FEEL THE WORLD, WITH YOUR MOBILE
Digital may soon help you ‘feel’ the world around you. Sam Justin reported for digitfreak.com that a few companies want to replace the crude vibration motors in today's phones and tablets with something that provides a much wider range of sensations, allowing you to feel the rumble of a Harley or the reverberation of a shotgun blast. The new technology can even let you feel the outlines of a button on the screen.
The technology can make mobile devices shake and rattle with great realism, employing a technology that uses plastics that function like muscles.
Very cool!
http://www.digitfreak.com/technology/digital/959-feel-the-world-around-you-with-new-mobile-phone-technology.html
NEXT IN TECHNOLOGY
What to know what the hottest technologies for the near future will be? This post by Jason Hiner, posted on techrepublic.com explores some of the geeky possibilities.
The two highlights are:
1. HTML5 to make the web an app: this promises to take the training wheels off the web and unleash it to compete with traditional software. It will eliminate the need for most of the plugins that slow down browsers and introduce extra security risks.
2. Flexible OLED displays: These ultra-low-power displays will be able to be almost as thin as plastic wrap and will be completely flexible (even when in use). You’ll be able to fold smart-phones in half, or roll them into a bracelet. Instead of unfolding a newspaper you’ll unfold an OLED display that is tied to a subscription to The New York Times, for example (here’s an example of how the Times is already envisioning this <http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/08/the-new-york-times-imagines-the-kitchen-table-of-the-future/> ).
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hiner/five-future-technologies-i-cant-wait-for/9174?tag=content;selector-fd-river
HOYTS WORLD FIRST
Ever been at the movies and wished you could have your popcorn delivered to your seat? Now you can. In a world-first, Hoyts Sydney will pilot a mobile payment app developed by MasterCard called QkR, which will allow patrons to order food and drink without leaving their seats.
Techworld.com.au said customers who own an iPhone or Android handset will be able to use the service by downloading the QkR app to their phone and make purchases by either scanning the QR code or tapping a near field communications (NFC) device. There are no plans to widen the trial to BlackBerry or Windows Mobile users.
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/413203/hoyts_serves_up_food_drink_via_mobile_payment_app/?fp=16&fpid=1
HANGOUT WITH OMBAMA, LITERALLY!
Ever wanted to talk to the most powerful man in the world? Well now you can – with President Obama scheduled for a Google+ Hangout on January 30.
ZDnet.com reports that the President of the United States will be using Google+ as of next week when he responds to “a selection of top-voted questions you’ve submitted in a live-streamed interview” on January 30.
You can watch the event next Monday on the White House’s YouTube station, and interested participants have until midnight on January 28 to submit questions.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/president-obama-schedules-google-hangout-for-january-30/67772?tag=mantle_skin;content
FREE WEBINAR: ARCHITECTING YOUR MOBILE STRATEGY
This free webinar from Gartner explores the three major themes that will affect enterprise mobile strategies in 2012: mobile governance, user-centric mobile service delivery and mobile endpoint independence.
Gartner argues it is often impossible for an enterprise to make thoughtful decisions in one area (e.g., mobile application development) without thoroughly considering another area (e.g., security and risk management).
There is also good advice on what enterprises should focus on in the next 12 months.
http://www.gartner.com/technology/innovation/mobile-architecture-strategy.jsp?prm=TW_CHINNV
SAY HELLO
Want to make sure you never miss an opportunity to say hello to a friend? Well now you can, with a new iOS app <http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highlight/id441534409?ls=1&mt=8> called Highlight, which alerts you when a friend is in close proximity.
It works by connecting users Facebook profiles and pushing their basic information to other people who use the app. Users can choose to make their information accessible to either everyone or just select friends. Either way, the app only makes the connection if the two parties have something in common.
It’s expected to be one of the most popular apps of 2012.
http://mashable.com/2012/01/24/highlight/
FINE LINE BETWEEN TECH AND MEDIA
Digital Guru Dave Winer, pioneer of the development of weblogs, (RSS), and much more, explores how users are caught between tech and media.
Winer says, “I’ve been warning the news publishers to be careful about viewing Twitter and Facebook as if they were equivalent to the web. This would be like Kodak trusting Apple to handle its digital photography strategy. We know now how that turned out.”
“Twitter and Facebook are rich and getting richer. Either of them could easily buy a struggling but independent news organization. Then where would you be if you were dependent on them to distribute news? At some point they will come to see themselves as a media company, if they don’t already.”
The full article is worth a read.
http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/01/the-disneyfication-of-tech/
HOW THE IPAD WILL CHANGE LEARNING
There is no doubt that people are consuming more books on tablets than ever before, so it was exciting that at the Cyberlearning summit, Apple finally announced that it went live with iBooks2 – it’s launch into the textbook game.
