POST DIGITAL

on: the future of retail

This week's presentation was a ton of fun to research. Who doesn't like to shop...non-stop? The Future of Retail: A Post Digital Approach to Shopper Marketing was an exercise in innovation and imaging the future of shopping.

While we are well into a the third decade of eCommerce and a new thriving generation of mCommerce technology has emerged, a number of ideas have surfaced as a beta of a new economy of commerce and consumerism. It begins by realizing that the aging of the Baby Boom generation is giving way to the coming of age of Generation Y, which has caused seismic shifts in consumer demand and shopping habits. Retail stores that have adapted [i.e. Best Buy, Sephora, Levi's ] to the new consumer demographics have begun to thrive in spite of the great recession.

The Future of Retail: 

A Post Digital Approach to Shopper Marketing

View more presentations from Joanna Pena-Bickley

Beyond a perpetually evolving, decentralized shopping experience, retailers must begin to contemplate the impact of digital and social medias on the path to purchase. In this presentation I pose a simple challenge to the audience; If the the entire world can be a store; how would your customers make instant purchases regardless of time and place?

on: diy research methods

I am not sure how you formulate great ideas - mine usually starts with a bit of research on which audience I a creating for.  Whether I am creating a new brand platform or writing for television - there is nothing is more inspiring than actually talking to real people.  Often research can be time intensive and expensive. If you are bootstrapped and cash poor there are a number of ways you can gather real insights that could lead to inspiring work.  

I love to start with an in-home ethonography.  It's super easy way to tap into your network and interview and observe how they use a product or feel about a brand. I also advocate doing shopper interiews.  Often I will shop with people to understand what drives them to purchase a product. If going into people's home or local grocer to observe them is not your cup of tea there are a number of online resouces that could inspire the right thought.  I recently ran across this very useful post via Marketing Profs Daily Fix that outlines a few ways to conduct research on a showstring budget:

1. Monitor Trends - Set up a reader that follows influential blogs and sites in your trade and classification (small biz, consultancy, etc.)

2. Create a Clear Objective - Define exactly what you need to know and why. Craft questions accordingly.

3. Begin with your Base - Query your customers and followers. Often they have the most informed and relevant opinions. Once they're heard, move outside of your circle.

Read more about DIY Research at Marketing Profs Daily Fix

How do you find inspiration for your orginal ideas?

 

on: granata pet - snack check

on: knicksnow.com

Not to long ago theKMco launched KnicksNow.com.  The launch is the first real social effort by an NBA team.  From original content, including video, photos and post-game interviews, to social apps like Facebook connect and Twitter the site serves as a social hub for Knicks fans. (yes, after the San Antonio Spurs, I support the Knicks!)  

I had the pleasure in participating on one of OMMA's creative round tables on the site.

Is there anything you would add to knicksnow.com?
Peña-Bickley: Video content. The more video content the better. Those of us who are writers and designers love to believe that our content is being read, but you're going to find that more people watch. The Web has changed in such a way that it's starting to become a little bit more of a lean-back activity rather than a lean-in activity, and the ability not just to have a topic covered by video but to allow people to respond via video is something that could be really interesting.

Real-time activities will be incorporated into the site. Are basketball fans like you interested in connecting with each other on a site like KnicksNow while watching a game?

Peña-Bickley: I think it's fantastic because most people watch sports today with some kind of device either on their lap or in their hands. If I'm going to a game, or I happen to be engaging in anything basketball, the first thing I do is I check in via Foursquare and see who is around me.

Read the entire review at: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=146092

 

What do you think of Knicks Now? 

on: puma faas

PUMA gets it right once again! The PUMA Faas Spot is a simple idea transformed in to something you want to continue watching



How would you extend this beyond the 30 seconds?

on: agora

Agora is a service built on the Foursquare API, designed to match you up with likeminded folk when you check in at a location. It is a brilliantly simple idea.

Here is the user scenario: Let’s say you arrive at a bar where twenty others are checked in. Agora will work its magic in the background, using the Twitter API to analyse who you share similar interests with. The service will then send out a tweet telling you and the others similar to you that you should meet, giving them scores based on their similarity to you.

If you’re somewhere like New York or London, with a highly active Foursquare community, Agora could be a useful networking tool. Foursquare co-founder, Dennis Crowley recently  described the app as a “Hot use” for the API, and  suggested improving the app by filtering out people who you check in with on a regular basis.

Agora was built in five hours by New York-based at the first Foursquare Hackathon. Its creator, New York-based Pierre Valade is planning to build the service into a social calendar solution that simplifies scheduling in the same way that Dropbox made filesharing refreshingly easy. Valade was one of the entrepreneurs pitching UnionSquare Ventures VC Albert Wenger in elevators at SXSW last weekend. Here’s his brief, literal ‘elevator pitch’.

 

Agora at Courtyard by Marriott Austin Downtown (Convention Center) by albertwenger. Uploaded with SoundCloud iPhone

Agora is quick and easy to try. Just connect it up to your Foursquare account from its website and you’re good to go.

 

[via TNW]

on: an increase in facebooks page traffic for big brands

Webtrends have produced an interesting white paper in conjunction with Adgregate Markets, diving head first into how social networks have changed our browsing and purchasing behaviour online.

The sample consisted of 44 companies. 40% said that they are seeing significantly higher traffic and unique visitors on their Facebook page in comparison with their website. Suprisingly, not only were their Web sites accounting for fewer unique visits than FB Pages, but many were also showing a decline in visits over a three-month period.  Coca-Cola and Disney exhibited extremely high Facebook traffic volumes when compared to their sites.

The white paper also suggests those with F-commerce, stores within their Facebook pages, in already place were now achieving similar conversion rates (2-4%) to e-commerce sites, as well as impressive page view figures.

 

 

on: twitter's fifth b-day

Five years ago today Jack Dorsey sent the first ever tweet. Little did he know that five years later users from across the globe, and some in outer space, would churn out a billion tweets just seven days.

To mark the fifth anniversary Twitter has made their incredible figures public:

• One year ago, an average of 50,000,000 tweets were sent a day. At present, that figure rests somewhere around 140,000,000
• 572,000 new accounts were created on the 12th of March 2011
• On March 11th 2011, 177 million tweets were sent in one day

Can you remember what your first tweet was?

on: finding mezz

As many of you know I am a resident of Harlem. In the last few years it has become a hot bed of creativity, cafes and cultural hangouts. Just as I was settling into a few of my new hangouts in the hood via FourSqaure, up popped a mysterious Mayor.  A Mayor with 2662 checkins this man of mystery has 57 mayorships all here in Harlem. 

I took note of Mezz when he ousted as the Mayor of our building. After looking up his stats I thought I might actually run into Mezz at my favorite cafe, Il Cafe Latte. Nope no sign of Mezz. 

Last week while shooting a new show,  I took a few hours to begin the hunt for mezz as he had just checked in one door down.  I skipped down for a cup of coffee to see if I could find Mezz and introduce myself.  When I arrived there was only two woman in the cafe. No Mezz in sight.  As a FourSquare freak redeeming points and deals up here in the hood, I have yet to run into the mysterious Mezz.  Who is this reclusive, serial check in artist?

Mezz- who & where are you now?

 

on: discussions in google docs

Today, Google has rolled out new social functionality that allows users to discuss shared documents in real-time. This move makes Google Docs much more appealing to the colloaborative consumer.

 

How often do you collaborate on your docs?