Communication Smart

US Olympic runner sells shoulder ad space for $11K on ebay

2012-01-31T21:17:00.001+01:00

Why Google+ matters for ecom more than any other social medias

2012-01-31T17:19:00.000+01:00

It’s obvious participating in Google+ helps your visibility in personal results. But it’s also likely that Google is or will factor social shares as a trust signal, and thus a ranking factor. Spammy sites don’t tend to get organic shares, so it’s one way to spot chaff among wheat. Because Google has full visibility into Google+, it’s easy to spot the fake “sock puppet” accounts — it’s tougher to game the system.

Social link building is becoming as important as old school link building. If you think you don’t need to invest in Google+ until it hits critical mass, or until you can demonstrate a “measurable ROI” from your efforts, competitors who do grok the Plus could leave you in their dust in traditional search rankings, not just personal results.

What You Should Do About Google+

1. Put the Google+ chicklet on all your site pages
2. Treat the chicklet like a call to action (don’t bury it, consider testing placement for best engagement, measure clicks on the button as a micro-conversion metric, etc.)
3. Appoint someone in your organization or an outsourced specialist to own your Google+ marketing effort (this can be part of a larger social media role)
4. Share images and video content regularly, tag appropriately with keywords (multimedia content stands out in search and may be weighted higher, also more likely to be shared by others)
5. Optimize your shares like you would for Twitter or the Facebook Newsfeed
6. Encourage Facebook and Twitter subscribers to also follow you on Google+
7. Segment your email subscriber list and target Gmail accounts with a special request to add you their Circles (along with the benefits of doing so)
8. Use Google+ as a microblog to give product usage tips, feature customer reviews, announce new products and sales events, etc.
9. Engage in “social listening” within Google+, find out who’s talking about you and engage with them. Activity across the network may give your social profile a bit more clout with Google when personalizing results, similar to EdgeRank’s Affinity Score.

Only 1% of Facebook users engage with brands.

2012-01-31T16:55:00.001+01:00

Just over 1 percent of fans of the biggest brands on Facebook are actually engaging with the brands, according to a study from market research firm Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.

The researchers took the overall fan growth of the top 200 brands on Facebook over a six-week period last year and found the percentage of People Talking About This compared to the overall number of fans was just 1.3 percent. If you subtract new Likes, and isolate for more engaged forms of interaction, you’re left with just 0.45 percent of fans. In other words, less than half a percent of people who Like a given brand’s Facebook Page actually bother to engage with it.

Pinterest best social media to lead to sale.

2012-01-31T10:31:00.003+01:00

Pinterest has seen already brands like Etsy, Nordstrom, and Lands' End set up accounts to enhance traffic to their site. It's page design reminds a store front with the ability to comment.

New data from Monetate shows that referral traffic from Pinterest to the websites of five specialty apparel retailers jumped 389% from July-December 2011.

Social Media is STILL like teen sex.

2012-01-28T14:11:00.003+01:00

Almost 2 years ago, "Web Analytics: An Hour A Day" author Avinash Kaushik & former Google employee posted a tweet on the state of social media that is still very current. Framing it as an "OH," or overheard, indicating that he wasn't the one who actually came up with the contents of the Twitter message "Social media is like teen sex," Kaushik tweeted. "Everyone wants to do it. No one actually knows how. When finally done, there is surprise it's not better."

Google Video Extension Ads - Brand experience in search

2012-01-25T12:20:00.001+01:00

2011 Global Online Retail Holiday Shoppint Report - Infographic

2012-01-24T23:47:00.002+01:00

The future of ecommerce? Retail stores.

2012-01-23T22:23:00.005+01:00

A recent NYT article discusses why Google as recently purchased Motorola and along with it it's stores. Google desires to appear more human through consumers' interaction at the store. Apple has been doing this regally through it's Genius bars and faulteless store help. As iTunes sales grow in sales so has the brands' intent in growing it's store network. Apples uses the stores to grow and nurture the customers through a brand experience that a website cant give.

Smartphones are the new cigarettes.

