Ok, so we all know the results from last nights’ Oscars: Sandra Bullock was awarded best actress, Jeff Bridges was best actor and Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win Best Director. But here’s something that may surprise you that I found while doing a quick scan of the news today.
In the 44 films in 2009 that topped the box office for at least one weekend, an Apple logo or device could be seen in at least 18 of them. Read More

With all that has been written about the economy of late, I haven’t seen a lot discussed about the correlation between unseasonable weather conditions and consumer spending. This winter has been particularily brutal in many parts of the United States. A few days ago, I read that there was snow on the ground in 49 states. Go Hawaii.
Consumer spending drives a big part of our economic health. Retailers have long known the relationship between bad weather and purchase behavior. Read More

A study of affluent donors performed by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, sponsored by Bank of America, reports in 2007, even prior to the economic issues of the past two years, that 38% of donors surveyed stopped supporting one charitable organization that they had previously supported and 26% discontinued support of at least two charities with which they had a prior relationship. The top three reasons donors reported they stopped giving to a particular non-profit were, Read More

I’m always watching the various design showcase blogs and other sources of information for the latest and greatest in web design and development. It’s a lot of fun to see the newest techniques and showcases of work. It can be quite inspirational. What I’m having a problem with is the number of sites and resources out there that seem to do little else than grab a bunch of links to various things and then publish that as content.

Perhaps the folks at Verizon should have done some homework before promoting the launch of its spend-smart digital coupons as “a free digital coupon service for its wireless and FiOS TV customers that can help them save money on their next trip to the grocery store” to avoid stepping in it.
When I read the announcement here and here, my first thought was, big deal, how is this different from what anyone (not just Verizon customers) can do with Cellfire?  Read More

At the National Retail Federation Convention (NRF) last month, Intel demonstrated prototypes of innovative and interactive digital signage that can customize messages to viewers based on key data points determined through the use of anonymous video analytics.
As a viewer looks at the system screen, the built-in camera technology analyzes data such as gender and age, audience composition, time-of-day and other criteria, which enable the system to display tailored content and graphics based on estimated demographics. Read More

Obama may have had more positive response in the social media chatter as a result of his first State of the Union speech, but Jobs had nearly 7 times the volume.

Great infographic in Mashable thanks to social media analytics firm Viralheat. Read More

In the latest attempt to thwart regulators, the online advertising industry has agreed on an iconic bit of branding that will be included on online ads that use behavioral data.  The intent of this new standard “i” icon is to educated consumers about targeted ads.
When consumers click on the icon they will be taken to a page explaining how the advertiser uses their Web surfing history and demographic profile to send them certain ads.
Consumers should  start seeing this icon along with phrases like “Why did I get this ad?” Read More

By the time Apple made its formal unveiling today of the iPad, the only real surprise was the price point.  (Jobs’ presentation is worth watching.) Read More

The suspense level is amazingly high. The net is a buzz about what new product will be unveiled by Apple on Wednesday. Apple has been mute on the subject, which seems to be part of the grand marketing strategy because the silence only seems to feed the speculation, chatter and suspense.
Apple issued invitations for a media event scheduled for 10:00 AM Pacific Time on January 27th. The event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Read More