Sunday, January 27, 2008

New Media continued..


While on the topic of new media, it appears that the direction of most new technology advancements are moving society toward convergence. I don't mean convergence in the sense that all nations and people will become one (along with a world government); rather convergence will be the result of one seamless communications platform.

One bill, one outlet, and total customization will be the end result of convergence. I know that this seems to be a little to "Buck Rogers", but technology has been in a red shift since the early 80's. Shifting from large analog monolithic computers, too small, portable, light, and highly interactive personal devices that will accomplish all of the tasks we need, as well as entertain.

This shift was unavoidable due to human nature. Remember, the wagon drawn by the horse wasn't good enough. And like all improvements or presumed improvements, not until they are made and used, will we actually know their benefit or detriment to what we (as a civilization) consider progress.

I for one am excited about the prospect of a single, functional, customized, and user friendly device that will replace my cell phone, PDA, Palm Pilot, computer monitor(s), GPS, home television(s), video game consoles, satellite radio receiver, web cam, coffee maker, and kitchen range! I'm talking about the one-stop-shop that will reduce the amount of clutter and financial responsibility that is necessary to own all of those other, needed, products.

As for marketers, the use of this new convergent device has endless possibilities. Newspapers, commercials, interactive experiences, product demonstrations, sampling, and a multitude of other opportunities will exist for increased branding, brand recognition, database development, and consumer tracking (within constitutional limits).

These are most definitely exciting times to be working in a communications capacity!

If you are interested, here is the link that spawned my idea for the convergent topic!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Technology and e-Marketing

This week the focus is on new media forms, the benefits and detractors that they have, and how they are most effectively used. In my example for the course discussion I chose to look at how technology was effecting media forms; rather than how marketers would react to changes in a media form.

One of the key observations that I made was that most respondents to my post focused on the "Green" effect of technology and the impact that technology would have on the environment.

Specifically, I wrote about Flexible Organic Displays. These displays are really cool. They will provide more options for marketers because their use will be substantially varied. These displays will allow users to come from behind their desktop computers and experience life in full and direct sunlight.

This is because the materials that are used to create these displays provide a fully visible display in direct sunlight. They also are water resistant and malleable. This means that newspapers, magazines, photos, and just about anything that can be put on paper, can become portable, durable, and electronic. In turn, this will reduce the amount of paper consumed (both new and recycled) for the purposes of creating periodicals.

Obviously this is a very small example of what this technology can provide, but for marketers, this is just the tip of the ice berg. Imagine the integration of Blue tooth, and other wireless forms of communication that will be available on something as big as a piece of paper, and can be carried like a scroll in a tube. An entire map, a picture of the evenings special (from the restaurant that you just walked by), live streaming video of a lecture or concert as you are mobile and not limited to a wired or stationary computer unit!

These ideas and many more like them are on the way. Moore's Law is more obvious now that ever before. This is a fun and exciting time to be in the technology and communications fields. I can only wait and guess as to what will be coming next!

Monday, January 14, 2008

The Big Ta-do!


Ok, so here is the big deal. I work for a biomedical research institute and deal with federal grants that are used to fund academic studies on various issues that resident PhD's have identified.

Presently, I'm working on a study call Weight Measurement and Standards for Soldiers. The premise of this study is to determine if the Internet is an applicable way of helping soldiers maintain or improve their levels of fitness in order to become combat ready. A secondary goal is to determine the efficacy of a website, which is designed to be the major tool in facilitating the study.

All of this sounds fairly straight forward and easy to execute, right? Well, there are a number of qualifiers that must be met in order to retain the funding for the study from the DOD (Department of Defense). The first of these qualifying events is that I (we, this lab) cannot identify any user of the website. By identification, I mean through email addresses, name, physical location, one-to-one interaction, etc. The level of anonymity that is required by the DOD is mandated by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), internal IRB's (Internal Review Board), Continuing Review Reports, and the HSRRB (Human Subjects Research Review Board) that is run by the DOD. If you take into consideration all of those issues, you essentially prevent yourself from having any sort of consumer relationship, database building opportunity, or follow-up opportunity.

The second issue facing this project is that the audience is targeted based on geography. The reason for this is that the DOD gave us a group of people on which to provide this study, not taking into account the level of connectivity, the desire for such a product among this population, or a myriad of variables that factor into why low user statistics are represented.

The third issue facing this study is that because we have a targeted audience that is defined by the gates of a military installation (and not any tangible consumer research), I (we, this lab) cannot use mass media to promote or advertise the website to the targeted audience. We have to limit the exposure of the website to the targeted soldiers in an attempt to prevent data corruption from undesired users. This means that civilians that live in the local area need to be prevented from being exposed to the website. Essentially what I am left with are 3 people that will venture onto an installation daily and hand out brochures and T-shirts, hang banners in strategic locations, provide informative briefings at scheduled meetings and functions, as well as spread the word via word of mouth. You can see that this is a very low tech way to test a high-tech tool.

I'm sure that I can list a number of other reasons why this study and the execution of the communication/marketing plan are so difficult, but I think you get my drift.

My hope is that this course (619) will provide me with greater insight as to how I can improve my communication and marketing efforts through new media and thus improve the data that is recovered from my website.

I have read the article from the Harvard Business School. It offers a number of interesting ideas, but they are all dependant on one variable, Interactivity. It is very difficult to be interactive with a consumer when you cannot identify them or know their internet habits.

Matt