Design & Taxes

There’s an up and comer in the crowded music-streaming world and it’s gaining steam fast. Turntable.fm gives everyone a chance to DJ in a room full of crowded people, with a slight catch: patience. Once your get your chance to shine, you’re awarded DJ points as people vote on whether your music is “awesome” or “lame”. There’s a lot to be said about this particularly social breed of music streaming service that challenges the likes of Pandora, Last.fm, HypeMachine, GrooveShark and the myriads of others in the space.

1) It’s a win for human beings. As complicated as Pandora’s music genome algorithm may be, it doesn’t know what you want to hear. Humans don’t necessarily either, but at least you can yell at them. This is real life after all.

2) It’s a potential win for marketers. I hate to see the marketing side in everything, but this is big. It’s the only music streaming service I’ve seen that you really need to LOOK at. If you want to DJ, you need to know when there’s a spot open. While every other major service struggles with intrusive and counter-intuitive ways to get people to look at ads, this thing is absolutely built for it.

3) It’s real-life social. Every major service allows you to share music with your friends on their existing Facebook profiles or on Twitter. You even have Spotify and Ping which have built social music communities from the ground up. The problem is, they aren’t re-inventing or changing anything. If you’re going to share music with your friend, don’t you want to be there when they hear it? Lesson learned: not everything is Facebook. People interact with different things differently. Passing around an iPod jack at a party is a real way to let people DJ but it’s a logistical nightmare. Turntable.fm simplifies that interaction online.

4) It’s real-time, it’s social, it’s gamified, it covers a lot of these bases that are common in the digital vernacular. But it’d be nothing without the simple idea of DJing your favorite songs to a crowded room.

W+K London and Kaiser Chiefs unveil new model for record sales
Together with the minds of W+K London and the cooperation of Universal Music UK, the Kaiser Chiefs released a new album that gives fans an incentive to sell their own version of the album

Why it Matters: Recently ‘name your own price’ has been the biggest disruption to the current album sales model in the music industry. This new model disregards that entirely and is a refreshing new option that enables fans to act as DJ’s and sales agents. The Kaiser Chiefs recorded 20 total tracks, so that fans that purchase the album have the ability to create their own version, using their 10 favorite tracks and their own custom-designed artwork. They are then incentivized to get people to buy their version of the album by receiving 1 british pound per album sale. To give their fans tools for the sale, each album has its own website which can be shared on Facebook and Twitter, and each fan is given banners to put on a blog or website and flyers to post around town. This new model relies heavily on the social activism that we’ve seen spread very successfully on Facebook and Twitter – but how many people will be willing to pay money to support their friend’s or even their band’s endeavors?

At E3, Microsoft announces live TV on Xbox 360
While the majority of live content is still undetermined, Microsoft specifically announced a partnership with UFC that brings interactivity to live matches.

Why it Matters Microsoft has attempted to position the Xbox 360 as much more than a gaming machine since it’s inception. The details of their partnership with the UFC show a very promising future for watching live entertainment, particularly sports games on the platforms. For instance, players are given the ability to vote on the outcome of a match, the score, etc. They can be ranked in a leader board to see which watchers are picking best. The ability to expand this level of interactivity to other types of content could truly enhance the TV-watching experience. Imagine being able to choose the line from a character on your favorite TV show or have a live discussion of your favorite drama during the commercial break with other Xbox users around the globe. Bringing interactivity to TV shows also means that brands don’t need to rely on a :30 spot to get a message across.

@RANDOM is a documentary which highlights the randomness of Tourette Syndrome
This unique documentary comprises of over 25 films that are arranged completely randomly to highlight the randomness

Why it Matters: This project scopes comprises of 2 years of work, with the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada sending camera crews, film-makers and flipcams to dozens of different families affected by Tourette’s. The footage shot for the film is moving and well done, but the format of the documentary is what really conveys the message and sets it apart from other film projects. Because the videos are arranged randomly, the video changes with each view – which means everyone sees the film differently. As explained on the site, “the range and complexity of the tics and the randomness of how they appear can be confusing for people unfamiliar with TS”. The @RANDOM documentary tackles that problem in a way that is sure to leave an impact with the viewer.

