January 2011
42 posts
6 tags
Amazon to Compete with Netflix?
First reported on Engadget, rumors are swirling that Amazon is set to launch an unlimited video streaming service (similar to Netflix) for its Amazon Prime members. For those who are not familiar with what an Amazon Prime account entails, for $79 a year it gives you free 2-day shipping on almost any item sold directly from Amazon and a sizable discount on overnight shipping, as well. A Netflix...
12 tags
word. daily. (january 31, 2011)
Diners Beware: Upon checking in to a restaurant on Foursquare, Max Stoller developed DontEat.at, a system that would warn you if the restaurant has health violations.
Mysterious Letters: Artists Lenka Clayton and Michael Crowe are on a mission to write a handwritten letter to everyone in the world. They have 6,825,898,913. No sweat.
What Does @ Mean? If you haven’t seen it...
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Learning the "Internet Machine" with Internet...
Beyond our current world of BlackBerries, laptops, Twitter and Facebook, there’s a generation of people who have never owned or used a personal computer. I know it’s kind of hard to imagine our society without those common conveniences, but our grandparents — and even some of our parents — are perfect examples of people who find it difficult to live in the digital age,...
7 tags
word. daily. (january 28, 2011)
The Shorter Thesaurus: Built for Twitter, Thsrs gives users shorter options for a word so one can fit everything in a Tweet.
Melting Hang Tags: To eliminate the use of paper and waste from clothing tags, Sangbyum Kim designed, Melt Tags – a hang tag that will disappear in the wash. Perhaps even cooler – it releases a soap-like substance which cleans the garment of the chemicals and...
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Tweet of the Union
With more and more Americans watching television on demand at their leisure, Twitter and Facebook have helped keep live TV relevant. The opportunity to post your comments in realtime enhances the social aspect of TV-watching, whether it’s a political debate, awards show, Jersey Shore or even Super Bowl commercials. You might be sitting at home by yourself, but you can still feel like...
13 tags
word. daily. (january 27, 2011)
Getting Personal: Last year, the C-Town grocery store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, debuted a Tumblr. Over the last 12 months, they have been showing off their tech savvy skillz by incorporating internet jokes into promotions, participating in memes and Tweeting at customers. Just last week, for the Jets-Steelers game, the store Tweeted at this guy, Pittsburgher-turned-Brooklyn-hipster, to...
10 tags
word. daily. (january 26, 2011)
Gym Pact: A concept gym developed by two Harvard economics students, Gym-Pact, requires members to pay more if they don’t work out. Hitting the gym less than three times a week? Your membership for the month is $100. Pumping iron at least four times a week? Your membership for the month is zilch.
Mute Button for Twitter: A browser extension with the most important function of “muting” ...
12 tags
word. daily. (january 25, 2011)
RL Gang: For the fall children’s line, Ralph Lauren created an online storybook, featuring eight kids on their first day back at school. At any point in the video, you can click on the child’s outfit and see what he or she is wearing. Bonus: It’s narrated by Harry Connick Jr.
Your Network Map: LinkedIn has a new tool that will allow you to visualize your LinkedIn network. With a...
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Life Is a Game at the Gamification Summit
Last week, I flew to sunny, 60-degree San Francisco to attend the first-ever Gamification Summit, a conference dedicated to game mechanics and engagement science. Various speakers and panels (including one featuring our client Zynga) explored how gamification principles can be used to increase loyalty, drive sales or even change the world. I was very impressed by the amount of girl power on...
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Social media tools that work for PR pros
There are a number of tools out there that help us to build out and execute highly targeted and influential campaigns, create detailed measurement reports, and stay in the know about industry news across multiple verticals.
After seeing countless vendor demos, trying various applications, and learning about new tools from my co-workers and friends, here are some that rose to the top for me:
...
8 tags
word. daily. (january 24, 2011)
Do Nothing Challenge: A “zen treatise on computing and a challenge” site Do Nothing for Two Minutes asks visitors to have idle hands for 120 seconds. Can you do it?
Scented Gifts: Unwrapping these gifts will fill the air with the sweet smell of oranges, bananas and watermelons — design agency Happy F&B created wrapping papers printed with scented inks, looking and...
11 tags
word. daily. (completely frivolous edition)
Hello and please enjoy this selection of things that we love for no other reason than that they are cool.
Pop Culture Faces: Tal Spiegel, a graphic designer who, we’re guessing, has a fair amount of time on his hands, made himself a different pop-culture-inspired Facebook profile pic every day for a year.
Jake Gyllenhaal in a Meta T-Shirt: Jake Gyllenhaal in a meta t-shirt (that might be...
7 tags
Forget the Super Bowl, It’s All About LivingSocial...
Can you believe it? BIG Internet group discount site bests other BIG group discount site. By now, you’ve seen the immense coverage bestowed upon LivingSocial this week for offering $20 Amazon gift cards for $10 on Wednesday morning. (Let’s not forget that Amazon invested $175 million in LivingSocial in 2010.) As of yesterday, over 1.3 million gift cards, priced at more than...
