Posts tagged social media
Honda, small claims and social media
Feb 6th
by Monica Goyal
Rather than accept the $100-200 settlement offered from a class action suit against Honda, Heather Peters decided to sue Honda in Small Claims Court for $10,000.
Monica Goyal
She claims that the Honda Civic Hybrid she purchased did not achieve the full 50 miles per gallon that was advertised. Instead, it got more like 30 miles per gallon – and she’s not alone. Hundreds of other Honda owners are making similar claims. There are several things that make this case quite interesting:
- This case has totally gone viral. Peters has been featured on CNN and Fox News, and in the Washington Post and New York Times. She has been discussed on Twitter and has generated a lot of bad publicity for Honda. How did she do it, by leveraging the Internet, visit her site Dontsettlewithhonda.org, and social media.
Putting your assumptions to the test
Jan 25th
By Francis Moran
In our last post, we looked at Screenreach Interactive’s recent inroads in the radio and television industries, including its appearance on Popular U.K. television program The Gadget Show at Radio Festival, Europe’s top radio industry event, and its new “experience” for long-running U.K. current affairs program Dispatches.
Making a splash at major industry events and with high profile clients demands one thing – a compelling product. But a compelling product can’t be developed in a vacuum; it must address a clear market demand. As we have emphasized time and again, marketing and product development must work together from the get go. To quote guest commentator Ronald Weissman, “Great companies constantly test the market, for validation and feedback.” Read the rest of this entry »
Small business confidence deserves closer analysis
Jan 5th
by Shane Schick
When things look bleak, we tend to say that “no news is good news.” When things start looking up, on the other hand, good news is sometimes treated as if it’s not news at all.
Shane Schick, editor-in-chief, IT World Canada
Consider the spate of perfunctory coverage devoted to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) recent Business Barometer Index, which showed more small businesses expressing confidence about their prospects in the months ahead. After some downward trending due to worries about foreign markets, the CFIB reported a return to “near normal” levels, meaning that overall, SMBs expect to see stronger performance for 2012. The mainstream media regurgitated the bare bones of the story, but it’s worth taking a closer look at where the confidence is coming from, and what the remaining challenges are.
Is it time to do away with email?
Dec 15th
by Nestor E. Arellano
I’ll be off this Friday and two more days next week. My editor, Brian, will be taking a few days off this week as well and I imagine a few other writers at IT World Canada will be taking some staggered days off during the holiday season just as most workers in other companies will be this month and the next.
A good way to catch up on rest, spend some quality time with family and hopefully get away from work email.
But maybe that last thought on email isn’t quite right. Could you imagine how much mail your inbox would accumulate if it went unattended for even just a couple of days?
Nestor Arellano
Email overload has been a constant complaint ever since the technology was introduced to corporate communication. I seriously think that whatever amount of paper mail email might have done away with, it has returned a hundred fold in digital correspondence – to the point that the typical workforce is now weighed down by the daily churn of online messages pinging back and fort at the office.
Some studies say that if a worker receives an average of 15 emails a day, reading through them could take up at least an hour of interrupted work. If that worker is part of a 20-person workplace that could amount to 20 hours of work time lost each day or a loss of $2000 per week based on $20//hour salary. A survey by Salesforce.com also found that 70 per cent of emails sent at work were had no relevance to work at all. Read the rest of this entry »
Giving a fair shake to the eyes in the sky
Dec 11th
by Francis Moran
In July 2002, a FedEx Boeing 727 carrying cargo crashed on its approach for a night-time landing in Tallahassee, Fl. A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigation identified the first officer’s colour vision deficiency as a factor in the crash and recommended that all existing colour vision testing protocols employed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) be reviewed. Four years later, this case, and the issues which it raised about colour blindness testing in the commercial aviation industry, was the subject of a panel at an international workshop hosted by Saudi Arabian Airlines.
