B2B vs. B2C Innovation Growth

More funding is going to consumer (soft) applications versus (hard) technology products. Who is making the product technologies today? Multi-Nationals like GE are taking the lead, see "GE Makes India a Lab for Global Markets" here from Wharton.

Are the breakthroughs like the printer and the personal computer no longer the domain of Silicon Valley?

From the Wall Street Journal "For Silicon Valley Start-Ups, Funding Boom Is Lopsided" here.

Gaming the Social Web

Good article by Eliot Van Buskirk, "Gaming the  System: How Marketers Rig the Social Media Machine" here. "If clout is the new currency, in other words, it already has its share of counterfeiters."

Consumer Insights - Retaliation to Facebook

An article in Gulf News here states:

"Facebook, which received some negative publicity locally yesterday with reports of a gang in Sharjah (an Emirate in UAE) threatening to post compromising videos on the social networking site unless ransom money was paid, is just one of many social networking sites losing its gloss."

Facebook is a democratization play, where consumer is "truly" the boss. One has to wonder as to the reason behind Facebook's policy change. Internet based businesses may focus marketing to a specific consumer (demographic, geographic, socio-graphic, etc.) - Yet it may be inappropriate to the sensibilities of a distant culture garnering responses that are detrimental to the brand.

I believe this creates an exceptional business development opportunity for marketers of the world.