Bryan Landaburu (aka Reno Bryan, Willie Vega, and Fuze) | Dont call me a blogger

Crutchfield.com Customer Reassurance - get ready for more of this

I have long been a fan of Crutchfield.com and we have admittedly "borrowed" from their research and concepts for some of our own ecommerce clients projects (don't act like you've never done it). They are true innovators, the best of the best customer service wise, best catalog, best marketers, best photos, best descriptions, best content overall. Not however, the best prices but I digress.  They kick ass.  Today, in kickass fashion the CEO, Bill Crutchfield (go figure) sent out an email to all his customers that is preemptive and simply awesome as we approach the holidays.  It's also a nice "suckit" to their competitors in consumer electronics online retail. Wanna see it, here ya go...

There is one particularly notable paragraph that demonstrates this CEO's smarts and the company's ability to see past the end of their damn noses:

"For many years, I have been concerned about the growing credit bubble. It was obvious to me that it was unsustainable and that an inevitable day of reckoning would come. To protect our customers, our employees, and my family from the disastrous consequences of a financial meltdown, I positioned Crutchfield to withstand the worst. We became very frugal with how we spent money. We did not pay outlandish executive salaries and bonuses. We did not build fancy facilities. We did not expand our retail store operations. And we did not buy other companies. Instead, we worked extremely hard to improve how we serve our customers, while we managed every aspect of our business with excellence. Furthermore, we paid off all of our debt and accumulated cash reserves."

Hot damn! Makes me wanna buy a big screen for the den!  Seriously though, get ready for more of this from responsible and prepared companies as doom & gloom runs rampant throughout online commerce this holiday season.  Crutchfield is a company that will weather the storm and this sincere, and this authentic letter has me evangelizing for them and committed to them as a company.

Nice job Bill.  I hope someone on your PR team sees this (because I actually do matter, or so my mom says).

Happy FriDEE!

Bryan

Wine Retailing, An Uncorked Opportunity (were it not for lame laws)

Today I was skimming through this month's Internet Retailer and I was impressed with several things.

1. the general tone of the publication is one of success stories and best practices.  This is refreshing when all we hear is doom-gloom about the economy.
2. The magazine is about a third of an inch thick.  The advertisers are not pulling back ads to this viable audience.  Everything from marketing to analytics to warehousing...and on. Its full of advertisers.  This says something when nearly every other business publication has been reduced to pamphlet size because advertisers are running for the hills.
3. Some great articles on what some very successful merchants are doing online.  There is still a great business there, but the challenges are very steep.

All in all i am thrilled to see this.  Not even sure what made me devote 15min of time to it but i am glad i did.  As an agency fairly vested in eCommerce clients businesses, this was a very cool read for me.

I think the challenges that face online merchants are steeper than ever.  There is no longer the ability to just throw open a store, buy some AdWords and start sellin'.  That no longer scales.  Merchants have to focus on strategy, architecture, UI design, development, merchandising, up-sell, cross-sell, pull, push, viral, email, SEO, SEM, PPC, analytics, testing, scalability, and on and on.  To be a player in the game, you have to bury yourself and your team in the concept and its success...go all in...or be relegated to being what i refer to as Martha's Yarn Barn, a hobby business you spend your hard earned savings on but probably shouldn't. If however, you embrace all thats possible, and focus, there are still a lot of opportunities and markets to tap into, and build a better mousetrap. Unless of course, government(s) over-regulates online commerce.

One particular industry I am fascinated with is the wine industry. The related article below about laws regulating online wine retailers/shops gave me the motivation for this post.

• Read the full article called: Patchwork of Laws on InternetRetailer.com

A confessed wine-o, I am a member of several wine clubs and in addition, I buy a lot of wine online. I have my favorites but I'm always open to experimenting with new brands.  As I read the IR article I realized that I have the privilege of living in Nevada, one if the 15 states that legally allow retail-to-consumer wine shipments. Nine additional states allow a sorta "gray area" acceptance, but could choose to enforce established regulations on internet merchants at any time. 15 STATES - WTF!?  While I can respect every state (except the Silver one) not wanting to legalize prostitution; we're talking wine here folks. Other than Utah, I certainly don't see why there are 34 other states that won't allow this. Some of these states have drive-thru liquor stores, but wont allow a bottle of Zinfandel to grace a UPS truck's cargo bay. The basis of most regulations date back to prohibition. As I digested this, it got me thinking.  Online wine stores are a big business now but imagine if laws change and more states (except Utah) open up their regulations. What happens next is that online wine retailing becomes a land rush. 

"Wine.com CEO Richard Bergsund estimates U.S. retail wine sales at about $25 billion, with between 1% and 2% of that currently conducted online. “Most categories that don’t have regulatory constraints do about 3% to 5% online, so that is where this seems to be going long-term. If it gets to 5%, that would be over $1 billion,” he says."

Great future opportunities await folks like Gary Vaynerchuk, WineZap, WinesTillSoldOut, and others who have a strong hold and online reputation that will always keep them on the top seat.  But, there are also ripe business opportunities for smart entrepreneurs, small wineries, big wineries, and others who want to break into a boom industry. The state laws simply make no sense and hopefully they'll change...someday.

