mrbarryw

Great celebrity cameos from multiple sports and television and builds up my excitement for the game.

Ikea is conducting an interesting experiment that may just lead to happier couples. For Father’s Day weekend, they created a male only space where husbands and boyfriends could play video games, watch sports and eat snacks.

If this had existed the last time I was in Ikea, I would have been much less whiny.

via Ads of the World

Capital One has joined forces with social gaming company Zynga to advertise in three of their most popular games: CityVille, FarmVille and Pioneer Trail.

Capital One will have in game promotions that include special items for players to use in their gameplay. By interacting with Capital One in the game space players will be brought to Capital One’s Facebook page and see integrated advertisements.

Image and original story via PSFK 

I noticed the above ad yesterday while I was watching ESPN and Chrysler helped me track down the video via twitter.

The new Chrysler ads, starting with the Eminem Super Bowl ad, have been very effective and I like the campaign quite a bit.

I’m 99% sure that the house at the end of the commercial was the Schwartz House which was built by Frank Lloyd Wright and is an amazing home that I was lucky enough to stay in last summer. This is a subtle way to bolster their message that Chrysler is an elegant vehicle.

That’s right, Google+ is no longer exclusive and you will not need an invitation to join the growing social network.

I hope that this increases the adoption of G+. The social network is great, but there are not enough people (or businesses) on it yet to really create great networks.

Please add me to your circle.

Image via Andy at PSD Blast; story via TNW

We all have a favorite t-shirt (or 100). One that is a bit worn out, but we still wear despite the protests of our significant other. I’m wearing one right now from a music festival put together by my friends in high school called “AntiFest.”

Now, through a French company called Capturio, you can attach your personal data to that shirt. By submitting a photo of your shirt to Capturio you can make your shirt into a wearable business card. Users can then take a picture of your shirt and email it to get@captur.io and receive your contact information.

I wonder how many shirts I can make into my business card and if I’ll ever get used to people taking photos of me to find out how to send me an email.

Image and original story via PSFK

Schick has teamed up with Buzzfeed to create a new viral meme called “Razorbombing.” When razorbombing, people take photos while conveniently holding a Schick razor to make it look as if they are shaving something (see above image for an example).

I had actually come across this meme last week but was unaware that it was a Schick promotion. It is an interesting use of social media and viral internet practices, but I have to wonder how effective it is if a user simply clicks through photos, chuckles and does not continue with brand engagement.

What do you think of Schick’s Razorbombing strategy? 

Image and original story via Creative Guerilla Marketing

The Chipotle commercial above highlights the fact that they use free range meat in their products. This is a big competitive advantage for the company when trying to woo consumers who are interested in the environmental impact of the food they consume. And for those who don’t care about the origin of their meat, they’ll still come in for a pound of food at a reasonable price.

I particularly enjoy the use of Willy Nelson’s cover of Coldplay in conjunction with the animation.

via Ads of the World

This morning I woke up to a rather lengthy email from Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix. In this email and a lengthier blog post, Hastings explains, and apologizes for, some of the mistakes he believes that Netflix has made in the past few months in their attempt to separate their DVD delivery service from their media streaming service.

As the company moves forward, they will be formerly separating out their delivery service from their streaming service through rebranding the delivery service. Streaming will still operate under the Netflix name, but the delivery service will now be known as Qwikster. The pricing will stay at current levels for both services.

Although I do not like the new name (it sounds like a place where I should go for an oil change), I think that this is a good first step for the company to regain the trust of their customers and move on as an organization.

Hasting’s email establishes a level of honesty with the consumer and owns up to mistakes made by Netflix. It remains to be seen if having separate branding will work for the company in the future, but it certainly seems to be less convoluted than having multiple payment structures within the same company. They truly are selling different goods, so this segmentation may prove to be beneficial for both the company and its customers going forward. 

Image via Qwikster.

For your viewing pleasure: the latest Muppets parody trailer.

To follow up an item from three days ago, Michael Arrington is starting a new “personal” blog shortly after leaving TechCrunch due to conflict with the management at Aol regarding editorial control.

While not much is known at this point about what his new venture will be like, I am very excited to see what direction he will take this blog and am curious what the competition will be like with his former home.

It is not a huge mental leap to think that his fans will follow him to the new blog and possibly abandon TechCrunch in the process.

Image and original story via Business Insider

Dhani Jones has spent the majority of his life playing football and played professionally for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals. But, he is not a man who has ever defined himself by his profession.

While playing professional sports at a high level, Dhani was also a presence on television with his show Dhani Tackles the Globe and an entrepreneur with bars and restaurants in both Cincinnati and New York.

After leading the Bengals in tackles last year, the team chose not to resign Jones conceivably as part of a youth movement across the team (they are also without their leading receiver and quarterback from the 2010 season). Although Jones is still open to the opportunity to play professional football, he has certainly not slowed down with his other work.

He is currently a part-owner of VMG Creative and has helped to bring in high end clients, including Capital One. His passion and drive seem to have translated well from the field and I expect that we’ll be hearing about Jones well after his football career is over (whether that happens now or later).

Original story and image via ESPN

A month ago I was expecting a package that was being shipped through UPS. Sadly, I was not in the house when it was delivered. In the 15 minutes between the time of delivery and my arrival home, the package had been stolen from my front porch. Everything worked out in the end after coordinating with UPS and the seller, but it was an annoying experience.

This may be a thing of the past or at the very least a little easier to avoid.

UPS is preparing to offer “UPS My Choice,” a service where the company will send package recipients a text message before their items are delivered with a four hour delivery window. If the customer will not be home, they can choose to pay $5 to have the package either left at their property, redelivered at a later date or sent to a different address.

This is an innovative idea from UPS and will help many consumers more effectively manage their packages. I just wish that there was no additional fee for the service. It seems that by offering the UPS My Choice as a complimentary service, UPS would be able to cut many costs associated with failed deliveries (i.e. gas savings, time savings for delivery people, etc.) and create a more positive customer experience.

Story via Mashable; Image via Tree Hugger

I hate flying. Not for the typical reason of being afraid of hurtling toward the earth. Rather it’s because I grow highly impatient in lines and prefer to keep my shoes on in public places. These may be idiotic reasons to prefer driving eight hours over flying for two, but it works for me.

Virgin America is making me reconsider this slightly with their upcoming switch to the new “Red” system of in-flight entertainment systems in the back of all seats. The new entertainment systems will have far more entertainment content than their competitors, or the current Virgin America in-flight entertainment units, and have integrated Wi-Fi with access to Facebook and other social networking tools. Passengers will even be able to jack their personal devices directly into the system.

The so-called #nerdbird project will be rolled out in late 2012, just in time for holiday travel.

Story and image via PSFK

Statistics are creeping into soccer (or football for my non-American friends). The sport which has traditionally shied away from the use of statistics in analyzing the game has teamed up with Opta Sports to create more robust stats for gameplay.

Although the tool should be utilized by coaches and other decision-makers, the push seems to be focused much more on giving the fans one more way of understanding the game they follow.

Going forward, I can see this leading to more interest in fantasy soccer leagues as these leagues contain new stats and more accurate methods of tracking a player’s performance. Although the MLS is unlikely to be as popular as the NFL in the United States, fantasy soccer could help bring in casual fans who have loved to learn being a sports fan as a slight outsider with a numbers focus.

Story via NYTimes