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haven't we done this already tho???

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Everyone says something when a man is violent to a women, but what about when roles are reveresed?

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Everyone says something when a man is violent to a women, but what about when roles are reveresed?

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ROLI secure funding for keyboard of the future

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ROLI secure funding for keyboard of the future

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London music startup Roli is ready to expand globally as they announce $12.8m in investment.

Their flagship-product the Seaboard GRAND keyboard has been met with unexpectedly strong demand, creating waiting lists of up to a year. The investment will go towards scaling up production.

The financing is led by Balderton Capital. Other investors include FirstMark Capital and Index Ventures, as well as strategic investor Universal Music.

As part of the financing, Daniel Waterhouse from Balderton and Amish Jani from FirstMark join the board of directors.

The Seaboard GRAND

The Seaboard GRAND marks a re-imagining of a traditional keyboard.

It has won multiple awards, including the SXSW Music Accelerator in 2013, and more recently the product category of the Design Museum's 2014 Design of the Year Award.

Having seen it in person, words don't quite do it justice. Check out the video below to have a peek at the product.

The best is yet to come

The innovation isn't over yet for ROLI.

ROLI founder and CEO, Roland Lamb, says:

The Seaboard is just the first in a line of breakthrough music hardware and software products, and the investment will speed development of core platform products like our sound engine Equator.

Ultimately, ROLI's mission is to create new interfaces that expand the bandwidth of interaction between people and technology, and this financing is a major step towards realising that goal.

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ROLI secure $12.8m for the keyboard of the future - UKTN (UK Tech News)

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London music startup Roli is ready to expand globally as they announce $12.8m in investment. Their flagship-product the Seaboard GRAND keyboard has been met with unexpectedly strong demand, creating waiting lists of up to a year. The investment will go towards scaling up production. The financing is led by Balderton Capital.

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the science of sharing whitepaper. Video research

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the science of sharing whitepaper. Video research

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Used the super bowl ads to conduct the research and determine what kind of video performs best.

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Every year Unruly gazes into our crystal ball and predicts the trends and developments that will shape our industry over the next 12 months.

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He got a free trip to Vegas + clothes from brands that jumped on the #tag out of it at least...

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As this article is being published, Greg, the mystery security guard at the centre of today's hottest twitter trend #GiveGregTheHoliday is, by all accounts, still asleep.
What better way to showcase the speed required to make the most of agile marketing?

As I write this, I'm fully aware of how contrived it is. I'm leaping on a hashtag in an effort to squeeze a few ounces of sweet traffic in my direction, but I'm far from the worst example.

First of all, let's recap: Earlier today, Greg Heaslip, a security guard at the Arcadia group, sent an innocuous holiday request. To the entire company:

We've all accidentally hit 'reply all' in the past, but Greg's effort was destined for far more than a few laughs in the office.

Thanks to Twitter, #GiveGregTheHoliday has been out-trending the EU elections all morning.

At Econsultancy we vaguely pride ourselves on our social media agility, and frankly being crammed in a small corner does occasionally lead Team Content to flights of fancy.

Earlier, our Deputy Ed, David Moth, spotted the hashtag and replied to it on Twitter.

The rest of us joined in, and, realising that our London offices sit opposite Arcadia, saw the chance for a bit of pointless fun on Twitter - cue our support for the #GiveGregTheHoliday:

We're in the offices opposite Arcadia, so it would be rude not to back Greg #givegregtheholiday pic.twitter.com/Rug3lOn7W6
- Econsultancy (@Econsultancy) May 22, 2014

A few dozen ReTweets later and I'm beginning to feel like I can take the afternoon off, my engagement quotient fulfilled, but the story kept growing, with a range of brands leaping on board.

Firstly, all kudos should go to Trek America. Deciding that this was in line with the brand's 'spirit of adventure', it quickly made the decision to offer Greg a free adventure holiday in the US, flights included:

We're taking action and have decided to #givegregtheholiday. A TrekAmerica mini adventure with flights to Vegas. #GregGotTheHoliday!
- TrekAmerica (@trekamerica) May 22, 2014

Ours was an example of a brand being vaguely silly, but hopefully lets people know that yes, actual humans work at Econsultancy, and we enjoy chatting on Twitter to no particular end.

Trek America's was far more impressive (and generous, although frankly we aren't sure if Greg would benefit from a subscription package).

In the wake of their offer, other brands were quick to join in. TopMan, Miss Selfridge, BHS, Burton Menswear and more all offered free additions to help Greg enjoy his trip:

Greg, will you take a lady with you? Why doesnt she visit us at our VIP Dressing Room so she can get Vegas-ready! #givegregtheholiday
- Miss Selfridge (@MissSelfridge) May 22, 2014

#givegregtheholiday Don't worry Greg about your Vegas wardrobe; we've pulled some strings & got you some freebie polos & shorts!
- BHS UK (@BHS_UK) May 22, 2014

So far, so good. All these items tied in nicely with the trend and conversation. They showed that people working at these brands were watching Twitter, and were able to make quick decisions. "Can we give someone a free gift right now?" Is an easy question, but getting a straight answer is often difficult. Speed is absolutely of the essence.

Then came the follow-up tweets. Thomas Cook asked if anyone would like to Join Greg in Nevada, but their tweet only included a link to a landing page offering Vegas Holidays.

Yes it's connected, but it isn't really in the right spirit, so could come off as a little crass here. And then things started to get weirder.

Greg do you need to learn about #Soundproofing before your holiday? Find out more here: http://t.co/GYHkuuY4Dn #givegregtheholiday
- Cellecta Insulation (@Cellecta_LTD) May 22, 2014

By this point, there's no connection other than: "Shit, something is trending, get on it!"

There's no consideration about whether it has any relevance to the conversation, so it falls totally flat. We're aware that our product has nothing at all to do with this, which is why we aren't firing out tweets mentioning our Real-Time Platform Buyer's Guide in connection with this.

Agility isn't always about selling,. It's about showing that you're aware, that you are real people with a sense of fun. There's an old adage about people buying from people, not brands, and never is that truer than on Twitter.

Incidentally: Greg, if you're reading this, we recommend you put it all on red.

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#GiveGregTheHoliday: Twitter, agile marketing and holidays in Vegas

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As this article is being published, Greg, the mystery security guard at the centre of today's hottest twitter trend #GiveGregTheHoliday is, by all accounts, still asleep. What better way to showcase the speed required to make the most of agile marketing? As I write this, I'm fully aware of how contrived it is.

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Yahoo's native advertising comes to the UK

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Yahoo's native advertising comes to the UK

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Yahoo Stream ads: launches in UK

Yahoo Stream Ads are integrated with the content of a page and whilst clearly marked, are designed to look and act just like the stories and format around them.

At launch, Yahoo Stream Ads has appeared across several properties including the Yahoo homepage and Yahoo Mail.

A spokesperson called the move "an exciting step forward" and a response to demand for new ad formats which offer far more immersive and contextual experiences.

Yahoo Stream ads comes as several industry sources estimate the number of global smartphone users is up 27% year over year, while tablet users are up 78%. By 2017, the number of mobile devices connected to the internet is expected to more than double to 3.8 billion.

