Apparently Social Media has trust issues...

Apple, Google and Microsoft are trusted about equally by consumers, according to a Zogby Interactive poll this month, while Twitter and Facebook lag far behind in that respect.

Forty-nine percent of respondents said they trust Apple "completely" or "a lot," matching the number who said the same about Microsoft and Google. Apple's "trust a little" or "not at all" total (36 percent) was lower than that of Microsoft and Google (both 46 percent), with a higher "not sure" tally for Apple making up the difference.

Thirteen percent of respondents said they trust Facebook completely or a lot, vs. 75 percent trusting it a little or not at all. The numbers were similarly negative for Twitter (8 percent completely/a lot vs. 64 percent a little/not at all, with another 28 percent not sure).

The numbers were noticeably different for the survey's 18-29-year-olds, who've come of age with these brands.

Google fared a shade better with this cohort (51 percent trusting it completely/a lot, 43 percent a little/not at all) than it did among adults in general. But Apple's ratings were significantly worse (41 percent completely/a lot, 51 percent a little/not at all). And Microsoft scored even more poorly among the 18-29s (34 percent completely/a lot, 60 percent a little/not at all).

You'd expect Facebook to be held in higher esteem by young adults than by their elders. But while its numbers were better among the poll's 18-29s than among all adults, the difference wasn't' dramatic. Twenty percent of the 18-29s said they trust Facebook completely/a lot, vs. 72 percent trusting it a little or not at all.

As for Twitter, 15 percent of the 18-29s said they trust it completely/a lot, vs. 66 percent saying they trust it a little/not at all.

Communication should go both ways...until it doesn't

Have you ever received the call? You know the one where the client tells you how much they love you, respect you and the contributions your agency has made to their brand but ...

That's not a fun call. You've just been dumped and while sometimes you have an inkling it's coming, so often you hear agencies say that they're totally surprised and often I believe they are.

But why? Why is it that a client-agency relationship can unravel right beneath our noses and we don't see it coming? I think it comes down to human nature. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Isn't that what your mother taught you? I know mine did. And therein lies the problem.

Dissatisfied clients don't want to be mean. They don't want to tell you your creative product has been lackluster or that they're underwhelmed. They don't want to tell you that your interactive capabilities (or lack thereof) is unacceptable.

They like you and your team. They want you to like them too. So they sit and say nothing. Until it's too late. Another agency catches their eye with compelling work or a truly innovative idea. So they let that agency continue to whisper in their ear and they agree to have lunch or to stop by the competitor's shop for a free "What's Around The Corner" presentation. And slowly, step-by-step they find that they like you, but they love the other shop. And then it happens. You get the call.

So if that is the story, how do we rewrite the ending?

How about this?
Don't wait to be told what to do next. I remember talking to the head of an agency one day and asking why the firm wasn't doing more to understand and educate its clients in the art of conversational marketing (aka social media). He responded, "Well our clients aren't asking for that kind of stuff yet." While they may not be asking, does that mean they are not curious or interested or just assuming you shouldn't need to be asked? Or maybe someone else is educating them for you.

What if you hired a scientist? Well maybe not a real scientist but a person that thinks like a scientist. Hire or redeploy an internal asset that enjoys experimenting and is comfortable with failing, because they value knowledge more than victory. What if you had a person like that on staff that was constantly focused on "what if" instead of "what was"? Would that create a chance to have unique and interesting dialogues with your clients?

Ask how you're doing. This one is such a no-brainer but you'd be surprised by how few do it. There are tons of easy-to-use, low-cost online survey tools on the market. Get a license to one and start a client feedback survey. Issue it once a year, quarter or week if you think you need to. But seriously think about having one because anonymity breeds truth. Sure you may get a client to give you the cold, honest facts over lunch, but you can almost guarantee you'll get the unvarnished truth via a truly anonymous survey.

Be honest with yourself. Ask yourself if you're truly doing all that you can for every client. And if you're not, ask yourself why. Often the answer will be compensation driven but that's ok. Write it up. Create a "new business" presentation for your client showing them all the things you could be doing for them but then explain the financial implications of your ideas. Use the presentation as a chance to start a dialog. Who knows, they might decide to incrementally fund your ideas, shift focus and budget from existing programs or just do nothing because their budgetary hands are tied. But even if they choose the last option - you still get credit and you still get dialog.

And if you're talking, then you're one step closer to communicating.

