Marketing and Advertising on the Net

In browsing TED.com one night (see my blog post about TED.com here), I came across a speech given by artist Jonathan Harris, about connecting the internet to the human emotions expressed within it. Jonathan is an internet artist and designer who “aims to explore and explain the human world”. In his TED speech he previewed his past projects including a time machine campaign he worked on with Yahoo! As well as the premier of his search engine Universe, which compiles news data around subjects in a visual sky of constellations and stars. Fascinated by the high quality of Jonathan’s ideas and projects, I found his personal site where he provides links to all of his work. Browsing through his portfolio I was continuously impressed by his ideas, which includes “We Feel Fine,” a system that searches the world’s newly posted blogs for the word “I feel,” and “I am feeling” to gauge the feelings of web users at a specific moment. Another site of his I was drawn to and wish to describe in this blog is Just.curio.us.

Justcurio.us is an online network established as a forum of “strangers helping strangers” through anonymous questions and answers. Users pose questions, open for anyone to answer, with one condition: to ask a question, you must first answer someone else’s. Questions can be about anything — and they really are — users have the ability to ask any question they wish about any topic they want– from funny, to personal, offensive and useless. When first browsing on the site I am posed the question: Stones or Beatles? And presented with the option to answer the question or move on to another one. Additional information under the question includes where the user asked it from and when they asked it.

After choosing to answer this one (The Beatles, of course!) I am given a chance to ask a question, enter my email address for anonymous answers, and ASK! Statistics on the site say that 2,281,009 strangers have answered 469,808 questions, a number that continuously grows.

Other then the questions and answers, the scope of the site includes a page about Justcurio.us, the rules of the game, a search feature, and a zeitgeist, which lists the most popular question topics by size.

Justcurio.us is completely confidential, but users posing questions do have the option to have answer responses emailed to them. The user’s IP address is used only to determine the country location and as they claim, “no human will ever see your IP address”.

Unfortunately this site is relatively small, so the amount of questions asked are limited. Additionally, it seems many people who ask and answer questions do not take the intention of this site seriously, often asking useless or offensive questions or giving answers that do little more than poke fun at the question or questioner. Fortunately for users who do wish to use this site to connect with strangers on another level, the option to moderate answers is available. Users who turn this feature on have the ability to flag inappropriate questions and answers, bringing users even closer together in this social world.

I think this site has great potential and really works to connect individuals. I like this site best because those who use it are so geographically spread out. People pose questions from the United States, Canada, Ireland, Iran, Israel, Australia — literally everywhere. Although this site is currently small and has very little reputation, I think the idea behind it — strangers helping strangers — is a great way to connect people on a more intimate level. As users never find out who answers their question, they are completely free to ask whatever they want. I think this anonymity helps keep the focus of the site merely on the question — it doesn’t matter who you are, why you’re asking, or why you’re answering — you are free to help a stranger without feeling like your experiences or knowledge can be identified.

I really like the work that Jonathan Harris produces and his desire to connect the internet with human emotions and turn users into connected individuals — human beings instead of IP addresses. Justcurio.us is a project that, with moderation and responsible, serious users, could yield much benefit in connecting people, emotions, and lifestyles. It is valuable to feel that someone, a complete stranger, heard your question and cared enough to take the time to answer it anonymously — solely for the purpose of helping resolve your own issues.

It would be my hope that this site grows, engaging users all of the world to help out the neighbors we have all over the world — paying it forward to a time when we might all need help ourselves.

Explore the work of Jonathan Harris – it’s all interesting!

“Every so often it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living, and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately interconnected whole.” This is the current giving life to TED.com. TED, an annual conference, stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. Aimed at “spreading ideas,” the conference provides a platform for lectures that cover a broad range of topics including science, politics, education, culture, business, global issues … — basically everything and anything interesting, current and meaningful. TED speakers are influential individuals from all walks of life, some well-known and some only known within their field. Past speakers have included Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates, and Malcolm Gladwell. According to TED.com, the annual conference brings together “the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers,” and over four days, 50 speakers give an 18-minute “talk of their lives”.

