Innovative Ad Campaign

Coca Cola's  "Share a Coke" campaign has been one of the most successful and innovative ads that I can recall. The Share a Coke campaign was started when the company realized that they needed to appeal to a younger market. So, they decided to swap their Coke logo with today's popular names, and boy did it work!

It wasn't long before the Share a Coke campaign went viral and was visible in just about every social media outlet imaginable. There were commercials, standard billboards, digital billboards, kiosks, radio ads and even the media took notice and caught the Share a Coke buzz. There has also been apparel branded after this campaign.

By swapping out their logos and adding a personal touch to their cans and bottles, Coke took not only their existing market segment by storm, but also reached a totally new market segment that they would may not have otherwise been able to reach. 

Initially, it was 150 popular Australian names that were chosen to be placed on Coke cans and bottles. Australian names were chosen because according to a survey conducted by Coke, half of Australia's teen and young adult population had never tasted a Coke. This was their opportunity, as Coke stated to reconnect with Australia. Coke's marketing campaign proved to be brilliantly successful! Shortly thereafter Coca Cola received tons of request to add more names to their cans and bottles. The company turned to social media once more to have people vote on 50 additional names that would later appear on Coke cans, bottles and apparel.

Due to this widely successful campaign, Coca Cola experienced an 870% increase in Facebook traffic alone! According to Coca Cola's stats, there was also a 12,020,000 earned media impressions, 76,000 virtual Coke cans were shared, 378,000 custom Coke cans were printed, 5% more people were drinking Coke and within 3 months the young adult consumption increased by 7% and the list goes on.

I was so enthused by Coke's ad campaign, that I even purchased a custom Coke to share!

Trello Technology

A technology that I decided to share is called Trello; Trello is a project management application that covers multiple facets. It is a tool that can be utilized on a small scale by the average consumer to create a basic grocery list among other things. The amazing part is Trello can also be used in more of a sophisticated manner by enabling colleagues to stay on track when working collaboratively to complete a project. Best of all, Trello is compatible with multiple devices and is considered to be user friendly because of it's easy to understand three-tier information system of Boards, Lists and Cards. 


The Trello board is a list of lists, filled with cards, thats used by you and your team. In terms of the boards, they are very much similar to the ones found on Pinterest, except they are exclusive only to those that you invite. Trello does not only work in real-time, but is also touted as being "real-fast". Because of this feature, if you are a member of a particular board, whenever changes are made or added, you will be notified immediately.  The notifications come via the Trello platform, but also a host of other systems chosen by the user and if multiple devices are chosen, they will all stay in sync.

The number of users that can contribute to one board is unlimited. Assignments can also be delegated via a Trello board. Trello allows it's users to communicate by adding notes, files, checklists, due dates and even emojis! On a side note, I really like the fact that one can give their boards themed backgrounds in various shades and colors. It is wonderful how something this small can break down the monotony of printed words on a plain white background. Trello has a basic level which is free, however like many other applications, users have the ability to upgrade to Trello Gold or Trello Business Class for a nominal monthly fee.

Girl Scout Cookie Finder Twitter App Campaign

Lately, with it being Girl Scouts season, I have been trying to figure out where I can find boxes of cookies to purchase. I went on Google one day and searched "how to find Girl Scout cookies near me" and discovered that there is a mobile app called Girl Scout Cookie Finder that features all of the cookies and gives the time, date, and location of all cookie booth sales in the country. Since Girl Scout cookies only go on sale once a year for a short period of time, this app allows customers to never miss an opportunity to purchase their favorite cookies and also improves sales for Girl Scouts.

This app is available for iOS and Android powered phones and is free to use. Girl Scouts used Twitter to market their Cookie Finder app by posting a tweet about their delicious cookies with a direct link to download the app (example shown below). In their post, they used the Twitter "App Card" which basically gives viewers a visual of what the app looks like and what they can do on it. The "App Card" also allows people to directly access the app right from the tweet itself. The goal of their campaign was to drive app downloads and increase sales since customers were able to locate where to purchase cookies.

According to the information in Google Play (where you download Android phone apps), the Android version of Girl Scout Cookie Finder has been downloaded 100,000-500,00 times. I could not find information regarding amount of downloads for the iOS app, but I'm assuming it is around the same, if not greater, amount of downloads. It was also found that, due to the Twitter campaign, there was 19,500+ downloads of the app directly from the twitter "App Card."

