Google: The Web Is Your Facebook

Here is a thought; when everyone has a blog (or something tantamount to a home base) and can easily push and pull data to applications of their choice (in a well structured web), will we even need Facebook?

Here is another thought; I have often heard people refer to Facebook as the new AOL. Despite Facebook's many open API's, are they simply, Walled Garden 2.0 trying to control as much as they can, for as long as they can?

I am beginning to think that Google's thinking is not far off from mine.

Yesterday Google announced the Contacts Data API. Here are some of the things that Google is claiming the API will do:

  • Synchronize Google contacts with contacts on a mobile device
  • Maintain relationships between people in social applications
  • Give users the ability to communicate directly with their friends from external applications using phone, email, and IM
Another important thing to note is that Google Contacts data will be available in the form of Google Data API feeds (can someone say "news feed"?). Here is how Google defines GData (or the Google Data API);

"The Google data APIs ("GData" for short) provide a simple standard protocol for reading and writing data on the web."

When you take these two components together, you can begin to get a glimpse of how Google is attempting to structure the web as an open platform for social interaction. The difference between what Facebook and Google are doing is that Google is adhering to current web standards, and third parties (including Facebook) can easily co-opt the data organized by Google's API's.

Facebook is doing the opposite. They have created a proprietary system whereby anyone can develop something for their system, but it will not necessarily be usable by the web at large (this point is changing, but it is still a proprietary language).

What This Means For Me

I have been using the term "identity syndication" a lot lately (not sure if anyone else is using it, but if not, I am happy to take credit :) ). As someone concerned with my identity and my personal data, I am more apt to use a system that allows me to own and control my data and the uses of it. I would rather have my blog be my home base (In Theory, it is Google for the win, at least long term).

What This Means For Brands

Another term I have been using a lot lately is "brand identity syndication" (same rules apply). For brands, it may be a bit simpler to set up shop in an environment that already has an audience to leverage, however this is only temporary (in my opinion). In the future brands will certainly have to spend a lot more time on their "brand identity strategy" and think a lot more about the distributed web.

What GData Can Do For You

Here are some of the current API's that you can use to make your Open Social experience richer:











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Passive Collection Of Presence And Activity

By now, many marketers (and some consumers) are beginning to recognize the power of the social graph in regards to spreading word of mouth messaging. I get the sense that many equate the notion of the social graph solely with Facebook and other online social networks.

What if I were you tell you that the social graph begins online for most people, but the true power takes place in the real world?

What if I were to tell you that as you sip your coffee at the local coffee house, your social data from online networks is playing a role in how you can be addressed by others around you, and even targeted by advertisers?

While this is not widespread reality today, it will not be long before this becomes a widespread reality.

related note: Think for a moment about Neal Stephenson's vision of the metaverse.  In Stephenson's metaverse, one must enter by using a visual altering hardware device (in his case goggles). Now think about the questions I posed above. What if we did not need to enter the metaverse, what if the metaverse was slowly brought to us and we were already in it (willingly or not)?

Back To Current Reality For A Moment

I just got done reading a post on Read/Write Web entitled, "Yahoo Experiements In Reality Mining With Bluetooth My BlogLog"

According to MyBlogLog, their new mobile tool, m.mybloglog.com will do the following;

"Bind your Bluetooth address to your MyBlogLog account and discover others nearby and [sic] find out if you have any shared interests. Meetspace keeps track of time spent with others so you have a running log of people to meet and things to talk about."

Google's Dodgeball service has provided similar service for quite a while, but my sense is that what Yahoo is trying to do is garner user data for the marketing purposes.

It will be very interesting to see if this service is adopted by bloggers who use MyBlogLog however, my feeling is that they will run for the hills




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Google Continues To Gear You Up For Mobility

As the advertising/media world becomes more and more enamored with the mobile space, Google continues to provide innovative ways to enhance the mobile experience.

In America, one of the major barriers for many advertisers (and consumers) in the mobile space is connectivity. Well, Google has a solution.

Google Gears allowed us to take certain things like RSS feeds in Google reader offline for when we are not connected to the Internet. Google Gears for mobile will potentially have impact than Google gears, as our handsets are always with us (for most people anyhow).