2012-01-23T21:50:00.000+01:00

101 Examples of Social Business ROI by Peter Kim

2012-01-22T23:06:00.001+01:00

Aflac. Community drove online payments increase of 3% led to $95,000 in savings. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
Alberta Common Wealth Credit Union. Blog, YouTube, Facebook - 2 million impressions, 2,300 new accounts, and $4 million Canadian in new deposits. (Forrester, 2008)
AT&T. Community: 21,000 customer issues resolved, driving 16% improvement in call deflections year/year. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
Audi. Audi A1 Community: Almost 40,000 people created customized versions of the new model. In total 5.5 million people visited the microsite 119 million times. And the company reports that this program helped generate the largest number of car pre-orders in its history. (Forrester, 2010)
Bank of America. Community drove High School segment sales increased 40 percent from 2008 - 2009; portfolio mix of high school students increased by 27 percent. (Communispace, 2010)
Benefit Cosmetics. Customer generated content drives 10X click-thru rate on “Buy Now” button. (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Best Buy. Community generates $5M value in annual support savings and sales advocacy. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
Blendtec. Viral videos increased company sales +700%. (Barnraisers, 2010)
Bonobos. 13 times more cost effective (CPA) to acquire a new customer from Twitter than from other marketing channels. (Twitter, 2011)
Bonobos. Exclusive sale on Twitter generated 1,200% ROI in 24 hours on promoted tweet. (Twitter, 2011)
Bupa. Community drove £190,000 savings through collaboration, online events. (Jive Software, 2011)
Burberry. Social microsites secured 1,000,000 fans and a 10% increase in same-store sales. (Barnraisers, 2010)
Burger King. Subservient Chicken video increased chicken sandwich sales 9% per week a month after launch. (Adweek, 2005)
CDW. Online community member Net Promoter Score 4x average and saved an estimated $4 million. (Communispace, 2007)
Cerner. Community resulted in 13% fewer customer support issues logged. (Jive Software, 2011)
Cerner. Community resulted in 70% decrease in internal HR issues logged. (Jive Software, 2011)
Cerner. Community resulted in shorter approval cycles for writing technical documentation, from 2-6 weeks to hours or days. (Jive Software, 2011)
Charles Schwab. Customer referrals drive 40% of new customers for Charles Schwab (ratings & reviews). (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Charles Schwab. Online community drives 56% increase in Gen X customer base versus year ago. (Communispace, 2007)
Cisco. Community deflects 120,000 support cases each month. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
ConAgra Foods. Online community insights-based events produce a 24% higher gross margin ROI for retailers than other events. (Communispace, 2010)
Dell. @DellOutlet on Twitter generated $2 million direct sales, influenced $1 million addt'l (2007 - 2009). (Direct2Dell Blog, 2009)
Domino's Pizza. Foursquare drove 29% pre-tax profit through promotions. (Barnraisers, 2010)
Electronic Arts. EA was 2nd UK brand to use promoted tweets and trends to promote FIFA 12 video game. Trend engagement level was 11%, well above Twitter’s average ‘benchmark’ for trends, of 3% to 6%. Promoted tweet engagement averaged 8.3% over two-week campaign vs. Twitter benchmark of 1.5%. (Marketing Magazine, 2011)
Elsevier. Wiki drives 80% reduction in interdepartmental e-mail volume. (Socialtext, unkn)
Epson. Visitors interacting with reviews are 67% more likely to convert and have 25% higher average order value. (Bazaarvoice, 2010)
Epson. Reviews drove 98% higher revenue per visitor for Epson. (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
FICO. Community: 850k customers served, resulting in 10% improvement in call deflections annually. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
FICO. By year three, forum members spend 41% more on products. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
FONA International. Wiki eliminated almost 50,000 e-mails a year from one specific process. (Socialtext, unkn)
Ford. Fiesta Movement WOM campaign: 31,000 pieces of original Fiesta content and 10,000 online vehicle reservations. (WPP Team Detroit, 2010)
giffgaff. 100% of questions answered by community members in average time of 93 seconds. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
Gilt Groupe. Online community insights drove 10% increase in shopping cart conversion and a five-point increase in Point-of-Sale Net Promoter Score. (Communispace, 2011)
Hershey's. House party: 10,000 parties, reached 129,000 people, and say their campaign was seen by 7 million people. (Forrester, 2008)
Honda. Friending Honda campaign increased Facebook fans from 15k to 422k, generated over 3,500 dealer quote requests. (RPA, 2010)
HP. More than 4.6 people have told HP that the forum solved their support issues, which HP says makes customer happier and saves the company millions in support costs. (Forrester, 2010)
IBM. developerWorks community saves $100 million annually from people who use this resource instead of contacting IBM support. (Forrester, 2010)
IBM. Crowd-sourcing identified 10 best incubator businesses, funded for $100 million, generatiung $100 billion in total revenue for a 10-to-1 ROI with a 44.1% gross profit margin. (Barnraisers, 2010)
IHG. Saved the costs of stock footage or original photography and agency fees by using community member photos. (Communispace, 2009)
Indium. Company blogs increased B2B leads, prospects, conversions and sales by double digits. (Barnraisers, 2010)
Intuit. Internal collaboration platform: New ideas at Intuit now get to market in an average of 5 months, vs. 13 months previously. (Forrester, 2010)
Intuit Quickbooks. Business owners engaged with rated ProAdvisors 555% more often than unrated counterparts. (ratings and reviews). (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Jewelry TV. Reviews drive a 151% lift in site conversion for Jewelry TV. (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Jewelry TV. Average order value increased 25% when reviews were present (ratings and reviews). (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Jewelry TV. Customer reviews boost mobile sales by 30% (ratings and reviews). (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Justin Boots. Exceeded sales goal for new product line by 30 percent, 95% of sales from social media marketing. (Social Media Explorer, 2010)
Kiddicare. 30% reduction in inbound customer communications and first call resolution increased from 60% to 98% via sCRM solution. (GetSatisfaction, unkn)
Kotex. 1.7 million Web site visits, 17,500 tweets about Kotex, 25,000 Kotex discussions in the social space generating 88.5 million impressions, a million girls "activated" on the brand site, 93,000 Likes, and 640 million impressions in major print, broadcast, and online channels. 750,000 people requested samples and these converted at a 42% rate. (Forrester, 2010)
L'Oreal. Facebook tools for local salons drive incremental $4,000 via program. (Mediapost, 2011)
La-Z-Boy. La-Z-Boy captures 13,000 new leads with comfort stories campaign. (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
LendingTree. LendingTree users start the loan process 83% more often when reviews are present. (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Logitech. Bowiechick "Breakup" video on YouTube doubles Logitech webcam sales on Amazon.com. (CBS Evening News, 2009)
Mattel. Despite product recalls, online community helped support Q4 2007 sales increase of 6%. (Forrester, 2008)
Microsoft. House parties: 40,000 in 12 countries played a role in 3.4 million software purchases. (Forrester, 2010)
Mint. 75% reduction in number of support tickets via sCRM solution. (GetSatisfaction, unkn)
Movistar. Community delivers $5.75m in call deflection savings annually. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
National Instruments. Community resulted in 46% of all support questions answered by peers instead of support. (Jive Software, 2011)
NetApp. The NetApp community has impacted $500 million in sales and drives 28% of all NetApp web traffic. (Jive Software, 2011)
Old Spice. Old Spice guy Isaiah Mustafa commercials and YouTube responses increase web traffic 300% and contributed to a 106% year/year sales increase for the month. (Ad Age, 2010)
Orange. Listening: saved a few million euros in support costs and helped avoid several potential PR problems. (Forrester, 2010)
Paramount Pictures. #Super8Secret Promoted Trend created a tremendous spike in conversations: Tweets of the hashtag reached nearly nine million impressions in less than 24 hours and mentions of the movie skyrocketed to more than 150 per minute. Receipts for the sneak preview exceeded $1 million, and Paramount said weekend box office surpassed expectations by 52%. (Twitter, 2011)
Petco. Products with reviews decrease return rate by 20%. (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Petco. 1% of shoppers use “Ask and Answer,” influencing 10% of revenue on website. (Altimeter Group, 2011)
Petco. Q&A content powers 75% more sales; 100% more orders per session; 28% more items per order; 9% higher average order value. (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Precyse Technologies. $250,000 savings in crowdsourcing new product design. (InnoCentive, 2010)
Premier Farnell. Community drives a 3% purchase conversion rate. (Jive Software, 2011)
Rhapsody. 50% decrease in support costs and 53% decrease in weekly support contacts via sCRM solution. (GetSatisfaction, unkn)
Rubbermaid. Online sales of new products spike 21% with video reviews. (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Sage Software. Community drove a +20 NPS increase. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
SAP. Community resulted in a 15% reduction in product release cycles. (Jive Software, 2011)
SAP. Community drive 5% increase in partner sales. (Jive Software, 2011)
SAP. Community resulted in over 90 ideas delivered or in product development. (Jive Software, 2011)
Scholastic. Online community insights resulted in a 3% lift in sales for test marketing message. (Communispace, 2008)
Scotiabank. Community eliminated over 300 intranet sites as well as the need to build new sites. (Jive Software, 2011)
Secret. Among women viewing the video, 57% said their impression of the Secret brand improved and purchase intent among women who participated on Facebook went up by 11% (33% for teens). Clinical sales increased 8% despite a 70% decrease in TV support. (Forrester, 2010)
Sephora. Community users spend 2.5x more than average customers, superfans spend 10x more. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
Spiceworks. Community members have produced more than 25,000 product reviews and over 100,000 discussions. (Forrester, 2010)
Starbucks. 75,000 product and service ideas suggested. (Forrester, 2008)
StrongMail. Migrated support calls to online community, reducing call volume by 50%. (Jive Software, 2011)
Subaru. Online community - 68% of respondents said they were "much" or "somewhat" more likely to purchase post-project. (Communispace, 2008)
Swiss Re. Community paid for itself in less than 12 months by decommissioning legacy systems. (Jive Software, 2011)
T Mobile. Employees have reduced sales & service product training from 1.5 hour sessions to 15 minutes. (Jive Software, 2011)
TechSmith. Saved about $100,000 annually in staffing costs via sCRM solution. (GetSatisfaction, unkn)
TomTom. In one month, community handled 20,000 cases resulting in $150k of savings. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
Toshiba. Saved $213,000 by adding online component to 5 events, doubling attendance. (Jive Software, 2011)
Toshiba. Community helps new sales reps and dealers reach six-month sales goals in four months, increasing sales revenue attainment by 30%. (Jive Software, 2011)
Toshiba. Retention rates for sales reps has increased 13% since using community. (Jive Software, 2011)
TransUnion. Estimated $2.5 million in savings in less than five months while spending about $50,000 on a social networking platform. (Socialtext, 2009)
Travelocity. Travelocity gnome on Chatroulette - 40 days, 350,000 impressions and 400 prospect conversations. (ClickZ, 2010)
TurboTax. 71% likelihood of customers interacting with @TeamTurboTax (Twitter support) to recommend TurboTax. (CoTweet, 2010)
TurboTax. Yahoo Answers: 58% higher engagement rate than people coming in from other channels. (Forrester, 2010)
TVG. Community members spend 36% more than average. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
UBM. Community allows for collaboration, saving $20,000 and more. (Jive Software, 2011)
UBM. Community reduced time from 3 days to 30 minutes for key sales information. (Jive Software, 2011)
University of London. Internal social network allows students to collaborate remotely, expected to deliver future savings in the region of £300,000 per year in print, courier and administration costs alone. (IBM, 2008)
UPS. POPURLs dashboard: 32,000 video views, 25% regular return visits to the site, and average of almost seven minutes spent on the site per visit. (Forrester, 2010)
USAA. USAA saw online account initiation increase by almost 16,000 new accounts across the five product categories the first year with Bazaarvoice. (ratings and reviews). (Bazaarvoice, 2011)
Virgin America. Exclusive flash sale on Twitter raised the maximum $50,000 in charitable donations for Stand Up To Cancer. It was also one of the top five sale days ever for the airline. (Twitter, 2011)
Virgin America. Exclusive flash sale on Twitter drove 25% increase in sign-ups over the previous week to Elevate, Virgin America’s loyalty program. (Twitter, 2011)
Vistaprint. Community tracked $30,000 in social revenue in 2009. (Lithium Technologies, 2011)
Yum Brands. Community helped new product launch internationally in 4 months instead of 18. (Jive Software, 2011)

