As the song says “Your body is a wonderland”. Soon you will be able to wonder all over the Internet, listen to music, make a call by touching parts of your body. I don’t want to go any further than that…use your imagination.  Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and  Microsoft’s have coined the term “Skinput”. Skinput uses a bio-acoustic sensing and a pico-projector to turn your arm (or any other part of your body) into a display or as they term it ” input devise”  Imagine playing Tetris on your tummy, or dialing a friend on your deltoids.  I must say,  this may place us one step closer to becoming part of the machines we invented.  Well, if you can project anything from your iPhone or computer onto your skin the applications for advertising will soon follow. Will those shirtless college boys at football games be selling their bodies to beer companies?  Will this turn attractive women into billboards for Bikinis?  We’ve all seen that person who has a tiny  wireless phone headset walking around talking to thin air. First, I really don’t need to hear their conversation. Second, I  give such folks a wide berth, just in case. Now imagining how we will distinguish a person banging on their body to change tunes on their MP3, from a masochist. How will we tell the difference between someone playing Bloody Warfare II from a junkie in detox?  Yes, your body is a wonderland. I wonder what they will do to it next? As for me, If the  cost per exposure (no pun intended) is right. We might take a look at it.

To watch a video by the inventors :In http://bit.ly/diPCZi

To read more  http://bit.ly/aA0lDa

In the midst of rebuilding our out-of-date site, I came across something social media strategist, Paul Gillin wrote, “Welcome to the site-less web.”  http://bit.ly/cLlLA8
After spending all day weaving researched key words into the usual puffery found on ad agency sites, I read this on his blog. “The big change in the landscape is that information no longer needs to have a homepage in order to reach an audience. Facebook kicked off this trend when it created a service that was so popular that some brands found it was more desirable to use Facebook as a homepage than their branded websites.” After a bout with denial, I came to realize he was right.  Mr. Gillin has placed  his finger on the pulse of the living communication. In fact,  I believe he is capable of open-heart surgery on the subject. Still, it can be a struggle to  convince some clients that any marketing effort should speak to the “digitally adept” in concert with the traditional one way communications thrown at couch potatoes. Actually these two media work quite well with one another. Or maybe we should wait to see how Pepsi does with their $10 million investment in the refresh campaign? No,let’s not. I think they know what they are doing. The truth is that web can be it’s own worst enemy. It presents clients with so many choices, such fragmentation of audience, such micro targeting, it is just begging for excuses not to go there. Social Media changed everything and some clients fear the change. The truth is, it not rocket science. It  is just another tool in the toolbox. One  thing we have learned about any business we represent is that their audience will not stand still for very long. Those targets move and today they are moving at the speed of their web connection.  So site less and be more social is the order of the day. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? Mr. Gillin also pointed out that blogs are becoming ”almost irrelevant”. With that thought, I’ll sign off and tweet this.

The mountain in Mohamed’s handheld

Possibly it’s because I come from the age of the cell phone dinosaurs. A time when cell phones had a cord attached to a huge box mounted under the seat of your car, but I am dumbfounded by the seemingly endless capabilities of today’s mobile devises. Not only can we Tweet our friends, get our email, surf the net or a million other things. We can find just about anything we want and bingo…Google maps out a yellow brick road to their door.  Push a button and It gives me all the critical data. Touch the phone number and it calls them. (Of course I always pull over to the side of the road when doing this. )  A few weeks ago I got lost between Louise TX and Ganado TX while looking for some friends ranch.  Yes, we still have ranches in Texas. The GPS in my Range Rover had the light on but nobody was home. Then again, why should I expect an English car to know where Louise TX  is? Even in this remote corner of Texas. My  iphone and Google maps app found me and guided me out of the badlands.  It seems everyone is bringing out and app. Most of them are designed to make your pocketbook lighter.  Here is one that puts cash in your wallet. I sent all my clients with multiple locations the following:

The 2009 ANA Conference featured a panel of national marketers including Chris Joris, SVP Consumer Marketing, MasterCard. In his presentation Mr. Joris stressed the benefits of reach in traditional media but highlighted importance of integrating strategies like social marketing and mobile media into your marketing strategy. Case in point; MasterCard recently developed an iphone application, ATM Hunter. ATM Hunter directs customers to the nearest ATM where they can use their MasterCard using the GPS technology built into the phone. According to Advertising Age, over 10,000 people a week are now downloading the application. So text and tweet away…someone is making real hay. Just another case of savvy marketers finding a way to bring the information mountain to Mohamed’s handheld.

A 2009 study conducted by Boston Consulting Group revealed that women control 73% of all households spending. That is $4.3 trillion of the $5.9 trillion in total U.S. consumer spending. This leaves little doubt that adult females have the most influence in all issues. Bob Garfield, writer and marketing analyst for Ad Age explained in a recent article, “CVS Pharmacy has experienced rapid market growth. They understand ”The woman who buys the Band-Aids and amoxicillin, is the one who chooses the pharmacist.” A recent white paper published in Advertising Age entitled “Real Women” reveals some interesting psychographics about today’s women including Generation X (ages 30 to 44) and Millennial (ages 18 to 29).  “There’s nothing more important to mom than taking care of her kids and nurturing her family” says Hy Nguyen, brand manager at Unilever foods. In the current economy, there is little doubt that the “throwaway society” mentality has lost its luster. Price is always a consideration but your females are looking to brands that provide lasting value propositions. Women want a brand they can trust. Building and maintaining your brand should be the central focus of any marketing strategy.

To read the entire white paper on real women click the link below

http://adage.com/images/random/1109/aa-newfemale-whitepaper.pdf

Without a doubt, social networks like Twitter and Facebook have developed into an effective media. That media category is growing.  According to The Media Business Report marketers spent $800 million in 2009 on the development of social networks, word-of-mouth and conversational marketing programs. This is a 23% increase over 2008 spending. Further growth of 35% is expected for 2010 to more than $1 billion.  Paid advertising, used to drive traffic to social networks, spent $1.2 billion in 2009. This is expected to increase 7.1% to $1.3 billion in 2010 according to eMarketer, Digital Intelligence research.  It’s impressive when we read that large companies are dropping millions into on-line ad strategies. However, before you decide to throw 100% of your ad dollars into social networking, let’s put these numbers into perspective. The total ad spending in the US in 2009 was over $1 thousand billion dollars. Does your marketing budget need to follow this ratio?  Probably not. The relative importance of any media should be based on your marketing objectives.  To effectively build any brand, we believe you need a balanced approach to your media investment. Rhymes Marketing is constantly adding and updating the e-marketing services we offer. For help with your e-marketing plans call Jami Clevenger 713-871-8980 or jami@rhymes.com