The Spin Within

The iPhone can do everything. Including becoming a stethoscope. Peter Bentley, a researcher from University College London has invented a free app that allows users to measure heart beat.

There are nearly 6,000 applications related to health in the Apple App store and 80% of doctors say they expect to be using a smart phone in 2012. Some medical schools are actually issuing students with them.

Although I think I’d prefer it if my doctor used a regular stethoscope on me while I’m in his office, this is genius for doctors who work for Doctors Without Borders or those who … Continue Reading

The fourth issue of our newsletter, ‘News, Noise and Know-How’ includes tips for using plain speak in a press release, the scoop on former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater and a Q&A with tennis star Kim Clijsters. It can now be viewed here:  http://www.jzmcbride.com/newsletter/v1i4/news-v1-i4.html

Derrick Rose has incredible court vision, unrivaled quickness and a smooth jumper. He also has a giant sweet tooth.

While playing at Memphis, a former teammate said Rose ate “gummy bears and Starburst” for breakfast and then would switch to “Twizzlers and Honey Buns” for dinner. At heart, it seems the Chicago Bulls star has never grown up from the constant childhood need to “get candy”, as a Jerry Seinfeld once explained.

Skittles happen to be on of Derrick Rose’s all-time favorite sweets to … Continue Reading

US companies that use social media primarily to deepen customer loyalty spend almost twice as much on this emerging channel as competitors who use it for brand awareness, customer acquisition and other core marketing purposes, according to national survey results jointly released by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and COLLOQUY.

Specifically, the DMA-COLLOQUY survey results show the average social media spend for marketers whose primary objective is to obtain customer loyalty was $88,000 last year, compared to $53,000 for brand awareness and $30,000 for customer acquisition, … Continue Reading

*cartoon courtesy of Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette

Six years after the launch of Facebook, North American consumers in the valued 18-34 year-old demographic prefer by a wide margin to learn about marketing offers via postal mail and newspapers rather than online sources such as social media platforms, according to national survey research from ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting.

Additionally, the ICOM research shows that preferential attitudes about the trustworthiness of mail strengthened for consumer respondents in all age groups from 2008 to 2010.The 2010 study of 2569 U.S. households and 2209 … Continue Reading

Drawing on over 15 years of experience as a loyalty strategist, Roger L. Brooks provides the expertise needed to help even the marketing beginner grasp exactly what loyalty marketing is, and more importantly, what it can achieve. Brooks’ new work, The Power of Loyalty, focuses on 10 Essential Steps explaining how to cultivate a strong loyalty strategy that is a true game changer.

Brooks leverages personal experiences and 15 corporate case studies to skillfully illustrate how others have found success using loyalty … Continue Reading

Herald of new rewards? Macy's still testing.

A new loyalty program may soon be rewarding shoppers who purchase brands by Madonna, Martha Stewart and Donald Trump – and they do not have to charge it.

Macy’s Inc., which sells exclusive labels under each of these celebrities, is testing a new loyalty program in three U.S. markets. The Cincinnati-based department store company is pretty mum on the pilot – it does not want to risk skewing the results – but did confirm the test launched in the spring and that … Continue Reading

For those of you who love Groupon as much as I do, you no doubt saw its offering on August 19th: a coupon for $25 for $50 worth of apparel at Gap. That’s right, Groupon just went corporate.

For those of you not familiar with Groupon, it’s a web site that sends members a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat and buy in a variety of cities across the U.S., Canada, Europe and “soon beyond.” Membership is free and after you choose your … Continue Reading

Mr. West is in the Building! When controversial hip-hop artist Kanye West (@kanyewest) joined the twitterverse, we had to know that we were in for an adventure. If you weren’t paying attention in the month since Kanye has started tweeting, you may have missed such gems as, “This is gonna be a dope ass day” and “Classical music is tight yo.” But even in this short time span, Kanye has made strides in his ability to handle Twitter. In fact, most people could even learn a … Continue Reading