Posts tagged technology
The influential Web Celebs marketers need to be targeting
Feb 5th
Back in 1968 Andy Warhol predicted, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
Today the technology to achieve global fame exists with the internet revolutionising business, media, marketing and communications practices
But who from the influential ‘Who’s Who of Web Celebs’ should marketers and PRs be aiming to influence themselves?
Forbes’ ‘Web Celeb 25’ aims to provide the answer. The annual poll champions “the people who have turned their passions into new media empires,” people whose fame grew out of, and is dependent on, the internet, from stay-at home-mums to geek entrepreneurs.
Each candidate in a list of over 200 Internet personalities was ranked in four areas: Web references as calculated by Google, traffic ranking of their home page as calculated by Alexa, TV/radio mentions and press clips compiled from Factiva, and number of followers on microblogging site Twitter. These four categories were totaled and weighted to produce a final score, then sorted to produce our rankings.
For the third year in a row, controversial gossip blogger Perez Hilton has been crowned king. His site attracts more than 7.2 million people a month, putting it among the 500 most-visited sites on the Internet, and Hilton has more than 1.77 million followers on Twitter.
The No. 2 Web Celeb, Michael Arrington, is one of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley, as editor of TechCrunch.
“A mere mention of a company on its pages can make or break a startup,” say Forbes.
But perhaps the most interesting entry is Pete Cashmore, in at No. 3. Cashmore came up with the idea for what has become one of the world’s most influential websites, not in Silicon Valley, but at his parent’s house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Oh, and it was when he was a teenager too.
Today Mashable has more than 10 million unique monthly users reading its ‘outsider prespective’ on the web, while 24-year-old Cashmore has almost 2 million Twitter fans.
LA, NYC, London… Aberdeenshire. As Thomas L. Friedman claimed, “the world is flat.” We’re all now playing on a democratised playing field thanks to the net.
In the latest ‘Web Celeb 25’ edition eight faces appear for the first time. The highest-ranking new members are Evan Williams and Isaac ‘Biz’ Stone, cofounders of Twitter. The pair have more than 2.8 million Twitter followers between them, closely watched by legions of fans.
The youngest Web Celeb coming in at No. 25, is Shane Dawson, 21, who posts short comedy videos to his YouTube channel which has over 1.2 million subscribers. His videos have been watched more than 204 million times.
The Forbes ‘Web Celeb 25′
1. Perez Hilton – perezhilton.com
2. Michael Arrington – EditorTechCrunch.com
3. Pete Cashmore – Founder Mashable.com
4. Evan Williams & Biz Stone – Twitter
5. Kevin Rose – Founder Digg.com
6. Guy Kawasaki – GuyKawasaki.com
7. Heather “Dooce” Armstrong – blogging Mum at Dooce.com
8. Tila “Tequila” Nguyen – model/singer blogger at Tilashotsspot.buzznet.com
9. Gary Vaynerchuk – win expert blogger at GaryVaynerchuk.com
10. Cory Doctorow – author CrapHopund.com
11. Om Malik
12. Leo Laporte
13. Frank Warren
14. Robert Scoble
15. Chris Brogan
16. Wil Wheaton
17. Matt Drudge
18. Danny Sullivan
19. Jeff Jarvis
20. John C. Dvorak
21. Ana Marie Cox
22. Ree Drummond
23. Jason Calacanis
24. Seth Godin
25. Shane Dawson
When technology reaches its limit
Jan 15th
From Bruce Townsend, Actinic
I’m suffering from Facebook Fatigue and Twitter Block. I don’t know what to say any more. I need inspiration, and guess what? Technology isn’t providing it – quite the reverse. There seems to be something horribly soporific about my laptop screen, and the longer I sit in front of it, the duller my mind becomes.
Come to think of it, I don’t recall ever getting a great deal of creative inspiration when sitting at my computer. Doodling on bits of paper, yes. Or bouncing ideas around with friends and colleagues. Even catnapping and daydreaming. But not sitting at a PC. Maybe I just haven’t got the right software, or my brain doesn’t work the right way. But that’s how it is, for me at any rate.
Perhaps it’s no great surprise, though. When did you last see Google make an intuitive leap, or Excel have a hunch? The truth is that even the best data-mining applications and the most advanced artificial intelligence programming cannot approach the subconscious creative power of the human brain – especially multiple human brains interacting together.
So I say ‘vive la technologie!’ and long may it advance. But if we try to rely on it too much, our ideas may dry up and our marketing stagnate, while more inventive, free-thinking competitors forge ahead.
iPhone apps boost mCommerce shopping experience
Dec 4th
Big things are predicted for mCommerce. eBay’s recent ‘Deals’ app was launched on the back of predictions that by the end of this year it expects more than $500 million in merchandise to be purchased via eBay mobile.
