"Branded widgets are the refrigerator magnets of the digital age" "They hold the message, they're useful, they're cheap," - Richard Garfield

Mr. Garfield's point is a solid one, widgets carry branding and content in an easily distributed package. Many brands love the the large volume of content that can be included in a widget. Other brands love the organic ways widgets can be seeded and distributed through social networks. In either case, the widget retains its branded message while its placements spread virally through the digital community.

Affordable to create, at their core, widgets are small applications that can travel with branded content. The literal forefathers of the digital mashup, widgets are difficult to define precisely because they can take on nearly any shape, size or functionality. VM Foundry typically builds web widgets in Flash and Flex, using AS3 and converts desktop versions using Adobe Air.

What does a widget do?

Jim and I recently attended Super Bowl XLIV in South Florida. The NFL is a client of VM Foundry and we were happy to take part. We all think of the Super Bowl as the biggest football game in the world but it is also one of the largest marketing events of the year. Most people recognize the sports marketing angle of the game but may miss out on the leisure travel aspects. Physically attending the event provided a unique perspective into the powerful tourism opportunities generated by the Super Bowl and similar sporting events. It was immediately apparent that the bulk of attendees were not from the nearby area, but rather had traveled long distances and were making serious investments to attend.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal reported a number of findings which I found stunning:

Today, Michael Miller and I had the opportunity to speak at @UT's Social Media presentation and give a developer's perspective on Facebook's multiple integration points. It is through efforts like this that the University of Texas continues to lead the way with it's presence in the ever-changing social media landscape.

At the same time Jim was delivering this same presentation in New York. A main concept behind these talks is that professional communicators must understand the opportunities and risks associated with a changing Facebook platform. This is a balance of understanding the strengths of current integration points and knowing what Facebook plans for that functionality in the future. Integration points covered in the presentation were:

• Tabs
• Boxes
• Apps/Canvas Pages
• Connect Sites

Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to learn more about how Facebook, or any other social media effort, can help facilitate your business' goals.

(Sorry for the bad phone picture)

Are you still using Internet Explorer 6? Please upgrade. Even the industry giant, Google, has begun phasing out support for IE6. In an statement released January 29 Google said:

The web has evolved in the last ten years, from simple text pages to rich, interactive applications including video and voice. Unfortunately, very old browsers cannot run many of these new features effectively. So to help ensure your business can use the latest, most advanced web apps, we encourage you to update your browsers as soon as possible. ...
Many other companies have already stopped supporting older browsers like Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers. We’re also going to begin phasing out our support, starting with Google Docs and Google Sites.

So, please do yourself a favor and upgrade today. You'll be surprised at how much nicer the world wide web is. Personally, I'm blown away with how fast Google Chrome is, but here is a list of other browsers you can use too:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0+

Mozilla Firefox 3.0+

Google Chrome 4.0+

Safari 3.0+


*Special Thanks to Teresa Watts for the Image.

VM Foundry Analytics AE Van Tran gets a personal lesson in hitting your target from Texas Governor Rick Perry.

If you would like to know more about targeted content please contact Caleb Eubanks (ceubanks@vmfoundry.com) to schedule an online demo.

2009 is rapidly fading into our review mirror and 2010 is just over the horizon. So what do we see when we take stock of our work with our clients over this past year?

In a word: Success.

In a bulleted list:

• Architected, designed and developed multiple custom CMS-based websites to make editing, updating and controlling of content a snap.
• Leveraged the open-source CMS tools provided by WordPress and Drupal for customized installations and integration with numerous websites.
• Worked with third-party CRM platforms — including Salesforce — using single-sign-on solutions to build idea sites that move customers to participate.
• Expanded our clients’ reach from their base website domain to social media networks using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and more.
• Continued to extend our clients’ reach through the use of widgets and other shareable forms of media — including newsletters and email campaigns.
• Conducted seemingly countless digital outreach efforts to engage users and influencers in conversations about several leading brands.
• Scripted, filmed and edited viral videos and handled the video integration throughout multiple websites.
• Created detailed analysis reports on virtually every project we worked on using Google Analytics or Omniture reporting tools.
• Developed strategic plans and ran multiple SEO/SEM campaigns to drive traffic and reduce online marketing costs.
• Integrated the Smart Content application into many of our clients’ websites to decrease bounce rates and increase click-throughs and conversions.

As we look forward to 2010, we hope to continue to drive success with and for our clients. And if you weren’t with us these past 12 months, hopefully you’ll join us this new year.

Cheers!

Most VM Foundry projects are integrated with either Google Analytics or Omniture for statistics. We're always seeking to understand:

1. How our clients' website visitors are getting to their site (e.g. Search Engines or Links from Other Sites)
2. What content is popular and what content (not always the same) is leading to conversions
3. What interaction are driving conversions
4. Where are we losing people

This can be very useful for the marketer who wants to stay on top of certain measurements or data points but does not want to be constantly checking reports. If you're a client who already uses Google Analytics, just log into your account and look at the top left of the sidebar navigation. Play around with it and let us know if you have any questions.

We recently did a training event for a client where we walked through our Digital Project Management approach. This was a great refresh for the client and it made me want to post the basic outline for all our clients to review again.

1. Brief
2. Contract & Timeline
3. Kick-Off Meeting
4. Architecture Strategy
5. Wireframes
6. Designs
7. Programming
8. Testing & QA
9. Launch
10. Management & Measurement

The best thing about our approach is that it is simple and it includes the mandatories with no extra weight. If you're interested in getting the full refresh let us know.

Aaron Shapiro has a timely article here on brands owning their own media and content. I agree that as traditional digital advertising such as banners decline in performance, brands are better off to engage customers through search, social networks and their own content or functionality driven sites. Shapiro's full article is worth reading.

Working with the great team at Cohn & Wolfe, we recently designed, developed and launched the Facebook Fan page for the regional restaurant chain, Corner Bakery Cafe. Check it out here. The page houses evergreen content including cafe and catering menus and seasonal content based upon in-store promotions and featured menu items.

Corner Bakery Cafe’s Facebook success of gaining more than 4,000 fans as well as over 500 page interactions can be attributed to Corner Bakery Cafe’s promotion of the page in-stores and to the development of interactive questions posed to fans.

In order to promote Corner Bakery Cafe’s use of local tomatoes and display their support of community gardens, VM Foundry worked with the Cohn & Wolfe team in launching a promotion that encouraged fans to interact with the page and post how they were “Staying Local” this summer. As a reward for their interaction and to build further brand loyalty, a small product incentive was provided to users who interacted. The Stay Local promotion has resulted more than 400 fans interacting with Corner Bakery Cafe.