iPhone to combat drunk driving

The Bloomberg administration has a new weapon in its fight against drunk driving: an iPhone app.

The app, which will be released next month, uses GPS technology to show users the five closest car services in their area. It will also offer a blood alcohol calculator that asks New Yorkers to input their weight, gender, the number of drinks they've consumed and the period of time they've been drinking.

The iPhone program is part of an ad campaign by the city's Department of Transportation called "You the Man,"which playfully questions the manhood of drunk drivers.One animated ad shows a friend saving another friend from drunkenly singing the theme song from the film"The Bodyguard."

Another one reads: "You who stopped me from calling my boss after my fifth kamikaze,you the man."

The campaign, which began in February, is being targeted at men ages 21 to 39- a demographic that was responsible for 63% New York City's alcohol related crashes in 2008,according to city statistics.

Last week, the city Department of Transportation began an online contest that asked entrants to submit shout-outs to their designated drivers.The winner will receive a digital camera and a night at Richmond County Bank Ballpark,home of the Staten Island Yankees,to play baseball with their friends.

Since 2001, DWI arrests have risen by more than 90% across the city,but they dropped 8% in the past year.As we reported last week, police precincts spanning Corona in central Queens reported the highest number of DWI arrests so far this year.

By R.M. Schneiderman

New Website For Jerseys

Things seem hard enough for New Jersey residents (enough already with the jokes about fake tans and bad driving, Bon Jovi and house music).Now,a new website aims to help Jersey residents buck up and take pride in their state.

But it's not clear that the site,Jerseydoesntstink.com, provides the sophisticated rebuttal to New York snobbery that some residents might wish for.

"If one more person asks if you're from Joisey, are you going to snap? WE ARE!" the website says."If you're from New Jersey you have something inside you no other state could possibly understand: JERSEY PRIDE."

The website sells a variety of "Jersey Doesn't Stink" paraphernalia.(We're particularly fond of the doggie t-shirts and the mouse pads.)It also boasts a Facebook page with more than 3,000 fans.

"If you think NJ stinks, then you have lost your sense of smell,"writes one poster.

"I lived in New Jersey all my life and don't ever plan to leave," writes another."The climate is good, the agriculture is good and the shore is the best. Of course, that's South Jersey)."

The website was started by High Point Auto Insurance in Red Bank, N.J., whose chief executive, Gerry Wilson, is a Michigan transplant.

"When I first moved here I had some of the same stereotypes as everyone else,"Wilson said. "I imagined New Jersey as looking like the turnpike. I didn't realize most of New Jersey is beautiful and green."

Unfortunately for Wilson, the site- along with a mildly amusing YouTube video-may not persuade people already convinced that the state with the nation's greatest population density offers much more than Jersey Mayhem and GTL devotees. It might not even succeed with locals, many of whom don't seem too fond of New Jersey, either.

As Metropolis reported last week, a poll shows that 75% of New Jersey residents say they are dissatisfied with life in the Garden State. Perhaps more tellingly, only 2% of residents indicate that they are "very satisfied"with life in New Jersey, a number well within the poll's margin of error.

By: R.M. Schneiderman

E-mail marketings' nonprofit

In this era of stretched budgets and lack of resources, it can be difficult for businesses to effectively stay in touch with their constituents.Those in the nonprofit arena arguably have a greater burden since they dealt with these challenges before the economic downturn.

Many nonprofits find e-mail marketing is a cost-effective,timely way to reach donors, volunteers and sister agencies.

One example is The Conservators' Center, an exotic animal rescue organization. This nonprofit uses a monthly e-mail newsletter to publicize everything from fundraising events to special facility tours. In the past year,The Conservators' Center has developed 1500 followers through the use of e-mail.

With a small staff, e-mail marketing makes sense for The Conservators' Center.Using templates available in the iContact application, its monthly newsletter gives them a professional look and feel, without costing them significant resources.

In iContact's experience, nonprofits enjoy a higher open rate than the average for-profit business due to the recipients' increased level of trust with the organization. The Conservators' Center has seen open rates between 24 and 28 percent for their e-mail marketing messages.

Combining open rates with a strong social media presence allows the Conservators' Center to differentiate from other nonprofits competing for donors and volunteers. Arthur, its Siberian Tiger, has a Twitter account and Facebook profile.

For nonprofits, the benefits of e-mail marketing are threefold: cost-efficient communication; the ability to attract and retain constituents;and the delivery of timely information in a professional manner.

