Archive

Tuesday, December 16

Bookmark and Share
Video can be worth it (and how Spark helps)

SNL has seen plenty of Web success since the 2008 Presidential Election.

During the election, America saw a revival of Saturday Night Live. But most Americans didn’t watch Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin on TV - they saw it online.

Posting videos clips from shows or commercials can be profitable, especially on YouTube.

According to the New York Times, only three percent of the videos on YouTube are profiting through their partner program… but those that are making money could be stacking cash to the ceiling.

YouTube declined to comment on how much money partners earned on average, partly because advertiser demand varies for different kinds of videos. But a spokesman, Aaron Zamost, said “hundreds of YouTube partners are making thousands of dollars a month.” At least a few are making a full-time living: Mr. Buckley said he was earning over $100,000 from YouTube advertisements.

Spark makes tracking online video simple. For most video sites, we embed the video and related statistics directly in the Site Details page.

You can monitor your online video efforts and UGC without leaving our application.

Published
by  
whitney
 
on December 16, 2008
in Content Of Interest and Industry Buzz
. 0 Comments
Monday, December 15

Bookmark and Share
New ways to sort semantics

Our tech team is constantly rolling out improvements and upgrades to our software, Spark. We recently added a feature that’s especially useful.

Now, you can apply different filters to the Semantic Cloud. One of my favorite options is the Filter by Site Type.

For example, say you only want to see the top 100 words used on social networking Nodes (conversational sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter).

Select the Social Network filter and you get a new cloud. Notice the differences between the images below? The one on the left has no filters and the one on the right is just social networks.

This gives you a better idea of the words your audience is actually using to discuss a topic by filtering out corporate and news language.
Published
by  
whitney
 
on December 15, 2008
in Company News and Content Of Interest
. 0 Comments

Bookmark and Share
Case Study: The Ugly Sweater Party

Photos by Zachary Cobb

Often times I hear “so your software is just for big businesses, right?” And then my brain explodes.

No! Spark’s capabilities are very diverse. It can work many different ways for many different purposes, from the largest corporation to… let’s say… small local charity benefits.

Oh wow - I just planned a small local charity benefit in Kansas City. Weird coincidence.

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party began as a keg party amongst friends at the University of Kansas four years ago, and this year we turned it into a benefit for Operation Breakthrough. Because we wanted the money to stay in KC, nearly everything at the party was from a local business (venue, beer, auction items… even the ice luge).

For this case study, I used Spark to point out our strengths and weaknesses in marketing the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. I want to show the benefits of using Spark on a smaller scale.

Node Categories

More than 77 percent of the Ecosystem consists of blogs and social networks.

More than 77 percent of the Ecosystem consists of blogs and social networks.

Knowing that KC has a strong social media community, Ramsey and I used our online influence to spread word about the benefit.

We focused on sites like Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and our personal blogs, which is why the Blog and Social Network categories make up over 77 percent of this Ecosystem.

Next year, we should expand the “News” area. The benefit was a hit, but we could create more demand if we had put together an official media release package. I noticed that one of the news organizations that mentioned the party didn’t even know our Web site… which was the only place to purchase tickets. That’s a big weakness I discovered through Spark.

Semantic Cloud

The Semantic Cloud lists the most popular words on all of the Nodes in an Ecosystem. The words in large font are used most frequently.

The 100 most frequently used words in the Ecosystem.

The 100 most frequently used words in the Ecosystem.

According to the Semantic Cloud, we didn’t mention our beneficiary enough. Operation Breakthrough doesn’t appear anywhere on the list of the top 100 words. Neither does our venue, Tower Tavern.

Some words I do like are:

  • Benefit
  • Community
  • Donation
  • Giving
  • Helping
  • KU (go Jayhawks!)
  • Poverty

Next year we should reword every Tweet and blog post. The data shows me we didn’t effectively communicate the purpose behind the benefit.

Sentiment

Only a few people have posted reviews of the party, but they were all “Very Positive.” I remembered running into one local blogger who wrote about the party:

“If I knew the date for KC Sweater Party, I would mark it on my calendar right now. It was such a blast, and awesome knowing that all the money went to Operation Breakthrough - I think it was over $5k that was raised. Incredible.”

Virtualization

Since October 1, 2008, there have been over 180 mentions of the party online. Of those 180 Nodes, 56 are linking directly to the Web site for the party (created by Digital Evolution Group).

Watch the video below to watch Spark visualize these connections.

This was the first year for this party as a benefit, and it was a smashing success. Tickets were beyond sold out and we raised thousands of dollars for Operation Breakthrough. Next year, we can use this information to improve our planning and marketing strategies and raise more money for the organization.

Engage with us to learn about getting this type of data for your company.

Published
by  
whitney
 
on December 15, 2008
in Case Studies, Content Of Interest, Resources and Shared Content
. 0 Comments
Thursday, December 11

Bookmark and Share
Who do you trust?

Recent Forrester research says that attempts at blogging in the corporate world are an epic fail when it comes to gaining consumer trust.

