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Voices From The Crowd: Crowdsourcing May Be Ineffective Tool for Government (Fast Company)
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Posted: 09/02/2010
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 |
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Can the rise of crowdsourcing sway public policy? According to a Fast Company article, government should stick to the polls rather than relying on crowdsourcing platforms like IdeaScale, which allows the public to raise its collective voice and vote on ideas from state budgets and federal transparency to health care priorities and education. Government 2.0 crowdsourcing is an ineffective tool because it’s not reflective of the entangled way new public policy is brought to fruition – officials can’t simply tap into public opinion and then implement those ideas into law, no matter how popular they are. The article suggests that “what the government needs isn't more lofty suggestions ("End the income tax!"), but grounded ideas on how to actually get things done in Congress.”
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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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.
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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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Online Game Features Upscale Brands To Give Users A Virtual Retail Fix (BrandWeek)
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Posted: 09/02/2010
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Popsugar's new online game, "Retail Therapy", merges social gaming with e-commerce to give users an insanely addictive fashion fix. Available on Facebook and at Playretailtherapy.com, the game can be played for free or users can purchase virtual goods priced from $1 to $100. Here's how the fashion-forward game works: players fill empty store shelves with virtual goodies from premier labels like Banana Republic, Barneys New York, Gap and Juicy Couture. Sponsors like Diane von Furstenberg and Topshop have even opted to launch virtual stores in which users can purchase products. Players can also make the leap into any of the retailers' sites to fill their shopping carts with real merchandise. Friends can visit other friends' shops or create unique looks to share among their networks. By modeling aspects of the game after the wildly popular Farmville, CEO Brian Sugar "believes that Retail Therapy can entice users to open up their wallets . . . to purchase virtual goods by promising competitive advantages and overall better game play."
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Kitty Crowdsourcing? New Service Helps Businesses Collect And Rank Innovative Ideas (Fast Company)
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Posted: 09/02/2010
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When Princeton sociology professor Matthew Salganik came across KittenWars.com, he knew he found a valuable model for his own crowdsourcing website, All Our Ideas, which merges sociology and computer science techniques to enable organizations to collect ideas and rank them more effectively. A virtual idea factory, the service allows users to launch their own question and answer websites. If neither answer presented is acceptable to visitors, they can simply add their new ideas to the mix. Those new ideas then get filtered into the voting pool. Salganik explains, “If you ask for suggestions, especially online, you may get thousands of ideas that can take weeks to sort through. On the other hand, if you use a survey with preset questions and answers, you can get lots of data but few new ideas." The service is already gaining traction with organizations like Princeton’s class of 2008 student government, which used the tool to pinpoint the most pressing issues on undergrads minds.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Social Sampling: The Campbell Brand Joins Facebook (BrandWeek)
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Posted: 08/19/2010
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In an effort to grow sales of its healthy beverages and baked snacks, Campbell Soup Co. has launched a Facebook campaign to promote its new V8 V-Fusion + Tea line via social sampling. Each week through September 30, the Camden, N.J.-based maker of Chunky and Select Harvest soups will give away 1,000 free samples. Another Campbell brand, Pepperidge Farm, also launched a page to promote its new strawberry flavored Milano cookies, gaining nearly 9,000 fans in the month since its launch. Taking a cue from other big name brands – like Ford and P&G's Gillette – Campbell is incorporating more social media marketing into its overall marketing plan to drive consumption. The strategy to connect with consumers online seems to be working: In the first 24 hours, all 1,000 samples of V8 V-Fusion + Tea were gone, Campbell rep Juli Mandel Sloves said.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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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.
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|
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.
