Internet Speak in Essays? IDK! Common Sense?

Perhaps we shouldn't ROFLMAO about this one, because it's kind of sad. (Or can we!?) As of late, teachers are finding emoticons and acronyms, popular in instant messaging and emails, seeping their way into classroom assignments. The line between formal and informal writing is beginning to appear a bit hazy to a quarter of the teens surveyed in the study.

This issue allows for more forceful lesson-planning going forward. One research specialist declares, "It's a teachable moment...If you find that in a child's or student's writing, that's an opportunity to address the differences between formal and informal writing. They learn to make the distinction ... just as they learn not to use slang terms in formal writing."

What I see here is a lack of common sense. According to the laws of grammar, every sentence begins with a capital letter. Every sentence ends with a period. :-) is not a word, and esoteric (well, to some) acronyms are out of place in formal classroom assignments. Why can't this concept be grasped and applied accordingly? Some get it, some don't. And it seems the rest...just feign ignorance or give into laziness.

Thoughts?

Noise to the Ears: When Enough is Enough

Several posts ago, we were on the topic of ...noise. While London's use of LED decibel meters for up-to-the-minute noise monitoring may be brilliant, the Mosquito by Santel is a stretch. And now, it's causing uproar. (As a side note, it was sold under the North American company name "Kids Be Gone".)

Essentially, it's a device to ward off teens and those in their early 20's from places they shouldn't be loitering. How? By giving off high-pitched (that's an understatement), ear-damaging (another understatement) frequency waves similar to, "fingernails dragged across a chalkboard or a pesky mosquito buzzing in your ear." Come on, now. No one can argue that ear drums should not be tampered with to this extent. Not only that, but it's just a poor way of dealing with annoying teens.

While some areas admit that the Mosquito does its job in irritating teens to the point of shoo-ing them away, other cities have banned it or are in the process. As predicted, it's becoming a huge invasion of private property, echoing its way into sidewalks and apartment complexes.

And I couldn't agree more....

"There is a significant problem with giving people a tool like this and empowering the public to take over the tasks of law enforcement...It can certainly be used in a way that's inappropriate, and without a doubt, it will be."

simple is good

No high budget, 3d-rendered, overly scripted, supermodel-laden campaigning necessary.

Just a sharpie and some imagination.

After seeing just how bad pharma advertising can be, this Zyrtec street campaign is quite refreshing.

Keep the banana hammock away from the banana stand

Very summer. Very European. Very funny.

South Korea's iPhone "Contender"...or is It?

Presenting my technological finding from last week's trip to Seoul, SK!

The 3-inch touchscreen LG LH2300 launched late March, and became readily available in the Korean market early this month. If it makes its way stateside, will it outperform the capabilities of our beloved iPhone?

As the article states, some of its primary features are:

-800×480 pixel widescreen resolution

-direct access to main internet portals

-3MP camera (auto-focus, face recognition, anti-shake)

-digital T.V.

-bluetooth 2.0 connectivity

It's still a bit early on to determine whether this breakthrough will triumph over Apple's brainchild, but let's be on the lookout for user reviews in the months to come and keep it on the brain.

Obama sells out?

It's everywhere in the blogosphere today, but it's nowhere in the press that i've seen. It's the bubbling sponsor-gate the world witnessed as Barack Obama gave his mini-concession speech after yesterday's loss to Hillary in the PA primary. Is it paid endorsement? is it Guerilla marketing? is it whack coincidence? The blogosphere is divided. What do you think? 

I will point out that none of the t-shirts in question had a URL on them. i'm imagining a "secret" url tied to some underground group either in support of or against obama. that would have been interesting to behold. And to ponder.

Google gone green

Subtlety be damned, Google made quite the splash with their melting iceberg logo during last year's Earth Day.

Well, grab yourself a tall cup of sustainable shade-grown coffee and slip into a pair of organic hemp slippers. This year - while it's yet to be seen what they can stir up with this year's logo - Google has launched a mash-up of Google Maps and YouTube where users can share their planet-friendly achievements with the rest of the Google Earth.

The end goal, to “honor Earth Day and combat global climate change".

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should

Please, no more lame YouTube video contests. If you aren't already convinced they are more often than not a waste of time, behold the pinnacle of user generated video voting idiocy:



Ready to enter and win big?

Not so fast! First, make sure you're not in one of the states where the contest is void in.

Ready? Hold your horses there! You must have a house listed with Century 21. Oh yeah, and your agent must be in the video too.

What better way to promote your brand than to patronize your current customers and bore the snot out of anyone who happens to come across your bandwidth-wasting content?

The Sound of (Not) Sucking

Using live LED decibel meters, AEG-Electrolux's brilliant new outdoor campaign lets consumers know just how noisy things are in a world where you can buy quiet washing machines.

The website gives real-time decibel ratings for the billboards. At the moment, London resembles their appliances the least.

Now, I wonder if the same could be implied by their vacuum machines.

Measuring a social media "addict"

Max Freiert has dug up some statistics showing what sites MySpace, Facebook and Twitter "addicts" are more likely to view.

