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.
The week: voice assistants were hacked and I worked from a villa
November 9th 2019
Get the scoop on Design Ethics, the hacking of voice assistants, an odd wellness product, and my work life living in Orlando with 20 coworkers in ‘the Big Brother house’.
Why did Google buy Fitbit? Three key benefits
November 3rd 2019
Fitbit bit would bring Google: 1.) their first mass wearable product, 2.) an in-place wellness product line with global adoption and distribution, 3.) reams of progressively sophisticated health data and a privacy debate. Click above for the data and details.
Bad Transit Ads, Sexy Halloween Edition
October 30th 2019
Sometimes termed Gay Christmas, Halloween is all about malfeasance. Here are some new additions to our bad transit advertising collection which all seem to end up somewhere unexpectedly sexy, nasy or gross. Have a great Halloween, and I hope you have fun laughing at the ads we pass every day.
Christina Kirchner: memories of the corrupt leader ascending in Argentina again
October 27th 2019
Twain noted, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.” As Argentina starts a new verse in its history, its worth remembering the form of its last stanza shaped by Christina Kirchener.
Today’s climate strike may be overdue: 28% of North America’s birds have vanished in my lifetime
September 20th 2019
Environment supports everything from life to emotional health. New research reminds us to extrapolate from that which we can measure effectively to the many other parts of life which are less visible though essential and perhaps harder to remedy.
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.
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.