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How to drive change, brands increasing their social media spend, and mobile’s “phantom limb” effect

The latest in interactive marketing strategies and tactics:

Most Marketers Plan to Increase Social Media Spend This Year [STUDY]

Another survey indicated increasing interest in social media by brands. 70% are planning to increase their social media budget this year. Most interesting is that their primary social media goal is to increase Facebook ‘Likes’, and that 87% report that social media is “important” or “very important” to achieving their biggest marketing goal this year. If anyone is doubted that social media has made it to the major leagues, this is pretty strong proof.

Why People Do & Don’t Use Location Apps (Survey)

The findings are interesting regarding mobile trends. I’m surprised at the number who don’t use location-based apps is as low as it is. That seems to be changing. That said, the numbers on this survey feel a little low for complete reliability.

Moat Banner Ad Search

It’s not often I care to search for banner ads, but it does play the full animation, and present details like where it was discovered and when it last ran.

MediaPost Publications Tell The IAB What You’re Spending In Mobile

I’ve stated a few times how the mobile industry is paralleling the early days of the ad industry. There’s currently a growing gap between the use of mobile and the number of advertising dollars being spent there. It’s the same opportunity early buyers of banners and Adwords enjoyed.

Death Stalks the Twittersphere, Offering a Lesson in Consumer Exposure | Bob Garfield – Advertising Age

it’s important for brands to be aware about privacy issues like this to make sure community engagement campaigns aren’t stepping over the creep factor line. I’m sure the awareness factor of this campaign is off the charts. I’d be more curious what the conversion rate is.

How mobile phones are turning into phantom limbs – Telegraph Blogs

I have to say I’ve experienced the same thing. Really demonstrates why this is such a powerful medium. Especially for the early adopters who are before all the noise erupts.

Driving Change: Eight Learnings. | Reinventing

A must read from someone who’s done a lot to drive change within a pretty traditional agency.

Apple to Sell Square Device in Retail Stores – MarketingVOX

If you’re not familiar, Square is a credit card swiper that simply inserts into the headphone jack of an iPhone. And presto, instant credit card acceptance. That combined with it being from the founder of Twitter, it’s definitely one to watch in this space.

Design a Winning Ad Age Cover to Snag a Trip to Cannes | Global News – Advertising Age

Great idea for young creatives.

 

 

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Live nature video goes viral, an iAd gallery, and the best social TV app yet

The latest in interactive marketing strategies and tactics:

US eagle webcam becomes internet sensation – Yahoo! News

A great example of how simple some forms of entertainment can be. This is an eagle’s next 80 feet high in a tree, and about 150,000 people are tuned in at any given time during the day to witness a remarkable view of nature. Live.

Here’s the link to the Ustream page with the video:

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Want to See All iAds in One Place? Apple Has an App for That

If you’re doing any mobile advertising (which hopefully you are), then this is a great resource for what’s currently the richest mobile ad experience.

TV-Tagging App IntoNow Tries to Kickstart Discussions Around Shows

I’ve checked out a number of social viewing apps, and this looks to be the best interface by far. The most impressive feature is the Shazam-like ability to identify the exact episode of a show you’re watching, with a short sound sample. There’s still an issue around where you are in a prerecorded show. But this is an impressive start, and would certainly work for live TV.

Too Lazy To Count Calories? Now You Can Just Take A Picture Of Your Meal

This is pretty amazing for what it does, not how it does it. It also reminds me of services during the dot com era that involved information retrieval through swarms of human resources. I’m not sure it’s a long term model, but it gives you the taste for the potential. And who knows, maybe after humans logging several hundred thousand dishes, the machine learning will take over and automate it. At any rate, it’s an interesting app that, once again, could have been developed by any number of food or health related brands.

Location Based Photo Booth – Popwuping

It’s basically a portable photo printer that picks up on Instagram location info, letting anyone at the event print pics from the event. I could see this being a good schwag alternative for brands who want to give people a memorable takeaway.

Quakebook: From Tweet to Book in One Week | Post Advertising

A remarkable example of how fast marketers and content producers are reacting to events to produce topical content. To even come up with this caliber of title and book cover design so quickly is a feat in itself.

Baby Connection: The Two-Part Baby Making App That Brings Dad Into The Process

What makes this app unique is the way it brings two users of the app together into a unified experience. That capability not only provides innovative features, it also gets to the emotional core of the procreation process: Teamwork.

