From The Standard Ask Jeeves developing wireless search service.
Looking to provide yet another way for users to tap its search capabilities, Ask Jeeves Inc. is developing new wireless search services to be launched this year, according to a company executive. Unlike competitors such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., Ask Jeeves currently doesn't offer a way for users to access its search engine via mobile devices, but that will change at some point before the end of 2005, said Daniel Read, Ask Jeeves' vice president of product management.
Although Google, Yahoo and others have rolled out wireless search services, Ask Jeeves believes this segment of the search market is still in its early days, Read said. In developing its wireless search services, Ask Jeeves will focus on providing very specific information to queries and not try to replicate the conventional Web searching experience, given the nature of wireless communications and devices, he said.
"A lot of search players have put traditional Web search on to wireless devices, but most of the Web pages you want to go to aren't rendered properly on a wireless device screen. So we're looking at rolling out specific search services for the wireless device," he said. For example, likely information Ask Jeeves could make available from its search arsenal to wireless devices includes local business listings and maps, Read said.
Wireless search wont really be search at all. It will involve interaction with the physical world. Nobody will want 10,000 listings for italian restaurants in Manhattan.
Try to think that search on the phone more like navigation. A navigation engine.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
After The Sale
From NMA.co.UK Keeping it it simple for users.
In all the hoo-hah last year about the 10th anniversary of the commercial Internet, one of the recurring themes was the fact that technology had developed to such a point that many of the initial promises of the Internet could now be fulfilled. One of the most exciting - as one of the guests at our advertising roundtable last summer pointed out - is being able to communicate with customers beyond the point of purchase.
It's long been known that it's far more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. It should also be true that your existing customers are among your hottest prospects for more sales. And while direct marketers will argue that this has always been territory that they've exploited, the Internet has provided us with a toolset that's far more economical to use and can be employed on a far greater scale.
Fortunately, we're not the only people with this problem. Offline retailers have been dealing with this in the physical world of shelves and aisles for years. But one of the issues surrounding the 'newness' of new media is that this industry often feels that it's too new to find solutions to its problems elsewhere. Online has seemed happy to reinvent the wheel, rather than look for advice from someone with experience offline. Part of the process of growing up will be changing that attitude.
Hey brands, turn on your barcodes. Those physical world hyperlinks will allow you to keep contact after the sale.
In all the hoo-hah last year about the 10th anniversary of the commercial Internet, one of the recurring themes was the fact that technology had developed to such a point that many of the initial promises of the Internet could now be fulfilled. One of the most exciting - as one of the guests at our advertising roundtable last summer pointed out - is being able to communicate with customers beyond the point of purchase.
It's long been known that it's far more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. It should also be true that your existing customers are among your hottest prospects for more sales. And while direct marketers will argue that this has always been territory that they've exploited, the Internet has provided us with a toolset that's far more economical to use and can be employed on a far greater scale.
Fortunately, we're not the only people with this problem. Offline retailers have been dealing with this in the physical world of shelves and aisles for years. But one of the issues surrounding the 'newness' of new media is that this industry often feels that it's too new to find solutions to its problems elsewhere. Online has seemed happy to reinvent the wheel, rather than look for advice from someone with experience offline. Part of the process of growing up will be changing that attitude.
Hey brands, turn on your barcodes. Those physical world hyperlinks will allow you to keep contact after the sale.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
The Frog(s) Beat Google
Great catch from John Battelle Google setback in France on trademarks.
From C/Net news Google loses trademark dispute in France.
A French court has ruled that Google must refrain from using the trademarks of European resort chain Le Meridian Hotels and Resorts to trigger keyword ads.
On Dec. 16, a Nanterre court in France ruled that Google infringed on the trademarks of Le Meridien by allowing the hotel chain's rivals to bid on keywords of its name and appear prominently in related search results. Le Meridien had sued Google's French subsidiary on Oct. 25 after failing to reach an amicable agreement, according to court documents.
In a blow to Google's keyword-bidding engine, the French court ordered the company to stop linking ads to Le Meridien-trademarked terms by Monday or face a daily fine of $194 (150 euros). The company must also cease linking ads related to Le Meridien brands within 72 hours of whenever Le Meridien notifies it of listings in violation, or face a daily fine of 150 euros. Finally, Google must pay all court fees and a fine of $2,592 (2,000 euros).
A representative of Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said the company will appeal the decision. "We will continue to defend against this suit, which we believe is without merit," the representative said.
The decision casts a shadow on Google's billion-dollar money engine, keyword-based advertising, and potentially on the company's financial prospects in Europe.
The company makes about 98 percent of its revenue from keyword advertising linked to search technology, and many such ads are tied to branded or trademarked names of products and services. The technique has been effective because Web search is one of the primary ways that people find products and services.
But as the company has grown precipitously and has planted seeds of expansion in markets around the world, more companies have sought control over their brand names and trademarked terms in paid search.
There soon will be a way that brands and trademark owners will have direct control.
In Europe, some courts have been favorable to trademark owners. Louis Vuitton sued Google and its French subsidiary for similar alleged trademark infringement, and a French court ordered Google to cease the practice and pay a fine.
In the United States, however, the company recently won a favorable ruling in a case brought by Geico, the car insurance company. In December, a judge in Virginia ruled that as a matter of law, Google's use of Geico trademarks to trigger ads did not constitute trademark infringement and that Geico had not proven its case for dilution sufficiently. Google still faces other copyright disputes, including one brought by American Blind and Wallpaper Factory.
Google there's a way you can make nice with trademark owners and share in a very lucrative market as well...are ya interested?
What if trademark owners could not only "control" the way their brand was being advertised but also direct the interested query to a specific site. Let's say Parker Meridien could direct the searcher (with a deal w/ Google) that would allow a "parker meridien" query to go to the hotel site, in the city of their choice, and offer them a free night with a purchase of two.
Or if by using a cell phone, parker was typed (Parker Meridien would have to register this word) and by location based system (gps), Parker sees a tourist in Manhattan and would like them to stay at the 56th street location.
Send a text to cell "buy one night get second free" and respond within 2 hours. Would Parker Meridien find this info useful? How much would they pay for it?
I know when do a search for ANY hotel I am bombarded with travel agencies leading me to deals. Some of these hotels I give up trying to find their site because Google gives me everything BUT the hotel site.
