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Facebook Gears Up For Major eCommerce Drive (BusinessWeek)
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Posted: 03/03/2011
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In an effort to convert more of the social network’s 500 million users into regular online shoppers, Facebook is now wooing big business. Facebook has added e-commerce features designed to “attract users, keep them logged-on longer, and generate higher advertising sales,” thereby attracting major brands to sell their products and services through the social networking site. Helping with the effort are companies like Minneapolis-based Alvenda and San Francisco-based Payvment, whose technologies have allowed the company to integrate a retail component into Facebook pages and facilitate payment. David Fisch, who runs the newly formed commerce partnerships group at Facebook, hopes the effort may turn the company into an online shopping alternative. More than half of the top 25 retail sites, including retail competitors like eBay and Amazon, have linked their sites to the social network in the past year, Facebook says.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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The Social Factor For Online Retail (New Media Knowledge)
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Posted: 03/03/2011
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New Media Knowledge recently reported that social networks are responsible for directing 13 percent more traffic to online retailers than they did in 2009. “As more time is being spent on social networking sites, we are seeing retail brands tapping into the power of social media to drive online traffic and sales,” said Robin Goad, Research Director, Experian Hitwise. The competitive intelligence research company says that while Facebook, YouTube and Twitter dominate the social sphere, others sites such as Vimeo, Badoo and tumblr have increased their online traffic by 50% or more in the past year. “It is important that retailers understand which social networks their customers and potential customers are using,” Goad told NMK. What about mobile? “Successful retailers will be those that support their customers across multiple channels depending on the scenario – allowing customers to add items to wish on the go, integrating location based services to provide (opt in) special offers and discounts, mobile price comparison via photo or barcode recognition,” Goad said.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global,
Europe
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Building A Brand Story Greater Than The Sum Of Its Individual Parts (New Media Knowledge)
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Posted: 01/20/2011
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Rather than providing a plethora of tactical solutions, today’s abundance of marketing channels may simply overwhelm marketers. Standard targeted marketing used to be a relatively simple game of point-and-shoot at three main channels (TV, print and direct mail) to cover all bases. Now, with the addition of social media platforms, mobile marketing, web, and email to the traditional channels, adopting a successful strategy can get confusing. Aim the same message at all the channels and the results can be downright disastrous. Multi-channel marketing offers marketers a mechanism to “pull all these conversations together and build a brand story that is greater than the sum of the individual parts” so marketers can keep their eyes on the prize: customer engagement and action. The key is to understand and respect the characteristics of each channel and then execute each according to how it works uniquely for your brand.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Peer Groups & Communities
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J.C. Penney Makes Mobile Holiday Move (Internet Retailer)
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Posted: 01/04/2011
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J.C. Penney Co. is initiating a major multichannel mobile push with holiday retail plans that include the launch of an m-commerce site, enhancements to its mobile applications, location-based app promotions and an iAd campaign. Along with the full suite of m-commerce functionality such as browsing, searching and buying—the mobile site also includes a Find Near Me button and updated applications for iPhone and Android users that lets shoppers browse the weekend sales circular; create portable shopping lists; find the nearest store to either their current GPS location or to a ZIP code or city name; and sign up for mobile coupons. Location-based services Foursquare, Brightkite and Facebook Deals also play a role, allowing shoppers to cash in for $10 off a $50 purchase when they check in at one of the retailer’s 1,100 stores. In addition to its ongoing mobile coupons program, the campaign will also include mobile display ads on Apple’s iAd network, featuring a treasure hunt through a variety of J.C. Penney gifts as shoppers search for a $10 off $50 coupon.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Retailers Dial-In To Smart Phone Shopping Trend (CRM Daily)
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Posted: 01/04/2011
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With one-third of mobile phone usage to be “smart” this holiday season (Nielsen), retailers are getting dialed-in to e-commerce. The 21 percent increase over last year indicates that retailers can no longer rely on independent strategy for their retail outfits, whether they are bricks-and-mortar stores, Web sites or mobile shopping channels. Heather J. Brunner, chief operating officer of Austin, Texas-based Bazaarvoice, said a phone is "just a mini-computer, and our challenge now is to transfer the Internet experience to a much smaller screen." For instance, outdoor brand Patagonia recently launched a new application that suggests similar items and price ranges while customers browse. In-store, the app will recommend complementary items based on the tag’s bar code. Companies like Neustar are working on types of “second-generation” bar codes for smart phones that are square rather than rectangular while Pronto, a company owned by New York-based IAC, plans to launch a mobile app for product price alerts.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Shoutlet: One-Stop-Shop For Social Media Management (Ecommerce Times)