Targeting just got that much more difficult...

Starting this week, AT&T, American Express, Microsoft and dozens of other major marketers will pull the veil off their web ads and show consumers what's inside.

It's the first trial of what some hope will become the online ad industry's long-promised self-policing system designed to stave off the growing forces for regulation in Washington, as well as give consumers more control over how they are targeted by advertisers.

The system, deployed by a start-up called Better Advertising, will place an icon in the upper right-hand corner of the ads that looks like a cross between an eye and power button called the "power eye." Consumers who mouse over the icon will get a view of all the data that was used to target the ad, as well as the option to opt-out of future targeting by those companies.

The system is one of several competing to get the endorsement of a coalition of organizations representing the ad industry, as well as the Council of Better Business Bureaus, which has been tasked by the industry and regulators to come up with a system of disclosure for consumers. Several online ad vendors also have proposals before the organization, but executives close to the process say Better Advertising, founded by former About.com chief Scott Meyer, is close to winning the deal.

Better Advertising's system has been endorsed by units of all the major ad holding companies, WPP, Havas, Publicis Groupe, Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group of Cos. Those rolling out the system this week include Interpublic's audience-buying platform Cadreon, Publicis' Vivaki and WPP's MEC Interaction.

"Ultimately the data belongs to the consumer -- we are being allowed to use it," said John Montgomery, chief operating officer of Group M Interaction, the digital-buying unit of ad giant WPP. "If the consumer is uncomfortable, then they will not allow it to be used that way."

Opting out

Many of the largest web publishers such as Yahoo and Google, data providers like BlueKai, and ad networks like Audience Science currently allow consumers to opt out of targeting. But those require consumers to continually opt out on many sites and the industry has been seeking a solution to allow consumers to opt out of the ad itself, wherever they happen to encounter it on the web.

"This is the first to provide consumer notice and a compliance service that is independent and works across platform," Mr. Meyer said.

Part of that is a subtle PR effort for online advertisers: the term "behavioral targeting," in use since late last decade, is getting a makeover as the softer, gentler "interest-based" advertising, terminology they hope will sound less sinister.

The system will also provide advertises with a new kind of feedback mechanism from consumers. While today they measure effectiveness of ads by the rate at which people click or interact with them, soon they will also get data on how many people found the ad objectionable enough that they decided to opt out of the targeting behind it.

Consumers won't be able to opt out of the ads, mind you, just the targeting. But the opt-out will give marketers a new view into how their ads -- and their brands -- are perceived. The prevailing hypothesis is that greater transparency will lead to greater trust among consumers. But even the most enthusiastic supporters of the project also see risk.

"If people start to opt out it makes our targeting less effective and it becomes more challenging to sell to people," said Steve Governale, executive director-digital marketing at AT&T. "But, long-term, transparency can only do us good."

Behavioral data

Mr. Governale said the icon would apply to AT&T's ads selling products such as mobile phones, where third-party behavioral data is used. AT&T's brand ads -- "more bars in more places," for example -- don't generally use behavioral data.

The self-regulatory system will only apply to ads that use data from third parties; a brand ad aimed generally at readers of a website won't apply, nor will it apply to publishers using their own data.

About 12% to 15% of online-display dollars go to ads that employ third-party targeting data, according to Kantar Media, and a recent Ponemon Institute survey of 90 marketers said they're spending 75% less than they would on targeted ads due to privacy concerns.

Execs say the brands themselves have been the silent hand pushing the issue, part out of fear of regulation and in part to forge more authentic connections with consumers. "It's definitely something that will differentiate us from the folks not doing it," said Brendan Moorcroft, CEO of Cadreon.

Backed into a corner, the online ad industry doesn't have much of a choice. A privacy bill from Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) is likely to be introduced later this year, and the Federal Trade Commission has made it plain that the online ad business has a narrow window to show it can pull this off.

Welcome to the end of Twitter...

Since April, Twitter users have grown accustomed to Twitter’s first ad revenue play: Promoted Tweets. Today, the second phase of that strategy is starting to be tested: Promoted Trending Topics. The first such topic? Toy Story 3, promoted by Disney/Pixar.

As you can see in the right hand toolbar of Twitter.com, at the bottom of the Trending Topics area there is now an 11th topic, “Toy Story 3.” Next to it is a big yellow box letting you know that it’s a promoted Trending Topic. Just as with Promoted Tweets, the functionality for these Promoted Trending Topics is the same as the regular Trending Topics — clicking on it takes you to a search results page to see what people are saying about Toy Story 3.

