Turning buildings green. A classic piece of marketing for St. Patricks Day.

Accuse me of being biased but I do think the concept behind turning international, iconic buildings green, for St. Patrick's day, is a classic. Just as an idea, forgetting is has anything to do with Ireland.

But green is the Irish colour and internationally recognised as such - so a building lit up in green, means Ireland.

Sydney Opera House, The Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, The Empire state Building (which I actually painted as a teenager, honest guv), The London Eye, Sphinx, Christ the Redeemer statute in Rio, Pyramids....all went green for Patrick's Day. A pretty impressive ad. And that great Irish city Chicago, where I once worked, as usual, turned The Chicago River green.

I have to say, I thought it was a stunning idea as well as all the Government Buildings turning green. At the launch of the idea, Streamabout interviewed Minister Varadkar who said the cost was 36,000 euro in total. That represents pretty good value then.

A lovely idea that actually happened. And yet again, simplistic thinking wins.

St. Patrick's Day. Ireland's gift to the English? Wayne Rooney.

Ah St. Patrick's Day....the celebration of all things Irish where we make a complete show of ourselves.

But there's one thing we do well - laugh at ourselves. No better man that Dara above to do that.

Now, where's my leprechaun hat.

Enjoy yourself.

The Underground Library. Turning the NYC Subway into a Library for all.

I'm big into books.

And what I like about digital books and ebooks is that they've actually brought in more readers. Like Itunes have delivered more music sales.

And at the time, you'll remember that it was thought that ebooks would kill reading and itunes would kill music, when exactly the opposite has happened. The web has been the saviour of the music business as it turns out.

Ebooks have also allowed virtual libraries where you "rent" a book (exactly as you do in a traditional library) and then after a time, it's deleted from your device. 

So the idea of students to make the New York Subway into a virtual library, is a cool one. After all, it's exactly the time when people want to read in transit. Through Ads in the trains, which look like bookshelves, they list a series of book titles, "best sellers". When a user scans the title with their smartphone.....

.....they get the first 10 pages for free as a sample. just enough to read on that commute.

Then they're reminded that the rest of the book is available for free, at the New York Public Library complete with GPS map as to how to get there.

Lovely, lovely idea, called 'The Underground Library'.
Still in concept phase, it deserves to be heard. And read. 

Amazing Cinema Advertising and Experience. Disruptive marketing for homelessness.

Smashing piece of work in Cinemas in Germany.

Simple idea - all the best ones are - which got cinema goers to experience for a moment, what it's like to be homeless.

Cinema goers sat in a cinema, were given an old blanket and the air conditioning was turned down, getting colder and colder. As it was, they watched a promo Ad/documentary by homeless people, about what it's like to feel cold. Even colder than the shivering audience.

It's disruptive, guerrilla advertising and of course, they were asked at the end to make a donation including by text and QR code. Which they did. So would you.

Experiential marketing call it, but effective advertising it is. Not only in creating funds on the night but by bringing home to people an experience that they wouldn't normally.

Watch the video and think how easy it was.
Big ideas don't have to cost big money.

Facebook pushes News through news feeds re-launch today. Newspapers take heart. This is your future too.

Facebook has gone through another re-design just as elaborate as the "timeline" changes in 2011.

It has overhauled its "news feed" interestingly, with Zuckerberg calling it "a personalised newspaper" not just with text but with imagery. It features blogger images, mobile consistency and multiple feeds.

This is a radical departure. The focus on news stories is more visual, images are much larger (taking 50% of the feed) and more centre positioned with an 'Instagram' feel. Of course, the key here is the ability to 'share' news.

More feeds, and more control of those feeds gives users more options, which you chose to 'follow'. Could be a news feed from family, from friends, about music and so on. Niche news that you want.

Being heavily mobile enabled too, is a good answer to criticisms of Facebook. 

The continuing journey for Facebook into online news is interesting and another competitor to traditional news orgs. But the fundamental issue around news, the fundamental issue around 'citizen journalism' is trust. You have to trust the source and are these Facebook feeds trustworthy? Not always.

News is pure gold as a content commodity. It draws people in and it retains them. The people in Pole position to provide trusted news are newspapers. And they'll get there with a little belief in themselves and with a mindset change that realises, their newspaper futures are online.

