You may have seen the other day that GPS navigation system Waze hit 10m users. It’s a social tool that aggregates user reports on traffic, accidents and the like. I’m a recent convert and signed up a few months ago, since then it’s become a part of my daily commute. If any of you have experienced the vagaries of rush hour traffic on the A3 you’ll understand that drivers need all the help they can get.

Waze: Useful and free, what's not to like?

As a consumer my prerequisites for downloading a geolocation app have to fulfil at least 3 of the following. Here’s how Waze hits those targets:

• Collaborative – Waze uses thousands of users’ traffic reports to create a map of road congestion and allows them to send messages in real time to update each other. Its success rests on the community spirit of its users
• Timely – this all happens in real time, a boon for an audience where seconds count
• Useful – I’ve avoided innumerable traffic jams with this tool and anything that can make the daily commute less painful and for free gets my thumbs up
• Fully integrates with my existing social profiles without superseding them – this is not a Foursquare, inundating friends with useless and annoying updates. It fulfils a purpose and doesn’t pretend to be a Facebook replacement. Should the jam be particularly bad you can send your update to Twitter or Facebook to alert your wider following, but that’s it. Waze knows its limits

Download it for your iPhone, Android or Blackberry here. My username is rupinjapan, so if you see a Transit wrapped round a traffic light on the Cobham bypass let me know ahead of time.

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Twitter has launched new brand pages with a new look and some useful functionality.

Coca Cola getting in early on Twitter

For those companies already on Twitter, this news is worth your attention.  Twitter’s new brand pages will better promote your brand in 4 ways:

1. A large header image gives greater prominence to your logo and/or tagline.  The Coke brand page is a great example.  Formerly, companies had to put up with an odd design which meant that brand images were concealed as wallpapers, hidden behind the Twitter timeline.  That has changed now.
2. Brands can highlight their best content.  Above the timeline is now a “promoted tweet”, which shows off a company’s best content.
3. Photos and video content can be expanded.  An example is Heineken’s promoted tweet, which shows off a photo of its newly-designed bottles.  Alternatively a video advertisement can be embedded there, simply by inserting a link to YouTube.  Disney Pixar makes great use of this and posts a trailer of its latest film there.
4. Replies and mentions may be separated.  Brands articulated a desire to see replies –i.e. customer interaction – in a separate list to mentions – i.e. tweets that have expressed an opinion on your product.  This will make it easier to do two separate things: engage with your consumers and see what people are saying about your brand.

Twitter liaised with chief marketing officers and found that what companies wanted was brand pages.  So that is what they have given them.  If you are one of the 5% of companies still not on Twitter, now might be a good time to start.

The bad news is that UK brands will have to wait until 2012 before the new pages are available. Something for the New Year then!

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Before hastily setting up a Google+ page for your business, you need to step back and consider whether there is any value in joining the early adopters. We pulled together 4 points to help you evaluate whether it is worth your company embracing Google+:

The promised land?

1.  Objective – Are you targeting your Google+ to generate awareness and buzz about your company? Or do you want to generate engagement and build upon relationships with customers? Google+ is in its infancy and audience demographics are unclear, there’s scant information about how active these profiles are. You’ll need to bear this in mind when contemplating what your objective is.

2.  Time and resources – Your time is important so you need to evaluate whether it’s worth launching a page and the continual maintenance and monitoring of that page. Content is also key. The page requires rich content to be shared and engaged with. As Google+ prevents competitions or promotions, it’s perhaps best to use content from assets that you already have.

3. How will Google+ fit in with your other branded web estates? – Do you really need to include it in your marketing mix? Will it play a large part in your online marketing ecosystem or are you just securing a simple branded profile? Perhaps wait and see what happens in the next couple of weeks, and then, venture into investing resource.

4.  Outcome – So far the main benefit is that Google+ has connected social with search. For those who participate in this opportunity it is likely that your page rankings will get a boost. And for those who do not, we anticipate that you may lose rankings or be displaced amongst your competitors who have a Google+ presence.

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Since Google’s  announcement, there has been an enthusiastic response to Google+ branded pages. Generally the

applause has been loud and energetic, with over 600 news articles and innumerable blog posts. The positive response has proved interesting. After all, previously there has been some less than flattering rumours about the newly launched network. Whilst attracting over 40m users, there have been intimations that 83% of them are now inactive. Data analysis has even suggested that the only activity is being led by geeky, early adopter males! The truth is that no one really knows who is using the service and how. And that means we need to look a bit closer at what value a brand can expect from investing in the network.