“First iPad Magazine For Kids” Makes Its Debut [VIDEO]

One of the persistent complaints is read in iPad magazine reviews is that they’re not taking advantage of the technologies capabilities to redefine the reading experience. The video shows some impressive screens, and the apps free. Now if my iPad would just arrive.

Selling Something Other than Ads // NoahBrier.com

The POV displayed by Bloomberg on this quote is pretty close to the mindset a lot of businesses interested in the content marketing game. If you’ve been spending 100s of millions on push messaging, it’s not surprising they’d be interested in something that generates more long term value, especially in the CRM category.

Obama’s Re-election Campaign Puts Facebook Front And Center … Literally

Given the impact of Obama’s first election campaign, it would make sense for marketers to pay attention to his reelection campaign. It’s interesting to note that they’ve taken their best practices from the 2008 campaign and applied them to this effort. Interestingly, they’re starting out very simple, and building out from there. That’s some great insight for brands wondering how to approach social media.

 

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Chrysler’s Twitter F-bomb, Kinect’s the new breakout consumer device, and a smart Twitter campaign from Kraft

The latest in interactive marketing strategies and tactics:

Chrysler’s Twitter Account Accidentally Drops the F-Bomb

This is a simple but great example of how social media is flipping everything upside down. Not only does a Fortune 500 firm drop the F bomb in a Tweet, but the ensuing mini-crisis (though I’m sure it didn’t seem ‘mini’ to Chrysler) resulted in Chrysler gaining Twitter followers. Situations like this are proving that sometimes a simple mistake can give companies a more human dimension than millions of dollars of paid advertising.

Kinect’s Superfast Adoption Preps Consumers for Other Interactive Experiences – MarketingVOX

I’ve recently reported on some unusual ways people are using Kinect. What I didn’t realize was how fast Kinect was selling. It’s now topped the iPhone and iPad as fastest selling consumer electronics device ever, according to Guinness World Records. Combining both the mass appeal and the remarkable new uses, this technology is looking to create a big impact on digital communications and content development.

Does Your Digg or Facebook Connect Widget Cost Hundreds of Site Visitors and Thousands in Revenue?

Given that Google is starting to factor page loads into their ranking algorithms, this issue has even more weight. Note that there’s a great tool listed in this article for gauging how fast any page loads.

Kraft Treats for Tweets About Mac & Cheese | News – Advertising Age

This is a really smart campaign idea that comes directly out of knowing what people are saying about your brand online.

At Discovery, Pushing Back Against the ‘Content Farm’ | Advertising Age

With all the buzz recently about Google’s “Farmer” update to squash content farms, Discovery shows that the underlying principle of creating demand-related content makes sense for anyone interested in pulling viewers.

Skype To Start Running Ads This Week

Ads in your IM window aren’t anything new. Yahoo’s been doing that for years. But if they pick up the practice Google uses, of targeting ads based on your email conversation, then you could see something very interesting happening where ads are contextual to your IM or even voice conversations. Could you imagine having a conversation with someone about, say a good graphic designer, and while you’re talking, ads for graphic designers start popping up? Could be annoying, but could also be highly relevant.

5 Innovative Mobile Marketing Campaigns

Looking at the numbers on these campaigns, if you’re looking for immediate results, the ideas that work best seem to be those that tap into existing communities or user bases. Check the stats on the PowerMat promo on MyTown.

The Farmer Panda Impact Nobody Is Talking About

Great perspective on the value of good content marketing practices, versus black hat seo practices.

Here’s What Google, Salesforce & Sequoia Are Investing In

Follow the money. In this case, it’s going towards a mix of social media, search, and mobile.

Magazines’ iPad Editions Struggle to Keep Your Attention, New Study Finds | Advertising Age

A study that illustrates a point that Howard Gossage said years ago. “People don’t read ads per se, they read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.” Apparently the thin line between content and advertising also exists for consumers. It will be interesting to see if publishers start creating their own ad units to corral likely behavior related to the content their publishing. Thus, if readers see a snowboard image in the magazine, the publisher could find ways to bring relevant snowboarding content into the magazine. This is an obviously new problem, as they never dealt with readers jumping off to search Amazon in printed editions.

