In the AdAge article, “Is Content King? Then Distribution Is Crown Prince,” Keith Richman discusses the importance of distribution and how having great content does not guarantee it will be reach its audience. According to Richman:

“The good news is that the internet provides amazing opportunities to distribute content and reach an audience. The bad news is that you are competing with millions of other content creators for the attention of that audience and their barrier to entry into the online medium is almost non-existent. In this environment more than any, distribution matters significantly.”

While “Overemphasis on Brand Building Leads to Mistrust” by Brent Leary in Inc. Technology examines the 2010 Trust Barometer report which shows that increased content through social media has swung the pendulum away from individuals in favor of industry experts/academics who are now as the most trusted source for company information.

“All the information being created and distributed is overloading most of us, which may be why there is a return to trusting authority sites, and recognized experts.  So, as the trust study is indicating, it’s becoming increasingly important to be viewed as an expert — more than ever before.”

This pendulum swing reinforces the idea that there is opportunity for brands to create content to tell their brand stories. Adidas Penalty Shoot-Out, which was released in 5 European countries through Windows Live Messenger, was able to garner over 13 million game plays in just a two-month period. This clearly shows that a combination of great content, strong brand tie-in, appropriate context, careful understanding of audience and engaging user experience can get you some amazing results.

Lately, hiring an interactive agency has become a complex and confusing enterprise. As the internet grows and more companies appear on the scene, assessing the qualifications of an agency is becoming more and more difficult. The barrage of marketing speak, technobabble, and nearly identical sales pitches involved with identifying the agency who will really work for you, makes the decision process even more difficult. Emerging technologies, new service applications, new tracking and measurement platforms, the development of social media and easier access to information have all contributed to a deluge of both niche offerings and startup players all vying for your project with promises of incredible results and ROI. So where to begin?

1. The worst place to start is from scratch. Search engines are not incredibly discriminating. Just as you wouldn't look for a spouse through a Google search, you shouldn't use one to look for an agency, either. Sure, it's not totally the same as finding a life-partner, but the length of the relationship could still be a long one. Get references from people you trust. Ask about the agencies they use and what they like and don’t like about them. Look at your fiercest competitors and see which agencies they use. Scrutinize.
2. Don't assume you know the exact solution to your problem. Just as you wouldn't disregard your gastroenterologist's referral to a nutritionist, don't be indifferent to an agency willing to re-diagnose and give angles you’ve never even thought of. Experienced marketing agencies should ask difficult questions, be able to use their expertise to figure out what’s ailing you, and offer a number of creative solutions.
3. Listen to the type of questions they ask you. Are they tactical questions, or are they strategic questions? The tactical questions tend to focus on specific product or service offerings, while strategic questions are more related to your business goals and objectives. Agencies that ask a lot of tactical questions tend to lack marketing know-how and will eventually run out of steam when it comes time to innovate or build your business over the long-term. Be wary of agencies who tout their value proposition around a short-term solution, niche application or key piece of technology; that’s a vendor, not an agency. Stay away from these vendors as their engagement may be inexpensive at the outset, but you might find that their short-term solution may cost you much more over time.
4. When meeting with an agency, ask to meet the principals of the company. Ask them if they use third-party agencies or vendors to execute any of their projects. Do they foresee the need for any of these partners for your project? If so, who would they be working with and is it possible to meet them too. Don't leave out visiting their studio which will give you a feel for the culture and attitude of the agency and the people who will ultimately be working for you.
5. What type of clients do they currently serve? A more diverse and varied roster of clients is actually better for your business as agencies gain a more varied insight and tool set to handle issues and create opportunities. Ones that work in predominantly one vertical tend to be limited in how they approach problems
6. Ask for three case studies and have them demonstrate what they did for the client and what results the program produced. Look for hard metrics and make sure the results were in line with what was requested by the client.
7. Find out how long they retain their clients. A good agency should be able to retain their customers for 2-5 years. If they don't, ask them why not.
8. Remember that hiring an agency goes both ways. Asking them to do all the heavy lifting when they're doing a proposal limits their ability to present you with a viable solution. Provide the agency with all the information they ask for, and don't treat the proposal development phase as a test or sphinx's challenge. It helps no one.

