A new Vitamin Water flavor launching in March 2011 — lime and cherry “Connect” — was designed by Vitamin Water’s Facebook fans. Fans created the flavor, designed the package, and named the product. This is the new kind of focus group — consulted in during the product development cycle, right from the beginning — with real “ownership” of the end result. Excellent.
All posts by alicelankester
Making Data Relevant: The New Metrics for Social Marketing
Excellent article: Making Data Relevant: The New Metrics for Social Marketing
My first e-book vacation
I just returned from my first iPad vacation. For the very first time, I took not a single “physical” book. Just an iPad, pre-populated with some yummy literary treats. The outcome? Good, but mostly not so good.
Good because it was easy to pack and lightweight and convenient, and I could bring five books and know that if I didn’t like one I could try another.
Not so good for more reasons: first, I felt compelled to continue to check my e-mail while I was away. Hard not to. It was just a click away. Second, my kids snuck off with my iPad at every opportunity, to indulge in some Angry Bird baiting or heavy duty Facebook action. And finally, I couldn’t take it outside. The screen just doesn’t work in bright sunlight. And the beach? Forget it. I have no problem leaving a tatty paperback and a beach towel behind while I have a quick dip. But not my precious iPad.
So I won’t be doing that again. Unless it’s a solo/grown ups only trip to Florence or similar for the weekend.
Having said that, I’m reading a ton more at home. I’ve gone from reading about two books a month to four or five. I’m loving loving loving downloading Kindle samples. I am astonished at just how much money I am sending Amazon, and how lovingly they take care of me. They are figuring it out.
So I’m now officially fully embracing the e-book world. Just not on the beach.
Is this really a reason not to crowd-source?
Interesting article here in Mashable about Pepsi’s attempts to crowd-source their Superbowl commercial. Just because Pepsi chose to feature in some way (I don’t know how prominently) the Doritos/Communion Wafer submission — a submission that offended Catholic groups — doesn’t mean we should throw the crowd-sourcing baby out with the bathwater. The outcome should not be a judgement on the value of crowd-sourcing.
When a large, savvy, and well-funded brand such as Pepsi chooses to walk on the wild side, and undertake crowd-sourcing, or social media “stunts” of any sort — they have to take responsibility for their actions. Perhaps “someone” should have thought this through. “Hmm, I love this commercial. It’s fun. Irreverent. But, well, might offend some. Should we feature it?”
Crowd-sourcing is exciting. It helps brands think in a new way about their brand. They get to see how people out there in the real world think about them. It shakes things up. I say, bring it on! But be judicial. Know that there will be submissions and content that may not reflect your brand’s values. In which case, it’s “thanks, love it, but no thanks.”
Two million songs in one week?
Yup that’s right. The Beatles have sold 2,000,000 songs in their first week on iTunes. Lest you be in any doubt about the power of Apple and iTunes. How could anyone be? It’s my default location for buying or renting any media. Once they complete their inventory of movie rentals and purchases, and offer International titles, I’m all theirs. I’ll bet my family will spend at least $50/month. They are a phenomenon and anyone who tries to innovate past them will have a hard time.
Not to be missed: Mary Meeker
Like any of you would miss Mary’s insightful super charged fast review of what we should all be thinking about. In the thrust and parry of life at the desk and on the phone, sitting back to “think big” is I need to remind myself to do MUCH more often.
11/29/2010 – KPCB apparently loves Mary Meeker too. She’s joined their team. Nice catch!
I am Droid’ing… and it’s growing on me
Naturally, given past behaviors, I was one of first in line to get the iPhone 4. I was so excited.
Two weeks later, I returned the phone. The dropped-call experience was a joke — I don’t think I never completed a single call. And forget iPhone to iPhone. My boss Sam Altman also had an iPhone 4. Every conversation we had would have to be re-started four times.
Then I started to get the “you have no SIM card” error.
Bah. I returned it. The Apple store guys were super helpful, and gave me my money back, re-provisioned my trusty old iPhone 3GS, and told me they’d order me a new one and let me know when it arrived.
I never got the notification.
But it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t have picked it up anyway. The bumper I’ll just keep as a souvenir.
Then the frustration with my old iPhone started to increase. I am sick and tired of seeing the green “call fail” button. Really sick and tired of it. And it seemed to be happening more and more.
So that, combined with the fact that I am marketing Android Apps at Loopt (I can’t market something I can’t feel) pushed me into the Android world.
I am now the proud owner of a Droid X. It’s a brick. It’s ugly. It whispers “Droid” at me in a creepy post-apocalyptic manner.
There are some odd things to get used to.
The period button is right next to the spacebar key so all my emails.have.periods.between.words.
It’s weird getting used to a physical button/screen button combination. Apple has taught me to rely on the screen purely. On my Droid X, you have to press the home/back/search buttons at the bottom, and other times you press buttons on the screen. That feels like an odd boundary pusher.
