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March 11 2012
The Economics Of Emotion
msn
The most recent commercial for the BMW i3 and i8 concept cars is a great example of something enlightened marketers have known for years: emotion is the key driver behind purchasing decisions. Yet, today, most businesspeople still follow the old adage, “Emotions and business don’t mix,” relying on rational data to drive decisions instead. Doesn’t the advertisement make you want to buy a BMW? Don’t you want to feel cool or look more successful, technology-forward and progressive? Well, that desire is emotion at work. Steve Jobs inherently knew the emotion of his consumers was critical currency in building the Apple phenomenon, and with over 1,700 CMOs admitting that building an enduring connection with consumers is a top priority in a recent IBM survey, leveraging emotion is fast becoming a top business imperative.
msn
The most recent commercial for the BMW i3 and i8 concept cars is a great example of something enlightened marketers have known for years: emotion is the key driver behind purchasing decisions. Yet, today, most businesspeople still follow the old adage, “Emotions and business don’t mix,” relying on rational data to drive decisions instead. Doesn’t the advertisement make you want to buy a BMW? Don’t you want to feel cool or look more successful, technology-forward and progressive? Well, that desire is emotion at work. Steve Jobs inherently knew the emotion of his consumers was critical currency in building the Apple phenomenon, and with over 1,700 CMOs admitting that building an enduring connection with consumers is a top priority in a recent IBM survey, leveraging emotion is fast becoming a top business imperative.
March 10 2012
Army Warns Of Danger Of Geotagging
loc
While for an ordinary civilian the automatic geotagging of your photos or check-ins might be convenient, in the military it can be a lethal mistake. In 2007, geotagged photos of a new fleet of helicopters allowed enemy forces to mortar the base and destroy several of them; it could just as easily have been a field hospital or barracks. The Army has therefore published an article calling attention to this fact, though its casual tone suggests that they aren't ready to take serious action on the issue. A warning is all it is, and perhaps also an acknowledgement that sometimes it's better to bend with the breeze than fight it.
loc
While for an ordinary civilian the automatic geotagging of your photos or check-ins might be convenient, in the military it can be a lethal mistake. In 2007, geotagged photos of a new fleet of helicopters allowed enemy forces to mortar the base and destroy several of them; it could just as easily have been a field hospital or barracks. The Army has therefore published an article calling attention to this fact, though its casual tone suggests that they aren't ready to take serious action on the issue. A warning is all it is, and perhaps also an acknowledgement that sometimes it's better to bend with the breeze than fight it.
March 09 2012
Gundotra: Google+ Won’t Let 3rd-Party Apps Post Because “Your Stream Could Easily Be Overwhelmed”
vic_gundotra_250px
Today at his SXSW fireside chat, head of Google+ Vic Gundotra said "I am 100% to blame" for the social network lacking an API seven months after launch. The reason? "Your stream could easily be overwhelmed" if Google allowed third-party apps to post content on users' behalf. "I'm going to release that API when I'm confident we're not going to screw over developers." Additionally, Gundotra criticized Facebook's inclusion of ads on photo albums and said that only a "very small number of people have turned off social search".
vic_gundotra_250px
Today at his SXSW fireside chat, head of Google+ Vic Gundotra said "I am 100% to blame" for the social network lacking an API seven months after launch. The reason? "Your stream could easily be overwhelmed" if Google allowed third-party apps to post content on users' behalf. "I'm going to release that API when I'm confident we're not going to screw over developers." Additionally, Gundotra criticized Facebook's inclusion of ads on photo albums and said that only a "very small number of people have turned off social search".
TechCrunch Cribs Visits Llustre — A Better Gilt For Home Decor?
Screen Shot 2012-03-09 at 17.10.14
I must admit I didn't immediately get Llustre. It looked like another ecommerce play, super-focused on curation and editorial - where was the potential for scale? I looked again. They'd raised £750,000 (just over $1 million) from a host of experienced angel investors, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. There must be more to it than meets the eye? Perhaps it was the latest in a new trend of culture-led startups coming out of London right now in the fields of art, design and music? Clutching a camera, I went along to their new offices in Clerkenwell to find out. The location is significant. London's Clerkenwell has long been home to a cluster of designers, artist and artisan communities and is well located between the creative/design companies of the West End and the tech startups of the East.
