The Pulse Network

Lots to like for Marketers (and others) at SAPPHIRE NOW

Allen Bonde — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:19:24 +0000

It’s been a few years since I’ve attended SAP’s SAPPHIRE conference, and after two days of briefings, keynotes, demos and experiencing some excellent multi-media production (more on this in a bit), I’ve got to say that as a digital marketer and long-time SAP industry watcher, there was a lot to like. Participating via SAP’s Business Influencer program (I first started covering the company in the mid-1990s when I was an analyst at Yankee Group), I had the ability to get some 1-on-1 time with a number of CRM and marketing execs, but some of my favorite discussions also took place on the show floor and with other analysts in the press room. So what are some of my takeaways?

It’s all about mobile. Everywhere you looked, there were iPads, smartphones and mobile apps on display. In fact, at the show, SAP announced a new wave of workplace and lifestyle apps to provide real-time mobile access to HR, finance, sales and mobile commerce functions. Some examples (that I could use!) include a Travel Expense Report mobile app, new solutions for playing e-learning content on iPads, and a mobile SFA (Customer Briefing) app for sales executives that combines CRM data with external business and news sources, plus mobile commerce solutions based on the company’s Sybase acquisition, and a number of mobile enhancements and apps for retail shopping, insurance and other business processes.

It’s also about the customer experience. Delivering a complete customer experience was a recurring theme across multiple sessions I attended, starting with a briefing many of the CRM influencers attended with Anthony Leaper and Kevin Knix (featuring a very nice maturity model), which highlighted a new area of focus for the company around social customer engagement – which includes a new partnership with one of the cooler companies in the social intelligence space: NetBase.

On the product front, I’ve been tracking the development of the SAP Web Channel Experience Management solution, and got a look at the latest features in the 2.0 release in Orlando when catching up with Jamie Anderson. In addition to looking great on an iPad, what’s noteworthy about SAP’s integrated e-Commerce solution is that it’s a lot more than just e-Commerce. In fact, there are some very nice e-Marketing feature now built-in like product recommendations, wish lists and loyalty management, integration of social content, and e-Service features including Knowledge Management via integration of eGain’s knowledgebase solution. All of this is delivered via a common user interface for viewing catalogs, product reviews, checking out, tracking orders, returning good and even requesting service, and some real nice use of personalization to keep users engaged – and on-task.

SAPPHIRE goes Hollywood. I’ve always liked SAP’s branding and ‘in-game presentation’ and at the Pulse we preach that there’s no better way to engage your audience before, during and after an event than with video content creation, multi-media experiences and web broadcasting. And man, did the SAPPHIRE event team take this to heart. With multiple broadcast studios on-site to bring the experience in Orlando to a worldwide audience, numerous ways to capture content from participants and influencers (for an example, see my SAP radio interview here), plus extensive online and social media engagement and sharing via www.sap-tv.com, this SAPPHIRE was a true multi-media production that provided a compelling experience whether attendees were onsite or online.

Final Thoughts. There was a lot of energy at SAPPHIRE, some great keynotes and generally a flawless presentation during the first 2 days. What didn’t I like? All the demo pods were good for sampling solutions in an area like Cloud or Mobile, but it was hard to get the ‘big picture’ on the floor and figure out how the various solutions tied together when it came to horizontal capabilities like customer analytics (maybe it was just me). And I know the concept must have looked great on paper, but having MSNBC personality Mika Brzezinski kick-off Bill McDermott’s evening keynote and then interview him live on stage seemed way too staged and just didn’t work for me. Mr. McDermott is a charismatic, likeable executive, and would be better off going solo OR being the one who interviews other guests IMO.

So, what’s the bottom line? As it was when I first started following the company, SAP continues to be a back-office technology powerhouse and a hub for innovation around large-scale business transformation (process), analytics (data) and apps. And the company still knows have to throw a party! But what is also apparent is that over the past couple of years SAP has been making strategic additions to its team – e.g., Bill Hou, and most recently Sameer Patel (who is speaking at IMS San Francisco), strategic acquisitions like SuccessFactors, and adding key partners that 1) fill out its CRM, cloud and customer experience capabilities, 2) create a much more complete story when it comes to social- and mobile-enabled solutions, and 3) offer the company new opportunities to enable both client and non-client organizations to create the next generation of intelligent business networks.

