Scan our barcode linking to Losasso.com

Almost everyone knows what a barcode is – it is used to collect information via a scanner into an internal system that then tracks the price, as well as other information, of a particular item.  Recently, barcodes have began to evolve into a way to quickly and easily share and transfer information about yourself (or whatever you may be scanning) with others, in the form of mobile barcodes, also known as QR codes.

According to Wikipedia, a mobile bar code, or “QR Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with camera, and smartphones.  The code consisting of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.”

Mobile barcodes are currently being used in advertising campaigns across the globe (they have been using them in China since the mid-90s).  From billboards to print advertisements, QR codes are showing up in a number of traditional advertising mediums.   This concept also has great potential as a networking tool.  Imagine walking into a conference or trade show where each person’s name tag displays a mobile bar code that when scanned links to their virtual business card or company landing page.  Take that a step further and each booth could have a mobile barcode that links to a PDF about their products or more information about their company in general.

Although this is not new technology, it is just beginning to show up in the US as a mainstream form of information exchange.  Mobile barcodes are a very interesting concept, but only time will tell how useful this technology will prove to be in the world of marketing and advertising.

*To download a free mobile barcode reader application, click here.

You can create and design a great website, but if no one can find it then it doesn’t have much value.  At Losasso we try to impart the importance of SEO to our clients.  We are not in the camp of “all traffic is good traffic” but rather we believe that driving qualified traffic to our client’s sites through solid search engine optimization is what is important.

There are some fairly simple steps you can follow to make sure your website is optimized and easy to find.  In an interview with USA Today, Google’s Matt Cutts imparts some of his SEO wisdom to the masses.  From making sure you are properly utilizing you “tags” to creating a blog, take a look at this article to read all the simple steps Cutts suggests in order to get your site in good SEO standing.

In our continuous effort to share good ideas, this video was shared within our agency as a good use of social media for industrial marketers. It is not our client but we felt it was worth sharing.

With this “Watch It Shred” series, SSI has a strong opportunity to leverage social media and online channels to bring their brand forward while they educate. They have created a positive message about their company and industry that will gain positive exposure. While it is true that they will get much of this exposure outside their core audience of influencers and purchasers of industrial recycling and shredding equipment, there will be high value sharing of this content within that target market. They have several videos in the series and if their strategy carries through, they will include this in email, blog sites, on their website, in forums, twitter posts and in many other places around the web. Nice Work SSI!

It is not too often that our work in the metalworking industry and our love of Chicago Blackhawks Hockey cross paths, but this crazy world of social media brings all kinds together. Whoever is running this Haas SL 20 could certainly sell a bunch of these mini Stanley Cup trophies here in Chicago.

As an interactive agency we pay close attention to trends and statistics that relate to web usage and user experience. It is important for us to know that the sites we design and the user experiences we plan for our campaigns will be in step with the technological capabilities of the target market we are communicating with. A good example of this is the vexing browser compatibility issues that can cause websites to display differently on different computers. The biggest problem in this arena is with Internet Explorer version 6 and older. Inevitably, there will be some report of a customer or client that has some wonky issue when they look at a certain page on the site. This sends the account team into a panic and the developers to the medicine cabinet.

The proper question here has to do with frequency. If you are taking advantage of newer technologies that allow your sites to look and behave the way you want, you may have some old timers that run into issues. So how much time and money do you spend on finding the “fix”? The answer is a value judgment you need to make while looking at your web analytics.

Because we have a concentration of accounts in the metalworking industry we have fantastic data related to the web usage of this market. One of our clients is the Practical Machinist www.practicalmachinist.com – it is a manufacturing forum that is probably the largest and most heavily trafficked social media site specific to the metalworking industry. Within the first few months of 2010 we have had more than 685,000 absolute unique visitors to the site. This provides a clear snapshot of certain statistics that we need to develop sites targeted to that industry. Here are some we can share:

These are top-line statistics that represent just the tip of the iceberg. The web world is constantly evolving, which provides an incredible opportunity to bring you closer to your customers. Making your company findable, friendly, and informative requires a lot of focus and commitment. But if you develop this capability and build a new set of skills, you can learn how to understand your market better than ever before.

LoSasso Advertising is Chicago interactive marketing agency that combines competencies in advertising, direct marketing, branding, online marketing, and public relations to build integrated programs that drive measurable response.  For more information, contact LoSasso Advertising at 773-271-2100.