With the decline of the consumer confidence index and a recovery not projected for another two or more years, businesses will need to not only change their marketing messages to emphasize the idea of value, their marketing and sales strategies must also embrace the concept of value. Consumers will be hunkering down for the long-haul—spending conservatively.

It is extremely important in these tough times for businesses to concentrate on building and reinforcing brand equity. Brand equity is built over time through tangible assets (logo design consistency, name recognition, messaging) all utilized to influence and shape the public's perception of the brand. Reinforcing brand equity requires developing a strong and consistent image of the brand. Keep in mind that it's much faster and easier to knock down a brand than it is to build one up.

What should a business do until the economic environment improves? Continue to spend money promoting your products and services; just be smarter about how you invest those dollars. Limit the amount of scatter shooting in your marketing and advertising campaigns, be more critical of the status quo, investigate and research the best way to reach your target audience and relay clear messages. The value of the marketing dollar spent is equal to the effectiveness of your campaign. Make sure your tactical decisions back up the strategic goal of building brand equity.

One of the many things my great-grandmother taught me was if you live thoughtfully and support others, you can live a full, happy life. Sugi Iwasaki lived through a number of financially difficult times in history including two world wars and the US Depression. Through all of that, she was the bread-winner for her immediate family and was also able to send money back to her extended family in Japan for many years by working as a seamstress and sewing teacher. She lived a full life of 98 years, continuously supporting what was important to her by thinking long-term and being value-oriented.

When I work with clients, I keep my great-grandmother’s lessons in mind. Plexipixel was built on the fundamental belief that we are successful when our clients are successful. It’s our job to have our clients’ backs and help them build their success by reminding them that brand equity is built over time and maintained through thoughtful management. Our clients continue to work with us year after year because we ask the difficult questions before we start each project:

• Who is your audience?
• What are your goals?
• What is your marketing strategy that will bring people to this awesome website, advergame, widget, animation…?
• Does this project support your current brand strategy?
• How does this project fall in line with your overall marketing and advertising strategy?

If you’re unable to answer the questions above, it might be time to rethink how you’re spending your marketing and advertising dollars. Or on the other hand, if the agency you’re working with doesn’t ask these questions before they dive into your project, it might be time to look for a new agency—one that will partner with you to make sure that you’re both around (and healthy) for the long haul like my great-grandmother.

Vicky Tamaru @ Branded Entertainment, All Business

But in this day and age the networks need to compete extra hard for the eyeballs it needs to be able to justify the cost of the advertising slots. The competition includes anything from cable channels, licensing channels like Hulu, to even the network’s own alternative channels for content and advertising like their online video players.

One example of the struggles of the existing business model was exposed when NBC was able to continue production on the critically acclaimed show "Friday Night Lights" only after selling first-run rights to DirectTV--this means that even though the show is an NBC property, it’ll be shown on DirectTV first. Although the critics have consistently given good marks to the show, the ratings have been sub-par and the advertising income on NBC alone wasn’t enough to justify the production costs on the show. This strategy may pay off financially for the individual show and the network in the short-term but I wonder how this will equate to eyeballs back to NBC’s other properties in the long-run.

A combination of important factors makes Xbox a great contender for helping offer a new world of opportunities for content creators (including the networks) and advertisers. The first big game-changer was the launch of NXE ("New Xbox Experience") which enables users to access a plethora content much easier than ever before and gives advertisers a number of different ways to show their wares. The second big announcement late last year was the drop in the price of the console itself from $279 to $199 ($50 cheaper than the Nintendo Wii). The third factor was the partnership with Netflix that allows users to download Netflix content right to their Xbox. Another important advancement was the integration of the Xbox Live Marketplace online experience with the console which enables users to purchase and download content straight to their Xbox using a browser-based online user face on xbox.com including second-run top-tiered TV content ala iTunes like "Heroes", "Lost", "The Daily Show" and more.

