Break Free of the 140 Character Limit with Twitblogs

Twitter just added a blogging platform that allows you to follow the Twitter format without the 140 character limitation. The new format looks just like the Twitter interface but allows you to add images and videos to your blog sized tweets. Your post headlines will be posted to your regular Twitter account so your followers will see what you're saying.

Mashable's take: "TwitBlogs is simple, efficient, and solves a real problem: we like it. The question is: would you choose the familiarity of a Twitter-like interface over Tumblr, which provides more advanced features and theming, among other goodies?"

How Brands Can Maximize Twitter: An Opinion

Mashable writer made several interesting points about brands on Twitter. The main point is this: Brands would be better served to choose an appropriate person to represent them in the space versus creating an amorphous brand persona acting like a person. Twitter is supposed to be about individuals connecting and sharing with other individuals and if the one-on-one element is lost the platform could slowly melt down.

Store Brand Soda on the Rise or Enjoy Dr. Thunder

One of the few areas that still banks heavily on big brand names is starting to crumble under the weight of the economic downturn. Carbonated soft drinks are usually dominated by name brands but consumers are now reaching for store brand sodas to quench their thirst. The store brand soda segment has been gaining ground over private labels as the year has progressed. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that "Nielsen data on Nov. 1 for the previous four weeks showed private-label carbonated beverages up 6.5 percent in dollar sales. Branded carbonated beverages fell about 1 percent in that same period." The AJC reports that "retailers also are putting a greater emphasis on their store brands" and promoting their private labels more heavily and touting the quality of the products. Mmmm... nothing hits the spot like a cold can of Mountain Yeller! From the AJC

Febreze will be Home for the Holidays

Febreze recently released a new limited edition line just for the holidays. The new varieties include Vanilla Bean, Cranberry & Frost, and Winter Evening & Warmth. To kick off the limited edition push P&G has enlisted Laura Dellutri as spokesperson to play up the value of the line during these tough economic times and launched a sweepstakes to share holiday traditions.

"Given the state of the economy, many people are looking for cost-effective ways to pull off a grand gathering for family and friends this holiday season," Dellutri said in a statement. "Febreze's limited edition scents are offered in a variety of products to help invoke a warm and fresh seasonal atmosphere at home without breaking the bank."

We love Febreze at our house, especially during the winter when the windows are closed and the heat is on. A quick spritz around the house really helps the the house smell fresh. I can't wait to try the limited edition holiday varieties.

From BrandWeek

Have you stumbled upon SumbleUpon?

If you haven't discovered StumbleUpon, now is the perfect time - its a great way to discover all the great content you've been missing in 2008! The site's aim is to help users "Discover your web" and allows users to search the web and make decisions along the way. As you move about the web StumbleUpon leans from your preferences and will bring you similar content. According to Mashable, StumbleUpon has "the unique feature of showing you a random website, anytime, anywhere, and also learns and adapts to your interests, showing you websites specifically tailored to your preferences." So get out there, review your favorite sites and let StumbleUpon do the rest. There's no telling what you'll stumble upon in 2009.

Growth of Organic Foods Suffering from Economic Woes Just Like the Rest of Us

The growth of organic products is slowing and in some cases flat lining due to the troubled economy. The AP reports that "shoppers are having second thoughts about the value of organic foods, particularly fruits, vegetables and meats. But they're not giving up entirely on these products."

Sales continue to rise but not at the same explosive growth rate that the segment experienced during the previous decade. The owner of an organic market in Chicago reported that "the same amount or more of people are coming in, but they're buying less."

That being said, expert still expect that the customer base for organic foods will continue to grow based on the "assumption that prices will drop and mainstream retailers will stock a wider variety of products." That trend is already on the rise and stores like Target and Wal-Mart continue to add their own lines of store-brand organic items. As the economy continues its current funk consumers will continue to avoid higher priced specialty stores and by their organic items from value priced outlets.

A social network for soccer hooligans

Mashable reviewed YouSport - a soccer-centric social networking site focused on building a community of recreational athletes and fans. The beautiful game is making major inroads here in the US of A and this social network is another great step in the right direction. YouSport is a global platform for fans of the game to connect, amateur players and future professional players between 14-19 years old to find games and resources for youth coaches. Now I just need a network for rugby players...

Coupons: Take pride in your savings!

Thanks to the current economic upheaval coupons are back in fashion and are "This Season's Must Have," according to Stuart Elliot of the NY Times. Since consumers are trying any conceivable way to stretch their dollars its no surprise that coupons are booming. There is a new breed of consumer that takes pride in their deal and coupon finding skills. "Thrift is the new normal,” said Lance Saunders, an EVP from Campbell Mithun in Minneapolis. “There’s no stigma to getting anything on discount, instead, there’s a sense of pride.”

