thin, flexible solar technology

There's no doubt solar energy is a compelling alternative to fossil fuels, but implementing it has traditionally meant installing the standard, costly and ungainly solar panel. SRS Energy's dual purpose roof tiles offer one way to get around that requirement; now another comes in the form of thin, flexible solar sheets that can be integrated with architectural building materials.

Iowa-based PowerFilm makes low-cost foldable and rollable solar panels in which the solar technology is monolithically integrated in a polyimide substrate that's flexible and durable, yet as thin as 0.025mm. With an absorber layer made of amorphous silicon, PowerFilm solar panels use as little as 1 percent of the amount of silicon used in traditional solar panels; they're also cadmium-free. Since 2005 the company has been using its technology to manufacture solar field shelter tarps for military applications, and now it's developed the ability to combine it with standard building materials as well. Standing seam metal roofing, single-ply elastomeric membrane roofing and architectural fabric can all be combined with PowerFilm's flexible paneling for a variety of low-cost, building-integrated solar applications. In such uses, the electricity generated by the solar panels is stored in local batteries and converted to 110 AC for general wall outlet use or—in some cases—used directly for low-voltage lighting systems. The buildings can be either off-grid or grid-connected. PowerFilm recently completed a 10-kilowatt demonstration and evaluation project on metal roofing, and is now in the final stages of developing the technology.

PowerFilm also makes a variety of portable solar chargers—one of which won second place in the Mobile CE Fashion & Lifestyle Products competition at CTIA Wireless 2009—and it manufactures for OEM and custom orders as well. The lightweight and durable nature of its thin paneling, meanwhile, seems eminently suitable for use in the developing world. One to get in on early for the application of your choice...?

Website: www.powerfilmsolar.com

Godiva Chocolates - brand loyalty program run by the IT guy! go techies

When Godiva Chocolatier created its customer-rewards program this year, the initiative wasn't run by the marketing chief or advertising chief but instead fell to the chief information officer. Godiva CIO Mike Giresi says he drew on his history with sales and information technology to design a program tailored to Godiva and its customers. The program centers on creating better understanding of customers' preferences via an online community that Godiva initiated in 2008.
from Information Week

Social Shopping and the Brand Experience

Denise Zimmerman, president and chief strategy officer of NetPlus Marketing Inc., has spent the past 18 years of her career focusing on the emerging digital landscape and best practice applications in marketing, advertising and communications. She talks to eMarketer about the different forms social commerce takes and how retailers can understand it.

eMarketer: Why do people like to follow a brand on its Facebook fan page?

Denise Zimmerman: That answer depends on the retailer you’re talking about and how they use the platform. This is an interesting challenge for retailers, too. Because of the kind of communications and messaging you’re talking about, social media demands a very intense, thoughtful plan and approach in terms of what we call brand.

And not all of them have been good at this. I think Best Buy kind of breaks the mold. Zappos certainly does. Target does. Some of your larger retailers understand and cultivate their brand, and they can tell you what their brand is. But there are a whole host of them whose marketing, for the most part, historically has reflected commodity-type marketing—price promotion and very DM-focused—which is why they initially really latched onto affiliate marketing, search marketing, pay-for-performance type stuff. But when you’re out there in terms of communicating on these sorts of platforms, you really have to consider what is your brand. Your brand could be about price.

eMarketer: How much social commerce actually takes place on Facebook?

“If you successfully connect and make shopping valuable to the community in a way that’s easy and accessible and meets their needs, it’s a no-brainer.”

Ms. Zimmerman: I know that just when I’m out there and I regularly check what’s going on, I connect to a lot of these folks myself. I think it’s a natural evolution. Maybe I’m biased, but I don’t think so. If you successfully connect and make shopping valuable to the community in a way that’s easy and accessible and meets their needs, it’s a no-brainer.

eMarketer: Retail Websites are offering more and more social shopping features such as Facebook Connect. Do such features pose a competitive threat to social shopping sites or do they complement each other?

