A good news blog post…

After a successful 18 months using social media to develop a community and change driving behaviour in West Sussex, the initiative has now been widened to cover the whole of Sussex.

Needless to say, we’re chuffed our social marketing baby is growing up and spreading its wings.

A big thank you to everyone involved, especially the team at West Sussex for being a great client. I also want to say a big thank you to our in-house team of social media analysts and outreach specialists.

Now stop reading this and get on with some work.

The more we spend time online the more it makes sense for businesses to try and reach us there. The tumbling prices of banners ads may sure look enticing, but the price is dropping along with their effectiveness. Companies spend huge amounts of money on online marketing but as we move forward more and more users will start to become banner blind. This means they will need to find new ways of reaching them.

This might explain why in a recent survey we conducted with the games industry spending on Social media was on the rise. We found publishers were looking to increase their social media spend with a quarter of them saying 21-30% of their budgets would be spent on it. All of our contributors also said they would be spending money on social media this year compared to previous years in which some had opted not too.

Social media helps to create real and memorable engagement with your consumers and is much less passive than the aforementioned banner advertising. The games industry and its consumers are largely tech savvy people so it would make sense that they would be among the first to start to become numb to traditional online advertising. I expect this to start becoming a trend across all industries with an online presence.

I spoke a couple of weeks ago about how games are becoming more integrated into our social networks. Then not much later one of Sony’s big Christmas games, Uncharted 2, showed how it was integrating Twitter. Firstly here is a screen shot of said feature and the original article that alerted me to it.

Source: Uncharted 2 features Twitter integration

My first thought was great! However that excitement quickly turned into fear. Twitter is inherently a broadcast medium but it also has an instant messaging quality to it. The problem with this integration of Twitter is that most of the tweets it spits out are inherently anti-social and begin to move towards spam. This could quickly become annoying to followers, especially those that are not interested in the game or games at all!

Obviously this is an optional feature and alerts can be turned on individually, but for me it largely misses the point. Tweeting when you have started playing the multiplayer or when you upload a cinema file has some social value to your followers but I find it unlikely that anyone would be interested in when I have completed level 3. Twitter integration needs to have value and not just supply you with automated announcements that, if they were really worthwhile you could do yourself.

Hopefully Twitter will start to allow for better filtering so that when a device is tweeting for someone it can be easily silenced. I would hate to have to un-follow an interesting person just because they chose to spam their stream with trivial game progress.

I am interested to see how social networks integration into games progresses and will be keeping a close eye on the results. What do you think? Is Twitter doomed to collapse under a weight of spamming applications?

We recently conducted a survey of how the games industry was using social media. Something that really caught my attention was that;

“Around 80% of respondents asked used social media to amplify the word of mouth on their products, but interestingly only around 40% of the respondents used social media to improve or manage their online reputation and even less (around 35%) used it as a tool to increase influence. “

It seems that using social media to push campaigns and promotions is quite common place across all industries, but I only have these games industry statistics to hand. Social media has so much more to offer than just being a push marketing tool and the businesses that find the best ways to utilise it as more than a marketing channel are the ones that will flourish.

Video games developer and publisher Capcom are doing exactly this. They are using social media to create a community, rather than as “just another marketing channel.” Their website Capcom-unity is designed as a place for all things Capcom and a hang out for all of the fans of their games.

Anyone can put up a blog and a set of forums online, but what Capcom have done to make this unique is to give the community something no other website can, exclusive content and direct communication with the people behind the games. They do this with developer blogs, behind the scenes videos, the latest news, podcasts with their staff, involvement in their forums and so on. As a games publisher or developer you have better access to and information on your games than anyone else in the world. Nobody else can engage Capcom fans as well as Capcom can.

Social media is about more than corporate monologue. So as much as pushing out great content for your audience is really important, engaging them and getting them involved are even more important. The easiest place to start is with the user blogs and forums, see what your fans are talking about and get involved. If they have an issue, try and fix it. if they create interesting discussions, reward them. If they have a question, why not answer it? Just let them know you are there and that you can talk as well as listen.

