Posts tagged as:

branding

Google+ vs Facebook, The Old Spice Challenge, and a free marketing ebook

10 links that point to the future of marketing:

Daily Wrap: Scott Berken’s Mindfire Free Until November 3 and more

You can’t beat the price, but act fast. You have about 2 more hours as of this send.

Is It Old?: The easy way to check if that cool web link has already done the rounds

This is fun. Kind of like a Snopes.com for viral content connoisseurs.

Could Google Plus Lose The Battle Against Facebook?

I think the challenge for Google+ has been that it’s very difficult to catch a competitor in a social network by instantly adding complex features when people aren’t already familiar with a simpler version of your tool. Google needs to focus on taking all the info they have on us, giving us good content recommendations, and then making that easier to share — not giving us more complicated ways of segmenting our fans and then sharing our info.

Google+ is not a social network, but it’s not a graveyard, either | VentureBeat

A longish article (by blog standards), but an interesting view of how Google sees the data game differently from Facebook. It makes sense, but I think they still have a big concern around Facebook stealing so much computing time from other sites.

5 Reasons Google+ Could Win the Social Enterprise Battle

An insightful POV on the potential behind Google+. What I like about these advantages is that they’re consumer-centric in that they could go a long way to make my social life both easier and better. Better through making it easier to generate quality content. Early adopters will likely lead the charge on this, and if they find Google+ to give them faster access to better data, then Facebook will have a formidable challenger.

Want to see the connected future? Check out this video. — Broadband News and Analysis

A kind of mini-doc on the future of the Internet of Things, from Ericsson. Part informative, part inspiring, and part reassuring that technology isn’t spiraling out of control.

The Competition Between Google, Amazon, Facebook And Apple : NPR

These four have been popping up a lot in conference discussions. Probably the most spectacular battle going on in corporate America.

You, the Brand. | The Drift from Upstream

A good reminder that while social media has given us the ability to scale our personal branding, the underlying fundamentals haven’t changed.

Deutsche Post Reinvents Services in a Digital World – NYTimes.com

Imagine the post office as a progressive organization able to adapt and, yes, pivot as technology throws it’s business model curveballs. This should be motivation for any brand concerned about changing business models.

How Old Spice Revived a Campaign That No One Wanted to Touch

There’s little more difficult in advertising having to create the follow-up campaign to a runaway hit. This is how Weiden took on that challenge.

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Your brain on Facebook (it’s good news), Starbucks doing government’s work, and Amazon keeps shaking up publishing

Ten links that point to the future of marketing:

Facebook Friends Don’t Let Friends Forget Them | Fast Company

With the explosion of social media and brain research, some very interesting findings are coming out. As the article notes, data on our social network size has never been more easily available than with Facebook. Interesting times ahead, for sure.

Egypt’s Top ‘Facebook Revolutionary’ Now Advising Occupy Wall Street | Danger Room | Wired.com

World revolutionaries uniting and working together. You couldn’t ask for a better example of how social networking technologies are increasing the rate of change in the world by connecting people who previously would have had a much more difficult time meeting and exchanging ideas.

NYT: We Can All Become Job Creators

Starbucks is launching a program to support local entrepreneurs: In this initiative, they’re basically taking on government’s responsibility while launching a powerful brand campaign. There’s a lot to like about this, not the least of which is simply taking initiative.

Amazon Rewrites the Rules of Book Publishing – NYTimes.com

I’d think this sets up a very interesting premise for brands to support writers that are covering an area of interest. Sure, there will be conflicts, but really, any more than what we already have in the media?

5 trends that will shape the future of mobile advertising — Mobile Technology News

Mobile’s growth, while perhaps overshadowed by tablet use, is still strong. These trends are focused on the paid media side of mobile, and much of it is really about bringing existing technologies to the mobile space, making use of mobiles location-based info to add relevance.

A Duet with Siri [VIDEO]

Probably not how I’ll be using Siri, but it’s an interesting product demo.

Toyota Uses Facebook Game As Promotional Vehicle

There have been promotional driving games before, but Facebook is a big differentiator here. There’s a big download, though, and I wonder if that’s going to play well in the instant gratification world of social media.

Gooood Morning, Nerdinam: FlipZu Makes You An Instant Broadcaster | TechCrunch

This could be an interesting offering for someone looking for audio content. It’s essentially the audio equivalent of a Ustream.

How to Really Listen

I really like this POV on what listening is really about. There’s listening, and then there’s really hearing. Corporations need to focus on really hearing people more than ever before, because if they don’t, people can sense it now more than ever before.

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One ‘Fan’ equals 20 site visits, a successful low-budget event, and Eric Schmidt’s mobilized future

The latest in new media marketing strategy and tactics:

Thousands RSVP for Global Group Run on Meetup

Yet another example of a seemingly very effective campaign idea that was done with a small budget and that just about any sports or healthcare brand could have done.

Carolyn Davidson, who designed Nike’s swoosh in 1971 | THEINSPIRATION.COM

A touching clip from 1983. Great to see a company that at the time seemed like a big success already, and this was just before they really exploded.

Experian Hitwise – 1 Facebook fan = 20 additional visits to your website

It’s good to see evidence of Facebook brand activity generating corresponding site visits.

What Drove Expedia’s Facebook Fans Past 1M?

A very effective campaign for gathering fans. Now they need to figure out how to engage them.

The Future According to Eric Schmidt at Cannes Lions | Adweek

Google’s ex-CEO lays out a clear roadmap for how mobile is going to change everything. And within in a short period of time.

Big data leads to a big revival for display ads — Tech News and Analysis

There’s no question the more you know about someone the more effectively you can target them. This lift they report in performance is nothing short of remarkable: 7.5% click-thru rates, and a 4.5% conversion rate. What I’m curious about is if targeting technologies will diminishing returns as the volume increases, the way most new media marketing tactics do. After all, people only have so much to spend.

$41 Million Startup Color Is Forced Into An Early, Buzzword-Laden Pivot

When Color launched I doubted it’s odds and mentioned I’d be curiously following the story. Here’s how it’s evolved. This is the same issue big businesses are running into every day. The question is, Why would a startup ever saddle itself with the baggage of a big business?

5 Ways To Crowdsource Your Brand Using Facebook

I completely agree with the stated value of insights that can be pulled from a brand’s Facebook Page. However, I’d emphasize less about specifically requesting input, and more on simply observing what your fans and your competitors are responding to over a period of several months. Both can be insightful, but the latter will be more objective.

Now Your Embarrassing/Job-Threatening Facebook Photos Could Haunt You For Seven Years – Forbes

I doubt this will stop anyone from using Facebook, Twitter, etc, but it should have them reconsidering what they post.

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Mobile driving desktop innovation, Apple’s retail brand strategy, and a PR disaster to avoid

The latest trends in new media marketing:

Apple, Microsoft and Now Google Show the New Path of Innovation Is From Mobile to Desktop – AllThingsD

Mobile, having obvious user interface restrictions over desk computing, is driving innovation in user experience as a way of overcoming it’s shortcomings. And now those innovations are being applied to desktop computing as well. How is that unexpected reversal happening? Probably because Google is putting money and manpower behind it.

Infographic Of The Day: The Mavs Win It All (LeBron Whines) | Co.Design

If you’re a basketball fan, this is an infographic you can love. The best part is the win/loss bars extending around the arc of the circle.

Apple’s Retail Strategy Focuses on Consumers’ Feelings | Adweek

This is perhaps branding at it’s finest. A lot of people don’t get ‘the Apple thing’, but they’re creating a retail experience that you simply don’t get anywhere else. And like so much about the brand, it defies much of the conventional wisdom in the high-pressure sales world of electronics.

