 December 23, 2008
I'm addicted to Twitter. There, I said it. I feel better. With the help of Tweetdeck, I follow about 900 people. A little over 1100 follow me. I'm amazed at this 140 character beauty and the information I can gain (and distribute) through it. I've enjoy studying businesses and celebrities (both real and faux) that have jumped on the twitter bandwagon (with varied results). I warn friends and clients alike that "Twitter isn't for everybody" I tell them that the vast majority of the users are kinda like me...students and aficionados of social media, hunters of the next big thing and, of course, Robert Scoble. Despite all my warnings (I must not have been yelling loud enough), I was surprised to see a new follower show up in my Twitter alerts last week: Now...there is a great delicatessen in downtown Columbus called Katzinger's. My mouth began to water at the mere sight of the word. But, Katzingers, on Twitter? Doubtful. I clicked the link to their Twitter profile. The avatar was a shot of an "everything" bagel. It was them. But why? As I dug a bit deeper...it became clear that something special was going on here. Mrs. Katzingers was following a decent size collection of Columbus' most prolific Twitterers. She was watching what they were saying and subtly interjecting herself (and her brand) into their conversations, observations and online lives with witty, well written tweets like: @OSUFanMike You don't write, you don't call. I'm here slaving over a hot stove 7 days a week. Come to Mama on your day off. I'm...too sexy for these lox....too sexy for these lox -- whaddya think about that? @racarpenter May your day improve. May you also smell corned beef Omigosh. Is it lunch time already? No line yet. (Smarties arrive at 11:37 a.m. Early bird gets the knish.) There was no way to get mad at her (and no way feel a bit hungrier). And that is the point. I have no idea if there is a real Mrs. Katzingers, typing away at an old laptop tucked behind the ever busy meat slicer or if this is the work of a slick local PR agency. And, you know what? I don't want to know. But, next time I'm in line waiting for my #16...I just might take a peek behind the counter. Happy Holidays. November 24, 2008
"We need to be on Facebook!" I hear it all the time. "We need a blog!" I hear that a lot too. Maybe you do and maybe you don't. Perhaps a different approach would work better? It's kind of like Thanksgiving dinner. It all looks good. Where do you start? Blogger Peter Kim has put together an excellent menu of 22 social media tools complete with examples from the brands who use them. The list represents a great overview of the current social media landscape: 1. Blogs (Johnson & Johnson, Delta Air Lines) My advice? Start small. Pick an approach that maps well to your business goals, products, customer demographics, budget, and go from there. If you pace yourself, you might find you have room for seconds. Happy Thanksgiving! (I encourage you to read Peter's entire post on Mashable. Also, here is his list of 313 social media marketing examples.) October 23, 2008
Last night I was driving from Cleveland to Columbus and listening to the trusty iPod. I'm a huge fan of all types of music, but lately I find myself listening to podcasts (and watching vodcasts) almost exclusively. One of my favorite podcasts is BusinessWeek's Innovation of the Week. If you aren't already subscribed, I suggest you check it out. This week the host interviewed NASA's chief knowledge architect, Jeanne Holm. Jeanne described NASA's commitment to their constituency and the methods that they use to reach and interact with them. From Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter accounts and even weekly meetings in Second Life, NASA knows where their "customers" hang out and makes it easy for them to interact with the agency. They author and maintain many forums and blogs, even one entitled appropriately enough, Open NASA. From the blog's About Page: "We come from a perspective within NASA of transparency, accessibility, risk, honesty, merit, and participation. We have insight into what is and could be happening inside the U.S. space program– but so do you, and it is something to be shared and discussed." A lot of corporations could learn something from their O.P.E.N. approach. Come to think of it, so could the rest of our government. But, I'll wait a couple weeks to write that post. October 15, 2008
Take a look at the image above...it's a screenshot taken by Xbox Live gamer Dragunov765 while playing Burnout Paradise, a very popular driving game for the Xbox 360. Yes, that is a paid in-game advertisement displaying an Obama for President campaign message. From the New York Times: "Are political ads in video games a good idea? In terms of eyeballs, I’d have to say yes. Roughly one-third of American households own an Xbox 360, Sony PS3 or Nintendo Wii. In terms of effectiveness, Brandweek recently detailed a survey undertaken by its fellow Nielsen Games division in which 11 percent of gamers said they bought a brand after seeing it advertised in a game." The article goes on to say, "of course, buying a brand of shoes or soda is a totally different prospect than buying a politician’s brand in the polling booth." But you have to give the campaign credit for knowing their audience segments and reaching them where they spend their time. In case you are wondering, here is what the McCain camp is up to. September 28, 2008
 Open Up the BackchannelTagged as: O.P.E.N., digital millennials, engaging, networked, social webPosted by: Dan Shust
