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DOUG SCHUMACHER

experience designer + writer

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Creativing :: Mary Meeker’s online advertising predictions, Flash ads on iPhone, and 600 shopping mashups

June 11, 2010 By Doug Schumacher

What’s going on in new media marketing, pulled from social bookmarking site
Creativing.com:

Tweet of the Week

I say, “Someone I follow on Twitter said…” way too often in normal conversation.

@CMSummit – Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Presentation

Probably the single best predictor of the future of the ad business I’ve seen in one place.

Record A Song On The Subway… Or Anywhere : NPR

Yes, there’s no shortage of tech wonders as of late. And yet, sometimes things really stand out amid a wave of innovation that reminds us just how absurdly advanced things are becoming. This did that for me. I’ve been playing with multi-track recording for years, and to think that technology that you can record a studio album on could be something you carry around on your phone is remarkable. As if we need yet another reminder of really how crazy this mobile revolution is going to be.

Bros Icing Bros

Latest in the ‘creative meme’ department. This would seem to have all the earmarks of a brand-driven meme; especially the seemingly way-too polished website. Then again, the whole thing is an insult to the brand. Interesting, but I’m not ready to carry around my “Ice Block” just yet.

BP buys Google, Yahoo search words to keep people away from real news on Gulf oil spill disaster

Just pathetic. This isn’t the era of transparency because someone thought it was a good idea. It’s because the free flow of information is such that it’s more and more difficult for companies like BP to lie.

Live, From Deep in the Gulf – NYTimes.com

While I haven’t found much to credit BP for in this mess, this is one instance. It really plays to a much deeper approach to handling this problem. Instead of trying to spin everything, acknowledge the problem, and give people access to information so they don’t feel like they’re being played. Of course, they haven’t done that across the board, and thus this feels more like an aberration for the brand versus a genuine effort to level with the public.

IfItWasMyHome.com – Visualizing the BP Oil Disaster

This smart data/map mashup places a region equal to the BP oil spill on a map in the area your most familiar with: Your home area. What I find really smart about this is that the title “If it was my home” adds emotional relevance that just the technology mashup alone wouldn’t do.

Adobe to Bring Flash-Based Ads to iPhone

I wouldn’t think Apple would oppose this, because unlike their previous blocking of using Flash to author iPhone apps, the authoring of banner ads isn’t where the money is; it’s in selling the ad units. That’s a very different scenario from apps, where it’s all about the sale of the app, and so Apple would have a much more vested interest in controlling that process. Whatever the case, though, it’s odd to see a company like Adobe — which via Flash played such a large role in bringing a richer experience to online advertising — being relegated to this sort of workaround to keep their technology relevant. Another reminder of how fast things change in this biz.

Best Buy’s Movie Mode Enables Second Screen Interaction | MobileBehavior

As we’ve seen, the future may not be so much about the merger of the proverbial three screens as it is the integration of them. This is a mobile app that gives you a peak into what characters are saying during the end credits of a movie. Seemingly a small sliver of the real potential here.

Seth’s Blog: Paperback Kindle

It’s interesting to see how Seth’s recommendation to the Kindle team for warding off Apple is all about user share. That’s something every mobile manufacturer and carrier should be taking notes on, as well. But the crux of the story is in the last line, when he tells of seeing a kid in diapers operating an iPod Touch. One of these days people will stop underestimating the importance of good user interface design.

600 Shopping Mashups

One of the things I recommend is reading about marketing-oriented technology, even if you don’t understand much of what they’re saying. So while the site is Programmable Web, don’t let that scare you. What’s readily noticeable is that the vast majority of these are shopping comparison tools. And while they may be full-screen tools right now, most are probably a fairly simple conversion away from being a mobile app. The list is definitely worth a quick scan.

Filed Under: Fascinating Tagged With: apple, banners, creative, ebooks, facebook, ipad, iphone, mashup, mobile, social

Creativing :: Twitter trend #songprequels, It’s Foursquare day, and how marketers are using Twitter’s new ad platform

April 16, 2010 By Doug Schumacher

Tweet of the Week

It’s Tweets of the week this week, picking up a trending hashtag #songprequels. Some funny stuff.

YouTube – Alice for the iPad

If you have any doubts about iPad or any other slate’s ability to transform the publishing, and specifically the book industry, this 45 second video for the iPad ebook version of “Alice in Wonderland” is a must see. While it may seem like it plays the same trick over and over, keep in mind this is the first attempt and within the first couple of weeks of the iPad’s release.

It’s 4SQ Day, But Foursquare Has (Almost) Nothing To Do With It

It’s 4/16 today. 4 squared. Get it? So in cities around the country, Foursquare users are getting together to celebrate post-tax day. About 150 businesses are giving Foursquare users special deals. There’s even a badge for it. McDonalds is getting involved.

What’s remarkable is that Foursquare the company had nothing to do with it, other than just making the badge. Probably took them an hour.

Most companies would die for this level of momentum.

Foursquare Cracks Down on Cheaters

As Foursquare starts to go more legit with companies actually paying to play along, this type of enforcement was just a matter of time.