Naked Communications very own digital and education guru Brett Rolfe says, “delivering existing textbooks on tablets isn’t a step change, but it opens the door for a new generation of content for students. Tomorrow’s texts can be richer, more interactive, more social. We can build formative assessment and multimedia content right into the text. And all of that means better learning experiences for kids.”
For children, perhaps the most exciting part is not having to carry around heavy textbooks.
http://cyberlearning.sri.com/w/index.php/Cyberlearning:Community_portal
SUPERHEROS SAVE THE WORLD FROM FAMINE
Superheroes are working harder than ever before, not just fighting fictional villains, but fighting famine.
Cnet.com reports that a new campaign is using crowd-sourcing to battle hunger in the horn of Africa. DC Entertainment - home to Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman is matching donations to Mercy Corps, Save the Children and the International Relief Project for their efforts providing relief in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. It’s the worst drought in the area in the past 60 years, and is affecting 13 million people, with 250,000 threatened by possible starvation.
DC Entertainment says it will match up to a million dollars in donations made through joinwecanbeheroes.org as well as 50% of any merchandise sold.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57364214-1/comic-book-superheroes-take-on-world-hunger/?tag=mncol;cnetRiver
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Monday, 23 January 2012
Digital Degustation Week 11 (As Published in B&T Magazine)
KINDLE FIRE, ON FIRE
One of my fondest memories growing up was visiting the library and selecting the books I would read for the week. But libraries may be a thing of the past, with more people than ever before choosing to read ebooks on tablets instead.
A report by eMarketer said the Kindle Fire is contributing to the overall monumental growth of the tablet device marketplace. According iSuppli, tablet shipments reached nearly 65 million units in 2011. By 2015, the firm anticipates that number will skyrocket to 287 million units.
At least there will be no late fees for books.
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008780
REAL TIME VOTING
If you are passionate about politics in Australia and want to make your views known about the big issues, you now can - albeit in a 21st century way.
Smh.com.au reports that Poll Watch has created a world first – a mobile phone app where politicians now face real-time polling as they tackle the big issues, with users able to cast a cyberspace vote for their preferred leaders while sending them an email with a tap of the screen.
The free app is available on the iPhone and iPad, and allows users to change their votes at any moment, creating a live worm that instantly shows leaders' support among users and how users view the big issues facing the country.
Tony Abbott is currently the preferred leader with 68% support.
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/smartphone-apps/app-for-whom-the-poll-tolls-20120116-1q365.html#ixzz1jh7I9aLC
STATUS UPDATES: AFTER YOU DIE
Just when I thought I’d seen it all, I discovered an app on Facebook that allows you to post your final message from beyond the grave.
The third-party app is called “if I die,” and allows users to record a video or text message that (as the name suggests) is only posted after you die - and only if three pre-selected ‘trustees’ from your friends list confirm your passing.
Cool or creepy?
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/app-if-i-die-lets-messages-on-facebook-when-youre-dead/story-fn84gl6o-1226245565683
NEW “VIEWABLE IMPRESSION” METRIC
Online measurement is one of the most robust of all mediums, but there is always room for improvement and adage.com has reported that that’s why the ANA, 4A’s and Interactive Advertising Bureau have partnered on a Making Measurement Make Sense Plan to create a “viewable Impression Metric.”
ComScore announced it has developed the software, calling it Validated Campaign Essentials, which measures which ads were viewed for at least one second, and which weren’t. This comes after reports that much inventory, particularly when it’s below the fold it rarely seen.
If clients start using this technology, Publishers are going to have to re-think their display inventory and where it’s placed.
http://adage.com/article/digital/wasting-money-ads-sees/232165/
WALMART CREATES REALITY TV
Walmart is so successful because they are constantly innovating. Testament to this is the fact they’re launching their own reality tv program, while other reality giants are still focused on direct mail catalogues.
Adage.com reports that the retailer is launching a "Get on the Shelf" program, inviting companies small and large to submit product ideas with supporting videos. Consumers will vote on which products they'd like to see make it to Walmart .com or their local Walmart store. The top three vote-getters will be sold on Walmart .com, and a grand prize winner will be featured on the home page for its 50 million monthly unique visitors and in select Walmart stores.
Walmart has said they will consider helping smaller businesses that win with financing or helping them find manufactures.
If successful, this could be an ongoing campaign.
http://adage.com/article/news/move-american-idol-walmart-s-reality-giant/232178/
A LOYALTY PROGRAM FOR TV
Viggle may sound like a funny name, but it’s one that may be a game-changer for the television industry. The app can be used while you’re watching tv, to offer you tangible rewards such as gift-cards.