Race against Asics Interactive Wall

2012-01-22T23:00:00.002+01:00

Action Images instantly posted on Facebook

2012-01-22T22:49:00.001+01:00

LG. How far a brand goes to go viral.

2012-01-22T22:38:00.001+01:00

I am not too sure that LG is behind this but if they are the idea works because you do get to watch it twice. Other than that promoting stealing is wrong and the LG messaging is very weak almost subliminal through the poster on the window at the end.

The Creative Procecess Infographic

2012-01-22T22:18:00.000+01:00

via

Race BMW1 with a tablet!

2012-01-22T22:00:00.002+01:00

Advertising the new BMW 1 Series, iLogic allowed consumers to engage with the brand through a tablet. iLogic developed Interactive Video Projections over eight nights in major cities across South Africa. Through a high powered, HD projector, iLogic projected an interactive racing game onto buildings and scaffoldings (Screen measuring 108m2). Consumers engaged in real time, with a tablet and results were posted on Faebook.

Columbia's Omni Heat Electric. How it works.

2012-01-21T23:37:00.001+01:00

Cool Hunting Video Presents: Omni Heat Electric from Cool Hunting on Vimeo.

Kwarter – The Augmented Sports Experience With Social Rewards

2012-01-21T18:58:00.001+01:00

Kwarter connects friends, family and fans together by creating a Sports Based Social Place directly on a smartphone or a tablet where fans can engage and get more than just the game itself.

Kwarter is an app that allows any and all sports fans to connect with each other live through comments, insights and photos. Sign up is quick and easy through Facebook and anyone can hop right into the conversation. With this social rewards app, you can watch any game with a crowd of people, whether they are in the room with you or not.

Nike Fuelband tracks your movements to keep you in shape

2012-01-20T22:17:00.003+01:00

Nike partnered with Apple to create a new mobile phone app that will compile data, and allow you to share and compare it with friends online. The wristband goes on sale in the US on February 22, in the UK on May 1 for $149.

The Nike Plus Fuel Band tracks all movements, from swimming to running and biking.

Apple Patents Design for Wearable Tech

2012-01-20T19:08:00.000+01:00

Darkness.

2012-01-18T22:38:00.001+01:00

Leading creatives discuss how digital changed creativity. A documentary.

2012-01-16T23:28:00.006+01:00

The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent in an unprecedented way, with unlimited opportunities. But does democratized culture mean better art or is true talent instead drowned out? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world's most influential creators of the digital era.

PressPausePlay from House of Radon on Vimeo.

Designer Jeremy Scott for Adidas Originals 2012

2012-01-16T22:24:00.001+01:00

Pinterest the new social media site. A tutorial.

2012-01-16T21:37:00.001+01:00

Volunia is really Google's match?

2012-01-15T20:52:00.002+01:00

The Italian mathematician who contributed to the development of Google’s search algorithm is preparing to launch his own challenge to the dominant search engine before the end of the year.

Massimo Marchiori, an associate professor at Padua University, recently began talking up the new search engine with videos posted on a promotional website at volunia.com. He is been very secretive with the press. You can access the site to sign up and be an early tester.

http://launch.volunia.com/

Engine to launch on 6/11/2012.

Digital Sport Marketing in China. The Nike + challanges.

2012-01-11T21:32:00.003+01:00

Digital sport china challenges 5.11

View more presentations from jtb1974

Great Video against discrimination.

2012-01-10T20:16:00.001+01:00

How Southwest keeps it's unique positioning via social media

2012-01-10T11:59:00.001+01:00

Nike #Kobesystem - Where the successful find more success.

2012-01-09T21:25:00.003+01:00

Remember the Olympics of Atlanta 1996? Nike hijacked the event by taking over the event by wild posting the entire city with the slogan 'you dont win silver, you lose gold'. This ads shows how the brand is going back to root of it's DNA.

SEM & Social Media Marketing- Top 4 trends in 2012

2012-01-05T12:19:00.009+01:00

1. Customers become marketing team extension - Salesforce.com just launched Chatter feature, allowing businesses to share information and files with their customers through a hosted network, is early evidence of this. The conversation business/customer can only grown and it is key that brands manage this conversation in the best way to avoid lashbacks.

2. Purchasing is moving to mobile - social media has pushed consumer to use mobile devices and this Xmas we have seen that last minute purchases have increased through mobile devices. Google estimated that 44 percent of last-minute online shopping searches would come from smartphones and tablets.

