Internet leaders to remain strong in downturn

The recession is creating a golden opportunity for some Internet industry leaders to solidify and expand their already-dominant positions.

Companies like search giant Google Inc. (GOOG), Web-based movie service Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and online jeweler Blue Nile Inc. (NILE) can take advantage of the downturn to reinforce customer relationships, develop new products and services, and take share from weaker competitors that are simply trying to survive.

But to come out of the recession stronger, these companies will need to continue investing in new technologies and capacity while keeping an ever tighter lid on costs. They will also have to negotiate market shifts that will inevitably occur as the economy goes through one of its worst recessions since the Great Depression.

"We have to keep coming in every day and making the right decisions," said Blue Nile CEO Diane Irvine, "but this our time to shine."

The companies most likely emerge stronger from this downturn will be those that provide the best value to customers and have strong track records of innovation and operational excellence, Barclays Capital analyst Doug Anmuth wrote in a recent note. He likes Google, Netflix, Amazon and Blue Nile because they spit off strong free cash flow that can be reinvested, giving the companies an opportunity to further distance themselves from their competitors.

"We believe certain segments within e-commerce and online advertising may actually be widening the gap with their competition more during this recession than even if we were in a more favorable overall economic environment," he wrote.

Despite the opportunities, none of the companies are expected to come through the recession unscathed. Amazon and Netflix have already lowered fourth-quarter revenue guidance, while Wall Street has been ratcheting down fourth-quarter revenue and earnings expectations for both Google and Blue Nile.

Shares of all four have tumbled in recent months as the economy slowed, squeezing their growth rates. Google is off 55% for the year, closing Thursday at $310.28; Amazon is down 44% at $52.08; Blue Nile has fallen 61% to 26.22; and Netflix is up 6% for the year but has slid 31% since April to $28.24.

Netflix and Amazon said they're confident in their strategies and continue to invest in new opportunities. Google declined to comment for this story.

The leading companies face challenges similar to those that stymied earlier Internet leaders, like Yahoo Inc. (YHOO), eBay Inc. (EBAY) and then-named AOL Time Warner Inc. (TWX). Those companies were dominant going into the last downturn but were dislodged by a series of managerial mistakes and under-appreciated competition.

Analysts say the three former leaders made common mistakes: They all failed to prepare for marketplace changes and new competition that ultimately undermined their business models.

Yahoo was forced to play catch-up after Google redefined Web advertising. Time Warner's plan to converge content and distribution was a strategic and costly misstep that weakened the company's ability to compete. EBay was slow to adapt to competition from Amazon's Marketplace service, which provided an attractive alternative for third-party sellers.

"Companies tend to get surpassed by others that essentially redefine their markets and the value proposition around them," said Patrick Viguerie, a consultant at McKinsey & Co.

Industry leaders face challenges not only from the economy, but also changes in the way business is conducted. New technology, the spread of information and globalization of commerce have led to a quicker changing of the guards in all sectors, according to a recent study by McKinsey.

The consultancy said that between 1972 and 1977 market leaders had a 9% chance of being knocked off the top rung within a five-year period. The effects of globalization, emerging technologies and the availability of information pushed that rate to 30% in the period from 1997 to 2002. Viguerie says the trend will only grow in the future.

Still, the current crop of Internet leaders have a better chance of retaining their perches because of their strong leads. Google has 64% of the global search market, while Blue Nile commands 50% of U.S. online market for engagement diamond sales. Netflix is even more dominant, controlling more than 70% of the U.S. online movie rental market, and Amazon has more than twice the revenues of Staples Inc. (SPLS), its nearest online retail rival.

Their businesses have been bolstered by the widespread adoption of the Internet since the last downturn. They have also refined their business models and picked up market share from rivals. Importantly, all have been profitable since at least 2003.

To stay on top, each will have to address weaknesses specific to their business. For example, Google has invested billions of dollars in new products but has not been able to diversify its revenue base beyond search advertising. Amazon and Netflix rely heavily revenue from physical media, but those products are increasingly being digitized and streamed over the Internet. Blue Nile will need to fend off challengers from outside its core diamonds business.

Already, each of the companies has developed strategies to address those weaknesses and appear committed to investing in them even if it causes short-term hiccups in their profits.

Google has prioritized investments in display advertising, online business software and mobile phone ads. Amazon is building a cloud computing business and is ramping up its digital music, movies and books business. Netflix spent an estimated $75 million this year to build out its digital streaming service, and Blue Nile is pushing its high-end diamond products into dozens of international markets.

