I am blogging at Tumblr now
I don’t always (in fact never) refer to myself in the third person but when I do it is for potential SEO benefit.
Sriram Venkitachalam’s new blog is Creative is Adjective and it is here
How to use touch screen phone in winter with gloves on
Had been wondering how capacitive touch screens work on Thursday and had been wondering why I had not read about it already. Having read about it on How Stuff Works on Thursday, I thought of this on my way home from work last night when it was 36 degrees outside.
To know how the aluminium foil works, checkout this link that describes how capacitive touch screens work http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/iphone1.htm.
Simply put, the screen has an electric charge mapped on the surface. When a conductive material makes contact it changes the electric charge at that point and the device recognizes it as a point of contact. You can use any large enough piece of metal to make contact with your touch screen phone. My phone has a screen protector so the foil did not scratch the screen.
But you don’t have to carry aluminium foil with you – there are lots of touch screen compatible gloves flooding the market http://bit.ly/hOrHcE.
Cheers and happy wintery touchscreeny holidays!
Google knows you don’t understand Google Wave and knows you understand Google Wave better
As planners – strategists – advertising folk, we’re after reducing complex things to simple elevator pitches. Problem arises when we confuse simplistic with simple and take that philosophy backwards to make only those products that can be explained in elevator pitches.
Google Wave is pretty complex. To get the best idea of what Wave can do you’d have to watch an 80 minute video (at the end of the post).
Google knows people are trying to get a grasp of Wave (we’re searching Google for answers). Since Google is all about scalable solutions, instead of producing one official line on wave or pressuring a single writer to come up with some copy for Wave, Google is doing it the scalable way—allowing everyone who has used it to describe it within 250 characters and allowing people to vote on the best descriptions. It is hosted on the Moderator app on Google App Engine.
This is how I describe it in 250 characters or less:
“Communication+Action, Seamlessly. Google Wave emulates natural multiparty communication structures allowing new branches at any node. It enables user friendly method to reference multimedia information and seamlessly borrow appropriate applications.”
Google Wave is a live and seamless collaborative communication and action platform.
Google Wave in 80 Minutes
Google Wave in 10 Minutes
Google Wave in 2 Minutes
MLB Global branding
Read to Them “One School One Book” Reading Program
Principals had shut their ears to 9 million reading programs. Inspection revealed the brand truth that One School One Book was a local community development movement and not just a reading program. Web strategy refocused fund raising from huge corporations to individuals.
The Objective: Enroll several schools to participate. Raise funds for a fledgling organization.
The Barrier: Principals didn’t wish to hear about yet another reading program.
Insight: Talking to schools who had tried One School One Book before we realized this was more of a community builder. As a whole school — students, staff, parents, even bus drivers read one book; the story brought everyone close. It brought the parents and teachers working together.
The Strategy:
- Changed the conversation from “reading program” to “community building initiative”
- Suggested a new brand name “WeBook”: more contemporary, actionable, and involving
- A web site that articulated the organization’s mission in a quick 2 minute animation
- Web site that showed how each party: teachers, parents, principals, corporations had a role in the ambition
- Communication campaign expressing the involvement students and the school enjoy during One School One Book
- Fund raising focused on individual donations through web site and blog widgets rather than big corporations. Also, re-focused fund raising from national corporations to local small business.
Please find some of the fleshed out work in this SlideShare presentation below (works great full screen):
I enjoyed this work because: I don’t remember being read to as a child. I never enjoyed reading till college. I know the effects, because I experience the world of difference reading brings. This was personal. This was also one of the most memorable team efforts. We began overwhelmed at the scope of what was expected of us. In the course of time, each member volunteered for the parts that magically fell into place to make the whole.
Besides, I got the opportunity to contribute beyond my “brand manager” duties in the way of making an animation film, which is right here.
Idea #1: Facebook+Retail outlet like Old Navy/Gap/Nike mashup. I select a few products I like from the retailer web site and publish it on my facebook stream to solicit recommendations/comments/feedback from friends on facebook. Should be enabled to select the friends I want opinion from. This could apply to almost any online retailer.
Idea #2: Google maps + any retail chain. I draw a rectangle (or any shape) on a map. Say I draw a little shape over SoHo, then I search for jacket, it should show me the products that are physically available in stores within that area. Then I should be able to compare the products on different parameters. It would be like an online mall. I think this will be a cool extension to the already integrated online stores of Old Navy+Gap+Banana Republic+Piperlime+Athleta. ‘Cos sometimes, you don’t want to wait for something to ship.
If you know of these ideas already being used by someone do share examples. Thanks.
Update (7/20/09 11:35am est): Of course I should have bet on Zappos doing this before anyone else. Today my friend and fellow CBM Anish Shah posted a link to my.zappos.com on facebook. Investigation reveals Zappos launched this beta on July 17th.
Go Zappos!
Update 7/29/2009 Orbitz too has integrated Facebook Connect now allowing you to broadcast your travel plans to friends, who then can click through and book a similar plan (as reported by Inside Facebook).
This straight from the Orbitz application page on Facebook
Share your trips! Book a flight, hotel, or vacation package on Orbitz and use the handy Share link to let friends and family know where you’re off to next.
Share your hotel reviews! All Orbitz hotel customers have the option of sharing to Facebook once they complete a review. Steer friends toward the good experiences and away from the bad ones. That’s what being a friend is, right?
While I think this is kind of cool, I think a recommendation seeking feature would be an even more involving experience. As far as vacations are concerned, you take vacations lot less frequently than you take recommendations for vacations. Something intresting can be done around friends’ photos. Sure, it might not have a direct benefit like someone clicking on your travel plan and buying it right away (which I assume will anyway have a very low conversion rate) but then it is social. But I’m sure these guys are working on it.
