Something is up. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to wrap my head around this one, but there is something going on. I know most of us can feel it too. And I'm not talking about something like the Matrix but something has definitely shifted. The Times They Are a-Changin'.
Last week, Pierre Karl Péladeau, the Quebecor CEO, goes before a crowd of the Montréal Web community to discuss his web strategy. Quite the PR and vision pitch I must say. I will not comment on my perspective of his vision of any other horizon strategy that QCOR is engaging in, but I must insist on the boldness of this action. I did not attend myself, first of all, but went through the 22 pages of his transcript. PKP has stuck the stake in the ground in front of everyone in quite the public speech, bringing up the "web 2.0" word 15 times. Mentioning the impact of User Generated Content as well as taking a stance on social networks, open platforms and the repartitioning of the media business models is something that surprised me. I have attended many pitches where buzz-word-mania is played liberally. I die a little bit every time someone mentions web 2.0, but alas, I have got used to it. But to hammer down the nail at this extent, PKP is making quite the statement. Weaving "collaborative spaces" and "citizen journalism" into corp-speak is a very risqué strategy for the CEO of a major media comglomerate. Again, I will not reflect on the quality of the statement, and instead chose to focus on the weight of this speech. "Collective intelligence", a building block of the wikinomics is usually a word that hides deep in the geek-topia of the planosphere (thanks Vlad). Not only has PKP apparently internalized the values of the new web reality, but he's very vocal about them and proving a point by taking the stance.
So yeah, something is happening there.
Something is definitely happening in the blogosphere too. I had a lot of fun over the week-end catching up with an avalanche of posts on the AMM blog regarding the debate of duplicate content between blogs. This horse has been beaten to a pulp and I will also choose not to engage in this discussion, but the form of the discussion is fascinating. Bloggers arguing with other bloggers about blogging and blog orthodoxy. A similar debate is taking place at the macro level blogosphere regarding the preffered location of blog comments. Some bloggers would argue that while distribution via RSS feeds should facilitate user engagement, comments, therefore the ultimate value reinforcement for bloggers should belong to the blogger site. Other argue that comments belong where ever the user has intercepted the content, therefore claiming the content-centric comment view as the correct one. Wow. quite the debate guys. I will not take a stance on this, but my obvious vote goes to the obvious user driven experience. The blogosphere is alive and well. Such bio-diversity is really impressive, what an tribal ecosystem we have! It's truly motivating to see how much of a critical mass this pixel world has taken lately.
At the same time something is happening in the business world. Companies are still scrambling to "do stuff" online and at the same time confusion reigns over how-what-how-much. I hear a lot of " Age of Dialogue" lately, when in fact I see a lot of Age of Noise that now translates to online clutter. John Maeda speaks of the industry of profiteering behind the gold rush, providing gear and apparel to frontiersmen and making fortunes. This regardless whether they strike gold or not there is a vast industry of tool and platform providers to outfit your pixel gold rush. I see a lot of dust settling and people asking questions though. "Why is this metric so low, why is this metric so high, is this all that you can do, why are you constantly trying to sell me stuff."
The age of transparency is clearly not yet here, but an ever pressing pressure towards value based and belief based consumption is challenging black-box companies. Some will adapt to this psychographic predisposition of this generation. Other will not a continue their own way. Some brands will wither into oblivion, others will connect with emotional engagement.
There is something happening in every arena of communication. This shift is not technological, it doesnt have anything to do with acronym rich keynote marketing decks. This shift is behavioural. This shift is human. The web 2.0 infatuation with " now users can do this...." is fatally skewed. I have always communicated and now I can do it faster/easily/better online. Products that facilitate human behaviour will work. Simple. One of the cornerstones of this shift is digital media literacy. We have now passed the threshold of usage and penetration. Once a portal-initiated medium, then on to search, and now social networks, we come to a teenage hood of the web; and realize it really wasn't about the tool and the gimmicks and technology but about the user. Duh!
And what about value. The killer word that keeps media agencies, publishers and advertisers up at night? How do we create sustainable value for our users while sustaining an efficient content developing operation and provide advertising value to media buyers. This is really the killer word because I cannot say anyone has figuredit out yet. Ok maybe Google has. But everyone else is still scrambling in their own teenage hood wondering what they're gonna do when the digital native generation kicks in. There is something going on and everyday that goes by it gets even more so.
I will write about what I can pick up under my radar in this blog. I also invite anyone else to participate in this. I have the humility to say that our science/craft/art is blessed with the potential of "collaborative wisdom", and while I might share this same vision, I don't have all the asnwers. This shift is happening even if I don't write about it, and will keep persisting and evolving. This is a proverbial line in the sand. The etymology of line in the sand is implicit to drawing a barrier through which no one shall cross. I draw this line in the sand as a snapshot of where we are right now in the media/digital media/communication landscape. These have become critical building blocks to human behaviour and the scope is much larger than critiquing old versus new media. Any respectful professional will accept the notion of ingredient platforms, so this will not be a venue to discuss print versus pixel, or the like.
This is a line in the sand to discriminate opportunistic profiteering from true value.
Visual stimulation, cognitive processing and emotional response made simple with a diagram
So here it is. Simple as rock-paper-scissors. Let's say you are exposed to a new stimulus, in this case an aisle of strange looking Japanese packaged goods you has never seen in the past. What happens next?
Values based business strategy
I hear a lot about values based business decisions these days. I hear a lot of businesses integrating "green" variables in their decision making. Taking a stance in the global climate. I hear a lot of business-people talking about Al Gore. About social and environmental impacts from business decisions. Clearly there is an endless bandwagon of green companies: yes, if Y2K was the buzzword of '99, "sustainable development businesses" is the uber buzzword of 2008. Really I cant take it anymore. Take for instance, a company that promotes it's green-ness through the handing out of t-shirts packaged in ink heavy and paper stock heavy boxes. What does that tell me?
These promotional stints shrink down the business quickly to opportunistic driven marketing. It might sound like a bad word, but in fact it's a wise decision given all the attention and focus. But clearly it lacks one fundamental ingredient. Authenticity. One word that makes or devastates a strategic platform. One moment a company has a soul. The next moment, it's just leveraging every other inch of promotion available in it's marketing tool-box to desperately differentiate itself.
I have all the respect in the world for people like Yvon Chouinard from Patagonia Inc, who describe themselves as "reluctant business people". They are crafts people, who's passion translates into the development of the best possible product. This passion is anchored deep in their value system of what needs to be done and what is good. Values mean nothing in the absence of vision. And true vision, in my humble opinion is not opportunistic. There are many opportunities to leverage value for the purpose of creating a discrepancy between apparent value and incurred cost. This is the basis of creating profit and is profoundly necessary in our markup system. However, let's remember that profit is not why, but how we are here to improve the lives of users.
It is our responsibility to improve the state of our business as well as to improve the lives of our users. I believe that with responsible decision making extending far in the horizon and based with both feet planted on the firm ground, we can make better business decisions. Without vision and the humility to learn and understand how we impact the lives of many, value based strategy makes no sense. Every day, we impact hundreds of people's lives with our products, our services and our outreaching communication. I believe the 1st value of any business should be honesty. Be honest with your vision. Be honest with your customers. Be honest with your partners. Be honest with your team. Honesty is a powerful value that paves the way to authenticity. Differentiation and segmentation become minuscule in comparison. Transparency is hard to attain. It's sometimes impossible due to cultural business mores. At the same time, honesty, often seen as the nemesis of marketing, is the silver arrow to value based strategy and marketing. Be honest with your business plan and vision. Who are you, what do you do and why is it important? Be honest with yourself and your team. Your customers will see the value in the authenticity. No one likes a fake, even if it's a popular one.
These promotional stints shrink down the business quickly to opportunistic driven marketing. It might sound like a bad word, but in fact it's a wise decision given all the attention and focus. But clearly it lacks one fundamental ingredient. Authenticity. One word that makes or devastates a strategic platform. One moment a company has a soul. The next moment, it's just leveraging every other inch of promotion available in it's marketing tool-box to desperately differentiate itself.
I have all the respect in the world for people like Yvon Chouinard from Patagonia Inc, who describe themselves as "reluctant business people". They are crafts people, who's passion translates into the development of the best possible product. This passion is anchored deep in their value system of what needs to be done and what is good. Values mean nothing in the absence of vision. And true vision, in my humble opinion is not opportunistic. There are many opportunities to leverage value for the purpose of creating a discrepancy between apparent value and incurred cost. This is the basis of creating profit and is profoundly necessary in our markup system. However, let's remember that profit is not why, but how we are here to improve the lives of users.
It is our responsibility to improve the state of our business as well as to improve the lives of our users. I believe that with responsible decision making extending far in the horizon and based with both feet planted on the firm ground, we can make better business decisions. Without vision and the humility to learn and understand how we impact the lives of many, value based strategy makes no sense. Every day, we impact hundreds of people's lives with our products, our services and our outreaching communication. I believe the 1st value of any business should be honesty. Be honest with your vision. Be honest with your customers. Be honest with your partners. Be honest with your team. Honesty is a powerful value that paves the way to authenticity. Differentiation and segmentation become minuscule in comparison. Transparency is hard to attain. It's sometimes impossible due to cultural business mores. At the same time, honesty, often seen as the nemesis of marketing, is the silver arrow to value based strategy and marketing. Be honest with your business plan and vision. Who are you, what do you do and why is it important? Be honest with yourself and your team. Your customers will see the value in the authenticity. No one likes a fake, even if it's a popular one.
Microsoft withdraws proposal to acquire Yahoo!
Ok, we all saw this coming a zillion miles away, but it still feels good to say "I told you so".
There is nothing left to be said, except to quote the letter written by Steven A. Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer at Microsoft to Jerry Yang, CEO and Chief Yahoo.
Mr. Jerry Yang
CEO and Chief Yahoo
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Dear Jerry:
After over three months, we have reached the conclusion of the process regarding a possible combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!.
I first want to convey my personal thanks to you, your management team, and Yahoo!’s Board of Directors for your consideration of our proposal. I appreciate the time and attention all of you have given to this matter, and I especially appreciate the time that you have invested personally. I feel that our discussions this week have been particularly useful, providing me for the first time with real clarity on what is and is not possible.
I am disappointed that Yahoo! has not moved towards accepting our offer. I first called you with our offer on January 31 because I believed that a combination of our two companies would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers, and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace. Our decision to offer a 62 percent premium at that time reflected the strength of these convictions.
