Maya Reports

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July 3, 2012 • 12:15 PM 0

Wickr, the James Bond of online privacy

If you’re like me, when you get sensitive information via snail mail, that you’re finished using, you shred it. But what about receiving sensitive information via email? We all know that it’s impossible to delete information from the Internet.

Enter Wickr.

A new mobile application for Apple devices called Wickr lets people exchange files and messages without leaving digital traces that could be examined by law enforcement or cyberspies.

Wickr, released on Wednesday, addresses the raft of privacy concerns that arise when a person sends a sensitive message: email providers, ISPs, mobile phone companies and social networking sites all retain detailed records of activity on their networks.

(CIO – Wickr, a Mobile Privacy Application, Sweeps Digital Crumbs Away)

Wickr’s mission:

…to provide secure communications that Leave No Trace. People are being tracked online and their information is being sold in ways they do not understand by numerous governments and corporations throughout the world. Your private communications are worth money. Online communications should be untraceable by default.

(Wickr – About)

Robert Statica, an information technology professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology, who cofounded Wickr with Nico Sell, Christopher Howell and Kara Coppa, describes how the idea for the company came about:

“This began when we were sitting around in a cafe in San Francisco, talking about Anthony Weiner and laughing,” adds Statica. “But the more we spoke about it, the more we began to think seriously about this problem.” And the tool they came up with, Statica says, is meant to go beyond mere “sexting” or gossip to corporate or medical environments, any situation where the most secure record of communications is no record at all.

(Forbes – Wickr Lets Your iPhone Send Both Encrypted And Self-Destructing Messages)

Senders of a message or photo can set a self-destruct time for the data ranging from a few seconds to six days in the free version of Wickr. As soon as the recipient who has Wickr installed opens the message, the countdown begins.

“No matter what can do, you cannot stop the clock,” said Robert Statica.

…The only real way to see something sent to a Wickr user would be to steal the person’s phone. Even then, five wrong attempts at the password will cause Wickr to erase itself.

(CIO – Wickr, a Mobile Privacy Application, Sweeps Digital Crumbs Away)

I wonder how this app will affect social media, especially with the latest news that GM is apparently considering to return to Facebook advertising. Time will tell.

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Social Media, Tech, World, Anthony Weiner, app, Apple, cyberspies, email, encrypted, Facebookk, GM, james bond, online privacy, Robert Statica, self destructing, wickr

March 21, 2012 • 9:02 AM 2

NFC-enabled ads…the future in print, brought to you by Lexus and WIRED Magazine

First, a quick lesson.

What is NFC? It stands for Near Field Communication.

Great. But what does that mean?

Near field communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimetres.

Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi.^[1] Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a “tag”.

(Wikipedia – Near Field Communication)

NFC currently exists by way of mobile-payment, but what makes this so newsworthy, is that this is the first time that NFC will be integrated into a print ad (Lexus ad in the April issue of WIRED Magazine).

NFC-enabled Lexus ad (Wired Magazine) - as seen in the Ad Age article.

“WIRED introducing the first NFC-enabled ad could only be made possible by bringing together the creative minds at Lexus with our reputation for pushing the envelope with emerging technologies and ideas,” said WIRED VP and Publisher Howard Mittman. “The WIRED world moves at an extraordinary speed, and this shows how we continue to work with our partners to ensure we all remain on the cutting edge.”

(Reuters – Press Release: WIRED Delivers First-Ever NFC-Enabled Advertisement Featuring Lexus)

You’re probably thinking…ok, this already exists with QR codes. But no, it’s actually different.

Unlike the 2-D barcodes that have been storming magazine pages, readers don’t need to take pictures of anything with their phones’ cameras. The phone automatically detects the NFC chip.

In the case of Wired and Lexus, that brings up a link on the phone’s screen. Click the link and a welcome video loads introducing the car’s in-dash App Suite. Users can then click on each of the app icons — Bing, OpenTable, iHeartRadio, Pandora, MovieTickets.com, and Yelp — to see short videos explaing [sic] each app.

