If you’re on Facebook (and who isn’t) you’ve probably noticed the “Suggestions” section on the right side of your feed. Basically, the wizards behind the curtain have developed a way to recommend fan pages based on similar characteristics.
A few examples will make how it works pretty obvious:
Looks pretty good, eh? Well, here’s a headscratcher:
Which dots are being connected to suggest someone that’s a fan of Chase Community Giving might possibly have an interest in Mafia Wars? Is JP Morgan Chase a backer of Zynga or just connected to the mob?
Seriously though, I’ve opted out of nearly every Mafia Wars ad and provided negative feedback to Facebook countless times. Now I’m getting this?
But this one’s even worse:
Okay, where’s the Michael Jackson / Barack Obama connection? The only obvious connection is the color of their skin—which sounds a bit like racial profiling to me. I mean, really, does Facebook recommend Elvis to George H.W. Bush fans because they’re white?
While Facebook’s suggestions function makes sense when it’s done right, done wrong it can be downright offensive.
You know the ads on the right hand column of your Facebook feeds page?
Here’s a view I’ve received a lot lately:
Yeah. I know. You’ve seen these ads enough already.
Not sure why I’d receive ‘em…I’m not a gamer and there’s nothing in my profile that would lead you to believe I’d be interested in this. In fact, I really don’t like seeing a gun or a crime scene every time I log on to Facebook.
So I’ve nuked these ads whenever I’ve seen them, using Facebook’s advertising feedback feature:
Now that’s what advertisers and users are looking for: Users can receive tailored ads, and advertisers can build a feedback loop for their creative.
Well, at least in concept.
You see, I decided to delete all the “Mafia Wars” ads that popped up, and they simply kept appearing—sometimes two to three of them at once. It didn’t seem to matter which reason I gave, they still littered my screen.
Look, I like a good mob movie as much as the next guy—but what if I really found these offensive? I’d be pissed.
This practice isn’t just anti-user, it’s anti-advertiser.
Somebody has said every way they can that they don’t want to see your ad—but Facebook is still serving them up?
Sure, the feedback widget says “Over time, this information helps us deliver more relevant ads to our users” but if you are given the option to remove an ad because it’s offensive, misleading or anything else on the list, shouldn’t your wishes be granted there and then? Are there any advertisers out there that really want to offend people over and over?
I started deleting the “Mafia Wars” ads weeks ago. And while they don’t pop up nearly as much, I’m still receiving them.
It’s nice Facebook is asking for feedback, especially since it appears they are using the information provided to improve the user experience…somewhat.
But they aren’t asking people to passively answer a poll regarding the color of their wallpaper. They are asking people if they find an ad offensive or misleading. If the user says “yes, this offends me,” the ad needs to disappear from their user experience—forever.
I’ve owned dozens of cars, and like a lot of people, most have been Japanese or German. So when I turned in my leased Honda and started the hunt for a new hybrid, I drove the Toyota Prius, Camry and Highlander Hybrids, the new Honda Insight and a Lexus RX 400h.
The Prius felt underpowered
The Camry was nice, but felt too much like the Accord I’d just turned in
The Insight was loud and somewhat disappointing
And the Highlander Hybrid was so close in price to the Lexus, I chose the latter of the two
But the events of the last week have me second-guessing myself, and I have Ford’s social media marketing team (and a great product) to blame for it.
Let me explain.
A few weeks ago, Ford contacted me “looking for fresh perspectives and feedback, something a little more engaging and authentic” from “non-traditional approach for bloggers and other content creators” and asked if I’d be interested in test driving the new Fusion Hybrid for a few days.
I agreed, and last Thursday, they delivered a shiny new one to my office, with the Michigan “Manufacturer” plate and all.
Here are few pictures I snapped with my iPhone:
I drove the car to work, to the beach, to Costco, to a Mariners game. Basically everywhere.
The fit and finish were good and the ride was really quiet. In fact, it put my both my high-energy kids to sleep on the ride back from their grandma’s house. Sounds like a cliche, but it’s true.
