Adobe on the cluetrain
Posted on January 8th, 2008
A case study worth keeping around for client education:
Via an employee blogging officially but with a personal voice, Adobe has heard public concern, engaged in an open dialog about it, and directly addressed the issue.
Tags: cluetrain, marketing, socialmedia
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Facebook Yelps
Posted on November 18th, 2007
Facebook’s new advertising model includes publication of activity from partner sites in news feeds. Their official list of affiliates does not include Yelp, but tonight, I had a little DHTML “toast” pop-up inform me my latest review would be shared on my Facebook profile.
A little investigating shows that this was pulled off via a JavaScript include, http://www.facebook.com/beacon/beacon.js.php and there’s already a bit of kerfuffle about it.
It does appear that authentication is being handled entirely via facebook.com cookies, and participating in this integration requires they recognize your site as a registered source.
Tags: marketing, web
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Churched
Posted on February 25th, 2007
Kristan and I have elected to have our wedding at Old Cathedral. The bureau-theo-cratic process for reserving the church assumed we were formally associated with a parish, which I haven’t been for many, many years. (My last one wasn’t really a “parish”, and the politics around my father’s turned me off from formal parish recognition.)
There are a few Catholic churches in walking distance from home, so we had to ask the archdiocese to learn we fall into the area of
Most important for my continued attendance, pastor Msgr. Delaney is a sharp, authentic, and thoughtful speaker. It’s almost jarring to hear him use a conversational style when reciting the Nicene Creed, and a storyteller’s tone for the Gospel. His homilies keep the congregation engaged with relevant commentary and analogies, none of the usual atmosphere of “break time” permeates the audience.
It struck me this morning that the attributes that make his celebration of Mass engaging are the same that define “cluetrain” conversational marketing. This made me wonder where the Church is, as an organization, in modern marketing? Why doesn’t every parish have a blog, with every homily posted for moderated discussion? Where’s the social network for members? Do they even have a CRM database beyond individual parishes keeping simple records?
Tags: marketing, religion
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Bill Gates vs. John Nash
Posted on February 20th, 2007
It is arguable that Apple was more innovative with technology prior to Steve Jobs’s return to power. He dissolved the ATG, home of the original Cocoa, and Apple Data Detectors, and famously axed the Newton, continued development of which might have given us the iPhone as a platform years ago.
But the Newton’s brand had been tainted by the poor handwriting recognition of the first models and a clunky form factor.
New (or returning) to Apple’s innovation DNA is marketing. And I don’t mean just advertising or PR, I mean making strategic business decisions to enter sensible markets that capitalize but don’t dilute brands and have exploitable niches. Any student of game theory and business can appreciate that this is the real genius behind the 21st century’s Apple.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has never really innovated in technology. They have, though, blazed a trail in business; it could even be said that Bill Gates established the practice of selling software. How disappointing that they’ve taken to trying to copy other business models with varying success; the Xbox, Zune, and Windows Mobile Smartphones are all me-too plays. MS has plenty of brilliant minds working on software, they need to get a few of them in strategic marketing.
Tags: apple, business, marketing, microsoft
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As simple as driving
Posted on February 18th, 2007
GreatCall is advertising mobile phones for “Baby Boomers and their parents” with big buttons, easy-to-read displays, and simplified UI. This is ingenious, and I expect they’ll be quite successful.
One of the phones features three big dial buttons. Although the middle button is configurable (along with a contact list: do-it-yourself, ask a friend or have us update your phone list and features at your personal, secure Jitterbug web page
) the marketing pictures show it labeled “tow”.
Because your elderly parents who can’t manage a phone with actual numbers on it should be driving.
Tags: asides, driving, funny, marketing, thoughts
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