Learn why Facebook's blue and how eBay plans to data-woo advertisers. Get the scoop on paid YouTube subscriptions, a better way to manage B2B expenses, and how Yahoo plans to strong-arm the irony crowd with a winning content deal. Speaking of which, finish up with a children's story about what should be at the heart of your content strategy. Skim for happily ever after!
One-man bandstand. Two weeks ago, Daft Punk's latest single, "Get Lucky," featuring Pharrell Williams, exploded on the internet. For good reason: it's mighty catchy. But since then, appropriations and covers have proliferated in our newsfeeds like a head-bopping zombie contagion. One George Barnett's grabbed the lion's share of attention with his one-man rendition of the song, including vocals and instruments. As of this writing, it's nearly 1.3 million views strong. But if you're looking for something more mellow, there's always this Danish guy "getting lucky" on a flute.
Watch for... paid YouTube subscriptions. In the next few days, Google will roll out its first batch of paid YouTube subscriptions for premium channel partners. Subs may cost $2 per month per channel. The subscriptions would provide a fresh source of revenue for Google, and provide incentive to premium partners to produce higher-quality Web content.
Why so blue, Facebook? It's commonly said that the reason Facebook is blue is that Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind. But Leo Widrich dives into the science of color: how easy brands are to recognize by color alone, and how certain colors make us feel. Blue produces a sensation of trust and security and is highly favored by men and women (which also explains why good salesmen always keep a blue suit handy). Bonus: find out why luxury brands dig black!
Good-bye, expense report. Based on the knowledge that 70% of B2B online transactions involve 2+ decision-makers, the soon-to-launch Apruve makes corporate expenses less headache-y. The system lets you assign a corporate card to multiple employees or freelancers, tracks expenses, and lets you limit where purchases are made—dissolving the hassle of receipt-saving and complicated expense reports, and the danger of emailing your card number to a bunch of different people. (For freelancers who have to track professional purchases on different cards, and who hate preparing expense reports as much as clients hate reading them, try Expensify.)
Selling out to cash in. Remember eBay? Of course you do... vaguely. The auction-based e-shopping site plans to share user data with brands so they can better target consumers on non-eBay sites. To do this, eBay's grouped people into shopper segments, such as those interested in auto, clothing, music, or books. The question is, Will advertisers be as attracted to a bargain-hunting site as they are by a full-priced retailer like Amazon, which now offers the same robust audience-targeting ad options?
Inside MasterCard's conversation suite. Sometimes the best way to disperse social throughout an enterprise is by centralizing it. Here's an inside look into MasterCard's "conversation suite," sporting global teams dedicated exclusively to brand-listening. Efforts are bearing fruit: A study of 85,000 mobile payment conversations found that early adopters are frustrated about acceptance at POS and lack of customer support, while nonadopters are more concerned about security and too many options. As a result, MasterCard created the MasterPass digital wallet. Company heads are also vaunting the collaborative attitude trickling down from "conversation suite" integration.