This is about more than telling them where they can buy your latest game it is about creating loyalty and excitement. It is about creating a space for you and your fans to hold a conversation and not putting fingers in your ears and hoping they will follow you blindly. It means if there is a problem, a scandal, a mistake you have a place to explain what went wrong and why. The more open and honest you are with your fans the more they will want to be a part of your company, the more they will spread the word and in all honesty the more money they are likely to spend on your products.

Social media is about creating communities not new marketing channels.

Our favourite social media stories from the past week and  5 other random things that may or may not be interesting.

5 of the best

Advertising Firework, Social Bonfire

If advertising is like fireworks than social media is like the bonfire. A really good slide show to help explain social media, just remember “No one wants a firework in their bonfire”. Well worth a flick through

Daily Booth

Sort of like a pictorial Twitter. The site launched a few months back and is already picking up a reasonable user base. Not sure if I would use it, or what someone could do with it, but it looks like it has the potential to be really interesting. Also check out their live updating map…kind of creepy.

Has Twitter’s popularity peaked?

I am sure a lot of you are fed up with everyone banging on about Twitter, Qube are just as guilty as everyone else (we Love Twitter!). Perhaps Twitter has hit its peak. This is a really interesting bit of research into hype, there is usually a huge amount of interest as everyone clambers for the new exciting toy followed by a big trough as everyone realises it is not the second coming. More interesting to me was how interest slowly grew again though as people discovered the technology’s real uses and got to grips with why people were so excited in the first place.

iPhone Dethrones Rebel XTi as Most Popular Camera on Flickr

On the surface level this is an interesting look at how the iPhone has affected social networks such as Flickr and Youtube. Underneath that though this is an interesting look into how technology can change our lifestyles. From these statistics it looks like iPhones may well have increased people’s appetite for shooting video and taking pictures. As technology moves forward we will probably end up documenting more and more of our lives in a public online arena. Much like Gordon Bell (see our story further down on Digital Planet).

Myfashion Plate

It seems like almost every lifestyle and niche is covered by a bespoke social network these days. That is not a knock at all against fashion plate, in fact I would love to compliment it on how it has taken ideas from other sites and turned it into a really good network for lovers of fashion. Users can take their virtual wardrobe with them everywhere, put outfits together and get advice and comments from other fashionistas. Here is a brief but slightly more detailed write up over on springwise to check out.

5 of the rest

Carved Magazines by Nate Page

Some slightly creepy but very creatively sculpted magazines

Dr. Whippy Serves More Ice Cream to Sad Customers

If anyone is wondering why I  have been so upset and stressed recently, don’t worry! I am just putting on an act to beat this machine, just like I did with the lie detector in my court case (JOKE! They don’t use lie detectors in court cases anyway). Everyone on the office was looking a little glum earlier so I went out and got everyone an ice-cream…not sure if they are still sad or just angling for more ice-cream!

Financial calender predicts next months bank balance

I have ranted before about how I would like to see Banks move forward with their online offerings. My wish has not yet been granted on these shores but it seems like some of these American bankers are getting their web services in line with the modern day internet.

Digital Planet

Digital planet is a BBC podcast that looks at the world of technology. Really worth a listen, especially the part about Gordon Bell and how he digitally archives every part of his life.

Cavuto: Universal healthcare is terrorist recruitment tool

Not so much one of the “best” things this week, but worth watching purely if you like to get really, really angry. 15 people retweeted me after posting this, so it clearly angered a lot of you as well! I just hope our news channels are never this ridiculous.

The Qubites favrouite tweets from the past week.

