Demo of the sixth sense. TED.

This is amazing, how interactive meets, retail, shopper marketing and the physical world. This demo shows how we may be gathering information, make decisions and interacting in the future, not to mention the it's the tip of the iceberg for usability design. fascinating!

Mobile Couponing Tipping Point?

To date, other than Cellfire, success in Mobile couponing has been somewhat limited due to inability of checkout scanner to read bar codes on phones. The lack of this functionality has put a burden on retail compliance because of complexity created for cashiers, sandwich makers, etc. without a scannable bar code.

A new iPhone App, called Cardstar, may be just be a game changer in mobile couponing – The App is the first we've see where a UPC Code can be created on a phone and scanned at checkout (handheld scanner only) at major retailers.

It is being marketed as a loyalty card manager where you no longer need to carry your grocery loyalty cards with you once you have loaded them to your phone.

We tested it and it worked at a CVS store & Petco, but in reading the reviews there seem to be many instances where it does not. The CardStar App is available at the App store.

Definitely something worth watching!

Zinio - an online library

A former colleague is now at Zinio so I decided to check it out, zinio.com. Basically it's all the magazines I have on my coffee table, online. They even have comic books.

Something cool, you can rip out a page from your favorite digital magazine, and post it. Just go to zinio.com and search for your favorite magazine or book or article, click on “inside” and the magazine or book will open up, find the page you want to rip out. Click on + and select where you want to post the page. Post away.

The Future of Marketing... What is Your Prediction?

An article on the future of marketing was published today on Talent Zoo, written by the head of planning at Modernista!, Gareth Kay. Gareth is well published, and reading up on his opinion is easy (just do a google search and related content goes pages deep). In this article, he predicts that marketing will be headed in the the following direction:

1. Brands will be built on cultural and social missions, not commercial propositions

2. Marketing will be about what you do, not what you say

3. Lots of little ideas, not one big idea

4. People first

But his prediction for the future came up against some criticism.... Take a look for yourself, and post a comment! Would love to know what you think - are you a believer? Or do you have a better crystal ball?

Twitter.com/catapult_mktg

Our foray into social media continues. First, we brought you Marketing Ballista, our very happening blog about all things marketing. Thank you for visiting. :)

Our latest experiment is proving to just as successful, and almost overnight. We have  started a Catapult Marketing “Twitter feed” less than 2 weeks ago, and already we have a nice initial following to our thought leadership, published at least several times a day.

See for yourself at http://www.twitter.com/catapult_mktg, our new home on Twitter.com. Our followers, attracted with no marketing or announcement on our part, includes the Instore Marketing Institute, various thought leaders in the social media space, and several clients

What is Twitter you ask? It’s a “Micro-blogging” service where one can publish their thoughts to anyone who cares to “follow” them, but only in 140 character bursts. You can only publish to your “Feed”, but you can read anyone else’s who you choose to follow or visit. It makes for very compact, easy to digest reading, that’s for sure. Ashton Kutcher twitters, with over 1.5 million followers (The current leader). So does the Whitehouse, Jet Blue, The NY Times, Martha Stewart, Shaquille O’Neil, Miley Cyrus, Anderson Cooper, David Gregory, Oprah, and a press agent posting for Britney Spears, as well as millions of others around the world, both famous, hoping to be famous, corporate/marketers, and mostly, ordinary people like me (twitter.com/hewsonb). For a fun list of interesting folks to follow if you’re just getting started, see http://twitter.com/invitations/suggestions

If you’ve never been to twitter.com and are afraid of getting sucked into some giant ponzi scheme-like vortex, just visit http:www/twitter.com/catapult_mktg to get a gentle introduction in a familiar environment. You don’t need to register or log on to view our feed.

If, when I say “twitter”, you hear the trombone voice of charlie brown’s teacher, but want to start an understanding of this growing phenomenon, please see the link below as a pretty good quick executive summary of who and how twitter is being used most successfully. http://mashable.com/2009/04/20/twitter-strategy/

If you already have a Twitter account and twitter regularly (I know there are more than a few of you out there who do, come on, admit it!), please add “catapult_mktg” to your “Follow” list, and we’ll of course return the favor and retweet you as often as we think you won’t offend our delicate sensibilities. :)  

Twitering

As marketers and brands are still looking for ways to effectively utilize Facebook, another social network is taking hold in a big way. It’s Twitter. You’ve seen it in the newspapers, you’ve heard people talking about it and even the evening news is feeding parts of their discussions by utilizing Twitter.

For a brand it can be a bit overwhelming, Twittering, tweeple, tweets, what is a brand to do? It’s intriguing though; there is a lure here for many marketers and brands alike. Think about how amazing is it for a brand to have all these followers that hang on every word said? How could you go wrong?

Well, the answer is not that black and white. The big question you face is, does your brand need an active and daily dialogue with customers? Does it have enough to say on a regular basis? Can your brand even support that sort of dialogue and is it in your brands nature to do so? Twitter is not the equivalent of a dry corporate website it is VERY different. Twitter has the potential to be a lot more personal if used correctly.

Brands that have spent a lot of time successfully developing their brand personality certainly may have an easier time at it. Look at Jet Blue with 240,000+ followers. This brand dialogue didn’t start on Twitter, Jet blue simply uses Twitter as another natural extension of their brand and customers are eating it up. For the right brand under the right circumstances Twitter is a low cost way to communicate effectively. Indeed, there is massive potential to build brand equity and to keep fans and followers informed, but choose wisely and understand the hills and valleys before you start tweeting.

Mini, fun video.

Well at least they are poking fun at themselves here, I mean where else is there to really go?

