I bought an iPad last weekend and have used it about 30 hours without any complaints. I justified it to myself as a eBook because I needed one anyway. But have found it to be much more useful than I anticipated. It’s become my meeting companion for notes, email and more. I love the recording app I downloaded. It makes meeting notes a breeze. So I am a fan.
In fact this post is being written on my iPad. Read More

When was the last time unsubscribing to an email made you chuckle? This was sure a first for me. I meant to click ‘view in browser’, but clicked ‘unsubscribe’ by mistake on today’s Groupon email. I’m glad I fat fingered it because I stumbled upon one of those marketing gems that I wish I’d thought of first.
Click here to see what happens when you click unsubscribe. There’s no audio track, but it’s pretty easy to create your own. Read More

I wasn’t the only one unimpressed by Tiger Woods’ public apology. Today (Friday) Gatorade officially dropped Tiger Woods after “unofficially” dropping him in December.  “We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship,” said a Gatorade spokeswoman in an announcement Friday.
AT&T and technology outsourcing and consulting company Accenture have already ended their sponsorships, while others, such as Procter & Gamble Co.’s Gillette and Swiss watch maker Tag Heuer, Read More

It’s tough out there. The competition is fierce. So if you are a small business owner, you need to leverage everything you can to get a leg up. If you are not currently leveraging technology to get the word out about your business, it’s time to start. It doesn’t require a lot of money and doesn’t take a lot of effort to get stared if you take it one step at a time. Here are three steps to get you started. Read More

“To err is human; to forgive divine.” —  Alexander Pope
The fact is, we all make mistakes. So do brands. And we all learn the hard way that people never listen more closely than when you admit failure. While there are lots of examples, recently we’ve seen two big brands own up to problems and mistakes and publicly apologize. In very different ways.
Friday Tiger Woods’ abject, and very rehearsed, press conference/public apology came off as as a bit insincere to me. Read More

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

TruTV is revealing its first-ever Super Bowl ad. This Groundhog Day-themed spot was created by Grey and is scheduled to air in the second quarter of Sunday’s big game, near the two-minute warning.
Punxsutawney Polamalu. Odd.

I just hope Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow today. Read More

It seems that every year some spots are banned from the Super Bowl. But this year, CBS and the Super Bowl – which drew more than 95 million viewers in 2009 – is kicking up major political dust by allowing an anti-abortion advocacy ad in the national broadcast, nixing a spot for a gay dating service, and barring a spot featuring an effeminate ex-football player who follows his dreams as Lola, the lingerie designer.
Some believe CBS has gone too far to the political right in determining what can or can not air, 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