MOBILE iOS APP

MOBILE ANDROID APP 

New Technology - Smart Grid for Smart LED Streetlights

ComEd had developed a smart streetlight program using LED technology for greater energy efficiency and visibility. The wireless smart meter is a two-way communication handled remotely for monitoring and controlling the streetlights. Smart LED streetlights combine high efficiency LED luminaires with wireless communication capabilities, potentially offering significant benefits to both utilities and their customers that elect to use them. 

The pilot was deployed in Maywood back in  2015. ComEd offered a program to all municipalities to install Smart LED streetlights for better understanding of the Smart Grid technology, reduction of there streetlight operating cost, improvement of the lamp outage detection, feature functionality such as: dimming, flashing and billing based on metered usage.

The Smart- Ready LED streetlights are bright white lights that enhance safety and security that have opened the door to more benefits on ComEd's smart grid wireless network. The technology allows notifications to be sent to ComEd for repair of a lamp at the specific location. Now, with having this technology the repair time is shorten and a crew is dispatched immediately with the proper materials for maintenance.

By having the smart grid technology has also give communities the ability to install water metering technology that would assist in monitoring of water usage rates on an on-demand basis, money-saving and environmental benefits.

Innovative AD campaign.

There are dozens of ad campaigns out there that grab my attention, however, most of the time I find that the ads are not clever enough to grab and keep my interest.  I have found that the best ad campaigns come in the form of product placement.  Have you ever been watching your favorite television show or music video and all of a sudden you see a Wheat Thins box or Ciroc vodka, this is product placement at its finest.  A company that is notorious for taking advantage of product placement is Pepsi and Coco-Cola, Pepsi Cola has long since used celebrity endorsements to push their products.  Some of these placements are more noticeable such as when you saw Britney Spears pop out of a Pepsi truck and perform.  Other placements are a little more subtle so you may miss them, which in my personal opinion makes them all the more brilliant. For example in the hit tv show Friends, there is a scene where Ross is having a heated conversation with his sister whilst holding a Coca-Cola can, here are some more examples that you might have missed:

The idea behind product placement according to Priceonomics analysis is that it's easier to sell a viewer on the value of a product if they're emotionally invested in the storyline in which it's presented, rather than a viewer who's watching an ad totally out of context.  I find that this sort of advertisement works a little better on persuading my interest, I'm one of those naturally skeptical people and I instantly shut down my receptors when I hear a sales pitch.  However, if you can find away to grab my interest without me being consciously aware then you've got yourself a sale.

Best use of technology - Nowait Mobile App

Imagine you were watching TV all comfortable at home and you got really hungry, so you decided to go out to dinner. All you kept thinking about on your drive to the restaurant was what you were going to eat so that once you sat down you could order right away. You finally arrive at the restaurant, all excited to finally eat, and you find out that there is an hour wait. You're extremely bummed because, had you known there was a wait, you could have stayed home on the couch for awhile longer and watched TV while you waited, but there was no way for you to know until you got to the restaurant. 

Well, now there is! The new mobile app, "Nowait," provides individuals with the most current wait times of local restaurants and allows them to join the wait list through their mobile phone, in the comfort of their own home (or wherever else they may be)! The Nowait mobile app was founded by Robb Myer and created by a technology company called Nowait Inc.

The Nowait app began as a text message waitlist system and has developed to bring solutions to restaurant management and has saved the valuable time of millions of users. This app is available for iOS and Android mobile phones and recently partnered with Yelp to connect consumers to Nowait's restaurant partners. 

Restaurants who partner with the Nowait app are offered: waitlist and reservation management, seating availability on the Nowait Guest app and Yelp, smart quoting, custom floor map and server sections, private verified guest feedback, and an online analytics suite. Individuals who download and use the Nowait app are able to discover new restaurants and decide where they want to eat from a selection of thousands of restaurants, join the waitlist from their phone, get notified when their table is ready, and rate their experience after dining. This is truly an amazing use of technology and helps both restaurant guests and restaurant management through the use of a mobile phone web application. 

Visit nowait.com for more information

Best Use of Existing Technology - Recently - Brittany Fanale

We all take photos constantly with our phones. They have replaced the traditional camera that we used to carry around to snap photographs. As technology for cameras have evolved, our methods of viewing photos have also changed. Originally photos had to be printed to be enjoyed, there was no scrolling through a digital photo album or sharing photographs instantly via media messaging.

