Top Story

• Researchers use AdWords to test campaign slogans
  Italian researchers are testing a system for replacing marketing focus groups with AdWords campaigns. Consumers' responses to differently phrased AdWords units can give unbiased insights into the effectiveness of different phrasings and word choices on consumer behaviors, the researchers explain. That could allow marketers to develop more persuasive and effective print, broadcast and digital campaigns. MIT Technology Review online/The Physics arXiv Blog (4/26)     

Trendwatch

• Will the "newfronts" persuade marketers to open their wallets?
  The Digital Content NewFronts are proving a hit, with Web platforms eager to pitch themselves to brands, and marketers saying they're ready to invest serious money in digital video outreach. It's unclear how much of brands' $70 billion TV-advertising budget will be diverted into online video, but online video is increasingly being seen as a powerful marketing tool. The "newfronts" were originally conceived as a way "to beat a drum for change," said Mark Beeching, chief creative and strategy officer at Digitas, but "now, it's servicing a need." The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (4/26)     

• Why digital marketers should stop striving for scale
  Online marketers are putting too great a premium on scale, in a way that's actually making it harder to use consumer data effectively, writes Alan Pearlstein. Establishing granular data sets is the key to effective targeting, but many marketers are more inclined to pool different data sets into a uniform -- and therefore all but useless -- morass of information. "[M]ost of data ecosystem strives for scale instead of precision. ... Too many of us are making huge, blind buckets of data that are bloated and inaccurate," Pearlstein warns. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (4/26)     

• Can Punch create a knockout system for tablet advertising?
  Punch Media, an Apple iPad-native magazine service, is hoping to create a model for tablet-based advertising. Rather than featuring conventional pop-up or display ads, Punch is working with brands to develop application-style advertorial units, encouraging user engagement by offering media-rich, genuinely interesting or useful content. "We wanted to do an ad unit, but we wanted to reinvent how it works for the tablet's more deep, immersive experience," said CEO and co-founder David Bennahum. Adweek (4/26)     

Getting the Word Out

• Social media has its limits, Xerox exec says
  Xerox has been met with a tepid reaction to its forays into Twitter and Pinterest marketing, chief marketing officer Christa Carone says. The company's established business clients are generally unimpressed by newfangled social media outreach, Carone said. She adds that "the CIOs of major companies are not going to be making a $5 million ... deal based on their connection with Xerox on Facebook." ClickZ (4/26)     

• Miracle-Gro adds 20,000 e-mail subscribers with in-store sign-up
  Scotts Miracle-Gro convinced almost 20,000 people to sign up for its e-mail list through a partnership with Home Depot and Lowe's. In-store representatives prompted shoppers to request e-mails and encouraged them to enter their details on a custom-built iPad or iPhone application, and the brand followed up with personalized welcome messages. MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (4/26)     

• Other News

• The New York Times Co. unveils Ricochet social ad platform
  The Wall Street Journal/Digits blog (4/26)     

Developer Update

• The dark side of HTML5
  It's only a matter of time until hackers use HTML5 to launch a malware attack, according to security researcher Robert McArdle. The standard would allow malware creators to establish memory-resident "botnets in the browser" and launch seamless cross-platform attacks, McArdle explains. "We haven't seen the bad guys doing anything bad with HTML5 but nonetheless it's good to think ahead and develop defenses," he adds. The Register (U.K.) (4/27)     

Design Corner

• How to create a CSS3-powered slideshow
  CSS3 is a powerful design tool, even if it isn't supported by old browsers, writes Alessio Atzeni. Using keyframes, it's even possible to build a fully functional animated slideshow using only CSS3 -- although the technique's lack of flexibility will still leave some developers hankering for JavaScript. "CSS3 has great potential, but it does have limits," Atzeni writes. SmashingMagazine.com (4/25)     

Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs

• How SMBs can avoid falling into Google's spam traps
  Google's efforts to rein in "black hat" search-marketing tactics have taken a toll on small businesses, Adam Stetzer writes. Some small companies were heavily reliant on blog networks and link-exchange sites that have now been deindexed, highlighting the importance of a diverse search-marketing strategy. "It isn't advisable to put too much of your SEM in a single basket," Stetzer writes. SearchEngineWatch.com (4/26)     

Association News

• Web Marketing Association to name Best Green Website of 2012
  The Web Marketing Association announces the call for entries for its 16th annual international WebAward Competition for website development. The WebAwards is the standards-defining competition that sets benchmarks for 96 industries, including environmental websites, based on the seven criteria of a successful web site. The deadline for environmental websites to enter to be judged is May 31.     

Featured Content

On Leadership

Top five news stories from SmartBrief on Leadership this week. Want more leadership news?

• How to use PowerPoint without boring people (SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership)

• Do women have to be mean to make it to the top? (Fast Company online)

• Bad bosses get the workers they deserve (Diego Basch's Blog)

• Why male CEOs should get married once or twice (The Economist)

• Are you average or extraordinary? (Inc. online)

SmartQuote

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." --John Steinbeck, American writer