Thought Starters

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1
Nov 11

Social media trends for 2012

Here is my contribution to the Business 2 Community social media trends round-up for 2012.

“35. David Bradfield, Director of Marketing Strategy and Analysis at SapientNitro

Context will drive the greatest equity in social in 2012. The evolution and integration of mobile is profound and will further amplify the significance of the “here and now.” Adopting gaming dynamics to impact customer behavior will continue to drive brand addiction, and shared experiences and co-viewing will redefine sports, entertainment and politics. Social shopping will establish greater confidence and satisfaction among consumers beyond reviews and deals, with the in-store experience and contextual offers delivering a social return.”

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4
Oct 11

Is Apple’s Siri an opportunity for PR professionals?

Apple's Siri personal assistant serviceThis afternoon, Apple held its first post-Jobs product roll-out, featuring the iPhone 4S. One of the standout features is a voice activated personal assistant called Siri. Talk about context. This service will allow people to instantly ask for more information or set reminders in the moment.

  • “Where is closest flower shop?”
  • “Remind me to sign-up for the free conference download at 5 p.m. today.”
  • “Tell me more about David Bradfield at SapientNitro.”

These types of inquiries make you think about content in more actionable ways. Don’t just tell a story. Instead, share location details, include where the product is available, give your phone number. Make information actionable. News forms opinions but information adds depth and drives action.

What do you think Siri could do for your business?

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2
Oct 11

Fun: Reinventing Old Technology

This weekend was Nuit Blanche in Toronto, a free all-night contemporary art festival. It’s fun, wacky and sometimes inspiring. My wife and I hired a babysitter and wandered over to some of the activities. One of the best was a “chiptunes” event at the Bell Lightbox building. What are “chiptunes”? I only learned on Saturday night. According to Wikipedia:

“A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesizedelectronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously been. This led to a proliferation of out-dated personal computers and game consoles that had been abandoned by consumers as they upgraded to newer generations of these platforms. They were in low demand by consumers as a whole, and not difficult to find, making them a highly-accessible and affordable method of creating sound or art.”

The artist we caught was called Freque. Here’s some of his retrofitted Game Boy gear.

Old Game Boys turned into musical devices

I also shot some video. It’s interesting stuff. I guess my tweets and this video are my Media of the Moment, and now I’m sharing them with you.