Well thats my story for today. I have been a little absentee from my posting lately because of a variety of personal life changes afoot in my little world. Rest assured my loyal 10's of readers, I am still full of "it".

Till later...drink more wine.

BL

PS
Sparks Farmers Market starts this Thursday, June 12th. Fuze balconies will be open for VIP's (and even some IPs). Call ahead for reservations. :-)

If you like Twitter, You'll Love Twhirl

So i admit that i really was skeptical on Twitter at first, i didn't get it.  Now that i have guzzled the Kool-Aid, I really enjoy using it.  That said, i find the twitter site cumbersome and and i cant always punch out SMS on my tiny little keys.  What to do?  On my Mac's there is a cool little application (similar to IM) called Twitteriffic, that works great but when i get back on my main computers, there hasn't been anything for Windows that is similar.  Until now.

I will talk about the one i have found to be the BEST cross platform Twitter tool to fuel your micro-blogging lifestyle.  Its called Twhirl.  One geeky-cool thing is that its powered by Adobe Air which makes it pretty cutting edge.  It is infinitely customizable, and makes tweet'ing a breeze.

If youre an outlook 2007 user, you may also like OutTwit, which is an Outlook plug in that puts a twitter feed right into your inbox.  I like it too but for something all around, Twhirl. is a winner.  See Mac geeks, there is cool stuff for Windows PC's too!

Try it. You'll like it. And, if you want to follow my boring life, visit:  twitter.com/fuze

Talk amongst yourselves.

BL

Trusting your world to web services: Basecamp outage

In our ever connected lifestyles we put a TON of faith in the availability of these whiz-bang hosted web services being unconditional and forever.  Some businesses rely completely on the functionality of 3rd party hosted applications for the management of their extended teams, clients, projects, and in some cases all aspects of their business.

Today, our project management application, the wildly popular Basecamp from 37signals took a big dump on us and was unavailable for almost 6hrs.  Here is their story:

• Basecamp Outage Explained

It caused us a bit of gas because our standing project meetings had to be conducted manually from memory and we were not able to open new projects as we normally would.  For us, it was a speck of inconvenience, but for others who are more reliant on Basecamp and similar systems, i can imagine today was not fun at all.

I am sure Basecamp will "refund" us , and others who complain for the 6hrs of downtime, but the $150 or so that amounts to, doesn't come close to lost time and productivity. Buried deep in some SLA I am certain there is a limit of 37signals liability, but who reads those? I wonder if this should be a wake up call  to myself and others, that this is always a possibility? Should we have a plan B "at the ready" like we do for backups and file servers? Is this just the nature of the beast?  Thinking about it, there are 20ish web services I use on a daily/weekly basis, some of which I pay for, some of which are free, but I rely on them to keep me organized, billing, working, and enjoying life.  What is a fair expectation of availability of these services?

We'll keep using Basecamp for the time being, but this outage certainly has me looking at alternate solutions, and that is something I would have NEVER considered until today.

WBV

Hot Damn, I'm an Oracle Stockholder

Interesting to me though maybe not everyone...a big enterprise software acquisition was announced yesterday.  Oracle has agreed to acquire my Alma Mater, BEA Systems for $8.5 Billion.  This is a great fit for Oracle and very likely good for BEA as well. Rumors about IBM or Oracle buying BEA were flying way back during my years there, so this has been on the table for quite some time. I am anxious to see how it all shakes out. 

I also hope all my friends that are still there enjoy the ride. For the record, Ellison has better boats, but Alfred has way better cars!

BL

Bulimic computer epidemic: Reaction to New Apple Laptop

Couldn't resist passing along this "thin-eNVy" parody (courtesy of Nalt) for the new Apple Macbook Air (starting at only $3500). Short & sweet...enjoy.

Thin is [always] in!

WBV

Real Estate MLS Standards? It's about g'damn time!

As an agency that is quite vested in the real-estate industry, I have to say that this movement to develop a standard for MLS listing is about the best news I have head in years.  For anyone with significant RE clients, dealing with the various issues with data provided in MLS feeds presents one challenge after another.  Its a nightmare.  Outside of integration of listings into a brokers website, you also face challenges of feeding your listings to loads of aggregate and services that are used by the general public (ex. Trulia, Zillow, etc.). 

Things are looking up on the horizon as some of these significant players press for standards.

• This ClickZ article made me salivate this morning

Fingers crossed that this happens at breakneck speed.  God speed RESO! Make it happen.  Nothing but good can come of this.

WBV

A couple new downloads I'm diggin'

Tonight, while watching a marathon of Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 1 on DVD (one of my best Christmas gifts) I started surfin the ol' web and realized I had downloaded Flock some time ago and never installed it.  As i got it installed and started tinkering with it, I really like it. 

