Author Archives: Connor

Embracing Visual Social Media

Brand Loyalty, Mobile Marketing, Social Media | by

    In a recent article for Fast Company, Ekaterina Walter took note of something we’ve been talking about for quite a while now. Social media has become increasingly visual, with photos taking center-stage as the most shared and most talked about form of content. This trend is more than just a passing fad, and brands need to make photos an integral part of their marketing strategies. As Walter puts it, “pictures have become one of our default modes of sorting and understanding the vast amounts of information we’re exposed to every day.”

    The prominence of images makes total sense in the evolution of social media. Dr. William J. Ward, Social Media professor at Syracuse University, points out that it all started with blogs, the earliest form of social networking online. “When we moved to status updates on Facebook, our posts became shorter,” he says. “Then micro-blogs like Twitter came along and shortened our updates to 140 characters. Now we are even skipping words altogether and moving towards more visual communication.”

    It’s easy to take high-resolution photos with a mobile device, and photos are very popular on social media sites.

    Walter notes that this move towards visual social media has to do with our overwhelming preference for mobile devices. Some studies have placed the percentage of people in the U.S. who access the Internet using their mobile handsets as high as 78%, in comparison to only 68% using a desktop or laptop computer. With mobile phone camera resolutions getting better and better, it’s much easier to snap a photo and post it to a social profile than to “[type] out a status update on a two-inch keyboard.”

    This strong affinity for visual media among consumers makes the path clear for brands in terms of marketing. Encouraging users to take and submit their own photos is both a fun way to get consumers engaged with the brand as well as a useful way for brands to collect valuable earned media that can be used for marketing purposes on social media and beyond. Photo contests foster creativity and self-expression and help consumers to develop a strong, lasting relationship with the brand.

    The crucial takeaway from an article like Walter’s is that this is an important trend that isn’t going away anytime soon. Brands need to embrace their customers’ fascination with images and incorporate photos into marketing strategies. Walter concludes her article by asserting that “brands that can rock visual media will find themselves market leaders.” We couldn’t agree more.

    Mobile Photo Marketing The Pongr Way

    Featured Posts, Mobile Marketing | by

      We’re very proud to show off our new infographic that lays out the major points of why mobile photo marketing should be an essential part of every brand’s loyalty and engagement strategy. First off, it’s impossible to ignore some of the statistics about mobile usage. 91% of U.S. citizens have their mobile device within arm’s reach 24/7, making mobile advertising and promotions practically a guaranteed direct line to your audience at all times. A study by Empathica, Inc. found that 82% of consumers want to engage brands via mobile channels. So not only is mobile marketing a very viable option, it’s actually preferred by an overwhelming majority of the market. And when it comes to promotions, mobile coupons have ten times the redemption rate of traditional coupons, making mobile a much better alternative for driving in-store traffic than mailers and other forms of promotions and offers.

      But we want to underscore the fact that Pongr does mobile photo marketing better than anyone else. Our innovative image recognition technology is what sets our photo response marketing apart from the rest. People love to take pictures, and their device of choice is overwhelmingly the cell phone. The Pongr platform lets brands take advantage of photo-triggered dynamic direct-response content to drive sales, in-store traffic and social engagement.

      We’ve partnered with a number of great brands, but our recent campaign with Arby’s® has been especially successful. Our system has processed over 500,000 photos for Arby’s® Snap and Rock, scanning every photo with sophisticated computer vision software to determine which recording artist is featured. More than 350,000 hungry Arby’s® customers have participated so far.

      You may notice that the Arby’s® Facebook page has almost a million more “likes” than the Arby’s® Pongr page has fans. But this isn’t exactly comparing apples to apples. The interaction rate of the average Facebook page with more than 1,000 likes is around 9%. That means that at any given time, only 9% of people who’ve liked a page are actually generating content by liking posts, sharing posts, and commenting on posts or the page itself.

      On the other hand, every single fan of a brand on Pongr has generated content by submitting photos, meaning Pongr pages have a 100% interaction rate. Plus, fans may have also interacted in other ways, such as liking photos, commenting on photos, or sharing their photos with their Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

      At Pongr, we’re proud of the fact that there’s nobody else out there doing just what we do. Our photo response marketing platform offers a unique spin on mobile and social marketing, and it happens to be very effective, as the numbers show. We encourage you to share this infographic wherever you like to spread the word about how Pongr’s photo response platform is revolutionizing the world of shopper marketing. And if you like what you see, feel free to drop us a line.

