"Mirror, mirror on the wall..." While Facebook may not be answering "...who is the fairest of them all," its new Lookalike Audience targeting aims to help marketers answer the question of who "mirrors" the existing target audience. Just a couple of weeks ago Facebook announced that it is now offering Lookalike Audience targeting. As you most likely know, lookalike models can be used to build larger audiences from smaller audience segments to create scale for advertisers at a premium price. Agencies and brands have been testing and successfully using lookalike modeling across networks for quite some time, but this is a new offering available on Facebook. Taking a look back before looking ahead: Custom Audience database In the fall of 2012, Facebook released its Custom Audience database. This allows advertisers to use existing information that they have compiled on their customers -- such as email addresses or phone numbers -- to match to the user's profile on Facebook. The new lookalike modeling takes the Custom Audience database to the next level by allowing advertisers to reach people who "look like" their Custom Audience database. Lookalike Audience targeting on and off of Facebook If we take a step back and look at how we have collected the data to use for lookalike modeling outside of Facebook, it is usually a combination of conversion data mixed with behavioral data. This combination allows advertisers to identify the consumer and what they were doing online before converting to the brand's site. essay writing online The difference with Facebook lookalike targeting is that the attributes that qualify the person to be a lookalike will be the "likes" and interests that they have stated in their profile versus actual behaviors they have shown online. If Facebook released the "likes" and interests being used to build this lookalike model, this would be extremely valuable information to advertisers to help build out targeting models across multiple channels, but this is currently not the case. Facebook will be conducting this lookalike modeling behind the scenes, and the advertiser will not be able to see what classifies the users as a lookalike. What's the verdict? It is important to keep in mind that a person may show on Facebook that they "like" BMW and The Four Seasons Hotels, but if you look at that same person's behavioral data, you would see that it indicates that they have spent time shopping online for Toyota and Best Western hotels. Case in point, just because they "like" something on Facebook doesn't necessarily mean they are in the market to buy it. Keeping this in mind, we hope that Facebook will match many profile points to develop a precise lookalike model that will shape a target audience accurately. If this is the case, then the lookalike targeting on Facebook would be worth testing in addition to lookalike modeling outside of Facebook. This article originally appeared in iMedia Connection on April 1, 2013.

On November 1st, 2012, the Evil AMPire officially declares Stache Wars in Boston. This inter-Boston challenge is not about clients or profits. It's not about accolades or awards. It's about changing the face of men's health for the better. Your mission: sprout the finest face fur and raise the most money to support Movember. Your foe: the Evil AMPire ' a hairy army borne from an ungodly love of stupid puns and a desire to rule the Boston mo-growing realm with an intergalactic kung fu grip. Dare to enter the fray? Here's how: Register your team at https://www.movember.com/us/register/. Encourage your organization's members to register individually and join your team. Email gnelson@ampagency.com or fill out the form below to join the Stache Wars challenge. Grow moustaches. Raise moneys. It takes balls to be the bad guy. And here at the Evil AMPire, we're dead set on keeping ours cancer-free. So gather your state troopers and dandy gentlemen. Rally your grizzly prospectors, surrealist painters and 1970s relief pitchers. Dig deep, ditch your razors and bring your fuzzy rebel scum best. You'll need it. Consider the Movember gauntlet thrown. Let the Stache Wars begin. [gravityform id="6" name="Join the Stache Wars Challenge" description="false" ajax="true"]

