Happy Holidays from Axiom, See You in 2011!

The holidays are upon us, and Axiom will be closing its doors until 2011. It's been a great year for Daily Axioms, and I fully expect 2011 to be the same. So, even though I know I said last week was the last video post, here's a special holiday greeting to all of you on behalf of Axiom and we'll see you in the new year!

Coke's Android-vertising

One of the things that I love about Android devices is the Live Wallpaper feature. However, but because my phone doesn't support that particular feature, I'm left to envying those that have those animated wallpapers (playing with the display devices at Best Buy).

Well, now Coke has taken advantage of Android's popular Live Wallpapers by releasing a holiday-themed Live Wallpaper of their own. The wallpaper, like all Live Wallpapers, responds to touch and movement. In this case, if you tilt your phone, it'll send a man in a shopping cart rolling across the screen. Also, if you shake your phone it will start to snow, essentially turning your phone into a snowglobe.

It's a neat idea, mostly because it's fun and well-timed with the holidays. However, I'm not sure we'll see this become a trend with other companies, because Coke has one big advantage over most other companies: cultural icon status. 

What I mean by that is that Coke doesn't just have strong brand awareness and recognition, but that the brand has extended beyond the levels achieved by most companies and has become a cultural symbol. That's why it's nice to see Coke take advantage of their status and venture into this new form of advertising.

The Lesson Any Company Can Learn from Mint.com

Mint.com has quickly become the premier financial management app for keeping track of accounts across multiple banks. And today, Mint.com announced they are partnering with educational publisher Scholastic to launch a free, online curriculum aimed at educating high school students about personal finance.

But this post isn't about fiscal responsibility (I'm by no means an expert on that subject), but rather the idea of taking on that educator role. This program is a good idea for two reasons.

1. Mint.com is directly speaking to a large age demographic (high school kids) that doesn't typically use finance-management tools. However, many high school kids have smartphones, which makes them a potential user base and a growth opportunity for Mint.com.
2. Mint.com is taking efforts to establish itself as a thought leader in both the finance and mobile industries.

That second point is the primary takeaway that we can all keep in mind. Mint.com is by far the most popular app of its kind, so in many ways it doesn't need to educate a mobile user base that typically doesn't even use their product. However, by doing so they are better positioning their brand in the public arena.

Facebook Friday: Update Oopsie Reveals Future of Facebook

The blogosphere was in a frenzy yesterday with the unceremonious and unexpected launch of Facebook's new features. There was just one slight problem...

The update wasn't supposed to happen.

Unfortunately, the new features were gone as quickly as they came, leaving the social media news giants scrambling to piece together what some off the changes were. Based on user comments and screenshots, a few things start to emerge:

• The new Pages layout, which was revealed last week, is still set happen along with the ability to switch accounts at the click of a button.
• There's a new RSS feed-like feature called "Outside World" to filter news outside of Facebook.
• There's also a new "Memories" feature that is apparently a snapshot of status updates and new friends from previous years.
• Photos are also getting upgraded with a Lightbox UI to better display photos. This feature has been alluded to before (back when Facebook upgraded its photo resolution capabilities).

Of course, because this was an accidental launch, well have no idea if/when these changes will officially take place.

But what we do know is that the old adage of "give them an inch and they'll take a mile" still rings true, because that accidental inch Facebook slipped up on has led to miles of content and speculation for blogs and news sites across the web.

Video Post: Social Media's Impact on News in 2010

For the final Daily Axioms video post of 2010, I look back at the a couple of the biggest news stories from this year and the role social media played in how we as a society viewed them. From the Winter Olympics to the Chilean miners' rescue, it was a big year in the headlines and social media had a definite influence.

What I Learned from the Science of Blogging Seminar

Last week, Hubspot's Dan Zarrella (@danzarrella) held a webinar called The Science of Blogging based on his research into blogger and blog reader habits. It was a great seminar with some eye-opening points, and if you didn't get a chance to check it out, here are some of the main takeaways.

• Analysis of 170,000+ blog posts show that links about videos get more hits than photo links. 
• However, photo links get more comments than video links. 

• Incentivizing commenting by the audience tends to work, because the word "giveaway" gets by far the most comments.

• Something to keep in mind when sharing blog posts on Facebook: As the reading level required for a Facebook post goes up, the chance it gets shared goes down significantly.

