The Digital Agency:Mortal or Immortal?

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As mentioned in last week’s post, 2011 is predicted to be the year of Digital in the MENA region and arguably the rest of the world. At a time when anything and everything digital is booming, so are Digital Agencies (or New Media Agencies): Any business that delivers internet based creative and technological development services such as web design, online marketing, SEO, Social Media advertising, banner advertising, and the like.

In recent times however, some have argued against that, saying that the digital agencies will ultimately fail for various reasons. One of those being that Digital agencies neglect the communication part of the deal, rather focusing on the evolving technology part, neglecting basic human needs, emotions and behaviors. Another reason is they believe Digital agencies should be behaving more like publishers in the sense of having more consumer generated content. In doing so, and allowing ‘consumers’ to write blog posts for example, reflects authenticity, and said blogger would in turn ‘spread the word’ more effectively (and genuinely) than an in house or freelance copywriter.

On the other hand, the rise in the use of social media in advertising and PR-ing of brands and services allows many new tools with which to reach new audiences with new, effective methods. There are fine lines between the all equal forms of advertising ; Online, print, Social, TV, Mobile, Print … The Digital Agency’s job is to make sure it selects the best tools to promote and advertise. When selected properly, the results can be astonishing.

Still a ‘niche market’ in the MENA region, Social Media advertising, is gaining more recognition as more and more people are beginning to learn how to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other far- reaching social networks for means other than connecting with friends.

A small example to show the importance of social networks for brands: A friend who works in a Digital Agency went to buy a card from Hallmark the other day, and at the bottom of the card he chose he noticed a small sentence that made him smile- “Friend us on Facebook”.

2011- The Year of Digital Media in the MENA Region

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2011 is expected by many in the industry to be the year to see the highest levels of digital and online advertising, especially in the MENA region. 2010 already saw record highs in the amounts of mobile, social, video and dynamic advertising. The rapid growth of technologies has played a major part in the growth of social media platforms in the region.

Simultaneously, Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media networks have seen a rise in their numbers of new users worldwide. In the MENA region, the Facebook sparked and Twitter promoted revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and currently Libya probably played a big role in the increased numbers of new users.

In addition, and in part due to the above, there has been an increase in the events and conferences in the region, catering to anything and everything Digital. Two of the biggest events are being held this month in Beirut, Lebanon: Twestival 2011 (or Twitter Festival) and Arabnet Shift 2011.

On March 24th 2011, Twestival will go ‘local’ in various cities across the globe. Events are held in any location to raise funds and awareness for a local cause that deserves it. An idea that one can work on an international scale and do good, without having to leave the city one lives in. Their website describes it best: “Twestival is the largest global grassroots social media fundraising initiative to date”. This year, Beirut Twestival will be fundraising for Breast Cancer, allowing women free mammograms, as well as psychological help for women with Breast Cancer.

Arabnet Shift, the biggest digital gathering in the Middle East, will be held over 4 days in Beirut, from March 22nd to the 25th. Each day has a theme, and is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs in the region to get exposure for their ideas and start ups. Each year, ArabNet brings together ‘big names’, and leaders in the digital sector. This year, there will be more than 80 speakers and 1000 attendees, meeting and discussing the latest in the digital sector in the region. At the end of the summit, 2 competitions are held with the aim of supporting and promoting start ups and ideas.

If anything, both events are excellent networking opportunities for anyone involved in this sector. Moreover, both Twestival and Arabnet use the power of social media to organize, promote and advertise these events to the region and the world.

The Times They Are a Changin’

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Flashback 1991-

Waking up in the morning, birds chirping, having breakfast and listening to the gentle crackle of the newspaper s the parents are flipping through whilst sipping their coffees. The doorbell rings. It’s the postal delivery man with a few lovely (handwritten) letters from friends and family all over the world. The exact kind of hand written letters which give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside. After a while, the mother decides to make something special for lunch, and searches through her many big, heavy cookbooks for the perfect one, bookmarking her few selections to choose from.

A typical Saturday morning …

Fast forward 20 years-

Waking up in the morning, checking e-mail/Facebook notifications/tweets on the iPhone/Blackberry/Android/iPad/whatever is closest to the bed, ignoring the few birds chirping, getting stressed out reading the various messages/texts/emails/tweets whilst making coffee. I foresee no fuzzy feelings today…

Going into the kitchen, the parents are sitting reading news online and chatting away on their respective laptops. For the recipe of the day, the mother searches away on Google to find that perfect Saturday meal. When she does, she continues to YouTube, where she can see how to make said recipe. The cookbooks sit idly by, on the kitchens shelves, collecting dust. This is what ‘Vintage’ must feel like.