The irony here is, as Google continues to position itself against Microsoft to be the kings of the mobile future, the first version of Google Gears for mobile was built for Windows Mobile 5 and 6. A very interesting, but potentially brilliant strategy.


Test Of ScribeFire/Geek Heaven

As I have written, in the past few weeks I have been incredibly busy and have not been posting as much as I would like to. I have a big pitch coming up and then I am headed to SxSW (on the 7th) and the iMedia Breakthrough Summit on the 16th.

Despite the fact that I have not been blogging, I have uncovered a new blogging tool and I think I am in love!

The tool is ScribeFire, and so far I am in love! Here is what I like about it;

  • In Browser blogging

  • Integration with del.icio.us

  • Integration with Technorati

  • Pulls in latest posts

  • Spell check (hey, some tools don't have that)

  • Very useful notes page


There is a lot more that I am slowing discovering about this tool and I am loving it more by the second.

Note: I am in no way affiliated with ScribeFire, just a fan :)

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Yahoo Continues To Prove The Future Is Open

Those of you that followed my "Trends and Truisms" series at the beginning of this year know that one of my major focuses was openness. I gave a lot of credit to Google and many others- but I did not give enough credit to Yahoo.


Yahoo has long been a proponent of open standards. Two years ago, before the openness rush of 2007 Yahoo Local adopted the open standard;  microformats. Since that time, Yahoo has adopted other open standards such as Open ID. They also created their Mobile Developer Platform which they described as;


"...a one-stop solution for developers to create mobile-optimized applications that are easy to build, quick to deploy, and run across a wide selection of devices, thus making it much easier for Internet content and services to "go mobile." By providing developers with tools to write code once and efficiently publish their content instantly across hundreds of devices - accessible by hundreds of millions of users - Yahoo!'s Mobile Developer Platform is expected to usher in a dramatic acceleration in the adoption of mobile services by creating an explosion of new choices for the consumer."


So what is next for Yahoo Open (I made that name up, Yahoo if you are out there, feel free to use it :) ).


Open search!


Yahoo plans to unveil a project code named, "Search Monkey" and I for one am a huge fan of the idea! In certain ways this project is similar to Google Co-Op ( you can see this on the sidebar of this blog, it is the button that says, "Add My Expertise To Your Google Web Searches").


What Google Co-Op does is add a human filter  to your searches. The human filter can be anyone who signs up for the Google Co-Op beta. They then s set certain parameters that act as the filter. The idea is, if you feel we have similar interests, and you trust the editorial twist I have placed on search results, you will find more relevant results. There is an element of this in what Yahoo is doing (in this sense that sites, blogger's and other content providers can annotate search results), but they are positioning the project in a way that is much more consumer facing, and a whole lot sexier.


This is the pic being used at TechCrunch and Search Engine Land to show SearchMonkey in action :



According to TechCrunch, Search Monkey will "consist of a set of APIs that allow third parties to modify search results on Yahoo by adding images, structured data and additional deep links".


This is a brilliant move on Yahoo's part (in my humble opinion). It has been increasingly tough for Yahoo to compete with Google in natural search market share, and while it is important for Yahoo to continue to improve upon it's algorithm in order to compete with the Big G, projects like this add to the variety of ways users can interface with the Yahoo search engine.  This product also makes it attractive for content producers to add value to their own services (which inevitably results in a wider distribution of Yahoo products).


Yesterday I had a meeting with a new Mobile Startup called Buzzd. They are doing some really cool things with mobile discovery on the local level. By powering local WAP sites they are creating a local directory for events, parties, bars and many other things. One thing I did not talk about with the people from Buzzd is more general search (I have no idea what they have up their sleeves, we simply did not talk about it). In light of what I am reading about SearchMonkey, it seems like the perfect product for a company like Buzzd to partner up with.


The reason I am using Buzzd as an example is that I feel that SearchMonkey has huge potential for mobile providers, given that it allows content providers the ability to structure information that is suitable to power the search function of their mobile web property.