Last week, I attended the AdClub Seattle luncheon. Chuck Frizelle, Director of Xbox/Games Product Strategy and Planning, was the guest speaker speaking on "Advertising in the Game Industry". Chuck has been in charge of the Xbox Live advertising business since its inception. Chuck’s main point to the Advertisers in the audience was that Gamers aren’t a niche audience anymore and that games are just a type of entertainment. The topic I don’t think he touched on enough was the opportunities for everyone in the family--gamer or not--to use the Xbox Live experience to watch and interact with entertainment of all kinds including movies, TV shows, games, and advertainment like the "Doritos :: Unlock Xbox" game.

With the convergence of media on one platform and the ability for users to control that media all in one place, we’re seeing a platform that really does change the game of entertainment and advertising. Xbox eases the user into one comfortable platform that allows for active as well as passive entertainment.

The next logical developments for Xbox Live should be an Interactive TV experience that will enable users to purchase items seen in a TV show or movie immediately and the availability of more casual games in XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade). The Interactive TV experience on this platform just makes sense since people are comfortable being both active and passive while enjoying entertainment on the Xbox unlike the computer experience which is mostly an active experience and watching regular TV which is mainly as passive experience. The introduction of more casual games in XBLA would also be a good move to help change the perception of the Xbox platform as a "hard-core gamer" console to something more family-friendly, like the Wii. Games like "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" have already helped to do just that but those games are best played in groups and Xbox really needs to encourage everyone in the family to be more comfortable interacting with the Xbox even when solo--casual games can help with just that.

Once the Xbox is welcomed into the living room beyond the game room, families will be able to be entertained in a myriad of ways from a single platform. Advertisers will also have many opportunities to reach their target consumers in ways that are more creative and thus more welcome by their audience. It could just be that brave-new-world for content and how that content is funded that we’ve all been waiting for.

Vicky Tamaru @ Branded Entertainment, All Business

Okay, I’ll admit it. I don’t personally have an iPhone, but my husband does and he loves it. Why haven’t I made the plunge? Simple -- I’m waiting for the next big thing.

When I travel, I have five vital pieces of electronics with me. It’s always a struggle to get my iPod, cell phone, digital camera, Nintendo DS, and laptop in one computer bag (my "personal item") so that I can stuff my other carry-on full of clothes and other necessities.

I would love to have just one appliance to take care of my most important needs that those five items do for me now:

1. Check my work (Outlook) and personal email
2. Check /update my Outlook calendar
3. Access my Outlook contact list to quickly make phone calls
4. Purchase, sync and listen to music
5. Purchase, sync and watch videos
6. “Connect” to folks on my social networks like Facebook and Twitter and update my status
7. Take photos and video and upload them easily where I want to
8. Let me play games
9. Read/write Word documents
10. Read/write Excel spreadsheets
11. Pay for applications/content once—access it across as many platforms as possible (computer, phone, audio device, game console…)
12. Save all of my existing content (music, videos, photos, documents, etc.) in one place for me to sync and access easily

The iPhone does the first seven things well with the help of ActiveSync (to sync with Exchange Server), the Facebook app, and iTunes. Windows Mobile does the first ten things but it lacks a lot of the more fun applications available to the iPhone. Number eleven and twelve are the big items that neither can deliver quite yet.

Here is why I think the time is now. Apple has convinced the American consumer of what the Japanese have known for years: that a phone-sized computer can be used for an assortment of activities. In Japan, people use their phones to play games, read books (in fact the best selling novels often start off as cellphone novels), watch TV, and pay for items -- using it like a debit card -- which is why the iPhone hasn’t been a success in the Japanese market. Americans have started to recognize that they can use their phones for both business as well as pleasure. There are also more useful apps like the SonoSound ultrasound viewer for doctors and the NikeWomen Training Club to customize your daily workout, while games are some of the most popular iPhone applications downloaded from the iTune store.

