Groupon has taken its next step into the supermarket aisle following its initial foray into consumer packaged goods back in April. At the time, Groupon unveiled its first deal for a CPG brand – a $20 General Mills Sampler Pack & Coupon book – that sold out (4,500 units) by mid-morning.

The second act comes in the form of a partnership with Big Y Foods stores that offers a $39.99 “Shellfish Grill Pack” for just $24. The deal will be added to purchasers’ loyalty cards, and automatically applied at the checkout. For Groupon, this is an entirely new approach to CPG deal distribution, which had previously been relegated to printed paper and redemption codes displayed on mobile devices.

A spokesman for Big Y Foods said the deal is a “test” to see what the potential is for CPG brands (via DM News) and that Big Y will be conducting a backend analysis to understand the impact of the program. The results will reveal if Grouponers are as bullish on shellfish as they are on spa packages.

For marketers, the pilot is additional proof of the rapid pace of experimentation and importance being placed at the intersection of mobile, local, deals and point-of-sale. Of course, the inclusion of loyalty cards represents an important evolution in these experiments. There is a vast amount of shopper data tied to loyalty cards, ranging from name and email, to total spend – not to mention a historical record of each and every product you’ve ever purchased. For marketers, this creates new opportunities to offer coupons and deals that are personalized, timely and in your pocket. All of this results in higher offer redemptions and increased revenue.

In the meantime, CPG marketers have a wide range of methods to offer deals paired with in-store loyalty cards. Most notable are Coupons.com, whose offerings include the Digital FSI, Grocery IQ shopping list app, and co-branded apps such as Kraft Foods’ iFood Assistant application and MyWebGrocer whose Social Grocery Facebook application reaches 3,500 grocery stores across the US. Both companies enable marketers to offer coupons and deals, linked to an in-store loyalty card.

Last week Quora announced that the buregeoning Q&A platform will be flip-flopping on its prior promotions policy, which until recently had prohibited answers that were “primarily self-promotional” in nature. The rationale for the abrupt change, according to a Quora spokesperson: “Personal experience is an asset, not a liability, and is a key element of many of the best answers on Quora. The quality of the answer is what we care about.”

Why should marketers take notice? The most obvious and immediate benefit to answering questions in Quora, aside from engaging a growing community of information seekers and consumers, is the increased weight Google has given to the platform.

Since inception, Quora has ranked high in organic results in Google for many in-market phrases and questions. Recently, Google started including Quora results in it’s realtime search results, providing further evidence of the search giant’s belief in and commitment to the platform (and social search in general).

Marketers who decide to jump in with both feet will have the benefit of being “first to answer,” therefore increasing their chances of being the highest voted Answer for a given question.

What types of questions are ripe for marketer responses? Questions such as: “What is the best < $25,000 car to buy for a daily 1-hour commute on I-280?”, “What is the best store bought cookie?” or “What are some healthy natural deodorants?” are all examples of places where relevant marketers could add real value.

Here are 5 tips for marketers to consider when getting involved on Quora:

1. Think through the long-term implications of having individuals from your organization respond in a public forum.
2. Choose credible respondents within your organization who are best suited to provide a satisfactory answer to the community — and always provide disclosure of relevant affiliations.
3. Answer questions related to your brand first.
4. Think like a consumer to find in-market questions that your organization can respond to and provide additive value.
5. Stay active. As new questions, responses and follow-up questions build around a given topic, it’s important to remain an active participant in the Q&A dialogue.

What do you think about Quora’s new policy on self-promotion? Drop us a note in the comments below.

What’s better then a good deal? A good deal – with friends. That’s according to Emily White, Director of Local at Facebook, as part of this week’s announcement that Facebook will offer local deals as part of an Alpha program in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco.

There are four ways users will be able to find out about deals in their area:

1. Deals updates through email and notifications
2. A new Deals tab located on the home page
3. Through news feed stories when friends take advantage of a deal
4. Personal Messages & Wall Posts
5. Sponsored Ad Units (Read 360i’s POV on Sponsored Stories)

Facebook will also be publishing deals offered by third parties including aDealio, Gilt City, HomeRun, kgb deals, OpenTable, Plum District, PopSugar City, ReachLocal, Tippr, viagogo and zoos.

