In 2011, we saw a lot of innovation in the world of application development on both desktop and mobile platforms. Tablets enjoyed rising popularity, a slew of new app stores populated the Web, and businesses set their sights on using software applications to improve their day-to-day operations.

For Web designers and app developers, 2012 will offer plenty of opportunity as well. Here are seven areas they should be watching closely in the next 12 months.

1. Motion and Voice Recognition

With Wii and Xbox 360, Nintendo and Microsoft have brought motion and voice recognition to the masses. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Almost every item on this list has built-in voice or motion recognition software—or both. Apps based on this technology aren’t just for gamers. Businesses and everyday consumers will take an interest in them as well.

2. Smart TVs

Clearly, “intelligent” technology devices are becoming all the rage. First there were smartphones. Now Samsung and other vendors are showing off next-generation televisions called “Smart TVs.” These hybrid products look and act like their less brainy brethren, but, with amped up hardware and updated operating systems under the hood, they also allow users to browse the Internet, shop at online app stores, and play games.

Marketing Smart TVs could pose a challenge, though, given that most consumers aren’t switching out their TVs with the frequency they do their mobile phones. Manufacturers will need to put together enticing bundles. For designers and developers, the possibilities are virtually limitless given all the technology items on the menu—voice and motion recognition, 3D, and WiFi, among them.

3. Next-Gen Tablets

In 2011, we saw tablets gain traction in both the corporate and consumer sectors. Apple released the iPad 2, and a handful of other technology companies joined the fray. There’s another wave coming in 2012, and this year’s products will be running more powerful hardware. But it remains to be seen what functionality vendors will choose to include in these mobile devices.

The biggest opportunity for app developers is in the business space. Airlines are putting their safety manuals on tablets; schools are unveiling tablet initiatives; and businesses are starting to give mobile employees tablets instead of laptops. Virtually every business is looking for better ways to communicate and organize data. With that in mind, app developers should be thinking up faster, more powerful applications that will help companies do what they do better and more efficiently.

4. Phonegap and Titanium

One of the biggest challenges for Web developers and programmers is learning new programming languages such as Java and Objective-C that they can use to create native applications for Apple and Google devices. Last year, we saw a rise in usage of third-party products such as Phonegap and Titanium Appcelerator. Those allow Web designers and developers to program in Web-based languages and put the final product on app stores and in a native language for iPhones and Android devices.

This year, people will be paying a lot more attention to these platforms. Case in point: Barnes & Noble has partnered with Appcelerator to encourage Web designers and developers to get involved in app production for the NOOK and other B&N products. A number of books have been written about these programming languages, and their user communities are growing larger every day. These languages are being used now for Windows and Blackberry devices as well.

5. HTML5 and CSS3

The future of design and development on the Web? HTML5 and CSS3. It’s inevitable, and people in the community are pushing for this to happen sooner rather than later. With updates to the two most popular Web programming languages, there are unlimited possibilities as to what can be created in a browser. The quicker this technology is supported the better.

With tablets becoming more popular, televisions having fully functional Web browsers and operating systems, and technology such as Phonegap and Appcelerator Titanium on the rise, HTML5 and CSS3 are already playing a more integral part in application development, both within browsers and as native apps. All mobile phone browsers already support most, if not all, of the currently used CSS3 styles, and more features are being added all the time. Designers and developers should start learning as much as they can about HTML5 and CSS3 and implementing what they learn to some capacity in all future projects.

6. Windows 8 Ecosystem

For the first time in recent memory, Microsoft is drawing a large amount of interest in its forthcoming version of Windows, mostly because of the product ecosystem the company is trying to create. The Windows 8 interface seems to be taking a lot of its functionality and design from Windows Phone 7, Microsoft’s most recent mobile operating system or what they refer to as ‘metro-style’ UI. Between Microsoft’s Windows 8, touch and voice recognition, PC-compatible Xbox Kinect, and new tablets, the software behemoth is creating a lot of buzz all around. And, of course, all of this opens doors wide for developers.

