Why I won't be using Ovi Maps in 3D

Seriously, Nokia needs to know *all* the data on my computer AND my web history just to show maps in 3D? Or is this just a atrocious copy blunder?

No thanks!

A modern marketer starts conversations with their customers (well, I guess some do.)

I wanted to unsubscribe a newsletter. The first reply I recieve. (Mind you, I've grown accustomed to unsubscribing by clicking a link → then just receiving an automatic confirmation mail. Seems like not everyone is interested in making the process easy for their potential customers.)

Why should I send my membership number and full name if I only want to unsubscribe a newsletter!?

Ah, then the automated response:

You would think that in the year 2011 CRM would consist of: 1) helpful people and not robots 2) swift automated processes that save money for the company and grief of the potential customer.

The odds that I'll resubscribe to any of their CRM activities? 1 to 1,000,000,000?

Share on Google Reader bookmarklet (for iPad/iPhone)

After scourging the Google for a solution, I found this block of code (finally). So create a new bookmark for your iPad (e.g. from this page), then go to edit bookmarks, edit the title of your bookmark and then edit the actual link. Copy paste the code below:

javascript:var%20b=document.body;var%20GR________bookmarklet_domain='http://www.google.com';if(b&&!document.xmlVersion){void(z=document.createElement('script'));void(z.src='http://www.google.com/reader/ui/link-bookmarklet.js');void(b.appendChild(z));}else{}

Ta-da, now you can share stuff on Google Reader from your iPad's Safari too! #winning. Still hoping for that Shareaholic extension for my mobile Safari ;)

Lots of other useful bookmarklets from Chris Bray: http://static.chrisbray.com/bookmarklets/

Experts, who needs them?

Officials say websites such as TripAdvisor are better at providing a benchmark on the quality and range of services a hotel can offer consumers, rather than the existing system where hotels are evaluated privately by experts and the appropriate star is awarded.

via tnooz.com

Slowly but surely established experts are being eroded away by user generated content...

95% of marketers need to stop producing viral videos!

This blog post by Jonathan Salem Baskin really got me pondering.

Marketers see "viral" videos as the greatest way to reach the Short Attention Span generation. A minute and a half of broad humor (not too edgy!) and lowest common denominators like double entendres make people "spend time with the brand" and maybe send it to their friends.

Well, what the aforementioned post so ingeniously brings to discussion: if the brand is so interchangeable that it doesn't affect the plot or story of the video at all, then what can it accomplish to produce said video? That's probably why 95% of agency created "viral" videos fail. So, next time your agency wants to sell you a "viral" video, then think again: "What does this story mean for our brand?"

What's with the parenthesis on "viral'"all the time?, you might ask. Well, the idea of a viral video is that it builds up it's reputation (and views) from organic traffic. You know, content so good you want to share it.

What's the difference if an agency produces a "viral" video for me then? Most likely they (and you!) want to get lots of views for the content they produced, so they buy seeding from GoViral or some other provider. Isn't that kind of the opposite of the definition of viral then? I spend money to get viewers.

With that same thought process why couldn't you call your banner ads "viral display ads"? It's the same business logic after all! You pay your affiliate (in a PPC world) for an amount of clicks for your content. Isn't a "real" viral something like The Evolution of Dance?

I'll leave you with a "viral" video I came across this week ;)

Mobile tagging to break through in 2011?

I think (along with mcommerce) that mobile tagging has been seen the most amount of times in "this will break through next year" category as any other marketing related technology. I would really, really like to see this happening on a large scale outside Japan. But as no handset manufacturer has a built in functionality in their camera to my knowledge I still see this tech far from reaching a ubiquitous state.

Any good cases come to mind (besides stuff in Japan?)

Top of the Flops (Facebook Page edition)?

via thecssawards.com

This is not at all the first time I have stumbled upon (pun intended) pages like these. Seemingly all fluff, I'd really like to know why (mostly these same pages each time) are so good? I mean, most of them just have a visual landing page that harkens back to the good ol' days of campaign sites galore (c. 2002-2005).

I'd really like to see a list of Best Facebook Pages that offer real two way conversation, engagement, long term value propositions for the fans... And not just campaign sites all over again.

Well, at least none of them seem to have the disingenuous incentive of raffling out a car to those that "like" your page... Talk about building long term relationships.

(BTW, does that Livescribe page really have tweet buttons on the products... listed on Facebook...?)

The Digital Brief

A brief’s DNA is about communicating a singular message—a unique selling proposition (USP)—to a vast audience. This worked well when you could reach 80% of consumers by purchasing advertising on prime time television, but those days are gone. (I assume we all accept this reality.)

via teehanlax.com

Yes yes yes! Now the challenge is to bring our customers into this mind set. how many agencies in Finland still use a traditional brief when designing for digital interactions?

UX and ad agencies don't mix?

Lots has been said about the coming age where traditional agencies
need to evolve to stay alive. I'm more than welcoming the extinction,
do we really need more TVCs where the story told is so separated from
the product that at least I have a hard time remembering to whom that
one funny story in the ad belonged to? It's was actually quite
entertaining to read about the big shot old ad guys and how they're
like fish out of the water when it comes to digital life. That can be
read on Fast Co:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/151/mayhem-on-madison-avenue.html

But one thing that caught my attention in the aftermath is peterme's
article on Adaptive Path, regarding agencies' efforts in UX.

http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2010/11/18/the-pernicious-effects-of-adverti...

It seems that in his article the author sees that the more traditional
roles of art director and copywriter are the same ones that are
responsible for the UX work in an ad agency. This I can agree with is
totally wrong. Having only an experience from digital agencies I can
see a completely different view. I have worked under the title of web
designer, concept designer and now planner, and one of the central
disciplines of my expertise is UX. In my past there have been plenty
of small campaign sites and few page sites where I haven't really
flexed my UX muscles, but also I have done a vast amount of large
scale web sites and platforms, completely new UIs to existing
multinational sites... the list goes on. And actually a lot of these
have been created from the user's perspective; what is the benefit for
the end user.

I really do believe that traditional advertising agencies have no
business whatsoever getting into designing digital user experiences,
at least not without the huge paradigm shift that people working at
digital agencies have mostly already taken.

What are your thoughts on this matter?