Leading up to our Future M session on How the Class of 2016 Will Change the World of Marketing, we conducted a mini-focus group with our college interns to better understand their mindsets. In this post, we asked our interns about the similarities and differences in millennials' on-line and off-line personalities? Are your online + offline identities the same? 'The omnipresence of social media caters to our multifaceted personalities, allowing us to compartmentalize our lives online just like we do offline. My friends can have private and work Facebook accounts, remove vowels from their last names to avoid being searched and secretly follow Justin Bieber on Twitter without ever breathing a word of their secret obsession.'? Proma Huq, PR & Social Media Intern 'My online and offline identities are different, but it is also important to remember that these identities are not mutually exclusive. We all take on different personalities when cheap cialis online interacting with our bosses vs. co-workers vs. friends vs. family. Online, my Facebook personality (which is nearly nonexistent, with a private Facebook wall, and the tightest privacy settings on my photos, etc) is vastly different from my Twitter voice (much more outgoing, open to connecting and conversing with strangers), which is also different from my LinkedIn persona (just friendly enough, but much more professional). It's natural this way. Human beings are complex, multi-faceted creatures, and I would expect that social networks reflect these traits.'? Angelina Zhou, Brand Strategy Intern 'I don't see my online personality different from my offline personality, but I don't think that's always the case. There are some crazy stories about people online vs. what they are like in real life.'? Shandi Mahan-Fortunato, Brand Strategy Intern

A generation ago you were popular if you had 20 friends. You had 'influence'? if you started fashion trends or were able to get a last minute reservation at the latest "it" restaurant. And while one could argue that those definitions still hold true, today's Millennials have completely redefined the framework of social identity. As documented in AMP Agency's recent Psychology of Social study, the age-old human desires of connection, attachment and identity establishment have not changed since the stone age - but the process and manner in which they are achieved has shifted significantly with the rise of social media. We're now enabled to fulfill these basic human needs via our technological capacity to connect through social channels and communities. And it's become a part of everyday identity. Tomorrow's consumer will define him/herself by the brands they like on Facebook, the songs they stream via Spotify, the places they check-in on FourSquare, the people they follow on Twitter, the photos they upload to Instagram and the online identity that they establish early on in life. Someone's social footprint is already a factor in how online daters find their mates, how employers screen potential employees, how universities evaluate applicants and how record companies scan for the next Justin Bieber. So what does it mean for brands? Social is no longer a vertical channel. It must be considered, and likely implemented, across everything a brand does. It is no longer enough to simply create a positive brand experience (a challenge in its own right). It's now about creating positive, shareable brand experiences for consumers while simultaneously helping to facilitate the social sharing of those experiences. As brand identity continues to become an integral part of consumers' individual identities, brands should look for ways to facilitate evangelism and provide on- and off-line status perks to your customers. American Express has done a fantastic job via their Amex Sync programming by offering an incentive to members to link their credit cards with their Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare profiles in return for offers, content and experiences. Not only does it provide their members with immediate savings and the status bump associated with exclusive access but it provides an entry point for the brand to access the valuable real estate of status updates and implied (or in this case, actual) endorsement. Another brand that's done a great job extending social across all consumer touch points and engagements is Nike with their Nike+ Ecosystem. The Nike+ Running app allows users to sync and share their fitness goals and achievements with their social communities, helping to not only track their performance, but also helping to keep them motivated. Nike+ Fuelband's recent integration into Path takes things a step further by allowing Path users to map their progress against their daily activity goals. If you have trouble keeping yourself accountable, now you can rely on the motivation of shared competition (your mom ran more miles than you today?!?) or the pressure of public workout tracking (my girlfriend will know if I skip that workout today). There is tremendous opportunity to further integrate your brand into shared social experiences. Look for opportunities to provide consumers with "status building" status updates and other public badges that can help them build social cache. Allow your brand to help consumers build their individual brand identities.