The screen and apps and look/feel seems dark, and weird, and sort of male (I can say that … it’s my blog).
But I love that the calendar App merges all my calendars into one. Yay hey. And everything runs so fast! Particularly our Loopt app!
But most I love the Verizon connection. I can finish a call! Though I have to get a headset, because the thing weighs a ton and it feels like holding a laptop up to my ear. But that’s OK. I can deal with that.
Apple better watch out. People are finding alternatives. It’s becoming cool to dislike the iPhone, and renegade and brave to toss it back and Apple and say “you have to do better.” I’m not going to just suck it up because it’s Apple and I’ve loved Apple since I worked on Macintosh software in 1983. (Literally. I really did.) They have a problem. They need to fix it.
Top 5 mobile advertising trends to watch
Life at Loopt is a blast. For those of you that know me, mobile is the only thing I talk about these days. Interesting article in Mashable today — top 5 advertising trends to watch:
- SMS continues to grow and be important
- Experimentation with rich media
- Mobile sites vs mobile apps (personally I think these will merge to some extent in interesting ways; Apps will incorporate more and more HTML pages that look like App pages; just need to solve performance issues and you can bypass the whole App submission tango when you want to release new stuff). I remain amazed at how many sites stink on even the fancy iPhone and Android devices I used. Estimates state that by 2014 25% of Internet traffic will be on a mobile device. 25%! So for heaven’s sake don’t wait until then to get your Web site mobile-optimized.
- Interest in geo-location (no duh!)
- Growth of mobile video
Love it all. For someone whose mobile life started lugging around an Apple II, it’s never been so fun to be in high tech.
Don’t build an App just because you think you should…
Those of you that know me well know that I’m the market for my retirement flat in London. I’m nowhere NEAR retiring, but at some point in the next twenty years, I’m putting my feet up in my flat with a view of the River Thames and I’m going to love it.
So I patrol www.primelocation.co.uk when I have nothing else going on. It aggregates all sorts of delicious places and I mentally move into most of them, deciding where I’ll put my brand new furniture that I need to buy along with my flat.
Imagine my delight when I saw they had an iPad App now? Quick! Download it! Perfect casual browsing opportunity as I half-watch TV on the sofa.
What a disaster. That’s all I’m saying. Primelocation. Remove that App. It’s a ridiculous waste of time and doesn’t do you any justice.
Lesson? Don’t make an App just because you think you have to. You may have a great site — and Primelocation does — but unless the App really does a useful job on the go, don’t bother. Waste of time and resources, and doesn’t do your brand any justice.
(And a better use of time? Fixing the iPad experience of your core site. Much more useful way to go.)
I take it ALL back — thank you Amazon!
Back in October I ragged about the Kindle. In my defense, it was mostly about the touchy-feely bit of the Kindle. The device itself stunk, IMO.
As a passionate reader (been in the same Book Club for almost 16 years now) I have a highly emotional relationship with books and reading.
As an early adopter of technology, I bought the Kindle as soon as it came out. I had this plan that all my marketing wonk books could travel with me wherever I went, and when I needed to think about something, I could refresh my memory, get ideas, and get down with Seth Godin on demand.
But I really, really couldn’t deal with the Kindle. I hated the screen. It flashed all the time. I poked. I prodded. I lost my place in the book. I couldn’t browse. I pressed buttons too many times while waiting for updates, and went all over the wrong part of town. It made me feel old and stupid.
Then I got me my iPad. And I went away for a few days and forgot to bring my latest book with me (gasp). So I thought I’d test out the reading experience on the iPad and I bought the book I was then reading — along with the rest of the known world — Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Now I had been reading on the iPad lots. I wasn’t JUST playing Bejewelled…. I read loads of newspapers and Web sites on it. But I hadn’t read a book.
And now look at me. Two weeks later, and I’ve now read all three of Stieg’s books in rapid succession. (A Stieg binge if you like.) All on the Kindle App for the iPad.
It’s like crack. It’s an addiction. I can get (almost) any book I want. Instantly. I can dip in and out of books. My library is with me wherever I go. Before I knew it, I’d got the complete works of Shakespeare. I bought two Ian McEwan books within 2 minutes of each other — Solar (don’t miss it) and Comfort of Strangers (unsettling). I bought two more Seth Godin books. I bought the Odyssey for heaven’s sake. I was going book wild!
I wasn’t surprised to hear that Kindle versions of books are now outselling hard cover books. I was fascinated to read about Wiley’s new deal with Amazon for exclusive rights to e-versions of some of its books.
I still find the iPad tiring to read in long spells. But I like that I don’t need a book light now!
So I take it all back. I can be an e-reader. I can. I can. Guess I’m not so old and stupid after all.