want, how they want.
• Today, 41 cents of every dollar generated against premium content is from advertising.  Hulu believes any business model will have to include advertising and is in “pursuit of a better way for brand advertising.”
• Hulu’s motto is that: “When it comes to amount of advertising, lighten up.”  In 1859, Alfred Hitchcock Presents is 26 minutes long; in 2010, a popular show like The Office is only 22 minutes long.  Ad load today is high for linear TV. Hulu believes that letting people choose which ad they want to see creates better experience (we’re still not convinced) and enable brands to use the platform for surveys (Are you planning to buy a new or used car in the next six months?).
• With its massive viewership and analytics, Hulu is now able to provide personalized and targed ads. Hulu can address viewers by name on screen and attaches emotion-based ads or   messaging. 10% of people bookmarked Peep Show promo presented in personalized manner (compared to 1% industry response benchmark). Similarly, Hulu is able to serve ads with much more precision than the networks because of its rich analytics and behavior tracking, including viewing history, ad clicks, etc.
• Today, brand advertisers spend over 400B in brand advertising globally. In the US alone, $60B is spent on ads in the living room—double the ad dollars spent online. Kilar hints there’s room for turning this model on its head with the greater ad effectiveness and efficiency a service like Hulu can provide to advertisers.

When asked by Om Malik about upcoming IPO, Kilar—who has been remarkably transparent and open over the years—humbly stays on mute. But don’t be surprised if we hear big announcements broadcasted by Hulu by the end of 2011. 

 

 

 

Update: You Can now Opt Out of Those Pesky Hootsuite Promoted Tweets

After much discussion about Hootsuite’s Promoted Tweets, a few of our readers discovered users of the free Hootsuite version can now opt out of promoted tweets. Makes sense, given the SPAM act requirements for other, possibly-unwanted, communication.

How to get rid of those annoying Hootsuite ads:

1. Click on the Owl icon at the top left corner of your dashboard (just under your post field)
2. Roll over Settings > click Preferences
3. Uncheck Show Promote Tweets 

Done! You shouldn’t be seeing any more unwanted ads. At least for now.

Now all that’s left if for hootsuite to correct their documentations online and to let free version users know they too can opt out of seeing those promoted tweets. Clean. Simple. Fair.

Thanks to Kimmo Linkama, Carol Jones, and Mark Shaw for contributing.

Promoted Tweets: Why Hootsuite Has More to Lose and Why Twitter (Probably) Doesn't Care

If you’re using Hootsuite as your twitter management tool, you may have been wondering about the yellow “promoted by” button showing on some tweets. This is the lovechild of Twitter and Hootsuite in an attempt to grow both companies’ revenue family. Currently, the only way to disable the yellow buttons is to have a Hootsuite pro account at $5.99/month and check off the button that says “show promoted tweets.”

First, let’s agree that every company should be able to make money off of its products. Let’s also agree that creating actionable and profitable business models are probably among the most challenging endeavors companies (any company) have to take on at some point in their lifetime.

In an ideal world, the more valuable the product or solution, the more money a business should be able to make. Web2.0 however has been a rather imperfect world, and some of the most useful applications have actually been free (case in point: Twitter over the last couple of years).

Being the leader in the micro-conversation world with no real competition in the market, Twitter can afford to test various ad solutions. If people are truly unhappy with it, Twitter could easily change their approach with little impact. Hootsuite may enjoy the thought of riding on the Twitter tale, but in fact, the damage can be much greater to the Hootsuite brand (a number of equal alternatives, minimal switching cost, etc.)

What’s so bad about promoted tweets?

The concepts of people promoting brands, growing brand awareness,  and creating word-of-mouth are well established. Peer recommendations are much more influential on Awareness, Preference, and Choice metrics. In 2009 Nielsen reported that 90% of consumers “completely” or “somewhat” trusted peer recommendations compared to 70% trusting brand websites.  Search Engine results ads are only trusted by 41% and online banner ads were trusted by 37% of people. For some of us it’s Apple products, for others it’s Virgin America, yet for others it’s the president (yes, Obama is a brand too). We listen to the people we already trust and discover new products and companies through them.