      Pongr Makes Marketing Personal

      Brand Loyalty, Social Media | by

        Technology has made it easier than ever for people to connect. Brands need to take advantage of the tools at hand to build relationships with consumers.

        Technology connects people every day. Fifteen years ago, we would have had to pay exorbitant long distance rates to talk to a cousin across the pond, but now he’s just a click away. We’ve embraced tech for personal use and connecting with friends and family, but in many ways, interacting with brands and companies still feels a bit like the dark ages.

        According to a recent study by Empathica, Inc., 62% of those polled thought brands didn’t sufficiently monitor and participate in online conversations. Too many brands establish profiles on social media sites only to not take advantage of the full interactive power of these networks.

        Engaging with consumers doesn’t mean just answering questions posted to the brand’s Facebook Timeline or responding to Tweets. The key is making fans feel special, like they’re more than just a number. Every consumer has a unique relationship with the brand, and the way the brand interacts with them should reflect that.

        Pongr’s photo response marketing platform offers brands an unprecedented opportunity to get to know their fans. Photos can tell you a lot about a person—not to mention all the valuable data that is collected when fans participate in photo contests, such as their location, demographic group, and brand photo history. This information gives brands who’ve enabled Photo Response Marketing an advantage when reaching out and making genuine, personal connections with their customers.

        Promotions and special offers are great, but why not send your customers only the deals that are most relevant to them and that they’re most likely to enjoy? In essence, Pongr’s platform makes personal connections scalable. Even a large company can send customers individually tailored content. Social media is just that—social. New technology can not only connect people across the globe, but it can also give brands a chance to connect with their customers like never before and build lasting relationships that translate into brand loyalty.

        The New Face of Marketing

        Brand Ambassadors, Mobile Marketing, Shopper Marketing, Social Media | by

          In a recent article for the Harvard Business Review, Bill Lee makes the claim that traditional marketing is dead. It’s quite a proclamation, and he backs it up with several studies that confirm things like the relative lack of influence traditional marketing has on buyers’ decisions, as well as the apparent disillusionment of many CEOs with traditional marketing spending versus sales results. We still think traditional marketing has its place, but tight integration with newer, more social marketing tactics is definitely the future.

          Lee posits that what may be creeping in to replace traditional marketing is a return to what he calls “community marketing”—companies empowering brand advocates to promote the product using social channels. For consumers, this “approximate[s] the experience of buying in their local, physical communities,” by applying the trust inherent in social networks to buying decisions. Community marketing is good for brands, because it makes the search for influencers easier. What better place to look for people to promote and advocate for your product than among people who already use and like the product?

          Lee also argues that in exchange for helping promote the brand, consumers should be rewarded not with cash prizes or other similar incentives, but with social capital. By allowing brand enthusiasts to build trust and authority within their social network through promoting the brand, companies appeal to our desire to belong to a community and be recognized in that community.

          Although he doesn’t know it, Lee is describing all the best things about photo response marketing. User-generated content is the most authentic and compelling form of content. Photos, too, are especially attractive and appeal to our universal human desire for authenticity and self-expression. Pongr’s platform lets brands empower their customers to create compelling original content to express their relationship with the brand. Our one-click sharing capabilities give users the opportunity to spread their content throughout their social networks, helping their influence to reach places traditional marketing never could.

          Even if, like us, you believe traditional marketing still has a place, there’s no denying that integrating traditional with social marketing has become an essential part of running a business. Investing in new media marketing strategies is no longer a choice—it’s a requirement. According to a recent survey by Empathica, 62% of consumers feel brands are not participating sufficiently in online conversations. It’s time for brands to give consumers what they want and take advantage of the power of community marketing by enabling brand enthusiasts to promote the brand through social photos.

          The Grocery Experience

          Featured Posts, Pongr Contests | by

            Let’s face it: grocery shopping is kind of fun. There’s something to be said for going up and down the aisles and filling your cart with all your favorite foods. What, you don’t think it’s fun? Well, we’d like to make it a little more fun.

