Great eMoments of 2008
Tuesday 12/30/08
2008 has been a pivotal year in our world. Just think about it: in the course of 12 months, we've experienced the most incredible Olympics ever in China... the rebirth of Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin... a wave of Obama-mania which resulted in the first African-American president-elect in our history... and a huge economic upheaval that is [even now] redefining our entire economic structure.
Not only do these events impact our everyday world, but they also have huge ramifications for the digital world where we all spend so much of our time...
- Barack Obama's New Media Department uses online marketing in politics... and it works! By using digital media to keep in touch with his supporters [using an e-blast to announce his vice-presidential choice, and advertising heavily online - even posting ads on video games], Obama created a team dedicated to new media and social networking... and completely redefined what it means to campaign for political office. Thanks, Team Obama!
- Google releases updated Analytics code. Just when we thought Google couldn't get any more impressive, they released an updated version of Analytics in October. With more reporting options and more flexible ways to view data, Google has made their easy-to-use tools even easier to use!
- Touchscreens and iPhone SDK info proliferates. Okay, you have to admit it: touchscreen phones are just cool, and we're happy to see that all cell carriers are now offering them. What's better than that? How about the fact that Apple released SDK information in March? What that means is that mobile content creation is now in the hands of creative types [like us] to develop applications for the iPhone.
- Hulu appears on the horizon. Watch out, YouTube; a new player is in town - literally. The video sharing site, Hulu, has already seen huge growth in 2008. Jumping from 88 million videos viewed in May to 235 million videos viewed in October, this trend is just the tip of the iceberg. The videos are quality, the site is easy to navigate, and as online-video soars in popularity, we think this trend will keep its momentum well into 2009.
- Social Networking is for everyone. In 2008, we've seen a significant rise in social networking among the middle age demographic. Between October of 2007 and June of 2008, Facebook experienced substantial growth with 35-54 year olds: in just nine months, this segment grew 172.9%... proving that social networking isn't just for teens.
For Your Eyes Only…Or Is It?
Wednesday 3/5/08Do you know how private your email really is?
Most of us assume that our work email accounts are fair game…that our employers have the right and the responsibility to monitor the email sent from their employees’ accounts. After all, if the person down the hall starts sending threatening emails to Bill Gates, wouldn’t you want to know?
What many of us don’t realize is that any emails sent from your employer’s equipment or facility can be read and tracked. In fact, your employer is entitled to review any communication trafficked through their server.
That means that if you use your work laptop to read your personal email from a Yahoo, Google or Hotmail account, they have the right to read it.
In recent years, employees have fought (unsuccessfully) to assert their rights to privacy, so the trend seems to indicate that the justice system may be erring toward a more conservative interpretation of this issue.
In 2006, the advocacy organization Privacy Rights Clearinghouse declared, “Currently, there are very few laws regulating employee monitoring.” And the group cautions that even an employer’s published policies regarding workplace privacy may “not necessarily” be legally binding.
We don’t believe there’s cause to be paranoid about who’s reading your email, but there certainly is reason to be responsible. Much of it comes down to common sense:
- Practice basic email etiquette in terms of what you send.
- Be aware of how much time you spend on personal email accounts.
- Recognize that—outside the confessional—no communication is truly private.
And remember that although Big Brother isn’t always watching, he may be reading.
2008 and beyond!
Tuesday 1/8/08You’ll notice that we’ve deliberately refrained from posting a “best of” list for 2007. And for good reason.
We believe in using the past as a learning tool, but it doesn’t pay to get too overwhelmed or to drift into morbid reflection. Because today—as every day—we’re moving forward…ever forward.
What do we look forward to in 2008?
- More online video. It’s impossible to escape the pervasiveness of online video as a marketing tool. Whether it’s a flash presentation on your website, a training module broadcast around the globe or the latest “Will It Blend” segment on Youtube, we are all hooked on video content. And with the prevalence of mobile video streaming, it’s likely that this trend will continue growing.
- Green is in…for good. It’s no longer only the granola hippies who recycle and compost. Going green is now mainstream, embraced by Nokia, Toyota and Frito Lay …and this movement shows no sign of slowing down. (Can you hear the planet’s collective sigh?)