If I'm willing to pay retail (instead of the Expedias and Pricelines) I want to go right to the main site of the hotel, not these travel sites.
I see a big future for hotel chains wanting to register their "name" in a registry for a direct connect feature.
Because after all, I was searching for the hotel not travel sites that could offer me deals wasnt I?
From C/Net news Google loses trademark dispute in France.
A French court has ruled that Google must refrain from using the trademarks of European resort chain Le Meridian Hotels and Resorts to trigger keyword ads.
On Dec. 16, a Nanterre court in France ruled that Google infringed on the trademarks of Le Meridien by allowing the hotel chain's rivals to bid on keywords of its name and appear prominently in related search results. Le Meridien had sued Google's French subsidiary on Oct. 25 after failing to reach an amicable agreement, according to court documents.
In a blow to Google's keyword-bidding engine, the French court ordered the company to stop linking ads to Le Meridien-trademarked terms by Monday or face a daily fine of $194 (150 euros). The company must also cease linking ads related to Le Meridien brands within 72 hours of whenever Le Meridien notifies it of listings in violation, or face a daily fine of 150 euros. Finally, Google must pay all court fees and a fine of $2,592 (2,000 euros).
A representative of Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said the company will appeal the decision. "We will continue to defend against this suit, which we believe is without merit," the representative said.
The decision casts a shadow on Google's billion-dollar money engine, keyword-based advertising, and potentially on the company's financial prospects in Europe.
The company makes about 98 percent of its revenue from keyword advertising linked to search technology, and many such ads are tied to branded or trademarked names of products and services. The technique has been effective because Web search is one of the primary ways that people find products and services.
But as the company has grown precipitously and has planted seeds of expansion in markets around the world, more companies have sought control over their brand names and trademarked terms in paid search.
There soon will be a way that brands and trademark owners will have direct control.
In Europe, some courts have been favorable to trademark owners. Louis Vuitton sued Google and its French subsidiary for similar alleged trademark infringement, and a French court ordered Google to cease the practice and pay a fine.
In the United States, however, the company recently won a favorable ruling in a case brought by Geico, the car insurance company. In December, a judge in Virginia ruled that as a matter of law, Google's use of Geico trademarks to trigger ads did not constitute trademark infringement and that Geico had not proven its case for dilution sufficiently. Google still faces other copyright disputes, including one brought by American Blind and Wallpaper Factory.
Google there's a way you can make nice with trademark owners and share in a very lucrative market as well...are ya interested?
What if trademark owners could not only "control" the way their brand was being advertised but also direct the interested query to a specific site. Let's say Parker Meridien could direct the searcher (with a deal w/ Google) that would allow a "parker meridien" query to go to the hotel site, in the city of their choice, and offer them a free night with a purchase of two.
Or if by using a cell phone, parker was typed (Parker Meridien would have to register this word) and by location based system (gps), Parker sees a tourist in Manhattan and would like them to stay at the 56th street location.
Send a text to cell "buy one night get second free" and respond within 2 hours. Would Parker Meridien find this info useful? How much would they pay for it?
I know when do a search for ANY hotel I am bombarded with travel agencies leading me to deals. Some of these hotels I give up trying to find their site because Google gives me everything BUT the hotel site.
If I'm willing to pay retail (instead of the Expedias and Pricelines) I want to go right to the main site of the hotel, not these travel sites.
I see a big future for hotel chains wanting to register their "name" in a registry for a direct connect feature.
Because after all, I was searching for the hotel not travel sites that could offer me deals wasnt I?
Jessica Simpson On My Cell
From MocoNews.net.
Story released in Mass High Tech Chaoticom to supply EMI Music songs to European cell phones.
Chaoticom, an Andover-based mobile music provider, has announced a deal providing its carrier partners access to EMI Music's audio catalogue of full-length audio tracks for download to mobile handsets.
Chaoticom will have access to approximately 200,000 tracks in EMI Music's catalogue to make available over time to its carrier. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.
"We are thrilled to offer EMI's rich music catalogue to our customers," said Adam Sexton, vice president, marketing and product management for Chaoticom, in a statement. "This deal builds on our commitment to deploying the strongest mobile music download platform in the industry and enable consumers to discover new music and download music over the air directly to their mobile phones."
From their mobile phones, Chaoticom users have the ability to conveniently browse for selected music favorites from current charts and catalogue selections. The service enables users to preview songs prior to purchasing them and downloading them over the air directly to their mobile handsets.
Chaoticom’s mobile music download services are available in five countries through providers including Orange (United Kingdom), Telenor (Norway), Eurotel (Czech Republic), Pannon (Hungary) and SingTel (Singapore).
Story released in Mass High Tech Chaoticom to supply EMI Music songs to European cell phones.
Chaoticom, an Andover-based mobile music provider, has announced a deal providing its carrier partners access to EMI Music's audio catalogue of full-length audio tracks for download to mobile handsets.
Chaoticom will have access to approximately 200,000 tracks in EMI Music's catalogue to make available over time to its carrier. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.
"We are thrilled to offer EMI's rich music catalogue to our customers," said Adam Sexton, vice president, marketing and product management for Chaoticom, in a statement. "This deal builds on our commitment to deploying the strongest mobile music download platform in the industry and enable consumers to discover new music and download music over the air directly to their mobile phones."
From their mobile phones, Chaoticom users have the ability to conveniently browse for selected music favorites from current charts and catalogue selections. The service enables users to preview songs prior to purchasing them and downloading them over the air directly to their mobile handsets.
Chaoticom’s mobile music download services are available in five countries through providers including Orange (United Kingdom), Telenor (Norway), Eurotel (Czech Republic), Pannon (Hungary) and SingTel (Singapore).
Do It Right Simon,Paula And The Guy That Thinks Hes Skinny Now
From Ad Age.com American Idol draws record audience.
American Idol started Americans with the concept of texting, now heres their chance to create a great mobilemarketing campaign to get SMS accepted in the States.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- A jazz-dancing janitor, a 17-year-old female boxer and a woman who pawned her wedding ring all helped the Fox Network draw its largest audience ever for a season premiere episode of American Idol.
