Til death do us part

One of the Best Free Dating Sites for Zombies:

http://www.zombieharmony.com/?speed=0&speed=0&limbs=0&speed=0&groaning=on#

Thanks to Aaron for inspiring my weekend...

Make cool word tags clouds ... yeah!

Still trying to figure out a good use for this, but what the hell, it's cool anyway.

This is the tag cloud for bmfsticky
And this is from the Treaty of Waitangi.. chur chru bro


And this from IF by Rudyard Kipling (thanks Gareth)

Give it a try and post something here from : http://wordle.net/

Why the Internet Enhances TV Advertising

Thanks to AdAge and David F. Poltrack for this article.

Over the past few years, we've gotten accustomed to hearing how the internet was going to reduce TV viewing and how it's going to supplant TV as the primary advertising medium. Much to the surprise of the pundits, these expected outcomes have yet to take place. TV usage is actually up compared to the year 2000 and continues to increase despite the fact that people are spending more and more time online. And the TV market remains very healthy. Not even the impact of a crippling strike and a recessionary economy could keep the upfront broadcast TV market from registering year-to-year gains.

From where I sit, the internet as a marketing medium has enhanced, not diminished, the value of TV advertising for marketers.

Steps to making a purchase

To understand how this could be, let's step back to Marketing 101 and the Consumer Adoption Process -- a progression of stages that bring the consumer to purchase a product or service. The four basic stages describe the consumer as first becoming aware of the product, then interested in it, then desirous, and finally a purchaser.

Traditionally, TV advertising has been viewed as having its greatest influence in the early stages of the model, making the consumer aware of the product, creating interest in the product and, to a lesser extent, creating a desire. As the consumer moves through this process, the role of TV is diminished and supplemented by other marketing forces.

The role of the internet is more pronounced in the latter stages of the process. The interested consumer goes to the web to learn more about the product. When the consumer finds more information about it, his or her desire for it increases, and the information leads to an actual purchase.

The internet has significantly increased the efficiency of this process. The consumer's interest can be more quickly addressed, and the conversion of that consumer from an interested party to a purchaser can be expedited.

TV's signals still strong

This brings us back to the role of TV advertising.

If the internet has increased the efficiency of the process by which "aware" and "interested" consumers are converted to purchasers, then the value of each aware or interested consumer is that much greater. No other medium can rival TV in developing awareness of a product, service or product feature.

So, if the internet has increased the rate of conversion of aware and interested consumers into purchasers, then TV's ability to produce aware and interested consumers has an even greater value to the marketer.

Here's some real data from a study we just conducted involving new cars.

We began by asking our respondents which of 11 new car models they recognize. On average 35% were aware of each new car, with recognition ranging from 18% to 68%. Approximately 11% of our respondents said they were considering purchasing a new car in the next year. The average awareness of the 11 new cars by these potential purchasers was 43%, ranging from 18% to 69%.

When asked about the source of their awareness of these cars, over half of both the total sample (57%) selected TV advertising. The second most mentioned source, magazines in every case, was only noted by less than one-fifth of the total respondents (17%). The choices encompassed all of the major media, including magazines and the internet, as well as "friends and/or family."

We next asked our respondents if they had sought out information about any of these cars. Among those aware of each car, an average of 10% sought out information about that car. As you would expect, the percentage was significantly higher for those in the market for a car, 24%, more than double.

Going online for info

Just as TV dominated the awareness measure, the internet dominated as a source of sought-after information. Just under half of the total sample (43%) cited the internet as a place where they went for this information, more than double the second source, the dealer (21%).

We see that the internet in the space of about a decade has become the primary source of information in this key category. There is no question that having this new resource available for consumers has increased the efficiency of converting an aware consumer into a purchaser, which places a higher value on each aware consumer. That, in turn, places a higher value on TV advertising as the leading producer of aware consumers.

Many commentators on the subject of the rise of the internet as an advertising medium have reported that marketers have been shifting money from TV advertising into internet advertising. No doubt, on a short-term basis, this has happened. Based on the research I just presented, it is the last thing they should be doing. If an effective internet marketing program increases the rate of conversion of aware consumers into purchasers, then you want to increase, not decrease, the number of aware consumers. Reducing the investment in TV advertising, the primary generator of awareness, undermines the value of the internet effort.

The awareness levels recorded by the various new cars in our survey demonstrate that even the biggest advertisers do not achieve universal awareness with their campaigns. Even brands like Coca-Cola and McDonald's, which have universal brand recognition, do not reach this level of awareness for individual campaigns covering specific features, promotional programs or product line extensions.