One thing that many have still not comes to terms with information architecture for small location based devices. I often talk about the fact that the mobile web is an extension of a the overarching web, but content needs to designed differently with different usability standards.


I am excited to see how Search Monkey is used, and whether or not it is as significant in the mobile space as I think.





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Good Ideas; The New Viral

Photo credit: Valentina Degiorgis


Many have heard me rant about my hatred of the term "viral" (yes, I hate it in both a marketing context as well as a health context). While I think the power of the interactive space is incredible in its ability to spread ideas around the world, I feel that the lazy marketer has displaced the term "good" with "viral".


I recently came across a press release that made me smile. The press release was about a poetry contest run by a diamond company called A&W Diamonds whose specialty is loose diamonds for sale online. I have never heard of this company before (that does not mean they are not well known, I guess I am just not "in market") but I imagine they don't have a multi-million dollar marketing budget (again, I could be wrong).


So what does one do when they don't have the money to hire a big fancy agency to create them "some killer viral" campaign (that sounds so dirty, huh?).


They come up with a good, smart idea!


Being a seller of diamonds, I imagine that Valentine's day is a big time of the year for A&W. Due to this A&W went ahead and created a poetry contest. Here were the rules;


The Poem Competition:
Write a romantic Valentine’s Day poem using the phrase "Heart Diamonds" or "Heart Diamond"
and you can win a beautiful Heart Shaped Loose Diamond!!!


Pretty simple if you ask me.


By the looks of things the company received hundreds responses. What is more important, I bet that each respondent told an average of 3 people about this contest, and each of those three probably told one person (10 relationships or 5MM impressions anyone?)


A&W then produced a press release about this contest, and here I am writing about it (this may lead to a hundred more impressions).


So what is the ROI here?


Well, all of this cost A&W one Heart Shaped Loose Diamond. I don't know what that costs but if it is under $10, 000 I would say they have done a pretty good job!


You can see the winner of the contest here, but my winner is a variation on an old time classic;



roses are red violets are blue, your heart belongs to who?

Carol Craig, 01/17/2008



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Kevin Riley: From Delivering Manure To Delivering Site Traffic

Do you know who Kevin Riley is?


I did not know who he was until today (I wonder if he is someone I should have known and missed...) when I saw a press release entitled:


Video Search Marketing Comes Of Age As YouTube Crowned World's Second Most Popular Website


Being the self respecting, future minded search marketer that I am, I had to check this out.


 Did I miss something here?


Was this a recent movement in the industry that I had failed to notice (and didn't video search marketing come of age a while ago?)


Lo and behold, this was no official statement by YouTube or Google (or any other measurement body that I had ever heard of). In fact, this was, for all intents and purposes, and advertisement for a web marketer based on simple Alexa numbers, brilliant :) !



This was not a press release about web traffic at all. This was an opportunistic marketer using web statistics for his own purposes, and quite frankly, I think it is very smart.


Head over to Kevin's blog and see what the results of his efforts were, quite staggering.


I always tell clients, "put out press release's and put them out often. There is someone out there who cares, you may as well feed them the content they want"


...and never forget Riley's pearl of wisdom :) Video Search Marketing is here to stay :) :)



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How Important Is Media In Education? (teachers and students we need your help)

Teachers and students alike, we need your help!


PodcampNYC, the new media unconference is almost here!


 This year there will be a special focus on education. In order to promote this focus we are having a media festival where student of all ages can submit their ideas on what school will be like in the future. There rules are pretty simple and are outlined in the video below.


This is not a contest!


All who participate are winners.


The goal is to raise awareness of the education track that will be taking place at PodcampNYC 2008. We are hoping to facilitate productive conversations on how new media can impact education, and how we can create a brighter future for the next generation through the use of new media tools.


Feel free to contact me to learn more!



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The Worlds Largest Social Network

We have been social network crazy for some time now. Since the inception of the moniker Web 2.0 droves of social networks have sprung up. As I have noted before, the wealth of social networks has become overwhelming for many, so much so that people are beginning to delete accounts from various social networks.


What if there was one standard for all social networks?


While many of are trying to forward standards that will achieve this end, Google made an announcement a few weeks ago about a social API that will assist in achieving true data portability.