Recently is an app downloaded directly to your phone and, uses the existing technology of the printing press combined this with your digital photograph library within your phone. It takes fifty photos from the past month and creates a high end quality magazine of your photographs. You are able to manipulate which photographs you want included as well as the layout of each page allowing you to highlight experiences and memories month to month in your life.

This app bridges the gap between taking photographs and printing photographs. We all have hundreds of not yet printed photographs we would like to keep and share with others but find it hard to do when you are scrolling endlessly looking for that one photograph. Now you can capture and share the moments monthly in a convenient way. The app also allows you to order duplicate copies to share with others and keeps a history of all your past orders in case a copy is lost and needs to be replaced. This is the best use of the original technology of the printing press pairing it with the digital photo technology on our mobile devices.

Successful Use of Social Media - America's Got Talent

America’s Got Talent: Seeking Input from Viewers

https://twitter.com/nbcagt

Early summer is one of my favorite times of the year when it comes to television entertainment.  Many shows go into reruns.  Therefore, there are many available spots to be filled.  This is the time when the broadcasting networks debut all the premieres their fun summer-time “reality” and competition shows.  One of my favorite examples of this type of show is America’s Got Talent.  It is such a fun show and worth tuning in as it is guaranteed that there will be something on it for anyone and everyone.

America’s Got Talent is a variety show where contestants demonstrate a talent they have (whether the talent be singing, dancing, extreme sports, the sky is the limit).  After weeks of judging and the judges choosing potential talent, the acts begin performing for the public.  It is at that time when the show becomes interactive using social media.  People use Twitter to cast their vote as to which act should move onto the next round.  There are several occasions when the voting on Twitter is being performed live on the show.  It is so exciting to be able to see the results being calculated in real time.  The show’s judges also use Twitter to “live Tweet” during the show.  This gives the people watching on TV at home the opportunity to get involved with the show and even interact with the judges.

I find America’s Got Talent to be a very successful example of how social media can be used in marketing.  The excitement of this show depends on how well they can engage the audience.  It is appealing to think that anyone can be involved with the production of a show being made on the other side of the country in real time without even being there.

Application of New Technology - OpenTable

OpenTable: Marketing to Millenials

https://www.opentable.com

How many times have you been out with friends on a Saturday evening and your tummy is rumbling? There are restaurants all over, but it’s primetime for hitting them up. You know what that means…. A 45-minute wait to get a table, but we all have that one friend… That friend who refuses to wait for a table. As hungry as you all are, you just leave in hopes of finding a spot with less of a wait or no wait at all!  Sounds like it’s going to be McDonald’s again tonight… Not if OpenTable can help you!

Description.  OpenTable is a service that allows users to enhance their dining experience by helping them locate new restaurant choices in the area.  It also increases the convenience of going out to eat by allowing the user to make reservations and cancel them if necessary.  OpenTable also has a rewards system that reservation-makers to earn points towards discounting their next visit to the restaurant.  The application also provides reservation-makers with the opportunity to view the menu of the restaurant they are going to.  All these features add up for a pleasant, and smooth-running outing.  OpenTable is available for online use and both iPhone and Android playforms.

Marketing Potential.  This app and organization does an excellent job of marketing.  As Kerpen mentions in chapter two of his text, it is important for a company to understand the needs of their target audience.  OpenTable’s target audience is probably 20 to 35-year-old population as this is the millennial generation and this group is notoriously known for their technology use, impatience, and the careful watching out for “freebies.” This application and service works towards directly catering to these consumers (Kerpen, 34).

References

Kerpen, D. (2015) Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create and irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and more (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: McGraw Hill.  

Intro to New Technology - Todoist - Brittany Fanale

Todoist is an incredible app that allows you to easily create, modify, and sync a to do list viturally through multiple devices. The problem I have like many others is you physically write down a to do list and have to carry it with you 24/7 or you loose it. It does not allow for easy updating unless you scribble on it. Breaking free from paper lists will allow you to have your to do list with you on your mobile device and any computer you sync to. 

You can access tasks everywhere with apps and extensions or 10+ platforms, your tasks are always there: on mobile devices, web browsers, inboxes, and more.

Collaborate on unlimited shared tasks with anyone – colleagues, family, friends – and collaborate in real-time on shared projects and goals.

Your tasks are a big part of your life. Stay motivated and organized with Todoist’s intuitive and beautiful to do list.

