Tretakoff Musings
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The NFL...Remixed.
Very savvy move by NFL.com: today, they promote a feature that lets football fans create their own highlight packages, complete with video, classic sound, and graphics. This type of loosening of the tightly controlled ties is what makes fans excited, and gets viral.
The only miss? An easy, visible way to share your videos as embeds on your site. Sure, it's free, so they want to drive traffic to NFL.com to view, but we already have YouTibe; do we not realize there is a market level of expectation?
That aside, I'm damn impressed. And kudos for the classic NFL Films soundtracks to boot!
Very savvy move by NFL.com: today, they promote a feature that lets football fans create their own highlight packages, complete with video, classic sound, and graphics. This type of loosening of the tightly controlled ties is what makes fans excited, and gets viral. The only miss? An easy, visible way to share your videos as embeds on your site. Sure, it's free, so they want to drive traffic to NFL.com to view, but we already have YouTibe; do we not realize there is a market level of expectation?
That aside, I'm damn impressed. And kudos for the classic NFL Films soundtracks to boot!
Android...Maybe We're Still in Robot?
In case you missed the Apple-like hubbub today, Google, HTC and T-Mobile unveiled the first Google Android-powered cell phone, the G1. On first glance, it looks very good: it takes cues from the successful phones on the market today, but improves. For instance, it includes a slide out keyboard, so Blackberry users who might have coveted an iPhone, but could not adapt to the screen based keyboard, should be happy. And it smartly integrates with Amazon's music store, so you can finally be free of the Apple imposed iTunes ecosystem, if you want music on your phone.
There are definitely some warning, signs, though, as illustrated in the chart from Gizmodo. For one, the price is deceptive. Yes, it costs $179, $20 less than the iPhone, but it only comes with 1GB of storage. Yes, it expands with additional memory cards, but that's an additional cost. Are you seriously telling me that you are launching an "iPhone-killer," without enough capacity to handle even the smallest library? Ouch.
Second, it does not have Exchange support, or even a migration path towards Exchange. Now, the 1st gen iPhone lasted a whole year without that, so you could argue that the market is already proven for that. But remember: when the iPhone launched, there was no other dominant media player phone. Now, launching a phone in this space, the early adopters have already gone for the iPhone; the hardcore smartphone users only started to migrate when Exchange support came. That means you have two strikes on you before you enter the market.
Finally, and this one baffles me, no true syncing. Yes, you can sync your Google contacts and calendar with Gmail and Google Calendar in a push fashion (very cool, by the way), but you can't sync the phone to a desktop. Transferring media and applications will be restricted to other cloud services or nonexistent. I'm a big hater of iTunes, but it does answer the question of how to sync to the desktop. The right move here, in my opinion, is to have Google whip up a web-based app to sync to the Amazon S3 powered cloud, ASAP. One touch backup and management. Look, you have until late October to get this done; market it as a beta, and sell ads on the space to make some $!
I haven't touched upon the fact that it's T-Mobile only, as that's too easy to pick on. I do think that the open-source nature will be the killer for this phone: watching Apple arbitrarily choke applications in the App Store with no explanation or communication will absolutely drive customers crazy. If Android offers a "Switch" campaign, with an easy way to get ported over, in 6-12 months, I see this as a way to get the early adopters onboard.
In any case, it does look like they thought a lot through. The taskbar at the top of the screen is incredibly smart and intuitive, as is the sync to Google applications. Let's hope they innovate like hell now, and bring some true market pressure to Apple.
In case you missed the Apple-like hubbub today, Google, HTC and T-Mobile unveiled the first Google Android-powered cell phone, the G1. On first glance, it looks very good: it takes cues from the successful phones on the market today, but improves. For instance, it includes a slide out keyboard, so Blackberry users who might have coveted an iPhone, but could not adapt to the screen based keyboard, should be happy. And it smartly integrates with Amazon's music store, so you can finally be free of the Apple imposed iTunes ecosystem, if you want music on your phone.There are definitely some warning, signs, though, as illustrated in the chart from Gizmodo. For one, the price is deceptive. Yes, it costs $179, $20 less than the iPhone, but it only comes with 1GB of storage. Yes, it expands with additional memory cards, but that's an additional cost. Are you seriously telling me that you are launching an "iPhone-killer," without enough capacity to handle even the smallest library? Ouch. Second, it does not have Exchange support, or even a migration path towards Exchange. Now, the 1st gen iPhone lasted a whole year without that, so you could argue that the market is already proven for that. But remember: when the iPhone launched, there was no other dominant media player phone. Now, launching a phone in this space, the early adopters have already gone for the iPhone; the hardcore smartphone users only started to migrate when Exchange support came. That means you have two strikes on you before you enter the market.
