Dec 28, 2007
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Loading ...Over at my personal blog, I stated that if 2007 was the year of social media, that 2008 would be the year of mobile media. I was fortunate to have the post get lifted over at places like Adweek and a few prominent blogs—but in each write-up, while they played up the mobile device part of it, no one focused on this nugget which was buried in the post.
“The hub and spoke model of the Web where all roads lead to Rome.com is becoming obsolete.”
Dec 21, 2007
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...At this time of year, agencies everywhere like to thank clients for their patronage. Critical Mass is no different. What’s different this year is how we’re doing it.
We decided to take the money normally dedicated to the usual stuff and donate it to the One Laptop Per Child Project on the behalf of our clients. It will go to purchasing XO Laptops for 100 children in developing nations. Instead of the bottle of wine or the chocolates, our clients will receive their own XO under the Buy One Get One Free Program.
Dan Evans, our President of Experience Design and long time CM’er, agreed to answer three quick questions about the importance of the XO Laptop, the idea of supporting the project and whether we’ll be seeing one at Critical Mass soon.
We’re ten days from another year-end. Another 365 days have passed since this time last year. That’s 8760 hours. We’re talking 525,600 minutes of procrastination. But I’m not talking about your typical New Year’s Resolutions. Not to-do’s like losing weight. Or exercising. Or reaching out to old friends. Or reading a new book.
No, I’m thinking about resolutions around improving customer experiences. How do we work differently? Think differently? Act differently? How do we lead clients differently? And how much of a difference can we have in the customer experience?
“Twitter is a big waste of time”
This is one of the most common criticisms I see of the multichannel Web 2.0 service known as Twitter. And the author of the quote who’s name I can’t remember is quite right. Twitter is a huge waste of time, but then again—so is the internet.
Think about it. Out of all the time you spend “surfing” the Web, how much of that time do you spend in highly productive transactions where you are only concerned with getting from point A to point B? In contrast, how much time do you spend online where you ended up somewhere that you may not have intended, and realized you just invested a sizable chunk of your time doing it? The Web, by definition is a sticky place, woven from millions of connections which can be accessed in as little time as it takes for your finger to reach out and click on something. It’s a non-linear paradise filled with endless detours.
When I started this thread about green brands earlier this year, I was certain it was a fleeting fad. So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
For example, Critical Mass has a few projects next year that will involve some form of environmental component. We’ve also just completed a pitch focused on corporate social responsibility and the environment. It’s clear that “green” is on the minds of our clients, both current and potential.
But when I first saw this news, it made me ask whether consumers really care about green? Apparently not. Well, maybe. Uh, not sure yet.
Dec 14, 2007
(3 votes) Loading ...Yesterday, we posted a new part to Rolex.com: the ability to find a local Authorised Rolex Dealer. This on its own is hardly breaking any new ground — it’s a fairly routine piece of functionality. To help you find your local dealer, we provided a map — a Google Map.
Those of you who know the two technologies are probably now scratching your heads. Google Maps. Flash. Aren’t they incompatible?
Not any more.
Do you remember the early days of fantasy football? It was mostly reserved for geeks who poured over research in specialty magazines with a ruler and a pencil. I think it is fair to say that times have changed. There is still a legion of geeks, but it has expanded to almost anyone who follows the sport, yours truly included. The season kicks off with a draft where these fans sit around someone’s basement table drinking beers and debating just how good Stephen Jackson is (very disappointing season) and if Peyton Manning is worth taking in the first round (he is not). The big difference, however, is that the fans of today have disposable income. And where there is disposable income brands are sure to follow.
Now that Facebook’s Beacon advertising platform has (rightfully) bowed to the will of their customer base, news arrives that professional social network LinkedIn is on the cusp of launching a similar program. Currently bearing the verbose name LinkedIn Intelligent Application Platform (say that three times fast!), LiIAP will allow developers to build applications that run inside a LinkedIn account using the OpenSocial API as well allowing LinkedIn users to extract their profile data and distribute it as they see fit. Furthermore, LinkedIn’s data will be pulled into Business Week online, helping to contextualize the content with your network. Going even further, the popular applications that are designed for LinkedIn can be made into widgets which users can then place in any other social network (hint, hint) or site you choose.
These days there is a lot of discussion about “Content is King.”The digitization of content is well underway - from huge databases to books, from brand information to commerce catalogs, blogs, video and all forms of research content. Publishers, brands, agencies and even Hollywood are waxing philosophical about story telling. They’re developing engaging content. Shooting web videos. And they’re inviting more and more user generated content into the equation. But what’s still missing is content with deeper context.If in fact content is king, then context is the kingdom. (more…)
OK, deep breath. Adage recently published an article which asserted that “interactive agencies have not yet proven they have the capability to manage brand strategy.“ On top of that Forrester released their first Marketing Wave report which we were included in. Long and short of it—we didn’t do as well as we would have liked. But aside from us, as the related Adage article boldly states, digital shops have much to do (so do all agencies in my opinion). Guess what? I agree—digital agencies have our work cut out for us. But I’m not ready to leave the digital world—in fact, there is no other industry I would want to be working in right now. For me—priority #1 is working with people who “get it”. And so because of this, I feel compelled to lay out what I think digital agencies must do in order to lead brands in an increasingly fragmented, digital world…
