In the latest episode of Smallville (S908), Clark Kent’s alter-ego’s online identity is stolen by a bunch of kids who are big fans. They make Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter accounts for the “Blur” and they’ve even made a blog for him. Since the Blur didn’t really have his own social media accounts, the people actually believed that the ones the kids made were official and they all started to follow the various accounts. This is a really good example of why people should seriously consider managing their own social media accounts. It doesn’t take a genius...

As Friendster moves in on the Asian youth market, Multiply is zeroing in on the potential of e-commerce. In an announcement they recently published, they’ve updated their terms of service agreement to finally allow online selling on their platform. All you have to do is to tick a box on your panel that will identify you as an online seller or a premium seller. This is another indicator of the market segmentation that’s happening with social networks. Different networks for different purposes. It’s no longer a binary choice wherein if you’re in one network, you won’t...

In an article published on Asia Media Journal, Friendster Global Product Director Jeff Roberto revealed that the company will be launching a series of products that will totally differentiate Friendster from all other network sites operating in Asia. One of the first products is a virtual gift shop which already launched in Malaysia but will also be rolled out to other countries soon. Friendster still the leading online network in the Philippines In the same article, it was also revealed that Friendster is still the top social network in the Philippines, followed by Facebook. This came from ComScore,...

According to a recent study by Dynamic Logic the main problem with low performing online ads is not because of targeting or placements, it’s mostly because of the actual creatives. The Millward Brown company analyzed more than 170,000 online ads in their database and they discovered that the following factors weighed more in determining the success of a campaign: persistent branding, strong calls to action, and even human faces. These three factors have a strong influence on the consumer for brand awareness, purchase intent, and ad recall. Here’s an excerpt from the article that you...

As social media continues to grow, businesses are slowly starting to gravitate towards it with their marketing promotions. In the past few months, we’ve seen a deluge of SMEs, multinationals, and freelancers take to social networks like Facebook and Friendster via fan profiles/pages, advertising, and even through direct messages and chatting. A year ago, the most popular item on your status stream would be quizzes and actual updates. For the past few weeks more and more brands are starting to take space in the status stream. I have a feeling that the ratio of brand spam versus actual friend...

Viral Marketing rarely happens by accident. As Malcolm Gladwell would say, it has to reach a tipping point first before it gets picked up eventually spreads like wildfire. The same concept applies for Viral Blogging – or the publishing content that gets passed on by different people across various mediums. Note that there is no sure formula for hitting a home run with Viral Blogging however the tips here that I’ll share will definitely help you increase traffic. In this post I’ll identify what are the important components for Viral Blogging and then share with you case studies...

Friendster recently launched a new feature which allows anyone to place their ads in their network. Called “Do It Yourself Ads“, users can now do targeted online advertising on the massive base of Friendster. Based on the latest count, they have more than 48M registered Filipino users. What’s great about this is that you can actually do effective targeted advertising since you can specify the geography, age, gender, and even locality of your campaign. This gives you more bang for your buck since you’ll really be able to zero in on your prospects more efficiently.

(Disclaimer: I currently am working as the consultant for Fish & Co. for their Internet Marketing campaign. I’m just plugging our latest promo for everyone’s information) I’m currently helping out Fish & Co. with their Internet Marketing campaigns and one of the things we’re doing is a simple fan acquisition drive on Facebook. It’s pretty simple, just sign-up as a fan and you get to join exclusive contests and promotions! For the first promo, all you have to do is to bring two friends to any Fish & Co. restaurant and you get your meal for free (pick...

One of the pitfalls of online marketing is that a lot of people don’t really understand how to gauge the performance of their websites. There are several schools of thought at play here. For some, they put a lot of value in the page hits or the number of unique visitors that their website gets. Others, on the other hand, would rather focus on their RSS or E-mail subscribers. If you’re an e-commerce based site, then you’re probably monitoring your sales. However, one critical issue that a lot of bloggers and marketers often forget about is the reader churn. Ask yourself this question...

Friendster is the biggest social network in the Philippines. It was one of the firsts to enter the country so it was natural for a lot of online Filipinos to get into it. According to several studies, bulk of the population of Friendster actually comes from here. With that said, it makes sense for them to really localize their marketing efforts so that they can build a stronger and more robust community. One of their first initiatives is the Pinoy Friendster Day which is set for August 15 at SM Mall of Asia. They made a short promotional video for the event. Check it out after the break.