3. Social Media integration in Search algorithm - In 2011, Google + was integrated into search and Facebook’s social signals were integrated into Bing search.

4. Implement Social Media in Email Marketing - Lead consumer to sales also via social media network is this year's challange. Find partners that are able to integrate social media conversation into regular CRM relationship.

The evolution of Facebook features Infographic

2012-01-01T12:16:00.001+01:00

The 6 step process for measuring social media

2011-12-30T23:19:00.000+01:00

The 6 step process for measuring social media

View more presentations from Jay Baer

In 2012 Facebook will invade the website world

2011-12-30T19:34:00.003+01:00

In 2011 Facebook layed the foundation for the website world take over. It launched 3 innovating features called: Gestures, Subscribe and Ticker.

Gestures allows users to share content using the expression and the content they want. Moving forward from LIKE they will be able to say if they have WATCHED, SUPPORTED content/activity.

Subscribe allows users to let fans follow their public updates (and it’s coming soon for websites).

Ticker, a news feed, serves as a real-time feed of activity away from Facebook. We will be able to see away from Facebook what your friend has been up to.

How to improve your site performance x Xmas infographic.

2011-12-26T20:25:00.001+01:00

Forget Goolge or Apple, #Amazon is the new multi-tech powerhouse.

2011-12-24T19:42:00.005+01:00

What is Agile project management?

2011-12-23T20:54:00.002+01:00

As development of digital solutions like apps become more and more part of marketers we run into agile project management. Here is an explanation of this process.

Agile management or agile project management is an iterative method of determining requirements for engineering development projects in a highly flexible and interactive manner.

Agile techniques may also be called extreme project management. It is a variant of iterative life cycle[1] where deliverables are submitted in stages. One difference between agile and iterative development is that the delivery time in agile is in weeks rather than months. Since agile management derives from agile software development, it follows the same standards defined in the agile manifesto when it comes to collaboration and documentation.

Waterfall, as a project management methodology, has been criticized for not being able to cope with constant changes in software projects, and with the inability of customers to specify adequate requirements before they have tried prototypes. Also, the huge overhead of specifying requirements before starting the actual development may cause long delays of a project. The iterative nature of agile makes it an excellent alternative when it comes to managing development projects, especially software projects.[citation needed]
Agile, however, has its disadvantages. Many believe that it doesn't scale well, hence large software projects are still being conducted in Waterfall.[citation needed] Additionally, since the strength and usefulness of agile are both exhibited in projects with frequent changes, it does not offer any advantage over waterfall when it comes to classical projects where requirements are nearly always constant and unknowns are rare, such as construction projects.

Google 2012 - Better search for consumers less data for marketers

2011-12-23T18:59:00.003+01:00

Brian Whalley, a search marketer at HubSpot, reports "Early in 2012, Google will expand how it incorporates data into its search results. For search queries that are direct questions, it will no longer be necessary to click through to a website. Questions will be answered faster and more simply. No parsing of information will be required. This change, however, will take value away from marketers who rely on visitors clicking through to deeper pages."

Also on SEO Google developed a new format to allow its bots to improve crawling. "Google's plans revolve around metadata (literally, special data encoded in the page) that will allow it to access more rich data about a topic, including hours of business, names of products, and virtually anything else that you can think of. Marketers will see better search rankings if they document information using this new format."

In addition he reports on a change in reducing data available to marketers. "Google now sees its ownership of data as a competitive advantage to be protected from marketers and other advertising networks. In the latter half of 2011, Google began to roll out changes that have taken data away from marketers, specifically about how and where visitors found their website. Since October, between 10-15% of visits to websites from Google have no longer sent information to webmasters and marketers. It is safe to assume that Google will continue to expand these changes, further limiting the data available to marketers unless they're willing to pay."

Harvard study says Facebook friends don't influence your taste

2011-12-20T20:22:00.004+01:00

Harvard researchers followed 200 students for 4 years since 2006 and concluded that students who shared particular tastes in music and movies, but not books, were likely to befriend one another, instead of these tastes passing from one friend to another.

The overreaching conclusion was that on Facebook, people befriend others who are similar to them rather than becoming more similar to their friends over time. Study researcher Kevin Lewis of Harvard University told Live Science: 'Part of liking these [indie/alternative] bands is not just liking them, but liking them before everyone else likes them/ The students feel like, "this sets me apart from others, and if someone else starts liking this band, it make me less unique."'
He continued: 'In the past three years we've been pounded over the head with the idea that everything spreads and everything is contagious, and your peers can influence you in so many ways.' 'Students who share some tastes in music and in movies are indeed more likely to become friends, but it's very rarely the case that students adopt the preferences of their friends,' he explained.

Tesco Korea interactive subway posters is Forbes' 2011 best digital campaign

2011-12-19T22:48:00.003+01:00

If consumers are too busy to go to the shop Tesco Korea brought the shop to consumers by posting images of shop shelves in subway stops and allowing them to order via mobile QR code.

NBC Sports teams up with Red Bull Media House

2011-12-19T22:19:00.002+01:00

NEW YORK, NY, Dec 19, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- The NBC Sports Group, and its action sports arm Alli, and Red Bull Media House announced today a long-term partnership for the development of a new property, the Red Bull Signature Series. The strategic endeavor will bring 35 hours of jaw-dropping and one-of-a-kind action sports programming to NBC and the NBC Sports Network starting in January 2012.

The Red Bull Signature Series will include the most progressive and innovative snowboarding, mountain biking, freestyle motocross, ice cross downhill, skiing and BMX events, showcased on custom courses from the inspiration of the athletes themselves. The series features some of Red Bull's top events including X-Fighters, Supernatural, Crashed Ice, Dream Line, Rampage and Cold Rush and other third party action sports competitions (see below for details on shows). The Red Bull Signature Series kicks off on NBC with Crashed Ice on Saturday, January 21. For more information, visit www.redbullsignatureseries.com .

Aether Apparel. Function/Design equality.

2011-12-18T23:15:00.005+01:00

The line is co-founded by Hollywood producers Jonah Smith and Palmer West (whose credits include "Waking Life" and "Requiem for a Dream"). They started Aether to fill the void they saw in the worlds of snowboarding, skiing, surfing, running and mountain biking.

"As a couple of guys in our mid-thirties, we were no longer comfortable in the brands that made us look like teenagers on the ski slopes, said Smith. "Our options were to go with the obvious performance-driven clothing lines and sacrifice design and style, or to shop at the more aesthetically pleasing lines and sacrifice performance. Being in our mid-thirties we are no longer comfortable with the youth oriented brands that made us look like teenagers on the ski slopes. To us design and function should be equal."

Website here: http://www.aetherapparel.com/

Snowboarder aluminum pole to push sport.

2011-12-18T23:02:00.007+01:00

Kahuna Creations is a company known for its longboards and accompanying paddle shafts, called Kahuna Big Sticks, which are made to be “paddled” for forward propulsion in lieu of a regular kicking motion on a skateboard. The poling technique, both on the skateboard and on snow, is said to mimic the motion used in the sport of stand-up paddling. The paddle goes for $119.