The browser is Firefox based with a big juicy wrapper of social media, web2.0, whatever-the-frig you want to call it and its really, really cool.  I can log into my Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, TypePad, del.icio.us, etc., etc. accounts and watch them all mash up before my eyes...all the while without disrupting my standards compliant browsing experience. Its got some great image and web clipping functions built right in, detects feeds, has a lot of the same plug-ins as Firefox, overall there's a lot to explore. I will try it as my default browser for a bit and see if it sticks.  So far, so cool. One thing to note is that Flock is a little Yahoo heavy and a little light on the Google.  Would really like to see Flock include GoogleBookmarks in its whopping list of 2 online favorites options. 

Another service that came to me as a result of Flock is Me.dium.  This is a really sexy browser inclusion that gives surfing and social a whole new paint job.  Some serious web/tech going on here.  Get some friends together and surf together, commenting and clipping and researching silly. I am anxious to try this on our next big web project as we get started as a team doing research.  Another service i recommend taking for a test drive. 

As always, my gamertag on both services is 'FUZE'. Give 'em a whirl if you are social-ite (or wanna be) like me.

Enjoy.

E-Greetings I Can Appreciate

I hate e-cards as much as I hate Keep Tahoe Blue bumper stickers (water isn't blue hippies, so last time i checked, as long as the sky is blue, our fair Tahoe will "appear" blue as well). It's funny how many choose to celebrate their cause & 'tell you what they're all about' from the rear of their cars in the form of license plate frames or the proverbial bumper sticker(s).  Not the point of this post, but a good conversation starter at your next pancake breakfast.

Anyway, today my opinion (not of hippies) may have changed here a bit. One of our resident developers Keith pointed me to: SomeeCards.com an e-greeting site that is funny, free, and filled with all sorts of irreverent sentiments (like the one below).  It's similar to the potty humor of tshirthell.com, only there is nothing to buy, so you can fire these off all day (if you don't have a job). Someecard greetings are simple & quick and when they arrive at your inbox, they don't require a program or any dumb downloads to run.

Have fun with it for cryin' out loud...its the holidays!

WBV

Miro-Hula-Joost - Which is best??

I was three ways hot on Joost about 2 months ago, but some new services are launching into this space and the competition is heating up.  Must recently Miro came along taking on Joost head-to-head, going as far as adding a side-by-side comparison for people to make their decision.  Worth looking at services from Miro and while you're at it, have a look at Hulu (though you have to be approved to test it - come over to our office and I'll show it to ya).

Now, if you're a geek for this kind of stuff (like me) and you want to really understand it all, Gizmodo did a comprehensive review of all 3 thats worth taking a look at it.

This may all seem a little geeky but the single most interesting about all this hoopla is that the category itself has been established from nothing, and in a matter of months. Its all new, evolving, and, I still believe this technology, once people stop thinking of PC's as PC's and TV's as TV's, and Game consoles as Game consoles...once these are all rolled into one, you start to see the future of how we will have broadcast & entertainment content delivered:

• where we want it
• when we want it
• how we want it
• only what we want
• with advertising having meaning, not force fed in 30 second slots

Time will tell who the victor will be.  Think of XM & Sirius a couple years ago.

WBV

EDAWN Launched A New Website

The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, and 'friends of ours' launched a new website today.  Comments on the site and "can do" reserved, we loved this particular section:

I'll say that I know most everyone on this page and this is not a flattering photo of any of these people (David excepted because he's so damn photogenic).  They may have a grievance to file with SAG.  Anyway, congrats to EDAWN on launching their new site (finally replacing the tired, chopped up version of the old one WE BUILT for them in 2000).  Much luck with the new improved web presence.

WBV

Senduit.com - new genius for the email-challenged

Today, as if we went back to the dark ages, we had someone try to sending us a 50MB email attachment.  This bowl-clogger nearly made me want to jump out the window (fret not, Fuze is only on the 2nd floor).  Anyway, to help some of the email-ly challenged, and promote a cool service, i offer you SENDUIT (from the folks who developed Tumblr.

Using Senduit could not be more simple:

1. go to senduit.com
2. upload a file
3. receive a private link
4. set link expiration
5. the end.

Not sure how these guys make caysh with all the bandwidth they must consume, but mine is not to question why.  Of course our friends over at DropSend have a more robust service if you need to do this all the time. 

Take a look at either, or both, next time you think about firing off an Inbox killer.

Enjoy the sweet speed of email downloads once again.

Enjoy!

WBV

Future of Web Design - and why i am not there.

I was simply bummed that i had to cancel my New York trip to FOWD this year. I paid for the conference and travel but had to bail out and i have been head down, pouting like a child, kicking rocks around the office and bitching ever since. 

I heard mixed reviews of the conference, but regardless, i would have much preferred to be there.  The trip was also a visit to our new New York client Lazaro Jewelry - a SoHo New York based jewelery designer to the stars, and one killer little storefront that we are excited to have been selected to represent for their electronic marketing efforts.

At any rate, with this trip on top of my other business travel, and our pending vacation, i would have been out of the office for 3+ weeks in November, during a very busy time.  So alas, i had to let this one go.

I'll be back in NYC in March and we'll see FOWD in London in April so life is good folks.  Life is good.

Fly safe.