Apple achieved this culture-shift by doing what they do best, making things fun and easy to use. There are a plethora of applications and content just available for you to try in iTunes from your phone. As soon as you’re ready to purchase, Apple makes this task as easy as pie, especially if you’re already used to using the same experience to get audio and video content for your iPod.

To get all of that content, Apple made it super easy for content developers to develop the content (getting your content through Mr. Jobs to sell it on iTunes is another story we’ll ignore for now). The biggest hurdle for mobile content developers was always the lack of consistency and requirements across phones. Imagine this: You’ve got a great idea for a mobile application but you have to develop it in several different languages (Java ME, BREW, .NET, Palm OS…), for phones with a variety of screen sizes, and then you’ve got the distribution nightmare. Say goodbye to any hope of making any money. iPhone and iPod Touch have one programming language, one screen size, and one distribution channel. Not to mention that it’s got a huge share of the cellphone market in the US. According to Apple’s WWDC keynote in June 2009, they announced that over 40 million iPhones and iPod touches had been sold globally. In May 2009, iPhone accounted 69 percent of the smart phone traffic according to AdMob. With Smartphones making up 37 percent of all mobile traffic globally. Those are some pretty good odds.

But I’m going to point out the elephant in the room: Are you tired of buying content and applications just for use on your iPhone? I know that I stopped adding content to my iPod because I’ve got two iPods and several computers and I’m tired of encoding/copying/moving/synching my files -- I want to buy or encode once and share all of the files regardless of device. Besides that, I’m an NPR addict and my iPod doesn’t have access to radio without external hardware. So I’ve actually gone back to what I used to do before I had an iPod, listening to internet radio stations and streaming my local NPR station live. And I know that I’m not alone in this.

On the business side, I love that my Windows Mobile phone allows me to use Word and Excel on my phone -- no need to purchase any apps or convert my files. I can also VPN into our business server from my phone. That means that I don’t need to store all of my important content on my phone, I can sync it from a server.

Microsoft has already opened their Windows Marketplace for Mobile to developers. They need to make sure that they don’t fall in to the trap they often do -- by making their OS and applications available to too many manufacturers without requiring them to stick to enough standards. It’s going to be key that developers feel like they’ll be able to make money on the content and applications they create and not wasting it on porting it to too many different phone requirements.

This is why I’m hopeful about the Zune Phone, aka Pink.

First, the Zune Phone will need to run off of Windows Mobile so that I can take care of my business needs and also my “need” for other mobile applications that I’ll be able to purchase from the Windows Marketplace.

On the fun side of things, the Zune already plays my audio and video content and has a radio tuner, so I’m going to assume that’s all on the Zune Phone. XNA, the Zune game programming language is also supported on Xbox. In fact, Plexipixel did the design for the Zune Sudoku game that was released with the 3.1 software update. There’s been chatter about a portable Xbox console since 2006 -- could this be the next step to that reality?

And what about the social experience? Xbox Live has been an excellent connector. At GDC, Microsoft announced the social extension of Xbox Live, Twitter and Facebook integration but more importantly the ability to watch videos or listen to music with friends. If the Zune Phone is able to tap into some of the Xbox Live social functionality, I’m buying one immediately.

Finally, Microsoft has a big ace in the hole called Azure. What is Azure? It’s Microsoft’s cloud computing solution -- platform, software, database, OS offerings all in one. Why is Azure so important? Think of being able to access all of your photos, videos, audio, business documents, games all on your Xbox, Zune Phone, Zune, and PC. But let’s go beyond that. Let’s say that you’ll be able to run some big juicy applications on your smaller devices like your Zune Phone. More and more developers will be building their software as a service (SAAS) -- think Google Docs or Salesforce CRM -- now that companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have cloud offerings available to developers.