During the month of October, we're exploring content focused on youth, specifically millennials and the Class of 2016. For our first post, we asked one of our interns, aka a millennial, to provide perspective on how she felt about the Atlantic labeling her a member of the "Cheapest Generation." Read Shandi's rebuttal to this classification below. 'When I was 24 years old, I had a kid, a house, a car, and a job with benefits. You really need to get it together, Shandi. What's wrong with you?'? I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've had this conversation with my parents. Not only does this not help people my age, it angers us. Does Generation X think that we're happy with what little we, the Millennials, have? Do they think we like being compared to Gen X, who seemingly had it all? We don't own cars ' we rent Zipcars. We don't own houses ' we rent tiny apartments in cities with three or so roommates. Twenty years after James Carville said, 'It's the economy, stupid,'? the phrase still rings true. Generations above us see us as being cheap and not investing in the things they bought at our age. We see it as the only choice we have. There is a difference in being cheap and being broke. A commenter on The Atlantic points out, 'Cheap is when you have money and refuse to spend it; frugal is when you don't spend the money you don't have.'? We are frugal. We are broke. We have nothing, other than a mountain of debt and maybe a Smartphone (if we can afford it). There is a common occurrence called 'The Lipstick Effect'?, which is when women spend money on beauty products during a recession. The idea is that people will still buy luxury goods in tough times but will buy goods that don't affect their bank account as greatly (i.e. buying lipstick vs. expensive clothing). Smartphones are the Millennials lipstick. Yes, they cost on average $1,700 a year (according to the Wall Street Journal), but that's less than what an average car costs per year ($8,946 according to AAA) or a mortgage payment (averaging $1,000 a month). When we were growing up, we were told to go to college and we'd get a good job. So we went to college, paid what seemed like a million dollars (hey, it's four times as expensive for a college education now than it was for Gen X), left with tens of thousands of dollars in debt (also ridiculously high when compared to the debt Gen X took out), and all the jobs vanished. On top of all of that, the housing market crashed. We saw our friends and family members get laid off and struggle with months of unemployment. We saw unpaid mortgage payments that led to massive foreclosures throughout the country. And all we could do was cross our fingers and apply to hundreds of jobs that we would never hear back from. If you were a Millennial, would you see buying a car or a house as the most important thing? I doubt it. Trust me, we would LOVE to be able to have those things ' it's just not in the cards right now. We scrape by, doing the best we can. A generation before us rose up above the Great Depression and fought in World War II. Tom Brokaw called them 'the Greatest Generation.'? The Millennials are entering the worst unemployment rates and economic state since the Great Depression. Our coming of age was defined by the September 11th attacks and we barely remember a time when our country wasn't at war. When the Greatest Generation persevered through their tough times, their frugality and self-determination was encouraged. The Millennials, however, are seen as cheap and entitled. There is no reason we should be viewed negatively for the same traits that were once celebrated. We are extremely educated and are already changing the way the world works. Never before has there been a time when a generation has had the ability to communicate the way the Millennials do. We have Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. at our disposal at all times. We can reach millions of people who have the same wants and desires about their future with the click of a button, a creation of a group on Facebook, or a hashtag on Twitter. Mahatma Gandhi said, 'If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.'? We can band together and create a movement to change the future ' for the better. Interested in learning more about millennials? Make sure to register for our MITX Future M session on 'How the Class of 2016 Will Change the World of Marketing?'

What's it like to eat, sleep and breathe technology? Join AMP at FutureM 2012 and ask the incoming class of 2016. In the time it takes you to read this, they have switched electronic devices - twice. They change between 27 content streams per hour. 71% are on Facebook and the majority doesn't watch traditional TV. The Class of 2016 is changing the future of marketing with technology. And you need to know how to reach them. Join Matt Jacobs, Director of Channel Planning, and members of Boston University's Class of 2016 for a panel discussion and insight session about the behavior, preferences and buying patterns of this group of change-makers. Location: Hynes Convention Center Date: Tuesday, October 23rd Time: 2:00-3:30 Session format includes: Presentation from Kenneth Elmore, Dean of Students, Boston University Presentation from Matt Jacobs, Director of Channel Planning, AMP Agency In-depth Student Panel with members of the Class of 2016 FutureM is a week-long event featuring thought-leaders and practitioners in the field of marketing. Use AMP's discount code PT-222 and get 20% off a pass to all FutureM sessions. Are you from out of town? JetBlue is making is easy to get to FutureM. Get 10% off airfare when you enter code 'MITX2012'. Register for FutureM today.

