Digital 180, Compete’s online “TV” series, spoke with Andrew Davis.  Andrew founded Tippingpoint Labs with James Cosco in 2002.  Since the early nineties Andrew has been creating valuable content for companies like The Jim Henson Company, CNN, The Today Show and even MTV.

Andrew spoke with Digital 180 about podcasting and what he sees as an evolution in podcasting.  “I think podcasting as a whole has kind off fallen off the radar screen.  It was something big two years ago.  But what changed I think was the expectation from the user.”

Continue reading “Want a Tip about Podcasting? Digital 180 Speaks with Tippingpoint Labs’ Chief Strategy Officer” »

Digital 180, Compete’s online “TV” series, spoke with Marta Kagan, who leads Espresso’s growing Boston office.   As the outspoken voice behind The Secret Diary of a Bonafide Marketing Genius, Marta writes and speaks frequently about branding and advertising in the digital channel.  Her viral hit What the F**k is Social Media? has been translated into seven languages.

Continue reading “Digital 180 Speaks with Espresso’s Managing Director Marta Kagan” »

Each month, Compete takes a look at the top 25 most-trafficked web sites within one of industry categories. Back-to-school shopping played a role in shaping the top 25 retail web sites for July.

Amazon Stays at Number One
Budget-conscious consumers seem to be finding a safe haven with the discount retailers, and this, in part, helped Amazon.com retain its number-one spot on the top 25 list. The site attracted 67.2 million unique visitors (UVs) in July, more than double the traffic of the next closest retailer Walmart. Amazon has benefited from consumer’s flight to value online, as well as growing consumer interest in its popular line of Kindle eBook readers. Compete’s analysis of Amazon’s Kindle success continues here.

Going Back to School
Despite doomsday predictions for the 2009 back-to-school shopping season, the number of back-to-school searches – including terms like “school supplies” and “back to school” – rose to 1.7 million in July 2009 (up from 1.2 million UVs in July 2008). Among the top ranked retail sites, sites catering to back-to-school shopping such as Staples, Target and Wal-Mart all experienced traffic growth during July. Bed, Bath & Beyond (now number 18 on the list) received the biggest month-over-month gain in July, however, increasing 21%. Compete’s analysis of back-to-school trends continues here.

CVS Pushes Walgreens Online
Both CVS.com and Walgreens.com saw their traffic rise month-over-month, but CVS.com’s growth outpaced that of its rival 15% versus 5%. Although Walgreens.com continues to maintain a sizeable online lead over CVS.com, the CVS.com has narrowed the gap of late. And, CVS.com traffic has risen 103% year-over-year since the site was re-launched last summer. Stay tuned for this ongoing competition for pharmacy visitors.

For more retail analysis go to www.blog.compete.com/retail.

Digital 180, Compete’s online “TV” series, spoke with Baba Shetty, chief media and digital officer at Hill Holliday. Baba provided insights into two successful digital campaigns:

• An app built for Dunkin’ Brands that had an iPhone version and a web-based version
• A content hub for Liberty Mutual

Hill Holliday built an app called “Dunkin’ Run” based upon behavior they observed of people wanting to go to Dunkin’ Donuts. “We kind of took this kernel of a behavior that was already happening and built some technology around it …”

Baba also shared his perspective on a campaign for Liberty Mutual that focused on insurance, which involved creating a content hub containing stories, blog posts and films. “This was about creating content for people we want to engage with, before they were in market for insurance.”

Visit the Digital 180 channel on YouTube for 3-minute insights from other leading digerati including the VP of Web Strategy at Upromise, BabyAge.com President Jack Kiefer, and the head of marketing from Visible Measures.

Have a suggestion for the next interview? Leave me a comment with who you’d like to hear from next on Digital 180.

Digital 180, Compete’s online “TV” series, recently caught up with Aboud Yaqub, the VP of Web Strategy of Upromise. Launched in April 2001, today Upromise is a major, private source of college funding contributions in America, with over 10 million members and nearly $500 million in member rewards.

If you are looking for tips and tricks to build and engage an online community Aboud’s insights are a “must see”:

1. The role of social media in building a loyal online community
2. A recent example using Facebook to build engagement with the brand
3. How to measure success using social media

Visit the Digital 180 channel on YouTube for 3-minute insights from other leading digerati including BabyAge.com President Jack Kiefer, Enfatico’s CEO Torrence Boone and the head of marketing from Visible Measures, Matt Cutler.

Have a suggestion for the next interview? Leave me a comment with who you’d like to hear from next on Digital 180.

As marketers we want to, check that, we need to better understand consumers. Dr. John Medina provided his unique perspective on consumer behavior based on his knowledge as a developmental molecular biologist. Dr. John Ratey M.D., author of Spark - The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain looks at consumers through another clinical lens.

In these challenging times, with the unemployment rate at its highest since 1992, what should we know about the link between stress/anxiety and exercise?

The phrase I’ve coined is “excernomics”. This is the time for people to get themselves into a peak level of fitness - physically, intellectually and emotionally. I know from previous downturns one of the things that was so important was for people to stick with their fitness program even if they were out of work. The best way to deal with these times from an evolutionary perspective is to be at the most fit level of fitness that we can be in. Being at the top our games physically helps us be there emotionally and cognitively. This is the time to get fit!!

Children are not immune to stress and anxiety yet surfing the Web, playing video games, sending IM / text messages, encourage sedentary behavior. What would you tell them?

We need to gets kids in shape. The co-opting of the gaming environment with the WII and WII-fit and Dance Revolution is a step in the right direction. There are a host of other “exergaming” options that grab gamers’ interest and can be as exciting as traditional video games, and they use physical activity as part of the game.

Also, physical education (PE) in the schools has to change. We need more of it and the concept of PE has to switch from a sports-coaching model to a fitness-wellness everyday athlete model.

How can advertisers spark the revolution you advocate and become agents for change?

I would encourage them to support programs by going into the schools to establish PE as a real entity, not just a place to collect athletes. Focus on working with schools and giving them the materials for healthy school lunch programs and then use those opportunities to educate them on what we know about what is good for us and what makes the brain much healthier.

Which advertisers are making strides?

SPARQ/Nike is trying to get into the schools to have kids follow their fitness on the Internet. It started with 100,000 kids as part of a summer program and they are now broadening that to schools in general. The Healthy Student Bodies program will make a big difference in using the Web to track their progress and get advice.

About Dr. John J, Ratey, M.D.

Dr. John J. Ratey, M.D., is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and has a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a clinical researcher he has published more than 60 papers in peer-review journals in the fields of psychiatry and psychopharmacology.