A Yahoo spokesperson said: "It's not about simply trying to serve ad formats designed solely for the desktop on the mobile small screen - the native advertising format needs to work effectively across all screens: desktop, mobile and tablet.

"With Yahoo Stream Ads we can connect advertisers to millions of people directly on their mobile devices through smart, integrated, multi-channel campaigns."

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Yahoo Stream Ads are integrated with the content of a page and whilst clearly marked, are designed to look and act just like the stories and format around them. At launch, Yahoo Stream Ads has appeared across several properties including the Yahoo homepage and Yahoo Mail.

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Do we have a POV on which ones are best/types of tech startups emerging from the UK

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John Lewis: retailer reveals the five finalists for its technology incubat

The five start-ups are competing for a £100,000 investment that will involve John Lewis taking an equity stake in one of the companies, after a 12-week incubation period involving all the finalists.

John Lewis has named the five finalists as Localz, Musaic, SpaceDesigned, Tap2Connect and Viewsy.

Localz uses proximity and iBeacon technology to let retailers know when their "best online shoppers" have arrived as they enter the store.

Musaic is a wireless hi-fi system that can stream music from any platform in multiple rooms in a house.

SpaceDesigned is an online app that allows consumers to create virtual 3D versions of their homes in order to see how potential new furniture might fit.

Tap2Connect provides an after-sales service that uses "smart labels" to track a product's lifecycle and make on-going service or repairs easier to handle.

Viewsy uses in-store sensors to track customers' behaviour as they move through a store to help the retailer provide a "more personalised and efficient" service.

The five start up companies will be given office space at JLAB's London hub and will each be provided with funding of £12,500, access to John Lewis' data and APIs, and mentoring from a panel including Risk Capital Partners chairman Luke Johnson and confused.com founder Sarah Murray.

Paul Coby, IT director at John Lewis, said: "We're confident that the JLAB finalists each have an idea with real potential to either improve the shopping experience or offer customers something new to use in the home."

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John Lewis to incubate iBeacon and smart home technology in JLAB unit

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The five start-ups are competing for a £100,000 investment that will involve John Lewis taking an equity stake in one of the companies, after a 12-week incubation period involving all the finalists. John Lewis has named the five finalists as Localz, Musaic, SpaceDesigned, Tap2Connect and Viewsy.

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Interesting? Tesco to remove sweets from checkout. Story about ethical brands in this?

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Interesting? Tesco to remove sweets from checkout. Story about ethical brands in this?

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Tesco: to remove chocolates and sweets from its checkouts

The supermarket giant said that it will be removing sweets from a full range of store formats, including its smaller Tesco Metro and Tesco Express stores.

The move follows research conducted by Tesco that shows 65% of customers said removing confectionery from the checkout would help them to make healthier choices while shopping.

Parents agreed with this sentiment, with 67% saying that having no sweets near the checkout would help them make healthier choices for their children.

Tesco removed sweets and chocolates from its checkouts at larger stores 20 years ago, but this will mark the first time that confectionery is removed from all its checkouts, which will be completed by December.

Health minister Jane Ellison raised this issue in the House of Commons last year, terming the issue "an area for action".

In light of Tesco's news, Ellison said the supermarket was responding to the "clear demands" of customers and that "this initiative will help people to make healthier choices, which all contributes to reducing the long-term cost to our nation of obesity and ill-health".

Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke said: "We all know how easy it is to be tempted by sugary snacks at the checkout, and we want to help our customers lead healthier lives.

"We've already removed billions of calories from our soft drinks, sandwiches and ready meal ranges by changing the recipes to reduce their sugar, salt and fat content. And we will continue to look for opportunities to take out more.

"We're doing this now because our customers have told us that removing sweets and chocolates from checkouts will help them make healthier choices."

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The supermarket giant said that it will be removing sweets from a full range of store formats, including its smaller Tesco Metro and Tesco Express stores. The move follows research conducted by Tesco that shows 65% of customers said removing confectionery from the checkout would help them to make healthier choices while shopping.

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Tunepics attracting celebrity interest and agency investment

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Tunepics attracting celebrity interest and agency investment

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Justin Cooke, Topshop's former marketing chief turned digital entrepreneur, launched a new "multi-sensory social network" on Thursday which combines photos, music and moods.

Tunepics, which is available to download for free for iPhone and iPad, encourages users to post 'moments' - combination of a soundtrack alongside their favourite pictures which Cooke says is "like dynamite".

Cooke has already attracted celebrity endorsements from Kate Bosworth, Paul Smith, Will.i.am and Jamie Oliver who have all posted to the platform, along with fashion brands Asos, AllSaints and Airbnb.

Users snap or upload an image, select a tune from more than 35 million preview clips on iTunes and then spin the "emotion wheel" - a rainbow disc reminiscent of an old vinyl record - to choose from 16 rainbow coloured emotions designed to reflect the way the user feels about an image before they upload and share on Tunepics.

Cooke led several ambitious digital projects at Topshop, including a Christmas campaign featuring Kate Bosworth 'personally' addressing those signed up to the brand's mailing list (Bosworth was recorded saying each of the top 100 names on the list). He believes the potential success of Tunepics will be in the combination of two key modern behaviours: a love of uploading images and of downloading and discovering new tunes.

More than 500m pictures are uploaded to the internet every day, and more than 100m songs are downloaded every week. Tunepics, designed by consultancy company Innovate7 and built by AKQA, capitalises on these two prolific digital habits, says Cooke.

"Sometime music can express things you can't say or convey and for some people articulating the moment or how they feel is not an easy thing," he explains. The idea came to him three years ago during an autumn walk; he photographed colourful autumn leaves while listening to Paolo Nutini, and had "a lightbulb moment" when he moved to pick out a song called Autumn Leaves.

Cooke's attention to detail is apparent as he talks through the features of the platform: the smooth transition between previewing a song clip to buying it from iTunes, the emotion wheel that offers more than a simple 'like' for an event, and instant autoplay of the music clips for "a generation who don't want to wait" (advice he was given by Will.i.am when he showed the musician an early version of the app) .

Cooke was also a vice president at Burberry where he helped launch Burberry Acoustic, a music project designed to shed light on emerging British talent.

"Often technology companies make products where they are focusing primarily on the tech", says Cooke, who has used hi experience of the fashion and luxury goods industries to create a certain design sensibility around Tunepics.

Comparisons with Instagram would not be unwelcome, Cooke says although he's keen to stress that Tunepics came from a desire to create a platform that allowed for a different way that users could express themselves.

"Justin has an extraordinary vision of what the future looks like and the ability to connect with people in a time when the world is primed for digital disruption," said Joanna Shields, chair of Tech City UK and UK ambassador for digital industries. "London needs more digital leaders with technology fuelled success stories like his; I am confident that Tunepics is going to be one of them."

Cooke has ambitious plans for the network and says he has resisted moving to San Francisco's tech scene.

"It's the first British social network - built, made and designed in the UK," he enthuses, "It's really exciting".