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The perfect iPhone game, YouTube and the NFL, and the most viral Facebook campaigns

The latest in interactive marketing strategies and tactics:

The 5 Most Viral Facebook Campaigns

The difficulty in assessing these campaigns is also what’s unique about most of them. They weren’t launched by any identifiable sources. They’re also remarkably simple, technologically. Mostly just text status updates.

Get Free Chipotle Food for Watching NBC Promo on Facebook

A good illustration of how campaigns are getting more complex. In this case, i think it’s great how Chipotle has positioned themselves in this deal, leveraging their existing customer base to get NBC to give them considerable publicity, from probably subsidizing this promo, to their CEO being featured on the show.

YouTube in Talks to Broadcast NBA Games

I remember when Fox bought the rights to broadcast NFL games, making it the legitimate 4th network. And then ESPN, a cable company, took on Monday Night Football. Imagine if YouTube bought the rights to half the NFL games, and only showed them online? That’s one way to quickly get a lot of people figuring out how to connect their computers to their TVs. And yes, it would be expensive, but Google has a lot deeper pockets than the networks, these days.

Survey Finds High Rate of Tablet Adoption Among U.S. Immigrants

While this article focuses on the popularity of the iPad over other devices, I think the bigger picture is about the adoption of tablets in general (whichever market penetration stat they use — 4% or 13% — it’s still high for such a new category). I’ve seen tablet prices under $100, and if you consider the combination of a computer that’s very cheap and very easy to use, it’s not hard to see how this is going to radically change computing.

Hacker Makes Facebook Look Like MySpace, Gets Hired

A great story about a guy who hacked Facebook, and then got hired by them. Most interesting is how Facebook’s reaction and ongoing relationship with the hacker varied 180 from how MySpace handled the issue. It’s a single incident, but indicates the depth of how Facebook gets what social media culture is all about. It’s also a great indicator of how corporate culture is changing, as companies should be wanting to hire people like this, not throw them in jail.

MediaPost – news and directories for media, marketing and online advertising professionals

While there’s no shortage of talk about the rapid and structural change of our industry, few posts lay it out so clearly and succinctly as this. Of particular note is this quote: “the report advises that companies develop digital marketing strategies ‘as closely as possible to the business unit’”. It’s marketing’s shot at getting the CEOs ear again.

YouTube – Bill Bernbach on Creative Qualities

I’m certainly not a traditionalist when it comes to marketing, but this video of Bernbach talking about the traits of good communicators is timeless. I love the example he gives of the asylum at the end of the video.

Little Magic Stories: Interactive Art With The Kinect [VIDEO]

Kinect is showing some serious potential in transforming how content is created and delivered. This video shows two kids on a stage interacting with an entirely digital world around them, shown on a projection screen. This is in a similar vein as Avatar Kinect, which I reported on about a month ago (link below). As the production cost of these virtual worlds drops precipitously, the ability to create all sorts of worlds in which we can interact with is going to open up types of content previously unheard of.

Apple to Cut the Starting Price on iAds [REPORT]

If anything, I think this points to Apple’s need to understand that the bulk of their market probably won’t be the big spenders. It’s something Google has understood, and practiced, very well. Mobile, perhaps more than any other category, will do well to appeal to local businesses that spend money more spontaneously, and with much lower spend levels.

Tiny Wings is everything perfect about iPhone games

While I still think Angry Birds is a much more elegant game, this is certainly enough fun for $1. Another example of how it doesn’t take a lot of funding to make an interesting and addictive game.

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Angry Birds goes to the Super Bowl, content farming’s future, and Facebook’s most successful ads.

The latest in new media marketing strategies and tactics:

“Angry Birds” To Star in Super Bowl Ad

Not sure which is more remarkable. That a 99 cent social game for mobile phones is running a Super Bowl spot, or that said game is being turned into a movie. Seeing them embedding game play components into the commercial is cool — brings alternative tactics like that to the forefront given the global impact of the spot — even though that trick has been done before.

Facebook Introduces a Credibility Score With New Social Commenting Plugin

This is great news for brands hoping to attract quality engagement on their site and Facebook Pages. Anyone involved in monitoring Facebook Pages comments for brands has dealt with trolls. This tool is helping identify them, exposing their behavior to members of the community. This should also be functional on a brand’s site pages, and overall should lift the caliber of discussions on their Facebook-networked properties.