The Google+ value to your brand

So let’s get to the nub of the issue for marketers: is investing in a branded page going to generate the ‘relationships’ that Google promises in its launch blog post. More importantly, is it going to enable relevant and sustained relationships that add value to the brand. Google+ launched with some key brand pages, so we thought we would take a snapshot of the results just 48 hours in.

Google+ numbers first

This first analysis simply looks at numbers of followers and +1s (recommendations). Yes, this is a blunt measurement. But this is early days and further analysis would be just speculation. And after all, a branded page needs to reach critical mass to maximise the value from engagement. In the table below we examine the launch brands and highlight the top ten for followers and +1 numbers. The Muppets page leads the way. Not surprising, as there is likely to be a strong emotional connection to the brand. Generally though, the results are not bad for two days exposure, but not great either for such an enormously well covered launch and such high profile brand. Many brands may still do better in Facebook when it comes to acquisition.

Where is the inspiring content?

Google makes it clear that the key benefit to marketers is the ability to build relationships. And part of brands building relationships, is to give consumers value through content.  I was hoping for rich, engaging, inspiring stuff – in other words, lots of social objects that would motivate me into a relationship with a brand.

Maybe great content will come in time as Google and brands find their feet.  However, without the facility to run promotions and competitions [Google doesn’t allow it on its pages], brands are going to need to be inventive to capture the attention of the public as more pages launch.

Relationship building aside, content that inspires recommendations is going to be crucial.  Google promises to incorporate the results from +1s into search and bring faster ways of connecting to brands through its search engine (with the ‘+’ search feature).

Our intention is to benchmark brand pages over the coming months – ultimately we need to evaluate the business benefits in search, engagement and advocacy that will justify the investment.

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Google+ has really got the social media world excited. Twenty-five million users in 6 weeks, makes the growth of similar social networks like Facebook and Twitter look positively stunted in comparison. And the blogosphere is just as fired up – a quick Google blog search for Google+ returns more than 10 million results!

When Google+ launched, every marketeer worth his salt wondered what the network would do about brands; and companies across the globe started chomping at the bit to be the first to interact with the consumer communities on Google+. That privilege has gone to Ford Motor Company, which has managed to gain a corporate identity on the new social network, despite Google closing down all other brand pages. Google says it’s working on a suitable brand solution, but we’ll all have to sit tight until then.

Looking at the Ford page, it’s difficult to find any differences to established Facebook pages. It comes complete with a profile picture in the top right corner, smaller pictures at the top of the page and its ‘wall’ underneath. People can +1 things (akin to Facebook’s ‘Like’) and comment underneath.

While the aesthetics might be similar, there are a number of features we’re keen to start trialling and we’re excited to see what Google has in store for branded profiles. With the network looking set to spice up the social media marketing mix in the not too distant future, we take a look at what brands and businesses could be doing with Google+ in the coming months:

1) Hangouts

Customer service is one of the key areas we encourage our clients to explore and consider for their social media strategies and the Hangouts feature of Google+ could potentially revolutionise online customer service. The likes of Vodafone and ASOS are doing a great job on Facebook and Twitter already; and a number of companies offer instant chat via their websites. But, Hangouts could provide brands with the opportunity to chat to customers directly via video chat, making the whole experience more personal and friendly.

From a PR perspective, Hangouts offer some great opportunities, such as video roundtables with key influencers, and live customer events. This feature will get creative juices flowing as brands think of ways to engage with consumers using this new medium.

2) Search

As a search engine, it’s obvious to point out that Google’s strength lies in search. Google has already temporarily stopped its real time search function with assumptions that it will be restored with results from Google+.

Users can also +1 things, equivalent to a ‘Like’, and this will determine a website’s social value. This could potentially mean that the more +1′s a website has, the higher up it features in the rankings, affecting the SEO tactics we’ve become accustomed to. Google+’s Circles feature can also affect the way we search online, as recommendations from people in our circles, i.e. our trusted sources like friends and family, can feature in search results.  Social search is also beginning to affect the way businesses look at SEO. As well as +1′s, Facebook ‘Likes’ and re-tweets on Twitter can influence what we look for online. As this evolves, the customer experience has never been more important. You need to ensure you give the best experience possible to help encourage social recommendations.

We’re also keen to see the insights provided by Google+.  Facebook Insights are great but can be limited when it comes to identifying key influencers. And there are a number of Twitter apps and tools that give us good information but not all in one place. Monitoring and listening play a crucial role in informing your social media strategy so with Google’s background in analytics, we’re hopeful Google+ insights will provide the information brands need.

