NFL Completes End Run W...

I know very little about football. I do know that going right when the other team is going left is a good thing. It’s all about getting around the opposition, right? And that’s exactly what NFL.com did with their Super Bowl ad. While everyone else was asking viewers to follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook, the NFL asked people to send a short text message and it worked. The “Live Like a Millionaire” ad shows average guys living extravagant lifestyles. It leads to a tag that says you could win a million dollars by playing the new NFL Fantasy Football game. Along the way, a short text message request appears on the screen and eventually, the voice-over asks you text for more information on the game. (Click here to see the full commercial ) Without delving into the numbers, you can see that this is a good idea. People love money. People love to win things. The visuals play into a variety of male fantasies. The request is simple. Take that cell phone out of your pocket and text 3 letters to a short number. Beats navigating to Facebook or typing out a long Tweet with a hashtag. Did it work? Oh, yeah. According to the New York Times, the NFL was looking for a 1% return, or 1.1 million people. They got 1.7 million . The second step after the text, was to sign up for the game, which doesn’t begin until the fall. A spokesperson told the Times, the follow through rate was “’exponentially higher’ than the 2 percent conversion rate for most Web sites.” Booyah! Running a promo eight months ahead of the launch might not have been the best timing, but where better to find fantasy football players than at the Super Bowl? Now, the NFL has 1.7 million phone numbers they can text when it’s time to launch. Not bad. The concept is elegant in its simplicity and it makes me wonder why more people aren’t going this route. I think there was a time when people were reluctant to follow through on ad texting because it meant turning over your personal contact information. But now that Tweets and Facebook updates ping your phone every other minute, does it really matter if you keep your cell number private? What do you think? Is texting too old school to catch on as a marketing option or has its time come again?

VEVO CEO Tries To Expla...

Yesterday I reported on a bizarre incident I witnessed at Sundance last month: VEVO, the music portal owned by some of the biggest record labels in the US, had a pirated NFL playoff game playing on screens throughout its ‘PowerStation’ venue. The incident was immensely hypocritical, given that VEVO is owned in part by Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment (with EMI licensing its content to the service) — the same music labels that have made a habit of attacking consumers over alleged acts of piracy. Now VEVO CEO Rio Caraeff has written a post to the VEVO blog, where he tries to explain what happened. In it, he writes that the game was accessed and streamed by a guest of the event without VEVO’s knowledge. A guest of our lounge asked for an NFL game to be aired. We said no. There was a laptop hooked up to VEVO.com that fed into the large TV screens around the bar. Unfortunately, the laptop was easily accessible to the public. That was our mistake for not making sure the laptop was more secure. While VEVO staff was in other areas of the venue, the game was put on – via a website transmitting ESPN’s broadcast of the NFL game – without our permission or knowledge. As soon as we realized the game was airing to the room, we removed it and went back to playing VEVO videos. The game was not aired in its entirety. Rest assured, we rectified this mistake as soon as we became aware what was going on. What happened was unfortunate and we can’t take back what happened. I don’t have any proof to indicate that what Caraeff writes is incorrect, but I’m raising my eyebrow at this explanation. The game was playing the entire time I was at the PowerStation — this wasn’t just a brief blip — and it was playing on several screens, so it was hard to miss, too. After all, one of the key aims of this event was to feature VEVO videos, it wasn’t as if these screens were hidden in a corner. Likewise, this wasn’t a case of someone launching the stream and walking away — I saw the mouse cursor appear onscreen at least twice, and someone was pretty clearly doing their best to make sure it was watchable. That said, as you can see toward the end of the video below at around 1:39, the computer was potentially accessible to non-employees. But it was hardly inviting, and I have a hard time believing a random guest could just commandeer the computer without any employees noticing. In any case, imagine what the music industry would say were it on the other side of this. Is there any doubt it would dismiss these explanations and, lawsuits in hand, cry foul over such an overt act of piracy? Furthermore, this seems no different than an accused pirate explaining that they left their Wifi open, only to have it used by someone else to download content illegally. Which happens to be a defense the RIAA has previously fought vigilantly against , when it sought to make owners of ISP accounts liable for any infringing activity, even if the owner had no knowledge of it. Hypocrisy, indeed. Below you’ll find Caraeff’s whole post. You may know we had some fun at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah last month. Our VEVO Powerstation & Sorel Suite was a popular spot for celebrities to get warm, pick up some gifts from our friends at Sorel and Fresh and, most of all, to relax with a drink and play their favorite VEVO videos. We were excited that LMFAO, James Mardsen, Lil Jon, Tommy Lee, Isla Fisher, Josh Kelley and many others all came down to watch some music with us. But with all the snowy fun we had, there has unfortunately been a report that something other than VEVO music videos was played at the Powerstation. We feel it important to explain exactly what happened so we hope you’ll take a minute to read further. A guest of our lounge asked for an NFL game to be aired. We said no. There was a laptop hooked up to VEVO.com that fed into the large TV screens around the bar. Unfortunately, the laptop was easily accessible to the public. That was our mistake for not making sure the laptop was more secure. While VEVO staff was in other areas of the venue, the game was put on – via a website transmitting ESPN’s broadcast of the NFL game – without our permission or knowledge. As soon as we realized the game was airing to the room, we removed it and went back to playing VEVO videos. The game was not aired in its entirety. Rest assured, we rectified this mistake as soon as we became aware what was going on. What happened was unfortunate and we can’t take back what happened. Let’s just make this clear. VEVO is not in the business of streaming illegal video content. We work really hard to give our fans access to the best HD music videos and original programming – legally. VEVO takes intellectual property and copyright issues very seriously. We have always supported our artists and content owners and have the same respect for all content creators in every industry and of every art form. So we are very sensitive to what happened at Sundance and the issues it has raised. Thanks for reading. Rio D. Caraeff

