DOUG SCHUMACHER

experience designer + writer

technology

Creativing :: The revamped Facebook ‘Like’ button, Apple relents on Flash dev for mobile, and the return of microsites

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

Google Losing Ground As Users Spend More Time on Facebook and Yahoo

The article attempts to downplay this rather remarkable stat. However, i think for many brand marketers, it’s all about quality time and experiences. When people are spending so much time on Facebook, it’s easier for a brand to forge a relationship because the users are in a more comfortable environment. Sure, there will always be value in meeting consumers who are just ready to buy, i.e. Google Search. But for brands who need to establish themselves earlier in the funnel, Facebook offers a better environment, and one that will ultimately offer more inventory because of the amount of time spent on the site.

comScore: Facebook Now The Third Largest Video Site In The U.S.

A while back, Facebook surpassed Flickr as the number one site where photos are posted. Now they’ve moved upwards in terms of videos viewed. It demonstrates the power of a platform, and being the default place people go to share things. Remember that a big part of YouTube’s success was it’s capability for embedding videos into other sites, like MySpace. As more people opt to upload their videos directly to Facebook, where they’re already spending much of their online time, then YouTube could see the same attrition happen that photo sites did. When it comes to sharing, users will almost always opt for the simplest route.

5 Things You Need To Know About Today’s Facebook Like Upgrades

Facebook is taking some bold steps forward recently with their Like button. Primary is the added flexibility of what Like can be tied to. A Web page, an app, or even a virtual goods. Perhaps of more immediate and tangible interest to marketers is the ability to identify where Like’s came from, and being able to reach out to anyone who’s Liked you or your content in the past.

Apple Relaxes Restrictions on Mobile App Development

This is refreshing, given my previous criticism of Apple’s decision to control how apps are developed for the iPhone and iPad. The biggest news nugget of this has to be the allowance of apps developed using Adobe’s “Packager for iPhone”, which was at the center of the recent Apple/Adobe flame war. At least for now, things seem back to normal, although I wish Apple’s decision was based more on keeping the platform open than the potential legal threat of non-competitive practices.

Thoughts on Google Instant

Given all the buzz around Google Instant this week, it makes sense to let Google’s search guru Matt Cutts give the main introduction. If you haven’t experienced Instant, just go to Google and start typing any search query. Not only will the suggested search topics change, but the surrounding page content. It’s basically a nice way to search multiple terms without having to click and view multiple pages.

How Much You Need To Spend To Be Facebook’s Largest Advertiser

Facebook is showing serious gains in advertising revenues. Not exactly Google spend levels, but there’s a big ‘Yet’ at the end of that line. This will get even more interesting as Facebook continues to figure out it’s social search product, a direct aim at Google’s big revenue generator.

What Big Brands Are Spending on Google – Advertising Age

These spend levels, while not even necessarily the top spenders on Google, are remarkable. Think about a brand spending $8m/mo on search. And that Google has to do very little to make that sale happen, or to maintain that customer relationship. It’s also interesting to see brands using SEM as a periodic strategy to address product launches, crises, and shifts in seasonal trends. Again, demonstrating the power and influence of search.

Thought Microsites Were Dead? Think Again

The first thing to note is, This is not your father’s microsite. There are hardly any links between it and the Flash-heavy, sound effects-drenched behemoths of the mid-2000s. Much more tactical from an SEO standpoint, the emphasis here is on making the content the experience. The benefits they list for this approach is a must-read.

PepsiCo Names 10 Tech Start-Ups for Pilot Digital Marketing Programs « iMediaConnection Blog

When you consider that Pepsico and their agencies spent several months reviewing over 500 emerging tech and social media platforms and culled the list down to this 10, this is well worth a close look.

Why Your Business Needs a Mobile Commerce Strategy Now

This story is remarkable if only for the mobile spending figures PayPal shares. They’ve seen mobile transactions go from $25m in 2008 to $141m in 2009, to a projected $500m in 2010. That’s staggering growth. And for just one mobile payment system. The article goes on to give suggestions around creating a good mobile shopping experience.

Creativing :: Apple’s fantastic arrogance, Facebook and Amazon friend each other, and two excellent augmented reality apps

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

Tweet of the Week

so many girls leave their boyfriends over his excessive x-box playing that they should call it the ex-box.

The ever-arrogant Apple « Observatory

Funny take on Apple’s brand personality, and how there aren’t enough companies like them.

