Celebrating Sparxoo’s 1-Year Anniversary

Amid the 2009 rollercoaster ride of tea parties, balloon boys, sex scandals, bailouts and war, the Sparxoo blog went on-line. Since then, we have discovered cutting edge trends in luxury, technology and culture, spoken with future marketing leaders, such as Trendsta’s Becki Heller, explored the intersection of innovation and social entrepreneurship with the microfinancing non-profit, Kiva, and examined the top influencers in social media, news and politics and social entrepreneurship. After over 350 posts, we reflect on a successful year filled with discovery and insight with our staff’s favorite posts highlighted below:

1. Death of a Digg Salesman — Less than 1 percent. That’s the chance of landing on the front page of Digg. As Digg is one of the largest social bookmarking sites, we explore the dos and don’ts of proper Digg etiquette so entrepreneurs can tap into Diggs 13+ million monthly unique users.
2. Top 5 Virtual Villages — Imagine playing a video game to learn how to reduce your carbon emissions or getting personal golf lessons online. Imagine no more. The Top 5 Virtual Villages examines fun, cutting edge niche community sites.
3. America: State of the Union 2009 — Hummer sales fell 51 percent in 2009 — a symbolic decline to America’s excess consumerism. As American faced rising unemployment and a struggling auto industry, State of the Union leverages Sparxoo’s Brand Survey for key market insights to overcome difficult business challenges.
4. American Idol & Social Mood — How did the American social mood impact American Idol’s winner Kris Allen? America’s vote for Kris Allen signaled our desire to restore confidence and return to an upbeat, happier time.
5. 2010 Market Trends — The 2010 Market Trend reports examines the China rising, real-time Waving with Google and Kliener Perkin’s $500 million eco-fund — seeds planted in 2009 that we expect to blossom in 2010 to transform our political, economic and social worlds.
6. Top 5 Gen Y Mindsets — Who are Escapists, Forerunners and Connectors? We picked Gen Yers brains to find out what makes them tick and segmented like-minded groups to form five distinct psychographics.
7. Interview with Trendsta’s Becki Heller — The digital environment has shifted power away from brand managers to consumers. Becki Heller discusses social influencer marketing and how Trendsta taps into teen influencers to help companies go viral.
8. Sarah Palin: Branding for 2012 Presidential Ticket — 2009 was a transitional period for Sarah Palin’s brand. After her vice presidential campaign with McCain, Palin left Alaska’s governor’s office, wrote a controversial book and finally landed FOX as a pundit. Was FOX a good move? We explore the risk and if Palin’s on the right path to the oval office.
9. Kiva Case Study — In just four years, the micro-financing non-profit, Kiva gave $100 million in loans to entrepreneurs in developing nations. How? We discuss how Kiva aligned transparency, community and tangible impact to grow to such heights.
10. Digital Influence Report in News & Politics — We evaluated over 100 news properties to find the most digitally savvy. While CNN’s number one spot might not be a surprise, the NY Times came in a surprising second place. It looks like the “Gray Lady” is quite digitally savvy.

Image by Ivan Prole from Stock.Xchng

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