January 28, 2010 Postscript: J. D. SalingerPosted by Jon Michaud
Hapworth 16, 1924” (June 19, 1965)
Please share your thoughts about Salinger in the comments below.Keywords
via newyorker.com
A great place to read the short stories of J.D. Salinger. A treasured literary icon.
via youtube.com
The White House made a commercial touting its new iPhone app. It definitely has the Apple style. Will you add this app to your smartphone?
I applaud them for being current and communicative.
To view the ad (if you are unable to on my site), please go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4KP2rPgKXk
Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2010: Flash, Crowdsourcing, Info-Art
As 2010 fast approaches, digital marketers are gearing up for yet another year of changes that will incorporate both the transformational and the incremental. From the economy’s influence on the burgeoning “do-it-yourself” culture to an increasing reliance on collective wisdom, information-based art, and remote computing, digital experts at Last Exit have put together the following list of top digital marketing trends they believe will play out in the year ahead.
1. Facebook Replaces Personal Email: As Facebook becomes increasingly used as a verb (e.g.”I Facebooked you today”) in ways that Hotmail and gmail never were, it will be interesting to see the extent to which it will displace personal email as a communication tool. It’s already completely permission based, there is no spam (yet), and no address book required - your friends are already there.
2. The Cloud Helps Open-Source Software Make Proper Money: Open-source software projects that were typically the purview of programmers and technophiles are now available to the masses. In one example, Beanstalk, a fully hosted, version-controlled code repository that uses the Subversion open-source project has created a subscription based service that - for a small fee - removes the hassle of setting up Subversions and maintaining servers. Services like this can really only be financially viable with cloud computing infrastructure - so companies such as Beanstalk don’t have the huge upfront capital outlay for servers. With the right skills any open-source project can be commercialized this way.
3. Mobile Commerce - The Promise That Has Never Delivered, Yet: Though mobile phones have, for a while now, delivered real benefits to global societies by facilitating the transfer of money, only recently has mobile device use extended to payment for goods and services. The game changer has - and will continue to be - the iPhone/iTunes platform. In-app purchases on the iPhone can tempt users to buy small items, upgrades, updates, etc, while iTunes holds their precious credit card information. All, of course, is done in seamless fashion, enough to promote impulse purchases. It would seem like an easy task for this to be extended to other platforms with PayPal or Google Checkout, but so far it has not been done.
4. Fewer Registrations - One Sign-in Fits All: As consumers grow increasingly frustrated and resentful about registering yet again on another website, juggling different IDs and remembering a dizzying array of passwords, information-managing services such as Facebook Connect and OpenID will becoming even more useful and will continue to be adopted at great speed through 2010.
5. Disruption vs. Continuity - Alternatives to the “Big Idea”: As the significance of social networks continues to grow, businesses are investing more in community building as a marketing driver. According to the recent Tribalization of Business study released by Deloitte, 94% of businesses will continue or increase their investment in online communities and social media and, for the majority of these companies, their marketing function will drive this investment. At the same time, as evidenced by Google’s recent release of “free floating” social tools, such as Google Waves and Sidewiki, there is an increasing shift toward online identity and social activity being an integrated part of the network as a whole, rather than concentrated within discrete platforms such as Facebook.
With the increasing emphasis on marketing and advertising through social networks and the increasing pervasiveness of social tools, marketing objectives come into conflict with advertising techniques. While advertising has often sought to distinguish itself and stop the consumer in their tracks with a disruptive “big idea,” the emphasis is now shifting toward persuasion through fitting organically into the consumer’s social sphere. It will always be the objective of marketing to provide creativity and novelty, but the way in will increasingly be one of persistence and continuity.
6. Self-Sufficiency: The Continuing Evolution of Web-Driven, Open-Source DIY Culture: Much has been said about the power and potential of collective intelligence, and many of the breakthrough solutions of tomorrow appear to lie in more effectively pooling the resources and intelligence of our increasingly networked world. On the other side of the equation, the power of pooled intelligence and networked resources have empowered individuals to take on more and more complex undertakings themselves.
From drawing on the collective intelligence of blogs and university open courseware to educate themselves, to services like ponoko, spoonflower and cafe press that facilitate small-scale production, to offline resource pooling like pop- up retail and collective office spaces, individuals are discovering that it has never been easier to try doing it themselves.
7. Info-Art: Where we once had pop-psychologists and pop-philosophers, we now appear to have pop-statisticians and pop-economists. The growing wealth of data and the access to rich and diverse data sources that are significant by-products of information networks have made the art of data analysis a defining skill of our time.