In our conversations this week, we conveyed our willingness to raise our offer to $33.00 per share, reflecting again our belief in this collective opportunity. This increase would have added approximately another $5 billion of value to your shareholders, compared to the current value of our initial offer. It also would have reflected a premium of over 70 percent compared to the price at which your stock closed on January 31. Yet it has proven insufficient, as your final position insisted on Microsoft paying yet another $5 billion or more, or at least another $4 per share above our $33.00 offer.
Also, after giving this week’s conversations further thought, it is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders. This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo! undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.
We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a “hostile” bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons:
•
First, it would fundamentally undermine Yahoo!’s own strategy and long-term viability by encouraging advertisers to use Google as opposed to your Panama paid search system. This would also fragment your search advertising and display advertising strategies and the ecosystem surrounding them. This would undermine the reliance on your display advertising business to fuel future growth.
•
Given this, it would impair Yahoo’s ability to retain the talented engineers working on advertising systems that are important to our interest in a combination of our companies.
•
In addition, it would raise a host of regulatory and legal problems that no acquirer, including Microsoft, would want to inherit. Among other things, this would consolidate market share with the already-dominant paid search provider in a manner that would reduce competition and choice in the marketplace.
•
This would also effectively enable Google to set the prices for key search terms on both their and your search platforms and, in the process, raise prices charged to advertisers on Yahoo. In addition to whatever resulting legal problems, this seems unwise from a business perspective unless in fact one simply wishes to use this as a vehicle to exit the paid search business in favor of Google.
•
It could foreclose any chance of a combination with any other search provider that is not already relying on Google’s search services.
Accordingly, your apparent plan to pursue such an arrangement in the event of a proxy contest or exchange offer leads me to the firm decision not to pursue such a path. Instead, I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft’s proposal to acquire Yahoo!.
We will move forward and will continue to innovate and grow our business at Microsoft with the talented team we have in place and potentially through strategic transactions with other business partners.
I still believe even today that our offer remains the only alternative put forward that provides your stockholders full and fair value for their shares. By failing to reach an agreement with us, you and your stockholders have left significant value on the table.
But clearly a deal is not to be.
Thank you again for the time we have spent together discussing this.
Sincerely yours,
Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation
There is nothing left to be said, except to quote the letter written by Steven A. Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer at Microsoft to Jerry Yang, CEO and Chief Yahoo.
Mr. Jerry Yang
CEO and Chief Yahoo
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Dear Jerry:
After over three months, we have reached the conclusion of the process regarding a possible combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!.
I first want to convey my personal thanks to you, your management team, and Yahoo!’s Board of Directors for your consideration of our proposal. I appreciate the time and attention all of you have given to this matter, and I especially appreciate the time that you have invested personally. I feel that our discussions this week have been particularly useful, providing me for the first time with real clarity on what is and is not possible.
I am disappointed that Yahoo! has not moved towards accepting our offer. I first called you with our offer on January 31 because I believed that a combination of our two companies would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers, and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace. Our decision to offer a 62 percent premium at that time reflected the strength of these convictions.
In our conversations this week, we conveyed our willingness to raise our offer to $33.00 per share, reflecting again our belief in this collective opportunity. This increase would have added approximately another $5 billion of value to your shareholders, compared to the current value of our initial offer. It also would have reflected a premium of over 70 percent compared to the price at which your stock closed on January 31. Yet it has proven insufficient, as your final position insisted on Microsoft paying yet another $5 billion or more, or at least another $4 per share above our $33.00 offer.
Also, after giving this week’s conversations further thought, it is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders. This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo! undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.
We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a “hostile” bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons:
•
First, it would fundamentally undermine Yahoo!’s own strategy and long-term viability by encouraging advertisers to use Google as opposed to your Panama paid search system. This would also fragment your search advertising and display advertising strategies and the ecosystem surrounding them. This would undermine the reliance on your display advertising business to fuel future growth.
•
Given this, it would impair Yahoo’s ability to retain the talented engineers working on advertising systems that are important to our interest in a combination of our companies.
•
In addition, it would raise a host of regulatory and legal problems that no acquirer, including Microsoft, would want to inherit. Among other things, this would consolidate market share with the already-dominant paid search provider in a manner that would reduce competition and choice in the marketplace.
•
This would also effectively enable Google to set the prices for key search terms on both their and your search platforms and, in the process, raise prices charged to advertisers on Yahoo. In addition to whatever resulting legal problems, this seems unwise from a business perspective unless in fact one simply wishes to use this as a vehicle to exit the paid search business in favor of Google.
•
It could foreclose any chance of a combination with any other search provider that is not already relying on Google’s search services.
Accordingly, your apparent plan to pursue such an arrangement in the event of a proxy contest or exchange offer leads me to the firm decision not to pursue such a path. Instead, I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft’s proposal to acquire Yahoo!.
We will move forward and will continue to innovate and grow our business at Microsoft with the talented team we have in place and potentially through strategic transactions with other business partners.
I still believe even today that our offer remains the only alternative put forward that provides your stockholders full and fair value for their shares. By failing to reach an agreement with us, you and your stockholders have left significant value on the table.
But clearly a deal is not to be.
Thank you again for the time we have spent together discussing this.
Sincerely yours,
Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation
What my 4month old son taugh me about Marketing
What my 4month old son taught me about Marketing
Simon is 4months old today, woohoo! Born on XMAS day of 2007, he is my idol. He teaches me everyday about the simplicity and authenticity of every moment. The teacher/ student roles quickly become reversed, and I am fortunate enough to have someone as pure and strong as him to show me what I missed along the way. Until yesterday, I didn't think Simon knew too much about marketing. Lo and behold, he knows much more about it than I thought I did.
There he is, on his back, wearing nothing but a diaper and a toothless smile. He is content. He is in the moment. He is happy simply by moving and kicking his feet, His sometimes sucks his fingers and sometimes he doesn't. He is the epitome of happiness and zen.
Then out of the blue, a visitor, a relative, a colleague who dropped by, or any other member of the older-than-10 year-old-human-being-club shows up.
This person wants Simon's attention. Why? I am not sure yet. Everyone is compelled to sollicit Simon's attention, maybe because of his beautiful smile and energizing laughter. But I think it's not that. They want his attention because it serves them a purpose. Simon's attention is worth something. He is an audience. He is a content human being about to be solicited and interrupted for the sake of creating value. This value is in this case the happiness of seeing his smile, or even the bragging rights about being able to make Simon laugh. Oh well.
So how does one go about to make Simon smile and laugh? The tried and true method is the "wouagadagahoudaga" baby talk strategy. It is entertaining to see mature human beings drop about 9/10 of the social IQ in an instant to come up with a routine that will spike the interest of Simon. The simpler the better really. Classic phrases such as "yes you are cute, you are soooo cute, you know you are cute, yes you do", not only betray the lack of originality, but the fundamental disconnect between target audience and message. Simon really doesn't care. He was happy being. And then he was interrupted. This drives advertisers/people to amplify their buffoonery at soliciting his attention. Eventually Simon laughs. Maybe he's figured out how silly these people really are and he starts paying attention. At this point it is impossible to know if he laughs and or with them, but I digress. Positive reinforcement kicks in and the advertiser remembers the last thing he did before said-smile/laugh and he repeats its over and over to have the same expected response. All is well. Until we bring up the creative churn rate. Simon is smart. He can also get bored. Eventually he realizes these buffooneries really don't do anything for him. Entertainment value, sure, it has some. But when the initial thrill is gone, that value becomes nill. "GIVE ME SOME VALUE" he would say if he could speak. "DON'T INTERRUPT ME IF YOU'RE GONNA BORE ME WITH YOUR MINDLESS BOZO ROUTINE"...eeesh he might have sounded a bit grumpy, but wouldn't you be grumpy too if theres a creative popularity contest going on around you based on who can solicit your attention best. Hold on a sec, there is such a contest going on.
So whats someone to do for Simon's undying attention and focus. Well bottom line: have something not just good but great to give him. Value can take many forms, entertainment is one. Food is another. Making his life better, improving something in his life should be the priority of anyone trying to solicit his attention. I, for one, have figured something out. Despite all the baby talk brouhaha, I have my secret weapon. I know he is ticklish and loves to have tummy tickled. He genuinely enjoys it and that's how I 1st heard him laugh at the top of his lungs. Moral of the story, don't be a buffoon with the people you market to, find their tickle spot and be essential for them. That is what Simon taught me about Marketing.
Simon is 4months old today, woohoo! Born on XMAS day of 2007, he is my idol. He teaches me everyday about the simplicity and authenticity of every moment. The teacher/ student roles quickly become reversed, and I am fortunate enough to have someone as pure and strong as him to show me what I missed along the way. Until yesterday, I didn't think Simon knew too much about marketing. Lo and behold, he knows much more about it than I thought I did.
There he is, on his back, wearing nothing but a diaper and a toothless smile. He is content. He is in the moment. He is happy simply by moving and kicking his feet, His sometimes sucks his fingers and sometimes he doesn't. He is the epitome of happiness and zen.
Then out of the blue, a visitor, a relative, a colleague who dropped by, or any other member of the older-than-10 year-old-human-being-club shows up.
This person wants Simon's attention. Why? I am not sure yet. Everyone is compelled to sollicit Simon's attention, maybe because of his beautiful smile and energizing laughter. But I think it's not that. They want his attention because it serves them a purpose. Simon's attention is worth something. He is an audience. He is a content human being about to be solicited and interrupted for the sake of creating value. This value is in this case the happiness of seeing his smile, or even the bragging rights about being able to make Simon laugh. Oh well.
So how does one go about to make Simon smile and laugh? The tried and true method is the "wouagadagahoudaga" baby talk strategy. It is entertaining to see mature human beings drop about 9/10 of the social IQ in an instant to come up with a routine that will spike the interest of Simon. The simpler the better really. Classic phrases such as "yes you are cute, you are soooo cute, you know you are cute, yes you do", not only betray the lack of originality, but the fundamental disconnect between target audience and message. Simon really doesn't care. He was happy being. And then he was interrupted. This drives advertisers/people to amplify their buffoonery at soliciting his attention. Eventually Simon laughs. Maybe he's figured out how silly these people really are and he starts paying attention. At this point it is impossible to know if he laughs and or with them, but I digress. Positive reinforcement kicks in and the advertiser remembers the last thing he did before said-smile/laugh and he repeats its over and over to have the same expected response. All is well. Until we bring up the creative churn rate. Simon is smart. He can also get bored. Eventually he realizes these buffooneries really don't do anything for him. Entertainment value, sure, it has some. But when the initial thrill is gone, that value becomes nill. "GIVE ME SOME VALUE" he would say if he could speak. "DON'T INTERRUPT ME IF YOU'RE GONNA BORE ME WITH YOUR MINDLESS BOZO ROUTINE"...eeesh he might have sounded a bit grumpy, but wouldn't you be grumpy too if theres a creative popularity contest going on around you based on who can solicit your attention best. Hold on a sec, there is such a contest going on.