The transfer of advertising dollars from TV budgets to the internet to develop a viable internet marketing presence was a short-term solution driven more by expediency than sound marketing strategy. As the measured results from these early programs have come in, more and more marketers are realizing the complementary relationship of a strong TV campaign and a strong internet program. These marketers are holding steady or building up their TV campaigns in conjunction with the expansion of their internet marketing programs. They are funding these efforts either through the transfer of funds from less productive areas or from incremental sales.

Coordinate your messages

For the CMO, this means coordinating the messaging, content and timing of TV and internet components of the marketing plan. Marketers should take advantage of the high level of engagement that people have with their favorite television programs by combining sponsorship of these programs on TV with sponsorship of them online. More and more viewers of popular series are going online to follow these series. Sponsorship of the online site featuring these programs allows the advertiser to repeat their message to the viewer in an environment where people can be directed to the marketer's website. All of the networks are now offering these cross-platform opportunities.

Of course, marketers should also integrate an invitation to visit their websites directly into their TV commercials.

Smart marketers recognize this nexus between TV and the internet and are increasing their efforts in both media -- not trading off one against the other.

12 best practices for online consumer communities

Fantastic resource by Dion Hinchcliffe on how to best organize, prepare and manage online community projects.

1. Put the needs of the community first
2. Community id mostly not a technology problem
3. Active community management is essential
4. Measuring success with community requires new yardsticks
5. Consumer social networks, grassroots customer communities, and business-initiated customer communities are closely related yet very different creatures
6. Customer communities do work as a marketing channel, just not in the traditional way
7. The more the business is integrated, the better the community will work
8. Growth will come, but not until a community finds its identity
9. Mutual ownership and control of communities enables trust and involvement
10. Most communities are highly social entities, and the rules of social engagement apply
11. Going to the community, instead of making it come to you, is a risky but increasingly viable strategy
12. Connect the community with the other CRM-related aspects of the organization

For the full article visit: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe/?p=190

Viral - some interesting observations

This is taken straight from Go Viral's newsletter - so big up to them!

Newsletter from GoViral
Cannes Lions 2008 and Females in viral campaigns

Dear Reader,
Welcome to our July newsletter. In this edition, we take a closer look at Cannes Lions 2008 winners Microsoft's "Halo 3" and Burger King's "The Whopper Freakout". This monthly insight tunes in on the lack of viral campaigns targeted against women.
In the last newsletter we introduced you to our new book "The Social Metropolis" – it is now available for free download here . You can also enjoy our seminar in Cannes here .
Enjoy!


Cannes Lions 2008 – Microsoft's Halo 3 and Burger King's "The Whopper Freakout"
We have again reached that time of the year, where advertisers from all over the world gather and celebrate the passing year and select their favorite commercials. This year's viral contestants included Burger King's "Whopper Freak out" and four spots from Halo 3.

Microsoft's Halo 3
T.A.G. and McCann made a homerun and won the Grand Prix prize in the Film category for the Halo 3 Believe campaign, which included 'Gravesite,' 'Enemy Weapon', 'John 117/monument' and 'Combat' for Microsoft's Xbox 360. The four spots are part of larger campaign, which initiated at the end of 2006. The campaign consisted of five major phases (that you can read about in our new book ) until its release on September 25th 2007. The overall theme of the campaign is rather untraditional for a computer game. Users are guided around in the remnants of a post-world war, taking place after the two first games. Real actors play the roles of surviving veterans guiding the users through a memorial walk of the wars. The four spots were a part of phase 5 and apart from them, it consisted of a Halo 3 website, serving as a virtual museum, providing an interactive fly through of the entire John 117 monument – allowing visitors to peek right into the fight. They could also learn more about our enemies and hear first hand stories from the men, who were there. The four spots consist of interviews with surviving veterans of the battle who served with Master Chief. They talk about their experiences and speak with reverence and awe about what it was like to serve with mankind's greatest hero.
Watch Enemy Weapon
Watch John 117/Monument
Watch Combat
Watch Gravesite

Burger King's "The Whopper Freakout"
This year, "Whopper Freakout" – created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Miami – stood out and won gold in the cyber category. Depriving Whopper fans of their favorite burger turns out to be a surefire way to get them to buy more. To coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the Whopper, Burger King conducted a social experiment removing the Whopper from the menu. On December 2007, a variety of television, interactive, radio and print executions rolled out and whopperfreakout.com was introduced. Hidden cameras show what happens at two Burger King outlets, when a actual Burger King customer is being told that the chain no longer serves Whoppers. The campaign explores the emotional attachment that people hold towards products and in this case – the Whopper. The clips document the reactions from upset customers. One reaction was: "What are you going to put on the logo now -- home of the 'Whatever we got'?". The message was clear – people didn't like it. The campaign was a huge success and drove sales of the Whopper up by 29%. The website created for this campaign received 4 million views by mid-March, and had 250,000 unique visitors in the month of December alone. Spoofs of the TV ads were created and posted on the internet. Not only did the campaign help strengthen the sales at Burger Kings restaurants nation wide, but also, competitors showed signs of slower traffic.
Watch The Whopper Freakout here

Insight of the month: Lacking focus on females in viral marketing.
One of the seminars at Cannes Lions 2008 was held by Cheil Worldwide: A Day In The Life Of A Mobile Phone In Seoul. The seminar positioned delegates in the minds of YMCs (Young-Minded Consumer) living in the modern digital metropolis of Seoul. And through that experience, delegates saw how today's youth consumer is making the mobile device an extension of his/her existence. As Pernille Fruensgaard write on her blog , one of the interesting parts of the seminar was, that the mobile services discussed by Cheil were primarily targeted young females, and that these served as drivers of the services making them a natural part of their daily lives and social connections.
Right now, the nature of viral campaigns in Europe seems to be driven by and to masculine humor and the nature of females, linked up to networking and sharing of information/stories/gossip, is not addressed in viral campaigns. Interestingly, their nature would be a perfect catalyst for spreading a message, if it is possible to use in their social activities.
A study from Lucid Marketing concludes that women uses word of mouth more than men. Women are more likely than men to share a positive experience with a business (91% versus 83%), or a product (95% versus 89%). The same conclusion is found at Jackie Huba's blog , where she ask Michele Miller, co-author of the new book "The Soccer Mom Myth: Today's Female Consumer: How She Really Is, Why She Really Buys", to share five tips for understanding word of mouth and women. "Ask any woman how she found her hairdresser, doctor, or favorite wine, and she is likely to tell you that it was from a friend. Women are natural word of mouth spreaders. They are wired that way – with four times as many connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, women tap deeply into that area that is responsible for bonding and connecting with others".
So, brands for female segments should definitely not disregard word of mouth marketing, when planning future campaigns. In fact, it could prove a very profitable decision.

Subscribe to Go Viral's newsletter

Design for Emotion and Flow

Thanks Trevor @ Boxes and Arrows for this insightful post on approaches to IA

by Trevor van Gorp on 2008/08/07 | [9 Comments]

We create software and websites to display and represent information to people. That information could be anything; a company’s product list, pictures of your vacation, or an instant message from a friend. At this moment, there’s more information available to you than at any other time in history.

All this information has a lot of positive effects, but it also creates challenges. “What information consumes is rather obvious; it consumes the attention of its recipients … a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” (Simon 1971). When attention becomes a scarce resource, it’s important to invest it wisely. Information architects and designers play a critical role in ensuring the products they design provide users’ with a return on their investment of attention.

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990) has described focused attention as “psychic energy”. Like energy in the traditional sense, no work can be done without it, and through work that energy is consumed. Most of us have experienced a mental/emotional state where all of our attention (or energy) is totally focused on an activity. Csikszentmihalyi (1990) named this state “flow,” based on how participants in his studies described the experience.

In this state of consciousness, people often experience intense concentration and feelings of enjoyment, coupled with peak performance. Hours pass by in what seems like minutes. We tend to enter these states in environments with few interruptions, where our attention becomes focused by a challenge that we’re confident we can handle with our existing skills. Feedback is instantaneous, so we can always judge how close we are to accomplishing our task and reaching our goal. The importance of the task influences our level of motivation and perceptions of how difficult the task will be.

Attention and Flow

The elements associated with the flow state can be classified into the three areas; 1. Causes of Flow 2. Characteristics of Flow 3. Consequences of Flow (Novak, Hoffman and Yung, 1999).

1. Causes of Flow

• A clear goal
• Immediate feedback on the success of attempts to reach that goal
• A challenge you’re confident you have the skills to handle

2. Characteristics of Flow

• Total concentration and focused attention
• A sense of control over interactions
• Openness to new things
• Increased exploratory behavior
• Increased learning
• Positive feelings

3. Consequences of Flow

• Loss of consciousness of self
• Distortions in the perception of time
• Activity is perceived as intrinsically rewarding

As designers, we focus on the elements that precede or cause flow. Users visit sites with pre-existing goals (e.g., finding information about a product). These goals evolve over time as users complete tasks and their attention is drawn to other information. The main elements designers can control are:

• Providing immediate feedback
• Balancing the perception of challenge against users’ skills

Designing for Flow

You don’t need to take a course or learn a new software package to design for flow. In fact, you’re probably already doing it. Begin by considering the desired outcome of every interaction and then removing everything that distracts the user from accomplishing that outcome.