Time will tell if Google+ lives up to the buzz it has already created in the social media world. It may take time to become mainstream but, if and when it does, it’ll definitely make its mark on social media marketing.

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Those looking to ensure staff are equipped to represent their brand across social media platforms could do worse than learn from some of history’s most famous and infamous historical figures. So what can your social media training learn from the past?

“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Don’t take others at face value - Fake news stories spread like wildfire, especially on Twitter, from the reported death of Charlie Sheen to Rebecca Black’s pregnancy. Even seasoned journalists and media publications have been caught out by news that originated online without any facts behind to back it up. Even today, news that Madeline McCann has been found is a trending topic on Twitter, yet no news outlet has officially confirmed these reports at the time of writing this blog. Neville Chamberlain was easily swayed by a mixture of gullibility and persuasive argument from Hitler in Munich in September 1938. In short corroborate your news from a viable site prior to a blog, retweet or wall post. It pays to be vigilant and accurate rather than timely in many cases. It’s great to break some news early to fans and followers, but not at the cost of your brand integrity.

Wit and personality goes a long way – Brands looking to develop a voice and persona of their own, especially in a busy marketplace, should look to Oscar Wilde.  His belief that; ‘Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.’ should not be taken lightly, there are many brands on Facebook and Twitter who are happy to go along with the crowd and not distinguish themselves from the competition for fear of controversy. However, people are far more likely to retweet or share something that they find amusing or useful; this could range from the bizarre Skittles profile to the erudite and compelling Dr Samuel Johnson. However, Oscar’s theory that ‘It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information’ may now be somewhat redundant.

Controlled controversy - Kenneth Tynan made a name for himself as an outspoken theatre critic and writer, oh and the first man to say ‘fuck’ on television. Link baiting or controversy has a role to play in certain aspects of social media activity in order to excite debate and encourage shareability of branded content and messaging. On 13 November 1965, Tynan participated in a live TV debate and was asked whether he would allow a play to be staged in which sexual intercourse was represented on the stage, and replied: “Well, I think so, certainly. I doubt if there are any rational people to whom the word ‘fuck’ would be particularly diabolical, revolting or totally forbidden. I think that anything which can be printed or said can also be seen.” Critics later stated that Tynan’s use of the word was a “masterpiece of calculated self-publicity,” adding “for a time it made him the most notorious man in the country.” Notoriety is not always desired by brands, but publicity and the guts to say something out of the ordinary and that your competitors are afraid to, cannot be underestimated in terms of creating widespread brand awareness. Tynan was always one for breaking down linguistic inhibitions on the stage and in print and I’m positive that if he was still alive he would be confounding expectations on Twitter.

In the next part of the ‘Lessons from History’ series I’ll be delving into the training tips that can be gleaned from the lives of some recommended historical characters. Thanks to @photogirluk @Elle_Emmm @Carrot79 @nickhide @lesanto @Shinybiscuit for their input! Also please feel free to recommend your own historical characters who we could learn a few social media tips from.

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If you type the name “Roland Bunce” into Google you return 41,600 searches. According to media reports, Roland Bunce is a 24-year old computer science graduate, who has entered fashion and homeware brand Next’s online competition to find the next model.

Despite being atypical model material, he’s won public hearts and minds and is currently the frontrunner to win the competition, having received the most votes thanks to widespread social media support, along with some 54,000 Facebook ‘Likes’.

It doesn’t really matter whether Roland is a real person or not and it doesn’t matter if Roland Bunce is just a pseudonym. What matters is that social media has handed the public the power to make an unconventional underdog the winner of a high profile modelling competition. And the public loves it.

People from as far as Australia and Brazil have left comments of support on the Facebook group wall which has been created to raise Roland’s profile. A sense of camaraderie and communal anti-establishmentarianism is spreading across the social space.

I love a good revolution as much as the next person, but I can’t help feeling there’s a bit of a pack mentality starting to form. Look at the a recent comment left on the Roland Bunce To Win next model 2011 Facebook wall on Tuesday.

The comment was admittedly antagonistic towards Roland’s supporters and with emotions running high retaliation was to be expected. Someone creating a new Facebook profile taking the commenter’s name and adding ‘is an ugly shallow whOre’ to it solely to throw abuse back at the person starts to make things look ugly.

It’s interesting that Next has abstained from commenting on Roland’s rise to fame when the brand could surely turn this round into a positive PR story or at the very least put out a few of the negative fires that are starting to spread online.