- Video games: no longer just for those with thumb dexterity. Thanks to galactic leaps forward in technology, games that create an interface between onscreen action and live motion are all the rage. Think wii, Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Even the “regular” at-home console games are well beyond their Atari beginnings. (Have you seen PS3?)
Long story short: 2007 is over. 2008 is just beginning. And from here, it looks like it’ll be one to remember. (At least until next year…)
Do you need the perfect gift?
Friday 12/7/07It’s inevitable. No matter how much you plan in this holiday season, there’s always one last gift you forgot to buy…one last-minute add-on to a loved one’s wish list…one last person for whom you feel a sudden rush of generosity.
What is there to do? Where do you start? Where can you go for a great, fun, absolutely perfect gift?
Seek no more in vain! We’ve polled our staff for the best sites and have come up with a list of their favorites. Some of these sites also have brick-n-mortar stores (if you’re really in a rush), but all are well worth a visit.
And to simplify your life, Ann (a self-described Christmas enthusiast) has organized them into easy-to-use categories.
Enjoy!
For the bargain hunter
For the confection connoisseur
For the outdoorsy type
For the tech-savvy
For the artsy folk
For the holiday hostess
For those with impeccable taste
For the man in your life
For your main squeeze
For the trendy teen
For the kids (or the kid at heart!)
Joy to the World Wide Web
Thursday 11/29/07
Remember the good old days of using a favorite catalog to write your Christmas list? My companion was a classic behemoth that became my toy-shopping bible, happily lugged from place to place while I daydreamed about the Barbie Dream House and EasyBake Oven that Santa had, no doubt, set aside for me.
It was a sad day when, due to changing lifestyles and so-called “advances” in technology, these Christmas catalogs became just a fond memory. Since the Sears Wish Book—one of the last to succumb to the advent of the web—was discontinued in 1993, a whole generation of children has missed out on this cherished holiday pastime.
But no longer must the nation’s youth bookmark toy websites in the world-wide web’s virtual catalog! At long last, the Sears Wish Book is being resuscitated. The updated version will be trimmed from 700 to only 188 pages, but the nostalgia of dog-earing your favorite pages remains the same.
The catalog’s return also reconnects us to (oh, happy day!) human operators who can answer questions and offer advice relating to size, color and shipment—a dynamic that is often lost on the internet.
Sears is not alone in its marketing venture. “Our catalog is itself an advertising vehicle, and it is an effective way to drive traffic to our website," said Mary Rose MacKinnon, an L.L. Bean spokesperson. According to Advertising Age, retailers report that 13% of their new online customers last year came because of catalog mailings; conversely, about 43% of catalog customers also buy online. According to Bette Kahn, spokesperson for Crate & Barrel, "There's no question, when people receive the catalog, it's a call to action. It brings them into the stores as well as online."
How long can the real world and the virtual world continue to peacefully co-exist in the wonderland of holiday shopping? The jury’s still out, but let’s hope it’s at least long enough to return all those wrong-sized clothes…
Not a waste of time
Monday 11/19/07
In recognition that yesterday was America Recycles Day, it’s worth noting that we everyday consumers create a shocking amount of e-waste. According to the EPA’s stats for 2005, “between 1.5 million and 1.9 million tons of used or unwanted electronics were discarded in US landfills, including as many as 130 million cell phones [our italics]. Only a little more than 350,000 tons were recycled.”
The good news is that this trend is changing, albeit slowly. Industry giants like Dell and Nokia are pioneering recycling efforts aimed at minimizing our footprint on the planet…
- For just $25, Dell will pickup your old Dell equipment and dispose of it safely, recovering all reusable materials and destroying all your personal files. (Dell's recyling program)
- Nokia allows you to send your phone back to them—for free—where they’ll recycle it on their dime. (Nokia's recyling program)
In fact, Nokia has launched the “I’m an unplugger” campaign to encourage users to save energy by unplugging their cell phone chargers when not in use. Nokia estimates that if just 10% of their 1 billion customers did that, we could save enough energy to power 85,000 homes. For a year.
Who says we can’t make a difference?
The Minus of Adblock Plus
Friday 10/5/07
According to Mediapost Publications one in five households enjoys “bloop blooping” through television commercials, cackling with the power magically granted to them by Tivo and other DVRs. Consequently, ad spending on broadcast TV is experiencing significant half-year declines-- decreases from 3.6% to $11.84 billion worth of expenditures on the networks even more on syndicated TV.