Offering coupons during the economic downturn increases trial and purchase for major brand names and can keep them top of mind in the face of the surging popularity of store brands.

Technology is also advancing the coupon's march into the mainstream. Coupons can be accessed by mobile devices and sent directly to cellphones. Advancing technology also allows brands to target consumers and personalize the coupons they receive. A personal coupon increases the brand experience and can cement loyalty... hopefully through this recession and beyond.

Top coupon sites:

coupons.com, couponcabin.com, couponcode.com, couponmom.com, 8coupons.com, fatwallet.com, shortcuts.com

"Critter Carols" are the new "Elf Yourself"

Oddcast and Purina have created "Critter Carols." The new viral holiday promotion allows users to create an animated holiday greeting card using images of their own cats or dogs. Once you upload images of your pets they will bark (or meow) classic holiday tunes like "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bells." Elf Yourself was fun but this is next level cuteness!

Excited to get my run on with DailyMile

Mashable just reviewed the new social network DailyMile - a social training site for runners, triathletes and cyclists. There are lots of cool features - coolest by far is the "Motivation" feature that allows you to send a short motivational note to your training buddies. Athletes can sign-up for races, share workouts, and meet participants in your area. The site tracks your individual miles logged, average mile time and total participant miles logged - so far users have run over 108,000 miles. DailyMile has a Twitter vibe and even links to Twitter so you can auto-post your updates. I can't wait to see my miles total grow!

Since DailyMile is currently in private beta Mashable shared an invite code if you want to try it out - use the code ‘mashable’.

Lessons to be learned from the demise of Pownce

Pownce - a Twitter rival - was just absorbed by Six Apart but there are several key lessons the social network world can takeaway from their demise. (From Mashable)

1. Less is sometimes more - Pownce made adding groups, file sharing and other popular features easy to use without "cluttering the service."


2. Being a more reliable option doesn't make your service popular - despite Twitters frequent down times and technical difficulties Pownce wasn't a strong enough name to pull consumers away.


3. If you come late to the party, you'd better make a big entrance - "If you’re not first to the game, but perhaps second or third, you need to do your research very thoroughly; sometimes being bigger, better and faster than the competitors simply won’t do."

The main takeaway from me is that brand recognition and top of mind awareness still trump better service and social networking options. Consumers will stick with what they know despite better platforms out there - the onus is on would-be competitors to create the best product possible. At least for now, Twitter is still the king.

Brand X set to make its mark in 2009

USA Today's Ad Tracks report that store brand products are poised to make 2009 "a tough year for big brand-name consumer product makers, whose pricey ad budgets make up part of their labels' higher cost. Here are some unsettling stats:

• 72% of U.S. consumers say private-label brands are a "good alternative" to name brands


• Private-label quality was called "as good as" name brands by 62%


• For the 52 weeks ended Sept. 27, private-label goods already were up 10.2% from the previous year, for total U.S. sales of $81 billion

Cyber Monday, Cyber Monday... Can't trust that day!

Cyber Monday deals that seem too-good-to-be-true probably are! USA Today reports that "a wobbly economy, combined with a consumer thirst for too-good-to-be-true bargains, has motivated cybercrooks to unleash a torrent of spam, phishing scams and malicious software." Beware how you are going to spend your portion of the estimated $821 million consumers will drop today!

US Hair Care Market Needs More Volume, Body

Apparenly, according to the WSJ and Axe, I'm the only one that thinks my hair looks good! Axe (Unilever) has released a new line of shampoos, conditioner and styling products that have been designed to give me "Girl Approved Hair." Gillette (P&G) also released a new line of hair products for guys. This intense competition seems a little manufactured in the face of the souring economy. After all, when push comes to shove, despite the fact that "men's styling has without doubt become more exciting," dudes will end up using the original "girl approved" shampoo and conditioner - the ones they buy for themselves and we sneak when they aren't looking.

Shop... Shop like there's no tomorrow!

The holiday buying season kicked off with a bang this Black Friday. The deals were plentiful, the discounts were deep and consumers heeded the siren's call. What happens from now until the end of the month, however, will be the real indicator of the strangle hold the economic downturn has on consumer's wallets. The Wall Street Journal reports that, "Although unprecedented discounts lured shoppers into stores, momentum ebbed Saturday, raising concerns that shoppers were merely exploiting the "door-buster" deals and then walking out of stores." Lets all do our part to keep the sales volume up and get as many BOGO sweaters as possible!

Defining moments

A very trusted source for inspired leadership recently said that these troubled times will serve as a source of defining moments for those that live through them. I can think of no better way to describe current events in the world and my family's life. What I do over the next few days, weeks and months will serve as an important line in the definition of my life. Stay tuned and get ready for insights into the media and the occasional laugh.