Microsoft already has a hold on the home market—most home computers in America are Windows-based—but these developments help extend Microsoft’s reach elsewhere too, with some interesting app design possibilities for mobile phones, tablets, desktops, and even the Wii console system. We’ll see later this year, when Windows 8 is released, how it’s received by consumers, but this operating system holds a lot of promise, much as Windows XP did when it was released in 2001.

7. Apple Products

A blog about up-and-coming technology wouldn’t be complete without talking about Apple. It appears that this technology powerhouse will follow its typical pattern in 2012, releasing a new iPad in March or April and a new phone in the fall.

One big question: Are rumors of an Apple-branded television really true? If so, this will be a good platform for the next iteration of Angry Birds or Wunderlist. A TV from Apple would also give developers a large canvas for their apps on smaller devices. And corporations might sit up and take notice also. Imagine an Apple TV in every conference room, with FaceTime built in and an iPad synched up with it.

Concept renderings by Guilherme M. Schasiepen

Another thing to keep in mind: With Apple’s release of its iCloud system in 2011, we can expect cloud computing to play a bigger role in app development this year too.

All in all, 2012 promises to be a year filled with plenty of new gadgets and opportunities for app developers. Companies that have been around for years in the tech industry have big plans for going forward, and some familiar faces in other aspects of consumer electronics are breaking into the industry as well. The most important idea to come away with is that application developers will have a lot more toys to play with starting this year and for years to come.

Social media have become an essential part of the marketing toolkit and must work in tandem with other media to help you achieve your overall marketing objectives. Endless choices make it difficult to make the right decisions. Companies frequently get lost in the clutter of social trends, leading to the elaboration and separation of social objectives from the overall “big idea.” Getting started can seem like an obstacle, but once a social strategy is under way the hardest part is over.

Establishing guidelines and rules for social media allows businesses to overcome the hurdle of social chaos and alleviate unnecessary stress. Parameters should be realistic in light of available resources and messages should have a consistent tone and significance. When clients turn to us regarding social media, we recommend implementing companywide social policies to enforce cohesive branding and messaging. A handful of outspoken and devoted employees may have thoughtful ideas, but do those ideas reflect the unified views of the company?

To begin this journey toward social tranquility, a company must determine which social sites are appropriate for its organization. Social media are not “one size fits all,” but require a tailored fitting. According to writer and blogger Seth Godin, “We don’t need more time, we just need to decide.” Deciding which platforms to use is crucial; however, the “Big Three” of social media are typically a safe bet.

As social media guru Scott Monty puts it: “LinkedIn is the business meeting, Facebook is the hallway conversation and Twitter is the cocktail party.” Perceiving social media in this fashion allows companies to implement specific agendas for each platform in the relevant context. Personalization is important, but becoming an early adaptor of an unfamiliar social platform is not an efficient use of your time – keep that for the holiday electronic wish list.

Take LinkedIn, for example – joining the right groups permits mutually beneficial relationships. Interaction within group discussions increases credit in relevant ways. Facebook helps build relationships with the consumer and merits an open dialog, while Twitter’s character restriction encourages conversation as a fun and witty stream of updates.

The introduction of aggregation tools such as Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, and Buffer has made managing the social space much more efficient, freeing up time and resources while streamlining updates and posts through a single source. Granting individual employees access to aggregation tools allows messaging and topics to be managed and approved through a queue. Additional focus can then be applied to getting in the groove of choosing topics and adding snippets of character. Thought-provoking messaging keeps the social relationship interesting. The worst thing a company can do is spam “friends,” followers, or connections with useless blasts containing minute substance.

As we’ve noted (and quoted) before, “[Social media] is about pursuing relationships and fostering communities of consumers. It’s about rethinking how you make plans when your customers are in the center and in control.” Thank you, Paul Adams (senior user experience researcher, Google); we couldn’t have said it better. Businesses must make sure that they’re building relationships with their social friends. So, forget social overload – stay consistent with your overall objectives, implement social guidelines, share relevant information, and save time using the tools available.

Have you ever had those projects – or clients – that seemed to shift or change direction every few days, regardless of how hard you tried to stick to the original roadmap? Projects where the client kept making suggestions or changing their mind, kept adding to the scope (though not to the budget or the schedule), and missed deadlines – and then asked you why their website hadn’t gone live yet? This is a problem for many small web design and development firms.

