Monthly Archives: May 2009

The Freelance Boom: Advantage Employer

Savvy executives will find ways to take advantage of available talent to push their business forward. If you don’t want to commit to hiring someone full-time, why not explore alternatives. Interns, freelancers, and contract-to-hire enable the employer to dip into the talent pool while retaining maximum flexibility. Continue reading →

Posted in Social Impact by David Capece | Thursday, May 28th, 2009 | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Using Segmentation to Develop Your Marketing Strategy

While there are many ways to harness the power of segmentation, one of the broadest and most valuable applications is for designing your marketing strategy – a strategy that clearly defines who you’re targeting, what you’re going to offer them, where you’re going to reach them, and how you’re going to sell them on your product & brand. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

Sonia Sotomayor and America’s Future

Today, Barack Obama nominated appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. If confirmed, she would become the third woman and first hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. At a high level, this selection is on-trend. While there is awareness that the Hispanic population is growing and becoming increasingly influential, the numbers may surprise you…
Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by David Capece | Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Strangers and Friends

You need to treat friends differently at every step along the way. First, don’t confuse the moments you’re supporting them or connecting with them with the moments when you are doing business. Second, understand that the most powerful win is when your friends tell their friends about you. This is worth 1000 times more than you talking about yourself. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Monday, May 25th, 2009 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Top 5 Reasons to Segment

Implementing segmentation has many benefits to a company. After segmenting the market, a customer needs and wants can be identified more effectively, communication with these customers improves, opportunities for growth and innovation are created and profits and market share increase. Continue reading →

Posted in Social Impact by Ethan Lyon | Monday, May 25th, 2009 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Why is the Internet and Technology So Hard?

Have you noticed that there are pieces of technology that should be wildly popular, but they become overly complex so the soccer moms never seem to quite transition over to them? Interestingly, this is not a new concept. Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by Ethan Lyon | Friday, May 22nd, 2009 | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

American Idol: Kris Allen and Social Mood

Tonight’s American Idol victory by acoustic teen heart throb, Kris Allen, is a significant milestone amidst a groundswell of change. Yes, Kris Allen’s ballot box resembled that of Barack Obama’s 69 million votes last November. What’s the big deal? Let’s take a quick look back at music history and its correlation to global events, the economy, and social mood. Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by David Capece | Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The Virtual Internship: Education in a Digital Age

Remember your college days? You had at least five hours of class time, a part time job, six hours of homework, plus the clubs you were in, not to mention the two you served on as a board member. Your day was busy, but the one thing every “real world” person tells a college student is to make sure they take multiple internships. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Why Web 2.0 Matters in Your Employee Communications

According to an Aon Survey of 8,000 employees of various public and private employers, both salaried and hourly workers are finding ways to use Web 2.0 (social) media at work, for work purposes. The survey bypassed employers to ask employees directly if they are accessing social networks (Facebook, Linked In, etc.), using instant messaging and text messaging to communicate with each other, setting up wikis and reading blogs at work. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Top 5 Ways to Collaborate

At Sparxoo, we have an agile team is creatively stretching into new territory. We have tried several collaborative tools to collaborate on projects, but few have stuck. In this week’s top five, we will discuss collaborative tools that have worked for us. Continue reading →

Posted in Startups & Innovation by Ethan Lyon | Monday, May 18th, 2009 | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Future of Media Tech: White-Wall Entertainment

White-wall entertainment will liberate the constraints of mobile screens and allow users to browse the web, share pictures and information as if they were front row at a movie theater. Consider a projected keyboard and monitor. Your cell phone could project what you typically would see on your monitor and a projected keyboard would allow you to type. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Future of Media Tech: Augmented Reality

The AR, “beyond human” experience is the next step on our path to escape into another world. This emerging technology is part of Sparxoo’s Houdini trend. The Houdini trend is all about finding fresh and unique ways of getting out of the here and now reality of this world for the endlessly imaginative world of gaming. As we explore ways to get away from work, school, kids and other stress-causing environments, augmented reality will be the next step in our complete immersion in another world. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by David Capece | Monday, May 11th, 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Top 5: Media Stats

16,000 jobs—It’s no secret that newspapers are making headlines. With declining readership, newspapers are finding ways to stay afloat, even if that means making deep job cuts… 16,000 reporters in last year alone. Some of the heavyweights are opting for job-cuts or being forced into bankruptcy. The 150-year old paper, Rocky Mountain News folded, and many papers are transitioning to a digital-only publication in an attempt to keep their heads above water. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by David Capece | Monday, May 11th, 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Future of Media Technology: One Platform

We have identified three major technological elements—the DNA—of the one, multi-purpose, cutting edge computing device: multi-touch, projection and augmented reality technology. Though it might be 2015 or 2020 before we see such a device on store shelves (virtual and maybe physical), technology is constantly and consistently inventing itself. We have identified technologies today that show signs of leading us to this singularity. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by Ethan Lyon | Thursday, May 7th, 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Media Swan: Black or White?

From sports to relationships, politics to war, and of course in business, we are obsessed with imaging and predicting the future. We can observe trends, analyze data, and tap into the brains of experts. Despite this, much of the future remains unpredictable. In some cases, being correct may be as much luck as it is genius. My Dad always said, “better to be lucky than smart, but ideally you’d like a bit of both.” Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by David Capece | Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Online Video Ad Spending is Up

According to eMarketer today, MAGNA Global predicts online video ads will reach $699 million this year, a 32% increase from 2008. By 2011, MAGNA estimates US online ad spend will surpass the $1 billion mark. Why? We’ll discuss why online ad spend is up and the next evolution for online video consumption. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing, Market Trends by David Capece | Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Future of Media Tech: Multi-Touch

The future of multi-touch technology is one of ever-increasing integration into our daily lives, whether we’re calling a friend, finding directions, or checking out at the grocery store. Our tabletop will not be the end-all be-all technology that meets all our entertainment, information needs. Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Marketing by David Capece | Monday, May 4th, 2009 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Top 5: Media Trends

In our dog-eat-dog world, the laws of survival are pushing us to adapt or die. How is media adapting? Well, they are either maximizing their staff, finding new avenues to deliver their message (primarily online), or slashing their headcount. Some organizations are doing one, two or even all three of these strategies to stay afloat. Continue reading →

Posted in Market Trends by David Capece | Monday, May 4th, 2009 | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Emerging Trends: Private Eye

Our search for the truth has lead us to value realism over idealism, and break down stereotypes to realize the potential in everyone. Continue reading →

Posted in Market Trends by David Capece | Friday, May 1st, 2009 | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments