SoHotRightNow!

The Temper Trap 'Down River' with Mumford & Son's Live [AUDIO]

2010-08-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

I wish I was there :(

Facebook Plan to include "Check-ins" through a "Places" tab

2010-05-12T02:11:00.000-07:00

As TechCrunch and Mobile Marketing Watch report, it seems Facebook is planning to incorporate a geolocation "Check-in" functionality by including a "Places" tab to the Facebook menu.

It's been identified through inspecting the Javascript on the touch.facebook.com version of the site. It's been developed using HTML5 and has been optimized for phones with touchscreens like the iPhone and Android phones.

Visiting the touch-screen optimized version of Facebook causes the site to hang for an extended period of time, indicating that code being called isn’t working properly. Digging deeper with debug mode enabled reveals that the site is attempting to populate something called the “places_tab.” Since this feature (presumably tied to Facebook’s geolocation functionality) isn’t yet enabled, the error is thrown out. Mobile Marketing Watch

It's thought that once the Javascript loads, your location is recognised and you'll be taken to the Places tab and presented with a list of venues around you. From here you can click a button to check-in. Apparently, it will not only record your latitude and longitude, but also your altitude, heading, and speed. The benefit of this (if true) will mean that it may help curb cheating of "Check-ins" that has been a problem for other location services like Foursquare.

At this stage the service is still in speculation, but it makes sense that Facebook would be considering this move to compete with the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla.

TechCrunch also stated that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been in talks with Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley. Could this mean a partnership is on the cards or will they stay head-to-head?

What do you think?

Old Spice Odor Blocker is SoHotRightNow! [VIDEO]

2010-07-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

If this isn't SoHotRightNow! then I don't know what is.

Advertising at its best.

Extreme Free-Running Gymnastics [video]

2010-05-19T01:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this not the usual post, but it's certainly SoHotRightNow!

Gymnast Damien Walters pushes free-running to the limit, tumbling and flipping off buildings and cars with seeming ease.

Check it out!

Visa Turns Your iPhone Into A Credit Card

2010-05-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

Visa announced a new product today called, In2Pay. In2Pay (developed by DeviceFidelity) is basically a 'contactless payment system' for the iPhone which allows you to use the phone as a credit card.

The payment method uses a modifies microSD card with a near-field communications (NFC) chip inside. Because the iPhone doesn't yet feature a microSD slot, the card has to unfortunately sit in a case that powers the chip to make payments. In2Pay would simply work by holding your iPhone up to a compatible reader and making a transaction.

The basic idea is good but it makes me wonder about the security of ensuring someone has actually paid for the item or made the transaction. Imagine you could just walk into a shop pretend to scan something in action of purchasing it and proceed to walk out. Meanwhile the shopkeeper would be left questioning what just happened? I guess to solve this there would need to be some sort of magnetic strip or attached to raise an alarm if an item was stolen. Regardless, if Visa have backed the idea, I'm sure they have thought long and hard about the pros and cons and how to overcome instances like this.

The other side to this is that despite In2Pay aiming to free you from carrying a wallet and allowing you do everything with your phone is that:

Is it more convenient than a wallet if in order to use the service it requires carrying a case for the microSD? The video below seems pretty convincing.
Assuming that In2Pay would be connected directly to a Visa card, would there be an opportunity to connect it to your bank (direct debit) or your phone bill?

If bank, fine.
If phone bill, how will this affect mobile carrier's ability to pay for the goods in advance? Will this be an opportunity for the Telco to charge the consumer credit card fees to purchases?
When would the supplier of goods receive their funds?

Overall I think it's a fantastic idea and I'd certainly use it. It looks very simple to use too. Check out the video below.

And I agree with Wired with the thought that soon, almost all payments will be made using mobile phones, even the ones that involve paying your friend back that dollar he owes you.

But, one thing to always be mindful of - just don’t lose that phone!

Water Pistol - WaterAid Cannes Young Lions Ad Contest 2010

2010-05-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

Copywriter, Gavin Chimes from M&C Saatchi / Mark Sydney created this intriguing ad called "Water Pistol" for WaterAid as part of the Cannes Young Lions Ad Contest 2010.

Check it out and show your support by sharing or rating it!

Follow Gavin Chimes on Twitter.
Subscribe to his YouTube channel.