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|
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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Creating One-To-One Conversations: Customer Data Required (BtoB Online)
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Posted: 08/05/2010
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E-mail marketers are keeping costs low and continuing to invest in e-mail, according to interactive agency Razorfish’s “2010 Outlook Report”, released on May 24. E-mail marketing use is changing; said Joe Mele, Razorfish’s managing director of media and marketing, “We’re definitely seeing a move to one-to-one marketing. Marketers are using the channel as a personalization space to do quite a bit of targeted advertising.” To accomplish such personalization and expand e-mail marketing, Mele suggests texting and reaching out to salespeople for specific data to customize ads down to the offers, messaging, images and design. “Texting is as addressable as e-mail but able to take on a more intimate feel,” Mele said.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
|
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Following The Trends: Internet Levels Playing Field For Small Businesses (BtoB Online)
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Posted: 08/05/2010
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Thanks to the Internet, small companies having difficulty competing with large companies for customers are in luck. Despite the fact that search query results are crowded, small business owners can take steps to maximize their online presence via search and social media by following a few simple tips. For instance, by updating business listings or creating new ones for companies and choosing social media networks wisely, marketers can integrate the increasingly important localization of their product or company. Becoming “vertical” is also key, since doing so means companies participate in many social sites, as is getting one-to-one with customers by paying specific attention to exactly what products they prefer.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Professional And Personal Identities: Building Brands Into Your Blog (BusinessWeek)
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Posted: 08/05/2010
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Who knew that blogging and business go hand in hand? According to eMarketer, a New York based-research firm, “71 percent of bloggers who post for business [create] greater visibility for their companies.” Blogging gives companies a chance to act more like people and connect with their customers by giving posts a personal touch. Employees looking to promote the companies they work for should formulate branding strategies based on personal missions and values. With permission from company managers to get personal with posts, employees can promote new products, mention awards they’ve won at work, and keep followers updated on projects they’re working on. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved; companies and employees will be recognized and remembered.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Fuel Your Facebook Fan Page In 4 Easy Steps (Ecommerce Times)
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Posted: 07/22/2010
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Marketers may successfully be racking up the fan numbers on their Facebook Fan Pages, but they are ultimately failing to establish long-term relationships with customers in the process. Companies shouldn’t lose hope, however, because the code to successfully reaping rewards on Facebook lies in four critical steps. According to an E-Commerce News article, in order to retain customers, marketers need to “1) develop a strategy; 2) create a solid presence; 3) motivate [their] fans to take action; and 4) use Facebook to amplify other campaigns, promotions and marketing activities.” Committing to the management of their Facebook walls after business hours, considering brand contribution cadence, and asking if they are doing what their fans want will also aide companies in amping up their fan totals.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
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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.
|
|
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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Get The Most Out Of User Experience On Your Website (New Media Knowledge)
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Posted: 07/22/2010
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Are you aware of what users really experience on your website? Monitoring your website performance has hit a new level of complexity since Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) are more frequently being incorporated into Web pages. Knowing how your browser interacts with RIAs is crucial to discovering how fast your Web page renders. To get an accurate result, use a real browser. Why is this important? Browser emulators are far less sophisticated at interacting with Web pages than real browsers and only real browsers can accurately track information in various situations. Real browsers also accurately capture client time – when actual page element execution is taking place. Ultimately, using a real browser with RIAs lets you know that your end-user is getting the best experience possible on your Web page.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Bug Your Friends With Facebook And See Toy Story 3 (Fast Company)
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Posted: 07/22/2010
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Going to the movies is great, right? Disney thinks so and encourages you to bring a friend along. In an attempt to help boost ticket sales, a promotion called Disney’s Tickets Together, is pairing up with Facebook to sell tickets for the much anticipated Toy Story 3. Visiting Toy Story 3’s Facebook page will allow you to purchase tickets early, but there’s a twist. Buying tickets early will trigger Facebook to bug you to, in turn, bug your friends to buy tickets. You can also invite friends to join Facebook with this message, “Toy Story 3 arrives in theaters on June 18! Who are you bringing with you?” Will this tactic work? Disney is reporting successful pre-sales.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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Uplift Modeling: The Upside to Marketing
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Posted: 07/08/2010
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The key to spending a lot less on marketing while receiving better sales results may be uplift modeling. Specific customers have specific wants and needs; uplift modeling uses intelligent predictive analysis to target relevant needs specific to certain customers. Uplift divides customers into segments, allowing companies to focus solely on the “Persuadables”- customers likely to respond to being contacted through marketing outreach tactics and begin or renew their purchasing as a result. Time and money isn’t wasted on “Sure Thing”, “Lost Cause”, and “Sleeping Dog” customers- those who always buy, never buy or just don’t want to be bothered. Uplift modeling saves valuable company time and money, while avoiding the negativity associated with uninterested customers.
