I'm increasingly convinced one of the big stories of 2012 will be the simultaneous explosion of mass-market "Cloud" data storage and "Hacking".

As developers, we find ourselves increasingly integrating with third-party apps. to provide complex configurations which would be unwieldy for us to develop on our own, and too costly for our typical clients.

The logic is clear, an app solution such as MailChimp provides massive functionality for email list management, great analytics (see below ;) and, they do only email... so I guess they have most of the bugs worked out of the system.

Now, I personally believe a 3rd party app provider will actually have BETTER data security.  They are forced to comply with many more clients and tech demands then a single company.  And, their entire business disappears with a single breach of security.

But try to explain to a non-tech client that their data in a "cloud" is secure.  Forget it, the word "Cloud", attached to "Data" instills instant anxiety.

There are real risks, of course, and lack of direct control may feel insecure.  The risk, I think, is in the points of intersection between a website and an app.; i.e. where the data crosses-over is where security and glitches will likely be an issue.

Regardless, these types of common-functionality applications are a huge growth market for tech, and cloud remains a hot topic.

I combine this trend with my totally unverified sense that hacking is...out of control.  The political cases get the most news, but I am also aware of a growing trend to banging away at root passwords on multiple servers until hackers get into a server and can use that power to hack another system.

As a result, there is a growing movement towards selling on security.  This was the rationale behind our recent move to FireHost as a hosting provider.  FireHost's message is clearly based on server security.

By contrast, our past hosting provider, MediaTemple, has a clear policy that companies are responsible for maintaining their own server security.  Fine for a large corp. but not for a small business without a 24/7 IT support staff.

Wondering why your plain-text email sent via mailchimp shows a zero open rate?  

It's because MailChimp does NOT actually track opens in plain-text emails, but only "clicks" on links within the email.  

This is obviously different than Open rates, which companies desperately need to measure campaign effectiveness.

MailChimp explains this in their follow up emails and knowledge base articles.  But the information is not prominently mentioned in the process of deciding between a Plain Text or HTML email.  

When you disable tracking of links within an email, you are actually eliminating the only small chance you have of measuring your emails reach.

And staring at a chart which says ZERO opens is frustrating for client and agency.

One of the sad downsides of the current economy swing towards freelance, internships, etc., is the lack of classic advertising training that used to be part of the entry level job experience at most big agencies.

When I started my first agency job at Backer Spielvogel Bates, we did a one year program in which we worked across all departments of the agency, including account, creative, production and media.  Very valuable experience which gives you a better understanding of how an agency works, and more appreciation for the skills we depend on in each respective department.

In this big agency experience you also get an introduction to basic pricipals of working in a client service busines.  "We appreciate the opportunity our clients give us to work on their business, and we are committed to their business success."

At BSB we drank Miller, and BBDO we drank Pepsi.

And at ICON Worldwide, when we build FaceBook fanpages, blogs, apps, etc., we "Like", "Share" and download.  We never ask our start up clients for free samples, we pay for them.

(A) We are proud of our work, and (B) we have promised our clients OUR work will help them succeed so we do our part to contribute to their metrics of success.  Most importantly, (C) they have paid us for this work, and in ANY day and age, we appreciate the opportunity to prove ourselves.

So, I appreciated this memo from Leo Burnett, a classic reminder not to forget who puts a roof over our head (Falkon ;) and food on our table.  As well, I miss the age of legendary agency leaders whos name was their brand:

Click here to download:

75890465-Leo-Burnett-Note.pdf (137 KB)

I have no real way of verifying the authenticity of this ad.  I can, however, validate it simply as a good idea...

Although Switzerland Tops the 2011 Global Innovation Ranking pubblished by INSEAD and the United Nations the scores for the creative and technology based industries in Switzerland were amongst the worst.  

Switzerland is a small country with no natural resources, a highly educated workforce and an export based economy with a concentration of scientific, life sciences and pharmaceutical companies.   Its’ cities, Zurich and Geneva consistently rank amongst the highest standards of living. 

With a massive concentration of science and pharma related industries, it is no surprise that Switzerland scored highly in areas such as patent and trademark applications:   

• Trademark applications (1)
• Quality of research institutions (2)
• Science Outputs (2)
• Employment of knowledge workers (4)
• University & Industry collaboration (2)
• Knowledge Creation (4)
• Computer Spending (1)

When you think of Innovation, you think about new ideas, technologies and the ability to build businesses around this. In Technology and Creativity Switzerland ranked at the bottom of the list:

• Business Environment (30)
• Time to start a new business (75)
• Cost to start a new business (23)
• Online participation (56)
• Strength of investor protection (119)
• Creative services exports (97)

There are two key messages here:  The Swiss need to start looking elsewhere for innovation. Pharmas patents are under pressure, many will expire in the next two years. India reengineers many generics, and more and more research is being moved to China.

Simultaneously, Switzerland needs to improve its rankings related to Creativity and Technology.  Although firms like Google and Yahoo maintain major operations here in Switzerland, the innovation is coming out of US headquarters. There are a too few examples of Swiss based companies who have developed and successfully launched innovative creative and technology products.  Paper.li and IA Writer are two isolated examples of innovative creative and technology products that have succeeded outside of Switzerland.  But there are also lame examples of companies who have taken a great idea and repackaged it as a Swiss start-up.  DeinDeal, is a good example of the Swiss imitation = innovation model, it's ok, but Groupon did it first.

The Swiss Opportunity, Science & Technology Innovation

Consider what would happen if Switzerlands once leading design community was reinvigorated, technology brought up to date, and joined in collaberation with the scientific community. The possibilities for real game-changing innovation are amazing.  There are awesome movements happening right now bringing design, technology and healthcare together.  New initiatives such as GE’s crowdsourcing program for Cancer treatments, or 23andMe are just two small examples of how science and design can partner.  This should be Switzerlands mandate for future innovation.

Particularly in the current economic climate, Switzerland is well postitioned to promote investment in innovative platforms.  With strong govenment support, venture resources combined with the already present pharma and science leadership, a terrific platform is already in place for REAL innovation.

We think we are getting closer.  The ongoing discussions across all media about how pharma companies, patients, and foundations can come together effectively and responsibly on social media.  We find ourselves in a unique position as a combination of current clients, such as Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and the Swiss Association for anxiety and depression, merge with prospecive clients and projects.  We do believe there are success stories out there.  One of them is in the recent experience of the Michael J. Fox Foundation who were able to register 500 new clinical trial participants inside of one month, with social media spreading the word.  What is clear from this experience is, social media doesnt happen by itself, it needs a clear set of objectives, and strategic roadmap and a dedicated personnell to support the effort client side.  I've added a few slides to the ICON Blog.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7376848n&tag=contentBody;storyMedi...

Hello Jonathan, Thank-you for your feedback. When Google+ becomes a bit more established and develops an API, we will begin to consider it as an autoposting destination. Thank-you for using Posterous! Kathleen

Seriously, the travelling salesman in me could not be more excited.  Imagine the PPTEverywhere possibilities:

On Thursday, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a new patent application from Apple that shows the company could be planning on adding mini-projection devices to a coming iteration of its iPhone line and/or developing a projection add-on for MacBooks and other Apple portable devices. "Today's incredibly detailed patent application reveals how they're working on pico-like projectors for iOS devices and how these projectors will work with a shared workspace in presentations," according to Patently Apple via Atlantic.