How the iPad will turn TV viewing social

2010-05-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've always been told by internet marketing gurus that "content is king" and it seems many companies out there are starting to broaden the accessibility of content on demand.

Telstra are creating IPTV partnerships with LG and Samsung so customers can stream BigPond movies for free. They've also launched the T-Box: a set-top box that links into the BigPond content network and most recently, the T-Hub, which also aims to drive content (like Social Networking, News, Weather, Music etc.) through a fixed line home phone touch-screen interface.
Verizon have also been pushing their FiOS TV, delivering TV and movie content through fast fiber-optic cable.
iiNet are soon to be on the content bandwagon when they launch FetchTV, which also delivers TV and movies through an internet connection.
Sony's PlayTV is another 'game changer' because PSP users can now watch, pause and record high-definition digital TV. It also offers an easy to use programme guide and the ability to record live TV while watching other channels and manage your recordings with the interactive video library. Play PS3 games and record TV shows at the same time, plus if you're around a wireless connection you can watch TV on the go.

The other key player in this is of course, Apple. The release of the iPad has spawned a new category within the mobile device industry and the content opportunities have and will continue to follow.

With all this talk about TV content, check out Comcast's new Xfinity Remote. The iPad app lets you peruse the programming guide, operate your cable box, schedule DVR recordings, and even invite friends running to app to watch live shows with you (virtually, of course). Better still, you can actually search On Demand options using the onscreen keyboard, a feature that isn’t available to us subscribers using our traditional remotes.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts shows off the Xfinity Remote prototype at the Cable Show 2010.

What do you think will be the next evolution in driving TV content or content in general?

Swipely: Would You Share What You Purchase?

2010-05-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

So when you buy stuff quite often you'd probably tell your friends about it: whether it's good, bad and what they think of the product or service. Well, how bout sharing your purchases through a social network to achieve the same reaction?

Enter Swipely. Swipely is a service that aims to make your purchases more social. But rather than focus on the money, they focus on the transactions themselves. Although similar to Blippy, another 'social purchasing service' (is that what you call it?), founder Angus Davis believes the key idea behind Swipely is to “add value to every swipe”. What he means by this is that with every swipe of a credit card, Swipely wants to make that information more useful to both you and your friends. It’s not about how much you’re spending (Swipely doesn’t show that), but rather, where you’re spending your money and what you’re buying.

And rather than automatically posting each of these transactions, by default, you choose what you want to post. You can choose if you want to post just purchases made at restaurants, for example. When you do so, the hope is that it sparks up a conversation about the transaction. For certain items, Swipely can easily populate what you bought thanks to a large database of menus and store catalogs. For other things, you can simply leave a comment below a transaction, just as you see below items on services like Facebook. And yes, your contacts will be able to “like” anything you buy.

Swipely from Swipely on Vimeo.

I can see this service working in close connection to Foursquare and other location based services, where you'll be able to publish your purchases through an app, if you choose for it not to be linked to your credit card.

What do you think? Would you be happy to use a service like this and publish to your social network what you're purchasing? Would the choice of what you publish be useful? Would you be sceptical about security and credit card fraud - especially after what happened with Blippy recently?

Read more: TechCrunch

"Worldlenns" iPhone app: Augmented Reality Social Integration

2010-05-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

"WorldLenns" is a new iPhone app developed by the unique startup, QderoPateo. If you've never heard of QderoPateo before, they are interesting company specializing in their own brand of augmented reality known as “Articulated Naturality”.

Today the company announced its first mobile app known as “WorldLenns”, which is an augmented reality app for the iPhone 3GS that incorporates “SpaceTagging,” a concept pioneered by QderoPateo to allow users to “touch and tag the real world.”

It's been dubbed as the “first augmented reality fan social interaction tool", which allows users to take a picture, upload it, and even leave a virtual note for other users to see - it’s a social-based augmented reality experience that integrates digital information with the real world.

How does it work?

A user opens up the app, signs in and is presented with several “channels” to choose from. These channels include things like “tag your moment”, “tag your deal” and “tag something tasty”. The user chooses what category they’d like to tag, and the app goes into camera-mode to allow the user to start tagging the physical world around them. The user can then tag real-world objects and locations which is then available for other users to stumble upon and contribute to.