The cost of entry-in both application knowledge and staff time-is relatively low, making e-mail marketing the best communication channel for nonprofits that rely on reaching their donor and volunteer base to be successful.

By: Chuck Hester, communications director

NetmagicSeekingCloud'sPartners

Managed service provider Netmagic Solutions is looking to channel companies, including resellers, ISVs and service providers, to sell its cloud computing services to customers.The company has recently launched an enhanced version of its cloud computing service-termed Cloud 2.0-based on Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization platform. Cloud 2.0 enables full online provisioning and management. It is also completely elastic, allowing customers to pay as per their usage.

Netmagic plans to OEM its cloud services portal to partners so that they can customize their offerings and sell them to their customers.
 
"The majority of sales in India happen through relationships, and channel partners have a good connect with customers. Netmagic provides them a good opportunity to offer their own brand of cloud services using our infrastructure. We will have a revenue-sharing arrangement with them," explained Sharad Sanghi, CEO, Netmagic.
 
Netmagic plans to target resellers, ISVs and Web development companies in all tier-1 and tier-2 cities in India. It currently has a channel presence in six cities-Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune.
 
The company has a weak presence in the north and east, so it will be looking to enhance its presence there, informed Sanghi. He said Netmagic will also increase its focus on ISVs because the number of software applications that can be potentially served through the cloud had increased significantly.
 
According to Sanghi, Netmagic is looking at a 250-300 percent growth in its cloud computing-related revenue over the next two years.Currently, cloud computing services account for just 2 percent of the company's overall revenues, but it hopes to take this figure to 16 percent over the next two years.
 
"When we first launched cloud computing services in 2009, we were expecting startups,Web developers and companies looking for DR sites to take up these services," recalled Sanghi."Surprisingly, mainstream companies also became our customers, and we were serving them for some applications such as online marketing campaigns, market data feeds, and Webcasts of events like the T20 World Cup-all activities which were business-critical. We have acquired more than 100 customers in just one year, and the growth potential is huge."
 
Customers can choose from a fixed monthly billing plan with virtually no variable cost component,or an elastic plan where they can pay per hour based on their usage. For the elastic plan, charges start at Rs 6 per hour per virtual server,in addition to a small nominal monthly charge for persistent storage.Fixed plans start at Rs 3,990 per server per month.

By:Tabrez Khan

HP Targets Mobile Market


Phoenix Technologies, the California-based software best known for its BIOS technology,said that Hewlett-Packard has agreed to purchase the assets related to its Hyper Space, Hyper Core, and Phoenix Flip instant-on and client virtualization products.

HP will pay $12 million in cash for the assets once the deal closes, which is expected to happen sometime this month.

While the three technologies HP is acquiring could apply to a wide range of HP's product portfolio, their most immediate application could be on future mobile PCs and smart devices resulting from technology HP is getting with its acquisition of Palm.

HP in April said it plans to acquire Palm, maker of the PalmOS operating system and related smartphones, for $1.2 billion.

Because the Palm acquisition has yet to close,HP has yet to disclose specific plans for how it will use the PalmOS technology. However, HP is widely believed to be planning to use it across a wide range of new mobile devices in the future.

In such a case, the new technologies from Phoenix could fit well with those plans, especially given HP's strength as a vendor of mobile PCs and its potential for expanding into the mobile device market.

HP is acquiring three specific virtualization technologies, along with related intellectual property and assets including the software development team, from Phoenix.

The first, HyperSpace, gives instant-on-or fast boo-capabilities to mobile devices.
The second, HyperCore, optimized file management and file sharing between multiple

The third, Phoenix Flip, lets users toggle back and forth between two operating environments on the same device.

Phoenix Flip could be very useful for a user with a personal laptop and a business laptop and whose business policies disallow the downloading of personal applications on business devices.

With Phoenix Flip, such a user could have a single laptop configured with two virtual desktops,one for personal use and one for business use,and could go between the two as needed.

VMware, the leading virtualization software vendor,is planning to release technology that allows a single mobile phone to be configured with multiple virtual mobile phones which users could access for personal or business use.

HP declined to discuss specific plans for the Phoenix virtualization technologies.
For Phoenix,the sale of its virtualization technologies to HP is the latest in a number of divestitures of non-core technologies as part of a plan to return to its focus on BIOS and core system development.

