MACDAILYNEWS – Apple’s iPhone business alone generates more revenue than all Microsoft – MacDailyNews – Welcome Home
Wow this is a staggering figure. Check out this story describing how iPhone revenues alone shadow Microsoft’s total revenue.
(Via macdailynews.com)
Nice Job- Every Third Thursday: iShred // Snowboarding Videos
Check out what the guys at Signal Snowboards put together in tribute to Steve Jobs. That’s a wicked board. They crafted it from Aluminum and dropped in an iPad and an LED light. I always wanted to FaceTime while snowboarding.
More Snowboarding Videos
Every Third Thursday: iShred // Snowboarding Videos:
(Via video.mpora.com)
Dunkin’ Donuts Amps CRM with Social Power
Dunkin’ Donuts Uses Social Media to Improve Customer Relationships and Experiences:
Dunkin’ Brands is a customer-centric business and has earned a community of loyal supporters over the years. If “America runs on Dunkin’,” or if it is to continue to do so, the company must continue to earn the time, attention, and support of customers. As their behavior and preferences evolve, Dunkin’ to must rethink its customer approach to remain part of its customer’s daily routine.
Tyler Cyr, Web Communications Manager, Dunkin’ Brands shares how social media helps continue and improve the Dunkin’ experience and also shares how the company is learning and changing as a result.
Please take some time to watch the episode and share your thoughts with us…
This episode was recorded during the SalesForce Social Advisory Board meeting in San Francisco. Participants included brand managers from the likes of Disney, Livingsocial, P&G, Nissan, SunTrust, Dunkin Donuts, Get Satisfaction, and VW, we address the need for businesses to not only react to conversations but also lead them.
Verizon iPhone Most Buzzworthy At CES
No announcements, no attendance from Apple and based on well supported speculation, the iPhone generates the most noise at CES.
The Kinect and Gaming Set to Impact Advertising in 2011
I had the pleasure of speaking with Wes Keltner of VenomCartel on a topic that I believe will be front of mind for a number of advertisers in 2011 – in-game advertising. Consoles like the X-Box Kinect are attracting an older audience (40% of 35+ year olds male/female mixed). These consoles offer a connected and immersive experience that is set to attract casual and family gamers alike. I know it’s certainly caught on in my household. Because of this, brands will start to realize the potential of the channel to connect with consumers in their homes in ways never before possible. Wes discusses in game ads that allow you to interact and explore products like Ford has done with the Focus. Also of interest is Avatar Kinect, which calls flashes back to Second Life, but with a far better user interface. Brands will be able to interface with groups of likeminded individuals based on interests and affinities in a virtual reality environment. As always my thoughts are around measurement. How easily can the channel be measured from a hard (financial/ROI) and soft (awareness, brand building) metrics perspective. Only then do I see this being a viable platform for the clients I deal with day to day.
In a coming post I’ll talk a bit about how the Kinect, decoupled from the X-Box, will make an impact in out of home or retail environments. The opportunities in terms of Augmented Reality are astounding. Right now we have OpenKinect, but hopefully Microsoft will take steps to open the platform themselves in 2011.
So without further ado here’s Wes:
Kinect Branding Opportunities for 2011 from Venom Cartel on Vimeo.
Wow – 10 Square Blocks of Startups in NYC!
So here we are snowed in under 31 inches of the white stuff in coastal NJ. That gives a man a lot of free time to catch up online. I recently joined Quora, the next big thing in blogging I think (more on that in an upcoming post).
One of the topics I was researching was current venture capital activity in NYC. Small business and startups funded by VC firms like Union Square Ventures are powering the economic recovery. But it was surprising to me how many startups there are in a concentrated area downtown!
As a matter of fact I was just visiting my old friend, Ashley Heather (CEO of DotBox) at his new digs overlooking Union Square. As I was walking up the stairs I realized here were three startups in their building alone, including Stickybits. I haven’t seen this volume of activity since the beginning of the millenium! Just to list a few we’ve got:
Gilt
Foursquare
Etsy
10Gen
GetGlue
Hashable
OpenSky
Outside.in
Boxee
Flurry
Meetup
Return Path
OpenSky
DotBox
Simulmedia
Target Spot
Workmarket
Flurry
Clickable
And from what I can tell they are all hiring across the board. This is a great time for developers and engineers, especially those who are well versed in open source and social platforms. One in particular, OpenSky, is capitalizing on social and open source with it’s new commerce platform. They believe that the old big iron ecommerce paradigm will go the way of the dodo. They believe that ecommerce will be powered by social context. That shopping by referral/suggestion in a group setting will provide a new ecosystem that will eclipse the old pList platforms that power brand’s online retail storefronts today. Not a bad bet given that the Facebook juggernaut is banking on the same notion.
But in the end It’s also a great time for the NYC economy. Downtown is bustling. If anyone knows of other startups hiring please send me a note.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The Rise of the Social Consumer
So the notion of social commerce is coming into it’s own. With recent announcements regarding Facebook storefronts and the proliferation of services like Shopkick, it’s clear we’re poised for a new retail paradigm. This article gives us a nice summary of what a social consumer will look like.