* Lulu Guinness: 'Fashion designers need to be fearless about technology'
Topics

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Tunepics: the photo app that lets you add mood music from iTunes

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Justin Cooke, Topshop's former marketing chief turned digital entrepreneur, launched a new "multi-sensory social network" on Thursday which combines photos, music and moods. Tunepics, which is available to download for free for iPhone and iPad, encourages users to post 'moments' - combination of a soundtrack alongside their favourite pictures which Cooke says is "like dynamite".

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Unilever launches new global start-up platform

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Unilever launches new global start-up platform

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The "Unilever Foundry" programme launches today (22 May) and is open to marketing start-ups working across areas including digital, content, social and mobile. Any of Unilever's brands will be able to post pitches to the programme that start-ups can apply to, while mentors will be available as Unilever looks to offers it marketing expertise to the start-up community.

Speaking to Marketing Week, Unilever's senior vice president of global marketing, Marc Mathieu, says the Foundry is part of attempts to scale up Unilever's relationships with start-ups following its Go Global incubator initiative, which will continue to run as a part of the Foundry. He says while that is a "great platform" its use is limited and heavily curated centrally by the marketing team, with Unilever wanting to give its own brands more opportunity in how and which start-ups they work with.

The programme is aimed at giving Unilever early access to marketing developments and innovations that might change the future of marketing, as Facebook and Google have done over the past 10 years. Mathieu admits it took Unilever "a little bit of time" to realise the impact these new technologies would have 10 years ago but it now wants to make sure it is ahead of the curve.

The Foundry, created with R/GA London, offers three main opportunities to start-ups. The first will see brands put out pitches that start-ups will be able to apply to and, if chosen, deploy their technology with Unilever.

Unilever is looking for start-ups that already have a product and have raised some funding that it can help to build up. The first briefs include one around sustainable living solutions, another on creating retail shopping experiences and a further on the future of market research.

The second stage is a mentorship programme where Unilever marketers will work with start-ups to help them in areas such as marketing, branding and product definition. So far 80 Unilever marketers have signed up to offer their help, with the schemes running for 3 months and Unilever expecting them to offer the equivalent of a day over that time, or an hour every 3 weeks.

Finally is the opportunity for investment. Mathieu says initially start-ups that pitch successfully will be given $50,000 but Unilever will not take an equity stake. However, if after the project Unilever wants to work further with the start-up there is an opportunity to apply for funding through its Unilever Ventures venture capital arm.

Unilever has already invested in a number of marketing start-ups including Brain Juicer, Yummly and Brandtone, as well as partnering with Upworthy. Through Go Global it is also working with Songza, with Mathieu saying a recent campaign for Hellmann's that saw the brand create playlists on the music site had "very positive results", including better than average likeability and favourability, although he wouldn't be drawn on figures.

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Unilever launches global start-up platform to help it find the next Facebook

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The "Unilever Foundry" programme launches today (22 May) and is open to marketing start-ups working across areas including digital, content, social and mobile. Any of Unilever's brands will be able to post pitches to the programme that start-ups can apply to, while mentors will be available as Unilever looks to offers it marketing expertise to the start-up community.

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In the future, Netflix will know exactly what you want to watch, even before you do. You won't have to spend all that time browsing through endless lists of shows on your television.

That's according to Neil Hunt, Netflix's chief product officer. It's just one of many predictions for the future of TV that the forward-thinking executive laid out on stage today at New York City's Internet Week conference, and no one would be surprised if all that came to fruition. If there's one company that knows about changing the way we watch TV shows and movies, it's Netflix. From its humble origins as a DVD-by-mail outfit back in 1997 to its current status as a video streaming powerhouse and original content creator, Netflix has already overturned the status quo more than once.

As a slew of other tech companies, from Amazon to Yahoo, compete with Netflix to move television online-and traditional broadcasters fight to protect their old business models-Hunt has a clear vision for how the war for our attention will play out by the year 2025. Here are a few of his predictions:

You'll Have 48 Million TV Channels

People have traditionally discovered new shows by tuning into the channels that were most aligned with their interests. Love news? Then CNN might be the channel for you. If it's children's programming you want, Nickelodeon has you covered. And yet, none of these channels can serve 100 percent of their customers what they want to watch 100 percent of the time.

According to Hunt, this will change with internet TV. He said Netflix is now working to perfect its personalization technology to the point where users will no longer have to choose what they want to watch from a grid of shows and movies. Instead, the recommendation engine will be so finely tuned that it will show users "one or two suggestions that perfectly fit what they want to watch now."

"I think this vision is possible," Hunt said. "We've come a long way towards it, and we have a ways to go still." He said Netflix is now devoting as much time and energy to building out that personalization technology as the company put into building the infrastructure for delivering that content in the first place.

Creative Freedom Will Come to Hollywood

Hunt knows what you're thinking: Most of Netflix's extensive library consists of shows and movies you'd never want to watch. "Some would call it junk," Hunt admitted on stage.

But he doesn't see it that way. "There are no bad shows," he said. "But there are many shows with small, but devoted audiences." And as Netflix's personalization engine becomes smarter and smarter, he said, it will become easier for those small audiences to discover new content they might not otherwise have found. That will give people like filmmakers and actors more creative freedom, he explained, because they'll finally have a distribution channel that will tolerate small, highly individuated audiences.

"Internet TV can afford to carry those small shows," Hunt said, adding that this approach has already enabled shows and films to thrive on Netflix that might not otherwise have worked on traditional television. The Square, a documentary about the Arab Spring uprisings in Tahrir Square, is one such example. "It's been so successful on Netflix, and might not have found a home on linear TV."

Internet TV will also free filmmakers from traditional television formats, Hunt said, in which they get one half-hour or hour-long slot per week with which to hook a viewer. On the internet, a television episode "can be as long or as short as you want, and it doesn't have to tease you into the next episode because you can binge right into the next episode." Eventually, you won't even recognize TV shows as TV shows. "The stories we watch today are not your parents' TV," Hunt said, "and the stories your kids watch in 2025 will blow your mind away."

The Commercial Will Finally Die

Netflix has already proven that it's possible to build a big business in television without advertisers. Subscription fees, it turns out, do the trick. That means that the proliferation of internet TV may be the final nail in the traditional commercial's coffin. That would change the entire economics of the advertising industry over the next decade, Hunt explained. "The ad-free model seems to be very popular with consumers," he said. "We have to imagine that the Geicos and the Wendys and the Chevys will have to find a different place to advertise their wares in 2025."

But there's another possibility. According to Hunt, the same technology that delivers personalized content to viewers could also help internet TV service providers select more targeted ads to show their users. "Maybe you only see that Chevy ad if you're ready to buy the car today," Hunt said. That means viewers would see fewer ads, and advertisers would get to reach a more relevant audience.

Live Sports Will Arrive on Netflix (Maybe)

Ok, so this might not have been one of Hunt's predictions, per se, but when asked by an audience member whether we might see live television and sports broadcasting on the site in the future, Hunt said we should "stay tuned."

He noted that bringing live sports to Netflix would change the economics of the company. "Sports franchises end up being able to sell to the highest bidder," he explained. "It's not an area where Netflix has the total advantage over everyone else." But he also said that as Netflix continues to grow its footprint, it's always a possibility. Such a development would be an even deeper blow to the traditional television industry, as live sports are one big reason people opt not to cut the cord.