According to early metered market data, the premiere of the fourth season of American Idol last night drew 33.45 million viewers and gained a 14 rating and a 33 share. By comparison, last week's highest rated show was CBS' CSI, which drew 27.5 million viewers.
Now when AI invites you to text in your favorite candidate, turn this info into an exciting campaign. It could be the catalyst for mobile marketing in the States.
Fox ran a total of 64 spots in the two-hour broadcast, not including promotions for Fox's own shows. The major advertisers included Burger King, Wal-Mart, H&R Block, Mitsubishi and a public service announcement for the government's anti-drug campaign.
I can think of dozens of ways Burger King could alone turn this data into a huge bonanza. Will the creative minds at BK "grill" this one or will they "fry"?
American Idol started Americans with the concept of texting, now heres their chance to create a great mobilemarketing campaign to get SMS accepted in the States.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- A jazz-dancing janitor, a 17-year-old female boxer and a woman who pawned her wedding ring all helped the Fox Network draw its largest audience ever for a season premiere episode of American Idol.
According to early metered market data, the premiere of the fourth season of American Idol last night drew 33.45 million viewers and gained a 14 rating and a 33 share. By comparison, last week's highest rated show was CBS' CSI, which drew 27.5 million viewers.
Now when AI invites you to text in your favorite candidate, turn this info into an exciting campaign. It could be the catalyst for mobile marketing in the States.
Fox ran a total of 64 spots in the two-hour broadcast, not including promotions for Fox's own shows. The major advertisers included Burger King, Wal-Mart, H&R Block, Mitsubishi and a public service announcement for the government's anti-drug campaign.
I can think of dozens of ways Burger King could alone turn this data into a huge bonanza. Will the creative minds at BK "grill" this one or will they "fry"?
The Start Of Service Provider And Financial Convergence
From Wireless Week Boost launches prepaid Visa card.
I envision the service providers getting into the credit/lending business as soon as they figure out how to make impulse buying through the phone easy..Text to win, text to buy, click to buy, wave to buy...it's coming
Nextel Communications' youth lifestyle brand Boost Mobile is hoping to entice teens to load additional prepaid minutes onto their phones, and maybe even teach a little financial responsibility, with the introduction of the Boost Mobile Prepaid Visa Card.
The Visa card, made possible through a partnership with Next Estate Communications, can be used like a debit card to purchase Re-Boost airtime, as well as other goods and services where Visa is accepted. To entice cardholders to use the Visa to buy airtime minutes, customers will receive 10 percent in Boost Mobile bonus dollars applied to their prepaid wireless service account for each time airtime is purchased.
I envision the service providers getting into the credit/lending business as soon as they figure out how to make impulse buying through the phone easy..Text to win, text to buy, click to buy, wave to buy...it's coming
Nextel Communications' youth lifestyle brand Boost Mobile is hoping to entice teens to load additional prepaid minutes onto their phones, and maybe even teach a little financial responsibility, with the introduction of the Boost Mobile Prepaid Visa Card.
The Visa card, made possible through a partnership with Next Estate Communications, can be used like a debit card to purchase Re-Boost airtime, as well as other goods and services where Visa is accepted. To entice cardholders to use the Visa to buy airtime minutes, customers will receive 10 percent in Boost Mobile bonus dollars applied to their prepaid wireless service account for each time airtime is purchased.
The Domain Race..But What Do You Really Win???
From Washington Post.com Race is on for control of key Internet domain.
The search for the next operator of "dot-net" -- the world's fourth largest Internet domain -- is officially underway, as bidders from around the world had until late last night to submit their applications to the group that oversees the Internet's global addressing system.
The Marina del Rey, Calif.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will review the bids with the help of a soon-to-be-named third-party evaluator and choose the next operator for the ".net" registry sometime in March, subject to aproval by the federal government.
Whoever controls the registry controls the global master list of Internet addresses ending in ".net." It is home to roughly 5 million addresses (a fraction of the 35 million registered under ".com") but plays a critical role in a vast amount of important Internet traffic. ICANN's decision has far-reaching implications for the Internet, and the world's largest high-tech firms are watching the competition closely.
One of the most vocal bidders has been VeriSign itself. In 1999, VeriSign inked deals with ICANN and the federal government that effectively ensured that the company would maintain control of .com in perpetuity. In return, VeriSign -- which once held a government-approved monopoly over the entire domain-name market -- agreed to relinquish exclusive control over ".org" (the world's fifth largest domain) and .net.
Maybe I dont get it but what is the prize if you win? Access to revenue from a commodity like product? Dot net, dot org, dot com, dot mobi, dot whatever.
If im really interested in winning the "race" I want to have access to the registry that will register every barcode, every RFID tag, every spoken word, every sound.
There are over 3 billion unique barcodes out there now ready to be registered, and estimates say more than 10 billion RFID tags will have been sold by year end.
Each RFID tag will have its own domain too as well as a barcode.
Those figures make the current website population seem miniscule. Thats the race I would want to win.
The search for the next operator of "dot-net" -- the world's fourth largest Internet domain -- is officially underway, as bidders from around the world had until late last night to submit their applications to the group that oversees the Internet's global addressing system.
The Marina del Rey, Calif.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will review the bids with the help of a soon-to-be-named third-party evaluator and choose the next operator for the ".net" registry sometime in March, subject to aproval by the federal government.
Whoever controls the registry controls the global master list of Internet addresses ending in ".net." It is home to roughly 5 million addresses (a fraction of the 35 million registered under ".com") but plays a critical role in a vast amount of important Internet traffic. ICANN's decision has far-reaching implications for the Internet, and the world's largest high-tech firms are watching the competition closely.
One of the most vocal bidders has been VeriSign itself. In 1999, VeriSign inked deals with ICANN and the federal government that effectively ensured that the company would maintain control of .com in perpetuity. In return, VeriSign -- which once held a government-approved monopoly over the entire domain-name market -- agreed to relinquish exclusive control over ".org" (the world's fifth largest domain) and .net.
Maybe I dont get it but what is the prize if you win? Access to revenue from a commodity like product? Dot net, dot org, dot com, dot mobi, dot whatever.
If im really interested in winning the "race" I want to have access to the registry that will register every barcode, every RFID tag, every spoken word, every sound.
There are over 3 billion unique barcodes out there now ready to be registered, and estimates say more than 10 billion RFID tags will have been sold by year end.