The launch of Facebook Deals for Businesses represents Facebook’s most notable investment in social commerce since announcing they would require game developers to utilize Facebook Credits for in-game purchases back in January. Users can pay for deals using credit card, PayPal or Facebook credits.

An example of one of the new Facebook Deals includes, “All-Access Experience for 2 to Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater for $250.”

The alpha program is intended for local businesses including restaurants, spas, movie theaters, as well as one-time events such as concerts.

The Evolution of Deals

Back in 2010, Twitter also tried its hand at social deals, tweeting deals such as discounted TV’s from retailers like Target. The last tweet from Twitter’s discontinued deals handle @earlybird, was over six months ago. Why did Twitter fail? One common complaint about the deals was that the discounts were not deep enough.

Groupon has ignited a race to the bottom in which consumers expect deals at 35% to 50% off the lowest prices published online, which for many companies can obliterate profit margins. Marketers whose product mix offers high margins have the most flexibility and freedom in offering deals while companies with tighter margins will find it harder to offer a ‘good deal’ to consumers.

As is usually the case in emerging markets, innovation is key. One way marketers have been getting into the game is by bundling products, which results in higher shopping cart totals and more room for discounts.

Earlier this week General Mills became the first CPG company to appear on Groupon with a bundle; 12 sample grocery items and a coupon book valued at $40 at a 50% discount. With traditional FSI redemption at 1%-2% this approach has General Mills counting on a small percentage of buyers actually redeeming the full value of the coupon book.

With the offer being capped at 4,500, General Mills will be keeping a close eye on calculating the cost of their Deals investment. If more General Mills sampling promotions start to populate deals sites you’ll know they’ve unlocked a recipe for success.

Deals For Your Business

So what about you? When and how do you decide to get involved with Facebook Deals? Local businesses in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco should start experimenting with Facebook Deals now. Companies with high margin products and a solid Facebook presence should consider taking advantage of Facebook Deals as well.

And for marketers whose product lines offer less room for deep discounts here are 5 ways to get involved with Deals.

1. Think outside the box.
2. Create new value in areas not tied to product.
3. Bundle products to create more room for discounts.
4. Focus on premium brands & products that offer higher margins.
5. Use deals for closeouts and SKUs no longer being supported.

For more information on Facebook Deals visit: http://www.facebook.com/deals/business/

For more information on Groupon visit: http://www.grouponworks.com/

For more information on LivingSocial visit: http://livingsocial.com/getfeatured

-Nick Cavet, Social Marketing Strategist, 360i

Live streaming broadcasts are nothing new, but when the largest purveyor of online video throws its hat in the ring, it’s time to take a fresh look. YouTube announced today that it has officially launched its live streaming video service, called YouTube Live.

GeekBeat.tv streams live via YouTube

Thus far, the live streaming opportunity is limited to a select group of YouTube stars and popular shows including Revision3‘s, The Totally Rad Show, Dan 3.0 and Destructoid. It doesn’t appear as though any brands were invited to participate as part of the program launch, though an EA Sports Shift 2 Test Video was appearing in the upcoming shows list earlier in the day.

In addition, YouTube is kicking off a six-week national ‘DigiTour’ featuring famed YouTube musicians. The DigiTour kicks off at Googles headquarters tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern.

According to an official statement on YouTube’s blog, “The goal is to provide thousands of partners with the capability to live stream from their channels in the months ahead. In order to ensure a great live stream viewing experience, we’ll roll this offering out incrementally over time.”

For marketers looking to take advantage of live event coverage, YouTube Live will be yet another important consideration among a host of choices including: Ustream, Kyte, LiveCast, Qik, LiveStream and Justin.TV. What makes YouTube Live a standout for marketers is the unprecedented access to a worldwide audience that now consumes 2 billion videos per day on the website. YouTube is a familiar interface for both users and brands and, if and when this rolls out mainstream, it may end up being easier to use than competing platforms.

-Nicholas Cavet, Social Strategist, 360i with Orli LeWinter and Michelle Reed

Offline group participants say that online activity is a crucial part of their offline experience (image via Pew Research).

Social anthropologists have been studying the way human beings behave in groups since the 19th century. We as humans have an innate desire to assemble, share ideas and accomplish goals by collaborating with our like-minded peers, and what was true 200 years ago still holds true today.

