FWD Thinking

What's on the mind of the
M Booth & Associates
FirstWord Digital team

FWD is:

Alyssa	Andrea	Andréa
Andrew	Danny	Elise
Jessica	Josh	Kelly
Maria	Michelle	Rebecca
	Sally

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Thu Nov 5

If you Googled anything today, you might have noticed there’s a familiar blue monster with a sweet tooth chomping on the search bar! In honor of Sesame Street’s upcoming 40th anniversary, Google has dedicated its “Google Doodles” to characters from the show — rumor has it, there will be a different character adorning the Google logo each day until the actual anniversary on Tuesday. Yesterday it was Big Bird, and today it’s Cookie Monster. I hope Bert and Ernie are next — they were always my personal favorites!

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - TV - Google

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Tue Nov 3

You know those annoying FreeCreditReport.com commercials with the guitar-playing guy singing a catchy song about how you can easily check your credit report online? Well, it turns out that FreeCreditReport.com isn’t exactly free (who’da thunk it, with the word “free” in the name and all?). When you sign up to receive your credit report, you have to provide your credit card information, and if you don’t call and cancel within 7 days (and they don’t make it easy for you — I’ve done it), your card is charged $15 per month.

Apparently, many people have been reeled in by the catchy jingle and charged for their supposedly “free” credit report. Now, the FTC is fighting back with their own online videos — complete with a guitar-wielding dude and catchy jingles — to promote AnnualCreditReport.com, which is actually 100% free. The videos are spot-on parodies, and it’s very clever of the FTC to give them a dose of their own medicine.

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - video - government - advertising

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Mon Nov 2

Twitter Lists: Helpful or Exclusionary?

If you’ve logged into Twitter.com since Friday, you may have noticed an announcement at the top of your homepage that a new feature called Twitter Lists has now been rolled out to all Twitter users (some especially active users got a sneak preview a couple weeks ago). You can now create various groupings of Twitter users that you follow, and share these lists with others. This is a great way to discover new people to follow or organize the people you already follow into various buckets.

It’s also another way to show a user’s influence, but some users — like social media influencer Chris Brogan — worry that the tool is exclusionary and contributes to the “popularity contest” mentality that pervades Twitter (meanwhile, his fellow influencer Robert Scoble thinks those people are crybabies). I’ve been added to 15 lists so far, and thankfully none of those are entitled “Jerks.”

Whether you love or hate the new Lists tool, we’ve created a list of M Boothers on Twitter, for your following ease.

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - Twitter - applications - M Booth

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Thu Oct 22

Track Me in the Air with Lufthansa's MySkyStatus

By the time you read this, I should be boarding my plane and kicking off my vacation to Prague and Budapest! I recently heard about Lufthansa’s new MySkyStatus tool, which tracks your airplane’s journey and posts your flight status to Twitter and Facebook automatically, so I figured I’d try it out. (I’m flying Delta, but Lufthansa will track your flight on any airline, not just its own.) I know this will give my worried mom some peace of mind while I’m traveling. Check out my Twitter page to see if Lufthansa is mentioning the places I’m flying over — hope it works!

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - travel - applications - Twitter - Facebook

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Tue Oct 20

Woman Sues Toyota Over 'Terrifying' Prank

I feel kind of bad for laughing at this story, but it is a pretty hilarious example of what happens when creative “viral” marketing goes wrong. A woman in Los Angeles is suing Toyota for a campaign executed by Saatchi & Saatchi, in which people were nominated to be pranked by their friends.

Amber Duick claims she had difficulty eating, sleeping and going to work during March and April of last year after she received e-mails for five days from a fictitious man called Sebastian Bowler, from England, who said he was on the run from the law, knew her and where she lived, and was coming to her home to hide from the police.

I’m not really sure what this campaign even has to do with the Toyota Matrix, which it was supposedly promoting, but it scared the poor girl so much, “she even made her longtime boyfriend sleep with a club and mace next to the bed for protection.” (It kind of makes me wonder how she would have reacted if she had received one of the Frenzied Waters packages promoting Shark Week, complete with her own obituary.) What do you think, is Amber a dingbat who can’t take a joke and wants to make some extra cash, or did the marketing folk go too far?

