The iPhone 4 is finally here – but is it really worth the hype?

The new iPhone is here. If you managed to escape the news through US commercials (where it’s already launched), Facebook, your fanboy friends’ incessant rambling, the lineup update barrage on twitter this morning, or even the recent “antenna gate” crisis, then I’m telling you now.  It has arrived. As with the iPad and pretty much every Apple device before it, the Canadian release date has lagged behind the US. Today it finally landed in the Great White North and the regular lineups at the Apple stores, Best Buys, and the expected low grade hysteria as proud...

The business of Facebook and the new world of PR

As many of you know, I took on a new role to begin 2010 at Weber Shandwick, heading up their Digital Communications practice for Canada.  I think the thing I love most about any new opportunity is that it gives me the chance to take on a new learning curve and a new way of thinking.  Perhaps the most prevalent example of this is the position of traditional media relations professionals in the new world of social media and digital engagement. After spending my days thinking on this position and working with colleagues and clients to position Weber in the Canadian space,...

nitchCraft: Having a coffee for the Kids with DailyChallenge.org and Pay it Backwards Day

Tomorrow is a very important day across the province of Ontario so I would be remiss if I didn’t feature my Darius Bashar of DailyChallenge.org who will be presenting Pay it Backwards Day tomorrow, September 30.  Wednesday only, any time you walk into a Second Cup and buy a coffee (or anything) for the person behind you in line, $5 will be donated to Sick Kids Hospital.  I think this is just amazing, but rather than make the intro a spoiler, let’s allow the interview to do the talking as we learn more about this great event and all that’s going on...

The SXSWi Panelpicker and the opportunity for Toronto to prove community works

Anyone in the Toronto digital/social media scene likely noticed that Monday was the official opening to voting for the South by Southwest Interactive Festival’s annual “Panelpicker”.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, SXSW (an annual music, film and interactive conference in Austin, Texas) opened up the opportunity to present at their event to the world.  After thousands of submissions were administered, they’ve now launched the Panelpicker, essentially a Digg-like crowdsourcing application where the organizers are the only ones...

The Spoke Theory: To drive an audience, every marketing wheel needs a “hub”

A lot of the time, I’m a pretty big nerd.  I’m also, at times, a relentless critic.  One of my favourite past times that unites both of these truths about my personality is wandering around and critiquing the marketing tactics of the many thousands of businesses that advertise in one form or another around downtown Toronto.  From bands that flyer telephone poles all the way through to the monstrous concoctions erected in Dundas Square – I’m not picky.  I just really like to try and get into the marketer’s head. That said, in my aimless...

Could Chris Bosh save the music industry?

Ok maybe that’s a bold statement, but the Toronto Raptors face of the franchise and Warner Music Canada announced today that they’re teaming up on an incredibly unique venture that shines light on another creative way the music industry may bust out of its slump. I’ve written about the music industry’s need to adapt in this space before, but we’re not going to re-hash that today. As a matter of fact, I didn’t think I’d be writing about the music industry today at all. However, I had set my calendar as Bosh had let his fans...

Why the mobile industry is like real estate

Let’s take a moment today to focus on mobile.  It’s a medium that we all use every day to the point that we don’t really even think about it anymore.  And in spite of its pervasiveness and its massive global reach, the mobile phone is really the weapon in your technology arsenal that’s the most intimate – I know people who sleep with their phones and wake up to them chiming! Yes, Twitter is getting all the buzz these days, but you’re kidding yourself if you think it’s ever going to have even a fraction of the impact of the...

Apparently Canada loves online video – but do we really know why?

On a glorious spring Friday in Toronto, it seems particularly relevant to take a look at some numbers for online video viewing that were released last week by ComScore for February 2009.  Remember February?  When it was cold and we were all curled up in our blankets with our laptops watching videos… apparently? Well according to the stats from a new ComScore report tracking February viewing figures, Canada is the world’s top online video viewing country by percentage. The average online video viewer in the Great White North watched 10 hours of video online...

Taking viral for a loop

If you haven’t read the article on DIY social network site, Ning, and its “tech hottie” co-founder Gina Bianchini in the May 2008 edition of Fast Company, don’t. It’s an advantage to the rest of us who have aspirations of becoming Web 2.0 millionaires. Bianchini and techgod business partner Mark Andreessen (Netscape and Opsware founder, Digg investor) have taken a mathematical model and turned it into a predictably expansive jackpot. Of course, at first glance, it’s not hard to overlook the brilliance of what they’ve...

Is your niche niche enough?

Tommy Thompson, President of Inspire!, a marketing firm focusing on work with the Hispanic American market made a great point in AdAge today that i needed to pass along as it applies far beyond the Hispanic community. In the article, Thompson reminds marketers that a niche is a lot more specific than a sub-section of culture like “Hispanics” or even “Male Hispanics 18-35″. Says Thompson: The reality is that the Hispanic consumer is not a homogeneous group and therefore these types of broad statements won’t work for most brands in...