I still love my iPad....

Have you seen the new Kindle commercial? It takes a major jab at the iPad.



Fine. Fair. The iPad doesn't do well in direct sunlight. Amazon is highlighting the iPad's (one) major flaw. But, as CNET.com so brilliantly points out, the iPad could do the same to the Kindle by, oh, I don't know, playing a video on YouTube, downloading a new tune or movie, or showing an app (or two, or three). It's not an apples to apples comparison -- the Kindle is an eReader. The iPad -- a revolution in how we get and absorb information from the internet. Don't believe me? Get an iPad. You'll see. I am obsessed with mine.

And besides, who would ever bring your iPad to the pool anyway? I wouldn't. I'm way too klutzy -- after all, I am the girl who WASHED an iPod. In the laundry. With bleach.

Do you have an iPad? What about a Kindle? Which would you prefer?

Surprising: People still read the newspaper. Not surprising? Republicans like Fox News!

So I just read an interesting article about how Americans get their news. The Huffington Post reports, per a study by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, "People are spending an average of 57 minutes per day getting the news from television, radio and newspapers." 57 minutes -- that's a long time. The big kicker -- it hasn't changed in a decade. That's right -- per the study, people are still getting most of their news from these traditional sources. In fact, the Internet and online only accounts for 13 additional minutes of news a day.

I'm curious to know the division between TV, newspaper, and radio. Newspaper reading is way down (the research found a drop of more than 10% just between 2006 and 2010), and I suspect TV talk shows are dominating a lot of the TV air time. Me? I get all my news from two places: online (NYTimes.com, Slate, Huffington Post -- fine, I'm a little biased) and NPR. The only print news I read? The Week, which is sent to me (duh) every week. (Side note: it is THE BEST MAGAZINE EVER!)

More interesting tidbits from the study:

- 40% of Republicans watch Fox News (Snore. I thought it would be higher.)
- Only 9% of Rush's audience thinks Obama is doing a good job. And oh yeah, three quarters of his audience, Hannity and Glenn Beck's identify themselves as Tea Party members. Seriously???

As a secret numbers geek, I love having data to support my stereotypes. Good stuff, right? :)

What about you? Do you read the paper -- not online, but actually ON paper -- everyday? Watch the news on TV? Share, share, share!!!

Man vs. Wild. I mean, vs. Toddler

Muscle Milk Does Thanksgiving

In honor of my Puritan and Mayflower roots. Who needs turkey when you have Muscle Milk! (Kudos to Adverblog for the link!)

Cool new blogs!!!

Hey folks!

Two blogs you MUST READ NOW.

First, check out one of my best friend's blog -- Images from Above. It's a collection of really cool photos she has taken from flights all over the world. A couple of the coolest photos are below...but make sure you add it to your blog roll and check it out as she is always adding to it.





Next, the fabulous Greg Morago, Food Editor at the Chronicle, style guru and all around freaking awesome DUDE has a great blog on the Chronicle site. It's called Food and Cork, and in it he gives us the scoop on all the cool rezzies and bars opening up in Houston. Bonus point -- he sometimes invites me, which means I'm sometimes in the blog! Um, AWESOME. Check it out here.

ENJOY!

Social Media ... is it a fad?

This video was shown at the Pierpont Digital Bootcamp (#dbcpierpont, @pierpontcom on Twitter). It's f'ing awesome -- and very inspiring for a digital geek like myself. Know someone who thinks social media is a fad? Send 'em this video.



(P.S. Thanks to @elehr, @brittneydanne, @lindseydonnell, @briguyblock, @nancylsims, @denise_patrick, @nicolehub, @stacy_armijo, @helenrod, and everyone else who is not on Twitter for an AWESOME bootcamp! Y'all rocked my Friday the 13th!)

