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Digital Design Blog

The latest on digital design trends and consumer behavior from Razorfish

‘Tis the season for forecasts and predictions, but one thing we can certain about in 2009 and beyond is that our thinking about brands must change.

We know that the consumer landscape has been radically altered by search, social media, online video and the like. But most significantly we are witnessing the emergence of a participatory culture — one that’s impact is just starting to be felt.

But many companies, while aware of the shift, are still struggling to participate in meaningful ways themselves. Some have definitely done well (Nike, Dell, for sure) but it becomes a nightmare (e.g. Motrin Moms et al, from Jeremiah Owyang) for others.

If anything, this shift should serve as a wake-up call for marketers and advertisers. They need to find meaningful ways for their brands to participate, as well –- but not in the traditional manner of pushing tired old messages at consumers. No, today, brands need to build strength through action.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

What we as consumers really w

Razorfish Sees Solid Growth for Social Network Ad Spending; eMarketer Not So MuchDecember 18 2008

eMarketer is out with a very comprehensive, semi-gloomy report on the future of Social Network Ad Spending this week. Written by Debra Aho Williams, the report finds that despite the introduction of significant new ad formats, eMarketer is revising down spending estimates for 2008 (to a 10.2% uptick), due to an ailing US economy and slower-than-expected revenue growth at MySpace.

At Razorfish, we are more bullish. Jeff Lanctot, who heads up corporate strategy for Razorfish, was interviewed extensively for the report and data from FEED: The Razorfish Consumer Experience Report was prominently featured.

As Jeff explained, many of our clients (such as Victoria’s Secret, Coors and Levi Strauss & Co.) are increasing social network ad spending:

“Our combined spending on MySpace and Facebook was up 32%, Q2 over Q1. Q3 was up an additional 22%. We don’t have enough data this quarter to say how Q4 will turn out, but the trend to date h

Remaking the Mixtape: 8tracks Takes Up Where Muxtape Left OffDecember 17 2008

It’s no secret that my favorite web service of 2008 was Muxtape (now defunct, sadly) which, inspired the analog mix tape cassette culture of the 80s and 90s, allows users to create their own mixes — typically 12 songs — upload the files, sequence the songs and post.

I raved about the service twice. First, here: “Muxtape and the Future of Music” and then, again, here: “On Muxtape, Twitter and the Future of Web Services and Platforms.” In the latter post, I discussed how the most impressive web services were actually becoming platforms (ala Twitter.com).

Now, thankfully, 8tracks has taken up where Muxtape left off. Building upon the simplicity of the original service and adding key things like search, a dedicated library of songs (no uploading required) and a full-on community feature (much like Twitter, actually. Best of all, it completely integrates with Twitter, allowing users to a

Tracking Social Influence: Razorfish Files Patent For Social Media Action TagDecember 12 2008

What Is The Value Of Social Influence?:

Razorfish has been trying to tackle a billion dollar problem: how do marketers identify the key influencers within a social network, and how do you really track and understand how social behavior works?

This problem is especially critical in a recessionary economy when every form of marketing is under scrutiny to prove its ROI. We think we’ve cracked the code through a data tracking solution that’s going to sound kind of geeky to those of us who don’t measure data for a living, but essential to any marketer who cares about social media: the Generational Tag (AKA Incrementing Action Tag).

My colleagues in our Razorfish Seattle office filed a patent for the Generational Tag on September 30th, 2008 and we are sharing our findings publicly today.

The Data Problem:

Today social media apps (widgets, applications, viral media, etc.) cannot track or account for unique individuals other than those who download the application and those that download the application from a friend. Couple that with the lack of known quantitative methods for identifying key influencers within a social network in regards to a specific application and you’ve got a big problem for the industry. Some would say a billion-dollar problem, actually.

Core Questions We Tried To Answer:

What is the value of a key influencer?
How viral or how many generations has my social m

For Whom The Tweet Tolls: How To Make Sense of Twitter Usage Stats?December 8 2008

Do consumers really use Twitter?

That’s the question that I’ve been asked the most since we released FEED: The Razorfish Consumer Experience Report just over a month ago. Here’s the stat that draws the most attention:

28% of “connected consumers” use Twitter with some frequency. Of those, 5% use Twitter all of the time, 8% most of the time and 15% use Twitter once in a while.

For those who are not familiar with the study, we surveyed 1000+ U.S. “connected consumers” earlier this summer who have certain usage behaviors (broadband access, ecommerce activity, social media activity, digital media consumption, etc.). For the most part, this group tends tends to mirror the U.S. broadband population and is — depending on what research you read — about 165 million people. We look at it as a leading indicator of internet usage behavior and forward trends.

As Brian Morrissey of Adweek was the first to point out, first on Twitter (fittingly) and in later disc