The biggest asset newspapers have, is not on a printing press, it's their websites. And it'll take time for Press men to get their heads around that, but get that, they will.

Do not despair oh ye of little faith.

Dove Real Beauty Campaign gets a controversial online download. Ad Agencies not happy.

Dove, the Unilever brand, is extending its "real beauty" campaign which launched in 2004 and came to prominence in 2007 at The Cannes Festival.

It's a campaign aimed in part, at the true illustration of women in advertising and in editorial - campaigning against "air brushing". It also seemed to align itself with a campaign against young women identifying with those images and consequently leading to eating disorders amongst teenage girls.

What they've done is to distribute a piece of software ('Photoshop Action') on Social Media sites. Whilst downloading the software pretends to offer better filter images (in an 'Instagram' kind of way) for the photograph, in fact, it reverts the photograph to its original - warts and all.

It is aimed at Art Directors and creatives in Ad Agencies who create advertising featuring beautifully retouched women. And it makes a point.

Needless to say, Ad Agencies aren't happy with the download because it doesn't do what it promised to do. They've hit back at Unilever claiming that the original Dove campaign itself, was photoshopped and they also point to other Unilever campaigns (such as for 'Axe' and 'Fair&Lovely' brands) which features.....beautifully retouched women. Or so they say. Basically, you can't have it both ways....

But the idea of using a download in this way, is clever. Or controversial.
It depends on whatever way you look.

Why you'll see good Video content coming off YouTube. Low Advertising cpm rates.

Now there is no greater fan of Google's YouTube (bought for over 1.6 billion usd in 2006) than yours truly.

It has, and is, a fantastic platform for Video and a great resource used by publishers and public alike. It has actually allowed and fostered freedom of expression and especially in countries where there's no other free media outlet. 

However YouTube is, and wants, to move into the TV arena and I've always said that YouTube will be the biggest global TV player when it gets structure.

However, that's the problem - structure.

In particular, what will make YouTube a broadcaster, is good content as it moves more and more into that broadcasting space. Attracting good content is now the issue as it tries to shift from what's called its "experimental" stage.

Content makers get paid by YouTube from Advertising and a lot are unhappy about the revenue they're generating.

Firstly, the problem is supply and demand. Simply as YouTube has more and more and more Video by the second (literally), the amount of Ad money to share around is less and less. Too much supply outpacing Advertiser demands. 

Secondly, and the bigger issue, is Ad rates.

YouTube's "cut" on ad rates is too high. At the moment it's circa 45% but that leaves content providers with a cpm (cost-per-thousand-views) of about 2 Dollars. Which in turn means that if your Video is watched 1 million times (very high), you generate 2,000 Dollars (very low). If you generate a thousand views (which is more likely and considered "good"), you make 2 Dollars.

Most of those quality video makers aren't happy with that revenue and with other Video sharing sites like Vimeo, are looking at those options especially when it's about quality content. 

The likelihood therefore, is that you'll see good content disappearing from YouTube unless they re-consider their rates. And that's a pity because, as I said, they're pioneers but Video makers have to eat too.

If it remains as a site offering cat and dog videos, it will never be the TV type broadcaster it aspires to be. And it will leave room for other video sharing sites to fill the void.

The Video market is maturing.

Apple Valuation dips below 400 Billion Dollars Shock!

Apple's market cap has dropped below 400 Billion usd, Shock! 
That's right....Billion.

Or at least, that's how it's being reported - as a shocker.

This week's decline in share value comes after a court judge has cut back, by 450 million usd, their award against Samsung for copyright infringement of 1 billion usd. 

Other uncertainty about profit margins on products (notably in China) and a lack of innovation, has reduced the market cap from 650 Billion in September (when the new Iphone 5 launch was impending).

It's still a staggering, unbelievable, valuation.

Google is worth a mere 270 Billion and Microsoft, only a tiny 230 Billion. So Apple is still way, way ahead.

And the ongoing coverage of CEO Tim Cook is generally pretty negative. It seems that if Apple sneezes, commentators get a cold, because their talk of Apple ("in decline", "losing confidence") seems to be deliberate for a company so strong.

And we know Apple is sitting on a pile of cash (which in turn, becomes a criticism that "Apple doesn't know what to do next with its cash").

It seems to me that few can ever get their head around Apple being without Steve Jobs. He seems to have been so pivotal, that his death has really damaged the company even still.

