Archive for Thursday, July 30th, 2009 02:41 am GMT -5

YouTube Viral Videos Are Great For Advertising

// Thursday, July 30th, 2009 02:41 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // SEO, Social Media, Videos

n a blog post today, YouTube presents a case study on Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz’s wedding party. The video (see below), set to R&B star Chris Brown’s hypnotic dance jam “Forever,” became an overnight sensation, gaining more than 10 million views on YouTube in less than one week. What’s happening is that most advertisers don’t want to associate themselves with user-generated videos (the bulk of YouTube), just the professionally produced videos on YouTube, Hulu, etc. and YouTube wants to change your mind. YouTube presents this as proof that advertising works on viral videos even if they are audience produced.

This traffic is also very engaged — the click-through rate (CTR) on the “JK Wedding Entrance” video is 2x the average of other Click-to-Buy overlays on the site. And this newfound interest in downloading “Forever” goes beyond the viral video itself: “JK Wedding Entrance” also appears to have influenced the official “Forever” music video, which saw its Click-to-Buy CTR increase by 2.5x in the last week.

So, what does all of this mean? Despite compelling data and studies around consumer purchasing habits, many still question the promotional and bottom-line business value sites like YouTube provide artists. But in the last week, over a year after its release, Chris Brown’s “Forever” has again rocketed up the charts, reaching as high as #4 on the iTunes singles chart and #3 on Amazon’s best selling MP3 list.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM Sets Up Shop Inside Facebook

// Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 10:35 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Social Media

In another testament to the notion that Facebook is quietly turning into the internet on top of the Internet, online flower retailer 1-800-Flowers.com has launched an e-commerce store inside its Facebook Page and it’s the first online retailer to launch a fully functional commercial storefront inside Facebook.

Registered users can now order all kinds of floral products from the popular florist and gift shop without ever leaving the social network.

Currently, 1-800-FLOWERS accepts payment with all major credit cards, but it’s conceivable that it will be quick to implement Facebook’s upcoming proprietary payment platform, which is currently being tested with a handful of developers.

To conclude, a tip: when you become a fan of the retailer’s Facebook Page, you get a discount code. Happy flower shopping!

Was $250K too much or too little for SyFy?

// Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 10:14 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Random

It seems like everyone hates NBC Universal’s rebranding of the Sci Fi Channel as “SyFy,” including the guy who came up with the name. Michael Hinman says he was paid $250,000 to sell the name of his Web site, SyFy.com. But he claims he never knew who was behind the purchase, and that NBC operated through a shell company to keep the price down. Honestly, though, for “SyFy,” wasn’t $250,000 more than enough?

My poor mom…

// Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 11:17 am GMT -5 // 2 Comments » // Personal

giomum
1996. So my mom decides to pay me a visit one day at this gothic club called The Church (@ GrooveJet – RIP). She’s all in black with her cute little Betty Boop lunch box stuffed with small bottles of alcohol to find me completely topless, covered in silver body paint, vinyl pants, boots, orange hair and a chain connecting both of my nipples.

Forever grateful to whoever captured this moment. It’s now printed in a coffee mug I gifted my poor mum for Mother’s Day.

Love ya mamasita,
-gio

Fortune 100 CEO’s and Social Media

// Sunday, July 12th, 2009 02:40 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Social Media

UberCEO recently did a study with the headline “It’s Official: Fortune 100 CEOs Are Social Media Slackers.” It goes on to analyze the social-media habits of CEOs at large companies and concluded, shockingly, that they don’t use social media much. They looked at Fortune’s 2009 list of the top 100 CEOs to determine how many were using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, or had a blog.  The results show a miserable level of engagement.  Here are the topline results:

• Only two CEOs have Twitter accounts.

• 13 CEOs have LinkedIn profiles, and of those only three have more than 10 connections.

• 81% of CEOs don’t have a personal Facebook page.

• Three quarters of the CEOs have some kind of Wikipedia entry, but nearly a third of those have limited or outdated information.

• Not one Fortune 100 CEO has a blog.

I’m surprised but then again… I’m not surprised. Too many CEOs think there are more important things to do besides identify with and build an audience for themselves and their company. I also suspect the reasons CEO’s aren’t using social media is because of fear and lack of knowledge seeing that the CEO’s that stood out of the pack are all from technology companies – Michael Dell (Dell), Gregory Spierkel (Ingram Micro) and John Chambers (Cisco).

Barbershop

// Monday, July 6th, 2009 01:18 pm GMT -5 // 5 Comments » // Personal

So I decided to visit an old school, cuban barber shop in Little Havana. Not sure what came over me… sometimes I just want to see the heritage from which I come from. Imagining what my father would be like if he was alive today. Needless to say, it was definitely an experience worth writing about (if anything, so future Gio can read it and maybe go back if this place is still around). Welcome to Escobar Barbershop on 8 Street and 5th Avenue.

escobar1

As you walk in, you can’t help  but feel like you’re in another era. 1950′s checkered floor covered in white puffs of hair. 12 inch tv playing the Marlins game at the loudest volume it can produce. I was surrounded with 7 other men, all over 50. I thought this would take a while but everyone there was just hanging out – seeing that only 1 out of 3 transforming chairs was being used. All these men sporting a panza just talked and cussed at each other with no where to go, no place to run to. They just reminisced of old Cuba, Obama being a communist, difference species of roosters (who adorned the walls next to portraits of hair models) and hablando mierda about every person that left the establishment.

escobar2

One employee with dark tinted hair was sitting there having a siesta until another clientele walked in and without an instruction, just started to cut the gentleman’s hair. As if he knew (or did he?) what style he desired. My hair dresser, (if they’re called that) gave me a nice cut, shaved my face, trimmed my nose hairs, and splashed perfume de violeta on my face for a measly $14 compared to the $35 haircut you get in a “salon”. The trip back-in-time alone was worth the price of admission.

I wonder what they said about me as I left…? I’m sure I’ll never read it online at some random person’s blog.