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Google Goggles…

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Today, Google announced the acquisition of Plink.  Plink is a niche application which allows you to take a picture of a piece of art and then Plink finds out information about it.

Leave it to Google to take it to the next level!


Google released Google Goggles for Android 1.6+.  This is an incredibly cool functionality that has been toyed around with on other platforms like the iPhone and by services like AroundMe.  However, Google took it to a whole new place that is phone independent just like Android.

Google Goggles can identify items such as landmarks, books, business card contact information, artwork, wine and logos with a simple snapshot (which, I might add, can be discarded right away with a little click; nice feature, Google!).

Looking up information on a location like a store or restaurant?  You don’t even need to take a picture.  Just point your phone at it and a link to the Google Local Business ad will appear at the bottom, beckoning you to click on it to find out things like contact information, hours of operation, coupons and more!

This is a pretty incredible extension of how search works and, if it works, will drastically alter how we use the little devices we all carry in our pockets.

Very nice, Google!  Very nice!

If you would like to know more about this or any of the topics on our blog, feel free to contact us at (859) 468-5313.  We’d also be happy to take a look at YOUR local business listings, and your interactive program overall, and let you know how they can be improved to drive your business forward.

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The Tough “Pad”…

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

With all of the hoppla surounding the iPad, this was a refreshing and light-hearted way to reinforce Blendtec’s “Will it blend” concept. Over and over again, this concepts proves to be a winner.

Two quick thoughts.

First, only 3 days after the release date, this video ALREADY has over 2 MILLION views.  That is massively impressive!

Second, with all of the things that Tom from Blendtec blends and all of the wonderful gases and dusts that he gets exposed to, is he going to be the next Tin Man 20 years from now?

Sorry for the Wizard of Oz throwback, but did you see all of the dust from the remains of that “tough pad”?

While I haven’t gotten my hands on an iPad, YET, I have been thinking a lot about the impact that iPads, gestures and more mobile computing can have on our clients’ businesses and have developed a lot of thoughts about how this is going to change/affect things going forward.  Stay tuned for more updates as I’ve got more uncanny and sometime unconventional thoughts about the core affects these have for us all.  For a more direct path to the information, I’ve set up an iPad tag within the blog so you can follow it, specifically.

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Google Maps goes 3D

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Image of IMPACT's home offices in Bellevue, Kentucky in 3DGoogle Maps recently released the ability to view locations in anaglyphic 3D (the kind of 3D that utilizes red and blue, color separated, glasses).  When in street view, just click on the icon below the zoom factor to turn on the 3D display.

While this functionality is kinda cool, the value and quality of these 3D images is questionable.  From within Google Earth, there is a link to go from that platform, to Google Maps, and then down to the Street View functionality, but the anaglyphic 3D functionality, to date, has yet to be introduced into Google Earth.

We are looking forward to Google offering this stereoscopic functionality, real time, in Google Earth.  This could be a truly mind-bending addition to the Google Earth fly-by tours.

According to the Lat Long Blog, Cincinnati was 3D as of 1/15/2010.  However, we were unable to reproduce the 3D modeling within Google Earth today.

In any case, this is a pretty cool functionality which will only become more and more useful for everyday applications as it matures.  Hats off, as always, to Google for pushing the boundaries.

Other resources:

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Vistaprint hasn’t got a chance

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

IMPACT recently began offering print services to its clients.  After pricing our services around, we discovered that we are REALLY inexpensive compared to Staples, Kinko’s and even local print shops.

The one thing I keep hearing though is, “I get my cards from Vistaprint“…

Let me take a moment to set the record straight here.  In an apples-to-apples comparison, OUR PRICES STOMP VISTAPRINT’S!  Don’t believe me?  Follow along:

Vistaprint premium cards:

250 cards: $19.99
100lbs paper upgrade: $12.99
Color on the back: $12.99
Uploaded image: $4.99
Total: $50.96 (BEFORE SHIPPING)

Our identical cards?

$25 before shipping.  Period.

Bit of a difference there, ehh?

Now, as a bit of a disclosure, we don’t typically reccommend a Vistaprint-level product to our clients.  We can provide it, but we tend to suggest a product with a bit more sizzle like 14pt paper with rounded corners.  It’s amazing what a difference the upgrade in paper stock and rounded corners can make.

Taking it a step further, IMPACT can design and execute the most elaborate of cards with die cuts, Pantone metallics, embossing or whatever you can imagine to create an awesome custom solution for your business.

Whether you need creative or already have it, when looking for business cards and other print solutions, consider us…  and know that the “value” players online don’t necessarily deliver the value that you are assuming they do…

Some ballpark pricing is available in a past post.  However, please contact us to discuss your specific needs.

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Interactive Print???

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Modified 3/31/2010 to clarify privacy concerns at end of post.

Believe it or not, even print is interactive!

Way back in 2000, WIRED Magazine leveraged Digimarc to add watermarks to print ads.  At that point, reading the ads was only possible using a PC camera and, with the appropriate watermark software installed, would direct you to the advertiser’s web site.  Interesting, but not that useful.  Fast forward to 2010, the iPhone and much higher distribution watermarked ads and things start getting more interesting.

Much more interesting in fact…  A recent issue of Wired Magazine piqued our Creative Director Allan Godshall’s interest as the editorial proclaimed that print was once again interactive in Wired Magazine using technology from Kooaba designed for the iPhone.

Please refer to the press release from Kooaba (the company providing the technology to WIRED) and the specific release on WIRED’s site.

Using an iPhone and the Kooaba app, the ads could be “read”.  I’m not going to rehash my previous rants that questioned the value of iPhone app mania.  Nonetheless, this is pretty cool depending on what the action is on the iPhone when the ad is “scanned”.