So whats someone to do for Simon's undying attention and focus. Well bottom line: have something not just good but great to give him. Value can take many forms, entertainment is one. Food is another. Making his life better, improving something in his life should be the priority of anyone trying to solicit his attention. I, for one, have figured something out. Despite all the baby talk brouhaha, I have my secret weapon. I know he is ticklish and loves to have tummy tickled. He genuinely enjoys it and that's how I 1st heard him laugh at the top of his lungs. Moral of the story, don't be a buffoon with the people you market to, find their tickle spot and be essential for them. That is what Simon taught me about Marketing.
Top 10 APril 25: Montreal Is blooming: keep ur eyes on the road
TOP 10:
1.Hockey fever: GO HABS GO!!!! It's official, Montreal has lost it's mind over hockey. It's alright though, I've been told by a judge and an emergency doctor that crime and injuries have been on teh downside ever since the Habs have been in teh payoffs. I guess those 2 werent paying attention during the riots, but thats the beauty of averaging things out.
2.The weather! I know it can sound pathetic to a non-Montreal, but weather here is serious stuff. No kidding Météomedia is one of the most visited websites, and weather here could be compared to soccer in latin american countries. It's critical to the well being and functionning of our nation. People know more about barometers and anti-cyclones and cold fronts than they understand about the house of commons. And in the last 3 weeks, weather has been good. So people are happy. That and lets remember that Montreal in the summer is an inspiring site. ;-)
3.TQS loses news. That is huge news! The same morning CBC announces internal reorgs. Traditional media is in somewhat of a bind. I am writting a longer post specifically to address this, but essentially, it's a big WE TOLD YOU SO.
4.ATTENTION ALL HIPPOs, A BRAND IS NOT A LOGO.
5.Avinash Kaushik rocks. Even if Google Analytics doesn't rock my world so much lately, I think Avinash is great. Saw him and chatted some up with him in Montreal last week, and very impressed. This pluggin for Google Analytics (sigh) is actually really cool. Take the time to instal it, it's not an intuitive instalation but try it, it works after a couple of bugs are ironed out. It works and answers the simple question "WHO IS SENDING ME UNUSUAL TRAFIFC"
6.BonjourQuebec and URLS: Amazing post by Michelle Blanc, her post rocks! She actually scooped everyone on this news, letting everyone know that you could find an adult website on a governmental url (with a slight twist).
7.How many planets do we need to sustain your lifestyle? Shameless work self promo.
8. Very clever POP-UP video application by Revolver 3, works amazingly and is loads of fun.
9.Ile-sans-fil is a lifesaving tool. Especially when you can work and eat at the same time at le Titannic, hmmmm, Coconut Chicken.
10.The twitter posts of Marco Gervasio. Clearly the most inspiring, refreshing and sobering part of my day.
1.Hockey fever: GO HABS GO!!!! It's official, Montreal has lost it's mind over hockey. It's alright though, I've been told by a judge and an emergency doctor that crime and injuries have been on teh downside ever since the Habs have been in teh payoffs. I guess those 2 werent paying attention during the riots, but thats the beauty of averaging things out.
2.The weather! I know it can sound pathetic to a non-Montreal, but weather here is serious stuff. No kidding Météomedia is one of the most visited websites, and weather here could be compared to soccer in latin american countries. It's critical to the well being and functionning of our nation. People know more about barometers and anti-cyclones and cold fronts than they understand about the house of commons. And in the last 3 weeks, weather has been good. So people are happy. That and lets remember that Montreal in the summer is an inspiring site. ;-)
3.TQS loses news. That is huge news! The same morning CBC announces internal reorgs. Traditional media is in somewhat of a bind. I am writting a longer post specifically to address this, but essentially, it's a big WE TOLD YOU SO.
4.ATTENTION ALL HIPPOs, A BRAND IS NOT A LOGO.
5.Avinash Kaushik rocks. Even if Google Analytics doesn't rock my world so much lately, I think Avinash is great. Saw him and chatted some up with him in Montreal last week, and very impressed. This pluggin for Google Analytics (sigh) is actually really cool. Take the time to instal it, it's not an intuitive instalation but try it, it works after a couple of bugs are ironed out. It works and answers the simple question "WHO IS SENDING ME UNUSUAL TRAFIFC"
6.BonjourQuebec and URLS: Amazing post by Michelle Blanc, her post rocks! She actually scooped everyone on this news, letting everyone know that you could find an adult website on a governmental url (with a slight twist).
7.How many planets do we need to sustain your lifestyle? Shameless work self promo.
8. Very clever POP-UP video application by Revolver 3, works amazingly and is loads of fun.
9.Ile-sans-fil is a lifesaving tool. Especially when you can work and eat at the same time at le Titannic, hmmmm, Coconut Chicken.
10.The twitter posts of Marco Gervasio. Clearly the most inspiring, refreshing and sobering part of my day.
Globeandmail.com search box on Google
Saw this interesting search box in the Google SERP. Has anyone seen this lately?
TOP 10- Omniture Summit- Salk Lake City
1.Brett Error Q&A session:
Extremely inspiring to see the head of technology of Omniture taking the time to take question and remarks from the audience about their product. No matter how small and niche the request was (3% Marco!), he took the time to discuss, inquire as to the needs and take it down inview of next versions of the product
update: Sorry for the typo in Brett Error's name. Thanks Design Dork!
2.Skiing Snowbird. WOW!
3.Flight of the Concords beating Seth Godin by a landslide as main drivers of booking on Omniture.com. But don't tell Seth....
4.Major snowstorm hitting the North East making traveling back home absolutely horrible. Thank you American Airlines for taking me onboard when Air Canada abandonned me. See post by Stephane Hamel.
5.Zaaz.com presentation about actionable analytics. Brilliant presentation by the 2 Jasons. Loved it.
6.Lance Armstrong. Omniture ended up giving a LOT of money to Lance's foundation, catching him offguard.
7.Being the only Google Analytics user at the conference, or at least feeling like I am.
8.So many talented people, so many interesting projects. Wow.
9.Seth Godin moonwalking wearing mismatched girly socks.
10.ITS NOT ABOUT THE DATA, IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY. IT'S WHAT YOU WILL DO WITH IT.
Extremely inspiring to see the head of technology of Omniture taking the time to take question and remarks from the audience about their product. No matter how small and niche the request was (3% Marco!), he took the time to discuss, inquire as to the needs and take it down inview of next versions of the product
update: Sorry for the typo in Brett Error's name. Thanks Design Dork!
2.Skiing Snowbird. WOW!
3.Flight of the Concords beating Seth Godin by a landslide as main drivers of booking on Omniture.com. But don't tell Seth....
4.Major snowstorm hitting the North East making traveling back home absolutely horrible. Thank you American Airlines for taking me onboard when Air Canada abandonned me. See post by Stephane Hamel.
5.Zaaz.com presentation about actionable analytics. Brilliant presentation by the 2 Jasons. Loved it.
6.Lance Armstrong. Omniture ended up giving a LOT of money to Lance's foundation, catching him offguard.
7.Being the only Google Analytics user at the conference, or at least feeling like I am.
8.So many talented people, so many interesting projects. Wow.
9.Seth Godin moonwalking wearing mismatched girly socks.
10.ITS NOT ABOUT THE DATA, IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY. IT'S WHAT YOU WILL DO WITH IT.
Top 10: c'est Lundi matin!
1.Mec laptop bag
Mon nouveau sac a laptop d'apres les recommandations de mon chiro. Je le recommande a 100%!
2.March 3rd
Interessant, le 2nd mot le plus recherché est la date d'hier. Hmmmm.
3.Twittering meetings away
Est-ce que Twitter est devenu le nouveau must-do pendant un meeting sans fin? Au moins on pend des notes au cas si on nous demande si on écoute.
4.Al Gore à Montreal!
5.BBC new page
Belle nouvelle page à l'age de la personalisation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
6.Wendys hot juicy burger and microsites
Je suis vraiment décu que Wendys a retiré son site viral Hot Juicy Burger et l'a remplacé par un site corpo circa 1996. Franchement décu. Malgré le tout, je trouve cet article sur les microsites assez pertinent. C,est un bon mode de revenue pour les agences mais pour une marque, est-ce vraiment une bonne stratégie. Je cogite toujours.
7.Guerrila marketing en Italie
8.André Pratte à tout le monde en parle
J'adore son analogie à propos de son chien. Surtout le jour même qu'on s'est séparé de notre "petit" chat Sachat.
9.Question philosophique de la semaine: Should Ads In Adult Magazines Feature Naked People?
10. Cause an old classic never dies: Smirnoff Tea Partay
Mon nouveau sac a laptop d'apres les recommandations de mon chiro. Je le recommande a 100%!
2.March 3rd
Interessant, le 2nd mot le plus recherché est la date d'hier. Hmmmm.
3.Twittering meetings away
Est-ce que Twitter est devenu le nouveau must-do pendant un meeting sans fin? Au moins on pend des notes au cas si on nous demande si on écoute.
4.Al Gore à Montreal!
5.BBC new page
Belle nouvelle page à l'age de la personalisation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
6.Wendys hot juicy burger and microsites
Je suis vraiment décu que Wendys a retiré son site viral Hot Juicy Burger et l'a remplacé par un site corpo circa 1996. Franchement décu. Malgré le tout, je trouve cet article sur les microsites assez pertinent. C,est un bon mode de revenue pour les agences mais pour une marque, est-ce vraiment une bonne stratégie. Je cogite toujours.
7.Guerrila marketing en Italie
8.André Pratte à tout le monde en parle
J'adore son analogie à propos de son chien. Surtout le jour même qu'on s'est séparé de notre "petit" chat Sachat.
9.Question philosophique de la semaine: Should Ads In Adult Magazines Feature Naked People?