Always an issue for companies that are inexorably linked to people. When something happens to the person, it reflects entirely on the company. But he left it strong and so it is.

Talk of Apple's demise are unfounded. 
Worse than that, with a 400 Billion valuation.... they're silly.

Online TV and Movie Content. It's killing Television. It's killing Cinema. It could kill Advertising because it's ad-free.

Internet-only film businesses, have really declared war on Television. Netflix have invested 100 million usd in the remake of the British series, 'House of cards' with Kevin Spacey, as you'll probably know. 

A 26 episode series that's not on Television.

Rather too, than asking people to wait week-by-week for each episode, it was all released at the same time to subscribers. Viewers could then schedule it as required, as it suited them - something which kills the rigidness of TV schedules.

Indeed they produced 6 trailers. Each one targeting the particular demographic of the Netflix subscriber. So female subscribers got the weepy trailer, young males the fight scenes - another thing you can't do on traditional TV.

Online content is also not beholden to advertisers...rather, is driven by subscriptions and subscribers on fixed monthly rates.

Consequently programme viewership fluctuations, is not the issue anymore for online broadcasters - another gaping hole in the way TV works and is funded. Netflix, with nearly 30 million subscribers, just needs to keep attracting those subscribers to stay or join the service, nothing more. Whereas, TV stations have to keep reaching out to audiences, to get them to watch, to generate Ads, when we know, through second screen viewing, their audiences are shrinking. No, Collapsing.

Netflix has already commissioned another feature, a horror called 'Hemlock Grove' and because they're not advertising dependent, they need to simply feature on quality broadcasting. 

But online broadcasters will force change too. Voice control is the future too, for Netflix rather than "gesture control" being considered by other online broadcasters (like the Xbox function). So you simply "call out" your movie and up it comes and online will eventually create too many features that will just force TV stations to close because they simply haven't the technology to match.

Online broadcasting is affecting traditional movie-making too and not just TV.

Profits in the traditional movie business are down. Between 2004-2011, the big 5 studios profits were down -40%. Time Warner for example, in generating 12 billion usd in 2012 from film, generated 14 billion usd from TV/Online. And that balance is quickly shifting away from traditional movie-making towards content making that has subscribers attached such as cable/online.

Fees to cable/subscriber channels are estimated to be in the US, about 32 billion usd a year and growing +7% annually. And it's this steady income that content makers want to chase, rather than traditional TV dependent on advertising swings and thereby, focused on shows being popular (or not). Cinema revenue for film is equally volatile with "hits" and "misses". Content makers want broadcasters with steady income.

Film Theatre/Cinema attendance is not a growth business with too many distractions, such as Netflix, at home on multiple devices. 

DVD/Blue Ray sales are obviously down too, about -46% in the past 6 years. DVD Pirating in Russia and China has become an issue too nevermind general illegal downloads. Actor and Director salaries are being cut, as are the number of projects. 

It is the likes of Netflix that has been the lifeline for Hollywood, with big talent like Spacey/Hoffman/Jeff Daniels moving away from movies into online content. 

Equally too, Netflix and Amazon's Love film are competing for broadcast rights against traditional broadcasters and have the cash war chests, to win. It's estimated that Netflix spent 5 billion usd in 2012 acquiring content.

In terms of 'connected devices' such as smartphones, games consoles, laptops, ipads and so on, Americans own 2.6 of them in each household. So the "theatrical window" of holding back online movie release is now becoming defunct to allow movies access this online market. 'Arbitrage' with Richard Gere, was released everywhere at once and understood to have made 3 times the money because it had a massive global audience at once.

But movie makers don't like it (because they'll lose the cinema premium) and theatre owners don't like it either.

So digital programme/content provision is winning time and time again meaning traditional movie makers will switch (as will talent) into creating online content. It also means traditional TV stations are getting more and more stuffed.

They're being outbid for content; they're losing audiences; they're losing money (180m+ euro a year in Ireland for RTE) every year; their content is poor; and their model has a doubtful future. 

Even their anchor product - news - is being covered better and quicker (much quicker) by national newspapers online.

This game is over.

Mixed fortunes at daily deal sites LivingSocial and Groupon. CEO resigns and his letter is here. Both companies were stars....once.