The opportunity for in-show sampling creates a direct relationship with the audience, which allows tv to give something back to the consumer through a second screen experience.
The full article is a great read.
http://adage.com/article/digital/viggle-loyalty-program-tv-transform-television/232169/
5 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR CONTENT INTERESTING
I loved this post by Frank Marquardt, director of content strategy at The Barbarian Group, with gives practical advice on how to make content engaging.
Marquardt explains how traditional advertising worked through distraction — whether that be an interruption to our sitcom, a page between magazine articles or a banner teasing our attention at the top of a webpage but also how advertising has evolved and what is needed for your content to be engaging.
Even if you are a content guru, the full article is still worth a read.
HOW AL GORE IS USING GAMING TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
It’s said much of the time we spend online is used to fill a void we may have in our own lives – whether that means we make up for that through living in virtual worlds, playing online games or trawling through social media sites.
PSFK.com used this insight to see if gaming could motivate people to do good- by challenging consumers to leverage trends identified in their Future of Gaming report to create potential climate change solutions to issues presented by
former Vice President Al Gore and the Climate Reality Project.
Check out the entries here.
http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/al-gore-climate-change-games-video.html
A TASTY DIGITAL TREAT
Ever wanted a printer that could print three-dimensional images – such as a cupcake or chocolate?
Essential Dynamics, uses additive design technology has done just this – using the
Imagine 3D Printer. It’s just too bad you can’t eat it.
http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/3d-printer-chocolate-cupcake.html#ixzz1jaW3A4ER
TREND WATCH
Everyone has that friend in the group who spends the whole time you’re catching up over dinner texting on their phone, but their bad manners can work in your favour, with a new game designed to make the first person that reaches for their phone at the dinner table, pay the bill.
Brian Perez is the creator of “phone stacking,” a new craze that’s been a global success. Each meal is commenced with all phones being stacked in a pile, the first person that reaches for their phone has to pay the bill.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/smartphones/phone-stacking-game-to-get-friends-off-mobiles-at-meal-time/story-fn6vihic-1226247534506#ixzz1jmvzBz6d
One of my fondest memories growing up was visiting the library and selecting the books I would read for the week. But libraries may be a thing of the past, with more people than ever before choosing to read ebooks on tablets instead.
A report by eMarketer said the Kindle Fire is contributing to the overall monumental growth of the tablet device marketplace. According iSuppli, tablet shipments reached nearly 65 million units in 2011. By 2015, the firm anticipates that number will skyrocket to 287 million units.
At least there will be no late fees for books.
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008780
REAL TIME VOTING
If you are passionate about politics in Australia and want to make your views known about the big issues, you now can - albeit in a 21st century way.
Smh.com.au reports that Poll Watch has created a world first – a mobile phone app where politicians now face real-time polling as they tackle the big issues, with users able to cast a cyberspace vote for their preferred leaders while sending them an email with a tap of the screen.
The free app is available on the iPhone and iPad, and allows users to change their votes at any moment, creating a live worm that instantly shows leaders' support among users and how users view the big issues facing the country.
Tony Abbott is currently the preferred leader with 68% support.
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/smartphone-apps/app-for-whom-the-poll-tolls-20120116-1q365.html#ixzz1jh7I9aLC
STATUS UPDATES: AFTER YOU DIE
Just when I thought I’d seen it all, I discovered an app on Facebook that allows you to post your final message from beyond the grave.
The third-party app is called “if I die,” and allows users to record a video or text message that (as the name suggests) is only posted after you die - and only if three pre-selected ‘trustees’ from your friends list confirm your passing.
Cool or creepy?
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/app-if-i-die-lets-messages-on-facebook-when-youre-dead/story-fn84gl6o-1226245565683
NEW “VIEWABLE IMPRESSION” METRIC
Online measurement is one of the most robust of all mediums, but there is always room for improvement and adage.com has reported that that’s why the ANA, 4A’s and Interactive Advertising Bureau have partnered on a Making Measurement Make Sense Plan to create a “viewable Impression Metric.”
ComScore announced it has developed the software, calling it Validated Campaign Essentials, which measures which ads were viewed for at least one second, and which weren’t. This comes after reports that much inventory, particularly when it’s below the fold it rarely seen.
If clients start using this technology, Publishers are going to have to re-think their display inventory and where it’s placed.
http://adage.com/article/digital/wasting-money-ads-sees/232165/
WALMART CREATES REALITY TV
Walmart is so successful because they are constantly innovating. Testament to this is the fact they’re launching their own reality tv program, while other reality giants are still focused on direct mail catalogues.
