Next generation Spotify becomes more social

Spotify’s latest version comes with an integration with Facebook connect, users can now add all their facebook friends who use Spotify to their Spotify friends, building their own spotify community instantly. Within this community users can listen to what their friends listen to and share recommendations by simply dropping songs in a users inbox. Users can also collaborate to create their own playlists, share them and pass between different friendship groups for a viral effect.

Demonstration of the latest Spotify


Why is this important to Cadbury?

We are fast seeing the use of Facebook connect move from asthetically pleasing campaign led initiatives to becoming a major longterm investment and for new startups like dating site Thread it’s the fundamental framework of their business model. With so many sites implementing this technology the bar is being raised for what we expect from a site, the community experience from the click of a button is fast moving from being an added bonus to becoming a demanded requirement. Soon sites which don’t adopt FB conncet or the new ‘Like’ functionality could face shorter dwell times and higher dropoff rates

Levis bring community shopping to their site with Facebook’s ‘Like’ Button

As Facebook released their ‘Like’ button last week many sites have been taking advantage of the revolutionary way to let your audience become advocates and spread the word to their friends via their facebook account. Even our very own PHD blog Feeding the puppy has users giving approval on the site, which in turn gains incremental exposure through user ‘Likes’ that transfer to user updates on facebook.

Levis have embraced facebook ‘Like’ and have become the first site to really take advantage of the new opportunity to personalise the experience for each visitor. Each item within the store can be ‘Liked’, not only to increase footfall to the site through user recommendations but to also improve the experience for users and their friends. As users engage with the site by giving approval to items for sale Levis quickly build a database of likes and dislikes between friend groups, this leads to a shopping platform which states each user’s friends favoured items to help with their own shopping decisions. You can then even switch to a personalised store which only displays items popular with friends.

Here is a demonstration video of the site:



Why is this important to Cadbury?

Implementing the ‘Like’ button is an easy win for all site activity, Wispa.co.uk would be a perfect starting point as it has multiple activities for users to try and currently has no media backing. The ‘Like’ Button could be implemented for each activity giving users the chance to give feedbback to the Wispa community on what they want to see more of. ‘Like’ will also allow friends to promote the site through their Facebook updates, even more important currently without media budget giving more of a view as to what activities are on offer by stating within the ‘Like’ copy. Growing a fanbase organically is increasingly important given Wispa.co.uk has a longterm content strategy and is currently without media backing.

Taking this a step further, similarly to Levis, Wispa.co.uk could begin to personalise for each user dependant on the interaction of their friends. This could also be implemented within Cadbury.co.uk Recipes for a similar effect, creating a community feel to the recipe guide to improve the footfall of the site and stickiness.

Foursquare tipped for celebrity advocates in 2010

Foursquare, the location based micro blogging service, has shown significant growth worldwide growing from only 96,000 users in December 2009 to 650,000 in March 2010 (Comscore). Although still relatively small in the UK with currently 31,000 users we can expect this to grow exponentially as content providers such as the Wall Street Journal move to integrate Foursquare into their offering – Bringing an new dimension to their content as well as educating their readers on the Foursquare platform . In addition social networks by nature grow in appeal as more users adopt the service, adding value by increasing the social community.

Similarly to Twitter, what will certainly add to the Foursquare hype is it’s celebrity appeal, as Arnold Schwarzenegger leads the way by encouraging fans to follow his whereabouts via the California Government site


Why is this important to Cadbury?

As Foursquare grows to critical mass we need to be aware of how we can benefit from the service and how it can bring extra dimensions to our activity. For example the newly announced Trident International Globetrotter, Katie P could be checking into each festival as well as her whereabouts when she’s back home – perhaps even with a micro blog offering any fans within the area a free drink with her to get a chance to meet her and talk about the campaign.

A celeb influx also creates a greater opportunity to promote PR parties giving a real-time view on which celebs are attending the next Caramel Nibbles party. For those users following multiple celebrities it would be very impactful if they could see they were all partying together at the same venue. Soon with celeb social media buzz becoming increasingly important celeb status may be judged on a Foursquare following and have a big role to play in the invite list.