Mobile Marketing Watch calls it "Foursquare on steroids". The mobile marketing opportunities are beyond Foursquare's reach. My thoughts are that the next level of an app like this will be an aggregator of all social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare etc. so the user can select what information they would like to see and can interact in their own way. For example, you might eventually be able to hold up your camera phone and visualise people's Facebook status or their latest Tweet. Then you'll have options like, become their friend on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and request their contact details. Sounds freaky, I know, and this will obviously unlock a whole bunch of privacy issues, but the technology is there and it's only a matter of time before it happens.

My other thought about taking this technology to the next level is for advertisers and gamers (see previous post), whereby companies will be able sponsor locations and/or monuments such as the Sydney Opera House. Imagine Coca-Cola wrapping the Sydney Opera House in advertising that's only visible to those using Augmented Reality? Imagine if XBox could transform what the Sydney Opera House looks like into a Castle as a destination to earn points for WarCraft? The possibilities are endless!

Remember the 3D shark in Back to the Future??

WorldLenns is now available on the iPhone and you can get it here or from iTunes.

Reference: Mobile Marketing Watch

Celebrity Doppleganger Week Becomes A Hit, Followed By Urban Dictionary Names

2010-02-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

As posted on AllFacebook.com, celebrity Doppelganger’s were all the rage over the past week on Facebook. It was just as big as the Facebook Bra Colour campaign that happened back in early Jan. With a large number of Facebook users changing their profile photos to images of their celebrity look-a-likes, Facebook users appeared to start a new trend: weekly viral games. As such, users attempted to spark a new trend last week: Facebook Urban Dictionary week. While not everybody participated in the game, a large number of people flocked to the Urban Dictionary website to find out what their name meant.

What makes the Urban Dictionary viral campaign exceptionally interesting is that Urban Dictionary had nothing to do with it, yet they’re enjoying the love from the community and the spike in traffic. According to Urlesque.com who got in touch the founders of Urban Dictionary, the viral campaign came as a complete surprise to them.

“Many thanks to whoever started it! We've been working hard the past few days to make the site perform well, now that so many people are visiting. It will be interesting to see what happens next!”

Interesting to see how such a simple little idea can turn viral without even planning on it. Seeing that these ideas drive huge levels of traffic to websites/fan pages, I wonder at what extent does it have the strength to convert sales. Although I couldn't find the stats myself, it would be interesting to find out whether they had an increase in sales, sign-ups and fans.

Google Wave: A Clever Example Of What's Possible

2009-11-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

Pulp Wave Fiction

Good Wave Hunting

To see the original post about Google Wave click here.

O2 launches Giffgaff - a new SIM only mobile network

2009-09-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

The new network, named Giffgaff, has positioned itself as a ‘people-powered’ mobile network, using online recommendation activity and product innovation to reward customers with money off their mobile bills.

Similarly to Virgin Mobile, Woolworths, DoDo and TPG here in Australia, Giffgaff will work off the back of O2’s network but will not highlight the O2 brand.

Giffgaff, which is an olde worlde word that means ‘mutual giving’, will operate on a low cost base and offers fixed rate SIM only tarrifs and a range of online tools to allow members to suggest answers to each other’s questions in online user groups. To join, customers need to simply purchase a SIM card at an initial top-up fee of 10 pounds.

Members will then be rewarded for things like referring Giffgaff to a friend, creating user-generated marketing, or voting on business decisions. The more that members get involved, the more money they will get off top ups.

The basic idea behind this new network is to keep telecommunications as simple as possible while adding a social element into the mix to generate interest and to promote the new offering.

Here’s Giffgaff’s explanation as to why consumers should give them a go:
• One simple tariff for voice, text and data.
• We’re online only, which saves us money, which means we can offer you brilliant prices.
• Your calls become cheaper the more you get involved.
• There's no long-term contracts and you can use any existing ‘unlocked’ handset.
• The option to donate your rebate to a charity or cause you care about.
• Play a role in deciding what services we offer.

Giffgaff launches before Christmas 2009 with the pricing model and other unannounced features and benefits to be revealed. Customers can’t preregister at this time, but can leave their email address to receive updates.

Interesting idea and certainly one to watch.

Brand Republic.
Marketing Magazine.
Mobile Industry Review.

Indian Farmer's Control Water Pumps With Their Mobile Phone

2009-09-02T03:39:00.000-07:00

This is a classic example of how Indian Mobile Operator, Tata Teleservices are using innovative mobile technology to help people in rural areas.

Using a wireless automation system called Nano Ganesh, farmers are able to monitor and switch on irrigation pumps remotely.

