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September 10, 2010

Flash coming soon to iPhones and iPads

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Branding, Buzz marketing, General, Social media

Flash coming soon to iPhoneAfter an antitrust investigation by the FTC and increasing competition from other mobile devices (such as Google’s Android), Apple has “decided” to relax their programming restrictions for third parties.  Even though this sounds voluntary, Apple was certainly under pressure to comply.

So what does this mean?  Essentially Adobe is now resuming its work on developing a version of Flash technology suitable for the iPhone and iPad devices.  It had put those efforts on hold back in April when Apple placed severe restrictions on third party applications.  This should come as good news for Apple users.  Having additional functionality, such as Flash, will help to stay competitive in the rapidly changing space.  As an iPhone user, why should I be limited because of a personal grudge between two CEOs?  Get over it Jobs… let’s move on!

Downstream, this decision will also create new marketing opportunities.  Since Flash applications are currently being utilized by ad agencies and media sites, they’ll eventually have the infrastructure to expand these campaigns to mobile devices.  While some devices already support this technology, advertisers generally want to expand their reach without limitations.  While it’s difficult to predict where this will lead, with Apple and Jobs in the mix, it should be an entertaining journey.

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August 19, 2010

Facebook Places positioned to replace foursquare and Yelp

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Branding, Buzz marketing, Social media

Facebook PlacesFacebook has officially joined the GPS, location-based, “check-in” game.  With the announcement of Facebook Places yesterday, users can now share information of their whereabouts as well as connect with nearby friends.  It’ll be interesting to see how this impacts both foursquare and Yelp who are also competing for customers in this location game.

Since Facebook recently surpassed 500,000 users, they clearly have the advantage over competing services.  It would seem natural that social media enthusiasts are looking for a convergence of all these features – and not have to jump from one platform to another.  Perhaps Facebook should look to acquire foursquare and simply aggregate the existing data and comments into their system?

Location features can create tremendous value for small businesses.  With just a few favorable reviews and recommendations, viral marketing can generate a wave of new customers.  It helps new prospects discover places that they would otherwise never know.

On the other hand, are GPS signals revealing too much information about people?  Is this big brother zooming in on us?  Are we compromising our privacy?

I’ve downloaded the latest Facebook app for the iPhone.  While the Places icon is visible, it doesn’t appear the service is available yet in Buffalo, NY.  We’ll be watching closely!

What are your thoughts?  Will these location features help advance Facebook and small businesses or will this create new privacy and security concerns?   Is Facebook Places sensible?

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August 10, 2010

Steven Slater, don’t spill that beer

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Buzz marketing, General, Social media

Steven Slater, don’t spill that beerIt seems that “former” Jet Blue employee, Steven Slater, shoveled about as much crap as one can take in 20 years in the airline business.  As you’ve probably heard by now, this all escalated to a dramatic reaction by Mr. Slater in response to a non-compliant passenger.  Apparently the passenger failed to listen to the instructions by Mr. Slater to remain seated until the plane completed taxing.  Furthermore, as the passenger retrieved a bag from storage, the luggage struck Mr. Slater in the head.  After an exchange of expletives, Mr. Slater helped himself to a cold beer then jumped down the emergency exit slide to head home for the day.  Wow, that’s going out in style.  It’s similar to Fred Flintstone sliding down the dinosaur after 8 hours of pounding rocks.  It probably felt good.

We’ve all had rough days – where we’ve wanted to take matters into our own hands.  That’s exactly what Steven Slater did.  He was fed up with the nonsense, spoke his mind, grabbed a refreshing beverage, and then stormed out.   Maybe his behavior was extreme, but it seems that many people can relate.  Steven is instantly becoming an internet sensation for his efforts.  His Facebook page already has 50,000 fans.  Clearly people understand his frustration.

Whether you agree with Steven’s reaction or not, most people have witness an irate customer who just doesn’t listen.  They seem to annoy everyone around them.  It’ll be interesting to see how Jet Blue responds to this issue.  While I don’t know the specific details, I must admit, it’s pretty entertaining.  We’ll all be watching to see how much support and money will be raised for Steven.