WBV

Online advertising makes me f-ING happy

Buzz buzz said the Bee (sorry I have been reading kids books).  Via organic, i was alerted to this hearty chunk of online advertising that takes the viral > to landing > to microsite > to conversion concept to a whole new level.  If you can believe it, this is from one of MY banks ING and is a tad racy for the financial world.  The campaign is getting LOADS of buzz for its originality and global appeal. Take it on a test drive above. (FYI - You will get to decide if you want to make #1 or #2.  I recommend trying both.)

If you want to access it directly and see the full experience (not just the porta-pottie), hop over to: i-needtogo.com

Enjoy this great advertising...oh, and get your budget calculators out  :-)

BL

Fuze Event Follow Ups...

At last, long awaited post event follow ups for all y'all who have inquired: who won?, where's the presentations?, and what do you all damn day?  Here you go people...

Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Leadership Summit 2007
I was on the Professional Development & Entrepreneurship Panel along with Hal Lenox, President of AT&T, Jean Vanneman, Vice President of Product Development for IGT, and Claude Sapp, Founder of Infinifuel Biodiesel.  Fuze was also an event sponsor & exhibitor.

• iPod Touch Giveaway went to Molly @ Plumpjack Squaw Valley
• Bryan's Slide Deck from the Panel Presentation - [ Download PDF (198.5K) ]

Sparks Chamber Business Forum
Fuze was a sponsor & exhibitor at this year's Business Forum.  Our booth was staffed by Fuze stars Calder Chism & David Bobzien.  The event drew in representatives from all of the areas top businesses.

• iPod Nano Giveaway went to Kellie @ Clearstar Financial Credit Union in Reno
• no presentation available

A2N2 Power Lunch
Panel discussion on the topics of Web 2.0. I was on a panel that included: Stu D'Alessandro of Design Science, Ryan Jerz of NCOT, and Josh Kenzer of 12Horses.  As part of this panel, my presentation focused primarily on how I utilize Web 2.0 technologies in my every day business & personal life, what i see as emerging trends in advertising that Web 2.0 helps foster, and some exhilarating case studies on Fuze clients who have all their web bases covered - demonstrating the quantifiable results we achieve for clients through sound strategy, proper design, search marketing, analytics, and creative testing. Feedback on the presentation was very positive, and I feel good that we sent people away with something tangible...which is always my goal when speaking. 

• Bryan's Slide Deck for Web 2.0 & You - [ Download PDF (4779.7K) ]
• sorry ad guys...no giveaway
  (now before you bitch, note I was the only panelist that is an actual member of A2N2, and I have a slide-deck takeaway - so will y'all forgive me?)

In funny follow-up fashion, if you want to learn to talk with the other fancy lads on the stage, try the Web2.0 Bullshit Generator.  Lots of fun terminology to impress your friends at your next pancake mixer.

Ok, that should satisfy my civic responsibilities.  Congrats to all the winners, and enjoy the light reading in my presentations.  Should you have any questions...ask the 8-ball :-)

WBV

Panel Presentations & Winner Selections Coming [I promise]

With a couple weeks of "LIVE" Fuze events under our belt, we are scrambling to follow up on all the Glengarry leads [coffee is for closers].  Several folks have asked for my presentations at one, or more of these events, and even more have inquired about who won all the iPods we were giving away as bribes for beez-neez cards.  I vow that both the winners and presentations will be posted here on the blog between now and Monday the 15th.

Now, if you read the fine print on the giveaway, it did say that we would draw whenever we felt like it, but here I draw a line in the sand.

Thanks to all who attended the YPN Event, A2N2 Powerlunch, and/or the Sparks Chamber Business Forum.

NOTE: if you attended the A2N2 Powerlunch today, while you await the slide deck, be sure to watch this video from my previous post.  Really sums a lot of the comments from Stu, Josh, Ryan and myself in an interesting way.

Lots of great feedback and new friends!

Muchos gracias, adios, bye-bye...

WBV

I'm all Joost up!

This week Joost released their first public beta of their new video-on-demand service and let me tell you, it is damn impressive.  In my opinion, you are looking at the future of broadcast television.  While the platform is primarily clip based now, you can certainly see the potential of this new medium which all runs through a thin client you install on your PC (works on Windows & Mac's).

Screen Shot:

Some interesting features i thought were cool after about 10min of review:

• Channel chat - chat options while you are watching a show
• Targeted ads - ads appear in the lower part of the screen and seem to be logical when they display.  they also don't seem to get in the way of the experience.  There are multiple ad units that run and all seemed well timed. For instance, while watching the Red Bull Fighters Video, I was shown the subtle title sponsor Red Bull logo, and an ad for Degree Antiperspirant.
• Widgets - platform is going to be open which will allow developers to build around it
• Channel list - you can create your own programming list and watch what you want
• Major players - i was impressed to see things like the MLB Postseason '07 and Comedy Central featured in their respective genre's
• Depth of content - there already is something for everyone on Joost.  I was surprised to see so much content already available in the Beta
• Speed & Quality - application is very fast to load, and there is no loading time. shows queue instantly - video and sound quality are very good, clear, very little (if any) clipping at all.
• User Interface - the UI is sexy, and slick, and easy to understand & navigate
• A real power button - just cool and simple, when you click the power button the entire box shuts off like an old TV console.

