Brands and marketers using Facebook know the less clicks a user has to make to access their content, the better the chance they will engage with it. Of course, the fastest way for content to get in front of fans is for it to appear directly in their news feeds. This already happens with some types of shared content - like links and uploaded videos - but until recently, it wasn't possible for live streaming video. The company that has made this possible is the Sweden based Bambuser.

Now, say your brand has a major announcement or event approaching and you want to get a live video feed of said event in front of as many of your fans as possible. Unless your announcement happens to involve The Jonas Brothers, it may be difficult to convince your fans to set their watches and click over to the special tab on your Facebook page to watch it. But what if your stream appeared directly in their news feeds when they first logged in, allowing them to watch it and chat with the rest of the audience without ever leaving that page?  Think you might be able to attract a few more people who weren't planning on watching otherwise?

This is the definitive feature setting Bambuser apart from its competitors (namely UStream). The service allows users to broadcast live from their webcam or smartphone directly to a Facebook page, blog, or Web site (or all three simultaneously). To top it off, the service is currently free for personal or commercial use.
While Bambuser's Facebook integration is definitely a major step forward, the service isn't perfect. Although you can technically broadcast from your phone, video can be choppy or delayed unless you have a steady, perfect 3G connection. For this reason, if it is at all possible, I'd highly recommend connecting to a Wi-Fi network.
 
Currently, Bambuser is used primarily by individuals, but the opportunity it offers to brands is too significant for that to last much longer. As brands continue to expand the scope of their presence on Facebook, what role do you see live streaming video playing?




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Last Friday, I had the pleasure of leading a brainstorm and learning session here at Zócalo about geotagging and location-based services. I figured as the current "mayor" of the agency on Foursquare, it was at least my mayoral duty!

Location-based services are mobile applications, utilities or games that use positioning technology to provide functions based on a user's geographical location. This can mean a variety of things to different users... from automatically detecting your bank's nearest ATM, to tracking the whereabouts of your friends as they bar-hop through the weekend.

These applications allow people to find services on the go, to broadcast their own location to their friends (or to the world... why not?), and to keep a record of where they've gone and when - like keeping a blog, but with latitude and longitude coordinates.

So what can businesses do with location-based services? Foursquare has some suggestions of their own, but, tools aside, here is how we break down the business benefits conceptually:

1. Become easier to find
Optimize location-based search to make sure people nearby know your business is around. Provide "anywhere" access to customer service by making your stores, branches and representatives dynamically visible on a map.

2. Target the right consumers
Analyze traffic and presence trends in order to plan your store openings and market expansion strategy. Watch where your brand advocates go in order to choose promotional event partners.

3. Engage with consumers
Create real-time promotional offers and loyalty incentives. Issue mobile calls-to-action, and obtain instant feedback/insights.

Want to read more? Check out these 7 ways marketers can use Foursquare, courtesy of MarketingProfs. Any other ideas?




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Marketing communications is finally becoming integrated. With the need to streamline operations, the silos of traditional PR, social media, word of mouth marketing, advertising, etc. are being broken down. A great example of this is a major CPG brand that recently changed the job title of their PR director to integrated marketing director. These companies are also looking for their agencies to do the same. So what does this mean for your career?

To become a director of integrated marketing communications, it might be quick to assume one needs to specialize in several practices to gain a broader understanding of how they all work together. However, if you look at the management skills needed for each of these specialties they are relatively similar: strategy development and execution. Instead of specializing in several practices, focus on one specialty and hone the skills needed for crafting and implementing an effective strategy.

An MBA was never crucial to reach senior leadership in communications, but those roles are changing. After the economic downturn, the bottom line has never been more important, requiring marketers to justify their campaigns through demonstrating a clear impact on business operations. Senior leadership needs to have an understanding of business practices beyond marketing strategy, and an MBA would further this understanding.

In this Business Week interview, Susanne Lyons, former chief marketing officer of Visa and Charles Schwab, gives a great explanation as to why business understanding is fundamental to the role.

"The CMO needs to be a businessperson first, and a marketer second. They need to demonstrate greater accountability and show how they are having a real impact on the bottom line... the key is for marketers to understand and speak the quantitative and financial language of business."

What changes have you seen in our industry that affect your career? How do you plan to address and incorporate them into your learning and development?


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