For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Hotels Will Rely On The Web To Survive 2010

by Henry H. Harteveldt, November 3, 2009

The global financial crisis hit the hotel industry particularly hard in 2009. A survey of 27 hotel professionals shows an expectation that business will have to be "bought" with low pricing for the balance of 2009, but cautious optimism exists for room . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Three Steps To Measuring Social Media Marketing

A Measurement Framework Based On Objectives, Not Technologies

by Nate Elliott, October 29, 2009

Interactive marketers know they're not good at measuring the effectiveness of social media: On average, they rate their own efforts to measure social initiatives at only 4.5 out of 10. Marketers fail because they focus on the metrics that are most easily . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Five Things We Want From Social TV

Why And How Social Networking Will Take Over The Living Room TV

by James L. McQuivey, Ph.D., August 7, 2009

Thanks to Verizon, the first meaningful Facebook widget in the US has come to the TV. Some question whether the active Social Computing experience has any place in the so-called "lean back" living room experience. Those people are wrong. Once Facebook, . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Blu-ray Can't Succeed With HD Video Alone

Why The Future Of Blu-ray Depends On Serving Multiplatform Viewers

by James L. McQuivey, Ph.D., July 8, 2009

It was just over a year ago that Blu-ray vanquished its long-time rival HD-DVD. Uptake for Blu-ray has been promising: A significant 7% of US households can play Blu-ray discs at home either on a PlayStation3 or a standalone Blu-ray player. This certainly . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

The "Smartphone" Is Dead: Long Live Smart Phones And Smart Gadgets

by Ian Fogg, May 15, 2009

Apple's and Google's arrival in the mobile market is causing knock-on effects throughout the market and is opening up opportunities. All mobile handsets are becoming smarter and Internet-capable. Yesterday's smart high-end phone is today's midrange phone . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

The Year Of The Internet-Connected TV

TV Manufacturers Must Be Ready For Change In The Living Room

by Nathan Safran, May 14, 2009

In 2008, we watched as streaming media made its way into the home via such diverse connected devices as set-top boxes, games consoles, DVRs, and Blu-ray players. 2009 has brought us the news we all knew was coming: The TV is going to be connected to the . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Social Tools Consumers Want From Their Favorite Brands

by Josh Bernoff, April 16, 2009

More than half of online tweens and teens and 42% of online adults want to see a social application from their favorite brands. For example, one in four US online adults want to see discussion forums from brands they like, while more than one-third of . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Social Technographics® Profile Of European Baby Boomers

Reaching Older Consumers Through Social Media

by Rebecca Jennings, April 10, 2009

Interactive marketers already know that young consumers are very engaged in social media but often fail to appreciate that social tools can be an effective mechanism to reach older users. More than one-third of consumers ages 43 to 63 already read social . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Widgets Complement Mobile Operators' Consumer Mobile Internet Services

But They Accelerate Operator "Deportalization"

by Ian Fogg, March 19, 2009

Only 5% of European mobile phone owners access the Internet on their mobile phones weekly. Widgets — mini, single-purpose applications — improve the convenience and accessibility of the mobile Internet. Alongside flat-rate mobile Internet plans, they . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

The Year Of The Connected TV

A CES 2009 Report

by James L. McQuivey, Ph.D., March 9, 2009

In the midst of a global recession, while most vendors were pushing their value-priced wares at the January 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a small but significant revolution nonetheless took place. TV makers like LG, . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Enterprise Web 2.0 Marketing Vendors Will See Price Growth Stagnate Over The Coming Years

by G. Oliver Young, February 24, 2009

The market for Web 2.0 and social media marketing tools has been growing at a rapid clip over the past few years. As the technologies broadened and the deployments deepened, prices rose substantially. However, that average deal growth will diminish in . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Justifying Social Marketing Spending

by Michael Greene, February 18, 2009

With economic turbulence causing executives to tighten marketing budgets, interactive marketing professionals have to go the extra mile to justify their investments. While only 31% of social marketers plan to increase their social marketing budgets by . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Five Ways To Perk Up Your Email Program In 2009

by Julie M. Katz, February 18, 2009

Email has largely been successful as a solo enterprise for the past decade, but changing consumer behavior and expectations compel marketers to integrate email with other channels. Which channels are ripe for exploration? Email marketers can try out mobile, . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Widgets Improve The Convenience Of The Mobile Internet

by Pete Nuthall, December 8, 2008

The slow uptake of mobile Internet services has meant a failure to deliver the promised data revenues that would offset mobile operators' heavy investment in 3G networks and licenses. Only 14% of European mobile users regularly used the mobile Internet . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