Duke Nukem’s PR threatens to punish sites that run negative reviews

A good lesson that if you ever feel the need to lash out online, you might want to sit back, take a deep breath, and really think about how it might be received by the other side. A few bad tweets and this PR guy has a publicity nightmare on his hands.

Check out Wired’s response to see just how little weight this guy’s threats carried. [LINK]

Facebook Places Get Two New Features – Develop Socially

Facebook, with it’s massive community size, is smartly taking strides to leverage all that manpower into generating a recommendation-based business directory. Obviously a lot of potential here.

Case study: Is Facebook Screwing Your Brand?

This post features a thread of posts on the Budweiser page, which as the writer states, a marketing VP might say “WTF”? As we’ve seen with various ads like the Absolut ad showing Mexico having much of the US southwest, we’ve gotten accustomed to highly targeted marketing. Speaking directly to a narrowly-defined group of users. Suddenly, with social media, messages specific to one group can be easily seen by people with very different sensibilities. How a brand talks to consumers in a way that shows it knows them, while avoiding alienating other users with different views, is one of the big challenges in new media marketing right now.

P&G Launch 6 New Facebook Stores: “Live Learning Labs” [Screenshots] | Social Commerce Today

A new Facebook commerce platform has launched, and P&G is jumping on board. I agree with the benefits to P&G being potentially very insightful data on user product preferences, especially attaching ROI to social media campaigns. A lot of people won’t want to hear that, but one thing is for sure, it won’t be consumer brands.

Viewpoint: Social Media Is a Venue, Not a Strategy – Advertising Age

Could not agree more with this.

Hacker Group Wreaks Havoc On Gaming Websites

We’re getting closer and closer to a William Gibson novel.

Is This the Golden Age of Hacking? – Slashdot

It’s interesting that the same thing causing consumer creativity to flourish would also be contributing to malignant hacking.

U.K. Warns About Facebook Status Updates

While this commercial isn’t breakthrough creative, it’s interesting to note that social media activity has gone mainstream enough for the government to include it in general warnings to the public.

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Conan on creativity, content marketing case studies, and how we read iPads

The latest in new media marketing strategies and tactics:

Conan O’Brien’s Guide To Creativity | Fast Company

Great read for anyone involved in creative thinking for a career.

Amazon Sells More E-Books Than Paper Ones | Fast Company

The big story here is that the ad-supported Kindle is the top seller. That’s quite a statement, given the book world is probably the most staunch opponent of mixing advertising and content.

Landing Page Basics: Making Your Content Marketing Convert

I like case studies that share conversion data.

Content Marketing Case Studies: 5 Companies that “Get It” [Video]

Highly recommend this 3 minute video. It demonstrates how brands in a range of industries are moving past messages and into engagement.

The History of Advertising on Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC]

What this highlights to me is how little Twitter has really emphasized advertising on their platform.

Official Google Blog: Mining patterns in search data with Google Correlate

I could definitely see this leading to some interesting consumer behavior insights for brands.

DIGIDAY:DAILY – Skimming Over the iPad

This is good information for anyone in the content marketing business. A reminder that a change in medium can mean a required changed in the message. Isn’t there a famous line about that?

Square’s Disruptive New iPad Payments Service Will Replace Cash Registers

Square is definitely in my top 5 ‘companies to watch’. And while enabling mobile credit card payments is great, I think the data they provide merchants is going to be what really pulls customers over from existing merchant accounts.

Groupon Staying Ahead of the Game: Rumored to be in Talks with Foursquare

When a gorilla like Facebook comes into the location-based services fray, it’s interesting to see how the previous leaders in the space respond. Groupon’s trying to work deals through numerous LBS players, which should help them get a quick understanding of where the possible sweet spot is in this market. I still think it will be tough for any of them to beat Facebook, as I see LBS and coupons as more a byproduct of whatever mobile app people use most innately. And that, of course, is Facebook.

