One of the benefits of mass consumer adoption of mobile technology is that many companies are beginning to develop some very cool and useful applications. Not all Smartphone apps are useful but the latest app offering from Microsoft is an interesting one and the way they are making the offer is sure to trickle to other app providers. For a limited time, you can download the Top 100s by Year by Bing iPhone app for free. As the name of the app implies, you can literally listen to the Top 100 songs between 1947 and 2009… for free. No strings attached. You will, however, get popup reminders in between a few songs to remind you to download the Bing app. To be able to listen to thousands of songs for free, I think this is something all users can live with. I can only imagine how royalty payments (if any) are tracked and how long Microsoft will offer this for free. If you love music and have an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, install the app now.

Do you think this free giveaway will help Microsoft increase Bing app installs? Only time will tell but giving mobile users the ability to listen to thousands of Top 100 songs for free is definitely a great incentive for any campaign in my opinion; one that only few companies can even consider offering.

Note that you will need a US iTunes account to download and install the app. Here is the official description

Hear thousands of the greatest songs of all time.

This $1.99 app is offered for FREE by Bing for a limited time.

Please help keep this app free longer by downloading the Bing app now.

What were the top songs for 2009, the year you were born or graduated from high school?

Spin the wheel to find the year you want to hear. Click and listen. View the list to find the #1 song for that year, from 1947 to 2009.

These lists are not solely based on the Billboard charts and record sales, instead, these are lists of songs that have stood the test of time based on their initial and lasting popularity, and on their impact on the overall scope of musical history.

Feedback is welcome at forums.nutsie.com.

The songs are streamed in shuffle mode like a web radio station through 3G, Edge or Wi-fi.

Enjoy!

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Since AdAge launched its daily ranking of marketing blogs, there have been over 1,000 marketing blogs added to it. In the spirit of Scott Weisbrod listing the Top 30 Canadian Marketing blogs based on the AdAge rankings, here is a quick update of the current Top 50 Canadian marketing blogs for 2010. I am definitely honoured to be part of such a distinguished list and a big congrats to my fellow bloggers! Don’t forget to grab your badge at the bottom of this post if you are on this list. And for those who want to re-publish the list, raw HTML codes are also below. Scroll down, copy and paste.

Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs for February 2010

1. John Chow dot Com
2. Dosh Dosh
3. Danny Brown
4. IttyBiz
5. Dave Fleet
6. Get Elastic
7. Web Analytics World
8. PowerShift
9. The Michel Fortin Blog
10. WebTrafficROI
11. Twist Image
12. adgoodness
13. David Leonhardt’s SEO Marketing Express
14. Pro PR
15. Profectio
16. shape+colour
17. InspiredMoneyMaker.com
18. The Praized Blog
19. ideasonideas
20. Ian Lee – ADS-Links.com
21. Buzz Canuck
22. Blogging Me Blogging You
23. Canadian Marketing Blog
24. Leo Burnett Toronto
25. ASK Enquiro
26. Search Engine People Blog
27. AdJoke
28. Blog Campaigning
29. azaroff.com
30. chroma
31. One Degree
32. MediaBadger Monitor, Measure, Manage
33. PPC Advice
34. Experience Planner
35. Great-Ads
36. Radical Trust
37. Behind the Buzz
38. The Daily Grind
39. Burning the bacon with Barrett
40. EmailKarma.net
41. The New PR
42. Advertnews.com
43. My Name is Kate
44. Saul Colt
45. The Client Side Blog
46. PR Works
47. The inmedia blog
48. social media group
49. The Advert Fan
50. FlackLife

For anyone wanting to re-publish the above list, here is the HTML code. Just copy and paste.