Screen Shot 2012-03-09 at 17.10.14
I must admit I didn't immediately get Llustre. It looked like another ecommerce play, super-focused on curation and editorial - where was the potential for scale? I looked again. They'd raised £750,000 (just over $1 million) from a host of experienced angel investors, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. There must be more to it than meets the eye? Perhaps it was the latest in a new trend of culture-led startups coming out of London right now in the fields of art, design and music? Clutching a camera, I went along to their new offices in Clerkenwell to find out. The location is significant. London's Clerkenwell has long been home to a cluster of designers, artist and artisan communities and is well located between the creative/design companies of the West End and the tech startups of the East.
After Legal Scare, PinClout Becomes PinReach
pinreach
PinClout, the analytics service for Pinterest whose name prompted a cease-and-desist letter from Klout, has renamed itself as PinReach. Shortly after the service launched about two weeks ago, it received a letter from Klout's attorney demanding that PinClout change its name because it was "confusingly similar." When I spoke to co-founder Chris Fay last week, he said he would indeed be changing the name, mostly just to avoid a costly legal fight — but he and his co-founder were still settling on their actual choice.
pinreach
PinClout, the analytics service for Pinterest whose name prompted a cease-and-desist letter from Klout, has renamed itself as PinReach. Shortly after the service launched about two weeks ago, it received a letter from Klout's attorney demanding that PinClout change its name because it was "confusingly similar." When I spoke to co-founder Chris Fay last week, he said he would indeed be changing the name, mostly just to avoid a costly legal fight — but he and his co-founder were still settling on their actual choice.
February 29 2012
Facebook Opens Timeline To All Biz Pages, Mandatory After 30 Days Of Curation
Timeline For Pages
Facebook Pages around the world can now upgrade to Timeline, allowing businesses to express themselves more visually through a redesign consistent with what was pushed to user profiles this fall. Major new features include the option to pin posts to the top of the feed for one week, and receive and respond to private messages from users. Pages can also upload a big cover image and feature posts from amongst a feed of updates Facebook determines to be the most engaging. Overall, Timeline should inspire users to spend more time browsing Pages and reading their feed stories. However, it removes the ability to set an app as a default landing page, which could reduce engagement with signup widgets and contests. All Pages can upgrade to Timeline today, and but also have an optional 30 day period to curate before Timeline is forcibly pushed to them on March 30th. To add Timeline to your Page...
Timeline For Pages
Facebook Pages around the world can now upgrade to Timeline, allowing businesses to express themselves more visually through a redesign consistent with what was pushed to user profiles this fall. Major new features include the option to pin posts to the top of the feed for one week, and receive and respond to private messages from users. Pages can also upload a big cover image and feature posts from amongst a feed of updates Facebook determines to be the most engaging. Overall, Timeline should inspire users to spend more time browsing Pages and reading their feed stories. However, it removes the ability to set an app as a default landing page, which could reduce engagement with signup widgets and contests. All Pages can upgrade to Timeline today, and but also have an optional 30 day period to curate before Timeline is forcibly pushed to them on March 30th. To add Timeline to your Page...
Why Google+ Doesn’t Care If You Never Come Back
Google Leave Me Alone
Ad targeting. Google+ is designed to power ad targeting, and for that it only needs you to sign up once. This lets it combine the biographical information you initially enter such as age, gender, and places you've lived with your activity on Search, Gmail, Maps and all its other products to create an accurate identity profile. And this powers targeting of more relevant ads it can charge more for. So despite comScore showing that the average Google+ user only spends 3 minutes per month on Google+, VP Bradley Horowitz wasn't lying when he told the Wall Street Journal "We're growing by every metric we care about".
Google Leave Me Alone
Ad targeting. Google+ is designed to power ad targeting, and for that it only needs you to sign up once. This lets it combine the biographical information you initially enter such as age, gender, and places you've lived with your activity on Search, Gmail, Maps and all its other products to create an accurate identity profile. And this powers targeting of more relevant ads it can charge more for. So despite comScore showing that the average Google+ user only spends 3 minutes per month on Google+, VP Bradley Horowitz wasn't lying when he told the Wall Street Journal "We're growing by every metric we care about".
