5 Keys to Twitter

Without a doubt, 2009 has been the year of Twitter. More than billion keystrokes from mainstream media have breathlessly chronicled the 40-person company’s rise to the heights of pop culture. If you’re in media, consume news or surf the Web, think of the last day in which you didn’t hear the word. See what I [...]

Oh, What a Camera Would Do!

NASCAR has them in the drivers’ cockpits. MLB has them dug into the ground in front of home plate. The NFL has had them in players’ helmets.
In sport, cameras give us a view we’d otherwise never see (unless on the field of play or going 200+ mph in the race car).
Here’s where the next camera [...]

Wasted Away in Swine Flu Ville

Cinco de Mayo used to be dream date for Tequila makers, Mexican beers breweries and margarita mix devisers.
Not this year.
The unfortunate hype around “H1N1″ aka Swine Flu and our friends in Mexico has cast a cloud over Cinco de Mayo. For places like San Diego (just 30 miles north of the border), today’s a barometer [...]

Online Marketing: What Works?

Two interesting reports supported by interesting data.
Not the same conclusions.
Fred Wilson, high-profile VC whose firm invested in Twitter, posted that online banners work, just differently from search, according to comScore.
Meanwhile, this story in the NYT looks at brand advertisers’ challenges to engage folks in social networks such as Facebook. The writer opened up an account [...]

Nokia N97 Colors Itself Different

Did the tech press and bloggers doubt that Nokia, the number one cellphone maker in the world, would come up short on its latest smartphone? Lots of technical muscle, for sure.
Yes, Apple’s iPhone is synonomous with hip, intuitive user experience, not to mention a selection of optional applications already a year ahead of the competition.
But [...]

iPhone Goes Corporate? Where’s PC Guy?

Now it gets interesting.
Word that Apple wants a slice of the corporate market by enabling iPhone users to load email and calendar items off their Microsoft-flavored company servers shows just how open we’re going to get.
For years, the BlackBerry has been first choice for corporations who equip employees with the productivity tool that [...]

When Authors Fake It

Q: Why would a major publishing house print a memoir without checking basic facts?
A: Intense competition to sell books.
News this week of the bogus biography of a woman who claimed to have run drugs for a Los Angeles gang as a kid is yet another reminder to publishers that non-fiction must be vetted and fact-checked. Magazines work to do it. Newspapers work [...]

5 Ways DKNY Can Adopt Bicycling in a Campaign

A month ago, DKNY thought it stylish to dot Manhattan with 70 neon orange bicycles chained to street posts and anything else of permanence. The orange color was garish but drew attention to DKNY’s fall 2008 line. The bicycles also served as a guerilla marketing signal to the company’s campaign promoting two wheels as a mode of transportation and urging New Yorkers to ”Explore Your City.”
Only one problem: The bikes (unintentional, [...]

Talked About Tuesday: 12 Minutes to Top 100

As the post-Super Bowl ad hoopla fades, an unassuming rocker got a bump in sales.  
Before Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers played their 12-minute halftime set Sunday, they were nowhere in the iTunes Top 100 songs.
As of Monday night (7:30 p.m. PST), all 4 songs the band played at the Super Bowl were in the same Top 100 (barely, see two in graphic).

Free Fallin’ – #33

I [...]

Saturday Brand-Off II

I’ll admit, I consciously pay attention to commercials during the Super Bowl. When 93 million people tune in, it’s part of the fun. Thirty-second spots fetching up to $3 million — upwards of $90,000 a second. It’s more than advertising. It’s a potential spectacle that apparently doesn’t hurt companies’ stock prices (except Under Armour, whose [...]