Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Corporate blogs make personal connection Corporate blogs make personal connection. B-to-b marketers seeking more direct conversations with their customers have begun turning to that most personal of forums: the Weblog. Corporate Weblogs aren't exactly sweeping the marketing world, but early adherents say they offer real power to connect with increasingly message-wary -- and message-weary -- audiences in a new and engaging way... [bBlog: A sales, marketing and business weblog | XPLANE] [John Lawlor: blogs4business] OK, enough bluster. Now we need to start highlighting good examples of effective marketing-supportive weblogs. 12:31:46 PM

RIP: E-mail Marketing I'm putting together an invitation-only seminar on the death of e-mail marketing and am currently seeking partnerships and a local place to present it to people (in the Bay Area). Let me know if you can or want to be involved - or if you can deliver a specific location within a month. Thanks!... [C:PIRILLO.EXE ~ Chris Pirillo] Count me in! Too bad this weblog entry doesn't also act as a formal RSVP... 12:26:08 PM

Here's your $32 idea: wave your receipt... Here's your $32 idea: wave your receipt (for whatever) in front of the camera to automatically digitize and import into quicken. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. [Steve Zellers] Now wait, that's not such a bad idea. First, create a ReceiptML vocabulary (date, store, items, etc...), choose a barcode standard, then print the receipt data in ReceiptML as a bar code on the receipt itself. Stores already do this for their own entry and tracking purposes. If stores could standardize, then consumers could also leverage the system for exactly the scenario described above! 12:00:22 PM

Rich Media Continues to Expand ClickZ: Why Rich Media Is Suddenly Everywhere. According to this article, the expansion of rich media being tied to the expansion of broadband is incorrect. The real reasons rich media have expanded are as follows: Flash Player Penetration Rich Media Proven to Increase Branding and Direct Response Falling (and irrelavance of) Click Through Rates Industry Layoffs Left the FOrward Thinking Ones Behind Publishers Need The Increased Revenue Rich Media Can Bring [marketingfix] I don't agree. All the points listed above were true last year, and perhaps even the year before. Here's an excerpt from the referenced article: The real question is, "Why?" Why did rich media finally achieve prominence? Why now? This is a sore point for me. Broadband adoption has soared over the past few years. Certainly, it hasn't penetrated as quickly or deeply as some predicted, but it's made huge gains. Broadband is a factor in rich media adoption, but its effect is more psychological. And there is the key factor: the appearance that broadband is here means that creatives and ad clients are willing to pursue rich media over simpler techniques. The feedback loop is complete. The chicken-or-egg problem is gone, and now it's simply a matter of growth. 11:19:49 AM