Everyone has had one of those projects or clients, where despite seeming to have laid out a clear roadmap, constant requests and second-guessing made you veer off course and delay the go-live date. However, as I’ve found out, with proper project management you can give clients what they want when they want, without driving yourself and your team crazy. To keep your projects — and clients — on track, I suggest the following strategies.

1. Find out all you can about the client and the project up front.

Instead of rushing to submit a proposal, take some time to learn about the company – and ask questions. Have they worked with design firms before? If so, ask them what that experience was like – and why they no longer use that design firm. Why do they want to do this project now? Is it in reaction to a competitor’s redesign? Is it because they haven’t updated their site recently? Do they have a new project coming out? Due diligence at this stage may take a little while, and you may not win as many pitches. But the ones you do win will be the ones you want – and will result in work you and the client will be proud of.

2. Educate the client. Clients often don’t understand the time and effort it takes to create a good website. There’s planning involved (e.g., information architecture and the functionality spec). There’s design and content development (including trying to find the true differentiators for the client). Then there’s coding, database development, functionality programming, testing, etc. And while you understand all that, don’t assume that the client does, even though they may act or even say they do. That’s why at the start of the project you need to sit down with the client and set expectations, right up front – to explain what’s involved (in a non-patronizing way) and set a realistic deadline, even though you know it will probably change.

3. Don’t be afraid to say “no.” The client hired you for a reason, because you are a professional and they liked and believed in your work. Remember that, especially when the client starts to second guess their initial decisions or requests changes because they saw it on a competitor’s site. While some changes are for the better, if the client is constantly making changes, especially changes that affect the quality of the project and the schedule, don’t be afraid to (politely but firmly) push back. Similarly, if the client isn’t getting you the information you need, don’t be afraid to call them on it.

4. Keep your eyes on the finish line. While the client may get easily distracted, you need to maintain focus at all times. You created the roadmap and schedule. It’s your responsibility to follow them. If you see something slipping, find out why – and get it under control. If the client asks for changes, let them know what those changes will mean to the schedule (and budget) – and ask the client what the priority is. By setting expectations up front, coming up with a realistic roadmap and schedule, keeping your team and the client focused on the finish line, and not being afraid to say no, you can control client ADD and the project and create a website you’ll both be proud of.

With its ability to target consumers based on their actual shopping preferences, behavioral advertising has become a very popular tool among marketers and retailers. And the behavioral targeting trend shows no signs of slowing down, being applied not only to traditional online marketing campaigns but to mobile marketing as well. That’s because behavioral marketing has proven to be more effective than non-targeted advertising, converting consumers into buyers at more than two times the rate. It’s also more profitable, generating 2.68 times the revenue per ad than non-targeted advertising, according to the Network Advertising Initiative.

How behavioral targeting works

Behavioral targeting uses the cookies from a person’s browser to show that person ads for things they have a proven interest in. So, for example, let’s say you have a client who sells consumer electronics (digital cameras, camcorders, printers, etc.). Using behavioral targeting (and an ad network; see below), you can find consumers who recently performed a search for “digital cameras,” and show them ads for digital cameras just about wherever they go online that features ads.

Similarly, if the person just purchased a digital camera, you can use behavioral targeting to show them online ads for, say, photo printers or photo editing software.

As a marketer, that kind of targeted approach to advertising is incredibly powerful as you can now target campaigns based on consumers’ actual buying and browsing behavior instead of having to guess – and achieve better results (more clicks, higher conversion rates).

As an educated consumer, I realize that online ads are not going away any time soon — and if I’m going to be served ads on all my digital devices (I have too many) why not make them relevant to me? But I also realize this comes with a price. Ads can quickly become irrelevant to me, and marketers may misinterpret my online behavior or invade my privacy.

Privacy advocate groups have the similar concerns. In fact, Google and Mozilla are now introducing Do Not Track features to their browsers (due in part to pressure from the FTC). There is also talk of an opt-out registry, which could be similar to a telemarketers “Do Not Call” list. However, it will probably be a while before advertisers and ad networks adopt such a system.