I assume "addict" translates to "heavy user" in this case.

His findings are telling - if not shallow:

- MySpace addicts are somewhat vain – focusing heavily on establishing and fine tuning their online personas by customization of their personal profiles
- Facebook addicts focus more on engagement – interacting with applications, music and people both on and off the platform
- Twitter addicts are most interested in fostering communication and exploration – sites that allow a user to understand what their contacts are doing, provide a platform for content discovery and encourage users to actively participate are the most likely places to find hardcore twitterers.

Twitter and visualizing your social networks

Ok, most of us have fun with twitter, but this makes it that much cooler. Twittervision 3d let's you experience a globe with random twitters from people around the world. It's really interesting in that it really shows you the vastness of both twitter and also the web in general. If you like that, then there is also a Facebook app that seems pretty sweet too, it's basically a mash-up between twitter and google maps. It's all about visualizing your social network

Then there is the site called ... Twitter Browser. If you want to visualize your network in more of a site map view, this the place to go (actually even if you don't you should still check this out.)

"No Store", a real world woot?

Like a real world woot.com. It’s an interesting concept for a train station, see below from Trendhunter.

"The NoStore store is a “recyclable” retail space located in Shanghai’s Metro that offers artists retail space for just one week. As a result, the contents and theme of the store change every week. The concept is dynamic and also provides artisans with an accessible outlet for their unique products. The store typically features items like hand-painted T-shirts and socks-turned into dolls.

From the introduction to the concept, NoStore clearly tries to attract Metro commuting office ladies who only have 5 minutes to spend in the shop.

It promises surprise treasures to be discovered within the four square meters shop space, and at an afforable price. Art made accessible. This is yet a very new happening. There are plans to roll out the concept in more Metro stations."


Read this article here at Trendhunter

Suds take over Miami.

Sony using Miami like overflowing washing machine as the backdrop for a commercial for Sony's digital cameras. It must have been a blast to see live. More spots here on you tube.

Video ads on, yes... Vending machines

And you though online banners got ignored.

Inspiring Photography

I find photography very inspiring. It drives so much of what we do and say in the world of advertising and marketing. A friend of our marketing family shoots photography on the side and i was really inspired by it.

Take a look it's like a mini vacation.

Does this Barcode Look Familiar?

Just about a month ago, Mags wrote a post about QR codes... which was followed by the idea of adding people to your facebook via codes printed on tee's... and so on and so forth. The timing of that post was certainly on the early adopter end of things.

Exactly one month later, City Search has announced that it will be partnering with Scanbuy to get users information through a trial program with 500 local businesses in San Francisco. These businesses (mostly restaurants) will be placing a scannable bar code outside their location or on billboards which users will "scan" with their camera enabled mobile phones. Via a downloadable application, Citysearch will serve up the mobile version of the Citysearch page, offering users information, promotions and user reviews.

The interesting point about this new technology is that some see this as a value ad to current ad spend on Citysearch - that without any additional spend, they will have potential customers milling around outside the business snapping pictures! The golden egg here will be to see if this can actually tie into overall ROI...

Check out the full scoop!

Pilot launched today: Meet Deepak Ananthapadmanabha from MOJO HD.

Mojo HD launched a new pilot online today called The Circuit. In short, I laughed out loud a few times which in todays online competitive front, is definitely a good thing.

So, it's tech news (which i find interesting) in a humorous wrapper. It's sort of like the Daily Show meets Talk Soup which isn't a problem at all for me, I mean there is plenty of room in my life for people who make me laugh!

Here is a place where I can be exposed to tech news in a creative form, while getting a laungh. I'll all over it. Meet Deepak Ananthapadmanabha

What do we think of NetPromoter scores?

In a recent discussion with a client brand manager, the following question came up. "How do we track or develop a metric for posts online about our newly launched product?"

A number of national brands use Net Promoter Score to find out how likely an existing customer would be willing to recommend this product to another potential customer. NPS can be helpful in establishing benchmarks for ongoing eCRM efforts, but has it been too simplified to be useful?

Then I found this Satmetrix report was published discussing benchmarks across four different industries.

Can a lift in NPS demonstrate direct lift in sales? Please discuss.

Damn Funny.

Thanks BillAKABill for reminding us about this great TV Spot from 1983. It's as funny today as ever. Goes to show you how great work can be timeless.

Emergency Alert Texts: FCC Approved

Mobile owners will soon receive emergency alert text messages under the following circumstances:

1. A disaster that could jeopardize the health and safety of Americans, such as a terrorist attack; these would trigger a national alert from the president of the United States
2. Imminent or ongoing threats such as hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes
3. Child abductions or Amber alerts.

If you have T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, or AT&T you'll be able to participate. This feature is particularly useful for frequent travelers who don't always have a laptop or television handy, or a radio turned on. What's even more beneficial: this feature will cater to those with disabilities; carriers will be required to use vibration or other distinct sounds to ensure everyone receives alerts.

Thoughts?