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - marketing - campaigns - viral

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Fri Oct 16

Broadband Internet is Now a Legal Right in Finland

Finland, which I realized I know absolutely nothing about, has become the first country to declare that high-speed broadband Internet access is a legal right, just like water or electricity. About 95 percent of Finland’s 5.2 million citizens already have some kind of Internet access, but telecom companies will soon be required to provide everyone with a connection of at least 1 Mbps.

Meanwhile, our country is the only industrialized nation without a national policy to promote high-speed broadband and many Americans in rural areas struggle to get online. About 57% of urban households, 60% of suburban households and only 38% of rural households subscribe to broadband. At this point, I can’t even comprehend how someone could survive in American without Internet access. Maybe those Nordic folk have the right idea.

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - internet - politics

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Tue Oct 13

Someecards Launches Invites

These days, if you’re throwing a party, you probably just create a Facebook event to let all your friends know about it. But sometimes, if it’s a secret event that you don’t want the uninvited to know about, you might venture over to that old relic Evite and send out a stealth invitation, complete with hokey theme and annoying login requirements. However, now you have a better alternative, since the best e-card site in the world, Someecards, just launched an Invites section.

Within the next few weeks, the new tool will allow you to turn any Someecard into an invitation and send it to friends, who will be able to comment on the “Party Wall” and respond to the invitations with Someecards of their own. This would also be a great opportunity for brands who want to get in front of Someecard’s young, hip target demographic to advertise via sponsored e-cards/Invites, like Jose Cuervo and Puma have previously done. Eventually, the site plans to add Facebook Connect to integrate the invites with Facebook as well. Now you only have to hope that the party itself is as cool as the invitation.

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - applications - brands - Facebook - events

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Thu Oct 8

Beginning next Friday, visitors to the Estee Lauder counter at Bloomingdale’s here in New York will be able to get a free makeover and photo shoot, and can instantly use the branded photo as their social networking profile photos. The photographer will provide the makeover recipient with a hard copy of the photo (with the Estee Lauder logo in the background) and e-mail it to her, so she can instantly upload it to her online profiles.The promotion will also expand to other stores in select major cities.

This is an incredibly genius idea, because everyone wants to look their best in photos, and social networks have become popular among Lauder’s target demographic of middle-aged women, but this will also help draw a younger audience to the makeup counters. This photo could be used on any site from Facebook to Twitter to dating sites like Match.com, spreading the word about Estee Lauder throughout the Internet.

So…anyone up for a trip to Bloomingdale’s? Our photos over on the right side of the page could use a little sprucing up!

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - social networks - promotions - photos

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Wed Oct 7

Last night, Maria, Andrea, Andréa and I attended the October New York Tech Meetup — you can see a replay of all the presentations above. The city’s Deputy Mayor of Economic Development showed up to talk about the NYC BigApps competition, coincidentally just a few hours after we blogged about it. The company that’s running the competition for the city, ChallengePost, also presented about their own product, which is very cool. Other than that, we saw demonstrations from the following companies:

CloudContacts: Give them all the business cards you’ve accumulated, and they will put all the data online for you, providing you with downloadable lists of contacts and linking the virtual business cards with the people’s social networking profiles. One of their clients gave them 12,000 business cards to catalog! Wonder how long that will take.

SetJam: Aims to offer access to every TV show and movie available online, by linking to both paid (Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand) and free video sources.

Postling: Helps businesses (and people) organize their social media presences by aggregating blogs, Twitter and Facebook status into one interface and allowing you to post to multiple platforms at once.

Regroup: Helps organizations manage their communications (e-mail newsletters, text messages, social media) by aggregating them into one interface and allowing you to post to multiple outlets at once. During the Q&A, someone asked how this was different from Postling, and I agree that they really were too similar to present consecutively at the same NYTM. It’s better to mix it up!

Tagnic: Allows Twitter users to tag people with a plus sign (such as +jaunty) and adds that tag to their Tagnic profile. They said they haven’t had any problems with people tagging others with negative or offensive tags…yet.

AnyClip: Compiles movie clips into an elaborately-tagged database, allowing users to search for a wide variety of scenes. The audience-suggested searches during the demo were a little awkward — the search “food fight” brought up a scene from The Shawshank Redemption, for some reason — but they’ve only been around for four months and are still growing.

However, the highlight of the NYTM for me was a hilarious video presentation from OMGICU (which we have previously blogged about), launching their Twacy.org campaign to get Tracy Morgan to join Twitter. If you’re so inclined, you can also check out my live-twittered thoughts from throughout the event.