10. Cause an old classic never dies: Smirnoff Tea Partay
Top 10: 20 Février
1. La Victoire du Canadien!!!!!!!!!!!! SPEC-TA-CU-LAIRE!
2. Google experimental. Un peu space et pas trop ergo, mais bon... un tres bon présage des choses à venir...
3. Vous rapellez vous de la pub de Bill Murray dans Lost in Translation?
Au moin c'était dans un film...mais voyez cette pub de Condé Nast avec nul autre que Hugh Jackman. J'imagine que même les acteurs de Hollywoods ont des factures d'Hydro à payer eux aussi.
4. Très bon post de Seth Godin: "No user servicable parts inside"
Pour ceux qui aurot la chance d'être à Salt Lake City pour la conférence Omniture, Seth est un des speakers!
5. Comme je suis confu/heureux/surpris quand j'entend dire que la publicité de bannières et le référencement sont des initiatives de publicité traditionnelles. J'adoooore.
6. Le blog corpo même dans les smoke meats! MIAM!
7. Le widget Météomedia Météoéclair MAC ne fonctionne pas. J'adore ce qu'ils font d'habitude et ca me rend triste de ne pas avoir le feed de MMT. Je dois me contenter du widget Accuweather.
8. RÉFÉRENCER DES SITES EN FLASH? OUI CEST POSSIBLE!
Bravo Nicolas Et Fred pour cet article dans Abondance!
9. L'usage des blackberry pendant des meetings. C'est vulgaire et un manque de respect. Une montre affichant le début et la fin prévu du meeting sont par contre recommandés.
10. "Le chalet de ski" le plus tueur que j'ai vu de ma vie. La vue qui donne sur les Alpes, wow.
2. Google experimental. Un peu space et pas trop ergo, mais bon... un tres bon présage des choses à venir...
3. Vous rapellez vous de la pub de Bill Murray dans Lost in Translation?
Au moin c'était dans un film...mais voyez cette pub de Condé Nast avec nul autre que Hugh Jackman. J'imagine que même les acteurs de Hollywoods ont des factures d'Hydro à payer eux aussi.
4. Très bon post de Seth Godin: "No user servicable parts inside"
Pour ceux qui aurot la chance d'être à Salt Lake City pour la conférence Omniture, Seth est un des speakers!
5. Comme je suis confu/heureux/surpris quand j'entend dire que la publicité de bannières et le référencement sont des initiatives de publicité traditionnelles. J'adoooore.
6. Le blog corpo même dans les smoke meats! MIAM!
7. Le widget Météomedia Météoéclair MAC ne fonctionne pas. J'adore ce qu'ils font d'habitude et ca me rend triste de ne pas avoir le feed de MMT. Je dois me contenter du widget Accuweather.
8. RÉFÉRENCER DES SITES EN FLASH? OUI CEST POSSIBLE!
Bravo Nicolas Et Fred pour cet article dans Abondance!
9. L'usage des blackberry pendant des meetings. C'est vulgaire et un manque de respect. Une montre affichant le début et la fin prévu du meeting sont par contre recommandés.
10. "Le chalet de ski" le plus tueur que j'ai vu de ma vie. La vue qui donne sur les Alpes, wow.
Top 10: de retour apres un petit repos (de paternité)
1. Mes 2 tickets de parking consécutifs durant l'opération de déneigement Montreal Storm. Le plaisir de me faire réveiller 2 jours de suite par les remorqueuses.
2. Les blogues corpo et l'évangélisation de ce "medium". Un couloir étroit et glissant mais efficace et porteur si autentique et honnete. "Soap box pour business rock-star diva in the making" ?...bah...LES BLOGS C'EST DE LA COMMUNICATION! Et bien sur la communication implique partager un message. Alors toute allusion discrete mise a part sur le profil "psychologique" des blogueurs, je ne crois pas que les réseaux sociaux soient de près ou de loin des outils qui rejoignent les amateurs de la masse, du conformisme et du One-Size-Fits-All media.
3. Les sondages. Comment intégrer l'échantillonage et la représentation de comportements nichés dans un univers web de Long Tail.
4. Le Grenier d'Or de Revolver 3. Miam Miam Maim. Moi j'aime les biscuits! Bravo.
5. Finalement, on dirait qu'il y a une baisse des demandes "Vampires, Zombies, etc..." dans facebook. Enfin! C'était quoi le trip? À la rigeur je comprenais les tamagushis mieux...
6. Microsoft-Yahoo! Encore une fois on en parle, on dirait que c'est toujours a ce temps ci de l'année que ca recommence. Oh well, je vais le croire quand je vais le voir. L'idée d'intéger ces 2 organisations releve du quasi-impossible d'un point de vue organisationel et visionnaire. Mais bon...
7. Le nouveau widget Digg dans Digg Labs.
8. Le mot de la journée: consoprosélytisme.
9. Les lettres me rapellant mes obligation de non-sollicitation.
10. Le partage vidéo Joox.net Et toute le monde pensait que Facebook était LE gouffre de temps le plus profond?
2. Les blogues corpo et l'évangélisation de ce "medium". Un couloir étroit et glissant mais efficace et porteur si autentique et honnete. "Soap box pour business rock-star diva in the making" ?...bah...LES BLOGS C'EST DE LA COMMUNICATION! Et bien sur la communication implique partager un message. Alors toute allusion discrete mise a part sur le profil "psychologique" des blogueurs, je ne crois pas que les réseaux sociaux soient de près ou de loin des outils qui rejoignent les amateurs de la masse, du conformisme et du One-Size-Fits-All media.
3. Les sondages. Comment intégrer l'échantillonage et la représentation de comportements nichés dans un univers web de Long Tail.
4. Le Grenier d'Or de Revolver 3. Miam Miam Maim. Moi j'aime les biscuits! Bravo.
5. Finalement, on dirait qu'il y a une baisse des demandes "Vampires, Zombies, etc..." dans facebook. Enfin! C'était quoi le trip? À la rigeur je comprenais les tamagushis mieux...
6. Microsoft-Yahoo! Encore une fois on en parle, on dirait que c'est toujours a ce temps ci de l'année que ca recommence. Oh well, je vais le croire quand je vais le voir. L'idée d'intéger ces 2 organisations releve du quasi-impossible d'un point de vue organisationel et visionnaire. Mais bon...
7. Le nouveau widget Digg dans Digg Labs.
8. Le mot de la journée: consoprosélytisme.
9. Les lettres me rapellant mes obligation de non-sollicitation.
10. Le partage vidéo Joox.net Et toute le monde pensait que Facebook était LE gouffre de temps le plus profond?
Top 10: December 10th 2007
1.Boomerangs: Provokat.
Great title. Not too sensationalist but great at maintaining the hype. Smart.
2.A new website for hot chicks.
New LOULOU new site by Cloudraker
3.What Do You REALLY Want?
You aren't getting anywhere because you dont know where you want to go
4.DASHBOARD
http://dashboardspy.com/
5.Facebook is the ultimate solution.
Always very impressed by how people post extremely personal things in their facebook status line. I have heard of a girl who broke up with her bf via the status line. Although I have never witnessed such an extreme event, I have seen countless public flirting, grieving, fights and mucho anger expressed.
Addendum: It's still uber hard to explain the virtues of Twitter to most webnewbies, but somehow, they figure out the status line the next day after signing up.
6.PDF
WHY DO PEOPLE STILL USE PDF FILES SPLICED IN BETWEEN WEB PAGES. JEEZ....
7.I hate my xmas gifts
http://badgiftemporium.com/
8.NALGENE BOTTLES ARE EVIL! SERIOUSLY!
Apparently Nalgene bottles are bad for you. Mountain equipment Coop pulled them off their shelves today accross the country.
Google news
I saw the trailer and I think you should see it to judge for yourself. Machine GIRL!
10."Flashturbatoire"
Great post by Michel Leblanc. hehe I like.
I quote " Du Flash C’EST PAS DU WEB CALVERT! Vous primez des “sites” qui sont en fait des CD ROM accédés par internet. Ces “sites” là ne sont pas vraiment accessible, pas vraiment indexables (engins de recherches), ils souffrent d’une utilisabilité des plus douteuse et leurs “pages” ne sont pas des pages et ne sont pas linkables."
Beautiful. Please read the whole post.
Great title. Not too sensationalist but great at maintaining the hype. Smart.
2.A new website for hot chicks.
New LOULOU new site by Cloudraker
3.What Do You REALLY Want?
You aren't getting anywhere because you dont know where you want to go
4.DASHBOARD
http://dashboardspy.com/
5.Facebook is the ultimate solution.
Always very impressed by how people post extremely personal things in their facebook status line. I have heard of a girl who broke up with her bf via the status line. Although I have never witnessed such an extreme event, I have seen countless public flirting, grieving, fights and mucho anger expressed.
Addendum: It's still uber hard to explain the virtues of Twitter to most webnewbies, but somehow, they figure out the status line the next day after signing up.
6.PDF
WHY DO PEOPLE STILL USE PDF FILES SPLICED IN BETWEEN WEB PAGES. JEEZ....
7.I hate my xmas gifts
http://badgiftemporium.com/
8.NALGENE BOTTLES ARE EVIL! SERIOUSLY!
Apparently Nalgene bottles are bad for you. Mountain equipment Coop pulled them off their shelves today accross the country.
Google news
9.Machine Girl Movie Trailer: “The Cult Film of Next Year”
I saw the trailer and I think you should see it to judge for yourself. Machine GIRL!
10."Flashturbatoire"
Great post by Michel Leblanc. hehe I like.
I quote " Du Flash C’EST PAS DU WEB CALVERT! Vous primez des “sites” qui sont en fait des CD ROM accédés par internet. Ces “sites” là ne sont pas vraiment accessible, pas vraiment indexables (engins de recherches), ils souffrent d’une utilisabilité des plus douteuse et leurs “pages” ne sont pas des pages et ne sont pas linkables."
Beautiful. Please read the whole post.
TOP 10 (ANNOYING) ONLINE MARKETING BUZZWORDS:
TOP 10 (ANNOYING) ONLINE MARKETING BUZZWORDS:
1. ROI
Maybe 1 out of 10 marketing decision makers have a vague concept of calculating ROI the correct way. No need to wave this killer buzzword when all your want to say is « profitability ». Extra points for being an acronym buzzword.
2. WEB 2.0
The King Kong of powerpoint buzzland. I die a little everytime someone uses it to refer to « the web of today and tomorrow». I must admit the french upped the ante by dropping the « point o » and calling it « le web deux ». Advil please.