Intel teaches an old dog new tricks with the “Museum of Me”
Intel’s latest campaign uses data from your Facebook account to create a virtual exhibition of your own life.

Why it Matters: We’ve seen many examples of brands pulling in Facebook photos and status updates in order to create a customized video but we’ve never seen one that represents your personal data so comprehensively and so beautifully. For the “Museum of Me”, lntel manages to weave together pieces of your Facebook profile like friends, photos, status updates and ‘likes’ to create a virtual gallery of your life. It’s easy to forget that innovation is tied to more than technology, and this is a great example of applying creativity to an old technology (personalized videos using Facebook Connect) and creating something totally brand new and compelling.

Hollywood concerned over 3D ticket sales
North American box offices are seeing a trend in lower sales for 3D tickets right at the start of the summer blockbuster season.

Why it Matters: The success of 3D movies like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland created a surge in the production of 3D movies – but that surge is looking more like a bubble, waiting to be popped. The reporting of lower 3D ticket sales shows people’s savviness when it comes to spotting which movies are being offered in 3D because it really enhances the experience, vs. movies that are being offered in 3D just as a gimmick to sell higher-priced tickets. Although the data released is just an early indicator of potential 3D woes, it’s always a good strategy to make sure your 3D content actually adds something to the normal experience. Whether this translates into new ways to play a game or a new way to tell a story, it’s important that 3D is not used purely as a ‘cool visual’ or a marketing gimmick.

Facebook + Spotify = Myspace killer?
Facebook is weeks away from launching a music streaming service powered by Spotify.

Why it Matters: While Facebook has successfully blasted MySpace out of the way in terms of audience, they have yet to establish a successful music service in the way that MySpace has. This is the first we’ve heard of Facebook trying to launch a music service, and with the power of a partner like Spotify’s extensive collection of music as well Facebook’s built-in networking capabilities, it should make a big impact. As Facebook has with their gaming platform, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them partnering with other music services (like Grooveshark, Last.fm) at a later time as well. MySpace’s dominance in search results for music has long kept the site with consistent traffic despite it’s dwindling user base – if a competitor like Facebook becomes the first place people go to search for streaming music, then there’s a good chance MySpace will be out of the picture completely.

Square seeks to replace the cash register
With the launch of Square Register for the iPad, retailers have the opportunity to process credit card transactions, but also connect with customers and maintain a lot of useful transaction data.

Why it Matters: Square launched their first product to enable small businesses to swipe credit cards. With this product launch, they are looking to improve the already existing infrastructure of any retailer. The Square Register makes it easier to maintain a collection of data that can tell a story about your consumers on a very macro and micro scale. Because Square stores your payment information, it allows consumers to put a purchase on their ‘tab’, eliminating the physical transfer of money altogether. While it will take time for this technology to be implemented and the service to be widespread, there are great opportunities here when it comes to loyalty programs and CRM.

Friskie’s goes after it’s true core consumer: the cat
Friskie’s released iPad games made specifically for cats – amusing and delighting owners everywhere.

Why it Matters: This app shows just how important knowing your target market is. Cat owners everywhere now have a free toy that their cat can play with, and while it may seem like a frivolous toy, it represents a deeper understanding and concern over their target market than any of their competitors. In a way, it’s a product extension in and of itself. No matter what you’re selling – it’s smart to look at digital platforms as more than just a means of promotion and instead as a place to extend your product and invent new ones.

Are filters and recommendation engines limiting people’s overall perspective?
Both Google and Facebook have worked hard at building algorithms that tailor search & news feed information to the things you’re most likely to interact with.