“As we have always said, we plan to test different advertising and promotional models in these early stages of our monetization efforts for both user and brand value. As part of this effort, we are testing trends clearly marked as “promoted” for an undefined period of time,” a Twitter representative tells us.

And along with buying the Trending Topic, Disney/Pixar gets a Promoted Tweet at the top of the stream, Twitter confirms. Twitter also says that just as with Promoted Tweets, the Promoted Trending Topic “has to resonate” or it will disappear.

Two more things of note here. First, it’s interesting that Twitter is putting these at the bottom of Trending Topics rather than at the top. Still, the yellow badge draws your eye naturally to it. Second, the Promoted Trending Topic appears no matter which city or country you set your Trending Topics to. In the future, you can imagine these Promoted Tending Topics being even more highly targeted to just certain regions/cities.

Audi is Up for Grabs....

The account for Audi of America, a marketer noted for its digital experimentation, is up for grabs and a number of agencies are circling the business.

Audi of America

Perhaps Audi's biggest play to date in the digital space was its saturation of the coverage of President Barack Obama's inauguration, reaching 50 million people with a news-hour takeover of major broadcast networks and websites streaming the event. That push was captained by Audi's agency of record, Venables Bell & Partners, which is unaffected by the review.

The automaker's digital account has been parked at interactive agency of record Factory Design, Denver, but that shop's three-year contract is up. The brand is reviewing digital shops to handle brand advertising, retail and collateral. Jeri Ward, Audi general manager of customer advocacy and launch strategy, said the incumbent is in the running.

Audi follows Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Mazda in its search for new agency partners. Most recently, under new leadership, Mitsubishi selected Omnicom Group's 180, Los Angeles, for creative work; WPP's Schematic for digital work; and Triaville Communications for public relations. Mazda is also said to be close to selecting a holding company agency team.

What's a Facebook fan really worth?

True to form, many of the technologies showcased during New York's annual Internet Week wowed, but what really generated attention were efforts to answer the $64,000 question: How do we measure the value of a Facebook fan, especially since Facebook is a dominant part of a marketer's toolkit?

Two clever social-media technology companies, Syncapse and Vitrue, took a crack at answering this seemingly simple question. I say seemingly simple because, in reality, the "value" of a fan can mean lots of things such as actual sales value or value as evangelists or value as a research resource in a crowdsourcing campaign.

And given the ad hoc nature of measurement today, it's no surprise, therefore, that we see wildly divergent answers from these two companies. Syncapse, for instance, assigns the average value of a fan at $136.38, and Vitrue pegs the value of a Facebook fan at $3.60. The wild differences, of course, lies in what you are measuring. Let's take a closer look.

The Syncapse approach
I got to hear Syncapse CEO Michael Scissons present the findings from a joint, proprietary research study his company did with Hotspex. It was designed to calculate the value of a fan based on a set of attributes as described by Synapse in the study:

• Product spending -- Facebook fans spend, on average, $71.84 more than non-fans over a two-year period.
• Loyalty (meaning ability to influence and promote brand loyalty within a target audience) -- Facebook fans are 28% more likely to continue using a brand than consumers who are not fans on Facebook.
• Propensity to recommend -- 68% of fans are "very likely" to recommend a product to family and friends (as opposed to 28% of non-fans).
• Brand affinity -- 81% of fans feel a connection to the brand (versus only 39% of non-fans).

Together these attributes (and a few others) roll into a sophisticated formula which yields an average value of $136 per fan. Now, I love the idea of these metrics. I love the scope that these attributes reach for. I appreciate how cleverly they assigned a dollar value to intangible attributes such as brand affinity. And rightly, the study spends a fair amount of time acknowledging that the value is highly dependent on lots of variables.

Yet, the study requires us to take some pretty big leaps of faith since the data is self-reported -- not behaviorally tracked. This somewhat stacks the data deck – after all a fan means they are already favorably predisposed.

But even if one is willing to take these leaps of faith, what are the practical applications of this information? Does a marketer then use this measure to justify shifting dollars from one media into Facebook? Is it a "dollar for dollar" shift? Or is this information best used as a theoretical baseline for some objective measure of progress? While I like this approach because it is innovative and ambitious, its practical application remains to be seen.

