Build it and we will come...

Just saw this. Nice spin on personalising credit cards from CapitalOne, presumably bringing together a number of disparate card offers / types and presenting them as a flexible choice for the discerning debt lover.

Microsite here.

Bam, pow, kazaam!

Neat stuff going on with the launch of the new Batman film. Lots of hidden site, join the dots and contributions from fans (who knew a call to action could include "dress up!").

Read all about it here

See all the headlines here

Both Lost and 24 have done this kind of thing well throughout the run of their respective series, but it's interesting to see it being done for a film launch.

"A.I Artificial Intelligence" had a similar thing going on involving online, mobile and fax(!!) way back, and the new JJ Abrams film is using a similar route to promote the wonders of hi upcoming untitled work (see this and this).

Sunday morning (and afternoon and any other day you care to mention)....

I used to work "understairs" as they say, so spent my early burglary years running around sorting stuff out for people. Saw this on the Hyperhappen blog. It's a personal assistant service for people that can't afford a full time PA but need a helping hand every now and then to collect their sushi or drop their poodle off at the pamper palace. Paid by the task. Available online. Called Sunday.

Now all we need is therapy from your mobile and we're almost there!

You told us, we listen...

Interesting post by 1000 Heads showing how brands can monitor consumers tagging of their content. Cloudalicious tracks tag clouds over time (no - I don't know what they're on about either) and generates trends showing how visitors to your site are tagging you via del.icio.us

Drop in your website of choice and stick the chart into a powerpoint slide for your next client meeting.

2 - 3 - 4

News from Microsoft here about their revamped Zune offering. Not sure the whole "customise your Zune player" is any great leap however, given people are doing that already by purchasing customized cases, getting their players engraved already in many weird and wonderful ways (knitted nano cover anyone?).

More interesting is the software component and the creation of their own social music network. Can't see it yet as it's down for maintenance, but to me that gives them something unique over iTunes and could offer a tangible alternative to music lovers like me.

Talking about loving music, have just moved up north and was driving back to London to the sounds of Steve Lamacq's brilliant show. Why are they only giving him an hour on an evening monday slot I'll never know, but it's fab and you can listen to it again from here.

Failing that, head over to NYUB for an equally brilliant podcast of new music. Around an hour of sonic joy and goodness, released around once a month.

With a little help from my friends

Facebooks of this world 'are the future for fundraising' - so says Simon Collings, chief executive of the Resource Alliance, speaking at the recent International Fundraising Conference.

Article here.

Here be monsters

Ajaxtastic new web community thing here. Don't know what it does yet, but it has a member called Dragon Girl who lives in Dragon City! What's not to love?

Change the channel

Quick post this, but important all the same. Just had a play around on Joost and think it's the way forward for tv and the internet. Great choice of channels from beta, easy to set up and use. When you turn it on, it actually works, and the quality is great. Can only get better.

Take note BBC. The iPlayer is looking very poor in comparison. I still havent been able to get a program to download on it. Distressing as well, considering I paid for it (as did we all).

This will change how we consume and interact with TV, no doubt, and can only get better with time.

Colour me bad (that's bad meaning good)

Nice bit of Sony Bravia action going on here. Nothing beats some great tv advertising wrapped up in a lovely flash pastry with directors comments on top, and a side order of UGC.

All available here.

Talk, talk

Missed this, but hey. I've been busy trying to get my house sold, move up north, and learn the joys of working on the hoof. 3 have just launched a wireless solution that I've noticed peeking out of the side of many a harried commuters laptop, and I think I may have to invest.

Anyways, the point of this post is the evolution, from print to talk to twit. Useful if a client asks you where online communication is going, and a nice primer to get your own head around the changes in how we can not only talk to each other online, but make sense of all the needless chatter. Article is here, questions on a postcard.

All aboard!

Virgin Trains asked people for ideas on ways to improve their service, and Richard Branson is picking the best (and most voted?) idea to take forward and develop.

Nice idea, nice microsite, not bad all round.

Turn the heater on....

Nice bit of co-branded CSR interactive gubbins over here. I'll write something once I've had a play around.

Yard sale

Lots of talk amongst people over how social networks can be incorporated into the marketing mix. Two decent clips coming up.

The Hub - Comment on the dynamics of online social communities , and the most appropriate way to approach a brief that declares "I want something web 2.0". Kind of a guide to etiquette (and this is the trick) than a set of instructions.

Reveries - This is mentioned in the article above and refers to an idea for referral marketing using your Facebook profile. It's something Google have been doing for a while now, offering bloggers and the like the opportunity to profit from traffic to their site (see Squidoo as well), but this gives Facebook participants a revenue, and brands some insight.