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|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
|
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Powerade Dives Deep In YouTube Social Campaign Video
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Posted: 07/08/2010
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In preparation for the FIFA World Cup, Powerade will provide players sports drinks and promote the importance of rehydration through a social media campaign. The campaign is a digital, viewer-interactive video of a never-ending football game on YouTube.com. Using the "Deep Dive" technique, viewers are able to click on a player in the video and "get a glimpse of that player’s psyche, showing them what effect Powerade has on his game", according to executive creative director Juan Morales. Click-through hotspots lead viewers further into players' stories providing a deeper level of meaning to the campaign. Following the digital ad world philosophy to "fish where the fish are", Morales says it makes sense to feature the video on YouTube where the viewers already are.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
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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Procter & Gamble Seeks E-Commerce Innovation (Internet Retailer)
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Posted: 07/08/2010
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Consumer favorites manufactured by Procter & Gamble are now even more available. P&G’s new retail web site offers 52 products (with more coming) for consumer purchase, including Tide detergent, Oral-B toothbrushes, and Gillette razors. Though P&G made $76.7 billion in sales in 2009, increasing those sales is not the Web site’s main goal. According to the manufacturer, the site will provide a “living learning lab for developing e-commerce innovation.” Data gathered about P&G’s online consumers will provide a better understanding of various shopping behaviors and preferences. “As big and influential as Procter & Gamble is, there is no doubt this is a sign of a broad trend with consumer goods manufacturers,” says Jim Okamura, senior partner with consulting firm J.C. Williams Group.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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In Online Advertising, Search Ads Are Where The Money’s At (Internet Retailer)
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Posted: 07/08/2010
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In the world of online advertising, there is no doubt that mobile ads are hot. So hot, in fact, that according to IDC analyst Karsten Weide, “the IDC projects U.S. spending on mobile advertising will grow 97% this year, to $433 million from $220 million last year, following growth of 47% in 2009 over 2008.” Despite this statistic, paid search will become central in online advertising in the coming years. Weide says “search ads may be less sexy than mobile online ads, but it’s where cash registers will ring most loudly in the coming years” but she also strongly urges marketers to become acquainted with mobile advertising.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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The Winning Combination: Tracking Preference and Behavioral Data To Improve Email Campaigns (BtoB Online)
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Posted: 06/17/2010
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Want to increase your business through more successful email campaigns? All it takes is an effort to track customer behavioral data, which will make you better aware of your customer’s needs. Asking yourself if links are being clicked on, if emails are being opened, forwarded, or sent to the junk mail folder is beneficial. Monitoring your website to find out which customers are viewing your Web site and adding various links to your emails to track what customers are looking for will help you better understand their wants and needs. Collecting and analyzing your customer data will put you on the right track to increasing the success of your business.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
|
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Tailoring To Customers Both On And Offline (New Media Knowledge)
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Posted: 06/17/2010
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Customers’ purchasing patterns are easily tracked online allowing website display of offers and promotions specific to customers based on their online buying behavior. Even with a unified marketing strategy, the challenge is to maintain consistent customer experiences across online and offline shopping. Monitoring offline shopping experiences can be done with real-time vouchers, coupons, and customer recommendation and review forms. Merging online and offline customer data will allow businesses to successfully retain and cater to their customers anywhere.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
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Encouraging Online Consumers To Trade Caution For Confidence (Practical eCommerce)
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Posted: 06/17/2010
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Cautious “digital window shopping” may be a thing of the past thanks to a revelation by McAfee Secure. According to McAfee, the lapse between online consumers placing items in virtual shopping carts and completing purchases is nearly two days. Implementing a few cost, service, and security tips such as retailers’ use of coupons, size-based shipping discounts on orders, and price guarantees can help retail websites attract more confident consumers. Accepting multiple forms of payment, including product data links on website checkout pages, encrypting transactions, displaying “trust marks” showing website safety and reliability, and maintaining an organized, well-designed site will all help ensure both loyal consumers and timely transactions.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
|
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Puzzling Together Business Data: Salesforce.com Buys Jigsaw (CRM Daily)
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Posted: 06/17/2010
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Salesforce.com’s purchase of contact provider Jigsaw makes it even easier to access, create, and even clean up contact information for businesses all over the globe. Salesforce.com chairman and CEO, Marc Benioff, said it will be “as easy as Wikipedia to source data, as easy as iTunes to buy data, and as easy as Facebook to stay updated as the data changes.” Boasting a 1.2 million member count and a database with 21 million professionals working at 4 million companies, Jigsaw describes its role as “collecting, refining, managing, protecting, and organizing the global list of people in business – so you don’t have to.” Through the use of Jigsaw’s cloud platform, new applications can also be created by software vendors to better use business contact information.
|
|
Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Experience & Interaction
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
|
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Becel Vegan Blasts Across Digital Space On Earth Day (Strategy Magazine)
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Posted: 06/09/2010
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Becel Vegan infiltrated digital space as part of a campaign targeting Canadian consumers. Launched in conjunction with Earth Day, the digital campaign was designed to reach environmentally-conscious consumers interested in the brand’s lactose-free, gluten-free product. The campaign featured a reach block on Facebook to reach every female logging in to the site for the first five times with a Becel-sponsored ad; a Google splash across green and food-friendly niche and mass sites like Naturopath.com and FoodNetwork.com; and homepage ads on MSN, AOL and Canwest, and exclusive placement on British Columbia’s Weather Network homepage. "We're trying to drive awareness and drive trial of the product in a fun and engaging way," says Caroline Moul, digital group director at PHD in Toronto.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
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Mastercard Campaign Praises Hockey’s “Unsung Heroes” (Strategy Magazine)
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Posted: 06/09/2010
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“Unsung heroes” are typically the faces behind the scenes, eschewing the limelight to help launch others to the top spot. In an unexpected turn, Mastercard’s new campaign casts new light on the "unsung heroes" of the hockey world. In support of its title sponsorship of the 2010 MasterCard Memorial World Cup, MasterCard’s saucy, mockumentary-style campaign features live-action vignettes that pit inanimate objects against each other to battle it out alongside real athletes. The digital campaign celebrates mundane objects like alarm clocks, cups of coffee, garage doors, dumbbells, slush and shock absorbers, whose efforts are often overlooked in the hockey player’s quest to meet challenges. Designed to be dynamic, memorable and cost-effective, the campaign extends the creative theme with trading cards featuring each item and rich media ads on TSN.ca, Sportsnet.ca, CHL.ca and NHL.com, as well as the major Canadian portals that drive visitors to the Mastercard.ca site to vote on their favorite videos. Mastercard will run the "Unsung Heroes" campaign until the end of the Memorial Cup on May 23.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Boomers Offer Blooming Profits For The Beauty Industry (Marketing Vox)
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Posted: 06/09/2010
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A Mintel survey provides ample rationale for marketers to target Boomers to get online beauty profits blooming. Mintel cites that 10% of women purchase beauty aids and cosmetics online. Boomers represent one-third of the online population and the female portion of the demographic is expected to surge by 30.9% by 2015. Boomer females spend an average of 13 hours a week online with the following impact reported: 8% purchase products at big-name retail sites; 8% purchase from Wal-Mart.com, 8% purchase from Target.com, 5% patronize drugstore sites like CVS or Walgreens and 8% visit other niche Web retailers. Mintel advises online beauty marketers to infiltrate social networking platforms and incorporate value-added services like virtual makeovers and internet sweepstakes to round out their internet campaigns. The Nielsen Company suggests that loyalty reward programs that offer cash-back savings and other underutilized outlets like Twitter could also have a big impact on profit.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
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Video Voyeurs: Nordstrom Rack Previews New Store At Construction Site (Marketing Vox)
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Posted: 06/09/2010
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The Nordstrom Rack at Union Square in New York City generated buzz for the launch of its new store by integrating video screens into the facade of the construction. Peephole boxes offered the chance to preview the store’s up-to-the-minute fashion in 30–90 second looped video displays of models browsing racks of clothes and trying outfits on in a virtual dressing room. Touted as 'fun, provocative and playful,' digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaigns like this extend the reach of marketers looking to connect with consumers in places beyond their living rooms. Other successful DOOH campaigns include interactive exhibits and place-based video networks, reaching an estimated audience of 237.4 million in 2009. One Los Angeles shopping mall provides visitors the experience to transform themselves into Avatar’s blue-skinned Na’vi while video screens in Lego stores prompt reality checks when visitors hold a Lego product box in front of the screen.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Creative & Design,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
|
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InStyle Splashes Into E-Commerce (B&T)
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Posted: 05/27/2010
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Online shopping has never been more InStyle. Pacific Magazines recently launched into e-commerce with ShopIt!, which is linked exclusively to its iconic title, InStyle. The Web site crosses insight from the fashion magazine’s glossy spreads of products to online purchase and home delivery. ShopIt!’s launch is being coordinated with InStyle Australia’s 10th anniversary and is designed to impart a consistent brand experience across the print and online mastheads. The launch will begin with InStyle’s April issue and the site will be refreshed with major monthly updates that correspond with each new issue. An integrated campaign to promote the launch will feature TV commercials, point-of-sale advertising, social media, direct marketing and cross promotions across the magazine and virtual storefront. The media conglomerate also has plans to launch a similar site for Bride-to-Be.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Asia Pacific
Audience:
Business to Consumer
|
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BlackBerry Users Get “LinkedIn” On-The-Go (EnterpriseMobileToday)
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Posted: 05/27/2010
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Now BlackBerry users can get “LinkedIn” on-the-go. The new application from the professional career networking site is designed to connect users no matter where they are. Chad Whitney, LinkedIn’s product manager for mobile posted a blog announcing the launch, stating, "Now you can walk into any interview, any customer engagement or client meeting with the ability to look up the details on over 60 million professionals worldwide, in real-time.” Designing new relevant products for the Blackberry platform is a high priority; therefore, application users can expect consistent feature enhancements and additions throughout the year. The application features six tabbed modules customized for Research In Motion's BlackBerry, maximizing the small screen. The social networking site offers a Blackberry group so users can be alerted to new feature launches or learn how to better utilize the application.