But weighing investment priorities against slowing growth is a critical challenge, says David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School who focuses on competitive strategy, technology and international competition.

Yoffie says companies must take advantage of the downturn to eliminate truly unneeded legacy costs so they can invest in new products and infrastructure that position them for a resumption of growth. So far, only Google has announced it is cutting workers and reducing other expenses.

"If they don't find ways to drive excess costs out of their system, their ability to fund innovation will be curtailed," says Yoffie.

Nike Air Power

Nike's Second Coming

When Nike set out to market its Air Force 25 basketball shoe in January 2007 (which also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the seminal Air Force 1), the Beaverton, Ore.-based athletic apparel giant, along with longtime agency Wieden + Kennedy, did what you might expect: They went big, creating an epic 60-second commercial, grandly titled, "The Second Coming," featuring 10 of the biggest names in the NBA, including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Tony Parker.

They commissioned two young hip-hop hotshots - Juelz Santana and Just Blaze - to create what a Nike press release referred to as not merely a song but "an exclusive track for the AF25 movement." The commercial was shot by music video director David Meyers. The campaign also wove its way into programming (with a special show, 
"1 Night Only" on MTV and MTV2), featuring a joint performance by Nas, Kanye West, KRS-One and Rakim performing a Grammy-nominated track produced by Rick Rubin - and a display of some 1,700 Air Force 1's in every color and style under the swoosh. (The Rubin-produced song, "Better Than I Ever Been" - which contained several references to the Air Force 1 - and "The Second Coming" anthem were both sold on iTunes.)

In short, the AF25 launch was done in classic Nike style. Or was it?

In some ways, the shoe's debut illustrated how much things have stayed the same in terms of Nike's relationship to b-ball royalty and its ability to attract an audience. In 1982, when the Air Force 1 had its launch, the shoe, the first to use Nike Air cushioning, surrounded itself with NBA stars such as Moses Malone and Jamaal Wilkes. 

But the AF25 launch also demonstrated how much Nike, as a marketer, has changed. As a lyric from the commercial's soundtrack says: "Let's say good-bye to the past - the future's here at last."

Aim High

Of course, the shoe's launch featured online integration deals, such as a Nike Air Force Channel on mtv.com. But the stars of the digital aspects of the campaign were consumers, who, through a special Web site, nikemashup.com, were able to edit their own spot. Using some 70 frames from the commercial, and a variety of musical tracks, the site gave basketball fans a particularly diverse array of content from which to roll their own spot. Organized into categories such as dunks and close-ups, the site (which is no longer live) made becoming your own commercial editor easy. Using a simple drag-and-drop interface, users could create a timeline of the action, play it, and send it on to friends, achieving something all advertisers seem to aspire to these days, but few actually achieve: the viral effect. Not surprisingly, some of the re-edits consisted of footage solely of one favorite player, such as Bryant or Steve Nash, and made their way to YouTube; some received tens of thousands of views. (Nike didn't return e-mails seeking more information about nikemashup.com's results or other aspects of the campaign.) 

Yes, you could argue that, even at the time, there wasn't all that much new there; in February of 2007, as aficionados of consumer-generated commercials might recall, Frito-Lay's Doritos brand aired two consumer-created ads on the Super Bowl. Still, the Nike mashup illustrated how far fans can take a passion when you give them the tools with which to indulge it. According to Sarkissian Mason, the New York-based, digital-focused shop which worked with Wieden on the campaign's interactive efforts, some 1.5 million people visited nikemashup.com. More impressive, in a world where click-through rates are notoriously low, 65 percent of visitors created a personal version of the commercial. The average time spent on the site was six minutes, the equivalent of watching the commercial 12 times.

Sky Pager

But what truly separated the mashup effort from its predecessors was that it contained a mobile component - those who had the technology could mash, mix and share their Nike commercials via their mobile devices and register for behind-the-scenes clips of the shoot to be sent to their handsets. 

This was particularly out of the traditional advertising box when you consider the context - the campaign launched some six months before the debut of the iPhone, which jump-started the cell phone as a true multimedia device in the United States. Even today, according to Forrester Research's "Benchmark 2008" study, only 4 percent of the U.S. market uses an iPhone, a Treo or a BlackBerry. Meanwhile, of those 1.5 million nikemashup.com visitors, 100,000 experienced it through their mobile devices, indicating that, these days, when it comes to knowing your demographic, you'd better know which media platforms they use. 