The Rise And Fall Of Content Farms

This article is a great read on why brands looking to create distinction should avoid the mass-generated content-farm approach. The bottom line is, Google has an entire building packed with PhDs presently trying to prevent this model from succeeding, because it’s not adding value to the search results driving their business . That may change, but it will likely mean changes to the current content farming business. The article’s comments are full of contrarian views, and I’m curious if it’s from some of those 380,000 writers at content farm Associated Content?

Apple, Campbell’s Say iAds Twice as Effective as TV – Advertising Age – Digital

Is anyone even remotely surprised by this? A new ad unit with unprecedented intrusiveness on a media device users are enamored with. Sounds a lot like the Internet and banner ads in, say, 1995. What this really supports is that companies should approach new media more aggressively overall.

Sequoia-Backed Hearsay Launches Social Media Platform For Corporations With Local Branches

A way for brands to manage social media across franchises makes a lot of sense. I’d guess this service takes off big.

Artist Heat Map Makes Music Discovery Visual

I’m a fan of Rhapsody, and one of my favorite features of the site is the module on an artists page where they show related artists who came before, during or after the artist your viewing. It gives a nice sense of relationship and lineage to the world of music. Hitlantic has essentially taken that and made it visual. It’s a little rough right now, but they’re still pre-VC funding (another example of how small creative groups are developing big ideas).

Coca-Cola Reveals 15 Finalists in Branded Mobile App Contest

This is an interesting idea, and I applaud Coca-Cola for taking the forward steps they have in the area of UGC. Now that UGC is moving past ads and into apps, though, I feel it’s taking on much bigger territory, and in addition to hiring an agency to develop your creative or running a contest, there’s a third option. Monitor what’s going on, and buy or coop it. Commercials are very limited in scope, and there certainly aren’t nearly as many people creating them as apps. Much of that is because there’s limited monetary up side to creating a commercial, unless you’re pursuing a career directing or producing them. But apps live in a much larger arena. Instead of throwing a UGC contest, which most people will tell you takes a lot of admin, why not monitor what’s going on and then work a deal with the developer, possibly even taking over the app for a reasonable buyout? With over 300,000 apps in the Apple store, there’s no shortage of talent to pull from.

CHART OF THE DAY: The Most Successful Facebook Ads

While data by industry leaves a lot of room for variance among creative executions, it’s interesting to note the general response rates. And while I’ll always have an issue with the Click-thru Rate metric, Facebook currently doesn’t feature view-thru data for their paid media ads.

DealExtreme: $93.60 M001 7″ Touch Screen Google Android 1.6 Tablet PC

Android tablets for under $100. This may be an extreme example right now, but it does indicate the direction things are going, and the growing commoditization of technology devices. No wonder Apple’s putting so much effort behind selling apps and not just the devices that display them.

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Free mobile app gifts, 2010s most social musicians, and possibly the first great augemented reality mobile app

The latest trends in social media and content marketing:

Airport Apps That Put You First in Line — Practical Traveler – NYTimes.com

A good overview of some apps to get you through the holiday travels.

The Best Ideas Of 2010: Musicians Who Made Social Networking Work : The Record : NPR

The music industry presents a constant stream of social media marketing examples. NPR gives a good overview, with the underscore being that content is still, and probably always will be, king.

Merry Christmas from Lonely Planet: 13 free iPhone city guides | Gadling.com

A great way for Lonely Planet to market themselves — giving away a taste of the goods in the form of a holiday present. It’s the ultimate product sample, and costs them no more than the time to change the app prices to free and back.

Augmented Reality on Your Phone – NYTimes.com

You’ve probably seen the Word Lens demo. If not, click the link in the first sentence. An augmented reality app that is the first one I’ve seen to be both functional and remarkably fluid. I love Yelp’s Monocle, but it’s doesn’t have anywhere near the responsiveness of this, and that’s a huge difference.

Imad Mouline: M-Commerce Has Arrived — Which Retailers Will Win?

I wouldn’t have expected 50% of consumers to say they’ll be doing some form of shopping from a mobile device, but it certainly accentuates the explosion in mobile we’ve been seeing this year. From there, the article reinforces the idea that even if you’re a retailer, your competitors may not just be other retailers, but anyone producing a good mobile experience in any area related to your industry. And that’s the content marketing opportunity for brands going forward.