I bet you’re wondering by now what this all has to do with branded entertainment or advertainment. Think about it: Your advertainment apps or content will no longer be tied to one platform -- iTunes already offers a number of branded applications in their store. People have been talking about mobile advertising for ages but nothing’s hit. It’s been expensive and difficult to execute. But if there are only two or three major phones and even better, one solution for multiple platforms, think of the possibilities.

I’m hoping that Microsoft can get it right. They have so much that they can leverage -- a great OS in Windows Mobile, industry standard applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook, an amazing game console in Xbox, the social experience of Xbox Live, a good audio/video device like Zune (that has lots of opportunity to be so much better), and now the Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Azure. It could be a hugely powerful combination!

Vicky Tamaru @ Branded Entertainment, All Business

1. But Everyone’s Talking About It…
   Just because Twitter is “the next big thing”, doesn’t mean you should jump in head first.  Investigate your audience and its intention before you even consider investing time and money. Don’t forget to make sure that it’s an integral part of your overall comprehensive marketing strategy.
2. Customer Expectations
   Many of your customers are already very comfortable in the digital world.  They’re on the Web, using their iPhones, connecting on social networks and watching videos.  Make sure that your digital marketing is executed with your customer in mind.
3. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
   There are lots of great technologies, tools, and best practices available for you to leverage for your digital marketing project; no need to waste your money or resources on unnecessary costs.
4. The “One Size Fits All” Solution
   Conversely, avoid the solution that promises to solve everything for everyone.  Your business is unique; take the time to find the most appropriate solution for you.
5. Missing the Mark
   Your website might look good, but is it working pulling its weight capturing leads or retaining customers as hard as it should?
6. Brand Degradation
   An initiative executed poorly could degrade your brand.  A brand can be pulled down exponentially quicker than they can be built up.
7. Runaway Development Costs
   Poorly planned and architected websites and applications can end up costing you multiple times its initial projected cost, just as a bad contractor can blow out the budget and schedule of your home redesign.
8. Unplanned Maintenance and Management Costs
   Once it’s built, who’s going to update the content, pull down and analyze the data, make small tweaks to keep up your investment?  Make sure to account for these in your strategy plan.

In this tough economic environment, business decisions need to be made wisely.  A good digital agency should be interested in partnering with you to work towards your success long-term during any economic environment and be just as critical as you are of how funds and resources are being invested.

Your customers are in the digital realm: on the Web, using their smartphones, connecting via social networks and watching videos.  Are you where your customers are?  If not, let us help you.

As digital pioneers, our integrated group of designers and developers and our experienced management team understand how to navigate the often confusing virtual wilds. Let us be your guide as you maneuver the digital world, providing the essential tools for this amazing journey.

What We Do

We excel at making complex concepts:

• Engaging
• Simple to understand
• Easy to retain
• Fun, when appropriate

We do this by:

• Strategizing around your goals (goal-oriented)
• Focusing on your audience (user-focused)
• Leveraging tools, processes, and best practices (value-minded)
• Working closely with you and your team (make your interests our interests)

Our Work

Maximize digital marketing initiatives through a blend of strategy, conception, execution, maintenance, & measurement:

• Website Design and Development
• Branding
• Interactive Demos and Animations
• Custom Cross-Platform Applications
• Social Media Strategy and Execution
• SEO Strategy and Execution
• Games
• Mobile Applications

Who We Are

Plexipixel is a full-service digital agency specializing in consumer-driven experiences that incorporate “Sticky Brand Play”™, our user-focused, value-minded process to acquire, engage, and retain customers that gets measurable results.

Our projects include B2B and B2C work with clients like Adidas, Philips, Infiniti and Microsoft.

Contact us to schedule a consultation today!

Roshamboom! is inspired by David C. Lovelace’s extreme rock-paper-scissors concept called RPS-101.  The RPS-101 (http://umop.com) game got a ton of web chatter when it was released back in 2007 because it took David over a year to concept the game and produce the 5000+ outcomes.  The Plexipixel folks thought it would make an ideal (and silly) turn-based game for Facebook.  Plus, it allowed them to practice some Silverlight skills."