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Posted: 12/16/2010
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Shoutlet’s social media management application now features CRM functionality. The app is designed to let customers monitor and manage multiple accounts and brands with additional functionality that eases the process for companies to post and monitor responses to content. Given the number of users that use social media to complain about a service or product, or get help, one of the app’s most powerful features is its collaboration component. One such collaboration feature includes the ability to tag a prospect or commenter and then forwarded it internally for someone within the organization to take care of. "Let's say a company has several customers talking about or complaining about a certain issue," President and COO Aaron Everson said. "Shoutlet can tag all of those commenters and send them to someone for follow-up or assistance." The company intends to enhance functionality even further by increasing its reach to mass influencers and adding a mobile component.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Digital River Is Getting Social With Ecommerce (Electronic Commerce Guide)
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Posted: 12/16/2010
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Digital River, a global ecommerce service provider, recently launched SocialStream, a new social media tool. Using the tool, Digital River customers can rapidly set in motion new e-store promotions and then manage them over different Facebook and Twitter accounts. Ecommerce-Guide.com reported Jim Wehmann, senior vice president of global marketing for Digital River saying that “Social Stream lets marketers and e-store owners optimize social media campaigns with just a few clicks from within the standard Digital River interface they already know and use.” While SocialStream is certainly not the first ecommerce service offering of its kind, the package’s most significant advantage is that it provides e-store owners with access to social analytics. The ability to report critical commerce data relating to social media activities like unique clicks, conversions and revenue generated for each social campaign for each social account allows companies to validate the success of each campaign.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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How Big Is Big? The Rise Of The Mobile Advertising Market (Marketing Vox)
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Posted: 12/01/2010
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eMarketer recently revised its assessment of the mobile ad market, predicting it will grow 79% to over $743 million this year alone – growing to more than $1.1 billion in 2011 and more than $2.5 billion by 2014. Based on these numbers, it’s safe to say mobile has been elevated to mainstream status. The report indicates that SMS is still the largest format, with an estimated tally of $327 million for 2010. Companies like Phizzle and Skycore are further enhancing their service offerings to engage audiences and allow increased functionality to their users, including enabling mobile marketers to run applications such as movie trailers sent with tickets or sports videos sent with tickets. eMarketer predicts that display formats will increase. Apple’s iPhone remains the top choice with 82.7% of marketers, but Android’s 9% increase since last quarter indicates it is quickly gaining traction. Other services new to the market include Opera Software’s Ad Marvel, Sprint’s Sprint ID and Burstly.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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The Ultimate Question: To Optimize For Mobile Or Build An Application? (Marketing Vox)
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Posted: 11/11/2010
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A report by Taptu, “The State of the Mobile Touch Web," compares mobile web and applications and reveals upcoming trends business should keep in mind. These days, with so many vendors offering touchscreen devices, it’s not just a matter of optimizing websites or mobile, but determining if the site should also be optimized for nimble navigation and rapid loading pages on mobile touchscreens. While retail and service oriented sites are the most likely to optimize for the mobile touchscreen (20% compared to 3.6%), many consumers are already demanding the technology from the sites they frequent. The report states, "With support for HTML 5 features already being rolled out in these browsers, it's getting easier and easier to create rich touch screen user experiences with the browser without having to create platform-specific apps." Google has integrated mobile browsing into its service offerings. For instance, consumers that conduct searches will now pull up relevant apps accompanying the typical search results that can be downloaded to an iPhone.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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Filtering The Noise: Discovery Personalizes The Online Experience (Tech News World)
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Posted: 11/11/2010
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The internet abounds with buzzwords. Now, there’s new buzz about “discovery,” the real-time aggregation and personalization of content as it is applied to an online experience. Take Amazon for example, an online retailer that makes purchasing recommendations based on your past buying behavior and others that match your browsing and purchasing habits. True discovery, however, elevates this concept to the next level: It will tie together what you have liked, purchased, viewed, discussed, and browsed, into a real-time aggregator that provides recommendations on any category of your choosing. For discovery to be completely revolutionary, it must have both an online and mobile interface. From websites like Yelp to smartphone applications like mobile GPS, several discovery platforms are in the works, including Ping, a music discovery engine launched by Steve Jobs in September.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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The Virtual Dressing Room (CNET News)
