Curated Stories July 15, 2010

The last couple of days have been an Old Spice explosion, as one of the most popular viral campaigns in recent history — in which the Old Spice Guy made personalized videos for fans, randoms and prominent blo…

Kevin Spidel was kind enough to show me Gannett’s latest cool project, Gannett Local. It’s marketing for local companies. So wait, think about it: a media property (Gannett owns a bunch of newspapers and l…

The New England Patriots are kicking off their 2010 season with a well-choreographed social media play designed to get fans engaged in a digital way. The team has used SCVNGR to build a “Help Vince” trek th…

I’ve been shopping around the past few days for a terrific lead automation system for the day job, looking at all of the different vendors out there. One thread that’s been common among all of the compariso…

In todays world of fractured audiences, a successful television ad is simply not enough. Brand managers want to see that their campaigns have legs online, in print and on TV. This week, Procter Gamble ported…

Nine years ago I set out to help small businesses grow by providing an easy-to-use email marketing tool that was completely affordable. Now VerticalResponse is profitable, over 85,000 customers strong and growi…

There is an intense debate brewing in the open source development community these days whose resolution could have widespread implications for the sharing and distribution of software. Matt Mullenweg, the found…

It’s kind of funny that true to his persona, the Old Spice “on a horse” guy totally did social media for a few days and rocked everyone’s socks and now he’s peacing out.
It’s like a storyline from…

It was interesting to see this question (below) asked as a comment to a recent article on Foursquare that I was reading.
“I need to know my ROI on implementing another piece of social media? (referring to…

Where is all of this Social Media and Internet stuff heading?

That is – without question – the #1 question I get asked in boardrooms and in front of audiences all over the world. While anyone can appreciate th…

When AOL CEO Tim Armstrong joined the company in spring 2009, he announced he’d take just 100 days to figure out what to do to turn around the one-time tech industry leader.
In about a week, it will be a year s…

Standing in line for the big conference could become a much less painful experience if a new class of mobile apps that use QR codes prove effective. Once you’ve gotten through the line, your experience attendin…

Everybody agrees that Content is King, but an effective Social Marketing strategy has one hand tied behinds its back unless an effective “listening post” is an integral part of the plan.
Whenever I’m sitt…

Mobile advertising firm Millennial Media has just released its Mobile Mix report for June 2010, highlighting some of the latest trends in the world of mobile and connected devices. The data shows that while And…

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said in the past that consumers are not interested in subscription music services. He may be wrong: NPD has conducted a survey and found that as many as 7 to 8 million iTunes customers…

EchoSign, the web-based electronic signatures and signature automation service, is jumping on the HTML5 bandwagon today, launching full support for its e-signature platform to work on the iPad and iPhone. EchoS…

Not me. And not a survey of senior managers and business owners around the world. Emarketer is reporting on the survey today, a survey that shows small businesses are beating mid-sized and large companies when…

This series is supported by Ben Jerry’s Joe, Ben Jerry’s new line-up of Fair Trade and frozen iced coffee drinks. Learn more about it here.Wireframing is a crucial step in web design and development as it…

The latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 4, has been with us for a number of weeks now, but did you know that one new addition to the OS is the ability to lock your phone with any password…

A goal among many is to create an online presence. Essentially you want to make a name for yourself online.You want people to associate your face with your brand, and an easy way to do this is…

Rupert Murdoch has been on a crusade to protect content and journalism from the parasitical ways of blogs and Google since last year.
We asked Huffington Post co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington w…

Strategy is for amateurs, logistics are for professionals.
I first heard this saying a few years back from Joe McCannon of the Institute for Health Improvement, who was campaign manager for an amazing effor…

See a photo of Barry, his bio, Part 1 of this QA, Part 2, and Part 3.

QA with Barry Poltermann, Questions 7 and 8:

Q: Are there any current uses of storytelling that repel you or that you feel are inappr…

NYC Media, the official network of the City of New York, and how-to video network Howcast have created a series of instructional recycling videos that will be broadcast on the City’s flagship television stati…

Source: NetMBA.comPicked up this post from Brian Solis yesterday via Twitter (HT @Adamgraham)Not quite sure what to make of the direction of the thinking, but it struck me as rather odd to suggest that [in]…

This is part three of a five-part series on using Twitter for business. Today, were discussing the use of custom backgrounds. I want to encourage you to consider using a custom background with your Twitter acc…

Although it happened a few weeks ago, I only recently learned of the “retirement” of the blog called “Medic999” by EMS social media superstar Mark Glencourse who works in the United Kingdom. I only lear…

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.Former President of CBS News Andrew…

MasterCard recently launched a new mobile application called “MasterCard Marketplace Overwhelming Offers,” which delivers daily deals to iPhone users. Despite its mouthful of a name, savvy shoppers planning on…

Well, we kinda knew that. But a recently published study indicates that regularly sitting for long periods of time — say, in front of a computer writing or programming or reading kottke.org — increases your r…

I just don’t understand Columbia University’s apparent obsession with handing over portions of the press to government subsidy, giving up on the free market. I haven’t given up on it. Have you?
The latest…

#thankyoujesus for irl and online friends. Couldn’t live w/o either.

Laptop down. It’s IRL Face Time!

it was so cool meeting you irl!

IRL: In Real Life. It’s used as shorthand all over the Internet, to d…

Recently, I posted a list of 12 Things Good Bosses Believe. Now I’m following up by delving into each one of them. This post is about the sixth belief: “I strive to be confident enough to convince people that I…

We have reached a fulcrum point in the history of health care in our country. The announcement on Tuesday of the final rule establishing Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs for the meaningful use of electr…

See that beautiful model there, frolicking with a few of her friends? No? Well, your smartphone can. This billboard—and two others like it—is one giant QR…

More than 1 million American households are likely to lose their homes to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans.