Barak Cohen @ Microsoft

Plexipixel developed a proprietary platform for rapid development and deployment of social networking applications and games called Dormouse. Dormouse is the platform powering the MySpace and Facebook implementations of MSN Games' "Hexic" and "Chess" which were released earlier this year as well as the Silverlight Facebook game, "Roshamboom!"

"Dormouse not only allows us to build applications and games for social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, and hi5 quickly, it allows us the flexibility during development to quickly respond to API changes such as OpenSocial 0.9 and MySpace Profile 2.0," says Andy Jacobs, Plexipixel's Lead Developer. "In addition, the platform has been deployed across a distributed web cluster to serve up speedy page loads and minimizes any single point of failure for popular games like 'Hexic' which has 50,000 active monthly users and growing."

In addition to Dormouse, our full social networking application solution suite includes the integration of analytics and tracking through Zabra, our customizable RIA (rich internet applications) tracking tool.

"Sites like Facebook have very comprehensive analytics tools, but Zabra allows us to track user interactions within the actual Flash/Silverlight/Javascript applications at the heart of the 'Hexic' and 'Chess' on MySpace and Facebook," says Vicky Tamaru, CEO and Co-Founder of Plexipixel. "We've also been using it to take small sample data about Silverlight penetration through our 'Roshamboom!' game to help us make technical decisions on other interactive projects."

Other speakers at LOGIN include Edward Hunter, Director of Gaming Solutions at comScore, Toby Ragaini, Director of Game Development at Big Fish Games and Lowell Vaughen, Director of Strategic Marketing at WB Games.

About Vicky Tamaru:
From playing Space Invaders in the 1970s to chatting online before the "interwebs" were even invented, Vicky has been a geek since before it was cool. In an increasingly fragmented and over-saturated world, Vicky's extensive experience in weaving the creative realms of design and tech into "unexpectedly sticky brand play" has given her a unique understanding of the importance of meaningful, engaging entertainment to the bottom line of any business. She is the Branded Entertainment expert on Dunn & Bradstreet's AllBusiness.com and is on the Advergaming committee of the Casual Games Association.

About Plexipixel, Inc.:
Plexipixel has been a leader in the interactive-experience field since its founding in 2000. Plexipixel is responsible for the design, development and concept assistance for one of the top five most successful online games in the world and has created other award-winning, highly successful advergame, animation, and website projects for multinational clients such as Adidas, Microsoft, Sony and Volvo.

RPS-101 was referred to by John Bardinelli--a freelance writer of casual and independent games--as "a completely unrealistic version of [the most basic game known to man]". Plexipixel created an interactive version of the game that is playable by anyone with the Silverlight plug-in and a Facebook account by using Microsoft's Silverlight technology and Dormouse™ (a proprietary social networking application development and deployment platform) to leverage Facebook's native services to create a game that is easy to play and can quickly be viral.

"RPS-101 took a year to develop on my end, so I was impressed at how well its complexity was preserved in this very engaging, addictive new version," says Lovelace.

Since 2000, Plexipixel has earned a reputation for delivering "unexpectedly sticky brand play"™ that include user-focused websites, games, applications, innovative advertising, and animations for companies such as Volvo, Adidas, VISA and Sprite.

"We make the users' experience fun," says Kristi Torgrimson, Project Manager/Producer who heads up the Plexipixel San Francisco office. "The interactive experiences we create for our clients totally immerse the users into their brands. We recently had a 75-percent completion rate for an advergame we created for one of our Fortune 500 clients. For another client, we achieved more than 13 million plays in just two months."

Most recently, Plexipixel has taken their extremely successful "unexpectedly sticky brand play" philosophy into the world of social networking. Microsoft's MSN Games worked with Plexipixel to develop and deploy MySpace and Facebook applications based on their most popular games, "Hexic" and "Chess". The social networking applications were built on the Dormouse platform and the user interactions within the Flash games are being tracked by Zabra™--Plexipixel's customizable RIA (rich internet applications) tracking and analytics tool.