Meet the Tivo of the Internet: Adblock Plus. Its site persuades users to install the software by asking, “Ever been annoyed by all those ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page?” This software is a pop up blocker on steroids, allowing users to disable banners, eradicate advertisements sponsored by search engines, and virtually eliminate all commercial communication.
This may sound great to the everyday impatient web browser, but The New York Times called it “potential for extreme menace to the online-advertising business model.” Adblock Plus removes the exchange of free websites for advertisement revenues, which proves especially detrimental for small website owners who rely on ad revenues to stay afloat. In response, site owners have blocked users with Adblock Plus. When Adblock made their software undetectable some sites decided to block all Firefox users. This site owner accuses the software developer of "direct intent to defraud web site owners of their rights."
Meanwhile, larger websites, such as Google, are currently avoiding the phenomenon trying to avoid drawing any extra attention to the software which is currently flying under the radar at 2.5 million registered users. Will the technology eventually disable the online advertising model? Or will marketers develop a new method for monetizing online eyeballs? Pop-up blockers led to banner ads, and TiVo's bringing about a rebirth of the paid product placement, so we'll just have to wait and see!
NFL = New, Fancy Logo
Thursday 9/6/07
As Brand New noted recently, the NFL is updating its logo. After more than 60 years, it’s probably about time.
According to USA Today, the NFL has developed a “leaner, meaner” version to launch next April. Why the change? The darker blue will increase contrast; fewer stars will make the logo easier to reproduce (apparently vendors had been altering the logo on their own to cut down on the inexplicably numerous stars); the football will look less like a “hamburger” and more like the ball on top of the Vince Lombardi Championship Trophy.
While the existing logo had been in use since about 1940, and so has some historic significance, the new design does a good job of trying to infuse the icon with meaning (the eight stars represent the AFC and NFC divisions) while allowing the image to “pop” better (in the words of NFL Marketing Director Lisa Baird) especially on the increasingly small viewing space (computer screens and cell phones) through which more and more fans are interacting with the brand.
How does Milwaukee feel about the proposed revamp? OnMilwaukee.com has some constructive criticism for the logo’s designers: “My review: it sucks.” Apparently, the commentator felt that the old logo said “Don't f--- with us! We're the NFL! Now, enjoy the game.”
As designers, this is the challenge we face when asked to update any corporate identity—even those for an organization with supporters less fanatical than football enthusiasts.
That blind loyalty doesn’t bode well for any NFL teams looking to update their own logos…
Show Me the Money!
Monday 8/27/07
While hot internet properties such as Facebook and Youtube undeniably get eyeballs, marketers have been struggling with how to commoditize that traffic. Just throwing up banner ads hasn’t been working out that well, according to a study from Forrester that recommends moving past run-of-site placements to engage users.
The start-up that turned its Harvard founders into gazillionaires is addressing this issue with an innovative new ad platform. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Facebook is developing a tactic to target its ads based on the details users reveal in their online profiles. While networks like Yahoo! have long used personal data to offer their advertisers behavioral targeting (ads that run based on users’ reading habits and personal info), this would take targeting to another level, as advertisers could match their content with users based on their personal interest--like music, movies or activities. Rather than running as banners, these ads would join the “news feed” that currently relays updates on the user’s friends.
Will it work? Last time Facebook adjusted its format to please advertisers, users weren’t too happy.
Meanwhile, Youtube finally figured out how to unobtrusively incorporate ads into their videos, but that’s all I can say about it because I’ve already used up my allotted space for Google-related news this month.
Ubiquity Works
Tuesday 8/21/07
Over the weekend, the New York Times reported on a recent JupiterResearch study naming Google as the America’s favorite Internet brand. The search-engine-turned-media-company beat out Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, MySpace, Microsoft and AOL, with 35% of the vote.
Why all the love? Could it be Google’s mission “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful”? Their colorful logo? Their “No Pop-ups” policy? Their fun-loving culture? Their unrelenting rise to world domination?
Besides being the top search engine in the United States, Google owns Blogger, YouTube, and gBox, an online music store designed to rival iTunes. And those are just a few of the products and services we know about…