Consumer Loyalty- the act of showing faith and allegiance to a product or service.

For the second year in a row, the iPhone topped the New York consultancy’s “Loyalty Leaders” list. The list compiles the top brands that consumers show loyalty to. It demonstrates that in a time where products are lacking in differentiation, brands need to establish an emotional connection to consumers to earn their faith and trust. No one does a better job at this than Apple thus, their momentum continues to intensify and their connection with the consumer market grows deeper.

Brand Keys conducted the interviews which provided the data for the list. In August, they polled 35,000 consumers about 501 brands in 71 categories. The age range of the consumers was 18-65 years old. 80% of the surveying was done over the phone while 15% were personal interviews and 5% were done online.

The iPhone was followed by Samsung phones with Apple computers and Blackberry scoring high. Other notable moves on the list included BP going from the leader of gasoline retailers to the bottom of the list for obvious reasons. Toyota dropped a little bit but it’s position remains #2 among autos. Beer brands dropped in the survey as vodka brands climbed. In fact, Three Olives vodka jumped 64 positions on the list landing in the top 25.

New additions to the list includes Bing, which was second among search engines to the respondents. Google is still ranked very high although, it dropped to #11 this year from #3 last year.

Progressive Insurance claimed the highest increase on the year with spokeswoman Flo into her second year of campaigning through advertising channels.

Nearly 75% of the Top 50 brands on the list came from three categories: cosmetics, technology, and retail. The emotional connection derived from cosmetic brands impacts self image, technology changes the way consumers live their lives, and retail improves quality of life.

Here’s a look at the Top 15 Loyalty Leaders:

1. Apple iPhone
2. Samsung phones
3. Walmart
4. Grey Goose
5. Apple
6. Hyundai
7. Amazon
8. J. Crew (catalog)
9. Blackberry
10. Avis
11. Google
12. Mary Kay
13. J. Crew (retail)
14. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee
15. Bing

What can put you in a better mood today than to look at a few creative packaging designs for kids? We all know that food tastes better, camping is safer, and tissues are stronger with cartoon-themed packages.

This packaging design concept for Birdy-Juice comes from Jeksel. Don’t really know much about it other than it comes in 3 different flavors, is not out yet, and has very creative custom packaging.

Packaging for kid-friendly animal tissue boxes. Paco the parrot, Fredo the turtle and Teo the tiger will be launched early September 2010 in the Eastern European market, under the ZEWA brand. The package design idea is intended to make a tissue box more attractive for children- maybe to encourage them to go to the tissue box rather than use their clothes.

International Design Consultancy P&W has designed a new range of Kids’ cereals.  Cookie Bites, Cocoa Sharks, and Apple & Cinnamon Smiles are free of artificial colorings and flavors and contain less sugar than many of the mainstream brands. Bright colors and cute cartoon characters encompass the packaging hoping to catch the attention of children from the cereal shelves in the grocery store. We all know that there is FIERCE competition.

Beautiful packaging design concept and illustrations by Sutasinee C. Seitz. The idea was to design a promotional piece to encourage family bonding through camping. The pieces are based on campfire activities- an over-sized matchbox, owl lantern, bear s’mores, bird harmonica, and fire fox fire starters make up the camping kit.

The social media world is not new however, it is constantly changing. Just a few years ago, Myspace was the largest social network in the world before the older age groups began flocking to Facebook. By then, Twitter hit the scene as well and exploded in 2009 putting itself on every marketer’s radar. As an individual who’s constantly monitoring social media in a business setting, even I find it difficult to stay on top of. Bigger corporations are filling positions in their marketing department to do just that and that only. Stay on top of social media.

A recent survey by The Creative Group found that 65% of US Marketers considered it a least somewhat challenging to keep up. The other 35%? Maybe they’re lying to themselves. Marketing has always been a field with a constant learning curve and to sprinkle social media into the mix makes it all the more challenging to keep pace. Most companies with a social media strategy are relying on in-house staff to handle the management of social media especially because of the personalization that is required. Adequate training and time to keep up is the investment that a company must commit to in order to have a strong presensce in social networking circles.

So what are marketers relying on to stay current with social media? Here’s a breakdown:

Conferences or seminars- 23%
Networking events or industry association meetings- 18%
Webinars or online training- 17%
Trade publications- 15%
Twitter, Facebook, or Linkedin posts- 14%
Blogs- 7%

In another survey, 72% of the companies said they have a social media strategy and the vast majority of those who didn’t will be implementing one in the next year. Here are some other social media highlights taken from that survey:

*85% say that original content is key to their social media success.
*85% are handling social media internally.
*9% have full-time positions dedicated to managing social media responsibilities.
*67% focus social media efforts on their company as a whole.
*24% focus social media on a specific brand within the company.
*43% revealed that they do not need to show positive ROI to get social media funding from their organization.

