Picture this: You own a restaurant, and people literally compete to see who can spend the most time in your establishment. They are recommending your best menu items to friends, and telling the world via Twitter and Facebook every time they walk through your door.  And, you can track where they are coming from, where else they’ve been and what time of day they like to visit.

Dreaming? Nope. All of this and more is possible through Foursquare, just one of several geo-tagging applications that are attracting mobile users by the thousands, and filling bars, restaurants, hotels and coffee shops around the country.

So how do you tap into this community of potential customers for your business? First, let’s go over what Foursquare is.

What is Foursquare?...read the rest of this post»

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss!

Writer, illustrator, educator,….marketer? Dr. Seuss – a.k.a. Theodor Seuss Geisel, actually started his career as an advertising illustrator. Check out some of his work below. Look familiar?

Geisel’s story is an interesting one. He was a lifetime proponent of reading, and the positive effects it could have on children. In fact, his most famous book, The Cat in the Hat, was the result of a challenge to give children something interesting to read....read the rest of this post»

By now, you’ve no doubt heard the buzz about Google Buzz.

Google Buzz is Google’s latest foray into the world of social media. Unveiled Tuesday, Google Buzz is a service within Gmail, Google’s popular e-mail service, which allows users to share messages, pictures, videos and links from the Web.

Buzz is very similar to Twitter and FriendFeed, with elements of Facebook mixed in.  Early reviews are mixed, but I really want to know – how can Google Buzz be used strategically by marketers?

Google itself provided some insight when it said to look for an enterprise edition of Google Buzz soon. In the meantime, here are some observations I have about Buzz as it exists now that may be helpful to marketers:...read the rest of this post»

The Monday morning ad execs are out in full effect. EVERYONE has an opinion on what Super Bowl ads rocked, and which ones fell short. brainwoo ad execs (and creatives, and account coordinators, and so on)  love a good discussion about advertising any time of year, but especially on Super Bowl Sunday. For many advertisers, it’s a big spotlight with big risks – about $2.6 million worth of risk, to be exact.

We love the debate over the ads, and the fact that everyone is talking about advertising. But, at brainwoo, we know that advertising is more that just a funny 30-second spot. Who really resonated with their audience last night? Who told their brand’s story effectively? Who fell short?...read the rest of this post»

You can count on January for a few things: tighter jeans, New Year’s resolutions, and predictions for how the rest of the year will play out.

I can’t help you with the jeans and I won’t add to the list of resolutions, but I do want to share some predictions I found that are pretty insightful.

The folks at Trend Watching recently published the piece, “10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010.” In it, they explain the consumer trends that will shape 2010 and beyond. They talk about everything from Urban Pride to Embedded Generosity – but what really struck me is the part on Real-Time Reviews.

We all know consumer-generated reviews are powerful – who hasn’t been influenced by the reviews on Amazon when making a purchase? ...read the rest of this post»

Social media is helping the cash registers ring this holiday season.

A recent study by comScore found that 28 percent of online holiday shoppers have been influenced to make a purchase by social media. Consumer-generated product reviews led the list as the most influential, followed by expert product reviews, Facebook fan pages, Facebook friends' recommendations, tweets from a brand on Twitter, and finally, tweets from friends on Twitter....read the rest of this post»

Let’s talk about Google Wave.

 It’s the newest Web-based tool from Google, and it’s been getting a lot of buzz since its debut in September.

Although a limited number of invites went out a few months ago, a larger group of people is now getting an opportunity to check out Google Wave.

So, just what is this buzzed-about tool? And more importantly, how can you use it for your business?

What is it?

Simply put, Google Wave is a real-time communication platform. It has elements of wiki, e-mail, instant messaging, Web chatting and social networking....read the rest of this post»