February 13 2012
Perfect For A Lonely Valentine’s Day: Behold The Pinterest Porn Clones (NSFW)
snatchly
I was debating with myself whether this should be a post or not, and then decided I should just ask out loud on Twitter if it was a good idea or not. Because three people immediately told me that it was (two of those people were smart, attractive women, I might add), and because TechCrunch founder and former fearless leader Michael Arrington has a long history of identifying porn clones, you are now reading this (NSFW!): Snatchly is a 'Pinterest for porn'.
snatchly
I was debating with myself whether this should be a post or not, and then decided I should just ask out loud on Twitter if it was a good idea or not. Because three people immediately told me that it was (two of those people were smart, attractive women, I might add), and because TechCrunch founder and former fearless leader Michael Arrington has a long history of identifying porn clones, you are now reading this (NSFW!): Snatchly is a 'Pinterest for porn'.
February 12 2012
Should Mark Zuckerberg Think Twice About Establishing A Dynasty?
joaquin phoenix
Congratulations Facebook! You have made history and changed the world. So, here are some thoughts from one of your biggest fans. Like the rest of the planet, I love Facebook and use it every day. So, there may never be a better time than now, when things are going really well, to add a dose of humility and perspective to the Facebook conversation. Remember the movie Gladiator? Commodus, the bad son, murdered his aging father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, preventing him from passing the empire down to his adopted good son, Maximus. Thus, instead of carrying on a centuries old tradition of merit-based succession, power passed to an unworthy blood relative and corruption followed.
joaquin phoenix
Congratulations Facebook! You have made history and changed the world. So, here are some thoughts from one of your biggest fans. Like the rest of the planet, I love Facebook and use it every day. So, there may never be a better time than now, when things are going really well, to add a dose of humility and perspective to the Facebook conversation. Remember the movie Gladiator? Commodus, the bad son, murdered his aging father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, preventing him from passing the empire down to his adopted good son, Maximus. Thus, instead of carrying on a centuries old tradition of merit-based succession, power passed to an unworthy blood relative and corruption followed.
February 11 2012
Where The Ladies At? Pinterest. 2 Million Daily Facebook Users, 97% Of Fans Are Women
I Heart Pinterest
OMG. Pinterest now has over 10.4 million registered users, 9 million monthly Facebook-connected users, and 2 million daily Facebook users, according to Inside Network's AppData tracking service. With gorgeous photography, and links to shopping sites, Pinterest is becoming an obsession for flocks of women. And they're not afraid to show it, I mean, Like it. AppData and Facebook's advertising tool show that over 97% of Pinterest's Facebook fans are women.
I Heart Pinterest
OMG. Pinterest now has over 10.4 million registered users, 9 million monthly Facebook-connected users, and 2 million daily Facebook users, according to Inside Network's AppData tracking service. With gorgeous photography, and links to shopping sites, Pinterest is becoming an obsession for flocks of women. And they're not afraid to show it, I mean, Like it. AppData and Facebook's advertising tool show that over 97% of Pinterest's Facebook fans are women.
Moshi Monster Madness (In Which I Get A Snookums Tattoo)
Moshi Tattoo
It's February, which means Toy Fair in New York City. Every year, Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith comes to town to peddle his little monsters. Those would be Moshi Monsters, one of the largest social game sites for kids 6 to 11, with 10 million monthly visitors. It's huge in the UK, and this year Smith is going to make a major push into the U.S. And it's not just online. Moshi Monsters are finding their way into all sorts of kids merchandise, including collectible toy figurines (more than 20 million sold in the UK alone last year), plush dolls, games, the No. 1 kids magazine in the UK, mobile apps, and even temporary tattoos.
Moshi Tattoo
It's February, which means Toy Fair in New York City. Every year, Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith comes to town to peddle his little monsters. Those would be Moshi Monsters, one of the largest social game sites for kids 6 to 11, with 10 million monthly visitors. It's huge in the UK, and this year Smith is going to make a major push into the U.S. And it's not just online. Moshi Monsters are finding their way into all sorts of kids merchandise, including collectible toy figurines (more than 20 million sold in the UK alone last year), plush dolls, games, the No. 1 kids magazine in the UK, mobile apps, and even temporary tattoos.
