The promise of “local”

The promise of local (istock)Local is the new hottie and everyone wants to date her! The promise of local (in terms of content and targeted advertising) has long been the promise land for all of us emerging media types.  With the growth of broadband and IP related content solutions, the dream of targeting relevant content/ad messaging can become a reality. Semantic solutions are allowing us to learn about users and IP-based data allows us to push down that marketing funnel and deliver the dream of relevant messages.  Cable has been playing with DMA and SubDMA targeting for the last few years but has yet to really land the plane.  For the larger cable and satellite solutions it’s a numbers game.  They need access and affectability in more regions and households to make this a true play and they aren’t there yet.

Mediabrands, the Lab‘s holding company,  has just launched a new Hyper-local Media and Marketing Unit to offer new local marketing solutions.   “Geomentum,” is a new business entity, whose  hyper-local vision is based on a bottom-up investment strategy, which begins with sales data, and data reflecting the changing media mix.  Continue reading “The promise of “local””

Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and social visualization

Death of MJ Twittered

Much will be said over the next week or so about the passing of two iconic celebrities Thursday, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, whose work will forever be associated with particular moments in our cultural history.  I was a teenager at the height of Farah Fawcett’s launch and was well aware of the impact of her world-famous poster on all my male teenage friends.  I also danced to many of MJ’s top 10 singles and watched his life choices play out over the national stage.

Today, the social Web, as we saw happen with Iran, impacts the movement of information about these two well known celebrities.  Beyond Twitter and some blog entries, many sites have moved toward the artful use of visualization software to capture the impact and tremendous activity of newsworthy information.  A day like today is when their stories play out. Continue reading “Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and social visualization”

Location based services get sexy

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

Here are some of the more interesting applications demonstrated:

Continue reading “Location based services get sexy”

New president, new media

CNN Live with Facebook
CNN Live with Facebook

President Barack Obama was sworn into office today, with the backdrop of his historic election and the current economic and international crises. Meanwhile, we at the Lab negotiated new and traditional media channels to take it all in. Here’s what we had to say about inauguration 2.0:

Continue reading “New president, new media”

CES 2009: Living television

Living TV at CES (CES)While the Internet is all a buzz with the recently expanded Netflix partnerships, it’s interesting to note that it may be the OEM’s who are opening the door to how television and content are experienced in the home. On the floor of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, more then ever before we are seeing the aggregation of technology and content solutions convening together to create “living devices.” Continue reading “CES 2009: Living television”

To CES or not to CES?

CES2009“See Yourself In the Digital Economy” is the tagline for this year’s Consumer Electronic’s Show. Certainly, in a challenging economy, getting to Vegas can prove difficult and 2009 CES attendance will be down. Still, CES’s relevance continues to grow. More than just a “gadget show,” CES has become a mecca over the last few years, not only for consumers but for marketing and digital professionals as well. The four day convention provides a look at the platforms, technologies, and consumer behaviors that will be driving communication channels over the next year.  As the lab has discussed in its 2009 trends, understanding the opportunities in leveraging digital platforms, especially in an economic downturn, is a strategic imperative. Continue reading “To CES or not to CES?”