Branding The Web

stormtrooper marksmanship.

2010-04-15T18:14:00.001-04:00

stormtroopers in star wars could definetly use this advice.

Posted via email from connected marketer.

apple vs. google vs. microsoft [infographic]

2010-04-15T16:12:00.001-04:00

this infographic shows the areas that apple, google, and microsoft are doing battle on. the third world war to control the future? google vs. apple vs. microsoft

what does each party want? microsoft wants computing to continue to be tied to the desktop—three screens and a cloud, as steve ballmer is fond of saying. for apple it's all about closed information appliances with lots of third-party apps, computers anybody can use. and finally for google it's about all roads leading to the internet, and the internet is currently synonymous with google.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

star wars: uncut. new "the escape" trailer.

2010-04-15T09:28:00.001-04:00

via starwarsuncut.tumblr.com

for those that don't know star wars: uncut is a project that is recreating star wars: a new hope frame-by-frame by editing together 500 15-second crowdsourced scenes. star wars: uncut is truly a labor of love.

above is just a five-minute trailer; the full version of star warts: uncut will be screened in copenhagen on april 19th.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

unexpected apple iPad fashions.

2010-04-14T14:42:00.001-04:00

via ismashphone.com

Posted via web from connected marketer.

underachieving at-at. [inspiration]

2010-04-07T21:27:00.001-04:00

via thedailywh.at

you've got to love a collage of star wars at-at underachievers. does star wars have a cultural impact? look no further.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

history of location technology. [infographic]

2010-04-06T15:08:00.001-04:00

via mashable.com

nice location technology evolution infographic / graph. now with so many location based technologies available and their intertwining with social media, will they really be the future?

Posted via web from connected marketer.

connected marketer gets an iPad. [photos] ((tag:apple, ipad)

2010-04-03T15:18:00.001-04:00

arriving in the "non-reservation" line (notice the black curtain in the apple store).

apple always takes care of people waiting in line with starbucks coffee and smartwater.

still a while to go.

the line begins to take shape.

the store opens at 8:55 a.m.

a swarm of (blue) apple store employees.

the line finally starts to move.

at the front of the line; the next "non-reservation" customer.

the apple store full of iPad customers.

the line when i left.

iPad.

iPad - open box.

iPad out of the box.

Posted via email from connected marketer.

iPad announcement email. iPad wi-fi model available today.

2010-04-03T06:11:00.001-04:00

here's the apple iPad announcement that arrived in my inbox this morning.

Shop Online | Find a Store | 1-800-MY-APPLE

Learn more about iPad

Wi-Fi + 3G models available in late April.

Some features and applications are not available in all areas. Application availability and pricing are subject to change.

Apple

Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, MS 83-DM, Cupertino, CA 95014.

Posted via email from connected marketer.

how mobile is changing social media. [infographic]

2010-04-02T08:59:00.001-04:00

via flowtown.com

interesting infographic on how mobile is shaping the way social media is consumed.

some highlights: 25% or more than 100 million of all facebook users access it from a mobile phone, and those who do, are twice as active on social networks compared to people accessing from a computer. also, 35-54 year olds are the most active mobile social users.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

first apple iPad reviews are in.

2010-04-01T16:17:00.001-04:00

a handful of iPad reviews have been published online so far and they’re largely positive. of course with the expected caveats on the lack of a camera and lack of support for flash and multitasking. overall the consensus is that apple has a shot at creating a brand new digital media category with the iPad.

a number of reviews make special mention of its speed - a major selling point for apple devices over the competition in the past (e.g. google android), a battery life that exceeds apple’s claims.

following are excerpts from eight of those early reviews:

I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop. It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades. But first, it will have to prove that it really can replace the laptop or netbook for enough common tasks, enough of the time, to make it a viable alternative.

– Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal

The first iPad is a winner. It stacks up as a formidable electronic-reader rival for Amazon’s Kindle. It gives portable game machines from Nintendo and Sony a run for their money. At the very least, the iPad will likely drum up mass-market interest in tablet computing in ways that longtime tablet visionary and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates could only dream of.

– Ed Baig, USA Today

No company can generate as much hype around a product launch as Apple. But that’s perfectly OK because no company is also nearly as successful at producing a new product that can justify almost any level of excitement that precedes it. They don’t do it with every product launch, but bloody hell: they’ve done it with the iPad….The most compelling sign that Apple got this right is the fact that despite the novelty of the iPad, the excitement slips away after about ten seconds and you’re completely focused on the task at hand…whether it’s reading a book, writing a report, or working on clearing your Inbox. Second most compelling: in situation after situation, I find that the iPad is the best computer in my household and office menagerie. It’s not a replacement for my notebook, mind you. It feels more as if the iPad is filling a gap that’s existed for quite some time.

– Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun Times

The techies are right about another thing: the iPad is not a laptop. It’s not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it–books, music, video, photos, Web, e-mail and so on. For most people, manipulating these digital materials directly by touching them is a completely new experience–and a deeply satisfying one. The bottom line is that the iPad has been designed and built by a bunch of perfectionists. If you like the concept, you’ll love the machine. The only question is: Do you like the concept?

– David Pogue, New York Times

Is the iPad a perfect product? No. And the omissions will give the anti-Apple crowd plenty of ammo. Why do I need this extra device that’s not a full-fledged laptop? Where’s the camera? What about Flash? Um, how about multitasking? These are all valid complaints, but one thing I can say about most Apple products, and certainly the iPad: There may be things it doesn’t do, but what it does do, it does remarkably well. Aside from the aforementioned limitations, there isn’t a lot else to gripe about. And to my great surprise, you can actually get real work done with the iPad.

– Tim Gideon, PCMag

Manic, nonstop use revealed a number of things: battery life is better than I anticipated. I got a full day of constant internet-connected use (it barely left my hands) on one charge. It fits well in my lap when eating, and it’s easy to wipe off stray noodles and arugula leaves and get right back to Twittering….I like it a lot. But it’s the things I never knew it made possible–to be revealed or not in the coming months–that will determine whether I love it.

– Xeni Jardin, Boing Boing

It turns out the iPad isn’t as much a laptop replacement as I thought (though it could easily be used as one). Instead, it’s an entirely new category of mobile device. For example, now when I want to surf the Web from the couch or back deck, the iPad is the device I choose. Starbucks? Same thing. Think of the iPad as a new arrow in your technology quiver, an arrow that will often be the best tool for a given task. I had high expectations for the iPad, and it has met or exceeded most of them.

– Bob LeVitus, Houston Chronicle

Apple’s engineers know something those other companies don’t: form has trumped function. You can load up a tablet with horsepower and extra features till it can do your taxes and lick the stamp, but if it’s not instantly obvious how to use those features without a manual — and if you don’t look good using them — nobody cares. The iPad isn’t wildly feature-rich. It doesn’t run Flash, and the only browser it runs is Safari. Like the iPhone, it can’t multitask, and it doesn’t appear to have a serious file-handling system. I’ve tried its much ballyhooed full-size virtual keyboard, and it feels like typing with frostbite. It doesn’t even have a damn camera. But you will care about it, because whoever designed its graceful lines and intuitive interface cared about you.

– Lev Grossman, Time

Posted via web from connected marketer.

topeka: april fools from google.

2010-04-01T14:27:00.001-04:00

via google.com

for april fools day 2010, google has decided to choose "a different kind of company name" and rename itself topeka. as in topeka, kansas. not bad as far as april fools jokes go. don't forget to read the humorous google blog post about this topeka name change. personally, i'm rather fond of the new topeka google logo.

there's even already an entry in the history section of topeka's wikipedia entry.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

travelocity becomes first brand to use chatroulette for marketing.

2010-04-01T11:17:00.001-04:00

via mashable.com

it was only a matter of time before the first marketers discovered chatroulette and use it for marketing purposes. the official travelocity gnome is the first to jump in and use chatroulette for marketing purposes.

screenshots sent to mashable.com by travelocity confirm that the gnome is hiding out there in chatroulette’s mysterious corridors on people to market travelocity's services to: he wants to motivate chatroulette users to step away from their webcams for a moment and take vacations.

according to adweek, “the idea is that folks sitting around video-chatting with strangers could use the excitement of travel.”

the iconic gnome uses signs to get his message across (see above). they read messages like, “this would be more fun if we were in rio.”

when asked if they are tracking activity or offering special promotions, travelocity responded, “we’re still experimenting so we haven’t applied any measurements just yet. once we figure out how we’ll move forward we will think about other applications like deals and offers.”

i believe that chatroulette is more than just seeing random penises, so it’s great to see that companies like travelocity agree. it still remains to be seen what becomes of this experimental test run, but it's definitely a clever approach to utilizing this new channel for marketing purposes.

how will the future of chatroulette marketing look? as always with any new form of digital media i believe that solid marketing / advertising strategy is that backbone to any success: focus on the marketing objectives, marketing strategies, and then the marketing tactics.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

star wars: galactic empire state of mind [inspiration]

2010-03-31T13:19:00.001-04:00

via collegehumor.com

instant classic. not only is it a pretty good song by itself - remake of jay-z & alicia keys "empire state of mind" but there's so much more:

> each original star wars trilogy movie gets a verse
> leia plays max rebo's piano from jabba the hutt's palace
> leia's obvious, but still funny dj headphones
> ewoks which are more disturbing that actual ewoks in return of the jedi
> rebel pilots & stormtroopers bust-a-move
> slave leia
> boba fett

Posted via web from connected marketer.

facebook facts, figures & statistics for 2010. [infographic]

2010-03-25T11:27:00.001-04:00

via digitalbuzzblog.com

another cool graph. great job by digitalbuzzblog.com stuffing as much facebook data including facebook facts, a facebook timeline, and facebook statistics into one infographic or visualization.

some of the facebook numbers are really mindblowing.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

the history of marketing [infographic]

2010-03-22T08:44:00.001-04:00

via flowtown.com

ever wonder exactly how modern marketing came to be? check out this marketing history infographic by flowtown.com based on some research that illustrates the history of marketing from the stone age to today in a nice graph.

Posted via web from connected marketer.

looks like twitter has peaked?

2010-03-21T10:37:00.001-04:00

Check out these interesting infographics based on Barracuda Networks recent study of Twitter. This study analyzed Twitter accounts with at least ten followers, who followed at least ten people, and has tweeted at least ten times. This pared down the users by 79%.

