Marketers have been manufacturing consumer loyalty through rewards and loyalty programs since the 1970s. The average American belongs to seven programs and 7 out of 10 are willing to join more programs. Most of us sign up for rewards from airlines, credit cards, grocery stores, gas stations, favorite retailers and a hotel chain or car rental firm. A third of most programs have members who have defected in-place without formally cancelling. Forty seven percent of respondents stopped participating in one of their programs in the last year.
After reading a number of case studies describing how brands have used social influencers to drive commercial success, I get the feeling that bloggers are like Congressmen; they can be easily bought and paid for. And while FTC rules demand full disclosure, it seems that the journalistic ethics of early bloggers has succumbed to the easy baksheesh offered by brands, and their PR or social marketing firms, eager to marshal what appears to be consumer endorsements or momentum.
The cool kids have abandoned Facebook and headed to Tumblr. Twenty-nine million unique visitors signed in four days each week to gain access to 44 billion posts on 102 million blogs. The average user logged-in for 154 minutes and looked at 30 pages per visit. One in eight used a mobile device to tumble.