Protect your brand -- and pay Godin $400

I tweeted about this yesterday on the AMA Houston Twitter feed, but in case you didn't see it, here's the scoop: Seth Godin, marketing mavrick and blogger extraordinaire, just launched Brands In Public, a site that aggregates internet comments (think Twitter, blogs, YouTube, etc.) about brands into one simple, easy to use dashboard that anyone can access. The twist -- if there's a page about your brand, you'll have to fork over $400 bucks to "coordinate" it. What does this mean? Basically, you can't change the content that's rolling in but that you can highlight the positive tweets, direct readers to your own company's videos, blogs, or sites, and defend your brand from any comments that may appear. Essentially, you're "curating" a clearinghouse of consumer buzz about your brand.

"Pay me my money -- or your brand gets creamed."

Thus far, Godin has introduced about 100 or so pages for some of our fave brands, and a few (Allstate and Home Depot, for example) appear to have forked over the dough to coordinate their dashboards.

Others are holding off for right now....and many are pissed. Why? Duh -- they feel backed into a corner where they have to pay Godin or potentially risk having a page on the web that highlights all things negative about their brand.

We'll see where this goes and if it takes off. I think what's really going to impact how seriously brands take this new venture is how well the Brands in Public pages show up in search engines. It'll also depend on how well consumers take to the new site. So far, all the talk about Brands in Public has been from marketing and branding folks like me, but if the site is going to take off, consumers are going to have to bite into it and use it.

Thoughts on all of this? $400 bucks isn't that much when you're a Home Depot, but do you think its fair to "hijack" (as some bloggers have said) comments about a brand and then force 'em to pay to defend themselves? And the most important question of all -- will this really help consumers make better decisions about brands??? Let's discuss.

Addicted to the internet?

Yeah, me too.

Great Alt Text post on Wired.com that has you rate your internet dependency. Here's how it works: assume that your DSL goes down. What are you going to do? Compare what you would do with the different stages of internet dependency listed on the post...and then go turn off your computer for the first time in 2 months and pick up a book. (You know, one of those bound paper things? Yeah, remember?) Me, I'm stage 4. That's why I don't remember what a book is.

Oh yeah -- HAPPY FRIDAY!

Pandora's Box

Is anyone besides me OBSESSED with Pandora? I love it. I have about 10 stations that I switch between while I am at work. Chill hippy music? Check. Really bad 1980s music? Got that too.

My Pandora Station....I think I was listening to my Euro Trash music when I took this screen shot.

Anyway, until earlier today, Pandora was in danger of being shut down. (The horror! You can read about it here -- but to sum it up, it involves royalty payments with music labels.) However, it just reached an agreement with SoundExchange (a non-profit group that works with the U. S. Copyright Office to collect royalty payments for online music) that changes the manner by which Pandora (and sites like it) make royalty payments. It's a little complicated, but TechCrunch sums it up pretty well:

The key part of the resolution involves SoundExchange agreeing to a 40-50% reduction in the per-song-per-listener rates. In exchange, Pandora is giving up either 25% of its U.S. revenue or the new per-song-per-listener rate, whichever is higher. This agreement runs through 2015.

That second part (the "new per-song-per-listener rate" and "whichever is higher") is important -- because these rates are pretty heavy on the wallet, Pandora is implementing a 40 hour per month usage cap on users. For most people, it's not a biggie -- in fact, it only impacts 10% of Pandora's heaviest listeners. But guess what? I'm one of the 10%! In fact, I got an email today from Tim Westergren, Pandora's founder, that said this:

While we did the best we could to lower the rates, we are going to have to make an adjustment that will affect about 10% of our users who are our heaviest listeners. Specifically, we are going to begin limiting listening to 40 hours per month on the web. Because we have to pay royalty fees per song and per listener, it makes very heavy listeners hard to support on advertising alone. Most listeners will never hit this cap, but it seems that you might.

Wow...I had no idea I was listening to that much music. Anyway, I'll still be able to get my Pandora fix pretty easily -- once I reach my 40 hour limit, I simply pay $.99 to continue listening to unlimited music for the rest of the month. Seems like a sweet deal to me, and well worth the buck. After all, Pandora has introduced me to a ton of new artists and genres....artists and genres I wouldn't have been exposed to had I just been listening to my iPod, cds, or (heaven forbid) the whirl of my computer.