Social Network eye tracking research.

2011-12-18T21:49:00.002+01:00

Mashable worked with EyeTrackShop, a startup that runs eye-tracking studies for advertisers.

Here are the findings:

Profile pictures matter. The site feature that attracted most attention on Klout, Facebook and StumbleUpon was the profile photo.

Job title garnered more attention than profile photo on LinkedIn. In fact, it got more attention than anything else on the page.

Who you know gets noticed. Even if for no better reason than their placement on the page, people do look at those little thumbnails of friends that appear on many social profiles. You can see this in the data from the Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Klout profiles.

Content on top wins. The further something is down a page, the fewer number of people look at it. This was true on both content-focused profiles such as Pinterest and Digg as well as socially focused profiles such as Facebook. On the Twitter and YouTube profiles, the effect was less extreme.

Social Media bubble to pop indicates Georges Colony - CEO Forrester Research

2011-12-18T21:20:00.004+01:00

3 future trends indicate this evolution in social medias:

1. New platform for social called App Internet
2. Post social world with limited time and persons so move from platform with low efficiency to social tools with high efficiency.
3. Social tools for the enterprise.

Inteview by Greg Pouy

http://gregorypouy.blogs.com/

Painter David Hockney draws with an iPad.

2011-12-17T20:27:00.001+01:00

The Future of T-Shirts Graphics

2011-12-17T18:07:00.002+01:00

NEXT: The future of T-shirt graphics from T-world on Vimeo.

New Banksy work in London

2011-12-17T16:11:00.002+01:00

Escif , Street Art from Valencia Spain

2011-12-17T15:41:00.001+01:00

Check out site for more. http://www.streetagainst.com/

Patagonia doesn't want you to buy their jacket.

2011-11-29T20:56:00.004+01:00

Patagonia had the guts to run this ad during Black Friday to ask holiday shoppers to become concious of consumerism gone wild. Patagonia reverse psychology lets you agree with the brand whilst learning it's innovative environmental approach to product development.

The Pro Sports Twitterverse - interactive infographic

2011-11-25T22:43:00.003+01:00

Here is a useful infographic where you can actually search for the information whitout having to follow some crazy interwined line.
Find the most followed sport athlete and who is doing most commentating. The trends that are visibile are that athletes only follow athletes. Reporters also follow athletes, they mostly follow each other. The two galaxies don't really engage much at all--and it's rare to find a pro athlete that actually follows more than one or two sports reporters or news athletes. The sports-news outlets, however, all follow each other--making us think that your typical tweet on those networks is far more impactful. You've got to wonder if maybe there's a more advanced strategy of designing your network.

See map here : http://www.chartball.com/tweets/?#zm=9

Social Media as trend predictor

2011-11-25T21:45:00.001+01:00

To promote its software and consulting services, IBM said its computer analysis of "billions of social-media posts" pointed to a downward trend in heel heights. This was surprising, the company said, because heels usually go up during an economic downturn.

While an intriguing thesis, it bears some fact-checking.

First, IBM's case: By mapping the most influential participants in online conversations about shoes, the company was able to eavesdrop on a dozen key bloggers. It found that the median heel heights mentioned on those sites dropped to 2 inches this year from 7 inches in 2009.

Webcasting meets online via OOH

2011-11-24T23:04:00.004+01:00

Toyota painted the frame of a website on a wall and through webcasting you can view the wall live and click on content. This was done to promote its new car, the FT-86 II.

Google Wallet starts in Gap Stores

2011-11-23T22:02:00.001+01:00

Gap has announced that customers at more than 65 of its stores (including Old Navy, Banana Republic Factory Stores and Gap Outlet) in San Francisco will now be able to use Google Wallet to pay for their purchases. The app turns your smartphone into a mobile payment device, as it securely stores virtual versions of your cards.

Shoppers will also be able to find and redeem promotions that are offered in-store. Through to the end of February, Gap is giving customers 15% off their entire purchase when they use Google Wallet to shop at their stores in the Bay Area.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/11/gap-now-accepts-google-wallet-payments-in-select-stores.html#ixzz1eZ3wq47Z

Reebook's guinnes for 3D street art.

2011-11-22T22:18:00.000+01:00

Obermutten. A little village goes global thanks to Facebook

2011-11-22T22:13:00.000+01:00

The Nike ID of bikes. Ciclo Maestro Milano.

2011-11-21T22:51:00.003+01:00

Cicli Maestro - The Beginning from Cicli Maestro Milano on Vimeo.

Cicli Maestro is a great site where you can get your customised single speed bike in 15 days! What is truly unique is the amount of combinations available to make your truly one and only piece of art. You can choose from color, wheels, brakes, etc.

What is Facebook's future? Making money or the world a better place.

2011-11-20T19:54:00.001+01:00

David Kirkpatrick, the author of the excellent The Facebook Effect and the world’s leading authority on Facebook, believes that Mark Zuckerberg now has to make a clear choice about his company’s future. The young multi-billionaire has to choose, Kirkpatrick says, between making money and making the world a more open and connected place.

Burberry invests more in digital with proven success.

2011-11-19T23:46:00.003+01:00

Burberry is leading the way in shifting its marketing investment from traditional to digital. This year to spend 60% of its budget on digital channels. Revenue increased 29% to £830m in the six months to 30 September, a period that saw the luxury retailer launch new fragrance Burberry Body with a Facebook campaign rather than through traditional channels.

Speaking at a Forrester hosted event on global marketing earlier this week, WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell said there is an imbalance between the media people are consuming and what is being spent on marketing.

He said about 32% of consumers’ time is spent online, including on their mobiles, yet global digital budgets are only about 17% of overall spend this year.

John Lewis’ ad is currently the public’s favourite and while this is largely due to the incredible efforts of creative agency Adam & Eve’s excellent casting and storytelling, one of the other reasons for its popularity is that it debuted on YouTube a day before its TV launch, which saw it rocket into the top trending topics on Twitter.

Easy Site Speed monitoring with Google Analytics

2011-11-19T22:16:00.002+01:00

To check out Site Speed in your account go to the content section and click the Site Speed report. There are three tabs within the Site Speed report for you to review: Explorer, Performance, & Map Overlay. Each provides a slightly different view of your site speed performance.

The Site Speed report was launched a few months ago, but it required site owners to add an additional Google Analytics tracking code to see data in this report. Based on increasing user requests we are now making this feature available to all Google Analytics users and removing the requirement to modify your Google Analytics tracking code.

Facebook Commerce. Exclusivity sells. If the app works.

2011-11-18T21:15:00.001+01:00

Heinz has increased its Facebook likes by 40,000 since telling the New York Times three weeks ago that it would exclusively sell a new product for a limited time on the social site. For social media marketers, it seemed like a brilliant play. But then a major hiccup ensued earlier this week.
When Heinz Tomato Ketchup Blended with Balsamic Vinegar became purchasable on Heinz's Facebook page Monday morning, the e-commerce app malfunctioned and didn't work until 9 p.m. Many consumers complained on the page about the glitch, so Heinz had to scramble.