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Posted: 10/27/2010
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Finding the right fit is often one of the most frustrating elements of shopping online. Now, with the help of a new, headless “shape-shifting robot mannequin,” shoppers don’t have to simply leave their purchases to chance. Created by Estonian start-up Fits.me, the virtual fitting room service allows customers to enter their measurements and presto! The “me”-shaped mannequin previews the coveted item in whichever styles and sizes the customer specifies. The service is being tested by retailers across Europe, including Germany's Quelle and U.K.-based Hawes & Curtis. Apparel has potential for huge e-commerce gains. "Only 8 percent of clothing is currently sold online, and Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room is the disruptive technology that will enable online apparel retailers to successfully compete with traditional brick-and-mortar clothing shops," Heikki Haldre, CEO and co-founder of Fits.me said. Initial findings are very positive with a 28 percent reduction in online apparel returns, while sales increased threefold, said Haldre.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global,
Europe
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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Motricity Delivers User-Preferred Content On-the-Go (CIO Magazine)
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Posted: 10/27/2010
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Motricity recently launched mCore MobileCast, a service that allows wireless carriers and large companies to define content based on their smartphone users’ preferences. Requiring "zero touch" by the users, the cloud-based service takes a user’s location and prior usage into account before delivering audio, video, text and HTML5 content streamlined to the user’s preferences. For instance, a mobile user purchases tickets to a rock concert via a mobile device. Enter mCore MobileCast: The service ingests the concert data in combination with GPS data to disseminate auxillary information to the user, such as the concert's opening act, parking locations and even places to eat nearby. "All that information is in separate places today, but we aggregate it all up," said Jim Ryan, Motricity’s chief strategy and marketing officer. The company provides mobile infrastructure services to "hundreds of enterprises" and 10 major wireless carries, including the top four in the U.S., Ryan said.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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Diaspora Code Released Publicly; May Improve Framework For Businesses (CIO Magazine)
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Posted: 10/27/2010
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A new project, called Diaspora, was recently released to public developers in hopes of bringing the project to fruition as a new social network – defined by community – that promises “the benefits of Facebook without the privacy concerns.” The project’s creators are at a standstill, stating, "We began the summer a list of technologies, and a few bold claims and the goal to make an intrinsically more private social network. The overwhelming response that we elicited made us realize that technology wouldn't be enough." The Diaspora project could prove useful in providing businesses with a framework for implementing proprietary, internal social networks without running the risk of divulging trade secrets or sensitive materials. With the goal to integrate Diaspora into Facebook, businesses also won’t have to sacrifice giving up the social network’s huge audience.
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|
Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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InterContinental Hotels Group Offers Hospitality With A Technical Twist (InformationWeek)
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Posted: 10/14/2010
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It’s easy to chalk IHG's, InterContinental Hotels Group, ubiquitous success up to one thing: customer loyalty. Tom Conophy, IHG's CIO, said the company’s core focus is on making customers "the center of our universe," and customer loyalty is vital to growth in the hospitality industry. The ever-growing hotel group, which owns seven hotel chains, including Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and InterContinental Hotels, keeps its guest doors swinging by making business intelligence one of their core competencies. 200 million guest profiles currently occupy the company’s 25 TB database, with detailed information on 43 million loyalty plan members. The company currently receives 30 million availability requests per day, supported by its own proprietary search technology, the Bottom-Up Optimum Search Strategy(BOSS). "Search is the killer app for us," Conophy says, and with IHG’s iPhone app as the industry’s most downloaded, adding mobility is another success factor with a concept the group has named “Virtually Me.”
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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Building Best-Run Businesses With SAP’s Targeted Analytic Applications (InformationWeek)
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Posted: 10/14/2010
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The demand for domain-specific business insight led SAP to launch ten SAP BusinessObjects analytic applications. The customer-centric, problem solving apps include Sales Analysis for Retail; and Trade Promotion Effectiveness and On-Shelf Availability apps for consumer products firms, whose very names reveal how the development process was led by insight from key constituencies within SAP’s customer and industry bases. "These apps attach the knowledge workers to the action so they can make better decisions and help their company become a best-run business," said SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott. While designed with the SAP core customer segments in mind, the apps do not depend on pre-existing SAP deployments so that they will reach across to non-SAP customers, as well. Backed by Sybase mobile technologies, the apps promise benefits like reports and metrics; rapid deployment and actionable analytic insights. Plans to support the apps with mobile are expected to be fulfilled by the end of 2011.
