Remembering Steve Jobs

I remember seeing the first Macintosh computer in my friend's Dad's office as a young boy. I was 8. This mouse thingy was strange and awesome, and the computer was smiling at me.

I remember the first time I saw the Macintosh 1984 ad, and realized that advertising was about storytelling and that a good ad had the power to move me.

I remember the first time I saw the 'Crazy Ones' ad campaign. I was inspired again... and the roster of amazing Apple ads  are a big reason that I work in marketing today.

I remember watching the first Apple press conference and being amazed at this man's remarkable showmanship and how down to earth he seemed at the same time.  His passion was undeniable and his vision was exciting.

I remember my first iPod...the first Apple product I ever personally owned. I didn't yet understand the impact that this innovation would have on an art form and how humans would experience music, but it immediately enriched my life as I discovered and listened to more music, more often.

I remember the feeling I had when I got my iPhone... like a whole new world had opened up to me... like I was part of the future.  Then I got an iPad and I lived this feeling all over again. 

I remember the first time I saw his speech at Stanford.  I believed in myself a little more that day, and every once in a while I go back to that video when I need a kick in the pants and a lift of spirit.

I remember the countless times I referenced the apple.com website to look for the best practice in how Apple designed a particular aspect of an online experience.

I remember the first time I set foot in an Apple store ... I felt like I had stepped into the future.

I remember the many, many discussions I've had in the past where I've referenced the Apple brand as the benchmark for excellence in branding. From their logo to their products to every single customer experience they create, I am hard pressed to point to a company that has even come close.

I never knew Steve Jobs personally, but I am forever grateful for the many ways that he and the company he built have inspired me, taught me, surprised and amazed me, entertained me and made me smile. 

Today, I remember.  Thanks, Steve.

What Consumers Want

A new post from eMarketer, Americans Want Brands that Inform, highlights the results of a recent Lightspeed Research study, The Global Web Index.

Some great nuggets in this data.  None of this info is Earth-shattering, but it should come as great encouragement for marketers that are pushing for consumer engagement through social media, quality content development and authentic consumer relationship building.

A few salient take-aways:

1. People want brands to enrich them with knowledge, not just provide a product or service.
2. People want (and expect) brands to be present in places other than the place of purchase.
3. Social media engagement fosters trust. When it comes to making purchasing decisions we trust bloggers we read regularly and contacts within our social networks more than we trust mainstream media sources.

For your additional reference, I've embedded a presentation from Anita Caras, Head of Research EMEA from Microsoft, that uses the GWI data.

Future Web, Global Web Index 23rd September 2009. The New Role For Brands

Americans Want Brands that Inform

Four (More) Free Fantastic Social Media Monitoring Tools

Selina Jane Eckersall has posted a great list of social media monitoring tools over at the Canadian Marketing Blog.  This is a great resource, and she's recommended five easy to use tools that are readily available to anyone with an email address.  Thanks Selina Jane!

Here are four more free tools to compliment her list:

1. Google Alerts

Google Alerts should be a  main-stay in any social media monitoring program.  The free service allows you to define keywords to monitor.  When Google's spiders index content containing those keywords, be it in news, blogs, etc., Google Alerts will send you an email or update an RSS feed with a snippet and link to the source.  Thanks to Google Alerts, I've often been able to give clients a valuable heads-up about relevant news, brand mentions or industry developments

Listening by Michael Banabila via Flickr2. Addict-O-Matic

Addict-O-Matic provides an easy to customize "dashboard", scanning multiple popular social media channels for keywords that you define.  Similar dashboards can be configured using tools like NetVibes or even Google Reader, but Addict-O-Matic removes a lot of the leg work.

3. Google Analytics

This one may seem pretty evident, but you'd be surprised how rarely people track inbound traffic to identify social media activity.  Visitor referrals from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites are easy to identify and track with Google Analytics .  Similarly, spikes in search engine referrals for branded keywords can often be a good indication of increased social media activity around your brand.

4. WikiAlarm

WikiAlarm allow you to monitor user-defined, brand-relevant Wikipedia pages for changes in content.  This is really useful for catching brand sabotage early, or even tracking content updates related to your competitors.

Have I omitted any free tools that you feel should have made the list?  Let me know in the comments.

My List of Top 6 Best Lip Dub Videos

There's a new genre of video quickly gaining popularity online known as Lip Dub. Originally the creation of Vimeo founder, Jake Lodwick, lip dubs began as a simple video of a person lip-synching to a song.  Since the term lip dub was coined in 2006, the genre has evolved to include some very sophisticated staging and chorography, often produced by university students and office teams.  There have even been some interesting online competitions, such as University Lip Dub, that focus on the lip dub meme.

Most recently, the kids at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Communication Program created their own one-take video in which they perform an amazing lip-synched choreography to the Black Eyed Peas' chart-topper, I Gotta Feeling.  It's quickly gaining momentum online, and has even been featured on CNN, among other mainstream media outlets.

It tops my list of Top 6 Lip Dubs:

1. LIPDUB - I Gotta Feeling (Comm-UQAM 2009)

2. Panic At The Disco Lip Dub by Jessica Alba Team Ibeatyou

3. Lipdub HEC Montréal x 2009 / Bryan Adams - Summer of 69

4. lip dub autoroute Castres Mazamet

5. Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger

6. Flight of the Conchords - FINAL FANSTERPIECE

Google Sidewiki: Changing the Game?

Google has done it again, this time with the launch of an update to the Google Toolbar browser plugin for Firefox and Internet Explorer called Google Sidewiki.

Essentially, Sidewiki allows visitors to submit comments and content related to any given web page as the navigate the page.

Jeremy Owyang gives a great roundup of the new SideWiki platform over at his Web Strategy blog.

Danny Sullivan at SearchEngineLand also does a great job of describing the new platform and how it functions. 

This is potentially a game changer, and one that marketers need to prepare for as the web becomes even more democratic.

 UPDATE: Kalena Jordan at SiteProNews writes a great review of Sidewiki.