Best Use of Existing Technology - ComEd

When you mention the utility name of ComEd people would immediately say "I hate them!", "customer service is horrible", "there slow in restoring our lights." and I can continue with more complaints I've heard from people.  After many years of backlash due to the poor infrastructure ComEd made changes and listened to there customers.

In 2012, ComEd launched an interactive online outage map and a new mobile app for smart phones. The map allow customers to see the area effected by an outrages as well an estimate of restoration times. In turn, the app allows you to manage your account and report outages. ComEd also utilize Facebook to inform the customers of weather conditions, company events and safety tips.

There are programs such as ComEd Energy Efficiency that provides you with ways to save money which includes, assessments of your home, in- store discounts on Energy Star products, appliance rebates, and recycling of your old fridge or freezer. 

We receive the quarter newsletter, and there are many accolades from customers that have thanked ComEd  by posting how appreciative they've been to witness all the enhancements the company has made. The major improvement was customer service and the change was so impactful because we listened.

Best Use of Existing Technology - Erin Cline

The existing technology of streaming services is something we see all over our culture in 2017. You can stream movies, television, concerts, and live events using all kinds of streaming technologies. There are specialty streaming services that focus on increasingly large numbers of what would have been considered niche audiences in years past. Do you like Criterion Collection movies? Did you know there's a streaming site for that? (FilmStruck) Do you like video games? Did you know that there is a streaming service for that? (Twitch)

The specific streaming service I would like to bring to attention, I feel, exemplifies this idea of niche audience streaming to a tee - FloSlam. FloSlam is a prowrestling streaming service that pools streams and iPPVs (internet exclusive pay-per-views) into one place and makes it all accessible for a monthly price of $20, or a one time payment for one year of $150. Why does this exist? Are there really that many people watching prowrestling? In a word, yes. The dominant prowrestling company, WWE, developed a streaming service (The WWENetwork) which has climbed to well over 1 million subscribers, and other, smaller wrestling companies have realized that the best way to get people to watch your product is to put it on the internet. People can't know about your company if they never hear about it, and people don't talk unless they can see your product. FloSlam takes many of these smaller companies and pools them into one place, making their products maximally accessible to far larger audiences.

By utilizing this kind of streaming service, independent wrestling companies are dramatically increasing their viewership. This increases ticket sales and leads to being able to book bigger names, which also increases ticket sales. Instead of putting their backs up and trying to pretend that other companies do not exist (as was the case for decades in prowrestling), the companies that are participating in this streaming service are finding that it's easier to challenge the giant of WWE if you bring eyes that are already looking for alternative prowrestling entertainment into a common place. If you like ProWrestlingGorilla, maybe you'll like House of Hardcore. Or, perhaps, if you're there to watch AAW you'll find yourself clicking into Shimmer or Shine - bringing in new audiences and building larger followings for companies that have been looked over or seen as inaccessible in the past.

Intro to New Technology - Erin Cline

One of the most exciting forms of new technology is the rapid growth we are seeing in the self driving/automated car field. Self driving cars is an idea that has existed in our science-fiction visions of the future for decades, and there have been enormous leaps and bounds made in developing and rolling out this technology. While the technology is not yet perfect, the testing being done on these automated automobiles has proven that the days of driver driven cars is limited.

By introducing driver-less automated cars into our society we are going to see a radical change in the way that businesses are run. One of the largest employment providers in the United States are those employing long distance truck drivers. These people literally keep our economy running. There are hundreds of thousands of delivers made to businesses for every kind of conceivable reason - food, clothing, furniture, cars, all of these things require long distance trucking in order to keep the (metaphorical) wheels of these businesses moving. With the introduction of automated cars this will rapidly wipe out hundreds of thousands of jobs currently filled with humans; why pay someone who has to rest and eat and sleep when you can just set a course for the destination and run your trucks 24 hours a day?

Another field which will be heavily impacted by the introduction of self-driving cars will be the private transportation industry. We have already seen how companies like Uber are aggressively moving to replace their human drivers with self-driving cars, working every day to improve their technology to eventually phase out the human element. This will start to bleed into taxi cab companies as well. It would be unsurprising if in the next decade we look around and see that most of the cars on our roads will be driving unassisted, piloted by computers.

Innovative technique: Alexis Casares

Web 2.0 technologies, such as Facebook and Twitter, have made it faster and easier for businesses and organizations to reach their target audience thus reaching their marketing goal faster than ever before. It is amazing how one post to social media can start a movement. These movements, in most cases, can even begin with consumers. Consumers with a passion for a charity, business, and/or product can quickly spread their ideas through their network of followers. This was the case when the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge made a huge impact in the amount our donations to the ALS Association.

