11 Consumer Macro Trends for 2010 from Larry Wu
I’m at the tenth (and last, as it happens) Gnomedex down in Seattle. I just watched Larry Wu, a kind of brand research and development guru (his bio is on this page) give a talk about trends. Among...
View ArticleCatfish’s Clever, Derivative Trailer
This weekend I watched The American–more on that later. The trailer for The Social Network, the Mark Zuckerberg bio pic, preceded the film. You’ve probably seen it, but maybe take a couple of minutes...
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Let’s Ride the Intestinal Bus
I don’t like to poke fun at the folks at Granville Island, because they’re good people. But, c’mon, didn’t anybody consider that a cluster of red onions cabbage also might look like, I don’t know,...
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Two Lessons in Corporate Perspective
Last night I’d planned to watch the Canucks game. As it turns out, it was being shown on a new premium sports channel called Sportsnet One. This is extra-confusing for fans, because Sportsnet One...
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Cheapest Advertising Campaign Ever
I was getting off the SkyTrain today, and I noticed this note stuck to the route map above the door. It simply says “Save $$, DealByDay.com“. I gather that it’s one of a bunch of these (slightly...
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Dealing With Negative Nelly Web Designers
Several times a week, I walk past a commercial office furniture warehouse. There is signage–a series of photos and text–running the length of one side of the building. If you get close to the building,...
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Two peculiar calls to action and one preemptive sign
In marketing, the ‘call to action’ is the moment where you ask your audience to do something: “buy now”, “sign this petition” and so forth. This week, I encountered a couple of odd and, to my mind,...
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Who clicks your shortened URLs?
About 18 months ago, I did a pretty unscientific analysis on Mashable regarding the clickthrough rate for Twitter accounts. That is, when you share a link on Twitter, how many of your followers click...
View ArticleIn which I judge you about your email address
The other day I had a meeting with a professional person, a freelancer who worked in an industry tangentially connected to the Web. We organized the meeting via email, and I noticed with dismay that he...
View ArticleA little housekeeping
A quick post to cover off a few things in my orbit: After four or five years of indifference, we launched a new version of Capulet’s website, designed by our friends at Giant Ant Media. I wrote a blog...
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Overthinking it
MARKETER: So, just “Ice” along the top, then? STORE OWNER: Yep. MARKETER: Are you sure? There’s a lot of space up there. STORE OWNER: “Ice” will be fine, thanks. MARKETER: I don’t know…it’s really an...
View ArticleBig names at the Art of Marketing conference
I recently received an invitation to attend The Art of Marketing, a marketing conference being held at The Centre on June 9. It looks like an exciting event if only for the speaker line-up, which is a...
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Just need a little guy time
Today I was having a drink at the Wicklow on False Creek. I visited the men’s room, and discovered this posted above the urinal (click to enlarge): In case you can’t read the text: Ninjas not your...
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My first business card
I was going through some storage boxes, and discovered it. In 1991, my two classmates and I produced a yearbook video for our graduating class (at Sentinel Secondary School, hence the name). We sold it...
View ArticlePass the test and work at Nitobi
Nitobi, the Vancouver-based development shop, is one of our oldest clients. It’s been exciting to watch them grow from their origins as (gulp) eBusiness Applications, and see them take off with the...
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Why today is about Bell Canada, and not mental health
According to Bell Canada, today is Bell Let’s Talk Day. The company launched an initiative that donates to Canadian mental health programs each time you make a long distance call or send a text (if...
View ArticleTwo new projects close to my heart
I’ve found that when I live abroad, I have more free time on my hands. I’ve never quite figured out where this free time comes from, but I assume it’s because I have fewer social demands, and I do very...
View ArticleCome to Fireworks Factory
In recent years, Web of Change has been the most important event I attend each year. It’s a gathering of really senior people in the social change space in a wilderness location. Most years, it’s an...
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How to be a business grown-up in 23 easy steps
How do you learn business etiquette? In my 15 years of professional experience, the only formal courses my colleagues attended were the ones where they’re taught to bow, say “domo arigato” and accept...
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Why don’t we care where image macros and GIFs come from?
Like a straying husband returning to his long-suffering wife, the Internet loves animated GIFs again. The 2006 version of me would never have guessed that, in 2013, some of the web’s most popular sites...
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