Everyone Will Have a Smart TV

In 2014, Hunt said, about 100 million internet-connected TV will sold-or about one for every three homes with broadband internet. And by the year 2025, he told his audience, everyone will own a smart TV.

That means the race is on to become the smart TV manufacturer of record, and the competitive landscape is broad. This is a battle that will include cable companies, internet TV providers like Netflix, and tech giants like Google and Apple, as well as television manufacturers like Sony and Samsung. That should usher in a golden age of innovation in the smart TV space, as powerful competitors vie for your attention-and make each other better in the process.

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What Television Will Look Like in 2025, According to Netflix

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In the future, Netflix will know exactly what you want to watch, even before you do. You won't have to spend all that time browsing through endless lists of shows on your television. That's according to Neil Hunt, Netflix's chief product officer.

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In this webinar replay, Julie reveals the myths and predictions for top mobile trends in 2014, how smart businesses will transform to adopt to these trends, an...

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Adidas: 'Leo Messi's World Cup Dream' ad directed by 'City of God' director Fernando Meirelles

The sports brand, an official sponsor of this summer's World Cup in Brazil, revealed the lead film for its '#Allin or Nothing' campaign during last Saturday's Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

The 60-second clip, called 'Leo Messi's World Cup Dream', is directed by 'City of God' director Fernando Meirelles.

It shows Argentine star Messi in the midst of a troubled dream, with clips of Adidas' leading ambassadors - including Brazil defender Dani Alves and Uruguay striker Luis Suárez - preparing for the World Cup. The soundtrack for the ad is provided by a new track from rapper Kanye West, called 'God Level'.

Uniquely, it offers viewers - when watching the ad online - the chance to "Make a choice" between "all in" and nothing".

By clicking "all in", users will be signed up to all Adidas' World Cup content, including following its adidasfootball handles on Twitter. Conversely, those who click on "nothing" will automatically unfollow the brand's football handles and will opt out of its CRM initiatives.

The brand claims consumers must "understand Adidas' philosophy", and that the potential reduction in follower numbers is not a concern, as the brand focuses on "quality over quantity in its social media audiences".

Tom Ramsden, global brand marketing director for Adidas football, said: "This advert presents the '#allin or nothing' attitude by showcasing the dedication and commitment required to winning this great tournament.

"Giving anything less than everything will not win the World Cup. At Adidas, we believe the only way to play sport, unlock your potential and get the most out of the biggest event in sport, is to be 'all in'."

Arch rival Nike launched its 'Risk Everything' campaign earlier this year, with a film featuring ambassadors such as Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and England's Wayne Rooney.

Nike's 'Winner Stays' video, which launched on 25 April, has so far accrued 67 million views on YouTube. Meanwhile, only a few days after going live, the Adidas film is already close to 30 million views.

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Adidas promises to exclude consumers unless they opt '#Allin' to World Cup campaign

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The sports brand, an official sponsor of this summer's World Cup in Brazil, revealed the lead film for its '#Allin or Nothing' campaign during last Saturday's Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. The 60-second clip, called 'Leo Messi's World Cup Dream', is directed by 'City of God' director Fernando Meirelles.

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Apple rumoured to be prepping smart home platform

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Apple rumoured to be prepping smart home platform

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Apple: set to introduce its move into the 'internet of things'

According a report by the Financial Times, Apple will reveal a new smart home technology platform at next week's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco to help it take on the likes of Samsung and Google.

Google made a major play for the internet of things earlier this year with the $3.2bn (£2bn) acquisition of Nest Labs, a maker of internet-connected thermostats and smoke detectors. Samsung, meanwhile, last month unveiled its Smart Home range of household products which can be controlled via a mobile app.

Apple is reportedly in discussions with smart home device manufacturers over the certification of products with its new system, in an effort to widen its iOS ecosystem.

The brand is also expected to talk-up the privacy credentials of its new system, using it as a point of difference with Google, which last week lost a major European privacy case over users' "right to be forgotten".

Apple already sells a number of smart home products in its retail stores, including Nest thermostats and Dropcam wireless cameras.

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Apple gets ready to take on Google with smart home tech

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According a report by the Financial Times , Apple will reveal a new smart home technology platform at next week's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco to help it take on the likes of Samsung and Google.

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Facebook will soon detect what you're watching and listening to

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Facebook will soon detect what you're watching and listening to

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Facebook will soon automatically identify the TV shows you're watching and the music you're listening to, making it easier to join online discussions involving your latest bit of entertainment.

The move will help Facebook get a leg up on other social networks fighting to push their way into your TV and movie time. Twitter and Yahoo's Tumblr have touted their networks as vital online hubs for TV and movie fans. But on those networks, inserting your comments into a broader discussion about a particular show isn't the smoothest of tasks. Typically, it involves identifying a particular hashtag and manually adding it to your comment.

That's why Facebook is rolling out its new audio fingerprinting tool, detailed on Wednesday with a company blog post. With audio fingerprinting, you needn't go looking for a hashtag. Instead, you click a button on your Facebook mobile app, it listens to the TV show you're watching, and then it automatically links your comments to the right online forum-at least in theory. Behind the scenes, Facebook's servers will do a lot of heavy lifting to match the audio with the right discussion, but to you, the process is seamless-particularly when compared to hashtagging.

The tool isn't available yet. It will arrive "in the coming weeks" for those using the Facebook iOS or Android app. But once this thing is up and running, it could have a dual effect. In addition to making life easier for Facebookers, it will help the company grab a share of television ad dollars. If people are using Facebook while watching TV, the argument goes, companies should advertise in both places.

For Hunter Walk, a YouTube executive turned venture capitalist, the feature is beneficial on many levels. It's "good for social streams, good for targeting, good for community building around musicians." Let's just hope this thing works.

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Facebook Will Soon Detect What You're Watching and Listening To

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Facebook will soon automatically identify the TV shows you're watching and the music you're listening to, making it easier to join online discussions involving your latest bit of entertainment. The move will help Facebook get a leg up on other social networks fighting to push their way into your TV and movie time.

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ISTANBUL-Turkish inflation hit its highest level since November following a slump in the national currency's value. The consumer price index was 12.15% on year, beating expectations and accelerating from April's 10.85% reading, Turkey's state statistics agency said Monday. On a monthly basis, the CPI slowed to 1.62% compared with 1.87% in April.

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There was a time in the not so distant past when funny ruled advertising. Whether absurd and awkward, sharp and wry, or broad and ball-busting, comedy in all its forms was the dominant language in marketing.

Then something changed. Quietly at first, then things began to escalate. Ad-induced tears flowed across the land, and even diehard cynics started admitting to welling up over commercials. And these weren't just your public service announcements, carefully crafted to emotionally manipulate you into action on issues that were already emotional powder kegs. These were spots for shampoos, for Internet services, for banks, for soft drinks, for retailers, for peanut butter, for beer! They were contemplative, moving, and all scored with the Piano Chord of Emotion. Even Super Bowl viewers were no longer safe from baldfaced lunges at the cockles. Pretty soon the promise of a good cry became an engine of social sharing.

So what the hell is going on? Never in our collective memory has there been a time in which ads-whose purpose is to make people positively inclined toward a brand and, ultimately, to sell products-have left us feeling all the feels. Was it just us? Were we going soft? Did everyone in advertising watch the carousel scene in Mad Men and immediately seek to make blubbering Harry Cranes of us all? Or is there something bigger at play?

If you look at the current state of media, there's more value placed on "meaningful" content-inspirational stories that you just have to see, or will change your world, and don't even ask what happens next because it will simply blow your mind or break your heart or take your breath away. The trend is most associated with Upworthy, the link-curation site that's mastered the art of sniffing out and disseminating the most profound, real, life-changing, and ultimately share-worthy content online.

The Upworthy effect can be added to another, larger cultural trend: the trend toward reality. The thirst for real stories has remade TV and now informs sharable online content. People like, and will share en masse, stories of real people doing really meaningful things that bring them to tears (see: Deaf Woman Hears For The First Time and the hundreds of videos like it).

These larger social and media phenomena have converged with a few shifts in the marketing world-the content mandate, and the embrace of neuroscience and its lessons about the power of the unconscious. The rise in emotional advertising comes at a time when brands are striving to create "content," not simply make "ads." That is, they are devoting their energies to crafting stories (and other things-products, apps, experiences) that people actively seek out and share-stuff that looks more like the entertainment and editorial material audiences like, not the unpleasant interruption to that material. In the video world, this has meant freedom to pursue longer, human-centric narratives over simple product sell (think about the last Swiffer ad you likely saw: it wasn't a generic demonstration of the dust-lifting properties of the product, it was a mini-documentary that revolved around an amputee father and the challenges he faced doing housework). Meanwhile, experts in neuroscience are offering more evidence that this "softer" approach to selling actually works. The heart-versus-head argument in advertising is not new, of course-ad historians would point to '50s-era adman Rosser Reeves, who represented the science/logic/head camp with his focus on a product's "unique selling proposition," and Bill Bernbach, king of the art/story/heart school, who spearheaded the "creative revolution" in the 1960s with culture bombs like VW's "Think Small." But recently, marketers have absorbed more high-profile thinking and writing that posits that human decision-making is driven by our unconscious instead of logic, that "most of the business of life happens through our emotions, below the threshold of awareness" (a quote that comes from a seven-part series that appeared on this very site on neuroscience and marketing). Relatedly, there's been more consciousness-raising around the importance of storytelling to the human brain and the way people understand the world. People in the brand world seem to have internalized a mantra that's been recited over and over as the key to effective brand communications: Make it emotional. Appeal to the heart, not the head. It's as if the message finally got through. But it seems as though this particular climate has resulted in a rather literal interpretation of "emotions." That is, emotions = crying (the fact that there are other emotions seems to have been temporarily lost).

The results are mixed. On the one hand, you can hardly fault a brand for wanting to forge deeper connections with people-it's certainly welcome over the hard sell in many cases. And when the right (piano?) chord is struck, it can foster a sense of goodwill. On the other hand, and in the wrong hands, indiscriminate dollops of wanton sentimentality can result in cloying, maudlin, or emotionally manipulative work that rolls eyes instead of warms hearts (we're looking at you Dove "Beauty Patch").

To gain further perspective on what's behind the apparent rise of the weepers, we've consulted a number of advertising creative directors-some of whom can take credit for stirring the pot of your heart at one point or another. We wanted their take on whether and why this is happening, and, of course, we wanted to gain insight on how to be successful appealing to emotions (hint: don't actually aim to make people cry). And, needless to say, we've assembled a heartwarming collection of tearjerkers, so sit down and grab a box of tissues because it's about to get all end-of- Marley & Me up in here.

WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON HERE?

The first question to ask when it comes to any trend is whether or not it's really a trend. Of course, since there have been ads, there have been "emotional" ads. Let us not forget that single tear from "Chief" Iron Eyes Cody in the first and most famous environmental PSA ever. And you'll never be able to hear a few notes of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" ever again without bawling and visualizing dogs peering through iron bars due to a certain indelible Canadian SPCA spot.

But those are PSAs-they're meant to make you feel bad. When it comes to big brand spots, there are fewer downright sad ads to choose from. When emotions are in play, the tone has been more along the lines of 1979 Super Bowl Spot "Mean Joe Greene"-the effect of that classic is more "Awwwww" than "Jesus, I need to go to the bathroom before anyone sees me ugly cry." Brands have been far more likely to go for "Sweeping," "Sexy," or "Swaggering," than sad. And they were most likely of all to go funny. From the '80s until now, humor has been the go-to genre, and it remains so. Only now, it's not the only emotion in ad town.

"It's all over the place. Emotional is the buzzword these days. I hear it all the time from clients," says Gerry Graf, founder and chief creative officer at Barton F. Graf 9000. Graf is an excellent litmus test for this trend as he's built his career and agency on comedic work-and made some of the funniest ads ever. You'd hardly expect a client to ask him for tender and stirring stories. And yet, that's what's happening. "I literally had a client say to me, 'I want to do ads that make people cry.' We can't just be straightforward; we have to reach people emotionally. Now everyone's crying."

The modern renaissance of the super-touching ad can be traced to a few early, influential gambits. Google, of all companies, arguably set the fluids flowing with its "Dear Sophie" spot from 2011, doing the unexpected by making a product demo into an affecting portrayal of the joys of parenthood. Fast on its heels was another family-focused blockbuster-P&G's Olympic ode to moms "Best Job." Or as Graf puts it, in jest, "It's all Wieden+Kennedy's fault!" It was one of those sucker punches of feelings that knocked people on their heels. Likewise, "The Long Wait" for U.K. retailer John Lewis was among the early spots that had ad people talking and normal people breaking out the tissues. While each could have been overly sentimental, they all rang true to the brand, and people responded with boo-hoos. But, more importantly, the work won several industry awards, and as Graf says, "Then all of a sudden there's an avenue for people to do award-winning work and now everyone's jumping on that bandwagon saying things like, 'Let's do something that pulls on the heartstrings,' not 'Let's do something that comes out of the product we're selling.'"

Graf, who says outright that he's not a fan of the trend, is but one creative director to observe the increased interest in emotional work. "I think there are a lot more clients briefing their agencies saying, 'This made people cry, and do you see how many views this thing has? We want to make people cry about our brand,'" says Mike Byrne, partner and chief creative officer at Anomaly. "I think briefs are probably coming at agencies to hit that emotional chord because it does provide a reaction and causes people to share."

"Just the fact it's being asked means it's probably happening. I have mixed emotions about this because I'm conflicted about if I want to acknowledge its existence, as my atheism on this subject is important to me," says Joe Staples, executive creative director at Wieden+Kennedy Portland, the agency behind "Best Job." "The problem I have with this whole conversation though might be the most important part: I have never heard anyone at work ever say anything like, 'OK, ladies and gentlemen, were going to need some funny,' or 'It's irony time.' I hope there is no one who has these conversations at work."

While Pereira says he doesn't have clients outwardly asking him to bring people to tears, he circuitously knows it's happening. After creating award-winning and touching work for Skype, Pereira says he's heard from industry peers that clients are including his agency's spot "Born Friends" as part of briefs.