Bizarre changes in fortune at Daily Deal sites LivingSocial and the original, Groupon, all on the same day.

LivingSocial announced today that it has raised 110 million usd in funding from largely, its original investors - so that sounds more like a "cash call" which might indicate difficulties at LivingSocial if it is. 

A memo from CEO Tim O'Shaugnessy (some Irish connection there I would think...) said it was to "build our reserves". And building they need given a loss of 650 million usd in 2012 up from a loss of 499 million the previous year. Over a billion usd in losses in two years.

It cut its staff by 10% (400) at the time with reports in December that it was "running dangerously low of cash". With losses like that, it's not sustainable.

On the other side, Groupon, the 4 year old, daily-deal-market-maker, fired its co-founder Andrew Mason who was also CEO (that's him above with the cat). It came just 24 hours after reporting bad numbers again for Q1 bring a 25% drop in share value. Now down -75% since it floated which 'Forbes' magazine calls 'The Groupon Disgrace' and said "talk about a CEO who no longer has any credibility with investors". Strong stuff.

Mashable posted his staff resignation letter which actually, I liked.

(This is for Groupon employees, but I’m posting it publicly since it will leak anyway)

People of Groupon,

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding – I was fired today. If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.

You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I’m getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we’ve shared over the last few months, and I’ve never seen you working together more effectively as a global company – it’s time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.

For those who are concerned about me, please don’t be – I love Groupon, and I’m terribly proud of what we’ve created. I’m OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I’ll now take some time to decompress (FYI I’m looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I’ll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.

If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness – don’t waste the opportunity!

I will miss you terribly.

Love,

Andrew

Groupon was the worst performing stock in the US market in 2012. Shares trade below 3 usd now, from when they floated at 20 usd. 11 billion of value has been wiped out. Groupon had turned down an offer of 6 billion usd some years ago from Google. And you might remember the accounting controversy at the time of the IPO.

What interests me in both of these stories is that you'd expect, in a recession, deal sites to be doing well. After all, it's in a recession that people want a deal and all the PR was, that this was what was happening. When clearly it's not and especially not for the segment leader, Groupon.

So I'm surprised. 

But then again there could be a more simple explanation. The market is good but these two companies were lousy. It could just be that, although that would surprise me.....

It seems that's what Forbes thinks who undoubtedly contributed to Andrew Mason's demise because they're such an influential magazine. Mind you, they seem to have forgotten that at the time before the IPO they were influential too calling Groupon, "the fastest growing company, ever".

Audrey Hepburn. She died in 1993 but she's back. Making one of the best commercials you'll ever see. Ever. Have a look here.

She may have died in 1993 but she's still making stunning commercials, beautiful Ads. Audrey Hepburn.

Chocolate Bar Galaxy (Mars), have taken footage from her film 'Roman Holiday' (1953 for which she won an Oscar) and starred with Gregory Peck. 

It wasn't her first film, but the role that made her and she got it after Elizabeth Taylor turned it down. In fact Peck got the role after Cary Grant turned it down too!

But they've created a new storyline for the commercial, on Italy's Amalfi Coast. Famous for a fairly breathtaking and a pretty hairy drive, the 'Amalfi Drive'.

Her family have agreed for her image to be used and just how stunning it is. Iconic. Watch and enjoy.

They've also picked a gem of a track - 'Moon River' - and in digitally restoring the footage, have added new life to it, new HD tones and it's truly magnificent to watch. 

Moon River was written for her and performed by her, in 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' (1961). Written by Henry Mancini, it was made famous by Andy Williams.

Of course it's not the first time footage has been restored for commercials,not by a long shot. That's not to take away from this imaginative, creative, stunning work.

The Griff Rhys Jones Holsten commercial (A Holsten for my Holster) stands out in my mind and the Steve Martin/Carl Reiner movie, 'Dead men don't wear plaid' is based around this very idea. You'll see 3 clips at the end and if you've time, have a look too, they're worth it.

But this one for Galaxy, is done well, really well. 

AMV BBDO London are the Agency and deserve the plaudits here.

So too, does it make the case for Video. Just look what you can do.

Only criticism is the endline about having silk not cotton which is just a pity. A real chance here to say something lovely, missed. 

But don't let that get in the way one bit. In fact I'm sorry I said it, because if you want to see that rare example of classic advertising in today's dross, this is it. BBH in their heyday would have loved to have done this.

