The Five Biggest Digital Marketing Cliches

Source: http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=131347

Why Marketers Use Them, Why They Often Don’t Work and What to Do Instead

Posted by Mark Cregar on 09.29.08 @ 05:24 PM

Once upon a time – say, 2002 — digital spending was a negligible portion of total marketing budgets and we lived in a world where few marketers would dare go ”beyond the banner.” Fast-forward to 2008, and in some cases we have the opposite problem. Digital spending is still too low, but in the spirit of wanting to appear current, some marketers have rushed to embrace any and every new digital tactic. 

This has resulted in a scenario where some digital tactics are dangerously close to ”jumping the shark.” Everyone is doing them, so they’re not original anymore. They generally are not done well (i.e., in a way that builds brand equity, awareness or sales), and they may be so commonplace that rather than making a brand seem current or hip, they have the opposite effect.

Here are my top five: 

The Social Network Page 

The offense: In 2006 every brand had to have a MySpace page; now they have an equally urgent need for a Facebook page. The result is usually the equivalent of an online ad hidden within the vast reaches of a social network, adding little value to consumers or the brand. 

The offenders: A look at a few major consumer brands (Sprite, Skippy Peanut Butter, Gatorade) shows Facebook pages with little more than a boilerplate brand description and a link to the corporate URL. It looks like some marketing departments have been on a friend collection tear, though. These dull profiles mysteriously seem to attract thousands of ”friends,” though wall posts number in the low double digits, suggesting very low engagement. 

They might try: Building a profile that reflects a brand’s unique provenance, personality or benefits. Brand groups agonize over building and evangelizing the perfect brand persona. Here’s a chance to showcase all that hard work. 

The Second Life Storefront 

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The Online Ad Contest 

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The Social Network 

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The Online Branded Entertainment Series 

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~~~
Mark Cregar is president-principal of Emerging Marketing Consulting. He has held senior-level marketing posts at Disney, Warner Bros., Coca-Cola and Nabisco. His views on digital marketing trends can be found atwww.emergingmarketing.blogspot.com.

Dell silently sneaks out 23-inch S2309W 1080p LCD monitor

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/404428507/

Filed under: Displays

We’re not sure what’s up with Dell and its displays, but for whatever reason, it actually prefers to sneak new stuff out and just let you try to find it. After pushing out a swank new WUXGA projector with nary a peep, the Round Rock powerhouse has now hosted up a new 1080p LCD monitor dubbed the S2309W. Granted, the display is currently only on the firm’s Canadian site, but we reckon it’s only a matter of time before it makes it to other markets. As for specs, we’ve got a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 5-millisecond response time, 300 cd/m2 brightness, 1,000:1 contrast ratio and DVI / VGA inputs. No price is mentioned, but it should be shipping in under a fortnight to those who figure out a way to buy it.

[Thanks, Alex]

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Megapixel race hits the mobile realm

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/405404699/

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

When the megapixel race unofficially started in the point-and-shoot world, it didn’t take long before every last camera manufacturer out there was cramming 14-megapixel sensors into any ole pocket cam. Now, it seems the same race is headed to the mobile realm. Of late, we’ve seen a new batch of 8-megapixel handsets and a 9-megapixel sensor, and a recent interview with LG’s sales and marketing director John Barton points to even more of those in the near future. According to him, “the megapixel race that we saw amongst camera makers is now being battled out between mobile manufacturers,” hinting that 10+ megapixel phones (not to mention handsets with HD video capability) are closer than we may have imagined. Mmm, the possibilities.

[Via Cell Phone Feeds]

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3D Stereo Vision Robot Kit

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/405714671/3d-stereo-vision-rob.html

Howard Gordon of the Surveyor Corp. says:

This past week, we introduced a new open source 3D stereo vision system for robotics and remote monitoring called Surveyor SVS. It features dual processors, dual cameras, and wifi connectivity, and sells for $550. The SVS is intended for researchers, educators and developers interested in enabling depth perception in their applications without the need for an array of active sensors (e.g. laser scanners, ultrasonics, infrared, etc).

Link

3D Stereo Vision Robot Kit

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/405714671/3d-stereo-vision-rob.html

Howard Gordon of the Surveyor Corp. says:

This past week, we introduced a new open source 3D stereo vision system for robotics and remote monitoring called Surveyor SVS. It features dual processors, dual cameras, and wifi connectivity, and sells for $550. The SVS is intended for researchers, educators and developers interested in enabling depth perception in their applications without the need for an array of active sensors (e.g. laser scanners, ultrasonics, infrared, etc).

Link

You donât climb into a MMR25 to be a driverâ¦

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/404423011/

You do it because you’re completely hardcore. I will right here guarantee you that if cars like this begin to be driven in rallies, rally racing will be the new most popular race on television- nay, the new most popular sport in the world. Released at this years Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge; witness the tantalizingly futuristic Mitsubishi Motors MMR25 Rally Racer.