The point of this post (and yes, there is one) is the following:

When was the last time you actually flipped through pages of a book for a few hours before going to bed? With Kindle and other e-book readers, going into a beautiful bookstore and judging books by their covers is a thing of the past. To prove that point, Borders Books just went bankrupt.

When was the last time you checked an actual recipe book for instructions, or any other manual or encyclopedia for that matter, when you have everything online?

Have you tried writing a paragraph lately? Strange sensation to actually write using an actual pen isn’t it?

Do you remember how a newspaper even smells like anymore? With Twitter, everyone is a journalist!

Social Media, and other technologies in this day and age are indeed a blessing… a blessing in disguise perhaps?

Business in Social Media: Facebook Pop-Ups

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Steering away from Social Media in Politics, this post will discuss Social Media in Business. It is no secret that when it comes to advertising, Facebook is the go to place for promoting brands. A new Facebook trend on the scene now is ‘pop up’ stores (example: Roots), literally popping up all over Europe and Canada at the moment. In the real world, pop up stores are a new concept in marketing: Basically temporary shops (or bars) that ‘pop up’ in random places for a day or a few days offering a limited collection in efforts to build awareness of the product/brand.

More and more retailers all over the world have been making use of Social Media in recent years, offering deals, and encouraging people to write reviews or to address complaints. The convenience of said pop up stores on Facebook is that it ultimately allows current and potential customers to purchase their items without having to leave the site itself (i.e. Facebook), potentially increasing revenue tremendously, while generating ‘buzz’.

It takes time to calculate and analyze exactly how many more customers/clients such endeavors give to a company advertising in such ways, but as many retailers are claiming to have been seeing much positive results from using temporary ‘pop up’ stores on Facebook. They said they have seen an increase in the number of fans on their Facebook pages, more subscribers to their newsletter, and higher sales.

This has not been seen in the Middle East region however, not yet anyways. How successful do you think they will be for us in the region? As a culture that is new to shopping online (thanks to many years of war, political unrest, and no cargo getting into the country, or out for that matter), do you feel it might just be another way of regular advertising and brand awareness for most, rather than a good revenue generator?

Social Media to the Rescue: Speak2Tweet

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In last week’s blog post ‘Online Activism: Social Media & Politics’, we took a bird’s eye view of the situation in the region as a whole, and how Social Media tools were assisting in organizing protests and demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan and other parts of the middle east. In the past week, shortly after completing the blog post, Egypt erupted into what became a revolutionary uprising that is still ongoing as this new post is being written.

The role of Social Media, despite the government shut down of the internet in Egypt for days, has shown how important it truly is in our modern lives, and how much we rely on the internet for information, assistance and ‘spreading the word’. Which leads me to wonder how on earth did our parents survive without the internet?! Especially for those of us in this turbulent part of the world…A blog post for another day.

When the Egyptian government cut off the internet and started to crack down on Media censorship, Twitter came to the rescue with the help of Google and a company called SayNow to launch a service called Speak2Tweet. This was their way of helping Egyptians and others inside Egypt find a way to communicate with the outside world. People in Egypt call a certain number and are able to leave an audio message which is then posted immediately on the SayNow website, as well as on Speak2Tweet’s twitter account. Despite most of them being in Arabic, volunteers from all over the world are translating them into English, Spanish, and French.

Other Social Networks such as Facebook and YouTube have also been playing a major part in the Egyptian uprising, with Facebook pages popping up all over the world regarding the uprising in Egypt. Videos of the protests as well as news are being posted and shared by the thousands.

All of this leads to the ultimate question: What role should social networks take when it comes to Politics and various human rights issues such as what just happened in Egypt? Should Facebook and Twitter ‘take sides’?

Online Activism: Social Media and Politics

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online_activism-150x150The recent events in Egypt mirror the uprising in Tunisia just a couple of weeks ago. Those events in turn remind us of similar anti-government protests in Iran in 2009. The thing that they all have in common, and that stands out, is that all were instigated online through social networks. Online activism in the region has been erupting anywhere you look online; Facebook, Twitter and YouTube specifically.

In 2009, after the presidential elections in Iran, thousands of Iranians took to the streets for days in protests and demonstrations that rocked the country. None of us in the outside world would have heard anything about those, and the subsequent human rights violations that occurred there, had it not been for Twitter and Facebook. Despite the fact that they were blocked, and no foreign reporters are allowed into Iran, some people managed to get on other proxy’s and tweet the reality of the situation. Foreign Media was reached thanks to Twitter, and made the world aware of the dire situation there.