Facebook And Amazon Join Forces For Social Shopping

This brings together two online giants in a way that clearly demonstrates the power of Facebook Connect to a major retailer like Amazon. Perhaps no other category is more tied to our friends than books, music, and movies. And when you think about how many people have their preferences in those categories listed in Facebook, the value to Amazon becomes obvious. But it goes beyond that. Where else can a retailer like Amazon tell you which of your friend’s birthdays are coming up, while also knowing their product preferences. Check it out.

iButterfly=AR(Augmented Reality) × Motion Sensor × GPS × Coupon [VIDEO]

This is an exception demonstration of the potential around AR. I think this specific example is a little misdirected. Very kid-focused, but on iPhones with GPS? And with coupons? Seems like a great core idea — collecting things that are all across a country and only visible through your phone — waiting for a brand to give it the perfect context.

Chatroulette.com cracking down on perverts – Yahoo! News

So, who’s going to be left using the service? Seriously, though, the question is, What’s the long-term potential for this type of online experience? YouTube pulled down sexual content, but users found a lot of other creative ways to use the service. That may be possible for ChatRoulette, but could require them to invest time and money into showing the way to that. A large user base is a great place to start, though.

This Week’s 10 Most Explosive Facebook Pages

Self-explanatory title, with no additional explanation required.

Augmented Reality: PlanningAlerts Uses Mobile to Reveal Undesirable Real Estate | MobileBehavior

Perhaps the most practical augmented reality application I’ve seen. You simply hold up your phone to view a real estate property, and it shows you all the potential problems in the vicinity. If this were offered in my area (it’s in Australia at the moment) and I was house shopping, this would be a given.

Seth’s Blog: The problem with unlimited

More wisdom from Sage Godin.

How To Make Your Blog Popular On Facebook In 5 Seconds

Beyond the simple advice about increasing your activity rate for posts is the foundational reason for doing so. It increases the odds of your story appearing in the newsfeeds of your Fans.

MediaShift . Your Guide to Next Generation ‘Content Farms’ | PBS

This should be an interesting series of articles on the growing area of content farming, one of the major challengers to the publishing industry as we know it.

Creativing :: Conan O’Brien’s tweet, Social media pushes the ‘cuddle’ button, and Web 3.0?

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

Tweet of the Week – Conan O’Brien

11 years between “Toy Story’s” and 7 months between “Twilight’s.” By that measure, the “Jonah Hex” sequel should be out in 3 days.

Virgin Gives Free Tickets to ‘Influencial’ Tweeters – MarketingVOX

If you’re into the numbers side of campaigns, this is a good read. Also a good back and forth on the value of social media as a demand creation tool. Nothing overly conclusive, but the varying points are worth reading. The end line really summarizes it well. No single tactic can do everything. It has to be a group effort.

Kynetx Introduces the Programmable Internet – the Language of the Building Block Web | Stay N’ Alive

Those wondering when “Web 2.0” would run it’s course, this could be the next direction. The trajectory of tech developments continues to be sharable, with rapid development times enabling products to get to market fast. There are several good examples of how this tech can play out.

Social Media Increases “Cuddle” Chemical Production in the Brain [STUDY]

So social media pushes the ‘cuddle’ button. That means it’s either jumped the shark or is so irreversibly embedded in our psyche’s that we’re never going back. Despite all the hype and it’s growth curve, I’d have to vote it’s the latter.

While at first glance this sounds a bit cooky, the three bullet points at the bottom reiterate things we’ve known about communication and writing for a long time. Write with verbs and not adjectives, sex sells, and use simple language for broader appeal. Signs that social media is a not-so-distant relative to traditional media.

Who Will Fall to Facebook Questions? – MarketingVOX

I recently covered Formspring as an example of answer sites that are producing remarkable traffic numbers. Granted, Formspring has a big sensationalistic slant to it. But the underlying growth is real, as this investment by Facebook clearly demonstrates. So bottom line is, despite all the content and site experiences already out there, people still have a lot of questions. Seems like an opportunity for a lot of brands.

Twitter Annotations Are Coming — What Do They Mean For Twitter and the Web?

A discussion on Twitter’s forthcoming Annotations, which get’s pretty technical fast. However, the first couple of paragraphs delve into what the real potential, and potential problems, of annotations is all about. And you can watch the video at the end of the article, if you don’t get shaky camera sickness.