The Nike mashup mobile effort extended what could be called a tradition at Nike, at least in the fledgling world of mobile advertising. At least as far back as 2005, Nike has employed some form of mobile in its efforts - a Nike ID billboard in Times Square that year allowed passers-by to "dial up" the billboard and, in 60 seconds, design their own shoe, which would then be displayed on the billboard. It could also be downloaded as wallpaper by its creator and even ordered. 

As would no doubt be the case with the Nike ID billboard, which these days seems relatively static, if Nike were to launch the shoe today - or debut the Air Force 26 - it would do so with an additional flourish or two. Asked how he would alter the campaign for today's mobile consumer, Patrick Sarkissian, president of Sarkissian Mason, said: "I would make everything higher resolution because broadband has increased to such a high rate now. The output would benefit by being much larger on screen and also something that users would want to play with more because it would be more broadcast-oriented." He added, "We would also make this into an iPhone app." 

With that in mind, digital-advertising enthusiasts are probably anxiously awaiting Nike's launch of the AF50, undoubtedly coming in 2033.

Facebook continues growing...

Facebook is growing faster than ever, especially overseas. Active users on the social network have hit 140 million, according to new data released by the company this week.

That total is up from the 130 million Facebook reached earlier this month, putting its current growth rate at more than 600,000 users a day, by the estimation of Inside Facebook blogger Justin Smith. It crossed 100 million users in August.

Most of that growth--about 70%--continues to be outside the U.S. Inside Facebook pointed out that growth has been especially explosive in Italy, where users have jumped from 572,000 in July to 4.9 million now.

When it comes to engagement, Facebook provided an array of figures: 2.5 million users become fans of Facebook Pages each day; 15 million pieces of content are shared each month; 4 million videos are uploaded each month; and 19 million active groups exist on the site.

Where Are We Now?

3 Mighty Principles of Search Today

By Kendall Allen

Search has been a very trusted friend to the digital marketer for some time now. With its basis in performance and direct response, search, when thoughtfully addressed, comes through for us. When taking a more integrated, encompassing approach to online efforts -- marrying business goals, marketing objectives, Web site purpose, optimization with an array of interactive methods -- wise marketers doubtless include search.

However, despite its integrity and performance value, for many years those of us madly in love with search -- and versed in the art and strategic subtleties of doing goodsearch -- were still very focused on the nuts and bolts, the how-tos and the math. That was our way of getting our arms around it, I suppose.

Right now, we find ourselves at a notable place in time. The strategic value of search is not in question, integration is happening, and the market is more or less maturing before our eyes. The ecosystem portrayed and projected back in the day of The Golden Search has become a much more vital and complex place. Yet, in a way, the opportunity has never been more tangible. How we look at search today in its maturing state, with a bold future ahead, really comes down to our understanding and acting upon several important principles:

1.Interconnectivity 
2.Blending 
3.Wisdom of crowds

Interconnectivity Has Never Been Truer

This is an essential point. The Worldwide Web today -- with the evolution of content, community and very socialized, technically supported forms of networking -- has taken interconnectivity to an entirely new level. It is no longer just about communication. And, it doesn't stop at commerce. Community is connected, supported, thriving - and representative of all kinds of opportunity beyond our original, somewhat flat vision for the Web.

Blending is the Thing

There is a very rudimentary argument for blending -- with a lowercase b -- that has to do with boosting marketshare. There is no denying the benefit of blending natural search optimization methods and a well-executed paid search campaign to achieve maximum share of voice in the search marketplace. But this small blending principle is not really what we are talking about anymore. Blending with a capital B has major implications. Search has become more personalized. There is, overall, a pronounced increase in blended results on major search engines -- as new values and elements make their way into listings.

This blend includes not only a greater frequency of personalization and localization -- maps, local content, etc. -- but a mixing of media assets. Brands, marketers and media companies have broadened the content and experience they offer to include text, editorial, commerce, photography, video, podcasting -- and a whole array of downloadable, sharable media and community tools and infrastructure. But, though given the nod by the engines themselves, full inclusion and consumption remain somewhat hindered. Our increased focus on cross-platform media and integration certainly makes it harder for search engine crawlers to find and shine the light on what we offer. Technology has not quite caught up to our thirst for sharing these assets.