Adage.com reports that the retailer is launching a "Get on the Shelf" program, inviting companies small and large to submit product ideas with supporting videos. Consumers will vote on which products they'd like to see make it to Walmart .com or their local Walmart store. The top three vote-getters will be sold on Walmart .com, and a grand prize winner will be featured on the home page for its 50 million monthly unique visitors and in select Walmart stores.
Walmart has said they will consider helping smaller businesses that win with financing or helping them find manufactures.
If successful, this could be an ongoing campaign.
http://adage.com/article/news/move-american-idol-walmart-s-reality-giant/232178/
A LOYALTY PROGRAM FOR TV
Viggle may sound like a funny name, but it’s one that may be a game-changer for the television industry. The app can be used while you’re watching tv, to offer you tangible rewards such as gift-cards.
The opportunity for in-show sampling creates a direct relationship with the audience, which allows tv to give something back to the consumer through a second screen experience.
The full article is a great read.
http://adage.com/article/digital/viggle-loyalty-program-tv-transform-television/232169/
5 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR CONTENT INTERESTING
I loved this post by Frank Marquardt, director of content strategy at The Barbarian Group, with gives practical advice on how to make content engaging.
Marquardt explains how traditional advertising worked through distraction — whether that be an interruption to our sitcom, a page between magazine articles or a banner teasing our attention at the top of a webpage but also how advertising has evolved and what is needed for your content to be engaging.
Even if you are a content guru, the full article is still worth a read.
HOW AL GORE IS USING GAMING TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
It’s said much of the time we spend online is used to fill a void we may have in our own lives – whether that means we make up for that through living in virtual worlds, playing online games or trawling through social media sites.
PSFK.com used this insight to see if gaming could motivate people to do good- by challenging consumers to leverage trends identified in their Future of Gaming report to create potential climate change solutions to issues presented by
former Vice President Al Gore and the Climate Reality Project.
Check out the entries here.
http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/al-gore-climate-change-games-video.html
A TASTY DIGITAL TREAT
Ever wanted a printer that could print three-dimensional images – such as a cupcake or chocolate?
Essential Dynamics, uses additive design technology has done just this – using the
Imagine 3D Printer. It’s just too bad you can’t eat it.
http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/3d-printer-chocolate-cupcake.html#ixzz1jaW3A4ER
TREND WATCH
Everyone has that friend in the group who spends the whole time you’re catching up over dinner texting on their phone, but their bad manners can work in your favour, with a new game designed to make the first person that reaches for their phone at the dinner table, pay the bill.
Brian Perez is the creator of “phone stacking,” a new craze that’s been a global success. Each meal is commenced with all phones being stacked in a pile, the first person that reaches for their phone has to pay the bill.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/smartphones/phone-stacking-game-to-get-friends-off-mobiles-at-meal-time/story-fn6vihic-1226247534506#ixzz1jmvzBz6d
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Digital Degustation Week 10 (As Published in B&T Magazine)
ENGAGING CONSUMERS BETTER
We all know that consumers are more marketing savvy than ever – and as result getting consumers engaged is becoming harder than ever before.
This article by senior vice president of Pluris Marketing, Bob Fetter for adage.com discusses why companies need to stop treating consumers’ with a one-size-fits-all approach and why consumer engagement can be tricky business.
As a nice follow on from this article…
BORING, BUT IMPORTANT
Is it just me, or does Australia have appalling customer service? And, not just in the real world, but online as well. This post by Kate Leggett talks about how the customer service process can be improved – online and offline.
Some of the topics discussed for customer service including why history records are important, why social media needs to be a formal part of business process, cross channel touch-points (starting communication in one channel and finishing it another) and much more. It’s a dry read, but important.
http://blogs.forrester.com/kate_leggett/12-01-06-forresters_top_15_trends_for_customer_service_in_2012
GAMING FOR A GOOD CAUSE
WeTopia is a new Facebook game created by Sojo Studios that allows players to create and manage their own villages and make a real-world donation for any virtual purchase to needy children around the world. For example, if you buy a tree for your village, a village in need receives a (living) tree.
12 needy partner have been selected and best of all, gamers can view their impact on communities online.
You can now game knowing your contributing the greater good.
A NEW RELIGION
Religion is described as a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects, and now Kopimi has been granted official religious status by Swedish authorities.
The latimes.com reports that in the midst of a worldwide debate about Internet piracy, the Church of Kopimism, which claims it considers CTRL+C and CTRL+V (shortcuts for copy and paste) to be sacred symbols, and that information is holy and copying is a sacrament.
The self appointed spiritual leader is philosophy student Isak Gerson, who said, “being recognised by the state of Sweden is a large step for all of Kopimi. Hopefully, this is one step toward the day when we can live out our faith without fear of persecution."
This should make for a very interesting debate around illegal file-sharing.
