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A project we donated for a great cause…

artBound: theParty, a totally radical 80’s party happening in September: The psychedelic website we created for them.

(ARTBOUND IS A NONPROFIT volunteer initiative founded in 2009 in support of Free The Children and made up of a group of passionate individuals who believe that the arts have the power to help create real and sustainable change in the lives of underprivileged children.)

An MIT assistant professor used a complex algorithm to determine that more social media doesn’t necessarily mean more sales for your product. The insightful concluding quote:

“It’s not just a question of spreading your message to the greatest number of people,” Lamberson said. “You’ve got to get people to say, ‘Yes, I bought this product - and I think it’s good.’ ”

Not quite an Edward Bernays breakthrough, but some businesses might need an MIT study to validate their Spin Control budget.

Shot?

Former chairman of IAB, Shelby Bonnie writes a piece called “Let’s Kill the CPM” for TechCrunch.

His basic argument: selling eyeballs causes publishers to sellout and load each page up with way too many ‘impressions’ (coughTechCrunchcough), which inevitably return less (zero) value to advertisers as well as stifle creativity in the innovation department. And of course, lead to disenchanted users. see: AdBlock Plus.

This camp is in whole agreement. Two points to make - a caveat and an idealistic solution.
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Morally reprehensible?

Personally, we think so - irreverent, in the least. But, its got us talking and thus has achieved their objective (soul sale to the devil notwithstanding).

The whole ‘shock campaign‘ by the Belgian humour mag.

A costly call:

Hey, Microsoft marketing staff in Poland: Subtle, very subtle.

tr.im is now in the process of discontinuing service, effective immediately.

The eulogy from their page at tr.im:
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Microsoft and Yahoo almost got married last year. Called off at the altar. They’re back together but this time it’s an open relationship…for 10 years.

Some quick thoughts, on the deal’s impact on the search landscape (business deal notwithstanding):

1. The deal validates Bing. If Bing wasn’t successful and wasn’t retaining users, this deal wouldn’t have happened. As it stands, Microsoft will retain 12% of all search related revenue.

2. It accelerates Bing’s shot at critical mass. If you think you haven’t used “Yahoo” in years, you’re most likely mistaken - the list of Yahoo properties envelops a commanding reach (flickr, del.icio.us, finance, autos, news, music, answers…)

3. Yahoo’s sales staff is experienced and can undoubtedly monetize premium ’search advertising’ dollars better than Microsoft can — Google reportedly makes 75% of all search ad $’s, despite only having 66% of the search market share.

The collaboration is still fraught with risk, and has a lot of hoops to jump through to be successful - but it does give both companies a shot to swing for the home-run (fence emblazoned with the Google logo, of course).

Real Choice. Better Value. More Innovation. Still Conveyed with Cheesy stock images.

Now that the credit crunch crisis is upon them and repayment in many cases is a pipe dream, the banks decide its time to speak out on financial responsibility.

“Don’t be That Guy” - a campaign by Fifth Third Bank preaches to college-bound kids to spend what they can afford. Story here.

After years of preying on the over-reaching consumer, the message is more than welcome.

(The motives remain dubious though).