Charting the Beatles

I like infographics, and I like the Beatles. So I really like this.

THE .GIF THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Very fun holiday card from Team One. And a great reminder that good ideas can come from simple technologies.

Google TV Faces Delays Amid Poor Reviews – NYTimes.com

It’s the recurring battle of open vs. closed approaches to product development. Google tendencies to rush out half-baked products and let the market sort things out doesn’t work well when you have business partners with millions invested in your product experience and delivery time lines. That said, i still think Google TV, once refined, will make a serious impact on how the mainstream consumes content.

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Most popular videos and tweets of 2010, sayonara to social-media aggregators, and a good Facebook profile hack

The latest trends in content development and social media:

Adverblog: The digital story of nativity

Imagining social media at the time of Christ’s birth.

Revolutions: Facebook’s Social Network Graph

A remarkable visualization of Facebook friendships around the world. What’s most interesting is how you can make out international borders between countries simply by the tendency of one country’s population to use Facebook more than the other’s.

Now THAT is a nice profile picture. Like.

With the recent reconfig of the Facebook home page, they left a seam for clever manipulation. For a while we’ve been able to have large profile images down the left column. Then, by utilizing the tagging of photos that would appear in his photo strip at the top, then bringing all of them together in a smartly-cropped series of the same original photo, voila! (the creator is a french artist)

How Much Is a Tweet Worth? $500, Says Toyota

I think we’re going to see a lot more of this type of campaign. Rewarding purchasing customers for promoting the brand online. By focusing on something like Tweeting their purchase, Toyota can identify their most influential new customers through this campaign. And by focusing their efforts (and their money) on those who’ve just purchased, they’re making it performance-based at the same time.

Cupidtino – the first (and only) “Mac-inspired” dating site for Apple fans

It’s hard to say how serious this is, although they have at least a lot of sweat equity put into it. But taking it seriously for a minute, how many brands could this ever happen to? A site where you choose your mate based on a specific brand they buy.

Why the social-media aggregator has croaked | The Social – CNET News

Came across this article from 9 months ago and was struck by it’s relevance (of course, that’s only remarkable in an absurdly transitional industry like interactive marketing). And the message is yes, things can move too fast even in this industry. The way things have played out since this was written only underscore that point.

Facebook friends Clicker to give users a Facebook-friendly Internet TV guide | Technology | Los Angeles Times

A lot of companies have been poking around this space, but many of them were doing it without really using Facebook’s TV show data. But when you combine the shows your friends like with TV schedules, you get a good way to flag people of what’s on that they’ll probably like. It solves the chicken-egg issue of needing relevance right out of the blocks.

“Bed Intruder” Was Most-Watched Independent YouTube Video of 2010

You can read the list and click to individual vids, or just watch YouTube’s mashup of them all.

Top Twitter Trend for 2010: No, It Wasn’t Justin Bieber: Tech News «

Interesting list in that I would have thought this was all celebs. That could be a result of their new trending algorithm emphasizing changes in popularity instead of simply Tweet volume. But I’ll take it as a hopeful indicator that people are concerned about bigger issues than celebrity ;)

YouTube Launches Trends Page to Highlight Popular Videos

This is interesting, although YouTube’s rating system and view counts have always been pretty good trend indicators.

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Brands beating publishers at their own game, the new Google Earth, and how bad reviews became good business

The latest trends in content development and social media:

Virgin Beats News Corp. with First Publication Made for iPad – Yahoo! News

Online content doesn’t care who or what type of brand you are. We’re going to start seeing more and more cases of aggressive marketers acting more like publishers than many publishers. Sure, many will fail, but the marketers that figure it out should make out quite well.

N.Zealand website defends topless breast cancer campaign – Yahoo! News

I can only imagine how much traffic this has driven to their site. The bigger question, of course: How many people are donating more than naked pics?

Eight Things I’m Sick Of In Social Media | Forrester Blogs

I’m digging Augie Ray’s writing more and more, and this one is right on.

For DecorMyEyes, Bad Publicity Is a Good Thing – NYTimes.com

Must-read story about the absurd business practice of generating bad publicity to increase your Google search rankings. Google has already moved to address this issue.