At the same time, the skill of elegantly visualizing that data has become a defining art of our time. The art of the infographic is becoming increasingly pervasive as people look more and more to the growing amount of data at our disposal for insight, and more refined as the interactions of that data becomes more complex. Expect to see greater innovation spurred by more elegant ways of capturing and visualizing information by a growing number of info-artists.
8. Crowd Sourcing: Across many industries and organizations, crowd sourcing will become a growing tool as part of various outsourcing strategies. Organizations will mobilize the passionate special-interest groups to not only carry a message but also to lead and take part in activities on their behalf. From political canvassing to software development, from people journalism to environmental activism, expect to see huge growth in crowdsourcing models provoked and led, in large part, by digital social media strategies.
9. More Flash, Not Less: Outside of the obvious brand sites, micro-sites and media sites (video, games, etc.) where it appears absolutely necessary, Flash has often been looked down upon if not completely discounted by both techies and search engine optimizers. It seemed to face an uncertain future as a viable tool for serious websites and applications such as eCommerce tools and corporate websites. However, Adobe’s rich media tool has enjoyed the grit and determination of its advocates and external development community. Now, several tricks, authoring tools and server side scripting workarounds have meant that Flash-built websites no longer serve up a single, impenetrable page. They offer deep, searchable, indexable sites that will allow acute, detailed traffic and behavioral analytics and search engine optimization.
As websites continue to increase in their importance as a company’s storefront, the demand for rich, brand-extending experiences will also increase. Further proliferation of fast broadband will reduce download issues while the adoption of Flash on mobile devices will dramatically increase and fuel reach and the desire/need for highly usable, brand transporting, conversion oriented experiences
Source: http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/top-digital-marketing-trends-for-2010-flash-crowdsourcing-info-art-11002/
I have always been a fan of Forrester. As an account planner, I have found it a wonderful place for secondary market research information especially as the social media landscape took hold during the ‘00 decade.
Forrester has updated its Social Technographics ladder. This illustration shows how people use and participate with social media. Please note that every group is not mutually exclusive, which means that an individual can be in more than one group.
My favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quote.
It is not good enough to be for human rights or what is right…you must do something. Or you are not part of the solution, but appeasing the bad.
If you have never read Brand Camp cartoons, please visit Tom Fishburne’s site at www.skydeckcartoons.com/brandcamp/index.htm
He does a wonderful job of capturing the essence of advertising, marketing and communications.
Coke-powered Nokia cellphone concept by Daizi Zheng
Naresh Chauhan Jan 8 2010
We have already seen some of the most unusual mobile phones in the recent past, but the latest cellphone by the Chinese designer Daizi Zheng is a remarkably strange yet sustainable mobile handset that will take you by wonder. Designed for the Finnish brand Nokia, the Eco-Friendly cellphone runs on an innovative battery which makes use of enzymes to generate electricity from carbohydrates. The new mobile phone concept apart from harnessing clean energy from sugary drinks like Coke or Pepsi, which generates water and oxygen, also works about four times longer than contemporary lithium batteries on a single charge. Moreover, the handset is fully biodegradable.
Via: Dezeen/Treehugger/Likecool
Today, I am writing about an old-school form of communication…the physical letters/cards you write and send in the mail. Many of us send out an annual Christmas/holiday card. It is a tradition; the holidays remind us that another year has past (a good time to reminisce) and create sentimentality (a need to reach out to loved ones and friends).
For me, December is a hectic month (I believe I am not alone.). My workload becomes heavy (which is a good thing) as we close out the calendar, there are countless networking and holiday parties to attend, family events, presents to be purchased and wrapped, food dishes to be made, and countless other things. I thrive during the month. I love the month.
Yet, I made the decision to hold-off on writing my cards. The cards were purchased the previous year. They were unpacked around Thanksgiving. They sat on my desk through the month. As I received cards throughout December, I felt somewhat guilty that mine were not stamped, sealed, and in the mail—not because they were not completed, but that I hoped my family and friends did not believe I had forgotten them.
I am not a fan of the end-of-year form letter. It is a personal preference. I understand that for some, it is practical (a time-saver). For others, it adeptly allows the writer to cover all the comings and goings of their family members. Still yet for others, it serves as a trip down memory lane; a reminder of what has occurred and was accomplished during the year.
