Video Entertainment 8 Hours a Day

Did you see today's headline of eMarketer?  Research is indicating that Internet users in the US spend over 6 hours a day on video entertainment, and in 5 years they will be spending 8 hours per day.   That's a third of the day, the same amount of time many consider to be a good night's sleep.

As a marketer focused on the interactive space, recent articles and buzz over the growth of online video leads to excitement as there is tremendous opportunity.  My perception of this shift is positive given my position.  Years ago I worked in the more traditional space focused on print and broadcast, when I would have perhaps viewed such shift as a liability. 

Even so, it seems unfathomable that I personally could spend a third of my day engaging with online video entertainment.  Perhaps if I were still sweet 16, or if I were retired.  I guess they could be using the term "video entertainment" loosely and that some of those 8 hours in front of the computer are for educational purposes.   I kind of like to think the society of Internet users maintains such level of integrity.

Take a look on top articles for June 25, at www.emarketer.com

Diapers & Laptops & iPhones...Oh My!

It's no question that as technology skyrockets, so does its use among young people. How young is too young? Some parents these days are clueless as to when and how to provide their children with technology.

Take a read. It's a really interesting analysis (broken down by child age groups) on an issue with no clear-cut answer.

Vote for the next Wegmens WPOP

Wegmens is soliciting the help of its shoppers to vote on the next flavor of its private label CSD line "WPOP". As incentive, shoppers can win from a variety of prizes (patio packages, wii consoles, etc.) The promotion is featured on-pack and linked to a micro-site off wegmens.com. One of the first private label promotions I've seen. Its also advanced given the unique codes on packgaing linked to the promotional microsite.

http://www.wegmansvoteandwin.com/

Go2Pets - Out and About with Spot

Purina has teamed with go2® to provide dog owners with local information right to their cell phone including location of off-leash parks, pet friendly accommodations, camping, airlines, fun places, kennels, vets, etc..

http://www.go2.com/webbrowser/indexPetsLanding.cfm

Gas Price Saver Widget

Great Widget that features lowest gas prices in your area. Widget that saves your money!

Is Shorter Still Better When It Comes to Subject Lines?

Not according to a new study of over 225 MM emails and 660 subject lines done by Dela Quist, CEO of London shop Alchemy Worx. So what's the new magic number?

What is the optimal number of characters? Take a guess:

A) 50

B) 60

C) 70
D) 80

According to this study, if you chose A and D, you are correct. A 50 character subject line with a strong offer, or an 80 character line with an enticement are the two winners by a long shot. Open rates decrease significantly in the 60 - 70 range!

Check out the full article to ready the background and rationale! Looks like we might have a good reason to go a little longer!

Browser Wars 08

Over the next several months, both Firefox and MS Internet Explorer will release new, feature rich versions, according to this article in the NY Times.  Expected advances will include tools like Firefox 3.0's "Awesome Bar" that will provide smart search results based on past browser history, and IE 8.0's planned content sharing and dynamic content updating features, the new browser field looks like it will provide users all sorts of new useful features.

the times surmises that this renewed focus on the browser foreshadows a time in the not too distant future when all a computer really needs is a browser and a broadband internet connection, with most all information and applications like word processing and spreadsheets help on the web. This future has been developing right before our eyes with the advent of tools like Google documents, and now browsers are starting to bet that this type of server-side computing is going to start to pick up steam.

it's about time

Finally, Facebook will be undergoing "drastic" changes in the next month or so. To quote this article, "Profile pages are getting a total makeover." It looks like the clutter is being put where it belongs: in FOUR separate tabs. The idea is to clean up and simplify users' profiles, allowing for more control (something of which Facebookers were likely fearing loss).

And we all know what this means: those not-relevant-to-life, malfunctioning, annoying applications will become...LESS visible! (They will reside in their own tab.) It's believed that the more "meaningful" applications will shine brighter under the spotlight (ala the new-and-improved mini-feed feature).

I truly hope these changes bring about nothing but success. The clutter, similar to many tacky (to say the least) MySpace profiles, is soon to incur the wrath of...organization? What a concept!

And as a reminder, MySpace is precisely what I moved AWAY from.

Micro blogging with PhoneZap!