The Stop Con Ass Facebook campaign is nearing the 100,000 sign-up mark. It’s amazing how fast it’s grown over the past couple of weeks. What’s interesting to note though is how some of the proponents of physical rallies (for the same cause) have been hitting on the campaign, even calling it “slacktivism”. Instead of embracing technology and maximizing communication channels, they turn it down because it’s not what they want to happen – which is for people to go to the streets with them. While I admire their fervor for nation building and genuine change,...

Paranaque Congressman Roilo Golez showing ABS-CBN his Facebook, Blog, and Youtube accounts Last Saturday, I helped the Blas F. Ople Policy Center organize the 1st Facebook Eyeball (EB) Meet versus Con Ass. This was brought about by the insanity which happened at the House of Representatives when they railroaded the Con Ass resolution. Despite the really bad weather, we had relatively okay attendance. I was also happy that the top 3 local television stations covered the event – ABS CBN, GMA 7, and TV 5. Our guest of honor was Paranaque Representative Roilo Golez. Pictures and details of...

First, it was the congressmen who tapped Facebook to interact and update their constituents live during the Cha-cha debate. Now we have the people expressing their rage and frustration over the Cha-cha movement by the incumbent administration by mobilizing demonstrations, eyeball meetings, and forums. How are they spreading the word? Through Facebook. There are two major events scheduled this coming weekend. Feel free to drop by and join us in expressing our frustration and disappointment with the House of Representatives. Details of both events after the break.

A few months ago, I was invited to a forum hosted by the Liberal Party. We had Jo Hansen, US President Obama’s campaign consultant, talk about how Obama won the election. There were a lot of topics covered and it would be one hell of a lengthy post to write everything in just one go. I’ll try to split it up in smaller yet themed articles so that it can be easily read and appreciated better. One of the key messages that Mr. Hansen stressed was that Obama really made it a point to use all the tools available to him at that time.

I had the honor of being invited to ANC’s Media In Focus, hosted by Che Che Lazaro, to talk about Social Media. My co-guest was the Digital Marketing Head of ABS CBN Interactive, Ms. Maria Java. Initially I was very nervous, since this was my first formal TV guesting. I’ve been interviewed before in press conferences but sitting in a studio while being grilled by a veteran journalist was a completely different experience! When the camera started rolling and we started talking about the internet, I felt more comfortable because it was very familiar territory.

I’ve been putting a lot of thought on how bloggers and marketers can both tap Social Media (Networks, Microblogging, etc.) to drive more readers to their sites. Initially, I was able to list more than 15 ways on how to do this but for now I’ll zero in on 3 methods otherwise I’ll end up writing a book. This is based from my learnings in promoting New Media Philippines through Facebook. I still have a lot to learn with the other tools so feel free to jump in, leave a comment, and share more tips.

I had the pleasure of attending the first day of the 2nd Social Networking and eBusiness Conference (through Level Up). One of the more interesting points raised by several speakers was for companies and marketers to actually use social media as the front page of your business. After giving it some thought, it really does make sense to do just that. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t make a website of your own, but you shouldn’t just ignore the power of

I’ve been talking about Personal Branding and Value Blogging but now I would like to stop with the theory and start showing you examples. I’ve had the chance to meet several wonderful people who I believe personify personal branding.These individuals were also gracious enough to allow me to interview them on video and I’ll be sharing the interviews in the coming days. The reason why they’re admirable is that they were successful in using Social Media to build their Personal Brand, which resulted to their success in their respective professions. They’re self-employed...

The headlines for today’s Inquirer is about how the number of seats for Party List representatives in Congress will be increased to 55 for the upcoming 2010 elections. This made me think a long while, which led me to do some number crunching and research. In the 2007 Party List elections, all you needed was around 300,000+ votes to be able to get a seat in Congress. If that’s the case, then one valid strategy to win a seat in Congress would be to invest heavily in Digital Marketing, especially in Social Media.

With the 2010 elections in the horizon, a lot of politicians have been coming up with their own strategies on how to tap the internet as another channel to reach voters. In Facebook alone, we see profiles of Senator Manny Villar, Senator Roxas, Senator Chiz Escudero, and a whole lot more of politicians who have higher ambitions in 2010. When I was still the New Media Consultant for Senator Mar Roxas, one of the key things that I stressed to his team was to not be a traditional politician when promoting oneself in the internet, especially through social