Confused about Widgets & Gadgets? Read on.

Recently I created an iGoogle Gadget for Lufthansa Airlines to support the Lufthansa "Discover your moment" sweepstakes.  When we began our planning we felt that a gadget would be a great idea to distribute the Lufthansa brand online, beyond their US microsite.  However, with limited content to distribute combined with the short attention span of the digital consumer, we were unsure of what to do with a gadget and Lufthansa. 

Now, I know what you're thinking; why use technology for technology sake?  Technology should only be employed to support a well defined consumer strategy, right?  I completely agree, however, there were special circumstances that required us to create a Google Gadget- let's just say that it was a special budget that could only be used for "innovative" ideas.

As we continued to refine our sweepstakes concept, an idea occurred to us:  Let's create a gadget that enables consumers to enter into the Lufthansa sweepstakes every day for the duration of the promotion by simply answering a new question each day about Lufthansa.  The gadget concept had everything that the marketing team was looking for: Brand awareness, distributed presence, engagement and education.  To date the Lufthansa gadget downloads, brand engagement and program performance has exceeded our expectations. 

So what can Widgets/Gadgets do for you?  Below is an article that discusses widgets, gadgets and other content distribution tactics.  It provides some examples of widgets/gadgets that were created by agencies for top brands. 

Before you go, I have a couple of key take-aways for you:

1. Gadgets/Widets are cheap to produce, but they're worthless if no one sees them.  Widgets/Gadget's require promotion to encourage distribution; don't rely on on viral or word of mouth.
2. There are many platforms that you will need to develop for.  We chose to use Google, but we could have also developed Widgets/Gadgets for Yahoo, Apple, Gigya, Clearspring, Facebook, Myspace, etc. Begin with your target consumer, let that be the driver for the networks or platforms that you choose.
3. Don't forget about mobile.  Many of the most useful iPhone and Blackberry applications are not applications at all; they're nothing more than Widgets located on mobile devices.  Explore the possibilities of mobile Widgets to provide utility to your target consumers.
4. Content and utility are king.  Without content, you have nothing to distribute.  I assure you, no one needs another branded weatherbug or desktop analog clock.  Your best bet?  Start with an existing concept or program and explore ways that you can extend your program, content and brand by using Widgets. 
5. Evolve.  The attention span of a digital consumer is short to say the least.  Think about how you will evolve the Widget/Gadget over time to maintain a level of utility to your target consumer.
6. Widgets/Gadgets don't have to always be consumer facing.  Consider using Widgets/Gadgets for measurement dashboards, monitoring sales, and other performance data. 
7. Always measure and optimize.  A Widget/Gadget is part of your program.  Measure, analyze and consider ways to optimize the consumer experience like you would a website, a CRM program or a banner campaign.   

Finally, here's the article:  Widgets are made for marketing, so why aren't more advertisers using them?