In the 90s people wanted a Jolt from their soda. The LA Times reports on how times change: Southern California has become the bestselling market for Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda, a sugary drink laced with kava, a South Pacific root purported to have sedative properties. Matt Moody, a Denver nutritional supplement developer who created the beverage, said the name is an unabashed reference to weed, though the relaxant …
LinkedIn Needs To Hook It Up
Time spent on a site is one important indication of user engagement, a key factor for advertisers to consider when placing online media buys. According to The Wall Street Journal, visitors spent about 13 minutes on average at LinkedIn during October, while Facebook users logged about 213 minutes and MySpace users spent 87 minutes. Which begs the question, why aren't people spending more time on LinkedIn? Jackie …
Amazon Will Face eReader Competition From Apple and Others, But The Seattle-Based Company Has First Mover Advantage
Newsweek is running an interview with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos where he speaks openly about his company's long-term approach to satisfying customer needs. Naturally, Amazon's Kindle is at the center of the discussion. Here's a look at of one question and answer from Newsweek: Q. Have you been surprised by the Kindle's success? A. Astonished. Two years ago, none of us expected what has happened so far. It is [our] No. 1 …
Arnold Deploys Hyperlocal TV To Promote Newman’s Own Organic Coffee at McDonald’s
Chris Edwards, executive vice president and group creative director at Arnold Worldwide, said, "The whole idea behind the quiz is: 'Are you New England enough for this coffee?' If you are from New England, you will get these references." [via Boston Globe] …
iMags Sprout From Handheld Media Gardens
Christina Warren of Mashable takes note of the iPhone optimized version of Esquire's January issue, available now for $2.99 in the iTunes store. "The digital version allows users to easily browse through the magazine, access enhanced and extra content and save and share favorite portions with friends," Warren reports. She also notes that McSweeney's--the literary media enterprise started by Dave Eggers--also has an …
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In Columbia’s Great Outdoors, Leave No Knot Untied
Disclosure: I helped write the copy for the following iPhone App from Columbia Sportswear. When you're bivouaced high above the valley floor on El Cap, there's little room for consulting a classic how-to book on knots. But when that book is repurposed for the iPhone, it's a different story. Columbia Sportswear's first iPhone App, "What Knot To Do," features 70 knots in six categories. With this App you'll always …
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Searching For The Right Search Plan
I've experimented with ads on Google AdWords a time or two, and it's a bit tricky to figure out. But it is big business, and it's critical to many small businesses, as the New York Times reports: For more than one million businesses, Google's search advertising system is like a hose inundating Web sites with traffic. Managing it effectively, though, is as much art as it is science. It requires a mix of analytics and …
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Sony’s Got The Directions, So Sing, Sing A Song…
Sony's Singing in the Car campaign relies on consumers vetted by a contest, not actors, in the following spot to promote the nav-u, a vehicle navigation system. According to Japan Trends, the nav-u has all the usual map and GPS functions, plus live updates on traffic and congestion. It can also be taken in and out of the vehicle, and has pedestrian and cyclist modes to guide you when you are on the move (but not in …
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