The Ice Bucket Challenge originated as a way to motivate people into donating to different organizations. It began to spread rapidly among Facebook friends, but it was not until it reached Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with ALS, that it became such a grand movement for the ALS Association. Pete Frates had a massive network of supporters that helped spread the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge into such a successful movement.

In this case, the organization did not start the movement, but it incorporated the movement into its marketing to spread the word further. This in innovative marketing. The marketing department of the ALS association had nothing to do with the original idea behind the Ice Bucket Challenge, but they quickly saw it was becoming a success and started to ride the wave.

Imagine what types of marketing movements can be created if a business or organization just seeds the right people into creating positive social media posts. Or even better, if a business is in tune with what consumers are saying about their products and incorporate it into their marketing campaign. This type of consumer created marketing can be more powerful than any marketing a business can create because it comes from the end users. When a consumer is considering purchasing a product they look at product reviews to see if the product is a right fit for them. If consumers see social media posts created by other consumers these messages instantly hold more credibility than anything a business can say. 

Best Use of Existing Technology - Amazon

For quite some time, we’ve had the luxury of being able to buy or rent movies, books & music from a number of different websites.  This has made things incredibly convenient for us but with so many options to choose from it can be daunting at times.  There is also the issue of many of these things being segmented between different sites and services.  One of biggest companies to offer a great solution for this problem was Amazon.

Amazon was well known for being a great place to order almost anything you needed online and have it delivered directly to your home.  They also made a great name for themselves by offers free two day shipping through their site.  Amazon was able to up the ante with the services they offer and become the best deal in tech.

Amazon started to offer much more bang for the buck with their Amazon prime service.  They offered free 2 day shipping for products shipped through them but they also offered many more services.  Customers that sign up for Prime have access to free music, movies and books.  The subscription services if a fantastic value for customer and combines the ability of customer still being able to order products online and have access to the huge library of online content. 

Best Use of Existing Technology - L'Oreal

Everyone is familiar with L’Oreal Paris’ long-running slogan: “Because You’re Worth It”. Recently, L’Oreal launched a new campaign that ties closely with the slogan and coined it #WorthSaying, a hashtag that is meant to inspire women to talk about things that are important to them. This hashtag is found not only on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram but also in TV commercials, digital video and banner ads, and magazines. The quick commercial showcases beautiful, strong women as part of a campaign that aims to empower women.

The brand sponsored the 2016 Golden Globes and the campaign aimed to highlight the shift in beauty and conversations that occur on the red-carpet. Through this campaign, L’Oreal wants to remind women of their intrinsic worth. According to the brand’s research, most women agree that motivating language provides them with a stronger sense of confidence and self-worth. Celebrity spokeswomen-Julianne Moore, Freida Pinto, Eva Longoria and Jennifer Lopez are even promoting the campaign through their social media sites. Jennifer Lopez even posted a quote saying “Every girl deserves to have her voice heard” on Instagram with the hashtag. Involving celebrity spokespeople, especially young, spunky women is often an effective way of reaching out to the targeted audience.

In regards to this campaign, I think it successfully gets women thinking about what is important to them. It is not just about being beautiful on the outside but moreso about the beautiful things going on in a woman’s brain. L’Oreal does a great job in reminding women of their worth and that their thoughts and ideas matter in this world. If I already used L’Oreal makeup, I would definitely continue using it thanks to the campaign. However, I would not consider switching over to the brand because I don’t think the campaign goes quite far enough. To make the campaign stronger, the brand can create a TV commercial longer than 16 seconds and highlight what it means to be a woman in 2017, perhaps with career-oriented business women, mothers, teachers, etc. in banners, ads, Instagram posts, Twitter posts, etc. As a woman, I would like to see other women to whom I can relate, not just celebrities who walk down the red carpet. I also have not seen the hashtag being used frequently in social media or TV commercials and therefore, more emphasis is needed to really push the campaign forward. Therefore, L’Oreal takes an already existing technology- the hashtag-and has revolutionized its purpose to empower women across the world.