So, today, the practical takeaway on blending your assets is this: do the work upfront to search-optimize not only your Web site but your multimedia through the techniques that do exist: content management, titling, categorization, and so forth. Yes, this is a science in transit, a work in progress, but most of us feel we will get there as an industry. And also, there are some very basic, creative things you can do to feature your media assets, on the paid listings side. Take advantage of the more expansive view the search engines are taking on blended listings, to make your play there more dynamic. Get outside the text box and try some things.

The Murmur and Footsteps of Crowds

The soul of search is demand. This is not a new thought. But, its purity is freeing as you navigate the noise. Knowing that you can quantify and tap into consumer demand in this marketplace is clarifying and should be your guiding light. Some even go as far as to say the keyword itself = the consumer.

Today, you add to the value of demand, the currency of consumer influence -- and, well, the combination is awesome. So, when it comes to search and truly  leveraging this combination -- I think we will see some very important developments over the next few years that will drive new advancements in how we do what we do.

Search engines, publishers and marketers have long attended to query volumes, strings and re-targeting behavioral data to understand what's happening in the consumer marketplace and benefit from it. One of the world's leading thinkers on digital -- and my good friend -- Mike Grehan is doing some totally fascinating work in this area. He refers to this emergent intelligence as "New Signals to Search Engines" in much of the writing he is doing on the matter, looking at usable data tied to the toolbar itself, bookmarking, rating, tagging and so on. Search engines have long factored the authority indicated by text relationship and links between content providers. But, with new layers of post-search, post-click data available, reflective of social infrastructures, connectivity and authority out and about on the Web between peers and consumers -- a new age is clearly ahead. Personally, I will have my ears tuned to Grehan, most likely over the occasional pint of Guinness we share, as this age unfolds.

So, wherever marketing and technology meet, mechanics of course must be considered. But, as we have seen, our industry is taking a more expansive view of search and developing a healthy respect for consumer demand and influence. As we look at the state of interconnectivity, the benefits of blending and the potency of crowds, right now -- we are looking down the path at what is most definitely the next age, shaped largely by the principles highlighted here.

Intel getting into car batteries

Former Intel chairman Andrew Grove is suggesting a new business opportunity for the chipmaker: make advanced batteries for electric cars.

Andrew Grove might have retired from chipmaker Intel back in 2005, but he still has some words of advice for current CEO Paul Otellini: consider making advanced batteries for plug-in electric cars.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Grove, who still works for Intel in an advisory capacity, has urged Otellini to consider getting the company into high-end batteries as a way to diversity its business. The automotive industry will likely be looking to technology companies to improve battery technology and reduce production costs on automative batteries as the industry begins to offer more electric vehicles.

Intel has decline to comment publicly on the advice, but an Intel spokesperson has noted that Intel already has investments in battery-related technologies and companies through its capital investment unit.

Batteries are the most costly component of plug-in electric vehicles, with notable battery makers including A123 Sytems, Ener1, and Valence Technologies.

Grove has previously come out in favor of plug-in electric car, with The American magazine publishing a treatise  of sorts by  Grove on the subject earlier this year.

Gmail SMS

Google (Really) Adds SMS for Gmail

After introducing then yanking the feature a few weeks ago, Google has crossed its fingers and re-introduced a Labs feature enabling Gmail users to send SMS messages.

At the end of October, Google introduced a new Labs feature for its popular GMail Web-based email service that enabled users to send SMS text messages directly from Gmail. But the rollout didn't go very smoothly: most users who tried to turn the feature on found it wouldn't fully enable. Now, Google has re-introduced the feature for U.S. users: once the tools is enabled, users can type a text-capable U.S. phone number into the search box in Gmail's chat window, then click "Send SMS." Once a message has gone through, phone numbers are saved in Gmail's contacts, so future messages can be send by name in the Chat field.

SMS message from GMail arrive from a number with a 406 area code, and SMS users will be able to reply to the SMS and have it routed back to the Gmail users' chat window. SMS recipients can also reply with the word "block" to stop receiving text messages from a particular Gmail users, or send the word "stop" to block SMS message from Gmail altogether.

Imagining the world of the Apple or the Google Netbook

Ron Enderle says:

There is a lot of speculation here in the Silicon Valley that Apple will belaunching its low-cost netbook early in 2009, possibly to eclipse CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, next year. I figured it would be fun to imagine what an Apple netbook might look like and, given that a number of us are speculating that Google is on a similar path, contrast it with the anticipated Google offering. Think of this as an interesting, and relatively safe, thing to chat about during the holidays.

