It wa$ a week of my$tery even the $lytherin Hou$e couldn’t break: What was J.K. Rowling’$ new web$ite, Pottermore, going to be about?

A Harry Potter Encyclopedia? A $pin-off $erie$? A $ocial network for Potter fan$?

Why, of cour$e, it was none of the above: as it turn$ out, Pottermore is nothing more than a place to $ell Harry Potter e-book$.
Dollar signs aside, many Potter fans around the world are irate over what is seemingly one last money-grab from the world’s richest author.
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Go big or go home? I guess it depends on where home is, huh?

This week at GoZAPIt, we were discussing the art of gathering followers on Twitter, and whether the goal to get 10,000 followers was misguided.

For what it’s worth, we like knowing who our clients are – and it’s almost impossible to really know who 10,000 people are.
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Sometimes, the night is just perfect. A romantic, moonlit dinner after a movie that isn’t based on a Hasbro toy line from the 1980s, all topped off with great wine and a high-caloric dessert.

Everything is working out beautifully, it’s just you and your date; it’s almost as if you’re miles away from civilization, in your own little romantic bubble. (more…)

This week, Pepsi released its newest invention, and it has nothing to do with clear cola. Dubbed the “social vending machine”, Pepsi’s latest pop machine harkens back to their 1958 slogan, “Be Social, Have a Pespi” by allowing users to buy one for their friends after they buy one for themselves.

It works thanks to the ubiquity of the Internet and Facebook. Pre-purchase a bottle for your friend, then send them an email with a special code, and your friend can go to his local pop machine, enter the code, and voila! –a free Pepsi.
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“You know what consumers really want?” the CEO asks his employees? No one offered an answer.

“Connection!” he says enthusiastically. “Consumers want to connect with our brand on Facebook and Twitter. They want to feel connected and learn about new products and engage with our brand!”
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To be fair, Starbucks doesn’t just sell coffee. They sell an experience. They sell an idea. They sell ambiance.

During the company’s boom years, almost everyone in your office probably came in with a Venti or Grande coffee cup sporting the green siren. But for many, it was more of a fashion statement than a caffeine fix.

Of course, the company made a huge profit being a fashion mocha, er, mecca.
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