Here is a long overdue thank you to the lovely Casie Stewart for the Google Wave invitation. I still can’t seem to get it working “Your account has not been activated” (darn Google Apps) but once it is I can’t wait to play with it.
Casie - you’re the best!
Don’t forget to check out Casie’s blog: www.casiestewart.com
About a month ago, I got to attend Mobile Media World ‘09 (#mmw09) thanks to the lovely Trina Boos, founder of AdLounge. I did a brief summary of the first day of the event - check it out here.
Our Take on Mobile Media World ‘09
Thursday, September 17, 2009
– by Tiffany Strobel, Ad Lounge event reviewer and Consultant at Vortex Mobile. Follow Tiffany at @tiffanystrobel
“This week, Ad Lounge attended Mobile Media World 2009, which brought together the best and the brightest in mobile marketing in Toronto and beyond. This two-day conference, held at CBC’s gorgeous Glenn Gould Theatre, focused on innovation in the wireless world and ranged in topics from consumer insights to mobile giving.
Our five key takeaways from Day One of MMW ‘09 are:
1. Media Budgets Moving Towards the Gadget that’s Always With You. The smartphone demographic is composed of smartphone newbies - In fact, 50% of smartphone users have had their phone for less than a year. There’s been explosive growth (considering that there are 2.1 million Blackberry Curves and 1.8 iPhones in the marketplace), and most users are just learning how to use the various features that these smartphones have. This poises mobile marketing to be the next revolution in marketing as a whole – as consumers learn how to use new features, they’ll interact with this new media on a more consistent basis. The introduction of the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Blackberry Storm have appealed to a whole new demographic of cell phone users, and has pushed mobile marketing over the tipping point – so be prepared for larger pieces of media budgets to be allocated to the gadget that’s always with you, and always on.
2. Charity Giving via. Mobile is Here! Charities are going to love this news. The Mobile Giving Foundation has finally come to Canada, which means that consumers will be able to donate to their favourite charities via text message. MGF serves as the so-called middle-man between the charity, the carrier, and the user. They ensure the credibility of the charity, collect the donated funds from the carrier, and provide the charitable giving receipts to the consumers. It’s cost-effective, convenient, and oh so very cool. Watch for the Mobile Giving Foundation to publicly launch within the next two weeks.
3. Mobile internet is becoming a replacement for traditional internet and media. The Weather Network has seen a huge number of downloads and use of their WeatherEye app, but consequently those that are using the WeatherEye app aren’t watching the channel or visiting the website anymore. As such, it’s important for marketers to watch their allocation of advertising dollars, and ensure that their mobile applications and mobile websites are optimized for advertising. Try one of the many mobile ad networks to keep the dollars flowing in these new advertising mediums.
4. People want more - for less! This concept is hardly new, but is exceptionally prevalent in the smartphone revolution. As smartphones become more and more popular, consumers are crying out for unlimited data plans - something that Canadian carriers have been reluctant to provide. In addition to cheaper data, people also want cheaper applications - the average that people are willing to pay for an app has declined to less than half, and is expected to continue declining over the next few years.
5. It is truly the “year of mobile”. Since diving into the mobile marketing world close to three years ago, people have been touting statement – and I’ve heard it every year. It has led some to wonder – “will it ever be the year of mobile?” However, after hearing some unbelievable stats that were quoted at #MMW09, including:
a. 22 milllion Canadians have cell phones;
b. Less than 10% of Canadians have said they can live without their phones;
c. 16 BILLION text messages were sent in the first six months of 2009
It’s almost undeniable that we’ve finally reached the “Year of Mobile”, even in an economy that was severely impacted by a recession.
All in all, MMW ‘ 09 provided cutting edge speakers, stats and ideas. The venue slowly filled out nearing the end of Day One, but one thing we kept thinking was – why wasn’t it a packed house? Such insights should have been heard by all of our great industry folk. It was a superb event put on by the Mobile Innovation Week team, and we are certain that with the rapid trends that we’re seeing and as marketers move towards using mobile, next year will be jam packed.”
Lately there’s been more and more buzz about search functionality on our favourite social networks (hello FaceFeed!), and I’ve heard many friends marvel at how they use Twitter as their primary means for finding out information.
Today, my lovely colleague at Vortex, Mikey Ulch, sent me an amazing link today - a link that I definitely should have known about before.
“Twitter on Steroids”, the Twitter Search Operators allow you to find just about everything you possible need to on Twitter…
How to maximize Twitter Search
One of the previous (probably perceived) disadvantages of Twitter is that it’s difficult to find people in certain locales - but now, using the “near:NYC within:15mi” search term, I can find those people that are tweeting around me.
Great stuff…
Tomorrow night I’m leaving for a weekend in Montreal with three of my girlfriends, and am super pumped! I really, really need a weekend away, and this Girls Weekend should be great - indulging in nice dinners, and at least two crazy nights on the town.
As I’ve been working on getting back into my regular fitness/nutrition routine, a Girls weekend will probably throw me back a couple of days (weeks!) and so I’ll be getting right back into it with a Green Smoothie Cleanse!
