Second, and this relates to the first, we at the Boxcar are in the solutions business. We answer the serious questions. But here in the blog, we like to mix things up a bit and ask the serious questions instead. No need to respond, unless you feel compelled. In most cases, there isn’t one single answer. These are things we like to throw out there for your consideration. With that being said…

According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, General Motors is pulling its advertising from Facebook because they say the ads don’t work. So the serious questions for you, dear reader, are as follows: Is this the start of a trend or have we just not figured out the best way to advertise on Facebook? Will this affect Facebook’s impending IPO?

To be fair, there are some businesses who say Facebook ads work for them. NPR broadcast a story on one business and their experience (scroll to the end for the positive news). One more serious question: What’s your experience been?

We recently launched a game/trivia/earn-lots-of-credits-towards-free-food app for our friends at Fox & Hound. Normally, we don’t like to brag, but in the first 3 weeks, this app has been downloaded 1,200 times, earned 164 Facebook connections and 11,700 impressions through a mobile/social campaign that’s only being support online and in stores. Plus, users are having a blast and the app’s driving business to the stores. Cheers!

Our friends at Firehouse came to us with a great client, great creating and an amazing opportunity. We gave their creative digital life and produced not just rich media banners (something we’ve had a lot of experience in), but also edited two videos, which, in case you haven’t heard, we’ve also had a lot of experience in. To top it off, we plugged the video into the banners and gave the work a real jumpstart.

In fact, not only have we made our resolutions, we’ve broken a few and now we’re ready to focus on our work.
But what does 2012 have in store for us? What emerging trends can we look forward to and, ultimately, take advantage of? To get the conversation started, here are some more trends we’re looking forward to.
Lights. Camera. iPad.

One trend we’re stoked about is the “second-screen experience.” As you may know, TV and cable companies are scrambling to salvage what’s left of their dwindling audiences. Part of the solution comes in the form of mobile access to cable and network content. But a much richer solution (in our opinion, at least) comes in the form of second-screen experiences, when your mobile devices (usually a tablet) “hears” what’s coming out of your TV and delivers supporting content.

NBC has already released the NBC Live app and other companies, such as Yap.TV are delivering similar products.
Why are we chomping at the bit on this one? Historically speaking, it’s rare that one technology ultimately shifts and changes the way we work and live. It’s when we combine one emerging technology with another emerging technology that something special happens. Take the train: Nice little way to get quickly from Point A to Point B, but when the refrigerator train car showed up (train plus freezer), then all sorts of new possibilities unfolded.

In this case, we love our mobile devices and we love our TVs so we love all of the possible scenarios that could come out of combining the two. Right now the focus is on your run-of-the-mill TV shows, but how long before our TV interactions become more robust and involved?

Our dream scenario: The ability to offer plays and suggests to the coaches during pro football games. As Dallas Cowboys fans, we know this one will be a welcome trend.

Anyone? Anyone?

These are just a few of the things we’re excited about in the New Year. But what about you? Any predictions? Anything you’re especially jazzed about? We’d love to hear what else there is to dive into.

In fact, not only have we made our resolutions, we’ve broken a few and now we’re ready to focus on our work.
But what does 2012 have in store for us? What emerging trends can we look forward to and, ultimately, take advantage of? To get the conversation started, here’s a couple of trends we’re looking forward to.

Move along

After a cursory look at what the experts have to say, it looks like a big chunk of 2012 will involve the evolution of mobility. With new smart phones and the growth and development of the tablet (not to mention the intensifying of the battle between brands and platforms), it appears that 2012 will be a year where all of the information we’ve taken for granted online will take to the streets. And take to the streets running.
Add to that the growth and development of cloud technologies and before long your desktop will be where you are. To modify the old adage, “Wherever you go, there’s your life.”

Money, money, money

Expect to see a huge up swing in the use and saturation of mobile commerce (m-commerce). When folks with the clout and power of a Google acknowledge the viability of a technology like m-commerce (which they did with the launch of Google Wallet), you know others are going to scramble to get in the game. By year’s end, expect to reach for your smart phone, instead of your wallet, more and more with each purchase.

Anyone? Anyone?

