June 2013 - Justin Tsui

ad performance on Facebook.

This is an interesting article form eMarketer regarding the Facebook ad effectiveness.

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The sponsored check-in story—in which users are shown an ad in their newsfeed for a place where they had previously checked-in—achieved the highest clickthrough rate (CTR) by a significant margin. At 3.2%, the check-in story beat out the CTR for the sponsored “like” story by almost 1 percentage point. All sponsored story ad types performed far better than other ad units, save page post ads and ads inviting users to install mobile apps.

But the sponsored check-in story was also the most expensive, costing $6.27 per impression, while the sponsored “like” story cost $4.58 per impression. Still, despite the high impression cost, clicks on the sponsored check-in story were quite cost effective: At only 4 cents each, this was the lowest price by far of any of the ad types.

Industries also showed wide variation in Facebook ad performance. The study found that general retail and telecommunications had the most success generating page “likes,” at a rate of 0.11% and 0.10%, respectively. Clothing and fashion also performed well by this measure.

But many industries could not crack higher than a 0.03% page “like” rate, including technology, food and beverage, finance, entertainment, advertising and travel. Getting a strong page “like” rate is a product of both consumer interest and targeting, among other factors, and these industries may have more work to do to make sure they are reaching out to the right Facebook users.

For overall Facebook ads served by industry, sports cost by far and away the most per impression, at $9.08. Publishing ranked as the second most expensive ad by this measure, priced at $1.75 per impression, followed by telecommunications and general retail, tied for third at a price of $1.39 each.

Telecommunications and publishing garnered the highest CTRs, while sports, despite its high impression price, came in at around the average for CTR. This could reflect ad purpose, however. While many industries serve ads on Facebook to create engagement, some still use the site for branding.

Perhaps in response to accumulating data about which ads perform best and worst, Facebook has announced that it will begin simplifying ad offerings, reducing the number of types available and tying ad opportunities to a brand’s business goals.

eMarketer estimates that worldwide paid advertising on Facebook will reach $5.89 billion this year and continue rising by more than 20% annually through 2015, when spend will approach $9 billion. With so much money and consumer attention on the line, marketers have plenty of incentive to make sure they are putting out ads that maximize the channel’s assets.
Read more at http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Facebooks-Ad-Offerings-Show-Wide-Variation-Price-Performance/1009987#4GiHKbwSsxImSFas.99

Apple and iPhone Covers

iPhone cover is a very interesting business since the rise of smart phone trend.

The original idea of phone covers was to protect the expensive smart phones from scratches, because they are expensive comparing to the standard Nokia and Motorola, but later become a fashion statement to differentiate form everyone else’s same iPhone.

From Niche to Mass

I remember when the iPhone first arrived, the product and brand experience are nicely crafted so people are proud of to show off to everyone. And users hold it with care, protect the screen with protection layers and sleek covers for the back… it was a sensational experience together with the stunning iOS & iTune system. (Apple still doing it well today, but many brand is catching up)

Apple’s iPhone once a niche product that belongs to certain affluent users or die-heart creatives, has become a mass product brand. Because it is so successful that everyone want a piece of it, even it costs someone a month of salary!

Status icon becomes functional hardware

This become a strange phenomena that once a status icon become merely a functional hardware, that people need to cover it up with cheap plastic phone covers, so to differentiate form the other users?!

And Ironically, the efforts of engineers to make the iPhone slimmer & lighter becomes so un-relavent that some people will fill the saved thickness with 3 time thicker iPhone covers and battery packs etc….

Now that, Apple is likely to launch lower tier models with cheap plastic casing, it will further drive the Apple’s brand to even mass market. It makes total sense from the business growth perspective, but it will certainly drive the brand toward commodity, and soon Apple will become household brand like Walmart – a mass brand people use but not love.