@glennw’s favourite tweets

@TheGreatBundini It is truly the most pressing issue on the national agenda http://tinyurl.com/rynmd7

@gwarek: Girl’s new boyfriend not l33t enough for her parents: http://bit.ly/1QjXJw (CollegeHumor video)

@jonburgerman Bad jokes are almost as good as good ones. http://www.flickr.com/photo…

@nijay’s favourite tweets

@paulbradshaw: 2 random stats: 70% of newspapers are sold before 10am; 50% of magazine buyers buy on impulse http://bit.ly/Xm9ny (PDF)

@MrsPBoutique: Answer is a millionairre who ‘as a woman I can kill quite easy’. My cabbie has it all planned out #twago LOL

@itsnicethat …Photographer Nils Jorgensen… captures moments and coincidences beautifully. http://nilsjorgensen.com/

@banpuppyfarmsuk: http://bit.ly/Wlspa #banpuppyfarming SO SAD BUT SO TRUE. PLEASE RT.

@MrTomasz’s favourite tweets

@strutting When you’re feeling down, I want to be the one who feels you up.

@thepetnet Today’s #petoftheday is Lady Binkleton, owned by @special_noodles . Hat’s off to Lady Binkleton. http://ow.ly/jli0

@qubemedia Facebook takes on Google and the Isle of Man has never been so close to a Natural Disaster! http://tinyurl.com/q6hzxq

Our favourite social media stories from the past week and  5 other random things that may or may not be interesting.

5 of the best

Facebook in challenge to Google

Revealed: why Facebook acquired FriendFeed

Facebook acquires Friendfeed

The big news this week was that Friendfeed was snapped up by Facebook straight from under Google’s nose and we have not one, but two articles about the event.

99 Designs

99 designs is a site for designers to find clients. Competitions are set up with a brief and cash prize and designers then enter their ideas for a logo or design. It is a great way for a designer to build a portfolio, find clients and make some money at the same time. A good example of how the web and social networks can bring people together who may otherwise not have met.

The legend of the Witch lives on

In amongst the possiblity of a “true” Blair Witch project story is an interesting story about an internet marketing campaign. Funny to think how inventive having a fictional website for your movie was, but 10 years ago Blairwitch.com was one of the first. Now entire marketing campaigns have been built around crossing fiction with reality.

5 social media campaign killers

5 reasons your social media campaign might die!

A tinythread

A very simple looking website that allows you to create conversation threads that can be commented on using your twitter account. Will be interesting to see if it takes off.

5 of the rest

Wikispeedia

The rules are simple; get from one wikipedia article to another in as few clicks as possible by using the hyperlinks within the articles. Take on a random challenge or set one for yourself. Can anyone beat my score of 4 for Isle of Man to Natural Disaster.

23 Badly Placed Internet Ads

23 internet ads that probably shouldn’t have appeared on the pages they did.

Hurrah Bah

A weird and slightly surreal selection of images and text. I am not quite sure what to make of it…but I can’t help but read it.

When feminism went nuts

Has our society given up on feminism? What does the current generation think of the treatment of women in the modern day world?

Invisible Hand

Finally we have a Firefox plugin to help you bargain hunters out there! Have been using this for a week or so now and I have been quite impressed. Mainly because unlike a lot of Firefox plugins this one is really unobtrusive.

The Qubites favrouite tweets from the past week. This week features our new and exciting logo designed by @colossalblue, if you missed how this logo came to exist check out the blog post from earlier in the week.

@glennw’s favourite tweets

@gwarek: Alain de Botton on success and failure, career anxiety, criticisms of meritocracy … interesting and funny http://is.gd/1YTol

@nijay: OH at a wedding: is a duck a fish?

@nachimir Did you see this TED talk about modifying the behaviour of crows? http://u.nu/2dpr

@mrtomasz’s favourite tweets

@glenntomltd Buy your “I survived the twitter blackout” T-Shirts from GlennTom. Available in Woolworths and Virgin Megastores.

@alqaeda Really sorry about the #ddos. We were trying to take down the CIA, but Azzam fat-fingered the setup & ended up importing my bookmarks file.

@MonaWalsh’s favourite tweets

@endthesentence I tweet therefore I…am fabulous daaarling.

