phil gillman: July 2007 Archives
While enjoying a "brewmasters' reserve" from (relatively) local brewery Full Sail I started thinking about the Art and Craft involved in brewing, cooking, entertainment and marketing. Maybe I'm biased, since I've done all four—three professionally, one as an "advanced" hobby.
Interesting article in this month's Technology Review positing the pending collision/intersection between information and virtual worlds.
The World Wide Web will soon be absorbed into the World Wide Sim: an immersive, 3-D visual environment that combines elements of social virtual worlds such as Second Life and mapping applications such as Google Earth. What happens when the virtual and real worlds collide?
I think they're on to something—The ability that technology provides to combine the virtual/created with information from the "real world". The bit about mobile technology windows into such worlds really rings true.
Give it a read (registration required)
This cool new little maps application parses google maps to measure and grade the "walkability" of a location that you enter. A simple tool to measure how little or much you will need a car when living in a location.
It would be great to see the formula get the option to include transit of various types in a search. And perhaps a carbon calculator could be built in as well?llowing users to see the carbon requirements of adding non-walkable destinations to their list.
Additionally, I'd love to be able to customize the range considered "walkable". Maybe they'll release the API for Walk Score...
The dopie has launched with the goal of being "the ultimate in minimal footwear". super minimal, with just a toe nubbin and optional strap, they come in crazy "croc-like" colors and could turn into the next big weird "green" shoe... They certainly are more aesthetic pleasing to the design eye, at least when on.
found thanks to psfk
A great new book has just been published, with over 100 contributers from within the "New Marketing" community each contributing a page. It's available on demand as an eBook, Paperback or Hardcover -- learn more from ageofconversation.com
Suppose when you looked at a banner, it let you run through a full shopping cart right there? Would you use said shopping cart?
A company called Tailgate™ is betting that you will. Their system allows for "transactional banners" that securely process e-commerce transactions from within the placement. It seems that they are counting on the usage of these in targeted placements and optimized CTA type of networks, where the viewer is a likely buyer.
A great article in this month's Harvard Business Review talks about building brands and how companies manage to quarterly sales targets (or even shorter) while building brands takes time. Obviously this is an oversimplification -- the full article can be purchased digitally herehttp://tinyurl.com/28fgd4/
This got me thinking about how to make branding and sales work better together... and how so often one is sacrificed for the other. There are opportunities to make them work together, and changing the level of acceptable risk in such scenarios is one of the hardest things a agency or marketer can do.
Virgin America has launched with a few flights starting in August 2007, and the customer experience appears to be primary focus for them.
They've done a great job with the product so far, I hope it turns out to be close to promised, as the opportunity to change the game seems huge. Additionally, the inclusion of social media into the passenger experience makes for a really interesting dynamic.
I'd love to see the planes themselves become a playground for opt-in, user driven, brand interactions. It seems like a great opportunity for a brand to invite potential and existing customers into an experience.
Virgin America Website
The Virgin America Difference Microsite
One of the little things that just fit so nicely with the brand and customer experience is this item in the registration form for eleVAte, their frequent flier list:
