#SwifferEffect

Everyone has seen the Swiffer commercials with that cute old couple Morty and Lee who are both in their 90’s and have been married for 44 years. Much like the Wheat Thin commercial, Swiffer has taken ‘regular’ consumers and left them a present on their doorstep. Their prize, Swiffer dusters to help Lee reach those hard to reach places.

Swiffer was genius to use these two consumers for their commercial! After this commercial aired last summer, Morty and Lee have been on several talk shows and interview talking about their marriage and not to mention, Swiffer gets named dropped (free publicity) during their interviews. These two were even on Ellen and the Today Show! Swiffer’s hashtag at the end of the commercial was great placement! #SwifferEffect campaign started to generate some serious hashtags after Morty and Lee first appeared in their first TV commercial. In fact, they were such a hit for Swiffer, Morty and Lee have done several commercials.

I have Swiffer products in my house. It is not because of Morty and Lee, although I think they’re absolutely adorable! I would say that if consumers didn’t know about Swiffer or didn’t care for it, I think with so much publicity that Morty and Lee generated, it would be hard not to go buy a Swiffer duster for yourself. By having a sweet old couple, who show affection for one another, while using a cleaning product, we as the consumer connect because of the emotion aspect. So then by being at the store, you might walk by the Swiffer aile and remember the sweet commercial of Morty and Lee, and decide why not, and in the cart it goes. #SwifferEffect has generated and continues to generate brand recognition for Swiffer to many consumers on Twitter. All and all I think that they were PR geniuses! 

Coin

Have too many credit cards, gift cards still to use from the Holidays, membership cards to the gym and stores? Is your wallet too bulky because of them? Well then, Coin is the perfect solution for you! Coin is an all-inclusive card that can store multiple cards into one! In fact, you can store as many cards as you want! Sound too good to be true, but the creators and brains behind this new technology are experts in the electronics and engineering.

Coin is a card that allows consumers to store multiple cards onto it. It works just like your credit card would, or how your gift card or membership card would. The great thing about this technology is that you can manage of this from their mobile app. Their mobile app is how you sync all of your cards onto the Coin card.  According their website, consumers can add a card simply by using their mobile app and taking a picture and swiping your Coin card through a small deceive that they provide for you. The small device is like a magnetic reader that plugs into your mobile phone. Since the Coin card is sync’d with your mobile phone through Bluetooth, your phone can detect if you left your card behind somewhere. So if you’re a forgetful person and leave your credit card at the bar, soon with this Coin card, your phone will alter you about it. This future is also handy if someone steals your Coin card, because you will be altered once the phone can’t detect your card and you then can go into the app to disable all of your cards. Check out this video on the company's website to get the demo: https://onlycoin.com/

This will be great for businesses that have loyalty cards or memberships and their members have cards. The Coin card will allow all those consumers/members use their reward cards more frequently and often. Let’s face it, how many times have you gone a last minute shopping trip, and forgot your credit card or reward cards? Now with Coin we can have them all on one card! I have already pre-ordered mine and the company is anticipating release this summer! Pre-order cards are only $55! I can’t wait to put all my ‘bulk’ onto one simple card! 

Nike Store

Early on in the 90s Nike came on to the scene by signing Michael Jordan to a shoe contract. Ever since that day Nike became a powerhouse in the shoe industry. Shoe collectors loved their unique designs and top quality. Nike really caught the public's attention by releasing commercials that made people want to buy their shoes. This was due to their brilliant marketing team. People felt a connection with the players they watched on tv by wearing their shoes. With the use of social media Nike effectively uses Twitter to reach out to fans and notifies them when a new release of a shoe is coming out. 

By posting pictures of future releases on Twitter, Nike really engages customers to see when the latest shoes will come out. For example just a few days ago Nike did a surprise release on Twitter of the most anticipated shoe of the year which was the Air Yeezy 2 "Red October." Priced at $245 the sneakers were sold out in 10 minutes. So the people that closely followed Nike's Twitter page were the lucky ones to actually get a pair. Of course there were many upset people because they didn't even have a chance to purchase them. One customer states that he had it in his cart ready to check out when it gave him the message that it was no longer available. Nike will continue to hype up customers when it comes to new releases because of how well they interact with their fans. 

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is described as a discovery engine that finds sites and makes recommendations of sites and content based on users personalized input and tastes. StumbleUpon has been around since 2002. In September 2012, StumbleUpon released an update for its iOS app that brought the new feature "StumbleDNA," which aggregates content that is recommended for you, trending content as well as a section where you can view the activity of your StumbleUpon connections. Its has a toolbar available for all the major browsers (Google, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera), as well as, mobile app access on Windows phones, Android phones, i-phones and Amazon Appstore.

Rating Web sites update a personal profile and generate peer networks of Web surfers linked by common interest. These social networks coordinate the distribution of Web content, so that users "stumble upon" pages explicitly recommended by friends and peers. Giving a site a thumbs up results in the site being placed under the user's "favorites". Furthermore, users have the ability to stumble their personal interests like "History" or "Games". The social content discovery approach automates the "word-of-mouth" referral of peer-approved Web sites and simplifies Web navigation.