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - events - NYTM - applications

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Tue Oct 6

Big Ups to NYC BigApps

Today, the City of New York launched a software development competition called NYC BigApps, with the goal of making the city “more transparent, accessible and accountable, and an easier place to live, work and play.” The city’s Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications gathered over 170 datasets for the competition, including geographic locations of points of interest, census data, property valuation, events and traffic information.

The submitted apps will be judged on their benefit to the city, originality, visual appeal, effect on data accessibility and transparency, and commercial potential. The grand prize is $5,000, plus dinner with Mayor Bloomberg. I hope the people who developed the incredibly cool UpNext iPhone app will enter!

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - mobile - applications - contests

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Mon Oct 5

You may have heard of this new thing called Google Wave — it was a trending topic on Twitter last week, and people all over the Internet have been begging for invites to access the private beta version — but you might not know exactly what it’s all about. At this point, nobody really does. But this easy-to-follow video has a super simple explanation that can help you begin to wrap your head around it.

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - Google - applications

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Wed Sep 30

So, some of you may have noticed that our lovely little blog is hosted by Tumblr, whereas others may be thinking, “Isn’t that what I drink The Macallan out of?” Tumblr is a platform for tumblelogs (also sometimes called microblogs), which are basically just shorter-form blogs. Tumblr was founded in 2007, and we have been using it for FWD Thinking since May 2008. As far as we know, we’re the only PR agency that hosts its blog on the platform, as it seems that Tumblr has gotten a bad rap as “not good for business.”
In the span of its short life, Tumblr has become known as the territory of urban hipsters who post photos of themselves every Wednesday and create themed blogs that eventually get book deals. But what it comes down to is that it’s just a platform. There are actually a wide variety of bloggers on Tumblr, and not all of them are wearing skinny jeans. I’m a huge Tumblr evangelist, because its one of the most forward-thinking, innovative blog platforms out there, and it just keeps evolving.
Plus, Tumblr is ahead of the curve in two developing Web trends — brevity and sociability. Especially due to the popularity of Twitter, people are moving away from long-form blogs and instead sharing briefer updates through microblogging or lifestreaming. I think people often become overwhelmed with the thought and the time it takes to write a long blog post, so they don’t post at all rather than posting shorter updates throughout the day or week.
In addition, almost every Web service these days is introducing a social aspect, whether it’s sharing, following or liking. I believe Tumblr was the first blogging platform to allow you to “follow” other bloggers and easily repost (“reblog”) their content, but Blogger implemented following capabilities soon after. There’s even a new tumblelog competitor on the scene called Posterous, but I remain devoted to the original.
I hope the misconception that Tumblr is not appropriate for hosting business blogs will soon change — and I think it will, now that companies like Newsweek, BlackBook and the Travel Channel are jumping on board. If you know of any other corporate Tumblrs, please let us know in the comments. Who knows, maybe they’ll inspire you to start your own!
—Alyssa

So, some of you may have noticed that our lovely little blog is hosted by Tumblr, whereas others may be thinking, “Isn’t that what I drink The Macallan out of?” Tumblr is a platform for tumblelogs (also sometimes called microblogs), which are basically just shorter-form blogs. Tumblr was founded in 2007, and we have been using it for FWD Thinking since May 2008. As far as we know, we’re the only PR agency that hosts its blog on the platform, as it seems that Tumblr has gotten a bad rap as “not good for business.”

In the span of its short life, Tumblr has become known as the territory of urban hipsters who post photos of themselves every Wednesday and create themed blogs that eventually get book deals. But what it comes down to is that it’s just a platform. There are actually a wide variety of bloggers on Tumblr, and not all of them are wearing skinny jeans. I’m a huge Tumblr evangelist, because its one of the most forward-thinking, innovative blog platforms out there, and it just keeps evolving.

Plus, Tumblr is ahead of the curve in two developing Web trends — brevity and sociability. Especially due to the popularity of Twitter, people are moving away from long-form blogs and instead sharing briefer updates through microblogging or lifestreaming. I think people often become overwhelmed with the thought and the time it takes to write a long blog post, so they don’t post at all rather than posting shorter updates throughout the day or week.

In addition, almost every Web service these days is introducing a social aspect, whether it’s sharing, following or liking. I believe Tumblr was the first blogging platform to allow you to “follow” other bloggers and easily repost (“reblog”) their content, but Blogger implemented following capabilities soon after. There’s even a new tumblelog competitor on the scene called Posterous, but I remain devoted to the original.