Start by removing distractions or impediments wherever possible. For both physical and interactive products, this means reducing or eliminating both external (i.e., environmental) and internal (i.e., pain, discomfort, anxiety) distractions that cause emotional responses like frustration or physical discomfort. Emotions demand and divert the user’s attention. Providing immediate feedback for all user actions helps to reduce user anxiety. The effective use of layout, information design, typography, interaction design and information architecture all help in balancing the perception of challenge against the user’s skill level. Information should be broken down into manageable “chunks” that don’t overwhelm users cognitive faculties.

When it comes to balancing the users’ perception of challenge, think of it this way: too much challenge with too little skill causes anxiety; and too little challenge with too much skill causes boredom.

Flow occurs at the boundary between boredom and anxiety. Think of it as a channel that runs between anxiety and boredom.(Figure 1)

Figure 1: Anxiety, Boredom and Flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)
(captions added van Gorp, 2006)

As the challenges we face increase, we become more anxious and lose flow. Re-entering flow involves increasing our skills to match these challenges and reduce anxiety. As we increase our skill level, we become bored unless we increase the challenge to match our greater abilities.

To understand how we can reduce distractions, let’s examine the different elements of flow again to see how each can be applied to user experience. The causes of flow have the most implications for website and application design.

Causes of Flow

1. A clear goal…

The user navigates to accomplish a task, like seeking information on a particular topic or surfing for fun. This is an evolving goal, dependent on the options presented to the user and aided by logical information architecture, intuitive navigation, effective wayfinding and clear options for proceeding like information scent, breadcrumbs, meaningful labels, clear page titles, etc.

2. With immediate feedback on the success of attempts to reach that goal…

The user receives quick, sensory feedback in the form of a visual shift and/or sound from links, buttons, menus, or other navigation items.

3. Presented as a challenge that you have the skills to handle.

The opportunities for action are balanced with the user’s ability. At a basic level, this is accomplished by providing an uncluttered interface and eliminating unnecessary information to limit the user’s cognitive load. As the users’ skill increases over time, the interface can increase its complexity as well. Adaptive interface technologies allow the user to adjust the complexity of the interface to meet their enhanced skills.

Flow and Emotion

Flow tends to occur in situations with higher levels of challenge and skill. If the challenge is too easy, or user skill levels are very high, anxiety can be so low that there is little motivation to do anything. This level of activation or “arousal” in the body is the physiological (i.e., bodily) dimension of emotion. The level of arousal affects how intensely we experience a given emotion, and intense emotions demand our attention. In evolutionary terms, it’s easy to see why; the more attention your ancestors paid to predators, the more likely they were to survive and reproduce, passing their genes on to their descendants, people like you and me.

Both pleasant and unpleasant objects and experiences can increase arousal levels. Frustration and the excitement both increase arousal levels. So do large images, bright colors, and high contrast (van Gorp, 2006). For example, increasing the size of an image and moving anyone in it closer within the frame increase arousal levels.

Figure 2: Interpersonal Distance and Arousal
How does looking at the picture on the right make you feel compared to the one on the left?

The key to balancing arousal is to match the perceived challenge to the users’ skill level. Since skill levels differ from one user to the next based on their previous experiences and the type of task, interfaces should be very user-friendly but also allow more advanced users to find challenges appropriate for their skill level. These challenges can include the visual aspects as well as the content (King 2003). To put it simply, everything about a site, including content, information architecture, interaction design, and visual design can contribute to flow.

Goal-directed vs. Experiential Use

Different motivations for using a website require different designs to facilitate flow (Novak, Hoffman and Yung 1996). Novice users tend to see the Internet in a playful way, while more experienced users tend to view the Internet in a more utilitarian way (King 2003). This leads to a distinction between experiential and goal-directed use. Flow tends to occur more often during goal-directed use, because of the higher challenge involved.

Novice Users – Experiential use

• Less challenging
• More exploratory
• Entertainment-oriented

Experienced Users – tendency towards Goal-directed use

• More challenging
• Less exploratory
• Connected with tasks (e.g. research, work and shopping)

The lower level of challenge in an entertainment-oriented, experiential site means there is a lower level of anxiety connected with its use. Someone who is less anxious is more capable of using creative thought to determine how to navigate a website and overlook minor problems. Motivation here is driven by subconscious arousal triggered by interesting visual elements, bright colors or high contrast. Experiential sites can and should be more arousing visually to demand the greater attention that can lead to flow experiences.