Full story and graphics at Next Generation Online.

More Twitter tips and tricks.

via holykaw.alltop.com

Posted via web from connected marketer.

twitter announces @anywhere to give third-party access.

2010-03-16T08:36:00.001-04:00

twitter to launch @anywhere, a tool that will allow third parties to tap into its functionality and content.

twitter plans to roll out a set of API frameworks enabling third-party sites to allow their users to log-in using their twitter accounts, pull information and content from twitter and add functionality that lets people tweet or share from other sites directly onto twitter. The functionality, that will be similar to Facebook Connect, isn’t yet ready for a full launch but participating sites will include a slew of big players including: Amazon, AdAge, Bing, Digg, Ebay, The New York Times, Yahoo, and YouTube.

Biz Stone, twitter co-founder, said, “Soon sites many of us visit every day will be able to recreate these open, engaging interactions providing a new layer of value for visitors without sending them to Twitter.com.” Twitter was expected to unveil plans around its advertising model, but instead announced the @Anywhere tool at the South By South West festival in the U.S. yesterday. Last week it launched location-based functionality, which allows users to show the town or city they are tweeting from.

twitter is finally starting to unveil something that resembles a plan - something that has been missing for too long. Just look at all the improvements and changes Facebook has made in order to stay ahead of the pack.

Posted via web from connected marketer

the essence of the internet.

2010-03-16T08:26:00.001-04:00

LOLcats. enough said.

Posted via web from connected marketer

mobile social media access grows in triple-digits year over year

2010-03-15T08:37:00.001-04:00

A recently released study by comScore showed that more than 30 Percent of Smartphone Owners Access Social Networking Sites via a Mobile Browser. That's a lot of people. But, the even bigger statistic is that access to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter has grown at an almost unbelievable rate: Facebook access via mobile browsers grew 112% in the past year, while Twitter saw a 347% increase. Very interesting is that comScore does not include mobile apps in their statistics. Adding in all the Twitter and Facebook apps for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry surely push the percentage even higher.

I think Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile says it best: "Social networking remains one of the... fastest-growing behaviors on both the PC-based Internet and the mobile Web... "

Number of Mobile Subscribers Accessing Social Sites via Mobile Browser(3-month average ending Jan. 2010 vs. Jan. 2009 Total U.S. Age 13+)
	Total Audience (000)
Social Network Site	Jan-09	Jan-10	% Change
Facebook.com	11,874	25,137	112
MySpace.com	12,338	11,439	-7
Twitter.com	1,051	4,700	347
Source: comScore MobiLens, March 2010

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

Galactica: Sabotage [Inspiration]

2010-03-11T07:38:00.001-05:00

via youtube.com

If you love rap or the beastie boys and scifi then this will truly blow your mind. It’s a video mashup of battlestar galactica and the beastie boys song "sabotage." Combining my favorite show and favorite song of all time equals not only inspiration of the day but probably of the month.

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

How Are Companies Leveraging Social Media? (Infographic)

2010-03-09T20:39:00.001-05:00

via flowtown.com

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

Mobile market size is staggering [Infographic]

2010-03-09T08:51:00.001-05:00

via cache.gawkerassets.com

Too much mobile market info or data? Not sure of that, but I'd still recommend sitting down and strapping on your seatbelt before taking in this chart of the mobile market.

In Taiwan and Luxembourg the average person has more than one cell phones. Compare that that to less than every other person in the United States and it quickly becomes clear how far catching up the United Stats has to do in the mobile arena.

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

26% read news on mobile devices - Pew Research

2010-03-01T10:59:00.001-05:00

A new report from the Pew Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism reveals that more than 1 in 4 Americans read news on mobile devices including Smartphones.

The report, "Understanding the Participatory News Consumer," studies the impact of digital media on news consumption and interaction behaviors. The part of the study that focused specifically on the growth of mobile devices reveals that more than 80% of adults now own cell phones and 37% use their phones to access the Web.

According to Tom Rosenstiel, Director of PEJ, "Those numbers are only going to go up as the penetration of smart phones grows. The computer of the future is held in your hand."

These figures mirror a recent report from the Federal Communications Commission, which studied both wired and wireless broadband connectivity in the United States. The FCC is currently pushing to expand the wireless spectrum available to mobile broadband providers in anticipation of strong growth in consumer demand for these services.

The PEJ report highlights the importance of that trend to media organizations. "What the data shows is people are increasingly looking for news at their convenience, and nothing is more convenient than the device in your pocket," Rosenstiel said in an interview Friday.

Another finding of the PEJ report: 46 percent of "on-the-go" news consumers are also "news participators," meaning they actively contribute to the creation or distribution of information by commenting on articles, tagging content, contributing images, videos and articles, or sharing a link with their social network.

PEJ further identifies a highly engaged sub-group of mobile news consumers, about 13 percent of U.S. adult Internet users, who are characterized by daily news readership across multiple platforms including mobile, online, print and television.

The study reveals that while those highly engaged consumers are reading a lot of news, they do so from multiple outlets on multiple platforms. Just 7 percent of Americans get their news from a single source, while 46 percent visit four to six sources, in print, Web, TV and mobile on a typical daily basis.

Rostenstiel said the notion of foraging for news can be a positive one for news organizations. "People graze but they don't graze very far."

He noted the average engaged news reader has a half-dozen sources they return to frequently. "So, while people are hunting for what they are interested in, they are not hunting everywhere. They are hunting among a landscape of sources they know and are familiar with."

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

Mobile Social Networking More Popular Than Desktop In The U.S.

2010-02-24T14:10:00.001-05:00

A recent study from Ruder Finn shows that U.S. mobile users:

spend 2.7 hours per day on the mobile web
91% socialize on the mobile web to vs. 79% of desktop users
45% post comments to social networks
43% connect with friends on social networks
40% share content
38% share photos

All these statistics support the finding from the Guardian that 50% of all the U. K. mobile usage goes to Facebook. This is another fact pointing us in the direction that real-time search, mobile and social media are all merging into one.

Posted via email from Connected Marketer

Windows Phone 7 Series: How Microsoft came up with the name

2010-02-17T08:57:00.001-05:00

via geekculture.com

I do my fair share of Microsoft and Windows bashing... So why quit now?

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

Forget Google Maps. I'll be switching to Bing Maps soon

2010-02-12T15:53:00.001-05:00

via youtube.com

Awesome Flickr integration coming from Bing Maps soon. This will combine two of my favorite things: maps & flickr.

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

Why Google Buzz will be "Big in 2010"

2010-02-12T08:40:00.001-05:00

Big in 2010

While writing this blog post, I have the 1984 cult classic "Big in Japan" from Alphaville stuck in my head. So, I encourage you to hum the refrain from "Big in Japan" in your head as you read this blog post.

I have been thinking about this blog post and what will be “Big in 2010” for a while now, but the recent announcement of Google Buzz really validated my thinking. The three big trends I’ve seen growing over the last 6 months or so are: Local, Mobile, and Real-Time. Stick with me and you’ll see why Google Buzz is the manifestation of these three trends into one application and will be “Big in 2010”.

I'll start off by talking about "Local." Towards the end of last year, local really started becoming more and more prominent - from the Google caffeine update that incorporates more and more local results via maps to local social media apps such as foursquare. Now, when you search for "pizza" you not only get the results of Papa John's, Domino's, and Pizza Hut, but also a map with local pizza place results. In addition, when you think about the much talked about and discussed Google algorithm (there are actually three different algorithms): the standard result page algorithm, the Google Maps algorithm, and finally the algorithm for Maps included on the Google Results page. With Google Buzz I can tag my updates with a location so they become searchable via location and by looking at a map. Want to see what people around you are saying? No problem anymore thanks to Google Buzz

Next up is "Mobile." According to some estimates, by 2013 more people will access the Internet via a mobile device than via a desktop. Beyond being portable and always in the pocket of your consumer, this trend is here to stay for good. There are close to 5 billion mobile phones worldwide. There are many different ways to market to mobile – from SMS and display ads to Apps. However, the most important thing is to offer your potential customers a mobile optimized experience, which may be a mobile website or a mobile app via iTunes or the Android Marketplace. Enter Google Buzz on your mobile device and you are catering to the heavy social users. No iPhone app for Google Buzz? No problem! Just like with Google Voice it runs via HTML 5 directly in the iPhone’s built in browser: Safari.

The final of the trends I want to talk about is “Real-Time.” Real-time search is here. It’s not the future anymore. All search engines are pulling in real-time results from all over the place, including press releases and Twitter. Most social media platforms offer real-time search, with Twitter being the most prominent. Just go to search.twitter.com and type in your brand or company and watch the magic happen. Real-time search can be scary. Real-time updates are what Google Buzz is all about, just like Twitter it offers a constant feed of what people are saying and sharing around you. It’s like having a constant conference call going on and listening in on what people are saying.

Below is the dissection of a typical search results page – notice the real-time results in purple.

How big are all of these three trends? Big enough that Google introduced its newest invention, “Google Buzz,” which incorporates and excels at all three of these trends in one application. So: are Local, Mobile and Real-Time here to stay? If Google Buzz catches on, it will defiantly continue to grow and be the “it” thing in 2010 – Or, “Big in 2010”.

In a nutshell, Google Buzz is the newest social network and sharing product built by Google. Buzz offers a stream of status updates, pictures, links, and videos from your friends. You can “like” these items and you can comment on them. Real-time updates from Flickr, Picasa, Google Reader, or Twitter can also be automatically imported into a Buzz stream.

Posted via email from Connected Marketer

Unbelievable Japanese Star Wars TV spot for “sea chicken”

2010-02-04T08:51:00.001-05:00

via crunchgear.com

Star Wars has always been popular in Japan, so seeing Luke Skywalker and the gang in a Japanese TV commercial from the 1978 isn’t a big deal. But seeing the Star Wars franchise being used in this fashion to promote “sea chicken” (canned tuna) is just crazy - crazy Japanese TV commercial acting included.

The actors in the TV spot, are just look-alikes.