If you haven't already Jailbroke your iPhone, this may be the best reason to do so. Microblogging with PhoneZap! Snap a photo, add some copy and post it to phonezap.com. It's an easy way to have fun and share cool times. What's great is that there are ways to share ringtones too, how cool. Yet another social network, but this one may stick around and take off. Check out PhoneZap.com

Social Design Best Practices - OpenSocial - Google Code

Article has 9 good best practice principles for developing social applications:

If you're new to developing social applications, it can be difficult to immediately grasp how good
applications facilitate fun and meaningful social experiences. To accelerate your learning, we've come up with a list of a few light-hearted recommendations around building good social applications. Not all of these "best practices" are necessary in every case, but they might spark thoughts about finding new users, keeping old ones, and leveraging the social graph for fresh content and viral spread.....

Social Design Best Practices - OpenSocial - Google Code

Go Go Gadget Netflix

Netflix is contunuing to defend their holding in the marketplace against Blockbuster and cheap downloads with the announcement of a new device - a set-top box through which movies can be streamed from your online Netflix account conveniently to your TV. There seem to be a few bugs left to work out, and it isn't technically "free" (box plus you need to maintain an online account with netflix), but it certainly expands access for those die-hard movie buffs.

Good for netflix, bad for USPS? Any Netflix loyals out there?

Should YouTubers Heed this Advice?

Found today on the YouTube.com homepage. Take it as you will--for entertainment purposes or solid guidance on how to successfully maintain your posted videos.

He does make a COUPLE valid points, but I won't spoil it...Have a watch.

and would you like to scan your iphone, sir?

Interesting piece at Mashable about a service that allows barcodes to be read by mobile devices. It's called Scanlife, and it has lots of potential as a seriously cool way for brands to capture data and promote special offers.

Although grandma will still want to clip coupons for the foreseeable future, this is where the future of retail promotions is going.

Brand Resuscitation

The New York Times reports that a company called River West in Chicago has begun quietly buying up brand names of once beloved products. Names like Brim ("fill it to the rim with Brim!"), Underalls, and Quisp cereal are starting to make a come back on a store shelf near you. 

This strategy is based on the insight that just because a $40BB company like Unilever or Anheuser-Busch can't sustain a smaller brand like Nuprin or Eagle Snacks doesn't mean that there isn.t still lingering brand equity in the market place that can be tapped to create a resuscitated brand presence. 

In fact, River West did research that showed, for instance, that Brim coffee still has over 90% aided awareness in the market despite being off shelves for over a decade.

Get more from mobile marketing - DMNews

Interesting article on Mobile applications featured in DM News from the perspective of a few thoguht leaders in the space (ShopLocal, StudioCom, Store Xperience, Slifter)

Get more from mobile marketing - DMNews

Walk the Talk

Interesting Ad Week article on Mobile Word of Mouth featuring Google Android open source platform which will open up to developers to create a variety new applications.

Walk the Talk

NY1: Technology

NY1: Technology

There are some relatively-new high-tech tools available that combine shopping online with shopping offline that could have cut down on the amount of time you spent waiting in line this past holiday season.

Grocery Retailers rethink merchandising

Everyone knows that when you go to the grocery store, the bread in on the left, the produce is on the right, the meat is in the back, and you are going to do a loop in one direction or another, with occasional forays into the center for essential items like cereal. The best a CPG marketer can hope for is an end-aisle display to have their product featured within the perimeter "racetrack" itself.

Piggly wiggly has opened up an experimental format in Myrtle Beach, SC that takes that standard approach and turns it inside out, organizing products in what they claim is a more logical pattern. This includes things like placing the cereal next to the milk and putting frozen corn near fresh corn.

Will it work, or will it confuse the hell out of people who have been shopping grocery the same way for decades? Only time will tell.

Digital Carding

In the UK, 10% of kids age 12-15 admit to buying their own alcoholic beverages at a shop. This rising trend has led one chain to test out facial recognition software that will indicate if a buyer seems to have the facial characteristics of someone old enough to be buying alcohol. Is this a trend we can imagine coming to the US anytime soon? Beyond the privacy issues, there is a legal question as to the validity of this type of random criteria mapping. 

It does however demonstrate how digital tools are coming to the retail environment in ways that help the store owner, and sometimes, the customer.