We’ll start by talking about what a netbook is, and will evolve into, and then we’ll talk about the anticipated products from Apple and Google. 

 

The Hot Netbook

The netbook is currently one of the hottest products in the market and, given the current economic crisis; it is likely to eclipse all other types of PCs. This is because a netbook is designed to primarily connect to the web, be very portable, have cell-phone-like battery life, and cost in the $400 to $800 range. This is also a class of product that is already being sold and subsidized by cell phone carriers in several European countries, dropping the purchase prices below the $100 range.

These are products that shine brightest when they are connected, and will be the highest profile product as WiMax rolls to market because, coupled with the low relative cost of WiMax, they should be a phenomenal bargain. This class of product tends to live off the Web, and is the first really big step towards a computing experience that is truly appliance like.

In use, they will increasingly be how we consume video entertainment while away from our TVs. Over time I expect them to become increasingly more personalized, and the price range to expand as technology and subsidies lower the entry price, and high-end halo products redefine the capability and price of the most expensive products.

Netbooks also particularly appeal to women, and are one of the few that actually targets them. In short, if the laptop defined the 90’s in the PC space, the netbook may well redefine this decade by the time it ends. 

 

The Apple Netbook

Currently, Apple is in a world of hurt. The economy has lowered the effective top end of the notebook market to $800, and virtually all of Apple’s products are now too expensive for the mass market. Apple has wisely shifted their laptop marketing effort to promote just how “green” and attractive their laptops are. But, if folks can’t afford them, they still won’t sell in enough volume to keep Apple’s investors happy.

This is why many people think Apple will be releasing a netbook in a few weeks: to bring a product down into where their buyers can afford the offering. The expectation, however, is that it likely will be unique to this emerging market.

Like all of Apple’s other laptops, the product would likely be built from aluminum, but would run a version of the MacOS that might be more closely related to the iPhone than the traditional Mac. It would also be able to run many of the same application store applications that the iPhone runs, but using a larger screen and a keyboard. This could be a product that begins to truly redefine the Apple experience.

Obviously, an Apple netbook would be a showcase for iTunes video content, and I would expect it to have a strong video subsystem coupled with a very frugal primary CPU. Because Apple tends to value thin over almost everything else, I would expect this to be in line with the MacBook air in terms of thickness, but use a smaller screen. It’s also likely to be the first PC-like product from Apple to have touch capability.

One real possibility might be wedding the Apple netbook to an iPhone so that, if you have both, you only need one data plan. This has been problematic for most of the players in the market, but Apple has unique capabilities here, and this would give them a very powerful advantage.

Apple’s biggest problem might be that it is still struggling with Cloud-based services, so while I think it will lead in design; it may lag in these critical services. 

 

Google’s Netbook

The T-Mobile G1 is not a very attractive phone, but it showcases Google’s unique pragmatism. The G1 was the design that was largely used to test the Android OS, and because of this it could quickly be brought to market allowing Google to have product in the critical fourth quarter on store shelves. Better-designed products will show up next year from a variety of vendors, including Motorola, who could clearly use the help.

Google’s strength lies where Apple is weak: It clearly gets the Cloud, and this would be where its netbook shines. Google will license to a number of manufacturers, and the netbooks would run a derivative of the Android platform, allowing application store developers to access a more rapidly growing group of increasingly diverse platforms. Since Google won’t be building its own hardware, designs will likely come from existing partners, suggesting that some of the netbooks may come from companies like HTC and Motorola.

This suggests some rather unique and creative designs, and a very heavy focus on the cellular network in terms of connectivity. The Google netbook should particularly excel when connected to the company’s rich online set of properties, but I would expect it to lag on processing and graphics performance. The end result should be better battery life, though.

Final Thoughts

The netbook market is in its infancy, and there are already some great products like the unique Vivienne Tam netbook entering the market. But this is only the beginning, and whether Apple enters the market in January or later, I can’t imagine they will ignore it given the current economic conditions and the opportunity to go around Microsoft’s desktop dominance.

Slowly but surely, we are moving to ever more personal computing devices tied to services in the cloud. Imagining how these will change our lives will be keeping a lot of us busy over the next few years. Appliance computing is coming, and it appears the netbook is leading the charge.

