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The incredible edible app
In a world where you can get an app for everything, what about apps that help us with our most basic human need… what to eat?According to a recent IGN article, the top 5 food related apps are:
This app contains 55 of Oliver’s recipes complete with photographed step-by-step instructions, videos, measurement adjusters for making different servings, and a shopping list to help you get the right ingredients for these dishes.
Fast Food Calorie Counter
This app helps you make the smartest choices possible when you’re grabbing fast food. It has menus from the majority of the fast food chains out there and gives you the calorie info you need to decide between a burger… and a double-burger.
Epicurious
Not sure what to make for dinner? The Epicurious app is a recipe collection spanning 30,000 dishes. It also has helpful ratings and reviews from other home cooks.
CookIt
How long does it take to cook rice? Roast potatoes? This app tells you the different cooking times for your standard ingredients and doubles as a kitchen timer.
VegOut
Finding a vegetarian restaurant doesn’t have to be so painful. The VegOut app helps you find places that can accomodate the vegetarians in your crowd and provides handy maps so you can find them quickly.
What’s your favorite coke ad?
As we head off for Labor Day weekend, we thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite Coke ads from around the world. Their ads are always iconic, but some more than others. Here are our picks!
Lessons from the Khasi Tribe
The Khasi tribe in the remote Indian state of Meghalaya is among the last surviving matriarchal societies of the world. In this tribe, it is the daughters of the families who inherit all their ancestral property. All decisions related to the livelihood of the family are made by women.
While there’s still patriarchy in much of the world, the spirit of the Khasi is thriving online and in the American marketplace, where women dominate 85% of the household wallet and account for $7 trillion in consumer spending.
Though marketers used to relegate marketing to women to domestic products and clothing, it’s clear (or should be!) that no matter what your brand is selling, you should be talking to women.
Read more in our latest byline in MediaPost…
The New York Times Tackles Retargeting
The New York Times published a story today about online privacy that addresses many of the issues with retargeting. The article is similar to the WSJ series on the same subject, focused primarily on the perspectives of web users, who are increasingly “creeped out” by ads that are tailored to past browsing behavior. NYTimes hones in on the retail sector, citing major advertisers like Zappos, eBags, and Art.com as using behavioral targeting to serve ads to people based on the specific products they’ve looked at.
The article also questions what happens when users are targeted by things other than pairs of shoes. Julie Matlin, an interviewee for the piece, describes being retargeted by a dieting service she once used. She said, “They are still following me around, and it makes me feel fat.”
As the debate continues to swirl in both the broader press and on Capitol Hill, one thing is certain: building trust with consumers needs to be done transparently. People don’t hate ads, if they are useful and relevant… but they do seem to hate being tracked and followed without their permission. By using opt-in ads that allow people to sign up for the marketing messages they want to receive, advertisers can protect the privacy of online users while achieving quality engagement and interaction.
It’s called having your cake and eating it, too… and it’s delicious.
SMBs are mixing it up…
A recent BIA/Kelsey report has found that higher spending small and medium sized businesses (spending $25k or higher on advertising and promotions annually) use 6.5 different kinds of media.
The research also found that SMBs with larger ad budgets spend more on online advertising and have a stronger focus on media performance. 40% of the companies surveyed rated “demonstration of ROI” as the first or second most important factor in their media buying decisions.
For those of you looking to tap into the local, social, and geo media space, that means accountability is in this segment is key. Can you prove it?
Where were you when…
Windows 95 launched? It was 15 years ago today, so some of us (ahem) were in the last summer days before their sophomore year of high school.
It’s hard to believe that 15 years ago, it looked like Microsoft had finally put the nail in Apple’s coffin. Windows 95 set Microsoft up as a major consumer brand and positioned it for a decade and a half of success. Could they have possibly imagined a day when Apple would oust it as the most valuable technology company in the world?
Take a trip down memory lane with the slideshow on Business Insider.
A big hill ahead: CMOs in a post-recession economy
AdWeek just published the results of a new Accenture survey that asked CMOs about challenges in a post-recession economy. The survey found that CMOs are concerned about lasting changes in consumer attitudes toward purchasing. Three in five marketing executives believe that marketing will “fundamentally change in the next five years” because of the economic downturn.