8 tags
word. daily. (january 20, 2011)
24 Hours or Bust: On January 31, two students at the University of Leeds will attempt to make a new brand a household name – in 24 hours. Can they do it? Check out their strategy here. Also interesting: back in November, one half of this duo launched a brand per hour.
Zappos Cares: While on the phone with a customer service rep to return some shoes, an unnamed woman starting chatting about her...
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Using Facebook To Shame Drunk Drivers: Yay or Nay?
Even though the laws are strictly enforced, Huntington Beach, Calif. (a coastal suburb of Los Angeles), has a high rate of drunk driving. According to an article from the Daily News, the town had 1,687 DUI arrests in 2009. Councilman Devin Dwyer recently proposed an out-of-the-ordinary solution to the problem – public shaming via Facebook. Dwyer wanted to start posting mugshots of anyone who has...
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Social Media Crisis Response Made Easy
Why do we, as an industry, conduct media training, develop fact sheets and FAQ documents, build out contingency plans, and provide backgrounders to our clients at the outset of campaigns and relationships?
It comes down to being ready for the unexpected, and the same goes for PR firms that are managing and building out clients’ presences in the social media space.
Fast forward to a social...
9 tags
word. daily. (january 19, 2011)
Mark by Mark Zuckerberg: Mark Zuckerberg was recently on Esquire’s list of worst-dressed celebs – but that didn’t stop blogger Nathan from creating this e-shop, based on the clothes that Zuckerberg typically dons.
Real Life Pac-Man: Scientists at Stanford have remade Pac-Man using living microorganisms (in true Pac-Man colors, too) that you can really control via...
7 tags
Sorel's Virtual Bear Hunt
As the snow, rain and sleet continues to pour down on New Yorkers, it also seems like the rest of the United States can relate, with 49 out of 50 states going through the same thing. During these harsh winter times, it’s hard to think about fashion and looking good when all you want to do is throw on something that will keep you warm and dry. This is where the amazing folks over at Sorel footwear...
6 tags
PR Mentoring Is a Two-Way Street
When I graduated from college in 2006, I wasn’t sure of the direction I wanted to go in my career.
Considering the technological landscape at the time, I came up with the idea of training baby boomers and the elderly about how to use technology, from computers to digital cameras and smartphones. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get my business off the ground, but the concept was on the...
5 tags
word. january.
New year, same us! Here at “word.” we’ll still be churning out thought starters, just like we did in 2010. We hope you enjoy our latest installment!
http://www.mbooth.com/word/
And don’t forget to check back tomorrow, as we’ll be back with “word. daily.”
— Andrew & Lauren
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Like, Comment and Even Shop JCPenney on Facebook
The next frontier of social shopping has arrived! While retailers have been capitalizing on the thriving communities within Facebook and Twitter for enhanced customer engagement, our client JCPenney’s customers are now able to purchase items directly from the company’s Facebook fan page, without having to click through to jcp.com! The “Shop” tab on the Facebook page is what lets...
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Reading Made Easy - Your Picks Sent Directly to...
If you’re like me, you enjoy reading (even though I still read hard-copy books, not Kindle or iPad variations of novels) but your tastes run the gamut and when you step into a bookstore, it is hard to leave with any less than five books in your hands. Now there is a great way to be armed with options prior to hitting the bookstore (or Amazon).
Any New Books? is a website where you can...
12 tags
word. daily. (january 14, 2011)
Whose Spinning Tonight?: DJ Pedro, how do you feel about this? DJtxt allows guests to cue their own tunes via text message. Working in conjunction with Grooveshark, DJtxt gives you a code to pass out to guests, allowing them to send artists and songs to your “virtual jukebox.”
Much Ado About Window Displays: Check out this interactive shopping window – passersby control the movement in ...
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Wait for the Bus in a Giant Oven
I am obsessed with this advertising stunt by Caribou Coffee, a coffee shop with locations in 15 states. To promote its new breakfast sandwiches, the company transformed Minneapolis bus stops into giant ovens, complete with functional heat lamps that look like oven coils.
Other than keeping bus-riders warm while they wait and making passersby do a double-take, I bet this campaign will go viral...
5 tags
word. daily. (january 13, 2011)
Tongue-in-cheek Birkin: LA-based label Thursday Friday makes a canvas tote bag with a printed image of the coveted Hermes Birkin bag on the side. They scanned each surface of the original bag and then reprinted on the canvas.
Google Translator: Google debuted “conversation mode” on the latest version of Google Translate for the Android – speak into your phone in one language and the app...
6 tags
Not Sure What To Buy? Turn To The Wall…
Great news for the gal or guy who always needs a friend’s input before making a purchase — Cloud Shopper makes it easy to get that all-important second opinion by asking your Facebook friends to review products you’re interested in purchasing. Whether it’s finding the perfect gift or deciding on the best digital camera, you can share a list of potential items with your friends and get...
