Smamot (Is that like a Marmot?)

It's Friday, and it wouldn't be the same if you didn't get to waste some time playing with a cool website.

Smamot.com, from LG, is one such website. It allows you to discover one of natures greatest mysteries in a very engaging way, by following an expedition route. OK, so the load time is a little long, but it's worth it for the time and effort they have put into the content... there's even mysterious clues for you to decipher along the way and a widget you can post to your blog to save animals from extinction (LG will donate to the WWF if people install it).

I really like the site, and the fact that they aren't overtly pushing the products (It's for one of their monitor ranges)... I actually had to look pretty hard to find full product specs and while this might be annoying for the hardcore data fans out there I think it suits the average consumer well, delivering a great experience.

What Faces are Hot Right Now?

It's been around almost as long as Facebook, but the Inside Facebook website is a great resource for getting to know what's happening on the platform. Particularly the article I have linked to which shows some figures on which Facebook pages are growing the fastest.

Victoria's Secret in particular has pretty impressive growth at 58%, but many others do as well... including the "I hate one word text messages!" page with over 188,000 new fans...

Hare and the Tortoise

There's a good article over on Marketing Vox with a POV on how the economic downturn is partly contributing to Social Media getting a 'break' and slowly overtaking traditional advertising.

Have a read, you may not learn a whole lot but it's nice to know people agree with what we in digital keep saying!

Display Ad's Build Brands?

New research from Comscore and the Online Publishers Association was released last week which states that consumers exposed to display advertising online are 50% more engaged with brands, and also more likely to purchase more online.

Titled "The Silent Click: Building Brands Online" it aims to look further than just whether an ad is clicked on to cover areas such as searches conducted by users and consumer spending and helps support the theory that it's not all about Click Through Rates when it comes to measuring effectiveness and ROI.

The official press release is here with a link to the full piece and lots of useful information.

Audio Micro-blogcasts?

There's a new service that I have just come across from RnSK Softronics Worldvoice which takes a little bit of Twitter, a little bit of podcast and the growing iPhone application phenomenon to create a service that allows users to leave 30 second audio clips on their own 'station' for others to listen to and follow.

It's early days yet, but I can see the potential... who wants to type a message when you can just record one?

There's more information on it over at TUAW.

Emotional Content Sells

A little creative example for you from Pantene in Thailand of how brands can create emotional and engaging stories in their marketing activity.

Yes it's a bit cheesy, yes it's a predictable and yes, it is way too long to fit into a TV spot (4 minutes) but it is a great example of something that has gone Viral, with over 1m views on Youtube alone.

Note the minimal branding, if I didn't know from the title it was from Pantene I wouldn't have had a clue until the end... now can someone pass me a tissue...

Real Time Sentiment Without Twitter

Twitter, Twitter, Twitter... we keep on hearing how it's the biggest social tool out there (and it quite possibly is). We also keep hearing about how marketeers can and should harness it to gain insights into trends how it operates as a real time barometer of what the world is thinking... but is it the only tool you can search for what is happening right now?

I have just come across a tool that has recently launched, Collecta. Launched in June this site is a beta search engine that monitors news sites, blogs, social media and image sites and allows you to search for whatever your heart desires, returning real time results.

Avoiding the temptation to type in 'Michael Jackson' I did a couple of other random searches for slightly less media prominent topics, namely 'Heatwave'... the results come back in real time, and if you leave it running it will just keep on updating whenever something new appears.

So far I have seen such gems as 'far too many male feet on show in the office today' and 'why isn't anyone talking about the heatwave' (er...)...

While my search might not be that relevant to the world of marketing I'm sure it could be used to get an idea of sentiment toward brands and other topics in real time, so try it out!

Delicious Insights

My colleague Fiona and I have talked about Delicious and what a great tool it is for eons now as it's a simple and easy to use tool for saving your favourites and commenting on them, as well as sharing things you like with others and discovering something new.

It has also come in handy in more than one of my roles as a way of getting information out to clients and the team... but what about using it to gain consumer insight?

Carla Sarett has published a very useful article over on the Interactive Insights Group website which looks at some of the ways to "mine" delicious for information on consumer habits and opinion.

