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Going green 101 for marketers

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Is Going Green a Strategic Imperative? (iStock)Hey, it is Earth Day! Happy Earth Day!

If you are wondering how to celebrate this big old planet of ours that we’re all a little (or a lot) concerned about, check out the IPG Lab’s article on Ad Age’s Good Works blog: Is Going Green a Strategic Imperative? Written by Lab Staff Associate, Alicia Walter, the article examines some of the confusion, challenges and rewards of developing a Green or Sustainable marketing strategy for brands…AND agencies. See which agencies are leading the way, and why it’s driving new business. Read More.

IPG Lab and research firm OTX join forces

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OTX and Lab ink deal Today’s Mediapost article announcing our very exciting relationship with global research firm OTX, caps several months of negotiations.  Aside from the purely financial aspects of the deal, it strengthens and solidifies the Lab’s place, as not just a unique facility to learn about emerging media through our immersion based facilities but now a place to come and study emerging media by way of research.  While the Lab has been championing the virtues of doing research, this relationship adds an exciting layer to our product set and consequently our ability to help provide a comprehensive package for agency/client research needs.

The relationship with OTX actually dates back to last year.  Ongoing conversations brought us tougher to help them on their unique projects for “mobile Jeopardy” and MTV’s – Comedy Central/SpikeTV.

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FamilyMap is an opportunity for brands

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AT&T Family MapFor those of following the IPGLAB on Twitter, you likely saw the Tweet announcing AT&T and their child locater offering.  Called FamilyMap, this new tool offers to locate a family member’s phone via web browser on a PC or mobile device. The service enables users to see details such as location on a map and surrounding landmarks like schools and parks. Users can also toggle between satellite and interactive street maps for an option that best fits their viewing needs. Families can customize their mapping experience by assigning a name and photo to each device within their account, and can also label places they visit frequently, like “Home” or “Soccer Field.” Continue reading “FamilyMap is an opportunity for brands”

USC students take tour of IPG Lab

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USC APOC students at the IPG Emerging Media LabThe IPG Emerging Media Lab recently hosted a group of masters degree students from the USC Annenberg Program on Online Communities. The new program grooms leaders of social networks and virtual worlds. Lab staff led a brief tour and discussion on how emerging platforms such as social media are expanding (and complicating) opportunities for marketers to reach their target audience.

We’ll be announcing more details about our relationship with USC shortly, but see what a couple of the students had to say about the Lab on their respective blogs:

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Recession marketing gets obnoxious

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iStockThings are taking a turn for the worse.  No, I’m not talking about the economy; I’m talking about the marketing about the economy.

As is often the case, it starts with a good thing.  In this case, it was the brilliant Hyundai Assurance program (kudos to IPG’s Initative folks for that one).  A great idea, the program really spoke to the concerns that the country was having at the time.  It decreased the risk in buying one of the key big ticket items.  Many other car companies followed suit.  And until now, this was all a good thing.

Now Virgin Mobile is bringing the concept to wireless companies with their “Pink Slip Protection” offering.  Continue reading “Recession marketing gets obnoxious”

Thanks for the branded virtual gift!

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Virtual gift giving on Facebook The virtual goods economy is roaring, growing in adoption and importance, and making the branded product or gift a powerful social media marketing tool. Members of virtual worlds are purchasing virtual goods for self-expression, social status, or to gain advantage in game play.  Companies, including Kohl’s and Sears, have witnessed success by creating virtual boutiques and selling branded virtual goods and apparel on sites such as there.com, Zwinky.com and Stardoll.com.

With widespread adoption of social networks such as Facebook, virtual goods have found a new purpose and home. In these social networks, sending a gift to a friend has become a form of communication. Virtual gifts are self-selected – a user chooses to give a virtual gift because it appeals to their own or their friends’ interests, making them highly targeted.  This is where brands come in. Continue reading “Thanks for the branded virtual gift!”

Zeebo, Zeemote, and Zinio liven up CTIA

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CTIA This year’s CTIA conference in Las Vegas was lacking luster in both attendance and truly innovative solutions.  Present were the usual suspects such as the obligatory “Watch Phones” which we have seen year after year, but never seem to make it into the consumer markets.  Rows of vendors hawking glittery phone sleeves for every phone produced since the Motorola Brick.  And suction-cup phone mounts for every possible occasion…

Fortunately, amidst the unending piles of wireless headsets, I was able to catch a few good “Zs”:

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LTE steps up to bat

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CTIAIf you didn’t look you might have missed it.  If the letters LTE just passed your field of vision at CTIA you might have missed the next evolution in wireless technology.  LTE or Long Term Evolution is being positioned as the successor to 3G.

Technically speaking, LTE is a modulation technique that is the latest variation of Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology. It was dubbed “Long Term Evolution” because it is viewed as the natural progression of High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), the GSM technology that is currently used by carriers such as AT&T to deliver 3G mobile broadband.

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4G and apps dominate CTIA

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CTIA 2009CTIA 2009 was a much smaller show than last year, which was a big talking point at the show.  Despite the reduction in size, the show had two big stories to tell: 4G and apps.

The 4G story began with Verizon CEO Seidenberg’s keynote, where he mentioned Verizon’s plans to roll out Long Term Evolution (LTE), a 4G technology, by year end in select markets.  On the show floor, those three letters took on a much greater meaning, and were everywhere.  At LG’s booth, I saw high quality HD video streaming over LTE connections that were four times faster than peak cable broadband.

For marketers, LTE is going to make things very, very interesting.  Continue reading “4G and apps dominate CTIA”

Location based services get sexy

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lbsThis week I participated in the judging for Navteq’s Global LBS Challenge. The challenge is a yearly event across three regions that gives mobile developers the opportunity to showcase innovative location based services. At least 30% of previous contestants have received venture capital funding or  launched commercial applications.

Many of the solutions were focused on solving a very specific consumer problem and follow the concept of creating applications that have a utility  in a consumer’s lifestyle. The ones that were least successful just had some business model challenges or some design flaws but all were based on leveraging mobile to enhance one’s lifestyle.

Here is some detail on the challenge from Denny Reinert, National Dir. Interactive Sales for Navteq

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Here are some of the more interesting applications demonstrated:

Continue reading “Location based services get sexy”