By: Joesph F Kovar, ChannelWeb
 
 
 
 

Fundemental S.Marketing Tools

With the sudden rise of social media tools and services, it can get confusing trying to decipher who is who, and what does what, but what it all comes down to is relationships.

An everyday social media user may not recognize the power of what they are doing. Businesses may also not recognize how they can gain power using social networking as a tool for marketing. Companies around the world are just now learning how to leverage social media for their business.

If you're one of the many businesses looking to integrate social marketing into your business strategy, here's a list of some basic fundamentals you should know first.

It's Not Your Final Answer

Marketers, advertisers, and public relations professionals all agree that social marketing is a great tool for marketing,but that's it-a tool. Social marketing is not the final solution for marketing and advertising, it's simply another channel used to help get the message across. The reason it's raved about so much is it's cost-usually free or cost efficient. It's an easy way to set up a marketing campaign with little to no cost at all. Traditional ways of marketing should still be used. They were successful before and will continue to be,but integrating social marketing is a great way to expand your reach, your audience,and find potential customers while maintaining your bottom line.

Know Your Terminology

In order for people to take your business seriously,you need to know what you're talking about in terms people can understand. Each social network has unique terminology;Twitter messages are Tweets,Face book uses terms friends and fans, Linked In has connections, and You Tube has subscribers.There are numerous others, but these are just some popular examples.With the majority of users under the age of 30 for most of these sites,learning to speak a common lingo is an important step in making a connection and building a relationship.

Crucial Conversations

Social media experts agree that the number one benefit of social networking and marketing is the level of interaction and service you can give to your audience. Conversations are no longer one-way. With social marketing applications, you can send your messages and have feedback instantly.More importantly, feedback received is typically more genuine and honest because customers feel more comfortable conversing with sales representatives on applications they enjoy using.

Using Twitter, Face book, You Tube, or any other Web site, marketers easily engage customers and encourage thoughtful exchanges of ideas.You can track everything in real-time, and you get more information about where people are from and what other interests they have online. Expanding your customer base is a seamless process with advanced social networking applications.

Spam Isn't Just in the Can Anymore

We're all familiar with the term, spam, referring to unwanted and unsolicited e-mails. However,the term is also used in reference to messages from companies that are overusing social marketing tools. In addition to getting your message across, you need to constantly engage with those who interact with your business online, whether it's through a personal response on Twitter or a comment on a blog.

Yet,there is a fine line that must not be crossed on the Internet;doing too much or too little can drive people away. Just like people dislike people who talk only about themselves, the same is true when socializing with customers on Web sites. It is important to get your points across without overwhelming your customers.

To make your business' brand noticeable on the Internet,it takes effort, time,and a well-developed strategy to get the rewards and benefits you want.

Just getting your toes warm is not enough of an effort to bring success to your business. Do your research and have a strategy for social marketing. It may seem daunting, but over time, it can bring lasting results.

All Things CRM.com is intended to be a comprehensive resource for business professionals who want to learn more about the benefits that customer relationship management(CRM)can provide to a company.It's our mission to provide the most reliable, up-to-date information about all aspects of the customer relationship management process, including the options available for hosting platforms, automation, software, custom application development, and infrastructures.

From : www.allthingscrm.com

Marketers and online perks

Marketers are incorporating Zynga's Facebook games, including FarmVille, YoVille and Mafia Wars, into campaigns that link product purchases to in-game redemptions.

Last month, General Mills-owned CPG brand Green Giant placed codes on packs of its frozen vegetables that consumers could redeem for Farm Cash, the virtual currency in FarmVille. Microsoft, meanwhile, attracted more Facebook fans by offering Farm Cash in exchange for becoming a fan of its Bing search engine.

Convenience store chain 7-Eleven also began using a redemption code model last month. By purchasing products in 7-Eleven stores, consumers can gain limited-edition virtual goods in the Facebook games. For example, buying a pint of 7-Select ice cream yields a "Neapolitan cow" in FarmVille.

"If you go on Facebook at all, it's hard to miss how big this has all become," said Evan Brody, marketing manager at 7-Eleven. "We were starting to get into the business of selling the game cards, and seeing how the industry grew, we thought this was a good thing to try and pursue."

7-Eleven has tried numerous social networking initiatives recently. These include its "Wake up with a hot Brazilian" advergame for 7-Eleven coffee, and the "Slurpee Nation" rewards program, which also has a code-redemption model. "People are asking, 'How do you know what the ROI is on these social media programs?' and, in this case, we can definitely track directly to sales on our registers," Brody said. "We can compare redemption data to sales data. There's a lot of great information that will come out of this."