I highly recommend having a read, you never know when it might come in useful alongside all that quantitative data you have!

iMedia First - Twitter In Ad's!

The social revolution keeps on trucking and Eyeblaster have just come along with another media first... online advertising that can incorporate live Twitter Feeds and information.

There is an example for VW running at the moment which asks you to enter your Twitter name... it then analyses your recent Tweets and personalises the ad, delivering the model of VW that they recommended, just for you (apparently I'm a GTi kind of guy).

Obviously you wouldn't go and buy a car suggested to you based solely on your Twitter history, but it does prove an engaging ad and brings something personal to the consumer.

I would love to see this kind of thing used for smaller purchases, maybe linked with some sort of direct purchase, trial offer or data capture? Or even for displaying product sentiment and WOM on Twitter live in the creative so the same ad is never served twice... so many possibilities...

The New Reality

As the guys over at Banner Blog say in this article if it wasn't for all the hype about Twitter then maybe we would all be talking about Augmented Reality.

If we put the old Virtual Reality machines in the arcades of the 90's to one side the first time I experienced this new breed of technology was a couple of years ago in London, when o2 were using postcards with a symbol on them to give away prizes for the opening of the o2 arena.

The premise was simple, hold the card up to the camera on their o2 car and on the screen, in my hand, appeared a 3D representation of what I had won.

As with a lot of digital innovation you have to see and experience it to get a true idea, which is why the Banner Blog article is so great, it has 35 examples of how it has been used in recent times, most from a marketing perspective... so go and check them out and start imagining the opportunities for brand promotions!

Thanks to Adam Sloan for the link.

MySpace in Decline

Just spotted this article in the LA Times.

It highlights how MySpace have been declining in the face of competition (namely Facebook) and some of the reasons why, the result of which is 420 job cuts (nearly a third of their staff).

It's an interesting read, and highlights that even the 'big boys' of digital need to keep innovating and bringing value to their audience if they are to continue their success.

The Social Graph in Action

I highly recommend checking this site promoting the new "Prototype" game from Activision.

In essence it is a trailer for the game... but by harnessing the power of the Social Graph and Facebook Connect they have managed to make things a little more personal.

It takes a little while to load so bear with it.

To Many Things To Do? Post-It

Sometimes I just see things that make me smile and this is one such thing...

Apparently this video took some time to create (and several thousand post-it notes) but well worth the effort I say.

If only it was 3M that came up with it and not a college student... it's a great example of what is a relatively dull product portrayed in an engaging way!

ZipCar On The Move More Than Ever

Constantly the struggle for marketers in the digital space is to bring consumers value.

This is an example from ZipCar who have created an application with some great benefits after their audience insight established a high iPhone penetration (25% of their audience can't live without it).

Essentially the application uses GPS to find the closest ZipCar, allow you to book it, unlock it remotely and even to beep the horn when you are nearby to help locate it.

It's a great idea and one which could genuinely make their consumers life easier through digital.

The Full Article is over on Springwise

Why Not Let Consumers Make Your Ad's?

Here is an interesting one for you... it's not quite User Generated content in it's true form, it is not quite video content created by a brand, and it's not quite an advertising buy... It is in fact the Youtube Sponsorship from Carl's Jr in the US.

There is a full article on the Adweek site but in essence what they have done is commission some of the stars of Youtube to create commercials for the brand in their own unique styles.

The content is hosted on the stars own pages, as well as in a dedicated Carl's Jr area and the creators are being paid according to how many views they get, thus providing incentive to make it good.

Click on the image above to here to check out some of the ad's so far.

3D iMedia

Great piece of creative just spotted from Orange. A 3D iMedia execution that pushes the boundaries what you can do... and it's engaging!

Check it out here

What Happens If You Cross Twitter and Google Maps?

Another one from Vodafone in the UK... no they aren't paying me (but I'm open to suggestion)... This time they have done something cool with Twitter and Google Maps, combining data from the two to show where people are going on holidays to promote the fact that they have done away with roaming charges in Europe.

This is an interesting way to interpret free data that exists in the public domain and use it as content for a brand. It would be interesting to see what other people come up with considering the sheer volume of user generated content on the web.