Targeted mobile marketing

As stated above, one of the hottest areas where behavioral targeting can make a big difference is marketing to a mobile audience.

Mobile devices (namely smart phones) are increasingly becoming a part of the shopping process, as well as a way for brands to really connect with their target audience. More and more, shoppers are using their smart phones for comparison pricing, looking for coupons and discounts, and sharing information about products and services on review and social media sites.

Using mobile behavioral targeting (aka mobile and location marketing) you can now target customers when they check in at locations (using Foursquare, for example) or scan products, pointing them to products or promotions they might not have otherwise been aware of.

Advertising networks and behavioral targeting

To implement your behavioral advertising campaign, you are going to need to partner with an advertising (or ad) network that understands and tracks consumer behavior. Similar to media buyers, ad networks allow you to run targeted ads across hundreds, even thousands, of websites, rather than just on specific sites.

However, all ad networks are not the same. So make sure the ad network you work with understands your target audience (and defines it in the same way you do) and can and will place your ads on sites your target audience is likely to visit.

How behavioral targeting benefits your clients

Not only is behavioral advertising more targeted than traditional advertising, it also tends to be less expensive. So clients don’t need a big budget in order to cast a wide net to catch their target audience. Additionally, the returns are higher, because behaviorally targeted marketing campaigns and ads are reaching the right people at the right moment.

In order to stay relevant, designers, developers, and clients need to start thinking about the Web in a whole new way.

There are three specific catchphrases that are going to help usher in this new era: HTML5, Progressive Enhancement, and Responsive Design. These are the foundations upon which Web design and Web applications will build their future. Bold statement? Sure is. Keep reading—I’m full of them. And on that note, feel free to contradict me; I’m willing to learn.

So Let’s Get Started with HTML 5—or HTML5….Huh?

Most of the time when you hear “HTML 5” it is being used as an umbrella term, which includes HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and a handful of other powerful Web technologies.

HTML5 (the specification) is about making things simpler through standardization, though the attention it has received may make it seem daunting or confusing to some. Fear not. HTML5 has set out to take what we’ve learned over the past decade and implement it in a standard semantic fashion. In other words, the goal is to take commonly used APIs (application programming interfaces) and structural elements and bring them in line across all browsers.

For instance, take form validation—sliders and calendar pickers. It used to be that you would use one of many JavaScript solutions to implement these actions and then hack a bit to make sure users of various browsers would have a consistent experience. HTML5 has taken that out of the markup level and added it to the browser level. This is extremely important for several reasons: It allows mobile devices to initiate the correct keyboard for the specified fields, and it frees developers from the constraints of simple validation issues, allowing them to focus on concerns specific to their sites and content. Ultimately, it benefits the users because we are able to dedicate more time to creating great apps and experiences instead of being bogged down with browser compatibility.

Controversy….No, It’s Not about Flash This Time

Just recently an official of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) said that developers should hold off from developing HTML5, explaining that it was a bit too early to let it loose on the general public because the spec is in various stages of approval. W3C might have missed the memo, but Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt, and other industry heavyweights at RIM, Microsoft, and HP all acknowledge this as the direction the industry is headed. In other words, it’s coming whether W3C is ready or not.

It’s just like the advent of CSS2/CSS3. Developers, Web designers, and browser vendors did not wait for W3C approval; they cherry-picked parts of the spec that were already agreed upon and implemented them. The benefits that HTML5 provides have been well documented, so I’ll offer just a few of the most essential links. (I promise to cover this in depth in a future post.)

Check out these amazing links on HTML5

http://www.apple.com/html5/

http://www.html5rocks.com/

http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/?fbid=9Ive9fIKCfJ#/experience

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/semanticsinhtml5/

Progressive Enhancement and Responsive Design…It’s Time to Get Your Learning On

This is where we have to change our perspective. As designers we can no longer depend on the pretty snapshots we create in Photoshop and Fireworks alone. We need to start thinking about the necessary dynamics that enable a site to be shrunken to the size of a handheld or magnified to fill the real estate of a 60″ TV. (It’s coming sooner than you think.) That means that in the future, a lot of our designing will be implemented in the browser itself. So dust off those books, Web designers, we are going to have to start coding again!