Finally, and this one baffles me, no true syncing. Yes, you can sync your Google contacts and calendar with Gmail and Google Calendar in a push fashion (very cool, by the way), but you can't sync the phone to a desktop. Transferring media and applications will be restricted to other cloud services or nonexistent. I'm a big hater of iTunes, but it does answer the question of how to sync to the desktop. The right move here, in my opinion, is to have Google whip up a web-based app to sync to the Amazon S3 powered cloud, ASAP. One touch backup and management. Look, you have until late October to get this done; market it as a beta, and sell ads on the space to make some $!
I haven't touched upon the fact that it's T-Mobile only, as that's too easy to pick on. I do think that the open-source nature will be the killer for this phone: watching Apple arbitrarily choke applications in the App Store with no explanation or communication will absolutely drive customers crazy. If Android offers a "Switch" campaign, with an easy way to get ported over, in 6-12 months, I see this as a way to get the early adopters onboard.
In any case, it does look like they thought a lot through. The taskbar at the top of the screen is incredibly smart and intuitive, as is the sync to Google applications. Let's hope they innovate like hell now, and bring some true market pressure to Apple.
Labels: Apple, cell phones, Google
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The Nation's #1 Retailer is The #1 Network
Walmart didn't get to be the nation's #1 retailer by accident: besides being brutal negotiators with suppliers and a carpet bomb approach to opening new stores, they also have always looked to embrace new technology. With the launch of their "Smart Network," they have take the game up a notch: multimedia displays in aisles carry custom Walmart programming via the Internet, allowing them to change media content on the fly. Why, you ask? Simple: the more relevant content, the more you buy.
Here's an example: it's football season, and they want to promote Frito-Lay products. Walk down the snack aisle, and see the current scores from the games and headlines from the football news. Or, as Retail Wire points out:
Don't confuse this with the new TV channels at the checkouts they feature; those are like comparing a pocket calculator to an iPhone. No, this is a serious tech assault. Want to be a little scared? Walmart was one of the largest companies to insist on RFID tags in all merchandise; these tags broadcast small coded radio signals to allow them to be scanned for inventory and checkout purposes. Now, imagine the Smart Network has an RFID reader and can scan what you have in your cart; it can actually change the programming of the screen nearest to you to reflect complimentary products or promote products from the same manufacturer in that aisle. Talk about personalized shopping!
Walmart didn't get to be the nation's #1 retailer by accident: besides being brutal negotiators with suppliers and a carpet bomb approach to opening new stores, they also have always looked to embrace new technology. With the launch of their "Smart Network," they have take the game up a notch: multimedia displays in aisles carry custom Walmart programming via the Internet, allowing them to change media content on the fly. Why, you ask? Simple: the more relevant content, the more you buy.Here's an example: it's football season, and they want to promote Frito-Lay products. Walk down the snack aisle, and see the current scores from the games and headlines from the football news. Or, as Retail Wire points out:
For instance, the network can show promotions based on weather conditions. Soup may be promoted if it's raining outside the store, said Clint McClain, Walmart's senior director of emerging media. Ads may promote barbeque items if it's going to be eighty degrees on Saturday. Promotions might also be arranged around local events, such as a nearby college football game. The network also offers different items depending on the time of the day. For example, promoting frozen pizza at 5:00 p.m. has already proven to be a big winner with moms looking for an easy dinner for their kids. At 10:00 a.m., the ads showed no lift.
Mr. McClain likened this greater promotional flexibility to how "umbrella stores suddenly pop up" when it rains in New York City.
Don't confuse this with the new TV channels at the checkouts they feature; those are like comparing a pocket calculator to an iPhone. No, this is a serious tech assault. Want to be a little scared? Walmart was one of the largest companies to insist on RFID tags in all merchandise; these tags broadcast small coded radio signals to allow them to be scanned for inventory and checkout purposes. Now, imagine the Smart Network has an RFID reader and can scan what you have in your cart; it can actually change the programming of the screen nearest to you to reflect complimentary products or promote products from the same manufacturer in that aisle. Talk about personalized shopping!