Augmented Reality: Thinking Beyond Branded Hype | MobileBehavior

While this is probably one of the most robust AR mobile apps yet developed, the best part of this article is the expanded thinking on what really makes a great mobile app or AR experience, and what direction that technology is going.

9 Universal Principles of Viral Media Sites

If you’re in the content development space, you’re likely in the meme development space to some degree. This article lists points that, while obvious, are also good reminders. Bottom line is, memes are a fickle business, and need as much surrounding support as possible.

Secrets to Revenue and Innovation in New Product Development | Nielsen Wire

A summary of some remarkable findings relative to product development. Keep upper management out of the early ideation stages. And off-site teams tend to produce better ideas than those on site. Bottom line is, companies need a fresh perspective, and driving innovation from within the status quo is apparently not getting the job done as effectively.

Social Media as Digital Plastic Surgery – Eric Wegerbauer

With social media continuing it’s surge to overtake seemingly every other site category out there, a lot of contrarians are beginning to predict it’s pending doom. Many take the boredom approach, but I don’t buy that. It will reinvent itself, much like gaming. Others speak to the loss of privacy. Like that’s stopped anyone or anything on the Net so far. But Eric’s point is interesting to me. That the use of social media monitoring of customers by brands like healthcare providers and insurance companies will force many people to craft their online persona’s, killing off a lot of the authenticity. A good point, and something that hits directly on social media’s strongest appeal.

Creativing :: Facebook plugins overview, Personalization gone extreme, and crowdsourcing crime fighting

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Tweet of the Week

Just geeked out about iPads with some SF policemen. Man I love this city.

McDonald’s to Use Facebook’s Upcoming Location Feature – Advertising Age

Facebook offering location based technology was inevitable, and it will be interesting to see how this further shapes the war between Facebook and Twitter. The bomb drop stat in here is Facebook has over 100 million users on it’s mobile app alone, which is what Twitter has in it’s entirety.

Participatory Sensing: SnapScouts App Crowdsources Crime Prevention | MobileBehavior

The idea of crowdsourcing crime fighting might seem a bit nutty, but then again, that’s not far from America’s Most Wanted TV show. I can only imagine the abuse this could generate in the form of practical jokes. At any rate, the app is enough to pull comments from Bruce Sterling, who sees it as a key link to the future.

Apple Worship: Creating a Brand – Design and Architecture on KCRW

There’s a good interview at the front of the podcast with brand marketer Sasha Strauss on how brands extend beyond feature sets and price points.

Advertising Lab: Private Customized Adventures

A company that will privately engineer someone’s day, for better or worse? A bit creepy, but could definitely see this used positively for a buzz-worthy human interest story.

5 Ways Facebook Will Impact E-commerce

What most brand’s want to know about Facebook’s Open Graph is “How will this help me sell more product?”. Here are some good examples of that.

Facebook’s Social Plugins

Facebook’s Open Graph was just announced, and it’s the pervasiveness of the “Like” button that seems to be the topic of most conversation. However, there are a number of plugins that marketers can use on their sites to make a visitor feel more at home. They’re explained, with visuals, on this page.

Confessions of an Executive Producer: i have seen the future

I’m not familiar with the Canon D5, but certainly appreciate how technologies — even the non-Net variety — impact the marketing and advertising business. Jerry Solomon, Managing Partner of Epoch Media, outlined some interesting thoughts on how this, camera and others like it to come, will further shape the production process.

8 Lessons for Creating Social Impact | Fast Company

While focused on physical product design, I was struck by how similar these principle’s are to product/app design on the Web.

Tim Hanlon Reviews New Role at Catalyst S+F, And Agency As Venture Fund

A lot of advertising people are reevaluating their careers, and the industry at large. Tim Hanlon just joined CatalystSF as a partner responsible for venture investments, and shares his thoughts on the changing role of agencies. It’s a particularly interesting POV given his venture capital background, and I think this is a space a lot of agencies would love to be operating in, assuming they can make the numbers work.

Creativing :: iPhone’s mobile ad platform, Facebook is #1, and Farmville has peanuts for profits

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

Tweet of the Week

I’m kind of sad that @BarackObama isn’t having more fun with Twitter. I’d like to see him retweet a Kardashian.

iPhone 4.0 OS’s iAd Ad Platform

Jump straight down to the iAd section. While it makes business sense to see in-app advertising as different search-based advertising, I find Jobs’ plan of replicating the TV viewing experience on the iPhone rather disconcerting. Isn’t TVs pervasive in-your-face push advertising something that drove a lot of people to online content in the first place? And what makes him think that they’ll have the tolerance for anything close to that level of intrusion in a mobile experience, where I’m paying a lot more for usage than I am with my cable service.

