This year’s New York Ad:Tech event was a buzzy success. Based on the heavy emphasis towards mobile and “SO-LO-MO” which refers to Social, Local and Mobile marketing strategies, it is evident that the advertising forefront is finally getting comfortable and poised to really start jumping into the mobile and social media bandwagon.

Mike Flynn, VP of Ad Tech North America, further supported these efforts by announcing, “This year, mobile became a core component of many marketing campaigns, as ecommerce, social and local all converged to reach the consumer. This trend will continue as digital becomes synonymous with mobile as the platform for publishing and media, retail and shopping, brand building and direct sales.”

As many already know, Ad:Tech is comprised of top movers and shakers in the advertising world providing some great new insights, advertising/marketing trends and directions that are happening or emerging. Conference pass holders had additional benefits and were able to take part in many different sessions related to brand marketing, advertising, media and SO-LO-MO. A great draw this year were some of the top-notch keynote presentations[...]

As the end of the summer travel season passes us by, travel industry leaders are speaking out on what they believe to be the big trends from travelers in the next year. Leaders from Facebook, Google, and TripAdvisor shared their travel predictions for 2012, which included:

- How consumers will depend more on friends’ recommendations through social network sites to make travel decisions

- The increasing power of the online review in influencing consumers’ travel decisions

- The growing importance of green-friendly and sustainable travel to consumers’ decision-making process

- How mobile will change the way that consumers research and schedule their travel plans [...]

Last week I found myself at McDonald’s for the third time in a week. I hadn’t been there that much since they launched the mini Ty beanie babies…and that was 1996. I wasn’t just there because I had a sudden urge for grease; no, I was there for two reasons: (1) to claim my free medium fries, and (2) to either buy some McNuggets or a large fountain drink in hopes of obtaining Pennsylvania Avenue (#769) to complete the trifecta of green Monopoly pieces that would yield $50,000 in cash (before taxes, anyway). I’d already gotten Pacific Avenue (#767) and North Carolina (#768) and was quite certain that after one more trip to the Golden Arches I could start planning my next trip to say…the Gold Coast in Australia[...]

<img class="size-full wp-image-1862 alignleft" src="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/fnovid.jpg" alt="" width="242" height="209" />

Last Week’s <a href="http://www.mbfashionweek.com/">New York Fashion Week</a> (NYFW), otherwise known as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, is a biannual event exclusive to fashion industry insiders (buyers, editors, stylists, celebrities, press). This recent season–shows for Spring Summer 2011–was remarkably well-covered and made transparent to the general public and its mass of consumers.

Let’s take a look at the variety of media in the fashion sphere.

<a href="http://www.fashionsnightout.com/">Fashion’s Night Out</a> (FNO): The kick-off to fashion week, is a collaboration between the city of New York, the <a href="http://www.cfda.com">CFDA</a>, <a href="http://www.vogue.com">Vogue</a>, and over 700 participating retailers to encourage consumers to go out and shop, with extended store hours, celebrity appearances, and goodies/giveaways. This time around, FNO included the biggest public runway show in NYC history at the new location of NYFW, <a href="http://www.lincolncenter.org">Lincoln Center</a> (previously <a href="http://www.bryantpark.org/">Bryant Park</a> tents).<a href="../wp-content/uploads/2010/09/nyfw.jpg">

Nielsen’s latest report on mobile trends predicts smart phones overtaking regular mobile phones by the end of next year.  The report is not surprising given predictions from Gartner, IDC, Admob, and a slew of other media and research companies earlier this year.  When the reports talk about rapid adoption, they’re not talking about just young tech [...]