2010 a decade in 7 minutes
NEWSWEEK rewinds the first 10 years of the new century, reminding you of the best, worst, and unforgettable moments... what a mess!
No Way Through By Ctrl.Alt.Shift
Around Jerusalem the average ambulance journey time for a Palestinian is now almost 2 hours, compared to 10 minutes back in 2001.
In the west bank alone there are more than 600 internal military checkpoints and road blocks.
No Way Through highlights mobility restrictions imposed in the West Bank, that are limiting its habitants? access to health care, thus violating a fundamental human right.
5 things clients say and what they really mean
I came across this well written ( and true VERY true ) article published by Brian Yerkes, he basically quotes:
"Working with all types of clients on a daily basis can be as challenging as the actual design or development work that they are hiring you for. As a freelancer or a project manager, you are on the front-line and even though there shouldn?t be war between you and your client, it can sometimes feel like a battle!
Over the years, I have heard clients say a lot of things, and some of them are more clear in their message than others. For those starting out in the design industry, whether it is at a firm, or as a freelancer, this list of ?5 things clients say and what they really mean? will surely help you to be educated when interacting with various types of clients"
type #1: i designed it myself and just need you to ....
99.9% of the time, if a client says this to you when they first inquire about your services, and ask you for a quote, they are really saying, ?I know enough to have an opinion on YOUR profession, and I understand what it takes to do what you do. I don?t really think your skills are anything that hard to do, I just don?t have the time to do it, or I don?t have the little amount of time it probably takes to learn it. Knowing all this, I won?t be paying you that much to do this work as it shouldn?t take you that long at all?plus I?ve already done most of the work for you.?
read the rest of the article on Brian Yerkes personal blog/site
#wi-tribe @ Jordan advertising awards 2009
[nggallery id=1]
Radio ads:
[podcast]http://zainalsc.juliet.cloudns.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/C__DOCUME1_joissamn_Desktop_WINNIN1_WITRIB31.MP3[/podcast]
[podcast]http://zainalsc.juliet.cloudns.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/C__DOCUME1_joissamn_Desktop_WINNIN1_WITRIB21.MP3[/podcast]
- gold award
Category ISP & Mobile data services (press campaign):
There?s something in the air - Silver
Gift items Category:
wi-tribe FanRadio Category:
wi-tribe Launch Campaign Radio English Teaser and RevealerRadio Category:
wi-tribe new coverage phase 1 Radio ad - Bronze
Outdoor Category:
wi-tribe Pacman ?Internet is our playground?, ????????? ???????Press ad category:
Bus Ad: new municipality areas covered.
Translation:
Zarqa, Jarash, Irbid, Salt and Madaba?s Routes are now available
Category ISP & Mobile data services (press campaign):
There?s something in the air
Yahoo Buys 'N' Acquires #Maktoob
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Now that Yahoo has decided its way forward in search courtesy of a deal with Microsoft, it can get down to the business of being the globe's biggest internet portal. Its latest foray: the Arabic-speaking world, with the acquisition of Jordan-based Maktoob. Yahoo bought the Middle East's leading portal for a reported $75 million.
This is the first major internet acquisition by a U.S. company in the Middle East, and the first acquisition of its type by Yahoo, which tends to build its own properties in new markets or enter them via joint ventures.
With the acquisition of Maktoob, founded in 2000, Yahoo gets 16.5 million unique users and the ability to quickly churn Arabic-language versions of all its products, including Yahoo Messenger and Mail. Yahoo already had 44 million unique users in the Middle East, and though it's unclear how many are duplicated with Maktoob, the company has an ear for the complexities of the Middle East market, an established brand and a sales force on the ground.
Smart move from yahoo, @google " why didn't i think of that ? "
Source AdAge.com
IKEA dumps futura for verdana
After 50 years of the iconic Futura typeface, IKEA has made a switch to? Verdana?
The?2010 IKEA catalog, now arriving at doorsteps around the world, reveals the company?s choice to change all typography to the Microsoft font that every web designer has grown to hate (you can alreadyhear the cries). Verdana, specifically?designed for on-screen readability, first shipped with Internet Explorer 3 in 1996. Being one of the better looking ?Core fonts for the web??a limited selection which also includes Arial, Comic Sans, and Times New Roman?Verdana has become one of the most widely used fonts on the web (but rarely ever used in print).
Read more from the SOURCE
Online advertising in Bahrain
We've all noticed the appearance of online advertising in our country/region which leads to the conclusion that business owners are now realizing the power of the digital medium and the channels behind it.
This also means that they are budgeting for online ad spending, that is on its own an increase in online ad spending in this region.
Unfortunately companies like Zain and Batelco are applying it the wrong way, im hereby discarding the IAB guidelines and standards and just talking common-sense.
we all know What Zain & Batelco are at least locally we do, and most of us will find a way to reach their website when we require more information about a certain product or service (7elow?) Depending on what we are looking for most of us again apply the scan method in combination with the?baby duck syndrome, that is on its own frustrating if the Information architecture wasn't done properly,? now lets concentrate on ads bits, shall we?
If you are a facebook user you might have came across couple of ads from both companies which looks like this.
A part from its being a "misleading ad" oh well the usual Zain, when you click the ad it takes you to the index of their website "BOOM" there you are infront of 7 or more navigation links to choose from and you have been there before.
So basically they have generated a generic traffic ( a part from awareness ) to their website, but what are they doing with that traffic?
i bet a bounce rate of 80% or more occurs on daily basis because they smack users with the same website, which is not directly related to the ad itself.
Here we notice the absence of microsites or and expendable banners were they can collect user information from the ad itself without the need to navigate away from ad location, or simply link the ad to the related product on the site itself ( worst case scenario ).
you can find out more on ad-format variations on eye-blaster website.
There are more issues related to their online presence if you look further into new trends such as RSS, opt-in email newsletters/marketing and proper social media optimization/engagement, did i mention that they are also using tables instead of divs ?oh well its all about time me thinks, what do you think?
#SAS microsite integration with facebook-globe of fortune
Smart move from SAS ( Scandinavian Airlines System ), the idea is simple from its name globe of fortune:
you get to Spin the globe ( yeah spin it ) ?and you might win a free trip to a Scandinavian destination with a random Facebook friend ?, you will of course require to give the site a facebook permission ( by signing in ) for it to select your friends, once a friend is selected you need to motivate SAS ( 200 char max ) why should you and your friend win.
snaps below Linkage here >>
Texting while driving #BBM
Gwent police dept is behind the video below, hoping for a change and hault texting while driving.
So I dedicate this to my "blackberry heavy on" friends, BBM-ing, texting while driving, wont spoil it for ya, watch the video.