After you watch the video below, I would love to hear your thoughts on Google’s move to create an Open Social standard, and whether or not you think this is just a move by Google to be able to place ads across social spaces.  







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Blogger Apologies

As you may or may not have noticed, I have not been blogging a lot lately, but there are some very good reasons.




  • Things have been pretty crazy over hear at Morpheus Media.

    • We have some new clients and some new employees




  • I am taking classes at NYU

    • This semester I am taking Mastering Product and Service Innovation. It is part of a graduate certificate in Marketing Management



  • I am preparing for a number of speaking engagements including ones for the PRSA, Digital Hollywood, iMedia and a few others

  • I am working on organizing PodcampNYC and a special initiative centered around Media and Education (more on that to come)



With all of that going on it is a wonder that I am even able to get some sleep :)


Anyhow, I am going to do my best to get back into the swing, and if anyone wants to contribute posts in this ever so busy time, feel free!


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OMMA Mobile February 7th

Steve Smith



  • It is a marathon not a sprint

  • We are still in the compuserve days

  • Apple has reached number 3 “smartphone” manufacturer in the worlds

  • Mobile Wars are here

  • How does this effect marketing?

  • Are the entries by the giants making it easier for media planners?

  • How can TV exploit mobile?

  • What is this open platform all about—Google?


8:45am: Metrics Wake-up Call: Evan Neufeld, VP Consulting and Senior Analyst, M:Metrics



  • Mobile is and extension of something that has been happening for a long time



    • Death of mass marketing

    • Multi Mobile consumption

    • 360 campaigns

    • Decreased impact of advertising overall



      • Over messaging



    • Era of consumer control



  • 215 MM cell phone users in the US

  • Mobile devices are convergent devices disrupting multiple sectors



    • Bridges the gap between what you do and where you do

    • They are not just about voice anymore



  • 80% of adults in the US have mobile phones

  • 45% of US adults sent text messages

  • 7.4% of US adults got news via mobile browser

  • Mobile 2.0



    • People who sent video via MMS up 51% YoY

    • Watched TV up 19% YoY

    • Ringbacks 40% up YoY

    • Sent Photos 49% up YoY



  • 34MM users in the US access the web via mobile browser regularly



    • Those who do, do it often



  • Mobile content mirrors content on the web



    • Weather

    • Search

    • News



  • Google, Yahoo, Live, Go.com, Myspace some of the top mobile players

  • 1 in 5 phones now play music

  • 50% of US phones have cameras

  • What is driving us forward, holding us back



    • Pricing



      • iPhone vs. Blackberry



    • Devices

    • Bandwidth

    • Subsidization



      • Advertising





  • 58% of consumers have a data plan

  • 84% of iPhone users versus 11.8% of regular market access news via phone

  • It is not about the iPhone, but about services and features

  • Test messaging is the best reach vehicle for advertisers

  • SMS advertising



    • 13% responded

    • 5% bought




9:00am: Introduction by Steve Smith, MediaPost Columnist and Emcee


9:15am: Keynote: Enter the Giants: The Impact Media and Tech Companies Will Have on the Mobile Marketing World?
The biggest impact companies like Nokia will have on the market is by creating a mobile advertising ecosystem that is more flexible and open so all parties, including brands, agencies, publishers and operators will all have a piece of the still-developing mobile advertising pie.

Jeremy Wright, Ad Business Global Director of Brand Solutions, Nokia


·        7th year feeling, “is it just taking off now”


·        The sense of community felt real (about PC—the third screen) but it was virtual


o       Welcome to the fourth screen


·        Where will mobile take us?


o       3.3b mobile phones double the number of TV’s and PC’s


o       Advertising Forecast


§         2011 $531 B


·        Key Growth Drivers


o       Reach


o       Personal


o       Cost


o       Commerce


o       Subsidization will help drive traffic which will in turn drive activity


·        The convergence box


·        We need to resist the tendency to think of the mobile phone as a small version of the PC


·        Acting on impulse as on of the value propositions of mobile advertising


o       “it’s essential for brands”


