Google's Nexus One Product Page & Tour Are Terrific

Since when did Google become such a UI / UE powerhouse? From Chrome to their Extensions to the Android branding / packaging to their holiday cards, it seems like everything coming out of Google is simple, clean and great looking. Now that the Google Nexus is available for purchase, they also have created a gorgeous product page - complete with: - checkout - product specs - 3D experience - product tour (including scale and sizing) - phone activation and shipment tracking Like Google's other recent releases, this is exceptional... particularly for a non-traditional e-commerce company. The purchase flow and the product tour are particularly powerful and clean; in fact, the only real loser of a page is the "technical specifications", which verges on too simplistic and text heavy.

This is my favorite part of the flow. To demonstrate how small the phone is, Google shows you what it looks like within your hand... which is scaled by placing your hand against the screen and choosing the appropriate size. Clever, fun and still useful.

Apple's iPod Nano Takes Over ESPN Homepage

There are a handful of websites that push the edge on rich ad units: the New York Times, Gizmodo, Yahoo and ESPN (to name a few). There are also a handful of brands that create great rich ad units... Apple is clearly one of them. For instance, Apple has taken over ESPN and Yahoo to promote iPhone gaming.

Apple and ESPN teamed up once again - but this time to promote the iPod Nano... its a tie to the television campaign that is currently running - but it is also the first time I have seen a major online campaign for the Nano (particularly when the iPhone and iPod Touch are so hot / important).

The movement in the ad expands beyond the unit's traditional size (which is already quite big) and the Nano / dancers move fluidly into ESPN's header. It is quite attractive and, any time large / slick movement occurs, it is certainly eye-popping.

Also notable: large ads like this can load slowly and cause usability issues - this was done quite well and usability was not affected. In fact, the ad (and it's noise and movement) can be easily avoided.

Living Proof Uses Facebook to Distribute 15,000 No Frizz Samples

This will be the first of a few short Facebook related posts - my apologies!

InsideFacebook has a nice write up the recent Living Proof sampling campaign they ran on Facebook.

Using Facebook's sampling ad unit and their Fan Page, Living Proof was able to distribute 15,000 samples of their No Frizz hair product in under 48 hours. During that same period, their Facebook fan base rose from 1,000 to over 7,000.

In addition to successfully pushing distribution and driving fans / discussion, Facebook enabled Living Proof to successful target a quality audience - both for the sampling and the fan base. 93% of Living Proof's Facebook audience is female and 88% are their fans are between 18-54:

"By not requiring Facebook users to become fans of the page to get the sample, they potentially hurt their overall numbers. But it seems that Living Proof was after quality over quantity in this instance, which is reflected in the extremely specific demographic targeted through Facebook ads — 88% of those exposed to the ads were females between 18 and 54 years old. Read more..."

eBay's "Come to Think of It" Campaign Arrives on Gizmodo

eBay's "Come to Think of It" advertising campaign is all over television... and is now making its way across the internet as well. The below screenshots are of a matching campaign on Gizmodo. The ad units feature the stars from the TV spots ("The Michaels") and the color scheme is very much eBay (which is quite bold on the Gizmodo layout). The interesting part about the ad units is its interaction with Gizmodo's standard navigation pane and content. The ad begins across the top of the page and then fades to reveal each of the 'featured' story tiles. It draws the eye to both the eBay units (including the bigger 300x300 unit) and it brings attention to the 'story' tiles (which is also in Gizmodo's benefit).

Verizon & AT&T: Second & Third Largest Advertisers

If you're reading this blog:you likely either own an iPhone or an Android device ... and you've likely read my coverage of the marketing blitzes around Droid and around Apple's iPhone ... and you've probably seen the recent commercials from Verizon and AT&T around 3G maps:

But did you know that Verizon and AT&T are the second and third largest national advertisers respectively? Together, they spend nearly $7 billion each year - more than 3x the spend of Coke and Pepsi... combined.

And as Verizon attacks AT&T Apple with their new Droid lineup, you can bet that advertising will play an integral role both online and offline. And as you saw with their recent Luke Wilson campaign, AT&T is capable and willing to respond both aggressively and quickly:

The combatants this time around—in case you hadn't noticed—are Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the respective No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. wireless carriers. That's the nation's second-largest advertiser (Verizon's marketing war chest is $3.7 billion), up against the third largest (AT&T spent $3.1 billion last year according to the Ad Age Datacenter). Those budgets dwarf Coca-Cola's $752 million or even PepsiCo's $1.3 billion.

From AdAge's 'Verizon Vs. AT&T: Blistering Battle Raging Over Map'

Also worth noting, the advertising figures from AdAge do not take into account the tangential spend from related brands, developers and/or manufacturers. For instance, Apple advertisers heavily for the iPhone (on television, in the New York Times, etc) and brands with successful applications frequently use their TV spots to, in part, promote their mobile presence.

Apple's Latest iPhone Advertisement: All About Big Brands

In March, I wrote about Apple's full page advertisement in the New York Times touting the iPhone as a weekend tool: "Getting the most out of your weekend, one app at a time."

