July 29, 2008
Cool iPhone Mashup featuring Me!
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Schmap is an online guide of places like London, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Vienna, Sydney and Rome (and many more). What's really cool about it is that they show photos of the places on their interactive maps, and the photos are taken from Flickr.
I received an email from Schmap recently asking for permission to use my photo of Bishop's Palace, in Bishop's Park. So if you visit the Schmap of London and look up Bishop's Park in Fulham. You'll see my photo. It even works on your iPhone.
Pretty cool!
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 03:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 22, 2007
Laughing at my previous post...
Ha!
After having given the presentation on Web 2.0 at the conference I was going to, I did a lot more investigation after I read the O'Reilly article and found that it is linked to and referred to often.
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September 12, 2007
What is Web 2.0?
This entry should have been written in 2005... but I'm doing some research for a presentation I'm doing and came across a really interesting article explaining what Web 2.0 is (that actually was written in 2005) and love the way it was broken down here. This to me is going to become part of the official set of references to one of the marketing world's favorite buzzwords, that is actually a real thing and needs to be taken seriously. Read the article by Tim O'Reilly if you are interested in this subject.
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November 28, 2006
Switched broadcast
Scott Brown wrote about something very interesting in a recent "Video Insider" from MediaPost, called switched broadcast. In essence, it has to do with technology that would allow cable companies to send only the channel that your TV is requesting to your set-top box instead of all 500 channels simultaneously (as they do now).
Sending only one channel at a time frees up bandwidth on the network for other things.
It is those "other things" that I'm interested in. The whole "Web 2.0" thing has brought us some very interesting advances in technology and the Internet. Primarily, it has opened up even more options for individuals to showcase their skills and creativity and has further challenged traditional media owners (the recording industry, the film industry) and media creators (production companies, ad agencies, musicians, news organisations) to be at the top of their game.
At the same time, the Web 2.0 craze seems like it's losing momentum in some respects. There are definitely too many companies coming along trying to be "the next [enter Web 2.0 company name here]." And there are too many investors trying to get in on the game, spending too much money on ideas that are likely to never go anywhere, especially the copycat Web 2.0 sites. The "Social Networking" game is over, sure there are ways to connect people that are different to Facebook or MySpace, and photo sharing sites that work slightly different to Flickr or Photobucket, and a million video sharing sites popping up. But for the most part, these brands (Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube) are already best-in-class and are not going to be overtaken by a slightly different version of the same technology, unless you are making dramatic improvements to the functionality... or, as Facebook has done, an advancement to the idea of "Web 2.0" social networking by opening your API and allowing people to extend the user experience by developing within your framework.
I was in Gatwick Airport about three months ago and overheard some teenagers talking about setting up their Social Networking pages. One of them said he was using Facebook (and I believe it was because he felt that there were better looking girls on Facebook) when the girl said "Why don't you just create a MySpace page." His response that MySpace takes too long to setup. To that she said "I was able to set mine up in a two days." And he said, "Exactly, two days too long." Just as I was ready to begin rushing off to tell my clients about Facebook, the third teenager said, "yeah but everyone's already on MySpace..." a comment that ended their debate in agreement. Funny that now Facebook is one of the fastest growing sites in the world and is attracting people that none of the other Social Networks could manage to appeal to (even my dad has a Facebook page, no offense dad), apart from perhaps Friends Reunited.
And that's my point... If you are going to get into "Web 2.0" then do something groundbreaking.
What will be the next remarkable product to come along and forever change how we look at the Internet, and at ourselves?
I like the idea of video editing via the Web, and I like how Google is offering a document editor (similar to Microsoft Word) and spreadsheet editor (similar to Microsoft Excel), but these don't exactly take us to a whole new level.... so what is it?
I can see Interactive TV really taking off, and I'm sure that there will be people that come along with completely new ways to deliver television programming as a result. Miro is headed in that direction, as are countless others I can see.
I can also see gaming going to a whole new level, especially in the more mature audiences... but what else?
Will SecondLife become a completely virtual world that you walk around and talk in (like you do when you play XBox Live)? It seems so as VoIP is about to penetrate SL.
I applaud the people that are pushing the Internet to the next level... and hope to be working with you or taking advantage of your next groundbreaking creation.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 03, 2006
It's all going mobile...
