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Jennifer Town

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Stand up for your health

Published by Jennifer Town on August 1, 2011.

GSW’s The Well has started a new initiative at GSW Columbus to help employees get and stay healthy. We all know how important health is and also what a challenge staying healthy is in our modern age. I can attest to this. When I was a student I walked everywhere and ate out far less. Now, I drive to work and find myself grabbing lunch and dinner on the go way more than I should. But I’m making an effort to change, to go to the gym more and eat out less.

Part of my effort to change is this:

It started with two things: a pain in my neck (of the literal and not figurative kind) and a mashable.com infographic one of my co-workers sent out to the department about how sitting so much is killing us.

I think the graphic of the Grim Reaper looming over some poor unsuspecting guy sitting at his desk really brings it home.

So, harnessing the magical powers of the Internet, I did a search for “standing desk.” I had heard of standing desks, of course, but had assumed they would cost a lot of money and/or require me to learn how to use a table saw. Since I was the one in shop class that had enlisted others in class to do her sawing for her, I figured that would be a recipe for disaster

Then I found this. Using some commonly available household items, your current desk as a base, and a measuring tape, you could have a standing desk of your very own for $20 or less!

Feeling inspired, I brought a laundry basket and some heavy books to work as a prototype. I wanted to see what height would be ideal before I went out and spent any money. It did look a little silly for a while—a white laundry basket balanced on top of some old textbooks and a dictionary, but I figured out that I needed a container or shelf of about 14 inches. I found my current standing desk—part of a shelving unit that was on clearance at The Container Store—for $9. I lucked out in this, but there were plenty of other options in the store that would have worked as well.

I’m reading Be Excellent at Anything by Tony Swartz and there’s a whole chapter devoted to the relationship between health and productivity at work and in life. It’s pretty simple: people who feel good physically work better and get more done both at work and home. Generally, I have found when I stand up at my desk I feel more awake, more alert, have a little bit more energy. I don’t stand 8 hours a day, but I do alternate between standing and sitting most of the week. Every little bit helps.

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jtown

Wiki-media: are brands being smart or lazy?

Published by Jennifer Town on June 9, 2011.

I went to Ohio State for graduate school, and as part of my funding, I taught for a couple years. Freshman comp, mostly. During the course of my teaching years, I discouraged, as most English teachers do, the use of Wikipedia as a source. Skeptical of the collaborative nature of the medium (Anyone can edit it? Really?), I was following the edicts of my professors and peers. But you know what?

I love Wikipedia. And who doesn’t?

Wikipedia is about 10 years old. And, yes, I got that information on Wikipedia—although looking up “Wikipedia” on Wikipedia feels a little bit funny. Since 2001, the Wikipedia model has sprung up all over the place. Another way to put this is “Web 2.0,” which—old news by now—encompasses all the social networking, blogging, social bookmarking, podcasting, and wiki-ing your heart desires.  

But the beat goes on: just last month, for example, Google users gained the power to edit  the U.S. in Google Maps. We’ve been able to edit other portions of the world for almost three years now. Afraid you’ll end up driving your car off a cliff because So-and-So says there’s a Starbucks at the end of that road? Don’t worry—as in previous versions, changes are moderated first and then pushed to the live site.

In May 2011, Footlocker launched the wiki “Sneakerpedia.” Basically, it’s a community of people who love sneakers, a place where “sneakerheads” can share their favorite pair of “kicks.” This site merges the “pedia” part of Wikipedia (shoes are catalogued with date launched, type, brand, etc) with the social networking of Web 2.0 (users can share their personal sneaker stories).  

The Footlocker branding is limited to small text under the site heading, but Footlocker is counting on increased search results, as well as increased authority in the sneaker community. Footlocker, the site implies, not only understands the “sneakerhead” culture—it offers that community a place to share its personal stories and passion. And like Google maps and Wikipedia itself, the user becomes the expert, adding details about their sneakers, down the type of stitching and color.

Sneakerpedia Trailer from Sneakerpedia on Vimeo.

Footnote (no pun intended): If I was still teaching today, I would still put a red x through a bibliography if it contained a Wikipedia reference, for a number of reasons, but most of all, because it’s just plain lazy. But can’t remember whether the Badlands are in South Dakota or Wyoming, or who won the 1999 World Series? Go ahead, Wikipedia it up.

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jtown

Have You Heard of This Thing Called Facebook?

Published by Jennifer Town on April 25, 2011.

So, it turns out social media and marketing go together like milk and cookies. Surprised? Me neither. But in an interesting article put out by Mashable.com, 70% of marketers are increasing their social media budgets by more than 10% in the upcoming year.  The primary goal of this increase? Get more “likes” on Facebook.

This article happened to coincide with the first birthday of Facebook’s Like button. No pictures of the Like button with chocolate cake all over its face have been posted to Facebook (yet), but it’s pretty adorable nevertheless.  And look how much you’ve grown, Like button! And are still growing—10,000+ websites add the Like button every day.  Here’s another fun fact: websites that use the Like button average a greater than 300% increase in referral traffic from Facebook (according to www.insidefacebook.com). This is important since nowadays many people are using Facebook as their portal to the rest of the Internet. No wonder Google read the writing on the wall (so to speak) and launched their +1 button at the end of March.