Ms. Zimmerman: I think they sort of complement each other. When we develop what we call a socially enabled Website, we don’t even like to call it a Website. We call it a social hub, which is really an evolution of the Website experience. So it should be really an experiential extension of the brand or of the retailer. When somebody goes to your Website, what they experience there should be reflective of the brand and however that expresses itself in terms of functionality, design, features and all that sort of thing.

“The social aspect is really an evolution of the brand experience.”

I think the social aspect is really an evolution of the brand experience. The big question from a very, very tactical perspective is the level of investment in terms of the technology, in terms of how you want to really enable your site: What’s going to really enhance that experience and furthermore what’s going to ultimately drive the sale?

The priority of a retailer is to focus on enhancing that shopping experience in how it actually influences the purchase. And there might be some community aspects to that. This comes down to really understanding your customers, understanding their shopping behavior, understanding what they want, understanding how they’re currently interacting with your site, understanding where your sales are coming from.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007322

small business ecommerce

Here's a great explanation of what you need to do if you're a small business wanting to sell stuff online.

(from http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2009-09-21-putting-your-business-on-the-web_N.htm )

Step 1: Notice what works: Whether it is eBay, Amazon, or your own favorite, e-commerce sites that succeed tend to do the same things right:

• They are attractive, intuitive, engaging, and easy to navigate
• They offer plenty of inventory
• They are easy to shop and check-out
• There are discounts and specials (coupons, free shipping, etc.)
• They offer great customer service

Step 2. Consider the competition. Who else sells what you want to sell? Take a look at the players both big and small. Buy some merchandise from them and ask yourself – what do they do right, and wrong, and how can it be it be improved?

Step 3. Pick your products: If you are in business and have products that you already sell, then adding them to your online store is easy: Take pictures of them, add them to your online catalogue (see below) and write some great copy.

If you don't know what you want to sell, then consider your options. There are tons of wholesalers and distributors from which to choose. If you don't know of any, I would suggest you surf over to my site –MrAllBiz.com– and check out the wholesale product search engine we offer. You can find wholesalers for just about any product you are looking for.

Note: The culture of the Web is one of discounts, keep that in mind, and remember that selling expensive items online is more difficult.

Step 4. Create a great site: You have about five seconds once someone finds your site to impress them enough that they will decide to poke around a bit and maybe buy something. That means your site must be graphically pleasing to the eye, unique, and useful.

Step 5. Consider drop shipping: What if you just want to get your feet wet and don't want to spend a lot of money discovering whether this online universe is for you? Then check out drop shipping. Drop shipping is an arrangement between you and a wholesaler whereby you offer their products on your site but you don't actually physically stock any inventory. If someone clicks and buys, notice is sent to you and the wholesaler, the wholesalers ships the product using your labels and logos, and you split the profit.

If you think this is a great way to get started, you are right. There are no products to buy and stock, no huge up-front costs, no labor expenses, etc. You can find drop shippers for most any product by doing an online search, or again, by typing "drop shipping" into the product search engine at my site.

Step 6. Build your store: There are two parts to your online store – the front end and the back end. The front end is what the world sees – your products for sale, specials, policies, and so on. The back end is what you see – inventory control, reports of what sells, etc.

You will need to find an online partner / Web host to help you build your store. Their software will create both the front end and the back end. It will allow you to create thumbnails of your products as part of your overall online catalogue.

What you want is a partner that offers

• Pre-designed, customizable templates
• Inventory support
• Easy acceptance of credit cards
• Search engine optimization
• Easy adding and subtracting of products
• Up-selling tools, coupons, gift certificates, etc.
• Real time stats and reports
• Secure transactions, and
• Plenty of support

Step 7. Handle sales: To be able to accept online sales, you will need a merchant account (an account with a credit card issuer) and / or the ability to accept PayPal payments. You will also need to be able to handle inquiries, returns, exchanges, and refunds. Don't underestimate shipping and related costs either.

Plenty of other small businesses have made the leap to online success, and if they did it, so can you.

Solar Panels shaped like clay roof tiles

I love this!