We have been seeing similar experiences sprout up for the debates and other select events, but why not just open the backchannel permanently? Let us chat while we watch, participate in fun competitions, etc. I'd love to see the major networks get behind an idea like this. What a great way to enhance the viewing of a live sporting event, episodic drama, etc. It could even make a really horrible show fun. (Remember MST3K?) Advertisers would love it because chatting encourages live viewing (the anti-DVR?). Additionally, they could collect some very interesting user opinion data surrounding their ad campaigns. What do you say NBC, ABC, CBS, HBO? Open up the backchannel and I might even watch Knightrider. September 8, 2008
August 27, 2008
Last week, I spent a great deal of time talking to clients, partners and colleagues about mobile. Seems like everyone in the U.S. is interested in mobile experiences again. Why is that? The iPhone, The Olympics, Ralph Lauren's new mobile site? I'm not sure, but I can tell you the space is hot. Problem is, mobile tends to cool down quickly when you worry about the customer experience. We want to reach the widest applicable audience and we tend to agonize over the stats. What percentage of mobile phone users text? What percentage have unlimited data plans? How many use the mobile web regularly? If we get past those numbers (and some of us don't) we worry about how to engage them. Will the user text a number to a short code? Depends. Will they type in your mobile site's address? Probably not. Here is something to remember...every single one of the roughly 254 million cell phone users in the United States have one thing in common. Their devices can send and receive voice calls. Start there. Look at great services like ChaCha and Jott. Think about expert assistance and point of sale shopabilty. Try using voice as a way to start an experience that leads to a text message, offer or the link to your mobile site. Hang on a sec. I gotta get this call. August 8, 2008
Let the (digital) games begin!Tagged as: O.P.E.N., creative, digital millennials, engaging, iCitizen, mobile, networked, new consumer journey, on-demand, personal, retail, social web, technology, trendsPosted by: Dan Shust
Here are my podium picks: Bronze Medal: McDonalds "The Lost Ring" In March 50 bloggers received a mysterious package in the mail. It contained an Olympic poster and a ball of string that, when unraveled, revealed a web address. Thus began “The Lost Ring” an Alternate Reality Game (or ARG) that is currently being played in 7 languages across 100 countries. The players work together to hunt for clues to solve an ancient Olympic mystery. Immersive gameplay leads them to websites, blog posts, wikis, podcasts and even Twitter. 4 million people and counting have visited the launch site. Silver Medal: Lenovo "Voices of the Olympic Games" In an attempt to bring attention to a variety of less mainstream Olympic sports, Lenovo has given laptops and Flip video cameras to 100 athletes. (No other compensation is being provided.) Their only direction was to tell the rest of the world about their Olympic experience. Their blog posts are revealing, touching and sometimes humorous. Mainstream media will blast us with Phelps, LeBron, Kobe and Torres, but Lenovo's athlete bloggers allow us to partake in the "common" Olympian's experience. Gold Medal: NBC - Digital Coverage In 2006 NBC streamed one hockey game live form the Turin Winter Olympics. This year the network will stream over 2200 hours of live coverage and 3600 hours of on demand video will ultimately be available. Their custom video player is ground breaking, allowing the user to enjoy such features as closed captioning, expert commentary even for less popular events, integrated trivia, picture-in-picture and a "control room" view in which you can enjoy up to 4 live events simultaneously. NBC's coverage also includes a robust mobile web site, text messaging, e-mail alerts and mobile video. So, there are my “Digital Olympics” medal winners. Each effort is game changing in its own way, but just imagine if they were all on the same team. When you do, you can almost see the future… July 20, 2008
Radiohead Opens Up a House of CardsTagged as: O.P.E.N., creative, digital millennials, engaging, iCitizen, technology, trendsPosted by: Dan Shust
They created the video by acquiring real-time data via a 3D scanning system from Geometric Informatics, and a Velodyne LIDAR. High tech stuff indeed, but what happened next is what makes this video experience truly cool and O.P.E.N. The band released the entire data set of the video for free to anyone who wants it. The data can be explored interactively or, by using freely available software, you can create your own version of the video. Of course, a YouTube group has been started for people to display, discuss and share their work. Performing artists like NIN, and RadioHead understand the power of The OPEN Brand. Who's next? July 16, 2008
As most of you know by now, last Friday was an important day for Apple. Parts of the iPhone 3G launch went well and other parts...not so much. But, I'm going to leave that discussion to the multitude of other blogs and forums already deep into the subject. I want to talk about a little application called Remote.
In a recent report, Forrester Research speculates by 2013 Apple Inc. will have completely embedded itself into the hub of the digital home. And why not? Apple recently passed up Wal-Mart as the largest supplier of music in the United States and the iPod commands the MP3 player market with a 70% share. The report envisions Apple providing products including all-in-one computers that can easily double as primary entertainment systems, home servers, unique networked entertainment/informational devices and a universal remote to control it all. Wait...a universal remote to control it all? That would be cool! What if it also could take/view pictures, check your email, surf the web and knew your location? Heck, what if it was a phone too? Wouldn’t that be crazy? All we need is a little piece of software to get us started... Remote is currently the most popular download in the iTunes App Store. Check it out. Looks like their plan is in motion. |
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