Each RFID tag will have its own domain too as well as a barcode.
Those figures make the current website population seem miniscule. Thats the race I would want to win.
Point-N-Buy Devices
From The Inquirer.net Mobile phones turned into point'n'buy devices.
A CONSORTIUM of technology companies is about to turn mobile phones into high-tech wallets.
The technology will let people make cash payments from their phones simply by pointing them at the object they want to buy.
Known as Near Field Communication, it has been jointly developed by Philips and Sony s expected to be available for use early next year.
The system, which is being introduced by Philips, Sony, Nokia, Samsung and the credit card company Visa, exploits a new development in the retail industry supply chain called Radio Frequency ID which is replacing bar codes.
Implementing this will happen with bar codes being "turned on" first though. It will take years before RFID tags are in every fast moving good. To start though, users will click on a barcode, or type in a specific word to be directed to a specific site of the manufacturer. Then a simple one-click and purchase is made.
The RFID tag is kind of already there w/ a bar code now. It is universal (same number has the same info everywhere) and each code will be used as a hyperlink soon. So instead of building a better mousetrap, use the one (cameraphone) that works now. The camera on the phone acts as an optical character recognition like an RFID tag reader will.
RFID allows companies to place tiny computer chips in individual items so they can be tracked and also opens a host of new high tech applications such as packages that can tell your fridge when they are about to go off.
By putting a tiny reader for the RFID chips in a mobile phone that uses the NFC radio system the phones can 'see' the RFID chips when they are placed close to them.
By working with Visa, Philips and Sony have been able to also build the 'chip and pin' computer chips now issued as standard on credit cards so that the phone can buy any object it is placed against.
Pressing a button on the phone will authorise the purchase potentially making cash tills a thing of the past
A CONSORTIUM of technology companies is about to turn mobile phones into high-tech wallets.
The technology will let people make cash payments from their phones simply by pointing them at the object they want to buy.
Known as Near Field Communication, it has been jointly developed by Philips and Sony s expected to be available for use early next year.
The system, which is being introduced by Philips, Sony, Nokia, Samsung and the credit card company Visa, exploits a new development in the retail industry supply chain called Radio Frequency ID which is replacing bar codes.
Implementing this will happen with bar codes being "turned on" first though. It will take years before RFID tags are in every fast moving good. To start though, users will click on a barcode, or type in a specific word to be directed to a specific site of the manufacturer. Then a simple one-click and purchase is made.
The RFID tag is kind of already there w/ a bar code now. It is universal (same number has the same info everywhere) and each code will be used as a hyperlink soon. So instead of building a better mousetrap, use the one (cameraphone) that works now. The camera on the phone acts as an optical character recognition like an RFID tag reader will.
RFID allows companies to place tiny computer chips in individual items so they can be tracked and also opens a host of new high tech applications such as packages that can tell your fridge when they are about to go off.
By putting a tiny reader for the RFID chips in a mobile phone that uses the NFC radio system the phones can 'see' the RFID chips when they are placed close to them.
By working with Visa, Philips and Sony have been able to also build the 'chip and pin' computer chips now issued as standard on credit cards so that the phone can buy any object it is placed against.
Pressing a button on the phone will authorise the purchase potentially making cash tills a thing of the past
Home Shopping Network Goes Interactive
From St Petersburg Times. HSN to introduce shopping by remote.
Subscribers to premium cable TV can push a button and order a movie. So when will they be able to click their remote and buy some gemstones on Home Shopping Network?
The ultimate in impulse shopping would be quite simple.
"If you see something you want on HSN, just click your remote," McInerney said.
Customers would have to register in advance with their credit or debit card numbers, mailing address and other shipping particulars. The cable company would provide a specially programmed set-top box that would carry safeguards to prevent misuse. The financial and operational details are being worked out. (HSN pays for its presence on cable and satellite TV.)
The promise of interactive TV - where the customer can talk back electronically to the TV - was supposed to be "the next big thing" back in the early 1990s. Many cable executives used the vision of a TV viewer watching sitcoms and clicking "buy it" on any piece of apparel the star was wearing or any piece of decor on the set as part of their pitch to raise billions to upgrade the nation's cable infrastructure.
While some customers only buy from the Web site, the network has found that most HSN customers shop through the TV programs and the Web site. Some buy while watching TV, but use the Web site for product research or to buy products not sold on TV. Some watch HSN with a computer on their lap tuned to hsn.com. Others stick only to hsn.com, which broadcasts HSN live in streaming video.
How about this, have users register thru their phone. The database can be used for promotion ideas on other items.
"HSN Buy Parties". Im sure women can think of ways to gather to watch HSN and now each could bring their phone and buy separately while watching HSN.
I think its just a matter of time where companies use the 1-click buy method (made famous by Amazon) to incorporate interactive buying through TV. You wont need a special cable box, just register with the company or credit card, and send a text to buy through the TV ad.
Heres how I think the service providers will expand into the credit biz. Register your cell phone w/ your credit card and now the impulse buying will even be greater. Either text to buy or scan a bar code to buy, or wave your phone over an interactive tag (RFID).
The easier you make it for people to purchase, and this would sure be easy, the more sales you can generate with a creative advertising campaign.
Subscribers to premium cable TV can push a button and order a movie. So when will they be able to click their remote and buy some gemstones on Home Shopping Network?
The ultimate in impulse shopping would be quite simple.
"If you see something you want on HSN, just click your remote," McInerney said.
Customers would have to register in advance with their credit or debit card numbers, mailing address and other shipping particulars. The cable company would provide a specially programmed set-top box that would carry safeguards to prevent misuse. The financial and operational details are being worked out. (HSN pays for its presence on cable and satellite TV.)
The promise of interactive TV - where the customer can talk back electronically to the TV - was supposed to be "the next big thing" back in the early 1990s. Many cable executives used the vision of a TV viewer watching sitcoms and clicking "buy it" on any piece of apparel the star was wearing or any piece of decor on the set as part of their pitch to raise billions to upgrade the nation's cable infrastructure.
While some customers only buy from the Web site, the network has found that most HSN customers shop through the TV programs and the Web site. Some buy while watching TV, but use the Web site for product research or to buy products not sold on TV. Some watch HSN with a computer on their lap tuned to hsn.com. Others stick only to hsn.com, which broadcasts HSN live in streaming video.
