THE NEW TWITTER: NEW FEATURES FOR USERS AND ADVERTISERS

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- Twitter made some major changes to its long-neglected website, including the ability to post and view photos and video, in a bid to increase the amount of time its 160 million users spend at Twitter.com.

Twitter is unique in that much of its user base interacts with the service through third-party applications such as TweetDeck or Hootsuite. Those applications have, in some cases, more features than Twitter.com itself. Twitter is rolling out the changes slowly; about 1% of Twitter users got the update Tuesday night.

Speaking at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco, CEO Evan Williams described the service as an information network, one built to help users communicate and discover what's relevant to people in their world and what's important now on the internet. And with the redesign, he said, "you can click on a tweet and get a richer, faster, more detailed experience and get related content."

The company announced deals with 16 media content providers -- including YouTube, Flickr, Twitpic and Ustream -- to make the experience of viewing media and disseminating it more seamless. There are also new conveniences, including endless scrolling through tweets (no "more" button).

While some of the applications people use to access Twitter have become popular, Mr. Williams said Twitter's own site is the most popular by far, with 78% of those who have logged on to Twitter in the past month doing so through the website. Twitter's own mobile application is second, at 14%.

Like third-party apps, Twitter.com was built on the company's own API, which, according to execs, will make the website more reliable and secure. Twitter has had a consistent problem with "uptime," enough so that the trademark symbol, the Fail Whale, and "Twitter is over capacity" message have become a running joke and cultural touchstone among users.

Twitter infrastructure has to handle 370,000 new sign-ups a day, not to mention withstand the waves of Justin Bieber fever.

So what are the changes? The Twitter "timeline" shifts to the left and the right "pane" is the geography for an expanded look at whatever the user is clicking on, whether it be a detailed bio of a tweeter, a list of people who have re-tweeted the original tweet, or a photo/video linked to in the tweet, meaning users can click and view content without losing their place in the timeline.

The redesign is as much for advertisers as it is for users, as it will give new visibility for sponsored tweets and trends, as well as content disseminated by marketers.

Chief Operating Officer Dick Costolo, the man charged with turning Twitter into a real business, said he plans to start showing it to advertising clients immediately. "The benefit of the new interface is there's much more opportunity for users to explore," he said. "It's an opportunity for users to engage with the tweet and to see the ways others have engaged with the tweet."

Of course, "users" can mean advertisers as well. In the prior iteration of the site, if an advertisers wanted to see how many people responded to a tweet or who re-tweeted their information, the process was cumbersome. Actually, there was no process. Just a whole lot of clicking around the site. Now, all the information is available immediately and without leaving the tweet.

More importantly for branded campaigns, if an advertisers wants to show a photo or a video, it's immediately viewable. "For example, we had the 'Toy Story 'campaign and back with the old site, they had a link in the tweet that took you to a trailer video for the movie that was on another site," Mr. Costolo said. "Now, the trailer is right there and so are all the retweets and all the people who have commented on the trailer."

Twitter has worked with most major film and television studios, as well as Nike, Starbucks, Virgin America, Pepsi and Coke. "The details pane and the way its going to enhance user engagement is going to boost their ability to communicate with their customers," Mr. Costolo said.

This redesign is so important to Twitter that even Silicon Valley venture capitalist legend and Twitter investor Ron Conway attended the announcement. "Over time, Twitter's going to monetize beautifully," he said. "I trust these guys."

RETAILERS BOOST USE OF ONLINE VIDEOS

Retailers are responding to the growing appetite for online videos by adding them to their Web sites to both differentiate themselves from competitors as well as to keep up with what consumers expect from their online shopping experience.

The top 50 U.S. online retailers that offer videos jumped 378 percent in 2009 over the year before, according to a Forrester Research study, "Online Retailers' Adoption of Online Video Content Is Ahead of Consumers' Preferences," published in November 2009. Last year, more than two-thirds of the biggest online retailers hosted videos.