I hope the misconception that Tumblr is not appropriate for hosting business blogs will soon change — and I think it will, now that companies like Newsweek, BlackBook and the Travel Channel are jumping on board. If you know of any other corporate Tumblrs, please let us know in the comments. Who knows, maybe they’ll inspire you to start your own!

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - blogs - bloggers - Twitter

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Kraft Foods in Australia has decided to change the name of its new Vegemite-and-cream-cheese product after the recent uproar over the new name iSnack 2.0. The company originally crowdsourced the name by asking more than 48,000 people to submit a name for the product online. An Australian web developer submitted the hokey, 2001-esque name “iSnack 2.0” as a joke, and lo and behold, it won! The original Vegemite name was chosen through a similar competition in the 1920s, although snarky web developers didn’t exist back then.
I’m not even going to delve into the question of the actual product — every time my Aussie boyfriend makes a Vegemite and toasted cheese sandwich, the aroma alone makes me nauseous! The Awl suggests it may be made “from the carcasses of diseased koalas,” which is actually entirely plausible. The company decided to create the new cream cheese hybrid spread after finding that people spread about 13 grams of the creamier Vegemite on a piece of toast, versus five grams of the traditional version. All I have to say is, thank goodness they don’t sell The Spread Formerly Known As iSnack 2.0 in the States!
—Alyssa

Kraft Foods in Australia has decided to change the name of its new Vegemite-and-cream-cheese product after the recent uproar over the new name iSnack 2.0. The company originally crowdsourced the name by asking more than 48,000 people to submit a name for the product online. An Australian web developer submitted the hokey, 2001-esque name “iSnack 2.0” as a joke, and lo and behold, it won! The original Vegemite name was chosen through a similar competition in the 1920s, although snarky web developers didn’t exist back then.

I’m not even going to delve into the question of the actual product — every time my Aussie boyfriend makes a Vegemite and toasted cheese sandwich, the aroma alone makes me nauseous! The Awl suggests it may be made “from the carcasses of diseased koalas,” which is actually entirely plausible. The company decided to create the new cream cheese hybrid spread after finding that people spread about 13 grams of the creamier Vegemite on a piece of toast, versus five grams of the traditional version. All I have to say is, thank goodness they don’t sell The Spread Formerly Known As iSnack 2.0 in the States!

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - crowdsourcing - branding - contests

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Mon Sep 28

If I was forced to adhere to Patrick Moberg’s New Media Workout Plan, my upper body strength would be out of control (due to my Twitter and Tumblr addictions). However, maybe that would be a good thing.
—Alyssa

If I was forced to adhere to Patrick Moberg’s New Media Workout Plan, my upper body strength would be out of control (due to my Twitter and Tumblr addictions). However, maybe that would be a good thing.

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - social media - Twitter - blogs

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Tue Sep 22

Big news for math nerds everywhere! Texas Instruments just released an iPhone application that does everything its BA-II Plus financial calculator does, right on your phone, and costs about half the price of the actual calculator. I wonder if an iPhone app for the TI-83 Plus — calculator of choice for miserable high-school math students — will be next. (Mine was covered in stickers and had my name written on it in Wite-Out, to prevent theft! Also, I mostly used it to play games, which is why I’m in PR and not accounting.)
I’m guessing no, since those things cost about $100 and are on the back-to-school shopping list of every student in the country. Plus, it would be hard for teachers to monitor for cheating and/or clandestine text-messaging if students were allowed to play with their iPhones in class.
—Alyssa

Big news for math nerds everywhere! Texas Instruments just released an iPhone application that does everything its BA-II Plus financial calculator does, right on your phone, and costs about half the price of the actual calculator. I wonder if an iPhone app for the TI-83 Plus — calculator of choice for miserable high-school math students — will be next. (Mine was covered in stickers and had my name written on it in Wite-Out, to prevent theft! Also, I mostly used it to play games, which is why I’m in PR and not accounting.)

I’m guessing no, since those things cost about $100 and are on the back-to-school shopping list of every student in the country. Plus, it would be hard for teachers to monitor for cheating and/or clandestine text-messaging if students were allowed to play with their iPhones in class.

—Alyssa

Tags - Alyssa - mobile - applications

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