The World's Most Interesting Intern

I am not saying I have anything against our interns here at Stern.. BUT, Cisco Systems social media intern, Greg Justice, is gaining some serious viral buzz and setting a new bar for interns across the country.

"What are some of Greg's qualifications? Well, he's an impressive 6'7" tall, he planned an event with the president of Russia, he raps pretty well for a networking geek and he rocks an ergonomic desk chair. There's a lot more, too, but it's more fun in rap form, so check out the video."

Thoughts and resources:

• Cisco has been "pimping" out their creative intern through every social media avenue possible. We saw them strive for "geek-chic" with indie superstar Ellen Page in recent ads. Greg is the next in line to attempt to make the somewhat dry, dorky brand cool again. I say why not, the kid's got some talent!
• Follow Cisco Systems intern, Greg Justice on Twitter: http://twitter.com/flexitarian23/
• Greg's Cisco blog: http://bit.ly/drX9TG

Browse the web as if your at the 2010 World Cup

Had to have a little fun with this.. Let's go USA!!

• http://bit.ly/c8L6ER

Foursquare Backlash

Location-based social network Foursquare has learned that certain locations illicit harsh responses. The Chinese government has blocked access to the service across the country after users began utilizing Foursquare to "check in" to Tiananmen Square and leave "sensitive comments" on the TS page for others to see, reports China-based Techblog86. Anyone who did manage to sneak in before the ban automatically received the "Swarm" and "Player Please" badges.

The Latest From Apple's Mobile Ad Platform

The much anticipated iAd platform is ready to roll out on July 1 on iPhone 3Gs or better and second or third generation iPod Touch models running on the new iOS 4 platform. Apple has already lined up $60 million in commitments from leading brands including AT&T, Best Buy, Target, Turner Broadcasting, Nissan, Unilever and Disney. With its new multitasking capabilities, iAd apps will allow users to engage with an ad within individual apps while watching videos or playing games and built-in ecommerce functionality will enable direct purchases of merchandise.

Brazilian Scented Banner Ad

SCENTED BANNER NATURA KAIAK from Black Mamba on Vimeo.

The Marmarati Social Media Experiment

View more presentations from We Are Social .

Explaining Search Engine Marketing to Your Great Grandfather

I recently had an interesting conversation with my 94 year old grandfather. He spent more half of the last century in the advertising industry and is ecstatic that I followed in his footsteps. But, in reality, he doesn't even own a computer, let alone understand how advertisers are utilizing the digital space to reach consumers. I attempted to explain, and he pretended to understand. One thing lead to another and we began to discuss how search engine marketing worked. I used storefronts on a New York City block to describe the process. Thought I would share this to mark a week when we brought two other Stern client's SEM efforts in-house.

I explained to my grandpa that search engine marketing takes place in an electronic marketplace and refers to the placement and location of retailers in a new age market. SEM seeks to increase the visibility of the butcher, tailor, pharmacy, etc.

The heaviest oncoming traffic runs in one direction passing a series of stores. The first store on the closest corner, a butcher, is naturally the first to come into view for those passing by and therefore gets not only the most attention, but also the most business. Because of the butcher’s excellent location, it will have the highest monthly rent. The tailor next door, and each subsequent store on the block will have slightly lower monthly rents due to the fact that they receive less exposure, and therefore less business.

Thoughts and Resources:

• Figured I would completely lose him if I attempted to explain how the relevance of the website in relation to the searched term plays into the equation..
• Google's face lift: http://bit.ly/NewGoog
• More information and a history of search: http://bit.ly/SEMwiki

Google Chrome Viral Campaign

With its newest release of Chrome, Google wanted to show us how fast it is rather than just tell us how fast it is. To do that, they made a Rube Goldberg-ian video showing how fast web pages load in Chrome. And yes, its awesome.

This extremely creative viral video has 1.5 million+ YouTube views in less than 7 days:

• http://bit.ly/GoogViral

Thoughts and resources:

• Making the Google Chrome Speed Tests: http://bit.ly/GoogMakingOf
• Convinced? Make the switch like I did at Google.com/Chrome

A Designer/Statistical Scientist's Playground

FlowingData (No relation to Flowing Media Inc) is the visualization and statistics site of Nathan Yau. He highlights how designers, programmers, and statisticians are putting data to good use: http://flowingdata.com/

• Amazing FlowingData visualization of the growth of Walmart in America: http://bit.ly/Walmart1
• Follow Nathan on twitter: http://twitter.com/flowingdata

Strength in Numbers

“You already just sort of know, logically and instinctively, that Google's got a ridiculous number of servers working for them. That doesn't make it any less mind-boggling when visualized. Get ready for a lot of scrolling.”

• http://bit.ly/googsize

Crayola Crayon Count Visualized

Amazing timeline showing the evolution of Crayola's crayons from 1903 - 8 colors to 120 colors today.

• http://bit.ly/bx25u2

How to include FourSquare in your next ad campaign

FourSquare is a location-based social networking website, software for mobile devices, and game. Users "check in" using text messages, or the mobile application.

Typically, If a FourSquare user is in a bar, restaurant, or place of business, the Foursquare application will tell them what they have to do to unlock a free snack, discounted drink or free item. If they happen to be across the street or two blocks away from your venue, Foursquare will let them know that your business gives special treatment to foursquare users and that they should swing by for a visit. As of right now, FourSquare is a cheap and creative way to spread your brand into the social media space. We are in the early stage of this services evolution.. get in on the ground floor and reach those ‘Gladwellian’ mavens/connectors and early adopters that are so valuable to us as marketers. Including a special offer for your business is currently free, but won’t be forever.

Thoughts and resources:

· With other social media sites like Facebook and Yelp implementing FourSquare-style functionality on their already established sites, is there space for FourSquare to survive?

· This service is growing rapidly, but I still wonder if there are enough FourSquare users outside of metropolitan cities to have a successful ad campaign.

· FourSquare for businesses: http://foursquare.com/businesses/

· Article – How FourSquare has the ability to change the way we travel: http://bit.ly/dbR09S

· Follow their head of business development on twitter: http://twitter.com/tristanwalker. You can also reach Tristan via email at Tristan@FourSquare.com to pursue advertising opportunities.