A lot has been said about Barnes and Noble’s new eBook reader, nook. It’s got a lot of innovative features, and it looks to be the first legitimate contender to the Amazon Kindle, the current king of the castle.

One feature that’s been getting a lot of press is the “LendMe” function which allows you to take a book you have purchased and “lend” it to a friend (with a nook) for a limited period of time. Just like a real book, when you lend something out, it gets removed from you library.

At first it seems like a pretty solid feature, but when you think about it, it misses the point. B&N is banking on the fact that people have this established behavior of lending books, and that when you lend a book you no longer have it in your possession. However, this behavior also operates on the notion of physical scarcity (i.e. “This is my singular copy, you may take it from me”). With digital distribution, there is no scarcity. Due to the nature of the medium, just because I have one, doesn’t mean you can’t. We can both have it at the same time because it exists in 1′s and 0′s not covers and pages.

I know this idea goes contrary to their business model, but one has to think that if a company continues to build business models on outdated ideas and concepts, they’re backing themselves into a corner already.

I really like how Target is taking a play out of Disney and Dreamworks’ book here. And that play is the “something for everyone” humor. Just like the way that Disney and Dreamworks sneak in jokes written for the parents in kids movies, Target has managed to craft an ad speaking directly to parents, while still not cluing kids in on anything.

Plus it’s pretty funny to too.

The Conquistador
If Digital Natives are people that have been born into it, The Conquistadors are the ones who worked hard to show up, and make no question about it, they run this town. If you’re reading this blog and are over 20ish years old, chances are you’re a Conquistador. Not only are you way ahead of most other people your age when it comes to the internet, but you’re most likely way ahead of everyone. Conquistadors are the trend-setters, celebrities, and taste-makers of the new web.

In many ways, Conquistadors are very like Digital Natives. You’ve got to work to win them over, but if you do, they’ll shout your praises through every channel they can think of.

The Trons
Aptly named because the last good memory they have of technology was the 1982 movie Tron. They don’t want it, don’t need it, and won’t use it unless they absolutely have to.

If you’re targeting Trons, then good luck. You’ve got to have a couple things working for you in order to be successful. The first thing is you have to be really really easy to figure out. The second thing is that you have to have a user base that includes the “slightly more tech inclined friend-of-Tron” or SMTIFOD as we call it in the biz. (I’m just kidding, no one really says that.)

The One Trick Pony
The OTP is a user who knows the internet enough to use it for one or two things, and as far as they’re concerned, that’s all it’s for. Take my girlfriend’s mom for example. Her web experience/expertise doesn’t stretch very far beyond emailing, but she is an eBay wizard. Her digital world consists of the big “e’s”: e-mail and eBay.

The key with the OTP is to make your service or site as accessible as possible. You need to show the benefits right away. They’re a tough demo to snag, but provide an extremely loyal user base once you’ve got them on board.

So are Digital Natives really that unimportant right now? Are there any groups I missed? Let’s hear your thoughts.

If you’re at all active in the blogging/new media/technology/futurist/marketing/social media space, you’ve probably heard the term “Digital Native”.

In case you’re not part of that 8 word super-slash, or just missed the boat, a Digital Native is someone that doesn’t know life without computers or the internet.

People have been making a big deal about “the impact of Digital Natives” and “what Digital Natives mean to ____________”. But the truth is, right now anyway, Digital Natives aren’t that important at all.

Let’s think about it – by my estimation/definition, Digital Natives were born around or after 1989. This makes the oldest possible Digital Native about 20 years old. And odds are, if you’re running a business, the under 20 market isn’t the biggest piece of the pie you need to worry about.

The big thing about Digital Natives is that because they’ve grown up with this technology, they’re quick to adapt, adopt, and move on to the next big thing. So when you’re rolling the dice on your next big “will they do it?” web project, higher adoption rates from Digital Natives can be expected (as long as your product doesn’t suck).

But with most businesses, these people aren’t the make-or-break in the market. Look at Facebook. I was on there from the very beginning, when it was all college kids. People my age are on the very verge of what is typically defined as a Digital Native, so by definition, Facebook was full of them. But Facebook didn’t really take off until it opened it’s doors to everyone.

So we know that Digital Natives will try out your new web service. They will shape the next Twitter, the next bogs, and podcasts. But they’re not the people you have to worry about.