Why it Matters: Web tools like Facebook, Google and Netflix are all tailoring experiences to you automatically based on your click behavior. In many cases, personal relevance is outweighing actual relevance, and as a result this is automatically filtering or limiting what you’re able to see. On Google Search for example, a result that’s been shared by a friend may jump ahead of search results that are actually more relevant to what you’re searching for. While curating results and tailoring a web experience is beneficial in most cases, it is also restrictive, limiting, and in some cases duplicitous or greedy. The problem is that companies aren’t transparent in the way they go about it and most lack the option of turning the auto-filter off.

Google & Danger Mouse break ground with music video experience
Another Google Chrome Experiment pushes the boundaries of what can be done within a browser – this time rendering an interactive 3D environment in the form of a music video.

Why it Matters: This Chrome Experiment is a great example of what the future of interactive content will be. It’s not quite a website, and not quite a video – and if anything it resembles most closely a video game. While it’s a technological win for Google Chrome (because their browser is the only one that supports this type of experience) it’s an even more interesting win for content. As digital platforms evolve, there will be new ways to interact with video content. This interactive film sets the bar for what’s next, which could be anything from a full-length movie to a :30 commercial.

Lady Gaga brings her ‘monsters’ to Farmville
In order to promote her new album, Lady Gaga partnered with Farmville to bring a Gaga-themed farm to life within the game. Instead of pigs their are unicorns, and if you farmers will receive include downloads from her new album instead of the normal virtual goods.

Why it Matters: Some could argue that Lady Gaga is one of the most savvy and effective digital marketers since Barak Obama. This morning she reached over 10,000,000 twitter followers and her first album is one of the best-selling digital albums ever. She’s clearly earned herself more marketing dollars for her new album, and it’s interesting to see that one of her team’s major promotions is on Farmville. While it’s worth questioning which brand is benefitting the most here (as Gaga’s fans will certainly follow her to Farmville if they aren’t already there), the comprehensive approach that Zynga is offering up (i.e. the ability to re-inforce branding, get fans engaged, and provide samples of her tracks) is perhaps the most appealing and impressive benefit of the partnership.

Open-source industrialists create tools for all
Manufacturing in the USA is making a come back, and it’s led by engineers that are empowering the masses by creating simple DIY kits that allow anyone to master personal manufacturing.

Why it Matters: Innovations like 3D Printers and DIY electronic kits like Littlebits and Arduino are creating a new type of consumer: one that hacks together the things they need rather than buy it. The website Instructables.com is already one example of open-source manufacturing, and as DIY kits evolve and 3D printing becomes more prevalent, the ability to build everyday products won’t require nearly as much expertise or cost. Along with cracking the code on common products, we should expect a surge in consumer-generated products. There’s a vast opportunity out there for a brand to take advantage of this space, either by helping facilitate the discussion, engineering their own DIY kits, or even publishing directions for creating or modifying their products.

This week’s examination of the intersection between technology, creativity and advertising.

If a week’s wait is too long, you can experience the venn in real-time by following me on twitter.

Ben & Jerry’s allows Twitter users to donate left-over characters
In an effort to raise awareness for World Fair Trade Day, Ben & Jerry’s developed a tool that appends links to Fair Trade content using the left-over characters in your tweets.

Why it Matters: While people use Twitter for a multitude of reasons, one of it’s most publicized uses is to spread the word about a cause. It’s not easy to amass a large following in a quick period of time, so rather than create one central Twitter handle for World Fair Trade Day, Ben & Jerry’s enabled Twitter users everywhere to help spread their message. The technology-based approach uses an algorithm to determine what message it can append to the end of a tweet based on how many characters are left over. Like any charity this campaign relies on the generosity of people, but the innovative concept alone has already been able to garner a lot of buzz.

Instagram, Hipstamatic effects now easily replicated with the release of Aviary’s ‘effects’ API
Aviary’s photo effects API levels the playing field for camera-app developers and makes it easy to integrate photo effects functionality for non-camera apps.

