Archives for Business
The Demise of Stock Photography
Access to cheap images has improved dramatically with the rise of the web, and consequently, the web (and marketing in general) has become cluttered with low-quality images. How'd this happen?
B2B iPAD Apps: Trends and Tips for Successful Projects
I’ve been impressed with how many CEOs, CMOs and CIOs became early adopters of the iPad. Here are some things I am hearing from the C-Suite: I use the iPad for remote desktop access. It is lighter and has better battery life than a notebook. We are designing product demos on tablet computers for our sales staff to [...]
How to Target the Gluten-Free Customer
Some people eat to live, while others live to eat. I fall into the latter category, so naturally the switch to a gluten-free diet was a difficult transition for me. After struggling with stomach aches for years, a holistic doctor finally diagnosed me with gluten intolerance. Although this diet restriction presents a few challenges when [...]
The Tao of Pop Art: Part Two
Surviving Innovation: Development Strategies for Emerging Technology When I arrived at Pop Art in April, the team was hard at work on a campaign for the Oregon State Lottery. Megamillionizer.com is unique – a 3D interactive experience that combines augmented reality, community participation and social sharing to create awareness and engagement for the Lottery’s newest game, MegaMillions®. The campaign [...]
A Few Lessons Learned from Food Bloggers – Part 1
If you know a thing or two about me, you probably know that I am a culinary junkie. I spend a huge amount of my time reading about food, watching food-related videos and shows, walking around kitchen stores, and as you probably guessed, I do my share of cooking and eating as well. So when clients [...]
How My Favorite Places Use Social Media, or Should
As a newbie to Portland, I have truly enjoyed discovering all that this great city has to offer. There are many ways to learn about local restaurants, activities, events, and volunteer opportunities. In addition to suggestions from coworkers, neighbors, and friends, I have used social media to discover new places and to stay up-do-date with [...]
Practice Constructive Conflict = Have a Better Life
Throughout life each of us develops a personal repertoire of responses to conflict. These responses don’t get much of our attention because we develop them over a lifetime and ultimately we take them for granted, much like our emotional responses. But just as we feel various emotions on a daily basis, we also encounter conflicts in all areas of our lives each and every day.
Be Creative and Collaborative with “Yes, and…”
Accepting an offer is usually accompanied by adding a new offer, often building on the earlier one. This is a process improvisers refer to as "Yes, And..." and is considered the cornerstone of improvisational technique. Every new piece of information added helps the improvisers to refine their characters and progress the action of the scene
iPhones are now “Officialy uncool”: Why I bought one, why I love it, predictions on Android v. iOS
Author’s note: I activated my new iPhone4 this week. Why I needed a new iPhone: My Microsoft Windows Smart Phone was over 3 years old, and I desperately needed a new one. I wanted to quickly surf the Net from any location. Lots of girls only date guys with iPhones – the iPhone shows that you are both smart and [...]
QR! What is it good for?
Absolutely Something. Here at Pop Art, we like to embrace emerging technologies (Dave Selden is currently the world’s only Beenz millionaire). So with that in mind, we’re about to debut new business cards for all of Pop Art’s staff, with a very useful twist- QR codes. QR Codes are popping up everywhere, with the intent of bridging the physical ”meatspace” with the [...]
Augmented Reality Promotion for the Oregon Lottery
To build buzz and excitement around the new Mega Millions® product, Pop Art and the Oregon Lottery® teamed up to create an experience that allows users to envision what their lives would be like should they win a Mega Millions jackpot. This program leverages Augmented Reality technology to allow users to create a unique, virtual [...]
The Tao of Pop Art
Living Small: A Four Part Series Part One: Introduction I am Chris Cortez, the new Director of Software Development for Pop Art. I moved to Portland six weeks ago with my wife and two daughters from Austin, Texas, where I was Director of Technology for the interactive agency Schematic. I am writing this initial blog series to [...]
Humanize Technology or Become Mechanized?
An interesting question in these technologically driven times. The title of this post sums up the “big take away” from the recent Web Visions 2010 conference. Leave it to Portland, Oregon to put on a mind bending technology palooza of trends, implications and applications. Brad Smith’s brain child, the event celebrated its 10th anniversary this [...]
Dear Shippers: More Data, Please
I recently had a very frustrating experience with a national shipping company whose names rhymes with Ped Rex. Short version: I shipped a package with some very valuable contents ($1750) to Chicago for Monday delivery. I dropped the package off on Saturday morning, and I was already a little miffed when I had to pay [...]
Trip Reports: Best Practices, including the need for Dual Avatars
I’m sorry it has taken me so long for me to post my photos on Facebook and to create my trip reports from my vacation three weeks ago. The good news is that my personal photos from the trip are now published on Facebook; I have posted some restaurant and hotel reviews on TripAdvisor; [...]
Insights into Consumer Psychology: Help! I Can’t Decide Which Computer To Buy
I want to buy laptop or netbook ASAP. I have been researching for months. I want something lightweight and inexpensive. Here’s my short list: Do nothing. keep using my good old Dell Latitude 410 with the awesome, new 9-cell battery I bought myself for the new year. Go buy an iPad $500 – $1,000. Buy an Acer netbook [...]
Top 5 Office Pranks in Pop Art History
We work pretty hard at Pop Art. There are late nights, and there are late nights. Booze sometimes takes the edge off, but where to turn when sobriety is your only friend, and there’s stress you need to relieve? Laughter is the best medicine, and it’s best enjoyed at a co-worker’s expense. 5. Jello Stapler VP of Client [...]
Geolocation; localized content hits home
The online user experience is becoming more localized and we expect to see major growth in the coming years as AT&T, Google, Yelp, Foursquare and others get into the action. We already have geo-targeted ads, segmented content and social search serving content in a more personalized way. But now, we are seeing the emergence of [...]
Web Analytics
Marketers have always used analytics to measure consumer behavior and ROI. However, we now have more insight than ever before thanks to the internet’s ability to offer limitless measurement and analysis opportunity. The web analytics industry which had been fledgling in past years, now takes center stage in today’s global market place. There are several [...]
2010 and Beyond; Beam-Up Your Brand
Lisa Skube & Timothy Deal Most of us were reeling over the transition from the 20th to 21st century. Accelerating at the speed of fiber optics, here comes a new decade. If the last ten years are any indication of the web’s impact on the world, what lies ahead promises to take all of that to [...]
Help yourself by managing up
If you have ever felt at odds with your manager or like you just are not reading from the same page, you might consider developing the skill of “managing up.”
Great Clients make for Great Campaigns
A friend once told me that behind every great campaign is a great client. Of course, what they meant was that a client who trusts you take their brand in new directions will likely be a collaborator in the creative process. This could not have been truer than in the case of the latest online [...]
Did You Really Think This Was a Good Idea?
Technology that Failed, and Hard Since man first used a stick to dig under some roots and accidentally caused a tree to fall on him, humans have been doing stupid things with technology. Since the invention of the microprocessor and instant mass media, this has only become that much easier. Thankfully 2009 is gone, and with it one [...]
Just Good Food
Like junk food versus a nutritious snack, web content quality is the stuff that either fuels your brand to satisfy your audience or puts weight on your brand with little value for the caloric indulgence. Value in this sense meaning optimizing return on your investment whether that effort takes form as an offline advertisement, a new application, [...]
I say potato, you think Vichyssoise. Let’s talk.
In my 10+ years of managing projects, teams and client expectations, I’ve come to the conclusion that the most common threat to the success of relationships and projects is simple lack of communication. Why simple? Because usually the simplest misunderstanding at the outset of an engagement is where it all starts to skid downhill. For example, [...]