(Ad Age – Lexus Brings NFC-Enabled Print Ad to Wired Magazine)

What I find most fascinating, is that of all industries…it’s the auto industry that is making it’s mark with this new technology.

According to the NFC forum (yes, there is actually a forum on this technology), when asked about the forecasted opportunity for NFC –

Jupiter Research has projected that up to 700 million NFC-enabled mobile phones will be sold by 2013, representing up to 25 percent of the market at that time (November 2008). Jupiter Research has also projected that NFC Mobile Payments will exceed $30bn by 2012 (September 2009).

(NFC Forum – FAQs)

It’ll be interesting to see how this affects print vs. online advertising, the (hurting) auto industry, the economy in Japan, and the behemoth known as Apple (as it is not on-board with NFC yet…).

Filed under: Automobiles, Business, Marketing, Science, Social Media, Tech, Enform App Suite, Lexus, Lexus GS 2013's, mobile payment, Near Field Communication, NFC, QR code, WIRED magazine

January 26, 2012 • 9:25 AM 0

QR codes are so yesterday…

I think QR codes were innovative at first glance, but now… they’re just an eyesore.

Flipping through a magazine, you see these really fantastic print ads, and then to the far left or right, there’s this:

Well, apparently I’m not the only one…

bieMEDIA, an online marketing and media solutions company, is predicting the end of the QR Code.

With all those QR scanner apps out there, you’d think that consumers MUST love ’em, right?

57% of consumers who have scanned a QR code say they did nothing with the information, compared to 21% who shared the information with someone and 18% who made a purchase, according to a survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB).

In fact, of those who have scanned a QR code, just 41% said that they found the information they received useful, while 42% had mixed feelings and 18% said the information was not useful. (The End of the QR Code is Near – MarketingVOX, January 24th)

Enter Pongr.

When brands ask consumers to snap a product photo and text or email it in, Pongr recognizes the image and replies. (Forget QR Codes: Pongr Easily Turns Your Photos Into Brand Rewards – Fast Company, January 9th)

So how does Pongr work for its clients? Here’s an example:

1. Fan photographs self with Michael Jackson’s Immortal, sends it to mj@pongr.com.

2. Pongr’s image-recognition software identifies album in photo.

3. Fan is entered in contest to see premiere of Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson show.

The call-to-action by the brand is so much greater here. With QR codes, you’re hoping that the link embedded within will be enough of a pull to bring in a new consumer. Using a mobile visual search

…provides consumers with faster, more convenient and compelling, interactive marketing experiences. (bieMEDIA Predicts the End of the QR Code – MarketWatch – January 24th)

As Jamie Thompson, President of Pongr explains it (in the Fast Company article):

Some brands are stuck in the mindset of this old-fashioned data-sampling model, where they think their customer might be the guy on the panel, because some data company has painstakingly and very expensively created a panel for them. Yet the reality is, there’s 100 million other people out there that they don’t know, that they’re not looking at, and they’re not slicing into that correctly.

So get the user to share real information with you, so that you know who they are.

That about sums it up.

(Note: I have no connection to Pongr. I just think that the company is super innovative, and it provides support to my anti-QR code claim).

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Social Media, Tech, app, bieMedia, call-to-action, eyesore, innovation, interactive marketing, mobile visual search, Pongr, QR code, QR scanner

January 17, 2012 • 9:58 AM 0

2012: Say goodbye to traditional marketing

With the advancement of technology, a lot of dependable and traditional forms of marketing are becoming…well…sort of antiquated.

Rather than dwell on things in a negative light, allow me to make a few marketing trend predictions for 2012.

Social Media Integration

If your company has not jumped on the social media bandwagon, well…you best jump right on, because as with most things related to technology, things are only going to get MORE advanced.

I’m sure that I’m not the only one that has noticed the recent uptick in social media integration on TV.