Who knows. I met a guy once who told me that if he stood on the corner of Camden High Street and asked every woman who walked past if they would go out for a drink with him, the odds were that eventually one of them would. He's now a very rich man. The lesson? Saying something to someone (friend or stranger) is one thing. Being tenacious with it is another thing altogether.

Dont tell me, bell me

Have heard of this sort of thing being tried before, albeit with barcode readers being distributed to the masses so they could scan a code in their favourite magazine and have their web browser go straight to the appropriate site on the internet. This is much cleaner and simpler, and has apparantly worked well in Japan. Point your mobile phone at a poster and get access to more content. Lovely.

Now, where's my jetpack?

(Web) 2.0 + 2.0 = 4.0

Smart video piece from Seth Godin looking at marketing appropriacy, and how existing ATL "broadcast" models of advertising (basically, it's a numbers game) have been challenged by the need for clever and insightful ways of not only communicating with potential customers, but getting them to want to tell their friends about you. Makes some simple points about the value of marketing being aware of the context in which its used. Throwing paint over a building to show how much you get the importance of colour when buying a TV is one thing on a commercial, and probably get you a fair few "oohs" and "aahs" into the bargain. Trying to do it all over someones online social space will probably get you a thick ear (if you're lucky).

Who dat?

From the man who bought you Squidoo, comes the online answer to Who's Who.

Squid Who is an online compendium of anyone, who's anyone, for whatever reason, and created by whoever can be bothered. Dr Who? Well, he's not on there. However, the site automatically builds you a page all about him and gives you the chance to take ownership of it and manage it forever and ever.

Simple idea, fun, and very useful (if you do a lot of pub quizzes or are trying to secure a wealthy benefactor).

All roads lead to....somewhere

The new smart fortwo is in the midst of being launched, and Claydon Heeley (who I work for) have created a wonderful site to help get it into the hearts and minds of the masses. The timing of this couldn't be better, given right now half of you are no doubt stuck on the M4 returning from your numerous countryside domiciles in the drama that is the bank holiday weekend derby.

www.smartenlightenment.com features life coach and driving guru Dr. Tridion, who guides you through the moral maze that is UK driving and shows you the true road to enlightenment is as much in the head as it is behind the wheel. It's a brilliant piece of work, with a great performance from comedy maestro Matt Berry (Garth Marenghi, The Mighty Boosh, Saxondale, The IT Crowd).

Broadening your marketing horizons

Good article showing how companies are using online tools (social networks, blogs, social search and online video) as a marketing channel and invaluable customer service channel. It's refreshing to see that companies have utilised these new conversations as a way to take their presence out of the boardroom and into the hearts and minds of the people that matter most, their customers.

Customers will stay with a reprobate business as long as that business goes over and above to rectify any grievances, or behaves in a way that demonstrates they really understand their role in their customers lives. Web 2.0 gives brands the tools to enable that to happen.

Bourne to be wild

This is great! Take the afternoon off work and spend it setting up spectacular stunts using VW's finest in tribute to the new Bourne film. Look out!

There's an ongoing debate about the true value of user generated as part of the marketing mix (see Fosters Laidback Legends and Land Rover's Go Beyond campaign for recent examples of UGC in search of real value - and send me some positive stats if you have them!). The thing is, UGC has been alive and kicking for well over a decade in the gaming world, from early MUD's through to the latest multi-million pound blockbuster games (see Half Life and its various iterations for a case in point). The point is, if people like it and they find it easy to use, then they'll interact with it and contribute to it.

This campaign site give you a simple 3D environment in which you can create your own stunts and save them to a gallery section. The more you interact with it, the better it gets as you come to grips with the physics driven environment and the tools on offer.

It's a neat idea, well executed, and has resulted in a lot of online news coverage as well as much chatter amongst the bloggers and bookmarkers.

People help the people - talking to social networks

Recently came across a new addendum to those old favourites SEO and SEM. SMO (or SNO) is a means by which you can begin to utilise social networks, blogs, UGC as a marketing channel, without pissing off those you're trying to connect with.

Imagine if you were sat at home one night and someone knocked on the door and asked you if you wanted to buy a dog? You'd probably keep a cold bucket of water to hand (or maybe a baseball bat). Then, imagine if you had a load of friends round your house and one of them mentioned, over truffles, that they knew of a dog in need of a good owner, and how they knew you loved animals and would be the perfect match. You'd thank them, invite fido round for a meet and greet, and take holidays in the UK for the next 10 years. Well, it's the same principle with marketing to large communities online, with advocacy, insight and discussion the building blocks of a good social network marketing strategy.

Anyway, there's been some good discussion on the topic across a number of blogs:

- O'Reilly offers a good overview here
- A good article from Entrepreneur.com relating SMO to being part of an overarching PR channel mix
- Some older (six months is a long time in this business) comscore stats on the demographics across social networks, particularly with reference to age. Don't be fooled into thinking social networks are a young persons playground.