The adoption rate is poised to climb further, as revealed by a February 2010 Multichannel Merchant survey. Among the two-thirds of respondents who indicated they were planning a site redesign in the next 12 months, some 42.3 percent said they would add video to their site.

That makes it the second-highest priority, well behind social media tools but ahead of other popular Web site enhancements including customer reviews and personalized recommendations.

DR. MARTENS TAPS POP ARTIST IN DIGITAL EFFORT

Dr. Martens marks its 50th anniversary by melding its past with the present, rolling out a digital campaign centered on 10 modern covers of classic pop tunes spanning the diverse musical history of the brand.

"We wanted to celebrate the brand's heritage, but [also] champion its contemporary relevance and look to the brand's future," said Tom Phillips, creative director at Exposure in New York, which crafted the campaign. "Music is inherently linked to the brand. It's always been worn and adopted by musicians throughout its history."

Ten exclusive tracks and videos will begin to be available for free online download today at drmartens.com.

Selections include the Noisettes covering Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldnt've)"; Dam Funk performing Human League's "Things That Dreams Are Made Of"; and Stone Roses' version of the Raveonettes' "I Wanna Be Adored."

Contemporary artists reinterpreting classic songs associated with each of the five decades of the brand's history were paired with directors to create video content. Behind-the-scenes clips of the recording sessions and a documentary about the history of the brand round out the content.

"It's a brand that people have tended to adopt from different subcultures throughout its history," said Phillips. "What we're seeing today is a whole new generation of kids picking up on the brand and giving their own slant on what it means and how it can be worn."

The generation Dr. Martens is courting of late is more fashion-forward than the brand's core consumer, which best remembers the brand's association with the U.K. punk scene and the classic eight-eye boot.

"We [want to] challenge people's perception of the brand from a modern perspective," said Thomas Renaud, group marketing director of Exposure. "We want people to rethink what Dr. Martens are."

An artist such as Dam Funk, for example, "musically pushes the expectations beyond a traditional take on what you think of musically when you think of Doc Martens," added Phillps.

Although the campaign includes print ads in May issues of national magazines, the communications effort is driven by the digital content designed to be shared. "The music videos give additional angles to the tracks and allow the content to travel freely online," said Phillips. "Music and videos are all things we like to share and are easy to share."

Dr. Martens' last attempt to play homage to its musical heritage stirred controversy: a 2007 print campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi pictured dead musicians Kurt Cobain, Joey Ramone and Sid Vicious wearing the boots as angels in heaven.

The release date of the campaign commemorates the date of the first production of the brand's classic 1460 boot: April 1, 1960. Limited editions of the 1460 and 1461 boots and shoes will be available.

The online content will be available in stages through Nov. 1. And the music will also be available on limited edition 10" vinyl.

SHOP TALK: INTERPUBLIC GROUP BUYS DIGITAL SHOP CUBOCC IN BRAZIL

Interpublic Group of Cos. is buying Sao Paulo-based digital specialist CUBOCC, one of Brazil's leading digital creative shops. The agency, with 106 employees, is one of three agencies on Unilever's digital roster in Brazil, and also works for PepsiCo's Doritos brand.

CUBOCC will remain a stand-alone agency and will continue to be run by its founder, Roberto Martini, as CEO and chief creative officer.

Mr. Martini was previously a co-founder of another Brazilian digital agency, AG2, which is currently in discussions about a sale to Publicis Groupe, to strengthen that company's Modem digital operation in Brazil, according to trade publication Meio & Mensagem, Ad Age's partner in Brazil. AG2 already shares a client, General Motors, with another Publicis agency in Brazil, Salles Chemistri.

MTV DEVELOPING 'CO-VIEWING APPS FOR THE APPLE iPAD

Magazines and newspapers aren't the only media eying big benefits upon the iPad's arrival: TV is poised to use the device in new ways, including creating interactive, social apps designed to be used while watching live programming.