Farmers would usually walk kilometres to water their crops, but due to India's erratic power supply there's often no electricity available to power the irrigation pumps. Now, farmers can simply dial a code from any phone to a wireless receiver attached to the pump's starter, which then tells the farmer if there's electricity available and if gives them a choice to turn the pump on or off.

The service is currently being trialled and costs $56 (US) for the system, plus mobile phone costs.

Website: www.nanoganesh.com

Nokia to Launch Mobile Bank Accounts in 2010

2009-09-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

It's been confirmed that Nokia will enter the mobile banking market in 2010, after they recently purchased a stake in the mobile payments company Obopay. The launch of Nokia Money will allow users to pay for products, pay bills, top-up SIM cards using their mobile phone. It will also allow customers to send money to their mates just by using the person's phone number.

In amongst their plans, Nokia will aim to build a network of Nokia Money agents, or Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) to be more flexible with their customer base.

Although Obopay already exists in a WAP format (see the iPhone demo below), Nokia predict that mobile payments will be the next big thing in the financial services industry.

Nokia could bring banking access to hundreds of millions of people, both urban and rural, who are undeserved by existing payment means, especially in emerging economies.

As Mary McDowell, Nokia executive, said:

"In many countries, mobile phone ownership significantly exceeds bank account usage, suggesting that many mobile phone users have very limited or no access to basic financial services. With more than 4 billion mobile phone users and only 1.6 billion bank accounts, global demand for access to financial services presents a strong opportunity to combine mobile devices with simple but powerful financial services such as Nokia Money."

The service will be available across different operator networks and on virtually any mobile phone, rolling out in Germany in September, before launching in specific markets in 2010.

What are the other benefits to consumers and opportunities for Telcos?

This could significantly increase the use of mobile devices in general.
Potentially break the age barrier of under 18y.o. Pre-Paid customers who don't own a credit card, to recharge their service on the run.
Safety or convenience - send someone in need, money for extra credit, or to catch a cab late at night, or even in case you just need an extra $10 to buy that thing in the shop window.
Gift - even though its still more exciting to get money from your Grandma when its tucked away in your birthday card, Grandma could instead get all tech savvy and send you money via her mobile phone. Wow, what a treat!

I'm sure there are many other benefits and opportunities, so if you think of any, please leave a comment.

Cheers,
Greg

Read the original article by Dan Leahul from Brand Republic 28 August 2009.

Nearest Tube Augmented Reality App for iPhone 3GS from acrossair

2009-07-06T07:34:00.001-07:00

This is a good example of how augmented reality is becoming more of a reality than something you'd oly see on "Beyond 200" (or is it called Beyond Tomorow now?).

Holding the iPhone flat, it uses its GPS and internal compass to direct users to the nearest London tube with a series of coloured arrows, giving the approximate distance and relative Underground line.

Where the app really shines is when the handset is held up in front of the user, as it layers the lines on-top of the image being shown through the camera, acting as an interactive window, or 'augmented reality'.

Findit by eBay

2009-07-06T07:15:00.001-07:00

Ever seen something you'd want to buy but you're not near a computer? Well, a new web service created by eBay allows users to take a picture of a product with their mobile phone, post it to Findit, and Findit (eBay) will send you a text message with a product match. But thats not all. Watch the vid.

Get Ready For Google Wave

2009-05-31T05:24:00.000-07:00

What is it?

Google Wave is the latest product by Google that is based on a new model for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year.

What is a wave?

Think of it as a cross between email, shared documents and social networking - all in one user-friendly interface.

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

What are the benefits?
My favourite features are:

Adding people at any point in conversations (similar to CC'ing contacts in email but it allows responses to be sent and received in real-time).
Publishing "waves" or conversations directly to a blog using the "Bloggy" feature. It's as simple as adding "Bloggy" to your conversation, which then notifies everyone that it will be published.

So? This tool could leverage your online business by showing your interactions with customers if they have been published onto your blog or website.

Language barriers are eliminated because if you're having a conversation with someone with a different language, Google Wave automatically translates what you're typing into their language - and this is all in real-time!

So? We can now talk to anyone in the world, seamlessly.

Public API, which means developers will be allowed to contribute their own ideas and to integrate the code for their own use.

So? Google Wave could be used within businesses along-side or perhaps instead of an Intranet. It would at least ease the load on internal servers and perhaps even increase efficiency within the organisation.