But since the dawn of the Internet, it’s been a commonly held belief that this truism doesn’t extend to those who spend a lot of their time online. A recent study from the Pew Research Center disproves that theory. In fact, the study demonstrates that Internet users, and even more so social media users, are actually more prone to participating in offline groups than those who are not active online.

The Pew Research study indicates that Internet users are more likely than non-users to be active in offline groups: 80% of internet users participate in groups, compared with just 56% of non-internet users. Additionally, 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter users were cited as being active group participants.

What does this mean for marketers? For one, if your brand is trying to activate people to engage offline, a good place to start might actually be online. One way to reach members of these groups is to incorporate an online content strategy that is well aligned with groups’ topics and objectives in order to win the hearts and minds of group participants.

According to the Pew Research study, charitable organizations and volunteer organizations are one of the primary group types social networking and Twitter users are most likely to be active in. Thus, supporting a cause that’s meaningful to both your organization and your customers can be a remarkable opportunity to engage your audience and have a positive impact on society at large.

In 2009 the LIVESTRONG organization hired its first full-time social media employee. Thanks to its early commitment to social network users, just two years later the organization has ballooned to a 74-person practice with more than 60% of LIVESTRONG.COM and LIVESTRONGSTORE.COM traffic coming from social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube.

The Pew Research study has shed new light on Internet users’ offline participation in groups, proving that Internet users are in fact more active in offline groups. The LIVESTRONG organization is just one of many real world examples providing support to the Pew Research study.

More than ever, online is proving to be an effective channel for brands to rally advocates and build lasting communities. Marketers able to recognize the social media habits of their audience and tailor strategy accordingly will be able to create opportunities to engage current advocates and recruit new members along the way.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending my first New York Tech Meetup. Things started off a bit rough for me. I worked up a serious thirst after eating a large bag of barbecue Pop Chips on the way to a the Skirball Center For Performing Arts at NYU only to drop and shatter my ice cold Snapple on the stairs leading to the auditorium. (Sorry to everyone with wet feet…) For those with a good appreciation for  comeuppance you’ll be happy to know I endured barbecue flavored cotton mouth for the duration of the show.

Note to future presenters: Test your website on a low-end Mac,  with 10 applications running in the background, spotty wireless connection and a stylus to get a full appreciation for what you may be up against in your next presentation.

• HowAboutWe – Activity based blind first dates. HowAboutWe was the standout for the whole event. This company has legs. For $8-15 per month you can respond to the opposite sex who are looking for things to do in Manhattan. Basically you broadcast out to their Datetopia community “How About We…insert compelling date activity here” and people who are interested can respond, and you choose if you want to meet up with them.
• HOWABOUTWE VERDICT: If your single in New York City, sign up for this dating site immediately.

• FoodSpotting – Fine dishes, not just restaurant. FoodSpotting asks users to snap pics of their favorite dishes at restaurants and share them with others. Its a great way to filter out the best dishes at any restaurant. I would liken this to foursquare meets amateur Zagat. I like this for 2 reasons. First, people already take pics of food at restaurants, my significant other included. Second, food has already proven to be a very attractive vertical. Third, these guys are building some serious value by compiling a photo database of the best dishes at a localized level. Everyone from Yelp, to OpenTable, to Zagat’s would love to get their hands on this kind of data.
• FOOD SPOTTING VERDICT: Will catch on for the sheer fact that people love to give their two cents and feel like their an expert. But please let’s all brainstorm and figure out something better then badges. Sure it worked for the boy scouts, but what about us grown men?

• HotPotato -Share what your doing with friends. Hot Potato is a cool concept, it’s like Twitter in the sense of communicating with your friends about various topics, but its more event based, organizing the conversations around specific activities (attending the NY Tech show, watching TV, watching the World Cup, etc.) Vs. specific people. The main hurdle these guys face is moving existing conversations off  of places like Twitter and Facebook and giving users a compelling reason why they should do that in the first place.These guys got short-changed with a lot of presentation technical issues. Next time bring your video on USB guys. Watch the Hot Potato Video.
• HOTPOTATO VERDICT: Cool, but Facebook and Twitter are some lofty competitors