MTV Networks, for example, is developing a "co-browsing app meant to be used while watching live TV," said one executive familiar with MTV's iPad plans. "This means the iPad could be the appendage that makes interactive TV a reality."

Kristin Frank, general manager of MTV and VH1 Digital, said MTV is focusing on two approaches to its apps, whether for mobile or the iPad: co-viewing apps that capture the social-media chatter around TV and awards shows and apps for video on the go. IPad apps for "Beavis and Butt-Head," "MTV News" and "VH1 To Go" are all due in April, she said.

"Fifty-nine percent of people are multitasking when watching TV -- that's something we've always known," said Ms. Frank, referring to recent Nielsen data quantifying a longstanding observation. "This is the next evolution."

Mobile phone apps to run on the iPhone and Android devices remain MTV's priority for 2010, Ms. Frank noted, but the iPad apps under construction are a reminder that TV is not about to sit the tablet out.

'Sweet spot'

Part of the idea is that mobile devices are easier and more appealing to play with while watching TV than laptop or desktop computers -- but the tablet will hit the sweet spot in between.

The iPad is going to open new opportunities, said Somrat Niyogi, CEO at the app developer Bazaar Labs. "I do think that with the iPad you are going to see a lot more conversation because the screen is bigger," he said. "People will be more receptive to typing. It's early, but you're going to see in the next 12 to 18 months a series of start-ups experimenting in new ways to layer digital on the TV experience."

Bazaar Labs has already released an iPhone app called Miso that suggests another avenue opening up. Miso users "check in" to TV shows or movies -- much like they do on Foursquare and Gowalla for physical places like bars and restaurants -- to share what they're watching on Twitter and Facebook and earn badges.

Networks and movie studios are interested in the app's ability to get viewers to broadcast what they're watching to their social networks, according to Mr. Niyogi, who recently partnered with MGM Studios so users can unlock branded badges for its movie "Hot Tub Time Machine."

Social media boost

You can see why networks and others might be intrigued by apps that revolve around what's on TV right now. Major live, broadcast events like this year's Oscars and Winter Olympics have already demonstrated how much social media chatter can surround televised events -- and boost ratings. And tweets about TV shows tend to spike as they air, often making hit shows into trending topics on Twitter during airtime, according to data from Trendrr, a tracking service for social and digital media .

Even Google TV, the search giant's planned partnership with Intel and Sony, intends to better integrate social networking and web-based applications with TV -- imagine social-networking apps for television built by developers with Google's Android operating system. The companies are reportedly working with Logitech to develop remotes with keyboards to make it easier to do things like update Twitter -- a behavior we're already seeing with users on mobile phone touchscreens or QWERTY keyboards.

Bravo recently introduced Talk Bubble, which lets viewers interact with the Real Housewives of New York, for example, while the show is on air and share comments via Twitter or Facebook. About 40% of Talk Bubble's use so far is coming from mobile devices, according to Lisa Hsia, senior VP-Bravo digital media.

MAKING AN AGENCY DIGITAL TO THE CORE

I continue to be fascinated by how agencies change and how extraordinarily hard this can be to accomplish. Regardless of the difficulty, it's an essential agency survival skill. Great agencies learn how to continually reinvent themselves to the core, while merely good agencies often only change their outward structure. In some ways this pursuit of change, particularly as agencies define their relevance in the digital world, has been the great advertising drama of the last two years.

Hard to believe, but two years ago people were debating the merits between traditional and digital agencies, as if they had to choose between blue states and red states. Jump ahead to today, and most small agencies have carved out their own path. They have found a way to be true to their roots and have also made huge strides in their commitment to digital marketing. Digital vs. traditional no longer seems like a religious war.

PJA Advertising has made this journey along with the rest, and what I've learned is that change does not come from one defining choice. You need a commitment from the top. You need to redefine processes and roles. You need to bring in new resources and talent. More than anything, if you want to make changes that go beneath the surface to the core, you need to introduce a foreign agent that will chemically alter the composition of the agency. In our case, we didn't experience this degree of change until we opened our doors to the new breed of "digital natives" and gave them the freedom to introduce their digital DNA into the agency.