Anyone else a crazy Pandora addict? Or am I the only one? If they had Pandora's Anonymous, I would so have to join....

Tour de France...sur le web

When I first bought my bike a couple years back, I only used it for commuting. Then, last fall, I started hitting the road for real. Granted, I'm not a very good cyclist, and my road bike needs some serious upgrades (which should be taking place this week....I *think*) but it's still an awesome way to get out in the sun, burn some calories, and explore the area.

So given my new-found passion for aluminum and carbon on two wheels, as well as my obsession with all things web and interactive, I was pretty stoked to find this Wired article online. It lists all the ways you can use the net to stay up to date on what's going on with the Tour -- even if you are seven timezones away. Among the cool ways you can track Lance and the other bikers: live video and audio streams, really sweet interactive maps and Twitter updates. Check it out.

Privacy and Facebook

I recently became involved with the social media committee of the Houston American Marketing Association (AMA). I'm responsible for tweeting for the AMA (@AMAHouston) and monitoring the social media sites (like LinkedIn). This also means I manage the AMA Houston Facebook group, page, and updates, so I've been getting a ton of friend requests from people who are involved in the AMA but who I don't know. I don't want to not accept their friend requests (they could be valuable business contacts in the future, of course!) but do I really want a potential future client or employer to see those photos of me out with girlfriends for my birthday last weekend? Hmm, that's hard -- no.

So given that privacy settings are pretty important to me and my two-sided relationship with Facebook, I was stoked to find out that Facebook is implementing better privacy controls -- or more importantly, simpler ones. The old ones were a bit unwiedly and confusing (they took 6 pages to work through!), and they often required a lot of trial and testing to see if they worked. Now, you'll be able to decide right when you post an update to FB publisher who should see that one particular post -- everyone (meaning the WHOLE world, or anyone who goes to your facebook page) or only your friends. Got a complaint about your job? Send that post out to your close friends only. Want to announce a cool AMA event (like I often do)? Post it to the world. They are also ditching the regional networks, which were confusing for a lot of people, and putting all the privacy settings on one page.

So in summary: Although FB didn't really add any new privacy settings, the entire process of deciding who should see your info and updates will be greatly simplified. However, will anyone bother using the new settings? Most people I know use FB for either all professional networking or all fun social stuff (or they mix the two and just don't care :) ). And although I suspect these new settings will be a breeze to use, some less tech savvy people (ahem, my Mom, who yes, is on FB) still won't get it. It's just too much/too many choices for most people.

Maybe FB is trying to be too much to too many people. LinkedIn is all professional, MySpace is all social, and Twitter is 100% public. Facebook is trying to do it all -- and do it so it is simple and easy to use. Is that even possible? I guess I'll see when I get access to the new settings in the next few weeks.

Facebook Privacy Enhancements

View more presentations from guest5f7bf4.

Do you use FB both socially and professionally? If not, will the new privacy settings change that?

Ready, Set....BING!

In an attempt to whoop Google, Microsoft launched a new "decision" engine called Bing. You can check it out here.

Have you tried it out yet? I've read reports that it's either going to take over 30-40% of the search market....or die a sad, lonely death. I'll test it out over the next few days and let y'all know what I think. In the meantime...here's the ad that Microsoft is launching to introduce it:



My thoughts on the ad campaign: I'm not digging how Microsoft tries to tie together online searching and the current recession. Seems like their forcing an emotional response on us, and I don't buy it. Second, the commercial does a poor job explaining what makes Bing different. A decision engine? What the hell is that? And finally, the commercial fails to answer the all important question: I like Google, so why should I switch to Bing? The commercial does make some arguments about search confusion and cutting through the (crap), but when I put a key word into Google, I usually get what I want. Search confusion? What are you talking about?

Anyway, enough about search engines. I should be sleeping, but my poor veins are high on caffeine right now (damn Diet Coke addiction). So on that note, I'm off to Google, or maybe Bing, some celeb gossip.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream....

For Ice Cream!

