I’ve always wished there was an interactive marketing version of the reality TV show Shark Tank, or something akin to a digital marketing version of American Idol or X Factor. I’ve also always wanted to be a rock star even though I have absolutely no serious musical talent apart from my claim to fame of briefly appearing as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady and Action in West Side Story while in high school. Pretty far from Rock Star status. But I recently had both wishes granted and it was an awesome experience.

Last week I had the incredibly interesting opportunity to journey to Taipei to co-host an annual event called Interactive@Taiwan. This event brings together leading interactive agencies in Taiwan to host a meeting featuring select speakers from abroad whose companies have gained some degree of international recognition for their work in order to learn from them. Each agency participating sends a cross-functional team that then competes over the course of three days to ultimately present the best concept based on a Challenge Brief. The featured speakers work with each agency team in workshops to refine their ideas and concepts in a near crucible-like environment to arrive at a final presentation, which then is judged by the speakers, with awards granted to the best concepts.

While previous years they focused mostly on the creative aspects and invited speakers like the ECD’s of companies like AKQA and W+K, this year they wanted to focus on the importance of technology in combination with strategy, marketing and creative… they looked to companies who have really brought technology and creative together in a unified manner to make a difference.

I was pretty honored when they reached out and invited me based on their awareness of the great work we’ve done for Coca-Cola on their Open Happiness campaign and the work we’ve done for HBO’s True Blood.

It was also pretty cool to be in the company of the other speaker, Nathan Martin, the CEO of Deep Local which brought the world the Nike Chalkbot and Nog Pong. I can say that in the course of the week I gained a tremendous amount of respect for Nathan and the work Deep Local does.

We set the stage for the event talking about how our agencies marry the fields of creative and technology, art and engineering, marketing and digital, all while staying true to the importance of understanding the brand, the personas of the target market, the desired business results, and the importance of the insights and big ideas. We talked to them about our different models for how we do this to come up with truly innovative ideas and then be able to execute on those ideas. From there we issued them a challenge that basically involved them coming up with concepts for one of their current clients or prospects that involved both digital and post-digital executions that were “outside the box” and leveraged technology beyond simple basics or common approaches.

For two days straight we met with every team in succession, one after the other, several times a day. They brought concepts for brands like HTC, China Trust Bank, FamilyMart, Heineken, Giant Bikes, Samsung and more. It felt like Shark Tank with the weird aspect of being one of the judges and critics. I’m definitely not always right- just ask my wife, my boss, our CMO, or our ECD. But it was amazing to see how much they valued my input and commentary on how to improve their ideas and executions.

Not every idea was great, and many took a long time to work through to something really cool and viable. But in the end, 10 teams from 10 different agencies presented amazing ideas and concepts. There were a few that were fantastic, others that were great, and others that were good and just needed some work. I definitely learned things. I learned how agencies on the other side of the planet are thinking and operating. I learned areas where they are well ahead of the West like RFID/NFC, QR, and mobile gaming. I learned how they operate against very different demands, budgets, and cultures. I hope they learned a few things from me too.

Lastly, my hat is off to the people and culture of Taiwan. I did not deserve it, but they treated me like a rock star while I was there. They are some of the most hospitable people on the planet, I have rarely felt so welcome and well taken care of, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I only wish everyone back here in the U.S. thought I was as smart as everyone over there did.


Added bonus: While I was there it was Taiwan’s 100th anniversary. Fireworks abounded. Very cool to see. Watched it from the top of a building in Taipei thanks to a guy named Mouse and his company Webgene .

Last week Definition 6 threw a wildly successful soirée in the trendy Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta, GA. Located at The Warren City Club, one of the few members only clubs in the city, the location deemed to be a perfect setting matched with the amazing southern weather that comes along in the beginning of October. If your dying to see pictures head over to our Facebook page to view!

It was a great evening to celebrate another year of supreme work with our clients over drinks and some delicious food prepared by the amazing staff of The Warren. 

The buzz of the night was the brewing excitment over Dad's Garage Improv comedic performance. The party would not have been the same without the fine gentlemen from Dad's Garage. The Marketing team was fortunate enough to attend a show several weeks earlier while in preparation for the party and after all the laughs, they knew the right crew was found for the gig. Shout out to Lucky and the rest of the guys!

We also want to thank the great sports for going up on stage and interacting with the show: Jeff Katz & Paul McClay from our Definition 6 family and Amy Pedersen from Coca-Cola. You guys were great!




We are so thrilled that everybody was able to come out and have as much fun as we did. There is nothing better than getting together with our favorite clients and sharing a night of laughs among some of the best people in our business. We're on the edge of our chairs waiting for the next Definition 6 Party... and we can't wait to see you there!

Last week I attended a great interactive marketing conference in Indianapolis (and yes, got a side dish of Katy Perry while there!) Of all the things I learned about unified marketing, one of the most interesting sessions I attended was about Email Design in the Mobile Inbox Age.  The presenter was Chris Studabaker from ExactTarget.

The Definition 6 team at the Katy Perry concert from ExactTarget Connections 2011.

Chris answered the question “What is mobile email?” with the following explanation: Email + mobile.

I am so proud to lead an organization like Definition 6, with talented staff members who continue to produce quality, award-winning work time and time again.  And once more, we were acknowledged by the advertising community with one of the highest honors, a District 7 AAF Gold ADDY® in the Interactive Category for our work on the Coca-Cola “Happiness Machine” video.  This comes off the heels off our “Best In Show” award at the local Atlanta ADDY® competition earlier this year. This was awarded over the weekend in Baton Rouge at the AAF District 7 Spring Convention.

Awards for the work we do for our clients are great.  And it is particularly nice to see the work we do recognized by our peers.  But there is another recent honor that has been bestowed upon Definition 6 with which I take a great deal of personal pride. Definition 6 was listed as one of the top places to work, in the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s list which came out on Sunday, April 17, 2011.  This is among other great companies and is a true testament to the type of culture we infuse here at Definition 6. 

I started this company over fourteen years ago with the attitude that we need to create a dynamic, innovative, exciting work environment, and I’m happy to say that even though we have grown to over 130 employees in two offices in two cities, our values remain intact.  We take ourselves seriously but know how to have fun.  Clients appreciate it, employees enjoy it, and now the industry has acknowledged us once again.  And to that I’d say, a much appreciated thank you.