As developers we need to get down to the level of thinking of the user. “Is that jQuery slider necessary for the person with a handheld?” “Does the device support location functionality?” If developers can start building at this level, then users are going to be in for a real treat! And providing the best possible user experience is the whole premise of Responsive Design.

Make Your Site Respond to the Context in Which It Is Being Viewed

Have you ever gone to a site on your mobile device and just said “Forget it!” because it was illegible or downright unresponsive? The old Web wasn’t built for the type of user environment we live in today. Sure, we’ve made do with various scripts and hacks, but why continue down that road when what we want is to make everything work as well as the native apps on our devices? This new generation of design is successful because it gives us such a seamless and rich experience. I can go into an app and it will already know where I am. All I have to do is say “I want sushi” and BAM! Twenty places in the surrounding area are viewable, at my fingertips, with directions! Exciting, I know!

Currently, some of the best examples of this type of design can be found in the new Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, MobileMe, and of course Facebook on almost any platform. This is what HTML5 provides us with: a platform to develop apps and sites free of browser inconsistencies and restrictions.

FREEDOM!

A lot of this is possible due to CSS3 & jQuery. But one extremely popular browser still doesn’t support all these new tricks and doodads. Internet Explorer

I promise it’s okay…that’s precisely where Progressive Enhancement comes in. Like Responsive Design, it’s all about adaptability. The forward-thinking browsers that support these advanced features will have some nice bells and whistles that enhance the users’ experience; those that don’t will still get the content, but the experience will not be so rich. This is okay because with the variety of devices coming to our sites these days, a site doesn’t have to look the same across all browsers (and it shouldn’t). Which brings me to the conclusion of this brief glimpse into the future.

Content and Context

In the future we won’t be able just to request info and slap it in the code editor. We will need to strategize, plan, and design our markups in a whole new way. With HTML5, Microformats, and WAI-ARIA we are now able to make beautifully semantic, accessible websites that have no need for plug-ins and high-speed Internet connections. With Responsive Design we can create experiences based on the users’ contexts, whether they’re on the go or sitting on the couch. Progressive Enhancement will allow sites to provide rich experiences and designs that degrade gracefully in older browsers.

There’s a lot to be said about each one of these subjects, and in future posts I will cover each one in detail as I experiment and navigate my way through the future of Web design.

“So where do we start?” This is a good question to ask before jumping into social media. Many companies have already started without knowing it, and others are so paralyzed by the fear of exposure or lack of control that they never get out of the gates.

To get on the right track you first need to develop a strategic plan to control and participate in the ever-changing social media universe. Don’t start prematurely with fancy campaigns to build a Facebook fan base or begin production on a hit viral YouTube video. Hold on to those ideas for now and start with the basics: research, planning, and listening.

But before we even get to the good stuff,  we have to make sure that management is convinced that social media is the right thing to pursue—and sometimes that is easier said than done. We’ve observed that many C-level executives of large corporations were born before 1980 and quite frankly are not typical users of social media. Of course they feel the buzz, but often they don’t have firsthand knowledge of the medium, nor have they experienced their viral powers. So how do you build the business case for your unconvinced boss or client?

The first concern a CEO might have is about the audience: “I’m not certain our niche audience is using this stuff.” This is why you need to come prepared with the compelling facts:

• More than a third of the U.S. population is on Facebook
• Half the human race is under the age of 30, and they’ve never known life without the Internet
• One-third of women between the ages of 18 and 34 check Facebook before breakfast
• Half of all online time is used in social media accounts
• Communications within social media accounts have surpassed email

The stats go on and on, and the numbers keep growing.

If your CEO is still not convinced that her customers and potential customers are on Facebook, show her Facebook users by geographic region. You can easily find the number of  Facebook users in remote zip codes or tiny cities through Facebook’s targeted ad generator. Comparing your current customer numbers in a small city to Facebook users in that same city will show undeniable opportunity. Maybe you need a compelling quote:

Social media is the same today as it was yesterday. It’s just now reached such a critical mass, it’s too hard to ignore. You don’t want to be “that guy” or “that brand” who refuses to adapt to change and loses touch with reality.

