Archive for October, 2010

Pay with your phone

Posted on: October 29th, 2010 by Erin Butler 2 Comments

I don’t know about you, but my chunky wallet contains 22 debit, credit, gift cards and reward cards. That’s right— A smorgasbord of plastic. Something must be done. Oh, what do you know…

Last year, Starbucks rolled out a new smartphone app allowing customers to pay for their coffee with a digital barcode. This movement began on the west coast in select cities, and then moved into the Starbucks locations inside Target stores.

Courtesy of gumption, Flickr

The application is brilliant marketing in a nutshell. With store location, hours, directions and direct calling, as well as nutritional info, customized drinks, “Invite a Friend” and of course, the Starbucks Card bar code, this digital purse of information and convenience has become a new interactive standard. Not to mention, it is free.

The most forward-thinking aspect is the payment option. With the app, customers can register Starbucks cards, check balances, and reload with a credit card. Blackberry and iPhone users scan a 2-D barcode on a countertop device, making transactions quick and easy. This saves time for the avid coffee drinkers and pastry munchers and saves money for Starbucks in the long run.

Customers responded favorably to this mobile paying option. Brady Brewer (how perfect a name), a vice president at Starbucks, made the following comment in a news release:

“Mobile technology is part of our customers’ daily routine and with the expansion of mobile payment in our test cities, we’re seeing more and more customers using their smartphones as their mobile wallets,” said Brewer. “We’ve heard from our customers on My Starbucks Idea that they want a faster, more convenient way to pay.”

This week, the coffee company expanded the mobile app use to about 300 locations in New York City and Long Island. It may not seem very meaningful or large-scale, but it does mark the progression of a new era: The digital wallet.

While some smartphone users may already be experiencing app overload, I think the market will only grow with this new scanning technology. People will just have to stop downloading so many useless Paper Toss games and make room to utilize this undeniable technology.

I hope that more store chains and companies adopt the mobile bar code. Those New Yorkers must feel like special high-tech guinea pigs. In the mean time, I’ll sit here in Florida with my 10-pound wallet.

Image from gumption on Flickr.

10 Blogs to Follow (for devs)

Posted on: October 28th, 2010 by Rob Zienert 5 Comments

We hosted the Ad Club from University of Central Florida yesterday, and one of the questions that we were asked was, “What blogs do you follow?” Well, friends, the blogosphere is something that I’m definitely frequent. (more…)

Avoiding Cache Stampedes with Pseudo-locks

Posted on: October 21st, 2010 by Rob Zienert 8 Comments

I’m stoked that our clients are seeing more and more success. I think a lot can be said for our Marketing department, who have helped them get more visibility on the web. As a developer, however, a client’s success also brings a few interesting challenges, such as finding ways to squeeze more power from the same servers. Caching is something you can’t leave home without, and avoiding cache stampedes is just as important as the caching itself. (more…)

Google TV is Coolgle TV

Posted on: October 7th, 2010 by Erin Butler 4 Comments

It’s a TV, it’s a computer, and it’s so close I can smell it.

Google TV has been in the works for a while now, and the month of October marks the launch of the official product. Together with Logitech and Sony, the Internet giant will combine the entertainment of television with the limitless scope of the Web. You will soon be able to experience the techie-offspring in a mere couple of weeks.

Chock-full of apps, shows, music, websites, games, and anything else that you can see on a screen, the “computv” (yep, I said it) is a one-stop shop for eyes and ears alike. Some are saying that the $300 Logitech and the $1,300 to $1,900 Sony price tags have quite a few prospective consumers tripped up, but think about it: it’s a computer and a big screen TV conveniently combined. It may be a lot of money, but not completely unreasonable.

One thing I’m sure many will regret paying for, however, is the Sony remote. You’d expect such a high-tech gadget to be accompanied by a lightweight wand or voice command, but no. You evidently get something that looks like a Super Nintendo graphing calculator.

Thankfully, there is word of applications for touch screens, like the Android, that will allow the remote control function as well. The future is under our noses.

So welcome, media convergence. I think this television-Internet combo is the direction we’re heading, so best get on board! After Apple and Google, the remaining morsel of the market will have no choice. And neither will we.

Introducing Google TV

Full On Strategy – Get In Media


Posted on: October 1st, 2010 by Purple Rock Scissors

When Purple, Rock, Scissors’ CEO Bobby Jones was approached by his alma mater and media and arts educational leader, Full Sail University, it was a perfect match. The entertainment business is known to be a hard field to get into, so Full Sail University wanted to create an online resource for students who may be interested in pursuing a career in this challenging industry. The website offers career advice, interviews with industry professionals, and employer spotlights with some of the largest names in the industry, including Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, and Rockstar Games.

Lights. Camera. Action!?

Since the recent launch last month, we’re noticing a steady increase in traffic and growing presence in the search engines. Get In Media is poised to become a top resource for the Digital Entertainment industry.

Keep checking the site for continual updates including features on some of the industry’s top employers, up-and-coming film makers, and gaming superstars.

Relevant Links

GetInMedia.com
Full Sail University

Social Media Marketing Miami

Posted on: October 1st, 2010 by EJ

Ej Garcia at Social Media Miami
I was recently given the opportunity to speak at the Social Media Miami conference hosted by InfluencePeople. After reviewing several topics with the conference’s organizers I chose to speak about of leveraging search engine marketing with your social media campaign. The focus of the presentation was to educate the audience on how to efficiently drive traffic to your social campaign by sponsoring keywords related to the theme of your campaign through Google Adwords.

Facebook advertisements were the hot topic of the day, and at the end of the session we engaged the audience in a Q&A session about how to target your audience on Facebook.

Craig Agranoff, of gripd.com, gave a great presentation on the current state of mobile and geo-targeted ads and the list of speakers was awesome. I was honored to share the stage with the likes of John Chow, Jay Berkowitz, Murray Newlands, Greg Rollett, Pierre Zarokian and Jeff Sass.

The conference ended with all of the speakers engaging in panel discussion on the future of social media. The one un-deniable fact we all agreed on was that: Social media is media, and as another form of communication with your audience, it cannot be ignored.