MediaPost Publications - ClipBlast Partners With Clearspring For Widget Distribution - 09/29/2008

ClipBlast will use the Clearspring platform to distribute widgets that provide custom video content, channels and playlists. The widgets will feature the ClipBlast Intelligent Index, which enables users to pull video from thousands of sources and play the content from any Web page, social profile, blog or other Web location. Clearspring's real-time analytics tools will track and monetize the widgets and their activity.

MediaPost Publications - ClipBlast Partners With Clearspring For Widget Distribution - 09/29/2008

Note to self: Call them up and see what we can do together. Note to readers: There's absolutely no pain in reaching out to companies you read about in the press to start a conversation about working together. It amazes me how few businesspeople, especially agency people, actually do it. No wonder agencies are lagging behind.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

St. Ives Puts 'Happy Face' on Aging

Here's a case study in how to reach busy, grown-up women without relying on a media diet of TV, TV and TV.

Print ads in publications like Style, Us and People and online ads running on sites such as InStyle, iVillage and Epicurious direct women to a campaign site, GetAHappyFace.com. There, EVB combined product research information with portable digital content. Each product is paired with a widget or piece of content that fits with its purpose. For instance, the St. Ives protective cleanser information also includes a downloadable desktop weather widget that shows users the sun-intensity for the day. The warming scrub has an offer for a getaway weekend sweepstakes. The olive cleanser information offers bedtime happy-thoughts text messages. Other content includes a widget tracking personal goals, workout guide and e-card to thank friends and family.

St. Ives Puts 'Happy Face' on Aging

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Building a Brand with Widgets

The cards were stacked against A&E Television Network as it tried to generate positive buzz about its new series, Parking Wars. For one, it's a reality show about meter readers. Two, the show doesn't feature celebrities. "We thought if we could find a clever way of increasing consumer interaction with the concept behind the show that we would increase curiosity in the show itself," says Lori Peterzell, A&E's vice-president for consumer marketing.So A&E hired area/code, a multimedia game developer, to build an online game based on Parking Wars. Played on the social network Facebook, the game has users park virtual cars on friends' profile pages, or "streets," while slapping tickets on cars parked on their own page and avoiding tickets themselves.

Building a Brand with Widgets

Blogged with Flock

Companies Can Make Money With Widget Ads - GigaOM

Selling advertising on entertainment-focused widgets such as Scrabulous or Zombies is about as easy as spinning straw into gold, yet there are plenty of people trying. And there are ways of generating revenue through specially focused widgets designed solely to sell rather than toss sheep. Brand and comparison advertising done through ad-focused widgets is emerging as a viable way of using the ubiquitous applications. Widgets’ interactive features, their ability to be virally distributed and potentially be placed on a target’s own page makes the creations appealing to advertisers.

Companies Can Make Money With Widget Ads - GigaOM

Blogged with Flock

HarperCollins Will Post Free Books on the Web - New York Times

Note: This widget is offered by HarperCollins to help spread the word about its new free online book reader.

In an attempt to increase book sales, HarperCollins Publishers will begin offering free electronic editions of some of its books on its Web site, including a novel by Paulo Coelho and a cookbook by the Food Network star Robert Irvine.The idea is to give readers the opportunity to sample the books online in the same way that prospective buyers can flip through books in a bookstore.“It’s like taking the shrink wrap off a book,” said Jane Friedman, chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide. “The best way to sell books is to have the consumer be able to read some of that content.”

HarperCollins Will Post Free Books on the Web - New York Times

Blogged with Flock

The Next Small Thing

The Next Small ThingBits of code called widgets open the door to viral marketing across social networks. Silicon Valley sees them as a Web revolution in the making

The Next Small Thing

Blogged with Flock