OpenSocial and Facebook Platforms

Streamlining Widget Creation and Proliferation

by Emily Riley, November 3, 2008

Google and Facebook both offer platforms that promise to allow developers to build widgets and applications that work across sites. In theory, marketers will be able to consolidate their creative efforts and achieve increased distribution, but obstacles . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Vendors: Prepare For Falling Prices For Enterprise Web 2.0 Collaboration And Productivity Apps

by G. Oliver Young, October 9, 2008

The enterprise Web 2.0 market is experiencing an explosion of activity among enterprises seeking collaboration and productivity improvements. While that explosion is placing Web 2.0 technology in the hands of millions of knowledge workers, cutthroat competition, . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Widget Marketing

Overcoming Audience Fragmentation While Increasing Engagement

by Michael Greene, September 16, 2008

Marketers are embracing widgets as a tool to engage elusive influential consumers on social networking sites and widget-enabled desktops and homepages, but many widgets linger in oblivion, failing to gain viral traction and deliver meaningful user engagement.

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Interactive Marketing Channels To Watch, 2008

Better Goals Will Unlock New Channel Adoption

by Shar VanBoskirk, August 29, 2008

Consistent with past studies, email, search, and display media are still the most heavily penetrated interactive channels; this year, they reach near ubiquitous adoption. Online video and most social media also continue strong growth. Widgets and mobile . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Get With It With Widgets

Adult And Youth Widget Adoption

by Jeremiah K. Owyang, August 12, 2008

Although adoption of Web and desktop widgets is still small today, nearly one-third of US online youth use widgets, and the adults who use them have high average household incomes. Interactive marketers wondering how to use widgets should focus on simplicity . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Enterprise Mashups: Lead, Don't Follow

Be Prepared, Because Mashups Will Enchant And Empower Business Users

by Mike Gualtieri, April 22, 2008

If your business users aren't demanding mashups now, they will in the near future. Why? Because mashup tools enable your business users to quickly create ad hoc Web applications that "mash" together data from multiple sources to create an entirely new . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Google's OpenSocial: Good News For Marketing Widgets But No Silver Bullet

by Jeremiah K. Owyang, April 10, 2008

Google, along with a congress of more than a dozen social networks, plans to launch OpenSocial, a set of standards that will allow widgets to be built once and run on any Web site compatible with OpenSocial. What's in it for interactive marketers? The . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

The Widget Zoo: A Developer's Taxonomy

by Jeffrey S. Hammond, March 14, 2008

Web widgets are another example of a consumer-focused Web 2.0 technology that is starting to wend its way into the enterprise. There are many different species of widgets, but developers can divide them them into three main classifications: Web, desktop, . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Travel Widgets

Assessing the Potential Benefits of Travel Applications on Social Networks

by Diane Clarkson, March 7, 2008

As online consumers' use of widgets grows, travel social marketers should consider experimenting with travel applications on social networking Web sites.

For Customer Experience Professionals

Widgets

Measuring Value and Results

by John Lovett, February 26, 2008

Web widgets are multiplying, and these seemingly innocuous bits of code sometimes accomplish highly strategic objectives. Site operators are challenged to capitalize on the buzz of widgets, while delivering value and results.

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Top Consumer Technology Predictions For 2008

by Charles S. Golvin, December 27, 2007

In consumer technology, 2007 was clearly the year of the iPhone and Facebook. Apple's foray into the mobile handset market spurred innovation among the Cupertino company's new competitors, gave partner AT&T a much-needed halo of cool, and opened consumers' . . .