Pokki Gives Quick Acces...

It’s the Super Bowl season, when a host of services and apps debut just in time for the biggest television event of the year. And, if you’re a fan of Madden’s NFL Superstars (a web app that’s available through Facebook), then you’ll like this launch: the game is now available as a Pokki right here . Pokki , for those that haven’t used it, is a platform that lets you install lightweight apps that live in your Windows Taskbar (a Mac version is on the way). Each app gets its own icon — click on it, and the app will pop open immediately, click away and it’ll hide itself, and when you click it again, it’ll pick up right where you left off. The point is to give you quick access to apps without having to deal with browser tabs or standalone windows, and it works well.There are other apps and services that do something similar (Mac users may want to check out Fluid ), but Pokki’s platform features apps that are specifically designed for its quick, pop-over design. Pokki has landed two major gaming companies so far: Kabam and, with this launch, EA, and it seems likely that more will follow suit (the platform is well-suited for quick sessions of gaming throughout the day). And there are other apps available as well, including Gmail and eBay. The company says that Pokki is still in beta and hasn’t yet focused on marketing, but that its early numbers are very promising — so far they’ve seen “hundreds of thousands” of app installs, with users who have used the apps “tens of millions of times”. The platform is also seeing strong traction with its built-in app market: 60% of users are browsing and installing two new apps per month. Pokki is one of two main products from SweetLabs — their other major product is OpenCandy , which lets developers include targeted ads within their application’s install flow.

NFL Jumps the Shark Let...