Founded in 1984, the TED Conference has been “leveraging the power of ideas to change the world” every year since 1990. Currently, TED is owned by Chris Anderson (who also hosts) and his non-profit organization, The Sapling Foundation. The cost of attending the annual TED conference has changed throughout the years, but currently is only open to members who pay an annual membership fee of $6,000. Membership includes conference admission as well as club mailings, networking tools and conference DVDs. Attendance, which is said to sell out a year in advance, has been even more exciting since 2005 with the introduction of the TEDPrize, which awards $100,000 to grant three individuals’ “wish to change the world”. Recipients of this prize have included Boon, Bill Clinton, and James Nachtwey. Since 2006, however, TED has proven exclusivity is not their thing by making TEDTalks available directly on the TED web site, or through YouTube, and iTunes for free. Currently, about 370 TED talks are free to view online under a Creative Conference license that enables users to share and repost Talks throughout the web. As of January 2009, TED.com talks have been viewed over 90 million itms by more than 15 million people.

TED utilizes a free pricing strategy for users initially visiting the site to view videos as well as those who become TED.com members. Membership to TED.com is free after visitors provide their email, full name and country and the benefits include: joining the conversation about TEDTalks, themes and TED Blog posts with comments; a public profile to talk about your own work, save favorite Talks, and any expression worth sharing; contacting other TED.com members around the world; and optional TED newsletters.

Although TED.com is free, a paid membership is offered for $995 per year. A TED Associate Membership requires payment, a mailing address and other contact details as well as sufficient internet bandwidth and an up-to-date computer system. This membership has many additional benefits, including a live subscription-only webcast of the TED Conference, TED Book Club mailings (which include books, CDs, and DVDs) five times a year; a DVD set of the event, social-networking with other associate members, announcements about TED events, as well as all of benefits of a TED.com membership. This type of membership would be valuable to individuals who utilize TED talks for their own business or organizational benefits or those extremely invested in the organization or its mission.

Throughout the organization, TED integrates its overarching theme, interconnection, throughout the organization — from the conference and the prize, to membership and the web site. TED.com is very user-oriented, not only presenting free content with simple navigation, but allowing users to contribute to the web site through comments and feedback at well.

“Our Mission (and how you can help),” is one more section of the site that promotes interconnection, suggesting various ways to help spread the TED word. Again, TED.com puts the user center stage suggesting users to: share links through email, Digg, Twitter, Facebook and Del.icio.us; host a “TED session” at school or work around a specific topic or connect with friends and neighbors with a “TED salon,” planning discussion around each Talk or theme and encouraging an open conversation. For web users, TED.com strongly encourages the sharing of its content on blogs, sites, or social-networks. Throughout the site, TED presents links for users to improve the organization or site through feedback and suggestions.

In these ways TED makes the user part of the experience connecting them with the mission and hopefully providing motivation for users to become Associate Members. Even as a free user, TED is extremely generous – presenting all the content you need to expand your mind for 18 minutes.

Two Talks I recently enjoyed from TED.com

Do you know TED? What are your favorite talks?

Sportswear giants Nike and Puma have both gone about capturing their internet-savvy markets in a similar way through their online shoe-customization programs. Both companies provide users the chance to become designers – choosing not only the size and style of their shoes, but the color of the mid-sole, laces, logo, and yes, even the metal holes the laces go through.

“Mongolian Shoe BBQ,” launched by Puma, and Nike’s version, “NIKEiD,” puts customization at your fingertips for about the same price and only a few weeks wait. Learning that both companies offer similar options for shoe customization, I decided to check out the features each company offers and customize my own sneakers – a creative project I was excited to begin.

Logging onto Puma’s site it took me little time to find the link to “Mongolian Shoe BBQ,” a theme Puma uses as the backdrop for their shoe customization. I like their idea – likening the shoe design process to a chef preparing his menu. This theme carries on throughout the shoes’ development as you choose your style from a menu off of a table, “gather ingredients,” and begin to create your “customer recipe”. After creating my new kicks I simply added them to my “doggie bag” and went to work creating a new recipe.
I like Puma’s idea of giving the design process a theme – making the consumer his own design chef – but without knowing what to look for, I doubt I would immediately know what “Mongolian Shoe BBQ” meant at all. Perhaps they have branded this idea to the process through other mediums (like TV commercials), but that is something I’m not aware of.