·        What do consumers want from mobile


o       They want it all


o       Great services at low or no cost


§         Advertising can help make that happen


·        It has to be relevant


·        It has to be respectful, make sure the user has control


·        Use the wealth of data that mobile provides


o       Locations, place, context, time


·        Advertising stops being advertising when it is really relevant, it becomes content


·        Searches are different on a mobile device


·        22% response rates on average for the Nokia site noki.mobi


·        Why isn’t mobile advertising bigger today?


o       Fragmentation


o       Defining and measurable ROI


o       Engaging consumers post click


·        Best practices


o       Relevance


o       Snack sized content


o       Capture impulses


o       Instant Reward


o       Exploit Unique Features


·        The real value is integration with other media


9:45am: A Conversation Between David Verklin and Bob DeSena
David Verklin, CEO, Aegis Media Americas
Bob Desena, Managing Director, North America, iO Global Limited


·        To young people mobile phones are fashions statements, virtual hangouts etc.


·        Mobile is the next big thing—Verklin


·        Young people, when asked what they would give up first, the PC or the phone,  many responded, “stupid question”


·        Mobile as portable interactivity


o       Net Biscuit


§         Purpose built mobile web sites


·        Location to keywords making search the killer app


·        Adding transaction and action to information


·        What do we have to do to know down the barriers in order to create integrated plans?


·        The immediate plan of the future is a mosaic


o       Media Mix


o       The media plan of today and tomorrow has many components


o       Mobile should be a piece of every campaign in the future


·        Advertising to the interested


·        One of the barriers is the fact that many agencies do not have ample database skills


·        Data is the new creative—Verklin


·        We are seeing the resurgence of the full service agency—Verklin


·        6 companies to watch-- Verklin


o       Net Biscuit


o       Admob


o       Veritalk (lets not forget the voice segment of mobile marketing)


o       Shoptext (very enthusiastic about mobile as payment device)


o       Three Jam (allows consumer to do 1 to many marketing)


o       Myxer


·        The crackle of change is in the air


·        Check Out PayGo in New Zealand—Cannes Lion Media Campaign winner


·        In mobile you have to pay attention to other markets—Verklin


·        Lower hanging fruit technologies are still ringtones etc.


·        The biggest issue is TV surrogates


o       2/3 of all spending on TV


o       Today it is about 50%


o       The money is going to things that look like TV


§         Broadband


§         Electronic out of home


§         The more mobile can feel like TV, the more money their will be


·        Engagement=Time


·        Gaining 100% composition by corralling audience from one place to another


·        This year we lay the tracks, 2009 will be the big year for mobile  

10 Relationships or 5MM Impressions; Join The Conversation @JaffeJuice

A few months ago I spoke at the iMedia Agency Summit and the I made a statement that I would prefer 10 quality relationships over 5MM impressions. The audience was asked how many agreed with me and only one person stood up (I am used to people not agreeing with me, so it is cool :) )

Last week I created an audio vignette to start a conversation based on this experience. I sent it over to the Jaffe Juice podcast. Go have a listen and join the conversation.

Over the last few years I have really learned the quality of relationships in marketing. A catalyst for some of this learning has been my interactions with Joseph Jaffe. I attended a lecture that Joseph gave in 2005 (approximately) and immediately read his book and pulled in the feed for his podcast.

Over the years we have corresponded (despite the fact he has thousands of listeners, he has always gotten back to me, even before he knew who I was). As a result of my belief in Joseph's ideas, and his genuine nature towards his community, I have bought many copies of his books (potentially even 30...and I am not done buying yet) for clients and colleagues (Joe, I don't know if I ever told you but we try to keep at least 5 copies of "Life After The 30 Second Spot" at the office at all times. People are always taking them though!)

So What Is The Lesson Here?

By nurturing one quality relationship, Joseph Jaffe has sold more copies of his book than if he had gone out and bought 5MM impressions on an ad network, hands down!

Furthermore, for each 5th person that I bought a copy, there is probably one that bought a copy (or recommended a purchase) for someone else. Joseph did not need any sophisticated technology to make initial headway into my social graph.

