Last year we started developing an ICE (In Case of Emergency) App for our clients. The app allows someone such as a paramedic to access some basic medical information about you in an emergency situation. Head over to our portfolio for a full description about the app’s features and how it can be branded for your hospital or organization.

Currently there are over 600,000 apps in the iTunes App Store. There are also over 450,000 apps in Google Play (previously known as the Android Market). Needless to say, your app can get lost very easily. This is why mobile marketing is so important if you want your app to be downloaded.

In our newest case study, we take a look at the number of downloads for a client who opted into mobile marketing and another who did not use mobile marketing. For the full case study and results head over to dcinteractivegroup.com.

This morning, when I was totally working and not watching YouTube videos, I stumbled across an ad that immediately caught my attention. If you’re a fan of the NBC show Parks and Recreation, it should catch your attention too. The distinguishable voice of Parks and Rec’s Ron Swanson, played by Chicago-area native Nick Offerman, describes five types of girlfriends that are hard to keep up with. The idea is that Axe shower gel provides you with the invigorating ingredients you need to keep up with your demanding girlfriend.

The humor is dead-on for the intended audience, Offerman makes the perfect spokesman, and while exaggerated, I’m sure many men out there can relate to these situations. I can’t speak for the product itself but I’m sure they perform admirably amongst men’s body washes; meaning they make you smell less like a gym bag and more like a decent human being. As for their revitalizing properties, I’m a little skeptical.

Here is a link to the playlist with the five minute-long spots for each type of girlfriend (there’s a few other spots mixed in): sporty girl, flirty girl, high maintenance girl, party girl, and brainy girl. Embedded below is the minute-long spot for “Sporty Girl” which has one of the best lines of all the commercials.

“Nothing says I love you like breaking the bridge of another man’s nose. Now hit the showers…and claim your trophy”.

A lot of companies are trying to make videos that turn viral. More videos have gone viral than I can mention but one of the first and most notable was the flash mob at Liverpool Street Station for T-Mobile. 33 million views and counting; not too bad. Other than producing the video there aren’t really any other costs associated with it. What could go wrong right?

Well, you could cross the line.

A co-worker sent me the following video. The video is of President Barack Obama addressing the nation regarding an apocalypse. Only he wasn’t actually addressing that. Some cutting and transitioning makes it sound like Armageddon is fast approaching. Lucky for you, Vivos, a company that has built underground shelters, will allow you to board for just under $10,000!

The dramatization of the Presidential address was a little too dramatic. While I’m not angry at their attempt for a viral video, I do think it’s a little tacky to fear people into buying your product. Not to mention they posted this video about 2 months after the movie 2012 came out.

I’m not the only one who thought this video was a bad idea. 86% of people who rated the video gave it a thumbs down. The creators of the video disabled the comments section. The only reason people usually do this is because they are receiving a lot of negative feedback. Moral of the story: If you’re trying to make a video that can go viral, think it through.

You don’t have enough fingers and toes to count all of the social media that is out there today. Everyone wants a piece of the Facebook/YouTube/Twitter pie, but few ever come close to carving out a niche. There’s a reason for that. It’s because they don’t try and create a niche. They attempt to create a social media platform that is almost identical to Facebook with a few “unique” features. The problem is, Facebook is already there and doesn’t even have to lift a finger to render them obsolete.

However, some small social media or sharing platforms do end up making a nice little name for themselves. One of these platforms is Elfster. It’s name alone gives you an idea that it is centered around the holidays. Basically Elfster gives you a way to organize a Secret Santa gift exchange online.

The interface is simple, attractive and clean; just the way it should be. Elfster is perfect for the office holiday party. You create your Secret Santa group name, set the exchange date, spending limit, and give it a little description. Then you can start inviting friends, family, and co-workers.

On your own Elfster profile, you can create a Wishlist. And if you’re like me and never know what you want, there is a “Trending Gifts” section. Below is a quick video from Elfster explaining how everything works.

I’ve never been one for luxurious items but just the thought of owning a rich, mahogany desk would be awesome. Then I saw a couple of desks that fed my inner-geek appetite and mahogany quickly felt a little too ancient. Microsoft and EXOPC are introducing desks that are comparable to those seen in recent Sci-Fi movies. Giant touchscreen tabletops turn your desk into the computer.

The Microsoft and Samsung collaboration is known as the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface and can be pre-ordered for just under $9,000. Hopefully Santa is feeling extra generous this year. You can check out the SUR40 here.

The competing touchscreen desk is made by EXOPC and is known as EXOdesk. This desk is being released in 2012 and is on the more affordable side at $1299.

I only have two questions regarding these desks of the future:

1. Are they going to be able to compete with what I can only imagine will be called the Apple iDesk?
2. Can they withstand the gallons of coffee that is sure to be spilled on them?

Google likes to have a dog in every fight and the music player competition is no different. There is currently a Google Music Beta which allows you to upload 20,000 songs from your personal collection. They’ve also implemented a lot of features to make sure your music is available to you everywhere. There rumored music download service is also on the verge of being released.

Stiff competition from powerhouses like iTunes, Pandora, and Amazon will make it hard for Google Music to make their mark. Google also must compete with the up-and-comer Spotify, which has integrated itself well with Facebook and has quickly become a Demi & Cooper favorite.

The video below explains what Google Music is all about.