Puma offers fun patterns, fabrics, colors and designs – extending the customization process to three different shoe styles. The color palette they offer is broad with colors appealing to a wide range of users. You have the ability to make your shoes as tame or as crazy as you want. Personally, I prefer to get as crazy with color as I can, finally deciding on purple cheetah print shoes with red laces and a yellow Puma logo. Check ‘em out:

After closing my tab on Puma, I hopped over to Nike.com to see how NIKEiD compared. After narrowing down my region to the United States and finally reaching the actual Nike site I immediately spotted the NIKEiD link. Unfortunately, this is where the ease ended as I spent over 5 minutes trying to reach the blank shoe and begin work on my design. Nike offers too many styles and already-designed options in an unorganized way that I had a hard time figuring out where to start. Once I found the right link to a blank shoe, however, I had no problem figuring out how to make my creation. Dissimilar to Puma, Nike allows the user to literally click on the part of the shoe they want to change making the process easier for someone who might not know what a “vamp,” or “eyestay” means.

The NIKEiD program is not themed around anything as creative as Puma’s is, but being a company like Nike, I almost feel like that’s unnecessary in the first place. The Nike brand is so strong on its own and when it comes to casual yet funky shoes — I would be willing to bet Nike is the industry leader. I’ve heard of NIKEiD before and have even considered going on the site in the past. Obviously, as number one, the company has to do a lot less branding to get customers on the site. Therefore, I think the concept of NIKEiD is themed perfectly – actually turning the platform into a design studio. I enjoyed my time in this studio, even learning that you can actually go to the studio in New York City to physically design a pair. After much time exhausting all of my options I settled on a less flashy custom shoe by Nike:

As you can see – Nike offers something additional after your shoe is complete: Your very own wallpaper – placing your design in its own advertisement to make the shoe seem even more professional

Both sites offer a vast amount of options allowing you to literally pick any color combination your want, leading some shoes to look like a mixed-up rainbow of patterns and textures. The idea behind customized shoes is a pretty good one in my opinion. Sneakers are a big industry and with casual shoes like these in style now, everyone wants a unique pair. Both Nike and Puma have gone about the process in a similar way – bringing consumers onto their site and making them want to stay logged on as they play around with styles and color combinations until the perfect pair is created.

We live in a time where everyone wants to stand out for being unique and creative. These programs support this desire by literally handing the paintbrush to the buyer. This concept does a lot to make both company and customer happy. Nike and Puma first don’t have to do as much work by way of developing their product line and second (and maybe more importantly) they get a good amount of free research done – the ability to understand what color combinations are popular and what their consumers want in style, fabric, and texture. Just as ingenious, the customer is magically transformed into a VIP, now taking pride in the design of shoes no one else owns. Both sites also offer customers the ability to save and load their work into a gallery – giving them a medium to show off their creation. This concept is very important in our cluttered world of youtube videos and open-sharing networks.

Being into funky sneakers, I enjoyed going through the customization process these companies offer – creating my own combination of cool, unique kicks. My personal preference for Nike’s aside, I found Puma’s customization process much easier to access. Once in on the design process, though, I found both endeavors to be a fun way to play around with color to create something uniquely my own. The concept puts the consumer behind the driver’s seat for a product they would probably buy anyway – with very little additional cost. Giving the customer this kind of power is exactly what companies like Nike and Puma need to do to stay competitive in a digital world that is increasingly centered around the buyer. Even if a purchase doesn’t occur immediately – the consumer still spent at least 10 minutes on the site customizing a product they can now envision themselves wearing. A genius way to further involve the customer in the buying process, both brands are strengthened. Whether your prefer Nike or Puma, the age of going to the mall to pick out your shoes is over. From the comfort of your home you can be your own designer.

Check out your new shoes!

NIKEiD

Mongolian Shoe BBQ