Intro to New Technology - Sean Young - Unroll.me

While in the elevator at work this morning, I saw a blurb about a new application called Unroll.me I have so much email with offers from Groupon, Best Buy, Target, the bank Mary Kay, Art Van Furniture and many more. Sometimes it really gets on my nerves because I'm deleting things, and sometimes I delete some of my good mail because it's mixed in with junk. I thought to myself how I'd love to have something that could help control my email clutter. So I thought it was very interesting and I wanted to take a look at Unroll.me. This free simple tool which you can download from the Google play or Apple App store. It accesses your inbox and syncs the messages to their servers and archive them away from your inbox. It keeps the content but consolidates the emails and sends you a message that has your newsletters and subscription emails into one. Unroll.me has thumbnail renderings of the email messages, so that you can see them at a quick glance. It can cut down on all the mundane emails sitting in your inbox. It supports Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud and many more. The fun part is you can also unsubscribe from any of the sites that send you all that unwanted emails. Now for full disclosure about this app, I must say in my research, there are some things that can be improved with this otherwise great tool. When the emails are consolidated, the new emails that come into the inbox don't get noticed right away. When using the unsubscribe features, it is not known what happens when the user clicks unsubscribe from a site. When I read the FAQ it didn't really explain that part. But even after all that, I think that Unroll.me is something to at least look into, you might be surprised. I know I'm going to try it and with any luck, I can have a clean inbox.

New Technology-Making Obtaining Information Seamless

 I have met the future and her name is Alexa.  Most of us are familiar with Amazon for their amazing 2-day shipping, and Amazon Prime.  Well, now get ready to welcome Alexa into your lives; Alexa is a hands-free, voice-activated small device with a built – in speaker.

Alexa can do all the things, provide information, play music,  news, sports scores, weather and more – instantly. Alexa can hear your voice commands from any direction, the other side of the room, even in noisy environments. Alexa can hear from just about anywhere in your home or office.  Alexa has not one, but seven microphones that utilize far-field voice recognition software with enhanced noise cancellation software.

My all time favorite feature Alexa performs is her ability to call me a Lyft or Uber.  Additionally, you can order food, ask quick trivia questions and more Alexa has about 8,000 plus commands she responds to.  Alexa has quickly become my new best friend for playing competitive scrabble, she knows all of the double and triple score words.  After the success of Amazon's first model and the advent of Google Home, Amazon is back with a vengeance; so get ready to wake up and say hello Alexa!

By:
Sean Terrell

Technology already in Use - Sean Young

Live Video Streaming is a technology that is a fun and engaging way to get people talking. Everybody whose anybody can host a live show using Facebook Live if you have a Facebook account. It is a fascinating new feature that the innovative folks over at Facebook came up with that is all the rage. People are using this tool to share with the world those important and sometimes less important moments and events in their lives. Businesses, musicians and movie goers journalists to teens, everyone is using Facebook live. When this new option popped up, I was excited about it because I needed a way to be able to share our church worship services. I loved the fact that we can live stream an event from where ever we are. What I really like about using Facebook Live is that we have a lot of older members at the church and if they are home convalescing, they don't miss any of the worship. Unlike Snap Chat, Live stream videos doesn't disappear. This benefits us greatly because most of the congregation will go back to our Facebook page to view the video again. Most will post a comment and that is a great way to engage others in conversation. If we are at a visiting church where our pastor is preaching, we still can stream it live and I think that's fantastic. We've had people visit our church after someone recommended that they like our page. They watched the videos and read the comments, then decided to visit us in person. This makes Facebook Live an evangelism tool as well. The best part is it doesn't cost a thing, but can yield many benefits. If you have not tried Facebook Live, when it's time for your next important event or announcement, try it out and see for yourself.

Best Use Of New Technology-Indoor Mapping

Google has become the leader in mapping the globe.  From just about anywhere, you can find real time directions to the nearest Italian restaurant, hotel etc.  This technology allows people to explore with confidence. But what about an indoor space?

I work on a very large, medical campus.  There are numerous buildings linked through a network of bridges, tunnels and breezeways.  There is no map for the inside of  the building.  Even long time employees get turned around.  Patients and new staff are always getting lost.  A few companies are looking to change that.  Mapspeople is a company that works with Google maps to develop digital indoor wayfinding for airports, universities, hospitals , convention centers, etc.