3. INTERACTIVE MARKETING
Marketing has always been interactive, if there was no human interaction, it would be called accounting. Drop the redundant adjective + noun combo.
4. COMSCORE
Beyond it’s dismal meaninglessness, I still hear the sound of it’s name cause there still is nothing « better ». Pass the Kool Aid please.
5. KPI
Key Performance Indicators : ie things that matter for your business. In
6. Dashboard
It takes 30 mins to set one unless you’re suffering from AADD (analytics ADD). Know your « KPIs » and learn to use your analytics tool.
7. OPTIMIZING CLICK THROUGH RATE
If your KPI involves some clicks, people need to click. Just change the ads that suck, ok fine we’ ll call that optimizing. Natural selection sound sdramatic but would also be accepted.
8. VIRAL
John tells Mike who tells 5 other people who tell 10 other people each. Kinda like in Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman and that little monkey. Must we be so dramatic that we want to replicate some doomsday vocabulary ?
9. STRATEGY
Common sense people. We have yet to place someone on the moon in this business (ok we did this). What we do everyday is 90% common sense with 10% analysis. Strategy could be as simple as not just looking at your feet when you run.
10. ROAD MAP
Used too often to be taken seriously anymore, everytime I hear this one, I keep thinking of following a map and ending up at Bates Motel.
Extra buzzword points will be awarded to combinations ie Web 2.0 Strategy roadmap.
1. ROI
Maybe 1 out of 10 marketing decision makers have a vague concept of calculating ROI the correct way. No need to wave this killer buzzword when all your want to say is « profitability ». Extra points for being an acronym buzzword.
2. WEB 2.0
The King Kong of powerpoint buzzland. I die a little everytime someone uses it to refer to « the web of today and tomorrow». I must admit the french upped the ante by dropping the « point o » and calling it « le web deux ». Advil please.
3. INTERACTIVE MARKETING
Marketing has always been interactive, if there was no human interaction, it would be called accounting. Drop the redundant adjective + noun combo.
4. COMSCORE
Beyond it’s dismal meaninglessness, I still hear the sound of it’s name cause there still is nothing « better ». Pass the Kool Aid please.
5. KPI
Key Performance Indicators : ie things that matter for your business. In
6. Dashboard
It takes 30 mins to set one unless you’re suffering from AADD (analytics ADD). Know your « KPIs » and learn to use your analytics tool.
7. OPTIMIZING CLICK THROUGH RATE
If your
8. VIRAL
John tells Mike who tells 5 other people who tell 10 other people each. Kinda like in Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman and that little monkey. Must we be so dramatic that we want to replicate some doomsday vocabulary ?
9. STRATEGY
Common sense people. We have yet to place someone on the moon in this business (ok we did this). What we do everyday is 90% common sense with 10% analysis. Strategy could be as simple as not just looking at your feet when you run.
10. ROAD MAP
Used too often to be taken seriously anymore, everytime I hear this one, I keep thinking of following a map and ending up at Bates Motel.
Extra buzzword points will be awarded to combinations ie Web 2.0 Strategy roadmap.
TOP 10: December 8 2007
1.Spare $1Million?
Wealthy New York Family Begs for 1 Million Dollars: must maintain lifestyle and times are hard. Incredible story and incredible nerve. Pauvres bourgeois!
By the way, there are people far less fortunate than us. There are over a dozen causes in Montreal that need your REAL support:
http://www.danslarue.com/
http://www.oldbrewerymission.ca/
http://www.fondationdesmaladiesmentales.org/
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000005&tid=003
2.Pecha kucha
Unfortunately I was not able to attend the last event in Montreal last Wednesday but I have to say the format of these presentations is brilliant.
To quote Wikipedia:
3.Xmas shopping
If Clotaire Rapaille says that going shopping is our cultural equivalent of connecting back with our world, I have to say that the mall madness I witnessed today is the cultural equivalent of a rugby game. Such a sea of people "connecting" with xmas gift guilt I have the pleasure of witnessing only once a year. Thank god. I don't think I have the stomach nor the patience behind the wheel to go for another round. People : go shop online, better yet, don't spend all that money and spend some real time with someone you havent spoken to in a while.
4.15% commision on paid search ads
Good post on Yannick Manuri's Blog. The age old topic that some people are out there to screw you. What do you really expect? This is an industry of people selling stuff to people selling stuff to people. Markups, albeit obscene are part of the DNA of the fauna. 25% comm on ad buys is obscene. There is no way to rationalize anymore on paid search.
5.The Hon. Denis Coderre, P.C., M.P. on FB (Facebook)
I must say that marketers dont have the stronghold on Facebook marketing anyore. Enter the political players! None other than Liberal Superstar Denis Coderre in the FB universe!
6.Jackson 5 makes another blip on the Search radar
See Google trends activity
The actual search phrase "Jackson 5" is 75th out of the top 100 search queries for December 8th 2007. Just thought you'd like to know.
7.MBA's
Is it really worth it? I ran accros this article on a MBA competition.
Is it just another way of writing on a piece of paper: I AM BETTER THAN YOU ACCORDING TO THIS SCHOOL? Then again, I might be wrong. I have met people with amazing minds with the notorious MBA suffixes (poor form if you ask me). But I would argue that they were just as brilliant before entering the sausage grinder. Cause and effect still tbd.
8.Great quote by founder of Patagonia
9.Leekspin.com
Why?Because it's there.
Read all about it on Wikipedia.
10.Darwin award of the day:
Yahoo-Adobe partnership to put contextual ads in PDF documents.
Yawn, come on guys. Seriously....
Wealthy New York Family Begs for 1 Million Dollars: must maintain lifestyle and times are hard. Incredible story and incredible nerve. Pauvres bourgeois!
By the way, there are people far less fortunate than us. There are over a dozen causes in Montreal that need your REAL support:
http://www.danslarue.com/
http://www.oldbrewerymission.ca/
http://www.fondationdesmaladiesmentales.org/
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=000005&tid=003
2.Pecha kucha
Unfortunately I was not able to attend the last event in Montreal last Wednesday but I have to say the format of these presentations is brilliant.
To quote Wikipedia:
Pecha Kucha or Pecha Kucha Night is a presentation format in which (mostly creative) work can be easily and informally shown. It was originally devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDa) in Tokyo in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. The format has spread virally to many cities across the world. The name derives from a Japanese term for the sound of conversation ("chit-chat"). The idea behind Pecha Kucha is to keep presentations concise, the interest level up and to have many presenters sharing their ideas within the course of one night. Therefore the 20x20 Pecha Kucha format was created: each presenter is allowed a slideshow of 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each. This results in a total presentation time of 6 minutes 40 seconds on a stage before the next presenter is up.
I have to say that I tried the format once and overshot by 30 mins. Ouch. Practice practice practice. But yeah, everyone was asking questions so it wasn't really fair.3.Xmas shopping
If Clotaire Rapaille says that going shopping is our cultural equivalent of connecting back with our world, I have to say that the mall madness I witnessed today is the cultural equivalent of a rugby game. Such a sea of people "connecting" with xmas gift guilt I have the pleasure of witnessing only once a year. Thank god. I don't think I have the stomach nor the patience behind the wheel to go for another round. People : go shop online, better yet, don't spend all that money and spend some real time with someone you havent spoken to in a while.
4.15% commision on paid search ads
Good post on Yannick Manuri's Blog. The age old topic that some people are out there to screw you. What do you really expect? This is an industry of people selling stuff to people selling stuff to people. Markups, albeit obscene are part of the DNA of the fauna. 25% comm on ad buys is obscene. There is no way to rationalize anymore on paid search.
5.The Hon. Denis Coderre, P.C., M.P. on FB (Facebook)
I must say that marketers dont have the stronghold on Facebook marketing anyore. Enter the political players! None other than Liberal Superstar Denis Coderre in the FB universe!
6.Jackson 5 makes another blip on the Search radar
See Google trends activity
The actual search phrase "Jackson 5" is 75th out of the top 100 search queries for December 8th 2007. Just thought you'd like to know.
7.MBA's
Is it really worth it? I ran accros this article on a MBA competition.
Is it just another way of writing on a piece of paper: I AM BETTER THAN YOU ACCORDING TO THIS SCHOOL? Then again, I might be wrong. I have met people with amazing minds with the notorious MBA suffixes (poor form if you ask me). But I would argue that they were just as brilliant before entering the sausage grinder. Cause and effect still tbd.
8.Great quote by founder of Patagonia
I'VE BEEN A BUSINESSMAN for almost 50 years. It's as difficult for me to say those words as it is for someone to admit to being an alcoholic or a lawyer.I've never respected the profession. It's business that has to take the majority of the blame for being the enemy of nature, for destroying native cultures, for taking from the poor and giving to the rich, and for poisoning the earth with the effluent from its factories. Yet business can produce food, cure disease, control population, employ people, and generally enrich our lives. And it can do these good things and make a profit without losing its soul.
9.Leekspin.com
Why?Because it's there.
Read all about it on Wikipedia.
10.Darwin award of the day:
Yahoo-Adobe partnership to put contextual ads in PDF documents.
Yawn, come on guys. Seriously....
TOP 10 LIST: 2007 Boomerang Awards
10-The company that makes those outdoor heating lamps must really be laughing since smoking indoors is outlawed.
9-Facebook is the new business card
8-Justice DJ music.
7-Le Proprio in house web design. Respect !
6-The Canoe bar is dry after 1 hour. BOOOOOOOOH.
5-Being an event sponsors : a great way to win a boomerang?
4-Denis Talbot : why and how much are they paying you?
3-Les "ballounes" Yahoo !
2-Fjord’s DC fashion style. Year after year, stylin'
1-Provokat. Nuff said.
9-Facebook is the new business card
8-Justice DJ music.
7-Le Proprio in house web design. Respect !
6-The Canoe bar is dry after 1 hour. BOOOOOOOOH.
5-Being an event sponsors : a great way to win a boomerang?
4-Denis Talbot : why and how much are they paying you?
3-Les "ballounes" Yahoo !
2-Fjord’s DC fashion style. Year after year, stylin'
1-Provokat. Nuff said.
Top 10: December 7th 2007
1- Sony advertising on Mac Rumours site.
I’m not really convinced by the strategy of placing Sony laptop ads on a die hard Mac lover site. Do you really think theres any hope of converting macusers with the most uber-basic display ads ?
http://www.macrumors.com/
2- Live ads.
