By now most people know that Microsoft has finally scored the deal it’s been wanting for quite a while. I’m guessing CEO Steve Ballmer still gets a little annoyed when thinking about all the trouble and time he wasted trying to get Yahoo! to give in. Then again, maybe things would’ve gone horribly wrong if Yahoo! had accepted what now sounds like a crazy initial offer.

The fact is that Yahoo! was so concerned with how much they could get out of Microsoft (or maybe how cool they would be by playing difficult) that they lost track of their purpose.

Yes, Yahoo!’s purpose in life was search. That’s how I know about them. That’s how you found out about them. Ok, to be fair, maybe some folks that still use Yahoo! Mail don’t realize this, but they probably only recently made the switch from AOL, so that doesn’t really count.

For most people on this Earth of ours, Yahoo! used to be a synonym for search engine.

Well, no longer. And with that, Yahoo! proves that they not only lost the #1 position many years ago, but that they also didn’t realize just how important search was. I mean, if they cared about search, they would’ve done something about it, right?

Wrong. Yahoo! was so concerned with becoming a portal, becoming the source for movie information (I admit it, Yahoo! movies is pretty good), capturing screenshots of Geocities and Flickr (instead of enhancing them), and wondering if red or purple is cuter, etc. that they totally forgot about the reason for their very existence. (more…)

I will never forget Page Mill, the first WYSIWG HTML editor software I ever used (back in the mid 90′s). It was how I was introduced to a little company called Adobe, and I’ve been a fan ever since. From Dreamweaver to InDesign, I cannot imagine a computer without Adobe’s software. With the introduction of the robust, comprehensive, and very user/business-friendly Acrobat.com, I have become even more excited about the future of Adobe and its role in online collaboration.

I had the privilege of talking with Erik Larson on The Social Nerdia Show! yesterday. Erik is the Sr. Director of Marketing and Product Management for Adobe’s Acrobat.com. You can listen to our conversation in its entirety on the BTR player above or by subscribing to our podcast (iTunes).

My first question was around collaboration, and Erik told me that mega trends driving collaboration include the way in which people are interacting online in a much more real-time basis than ever before and how this is changing the way we work. He explained that email wasn’t built thinking about the internet and that ”the way of interacting socially in your personal life can translate into business.”

Erik spends his time not only strategizing about the future of Acrobat.com, but also conversing with people on Twitter, blogs, and elsewhere online. Some of the comments people make online actually fit into the bigger picture. “I can use those quotes from Twitter and show them to our CEO,” Erik told me.

(more…)

I had the great pleasure of talking with Loic Le Meur, a French blogger, serial entrepreneur, and founder / CEO of Seesmic for The Social Nerdia Show! last night.

I didn’t only get to ask Loic a few questions, but I also got to do it on his 37th birthday and Le Quatorze Juillet so I am very grateful for the time he took to chat with me. I had no idea that it was Loic’s birthday (or Bastille Day for that matter), but I quickly found out through Twitter.

If you’ve ever used Twitter, chances are that you’ve heard of Seesmic and its very popular Seesmic Desktop (or its Twhirl predecessor), which is not only a fantastic Twitter and Facebook client/app, but also “a tool to manage your community,” as Loic explained to me. Seesmic has been working hard to launch a brand new web-based in-browser app called Seesmic Web that is not yet as good as its Adobe Air brother, but is catching up (in terms of features) and will do so probably sooner than later.

Loic told me about the importance of “not rushing things” and the value of Team Seesmic, a group of 52,000 members that provides Seesmic with feedback. “We build as much as we can, obviously based on demand.. but we have a lot of surprises coming that no one suggested.”

A Seesmic iPhone app is coming soon (and Loic said it has surprises as well) so I asked him about a potential Palm Pre app. Loic didn’t give me a clear yes or no, but he did say they are “doing other platforms.”