Facebook pages promoting shows and their stars are a given at this point. But using Comcast’s Xfinity, a viewer can access program guides based on Facebook trending topics, and networks are also integrating Facebook into their shows. During NBC’s “Meet the Press” debate earlier this month, viewers were able to see Facebook comments and queries on-screen…

…“The convergence of social and on-air is the result of over a year’s worth of groundwork — getting people used to it, learning how to talk about it, not mentioning platforms as if they have air quotes around them,” [Ryan] Osborn [senior director of digital media for NBC News] said. “They are actual viewers, just engaging with you in a new way.” (As Social Media Hits Television, 2012 Is the Year of Must-Tweet TV– Jan. 16th, Reuters)

Clearly TV networks have marketing budgets that are quite larger than average-sized B2B and B2C companies, but aside from “the funds”, two important pieces to this social media integration puzzle include a creative in-house team, and a person/time devoted to social media. Where there’s a will…there’s a way.

Apps

With over 500K apps available to smartphones, 2012 will be the year when the formerly hard-hit auto industry will have its comeback.

App integration means bringing services such as Pandora, Google search, and Twitter into the car. The car maker benefits from the known brand and features of the app, while car owners get the services they know and use on the road.

Pretty amazing. I never envisioned the auto industry as one to embrace technology like this!

What about safety, you ask?

…automakers are attempting to create safe interfaces. The apps use the car’s navigation display, and can be controlled with voice and in-car buttons.

And for those who want to view their apps on screens larger than their phones or tablets…there are smart TVs. I actually blogged about this in May of 2010 – Computers…coming soon to a TV near you, but it seems as though this technology will actually become prevalent in 2012. You can read more about this here: Smart TV: Six big features that matter (ZDNet).

Imagine all of the advertising integration possibilities…via these new modes of app integration. Banners, streaming, real-time, product placement…the options are really practically endless!

Mobile shopping

“Smartphone users are shopping and purchasing through their smartphones at the rate we expected. However, we were surprised to see that users are buying physical goods at about the same rate as apps, indicating that the technology is on the verge of widespread adoption,” said Ann Graham Hannon, vice president of the financial services division at Market Strategies.

Along with mobile shopping, more retail companies will create mobile-friendly websites.

But with an increase of technology, comes an increase in cyber attacks… Yesterday, Zappos announced that their site had a security breach.

Zappos plans to send out an email to its 24 million customers that says, in part: “there may have been illegal and unauthorized access to some of your customer account information on Zappos.com, including one or more of the following: your name, email address, billing and shipping addresses, phone number, the last four digits of your credit card number (the standard information you find on receipts), and/or your cryptographically scrambled password (but not your actual password).” (Hackers Hit Zappos, 24 Million Customers, January 16th – PCMag.com)

So what now?

Pop up stores

This is completely a personal opinion (ie. I haven’t found any material online to support this prediction)…

While I think that technology is amazing, it could be that because we are advancing toward unknown territories, consumers are too quick to trust the online medium for all of their needs. Case in point – Zappos’ online security breach. As such, I think a lot of brands are going to jump into the pop-up store (short-term sales store) phenomenon. We’re almost at a point where the brick-and-mortar is considered “vintage”, so what better way to stand out from other online retailers, than to have items available for people to touch and see in real life vs. on a screen?

I don’t mean to say that more retail stores will necessarily open, no…this would defeat the purpose of something new and fresh. What I mean is that pop up stores will assist brands that already thrive online…as a “new” medium to reach a new audience.

What do YOU think??

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Social Media, Tech, 2012 marketing predictions, app integration, cyber attacks, digital marketing, marketing trends, mobile shopping, pop up stores, Smart TV, smartphone, social media integration, Zappos

May 12, 2011 • 9:54 AM 0

It’s raining (social-networking) IPOs

The Oracle has spoken… with his thoughts on social-networking IPOs:

“Most of them will be overpriced,” [Warren] Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said… ”It’s extremely difficult to value social- networking-site companies… Some will be huge winners, which will make up for the rest.” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 3/25/11

But that hasn’t stopped a parade of social-networking companies from preparing themselves to go public.