Benetton's new global campaign, UnHate. Another disconnect between message and product image.

2011-11-18T17:55:00.006+01:00

Aside from the poor production I think this is still a valuable piece. Not enought brand dollars are spent to support a never dying issue like Hate.

What has always been confusing to me is the communication strategy between Benetton's message and the product it makes. There seems to be a complete disconnect between an internal part of the company that wants to be young and innovative, like its Fabrica Innovation Studio, and the product image that it emanates.

Irreverent Vs Classic

At least now the ad is in support of a foundation (not the brand in general with past campaigns), unhatefoundation.org which makes it a logical connection.

I can almost imagine that within the Benetton family, made of 4 siblings, you have some pushing for sales and the others for love...

Artist thanks followers with custom profile drawing

2011-11-15T22:29:00.003+01:00

Adidas finally cracks the 'Nike +' for football..

2011-11-15T22:12:00.005+01:00

F50 adiZero miCoach boot by adidas records player-specific data with an innovative miCoach Speed Cell chip embedded in the cavity of the outsole. The F50 promotional videos featuring Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and members of the Ajax academy demonstrate how the simple art of kicking a ball can be turned into a social and scientific activity. These specialized shoes capture 360-degree movements and measures key performance metrics such as speed and distance and have been tested by leading Premier League players, including Luis Suarez, David Silva, and Gareth Bale.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/11/adidas-f50-offer-star-players-secrets-and-help-users-capture-performance-metrics.html#ixzz1doKayXZi

Snowboard insert sensors track riders performance in real time

2011-11-15T21:47:00.003+01:00

Nokia is testing the “Push Snowboarding” mobile application iwith snowboarding manufacturer Burton wherby wearable sensors communicate with Nokia’s N8 smartphone via Bluetooth for a real-time performance capture and readout. The app uses the phone’s GPS capabilities along with the data collected from four sensors embedded in the snowboard to provide snowboarders with live tracking of their ride; including speed, heart rate, airtime, rotation and ‘rush'.

17 Ways to Integrate Facebook and Email Marketing

2011-11-14T22:32:00.000+01:00

Killer integration of Facebook and Email

View more presentations from Jay Baer

Moosejaw app X-ray clothes on magazine models

2011-11-14T22:24:00.001+01:00

Facebook Connect creates the fastest growing Facebook App

2011-11-12T09:38:00.004+01:00

“Take This Lollipop” created by Jason Zada, also responsible for “Elf Yourself,” (a viral online campaign for Office Max that has earned than 164 million views) has created another viral hit. This app has been liked by 9,976,146 people, making it the fastest-growing Facebook application ever.

The main phenomenon is not the map's notoriety but the willingness of millions to take a stranger's candy via Facebook Connect.

It seems that Zada showed how users are yet unaware of how Facebook info is easily accessible.

Customised URLs - from .com to .brand

2011-11-08T09:25:00.002+01:00

ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, has recently voted YES for the most dramatic change to the Internet’s addressing system; the creation of the “new TLDs”. These new Top Level Domains will permit businesses, organisations and companies to turn their own brand name into new domain extensions. It is expected that applicants will apply for targeted strings such as .sco (Scotland), .coke, .google etc.

The creation of the new ‘dot-brand’ extension will not come cheap. ICANN applications fee of $185,000 for securing the new TLD’s with $25,000 annual maintenance fee will be affordable for applicants with large marketing budgets.

ICANN will start accepting applications for these new domain extensions on 12th January 2012 through to 12th April 2012.

Shorten, share and track your links

2011-11-06T23:04:00.003+01:00

Website here: https://bitly.com/

Consumers' turn to advertise

2011-11-06T20:17:00.001+01:00

Memory engineering - 4squareand7yearsago

2011-11-06T19:03:00.001+01:00

Foursquare and Seven Years Ago is Awesome

View more presentations from Shay-Jahen Merritté

What Facebook knows about you...

2011-11-06T18:53:00.001+01:00

National Geo and AR

2011-11-06T00:24:00.000+01:00

Live Augmented Reality for National Geographic Channel / UPC from Appshaker Ltd on Vimeo.

Microsoft 2021 - Productivity Vision

2011-11-06T00:11:00.000+01:00

Amazon AR app links to ecom

2011-11-03T14:50:00.002+01:00

Amazon has released an augmented reality iPhone app that recognizes objects through your phone camera giving you an option to purchase them.

The Flow Powered by Amazon app, developed by Amazon unit A9, will let you purchase and compare cost millions of products on its database.

Amazon’s use of the iPhone camera to recognize and classify objects was preceded by Google, which released Google Goggles, a similar technology, for Android in December 2009 and for the iPhone last October.

See app here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flow-powered-by-amazon/id474664425?mt=8

Future consumer opt-out on Google ads

2011-11-02T22:38:00.001+01:00

Google is rolling out a new feature that explains why its users see certain ads when they search Google or check their Gmail.

The move comes as Google, like other Internet companies, finds itself in the political cross hairs as lawmakers and regulators scrutinize how they collect and use consumers' personal information. Google says it tries to be transparent about the information it collects and show consumers the most relevant ads. If Google knows what ads to show you then it might even show you fewer ads, the logic goes.

Google Insight. Ecom's Christal Ball

2011-10-29T23:45:00.002+01:00

For retailers hoping to rack up sales and for shoppers who want to pile up the must-have items, Google Insights for Search is the next best thing to a crystal ball. Check out what's trending and what you should focus on for your ecom merchandising.

Go searching here.

The People/Web Vs Bank Of America

2011-10-29T22:34:00.003+01:00

Bank of America customers are mad about the $5 debit card fee. Defendyourdollars.org is trying to rally consumers against Bank of America and they're asking consumers to submit break-up videos on their website to send a message to BofA to avoid making a huge mistake. We know how this will end. A big change is abreast in the world. The people win.

Nike + & Ellie Goulding

2011-10-29T21:41:00.001+01:00

A collaboration between Nike Running and english singer Ellie Goulding to present her world tour and her work out thanks to Nike +...

Street Art by Mentalgassi

2011-10-29T21:19:00.002+01:00

After collaborating with Amnesty International - Making the Invisible Visible, here is a compilation by the street artists Mentalgassi

mentalgassi Getxophoto 2011 from fermin aio on Vimeo.

Explosive water projection for the new Jordan.

2011-10-29T21:15:00.001+01:00

Launch of the new Jordan Melo M8 using explosive water projections by NYC Pier 56.

The Proof of Future/Cool

2011-10-29T20:59:00.002+01:00

7 dancers with 7 different styles for “Future Proof” a promo video by DMC for the 2011 A/NZ PromaxBDA conference.

FUTURE PROOF from The DMCI on Vimeo.

