Content Strategist. Idea ninja. Persuadertron.
I get to do all that at Waggener Edstrom Studio D. Everything I'm thinking about flows into my digital idea stream flowing live at http://www.adriankoh.net/
Opinions, thoughts and general verbiage are entirely my own and do not represent the views of my company.
I love how every frame in this movie tells so much. At the end of it, I'm convinced enough to at least give it a look (could it really be that revolutionary?)
How are you telling *your* story today?
Reading bar codes with mobile phones
Snap it, click it, use it
Aug 20th 2009 | SEATTLE
From The Economist print editionA new way to deliver information to mobile phones is spreading around the world
A game of tag
A new format for bar codes appeared in January, when Microsoft unveiled Tag, a system that uses colour to increase the density of information that can be stored. A Tag code occupies about one-eighth of the space of a comparable QR Code. It also allows coding elements to be incorporated into designs. One sample code shows a photograph of coloured jelly beans that includes Tag data. Others show company logos, balloons and birds.
Bar codes that do not need specialised software to read them are also being developed. These encode less information than their more sophisticated counterparts but can be used by people who own simpler mobile phones, because the image-recognition process is handled elsewhere. The codes made by JAGTAG, of Princeton, New Jersey, for example, can be photographed using a camera phone and then sent to a messaging service that analyses the code and sends back appropriate information. Sports Illustrated used the JAGTAG system when it sent its readers those extra images of swimsuit models, and the system has also been used to advertise Nike, Sony and a restaurant chain called Qdoba.
Bar codes, then, could be on the point of breaking out of their native environment. It has been a long and curious journey from the supermarket checkout.
World-flattening technologies (a la Thomas Friedman) are putting more power into the hands of the consumer.
In a level playing field where consumers have access to virtually unlimited data, it's the brands that can put that data context that will win.
Which brings me to an important lesson about content creation - one that's been reinforced for me recently. In ascending order of interest (at least most of the time), there's raw data, information, stories, secrets. That said, when it comes to creating content, you can't restrict yourself to just one of those. You'll need a mix of these to be effective.
And the formula to making content effective - well, I'll save that for another time.
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If you love the stuff that Prezi (Prezi.com) is doing, but feel stuck with boring ol' PowerPoint, you'll adore what pptPlex can do for you.
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Not photoshopped, I took it myself. The site is real.
I'm trying to imagine someone driving along Highway 11 and making a note of this. For what? The next time someone gets bludgeoned in their living room? (And no, I don't think it was movie inspired).
On the other hand, maybe this is brilliant, because it's police cars that see this sign the most. Go to where your customers are...
Adrian: When you're thinking "customer" instead of thinking "profit profit profit", it shows.
Customer-centricity means "I'll go to where you are". You don't get to say you're sincerely trying to reach out unless you're doing that.
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Aug16Develop A Business Plan and Change It Up On A Regular Basis
By Susan GuneliusPost by Kristy Straka, contributing Women On Business writer
Most people in business believe that you should make a business plan and “stick to the plan”. I disagree with this philosophy completely. When you imagine your exciting new business most of you imagine it as a business that will be great . . . people will love it, and you will be successful. That’s great because you have to believe in your business.
However, when you develop your business plan there are many facets to it. Some of these are your limitations, barriers to entry, risks, and the question of who your competitor really is.
When I first developed our business plan for the Mobile Dental Lab on Wheels (DLOW), there were no other mobile labs anywhere in the industry. Those you might see in the industry right now are those entrepreneurs who purchased their business from Vorofco, and we licensed them to develop their own brand so now there are more.
I was asked one day who my competitor was, and my response was “no one!” Well that is an answer only a foolish person would have said. In my mind I knew that there were no other mobile dental labs in the industry so therefore, I proudly listed my competitors as ‘none’ on my business plan and presented it to seasoned investors.