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

CSS3 replacing Flash? Watch an AT-AT Stomp All Over Flash

2010-02-03T08:57:00.001-05:00

via gizmodo.com

Above is a still image of an AT-AT walker (on an Apple iPad). But, if you go here using any WebKit browser (e.g. Safari or Chrome), it comes to life like on Hoth. It looks like a cool Flash animation, except it's not, it's pure CSS3 magic (read about how CSS3 can replace Flash here).

(Link to AT-AT walker in all its CSS3 glory. Remember you need to be using a webkit browser).

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

"You'll Never Walk Alone" German Lyrics

2010-02-03T08:36:00.001-05:00

After sharing the Mainz 05 pre-game ritual with some friends in the UK (Plymouth Argyle fans incase you were wondering) of standing up, stretching your Mainz 05 scarf above your head and singing "You'll never walk alone" with the other 20,300 fans (minus opposition supporters) I was encouraged to translate the song into German. (See a video of Mainz 05 fans singing it here). After unsuccessfully searching Google for the German Lyrics of "You'll never walk alone" I decided to translate them myself. I know that this amounts to blasphemy as "You'll never walk alone" is holy in soccer (football) circles. So, don't worry I'm not encouraging anyone to sing the song in German. The results of my attempt to translate this holy song can be seen below.

Wenn du durch einen Sturm geht Halt dein Kinn hoch Und habe keine Angst vor der Dunkelheit. Am Ende des Sturms Ist ein goldener Himmel Und das süße silberne Lied einer Lerche.

Lauf weiter durch den Wind, Lauf weiter durch den Regen, Obwohl deine Träume verworfen werden. Lauf weiter, Lauf weiter mit Hoffnung in deinemHerzen Und du gehst nie alleine, Du wirst niemals alleine gehen.

Lauf weiter, Lauf weiter mit Hoffnung in deinem HerzenUnd du gehst nie alleine, Du wirst niemals alleine gehen.

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

Steve Jobs interview about the Apple iPad (Video)

2010-01-29T10:14:00.001-05:00

via kara.allthingsd.com

Interview with Steve Jobs starts at 1:55

Here are my two favorite highlights from the quick Q&A between Steve Jobs and Walt Mossberg:
Why would I pay more for a book from Apple? > "That won't be the case."
Battery Life of 10 hours for reading? > "You're not gonna read for ten hours."

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

Hitler responds to the Apple iPad

2010-01-28T12:49:00.001-05:00

via techcrunch.com

The Downfall meme that will never die... Personally, I can't get enough of these parodies - I'm not sure if it's because Downfall is one of my all-time favorite movies, or because Bruno Ganz does such a spectacular job at playing Hitler, or the scene truly fits as a rant in virtually all situations.

While everyone is loving the iPad, one person who doesn’t like it is Hitler. In the YouTube parody above, which takes that now all-too-common scene from the movie Downfall and replaces the subtitles with a rant against the iPad. It’s the meme that will never die (there are at least 50 Hitler parodies using the same scene with different subtitles).

So what exactly does Hitler have against the iPad?

> “The iPad won’t support multitasking”
> “They didn’t give it a camera, fine. But it’s on AT&T! How am I supposed to use their crappy network?”
“eBooks? If I wanted eBooks, I’d buy a Kindle.”
> “It could have single-handedly destroyed netbooks. But what do we get instead? An oversized iPod Touch!”
> “It can’t even make phone calls!”
> “I wanted to watch videos of lolcats while laying on the couch. But no, they won’t even give it flash support.”

I have the same issues with the iPad, but it’s funnier when Hitler says it

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

iPad... enough said

2010-01-28T12:25:00.001-05:00

via failblog.org

Posted via web from Connected Marketer

20 things I already know about Apple's iTablet / iSlate

2010-01-26T22:34:00.001-05:00

Found this very true list while browing for news on Apple's big announcement tomorrow.

Posted via email from Connected Marketing

Give Bing a Chance? Over my dead body

2010-01-25T08:16:00.001-05:00

via geekculture.com

This comic reflects the thoughts of many Apple Evangelists and Fanboys. However, people need to realize that the world has changed and that Google is now just as "evil" as Microsoft once was. Just don't expect andy MacOS Zune support any time soon :)

A famous leader once said "You can always form an alliance with the enemy of tomorrow against the enemy of today."

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

adidas Star Wars collection finally available

2010-01-22T12:20:00.001-05:00

Check out the awesome email that found it's way into my inbox this morning... I definitely don't have a bad feeling about this :) Check out the first items of this amazing collection at the adidas store.

Posted via email from Connected Marketing

No more mac.com?

2010-01-22T08:29:00.001-05:00

Please update your bookmarks to www.me.com

As of January 21st, 2010, www.mac.com will no longer redirect to www.me.com. Please be sure to update your bookmarks. This change will not affect any of your MobileMe services or published web pages.

Continue to me.com Add Bookmark

via mac.com

I wanted to check my email online this morning and I was welcomed to mac.com by this message. As much as like "MobileMe" I do not like the idea of "me.com" or having a "@me.com" email address versus a "@mac.com" email address. Being a longtime Apple user and fan I enjoy having an email address that helps me identify with the brand.

Is Apple working on putting something else up on mac.com? Is this part of a major rebranding effort?

As Apple does not give out the "@mac.com" address anymore I can only hope that do not pal on getting rid of the "@mac.com" addresses in the future.

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

Blogs can help brands get started with social media

2010-01-21T13:07:00.001-05:00

via 10e20.com

I've often thought about how Blogs fill in nicely as the bridge between a stale corporate website and social networking websites(Thanks for the info-graphic 10e20). Moreover, it helps a brand jump-start their online presence in the world of social media.

The simple creation of a blog in order to bridge the space between a site and a full-blown social media presence is often overlooked. I am often asked by overwhelmed clients what they should create first in this fast-moving online world where the groundswell is in full effect. My answer 9 out of 10 times is: A Blog.

A good blog is very powerful in the online world. Instead of simply adding social networking badges on a homepage saying “Follow us on Twitter” or “Find us on Facebook" a blog can help a brand successfully create social awareness for itself rather than just pointing website visitors to where the official social media account are.

According to 10e20, online social media users "are constantly looking for new and fresh content." I couldn't agree more - that is why my number one advice to clients is that 'content is king.' This mantra applies to all aspects of Interactive Marketing. Using SEO as an example: Having great content creates strong links to your site which in turn will increase your rankings in the Search Engines. A blog can create this great content for your brand. You may not always be able to change the contents of a corporate site, but you can almost always make new posts to a blog. A blog helps you reach users that are constantly on the search for fresh content. With ongoing, strong and effective content creation related to the brands business and sharing by the brand of the blog content into the social presence a brand can create a tremendously effective link between its social networking presences and its main company website.

Of course, there is always the question about how to create content for a blog. The answer will vary and depend very much on the brands industry and comfort level with the online world. However, most of the time it can start out by simply turning a newsletter into "bite-size" pieces on a blog. Getting on a fairly regular schedule and figuring out who will contribute are also very important considerations.

The most important thing is to remember that a brand can easily live and thrive in the world of the Groundswell & Social Media: It can all start with the creation of a blog.

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

adidas Originals - Star Wars Collection Launch Trailer

2010-01-20T15:44:00.001-05:00

via youtube.com

The Adidas Original Star Wars Collection is finally here. Announced by this amazing video that makes my heart flutter as a Star Wars and Adidas fan.

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

Coca-Cola "Happiness Machine"

2010-01-15T13:27:00.001-05:00

via youtube.com

First "Viral" Ad of 2010?

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

The App Store Economy is Booming - Infographic

2010-01-13T12:17:00.001-05:00

via gizmodo.com

$165 Million a month for Apple? Not to shabby if you ask me.

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

Worst Online Display Ad Ever?

2010-01-10T12:58:00.001-05:00

While searching Flickr for some cool images I couldn't help but notice the following ad on the right hand side. Seriously, what were they thinking?

Posted via email from Connected Marketing

The Ten Cars of the Decade

2010-01-09T10:13:00.001-05:00

With the decade of the 00s concluding it's time to look back at what happened in the world of automotive. In general, the 00s is considered a decade that most would rather forget, but nevertheless there were some interesting happenings in the automotive industry. As a connoisseur of European cars, with a heavy emphasis on German, my focus was on European cars.

The last decade made it clear that it is not easy to make a classic car: It must be advanced, look nice in addition, surely also successful, but at least controversial - later generations have to be able to recall the cars. Just as the ones below.

MINI
It is too expensive and too small, but that's intentional: The new edition of the Mini from 2001, was intended as a lifestyle racer, and suddenly driving a small car was chic. Many other manufacturers adopted the idea of offering small-car buyers good design - the first serious attack on the Mini, will follow in 2010 when the Audi A1 comes to the market in Germany.

PORSCHE CAYENNE
Up until 2002 Porsche was a pure sports car manufacturer, but then the big boss Wendelin Wiedeking wanted more. He saw that he could exploit the boom for SUVs in the USA for Porsche, so he brought the new Cayenne to the market. The monstrous car brought in so much money for Porsche that they wanted to swallow the much larger VW group. In the climate change / global warming debate, Porsche didn't look so well with the Cayenne - so a small cylinder and a diesel engine was offered.

BMW 7 SERIES
In 2001 BMW had to endure scorn and ridicule during the presentation of its new flagship car. Reason was the plump design of the 7 Series with a trunk lid that looked like it was put on after the design was finished. Chief designer Chris Bangle, however, described his work as visionary. In fact, there are some ideas by Bangles used on the 7 Series that can now be found on vehicles of the competition. The same applies to the then criticized "iDrive" knob operation. The newly released 2009 7 Series is again more conservative, but many experts say the Bangle designed 7 Series revived BMW. Toward the end of the 20th Century, car design seemed "perfect", but also exhausted.

MERCEDES CLS
Ford had just taken over Jaguar when Mercedes said: The English competition is coming with a renewed vigor, we need to put up something against it. Out of this basic idea in 2004 the CLS was created - a car that has already secured its place in the history of design. The CLS is a four-door coupe, which is a oxymoron and contradiction for sure. Meanwhile, Audi, BMW, VW, Porsche and Aston Martin also use the sloping roof design in some models. Jaguar as well, naturally.

TATA NANO
It costs approx. $2,160 and is intended to be for the Indian market, what was the VW Beetle was in Germany: the start of mobility for all. In Europe, the announcement in 2008 already produced unrest among the established vehicle manufacturers. But before Tata comes to Europe or the United States it will take years. Until then the Dacia Logan at $10,000 will remain the cheapest car in Europe and the Chevy Aveo at $10,895 in the United States.