Most company blogs remain stale, lifeless, selfish attempts at public relations. I feel like many corporate blogs (Spiral16 excluded, of course) are glorified billboards.

Only 16 percent of consumers trust what they read on a corporate blog.

Who do consumers trust online? E-mail from friends and family ranked first at 77 percent, followed by reviews (think Amazon.com), search engines and social networks.

Where do you go for trusted information online?

Published
by  
whitney
 
on December 11, 2008
in Content Of Interest and Industry Buzz
. 0 Comments
Wednesday, December 10

Bookmark and Share
Case Study: Ohhh sweet blog of miiiine

Disclaimer: The following blog post contains some language that may be offensive to some readers. Because our software does not filter profanity… and this case study is on Guns N’ Roses… a few four-letter words are part of the research.

******

When Guns N’ Roses began working on their latest album, Chinese Democracy, I was 10 years old.

It was also the year that Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were murdered, Tony Blair became Prime Minister of Great Britain and the Buffalo Bills were in the Super Bowl (whaa?)

It was 1994.

Their fans have been waiting over half of my life for this CD, so it seemed like an obvious choice for a case study. The hardest-rocking-turned-up-to-11 case study ever. I wanted to see what fans were actually saying about an album that was practically an urban myth until Nov. 23, 2008.

I’m also going to try and use as many bad GNR puns as possible… so have a little paaayyyshunce… yeaaaah (cue whistling). That’s one.

Keep in mind that this case study is a sampling of information. I pulled in 137 Nodes (separate Web pages) mentioning Chinese Democracy using a few different queries. While not scientific, I feel it’s an accurate representation of what’s out there.

Live and Let Pie

To the right is our Relative Insight Scenario Spread chart. It breaks down the types of Nodes in the Ecosystem into categories. In this case, a wide variety of categories are represented with various percentages.

Everyone is talking about Chinese Democracy. From legit news organizations and music magazines to random forums, blogs and social networks.

If Axl wanted plenty of attention for waiting Dakota Fanning’s lifespan to release this project - he got it.

The two largest categories - Reviews and Social Networks - contain the bulk of the sentiment, or positive or negative reactions to the album (we’ll get to that in a minute). Nodes in these categories represent sites like Twitter, MySpace, personal blog reviews and professional critics.

P.S. Live and Let Pie! Get it? Like Live and Let Die but it’s a pie chart! No? Mmmk…

Tagxl Rose

The Semantic Cloud lets you see the language that people are using to talk about your company or product. The cloud consists of the most popular words found on the Nodes in an Ecosystem.

The most frequently used words have largest font. It’s basically a giant tag cloud (hence Tagxl Rose - props to my friend Ryan for coming up with that one.)

Our software does not censor or filter out profanity. Though it can be offensive, it can also be valuable - especially when you’re talking rock. Judging by this cloud, there are some pretty strong feelings about Chinese Democracy.

It’s worth noting that former GNR guitarists Slash (1985-1996) and Buckethead (2000-2004) are mentioned on 61 of the 137 Nodes. What’s interesting to me is that Slash is mentioned more frequently than Buckethead, yet he doesn’t play on the album.

Where the Nodes are green and the girls are pretty

What is a rock album without reviews? That’s where Spark could be invaluable to recording artists.

Spark brought back relevant reviews from professional critics, but also from personal blogs, forum comments and Twitter “reviews.”

While Chinese Democracy had a reputation for being a monumental disappointment, the Nodes that Spark found showed an equal number of people either really loved or really hated the album. Maybe the positive reviews weren’t reaching the right people?

I have to admit some of the negative reviews were creative. One of my favorites:

The idea that “Chinese Democracy” had actually been released was like finding a unicorn in the middle of the woods. But upon closer inspection, the unicorn was nothing more then a donkey with a pine cone atop its head.

Another fav:

This is the mythical burrito microwaved by God that’s so hot, God Himself cannot eat it.

Virtualization

Finally, take a look at how the Chinese Democracy Ecosystem grows in Spark’s Virtualization engine. This is a 3D, interactive map of the Ecosystem. Here are a few guidelines:

  • Each dot represents a single Node in the Ecosystem.
  • Red and green dots are negative and positive sentiment, respectively.
  • Lines connecting the Nodes are pages that link to each other. Most of the connections you see are to the GNR MySpace and fan pages.

Chinese Democracy was easily one of the most anticipated rock albums ever, but judging by this data, GNR didn’t take advantage of social media to expand their fan base. After all, teens with buying power weren’t even born when they released their last album.

Want this type of data for your company? Engage with Spiral16.

Published
by  
whitney
 
on December 10, 2008
in Case Studies, Content Of Interest, Resources and Shared Content
. 0 Comments
Tuesday, December 2

Bookmark and Share
Holiday Logos

It’s after Thanksgiving, which means it’s officially OK to discuss the “holiday season.”

Ian made us some cool S16 holiday logos. I am using the black one as my desktop image. Thought I’d share the goodies!


Published
by  
whitney
 
on December 2, 2008
in Creative In The Works, Photo Galleries and Shared Content
. 0 Comments

Bookmark and Share
Life, liberty & free wireless

USA Today reported on Tuesday that the FCC will vote on nationwide, free broadband on Dec. 18 - the last FCC meeting before President-Elect Obama takes office.