A Checklist for Reinvention in a Recession

Who Knows, It Could Spawn a Digital Renaissance

By Ian Schafer

Marketing innovations during recessionary times have been proven (and reinforced by smart folks at places such as Harvard Business School) to lead to increases in market share, shifts in brand loyalty, reinforcement of core values and better opportunities to learn more about your customers. In fact, some of the best brands and products have been launched successfully during recessionary periods. MTV, the iPod and Crest White Strips are but a few examples of those.

That's why many experts suggest the thing you shouldn't do during a recession is cut back on ad spending. But it happens nonetheless. Hey, the bottom line is the bottom line. And when that happens, everyone feels it. Publishers, agencies and, of course, advertisers -- both traditional and digital.

Historically, it's the time when everyone starts talking about direct response, search engine marketing and every other bottom-of-the-sales-funnel, ROI-attached ad tactic as "the responsible thing to do."

But while those may be important components of a holistic advertising strategy, what often gets left on the cutting-room floor is a budget for everything else marked with the scarlet letter E (for "experimental"). Display advertising, promotional microsites, social media and other forms of interactive marketing often get that E label.

But don't forget a big reason these tactics are "experimental": most advertisers have been late to a party that consumers have been hosting for quite some time. As an industry, we've been slow, tentative and overly deliberate -- and consumers' usage of digital media is outpacing that of marketers.

Instead of under-investing, think of this difficult economic climate as a potential golden age for digital marketing innovation. It's only just now that technology and talent have come together in a way that can really make it all happen.

Many marketers are apparently looking to take advantage of it. According to a recent study by the Association of National Advertisers, when asked how they would adjust current marketing and media plans to account for the recent downturn in the financial markets, 27% said, surprisingly, that they would spend more.

If they do in fact spend more, their spending will no doubt be scrutinized. At a time when all advertising spending is being scrutinized, there are several recent but proven methods that have been successful at not only saving budgets but actually making those budgets go further within digital media.

Foster relationships through social media.
Now is the time to focus efforts on re-establishing, reinforcing and reinvigorating the relationships you have with your current customer base. Think of it as an investment in your future at a time when the present is probably on pretty shaky ground. The beautiful thing about social media is that the stickiest of sites are not just media properties. They are platforms for communication and connectivity that bring people closer to brands -- and each other. Don't just create a promotional, temporary outpost but a permanent area where people can interact with your brand in ways that they want and will benefit from.

According to the aforementioned ANA study, 32% of respondents were asked to name their "preferred social media site for driving brand growth." The largest percentage, 32%, said "none." There's no better time to take advantage of slow movers than right now.

Leverage the "social coefficient."
But that doesn't mean build for whomever might show up. Build for those you think will be able to benefit the most and might espouse the benefits and share them with others. Think evangelists and apostles -- not just influencers. Your efforts will be more appreciated, more refined and yield better returns, creating more powerful customers who are better at singing your praises. Initially recruit through highly targeted advertising and then grow through a "social coefficient" -- the multiplicative factor of a successful social-media communications strategy where the solicited actions of your customers both passively and actively lead to content created -- and shared -- around your brand. Think the Facebook News Feed effect. And each subsequent action can reduce your effective CPM, if you can measure it.

Make your content available everywhere.
Whether you like it or not, content travels. If you don't do it, consumers will do it for you. So coordinate your own efforts to ensure the best quality, accuracy, distribution and availability for that content, whether it be to support videos, widgets or applications. The best part of this strategy will be having the ability to measure its effectiveness. When working with the right partner(s), this is a very cost-effective way to track consumption, engagement and pass-along. If the content is not necessarily time-sensitive, this strategy of ubiquity may even mitigate the need to spend as much in media dollars to support it. This is precisely the reason why media planners and public relations professionals can benefit by working more closely together.

Leverage APIs, and provide improved value and practical tools.
If there's a web technology out there, chances are it's got an API (application programming interface). And if it's got an API, it's probably quite useful. A successful branding strategy should always involve looking at good experiences that consumers are already having and figuring out ways to make them better. Think of it as better branding through technology. It saves you from having to build something from scratch (e.g. Facebook applications), which would force you to not only market your brand but also a new product. Take a long hard look at Facebook Connect, OpenSocial and the LinkedIn, Amazon, YouTube and even Best Buy APIs. These can play a pivotal role in enhancing experiences and spreading messages.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. And if we need to spend more efficiently, we need to figure out ways to make our money work harder. The tools, partners and solutions are out there. Seek them out and implement them. There's one thing you can put your money on: 2009's most successful campaigns will be the ones that leverage these strategies the best. Think about this as a humanistic revival. One that will take us out of digital brand advertising's medieval period and into one that will actually catch us up to our consumers.

