My Virtual Superbowl Party
What a great day for the New Orleans Saints and social media. And I had a blast. I was pretty pumped for this great match-up I had predicted early in the season – New Orleans Saints versus Indianapolis Colts. A few thousand people were at my party, some I knew, most I didn’t until yesterday. And it didn’t cost me more than a few beers and pretzels. My party was online and it was better than sitting in a bar next to some obnoxious over-served Vikings fan with a grudge. It was me, a roaring fire in the fireplace, a laptop, the aforementioned beverage and snacks, an amused wife, and a few thousand acquaintances from #SB44.
Consumers and their supplements, part one
Europeans eat nutritious food. Americans pop pills. Or, that’s what some of my industry friends on the continent like to think. Are we really that bad? A quick fix for a bad diet?
I’ve been a supplement taker on and off for years, albeit randomly. Someone sneezes on the train, grab some Vitamin C. Have leg cramps, reach for the Calcium. I’m not sure what prompted a month of sipping noni juice – maybe I was feeling exotic.
I’ll be speaking this year at Focus on the Future , and wanted to “supplement” my company’s consumer food behavior survey with one on vitamins/minerals/herbals. What do people look for? Are they loyal to a brand? Are they faddists or do they swear by particular nutrients? And does anything worry them about taking supplements? Continue reading
Insights from 2009’s Top Search Terms
It’s quite interesting to see what’s on the minds of Americans. Actually, it’s quite interesting to have readily accessible and inexpensive (free) tools, such as Google Trends, to see what’s on the minds of Americans. Why should we care? Trend spotting and observing the mindset of our fellow human beings helps us gauge the mood of the country which can affect the tonality of our advertising messaging.
We can develop better campaigns, products and services addressing those things that are deemed ‘hot’ and drop those that are ‘not.’ From a personal standpoint, viewing these search trends help us gauge our own sense of priorities in relation to others’. So what were these search terms that shaped our behavior in 2009? Read on and help me project the top searches for 2010. Continue reading
We absolutely know what you were thinking about this past year?
What do the Iran election, Michael Jackson, Google Wave, Harry Potter, American Idol, the Superbowl and #musicmonday have in common?
Dissecting Thanksgiving
Hopefully everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. So, what did you feast upon? 
Thanks to the ability to monitor online trends, we can pick apart not only what we cooked (minute by minute, it turns out) but how the digital revolution we’re all experiencing gets played out on the most American of holidays. A look at the top 50 search terms on “how to make” for Thanksgiving food items and their patterns, state-by-state, is a blast. Take a look!
To persuade…quantify value
While we all think about energy conservation now and then, it’s not top of mind for most. Businesses and consumers still take electricity for granted. 1E is out to change that. 1E is a software company that pioneered the concept of IT Power Management. They have a mission to address PC energy waste, and have developed products to address the issue.
But engaging energy buyers can be a real challenge for marketers. To get their attention, you have to quantify value, and when it comes to this, 1E is a true artist.
This company came to my attention when I started to wonder what it costs to leave my home computer on overnight. An online search turned up their PC Energy Report 2009. What an eye opener. In their report, you’ll learn that half of US employees don’t turn their computers off every night, and companies with over 1000 computers waste about $26,000 per year in energy. They project that if every single PC in the world was turned off for one night, we’d save enough electricity to power the Empire State Building – inside and out – for more than 30 years. Wow.
1E’s report draws from the research of Harris Interactive, and consciously speaks to the wide variety of individuals who may be in a position to influence a sale…the IT leader, general consumer, corporate energy buyer, social responsibility officer…every audience gets something functionally relevant. They use their research data to great persuasive effect, cutting through any conceivable objection or complacency.
By the time you finish the scannable 17-page report, you’ll want to join the cause and turn off your PC at night. But you’ll also have a model for a very persuasive whitepaper that uses research to quantify value…and elicit an almost visceral response.