...and not this blog post. This post may reach a few hundred more people and one or two of them may buy a book by Jaffe, and so on and so forth!

I am thinking about putting together a spreadsheet for media planners (as a joke, it is really not necessary) with different media scenarios based on what has been discussed here. Feel free to send ideas!

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MMA Forum On Mobile--January 31, 2007

Speakers:


(sponsored by Admob)




  • Danielle Rollo


    • Message as marketing versus advertising

      • Marketing- mCRM

      • SMS-- 160 characters, links etc.

      • Ubiquity of SMS

      • Bringing interactivity to offline media

      • Advertising

      • high attention level

      • contextual targeting

      • fully engaged users

      • Mobile Search- Medio search engine for mobile

      • major growth opportunity

      • gateway to content


      • search as utility-- location based search

        •  relevance=response



      • CPC model

      • Highest payout for search is for DUI's (hmmmm)






  • Mark Donovan

    • Secular trend called digital convergence, our lives are turning into ones and zeros

    • 219 million mobile phone users in the us (over 13)

    • 3 MM 3G phones in the US

    • Suggests that we are not behind, suggests we are different

    • Mobile web 20% YoY

    • 101 MM people sent text messages last year

    • 13% of people that received a text ad responded

    • Mobile as conversation starter

    • Of 101 people that sent a text 9 MM sent a short code promoted by advertising

    • 29% of mobile ads are about selling mobile content



  • Mickey Alam Khan


  • Rebecca Barnett

    • 34 MM actively using the mobile web

    • 20% increase over 2006

    • Disconnect between media buyers and creative

    • CPM's from 7-40 dollars

    • CPC's range from 15 to 50 cents

    • creative must be heavily considered for this medium

    • challenge for analytics because you cannot cookie users

    • Downloadable Content

    • ringtones, games, wallpaper, applications

    • You can deliver a richer media experience

    • high frequency of use

    • challenge-- fragmentation, limit of users

    • CPM's 20-50 dollars




  • Tony Nethercutt

    • Addressable media

    • The media turns into something you have with you

    • Extending the campaign to mobile-- stay consistent with your brand

    • Challenges-- reach, fragmentation, costs

    • Snack sized content

    • Carriers similar to ISP's in the early days




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The Advertising Club Meetup January 28th 2008 at Google

Tonight, Google has opened their doors to the public in what feels like a surreal almost wonka-like experience. Sure I have been here many times, but tonight, amidst an industry riddled with speculation about what Google is up to, the office looks different.


Here is the description and speakers for tonight’s event:


Google is leading an integrated marketing revolution with search, mobile, radio, video, television, maps, email, social networks and more. Six Google Execs will lead a discussion on the latest from Google in advertising and integrated marketing.


Our format will be a panel discussion followed by Q&A. Panelists include:



  1. Tim Castelli, New York Sales Director

  2. Derek Kuhl- Agency Relations

  3. Long Ellis, Head of Sales, Television

  4. Joe Anastasi, Team Manager - Audio East

  5. Tiffany Shen Miller: Account Executive - Print Ads

  6. Sarah Carberry: Team Manager: Consumer Packaged Goods


Notes:



  • It has become clear that Google has become a major player in integrated communications. With tools such as analytics and AdWords, Google provides a full service marketing dashboard.

  • “Google is really in the connection business” Castelli



    • In the ad business, it is about connecting consumers and marketers

    • Buying across platforms



  • Predictive analytics for ROI on TV?



    • Correlation between web traffic and TV



  • “When Google announced this platform (television) it sent shivers down my spine”—Long Ellis—Google TV




    • Google has a certain % of Echo Star local avails

      • About 200 advertisers on the platform




    • Take the benefits of online and move them to the TV (analytics, optimization etc.)

