Today Google announced it’s wallet, an electronic wallet located in your cell phone with tap-and-pay technology. With Google’s engineering prowess, it’s got to be a smooth customer experience – frictionless, as the saying goes.

Why so late? Doesn’t it seem like we should have been tapping and going at 7/11s and gas stations for a while now? The credit card companies have tried all sorts of experiments in Quick Service Restaurants and cabs for a while, but nothing seems to have caught on.

Google’s solution uses a near field communication chip to enable the magic, and requires companion hardware on the receiving end. Not every phone will have this technology for a while, but it does seem possible that someone would soon offer a standalone NFC wallet the size of a credit card. I’d sign up for that. Digital is infinitely scalable, so why not put your credit cards, frequent shopper cards, gym card, etc. on a digital wallet? At least it would leave you with a much smaller wallet with just your bills and drivers license, even if you were carrying an extra item.

It will be interesting to see whether this wakes up the bank associations like MasterCard…and American Express. Google does not know who they are dealing with. Those companies are fierce competitors and payment methods are their expertise. I worked on the transition from paper to paperless for gift cards and other instruments in the 1990s, and while these companies my not be first, they are fast followers and tenacious.

I recently got a head-ups from a friend in Toronto about this marketing breakthrough. Post – famous for bringing good whole wheat Shreddies cereal to Canadian breakfast tables for 67 years, has launched a major innovation.  For the first time in seven decades Shreddies is changing its shape, for a limited time, with new Diamond Shreddies cereal.

After a whirlwind of debate over which is better – the diamond or the square – and some controversy over square Shreddies appearing in Diamond Shreddies boxes, The President of Shreddies reflected on the Canadian Shreddies craze:

“When we introduced 45 degree rotational technology to put a new twist on Shreddies – an old family favourite – we had no idea the widespread excitement and discussion that would erupt within Canada and beyond our borders,” says The President of Shreddies. “We found ourselves amid a flurry of debate and discussion. Everyone from Canada’s leading media to bloggers to regular people got in on the Diamond versus Square debate.” According to online voting at www.diamondshreddies.com, Diamonds are in the lead with 66 per cent of the vote trailed by Squares with a mere 34 per cent. However, it has been confirmed that although the Square minority may be small – they’re vocal.

Sales are apparently up considerably since this product innovation was announced in March of this year. Commercials and focus groups (definitely worth a look) are available on the website.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This puppy just makes you feel good.

Apple’s 1984 ad has been rated several times on of the best ads of all times. It was run only once during the Super Bowl, and reshaped advertising. I haven’t seen too many parodies of it, but with elections upon us, this is pretty clever.

Click here to view the embedded video.