How about this, have users register thru their phone. The database can be used for promotion ideas on other items.
"HSN Buy Parties". Im sure women can think of ways to gather to watch HSN and now each could bring their phone and buy separately while watching HSN.
I think its just a matter of time where companies use the 1-click buy method (made famous by Amazon) to incorporate interactive buying through TV. You wont need a special cable box, just register with the company or credit card, and send a text to buy through the TV ad.
Heres how I think the service providers will expand into the credit biz. Register your cell phone w/ your credit card and now the impulse buying will even be greater. Either text to buy or scan a bar code to buy, or wave your phone over an interactive tag (RFID).
The easier you make it for people to purchase, and this would sure be easy, the more sales you can generate with a creative advertising campaign.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Mercedes Tops Em All
BMW, Corvette used a toll free number to get the permission to market their new models to cell phone users, but Daimler Chrysler is doing it better.
From Just Auto.com Smart claims a first for text message response system to TV advertising.
DaimlerChrysler's Smart has become the first car manufacturer in the UK, and possibly the world, to use SMS responses in its TV advertising, allowing viewers to arrange test drives, request brochures or locate dealers by sending text messages from their mobile phones.
Following a successful trial in print media, Smart UK is using SMS response for its latest TV advertising campaign for the ForFour. Consumers text ‘Join in’ to an on-screen five-digit number to request a test drive.
Its really called "opt-in" by advertisers.
They then text their name, house number and postcode to receive details of their nearest dealer, and can request a brochure and a phone call to arrange the test drive. The data is validated by supplier TXT4 and sent to Smart’s contact centre for action.
TXT 4 said new research indicates that SMS is consumers’ preferred method of responding to TV advertising, as it takes seconds and does not interrupting viewing.
Not only did they get the user to include his address and name but by using their cell phone the advertiser has an immediate way to reach this person..anytime, anywhere.
From Just Auto.com Smart claims a first for text message response system to TV advertising.
DaimlerChrysler's Smart has become the first car manufacturer in the UK, and possibly the world, to use SMS responses in its TV advertising, allowing viewers to arrange test drives, request brochures or locate dealers by sending text messages from their mobile phones.
Following a successful trial in print media, Smart UK is using SMS response for its latest TV advertising campaign for the ForFour. Consumers text ‘Join in’ to an on-screen five-digit number to request a test drive.
Its really called "opt-in" by advertisers.
They then text their name, house number and postcode to receive details of their nearest dealer, and can request a brochure and a phone call to arrange the test drive. The data is validated by supplier TXT4 and sent to Smart’s contact centre for action.
TXT 4 said new research indicates that SMS is consumers’ preferred method of responding to TV advertising, as it takes seconds and does not interrupting viewing.
Not only did they get the user to include his address and name but by using their cell phone the advertiser has an immediate way to reach this person..anytime, anywhere.
I Want My ITV !!
From PR Web First cell phone driven interactive TV programming in US market.
Hollywood, CA (PRWEB) January 19, 2005 -- Travertine Entertainment, an interactive television production company, announced today that it will introduce its innovative SMS-TV at the 2005 NATPE Conference & Exhibition, January 25 through 27, 2005, at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The announcement was made today by Alan Toman, president of Travertine Entertainment.
Interactive SMS-TV programming gives broadcast TV viewers the ability to chat, vote or even control the outcome of a show and see it all on the television screen in real time.
“We’re very excited to be introducing this breakthrough television experience to the U.S. at NATPE,” said Toman. “Now that anyone with a text-enabled cell phone can participate in interactive broadcast programming, there really is unlimited potential for success, both for interactive television and for reaching the 18-34 yr old U.S. market, that segment that absolutely embraces text messaging.”
And what happens when every 18-34 yr old texts the the TV show for input? Travertine gets an instant database that they can advertise to..anytime, anywhere.
Now do you see how this opt-in thingie will work and what type of data you get?
Sending the text is considered the PULL part of advertising and with that comes the opt-in.
For example, let's say The Apprentice uses this SMS text idea to determine who will get fired this week. "Send a text to 1111 and vote for Bill or Kwami"...Now Donald Trump the self congratulating man that he is, will then use this data to market his bobble head doll. He now knows the cell phone number of every person that provided input to his show.
The PUSH part comes by advertising the bobble head doll to the phone.
See how valuable this will be?
This is how mobile advertising starts. Before you click on a barcode and go to a website, you need to start the SMS text messaging campaign.
Hollywood, CA (PRWEB) January 19, 2005 -- Travertine Entertainment, an interactive television production company, announced today that it will introduce its innovative SMS-TV at the 2005 NATPE Conference & Exhibition, January 25 through 27, 2005, at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The announcement was made today by Alan Toman, president of Travertine Entertainment.
Interactive SMS-TV programming gives broadcast TV viewers the ability to chat, vote or even control the outcome of a show and see it all on the television screen in real time.
“We’re very excited to be introducing this breakthrough television experience to the U.S. at NATPE,” said Toman. “Now that anyone with a text-enabled cell phone can participate in interactive broadcast programming, there really is unlimited potential for success, both for interactive television and for reaching the 18-34 yr old U.S. market, that segment that absolutely embraces text messaging.”
And what happens when every 18-34 yr old texts the the TV show for input? Travertine gets an instant database that they can advertise to..anytime, anywhere.
Now do you see how this opt-in thingie will work and what type of data you get?
Sending the text is considered the PULL part of advertising and with that comes the opt-in.
For example, let's say The Apprentice uses this SMS text idea to determine who will get fired this week. "Send a text to 1111 and vote for Bill or Kwami"...Now Donald Trump the self congratulating man that he is, will then use this data to market his bobble head doll. He now knows the cell phone number of every person that provided input to his show.
The PUSH part comes by advertising the bobble head doll to the phone.
See how valuable this will be?
This is how mobile advertising starts. Before you click on a barcode and go to a website, you need to start the SMS text messaging campaign.
It's Push Vs. Pull...Push Won't Work
An interesting article today from Techdirt on Circuit City's new advertising within the store concept.
