TheBlackFin - Thoughts from Tom Edwards

Google+ and Facebook

tom — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 19:07:00 GMT

This week saw the launch of Google+ which is Googles answer to Facebook. Google has definitely had setbacks when it comes to Social solutions. Google Wave anyone? So what do they decide to do this time around? Basically mirror Facebook. Comic via xkcd...(read more)

Facebook Photo Tagging & Brand Pages

tom — Wed, 11 May 2011 21:04:00 GMT

Today Facebook rolled out a feature that could have big implications for brand pages. Facebook users will now be able to tag brand pages in their photos. This can represent a new avenue for brand pages as users can now associate your brand with their...(read more)

5% of a Facebook Like

tom — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:58:00 GMT

Pop Quiz… What is the one word that recently became ubiquitous throughout our online lives? Is it " Refudiate ", the word that Sarah Palin coined and won 2010 word of the year? Is it Slizzard ? Thanks for that Far East Movement. No it is one simple four...(read more)

Social Turf War

tom — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:53:00 GMT

During a recent iMedia Summit a simple question was asked to Bryan McCleary, Director of Public Relations, Procter & Gamble, Baby Care. “Who should own social strategy?” Brian’s response was interesting and made a lot of sense. His response was “The...(read more)

SnapTags vs. QR Codes the Ideal 2D Experience

tom — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:16:00 GMT

By now most of you have seen or interacted with QR codes in one form or another. Whether it was online, direct mail, etc… QR Codes are becoming a common tool in marketing toolkits. While it is possible to leverage a small portion of a QR code to incorporate...(read more)

Your Brand vs. Product on Facebook

tom — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:19:00 GMT

Consider positioning sub-brands via Facebook while not diluting the core brand presence....(read more)

Influencer Identification, Brand Marketers & The Growing Divide

tom — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:13:00 GMT

Advocacy, acceleration of content creation and generating buzz around products & services are always at the top of the list for most brand Go-To-Market strategies. One consistent goal is to identify and engage key influencers in a specific brand category...(read more)

Augmented Reality In Your Living Room

tom — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:46:00 GMT

When you think about gesture controlled interfaces converting your bodies motions and digitally applying them to on-screen elements movies like Minority Report come to mind. Having this type of digitally enhanced augmented reality in your living room...(read more)

Augmented Reality is a Reality for Brands

tom — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:28:00 GMT

What do you think of when you hear the term Augmented Reality? Do you flash back to Tom Cruise in Minority Report? Or more recently Tony Stark in Iron Man 2 manipulating 3D objects. The prevailing thought until recently has been more style over substance...(read more)

5 Steps to Social Relevance

tom — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Providing utility and relevance for your target audience is key to driving engagement. Follow the 5 steps to social relevance and you will be well on your way to driving engagement with your brand. ...(read more)

The Social Hub

tom — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:26:00 GMT

When evaluating & auditing companies usage of social channels I notice certain recurring themes in terms of the combination of branded social media vs. consumer social (Facebook, Twitter, etc). Namely there is rarely a clearly defined approach based...(read more)

The Largest Social Network on TV

tom — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:56:00 GMT

I write a lot about social media, digital strategy & emerging technology. One of my favorite past times is console gaming via my Xbox 360 . With the recent release of Halo Reach and personally surpassing 100,000 gamerscore on Xbox Live, I wanted to...(read more)

The Pass-Back Effect

tom — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:51:00 GMT

Recently I have written several guest blog posts for Playgrounddad.com from how your children can get the most out of the iPad to Augmented Reality for Kids . The latest guest post is on the phenomenon known as the Pass-Back Effect. Here is a link to...(read more)

Social Foundation

tom — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:19:00 GMT

A good portion of my day job is defining social/digital strategies and programs to assist major retail brands maximize their WOM opportunities to drive multiple business objectives. Be it acquisition, engagement, advocacy, etc... Before I begin a new...(read more)

Mobilizing Your Social Strategy

tom — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:06:00 GMT

Today I was the host of the weekly Hashtagsocialmedia tweet chat . Our topic was integrating mobile with your social strategy with a focus on strategy, best practices and tactics. Mobile is a hot topic and according to comscore with 234 million americans...(read more)

Hashtag Social Media Tweet Chat

tom — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:03:00 GMT

Tomorrow at 12PM (EST) I will be hosting the latest Hashtag Social Media Tweet Chat. We will focus on integrating Mobile into your Social Strategy. You can attend the event live at http://hashtagsocialmedia.com/live or you can follow via a Twitter search...(read more)

UNIQLO Lucky Switch

tom — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:55:00 GMT

This was a very innovative use of a banner ad/blog widget/social bookmark that really got my attention. Enjoy! UNIQLO LUCKY SWITCH (jp subtitle) from HN on Vimeo . Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it!...(read more)

First your Profile Then the World - Facebooks Plan To Be Everywhere You Are

tom — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:10:00 GMT

Big changes are brewing with Facebook as today many subtle changes were rolled out across the popular social network. Becoming a fan has given way to simply "Like". This is an interesting trend and one that has longer reach than initial appearance. Fans...(read more)

6 Benefits of Foursquare

tom — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:50:00 GMT

One of the areas that I monitor closely is the progression/adoption of geo-location services such as foursquare , gowalla , yelp , loopt , buzz and dream walk mobile . Geo-location services have been around for the past 4 years but are now gaining critical...(read more)

5 React

tom — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:07:00 GMT

One interesting campaign that I have come across recently is the 5 React experience . 5 React is a new Wrigley's flavor of it's 5 Gum line. 5 took an interesting approach to engaging trial of its product (sampling) and the result is a fun experience that...(read more)

iAd

tom — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:08:00 GMT

With the iPhone OS 4.0 Keynote today the announcement of iAd caught our attention in the office. Moreso than multi-tasking & the thousands of API's iAd offers the chance for a true revolution in mobile advertising. The ability to provide Rich Media...(read more)

iPad Launch Day - Hands on Review

tom — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Part of my job is tied to staying on top of emerging technology and the latest entry launched today in the form of the Apple iPad. After being in and out of my local Apple store in 10 min it was on to the setup. I found updating to iTunes 9 to be an issue...(read more)

Red Urban

tom — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:51:00 GMT

It seems that for the past 10+ years all roads have pointed in this direction. I have been involved with agencies since the onset of my interactive career. From my initial entry during the original dot com boom with Fullmoon Interactive (full service...(read more)

What's the price of a Facebook Fan? It's $5

tom — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:57:00 GMT

Recently Babies R Us ran a Facebook campaign that caught my attention. There were a number of campaign elements that were executed well and the result was a positive network effect. There were also areas that could have been capitalized upon to drive...(read more)

How to Create Profitable Social Strategies Based on Brand Personality

tom — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:52:00 GMT

Authored this article published on CMO.com today: http://bit.ly/8K3B5W Just like people, no two organizations are exactly alike. Every enterprise has its own unique personality. When it comes to social strategy, there is no universal formula for driving...(read more)