I just received this in an e-newsletter from MediaPost:
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This morning, Google said it had created a new application that will allow mobile users to quickly retrieve e-mail on their cells. The new app supposedly will make a cell phone more like a BlackBerry by enabling faster e-mail access; Google said it will employ "automatic pre-fetching" technology, which will let users receive messages up to five times faster than in the past.
Cingular this morning also unveiled plans to let consumers buy music tracks for download to their phones. Cingular competitors already have beefed up the content they offer via cell phones, and many expect that Apple will eventually launch its combined phone-iPod.
Additionally, YouTube chief exec and co-founder Chad Hurley said the company wanted to branch out into mobile in the next year. Speaking at an ad conference in New York, Hurley reportedly said: "Within the next year we hope to have something on a mobile device." He continued, "It's going to be a huge market, especially for the video mind-set we're dealing with."
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YouTube on mobile is very cool to me. I like the thought of being able to make short movie clips of my son and my family and friends in the US being able to watch it on their phone, from wherever they are in the world.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 02:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 02, 2006
The UK's Hottest Online Brands...
Earlier this year, when I first arrived in London, I found a report by AOL called Broadband Britain: The end of asymmetry. It quoted stats from (I believe) the IAB UK about the growth of broadband penetration in British homes (which jumped from 59% to 73% in the previous year). This meant that the UK was about to experience a significant change in how they accessed, and therefore how they used the Internet. Culturally, I knew that this would also bring about a change in perception about the Internet as a tool for communication (and I don't just mean advertising, I mean as a social tool).
I have also posted on my blog about the growth of online video as a viable means of getting your message out there. Even if your message is a personal message that simply needs to be seen by family and friends elsewhere in the world, not an advertising message that someone is paying you to deliver, the Web is now set up to provide this service. In fact, the Web is becoming the place where you edit your videos as well as to send them out.
Recently, Nielsen Netratings published a list of the UK's hottest online brands (this link is to a PDF file) and when you look down the list, it validates what the AOL report was saying (as well as my own hunches) about the future of the online world in the UK.
The hottest brands in the UK are:
1. YouTube (Video Sharing Website)
2. Flickr (Photo Management and Sharing)
3. MySpace (Social Networking)
4. American Express (Financial Services)
5. Photobucket (Image/video hosting and sharing)
6. Mozilla (Web Browsing Software)
7. Vodafone (Telecommunications)
8. Bebo (Social Networking)
9. Odeon (Cinemas)
10. B&Q (Home and Garden Retail)
The proliferation of sites on this list that are to do with sharing one's life with one's friends (or mates, since I'm in the UK) shows the impact of more people having Broadband access, and thus spending more time on the Web (not connecting to it)...
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 05:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 02, 2006
2006 - Year of the Online Video
Bambi Francisco of Market Watch write an article about "video enablers" talking about some very amazing facts about the growth of online video. This year.
While only 2% of online advertising was spent on video ads, and it's only expected to rise to 2.3% everyone is flocking to online video at the moment. People are flocking to YouTube (100 million views per day). Investors and customers are flocking to Akamai Technologies and other firms which deliver online video... and VC money is being given to companies that are developing online video editing tools.
Let me clarify... they are developing tools which will allow you to upload, then edit and send video to people over the Internet. So you don't need iMovie or any other video editing software on your computer. The possibilities of that are endless.
This may spark a new blog category for me... "What's next?" I'll wait and see if I can write enough about it to warrant one.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 04:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 01, 2006
What will you need tomorrow?
I really like this post on Creating Passionate Users about innovation, Web 2.0 and user controlled content. Lots of people (myself included) have talked about this new wave of the Web (2.0) where everything is about the user... some have gone so far as to claim that it's the end of the publishing/advertising/communications world as we know it (I know I've said that...) and that design and content will be placed in the hands of the customer... but as the people at Creating Passionate Users have pointed out... you can't create things that you don't know you need. That's up to the innovators and innovation is still in the hands of a select few (thousand) talented minds.
Other points I liked from this post:
"Our users will tell us where the pain is. Our users will drive incremental improvements. But the user community can't do the revolutionary innovation for us. That's up to us."
and
"The world never needed the iPod until Apple created it. Now, look how many of us could not live without it."
Great stuff to think about, especially if you're looking at Web 2.0 much in what you do. The point, as Creating Passionate Users puts it, is that "The creation of art is not the fulfillment of a need, but the creation of a need."
It kind of goes back to Seth Godin's whole Purple Cow thing in some respects, focus your money on research and development... learn the market and create remarkable products.
