The hype that currently surrounds the widget industry is not completely surprising when you consider how some widgets have seen extraordinary viral adoption. The problem with this though is that many of the most popular widgets are gimmicky hit based experiences that people grow tired of quickly. It seems apparent that those who have fueled the insane valuations have seemingly ignored this obvious risk (read Fortune’s and the NY Times’ take). Real value comes from widgets that are fun, entertaining, viral but at their core provide a utility that fosters longevity. This type of utility based widget in our view forms the basis of a new rich media programmable ad unit and a more meaningful proposition for advertisers.
1) “Hit Based Gimmicky Widgets” (Super Poke, etc.)
- Low utility/value and short longevity; characterized by gimmicks and games
- General appeal, currently over-hyped
- Viral, low quality users that are fickle and not loyal—constantly chasing the next fad
- Attempted behavioral targeting here will deliver spotty results at best
Companies like Slide are now attempting to add ad networks to monetize the massive user base they’ve created. The assumption is that their widget network will be valuable to advertisers because of the behavioral information they’re able to garner. This represents a new twist on an old behavioral approach utilized by Tacoda, Revenue Science and others. I’m dubious that this will be as effective as the existing approaches and even the existing approaches require more development to realize the promise they initially presented. The other issue with the approach is it only speaks to call to action and does nothing for brand advertisers.
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2) “Utilitarian Widget” as an extension of a more robust Social Media experience that delivers quality profile data to be used to deliver relevance for both call to action and brand advertising
- High utility/value with longevity and user loyalty; niche and focused appeal
- Characterized by relevant, useful and compelling content, media and activity, (and yes, still fun)
- Viral with a high quality, loyal audience—loyalty based on utility and relevance
- Business model based on a programmed, viral ad unit and an individualized brand engagement
In this scenario, the widget is a viral ad unit. Online advertising changes dramatically and becomes a tremendous vehicle for brand marketing. Unlike the banner ad, the “WidgeAD(TM)” (as we call it) is defined by its programmability. It has utility in a person’s life by providing compelling, useful and relevant content—this takes the form of content (videos, photos, text, music, etc.) and/or interactive components (fun games, communication, commerce, etc.).This is where the game changes for Madison Ave and publishers - brand messaging takes a completely different form, moving away from poor quality banner ad messaging and the hit-and-miss approach of tracking, to actual brand engagement. The end result is a loyal audience that views the widget and its application as adding value to their lives (usually based on an interest and/or utility that they care about). This engagement then gives brands and publishers the opportunity to establish highly individualized relationships with their audiences.
A couple of months ago we announced the release of Yuku. Yuku is a new community building platform for consumers that is based around message boards. As you’ve read on KickBlog, our belief is that message boards have played a prominent historical role in online communities and will continue to do so. Yuku features everything that make message boards a great platform for people to express themselves and gather with others that share common interests. Additionally, the Yuku team has been infusing social media and rich media functionality and applications into a traditionally text based format. (There’s no reason message boards should live in the Web 1.0 world…)
To that end, Yuku today announced a new one-click video embed feature that allows message board members to embed videos from YouTube, the world’s largest user-generated video library, and Clipblast, the world’s largest video search site, on posts and blogs. People simply hit the “Reply” button in the post, click on the video icon in the rich text editor tool bar, enter a search term and choose whether to search using Clipblast or Youtube. Once you locate the video you’re looking for, a simple click on the video adds it directly to the post or blog entry. Read about it on Yuku here.
In addition to the video embeds, the Yuku rich text editor allows people to add photos directly from their PhotoBucket account. This is all part of our effort to make it easier to create richer and more engaging experiences on Yuku.
For those technically minded out there, we’ve tapped into YouTube and Clipblast’s APIs to enable this. As you might’ve read, we’ve also announced that we’re going to be supporting YouTube’s new upload APIs. More on that soon.
If you’re new to KickApps and want to learn more, the below video is a great place to start. It’s a quick overview of what our technology does, how it can help you grow and engage your audience, and who some of our current customers are. As always, you can contact us or post a comment here if you have any questions.
Yesterday afternoon we hosted a webinar with Akamai that featured John De Marchi, director of digital distribution at Saavn, the world’s largest rights owner of Bollywood music and films, and former GM of VIBE Digital Media. John is the mastermind behind the legendary VIBE Verses community. During his time at VIBE, John oversaw the creation and launch of the community and also the subsequent partnership with MySpace.
The webinar showcased the success of VIBE Verses (powered by KickApps), a contest based community (think it as an online Hip Hop/Rap American Idol) where members select the winner. Winners of the contest received a cash prize of $10k, a spread in the print magazine and FAME! During the 3rd run of the contest, the winner, Ms Nana (her video and website), opened for Wyclef Jean during his MySpace album release party in LA! Talk about launching her career.
Here are some of the things we covered in the webinar:
- Learn about how VIBE created a full feature social network and user-generated content site in 3 weeks that grew to 90k members in a matter of months.
- Generating revenue from sponsors and advertisers, and earning ROI on your social media in a matters of weeks.
- Understanding how to harness the power and virality of social media and partnering with large social networks like MySpace to drive engagement on your own social media site.
The webinar runs about 45 minutes and features John’s presentation, followed by audience Q&A with Jeff Zaretsky, VP of Business Development, KickApps, and Tim Napoleon, Chief Strategist, Media and Entertainment, Akamai Technologies.
To view the webinar, click here, enter your registration information and you’ll be taken to the player. You’ll need either Windows Media Player or Real Player.
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