The Ragan Social Media for PR and Corporate Communications Conference, perhaps better known to its attendees as #RaganSM, proved to be a good show on several new and fun fronts – one of our D6ers who has requested anonymity and will be referred to as "Sunshine" repeatedly proved that what happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily have to stay in Vegas (keep reading).  But before we get to "Sunshine," I’d like to discuss some of the key ideas from the conference:

1)     The concept of “brand journalism” – where brands have a more important and significant voice in culture was introduced by Mark Ragan and echoed by various other speakers.  This idea is fascinating for several reasons.  Moving brands to a more utilitarian and culturally relevant space has been talked about at conferences for years.  However, brand journalism is especially interesting when you consider how so many “experts” in recent years have discussed the death of traditional media and reporting.  Perhaps the next move for journalists is brand journalism.  Think about it.

2)     CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT!  While this seems to be a popular message at a lot of conferences these days, Ragan’s focus on content produced by people who truly understand how to tell stories + truly emotional engagement showcased the importance of great content in a way that is rarely explained at conferences.  Story telling reigns supreme.

3)     Microfailure is constructive.  In social, failure (i.e. prematurely tweeting, tweeting from the wrong address, etc.) needs to be embraced for social to succeed.  Social is clearly a situation where creating to think, rather than thinking to create should be the norm.  This couldn’t have been demonstrated any better that by the Red Cross “oops” tweet and their magnificent recovery.  How fortuitous was it having the Red Cross as a speaker?  Which reminds me…

4)     Listening is more important than talking – find out what’s important to people and become a part of the conversation to create connections.  An example of this is how The Red Cross of Chicago seeks out and aids people who have suffered house fires.  They didn’t create the reason for interaction, but they inserted themselves into the situation and helped people in need – thus fulfilling their mission.  How is your business heroic?

And now back to "Sunshine."  Above is a rare video of "Sunshine" besting Brooks Thomas of Southwest Airlines by a smidgen in the Inaugural Definition 6 - Ragan Communications Sprint For No Reason. 

As shown in the above pictures and previous video, Definition 6 hosted a great impromptu party in "Sunshine’s" humble suite (he somehow only got it with a $100 upgrade) that was attended by about 100 conference-goers, possibly one female escort (we still aren’t sure) and Alan Garner, of course.  Perhaps this should be an annual happening.

As you likely can tell by now, "Sunshine" of Atlanta, GA practically owned Las Vegas from February 14-February 16, 2011.  At one point he even lost his BlackBerry in a taxi, tweeted about it, connected with another conference attendee who, after seeing the tweet, miraculously connected the dots and reunited "Sunshine" with the cabbie who had his CrackBerry--Keith Nichols of Western Cab.  (If you’re in Vegas and need a ride – 702.736.8000 – they deserve the business).

A joyful "Sunshine" getting the cabbie’s phone number from Bo Edwards of Lockheed Martin.



 "Sunshine" getting his Blackberry back from Keith



 "Sunshine" dropping Keith some of his winnings for his honesty and generosity. It was a Ragan Conference miracle and a timely case example for the power of social media.



NASA Astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock



Video Courtesy of @Kevin_Hunt

But enough about "Sunshine" and back to the conference.  From the first astronaut to check into Foursquare from space (and who funnily enough, only realized much later that he has to do it twice before becoming mayor – #fail) to a singing David Pogue from the New York Times, the presenters were varied and provided a broad range of takeaways for the equally varied audience.  The 17 tools that everyone should know about for social media seemed to be the 17,000 tools that everyone should know about for social media and an always-entertaining Shel Holtz was equally as informative.  Congratulations Ragan on a great conference.

It’s that time of year again. A time for reflection and a time for predictions. On the outside chance you did something this year besides monitor your RSS feed from Defining Insights, we thought this would be a good time to reflect on the top posts of the last 12 months.

For those of you that don’t know, Definition 6 has a very open corporate blogging policy. All of our employees are welcome (and encouraged) to contribute to the blog. With a team that spans many different areas of expertise, we find this is a great approach to keeping our customers and other friends up to date on the latest trends in digital marketing and emerging technology.

It’s also an opportunity for us to share successful approaches to unified marketing, helping you develop and leverage strategies that deepen relationships and improve marketing ROI. Without further adieu, here are the 6 most-read posts of 2010:

#1 “Nike ‘Write the Future’ Ad Breaks Viral Video Record” by Jon Accarrino

It should come as no surprise that the leader of Definition 6’s social media operations published the most-read post of 2010. Before joining Definition 6, Jon launched many of NBC’s first social media initiatives, including the Twitter accounts of many of the Today Show stars you know and love.

Leading up to this year’s World Cup action, Jon had the foresight to write a quick review of Nike’s ‘Write the Future’ ad. As fans took breaks from vuvuzela tooting to search the Web, many stumbled across Jon’s post.

You can read the original post (and watch the video again) here.

#2 “Best Practices for Facebook Pages” by Ashley Reed

Definition 6’s social media team must know a thing or two about producing and sharing content on the Web, because its Atlanta-based social media manager Asheley Reed wrote the second most-read post of 2010, “Best Practices for Facebook Pages.”  Ashley’s post was jam-packed with practical information top brands can use to get more out of their Facebook marketing efforts. If your organization has a Facebook Page (or is thinking about launching one), you may want to check out Ashley’s post here. Of course, you might also find value in here “Why People Like Brands on Facebook” post as well.

#3 “How You Like Me Now?” by Matt Timpson

Matt Timpson gives us a great argument for why companies should open blogging to more employees. Matt doesn’t work in marketing, he’s not a client manager or on the sales team, he works in the engineering department.  But he contributed one of the most-read blog posts of 2010, an in-depth analysis of Kia’s 2010 Super Bowl ad (you know, the one with the Sock-Monkey, Squeak-Monster and the Robot?). With an unassuming title “How You Like Me Now?” (a nod to the music used in the spot), his post climbed the charts. If you are familiar with the commercial, you might find his analysis interesting. It’s hard to believe Super Bowl spots are right around the corner.

#4 “Babes... And Some Other Basic Truths About Re-Connecting With Audiences Online” by Al Leach

Al Leach leads the national strategic communications practice for Definition 6. Needless to say, he has a way with words. While the content of Al’s post is written from the point of view of a veteran communications professional, the lighthearted headline and lead demonstrates a point about capturing attention in a short attention span world. Al’s post presents 4 self-proclaimed “truths” about communicating with audiences today - a great read for any communicator. Read Al’s post here.