Here's a preview [its just a short 1hr 20min video :0) of just some of the aspects of this new tool.

Hyatt Leverages Mobile Marketing

2009-05-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is behind a new mobile website that makes the hospitality business a little easier to navigate for hotel-seekers.

Thanks to the new mobile presence, powered by mobile web platform provider Usablenet, guests can now locate, book, or cancel hotel reservations on any Internet-enabled mobile device.

According to the official announcement from the hotel giant, Hyatt guests can now visit the mobile site to take advantage of the following features and more:

Find and book a hotel by location
Hyatt special offers
View or cancel a reservation
Web check in and check out
Access Hyatt’s Yatt’it travel tips by country
Hyatt and its affiliates own, operate or manage hotels in 45 countries worldwide.

You can preview the mobile site from any desktop by visiting www.hyatt2go.com.

This is a repost by Mobile Marketing Watch.

Soon, You Could Be Poked By The Pope :-)

2009-05-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Pardon the pun, but its true!

Keep your eyes out for who may soon add you as a friend on Facebook. It's the Vatican's attempt to extend their reach to a younger generation of Catholics.

Pope2you.net is now available and offers an application called “The pope

meets you on Facebook,” and another that provides access to the Pope’s speeches on their iPhones.

Although it may seem an unorthodox move, it isn’t the first of its kind.

In 2005, a program called Azan was created and made available for download which essentially served to remind Muslims of their five important prayer times per day.

Now the Catholic Church will similarly give the mobile realm their "blessing".

Sorry, I had to.

“We recognize that a church that does not communicate ceases to be a church,” said Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican’s Social Communications department. “Many young people today are not turning to traditional media like newspapers and magazines any more for information and entertainment. They are looking to a different media culture, and this is our effort to ensure that the Church is present in that communications culture.”

The new apps are now available in Italian, English, Spanish, French and Dutch.

This is a lucrative market for Telcos to tap into and Telstra is one company that certainly made an impact, when the Catholic Church struck a deal with Australia's telco giant for Pope Benedict XVI to text daily messages of "inspiration and hope" to the mobile phones of thousands of young Catholics during World Youth Day 08

With tens of thousands of overseas visitors attending the event, Telstra put together a "WYD Prepaid Pilgrim Pack". For $99, pilgrims got a Nokia mobile phone, a Telstra WYD08 sim card, $10 of calls or text messages and $20 worth of overseas calls on a Telstra PhoneAway card. Plus, a lucky 20 pilgrims who buy the pack also won a VIP invitation to the final Papal Mass.

Aside from Telstra's WYD efforts in 2008, it seems that Telcos in Australia are relatively quiet in this area and are not taking advantage of the opportunities this market segment could offer.

What are your thoughts?

This post uses information from Mobile Marketing Watch and The Age.

Twitter in Plain English

2009-04-05T00:54:00.001-07:00

If you just don't understand what Twitter is and how it works. Watch this video. It couldn't be explained any better than this.

Social Media in Plain English

2009-05-12T15:57:00.001-07:00

A simple story that helps explain what social media is and how it works.

Case Study: Successful Companies On Twitter

2009-05-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Image via CrunchBase

This issue of SoHotRightNow! gives a brief outline of how a number of companies have found success using Twitter as a medium to communicate with their customers.

What will be covered?

Dell
Namecheap
Chelsea Green Publishers
WholeFoods
Branded Twitter Experience v. Prosumer Twitter Experience

Zappos

Overall Insight for Telcos

Dell

Dell began making its mark on Twitter in early 2008.
One of the original objectives was to use Twitter to shift surplus stock by offering special discounts.
Dell believed there were pools of people that were ready to buy.
The advantage of Twitter was that it took the lead time out of email campaigns.
Initially, Dell sent tweets with offers that were only valid for one day.
Those who followed the tweet link were directed to a landing page with a promo code.
Dell was then able to track traffic and the use of the promo code.
However, this method attracted a low response rate.
Then, Dell began including the promo code in the tweet itself and extended the offer expiry date to a week or so.
Twitter was still only a one-way conversation, so Dell began following/connecting to a number of Dell employees who were also on Twitter and whom customers could contact if they have a question and want to communicate with a real person.
This made Dell’s association with Twitter more human and transparent.
By December 2008, Dell had made over $1,000,000 in revenue and sales through the use of Twitter.