Imagine that you are going to McCormick Place for the Auto show.  There are multiple floors, multiple entry ways.  Finding your way from point A to point B can be difficult.  You may be huddled up with numerous other people at the large floorplan posted at the entrance to the auto show.  Or you may get a printed map.  But it doesnt tell you where you are at that moment in relation to where you want to go.  By simply downloading an app to your smartphone, you can have a full layout of the convention center.  Location of  the nearest rest room, the food court etc.  With the application of these programs, you will be able to find your way to that new concept car your kids wanted to see, just in time for the spokes person to do their presentation  and you get to see all the features.  All of this in real time, with feedback in case you get lost.

Best Use of Existing Technology — Deborah Hyatt

One of the best marketing approaches utilizing current web technology is GoPro’s use of consumer-generated content to help sell its “adventure cams” and related products (drones, stabilizers, mounts, accessories, etc.). Cannon, Panasonic, Sony, and other video camera manufacturers don’t come close to do what GoPro has done via the huge and ever-changing WATCH section on its website at https://gopro.com/channel/.

There, every visitor can immediately access hundreds of consumer-submitted videos compiled into content-driven playlists. Current categories include “Skate,” “Bike,” “Wild Animals,” “Aquatic Adventures,” “Short Films,” “Flight,” “GoPro for a Cause,” “Furry Friends,” and many more. The result is an enormous, entertaining, and often informative offering of videos that make the quality, usefulness, and durability of GoPro’s products completely clear to site visitors, without ever feeling like a series of product testimonials or reviews.

The playlists compile videos that GoPro has selected to spotlight from among the flood of content created by GoPro users. The company does not pay for submitted videos, but does invite customers to submit photos, raw video footage, or edited videos for judging and cash awards, or to enter Content Challenges in categories that currently include “Action,” “Adventure,” “Motorsports,” “Music,” “Sports,” “Animals,” “Family,” “Travel,” and “Science and How-To.” Additionally, because GoPro’s customers know that the company also looks for videos featuring its products on youtube.com and other sites, many users advertise the camera brand in their video titles, description, subtitles, etc., or produce and post compilations of their favorite GoPro videos. These activities help spread the word about GoPro, drive potential buyers to the GoPro website, and reinforce the value and appeal of the brand.

It’s tempting to think of all this as “free” advertising for GoPro, but that, of course, is not true. The company has to pay for labor, equipment, software, bandwidth, cash awards, etc. But the astounding reach and potential impact of its use of consumer-created content far outweighs the costs involved — and, what is more, achieves a perfect marriage of branding message and medium.

Intro to New Technology — Deborah Hyatt

Traditionally, computers were programmed to respond to a given set of inputs: If the user selects A, do this; if the user selects B, do that. But many human activities — from playing a piano or drawing a picture to responding to spoken requests and providing excellent customer service — are far too complex to be programmed in that manner. Another challenge is that many types of data, such as ticket prices, product availability, etc., are constantly in flux, thus requiring more speed and flexibility to satisfy the consumer or computer user.

The answer is Artificial Intelligence. Once envisioned with the goal of creating a machine that could learn and think like a person, AI has evolved over time. The original objective, often referred to as “general AI,” is still largely hypothetical — but “narrow AI,” which is focused on performance of narrow, specific functions. is already in use by companies around the globe.

Examples of narrow AI that we have all experienced online or with mobile devices (whether we knew it or not) include:

• Ads that appear across a multitude of sites following a visit to the advertiser’s website, or which are based on the user’s search history.
• AI-based ad blocking applications, designed to prevent unwanted ad pop-up/popover/floating ads.  
• “Best fare” searches conducted by travel-related sites including Expedia and its host of brands (Trivago.com, Hotels.com, and others).  
• Digital assistants like Siri or Cortana that utilize speech recognition and natural language to respond to requests, conduct Web searches, etc.
• Banking bots in use at Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland, and other financial institutions to answer customer inquiries and perform simple banking operations.
• Concierge bots used by event/concert ticket sellers, flower delivery services, hotels, and more.

Companies are also investing in narrow AI for mission-critical purposes that may be invisible to consumers but can impact the customer experience in a significant manner. These include enhanced firewall/data protections, faster warehouse operations, and improved employee training and empowerment.

It’s important to note that narrow AI is not just for profit-oriented organizations. The public/nonprofit sector is also making increased use of AI. Services that already exist, or soon may, include traffic control, autonomous vehicles, mobile monitoring of hospital patients, monitoring of utility infrastructures, and more.

