Vivaldi Partners recently released a study entitled “Social Currency” that looks at why brands need to build and nurture social currency.  Social Currency is one of those sayings your hear tossed around, but no one ever really defines it.  That is one of things that makes the Vivaldi study so interesting.  In the words of Vivaldi’s founder, Erich Joachimsthaler,  Social

More brilliant work from the folks at Nike.   The blending of marketing and entertainment continues&#

Recently Fast Company launched a new feature on their site called Brand Innovator Spotlight.  Written by Brandon Gutman of FOCi Group, the feature is an interview with Brand Marketers who are pushing marketing innovation in their businesses.  In their first two features, they put the spotlight on industry colleagues of mine: Aaaron Magness, head of Brand Marketing at Zappos and

Ever since I worked for Aware Records during college, I have meant to make the pilgrimage to Austin, Texas for the annual South by Southwest Conference.  Ironically, I always thought it would be for SXSW Music but this year I found myself in Austin for SXSW Interactive instead.  It is a probably a sign of my inner geek, but I

At the 2010 DICE Summit, Carnegie Mellon University Professor, Jesse Schell, gave a stellar presentation on how the world of game development is transforming popular culture.  As Jesse states in the presentation, games have “crept out and they are going everywhere.”  My favorite quote on this trend is his explanation of geo-caching:  “Because it’s cooler to go walking in the