@marcthevet Don’t miss Part II of Channel 5 News #Banpuppyfarming tonight at 5pm & 7pm PLEASE RT

@qubemedia: How do you solve a problem like Efficiency? http://bit.ly/1vxNRC

@nijay’s favourite tweets

Predictive text fail RT @Luke1972 Very shove of myself for cycling to work. Poet’s corner to falmer. Wasn’t as hard as i expected. #twago

@kevinpatrick: “What is the soup de jour?” “It’s the soup of the day.” “Mmm, that sounds good. I’ll have that.” http://twitpic.com/cur7w

@mashable Twitter is BACK!! Malicious DDoS attack blamed: http://bit.ly/Wv0Il

@AnnaFuller I think the lesson here is: don’t get involved with Macauly Culkin. Or you will die. (this made me laugh, that’s all) FRIDAY

Our favourite social media stories from the past week and  5 other random things that may or may not be interesting.

5 of the best

Sport driven

Sport driven is an online community for sport teams to find sponsorship and advertising and vice versa. Social media and online communities are a fantastic way of putting people together with similar interests or goals. Good luck to Sport Driven and we hope to see more from them soon. (Found via springwise)

On Feedback, Web Technology, Culture and the Individual

Are you thinking about “the impending age of feedback”? You probably should be, read this article to find out why and how drastically it could change everything.

What the F**k is social media: One Year Later

This is a really well put together presentation, full of great facts (and some good laughs to). Well worth checking out whether you are a social media marketer or new to the whole thing.

Playing Together: What Games Can Learn from Social Software

This talk explores how the games we play for fun can learn from the networks and tools we use to communicate. Since this talk Microsoft have announced that they will be adding Facebook and Twitter intergration into their Xbox 360 console and this may lead to game intergration. I will apologise in advance if I start tweeting video replays of my  “amazing” goals in Fifa.

Jam Legend

Jam Legend is a social network for jamming. The site revolves around a “Guitar Hero” style game where players can play on their own or against each other with a variety of songs. Users can even upload their own songs to play with. This is another great example of a platform that is pulling together users around a common interest and allowing them to interact with their music and each other.

5 of the rest

Emails from crazy people

Another great email exchange from the people that bought us “7 legged spider ”

Sandwich Design

You will never want to eat a normal triangle sandwich again!

Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes

If you read this blog you could read @mrtomasz’s tweets in 0.0034 seconds. Probably.

DIY Kyoto

This amazing little device tells you how much energy you are using in your house. So not only could it save you money but it looks pretty stylish too. I want one!

Video Interview With Moon Director Duncan Jones

If you haven’t seen Moon go watch it now! I will wait…

…you seen it? Amazing wasnt it! Now watch the video interview with David Bowie’s very talented son

Every Friday Qube puts together what we, oh so cleverly, call Twiday. A collection of the Qubites’ favourite tweets from the previous week.

The blog post was looking a little plain and in need of some graphics so I dove into photoshop and came up with this awesome logo.

Hideous isn’t it? Completely lacking in design, style or originality. I reluctantly put up last weeks blog post with my make-shift logo and then it struck me, Twitter could help solve my ineptness at design. I put out this tweet and cringed at the thought of people looking at my logo and imagining me as some sort of five year old having his first go at MS paint.

@halbpro responded with a link to the twitter font to help improve its look! Great, I could now make my logo look a bit more interesting and then this…

A few minutes later and @colossalblue tweeted again and sent me his logo

Isn’t it amazing? And by that I mean the logo and the way it came to exist. Social Media helped me find someone to fix my problem within minutes. The cynics out there may say I used it to get some free design but the exchange was in social currency rather than money. @colossalblue’s social standing has now risen with me, meaning I am more likely to return favours for him whenever I can.

All of that aside nice people do nice things, and social media allows all of us nice people to help each other. So I would like to say one final huge thank you to @colossalblue for putting together a logo for me and you can all look forward to seeing it this Twiday .