      • Second by Second Metrics

      • Engagement metrics



    • “We do not package our dayparts”—Ellis

    • Optimization—Reacting to the marketplace on a day to day basis

    • You only pay for impressions delivered

    • Reach and frequency coming to the platform

    • No winner’s remorse. Same style bid as AdWords




  • Google Audio—Joe Anastasi

    • 1600 terrestrial stations

    • A digital connection has been made to these stations

    • 100% US coverage

    • Ad serving engine

    • By the end of this quarter we will have the functionality to correlate radio and web metrics

    • By the end of this quarter we will have the functionality to correlate radio and web metrics

    • “Google will bring radio back in a big way”




  • Consumer Package Goods-- Sarah Carberry\

    • The power that YouTube has brought to the consumer

    • Meritocracy of ideas

    • 6th largest destination on the web

    • Storytelling for the world

    • 57 MM uniques on YouTube


    • “You Choose 2008”

      • eMarketer says this will decide the election this year



    • How do we connect Youtube with offline media


    • Heinz Case Study

      • Google and YouTube drove sales through create your own commercial






  • Agency Relations- Derek Kuhl

    • There is a lot of fear and trepidation in the industry world


    • Four key themes

      • Online is an unbelievable creative palette


      • Analytics not being relegated to web analytics

        • Media planners looking at web metrics, not just webmasters




      • Finding common currency across media channels

        • How do you evaluate CPC versus CPM etc.




      • Agencies Rethinking Structure

        • Clients are demanding something different







  • Print Ads—Tiffany Shen Miller



    • “We are going to make newspapers sexier”

    • Efficiency and Scale

    • Single web interface to research across multiple papers etc.

    • Not an auction. Bid to publisher directly through the tool

    • This year the goal is to incorporate Google Analytics



      • 2D Bar Code—QR Codes



    • Marrying print and mobile



      • This is making offline trackable







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If I Had 5MM In Venture Funding …

At a time when economic downturn seems imminent one must wonder; will 2008 see the same time of start-up activity that was seen in years prior?


This morning I got to thinking, what would I do if I had capital for a start-up?


Would I create yet another social network or a human powered search engine?


Maybe I could start a content site centered a much coveted vertical such as health. The fact is I would not consider any of these avenues. 


While I have not given this a lot of thought I would probably be thinking along the following lines;



  • Creation of a web services



    • Note: I use the term “web” loosely. By “web” I am including mobile and iTV or anything that operates over IP






  • Creation of platforms that are ready for mobility

  • Creation of a platform or service that is interoperable



    • You can no longer wall yourself in, data portability will play a major role in 2008




For most of us that follow the tech industry fairly closely, these things are not new however, I feel that there are enough people out there who are not thinking along these lines that, this post was warranted.



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Social Networking 2.M (part three…and yes, this means mobile)

I have certainly spoken about this before (and here a few months later), but with all the hullabaloo surrounding both the mobile industry and the social networking space, I feel it is crucial to return to the theme of mobile social networks and the personal nature of the handset. In a recent press release, an executive from Nokia had this to;


“While cost sensitivity is an important element in creating mobile devices for emerging markets, the overwhelming feedback we receive from consumers in these markets is that they want their mobile device to complement their personality and offer a range of colours and entertainment features,” says Alex Lambeek, Vice President, Entry Devices, Nokia.


For emerging markets and young people, mobile phone’s are becoming more and more of a reflectiion of themselves, just like their Facebook accounts’ (I would say this is also true for many adults in the US).



paidContent.org wrote a piece the other day about the fact that Nokia and Facebook are working together on various initiatives to integrate Facebook services with the handset giant’s devices. This is an incredibly prescient venture by Nokia.


This is not Nokia’s first attempt to bring social networking to the handset, but Nokia seems to be closer to hitting the nail on the head with this move.


With the opening of wireless networks and the potentially disruptive nature of the 700 MHz spectrum auction, it has never been more important to be aligned with value added services as a means to avoid becoming commodity. It is obvious that Nokia realizes that both the iPhone and Android could become increasingly powerful in the mobile space, and this potential could have an adverse effect on the handset business.


While certain carriers continue to invest in their “walled garden” or “on deck” mobile software, the obvious strategy seems to be one akin to what Nokia has planned; build good devices with value added services that can run on any network.



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Trends And Truism Postamble (sp.): Marco Hansell Of Fan Force Says...


Image of Marco Hansell from Facebook
Image of Marco Hansell


Entertainment marketer extraordinaire and good friend of mine, Marco Hansell said the following in the last post,

"the littlest door we open to conversation creates impressive, personal, and very informative results."