"I think that's the wrong question. We should be asking ourselves to make customers feel something, but (not) just because it's timely," Pereira says. "It's like a request that's 50 percent right and 50 percent wrong. The right thing is making people feel something; making people feel like something else they saw . . . that's the wrong request."

Expedia "Find Your Understanding"To tell an authentic story about the reasons why people travel, 180 chief creative officer Wiliam Gelner says that Expedia took a calculated risk when choosing to focus on same-sex marriage. "It was an election year, so it was a hot topic that everyone was talking about. Chick-fil-A's CEO just came out against it and saw a lot of backlash against his brand, and we just said, imagine the flipside of that, imagine if all of that venomous reaction was flipped and you came out and said you were for it? The trick is lining up those shared values of the brand with those of your consumers or followers. It was a risky proposition, and we think it paid off."

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

If human emotions are complex, so are advertising zeitgeists; there's not one single reason that this tendency has found fashion at this particular moment. In a broad context, much of the trend can be attributed to technology, says Gelner.

"I think that we live such digitally switched-on, always-plugged-in lives, and yet we still also somehow feel disconnected from people. As human beings, we're looking for true human connection, and I think that emotional storytelling can help bridge that gap. Brands and agencies have come to realize that this is a way to fill that void," says Gelner. Upworthy, he says, is a good analogy to the phenomenon in that its success comes from its ability to fill a cultural need. When asked whether this search for meaning has also granted people permission to be more open about their outward reactions to emotional ads, he says, "I think that emotional stories have been around for a long time. I'm sure people have always shed a tear or two, but the difference is they didn't have their TVs in their pockets. I think it's connected to that. You're now able to consume those stories no matter where you are."

Peter Moore Smith, ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi, also pegs the desire to share the content that we connect with as a major reason more brands are interested in playing to the heart. He's had viral hits with Duracell "Trust Your Power" and Cheerios "Nana" and says this ability to see how well work spreads is appealing to clients.

"I believe the rise in emotional work is because advertising that evokes a strong emotional response is very shareable. The spot that makes you smile or even laugh can be a welcome interruption if it's done well, but the spot that makes you feel something deeper, as long as it isn't cloying or manipulative, is something you want to share," he says. "As agencies and clients watch those likes and shares rise, naturally they're going to want more."

Joe Baratelli, EVP and chief creative officer of RPA and a longtime creative on Honda, calls these shared pieces "social objects." He says that where in the past there was media scarcity, the current state wherein we're bombarded with images and information has created the problem of attention scarcity. "Getting people's attention is what we're trying to do, and I think that meaning, something that people can relate to on a very visceral level, is what drives a lot of the decisions we make when we're talking about things," Baratelli says. "Because there's so much competition, companies understand that they need to have meaning in whatever they do. It's not just enough to have a good product; you need to have a good product and a reason why your product is more relatable that another good product."

If meaning is required to cut through, James Murphy, founding partner and CEO of London agency adam&eveDDB, which is behind the John Lewis work, believes the ways in which the media landscape has changed allows brands to tell more meaningful stories. "There's been a shift to lower frequency and longer time lengths in which video content is produced. Films are now 90 seconds or two minutes long. They may run as broadcast advertising, but if they make an emotional connection they will then start to travel under their own momentum online," he says. He also notes that people are being more reflective and mindful about their lives, something he suggests is the result of the way consumer culture has evolved. "I suppose it's about the maturing of the consumer society. Once you've got the things you need and then you've got most of the things you don't need but desire, then you start looking for slightly deeper layers of meaning."

Apple "Misunderstood"While this holiday spot from TBWA\Media Arts Lab could be dismissed as post-rationalization for why teenagers have their faces in their phones so damn much, it still hit us in the happy-cry place. Awww. He's not ignoring his family; he's a tech-savvy Millennial using his powers for good.

Unrelated to technology but closely tied to this cultural shift toward meaningful ideas, content and experiences is the notion, as noted by Pereira, that people have perhaps just tired of the sarcastic and smart-ass vibe of the aughts.

"I think what's happened is that the ad industry has spent the last decade celebrating bitterness and cynicism and being mean to people. For a while it was great because it was different from everyone else, and then it became a trend and people got sick of it. It wasn't funny or interesting anymore. So when things started to pop with a totally opposite voice, the customers totally reacted."

But, of course, the dark side of any trend is that once it's identified, it's too late to prevent the good aspects of it from being sucked into a black hole with the rest. "Any time you see a trend in advertising that means it's about to die. The moment starts feeling like clients are telling us 'we need to do something like this,' to me it says it's too late and you should stop doing it," Pereira says. "We may be at the tipping point that means we should stop doing it. I have a couple of friends in (ad award) juries telling me now they're starting to see too many of them. It may be too much. There are too many following the trend as opposed to doing it because it's the right thing for their client at the right moment. And there's nothing more dangerous in advertising than following a trend."

TrueMove H "Giving"There is a truism in advertising: Thai creatives are masters at the gut-punch of emotion, and this spot for communications company True Move is the kingpin (see also: this). A wonderful pay-it-forward story, the spot takes advantage of online's longer format to tell a story that plays out over a lifetime.

DOING IT RIGHT

On this matter, everyone we consulted for this story is in agreement. If people cry-or laugh or feel happy or feel anything, for that matter-it needs to be a consequence of the story you're telling. "The moment you try to do it," says Pereira, "you're being disingenuous, and people will notice you and punish you for that at some point."

W+K's Staples evokes Bruce Lee when articulating how to approach any quest to connect with people: "Do not concentrate on the finger or you miss all that heavenly glory," he says quoting a line from Enter the Dragon, adding, "Never start with a defined end."

"When we start any project, we are looking for problems and intricacies and anomalies, and we have no idea where these will lead us. It's a tired cliché because it's true, but you find the truth and follow it wherever it goes," Staples adds. "If we had started the P&G work with an emotion equation it would probably have been something like: "Product + Olympics = inspiration." We would have set off to make the most inspirational piece of work we could, and it would have been horrible and a lie. Shaving cream does not help you run fast."

This admission that P&G's products don't ultimately aid Olympians in their quest provided the breakthrough for the agency. "The real conversation at the outset of the campaign was something like "P&G doesn't have anything to do with the Olympics, but it does help the people who help Olympians," Staples says. "From there you get to tell honest, emotional stories about the relationship between a child and their parent, and if you do it well it will resonate with millions of people because it is true. It will be very emotional, but for the right reasons."

Similarly, John Lewis' breakthrough spot-in which a presumed narrative of a boy impatiently waiting for Santa's bounty was met with an endearing twist of parent kryptonite-was born out of a long-lasting and unique relationship the retailer has with its consumers.

"John Lewis is owned by its staff and has a very strong reputation for service and trust. When we started working with them, they had never really done any high-level marketing communications before, so we started out by unlocking this unique relationship this retailer has with its customers," says Murphy, noting that among Brits there are a few retailers, including John Lewis, that are held as part of the cultural fabric. "We were able to capture some of that emotional connection that it had with its customer."