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August 3, 2010

Market your regional product or service with foursquare

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Branding, Buzz marketing, Social media

foursquare marketingIf you haven’t familiarized yourself with foursquare yet, it may be worth your while.   Foursquare is gaining popularity quickly.  Many businesses are leveraging it to create customer loyalty programs.  It’s GPS integrated features allow people to “check-in” when they are at or near your business.  This allows you to track frequent visitors.  You can structure incentives for your targeted community.   For example, if you run a pizza shop, you can offer a free pizza to the member who “checks-in” the most within a given timeframe (month or week).  If you have a hair salon, you can give a product away for every 10 check-ins.  You can be creative in your offers, but it’s an ideal way to entice potential prospects and reward existing customers.

A powerful feature of foursquare, like most social media platforms, is that it shares information with all of a user’s friends.  This creates instant viral marketing.  If someone checks-into your establishment, everyone in that person’s network will get updates.  It’s like a free plug for your business.  As frequent users strive to collect prizes or discounts, this creates competition between various patrons.  The better the prize, the bigger the interest.  It’s almost like a virtual scavenger hunt.

When you have time, “check-in” to foursquare and see for yourself.  If you have questions or not sure where to start, waveSpawn can help…

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July 14, 2010

Successful branding from George Steinbrenner

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Branding

George SteinbrennerThe passing of George Steinbrenner (The Boss) yesterday has been a sad occasion for many Yankee fans.  Over his 37 years as owner of the New York Yankees, Steinbrenner was able to transform the team from an $8 million MLB franchise in 1973 into a $1.6 billion empire.

The secret to his success is simple:  he was passionate and relentless in his quest to be the best.  He stayed true to that mission in everything he did.  “Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing,” Steinbrenner was fond of saying. “Breathing first, winning next.”  It was this motivation which helped the Yankees to win 7 World Series Championships during his tenure.

In 2001, fresh off four world championships in five years, Steinbrenner launched the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network (YES Network).  This TV channel provides fans with exclusive telecasts of Yankee games and helps to reinforce the Yankee brand.  In 2009, George was instrumental in opening the new Yankee stadium complete with its own ballpark food business.  As a businessman, Steinbrenner was always seeking ways to expand the Yankees reach and appeal.  He was a perfectionist and everything he did supported his desire to win.

The New York Yankees franchise is one of the most recognizable teams in all of professional sports.  They are a marketing powerhouse.  Much of their modern-day success is due to the Boss.  While many people did not agree with Steinbrenner’s harsh approach to business, the legacy he leaves behind is undeniable.  His simple strategy for success translates into any business – be passionate and relentless in your effort to be the best.

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June 23, 2010

Earthquake felt in Buffalo, New York

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : General

Were those tremors at 1:45pm in upstate New York from an Earthquake?  Here in Amherst, NY everything was shaking – not violently, but very noticeably.  The tremors lasted for about 15 seconds.  At first I thought there might be a low flying plane or helicopter, but oddly did not hear any noises.  It was an eerie sensation… just curious if anyone else near Buffalo felt the trembles?  Hopefully the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake  Engineering Research (MCEER), headquartered at  the University at Buffalo has detected this tremor and can provide more data.

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June 11, 2010

How are you establishing brand preference?

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Branding, Buzz marketing, Social media

Brand preferenceBranding, for many companies, is low on their priority list – or perhaps even off the radar screen.  Many businesses simply do not give sufficient focus to their brand initiatives.  How many times have you heard – branding is too intangible or “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”?  Since branding isn’t directly reflected on a company’s balance sheet or financial statements, it’ often overlooked.

The reality is, branding, while difficult to accurately quantify, is a powerful marketing tool that can enable tremendous returns on investment.  Branding is the primary reason consumers are willing to pay triple the price for one product over another.

Executed properly, corporate or product branding creates a perception that targeted prospects and customers gravitate towards.  Perhaps the brand symbolizes an active lifestyle, innovation, caring, luxury, reliability, a company’s policy on environmental issues, etc.  An effective brand evokes a feeling which creates long-term customer loyalty.  It is the result of a clear vision that fits with the overall corporate strategy.

Branding is directly related to the perceived value of a product or company.  While brand awareness is essential for name recognition, strategic awareness occurs when you have differentiated your brand in the mind of your market.  This is often referred to as your unique selling proposition.  This tells the market what you do, and more importantly, how you do it differently or better than your competitors.