Pulse...Yahoo Style?
I've bitched about how I don't really like Facebook here before, as well as embracing Twitter and Plaxo. The latter is really great to me, as I can see a consolidated view of my friends' updates, sparing me from having to log into separate sites. Although Plaxo has an iPhone-enabled web version, it has not been quite as easy to catch up on the road, though.
Yahoo, of all people, has actually taken a pretty good first step, with Yahoo oneConnect for the iPhone. Simple, actually: download the app from iTunes, and it scans your iPhone's address book. Then, enter your credentials on sites like Flickr, Twitter and Facebook, and it pulls all of the updates from those sites into a single consolidated view. Nice.
My only complaint? The consolidated view is called "Pulse." Um...this is clearly the trademark that Plaxo has claimed, so we are headed for some legal wrangling. Worse, this naming puts Yahoo in an adversarial position with Plaxo, so I won't see Plaxo Pulse updates on oneConnect anytime soon. C'mon, Yahoo: I know you've lost a ton of execs lately, but you couldn't come up with a new word? Flow? Stream? Even Lifeline? Sheesh. Glad the technology exceeds the poor imagination.
Yahoo, of all people, has actually taken a pretty good first step, with Yahoo oneConnect for the iPhone. Simple, actually: download the app from iTunes, and it scans your iPhone's address book. Then, enter your credentials on sites like Flickr, Twitter and Facebook, and it pulls all of the updates from those sites into a single consolidated view. Nice.My only complaint? The consolidated view is called "Pulse." Um...this is clearly the trademark that Plaxo has claimed, so we are headed for some legal wrangling. Worse, this naming puts Yahoo in an adversarial position with Plaxo, so I won't see Plaxo Pulse updates on oneConnect anytime soon. C'mon, Yahoo: I know you've lost a ton of execs lately, but you couldn't come up with a new word? Flow? Stream? Even Lifeline? Sheesh. Glad the technology exceeds the poor imagination.
Labels: iPhone, social networks, Yahoo
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Harnessing Social Media
I'm cautiously optimistic about the approach that businesses are taking with harnessing social media to extend their brands and connect with their customers. Unlike the ham handed ways they have used before (uh...pavilions in Second Life?), They seem to be showing a surprisingly open and organic approach to this new medium. Peter Kim has put together a fairly comprehensive list of what many companies are doing, and the various forms that has already, for me, yielded great results. For instance, here are some of the highlights for me:
- Comcast. Frank from Comcast is a one-man good PR campaign for this much maligned company. Got a problem with an installer? Twitter Frank. Bitching about your reception on Twitter? He's there to direct message you. Want proof? At my company, we recently received scattered reports that Comcast customers were unable to see the sites we host. I pinged Frank, and within minutes, he responded that he was unable to duplicate the problem, but offered to do more research if I sent him more specific info. WOW. Compare that to waiting endlessly on hold. Nice.
- OpenTable. Add their Facebook app, and you can make reservations right where you are usually thinking of them.
- Best Buy. Yep, even this increasingly resented behemoth has figured it out, as the CMO Twitters and blogs. Both were invaluable in the recent "Premier Black" e-mail disaster.
The list goes on, but more and more, I see the blending of the fluidity of social networking putting a face on the traditionally stolid and staid corporate visage. And I have to say, it immediately means more transparency. Hell, even the government is getting the idea: the TSA, one of the most challenging agencies, has been remarkably open in their blog, even to the point of changing policies because of comments made in the blog.
It's a brave new world, and I am thrilled to be livin' in it.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the approach that businesses are taking with harnessing social media to extend their brands and connect with their customers. Unlike the ham handed ways they have used before (uh...pavilions in Second Life?), They seem to be showing a surprisingly open and organic approach to this new medium. Peter Kim has put together a fairly comprehensive list of what many companies are doing, and the various forms that has already, for me, yielded great results. For instance, here are some of the highlights for me:- Comcast. Frank from Comcast is a one-man good PR campaign for this much maligned company. Got a problem with an installer? Twitter Frank. Bitching about your reception on Twitter? He's there to direct message you. Want proof? At my company, we recently received scattered reports that Comcast customers were unable to see the sites we host. I pinged Frank, and within minutes, he responded that he was unable to duplicate the problem, but offered to do more research if I sent him more specific info. WOW. Compare that to waiting endlessly on hold. Nice.