Fast-forward to 2011, and barely two years later, Tunisians took to the streets by the thousands in anti government protests. They succeeded; President ZineAbidine Bin Ali fled the country. There, as in Iran, social networking sites were being actively blocked by the government, but that did not stop many from bypassing those and posting and sharing videos of the revolts on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Facebook though, more than Twitter, became an indispensable resource for tracking the minute-by-minute development of the situation. The online community rallied with them in support, spreading and sharing the news and videos coming from Tunisia proving that Social media tools are powerful ways to communicate. Another thing to take note of is according to Facebook, they got thousands more users in that one month since the Tunisian uprising than ever before.

Inspired by the revolution in Tunisia, Egyptians took to the streets on January 25th. They came out in the thousands. There hadn’t been protests of this magnitude in Egypt since the 1970’s. All this would not have been possible had it not been for a simple Facebook page calling for all Egyptians to demonstrate and protest against alleged police brutality in Egypt, on the national holiday of Police Day. All day during the demonstrations people in Egypt were tweeting and re-tweeting the events happening around them, journalists and citizens alike. Despite the fact that the events in Egypt were not headline news on most TV channels in the region or internationally, it was indeed all over Twitter. The government keeps blocking Twitter as well as other social networking sites, but people are finding ways around them and continue to spread their message.

As this blog post is being written, protestors are still demonstrating in the streets of Egypt. Social Media has obviously been playing a major role in not only organizing such events, but also in spreading the word about them, and giving a rise in Citizen Journalism.

All those anti government uprisings in the region leave me wondering what’s next in Social Media when it involves politics. Online activism is translating into real results.

What, in your opinion, are the affects of Social Media in the Middle East, specifically when it comes to speaking out against something or someone?

Marketing Through Online Social Networks

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cover_leb_opp_feb_11Social network marketing is the electronic equivalent of grass-roots marketing: Marketing where people live and work, and on a personal level.

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Keeping Up With the Times

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It is no big surprise that the internet is now the fastest growing media for advertising. Everyone saw this coming. On the other hand, traditional media such as TV, radio and print, are seeing a downtown in their use, and thus revenues.

As with every change in life, one needs to learn to adapt to be able to continue growing. Those traditional media companies who were reluctant to change, have been left grasping for air, while the companies that actually began integrating Digital Media early on are seeing many positive changes.  After all, the existence of one media platform does not signify the eradication of another media platform. All platforms should always be kept in mind for those owners of said traditional media houses, also keeping in mind what the best way to approach any given consumer/client with whatever product or service one is promoting.

Looking into recent statistics, the one real risk that traditional media houses run now is to become extinct if they do not learn to adapt (even so slightly) to these changes, and to adapt quickly. Some aren’t adapting to them or haven’t yet because they didn’t see it coming, or they did see it coming but didn’t do anything about it, or they just simply don’t know where to start and what to do.

The rise of Social Media is the biggest shift in the Industrial revolution thus far but at the end of the day, it should be the consumer that drives the companies to make certain changes, especially when it comes to Social and Digital Media. As long as all media companies never lose sight of the consumer, what they want, and delivering that to them in an effective way, then they will always be ready to deal with any changes in media.

The Art of Listening

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The undisputed growing popularity of social sites such as Facebook and Twitter mean that advertisers now have the opportunity to create a direct channel of communication with their consumers.  The continuous interaction between users on brand pages, provide key insights on consumer’s online behavior, brand/ product perception, emerging audiences.

Listening to your followers/ likers will not only enable you to understand their culture and language, but more importantly, it will tell you what they like, dislike, ultimately what they want.  Valuable information, such as hot topics and interests, provide great common grounds for initiating content.  For instance, listening to your consumers will enable fine-tuning of your Paid Search Marketing strategy.

Moreover, monitoring posts and actions will help you determine who your brands’ valuable customers are and who your faithful brand ambassadors are.

A key to engaging your followers/likers is to provide them with only 50% product related content. The remaining 50% should relate to what your audience likes/ wants.  This will trigger social conversations and, only conversations create bonding, which in turn translates in higher level of engagement.

Rule of thumb: Consumer talks, advertisers listen!

Eastline Marketing organise un concours en ligne pour Huggies

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cover-eastline-marketing-organise-un-concours

L’agence en ligne Eastline Marketing a organisé pour la marque de couches Huggies, propriété du groupe Kimberly Clark et distribué au Liban par Obegi, une campagne Internet tournant autour d’un concours de photos de mères faisant un hug à leur enfant…

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