The Secret World of Apps | Adweek

While there are a lot of developers complaining about Apple’s app approval process, the real question is, What types of developers are driving app use? That’s what Apple is most certainly gleaning from it’s massive data tracking. And Apple is going to do everything they can to keep those developers and those types of apps in the spotlight. It’s an interesting situation, because while Apple only creates a small sliver of apps, they’re trying to levy their taste on their entire community of developers, for the (supposed) benefit of their customers.

 

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Drudge v. Zuckerberg, 2011s most creative people, and CMOs seeking content marketing

The latest in new media marketing strategies and tactics:

Dodge Rolls Out First Filmstrip Banner Ad

Look for a lot more of this type of experimentation going on. Rich media a la Web 2.0 never really quite nailed it, but publishers have to deliver some deeper level of engagement than what most banners current provide, or CPMs are going to stay in the cellar.

Most Creative People 2011 | Fast Company

While you might not recognize a lot of the names on this list, the brands they’re associated with is a good overview of what companies are shaking up the world right now.

New Roper Study: 9 in 10 CMOs See Value in Content Marketing « FUEL LINES

Content Marketing isn’t a term you see used a lot right now, but given these stats, I’d guess that will be changing fast.

No Check-Ins Needed. Shopkick Sends You Deals From Your Couch: Tech News and Analysis «

While I find attempts to force users to pay attention to commercials futile in the long term, the technology that’s being applied here has potential that could make that experience engaging and gamelike. Audio-sensing — basically Shazam for TV shows — has a lot of potential for getting offers, coupons, or content from the TV screen onto the mobile handset.

Why Matt Drudge Still Beats Mark Zuckerberg: Tech News and Analysis «

A couple of things i really like in this article. One, that it shows you don’t need all the latest bells and whistles to succeed in content marketing. Secondly, that content is an ongoing process, and not something you put up and walk away from.

The 3 Habits of Highly Effective Brands – The Atlantic

A well-written (and short) piece on what the top brands are doing. What’s most interesting is that the brands taking these steps are in a broad range of industries.

9 Outstanding Websites for Design Inspiration

Some nice examples of web design. Most of these may not fit your average Drupal or WordPress template, but that’s one thing that makes them stand out.

Apps 6 Times More Popular than Web on Phones, Less Popular on Tablets

This isn’t surprising at all, but I think as companies get more experienced at delivering content for the smallest screen, they’ll get the WAP technology down to the point where they don’t need apps. Of course, if you CAN get someone to download your app, you have your brand on some of the most valuable real estate in marketing.

Gaining Authority in the Age of Digital Overload

The point is, brands have to start thinking about media in terms beyond buying their way in.

Case Study: Caterpillar and blue collar social media marketing

When it comes to content marketing and social media, so many companies worry about putting employees in the social media spotlight. This interview has an excellent quote that sums up the opportunity for so many companies: “The Caterpillar organization is filled with the smartest engineers and industry experts in the world. We want to leverage their expertise and promote the individual’s persona so the reader has a better understanding of who is speaking about a certain topic, and why should they be trusted.”

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Mark Zuckerberg’s 30 second MBA, Mind control apps, and is Color the next Twitter?

The latest in new media marketing strategies and tactics:

Mark Zuckerberg | 30 Second MBA [VIDEO]

I really like this. Innovation is a process, not a lightning bolt. Great perspective from one of the true visionaries in business today.

Why Color May Be The Next Twitter

Given I’m in new media, I follow about anything that gets 2 out of these three: Money, Hype, or Users. Color has the first two in abundance. But I think the potential to become a social network is a little off. While I think it could be a big hit among the photogs, the photography category isn’t anything close to the sms category, Twitter’s launch pad. It also seems to be too event-related to really consume our waking hours the way Twitter does with so many people. That said, looking forward to trying it.

