Marketing Pilgrim Published: “Facebook Releases a New Reader App That Makes Their Own App Look Clunky” plus 1 more |  |
| Facebook Releases a New Reader App That Makes Their Own App Look Clunky Posted: 30 Jan 2014 01:57 PM PST
Paper is the first app to come out of Facebook Creative Labs and it’s a beauty. At the core, it’s a curated news reader and so, I suppose, is Facebook. But Paper is elegant and bold and simple and intuitive. It’s about content not clickables. As I writer and reader, I couldn’t be more pleased. I’ll tell you what Paper does, but you really need to see it in action to appreciate the beauty of this app. You move content around by swiping side to side with your thumb or sliding upward. The upward movement causes certain items to unfold as if you were opening a newspaper. It’s a freaky, 3Dish effect that totally tickles me. Stories literally unfold before your eyes. When viewing large photos you can tilt your device and get a panoramic view. You can also pinch to expand and apparently tilt photos for a closer look. Everything you open is full-screen. No messy sidebars or buttons or headers or nonsense. Just content. You choose your content by customizing sections. The app comes with a selection of themes and interests such as Headlines, LOL, Pop Life and Planet. Choose the ones you want to create your own custom newspaper.
What I don’t know is how you get to be a featured content producer. Maybe those slots are reserved for only the big names like the New York Times and CNN. The introduction also doesn’t make it clear whether or not everyone in your Facebook newsfeed will show up on your Paper feed. I can’t image that’s the case. If it was Paper would be nothing more than a prettier version of the Facebook app. Then again, maybe that’s the whole idea. The app won’t be released until February 3 so it’s hard to say how this might fit into your marketing plan. But here’s one thing I do know, this app has the potential to take off. It’s like Instagram but with lots of text! Paper gives people the ability to present the whole story with video and pictures and words. . . actual words. Remember when we used to use those to communicate? Paper is unlikely to be a tool marketers can use for mass messaging – but there’s an intimacy about it that could help you reach your most influential customers.
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| 41 Percent of Mobile Owners Plan to Use Apps During the Super Bowl Posted: 30 Jan 2014 12:46 PM PST When people sit down on the couch during the Super Bowl this Sunday, they won’t just be watching the game. According to a survey by Harris Interactive on behalf of SOASTA, 41% of smartphone and tablet owners will be using their devices to multitask. The percentage crossed the halfway mark when you count just millennial women. What will people be doing on their mobile devices? Quite a few things, actually: The majority of multitaskers said they use their device to access their social media networks during the game (27%). In 2013, Twitter saw a record breaking 24.1 million game related Tweets. The half-time show alone sparked 5.5 million Tweets. And remember how Oreo scored the big win with their on-the-spot ad during the infamous blackout. Twitter says it took advertisers only 4 minutes to create and post a Promoted Tweet based on the power outage. Let’s get back to those multitaskers. 18% said they’d be playing a different kind of game (Angry Birds, Candy Crush) on their mobile device while watching the big game. This is likely to be the coldest Super Bowl on record so 16% will be checking weather apps throughout the day. The other apps they plan to access include:
Yes. Dating. I thought food delivery would be higher but maybe there aren’t enough app options in that category to bump up the percentage. What does all of this mean for marketers? It means, whether you’re a football fan or not, you should be on social media come game day. Join the conversation, tie it into your brand when you can (but not constantly). If you’ve got a clever design team on standby, watch out for those Tweetable moments such as blackouts, whiteouts (snow!), major missteps, and triumphs over adversity. These are the things people will be hashtagging, so grab hold of those when you can. Here’s hoping you score big on Super Bowl Sunday.
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