BUGATTI VEYRON
It would take a downpayment of almost 1,000 Tata Nano, if you want to buy a Bugatti Veyron. According to the will of the former VW chief Ferdinand Piëch in 2005, the 1001-horsepower supercar should be the tip of what is technically possible to achieve: 253 mph top speed, 16 cylinder, 2.5 seconds for zero to 60 mph, $1.55 million. Meanwhile, there is also a roadster for $2.40 million. However, the sales of the car are so low that it will never contribute to the profit of the VW Group.

AUDI A2
Being a car with a full Aluminum body made it very difficult for the Audi A2 from the beginning in 2000. Thus, the small car was only given a very short life span. Although in its most frugal version it got a whopping 78.4 MPG, it was so expensive that it was discontinued in 2005. Three years later, with the climate change debate in full swing, those responsible must have been upset about this decision.

TOYOTA PRIUS
It's true that it's career began in 1997 - but at that time, the first large-scale hybrid car in the world was still an ugly duckling and was widely ridiculed. It's breakthrough came in the second generation of the Prius from 2003, when Hollywood celebrities began to appear with the now trendy Prius. Meanwhile, more than one million Prius have been sold worldwide, and now the German manufacturers are following with hybrid models - however, only in the upper class.

HONDA FCX
Due to the withdrawal of BMW in the development of hydrogen cars, cars with fuel cells could suffer a setback: This power plant that generates electricity for the on-board electric motor, needs to refuel with hydrogen. Whether the fuel cell will ever be mass produced is open. If this happens, the Honda FCX will be a very special classic car - one for which there is no fuel.

TESLA ROADSTER
With the end of the decade, the end of the era of the combustion engine could be upon us. If the transition looks like a ride in the Tesla Roadster, no car fan could have anything against it. Since 2008, the sports car with its nearly 7,000 laptop batteries has moved the image of electric vehicles away from that of golf-carts and limitation-mobiles because it is not only clean but also chic and fast. A top speed of 125 mph, zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. The extremely high price (just under $110,000) is the only real downer. But an up and coming classic does not necessarily have to be perfect. It is sufficient if it points the way to the future.

Source for data: wikipedia.org

Posted via email from Connected Marketing

The most priceless Ad in the world? Try Google's Homepage

2010-01-07T09:25:00.002-05:00

Having an Ad on Google’s famously bare homepage is something money can’t buy (see above). Because Google never features any extra graphics, especially not ads, you can bet that with be the Ad with the highest click-through-rate anywhere.

Nexus One offers the cheapest unlimited service on a smartphone

2010-01-06T09:01:00.002-05:00

Photo: Billshrink.com
Not only the Unlimited Plan – which includes unlimited Voice, Messaging, and data – but also the average plan is less expensive with T-Mobile than with AT&T. While AT&T charges $149.99 for unlimited, T-Mobile only charges $99.99. This equals to savings over 24 months over almost 50%! So, if price is the deciding factor when purchasing a phone the Nexus One should be your next phone.
However, we all know that Apple and AT&T have never wanted to compete based on price, but rather on product and service offerings. The question will know be whether Apple’s superior branding and AT&T’s arguably better service offering can hold off the Nexus One.
On a side note, Sprint’s Palm Pre does offer the cheapest cost of ownership among the four smartphones compared by Billshrink.com above. But let’s be honest that being sold exclusively by Sprint has taken the otherwise solid Palm Pre out of the running from the beginning.

Posted via email from Connected Marketing

Arrival of the Google Phone: $180 on Contract, $530 Unlocked

2010-01-05T14:16:00.002-05:00

My brief assessment: Google's not changing the game today. The Nexus One carried the same price like all the other smartphones: $180 with a T-Mobile contract, or $530 unlocked, both available through Google's online store. All in all the major blog have already reviewed and played extensively with the Nexus One, so the only mystery was the price unveiled today. It’s not “free” as lots of people had hoped for given Google’s track record, but it's still a great smartphone at a competitive price that will undoubtedly increase the unstoppable trend of more and more mobile web users in the future. According to one statistic, mobile web users will outnumber regular web users by 2015! We’ll talk again in 2015…

Coming Soon: Click-to-Call in Ads on Mobile Devices with Google AdWords

2010-01-05T08:48:00.001-05:00

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

2010 a Year of Apps and Downs for the iPhone

2010-01-04T20:04:00.001-05:00

Photo: Reuters

In just about a year the number of iPhone Apps rose from 10,000 to 100,000 which is 10 times as many as the second place App Store for Android.

In the past the capabilities of a phone would be known by a quick look at the feature list. Today, however, there are Apps, these more or less useful application with which you can make from an iPhone - or a Google Phone - a navigation system, just as fast as a game console or even a fitness coach. Within a year the number of iPhone Apps increased from 10,000 to over 100,000, and also for the Google smartphone, Android, there are now 16,000 applications.

Therefore, the really question are why are there not already Apps for "Sesame Street" or PBS? Apps for "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" or "The New York Times" have existed for some time for the Internet-to-go.

Yet, the really "Who want to be a Millionaire?" question has been answered a long time ago: Making all the cash and becoming rich with this model of unlimited functionality and freedom that comes with each new application is only one entity and that is Apple. About 30 percent of the proceeds of the fee-based Apps go to the company of Steve Jobs. On the other hand, network operators earn - in the USA, therefore, AT&T, because of the data transmission costs.

Nevertheless: Looking beyond the US cell phone market of flat rate everything including data transmission there is a system in which you are regularly informed about the costs and how much you are spending on data transmission. In these countries, the most important App for cost savings is: the Wifi mode - as the cell companies cannot charge you for data transmission via Wifi.

Posted via email from Connected Marketing

The Fourth-Most Search Term by Toddlers is Porn

2009-12-18T22:36:00.001-05:00

via gizmodo.com

A study showing the top 100 search terms children used in 2009 was just released.

To no surprise the term "Youtube" is the most searched in all age groups, with "Facebook" and "Google" being the other in the top three.
The fourth most searched term is where the head-scratching beings: For teens and tweens the term is"sex" (which really isn't a HUGE surprise). However, kids seven and under apparently prefer to skip this stage and search straight for "porn."

Big FYI here: That's more than searches for the Cartoon Network, and Hannah Montana.

What's the big takeaway from all this? If you believe children are our future (which I'm sure the vast majority does): Our future is doomed.

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

Rumor: Verizon Wireless prepares for the iPhone

2009-12-18T15:32:00.001-05:00

via tuaw.com

Either wishful thinking or evidence of the inevitable, but BusinessWeek is reporting that Verizon is supposedly bolstering its network in preparation for the iPhone.

Verizon Wireless Chief Technology Officer Anthony Melone recently told Bloomberg BusinessWeek that the company is ready for the extra traffic that the iPhone would bring. "We have put things in place already. We are prepared to support that traffic."

We all know how dissatisfied iPhone users, including myself, are with AT&T's performance. Especially, if you came over from Verizon's wireless service like I did. All us iPhone users can do now is cross our fingers and say "Please Apple, please offer your phone on Verizon!"

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

Google Browser Size - How Much of Your Website Do People Really See?

2009-12-17T11:27:00.001-05:00

via mashable.com

I just had to share this great new tool by Google - "Browser Size". It lets you figure out how much of your website people actually see without having to scroll. In the future, this can help determine where to place buttons, call to actions, importnat content, etc.

According to mashable "Browser Size is very simple: It overlays a transparent image on top of any website, displaying what percentage of users (on average) will see your content without scrolling. Because people use various browser settings, monitor sizes and screen resolutions."

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

The Future is now: "The Golden Triangle"

2009-12-16T21:53:00.001-05:00

Reading a great blog post by Brian Solis on "The Future of Interactive Marketing" got me thinking about the "Golden Triangle" that I frist heard about a few weeks ago. By the way the aforementioned blog post is a MUST READ for any marketer.

In a nutshell, in addition to my favorite local search, the three current big megatrends in the web/tech sector are: mobile, social, and real-time. It's like a "golden triangle.” It's why the search engines were so keen on being the first to implement real-time search (Google), design mobile apps (bing), and partner with social networks (yahoo with Facebook & Google with Twitter).

As with Brian Solis puts it "the Golden Triangle [...] facilitates a new genre of content production, distribution, and consumption as well as social interaction and collaboration. It’s borderless, untethered, and practically device agnostic.

“You” are at the center of the Golden Triangle and remain connected to your social and professional graph via devices, applications and networks hosted on mobile and Web-based (cloud) platforms."

Posted via web from Connected Marketing

BROWSER WARS: Google Chrome Beats Apple Safari

2009-12-15T20:44:00.001-05:00

via gizmodo.com

All it took was the release of the Google Chrome beta for Linux and Mac and it happened: Chrome became is the number 3 browser in the world, narrowly sliding past Apple's Safari with a 4.4 percent marketshare to Safari's 4.37 percent. The Google-Apple war is getting real, people.

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

What Do Seniors Do Online? Visit Facebook and YouTube, of Course

2009-12-11T09:23:00.001-05:00

Research done by Nielsen confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: more and more seniors are becoming active on the web. In November of 2004, there were 11.3 million active seniors online. In November 2009, that number jumped by 55% to 17.5 million. In addition, they spend more time on the web, totaling an average of 58 hours a month in front of the browser - just look at the data above.

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

Twitter Users will constitute 15.5% of

2009-12-09T09:52:00.001-05:00

via emarketer.com

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

Image of Twitter's new "Fail whale"

2009-12-07T14:55:00.001-05:00

Twitter is currently down for scheduled maintenance.

We expect to be back within 30 minutes. Thanks for your patience.

via twitter.com

I just got this message today on Twitter instead of the usual twitter "Fail Whale" - this really makes me miss the Twitter Fail Whale :(

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

Social Networking Chronological Graph with Number of Members

2009-12-07T08:40:00.001-05:00

via gizmodo.com

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

B2B vs. B2C: Difference in Social Media Initiatives

2009-12-04T08:25:00.001-05:00

Very telling statistics realeased by eMarketer this morning for B2B & B2C Socail Media usage:

Not only are B2B firms more likely overall to maintain a social network profile, they are managing profiles across more social networks and are significantly more likely to be present on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. On the other side, B2C companies are more likely to maintain Facebook and MySpace profiles.

