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Rethinking the Service Paradigm February 06, 2013 
I just got off a phone briefing with Freshdesk, an Indian company with a subscription customer service and support system that it refers to as a "help desk." Freshdesk's got most of the bells and whistles you might expect to find in a solution like that, and it has gamified the business processes as well. That's what inspired this column.
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Alicia Keys: The Next Steve Jobs? February 04, 2013 
What folks who haven't read any of the early Steve Jobs biographies don't know is that Steve Jobs -- at least, the way he was seen in public -- wasn't any more real than Ronald McDonald. He was a creation of Apple's advertising agency that successfully reformed Steve into the near-superhuman person we saw on stage.
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Is the Time Ripe for BlackBerry? February 01, 2013 
BlackBerry 10 may have had its thunder stolen by "BlackBerry" -- that is, the announcement that "Research In Motion" has been deep-sixed, and the company name is now the same as its iconic brand. The rebranding is an effort to put more juice behind the launch of the highly anticipated new BB10 operating system and compatible handsets, propelling a potential turnaround.
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Bronto Remarketing Engine Slices and Dices Retail Customer Preferences January 24, 2013 
Bronto Software this week released a significant update to its Bronto Marketing Platform: a remarketing engine that helps retailers link online and in-store purchases in order to create targeted email messages that speak to the individual user. New features allow marketers to collect data such as purchase history and then use that information to segment customers and create email campaigns.
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Nokia Gives 3D Printers Something Fun to Do January 19, 2013 
Nokia on Friday released a 3D printing kit that will allow users to create their own custom cases for the Lumia 820. The handset, which was unveiled last September, features a removable shell case that lets users change the color of their phone or even enable options such as wireless charging. Now Nokia has taken things a step farther. It is allowing users to customize their phone via a 3D printing kit.
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MobileDevHQ's Ian Sefferman: So You Built an App - Now What? January 18, 2013 
You could call Ian Sefferman's initial rise to CEO of MobileDevHQ a bootstrap career move. Seeing the rapid growth of consumer interest in mobile apps, he jumped into an infant industry to learn what would push it forward. His interests fell on a gaping opportunity: how to help app developers become more successful.
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Turn Your Marketing Inside Out January 12, 2013 
When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton famously replied "because that's where the money is." Many e-commerce businesses adopt Willie's strategy by focusing their marketing efforts where all the people are. That may work for robbery, but it's a poor strategy for e-commerce. Instead, adopt an inside-out strategy by focusing where the fewest people are. Here's why, and how.
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Gamification: What If the Game Is Over? January 05, 2013 
Gamification, using game-play mechanics for non-game applications to engage users and drive desired behavior, has become all the rage, or so it seems. Like any hot trend, there is a tendency to overcompensate for the sake of participating in the new, hot concept. The herd mentality leads everyone to think they need to gamify their product, app or solution to just to keep up with the pack.
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App It Up: Mobile Strategies for Small Businesses January 04, 2013 
Even when Darien Gold's pilates clients aren't in her studio, they can work on their moves by following the instructions and imitating the positions on her mobile app. Gold uses the app to expand the reach of her business, according to Bharath Lingam, CEO of PurpleTalk, which worked with Gold to develop her app.
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Think Your Distribution Model Goes Unnoticed? Think Again December 29, 2012 
The decentralization of software and services has greatly changed the way businesses need to approach and appeal to their customers' whims. Before, software vendors could work with distributors to get their boxes onto shelves and into customers' hands -- but when was the last time you went to Fry's or Best Buy and purchased a physical disc to install?
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Q3 Online Ad Revenues Rise to New Record December 27, 2012 
Online advertising spending hit a record $9.26 billion in the third quarter of 2012, an 18 percent increase over the same period last year. The IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report for the third quarter of 2012, released last week by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, shows a 6 percent increase from the previous quarter.
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What Happened in 2012 December 27, 2012 
Everyone has a year-end synopsis these days, and it's fun to see what each person deems important. Sometimes you wonder if you lived through the same experiences, but it's a good thing to recall everything one more time and maybe reconsider how you'll remember each. Here's my synopsis -- which is no more or less valid than anyone else's.
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Gamification Brings In Serious Business December 22, 2012 
More than just a marketing gimmick, gamification has the potential to inject new life into a variety of industries and broaden the appeal of many new and existing offerings. The term "gamification" describes the use of game mechanics, such as challenges, achievements and rewards, to drive certain consumer behaviors in what are traditionally non-gaming contexts, such as television services, energy or health.
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Report: Europe May Have Scuttled Google's FTC Deal December 20, 2012 
The postponement of Google's deal with the Federal Trade Commission may have been caused, at least in part, by Europe's tough stance with the company. As of a few days ago, reports suggested that Google was close to hashing out a deal with the FTC, but that the European Commission's two-year antitrust investigation was far from resolved.
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'Going Native' Boosts Mobile Ad Outlook December 20, 2012 
The U.S. mobile advertising outlook is a bit rosier, according to eMarketer's latest forecast. Native display ads running on sites such as Facebook and Twitter are leading the charge for the mobile channel. Overall spending on U.S. mobile advertising -- which includes display, search and messaging-based ads served on mobile phones and tablets -- is expected to see a 180 percent increase this year.
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The Lowdown on QR Codes December 18, 2012 
A year or so ago, digital marketers were head over heels, breathlessly in love with QR codes. Bearing a close resemblance to Rorschach inkblot tests, QR codes quickly became ubiquitous on labels, posters, signs, magazine ads, billboards -- pretty much any ad space a consumer might conceivably want to scan with a smartphone to download more information about a product or service.
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AOL's Marketing Shuffle May Reflect Brand Uncertainty December 15, 2012 
AOL is shifting toward decentralization of its marketing efforts. The online company this week named Allie Savarino Kline as chief marketing officer of its Advertising.com unit. In the newly created position, she will have global oversight of Advertising.com and will handle marketing strategy for the group's advertising solutions for publishers, advertisers and agencies.
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Coremotives Connects the Marketing Dots December 14, 2012 
CoreMotives, a Silverpop company, has launched a new integration that ties revenue-tracking capabilities embedded in its CRM system to the Ticketmaster sales application. The upshot is that teams that use Ticketmaster to market tickets can also easily track which campaigns actually led to a sale.
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Building Loyalty When Customers Are a Moving Target December 10, 2012 
When Double Cola wanted to encourage its customers to keep coming back for more of its vintage fizzy drink, it started a rewards program. Using tried-and-true loyalty methods, the company offered customers the opportunity to turn over the cola's caps, earn points, and get discounts and merchandise.
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The Rise of the Mansumer December 07, 2012 
This year men are doing more of the shopping, and they're not the befuddled dads TV shows project. They're purposeful shoppers looking for the best deals. This newly emergent breed is dubbed "mansumer" in BPN's 2013 Retail Trends Report. Mansumers take advantage of tools like online sites, price comparison engines and mobile apps to make informed purchases.
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