—Julia Roy, Senior Manager, Coach, Inc.

If you’re still getting pushed to the back burner, show them what the other big boys are doing:

• 80% of the Global 100 companies are using at least one social media platform
• At least half are reaching audiences through Facebook (54%) and YouTube (50%); one-third maintain corporate blogs
• Global 100s have four or five Twitter accounts, two or three Facebook fan pages, one or two YouTube channels, and four or five corporate blogs
  
  ^{Source: Burson-Marsteller Evidence-Based Communications}

By this point, let’s hope you’ve quickly proven the need to start a strategy, but it’s possible that your company is still not seeing the potential benefit. You might be asked, “How is this going to improve sales or sell product?” This is the end game for all forms of marketing, but social media is a long-term commitment and not an event that brings in immediate returns. Paul Adams, a senior user experience researcher at Google, put it wisely:

Social media…is a way of thinking…it’s not about sales, or ads, or click-through rates. It’s about pursuing relationships and fostering communities of consumers. It’s about rethinking how you make plans when your customers are in the center and in control.

There are many dangers in not being involved that upper management should be made aware of, such as:

• Your employees are already doing it—yes, they are doing it for you, without guidance or brand continuity
• Discussions about your brand are taking place without you
• Incorrect statements about your company and products are living online without being challenged or corrected

Beyond promoting products and offers, there are many other key benefit areas, such as:

• Brand awareness
• Inbound marketing research (it’s an ongoing focus group)
• Community relations
• Customer support
• Recruiting and employee relations
• Investor relations
• Crisis management

Now that you’ve got the management team convinced that developing a social media strategy is the best place to start, you need to perform research, develop a plan, and do some listening. In my next post I’ll address these next steps and best practices.

If you’re like me, the week after Labor Day feels like the start of a new year. We’re done with vacations, the kids are back in school and a new season is just around the corner. September’s all about new beginnings – it’s a launch pad for fresh ventures and adventures, and Loewy Design is ready with key additions to our ground crew.

In the past few months we’ve grown our lineup to reinforce our talents in technology, design, strategy and account management. Our core team – David, Donald, Marc, Selina and LeAnna – is proud to welcome new faces and assets on board.

On the technology side we’ve added Senior Developer Nitin Menon as our tech lead. Nitin’s expertise and skill sets include application development, e-commerce and content management systems. He specializes in PHP, MySql Databases and Cold Fusion. Nitin brings with him over 8 years of experience from interactive agency Big Buzz.

We’ve tapped Executive Producer Angela Florie to manage our internal and external growth as our client roster continues to expand. Angela hails from TMP Worldwide, an interactive agency specializing in online marketing and communications. Angela provides strategy, marketing and account management and helps us stay on track and on budget.

We’ve strengthened our design team with Senior Designers Casey Bartholomew from Big Buzz and Ryan Barresi from NBTY. Both top web designers with diverse talents, they provide strategy, information architecture, design and front-end development. We’ve also hired new programmer Ellie Roepken, who specializes in PHP, content management systems and front-end development, and designer/front-end developer Jason Friedberg.

We’ve been working hard this summer on many exciting startups, redesigns and online marketing campaigns – and also on building our group and fine-tuning our process. Now, we’re thrilled to kick off fall with the right team for what’s next, fully powered up to do what we do best – offer complete online branding and marketing solutions.

Meet our new teammates.

Your flaky freelance designer has abruptly closed up shop to go backpacking across Europe, leaving you without any assets or files from your business collateral or website.

After partnering with a new, reliable agency, you need to track down your favorite stock photos used in all of your business collateral–but how?

Instead of wasting hours doing aimless searches for your favorite image among dozens of stock photo websites, you can find what you’re looking for in seconds by using a handy little site called TinEye.

TinEye is a robust reverse-image search engine that will locate your long-lost image and point you to the stock photo website from which it was purchased.

While TinEye can locate almost any image you upload or provide a URL for, there are some instances when even the most clever search engine fails.

