The 2012 Summer Olympics will be a bit different than in past years. Since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the number of people that have access to the internet has increased by over 50%, from 1.5 to 2.3 billion according to the International Telecommunication Union. That’s a third of the global population.
Fittingly, the 2012 games in London have been dubbed the World’s First “Social Games.” Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube will be some of the biggest players in this social media trend, but also be on the lookout for content flooding Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, and Foursquare. With all the hype of the digitally focused games, here are we listed 7 places you can use to keep up with the chatter.
1. The Olympic Athlete’s Hub
This site will let you search for any athlete’s name, team, sport, discipline or event and find where to “follow” or “like” that result and has a news feed that compiles both Twitter and Facebook posts into one stream.
2. SportRightNow
You can find all the best Olympics news from the internet in one place organized by website sources, sports, and teams whether the news is from teams, journalists, media, fans or athletes. Also has the top hashtags being used on Twitter which is a bonus.
3. London 2012 Youtube Account
Not only will it be posting behind the scene footage from the games, exclusive interviews with athletes, and amazing replays, it also has links to the Official Website, Twitter and Facebook account of the 2012 Olympic Games.
4. Sociagility: The London 2012 Social Scoreboard
For the marketing buffs on the internet this site will be tracking the social media performance of the Olympics sponsors. The score is based on some highly complicated algorithms that look at brands popularity, engagement, receptiveness, reach, and trust.
5. London Join In App
This App for Apple and Android will help Olympic enthusiasts follow the travels of the torch and the location of events happening in London. It is made to help people in London, but also anyone who cannot make it to feel as close as possible to the games.
7. NBC Olympics Apps and Website
NBC will have full live screening of every Olympic event online but will also include two different Apps for people to enjoy. The first App is the NBC Olympics App where users will be able to do many of the same things as the London App’s but within a NBC-made App. The second App is the NBC Olympics “Live Extra” App where you can watch live video streams and full replays of every event.
The Olympics are always exciting, but with the recent growth of the internet and social media the competing nations will be closer together than ever before.
Here at Demi & Cooper we’ve been using QR codes in our campaigns for quite some time, but there’s still a bit of mystery attached to them. Marketing and advertising firms have jumped at the chance to utilize these codes for their work, but many fail to be successful. Here are six tips for creating a quick response code that will appeal to customers and gain traffic more efficiently.
1. Make it Readable - A QR code should be at least 3/4 inch squared for a print advertisement. Make sure to test the code for readability with your own devices before mass production. 2. Make it Mobile - According to Mashable.com 99.9% of QR codes are scanned by a mobile device. If the landing page is not a mobile site, you are wasting your consumers time as well as your own. 3. Choose Placement Wisely – Make sure that wherever your QR code is going to be seen is located near a mobile hot spot with Wi-Fi or your code will be rendered useless. 4. Give Instructions - It may seem silly, but telling your target audience to scan the code and how will help rule out any technical difficulties. Telling them what they are going to gain from scanning the code will also give added value to the customer. 5. Make it Unique - If the code is going to take the consumer to a landing page they have seen before or can easily google, don’t bother. The best codes offer something unique to the consumer such as a coupon, time-sensitive or secret information, high definition content, free stuff and more. 6. Utilize Analytics – Be sure to link the landing page of your QR code to a reporting program such as Google Analytics, so you can decipher why a conversion was or was not made after the code has been scanned.
It’s often said that those who peak during junior high are in for a sad existence. Luckily for me, I most certainly did not peak in middle school. While all the cool kids were wearing Tommy Hilfiger apparel and trying to smoke cigarettes (and failing), I was living a naive, sweatpants-clad existence.
I was able to accrue a few solid friendships thanks to my ability to play sports, but I was never part of the junior high in crowd, which started and ended with the clothes you wore.
After watching that iPhone ad at the top of the page for the first time, memories of junior high flooded my brain. I was not then, nor am I now a part of the cool kids club, and I won’t be until I open my wallet for the Apple-developed cover charge.
I’m due for a phone upgrade, and I’ve been mulling over my next purchase for a little while. After watching that ad, I just may veer away from Apple.
If you feel compelled to type SOUR GRAPES!!! in all caps, feel free to do so in the comments. And if you’re pitying me because I’ll never know the thrill of paying for coffee with an iPhone, you needn’t worry. I’m sure Android will suit me just fine.
Big news at Demi & Cooper! We recently launched a mobile website for Sherman Health that was built for the burgeoning smartphone community. The new mobile site allows on-the-go visitors to find a Sherman location, physician or patient room. On top of that, visitors can view floorplans, send an eCard or find things to do in the area. Visit shermanhealth.com on your phone to access it. Or, click on this link to see Sherman Hospital’s mobile website in the DC Interactive Group portfolio.
So what sparked the creation of the mobile site?
This idea began when we examined how visitors accessed shermanhealth.com. Analytics showed that when we compare the last six months (October through March) to the same months the year prior, iPhone browser visits (the most popular smartphone browser to access our site) jumped over 700% from one year to the next.
Starting in November, Google created a separate segment that shows mobile devices that visit a site (which gives you an idea of how important mobile devices are becoming). And even when we compare November, the first available month of data for all smartphone devices, to last month, mobile device users jumped 116%.
Tied into the mobile website launch are new billboard ads that simply state “Smartphone. Meet smart healthcare.” It’s a whole new way to view Sherman Health, providing a wealth of information in the palm of the hand.
The 2012 Summer Olympics will be a bit different than in past years. Since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the number of people that have access to the internet has increased by over 50%, from 1.5 to 2.3 billion according to the International Telecommunication Union. That’s a third of the global population. 
Big news at Demi & Cooper! We recently launched a mobile website for Sherman Health that was built for the burgeoning smartphone community. The new mobile site allows on-the-go visitors to find a Sherman location, physician or patient room. On top of that, visitors can view floorplans, send an eCard or find things to do in the area. Visit 
Starting in November, Google created a separate segment that shows mobile devices that visit a site (which gives you an idea of how important mobile devices are becoming). And even when we compare November, the first available month of data for all smartphone devices, to last month, mobile device users jumped 116%.
Tied into the mobile website launch are new billboard ads that simply state “Smartphone. Meet smart healthcare.” It’s a whole new way to view Sherman Health, providing a wealth of information in the palm of the hand.