#5 “The Gap Logo Fiasco” by Chris Wojda

Work for an iconic brand? Want to generate a lot of buzz this year? Have an intern redesign your logo and swap it out on your website - the blogosphere will go wild and you’ll be top of mind for a couple of weeks (at least). While that’s not exactly how it played out, some suspect Gap’s re-branding efforts from this past summer were a publicity stunt. With ‘serious’ re-brands, you would typically see signs at stores change. In this case, it was really just the logo on Gap’s website. Regardless of what the strategy really was, Gap made a lot of noise with its logo ‘fiasco’ this past summer. One of Definition 6’s leading brand strategists, Chris Wojda, couldn’t resist chiming in with his ‘two cents’ on the whole mess. Read his take on Gap’s logo swap here.

#6 “Unified Marketing: A New Model for a New Era” by Michael Kogon

One of the most significant events for the agency this past year was our own re-branding effort. As most of you know, Definition 6 is now a Unified Marketing Agency. Definition 6 CEO introduced positioning and why we feel so strongly about this model in all that we do. The fact that this post rounded out the top 6 posts of 2010 shows that not only did the message resonate with you, but also that we continue to see coincidences with the number “6” in everything that we do. To get the full scoop on what our Unified Marketing Agency positioning is all about, read Michael’s post here.

Chris Thornton is Chief Marketing Officer of Definition 6 and was recently named “CMO of the Year” by the Technology Association of Georgia’s (TAG) Technology Marketing Association. Chris also serves on the board of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA). When he’s not blogging, you can find Chris tweeting at @CMORocks.

I recently had the opportunity to attend MIX 2010, Microsoft's annual conference for web designers and developers focused on building great user experiences, in Las Vegas, along with Definition 6's two interactive Creative Directors from Atlanta and New York.

MIX 2010 is highly unlike most other Microsoft conferences where the topics frequently focus on .NET, Exchange, Office, and Windows. Instead it's chock full of design and UX goodness - a geeky love fest for all the cool tech that goes into creating great web, mobile, desktop, kiosk, and other assorted technically enabled experiences using the Microsoft platform.

It's hard to argue that this isn't an arena in which Microsoft is still playing a lot of catch-up. Adobe Creative Suite and Flash/Flex are still easily the staple of most creative and design departments. And many people definitely hug their MacBooks and frantically wave their iPhones about when asked to provide examples of great user interface design. But if there was one thing abundantly clear at MIX 2010 it is that Microsoft has no plans to cede the battle on these fronts, they are rapidly catching up in many areas, and even appear to be leading the way in a few. Seriously.

Microsoft is a marathon runner, not a sprinter. And as Steve Ballmer said at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference last year regarding questions as to why Microsoft doesn't cede such battles as Search and Advertising and retreat back home to their core Windows, Office, or SQL Server business lines, "We. Don't. Go. Home." Anyone who doesn't believe him should have been at MIX. And do you really have to look further than an example like the Xbox?

Probably the hottest subject of discussion and presentations was Windows Phone 7 Series. I am, admittedly, an avid iPhone user who stood in line the first week they came out. I happily ditched my old Windows Mobile device and it's BlackBerry predecessors back then to live in Apple's world and I've never been seriously tempted to use something else until I saw WP7.

I really believe WP7 is a game changer for Microsoft and the mobile industry. Sure, it has some shortcomings. I don't know how they could decide to not include copy-and-paste as a feature in the first release. And like iPhone, they also do not have application multi-tasking and they appear to have similarly stringent plans regarding their app store.

But the interface is fantastic, I love the "hub" metaphors, streaming video and even Xbox Live over the phone looked amazing. Not sure exactly how badly those things will kill battery life, but they sure looked impressive. For heavy Outlook users, the Outlook mobile experience on WP7 may alone be enough to get you to switch. Just awesome. And there's a chance it could finally be the breakthrough that Zune has been looking for.

Silverlight 4 is definitely another big step in the right direction. They continue to slowly chip away at adoption and now claim that it's at 60% market penetration, probably mostly attributable to the Olympics and adoption and rollouts of Windows 7.

Tools like Expression Blend keep getting better, and Sketchflow may even be better than the competition, it is simply cool. IE9 beta demos also got big buzz. It appears they have surpassed Firefox on overall performance, are coming close to Chrome in many aspects, and for certain functions like handling of video and HTML5 they could end up being even faster and better (when running on a Windows platform of course) by taking better advantage of your computer's processor and using a form of background hardware-based acceleration. The head-to-head examples showing some really slick use of animation and video in HTML5 were really amazing.

The one thing that Microsoft has which no one else can offer (not Google, not Adobe, not Apple, not anyone) is an end-to-end story on tools and capabilities in this arena. The depth and breadth of their tools and services is truly staggering when you put it all together. And I'm not just talking about the typical story of Windows + Visual Studio + .NET + SQL Server. On top of that throw in Expression Studio with SketchFlow + Project "Dallas" + Azure + Silverlight + Surface + Windows Phone 7 + OpenData + IE9 + Bing Search and Maps and on and on. Sure you can poke certain holes in individual pieces versus their competitors. But the cohesive power of all that together makes for a truly impressive lineup.

There definitely were a few other good tidbits at MIX. Announcements around Orchard, freely available tools for WP7 development, great live streaming of Channel9 straight from the event, strengthening support for JQuery, and a surprising number of atypical logos on screens being talked about as friends (e.g. Wordpress, Drupal, PHP, etc.).

And the keynotes included fantastic sessions by Scott Guthrie (@scottgu), VP of Microsoft's Developer Division, and great demonstrations by consummate tech presenter Scott Hanselman (@shanselman). But for me, the highlight of MIX was the opportunity to see Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher Microsoft Research, speak live. He is simply brilliant and one of the most passionate people alive when it comes to interface design and technology.

If you've never seen him speak it is worth your time to google (or bing) for videos of his speeches and spend an entire day just watching them. As the conference organizer, Microsoft's Thomas Lewis (@TommyLee), put it in a tweet during Bill Buxton's keynote: "OMFG! Buxton's brutality has destroyed Vegas! Only zombies, mushrooms & lavender frogs have survived! DESIGN IS GOD!". I couldn't have put it better myself. Buxton's speeches are often too filled with memorable lines to count, though my favorite at MIX included "The most important thing in the system is the wetware... the human being" during a segment where he described the importance of taking into account all the users different prior experiences within the specific environmental contexts of where, when and how they will use a system that you are designing.