<p><strong>Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs</strong></p> <p> 1. <a href="http://www.johnchow.com/">John Chow dot Com</a><br /> 2. <a href="http://www.doshdosh.com/">Dosh Dosh</a><br /> 3. <a href="http://dannybrown.me/">Danny Brown</a><br /> 4. <a href="http://ittybiz.com/">IttyBiz</a><br /> 5. <a href="http://davefleet.com/">Dave Fleet</a><br /> 6. <a href="http://www.getelastic.com/">Get Elastic</a><br /> 7. <a href="http://www.webanalyticsworld.net/">Web Analytics World</a><br /> 8. <a href="http://www.radian6.com/blog/">PowerShift</a><br /> 9. <a href="http://www.michelfortin.com/">The Michel Fortin Blog</a><br /> 10. <a href="http://www.webtrafficroi.com/">WebTrafficROI</a><br /> 11. <a href="http://www.twistimage.com/blog/">Twist Image</a><br /> 12. <a href="http://www.frederiksamuel.com/blog/">adgoodness</a><br /> 13. <a href="http://www.seo-writer.com/blog/">David Leonhardt’s SEO Marketing Express</a><br /> 14. <a href="http://propr.ca/">Pro PR</a><br /> 15. <a href="http://profectio.com/">Profectio</a><br /> 16. <a href="http://shapeandcolour.wordpress.com/">shape+colour</a><br /> 17. <a href="http://www.inspiredmoneymaker.com/">InspiredMoneyMaker.com</a><br /> 18. <a href="http://blogs.praized.com/seb/">The Praized Blog</a><br /> 19. <a href="http://www.ideasonideas.com/">ideasonideas</a><br /> 20. <a href="http://www.ads-links.com/"> Ian Lee – ADS-Links.com</a><br /> 21. <a href="http://buzzcanuck.typepad.com/agentwildfire/">Buzz Canuck</a><br /> 22. <a href="http://edlee.ca/">Blogging Me Blogging You</a><br /> 23. <a href="http://www.canadianmarketingblog.com/">Canadian Marketing Blog</a><br /> 24. <a href="http://lbtoronto.typepad.com/">Leo Burnett Toronto</a><br /> 25. <a href="http://ask.enquiro.com/">ASK Enquiro</a><br /> 26. <a href="http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog">Search Engine People Blog</a><br /> 27. <a href="http://adjoke.blogspot.com/">AdJoke</a><br /> 28. <a href="http://blogcampaigning.com/">Blog Campaigning</a><br /> 29. <a href="http://www.azaroff.com/">azaroff.com</a><br /> 30. <a href="http://chromainc.typepad.com/">chroma</a><br /> 31. <a href="http://www.onedegree.ca/">One Degree</a><br /> 32. <a href="http://www.mediabadger.com/">MediaBadger Monitor, Measure, Manage</a><br /> 33. <a href="http://www.ppc-advice.com/">PPC Advice</a><br /> 34. <a href="http://www.scottweisbrod.com/">Experience Planner</a><br /> 35. <a href="http://www.great-ads.blogspot.com/">Great-Ads</a><br /> 36. <a href="http://www.radicaltrust.ca/">Radical Trust</a><br /> 37. <a href="http://www.everyjoe.com/topic/marketing/">Behind the Buzz</a><br /> 38. <a href="http://www.brandinfiltration.com/dailygrind/">The Daily Grind</a><br /> 39. <a href="http://www.burningthebacon.com/">Burning the bacon with Barrett</a><br /> 40. <a href="http://www.emailkarma.net/">EmailKarma.net</a><br /> 41. <a href="http://www.ryananderson.ca/">The New PR</a><br /> 42. <a href="http://www.advertnews.com/">Advertnews.com</a><br /> 43. <a href="http://www.mynameiskate.ca/">My Name is Kate</a><br /> 44. <a href="http://www.saulcolt.blogspot.com/">Saul Colt</a><br /> 45. <a href="http://www.theclientsideblog.com/">The Client Side Blog</a><br /> 46. <a href="http://davejones.ca/">PR Works</a><br /> 47. <a href="http://inmedialog.com/">The inmedia blog</a><br /> 48. <a href="http://www.socialmediagroup.com/">social media group</a><br /> 49. <a href="http://advertfan.com/">The Advert Fan</a><br /> 50. <a href="http://www.flacklife.com/">FlackLife</a><br />

If your blog is listed above, feel free to grab your Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blog badge below.

