Nike

WeChat: the difference between Subscription and Service brand accounts

While researching a previous article on how Western brands are using Chinese messaging app WeChat I was made aware of the fact that there are several different account options open to marketers.

As this was news to me I thought it might also be news to some of our readers, hence the reason for this post.

Brands striking out on WeChat for the first time have the choice of two account options – service accounts and subscription accounts.

Here’s a quick look at the difference between the two…

10 most shared ads of 2014, so far

Now seems an appropriate time to see which ads have generated the most amount of shares so far in 2014, what with it being past the half-way mark now. 

In not all that unsurprising news, four of the ads are related to the World Cup, although it will be interesting to see whether any of these make it to the end of year list due to their short shelf life. After all, only one video remains in the top 10 after the Super Bowl in February.

It’s also notable to point out that of the World Cup videos, only one of them is from an actual sponsor. In fact 71% of online shares for World Cup ads have come from non-sponsors.

Here’s the top 10, which is as varied as it is impossible to predict. Thank you to Unruly for the numbers.

71% of online shares for World Cup ads have come from non-sponsors: infographic

There’s a lesson to be learnt here for brands both major and not so major…

Don’t give up if you haven’t grabbed an official slice of the World Cup bolo de cenoura. Apparently it doesn’t matter.

There’s plenty of opportunity to nutmeg the larger players and win plenty of reach and audience share with just a little extra creativity and cunning.

According to Unruly, despite official sponsors creating almost twice as many ads, commercials by brands not affiliated with the FIFA tournament have so far attracted 8.9m shares across social media sites.

Videos from official sponsors, who paid between £8m to £120m to have their names associated with the World Cup, have managed 3.6m shares.

Here are some more stats from the study showing the further dominance of the non-sponsors.

10 retail and ecommerce stores integrating offline with online

From the experiential (read as ‘gimmicky’) to the practical (read as ‘will become standard practice’) there are many ways that retailers can integrate their offline stores on the high street with their online ecommerce businesses.

There’s lots of information on the blog already about digital technology in retail and a lot of it really should be thought of as the norm by now.

Unfortunately that’s not necessarily true. In a perfectly digitally integrated world the lack of services like Wi-Fi, contactless payment and click & collect would be the exception to the rule.

However there are still many trailblazers out there, not just offering the digital basics, but going above and beyond the duty of its bricks and mortar stores and offering a new world of interactivity and online integration.

Sure some of them will fail. Sure some of them you’ll barely hear about outside of a few speculative/curious articles like this (“huh, remember a few years ago when Google developed a self-driving car? What happened to that?”) 

Some won’t though. Some will go on to become exactly what’s expected from every consumer who visits your high street store.

World Cup marketing in APAC: Which brand has the most innovative campaign?

The World Cup kicks off on June 12 and is a festival of football that Asia’s passionate fans will doubtless enjoy.

Unfortunately every game kicks off at times between midnight and 6am here in Singapore which is going to mean some very sleepy Singaporean and Asian residents.

Many brands are desperately trying to capture the attention of these passionate fans, both official sponsors and unofficial brands eager to capitalise on the world’s greatest event.

But which is doing the best job?

20 years of Nike’s World Cup ads

Nike has launched yet another brilliant advert for the World Cup but how does it compare to their previous efforts?

I’ve taken a look at Nike’s World Cup adverts over the last 10 years to investigate.

Interesting to see a certain Ian Wright figuring in 1994….yep, that’s right, we didn’t make it to the World Cup in the USA that year, thanks Graham Taylor!

World Cup 2014: what should we expect from brands?

The World Cup, along with the Olympics, comes by once every four years and is therefore a good assay of changing media habits and technology.

Twitter users have doubled since the last World Cup in 2010. Live TV streaming is available from all the main broadcasters and the user experience of laptop and tablet TV-streaming continues to improve.

Mobile has been the main driver of social media consumption and increasing demand for real-time content. Additionally, user generated content is easier than ever to gather, as new devices and new users become more adept and involved online.

So, what should marketers expect to come out of Brazil and World Cup 2014? In this post I’m going to take a look at some of the brands involved so far and their efforts, as well as looking at lessons that can be drawn from the London Olympics in 2012.

An ad campaign doesn’t always go viral, but when it does…

It’s very rare that an ad campaign truly goes viral. But when it does it becomes part of our language, its slogan is repeated by people way beyond the commercials, and the bounce for the brand can be huge.

To give some inspiration for your next effort, here are a few noteworthy examples from the United States.

And for a different take on this topic, read Econsultancy’s other posts on why social video doesn’t have to go viral to make an impact, and a run through of the top 20 Super Bowl ads of all time.

How Converse uses social media: Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Vine, Instagram and Twitter

Converse operates the third most popular branded page on Facebook, with 39.6m fans and 76,000 people talking about the brand.

This is according to Socialbakers’ Top 100 brands on social media. However, Converse doesn’t seem to chart on any of the other social media platforms.

Converse is a progressive brand with a long history of cool associations through sport, music, comic books and video games. Being purchased by Nike, an expert brand when it comes to social media, over a decade ago should have helped strengthen its social media strategy.

However Converse seems to be lacking in certain areas. Let’s take a look at the Converse Facebook page, followed by Google+, Instagram, Vine, Twitter and Pinterest.

Nike edges out competition in UX test of global sports brands

Nike has edged out the competition in a report that compares the online buying experience offered by seven of the world’s top sports brands.

The latest Qubit benchmark looks at the on-site effectiveness and UX of Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, Fila, Asics and Converse.

Sites are judged based on more than 80 industry best practice criteria that give an insight into the UX and how easy it is for visitors to make a purchase.

As mentioned, Nike came out on top with a score of 80% closely followed by Adidas with 79%. Reebok came in third with 68%, just two points above the average score of 66%.

Digital and the sportswear sector: stats

As some of the world’s best athletes battle it out in Sochi, another significant competition is taking place among the sports brands they use and endorse.

New research from digital innovation think tank L2 offers key insights into the digital landscape for sportswear brands.

We’ve included some key trends in the latest edition of our Internet Statistics Compendium