Some of you probably heard me raving about the amazing Healthy Meal Workshop I went to a couple of weekends ago, run by Meghan Telpner (Certified Nutritionist and Holistic Lifestyle Consultant). I’ve already made her Coriander Pesto and Zucchini Hummus to rave reviews - and am going back for me!
On Monday, I’ll be starting Meghans 3-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse - 3 days of only drinking green smoothies & drinks. It will be a great detox and help to clean out my body after a weekend of over indulgence.
By doing the cleanse, I’ll get:
Would you like to join us? Click the image below to visit Meghans site “Making Love in the Kitchen” and learn more.
So it looks like we’ll all be donning our rubber boots and rain coats tomorrow for Pay It Backwards Day, which will make breaking a world record even more fun!
Starting at noon tomorrow, hundreds of Do Gooders will gather at the Second Cup (Queen & John, Toronto) to buy each other coffee, tea, and other delicious drinks while enjoying some fantastic street-side entertainment, in support of Sick Kids Hospital.
How does it work? It’s simple! Here’s a Step by Step Guide to Pay It Backwards Day (#pibTO):
Step One: Show up at Queen and John at 1pm (sharp).
Step Two: Register and get your PIB Bib (hehe) with your Do Gooder number.
Step Three: Proceed to the Pay It Backward line and enjoy:
Step Four: Mix and mingle with some Pay It Backward celebrities:
Step Five: Tell the person in front of you what you’ll be having - they’ll buy you your drink when they get to the counter!
Step Six: Ask the person behind you what they’re having - buy them their drink when you get to the counter!
Step Seven: Celebrate! You’ve just helped to break a world record - and the best part is 100% OF THE PROCEEDS WILL GO TO SICK KIDS HOSPITAL!!!!
Step Eight: Take some pictures, enjoy your drink, and give Darius Bashar (@dariusbashar) and the rest of the #pibTO team a hug of appreciation!
If that wasn’t enough of a reason to attend, the 100th, 200th, 300th, and 400th people in line will receive a $50 iTunes gift card! Just stand in line in the right spot. 
I hope to see everyone there, supporting Sick Kids and participating in a historic act of kindness. You can RSVP on Facebook here!
Visit www.dailychallenge.org for more ways you can get involved with the community, and continue showing the world that we really are Toronto the Good!!
I’m wondering who out there has joined/subscribed to MarketingProfs as a Premium Member/Subscriber. I thoroughly enjoy reading the daily e-mails (especially the Get to the Point! articles) but with cash tight these days I’m back and forth as to whether or not I should upgrade to a Premium member.
I’d love to hear your opinions/comments below on whether you’ve done it, if it’s worth it, and why.
I appreciate your help!
I just found a new shortcut for Microsoft Excel!
Pressing F2 on your keyboard will open up the cell for editing, without having to click on it. This means that when you’re making changes in a spreadsheet, you don’t have to use your mouse to edit in-cell.
Great time saver!
The whole list can be found on Microsoft’s site here in case you’re looking for more. This can be a bit cumbersome though!
P.S. Make sure your function keys are turned on! I had to search around for the button my keyboard that let me use them (it was called F-Lock)
Does anyone else have any good keyboard shortcuts for making drone office work easier?
I have some very exciting news! On January 2nd, we got a puppy! He is a 9 week old Apricot Toy Poodle, and we’ve named him Oscar.
Here is the link to a Facebook Album featuring my new little guy.
Does anyone have any tips on training a puppy? I’d love to hear them - although he’s adorable he is quite the little rascal!
My new little man!
Who would have thought that a virtual mug of beer could make you a millionaire?
Some basement developers have become just that, according to an article in Newseek. It seems as though the newest rage in mobile has become more than profitable, with more than 300 million downloads of over 10,000 iPhone applications.
With Apple taking 30% of the cut of each application sale, that leaves a huge margin for developers and marketers alike. With the ability to download and play with iPhone applications being (arguably) the most exciting use of the iPhone, a brand new channel for marketing has been created.
Whether looking to increase branding efforts by providing branded entertainment (think the Carling Virtual Pint) or provide a service (Shazam- I’ve never quite seen anything like this), the race has begun to get your iPhone application out there.
So what can we expect in 2009 when it comes to iPhone applications? I’d predict that development and downloads will continue to increase, similar to how Facebook applications blew up with the release of the developer platform.
Digital marketers, progressive media buyers, and developers alike should be aware of the marketing and financial possibles that have been created through the iPhone. Development of a top-notch application can have much smaller costs than most any other advertising campaign, and the best part is - it’s completely portable!
The biggest question is - can you beat your competitor to the punch? Maybe we should start patenting iPhone app ideas as well!
Hello lovely readers,
I’m back now from a month-and-a-half long hiatus. There have been some big and exciting things happening in my life (I can’t wait to divulge but they’re top secret for now) and have been quite busy! Looking forward to start posting again soon.
Also, I wanted to give a big shout out to Verne Ho, the Creative Superhero at Daily Challenge. He so graciously helped me figure out how to put widgets on my sidebar (or at least set it up so that I can put widgets on my sidebar - coming soon). If you’re interested in great creative, techie, and social media insight, check out his blog Creative Briefing - I promise you won’t be disappointed!
TS