Converting to solar energy means covering a roof in unsightly solar panels. Not necessarily: Philadelphia company SRS Energy has developed the Solé Power Tile, a roof tile designed to sustainably convert sunlight into electricity without compromising aesthetics. The dark blue tiles, manufactured by SRS Energy, are jointly branded and distributed by US Tile and specifically designed to be compatible with the clay roof tiles manufactured by US Tile. Customers who purchase clay tiles will be given the option to upgrade a section of their roof to Solé Power Tiles. When installed, the system can offset a large proportion of a homeowner's energy costs—not to mention cleaning their carbon conscience. The tiles are available in select West Coast markets this autumn, with a nationwide rollout planned for spring 2010.

SRS Energy says that the Solé tiles, made from a high-performance polymer often used in car bumpers, are lightweight, unbreakable and recyclable. Flexible solar technology by United Solar Ovonic is embedded inside each tile, allowing them to function independently of each other. Meanwhile, the performance of the system as a whole is monitored remotely by SRS Energy and US Tile. The director of engineering at SRS Energy is J.D. Albert, who also developed the electronic ink technology used in Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.

What's so attractive about the Solé Power Tile system he and his team have produced is that it makes it easy for consumers to make a green choice, without having to settle for a product they find unappealing. With more tile styles and colours in the pipeline, SRS Energy could soon be enjoying a big chunk of eco-bounty, as will any other company that can remove the disincentives from sustainable technology.

Website: www.srsenergy.com

Asking questions helps retailers reduce returns

Auto-parts retailer JC Whitney cut back on customer returns by allowing customers to post questions on its e-commerce site that the staff answers. It helps shoppers make the right purchase and helps vendors identify marketing opportunities.

What a great idea!

http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=31814

20%of tweets contain brand names

A Penn State study found that in the US, 20% of tweets are about brands.

Researchers led by Jim Jansen, associate professor of information science and technology, and Twitter chief scientist Abdur Chowdhury looked at half a million tweets. 20% of them were apparently people 'asking and providing' product information. Assuming three million tweets a day, that would translate into 600k posts daily of direct relevance to brands.

'Providing product information' is a definition that's wide enough to include any tweets about a product or service - I went to this restaurant today, I bought this mobile phone and so on. I guess it is true that as a personal broadcasting system we do use Twitter to talk about stuff we buy or like / dislike a great deal.

According to the study authors, the large amount of brand data on Twitter can pretty much provide you with a sentiment map if you monitor and analyze tweets over time: What do your customers and non customers think about your product, what features are going down well / not so well, and how are your competitors faring.

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/123878

Customer Loyalty : online vs. bricks-n-mortar

Customer loyalty in the online world is not the same as offline. Substitutes are just a click away vs. down the street offline. Customers expect you to know everything that’s ever happened between you online, while they accept anonymity offline.

Understanding how these differences impact marketing is crucial to the right approach to developing more customer loyalty in an online world.

rest of article

Hey dude, where’s my bus?

Great use of real-time reporting....
Moira O’Neil hates waiting on the street corner for a bus. Instead, she sits at home, sipping coffee until just before it arrives at her stop. She doesn’t worry about missing the bus; her cellphone will tell her when it’s about to pull up to the curb.
Boston.com article

them dang hackers..... why?
Security firm Trend Micro warned on Wednesday that a handful of rogue Facebook apps are stealing login credentials and spamming victims' friends.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-333193.html?tag=nl.e539
Facebook applications that are really spam. Why are people malicious like this?

Mobile apps - the new (must-have) fronteir

Why Mobile Apps are Indispensable
A mobile application is an affordable -- and increasingly indispensable -- way to build your business. They can improve the customer experience, boost profits and actually create revenue. "People nowadays want everything to be at their fingertips, and if companies are not finding ways to provide these tools [they] will soon see drop-off from their customers". Wall Street Journal article.

Rent Textbooks

Here's a good idea - Rent, rather than buy, those expensive textbooks that college classes require you to have (and many times, don't even get opened!)