Google’s “Gold Standard” Search Results Take Big Hit In New York Times Story

Danny Sullivan’s take on the NY Times story about a business intentionally trying to generate negative reviews for SEO ranking benefits. Danny’s right in saying this is a short term win, and not really a long-term sustainable business model. Sure enough, Google has already moved to fix this. The bottom line is, creating a positive experience online is always going to trump trying to goose the system, no matter how minimal or absurd that approach is.

ItsMyUrl Puts Your Whole Online ID into a Barcode

I’ve been a little surprised the use of QR codes hasn’t taken off more. Perhaps mobile smartphone use is still in a relatively infant stage. Whatever the case, we’re seeing a lot of different techs based around the idea that taking a photo is easier than entering text (think Google’s new Goggles). And as mobile phone cameras get better, and faster, and mobile data speeds and processors get faster, grabbing info off a QR code is going to get better and better.

Google Earth 6: Here’s What’s New

While most people are talking about 3D trees in the new Google Earth, I think the historical imagery is much more interesting.

6 Free iPad Apps for Planning Your Next Vacation

If you work in the travel industry, these are some apps worth noting. And perhaps what’s more worth noting is that while several of these apps are nice, there would seem to be a lot of room for new content in this category.

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The latest wearable cameras, Twitter and the future of TV, and YouTube’s extreme ironing

The latest in content development trends for digital marketing:

Twitter and the Future of TV

Some good examples cited on how Twitter is impacting TV viewing, forging trends in the social viewing space. There have been a lot of social viewing apps roll out, but they all seem to lack the big missing ingredient in social media: Audience size. Twitter has that, although it’s a scattered and primarily one-directional communication. What I like about the show examples is they’re creating a sense of personalization despite Twitter’s mass media platform, not unlike the way celebrities have been using it.

Wearable Cameras Move Beyond Sports to the Mainstream – NYTimes.com

A couple of remarkable features from the new Looxcie ‘wearable’ camera. It clips on your ear and records video, sending it to an Android phone. And it has a 30 second buffer, so you can keep it on, and if you see something happen, you can push a button and grab the past 30 seconds of footage. A lot of opportunities here for marketers looking for new angles on content development.

YouTube to Launch New Discovery Tool Tonight; Here Comes Extreme Ironing

If you think YouTube has saturated the public taste for bizarre video, it’s more like they’re just ramping up. You have to read about these various types of video content to believe it. Not only is there a series of ‘extreme ironing”, there are subgenres, like “underwater extreme ironing” and “skydiving extreme ironing”. And YouTube is going to help us sift through all this with a new feature, YouTube Topics. If you’re a brand and thinking all the good content opportunities are taken — even in video — you might want to rethink that. Or at least hire some good creative thinkers.

SkyFire Pulls In Nearly $1 Million In Its First Weekend On The App Store

Generally I don’t recommend large brands get into the app game to create a new direct revenue stream. But this example certainly points to a lot of opportunity. The big differentiator here is, in addition to a product with an obvious appeal to many iPhone users (it plays Flash files on the iPhone in a rather clever manner), they’ve been generating good buzz, and for quite a while. So while it may seem like an overnight success, the company has been producing products, and generating buzz, that paved the path for this type of explosive sales growth.

The Dangers of Content Marketing on Facebook | Geoff Livingston’s Blog

This is a great point to be aware of, but it’s also one of those areas that brands simply have to look at practically. Facebook wants rights to posted content to protect themselves from an image showing up in an ad, presentation, or whatever, and then them getting sued for not ‘owning’ it. But the author’s point is correct for additional purposes. Most brands should not rely on a social media property they don’t own for their ongoing content development programs. For one, if their content is worthwhile (and not completely tied to the social network experience), then they should be featuring it on their own site as well. And secondly, even the most powerful social networks have no guarantee of longevity. Think MySpace.

Facebook Serves Nearly a Fourth of U.S. Display Ads | ClickZ

Facebook’s volume puts them at number one, more than twice as much volume as Yahoo, the runner up. This from a company that several years ago didn’t have much of an ad program. What I’m both hearing and seeing is that Facebook doesn’t necessarily drive the highest response rates, but their cost-per-click number are very strong. And of course, the farther down the conversion path you take the metrics, the more important the numbers are to advertisers.