But I would love to sit down and argue with the Creating Passionate Users people about one point... with the proliferation of data out there about what people do (or don't) need...isn't part of innovation being able to look at the needs that arise out of the data, spot trends and then respond to them?
Apple created the iPod... but let's not forget that this was just a digital update of an already successful product, created to meet a need. I don't think it's possible to "create" a need. The need either exists or it doesn't. I think it's possible to have a need that you don't realise you have... until someone points it out for you. But you can't "create" a need where one doesn't exist.
Here's what I mean...
I'm not sure it's entirely accurate to say people didn't know they needed iPods until they were invented. First of all, the iPod is actually just an mp3 player. Mp3 players had been around for years before the iPod ever appeared (I had a Creative Labs 6Gb Jukebox)... Apple responded to a need, which was the average person needing a way to take LOTS of music with them everywhere they go... and to have a device that was simple for the average person to use and small enough to not be an inconvenience. Previous mp3 players were difficult for the average person to use, so they were only used by early adopters...
But even that isn't a need that was created... prior to mp3 players, there were walkmen and discmen. Both of these products had their limitations. Sound quality wasn't good on cassettes and it was difficult to carry more than a few cassettes around without damaging them, etc... discmen helped with some of that problem but again limited you to what you could physically carry... so if you left the house and were going to the gym, then to work and then to a friend's house... you might want different music for each occasion and carrying a bunch of CDs around with you is a hassle. So the need for something better already existed... the early mp3 players met the need, they did not create the need, and all Apple did was make it better.
Now to the average person, it appears as though Apple revolutionized the world of music... and they do deserve credit for creating very passionate users of their product... and they used insights derived from people's experiences with walkmen, discmen and early mp3 players to develop a set of features that make the iPod an indispensable part of our lives...
but to say that Apple invented the need to carry around your entire music collection with you would be false...
We don't create needs, we create innovative ways to meet them... which to me points to the fact that innovative ideas that solve problems for people (before they even know they have a problem) is the future.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 06:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
User Experience Conference
Good Experience, a website dedicated to looking at creating good experiences for people in business and life are hosting a conference in September in Copenhagen. The conference, called euroGel includes a pretty impressive group of speakers and a schedule that sounds amazing.
If I wasn't going to be on holiday in Spain during this conference, I would definitely be attending.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 02:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 31, 2006
Make things fun!
I love it when I read something that makes me smile. I get this kind of satisfaction out of finding a new book I really love... or discovering an article that confirms a theory I might have had... and these days, in finding a new blog to read that has very good things to say.
I found a blog called "Creating Passionate Users" with a great post titled "Usability through fun" that was very cleverly written (and fun) and added an interesting argument to the whole usability discussion.
I've always had a thing about making sure that things are entertaining. I guess it comes back to the fact that currently, people are experiencing a loss of "free time" in our always switched-on world. We need ways to get our messages across that don't feel like a "waste of time"... and reading long boring documents, even reading our emails are becoming too much of a bore... but we will always make time for something fun.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 03:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 26, 2006
Jobs Available: Interactive Media Planner/Strategist and Interactive Campaign Analyst
I'm currently trying to fill two positions on my team at Euro RSCG Riley in London. These will be national roles with the opportunity to grow in your role as the team grows.
Position available for -
Interactive Media Strategist
Here’s a great chance to develop an online media strategy offering for a leading UK recruitment comms agency.
Euro RSCG Riley’s an established name in the UK recruitment advertising sector, with a record of financial stability and the backing of the international Euro RSCG group. With a growing reputation for innovative thinking and creativity, we’re now developing an online offering that’ll perform wonders for our clients – and our business. And you can play a key role,
You have a real passion for online media. In fact, you keep up to date with the latest trends, and an eye on what major blue chips and smaller independents are doing online. Just as important, you’re self-motivated, with the drive and energy to develop media plans and recommendations for clients, brief creative teams and build working relationships with online publishers. Your background could be from a recruitment or consumer agency. What really matters are your personality and attitude, as well as a real insight into the most effective ways of reaching people online.
If you feel you have what it takes to enhance an already buzzing department, then send your resume and salary requirements to: careers@eurorscg-riley.co.uk
This entry-level role is an opportunity to develop your analytical and statistical data skills in the fast-moving advertising industry.