That last statistic is powerful. Because social networking for business is so new, yet such a huge market, businesses are proactively rolling the dice that there will someday be a payout.

Are you using Twitter for your business? Does it feel like a tweet has a very small window of opportunity before it goes floating into Twitter space? It’s tempting for many to post the same tweet twice but how much is too much? Social users are getting bombarded with information and content constantly. That’s the argument for and against posting the same tweet twice.

Many opinions out there say that the best time to send a tweet range from 12pm-4pm Eastern time. Social Media Marketing experts have been experimenting with timing and frequency of tweets. One expert sent a tweet at 7pm and then again at 7am the next morning. He concluded that if your goal is to send people to a blog post, sending the same tweet twice is recommended. This comes from the assumption that a person following you is more likely to want to see the content that you are sharing, therefore two is better than one. Plus, people generally have patterns at which time of the day they’re using social media so chances are, you’re getting wider visibility by posting a tweet twice.

Statistics from this particular study went like this. 399 people clicked on the link offered by the 7pm tweet. For the second tweet at 7am the next morning, 244 clicked on the link. Further, if sending a third tweet later in the day, the link would get, on average, 50% of the clicks as the morning tweet. This concludes that there are still people at that time who haven’t seen the tweet but would like to.

So three tweets might be a bit much but two is definitely recommended. As long as you’re varying the times of day and shaking it up a bit. Also, you could tweet the same link twice but change the text of each tweet. For example, choose a couple of different quotes from the story or post that you’re sharing and use those to draw people into the link. There is a downside to this strategy. You run the risk of potentially driving people to your blog post that they may have seen already which could be annoying to some.

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A recent Harris Poll was released showing how strongly adults are influenced by social media when it comes to brands and product reviews. The study was conducted in April 2010 and asked 2,131 adults in the US to weigh in on a series of questions regarding social media consumer influence. Here are some of the interesting findings:

34% of adults who use social media, use it as an outlet to endorse or oppose brands. The polling found that 26% of those individuals are using the medium to express dissatisfaction while 23% are sharing their positive brand experiences. Either way, 38% of ALL adults who share their opinions in cyberspace are aiming to influence others.

So are people ultimately influenced by these rants and raves? They certainly are. The polling found that the number one influencer (71%) was “Reviews from family members or friends”. Coming in at a distant second was “Reviews in newspapers or magazines” (46%) and “Reviews from friends or people I follow on social networking sites” (45%).

Young adults were more likely than older adults to say their opinions encountered on social media sites were influential. Further, 50% of 18-34-year-olds versus 37% of adults 55 or older said social media reviews sway their interaction with companies, brands, and products.

There is good reason why marketers are employing social media policies. If done right, it can be a great channel to get a positive conversation about a brand spreading like a wildfire. In contrast, brands can be more vulnerable as well because real-life messages and experiences are being cast out by these individuals. People are generally more accepting of this information because they know it’s not just another marketing message.

The US has the highest percentage of mobile workers in the world. By 2013, 119.7 million people or 75.5 % of the US workforce will be mobile workers. That’s according to a study from IDC earlier this year. Of those 119.7 million people, 79% of them plan on taking their work-related devices with them on vacation.

A growing number of employees are not leaving their work behind when taking time off. 30% of workers polled said they stay connected to their work 24/7. For many of them, staying connected means staying social—with social media of course.

57% of US workers use social media for business purposes each week. Citing ease of use and low cost as being factors for using social media, the number 1 reason for using it for business was to ask questions and acquire knowledge from a community of social networkers.

With mobile devices getting more and more technologically advanced, it’s getting easier for workers to stay connected to social media circles thus social media business use is growing. So are marketers ever going to take a vacation? I guess it’s up to the individual and how strongly they can resist temptation.

The irony is that it’s Memorial Day. But don’t worry about me. I’m enjoying a camping trip with my lovely wife and beautiful daughter in the lush countryside of southwestern Wisconsin. I scheduled this post before I left the office on Friday!

For use of social media in a B2B environment, the time is now! A recent survey showed that 73% of B2B social media users have less than two years of experience. The popularity of the medium has been growing rapidly in the past year causing many marketers to sign up for Facebook, Twitter, etc. Now it’s a question of engaging yourself into the social networks and becoming familiar with what’s out there and how people are using them.

As more businesses continue to pay attention to social media and develop strategies, it’s a very opportune time for existing social networkers to sharpen their skills and stay ahead of the competition. More and more information is surfacing about the positive impact social media is having on business. B2B companies seem to have an advantage when using social media because they tend to focus on goals and results, such as lead generation, that visibly affect their bottom line. Social networking also improves communication between customers, prospects, and suppliers.

In North America, here are the percentages of B2B Marketers that currently are using different types of social media:

LinkedIn- 75%
SEO Tools- 68%
Google Adwords- 62%
Facebook- 58%
Twitter- 51%
Blogging Software- 50%

Now remember, 73% of these users have less than two years experience with these social networks. Dive in!

