On December 1, 2008, AdAge featured an article by Bob Garfield called Widgets Are Made for Marketing, So Why Aren’t More Advertisers Using Them? Southwest Airlines, the article explains, created the “Ding” widget which allows Southwest Airline flyers to receive fare information on flights that interest them. It sits on the users desktop, without frequent aggravation, but will “Ding” if a flight they are interested in becomes available. Paul Sacco, the senior manager for online strategy and development for Southwest Airlines said, “After the first year, we hit the 2 million mark for downloads, and it’s still performing.” In the third quarter of 2008, Ding generated 10 million clicks. Garfield makes an excellent comparison of pre-Web 2.0 and post Web 2.0 when he says that branded widgets are, “the refrigerator magnets of the Brave New World.” Furthermore, Garfield illuminates why widgets should be the new right hand man of marketers because they are incredibly inexpensive to distribute (Michael Lazerow, CEO of branded-application house Buddy Media, New York, says, “It [widget] is so cheap. This is the steal of the century,”) free to the user, personalized, easy to use, and they carry a specific message everywhere they go.

Briefly I would like to pay homage to Bob Garfield’s top picks for recent branded widgets that appear to work (and encourage readers to check out):

Miles: a 3D desktop avatar created by Tribal DDB that encourages you to run, and keeps track of your progress through the Nike Plus technology. Miles also informs you of local weather, running events, promotions. Miles is also iPod compatible.

InStyle’s Hollywood Hair Makeover: widget created by Buddy Media that allows you to take hairstyles from your favorite celebrities and superimpose them onto pictures of yourself.

CokeTags: A Facebook application by Advance Guard and Linkstorm that itemizes your favorite online links, and allows you to see who is visiting the sites you include.

The future of widgets: downside

The information below is a direct reference to Bob Garfield’s article:

*  Nonstandardization. There are lots of incompatible platforms: desktop, iGoogle, mobile, Facebook, MySpace, etc. Pending software-code universality, you must create half-dozen or more versions of every widget.
* Dubious relevance to low-interest categories. What makes perfect sense for Johnnie Walker and Nike may not necessarily apply to Charmin.
* Cost. While the cost of creating a widget is enticingly small, and the cost of distributing one is low compared with media advertising, the price tag is also typically open-ended, thus hard to budget for.
* Scale. There is only so much space on a desktop or a Facebook page or a mobile-phone screen. That means the vast majority of marketers are shut out the vast majority of the time.

Based on all the information gathered, it appears as though widgets have become an effective new tool not only for users, but for marketers as well. NewsWeek deemed 2007 “the year of the widget,” and whether on the web, desktop, or phone, widgets are populating our fast-paced, technology world. In the future, innovators will take the standard widget that we are familiar with now, and more accurately optimize it for the Web 2.0 world.

First of all- what exactly is a widget? Since the creation of the term, the widget has expanded to mean many different things. Originally, a widget was simply a small, mechanical device. Since this initial introduction of the word, widgets have been explained as something that, “displays information and invites the user to act in a number of different ways,” or as a, “piece of self-contained code — a small application actually, that opens up a doorway to a much larger application,” or furthermore, to those informed in programming lingo, “the part of a GUI that allows the user to interface with the application and operating system”. Please see source here.

Second- where can widgets be found? Widgets have a host of different uses including but not limited to: desktop widgets, web widgets, and mobile widgets.

Desktop widgets

Desktop widgets, simply put are widgets that are hosted on, and run on your desktop. More specifically desktop widgets, “enable the user to view on demand, capsuled information from predetermined data sources. Ideally, a desktop widget must present personalized content, based on the user’s preferences. It is supposed to beam the most important information that a user requires on a day-to-day basis. Most of the desktop widgets are available as free downloads from the vendors’ Web sites”. There are four primary places in which desktop widgets have emerged: Apple Dashboard, Microsoft Windows Vista Sidebar, Google Desktop Gadgets, and Yahoo! Widgets (Konfabulator). Desktop widgets are unique from web widgets because they run outside of a browser. They, “blur the line between the web and the desktop by pulling the content out of the browser and integrating it into your desktop”. Early examples of desktop widgets were the calculator and alarm clock. Since then, desktop widgets have expanded to include anything from local movie listings and times to alcoholic-beverage creators with full-on descriptions of what is contained within popular cocktail drinks.

Web Widgets

Web widgets have several other names such as, gadget, badge, module, webjit, capsule, snippet, mini and flake. “The first known web widget, Trivia Blitz, was introduced in 1997. It was a game applet offered by Uproar.com (the leading online game company from 2000 – 2001) that appeared on over 35,000 websites ranging from Geocities personal pages to CNN and Tower Records”. See source here. Widgets often take the form of on-screen tools (clocks, event countdowns, auction-tickers, stock market tickers, flight arrival information, daily weather etc). Web widgets today are the most commercially exploited of all widget forms because of their ability to promote virility and interactivity. Probably the most recognizable use of web-based widgets is on the social networking site Facebook. Applications, as they are called on Facebook, have gotten mixed signals from social networkers because of their unique usages that are often seen fun, yet apart from the original intentions of what a social networking site should be. Bumper stickers, which appears to be a fad that came and went, is an application that allow networkers to send virtual “stickers” to their friends to add a more personal look to their page. Other Facebook examples include: We’re Related (an application that let’s you claim family members,) Fan sites (that offer facts, game schedules, team updates, etc…,) Quizzes (determine which alcoholic beverage, show character, past life identity, etc…,) the list could go on.