(more…)

Jeri Yoshizu is the Sales Promotion Manager for Scion.  I had the opportunity to interview her for the 4th episode of The Social Nerdia Show! and you can listen to it on the BTR player below. I also encourage you to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Recognized in one of  the “Top 40 Under 40 Executives” lists by AdvertisingAge, Jeri does not have the typical marketing or advertising background. Jeri got started on the IT side of things at Toyota, and then stumbled into a position in interactive. The somewhat scary move (at the time) to web-related work changed the course of her life and she now finds herself leading many of Scion’s unique promotion initiatives. The average age of Scion drivers is 39 years old, the youngest in the car industry, and 15 years younger than that of Toyota. This means that Jeri and Scion have the challenge and opportunity to engage with a younger crowd.

Jeri told me about the company’s unique blend of traditional and non-traditional advertising, which allows Scion to experiment and move quickly in innovative ways. One such effort of Scion’s “unbundled approach” is an iPhone utility app for DJs called Scion Radio 17 BPM Meter, which is the first of several apps that Scion expects to release this year.

(more…)

It was my privilege to interview Christopher Barger, Director of Social Media at General Motors, this past Monday morning.

The GM Social Media Team took some time off their busy schedule to talk with me and I write about it on the paragraphs that follow. I also highly recommend that you listen to the interview by downloading our very first podcast on iTunes or streaming it via blogtalkradio:

First of all, let me say that Christopher proved to me, over the course of our 30 minute conversation, that GM is serious in its efforts to engage in sincere communication with real people, particularly during the challenging phase in which the company is operating in. Christopher’s openness and candor, combined with his deep insight and thorough knowledge of the auto industry, make him an example of how to lead a corporate social media initiative.

Now, I did not previously know Christopher or anyone in his team, but I felt as if I almost did by the time we finished talking. As you listen to the interview you will notice that Christopher answered each question with a combination of deep and simple thoughts that he conveyed with confidence, poignant honesty, vision, and passion.

(more…)

Guitar Hero changed the way we play video games by allowing us to actually feel like we’re playing instruments with a real band. Even non-gamers appreciate the social aspects of the game.

With several titles across all consoles, the game has evolved into one of the best selling franchises ever.

To promote the new “Guitar Hero Smash Hits” game, Activision has put on a interactive award show in which people vote online for their favorite riffs, vocals, breakdowns, and more. All in all there are 9 categories and 48 nominees in the “Guitar Hero Smash Hits Music Awards 2009“, based on the songs on the game (which comes out June 16th).

(more…)

Alex Bogusky is the co-chairman of Crispin Porter & Bogusky, one of the most awarded and creatively relevant ad agencies in the world.

CP+B has quite an impressive list of clients (Burger King, Guitar Hero, Hulu, Volkswagen, Coke Zero, Microsoft, etc.) and it will soon also provide the services of its interns to the highest bidder in an eBay auction (Update: Sold for $17,655!).

Alex, who has won hundreds of top industry awards and was recently inducted into the Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame, was very cool to answer our questions during Memorial weekend and we’re confident you’ll enjoy reading his wise and down-to-earth words.

Please make sure to learn more about CP+B, follow Alex on Twitter, and allow yourself to think like a 12-year-old more often after reading this.

1. Crispin Porter + Bogusky has been named “Agency of the Year” by AdAge, Creativity, Clio Awards, and others. What is it like to be part of an agency that creates so much buzz for clients that it gets some buzz of its own?

It certainly doesn’t suck. But the accolades come and go and the buzz about the agency can sometimes get distracting. And I think a lot of the buzz is because we were the first agency to really rise to fame during the digital age. It’s been pretty wild because we haven’t had anybody to model ourselves after when things get bumpy. But it’s all good. The real fun is in helping build businesses by using the tools we have both with media and creativity to make our clients famous. As a rule we get off more on the culture jamming aspect of what we do for clients than the actual advertising aspects. For example we get more excited to see all the twittering on Hulu than we do about the creative awards. And for me the best part is you get to spend the day with a ton of your favorite people.

(more…)