Posted 2 years ago
Posted 2 years ago
Have you seen your site on Mobile lately?
Is there anything more annoying than visiting a website on your phone and seeing that “you need Flash” message? Why do brands and companies choose to cut out the mobile market by making Flash-only sites?? Makes me nuts. One day, most of the mobile devices will play Flash (maybe not so much for iPhone/iPad), but until that day, show that you care about the people going to your website on their smart phones.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve looked up an address on my phone by going to the company’s website, and then being left in limbo with the Download Flash nonsense. Either choose a platform that works across all devices (like HTML/jQuery) or make versions of your site for the devices (desktop & mobile). As the web moves toward the device-in-the-hand, sites really need to work on those devices.
Can’t wait until HTML5 is the norm.
Posted 2 years ago
Are you a startup? Focus on 1) collecting user behavior, 2) behavior analysis 3) link behavior to ROI. Don’t try to change behavior. Learn your target’s behavior and give them what they need when they need it.
Posted 2 years ago
Steve Jobs has some big cojones!
Yeah, iPhone OS4 has some much needed new features. But the new license agreement that goes with it cuts Flash right out of the OS. This article is spot on. The users don’t care about dev gripes, they’ll keep buying and using the iPhone. And the devs will have to stick to the frankenlanguage objective-C to make the apps the people crave.
Posted 2 years ago
QR Code Revival?
Google’s been using QR codes for their Favourite Places and some brands have been toying around with QR codes too. But if Facebook integrates QR codes into their next gen mobile app, QR codes might actually get some traction here in North America. And using them for checking in to a location is an OK idea, although GPS based checkins are a little easier. That said, QR checkins will work on more devices and will give the locations more control over their brand.
Posted 2 years ago
Locative coupon notifications on the iPhone
With the release of OS4 for iPhone, we can write apps that geo-locate in the background while someone’s walking around town. If they walk by a store they were in last week, the phone could vibrate to notify them that there’s a sale on HDTVs. Tie that to behavioral data and you got very relevant advertising, no doubt Apple’s plan with iAds.
Posted 2 years ago
Targeting your emotions
Using localized keywords, Facebook has been mining status updates to calculate the “Gross National Happiness Index” of the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. Using this data, Facebook could target ads based on our collective moods - and possibly your personal mood trends.
Posted 2 years ago
You Are the Message
Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “the medium is the message.” He argued (among many things) that the various media are extensions of, well, us – our human mind, body and senses. We’re not too far off from a time when media no longer needs to extend us… we will be the medium. If the medium is the message, and we are the medium, then that means we are the message. YOU are the new medium baby; YOU are the message.
It’s certainly not news, but data is playing a huge role in media – and that role is getting bigger and bigger. All the smart companies are busy as bees collecting data. They’re not too interested in data about you, that’s old hat. What they’re interested in is data about your behavior: when you like go to movies, when you tend to buy stuff, when you send emails and text messages, when you go to stores, how & when you communicate. Because as every good marketer knows, it’s not really about price or need, it’s about timing. You can target the right TV to the right person at the right price, but if they’re not buying (ie: sitting at home on their couch), you lose. And changing someone’s behavior is next to impossible (ever try to lose weight, or quit smoking?).
The successful companies of the future will know enough about your behavior to not only target that TV you wanted at a great price, but they’ll target you when you’re out shopping for TVs. Take a look at the emerging trendy sites. FourSquare, Groupon, Blippy, OpenTable, Tumblr. And don’t forget the old standbys like Facebook, Google, Flickr and Twitter who are working furtively on adding easy to use geo-location to their services. The common thread here is that these sites are learning about YOU my friend. The more they learn, the better they can target you with the message you want when you want it. Yes, I said message youwant. Advertising will become that personal, true one to one advertising.
In the near future, when you’re walking by The Future Shop, you’ll get an ad for that awesome LED TV you wanted… and it’s on sale! And you got paid yesterday! In you go to get your TV with a smile. This is why data will be the next revolution in advertising. Since this data is a digital representation of you, it’s your message… you’re own behaviors determine the message. YOU, my friend, are the message.
