What marketing philosophy should be …
March 28, 2013
I dream of briefs that lead to this …
March 27, 2013
Genius marketing in action (usage of social, web and a great affordable product based on a subscription model that has proven to be super effective). People actually enjoy watching the commercial (comments on the video speak for themselves).
I wish more marketers were open to innovation and risk taking.
It takes balls to be authentic/funny and to speak to people in a human/friendly way.
With the affordable pricing of the product and the method of delivery (via subscription), I have no doubt this is going to be a big success.
Infogasm
March 27, 2013
Multiple infogasms to share. Check it out for yourself.
Mostly Free Tools for Digital Strategists (Updated)
March 11, 2013
TRENDS:
- Cassandra Daily http://www.trendcentral.com/
- Slideshare and Scribd (for pretty much all topics)
- Following trend forecasters and “futurists” on Twitter (list to be added soon)
- http://www.digitaltrends.com/
- Google Trends(general)
- Mashable
- Trend Hunter
- Trend Land
- http://toptrends.nowandnext.com/
CASE STUDIES:
- https://www.facebook.com/marketinganz?brand_redir=1
- http://www.oneclub.org/#/
- http://www.webbyawards.com/
- http://sxsw.com/interactive-awards-finalists
- Various agency websites (since they feature most of their best work)
- Contagiousmagazine.com
- econsultancy.com
RESEARCH:
Agency Tools from YouTube
Segmentation
- Comscore
Secondary
http://www.youtube.com/yt/creators/create-better-content.html
Site Ranking
Blogs/Magazines:
http://www.psfk.com/
http://www.fastcompany.com/
http://adage.com/
http://www.advertisingweek.com/awx/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
http://knowyourmeme.com
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/
http://mashable.com/
http://econsultancy.com
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
http://searchengineland.com/
http://www.creativereview.co.uk
http://adsoftheworld.com/
http://www.nirandfar.com/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/
http://www.uxbooth.com/
http://nextbigfuture.com/
http://www.iftf.org/home/
http://www.geekandhype.com/
http://wearesocial.com
http://venturebeat.com/
Mobile:
Presumers are becoming mainstream
November 20, 2012
Women in Technology
July 23, 2012

Crowdfunding Companies
July 13, 2012
Viral
July 10, 2012

…
May 29, 2012
Digital Strategy
April 17, 2012
Monetary Value of Loyalty – Digital
April 11, 2012
Measuring Social Media
April 11, 2012

Digital Strategists
February 24, 2012
Love the Simplicity and Utility of this App
February 20, 2012
TV Ads’ New Digital Role – Shiv Singh – Harvard Business Review
February 16, 2012
Brilliant Marketing Campaign for an Ingredient Brand
February 7, 2012
- Amazing strategy (this video is part 2) that is beautifully executed and establishes the brand as a clear thought leader. Well done Corning!
“Social Media Explained”
February 7, 2012

GET RETAIL 2012
February 1, 2012
From a post of Gabe Weiss @ Sapient (with his permission).
“As the combination of anytime, anywhere information and smart mobile and tablet devices proliferate, retail will undertake a massive transformation in the coming year(s). With consumers in control, the omnichannel customer is showrooming – using their mobile devices to point-know-buy – and t-commerce & s-commerce are both proliferating (but probably won’t call it that). News from NRF 2012 (National Retail Federation conference) is that retailers have finally accepted that they need to transform, the technology now exists for them to do so and they are actually focusing on it. While some leading retailers are innovating as fast as they can – see JCPenny’s new management cast which is making innovated moves – others are in a more challenging position – see the recent Best Buy drama Forbes started. If you want a glimpse of where this is all going, check the DEC11 HBR issue and PSFK which both showcase the “Future of Shopping”. If 2012 NRF and CES are any indicators, retail has only touched the tip of the iceberg of transformation and will be radically different in the years to come. A bit of great news for a digital retail transformer like us…”
What is Omnichannel Retailing?
This isn’t your younger-self’s version of multichannel or cross-channel. No, no…it’s a whole new lingo:
Omnichannel retailing is seamlessly integrating the customer experience across all channels of interaction—including stores, websites, direct mail and catalogs, mobile platforms, social networks, home shopping and gaming.
http://www.slideshare.net/iyadmourtada/omnichannel-retail
Showrooming?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577177242516227440.html
Point-Know-Buy
Why infolusty, spontaneity-loving consumers will embrace instant visual information gratification
http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/pdf/2012-02%20POINT%20KNOW%20BUY.pdf
T-Commerce?
