YouTube Home Page Now Available in MENA
Google and YouTube in the Middle East and Africa have announced the arrival of the HomePage ad on YouTube. The world’s largest entertainment platform, YouTube in the MENA region will offer ad space on the home page. With over 6.2 million impressions daily in the KSA, UAE, Egypt and Morocco online and around 5.2 million impressions per day on mobile, this is going to be huge for media planning. YouTube says that viewers are 437% more likely to engage in a key brand activity as a result of the home page ad format! And, the TV vs YouTube viewership stats are astounding.
If Social Media is becoming a news channel, brands better be careful
Globally, news today is breaking every day via social media, rather than on major tv channels or newspapers. More than 50% of those who have access to online have learnt of a major breaking news event on social first! Whitney Houston’s death, the Hudson River plane crash, the protests in Bahrain, the tragic events in Syria, the Arab Spring, and of course the grandest of them all – the death of Osama Bin Laden wre all stories that broke online first. The Royal Wedding was first announced on twitter. No, really.
These were genuine bits of news that just exploded via social. There were some bits of news that spread, that quite didn’t happen. Like the almost daily claims on social that Colonel Gaddafi had died. Had been shot. Killed himself. Been taken prisoner. Been abducted. Until of course he really was shot. And, that too was instantly on YouTube.
While tv is still the leading medium for news (specially in our region here in the Middle East), newspapers come second, but social media is ranked third. Ahead of radio or any other mediums. On social, facebook seems to be the number one sourse, twitter ranks 2nd, YouTube 3rd and Google 4th. These are the new channels of our day.
At Innovations_Digital, we work closely with major brands to help socially shape their news. Brands today have to be careful, because the mic is in the hands of the people. Socially, one tweet, one facebook post can create quite a problem for brands if they are negative. And, of course, gather up huge positive momentum to a campaign if they are positive. The trick is in monitoring what is being said about your brand in the social sphere, responding promptly and with respect, knowing and understanding public sentiment, and engaging in the right dialog on a continuum.
If you are looking for help with your brand’s social image, monitoring brand related news, or managing your social content, please drop us a mail at info@innovationsdigital.com
Innovations_Digital wins Sephora Middle East Social Account
Innovations_Digital was awarded the Sephora Middle East social account earlier this year in a competitive pitch. The agency helped launch the Sephora Middle East Facebook page on March 1, 2012, and within a month the brand had 25,000+ “Likes”. The fan count has been growing steadily since, while fan participation, engagement and dialog has remained hugely positive.
Facebook cover image guidelines, and Required Image Sizes
Just a quick reminder for every one managing brand pages on Facebook. Here are some things – according to Facebook – that you simply cannot do on the cover:
You should NOT have any references to Facebook User Interface elements such as “Like” or “Share”. You cannot also have any reference to any Facebook site features in there (polls, etc).
Do NOT put any price or discount related information like a coupon, or say “25% OFF FOR ALL FANS” on the cover photo.
NO CONTACT or link info is allowed on the cover photo. So, don’t put any web adresses, link info, contact info, email addresses, web addresses, etc. That stuff goes on the About Us section.
No CALL TO ACTION such as “Share This”, “Tell a Friend” or “Get it Today”.
Finally, do make sure you own the image itself, or at least have the rights to it. Size is always 851 x 315 pixels.
And here are the sizes for all images that go on Facebook brand pages:
- Cover photo: 851 x 315
- Profile picture: 180 x 180
- Thumbnail image for apps: 111 x 74
- Highlighted & milestone images: 843 x 403
- Images within wall posts display as 404 x 404.
At Innovations_Digital, a digital marketing agency in Dubai, we work closely with our client’s brands to deliver engaging and endearing Facebook brand experiences. Please drop us a line at info@innovationsdigital.com if you would like to know more about how we can work together.
An easy way to keep tab of the Facebook guidelines is to bookmark this page!
CMS 101. What every marketer should know about Content Management Systems.
A content management system (CMS) is a computer system that facilitates publishing, editing, modifying and maintaining content from one centralized platform.
Essentially, any CMS should
– allow for controlled and well managed data input towards building a system
– allow multiple number of people across pre-set levels to share and make inputs
– facilitate proper storage, retrieval and managing of information
– make the process of information input simple and easy
There are several kinds of CMS – namely Enterprise (ECMS) which helps build information towards an organizational process, Component (CCMS) – which simplifies storage, retrieval and management of data and information and Web Content CMS which is an application that helps create, store, manage and upload content on to web pages. Continue reading →
How not to brief a Viral Video
Here in the Middle East, more and more clients are asking for it. Every digital agency is now claiming expertise in creating “viral videos”. But honestly, it’s every media or creative agency’s nightmare. The so called viral video. When the client briefs in a “viral video”, you’ve got a big problem. Because to start with, you can’t “make” a viral video. You can make a nice, catchy video and hope it goes viral, but there are no guarantees. The”viral video” category is a happy accident. It’s not by plan.
Social Media vs Website. Why Facebook shouldn’t replace your dotcom
As a leading digital agency here in Dubai, we’re increasingly being asked to help our clients decide between facebook and their website. Here in the Middle East, with the huge popularity and reach of facebook, brand managers and marketers are often convinced they need to move their “online communications” to social media. They ask us to build a facebook page, an youtube channel and a regular twitter feed. “Forget the old website – it’s traditional” we hear. Huh?
5 Ways Social Media is changing Brand communications
The Arab Spring, the rapid growth of several social mediums across the region, and brands quickly recognizing and respecting these changes – are all together contributing to a change in the communications paradigm in the region. The one-way “shouting” model is rapidly giving way to brand-consumer communicating, dialog, experience, exchange and authentication. This is good for the Middle East, particularly when the masses are learning to believe in alternatives to status quo, believe in change and in challenge. As a digital agency in Dubai and with clients across the region, we are watching as some of the trends are re-shaping the way brands are behaving and communicating. Continue reading →
2012 Summer Internship at Digital Agency in Dubai
University students, Seniors and graduates of schools in Dubai are invited this summer to come and discover the world of digital communications and advertising at I_D. The ‘internship’ program is student-driven and has no time framework. “We ask that you come in at least for a week, but you’re welcome to hang out the whole of summer.” said Mayank Garg, who is Creative Technologist at I_D.
10 Mistakes Brands make on Facebook in the Middle East
Brands are increasingly present on Facebook today, but a lot of them are getting it all wrong. It’s no surprise that there is only one real brand page in the current Facebook top pages across the world. Coca Cola at No 16 is the only Facebook brand page in the Top 20. Unless you count Eminem (No 3), Rihanna (No 5), Cristiano Ronaldo (No 12) and Lady Gaga (No 6) as brands – which they are, but not in a way we know brands.
Disney, Starbucks, Red Bull, FC Barcelona, Oreo and FC Madrid are the only other brands in the Top 50! Today, brands need to understand how to get their Facebook engagement right. At Innovations_Digital we work closely with our client’s brands to help them with their Facebook presence. Here’s our take on what to avoid as a brand on Facebook…