When it works:

When it doesn’t work:

TinEye is a handy tool that anyone can use. It saves everyone time and money. Be sure to bookmark this post or you’ll be kicking yourself the next time you need to find the original source for a stock photo.

A social media strategy is almost a requirement at this point for any commercial brand. For most, the common combination of a Twitter and Facebook account fed with frequent posts is usually enough. With every tweet your followers are reminded of your existence, and if you are lucky enough, they may even click through to any links you provide. But harnessing the power of social media in a carefully orchestrated campaign utilizing all the major platforms? That’s an entirely different proposition – and quite a feat if it can be pulled off. Despite the challenge, that’s exactly what the creative team behind Old Spice did.

During the week of July 12th, the incredible creatives at Wieden+Kennedy managed to harness the freakishly strong power of social media to create one of the most memorable ad campaigns the Internet has seen yet. Over the course of two days, the team fielded questions from all over the Internet, and responded by writing and filming 87 short YouTube videos.

The right material for the job

If your target market intersects with the user base of your choice of social media platforms, there’s a direct connection to the walls and feeds of millions of potential customers that is just waiting to be made.

In case you are not already familiar with the Old Spice ads staring Isaiah Mustafa, they originally aired during the 2010 Super Bowl and later during the Winter Olympics. The first commercial shot with its mix of quick shots, random imagery and deadpan delivery proved to have the right recipe for viral Internet success resulting in over 16 million views on YouTube. By mid-July the “Old Spice guy” was already something of a household name in the dysfunctional households of various Internet communities. As a result,  when a call was put out on Old Spice’s Twitter and Facebook pages for people to ask the Old Spice guy questions (you could basically ask him anything) word spread pretty fast, resulting in lots of submissions, giving the writers plenty of source material to riff on. Once received, the questions were sorted through and ranked for effectiveness, and a script was quickly written and filmed, resulting in a short and usually very funny YouTube clip.

The plan comes together

People soon realized what was going on – that there was a direct line to the Old Spice guy and that he might say your name and do something really weird in a widely viewed, personalized video. From there things really got rolling. Soon, such celebrities as Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and George Stephanopoulos, bloggers, and other specialty websites (with decent-sized communities, of course, to keep the buzz going) like Perez Hilton, G4TV’s Kevin Pereira (embedded below), gadget blog Gizmodo and the Huffington Post started asking questions. The resulting video responses were linked on traffic driving sites such as Digg and Reddit. And having the Old Spice guy respond directly to a Reddit user and to Digg founder Kevin Rose didn’t hurt either in getting that to happen.

But the great thing was that the videos didn’t have to feature a celebrity to be funny. Seemingly random users provided material that was just as good. And, like anybody who takes a photo with a celebrity or gets an autograph, they want to share it with everybody. Famous or not, when people received personalized videos, they ran back to their community of choice and posted them, further spreading the word.

The payoff

So by targeting high profile Internet figures, individual websites and users known only deep within their respective communities, the Old Spice guy responded to the entire internet. And apparently the whole stunt has paid off. As noted in Adweek “According to Nielsen data provided by Old Spice, overall sales for Old Spice body-wash products are up 11 percent in the last 12 months; up 27 percent in the last six months; up 55 percent in the last three months; and in the last month, with two new TV spots and the online response videos, up a whopping 107 percent.”

Google CFO Patrick Pichette even weighed in on the campaign noting that “It just gives you a glimpse of where the world is going”. Well the world may be going in that direction but how long will it take until people learn to tune it out as they have banner ads and television commercials? Will people allow the occasional weaving of marketing with their entertainment, or will they smell a sales pitch a mile away? Too bad the Old Spice guy isn’t taking any more questions….

Having a blog has become as essential as having a website. Everyone from the housewife down the block to the Fortune 500 company on Fifth Avenue has a blog. According to BlogPulse.com, there were 126 million (and counting…) blogs in 2009. This sudden burst of blogs has been made possible with applications such as Wordpress, Blogger, and Tumblr—which allow novices to whip up their own blogs in minutes.

However, not all blogs are created equal. If you don’t keep up with blogging trends, and think in a smart way about your blog, you may be lumped into the 126 million (and counting…) blogs and go totally unnoticed—and that would be a bummer!