Brick and mortar retailers are waking up to the fact that they're competing against online retailers, and are now doing plenty of things to try to make the in-store shopping experience better or to merge the two, in yet another example of how the analog and digital worlds are merging.
The latest can be seen in plans by Circuit City to really change the way they handle selling products to customers. On the web side, they want to go beyond "buy online, pickup at the store" (which they already offer) to "buy online, have a Circuit City employee, wearing Circuit City clothes in a Circuit City van deliver the product to you."
Even more interesting, though, is the idea of handing out a set of headphones to every customers who walks in the store that tracks their locations and feeds them additional info about products, offers special promotions and can connect users to a live sales representative.
You're invading their space already, dont expect them to wear a headset too.
That's right, rather than having an in-store employee tapping you on the shoulder to see if you found everything you were looking for, that sales person may be completely virtual or possibly based in a call center halfway around the world. Obviously, if you don't want that, it's pretty simple to agree not to put the headphones on at all. What's more interesting, though, is to take this concept one step further.
Why do you need Circuit City's headphones?
Why not do it over your mobile phone, and have it be sales people at a different store with offers to entice you to buy from them instead.
It's already being done now.
Or, even, a comparison shopping service that can tell you that if you leave the Circuit City right now and go to Best Buy down the street, they'll promise you a 10% discount on that TV you're looking at. Obviously, the store owners won't like the idea of a "competitive" sales person in the store with them, but it's hard to see how they'll ban all mobile phones in their stores without losing a lot of customers.
Circuit City is trying to push too much advertising to the consumer. Instead, allow the consumer to pull info from selected products. How do you pull info from products? Yes, you use a mobile phone to retrieve the desired info based on a physical world hyperlink.
I purposely avoid Sound Advice just because I see the salesmen drool inside the front door waiting to hound the consumer. Too much Push not even Pull.
Brick and mortar retailers are waking up to the fact that they're competing against online retailers, and are now doing plenty of things to try to make the in-store shopping experience better or to merge the two, in yet another example of how the analog and digital worlds are merging.
The latest can be seen in plans by Circuit City to really change the way they handle selling products to customers. On the web side, they want to go beyond "buy online, pickup at the store" (which they already offer) to "buy online, have a Circuit City employee, wearing Circuit City clothes in a Circuit City van deliver the product to you."
Even more interesting, though, is the idea of handing out a set of headphones to every customers who walks in the store that tracks their locations and feeds them additional info about products, offers special promotions and can connect users to a live sales representative.
You're invading their space already, dont expect them to wear a headset too.
That's right, rather than having an in-store employee tapping you on the shoulder to see if you found everything you were looking for, that sales person may be completely virtual or possibly based in a call center halfway around the world. Obviously, if you don't want that, it's pretty simple to agree not to put the headphones on at all. What's more interesting, though, is to take this concept one step further.
Why do you need Circuit City's headphones?
Why not do it over your mobile phone, and have it be sales people at a different store with offers to entice you to buy from them instead.
It's already being done now.
Or, even, a comparison shopping service that can tell you that if you leave the Circuit City right now and go to Best Buy down the street, they'll promise you a 10% discount on that TV you're looking at. Obviously, the store owners won't like the idea of a "competitive" sales person in the store with them, but it's hard to see how they'll ban all mobile phones in their stores without losing a lot of customers.
Circuit City is trying to push too much advertising to the consumer. Instead, allow the consumer to pull info from selected products. How do you pull info from products? Yes, you use a mobile phone to retrieve the desired info based on a physical world hyperlink.
I purposely avoid Sound Advice just because I see the salesmen drool inside the front door waiting to hound the consumer. Too much Push not even Pull.
More Physical World Hyperlinking
From Mobile Weblog.
I wrote a feature for Net Imperative last year that proposed that an important aspect of location based services will be real world hyperlinks that you "click" on with your camera phone to explore the virtual world behind it. This works in much the same way as if you click here you can read my original article.
Clicking in that instance was done with a camera phone reading a bar code. But there are clearly other ways of tackling this. It could be with a virtual hypertext graffito, like I wrote about yesterday. Or, if Hartmut Neven of The Information Sciences Institute is to be believed, it could be done with a fiendishly clever photo recognition service that he describes as a "visual Google".
I appreciate it's very early days and Mr Neven openly admits the problem with scale. But we do need to be asking some of these questions if the real world hyperlinking concept can take off. Maybe, in the short term, bar codes are a useful work around, before the visual Google concept takes over.
Real world hyperlinks will take off but in order to do so , they must be universal in nature. The same number, word, image must be recognizable by all, not just some with a certain service. Take a universal database (ie barcodes, fingerprints, rfid tags) and assign a website to them. The barcode on a can of Coke is the same in NY as it is in Florida. The guy clicking on the barcode will be directed to the same place.
The idea that all images will have their own database is a great one, but very futuristic. There are still way too many variables involved to get the universal aspect down on an image...light, distance, clarity.
Great idea though and im sure it will be done eventually. I think by the time they create the database for every image, there will already be an rfid tag on that image and it will be much easier to wave your phone near it instead of taking a picture and looking it up in a database. It will be more reliable and quicker.
I wrote a feature for Net Imperative last year that proposed that an important aspect of location based services will be real world hyperlinks that you "click" on with your camera phone to explore the virtual world behind it. This works in much the same way as if you click here you can read my original article.
Clicking in that instance was done with a camera phone reading a bar code. But there are clearly other ways of tackling this. It could be with a virtual hypertext graffito, like I wrote about yesterday. Or, if Hartmut Neven of The Information Sciences Institute is to be believed, it could be done with a fiendishly clever photo recognition service that he describes as a "visual Google".
I appreciate it's very early days and Mr Neven openly admits the problem with scale. But we do need to be asking some of these questions if the real world hyperlinking concept can take off. Maybe, in the short term, bar codes are a useful work around, before the visual Google concept takes over.
Real world hyperlinks will take off but in order to do so , they must be universal in nature. The same number, word, image must be recognizable by all, not just some with a certain service. Take a universal database (ie barcodes, fingerprints, rfid tags) and assign a website to them. The barcode on a can of Coke is the same in NY as it is in Florida. The guy clicking on the barcode will be directed to the same place.
The idea that all images will have their own database is a great one, but very futuristic. There are still way too many variables involved to get the universal aspect down on an image...light, distance, clarity.
