Creativity's Brief Moment

Grant McCracken on design creativity's brief moment in the sun. Now everyone is a supplier. Looking for the fundamentals. See also his book: Chief Culture Officer, still on my list.
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Personal Kanban

Jerry Michalski is hosting a conference talk on Monday January 4 at 1:30 PM EST. Dial-in Number: 1-270-400-1500 Participant Access Code: 778778 ... Its about ' ... Personal Kanban, a way of seeing your work's shape, cadence and flow, developed by his longtime friend Jim Benson. Inspired by kanban/lean/agile methods, PK is tuned to personal productivity (there's a team version we'll tackle later). To get the most from this call, open Jim's SlideShare presentation.... '

Credit Card Reading with IPhone

Always interested in smartphone sensor ideas, here is another (via Stan Dyck): ... Jack Dorsey, Twitter Cofounder's new idea, a dongle type sensor that plugs into the audio jack on an Iphone and can read a mag strip. from AP (includes picture). See also their site for more related solutions.

' ... Dorsey is leading a new startup called Square. Its first product resembles a cube: a tiny credit card terminal that plugs into the headphone jack of an iPhone. The goal is to make it easier to complete a credit card transaction, whether you're a street vendor selling T-shirts or an individual settling a lunch tab with a friend.

Dorsey, who was Twitter's CEO until October 2008 and remains the social network's chairman, said he came up with the idea for Square nearly a year ago with Jim McKelvey, a glass artist who was frustrated after losing out on a $2,000 sale because he was unable to accept a credit card from a customer ... '

Bad Technology Predictions

It's the time of the year for predictions. In the WSJ, some particularly bad and notorious ones I had mostly heard of before. Having lived through some of these and understanding the context at the time, they are not really as bad as they sound out of context. Caution on specific predictions always advised.

Collaborative Analytics

The emerging practice of collaborative analytics. Not a new idea, but more systematized by some vendors. Analytics have never been a solitary activity, they are always enhanced by collaborative interaction, certainly with the client, but the more active that can be, the better it is.

Stronger Mobile Component to Online

In Adage, a short article on where digital marketing is heading. No doubt that smart phones will take a larger bite out of stationary online. ' ... According to the Mobile Marketing Association, total U.S. spend on mobile marketing will grow from $1.7 billion this year to $2.16 billion in 2010. Google's $750 million purchase of mobile ad network Admob reinforces that 2010 will be a significant year for mobile. We expect to see more consolidation in the mobile space ... '

Technical Analogies

Over the years I have frequently had to work with new hires and executives to describe changes in information technologies, especially game changing ideas like the Internet. So I liked this list of analogies you can use to make your point. Not all are on point, some just exchange one complexity for another, yet carefully chosen, useful.

Augmented Reality at Metaio

Some interesting thoughts in ReadWriteWeb on the status of Augmented Reality leader Metaio which has the package Junaio that I have looked at on Smartphones. They are working with enterprises on surprising marketing ideas, but if they ultimately survive is dependent on if they can convince enough consumers to play along by adding value to spaces. Junaio is the only AR company that is allowing non coders to participate in augmenting their own reality at this time. A big thing.

Science of Sharing

Sharethis comments on the science of sharing. Some interesting, but rather self-serving statistics.

Quantum Machine Learning

Google Research blog on quantum machine learning. Machine learning is the essence of artificial intelligence ... make a machine that learns and you can set it loose and wait for intelligent results. Trouble is, up to now its worked in only the most focused domains. Our own experiments in this domain took very simple tables of results and created editable decision trees. This worked. New ideas here are always welcome.

Challenging the Tipping Point

In Mind Hacks: Looking at the work of Duncan Watts. And by implication challenging the methodology of many kinds of simulations and predictive analytics in general. No, disagree ... Don't expect these methods to produce exact predictions, but rather often very useful directional information.

When Data Does not Match Theory

Have seen this many times, especially in the realm of marketing, where people sometimes just search for data that matches the results they want. So its natural to look for methods that are at least apparently more objective. This article, and some further commentary in Mind Hacks talks about what scientists do when the results do not match the results that are expected. This is worth understanding when you examine any kind of results in experimental environments. Belief can be a dangerous form of blindness.

On-Line Retailers and Neuromarketing

An NYT article on the use of NM concepts in online retailing. Includes quotes from Martin Lindstrom:

“At a retail store you have to pick up the item, put it in the cart, take it to the register, take out your card, and put it through the scanner to make your purchase,” Mr. Lindstrom said. “But online you don’t have all those road blocks. You just click three times.” ... An increasing number of retailers, marketers and ad agencies are using elements of neuromarketing techniques—developed from brain research—to make those clicks more likely

On the Consumer Power of Price Checking

Herb Sorensen in Retailwire writes about mobile price checking. Some further thoughts of my own:

I saw a number of price checking devices installed at a local retailer. You just hold up the package to the device installed on a pole and it reads the barcode and shows you the price. Quite convenient for those untagged items. Another approach is to use ESLs or electronic shelf labels that update prices. Still uncommon. Both of these methods are in control of the retailer and require some awareness and 'training' of shoppers. The ultimate approach is to have the shopper be able to read UPC codes directly with their own devices, usually a camera-enabled smartphone. I have written about this a number of times here, and we experimented with all these methods.

In the mobile case, of course, it is the shopper that controls the information. I have tested this in the store and am starting to see others do it. Now the shopper can see more than just the local price, but competitive prices, promotions and other 'extended' information. More control to the shopper. The mobile method today requires a smart phone, which not all consumers have. Also the current packages that do this are still not completely reliable. Plus, this does not work on private label UPCs and repackaged products, common at retailers like Costco, where that exact same UPC cannot be found at other retailers.

Lowering Your Information Standards

Tom Davenport makes an interesting point and expands on it: ' ... As information grows in quantity, consumers of it are willing to accept lower quality. I call this willingness satisficing — being satisfied with sacrificing quality ... '

On the Future of Analytics

Eric Siegel on the future of analytics in the SAS COM Blog.
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Global Networks

The value of understanding a dynamic system as a quantifiable network with a distinct architecture has always intrigued me. Very early on we constructed networks to understand supply chains of goods, services and even people and their creativity. The topology of a network permits high level strategic understanding and improvement, even optimization of these systems. The methods are underused in business. The global networks of multinational firms are discussed at both a macro and micro level in HBS Working Knowledge.

Being Honest with Yourself

On the consequences of fooling yourself. With implications for private label purchasing decisions?

Reinvention of BI

Good piece in Information Management by David M Raab:

The Reinvention of BI as We Know it

Total cost of ownership analyses must be expanded to properly capture the savings of new analytical technologies ..... '

Virtual Gifts do Better than Banner Ads

So called 'virtual gifts', which are basically ads that are passed along in social networks, appear to be more effective than banner ads. Some good examples and specifically how this method works via Facebook, by increasing the number of resulting impressions. Notably virtual-gift campaigns by Malibu Rum and Nestlé. In AdAge.