Go Uniqlo!

Uniqlo have done it again with their new website in the US... I encourage you to head on over to check it out.

The intro to the site itself is pretty engaging showcasing the brand values and their products set to some pretty funky music. Click on a product and you can move it about and play with it, transitioning from video to stills. Use the menu bar to scroll up and down through it all.... just play with it and you will see what I mean, it really is quite engaging!

Be More Social!

Struggling to make friends online? Don't know your Twitter from your MySpace, let alone how to use them effectively?

I just spotted a great guide for beginners to Social Networking from Steve Woodruff. It's all about building Opportunity Networks and is worth a read even if you do know what you are doing, and the best part is that it's free!

You can find it by clicking the image above or following this link.

Makes the Music Come Alive

Another Friday example of engaging content, this time from Spanish singer Labaut and in the form of an interactive music video which gives the user the ability to control the content.

Have a play, it is incredibly hypnotic... and the song is rather good too. (takes a while to load, but bear with it)

It has one website of the month from the "Favourite Website Awards" site and is a great example of how simple ideas can have a big impact!

Tiger Woods Promo Site

It's Friday, we all need some fun, so here is the new Tiger Woods site from EA.

Not only is it fun, but it's a good example of engaging content... go on, have a play!

Bing!

No, it's not Chandler from Friends, but another new search offering (or should I say 'Decision Engine'), this time from Microsoft, and something everyone has been talking about lately...

On face value Bing looks a lot like Google, but when you run a search it has some interesting features which are worth noting.

Where it differs is that it also brings you features like 'Instant Answers' and 'Best Match' (the most likely result for your query).

If, for example, you searched for 'Proctor & Gamble' the top result it delivers is the P&G homepage, along with deep link results straight to areas like Careers, Products, Contact, Company etc. without you having to go through the site to find the information yourself.

It also gives listings of similar queries to help you refine results and go straight to reviews, shopping, quotes (if it is a person) etc. Particularly useful if you are searching for purchases, travel, restaurants etc.

The last feature, in a not exhaustive list, is the ability to view previews of videos and content from sites without having to click through. A good idea, but it could present some backlash from site owners who want people to visit them not view their content elsewhere.

All in all it is a slick experience and after running a few random searches the results seem solid enough but I just can't help asking myself, is it enough to make me stop using Google?

If you have the time, go and check out the Webinar over on iStreamplanet

New Ad Formats Buried?

Digg, the popular sharing site for all things web, have just launched a new advertising functionality.

Advertisers can buy a placement on the front page that will appear as if it is one of the featured pages, making it a more integrated option than simply placing standard or rich media.

In principle this is a great idea, but as with many great innovations there is a risk... in this case for the advertiser. Not only can people 'digg' the post but they will also be given the ability to 'bury' it.

This is effectively giving users the control to say whether a brand's ads are good or bad, and could potentially generate negative WOM if a placement isn't well receieved. Is that something that advertisers will really want to pay for?

There is an article over at Download Squad with some user reactions if you want to know a little more...

Yoostar in the Movies

I love new bits of technology and this is something that, as a wannabe actor when I was younger, I would have killed for... Yoostar is a product hitting the stores soon that is essentially making 'movie karaoke' a reality.

Ever wanted to be in your favourite film?... looks like that could soon be a reality as you can use the supplied software, camera and greenscreen to re-create or re-imagine some of the classics.

Yes, I know that this isn't a digital marketing example, but they have included a number of clever social functionalities that allow you to upload your creations, put them in your network profiles and share them with your friends... so in that respect I think it fits into innovation.

Besides, what's to say that brands couldn't provide content to consumers of Yoostar and allow them to star in their own commercials some day?

The Future of Facebook

Head on over to Inside Facebook for a glimpse of Facebook's future, straight from the mouth of founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Highlights are:

Talk about how they are going to focus on harnessing the Social Graph of users, that is the things and friends that we are connected to.

How they are tackling security concerns.

The introduction of payment services.

Their relationship with Microsoft.

What has surprised them in terms of popularity.

Mr Zuckerberg's personal goals for the company.