Nifty App Converts Email Into A Game, Helping You Blast Through Your Inbox | Co.Design

Maybe it’s just because I saw Seth Priebatsch’s SXSW preso on SCVNGR, but the concept of gamification seems to be gaining buzz. I admittedly think some of it’s over-hype, but this email tech shows how it can be as much about correcting or improving behavior than any long term rewards program. And maybe that’s where it’s most effective.

Missiles Into Models | Fast Company

These are seriously sick 3D maps. Just what I need, another reason to stay inside with my iPad. Be sure to watch the bottom video.

A New Gauge For Brand Strength: The Tangible Brand Test | Co.Design

An interesting stress test for brands. How far does your brand extend?

Add Location-Based Q&A With the Localmind API

I like this Foursquare API’s spin on the Foursquare platform. Use Foursquare to ask questions of people who’ve already checked into a place. Perhaps limited to a small number of questions, but it certainly adds depth to the Foursquare experience.

Children’s Hospital Boston

As top social media goals for companies often center around Facebook ‘Likes’, don’t be surprised to see more brands taking intrusive steps like this.

DIGIDAY:DAILY – 5Qs: Federated Media’s John Battelle

John Battelle answers 5 questions every ad person should be curious about.

PlaceIQ’s Location-Aware Advertising Can Target You Block By Block

The real potential behind mobile advertising is targeting based on information about the user. This gives a long list of reasons why mobile is so information rich to marketers. Now they just have to sort through all this data to create an easy-to-use way to apply and purchase this targeting.

Curation Tool Storify Opens To The Public

If you’re practicing content marketing, then you’re likely using aggregation as a form of content. And while that usually consists of Sharing or ReTweeting links individually, Storify helps you collect related links and create a storyline within that content. It’s probably best applied to audiences that are looking for a more complete point of view on a given subject.

Mind controlled apps hit the market | Technology | Los Angeles Times

Perhaps the most interesting area of mobile app technology will be when we start plugging those apps into heart and brainwave monitors. The couple of apps profiled here give a snapshot of the direction that’s going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How to reinvent media, the Internet as spying machine, and a SXSWi recap

The latest in interactive marketing strategies and tactics:

At SXSW, Advertising Was This Year’s Twitter, iPad 2 Was This Year’s Foursquare

If you happened to make SXSW this year, you’ll certainly relate to this post. And if you didn’t but missed being there, this will make you feel a little less so.

Google Geo Developers Blog: A new angle on the world with 45° imagery

If you’re displaying a map, this is a good way to make it pop off the page. And they can always go back to ‘map’ view.

YouTube Acquires Service That Makes Your Videos Better

YouTube, surely feeling the distant heat of Hulu, is pushing the technology side of the service more and more lately. With the explosive popularity of numerous photo apps to make our snaps look better, the idea of making people’s videos look better is an obviously smart thing to be focusing on.

Internet is world’s ‘greatest spying machine’: Assange – Yahoo! News

He’s right. But it’s not spying. It’s called ‘conversation analysis’.

Microsoft Office 15 Aims For Facebook Integration

Easily posting of MS Office docs to Facebook. Sounds like “FacebookLeaks” to me.

To what end? The question that kills media reinvention

A theme I touch on a lot is the cross-fire currently happening between the publishing industry and the marketing industry. With publishers acting more like advertising agencies (Meridith is a great example) and advertisers needing to create more long-term resonance and less push-messaging, you could go through this article and pretty much substitute ‘marketers’ for ‘publishers’ and have a very relevant piece on content marketing.

SMS On Steroids – eBuddy Debuts Realtime, Cross-Platform Messaging App

With mobile redefining the online UX, I could see an easy-to-use, socially-enabled SMS app to pick up serious traction in the social networking space. There’s currently a big gap between mobile social experiences like Facebook and Twitter, and SMS messaging, which is still one of the largest areas of activity for mobile users. Perhaps instead of companies focusing on all the features they can do with the current crop of social apps, the approach with the broadest appeal could be to start with SMS, and see what networking features you can build out from there.