Renren Inc., China’s equivalent to Facebook, went public on May 4th. It’s the first social-networking site to do so.

The stock rose as high as $21.93, or almost 56.6 percent above its $14 IPO price in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange before closing at $18.01, or 28.6 percent, above the IPO price. Reuters, 5/4/11

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but as of end-of-day/closing bell Wednesday (May 11th), RENN‘s stock stood at $13.49. That’s lower than the initial price.

What does this mean for Facebook, which is planning to go public next year? And don’t forget LinkedIn, which is planning to join RENN with its own stock – LNKD – later this month.

On March 10, 2000, the dot-com bubble burst…is the social-networking IPO bubble going to burst in late 2011/early 2012?

Filed under: Business, Finance, Marketing, Social Media, Tech, dot-com bubble burst, LKND, RENN, Renren Inc, social-networking, the oracle, warren buffett

February 20, 2011 • 10:03 PM 1

Jimmy Fallon, putting QR codes on the (USA) map

I first started reading about QR codes in early 2008. Turns out they were invented by a Japanese company named Denso Wave in 1994. So even though I thought I was in the loop, I apparently had arrived late to the party by about 14 years..

So what are QR codes? Well QR stands for “Quick Response”, as the intended use was to decode information quickly. How is this relevant to you? In order to scan the code, you need to download a (free) QR reader app to your phone. Immediately after you scan the code, you are linked to whatever is embedded in the code.

Around the same time I first read about QR codes, Polo Ralph Lauren launched their mobile initiative, and introduced us to QR codes by putting them in their print advertising. While it was a great initiative, I think America wasn’t ready for that type of technology.

I was in Japan in January, and literally saw QR codes EVERYWHERE – from descriptions on plaques of holy shrines, to bus passes, to random advertising on the streets. Japan is overflowing with QR codes. America, not so much. But on February 16th, Jimmy Fallon brought QR codes front and center.

Fallon had Tyler, The Creator and Hodgy Beats of Odd Future on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday. Before the performance, Fallon held up an LP-size QR code that, when viewed with the proper app, led viewers to oddfuture.com, which features a video of Tyler The Creator’s “Yonkers.”

I hope that Jimmy Fallon’s awesome initiative brings America up-to-speed on QR codes and other new technology.

As a test, I have created my own QR code (see below). Go ahead people, download the app, join the movement.

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Social Media, Tech, World, Denso Wave, Japan, Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, lp-sized qr code, mobile advertising, Odd Future, Polo Ralph Lauren, QR codes, qr reader

February 9, 2011 • 10:36 PM 0

Morgan Spurlock, redefining product placement at TED2011

Morgan Spurlock, of Super Size Me fame, will be talking about branding at this year’s TED Conference in Long Beach, CA. For those of you who aren’t familiar with TED (stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design):

The annual TED conferences, in Long Beach/Palm Springs and Edinburgh, bring together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

In an interesting move, one that exemplifies branding in a whole new way, Spurlock has decided to sell the naming rights to his talk.

“If you are the highest bidder, then during my talk I will make reference to your company, reflect positively on your placement and share the process of how you got involved.”

When I checked his eBay listing the other day, the bid stood at around $525. Surprisingly, the highest bid is now $2,550.

I admire the clever, out-of-the box thinking, but think that just name dropping is not enough. People remember things better when the read rather than hear…Spurlock should also wear a t-shirt with the winning bidders’ logo/name. Just a thought.

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Social Media, Tech, CA, Long Beach, Morgan Spurlock, sell the naming rights, Super Size Me, TED conference, TED2011

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(Note: I have no connection to Pongr. I just think that the company is super innovative, and it provides support to my anti-QR code claim).

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