PapaJohns Targets the Tech-Savvy
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Posted By Matt Certo on 04/25 at 03:58 PM |
I am a Sirius Satellite Radio subscriber and enjoy the commercial-free content when I'm on the road. I heard an ad today for PapaJohn's Pizza and its online ordering system. The commercial makes mention of the fact that satellite radio subscribers are 'tech savvy' (I'm paraphrasing here) and directs them to a special URL to try out the online ordering system (which I wrote about some time ago). Seems like a pretty smart media buy to me. Naturally, those who are early/eager adopters of satellite radio technology are more than likely going to be open to ordering pizza online. I think it's a very sensible business tactic and would imagine that the conversion rate would be better than that of a parallel effort implemented on terrestrial radio or some other traditional medium.
Video iPods for Training
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Posted By Matt Certo on 04/19 at 11:08 AM |
BusinessWeek Magazine has an interesting little article on the use of Video iPods being used by companies for employee training. If you haven't seen an iPod with Video yet, I encourage you to do so. The video quality on the screens is amazing!
Shooting for… Reality
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Posted By Rochelle Knight on 04/14 at 10:46 AM |
Almost everyone looking for a new Web site wants it to be the latest and greatest, to be better than the competition. But more often than not, the wow factor is not practical and you have to bring them back to reality gently in order to achieve a successful online presence while remaining practical.
MSN has a great example of a wow factor that is not realistic for this type of media: high-definition videos online.
Things like bandwidth and filesize are constant concerns for those involved with online media. In this case, high definition filesizes almost triple the standard filesize – resulting in enormous delays during download, a much slower internet speed, and poor quality of video… It would be hard to find a practical reason for using that level of clarity online for most Web sites out there.
One part of the article that stuck out in my mind was a comment by Josh Martin, an analyst for IDC:
"Is that story less compelling because it's not high definition?" Martin said. "I don't think so."
When it comes to the Web, the ability to browse through sites quickly is one of the most compelling reasons to go online. While you should always want to shoot for greatness, it's more important to accomplish your users' goals successfully than to overshoot your own.
RSS - Marketers Take Note
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Posted By Matt Certo on 04/14 at 09:33 AM |
I just read an interesting post from Seth Godin about Google and someone wishing that it didn't exist. Not sure I really understood his point (still on today's first cup of coffee).
But something further in his post made me think a bit. He talks about RSS and how it should be added into sites everywhere. I tend to agree. The promise of RSS is pretty powerful, and not just for headlines. I was on Amazon.com the other day and noticed that I could now subscribe to someone's personal wish list. Guess I can now be notified when friends or family members add the latest book or DVD to their lists.
One problem, though, with this trend of "RSSing" everything. I've gotten pretty overwhelmed by all of the content. For example, I haven't opened my newsreader in a few days. When I did so today, I was behind on something like 700 posts. Steve Rubel's blog, for example, had over 200 posts that I had yet to read. Frankly, I don't know how anyone keeps up with this guy!
It occurred to me that RSS needs to 'deepen.' Perhaps it already has, but noone's bothered to tell me. Let me explain what I mean...
RSS should enable a content creator to prioritize his/her content. For example, Steve's post that IceRocket has been acquired is probably higher priority than his quick tip about Flickr. Why not allow a content author to prioritize posts (ranging from urgent to trivial). This would allow me, as a reader, to be able to cut to the chase after a long vacation. To some degree content categories allow me to segment my subscriptions, but I'm not sure that most authors (or subscribers) think of it this way.
I love the move toward more active/dynamic content, but how do we help people to manage the information overload?
Referrer Spam
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Posted By Matt Certo on 04/11 at 04:24 PM |
We've been getting a ton of referrer spam lately on our blog. Our traffic (albeit bad traffic) is surging and so is our bandwidth consumption. Hownow.Brownpau has a great piece on the issue which includes a link to a great how-to over at spywareinfo.com.
Now over to Chris and Mike in our office to implement the fix!
Orlando Sentinel on Corporate Blogs
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Posted By Matt Certo on 04/10 at 04:10 PM |
The Orlando Sentinel had an article today on corporate blogs (big and small). It touched on our blog a bit and even featured a picture of a group of us pretending to work! :)
Central Florida / Sustainability
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Posted By Matt Certo on 04/06 at 03:13 PM |
A few of us from WebSolvers had the opportunity to attend today's 'Champions of Sustainability' community luncheon put on by our area's Healthy Communities Initiative and presented by our client, MSCW. The luncheon honored those persons and entities that are promoting smart growth and community development in our area. Honorees included Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, and the Central Florida Community Foundation. Kudos to MSCW for putting on such a great luncheon...one of the many things that group seems to do to help this area evolve in a responsible way!
Web Continues to Change Game
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Posted By Matt Certo on 04/04 at 10:56 AM |
CNN has a great little item about RCA/SonyBMG Records signing British singer Sandi Thom to a recording contract. The signing of the virtual unknown comes after her 21 daily consecutive live performances to a grass roots/Internet audience. To think that the conglomerate that touts names like Alicia Keys, Usher, Bruce Springsteen, Maroon 5, and Santana would sign an artist from an up-start Web site is pretty amazing. Sandi Thom is not the first to Webcast a live performance from a garage band-like atmosphere, but she is among those pioneers to really have an effort materialize in this sort of fashion. It really shows how the Internet has changed the game in terms of traditional business channels.