It's just a classic in every sense and Audrey Hepburn looks so stunning, adorable. It will sell chocolate, of that, have no doubt.

(And while you're here...have a look....)

Is real advertising coming back?

Oscar night. Twitter night. 82,000 TPM's (that's 'Tweets per minute'). Oscars first ever online broadcast.

This was the first year the entire Oscar Awards show was broadcast online. 

Funny when I say that, because everyone goes, really? They expect it to have been done before which in turn shows that we need to remember just how new this digital age is.

The "Red Carpet" part of the show generated 2.1 million tweets with Jennifer Aniston's dress (in case you were wondering) the clear winner. Another 6.8 million tweets were generated during the show so an extraordinary amount of engagement on Twitter alone. It seems that viewers were more interested in the winners rather than the pre-fashion interview preview. Interesting.

The music numbers didn't disappoint with 'Skyfall' generating a lot of tweets according to Mashable. As they say, over 82,000 tpm's. TPM? Tweets per minute (I didn't know it either until tonight). Jennifer Lawrence's fall? 71,600 tpm. Anne Hathaway? 64,000 tpm.

That's per minute.......

Adele, who sings "Skyfall", is of course a big Social Media player anyway and maximises it. 

Of course Mo (that's Michelle Obama to you and me), announced the winner (as introduced by Jack Nicholson) of the Best Film (Argo) live from The White House and then tweeted this creating another Twitter stir; 

FLOTUS 

✔ @FLOTUS

It was a thrill to announce the #Oscars2013 best picture winner from the@WhiteHouse! Congratulations Argo! -mo

5:00 AM - 25 Feb 13

But generally this shows the interactivity between online and TV to full impact. It shows that online broadcasting is now a "standard" and that tweeting about content is pretty much old-fashioned, it is so popular and expected. The role of Social Media has now become as natural as email.

And big shows, like The Oscars, can really swing it into action.

Just a stunning night of glamour, celebrity and tweets. 

Google to launch new Music streaming service. This giant is awakening.

Google really seem to have their heads up especially with the oncoming onslaught of glasses and their move into retail. It's almost like there's a new energy a Google, a new momentum?

According to the front page of this weekend's Financial Times, they're about to launch a music streaming service and The FT know because of the discussions taking place with big music labels. It will therefore compete with Deezer and Spotify.

Although there's an irony here because music labels didn't like google as they saw Search engines facilitating, music piracy.

Advertising accounts for about 95% of google's revenue so these type of services (and glasses) changes their revenue model to being based more on consumer income. No bad thing. 

Music streaming normally allows two price options - free, but be subject to advertising or, pay, and get premium music, ad-free service. With download you get to keep the tract and this "streaming" market is worth over 1.5 billion usd a year....at the moment.

Commercial music download concepts (like Apple's itunes) is different to streaming and Google already launched a US music download store in late 2011. They also have YouTube plans for subscription music services and others (such as travel, price comparisons and so on). 

Google can easily bring these services to the Nexus tablets and their Android phones (as Apple do with Itunes on iPhone). By scrutinising consumer habits and downloads, Advertising Agencies might be well prepared to get involved with this. It could be a valuable database.

But this will give Google another string to its bow. It seems a sleeping giant is awakening....and when it does, we will feel the roar.

Best Bus Shelter ever. Simple integrated mobile marketing that really works. Great thinking.

Sorry but I love these because I know the work that goes into them and I know the thinking behind them. And it's fabulous to see that thinking rewarded when it works.

This is for Qualcomm a mobile phone Operator. 

They put up Bus Shelter Posters and had a www address on the posters, asking bus users to use their mobile to text in. Need a lift? And along comes a...well, watch it. Or in a hurry? And there's a....yeah, have a look.

It's a piece of integrated marketing. Digital mobile marketing, SMS, Bus Shelter advertising, experiential activity, viral on YouTube...it has it all at a low, low cost. And then we're talking about Qualcomm aren't we?

"We make life better on mobile" goes the copyline. And they do.

Simple things makes great advertising. 
And good ideas needn't cost.

Bit of thinking needed, nothing more.

Google Glasses. Want to see what they look like on? Video here and pretty spec-tacular all round. The future smartphone replacement.....

A Video demo of Google's Glass (Google Goggles) has just been released.