Internet enabled TVs

TVs are increasingly becoming wifi enabled to allow internet access. Connected TVs are forecast to be in 350-500k UK homes by Q2 2010, by 2015 they are predicted to be in over half a billion homes worldwide. Yahoo are the first media owner to move into this technology offering personalised applications which appear as an overlay which appears at the click of a button on the remote control. This shift in how we watch TV will add personalisation and social interaction, imagine a Facebook connect integration which allowed users to chat to friends whilst watching their favourite soaps, bringing realtime FB updates a step further.

How does this affect Cadbury?

• VOD ads across TV – With Internet TV it will be possible to use the same targeting we use online but across TV adverts. For example for GHFP we could appear on the X Factor final but only to females 21-29, for Flake could even use behavioural targeting to only appear to users who have watched Beauty content.

• With a central hub distributing wifi internet access to both TV and PC we can be more advanced with our tracking and analysis, the following could be measured:
o TV & Online unique users and ad impressions
o Extended reach generated from Online
o Advanced engagement mapping which measures TV’s performance for driving to a microsite

Apple reveal iAd platform

Apple have announced plans to significantly develop the ad functionality within applications. As users swiftly move towards accessing content via Apps rather than the mobile internet Apple have identified monetising apps as a key consideration for the latest iPhone which is being released in the summer. Rather than driving through to a URL or YouTube users will now be able to engage with brands within their application of choice.

This change will have two positive effects on the iPhone app market:

• Taking users out of their app and into the web browser was bad for the user journey, integrating with apps will encourage user engagement with brands and reduce drop-off

• Content providers will be more likely to invest in ad funded iPhone apps as users will not be driven away from their content

o They will also potentially look to integrate the iAd platform within their content to offer bespoke solutions. For example an app which uses the camera could instantly layer branded augmented reality when initiated by the ad format

How does this affect Cadbury?

Previously we have only used app ads for Fairtrade as the technology was already available to drive users to iTunes – utilizing the iphone’s integration with our only Zingolo MP3 supplier. Applications will soon provide a greater opportunity to engage users with the brand, Cadbury can build solutions for each campaign which utilise iPhone functions without having to build applications themselves.

Soon we will be able to provide augmented reality experiences combined with location services through an ad format, we could even work with key app partners such as Foursquare to integrate competitions within their product. If this technology was available this time last year it would have lent itself to the Twisted Top Secret Agent campaign adding another dimension.

Design your own Conservative Ad

For this year’s election the conservatives have tried to compete in a popularity contest rather than a policy contest. They invested heavily in an outdoor campaign targeting Gordon Brown with unflattering photos and spoof captions – Seeing a comparison between their prime minister candidates as their primary edge over Labour. What they didn’t count on was just how much influence one person, Clifford Singer, could have by creating a site called MyDavidCameron offering users the chance to retaliate by creating their own versions of the David Cameron ads. In six weeks his site has already got over 250,000 unique users, which is nearly six times the amount of visitors of all of the UK Government sites combined (Comscore Stats).

Success stories like Clifford Singer campaigning are becoming more frequent, in December Jon and Tracy Morter successfully managed to overthrow the X Factor’s dominance on the Christmas number one by campaigning for users to buy Rage against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’. These case studies show what remarkable feats can be achieved by just one person beginning a movement, with the internet eliminating barriers to social connections it is possible to reach those of a similar view and grow a tribe of followers – Generating substantial numbers to make an impact which otherwise wouldn’t be possible.

How does this affect Cadbury?

While politicians and Cadbury seem a million miles apart they do have similarities, both have loyal fanbases who will spread awareness if given a compelling reason to do so. We have already seen what Wispa fans can collaboratively achieve and for Trident Perpetual Festivals we’re seeing the job candidates self promoting and adding value to the campaign. For Spots vs. Stripes we will be looking to inspire users in a similar way, increasing participation exponentially allowing our fans to recruit team members. This way fans not only increase our awareness but increase the competitive element of the Spots vs. Stripes by creating two tribes.

For more information try Seth Godin’s book Tribes