            For our next photo challenge, we’d like you to send in pictures of your groceries at each step along your shopping journey. Show us the groceries on the shelf, in your cart, snap a photo of yourself checking out, show us your fridge or pantry, and finally, we want to see you and your family enjoying a meal together comprised of everything you just bought. We want to see it all, from start to finish.

            This contest is a bit more involved than our past contests, and so we’d like to offer some more substantial rewards. We’ve got a whole slew of prizes lined up to give to the winners. Here’s the catch: for every 4 users who enter the contest, we’ll choose one more winner. If only 4 users participate, we’ll pick just one winner. If 8 send in photos, we’ll pick two, and if there are 12 people who enter, we’ll pick three winners, and so on. So spread the word and tell everyone you know! The bigger this gets, the more prizes we’ll give out!

            To enter, email or picture-text your photos to [BrandName]@pongr.com. For your entry to be valid, you must include the hashtag #grocery in the description of every photo. You can submit as many photos as you want, but please only send each picture once, even if there are multiple brands in the photo. The contest will run for one month, starting today and ending on September 10. And have fun with it! Take interesting and exciting pictures that you’re proud of. We’re always on the lookout for the Picture of the Week.

            Good luck and may the best shopper win!

            No purchase necessary. Standard text and data rates may apply. Participants must be legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and DC, and 18 years of age or older. In order to qualify, participants must submit a minimum of five (5) distinct photos, and the description of each photo must include “#grocery”. Participants must have an account on www.pongr.com that includes their full name, email address, DOB, and complete mailing address in order to be eligible to win. The easiest way to provide this information is by connecting securely via Facebook and/or Twitter. All entries must be received by 11:59:59 PM ET on September 10, 2012. To enter without submitting a text and/or photo, send your name, address, DOB, email, and phone number on a plain 3×5 card by 9/3/2012 to: Pongr, Inc., P.O. Box 990011, Boston, MA 02199. One (1) winner will be chosen by a panel of judges for every four (4) eligible participants. Combined value of all prizes will not exceed $500.

            Natural Brand Engagement with Social Photo Marketing

            Advertising, Social Media | by

              Open up your favorite social networking site and you probably won’t have to go far before you notice something that didn’t exist not so long ago: native ads. Native ads are ads that appear tightly integrated into a site’s content and presentation, in contrast to the intrusive ads that interrupt our videos or show up as a big ugly box on the side of the screen. The two social media bigwigs, Facebook and Twitter, have both started implementing native ads, which they’re calling Sponsored Stories and Promoted Tweets, respectively. But plenty of other sites are also giving advertisers native options for their placement, including YouTube, Tumblr, Yelp, and those purveyors of silly photos of cats with grammar problems, ICanHazCheezburger.com.

              In some ways, this is coming full circle for advertising, harkening back to television shows in the 50s and 60s that included sponsor’s names as part of the show. It’s a move that makes sense for advertisers. As Dan Greenberg, CEO of Sharethrough, says, consumers are “tired of being interrupted, bothered, and ‘marketed at.’” The shift towards native ads allows consumers to see branded content naturally and transparently, just like they see content from their friends and people they follow.

              Photos shared on social networks strike consumers as more authentic and will easily spark conversation.

              At Pongr, we love this trend towards more natural, less intrusive advertising. Our Photo Response Marketing (PRM) can take it a step further, though. Rather than placing advertising alongside content from users’ friends, why not make the content from users’ friends your advertising? User-generated content will consistently be perceived as the most authentic, and it appeals to our universal human desire for self-expression. By encouraging consumers to take photos of your brand and then share those photos to their social networks, you will expose consumers to your brand organically.

              As times changes, it’s important to be able to adapt to new trends and preferences. We’ve already talked about how shoppers are anxious to blend their digital life with in-store experiences. Using social photo marketing is a great way to blend social life with consumer life by allowing the conversation around your brand to develop naturally through shared photos. Pongr’s platform makes this simple with one-click sharing to Facebook or Twitter.

              Go beyond Sponsored Stories or Promoted Tweets. Let consumers interact with your brand in the most natural way possible—through social photo marketing. Contact Pongr to find out more.