Side note: I still don't understand how such an amazing guy who lives and breathes design and is considered the Father of Multi-Touch can have such a horrible personal web site, but I can only assume it's a "cobbler's children" thing.

And last but not least, the overall crowd and dynamic of the attendees at MIX was fantastic if not a bit quirky. It was a great group of highly intelligent people that are all passionate about great design and truly unafraid to ask the hard questions of Microsoft and dole out praise as well as tough love in person in the sessions and in torrents over Twitter. Unlike typical creative and design conferences it's definitely rooted in a true developer core (e.g. more guys still talking about compilers as opposed to a more mixed-gender crowd talking about heuristics and having used many tools like these for years), but unlike normal Microsoft conferences it's a large group of people who love great creative design and have been dying for Microsoft to bring these kinds of things to the table.

This conference in Vegas was more WXSW for geeks than it was the concurrently running SXSW, but Twitter and Foursquare definitely reigned supreme there as well as the tools that joined everyone together digitally during the sessions, into the evening, around the bars, and throughout the event. Sunday evening even kicked off the conference with a massive tweetup at the MIX Lounge at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. There is a real embrace of Twitter showing through by Microsoft that is really uncanny with regard to how they normally react to any tech service that they don't build and own.

At Definition 6, we do use a lot of tools and services across platforms including a very significant amount of work in the Microsoft platform. And we do use tools and design for platforms that are competitive to many of those that were showcased at MIX 2010. But there is no doubt that what we saw there has given us a lot to think about, some great ideas, and a few new weapons to put in our arsenal. We look forward to using many of these to create great solutions for our customers and to seeing them continue to evolve and improve.

Social media marketing is at the forefront of integrated interactive marketing programs underway at almost every Fortune 500 company out there. Corporate blogging, online video and podcasts are among the most popular strategies used by the world's largest comapnies. But what about Twitter?

What might surprise you is how quickly Twitter is growing as the social medium of choice among Fortune 500 companies. According to recent studies like “Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies,” conducted by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Financial Insite, a Seattle-based Research Firm, Twitter is the platform of choice for Fortune 500 social media marketers.

The study examined the 2009 Fortune 500 in an attempt to quantify their adoption of social media tools and technologies, finding that 22% of Fortune 500 companies have a public-facing corporate blog – six percent more than 2008. The study also found that 86% of these blogs link directly to a corporate Twitter account, a 300% increase over 2008. Even more corporations have Twitter accounts, but not all link to them from their blog.

It would appear that Fortune 500 marketers are moving fast to Twitter for engaging with their key audiences. Of course, upon further analysis, you’d find that only 35% of these Twitter accounts are active – described as having been updated within the past 30 days. If I’m reading the study correctly, that means 65% are not being actively used.

While Fortune 500 companies have realized they need to be on Twitter – probably as defense against username squatting – few have truly embraced Twitter as a social channel. 

Of the groups that have engaged most heavily with Twitter, the insurance industry is leading the way, with 13 active Twitter accounts according to the study. Of course there are also companies like Exxon Mobil, the #1 company in the Fortune 500, that have no presence on Twitter.

A separate analysis of Fortune 500 Twitter, “The Global Social Media Check-Up” conducted by Burson-Marstellar, found that 79% of Fortune 100 Global companies are using one of four popular social media platforms, with Twitter leading Facebook, YouTube and corporate blogging as the platform of choice.

65% of Fortune Global 100 companies have active accounts on Twitter, while only 54% have Facebook accounts, 50% have YouTube channels, and 33% have a corporate blog. There is still plenty of room for improvement here.

Why Is Twitter the Preferred Platform?

Nobody knows for sure why Twitter is so popular, but there’s a good chance that it’s because it’s the easiest platform to launch. Companies can have a Twitter account up and running in a couple of hours (or less). There is a lot more work to do to launch a YouTube channel, corporate blog, or Facebook presence. It also takes considerably less resources to manage content production and audience interaction on Twitter than these other platforms. It’s a relatively low-cost and low-maintenance option for getting in the social media game.

Are Fortune 500 companies getting any value out of Twitter though? According to the Burson-Marstellar study, the answer is “yes”. Twitter accounts to the Fortune Global 100 average 1,489 followers. This doesn’t seem like much when you consider the average Facebook fan page for these companies has more than 40,000 fans, but it's progress.

A full copy of the new research report can be downloaded here: http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch.

 

 

I've been hearing the phrase "Drinking from the fire hose" more often than usual lately. The curious thing is that it's coming from Interactive Media Professionals (including myself), as much as from end users. With the exponential growth of the Internet and its related technologies, we now have access to more information, in more places, in more ways than ever before. Web 2.0, Social Media, Application Software Development, Mobile and related technologies are having a profound impact on Interactive Marketing Strategies. Many agencies are capable at traditional & online media marketing, or they may have strong technical capabilities--but, it is rare to find an agency that has all of these abilities and deep technical resources such as Definition 6.

To follow the fire hose analogy--anyone faced with that situation would get out of the way. The high volume and velocity of incoming data require some type of control and direction to be useful to ourselves, our clients, and our business.  Developers, interactive designers, and marketers are faced with the same questions as consumers--how to manage the onslaught of incoming information. Interactive Ad Agencies are faced with the additional responsibility of creating new tools to distribute information in a clear and meaningful way. These interactive professionals are the firemen holding the hose. 

At the height of the dotcom boom, an old colleague used to remind me that technology is simply a way of doing things. As the old broadcast model of advertising becomes obsolete, and user discovery & social interaction drive engagement, the function of marketing itself must now change to meet these communication challenges. This new model now poses new questions about where marketers should be, how they communicate, and when that interaction will occur.  I still remember the first  7-Eleven convenience store that opened in my neighborhood, and discovering that name comes from its operating hours—--it was a big deal to be open until 11PM! Marketers didn’t create more ads to attract customers from 9-5, they simply changed to meet customers on their own terms.

