Category Archives: Concierge Culture

2008 TREND: Expect to see more companies exploring brand-relevant ways to offer concierge-like favors, making their customers’ lives more enriched, more entertaining, or just plain easier.

Bringing the World (Cup) to Your Hood

Hopefully you’ve been enjoying the first stage of the World Cup – we wouldn’t want you to have dropped the ball on that USA-England game. Either way, we figure you must be enjoying the slew of great marketing efforts that … Continue reading

POTTY POSTING – What the Web Will Be Like with Facebook’s “Like”

Welcome to our latest Potty Posting! We tackle what Facebook’s new “Like” button means for marketers. See for yourself; the PDF is attached at the following link: What the Web Will Be Like with Facebook’s “Like” If you’d prefer a … Continue reading

Putting “Delighting Consumers with Hidden Surprises” to Work

Among our 10 Trends for 2010, Delighting Consumers with Hidden Surprises was, admittedly, the longshot. It seemed reasonable to predict that many brands and retailers would tire of going bigger and brighter in order to break through marketing clutter, and … Continue reading

Hometown Heroism by Foot, Bike, or Car

While no one’s taken us up on our suggestion to save Chicago’s 4th of July fireworks just yet, that doesn’t mean we haven’t seen smaller scale examples of Hometown’s Heroism. In fact, for Chicago’s Big Shoulders Realty, this is old … Continue reading

Drive Slow, Win Big

In our discussions about inserting gaming into everyday life, we’ve spent a good chunk of time discussing Volkswagen’s “Fun Theory” campaign. That effort included a user-generated component, where folks could suggest tasks that would be improved through gaming mechanisms. The … Continue reading

SXSW Dispatch, The Recap

In case you happened to miss the two weeks we dedicated to our SXSW Interactive coverage, here’s a recap of what went down. Part 1: Setting the Mobile Stage. We talked about how the rise of the mobile web and … Continue reading

SXSW Dispatch, Part 10: Tying Up the Loose Ends

Whew. We’ve had one heck of a SXSW Dispatch, haven’t we? One last post to tie up some loose ends, and we’ll get back to the non-SXSW world. (It still exists, y’know.) For starters, we told you to be on … Continue reading

SXSW Dispatch, Part 9: “This Year’s Twitter”

So, we’ve covered mobile. We’ve encouraged gaming. We reminded you about online video. We’ve emphasized location. What if there was some place on the internet where all of these tech trends might converge? A single touchpoint to rule them all? … Continue reading

SXSW Dispatch, Part 7: Welcome to the Year of Location

According to Jason Finkelstein at Wavemarket, 55% of all text messages are some variation of the question, “Where are you?” That means that in 2009 there were at least 650 BILLION text messages asking for location information, without even counting … Continue reading

SXSW Dispatch, Part 5: How App-Makers Feel About “After the App”

Second verse, same as the first. While we’ve already given you the big picture on the mobile space, we also sat in on a number of panels with smartphone app-makers, who certainly have a vested interest in encouraging brands to … Continue reading