|
|
Industry:
Telecommunications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
Experience & Interaction
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
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If At First You Don’t Succeed: Give It Another Go (Ecommerce Times)
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Posted: 05/27/2010
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A new Google feature is giving advertisers another go at customers they may have baited, but didn’t fully hook with a purchase. Tested in beta last year, the “remarketing” feature is now available throughout the Google Content Network (GCN), including on YouTube. Although remarketing is not a novel idea, it does help marketers limber up their campaigns. The feature can be tied into search campaigns, leveraged with targeted messages across different Web pages or run simultaneously with other remarketing campaigns. Here’s how it works: companies drive traffic to their Web site via search ads and then retarget those same customers with customized ads as they browse other sites across the GCN. Remarketing is an often underutilized yet successful tactic – only 31 percent of marketers surveyed by Advertise.com and the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) have tried it yet 53.1 percent of those enjoyed great success with it.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
|
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Brand Matters: Manufacturers Assert Brand Authority Online (CRM Daily)
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Posted: 05/27/2010
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Heavy hitting consumer brands like Levi Strauss, Procter & Gamble, Mattel and Columbia Sportswear have set their sites on the internet to increase direct sales and connect with consumers. Direct online retail sales by consumer-brand manufacturers skyrocketed nearly 13 percent to $487.6 million in 2009. The online offensive can be attributed to one part private-label, one part recession. The availability of lower-priced, private-label goods made up 22 percent of consumer-packaged goods retailed in 2009, while the global recession has rallied more budget-hunting comparison shoppers online. Online sales are expected to double from 6 to 12 percent ($211.7 billion) of the total retail market by 2012. Nearly 66 percent of U.S. shoppers surveyed said they would purchase the same amount or more on goods over the coming year as they had over the past year at the manufacturer’s Web sites they had visited.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
|
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Contemporary Fashion Fills The “White Space” At The Bay (Strategy Magazine)
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Posted: 05/13/2010
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Toronto’s Bay recently launched the “White Space," a contemporary designer section at the Queen Street location, with a swanky, invite-only soiree attended by local fashionistas and tastemakers. The high-profile, high-fashion event, co-hosted by Fashion Magazine, followed a similar strategic path that unveiled its couture sister-counterpart, The Room, last fall. VP of marketing, Patrick Dickinson said, “We know Fashion Magazine readers are interested in this kind of shopping destination; they're interested in this kind of experience.” To rollout the launch, the Bay ran full-page black and white print ads in both the Globe and Mail and National Post, in addition to eight full-color ads showcasing Canadian supermodel Daria Werbowy that will continue to run after White Space’s debut. The launch party also featured laptop stations where guests could login and tweet about the event while sipping cocktails and browsing White Space’s contemporary line-up of designers.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
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Stay Out Front With Smart Mobile Marketing Tactics (Marketing Vox)
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Posted: 05/13/2010
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You know the mobile marketing drill: Offer local coupons. Allow customers to pay for purchases directly from their phones. Inject with a little vavavavoom and you’ve got a competitive mobile marketing package. In light of the ever-changing mobile technology landscape –which means competitors are always on the hunt for bigger, better, more creative tactics – it makes good sense to consider adding these four tips to your mobile marketing toolbox: 1. Matt Silk, SVP of Waterfall Mobile recommends including a store locator in your mobile plan; 2. When used like direct mail or email, mobile subscriptions lists can help you to target your subscribers on-the-go; 3. Build applications and then market them strategically. Paul Reddick, CEO of Handmark at MoCoNews, recommends brands to "distribute them from their own Web sites or other traditional media outlets;” and 4. Forget about the apps altogether and concentrate your efforts on building a mobile Web site, which may be the smartest tactic of all, according to Practical E-Commerce.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
|
|
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This Year’s Online Brand Messaging More Relevant Than Ever To Your Customers (Marketing Vox)
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Posted: 05/13/2010
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A consumer preference survey by Opinion Research Corporation suggests that consumers in 2010 have been more responsive to online advertising than ever. Sponsored by Adfusion, a division of ARAnet, the survey’s results showed that consumers scored every type of online advertising higher in 2010 than they did in 2009. Adfusion said consumers preferred brand-oriented articles over other types of online advertising, including banner ads, pop-up ads, email offers or sponsored links. According to ARAnet president Scott Severson, the survey data reveals key information marketers should be paying heed: overall, consumers are tuning in to all forms of online advertising; preference for article-based advertising continues to grow; and younger, wealthier audiences–a highly coveted segment of the population – are receptive to all types of online advertising.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
