August 10th 2010
Web analytics stalwart Webtrends is increasing its ability to measure traffic from Facebook users and iPhone owners with the acquisition of app platform provider Transpond. They see the acquisition as a complement to their purchase of landing-page optimizer Widemile (now Webtrends Optimize). The Bay Area start-up employs 10, and provides a suite of software-as-a-service tools that [...]
June 30th 2010
In the mid-’90s, Quark was the leading tool for print publishing. It was a generation ahead of Adobe’s PageMaker, which in those days I called the “publishing tool of Satan.” But Adobe launched the more economical InDesign, connected to Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Flash. Soon, Quark was in Adobe’s digital rear-view mirror. Last week, Quark announced [...]
May 5th 2010
The cool kids all have apps these days, and Google Analytics has no wish to be the last to the party. Yesterday at the eMetrics Summit (and on the Google Analytics blog), Google announced several additions to its Analytics offerings, including better integration with AdWords and a Google Analytics App Gallery. The Apps Gallery is [...]
April 26th 2010
In case you haven’t noticed, these are spectacular days for Apple. Its stock is trading at an all-time high, and its last report to the street showed a 90 percent increase in profits. In fact, Apple’s growth has made it a challenger to Microsoft in terms of market valuation. The chart to the right shows [...]
November 24th 2009
Seth Godin may not want comments on his blog, but Google does. Google’s Sidewiki service allows anyone with their tool installed to post and view comments in a frame right beside web content. I’ll provide a few examples of how this service is taking root, and some options for your Sidewiki strategy, including the choice [...]
May 20th 2009
I was back at RISD having a discussion with some online marketers, and I found myself rattling through a list of my favorite online marketing tools. Sometimes just knowing where to find a few good tools is a resource, so in that spirit, here are a few online tools I like to keep at the [...]
March 17th 2009
Video distribution sites such as YouTube, Metacafe, and DailyMotion host video files that can infringe the rights of content owners and brand holders. Until now, if you’ve needed to protect video assets, its been tough because video files are easily reformatted, edited, and distributed with changed metatags. Now, a tier of start-ups are competing both to [...]
January 14th 2009
Lexus believes it’s a good thing to speak to its customers about certain things occasionally, and that’s usually an indicator of excellent marketing. But of course, choosing the right communication channel can make all the difference. USA Today reports: [Toyota] announced Wednesday that new Lexus vehicles will start being delivered later this year with a system [...]
August 22nd 2008
Valuing brands is the alchemy of advanced financial theory, but now one company is valuing domains—and you can take it to the bank. Thirty-three-year-old Rick Latona and his partner, attorney Matt Collins, may be the first ever digital pawnbrokers. Latona, in fact, was a real-world pawnbroker who now owns 11,000 domains. The guys loan up to [...]
August 17th 2008
FCC Commissioner McDowell Proposed Crackpot Threat to Bloggers While addressing the conservative Heritage Foundation, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell made a lame attempt to suggest this election is about preventing Democrats from using the FCC to regulate content on Internet blogs. Of course, there’s no legal basis for the FCC to regulate content on personal servers, and [...]
The future of digital marketing will be built by strategists who grasp the full array of emerging business, social, and technical models. Specialities in user experience, branding, application design, and data are laying the foundation for richer user experiences and business models breakthrough products and revenue based marketing.
UsefulArts is a soapbox to discuss the frontline of digital marketing, and the agencies and platforms that enable it. Marketing today needs a cadre of leaders who can connect c-level enterprise strategy with these new capabilities.