It gives a good sense as to how the glasses work and pretty spectacularly. The headset doesn't actually have a screen in front but rather a small screen in the top right and with very excellent functionality - as you can see.

Photo taking, video making, looking up answers on Google, sharing on social, weather, email and so on, is all here but interestingly, we didn't know about voice command. By saying, "OK Glass" it activates the menu hands-free and gets the glasses listening for commands. Now that is, cool.

Google have also launched a competition to get a view as to how the Glasses can be used creatively. Ideas should go to Twitter at hashtag, ifihadglass. 

Here too is the Glass website http://www.google.com/glass/start/

Pretty exceptional the whole idea, which I think anyway and it's being brilliantly executed step-by-step. 

It's going to be the "next big thing", no doubt. A potential replacement for the smartphone.

Hotmail is a gonner. It's now Outlook.com. There's money in mail.

Hotmail, the world's largest web-based email service, is no longer and is now Outlook.com

Microsoft who bought Hotmail in 1997, have had Outlook.com in beta testing for the past 7 months and now the takeover is complete. The changeover will take place gradually and users won't be forced to switch their Hotmail address to an outlook one, but new users will. So there will no disruption in service to existing users.

I have often wondered why the world's postal services brands, never got into online mail? Another example of big companies watching their business go by online? I think so.....

60 million people are using Outlook mail with 350 million using Hotmail and the new service will have many advanced features. The layout looks brighter and breezier with much more simplified tasks - so it has been designed with the user in mind.

It also allows easy interaction and integration with Social Media.

Hotmail was launched in 1996 and probably one of the first email addresses. Advertising overloaded then, the Ads have been streamlined to more direct, relevant text "google" style ads so they're less intrusive.

Generally, outlook.com is being viewed as "better" than Gmail but at the end of the day, mail is mail. However, it's interesting in that email services with large users who use it regularly daily, has not yet had the real business push? It seems to me a cool, good email brand is a winner and perhaps this is what Microsoft see too. There's no doubt too, that if me or you were asked to pay only a dollar or a euro a month for a mail service, we would.

In the case of Hotmail, that would bring in 350 million...a month. Even at 10 cents a month, it would rocket! So there's opportunity here.

But goodbye Hotmail. 
A founding Internet brand bites the dust.
As the Post Office watches it all happen.

Google to open retail stores. Just in time for Google Glasses?

Rumours abound, strong rumours, of Google opening its own high-street retail stores, starting in the US main cities this year.

As Apple know, having shops, can bring customers into contact with your brand in a real personal, helpful way. Especially when you're a Google and largely only known for Search. It's interesting too, a company moving from Web into retail stores - kind of like Amazon opening book stores - but this could be a plan just in time for Google Glass (or "Google Goggles" as most of us know them).

In retail you can touch, see, hold, demo the product and for something so new, it could be a great sales channel for glasses. Or indeed, a new world of wearable computing which is ahead of us.

They're likely too to come at the end of the year, "coincidentally" in time for the launch of Google Glass. They could also sell Chrome computing and of course, Nexus smartphones and tablets moving perceptions of Google from software to hardware. Google also owns the Motorola handset business.

Indeed following in the footsteps of both Apple and Microsoft who have their own retail operations, this would bring the Google brand into a new arena and reaching out to new consumers. High street, high profile retail, is a great Ad for a brand. Google already has a "sort of a" retail presence in the 'Best Buy' stores.

It may not be just about money short-term, but building a real brand long-term. Shops are one good way to do that.

Dropbox floatation likely soon. Bono made more money in Facebook's float first 24 hours than a lifetime of music. He's invested in this as well.

Dropbox are in talks to go IPO shortly and it's sure to be the next high-tech flotation. Dropbox are in the cloud storage/file transfer business and typically used to share video, something which we do a lot of in Streamabout, a couple of times a day.

So if you want to send of receive a large file, Dropbox would be one answer. Mind you, we don't use it but prefer a competitive product 'Wetransfer' which honestly, we find better and quicker than 'Dropbox'. But that has nothing to do with it.

Dropbox's value is in the 4 billion usd range with 200 million users and frankly, was one of the first to get into this space. So it has benefited from 'first mover advantage'. Founded in 2007 - imagine, 6 years later it's worth 4 Billion (!) - it's one of those sites still banned in China and Ireland's own, U2's The Edge and Bono, are investors.