FACEBOOK BUSINESS CARDS
A new deal between Facebook and Moo.com will mean you can now use your Facebook profile to create business cards to use in the real world – with both partners claiming this will bridge the gap between online and offline social networking.
Moo.com was launched by entrepreneur Richard Moross in 2006, and he spoke to the guardian.co.uk about the offering "it’s clear that consumer habits of sharing business and personal information is evolving. The lines between online social networking and offline business networking are not just blurring, but vanishing,” said Moross. "He described the new hybrid offering as an "offline social business card."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/05/facebook-cards-launch
INTERACTIVE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
Interested in what new and hot in consumer electronics? Look no further. News.com.au had live coverage of the consumer electronics show held in Las Vegas.
It seems the theme of the show was all about making television more interactive – from using touch, hand gestures and speech to enhance the viewing experience.
THE FUTURE OF INTERACTIVE TV
CEO and Founder of Simulmedia Dave Morgan, a TV targeting shared his thoughts on adage.com, “TV will be adding web-like targeting, measurement, accountability and interactivity to a media channel with massive scale and uniquely-impactful sight, sound and motion advertising makes will make a very good thing only better.“
“TV's share of advertising dollars will continue to grow and the promise of personalised, on-demand TV shows, movies, games, etc. will finally be manifested on the biggest, most comfortable available screen, the TV. This could truly mean a new Golden Age for TV advertising,” Morgan said.
The full article is worth a read.
http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/tv-s-digital-age-arrive-2017/231972/
STARTUPS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON IN 2012
With so many exciting start-ups, I find it hard to pick favourites, that’s why I enjoyed reading Sarah Kessler top six she compiled for mashable.com.
A few to whet your appetite are:
1.Skillshare is an online marketplace for offline classes - with classes about everything from crocheted jewelery to how to invest your first $10,000.
2. Dwolla’s allows users make payments through Twitter, Facebook, SMS and other virtual channels by connecting their bank accounts to their Dwolla accounts.
3. Codecademy took something that scared people, learning JavaScript, and turned it into a game.
The comments on this post are almost as interesting as the article itself.
http://mashable.com/2012/01/08/6-startups-to-watch-in-2012/
Monday, 9 January 2012
Top Ten Crowdsourced Websites
Crowd-sourcing is a buzz-word at the moment, with marketing managers across the globe using it to engage consumers.
Of course, the greatest benefit of it is that it allows everyone the same power to create and be part of a brands story – helping to shape and define it.
Whether you use it for competitions, voting, judging, campaigns, feedback, content distribution, creative content or product creation, read this guide for tips and tricks first.
There are a number of websites that are already there to help you run a crowd-sourced campaign without the need to use too much of your marketing budget. My top ten are:
1. Usertesting.com
There are several cool sites that crowd source usability testing for websites – it costs start from $20 dollars for 10 responses – and could be a cost effective way to test micro-sites or similar before they go-live.
Examples are: http://www.usertesting.com/ and http://www.feedbackarmy.com/
2. Innocentive.com
There are many companies that crowd-source questions or problems an organization might want answered. There are endless ways for TCCC to use crowd sourcing in this way. One such company is: https://www.innocentive.com/about-innocentive
3. Kickstarter.com
KickStarter.com is the worlds largest funding platform for creative ideas. You have to be a US resident to submit a project you want to raise funds for, but you can contribute financially from anywhere.
4. Agentanything.com
One of the most popular crowd-sourcing websites is Agent Anything – you can create a mission or run a mission. While this site is used for errands, we could create a site and run cool competitions in a similar fashion – create challenges which we get crowds to participate in.
5. Ideabounty.com
As the name suggests, ideabouty is a place where you can submit your ideas and the best ones get paid. http://www.ideabounty.com/;jsessionid=12F0258072C82EDDCDE5DE6E6683828E.sybaris_jboss
6. Crowdflower.com
CrowdFlower's Enterprise Crowd-sourcing Platform takes large, information-heavy projects and breaks them into small tasks that are distributed to more than a million on-demand contributors world-wide. The technology aggregates the results and controls for quality. This is the simplest and most flexible way for businesses of all sizes to scale workforces and accurately complete human evaluation of business information. Examples include: eCommerce Product Categorization, Business Lead Verification, and SEO Content Creation.
7. Hunch.com
Hunch lets you share what you like, get recommendations based on your taste and connect with people similar to you.
8. Eyeka.com
Eyeka coonects brands and creators - eYeka is the global market leader in online consumer co-creation.
They leverage a community of about 200,000 creative consumers that helps companies generate creative insights, unlock innovation opportunities and drive consumer engagement at global level in a matter of weeks and within a confidential, IP protected environment.
