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May 18, 2011 | Neal | No comment
Privacy By Default: California Social Networking Bill Makes Sense – Yahoo! News
The key takeaway here is that California is considering a bill that will force all social networking sites (or anyone who might want to make your profile public) to set all privacy settings to “private” as a default. As the article says, this makes all the sense in the world. If your goal is to share your information widely then you’ll make the choice to change the default settings. If you want something more restrictive, you’ll have to spend the time learning about the settings to configure it to your exact needs. If you want to “lurk” with a very private profile while learning more about your privacy options and how you feel about them, then you are safe because that will essentially be the default setting. The current mode where the default is that your profile is “open” until you make changes (at least in most cases I’ve seen like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) puts your information at risk as you learn about the ins and outs of what are becoming more and more complex privacy controls.
April 25, 2011 | Neal | No comment
A Vision Of Our Shopping Future | Fast Company
I can’t claim to be an expert in the field of catalog marketing so I’ll keep my comments on the first half of the article brief. Catalog Spree honestly sounds a lot like SkyMall in app form. Vaguely interesting I suppose but the idea of aggregating product lines into a single catalog doesn’t seem to be something that will fundamentally change my shopping experience. Unless there are a lot of features – alerts and the like – that allow me to spend less time browsing through massive product compendiums and get straight to the sort of things the system knows I like, I can get this sort of experience at Overstock or Amazon, etc. The notion of the app being superior to just using the iPad’s native web browser to shop across manufacturers and retailers seems like a high bar.
The much more interesting app here is Scan It! app. Our local grocery store (Giant) allows us to sign up for what I assume is a pilot with Scan It using a store-owned scanner to perform the same function as described in the linked article. I can take the scanner with me, scan my groceries as I put them in the cart and then check out without having to rescan everything at the checkout counter. I haven’t used it but I’ve played around with the concept when I was at NCR’s retail technology group many years ago. It is an interesting notion that allows for making immediate offers from either the manufacturer that you have just scanned an item from (trying to up-sell you to multiple units), from a competitor (trying to get you to sample an alternative), and/or from a complimentary product (cross-selling you to grape jelly and bread with the peanut butter you just scanned).
The Scan It! implementation at our Giant isn’t very visually appealing because the scanners have extremely limited screens. The idea of extending the experience to a smart phone is an interesting one. The plus side is that the experience of looking at your current list of goods and receiving offers will potentially be much richer. The down side is that scanning with the camera on a smart phone isn’t nearly as easy as using a specific use tool like a Symbol scanner that doesn’t force you to spend much time focusing the bar code into the camera frame. It may be that the act of scanning with a smart phone will get easier with practice (I’ve done it maybe 10 times over 18 months or so). Until that time though I worry about usability for the average customer. I also wonder what the Venn Diagram looks like when overlapping primary grocery shoppers with smart phone owners.
At the end of the day, I will say I’m intrigued by the Scan It! app and how it might evolve. Will stores create checkout lanes specifically for users of that app that will move much faster? If so, that would give shoppers a reason to spend some time getting used to the new way to use the technology. As for the fear of extensive theft, my sense is the self-checkout stations (which were initially subject to the same fears) have overcome that barrier. My guess is that with significant customer loyalty, revenue upside, and cost benefits potentially on the line, supermarket chains will find a way to mitigate that same risk with the Scan It! program as well.
April 19, 2011 | Neal | No comment
T-Mobile Launches Bobsled, A Voice Chat App For Facebook
This is a great idea. As a user who is frequently aggravated by Skype and the semi-regular dropping of the Skype-to-Skype calls I make to India, I’m excited for the alternative. My question is “why hasn’t someone done the same thing with in-system typed messages?” One of the things that emails fights to overcome every day is the load of SPAM that you get the second you start emailing outside of some personal friends.
Facebook is the obvious solution to this (or LinkedIn) but neither seems inclined to head down this path despite already having the key elements in place. Honestly, I’d see this being more relevant to LinkedIn given their business focus but I’d also be much more interested in saying “yes” to newsletters and things like that on Facebook if it meant that the sender wouldn’t have the ability to sell on their mailing list, etc.
Just a thought as I get excited to try out this new Facebook voice chat app.
February 8, 2011 | Neal | No comment
Current TV Pledges To Break Ground Online With Keith Olbermann | paidContent
In the same week, we have had major and mixed messages about the value (and the future) of user generated content. On upside, there is the annual Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” contest that invites anyone who cares to enter to submit an advertisement for Doritos. Doritos broke ground with this concept a number of years ago and has stuck with it. They received an incredible amount of publicity for the campaign in the first year but it seems that the hype around the user-generated aspect of the advertisement erodes more and more each year. That said, it is still probably the biggest and most public re-affirmation over the course of the year that user-generated can still be a productive tool. Doritos is a huge brand and their loyalty to this tactic surely can sway others that there is something to the concept.
