Samples of the mPoria shopping widgets. Will people like shopping inside a little window? These shopping pages were designed for phones - so they can fit on a larger web page and allows the user to shop for stuff without ever leaving the page. Could be cool.

It seems that many merchants are dragging their feet about recognizing Catalog Choice's opt-out service. My catalogs fall into 3 categories:

Confirmed - Good Guys (Land's End, REI, Guitar Center, LL Bean). They will honor my request to stop sending their paper catalogs to my home.

Unconfirmed - Catalog Choice has sent them my name and address, but they have not committed to removing me. A little seedy, in my opinion (Eddie Bauer, Frontgate, Hammacher Schlemmer, Levenger, Pottery Barn, Sporty's, Sharper Image, Auto Sport)

Declined. The BAD GUYS. They flat out REFUSE to honor my request to stop sending their junk mail catalogs to my home (J&R Music)

click to play

Really interesting talk by Professor Barry Schwartz, author of the Paradox of Choice. He sets out to prove the thesis that

"Increased choice does NOT equate to increased welfare"

Has implications for public policy, product design, service offerings, retail shopping, inventory.

woot! is a good example of this at work (one-product web site).

Quoted: Google TechTalks April 27, 2006 Barry Schwartz. Apr 27, 2006, from Google engEDU.

Awesome local company. Their innovative Ikea mobile rooms really are eye-catching. They also have scrolling wall trucks, that can play audio via loudspeaker, and transmit messages on FM 107.3!

Mike Seifert - mseifert@gomobileadvertising.com - VP Mktg

Very interesting blog post on how to get to $50M in revenue in the online media business:

- Broad reach @ 4 BILLION page views/month (BTW - less than 10 sites doing this much traffic in the US now).
- Demographically targeted @ 800 MILLION page views/month.
- Highly targeted site (related to an immediate consumer purchasing decision) @ 200 MILLION page views/month.

The comment thread is really interesting here as well.

Watched this show on marketing tonight on PBS. Notice how much of the BS marketing consultants try to sell, is still being bought by advertisers ... but they seem to be growing more wary and looking to measurable commercial results, rather than settle for fuzzy "brand building".

Quoted: FRONTLINE takes an in-depth look at the multibillion-dollar "persuasion industries" of advertising and public relations and how marketers have developed new ways of integrating their messages deeper into the fabric of our lives. Through sophisticated market research methods to better understand consumers and by turning to the little-understood techniques of public relations to make sure their messages come from sources we trust, marketers are crafting messages that resonate with an increasingly cynical public. In this documentary essay, correspondent Douglas Rushkoff (correspondent for FRONTLINE"s "The Merchants of Cool") also explores how the culture of marketing has come to shape the way Americans understand the world and themselves and how the techniques of the persuasion industries have migrated to politics, shaping the way our leaders formulate policy, influence public opinion, make decisions, and stay in power.

Industry source for media readership numbers.

Quoted: BPA Worldwide is the global industry resource for verified audience data and media knowledge. BPA delivers consumer and business media audits of unsurpassed rigor, objectivity, ...

Just got this in a Google Ad that said "Don't Sign Up for AdWords".

Quoted: Maximize Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing & MSN results with professional account setup & management. Enjoy exceptional value, service & results.