Read an article today about how Houston's fave artery-clogging, mixin-lovin' ice cream shop, Marble Slab, is rebranding itself. Courtesy of MarketingDaily:

"This spring, the chain, which has more than 390 locations in 35 states, Canada, Mexico, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the U.A.E., will roll out redesigned packaging on all containers and point-of-purchase materials. The new containers will highlight the tagline "Find Happiness Within" and move from plastic to paper to be more environmentally friendly. "

Other rebranding initiatives include a new website that will appear more "high-end" as well as new store designs in a pink and brown palette.

Interesting. Marble Slab has always been the ugly stepsibling to other ice cream shops (think Cold Stone and the new tart places that seem to be popping up everywhere). The new brand is supposed to change this by connecting customers with the "gourmet" ice cream experience they're looking for. I don't know if I buy the whole gourmet ice cream thing, but hey, my fave ice cream is a Wendy's frosty, so I don't exactly have refined taste.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens. Admittedly, my eyebrows do raise (just a little) about an ice cream shop trying to appear more high end in this economic climate. Given the slowing sales at Starbucks and the (relative) stability of it's blue collar competitor, Dunkin' Donuts, going high end seems like a suicide wish. I guess only time -- or a couple banana splits -- will tell.

When your marketing firm has bad ads

Hi all,

In Austin this weekend with the lovely Ms. Carolyn Goodwin. So far, it's been a perfect weekend --- too much food, too much wine, and too much sleep. Perfect.

At one part during the weekend, Carolyn's mom showed us an ad for a marketing firm in The Woodlands. "Have you heard of them?" Neither Carolyn nor I were familiar with the company (who shall remain nameless) but within 5 seconds we were both grimacing. Why? The ad, for said marketing firm, was awful.

I always find it humorous when marketing or advertising companies boast generic logos, advertisements created in word, or (worst of all) websites reminiscent of 1999. Yikes. What are these companies thinking? Sure, the average person isn't going to know great design from good design, but bad design? Sorry to break it to you -- they know. And the worst part? An advertising company with bad marketing materials is like a surgeon marketing a recent malpractice suit, or a home builder publicly admitting that his homes have leaky roofs.

My current company is doing stuff the right way. We're in the process of reworking our website -- admittedly it's overdue -- but in the meantime we've resisted keeping our old, out-dated site up. Although not having a web site is risky, we recognize that having a BAD site up is far worst.

What do you think? Are you equally as repulsed by marketing and advertising companies whose design or writing leaves much to be desired? Or am I just overly critical?

Organizing my life

Sorry I have been MIA lately. It's been sort of crazy over the last few days. However, I have some very exciting news to share with y'all -- I have a job! I'll be working as a senior account executive at a small marketing firm here in Houston. I'm totally stoked about the new position. It will be fabulous!

Anyway I have to run, but I promise to write a more complete post tomorrow. In the meantime, did you hear the news about The Post-Intelligencer? Not a good week for the print media world. Even Houston, which has been somewhat sheltered during much of the recession, isn't immune. Did you hear that the Houston Chronicle may merge with the San Antonio Express-News?

Sigh.

Facebook, new and improved and (sorta) copying Twitter

Did you guys hear about the new Facebook changes? In case you've been living under a rock, you can check them out here. The overall gist -- Facebook is about to become the ultimate personal homepage. Here are some of the major changes that we'll see in place sometime next week:

- live feed. That's right -- Facebook is copying Twitter! The new live feed will also allow for easy uploading of pics, videos, etc. (Thank God since it is such a pain to upload now!) And, like Twitter, it will be in real time, which means no refreshing (the current Facebook updates every 10 minutes or so.) Sweet!

- no more Friend limit. The old Facebook limited your friends to 5,000, so companies and public features were having to turn to Twitter to keep their fans/customers updated. Sort of makes you wonder if we'll have to redefine the definition of Friend, but I digress...

