Video Post: Companies Like to Show QR IQ

We've seen more and more QR codes popping up all over the place, with most of them allowing users to view websites or more information about a product or brand. And now, a website called Likify generates QR codes that automatically "like" your brand on Facebook. I dive into these codes and more in today's video post.

The Much-Anticipated MySpace Facelift

The Joan Rivers of the Internet, MySpace is continually fighting the online aging process and trying to stay in the social media conversation. Its latest facelift is actually its biggest overhaul to date, with a change both to its look and to the way the site is used.

Visually, MySpace is going with a modern, block look that you'd expect to see with iPad-optimized online magazines. But ascetics aside, there are several new features that are worth getting into:

• Everything but the kitchen sync - No longer wanting to compete directly with Facebook, MySpace has made it very easy for users to sync other accounts to their MySpace profile.
• Entertainment emphasis - MySpace has been trying to establish itself as a music, movies and media hub, and really pushes for that emphasis with the new user interface.
• The power of suggestion - MySpace now boasts a recommendation engine algorithm that provides suggestions based on your other activities.
• MySpace has unlocked the Badge-making Badge! - Keeping current with today's social media trends, MySpace users can unlock various badges and earn different levels of distinction.

With account syncing, profiles and social gaming, it seems MySpace is defining itself as a social network that's not sure it wants to be a social network. It's a confusing brand direction, but one that has raised a few eyebrows and garnered some much needed publicity.

Axiom Wins MarCom Gold

Obviously nobody gets into public relations for the recognition, but that doesn't mean we don't appreciate it when it happens.

And we here at Axiom are proud to announce that we've received a MarCom Gold Award in the MarCom Awards 2010 Competition for our work on a social media campaign that we put together for Country Inns & Suites by Carlson.

The MarCom Awards is an international competition for marketing and communication professionals, administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, recognizing professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of marketing and communication programs and print, visual and audio materials.

The social media campaign, called the 1K Country Adventure, took place throughout the week of June 6-12, and featured three families making their way across the country on a 1,900-mile-mystery road trip from here in Bloomington, Minnesota to College Station, Texas to help celebrate the 500th property to open in the Country Inns & Suites brand.

This campaign was very social media-intensive and relied heavily on the technological support of several partners as the families were guided on their mystery road trip with mobile videos that we produced in-house called Suite Stops (which you can find here). It took a lot of hard work and planning, but we were incredibly pleased with our results, and are honored that AMCP felt the same way and selected us to receive their MarCom Gold Award.

HP's new tablet

I'm a diehard Apple guy (unlike my friend Steve), so HP's new Slate 500 is less than compelling to me. I'm old enough to remember the early Windows-based tablets that never really worked, since the OS was designed for a keyboard and mouse, not a stylus. Now we have the Slate, which is based on the much-better Windows 7 OS, but still was designed for a computer, not a tablet (ie. something you control with your fingers).

I'm sure, like the old Palm Pilot, that developers will design specific apps for it, but at first glance, it looks like general consumers would be better off with a generic Windows laptop. As for me, I'm taking a look at the new Apple MacBook Air, especially the one with the 11-inch screen (I already bought an iPad for the office!)

What sets the iPad and the Mac laptops apart is that their software has been customized for the hardware...it's been this way since 1984 and unfortunately, many Windows devotees just haven't had the opportunity to experience this seamless connection between software and hardware. If you try out an iPad, you'll see it doesn't work like a laptop, because it isn't meant to do the same things. It's primarily designed to consume media like movies, books, magazines and TV shows. Sure you can email and surf the web, but you'll be much happier creating content on a laptop or desktop computer.

As for the Slate, I don't think you'll be happy at all.

One-Third of iPad Owners Are App-less

With Apple's announcement yesterday of the App Store coming to the Mac, most people assumed it would be the move that will push the new Macbooks to unprecedented success when it's launched.

But I'm not so sure, especially after seeing a recent Nielsen report about app-buying habits on the iPad. Shockingly, over 30% of iPad owner have never downloaded an app for their device. The reason this is so surprising is that app support was one of the major selling points behind the device.

Apple should take notice of these statistics, because a third of your users going app-less on a device aimed to be used for apps can't be taken lightly. And while app support is a cool feature and certainly hasn't deterred people from buying iPads, we all may have overestimated the impact of apps on non-smartphone devices.

Additionally, there are two main takeaways from this study. One, Apple will have to make sure that apps never become the primary selling point for any of their devices given the high percentage of people who don't utilize them outside of their iPhones.

Secondly, this is good news for iPad's competitors who have been criticized for not supporting apps, because obviously there are a multitude of other reasons why people buy tablets. This means the tablet playing field might be a lot more level than we originally thought.