Plexipixel has been a leader in the interactive-experience field since its founding. President Matt Tamaru and CEO Vicky Tamaru collectively bring decades of experience in design, interactive media development, character design and animation. Matt was a pioneer in web animation using FutureSplash (later renamed Flash) and has worked on advergames, animated web shorts, websites, and various interactive projects for Disney, Coca-Cola, Nickelodeon, among others.

"We're excited to bring two of our most popular games to the Facebook and MySpace communities," said Megan Hodel, marketing manager for MSN Games at Microsoft. "These networks reach more than 200 million people around the world, and the MSN Games applications will make it easier and more fun for Facebook and MySpace users to play some of their favorite casual games."

Both of the MSN Games applications reward users via collectible merit badges for playing and achieving skills, and feature leaderboards, news feeds from MSN Games, and the ability to share the applications with friends. The applications feature full Facebook integration, including notifications when badges have been awarded and games completed. MSN Games has also launched a dedicated page on Facebook, where casual game fans can download the game applications to their personal page, view videos, and post pictures and messages.

"Chess" features asynchronous multiplayer functionality, so that users can play their turn whenever they have time to log on and make their move. The application also allows users to track their long-term progress against friends using the ELO rating system.

(via PR News Wire)

What my husband Matt and I love about the show is that it’s a great combination of charity and business, competition and cooperation, and creativity and precise planning. Overall, the show is extremely well orchestrated as a true Branded Entertainment vehicle. It does a great job not selling anything short, including the duration of the show which is done in a two-hour weekly block (almost unheard of in this day and age of TV programming). It also does an amazing job elevating all of the brands in an immersive and entertaining way. The brands are numerous yet each has a compelling role to play in the overall story: the celebrity contestants, the corporations involved in the challenges, the non-profits the celebrities play for, as well as the Trump brand itself.

What’s been also so good to see is that everyone involved-from contestant to represented corporation-really seem invested in the show emotionally. There have been many passionate fights and tears from the contestants seemingly driven by their desire to win for their causes. And even members of the Trump family show a few moments of true compassion in the board room.

In today’s business environment, one of the true advancements marketing has made is to being more open to showing the real faces behind the big brands through social media and the like. It been refreshing to see a broadcast TV show hosted and produced by one of the most successful businessmen in the United States also make an effort to represent brands in more authentic ways.

Matt and I will probably be watching the ‘Lost’ finale and DVRing the live ‘Celebrity Apprentice’-only because after six years, we’re just more invested emotionally in the ‘Lost’ story. But you can bet that we will be watching ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ soon afterwards. We won’t be able to wait long to see Bret Michaels back from the brink of death in the board room with the very competitive Holly Robinson Peete. And yes, we’ll certainly be picking up a couple of bottles of the winning Snapple flavor. Job well done, ‘Celebrity Apprentice’!

Vicky Tamaru @ Branded Entertainment, All Business

Microsoft has revamped the MSN Games site to feature the new social features more prominently.

(via Forbes)

"ORLEGI" 2010 from the gela on Vimeo.

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The inspiring team at Whole Foods Market asked that we create an animation announcing the opening of their Lynnwood, WA store, but were adamant that it also share the values they hold dear when it comes to healthy and sustainable lifestyles. They didn’t want a commercial; they wanted a story.

Our initial meeting was enlightening. We not only learned about their Whole Kids Foundation, whose mission is to promote health and wellness for the next generation, and about the rich company history that is woven throughout their values even today, but we also learned that gently rolling a Satsuma helps to release the flavorful juices. They asked us about our first “organic experiences” and their wish that every child have the opportunity to know what it is to enjoy safely sourced, organic products. Let’s just say we enjoyed our collaborative sessions.