They leverage a community of about 200,000 creative consumers that helps companies generate creative insights, unlock innovation opportunities and drive consumer engagement at global level in a matter of weeks and within a confidential, IP protected environment.
9. DoMyWork.net
Allows people to work together – either by signing up as a user or to be a member of their staff. All you need to do is submit work requests (of whatever kind) and members of staff can then decide whether or not to work on the project based on what you’ve nominated you’ll pay. Awesome!
10. Threadless
Is a community based t-shirt company that always has an ongoing call for designs. All designs submitted are open for the public to vote on. The most popular are produced and sold.
http://www.threadless.com/
7 of the best Crowdsourced Case Studies
I’ve scoured the web to find the best crowd-sourced case studies for you to enjoy.
Who: Ben & Jerry
Campaign: Do the World a Flavour
What: Fans were able to invent their own variety of the popular ice cream via a fun online “Creation Station.” Finalists won a trip to the Dominican Republic to see a sustainable fair trade cocoa farm and the winning flavor was produced as an official Ben & Jerry’s product.
The specific aim of the contest was to raise awareness for fair trade ingredients, and with around 10,000 new flavor suggestions from the U.S. alone, Ben & Jerry’s achieved that goal. We asked Sean Greenwood, “grand poobah” of public relations for Ben & Jerry’s about the “Do the World a Flavor” competition:
Success: The brand saw this as a huge success, with more than 10,000 suggestions in the US alone. More importantly, it gave the brand an opportunity to discuss globally their commitment to using all fair trade products.
URL: http://www.benjerry.com/activism/inside-the-pint/do-the-world-a-flavor/
Who: Dunkin Donuts
Campaign: “Keep it Coolatta 2: Flavour Boogaloo”
What: To promote the “mixology” potential of its Coolatta drinks, Dunkin’ Donuts asked fans to collaborate on a playlist of summery songs that would go well with fan’s favourite Coolatta flavours.
Success: The campaign netted 300,000 new Facebook fans while over 40,000 Pandora users added “The ultimate Coolatta summer music mix!” to their list of stations and spent nearly 14,000 hours listening to the station.
Year on year, Dunkin’ Donuts has seen double-digit growth throughout its frozen and iced beverage category.
URL: http://shared.studiocom.com/Awards/KIC2/index.html
Who: Designcontest.com/Starbucks
Campaign: crowds-sourcing a new logo
What: According to Starbucks, their brand had become recognizable enough that the company name was no longer a necessary design element. Their new design was met with apprehension, so Designcontest.com decided to put out a crowd-sourced competition allowing people to submit designs through their site. This was not affiliated with Starbucks - administrators of the popular crowd-sourcing site – most of whom are designers themselves - selected the first, second, and third place winners and awarded them $300, $150, and $75, respectively.
Success: of the 24,000 members on DesignContest.com, 250 applied.
URL: http://inspirationfeed.com/articles/design-articles/case-study-crowdsourcing-for-a-new-starbucks-logo/
Who: Moutain Dew
Campaign: DEWmocracy
What: Mountain Dew took three new Dew flavors to fans, asking for feedback on placing ad media buys. The move represents the latest in a series of attempts through Dew Labs to turn over the entire product development cycle and marketing process to consumers who love the brand most.
The year-long project now asks Mountain Dew lovers to guide the media-buying process after creating the products and designing the marketing campaign. Through the DEWmocracy project, Mountain Dew polled the 4,000 Dew Labs members about their favourite Web sites. Gathering that information, Mountain Dew invited the potential media partners to pitch the DEW Labs community
Success: Between 70% and 90% of the more than 4,000 members have responded throughout the process. Moutain dew sales figures have not been released yet.
URL: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/128831/
Who: Pepsi Co
Campaign: Refresh Everything Project
What: Pepsi Co traded their $20-million Super Bowl commercial for a $20-million social media campaign. Their Refresh Everything project promised a superior return on investment. Pepsi is banking on the combination of crowd-sourcing and social media to extend the life of Pepsi’s ad dollars from 30 seconds in one day to a full year of engagement.
Success: The $3-million ad spend plus the $1-million ad production cost for a 30-second Super Bowl advertisement doesn’t provide a strong enough return on investment. Whereas with Pepsi’s move, online analysis predicts 200 million impressions, more than twice what its Super Bowl buy would yield.
URL: http://www.refresheverything.com/
Who: Fiat
Campaign:
What: Fiat crowd-sourced the design of their car - a platform was created and videos of the developments were uploaded where people could comment, discuss and suggest what they likes/didn’t like.
Success: Since the project started there have been 2, 313,914 unique visitors, 15,331 comments, 10,666 idea submissions, and 17,569 regular participants.