B2B social media users are more active in measuring most social success metrics. Although B2C companies are more likely than B2B firms to use revenues to measure their efforts, more B2Bs are looking at Web traffic, brand awareness, and prospect lead quality and volume. Web traffic was the top metric for both types of company.

Ver interesting is that 60% of B2B respondents used the online marketing best practice of Twitter search to monitor mentions of their company or brand, but only 35% of B2C companies dis this.

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

Shoppers use Smartphones to Study, Find, and Buy

2009-12-01T14:41:00.001-05:00

By Colby E. Ware for USA TODAY

Mobile phones are now commonplace anywhere: the office, the home, in the car, and of course while shopping. With the increased capabilities that Smartphones offer it's only natural that they are now doing the heavy-lifting for shoppers when it comes to doing their homework. Phones help shoppers find coupons, store locations and even discover nearby restaurants.

2009 will go down as the first holiday season that retailers are (finally) trying to capitalize on the still niche, but quickly expanding, market of mobile shoppers.

According to a Deloitte survey, about 20% of Americans will use their mobile devices for shopping during the 2009 holiday season. As is to be expected, the percentage is twice as high for young consumers (18-29). Young Shoppers say they'll use their phones to find store locations, receive coupons and information for sales and to research products and prices.

Now for the most exciting statistic: One-quarter of all who plan to use their phones to shop say they will make purchases on the devices.

Given, the mobile shopping market is still relatively small, even if the sales numbers look impressive at $750 million. But looking at the bigger picture this represents about half of 1% of all online sales.

The trade publication Internet Retailer reported month that 112 retailers have "m-commerce" sites or apps.

Here are a few big boys joining the fun: Toys R Us, Walgreens, American Eagle, Best Buy and Victoria's Secret recently added mobile sites. Sears and Kmart were one of the first major U.S. retailers to offer a mobile site, last year.

THE ANTI-BLACK FRIDAY

Given the crazies out on Black Friday, the ability to use a mobile device from your couch, bed or kitchen to do price comparisons, check product availability and simply look for other bargains can be invaluable.

How Black Friday Works: Stores offer "door-buster" deals to entice people to come in, knowing they'll buy more once inside the store. Many such discounts are advertised in advance, letting shoppers do price comparisons from home. But many deals aren't promoted ahead of time, and other products that aren't deals are strategically placed around stores.

Here's where the Smartphone comes in: Consumers now browse the Web from the sales floor for product and price comparisons can save time and money. According to Nita Rollins, a futurist with the digital marketing agency Resource Interactive, "the majority of American consumers will be mobile device-centric in a few years. Now that it's technologically feasible, possessing such power literally in the palm of our hands is quite irresistible."

M-COMMERCE EXAMPLES

Best Buy has had a mobile site since June 2009, however it did not became fully functioning for purchases until the end of September. Michele Azar, Best Buy's vice president of emerging channels, says even though the retailer thought it important for customers to be able to buy easily on their devices, she says that wasn't the driving force behind the move to mobile.

Toys R Us added a mobile site right before the Black Friday craziness. Greg Ahearn, senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce, says it's designed so consumers can quickly find stores, get "mom ratings" and product descriptions, and make purchases.

"Mobile technology use is growing among all age ranges," says Ahearn. " Some youngsters have their own phones and are looking things up, showing them to Mom and Dad and putting the items on their holiday wish lists."

EBay's mobile website attracts 1 million visitors a day. They expects its mobile commerce – which includes a new iPhone deals app – to quadruple in 2010, and says it will have $500 million in revenue in 2009.

"It's quite possible more people this year will use mobile commerce through eBay and avoid the stores altogether," says Steve Yankovich, eBay's vice president of business solutions and mobile.

USING MOBILE TO HELP TEENS AND MOMS SHOP

According to a Resource Interactive study mothers remain the "chief purchasing officers," and children are the "chief influencing officers." Teens are using the Internet and their mobile devices influence the brands and products their families bought.

A Mom's perspective after conducting a purchase via a Smartphone: "I still have much greater comfort level with my PC, but if I came to find (buying) was quick and efficient on my phone, I most definitely would do that - I'm on the road a lot."

To facilitate the way young shoppers use their phones as tools of influence, Resource Interactive developed a prototype app that would allow teens to e-mail their parents photos from retail websites and get theirs and others' opinions. If the parents approved, at the click of a button they could authorize the teens to buy the product using an alternative payment site such as BillMyParents.com.

THE FUTURE OF MOBILE COMMERCE?

Is Mobile the future of eCommerce? No not yet but we should definitely start talking about mCommerce, as people never have their cell phone more than 1 foot away from them, so it's only logical that the combination of more power, faster internet, and more tech-savyness are leading to the rise of "mCommerce."

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

General Motti Star Wars Status Update

2009-11-29T09:11:00.001-05:00

via collegehumor.com

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

Han Solo Star Wars Facebook Status Update (by Brian Murphy on CollegeHumor)

2009-11-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

via collegehumor.com

Facebook, what would the world be like without you? Good question. Now at least we know what Facebook would be like with Han Solo on it.

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

How to Try the New Google Search - Google Search (via @Gizmodo)

2009-11-25T16:13:00.001-05:00

Confirmed. The rumors about Google's redesign are true, and you can try it for yourself with a very simple method.

1. Go to Google.com.
2. Once it loads, enter this code into your web browser's URL address field:

javascript:void(document.cookie="PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com");

There shouldn't be any http://google.com in front of that. Just that code.

3. Hit enter.
4. Reload or open a new Google.com page and you will have access to the new user interface.

It's fast and sweet, although the changes don't affect all the available sections. [Thanks Matt Karolian]

Send an email to Jesus Diaz, the author of this post, at jesus@gizmodo.com.

via gizmodo.com

Very cool! I wonder how the new interface will really turn out. It does look lot like bing though :)

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

iPhone and Android now total 75% of U.S. smartphone web traffic

2009-11-23T14:49:00.001-05:00

Filed under: Odds and ends, Surveys and Polls, iPhone
iPhone and Android now total 75% of U.S. smartphone web traffic
by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Nov 23rd 2009 at 2:30PM
It's a rather stunning number from AdMob in an October report. The firm reports on web requests from thousands of sites world wide. In the latest report, Apple has 55% of the domestic Smartphone traffic share, and Android has 20%. Interestingly, the Blackberry share dropped 2% to a 12 percent share, and Palm's webOS dropped from a 10% share to 5%.
Windows Mobile OS has 4% of the U.S. Smartphone web traffic.
The AdMob statistics do not show handset sales, but rather are calculated by measuring traffic on more than 15,000 web sites and applications.
The Motorola Droid, running only on Verizon, has captured 24% of all Android traffic, even thought it has been out only a few weeks.
The iPhone has been on the market for 28 months. That 55% share of traffic is a pretty robust number for such a relatively new product. The Android numbers, especially those of the Droid are also good news for Google, Motorola and Verizon.
The balance of Smartphone data may change dramatically as the holiday season unwinds, and it will be interesting to watch the ebb and flow of the competing brands.
AdMob was recently purchased by Google. Apple also had reportedly had some interest in the company.

Incredible statistics for both the iPhone and the Android (the Verizon Droid in particular).

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

Adidas Originals Star Wars Collection Preview (via KicksOnFire.com)

2009-11-23T09:26:00.001-05:00

Adidas Originals Star Wars Collection Preview

Posted on 20 November 2009

Star Wars fans will get a chance to add another piece of memorabilia to their collection in 2010. adidas honors the timeless intergalactic tale with a few of its classic models in what looks to be a very promising collaborative. The shoes take inspiration from scenes and characters for a literal interpretation and while we only have these sneak peak images you can only imagine how soon the hi res detailed photos will be online. Who’s excited? Or were you all trekkies? Via Hypebeast

Adidas Originals Star Wars Collection Preview

Adidas Originals Star Wars Collection Preview

Adidas Originals Star Wars Collection Preview

Adidas Originals Star Wars Collection Preview

via kicksonfire.com

Wow, first Marc Ecko brings Star Wars into pop culture and now Adidas? Looks like I'll need to save up for a new wardrobe.

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

Kanye West your website with Kanyelicio.us

2009-11-17T13:47:00.001-05:00

I know that the the tool to add Kanye West to any site has been out for a while. But, it's so awesome that I wanted to make sure that everyone out there knows about. Plus, I recently rediscovered it in my bookmarks :)

Remember when Kanye West toally punk'd Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMA awards? Here's a refresher:

So, why am bringing up Kanye West again after the incident that happened earlier this year? Well, if you haven't discovered "kanyelicious" yet you are really missing out! This simple website features an app that is rumored to have been developed by none other than the Barbarian Group.

How do you go about turning every site known to man into a kanyelicious site? It's as easy as 1,2,3:

Go to kanyelicious http://kanyelicious.appspot.com/
Enter your URL into the field
Hit "DO IT!"

That's it! Just follow those simple three steps and you can have Kanye West interrupting any site that you want him to. There is even an option to have a bookmark that "automatically" adds Kanye to any site you are currently browsing.

P.S. To see my personal favorite Kanye West joke from Ima let you finish check out my earlier blogpost here.

Posted via web from Eric's online marketing blog

Facebook Uncool for 18-24s? All of this has happened before

2009-11-16T08:35:00.001-05:00

via adweek.com

To steal a line from Battlestar Galactica: All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again:

A group, in this case college age kids, discover an online sanctuary just to find out that everyone they have ever been in contact with including their parents are on it. First it was MySpace and everyone moved to Facebook, a safe haven for college age kids that required a .edu email address to join. This meant no parents, no relatives, no spam, no junk.

Then Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook decides that he needs to monetize Facebook and rake in the ca$h. He opens it up to everyone and there was only a tiny initial wave of users that committed Facebook-icide including myself (I only came back 2 years later because as a marketer I couldn't miss out on this phenomenon). Then around this time last year, so November 2008, I started hearing stories that people's parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were now on Facebook and seeking them out - as if it wasn't already awkward enough dodging Aunt Beth at the annual Thanksgiving dinner, but now people had to do it online? That's where where many people are drawing the line.