Clearly agencies are hard at work figuring out how to get more Likes for their clients’ brands—and just last week Facebook itself launched Facebook Studio, a separate site that allows marketers to share best practices and social media innovations with each other.  I “liked” The Altoids Curiously Strong Awards in particular and its portrayal of some well-known Facebook archetypes.

The Skittles “Mob the Rainbow” campaign allows users to decide what the next real-life event tied to the brand would be. And that’s what these campaigns get right: once you have your likes, you can’t stop there. You have to be “in a relationship” with the fans who like you—the real marketing challenge.

And, please, check out Juicy Fruit’s campaign—they had me at “serenading unicorn.”

Categories: Marketing trends and best practices and Social media marketing

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jtown

There’s an App for that [Ad]

Published by Jennifer Town on March 22, 2011.

In 2010, advertisers made use of the iPad format and the app medium to promote their brands in innovative ways. Here are just a few that made buzz in the ad app world:

GAP 1969 Jeans App

The 1969 Stream is pretty cool—Gap-related articles, images, and video are collected from across the web and assembled in an interactive collage. Tap on an article from Elle Magazine, “Working Denim in the Workplace” or watch a video from Vogue TV about pairing your favorite black skinny jeans with this season’s hottest looks. To switch from shopping for yourself to shopping for the kids, just turn your iPad 180 degrees and voila! A fun use of the iPad’s functionality.

The Gap Finder allows you to pinpoint your nearest Gap in which to purchase your 1969 jeans (and more). But why run to the store? The app allows you to make your purchase from the comfort of your couch.

Video of the Gap App

Audi’s A1 Beat Driver Game

In this app, potential Audi customers can test-drive their Audi by racing around a virtual winding track. I am not, nor have I ever been, any good at video games (though, there was a time back in the early 90s when I was playing Commander Keen like a mad fiend, back when computing was a green blinking cursor on a black screen), but I could see the fun in this, especially when set to I Blame Coco’s “Self Machine,” a song I immediately downloaded from iTunes.

The options button takes you to the official website (or an iPad friendly version of it, anyway) or you can sign up for Audi A1 News.

Watch video (and listen to “Self Machine”)

Kraft Big Fork, Little Fork

Kraft’s app Big Fork Little Fork, is aimed at families with young children. Featuring over 300 recipes as well as how-to videos and games, the app is meant to promote both healthy eating and Kraft products. I like how visual the app is—the home screen menu itself looks like a game (note in the video how the tomato squashes when you touch it). Recipes can be shared on your Facebook page and other social media. The branding here is fairly subtle, but still unmissable.

Video of Kraft’s Big Fork, Little Fork

Best ideas from these three apps:

  1. Loop in the social media: You can share recipes with Big Fork, Little Fork or  email new jean styles to a friend with the Gap App (now say “Gap App” ten times fast, just for fun).
  2. Take advantage of the iPad functionality: I like that rotating the iPad changes the streaming screen in the Gap App, and how Big Fork, Little Fork app’s home screen allows for scrolling in every direction.
  3. Pump up the visuals: I liked the tromp l’oeil look of the Big Fork, Little Fork home screen (and that squashed tomato), and I like the layout of the Gap Stream.
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    jtown

    Doctors Are Increasingly Mobile in 2011

    Published by Jennifer Town on February 16, 2011.

    The smart phone market has exploded both in the U.S. and around the world. In fact, 63.2 million Americans were using smart phones by the end of last year, an increase of 60%. For some of us, it’s hard to imagine how we got along without the calendar/email/internet/social networking all-in-one devices that also (gasp!) make phone calls. Nielsen predicts 1 in 2 Americans will have a smart phone by Christmas 2011—and we’ll be using them for more than obsessively playing Angry Birds.

    For clients thinking about how to take advantage of new and emerging mobile markets, questions about how your website will translate to mobile devices (including iPads and all manner of tablets set to be released this year) become paramount. How will customers see this content? And if they are surfing on a mobile device, will their experience match a user’s who is still using a PC or Mac?  And, for developers, given the plethora of smart phones and other gadgets, how do you design to accommodate the ever-widening range of mobile devices? These are the important questions that will need answers in 2011 more than ever.

    As you put together your marketing mix and you’re deciding how to accommodate for mobile devices for your digital projects, it’s important to consider customer expectation. If your customers are doctors and other healthcare professionals, so far, the stats make it pretty clear: in healthcare, studies have shown that the majority of doctors use smart phones for e-detailing—59% in 2011. That number is bound to increase in 2011 and beyond. And, 88% of doctors surveyed expressed interest in using mobile devices to track patient stats—like blood sugar and other vital signs.

    As for iPads, 70% of doctors polled plan to use an iPad in their work life in some capacity in 2011, according to an article in the February American Medical News. Just recently, the FDA approved an app that allows doctors to view medical scan images on iPhone and iPad.

    The bottom line is, doctors and other healthcare professionals have really jumped onboard as far as mobile devices are concerned—even more so than the population at large. At the rate of new and increased use of smart phones and iPads by this group, it is no longer a matter of whether to accommodate mobile devices in your pharma marketing plan, but how.

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