Games like FarmVille are changing the conversation about in-game marketing, according to integrated agency Razorfish's 2010 Outlook Report.

"What we like about this movement is [brands are] more engaged with the actions the consumer takes and are getting involved with the currency of the game," said Joe Mele, managing director of media and marketing at the agency.

"In the end, what you want is to have people who are big fans of the game become aware of the promotions," said Augie Ray, senior analyst at Forrester Research.

By Nathan Golia

USPS $382M net loss

The US Postal Service saw a net loss of $382 million in April, bringing its seven-month total net loss for its 2010 fiscal year to $2.26 billion.

The financial results are a slight improvement from its 2009 fiscal year, when the agency saw a net loss of $385 million in April and $2.67 billion in the first seven months of its fiscal year, according to preliminary financial information filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission. USPS executives have predicted a $7 billion net loss for this fiscal year, which runs through September 30.

The financially struggling USPS saw net losses of $381 million in March, and $611 million in February, respectively. The Postal Service ran a net loss of $3.8 billion for its 2009 fiscal year.

By Frank Washkuch

Sprint promotes 4G

Sprint has launched an integrated campaign to promote the June 4 launch of the HTC Evo 4G smartphone. The effort, spearheaded by San Francisco-based agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, also began June 4.  

Sprint's goal is to promote itself as the first national carrier in the US with both a 4G phone and network. The campaign creative will highlight the phone's features and play up Sprint's role as a frontrunner in the mobile space.

The effort will also feature social media, inviting consumers to share their first experiences with 4G, such as their first Tweet. Consumers who are among the first to post their experiences will receive virtual badges.

  By Iris Dorbian

Google's aim

Google is set to move into the living room with a computer operating system that will bring the internet to home televisions.

The company is working with the chipmaker Intel and Sony, the electronics giant, to introduce Google TV this week at a conference for 3,000 Google software developers in San Francisco.

The aim is to get them to create new and innovative applications in the same way that outside developers have created new software programs for smartphones.The system will be based on its Android platform, which was developed 18 months ago for mobile phones. There are already more than 50,000 applications available for Android.

The aim now is to put the web on to televisions via a new generation of television sets and set-top boxes, further blurring the line between home entertainment and computing.

The partners are developing technology that will make it as easy for television users to search the web as for computer users, with access to social networks such as Twitter or Facebook and to movies and TV shows on web video sites such as YouTube or Hulu.com. Some existing televisions and set-top boxes offer access to web content, but the choice of sites is limited.

Google, by embedding its software into televisions, can control internet access on yet another category of devices. By offering its Chrome web browser on the Android system, Google will be able to ensure that its services, especially its search and advertising technologies, will bring in more profits.

Google hopes to connect the service with its nascent TV ad-brokering business, allowing it to target advertisements to individual households based on search and viewing data. The search giant recently invested in Invidi Technologies, a New York-based technology company that is developing "addressable"TV ads. Addressable ads are supposed to target specific viewers, using data from set-top boxes, in the same way that online ads can be directed at web users based on their internet activities.

Intel and Sony are working in partnership with Google in an attempt to find new markets. Intel is contributing a customised version of its Atom chip for the devices. Last week Intel executives said it would be aiming to get its microprocessors into "smart TV" products, which could offer such features as advanced television guides, personal content libraries and search.

Intel's chief executive Paul Otellini predicted that the melding of the internet and the television set would be as big a step change as the move from black and white to colour. "Intel is opening new doors and segments," Tom Kilroy, the company's senior vice-president of sales and marketing, said.

It is thought that Logitech, a specialist electronics peripherals company, is developing a TV remote control device with a tiny keyboard to allow users to enter search terms and use the internet on the television.

Many TV set-makers already offer the internet in some form on integrated systems or through set-top boxes via cable or satellite. Yahoo! has been pushing its Connected TV widgets platform, which gives users access to certain websites such as eBay and Facebook and provides movies and TV shows streamed over the internet. But the market has yet to take off.

Google has been testing the new technology with Dish Network in the United States, which has 14 million subscribers for its satellite TV service. The service being developed integrates the company's programming with a search service, making it easier for consumers to find and watch the shows they want.

Mike Harvey
On 20-May-2010