Why it Matters: Developers will now easily be able to add a photo-editing layer that replicate the common filters seen in apps like Hipstamatic and Instagram. In case all the images in your social feed aren’t sepia-toned or over-exposed enough, it’s likely you’ll be seeing a lot more in the future. While the API release could result in a lot of Instagram clones, there’s a bigger, more important story here: non-camera apps can now give it’s users the ability to add effects to their photos easily, so you might see interesting uses by gaming, entertainment, or utility apps.

Google runs first test of NFC Foursquare check-ins
Google’s annual developer conference will feature NFC markers that allow people to check-in to Foursquare by tapping in at a physical location.

Why it Matters: Although NFC has been slow to gain adoption in smartphones in the US, the technology is already available in the newest Android devices and is rumored to be integrated into the next iPhone. NFC ‘tap-ins’ have been a feature on Foursquare’s app since it’s March release, but there haven’t been any publicly available NFC markers for people to check-in to. In order for NFC tap-ins to scale to a wider audience, more people need NFC on their smartphones, and every foursquare location needs a NFC marker to tap-in to. The fact that an Android developers conference is the first public use of the system shows that there are still many technological and logistical hurdles before it’s use could become mainstream.

Here’s the latest installment of your weekly venn, a summary of the week’s activity in tech & advertising creativity.  If a week’s wait is too long, you can experience the venn in real-time by following me on twitter.

Pepsi’s vending machines learn how to share
http://mashable.com/2011/04/27/pepsi-vending-machine/
Pepsi unveiled a brand new vending machine design that pushes the bottle-dispensing solution into the next decade with a new design, a touchscreen interface, and enhanced functionality.

Why it Matters: The surge in use of touch surfaces and social media had already spurred Coke to re-invent their vending machine, and now Pepsi is following suit.  While the interface is sleek, the most interesting element of the vending machine is it’s ability to ‘gift’ a beverage to a friend, via a redeemable short code sent via SMS or e-mail.  While beverages are one of few products sold in vending machines, it would be interesting to see more and more brands leverage this ‘share’ functionality.  Instead of the vending machine’s touch screen interface, a brand could use a mobile app that would allow you to scan the bar code off a product and give it to a friend.

Hangover 2 runs a SCVNGR challenge at 7-Eleven
http://mashable.com/2011/05/02/hangover-part-2-scvngr/
The upcoming sequel to Hangover is employing a SCVNGR challenge so people can interact with it’s co-marketing integrations at 7-Eleven.

Why it Matters: The SCVNGR app makes it easy for brands to create a mobile scavenger hunt that involves more than just checking in to locations or finding a hidden clue.  The Hangover Part II’s integration prompts users to earn points & rewards by taking pictures of them with their friends, answering trivia on The Hangover, and taking snapshot of certain 7-Eleven merchandise.  While SCVNGR challenges are nothing new, this is a great example of a turnkey solution that helps bolster a brand’s in-store & co-marketing integrations.

General Mills taps Groupon to sample it’s products
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20110421/NEWS07/110429962/general-mills-groupon-debut-deal-for-food-giant
Groupon offered a package of General Mill’s goods at a deep discount, signally the debut of CPG offer for it’s deal-based business.

Why it Matters: Groupon has been reluctant to offer deals on CPG items and this is truly the first of it’s kind.  In this case, General Mills sold 12 grocery items (a mixed bag from their portfolio of brands) for the price of $20, something they estimated at 50% off the normal price.  In addition to the goods, it offered a $15 coupon book.  While Groupon is mainly a platform for driving purchase for unknown and local entities, it’s been used here as a device for sampling and awareness.  With one of the largest mailing lists in the US, it certainly makes sense and I wouldn’t be surprised if more brands hop on board.

Here’s the latest installment of your weekly venn, a summary of the week’s activity in tech & advertising creativity.  If a week’s wait is too long, you can experience the venn in real-time by following me on twitter.

Storify launches beta product that makes it simple to create stories from your social feed

http://mashable.com/2011/04/25/storify-public-beta/

Storify makes it easy to create a comprehensive story around a particular event using a simple interface and first-hand information from your social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr.