For Matt Lemelin, CEO of Genevolve Vision Diagnostics, stories such as this validate his company’s mandate, and commercial potential, to redefine how colour blindness is tested, diagnosed and treated. As Genevolve moves closer to its commercial launch, he is eagerly looking at specific industries such as aviation, where there is an opportunity for the company to establish new testing standards that are more fair and equitable. Genevolve’s ultimate goal is to create a global colour vision standard for all occupations. Read the rest of this entry »
Digital signage: Telling the right story to drive customer acquisition
Nov 17th
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
When we caught up with Screenreach Interactive founder and CEO Paul Rawlings, he was in the midst of packing for a trip to New York, where he was booked as a panellist for the Digital Signage Investor Conference.
Digital signage, a so-called form of “out-of-home advertising,” delivers video content, advertisements and messages to specific locations at specific times on static or touch screens, often in combination with movement detection and image capture technology. According to one recent industry forecast, the market is growing at a compound annual rate of 40 per cent, with 22 million digital signs expected to be deployed world-wide by 2015.
For Screenreach, it’s an industry ripe for the Screach app.
Hardening LinkedIn for privacy protection:
Nov 15th
The 12 settings that could impact your professional image
by Claudiu Popa
With the introduction of LinkedIn’s new settings page this year, the company also took the opportunity to make some changes to its Privacy Policy.
Since the expansive document’s 29 pages would put even the most troubled insomniac into a deep slumber, the company conveniently provided a summary which hints at the different ways it seeks to monetize its service and in some ways emulate Facebook’s much maligned model.
Claudiu Popa
Instead of stringing together 7415 words however, the latter prefers to describe its privacy-related practices through a series of nested pages that branch off an initial six sections. You get the idea. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. But enough of that. I plan to send you on your way with something you can actually use. Read the rest of this entry »
SMBs actually hate social media
Nov 11th
Christine Wong
by Christine Wong
Time for a social media reality check, kids.
The myth: All companies are happily, constantly tweeting, posting and linking up a storm on social media, to their hearts’ delight and their bottom lines’ benefit.
The truth: … not so much.
The reality, based on a few new studies and a roomful of collective gaspers (I’ll get to them later), is that many SMBseither still haven’t jumped wholeheartedly onto the social media train – or the ones that have are struggling with how to use, manage and afford it.
Exhibit A: a surprising 49 per cent – yes, that’s half – of SMBs who responded to our ITB/Dell State of the Canadian SMB survey last year said they weren’t even using social media at all in their businesses. When we asked them why in this year’s survey, the top reason (cited by 35 per cent) was lack of time and resources. Another 16 per cent say they figure it’s just not worth investing in. Read the rest of this entry »
Tricky social media puzzle makes audience feel smart
Nov 2nd
I’ve been a long time fan of Trent Reznor and the Nine Inch Nails, to the point that I pay an unhealthy amount of attention to every project Reznor becomes involved in. At least enough that I know that after winning an Oscar for scoring David Fincher’s The Social Network last year, Reznor collaborated with Fincher again on the upcoming The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie sound track.
Not only was Reznor involved in the soundtrack, but it’s become clear to me that he’s also involved in the marketing of the movie. There’s been a couple of cryptic Web sites set up and a Twitter account called MouthTapedShut. Much of the design on the Web sites harken back to artwork NIN has featured both online and in its album art over the years with images of natural elements in a square grid. And today, the MouthTapedShut Twitter account engaged its users in a puzzle that is reminiscent of the tactics Reznor used to promote Year Zero.
Privacy concerns with Google +
Sep 1st
By Tony Bradley
Back on Day 15 I examined Google+ privacy and found a couple things that seemed to be suspicious or give me some reason for concern.
I spoke with someone at Google, though, to clear up a few things about Google+ privacy, so for today’s 30 Days With Google+ post I want to clarify my understanding of Google+ privacy.
There are two main concerns I had regarding Google+ privacy–granting permissions in Google+ Games, and the broad scope of the terms of service (ToS) required just to use Google+. Read the rest of this entry »