Ok, fine…it’s Tablet-Commerce
S-Commerce?
http://www.luxurydaily.com/facebook-commerce-is-the-future-of-ecommerce-tory-burch/
JC Penny Rising
Why JC Penny will be the most interesting retailer of 2012
Best Buy’s Drama
“Why Best Buy is going out of business…gradually” – Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrydownes/2012/01/02/why-best-buy-is-going-out-of-business-gradually
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrydownes/2012/01/09/the-people-vs-best-buy-round-two/4/
HBR + Bain– “The Future of Shopping”
http://hbr.org/2011/12/the-future-of-shopping/ar/pr
http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/bain-2011-2012-retail-holiday-newsletter-issue-3.aspx
http://www.bain.com/Images/Bain%202011%20Holiday%20Series_Issue%233.pdf
“The Future of Retail” – PSFK
http://www.slideshare.net/PSFK/psfk-future-of-retail-report-2011-preview
NRF 2012 headlines
“An interesting inflection point for retail: just when retailers are finally ready to spend on the promise of cross-channel and digital channels and new shopper experiences, solution providers are ready to deliver on most of that promise. A unique opportunity for everyone involved.”
“Retailers at the NRF 2012 event were talking about what it means when consumers use more than one “channel” to execute a single purchase with a retailer – omnichannel retail. They focused on what it means to their employees, operational processes, and supply chain.” – RSR Research
NRF Themes:
Workforce enablement
The future of the store itself
The impact of new consumer shopping behaviors on the supply chain
Business intelligence and analytics capabilities – with a particular focus on the ability to analyze consumers’ paths to purchase
http://www.retailsystemsresearch.com/_document/summary/1387
NRF – 12 Truths to Guide Retailing in 2012
http://www.slideshare.net/dyohn/dlyohn-12-truths-to-guide-retailing-in-2012
Brands. Please Stop.
January 20, 2012
Building expensive brand sites that no one ever visits, unless you are providing a needed utility, content that is in demand or you have an ecommerce site.
Solution: Play in the areas where your users/targets are hanging out – social media, gaming, influencer partnerships, etc. Invest in social listening that drives great content, utility and things that make their lives easier or more entertaining.
Thank you
Food Habits of America via Seamless
January 20, 2012
Favs of the 15th Annual Webby Awards
May 10, 2011
Its that time of year again where I talk about my favorite Webby winners.
I am absolutely a huge believer that marketing only really works when its an integrated multi-channel approach, hence I really love the Old Spice campaign. TV brought the character to life and social allowed for that personal, relationship building activation in an uber creative fashion. It won the hearts, minds and wallets of consumers (sales are up 107%).
http://nosharpstuff.com/oldspice/response/
The coolest sites seem to still be rocking big visuals with video components as the background and interactive navigational elements. I really loved the Wilderness Downtown site with its super creative use of HTML5 and pop-up windows. www.thewildernessdowntown.com
The Monet site literally took you inside his paintings, providing a new prospective on viewing his work. A true masterpiece of a digital experience. http://www.monet2010.com
I love the “pay with a tweet” concept as a way to generate buzz. http://www.knarre.com/pwat_awards/
The theme of making people happy was seen in the Coke “Happiness machine” and “KLM Suprise”.
“Walking through” different digital channels seems to be a theme this year with Magnum Ice Cream (not in the Webby awards), Digital Story of Nativity and Sour MIRROR.
Client/Agency Relationships
September 21, 2010
A very thoughtful article – how clients can better treat their advertising/PR agencies. Having worked on both sides its nice to see someone express the entire nuances of the relationship. I believe that the best campaigns and work come from a mutual understanding, consideration and respect between the client & agency – elevating and empowering each other.
http://www.commscorner.com/2010/09/i-client-take-you-agency.html
Data Visualization for Flickr
September 13, 2010
Super cool site that lets you search for images on Flickr via tags and displays results a beautiful data visualization mode.
Wohooo, more love for data visualization!
August 23, 2010
The superb eloquence of telling a story by visualizing data. How much more powerful can information be perceived through this method!
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization.html
14th Annual Webby Award Nominees – My favorites Part 1
April 24, 2010
http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=14
These are my favorites from the nominees:
WEBSITES:
Activism:
http://battlefront.co.uk – I love to see people fighting for their believes and changing the world, this site is very approachable and gives people inspiration and an outlet for their causes. I also like the way its split between campaigners and mentors and its very visually appealing and fluid.
https://www.microplace.com – A micro finance site owned by eBay that connects investors with the world poor to help them get out of poverty. “A loan of a $20 can allow a poor woman to start a business and work her way out of poverty.” A while ago I read about Grameen Bank that was started by Muhammad Yunus and was really enlightened about this wonderful plight of social finance and how much positive impact it can have on the developing world.
http://www.stemcellfoundation.ca/ – A website that shares the plight and encourages people to sign for the very important cause of stem cell research. Stem cell research “Stem cell research holds the potential to revolutionize the way we treat diseases like MS, cancer, diabetes, blindness, stroke….”.
http://tcktcktck.org – Activism and stories about climate change around the world.