The Vitrue approach
Vitrue's approach to the question, "What's the value of a Facebook community?," is to associate fan value to the value of impressions generated in the Facebook news feed. It then applies display banner advertising pricing to the number of Facebook fans (at $5 per CPM) for a value metric. The results of the study are based on Vitrue's own client data that had a combined 41 million fans. With this approach, one can theoretically increase monthly media impressions significantly so that, for instance, a marketer with a large Facebook fan base that posts twice a day can deliver 60 million more impressions/ month. Here is a recap of the formula: 1M impressions x 2 posts x 30 days = 60M impressions 60M impressions / 1000 x $5 CPM = $300,000 $300,000 x 12 months = $3.6M $3.6M / 1M fans = $3.60

This approach is valid and similar to the methodology used to assign media value to publicity received in the news. "It's important to understand that once you build that fan base, you want to make sure you're leveraging it," said Michael Strutton, chief product officer at Vitrue, and they provide a nifty tool to help you measure your value Facebook fan page.

While this approach is more focused than the Syncapse approach (though less strategic), even within the more limited scope, here too we must be willing to take a leap of faith, which is that all impressions perform equally irrespective of environment within which those impressions are delivered. And then the inevitable "Now what?" problem also raises its head because we are not clear on how to apply this learning in the real world. Does this suggest that a wholesale dollar shift will deliver comparable results? (I'd love to hear from the Vitrue folks on this point.)

Conclusion
I fully appreciate the need to put an ROI face to the question (pun intended), and I much applaud the efforts by these companies to give guidance. But it seems fair to step back for a moment and ask ourselves a bigger question: "What is our Facebook marketing investment worth?" The way to answer that bigger question might be, in fact, to reframe it within the context of specific marketing campaigns like direct marketing rather than looking at this problem in a "monolithic" sense. As David Armano, senior VP, Edelman Digital, observed in a session on Facebook; we would do well to think of Facebook as part of a larger marketing "ecosystem" where there are practical and actionable set of measures like customer lifetime value, acquisition costs and sales.

The way forward
There is a rising chorus of voices demanding a coordinated industry approach to metrics and methodology used in the measurement of social media that integrates the disparate trade organizations' efforts while introducing the best thinking from innovative companies like Syncapse and Vitrue. This will allow the industry to come up with an accepted standard set of metrics that provide true actionability.

So what did I learn about the value of a Facebook fan in the last week? At least I learned enough to say, "It all depends..."

Will Retro Imagery & Messaging work in today's economy?

Chrysler is calling upon themes of American craftsmanship and engineering to market its new Jeep Grand Cherokee in a 60-second commercial from Wieden & Kennedy that breaks tomorrow on network and cable TV.

The ad is heavy on industrial imagery, with scenes of people welding and images of skyscrapers and railroads. A voice-over declares: "This has always been a nation of builders. Craftsmen. Men and women for whom straight stitches and clean welds are a matter of personal pride. ... This, our newest son, was imagined, drawn, carved, stamped, hewn and forged here in America."

Advertising Age Embedded Player

The campaign gives Jeep a new tagline: "The Things We Make, Make Us." Wieden, which also does creative work for Chrysler's Dodge car line, appears to fast be becoming a favorite of the automaker; the previous round of Jeep advertising was handled by roster shop Globalhue, Southfield, Mich.

"Chrysler Group has made a radical change in the way it functions and creates products and, it is very apparent in the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee," Oliver Francois, the carmarker's lead marketing executive, said in a statement today. "The campaign is the company's way of making it clear to our current and potential customers that we have that personal pride back and we are creating quality products."

The new Jeep is the first car to roll out since Chrysler's alliance with Fiat and it hits showroom floors later this month.

Welcome Back to Advertising Sales, Mr. Gates...

It's been nearly two years since Microsoft has had a global head of advertising sales. During that time, losses at its internet division, which includes MSN, Bing and all its other ad-supported properties, ballooned to $713 million in the most recent quarter from $411 million a year ago.

Microsoft's latest executive hire, Carolyn Everson, former MTV Networks' COO and exec-VP for strategy and operations, is expected to change that. Ms. Everson has worked at Viacom since 2007, but she has an internet pedigree, having managed web operations for Primedia and Zagat, combined with cable TV experience. She also knows Microsoft, having spearheaded Viacom's $500 million multi-year advertising deal with the company at the end of 2007. Microsoft has always had an identity problem when it comes to selling advertising, but it comes to the party with a few unique advantages. It is one of few media owners of any type with a truly international footprint; it has a portal with scale, a gaming platform in Xbox, a nascent search brand in Bing and a collection of complementary online ad technologies. It is also the only global ad player that is also a huge buyer of advertising, spending close to $1 billion on measured media in the U.S. alone.