If advertising using a tool like this, what action would you want people to take?  Would you have them do something that reinforced the brand equity?  Would you take the opportunity to grab consumer information?  Perhaps the ad would simply link to a page giving the consumer more information about the advertised product or service.

It would really depend on the strategy behind the print piece and the call to action.  Very rapidly, the capability of this technology forces clarification of the strategy and goals sections of the creative brief for that ad…  Back to the point; does this capability bring  privacy concerns to print?

Potentially.  In the age of variable printing and segmentation to a group of 1, who is to say that a advertisement’s watermarked print ad in your favorite magazine doesn’t contain YOUR subscription number?  When you click on that ad, viola, as you’re iPhone is getting directed to the advertiser’s web site, they happily make off with both your phone number and subscription number.  A quick mashup of that data and the publishers information about you and now the advertiser has something very valuable…  After all, that magazine publisher knows exactly who you are, where you live and probably a ton of psychographic and demographic information.

Considering this, are we going to see privacy statements on print ads in the future?

Despite the privacy concerns, we believe this is interesting technology.  If you’re looking to work some magic with your marketing, just ask us to bring some more IMPACT!

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Get your message out, inside

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Indoor advertising.

We’ve all seen it.  Indoor advertising hits you in the bathroom.  It finds you in the restaurant waiting area.  See it over there by the beer line at the stadium?  Indoor advertising really is everywhere you go.  Some people question its appropriateness for their brand, business or product, but no one questions the effectiveness.

According to research statistics published on the Indoor Billboard Advertising Association (IBAA) web site:

  • 98% of people don’t have a negative reaction to the placement or content of the ads
  • 84% recalled seeing a specific ad
  • 93% could name specific advertisers tested without prompting
  • 89% of those who recalled a specific ad could remember at least 4 benefits mentioned

Studies have found that indoor ads are viewed for 1.5 – 2 minutes, on average.  Compare this to the 3-5 seconds that traditional print ads are viewed and the reason for the higher recognition and benefit recall is obvious.

This is not to say that this should be the only tool in your toolbox, but it is an awful nice hammer even if it is from Harbor Freight instead of Stanley…

More than just “branding”

Most people associate indoor advertising with simple branding.  Ads typically scream, “HERE’S MY BUSINESS.”  Through the many campaigns we’ve done for our clients, we’ve found that this tool is effective on two additional fronts – PR and activation.

Consider this… you have an individual’s attention for 1.5 – 2 minutes.  You have a chance to both  educate and entertain them.  You have a chance to convince them of a benefit associated with doing something, NOW (or at least after they finish and wash their hands)…  This ability to motivate immediate action and/or educate a target audience makes indoor advertising an interesting tool.

Imagine a PR campaign to soften the image of a organization.  Considering that people are less than 2 feet away from the 8.5″ x 11″ boards from EverywhereUGo or the 11″ x 17″ boards from All Over Media, an ad has a great opportunity to deliver a story.  The ad has a great opportunity to change the target’s opinion.

In a different situation, imagine an ad containing a call out to call a number or to send a text message to get something free, register for a contest or to find out more information.  The person has ample opportunity to take advantage of the offer while they stare at the ad.

So, as mentioned above, indoor advertising can be a great addition to a larger marketing plan to promote a brand, communicate a message or drive a target to activate.  Combining this with the ability to target your audience by gender, and venue makes this a rather powerful tool.

To see some examples of indoor campaigns done with IMPACT, see our print portfolio.  If you have any questions about the effectiveness about indoor advertising or interest in setting up a campaign, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Check out these kicks…

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

It has taken us a bit, but we’ve finally gotten the first stab at our site uploaded.

Our new site leverages the latest release from the fine folks working on the CakePHP framework, a highly customized WordPress blog and it will soon incorporate some pretty cool features that leverage the Constant Contact API.

It is so cliche, but yet very true.  Even if you are the master in your field, it seems next to impossible to get your own assets created.  It just seems as though paying work and administrative duties, like most work, expand to take all available time.

Every time I work on a site, it amazes me the level of work necessary to do it well.  Unique page titles.  Relevant page descriptions.  Compelling copy.  Oh, and don’t forget the snazzy factor…  It takes a substantial amount of time to do right and leverage all of the best practices necessary to have a well functioning web site.

Actually, that is a small homework assignment for you. Do all of the pages in your web site have custom page titles that are unique, relevant and keyword rich?  Cruise through your site and kick the tires.  You might be surprised at what you find.

So, here is our first pass.  Check back frequently for updates to our site and to our blog.  We will frequently post updates concerning what we are doing for our clients and what we are thinking about the industry as a whole.  If you’re interested in actively keeping up with what is going on, find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or link to us on Linkedin.  And, of course, if you dig it, you can hook up our RSS feed (http://www.with-impact.com/blog/feed/) on the dash board of your favorite aggregator…

As it turns out, we have a lot to say, and we just found our microphone…

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A “POSITIVE” Launch

Monday, February 1st, 2010

IMPACT launched the POSITIVE Magazine web site today.

POSITIVE Magazine is full of high-quality photography, video and articles about people, places and events. POSITIVE features men and women who have chosen to follow a path in life that fulfills their passion and brings happiness to the lives of others… the people who inspire us by honoring their dreams.

POSITIVE is a media company with a heart for others, hope for the future and optimism in the journey.

The home page is laid out horizontally to reinforce and reflect the nature of the underlying periodical and publishing company.  It is an online and off-line magazine and we wanted the web site to reflect that.  Secondary content, video and photography focused pages leverage the typical web-based, vertical layout.  This was done to maximize usability on these content-oriented portions of the site.

Additional print advertisements have been created for this client in order to drive awareness of the online and off-line publication.

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