CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES
What’s Hot...?
u Facebook is set to debut location- based status updates, which will open up the potential for brands to use geographical marketing. The likes of McDonald’s are onboard in offering rewards to consumers visiting their outlets.
u Digital consumer service Groupon has acquired European competitor CityDeal, as part of its European expansion plans. The service, which allows users within one city to join forces to receive special offers from a range of companies, is hoping to replicate its US success in the region.
u YouTube celebrated its fifth anniversary by passing the two billion views-a-day mark. In a blog post, the video giant declared it now reaches “nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major US television networks combined.”
What’s Not...?
u Google is to stop selling its NexusOne Android phone through its own online store, and instead focus on retail outlets. The US company has admitted that its plan to sell the product through an online store had only achieved ‘niche’ status.
u Declining social network platform Bebo saw its post-tax profits fall 143% year-on- year for the 12 months leading up to May 2009. Owner AOL has been looking to offload the service since April.
u Palm, the world’s sixth largest smartphone maker, has seen its share value tumble. The manufacturer has struggled to cope with an increasingly competitive market to see its Palm Pre and Palm Pixi products sell $150m, around half initial forecasts. Combined sales were 18 times lower than those of the iPhone.
58 M&M Q2 2010 Quick download FOURSQUARE.
What is it? It’s a real-time social network service that acts as a city guide,
friend finder and a game. Over 675,000 users share info on where they are, make local recommendations and receive prizes for doing ‘interesting’ things.
Who’s it for? It’s currently only available in North America with significant followings in San Francisco and New York. But the company celebrated its first anniversary at SXSWi and saw membership grow by over 10% during the event.
Why should you care? Experiential Customer Reward Programs. It promises to be the first social media platform to enter the market with a decent business model. It has a deal to supply Starbucks with data relating to its consumers’ activities and whereabouts each day. The Financial Times is also offering free subscriptions through the service.
What’s the potential? It could help fuel the drive towards addressability. Starbucks is hoping to tailor promotions, or even monitor how its target consumers respond to outside stimuli like the weather. It’s also agreed tie-ups with Microsoft’s Bing. The power of creating a ‘conditional reflex’ with users should not be underestimated. ○
iPad Evolution M&M explores who’s launched what on the iPad, tracking how quickly progress is being made on the platform
BRAND APP Gap “1969 Jeans” WHAT IT DOES?
A central collage acts as the main hub to a host of content. Users can access social media updates, video content and order items online. It uses the brand’s latest product range as the centre point for the rest of its content. ANY GOOD? With many of the early iPad apps, it isn’t reinventing the wheel but the
way it manages to pull together several different content strands is impressive. Gap is a brand that has suffered a series of ups and downs of late but this easy-to- use app has helped propel it back into consumer consciousness. LESSONS LEARNT?
Sometimes just being the first is enough to give a brand the boost it needs. If you can be one of the first to do something well then it can be just what a company requires to cement its market position. ○
www.mandmglobal.com
Your guide for understanding the new technologies that everyone’s talking about 3D TV.
What is it? After HD officially made the mainstream, 3DTV is the next step
in broadcasting. The heavyweight TV manufacturers are being joined by major broadcasters in reviving a format that seemed destined to take its multi- coloured specs with it to the scrapheap.
Who’s it for? Just about everyone. Films and sport fans are expected to be the biggest benefactors. A summer of major events should provide the perfect platform to propel 3DTV into the mainstream.
Why should you care? The FIFA World Cup is presenting broadcasters with the opportunity to showcase the potential offerings. FIFA has teamed up with Sony to ensure at least one game will be recorded in 3D each day. These will then be distributed through a network of cinemas and some broadcasters will pioneer home screenings. Meanwhile, Panasonic is airing major matches from Tennis’ Roland Garros across retailers in Europe.
What’s the potential? For advertisers, TV has always presented an easy entry point to the consumer and 3DTV presents the best chance of revamping a traditional model and help maintain its relevance in the modern world. ○
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