http://www.doshdosh.com/the-importance-of-social-media-marketing/

Key finding from a research report:

• Fifty-four percent of marketers thought social media was “innovative and invaluable to their business,” and 37 percent thought “useful and helpful, but could live without it.” Sixty-five percent of respondents, however, said that their companies have not increased revenue or profited using social media.

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/190506

Harvard Business Review:

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2009/11/six_social_media_trends.html

29% of Chinese social media users are ‘Commenters’ – people who may not initiate, but who do react and comment on other people’s views. They are also the ‘accelerators’ of new ideas, giving them momentum and wider acceptance.

http://www.ogilvy.com/News/Press-Releases/July-2010-OgilvyOne-Connected-report-released.aspx

Since innovation is also considered a major driver of the economy, especially when it leads to new product categories or increasing productivity, the factors that lead to innovation are also considered to be critical to policy makers. In particular, followers of innovation economics stress using public policy to spur innovation and growth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation

Below is an interesting conversation with OTX’s CEO

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.
Steve Jobs – Apple Computers

http://www.bnet.com/article/how-to-innovate-like-apple/330240

As with any event, once your client has given you the concept and explained their vision it’s up to you to make it happen. At Mass Effect we believe the only way to start organising anything is by doing it in a holistic and dynamic manner. We approach an event from the two points; the beginning and the end. From the beginning point we look at what we have and what we need to do to reach the clients vision. Simultaneously we look from the end point of the event and identify what we need to do beforehand to ensure everything gets written, photographed, insured, ordered, designed, made and delivered in good time so that we can PR the hell out of it.

Through utilising proactive planning we are able to foresee a lot of problems before they occur. This allows us to lead our client forward using open and continuous communication while planning and organising the event. At Mass Effect we are all about doing things right the first time as this saves precious resources.

The Ore art gallery was packed on the night of the launch, even though it was held on a wintery Cape Town evening. A big factor that added to the great attendance was a personal email invite system we conceptualised and designed where friends email invites to their friends using an embedded link. This was combined by advertising the event online on Facebook, What’s On, Bizcommunity.com, Art Times, Mail & Guardian and Out in Africa.

The features that added to the evening was the snack table outside to keep guests entertained while waiting for the doors to open, mini cupcakes to take home in decorated boxes with Ore’s name on and having many assistants around to help guests with any queries they may have. Subsequent to the launch, the gallery is being kept in people’s minds with magnet business cards guests took home, as well as branded T-shirts they purchased on the night.

Please visit Ore art gallery to view their second exhibition, from 20 July 2010 onwards.

Word-of-Mouth Marketing consists of a number of different forms of communication: buzz marketing, viral marketing, influencer marketing, street marketing, user generated content and so on. These new approaches can quite often be confused due to their complementary attributes, but in the end are quite different from each other.

Prior to the explanation it must be noted that the efficiency of these new techniques remains for the most part undisputed. Consum-actors are now not only marketing targets, but also potential information relay hubs for your communication actions.

First there is Word-of-Mouth. This form of communication between two people (about brands, products and services, among other things) is obviously not new. What has changed however, is the power, the range and the speed at which word-of-mouth grows in our new online media landscape. This activity mainly takes place via social media, blogs and video platforms… Any available information on the internet, whether it be in the form of image, text or video can be instantaneously reacted upon and propagated around the world in a matter of seconds. Formerly, word-of-mouth was restricted to a certain number of family members, neighbors and colleagues (within a specific social setting). Today, any internet user can profit from certain incredibly powerful communications tools that did not exist in the past.

In recent years, more and more brands have become aware of the power of this phenomenon. The first experiments with word-of-mouth marketing conducted by Hotmail, Budweiser and/or the Blair Witch Project, have now evolved into constructive advertisements. These experiments have lead to a greater awareness; in web 2.0, Youtube users have become a media in themselves! A brief explanation of these marketing approaches can be seen below.

Viral Marketing is one of them. Viral communication is about facilitating the transmission of a message from one person to another. The name “Viral Marketing” very basically comes from the concept. The idea is that it works like a cold, “infecting” one person who in turn spreads the infection to another; thus creating an exponential dynamic.

In order for it to achieve its goals, and not interrupt people like traditional advertising does (where the audience is forcibly exposed to an advertising message), you offer internet users content that is so original, amusing, surprising, inspiring and interesting that they not only enjoy it but want to pass it on to others. A module that is too overtly commercial or conventional will most likely not catch.

Humor, sex and provocation are often ingredients of success, and viral marketing can incorporate all of them (depending on the target, the message and the objective). In B2B for example the publication of a downloadable white paper is a very good example of viral marketing. The personalization of a message (by adding one’s name or photo to a game or video), the incentive (a symbolic or real reward that can be gained in a game for example) and intuitive uses are key elements of success within this type of campaign.