To go one step further, establishing brand preference should be the desired outcome of a company’s branding initiatives.  This allows the market to understand what is unique about a particular brand, allows them to emotionally connect to the brand, and creates a bias for selecting that brand over competing brands.

Fortunately, there are many effective marketing and branding strategies to help companies improve their brand visibility.  Social media has opened a vast number of opportunities for businesses of all sizes to rapidly disseminate information, generate buzz, and establish brand recognition.  Social media enables companies to get immediate customer feedback.  Truly listening to your customers and responding to each of them can have a significant impact on the credibility of your brand.

Social media also facilitates an effective means for companies to monitor their brand image.  There are a number of analytical tools which generate valuable reports and statistics.  This is beneficial for a number of reasons – it can create an objective profile of the current landscape.  It also allows you to set benchmarks and measure specific metrics.  These could include the number of times your brand is mentioned, the number of links to your product or site, the number of retweets, etc.

Social media is gaining momentum every day; it is a powerful form of communication that is not going away.  Companies can either watch on the sidelines or actively participate to help establish the communication channels that will drive brand preference.

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May 26, 2010

Facebook aims to simplify privacy settings

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Branding, Social media

Facebook privacyFacebook announced it will simplify their privacy settings for users.  After feeling the pressure from large groups of protestors, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said “We needed to simplify controls…  We want people to be able to share information in the way that they want.”

The newly configured privacy page is intended to be a central dashboard for adjusting all content and privacy settings.  There are streamlined capabilities to monitor and adjust global settings.  In the past, settings for new applications would not adhere to the preset options.  In other words, a user would need to realize that they need to go back to the settings page each time an application was added or information was modified, etc.

Having default settings should be sufficient for the majority of users.  Advanced settings will still be available for those looking for total control over their shared data. “We’ve focused on three things: a single control for your content, more powerful controls for your basic information and an easy control to turn off all applications,” said Zuckerberg.

While heightened privacy control is good news for many avid users, Facebook is battling an interesting dilemma.  Their prime revenue source is from content driven, targeted advertising. By restricting access to 3rd parties, they may be directly limiting their ad revenue growth potential.  This will be curious to see how Facebook is able to work around this hurdle.  Are they able to compromise personal information in any way?  Can they arrange a deal where personal information is exposed to high paying media research agencies?

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May 20, 2010

Twitter is over capacity – again!

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Buzz marketing, Social media

Twitter over capacityI find it peculiar that every morning this week as I logged into Twitter, I was greeted with this same image – a whale being hoisted out of the water by a bunch of tweety birds.  I’ve certainly encountered this image before, but not with the same frequency as this week.  I can only assume that this is a good problem for Twitter.

I must confess, I am not a “power-tweeter”, but I do peck around daily to see what’s happening.  I just found it unusual to get the same “over capacity” message every day this week.  I’m sure avid users have become accustomed to this issue and have a work-around in place.

I can only imagine that Twitter is in the process of beefing up their computing power to meet the growing demands of micro-blogging.  They must be so inundated with tweets that servers are simply melting.  Is anyone else getting this message frequently?  Come on, let it out….

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May 4, 2010

Internet Explorer losing browser share

  • Posted By : Mark Didas/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Branding, Buzz marketing, General

Firefox browser continues to gain market shareAt it’s peak in 2003, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer claimed 95% of the browser market.  According to a recent report from BBC News, that figure is now around 60%.

Latest statistics, from measurement firm NetApplications, show that IE has 59.9% of the market, with Firefox gaining on it, with 24.5%.

While third-place Google Chrome’s 6.7% share of the market looks tiny by comparison it is rising sharply, up from just 1.7% this time last year.

A new version of IE is imminent.

Microsoft has gradually been losing market share, largely due to concerns over security, experts said.

Apple’s Safari browser is also growing due to increased sales of Macs, plus the iPhone, and iPad.  As an avid Firefox user, I am happy to see an increased usage of Mozilla.  Firefox has a great variety of add-ons to customize your browsing experience.  Although I must admit, from a development standpoint, it would be nice to have some commonalities and standards.

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