Now Adweek throws out an article today about how Facebook is "getting" uncool for 18-24s (a.k.a. the college crowd) - to the surprise of many, but not people that have been following the pulse of this development.

Back to Battlestar Galactica: All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again.

So, now the (1 Billion Dollar) question is: What is next great thing that the kids are going to migrate to?
Twitter? I see twitter more as a compliment to Facebook and not a direct competitor. Sure there are people that only use twitter or Facebook, but they are such different beasts that they don't directly compete.
Leapfish? I doubt that they can fill the shoes of Facebook as Leapfish is an aggregator, but not a source like Facebook or Twitter.

The only thing that is for sure is that "All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again."

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

The next big thing? Leapfish Launches Portal & Search For "Living Web"

2009-11-16T08:08:00.001-05:00

via blog.searchenginewatch.com

Is Leapfish the next big thing? That has yet to be determined, but from my initial browsing it has a great chance of becoming my next internet portal along the lines of my yahoo or iGoogle. I love how it has embraced and integrated Social right from the beginning.

Thanks to @nikolhillman for the heads up on Leapfish!

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Young People Tweeting More and More - eMarketer

2009-11-03T09:30:00.001-05:00

via emarketer.com

Status update services catch on with Gen Y

More evidence of Twitter uptake among young people comes from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. According to a September 2009 survey, 33% of online adults ages 18 to 29 use a status update service, a significant difference from the research firm’s previous poll on the subject.

This meant young adults were more likely to tweet than users ages 30 to 49, who had previously been considered the core group for Twitter.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Seinfeld back with the Mac - Sorry Microsoft

2009-10-29T13:33:00.001-04:00

via tuaw.com

I guess Bill Gates didn't make too much of an impression on him during their short-lived advertising campaign.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

46% of Local Online Searchers Visit Brick and Mortar Businesses

2009-10-24T17:39:00.001-04:00

46% of Local Searchers Visit Businesses In-Store

46% of local searchers make in-store visits, according to data released to eMarketer by TMP Directional Marketing and comScore. The number is up 12% over last year.

Meanwhile, for "general searches," 34% visited stores, but this was only up 1% over last year. Internet yellow pages searchers also came in at 34%, up from 29% last year. The overall average of searchers ending up in-store was 37%.

via blog.searchenginewatch.com

Don;t think online searches are important? Think again. SEO will make or break your business over the next few years.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Seven Patty Windows 7 Whopper Is Real, and It's Horrifying (via @Gizmodo)

2009-10-23T12:58:00.001-04:00

via gizmodo.com

They weren't kidding: The Seven Patty Windows 7 Burger does exist in Japan and you can have it for $14.

What does this mean for Microsoft and burger king branding? Good question...

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Apple plays hardball: New Get a Mac Ad - "Broken Promises"

2009-10-23T09:54:00.001-04:00

via apple.com

Apple is getting really aggressive in light of the launch of the Windows 7.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Windows1.0 - ORDER TODAY! (except in Nebraska)

2009-10-22T13:06:00.001-04:00

via youtube.com

Steve Ballmer deserves an award of some sort.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Japan Welcomes Windows 7 with Seven Layer Whopper Burger (via @Gizmodo)

2009-10-22T08:54:00.001-04:00

via gizmodo.com

The Japanese are truly the kings of cross-promotion...

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Apple: "People Are Still Just Trying to Catch Up With the First iPhone"

2009-10-21T10:05:00.001-04:00

via gizmodo.com

I love this image.

It makes me smile every time I see it. I don't know if it's because of the Futurama style of the drawing, Windows being portrayed by a Monkey, or the laser beam coming out of the iPhone :)

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Want Teens to Notice Your Product Placement? Use the Web

2009-10-20T09:30:00.001-04:00

For many marketers product placement remains a viable way to create brand awareness among young people--but with this generation having been marketed to on multiple screens pretty much since birth, does product placement even work?

The answer is yes, but not in the way marketers are hoping. We found that 72% of teens and 77% of college students notice product placement, and the top three products they notice on television shows are beverages, cell phones, and cars. But only one in seven report that those product placements have any effect on their perception of the brands.

But it turns out there is one "product" teens and college students say they not only notice but actively pursue: Web sites. 38% of teens and 26% of college students noticed Web sites in a TV show or movie. And 53% of them reported going online to check the site out.

So while we don't have tangible evidence that the products youth notice most are having much of an impact, we do know that getting your Web site featured on a popular TV show or in a film is a great way to drive youth awareness, not to mention traffic. Maybe we'll start seeing fewer soda cans on TV, and more characters playing a game on the soda maker's Web site.

via fastcompany.com

So the new product placement is (drum-roll please): A Vanity URL website! What does this mean? Instead of putting your product in the show/movie/etc. put your vanity URL (e.g. CheckThisOut.com) and the kids will check it out.

The key here is to make sure that your website that you are sending the kids to delivers. Does it have good call to actions? Is it branded properly? What do expect people to do once they are there?

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Gator Game

2009-10-18T21:59:00.001-04:00

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Florida Gators Swamp Entrance 2009

2009-10-18T15:05:00.001-04:00

via youtube.com

Go Gators! I recorded the Jumbotron entrance video during yesterday's homecoming game.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Newest Data: Facebook Soars, MySpace Shrinks and Twitter Slows

2009-10-11T22:05:00.001-04:00

via mediapost.com

Twitter specific: According to comScore the monthly traffic has leveled off at about 20 million visitors since July, after jumping from 4 million in February to 17 million in April. Mediapost speculates that the microblogging service could just be in a lull before another growth spurt.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Notes from Days Two & Three of #SMX East 2009

2009-10-08T16:54:00.001-04:00

Due to burnout, my brain being over capacity and client work I've had to combine days 2 & 3 into one post :) Following are the most important notes and thoughts from the sessions I attended. Head over to flickr to check out my SMX set.

Day 2 at SMX East 2009 started with a Keynote: What’s Next In Search: The Bigwig Crystal Ball Panel. The panel was fun had a great amount of knowledge to share. Here are some of my notes/thoughts/and learning from the panel:

Asking to be followed on Facebook & Twitter creates a way to stay in front of the consumer beyond the media buy. It keeps and opens up a conversation. This is what makes Social Media so exciting for marketers: In the past, after the exposure to the ad the consumer there was noway to continue the conversation. In addition, Social Media offers opportunity in Direct Response Marketing, Awareness, and Feedback.
Twitter is essentially a RSS feed and and email marketing on steroids. It takes Customer Service to a whole new level.
Here's a quote by Google taken totally out of context: "We are not always accurate."
Something I did not know but learned from Greg Boser of 3 Dog Media: Google has a 30 minute cookie that they place on your computer and there is no way of opting out of it.
The Panel was in consensus that the bing and Yahoo merger is a good thing.

Ecommerce Search Marketing Tactics – This session was full of tactics for ecommerce merchants on how to do well in search results.

Talk to the Ecommerce Engines to see what the terms are that people search for
YouTube is the number two search engine with 3.5 billion searches in August 09
- Ecommerce opportunities on YouTube:
  - There are many generic searches conducted
  - Less crowded ad space with sponsored links
  - Opportunity with long tail keyterms
The biggest opportunity to improve ecommerce conversions is by adding relevant copy to the product and category pages
- Category pages are the most important pages on an ecommerce site
- Optimizing these pagers can increase conversions by up to 23%!
The average conversion rate in August 2009 was 2%
Conduct a ecommerce PPC audit every 13 months: "Don't ask for more budget: Reallocate!"
Optimize your site and product pages for SEO

The Interplay of Social Media & Paid Search – This session was very theoretical. It went over how exposure to social media has influenced search behavior

There has been a move from Media Delivery (Traditional Advertising) to Media Discovery (interactive: search, etc.)
Putting all terms (SEO, PPC, social) in silos makes sense from a tactical standpoint, but not from an interplay and analytical attribution sense
Search is the best direct response channel available online
There has been a huge shift in online behavior from the portals to social media, especially for search
- Heavy searchers are 43% more likely to be Facebook users than the average user
No surprise here: Social Media Users are very desirable with their buying power
"Supportive social media" is growing rapidly in importance for consumers
- "I need to know something about it"
The Click Through Rate for Ads are much higher if there was prior exposure to social. This is especially true for branded search terms
Takeaways:
- Conversion happen in Search -> Social can influence this
- Social will pump up branded searches
- Slow and steady social is the best. This means no viral. Constant influence is much more beneficial than a burst or 'sometimes' influence.
- Listen: Where are the gaps? What do people want to know? Provide Relevant information.

Video Search Marketing Beyond YouTube – This session looked at other types of video search marketing opportunties other than YouTube.

Video Marketing is becoming more and more fragmented
right now Video SEO is like SEO for altavista in the late 90s
Use YouTube for :30 to 3:00 videos. Host longer videos on your own site
Put all your videos on YouTube - a video is 50x more likely to show up on a Search Results PAge versus a text page
Filenames for videos matter
Include your URL in the end-slate
The video Thumbnail is your call to action
New Video Marketing Oppotunites:
- Google Products pages
- Google Local Listings
- People are looking for higher quality videos

Universal & Blended Search Opportunities – This session focused on “vertical” search results is through “blended results” (Yahoo & bing) or “Universal Search” (Google): Blending mixes results from news, blogs, shopping, local search, video search, images, and more into the “regular” result page.

You can take up space on the results page with universal search in the search engines. This is great for reputation management!
How to dominate universal search:
- PPC Ad
- Core Listing
- Publish / Refresh news about yourself
Yahoo now offers really cool "rich ads" with images and videos
Google reiterated as usual that it's "all about relevance"
The future, according to Goggle, will be more and more local results

Check back tomorrow for my final blog post on day three and my summary of SMX. Head over to flickr to check out my SMX set.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Notes from Day One of #SMX East 2009

2009-10-05T20:00:00.001-04:00

37 pages. That's how pages of notes I took today at SMX East. Given they were small pages, but nevertheless that's still la lot of notes - but, also a reflection upon the vast amount of knowledge that you learn at SMX. Don't fool yourself, you better be ready to learn, A LOT, at SMX because the learning is something that never stops at SMX.

I learned about the rel=canonical tag from the search engines, local vs. organic SEO, and all about Maps. How local search and maps are evolving. And finally, I had the pleasure of sitting in a keynote by Ben Huh.

