SAW a good idea

Virgin Atlantic Designs Course for Fearful Passengers

Yesterday Virgin Atlantic announced it's Fear of Flying course, that supposedly has a 98% success rate, and unveiled the accompanying iPhone app intended to coach passengers through their attacks of fear while on board.  Included in the app are facts about flying, a Q&A section, and breathing techniques for fear emergencies while in the air. 

Talk about marketing as service!  Given that 1 in 3 adults are scared of flying, I'd say they are hitting a wide market with this one, and, in addition, are helping individuals make big strides in their personal lives.  This is the same thingPorter Gale, VP of Marketing at VA, discussed in her presentation last week at the 140 Characters Conference in LA, when she said Virgin Atlantic is striving through tech and social media to help their customers on a more personal level.  I'd say they are doing a darn good job at it.  What's next?

Adidas iPhone App for Berlin Street Art Brings Value to Consumers

Late last Friday, I caught an article link to springwise about Adidas' new iPhone app, Adidas Urban Art Guide to Berlin.  This was right after I read a good little post on The Customer Collective about being a great salesman by providing value for your customers, while acknowledging the sale as only the byproduct of the business to consumer relationship.

Needless to say, Adidas recognizes its reputation as an urban brand, and by engaging its customers through their interests, increases its street cred.  This is obviously a situation in which taking an indirect route to a sale will benefit a brand and further its influence in the culture within which it is already associated, thereby if not attracting more loyal customers, retaining the ones it already has.  Thanks for the great example, Adidas!   

Webby Awards Official Honorees!

    So last fall, these nice dudes from New Orleans called us up, wanting us to redesign their website.  Totally normal request, but the time frame was a little tight.  We took a look at what their brand was offering, and decided we didn't need the sleep.  Their spectacular service was so right on the mark, in terms of the value they offered to the failing global economy, that we jumped right in to help them simplify and beautify their user experience.   

The result?

It worked out pretty darn well.  Even the Webby Awards is calling us an "Official Honoree."  Yesssssssss!

click there 
 

Twitter the New News? - #earthquake a Godsend for Me

 
At around 10:30 last night, I saw a tweet on Facebook about an earthquake in Italy.  It was the first news to come out of the area, and I was straight away reading the #earthquake tweets for updates, as twitter was the first to have any coverage at all.  By 11:00 I was in contact with my friend in Tortorento, 50 km from the epicenter.  He was okay, although he was quite scared.  I am so happy that I found out so quickly and was able to assuage my fears for my friend, but now my thoughts are with the victims struggling to recover their friends and family members.

There's been a lot of talk about Twitter as a news service.  While it can't be so formal as NYT or CNN, it definitely beats them out for timely broadcasting.  Last night's info blast from Italy was no exception.

Twhat If?

Enough has been written about Twitter in the past month for me to avoid explaining the phenomenom.  A great guide for marketers getting started on Twitter, written by Drew Neisser, is here.  I'm going to jump into the conversation with a bit on one Twitter app, and then quickly digress into one of my [brilliant] rants...

I heard on the radio this morning that plants can now Twit.  For $99, plant lovers can get their plants to talk back to them via Twitter.  Botanicalls is the name of the device that will tweet your plant's water needs to you (and said plant's followers), so you don't forget to take care of it.  It turns your plant into a living Tamagotchi! HOW COOL!

 

This made me think what if...  What if I/we/somebody created a climate change awareness campaign using Twitter to publicize the decay of our planet?!  I know scientists are using sensors to track climate change, so let's make the sensors tweet updates in layman's terms, buy up some digital and outdoor ad space (ad space that targets world leaders, influencers, and big business execs -- that is, those with the power to fund and enforce change), and go live! 

P.S. I tweet, and I'm easy to find.  Let's follow each other!