Great idea though and im sure it will be done eventually. I think by the time they create the database for every image, there will already be an rfid tag on that image and it will be much easier to wave your phone near it instead of taking a picture and looking it up in a database. It will be more reliable and quicker.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
The Corvette Was First But Will BMW Market Better?
From PR Newswire BMW offers sneak peak of New 3 Series using mobile phone technology.
Corvette did something similar to this with their Z car a few weeks back.
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- BMW is offering consumers an
innovative first-look at its new 3 Series model via their mobile phones.
The new BMW 3 Series is set to launch this Spring, however those eager to
enjoy a preview of BMW's upcoming offering can call 703-286-BMW3 on mobile
phones equipped with internet access to see, hear and experience the new car.
The micro-website includes new photos, graphics and product information on the
new car and consumers may also choose to receive future updates on the 3
Series via their cellular phone as the car nears its launch.
"By marketing via cellular phones, BMW is taking the lead in building
deeper and more satisfying relationships with their customers," said Lou
Schultz, chairman, Boomerang Mobile Media.
Now what happens to all of those people that call for this info on their mobile phone. They are indirectly giving BMW permission to market their products. This is the equivalent to getting those mail-in cards, or call-in biz for telemarketers.
What does BMW do w/ this data? Will they use discretion when marketing? Either way BMW just got one huge databank of interested customers w/ an 800 number.
Corvette did something similar to this with their Z car a few weeks back.
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- BMW is offering consumers an
innovative first-look at its new 3 Series model via their mobile phones.
The new BMW 3 Series is set to launch this Spring, however those eager to
enjoy a preview of BMW's upcoming offering can call 703-286-BMW3 on mobile
phones equipped with internet access to see, hear and experience the new car.
The micro-website includes new photos, graphics and product information on the
new car and consumers may also choose to receive future updates on the 3
Series via their cellular phone as the car nears its launch.
"By marketing via cellular phones, BMW is taking the lead in building
deeper and more satisfying relationships with their customers," said Lou
Schultz, chairman, Boomerang Mobile Media.
Now what happens to all of those people that call for this info on their mobile phone. They are indirectly giving BMW permission to market their products. This is the equivalent to getting those mail-in cards, or call-in biz for telemarketers.
What does BMW do w/ this data? Will they use discretion when marketing? Either way BMW just got one huge databank of interested customers w/ an 800 number.
The Future Of The Internet
In a survey, technology experts and scholars evaluate where the network is headed in the next ten years.
Interesting read Future of the Internet.
Some tidbits I found of interest.
"Connections across media, entertainment, advertising and commerce will become stronger with future margins going to a new breed of 'digital media titans'..Well branded innovators such as Google and Strabucks have a chance to build all-new distribution models tied to ad revenue and retail sales"
"Health care is apporxiamately 10 years behind other endeavors in being transfromed and will experience its boom in the next 10 years".
"Digitization and the Internet make for a potent brew"
"The 'always-on' internet combined with computers talking to computers will be a more profound transformation of society than what we've seen so far"
Interesting read Future of the Internet.
Some tidbits I found of interest.
"Connections across media, entertainment, advertising and commerce will become stronger with future margins going to a new breed of 'digital media titans'..Well branded innovators such as Google and Strabucks have a chance to build all-new distribution models tied to ad revenue and retail sales"
"Health care is apporxiamately 10 years behind other endeavors in being transfromed and will experience its boom in the next 10 years".
"Digitization and the Internet make for a potent brew"
"The 'always-on' internet combined with computers talking to computers will be a more profound transformation of society than what we've seen so far"
Monday, January 17, 2005
What Happens When You Combine 6 of Top 10 Innovations?
Thanks to Mobile Weblog for the alert.
CNN listed the top 25 innovations for the past 25 years.
Heres the list.
The Top 10 I thought was eye=opening.
TOP INNOVATIONS
1. The Internet
2. Cell phone
3. Personal computers
4. Fiber optics
5. E-mail
6. Commercialized GPS
7. Portable computers
8. Memory storage discs
9. Consumer level digital camera
10. Radio frequency ID tags
What happens when you can combine 1,2,3,5,6,9,10... I would think that would be a pretty powerful device.
Chances are you'll have one in your pocket within the next 2 years.
CNN listed the top 25 innovations for the past 25 years.
Heres the list.
The Top 10 I thought was eye=opening.
TOP INNOVATIONS
1. The Internet
2. Cell phone
3. Personal computers
4. Fiber optics
5. E-mail
6. Commercialized GPS
7. Portable computers
8. Memory storage discs
9. Consumer level digital camera
10. Radio frequency ID tags
What happens when you can combine 1,2,3,5,6,9,10... I would think that would be a pretty powerful device.
Chances are you'll have one in your pocket within the next 2 years.
Tags or Bar Codes?
From Business wire. PSC's 5500-B RFID reader enables attendees on-site to fully experience RFID applications in the "X05 smart store".
PSC, Inc., an international data-collection technology and services provider, will participate with IconNicholson in the National Retail Federation's 2005 EXPO to enable attendees to fully experience the RFID applications developed by IconNicholson for the "X05 smart store".
PSC's Falcon 5500-B is currently in selected alpha trials will be used to commission attendee badges at the EXPO so they can experience X05 to its full potential. The Falcon 5500-B emerged from PSC's popular Falcon line, a durable, mobile computing family of products.
This mobile hybrid computer handheld has the ability to read both barcodes and EPCGlobal standard UHF RFID tags.
The handhelds are being used in IconNicholson's RFID Center of Excellence in New York City and reflect the next step in PSC's "generational" approach to emerging trends in the dynamic retail industry.
PSC, Inc., an international data-collection technology and services provider, will participate with IconNicholson in the National Retail Federation's 2005 EXPO to enable attendees to fully experience the RFID applications developed by IconNicholson for the "X05 smart store".
PSC's Falcon 5500-B is currently in selected alpha trials will be used to commission attendee badges at the EXPO so they can experience X05 to its full potential. The Falcon 5500-B emerged from PSC's popular Falcon line, a durable, mobile computing family of products.
This mobile hybrid computer handheld has the ability to read both barcodes and EPCGlobal standard UHF RFID tags.