Mitsubishi lays it down like so: “Continuing its world racing heritage and its industry leading expertise in electric vehicles, Mitsubishi Motors has introduced the most revolutionary racing technology that will defy automotive racing standards in the year 2025.”

Paraphrased press release: [All electric race car with "revolutionary" drivetrain; four lightweight, high-efficiency, in-wheel electric motors with eight supplemental motors. "More" powerful, fully recyclable batteries that can run up to 1,000 miles on a single charge. Uniform composite Nano fibers give the Lithium batteries "long" life and reduced weight; located in the center and on each side of the vehicle, positioned low to the ground for enhanced stability and a lower center of gravity. Omnidirectional wheel design with eight independently-controlled electric motors in each wheel hub. Rotational direction of the tires allows the vehicle to be driven forward while pointing the nose of the vehicle in any direction. A windowless pod for the driver, seamless 360 degree panoramic screen displaying images from outside cameras.]

Rally Racing is a Back Alley Sport Filled with Jackals, Headhunters, and Thugs! That’s why you’ll be glad you purchased your brand new MMR25 from Mitsubishi Motors. *Cue futuristic stock price increase* This layman would love extra insight into the real possibility of this being a functional vehicle and furthermore the possibility of a new kind of race.

I ask you: is it possible? Given the specs above, could this be the template for a new age in racing?

[ Via: Jalopnik ]

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A Birdâs Eye View

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/406054628/

Skyros is an aerial camera which takes unparalleled overhead photographs. It illuminates a unique bird’s eye view from where one can understand the intimate relationship with the environment in a refreshing new light. If you’re a more cynical reader, just think of it as a way to see what birds see before they do a #2 on your car or worse, you!

How it works: Skyros is pneumatically launched up to 120 feet in the air where it stabilizes itself as the rotors start. As it flies back to the user it takes photographs at various intervals. The user then links it back to its base and can view the photographs. There is an inbuilt sensor in the flying module which brings the camera back to the user too. Thank the gods because I hate chasing after my toys.

One thing I love about this concept is the ability to use it as a regular camera. Most other aerial cams I’ve seen completely negate this novel fact.

Designer: Siddharth Kambe & Dipti Hanako Kambe

Dipti Hanako Kambe, Siddharth Kambe

Wines of substance

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheDieline/~3/406231298/wines-of-substa.html

New range of wines by Wines of Substance from Washington, certainly have standout! with a modern website that has an unusual approach to wines.

Wines of substance

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheDieline/~3/406231298/wines-of-substa.html

New range of wines by Wines of Substance from Washington, certainly have standout! with a modern website that has an unusual approach to wines.

Criterion Considering Movie Downloads [Criterion Collection]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/406576083/criterion-considering-movie-downloads

Last week, while visiting Criterion Collection headquarters to observe their transition to Blu-ray, I brought up the subject of digital downloads. To my surprise, they let slip a little detail that sheds light on how a master disc maker like Criterion will manage in an all-download future.

As we’ve seen, even “HD” digital downloads are far from the quality of Blu-ray, so there’s a hesitance to offer up their restorations in a format that doesn’t live up to their very high standards. Lee Kline, Criterion’s Technical Director says “I would be depressed if we just went from standard-def DVDs to standard-def downloads.”

David Phillips, who works in DVD development at Criterion, explained further:

When you’re talking about a dual-layer Blu-ray disc, you’re talking about 50GB of data. Now, a lot of our films might not necessarily take up all that space, but even if they’re taking up 25GB on a single layer disc, you’re still talking about a heck of a lot of data to download. Now, the way that broadband infrastructure is in this country, any films you’re downloading aren’t going to have the data rate or resolution of Blu-ray.

When you work on the mastering part of it and the restoration and you see how good that image looks, it’s really hard to say, OK, we’re going to squash this down to the point where it’ll fit through everybody’s pipe.

However, according to Kline, digital downloads are on Criterion’s radar.

We’re pretty close to figuring out what we want to do with downloading, and I think our new website will cover that, which you’ll see ! in a few months. I don’t want to give any details yet, but we’re not dismissing that as a viable option right now. But until it’s faster and we’re sure that we’re going to give people a download that works in an acceptable amount of time, we’ll go there when we need to go there. We’re not scared of it, but we’re also not ready to do it yet.

There’ll be some sort of downloading and some sort of information regarding… OK, I’m going to stop, I’m giving away too much.

My guess is that there will be downloading of some sort, but it may or may not be full films. Who knows? Maybe it will be short scenes from classic movies, shown at higher-than-ever-before bitrates.

Would you be interested in downloading Criterion’s restorations even if the quality wasn’t that great? Or does that kind of go against everything that Criterion is about?