On the downside, we see the linked announcement above about Keith Olbermann joining Current TV as not only a major personality but as an equity partner. For those who don’t know, Current TV was an attempt to create a dual Internet/TV source for high quality, user-generated content – mostly focused on news and news-related topics. For me, the idea was sort of like MTV in the early 80s (you know, when they played music videos). Create a new, disruptive concept using the latest distribution channel (in MTV’s case cable and in Current’s case the internet and video serving) and establish yourself as the place where the next wave of stars are created. If you establish yourself as the place to find the “next big thing” then you attract a very attractive demographic and can monetize that in the form of premium ad/sponsorship rates.
So why does Olbermann’s addition undermine the user-generated model? By recruiting an established name while not really having created a major star from an unknown Current is starting to morph into just another corporate news/opinion organization. The new model may be the right way to go but in making the change they are either condemning the user-generated model or at the very least indicating that theirs isn’t the right way to go about it.
November 19, 2010 | Neal | No comment
Warrior Gateway uses crowdsourcing to help veterans get necessary information — Federal Computer Week
Devin Holmes, Executive Director of the Warrior Gateway, and Black Turtle’s own Rob Stoltz presented the Warrior Gateway to the MarkLogic conference earlier this week. The presentation covered how the infrastructure we helped design and build is being used to create an exceptional web presence as well as a platform for other sites targeted at Veterans integrate Warrior Gateway functionality so that they don’t have to spend precious time and money recreating what the Gateway has already done very well. The presentation was well received and we look forward to the opportunity to continue pushing the product development envelope with the team at the Gateway.
November 1, 2010 | Neal | No comment
We have enjoyed working with Reality Mobile on the visual design of their latest version of their Reality Vision software. Congratulations to the entire team on securing additional funding to continue the build out of their product set and continue to push into new markets. If you want to read more about the new round of funding, you can check it out here.
Tags: Digital, funding, Reality Mobile, software
November 1, 2010 | Neal | No comment
I was lucky enough to live close enough to Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity that I was able to attend despite Washington’s Metro system being woefully un/under-prepared for the event. It was a great event from three standpoints, two fairly obvious and one less so. The obvious ones were entertainment – where else are you going to see Ozzy, Yusef/Cat Stevens, and the O’Jays on stage within the span of 5 minutes? – and the message that the media, in an effort to create relevance, is making it increasingly difficult to disagree and debate in a civilized way. I’d be happy to add my two cents to both of those topics but there are people much more qualified than me to do so and I’m sure you can find their writing all over the interwebs this morning.
The point that I took away from the Rally that was crystallized by this article is that Personality is the differentiator in the modern fight for people’s attention. In the media, that means people like Glen Beck, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert can see tremendous popularity while reporting-focused organizations like CNN or ABC News who try their best to stay out of the opinion game most of the time lag behind. We find ourselves with news organizations fighting each other for the “scoop” on a fact when the only people who care about who got the scoop are people in other media organizations. Taking this lesson one step further, marketers now find themselves competing online and in mobile with all other types of content. As with media properties, companies will find that their digital efforts are most successful when they can identify and project a personality of their own. This personality doesn’t have to reach millions of people in the same way that mass media outlets do but the lesson is still the same. People will remember you and your brand if you give them something interesting to grab onto. The key is making sure that personality comes through as you interact with your customers and prospects via email updates, social media posts, your web site, live events, digital community, newsletters, and however else you engage. This doesn’t mean that you have to find the ability to be as funny and smart as Jon Stewart overnight but what you DO need to do is to find a personality that works for your organization and your target audience and have the conviction to stick with it.
Tags: Digital, Jon Stewart, social media
October 13, 2010 | Neal | No comment
Since this entire internet thing really started to take hold in the 90s, people have been forecasting the demise of mass media advertising. First everything was going to be banner ads. Then interstitial ads. You get the idea. More targeting via other channels combined with the rise of those alternative channels meant or at least implied that our traditional channels would soon being going the way of the dodo. Throw in the explosion in supply of advertising inventory due to the increase in digital content and channels – advertisers wishing to attach themselves to a popular TV show can do so in a multitude of ways that were never available in the past:
- During the show
- On the broadcasting network’s .com site
- On Hulu or Fancast adjacent to the show being run
The additional channels to advertise combined with the declining value of the traditional form of in-show advertising due to the ability of viewers to DVR and fast forward through ads must leave advertisers wondering if it is worth engaging with shows at all.
Facing the above change, it’s no surprise that advertisers are looking for alternatives. In this link, you’ll find a description of how Microsoft engaged with the popular sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” in more depth than you traditionally associate even with product placement strategies. The notion of product placement is certainly nothing new. I can vividly remember the Nike “swoosh” being plastered all over the cast of “Friends” creating a tacit endorsement during the show. What never happened there, or in most cases that I’ve been aware of, is that the placed product has become an integral part of the story line. Sure, Apple computers (or other brands) have figured prominently in big movies where a computer is necessary to complete a task (think depositing the virus on the alien mothership in Independence Day) but at no point was that attributed to the actual computer. The computer was just a prop that allowed Jeff Goldblum’s genius to deliver a virus.
What made the Microsoft/HIMYM link-up unique was the fact that Microsoft products (even a fictional branded PC) and services were integral to the story. The main characters were using them in key elements of the story. Two great things about this for Microsoft:
- They get a great product demos done by popular celebrities
- They get these done in ways that audiences who are watching the show can’t avoid as they can the traditional ads that break up the first run airing
The print media will always shy away from these types of tie-ups because they fear that concepts like journalistic integrity but since TV and movies have never been big on anything approaching artistic integrity, there should be no problem here. Finding creative tie-ups should be happening all over the place. Here are a few suggestions from among the shows that I watch anywhere from all the time to occasionally:
- “Chuck” and Best Buy – Best Buy is currently the butt of the “Buy More” joke without any chance at any redeeming sides. This one is just begging to be done.
- “Big Bang Theory” and FourSquare/Facebook Places – The first show to either care about or glorify “geek culture” is the ideal vehicle to push geo-location services from usage by the bleeding edge social networking types and kids into the more mainstream.
- “Two and a Half Men” and Maker’s Mark – Charlie Sheen’s character is begging for a liquor of choice and it would be incredibly easy to fit into the many alcohol-soaked storylines. The obvious choices like Jim Beam and Jack Daniels are a little too commonplace for the wealthy Charlie Harper but a slightly higher end brand like Maker’s sounds like about the right fit.
I expect that we’ll see more and more of this. The big question is how agencies, used to easy media-buying transactions, will react to being more creative in their deal-making.
Tags: CBS, Digital, FourSquare, How I Met Your Mother, microsoft, TV
September 23, 2010 | Neal | No comment
LinkedIn Boosts Social Features With ChoiceVendor Deal: Tech News «
You don’t have to spend too much time figuring out why the acquisition of ChoiceVendor makes so much sense for LinkedIn. To the outside eye, the leading professional social network has seemed extremely stagnant in the face of what can only be described as a glorious opportunity to provide numerous premium functions to corporate users (enterprise email, intranet, sales force automation, etc.). The acquisition of ChoiceVendor at least gives LinkedIn users something productive to do with the service when they aren’t actively networking in search of jobs, sales intelligence, advice, etc. My big complaint with LinkedIn is that while it is incredibly useful in the limited use cases I mentioned above, it is almost useless other than for vanity purposes outside of those use cases. Blog aggregation is a little bit interesting but I can do that in a bunch of ways. I get much richer and more frequent status updates from people via Twitter and Facebook. The book recommendation section with strong Amazon integration is nice but how frequently would anyone who has a fulltime job and a life outside of that really use that feature (i.e., it is a nice tertiary application but not a killer app by any stretch). I don’t know if ChoiceVendor will be a frequent enough activity that it will qualify as a killer app that would get me to use LinkedIn regularly vs. occasionally but it certainly seems like a strong marriage of community and functionality. I could certainly see synergy with LinkedIn Groups – e.g., create a meaningful group of Call Center VPs around ChoiceVendor content around call center vendors.
As someone in professional services, I am extremely curious how this one plays out and how services firms can use ChoiceVendor’s new-found audience to market themselves and manage their reputations.
Tags: Acquisitions, Digital, LinkedIn, Service Marketing
September 13, 2010 | Neal | No comment
R.I.P. Season Tickets? – CNBC
The prevailing wisdom in the sports world would dictate that the NFL is firing on all cylinders – growing sponsorship revenue, growing merchandising revenue, growing TV revenue, growing digital revenue, growing stadium revenue, and the list goes on. Not so fast my friends. That last bit about “growing stadium revenue” is just not as true as you’d imagine. Advances in technology (HD TV and soon 3D TV) combined with rising costs, potentially difficult stadium logistics, and a lousy economy to make watching at home a much more interesting option. Add to that mix, the insights of Darren Rovell at CNBC who reports in the linked article that the benefits of buying a season ticket from an NFL team just isn’t that great.
Outside of my general interest in fanaticism for sports, I am writing about this article because it is a great reminder for marketers of all types to continue to check back on the relative value of what you are offering and how new channels may impact that value. If the NFL can suffer from declining value of game attendance then there are many other entities that should be looking inwardly at what they are offering. Have cable/satellite companies started looking at the value of the service they provide (live TV) in light of the availability of free online feeds from places like Hulu? Have rock concert promoters similarly looked inwardly at their product to determine if they would be better served allowing fans to watch concerts online in other cities? Have eBook and digital music providers like Apple iTunes and Amazon figured out how they can differentiate their offerings as the digital content they are selling move toward commodity status with “store location” no longer making any difference to consumers (NOTE: Apple’s device strategy is certainly part of this answer for now but it seems unlikely to be a long-term differentiator).
At the bottom of the article, Rovell indicates that he doesn’t know what the answer is but in saying “Is it creative winning percentage guarantees? Special incentives such as meeting the team or giving them unique experiences? Autographs? Who knows?” He asks the fundamental marketing question that we all face when addressing formerly unique experiences that are to a greater extent becoming commodities offered in multiple channels. There isn’t a specific answer to this question but part of your checklist when making decisions is clearly defining why people should use YOUR channel when acquiring a digital commodity.
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