I could go on and on.  Looks like we have another time killer on our hands. In my head, when I combine this technology with video tagging technology like VideoClix, I see a whole new platform emerging, and, a whole new way to think about the TV box & the movin' pictures.

Remember, this is just in BETA - imagine what is coming.  Start thinking now advertising braniacs - could it be Web 4.0?  Why not?

Join us wont you...

WBV

Problem: I want to build MySpace [but i have no money]. Solution: Ning.com

We continually receive calls from delusional folks with the intent to "build something like MySpace - but different".  To which, our response is always, huh? Lets start the bidding at $1mil.  While the social network concept continues proliferation and exploitation, we thought we would pass along our prescription for "creating a social network" with no money.

It's called Ning.com and it is a social network in a box.
and look Fuze has a social network up and running inside of 5 minutes. Whooptie woo!

Now everyone without a budget can have their own MySpace. Ning is currently ad supported and free. It covers all the basics of a social network.  Ning.com has been around since 2004, but has just started sprouting legs...currently powering the largest number of social networks on the Internet.

There, now you have 1 new friend request - and it didn't cost you a thing.

WBV

Web 2.0 Explained [I can't believe this is a title of a post on my blog]

If you're in Reno (ya right) on October 11th (a holiday aka MY birthday), come to my next speaking gig:

Web 2.0: The Next Evolution in Digital Marketing
(Why It’s Important to YOU)
Sponsored by:
The Advertising Association of Northern Nevada (A2N2)
Click here to register online

Anyway, as I was developing some interesting content for my presentation, I came across a Web 2.0 explanation that sums up the concept without trying to monetize, exploit or further bastardize it.  Much of this will be the basis for my talk. Enjoy...

Sweeter deal - iPod Touch Giveaway @ RTYPN Summit

To sweeten the deal, and to encourage attendance at our incredibly interesting booth at this year's Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Leadership Summit, we decided to give one lucky young professional, their choice of:

• the New Apple iPod Touch [more info]
  or
• a month of beer
  or
• 2hrs of our undivided attention

Thats a little something for everyone [we think]. All that for dropping your business card in our crystal chalice. Who says you cant have something for nothing. Join us wont you?!

WBV

Reno Tahoe Young Professional Leadership Summit 2007 - Join Us

Please join us this Friday for the Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Network Leadership Summit 2007.  The event is expected to have over 500 of the areas young professionals in attendance and engaged in an interactive series of breakout sessions, exhibits, and events, including the first annual 20 under 40 Awards (co sponsored by the Reno Gazette Journal).

At the summit, Fuze will be exhibiting as a founding sponsor (fun freebies will be available to all), and I will be speaking as part of a panel in their "Grow" breakout session:

Professional Development and Entrepreneurship

Guest Speakers: Hal Lenox, President, AT&T Nevada; Jean Venneman, Senior Vice President of Product Development, IGT; Bryan Landaburu, Founder/President of Fuze; Claude Sapp, Founder of Infinifuel Biodiesel

What resources exist for young professionals in Greater Reno-Tahoe? Whether growing your career or your entrepreneurial business, this session will provide practical information from those who have been through it.

There is still time to sign up, so jump on over to the event site for more information or click here to register for the event online.

----------------------------------
More information and articles:

• blog.renotahoeypn.com/2007/09/18/20-under-40-awards-nominees-announced/
• news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709260420
• news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709250305
• www.nnbw.biz/ArticleRead.aspx?storyID=9618

Fuze Client Featured: CLP

We were just told that one of our clients CLP Resources (sites:  clp.com & clptravelers.com) had their websites featured in the Internet Marketing Report this month.

• Here be a link to the IMR article

The complimentary article explained some of the basics of what we did with the sites, but I felt many of the under the hood elements were not captured, so my feedback to the author is shown below here.  It may or may not make it to approved comments on the authors blog, but my dribble is just too damn genius not share with the 7 fans of the FuzeBlog.

Written in response to the IMR article - by yours truly 9/21/2207

Thanks for the article.  You pegged a couple points we try to enforce to our clients.  We were the strategists, designers, developers, and optimizers so to speak for the CLP family of companies. A few additional features worth pointing out on the CLP sites:

1) the goals for these sites are to attract and qualify as many candidates nationwide as possible. Once qualified, these candidates need to be routed immediately to CLP's national network of offices for recruitment effort. This process is fully automated end-to-end.

2) user audiences are clearly identified and their needs met at the site in order of priority.  At present, they want candidates to apply - so i defy anyone to miss the call to apply on the sites.

3) page and site structure are all 100% dynamic and controlled by the client and us - which makes page changes simple and indexing almost immediate.  All pages on the site are easy to find and have proper editorial style markup (H1, H2, Content).

4) client drives traffic through all sorts of media, so we harness and funnel this traffic through clean, clear, optimized landing pages that help pay off their traditional media, outdoor, direct mail, with a web element that we can track the landing and conversion on.

5) site is fully wrapped in analytics that let us constantly evaluate and fine tune the marketing efforts.