• Betterfly – Learn, Look & Feel Better Betterfly matches people looking for services ranging from piano lessons to hair cuts and connects them with the individuals who provide them. I really like this concept. Virtually everyone I know has either a side-gig, or  a desire to start their own business, but still works to get that weekly paycheck. This approach to connecting people at the human level Vs. the company level makes a lot of sense. They offer on-the-fly scheduling and time billing for the service provider and for the customer they offer a wide selection of human powered services.
• BETTERFLY VERDICT: I think their engineers need to take a good look at the Freshbooks API to complete their end-to-end offering. After that they’ve got some real potential

• StuffBuff – Decentralized Auctions Neat concept. Real-time auction widgets that take place in the context of the page that your in. These guys have a decent concept, but may be too early and up against some serious competition to make enough headway. (Cough…Cough…eBay) They’ll need to partner with some eBay power sellers and make them converts in order to establish a meaningful user base.
• STUFFBUFF VERDICT: Sticking to eBay for selling my junk for now

• Cognitive Surplus – by Clay Shirky Did you know Wikipedia took 100 million hours to write yet American’s watch about 200 billion hours of television? No wonder the economy is in the toilet! Clay Shirky investigates the flood of creative contribution (cognitive surplus) that exists in our world and how it will change our future. I’ll be reading this one and posting a review.
• COGNITIVE SURPLUS VERDICT: I haven’t read the book yet, but I’ll let you know. Clay seems to know what he’s talking about

Today I’m travelling with my wonderful girlfriend to Boston to celebrate her 2 year old nephew’s birthday. We’re traveling by Acella Express out of Penn Station and riding in the Quiet Car. For anyone whose traveling between Washington D.C. and Boston I highly recommend it. A little pricey, but really a first class ride all the way.

Acella Express Tip: Get the cheese and crackers platter from the Club Car, its the best deal and very well done

With a few hours to kill I’m perusing my Twitter Favorites and I’m re-reading a presentation put together by @drewhouston of Dropbox and @asmith of Xobni. The presentation, “From Zero to A Million Users – Dropbox and Xobni Lessons Learned” gives quick and dirty answers to the question that every fledgling startup would want to know. Enjoy!

I clicked through a tweet by @dharmesh of OnStartups.com the other day and came across this uber-enlightening deck about the type of culture they try to build inside of Netflix. (At 128 slides that’s a whole lot of culture) My summary here won’t do the deck justice, you just have to read it for yourself. But to summarize I’m including a few points of what I learned from the deck and plan on applying to my future endeavors, peppered with my own personal input:

1. Don’t waste time working with dumb people. Instead find and retain smart people and pay them well.
2. Reward creative thinking and ideation at every level, “A good idea doesn’t care where it came from.”
3. No matter what size an organization is, project team sizes should always remain in the hands of 3-4 individuals. At a certain point teams become in-efficient so less is more when it comes to team size.
4. Policy/procedure is unavoidable when dealing with a large operation and customer base, the key is to continually revisit and evaluate those policies to see if they’ve become obsolete or inefficient

With that said, there is one thing I have to disagree with. Netflix seems to pat itself on the back for having “no vacation policy” vacation policy. I worked at a large interactive advertising agency who also followed this pseudo policy. On paper it sounds like a dream, however in practice moral and social pressure prevent employees from ever taking advantage of the full vacation they have coming to them. That three week tour of Europe you’ve been dreaming of you’ll probably never take, because who the heck wants to have that conversation with their boss.

Instead what happens is a lot of resentment for those who take advantage of the policy and a lot of competition amongst the die hard workaholics to wear the “I never take a day off” merit badge. I prefer the mandated vacations you see in the financial industry where people work 80 hours a week but they’re required to take a full two weeks off once they hit a certain amount of hours.

Aside from the vacation policy, the presentation, “Netflix Corporate Culture of Responsibility and Freedom” offers a rare insight into a highly successful publicly traded company that has managed to eschew the norms of most public companies for the benefit of not just the bottom line but their employees as well. I’d be very interested to see what Blockbuster’s culture deck looks like.

(Disclosure: I’ve had a Netflix CD lost in my apartment for close to three months and am to lazy/scared to find out how to remedy the situation, as a result I’ve resorted to Instant Play selections only…B-O-R-I-N-G)

Paired reading recommendation:  Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap…and Others Don’t by Jim Collins