If authenticity is an overused word in advertising, it's absolutely integral when it comes to trying to make an emotional connection, making finding the right balance all the more difficult. Gelner of 180 says brands are able to tell authentic stories only if they find stories that align with the brand's core beliefs and brand purpose, otherwise it risks feeling exploitative. "It's really about brands and agencies and storytellers understanding what that brand is about," he says. "When done right these stories that move people have longevity, are more effective, and can lift a brand above all of the soulless sales pitches, catapulting it into the broader cultural narrative."

This is exactly what the agency did with Expedia when it created an affecting story about one father facing his prejudice and finding love for his daughter and her wife-to-be. "When we were pitching that account, we ran across this quote by Mark Twain: 'Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.' If you put that quote next to all the other ads that were being done by the competitors, which focused on price and destination, it seemed like everyone was treating travel in a very shallow way," says Gelner. "It felt like travel was so much more emotional and human than that. Travel can open your mind and change your perspective." That, says Gelner, was the brand's purpose and led the team to the story that ended up painting Expedia in a new way and shining a new light on same-sex marriage at the same time. Oh, and tears.

"It was a story about a real-life dad that didn't see eye to eye with his daughter until he agreed to take that trip. So in that sense, that was an authentic, incredible story for the brand because that really happened. He really took that trip."

But success doesn't require that level of real-life authenticity, as Budweiser found when its charming tale of a canine-equine romance hit the heart target during the Super Bowl, the broadest, most mainstream of events. "Puppy Love" from Anomaly topped the USA Today Ad Meter Chart and had puppy lovers (and horse lovers and beer lovers) wiping tears from their face with nachos in hand. Anomaly's Byrne says the agency certainly didn't set out to create something weepy.

"All we did with the Super Bowl is tell a story about an unlikely friendship. The intent wasn't to make people cry, the intent was to say that this brand is about bringing people together and those unlikely friendships that happen when you're sitting around having a Bud at a bar with someone you don't know that you would normally never talk to," he says. "That was the brand value coming alive through storytelling."

It's sticking to a brand's values that will help guide the right story, says RPA's Baratelli. "I think there's always a danger of being disingenuous in any of this stuff because you are trying to sell something and people are pretty savvy. Not to pigeonhole an entire category, but the oil industry has tried to do that for years, and people just don't believe it. From my perspective, it has to be something that's true to the company, something that's true to their philosophy or values. Otherwise, it backfires."

When appealing to the heart (and this is universally true of any advertising), Baratelli says that you still need to be fresh and smart "because there's so many of those stories." The agency's recent Project Drive-in work for Honda is a good example of keeping things fresh. In telling and owning a larger story that's connected to any automaker-the story of the dying drive-in industry-they managed to be informative, uplifting and evoke true nostalgic emotion. Similarly, spots for Vodafone in Europe and Coca-Cola Life from Argentina told fresh and upbeat stories, albeit in totally different ways, that even in their humor and joy moved many to tears.

If Graf is the skeptic when it comes to advocating for ads that target the heart, he does have a sage bit of advice for navigating the rising tide of tears. "If you're caught crying, ask yourself, do you remember who the ad was for and does it make you think differently about them?" Because, at the end of the day, a great piece of brand content that gets shared around and makes people feel is ineffective if it's not reflecting positively on the brand.

Still, as Byrne says, "No one is bigger than emotion. There's just a fine line in terms of how brands navigate through that."

And the last word goes to Staples of Wieden, arguably one of the pioneers of marketing by way of the heart: "If we are honest and humble and curious and work our asses off, our work will end up being very something. Maybe very funny, maybe very disruptive, very sad, very emotional, or very silly. It will be powerful because it is true in the emotional realm it is meant to be in, and I think this should be the goal."

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The Rise Of Sadvertising Why Brands Are Determined To Make You Cry

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Have you been brought to tears by an ad, or five, over the last while? It's not hormones/your meds/the lunar cycle/the polar vortex. Here, we look at the most weepy ads of the last few years and talk to ad players about why brands have gotten so damn emotional.

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Do you know what you're posting, sharing, and blogging this Thursday?

How about two Thursdays from now? Thursday of next month? Thursday of next year?

We don't have things figured out quite to that extreme here at Buffer, but we do have some idea of what's ahead. (Those of you who are yearly planners, our hat's off to you!) Planning content far into the future is a common element of many marketing strategies, and the erstwhile content calendar-in its many shapes and forms-fits this role perfectly.
What calendar do you use for your social media marketing and content creation?
We hear a lot of interest in calendars from our community, so I dug around to find some of the best tools and templates for premium and free content calendars, as well as the elements that make a good one-the who, what, when, where, and why of planning out content a week-at-a-time, month-at-a-time, or year-at-a-time. Here's what I discovered.

The psychological draw of a visual content calendar

We recently held a webinar with the team at Twitter, and included in the webinar slidedeck was a slide of a content calendar. This slide was a big hit with everyone who saw it, and our community wanted to know: What is this calendar and where can I find it?

Turns out, the calendar was just a graphic. Nevertheless, the magnetism of that graphic got us to thinking: What made the calendar slide so attractive?

I found a couple psychological theories that might explain why.
1. Calendars work as mental models, showing us something familiar to help us comprehend something hard
Now, I'm not saying that blogging or tweeting is hard, per se. But psychologically, we have a much easier time thinking about content when it's pitched to us as a calendar.

When we see our work laid out in a calendar, we find it to be much more manageable. The familiarity of the calendar minimizes the difficulty of our work and instead makes it exciting and fresh and fun-and we're enthused to keep at it.
2. A simple, visual calendar greatly lowers its perceived difficulty
Cost-benefit analysis says that our behavior is influenced by how easy or difficult we perceive an action to be. An easy-looking calendar is more likely to gain a positive, visceral reaction-as we experienced when we showed everyone the calendar graphic in the webinar.

Hick's Law is similar. According to this law, we take longer to come to a decision when we are faced with more options. The Twitter calendar was simple, clean, and gave off the appearance of few options, which could explain its popularity.

These theories might be helpful to keep in mind when you're choosing a content calendar of your own. Find one that is familiar, simple, and easy-to-use, and you'll be more likely to stick with it.

Three ways a calendar can improve your content creation

We use a type of content calendar here at Buffer, and based on conversations with other content creators and social media marketers, it's plain to see why thinking in calendar terms can be so helpful and why writing down your plan can be beneficial. Here are three of the benefits:
1. Take a bird's-eye view of your content and fill in any gaps
A content calendar gives you new perspective both in the way you think about your content and in the way you see your content. You get to examine your updates, sharing, and blog posts from a 10,000-foot view, where you can't help but notice the big picture.

It's easy to get lost in details when you're in the heads-down process of content creation, so having a larger visioning session to create the calendar plus taking regular peeks at the calendar once it's made can help bring your work into context.
2. Plan and organize around key events, dates, and launches
Have you ever had an event sneak up on you? I've been there before, and in the mad rush to produce content for the event, I kinda wished I had written it down on a calendar.