“These conversations are going to occur whether you like it or not…do you want to be part of that or not? My argument is you absolutely do. You can learn from that. You can improve your reaction time. And you can be a better company by listening and being involved in that conversation.” --Michael Dell

Here, Michael Dell points out a few ways Dell is using Social Media to enhance their brand amongst the community:
Conversations to understand what people are saying about Dell, a sentiment analysis; tracked by topics to understand what the conversations are about…and we hear the conversations we do not need to enter because our customers and fans are already there.
Individual customer connections to address individual needs.
Changes to business processes and products learned about through listening and social media conversations. Acting to change, improve or get better matters. In this regard we have successfully identified concerns earlier than we would have previously (up to three weeks), thanks to blog and social media commentary. We also measure the fact that we act on them.
Product Development through www.Ideastorm.com: The Ideastorm’s objective is to partner with customers to contribute to, and integrated into, Dell’s product development. With more than 10,000 ideas and over 200 implemented, the Ideastorm community has its own impact and measurable successes. It is an active community, integrated into and part of Dell’s product development.

Namecheap

Used a contest to help launch their Twitter presence during December 2008, whereby, Namecheap would post a Christmas-related trivia question.
They used the www.TweetLater.com service to pre-schedule the posts and a simple trivia book to come up with the 600+ questions.
To win, you had to be one of the first three @replies with the correct answer.
The prize was a credit for a one-year domain registration, and to receive it, you needed a Namecheap account.

Results:

People got addicted to it, battling to get in the first replies.
It got talked about through Twitter and blogs.
Namecheap’s follower count jumped from 200 to over 4000 in one month.
Namecheap’s PageRank was significantly helped by the hype.
Site traffic increased more than 10% in December, driving 20% increase increase in domain registrations.

Chelsea Green Publishers

Also used a Twitter contest to promote their website and books.
The contest required people to tweet about a book from their website that you would like to read.
The 10th person to tweet a book would win the book tweeted with free shipping.

Tactics used:

You had to follow Chelsea Green Publishers on Twitter to be eligible.
They had built “Tweet this book” links into each product page that includes a link to the book.
They primed the contest with a countdown, which was re-tweeted several times to spread the word.

Results:

Total contest time was approximately 4 minutes
Total contestants was 27
Total tweets (entries) was 45

Insight:

Although these results may look small, a quick study of through search.twitter.com showed that these 45 tweets reached 14,216 Twitter users.
Each of those 14,000+ users was sent a book title, hashtags, and a direct link to the book’s product page.
So, reaching over 14,000 people in less than 4 minutes is pretty good, especially given that the only cost incurred was a small amount of setup time, a book or two, and shipping.

WholeFoods

According to www.trackingtwitter.com WholeFoods is one of the most followed brand on Twitter, with almost 600,000 followers.
It is believed that the single reason why they have been successful on Twitter is because they have great content.
WholeFoods initially began tweeting abut valuable content they’d added to their site, like “Out healthy tip of the week: get your greens!” which led followers to an article about the options for healthy green foods.
Today, WholeFood’s use of Twitter is much more one-sided conversation where customers are looking for answers to their WholeFoods questions.
"It's amazing how many people say, 'I'm off to WholeFoods for lunch,' " says Slayton Carter, WholeFoods' online community development coordinator.

Branded Twitter Experience v. Prosumer Twitter Experience

A Branded Twitter experience is like, Namecheap, Chelsea Green Pubishers and WholeFoods who tweets under a brand umbrella.
A Prosumer Twitter experience (as coined by Andrew Davis of Tipping Point) is more like Dell and Zappos, where there is someone who is personally identifiable as a representative of a brand – e.g. MikeAtDell or ToddAtDell.
It is argued that the Prosumer approach to developing a Twitter strategy is much more effective and powerful than a Branded approach.

Why?

Simply look at Zappos Twitter employees page

There are 434 Zappos employees that have Prosumer identities on Twitter.
Their collective followers is far greater than WholeFood’s.
They all represent very personal relationships with the brand: instead of a brand broadcasting to everyone, meaning you have a really powerful relationship with real people that work for the brand.