Some brands don’t need to recruit advocates—they come naturally because of great products (Apple) or experiences (Cirque De Soleil, Disney). Other brands, pay through discounts, coupons, and special promotions that result in brand awareness and purchases.

Unfortunately for Hoostuite, Promoted Tweets has provides very little value to users. Most people will probably look to filter out the useless promoted tweets. The only ways to eliminate them are to a) pay $5.99/month, b) pretend the tweets aren’t really there, c) not use key word streams.

But wait. We said it’s okay for a business to make money?

That’s right! And Hootsuite couldn’t be in a better position to do just that. Hootsuite today is in an advantageous position: it has a large user base, preference from Twitter users, and an ability to deliver great user experience. With Tweetie’s latest integration challenges, it has been picking up speed on mobile devices as well. It has options. Here are a few to boot:

1. Charge for value: Provide features that people actually want and need and charge for those. Currently, the Pro version doesn’t offer that much added value to convince people to increase their commitment to Hootsuite.
2. Charge for extensions: Charge for the mobile and iPad applications as productivity tool on the go. Users will easily pay $0.99 to be able to use Hootsuite on their phones especially with Tweetie’s hiccups.
3. Give and receive: Offer Opt-In option to people who agree to see the ads in return for a free feature.
4. Charge more smartly: Create a Hootsuite for Business and charge for it. This means that Hootsuite will need to reframe its Pro offering -- currently a blend of features wanted by individuals, those more likely to be used by business, and some useless features like influencer score, easily achieved through Klout, and already integrated into the Free version.

One thing is certain: Hootsuite shouldn’t be putting itself at the mercy of Twitter and using its own audience base as lab rats.

Hootsuite has done a great job with feature enhancements, usability, and overall value. The company gets what it takes to make good products people want to use. However, the recent integration of Promoted Tweets shows a significant gap in Hootsuite’s ability to complement its product side with a solid business strategy and execution.

Let’s hope Hootsuite’s leadership team, with the helm of Ryan Holmes, sees that too and comes up with original, creative, and sustainable business models that benefit users and grow revenue for the company.

Facebook is Taking Over the World, One Trend at a Time

After years of waffling, Facebook appears to have discovered the right direction this year. Along with a focus on operational efficiencies and growing Facebook Ads revenue—Facebook has been working hard to enhance its offering across a number of major consumer technology trends, such as location-based solutions, network noise reduction, user-generated social content, etc.

From the first breath it drew, Facebook’s lifeline was the network itself. today, with over 500 million users worldwide, almost any application or service it launches are bound to be immediately tried, adopted (or criticized), and used because they are already embedded into each user’s network.

With Places, Facebook challenges services like FourSquare and Gowalla—two of the most buzzing companies in the last two years, and easily lets people check in to the place they are visiting and broadcast to their network.

Facebook Groups now helps people filter down their network and reduce the noise of all those “friends,” by giving them a quieter space to discuss their interests, essentially taking small chips at companies that provide interest-based online communities such as Ning.

Facebook Friendship Pages is another attempt to offer a more relevant community experience, this time applying an even thinner sieve, creating a place for one-to-one communication. Evidence of Facebook’s early developmental stage is the fact that users can use the Friendship pages not just for their own relationships, but also to display any relationships between two friends on their network. As Jared Newman from PC World says, it’s “cool but creepy.”

Drop.io was recently acquired to enable users to share documents on Facebook. This, I believe, is an attempt to chip at Google’s set of productivity tools. It remains to be seen whether users will actually move from the robust Google suite.

And, last week Facebook announced it will be adding shopping deals to Places which will connect local merchants with consumers—taking a daring stab at Groupon, the market leader in local merchant group discounts and a company estimated at over 3 billion dollars in value.

Facebook today can afford testing out different initiatives—just like Google has done over the years. Unlike Google however, who relied on a single revenue model in the form of online ads, Facebook is looking to drive revenue from multiple channels. While it is a smart business decision, it often conflicts with delivering user value (as we’ve seen in the Privacy battles of the last few years). As Facebook matures, it will be interesting to see if it will turn into the adult it can be or stay in the all endearing, but often tedious, teenage state.