When promoting events on Facebook your first thought might be to create an “Event”. It makes sense because that’s what that feature is for. You’ll also be posting updates periodically, reminding “likers” that your event is going to be a blast and that they should attend. While this is fairly standard and updates should be posted, there are better ways to creatively promote your events.

Creating simple, well designed Facebook tabs can add that little extra when promoting your events. You get to personally design how the tab is displayed for people who like your page as well as people who are not currently fans.

Below is an example of a Facebook tab that we created for Sherman Health’s Lakeside Seminar Series. Not only does that tab show off the brand of Sherman’s Center for Cancer Care, but it also allows people to register for the seminars. Each class links to its respective registration form. Sure you can include these links in the Facebook Event you created, but you can’t display it creatively like this.

Interested in what else we can do with Facebook? Click here.

We’ve recently teamed up with Albert Einstein Healthcare Network to develop our ICE App for their communities. Albert Einstein Healthcare Network is the Philadelphia’s largest independent academic medical center.

The first ICE App we designed was for Sherman Health. The iPhone version of the app currently has over 1,000 downloads and the Android version was recently launched. The app has also been designed for Silver Cross Hospital.

We’re really looking forward to sinking our teeth into the new design for Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. If you’re interested in hearing more about our ICE App that can be branded for your health system, you can visit iceapp.dcinteractivegroup.com.

A man approaching his 40s and 50s has one medical procedure on his mind that he would gladly avoid; a prostate exam. Just the mere idea of the procedure is enough to make the manliest of men cringe. You’ll never hear a story about how pleasant the procedure was or how kind the nurse was. In fact, most men prefer never to speak about it again.

With that being said, it is also one of the most important procedures that a man can get. This 15 minute screening can add years to a man’s life. Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting 1 in 6 men. Even after hearing those staggering statistics, most men will remain extremely apprehensive to the idea of the screening.

So how in the world do you promote prostate screenings if the majority of the patients refuse to get the procedure?

Unlike most campaigns, the target audience wasn’t exactly who we targeted. Men, as stubborn as they can be, will listen to the women in their lives. So that’s who we targeted in one of the ads. The ad focused on a woman challenging her father to “Man Up” and get his prostate screened. Every variation of the ad focused on challenging men to “Man Up” and get the exam.

The results were incredible. In fact the results were so good last year (additional exam dates needed to be set-up), that we used the same ad concept this year. It didn’t fail. 94% of the men who scheduled a screening “Manned Up” for their prostate exam! I guess a few weren’t man enough.

After a month hiatus, the Technology Meeting has returned. This month’s meeting brought about a plethora of new ideas and technology. The quick recap below highlights some of the things presented in August’s meeting.

Bo.lt

Bo.lt is a website that allows you to edit other websites, without needing programming knowledge. To clarify, you don’t actually get to go in and revamp CNN.com, but you can edit its appearance to your liking and share your version via Bo.lt’s short-link. You can delete/edit text, remove ads, rearrange the interface, add comments, or wipe out the page entirely (although the purpose of that is beyond me). So if you wanted to share only one piece of a website, Bo.lt allows you to do that. Here’s an example of a website edited using Bo.lt.

Quick Drag – Firefox Add-On

If you’re looking to shave a few seconds off your web-browsing time each time you click, then “Quick Drag” is a great Firefox Add-on. Basically this Add-on extends the functionality of the drag-and-drop mouse gesture. Using Quick Drag allows you to quickly load URLs, search selected text on a page, and even save an image on a page without the use of keyboard shortcuts or right clicking. You simply click on what you want and drag it. Selected text will show up in the search results of a new tab and images will save straight to your Downloads folder.

Tribalfish

Tribalfish attempts to bridge the gap between social interaction and deep customer engagement using high-quality content. Essentially, Tribalfish allows you to post a short message that viewers can click on for an expanded post, without being directed to an outside website. People can browse these messages by various topics they are interested in whether it is healthcare, real estate, sports, or just about anything else. Tribalfish also has a “Groups” function where users can join, receive updates, and post messages.

TweetReach

TweetReach is a web program that allows you to get a quick snapshot of just how far your tweets reached. All you have to do is type in the desired Twitter username in the search box. TweetReach then gives you a snapshot of the past 7 days of that user’s activity along with stats such as reach, types of tweets, and exposure (impressions). TweetReach takes into account the @ mentions and retweets that your account has received and includes those as impressions. So if one of my followers retweets me, the impressions of that retweet would be included. This is based on how many followers my retweeter has.

Google Hotel Finder

Google Hotel Finder allows you to do exactly what the name says, find hotels. The difference between Google’s program and your average hotel finder, is all of the features available. Google Hotel Finder has the standard “search by location” option, but it also allows you to see popular locations; perfect if you are unfamiliar with the area. You can also keep a short list of hotels that you can come back to review at a later time. If you’re looking for the best price, Google let’s you compare the current price with the hotel’s typical price.

Additional features include limiting hotels by price per night, star rating, and user rating. However, one of the most unique features is the map view. Google gives you a preset view of all the hotels within the area. You can then adjust the shape of this area to your liking. Clicking on the hotel listing or “dot” (in map view), will give you a snapshot of the hotel’s information along with images and reviews.

YourGroups

YourGroups is a way to communicate with friends, family, and co-workers in private. Members of your group can post messages to the group wall, “buzz” each other, share photos, and schedule meet-ups. When sending a buzz or scheduling a meet-up, you can choose to include the whole group, or only certain members of the group. YourGroup is great for sharing things with a limited amount of people, in the privacy of your own group.