Why it Matters: Companies like the NY Times and Washington Post are already using Storify to cover popular or current events, as it adds a unique blend of first-hand & real-time conversations to the mix of usual reporting.  While it’s used mostly by people in the journalism profession at the moment, it’s ease of use means it will likely expand it to a more mainstream user base.  In addition, the tool can be leveraged by a brand to easily sum up an event that it hosted or sponsored, adding to a brands’ social media assets.

AMEX Nextpedition gives you a new travel option

http://www.psfk.com/2011/04/nextpedition-american-express-unveils-mystery-trips-for-your-travel-sign.html

Looking to tap into a social-savvy consumer base, AMEX Travel unveiled a new type of itinerary plan: one that keeps your plans a surprise.

Why it Matters: Using a brief survery, AMEX Travel’s Nextpedition classifies you into a certain type of traveler.  Based on that information, as well as a brief phone call, a Nextpedition specialist will draw up a travel itinerary that suits you – and then keep the information from you until a couple days before the trip.  While the concept does make things more adventurous, spontaneous (and likely more expensive) it lacks a bit in the mysteriousness factor since you find out a couple days in advance.  To make it more true to Amazing Race, it would be interesting to see them hold out on giving the next step of their itinerary until after someone completes there last one – that way each step would truly be a surprise.  While this is a smart tactic for a travel company, the format could also be leveraged by brands as a platform for a contest or sweepstakes.

PlaceIQ advertising uses location data to pinpoint target demographic

http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/25/placeiq-location-aware-advertising/

While location-aware advertising on mobile phones has been around for a while, PlaceIQ’s plan for conquering mobile data could be exactly what’s needed to make the location-aware ads more effective.

Why it Matters: PlaceIQ is able to target groups of people classified by an analysis on their real-time location and the data they have about it.  While others can do this (Google, 4INFO, etc) it’s rare that they’re able to infer what these people are doing.  PlaceIQ is looking to take targeting to that next step by using specific location data from various sources and pairing it with the time of day to make assumptions about the consumer and what they’re up to at the current time.  Using PlaceIQ, a local cafe could hypothetically target people while they are at work using it’s data set for ‘workers’ at during the afternoon time period and ensure that those people are within walking distance of the cafe.  The overall impact would be significant, as knowing the context a user is in would make an ad more meaningful and relevant ad to that person.

Here’s the latest installment of your weekly venn, a summary of the week’s activity in tech & advertising creativity.  If a week’s wait is too long, you can experience the venn in real-time by following me on twitter.

Reebok uses the concept of peer pressure to help runners stay on track

http://creativity-online.com/work/reebok-the-promise-keeper/22923

Reebok developed The Promise Keeper, an online and mobile experience that allows you to schedule your runs and keep track of your progress with the help of your friends.

Why it Matters: Reebook’s Promise Keeper is more than just a normal running app since its premise is built around your social network.  Aside from helping you scheduling your runs, it automatically posts your scheduled runs to Facebook and Twitter so your friends can keep tabs on your performance.  In case being judged by your peers for not going for the run you promised isn’t enough motivation for you, Reebok has also signed a couple of well-known athletes and trainers to inspire you to go on your run as well.  The insight here is that a promise made to your friends means more than a promise made to yourself, and it rings true.  This is a great example of a brand creating a useful and innovative app that makes sense for its consumer base.

Groupon buys the location-based app Whrrl

http://gigaom.com/2011/04/18/groupon-buys-pelago-in-bid-to-expand-user-discovery/

The group-deal giant purchased Pelago, the parent company of Whrrl, which was one of Foursquare’s biggest competitors.

Why it Matters: This is a major sign that Groupon is looking to innovate and expand its current mobile offerings and tailor a more personalized experience to its user base.  Whrrl’s major benefit (versus Foursquare) is its recommendation engine, and ability to group people into ‘societies’ around shared interests based on their check-in information.  This type of technology could merge with Groupon’s relationship with sellers on a local level to tailor deals to certain groups of people with shared interests.  It could also act in a similar way to Amazon’s recommendation engine, basing the deals upon your previous activity/check-ins.  There’s a lot of options for Groupon out there, and this is the first major step for them to innovate beyond their current e-mail based platform.

iPhone 4 soon to take the crown as Flickr’s most used camera

http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/17/iphone-4-camera/

Flickr’s recent release of data shows that the iPhone 4 will soon be the most widely used device on its site, and that its replacing point-and-shoots as it makes its climb to the top.

Why it Matters: The rise of photo-sharing, photo-editing and purely photo-taking apps for iPhones is affecting the photography industry as a whole.  While Flickr’s data isn’t representative of every single camera out there, it does show a good cross-section of the cameras that people use to share photos.  It’s no surprise that the data would skew towards the iPhone, as it comes built in with the functionality of easily uploading to Flickr.  This shows that the trend of these photo-sharing apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic is spurring a wider surge in sharing photos from iPhones overall.  It also helps validate that photos taken from these apps are respectable & shared often in a purely photography-based community.

Welcome to the debut issue of your weekly venn, a summary of the week’s activity in tech & marketing creativity.  I usually choose 3 of the most interesting finds I’ve spotted in the past week to post about.  Up to this point, the venn has lived as an e-mail newsletter, but starting today I’ll be publishing it on my blog every Tuesday.  The goal is to be a source of easily digestible analysis and inspiration in the advertising community.

If a week’s wait is too long, you can experience the venn in real-time by following me on twitter.

Seattle’s Best Coffee holds a live comedy marathon

http://www.morningstar.com/newsview-1/–BW–20110411005501_univ.xml.shtml

Seattle’s Best is partnering with comedy troupe Second City to provide non-stop comedy for 24 hours straight.  The experience will live on Facebook, where people will be interacting with Second City who will then create custom improv over the course of the day.

Why it Matters: Seattle’s Best is centering it’s marketing efforts for the launch of its new “Level” brand coffee around this real-time marketing execution and putting high expectations on Second City to put out engaging content for 24 hours straight.  Second City’s custom improv videos echo a previous real-time marketing success, the Old Spice Youtube response videos, but differs in a key way: it’s hosted on Facebook.  Seattle Best’s Facebook app seems to be the hub for all their interaction and content, but it will be interesting to see if hosting everything on Facebook helps or hurts them in gaining viral hits.  Forcing people to “like” a brand can be a great way to gain “likes” for a page, but can also backfire and stunt viral growth.

Kiip offers real-life rewards for achievements in mobile games

http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/10/kiip-is-an-entirely-new-mobile-ad-model-real-life-rewards-for-in-game-achievements/

In-game advertising has been around for a while now, but Kiip (pronounced ‘keep’) is the first ad service to monetize in-game achievements and offer real-life rewards.

Why it Matters: While there are mobile ad networks (like Zynga) that allow brands to build custom rewards for in-game accomplishments, these rewards are always relegated to living on-screen, either as a badge, branded object, or in-game currency in the app.  With Kiip’s new ad network, they’re capturing the moment of achievement by offering people real rewards – and offering brands the ability to get free samples to those achievers.  It’s launching with a number of brands on board, and offers certain rewards (6 bags of popchips, sephora lipstick, etc) to people based on the game they are playing.  While there will always be space for advertising within games that offer virtual rewards and on-screen real estate, it’s great to see a turnkey solution for brands to offer samples and connect it with a consumers sense of accomplishment.

Facebook app tags your friends clothes

http://creativity-online.com/work/flair-flair-fashion-tag/22863

Flair Magazine (UK) has created a Facebook app that makes it easy to ask your friends for style advice.

Why it Matters: Tagging isn’t just for faces anymore.  Flair Mag’s app allows you to tag clothes that your friends are wearing in a Facebook photo, and automatically generate a question on their wall asking them for more information on the desired article of clothing.  Responses are populated within the Facebook app and also have a chance to be featured within the magazine.  The brilliance of the campaign is that it uses really common functionality that the majority of consumers are used to using, and transforms it into something that’s different and useful to them.