In this week's Insights Lab video, Matt Jacobs, Director of Integrated Marketing, discusses the evolving mobile commerce landscape. He highlights the latest m-commerce technologies redefining the term pay phone: - PayPal's acquisition of card.io - PayPal Here - PayPal's acquisition of Zong - Square - Google Wallet Tweet us @AMP_Agency to let us know what topics you want to hear about!

Based on the nature of today's 0-60 news cycle, I'm assuming that most people reading this post have already seen the headline ' Bus Monitor Bullied by Middle Schoolers ' and the correlating YouTube video which features 10+ minutes of truly ugly, vile behavior as a group of young teenagers verbally taunt and bully 68 year-old bus monitor Karen Klein. If you haven't already seen it, you can find the video here, but be forewarned'?¦ it's incredibly hard to watch. The controversy/buzz surrounding the video has been meteoric. But so has the outpouring of support. And in conjunction, Karen is quickly becoming a household name ' appearing on the Today show this morning and being featured as a lead story across many news outlets including the headline story on CNN.com at the time of this posting. What promises to follow is another (and most definitely a necessary) look at the growing trend of bullying and a slew of perspectives and questions around how to counter the rise of this type of behavior among teens. But what may or may not occur is a broader look at what role the internet played in this story. The internet you ask? Yes. Although the incident occurred on the most non-digital place in the world, a school bus, I believe it was heavily influenced by internet culture and the post-event hysteria has been driven primarily via the web. Here's how: The trajectory of the story ' from online video upload to national news ' occurred because of the shift in how we access news. Rarely do we see major headlines that are the driven by long-term investigative reporting. Instead, we seek immediate, reactive coverage of headlines that are made prominent based solely on the viral nature of the story being passed along. Karen Klein was made a celebrity (for lack of a better term) by the internet. And major news outlets in turn are now telling her story. As cruel as the internet can be, it is also uniquely inspiring. Having been exposed to the YouTube video via Reddit, a gentlemen in Canada decided to setup a group funding site to try to raise $5,000 to send Karen on vacation. He was bothered by the video and wanted to do something nice for her. A pretty simple proposition, but one that likely could not have occurred without web-based donation platforms and simple e-commerce functionality. 24 hours later, more than $300,000 has been pledged to Karen by over 14,000 people. Her vacation is likely to take the form of retirement. The Internet is a wonderfully complex thing. As a digital marketer, it's my life blood. And personally, it's how I consume most content, maintain many relationships and find daily entertainment. Yesterday, I had two drastically contradictory moments with the internet ' one extremely depressing interaction when I watched all 10 minutes of the school bus video, and one ' which I'll hold on to for much longer ' where my faith in humanity was restored when I stumbled upon the inidiegogo fundraising page created for Karen. Have you had any moments with the Internet lately? Was it positive or negative? Leave a comment below and share.

With Facebook's recent IPO, the rumor mill is abuzz with talks about Facebook moving into the smartphone and mobile browser space given the hiring of ex-Apple hardware engineers and the potential purchase of Opera. Additionally, there has been speculation that Facebook may acquire the Israeli facial recognition software, Face.com. Hear Matt Rainone, Senior Manager of AMP's Integrated Marketing Group, discuss these rumors and his thoughts on Facebook's growth strategy. Tweet us @AMP_Agency to let us know what topics you want to hear about!

