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Stuff I Liked From 2010

January 3, 2011 Leave a comment

Inspired by Gareth Kay, and as a follow up to my predictions for 2011, here is a look back at some of my favorite things from 2010.

iPhone app: Twitter – It’s not the most advanced app around, and certainly not the first Twitter app, but it is the official one and it works really well. It was a great movie by Twitter to acquire a very popular app and make it the official one, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

iPad app: flipboard – I still don’t own an iPad and probably won’t for some time. But if anything is going to make me buy one it’s this app. Flipboard pulls all the content from your social graph into an easy to consume “magazine.”

Website: We’re all fans – what better way to celebrate musicians and their fans?

Gadget: Xbox Kinect – Radically re-imagining the way we play video games. It’s incredible and yet still primitive. But it shows the way that wind is blowing.

Meme: Bed Intruder – What can I say about this that hasn’t already been said?

…and the remix:

New TV show: The Walking Dead – After the first episode AMC ordered a full season for next year. That’s how good it is.

Movie: Its a three-way tie between The Social Network, Inception, and Black Swan

Filed under brands, Gadgets, Games, random stuff, social media, Uncategorized, videos Tagged with apps, brands, Flipboard, gadgets, Gareth Kay, Inception, IPad, iphone, social media, Social network, Twitter

My predictions for 2011

December 21, 2010 2 Comments

Since it’s getting to be the end of the year and everyone else is making predictions for what 2011 will bring, I figured I might as well make some of my own.

But rather than write another post I don’t think anyone will read I decided to create a short video that no one will watch. For the two of you out there reading, enjoy!

Social Business Predictions 2011 ” Dachis Group Collaboratory (fredzimny.wordpress.com)
R.I.P. Trend Predictions: 2011 is the Year of Insight (prweb.com)
The Big List of 2011 B2B Social Media and Marketing Predictions (socialmediab2b.com)
Digital Marketing Predictions for 2011 (arhg.net)
7 Predictions For The Year 2011 From 1931 Visionaries (businessinsider.com)
JWT illustrates its trend predictions for 2011 (adweek.blogs.com)

Filed under Account Planning, advertising, brands, Mobile-Social, social media, Trends, videos Tagged with 2011, advertising, apps, brands, facebook, funny, games, location-based, mobile-social, predictions, social media, Strategy, technology, trends, Twitter, video

The Vanishing Green Consumer.

December 13, 2010 Leave a comment

Just a few years ago green products were booming. Every major CPG producer, as well as many new entrants, were looking to add green products to their portfolio. We saw new brands like Method, Clorox Green Works, and 7th Generation promoting their environmentally-friendly as the smart choice. And these products BOOMED.

But now it seems that green at home isn’t as important to consumers as green in the wallet.

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Filed under brands, CPG, Green, Trends Tagged with 7th generation, brands, clorox green works, CPG, environment, green, Green marketing, hybrid, Inconvenient Truth, method, packaged goods

Thanksgiving, death (on Facebook) and short attention spans.

November 24, 2010 Leave a comment

It’s Thanksgiving. PUT DOWN YOUR IPHONE. If your family is anything like mine, that’s what you’ll be hearing this holiday. And we won’t be alone. 59% of us Americans (it’s probably even higher among the people on this list) will check work email over the holidays. 15% said they will be thankful for the distraction work email provides them.

http://tcrn.ch/gkk840

More random awesomeness below:

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Filed under advertising, brands, Mobile-Social, random stuff, social media, Trends, videos Tagged with advertising, brands, facebook, mobile-social, social media, video

My Intro to Advertising Presentation @ Howard University

October 25, 2010 3 Comments

Recently I was given the privilege of speaking to an “Intro to Advertising” class at Howard University. My first thought was that I would just go in and wing it. Play a couple agency reels, show off some cool work and then take questions. Two days before the presentation it dawned on me that college undergrads can be notoriously quiet when it comes to asking questions of a guest speaker, especially at a 9am class on Monday morning.