They strongly believe in their mission, as do we, to create a healthier and more sustainable culture for our kids so we began the project with an abundance of positive energy.  Animations take a great deal of work—it  would be a stretch to call any of it a breeze—but  there was a certain sense of ease with which the concepts came together as both teams shared their visions. It all just made sense.

The animation is more than the opening of Whole Foods Market in Lynnwood. It’s about the beginning of a story—our collective story—one in which a child can be the teacher, a community can be the voice and a patchwork quilt of earth and water can truly be Whole.

When We Share...We Grow from Whole Foods Market® PN on Vimeo.

We want to give a big thank you to the Whole Foods team as well as all our hard working Plexipeeps for coming together to share this great message and we can’t wait to see you all at the new Lynnwood Whole Foods Market opening March 15th!.

Also, check out the When We Share, We Grow animation on the big screen starting March 2 at the Alderwood Mall Theatres.

Tashtastic from Tessa Morgan on Vimeo.

This was not the intended message of the piece, to be sure, but after reading Michal “Lippy” Lipman’s account of the birth of this great doodle, we are pretty sure it spoke the same message to animators everywhere. Lippy defines himself as a storyteller. Not by trade, mind you, but in a deeper and more complex part of his soul. To a degree, many animators feel this way because after all, what is an animation but a way to evoke the emotion behind words using moving artistic imagery?

If a picture tells a thousand words, than even the shortest storyline animation can evoke a thousand emotions. From the use of color and texture, to the expressions and body language exhibited through characters and the necessary high-level grasp of context, so much can be said in a very short amount of time. Using an in-depth understanding of human communications, successful animators can make an audience understand even the most complicated of ideas in as much time as it takes for us to read one short paragraph.

Short storyline animations can go beyond broadcasting a brand; they can send a message full of the complexities of your journey as a company: This is who we are and this is what we stand for. Not bad for about 60 seconds out of your day.

Wired Magazine reviews 4 portable solar chargers

What device could you not live without for more than a few hours? Keep it clean now, this is a family blog.

To sum up, Leyden ultimately claims that free-to-play games will conquer the gaming console market and have the potential to be highly profitable thanks to in-game purchases. Kaplan counters that the model as it stands is not sustainable, especially for creating high-quality games.

While there’s no telling who will win the “I-told-you-so” rights, or whether either of them will get the chance to do so, there's just no arguing that the trends affecting the traditional gaming world will also affect the world of advertainment and gamification. While many theories abound, it’s hard to do anything but speculate how an expansion in the free-to-play market would impact how we successfully gamify everyday experiences.

Given the adaptability of the console makers to meet the expanding list of customer demands—after all, consoles like the Xbox and PS3 are fuel more than just our gaming habits—we don’t see that model dying out anytime soon. From a game developer perspective, each platform carries their own methods for making or breaking innovation and creativity. Ideally, the vast array of mass and niche markets will support both models in their own way so we can all just play nice.

“I still like hefty real-life books, but mostly I like e-books if I have a second, vertically oriented screen. I just always want to be able to glance at the book, whether it’s on my desk or on a screen. Hate having to scroll constantly.” – Joel

“I love (hardcopy or digital) books but don’t reference them much day-to-day. I find them really helpful when getting started with something that’s new to me – a brand new platform or language. After that I usually turn to Google or stackoverflow for questions as they come up. In theory it’d be nice to buy something on the kindle store and read it on your iphone or your PC but PDFs usually are even more portable. And I agree with Joel. Having a vertically oriented monitor makes them a lot easier to read quickly.” – David

“Sitting at my desktop I'll pretty much only use digital (e-books or forums), but away from the desktop, just reading to learn, I'm okay using both. I actually probably prefer the hard copy to the Kindle in this scenario if the book has large blocks of sample code.” – Ian

“What’s a ‘book’?” - Jesse

Well there you have it. Dev’s, what do you prefer when you need to pull from reference material? Answer in the comments below and also you can thank us for not doing a Valentine's Day Post.