I enjoyed it so much that I felt it needed to shine on it's own. I am not going to make a whole lot of commentary, but I do need to say that it is people like Marco that make me excited for the future of marketing and happy that I am a marketer in 2008!

Thanks Marco!

...and for all you out there, listen to what Marco has to say, this guys know a thing or two ;)

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Trends and Truisms Day Ten (part two): Jeremy Beyda Asks The Tough Questions

What is the best part about blogging?


Conversation, collaboration, sharing knowledge? These are some of my favorite aspects of blogging. In my last post a great conversation began and Jeremy Beyda asked questions that I feel warrants a post dedicated to them, as I feel that many will want to join in.


Jeremy writes:



I am probably the only one that doesn’t work in the field here so apologies ahead of time if some of this is over my head. I guess not working in the field makes me an unbiased consumer and as such I have a couple of Qs for you guys and gals.


What does it mean to have a conversation with a brand and how many consumers really want to do it?


Can you give me a good example of a brand whose consumers have an unmet, pent up demand to converse with said brand?


Are there certain verticals that are naturally more conducive to conversation between the consumer and the brand?


What is the best example of a brand that is properly using the web to converse with its consumers?


I have more Qs but answers to above will be a great start.


I know that there are a lot of conversational marketers out there that can help with this, so rather than answer these questions myself, I am going to look to the community to help out. I am also attached a PDF of an essay I wrote about consumerism and the need for conversation and collaboration.


DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE



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Trends and Truisms FINAL DAY (day ten): The Consumer Is Not King, but Co-Creation and Collaboration Makes Us All Kings

So here we are at the final day of this experiment. I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed this and have gotten some great commentary. This project will most likely be documented in one of the industry trades and reprinted in PDF format for ease of consumption. All comments and blog posts referenced will be included. All of you that have not joined in, I welcome you to take a stab at this one. I am hoping to hear from Joseph Jaffe and Greg Verdino on this one in particular. I would also love for Jeremiah Owyang , Amanda Mooney, my friends at On Digital Media, For Immediate Release, Brad Berens and Scott Monty to join in on the one. In fact, I am hoping that everyone on my blogroll will contribute, as I want to make this document very useful for all of us.


I will probably format this whole project over the weekend, so there are still a few more days to join the conversation.



Most of us in marketing or sales have been plagued by the adage, “the consumer is king” for most of our lives. While the sentiment is a nice one (for consumers), and may be valid in certain instances, this way of thinking needs to be closely examined before it is blindly adopted.


If markets are in fact conversations, and effective conversations consist of two parties of near equal status, where is there room for a king?


As a consumer and a marketer, I never felt the need to be king. I have only felt the need to be heard and responded to in a way that signifies care.


My feeling is that once the empowered consumer gained the ability to create and distribute content to the masses, we all went UGC/CGC/CGM crazy. I am beginning to think the key word in the last sentence is “crazy”.


While I am a huge fan of independently produced content, I don’t feel that it represented the Holy Grail that some marketers made it out to be. I feel that marketer’s adoption of consumer produced content was largely based on fear; fear of the unknown and fear of becoming irrelevant.


It is my belief that 2008 will be a year when marketers regain some of their confidence. My hope is that marketers realize that effective marketing campaigns cannot be driven solely by consumers (at least not in all cases). My hope is that marketers begin to realize that collaboration will produce far greater results than any singular constituent could ever hope to produce.


People often ask me, “As a pragmatist and a realist, how do you so roundly justify your love of Second Life?”


The answer is simple; Second Life represented mass collaboration and community like I had never experienced before (at least in the world of media). Inhabitants of Second Life got together and made a world!


Sure, uninformed marketers entered Second Life, not understanding the culture and made asses of themselves (in certain instances), but I cannot completely blame them for that, as Second Life is pretty complex for some users. Still, the idea that people can collaborate and co-create on such a massive scale gave me hope that markers and consumers would one day be able to achieve the same type of thing.


I am hoping we will see more projects this years that exploit collective intelligence, collaboration and co-creation!



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