Launched just a year ago, the eBay iPhone app has been downloaded more than five million times – making it one of the most popular iPhone apps.
The company also claims a purchase is made every two seconds via eBay mobile and that users from over 165 countries visit the eBay mobile website and use the iPhone application.
For mCommerce to be a success it’s all down to apps being easy for consumers to use and them then working cleverly to make lives easier.
Which is why a new one has caught our eye that uses high tech to make the most of an old tech device – the barcode.
‘StripeyLines’ allows shoppers to swipe the barcode on goods they are considering for a price comparison and then saves these goods and profiles as a wish list on the StripeyLines website for later research and evaluation.
It’s already got the backing of Iceland and Tesco through its TJAM initiative., with more retailers set to jump on board.
So in the run-up to Christmas or during sale events it could be used to allow visitors to affiliated retail stores to touch and feel products while on the shop floor then use their iPhone to scan the barcode of their desired products and collect them later at a “customer collection point”, or scan them and add them to online wish lists.
Alternatively, in-store, or later over a coffee, shoppers can review what they’ve scanned to make an informed decision and perform further research before purchasing the items from their iPhone or desktop PC.
Scanned barcodes can be used to gain access to generic images and details via either the retailer’s adapted version of their catalogue or through look-up search engines such as Amazon, eBay, iTunes and Google.
Shoppers can choose to carry out a number of different actions on a scanned item including the ability to search for the item on Tesco.com and then add it to their online Tesco’s Grocery account shopping basket.
It opens up a world of additional possibilities. What if having scanned a product the user plans to eat or drink, the application could update how much the nutritional value of that product contributes to their daily allowance and calculates the number of calories they have remaining? Such a development is already in planning.
Retailer specific barcodes (the shorter 8 digit barcodes found on own brands) are being added to the StripeyLines search as retailers make them available. The first retailer to provide this data is Iceland Foods with data also being made available from Tesco.
The flip side are the advantages for retailers who don’t want to developing their own iPhone application.
The StripeyLines app enables them to develop simple plug-ins that are beamed to shoppers’ iPhones and highlight certain lines and promotions when related items are scanned.
It allows them to integrate their stores with a product show room on an iPhone where shoppers can ‘touch and feel’ items and use capture/scan technology to deliver enhanced product data, access the website, create wish lists, receive recommendations, and cross sell suggestions - limited only by the retailer’s vision.
Following the launch in July 2007, sales of the iPhone and iPod Touch had reached 43 million units globally in 81 countries by April 2009, with over 35,000 applications hosted in the Apple store. Recently 30,000 iPhones were sold in the UK on the Orange network on the first day of sale, according to the operator.
“iPhone users are early adopters, technology savvy and are eager to embrace new lifestyle options and services,” explained Paul Tough, CTO of Portaltech, the company which has developed StripeyLines.
If it takes off, the StripeyLines iPhone app has the potential to change the face of shopping for consumers, making it possible for retailers to deliver enhanced mobile shopping services in store to implement a true multichannel strategy with minimal development and investment.
“As it’s a plug-in extension to their existing web technology, retailers don’t have to learn about a new technology and they can update and disseminate information in a true multi-channel environment, enabling them to merge the online and in-store experience so it is seamless and convenient, added Tough.
Banks lagging in the innovative tech race risk losing custom
Nov 30th
How can banks win back custom after users turned tail and fled in the face of the recession?
The answer, according to self-service provider NCR Corporation is to be more flexible in their services by embracing technological developments.
A bank provider that enables customers to manage their finances easily via online, mobile and kiosk self-services was favoured by 80 per cent of 8,400 adults polled around the world.
Speed and ease of access to financial services such as payment deposits are key priorities for consumers, according to NCR’s research with 31 per cent of respondents surveyed demanding online, ATM or mobile bill payment services.
Services that banks are introducing include text alerts to notify customers when they are nearing their overdraft limit and the ability to pay bills at ATMs.
Obviously new smart phones are making it easier to introduce downloadable applications that enable customers to switch funds between higher interest and current accounts, and pay bills.
Mobile money transfers are to help generate transactions worth over (£300bn) $600bn globally by 2013, according to Juniper Research’s Mobile Payments Study.
Banks are facing increasing pressures, not just as a result of lost consumer confidence, but also from potential new entrants to the market.
According to NCR’s Managing Director for the UK, Ireland and the Nordics, Elton Birden, consumers are comfortable using a range of digital technologies to manage their lives and expect to be able to manage their finances in a similar way.
“Banks must respond to these demands or risk losing business. The banks that are succeeding are those that are now investing in technologies that offer customers instant access to an increased number of services and facilities, and greater autonomy over their finances,” he added.