Figure 3: Disturbia film site
An example of a visually rich, entertainment-oriented site with little or no challenge involved.

The greater challenge of completing tasks (possibly under deadlines) on a goal-directed site creates more higher arousal. Anxiety makes users less able to think creatively when problems are encountered. If a product will be used in a stressful environment, like a hospital operating room, usability becomes crucial. All relevant information needs to be close at hand and visible and feedback should be clear and immediate. A goal-directed site can and should be less visually rich so that users, already anxious at the prospect of a challenging task, are not overwhelmed.

Figure 4: Yahoo

When tasks are particularly unpleasant, we often lack the motivation necessary to complete them. In these cases, increasing the arousal level through the use of narrative can increase the user’s motivation. The Tango Tax website uses visual elements that resemble those found in movie posters and has a high contrast, cinematic feel that increases arousal. The software also introduces the classic cinematic narrative element of “us vs. them” to help increase user motivation.

Figure 5: Tango Tax website

Conclusions – Traits of Websites that Encourage Flow

How you apply these ideas depends on your target audience, as well as their internal and external use contexts. Consider the likely emotional state of your users. Are there loud noises, crowds, brightly colored objects or other distractions in the user’s environment?

Here are some basic website traits that will help to encourage flow.

• Clear navigation: Make it easy for the user to know where they are, where they can go, and where they’ve been, by including signposts such as breadcrumbs, effective page titles, and visited link indicators.
• Immediate Feedback: Make sure all navigation, such as links, buttons, and menus provide quick and effective feedback. Offer feedback for all user actions. When this isn’t possible, provide an indicator to hold the user’s attention while waiting (e.g., progress bar).
• Balance the Perception of Challenge With the User’s Skill: Since user skill levels differ, it’s up to you to balance the complexity of the visual design with the number of tasks and features people can use. Consider whether they are likely surfing experientially for fun or completing an important task. Tailor your sites to your audience’s scenario of use: more visually rich for experiential use and less so for goal-directed use.

Adaptable interfaces that allow the user to increase or decrease the perceived challenge by choosing how much detail is displayed. Simplicity helps reduce anxiety for both novices and experts, which is especially crucial in highly stressful situations. Options for information-rich displays can introduce challenge for more experienced users.

Whether you’re an information architect, interaction designer or visual designer, your work should compel users to invest their attention, and then provide them with a return on that investment.Remember, designing for flow doesn’t require a new set of tools or skills – only a different way of thinking. Finding the right balance of design and challenge can help focus attention and create flow, which results in immersive and engaging user experiences.

References

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow – the Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper Perennial.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1977). Beyond Boredom and Anxiety, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Copyrights: Journal of E-Business (International Academy of E-Business). All rights reserved. Journal of E-Business, Vol. 1, Issue 2, December 2001.

King, Andrew B. “Chapter 2 – Flow in Web Design.” 2003. http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/2/ accessed on January 21/2007.

Fogg, B.J. (2003). Persuasive Technology – Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Hoffman, D.L, Novak, T (1996), “Marketing in hypermedia computer-mediated environments: conceptual foundations’”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 60 pp. 50-68.

Norman, Donald A. (2004). Emotional Design – Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books.

Novak, T.P, Hoffman, D.L (1997), “Measuring the flow experience among Web users,” Interval Research Corporation.

Novak, T, Hoffman, D, Young, Y (1998), “Measuring the flow construct in online environments: a structural modeling approach”, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, working paper.

Novak, T. P., Hoffman, D. L., and Yung, Y. 2000. Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments: A Structural Modeling Approach. Marketing Science 19, 1 (Jan. 2000), 22-42

Rettie, R., (2001), An Exploration of Flow during Internet Use, Internet Research, 11(2), 103 – 113.

Simon, H. A. (1971), “Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World”, in Martin Greenberger, Computers, Communication, and the Public Interest, Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, ISBN 0-8018-1135-X. pp. 40-41.

Simon, H. A. (1996), The Sciences of the Artificial (3rd ed.), Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-69191-4. pp. 143-144.

van Gorp, Trevor, J. (2006). Emotion, Arousal, Attention and Flow: Chaining Emotional States to Improve Human-Computer Interaction. University of Calgary, Faculty of Environmental Design, Master’s Degree Project.

At last - a really uselfull twitter application

If you thought microblogging was mindless prattle serving no good to anyone (i know my girlfriend does), then maybe this will help change your opinion and get you tweeting away

http://toanswer.net/

Harnessing the huge power of twitter: tons of people ready to talk about anything, toanswer let's you pose questions to the masses and hopefully get some good answers back. Kind of instant yahoo answers meets human search.

Interesting to see how it develops