The Future of Publishing Begins with Survival

Posted by Jon Thomas, 28 Dec 2011

Storytelling is a tradition that will exist as long as humans inhabit the Earth. It’s in our DNA. The tools we use, however, have changed and will continue to change. We’ve moved on from cave paintings to the written word, from parchment paper to word processors. We’ve even seen the printed word slowly disappear as we move on to electronic readers, like the Kindle and Nook, which allow users to store hundreds of books on a single device.

Another monumental change has occurred just in the past 20 months or so. With the introduction of the iPad and other tablet devices that followed shortly thereafter, readers are able to dive deeper into content than ever before. So it’s no surprise that when Razorfish chairman Clark Kokich wanted to write a book, he decided that the only appropriate way to do so was to bypass traditional publishers and create it as an interactive application. See the demo below.

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When Faking It (on Twitter) Is a Good Thing

Posted by Jon Thomas, 30 Nov 2011

It’s late November, and UK Lord Chancellor Sir John Simon has just told Parliament that Britons have sent watches, jewelry and gold to help the government pay for war. According to Sir John, “One girl sent a small envelope, asking me to accept her ‘peace offering.’ Inside was her engagement ring.” Incredible. Particularly because I just learned of this from a tweet chronicling the world war that’s raging in Europe right now.

You didn’t know there was a war going on in Europe? That’s because it took place in 1939. It’s the beginning of the Second World War, and it’s being retold on this date and at this time by the Twitter account @RealTimeWWII. After tweeting for only three months, @RealTimeWWII, which according to Mashable is maintained by Oxford graduate Alwyn Collinson, has already exceeded 150,000 followers. Why can't brands be this inventive?

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5 Exceptional Branded iPad Applications Win Postie Awards!

Posted by Jon Thomas, 10 Nov 2011

As the Oscars are seemingly falling apart with the departure of Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy, subsequently, heading for ze hills, there’s probably no sense in even watching it at all. So what’s an award-show lover to do? Don’t worry, we’ve got the Posties!

You’ll see the Posties evolve into something really big and über important in the coming months, but for its first incarnation, we thought we’d take a look at a space that’s near and dear to our hearts and award some of the best and brightest branded iPad applications.

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The Future of Content Is Not in Your Computer

Posted by Jon Thomas, 26 Oct 2011

There was once a day when a computer filled a room. Now it’s in your palm. That’s the story my dad tells me at least. Soon, when my future children are old enough to understand, I’ll tell them how I used to read books and magazines made out of paper and I couldn’t simply touch the screen of my computer to make things happen. Also, I used to walk to school uphill, both ways, in the snow.

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The Big Facebook Update: Is It the Best of Times or the Worst of Times for Brands?

Posted by Charles Coxe, 05 Oct 2011

There was much hand-wringing when Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at the f8 conference to unveil new changes to Facebook. I don’t want my profile to change! I don’t want to share so much personal information! And, for brands in particular: I just learned how to use Facebook to market my brand—what do I do now?

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Can customer reviews be trusted?

Can Customer Reviews Be Trusted?

Posted by Karen Nagy, 22 Jul 2011

This post originally appeared in our July issue of “Live Report from the Future of Marketing,” our monthly Post-Advertising newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

They're but one of hundreds of sites that allow anyone to publish their review of a business, product or service to the world, but on July 15, 6-year-old Yelp celebrated passing the 20 million review mark.

By any calculations, that’s an incredibly impressive number, especially considering all of those reviews are volunteer contributions by uninvested everyday people like you and me.

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