Video Myths Debunked – Myth 2: At-scale Online Video Options

Stephen Saber — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:48:27 +0000

Contrary to popular belief the online video space is not solely for entertainment purposes. As I stated before, the digital video audience wants to be informed about a given topic which allows for much more targeted messaging.

The challenge becomes handling your message, I use the example of a friend of The Pulse Network whom produces political content in the Florida region. The audience of the content is going to be deeply engaged and attaching advertisement with the pieces will be successful if you understand the viewers. At-scale online is achievable but not with the same message that works in television and discovering what type of marketing works for the audience is the challenge.

Watch below as I address myth 2 on five video myths debunked at the NewFronts.

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Be sure to watch my complete series on five video myths debunked and feel free to tweet or e-mail me ssaber at ThePulseNetwork DOT com.

Social Media Advertising – Where Do Agencies Fit In?

Nick Saber — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:00:15 +0000

When a company decides to run a social media marketing campaign, one of the most important factors to success is telling an authentic story. But can an outside agency engage in an authentic manner when creating your social media content?

At the end of the day, social media allows companies to engage in one-to-one marketing on a mass level, and a company needs to have a clear story and a clear strategy in order to effectively communicate on social channels with its fans. Great content drives deep connections, and authenticity is vital for creating that content. So where in the social media strategy does an agency fit in?

In this video, we discuss the role of agencies when your company is marketing through social media.

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To watch the rest of this series, check out the playlist on YouTube. You can also connect on Twitter with Tyler Pyburn and Nick Saber.

Video Myths Debunked – Myth 1: Online Video is Niche

Stephen Saber — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:45:24 +0000

If the digital revolution has taught us anything its that online video is not a niche trend, it is everything. Factors like cost of production, delivery, and accessibility decreasing have greatly influenced the ability for every enterprise to utilize content however the biggest player has been users. The online community no longer wants video to just entertain, content needs to info.
Check out the video below as Tyler Pyburn and I break down myth one of the five video myths debunked.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Be sure to watch my complete series on five video myths debunked and feel free to tweet or e-mail me ssaber at ThePulseNetwork DOT com.

Social Media Advertising – Who Will Control It?

Nick Saber — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:00:34 +0000

The line between conversational content and advertising is blurred, if not gone altogether, thanks to the rise of social media. But perhaps even less clear than the goal of the content is the question of who will ultimately control the revenue from social media advertising.

A recent Ad Age article wonders who will ultimately end up controlling the massive amounts of money at stake in the social media advertising game. Paid social media promotion is coming whether agencies, old-school and new-school alike, are ready for it. The reality is that in order to capitalize on social media integration in advertising, only the companies that truly understand social and business will be able to adapt.

In this video, we discuss the changing world of social media advertising, and who could be best positioned to jump on it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

To watch the rest of this series, check out the playlist on YouTube. You can also connect on Twitter with Tyler Pyburn and Nick Saber.

Media Use and Marketing Strategies-Thinking about the Trends

Allen Bonde — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:00:32 +0000

Marketers need to understand what consumers want so that they are able to set up a market that advertisers can standardize the way to sell into those markets. There are two dynamics in my marketing play book. The first is listening to what consumers want. A good way to start this is by looking at what channels users are on and see what channels are growing or shrinking. The second dynamic is participation. Users can share online coupons or by commenting on Facebook. A key to participation is that marketers have to realize which channels are deemed as participatory channels.

Through my marketing map, marketers should think about trends in 3 ways:

Marketers should think ‘outside-in’ by listening, gathering preference data, investing in communities and earned media vs. paid media
They need to pend less on broadcasting and mass media
Finally, they need to look at growth rates and not absolute audience; along with the potential to drive participation and sharing

Below, I dicuss more trends that marketers should pay attention to.