• Most blog views and links happen early in the week, but blog comments and retweets happen later in the week.
• Blog articles posted around 10am tend to get the most amount of views.
• Most re-tweets happen between 2pm and 5pm.

With the hundreds of thousands of blogs out there, obviously bloggers have to keep the best practices in mind if they are going to set themselves apart from the rest.

Buying the Cow When You Get the Milk for Free

Who wants to buy the cow when they get the milk for free?

Apparently I do, because I recently upgraded my Evernote account to premium, officially taking my first step into the cow-buying-after-free-milk-getting realm of online startups.

That got me thinking about the whole idea of monetization of online services in an increasingly accessible world. With so many mobile apps and networks out there, companies have to ask themselves more and more if and what to charge for their services.

On one hand, having a free service means there's no risk for people curious to try it out. And the more people you have actually trying the service, the better the chance that they'll adopt it for the long-term. But on the other hand, free services have a harder time making money. Sure, you can sell ad space, but you run the risk of diluting the experience for the user and losing that adoption rate.

I remember seeing a study back in July that showed the percentage of people who would be willing to pay for Twitter should they stop offering the service for free: 0%. I know we're dealing with some complex statistics here, so I'll break those numbers down: Nobody is willing to pay for Twitter.

Sarcasm aside, that study did provide an important lesson for startups. Given the same features and relatively same user experience, users are not willing to start paying for a service they already had access to for free.

That's why I like this emerging trend of the freemium service, where a startup offers a basic version of their service for free but has upgradeable options. There was an article recently about Evernote's freemium business model and how the free note-taking service is now a $10 million dollar business.

For developers and investors, stories like this are great because it shows there is indeed a market for online services, even if they're offered for free. For consumers, it's great because that means we should continue to see innovative services.

The biggest takeaway from all of this is that if people really like the milk, they'll be willing to buy the cow either way.

PR Curators for the Digital Age

Do you like Axiom's new tagline? No, it's not official, but it points to the direction we want to go as an organization. What we want to do is make it easy for our clients and partners to evaluate new media options. And there are plenty out there. New iPad apps, Android apps, and new automated curation tools like Flipboard.

We need to be ahead of our clients when it comes to social media. Steve and Heidi probably won't agree, but I tend to think FaceBook and Twitter may be gone in a few years as they grow beyond their original intent, to be replaced with something new. But the main point is that we can't be satisfied as a company simply offering the same, safe strategies and tactics that have been used in the past.

Upwards of 50 million tablets will be in the hands of consumers in a few short years. We need to make sure our clients are integrated into that platform, much like they have been in newspapers and magazines. What comes after that is anyone's guess, but I hope we'll still be here talking about it.

Video Post: Axiom at Feed My Starving Children

Right before Thanksgiving, I talked about the entire office here at Axiom spending the afternoon volunteering at Feed My Starving Children. It was a fantastic experience and the consensus is that we will definitely be doing it again at some point. And in true Axiom style, Dave Sniadak put together a great little video about our time there.

Don't Worry, Be HAPPO

HAPPO (Help a PR Professional Out) has been gaining a lot of steam over the last few months with its mission of connecting PR professionals with job and internship opportunities through its blogs, LinkedIn account, and Twitter stream.

Founded by Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon, HAPPO is led by 35 PR industry leaders from across the country looking to make a difference and offer their expertise and knowledge.

For instance, tonight from 8pm-9pm, HAPPO will be hosting a free Twitter chat (under the #HAPPO hashtag) that is open to anyone and everyone, including those looking for a job, those looking to hire or those just looking to provide advice or words of encouragement for job-seekers.

The theme for the chat is New Year’s Resolutions for PR Job Seekers–How to land a job in 2011. A wide range of topics will be discussed, with everything from job-seeking tips to resume-building and interviewing advice making it into the mix. 

Even if you're lucky enough to already have a PR job, there's obviously enough being discussed at the #HAPPO chat to make it more than worth your while.

For more information, Valerie Simon covered all of the event details in this National Public Relations Examiner post.

Tumbling Down the Rabbit Hole

Remember the surreal feelings of despair and confusion whenever Facebook or Twitter were down?