Overall Insight For Telcos

If Telcos are looking to use Twitter for business, it would be suggested to invite the employees to join Twitter as Prosumers.
This will engage consumers or partners on a more personal level, increase Optus’ reach and also broaden the conversation.
Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, says,

“the secret of Twitter's success is realizing that folks don't want to use the Web for private conversations but public ones. Nearly 90% of Twitter users make their updates public, so everyone can read them.”

This means that if Telcos decide to join Twitter, it should aim to be human and transparent to the consumer chatter in order to gain credibility. If successful, the Telco will gain respect amongst the community and build its brand.

Thanks for reading this issue of SoHotRightNow! Feel free to leave your comments and don't forget to social bookmark this page to help share the love.

Thanks
Greg

References:
YouTube: Dell & Twitter
Twitter: DellOutlet
O'Rielly Radar: Twitter Drives Traffic, Sales: A Case Study
WebProNews: What the Most Popular Brands On Twitter Are Doing Right
USA Today: Twitter took off from simple to 'Tweet' success
Tipping Point Labs: Zappos v. Wholefoods on Twitter: Who's more effective?
Chris Webb: Interesting Twitter Strategy from Chelsea Green Publishers

Paper Speaker Breakthrough Could Make Posters Talk

2009-05-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Talking advertising posters could be put into development in the near future, with the development of speakers made out of paper, suitable for thin devices such as LCD screens.

Rolls of paper speakers have already been produced by a research company in Taiwan and the group’s engineers say they will be used in cars starting from next year.

Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute is planning to introduce the new technology with a three-story-high banner than can play music at an upcoming exhibition in Taipei.

The researchers aim to be able to mass produce standard poster-size speakers at $20 each. The company hopes the technology will also attract film companies wanting to produce posters with a soundtrack or excerpts from the movie.

Bill Wilson, the Outdoor Advertising Association's operations director, said the low cost of the speakers would make the technology attractive to media owners: "I assume media owners would be very interested if the technology allows for cost-efficient delivery."

Wilson warned that media owners who embrace such technology would have to tackle issues such as noise levels and location.

This is a repost of Anne Cassidy's article on Brand Republic, 27/04/09.

T-Mobile Using In-store Bluetooth Technology

2009-03-31T06:48:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

T-Mobile in the UK is currently trialling a new campaign using Bluetooth Technology to encourage more visitors into their high street stores. Graphics in the shop windows aim to prompt customers to activate the Bluetooth on their phone to receive a free gift from the Telco once in store.

What's the opportunity for Telcos?

This technology is by no means 'brand new', however it seems seldom-used. I believe this form of advertising medium has only touched the surface here in Australia, providing a good opportunity for a Telco stay ahead of it's competitors.
I think Telcos within Australia should be using this technology more often in store and at events - almost in hope that the brand becomes associated with this technology and service.
This is a great way to attract new customers in store if they are not with the Telco already or (if the gift is valuable enough) it could create an envy-factor amongst friends who are not on the same network.
This is a cool technology to get creative with: to push creative ideas that have not been executed before.

Brand Republic

Tweet With Tweetie: The New Twitter Client For Mac

2009-04-17T22:36:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks I have noticed that Twitter is beginning to gain momentum, here in Australia. It seems I see or hear the word Twitter at least a few times a day, either through Radio, Newspapers or in general conversation. However, given that Twitter in Australia is still kind of new, a lot of people may not know that there are programs that help manage your tweets, also known as Twitter clients. There are several Twitter clients available on the internet today, but it's hard to work out what one is the best to use.

Well, the decision may become easy when the new Twitter client named Tweetie becomes available on Apple Mac desktops on Monday 20th April.

TechCrunch managed to get their hands on an early build of the product and have provided a brief impression until a full review is conducted on Monday:

The app deals with photos from sites like TwitPic perfectly - images pop up quickly in lightweight windows, without having to open a browser
Sending images is also perfectly executed. Just drag and drop the image from your desktop to Tweetie’s new message field, and it does the rest.
While there isn’t currently a way to get a Column view similar to TweetDeck’s, you can break out as many search panes as you’d like, each of which is treated as its own window (this is great for when you only need to keep track of a search term temporarily).
As with Tweetie on the iPhone, it just feels so Mac. The icons do what you think they should, and there aren’t any extraneous text fields or buttons
Global Hotkeys.

Tweetie will offer a free version that will be ad supported, as well as a paid ad-free version app for $14.95.

Main window, with popup TinyPic image at left

New message window in the foreground (activated with a global hotkey). Search and main windows in the background