Syntethic telepathy

By Eric Bland: The U.S. Army is developing a technology known as synthetic telepathy that would allow someone to create email or voice mail and send it by thought alone. The concept is based on reading electrical activity in the brain using an electroencephalograph, or EEG. 

Vocal cords were overrated anyway. A new Army grant aims to create email or voice mail and send it by thought alone. No need to type an e-mail, dial a phone or even speak a word.

Known as synthetic telepathy, the technology is based on reading electrical activity in the brain using an electroencephalograph, or EEG. Similar technology is being marketed as a way to control video games by thought.

"I think that this will eventually become just another way of communicating," said Mike D'Zmura, from the University of California, Irvine and the lead scientist on the project.

"It will take a lot of research, and a lot of time, but there are also a lot of commercial applications, not just military applications," he said.

The idea of communicating by thought alone is not a new one. In the 1960s, a researcher strapped an EEG to his head and, with some training, could stop and start his brain's alpha waves to composeMorse code messages.

The Army grant to researchers at University of California, Irvine, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland has two objectives. The first is to compose a message using, as D'Zmura puts it, "that little voice in your head."

The second part is to send that message to a particular individual or object (like a radio), also just with the power of thought. Once the message reaches the recipient, it could be read as text or as a voice mail.

While the money may come from the Army and its first use could be for covert operations, D'Zmura thinks that thought-basedcommunication will find more use in the civilian realm.

"The eventual application I see is for students sitting in the back of the lecture hall not paying attention because they are texting," said D'Zmura. "Instead, students could be back there, just thinking to each other."

EEG-based gaming devices are large and fairly conspicuous, but D'Zmura thinks that eventually they could be incorporated into a baseball hat or a hood.

Another use for such a system is for patients with Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS. As the disease progresses, patients have fully functional brains but slowly lose control over their muscles. Synthetic telepathy could be a way for these patients to communicate.

One of the first areas for thought-based communication is in the gaming world, said Paul Sajda of Columbia University.

Commercial EEG headsets already exist that allow wearers to manipulate virtual objects by thought alone, noted Sajda, but thinking "move rock" is easier than, say, "Have everyone meet at Starbucks at 5:30."

One difficulty in composing specific messages is fundamental — EEGs are not very specific. They can only locate a signal to within about one to two centimeters. That's a large distance in the brain. In the brain's auditory cortex, for example, two centimeters is the difference between low notes and high notes, D'Zmura said.

Placing electrodes between the skull and the brain would offer more precise readings, but it is expensive and requires invasive surgery.

To work around this problem, the scientists need to gain a much better understanding of what words and phrases light up what brain sections. To create a detailed map of the brain scientists will alsouse functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG).

Each technology has its own strengths and weaknesses. EEGs detect brain activity only on the outer bulges of the brain's folds. MEGs read brain activity on the inner folds but are too large to put on your head. FMRIs detect brain activity more accurately than either but are heavy and expensive.

Of all three technologies EEG is the one currently cheap enough, light enough and fast enough for a mass market device.

The map generated by all three technologies will help the computer guess which word of phrase a person means when a part of the brain is lights up on the EEG. The idea is similar to how dictation software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses context to help determine which word you said.

Mapping the brain's response to most of the English language is a large task, and D'Zmura says that it will be 15-20 years before thought-based communication is reality. Sajda, who is on sabbatical in Japan to research using EEGs to scan images rapidly, sounded skeptical but excited.

"There are technical hurdles that need to be ovecome first, but then again, 20 years ago people would have thought that the two of us talking to each other half a world away over Skype (and Internet-based phone service) was crazy," said Sajda.

To those who might be nervous about thought-based communication turning into a sci-fi comedy of errors, D'Zmura says not to worry. Mind-message composition would take specific conscious thoughts and training to develop them. The device would also have a on/off switch.

"When I was a kid I occasionally said things that were inappropriate, and I learned not to do that," said D'Zmura. "I think that people would learn to think in a way the computer couldn't interpret. Or they can just switch it off."