From Dell to EdX, Columbia Sportswear to Red Bull -- advertising is increasingly less about claiming value, and more about delivering it through memorable experiences. That's the secret behind Zeno's Paradox of Marketing.
Zeno’s Marketing Paradox: Native Advertising as a Ramp To Customer Experience
Is a World Without Ads Possible? We’re already halfway there.
“What if there were no ads?” That was the question content marketers Robert Rose and Joe Pulizzi asked in an episode of their podcast, This Old Marketing. It sounds like the start of John Lennon’s Imagine, but for marketers. What if there were just no ads?
Why No One is an Agency Anymore, and Why No One Cares
I've been seeing quite a few agencies claiming to be "anti-agencies". There are lots of reasons why the agency business model should evolve, but new ways of creating value rarely start with positioning.
Customer Experience Makes Five Guys the Top Ranked Burger in the US
The burger business is a big deal in the United States. A small chain, Five Guys Burgers and Fries has jumped to the head of burger pack - and the did it without advertising, one meal at a time.
Best job ever? Usability Testing Bartender
I've seen the future of usability; it has a buzz on. Watch this funny video and grasp the genius of testing users under the influence. See why I want to be your bartender of usability testing.
Companies with Top Customer Experiences Out-Score Super Bowl Advertisers
A quick look at revenue growth over three years shows that companies loved by their clients grew more than twice as fast as Super Bowl advertisers.
What I Found at Caine’s Arcade, a Few Minutes of Fun
This Spring, Caine Monroy became famous in some parts because of his cardboard arcade. Patricia Yuse visited the arcade, and shares some thoughts about what causes viral movements to grow.
Amanda Palmer Won’t Settle for Less. Monitizing engagement is just the start.
Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter triumph is awesome-ball cool, but it's just the start. The real magic is what you can do with a business model based on fan love.
Trump’s re-election starts with bullying, fakery and a ban on blocking in social media
July 18th 2019
From ‘fake’ social media endorsements, bullying and a court ban on blocking Twitter followers – the campaign is already hot with digital issues. Its election season, so I guess I’m commenting on the digital life of politics again, occasionally.
2 minute video: driving innovation and change in health enterprises
July 2nd 2019
My colleague Jake was in the office last week, and we talked on camera for two minutes about how large health organizations are promoting innovation and change at-scale.
Boston Pride, pinkwashing and how cities heal
June 8th 2019
Boston, my city, is becoming only party of neighborhoods. In the last decade, waves of investment and building have blurred the lines between areas that had been attached to ethnic or racial identities in people’s minds. As a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy, I see such change as mostly to the good. But I […]
2019-2020 Hospital Digital Index wins four industry awards
May 31st 2019
Tonight the New England Society for Healthcare Communicators (Neshco) awarded the HDX-15 report their coveted gold Lamplighter Award. This recognition by leaders in healthcare marketing and public relations means so much to everone on Connective DX’s healthcare team, who have taken up this reasearch as a way to enrich the communities of experts we learn […]
Marketing truth: 99% of customers don’t care, until they do
April 20th 2019
On my commute home I saw this fellow waring a shirt that said: “There’s a 99% change I don’t care.” Yes, he posed for this photo – and agreed its a message that could set a lot of people in business free.
Get 25% off on Rutgers Mini MBA in Customer Centered Management
February 28th 2019
For the first time ever, the Rutgers Business School is allowing instructors to give a 25% discount to programs they teach. That means you can take the mini MBA in Customer Centered Leadership I’m co-instructing this April, and pay less because you read UsefulArts.
‘Content’, the clinical term for someone else’s art
February 15th 2019
Content is a clinical term, used as surgeons use the word “tissue” for describing someone else’s skin. Its a necessary abstraction, and as such, as rather the opposite of a compliment. No one ever says, “nice tissue, dude.”
Customer strategy foundation: SEC analysis determines how customers buy
January 30th 2019
Knowing whether buyers conduct consideration with complete, partial or minimal information about the qualities of goods they seek is an essential starting point for customer experience strategy. This post describes this technique and dynamics buyers encounter in considering purchasing each type of goods.
Webinar Invitation: Building Strong Hospital Digital Experiences with Connective DX and Johns Hopkins
January 4th 2019
Hear the top findings from this year’s Hospital Digital Index (HDX-15) Research Report, and catch a guest appearance by Aaron Watkins, who leads digital strategy at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Webinar Invitation: Building Strong Digital Experiences with Connective DX and Mayo Clinic
December 17th 2018
One of fun parts of writing an annual benchmark report on the digital strength of some of the best hospitals in the U.S., is the chance it gives me to get to know some great digital and innovatiobn teams, and the stories behind the work featured in my coverage.. Please join me for a free educational webinar on January 9th, when Lee Aase of Mayo Clinic and I will discuss this year’s HDX-15 report and their work as a innovative healthcare leaders.
About Dave Wieneke, Digital Strategist
The future of digital experiences will be built by strategists who grasp the full array of emerging business, social, and technical models. Specialties in user experience, branding, application design, and data science are laying the foundation for richer user experiences and business models breakthrough products and revenue based marketing.
UsefulArts is a soapbox to discuss the front line of digital experience, and the agencies and platforms that enable it. Digital business needs a cadre of leaders who can connect c-level enterprise thinking with the ways these new interaction models can help organizations to matter more to their most important stakeholders.