Zynga Marketing Master Padma Rao Joins Foundation Capital As An Entrepreneur In Residence
31baa62
Padma Rao's analytical marketing skills have made a big impact at more than one company in the Bay Area, and now she's bringing a decade of experiences to her new role as an entrepreneur in residence at Foundation Capital. Her most recent efforts helped turn a gaming startup into a booming public company. Few people realized it at the time, but in late 2008 and early 2009 social game developer Zynga had figured out how to get a great return on investment from Facebook advertising. The social network had developed its ad system over the previous few years to the point that it was able to deliver ads closely targeted to users' interests -- but most people hadn't realized that yet, so prices were cheap.
31baa62
Padma Rao's analytical marketing skills have made a big impact at more than one company in the Bay Area, and now she's bringing a decade of experiences to her new role as an entrepreneur in residence at Foundation Capital. Her most recent efforts helped turn a gaming startup into a booming public company. Few people realized it at the time, but in late 2008 and early 2009 social game developer Zynga had figured out how to get a great return on investment from Facebook advertising. The social network had developed its ad system over the previous few years to the point that it was able to deliver ads closely targeted to users' interests -- but most people hadn't realized that yet, so prices were cheap.
Whale Hunting: Facebook Hooks 1st-Time Buyers With $5 Of Game Credits For $1
Free Facebook Credits
Only about 5% Facebook gamers pay to play freemium games. If Facebook could up this percentage, it and its third-party app developers could make a lot more money. That's the idea behind a new promotion Facebook announced today where those who've never bought Facebook Credits virtual currency before will be offered $4 in free Credits when they buy $1. This gets users to set up their credit card and experience the rush of paying for an enhanced gaming experience.
Free Facebook Credits
Only about 5% Facebook gamers pay to play freemium games. If Facebook could up this percentage, it and its third-party app developers could make a lot more money. That's the idea behind a new promotion Facebook announced today where those who've never bought Facebook Credits virtual currency before will be offered $4 in free Credits when they buy $1. This gets users to set up their credit card and experience the rush of paying for an enhanced gaming experience.
February 10 2012
Kickstarter’s Big Day: $1.6M Pledged In 24 Hours
hooray1.large
They say when it rains, it pours. That's not usually a good thing, but when it's raining money, things are a little different. That was the case at Kickstarter yesterday, where they had their biggest day of funding ever, beating the record set... the day before yesterday. It was also the day that marked the first Kickstarter project to break $1,000,000 in funding. And the day that marked the second project to hit that number. And New York's city council endorsed the site as a way to highlight community projects that need funding. Oh, and they're on Portlandia. Definitely the biggest day in the site's history, then. They've commemorated it with a great blog post that might just make your Friday a little better. It also brings up a few new and interesting questions regarding how the site should or will be used.
hooray1.large
They say when it rains, it pours. That's not usually a good thing, but when it's raining money, things are a little different. That was the case at Kickstarter yesterday, where they had their biggest day of funding ever, beating the record set... the day before yesterday. It was also the day that marked the first Kickstarter project to break $1,000,000 in funding. And the day that marked the second project to hit that number. And New York's city council endorsed the site as a way to highlight community projects that need funding. Oh, and they're on Portlandia. Definitely the biggest day in the site's history, then. They've commemorated it with a great blog post that might just make your Friday a little better. It also brings up a few new and interesting questions regarding how the site should or will be used.
StartX Demo Day: A Direct Link Between Silicon Valley And Top Stanford Student Entrepreneurs
Screen Shot 2012-02-10 at 1.18.30 PM
On the surface, the StartX Demo Day last night could have looked like any other accelerator pushing its latest class of startups. Nine groups got on stage and fired off presentations about how they were working on something cool, and why they deserved funding. But it wasn't the rash of lightweight consumer applications you often see at other demo days. These were Stanford students, particularly technical graduate students, who have been nerding out on solving real problems for years in their labs and dorm rooms, and who are now in the middle of commercializing their hard work. Big-name investors from around Silicon Valley unsurprisingly showed up to check them out.