Here a few of the highlights of things that stood out to me today:

Mobile Search Ads -

Always send Mobile PPC ads to Mobile sites or Mobile Landing Pages.
Geo-target with your Mobile PPC ads
But, you don't need a mobile site as you can send mobile ads to: Google Maps, Apple Appstore, Android Marketplace or YouTube.
The Mobile Relevance Formula has a lower relevance on Quality Score and a higher relevance on Click Through Rate
Click To Call Converts 10x more than Clicks
Test if users prefer a limited mobile or a full site

Duplicate Content Issues: The Search Engine Edition -

The biggest news here was that during the Q&A session Google announced that the rel=canonical tag will work across different domains
This means that by year's end Yahoo and bing will use the canonical tag and Google will be ahead once again by accepting the tag across domains

Ranking Tactics for Local Search -

For a local search Connoisseur like me that was probably the most insightful panel of the day.

The most intriguing thing to me was the discussion of the difference between Organic and Local SEO. Without getting into this: Yes, there are major differences here
One thing to keep in mind is that services such as Localeze, Axiom, and infoUSA feed the search engines and feed secondary search directories. These secondary directories in turn passively feed Google.
There are differences across the three major search engines

Maps, Maps, Maps! -

This was nice run-through of the three maps (Google, bing, Yahoo!) by the representatives of the actual search engines

Yahoo demoed their new features (very impressive!)
Yahoo uses localeze, USAlocal,etc to pull in data
bing showed off their advancements as well. The "1-click" directions stood out the most as the pre-populate directions from North, South, West, and East
Google reminded the audience to not keyword stuff the listings (e.g. Categories, etc.)
The importance of Reviews were driven home by Steve Espinosa from Cherrp: a minimum of 4 reviews are required to be in Google's top 3

Keynote by Ben Huh, the CEO of ICANHASCHEEZBURGER network -

This keynote really made the day and was stuffed full of great quotes and insights. Among these were:

"To succeed you must turn other people's dreams into reality"
" It is Human Nature to admire complexity but to reward simplicity"
Don't waste your time developing things created by others: spend 10% on off-the-shelf and 90% on your core
This means use products others have developed, such as: YouTube to host videos, JS-Kit for reviews, Google Docs, and Word press for blogging

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Meet the Mobile Web Audience - eMarketer

2009-10-05T06:48:00.001-04:00

via emarketer.com

Mobile Internet users grew 34% to 57 million from 2008 to 2009, according to The Nielsen Company.

As is to be expected from previous research findings, Men browse for tech, sports and news. Women, on the other hand use the mobile web for celebrity news, shopping sites and social networks.

Most surprisingly to me, only12% of mobile web users are under age 18.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

What is Google Wave? 2 Minute Animation To Explain

2009-10-02T11:06:00.001-04:00

via gizmodo.com

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Insane Rocket Takeoff Photo Destroys Camera Lens

2009-10-02T08:28:00.001-04:00

By Adam Frucci, 5:40 PM on Thu Oct 1 2009, 56,612 views

Photographer Ben Cooper took this photo of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket launching at Cape Canaveral using a sound-activated camera. And when your camera is that close to a launch, your lens probably won't survive.

The particular setup for this was sound activated. The lens was destroyed (worth it of course) but the camera survived this one despite being severed from its ratchet straps and thrown to the ground, and the sound device used for this one disconnected from the camera and thrown about 200 feet backwards into the pad perimeter fence (still worked!). All settings are preset manually. No one is allowed closer than several miles from a launch.

Well, that's awesome. [Airliners.net, Thanks, Jason!]

via feeds.gawker.com

Well, what do you expect? However, the photo that the camera took before being destroyed is unbelievable!

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Nearly 50% of US Facebook users are over 35 - almost 20% are over 45

2009-10-01T16:26:00.001-04:00

via insidefacebook.com

An interesting demographic trend that started earlier this year on Facebook is that users over 45 are still growing the fastest in the US.

Will the younglings start jumping ship soon? If yes, what's the next BIG THING?

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Best remake yet? | Star Wars: Uncut Trailer

2009-10-01T15:06:00.001-04:00

via starwarsuncut.com

Wow! I remember when this project started up. It's great to see it all come together.

For those of you who don't know: The First Star Wars movie was divided into individual scenes and then fans from all over the world started recreating that one scene. Now all the scenes are being put back together to create the ultimate Star Wars fan-made tribute.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

AT&T MMS launch: How was it for iPhone users?

2009-09-28T09:11:00.002-04:00

So, what's the fallout of the AT& MMS update from last Friday? It seems that according to initial feedback nothing too exciting happened. There were just a few isolated reports of failures to get the update, failures to get the MMS functions after an update, and late delivery of MMS messages.
According to a non-scientific poll conducted by TUAW.com it seems that 46% of respondents had no issues at all and an additional 15% had initial issues that went away.

Is this a WIN for AT&T? In my opinion no because getting this right was expected after such a long delay. The iPhone is finally capable of performing rudimentary functions that any 13 year old's cell phone that they sneak into school on a daily basis.

How did the AT&T MMS release go for you?

It worked well. No problems	5739 (45.9%)
It seemed slow at first, but got better	1827 (14.6%)
MMS is missing some features I wanted	237 (1.9%)
MMS isn't of any interest to me. I use email for sending pix	1912 (15.3%)
Doesn't run on my older iPhone. I'm not happy	708 (5.7%)
Slow delivery yesterday. Much better today	795 (6.4%)
Not happy at all	1297 (10.4%

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Nine Reasons to Twitter in Schools

2009-09-28T08:35:00.002-04:00

Posted via email from Eric's posterous blog

“Ballmer says they screwed up with Windows Mobile. Wishes they had already launched WM7." - windows mobile 7

2009-09-25T10:02:00.001-04:00

via gizmodo.com

The interesting thing will be to see what Microsoft does moving forward: Windows Mobile has been a real FAIL for years and Microsoft better bring their A Game to get it right with WinMo 7. Especially with the pressure and lead growing from Apple and the iPhone Microsoft will need to throw more than money for marketing at this venure and we all know how Ballmer feels about Apple...

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Social Media Marketing isn't just a fad

2009-09-25T09:13:00.001-04:00

Another day, another emarketer graph. The question is: What does this graph tell us?

1. Social media success is many-sided and complicated (nothing new there)
2. People want to hear the nitty-gritty tactics and not waste time with other things
3. Most importantly: Social Media is being accepted as an important part of the marketing mix and not just a fad

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Is AT&T ready for iPhone MMS rollout tomorrow?

2009-09-24T20:46:00.005-04:00

We've just heard from AT&T that new carrier settings for the iPhone 3G and 3GS will be available "late morning" Pacific Time (which would be early afternoon Eastern) this Friday, September 25, which will finally enable MMS support. Owners will have to tether up to iTunes to grab those settings, so fish out your cable (as if you don't have it permanently attached to your machine already) and make sure you've got some solid time in front of the computer to check for the update over and over (and over) again, alright?

How long have iPhone owners been waiting on this? Too long!!!! Still WAY to overpriced. AT&T, quick question: Where would you be today without the iPhone? Huh?!?! This could be potentially disastrous for the AT&T brand if they don'r pull this off - no wonder they are scared right now. We'll know more in 24 hours.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

AT&T doing Social Media? - Go check it out!

2009-09-24T11:59:00.002-04:00

via att.com

Very interesting how AT&T is trying to embrace social media to it's fullest. Should be interesting to watch, to say the least.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

84% DO NOT measure ROI of Social Media - eMarketer

2009-09-23T11:27:00.002-04:00

via emarketer.com

This is a really scary statistic! People and companies need to start realizing that Social Media needs to be measured just like any other Media.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Is Apple toying with Google? [iPhone and Google Voice]

2009-09-21T13:15:00.002-04:00

According to Google's statement from last Friday, in contrast to previous statements Apple rejected the Google Voice app outright.
So, it Google yelling: "You're a Liar!" to Apple? Sort of, but not fully. This may be the first chapter in the Apple Google war of the second decade of the 21st Century. It all started when Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, left Apple's board earlier this year after sitting on it since 2006.
The issue is that Apple ahs always run a very tight ship, maybe a little too tights. But, now that all of a sudden there are millions of Apple users via the iPhone they are just "enjoying" this tight ship that Apple runs. There really is nothing wrong with what Apple is doing - it is doing waht Steve Jobs loves: Controlling the end-user experience to the t. However, why doesn't Apple simply come out and admit to this? Well, becasue there would be about a millin and one lawsuits files that day by companies that want their apps or programs to run on the iPhone regardless of what Apple thinks.
This brings us to the problem that Apple does not have the structures in place to properly monitor app submissions to the app store. Apple is making 30% of every app sold, so wouldn't it be in their own best interest to approve as many apps as possibel to increase revenue? That's where Steve Jobs and his tight ship come in.
So, in other words what we are witnessing is not the prelude to Google versus Apple, but rather Google versus Steve Jobs.
Since this story broke laste last week, Apple has again denied rejecting the Google Voice App to spite Google.
Read more: Gizmodo and Macrumors.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Everything's Local in Mobile Search

2009-09-18T09:20:00.002-04:00

Looking for local online advertising? Consider mobile advertising. In a short period of time mobile advertising has gone from an experimental media to a proven one. According to comScore, Inc. the number of local searches on a mobile device grew 51% from March 2008 to March 2009, and the preferred method of search is by using a mobile browser.

Due to the increase in browsing patterns, more and more online advertising is moving to wireless devices such as the Blackberry, the iPhone, or the Palm Pre. In 2006, U.S. advertisers spent $4.8 billion, or about 3 percent of total ad spending, on mobile ads. That's expected to increase to 12 percent by 2011, according to eMarketer.

Mobile local search is still in the development stages, but it is catching up quickly in many business categories and it will very soon be an essential channel for companies looking to get business from local searches.

According to CTIA, over 70 percent of the US population has a mobile phone. In general, there are two choices for local searches using a mobile device: SMS or browser based searches. Each is great at serving a different kind of search need.

SMS & Mobile Browsers: Tools Tailored to Search Requirements

SMS ads have hit the mainstream, with about 15 percent of mobile phones receiving at least one SMS ad according to M-Metrics. SMS are great at fulfilling a quick information need, such as a sports scores, weather, or stock quotes.

