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by: Sigurd Rinde
Hugh's post on social objects the other day resonated with many, and I still remember Jyri bouncing a beach ball around at Reboot a couple of years ago.
Allow me to quote Hugh reporting from a social setting:
Continue reading "Bars and Business - Social Objects and Business Objects" »
by: Idris Mootee
The hottest new agency is WANAA (We Are Not An Agency). Ok, there is no agency called WANAA. You get the point. Headhunters are calling everywhere tyring to recruit new heads for interactive agencies as many have plans to replace theirs. The problem is the interactive heads just move around from one agency to another...with little result...sadly. This is not going to change anything. Coming back to the topic of agency consolidation, these are the questions:
Continue reading "The Hottest New Agency for the Year Is WANAA!" »
by: Karl Long
Just read this over at JaffeJuice and Joseph extrapolates that the chance basically only 5% of people with the TV on are actually paying attention to advertisements. Wow, I thought it was only half of advertising that was wasted, we just didn't know which half 
Continue reading "What Do You Do During Commercials? 95% Not Watching" »
by: Joel Makower
My colleagues and I at GreenBiz.com have just published State of Green Business 2008, an accounting for how, and how much, the greening of business is moving the needle on environmental issues.
The simple answer: not much -- and certainly not enough.
by: John Caddell
In which we select the best of the annual Harvard Business Review list of twenty breakthrough ideas (free link) for the benefit of time-constrained executives everywhere. This service is provided at no extra charge.
Continue reading "Top 5 Harvard Business Review Breakthrough Ideas" »
by: Christian Smagg
Got your marketing plan ready for 2008?
Let me first ask you this simple question since you would be surprised (or not) to discover that a startling 40% of marketing professionals don't even have a formal marketing plan. Surprisingly, not everyone develops a plan - even though most will agree that it is the foundation to successful and effective marketing.
Continue reading "36 Online Techniques to Supercharge Your 2008 Digital Marketing Plan" »
by: John Caddell
A column in today's Wall Street Journal boils it down for us: "...[C]ompanies need to 'reinvent' the way they sell, to focus on their customers rather than product features."
Stop me if you think you've heard this one before.
Continue reading "How to Fix Your Selling Process in 192 Pages (not)" »
I got the latest Fast Company nearly a week ago. I browsed the cover and noticed the "Un-Tipping Point" headline on the cover. I then packed the magazine in my bag planning to read it on the train.
I never did.
Continue reading "Influence Ripples, Tipping Points + Toast" »
Continue reading "Bridging The Gap Between Online and Offline Shopping" »
by: Roger Dooley
Why Choose This Book? How We Make Decisions by Read Montague sounds like the perfect read for neuromarketing and neuroeconomics enthusiasts. In fact, the book does provide some interesting insights but the overall density of actionable information, at least for marketers, is fairly low. The title might lead one to believe that the book is a distillation of consumer purchasing behavior, but in fact it is a wide-ranging discussion of the neuroscience of human decision making.
by: Ilya Vedrashko
Last November, I spent some time poking around and trying to figure out where the "an average American is exposed to 5000 ad messages" number had come from (see the original post). President of Yankelovich J. Walker Smith, whom I cited as one of the sources, offered his explanation in a comment to the post on Hill Holliday blog:
Continue reading "Dissecting Advertising Clutter, Part II" »
by: David Armano
Is there really such thing as an "un agency"?
I'm always on the lookout for patterns: And the industry is full of them right now.
by: Idris Mootee
I've seen a few downturns and what happened to ad spend. In most cases ad-spending plunges 8-12% when there is a slow down, but I think this time is little different. I was having lunch with a friend who is the CEO of a vertical content and search company in California and we're talking about this subject and we shared the same opinion. Digital media will be a shining star in this downturn.
by: Alain Thys
Just when you think the blogosphere has nothing new to offer you run into Idris Motee. As CEO and Chief Strategist at Idea Couture, his blogging personality explores the intersection of business strategy, experience design and disruptive technologies.
And today, we're proud to welcome him as a contributor to the Futurelab blog as well. All we can say is ... fasten your seatbelts.
by: John Caddell
It's not a trick question. There may be little difference at all. The Getty is one of several museums that have been accused of systematically acquiring stolen antiquities. (The Getty last year agreed to return forty disputed works to the Italian government.)
Continue reading "How is the Getty Museum Different from Enron?" »
by: Karl Long
Found this video on Jonnie Moore's always thought provoking blog. It's a collaboration of 200 students in an anthropology class that looks at the defining characteristics of students today.
by: Guy Kawasaki
You've got to read "Is the Tipping Point Toast?"
by Clive Thompson in FastCompany. The gist of Thompson's piece, based on the work of Duncan Watts of Yahoo Research, is that the theory that a select few "key influencers" matter more than "the rest of us" when it comes to viral and word-of-mouth marketing campaigns is flawed.
Check out this very clever Napkin PC designed by Avery Holleman that is perfect for collaborating designers. Using e-ink and RF technology it allows designers to draw in colour and skip the very tedious stage of transferring the sketch into a digital format.
Continue reading "Finally a PC That Every Designer Has Dreamed about!" »
by: Ilya Vedrashko
Ross Dawson: "While last year's map was based on the London tube map, the 2008 map is derived from Shanghai's underground routes. Limited to just five lines, the map uncovers key trends across Society, Politics, Demographics, Economy, and Technology."
