Author Archives: admin

The State of the Union Gets Social

|

Social media that is.  Many of us who saw the State of the Union address last night probably did so by gathering around the television to see what our nation’s leader had to say.  That seems pretty normal.  But millions of Americans also gathered on social media sites to watch the event, offer up their opinions, or even take part in question and answer sessions.

On the C-Span Facebook page they offered a live video-feed of the address.  PBS also did the same thing though Ustream.  Watching online gave viewers the ability to comment and interact with each other based on what our President had to say.

The White House website even added some value to the State of the Union Address. Continue reading →

Can Less Be More For Your Website?

|

Websites are a delicate creature.  You want to engage your customers but not overwhelm them.  You want to give them information about your products or services but you don’t want to bore them with details.  You want to make things easily accessible but not clutter your home page.  Before you make changes to your current site here are a few ideas to keep in mind. Continue reading →

Google’s Retaliation on Groupon?

|

One thing is certain; Google will always be in the news.  Today Google is buzzing for a few reasons but one grabbing most headlines is co-founder Larry Page will be taking over as CEO. Eric Schmidt the current CEO is stepping down to a new role as Executive Chairman as he will oversee the company’s expansions abroad.  Larry Page had already been the company’s CEO more than a decade ago.  He led the company when they grew from two employees to 200, and now they have over 20,000 worldwide.

While this may garner a great deal of attention, Google was also seen in other headlines Continue reading →

Who are your brand loyalists and what do they do for you?

|

Let’s take a look at Apple.  Everyone knows they have one of the largest loyal fan bases across the globe.  Think about it.  Just about every product they launch, people will be waiting in line hours before the release date.  We saw this happen most recently with the iPad but also with the iPhone and various iPods.  These people who are always itching for the latest release are a company’s brand loyalists.  They are the ones waiting outside in the rain before your store opens or the ones always interested in new products, company news, or just frequent customers.

How can you distinguish your loyal customers from the average one?  Often times the loyal customers will Continue reading →

Watson: A Jeopardy Champion’s Kryptonite

|

Have you seen the latest IBM commercial?  If not, they talk about Watson, the newest member of the IBM team…sort of.  Watson is a robot computer who recently won a practice round as he took on two of the top Jeopardy champions in history.  Like a human, Watson is programmed to read the questions, process the information, and press a button to signal that he is ready to answer the question.  He might be a Jeopardy Machine! (Pun intended)

Ken Jennings, who won 74 games in a row, and Brad Rutter who won the most money in Jeopardy history suffered defeat to Watson yesterday.  During a practice round, Watson earned Continue reading →

What if Blogging had Laws and Regulations? In Saudi Arabia, it does.

|

What is one of the greatest things about America?  Hamburgers and Fries? Baseball?  Well, yes and yes, but the one thing the US takes pride in is our freedom of speech.  In today’s world, there are limitless ways for your voice to be heard.  You can update your status on Facebook, squeeze your thoughts in 140 characters on Twitter, wear a t-shirt, march near the white-house lawn, and of course like some of us, you can write a blog.

Many people create blogs to express their thoughts whether it’s about their business, our government, religion, or just about our daily encounters in life.  It is a way to connect with someone and engage in conversation.  Imagine if Continue reading →

The NFL Negotiations:Impacting Industries Across the US

|

By now I’m sure most of you have heard something about the potential lockout in the NFL next year.  Yes I know our Ravens just won a huge game yesterday and we are already looking into next year, but next year can have some huge implications for businesses around the country.

Thanks to NFL games, many businesses can keep busy during what would typically be a slow time of year.  The big deal about the lockout is the NFL Commissioner and executives want a longer season and limiting salaries for rookies, among other things.  The NFL Players Association worries that adding two more games will put their health into jeopardy when there are already investigations going on about the safety of the game with the recent concussions.  To put it plain and simple, if the two sides cannot Continue reading →

Twitter Video: A New TPS Record, and we’re not talking about TPS Reports.

|

Twitter became a huge tool for businesses in 2010.  We saw many revelations and now the “New Twitter” makes things run smoother than ever.  Just as Twitter entered the 2010 with a bang it left with one as well.  As fireworks were lit off at 12:00am across all different time zones, twitter had a sort of fireworks show of their own.

Only four seconds into the new year of 2011 in Japan, tweeters had set a record for overall number of tweets per second.  6,939 tweets per second had more than doubled the previous record of 3,283 when Japan beat Denmark in the 2010 World Cup.  Those on the east coast in the US were also tweeting away as the ball dropped at a rate of 3,000 tweets per second.

It may seem surprising that Japan had that many more tweets per second than the US but there are some cultural factors to take in.  The Japanese New Year (Oshogatsu) Continue reading →

Quick Hits: Social Media Tips for 2011

|

A few weeks back we put up a post with 5 Steps to Creating an Effective Social Media Campaign.  Outlined were five steps to get you on track to the promised land of social media.  But beware there is no fast track to this promised land.  Social media will take time and some elbow grease to get things rolling.  So don’t fret if it seems like you are treading water the first few months.  We will give you some tips to follow so we can help you Continue reading →

Must See – Funny Spoof on Death of Ad Agencies

|

Thanks to FITC for this clever but eerily relevant sci-fi scenario of the death of the last ad agency on earth. The thing is – they pretty much hit the nail on the head. Many “creative firms” are scared to actually get creative any more. And that, my friends, may be the death of them.

Why? Because consumers’ media habits and access to that media are changing rapidly. We’re not the same captive audience that we used to be. If you’re familiar with the acronyms TiVo and DVR, or you’ve ever been exposed to a YouTube video, then my point has been made.

Effective marketing today has got to be about not doing the same old stuff. It’s got to be about STANDING OUT. We’ve been saying it for a long, long time. Still not convinced? Watch this video! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll become a part of you.