Facebook Launching Prepaid Local Deals Subscription Service

With the mobile industry already well into it’s long predicted explosion of growth, Facebook is out to stake it’s claim to anything mobile or location-based. As Places took on Foursquare, their new Deals service is a direct shot at Groupon. Only Facebook can promote it’s deals in the Facebook newsfeed however prominently it wants. Which sounds like what they’re doing.

Study: Mobile Ad-Tracking Systems Are “Blind” To 80 Percent Of Apple iOS Devices

Very good to know the next time you’re reviewing your mobile campaign metrics (or someone else is reviewing them for you). This can be worked around through focusing on site metrics, like landing page visits, which is really what we should be looking at anyway.

Ads API Profile: AdParlor’s Full-Service Solution for Game Developers

Firstly, per the headline, I wouldn’t say this is only applicable to game developers. Facebook’s advanced targeting is a true revolution in paid media, and this in-depth overview will give anyone a good sense for how it can be applied.

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BMW as VC firm, major content marketing news, and the ever-expanding Facebook ‘Like’ button

The latest in interactive marketing strategies and tactics:

BMW Teams Up With, Invests $5 Million In MyCityWay

This looks like a great way to steer the development of technologies relevant to your industry. It gives the tech developers the independence that the top players will demand, while giving them a waiting channel to apply their developments to. The video of BMW execs explaining this potential is bland and predictable. Further reason why they need to partner with companies in which they have a vested interest in, but minimal control over.

Yobongo: Building the Next Location-Based Social Network: Tech News and Analysis «

While there have been a flood of location-based apps, none have really captured anything close to the community sense of a social network. And they’ve come from all angles. Geo-tracking like Loopt. Social checkins like Foursquare and Gowalla. Photos like Instagram. This is an attempt to slide the field across a broader scope of interests than venues, location or pics. It seems like the right angle, but I think the challenge will be whether or not the information they present is relevant to a location-based connection.

Google Tightens the Screws on Content Farmers: Tech News and Analysis «

This will likely be the content marketing story of the year. Not so much this move per se, but the general trend of Google and other search engines looking for ways to ensure that only the most authentic content makes it to the top of SERPs. This is great for brands that look to create and distribute genuinely valuable content experiences to their customers, community members, and prospects.

Where, Why, When & How To Benefit From Google’s Farmer Update

This is why content marketing is going to be a big emphasis for many companies going forward. As long as they do it right.

It’s unofficial: dedicated gaming devices may be losing out to phones

As if there were any more support needed for mobile, consider these anecdotes around the gaming industry. If a culture as critical of their mobile experience as this is fine with playing most of their mobile gaming experiences on a phone, then what technology and user base won’t fall to the convenience of mobile’s irresistible ‘always-there’ feature?

The Facebook “Like” Starts to Replace the Share Button’s Functionality

Good news for content publishers. If your content does get ‘Liked’ by a Facebook user, that person’s friends are going to see a much more compelling presentation of your content. And that should increase the rate people click on it, which of course is your viral impact.

And the Winner of the Academy Award Goes to… Real-Time Social Streams?

The interesting aspect of social viewing is that even if the show is bad, the commentary on it can be fantastic. Thus there’s still a reason to tune in. Add in that there was a lot of Tweeting from celebrities, and it’s like getting a chance to watch a show with that person. Some, like Rosanne Cash, did a great job interacting with what must have been a crush of @replies directed at them.

Four Talent Categories You Need to Win in a Connected World | CMO Strategy – Advertising Age

I’ve posted a lot on the changing agency model, but clients are changing, too. This is an interesting architecture for the type of team CMOs need to be attracting. As expected, there’s a lot of overlap here with the services agencies provide.

Bing Search Results Now More Socially Integrated With Facebook

If you want to see what all the fuss is around the power of Facebook Likes appearing in search results, look at the two graphics in this article, and imagine you’ve just searched and see several of your friend’s having ‘Liked’ one of the links on the page. Pretty powerful.

