Things that make me go “Hmmm”
In: Fascinating
15 Jan 2010
What’s going on in new media marketing, pulled from social bookmarking site Creativing.com:
As CNN demonstrated it’s impact during the Gulf War, it’s tragic events like the Hattian earthquake that perhaps most demonstrate the power of Twitter. And it’s not Twitter per se, but rather the direct form of simple, unfiltered, and most importantly, immediate information that feels like we’re getting a personal view of the writer’s experience.
The underlying thread here is simplicity and speed. No surprises there. Of course, whether that’s an iPhone app or a Facebook app, that’s easier said than done.
At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data. Minority Report, here we come. But what’s best about this IMO is that it simply looks fun. And what better way to sell a new technology? Note that he’s making his technology Open Source to accelerate innovation. Also note the great stage set.
I’ve long been jealous of the east coast’s ability to take trains between cities. Especially with the declining experience of air travel. An extra hour or two on a 3 hour trip is, IMO, entirely bearable if you have full access to productive technology. And, can cut out an hour of getting into and out of the downtowns of cities. I’m only surprised Amtrak didn’t do this earlier.
This is one of those unfortunately rare times when a new ad platform actually adds relevance and value to a user experience. When you’re using Google Street View and see a billboard for a movie that hasn’t been in theaters for 12 months? Imagine that instead it’s for a movie now playing just around the corner.
An amusing account of the challenges of designing fonts for the web, and other difficult environments. Reading this, I was reminded of Steve Jobs’ story about sitting in on typography classes for the fun of it — after dropping out of his main curiculum. This article taps into that duality of creativity mixed with intellectual problem solving.
There are a lot of bland companies out there in need of good writers. The Wittery is a sort of online matchmaker for just that situation. This seems like an obvious (in a good way) idea that I hope takes off. The writing on the site is in full support of their brand promise of adding personality to your company.
If there’s an intersection of mobile, gaming, and emerging platforms, it seems to be located very close to Foursquare. I can’t think of any other app that’s been consistently getting as much buzz as these guys. These upgrades won’t impact anyone but the hardcores, but I do think the new borderless structure will only increase Foursquare’s popularity and growth. As I’ve previously reported, it’s being used as a promotional device by various bars and coffee shops. And what better to identify your most vocal brand advocates in your area?
There are a couple of interesting things happening here. There’s the issue of globalization of media, and ads from one culture being viewed and judged in another culture. And then there’s the online debate forum, played out in video, from around the world.
This is a marketing event that, everytime someone signs up, they Tweet the person’s company and title as attending. Interesting tactic for generating buzz in search due to what are probably relatively popular search topics, although possibly revealing public info the indviduals might not want to send out?
There's so much digital marketing info flying around the web that sometimes it makes my brain hurt. This is where I process it, and you're welcome to join in.
2 Responses to Creativing :: Twitter for event marketing, Foursquare is serious gaming, and Minority Report here we come
David Gillespie
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:20 am
Hey Doug,
The thing I like about ForuSquare is it is also a front runner on the emerging wave of hyper-local content. Adding that into a service that is already facilitating connections between businesses and people, it’s a heady mix of opportunity for marketers, and it is so due to the innate and rich value it delivers – not the paper thin kind we’re so used to seeing.
Exciting times ahead!
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Doug Schumacher
January 25th, 2010 at 8:42 am
Exciting for sure. One area that I think has a lot of potential is not only showing me places around me, but events. At least in LA, events are like houses. It’s all about location. So being able to search events on a map interface (with traffic levels as well), has a lot of potential, I think. Loopt, a company I’ve worked with a little in the past, has recently moved into that area, and from what I’ve seen initially, it looks goods.
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