There are people accross my screen. I love the execution on this campaign. I have no idea how to read Norwegian but I’m still laughing out loud.
http://www.adverblog.com/archives/003323.htm
3- Opinion Lab
Does anyone use Opinion Lab tools ? I’m especially interested in the AD FEEDBACK feature. I’ve seen some very promising features and apparently the back end reporting is out of this world.
http://www.opinionlab.com/
4- A moment of philosophy.
Long tail distribution in human beings: general versus specific needs mold different templates of personalities. Isn’t the Long Tail just a example of a healthy bio diverse model. The more diverse an ecosystem is, the better and more adapted it is ?
5- The new social MIXX.
It makes all the sense of the world for a news media company to team up with social tagging startup Mixx, who’s users are snubbing the Digg Culture. I can’t say I’ve been using this new site but it’s looking good and fun to use. Update coming soon !
article
6- The land before the web
Will the next generation believe stories of the land before the web ? wikipedia, homework, cell phones, etc…It’s pretty impressive how quickly technology moved from comunicating to a daily appliance. Almost banale really, the light swicth goes on and the rest is magic. I just wanted to take a moment and thank all the little elves of the digital world for making the « light go on » everytime the switch goes on.
7- No comments? No blog for you!
If no one is talking back it’s not a conversation. So if you’re gonna blog, get ready to get some people talking back to you. Clearly it’s a sense of engagement from the user but also of respect by the blogger.
Great article in a great blog byMaggie Fox
8- McDonald report cards.
What might make sense in a marketing plan makes absolutely no sense from a community sense. I dislike this brand more and more every day. YA YOU HEARD ME RONALD, I DON’T LIKE YOU.
full article here
9- Infopresse Boomerang award list.
Very happy to see Cyberpresse picking up the interactive banner award. The banner was created by Generation Flash and is a great showcase of how updated RSS feeds can always keep banners fresh and up to date with current events. WOOHOO!
On another note, tidewave of awards for Provokat. hehe.
http://www.infopresse.com/prixboomerang/2007/
10. Comscore.
Please lets all put our thinking caps on and lets find a solution/ alternative.
I’m not really convinced by the strategy of placing Sony laptop ads on a die hard Mac lover site. Do you really think theres any hope of converting macusers with the most uber-basic display ads ?
http://www.macrumors.com/
2- Live ads.
There are people accross my screen. I love the execution on this campaign. I have no idea how to read Norwegian but I’m still laughing out loud.
http://www.adverblog.com/archives/003323.htm
3- Opinion Lab
Does anyone use Opinion Lab tools ? I’m especially interested in the AD FEEDBACK feature. I’ve seen some very promising features and apparently the back end reporting is out of this world.
http://www.opinionlab.com/
4- A moment of philosophy.
Long tail distribution in human beings: general versus specific needs mold different templates of personalities. Isn’t the Long Tail just a example of a healthy bio diverse model. The more diverse an ecosystem is, the better and more adapted it is ?
5- The new social MIXX.
It makes all the sense of the world for a news media company to team up with social tagging startup Mixx, who’s users are snubbing the Digg Culture. I can’t say I’ve been using this new site but it’s looking good and fun to use. Update coming soon !
article
6- The land before the web
Will the next generation believe stories of the land before the web ? wikipedia, homework, cell phones, etc…It’s pretty impressive how quickly technology moved from comunicating to a daily appliance. Almost banale really, the light swicth goes on and the rest is magic. I just wanted to take a moment and thank all the little elves of the digital world for making the « light go on » everytime the switch goes on.
7- No comments? No blog for you!
If no one is talking back it’s not a conversation. So if you’re gonna blog, get ready to get some people talking back to you. Clearly it’s a sense of engagement from the user but also of respect by the blogger.
Great article in a great blog byMaggie Fox
8- McDonald report cards.
What might make sense in a marketing plan makes absolutely no sense from a community sense. I dislike this brand more and more every day. YA YOU HEARD ME RONALD, I DON’T LIKE YOU.
full article here
9- Infopresse Boomerang award list.
Very happy to see Cyberpresse picking up the interactive banner award. The banner was created by Generation Flash and is a great showcase of how updated RSS feeds can always keep banners fresh and up to date with current events. WOOHOO!
On another note, tidewave of awards for Provokat. hehe.
http://www.infopresse.com/prixboomerang/2007/
10. Comscore.
Please lets all put our thinking caps on and lets find a solution/ alternative.
TOP 10: New Blog Format
Top 10 : December 6th 2007
1. Blogging- how easy and how hard it is
Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Twitter etc…Its very easy to share cool links, odd articles and the occasional WTF website. It’s become super hard lately to sit down and actually write original content on my blog lately. So I came up with a solution to bring the efficiency of twitter with the content value of a blog: Theme oriented TOP 10 LISTS. It’s an experiment right now , but I plan on posted every day a TOP 10 LIST summing up whats on my mind around a theme.
2. Dove
Even if I loved the 1st Dove Viral ad, and the second ad was so-so, and the irony around Unilever pushing accepting your body is overwhelming, this brand just keeps swinging.
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/17585.asp
3. Book review: naked conversations
How Blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers.
Great book for demystifying the dark art of blogging. A lot of examples, a lot of must-dos but more importantly a list of reasons people should not blog. Very interesting points about sustainable business communication practices. I still give it a 8/10 as it get repetitive and doesn’t have much depth to it after 50 pages.
4. Twitter
Yes I love it. Yes I know Facebook copy catted the status line to be like it, but I’m still a huge lover of the micro-blogging aggregator.
My Twitter here
5. Analytics
After the Workopolis Analytics Summit lasy week, I realize that we really do have a new language: marketing analytics. I’ve noticed that fluent speakers of this digi-mark-speak ( as opposed to corp-speak) havea lot in common: Love of SEO, Scepticism of Banner Advertising, Respect for the user, and doubt as to dogmatic design. All your data are belong to us.
6. FYI: ROI of SMO
Is there a ROI on Social Media? No I don’t think so, not that I can calculate right now. Is it pointless? No definitely Not. Is it critical? Not yet, but you can't (IMHO) just wait for the whole market to get there 1st. I think I had this exact conversation 10 years ago re: search engines. Incoming links are not only a great source of SEO love but actual traffic that actual people are driving to you. Is there a ROI on PR initiative?
7. SEO and site development
Yes Finally I think we did it! Walking into a meeting with the dev team, project management and SEO specialist and everyone got along great! No it’s not a miracle, it’s simply people talking the same language and respecting each others skill.
8. Foosball and type A personalities
It’s a great game. Nuff said.
9. Simplify:
Loved the S.H.E. concept by John MAEDA:
* S: Simplify
* H: Hide
* E: Embody
10. Facebook beacon
Facebook screwed up, blah blah blah. Too fast too soon too greedy. Everyone’s favourite screw up is still worth more that some small countries ( don’t quote me on that). I think they still have a great platform and great following and people are so damn addicted to Facebook, it doesn’t matter
1. Blogging- how easy and how hard it is
Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Twitter etc…Its very easy to share cool links, odd articles and the occasional WTF website. It’s become super hard lately to sit down and actually write original content on my blog lately. So I came up with a solution to bring the efficiency of twitter with the content value of a blog: Theme oriented TOP 10 LISTS. It’s an experiment right now , but I plan on posted every day a TOP 10 LIST summing up whats on my mind around a theme.
2. Dove
Even if I loved the 1st Dove Viral ad, and the second ad was so-so, and the irony around Unilever pushing accepting your body is overwhelming, this brand just keeps swinging.
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/17585.asp
3. Book review: naked conversations
How Blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers.
Great book for demystifying the dark art of blogging. A lot of examples, a lot of must-dos but more importantly a list of reasons people should not blog. Very interesting points about sustainable business communication practices. I still give it a 8/10 as it get repetitive and doesn’t have much depth to it after 50 pages.
4. Twitter
Yes I love it. Yes I know Facebook copy catted the status line to be like it, but I’m still a huge lover of the micro-blogging aggregator.
My Twitter here
5. Analytics
After the Workopolis Analytics Summit lasy week, I realize that we really do have a new language: marketing analytics. I’ve noticed that fluent speakers of this digi-mark-speak ( as opposed to corp-speak) havea lot in common: Love of SEO, Scepticism of Banner Advertising, Respect for the user, and doubt as to dogmatic design. All your data are belong to us.
6. FYI: ROI of SMO
Is there a ROI on Social Media? No I don’t think so, not that I can calculate right now. Is it pointless? No definitely Not. Is it critical? Not yet, but you can't (IMHO) just wait for the whole market to get there 1st. I think I had this exact conversation 10 years ago re: search engines. Incoming links are not only a great source of SEO love but actual traffic that actual people are driving to you. Is there a ROI on PR initiative?
7. SEO and site development
Yes Finally I think we did it! Walking into a meeting with the dev team, project management and SEO specialist and everyone got along great! No it’s not a miracle, it’s simply people talking the same language and respecting each others skill.
8. Foosball and type A personalities
It’s a great game. Nuff said.
9. Simplify:
Loved the S.H.E. concept by John MAEDA:
* S: Simplify
* H: Hide
* E: Embody
10. Facebook beacon
Facebook screwed up, blah blah blah. Too fast too soon too greedy. Everyone’s favourite screw up is still worth more that some small countries ( don’t quote me on that). I think they still have a great platform and great following and people are so damn addicted to Facebook, it doesn’t matter
Life after the spotlight---la vie apres la une.
Digg's Long-Term Effect on Traffic
Ben Cook created a blog with a single post and submitted it to Digg. The post reached Digg's front page, a deluge of visitors ensued, but what's next? High search engine rankings and a continuous trickle of visitors, Ben Cook explains.
Original post: Digg's Long-Term Effect on Traffic
Ben Cook created a blog with a single post and submitted it to Digg. The post reached Digg's front page, a deluge of visitors ensued, but what's next? High search engine rankings and a continuous trickle of visitors, Ben Cook explains.
Original post: Digg's Long-Term Effect on Traffic
Ok I have been lazy with my blog
Ok I admit it. I have been very lazy in the last 2 monts with my blog. I take the blame, but I can definitly say that posting to facebook has been getting so much easier lately.
Here is a selection of my latest Posted Items in Facebook:
Here is a selection of my latest Posted Items in Facebook:
Blogged with Flock
Why To Use Flock | How To Split An Atom
Why To Use Flock | How To Split An Atom
Like most of you, I was a quick convert to Firefox a few years back. When compared to IE6, it was an absolute treat. If nothing else, the tabs and the extensions made Firefox the browser to beat. Add to that better security and a rendering engine that actually worked, and there simply was no competition.
