This past Monday Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, announced the new iPhone 4, which is said to be the “biggest leap forward” for the iPhone since 2007. After reading this statement I had to take another glance at the date. The iPhone was only released 3 years ago?!

With the release of the IOS4 there are a handful of new features to gawk at. For instance, real time chatting will allow you to no longer meet for client luncheons. You can bring the client with you in your pocket then set them in between your water glass and soup bowl to chat it up.  One catch is that this feature is only available on Wi-Fi, and the presence of good Wi-Fi connection is slim, thus preventing our need to have actual human to human contact. On a positive note the introduction of multitasking now allows one to switch between apps, the internet, and music without any disconnect.

The IOS4 will also have the iAd mobile advertising platform which utilizes the multitasking feature. “The iAd system allows third party developers to include advertising in their apps to earn more money or subsidize free apps.” Apple will sell the advertising and supply the ads from their servers. The advantage to the iAd system is if the user clicks on an iAd banner, a full screen advertisement will appear within the application instead of being redirected to the Safari web browser. Apple will sell and host the ads, giving 60% revenue to the developers. According to Jobs, “People aren’t searching their phones. People are spending time in their apps.” Do you think that with the introduction of iAd there will be in an increase in mobile ad sales?

Amongst all of the discussion about the BP oil spill, there has been plenty of speculation about the way it was handled in social media.  With what seems to be a lack of effort and a disregard for their users, BP has remained mum on the topic except for a few PR statements, prompting a backlash in the social media community.

Well that seems to have been the wrong way to handle the situation because now instead of just boycotting the gas stations as a means of protest, you can black out BP across the web. A Firefox plugin has been created to place oil splotches over anything BP related. This includes photos and words such as BP oil, BP gas or BP worldwide.

Do you think social media has gone too far with the Black Oil Firefox plugin or is it our right to determine what we do and do not want to see across the web? Either way, I hope this widely publicized incident will prove as a warning of what not to do when a company makes a mistake.

So there I am sitting at lunch today talking about current events and one of my reps, Scott Kunnath from Radio One, grabs his iPhone and says “I could launch a rocket from my phone”.  I laughed at his comment, but he proceeded to tell me about how the iPhone is so much more sophisticated then the actual computers that launched the first rocket ship into space.  Then I come back to my desk and read an article putting the iPhone in a list of the World’s best inventions.  It was 8th on the list, right in-between penicillin and a flushing toilet.  I think that is a pretty impressive ranking considering all the things that have been created.  Where would you rank it?

I wrote about HealthCamp RDU a couple of weeks ago, and really looked forward to the event. Unfortunately, I had to leave after the keynote  (such is the life of an account person). But wow, what a great lesson from speaker Nick Augustinos of Cisco on the direction of health information technologies and trends in health information sharing. Be sure to check the homepage soon to see videos of the conference.

I can’t recap everything Nick said here, but one thing I wanted to pass along is the idea that we are moving from a “Culture of Pathology” to a “Culture of Wellness”- the basic concept isn’t new, but hearing it spelled out in terms of technology was enlightening, so thanks Nick. I want us all to consider how healthcare marketing shifts as a result of this cultural transformation. How do we as marketers move consumers away from a diagnose/fix mentality to a prevention mentality? It has been the mission of public health officials for years, and it is clearly becoming an important direction on which providers and managed care companies should focus. The technology available today makes this the opportunistic time - so what would you do first?

Ever wrote a tweet so funny that you wanted to put it on a billboard for all drivers to see? Ok maybe not, but Conan O’Brien did just that.

As his microsite puts it, “Conan has lost his home and his rightful place on millions of screens across the nation. His audience is also lost. Some are picking up the pieces of their lives, but many can’t. Some are too young to know this isn’t their fault: that they’ve done nothing wrong. So, until this talented, brilliant, voluptuously coiffed man has his show back, we shall offer him our screens.”

This is just the latest example of how non-traditional advertising and social media can join forces for an impressively successful result. The possibilities are endless! Still skeptical?

The Apple iPad is coming out this Saturday.  But will there be any on the shelf?  They have been pre-ordered since the announcement of their release. I read an article today, written by Ron Callari, giving you 10 tips to think about before you spend your money.

All I have to say is just like anything that comes out that’s brand new…wait!
Wait until it’s worked out all its kinks.  At that point you might be looking at a lower price point.  It is a beauty.  But I can wait.  Can you?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve undoubtedly heard about the launch of Apple’s new ipad. Apple (and everyone else) is touting the new device a cross between the laptop and the iphone. I’m not going to go into the details of the ipad and it’s features and capabilities, however I do want you to think of the advertising capabilities that will be viewable now on the ipad’s large screen and smart interface.

Since the development of the smart phone, app developers have come out of the woodwork to capitalize on these phones’ capabilities. Now, with the larger display size of the ipad, a screen size of 9.7 inches (similar to Amazon’s Kindle), but with 1024X768 Pixel resolution, app developers and rich media moguls are going to be salivating at the potential opportunities that await them. Imagine your ad on someone’s ipad, growing to a size not seen before on a device that has such mobility since the laptop. Imagine your ad animating, growing, moving, talking – persuading the reader In (technological) ways not even devised yet. The ipad doesn’t (yet) have flash capabilities so if you try to view something built in flash you’re going to get the annoying little icon that you’ve seen before on your iphone, however, I’m sure web developers and app makers are going to devise ways around this downfall by deploying messaging in ways that nobody has even imagined yet. I’m imagining that when an ad is viewed on an ipad, the ad will “know” that it’s being viewed on that device and display appropriately. (versus if it’s displayed on a smart phone) That opens up a lot of opportunities to ad builders like myself, and advertisers like you.

I don’t think that the ipad will ever replace the mobility and usability of a smart phone nor replace the effectiveness of mobile marketing. Also the fact that ads on the ipad can be geotargeted will be a huge differentiator from ads served on laptop computers. As an art director I can see many benefits to this new frontier of viewing ads, although the jury is still out whether this device will be a hit or not. Do you see any new opportunities here? Shoot me a quick comment.

 Web Resizer

Why is my photo so big? And I only need to crop a little edge off! I need to use it on my profile, but it won’t accept it. Where’s that Art Director? Well, in case you don’t have an Art Director laying around or the time and money to invest in using Photoshop, here are some free and easy to use photo editing tools. Thanks for the source Hongkiat!

1. FlauntR
flauntR is rolling out a unique online imaging service that combines photo editing, printing, sharing and storage in a single seamless service.

2. Picture2Life
Picture2Life is a powerful, but simple and easy-to-use online image editor which also allows you to create collages and animated gif’s (or animations). It works great with your pictures that you already have online!

3. Improve Your Image
Improve your images free online tool.

4. LookWow
The LookWow service is a feature-rich offering that includes basic editing functions, such as Crop Photo, Resize, Clarify, Remove Red-Eye and Sharpen Photo.

5. MakeAGif
Create animated gifs the free and easy way!

6. Photoshop.com
Photoshop.com is your online photo sharing, editing and hosting resource. Upload, organize, edit, store (up to 2GB free) and share your photos.

7. Online Photo Tool
On Onlinephototool.com you can edit and save your images, screenshots and photos online.

8. PicMagick
PicMagick is an online photo editor that enables you to make ordinary photos look wonderful within a few clicks.

9. 72Photos
72photos lets you do amazing things with your photos and store them in a safe space online where you can access them from anywhere.

10. Dr.Pic
Crop, Resize, Add Text, Special Effects, and Host your pictures online for free at DrPic.com.

11. EasyCropper
EasyCropper is a simple way for you to crop any image for use on the web. It’s a free tool, so use it at your own risk.

12. FotoFlexer
FotoFlexer is the world’s most advanced online digital photo editor. It performs advanced effects previously only available to professionals using expensive software.

13. Picnik
Picnik makes your photos fabulous with easy to use yet powerful editing tools. Tweak to your heart’s content, then get creative with oodles of effects, fonts, shapes, and frames.

14. rSizr
rsizr is a Flash application that lets you resize JPG, PNG, and GIF images online intelligently.

15. Splashup
Splashup, formerly Fauxto, is a powerful editing tool and photo manager. It’s easy to use, works in real-time and allows you to edit many images at once.

16. Sumo Paint
Sumo Paint is a full featured photo editing / painting application, which works right in your favorite web browser!

17. Web Resizer
Web Resizer helps you optimize photos for web or email. Easy to use. Amazing results!

18. Aviary
Aviary – Phoenix Image Editor is a powerful creative application for image editing that you can use right in your web browser.

Enjoy! And if you really do need an Art Director, contact me:)

This seemed appropriate for the holiday season, because as we all know, online scams become much more prevalent this time of year. 

We’ve all received bogus emails that lead to fake websites, where thieves try to phish for your credit card number, social security number, or log-in information to other websites.  Well this year you could be scammed just by searching for a reputable company in your favorite search engine.

A recent experiment by a security researcher proved that he could fool the search engines into believing that his bogus bank website was legit and was even able to outrank the real banks website.  His fake website was creditunionofsc.org, and the real bank’s url is cusocal.org.  Within a year and a half, his website ranked #1 in Bing, #2 in Yahoo, and while Google wasn’t as easily deceived they still ranked it on page 6.  His fake website is no longer live and now redirects to the official bank’s website.

While this was done to prove a point, it raises some interesting issues:

1. First of all, make sure that you are visiting the correct website.  Especially when it requires you to log in, make an online purchase, enter your social security number or other personal information.  If you are not sure, you can visit http://www.whois.com to verify the owner of the domain name.
2. It’s possible that any website that uses proper SEO techniques can top the search engine rankings.
3. If I were a customer of this bank, I would feel safer if they had considered a more strategic response.  They vowed to purchase more domain names similar to their own to protect themselves. Shouldn’t they instead be monitoring search engines and implementing safeguards to prevent this from happening again?  Or perhaps working to improve the search engine ranking of their own website?

   They could learn lessons from eBay and PayPal, who have been plagued by this problem for years.  Reporting mechanisms have been added to their own sites to identify deceptive websites.  Email campaigns have been launched to raise awareness of the issue, in addition to information put online to educate customers. 

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Recently, there has been talk that General Motors is going to change the background color on its logo from blue (would the legions of art directors who were tortured over the years to not offend trade dress in any way like to honk now? Or sing out the PMS number?) to green to signify the new company focus on greener vehicles.

Hmmm. That’s something one could argue for either way.
 
Con: Why? It’s an obvious, cosmetic and superficial signal that you’re now “green”. It seems pandering to the public and government “partners” who want the old GM gone. It’s kind of laughable. Ha! You think turning the logo green will convince people you’re green? Please. Build a bunch of green cars. Then we’ll talk.

Pro: Why? It’s an obvious and cosmetic symbol that it isn’t business as usual for this former lumbering giant who had logo police patrolling the corridors of ad agencies worldwide. And if they did it fast, GM would demonstrate they’re not lumbering anymore—no, now nimble and flexible where there had been rigidity and tired thinking.  Cool.

This kind of flexibility could open the door to showing corporate support for breast cancer, heart health, gay rights. That’s kind of human and fun for a corporation not known for a culture of either. An automotive writer recently put forth another notion. Blue? Green? Please. You need to concentrate on getting from red to black.

I have read that “blue” is the new “green” because most of the world’s population lives next to water and it’s a critical resource to attend to. So, in fact, good old GM with it’s old blue background may be the right color for right now. Irony abounds.

What do you think about trade dress? Hard and fast rules about corporate ID? Branding?

On Monday a neat new site launched for those among us with, well, some wishey-washiness in the decision making arena. Got a big decision to make - hope you’ll opt NOT to use this site, but if your choice comes down to something you can trust to a Magic 8 Ball, this is the site for you! Hunch is a site that collects some information about your value system and preferences, then uses that data to help you make the decision of the day - need to decide where to go on vacation? Hunch has an answer. Need to know what to cook for dinner - bet it can help with that too. Personally, I’ll still go to Mom with the life-changing stuff, and my Magic 8 Ball for the rest.

No, I’m not talking about Microsoft’s new entry into the search game, Bing. I’m talking about Koogle, a tasty new search option for Orthodox Jews!

The site is a welcomed addition in Israel. Now ultra-Orthodox Israelis can search the web for the latest news with the approval of local rabbis because the site blocks objectionable material and doesn’t post new info on the Jewish Sabbath.

No word yet on traffic volumes, the Koogle rank algorithm, the availability of keywords for purchase, or the rumor that each result comes with a savory side dish, but this kosher search solution is another example of technology opening up the web to a segment of the world otherwise unable to surf.