New York Times article

get feedback on your marketing ideas

wanna ask some people what they think of your marketing ideas? marketers can now get early thoughts on new designs and concepts through a community of peers at Concept Feedback.

Currently in beta, Concept Feedback is designed specifically for marketers, graphic designers and web developers to provide a simple tool for getting free, sincere feedback from like-minded professionals. Website designs, ads, logos, videos, presentations and more can all be uploaded to the site and submitted for review by other members; the person posting the material keeps all rights. Using a standard review template for consistency, professionals participating on the site can then offer their constructive advice, which gets automatically collected and archived for the submitting member. A system of reputation scores, meanwhile, keeps members honest and helps interpret their advice. The result, according to Concept Feedback, can be that any design problems are caught earlier, ensuring that only high-quality ideas make it into launch.

JetBlue & United give Twitter users quick notice of fare reductions

Looking for a quick, cheap getaway? A bargain may be just a tweet away.

JetBlue and United airlines are offering their Twitter followers first dibs on some discounted fares, using the uber-trendy form of messaging to quickly connect with customers and fill seats on flights that might otherwise take off less than full.

Like the e-mails that many airlines began to send out in the 1990s, tweets are presenting a new, faster way to promote sales. And in fitting with this latest mode of instant communication, travelers have to decide quickly whether to fly.

JetBlue posted its first "Cheep" on July 6, a $9 one-way trip from JFK to Nantucket. Since then the carrier has generally notified Twitterers about sales on Mondays, giving them about eight hours — or as long as there are available seats — to book a trip for that or the following weekend.

"By promoting the Cheeps through Twitter, we give the already spontaneous audience of Twitter users a chance to grab great last-minute fares," says JetBlue spokesman Morgan Johnston.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: United Airlines | Twitter | JetBlue Airways

In addition to filling empty seats, the sales can introduce new customers to the airline, he says. "Those first-time customers trying Cheeps … we know they're going to come back."

United's Twitter-only fares, also known as "twares," started in May. The airline's sales tweets can come at any time for a flight leaving on any day, and fliers have had to pounce quickly because the offers are usually available for only one to two hours.

"Twares are all about surprising our customers with low fares for a very, very limited time," says Robin Urbanski, a United spokeswoman. And, she says, they "sell extremely fast because the prices are unbeatable."

Many airlines continue to offer e-fares, notifying fliers about last-minute sales via e-mail. But travelers usually have a few days rather than a few hours to book their tickets.

With Twitter fares, Johnston says, "You really have to act fast. Because people watch Twitter in a real-time manner, the ability for someone to … come in and immediately act on it is a unique phenomenon to the culture of Twitter."

Twitter is new enough that businesses likely are still trying to grasp who uses it and how that audience can benefit their enterprise, says George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com.

"They're experimenting with it to see what the value is," he says. "Is it better to send an e-mail with a $9 fare or better to Twitter it?" Still, he says, "I think absolutely airlines and all travel companies need to get in the game and see how it plays out."

twitter tips

Twitter is all the rage now. There are some really useless uses, but there are also some really effective business uses of Twitter. Here's a great article with some tips for those thinking about using Twitter.

Be relevant, be real, be useful.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/31/top-twitter-tips-entrepreneurs-technology-twitter.html

e-commerce Best Practice - The Gap

I buy a lot of stuff online. I'm always interested to see how various online providers choose to present their wares to us, the consumers. There are some that really get it right, and some that really don't.

The Gap does a nice job : the site is simple, efficient, easy to use, complete, and works correctly and as expected.

Here's a story with some more details.
http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1215-The-Shopping-Experience-Gap-com

Do a lot of shipping? track your packages with Twitter

Some 6 million people visit Twitter each month, so it's no wonder applications for the platform are coming fast and furious. Not only can consumers use Twitter to track their favourite taco truck, file civic complaints and apply for jobs, but they can now track their packages as well thanks to a new application from North Carolina-based Signal Engine.