CLP is a company that believes in doing things right. They put the needs of their customers and the potential employees they recruit at the forefront of everything they do.  Your experience is consistent whether you meet CLP face-to-face, ear-to-ear, or screen-to-screen. This is just the beginning for what we are planning for their web presence.

Just a few notes from the source. We all appreciate your writeup on the current sites.

We always like good press.  Thanks IMR.  Ever forward...

WBV

Maddox + iPhone = Tears of laughter

Topic o' conversation: iPhone. There are two of these $500+ gadgets here in the office and their owners are very enthusiastic about what they are.  I personally think, while visually cool, the iPhone is nothing more than an advertising campaign you can hold in your hand. I won't buy one because you:

• can't cut-n-paste - WTF?
• can't take video - obvious
• can't manage Outlook Tasks or Notes - Microsoft hatred remains steadfast
• can't change browsers - Safari sucks on the mac, pc, and now the iPhone too
• can't delete e-mail - try removing 20 'viagra' emails without opening each one 
• can't install ANYTHING - narrowing the likelihood of much 3rd party development

While I have ranted and raved about mobile phones in the past**, in this case I really don't want to throw my name in the hat with all the 1 million other 'self-proclaimed-know-it-alls' who have reviewed the iPhone. I find most of these reviews about as ridiculous as someone trying to explain why a shoe smells. That said, my friend Maddox is up to his usual brilliance in this fantastically humorous[vulgar] 'review' of Apple's beloved iPhone.

Take a trip on over to The Best Page In The Universe and see what he has to say.
WARNING: Usual warning applies. When clicking this link you will find vulgar college humor. So, if you don't enjoy/appreciate said humor, then click this link instead:  Google Google Sponsors Lunar X PRIZE
(Google - you've got more money than sense mate).

Anyway, it's probably just past the threshold of good taste, but when I read it, I laughed so hard that I was able to skip my nightly ab-ripper exercises...thanks Maddox.

WBV

**Other useless mobile phone rants from yours truly...

• http://fuze.typepad.com/fuzeblog/2006/11/blackjack_is_a_.html
• http://fuze.typepad.com/fuzeblog/2006/12/treo.html
• http://fuze.typepad.com/fuzeblog/2006/12/verizon_chocola.html
  -followed by-
• http://fuze.typepad.com/fuzeblog/2006/12/good_news_choco.html

VideoClix - eCommerce through video? Shit you say...

Today from the FOOA show, we received a demo of a fantastic new tool for websites who have been chomping at the bit to tag and put links in their fancy-dancy videos. The folks at VideoClix showed us their new tools that are about 5 years in development which allows you to take a segment of video (which you own [key point]) and tag links into the video which will allow the viewer to click elements in the video and go to different web pages.

This tool has a SUITE of features that i couldnt possibly describe here.  For instance, if you tag a cast member in the video and the cast member leaves the screen, but then comes back on, he is still tagged.  If you are an eCommerce person, your wheels should be turning.  A demo shows the system functioning during a swimsuit fashion show...as the models walk down the runway, clicking their apparel will spawn a detail window...linked to a buy button. Really amazing.  This means it could be possible to have a fully VIDEO BASED commerce front end (Tivo and Broadcasters salivating yet?).

Even more amazing is the full suite of analytics that runs on the back end of the system to track literally every action going on.  If VideoClix can work out a deal to have this tool function in the YouTube codec arena...the sky is the limit for them.

Give them a look...i know we will start working with this tool as soon as I return.

WBV

I [Heart] New York - FOOA 2007

Up, up, and away again...I am excited to be heading off to the Future Of Online Advertising Conference this week in New York, NY.  I had the pleasure of being invited to addend this event by Ryan Carson, via Seth Godin - so i couldnt resist.  Ain't that the social media/network connection thing working at full-throttle. 

I attend many, many national shows and speak at many events nationwide - events like Search Engine Strategies (New York and San Jose), Ad:Tech (San Francisco), Miva Conference (San Diego), various SEMPO events, various Silicon Valley Web Guild Events, the BSSP's M-Squared conference & Influx Insights, and on, and on.  This is my first Carson Systems event and I have heard nothing but phenominal feedback about these events being the best in the world so I am particularly excited to see how it goes. 

I am also excited to get back to New York and look forward to a great several days in Gotham. My wife and I are both going on this trip and are really looking forward to an adult [no innuendo] holiday away from our beautiful baby Cole, some great meals, and a visit with friends and family.  Watch my Plazes to see where we're exploring.

There's still time to register for the event.  Just click the graphic above to join me at FOOA.

A report from the event to follow.

WBV

Ad:Tech 2007 San Francisco Recap

Randomized thoughts from Ad:Tech 2007. I have to say that this was my least favorite Ad:Tech in some years.  Nothing exciting, not much new.  Other than getting to meet and talk with the CEO of Organic, i have to say i would give this conference a B+.