A couple years later, I am still a huge fan of Firefox but with Firefox 3 on the horizon I wanted to point you in the direction of what for some of you might be a worthy successor to everyone’s favorite Fox.
Yea, I know. Version 0.7 was an absolute mess, but the newest version of Flock is definitely worth your time.
Birds Of A Feather
Flock is a “social web browser” based on the Firefox code base. That means that converts will be treated to pretty much the same experience as they have come to expect out of Firefox, except with a whole lot of other widgets thrown on top.
First let me say that the best part of Flock is that you can ignore most of the more irritating “Social Features” of the browser, but for those of us who need to integrate our digital empires into one dashboard, Flock makes this exceptionally easy.
If you are on a site with an RSS Feed, just click a button and add it to the built in feed reader.
If you want a side-bar to keep track of what your Twitter friends are doing, just open one up using their “people” panel.
If you want to whip up a blog post on the fly, you can do that too with their built in editor.
Surprisingly enough, for all the stuff they have packed into this browser — it runs light. In fact, it feels a lot less heavy than Firefox has since version 1.5. Then again, I hear rumors that Flock is based on that particular version of the Fox’s code base.
All the social “stuff” aside, the real selling point of this browser is its speed. I do most of my writing from a three year old laptop, which in computer years dates it to just about the end of the Mesozoic. Using Firefox for more than twenty minutes almost always leads to a slow and painful death, often involving me force exiting the program just to get my computer to stop churning.
So far, Flock has run without a hitch. This is with my usual 8 to 10 tabs open.
What are the downsides? Well, you don’t have access to some of your extensions but that can mostly be solved with a little hackery courtesy of Frobba.
Beyond that, seasoned Firefox users should have no problems at all getting used to the browser.
Probably one of the lamest posts ever
Live Search : We are flattered, but...
I really cant believe MSN actually had the nerve to come out with this post. I know this is from late March but somehow it's found its way on the not so rightious wall of shame.
"We have been seeing broad use of these features by legitimate users but unfortunately also what appears to be mass automated usage for data mining."
Guys seriously, how can you even type this and not die of shame.
Nuff said. Whatever progress you made in the 18 months or so with Ad Center, you totally burned off.
I really cant believe MSN actually had the nerve to come out with this post. I know this is from late March but somehow it's found its way on the not so rightious wall of shame.
"We have been seeing broad use of these features by legitimate users but unfortunately also what appears to be mass automated usage for data mining."
Guys seriously, how can you even type this and not die of shame.
Nuff said. Whatever progress you made in the 18 months or so with Ad Center, you totally burned off.
Feedster Quietly Dies... So Which Blog Search Engine Do You Use?
Feedster Quietly Dies... So Which Blog Search Engine Do You Use?
Written by Richard MacManus / November 21, 2007 / 8 comments
Blog search engine Feedster
has had the following notice on its frontpage for at least a few weeks now:
There is no sign of life on the site and the Feedster blog has already been killed off (the big 404 in the sky).
In terms of the blog search market in general, Feedster has been struggling for 3+ years now - this RWW post in July 2005 shows how Feedster was falling behind Technorati even then. Now Feedster seems to be, if not in the DeadPool, then at least in the PurgatoryPool. PubSub was another victim in this market.
Nowadays, the blog search market seems to be made up of 3 main players - Google Blog Search, Technorati and Bloglines/Ask.com - and a lot of smaller players such as Zuula and Blogdigger. Personally I still use Technorati a few times a week, and the search function of Google Reader. I also am a heavy user of Google's main search, which I find brings up good blog results (i.e. often I don't see the need for a specialist blog search engine). I did a quick poll of the other RWW writers. Josh said he still uses Technorati sometimes, but also Google Blog search. Marshall said that he uses Ask.com for minimizing spam, relies heavily on feeds with subscribers in Bloglines, and uses Technorati too. He finds that Google Blog Search is good for speed.
What blog search engine do you use - and why?
Yet another PC versus MAC ad
Despite the simplicity of the roadblock with somewhat of an interaction, this ad by Apple scores yet another point against the PC squad. Touché boys! Maybe a animated wallpaper could have been nice as an extra but overall it's got my attention.
Brijit: A Digg For Dead-Tree Media
Brijit: A Digg For Dead-Tree Media
Can’t keep up with all those magazines piling up in your mailbox, especially the high-brow ones you thought would make you smarter but never have time to read? Well, cancel those subscriptions and head on over to Brijit, a self-styled “Thinking Man’s Digg.”
Can’t keep up with all those magazines piling up in your mailbox, especially the high-brow ones you thought would make you smarter but never have time to read? Well, cancel those subscriptions and head on over to Brijit, a self-styled “Thinking Man’s Digg.”
There you will find 100-word abstracts on the latest articles from magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Fortune, Harper’s, Vanity Fair, and Wired, with links to most of them. The site also covers video from 60 Minutes, Charlie Rose, The Colbert Report, and The Daily Show. Readers vote the best stories up or down, so you can keep up on the ones most likely to come up during a dinner party. You can even get paid to write abstracts, $5 apiece if your submissions are accepted.
Brijit is designed to be a filter for the smart set. But it oddly defines smart only as what’s in print. Where are the blogs? Other than Salon and Slate, very little online-only media is represented. Perhaps that is because Brijit is focussed on long-form narrative, and there is not much of that online. But it makes you wonder whether sifting through the dead-tree titles will be enough to keep readers coming back to this site, or whether they will prefer a broader view of the world.
Brijit has raised $1 million from angel investors, including former Time Inc. editor-in-chief Norman Pearlstine.
Blogged with Flock
Pas besoin d'une raison pour un nouveau browser
Pas trop sur si j'aime ca encore mais bon, le changement c'est toujours bon.
Welcome to Flock 1.0
Et bien oui j'essaye un nouveau browser, c'est pas par reproche à Firefox que j'adore encore. On s'entend que IE est tres tres tres loin derriere dans mon rétroviseur...
Mais bon, j'ai trouvé ce nouvel outil FLOCK 1.0 ( déja c'est pas 2.0) avec la self-proclaimed promesse d'etre le "social web browser". Interessant jusqu'à maintenant! Usage assez simple avec intégration de mon blogger, facebook, flickr, etc...
Alors apres 1 heure d'usage c'est 7/10 et une recommandation à mes amigos. Je vous garde au courant!
Welcome to Flock 1.0
Et bien oui j'essaye un nouveau browser, c'est pas par reproche à Firefox que j'adore encore. On s'entend que IE est tres tres tres loin derriere dans mon rétroviseur...
Mais bon, j'ai trouvé ce nouvel outil FLOCK 1.0 ( déja c'est pas 2.0) avec la self-proclaimed promesse d'etre le "social web browser". Interessant jusqu'à maintenant! Usage assez simple avec intégration de mon blogger, facebook, flickr, etc...
Alors apres 1 heure d'usage c'est 7/10 et une recommandation à mes amigos. Je vous garde au courant!
Blogged with Flock
VA Tech
L'horribe incident qui a pris place a Virgina Tech aujourd'hui est un autre exemple de l'horreur humaine lorsque des armes à feu sont dans les mains de monstres et malades.
Voir article très intéressant sur le crowdsourcing des nouvelles lors de la tuerie.
Crowdsourcing the VA Tech shooting
Voir article très intéressant sur le crowdsourcing des nouvelles lors de la tuerie.
Crowdsourcing the VA Tech shooting
Second life...encore second life
Apparement nous sommes très méchant.
Oui, voyez vous, dans ce monde virtuel de la spéculation de buzzword marketing, nous aimons prévoir le prochain train-wreck. Assis tranquilles dans les estrades, comfo et cyniques, on regarde les gladiateurs de buzz se tapper sur la gueulle à coup de nouveaux joujous technologiques. C'est présisement la que notre cynisme se crystalise: "ca va jamais marcher ce truc", "c'est une mode", "ca va disparaitre d'ici 2 mois", "c'est qui utilise ce truc anyways". Oui je sais, on ne le dit pas tout le temps pour tous le nouveaux joujous 2.0 mais bon, c'est définitivement la tendence. Mais voyez vous, malgré tous les nay-sayers, desfois , le plus doomed des doomed des produits web pesistent. Et non seulement survivent mais font un pied de nez à l'establishement (en l'occurence nous, "the man").
Je vous présente le brand map de l'univers Second Life. Voici toutes les marques cartographiées par leur présence dans le monde SL. Effectivement, il est possible que ce soit encore un autre Buzz marketing. Possible. Quand meme, BMW, Sony, Toyota, Comcast, Pontiac, STA travel, Cisco, Reebok, Telus, etc, c'est pas que du geek-wear web. Mais bon...
En passant, intéressant article sur le " Futur de Marketing Interactif". J'adore l'expression. Business week online a sorti quelques résultats de sondage sur les différentes initiatives que les agences et clients ont entrepris. A lire.
Oui, voyez vous, dans ce monde virtuel de la spéculation de buzzword marketing, nous aimons prévoir le prochain train-wreck. Assis tranquilles dans les estrades, comfo et cyniques, on regarde les gladiateurs de buzz se tapper sur la gueulle à coup de nouveaux joujous technologiques. C'est présisement la que notre cynisme se crystalise: "ca va jamais marcher ce truc", "c'est une mode", "ca va disparaitre d'ici 2 mois", "c'est qui utilise ce truc anyways". Oui je sais, on ne le dit pas tout le temps pour tous le nouveaux joujous 2.0 mais bon, c'est définitivement la tendence. Mais voyez vous, malgré tous les nay-sayers, desfois , le plus doomed des doomed des produits web pesistent. Et non seulement survivent mais font un pied de nez à l'establishement (en l'occurence nous, "the man").
Je vous présente le brand map de l'univers Second Life. Voici toutes les marques cartographiées par leur présence dans le monde SL. Effectivement, il est possible que ce soit encore un autre Buzz marketing. Possible. Quand meme, BMW, Sony, Toyota, Comcast, Pontiac, STA travel, Cisco, Reebok, Telus, etc, c'est pas que du geek-wear web. Mais bon...
En passant, intéressant article sur le " Futur de Marketing Interactif". J'adore l'expression. Business week online a sorti quelques résultats de sondage sur les différentes initiatives que les agences et clients ont entrepris. A lire.
The web
The web is not a media.
The web is not a destination.
The web is not an advertising medium.
The web is not technology, or worse IT.