Mind you, both of them did well out of the Facebook float. Imagine...Bono earned more money in one day with Facebook than he has from a lifetime of music! 

Based on San Fran, Dropbox seems to be ready and ripe for a floatation, making billionaires out of its 2 founders and then other investors. File transfer and cloud storage is a good business to be in with a good future and Dropbox are at the front of that - like them or not.

It will be a good opportunity when it's announced and probably the next big high tech IPO. Which a lot of companies are opting for these days rather than staying private. It seems to be a "quick fix" get-rich scheme rather than what the business requires and early inventors/investors seem to want to "get in and get out".

Frankly having given the business all the pain a young tech start-up requires, I'm not surprised that once there is an opportunity to cash-in, they take it. An IPO is a good fast way to achieve that.

There's an App for that, but never like this...Tempo. Your Calendar and Diary just got a whole lot better.

There's an App for that......but very few Apps like this. Tempo. Currently (just launched) only available on the US App store and Itunes but keep watching.

Tempo turns your calendar into something a lot, lot, better than just a Calendar. It basically elaborates your standard diary entries using all the data that's on the web already. 

So you post a diary event at a named place, say, 'The Point Depot'. Clearly it's clever, but not too difficult, for Tempo to be able to show you your destination on Google Maps; to trigger GPS directions if you want them; to get you the phone number for the Point Depot; and to bring you to their website. Or the weather at your location or the time zone. Or the availability of car parking there or the travel time. Clever, but straightforward.

Now this stuff is already online, it's just that someone thought of linking it all together through Calendar entries. A stroke of genius, nothing less.

But that's only the start......

Tempo connects your diary entry with your own "accounts" so can drag any relevant information regarding your meeting, instantly. 

Say you're meeting me at The Point Depot - you can have a look at all relevant emails on the way; or Excel spreadsheets; or Powerpoint slides to perhaps refresh yourself from the last meeting. Or maybe check the last time we met? It's all there.

That's cool, especially when you're travelling to a meeting. Just bring your phone, it'll all be there.

It also gives LinkedIn information so before you meet me, you can see my profile. How cool is that. And you can check your flight status automatically, as you travel to the Airport.

Say too, you're looking for a Hotel or Coffee Shop to meet in nearby? No problem. It'll tell you where they are and give you directions.

Great isn't it? Really great. 
And I love the brand name.

It's just through beta testing, (there's still some scratches), but even the basic diary function has been so well designed as just a Calendar. It's worth it just for that. 

Worth it? It's free at The App store in the US today but shortly will be extended.

A new generation of software that somebody sat down and thought about. It's not a difficult App to make (bringing things together in one place is a well worn path) but to do it based on Calendar entries??? That is really smart.

http://tempo.ai/

Valentines Outdoor Advertising. Badly Art Directed Poster stops traffic.

Spotted today in Bride Street, Dublin by Sarah with the Streamabout crew as they went about their day.

Some poor, forlorn, Irishman abroad in Oz, misses a Bunny. Aaah.
Good copy beats Art Direction, every time.....

Online Valentines Night Promotions. A word of warning before you do them....nobody might be listening.

Before brands push out their Valentine's online campaigns, they'd better remember that mums on Social Media actually don't want to spend it socially, but rather offline.

The 'SocialMums' Survey of last year showed that Mums actually want a personal connection and not an online one with 57% opting for a romantic night out rather than an Ipad (28%) or Kindle Fire (12%). Only 2% wanted lingerie.

These are very active Facebookers, Tweeters and Pinteresters whom actually don't want the love brand messages and would rather switch off. They would like to wish their friends a "Happy Valentines" but that's about it. Then shut down their machines. 

And anyway, as most of them are doing other things (like dinner), they're not going to be logged in. So it's actually a quiet night online.

Indeed, a Valentines digital brand promotion might be better focused by getting people out through dining offers, cinema nights and so on, rather than trying to interrupt their night online. Because that's what they want.

It's possibly the one time of year that Social Media will not be as effective as any other night when you think about it. Certainly targeting women and mums, might be seen as being trite rather than effective. 

It's the old Advertising adage of knowing your audience and understanding them. Valentines night campaigns, might do more harm than good, if anybody is online at all.

