Add Future Weapons To Your Videos

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Action Movie FX {link no longer active} is an app for iOS devices that lets you add Hollywood FX to movies that YOU shoot! Now with the exclusive Call of Duty: Black Ops II update featuring for future weapons from the game: the Hellstorm missile, EMP, Dragonfire drones and the Claw. All for free!

Select a Scene like the “HELLSTORM MISSILE,” film a target and ACTION MOVIE FX adds an explosive action sequence with CLUSTER BOMBS and HUGE explosions right into your movie! Sound Design By Skywalker Sound!

 

Facebook Brand Pages Get Little Engagement, Study Finds

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A recent study by Napkin Labs found that the Facebook pages of major brands engaged an average of only six percent of their fans over an eight week period. The report analyzed fan engagement on more than 50 brand pages with 200,000 to 1 million Facebook fans each. Engagement was lowest among brands with higher numbers of fans.

It’s common strategy for brands to increase awareness by acquiring more likes, but the study reveals that the influence of one engaged fan versus many inactive fans is more valuable in terms of overall reach. The approach isn’t new, and now there are stats to support it. Napkin Labs found that on average, the engagement of each one of a brand’s 20 most engaged fans is equal to that of 75 average fans.

So how can brands measure overall success

The answer is a higher focus on brands’ core audiences, or what the study calls “super fans,” the most devoted groups of users. These are the people who spend more time interacting; commenting, liking and participating in polls, thereby helping organically increase engagement.

The study comes as a result of some brands reporting diminished reach due to the recent change in Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm that no longer shows brand posts in user news feeds if a user hasn’t recently interacted. The change is being seen as a way for Facebook to boost ad dollars. At the same time, it has presented brands with the challenge of creating more engaging content. Napkin Labs study lends even more credence to creating highly sharable content while at the same time targeting the most influential fans in a brand page community.

“If you can get fans involved, get them talking about the brand, the engagements of each of those fans gets pushed to their friends feeds. So you can actually build more presence in the news feed by engaging your core audience,” said Riley Gibson, co-founder and CEO of Napkin Labs.

Source: Mashable

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How do you think your brand community compares See what others think in this Facebook Poll. {page no longer active}

Facebook Announces ‘Global Pages’ For Brands

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Facebook has announced Global Pages enabling brands to set up a single page and localize it for foreign markets.

“[It is] a new structure that provides the best, localized experiences for a brand’s customers, available to all brands working with Facebook,” said Kelly Winters, Facebook Project Marketing Manager.

With the new page format, Facebook users will be directed to the brand page based on the country where they are based. There they interact with localized versions of everything the brand is featuring, from cover photos, copy and news feed to apps and milestones, while remaining connected to the brand’s global Facebook audience.

On the paid side, ads bought in the U.S. now have the potential to have a global impression. Of course it’s a more costly buy. As one effect, users who click on ads being run in foreign markets will be more likely to understand what’s being sold and what’s the call to action, as clicking on the ad takes them to their localized version of the brand page.

TechCrunch writes, “The new global functionality could be even more powerful for businesses based in countries with more niche languages. Indonesian brands might now pay for ads targeting Americans. This all must have Facebook’s international ads offices in cities like Singapore and Dubai salivating.”

Source: TechCrunch

Stratosphere Jumper Breaks Social Media Barriers

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Felix Baumgartner’s 24-mile skydive on Sunday not only broke five Guinness World Records, it set a few new peaks in social media traffic.

In the U.S., Discovery Channel had exclusivity on broadcasting the event on TV but more than 130 digital outlets streamed it. This may have set the stage for an impressive online showing.

YouTube reported that Baumgartner’s jump set a new record for them, drawing 8 million concurrent video streams. Viewers tuned into YouTube as he ascended in the balloon, and the live cast’s virility grew as the jump drew closer.

Facebook numbers were equally impressive. Red Bull’s Facebook post of a triumphant Felix on his knees after touchdown generated nearly 216,000 likes and more than 10,000 comments less than 40 minutes after posting. During and after the jump, half of the trending topics on Twitter were about the event, surpassing all political and celebrity trending topics.