Integrated interactive marketing campaigns must be open and immersed in the culture to create value and be relevant. Successful marketers are positioned alongside their target market, making use of tactics such as Branded Content and Branded Entertainment to engage the user, enabling them to discover that value on their own, and decide what truly fulfills their needs. This is not an easy task, and creating meaningful user interaction grows out of qualified analysis of users and their interactions. Those of us in Media and Advertising have been exposed to these ideas before, but never before have these been more important to interactive design. Today's consumer has become a partner in the design process, and defines how we approach our interactions with them. Social media tools such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter provide marketers with a limitless cache of information to help segment, target and engage users as never before— which only highlights the need for efficient processing of data.

Our obligation to clients is to find the relevant information, manage and organize it, and disperse it to potential customers.  To do this, we interpret client requirements and translate those requirements into a meaningful Interactive Experience. We need to collect and analyze enough user data to create strong, branded messages that reach the intended target. In addition, we must combine data with the tools and applications that make it meaningful to those target consumers.

In this new age of discovery, the true Integrated Interactive Agencies are taking the time and effort to find the tools necessary to do the job, or when needed, create them. With information coming constantly from every direction, those who are efficient at organizing, managing, and presenting it will be successful. Otherwise, we're just spraying a fire hose.  If we attempt to do that, consumers will just get out of the way.

Intuition can guide you to the place of innovation, and analysis guides you to the method of innovation.

Driving down costs is the goal of every business in every industry. Identifying and nailing down Cost Drivers in a Interactive Media Agency is one of the most challenging aspects of Innovation due to the service model and diversity of projects. The more diverse the services and the more capabilities an organization has, the harder the cost drivers are to innovate. This is the challenge.

Create Measurability

In order to analyze data, you need to collect data. The first step is to establish a normalized set of information, and discover commonalities that you measure over time. It's difficult in service business models to identify measurable practices since commonality between projects may not exist. In contrast, it is much easier to find measurable actvities within consistent services. For example, in the realm of public service such as law enforcement, response times can be measured which can lead to innovation in terms of communication technologies, route mapping, and routine patrolling route generation to optimize the response times and measure improvements. In the same light, commonality and metrics need to be put in place so that you can innovate. Without this baseline set of metrics, most improvements are subjective and can be hit and miss.

Measurability and Interactive Marketing

Interactive marketing strategies and improved search engine optimization follow the same metaphorical principle. Because optimization is always a moving target, you have to establish a control on your marketing practices and only change a few independent variables at a time, such as keyword density, or keyword targeting in ads, in order to see their effect. In the case of organic search results, the effect of changes may take weeks or even months before they actually show results. To top it off, search algorithms and prioritization change "without notice." To discover these changes requires a scientific mindset for the search engine optimization consultants.

The cost drivers in Search Engine Marketing involve keyword market prices. Camping a commonly used keyword for PPC can cost you a fortune. Using longtail strategies and finding ways to effectively identify your product, service or company is the innovation point, and only good analysis and keyword research will get you there. Consistency is the rule of the game to establish and maintain hold of brand loyalty, market share, market segment, and also online in terms of keyword ownership, and search engine rankings.

Internet Application Development

With Internet Services, the identification of cost drivers needs to be built into the process by abstracting out parts of the process that show commonality and measurability. This should be the starting gate through which your innovation charges. Like online marketing, application development is a moving target. New technologies explode onto the marketplace on a regular basis, tempting you to change how you do business. Again by using a scientific approach, by controlling your process and making sure you change a few things at a time, you can drive changes from the right point of view rather than hype, and effectively make improvements on your cost drivers.

I’m excited to share with you that Definition 6 has recently acquired Creative Bubble , a leading New York City video editorial, design, sound and production company. This acquisition comes on the heels of our recent private equity investment  and solidifies our commitment to expanding both our capabilities as a full-service interactive agency, as well as our national presence by creating our New York office.

I’m most excited about the expanded capabilities we are now able to provide clients around rich media and video production. Through this move, our expanded team now includes a team of professionals that have been recognized by numerous organizations for its technical and creative accomplishments, including the receipt of 7 Emmy Awards and 13 Emmy Nominations for their work developing original and re-purposed content for cable and broadcast television programming.

There is no question that the addition of Creative Bubble greatly expands our ability to provide clients with a new range of services, build on technology, innovation and outstanding creative, to help capitalize on new and emerging opportunities for digital content production and distribution.

Over the course of the past couple of years, Creative Bubble has established itself as a leading provider of rich media and video production services in the New York market. You’ve seen their work for Sesame Street, Nickelodeon, Nick At Night, TV Land, Food Network, HBO, MTV, CBS Sports, Court TV, Comedy Central, Showtime, Lifetime Discovery Kids, TRIO and USA Network.

Through the addition of Creative Bubble, Definition 6 will continue to serve clients from both offices with the latest in interactive marketing, rich media and video production services. For now, please review our new Rich Media and Video Production Services overview and view the video that highlights some of Creative Bubble’s work.

We look forward to sharing this news with you individually as we move forward and invite you to contact us to learn more about our expanded rich media and video production capabilities.

And so it begins...

Over the past 15 years we have seen the rise of the digital age.  Well, we’ve seen the rise, fall, and rebirth of digital over that time frame.  Out of the ashes of the dotcom bust came a stronger, smarter marketer.  A marketer that understands the importance of measurement, ROI, brand, and business objective.  Also, out of the ashes came a smarter consumer.  A consumer who suddenly realized they have a voice, and the power to initiate change.  This combination has resulted in interactive marketing going from an afterthought in a CMO’s marketing plan to a focal point.  The web is now the hub of most marketing initiatives.  It is the place where we can create the deepest engagement, measure the most activity, and impact the audience the most by creating true brand experiences and real interaction with the brand. 

So traditional is dead, right?  Wrong.  Traditional mediums continue to be important. I have not thrown my HD flat screen out on the lawn yet.  My IPOD and my radio take turns in my car.  Occasionally, I still even read a magazine.  The real problem for marketers now is this: the interactive medium has gone from the smaller part of the overall mix, to the key driving factor that is the glue that enables a truly integrated experience for the user.  The advertising and marketing world has gone from a push to a pull.  Marketers need agencies who can execute a truly integrated plan by developing real interactive strategy…one message, one brand, many channels, multiple experiences. 
This fact has been the driving force for the recent growth and expansion of Definition 6.  For 13 years, Definition 6 has been creating interactive solutions that deliver measureable results for our clients.  We have taken great strides to build integrated strategies that work with our clients’ entire marketing plans.  And so today we announce the next evolution in Definition 6.