1.0 Is the Loneliest Number — Matt Mullenweg

The idea of agile development has been slow to take off in marketing, and it’s understandable, given that marketing itself is a rather agile process. But I think as content development starts to play a larger role in company’s marketing efforts, it’s going to be a feasible approach for a range of content efforts. This is a great take on what that process can be like.

Even Merton Hasn’t Been On Chatroulette In Months

Great story on Merton, who’s probably the best thing to ever happen on Chatroulette. The video of his Chatroulette performances is a must see.

Attention Hockey Fans! Watch the NHL on Roku, Boxee & More

Having long ago cut the cable, and tiring of TV hacks like Ustream for watching Monday Night Football, I applaud the NHLs efforts in taking their content to the audience.

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Nike’s 10k on Twitter, the new Facebook Deals, and how Apple won in mobile

The latest in content development trends for digital marketing:

Adverblog: Nike “Who follows who?” challenge

An interesting idea. Use Twitter to gauge how well you do among your Followers in a 10k race. The explanation in this video could have been a little clearer, perhaps, but it’s a nice way to use Twitter to generate exposure for the race. Of course, by the time these efforts appear on Twitter, the race will already be underway. But Nike will benefit from this through longer-term branding.

Will Location-Based Services Ever Go Mainstream?: Tech News

Having tried about every location-based services, and then made the transition to Facebook Places, I relate to the article’s headline. I find location-based services more like a quirky game or functional way of tracking the places I visit in a different city, than a practical solution to a real problem in life. For me, if they could just connect Yelp with my friends on Facebook, that would be the most practical location-based service I’d use on a somewhat regular basis.

The Complete Business Guide To Facebook Deals

Probably the most interesting news on social media for retailers that I’ve heard in a while. One of the big challenges in social media is getting brand loyalists to share their brand purchases and interactions. This gives companies an easy way to make that happen, and also ties incentives directly to the process. Without having explored this in depth, my guess is that that will also help with any ROI calculations around the project.

Is Canvas the new Flash?

An interesting perspective on the Flash issue. The issue being more about the consumption of CPU and battery power, than simply Flash crashing browsers. As more and more computing becomes mobile, thus relying on battery life, this could be a far bigger issue than stability problems.

10 Facebook Pages Every New England Patriots Fan Should Follow

The story here is how diversified Facebook content is becoming, exemplified by the numerous Pages dedicated to the Patriots, each from a slightly different angle. Brands marketing to a given target audience need to take into account all the various communities, often employing segmented strategies and tactics for connecting with each group.

Verify: Get Feedback On Your Site When It’s Still Just A Mockup

I really like this solution for testing Website designs before the page goes live.

If You’re Not in Pain, You’re Not in an Emerging Market

Reading this report from the trenches of business multi-culturalism, I see a lot of parallels to what it takes to be on the leading edge of new media marketing. It’s not always a pretty, paved path, but if you want the real big opportunities, both for your career and your company’s marketing efficiencies, it’s a place you have to be and figure out.

How Apple Cracked the Top 5 in Global Handsets: Tech News

I talk a lot about the importance of good user experience design. And the foundation of Apple’s meteoric rise in the mobile space has been all about creating a better user experience. Even in a crowded marketplace, offering customers a better experience is an enormous competitive advantage.

Advertising Lab: Filter Out Content Farms from Search Results

This is a small but potentially big story in terms of the benefits of content development for brands. More than anything, this seeks to place emphasis on content development with real value, versus the web filler garbage that many companies are currently putting out.

Nice Move, Google — What Took You So Long?: Tech News

Great perspective on the data wars, particularly between Google and Facebook. I agree with Google’s vision of openness, because it’s both the best situation for consumers, and for interactive marketers.

Gang war? The death of premium publishers? The evolution of ad networks? Or, just dinner discussion on DSPs. – IABlog

The issue around DSPs (Demand Side Platforms), is shaping up as a conversation around branding vs. direct response. But it’s not really that black and white. When you bring content development into the picture, suddenly you have an enormous branding component that’s in need of visitors. And how you get those visitors, and what the response rates are around those efforts, is a conversation that starts to look a lot more direct response than branding. Paid media has long been thinking as if the brand and DR conversation was all about the paid media process, but really, paid media is just a part of a bigger picture. And anyone planning for branding efforts needs to understand the experiential part of the process.

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