Associations:
http://www.thesedays.com/awards/hank/ – A movement to help people choose glass (which is 100% recyclable) over plastic by the the European Glass Federation.
Automotive:
http://panamera.com/#/home – A beautiful visual and audio experience through the Porsche brand
http://awesome.good.is/ecosystem/index.html#/home – An experience of creating a greener earth with Prius “there are people, organizations, and businesses working to reset the balance and create a greater harmony”.
http://awards2.digivault.co.uk/?p=493 – “The GTI Project: a game that allows people to relive the boyish fun of their youths by tapping into the nostalgia of when they first learnt to love driving.”
Banking:
http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=14 – I really love the design and playfulness of this site but I find it to be a bit overwhelming, nevertheless, thumbs up on a great experience for a younger demographic.
http://www.billshrink.com – “free, personalized savings tool that helps you save money on your everyday bills.” Great interface and platform.
Best Copy/Writing:
http://www.TED.com
http://www.nytimes.com
http://mashable.com
Best Home/Welcome Page:
http://www.hellomonday.net – Love the color palette, interaction and portfolio display of this site.
http://www.life.com – This historic magazine retains all its original print beauty that made it famous in its web format.
http://malecopywriter.com/ – Awesome, fun design that truly shows his personality
I would hire him!
Best Navigation/Structure:
http://theymakeapps.com – Great idea and functionality website for finding the perfect (or good) developer.
http://wechoosethemoon.org/# – A great interactive experience that takes you through the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. The mission is recreated in real-time through the site.
Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics:
http://www.hf3.coca-cola.com/ – Beautiful, colorful dreamy imagery and a lighthearted, interactive experience.
http://www.shapeshifter.co.nz – A new approach to a promotional site for a band though this visual and audio experience.
Best Use of Photography:
Really stunning and simple use of displaying photography – easy to navigate, crisp and interactive.
http://www.seohiroshi.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/onein8
http://thinkingspace.economist.com – Gorgeous navigation and 2D display of photography
Best Use of Video or Moving Image:
http://www.bluebelljeans.com – LOVE, LOVE this, but I have always been a huge fan of using interactive video in sites. (Reminds me of the old “This is Grow” website.)
Best Visual Design or Aesthetic:
http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/historyofflight/ – Great way to tell a story (corporate sites can learn a lesson on how to tell a visually striking story with their company history)
http://summitonthesummit.com/#/basecamp/ – Putting you in the shoes of the climbers, this site does an awesome job of making you feel like you are there .. Great visual and interactive experience.
http://www.wereallfans.com – Great campaign and site that aggregates fan data via an exciting and beautifully displayed experience (I love interactive data visualization).
Blogs:
http://kara.allthingsd.com
http://mashable.com – an excellent destination for all things social media
http://1000awesomethings.com/
http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com – Love his show, book and blog
http://designobserver.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/themoment
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/
http://www.truthdig.com/
Broadband:
http://www.hulu.com – the future of television
Celebrity/Fan:
http://www.jimcarrey.com/ – beautiful visuals and use of video
Community:
These guys have been around:
http://www.COLOURlovers.com
http://digg.com/
http://www.flickr.com
http://www.vimeo.com
http://www.indiegogo.com/ – “A collaborative way to fund ideas”
Consumer Electronics:
http://engadget.com – I like this site for the way it displays and organizes content.
http://www.thisisgrow.com/archive/photosmart/en_us/ – Beautiful visuals and organization of content (I like the “video real hand mouse”)
http://labs.tribalddb.nl/Cinema219/ – “At any point during the film you can compare the 21:9 format to a normal 16:9 TV or toggle Ambilight on and off.” to your connection speed, as did the corresponding soundtrack. Once loaded, if users liked what they saw, they could hit share to publish the movie across the web.”
Corporate Communications:
http://award.i-studio.co.jp/2009_garra/jp/ – Ohh, be still my heart. Love the concept, visuals and flow of this site which teaches you teh various skills of being a “tailored man”. Well done!
http://www.avealook.com/brightdancing/campaign/ – Great, interactive, engaging and viral campaign that supports the platform on which its marketed.
http://www.wk.com - I am biased here, I love W+K from the bottom of my heart, so .. of course I love the site
)
Cultural Institutions:
http://awards.argonauteng2.de/philharmoniker/dch/en/ - “the worlds first digital concert hall.” “Every seat is the best seat in the house.” The sound and visuals make you feel like you are a part of the concert.
http://demo.fb.se/e/opera/homepage/ – This site really reminds of the gs.com website. Big bold visuals, type and iconography.