URL: http://blog.crowdspring.com/2010/05/fiat-crowdsourcing-car-design/
Who: Edding
Campaign: Wall of Fame
What: using a giant interactive drawing board for illustrators to collaborate with other artists in real time.
Success: To date, the board has had over 40,000 drawings
URL: http://wall-of-fame.com/
ALL ABOUT INSTAGRAM
MAKE YOUR INSTAGRAM PHOTOS EVEN MORE INTERESTING!
With photo-sharing apps are on the rise, what on earth do you do with all the cool photos you’ve taken? This article on mashable.com gives 11 different ways to print your favourite photos – whether than means on posters, post-cards, canvas, stickers, magnets or a custom iPhone case. Don’t just leave them on your phone, get printing.
LEVIS CROWDSOURCED BRAND CAMPAIGN
Levi Strauss has always had cool campaigns, but their new campaign is using cutting edge technology to give it the wow factor.
Psfk.com reports that fashion brand Levi Strauss has launched a global casting effort for their upcoming print and broadcast production for the 2012 brand campaign and they are opening up the casting to everyone around the world via Instagram. They are asking people to upload their images on the photo sharing service with a special tag #iamlevis with the hope that they’ll be able to crowdsource the next talent to appear in their advertising.
http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/levis-instagram-iamlevis.html#ixzz1ivypDm4r
http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/levis-instagram-iamlevis.html#ixzz1ivypDm4r
INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK TIMELINE INTEGRATE
Instagram in now quite mainstream – with more than 15 million users who upload 6 photos a second to Facebook alone, despite the fact it’s still only available through iPhone’s
One of Instagram’s co-founders Kevin Systrom spoke to Venturebeat.com about the new photo album, which integrates with Facebook Timeline.
“It feels right to share because you’re giving your Facebook friends a great experience.”
“The reaction has been really positive from everyone in the community and we’re glad that people see this as making Instagram even more essential in their every day flow,” Systrom explained of the big-photo update.
It looks like we’ll be seeing even more retro photos soon.
http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/06/instagram-facebook-sharing/
AWESOME WAYS TO MAKE THE MOST OF INSTAGRAM
Did you know that Instagram could be integrated with maps? Can be used to decorating your desktop? Or that you can print your photos while you’re at a party? If not, there is probably a plethora of uses for Instagram you’ve probably never thought to do either. This article by Heather Kelly for Macworld.com is a great way to get the most out of your app.
http://www.macworld.com/article/160269/2011/06/instagramprojects.html
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Digital Degustation Week 10 (As Published in B&T Magazine)
100 NEW TELEVISION ‘CHANNELS’ TO LAUNCH
One has to wonder how much longer television in its traditional form will be around. Not only are people watching television on demand, they’re downloading their favourite shows from overseas months before they make it into our homes, and now YouTube has announced that it will launch approximately 100 new ‘channels’ next month.
The content will showcase original programming and create 25 hours of new video daily. YouTube has promised the content won’t just be your favourite television shows online, but will be exclusively created for it’s online audience.
The YouTube channels will feature some of the worlds most well know celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Madonna and rapper Jay-Z.
http://paidcontent.org/article/419-youtube-launches-massive-programming-push/
HOW-TO BECOME A PAID BLOGGER, TODAY
It's no secret that celebrities such as Kim Kardashian get paid to tweet about businesses and for product endorsements, now you can too.
While the $0.20* cents per click may not quite be the $10,000 a tweet Kim gets, you can still join socialoot.com and earn money by referring your friends to their business partners.
The variables on how much you get paid depend on a variety of factors including the company, how many friends or followers you have as well as your social clout.
The new service in Australia in gaining momentum quickly, but some experts fear that it could have a detrimental effect on social media brands and cause their users to flee en-masse. Others, such at myself, see it as a simple way to save up for a copy of Kim's Jimmy Choo's.
*0.20 cents is based on having a minimum of 200 Facebook friends or Twitter followers, as well as some variables.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/online-friends-unlike-ads/story-e6frfro0-1226180650953
THE VIRTUAL BABYSITTER
The trusty television has long been a substitute baby-sitter for many 0-8 year olds, but parents are now using digital media such as iPads and smart-phones as their preferred babysitter (parents, go on, admit it).
The research done by Common Sense Media said that digital has become "a regular part of the media diet," and estimates more than 42% of children under 8 have a television in their bedrooms.
The research also suggests there is a new trend emerging, coined the “app gap.”