When you plan your content well in advance, you can prep and organize around the key dates that could influence your content. As you'll see below, many big brands plan out far ahead to cover the recurring events and important dates that seem to crop up at the same time every year.
3. Ensure plenty of prep time to get content ready to publish
Working ahead on blog posts is my guilty pleasure. (I don't know why I need to feel guilty about it, but I do.) Calendars help me see what's coming up so I can carve out time in my schedule to get ahead.

Pam Moore calls this the drumbeat approach to content development. Jamie Griffiths, writing at Convince and Convert, describes the effect this has on consistency and expertise:

In general the further ahead you plan your digital content publishing the better placed you are to produce a consistent flow of content that builds your brand's perceived expertise in your chosen subject areas.

Should you have a weekly, monthly, or yearly calendar? Yes.

CoSchedule, makers of a handy-dandy WordPress editorial calendar plugin, advise that a good calendar creation process include a handful of different timeframes. Their three-step process goes like this:

1. Start with an annual review

2. Begin collecting ideas

3. Plug the content into monthly calendars

The purpose of the process is to think big-picture about the content you create and share. It's similar to the heads-up/heads-down approach I mentioned above. You need to pick your head up every now and again to see where you're headed.

Should your calendar include blog content or social media content? Yes.

There is no wrong way to build a content calendar.

As you'll see in the tools below, some calendars include both blog posts and social media updates. Depending on the way your marketing team is set up, you can approach calendars from any number of different ways.

Many content strategies begin with marketing personas, and the messages of the content align to fit different needs and customers. Identifying these different audience types will likely guide the way your calendar lays out. For example, our Buffer content might be 80 percent social media tips, 10 percent Buffer tips, and 10 percent product announcements.

The next step is deciding what types of content you can place into your calendar, including blog posts and social media updates. Here is a list of content you could consider adding:

Regular blog posts

Social media updates

Recurring posts, series, or themes

Photos

Videos

Case studies

Infographics

Charts

E-books

Company news and announcements

Product launches

Industry events

Seasonal content

(We have a lot of helpful posts on the optimal frequency for posting content, too.)

You can likely find even more ideas on what types of content to add when you consider all the many different ways you can repurpose content. Create slide decks from existing articles, compose e-books based on past stories, tap the expertise of your coworkers, etc.

And the calendar customizations don't stop there. In addition to the types of content you'll include, you may also choose to have additional information on each item. In a spreadsheet calendar, this information often appears in the columns beside the date and content. Marketing Nutz has a big list of categories to consider when you're putting together your calendar:

1. Blog post title

2. Social media update copy

3. Target audiences (primary, secondary & tertiary)

4. Author

5. Editor

6. Purchase cycle (awareness, consideration, preference, purchase, loyalty)

7. Draft due date

8. Primary keywords (5-10)

9. Categories

10. Supporting image(s)

11. Other supporting media (image, video, podcast)

12. Embed in other resource kits or publications

13. Syndication

14. Possible whitepaper (y/n)

15. Client testimonial / graphics

Combine all these different factors, and it's easy to see how a content calendar can take hundreds of different forms. Find the form that's right for you-detailed or minimal, weekly or monthly, etc.-and start working it.

Next: Examples, tools and templates

Examples of editorial calendars

Many big brands use content calendars to plan out weeks, months, and a year in advance. Here are a few that make their calendars public online. Feel free to use for inspiration and ideas.
Forbes
Forbes Magazine' yearly editorial calendar includes the highlights of their 18 big recurring features and where these features land on the calendar. The list view shows when the copy and design are due (the print close), when it is delivered to print subscribers, and when it launches online.
Time
Time magazine also plans content a year out, providing deadlines for print, online, and advertising on some of its most popular (and important) features.
Inc
Inc's calendar highlights the most important moments on the magazine's editorial and online schedule. Features like the "Inc. 500″ and a "How I Did It" series are known a full year ahead so that content can be created and advertising can be sold.
Vogue
Vogue's editorial calendar is very similar to the others: Brief descriptions of the content with relevant publishing and print dates.
CoSchedule
The gang at CoSchedule shared their annual calendar, which they keep with paper and pen (and color-coded stickies).
Buffer
We schedule our blog posts a week at a time with a fluid to-do board in Trello. We've found that ideas and directions change quickly, so we try to assume a good level of flexibility with the content we plan. There are no set dates for the content on the Trello boards; we publish whenever the post is ready.

Content calendar tools

A calendar tool is a common way that content producers choose to stay organized, whether in a standalone app or an integration with a company's content management system.

When you're choosing a tool or template to help with building a content calendar, it might be helpful to ask yourself a few questions:

1. What features are most important to me? e.g., collaboration, sharing, follow-up, progress, assignments, etc.

2. How easy will it be for my team to find and use the calendar?

3. Does the tool or template fit our content plan? e.g., does it support social media updates, visual content, etc.

Here are five tools that you might find helpful, depending on your needs.
WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin
We use this tool for scheduling our posts for the coming weeks. The drag-and-drop interface updates both the calendar and the unpublished posts themselves, and it is a cinch to use with a WordPress blog (or two).
Gather Content
Gather Content, a tool for content marketers and project managers, stores files in the cloud for consistent group editing and has some neat features in terms of assigning tasks and tracking progress.
Kapost
Kapost focuses directly on content marketing, with a slick calendar for writers, editors, and publishers. The calendar is one of many tools that Kapost offers, including online payments and a distribution and analysis system.
CoSchedule
A WordPress plugin, CoSchedule synchronizes your blog posts and your social media sharing on one unified, drag-and-drop calendar interface.
Excel or Google Spreadsheets
For complete and total customization, you may want to just create your own calendar with a free spreadsheet. Many of the templates you'll see below were built in Excel. The benefit of doing your calendar this way is that you have full control over what you want to plan and track, and you can do so for free.

Content Calendar Templates

Just like with calendar tools, any template you choose should be specific to your needs. There are lots to pick from, so if you go the template route, take care to pick one that fits you and your content strategy. (And based on the psychology of visual things, it won't hurt to pick one that's easy on the eyes, too.)

Here are five of our favorites.

The printable content calendar from CoSchedule, available in yearly views, monthly views, and an idea worksheet:

(CoSchedule's instructions are to print one annual calendar and 12 monthly ones and as many idea sheets as you'd like.)

Content Marketing Institute's content calendar template:

Convince and Convert's content calendar template:

Hubspot's content calendar template:

WebpageFX content calendar template:

Takeaways

If you've been creating content for long enough, you've likely experienced the benefits of a content calendar for your blogging and your social media updates. A strategic approach to content makes a world of difference for delivering the absolute best blogs, updates, and shares you can.
What do you use for a content calendar? Which elements of the calendar are most important to you? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments.
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The Complete Guide to Choosing a Content Calendar

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Do you know what you're posting, sharing, and blogging this Thursday? How about two Thursdays from now? Thursday of next month? Thursday of next year? We don't have things figured out quite to that extreme here at Buffer, but we do have some idea of what's ahead.

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Numbers that show how this is going to be a mobile world cup

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UK consumers plan mobile World Cup | WARC

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LONDON: The UK population will be turning to mobile phones and social media to keep up to date with the latest football news from Brazil during the upcoming FIFA World Cup, according to a new survey.