Brands that have mastered content marketing – iMediaConnection.com

Excellent recent examples of content marketing. The principles laid out around the value of content quality over content quantity are playing out more and more everyday.

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Google goes all-in on mobile, the growing trend of Edvertorial, and Kevin Kelly on Internet culture

The latest in new media marketing strategies and tactics:

14-year-old knocks “Angry Birds” from top spot – Holy Kaw!

I don’t think anything points to the breakdown of barriers and old-guard structures like this story. The industry of creating impacting experiences is an open field.

Starbucks Starts Accepting Mobile Payments Nationwide

I love this. And while I like new tech like any other early adopter, this is what it’s really all about. Quote: “In testing, Starbucks assessed the mobile payment option by measuring application speed, transaction speed and total customer wait time, says Brady Brewer, vice president of Starbucks Card and brand loyalty. In all instances, Starbucks Card Mobile was the fastest way for customers to pay.”

Eric Schmidt: All of Google’s Strategic Initiatives in 2011 are Mobile

More signs that mobile’s growth is only going to accelerate. Keep in mind that although there’s an enormous iPhone craze going on, only about 20% of the mobile phones in the US are smartphones. That’s a lot of headroom for growth, and much of Google’s mobile efforts will make phones both more powerful (thus desirable), and cheaper. That’s a powerful combo.

Startup Personalizes and Socializes Desktop Wallpaper

As i’ve written before, I find startups interesting to follow because the difference between a startup and a brand experience is becoming virtually indistinguishable, in terms of the end product. Here’s another example of a product that a number of companies could have come up with … anyone from Nikon to Kodak to Apple. Instead, it’s a small startup that got it out the door.

Social Media Breeds Edvertorial – WWD.com

A very good read. And while the content trend has been building for a while, it seems poised to begin accelerating as digital-based spending did about 7 years ago. This article focuses on the fashion industry, but of course the concept applies to just about any category.

Washington Post Lauches SocialCode, a Facebook Brand-builder – MarketingVOX

Last November my speech at AdTech focused a lot on the trend of publishers getting into the marketing game. This is a huge play along those lines. Details are a bit murky, but what’s clear is that companies are starting to view their communications from a much more content-oriented angle.

Beware the Ad-Industrial Complex. | The Drift from Upstream

I like the parallel Doug Weaver draws in this, between Eisenhower’s self-perpetuating “Military Industrial Complex” and the ad industry, which stands at a point where often the best advice would be to minimize spending in the very manner which they derive much of their profits.

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook » Sociological Images

This is a rather sarcastic look at how the Washington Post has splattered Facebook all over their pages. And while this particular example may be a little over the top, the annotated screen grab serves as a pretty good outline for what all the opportunities are for integrating social media plugins into your a given site.

Life After Santa

Funny new campaign for the Prius. There are a lot of quirky cultural references. It’s quite a comprehensive campaign, including a lot of live location-based events, which are then shot on video for social media distribution. It’s a smart way to do something on a local level and extend that to the larger social media environment.

Keen On… Kevin Kelly: What Does Kevin Kelly Want? (TCTV)

Given KK’s background, I’m always fascinated with what he has to say. Most interesting to me is his comparison in the second video between the early days of Internet experiences, circa 1985, versus today, and how the two are really entirely different mediums. I completely agree, and the long term implication is that the Web is constantly evolving the way no other medium ever has. While all mediums have content shifts throughout their lifespans, the pace of technological progress on the Web gives it an entirely new dimension. One that requires keeping up with trends the way no previous medium ever has.

4 Ways Predictive Analytics Are Being Applied to Business

As someone once said, “The information revolution came and went, and the information won.” What we’ve been left with is a lot of information and little sense of what to make of it. Perhaps the most interesting trend in marketing at the moment is the way data is being crunched and insights derived from it. And the next step beyond figuring out what’s going on is what WILL be going on.

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