Specifically, digital natives are people who have spent their entire lives using the internet as an extension of themselves, and there are some good descriptions of the attributes that these people possess. Jeremiah Owyang wrote a nice post about digital natives on his blog, Web Strategy. Without the influence of these native speakers, most of us are doomed to clumsily translate conventional ideas into a digital format, rather than creating original ideas unique to the digital medium. We may master the outward forms but not the soul of the digital world.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating hiring some kid that spends 80 hours a week leveling his "World of Warcraft" character. I'm talking about a specific set of traits and insights that help transform an agency into an innovative digital marketing organization. Here's why every agency needs these people on staff.

They understand what happens under the digital hood. They see beneath the user interface to the underlying technologies. This gives them the ability to assess the true capabilities of a tool or platform and often manipulate it to their own purposes. They can define the digital experience on their own terms and not let it define them.

Digital natives have the skills to conduct their digital lives across many digital platforms with the ease with which an international traveler moves across continents. They can jump from platform to platform depending on its utility. This means that when planning marketing campaigns they can leave the beaten path to create more highly customized online experiences for consumers.

Digital natives treat their identity in the physical world and online as one entity. This makes their online personalities multidimensional and gives them better communications skills than the occasional visitor to Facebook and Twitter.

Because they conduct so much of their lives online, digital natives have a rich collection of experiences with brands in the digital world and a solid understanding about what kinds of communications are effective. With this fluency, they can expand an agency's vision for what is possible when developing strategies and campaigns.

Above all, digital natives get gaming. It's in their blood. As advertising and marketing agencies continue to adopt more of the principles and psychology of online gaming, all of us will need digital natives to help lead us through the maze of opportunities.

Agencies don't just need digital natives working in technical functions. We need them working throughout the agency in planning, media, account, and creative. They need to be allowed to experiment and explore and not be forced to work within old job titles and structures. If you're really serious about a digital transformation, these are the people who can shake up the organizational structure and push senior management to see the world in a fresh way. We're in a business that encourages clients to take big risks on change. We should be willing to do the same for ourselves.

IT'S ABOUT TO GO DIGITAL: ADIDAS FOCUSES MORE ON DIGITAL MEDIA WITH DWIGHT HOWARD

Every company wants its online videos to go viral, but few companies go so far as to actually give consumers an incentive for sharing. Adidas, however, is doing exactly that in a highly interactive push to promote its lightest-ever footwear and apparel lines over NBA All–Star Weekend.

The marketer will be airing a 30-second spot starring NBA star Dwight Howard that will encourage viewers to visit its website and YouTube channel, where they can access more content featuring Mr. Howard, including one video that will gradually unlock to reveal more content of the player the more times it's shared.

Adidas has also created a "Subservient Chicken"-style video of Mr. Howard dunking that shows him jumping as high (or as low) as consumers choose via a gaming-style grid control. (It's not easy to secure Mr. Howard's highest leap, however, and users who can't will get to watch him miss a dunk; if you manage to select the highest point on the grid, you get to see some of the jaw-dropping agility for which Mr. Howard is known.) A third video lets viewers watch one of Mr. Howard's dunks from five different angles.

A YouTube spokesman said Adidas is the first marketer to tie access to content to the number of views a video draws on its service. "What we liked about what Adidas did is that they actually gave it a viral component," he said. "It's something new to say, 'We'll give you some interesting content, and, if you share it, we'll give you even more.'"

Ryan Morlan, director-global basketball communications for Adidas, said the company was looking to give consumers an incentive to share its content. "You can't just drop it out there and hope," he said. "You need a strategy. Every advertiser will tell you that building interactive content isn't easy, but, if you're going to really break through, you need to do it in a fresh way."

Agencies 180, Los Angeles, and Riot, Amsterdam, are behind the effort.