While it may seem like a big deal that the most powerful sports league in the US (and maybe the planet), the NFL, is letting it’s players tweet during a game but let’s not run around ringing in the new era of social media and sports. It’s pretty fascinating to consider, right? A player comes off the field after an incredible catch or incredible hit and immediately tells his followers how he feels. It’s the ultimate in letting the fans in on the emotion and intensity of such an emotional and intense game like football. From Yahoo we read NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been accused of turning the NFL into the “No Fun League,” but Wednesday, he took a bold step to fight back against that label. He’s not only allowing players to tweet during the Pro Bowl ‒ he’s setting up computer stations on the sidelines to help them do so. Which is exactly how a man who is no fun would combat allegations that he is no fun. The NFL policy for real games is that players are banished from Twitter 90 minutes before a game starts, all the way until all the postgame interviews are conducted. For this Sunday’s Pro Bowl, it’s a Twitter free-for-all. Players still can’t have their mobile devices on the sidelines, but again, the league will be setting up “computer stations.” But here’s the rub, it’s being done during a “game” that is as meaningless as anything the NFL does can possibly be. The league allowing and even enabling its players to tweet during a game sounds great but it’s really a completely hollow and insignificant gesture. In other words, don’t expect this to happen during ANY other game that the league has in the foreseeable future. This is a pure PR stunt that has no legs. Why? Because anyone who has any real understanding of the NFL knows that this game is a joke. The league has been trying to figure out how to make it work in the Internet age and thus far they have failed miserably. A game like this used to have value because there were limited ways for fans to see and hear about the players. It used to have value back in the 70′s and 80′s because there was no Internet and the 24 / 7 sports news cycle hadn’t taken hold as it has today. Marketing Pilgrim’s Social Channel is proudly sponsored by Full Sail University, where you can earn your Masters of Science Degree in Internet Marketing in less than 2 years. Visit FullSail.edu for more information. So how do you breath life into an event that traditionally has been held after the Super Bowl but had been pushed so close to the brink of irrelevancy that it is now played on the Sunday in between the last playoff game and the Super Bowl just so people would even remember it was being played? Make it a true gimmick, of course. Nice slippery slope you just stepped on Commissioner Goodell. As a sports fan this whole effort just reeks of desperation and brings out the absolute worst in the social media space. Why do I say that? It’s because now the game is more reality TV than it is football. Oh and by the way, most of the players don’t even want to be there. They don’t want to risk injury that could cost them their livelihood in a meaningless game which doesn’t even include players from the Super Bowl teams any more. I get what the league is trying to do. It is trying to boost the interest of the fans and the players (especially those who are smart enough to jockey for position regarding their post career options in a social media world) so that the game will be relevant again. But here is what will happen. Social media proponents will start to crow at the start of next season that this kind of thing should be allowed in pre-season and possibly even regular season games. They will not let this idea go. The league, however, will likely NEVER allow this to happen in game that matters because it could dilute their product which is a multi-billion dollar machine that can virtually print money the way it is now. Social media types will say that opening the game to the players will enhance the fan experience. Most of these people wouldn’t be able to hold a football without dropping it let alone understand what it takes to actually play the game well. It’ll be nerds dictating football. There is NO upside for the league in doing that because the egos and the like will turn the NFL into a reality TV show and it will alienate its fans that allow it to roll on and make tons of money. I’ve gone on long enough about this. I’ll wrap up by saying that I think this is a ridiculous idea because it throws open the door for the NFL to go down the road of being turned into a social media joke. By allowing this it has now given the social media world real traction in the game and it may not be able to turn back without having more No Fun league accusations hurled at it. Normally the NFL is pretty smart. This decision is just plain dumb.

Social Brand Marketing ...

With 300 new big brand customers and 2.5X revenue, 2011 was a landmark year for social media marketing software developer Buddy Media. As CEO Michael Lazerow told us that Buddy Media was on track to hit $20 million in revenue in 2010, it could have pulled in $50 million during 2011. It attracted premier clients such as Citibank, IBM, and the NFL with its reputation for helping brands promote through Facebook. The company grew from 100 to 225 employees, and opened new offices in London, SF, and Singapore. In short, brands are getting serious about social marketing, and Buddy Media is a tool they trust. The huge revenue growth came thanks to Buddy Media breaking out its software platform into 4 a la carte products. Agencies and brands were then able to customize a package for their needs and ended up spending more. To house its swelling work force , Buddy Media is moving its headquarters to a new 65,000 square foot office in New York City. Other milestones for Buddy Media this year include: A $54 Million Series D round that brings it a total of just under $90 million in funding The acquisition of ecommerce developer Spinback to tie promotions with shopping It became a developer partner for LinkedIn and Google+. A partnership with comScore to measure brand performance The added ability to deliver social content on brand websites in addition to social networks Its platform now supports clients in over 91 countries. The one piece of the marketing equation Buddy Media is missing an social advertising platform, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it launch, acquire, or do a deep partnership with one this year. Buddy Media and other top-tier social marketing platforms stand to capitalize as brands increasingly shift marketing resources to social. While free tools are proliferating, huge multinational brands need the reliability and customer service these platforms provide. Competitors are vying with Buddy Media for the biggest spending brands. Vitrue  is aggressively innovating through acquisitions and partnerships, while Context Optional  offers an end-to-end social marketing service as it became part of the Efficient Frontier ad platform before being acquired by Adobe. To stay ahead, Buddy Media will need to continue improving its engaging apps, publishing capabilities, and analytics, and offer a better integrated ad buying solution. Buddy Media’s success could line it up for an IPO, or make it an attractive acquisition target for one of the world’s top traditional media publishers looking for big social play.