The handhelds are being used in IconNicholson's RFID Center of Excellence in New York City and reflect the next step in PSC's "generational" approach to emerging trends in the dynamic retail industry.
Symbian's Best Apps?
From SymbianOne Nokia, Sendo, Siemens and Symbian Challenge Finalists announced.
The Series 60 Challenge, sponsored by Nokia, Sendo, Siemens and Symbian, generated 138 registrations in total from all over the world. Finalists have been announced with winners to be selected and announced next month at Series 60 Gala to be held in Nice
The Series 60 Challenge team, with the support of a team of experts, spent the first two weeks of January testing and analyzing the submissions. On Thursday, January 13, 2005, the Series 60 Challenge Jury selected the finalists.
The Series 60 Challenge team would like to thank everyone who took part in the competition. The majority of the submitted entries were innovative concepts and professionally done. It was an exciting and rewarding time to review the entries.
Best Media/Music App
Scanbuy Inc. - scanZOOM: scanZOOM is a solution that allows customers to access multiple content with their camera phone. By pointing at a bar-code with their camera, consumers capture and decode that information, then transmit it to the scanZOOM middleware platform that will obtain and reformat multiple content related to the product bar-code.
It's nice to see a mobile OS recognize this application.
The Series 60 Challenge, sponsored by Nokia, Sendo, Siemens and Symbian, generated 138 registrations in total from all over the world. Finalists have been announced with winners to be selected and announced next month at Series 60 Gala to be held in Nice
The Series 60 Challenge team, with the support of a team of experts, spent the first two weeks of January testing and analyzing the submissions. On Thursday, January 13, 2005, the Series 60 Challenge Jury selected the finalists.
The Series 60 Challenge team would like to thank everyone who took part in the competition. The majority of the submitted entries were innovative concepts and professionally done. It was an exciting and rewarding time to review the entries.
Best Media/Music App
Scanbuy Inc. - scanZOOM: scanZOOM is a solution that allows customers to access multiple content with their camera phone. By pointing at a bar-code with their camera, consumers capture and decode that information, then transmit it to the scanZOOM middleware platform that will obtain and reformat multiple content related to the product bar-code.
It's nice to see a mobile OS recognize this application.
"Now Turn And Cough"...
From DM Europe Cough tones advertising.
Millions of people in the UK can expect to be struck down with colds or flu at some point this winter - with the average person catching cold between two and five times a year. But next time you're on the train and hear that irritating cough, it may actually be a phone ringing!
Buongiorno Vitaminic, the Italy-based mobile aggregator, has devised an unusual mobile advertising campaign for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's Benelyn cough medicine that turns a mobile phone's ring-tone into a coughing sound.
The campaign's so-called Cough Tones are an attention-grabbing part of a Benylin campaign to encourage people to identify the type of cough they have and choose the appropriate remedy
Visitors to the site can select one of three free Cough Tones - dry and tickly, loud and chesty or a mixture of both - which is then sent to their mobile.
The site itself is designed to educate customers about coughs and remedies and also includes a free SMS service to send "stop coughing" messages to cough-afflicted friends or colleagues.
Millions of people in the UK can expect to be struck down with colds or flu at some point this winter - with the average person catching cold between two and five times a year. But next time you're on the train and hear that irritating cough, it may actually be a phone ringing!
Buongiorno Vitaminic, the Italy-based mobile aggregator, has devised an unusual mobile advertising campaign for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's Benelyn cough medicine that turns a mobile phone's ring-tone into a coughing sound.
The campaign's so-called Cough Tones are an attention-grabbing part of a Benylin campaign to encourage people to identify the type of cough they have and choose the appropriate remedy
Visitors to the site can select one of three free Cough Tones - dry and tickly, loud and chesty or a mixture of both - which is then sent to their mobile.
The site itself is designed to educate customers about coughs and remedies and also includes a free SMS service to send "stop coughing" messages to cough-afflicted friends or colleagues.
Seek And Ye Shall Find
From www.3g.co.uk Vodfone 3G customers get find and seek.
Europe : Mobile Commerce announced that it has updated and extended the Vodafone Live! `Find and Seek` service as well as launching a 3G version, which features Multimap``s content rich maps.
The updates allow Vodafone customers to organise activities from cosying up to Tom Cruise in their preferred cinema, to locating a sports bar to watch the world cup qualifiers in - all direct from their mobile phone. In total, Mobile Commerce has enhanced the ``Find and Seek`` offering with an additional 31 services ranging from clubbing information to hotel reservations.
The service, available to 3G customers, is a very visual experience. Users who select ``Find and Seek`` from the Live! menu are presented with a map based on their current location. Users are then presented with a list of five service types in the vicinity.
The selection of services presented to users is dependent upon the time of day so, in the evening services include bars, restaurants and cinemas, whereas services promoted during the day include services like coffee shops. From this screen, users select the service they require and are then provided with more details. So, for example, if they wish to see a film, they select ``cinema.`` The service then locates the nearest cinema and advises the user of show times and prices for the latest release. To help users who are having trouble choosing between films, the service also provides access to reviews and even trailers, bringing 3G customers closer than ever before to their favourite stars of the big screen.
Europe : Mobile Commerce announced that it has updated and extended the Vodafone Live! `Find and Seek` service as well as launching a 3G version, which features Multimap``s content rich maps.
The updates allow Vodafone customers to organise activities from cosying up to Tom Cruise in their preferred cinema, to locating a sports bar to watch the world cup qualifiers in - all direct from their mobile phone. In total, Mobile Commerce has enhanced the ``Find and Seek`` offering with an additional 31 services ranging from clubbing information to hotel reservations.
The service, available to 3G customers, is a very visual experience. Users who select ``Find and Seek`` from the Live! menu are presented with a map based on their current location. Users are then presented with a list of five service types in the vicinity.
The selection of services presented to users is dependent upon the time of day so, in the evening services include bars, restaurants and cinemas, whereas services promoted during the day include services like coffee shops. From this screen, users select the service they require and are then provided with more details. So, for example, if they wish to see a film, they select ``cinema.`` The service then locates the nearest cinema and advises the user of show times and prices for the latest release. To help users who are having trouble choosing between films, the service also provides access to reviews and even trailers, bringing 3G customers closer than ever before to their favourite stars of the big screen.
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