MarCom Professional

Obsessed.

I have become obsessed by an iPhone application called Layar.

I first learned about Layar a few weeks ago when I spoke at the Marketing Pioneers event in Amsterdam.

Layar is a free application that uses your GPS location to show what is nearby by displaying real time information on top of the image on your mobile's camera (it works on other platforms besides the iPhone).

The founders of Layar call it "augmented reality." I call it "cool."

Watch this short video to see Layar in action.

Direct link to video.

How I use Layar

As I travel the world, I frequently find myself in an unfamiliar city looking for a meal. More...

I've been thinking a lot about how organizations extend the use of social networking beyond the marketing department. You've probably thought about this too or are even implementing it at your company.

It seems there are three phases of development as an organization matures its social business:

1) Fear and distrust of social networking and a culture of saying “no” to tools like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. I’d say this is where 25% of companies are right now.

2) Putting a few people in the marketing department “in charge of that social stuff.” This is where more than half of companies are today. More...

This morning I received an email from American Airlines titled Family Size Your Mileage Balance.

The email annoyed the hell out of me because it is so inappropriate to be downright insulting. Let me explain.

I have been a loyal elite-level customer of American Airlines for more than a decade. I am currently Executive Platinum level in the AAdvantage program, American’s highest, earned for more than 100,000 miles flown in a year. In 2009 I blew past the requirement, generating 157,988 miles in the American AAdvantage program.

Note that 100,000 air miles at 500 miles per hour is 200 hours -- more than one entire week in an American Airlines aluminum tube in a year! (Apologies to my wife and daughter for not shoveling snow during the last storm – I was on an American plane). More...

I'm a huge believer in buyer persona based marketing: When you create information on the Web to help solve the problems of your buyer personas (rather than just prattling on about your products and services).

Rob Bayuk, K-12 Education Marketing Manager at Microsoft, sends us a link to the first Microsoft ebook published for K-12 teachers.

Tell a Story, Become a Lifelong Learner shows how the ancient tradition of storytelling meets the digital age. When students create a movie or interactive slideshow to tell their story, learning becomes personal.

Download the ebook.

This is a terrific example of buyer persona marketing. More...

In a completely boneheaded move, the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) announced that they want to set up a system to charge people who tweet any part of song lyric.

As reported (in the Japanese language) on J-cast news, they haven't decided on the details yet, but JASRAC insists it's the law and everyone has to obey with their decree.

"We want everyone to recognize that Internet is not your private place," JASRAC says. Even in the world of 140 characters, the law must be obeyed.

Yikes!

Music artists I know like Amanda Palmer (who has 400,000 Twitter followers) love when people tweet their stuff because they get more fans!

Here is what JASRAC is in the business of doing according to the JASRAC English language site: More...

Just an hour ago, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released its official policy covering new media and social media.

With some three million employees, the DoD is one of the largest organizations in the world.

This is big news.

I'm still digesting what’s in here, but wanted to get this out right away.

The policy (Directive-Type Memorandum 09-026), which is effective immediately, states that employees of DoD (U.S. the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines) can use new media.

Check out the memorandum

Read about it on the Department of Defense blog

Late last year, I had an opportunity to visit The Pentagon and spend time with Roxie Merritt, Director of New Media Operations at the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in the U.S. More...

 

Albion Café on Boundary Street in Shoreditch, London sends a tweet via @albionsoven when fresh and delicious treats come out of the oven.

Example: Freshly baked crumbly Chocolate Chip Cookies stuffed with oozy chocolate chips.

Most tweets include a URL pointing to a photo of the yummy stuff.

Customers in the area subscribe to the Twitter feed and know exactly when to pop over for their favorite breads, cakes, and cookies.

Albion Café uses BakerTweet, a Web tool created to make it really easy for bakers to tweet when something is fresh out of the oven.

How are you connecting with your customers using Twitter? More...

If you've been following my blog for a while, you may recall that I've developed a close relationship with the Public Affairs professionals at the U.S. Air Force. It all started when I connected with them on Twitter in late 2008.

Later I spoke at the Air Force World Wide Public Affairs Conference in Washington D.C. I also spent a day at the Pentagon meeting people from other branches of the U.S. military public affairs and travelled to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ to spend time with the PA officers there. Note that in all cases, I donated my time.

I've learned that the Public Affairs Officers are given incredible responsibility at a young age. More...

I sent a tweet this morning as a result of a pitch that I received though email from Mktgbuzz. The pitch offered 50% off a PRWeb press release for the first 500 people who filled out a form.

Very soon after I sent the tweet, PRWeb tweeted saying that the organization making the offer was not a PRWeb sanctioned partner. PRWeb does have several affiliate programs, but this organization was not part either PR Web Commission Junction or PRWeb Linkconnector.

Uh oh.

I wish that I had scrutinized the offer more carefully before tweeting. But I failed to do so. My fault.

In today's always on, Twitter enabled world things happen so quickly. More...

When I spoke at the Marketing Pioneers event in Amsterdam, one presentation got me thinking.

Huib Van Bockel, marketing director for Red Bull in the Netherlands and who also coaches other Red Bull marketers throughout northern Europe, spoke about what he calls a Brand Bank Account.

While Huib’s presentation was in the Dutch language, I was able to speak with him several times before and after the presentation to learn more.

The concept is that each brand has a virtual bank account with items being deposited into the account and withdrawn from the account at all times. Huib says that when a brand gives more than it receives, it will grow (just like when you deposit more money over time into your bank account than you withdraw, your net worth will grow). More...