Definition 6 has acquired Creative Bubble  – A New York Based video design, production, and editing firm.  Creative Bubble is an Emmy Award Winning agency working with some of the best and brightest networks in the entertainment field including Nickelodeon, HBO, ESPN, Showtime, and USA Networks just to name a few.  This acquisition means a several things for Definition 6 and our clients...

First, we now have full in-house video production and editing capabilities, from script to screen.  As the lines between digital and traditional continue to blur, content becomes king.  We now have the ability to 100% in-house develop rich video content, coupled with our digital experience, enables us to develop and execute full integrated marketing campaigns that can be distributed across multiple mediums…Definition 6 has the capability to develop across the three screens that really matter: TV, Internet, and Mobile.  We also now have a fully functioning office in New York, the epicenter for the media world.  Again, with our existing strategy, social media, and analytics practices, we can develop more effective campaigns more efficiently that deliver real, quantifiable impact to the businesses of our clients. 

There will certainly be more news in the coming months from Definition 6.  But we are beginning to see the vision we’ve had for years come to fruition and we are very excited.  Marketing Integration.  Technology Innovation.  Building Brands that Matter.  That’s what Definition 6 has set out to do for our clients.  The game is changing everyday…and we can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

If I haven't convinced you yet that you should spend some marketing time and money by focusing on the Hispanic population, let me try again.  Media Post has several great articles on the subject.  Here is another one by Diana A. Terry-Azíos called "Brand Loyal, Yet Unbranded".

As a general rule, Hispanics are more brand loyal than other groups.  They are less risky with their purchases and stick to brands that have provided good quality products.  However, when many of them move to the U.S., they are likely not going to find their familiar brands here.  So they have to start shopping and they have tons of choices to choose from in the U.S.

Another issue is that they are not as compelled to buy "Made in USA" as other U.S. citizens nor will they be compelled to buy products endorsed by people they don't know.  If Hispanics don't know who Michael Jordan is, then he isn't going to help Hanes sell more underwear to them.  And Brett Favre isn't going to help sell more Wrangler jeans to them.

Here are some key points to marketing to the U.S. Hispanic population.

- You have to prove that your product is of good (or the best) quality.  Hispanics will often spend a little more if they are getting the best quality.
- Start a marketing campaign that will speak directly to Hispanics, perhaps with Hispanic stars, but definitely with Spanish content (and not just English content translated directly to Spanish).  Your marketing campaign needs to address quality, convenience and emotion.  But also keep in mind that the growing young Hispanic consumer considers himself/herself as Latino AND American.
- Use multiple touch points to stay in contact with Hispanic consumers. For example, studies have shown that Hispanics are more likely to respond to text messages than other groups.

For more Key points, see the article I am referencing.

Oh, and by the way, here are some interesting facts about the growing Hispanic population.

45.5 million -- The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2007, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. Hispanics constituted 15% of the nation’s total population. In addition, there are approximately 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico.

About 1 of every two people added to the nation’s population between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, was Hispanic. There were 1.4 million Hispanics added to the population during the period.

3.3% increase in the Hispanic population between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, making Hispanics the fastest-growing minority group.

Want more?  Here are some interesting facts.

So what are you waiting for?  The growing Hispanic population is waiting for you to give them a good reason to buy your products and to tell their friends just how good you are.  As word spreads through their community, your profits should start growing at a faster and faster pace.

We can help you.  We are an Atlanta interactive advertising agency.
 
Definition 6 is an interactive media agency that creates marketing initiatives that engage people.  We capture and analyze relevant metrics from web analytics, email marketing, online media, and social media campaigns to continue to test and refine marketing plans.  We’d like to help you meet the challenge of addressing the new expectations of consumers.

I read an article on MediaPost that showed how 2 major retailers, The Home Depot and Best Buy, targeted the U.S. Hispanic community.  One company failed while the other is gaining more sales.  What is interesting to me is that it appears that they both took the same approach, got back the same unexpected results, and then went in two different directions.

Both companies created a "U.S. Spanish" website.  Their target was U.S. Spanish speaking consumers.  What they discovered was that they were getting a lot of non-U.S. Spanish speaking visitors to their websites.  These visitors wanted to buy online just like U.S. consumers.  In many cases, the non-U.S. consumers were either visiting relatives or friends in the U.S. or were Mexicans crossing the border to shop.  The prices in the U.S. were cheaper than in their country and so they wanted to get their items in the U.S. and then bring them back home.  So what is the problem with that?

For Home Depot, the problem is that they did not take the foreign credit cards on the U.S. Spanish site.  Best Buy on the other hand embraced the additional and unexpected consumers and did allow the foreign credit cards.  Best Buy is finding that, even though they don't ship overseas, people will order online and ship to friends or family where they will pick up the items later.  They also have found that U.S. Hispanics are using the website to print out information before they go to the stores to purchase the items.  In many cases it is easier for them to understand the information in Spanish.

One of the more interesting sides to this story is that The Home Depot has stores in Mexico, they have a Mexican website (in Spanish, of course), they have an English Canadian website and they have a French Canadian website.  So they are marketing to everone across North America except the the growing number of Spanish speaking Hispanics in the U.S. and those Spanish speaking visitors who wish to purchase in the U.S.

Not knowing the full details of the costs involved, it would be interesting to see the cost for Home Depot to maintain the U.S. Spanish site and the revenue the site could bring in (if they allowed foreign credit cards) and the revenue brought in by those in the U.S. who used the site to gain more information about products they wanted.  It seems to me that 4 months of running the U.S. Spanish site is not enough time to determine its impact and that if Best Buy can make it work for them, The Home Depot should be able to make it work, too.  Besides, if a French Canadian site can work for Canada, why can't a Spanish U.S. site work here?  I wonder if Home Depot is looking for a way to recreate the U.S. Spanish site in a way that will embrace those consumers that liked having the site available.

Are you looking to build a website to market your products or services to the fast growing U.S. Hispanic community?  Definition 6 is an Atlanta interactive marketing agency that can help you.  Besides doing website development and web application development, we can manage your Search Engine Optimization, your Search Engine Marketing and your email marketing campaigns while providing web analytics that ties everything together.  As we gather more and more valuable information about your consumers, we can tweak all methods of marketing to maximize your dollars.  Contact us and let's get a plan in place for you.

