Archive for April, 2009

Take a look at the new SixthSense device being developed by the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT. Using a webcam, portable projection system, a mirror and a cell phone, this device allows individuals to easily interact with the environment in a way that’s similar to how we currently get information online—only in this case, you don’t have to be sitting at a computer. You can get all the information you need from wherever you are just by using your hands and the physical surfaces or objects around you. The developers of the device explain, “SixthSense attempts to free information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality, and thus making the entire world your computer.”

Although a fairly inexpensive contraption, this small wearable device (…ok, smaller than a computer and plans are to make it even smaller) could one day change the way we connect with the world around us.

Imagine calling someone using a keypad projected onto the palm of your hand…


Or quickly checking the time by simply drawing a circle on your wrist…

Or how about getting live video news while reading the daily paper…

With SixthSense, this can all be accomplished by using a system of hand gestures and settings based on user needs and interests.

But enough of just reading about it—to get the full effect, check out this SixthSense video and see it for yourself. And get ready! I imagine these are the types of digital interfaces we can look forward to testing here at Engauge sometime in the near future.

Some people see viral video as the holy grail of social marketing.  Why is that? 

AdAge published a blog titled “It’s getting harder to break the viral chart;” it contains a chart of the top 10 viral videos. Apparently, busting into that chart is getting even MORE difficult.

This got me thinking … what are we (the collective advertising industry) trying to tell our clients? If you want to be successful in the social world, you should break into this list???

Listen, I PREACH the importance of tapping into social with all of my agency colleagues. In fact, too many mid-size and large brands virtually ignore the many opportunities presented by diving (yes, not dipping) into social media. I just don’t think the #1 viral video slot is the holy grail.  I believe relevant chatter, and meaningful response is – and is a lot more sophisticated code to crack than the viral video chart with a far better payoff. Meaningful connections aren’t created with a single Spongebob/BK Spot. And, no, I didn’t run out to buy my son a kid’s meal because the SpongeBob ad hit #3.

What if we all agreed that “going viral” was about more than a catchy ad? Then, maybe we could take this all a little more seriously. We could assess our social chatter, figure out who we’re trying to reach and why, and start building relationships that breed the outcome we want.

Bottom line, social success requires a broader plan than the next outrageous viral video. I’d even argue that BK is #3 ONLY because they’ve done full-spectrum social. It’s not that they made this TV spot and it hit it big online, it’s that they have built a relationship  and a reputation over time with their target audiences in the social community.

It seems like every day there is more talk about the need to measure all aspects of marketing. For those of us in the digital space, this is par for the course as we’ve had the ability (and therefore had the responsibility) to measure all of our efforts online. And for one, I’m glad that this is becoming more of a norm in the non-digital marketing arena.

I just finished reading a report entitled, “Measure or Die” by Beringer Capital. Unfortunately I can’t find it online, so you’ll have to take my word for it, but its a great read. However, there’s something in it that confuses me.

They have a ranking of areas of marketing that marketers feel are the most important to measure. At the very top of the list is email and direct mail. At the very end of the list is newspaper and social networking.

Now, I’ve had no less than 3 meetings over the past week with clients to talk about their need to measure their social networking efforts. In today’s economy my perception is that companies aren’t willing to “experiment” with social networking UNLESS they can measure it. And measure it directly to sales, mind you.

I’m curious if anyone out there has a different perspective on the need to measure social networking. Certainly no one would say that its not important, but where does it rank in terms of your marketing efforts? I started the conversation on Twitter…

Courtesy AdFreak, I discovered the “12 Dead Technology Advertisements.”  

It’s disturbing just how much innovative technology has come and gone in just a short period of time. I DO remember when the Polaroid camera was awesome; and Laserdisc, and Walkman cassette players. 

Courtesy Brainz.org

Not only have these technologies come and gone … they’re LAUGHABLE now.  So what’s next? We joke that coming iterations of the cell phone will be implanted in our bodies. Perhaps we shouldn’t joke.

As project managers for an interactive agency, we sometimes find ourselves needing to come up with creative solutions to help solve our clients’ marketing problems. However, to the timid, those “creative solutions” might sometimes sound a lot like “crazy ideas,” and therefore may never see the light of day.

On Friday, I heard of a promotion Paul Mitchell is having to help customers and Mother Earth at the same time, by offering a discounted haircut between April 20 to 24 and donating all clippings to Matter of Trust, a nonprofit organization based in San Diego, CA.

Courtesy GreenBiz.com

So, how can bags of hair help the environment? Matter of Trust will actually create large mats out of these clippings which can then be used to soak up oil during disastrous spills.

Courtesy TreeHugger.com

Sound crazy? This idea came from a hairdresser in 1989 during the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, and has been used multiple times since. For example, in 2006 approximately 15,000 inmates in Manila donated their own hair in an attempt to soak up 50,000 gallons of oil that had recently spilt in the Philippines. And, while the donation of hair is probably the most noble effort undertaken by Pilipino inmates, this has got to rank right up there, too.

Basically, the moral of the story is this: be creative, and don’t shy away from suggesting something that others might consider “silly.” You just might have the next big idea.