It really is interesting and well worth a read.

There's Nothing Like The Smell of Fresh Tweet...

I first spotted this a couple of months back now, but thought I should probably share it, slightly belatedly.

BakerTweet is a new device installed at the Albion Cafe in London which allows the bakery to instantly Tweet to their followers when bread, croissants, those little cheese puffs that everyone loves, whatever they happen to be baking really, comes out of the oven and hits the shelves.

You can then make your excuses, leave that important meeting, and head down knowing that you can get what you want fresh from the oven.

Genius us of Twitter to drive sales in my opinion!

Easy Access To Mobile Apps?

Mobile Applications... Creative agencies love them, forward thinking owners of smart phones love them, brand marketers think they should be doing them because everyone is talking about them, and it has been the 'year of mobile' for about 5 years now... but the fact is that mobile applications, while very cool, have their limitations.

The main ones being the cost to build them, audience penetration and getting people to notice them in the sea of other options.

The first of these, at least, seems to have been addressed to some extent by Mobile Roadie. Mobile roadie offer a 'cheap' and fast alternative to building applications for the iPhone, allowing a host of features to be added out of the box; including music streaming, fan walls, distribution of photo and video content and much more. All for $399 set up and a low monthly fee.

OK, so it is aimed at bands, not brands, but it is a great idea and i'm curious to know what would happen if someone offered it to companies to promote their products?

Thanks to Dan Calladine for highlighting it!

Social Network Goes Offline?

The original social networks were those that resided in the 'real' world.

Then along came digital and all of a sudden those networks grew and took over the online space.

Now things seem to have come full circle. Hub Culture are an invitation only business network set up to facilitate the exchange of ideas and knowledge in business. Where they differ though, is that they are offering their members physical locations in which to meet, work and share. They have just opened a permanent location in London's Carnaby Street and have others in New York, Ibiza, Amsterdam and springing up all around the globe.

It's an interesting take, and I am curious to see how bringing this extra value to their member base will impact the business moving forward... I'm a member now, so it must be a good idea!

Location, Location, Location...

I have just spotted an interesting article from Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh at Revolution Magazine.

Vodafone in the UK are launching location based advertising on their map services later this year. We all know the potential for more location based promotion, but this is one of the first examples of it that I have seen actually coming to fruition.

The basic premise behind it is that if you use a map application on your phone it will show you 'points of interest', i.e. advertising, overlayed on the map. This could include restaurants, shops, almost anything thats in the local area.

In principle I think this is a great idea for driving footfall, but as the service is going to be opt-in for phone users I am struggling to see why they would accept the advertising if they don't have to (and when there doesn't appear to be any great value to them).

Also, completely un-related to the article itself, it is interesting to see that o2 are serving ads on a page with a story about Vodafone... I wonder if that's luck or clever targeting?

Innovative Use of Youtube

A few months back Skittles in the US launched their new .com site which pulled information from sources all over the web (Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc.) rather than hosting it all in one place.

Now american firm Boone Oakley have done something similar in their innovative use of YouTube. Rather than have a website of their own the Ad agency have redirected their URL to a Youtube Video.

This video, in turn, makes use of the 'annotations' video functionality to link to other video's covering their background, news, client work etc.

Taking heed of what makes good video content it is funny, engaging and tells a story... It is also very informative and has generated a great deal of publicity for them. Most of all it would appear that it was more cost effective than building a website from scratch, as Youtube is free to all.

Free Phorm Web Experience

Phorm have just launched their "Webwise Discover" beta version.

The idea behind it is twofold. For the user it monitors the surfing habits, sites and content you visit and engage with etc. to build a profile of what you like. It will then bring you more content from around the web that fits with your profile... negating the need to search for content (or so they say).

The second part to it is that they have opened it up to web developers, bringing sites the opportunity to serve visitors the most relevant content to them, based on their Webwise profile.

General public feedback seems to be positive thusfar, and I can see big potential for it if it's implemented properly on websites, particularly brand sites where there is an array of content and product.

It is reported about in more depth on brandrepublic or you can visit Phorm's site to find out more.

