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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.
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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
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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.
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Industry:
Retail & Products
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
North America
Audience:
Business to Consumer
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Programming With Screen Shots, Not Just Code (Dr. Dobbs)
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Posted: 03/04/2010
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a new system that allows one to program with screenshots. For more than three decades, the graphical user interface (GUI) has dominated computer programing, but its underlying reliance on code manipulation means it’s still relatively labor intensive for computer programmers to customize or build programs. The new system, Sikuli, enables programmers to develop programs using GUI screen shots. While it requires some knowledge of Python, the system enables even casual users to create new programs without mastering complex programming language. The user simply draws a box around the desired content, captures the screen shot and then places it appropriately into the Python code. The research team plans to present a paper entitled GUI Testing Using Computer Vision at CHI, the premier conference on human-computer interactions, where they will describe new applications of Sikuli aimed at large software development projects, both for programmers and non-programmers.
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Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Market Intelligence the Smartphone Way (CRM Daily)
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Posted: 02/04/2010
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Context-aware software tries to connect the real world with the vast stores of information about places in a virtual world: the Internet. The technology channels the knowledge amassed to provide useful tools to the smartphone user. Consumers gain more control over their buying experiences and save time when they purchase from vendors who have critical insight into their shopping habits. The software’s diverse industry applications include retail, business management, hospitality, and food and beverage. Research firm Gartner projects the market for this technology will grow to $12 billion by 2012, with Google standing in prime position to address and profit from the new wave of demand. Other companies that stand to benefit are Nokia, Cisco Systems, Avaya, large telcos like China Telecom or potentially even social networks such as Facebook, Gartner says.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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Apple and Facebook Key Influencers in New Tech Cycle (eWeek)
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Posted: 02/04/2010
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Apple and Facebook have literally changed the face of mobile internet. With mobile internet users projected to double by 2013, it’s easy to see a "mobile Internet cycle" emerging, a new cycle detailed in Morgan Stanley's "The Mobile Internet Report." Cited as the fifth computing cycle in five decades, the report claims this one is faster and bigger with a wider global net than previous cycles. While Apple, Google and Amazon.com lead the pack, the report suggests that the key influencers from previous cycles won’t necessarily be given the keys to this new kingdom. The analyst team, headed by Mary Meeker, attributes the high level of anticipation for mobile users to five of the most promising IP-based products and services: social networking, 3G network adoption, video, Voice over IP and "impressive mobile devices."
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Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global,
North America,
Asia Pacific
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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