And who is it that you should be focusing on? Check back tomorrow to find out!

I love hardcore gaming PC’s. I don’t know, but there’s just something about a computer with enough horsepower to run a small country that appeals to me.

For a long time, these gaming computers looked just like their mundane cubicle-dwelling counterparts. If you think about it, that’s like having a Ford Taurus that runs like a Lamborghini Gallardo. But somewhere along the line, someone decided that these machines need to be as intimidating and intense on the outside as they are on the inside. It’s about time.

Take a long look at the Acer Predator (above), the HP Blackbird 002 (left), the Dell XPS 730 (center), and the Alienware Area-51 (right).

All beautiful, but in a F-22 Raptor sort of way.

The “big idea” here is form meeting function. Just like Apple and Nintendo, these PC makers understand that design matters in this market. It doesn’t everywhere (nails, manhole covers, manila folders), but figuring out where design is really important, and where its superfluous is something that you always have to pay attention to.

I would love to take any of these for a test drive, but doubt I’ll ever have the opportunity. So if you’re out there Acer, HP, Dell, or Alienware and are looking for a few good testers, let me know.

Hey, it’s cheaper than a few plane tickets.

There will be 437 supposed “digg killers”.

A great new site will come around that people will flock too…

And then people will ruin it.

You will have near-constant access to your information.

Someone will realize that marketing is really just about making connections with people.

No one will agree on how to measure social media.

At least one retailer will get social media right.

A theme of the year will be “mashups”

Apple will fail miserably at something. But look good doing it.

At some point, someone (my guess is Google) will figure out how to integrate everything we do (facebook, twitter, digg, blogging, IM) into one platform.

Just like with spies, information will become a currency.

Google will deal with some serious backlash.

A mindset of the year will be “ME + you”.

User experience specialists will be the most sought after professionals in marketing.

Interactive agencies will take the lead on overall brand strategy.

Someone will skip “web 3.0″ and try to define “web 4.0″.

There will be an emergent technology that begins to change everything.

“Going back to basics” will be the best marketing strategy of the year.

Marketers will continue to think they’re the coolest people out there. (But aren’t we?)

At least one big company will do a great job with new marketing.

At least one big company will do a terrible job with new marketing.

There will be one (but probably many more) big marketing fad that, in the end, is mostly useless.

Now what were your initial thoughts? Shock at the exploding apartment? Puzzlement as to the deeper meaning?

The first things I thought where: Who still uses phone booths? I can’t think of the last time I saw someone in one.

Being of a marketing mindset, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the first response Levi’s was looking for. Yes, you might point out that someone yanking the street level up (or himself down) is a little more outlandish than someone in a phone booth and the whole thing wouldn’t work without it, but that’s not my point. My point is that this ad was obviously trying to be contemporary, and the phone booth, at least to me, made it feel weird and dated.

How do you feel about this ad?

This has been a truly massive campaign, spanning almost every media you can think of. They even have a Halo 3 version of Mountain Dew, most likely a first for video games. And how did it fare? I’m pretty sure 170 million dollars in the first 24 hours is a sound success. That’s more than the Spiderman and Harry Potter movies if you’re counting.

This is incredible for me, as someone who has been playing games for a long time, because 10 or so years ago, there was barely any mainstream video game advertising at all. How things have changed. I guess you just have to believe.

Rife with imagery trying to create associations and evoke feelings for the brand (hockey player collision?), the ad does a pretty good job of getting across the vibe that Dodge is going for. But the real trick is the song, Lifehouse’s “First Time”, that plays during the 30 and 60 second spots.

Lifehouse’s new album has been on the billboard top 100 for 11 weeks, and the song “First Time” has been on the hot digital list for 13 weeks. This is a song that’s popular now, which means it’s getting a lot of radio play and a lot of downloads. And even though I’ve only seen the actual commercial a handful of times, every time I hear the song on the radio or on a computer, I think of Dodge immediately.

Dodge has created a Brand Hitch. Now people have seen the commercial, and they will start to think “Dodge” every time they hear that catchy song.

While not entirely novel, it was a smart idea for a brand that’s always fighting for mental real estate. So what other opportunities are there for a Brand Hitch? Where else can you attach your brand to something without creating a negative association or killing good will? Might be worth looking for a free ride.