Screen Shot 2012-02-10 at 1.18.30 PM
On the surface, the StartX Demo Day last night could have looked like any other accelerator pushing its latest class of startups. Nine groups got on stage and fired off presentations about how they were working on something cool, and why they deserved funding. But it wasn't the rash of lightweight consumer applications you often see at other demo days. These were Stanford students, particularly technical graduate students, who have been nerding out on solving real problems for years in their labs and dorm rooms, and who are now in the middle of commercializing their hard work. Big-name investors from around Silicon Valley unsurprisingly showed up to check them out.
A Whole Lot Of Reading: Social Publisher Wattpad Hits 1B User Minutes Per Month
wattpad chart
Wattpad, a Union Square Ventures-backed platform for sharing stories and interacting with writers, has been growing steadily, and it hit a nice milestone in January — during that month, users spent more than 1 billion minutes on the service. Co-founder and CEO Allen Lau tells me via email that the growth comes from a combination of attracting new users and convincing each of those users to spend more time on the site. The average session for Web users was 30 minutes, while visitors on Android devices spent an average of 28 minutes.
wattpad chart
Wattpad, a Union Square Ventures-backed platform for sharing stories and interacting with writers, has been growing steadily, and it hit a nice milestone in January — during that month, users spent more than 1 billion minutes on the service. Co-founder and CEO Allen Lau tells me via email that the growth comes from a combination of attracting new users and convincing each of those users to spend more time on the site. The average session for Web users was 30 minutes, while visitors on Android devices spent an average of 28 minutes.
Facebook Starts Turning Listen, Read, and Watch Stories Into Ads
Open Graph Sponsored Stories Mockup Done
When you listen, read, or watch through a Facebook Open Graph app, a few of your friends hear about through the news feed, Ticker, or Timeline. Starting this week, Facebook is allowing advertisers to pay for more exposure of listen, read, or watch stories that mention them by turning the stories into a new form of Sponsored Story social ads. Open Graph action Sponsored Stories could further Facebook's goal of turn all ads social, and boost revenue by filling the new inventory from Facebook now permitting Sponsored Stories ads in the news feed.
Open Graph Sponsored Stories Mockup Done
When you listen, read, or watch through a Facebook Open Graph app, a few of your friends hear about through the news feed, Ticker, or Timeline. Starting this week, Facebook is allowing advertisers to pay for more exposure of listen, read, or watch stories that mention them by turning the stories into a new form of Sponsored Story social ads. Open Graph action Sponsored Stories could further Facebook's goal of turn all ads social, and boost revenue by filling the new inventory from Facebook now permitting Sponsored Stories ads in the news feed.
February 09 2012
LinkedIn Will Introduce Ads To Mobile Apps
linkedin mobile
Facebook isn't the only social network getting ready to monetize its mobile app with advertising. During today's analyst call to discuss its fourth quarter earnings, LinkedIn executives said they will be introducing advertising to their mobile apps. There weren't many details offered — LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said only that the company has been putting the infrastructure in place, and now it's ready to "start to introduce advertising in our mobile solutions."
linkedin mobile
Facebook isn't the only social network getting ready to monetize its mobile app with advertising. During today's analyst call to discuss its fourth quarter earnings, LinkedIn executives said they will be introducing advertising to their mobile apps. There weren't many details offered — LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said only that the company has been putting the infrastructure in place, and now it's ready to "start to introduce advertising in our mobile solutions."
Click And Mortar: Zynga Signs Deal With Hasbro For Real-World Toys and Games
home-graphic2
Mobile app developer Rovio has famously turned its Angry Birds game into a popular toy franchise, but most other new-fangled gaming companies haven't spent much energy going this route. But now social gaming leader Zynga is, per a big licensing deal with Hasbro.
home-graphic2
Mobile app developer Rovio has famously turned its Angry Birds game into a popular toy franchise, but most other new-fangled gaming companies haven't spent much energy going this route. But now social gaming leader Zynga is, per a big licensing deal with Hasbro.
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