Abrams Research

By Michael Langman and the AR Team Over the past month,...

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:21:53 -0400

By Michael Langman and the AR Team

Over the past month, UEFA’s EURO Tournament has been generating tons of buzz across the social web. Featuring some the world’s most celebrated and recognizable national teams, it’s easy to see why the EURO qualifies as the world’s second-biggest soccer. Yet heading into this week’s semifinal matches, the two favorites, Germany and Spain, presented an odd contrast. Spain, the reigning champions, had generated more conversation on Twitter than any other team, while Germany, one of the early favorites to win the tournament, had generated the least.

On its surface, the lack of discussions surrounding the German side may seem strange. The Germans play a highly enjoyable brand of football, one that had led the tournament in scoring entering this week, and the team breezed through arguably the toughest competition to get to this point - they emerged from the so-called Group of Death, which featured well-regarded teams from the Netherlands and Portugal, without so much as a tie.

The reason illustrates an important fact about social media, which is that a brand’s overall ability to drive conversation is deeply reliant on the popularity of its individual parts. Out of the top ten EURO 2012 players on Twitter, five of them play for the Spanish national team. Many of the players on the Spanish national team play for top clubs in the wildly popular Premier League, arguably the most famous soccer league in the world. By contrast, almost all of the German talent plays in the Bundesliga, an extremely competitive (but far less widely watched) league in Germany.

The global popularity of the Premier League is largely responsible for the other reason Spain has created so much buzz: athlete marketing. Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas has graced the cover of GQ, defender Gerard Piqué is dating the global pop icon Shakira, and midfielder Xabi Alonso is a spokesman for Hugo Boss. In short, the Spanish national team is filled with international celebrities, while the German team is not.

So for all the attention paid to to the peaks and valleys of Twitter conversation during matches, the real work that goes into winning on social media happens before the big game. It’s about cultivating and leveraging the connections you already have.

For sports fans, the second screen isn’t just an...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 19:12:03 -0400

For sports fans, the second screen isn’t just an enrichment of the TV-watching experience. It has become an integral part of it.

Game Five of the 2012 NBA Finals generated 6.31 million social media comments, the third-highest total of the year, a number that in some sense confirms what other statistics have been demonstrating for a while; 83% of sports fans, for example, will check social media platforms while watching a game on television. With that level of participation and engagement, such a high volume of posts isn’t much of a surprise. What is surprising, however, is the breadth of conversations that appear to be taking place.

The best indication of this variety can be found in this infographic’s sentiment analysis. According to Bluefin’s data, most of the conversations taking place around Game Five were sentiment-neutral. Granted, sentiment analysis has a ways to go before it can be considered wholly reliable, as social media listening tools still have trouble parsing double meanings, detecting irony or sarcasm, etc.

But the vasty majority of the narratives that surround sporting events tend to have very clearly defined moral parameters, with big clear expanses of black and white: “Is Lebron going to be clutch tonight, or will he choke in the fourth quarter?” ; “Is Russell Westbrook helping the Thunder, or hurting them?” ; “Are the Miami Heat redeemed, or not?” As such, it’s almost shocking that more posts didn’t show more feelings.

There is plenty that one could take away from that big, grey middle ground, but there’s one thing that is unmistakably positive: social media is now integral to the sports-watching experience, and there will be plenty for franchises, athletes, and sports brands to talk about.

In its first 24 hours, Facebook’s “Like”...

Thu, 24 May 2012 15:35:56 -0400

In its first 24 hours, Facebook’s “Like” button earned 1 billion impressions; amazing to think that it all came out of a developer platform launched just a few years before. via Mashable

In just three years, tablets went from unknown quantity to a...

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:54:10 -0400

In just three years, tablets went from unknown quantity to a device owned by 19% of U.S. adults.

(via Poynter)

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:02:48 -0400

(via Poynter)

As Klout expands its attempts to drive use of its service, we...

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:41:00 -0400

As Klout expands its attempts to drive use of its service, we may see more cross-platform attempts to get people to share, tweet and pin, but few will be as tidy as this Pinterest strategy.

Earlier this week, it was reported that digital ad spending by...

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:21:59 -0400

Earlier this week, it was reported that digital ad spending by candidates in the 2012 presidential race was up 700% from 2008 levels.

Today, comscore has a little gem about where some of the money goes, with the Romney campaign making a significant investment in social, most likely in an attempt to eat away at the overwhelming advantage that the Obama campaign currently enjoys in that space.

Romney’s campaign clearly has the funds to make an investment of this size, but does he have the right strategy? We’ll know more in a couple of months.

Millennials worry how connectivity will impact our future via...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:53:28 -0400

Millennials worry how connectivity will impact our future via Mashable.

Nice to have something that dispels the notion that social is...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:24:47 -0400

Nice to have something that dispels the notion that social is just for B2C. (via AllTwitter)

The Role of Mobile Devices, Social Media in News Consumption via...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:16:23 -0400

The Role of Mobile Devices, Social Media in News Consumption via Mediashift & Pew Project For Excellence in Journalism

#memories (via AllTwitter)

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:40:54 -0400

#memories

(via AllTwitter)

The top 10 sites Pinterest refers to, or proof that the platform...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:41:03 -0400

The top 10 sites Pinterest refers to, or proof that the platform is still dominated by a certain demo. (via Hitwise)

It’s amazing to think that GIFs have been around for 25...

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:00:33 -0500

It’s amazing to think that GIFs have been around for 25 years. Check out this history of the file format, and get excited about cinemagraphs! (PBS, via Mashable)

Even though they’ve grown up with them, the youngest users...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:30:47 -0500

Even though they’ve grown up with them, the youngest users have reservations about putting sensitive financial information out there via mobile: 66% of 12-24 year olds don’t want brands to know their whereabouts, 27% wouldn’t purchase an item through their phones due to “security concerns,” and 56% fear for their credit cards. Via Mashable & Sam Laird

Just How Big is Twitter in 2012? via AllTwitter & Shea...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:38:17 -0500

Just How Big is Twitter in 2012? via AllTwitter & Shea Bennett

Proof that social, for all its crazy growth, represents a much...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:32:00 -0500

Proof that social, for all its crazy growth, represents a much smaller portion of the smartphone experience than commerce.

This is all hypothetical, of course, but imagine all the hay Amazon could make with the data that smartphones provide about their owners! (via AllThingsD)

Twitter, Facebook and the Social Sports Fan via AllTwitter &...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:57:58 -0500

Twitter, Facebook and the Social Sports Fan via AllTwitter & Shea Bennett

Recruiters are using LinkedIn and Twitter (but not Facebook) via...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:34:00 -0500

Recruiters are using LinkedIn and Twitter (but not Facebook) via AllTwitter & Shea Bennett

thenextweb: (via Smartphone OSes In Three Way Tie Among Global...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:42:46 -0500

thenextweb:

(via Smartphone OSes In Three Way Tie Among Global Information Workers | Forrester Blogs)

Get ready to step your community management game up: online...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:36:50 -0500

Get ready to step your community management game up: online research communities could grow up to 52% in the coming year.