NorthGeek

Digital Marketing & Developments in Social Media

Many people believe that it’s fair to say the marketing industry has changed more so over the past decade or so than it has since its inception. Classic marketing techniques such as direct mail, print and radio advertising are no longer considered to be nearly as effective as they were in the past, and have been eclipsed by digital marketing. The advent of technology has changed how people consume media, which has had a direct effect on how marketers reach their target audience. Digital marketing is without a doubt the future of the industry, and it is best for agencies to jump on the bandwagon early before it is too late to get with the times.

Social media is perhaps the most popular aspect of technology to emerge in the last few years, and has quickly become an institution. With websites such as Facebook and Twitter, people have never been able to integrate their online and offline lives together better than they can now. Since so many people spend a good deal of time visiting and updating their profiles on sites such as these, marketers have come to realize that there is no better way to reach people these days than through social media. Taking advantage of social media sites can make marketing easy and inexpensive.

Marketers use social media in a variety of different ways. Most social media sites sell ad space, which can be used to target either a national or local market. Marketing agencies are learning that since these sites can target someone based on their location it is not much different than advertising in print, yet it costs a whole lot less. On top of these methods, marketers are also starting to set up their own Facebook and Twitter accounts so that they can report any type of news or events. If the page is fun and interesting to read, it may even be possible to develop a following of people that you can market to on a regular basis. Using social media to this effect is perhaps the single most important thing agencies can do.

About the author: James Mowery is a computer geek that writes about technology and related topics. To read more blog posts by him, go to online dating.

Blogging from 36,000 feet

This US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Orlando is on a brand spankin’ new (well, at least it looks that way) Airbus A321. The interior is beautiful – so 2010-esque, the lighting is targetted and pleasant, the seats comfortable, more legroom, and, best of all – WiFi baby, WiFi!!

The first week of GoGo In-Flight WiFi aboard US Air’s fleet of A321 jets is absolutely FREE to use – that is from June 1st – 8th 2010. After this, it will be about $10 to connect for your flight. Some notes:

- Web browsing speeds are satisfactory.
- Skype connected, but I’m not popular enough to have had any friends online to test with. The “test call” with the Skype system worked like a charm.
- My SIP phone (through Acanac, using X-Lite) disconnected after I heard “Hello?” on the other end of the line – I guess bandwidth isn’t high enough.
- I couldn’t get online in Mac OS X – thank the lord for Bootcamp (I run XP Pro, and it connected on my first attempt)
- For more info, check out US Airways’ WiFi page and GoGo (by Aircell).

Adios from somewhere 36,000 feet over the Carolinas!

Best World Cup ads of all time?

We’d love to know what World Cup ads (doesn’t matter if they’re for the actual World Cup or just for some big-spending apparel brand, as long as they hold the World Cup theme) you think are the best of all time. We just posted this one -- which I, Daniel, think is the greatest. EVER.

Let’s hear your voice! To get you started, here are some more that NorthGeek really enjoyed:

Some cool announcements at Google IO – Android 2.2 and Google TV

Here are two videos that Google put together to officially introduce a couple of their announcements to the world. The first is for Google TV, and the second is for their mobile operating systems’s latest iteration, Android 2.2 (Froyo). My thoughts follow the videos. Enjoy!

This, while very cool and exciting at first glance, isn’t exactly anything BRAND NEW. Maybe this will be the first web-connected TV initiative to be adopted buy the masses, as it’s being backed by some little company called Google -- but it certainly isn’t the first and only device (or service) of its kind. Have a quick Google search session (ironic? What other search engine do you use) for Popcorn Hour, Western Digital HDTV, MythTV, TViX, Apple TV, and… dare I say, Playstation 3. Oh, and there’s Windows Media Center PC’s -- I know, you’re all yelling at me. But, if you want a TRUE home theater experience, then you’re going to need to support the real players in the game -- and they all support Microsoft’s MCPC OS.

This is very exciting -- although I’d be much happier if 2.2 was released yesterday, as opposed to just announced. We all sort of knew all the specs Froyo was going to be boasting. 2-5 times faster overall performance, WiFi hotspot-in-a-box, etc -- and some things we assume but they didn’t mention, like Flash support. What about my battery? Will it make my Nexus One battery last longer than 4 hours? Pretty please?

Cliff Your Ride contest winner VIDEO

AutoTrader.ca’s Cliff Your Ride contest was won by a Montrealer with a 1992 Volvo 240 Wagon. I’m not sure why he says Sherbrooke is 2,000km from Montreal, but hey -- if I’m going to see a car fly off a cliff, then I’ll watch! Enjoy:

Google’s IO can be viewed LIVE on YouTube (go figure)

You can watch the live stream right here on NorthGeek, or you can head over to the Google Developer’s channel on YouTube, to catch all of this week’s IO action LIVE, in beautiful HD (if you want). Enjoy!

[Note: If nothing is live right now, prerecorded content will be posted here.]

NFB Online Short Film Contest – Love and Theft

Love and Theft is Andreas Hykade’s entry into The National Film Board of Canada’s Online Short Film Contest. Wow, truly mesmerizing:

Check out the other 10 short-listed entries here. Public voting for this contest ends May 17, but don’t forget how much amazing content is available for free always on the NFB.ca site!

This entry appears to be the only Canadian one — The Technician by Simon Olivier Fecteau:

NorthGeek Unboxing: Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

Thanks to Sony Ericsson Canada, we have our paws on this slick little device. Stay tuned for some hands-on impressions in the coming days. In the meantime, here’s a quick unboxing video to whet your appetites:

Please be patient, the video may still be processing so its FULL HD delight might not be there yet…

UQAM’s got a feeling!

How is this video from my own backyard and getting over 5-million views, but I just find out about it today??

Google loves sponsoring talent for YouTube videos

I posted recently about the amazing Ninja Unboxing video that Google sponsored. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should! Check this one out, too -- another Google-sponsored video, quite impressive: