One of my co-workers at Cheskin Added Value said, “Thinking about Google’s biz strategy, it makes sense to put out phones not for the sake of selling hardware or truly innovating in the mobile OS space, but for the sake of generating more traffic to their search engine, the cash cow.”

Good CSR takes strategic development and an early glimpse tells us that Pepsi has hit a home run. Why? Here's ten reasons Pepsi looks to have gotten it right.

At the movies, we watch, listen, we feel, we are momentarily touched because this is after all, entertainment at its finest (2 hours of focused attention surrounded by Technicolor and Dolby stereo!). And then we go on about our daily lives. In 1985, The Color Purple reminded us about the racism, poverty and sexism of our forefathers. Nearly 20 years later, Crash interwove story lines to paint an updated picture with characters afflicted with modern versions of the same intolerances. We watch, we absorb, but do we change our behavior?

Last year we voted in our first African American President. Did these movies directly influence this collective vote? It’s hard to argue that they did. But then it’s hard to argue that they definitely did not. What is clear that after decades of provocateurs presenting their stories, in all formats and channels, our democratic population was finally able to overcome culturally born prejudice in the name of democracy.

It’s 2010. How many more years of blockbuster narratives will be shown before we begin to see the effects of a collective and popularized effort to save a resource rich Networked Planet?

Are the Japanese the canary in the coal mine? There are reasons that the Japanese talk less on mobile phones, one being the strict cultural morays against talking in public places including commuter trains. But the Germans also talk less than Americans, only 89 minutes per month, although perhaps this is because of cheaper land lines and overtaxed mobile networks.

Americans talk an average of 788 minutes per month, almost 10x the Germans and 6x the Japanese. Will we see talking replaced by messaging, as phone bills increase, public annoyance with loud public talking increases, networks become overloaded resulting in dropped calls, and more questions can be answered more easily by social network and internet queries?

Microtransactions are one of the few areas (along with subscription gaming) where consumers have shown a willingness to pay for online content. Microtransactions remove barriers to entry. They don’t feel like a commitment.

CVS recently bought Long’s Drugs in my area. Long’s offered an acceptable functional and economic experience – I could get the job done. It wasn’t a meaningful experience, such as patronizing Elephant Pharmacy might have been if I were heavily into expanding the role of natural cures, but it was OK. Now CVS has managed to actually deliver a negative emotional experience, making me regret every time I shop there.

How did they do it? By printing out miles of coupons with every cash register tape, most of which expire within a couple weeks. CVS has managed to introduce a sense of anxiety into the simple process of shopping at a drug store. Do I need to read all these coupons? Will I remember to carry them with me? Did I miss another expiration date? Now every time I shop I feel like I am wasting money, instead of saving it. This is brand marketing gone awry.

Some types of online sites are more sticky than others. Consumers spend more time on social networking, email, and some individually specified pages (e.g. news, traffic, personal blog, etc.) Shouldn’t ads on these pages be more valuable, if consumers tolerate those ads?