In yesterday's New York Times, they ran a continuation of the ongoing campaign - but with a slight twist: promote the branded apps (I wrote a post this week about seven of the best branded iPhone apps):

"It's pretty amazing who's on the iPhone these days. From CNN to Nike, Starbucks to FedEx, there are over 100,000 apps for just about anything. Only on the iPhone and the nation's fastest 3G network." It is a poor photo, but you can see that each of the applications comes from a very recognizable name: Nike, Starbucks, eBay, CNN, Gap, ESPN, Facebook, Target, Bank of America, Whole Foods, CNN, USA Today, Avis, eTrade, Pizza Hut and Barnes & Nobles.

Also of note, other than CNN's $1.99 app, all of these applications are free. In many of Apple's advertisements - and certainly in their app recommendations - they tend to promote paid applications... but here, the brand names are intended to sell hardware and reputation rather than micro-purchases.

Flip Video Offers "Flip Facebook $15.00 Coupon" to Encourage Becoming a Fan

Last week, I described an emerging trend of brands incenting Facebook users to become fans through unique coupons, offers, etc. Flip Video, who is approaching 100,000 Facebook fans, has started a Facebook Ad campaign that offers fans a savings of $15.00 (officially called the "Flip Facebook $15 Coupon"). The offer runs through November 30th and is promoted aggressively in the Facebook ad unit:

If you arrive on the Flip fan page and are not a fan, you see a unit promoting a "secret link" to the right which is only revealed to Facebook fans:

Become a fan, and the secret offer appears:

It's not the most elegant implementation, but it seems to work. And we know that:

- users love coupons and expect special offers

- Flip can market aggressively to the connections of their 100,000 fans

- New offers and promotions can be pushed to the fans beyond November 30th and across new products... in other words, the $15.00 is as much a user acquisition cost as it is a direct sales generator

LOLapps Releases New Website, Sees Facebook Growth with Yakuza Life & Band of Heroes

Polaris portfolio company LOLapps has launched a new version of their website to conclude an active week where two of their new social games (Yakuza Lords and Band of Heroes) are the 8th and 9th fastest growing on Facebook. If you are unfamiliar with LOLapps, you have probably used one of their applications on Facebook: over 44 million people use LOLapps apps each month:

- Quizzes (hundreds of thoussd of personally created quiz applications) - Gifts (user generated gift creator) - Diva Life - Band of Heroes - Yakuza Lords

Yakuza Lords and Band of Heroes are both new games and are growing very quickly on Facebook. From InsideFacebook's Top Gainers of the Week:

"Two other role-playing games are also growing fast, and although neither lists a developer, both appear to be made by LOLapps. While both have the same underlying interface components (more on that over on ISG), each one has surprisingly striking, unique-looking graphics. One, Asian mafia-themed Yakuza Lords, grew by 155,000 users to reach 930,000 monthly actives. It is on its way to graduating from this list. The other app, World War II RPG Band of Heroes, is smaller but growing relatively more quickly. It gained 161,000 to reach 269,000 monthly actives."

Diva City, Yakuza Lords and Band of Heroes are just the first for LOLapps: "[we] will be launching a new game every few weeks to address the huge demand and niches that our users care about."

If you are interested in partnering with LOLapps, you can contact them and learn more here.

Facebook Launches "Friends of Connections" Ad Targeting

One of the biggest stories not heavily discussed this week was Facebook's new Ads Platform targeting of "Friends of Connections": "How do you find more fans for your Facebook Page, more people to interact with your Application, or more people to engage with your business? Target friends!

'Friends of connection' targeting is now available for Facebook Ads. Expand your audience reach by delivering your ads to the friends of people already connected with your Page, Application, Group or Event."

As brands and marketers focus energy, product and budgets on increasing their Facebook presence (fan pages, ads, etc), this is a very powerful lever.... particularly for brands with already-popular fan pages.

Consider that the average Facebook user has 150 friends (this is across all 350million users - so it is probably much higher for active users... who are most likely the people being targeted here. Let's say the average for a highly engaged user is 300 friends).

A fan page with 10,000 fans then has the potential to reach 150,000 - 300,000 fans. For a brand like starbucks that has 5,000,000 fans, this allows them to reach a hug percentage of active users... and in a socially relevant way.

Here is a screenshot of the targeting in action from AllFacebook. Notice that the social context of the ad (Your friend Rolland Lawrenz is also a fan).

Facebook describes the unit further:

"Let’s take a look at an example. Annie is a fan of the Etsy Page. When Etsy wants to promote their Facebook Page, they can choose to target an ad to Annie’s friends by selecting the 'Friends of connection' filter. Annie’s friends will receive the Etsy ad with the following sentence: 'Annie Ta is a fan of this Page.' Annie’s friends are naturally more interested because Annie’s interaction with Etsy is showcased directly in the ad. "

Targeted, relevant and dynamic - it's a terrific ad unit and another example of how Facebook's social graph is changing advertising.