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In a recent blog post, we shared some very interesting stats about the growth of social media use. Taking it a step further, we look at a study conducted by the University of Maryland’s International Center for Media & the Public Agenda. The study, “24 Hours: Unplugged”, took 200 students and stripped them from social media for 24 hours. That meant no iPhones, texting, laptops, twittering, Facebook, and email. Some of you are shaking right now…

By reading the blogs from some of the students, not only was being “unplugged” a challenge: it was traumatic! The study reported that a few descriptions from the student’s experience were documented over and over: “In withdrawl”, “Frantically craving”, “Very anxious”, “Extremely antsy”, “Miserable”, “Jittery”, “Crazy”.

One student’s post read: “I clearly am addicted and the dependency is sickening”. Another one said: “I noticed physically, that I began to fidget, as if I was addicted to my iPod and other media devices”.

American college students struggle to function without their media connection to the world. Some students even failed to go 24 hours. While trying to avoid new technology and blaring TVs, the students found themselves surrounded by them regardless. Many students noted how it was “boring” to walk around without an mp3 player providing a soundtrack for their ears. When cut off from social media, many students felt cut off from other humans like they were living in isolation. The research also found that the friendships and relationships of these 18-21 year olds were dependent on technology.

Many students had been appalled when the assignment was announced.  They were skeptical about the purpose and even fearful about going without media for such a “long” period of time.  Many students admitted that they had had doubts from the beginning about their ability to complete the assignment — and those students who didn’t manage to go the entire 24 hours noted that they weren’t surprised by their failure to do so.

So what does this study remind us about business? Marketers and advertisers looking to increase brand awareness and loyalty, should strongly consider social media use. Having a better understanding of each social media method and how consumers use each service will result in providing more appealing content that will engage one’s target market in an effective and ongoing manner.

More info:
Student’s blog: A Day Without Media

With all of this buzz about Twitter and social media, it’s hard to decifer exactly how or why we should use them as marketing mediums. We know social media isn’t a trend but it’s new and hard to quantify its relation to our bottom line. To even make a strong commitment to a social media marketing strategy, it’s difficult to visualize the opportunities of these social universes. It’s fantastic to run across research data like the following to help us understand the magnitude of social media.

Research by internet marketing firm Hubspot shows that once a B2C company has more than 100 followers on Twitter, its monthly lead generation dramatically improves. 101-500 followers is the lead “Sweet spot”.

A B2C company with 1-20 followers will generate an average of 11 leads per month while the average grows 27% to 14 leads with 21-100 Twitter followers. The most significant lead growth happens when a B2C company enters the 100-500 range of Twitter followers. At that point the lead average growth is 146% or 35 leads.

However, according to the research, lead growth does not grow after 500 followers. B2C companies with 501 or more Twitter followers report an 8.6% decrease in leads to 32. Hubspot suggests that this is due to the challenge of growing engaged followers. Engaged followers will retweet content to their own followers and be more active in general in following the company.

B2C companies who use Twitter generate two times more leads overall than companies who do not have a Twitter account. These results stay consistent relative to company size. Hubspot recommends that B2C companies use Twitter to build relationships with individuals who prefer shorter content to build their Twitter reach by following companies related to their industry. These are the users who are most likely to be engaged followers.

More info:
Hubspot Blog
Marketing Vox

You know this package above. It probably brings back memories. Sitting in a shopping cart while your parent(s) were getting groceries and seeing the all too familiar animal cracker package with all of  the aminals (I mean animals) and shouting, “Can I get these? Can I get these? Please??” Or if you have kids it might be in a much more recent memory bank. I know my little one has been know to ask persistently for them while we’re cruising the isles. One big observation here: The packaging for Barnum’s Animal Crackers (The animals and the primary colors) haven’t changed a bit since I can remember.

Well guess what? They’ve made a temporary departure from the classic package design to raise social awareness. Barnum made a $100,000 contribution toward protecting endangered Asian Tigers through the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) and for a limited time, are putting a Lilly Pulitzer-designed package on the shelf. Pulitzer’s company is a long supporter of environmental organizations so it was a great fit!
The Lilly box design features animals drawn in her fanciful style and a pastel color palette. Quite different from Barnum’s traditional packaging design approach. The package also incorporates a call-out for the brand’s donation to WWF and WWF’s panda logo. The design helps contemporize the brand by associating it with a relevant, timely issue. One million of the boxes have hit retail shelves in March.

Pulitzer and Barnum’s Facebook and Twitter pages have been the primary source of promotion for the new box. Through social media, the campaign has generated tremendous buzz online about the design change and support of the Asian Tigers. The effort has also created great business results so far for Barnum. including a healthy sales lift.

More info:
Lilly Pulitzer
Media Post