Key facts include:
- 27% of children living in lower-income homes have access to a smart-phone compared to 57% in higher-income homes
- 2% of lower-income children have a tablet device compared to 17% of higher-income homes
- 38% of parents in lower-income homes say they don’t know what an app is, compared to 3% in higher income homes
There are conflicting reports about whether access to technology at such a young age is a benefit or a disadvantage. But one thing is for sure this Christmas, children across the globe are going to be requesting tablets instead of toys.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/10/kids-increasingly-using-digital-media-devices.html
CAN'T FIND THE PERFECT OUTFIT? YOU'VE JUST RUN OUT OF EXCUSES
UnitedStyles makes a stylish splash into social media with the Facebook connect-enabled service, which allows women to create their perfect outfit online.
The innovative tool allows easy sketching and adjusting of clothing, will allow you to share your design online and provide a customised 3D preview.
The idea is the latest from co-founder of Tudou (the equivalent of YouTube in China) March Van Der Chijs, said that UnitedStyles will allow consumers to have the experience of going to tailor, in the comfort of their own home.
The site will initially launch with only a handful of designs in which you can customise by colour and fabric, but plans to expand rapidly.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/31/unitedstyles-lets-you-play-fashion-designer/
BUSINESSES GET BEHIND TABLETS
Tech geeks have long preferred Android to iPads because of the customisation that open source allows, but it seems that enterprise level businesses are demanding their own tablets that allow them to streamline their processes.
The demand from the enterprise level market has been answered by the WI-FI- enabled Motorola ET1 tablet. Gary Starr, managing director of Motorola Solutions Australia and New Zealand, explained the benefits to ZDNet Australia.
"From a management perspective, it gives us a lot more flexibility," he said. "In the enterprise space, all of the accessories becomes critical, because it's part of their workflow. So they need to be able to swipe, scan, print."
While the first of the tablets will be focussed on retail, the company plans to roll-out similar devices for healthcare, hospitality and safety in the future.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/motorola-announces-enterprise-tablet-339323987.htm
GAMING NEWS
Beginners and seasoned gamers alike will enjoy the new game for PS3, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. It launched this week and reviewers say it plays out more like a Hollywood blockbuster than a video game. It’s expected to sell tens of millions of copies too.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20128111-1/a-third-serving-of-uncharted-territory/?tag=epicStories
COMMUNIST CHINA THREATENED BY DIGITAL MEDIA
Technology has almost done away with dial-up telephones, cashiers at supermarkets and the humble hand-written letter, but in the next decade, Chinese political leaders fear it could also contribute to the downfall of communism.
Aspiring politicians who want to run as independents in China are using social media to run their election campaigns and to garner the support they need to make it on the ballot papers in 2012. The new way of campaigning has created a level of complexity which existing leaders are unsure of how to deal with. Not only are there many more people who will be running for office, the candidates are no longer faceless people – they have the support of thousands of online supporters and will not be gagged easily.
The New York Times reported that an expert they spoke to said regulatory authorities were considering measures to curb social media sites, partly because of the potential for political networking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/world/asia/political-outsiders-turn-to-microblog-campaigns-in-china.html?ref=technology
FIND NEW FRIENDS
We all have niche interests that our friends (no matter how much they love you) don’t share. And whether it’s pigeon racing or pie-making that tickles your fancy, China based Huohua wants to help you locate like-minded people.
Tech Crunch said "Founded by Carl Wu, Huohua is trying to solve a problem of “where and with whom to have fun” by introducing a smart feature dubbed Instant Circle. Basically, it works like this: open the app to tap a keyword like ”basketball”, “hot pot” or “mountain climbing” to locate people with same interests around you, then live chat with them."
"The updates published on Huohua such as “get something to drink” and “drink beer” can be considered as the same interest and users can be thus connected. So based on where you are and what are you interested in, Huohua will be generating a location-and-interests-based instant circles just for you."
No more excuses that you couldn’t find anyone to hang out with.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/31/huohua-find-your-social-circle-instantly-with-semantic-analysis/
ARE QR CODES DEAD?
Marketers everywhere want to jump on the QR code bandwagon, but what businesses can really benefit from them and how can you use them most effectively?
This article by internet strategist B.L. Ochman for Adage explores some do’s and don’ts. It’s worth a read.
http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/qr-codes-dead-badly/230639/
IN SHORT…
NetFlix and Amaxon.com have signed a content deal with Walt Disney, which will allow Netflix to add new TV shows from the ABC Studios, Disney Channles and ABC familiy to its existing library.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/10/31/technology/tech-us-netflixdisney.html?_r=1&ref=technology
VIDEO OF THE WEEK (BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND)
*WARNING, THIS VIDEO CONTAINS NUDITY
The brand Agent Provocateur is not known for its modesty, and while I had to contain my inner Germaine Greer while watching the video, I came to the conclusion that storytelling is a fabulous way to display lingerie outside of the traditional retail catalogue.
Men, no need for thanks.
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/spot-undressed-kill-136191
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