I realize the developers can probably set their own level of ad saturation, but then again, so have the networks.

And lastly, I don’t agree that mobile devices aren’t about search. 30% of searches on Google are already local, and my guess would be that search will be just as prevalent on mobile devices as desktops.

Facebook Reaches Top Ranking in US – Hitwise

Nothing short of remarkable, and perhaps most interesting that their business model is about as 180 from Google as could be. Instead of providing sheer utility at various online touchpoints, like search, maps, email, etc, Facebook has made an engagement play — typically the biggest challenge online — and is beating everyone at fundamental traffic stats. What’s more, they’re not only pulling amazing visit numbers, but in January 11% of all time spent online was spent on Facebook, according to these Compete numbers.

The Apple-Adobe War Escalates: Using Flash to Build iPhone Apps Banned

I get how Apple might not want to support Flash, but I don’t get why they keep slamming the door on the developer community. I can’t imagine that a company can continue this forever without serious backlash, be it direct in the form of product boycotts, or indirect in the form of someone else with a more open system (ahem, Google) taking them to the mat. If you doubt that anti-Apple sentiment is building, read the comments at the end of the article.

It’s Peanuts: Farmville Reaps Brand Placement – Advertising Lab

Considering Farmville now has over 82 million monthly active users, the idea of a nut company sponsoring a peanut crop is a smart strategy. There isn’t much info on the execution, but seems like an idea that would be hard to screw up.

6 Ways Brands are Using Social Media For Real-World Action

Good social media-driven case studies that are an inspiring and insightful read.

5 Years Ago Today the Web Mashup Was Born

Google Mashups are usually a great visualization of database-driven marketing solutions, so they’re usually pretty insightful. What else is interesting is how quickly this exploded after the first one launched. Much the way things happen online when an obviously good idea drops.

Facebook Limits Status Updates To 420 Characters

Curious how much the business world is changing? Imagine any of the most talked about companies 30 years ago making a pot joke out of one of their primary feature settings.

The Top 10 Most Watched Web Series, March 2010

Interesting overview of the most popular web video series’. The not-so-secret formula? A kids show presence with a much more adult tone to the episodes.

Photoshop Content-Aware Fill Demo “PatchMatch” (Video)

This is a remarkable demo of PS’s ability to clean up and even add missing elements to photos. All in a very automated way. The day of completely digitally-generated movies and commercials may seem like a long way off, but then again, seeing leaps in technology like this demonstrate that aspects of it are remarkably within grasp.

Creativing :: The creepy addiction of Chatroulette, Foursquare’s real impact, and trouble ahead for online advertising

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

Tweet of the Week

I’ve been sitting in LA traffic so much today I wrote a pilot. I need a Final Draft app.

The Surreal World of Chatroulette – NYTimes.com

If you haven’t seen this site, check it out. Like the NY Times writer, I think it’s faddish, but also feel it’s part of a segue to more anonymous online content experiences.

5 Ways Foursquare is Changing the World

Of these, the Mayorships and the game element (badges) are the real differentiators for Foursquare. The other features mentioned will increase in value as the Foursquare community grows.

How the Global Fortune 100 are using social media: some statistics | FreshNetworks

Some curious stats out of this analysis. Between Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Blogs, companies are using blogs the least. That’s interesting, because blogs offer the most content ownership of all four, which a lot of brands seem pretty concerned about.

I’m also surprised that 68% of Global Fortune 100 firms are actively using a YouTube channel by adding 10 new videos each month. That’s a good rate of content development.

NYT: Apple Purges Blue Apps from Online Store

Another in what’s a growing list of situations where Apple’s closed-loop approach to business stands opposite Google’s open, “let the people decide” approach. While I’m an enormous fan of the products Apple’s built, their mindset displayed in the quotes in this article sound more like Microsoft policy of the past 20 years, and less like the openness that has been so key to the Web’s growth and evolution.