|
|
Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Chatter Mobile: Saleforce.com’s Answer To Enterprise Collaboration (Intelligent Enterprise)
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Posted: 10/14/2010
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Salesforce.com recently announced Chatter Mobile, a smart-phone application designed to bring CRM-centric, social-networking-style collaboration to Smartphones by the end of 2010. The Web 2.0-styled consumer app lets Saleforce’s Chatter users collaborate with people at work while on-the-go and in real-time. Similar to following Facebook friends and interests, Chatter enables users to subscribe to and "follow" feeds related to their business, as well as keep tabs on what customers and prospects are saying on public networks like Facebook and Twitter. Partners and customers can also "Chatterize" vertical and custom applications through the Force.com development platform. The free service is featured within the company’s cloud-based sales and service applications, which could help a mobile salesperson stay on top of what matters most as they are heading to meet with their clients.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Like This: Google Acquires Like.com (InformationWeek)
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Posted: 09/30/2010
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In an effort to fortify Google’s search and e-commerce capabilities, the mega-search company recently purchased visual search company Like.com. Like.com’s computer vision and machine learning technology allows users to search and conduct visual comparisons for goods as they shop, making it particularly user friendly for mobile devices. Like.com CEO Munjal Shah confirmed the deal, stating, "We were the first to bring visual search to shopping, the first to build an automated cross-matching system for clothing, and more. We see joining Google as a way to supersize our vision and supercharge our passion." Google’s likely goal in the purchase is to beef up it core search products and image recognition services (Google Goggles), as well as intensify its social capabilities (Jambool and Slide.com) to make search more “social and more deeply integrated with e-commerce.”
|
|
Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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Shazam! How One Company Plans To Change The Advertising Industry (.net)
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Posted: 09/30/2010
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Shazam CEO Andrew Fisher recently sat down with Oliver Lindberg to discuss why the company chose to charge for the popular mobile music discovery app and how the company plans to change the face of advertising as we know it. While Facebook may be the most downloaded iPhone app in the US, Shazam is Europe’s frontrunner. The app, which identifies a piece of recorded music via a mobile’s mic, tallied 50 million users across all platforms in October with the goal to double that number by the end of the year and reach 300 million users by 2015. Users are apparently willing to pay the price: the London-based start-up introduced a paid-for version of its iPhone app – Shazam Encore – with a limited free version offering five tags per month for new users. The service offers unlimited tagging, faster performance and a range of extra features such as music search and geo-location ticketing.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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New Tweet Button Simplifies Sharing (Digital Arts)
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Posted: 09/16/2010
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In an effort to simplify sharing and make retweeting one of its core functions, Twitter recently launched a new Tweet Button, which prompts a pop-up box allowing visitors to share a Twitter feed without leaving the site they are visiting. The feature also allows publishers to incorporate custom text into their Tweet Button box, as well as suggest other Twitter accounts to follow. "The Tweet Button will help publishers grow traffic and increase their Twitter following," reads Twitter's announcement. While TweetMeme will be phasing out its popular “retweet” service, the company plans to launch other Twitter-related services. "We have grown to more than 750 million daily retweet button impressions.... That said, the market requires an official solution that can accelerate this growth. So today Twitter is launching its own Tweet Button and we are very pleased to be partnering with them to continue to grow the overall Twitter ecosystem," reads a TweetMeme statement. CNN.com, YouTube, Time.com, Hulu and USA Today have already incorporated the function into their websites.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
|
|
Social Media Becomes Key Tactic For Strategy Execution (Forbes)
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Posted: 09/02/2010
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Scores of consumers are using social media to connect, express and impact the world around them, and savvy marketers are tapping its power, too, with nearly 80% implementing the medium to bring their customers to the table rather than talk at them from the proverbial soapbox. While much of the literature highlights how companies can implement social media outside of their organizations, there is significant room to use social media as an inside strategy tool, too. Bad communication can freeze any organizational idea, especially if employees feel ostracized from the process. What better way to get the entire organization on board with a branding initiative or new program than using social media as a strategy to help organizations better talk with, rather than talk at their employees. The tool will not only help companies build and execute better strategies but build stronger employee cultures in the process.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
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New Old Spice Campaign Aims To Go Viral With A Little Mystery (Fast Company)
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Posted: 08/19/2010
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Ad firm Wieden+Kennedy has taken a successful “Old” television ad concept viral. Old Spice, owned by Procter and Gamble, is leveraging the appeal of its TV spot star, Isaiah Mustafa, by taping 30-second YouTube videos in response to Twitter feeds. The team behind the campaign works in conjunction with technology to scan responses and identify the social influence of those responders to choose messages that will create a wow factor and perpetuate themselves throughout “virally-relevant” communities. Wieden's global interactive creative director Iain Tait asserts that rather than using a dedicated proprietary site, the campaign gets maximum exposure on YouTube, especially since the current spots are being watched and re-tweeted extensively. The ability of embedded material on YouTube to be liked, shared, favored and dispersed quickly factored into the decision for which social medium to use. Heeding the nature of the ‘want it new, want it now” internet culture, the company strives to produce the video responses in real time to the keep the content fresh, relevant to the brand and newsworthy. The content goes successfully beyond pure entertainment value to make “the connection between the content, the product and the experience of the product.”