Don't miss the bus with this.

What a great outdoor interactive display for Cadburry Eggs. This bus stop display is a touch screen game, how cool. Bringing this level of interaction outdoors or in store is a great way to engage, educate and entertain customers and shoppers alike.... or even people who ride the bus.




Marketing Ballista

1989: First Cell Phone Commercial

I find this pretty humorous and ironic overall. Humorous because, well, it's a huge clunky thing. The idea of owning one of those is inconceivable to me (and probably the rest of my generation). Ironic because driving while talking is prohibited these days. It's pretty much automobile-centric. Times have certainly changed.

Great NYTimes article

Very creative! Sometimes it's nice to see something abstract and imaginative.


I LEGO N.Y.

Is Dell Skating on "Thin" Ice?

The skinny on the skinny.

It's sleek, sexy, thin...just like the MacBook Air, "with its guts wedged into a single piece of aluminum." It's called the Adamo and it's a whole pound heavier than the Air. It's also slower and more expensive.

To be frank, I'm not so sure about this. According to the article, the MacBook Air wasn't as well received as anticipated. So, what can Dell do that Apple can't? Here's some "insight":

”While a premium computing experience was assumed for Adamo, the intent was for people to see, touch and explore Adamo and be rewarded by the select materials and craftsmanship you would expect in a fine watch.”

A fine watch? Seems like a weak comparison to me that only focuses on the clean, sleek design. I guess "time will tell" whether or not this is an invention gone wrong.

Cut, Copy and Paste!

Strangely enough, I asked myself the other day, "Why can't I copy and paste a line of text on my iPhone?" The simple act of cutting, copying and pasting is nothing new, so what's the holdup, Apple? Apparently, it's proven difficult to execute in a secure and user-friendly manner.

Well, all you iPhone and iPod Touch users might be happy to know that this capability the cut/copy/paste functionality is among the several software upgrades available this summer.

Like any other technological device, there's always room for improvement. I'm hoping that, sooner rather than later, the iPhone will become equipped with video capabilities. (I honestly haven't looked into the reasoning behind that one, but always thought it would be a nice-to-have.)

As an aside, the software upgrade is free for iPhone users and around ten bucks for those with the iPod Touch.

let's go for a drink!

A couple months old, but...

Goldstar Beer puts a whole new twist on, "let's go for a drink." Check it out. Or, does it?

This simple, flow-chart-style ad campaign is admittedly hilarious (well, to most) but perhaps a bit sexist. (The tagline is, "Thank god you're a man.") It's safe to say you can take a look at it and think, "enough said."

The perfect ad to read while sitting on a bar toilet inebriated (apparently, bathroom stalls were the main display location).

It really appears to have angered some reviewers, but that just makes it all the more interesting! Dare I ask, "Let's go for a drink?" Eek.

NFL Fantasy Files: The Best Players

I'm not sure about the history of this, but the special effects are great. Clearly this is Reebok sponsored, I could not find a supporting site, but this video has over 7 million views. Fun stuff.

If They Don't Hear It, Say It Louder...

... and if don't see it, MAKE IT BIGGER! That's the latest initiative from the Online Publishers Association in an attempt to combat desensitivity to online banner ads. In an effort to maintain an evolution in online advertising, and create new ways for agencies to integrate a brand's experience with more interactivity, three new online ad units have been introduced. These ad units will be available through nearly two dozen OPA participating members including New York Times, MSNBC.com, MTV Networks and Wall Street Journal, whose combined reach is over 108.3 million unique visitors (that's 66% of the total US internet audience).

Read on to get the skinny on the creative objectives of this initiative and all the deets on the new creative units that will be available in early July!

re: iPhone Forrester Study

A recent Forrester study supports the previous post. iPhone apps ranked highest for web browsing for convenience by on the go consumers followed by other Mobile apps, with mobile web surfing ranking at the bottom.

500MM Apps downloaded and rapdily counting.

Looking forward to the Blackberry App World!

iPhone has huge mobile browsing saturation

This doesn't come as much surprise. After all, the iPhone was the first mobile web browser that gave users the Internet in full (albeit Flashless), pinchable form. Arguably, it still is the best game in town. At least until the Palm Pre releases.

66% is a big number. And makes it even more important to think about iPhone-friendly sites as a part of a bigger interactive strategy.

Now where's that Flash anyway, Apple?

Intel: Programmable Matter is in the future.

I know this blog isn't necessarily "popular mechanics", but this technology really just makes me realize what dramatic changes that we and especially our kids will see in the future. Here is a technology that is 20-40 years in the future, but the ground is being broken today by Intel and others.

It's really interesting to imagine how something like programmable matter could affect the products we buy, how we sell, how we demonstrate usage, how a single product might be customizable to fit your needs in a way few of us could imaine. There are several articles out there on this subject. it's nice to dream.

Q&A: Why Best Practices Matter in Shopper Marketing

Nice Q&A on the creation of the shopper insight council.

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/shopper-marketing/e3i99cfa85eeeab5b040544f46ec5714cad

.................
Sent from my iPhone

Augmented Reality from GE.

Ok, this actually gave me the chills, which really doesn't happen too often. It's a really imaginative evolution of 3D online. It's most likely a combination of Papervision 3D and as you can see the use of a QR code (of sorts).

Regardless of the technology used, this is really a show stopper. Print out the QR-ish code and hold it up to the screen and a 3D world erupts on screen, mapped to the image on the paper - Amazing! The marketing and in-store opportunities for something like this could be HUGE. I'll definitely be looking more into this.


Try it out for yourself