Patagonia sells customers used gear

2011-10-15T21:20:00.002+01:00

Outdoor gear clothing company and social do-gooder Patagonia has partnered with Ebay to launch the Common Threads Initiative. This WEBSITE allows customers to sell their used gear on Ebay, reducing the environmental footprint of fans and opening the brand to consumers who normally couldn’t afford the higher priced items.

Google Analytics - Right Now Stats

2011-10-15T21:11:00.002+01:00

Google Analytics team launched Right Now – a real time tracking feature that shows you what’s happening on your site Right Now.

This is what it can be helpful with:

* Checking immediate social media impact – getting the sense that something is going viral? Did you just push out a campaign across all your networks? Use Right Now to watch the impact happen as it’s happening.
* Observing TV campaign impact in real time – if your TV campaign runs during a set time with a call to action to the web, you can watch the immediate response.
* Debug tracking code issues. There are better ways to do this, but recently my go-to debugging tool was experiencing issues as I attempted to debug a tracking code issue. To ensure the script was executing, I opened up the Right Now content report and watched myself arrive on the questionable page. This confirmed the tracking code was being executed and that the GA .gif was sent to Google Analytics as intended.

FB Insight for top conversations

2011-10-15T21:03:00.005+01:00

Facebook has just revealed new tools to help companies, large and small, connect with their target market and better measure the conversations happening around their brand.

Page Insights now includes a “People Talking About This” metric, displayed beneath the “Likes” on every page, to show conversations about the brand’s Page. Facebook has also announced a Page Insights API, allowing analytics developers to create custom solutions for clients. There is also a new Premium ad unit which expands for viewers with friends who are fans of the Page, showing them which friends like that brand, adding a social/word of mouth component to regular Facebook ads.

IKEA personalized 3D room via your Facebook

2011-10-15T20:36:00.003+01:00

IKEA has posted a popular interactive app on YouTube that creates a personalized 3D mockup of a bedroom based on your personal details. The advert starts off with an ordinary YouTube video before the whole page is taken over by a unique app which the user can then login to Facebook with. Based on the user’s Facebook data and living situation, the tool then generates a 3D bedroom fitted with clickable IKEA items. Each personalized bedroom is tailored to the smallest details, such as photos from the user’s Facebook album hanging on the walls or in frames.

Adidas releases new intelligent soccer cleat

2011-10-15T20:30:00.001+01:00

Adidas recently released its new intelligent soccer cleat – the adizero f50 miCoach that features a space for the miCoach Speed Cell, a tracking device that records an athlete’s speed, sprint times, distance, and step and stride rates. The embedded chip can store the stats for up to seven hours and uploads them via WiFi or USB to any device. Designed for both professional and amateur athletes, the so-called ‘intelligent football boots’ are available at retail outlets in November of this year and will cost US$330. Check out some photos of these shoes below.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/adidas-debuts-intelligent-soccer-cleats-embedded-with-stats-tracker-technology.html#ixzz1aseYT1YV

Nike goes thermo molding

2011-10-15T20:27:00.002+01:00

Global sports brand Nike is revamping the original design of its iconic sneakers using an innovative method known as thermo molding. It allows the shoes to be created using a vacuum compression that holds everything together without the need for noticeable seams or stitching.

As part of its Holiday 2011 collection, Nike has released three models with Vac Tech uppers in various colorways. It adds a new twist to classic designs like the Air Force, Dunk and Air Max 90.

via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2011/10/nike-uses-high-tech-methods-to-recreate-iconic-sneakers-pics.html#ixzz1asdjxkbc

Google Analytics' Multi Channel Funnel

2011-09-28T21:28:00.003+01:00

Last month, Google Analytics announced Multi-Channel Funnels, a new area to Google Analytics conversion reports that allows you to see which campaigns, sources, or channels contributed to a visitor's multi-visit conversion.

How at Xmas your kids will take over your Ipad

2011-09-28T21:16:00.002+01:00

Ipad app allows kids to play with actual car toys from the movie Cars on their iPads, letting them complete missions, races and more.

Mindbloom: an online self-help book to live better

2011-09-28T21:04:00.003+01:00

Mindbloom is a simple game aimed at improving your quality of life by rewarding you for doing the things that are really important.

The game helps people decide what matters most by using the metaphor of a “life tree,” pictured at top. That tree is a visual representation of your priorities and progress in matters such as health, lifestyle, career, creativity, relationships, finances and spirituality. The user progresses by interacting with different parts of the tree and its elements such as branches, leaves, a forest, the sun, rain, and even a dragonfly. The app can tell you at a glance if your life is on track.

Check website here: http://www.mindbloom.com/

Engaging Product Feature Presentation

2011-09-28T08:56:00.005+01:00

The UNIQLO Innovation Project collection shows how the Japanese brand takes everyday apparel and pairs universal designs with revolutionary functionality. In practice they are injecting better materials and design practices, and essentially creating 'the uniform of the future.'

With the involvement of top creative talent, UNIQLO has employed a wide range of leading international companies, headed by Toray Industries Inc. to develop new fabric processes.

To make this come to live they have developed a range of benefit icons and developed a website with a running catwalk where models, prompted with a rollover, highlight the product benefit.

Check out website here:
http://www.uniqlo.com/uip/jp/

Check out the overall strategy here:
http://www.uniqlo.com/uk/corp/pressrelease/2011/09/uniqlo_innovation_project_laun.html

The Future of Ecommerce: a slide show

2011-09-27T23:03:00.000+01:00

THE FUTURE OF COMMERCE: REAL R.O.I. INSIDE

View more presentations from Gregory Pouy

Twittercasting:everyone's a commentator

2011-09-27T22:52:00.000+01:00

Studies Show Search Ads Drive 89% Incremental Traffic

2011-09-19T13:14:00.001+01:00

David Chan and Lizzy Van Alstine, posted a study on the Google Research Blog regarding how advertisers often wonder whether search ads cannibalize their organic traffic. In other words, if search ads were paused, would clicks on organic results increase, and make up for the loss in paid traffic? Google statisticians recently ran over 400 studies on paused accounts to answer this question.

In what we call “Search Ads Pause Studies”, our group of researchers observed organic click volume in the absence of search ads. Then they built a statistical model to predict the click volume for given levels of ad spend using spend and organic impression volume as predictors. These models generated estimates for the incremental clicks attributable to search ads (IAC), or in other words, the percentage of paid clicks that are not made up for by organic clicks when search ads are paused.

The results were surprising. On average, the incremental ad clicks percentage across verticals is 89%. This means that a full 89% of the traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused. This number was consistently high across verticals.

Stunt poetry.

2011-09-03T15:14:00.001+01:00

Stunt Poetry from Rishi Kaneria on Vimeo.

The States United

2011-09-03T14:46:00.000+01:00

A video promoting Man U's US tour.

Manchester United - American Flag (commercial version) from Joseph Connor on Vimeo.