              Dunkin’ Donuts Bakery Sandwich Sweepstakes

              Featured Posts, Pongr Contests | by

                Dunkin' Donuts Bakery Sandwich Sweepstakes

                We’re very excited to be partnering with Dunkin’ Donuts to power the Dunkin’ Donuts Bakery Sandwich Sweepstakes! To promote their new Bakery Sandwiches, Dunkin’ Donuts is offering all of their Massachusetts and New Hampshire customers a chance to win free Bakery Sandwiches for a week, plus a chance to win the grand prize of free Bakery Sandwiches for a year!

                To enter, all you have to do is snap a picture of yourself enjoying one of the five new Dunkin’ Donuts Bakery Sandwiches and send it via email or MMS to dunkin@pongr.com. You can send in one entry per person, per day. Each week for the month of August, a winner will be randomly chosen to receive a week’s worth of free Bakery Sandwiches. Then at the end of the month, one grand prize winner will be chosen to receive free Bakery Sandwiches for a year.

                Remember the sweepstakes is only open to residents of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and there’s a maximum of one entry per person, per day. For the complete sweepstakes rules, click here. Now head over to your local Dunkin’ Donuts and try one of their delicious new sandwiches!

                In-Store and Digital Marketing: A Perfect Match

                Augmented Reality, Brand Loyalty, Mobile Marketing, Shopper Marketing | by
                  Photo by Ktoine

                  More and more consumers have their mobile devices in hand while shopping.

                  In her latest article for AdAge, Clara Shih talks about using social media to boost engagement on a local level. Even big brands like Walmart are creating social media pages for each store in an effort to connect with local customers and push content that’s especially relevant to them. She makes the observation that “in-store and digital experiences are merging,” which we couldn’t agree with more. As more and more consumers start shopping with a smartphone in one hand and a credit card in the other, retailers need to be ready to engage with shoppers digitally.

                  Shih notes that one of the challenges of this is bringing the social media or e-commerce team and the field store operations team together. If brands are going to do in-store digital engagement well, it’s crucial that it be part of a unified effort between all aspects of traditional shopper marketing, sales, and social media.

                  Mobile Marketing Around the World

                  Mobile Marketing | by

                    A new study from the World Bank recently found that about 75% of the world has access to mobile phones. That’s three-quarters of the world’s population that have cell phones now—almost six billion mobile subscriptions, compared to less than a billion in 2000.

                    This means brands need to be taking their mobile presence into consideration now more than ever. With so many people worldwide connected via their mobile phones wherever they go and at any time of day or night, marketers need to be ready with always-on platforms. Pongr’s photo marketing system works 24/7 from anywhere in the world. International marketing has never been easier.

                    Consumers Are Talking— Are Brands Listening?

                    Brand Loyalty, Mobile Marketing, Shopper Marketing | by

                      According to a new study by Empathica, Inc., 82% of consumers want to engage retail brands via mobile channels. It doesn’t get any clearer than that. Brands, your customers want to talk to you. The problem is, a lot of brands aren’t talking back. About 62% of those polled by Empathica felt brands don’t monitor online conversations.

                      By ignoring mobile marketing, brands are not only missing out on excellent avenues to push their message, they’re actively avoiding the frequencies their consumers specifically want to communicate with them on.

                      When you think about it, it makes perfect sense that consumers would want to engage with brands via their mobile devices. Over 50% of U.S. mobile users have smartphones, and we’re becoming more and more inseparable from our handsets. Consumers want everything at their fingertips, and they’re actively reaching out to brands through their mobile devices.

                      “The message for all marketers is a simple one: consumers want to be heard,” says Gary Edwards, chief customer officer of Empathica. Pongr’s always-on mobile photo marketing tools make it easy and scalable for brands to respond to photos that consumers take with their phones, and keep the conversation going with engaging direct response content. This dialogue helps build a lasting relationship between brand and customer.

                      At Pongr, we see ourselves as a matchmaker, helping brands who don’t know how to engage with customers to respond appropriately, like coaching middle school boys on how to talk to girls at a school dance. Consumers love taking photos with their mobile phones, so photo-triggered direct response content is the ideal platform for cementing brand loyalty. As we’ve said before, though, the key to successful marketing is listening. Brands who pay attention to what their customers want will find building a relationship with consumers gets easier and easier.

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