I've compiled a small list here of Social Media success stories.  One of the interesting things that I find about most people who have already started marketing and consumer communications using Social Media is that they often say "don't be afraid to try something new" and "don't be afraid of failure".  Some failures have lead to even better campaigns.  If these companies (and more) can try a few ideas, so can you.  Most people familiar with social media agree that if you really want to connect with your consumers and help establish or reinforce brand recognition, you need to get on Social Media outlets now.  For one thing, it is often very cheap to do this while being able to reach out to thousands or even millions of potential and long-standing customers.  So please review these stories to see how easy some of them got started and the great successes that they had.

1. Taco Mac on Twitter
Followers of Taco Mac can follow the individual Taco Mac location of their choice.  They get updates on Taco Mac's latest specials and reminders of special events.  Taco Mac gets a lot more people attending special events because many of them might have forgotten.  On Pint Night they are running out of free pint glasses in 1 hour instead of 3 hours like it was before Twitter.  What else could your company do if you were sending constant "reminders" to your customers?
(http://www.ajc.com/business/taco-mac-uses-twitter-102656.html)
(http://twitter.com/TMacLindbergh)


2. Masi Bicycles on Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
New Masi Brand Manager, Tim Jackson, was given a very small budget and they were already spending much of that on some magazine ads.  So he had to come up with an inexpensive way to better market the Masi brand.  The easy (and cheap) way for him was to create a blog that he regularly posts to.  This actually helped him to establish good relationships with some of his vendors.  He is also actively using Twitter and Facebook and is moving toward podcasts and video.  With a new "cult" following, sales are really starting to grow.  What's really interesting is that Tim had never done any of this before.
(http://mediahunter.typepad.com/media_hunter/2008/07/social-media-su.html#more)
(http://twitter.com/MasiBicycles)


3. CNN with Facebook
CNN had a huge success when they teamed up with Facebook to present the Presidential Inaugaration and Michael Jackson's funeral.  21.3 million live video streams!  That's a lot of people.  Oh, and guess what?  CNN's first attempt failed (The Primary Debates).  But they figured it out before the inaugaration.  What can your company do that would attract watchers, even if you don't get 21.3 million?  Maybe a live fashion show for a new line of clothing?  Perhaps a live demonstration of how your product works or a new product offering? Or maybe a conversation with your CEO?
(http://vmarketingblog.com/2009/07/31/cnn-and-social-networking/)
(http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/21/inauguration.online.video/index.html)
(http://mashable.com/2009/01/20/cnn-facebook-inauguration-numbers/)
(http://newteevee.com/2009/01/20/facebook-cnn-is-future-of-tv/)


4. Zappos on Twitter, Blogs
Customer satisfaction and relationships.  That is what Zappos is all about.  QUALITY interactions.  Not only do the CEO and COO get online, but many of their other employees do too.  It is like they are your friends.  What would it be like for your company if people considered your brand as their friend?  Zappos has come to the realization that your brand isn't what you say it is, it is what the consumers say it is.  They proudly look for and respond to negative comments about them.  They are all about "making things right".  They want people to be comfortable not just with Zappos' products, but with Zappos' employees.  How would people respond to your employees if they were responding to and interacting with consumers online?  To quote from the article below "we may not always remember what someone tells us, but we generally remember how we felt when we were interacting with the person. And when people feel respected and engaged, whether it is in-person with a co-worker or online on a social network, they have a natural desire to tell other people about the experience."
(http://mashable.com/2009/04/26/zappos/)
(http://twitter.com/zappos)


5. Common Wealth Credit Union (CWCU) on YouTube
CWCU wanted to target a specific demographic.  People between the ages of 17 and 25.  They wanted a way to keep the buzz going while acquiring new customers for life.  They created a microsite for this campaign that is managed by someone who is 17 - 25 years old and use YouTube to upload videos that will appeal to people their age, usually videos of themselves.  People can interact with the website by answering poll questions, watching videos, sharing pictures, submitting job postings, adding information about free stuff in their communities, and of course, applying for a chequing account.  The site "spokester" also blogs about money with fun little YouTube videos.  They opened up 2400 new accounts in the first 8 months after the campaign started (Note, the article does not say how that compares to previous months, but it must be good because they are still going and have a new "spokester" with lots of new material).
(http://mediahunter.typepad.com/media_hunter/2008/08/social-media--1.html#more)
(http://www.youngfreealberta.com/)


So those are just a few examples of companies making the most with Social Media.  In many cases it involved very little cost.  In other cases there was quite a bit of time, effort and money put into it, but the results were out of this world.  Given that there are several very active social media sites, it would be a smart move to get your company out there and in touch with your current and potential customers.

If you are looking for great ideas, let Definition 6 help you.  We are an online interactive marketing agency with experience in Social Media efforts.  There are so many good online marketing techniques and we can help you find the one (or more) that are right for you.  If you go to www.definition6.com, you can check out our new game that interacts directly with Twitter called TwitterINGO.  Or you can check out how we integrated AutoExtra's campaign with MySpace.  We can also help you with mobile marketing strategies.

If any of the above stories don't convince you to get on the Social Media bandwagon, then check out Mashable.com's "10 of the Smartest Big Brands in Social Media".

Lauren Romero wrote an article titled "Beyond Acculturation" that describes why simple "acculturation" is not good enough when considering your marketing plan for the Hispanic community.  Just like you would create U.S. English websites based on your consumer behaviors, you can't simply create a website based on consumers being Hispanic.  Hispanics have different characteristics just like everyone else.  The acculturation technique may have been good for a while because the Hispanic community is complex and it was an easy way to start addressing their needs.  But now there is a lot of information that has been gathered that should be used to do better segmentation, based on behavior, not just demographics.  Lauren's article mentions a term that was created by Diano Rios and Federico Suberi called "Situational Latinidad".  Its basic idea is that "each Latino in the U.S. experiences the Latino identity in different ways, in different situations. Acculturation labels sum up general types and levels of such individual identification based on language use and media consumption, but they miss what matters to most marketers -- behavior related to their category."

As an interactive marketing agency, Definition 6 can help you gather information about your consumers to help you create websites, email campaigns, pay per click campaigns, etc. that reach out to the growing Hispanic population.

MarketingSherpa released its 2009 eCommerce Benchmark Survey and reminds us that we should be gearing up for what is projected to be an improved holiday season: up 9% over 2008.  Nearly 1,500 eCommerce marketers rated tactics for improving website conversions.