Hollywood otaku Wil Wheaton tweeted about the jump, “It’s pretty amazing that I can watch, live on my computer, a man riding a balloon to the edge of space so he can jump out of it. #TheFuture.”

Source: Washington Post {link no longer active}

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Which social media platform did you interact with most during the jump? See which fared the best on our Facebook Poll. {link no longer active}

Reditr, The New TweetDeck For Reddit Lovers

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Two students are trying to redefine the way Reddit users navigate the content-packed platform. They’ve developed Reditr, a desktop application with an intuitive column design and fast browsing functionality inspired by the Twitter management tool, TweetDeck.

Reditr launched last Monday after undergoing beta testing through the summer. The app’s goal is to optimize the user experience and change the way people interact with Reddit. Some of the functionalitites include automatic subreddit updates, live notifications and custom columns. Using the app can also put an end to having multiple tabs or windows open to browse.

Reditr is a free extension client that is available for Google Chrome and has a standalone Windows version. Mac users can expect the app in the near future.

The app’s creators Dimitry Vinogradov and David Zorychta say that Reditr was heavily inspired by TweetDeck’s “simplicity and powerful column design.”

Find out more at Mashable.

Frankenweenie Set Tours Are Alive

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Ever wanted to set foot on a movie set?  You’re in luck, because Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie has all new interactive tours that give you a 360-degree view of a working set.  The virtual tours are guided by some of the production’s creative team who are kind enough to explain the process of animating a stop-motion film.  If you look closely, you’ll even notice some new characters and creatures in the film that haven’t been revealed before.

 

Join The Crew

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A new engagement for Argo called “Join the Crew” allows fans to see if they have what it takes to be part of a covert mission given a false identity and a role on a fictitious film crew.

Connect with Facebook (or not) and you will be assigned a specific job based on your personal background. Memorize your new identity in order to pass any potential questioning. Good luck.

Start by answering a series of questions to determine your identity.

Then within 30 seconds memorize your personal details before they are redacted.

Once they are redacted, select from a drop down and choose the proper answers.

 

Facebook’s New, New EdgeRank Algorithm

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More changes to Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm mean another hit to brands’ organic page per post reach but a deeper level of engagement with users, if brands have the cash.

The first announcement of the change came September 25 by Geoffrey Colon, Social@Ogilvy’s VP of Digital Strategy. It has been recently confirmed by a study administered by Socialbakers on October 9.

But the algorithm change hasn’t had a major effect on overall performance. While less is being seen, what is in user news feeds seems to evoke a deeper level engagement. It’s getting there that has gotten more difficult.

The best way to reach audiences seems to be a more sophisticated paid promotion approach with the same social mantra: brands need to know and understand their audience.

Global Managing Director of We Are Social, Robin Grant stated, “Facebook’s changes mean brands need to shift to creating social content that is ‘as engaging as the posts you see from friends and family’ and supplement this with a sophisticated paid promotion strategy.”

Facebook confirms it.

A Facebook spokesperson stated, “We’re continuing to optimize News Feed to show the posts that people are most likely to engage with, ensuring they see the most interesting stories. This aligns with our vision that all content should be as engaging as the posts you see from friends and family.”

Find out more at AdWeek.

Free The Pokemon

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PETA has launched a brand new flash game for concerned animal lovers to check out. Capitalizing on the release of Pokemon Black and White 2 to spread its message, the group has released Pokemon Black and Blue, in which users take on the role of abused Pokemon as they fight to free themselves from their trainers.

The game features Pikachu, Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott, but Pokefans may not immediately recognize them because they’re a lot more battered and bruised than we’re used to seeing them.

A bandaged and bloodied Pikachu, for instance, sports a chain around his neck and has a chunk missing from one of his ears, while Tepig is missing his ears altogether. Snivy has a syringe jutting out of his head and a tag on his tail, and Oshawott has been clearly skinned alive. In other words, it’s probably not the best idea to let your kids around Pokemon Black and Blue if the series is one of their favorite things.