Education:
http://www.msichicago.org/fileadmin/Activities/Games/simple_machines/ – great educational game for kids, beautifully designed
http://waterlife.nfb.ca/ – Striking sound, visuals and narrative about a movie called Waterlife which tells the “epic story of the Great Lakes.”
http://www.pbs.org/your-life-your-money/ – I like this site more for the fact that it teaches young people how to manage their money. A very important skill set that is not learned in school.
Events:
http://www.TED.com – brilliant conference that I dream of attending one day.
http://www.tribecafilm.com – one of my favorite movie festivals.
Family/Parenting:
http://www.babycenter.com/ – great one stop shop for all things baby.
http://www.parenting.com/ – same applies here for parents.
http://www.themotherhood.com – great place to discover a modern/hip community of moms
Fashion:
http://www.hoodieremix.com – exceptionally produced, fun, customizable and interactive. Similiar to the latest web fashion trends of customization, this site takes its roots from Nike ID. I love the fact that the hoodie design is a contest and once you participate you get a coupon for a purchase. What is missing is the ultimate payoff – how can you actually purchase my custom product?
http://lift.puma.com/ – personalized. big video visuals. cool. clear call to action > buy
http://eu.wrangler.com/bluebell/#/collection – its fun undressing the models
Food & Beverage:
http://www.cheeseandburger.com/ – tasty fun
http://www.epicurious.com/ – a world of info for people who like to eat well (like me).
Games:
http://apps.facebook.com/onthefarm – Zynga is a very smart company with some very successful games – so they have my vote.
http://awards2.digivault.co.uk/?p=710 – Monopoly teams up with Google. $3,000,000 virtual monopoly money and a chance to earn some bragging rights. Very very smart and a great use of the Google mapping platform.
http://www.recordtripping.com – clever fun
Government:
http://www.nasa.gov/city – great educational tool to help us understand how space exploration is present in our daily lives
Green:
http://www.loveletterstothefuture.com/ – very nice design and use of video
http://www.seventhgeneration.com – love the products, love the cause, love the visualization of the fellow “crawlers”
http://www.yoink.com – a more interactive version of the free items on Craigs list. “Get free stuff from your local area and give away things you don’t need.”
Guides:
Oldies and goodies-
http://www.tripadvisor.com
http://www.yelp.com
Health:
http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife
IT/Hardware:
http://www.everyclickmatters.com – great entertaining piece about identity theft.
Introduction to Interaction Design at SVA
October 14, 2009
For all those interested in understanding the very important discipline of interaction design/ information architecture, I took this good short class at SVA that goes over broad strokes principles (Introduction to Information Architecture & Design). Here is the ppt that the cool Professore (Anh Dang) presented: http://www.slideshare.net/sva.ia/sva-intro-to-information-architecture-design-fall-09
The key concepts and techniques concepts that were discussed: “organizing information, designing interfaces and creating interactions” + “heuristic evaluation, card sorting, analyzing and organizing content, sketching & wireframing, paper prototyping and user testing”.
Digital Case Study: Urban Daddy
September 11, 2009
The “exclusive and illusive” tone of Urban Daddy is one hot commodity – the email newsletter will generate around 5-10 million dollars in 2009. Not bad for an email publication (check out my posting on Daily Candy for another email cash cow). The company founded in 2005 by Lance Broumand and has 1.1 million subscribers. The publication is targeted to a ” style-conscious young male with a high income living in a big U.S. city.” Daddy has also changed it’s strategy a bit – originally being invitation only and now open to everyone to increase its subscriber base. “UrbanDaddy has sought to set itself apart with highly selective offerings, coupled with its increasingly customized sponsorship campaigns. As a result, UrbanDaddy claims to deliver higher metrics across the board, including click-through rates as high as 15%.”
Overall, I really like the look and feel of the site and the newsletter, clean and bold with large imagery and short but to the point commentary.

Interactive Physical Spaces!!!
September 2, 2009
The blog is back from summer vacation! Great article about how digital is even transforming physical spaces and making them interactive (users are playing games on buildings) !!! http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=138725
Google’s Education Portal for Agencies
July 31, 2009
Google has created a portal for ad agencies “to educate their staff on Google Advertising and also help bridge the gap between Google and the agencies which may have been ‘wary’ of using Google ad planning as opposed to traditional media buying techniques.” This will be a great asset for Digital Ad and PR companies to learn the ins and outs of Google. Tools such as “webinars, a searchable library with more than 200 marketing case studies and short, on-demand video segments” will be offered.
Peace!
“Best Free Website Analytics Tools”
July 30, 2009
Great great posting about free analytical tools for the web: http://webdesignledger.com/tools/best-free-website-analytics-tools
