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Filed under Account Planning, advertising, brands, Presentations Tagged with Account Planning, advertising, brands, dave nottoli, francois grouiller, Gareth Kay, howard, howard university, intro to advertising, presentation, slideshare, Strategy

How McDonald’s Monopoly is Like the Prisoner’s Dilemma.

October 14, 2010 2 Comments

When I was younger I used to love the McDonald’s Monopoly game (truth be told, I also used to love McDonald’s). It was a great added reward for doing something I already liked doing. Not to mention there was a chance you could win all sorts of great prizes.

Unfortunately I never won anything. Even when I cheated.

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Filed under brands, random stuff, Uncategorized Tagged with brands, Gambling, McDonald's, Monopoly, Pricing, Prisoner's Dilemma, Strategy

Gareth Kay’s 10 Little Tips.

October 12, 2010 2 Comments

Over the last few weeks Gareth Kay, the Director of Brand Strategy at Goodby, Silverstein and Partners and strategy/planning rock star, has been posting his “10 Little Tips” to help advertising (and advertisers) get their mojo back.

Here they are, all in one place (along with my Twitterized versions of them):

Two Heads are Better Than One – Don’t separate brand and media strategies – or strategists
More Generalist, Fewer Specialists – Be interested in, and able to be interesting about, a broader set of skills, interests and things
Be Recombinent – Combine technology with stories to create new types of narrative
Be People Powered – Planners need to think about creating strategies that have an enthusiasm bigger than the brand or their category
Turn Data into Meaning – Turn data into interesting bits of communication
Get Out of the Messaging Business – Design ideas, not ads
Break the Tyranny of The Big Idea – Don’t bet it all on one idea
Be a Magazine Editor – Create stories that people want to read – and repeat.
Get Obsessed By Games – Games are the dominent cultural narrative of today.
Be Interesting, Not Right – The Planner’s job isn’t to be right. It’s to be interesting.

Words to live by. Thanks Gareth!

Filed under Account Planning, advertising, brands Tagged with 10 Tips, Account Planning, advertising, brands, Gareth Kay, Strategy

Life Isn’t A Game. Except For When It Is.

September 29, 2010 Leave a comment

Games are everywhere these days. Video game consoles, hand held devices, on our phones, even on our search engines. But one emerging trend is shifting gaming from something that happens on a device to something that happens in real life, with a device. Why just go to a bar when you can go to a bar, score points, earn a title and beat your friends? Games that take place in real life have been around forever – scavenger hunts and Killer are two examples of games layered over real life. But even happy hour at bars are a form of offline social gaming (just watch the video below if you don’t believe me).

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Filed under apps, brands, Games, Mobile-Social, social media, Uncategorized Tagged with advertising, apps, brands, facebook, foursquare, games, Killer, mobile-social, SCVNGR, Seth Priebatsch, social media

“Choose Your Own Adventure” Meets “Subservient Chicken.”

September 3, 2010 1 Comment

While not a completely new idea, this new ad from Tipp-Ex is a great example of how to draw consumers in to engage with your brand. I haven’t seen an ad for white out or other copy correction products in a long time (if ever), but I must have spent 5+ minutes playing with this one.

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Filed under advertising, brands, social media, videos Tagged with advertising, brands, choose your own adventure, social media, subservient chicken, video, Viral

Is Facebook Places Game-Changing?

August 19, 2010 1 Comment

Last night Facebook launched Places, their location-based service that let’s you check-in to real life locations and tell all your friends. It also lets you tag your friends in the check-in just as you can tag them in a photo or in a status update.

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Filed under advertising, apps, brands, social media, Uncategorized Tagged with advertising, apps, brands, facebook, foursquare, social media, video

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Hot Tub Crime Machine

The Vanishing Green Consumer.

My Intro to Advertising Presentation @ Howard University

How McDonald’s Monopoly is Like the Prisoner’s Dilemma.

Gareth Kay’s 10 Little Tips.

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