• Shanghai Surprise
    Today's China and the hyperconnected Chinese marketplace are concepts so big it can be hard to wrap your intellectual arms around them. It helps to focus on only a few impressive facts at a time.
  • Bound and Wired
    'Twas a dark and stormy night, as dark as it was stormy. On the couch I sat, my eyes darting from screen to screen with cat-like quickness. Only a low constellation of small flashing lights illuminated the anteroom where I'd passed the last fortnight, or perhaps even longer.
  • The Hypo-Connected
    John is an average 35-year-old guy. He has a college education, a job and a girlfriend. His passions hew to the Comic-Con vein: superhero flicks, graphic novels, Andy Kaufman conspiracy theories - the kind of stuff that was geeky before geeky sold out. But there is one way in which John is a very strange dude. He never checks his email. This can make friendship with John a challenge. If you want him to show up at an event planned by email - which, let's face it, most get-togethers among college friends are these days - John requires notification via …
  • Walls Come Tumbling Down
    Facebook and Twitter, in their rises as platforms, created usable social graphs, and social apps represented the first use of social tools. But for much of their existence, through Facebook Connect, the use of these tools has been along the lines of a monkey smashing something with a rock or poking something with a stick. All of a sudden the monkeys have fired up power drills, table saws and jackhammers.
  • Web Site Excellence / Youth: Hearst Digital Media / Seventeen / Pretty Amazing
    A multiplatform celebration of confidence and personal style, the Pretty Amazing Campaign for Seventeen started with 30,000 girls submitting photos, essays and videos online for a chance to win a $10,000 college scholarship. The campaign grew through social media, and with an MTV special documenting the finalists. Loyal Seventeen readers could also vote for their favorite finalist, submit themselves for a "Pretty Amazing Girl of the Week" feature on Seventeen's Facebook profile page, or even see how they would look on the cover of Seventeen with the Cover Creator photo upload tool.
  • Web Site Excellence / Youth: Channel One News / N/A / www.ChannelOne.com
    Channelone.com combines fun and educational content with appealing, creative and intelligently targeted marketing initiatives that make their clients' products part of the fabric of their teen users' lives. With a wide variety of programs, channelone.com works hard to make sure everything seamlessly blends in order to improve their users' online experience. Successfully pulling off everything from video competition movie tie-ins to pledging not to text while driving, channelone.com has kept users engaged and involved.
  • Web Site Excellence / Youth: Alloy Digital / Smosh.com / Smosh.com
    Recognized by Time magazine as "the Saturday Night Live of the Internet," Smosh is comprised of original content such as sketch videos, music, sweepstakes, polls, contests, casual games, and merchandise. With dedicated young adults and teens behind the site's copyright-clear, brand-safe content, it became the No. 3 most subscribed channel currently on YouTube. With over 1.1 million registered users, 45 million page views per month, and over 10 million unique visitors per month prove that Smosh is providing engaging, entertaining content that users can't get enough of.
  • Web Site Excellence / Travel & Tourism: Acxiom Integrated Agency / Golden Nugget / Golden Nugget website rebranding
    Las Vegas is so saturated with top-notch casino resorts it can be hard to stand out, but the Golden Nugget does an impressive job distinguishing itself here (as well as its Laughlin, Nev., and Atlantic City properties). The site melds the classic elegance of a resuscitated Vegas landmark with a new hip vibe. What stands out is the slew of enticing 360-degree virtual tours offered in Las Vegas and Laughlin - be it of a pool, lounge or the inside of a suite.
  • Web Site Excellence / Travel & Tourism: Click Here, Inc. / The Biltmore Company / "Welcome to the World's Largest Christmas Lost and Found"
    This does an excellent job of marketing the famed Asheville, N.C., mansion as a destination to celebrate the holiday season, using fantastic images and superb design, matched with practical information. It would have been easy to use less artistry and a more direct roster of activities. Yet, that may not have fit with the stately Biltmore and its heritage. Instead, there is a discovery process, which can help a visitor realize just how much the Vanderbilt home offers - as they might come across information about a red wine and chocolate-tasting experience, …
  • Web Site Excellence / Travel & Tourism: Click Here, Inc. / Go RVing / "Meet the Ambassadors of Affordability"
    Anyone who harbors a humdrum, bland image of RVing will be struck by the site's colorful images of America's great outdoors that await travelers in the large cruisers. Good videos give a sense of what life on the road is like, while there's also a clever touch with a lengthy list of "recipes" for the road. The site executes a nice balancing act between upgrading the image of RVs, while hammering home the vacation affordability they can offer.
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