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Pulling Klout: Website Helps Users Measure Their Social Influence (CNN Money)
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Posted: 08/19/2010
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Users can now discover their social “Klout” by numerical rank by inputting their Twitter name into Klout.com. The San Francisco-based social media start-up is shoring up its position to become the online standard for measuring social impact by partnering with Virgin America to offer a hand-picked group of “influencers” a free flight from San Francisco or Los Angeles to Virgin America's newest destination, Toronto. Here’s how the new type of marketing campaigns (implemented by brands like Starbucks and Cover Girl) work: (1) Users accept product offers; (2) In return, Klout requests for disclosure of the freebie; (3) Klout measures some two dozen variables, including the number of times their comments are retweeted, the size of their Twitter audience, and the influence of those followers, to come up with a numerical value and ranking on a 0-to-100 scale.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Text-Happy In 2G:GupShup Offers Simple Texting Service To Millions (Forbes)
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Posted: 08/19/2010
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With 1.8 billion global Web users and 4.6 billion mobile phone subscribers, including multiple SIM cardholders, the reach of social media is hard to ignore. Beerud Sheth, cofounder of Webaroo, gets the message loud and clear. Text messaging via basic handset and SMS opens up a path to reach an overwhelming market of hundreds of millions, particularly in India and other parts of Asia. UK’s Portio Research expects the $100 billion market of simple texting to grow by 20% by 2014. Taking text messaging social through a service called SMS GupShup, Sheth aims to enlarge the social scope of interaction from one to one to one to many, or even many to many. Much of GupShup’s (Hindi for "chitchat") revenue comes from a feature that allows users, called publishers, to send messages to users signed up for a group. Another feature targets smaller groups for more personal communication. GupShup makes ideal sense for mass consumer products – Webaroo suggests that as many as 150 brand advertisers like Pepsico and 10,000 smaller-size enterprises like Mumbai Traffic Police are using the platform.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Asia Pacific
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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What's In A Name? The Term Cloud Computing Breathes New Life Into An Existing Technology (Forbes)
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Posted: 08/05/2010
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In an industry where fancy buzzwords abound, "cloud computing" really signifies more of a generational evolution than a new technology. While there may be some hype related to doing business "in the cloud," on-demand, internet-based computing leverages the same technology companies like Google and Amazon pioneered and perfected through trial and error. Now, companies can access even more highly evolved programs like Google App Engine and Apache Hadoop - as well as a steadily increasing list of other options - to write their own data center infrastructure applications. In a virtual world where complete computer security is always somewhat questionable, the flexible and economical strengths of cloud computing remains very attractive to corporate computing operations. The end-goal is to partner with trustworthy, security-focused services that respond to and eliminate threats as they are exposed.
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Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
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The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: Crowdsourcing Provides Answers For Online Marketers (Marketing Vox)
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Posted: 07/22/2010
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For marketers looking for solutions to a plethora of problems, crowdsourcing could be the answer. Marketers gain key insight while spending minimal dollars to survey the expertise of entire online communities. Still, crowdsourcing is not without limitations. Primarily, crowdsourcing is dogged by knowing how to separate the great ideas from the bad ones. To illustrate, Jez Frampton, CEO of Interbrand, tells of a creative director who tried crowdsourcing for a campaign and within 48 hours received hundreds of ideas, leaving him with the even bigger problem of how to sift through the crowd’s offerings. (via Forbes). Marketers should not be deterred, as crowdsourcing has a number of advantages, including web usability testing sites like UserTesting.com and Feedback Army, where companies post questions about their websites and testers choose which questions to answer.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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We cut through the clutter of the web to highlight innovation and forward-thinking. The best stories from leading publications – hand selected and organized to provide you a single point of access.
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