It’s also sad to see the collective psyche taking a beautiful sentiment and turning it into an ugly mud-slinging match.

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So the Royal Wedding quickly became old news. Wills and Kate’s wedding of the year was quickly overshadowed on Monday by the news that the world’s most wanted man has been killed. And while this was a significant day in history, it also became a significant day in the social media world with an average of 3,440 tweets per second – the highest sustained rate in Twitter’s history.

The way we learn about news and the latest going’s on is changing thanks to social networking sites like Twitter. In the past we’ve relied on traditional news media to keep us updated, but with the advent of social media we have a resource that gives us the ability to share with our community. This by all means isn’t a new occurrence, on a daily basis we see news break on social networking sites.

What I find interesting this time is that I myself am an example of this new trend. I found out about Osama bin Laden’s death after I read an update from a friend on Facebook. I then double checked rolling TV news, online news sites and even Twitter to see if these claims were true and the detail behind them.

Interestingly, as the Wall Blog points out, while news breaks on Twitter (in this case by a local reporter) the frenzy really begins when news outlets tweet and report on the claims. So traditional news outlets are still leading the conversation. This could be for two reasons. One, they offer more content for us to share with our community. Two, they are trusted sources – we wait to hear from them that what we’re hearing is factual.

There is no doubt that social networking sites and mobile internet has given rise to citizen journalism and created a new resource for us to get our news. But traditional news media isn’t dead yet – we are still referring to our trust old news sources – the only difference is this time it’s online and instant.

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Image via Wikipedia

So you may have seen a report on Twitter doing the rounds, that details the most stressful careers in the US.

Now as a PR I don’t mind brand developed reports, as long as they are impartial, well researched and provide clarity about how they arrived at their conclusions. I’ve done a few myself and they’ve generated positive press and consumer responses.

However, CareerCast.com‘s report seems to avoid all of these things and ends up being an object lesson in self serving link baiting (which is why I’m putting no follows though all the links in this article.) According to their ‘research’ into 200 professions, PR comes second to commercial airline pilot as most stressful. How do they define stress? According to the recruiter, uncertainty about job stability and work life balance are the key indicators.

With paramedic coming an enviable ninth, am I the only one that finds the whole thing slightly offensive, while a missed deadline or a low turnout event can be a bit nerve-wracking it’s not a life and death situation.

The survey also appears to miss out on a plethora of other ‘stressful’ careers for the sake of a headline that’s relevant to their audience – bomb disposal expert, asbestos remover, crocodile farmer, Marine, hostage negotiator and President of the United States of America are notable by their absence.

Anyway judge for yourself – and PRs, please stop with the self serving reports, it’s stressing me out.

Top 10 most stressful professions:

1. Commercial airline pilot

2. Public relations executive

3. Senior corporate executive

4. Photojournalist

5. Newscaster

6. Advertising account executive

7. Architect

8. Stockbroker

9. Emergency medical technician

10. Real estate agent

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You may have seen news of Google’s latest attempt to introduce social recommendations to its platform. +1  (US only service at the moment) allows people to up vote any website they like; this can then be seen by their social connections on Google in much the same fashion as you might like a friend’s post on Facebook. This can be considered a blatant, somewhat belated, but very welcome addition from Google in the social media arms race, but it also throws up a number of questions.

Could it be gamed?

I’m positive Google’s beta testing will place lots of whiz bang algorithms to stop unscrupulous people +1ing select sites to death. But, it does raise the query: will brands who have worked hard to appear in the Google Golden Triangle through great stories, competent SEO practices and positive reviews see smaller sites leapfrogging them in people’s search due to lots of local +1s?

What would motivate someone to +1?

Your +1s can only be seen by your Social connections on Google.

• People in your Gmail & Google Talk chat list
• People in your “My Contacts” group in Google Contacts
• People you follow in Google Reader or Google Buzz

But, how many friends do you currently have on your Google profile? Is this group big enough to provide meaningful search impact? In addition people currently understand, or have been taught to understand the motives for liking something amongst their social group, but does this motivation transfer to search?

The upside

I may have seemed pretty critical of this new service, but I’m sure Google will iron out these potential issues. +1 in search can only be a good thing, we have been saying for months that human recommendations need to be considered in search; it shouldn’t just be down to algorithms and will combat SEO blackhatting.

When +1 comes to the rest of the web population, what site would you up vote? Oh yeah and Google, where’s the -1?

For further information check out Google’s overview video.

For a more detailed overview of the service there is a great description on Search Engine Land.

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