ClickZ's 10 most popular articles of 2015
We’ve already looked at the most popular articles from our guest contributors, now it’s time for the most popular articles written by our editorial team.
And here they are, highest pageviews first…
1. How brands rode out Uniqlo’s sex tape scandal on Weibo
Does sex sell as a marketing ploy? Some might say a resounding yes. In July, Chinese social media went into overdrive after a couple released a video of themselves having sex in a Uniqlo Beijing store changing room.
Uniqlo denied it was behind the stunt, but good or bad, it attracted a lot of attention.
Brands may have been wary of jumping on the bandwagon, but it didn’t stop Chinese ‘netizens’ coming up with their own funny and witty user-generated content (UGC) around the theme. Zara, H&M and even Harrods got a mention. See the examples here.
Beyond that, the Beijing Uniqlo store itself became a site of retail pilgrimage as people lined up for selfies outside the store to post on social media. T-shirts depicting the couple in their act of passion also sold well on Chinese e-commerce site Taobao.
2. HTML5 to be new industry standard
In August, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) set HTML5 as the new industry standard in interactive marketing. A move welcomed by the industry.
Research showed that during the first quarter of 2015, 5.35 billion rich media impressions were wasted on mobile devices because they defaulted to Flash instead of HTML5.
3. How does Under Armour differentiate itself from Nike via digital marketing?
YuYu Chen contrasts the digital marketing efforts of two top sports brands.
4. The very handy up-to-date social media image size guide
Christopher Ratcliff compiled a useful list of the various image sizes required for each social platform.
We also made this into an infographic.
5. The Home Depot rocks social media [study]
Mike O’Brien with the results of a study on US retail brands.
6. Why have QR codes taken off in China?
QR codes don’t have the best reputation in Europe and North America, thanks in part to some very poor uses of them.
However, they’re big in China, and Sophie Loras looks at some of the reasons for this.
7. Starbucks shows the power of silence during the red cup controversy
Starbucks’ decision to have plain red coffee cups with no snowflakes, Christmas trees and penguins on them offended the easily offended this year.
Mike O’Brien takes a look at how Starbucks dealt with this situation.
8. Five worst decisions Apple has made in the last five years
Christopher Ratcliff looks at some of the ‘mistakes’ made by Apple in the last few years, including upsetting its own marketing rhythm.
9. How 24 retailers use email marketing to collect customer data
Leighann Morris takes a detailed look at how retailers attract email signups, and the kinds of incentives and information they ask for.
10. How ecommerce sites can use social proof to increase conversions
Examples of social proof from a range of ecommerce sites.