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine in the PR industry who was given a large client. She was telling me how she is guiding the client through their foray into social media. As sh…

I’m really starting to like Sally Bagshaw.
She has a knack for writing about writing in a way that’s fun and helpful.
Here’s Sally’s latest contribution to Pro Copy Tips for those of you who want to…

Would you try a product on the recommendation of someone you don’t like? Like has a bit of a double-meaning these days. Ever since Facebook implemented the “like” button everyone has kicked into high gear to…

This is a little old, but I ran across it on Jon Taplin’s blog recently and I think it does a good job of making an important point—fossil fuel, as an industry, isnt self supporting. No matter where we get…

Tibco has launched a business intelligence tool designed for the small business market that it is making available for free over the next year.

TibcoSilver Spotlight is part of Tibco’s effort to appeal to a co…

Last week we told you about a new iPhone application from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) that brought its popular ArcGIS software to iOS devices. The app leveraged the organization’s massiv…

Perhaps you heard, Apple is having a little press conference on Friday. The reason? Officially, it’s about the iPhone 4. That’s all they’ll say. But everyone knows the slightly more detailed reason: the i…

Sometimes I want to buy something like a blender or a car or a washing machine. And sometimes my wonderful and loving mother (her birthday is coming up) finds out because I accidentally tell her, or my dad does…

Several months ago, I spoke to a large group of military officers and contractors. My topic was “How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week.” In my speech, I provided seven tools for achieving greater produc…

The first revolution hit when people who made stuff started to discover that information was often as valuable as the stuff itself. Knowing where something was or how it performed or how it interacted with you…

“I’m setting the example, and it’s going to be puzzled over and studied and followed, from now on.” – John Doe, Seven.Although Wieden + Kennedy had a very different aim than the homicidal “John Doe�…

Over the last few weeks, the New England sports press has been scratching their heads over mysterious T-shirts they received from The Patriots that were emblazoned with the words, “HELP VINCE“. The shirts…

Mobile ad network Millennial Media, which claims that its network reaches 82 percent of 72 million mobile web users in the U.S., is reporting that globally, Apple OS requests are up by 36 percent in June, after…

There is a whole new stack of new business books that require your attention. Here are just 6 that I’m about to devour.

Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky. I only have about ten pages left in this book, and i…

Google Adwords has dominated the online advertising space for the last three or four years but Facebook I believe is positioned to really challenge Google for some of those advertising dollars.
We recently ran…

The speedy evolution of location based social networking and the flexibility of Foursquare have given birth to a new kind of social loyalty. Tasti DLite is one of the first companies to use the Foursquare API…

For several years, writing and giving away ideas online has been viewed as the best way to build your personal brand. It’s a popular and powerful technique, well-documented in numerous best-s…

Author: Ben Shaw, Strategist, BBH London
Click here to view the embedded video.
Last time we left off talking to Dan about the role of transmedia in extending the relationship between entertainment properties a…

It has been a tough week for Apple. The world’s preeminent tech company, which could once do no wrong, finds itself on the defensive amidst a PR nightmare the likes of which it has arguably never experienced be…

Guest post by Josh Lysne, Director of Digital Strategy for the Flint Group of agencies and AdFarm, specializes in the development of multi-channel communication strategies for a wide range of clients ranging fr…

Over the past several years, consumer generated marketing campaigns have become more and more popular. After all, what brand wouldn’t want tons of users to create content on their behalf and share it online…

Half of all U.S. residents who have a profile on a social-networking site are concerned about their privacy, according to a recent poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, and close to half of that grou…

Thanks to a collaboration with Google, Verizon may decide it does not need Apple’s iPhone on its network.

How many times do you see a title like that? How many times does that make your eyes roll?

There are both strategic and tactical ways you can grow any business using Digital Marketing and the many other Market…

Word is breaking that Apple is calling a special press conference on this coming Friday to talk about the iPhone 4. Yes, you can probably guess what this is about.
Apple blog The Loop has the (basically non-exi…

Apple isn’t known for sitting on profitable business ideas. But it appears to be doing just that with iTunes. The company has made no moves to network iTunes or allow users to access their music from multiple l…

As part of the revamp of its Windows Live service, which includes a new version of Hotmail, Microsoft is also rolling out a new unified contacts manager; an address book stored centrally on Microsoft’s server…

75% of journalists find well-targeted, well-written news releases useful, according to a recent survey by Oriella PR Network, an alliance of 15 PR agencies from around the world.

As Jeremy Porter, author of…

By ROB LAMBERTS OK, I am an EMR fan-boy, I will admit it. I seem real “rah rah” in my approach to computers in the exam room, and to many I seem to have my head in the clouds; I…

The ability to influence is something that is valued by many. Sales people succeed or fail by their power to influence and marketers commit companies and brands to multi million dollar budget marketing campaign…

Keep track of all the business news, from mergers to markets, with any one of a variety of free business applications for smartphones, the iPod Touch or the iPad.

Interested in test driving the latest version of Google’s Android OS without buying a new mobile device? Here’s how to run Android on your PC for free with t…

The iOS 4.1 beta just hit the iPhone Developer Center and we’re looking to see what has changed. So far it appears that Apple has implemented the signal bar tw…

“Hello Ladies,” says the oh-so-manly Old Spice guy. “Does your man look like me? No. Can he smell like me. Yes.”
What a great combo. The Old Spice guy is both a spoof and at the same time an extremely cool and…