The 'build it and they will come'? strategy doesn't necessarily apply when it comes to content marketing. We have created some amazing content for our clients, and we want the world to see it. Whether it's informative infographics, stimulating articles or motivating videos, we know that this is valuable information and we need to get it in front of the correct consumers. The connection between brand and consumer has become much more sophisticated and evolved into a deeper relationship. Consumers are looking to trusted brands for information as they view them as leaders in their categories. Therefore, it is so important not only to create relevant and interesting content but to strategically get it in front of the consumer within the right mindset. Our content distribution strategies consist of various tactics: Organic Unpaid syndication Paid efforts So, while many people would like to talk about how digital, social and content marketing can be done for 'free,'? it is important to remember that it often takes a nudge from paid media to get the ball rolling. While our paid media initiatives are often used to drive traffic, increase sales or create awareness, paid seeding or distribution of content is generally used to gain traction and encourage natural sharing of content. How to Have the Right Audience See Your Content Although the paid media and paid seeding are slightly different, a similar approach is used. We want to get in front of the consumer in a relevant and engaging way. There are many ways to go about this. As of late, there are also many 3rd party vendors popping up to help with the challenge (albeit for a price). For example, through paid partners such as AlphaBird, ShareThrough or Viewable Media , we can pay to have our video placed in contextually relevant sites or blogs to be viewed by the right people and not just as pre-roll but as content. Through these efforts, we've not only seen that we receive views from paid initiatives, but they then generate natural views as well through pass along and sharing capabilities. While building amazing content is half the battle, getting the content in front of the consumer and thereby creating a richer valued relationship is the other half. These paid and unpaid distribution initiatives are a critical part of the ever evolving content marketing landscape.Rich Text AreaToolbarBold (Ctrl / Alt + Shift + B)Italic (Ctrl / Alt + Shift + I)Strikethrough (Alt + Shift + D)Unordered list (Alt + Shift + U)Ordered list (Alt + Shift + O)Blockquote (Alt + Shift + Q)Align Left (Alt + Shift + L)Align Center (Alt + Shift + C)Align Right (Alt + Shift + R)Insert/edit link (Alt + Shift + A)Unlink (Alt + Shift + S)Insert More Tag (Alt + Shift + T)Toggle spellchecker (Alt + Shift + N)? Toggle fullscreen mode (Alt + Shift + G)Show/Hide Kitchen Sink (Alt + Shift + Z) FormatFormat? UnderlineAlign Full (Alt + Shift + J)Select text color? Paste as Plain TextPaste from WordRemove formattingInsert custom characterOutdentIndentUndo (Ctrl + Z)Redo (Ctrl + Y)Help (Alt + Shift + H) The 'build it and they will come'? strategy doesn't necessarily apply when it comes to content marketing. We have created some amazing content for our clients, and we want the world to see it. Whether it's informative infographics, stimulating articles or motivating videos, we know that this is valuable information and we need to get it in front of the correct consumers. The connection between brand and consumer has become much more sophisticated and evolved into a deeper relationship. Consumers are looking to trusted brands for information as they view them as leaders in their categories. Therefore, it is so important not only to create relevant and interesting content but to strategically get it in front of the consumer within the right mindset. Our content distribution strategies consist of various tactics: Organic Unpaid syndication Paid efforts So, while many people would like to talk about how digital, social and content marketing can be done for 'free,'? it is important to remember that it often takes a nudge from paid media to get the ball rolling. While our paid media initiatives are often used to drive traffic, increase sales or create awareness, paid seeding or distribution of content is generally used to gain traction and encourage natural sharing of content. How to Have the Right Audience See Your Content Although the paid media and paid seeding are slightly different, a similar approach is used. We want to get in front of the consumer in a relevant and engaging way. There are many ways to go about this. As of late, there are also many 3rd party vendors popping up to help with the challenge (albeit for a price). For example, through paid partners such as AlphaBird, ShareThrough or Viewable Media , we can pay to have our video placed in contextually relevant sites or blogs to be viewed by the right people and not just as pre-roll but as content. Through these efforts, we've not only seen that we receive views from paid initiatives, but they then generate natural views as well through pass along and sharing capabilities. While building amazing content is half the battle, getting the content in front of the consumer and thereby creating a richer valued relationship is the other half. These paid and unpaid distribution initiatives are a critical part of the ever evolving content marketing landscape. Path: