Hi from Singapore, or as they say in Singapore, Hi from Singapore (the joys of visiting former British colonies...). Today, I'm presenting at Crowdsourcing Week here, a conference with impressive speakers from all over the world talking about different opportunities for and ramifications of crowdsourcing. I'm honored to be among them, giving a talk on how crowdsourcing impacts advertising and marketing. The presentation is available via the shortened URL bit.ly/crowdads, and I've also embedded it... Continue reading

Bob Garfield, one of my favorite writers and critics analyzing the advertising and media fields, has a new book out with Doug Levy, Can't Buy Me Like. Bob and I are pretty close. Okay, we're not best friends who go out to grab truffle fries after the upfronts or anything like that. But, unlike most people in America, I do have a photo of Bob kissing me: There's a story behind that. But you'll have... Continue reading

I've had this odd feeling of déjà vu this month, especially as I discover that my first job out of college was at a tech startup that proved to be well ahead of its time. In 2000, I worked as technical writer, and then a marketing writer, for a startup whose main product was Popupshop.com, which promised 'end-to-end e-commerce in a pop-up window!' In plain English, it meant that you could shop directly within ads... Continue reading

I'm a fan of the author Dan Pink. I interviewed him more than 10 years ago for eMarketer about his book Free Agent Nation. A Whole New Mind was revelatory. Johnny Bunko didn't do much for me, but I do remember reading it and recall the gist, so that's something. Despite loving his work overall, I still had no interest in reading his recent book To Sell is Human. And yet, for whatever reason, I... Continue reading

Well, I have no idea. But Google has a new series about it: What is top of mind for mobile evangelists in the agency community? How are agencies helping their clients win with mobile? We caught up with mobile leaders from the agency world and asked what excites them — and challenges them — about mobile today. There are some great features with Zach Morrison at Elite SEM, Tom Cramer at Razorfish, and my old... Continue reading

eMarketer has a new report out on a topic near and dear to me, "Real-Time Marketing: Speeding Up the Creative Process" (read more about it in eMarketers' newsletter article on it). The chart below, via GolinHarris, shows this real-time marketing thing may actually move the needle for brands, whichever needle marketers are looking to move. (image courtesy of eMarketer Inc) I have a few mentions in the report. Here are excerpts: When deciding when to... Continue reading

I've got a new post in Ad Age about a subject we'll be hearing plenty more about in the coming decade: humanity's cyborgization, and how advertisers are learning from actuaries. The post starts: You might know how much an impression's worth for your brand. Perhaps you can estimate the value of a click, or social actions such as buzz, likes and shares. But what if you could measure a customer's level of physical activity? What... Continue reading

I receive a lot of pitches from companies and people collectively known as vendors. Some are publishers, platforms, technology companies, apps, developers, websites, and other self-described genres. They're all vendors though because they're all selling something. They are also known as sellers. I've seen two major red flags lately, one from a vendor on the rise (I think) and one from one on the decline. Both are hard to take seriously for a similar reason.... Continue reading

My colleagues at 360i put together a report on the hottest people, startups, and trends from SXSW 2013. Kudos to Katie Perry for pulling all this together, and thanks to the best brand ambassadors an agency could ask for: Megan Conley, Danielle Johnsen, Irina Kondrashova, Rosie Siman, and Katie Wall. SXSW HOTSHEET: 360i's Guide to the Best of Interactive 2013 by 360i Continue reading

Following the trip to Austin, I've been pulling together a lot of materials I found interseting and/or helpful while reviewing SXSW. Here are some of my favorite links. Share yours in the comments or tweet them my way. Research and trends - Keyhole tracked SXSW in real-time. See a roundup of its trackers. - Peek Analytics profiled the people and conversations buzzing in Austin. - Ad Age quotes SXSW big shots who say it's still... Continue reading

Umm, yeah. See Pete Cashmore's post. RSVP on Facebook. I'll admit I'm giddy over this one. But really, I'm just one of 500 or so people at 360i who's trying to do great work for some of the world's best brands, and I know how fortunate I am to get to represent this amazing bunch of people. When I get back to the office (and our other global offices), I'll have to thank a lot... Continue reading

It's time to find a better way to measure the success of SXSW than whether it launched the next Twitter or Fuelband. To that point, I've got a post about that now in Ad Age: With so much anticipation for South by Southwest (SXSW), how can it possibly deliver on the hype? If you're obsessed with coming away having annointed the "next big thing" it most certainly won't, but then you'd be missing the point.... Continue reading

Okay, I'll admit that I luck out a fair amount with my job, and I try to enjoy it without gloating too much. But it's not every day that I get to join a panel and event like I will on Sunday at SXSW, featuring: Someone from Oreo, not just the world's most popular cookie and an amazing brand, but a great client as well (and one whose products I personally enjoy often enough) Mondelez... Continue reading

Want to see some great ways brands are using games? Want to dispel some myths about gaming and gamers? Good, me too. That's why I'm showing up to the SXSW panel "Games: Anyone. Anywhere. Anytime." Anyway, I'd love for you to join. The SXSW panel is Friday at 3:30pm in the Palmer Events Center, just a short walk south of the river. And if you're lost, or want to stalk me in general, follow me... Continue reading

I'll keep this one quick. I've got a post this week in Digiday on how some agency professionals are starting to apply a Silicon Alley & Valley mentality: Recent dealings with peers at other agencies have been collaborative, open and supportive, partially thanks to the formation of the Technology, Advertising & Startup Council, which I co-founded with Darren Herman, Ian Schafer and Mark Silva. While we’ve all cut our teeth in the agency business, I’m... Continue reading

It's that time of year again! While Social Media Week should be every week, it's only once week a year (well, two weeks each year, but only once week a year in any given city). This year, I'll be a little more cooped up than usual, but I am taking part in two events, and it'd be great to see you at either or both. On Thursday, February 21 at noon, I'll be joining the... Continue reading

I've had some coverage of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show here before, but I've got one more to add to it, via iMedia Connection. Along with giving an Insights Presentation recapping the major trends, I got to show a two-minute video from the convention center featuring some big trends and bigger brands. Read more at iMedia, and thanks go to Bethany Simpson for her deft camerawork and production, and David Zaleski for his professional editing... Continue reading

Ted Rubin and Kathryn Rose wrote a book. I wrote a book review. Chuck Kent wrote a review of my book review, comparing it to a review by Drew Neisser. Really, I just wanted to write a meta review of the meta review of my review of Ted's book just to write the headline above and use the image in this post. Linking to this meta review within this meta review is particularly egregious. You... Continue reading

Ted Rubin was kind enough to share a copy of his new book Return on Relationship, which he co-authored with Kathryn Rose. I’ve known Ted for years and have learned quite a bit from him, whether through seeing him present at several conferences or catching up with him one on one. He is undoubtedly one of the great leaders in social media marketing, so I was curious to see what he put together in this... Continue reading

While at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas this month, I spent much of the event mulling over what mattered for marketers. As my master presentation covering the event topped 100 slides, on its way to nearly 200, it was getting out of control. There was so much happening - new technologies embodying underappricated trends, plus a lot that was getting more hype than it deserved. How could I make sense of it... Continue reading

As I plow through coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show, I've found some useful research on the consumer electronics industry and the discussion around the show. Here are some of my favorite posts. Please share others in the comments or email any other submissions to me at marketersstudio (at) gmail. com. * Salesforce Marketing Cloud reviewed the top conversations and hashtags to see what was buzzing and who was doing the buzzing. The presentation's below,... Continue reading

Now that I'm back from the Consumer Electronics Show, I can finally read about it. Here's a sampling of some of the best, most interesting, and most informative pieces I've read about the show: * VentureBeat: 10 Things That Blew Our Mind at CES 2013 - yeah, there are some good ones here * Ad Age: Seeing CES Through the Eyes of Group M's Irwin Gotlieb - one of the titans of the ad industry... Continue reading

I've got a new post in Ad Age today: 5 trends marketers need to watch at CES. The top 5: TV is no longer the first screen. Touch screens need new types of ads (and inputs). The internet of things expands its social network. As tech titans bruise each other, consumers benefit (greed is good -- for consumers). Forget about product announcements. None of it will matter in February. There's a lot of color on... Continue reading

A snapshot of a Bagels & Berky session from Atlanta; yes, the bagels are better in NY, but "Grits with Berky" doesn't have the same ring to it. I recently shared some highlights of my pet project at 360i on 360i's blog: At carbohydrate-crazy 360i, a number of us gather every other week late afternoon Wednesday for Beer with Berky and first thing Friday for Bagels with Berky (both abbreviated as BwB). At these sessions,... Continue reading

I normally avoid infographics, but in this case, consider it an executive summary for a longer report on marketing predictions from a number of people I admire. Download the full report from ExactTarget. This infographic is brought to you by ExactTarget, a leader in social media marketing. Continue reading