1.  Perpetual shopping carts

These take many different forms:  from a simple note that there’s a product sitting in the cart to dynamic overlays showing images of the product, price, and estimated shipping costs.  The perpetual shopping cart keeps the purchase in the mind of the customer; that psychological anchor helps guide them back to the purchase.

2.  Website search

Consumer research suggests that almost 50% of shoppers prefer internal search over traditional menu options.  This number naturally rises when they have a specific product or brand in mind. 

The first priority is to test your internal search regularly to ensure that it works effectively. Second, examine the different business factors that can be used to optimize internal search results.  Some marketers use a ‘last in-first out’ method to move inventory, while others use their analytics and database systems to sort products by profit margin.  The choices are as broad as your technology and creativity.

3.  Enhanced display

Consumers are enthusiastic about getting multiple, varied photos of a product.   People want to know as much as they can about a product, and even static images can help.  Showing videos how to use products or explaining complex features can bring products to life for the user.

Definition 6 is an Atlanta ad agency and has extensive experience in building and designing eCommerce websites.  We can improve your Search Engine Optimization.  We are experts in Google Search technology and can implement search at your site.  We can also help you with your interactive advertising campaigns and targeted email marketing.  Do you need a mobile advertising strategy?  We can help!

In a recent Sales Caffeine email newsletter from Jeffrey Gitomer, there is an article by Michelle Joyce on Making Transactions Memorable.  She had a pleasant experience at the McDonald’s drive thru in Huntersville, North Carolina, and summarized what made the transaction memorable.
 
These three simple steps can be considered website redesign tips to improve user experience at your eCommerce websites and in all your interactive marketing efforts.

1.  Start with a smile and engage your prospect in a friendly manner.  Would you do business with someone you didn’t like?  Well, neither would your prospect.  This guy made me like him – immediately.  When he made that connection, the transaction became enjoyable and personal.  It was all about me, not just my order. 

2.  Offer alternative solutions.  People want choices.   Don't assume that your customer is aware of them.  Uncover their needs and help them make a choice.  McDonald's already mastered the upsell technique with their famous line, “Do you want fries with that?”  What kind of additional features and services can you upsell?  What kind of additional revenue are you leaving on the table at every sale?

3.  End the transaction with something memorable.  When is the last time that a fast food worker told you to “drive safely”?  Usually, it is the perfunctory "thank you” and “have a nice day”; but this guy made me feel like he was genuinely concerned about my personal safety.  What are you saying to your customers that make them remember you personally?

Michelle ends by saying:  The reality is that people are still buying products and services in this economy.  The only question is "Will they buy them from you?"

Definition 6 is an interactive marketing agency that can help you make a connection to your users, whether customers or prospective ones.  We are experts in website development and custom application development.  Even though we are an Atlanta Ad Agency, we have clients across the US that we help differentiate themselves from their competition.

Last week Interactive Marketing Agency Definition 6 launched TwitterINGO, an online game of sorts that leverages Twitter. I won’t go into all the details of how it works in this post, but essentially it’s a free downloadable desktop widget you run in the background while working (or at least trying to work… the game is a bit addictive to watch) as the game is played each Tuesday at 3PM EST. The tweets of all the people you follow stream down the left hand side while you get a 5x5 game board of keywords. When someone you follow posts a tweet containing a term you have on your board the square will highlight and fill in with that person’s tweet.

I am a bit biased of course in thinking the game is cool, I helped create TwitterINGO. The idea came from watching multiple columns of twitstreams in Tweetdeck and thinking how it almost felt like modern-day BINGO card. After a couple of brainstorming sessions we arrived at the current design. It has several premises.

1.       If you use Twitter to really, effectively follow the pulse of news and information that you care about you typically have to follow a fairly large number of people (typically at least in the hundreds and often in excess of that) and learn how to organize those people into groups in addition to creating effective searches for subjects.

2.       Finding the right people to follow who discuss the subjects of interest to you beyond your immediate circle of friends and colleagues takes some time and can be a bit of an art form as you sort through the clutter

3.       One of the real powers of social media is in how we help each other to find great people, pearls of wisdom, diamonds in the rough, etc.

4.       It can be really hard to identify the holes in your Following (you often don’t realize that you aren’t following certain subjects that interest you as well as you could be).

With this in mind we created TwitterINGO. With over 100 keywords “baked in” to the cards (all of them relating to popular and highly relevant subjects in the areas of interactive marketing, technology, media and advertising, application development, and social media), plus 20 current “terms of the week” on trending subjects sent out at the beginning of each weekly game, your card populates with a randomized selection of 24 of those terms, the middle square is free of course. Then you can simply sit back, have some fun and see what happens.

If you follow only a handful of people you will invariably become quickly disappointed as you realize none or few of your squares are populating. This can be a quick hint that you aren’t yet following the global conversations on tech and interactive or current events very well. On the other hand, if you follow a few hundred people who do talk about these subjects you’ll likely have a very different experience. I found myself fascinated watching my squares fill in (and unfortunately being less productive than I should be). It was amazing to see who I follow that randomly starting giving me the keywords I needed as I sought to get a row, column or diagonal completed to win. Every 5-10 minutes I’d get a square. First I got my “SharePoint” square filled by SharePoint Samurai @Gannotti. Then my “Brand” square filled by a post from @TobyDiva. Then Sun Microsystem’s Social Media guru @Sumaya posted a tweet with the term “open source”. I was off to a great start and saw another 4-5 squares fill in. And I came close to winning. But as I looked at what terms I needed to win (without cheating), I stared at the empty square with the word “Linux” in it. Why was nobody that I follow mentioning the word Linux? Hmmmm… there it was. A hole in how and who I Follow. I realized that I follow a lot of people on a lot of subjects but perhaps only a few that talk about Linux. To quickly rectify this I searched on the term Linux on Twitter and looked to see who the major contributors were and began following them. It was too late for me to win TwitterINGO this week, but it helped me do a better job of following that rather important part of the global technology conversation. The same can be said of many other terms I saw on my card that sat empty, I set out to see who was talking about the terms and found some really great people to start following.

While the game itself was rather fun, the real value was in seeing how it could help me. Plus I could then go look at the Leaderboard to see who the major Tweet Contributors were and who won and who they are following. The game is helping me to be a better user of social media to benefit my professional and personal interests and awareness. And I found a few extremely interesting people who played the game and won, people I’d never met before but that I certainly follow now. That's a game worth playing.