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Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’
I Have Interests Volume 1: Typography
Jeff Pickett | January 9th, 2009
Not long ago, my little sister asked me if American Apparel and Crate & Barrel were “the same company.” She was hesitant and skeptical as she asked, but confused that both stores shared a nearly identical design aesthetic. I interpreted the question in a much broader context: my sister was having her first brush with the rich and fascinating world of typography. In 2007, the ubiquitous Helvetica typeface celebrated it’s 50th birthday. Those who would consider this trivial probably missed the exhibit held at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the documentary “Helvetica” by Gary Hustwit, or the numerous books on this “official typeface of the 20th century.” Moreover, those who find it silly that museums, writers, and movie directors would spend time showcasing a “font” probably aren’t as observant as my little sister. (Aside from American Apparel and Crate & Barrel) Perhaps you’ve heard of: Microsoft, Panasonic, BMW, Jeep, Toyota, American Airlines, Lufthansa Airlines, 3M, McDonald’s, Target, Energizer, Mobil, Arco, Shell, Texaco, and on and on and on… If you aren’t big on corporations, maybe you’ve heard of music groups like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, or The Ramones; all of whom have used Helvetica over the years. The introduction to any typography text will probably explain how different typefaces can evoke different emotions and moods from readers to achieve very powerful branding effects. Many graphic designers feel that a typeface can be one of the most powerful forms of propaganda at their disposal. How perplexing, then, that so Continue reading…
Tags: 3m, American Airlines, American Apparel, arco, art direction, baskerville, bmw, comic sans, Crate & Barrel, energizer, font, font tattoo, garamond, gary hustwit, Graphic Design, Helvetica, helvetica font, helvetica tattoo, helvetica typeface, impact font, jeep, Lufthansa, mcdonald's, Microsoft, mobil, moma, panasonic, pepsi, rosewood, rosewood font, sans-serif, serif, shell, target, texaco, the beatles, the ramones, the rolling stones, toyota, typeface, typeface tattoo, typesetting, typography, typography tattoo
Posted in Blogging, Business, Editorial, Google, Internet News, Microsoft, Random!, Yahoo! | 10 Comments
Digg This!
Chris Laub | July 24th, 2008
For all you search engine savvy, Wall Street minded professionals out there, here’s something to chew on. Reports of a $200M Google bid for the user-driven, content evaluation website Digg.com have surfaced this week, and the financial & legal implications are wide ranging. As of now, Digg is inked into a 3 year contract with Microsoft that has generated approx. $11.3M in venture capital for the site using Microsoft’s ads. In addition, Microsoft has been part of the negotiations for Digg too. However, their supposed bids are more in the $100M range. Even in that range, investors do not think this is a good move for the shareholders of either company. This is extremely relevant given MSFT shares are down 33% from their 52 week high, while GOOG‘s are down a whopping 44.2% from their 52 week high. According to Google’s own Ad Planner system, Digg gets 6.5M unique visitors per month. Using very basic math, assuming Google could run ads on Digg at a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) of $4 per page, the $200M bid values the company at 60 times revenue! Tweaking the CPM cost will alter Digg’s valuation, but even at $12 with a 100% growth rate in its first year post-acquisition, we’re talking 10 times earnings (which is still high for you non-investors out there). Which brings us to Google’s intent. Their financial consultants have obviously crunched tons of numbers and most likely have multiple value variations based on growth rates, CPMs and other factors. Continue reading…
Microsoft Cashback
Chris Laub | May 29th, 2008
I just wanted to get this out there before it becomes old news. Last week Microsoft made another bold move to gain market share in the search industry. After running some Beta tests last year, Bill Gates announced they will be pushing forward with their Microsoft Live Search Cashback program. In short, advertisers in the e-commerce division of search marketing (e-commerce accounts for 30% of searches, but 80% of search revenue) can now switch to a Pay Per Action model instead of Pay Per Click. Translation: advertisers can set a bid for how much they’re willing to spend when a search query turns into a sale. With 61% of e-commerce purchases originating in the search engines, this is a significant move. In addition to basically guaranteeing the advertiser is getting some business for their click money, Microsoft also created an incentive for the shopper. To draw people like you in, Microsoft decided they would offer Cashback savings to users who buy using their engine. What does it all mean? Microsoft will basically pay you to shop with them/pay you not to use Google. During the shopping process, in addition to browsing to find the lowest prices, their results page will show which purchases quality for the Cashback program. After the purchase is made, they will deposit the amount listed right into your account, no hassles. While this is a bold move (and one that is highly unlikely to generate much revenue), the beta tests did help them accomplish their goal Continue reading…