Mobile Widgets

Mobile widgets are similar to desktop widgets except for the fact that, SURPRISE, they are intended for your mobile device. With mobile widgets sometimes a widget engine is required, while in other instances, you may be required only to point your mobile browser to a special URL to access the widget. In Goozeberry’s blog posting called “Where mobile widgets come alive- easily, he says, “Much like desktop widgets, for your phone you can find: clocks, BBC News, Sudoku, Wikipedia, Digg, engadget, flickr, technorati, et al. So in addition to plain RSS-reader type widgets, some have simple functionality (games, chatting, email, etc)”.

As stated in a previous post, 60% of iPhone users surf the web at least once a day. With web accessibility nearly everywhere, and obvious enthusiasm about the idea of being “always connected” via cell phone amongst users, mobile widgets are one of many ways people will organize the information they receive, and create a better online/offline experience via phone. For marketers, widgets are a way to create highly personalized messages, and cater them to users directly through their mobile devices.

Widget Metrics

Metrics provide marketers and advertisers with detailed information about the content they create. Although the numbers are sometimes confusing, and the statistics misleading, it is commonplace for companies to request this type of information to determine whether or not a particular execution was successful. Since the introduction of widgets, research companies have been attempting to nail down the needed metrics to accurately detail a widgets livelihood. For now, widget metrics appear to be broken down loosely into four categories: internal metrics (analytics gathered within the widget,) external metrics (analytics about the widget’s surrounding area,) multichannel metrics (the various formats of a particular widget,) and viral metrics (metrics regarding when the widget or information from the widget is sent to someone else). It appears as widgets gain popularity the analytic techniques will become more efficient and effective.

HipCricket is probably the most exciting new advertising agency out there. Established in 2004, HipCricket is a “deeply experienced mobile marketing partner” who righteously brags about creating over 24,000 mobile marketing campaigns, as well as generating revenue for over 100 broadcast stations. The name, which stems from U.K slang for cell phones that ring off the hook (hipcrickets,) makes light of their knowledge of the mobile market. HipCricket explains their staff works 24/7, a claim they “dare” questioners to test by texting their agency at any hour of the day or night. Even more impressively, the company explains they can create a customized campaign within fourty eight hours. With customers in many different media outlets: radio (Kiss FM, KUBE Seattle, and Press Communications,) television (Cobalt-WKRG, The Challenge KNBC, Nissan KTBS,) and brands such as (Staples, Chevy AVEO,) HipCricket is ready to help anyone looking to reach people via this new market make a memorable impact.

I believe HipCricket is one of many companies that will see exponential growth as the mobile market becomes more fertile for advertising. Particularly with minority audiences who are known to be early adopters of new technologies, the mobile market is the key for reaching many who don’t feel touched by traditional advertising.

The biggest and certainly most dangerous consequence is text messaging while driving.

Sign posted at high school

 In recent polls, 20% of people text message while driving, and when isolating the 18-24 age group, that number drastically increases to 66%. Although there have not been any studies determining the percentage of fatal car crashes that occur while drivers are text messaging, police have been examining evidence of text messaging while driving as a major cause of many crashes in the recent years. Most recently, the nation was shaken up when five females, recent high school graduates from Rochester, NY, were killed by colliding into a tracker trailer. Later evidence provided that the driver had been text messaging merely seconds before the fatal crash.

The country has been conflicted about what to do with this information. While 16 states have considered legislation to restrict text messaging while driving, only two have actually prohibited it (Washington and New Jersey.) Bans on text messaging have even lead to more broad bans on cell phone use, with five states making the use of hand-held telephones illegal while driving. For many people, this legislation seems necessary with the overwhelming statistics that find the use of cell phones while driving potentially deadly. For others, it is seen as a limitation of freedom. The ACLU was even reported saying that this ban is discrimination against the youth. 

Other methods to prevent texting while driving has also been employed. States across the nation have been releasing ads showing the dangers of “driving distracted,” terminology that doesn’t single out cell phone use, but also refers to other practices such as applying makeup while driving, listening to incredibly loud music, or interacting with back-seat passengers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted drivers account for almost 80% of all crashes and 65% of near-crashes in the United States. Unfortunately, in that same survey, 59% of polled American drivers did not consider themselves distracted drivers, which leads me to believe that these movements to make drivers aware of the dangers of driving distracted are missing the mark. 

So what works? Do we need to enforce strict anti-texting or anti-cell phone legislation for all drivers? Will education limit the effects of these practices? …Only time will tell.

iPhone. With its sleek design, touch screen, accessibility to the Web, and tons of really cool applications that allow you to do things like track polls, turn your phone into a graphing calculator, and play games, the iPhone has proven itself to be the leader in mobile phones with over an estimated 10 million users. According to a recent survey conducted by Rubicon Consulting, the iPhone user is young, tech-saavy, and an early adopter of new technologies. Not only that, but 60% of iPhone users surf the web at least once a day. While the iPhone has created countless opportunities for its users, it has also opened up new doors for advertisers looking to reach consumers that are “always connected.” Advertising agencies across the country have been working hard to specifically target this audience. Most recently, agencies have been negotiating with Google to provide specialized ads for iPhone searches. Adweek believes these new deals will repurpose all ads for a special mobile experience. Companies such as AbMob,a mobile advertising startup based in San Mateo, California, are beginning to pop up left and right. AdMob, who has signed on brand-name advertisers from Herbal Essences to DirecTV, has already embedded advertisements in multiple applications for the iPhone. AdMob representatives say, “The company’s new rich media ad units designed for the iPhone have been live for just over a month and now has a reach of more than 100 million impressions worldwide each month.” In a recent press release AdMob said, “Ads on the iPhone deliver strong engagement for advertisers with triple, on average, the already high click-through-rates seen on mobile.” While still in the development stages, it is clear that mobile advertising on the iPhone will be a profitable, effective method for reaching consumers.