Sale Alert! Huge Limited, starts February 11, 2012.
Fab.com
This collection of bags is loud. Whether you think Work Is Stupid, feel That Sh/t Cray or want to say Yes, No or get the message across that you’re just not interested, Huge Limited has an infinite amount of fresh snark and charming wit for your arm.
Say what you want about the Tim Burton float, but this guy really stole the show.
(via @dianasaurus)
Mahna Mahna — the signature Muppets tune you all know and love? It came from the soundtrack of an Italian soft porn film about Swedish lesbians.
NPR MADE THEM. NPR MADE ALL OF THEM! Enjoy!! Happy Valentine’s Day and send your Valentine some love, NPR style!
omg. nerd alert. (PROUD nerd alert.)
![thedailywhat:
Marketing Stunt of the Day: Aaron Shapiro, CEO of digital agency HUGE, recently penned a business book about the importance of adapting to the digital age to avoid commercial collapse.
To make the results of failing to take Users Not Customers to heart more tangible, Shapiro hired erstwhile book peddlers who experienced firsthand the consequences of not heeding his advice: Former Borders employees.
On his site, Shapiro writes:
From Tuesday, November 1 to Thursday, November 3, a group of former Borders employees will be operating a mobile bookstore at multiple locations throughout Manhattan to emphasize the importance of the lessons taught in my book, the only one they’re selling.
After liquidating its remaining 399 stores, Borders laid off some 11,000 employees. Shapiro believes it didn’t have to end this way for Ann Arbor-based retailer.
Shapiro says Borders waited too long to launch its online book-selling business, and once it had, did everything wrong. By early 2011, hardcopy sales via Borders.com “accounted for less than 3 percent of Borders’ revenue.” To compare, nearly half of all retail purchases currently conducted in the US is “either influenced by or transacted on the Internet,” according to Forrester Research.
Businesses must prioritize online customers — or “users” — “above all else,” says Shapiro. “They must research the needs of their users and then use these insights to guide everything from product development to marketing, sales, and customer service.”
[a.shapiro / adfreak / thanks angeline!]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lu7fjj6X761qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Marketing Stunt of the Day: Aaron Shapiro, CEO of digital agency HUGE, recently penned a business book about the importance of adapting to the digital age to avoid commercial collapse.
To make the results of failing to take Users Not Customers to heart more tangible, Shapiro hired erstwhile book peddlers who experienced firsthand the consequences of not heeding his advice: Former Borders employees.
On his site, Shapiro writes:
From Tuesday, November 1 to Thursday, November 3, a group of former Borders employees will be operating a mobile bookstore at multiple locations throughout Manhattan to emphasize the importance of the lessons taught in my book, the only one they’re selling.
After liquidating its remaining 399 stores, Borders laid off some 11,000 employees. Shapiro believes it didn’t have to end this way for Ann Arbor-based retailer.
Shapiro says Borders waited too long to launch its online book-selling business, and once it had, did everything wrong. By early 2011, hardcopy sales via Borders.com “accounted for less than 3 percent of Borders’ revenue.” To compare, nearly half of all retail purchases currently conducted in the US is “either influenced by or transacted on the Internet,” according to Forrester Research.
Businesses must prioritize online customers — or “users” — “above all else,” says Shapiro. “They must research the needs of their users and then use these insights to guide everything from product development to marketing, sales, and customer service.”
Catchy marketing campaign. Looking forward to reading the book.
Shared by Sam WestonPosted by Alan Green, Software Engineer
Dear Google.
Fuck you.
Sincerely,
Sam.
Digital talent won’t want to work at your company if:
- Every element of their work will be pored over by multiple layers of bureaucracy. Even if that’s how the rest of the company operates, it can’t spill into the digital department. In a technology environment, new products and businesses spring up daily and a new endeavor can go from conception to launch in a matter of months. Reining in the momentum will be read as inaction and a clear signal the company isn’t willing to grasp the new way of the world.
- Mediocre is good enough. While clocking out at 5 p.m. is attractive to some, it will discourage digital talent. They want to be expected to do something great. They want to be pushed. They care about their work. Their leadership, and those they rely on to get things done, must match their appetite for success.
- Trial and error is condemned. The freedom to try out new ideas allows employees to take initiative, make decisions, and learn from their mistakes. It also demonstrates an attractive and inspiring entrepreneurial spirit.
- Your company is structured so it takes a lifetime to get to the top, and as such there are no digital experts in company-wide leadership positions. Digital talent—often in their 20s and 30s—need to see a clear path for uninhibited career development that’s based on merit, not years spent, and that’s beyond the confines of the digital department. If they don’t, they won’t see a reason to stay with the company in the long term.
- Your offices are cold, impersonal and downright stodgy. It may sound like it conflicts with the “you don’t need to be in Silicon Valley point,” but appreciate the nuance. A traditional office layout is designed to communicate power among certain individuals and barriers between departments. This does not support the collaborative ethos which is intrinsic to the web. Companies should do everything possible to provide the digital team friendlier, open office space. A location in a hip, young neighborhood (which surely exists in every mid- to large-sized city) is also a big plus.
THIS. And yes. Users, not customers.