If it passes, it will end two years of debates and free broadband could be a reality within a year.

How would it work? The FCC will auction off a chunk of currently idle airwaves. The auction winner must use 25 percent of those airwaves to provide free broadband, but can also provide faster speeds for a price.

The FCC would put some restrictions on the auction winner, including an adult content filter. You can remove the filter if you prove you are over age 18.

Giving every American free access to high-speed Internet would revolutionize information sharing and begin to close the technology gap between rich and poor, rural and (sub)urban.

Also, I could G-chat on road trips.

Published
by  
whitney
 
on December 2, 2008
in Content Of Interest and Industry Buzz
. 1 Comment
Monday, December 1

Bookmark and Share
Case Study: Diversity in College Coaching

Kansas State University recently fired Ron Prince after two and a half lackluster seasons as head coach.

The firing of both Prince and Washington’s Ty Willingham leaves only four black coaches in the FBS: Turner Gill of Buffalo, Randy Shannon of Miami, Sylvester Croom of Mississippi State and Kevin Sumlin of Houston.

According to a study by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida, this is the lowest number of minority coaches in 15 years.

Nearly 40 percent of this Ecosystem is news organizations.

Nearly 40 percent of this Ecosystem is news organizations.

We used our Spark software to do a quick sampling on the reach of the TIDES report. In a few days, Aaron and I pulled in 224 Nodes (Web sites) mentioning the report or Dr. Richard Lapchick (the report’s co-author).

Just by looking at the Relative Insight Scenario Spread - a graph in Spark that organizes sites into categories - you can tell that TIDES and Dr. Lapchick are newsmakers.

Of the 255 Nodes mentioning the report or TIDES, nearly 40 percent of them are news organizations.

Blogs are the most prominent conversational category, with nearly 17 percent of Nodes. If you add in social networks and bookmarking sites, about 19 percent of the Ecosystem consists of these conversational sites.

Another huge chunk of this graph is the Company/Organization category. These Nodes consist of mostly University of Central Florida and TIDES pages.

The Semantic Cloud shows the most frequently used words in an Ecosystem.

The Semantic Cloud shows the most frequently used words in an Ecosystem.

In the Semantic Cloud, we can see the most frequently used words in the entire Ecosystem.

This tool helps us understand the language that people are using to talk about a specific topic.

In this case, there are not many surprises. Words associated with diversity, sports, gender and minorities are part of the list.

Also appearing are the words Obama and president - showing that journalists and creators associate this topic closely with the election of the country’s first black president.

In the Virtualization video, you can see a  small cluster of connections in the center of the 3D map. Those Nodes are mostly pages from the University of Central Florida and TIDES.

Only eight Nodes displayed obvious sentiment about the TIDES report.

Only eight Nodes displayed obvious sentiment about the TIDES report.

These “Company/Organization” sites link to each other, and to a few blogs or Web sites.

Most of the Nodes in this Virtualization are from news organizations.

Surprisingly, there was not an overwhelming amount of sentiment related to this topic. Out of the 224 Nodes surveyed, only eight showed any positive or negative reaction to the study.

That’s 3.5 Percent.

In this Ecosystem, the story comes from the amount of news organizations covering TIDES’ report - not necessarily the amount of connections or links between a few influential Nodes.

The timing of the release (just after the election and Prince’s firing at KSU) made this information newsworthy. If the goal in releasing this report was to get exposure and generate discussion… mission accomplished.

Find this type of data for your company by engaging with Spiral16.

Published
by  
whitney
 
on December 1, 2008
in About Us, Case Studies, Content Of Interest and Shared Content
. 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 25

Bookmark and Share
Spira16 Video Changes

DSCN0028We are in the process of doing a series for demo videos to explain how Spark software works - and how you will benefit from various updates.

Here is a sketch and breakdown of the next changes, and what we will be adding to the eight video segments.

We post these sketches because it shows the process from illustration to finished product.

Many of our best work starts by sketching on anything we can get our hands on - from marketing elements to product enhancements.

Ultimately, we are a creative minded software company that pulls from diverse backgrounds to produce something special.

Published
by  
stuart
 
on November 25, 2008
in Creative In The Works and Works In Progress
. 0 Comments
Friday, November 21

Bookmark and Share
Thanksgiving Week Eye Candy

It’s 4:47 p.m. on Friday, and I’m on vacation all of next week. I thought I’d fill your computer screens with some eye candy before I go!

I’ve been tracking the social media efforts of the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party benefit my friends and I are planning. I’ll do an entire postmortem after the party in mid-December, but for now…

Take a look at this quick Virtualization to see how our buzz has grown since October (while I watch the clock tick to 5:30!)

We started with just one or two Web sites at the beginning of November. In the past week it’s shot up to 52 separate pages mentioning the benefit!

Published
by  
whitney
 
on November 21, 2008
in Content Of Interest, Creative In The Works, Outside the Office and Shared Content
. 0 Comments