A King of New Media

President Obama will not get rid of his Blackberry, he has used YouTube to speak directly to the people (fireside chats, anyone?), AND has more followers on Twitter than any other member, retailer or business out there.

Regardless of anyone's political views, we are lucky to have someone in the White House that understands how powerful these forms of communication can be, and it will be interesting to see how he will use these different mediums to reach out in the future.

Sweet Valentine's Day Initiatives

Retail marketers always look for ways to win the hearts of consumers around Valentine’s Day, and now that social media is officially in full bloom, it’s important for them not to overlook the thriving channel.

According to an article on ecommerce-guide.com, online retailer ThinkGeek was able to use YouTube last year to reap record-breaking sales around the holiday.

After posting a quirky video as a part of a promotion for one of its Valentine’s Day items, (an 8-Bit Dynamic Life Shirt), the clip was watched nearly 250,000 times and sales ultimately climbed. ThinkGeek plans to reach out to more social-media sites in the days leading up to Feb. 14. Here’s why:

"Social-media techniques provide online retailers new, effective avenues for promoting their products," Caroline Offutt, VP and general manager of ThinkGeek, told ecommerce-guide.com. "And this year, we've grown our blog and Twitter feed significantly, giving us new ways to promote our Valentine's Day products in a fun, geeky sort of way."

Check out how more retailers plan to market Valentine’s Day thanks to Web 2.0 technology here.

Catch More Bees with Honey

This is an interesting read from Australian news site SmartCompany that encourages retailers to throw in a small surprise when customers make online purchases.

Whether it's a postcard from where the company's headquarters are located, free shoe polish to go along with a footwear purchase or even a branded pen, consumers love freebies and it's a sure way to lock in loyal customers and entice new ones. Click here.

Reading into the Future

I’ve been intrigued by the Amazon Kindle ever since it debuted on Amazon.com in Nov. 2007. The e-book reader, with more than 225,000 books, magazines, newspapers and even blogs readily available for purchase, goes for $359 on Amazon and is almost always out-of-stock. (If Oprah says something is her “absolutely favorite thing in the world,” you know it’s got to be good.)

But when a friend recently told me she read the entire “Great Gatsby” on her iPhone for free via an application called “Stanza,” the Kindle allure started to fade. “Stanza” carries thousands of books and periodicals that can be downloaded on demand from the Internet on your computer. Book choices range from classic to contemporary works. Some are free, whereas others require a charge (The teen cult series, “Twilight,” goes for $10.99). But once a book is downloaded to an iPhone or iTouch, it can be read anywhere, regardless of Internet connectivity – airplanes and subways included.

The app also allows you to use virtual bookmarks to reserve your place (or you can skip around to different chapters) and even overrides the background color, font size and text color to fit your preferences.

Analysts debated how e-book readers such as the Kindle would effect book retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Borders moving forward, but I think cash-strapped consumers (especially now) might bypass the pricy gadget all together and wait until their phones can handle sophisticated e-book applications such as Stanza.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if retailers felt compelled to get in on the action by offering exclusive downloads for purchase on these e-book apps in the near future.

R.I.P., Circuitcity.com

Although Circuit City’s stores are still trying to push merchandise out of its doors before it closes up shop for good, its site has been down for over a week now.

But why throw away a sophisticated e-commerce set up that could help get rid of inventory? Has the chain underestimated the power of the Web? This news makes no sense to me.

Text to Order: 1 $5 Ft. Long, Plz.

I recently blogged about how pizza chains, such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa Johns, are allowing customers to order food in innovative ways (via Facebook, TiVo and a text-to-order program, respectively). Now, Subway is jumping in on the action with its own text-to-order program currently being tested in Manhattan.

Judging by the long lines in various Subway locations during lunchtime in the Midtown area, I’m sure consumers will take advantage of the pilot so they can quickly grab lunch and get back to work. Although the program just launched a few weeks ago, mediabistro.com blog MobileMarketingToday said participating Subway stores have seen a "major increase in customer visit frequency" and "larger average order sizes.”

Subway also trialed a mobile coupon program through a single franchise location in Illinois, according to MobileMarketingToday. Subway said that the mobile coupon promotion specifically resonated with high school students, and as result, reported an increase in sales for the location. Read the blog entry here.

Consumers are already embracing these new mobile initiatives from fast food chains, but retailers are still struggling to reach shoppers with texting programs. Some companies have experienced with text-marketing campaigns in the past, but many companies are finding that shoppers don’t want to be bothered with ads on their phones.

Retailers need to give consumers a reason to use texts (or mobile in general) to interact with them. If consumers already feel comfortable cashing in coupons and ordering take-out on a handheld mobile device, there’s certainly room for retailers to get in on the action -- they just have to strategize out how.

Language Lessons: Gen Y 101

I usually don’t write about brand products, but Dentyne has a thing or two to teach retailers about how to speak (and get through) to Generation Y.

The new ads from chewing gum company Denytne first caught my attention while I was riding the subway in New York City several moths ago. Its “Make Face Time” campaign aims to speak the language of Gen Y (and it does so very successfully). The ads urge consumers to unplug, power-off and step away from the keyboard. Some tag lines include: “Have mercy on your thumbs;” “Undo. Hit cancel. Be together;” and “Friend Request Accepted [a hug].” The commercial also hits home (you may recognize it).

I recently realized, however, that the company takes this concept a step further online, as well. Its site, Dentyne.com, features a clock in the corner of the page that gives consumers only three-minutes to browse the site before it closes. The homepage says:

We’ve got nothing against the Internet, but when people are surfing the Web, they’re missing the best part of life -- being together. That’s why we created the first website devoted to helping people spend less time online and more time with each other. We've allocated just enough time to browse every link, but not a second more. So enjoy your three minutes, then get out there and make face time. Chop Chop. Time starts now.

However, some pages pause the clock, including product description pages that allow consumers to learn about Dentyne items without a time limitation.

Overall, the entire idea is genius: It blatantly tells me to log off, but I’m further entranced by what’s on the site. Smart marketing indeed.