TV Drives Online

Interesting article over on Teqtonic highlighting the fact that TV does in fact drive online traffic, particularly if you optimise the content (i.e. include URL's on all communications).

The cost per visit stated is also reasonable at around 60pence per visit, meaning that it can rival the best online display campaigns for efficiency.

Keep an eye on the Teqtonic page, as they are apparently going to talk more about it over their next few posts.

It's Tweeting Huge!

Wanted to share an article over on Tech Crunch about the growth of Twitter.

Showing just how fast the Internet moves if innovations are adopted by the masses Twitter has grown from 10million monthly unique visitors back in February to 32million unique visitors... that makes it bigger than sites like Linkedin and Digg!

Stop H*Commerce

A great example of a company bringing value to it's users has emerged this week from McAfee, the computer security company.

They are running a series of web documentaries to educate people in the perils of identity theft online titled "H*Commerce. The Business of Hacking You".

The reason I feel that this is a great campaign is that rather than using traditional advertising methods to push their products they have identified the emotional reasons for consumers to choose them, fear of having their 'life' stolen.

By educating viewers online about hacking and security issues they are, by proxy, passing on the message that they are an authority in the area and their products can be trusted for prevention.

The site itself offers plenty of video content, a resource centre on the subject, and even space for users to share their stories of Identity Theft.

To drive traffic it is being backed up with a pretty extensive ad campaign to increase awareness including display and social media and out of home poster campaigns in the US. They even have a mobile element linking the offline and online space through direct linking from posters to content.

A full article is here on Media Post News and you can visit the site at http://www.stophcommerce.com/

Targeting Mobile

Yahoo are partnering with 3rd parties to offer targetted mobile display advertising.

They plan on marrying the vast array of data they have about users of their services with ad serving technologies to bring relevant ad's to consumers at the right time.

In the online space this has been happening for a while, as developments in behavioural targeting become more widespread, but it's interesting to see that it is being applied to mobile.

The initial results seem positive too, apparently offering double the ROI of traditional banners with click through rates up to 3 times higher.

Read the full article on Marketing Vox

Social Space, Not Influencing Purchase?

Knowledge Networks have just released their latest piece of research on Social Networks.

It has some interesting findings, showing that only a small percentage of the US based sample turn to the social space for advice on what to buy (less than 5% of them on average!)

Well worth a read, and builds the case that brands MUST look to develop conversation with users rather than directly advertising to them if they want to succeed in the social space.

Thanks to Kate Sirkin for Yamm'ing it!

Let's Go Raving!

We are always talking about WOM marketing...
Digital, after all, is becoming more and more about participation and there is a plethora of evidence (and logic) to suggest that we are influenced more by what friends and other 'average people' like us say more than that shiny commercial or advertising campaign.

So increasingly, when looking to make a purchase, we are turning to the web for advice and reviews.

The problem though is often the time and effort required to trawl through multiple sites all over cyberspace just to get and form an opinion. So, what if all the reviews were in one place?

Raveable.com have just launched their new site which collates more than 35million reviews for 55,000 US hotels from travel sites, bespoke hotel sites and even blogs. It then organises them for you based on quality of site, reputation of the authors and a number of other factors to present them back in a single place... it even offers a summary of the positive and negative comments so you can make a decision faster.

There are plenty of price comparison sites out there, so I suppose you could view this as an evolution to review comparison, but I view it as much more. What if other industries, like FMCG, could create a hub that brings together all that is being said about them on the web and allow consumers access in a single place?

Yes there is the inherent danger that some comments may be negative but honesty is, after all, the best policy and it could help them to develop products and further conversation with the audience.

Rich Online

e-Marketer have just released this article which has some interesting insights into how the more affluent are turning online in the economic downturn to make their purchases.

Further justification for marketing budgets to tip further in favour of digital?

Ya-WOO

Yahoo are launching their new search strategy, called 'WOO' or Web Of Objects. They summise that "people don't really want to search, they want to get things done".

In the above video Head of Yahoo Search Strategy Prabhakar Raghavan explains the web and mobile strategy to us while being questioned by Kara Swisher from Boomtown. She asks some good questions but I have to admit i'm still a little unclear as to exactly what it's going to look like.