Users with packages to track begin by following PackageTrack on Twitter (@packagetrack), causing the free application to follow them in return. They can then direct message PackageTrack with the nickname of a package they'd like to track along with its tracking number, separated by a colon—"Red Dress: 23345631243," for example. PackageTrack then notifies them by Twitter each time the package's status changes, including a Google Map illustrating its route. Launched earlier this year, PackageTrack currently tracks only UPS, USPS and FedEx packages, but it says it will be adding more carriers soon.

All the world may have once been a stage, but today one might say it's a microblogging platform; no longer merely players, all the men and women now tweet and follow. What is *your* brand doing to reach customers on Twitter...?

TreasureWorld game gets kids OUTSIDE

Childhood obesity may be a problem of epidemic proportions in many parts of the world, but several games are doing their part to help keep kids moving. We've already covered LocoMatrix, Swinxs and The Hidden Park, and now a new contender launched last month takes kids on a wifi-based treasure hunt outside.

Published by Aspyr Media, Treasure World is a game for the Nintendo DS that converts real-world wifi signals into online treasures. The story focuses on Starsweep, a space traveller who journeys through space in his ship called Haley. In the game, however, Haley has broken down and needs more stardust to get going again. A quirky robot named Wishfinder helps players find not just stardust but also treasure during their adventure by tapping the wealth of wifi hotspots available around the world. More than 2,500 in-game items and treasures such as trees, flowers, candy and clothes can be unlocked as players access the more than 200 million wifi treasure spots worldwide that are registered within the game, and those items can be used to decorate in-game environments. Some feature musical qualities; others can be used to dress up the player's unique character. Either way, the stardust uncovered helps move the spaceship along. Only some items are available at each hotspot, however, meaning that the more kids move around, the more they'll find. Players can also join Club Treasure World to chat, trade items and show off with other treasure hunters around the globe. Treasure World's list price is USD 29.99.

Treasure World is not only another blow in the fight against obesity, it's also a nice illustration of what's called the OFF=ON trend, whereby the online and offline worlds are increasingly overlapping. Game developers around the world: keep the kids moving and the innovations coming!

"This Ad Cost Nothing"

A new, guerrilla ad campaign for the Salvation Army was donated by an agency with the help of more than 50 local businesses.

Known as the "This Ad Cost Nothing" campaign, the three-week initiative was designed primarily to raise awareness for the Salvation Army's Northern New England division. It was conceived and created in Portland, Maine, by local agency VIA Group, which turned to area businesses for help carrying it out. Part of the campaign included broadcast time and print ad space donated by traditional media; the majority, however, employed less conventional tactics. Pizza boxes and coffee sleeves were transformed into ad space for displaying the Salvation Army's logo and URL, for example, as were bathroom mirrors at local restaurants—with the help of a little grease paint. VIA employees and willing friends parked their intentionally dusty cars in downtown Portland, with the logo and slogans written on their back windshields, while dozens of shops sported the logo on their own windows as well. Painted rocks, tarps and tennis court floors were also among the more than 5,000 "creative units" included in the campaign.

Besides getting the word out about the Salvation Army and no doubt updating its image, the "This Ad Cost Nothing" campaign is also yet another nice example of the types of efforts increasingly being expected of companies by Generation G. As the saying goes, 'tis better to give than to receive—and that's never been more true than it is today! ;-)

How could you use your friends and family to promote your business in non-traditional, "guerrilla" ways?

What ideas could you add to a campaign like this?

Updates from your home's energy usage monitor - via Twitter

I love this!

German utility company Yello Strom is clearly into accessible tech: it manages its meters directly via households’ broadband connections, and offers access to Google's PowerMeter. Now, it's keeping its customers informed by enabling meters to tweet about energy use.

Each "Yello Sparzähler" smart meter (designed by IDEO) is allocated its own Twitter account, which is automatically updated with energy consumption data. The owner can follow the account to receive regular updates, leading to greater awareness and hopefully lower energy use. DIY power monitors such as Tweet-a-Watt are also capable of tweeting, but Yello Strom seems to be the first utility company to offer the service as an integral part of their smart meters.