On the other hand, consumers typically perform mobile browser searches when they want more subjective information. For example, a mobile browser based search can help find a restaurant with reviews at Yahoo or Google.

Local Marketing Choices

Where should you look to make take advantage of this rapidly growing trend of mobile local search? On the one hand, SMS has some advantages over Web-based browser searches. But, users have to opt in to receive sponsored SMS messages. Mobile Search Browsing on the other hand is as simple as putting a PPC ad on a search engine. However, instead of seeing them on a monitor, customers are seeing them on the screen of their mobile device. This has many advantages including the possibility of prompting consumers to call a certain number or map a route to your location.

Pizza is already onboard – Others are catching on (quickly)

A large percentage of mobile searches are for local businesses. A majority of those are for restaurants and pizza places in particular. Next in popularity is a group that includes taxis, banks, and searches for specific brands, such as Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Target, Blockbuster, Costco, etc.

Online directories, with an increase of 73%, have seen the largest increase during the past year among the various local content categories, followed by restaurants (70%), maps (63%), and movies (60%).

Other categories are quickly becoming more widespread as two things start to occur: consumers become more aware of the capability and the companies that compile listings for local merchants expand their databases of dentists, doctors, florists, and other businesses.

Some businesses can generate a return more quickly from mobile local search. If your business is in a category that benefits heavily from impulse buying, you are trying to expand your company’s footprint, or you want to take your brand to where consumers are going, mobile is a great fit.

From a branding perspective mobile advertising can be invaluable. But it’s important to remember that people won't make large purchases based on mobile searches, but it will help with your company’s branding and can help develop a sale down the road. Keep in mind that the majority uses their mobile devices to find the nearest oil-change center, gas station, florist, ATM, or particular restaurant.

What's Next?

Before you can participate in this brave new world it’s important to ask yourself a few questions: Do you have a website that shows up correctly on mobile browsers? Are you tapping into the local searches coming from mobile devices? Is your Google Map Listing Correct? Let Bayshore help you assess our mobile strategy and develop mobile tactics with you.

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Will metrics become part of the content-creation process thanks to Adobe-Omnitre deal?

2009-09-16T21:01:00.001-04:00

So, Adobe bought Omniture yesterday. I know a lot has been said about the financial and business impact of this, but what does this really mean for marketing and advertising?

In the one corner you have Adobe the number one tool that aids in the creation of just anything using a computer, which according to Wikipedia has "historically focused upon the creation of multimedia and creativity software products." In other words, every creative on this blue planet has, will, or does use an Adobe product to some extent - most likely more than less.

In the other corner you have Omniture the golden standard of online marketing web analytics software, which has historically grown from purchases of smaller but very relevant companies. In other words, if you want to be taken seriously as a website, you use Omniture just like a newspaper uses ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations).

Combine these two opposite end of the spectrum entities - one creates the content, the other company measures it - and what do you get? A one stop solution, or as Adobe President-CEO Shantanu Narayen calls it: "end-to-end platform." Some people are saying that now creatives will have to think about metrics from the beginning of the content-creation process.

After the deal, Omniture CEO Josh James said that it will "allow creatives to integrate measurement into the front end of the ad-creation process" and that "marrying the two companies would improve content engagement, ad effectiveness and the overall user experience that's driving the shift of ad dollars from offline to online." This means that moving forward with this new deal in place, agencies will build Adobe Flash creative with Omniture tracking codes implanted from the beginning - this will enable them to track the views and consumer engagement of the creative across the web, and maybe even begin to micro-charge for every view, partial view or forward of their content versus just seeing measurements for impressions or clicks.

I believe that the ultimate outcome of this deal is that in the world of media analysis there will be more clarity and better metrics - definitely a move in the right direction!

Posted via email from Eric's posterous blog

What is up with Mobile Advertising?

2009-09-16T18:38:00.002-04:00

I've been intrigued by the potential of Mobile Advertising since 1999. Back then grand articles were written on websites, in books, and magazines of how a grand revolution in advertising is upon us and that it will shake the very foundation that makes up marketing. Well, here we are 10 years later and not too much has changed. Do we receive coupons from Dunkin' donuts as we walk by them on our phones? No. Do we get special offers from Target when we enter the store on our cell phones? No.

Then, where are we?

A story that I read today got me thinking. According to this story on AdvertisingAge.com from September 15th, the mobile apps which constitute the majority of the mobile marketing channel are "just an appetizer." As the author puts is: "In grand historical terms, this whole mobile app thing is only now climbing out of the primordial ooze." Well, Mr. Kevin Maney I hate to tell you but we've been in this state of climbing out of the ooze for at least a decade now. When will we finally move on to the next step?

I know some people will say that text message advertising is doing well, but I must point out that it is nowhere near its potential and I'm sure that it never will reach it as far as advertising goes.

While the iPhone, and in particular the app store, have moved us ahead by leaps and bounds in terms of branded communications and marketing on mobile devices, everything is still all over the place. Where would Video tapes be if both VHS and BETA survived until now? Or for that matter next gen DVD if the battle between BluRay and HD-DVD was still going on?

While competition does drive innovation, standardization can create a more focused effort with ultimately greater results. As much as people here in America lament the "big brother" approach of European or Asian economies, being light-years ahead in terms of cell phones, cell phone service, and technology in general does paint a picture.

Now back to the point by the AdAge article that we are clawing our way out of the "primordial ooze" in terms of mobile apps. Are these mobile apps he future of marketing communications to consumers on cell phones? Apple showed a picture at its most recent iPod event that showed the superiority of its iPod touch - essentially a mobile phone without cell service - over current tablets or net books on the market.

So, does the future of mobile, mobile apps, and ergo mobile advertising in essence lie with smaller computer that happen to be phones as well (e.g. the iPhone)? That is something that only time will tell, because as Master Yoda says "The future, always in motion it is." But, if I had to put my money on it right now, I'd say that smart phones will become more and more like small computers. And the billion dollar question will be to find out how to spam people with ads on there, just like advertisers have on any other channel known to man, is the future.

One final thought: Is the reason that mobile advertising is not catching on that a moblie phone is seen as the last "sacred" advertising-free sanctity by people?

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

What does Facebook Lite mean for brands?

2009-09-12T08:09:00.002-04:00

Facebook Lite (http://lite.facebook.com/)

What is Facebook Lite? According to Facebook it is a new streamlined version designed for people with slow internet connections (However, contrary to this it still includes "post video" & "post photos"...). But, it really is a competition to other social networking sites such as twitter. Facebook has proclaimed that they don't want to be the next MySpace, but rather the next Google. This was reaffirmed by their purchase of friendfeed - a social networking startup by a few former Google employees - a total talent grab.

So, the next step in Facebook's battle plan is the introduction of Facebook Lite. A potentially bad thing for brands: no applications, no chat, and the biggest change: users can't find Brand/Business Fan Pages in the search results - only people.

Why is this bad for brands? No instant messaging or applications. Period. But, it's not all bad news.

I believe that Facebook Lite is simply Facebook expanding its service offerings to entice users of other social networks (twitter, friendfeed, etc) and get them hooked on the Facebook dope. Check out Mashable's Stan Schroeder's article on how he likes the Lite version better: http://mashable.com/2009/09/11/facebook-lite-like/

What can you do as a brand or business? Keep an eye on Quantcast's traffic report to Facebook Lite (not up yet) http://www.quantcast.com/lite.facebook.com to see if this new Facebook "microsite" really does gain traction. No matter what this change does, one thing is for sure it will definitely only help the spread of the Facebook Virus.

Want to read more on Facebook Lite? Head over to mashable and check their post on the launch of the new service: http://mashable.com/2009/09/10/facebook-lite-live/

In breaking news from yesterday, and another step to cater to twitter users, it was annouced that Facebook adds "@" Tags... Stay tuned!

Posted via email from Eric's posterous blog

Awesome Recession Cardboard iPhone Case

2009-09-11T12:42:00.002-04:00

By Jesus Diaz, 8:35 AM on Fri Sep 11 2009, 3,724 views

If I don't find a new apartment in NY soon, I would be living in a fridge box for a while—which, mind you, would be bigger than most places here. One that matches this do-it-yourself cardboard iPhone case.
10 cases for $8 is not good enough for hobomodo, but cheap enough even if it's not water proof. [Case-Mate via Oh Gizmo! via Dvice]

via feeds.gawker.com

I need to get one of these!

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

What a joke: Food Industry introduces new "Smart Choices" Labeling Campaign

2009-09-11T08:23:00.002-04:00

G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times

When I first heard about the "Smart Choices" Food Labeling campaign backed by most of the nation’s largest food manufacturers, I thought it was a great idea. Read the article in the NY Times here. But, now after reading more about it and seeing that the nothing but sugar and artificial flavor ridden Coca Krispies and Froot Loops are included in this campaign, I'm not so sure anymore.

This looks like great idea from a marketing and branding standpoint as big name brands are loosing huge chunks of market share to store brands, local brands, and natural or organic choices. However, isn't this really just another marketing gimmick that is attempting to fix the Fourth P of Product from the Marketing Mix developed by Professor Borden in the 1960s? What's worse is that just like the American car industry, instead of actually fixing the PRODUCT they are trying to pull the wool over the consumers eyes with new and fancy packaging. Just like the American car industry - where if they had kept up with the competition and innovated instead of resting comfortably and EXPECTING demand to continuously increase- the food manufactures wouldn't be in a bind if they offered less expensive and innovate (organic/natural/green/local/etc) product.

This is the label that is starting to show up on products

I can honestly say that the inclusion of Coca Krispies and Froot Loops prove that this new "Smart Choices" labeling is nothing but a farce by the industry to try and artificially create a spike in demand for the food that once consumers see the truth will backfire and end up hurting them.

Hey US Food Industry: Fix the product, do actual branding! Don't just slap a new "made up" label that deceives consumers on you products!

Smart Choices official site

Posted via web from Eric's posterous blog

Branding The Web

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star wars: uncut. new "the escape" trailer.

unexpected apple iPad fashions.

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history of location technology. [infographic]

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how mobile is changing social media. [infographic]

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Windows1.0 - ORDER TODAY! (except in Nebraska)