Kids Marketing Dollars both Up and Down...

How many kids' TV networks are too many -- and are there enough ad dollars to go around? As Hasbro and Discovery's The Hub gears up for an Oct. 10 launch, and with Disney readying a preschool network, Disney Junior, for early 2012, more networks are going to be clamoring for an increasingly limited pool of ad dollars.

Analysts predict this year's kids' upfront will pull in 5% to 10% higher than last year's take of $850 million. That haul was down 10% to 15% from 2008 as food marketers such as General Mills, Kellogg and Kraft had to stem the flow of ad dollars while redeveloping their sugary cereals and snacks to meet new Food & Drug Administration and Federal Communications Commission standards. The kids' marketplace lost an estimated $100 million to $120 million last year alone, according to two executives, and is only expected to recover a fraction of those dollars this year as reformulated products start to hit shelves and roll out ad campaigns.

"With these new restrictions it becomes more difficult to increase the pie, so to speak," said Drew Crum, a children's-marketing analyst for investment firm Stifel Nicolaus. "With an increasingly more competitive landscape and a number of new entrants, that makes it harder for everyone to grow."

That's why mainstays such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel are increasingly turning to older kids, tweens, teens and even parents to boost their bottom lines as their core marketing categories wrestle with government pushback. Jim Perry, Nickelodeon's exec VP-brand sales, recently told Ad Age that movie studios had surpassed food marketers as the network's biggest spender as a direct result of the FCC-mandated cutbacks.

Mr. Crum predicts cost-per-thousand-viewer rates to be up flat to low single-digits for kids' networks, with ad volume increases in the 6% to 8% range for this year's upfront. With so many moving parts and different players, Ad Age takes a look at how each of the networks are poised to do and how their ratings and revenues are holding up as they head into this year's market.

Don't Drink & Drive on your way to your next shop...

Pernod Ricard has shifted global creative duties on its Kahlua brand to Omnicom Group's TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York, from Publicis Groupe's Publicis.

The win further expands TBWA's relationship with Pernod. Absolut Vodka -- acquired by Pernod in 2008 -- is one of the agency's longest-tenured clients, and the shop also works on brands such as Martell's and Jameson Irish Whiskey.

The shift continues a strong year for an office that's occasionally been a trouble spot within the TBWA global network. The agency has added brands such as Twix to its portfolio this year, and secured a spot on McDonald's global agency roster. A special unit it created under Omnicom called Media Arts, New York, also won duties on Planters recently.

Pernod doesn't break out results for Kahlua, but it failed to include the coffee liqueur in a list of brands that were growing or had proven resilient when it shared its half-year results in February. TBWA brands Jameson, Martell and Absolut were all singled out as growing.

"TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York, has a proven ability to help reshape brands on a global scale," said Mathias Westphal, Kahlua's global managing director.

Added TBWA office President Jamie Gallo: "We look forward to delivering disruptive strategies and creativity for one of the most iconic spirits brands."

Omnicom Drives Away in a Porsche...

Porsche has awarded its $80 million global media planning and buying account to an Omnicom Group unit headed by Omnicom Media Group, which beat out Publicis Groupe siblings Optimedia and Starcom; WPP's MediaCom and Havas' MPG, the automaker has confirmed.

The U.S. incumbent, Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, did not take part in the review. The independent Cramer-Krasselt manages Porsche's creative account, which was not part of this review.

In 2009 Porsche spent $27 million on measured media in the U.S., according to Kantar Media. The review was handled out of Germany and covers North America, the U.K., China, Germany and Italy. The automaker merged late last year with Volkswagen, Europe's largest car manufacturer. Volkswagen's media account, which was not part of this review, is handled by MediaCom.

For OMG, which currently has the $1 billion Nissan-Renault account under its umbrella at OMD, Porsche helps fill the gaping hole left by Chrysler, which moved from Omnicom's PHD to Interpublic Group of Cos.' Universal McCann last December. People familiar with the Chrysler pitch said OMD put together a similar OMG-run unit to try and retain the Chrysler business but was unsuccessful.

PHD currently handles the Porsche account in Germany.