These are just a few of the things we’re excited about in the New Year. But what about you? Any predictions? Anything you’re especially jazzed about? We’d love to hear what else there is to dive into. Stay tuned for Part II coming next week…

Last month we launched a great holiday campaign for Raley’s Food stores, complimenting the work done by our friends at Ivie and Associates.

Check out the power a brand can have when all the elements of a digital campaign work together to support the traditional pieces. You won’t find any loose ends here.

The Raley’s Holiday Promotion works because it successfully integrates the mobile, microsite, Facebook and rich media executions that all feed from the database.

The elements hit the audience where they naturally visit and send them on a journey that serves their needs while they remain engaged with and true to the brand.

— Microsite —

Working with Dieste and Team Ignition, this promotion was designed with the idea the more people who like the FB app, the more participants are encouraged to share with others and the bigger the value of the promotion. We utilized Google maps to display the locations of people who are participating in the promotion. Clicking on icons within the map brings up a window showing the user all of their friends participating in the promotion within the geographical area.

Colosseo: Reimagining the Roman Coliseum with type (Canon 7D) from Cameron Moll on Vimeo.

You’ve created a product or service you know in your heart of hearts to be better than anything else on the market. Maybe even the world! Good job. Keep it up.

Now for the bad news: It’s not enough.

I’m not saying your product or service needs to be better, I’m saying that any business entering today’s global/digital/beaten-to-a-pulp economy needs to understand they’re dealing with a brand new consumer, Consumer 2.0.

Consumer 2.0 acts with their own best interests at heart. Consumer 2.0 is frugal and informed. And, in a tip of the cap to days gone by, Consumer 2.0 is aware of, and doing their best to protect, their purchases and investments.

Consumer 2.0 doesn’t just want the best. They want the best and then some. But what is this “and then some”? What is this “secret sauce”?

Your Special Sauce
With the advent of online marketing, and with every single company, store and service posting their claims of greatness for the world to see, the distance between consumer and provider has become short. Customers can visit your site, read (or hear or see) your claims and make a somewhat informed decision on whether to purchase your product or not. They can then visit product review sites or forums or distributors (like Amazon.com) to read reviews and see how accurate your claims are.

But let’s say you are spot on. Let’s say everything you say about your product is supported by plenty of glowing reviews. And let’s say Competitor X makes the same product, makes the same claims and receives the same sorts of glowing reviews.

Rather than, say, starting a smear campaign or planting spies within Competitor X’s home offices, you might try building upon the trust you already have with your clients. And the best way to do this is show your consumers just how smart you are.

Nobody Likes a Smarty Pants
Before you run off and register in a continuing education program of any kind, I’m not saying you should be smart simply for the sake of being smart.
What I am suggesting is that you show your consumers not just how much you know about your product, but how much you know about the things that may surround your product. Vague, huh? Here’s an example.

Let’s say you own a successful foot powder company. Your foot powders are so powerful they can predict when your feet will stink and do something about it before there’s a problem.

How does that affect your consumer? In what ways does your product benefit the consumer? What sorts of consumers use your product?

Now let’s say your core demographic consists of salespeople, 30-50 years old, slightly above average income and so on. What do these people care about? What sort of information are these folks hungry for?

You decide your target profile is salespeople who are constantly on their feet. Maybe they’re into ways of staying comfortable and confident. Maybe you redesign your site so that it’s not just about foot powder and how truly bad ass it is, but it’s also about ways of staying comfortable and confident on the job. You could create new content, solicit info from bloggers who are experts on comfort and confidence or co-opt content from other sources (with their approval, of course). Create forums: How do you keep your cool? Extend the idea: Comfort and confidence aren’t just about sweet smelling feet, it’s also about how you dress, how you think, how you act and on and on.

And suddenly your product doesn’t just represent a great foot powder, it also becomes a source of information for people who want to remain comfortable and confident under the most stressful circumstances.

Well played. You’ve found your genius.

Building brands, especially online, isn’t just about putting your products and services on a promotional pedestal for the world to see. It’s about creating an air of expertise in your marketplace that let’s people know your product must be good because you’re so damned passionate about the world in which it lives and you are willing share, openly and freely, all of the information you have amassed about it.

This, my friends, is the recipe for the special sauce. It can be applied to any site, any product or any service. And, when applied in generous doses, it can help you manage your upgrade to Consumer 2.0.