We Are Q Inc.

                    Online advertising is great. It built the Internet. Online advertising mimed the TV broadcast model. We can thank online ads for the freemium model. The problem is, online advertising’s best before date is immanent. Even Google thinks so! On January 19th, 2012 Google announced a [...]

I’m excited to be moderating the Social Commerce panel at nextMEDIA conference in Toronto, December 6th, 2011. Post your questions to @marinamann We have a superb panel line up and what promises to be a heated discussion on social commerce including a few case studies, insights and strong opinions. Social Commerce, The New Normal Influence Economy  [...]

Recently I’ve been speaking and attending presentations on innovation and risks to innovation. Most likely because as the global economy shifts into a slower growth stretch, market incumbents face the fact that branding is not a guarantee and innovation is akin to survival. Of course idea generation is not easy, especially for corporations. Some corporations I’ve worked [...]

Innovation isn’t that complicated when you think about it. You could say, innovation is taking complicated business processes and reducing them to simple concepts. Google search – a blank page with a search box; Groupon – get your friends together to take advantage of a good deal (and take a big bite out of the [...]

We and our baggage are back from SXSW Interactive 2011 (#sxswi) albeit returning home from Austin on different flights. This year, SXSWi  was estimated to be 30% bigger than last year! And more consumer focused than ever. [We at] We Are Q, Inc. still managed to have a great time, although I think this year [...]

As the effects of the recession roll into year four -  relief is in sight:  2010 holiday online spending grew substantially over an abysmal 2009 of eCommerce revenues. Nevertheless, it’s increasingly clear to Marketers that lifestyle and behaviour changes born of economic abundance and endless borrowing have translated into values of thrift, and conscious choices [...]

On November 17th, 2010 I was honoured and delighted to join Tony Chapman, CEO of Capital C as part of the Social Media And Financial Services panel organized by the Israel Economic Mission to Canada. Topics I covered… Should financial institutions bother with Social Media? Is Social Media a revolution? Do communities dominate brands? And [...]

On September 27th, 2010, Stat Canada published the 2009 online shopping data for Canada. The good news:  Canadians used the Internet to place orders for goods and services valued at $15.1 billion, up from $12.8 billion in 2007. The 18% increase resulted from more online shoppers and a higher volume of orders. Forty percent of [...]