Job's anger for creativity

2011-08-31T21:09:00.002+01:00

From Wireds' Jonathan Leher

Many of my favorite Steve Jobs stories feature his anger, as he unleashes his incisive temper on those who fail to meet his incredibly high standards. A few months ago, Adam Lashinsky had a fascinating article in Fortune describing life inside the sanctum of 1 Infinite Loop. The article begins with the following scene:

In the summer of 2008, when Apple launched the first version of its iPhone that worked on third-generation mobile networks, it also debuted MobileMe, an e-mail system that was supposed to provide the seamless synchronization features that corporate users love about their BlackBerry smartphones. MobileMe was a dud. Users complained about lost e-mails, and syncing was spotty at best. Though reviewers gushed over the new iPhone, they panned the MobileMe service.

Steve Jobs doesn’t tolerate duds. Shortly after the launch event, he summoned the MobileMe team, gathering them in the Town Hall auditorium in Building 4 of Apple’s campus, the venue the company uses for intimate product unveilings for journalists. According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together, and asked a simple question:

“Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, “So why the fuck doesn’t it do that?”

For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. “You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation,” he told them. “You should hate each other for having let each other down.” The public humiliation particularly infuriated Jobs. Walt Mossberg, the influential Wall Street Journal gadget columnist, had panned MobileMe. “Mossberg, our friend, is no longer writing good things about us,” Jobs said. On the spot, Jobs named a new executive to run the group.

Brutal, right? But those flashes of intolerant anger have always been an important part of Jobs’ management approach. He isn’t shy about the confrontation of failure and he doesn’t hold back negative feedback. He is blunt at all costs, a cultural habit that has permeated the company. Jonathan Ive, the lead designer at Apple, describes the tenor of group meetings as “brutally critical.”

At first glance, this cultivation of anger and criticism seems like a terrible idea. We assume that group collaboration requires niceties and affirmation, that we should always accentuate the positive. Just look at brainstorming, perhaps the most widely implemented creativity technique in the world. In the late 1940s, Alex Osborn, a founding partner of the advertising firm BBDO, outlined the virtues of brainstorming in a series of best-selling books. (He insisted that brainstorming could double the creative output of a group.) The most important principle, he said, was the total absence of criticism. According to Osborn, if people were worried about negative feedback, if they were concerned that their new ideas might get ridiculed by the group or the boss, then the brainstorming process would fail. “Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud,” Osborn wrote in Your Creative Power.

But maybe this is a big mistake. Maybe Steve Jobs was on to something when he refused to hide away his disappointment or displeasure. That, at least, is the takeaway of a new paper by Matthijs Baas, Carsten De Dreu, and Bernard Nijstad in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Their first experiment was straightforward, demonstrating that anger was better at promoting “unstructured thinking” on a creativity task, at least when compared to sadness or a neutral mood. The second experiment elicited anger directly in the subjects, before asking them to brainstorm on ways to improve the condition of the natural environment. Once again, people who felt angry generated more ideas. These ideas were also deemed more original, as they were thought of by less than 1 percent of the subjects.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that anger is a cure-all, or that nastiness is always wise. For one thing, anger is exhausting and “resource depleting.” Although angry subjects initially generated more ideas, their performance quickly declined. By the end of the idea-generation session, they were performing at roughly the same level as everyone else.

Why does anger have this effect on the imagination? I think the answer is still unclear – we’re only beginning to understand how moods influence cognition. But my own sense is that anger is deeply stimulating and energizing. It’s a burst of adrenaline that allows us to dig a little deeper, to get beyond the usual superficial free-associations. In contrast, when our mood is neutral or content, there is no incentive to embrace unfamiliar possibilities, to engage in mental risks or brash new concepts. (Why rock the boat?) The absence of criticism has kept us in the same place. And this is why anger makes it easier to think different.

The larger story here is about the surprising benefits of negative moods. While sad subjects in this new study underperformed on the creative generation task, previous research has demonstrated that sadness increases creative persistence, allowing subjects to work harder for extended periods of time. (In other words, melancholy is bad in the short-term, but good for the long haul.) Consider a recent paper, “The Dark Side of Creativity,” led by Modupe Akinola. The setup was very clever: she asked subjects to give a short speech about their dream job. The students were randomly assigned to either a positive or negative feedback condition, in which their speech was greeted with smiles and vertical nods (positive) or frowns and horizontal shakes (negative). After the speech was over, the subjects were given glue, paper and colored felt and told to make a collage using the materials. Professional artists then evaluated each collage according to various metrics of creativity.

Not surprisingly, the feedback impacted the mood of the subjects: Those who received smiles during their speeches reported feeling better than before, while frowns had the opposite effect. What’s interesting is what happened next: Subjects in the negative feedback condition created much prettier collages. Their angst led to better art. As Akinola notes, this is largely because the sadness improved their focus, and made them more likely to persist with the creative challenge:

Previous research has shown that negative feedback can lead to increased subsequent effort, as long as the task is not perceived as too difficult to be mastered (Locke & Latham, 1990). This is consistent with research indicating that when individuals experience negative affect in a situation that requires creativity, this negative affect may be interpreted as a signal that additional effort must be exerted for a creative solution to be discovered. In contrast, positive mood coupled with a situation that requires creativity may be an indication that the creative goal has been met, reducing the amount of effort exerted on the task.

To be honest, I find this data a little depressing. I’d rather have a brain that, as Osborn believed, always performs best when content and carefree. Unfortunately, that’s not the brain we’ve been stuck with. (Although don’t forget that watching stand-up comedy can improve performance on insight puzzles. Happiness isn’t completely useless.) I’m afraid the novelist J.M. Coetzee was at least partially right: “Always move towards pain when making art.”

Facial Recognition Website

2011-08-27T18:52:00.003+01:00

A new website called The Emotional Breakdown looks at a page and categorizes the facial expressions in its photos as happy, sad, angry, surprised or neutral.

When you type in the URL of other sites. A Boston Globe photo blog about the London Riots contains more expressions categorized as sadness rather than the anger one might expect.

Plugging in fashion blog The Sartorialist returns a graph dominated by neutral and angry expressions.

“It was really interesting how [Face.com] built a way to quantify facial expressions, which is something very qualitative,” Mangold says.

A bracelet that can save your life

2011-08-20T21:05:00.001+01:00

Jawbone introduced the UP, an electronic bracelet clearly born of the company's design DNA. About the size of a Livestrong band, the UP serves users 24/7, using sophisticated sensors to track movement and sleeping patterns. This data will then be relayed to an app, accessible on phones, tablets and computers, in which users can type in the nutritional data of their diet. Serving as a diary of your daily activity, the app becomes a life coach of sorts, providing helpful suggestions tailored to your diet, exercise and sleeping patterns.

http://www.jawbone.com/?noredirect=true

Best social tool according to target

2011-08-20T19:47:00.003+01:00

Today’s businesses have many different ways to communicate with customers using social media tools. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and email can help build engagement, brand awareness, and generate sales. However, depending on your message and desired outcome, one may be more effective than another. Understanding which to use when will help make your social media efforts successful.