|
|
|
|
Nokia’s “Design By Community”: Hope For Next-Gen Smartphone? (Mobile Magazine)
|
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Posted: 05/13/2010
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Former king of the mobile technology hill, Nokia, recently unveiled “Design by Community”, a project intended to tap into the psyche of the techie community and recapture the keys to the kingdom. Nokia’s plan of attack is to use its new website to solicit consumer feedback regarding characteristics smartphone users would most like to see in the next generation of smartphones. Nokia amassed thousands of votes about design parameters in the first round of voting. Future
reconnaissance rounds will seek information about characteristics, including: shape, materials, connectivity, video and features like camera. The voting system will reject configuration ideas that are too out-of-the-box or not creative enough. Nokia does not have plans to bring the winning creation to market. They will, however, incorporate them into a design concept.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Creative & Design,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
|
|
Developers Build Native Mobile Web Applications With Titanium 1.0 (Info World)
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Posted: 04/29/2010
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Appcelerator recently released Titanium 1.0, a cross-platform development system for mobile and desktop applications. The open source system is compatible with JavaScript, PHP, and Ruby, which eliminates the need for mobile application builders to learn the Objective-C language for iPhone or Google's Java language for Android systems. A translator enables building mobile and desktop applications that will run natively on different systems. The system supports development for PCs, Macintosh, and Linux while mobile platforms include Apple iPhone and Google Android. Plans include Research In Motion Blackberry support within the year. Scott Schwarzhoff, vice president of marketing for Appcelerator attributes Titanium’s competitive advantage over other cross-platform development frameworks to its ability to “offer native performance as well as native UI (user interface) and access to device capabilities.” Eliminating the barrier of learning Objective-C makes Titanium highly attractive to developers. Appcelerator will also develop a version of Titanium for Apple's new iPad.
|
|
Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Creative & Design,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
|
|
|
|
Discover Technology’s Next Big Star At South By Southwest Interactive Festival (CNET News)
|
|
Posted: 04/29/2010
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The competition is on to see who emerges as SXSWi's (South by Southwest Interactive Festival) biggest technology star. This year’s hottest ticket? The rivalry brewing between Gowalla and Foursquare, competing “geolocation” mobile applications which let users "check in" from their smartphones, share locations, and compete to earn Gowalla virtual goods and Foursquare "badges". With round-the-clock parties, panels, meet-and-greets and apps like Foodspotting, which uses GPS to help users locate specific menu items at local restaurants, the festival is poised to take over the entire city. Other geolocation start-ups want in on the action: Sunday night’s "Geobash" is co-hosted by SimpleGeo, HotPotato and Yowza, Loopt is launching a revamped, events-based iPhone app and Powered’s iPhone app "Snark It" earns users “liquidity” points to use toward free drinks.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global,
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
|
|
Filling The Gap With Enterprise-Wide Business Intelligence (CIO Magazine)
|
|
Posted: 04/29/2010
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|
|
With multiple clothing brands to manage, including Old Navy, Banana Republic, The Gap and online retailer Piper-Lime, senior vice president of IT for The Gap, Michael Jones understands what it takes to operate a successful business intelligence project. Jones recommends that organizations adopt a single enterprise-wide data warehouse rather than operating separate data marts for each individual project. With one single system, Gap managers can mine data and reports across all of its brands and 3,100 globally dispersed stores. "Our challenge is to try to provide information across an entire enterprise," Jones said. With ten years of experience in enterprise-wide BI, the company has aligned data from all of its units into one data warehouse which allows it to answer a total of 96 questions, significantly more than if it operated single silos. While the cost of setting up a comprehensive data warehouse is higher, Jones claims the added flexibility is well worth the extra cost.
|
|
Industry:
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
|
|
|
|
Zappos Implements “Video Experience” (CIO Magazine)
|
|
Posted: 04/15/2010
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|
|
Zappos recently launched interactive videos detailing Nike products, one of the shoe and clothing company’s largest brands. Initiated from customer queries that were best addressed visually, Zappos used software from Overlay.tv to link videos about various Nike items to its supply-chain system. Among the perks: shoppers can click on featured items to view any current promotions and find out if the product is available in stock. Customers can post video links on Facebook, upload their own videos to Zappos.com and post comments. Zappos objective is not necessarily the bottom line, but it will track stats on customer click-thrus and purchases. "The goal is to create a more pleasurable experience on our site," Kalma says. "The general philosophy is that will lead to purchases."