It seems to be that the engine will interpret the query into relevant information that the user "really wants" and deliver results based on that.

To use the stated example, if someone searches for 'Star Trek' how does it interpret whether they are looking for cinema times or in depth information?... Well, it seems the results will return a blend of interpretations of the query. (er... doesn't the universal search page on Google do that already?)

I'm going to reserve judgement until it's up and running, but the big question is will the consumer be willing to switch and will it increase their market share?

Napster, Woken Up From Their Slumber?

In the US Napster have just announced that they are re-launching their music service (again).

They shot to fame all those years ago for their P2P offering which allowed the public to share music files, and which went a long way to beginning the online piracy issues that all the lawyers and technology in Christendom still can't seem to get their heads around.

In 2007 they decided to re-launch, this time legally, offering music subscriptions for streaming and download of the library. One of the problems though was the fact that you really only rented the music and if you cancelled the subscription it was goodbye tunes.

Now, in 2009, they are going to offer a $5 model which allows unlimited streaming and 5 downloads per month which are DRM free... Opinion seems divided in the Blogoshpere.

My feeling it it's an interesting idea, but I can't see it working... you can buy 5 tracks on iTunes for the same money, without a requirement to subscribe, and i'm pretty sure you can stream as much music as you like for free on the likes of Spotify and Last.fm...

I'm not one to shoot it down before they try, but it seems they are going to need to offer consumers a lot more to capture their attention... although i'm sure there's some who will think it's a good deal.

The full press release and a positive take can be found on EndGadget

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun... And Wash Their Hair!

Here's a good example of Hair experts Sunsilk engaging their audience.

They have created a community in India and the Philippines for girls to spend time, covering all manner of girly things from Hair Care (obviously) to Beauty and Fashion Tips, Expert Advice, Celebrity Blogs, Forums and Video Content.

Admittedly i'm probably not in their target audience but I have to say the site is engaging, well put together and a good example of facilitating conversation amongst their audience and allowing them to generate social currency among their peers...

Google Killer? (Again)

The last couple of days I have seen lots and lots of buzz around Wolfram Alpha. It's been in the Times and Metro here in the UK to name just two and I have seen it all over the web.

It is a new search engine that is meant to "make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone", spanning all education levels from doctors to laymen and make searching for information "completely free-form".

The science behind it IS very impressive and it sounds like a fantastic idea, answering your question on the screen and not with a list of results.

If you ask a very straightforward question then it does work. I asked it how many people are in the world and it gave me an answer straight away of 6.53 billion.

If i asked it a more freeform question though, something that I randomly thought would be interesting to know, it began to struggle.

For example I asked it:
"How old is the Queen?"
"How many legs does a spider have?"
"How many iPhones has Apple sold?"
"What is the average rainfall in London?"

All of which met with "Wolfram Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input".

OK, so it's the Alpha version and i'm hardly expecting it to be perfect, but I thought the questions were pretty straight forward and I like to think I gave them more structure than the average person might do when they are asking questions. It just simply wasn't up to the challenge...

We do need more ways to get answers than a list of links and it's good to see alternatives emerging, I just can't help thinking that innovations in visual search (Searchme) are going to come into popularity faster with the masses...

I am guessing Wolfram will get better, as I said it is a great idea and they have certainly put in the man hours (20 years?!)... for now though I am going to stick with Google...

No 5 Is Alive

The new Chanel No. 5 website is a great example of extending TV campaigns into the online space.

Feeling a bit like a film site it captures the essence of the brand and the cinematic way that Chanel portrays itself in it's campaigns.

The experience is slick and there's a whole host of video content to go through, all in multiple languages.

While it may not be groundbreaking on the technical front, and doesn't include all the widgets and sharing functions available to humanity, it does provide an immersive experience for the user and I am sure all the information their target audience needs...

You can visit the site by clicking here or on the above screen grab.

Refined Search From Google

Google are always coming up with new ideas and ways to improve their search engine dominance.

Here they have done it again, showing us how to refine results with their new search options... I'm a particular fan of their Wonderwheel graphical representations. Being able to refine your results by related topics and tracking down exactly what you want... genius I tell you...

click the above to watch the video...

Online Retailers Turn To Social Media

It seems it's not just bricks and mortar retailers that are struggling with the economic downturn. While they're worried about people turning to online retailers for their purchases online retailers are re-evaluating their marketing efforts and turning to social media.

New research from Forrester in the US indicates that e-tailers are cutting back, and this means finding new ways of marketing to consumers.

Social media could be the new channel they are looking for, if they can engage the audience in a relevant manner.

Brands have been clambering to enter the social space for some time now, in order to deepen their relationships with the consumer, so it seems only logical that those already living in the online space make the move...

The immediate concern, as far as I see it, is they are going to have to carefully consider how they do this. The Social space is just that, social, and it has to be questioned what value an online store can bring to my network beyond the standard 'sell! sell! sell!' message.

See the full article here

Honda Page Domination

This is a fantastic example of a page takeover on Video site Vimeo by Honda. Similar in concept to Samsungs LED Sheep it goes one step further, immersing the user through domination of the whole page.

Best appreciated in it's original setting...

Facebook Just Keeps Growing

The folks over at O'Reilly Radar have pulled together some very useful figures on Active Facebook users by country.

Handy if you keep getting asked just how important it is in different markets!

Find the full article and handy SlideShare presentation here...

Consoles To Become A Thing Of The Past?

OK, so it's not likely that consoles are going to be relegated to the pages of history any time soon, but for the gaming inclined amongst you there is a new service on the horizon that has the potential to make waves.

In their words "OnLive is a revolutionary, on demand video game platform delivering the latest and most advanced games instantly, on any TV via a sleek, inexpensive MicroConsole, or on almost any PC or Mac."

It launches later this year and will feature games from the likes of Ubisoft and EA, as well as offering multiplayer and social elements like co-op play and sharing.

Interactive Outdoor?

Check out this video on Youtube to see how McDonalds are using their digital hoarding in Piccadilly Circus to encourage consumers to interact, and have their photo taken with the brand.

Not sure how many locals you would get to act like an idiot for the sake of a branded picture...
Then again there's always the trip home after that post office pint...

Have You Done it?

Ever thought to yourself "I wish everyone knew where I have been and what I have done"... No?...

What about having that conversation down the pub about all the things you absolutely must do before you turn 30, or 40, or 50, or 60, or die...

I have just found Diddit, a social network of sorts where you can tick off and comment on the things you have done from endless lists from travel to food to... well, just about anything really... and if you don't want to be a sheep you can create your own lists of things to do for others.

It's quite engaging and within moments I found myself looking places up to make sure I did everything I should while I was there. Thanks to Facebook Connect I didn't even have to register either (the web is getting smaller I tell you!)

It will be interesting to see how this develops. If brands can begin to utilise the lists, or create their own list of experiences for consumers, it could prove to be an engaging way of enhancing the, er, experiences their consumers have...

Thanks to Fiona Cloke for tipping me off.

Conversion Heaven

I've been using this site for a while now, but when a colleague came to me earlier today asking how on earth to convert from one file type to another I thought it was about time to share...

Zamzar is a great free tool (although you may want to subscribe to speed things up) which allows you to convert pretty much anything to anything... unless you are trying to turn a word document into an MP3 that is...

Just upload the source file, select the end file type and hey presto, a short time later, you get an e-mail with a link to the finished article... Very handy for those moments of incompatability!

Display Driving Search

New research from i-Prospect shows that Display advertising is driving just as many searches as clicks.

Interesting in times when as a rule CTR's are decreasing for most display formats.

"The key message from this study is that online display advertising is far from dead" says Robert Murray, iProspect CEO, and I couldn't agree more. Far too often display advertising is overlooked as a branding tool which can drive search, and more consideration needs to be taken before discounting it in favour of more "engaging" online marketing.

Check out the full article on Marketing Vox

Location Based Value

It's great to see brands starting to get in on the whole iPhone location based opportunity.

7-Eleven in Sweden have created this app that allows iPhone users to receive a coupon for free coffee and ice-cream... A good example of not just showing where your store is, but getting people through the door!

The full article can be found over at Springwise