Will you be?

North Korea's nuclear test site exposed. Unmanned Spy Drones? CIA Secret Satellites? Nah, Google Maps.

Hard to keep anything secret these days with ongoing battles over privacy on Social Media. But a nuclear test?

North Korea's efforts to keep their nuclear test location under wraps, in what was traditionally a James Bond 'cloak and dagger' affair, has been exposed.

Unmanned Army drones? CIA Secret Satellites? Nope. Google Maps. 

In fact Mashable, using Google Maps, can tell you all you need to know. Another blow to Social Media privacy....(but in a good way)....

So you want to see where it was? I'll tell you but then I'll have to kill you...it was here -

Or maybe you want a clearer picture...



Or the co-ordinates? 41.301 North 129.066 East. 

And there's lots more pictures of the Windy Mountain Road now referred to as 'Nuclear Test Road'. Since you asked, it's here in fact -



Initially it was thought this was an earthquake but in fact it was North Korea's third nuclear test since 2006, which has the world shaking a bit. Even China, its last friend in the world, isn't happy one bit.

There's even a video of the explosion on YouTube although pre-rolled with an Ad for 'Ernst and Young'. You should never miss an opportunity to pre-roll anything. I mean Ad revenue is Ad revenue. Still they might have changed the creative ("Ernst and Young's growth is exploding" or "We don't ever see black clouds". Something relevant, like the Superbowl brands..... I don't know, Ad Agencies these days.....).

And North Korea knows the value of YouTube having officially uploaded the video on top of this blog, only last week, showing a nuclear attack on New York. 

A dream sequence, set to Michael Jackson's "We are the world" played on what appears to be a 1940's xylophone, one could only think of better tracks. How about "Call me Maybe"? Everyone else is - and a fantastic opportunity to go viral, missed. What were they thinking?

And no you're right, it's too serious to be funny. 

But a country run by a 30 year old, which has its people impoverished, has to be treated with the disdain it deserves. 

Keep spying Google.
No need to worry about any right to privacy here.
In fact, hats off.

President Obama to go live Thursday on a Google Hangout.

President Obama is to live from The White House on a Google hangout this Thursday, two days after he delivers his 'State of the Union' address.

Called a 'Fireside hangout' it will also be on The White House YouTube channel and allows live questions/interaction (on the basis that you've submitted your questions in advance that is). Nearly a quarter of a million people submitted questions last time in January which was the first smaller attempt. You can also vote on questions submitted by others so the best are the ones that get through to the broadcast. And of course, it integrates with Twitter live, something Obama has used before as well as LinkedIn.

It's not the first time, a January broadcast was, but represents The President using Social Media now as a standard to communicate. The White House has also invited its big Social Media followers to hang with them on Tuesday and watch the address together. Aaahh. Still, bit of a thrill to get access to The White House.

It's brave enough too, being live streamed and expect the audience to be very big but it also shows the democratisation of the Internet. The ability to use Social Media to connect with people and spread your political message.

Ireland and the UK are far behind this - yet. 
Great opportunity for politicos.

Apple to launch SmartWatch. A Smartphone you wear on your wrist.

Rumours abound, very strong rumours, that Apple are to launch a smartwatch. Which is basically a smartphone you wear on your wrist.

Pebble are already in the market and Google have just applied for a patent.

Although it's been talked about for a while, The New York Times have confirmed it's in play and being developed with "curved" glass so it wraps around your wrist.

Wearable computing has an inevitability about it. We know of Interactive Glasses but wrist wearing is somewhat easier. The key to this too, is Siri, the voice recognition Apple software that allows a voice to read back, or dictate, email for example. So the need for a touchscreen is reduced.

Straight out of James Bond, you'll talk into your watch and ask it to things like directions or information or email. It will tell you global time, set alarms, act as a GPS tracker, and possibly, connect calls over Wfi (which the ipad mini already does without having a Sim card). 

And general cloud connectivity means all your devices are connected so the watch can act as a conduit for that. If you've a number stored on your Ipad or Phone, the watch can get it for example.

Interestingly too, the use of body heat to create energy through your wrist, is I know, already underway as too the movement of your hand which currently drives some watches anyway. Hence the archaic need to "charge your phone" in the wall socket, must soon go. It's very old fashioned (!).

Another innovation from Apple. 

Who else.