As someone with a real passion for statistics, you’ll work with our Head of Digital Strategy, providing valuable data that informs our online offering for clients. You'll collect data on Website traffic, Search Engine Optimisation and search marketing, email marketing and other client activity and use the data to develop insights, which improve our clients' marketing strategies.
Euro RSCG Riley’s a leading UK recruitment comms agency, with a record of financial stability and the backing of the international Euro RSCG group. With a growing reputation for innovative thinking and creativity, we’re now developing an online offering that’ll perform wonders for our clients – and our business.
You will be comfortable working within a culture built on respect for each other and respect for our clients. We value our people as much for who they are as well as what they can do. We’re authentic, honest and always strive to deliver excellence in everything we do. Our business is about working together, continually growing our knowledge and creating competitive advantage for our clients by delivering tomorrow’s thinking today. We’re courageous, always challenging and looking to improve the way we do things.
If you feel you have what it takes to enhance an already buzzing department, then send your resume and salary requirements to: careers@eurorscg-riley.co.uk
Coming soon:
Interactive Producer
As you can see, I'm building an empire! Come be a part of it!
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 01:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 08, 2006
CRM or CMR?
Saw this entry on Seth Godin's blog today... a simple quote from someone at Disney about CRM and their philosophy...
"CMR is our version of CRM - just a slight nuance regarding our philosophy that our guests invite us into their lives and ultimately manage our presence/relationship with them."
I like that, it's so true. It's about permission to be a part of someone's life, which is only granted when you have something remarkable and relevant to offer them.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 03:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 02, 2006
Google vs. Microsoft
In this article on MediaPost, I read that Google is raising awareness in Washington, DC and internationally that it is unfair for Microsoft to include a Search Bar in Internet Explorer 7 that defaults to MSN's search engine.
I don't have any anti-microsoft sentiments. I think that while they do find a way of packaging all of their stuff in such a way that keeps you within Microsoft's world, most of the time and for most computer users that's a pretty good thing. Microsoft claims that changing the default from MSN to Google is very easy to do, and I don't doubt that it is. And besides, if it is Microsoft that is making the browser and giving it away to people for free, then why shouldn't they be able to promote their own search service?
As a Web professional, I test all different types of Web browsers... FireFox (one of my favorites) has Google as the default search Engine... Apple's Safari does the same thing. So Google is actually turning around and accusing Microsoft of doing the same thing they've been doing for some time.
Feels a bit pointless if you ask me. Why not focus your efforts on building your brand as the place to go to for good Web search results. My wife knows that Google is the place to go when searching for something on the Internet. So despite the fact that she has Yahoo as her default homepage on her iBook (which has Safari and the embedded Search Bar with Google as the default) she still goes to the address bar and types www.google.com to perform a search. Yes, she bypasses one search engine and ignores the readily installed tool that would allow her to access her search engine of choice... because Google is a web-page that she goes to to perform her Search.
And the quote below says it all to me...
"A Google spokesman said that Firefox's default to Google was different from Internet Explorer's default to MSN, because users appeared to be more adept at changing the Firefox settings."
That's hilarious... hardly anybody has even seen IE 7 yet and people have been using Firefox for years...
Google...
Focus on keeping people Googling, focus on having the best Search Engine around and don't draw unnecessary attention to your competitors... all you're going to do is get people curious about why you're so concerned about Microsoft...
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 03:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 20, 2006
Lost in Translation?
Just found a new blog on Corante that I really like, called "Idea Flow." It was perfect because I was on my way to work today and thinking that I needed to find some blogs (or other published "intelligence") about ideation techniques. I'm not exactly sure that Idea Flow is an "ideation" blog, but it's a start.
The first post I read was a January 12 post called "An unlikely example of creativity at work." where Renee Hopkins Callahan told a story involving getting a piercing for her daughter. At one of the tattoo/piercing parlors, she saw photographs of work completed on other customers, including Chinese characters - which lead to a subsequent thought about how people get tattoos they can't read themselves.
Ultimately, Renee moves on to discuss a blog site called Hanzi Smatter, "a blog which tracks the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture."
I thought, as someone responsible for developing content on the Web that is ultimately viewed by the Global audience, and in many cases in developing specific Global marketing strategies for my clients that are looking to get their messages into Asia - that it would be good to have some insights on just how silly "we Westerners" must look when we misuse and/or misinterpret other cultures and their languages.
All of these companies that are outsourcing to China and India need to be conscious of how easy it is to make a mistake when attempting to market yourself in different places.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 09:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 19, 2006
How do I start my blog?