Here are some tips to make your blog more intelligent:

1. Exchange Content for Emails

If your blog is already attracting an audience, why not offer exclusive content to your users in exchange for their email addresses? Sending an email newsletter with content not seen on your public blog, or offering an exclusive download, such as an eBook, will ensure that you give users a reason to hand over their addresses. By building an email list, you can keep track of how often your visitors frequent your site.

Example: I Heart Luxe’s weekly newsletters offers members exclusive content not found on its site.

Example: Travel blog Everything Everywhere gives subscribers a free eBook of blogger/professional travel enthusiast Gary Arnd’s 25 favorite travel photos (in high resolution) when they sign up for email updates.

2. Show Off Your Numbers
Displaying the number of Tweets, Diggs, or Shares your site or post has received will not only show that you have actual readers (hooray!), it will also encourage those readers to share your content and join those numbers.

Example: Smashing magazine displays the current tally of the hundreds of thousands of readers and Twitter followers it has accumulated.

Example: Mashable displays the number of Retweets, Shares, and Diggs for each post. 1,492 Retweets—now that’s just outright bragging!

3. Ask Your Readers for Content
Encourage users to engage in your blog by inviting them to send photos, tips, or thoughts on a particular subject. Most likely your readers are visiting your blog for a reason—and they may know just as much as you (or perhaps even more than you) about the subject of your blog. Inviting readers to submit content creates a sense of community and engages your audience.

Example: Gawker.com makes it inviting and simple to send a tip to its site.

Example: Consumer Reports wanted to predict what its members might want to know about the new iPad before it was reviewed. Readers were asked to post their questions in the comments section of any blog posting.

4. Make It Mobile Friendly
Since blogs have often become a source for instant updates and alerts, it’s important to make your blog mobile friendly. Mobify is a free service that translates your Wordpress blog into a mobile-friendly site supported on up to 500 mobile devices. Another alternative is Google Reader, which generates a mobile view of your RSS feed.

Example: Engadget offers iPhone and other mobile apps for its readers to download.

5. Integrate Facebook
Readers logged into their Facebook accounts will be able to see their friends’ activity on your blog. If there isn’t enough activity, posts with the most recommendations among all of your readers will be displayed. This a great feature for integrating personalized content into your blog—and it’s all in the hands of Facebook. Just fill out a simple form and paste the code on your blog. Set up your site here.

Example: The NHL displays Facebook-recommended posts—you can see what posts your buddies are reading and sharing about your favorite hockey teams and players.

6. Create a Widget You Can Share with Other Blogs
You can share a feed of your blog’s content by creating a grabbable widget for readers to put on their own sites or blogs. You don’t have to be a developer to create a widget—Widgetbox makes one for you as long as you have an RSS feed, or a feed from YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, or one of several other media sites.

Example: Readers or bloggers can post a feed of the latest news from MTV on their own Facebook, Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad, or any of dozens of other personal sites.

7. Get Creative with Ad Space
In some cases advertising is an essential means of maintaining a blog. However, conscious consumers are becoming too savvy to click on an obvious ad, and bloggers are having to give up precious real estate for advertising instead of using it for content. There are more-innovative ways to make money with your blog while conserving space.

Example: Abduzeedo, a graphic design and photoshop tutorial blog, displays an ad wall in its footer—a series of 36 favicon-style GIFs that link to advertisers’ sites. This is a smart and space-saving method to display ads without cluttering your site. (It’s also quite lucrative!)

Example: Just Jared uses an ad network called Pixazza, which matches apparel seen in photos from online retailers such as Macy’s, BlueFly, and Shopbop. With just a click, readers can buy the very same outfit Gwen Stefani is wearing in a paparazzi photo. The ad network’s website doesn’t do a good job of explaining exactly how this works—so I’m just going to assume it’s magic!

8. Make It Fun to Share
Using the Meebo Bar, users can drag and drop stories into their favorite social media sites to share with friends. Instead of monotonously clicking one button, users feel that they are sharing and engaging by dragging and dropping posts.

Example: TMZ uses Meebo to share posts and can view statistics about shares all in one place.