Original Post: http://adverlab.blogspot.com/2008/01/world-trend-map-2008.html
by: Ilya Vedrashko
Not too many of those. Actually, just one.
by: Dick Stroud
This is a general observation about marketing not something specific about the 50-plus.
by: Nancy Baym
My favorite band, Madrugada, has released a new record. It’s an emotionally-loaded time for them and their fans: their guitarist, whose contribution to their sound cannot be replaced, passed away last summer, just a month after most of this record had been recorded. The surviving members returned to the studio, finished the record, and have just released it to fawning reviews.
by: David Polinchock
Thanks to copyranter for the tip on this piece. Wow, 44% of people surveyed don't believe anything a company says! If ever there was a reason to understand the value of compelling, authentic and relevant brand experiences, this could be it! If this many people don't believe what you say, you better give them a good reason to believe what you do! There's not an industry on the list that cracks 40% trust and that's pretty sad. Some interesting numbers:
Continue reading "Polls: 44% Normally Disbelieve Any And All Company Statements" »
by: Roger Dooley
As described many times here at Neuromarketing, paying for a product activates the brain's pain center, particularly if the price seems too high to the person making the buying decision. Starbucks is the company that taught us that $5 for a cup of coffee (or at least for a skinny mocha peppermint latte with an extra shot ) isn't too much too pay.
by: Scott Goodson
The Nielsen Company today released its annual Guide to the Super Bowl which showcases a wide range of consumer and media information about the most notable marketing event in the U.S. - the NFL's Super Bowl - scheduled for February 3 in Glendale, AZ. For more information email the very friendly...Lucy.Aleman@nielsen.com
Continue reading "The Nielsen Company's 2008 Guide To The Super Bowl" »
by: Nancy Baym
Last.fm users may have noticed that the 2-toned indicators of whether a song could be streamed in its entirety or for only 30 seconds changed colors today. The small aesthetic shift is a sign of a much larger one announced on the Last.fm Blog today:
by: Roger Dooley
Long recognized psychological phenomena and various aspects of human behavior are being localized in the brain daily, it seems, and the latest to be studied is discovery, often referred to as an “Aha!” or “Eureka!” moment. This is the turning point when one realizes that one has found what one is looking for or has solved a vexing problem.
by: Ilya Vedrashko
During commercial breaks,
by: Dick Stroud
nfpSynergy is a UK research consultancy for not for profit organisations (e.g. charities, housing associations and public bodies).
by: Dominic Basulto
Starbucks is quietly rolling out a pilot program of $1 coffees and free refills to customers at select stores in Seattle. Despite all indications that Starbucks is slowly morphing into a McDonald's-like fast food chain complete with dollar menus, highway rest stops, and drive-through windows, Starbucks spokespersons vigorously deny the notion, claiming that the pilot "is not indicative of any new business strategy."
Continue reading "Starbucks Rips Another Page from the McDonald's Playbook" »
by: David Armano
The question isn’t if we’re heading into a recession. It’s how bad will it be—and what we learn from it? As marketing budgets feel the squeeze of the housing crisis and a slowing U.S. Economy, now is a good time to think about opportunities. That’s right. Opportunities. It just happens that the digital medium could be your best friend in a time when belts tighten. Here’s a few starters for how digital can help your business or brand thrive in a recession:
Continue reading "10 Ways Digital Can Help You Thrive in a Recession" »
by: John Caddell
The most useful part of Danny Ertel and Mark Gordon's recent book "The Point of the Deal," to me, is this lesson: in a negotiation, if you convince the other side to do more than it can reasonably deliver, you have not won anything. More likely, you have set up the project for failure.
Continue reading "Don't Let Negotiating Counterparts Overcommit" »
by: David Wigder
One of the most effective ways to syndicate content is to activate power users on sites such as Digg. Quite simply, “Diggers” uncover and bookmark interesting content – news articles, images and videos – for others to view.
Continue reading "Green Content Syndication: Part II - Top Environmental Diggers" »
by: John Caddell
Collaboration is in. The WSJ Business Insight article "Leading From Below" states, "at most companies, senior managers are increasingly hamstrung by the demand from investors and analysts for immediate results"--requiring middle managers to provide leadership at the company level. Other scholars say dissent in the workplace is to be encouraged. The democratic organization is gaining traction.
Continue reading "Collaboration or Individual Leadership? Which Is It?" »
What a mess!
About 5 or 6 months ago, I decided that I needed to simplify my life.
Due to a lot of diverse interests and that little bit of an overachiever in me, I have a bad habit of taking on and doing more than I can actually handle. Furthermore, the fact that I tend to lose interests in things very quickly or jump around on different projects does not help me one bit at all. Coupled with the stresses of my job, I was just flat out overloaded!
Continue reading "How I Simplified My Life and Became a More Efficient Designer" »
by: George Silverman
In an article last Monday in the Wall Street Journal, reporter Emily Steel described the growing trend of using online social networks -- both existing and company-encouraged -- for marketing research. It's a very dangerous trend, as I point out in my letter to her. Many companies are headed for disaster if they give undue weight to the opinions expressed on their online networks.
Continue reading "Using Online Networks for Market Research Can Be Dangerous" »
by: Yann Gourvennec
Good morning, we are on Monday, the twenty first of January zero two thousand and eight. No this isn’t a typo, but rather a sign that we are taking into account the fact that humanity still has a few millenniums to go through. Well… hopefully!
Continue reading "Long Now Foundation: Slower Pace, Better Future ... Well Maybe" »