The fact of the matter is that I have plenty of competitors out there. The traditional lab industry is a multi-billion dollar lab industry. Yes it takes two to three weeks to get a crown back from the lab, but nevertheless, they are my competitor. There are also dentists who own their own CAD/CAM units and will not use the mobile service, and there are labs that send their lab technicians into dental offices to work on a patient alongside the dentist.
Yes, I did have competitors! I showed our business plan to many potential investors before someone stopped me dead in my tracks and gave me a reason to rethink my competitor analysis. Once I did, I was able to come up with a sales presentation for potential clients that would one-up the competitor. Instead of telling dentists that I didn’t have any competitors, I told them who they were and why we were a better fit then I made the first revision to the business plan.
I was able to easily come up with ‘barriers to entry’ because this was an entirely new business industry and had never been done before, but scheduling was not one of the issues which turned out to be our main obstacle.
Could we maintain a schedule? What if the dentist was running late? What if the patient was running late? What if we had back to back appointments and we couldn’t be late? What if husband and wife booked back to back and cancelled at the last minute? What if my best client had an emergency and needed the DLOW right away? Scheduling was definitely a barrier to entry that I hadn’t given a great amount of thought too so I made the next business plan revision.
I could go on and on about how different your business plan will look in its developmental stages compared to what the business plan will look like six years later. I can now answer ‘all’ of these questions without referring to the business plan because I now know the objections that I didn’t know in the beginning. I’ve lived the business, jumped the hurdles, and solved many issues over the past six years.
By writing down your risks and barriers to entry on your business plan, you can use this tool to solve issues. You will eventually be able to eloquently speak well about the solutions you have developed to combat them both and you will sound like a professional because you will have lived your business.
Your business plan is your first marketing tool. It makes you think! It allows you to think past the excitement and the feel good feelings that you have about your proposed business.
You initial business plan should be reviewed and updated every time there is a change in your business ideas, your concept, marketing strategies, proposals, objections, and solutions, etc. If you continue to make these changes, your business plan becomes your marketing manual, but once you think you have it all figured out, someone will come up with something new.
Being in business means to be ever changing and adapt to the changes that present themselves to you. The challenges you might face in financing your business or other obstacles may lead you to alternative solutions that you might not otherwise explore. Be adaptable . . . start with the basic business plan, but continue to change it and revise your dates as you make your changes.
I believe that if your business plan ends up following the exact path that you have mapped out for your business then you have most likely missed critical opportunities which you might have otherwise embraced.
Remember that good old quote, "Plans are nothing, planning is everything." A continuous beta works with Google, and it'll work on your business plan.
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Broadcast network CBS will be advertising its fall TV season with a video-chip ad embedded in an issue of Entertainment Weekly.
The technology for the battery-powered ads was manufactured by a Los Angeles-based company called Americhip, and each ad can handle about 40 minutes of video.
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"A decade ago, designer Shannon South began making handbags from vintage fabrics because she loved the bright colors and exuberant patterns. Although she went on to study furniture design, even working with Marcel Wanders, she slowly found herself veering from her industrial design path after she discovered the powerful draw of working with her hands in an increasingly automated industry.
But like any company that experiences dramatic growth, she became sidetracked by the convenience of mass-production. The now-San Francisco-based designer founded reMade USA after she saw an opportunity to use her skills--and newfound knowledge--to be a leader for sustainability in the fashion world...."
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BNET Crash Course
How to Innovate Like Apple
by Chris Morrison
Tags: Steve Jobs, Apple Inc., Americans, Leadership, Smart Phones...
Apple makes it look easy. From the sleek design of its personal computers to the clever intuitiveness of its software to the ubiquity of the iPod to the genius of the iPhone, Apple consistently redefines each market it enters by creating brilliant gadgets that put the competition to shame. What’s the secret? Apple has built its management system so that it’s optimized to create distinctive products. That’s good news for would-be emulators, because it means Apple’s method for innovation can be understood as a specific set of management practices and organizational structures that — in theory, at least — anyone can use. This Crash Course outlines the techniques Apple uses to make the magic happen.
Clarity, Infrastruture, Leadership. Great tips.
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