In a bid to reduce operational costs, many retailers, leisure groups and international providers are using self-service to expand their offerings and move into the banking arena.
Self-Scheduler solutions now enable customers to schedule appointments with bank staff at a convenient time and location, via the Internet or touch screens in the branch.
The appointment is confirmed immediately by text message, e-mail or text-to-speech and reminders sent out.
From initial contact, the customer’s purchase process is monitored in detail, with their requirements for advice and information captured.
This enables bank to monitor the speeds at which customers are served and their needs met from a branch, regional and national perspective.
Already, consumers use over 40,000 NCR ATMs in the UK to get quick and easy access to their cash, make deposits and manage their bank accounts.
Similarly to eBay’s reasons for launching it’s latest ‘Deals’ programme, it’s about banks providing customers with services for what they want, when they want and where they want.
Miss that point and they’ll be missing out on next generation banking.
Futurist who predicted social networks sees ‘thought interfaces’ by 2016
Nov 5th
Thought interfaces – that’s right. Soon enough we’ll be able to control our computers with our thoughts. Sound a little far-fetched? So did ‘micro-messaging’.
Ross Dawson, the Australian futurist, has a knack for predicting future trends in technology and business and is The Chairman of Future Exploration Network as well as a prominent international public speaker.
He is best known as the author of the best-selling book, Living Networks, published in 2002, in which he forecast the rise of social networks, micro-messages (Twitter), crowdsourcing and various other digital developments we now take for granted.
This week, Dawson released a list of extraordinary technologies he thinks will be commonplace by 2016.
They include:
People wearing video glasses as they commute, experiencing new forms of television, news updates and information about the world around them and people they meet.
‘Lifestreaming‘ will be commonplace. We will capture, store and share almost continuous videos, photos and conversations from our everyday lives.
We’ll have natural telephone conversations with computers, with almost all call centre staff replaced by automated systems.
Public measures of individual reputation will guide who we hire, do business with, and date.
Over 40% of us will work independently rather than as employees, many providing services to organisations all over the world instead of commuting to an office.
A next generation of ‘thought interfaces‘ will allow us to control our computers just by thinking. While the technology will still be basic, we’ll have begun to merge machines and humans.
What does this mean for digital advertising? All these new technologies are thought of on the basis of us spending more time on our computers meaning the migration of traditional advertising to digital will continue with full speed. However, advertisers will have to be clever in order to capture consumer attention if we only see what we want to see. Ads will have to be more viral, more entertaining and more tailored to individual needs.
What do you think?
How CGI technology took the truth and fun out of advertising
Oct 13th
“Truth in advertising is becoming a misnomer because of the rise of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in TV commercials” says a new report out today.
This may seem like news from the ‘bleeding obvious’, but it’s actually astonishing to know how often we are fooled by technology. At least 80 to 90% of ads actually contain some CGI, especially car ads (which unfortunately means that Citroen doesn’t actually make a dancing robot car).
Computers have been used for years to create fantasy images and improve landscapes in ads, creating generic cityscapes and inserting well-known landmarks into the background. But the question on the consumer’s lips now is “why use trickery”?
Last April, it was revealed that magazines could be banned from using airbrushed photographs of celebrities that make them look slimmer over fears that they were promoting unrealistic body images.
Editors from glossy publications including Vogue, Hello! and Elle had a meeting, the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) was there too, but what was the result? Nothing.
Perhaps the real truth hit consumers in the face when Dove revolutionised beauty advertising with its ‘Real Beauty’ campaign, showing consumers what really went on. But consumers can’t tell us now that they are actually shocked by the use of CGI?
The thing is that CGI (and those geeks that sit in dark rooms creating it for hours) has become so life-like that car manufacturers can avoid the cost of building prototypes of new models and shipping them to other countries to be filmed. Instead, entire vehicles are being rendered in 3D to create commercials where nothing is real. Nothing. Is this deceit?
CGI is not always obvious; but that is kind of the point.
Advertisers can obviously achieve more interesting effects in CGI. And let’s face it, ads that ‘wow’ us, are the ones that tend to work.
So how many ads are fully computer-generated? Up to 20% at the most, according to one expert, as CGI can be more “convenient”.
A lot of the time CGI is used to achieve “fantastic”, but more and more it’s becoming simply an easier way of working – sitting in that dark room as opposed to being on location, paying actors, cameramen etc.
And as brands continue to have more of a global reach, CGI is often used to adapt ads from elsewhere. So if you’re taking an ad from another market, you can replace the pack shot in it with the local pack shot using nothing but CGI.
But in the end, CGI won’t replace a good original idea and if you want something to be warm and emotional, CGI probably doesn’t cut it. Consumers want the truth, and it just happens to be the only way to trust.
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