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.
Get rich quick? NFTs build a business on bragging rights for COVID-euphoric investors
March 24th 2021
If you’re scratching your head about the digital tokens (NFTs) that are being used to buy $33,000 tennis shoes and 60 million dollar digital art pieces you’re not alone. Here is a quick take on what they are, where they can go wrong, and what this says about life on the road to pandemic recovery.
Why This Week’s Roblox IPO Should Be of Interest, Even to Non-Gamers
March 8th 2021
Roblox should be on your radar as a force in culture, creativity, and consumerism. Its direct listing IPO, scheduled for Wednesday, shows how highly relevant companies don’t need a flood of promotional dollars to position themselves as valuable brands.
Fauci may have quietly averted a 9/11 scale disaster – only experts can say
February 26th 2021
The informed voice of uncertainty is easy to miss. But in a world of complexity, it must be celebrated. New research suggests Dr. Fauci’s reluctance to reach beyond research to guess his way to policy may have saved us from catastrophe; only experts and the perspective of time will tell.
Deception creates its own harm: Facebook shouldn’t know if you’re ovulating; voting shouldn’t be rooted in lies
January 14th 2021
Facebook gained the ability to see if users were ovulating, but the FTC put an end to this practice….because deception causes marketplace harm. Perhaps it’s time for voters to have consumer protections similar to what they enjoy in commerce from the FTC.
Telehealth is becoming a built-in part of healthcare’s service design: presentations and lawsuits show its growth path
November 4th 2020
Telehealth may have grown in response to the COVID pandemic, but large health systems, payers, and service providers are building virtual health capabilities as a permanent change to healthcare. Hear a dozen telehealth leaders, read research, and catch my interpretation of a recent lawsuit – which together suggest the direction of change in virtual care.
OHSU Invent-a-thon gathers medical innovators from 19 countries to hack medicine
October 26th 2020
Congratulations to the organizers and 600 volunteers who came together last weekend for OHSU’s Hacking Medicine Inventathon. This is the second time I’ve mentored for MIT’s Hacking Medicine, and the ingenuity of the groups they gathered was energizing and inspiring.
Its on! The Healthcare Management Mini-MBA is filling fast for October
September 15th 2020
Teaching has changed. My Fall course was recorded in-studio and produced by the team at Rutgers Business School. I teach the healthcare marketing part of their 14 week mini-mba program, and am joined by experts in economics, finance, operations, and regulatory issues. It’s a rare digital-first program. Registration is open now for Fall and Spring cohorts.
In praise of conservatives, specifically Carolyn Roth, my Mom
August 29th 2020
Personal post: I’m depositing my first daughter to college this week, as my Mom did me. After watching four nights of the Republican convention, I can’t help but think how out of place my Mom, a life-long Republican would be with Trumpublicans, and how proud I am of her and my daughter’s political impulses.
Investors and innovators: AmWell and Google rise to challenge dominant Teladoc
August 26th 2020
Teladoc’s year over year revenue has tripled, which is big news in an economy that has lost 15% of GDP. The growth of telehealth is a narcotically appealing to investors and competitors, which soon will include an IPO-fueled AmWell with Google as a key stakeholder.
Hospital content teams innovate as COVID-19 continues to change everything
July 30th 2020
As COVID-19 enters its sixth month, health systems are building out richer sets of content. PK’s Director of Content Strategy and I share innovations we’re seeing at four leading hospital systems, in another of our monthly video fly-overs.
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.