For years Apple has been seen as hip, cool, and friendly, but has that happy reputation begun to sour?  In recent months Apple, had cops raid the house of a blogger who wrote about the unreleased iPhone he got his hands on, made Ellen DeGeneres apologize on national television for dissing the iPhone, taken what seems to be a pretty personal jab at Adobe and their Flash brand (Apple says the move is purely business), and banned an app created by Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Fiore because it “contains content that ridicules public figures…”.  This once friendly tech-giant seems to be turning in to a grumpy version of its former self.

On top of that, a battle has been brewing between Apple and Google, two industry giants with rival technologies, for the top spot in the future of mobile phones.  Since its release in 2007, the iPhone has changed the way the world interacts with their phones, but Google’s Android devices are poised to give Apple a run for their money.  Why?  It’s simple – Android phones have something iPhones do not – more freedom.  Freedom to choose your mobile carrier; Android phones are widely available on multiple carriers, while iPhones are exclusively on AT&T (at least for the time being).  Freedom to design what and how you want to; Android phones are considered to be open source (app developers can create what they want, how they want) and iPhones are not (app developers have to play by Apple’s rules).

Another big difference is Androids are in the works with Adobe to become Flash enabled, while iPhones are not; iPhones support HTML5, the newest version of HTML.  HTML5 allows audio and video to be handled by the browsers, meaning plug-ins (like Adobe’s Flash) are no longer required.  So why the battle between Flash and HTML5 – and why does it matter if Apple uses HTML5?  The problem is that most of the Web is currently using Flash.  The change to HTML5 will force sites to redo their coding from Flash to HTML5, a long and costly process.  In the meantime, iPod, iPhone, and iPad users will not be able to view Flash content on their devices, limiting the sites they can fully surf.

So what is a marketer to do to ensure that their ads won’t get lost in the battle?  The safest bet is not to put all your eggs in one basket – banking on one technology or device can lead to disaster if customer sentiment suddenly changes or there is a glitch in technology that sends users running straight for the next-best-thing.  While it is important to adapt to changes in technology it is also important to be realistic and understand that changes don’t always occur over night.  Do what is right for your company and your audience; don’t get caught up in any back-and-forth between feuding corporations.  Keep your focus on your customer and you will come out on the other side of this tech war unscathed.

Geolocation-based services are slowly gaining exposure with platforms like FourSquare and Gowalla, but the trend hasn’t completely caught on – yet.  That may soon change if Facebook makes good on the recently speculated launch of a new application that will allow users to share their location via status updates.  The launch may take place as early as this month, though Facebook has yet to confirm.

Though at launch the application will probably only include consumers, marketers will likely be allowed in on the action shortly after.  According to Ad Age, fast food giant McDonalds is already busy creating an app that will allow users to “check-in” at restaurants.  Once “checked-in” to the restaurant, user’s location will then be shared with friends via their Facebook status.  Users may receive some kind of incentive for posting their location, but details of the application are yet to be released.

With the use of social media in marketing on the rise, geolocation technology seems to be a logical addition to the wide repertoire of available marketing strategies.  It brings even more personalization to advertising, allowing marketers to target users based on physical location at any given moment, when they are “checked-in” to the location.  This will give marketers an improved ability to connect with end users at a very personalized level.

The big question that remains is how will users react to this application?  That is yet to be seen, but with today’s obsession with connectedness, it is not a stretch to assume that many users will feel comfortable sharing their location.  And while current geolocation services are seemingly slow to take off, adoption by a trusted social media giant like Facebook may be just the push they need to get off the ground.

Apple recently introduced iAd, a software system that puts ads into the applications available at the App Store. Over the years Apple has gained the reputation that its products are pricey, but they are also innovative, cutting edge, and just plain cool – and usually worth the extra money. Will iAd prove the same? No definitive word on that yet, but one thing is clear, the price tag is certainly keeping with the Apple tradition. With ad space reportedly at a whopping $1 million and even more to get in at the launch, an Apple spokeswoman said the company will sell and serve the ads, while app developers will receive 60 percent of the revenue and Apple gets the other 40 percent. Currently, similar mobile deals are costing marketers between $100,000 and $200,000. Essentially, Apple is charging $10 per-thousand impressions (CPM), as well as an additional $2 every time a user clicks through the ad (CPC) – most mobile ad systems generally charge for one or the other, but Apple has taken it to a whole new level by charging for both.

