A recent study revealed that most brands are not being noticed on Twitter and are considered irrelevant on the social networking site.  As marketers, we want to make sure that all of the social networking we do, gets our companies and brands noticed so we can avoid being a statistic in studies similar to the one mentioned above.

One way to stand out from the crowd is using Annotations in your YouTube videos.  Annotations (the speech bubble, notes, spotlights and the video pause) allow brands to add a dimension of interactivity and entertainment to your videos, which will please your audience.  Annotations can be as simple as a “Call to Action,” like prompting a subscription to your website when the video is done.  Or they can be as intense as creating an interactive game via a video series with linked annotations.

Mashable has put together a “How-To” on getting annotations up and running on your YouTube videos, as well as best practices.   Check out the article and videos at: http://mashable.com/2010/07/27/how-to-youtube-annotations/

Fashion company, Jones New York, is bringing a new dimension to its retail presence with mobile-activated hand tags.  The program, run with Microsoft’s Tag barcode technology, allows consumers to gain more information about Jones New York clothing via an online video.  The online video will feature model Jessica Stam discussing her contribution to the Jones’ Rachel Roy line and will also include fashion tips and product information.

In addition to the mobile-activated hand tags, which will debut in October with the new line, Jones New York will  run an ad in Lucky magazine that features a logo that consumers can activate with their cell phones, as well as in-store signage.

Jones New York is going in to this launch with the goal of maintaining brand relevance.  The company is unsure if their efforts will translate into higher sales, but as long as they keep their name in consumer’s consciousness, Jones New York will deem this effort successful.

For more information about the launch of the line and details about the mobile-activated hand tags, go to: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/direct/e3ic193b6eacf48409bf1e739c48b3fdc91

Skype is changing things up for business advertising.  Instead of charging businesses to pay-per-click, Skype is hoping to gain a few advertising dollars with their pay-per-call advertising unit.  Skype is now offering businesses the opportunity to “pick up the cost of incoming calls by converting a business’s number into an ad.  Clickable Skype numbers appear in gray [within web searches like Google], but ads will be highlighted in blue as well as say “free call.”"

Businesses will then be responsible to pay based on the number of calls they receive through Skype.  Similar to pay-per-click, Skype offers businesses the ability to set up a monthly budget based on the number of calls they feel comfortable paying for.  Google does provide a similar service, but for mobile phones.  But, Google charges for these ads based on a keyword auction for the click, not the actual call.

Skype knows that calls have the ability to be much more effective than clicks in terms of converting into an actual sale.  This new pay-per-call model will also be very beneficial to companies that don’t sell their items online.

For more information on Skype’s new ad unit, check out this video.

US Latinos have an unspoken desire and need for social interaction, which can help explain why they are usually early adopters of any social media available.  In fact, research shows that “Latinos engage more fully on their mobile devices, with 71% consuming mobile content compared to the market average of 48%. Latinos are also much more likely to use the full feature set on their mobile devices, over-indexing in the use of SMS, MMS, cameras, downloads, email, internet and gaming functions.”

According to a Pew Research internet study, Latinos are more likely than others to use social media sites, with 39% of their total time online spent on social networking sites.  New sites like Quepasa.com and Migente.com claim 12 million users and 3 million members respectively.  Quepasa claims that it is registering 1 million new users per month!

In 2009 there were approximately 23 million Hispanics online, and their growth is only continuing to skyrocket.  In order for marketers to reach the Latino community and bring actual relevant conversation to it, they should try to:

• AVOID SHOUTING: Shouting in a marketing place with get you nowhere.  You need to immerse yourself in the media and “walk” among the people regularly and frequently.
• Start Slowly and listen intently to understand the rhythm of the conversation
• Be Authentic
• Join in on their conversations instead of expecting them to join yours
• Develop content that is “culturally pinpointing”

For more information about the successes and hurdles in reaching and connecting with the Latino online community, go to: http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=144941

The “home of the future” debuted today in West Lancaster, CA.  The 4-bedroom, two-bath, 1519-square foot home, was built by KB Home and BYD.  The house began construction in March and had a lot of help from the city (waiving development costs and expediting construction approvals) in order to make it’s debut today, in mid-July.

