Advertising and marketing

Pharmacy sends customer brilliant e-mail from Zombie future

When you keep getting mail addressed to someone you don't know, you might feel annoyed, inquisitive, or even suspicious.

Or you might e-mail the company sending it and wonder whether it's intended for some future resident of your home.

Andrew Gardner took the latter route with quite beautiful results.

The Toronto resident e-mailed Shoppers Drug Mart and asked to be removed from its mailing list because, well, he clearly isn't "Matthew."

As the Globe and Mail reports, Gardner wondered whether "Matthew is a future resident of this address, and seemingly against the laws of … Read more

'Trek'-themed Acer Aspire R7 boldly goes up for auction

On returning home from seeing "Star Trek Into Darkness" on Sunday, I couldn't help but wish my laptop had a more USS Enterprise-y feel. Thankfully, Acer has anticipated such consumer fancies, announcing Wednesday that it's partnered with Paramount to offer a limited-edition Trek-themed Aspire R7.

As is generally the case with such blockbuster-related gadgets, the tie-in here is entirely promotional. The touch-enabled laptop comes engraved with a stainless steel "Star Trek" logo, and includes a logo-festooned sleeve, a film poster signed by the film's cast, and "Star Trek" content such as wallpapers, a soundtrack, and a video game.

The ambitiously designed Aspire R7, however, does feature a flexible design that allows users to move and position the hinged 15.6-inch 1,920x1,080 touch screen as needed, including into a configuration that does sort of resemble the Enterprise. … Read more

Pie in the sky: Domino's delivers pizzas via octocopter

I dream of a better world, one in which tasty food and beverages drop from the sky, right onto my plate and into my glass, ready to enjoy. I'm not the only one with this vision. First came the Tacocopter concept. Next, it was the Burrito Bomber and the beer drone. Now, Domino's Pizza UK has introduced the DomiCopter, a flying pizza-delivery system.

The system consists of an octocopter with an insulated Domino's delivery bag underneath in a cage. The bag can easily hold a couple of pizzas and keep them warm during their flight.… Read more

Amazon's secret weapon: $600 million in annual ad revenue

Amazon might be making the bulk of its cash on online sales and tablets, but the company has been quietly building an awfully large advertising business.

According to new data released on Tuesday by research firm eMarketer, Amazon generated $610 million in ad revenue last year, up 45.5 percent compared to 2011. What's more, eMarketer expects Amazon to generate $835 million this year, generating a 37 percent gain over the previous period.

So, how did Amazon do it? The company has been generating revenue from ads in search results on its own pages. The company also generates ad … Read more

In new S4 ad, Samsung replaces iPhone jokes with a fart joke

You can never go wrong with babies.

Well, except in the case of those people who should never have one.

It seems, therefore, that someone at Samsung has decided -- now that the company has reached the America-centric stage of its Galaxy S4 launch -- not to tread on sexual toes.

You might remember that the company likes to begin its American phase with an ad or two suggesting the iPhone is but an attractive doorstop. This Samsung did a few weeks ago with its pool party ad -- the one with the clueless iPhone-owning parents.

So now it's time to step into familial, non-critical territory.… Read more

Internet ad sales reach new high of $9.6 billion

Revenue generated by online advertising hit a new record in the U.S. last quarter.

Total first-quarter sales hit $9.6 billion, up 15.6 percent from the $8.3 billion seen in the first quarter of 2012, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The latest numbers reflect an ongoing shift to Internet advertising on the part of marketers as revenue continues to grow by double digits.

"Consumers are turning to interactive media in droves to look for the latest information, to connect with their social networks, and simply to be entertained," IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg … Read more

Twitter said to be prepping ad re-targeting exchange

Twitter is said to be readying an ad exchange that would let marketers target ads directly at users who have visited their Web sites.

According to AdAge, Twitter is hoping to challenge Facebook's own so-called re-targeting exchange, otherwise known as FBX. AdAge cited sources familiar with the project.

Since at least late last year, the company has met with several FBX partners who are well-versed in locating on Facebook people who had previously visited a brand's site and retargeting them with non-standard display ads on the social network, in hopes of luring them back to the brand site. … Read more

Tumblr brings in-stream ads to Web dashboard

Tumblr may finally be catching up in the advertising game with the launch of in-stream ads on its Web dashboard.

When Tumblr users scroll through the dashboard on the Web, they'll now see sponsored posts appear alongside posts from blogs they follow, the company said Thursday.

Tumblr started including sponsored posts in users' streams on its mobile applications in April. Like the ads on mobile, users will see up to four sponsored Tumblr stories a day on the desktop that are denoted by an animated dollar sign icon.

The sponsored posts will roll out to all users by the … Read more

Ideacodes leadership to join Adobe's Creative Cloud team

Adobe has announced that it has acquired Ideacodes, a private creative consultancy firm that will be merged into the ever-growing Creative Cloud unit.

The San Francisco-based digital agency was founded nine years ago with a focus on the user experience on smart apps, digital products, and online communities.

Adobe isn't hiding its intentions with its latest purchase, describing the merger as the company's second recent "acqui-hire," following up last week's acquisition of New York-based mobile app design startup Thumb Labs.

Emily Chang and Max Kiesler, the co-founders of Ideacodes, will join the software giant as … Read more

Look out, Google: Amazon's eyeing your turf

Visit Amazon.com and you'll find a bevy of recommendations to fill your digital shopping cart: books similar to what you've read on your Kindle or clothes and gadgets based on what else you've looked at.

Now Amazon is tinkering with ad technology that would flash ads for you even when you're not on Amazon sites. And those ads might not even direct shopper back to Amazon's sites.

It's still early days, but if Amazon's new strategy plays out, it could become the Web's next advertising giant. Sure, it already serves up … Read more