As more value is placed on user engagement (socially), the content model for banner ads will need to match the new standard of involvement and commentary on the subject. That subject is still an advertisement. So what encourages a person to watch a web video, read a current event, or comment on a new product review? That content should be relevant and useful to the individual. By holding banner campaigns to the same interaction standard/rate of a social campaign, advertisers will need to rewrite that copy to make it more meaningful to it’s audience.
This is in response to this post on Mashable business.
Articles
Vehicles are not investments. They are expensive to own and maintain. So why would consumers trade-in to invest in an expensive electric vehicle or hybrid? Yes, they’re doing good for the environment but at the expense of over extending family budgets and taking on more debt.
With the costs to purchase a hybrid or all electric vehicle today, the savings in fuel on the short term is not enough to shift the consumer market from keeping their gas powered vehicle till it’s no longer working. So with this mass market of owned and pre-owned vehicles in the US, is there opportunity for the EV conversion business? When will we see a spike in this business model.
Last year I moved from New York to San Francisco. In a visit before the move, I quickly learned that the public transportation here is not efficient. The BART is great. But if you’re in the city and relying on MUNI, expect a commuter’s travel time. What may take 10 minutes by car, will take 45 minutes to an hour by bus. That’s why people here walk, bike, have a car or use a car share system like Zipcar or City CarShare.
As my used 2004 Mini depreciates in market value, I’ve been thinking more about the EV conversion option. What would it take to convert my Mini and when the time’s right? In my brief research of the market, there have been few custom conversion providers in the market.
Aside from home conversion kits, the few options consumers have today:
Wheego (base $32,995)
Tesla Roadster (base $101,500)
Zero Motorcycles (Zero S $9,995)
A few coming soon:
Smart car (electric drive). NYC opens 1st public charging station.
CODA ($40,000 ish)
Green Go Tek (cozmo base $17,995)
Additional References:
Better Place Electric Vehicle Network
Feature on Wayne Alexander (2008): NBC News
Top Ten from Autoblog Green.
Searching academic websites that offer a self-educating platform, free for anyone with an internet connection. As the National Unemployment Rate surpasses 10%, projected to stay that way for all of 2010, that’s a lot of bored people at home searching for jobs, watching videos on YouTube and playing casual games. What if that percentage of unemployed, shifted their eyeballs from entertainment websites to learning?
Though A. Charlie’s search has been centered around an adult demographic continuing education, clearly academic platforms have become more relevant to younger students. Especially as they’re in need of affordable education. Not to suggest online education will replace the traditional University institution. There’s good reason for more companies to develop for this market. Because when there’s no money for parents to send their kids to school, scholarships dry and limited student loan alternatives, there may be a shift from the development of entertainment (Hulu clones) to web based academics.
Ted.com is well established and has positioned themselves as the standard for academic inspiration. YouTube launched /edu back in March of 2009. Academic Earth also launched in the same month was, with lectures covering startups, open source and the importance of education. More lectures and academic events, color coded on FORA.tv. And textbooks, free to read online, thanks to Flat World Knowledge.
Reference:
flatworldknowledge.com
academicearth.org/
fora.tv
youtube.com/edu
The model to advertise in an over stimulated market, is constantly evolving. Companies who continue to advance their content and brand position, keep relevancy to the consumers that are consuming. To compete with ones neighbor brand, many businesses offer the same offering (i.e the auto industry), companies must find the demand and evaluate how to fulfill it.
Another challenge is in how to maintain, the quality of content. While co-existing within the free social networks consumers live in. Providing that consumers care to read, watch, and interact with. Honda recently launched a Facebook fan page to promote the new Crosstour. Facebook fans love their brands and will express themselves on the wall. The response was tough love.
In any economic disposition, booming and or deflated, businesses market and advertise to survive. Big brands can fall. The number of people interacting with your product (brand, product, startup company), matters when competing amongst your neighbors. In a market like this, tightened budgets become just the budget and saving money on where you advertises is as important. The cost to create good content remains.
It’s all too easy to get caught up in trend advertising models, they can bring great press. That’s okay for those who only need to stay in the news, but most businesses need sales.
And to sell a product, it has to be better than your neighbors.