Look around your kitchen. Big or small, it’s probably full of gadgets and tools. We use these things daily, but we never think that hard about where they came from in the first place. Look closer, though: There are hidden stories in your kitchen. | www.eklectica.xyz #eklectica See the hidden stories in your kitchen here. Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
A hashtag is the wonder of the past decade. It was born to address the need to organize and make sense of the overwhelming social media buzz. Thanks to active and creative user adoption, hashtag support has been added to most popular social media platforms. Source: How Hashtags Work on Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, and Flickr – Moz Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
1850s-1950s: 100 years of manipulating images without computers Prior to 1985 photographs were retouched by hand using paint or ink, pieced together in the darkroom from separate photographs. Airbrushing as a term is still in use today, though the technique originated much earlier. All these required a degree of artistic skill and, for some, access to a darkroom. See gallery on Pinterest
People love free, people love food, and thus, people love free food. Retailers, too, have their own reasons to love sampling, from the financial (samples have boosted sales in some cases by as much as 2,000 percent) to the behavioral (they can sway people to habitually buy things that they never used to purchase). It’s true that free samples help consumers learn more about products, and that they make retail environments more appealing. But samples are operating on a more subconscious level as well. “Reciprocity is a very, very strong instinct,” says Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University. “If somebody does something for you”—such as giving you a quarter of a ravioli on a piece of wax paper—“you really feel a rather surprisingly strong obligation to do something back for them.” Source: The Psychology Behind Costco’s Free Samples – The Atlantic Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
This year marks the 50th anniversary of eclectic Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan’s famous work, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man , which builds upon his famous aphorism: “The medium is the message.” Understanding Media propelled McLuhan into the realm of pop-culture priesthood. Twenty years ago, in the introduction to a re-print of Understanding Media , renowned editor Lewis H. Lapham wrote that much of what McLuhan had to say made a lot more sense in 1994 than it did in 1964, what with two terms of Reagan and the creation of MTV. Twenty years after that, the banality of McLuhan’s ideas have solidified their merit. Don’t have a copy of McLuhan’s Understanding Media? Get it here! Source: The Medium Is the Message, 50 Years Later – Pacific Standard: The Science of Society Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
When Verizon Wireless wanted to drive more foot traffic to its retail stores last winter, the brand supplemented traditional advertising an onsite program called Stop Motion Studio. Customers could create short, animated videos, decorated with tiny snowmen, reindeer, Santas and other props, to use as their holiday greeting. While they were playing mini-movie mogul, they were also learning about their phone’s capabilities, accessories and add-ons. The event, which spawned an ongoing workshop series, shows just how much the advertising business has evolved. We’re moving into two-way relationships between companies and consumers, occurring everywhere from Tumblr, to Instagram, to store fronts and taxis. Source: 5 Ways the Ad World Has Changed in the Last 10 Years Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
SEO has changed over the years, and what worked once doesn’t necessarily work now. Some of the old tactics you are using not only will keep your traffic stagnant, but they may actually cause your traffic to drop. What should you do? Source: 7 Obsolete SEO Tactics You’re Wasting Your Time On Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
Smell can add ambience to your retail experience, but can the right scent really get you to stay longer and purchase more? Consumer researchers say the answer is a pretty overwhelming affirmative. Researchers have found that smell effects consumer thoughts and spending behavior, product judgements (pdf), judgements on store environments and intentions on visiting stores. Source: Why it matters if stores smell delicious – Quartz Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
When Imperial Tobacco, the world’s fourth-largest cigarette-maker, said in July that it would spend $7.1 billion to expand its business in America, its chief executive, Alison Cooper, was adamant on one point: it will not be buying companies. Instead, in a three-way deal with Reynolds American and Lorillard, it will pick up a factory, a sales force and, above all, a collection of brands. Two of them, Winston and Blu (an electronic-cigarette brand), will be “the focus for the lion’s share of time and money invested”. No management expert would think it strange that Imperial would spend the best part of $7 billion on something as ethereal as brands. They are the most valuable thing that companies as diverse as Apple and McDonald’s own, often worth much more than property and machinery. Source: Marketing: What are brands for? | The Economist Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
The first newspaper ad in America came way back in 1704 when someone was trying to sell a house on Long Island. Since then, the advertising industry has undergone a huge transformation. Over the years, we’ve seen dozens of ads that have done much more than just convince us to buy a product or service. The very best campaigns have impacted the way we communicate and interact with one another, from the coffee breaks we enjoy, to clothes we wear to work, to the videos we share online. Keeping that in mind, here are 14 ads that have shaped our culture. See them on Pinterest 14 Ads That Changed The World | Business Insider India Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us
Forget the fluorescent-lit indoor mall that’s been synonymous with shopping for years. The future of retail will look starkly different 25 years out. Full-body scanners that take your measurements, and recommend the clothes that best fit your body. Seamless checkouts that can be done from inside the dressing room or on your mobile phone, eliminating the need to wait in line. Innovations like these are already threatening to become mainstream. And, as consumers shift a larger chunk of their spending toward the Web—where they’re offered a seemingly endless pipeline of products—experts say bricks-and-mortar locations need to undergo a complete makeover to stay relevant in future decades. Source: The mall of the future: It’s nothing like today Rights to all content (text, images, videos etc.) with post source. If you think these are wrongly attributed email us