Here are some of my notes and ramblings.  They all make sense (to me):

THEMES FOR THE SHOW
» the new ROI is Return on Involvement
» the search box: Pontiac. Increasing use of branding search vs. Url's because consumers browse this way anyway.
» open branding - let customers interact with you and your brand however THEY choose.
» Community concept - good for Entrust, clp, idw, etc...monitor but get at the 'naked truth'
» immediate access to content
» jargon watch "video snacking"
» short form
» video video video
» monetizing ad spend...tougher to realize
» next gen set top boxes based on telco tv. All the players want your bundeled bill. Wave will meld all mediums together. 20Megabit to households within 3yrs.
» 3 screens
» have to create a brand that is "the life of the party" so people will want to hang out with it
» get the web to the core of campaigns - tough shift for big advertisers
» chat and email is not the right time to reach me
» user 'profile' generated content is a huge opportunity...ability to serve ads focused on buyer behavior - don't show me a WalMart ad if I don't buy at WalMart

ECOMMERCE
» reviews have value, if you use the information to shape experience.
» lego derives 20% of sales from paid search (6000 english keywords)
» behavioral targeting -

INTERESTING PARALLELS
» runescape - games
» ad guys at SES
» search & viral are what matter
» ad guys are WAY WAY behind compared to search industry...still trying to harness the TV and create convergence...and regain control of the viewers eyeballs
» shift to ebay model...many carriers of the message...payout, or 'toll' are paid to the 'x' that can match a message to a viewer.
» creatives slow to adapt...people who don't have digital in their portfolio will die on the vine
» focus too much on youth and early adopters...low hanging fruit - easy convert - older audience spends the money.
» if you have the choice...always sell to rich people
» the library of congress staffs a full time person whose job is to monitor secondlife!

QUESTIONS ON ADPOTION
» will mainstream ever get it?
» passive people will embrace advertising without noticing it
» think your brand can launch and monetize a social network? You're wrong. If lays builds a social network it makes the assumption that because you like the same potato chips, you are in the same network...not true

The State of Email Marketing from Ad:Tech San Francisco 2007

My takeaway from a session on Email Marketing:

Despite all the rumors: Email marketing isn't dead. [makes me happy since we have a burgeoning practice around email marketing]

In spite of all the woes of SPAM filters, stuffed inboxes, and inundation with information, email is still a valuable component in the marketing quiver.  Email alone is not as powerful as the mix of components such as: landing pages, conversion pages, subscription pages, etc.  Best practices in email assume the same things any of your marketing components...OPTIMIZATION is key. 

Firing into the abyss with any single component will always have limited success.  The more consistent messages, delivered in the most relevant and frequent means that match your target, will produce the best results (novel idea, i know.).

Here are a few bullets on the state of email from the Ad:Tech San Francisco floor:

• VALIDATED SENDERS - Gaining strength but still not main stream  List hygiene and using a good email provider can greatly help with your deliverability and consumer trust
• Deliverability should be in the high-90% range
• Images are being turned off by default for many ISPs and Outlook 2007.  Need to make messages pretty for text as well.  Also need to account for that fact that your open rates will be lower simply because images are set to off.
• Optimize subscription management landing page.
• Co-reg is still good
• Frequency is dependent on audience...only message as you need to.
• most are doing email - landing - conversion
• Most all have an agency handling creative and message craft, then distribution is internal, tracking internal
• All are re-engaging with their aging lists
• product specials work less than good information
• Headcount in email is typically 1-3 internal, 3-5 external

Of course it is always reassuring to know that Fuze's MessgeCenter systems are still state of the art in terms of data collection, message craft, and statistical analysis.  Do you use them?  You really should.  Call us!

WBV

(another treo post - sorry for the typos)

Ad:Tech San Francisco Session: State of the Agency

 

Tom Bedecarre - CEO, AQUA (hiring)
Martin Reidy - President, Modem Media
Ralph Folz - CEO, Molecular (web consultancy), freestyle interactive (creative), iProspect (search), all ISOBAR companies

-------------------------------
Client Perception:
» clients want to be "digitally led"
» no longer acceptable to not have a strong interactive presence
» projects are becoming MUCH more complex
» traditional agencies won't go away but it is hard to ignore that because they didn't have their act together...audiences shifted online and they missed the boat
» agencies aren't going to be able to fake it.
» new niche...online video - possibly video only agencies
» stop thinking the web is "cheaper" than traditional...it isnt...its more effective.
» agencies will be increasingly paid for their time and thought leadership vs. Media commission or markup...cant do it (and prove it) you lose.
» people will want stability, strong & smart, have scale, and agencies that will be around.
» lead with business problems & solutions
» building environments that allow consumers to interact longer with a brand in a useful way. Reebok running example.

TAKE AWAY'S
» work more friendly with agencies (the good ones)
» be the best agency in the digital age
» everyone is hiring
» agencies who have no digital foundation will need to buy their way into buy their way into digital...or time will pass them by
» I started to think for a while that we needed to grow traditional...doesnt seem wise.

(another treo post - sorry for the typos & grammar)

Jott & Pinger - like Kibbles-n-bits, but different...