Well, many users of the popular blogging service Tumblr went through that same social media melancholy after the site suffered a crippling blow and was down for over 24 hours (practically an eternity in Internet time).

Okay, I admit that may be a bit overdramatic. But the fact is that Tumblr was down for an inordinate amount of time and a lot of people took notice.

It seems that Tumblr may have been a victim of its own success, with the company stating it was heavy traffic that caused the meltdown. In some ways it's a good problem to have because it means you're growing, but there needs to be a solid infrastructure to support that growth.

Unfortunately for Tumblr, the wake-up call for those infrastructure repairs and growth support down the road have come at the cost of a lot of angry tweets and Facebook posts and a fairly substantial image backlash.

Were you affected by Tumblr's downtime? And do instances like this change the way you view different sites and networks?

Google's Billions Don't Sway Groupon

The rumor mill was churning last week, with most of the focus on Google's potential buyout of social buying site Groupon.

The blogosphere was buzzing with articles and posts pondering the impact the move would have and what it would mean for Groupon. However, all of the prognosticating and predictions were for nothing with the news over the weekend that Groupon turned down Google's $5.3 billion offer.

A lot of people couldn't comprehend Groupon's decision to turn down $5.3 billion for a startup reportedly bringing in $500 million annually. Financially, it's a valid argument...unless those earnings figures are wrong (and luckily for Groupon, they are). There have been reports coming out recently that Groupon is actually making $2 billion annually.

There are arguments to be made about possible non-monetary reasons behind Groupon saying no to Google, but I honestly think that this was simply Google making what would have been a nice offer for a company that was doing well (but not spectacular). Unfortunately for Google, the earnings numbers they probably based their offer on were off and Groupon is obviously looking to greener pastures.

Microsoft Shows No Dis-Kinect with Consumers

Way back in June, I questioned whether or not the gaming industry was on its deathbed after being pushed further and further into anonymity with the rise of smarthphones and social gaming.

In that post, I noted that Microsoft was going to unveil its controller-free game system at the E3 Conference. And while I didn't say how I felt about Microsoft's controller-free approach in the article, to be honest I felt it was fairly gimmicky.

Boy, was I wrong. Microsoft has announced that its Kinect system has sold 2.5-million units in the 25 days since its public launch. To put that number in perspective, the iPad (you know, the device that has been called the fastest-selling device of all time), took twice as long to surpass the 2 million mark.

In my opinion, their success boils down to two things. One, the much-lower price point compared to the iPad is always conducive to higher sales. Secondly, Microsoft has been very upfront with their support for developers hacking their Kinect for other purposes.

It was an ingenious move on Microsoft's part, because people have pondered the potential outside of gaming, and dreamed of Minority Report-like computer navigation and web-browsing since the system's unveiling.

I don't believe the Kinect will kill off the Nintendo Wii, although I wonder what effect it will have on the Playstation Move's sales. However, the public has obviously latched on to the idea of controller-free gaming and the Kinect's success should boost a struggling gaming industry.

Video Post: State of E-Reader Report

With the holiday shopping season in full swing and rumors of an upcoming e-bookstore from Google, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the current e-reader market to see what options are out there. Tablets also get looked at, on the heels of a recent report on the iPad's impact on the e-reader market.

The 140-Character Future of RSS Feeds

I admit it. I was a bit late to the Twitter party, just getting into the tweeting game a few months ago. And although I've fully embraced it now, it took me a month or so to figure out how to get the most out of it.

Starting out, I (like many others) used Twitter as a sort of RSS feed for news or sports. Apparently, the discussion forum Quora has latched on to the idea as well. Since it's early days, Quora has allowed users to follow topics on the site to view new or edited questions relevant to them as they appear.

But now, Quora has created Twitter accounts for nearly all of their topics. There are accounts for very broad topics like "social media" (@q_socialmedia) or "science" (@q_science) and brand specific accounts like "Nikon" (@q_nikon). If you already have a Quora account, the accounts for the topics you follow show up here.

Now it's not exactly a true Twitter account, because the @QuoraQuestions account tweets out any questions and, if the question is about the topic you subscribe to, retweets it to the topic-specific feed.

It may be a modified Twitter account or it may be a new form of RSS feed, but either way it's still an intriguing method of sending out data and good for Quora users who spend way more time on Twitter than in their email inboxes.