Cocktail Hour: September 7, 2012

Each week The Agency Post curates the top marketing-related news of the week, musings on the advertising industry and the creative work worth your attention. Here’s the scoop.

HEADLINES

Tweet Timeline: Twitter launched a new feature allowing websites to embed a tweet timeline using a simple line of HTML code. Viewers can reply to or retweet an update directly from the timeline, view expanded photos and follow specific hashtags in any timeline. [The Verge ]

LinkedIn Company Pages: Redesigned company pages began to appear yesterday, as LinkedIn continues to overhaul its site. The new pages will include a large photo at the top and a more prominent follow button. Updates will no longer appear from newest to oldest; an algorithm will sort updates based on relevance to the viewer. [TechCrunch ]

Facebook Timeline: On Monday, Facebook Timeline for brand pages reached its six-month mark. With an emphasis on photos and videos, friend activity and customized content features, brand pages now showcase a story rather than a corporate landing page. How has Timeline changed your interaction with fans? [AllFacebook ]

MUSINGS

Why I Need to Know Your Budget: In the market for a Dodge St. Regis R-body? Hopefully not, but buying cars and buying design may not be all that different. Agencies should help a client to define a budget and find out the brand’s “must have” features and goals (four cup holders is non-negotiable). Otherwise, we’ll all waste time test-driving and debating something that is simply out of our reach. [Mule Design]

Words I Hate: Ideate, deliverable, essence, integration, synergy, transmedia, monetize — say that five times fast. As professionals who excel in the art of communication, do we spend our time speaking non-sense? Martin Weigel of Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam provides a great word list of modern adspeak. [Canalside View]

More Than a Few Words on Digital Marketing: As the debate on the definition of digital continues, Bud Caddell puts forth his thoughts on how to understand it all. Participation, real-time feedback, “ghetto testing” and the ability to self-select provides advertisers with an opportunity to make marketing that consumers want. Trying to define digital may be the only constant in the unpredictable digital marketing world. [What Consumes Me]

CREATIVE

On Hold Jam Session

“Please stay on the line. Your approximate wait time is 43 minutes.” Billboard doesn’t want you to waste those minutes cursing at the phone. It sent direct mail pieces allowing individuals to avoid the monotonous on-hold music.

http://youtu.be/XaYG7Lsbdsg

Nissan Japan Car Tour

Take a ride in a Nissan and learn about the features through this scrolling website.

Catroulette

A group of shelters in Belgium created this site of rotating cuteness to entice viewers to fall in love with and adopt these furry felines.