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Watch the rest of my series on media use and marketing strategies. Also feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions, Tweet or email abonde@thepulsenetwork.com.

Media Use and Marketing Strategies-Shifting Advertising Dollars

Allen Bonde — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:00:19 +0000

Where are marketers spending their advertising dollars? There has generally been a lag time between when the audience assembles and when advertisers begin to notice a large audience shifting to a different medium. A main cause for the lag is that advertisers need to get familar with the new media.

My favorite example to use is mobile media. Other media, like internet and television, tend to equalize in terms of media consumption and advertising dollars spent. However, with mobile, it is the opposite. Mobile has 10% attention and only 1% of advertising. This can be considered either a great opportuity or that people just dont want ads on their mobile devices. It comes down to how ad units and mobile behavior need to catch up with each other to create a mobile marketing strategy.

In my video below, I explain more on how advertising dollars are shifting.

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Watch the rest of my series on media use and marketing strategies. Also feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions, Tweet or email abonde@thepulsenetwork.com.

Media Use and Marketing Strategies-Growth of Social Networking Sites

Allen Bonde — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:00:45 +0000

When we talk about the second screen, we can not forget that a good amount of it can come from social media. Consumers like to have conversations about what they are watching and a great tool that tracks internet trends is comScore. In terms of overall audience, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the big 3. However, in terms of engagment with channels, two out of the top three may surprise you. Facebook is still dominant throughout most channels, but Tumblr and Pintrest are a close second and third. Users are not necessarily going to Twitter.com but are accessing it through other channels and devices.

The most recent social network that has taken the world by storm is Pinterest. It is a rich, fun, and attractive place to hang out. Similar to the Pulse Network, they follow the motto that if you want to create engagement, you need good content. Having good content creates community.

In the video below, I discuss further the growth of social networking sites.

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Watch the rest of my series on media use and marketing strategies. Also feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions, Tweet or email abonde@thepulsenetwork.com.

Media Use and Marketing Strategies-American Video Consumption

Allen Bonde — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:00:45 +0000

The Nielson Rating System has been measuring television consumption for decades. They are now starting to measure how viewers are consuming media along with watching television. For example, if we take a case of 25-43 year olds, Nielson has measured that they watch around 28 hours of television per week and only on the Internet 6 hours per week.

The creation of the tablet has caused a great amount of blending to occur in the media landscape. The tablet has become the new communication device for consumers and truly defines the meaning of a second screen.

Watch my video below to learn more about American video consumption.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch the rest of my series on media use and marketing strategies. Also feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions, Tweet or email abonde@thepulsenetwork.com.

An Online Campaign Drives Offline Buzz at The 2012 NAB Show

Tyler Pyburn — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:00:57 +0000

There were plenty of announcements at the 2012 NAB Show. Black Magic’s new 2.5K camera and Adobe’s new release of Premiere CS6 were a few of the most talked about releases but one of the more interesting pieces of technology was Autodesk’s “Smoke”. Not necessarily because of the product itself, but because of the way it was released.

Just listen to this timeline. During a pre-NAB Show, Autodesk’s product manager Marc Hamaker was incredibly tight lipped about what they were going to be releasing. A few weeks later Broadcast Engineer and social media superstar Ryan Salazar posted a blog on his site about Autodesk’s little secret which spread like wildfire. During the opening day of the 2012 NAB Show, Autodesk finally released all of the details. Their Smoke Product was now on sale at a lower price point and its latest version was being out for a free trial. Finally, we had the opportunity to sit down on location with Marc Hamaker again. This time he not only let us know about the product but why Autodesk chose to use Ryan Salazar as an industry thought leader to leak some of the details and why it was still incredibly vital for their huge announcement to be fully unveiled at the NAB Show.

With over 5,000 registered for the beta version of their smoke product, Autodesk has seen incredible results from the inbound and outbound campaign - proving that online content can create a buzz at an offline event.

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