Specifically, customers’ expectations has changed. Marketers must be much more focused on understanding who to target and what kinds of content are most relevant. With higher expectations for product quality, value, price, and customer service, the three most important business issues for CMOs are:
1. Improving customer retention and loyalty
2. Acquiring new customers
3. Increasing sales to current customers
In addition, marketers reported that they lack effectiveness when it comes to customer analytics, innovation, and engagement.
What’s holding them back? Among other reasons like lack of resources, they cite lack of technology or tools and lack of access to key customer data as barriers to success.
This is just one of many examples of why efficient marketing tools for acquiring user data are more important than ever. It doesn’t have to be difficult at all. With sign-up ads, marketers already have the ability to acquire contact information of interested people in a cost-effective manner, engage them via email and social channels, and continue to track satisfaction through CRM programs.
A Vintage Thursday
Nothing perks up a cloudy Thursday like some sepia-toned works of genius. Brazilian agency Moma created these Mad Men inspired ads. Amazing.
Announcing: The Pontiflex Partner Program
Today, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of the Pontiflex Partner Program. We’re putting the spotlight on select agencies and marketing companies who excel at brand performance and engagement marketing practices including social media, branded micro-site and experience development, e-mail marketing, loyalty programs, customer relationship management strategies and others.
With the Pontiflex Partner Program, marketers will now have access to experts and thought leaders who can provide tangible, step-by-step approaches to effective e-mail and social marketing. We help you acquire the right people for your brand and provide you with the technology to receive email and social media information from users who want to hear from you. Our partners can guide you through the best ways to build long term relationships with your audience.
We’re kicking it off with LeapFrog Interactive, an award winning agency with superior work marketing to women. To learn more, join Pontiflex, LeapFrog Interactive, and the American Marketing Association for a Webinar on Sept. 15, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. ET on what every brand needs to know when using social marketing to engage women. To register for the event to:
https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/schedule/display.do?udc=c3h8d24bhvp9
And stay on the lookout for upcoming partner marketing initiatives with loyalty and customer retention experts, Kobie Marketing, and McKee Wallwork Cleveland, a leading agency focused on helping stalled companies rekindle growth.
Know someone who’s an expert in social marketing and engagement strategies? Nominate the agency or marketing company to be featured as a Pontiflex partner thought leader. Send details to: info@pontiflex.com.
Coming soon to a TV near you…
Earlier this summer, Google successfully defended itself against a major lawsuit by Viacom. According to Wired, the court’s ruling stated that “internet companies, even if they know they are hosting infringing material, are immune from copyright liability if they promptly remove works at a rights-holder’s request — under what is known as a takedown notice.” In other words, user generated content producers and repurposers of copywrited materials rejoice!
While it was a big win for YouTube, Viacom is far from being its only source of content. Google has struck (legal) deals with many major networks and studios: Sony, Showtime, CBS, Discovery, etc. that enable the video portal to run full length episodes at no cost to viewers.
With over 2 billion video views a day, YouTube has a monster viewership to monetize. So what will that look like?
As Google continues to acquire/use content from networks and studios, what’s stopping Google TV from putting cable companies out of business? If you can watch all your favorite shows on YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu, why send those big checks to Cablevision and Time Warner anymore?
Various viewpoints sound off:
PC World says it’ll flop like Google Wave.
Analyst firm Gartner said in Wired that it’s a blockbuster move for Google to do this ahead of Apple and Microsoft.
What do you think?
Ps. For those of you who are unaware of what Google TV is… here’s the Wikipedia definition: Google TV is software platform for set-top boxes and HDTVs based on the Android operating system and co-developed by Google, Intel, Sony and Logitech. It will enable users to access any website from their television: including online video portals.
Arun Krishnan
Jason Penta
zlasker
Roshan Bangera
Jordan Cohen
eadlman
Geoff Grauer
Jerrie Gullick
Jon Beardsley
Nick Herman
Stacy Huggins
Tiffany Sumner
Avantika Banerjee
Daniel Egan
Lisa Khan
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