I got a lot of comments from neighbors “That’s really a nice car,” co-workers “I’d buy that” and was even given a special parking spot by a parking lot attendant after he said “Is that the new Fusion Hybrid—cool!”
What I liked most was the fact I nearly forgot it was a hybrid. The transfer from electric to gas is less obvious than it is with my Lexus, a fact that the press hasn’t missed, with USA Today calling it the best gas-electric hybrid yet.
Oh, and while I didn’t get the 81.5 miles per gallon achieved in a recent hypermiling stunt, I did get a respectable 39.5 MPG in a mid-size car.
All-in-all, an eye-opening experience.
Ford’s social media team is firing on all cylinders
You might have heard the buzz about the Fiesta Movement, Ford’s social campaign that put 100 “agents” (selected from over 4,000 applicants) behind the wheel of a 2011 Ford Fiesta for six months and how they’re sharing the results of their “missions” on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.
Ford is winning on the social web due to the aggressive approach that Scott Monty and Ford’s social media team have been taking to engage customers and build authentic conversations around their products and brands.
While Ford’s branding and social media campaigns are good, I’ve become brand loyal to other manufacturers and it will take a lot to break that hold.
Ford’s dealers still publish absurdly noisy ads with prices the average buyer will seldom get (loyalty discounts, military discounts, first-time buyer discounts, etc)— and you’ll always have to haggle with the salesperson and expect them to bring in the manager when they can’t close the sale.
Still, that happens with most dealers and Ford’s product is good and worth a look.
People like me have been saying “Once American manufacturers catch up with Japanese and Germans, I’ll start buying American cars again.”
Well folks, has that time come? Ford’s product quality and the way they’re communicating with customers has me reconsidering their offerings.
Registration is free. You pay for your own food and/or drinks.
Feel free to share this with anyone you know that might be interested.
I hope to see you Thursday.
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Skittles, the chewy, fruit-flavored candy from Mars, Inc. has jumped into social media in an innovative new way: They have coded their website so their navigation now floats over three of the most popular social media websites.
Skittles.com is now nothing more than a navigation box floating over the Twitter search results for the term “skittles.” Essentially, this is capturing all the Twitter conversations regarding their brand (and their new marketing tactic) right on their homepage. Click the the Friends button, and the nav will float over their Facebook Fan Page. The Media button floats their nav over their YouTube channel.
“Skittles” has been the number one search topic on Twitter and in social media since Sunday, and as you might expect, most commentators love it. It’s bold, innovative and its helping drive word of mouth regarding the Skittles brand with people who love to share ideas.
Whether the failure to filter was intentional or not, I don’t know, but by not filtering visitors get to see the authentic conversations regarding the brand. Still, all tweets aren’t suitable for children.
So, do you think Skittles new social media play is responsible or not?
Over the last year, I’ve fallen into the habit of talking with companies about their use of social media, and one of the most polarizing discussion topics is how open a company should be in allowing employees to use social media sites.
While some companies lock down all social sites, others encourage their use.
So it’s no surprise when more than a few mucky-muck eyebrows are raised when I mention “Facebook Fridays,” the increasingly popular policy some companies have adopted allowing employees to spend an hour or so on the social networking site on Fridays.
With 800 of its 900 employees now connected on Facebook, Serena Software has become the poster-child for Facebook Fridays. Jeremy Burton, the CEO of the once-stodgy old school mainframe company, on the policy:
It’s been a game-changer for us to go from an insular culture that doesn’t communicate much to a more collaborative culture…and it’s free!
So what’s all this have to do with Responsible Marketing?
If employee productivity and privacy outweigh the benefits of an open and collaborative culture, Facebook Fridays might not be for you.
But I’ve never met a CEO that didn’t want everyone in their company to be doing a little marketing, all of the time.
Consider this:
The most effective form of marketing is word of mouth.
A referred prospect is five times more apt to become a customer than one that isn’t.
Your friends and friends of friends can help you deliver your brand, key messages, offers and more.