Furthermore, even though companies are paying big bucks for the space, they will be forced to hand over creative control to Apple (at least for the time-being). According to the Wall Street Journal, “The ads will go through an approval process, and Apple will build the ads itself during the first couple of months to make sure they work well and attain a certain aesthetic and functionality. Eventually, Apple plans to create a developer kit so that agencies will be able to design and create the ads themselves.”

While it is understandable that Apple wants to make sure everything is perfect, not everyone is totally comfortable with the arrangement, “…as a creative director, I don’t feel completely comfortable letting Apple do the creative,” says Lars Bastholm, chief digital creative officer at WPP’s Ogilvy. Aside from questions about the cost and creative control of iAd, marketers are excited about the new outlet. Advertisers will be able to reach a very large audience (According to Apple, it has sold 85 million iPhones and iPod Touches so far and says consumers spend approximately 30 minutes using applications per day) and will be able to target users based on things like download preferences and general location.

IAd is expected to launch on the iPhone and iPod Touch in June and on the iPad later in the year.

2009 wasn’t a good year for businesses but thankfully 2010 is looking up, but to make the most of it, you need to be creative, innovative, and above all, adaptive. The tools of sales and marketing continue to evolve and companies that are changing their marketing strategies with these trends are reaping rewards. Online marketing and digital media can be highly effective ways to engage a larger audience on a lower budget.

For advertising agencies, this adjustment requires that they reinvent themselves. They need to retool their staff, add different core competencies and recognize that they need to provide a different type of service and value to help their clients succeed. They need to take an active role in helping clients understand the opportunities and navigate the changes in the marketing landscape. There is more opportunity than ever for agencies to include metrics and measurement to show that their work is producing results.

Many clients are shifting budgets away from larger advertising firms that are having a hard time changing their business model. They are engaging smaller and more specialized firms or even in-house talent to help create online media and marketing that is in step with today’s trends and technologies. They are taking a more grass-roots approach to connecting with customers through social media and other electronic marketing outlets, taking advantage of the Internet’s constant connectedness and unparalleled opportunities for personalization.

The CMO Council, who’s 5,000 member base accounts for $150 billion in annual marketing expenditures, conducted a survey of about 600 members for its seminal report: “The State Of Marketing: Outlook, Intentions and Investments for 2010.”  In the 46 question survey the council found that:  46 percent of the respondents are investing in digital demand generation and online relationship building, 38 percent are exploring alternative media and new routes to market, and 62 percent will be crunching customer data to improve segmentation and targeting.  Most of this will be undertaken by specialist firms, in-house talent and outsourced service providers.

“Globalization of markets and new channels of digital engagement are causing senior corporate marketers to seek new internal skills and capabilities, and re-direct spend towards more inventive and localized go-to-market programs,” notes Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council. “The transformation of marketing organizations, practices and functions is well underway. This is being driven by the need to engage at an individual level, create more content relevance, and leverage a new world of crowd-sourcing Internet communities, omnipresent connectivity, and pervasive mobile device ownership.”

When it is all said and done, the future of marketing lies with those who are willing to not only accept, but embrace change.  It is those who can bring fresh and innovative marketing tactics to the table, allowing for a more personalized and relevant connection with consumers that will ultimately succeed in this new era of marketing.

Click here to read more details on the report and download the PDF summary.

Marketers aren’t the only ones using SEO to their advantage.  According to a 13-month study recently released by Google, malware (short for malicious software) authors are using black hat SEO techniques to push fake anti-virus software to unsuspecting users.  Fake anti-virus programs account for 15 percent of all malware Google sees on the Web.  Malware authors have been running these fake anti-virus programs since as early as 2003, but with Google’s evolution to allow users more transparency with things like Google Trends, it has gotten extremely easy for malware writers to access trending data, stuff web sites with trending keywords, and increase the infected page’s search rankings.

Don DeBolt, director of threat research for CA’s Internet security business unit says, “They [malware authors] have perfected the use of Google trend data to build viable targets, because the content indexed is driven from popular searches at any moment in time,” he says. “In the past we saw mass keyword SEO, where static content was placed on compromised Web sites and later indexed by Google, but now that content has grown more dynamic.”

The study notes that fake anti-virus distributors rely a great deal on on-line advertisements and pages with trending keywords to do their dirty work.  They have also become quite savvy with their distribution networks, constantly rotating among “short-lived domains” so they don’t get caught.  So far, it’s worked pretty well for them, but Google is doing their best to fix the problem.  In the meantime, be cautious with what and where you click on the Web in order to remain unaffected.

You can read Google’s report here.