History Channel Launches Foursquare Campaign and a New Badge

At the moment, I’m interested in anything happening on Foursquare. You can’t get much farther out on the edge than a location-based social gaming platform. Pairing the History Channel and the latest technology is interesting in it’s own way, but I do like the functional, or at least educational, aspect of this. It definitely adds a needed dimension to ‘checking in’, which is getting a little old and I think has people starting to ask “OK, What’s next?”.

Twitter Promoted Tweets Are Live

Just in case you haven’t seen a screen grab of Twitter’s new ad platform, Promoted Tweets, here you go. Note the tie-in between the hashtag and the content of the Promoted Tweet. Curious how many brands will be able to find that much context in the stream of Twitter conversations.

How Virgin America Uses Promoted Tweets

A good overview of how Virgin America is using the new Twitter Promoted Tweets ad platform. And VA appears to be doing a great job with this opportunity to participate in the launch of an ad platform. My question is, How mass-scalable is this (I can’t imagine Twitter is thinking this won’t be a mass advertising model). My questions are more around the average advertiser’s ability to use this ad model as judiciously as VA is. I don’t see most advertisers being anywhere near as creative, and certainly not as restrained. So I still have a lot of questions about how this opens up to a much larger base of advertisers who aren’t so much concerned with reputation as they are with reach. Of course, I’m sure Twitter gave that a thought or two before launching, so I’m curiously watching.

The Twitter Platform’s Inflection Point

Where’s Twitter headed? Or where’s the business or creative opportunity around Twitter? As Fred Wilson says, It won’t be in the same sandbox everyone’s already been playing in.

Advertising – Marketers Placing More Products Into Plots – NYTimes.com

Very interesting idea here of customizing products for a given TV show. Sure, there’s a certain cringe factor, but it’s a great way to get on a TV show in a more organic way and also tap the world’s insatiable desire for anything celebrity.

GetJar Facebook App Downloads Exceed 50M

Talk about nudging your way into a niche. This is a smartphone app that’s been downloaded 50 million times, and it’s nothing more than a link directly to Facebook’s mobile site (not the Facebook app). Also, jargon alert: MSS = Mobile Site Shortcut. I didn’t realize we needed an acronym for that, but WTF.

Filed Under: Fascinating Tagged With: apple, ebooks, foursquare, ipad, mobile, trends, twitter, video

Creativing :: Free ebooks correlate to printed sales, Social media crisis lessons, and the first ChatRoulette campaign

March 5, 2010 By Doug Schumacher

What’s going on in new media marketing, pulled from social bookmarking site Creativing.com:

Tweet of the Week

There are pretty much just two writer moods: “I am a GOD!” and “I suck!” Today, Minions, I am a GOD!

Free ebooks correlated with increased print-book sales – Boing Boing

A similar correlation has been shown in the music industry between file-sharing and volume of music purchased. I’m sure there’s a similar correlation between YouTube and TV watching (a la “Lazy Sunday”). The takeaway? If you have something to say, lay it out there. If it’s valuable, people will want more.

3 Crisis Survival Lessons for the Social Media Age

Case Studies are often the best way to learn. While these aren’t full of deep stats, reading about these 3 situations will decrease your odds of repeating them.

We’re Not In Kansas Anymore. Well, We Are — Google, Kansas.

While their tactic may not be all that tight, I think strategically Topeka is dead on to be in hot pursuit of Google’s broadband ISP service. It will have a positive impact on education, attracting businesses, and overall economic efficiencies. But next time, hopefully they’ll call in a good creative shop to help with the execution.

Google Kansas II: Duluth Strikes Back [VIDEO]

A shot back across the bow of Topeka. It’s nice to see people across the US so excited about broadband. This also demonstrates how people everywhere are taking marketing into their own hands. Google-style, you could say.

Is Content King? Then Distribution Is Crown Prince – Advertising Age

A lot of good points about content and the distribution of that content. It seems to me that right now, there’s more emphasis on distribution. Everyone and their mother setting up social media distribution points and trying to game the search game. While not really offering distinct content of any sort that’s being pushed through those channels

Those Hooves? That’s the Sound of the Internet Search Apocalypse – Advertising Age

SEO is quickly becoming a system too easily gamed. I have to think this will end someday soon. The question is, will Google end it on their own, or will one of their competitors end it by offering a better product, or will government step in? Stay tuned.

How Lionsgate Plans to Take on ‘Twitter Effect’ for ‘Kick-Ass’ – Advertising Age

The technology behind this is about integrating the conversation streams across Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. This makes a lot of sense from a brand management and social conversation standpoint. In the comments, you’ll find some good counterpoints about loss of cohesion in the conversation, but I’m not sure it’s any worse than most YouTube threads for movie trailers. If anything, my issue is that the brand’s presence in these threads seems to heavy-handed.

Adverblog: French Connection brings Chatroulette into its Manifesto

If there’s any question about the need for speed in today’s marketing climate, consider this UGC campaign based around ChatRoulette for French Connection. A simple, quickly-deployed UGC campaign that leverages a rocketing trend.

Amazing iPhone » Time warp your iPhone 3GS video with Slowmo app

This actually looks pretty cool.

Filed Under: Fascinating Tagged With: apple, content, ebooks, google, iphone, mobile, search, social, socialmedia, tools, twitter, video, viral

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