300 Pixels Wide

<a href="http://www.ads-links.com/index.php/top-50-canadian-marketing-blogs.html"><br /> <input type="image" src="http://www.ads-links.com/images/top50_canadian_marketing_blogs_300.jpg" width="300" height="50" border="0" alt="Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs"></a>

<a href="http://www.ads-links.com/index.php/top-50-canadian-marketing-blogs.html"><br /> <input type="image" src="http://www.ads-links.com/images/top50_canadian_marketing_blogs_125.jpg" width="125" height="125" border="0" alt="Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs"></a>

Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs

<a href="http://www.ads-links.com/index.php/top-50-canadian-marketing-blogs.html">Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs</a>

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Over the last few years, I have focused more on the online marketing and business conferences. Having come from the life sciences background, it was a treat to be able to attend a health related event again. The largest health food B2B trade show in Canada is put on by the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA). Last weekend, I attended the CHFA Expo West event in Vancouver and was able to sample lots of new, soon-to-be-released food products before they hit the market. More interestingly, I noticed some very interesting trends in the health food industry. There was no doubt that the biggest marketing trend for 2008 is going organic and all natural.

Ten to fifteen years ago, if you were to attend a health food show, you would see booth after booth of vitamin supplement companies. While supplement sales were growing exponentially at that time, many health companies manufacturing and marketing organic and all natural food products faced an uphill battle trying to stay in business. Consumers were looking for a magical pill and not a food product to increase their health. Based on last weekend’s show, it looks like consumer demand has taken a complete 180 degrees U-turn and is moving away from pills and heading towards the organic and all natural market place.

Organic: From Niche to Mainstream

Statistics Canada reported that in 2006, there were these many certified organic farms in Canada:

• 2,462 hay farms
• 916 fruit & vegetables farms
• 500+ animal farms

In order for farms and products to be certified organic, there are rules & regulations that must be met so there are actually many more farms that did not make the official organic list. In fact, Statistics Canada reported that there are 12,000 farms that use organic practices, but have not undergone a formal certification to identify themselves. These are the farms that sell through farmers’ markets and direct sales ventures (as opposed to a grocery store). Reason for this may be that while Canada has had national organic standards since 1999, these have been voluntary. However, federal regulations for organic products (the Organic Products Regulations), are scheduled to take effect on December 4, 2008. On this date, any product marked as organic must be certified by a certification body accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Stats Canada also reported that in 2006, although sales of certified organic products saw impressive growth, it still only accounted for less than 1% of the $46.5 billion Canadians spent in national grocery stores. Once the Organic Products Regulations kicks in later this year, many of the non-organic farms & products will no longer be able to label their products as such thus effectively competition will automatically be removed from this space. This will open up a huge market for organic producers. Certified industry players will have a massive advantage over players who are organic but not yet certified. Like in any other industry, early adopters will be the ones who reap the rewards.

Most Memorable Organic Conversation

I met with many successful organic businesses at the show but one conversation was particularly memorable to me. I spoke with an organic farmer named Dwayne Smith from Grainworks Inc., an organic farming company based out of Saskatchewan. It was very interesting talking to Dwayne as he believes in a complete approach when it comes to organic farming – not just simply following the rules but getting down to building a symbiotic relationship with the soil and even the machinery.

Most consumers purchase food from a grocery store but farmers like Dwayne are the ones who are hands-on and nurtures the land so that we can all benefit from it. Meeting and talking with Dwayne was definitely one of my highlights of the show. Thanks for the potato growing tips Dwayne. This season, I have my heart set on harvesting my largest potato crop yet!

Health Bar Manufacturers = Lead Generation Networks

If you have attended any online marketing trade shows in the last three years, you will know that there has been many new lead generation companies, otherwise known as CPA networks (cost per acquisition, cost per action or whatever you want to call them), popping up. At this health food show, the ubiquitous equivalent of a CPA network was the health bar manufacturer. I was completely shocked at the large number of exhibitors promoting health bars. Nuts only, fruit with nuts, in combination with something else, protein rich, soy based… the varieties go on. Just like the online marketing world, it will be interesting to see how many of these health bar companies find their niche and manage to stay in business in a year’s time. It’s difficult to see that all of them will be around for the long haul.

Summary of the CHFA Expo West Event

Take home message to businesses was that consumer demand is ever increasing for organic and all natural food products – adopt early and get your product on the market in order to stay competitive.

Overall, the show was very well organized and attracted many top notch exhibitors. I believe the show room floor actually took up the maximum amount of space within the Vancouver Trade & Convention Center. Luckily, Vancouver is adding an entire new section so that it will be able to accommodate even large trade shows in the future. Given that consumers are becoming ever more health conscious, I have no doubt that next year’s event will be even larger and more organic to boot.

Stats Canada Source: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080328/d080328a.htm

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