Insights&Inspiration

“As an industry, digital marketing has historically had a bias toward thinking about execution first — to such an extent that much of what passes for advertising and marketing online has no idea in it whatsoever.” Quote from Jim Nichols @ IMediaConnection.com.

“Focusing on platforms versus execution could cause you to miss the entire opportunity in front of you” Quote from Michael Burke @ IMediaConnection.com.

Strategy First, Technology Last: This has become a bit of a mantra here at JStokes in the digital back office. (more…)

This video is both a brilliant insight into the basics of user experience, as well as a lesson on what our children will grow up expecting from technology.  Its equally adorable as well.

The original post that this video was a part of can be found here; it is also a great article, expanding on the specific user experience lessons that can be taken away from this simple first interaction between a young child and a brand new iPad.

This post is for those of you who – when I say “I play baseball” – say “Oh, you mean softball?”.  The misconception is far far too common, and something needs to be done to educate people that #1, girls can an do play baseball, and #2, baseball is an entirely different sport than softball.

The Gender Bias

I think we all fall into the trap of assuming that baseball is a man’s sport because historically, that is where the focus has been and we have not been taught otherwise.  Shoot, even in this post I found myself color-coding the “baseball” notes in blue and the “softball” notes in pink – obvious subconscious gender bias right there.  There is no sense in denying the facts – baseball used to be a male-only sport and for the most part has remained this way, other than a few instances of exceptional women fighting for a moment in the spotlight. (more…)

SMX West Social Track

My agency, JStokes, graciously approved me to attend SMX West in order to enhance our knowledge and capabilities around the buzz that is Social Media.  We have been pretty active in educating ourselves and staying up on the trends, but this was a great opportunity to get on the cutting edge of where this marketing medium is headed and how it is being used today.

There were a number of “Tracks” to choose from – the one I took focused specifically on social media and included four courses, each with a panel of industry professionals who have been active in utilizing social media as a marketing medium. (more…)

SMX West Expo Hall

Its about time I do a write-up on my attendance at SMX West.  I have been completely submersed in search marketing and related learnings ever since the week of the expo, but I think its time I come up for air before the memory slips away.

It was a cold and rainy day.. no just kidding.  I mean it really was, but I’ll try to stay on point here.  Which basically means whatever I feel is worth talking about from the day :-)  But I will break this write-up into two parts for your convenience: Part 1 will discuss the more peripheral learnings I took from the experience as a whole, and Part 2 will discuss some of the specific learnings I took away – though just a handful of those that I felt were most profound and applicable, as a lot was covered and I don’t want to just create a summary of each course I attended. (more…)