I enjoy personalizing each card. I treasure hand-written notes, most likely because we live in a quick-to-the-point text messaging, email, and Twitter world. Thus, I like to take my time.
Why personalize? Well, let’s start with family. Some I am very close to, others that I do not see nearly enough. Some that I share similar experiences/interests with where others (I am a bit ashamed to admit) I do not know enough about. Some who went through a difficult 2009, others that had much success. Then there are friends. Some I have known since I was three years old, others that I am very close to due to our college years. Some that are close city neighbors and friends (who are up-to-date on my day-to-day life), others that live across the country or ocean. Some who share my interests in travel, etc., others who enjoy news about family. Similar to my family members, some had a difficult 2009, others had momentous positive changes. One form letter does not fit all.
For those that I have remained connected to over the years, I believe there is a reason. I like to bring out that connection in the letters, possibly reminisce, and strenghthen the ties. I also don’t want to write a brag letter about my great year, if someone else had a stressful 2009 (one that they would like to see come to an end).
My letter shares my life with the receiver; yet my note is more about them, than about me. I want to reconfirm that I empathize or celebrate the events of their past year. I want to ask about their life. I like to make people laugh or smile from reading my note. I like to extend gratitude to them if they were there during a difficult time for me (or for everyday small help). I want to ensure that the letter is relevant to conversations we recently or last had. In a manner-of-speaking, I am hoping that my letter is a small gift—a token of a dear friendship, an extension of gratitude, a provider of a chuckle or two, and a reminder that no matter how many miles life have placed between us, that I do care about your life.
I am placing my cards in the mailbox today. They are done. I feel great about my decision to hold-off until the New Year. In fact, there may be an added bonus, my letter will not get lost with all the others during that hectic December month.
I have vowed to either send cards around Thanksgiving next year (write them in November) or do the same as I have done this year.
I leave with one more thought. In such a hectic, computerized world, I realize how much more that hand-written note means. An individual takes the time to write it because you are worth it.
Sun-Maid Girl’ Makeover Sparks Controversyby Brett Michael Dykes
Friday, December 4, 2009In the annals of advertising imagery, few brand symbols are more iconic and recognizable than the Sun-Maid raisin girl.
Sun-MaidNevertheless, Sun-Maid recently decided to join Betty Crocker, Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth’s in giving the female face of their product a substantial makeover from a young, early 20th-century girl into a buxom, modern young woman, leading some to say that the newly made-over raisin girl looks like a Barbie Doll in Amish attire
Since 1915, the face of Sun-Maid has been Lorraine Collett Petersen, who, according to the company’s website , “was discovered drying her black hair curls in the sunny backyard of her parents’ home in Fresno, California.” Petersen was then asked to pose for a watercolor painting holding a basket of grapes while wearing a sunbonnet. In the years since, the company has tweaked its trademark design occasionally to keep up with the times, but every variation has always been based on the original pose by Petersen. The new computer-animated version of the Sun-Maid girl currently featured in television advertisements is a departure from the classic design that harkened back to a time when “life was much simpler, more rural, a lot less hectic.”
Sun-MaidNaturally, the revamped look hasn’t gone unnoticed, rankling both ends of the political spectrum. The blog for conservative magazine The Weekly Standard noted that the new Sun-Maid girl looks “as if Julia Roberts decided to don a red bonnet and start picking grapes,” while the feminist website Jezebel.com remarked that it looks as if she’s had “some implants.”
Though the new look for the raisin girl has been garnering attention of late, the changes to the 90-year-old icon were actually introduced three years ago. At the time, Sun-Maid president Barry Kriebel said that the decision to make changes was inspired by the desire to educate consumers about healthy living choices.
“This is as good a time as any to get on the wave of health and nutrition,” he said. Kriebel also noted that he felt the new look was a reasonable modernization, saying “You’re not going to see her dancing or kicking up her heels out in the vineyard, but have her do what is appropriate for her to do, based on her history but also being a contemporary person living in the 21st century.”
Additionally, there’s been talk that the new Sun-Maid girl might be given a name and featured in future advertisements doing some of the things modern women typically do, like going to the gym, shopping at the market, and speaking multiple languages, particularly languages native to countries where Sun-Maid, the world’s largest producer and processor of raisins and other dried fruits, sells raisins. However, the image on all Sun-Maid product packaging will remain the same, as the new version will only be featured in product advertisements.
The Sun-Maid raisin girl has been modernized. Some say she has gone “Hollywood” or become too “Barbie”ish.
Thoughts?