Does your company do seminars or lunch-and-learns? Your employees can share that with their network. Offers? Easily shared. VIP events? Yep.
While clearly Facebook Fridays aren’t for every company, now you can open your culture and help your company in a tangible way—at a very low cost.
With a little help from the programmers and usability gurus at Facebook, I spammed my friends, colleagues, business associates, people who’ve considered hiring Outsource Marketing, and everyone else in my Gmail address book that didn’t have a Facebook account yet.
I’m not talking about Facebook application developers making it next to impossible to use the application without inviting friends—Facebook banned that functionality last year after over a million people petitioned the social networking site to end the practice.
No, I’m talking about Facebook.
About once a month, I upload my address book using the Facebook Friend Finder tool to see if any of my friends have joined. If the address they’ve registered with is in the system, I can decide if I want to send a friend request. Facebook’s privacy policy claims they will never contact or use this information, and they’ve been known to keep their word, so I’m okay doing this.
Since Facebook is growing quickly and I know a fair share of folks, I usually find several people I’m happy to see have recently joined. I select them and click okay.
Anyone that uses Facebook knows that that’s when the trouble starts.
Here’s the next screen you’ll see:
This screen shows all of the people in your address book that don’t have a Facebook account (or at least, they don’t have an account associated with that address).
The screen is similar to the previous one—the one listing the people that do have accounts. All the boxes are pre-checked for you. And the default button is blue, just like the previous form.
I’ve always called this the “Facebook Friend Spamming Tool” because if you aren’t really careful, that’s what you’ll do—spam all your friends that aren’t on Facebook.
I’ve seen this box at least a dozen times, and I always think to myself, “Good thing I was paying attention—I’d hate to hit that.”
Call me a fat-fingered dolt. Call me a dunce. Call me what you will. But I did this today.
I’m not sure who falls for it the most often: The folks that aren’t particularly comfortable with technology or the people that are highly proficient and move from screen to screen at a lightning fast pace.
Facebook wins, you lose
Facebook has surely benefited from this functionality. A lot of people signed up for Facebook after I erroneously sent that invite. Facebook wins.
While I’m happy some of my friends have joined, I’m certain I’ve pissed some folks off. In fact, I’ve already received a message from a person that has referred my firm work that explicitly asked me not to use her address when contacting her through a third party.
You could argue I win too because I’ve reconnected with some people in my address book. That’s only partially true—we would have found each other eventually when our address books meshed in the future.
What should Facebook do?
Should they eliminate this functionality? Uncheck the boxes by default? Add a confirmation message that you indeed want to invite everyone you know to join Facebook?
Facebook “helps you connect and share with the people in your life.”
But as anyone that has used the service knows, sometimes those connections can become, well, tenuous.
Enter Burger King, who last week saw this as not a problem, but an opportunity to help Facebook users cull the unworthy using an un-friend app at WhopperSacrifice.com.
Leading with the headline “You like your friends, but you love the Whopper,” for every 10 friends you dump, Burger King provides a coupon for one of their signature burgers.
The application went viral, and in one week, 82,000 people deleted over 230,000 friendships on Facebook.
Vince Veneziani of GearFuse had this to say about the app on his blog:
It really wasn’t tough finding ten people on Facebook that I wanted to delete. I just needed a reason and a juicy burger was sufficient enough. This is one of the most twisted, yet delicious, marketing ploys I’ve ever encountered.
Yesterday, Facebook shut the application down citing privacy concerns. According to Inside Facebook, it was because the site “sent a notification to the friend being removed letting them know they were being “sacrificed for a Whopper” before finalizing the removal.”
Here’s Veneziani’s notification page after un-friending 10 of his unfortunate contacts:
Facebook claims the application still exists and will be enabled when the privacy issues are addressed, but clearly, Whopper Sacrifice won’t be nearly as controversial or interesting with the notification disabled.
What do you think?
Do you love or hate the BK app?
In trying to get attention and go viral, did Burger King go too far with the Whopper Sacrifice application, or did Facebook go too far in the name of privacy?