While adding Twitter to their mix will undoubtedly give Yello Strom a PR-boost, the larger goal is to feed energy data into any tool customers may be using. As explained by Yello Executive Director Martin Vesper, "Our goal is to use as many different channels as possible to inform our customers about their energy consumption."

Twitter campaigns to raise sales (wsj story)

Twitter helped Moonfruit become a household name, boosting the company's followers from about 400 to 47,000 in a few days. Wendy White, marketing director, created the contest enabling Twitter users to win one of 10 Apple MacBook Pros over a seven-day period -- they just had to include the "#Moonfruit" hashtag. Online retailer Chickdowntown also has enjoyed sales gains from announcing contests via Twitter. What makes this such a success is re-tweeting, in which Twitter users pass on information to their lists of followers.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124805161394863097.html

Local Bike Shop using Facebook to drive in-store traffic

Love this - as I sit at work waiting for MySQL queries to run, I often jump over to Facebook to see what's going on.

Joe Jones is a local bike shop with a Facebook page and a significant following.

Since I am a "fan", this popped up
Great use of social media marketing to drive foot traffic. Can you do the same for you rbusiness?

A local text marketing campaign

This past July 4th, the North Conway Fire Department (www.northconwayfire.com) had the Sherman Farms' Cow Train. (very cute!)
Attached to the 'engine' was a sign that said
Text 'getlost12' to 94044 and see what you can win

So, being curious, I did. This morning I got an email

Subject: Corn Texting

Happy Summer (finally) from The MAiZE at Sherman Farm,
We are proud to introduce our newest addition to the MAiZE for 2009.  Corn Texting will be a game inside the maze; try and find all the hidden signs, send a text and receive a clue to help you navigate your way.  Find them all and win a prize!

Try it today and get entered to win a drawing.
Text "getlost12" to 91011 and see what you can win!

Happy Texting,
Michele

Kinda cool use of integrated marketing techniques.  Keeps you fully engaged with their brand, while playing games, collecting prizes and growing loyalty.

Maybe an on-snow type scavenger hunt, executed similarly, for a ski area?  or inside an amusement park?

You can donate 20% of a purchase to a charity

Turning shoppers into philanthropists, LavishGiving.com is an online gift retailer that donates 20% of all purchases of USD $100 or more to a charity of the buyer's choice. Which allows them to be generous twice: once when giving the gifts they purchased, and a second time when donating 20% of their value to a favourite charity.

Seven days after shopping, customers are mailed a Good Card worth 20% of their purchase. The seven day grace period is in place should anyone wish to return a purchase. Customers can then visit Network for Good's website (www.networkforgood.org) to donate the entire amount to one charity, or distribute it between several of the 1.5 million charities that are affiliated with Network for Good.

iphone app for city of Boston

in Boston, you can use a new iPhone app to report the location and condition of potholes! I wonder if there is a way to use a similar concept to build an iphone app to have "fans" report in a great travel destination? a great hike? a great swimming hole?

idea storming this morning for my Chamber of Commerce clients.

Obama's Web Team

Did you know it was a Boston group that really the Obama campaign's web machine? It will be cool to see how Obama and team choose to use the web in the future - and drive how others use the web in new ways.

"technology wasn't just a tool in the arsenal, but a transformational force."

They powerfully leveraged everything from text messaging to YouTube video propagation to supporter networks on platforms like Facebook and Twitter - to far greater extent than Hillary or McCain.

The KEY was that when you signed up on MyBarackObama.com (affectionatly known as MyBO) you immediately understood how to get involved - by virtue of the intuitive user interface, functionality, and layout. (my passion, you know)

You could click a button to donate. You could see maps displaying locations and details about area house parties. You could organize your own event. You could download the Obama "message du jour". You could establish your own fund raising efforts and watch the "thermometer" rise as your friends helped out. And give 'em your email address, you'll get emails signed by everyone from Michelle to Al Gore.

The team that did the work is from Boston ~ a shout out to Blue State Digital!

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2009/01/11/the_geeks_behind_obamas_web_strategy/

How can you use the web to do your business differently?