1-       He announced the new feature of google which under a new partnership between Google and Bazaarvoice, retailers and manufacturers can display their online product reviews and ratings within their AdWords ad campaigns – as well as have [...]]]> Here are some interesting points from Sameer Samat (Google product management director) presented in Social Commerce Summit 2010.

1-       He announced the new feature of google which under a new partnership between Google and Bazaarvoice, retailers and manufacturers can display their online product reviews and ratings within their AdWords ad campaigns – as well as have them appear in product searches on Google.com. The feature is ready for product list and google is in final stage of testing the adWords part of it. I think this will give more control to consumers.

You can read more details here:

http://www.clickz.com/3640142

http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2010/04/21/google-bazaarvoice-partnership-gives-consumers-greater-control-and-scores-big-for-brands/

2-       He shared some interesting statistics which makes it very clear why for businesses being online is very important? Why social media channels are important and on top of that why Mobile should be the center of attention. The numbers speak for themselves; just put them together and you see where the trend is going!

a.       45% of offline sales has been influenced (somehow) from online research

b.      In one minute:

i.      24 hours of content uploaded to Youtube

ii.      270,000 words are written on blogger (this is equivalent to   388M word a day!!)

c.       There are 4bn+ mobile phone subscribers all over the world

d.      Smartphone sales will eclipse PC sales by 2012 (some people believe that it is already happening in most part of the world!)

e.       One in Five (1/5) shoppers said they intend to use their Mobile to shop during 2009 Holliday season.

f.        Some businesses are trying to make offline and online shopping experience very similar using different innovative ways, for example printing the online reviews and putting them in front of the product in store.

g.      Study shows that most Young people (under 14) start their shopping from YouTube!!! Why? I guess because they want to see (visually) how the product works and what kind of cool stuff one can do with it!

/Hossein

When asked if their company currently uses or plans to use mobile marketing tactics, 33% said their company currently uses these tactics, according [...]]]> Consumer usage of mobile is exploding as consumers use mobile devices to do things once done on PCs, such as accessing social networking sites. This is encouraging marketers to continue launching mobile efforts.

When asked if their company currently uses or plans to use mobile marketing tactics, 33% said their company currently uses these tactics, according to a survey from marketing technology provider Unica. Another 24% said their company plans to use mobile tactics within the next 12 months, and 13% said they will use mobile tactics in more than the next 12 months.

A promo for the film Repo Men, which opens March 19, is using technology which allows consumers to use their iPhones to scan barcodes in the corners of posters for the film. Once scanned – using reader software from Red Laser, a mobile scanning application – the phone links users to pages of creative that promote the movie.

Retailer Target is launching a new national mobile coupon program that allows customers to receive mobile coupons directly on their mobile phones and redeem them by scanning a barcode at checkout.

The New York Times is unbundling many of its sections and offering them separately via various e-reader devices. Most recently, it plans to make its Book Review available separately via three e-readers, beginning with Sony’s device. The Times already offers an app for the crossword puzzle, the real estate section, Sudoku, and more.

Of high interest to marketers this week were also stories about mobile apps: marketers are finding it easier to make money with apps for the Android as compared to the iPhone, and Apple is clamping down on so-called cookie cutter apps – that is apps that are de facto RSS feeds or “glorified business cards.”

With all this mobile activity, marketers avidly sought out data on the growth of the mobile space. Stories of high interest across the industry this week included one about the explosion of mobile Facebook and Twitter use and an article about a study from Juniper Research, which showed the global mobile retail market is expected to top $12 billion by 2014.

You can read an even more interesting article on the explosion of social media at:

http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/entry/49409/mobile-facebook-twitter-growth-explodes/