- a new and improved hompage. The new homepage will feature the live feed and allow users to easily filter and sort through the updates. (Especially important for those with more than 5K friends -- most likely the celebs and corporations who will be taking advantage of these new Facebook changes.) Also cool -- those "friends" you interact with the most will be highlighted to stand out.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Twitter during all of this. Let's not forget that Twitter is still in early adopter stage, and it's very possible that Facebook's changes will wipe it out. I hope not -- I, for one, use Twitter as a professional tool, whereas Facebook is reserved for my actual friends. (After all, does my boss really need to see pics of a recent vaca in Vegas? I don't think so.)

Death of an Idea

Hey all you marketers, advertisers, designers, etc.! Have you ever put hours of work into what you believe is the BEST and COOLEST campaign or advertisement ever....only to have it shot down by your client for one (silly) reason or another? I know I have....and it sucks. All that hard work and you're left with nothing more than a killed idea and 30 hours of unbillable time.

But soon, all will not be lost. Introducing a cool new project I read about through Adrants. Here is the gist:

Beginning February 24, you are encouraged to submit your killed ideas to killedideas.com for potential inclusion in Killed Ideas Volume 1, a book published by Blurb and edited by Adrants Editor Steve Hall. Fifty of the best killed ideas will be selected for the book which will be published in May.

The coolest and most quirky ideas will also be featured on the KilledIdeas website. And for all you Tweeting freaks out there, there is (of course) a Twitter feed. Follow @killedideas.

But you best hurry up and submit your work soon. You only have about a month before entries close.

Twittering for Work

A couple years ago, one of my contacts introduced me to Lindsey Pollak. Lindsey is THE career guru for anyone under 30, and her blog (which I HIGHLY recommend you follow) is always filled with useful and relevant job search and career info. Plus, she's super sweet -- back in 2006, she spent an hour on the phone with me doling out advice about relocating to H-town, changing careers, and growing my network.

Anyway, one of her recent blog posts was about twittering for work. (By the way, if you're not on Twitter yet, get yer mouse moving and sign up now!) Willy Franzen, founder of One Day, One Job (cool site for entry level positions) gives us 50 twitter users to follow for job searching and career guidance. Naturally, Lindsey (@lindseypollak) was listed as one. (Like I said, she is THE career guru for young folks.) I was already following a handful of the listed people, but I definitely plan on connecting with more over the next few days. I'll keep you posted on the four or five I think are most relevant for marketing peeps like me.

In the meantime, good luck with your search... :) And if you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm @jenpearsall.

Coolest Web Site Ever

Since I'm on a superlative kick (see yesterday's post)....introducing the Coolest Web Site EVER.

Check it out: www.uncorneredmarket.com. The site design is far from revolutionary, but wait 'til you read the content. Here is the summary:

We have been described as adventurers, adaptable professionals, and - most recently - as full-time travelers. Our passions: creativity, personal development, technology, public diplomacy and street food. And yes, we do believe there is a common thread woven between them all.

So who are "we" and what's the site really about? Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll are an American couple who have been traveling full time since 2006. Um, jealous anyone??? So far they've seen Asia and Europe, and South America and Africa are next on their list. They are funding their travels through freelance work, savings, and (I quote) by staying in "bug-ridden lodges." Ick. Anywho, they seem like a pretty cool couple, and the stories they share are both enlightening and funny. Definitely check it out and get passport envy. I'm especially feeling the Annapurna Circuit jealousy. Anyone up for a trip to Nepal?

The web site formerly known as....oh, never mind!

Prince recently launched a new web site. Check it out here. As you would expect from a man who once known as a symbol, it's pretty strange.

The site is not fully functioning yet, but in the coming months fans will be able to access exclusive music, lyrics, photos, videos, and more. Of course, none of this will be free -- you'll have to pay for the privilege to surf Prince's site. After all, Prince is the artist who cried copyright infringement and demanded that his fan sites remove all things related to him, which meant all photos, lyrics, videos, etc. Sort of defeats the purpose of a fan site, huh?

Speaking of new sites, it looks like the British Monarchy will soon be launching a new web site. Per BrandRepublic.com., "the Queen has taken a 'hands on' approach to the site's redesign and wants it to be more user-friendly and accessible." Who knew the Queen was so tech savvy? Maybe she'll soon begin blogging about high tea.