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
|
|
Opera Offers Android Users Faster, Nimbler Mini 5 Browser (InformationWeek)
|
|
Posted: 04/15/2010
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|
|
The beta version of the Opera Mini 5 browser for Android is alive and well. The mobile browser features standard Opera features such as speed dial, tabbed browsing, password manager, speed and a slick design. The proxy-based browser is connected to Opera’s main servers, making it capable of remotely compressing data by up to 90% before sending it to the phone, a beneficial feature for low-bandwidth data connections. In addition to highlighting the browser’s desktop-like Web experience, initial reviews from InformationWeek blogger Eric Zeman said, “…the "killer feature," is the browser's speed. Opera Mini 5 loads Web sites dramatically faster than both the native Android browser and the Dolphin browser on both the Droid and the myTouch 3G."
|
|
Industry:
Telecommunications
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
|
|
|
|
Evolution Or Revolution? The Rise Of A New Advertising Age (Internet Evolution)
|
|
Posted: 04/15/2010
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|
|
Research firm Outsell projects that 2010 will be a banner year for digital advertising. With revenues projected to reach $119.6 billion on digital media compared to $111.5 billion on ads in traditional print magazines and newspapers, this could be the year digital advertising revenues overtake traditional print media. "Advertisers are directing dollars toward the channels which generate the most qualified leads and most effective branding," Outsell vice president and lead analyst Chuck Richard said. According to Outsell, digital spending encompasses email, video ads, display ads and search engine marketing. The impact on the estimated $368 billion annual marketing costs? It’s likely to get more expensive. "I believe there is still a need for mass media like TV, radio, and some print... and the changes will be that the big media will get bigger and more expensive," states Mitch Drew, a TV ad salesperson and blogger based in Vancouver.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
|
|
|
|
Mastering The Whole Customer Experience (.net)
|
|
Posted: 04/15/2010
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|
In a recent interview, Oliver Lindberg caught up with Paul Dawson, EMC Conchango’s experience director, to discuss the company’s methodology. EMC Conchango concentrates on what it calls “total experience design,” taking a comprehensive look at the customer journey from beginning to end, and all the points in between. EMC Conchango operates as the European arm of EMC Consulting, allowing it to leverage its global reach and cast a wider net to capture more global business. Based on fact, the experience planning process incorporates Agile methodology, regularly released software and eye tracking to analyze how people interact with the content of a page. The agency is also experimenting with electroencephalograms that are literally wired to reveal what consumer’s brains are thinking and feeling. The agency also partners with Microsoft to adopt new user-facing technology to better understand customer behavior and devise ways to prolong consumer interactions with brands and products.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global,
Europe
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
|
|
|
|
Turning a New Page: Penguin Demos Interactive Books For The iPad (Digital Arts)
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Posted: 04/01/2010
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|
Imagine pointing on an interactive screen to accurately reveal constellations lighting up the night sky. Penguin Books recently unveiled fantastically interactive books like this one, which uses iPad’s compass app, at the Financial Times Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference in London. Taking Apple’s ePub application beyond the traditional narrative text it is designed to support, CEO John Makinson demoed how a number of titles ranging from popular children's literature to medical textbooks could be ported for the iPad. Makinson views the iPad as an out-of-the-box approach for e-book publishers, saying that "the definition of a book itself, as we can see, is up for grabs." Extended capabilities include embedded audio, video and streaming for both “learning and leisure apps” to further strengthen “Pearson’s, the publishing powerhouse that owns both Penguin Books and The Financial Times, push into digital and online education.”