My dad, who recently started his own blog called "Practical Efficiency" and I were talking about strategies to get more people to visit your blog. I have several friends with blogs, and I'm trying to convince several other friends to start blogging. Here is an excerpt from the August 2005 issue of my favorite business magazine (Fast Company) on the subject. The basic premise was that creating a business blog is like hosting a cocktail party.
The author, Jory Jes Dardins, spoke to Elizabeth Albrycht of the Society for New Communications Research and Andy Lark of the Lark group.
From "Business Blogging for Beginners" on page 28, by Jory Des Jardins.
Make Introductions
A good host connects guests. Albrycht recommends spending 30 to 60 minutes a day scanning feeds from your favorite blogs. Maintain a blogroll, linking readers to blogs you recommend, and use the trackback function on most blog publishing programs to notify other bloggers by email when you cite them. Chances are, those grateful peers will return the favor.
Be Authentic
Perhaps you are authentically reserved, or authentically dull. That's okay: Being yourself, in any case, plays best. If you can't write passionately, consider "blinking" - (Andy) Lark's term for snippets of commentary that alert readers to interesting articles or discussions. But storytelling is a better way to get readers interested in your ideas -- and in your product.
Dress Business Casual
An informal style (and grammatical imperfection) works well in blogs. But don't go too casual: Stay away from topics you wouldn't share with your mother -- or without a nondisclosure agreement. Yahoo's blogging policy is a good one: "Be respectful of your colleagues, get your facts straight, provide context to your argument, and engage in private feedback."
Don't Scrimp
Nothing brings a party to a halt like running out of booze. Likewise, one reason blogs fail is a failure to dedicate the resources necessary to keep the conversation going. "Blogs are incredibly low cost," Lark says. But "they require a time commitment." Adds Albrycht: "Blogging has to be part of someone's job description, you have to have a maintenance plan."
Have a Contingency Plan
If the party gets out of hand -- your company hits a crisis, say -- you should be ready. General Motors' Bob Lutz ignited blog readers' ire when he avoided discussing the struggling automaker's strategy. "Could you be a little more vague on your game plan?" one customer wrote. Confonting a problem directly can earn your company some needed trust.
My own advice is to "just keep blogging"... the more you are putting your thoughts and ideas out there, the more likely you are to make a connection with topics that consistently interest you and people that find your content compelling. Once you start to get some "bites" from your content, you can think about how to take advantage. Look at which feeds people pay attention to on your blog and which posts people comment on and then follow up and explore those areas... The nice thing about putting this stuff in a technology-based format is that you can manipulate it all later. But that's just my opinion...
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 01:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 08, 2005
podcast named Word of the Year...
In this announcement from MacDailyNews, we find out that the word podcast has been selected by the New Oxford American Dictionary as the "Word of the Year."
Chosen over such terms as reggaeton, bird flu and lifehack... the term podcast has been cemented into our culture.
If I'm not mistaken, last year's word was "blog"... proof of the impact of the ways in which the Internet and technology are shaping the world around us.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 03:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 06, 2005
Time to start using this thing....
Well, here it is. My new blog. As I write this, I'm looking at Fast Company's May 2005 "Change or Die" issue, reading about Heather Hamilton's blog which discusses things on job hunting, the recruiting industry and hiring in Redmond, Washington.
Blogs like hers have inspired me to create a place where all of the things I learn about online Marketing can be shared. From the book "Lovemarks" that I just read, to Seth Godin's "The Purple Cow", there's definitely a revolution underway when it comes to Marketing, and the technology of the Internet is leading the way.
Funny that most of what I'm hearing about Marketing, and most of what I've been feeling for a few years is that it's not actually the technology that's making the Internet such a viable medium, but the people. Oxymoronic, I know, but it's people's desire for truth that has allowed Web marketing to soar in popularity... to the point that it's completely shifted the way in which you market yourself, especially if you want to be viewed as innovative... and unless you're Tide or Coors Beer, you need to be viewed as innovative and doing something to change or enhance people's lives with your product(s) or you need to move on.
People have too much access to information for advertising/marketing to lie to them. Those days are over, now you must build trusting relationships with your audience, that are based on transparency, honesty and belief in what you do/make.
If you are in a business where it behooves you to get the word out to people about it, I hope that my site will serve as a valuable resource along the way.
Posted by Andrew Spencer at 05:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack