Interactive Strategy
Share a Minnie Moment
About 25 years ago the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation was formed helping adults affected by cancer gain easier access to resources for support, information and research in their communities. Now, 25 years later in celebration of Minnie Pearl and the spirit of her generosity, The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation wants to hear from you. Those they have served: caregivers, survivors, and Minnie fans. Thus, the Minnie Moments campaign was formed. The Minnie Moments campaign honors the fact that this year overlaps the 25th anniversary of the organization with the 100th birthday of the comedienne. What great timing!
Tennessean: Mobile application market heating up
This past Sunday, the Tennessean published an article around the recent surge in mobile application development in Nashville. One of those interviewed was one of our most recent clients, PureSweat. PureSweat offers specialized basketball training and development programs to top high school, college and NBA players. Their program enhances player's skills and fundamentals, which allow them to be successful at any level. PureSweat's owner, Drew Hanlen is currently finishing up his senior year at Belmont University. We wish Drew and the rest of the Belmont team huge success during the March Madness season. We are very excited to have the opportunity to work on such an amazing product and driven entrepreneur.
Are you Pinterested?
With interactive marketing being so largely concerned with engagement through web and mobile presences, social media tends to play a major role in conversions. As of late, social media platform Pinterest, has reared it's lovely head. As an avid recipe-finding, fitness-seeking, outfit-shopping junky, this site has proved to feed my addiction. While the obsession has become widespread, there are still lots of people unaware of this phenomenon.
Some may wonder what Pinterest actually is and why it is so 'Pinteresting'. Sorry, I can't help myself. Pinterest is a vision board-styled social photo sharing site especially popular among women. The site and iPhone app allow users to create and manage theme-based image collections.
Responsive Web
Recently I wrote a blog and an article about the difference between mobile apps and mobile sites. (Be sure to check out my article in the NTC's Catalyst Magazine from January 25th). I knew as soon as I wrote about the topic, a new technology would come swooping down and steal the show. That technology, my friends, is the Responsive Web. If you haven't heard of it, you better start learning - it will pretty much blow your mind.
Pilot Podcast Episode
As a great way to ring in the new year, we are proud to present the pilot episode of the Centresource podcast! Inside you'll find what you've come to expect from us: expertise about interactive and the web, Nick Holland hyping Google & Android, and general geeking out. Consider this a general introduction to our podcast but Nick's also got some BIG news to share. Be sure you give it a watch/listen and stay tuned for future episodes!
[iTunes and other subscription links to come shortly]
Why Your Brand Needs a Tumblr Presence
I love Tumblr. It’s the perfect modern blogging platform: built for posts shorter than, well, this one, but for content that’s longer than a 140-character tweet.
It’s got amazing social features, too. I follow an astonishing 350 Tumblr blogs personally, which provides me a nice constant feed of content. Tumblr’s great Dashboard provides me the ability to like or reblog (plus several other features) each post, like so:
Tumblr has quickly become a source of amazing rich media content: unique photos, videos and text snippets. It’s fast, fun and simple. In recent months many major news organizations and brands are using it to push out short updates and fascinating visuals. A few of my favorites:
Put The Internet To Work For You
Between emails, status updates, tweets, news articles and more, there is a lot of information coming at you all at once on the Internet. The trouble is actually finding a way to harness all of that information and make it work for you. For a few months now, I have been using an amazing tools that can help make the most of your internet experience. It’s called ifttt.
Enter to Win a Huge Lawsuit!
Our office recently got into a discussion about contests and giveaways online. You see it all the time – some social media "guru" with some gumption offers up a free iPad on his Twitter account, and gives it away once he reaches a certain number of followers. Odds are, that guru failed to consult with a lawyer and might end up being the guy with the most Twitter followers in the county lockup.
A contest is not just a simple giveaway, and legal concerns in this day and age are significant. This excellent post from Sara Hawkins at the Social Media Examiner breaks down the major forms of giveaways online and the differences between them. From Sara's post:
Mobile App? Or Mobile Site?
Mobile optimization is one of the biggest trends on the web. From mobile apps and mobile-optimized sites, to QR code-driven landing pages and adaptive web design, mobile content is quickly becoming king. It makes sense, right? A user’s mobile phone is constantly on their person and always on. If a consumer sees your ad or marketing piece, there’s a much greater chance a user might interact with your brand or site while on the go rather than hours later upon sitting down in front of a computer screen.
Dilbert Knows Agile
No planning, no documentation, no problem. That is the Agile development approach right? Well, I might be new to this Agile approach, but I would argue it's MORE. I am a Project Manager by heart, so NO planning and NO documentation is simply unacceptable. Sorry Dilbert. Seeing how Agile Development is a buzz lately, I figured I would approach this topic from a Strategist’s point of view.