|
|
Industry:
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Creative & Design,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer
|
|
|
|
Formatting Plain Text E-Mails for Dynamic Delivery (Internet Evolution)
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Posted: 04/01/2010
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|
Not all programs recognize html, so it’s important to remember that you don’t always have to have fancy formatting to get your message across. There are tips you can use to maximize your plain text emails. Plus, there are actually many benefits to sending plain text e-mails. First, leave formatting plain text to last and finally, test your format across multiple platforms. Steps in between include: prioritizing key content in the first few lines, cleaning up your format and making sure links don’t get lost in the crowd. Plain text allows subscribers to read your email even on their cell phones and smartphones. They are also much more likely to get through all the spam filters on the Internet than html email, and therefore can be read by more subscribers.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
|
|
|
|
Rice University Study: Facebook Fan Pages Excel at Niche Marketing (ClickZ)
|
|
Posted: 04/01/2010
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|
The results are in for Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business study to determine how creating a presence on Facebook impacts businesses. The study incited an article in the March issue of the Harvard Business Review, with the study authors calling the Facebook page a qualified success for niche marketing. Rice professors collaborated with social media virgin Dessert Gallery, a local bakery and café chain in Houston. The study revealed fan pages have impact; however, mostly when targeting niche groups. First, after taking a preliminary survey, 75 out of 700 loyal customers accepted the invitation to fan Dessert Gallery’s Facebook page. Three months later, respondents completed another survey that revealed Facebook had a significant impact on their interaction with the brand. The bakery’s fans stopped by the cafe 20% more than non-fans, spending 33% more. The fan page also seemed to cultivate brand affection and loyalty.
|
|
Industry:
Retail & Products
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
|
|
From Buzz to Buy: Social Commerce and Word-of-Mouth Marketing (ClickZ)
|
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Posted: 04/01/2010
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|
There’s a new buzz in town: social commerce skilfully links customers to customers online and then bridges them into commercial connections... driving customers to transition from "buzz" to "buy." The ultimate goal for delivering a meaningful and measurable social commerce program is to integrate all marketing activities into one streamlined campaign, blending social programs like Facebook, Twitter and company blogs with more traditional programs like in-store, direct marketing and mobile advertising. Building a social commerce program entails the following: (1) give your customers a venue for creating user-generated content; (2) expand your customer-voice from the outside-in and (3) leverage customer feedback in all your marketing initiatives. The challenge then is to deliver meaningful products and services that meet your customers’ needs.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
|
|
Sears Innovates with Multichannel Strategy (Chief Marketer)
|
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Posted: 03/18/2010
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|
|
Chief Marketer recently spoke with Sears' senior vice president online Imran Jooma to unravel the success behind the brand Sears Holdings Corp’s (Sears and Kmart) aggressive approach to bring merchandise and marketing to online communities (MySears.com) and mobile commerce (Sears2Go). The new campaign, “ShopYourWay”, is a multichannel strategy with new initiatives including Marketplace at Sears.com, which gives online shoppers the opportunity to locate and purchase products from outside retailers. Jooma credits Sears with having a robust fan community at MySears.com, which allows the company to pinpoint and deliver additional categories of interest. To maintain ease-of-use and minimize cumbersome navigation, Sears launched Quick View and ClickSee, which gives customers a quick visual of related and compatible products. The company is in-touch with customer feedback to improve both in-store and online shopping experiences, and recently added an iPhone app to its Sears2Go mobile shopping initiative.
|
|
Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products
Topic:
Content Strategy,
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
|
|
|
|
On-the-Go with Target’s Mobile Gift Cards (Promo Magazine)
|
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Posted: 03/18/2010
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|
Now, with its mobile gift card option, Target, the second-largest U.S. discount chain, makes paying with plastic old school. The retailer is letting customers use mobile phones to redeem gift cards as more consumers use phones with Internet access. Shoppers simply save the account numbers for their Target GiftCards to a PIN-protected area at either online or at the retailer's mobile-optimized site. Customers access the mobile site on their phones, enter the login and PIN for the card and complete the purchase when the cashier scans the unique 2D barcode on the display screen into Target’s P-O-S system, which has been outfitted across all 1740 Target stores nation wide. Customers can also access the mobile site to view merchandise, check product availability, manage gift registries and find locations, among other things. Other retailers like Starbucks and 7-Eleven are testing similar barcode technology to incorporate into their mobile business strategies.
|
|
Industry:
Retail & Products
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer
|
|
|
|
iPhone App Enables Paying with Plastic (CNN Money)
|
|
Posted: 03/18/2010
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|
Operating businesses remotely just got even better. While credit card transactions were standardized in traditional business settings long ago, paying with plastic was only a pipe dream for those conducting business on the road. Now, a host of software is on the market allowing mobile businesses to process credit card payments on their cell phones. From Apple's iPhone applications to Inner Fence, which developed the first iPhone app for processing credit cards, there are a slew of applications out there that allow proprietors to issue refunds, review sales, and email electronic receipts for transactions.
|
|
Industry:
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
|
|
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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