The web is not content.
The same way Hydro Quebec is not gaming, cooking or alarm clocks.
The web is our information matrix.
It is our conscience, our past, our hopes, our dreams.
It provides tools, and extensions to speech and print.
The web will not make our life harder or easier.
The web is amoral and very organic.
Our flaws and our aspirations leave their mark and grow in this matrix.
Brands exist in this matrix.
As well as people, in forms they cannot take elsewhere.
Emotions are created and maintained.
Thoughts and information are gathered using tools.
There is no online and offline.
There is no cyber or digital.
There is no traditional or new-media.
The web is uniting humans.
Not to say a book doesn’t.
A book is paper and paper has limits.
The web has problems, and problems create fear.
The web is not the solution to all problems.
The web is not the source of all problems.
What it is, after all, is very simple:
The web is the most advanced human language .
Montage-a-google
Montage-a-google est une app web qui utilise Google image pour générer une mosaique de thumbnails basée sur les mots clés d'une recherche. Voici ce que Tourisme Québec génère:
Définitivement a essayer avec des mots clés choc tel que 9-11, George W Bush, Prozac, etc...
Montage-a-Google
Définitivement a essayer avec des mots clés choc tel que 9-11, George W Bush, Prozac, etc...
Montage-a-Google
Myspace au service de la mode...
Apparemment, la deuxieme source de trafic UK pour le site d'une boutique de mode de Glasgow, TopShop.co.uk, proviendrait de son profil Myspace.
3230 amis quand meme!Article complet de Helen Leggatt.
Twitter newbie
Ok Ok Ok Ok, apres hi5, linkedin, myspace, facebook et viaduc, me voici sur un autre band-wagon de communauté web : http://twitter.com.
Concept assez intéressant: le discours avec amis et membres de la tribus tourne autour de la question (très) existentielle WHAT ARE YOU DOING.
Widget American Airlines
Outil interessant pour interface Google IG. Un widget American Airlines offrant a l'usager un acces direct au moteur de réservation et disponibilitées en temps réel. Un exemple d'outillage et de réflexion out-of-the-site qui étend la portée et l'usage. A quand un engin similaire pour les sites de rencontre? Pour ceux qui ne m'ont pas entendu parler des RSS en 2004, et surtout ceux qui l'ont vu venir, voici une application monnaiyable tres tangible pour l'ésotérique RSS ;-)
Telus attaque !
ET bien nous voici en pleine guerre de transférabilité. Depuis la campagne de Vidéotron avec Jaimemonnuméro.com, et les campagnes de Virgin plutot cute, voici maintenant Telus sur l'offensive. Telus a effectivement acheté TOUT l'inventaire publicitaire du réseau ad-sense de Google le14 Mars. Blitz très aggressif mais très pointu considérant la portée et l'exclusivité. Bravo Telus, un très bel exemple.
Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us
Despite all the marketing buzzword and the bs-meter running on high lately, the web has changed. Changed our ways of communicating and the way information is consummed. Changing the way humans process information and organize their thoughts around a topic.I like this video for its simplicity and its brute strenght at documenting how far along we have gone. SO beyond the buzzwords and the next big google-esque widget, lets remember the beauty behind communicating and exchanging. Humans. Not machine.
Despite all the marketing buzzword and the bs-meter running on high lately, the web has changed. Changed our ways of communicating and the way information is consummed. Changing the way humans process information and organize their thoughts around a topic.I like this video for its simplicity and its brute strenght at documenting how far along we have gone. SO beyond the buzzwords and the next big google-esque widget, lets remember the beauty behind communicating and exchanging. Humans. Not machine.
Make your city more exciting
Ok it's been done. And it's gonna be done over and over again.
Nice interface, so-so execution and customization. Not as much a "me-too" vis-a-vis Stockholm, but more of a "kinda-like-but-not-really".
Nice interface, so-so execution and customization. Not as much a "me-too" vis-a-vis Stockholm, but more of a "kinda-like-but-not-really".
Intel Launches Blogger Challenge with Mystery Blogger
- The City Blogger - Jen Chung from The Gothamist
- The Gadget Blogger - Mia Kim from Popgadget
- The Video Blogger - Bre Pettis from Make Magazine
- The Mommy Blogger - Mindy Roberts from The Mommy Blogger
- The Tech Blogger - Paul Stamatiou from Paul Stamatiou
- The Food Blogger - Pim Techamuanvivit from Chezpim
Not only is this one of most unique collections of bloggers that I have ever seen participating in a single promotion, it will also unfold over the next five weeks to offer an interesting window into the art of blogging and what drives bloggers to share their lives and view online, regardless of their "category." Perhaps most interestingly, at noon EST on November 15th we will unveil the identity of our mystery blogger - a person who many have considered to have defined the genre of blogging itself and continues to innovate and remain an inspiration to many other bloggers. Think you know who it is? Share your guess with Intel through the contact form on the site and you could win a prize from Intel. Either way, check out the blogger challenge site, share a comment or thought, and add your voice to the challenge.
Wired News: Social Bookmarking Showdown
Wired News: Social Bookmarking Showdown
The reason that social bookmarking has exploded in the last year is obvious -- storing your bookmarks online instead of in the browser just makes sense.
Social bookmarking services let you keep links to your favorite web destinations in one location that's accessible from any computer on the net. Add the ability to share your favorite web destinations and search through other users' bookmarks to discover new sites, and you've got a highly addictive and truly remarkable phenomenon.
NFL.com - Super Ad
NFL.com - Super Ad
"The NFL wants you! The NFL is going to make the best Super Bowl commercial ever and this is the fans' chance to make that happen. This fall, you the fans, can pitch us your idea for the best NFL Super Bowl commercial ever. The winning pitch may be produced into a TV commercial that will air during Super Bowl XLI to be seen by millions of people! "
"The NFL wants you! The NFL is going to make the best Super Bowl commercial ever and this is the fans' chance to make that happen. This fall, you the fans, can pitch us your idea for the best NFL Super Bowl commercial ever. The winning pitch may be produced into a TV commercial that will air during Super Bowl XLI to be seen by millions of people! "
Analysis of Political Paid Search Ads
Analysis of Political Paid Search Ads
The Rimm-Kaufman Group published an analysis of a handful of political ads that appeared in search engines (mostly Google). Some of the findings: the blues were more negative than the reds but the reds were more numerous, no ad referenced Bush, only two ads linked to videos. The observation I liked the most: "Blue ads were more likely to include an exclamation point. Red ads were more likely to contain a question mark."
There is something haiku about packing powerful political proclamations into the puny 90 characters of an AdWords blurb.
The Rimm-Kaufman Group published an analysis of a handful of political ads that appeared in search engines (mostly Google). Some of the findings: the blues were more negative than the reds but the reds were more numerous, no ad referenced Bush, only two ads linked to videos. The observation I liked the most: "Blue ads were more likely to include an exclamation point. Red ads were more likely to contain a question mark."
There is something haiku about packing powerful political proclamations into the puny 90 characters of an AdWords blurb.
By Microsoft Breaks Search Ad Campaign; Revs, Profits Up @ Media Buyer Planner
Microsoft Breaks Search Ad Campaign; Revs, Profits Up @ Media Buyer Planner
Microsoft today broke a print and online ad campaign talking up its search capabilities; it also reported revenue and profit gains - though its online division lost money.
Microsoft today broke a print and online ad campaign talking up its search capabilities; it also reported revenue and profit gains - though its online division lost money.
Measurement - Another Free Google Tool: Multivariate Website Optimizer
Measurement - Another Free Google Tool: Multivariate Website Optimizer
At the Emetrics Summit in Washington DC last Wednesday, Brett Crosby of Google announced the launch of Google Website Optimizer, beta. A multivariate testing platform free to those with a Google Adwords account, Optimizer allows you to test landing pages or conversion events for not only search engine marketing, but also email, ads or an offline drive-to-web campaign. Sure, this will help Google increase Adwords revenue but it’s a definite win-win for Adwords customers as well. Way to go Google!
I had been in Washington for the Summit since the Saturday before, and after 4 days of very long days and jam-packed sessions, some of our heads were filled to brim. However, we were awake enough to suspect something was up when Brett walked to the podium wearing a suit with his presentation on a flash drive and not preloaded.
Use of the Optimizer is by invitation only. Google will be screening sites before they allow access to the Optimizer. Brett said that they definitely have criteria for admission and I hope that this includes a screening of the readiness of the applicant to do a robust test. There’s nothing more dangerous than an invalid test. Because people tend to have more confidence in test results, they tend to risk more. Taking action on invalid test results can be deadly.
At the Emetrics Summit in Washington DC last Wednesday, Brett Crosby of Google announced the launch of Google Website Optimizer, beta. A multivariate testing platform free to those with a Google Adwords account, Optimizer allows you to test landing pages or conversion events for not only search engine marketing, but also email, ads or an offline drive-to-web campaign. Sure, this will help Google increase Adwords revenue but it’s a definite win-win for Adwords customers as well. Way to go Google!
I had been in Washington for the Summit since the Saturday before, and after 4 days of very long days and jam-packed sessions, some of our heads were filled to brim. However, we were awake enough to suspect something was up when Brett walked to the podium wearing a suit with his presentation on a flash drive and not preloaded.
Use of the Optimizer is by invitation only. Google will be screening sites before they allow access to the Optimizer. Brett said that they definitely have criteria for admission and I hope that this includes a screening of the readiness of the applicant to do a robust test. There’s nothing more dangerous than an invalid test. Because people tend to have more confidence in test results, they tend to risk more. Taking action on invalid test results can be deadly.
Mobile Social Networking Gets Boost @ Media Buyer Planner
Mobile Social Networking Gets Boost @ Media Buyer Planner
Hoping to give a boost to its mobile social-networking service, Boost Mobile has teamed up with West Coast Customs in a promotion to give away a free customized Dodge Charger.
Hoping to give a boost to its mobile social-networking service, Boost Mobile has teamed up with West Coast Customs in a promotion to give away a free customized Dodge Charger. Boost Mobile's promotion is aimed at recruiting teens and young adults to its Hookt social networking service, AdWeek reports (via MarketingVox). Hookt's 300,000 members can register for the contest via ads on the welcome screen of their cell phones.
Social networking appears ready to make the jump from the computer to the cell phone. MySpace has a deal with Helio to allow users of the service to access the social-networking site. Hookt, which Boost introduced last year, allows users to create profiles and find users with similar interests. The service costs 50 cents a day.
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