Paid Discovery is StumbleUpon’s ad system. StumbleUpon’s platform lets users surf the web by Stumbling to sites that match their interests, simply by hitting a button on their browser or mobile device. With Paid Discovery, an advertiser’s URL (website, video, etc.) becomes part of that stream. Up to 5% of all stumbles are reserved for Paid Discovery where the advertisers directly insert their web page into the user experience. This means the audience lands directly on their web pages, videos, and photos. Users can also provide feedback (thumbs up / thumbs down) on this content. Since Paid Discovery sends visitors directly to the advertiser’s page, there’s no need to create an ad; the advertiser’s entire web page is the ad. When an ad is delivered a user, a green icon or “Sponsored” will appear in the toolbar or mobile app, denoting a paid stumble. StumbleUpon doesn’t serve typical display ad formats, such as pop-ups/interstitials, banners, etc.

I can see this as a great tool for companies wanting to market via the web or social media and since its peer to peer based in nature, when one person lands on and then thumbs up an advertiser's page, their peers will have those sites recommended too. Its another tool in the belt in addition to Facebook or Twitter or any other social media site. For users its like what Kayak is to travel sites, but for their personal interests.

Don't Judge a Post By Its Title

Ok so I know that google has been around since what seems like forever, but since multiple people have claimed they would give GrubHub a chance because of my last blog post, I decided to give one of my other favorite web 2.0 technologies Google Drive a little plug. Some of you may have heard of Google Drive but may not have realized its full potential. Google Drive allows to you to store files, documents, photos, videos, etc. and choose if/who you want to share them with. Without downloading any sort of program (unless you are adding the app to your phone) you can create, edit and share documents, spreadsheets, power points, etc. from any computer, tablet, or smart phone.

I first started using Google drive in May of 2012, just about a month after it had launched. I had just became the Power of Attorney for my diabetic, double amputee, grandma (who also had dementia) and wanted a way to log daily activity with doctors and her 24 hour caregivers. Caregivers were asked to create a daily log and post it on Google Drive at the end of their shift. This allowed the next caregiver to log in and see any important information logged in the previous shift(s) before them. This also allowed me and my family to check in on my grandma by reading the messages via Google Drive. The more I used Google Drive, the more helpful I realized it could be. I began storing important paperwork, photos (I was in a battle with the dr.'s over my grandma's 3rd amputation), and recordings between me and the doctors. I could go on and on.

I also have been using google drive to create a budget for me and my wife. I used a template already created in excel and just filled in our numbers. The thing I love about this is that I can use it on my phone. Edit then whenever and wherever I want. She can also make adjustments, as I have shared the document with her. Someone in one of my other classes mentioned writing a paper and then losing it all in a second because his computer crashed. This is one of the best things about Google Drive, just like Blogger is currently doing as I type, it saves the document that is being worked on about every 10 seconds! This really could be a lifesaver. As much as I use Google Drive, I think it could be even more beneficial to small businesses. It is a great way to store, share, access, and create ideas.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/introducing-google-drive-yes-really.html
Check it out, google says it better ;)

Belkin NetCam HD

My new favorite toy is the Belkin NetCam HD. I've had this NetCam for about 7 months now and could definitely use more in every room of the house! The NetCam works as a video camera that connects to your wifi, you can then view the camera and activity inside your house when you are away. I use this mainly for my dogs. I have two older dogs and one new puppy and it's nice to be able to "check in" on them when we are not home. This device is also ideal for babies. You can set up the camera just as you would a baby monitor - the camera allows you to view and listen to activity in the room. What I like about this instead of a baby monitor is, if you leave your husband home with the baby to run to the grocery store, you can still check on your baby to make sure all is safe and sound. In addition to using these at home, the Belkin NetCam comes in handy for business, as well. The doggie daycare I use for puppy has recently installed these, as well. We take our Cece, our new puppy to daycare twice a week so she can run around and play since our dogs here are older and want nothing of the sort. These are nice because I am able to download an app on my phone and check in on Cece during the day. It's fun to watch her having so much fun with the other dogs during the day. Also, it helps to know she's in good care while we are away. The set up and use of the Belkin NetCam HD is so simple to use and it only takes a second or two to pop on and "check in" making me feel secure and confident that all is well at home or at daycare. I don't know how I lived without this before!

Manage tasks and project work of any kind with Smart Q.

Smart Q  http://www.getsmartq.com/ is an application in the Web 2.0 technologies and used for managing tasks.   It is a product of the Agile and Kan Ban methodology used in many companies.  Agile and Kan Ban are also used to track tasks and enhance communication.

Smart Q is great for teamwork, a small business owner tracking work for it’s employee’s, and/or just everyday people, maybe with kids handling chores at home.  This application is divided into a few columns that can be designed, for example there is the first column which is needed to establish a “To Do”  a parent may enter “dishes” and another task for “garbage”.   These would begin as To Do and then be assigned to the person who will execute the tasks. 

Once a task is assigned to someone, the next step would be for that person to move the task to in progress, which are another columns that follows To Do.   Once the tasks is finished it can be moved to the completed columns.  This can be setup by preference as for columns.  There is never going to be a one size fits all when using this type of task tracker.  This does allow the family to be in sync with the work at home that was completed as well as what is pending.  I bet it makes home and dinner a lot more peaceful as well. 

Smart Q serves as a project management tool in a way, a reminder as well with the tasks you assigned to.   This is an electronic centralized location for all tasks needed to accomplish projects of any kind.  Everyone has the task of logging in daily to ensure his or her own tasks.  We have moved far away from the erase boards in households for sure. 

Cari