The home is powered by “BYD‘s solar panels, energy storage batteries and LED lights” and it incorporates MonierLifetile roof tiles, which are the first ever US tiles proven to reduce pollution.  The tiles “have an embedded catalyst that when exposed to sunlight, speeds up oxidation and reduces the nitrogen oxide pollution that creates smog.”  The home also features an electric vehicle outlet for charging BYD’s F3DM and e6 electric vehicles.

Tours are currently being conducted but the house will eventually go on sale to the public in the low $200,000 range.  For more information, go to: http://www.kbhome.com/pdf/press/2589/KB-BYD_Green_Home_%20Final_100713.pdf

It might come as somewhat of a shock, especially because women are usually the more shopping-minded of the two gender, but according to a Mobile Shopping Insights study by InsightExpress, males are shown to be outpacing women when it comes to shopping via mobile.

Research shows that the typical “mobile shopper” has been described as men 25-34 who use their mobile phone to confirm/justify purchases of products, to get reviews and even look for and compare coupons, while in the store.  A few things distinguish male mobile shoppers from the general shopper population, including the fact that 53%  have a smartphone.

Male mobile shoppers are more inclined than the general shopper population to go surfing for coupons.  Here is an overindex in coupon usage in the past month at the following types of stores:

• Electronics store – 30% (general population 10%)

• Clothing store – 33% (general pop. 15%)

• Department store – 30% (general pop. 15%)

• Service location – 16% (general pop. 7%)

“When asked preference for receiving mobile coupons, 51% of men said they would prefer to find coupons themselves via an application, versus 28% of the general population.”  In addition, 39% of men said they want to text in to receive coupons at the store, versus 27% of the general population.

The more that retailers come to realize that shopping is now a social activity, whether a consumer is in a brick and mortar or mobile store, people rely on their fellow consumers for reviews of products they are interested in purchasing, the better off they will be.  To find out more about mobile shoppers and their habits, go to: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/6751.html

Kia Motors is currently running both web and mobile ads to drive sales of its Soul and Sorrento cars.  Kia has found that its mobile ads are generating higher CTR than their regular web advertising.

Kia has teamed up with Pandora Internet Radio to advertise the Kia Soul, via a branded station called the “Kia Soul Station,” which is also available on Pandora’s mobile application.  The music featured on this station targets Generation-Y consumers.  The Kia Soul is featured via banner ads at the bottom of the page and also provides video advertisements for the Soul if people want to view them.  Currently, the Soul Station is 66% more popular than the Pandora automotive average.

The Kia Sorrento has partnered with Web magazine producer Zinio. The Sorrento campaign can be seen in Zinio’s iPad magazine or on Zinio’s smart phone application.  Zinio’s magazine demographic is very relevant to that of the Sorrento – young, married families with one or two young kids.

Kia has been very pleased with the positive response from working with these outlets and has had better response rates than their traditional web ads.  Their mobile vision is continually changing as they better understand the space.  Currently, they are enjoying 1-2% click-through rates with mobile ad banners, while their tranditional web display banners are only seeing .08-.3% click through rates.  More importantly than click-through rates is the ability to use mobile to target and get the brands in front of they key demographic – young adult consumers – who are very involved and always mobily connected.

For more information on this story, as well as Kia’s competitor’s use of mobile, go to: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/6746.html

GM’s Buick Regal 2011 is targeting the younger generation, in hopes of shedding the company’s current driven by your grandparents image.  In order to get the branding and new image out to party-goers across the country, Buick has created music events called “Regal Remix.”  These get togethers, which typically consist of 500+ guests, are kicking off in cities like Chicago, Philly and Miami.

In addition to the Regal Remix events, Buick’s agency has sent out a daily email newsletter to trendsetting urban males, as a way to hopefully move the new direction of the Regal virally.  There is also an online video showing highlights from the Dallas get together in May, which has real people giving their changed opinions on how nice and actually attractive the Regals are.

GM hopes that these social and event-driven marketing efforts will appeal to the young, affluent import car buying demographic.  So far, according to data from Zeta Interactive, Buick has moved from #17 to #8 in auto tonal buzz (via the internet).

For more information into GM’s new positioning strategy, go to: http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/current-issue/e3ic0c203644bbc3d5f800cbaf63ac6145b