I love this use of mobile, online advertising and a social networking platform: Note that this uses the Facebook PLATFORM by integrating with the user’s Facebook profile instead of simply slapping an autonomous banner ad on a webpage.

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=59579&d=254&h=260&f=3

“Mars is working with Facebook to launch “Celebrate,” a new service that will enable users to buy Mars gifts that can be redeemed at participating stores through the use of a scanable, unique mobile voucher ID. A user on the Celebrate application will be able to select, for example, a virtual box of Maltesers and send it to a friend on Facebook. When this message is opened, the user will be asked to enter his or her mobile number and an SMS barcode will be sent. That user can then go into a participating store, pick up a box of Maltesers, have the mobile code scanned and then leave with the goods.”

Independent of the specifics of the mobile mechanic, I’m equally excited about the overall story/experience: What appears to be a simple banner ad on a webpage is actually a little widget that can recognize a unique user; identify all the user’s “buddies”; send custom messages to each “buddy”; which then find their way onto a mobile device and ultimately lead each buddy into a store to purchase something. (If it’s not a coupon, perhaps it’s a simple SMS/content exchange or call-to-action or a recipe for a cheesecake (created by friends) and directions to the store to pick it up!) This is using the social networking platform to go beyond 1:1 advertising and take advantage of the idea that a social network is the digital reflection of our “real world physical relationships.” It sounds like fruity science fiction talk, I know, I know.

It looks like I will be speaking on a panel with experts from Adobe, Google and Global Strategies at South By Southwest in March; I’m very excited. We will be discussing the ideas and strategies for making interactive content “findable.” In addition to search engine optimization (and search marketing) techniques, we will also share thoughts around other ways for an audience to “find” digital work. Video and Flash have specific considerations for implementing SEO. Meanwhile, SEO and other technical tricks are not so effective for a short-lived marketing campaign; so what can we do to make our work findable? This is a huge topic for me these days…..so I’ve got a lot to say! I will be presenting some recent work and discussing the “findable” strategies behind it. It’s gonna be cool and informative, so please come by!

Creating Findable Rich Media Content – Rich media content is rapidly becoming one of the most effective ways to engage audiences around the world. However, to engage them, audiences must first be able to find the content to see the value in these experiences. Crowded with other media fighting for their attention, making your online material stand out can be quite a challenge.

Attend this engaging panel of experts as they discuss their challenges and share successful approaches to making content stand out. Each panelist will share a project and discuss the challenges and successes behind making it discoverable. Topics will include, but not be limited to:

. The rise of rich media and the future of search
. Challenges behind depending only on SEO
. Deploying additional “find” strategies for shorter-life content
. Optimizing metadata
. How metadata affects search engine placement strategies

Who
* Richard Galvan, Adobe
* Bill Hunt, Global Strategies
* Todd Nemet, Google
* Peter Cole, AQKA

Well I’m having a blast playing with the Ebay APIs – nothing too fancy, I’m just trying to put together an affiliate site for music and pro audio gear (my “other” love).  In addition to learning all about the various Ebay APIs, properties, protocols, etc,  and getting to play with PHP (which I always love), the whole exercise has really beefed up my CSS chops! I was getting rusty, you know. Probably the most exciting part is all the research I’m doing on SEO (search engine optimization) and online marketing strategy. The whole business side is extremely interesting.

Although I still have work to do, you can check my progress at http://www.proaudiobargains.com/. Plan on me mentioning this URL a bit in the coming weeks