Creativity Feeds The Data Beast (And Digital Killed The TV Star) – Media Post

Cory poses a great question here. What if the ad industry loses the power of 3rd party cookies in the pending 2011 legislation? For an industry that has positioned itself as the leading marketing vehicle based around insights and information that those cookies generate, that’s going to be a tough sell. And from what I’ve read, the 2011 ruling is a given to pass. The easiest sell in Washington. So emphasis has to be somewhere other than the bread crumb trail from ad to shopping cart.

MediaPost Publications Rothenberg: ‘Forces Out To Destroy Interactive Advertising’

This is a must-read for anyone in the digital space. If this legislation goes through, it’s going to be like a bomb dropped on the line marketing industry. What’s everyone talk about regarding online advertising? How trackable it is. So imagine taking away the biggest selling point for an entire industry. And my guess is that this legislation will pass. Doug Weaver had a great commentary on this at the last iMedia Summit. With what wil almost surely be a down economy, politicians will be looking for easy victories. And consumer privacy will be just the tool.

The Best Web Browser on the Planet – Slate Magazine

if you haven’t tried Google’s new browser Chrome, this is a good overview of why it’s preferable to other browsers, but also what it lacks. My favorite example of the Google mindset is how they’ve built into Chrome a time saving device that produces search results right in the address entry field. Thus eliminating the need for a visit to their own site. What other company on the planet would ever make that decision?

Faster, Faster! Google’s brilliant new plan to provide super-speedy Internet access. – Slate

Speeds 100 to 200 times faster than our current broadband connections. Sign me up. The reason for our current broadband speeds? The lack of competition in the service provider industry. Imagine how nice it would be if your business only had one other competitor.

Creativing :: iPhone AR helicopter, smartphones and ecommerce, and a look under the hood of any website

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

Tweet of the Week

This is a new feature I’m going to add to this column each week.

140 Characters How Twitter Was Born

Ran across this story from Dom Sagolla, one of the original team that created and launched Twitter. Note how, despite Twitter’s relatively simple concept and technology, they went through a number of technical, UX and branding challenges. Scroll down the page past the book promo to see the original post

Parrot’s Remote Controlled Helicopter Takes Augmented Reality to the Next Dimension

This is very cool. A working mini helicopter controlled via the iPhone. If you’ve started shopping for me for Xmas next year, hint hint.

Social Media Not The Answer For Weak Brands: Branding Strategy Insider

I really like this piece on strategy v tactics. And while in many cases business strategy is, unfortunately, a foregone conclussion by the time the marketing department gets on the scene, it’s never too late to try to have an impact. As international borders vanish, production timelines shrink, and all businesses move closer to having perfect information, perhaps marketers will again get to spend more time in the CEOs office.

Ads Of Steel On Security X-ray Machines – Advertising Lab

Talk about niche targeting, these ads are recruitment ads for a security firm. The firm’s agents carry them in their suitcases. When their baggage gets scanned at the airport, the inspecting agent at the video monitor sees the recruitment ad. Not sure what the CPM is, but I’m sure these ads get noticed, as it’s certainly an attentive audience.

Marketing: Where Is Cause Marketing Headed in 2010? – Advertising Age

I think cause marketing makes a lot of sense for companies right now. Firstly, there’s our economic situation. There’s a lot of pain out there, and showing that you’re sensitive to it eases the underlying push of commerce. Secondly, tied to the first, cause-oriented messages are for the most part much less prone to cynicism and criticism. And that leads into social media. Not only are cause campaigns less likely to draw ire, but they’re far more likely to generate positive buzz in social media. And that’s something more and more brands will be considering the top reason for cause marketing.

Augmented Reality Statistics 2009

Some great stats regarding AR, webcams, video, Facebook, etc. Slide 4 is kill — 40% of Facebook vid uploads were via webcam. Though sites like uStream are hitting millions of uniques, live streaming doesn’t seem to be capturing that much attention. The 40% number would suggest it’s waiting for a ‘tipping’ event.

BuiltWith – Website Tech Analyzer

Ever wonder what techs a given site is using for their platform, analytics, ad serving, etc? Sure, you could view the source and weed through it. But this gives you the whole enchilada in a single search.

Wordle – Beautiful Word Clouds

Easy, and more importantly, graphically cool way to generate word clouds from any selection of words you chose.

TOPPS Enters The Virtual Goods Space Through Facebook

Topps moves into the virtual goods market with “Wacky Digibles”, a kind of reissue to the 70s product parodies, Wacky Packages.

37% of smartphone owners purchased merchandise via their phones in 2009

More data supporting the notion that, finally, this is the year for mobile.