Okay,  I spend a big chunk of my life trying to "organize" myself and make myself more efficient.  Yes, I admit it that I am a sucker for anything that claims it can simplify my life through the magic of technology. I will typically give things a look and quickly decide if its good or bad.  My brain is always completely full so unless it looks REALLY simple, and see immediate value and company I can trust, I simply move on.  Recently I stumbled upon a new service that is sure to make its way into my daily life.

While I have described some nifty tools like Plazes, organizers like Basecamp, and other services I use, this one is totally different.  The service is called Jott, it's freshly released to the public, and it's about to become something I use every day.

Here's what it does in a nutshell...

• I call a toll free number Jott provides
• I tell it who i want to "Jott" (myself, my team, anyone)
• I leave a message
• I hang up

In the background, via the magic of the world-wide-web, Jott takes my message and instruction, converts it to SMS and/or an email message, and immediately delivers it to whatever individual or group I specified.  They all get a clean little message, at the same time, and they are able to reply, listen to my original voice message, or simply take my nuggets of wisdom and use it for good (not evil).

Where does this fit?
Jott fits someplace between email, voice mail, and phone.  So much of my day is spent returning emails (or not) that could just as easily been handled via SMS or a simple yes/no.  Jott allows 1-way communication to multiple people in a flash.  For instance:

• I am often "running a little late" and Jott allows me to notify people I am meeting with that I am en route.
• I think a lot on planes, and it is incredibly convenient for me to be able to fire out some to-do lists to my assistant or to one of my team members in a rapid fashion (vs. feverishly ticking my Treo keys till my carpel tunnel syndrome flares up).
• I spend a lot of time in the car and Jott allows me to not text-and-drive (like I do sooooo often) but still get a message out.
• It is convenient if I know someone is in a meeting and I need to get them a message without ringing their phone.
• It is convenient communicating a message to my entire staff, or contacts on a project team, etc.

There are so many uses for this, I could go on and on.  Jott is actually REALLY powerful, yet INCREDIBLY simple.

How much you ask?
For now, Jott is free...though I suppose at some point they will need to sort out how to make some money.  For now, jump on the gravy train.

When i did a little snooping, I found there are competitors in this space.  One of which was called Pinger. Pinger is similar, but seems a little more focused on leaving voice mail messages across carriers.  I don't know, i didn't really get into it.  Give their site a look though too.  They spent some time on their clever Flash animations (so did Jott - but with a little less humor) that demonstrate 3 real-life uses for their tool.  Still though, I didn't feel as compelled to formally try their service.  Jott got my business first.  I guess I was just sold on the pretty face that Jott laid out for me...lets say they had me at H E L L O.

Well, there's some more services to try.  I think they're interesting and useful.  If you don't, you may just be better organized than I am to begin with. 

WBV

FineTune - Finally Flashie For A Purpose

I admit, I have a love/hate relationship with Flash.  Flash used to illustrate a process, demonstrate a product, introduce a company, provide interactivity within a small space, etc. is all flash for good.  But, I frankly find flash for the most part used by uneducated 'traditional graphic designers' who think the web is the same size as their 5x8 postcard.  The gratuitous use of preloaders, disabling of browser controls, hard to read tiny rasterized type, the list goes on and on...it all leads to a BAD user experience.  Most of these types of designers have just been too lazy, or not smart enough to learn how to embrace a new tool.  People who subscribe to this type of web design (and you know who you are) are dying off because customers wont accept it anymore.

That said, I recently came across a couple new Flash based tools that are simply amazing.  Each demonstrates Flash used for good, and for a purpose.

the first is a product called FineTune
----------------------------------------------------------------
Another music player...I know, who cares right?  This one is different and better. FineTune lets you immediately load and play music you like.  Using a 'cloud' style feed, FineTune suggests other artists you may be interested in.  There is nothing to download, and from the record company perspective, there is nothing to steal. Its got a little social networking value in that you can create and share your playlists with others.  You can also integrate this into websites, or blogs should you desire.  It's a nice tool to look at and a very innovative spin on something thats very trite and boring.
visit: www.finetune.com

the second is a website from an amazing interactive agency known as: RED
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I promise you will kill an hour figuring out this little world they have created.  Try navigating around, figure out the controls, and oh, by the way, learn about what they do and who they do it for.  Pretty damn amazing on all fronts.
visit: www.ff0000.com/universe

There you have it...Flash, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose.

Enjoy.

WBV

 

An old friend returns - the Treo680

Not thrilled that I am using an interim Treo 680 (until the new 750 comes out in early '07), but I have to admit I am once again a Treo user.

Using the new Treo 680 was like slipping into your favorite blue jeans, or eating at your favorite restaurant. Everything is familiar, everything works, and in my life, I am once again, whole. Sure it leaves a few things imperfect, but compared to that Samsung turd, it's a home-freaking-run. I'm sorry I left ya...but let's face it, these are the 2000's, times have changed...we all experiment.  Hey I say, the past is the past...I hope we can move on.

Let me get a hand in...on 3...hoo ha Top Notch Treo!

Hoo ha indeed...

WBV

 

 

Blackjack is a Bust!

NOTE: I had originally typed this via the "Blackjack" but I am getting an unknown error (500) when I try to publish. Neat. Further infuriat