STARBUCKS OF THE FUTURE
Starbucks recently turned 40 & in line with a mid-life crisis have recently unveiled their new look ‘Starbucks of the future’ in Seattle. The new iteration is no longer a layout/design clone, which is instantly recognisable wherever you go instead it looks nothing like a Starbucks & more like an independent café/bar. They will be serving regional wine & beer as well as coffee and the interior will be location dependent with furnishings & fittings sourced from the local area. It’s an interesting direction & a big gamble but clearly in line with cultural trends & desires, only time will tell if it’s a success…
MALARITY
Faris has this week called attention once again to the under-use of humour in communications when difficult or culturally sensitive subjects need to be talked about. He says “The aforementioned effects of expectancy violation are even more potent when applied to a category that tends to avoid humor, and sometimes it's important to use entertainment value to enter a topic into the cultural conversation.”
The example shown is for ‘Malarity’, a new campaign tying together humour, celebrities & fighting Malaria in Africa. Check it out.
JAY-Z DECODED
The launch of ‘Decoded‘, a memoir by Jay-Z, will be preceded by a campaign created by Droga NYC, it speaks to some of the key trends of the moment such as – game mechanics, transmedia storytelling & utilizing search/location to tell a story. Well worth a look.
STARBUCKS DIGITAL NETWORK
This week Starbucks launched their Digital Network. Previously you’ve able to check out & buy CD’s & books in store while you wait for your coffee & now you can also check out specifically curated content available via free Starbucks Wifi on your mobile device, laptop or iPad. Starbucks figures the network will give you one more reason to choose them over a competing coffee shop. After all, why would you go to the guy next door when you can come to Starbucks and get a free download from iTunes? As for the content providers—who are dishing up their wares for free to Starbucks—it’s a great way to get in front of an audience who, if you can judge from sales of Starbucks-selected CDs, books, and DVDs, are eager to discover the next great thing on the culture front.
THE VALUE OF EXISTING CUSTOMERS VERSUS NEW ACQUISITION (INFOGRAPHIC)
We’re all aware of CRM & cultivating advocates but many times, new customer acquisition creeps up the list of priorities & our existing purchasers are all but forgotten. Flowtown has put together a great infographic which should serve to remind us that we can’t forget our current customers because they remain our chief asset, it’s 6-7 times more expensive to acquire new customers versus increasing the purchase rate of existing etc etc…
CRACKING THE FACEBOOK NEWSFEED CODE….& HOW TO MANIPULATE IT
How does the social media giant decide who and what to put in your feed? Tom Weber conducts a one-month experiment to break the algorithm, discovering 10 of Facebook's biggest secrets & how to cheat the system to ensure your updates appear in other peoples newsfeeds more often…For marketers it is of critical importance to understand how content propagates through the platform
10 TOP TIPS FOR LEVERAGING YOUTUBE AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM
While so many individuals have found their 15 minutes of fame thanks to YouTube, fewer are the brands that have garnered acclaim with savvy use of the channel. If you haven’t already utilised this fantastic opportunity, check out AdAge’s top 10 tips on how to get started, optimise & get the best out of it.
MINI GETAWAY STOCKHOLM
MINI Getaway Stockholm is a new iPhone app that enables you to play a reality game in the Swedish capital and gives you a chance to one a new MINI Countryman. It’s engaging due to its simplicity & the massive prize opportunity. I’ve a feeling this one will be quite successful…
WEEKLY DIGITAL/COMMS HIGHLIGHTS
WEEKLY DIGITAL/COMMS HIGHLIGHTS
I am a voracious reader. I learned to skim-read a long time ago so I can get through a lot of information in a short amount of time which is good for me but can be tiresome for others because, being Gen Y, I also like to share a lot with the assumption that everyone wants to hear what I have to say!
So rather than consistently spamming everyones inbox every time I come across something of interest, I set up a little initiative in the form of a weekly 'highlights package' containing all the cool, new, exciting digital/communications stuff I come across.
It's something I send out internally at Naked to keep everyone up to date & also something I've decided to put on my blog from now on.
Enjoy...
The latest iteration of the ongoing Beck's Music Inspired Art initiative launched this week with the Beck's Shape Your Music Experience. Throughout the duration of the project, Beck's will give away up to 25 million song downloads through Play.com. Limited edition bottles and cans will carry unique codes redeemable for downloads on the site.
To celebrate the initiative, Beck's commissioned artist Jamie Brown and Inventory Studio to create enormous live art installations in Birmingham and London.
A really simple, rich and interactive experience that launches straight from a banner and allows the viewer to listen to, watch and manipulate the band's latest video in full screen as well as get information on the album & links to download/buy.
It’s easy to see why most people think Facebook and Twitter are essentially the same. The core of their experiences focuses around profiles, relationships and a newsfeed, but if you dig a bit deeper, you realize that people use each platform for different purposes. Mashable’s Ben Parr has written a great article about the differences between a social network and an information network.
Even though the members of New York City rock band Atomic Tom supposedly had their instruments stolen, they loved the music so much they couldn’t stop rocking out. They took four iPhones onto the subway and delivered a rousing performance of their song “Take Me Out”….talk about improvisation!
The world’s first virtual art museum dedicated to digital art & innovation. The brain-child of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The vision is to fill the museum with custom pieces of interactive art from around the world, it went live last week with it’s first piece called “Valley” by American artist Tom Oursler.
A beautiful mini-animation about ‘The Worlds Strongest Girl’, which then leads into an interactive experience, created by Leo Burnett. The site enables girls to write and share stories that bring this idea to life, as girls are able to design custom badges with their thoughts about what makes the “World’s Strongest Girl.” Badges also “speak” the ideas aloud and can be shared with friends. The idea is to help web-savvy girls foster stronger relationships with the Girl Scouts and further engage and inform the Girl Scout community.
A just released infographic shows that Android handsets are tearing up the market outpacing the overhyped and all over the media Apple by a ratio of 4:1.
Google has secretly developed a robot car that can drive itself without any human intervention. And to prove that this is no fantasy, the company even sent out a few of its cars on roads across California, which were able to safely negotiate the traffic and turns, without any accidents.
Advertisers such as Mountain Dew & JC Penny in the US have rolled out the new ‘like’ plug in within their banner ads. Viewers of the ads can ‘like’ it with one click & their action is recorded within Facebook on their newsfeeds/wall. Friends who have liked the ad will also be visible to you. It’s a logical step!
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