6 tags
Not Sure What To Buy? Turn To The Wall…
Great news for the gal or guy who always needs a friend’s input before making a purchase. Cloud Shopper makes it easy to get that all important second opinion by asking your Facebook friends to review products you’re interested in purchasing. Whether it’s finding the perfect gift or deciding on the best digital camera, you can share a list of potential items with your friends and get instant yays...
4 tags
The iPhone Finally Comes to Verizon
Buzz about the iPhone coming to Verizon has been around for years, but now it’s the real deal! For those of you that don’t know, AT&T will no long be the exclusive carrier for possibly the most complex phone on the market. Verizon Wireless will offer its customers a chance to buy the iPhone for use on its network, starting February 10.
However, for those of you that just heard of the news...
11 tags
word. daily. (january 12, 2011)
Harvesting Body Heat: The largest train station in Sweden, Central Station, uses the body heat from the passengers passing through to heat the building across the street.
Garage Sale: Outdoorsy retailer REI holds a semi-annual “garage sale.” It takes all the returned merchandise, which is otherwise unsellable (but still okay for use) and sells it, complete with little notes like, “We...
10 tags
word. daily. (1.11.11)
Single Rainbow: College professor and artist Michael Jones McKean has made a machine that generates rainbows that can reach two stories high. This summer, it will be installed at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, which is not in Kansas.
Mappiness: As a part of her research project at the London School of Economics, Liz Danzico is mapping happiness to better understand how people’s ...
11 tags
word. daily. (january 10, 2011)
Four Loko-motive: All unopened Four Loko drinks will be recycled into ethanol – How. About. That.
Blacklist Fish: In an effort to “bring awareness to some of the inherent complexity that exists within sustainability in the seafood industry,” a Legal Seafoods location in Boston will be serving “blacklisted” fish.
Urinal Games, Seriously: Sega has been installing...
7 tags
Foursquare Badges Come to Life at CES
Because of Foursquare, we now know that thousands of people (including M Booth Digisquad members Rob, Andrew, Frani and Tom) are in Las Vegas right now at Las Vegas Convention Center for the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show anxiously waiting to hear about the latest advances – both large and small – in the tech industry.
Foursquare, the location-based, mobile application and social game, is turning...
5 tags
word. daily. (january 7, 2011)
Mirco-Volunteers: Encouraging people to put their spare time to use is Mirco-Volunteers – a site the urges the public to help out from their computers. An example: during the earthquake in Haiti, volunteers would sift through photos to help identify missing people.
Corpse Collabs: To encourage people to explore their creative side, BK creative agency Big Spaceship launched Corpsify – an...
10 tags
word. daily. (january 6, 2011)
Going, Going, Gone!: What would it cost you to volunteer your seat on a flight? Delta asks this question at their new kiosks – read up on how they are auctioning off flight bumps to the lowest bidders here.
This Gift Ain’t Yours: Spanish ad agency Honest&Smile created “This Gift Ain’t Yours,” a project where the agency has scattered 500 USB sticks around Madrid and asks people to add...
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Has Quora Reached Its Tipping Point?
Yesterday, Alyssa sent two articles to the DigiSquad about Quora, and the more digging I did around the tool, the more interested I became.
According to the about page on Quora:
Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for...
9 tags
Has Quora Reached Its Tipping Point?
Yesterday, Alyssa sent two articles to the DigiSquad about Quora, and the more digging I did around the tool, the more interested I became. According to the About page on the Quora site:
Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible...
11 tags
word. daily. (january 5, 2011)
Order of Mug: What would you say the price of mystery is? We think it’s around $20. Order from Order of Mug and you will get a random, unique mug sent to you.
Your Life, Graphed: Check out Daytum, an app that will organize your “life data” in a clean interface. Plug in how many cups of coffee you drank, how many times you’ve said the word “word.” in a day –- pretty much anything –- and the...
7 tags
I Don't Like Sleep and That's a Facto!
Remember in early 2009 when Facebook exploded with that trend of writing 25 random things about yourself? I found the trend somewhat annoying, so I never filled it out. And like most trends, it went away eventually, but not after a few months where I learned far too many unnecessary things about my friends.
So when I saw a few tweets mentioning Facto.me, I was intrigued to learn more about the...
11 tags
word. daily. (january 4, 2011)
The Santa Claw: Real Art Design Group claims that “the fat man,” known to most as Santa, sends them the leftover Christmas gifts. This year, the group gave those gifts a home in The Santa Claw -– a claw game (you know, the ones you never win) that you can operate straight from your computer –- and you’ll get sent a real prize if you grab one!
Creative Facebook: Have you seen the cool...
8 tags
word. daily. (january 3, 2011)
Wooden Notes: Putting a spin on your average sticky note, two architects in Japan take the wood waste from the houses the build, turn it into paper and make sticky notes (they even stack them to look like little houses)!
Best Ad in the World: An ad for Carlsberg beer in Dutch sports magazine Menzo also opens a bottle of beer. See for yourself here.
Train of Thought: For their graduation...