Intro to new Technology - John Trotz

As stated before, Trello is a web application that can be accesses through you PC or your phone/tablet. It used to show progress on a certain project. It has a similar set up to something like Slack where a group is created and only the people with access can add or see tasks. Once the group is created, you can different boards to separate teams or groups to work on specific things. Then, inside each board you create cards such as "Done, Doing, To Do & BackBurner". Once you have these cards set up, you can then add tasks to the cards. Those cards will then show the task and where the people are on them. 

For example, lets say you are designing a video game. You will need programmer to write code, artists to draw and sound people to create sounds. You can have a board for each of these groups of people. Then inside, lets say, the programming board, you can list a series of task that the programmers need to do such as "code enemy AI" or "code health system" or "code menus". All task would probably start under the "To Do" card. Once there some can grab or be assigned the task which would then move to Doing. Once there, you can place comments on that task like an instant message. You can also recreate a check list of sub task that you may need to do as part of that overall task. Once completed, the task can be moved to the Done card.

This sort of application really gives a good representation of what tasks are needed to complete the project as well as you get to see your progress as tasks are moved from one card to another. It may sound simple but it is being used quite a bit with many different types of groups and I'm sure it can be applied in almost any type of business situation.

Intro to New Technology- Krishna Patel

A new technology that allows businesses and customers to better communicate is called Slack. Slack is a website and desktop app that enables a business to communicate in open channels regarding a project, topic, file, etc. Channels can be open to everyone within the business or private between two or more people.

While this technology can be maximized for internal use, especially between various departments within a business, it may also be used to bridge communication between businesses. During on-boarding, Slack asks you to create a “Team”. A founder of a mobile application (customer) needing to communicate with app developers would be an example of a potential team on Slack. Through Slack, the developers can send files, bits of code, updates, etc. to the customer. Constant communication is essential between the team members as the customer may have a deadline to launch the app or product. The customer is also paying the developers and therefore will want to make sure the end-product meets his/her standards. The developers would add changes and updates to the application to better suit the needs of the customer and the customer would respond positively or negatively. They could then engage in a discussion and sort out any issues via chatting. Due to the nature of work, communication becomes key between the business and customer.

Slack functions similarly to GroupMe, which is used for personal use between friends, teammates, or group members. One simply creates a group chat and begins chatting away. However, Slack operates in a business-to-business space that can be used internally or externally. Slack works well in this space because it allows for fast-paced conversation in real-time while integrating Google, Dropbox, etc. to ease the file-sharing process. This ease of communication ultimately helps streamline business processes while establishing successful business relationships.

Intro to new technology: Alexis Casares

So far in our leaning in this course we have discussed Web 2.0 technologies created for the consumer. Companies then use those web technologies to market to a target audience in the hopes of growing incremental revenue. I am going to be discussing a web application developed for businesses to accelerate market share growth and, in turn, provide better customer service. The technology is called Salesforce.com. It is a technology that allows team members, in large companies, with multiple channel offerings to stay connected to each other.

What are companies with multiple channel offerings? These are companies which have local branches, phone customer service, and an eCommerce solution. How did companies with multiple channels do business before? Before companies had solutions like Salesforce.com team members would be uninformed to daily activities of their customers. For example, if a customer called in for product support and then called back five minutes later there would be no record of the technical call resulting in the new customer service agent having to start all over again. This was not only a waste of time, but it was also an annoyance to the customer. What companies have done is to listen to their customers and implement a solution to alleviate many of the annoying experiences customers go through. The implementation of this solution results in faster growing sales.  

Salesforce.com works to unify the workplace to a common mission of providing the best customer service, and to allow team members to have the information necessary to capture more business. Salesforce.com works by recording every time a team member contacts a customer in every channel. This interaction is recorded to find useful information on a later interaction and/or to capture information that could result in incremental sales.

Salesforce.com also has a chatter function that is almost exactly like twitter. This chatter function allows team members around the world to communicate relevant business information as well as the ability to any team member to forward a potential sales leads to the customer’s account manager. With the account manager being more informed of the customer’s needs, they can offer a more relevant solution and close the sale. 

The Assingment

Examples of Web 2.0 technology being used for social and business application are all around us. New technologies are appearing all the time.Everyone in this course is responsible for writing 2 new blog posts, with each being about 3-4 paragraphs long. Your posts will need to be on the following two topics, respectively (one of each).

• Introduce the class to a new technology as well as its potential business application  
• Summarize and reflect upon an innovative technique using an already established Web 2.0 technology (like the Wheat Thins campaign.)

Be sure to read your classmates blog posts and comment as well!