- OpenTable. Add their Facebook app, and you can make reservations right where you are usually thinking of them.
- Best Buy. Yep, even this increasingly resented behemoth has figured it out, as the CMO Twitters and blogs. Both were invaluable in the recent "Premier Black" e-mail disaster.
The list goes on, but more and more, I see the blending of the fluidity of social networking putting a face on the traditionally stolid and staid corporate visage. And I have to say, it immediately means more transparency. Hell, even the government is getting the idea: the TSA, one of the most challenging agencies, has been remarkably open in their blog, even to the point of changing policies because of comments made in the blog.
It's a brave new world, and I am thrilled to be livin' in it.
Labels: business, Comcast, Facebook, social networks
Military Recruiting Gets An Update
Interesting news out of the retail world: the U.S. Army, suffering from poor recruiting and even poor perception, is now trying a new tactic: making the Army cool. Yep, now you can head on over to Sears for the Kenmore washer/dryer, the Martha Stewart housewares, and now the official clothing of the 1st Infantry Division. Not just the military-inspired trend of the 80's, no this is the real deal, complete with real logos and all. The Army has finally figured out they have one of the most recognizable brands in the world, and, combined with the natural sense of invincibility that most teens have, they can get all the free press they want by having their target market proudly become acclimated early.
I would hardly be shocked to find out that a percentage of every sale goes to Donald Rumsfeld's retirement fund.
Interesting news out of the retail world: the U.S. Army, suffering from poor recruiting and even poor perception, is now trying a new tactic: making the Army cool. Yep, now you can head on over to Sears for the Kenmore washer/dryer, the Martha Stewart housewares, and now the official clothing of the 1st Infantry Division. Not just the military-inspired trend of the 80's, no this is the real deal, complete with real logos and all. The Army has finally figured out they have one of the most recognizable brands in the world, and, combined with the natural sense of invincibility that most teens have, they can get all the free press they want by having their target market proudly become acclimated early.I would hardly be shocked to find out that a percentage of every sale goes to Donald Rumsfeld's retirement fund.
Labels: business
Woot...Two Wheeled Style
Now this is a site to add to your RSS feeds: ChainLove comes from the folks at Backcountry.com. While they have done Woot-like sites before for various sports, they have finally gotten around to the cycling community, and ChainLove does not dissatisfactory. With an average discount of more than 40%, they don't stick firmly to the Woot model; instead, they put up a single item, in limited quantities, and when it sells out, up goes another.
So far the selection is definitely slanted more to the women and cold weather items, but there have definitely been some ones I've wished I grabbed. I like this "specialized" Woot evolution: I can see this expanding to all sorts. Heck, Woot themselves already do specialized ones for wine and t-shirts; let's hope for even more selection in the future!
Now this is a site to add to your RSS feeds: ChainLove comes from the folks at Backcountry.com. While they have done Woot-like sites before for various sports, they have finally gotten around to the cycling community, and ChainLove does not dissatisfactory. With an average discount of more than 40%, they don't stick firmly to the Woot model; instead, they put up a single item, in limited quantities, and when it sells out, up goes another.So far the selection is definitely slanted more to the women and cold weather items, but there have definitely been some ones I've wished I grabbed. I like this "specialized" Woot evolution: I can see this expanding to all sorts. Heck, Woot themselves already do specialized ones for wine and t-shirts; let's hope for even more selection in the future!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Not Dead...Just Pirated
Avast, I am not sentenced to Davy Jones Locker...just unusually silent because of travel and work. I plan to make a big dent in the back catalog this weekend, so look forward to a virtual bounty!
And why am I speaking so oddly today? Arr...'tis the magical day of the year. And it's not just me...nay! Google has their own blackhearted version....And Facebook be letting you change your page to pirate speak, as well. Add in the sites letting you upload videos for free (as long as they are pirate-related), and the iPhone app (iTunes link, and you have a treasure worthy of the Spanish Main!
Avast, I am not sentenced to Davy Jones Locker...just unusually silent because of travel and work. I plan to make a big dent in the back catalog this weekend, so look forward to a virtual bounty!And why am I speaking so oddly today? Arr...'tis the magical day of the year. And it's not just me...nay! Google has their own blackhearted version....And Facebook be letting you change your page to pirate speak, as well. Add in the sites letting you upload videos for free (as long as they are pirate-related), and the iPhone app (iTunes link, and you have a treasure worthy of the Spanish Main!
