News hit the Internet today that Disney just bought into Hulu, the video sharing site that is making YouTube very nervous—and with good reason.
Disney, with its shiny new 27% stake in Hulu, joins NewsCorp and NBC as part-owners, making up a total of 81% ownership of the video powerhouse. What this means for viewers is that now, in addition to being able to watch FOX and NBC programming for free, we now get ABC, Disney Channel, and ABC Family content as well. Score one for the viewers and content providers.
But why should YouTube care? They’ll still get the same content, right? Not necessarily… Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not sure Kevin Nalty (aka Nalts) articulated his ideas about advertisers’ misuse of user-generated online video in the most effective way in his recent post at adage.com (http://tinyurl.com/webstars), but he’s right on with a few of his main points. Indeed, his argument that the videos of established “web stars” should be immune to the usual logic of letting your competitors “test the water,” or “taste the lettuce and the poison ivy” or whatever cliché he used makes quite a bit of sense. When the facts about these videos are taken in sum, advertising with them should be a no-brainer:
TONS of video to choose from +
millions of devoted followers +
“stars” who have day jobs and never really expected to make any real $ off this stuff anyway +
several ways to advertise (in-video, pre-video, banner, product placement)
As much as the recent fast food discounts have excited me, I have yet to take one up on the offer. I believe Denny’s started off the freebie food this year by offering a free Grand Slam, and now KFC, El Pollo Loco, Jack in the Box, and Baskin Robbins have made similar tempting offers. The most recent is Baskin Robbins whose scoops of ice cream (3 max) will only be$0.31 TODAY from 5-10pm at all US and Canada stores to show appreciation for local firefighters.
I am a complete foodie and keep these types of deals on my radar, yet I have to ponder is the offer worth the wait…and my health? Read the rest of this entry »
Next time you want to hang out on the couch and watch a bit of tv, you might have a couple more options. Just curl up on the couch grab that pillow, blanket and contact all of your FACEBOOK or MYSPACE friends to join into a relatively new phenomena called SOCIAL TV.
Splashcast and Hulu hooked up a few months ago and in conjunction with a savvy app developer are ready to unveil to the masses true Social TV.
This app has a cool few features, specifically the integration of what the developers are calling “chatter.” Chatter is micro conversations between you and all your “social friends.”
“The cool thing is that this is not done in real-time, but instead any time you chatter, it is synced to the video. So if you watch The Simpsons and put in a comment 6 minutes into the show, future users will see that comment, even if they watch the episode the next day. It’s like a running commentary left by social network users. Splashcast claims that during the two week test-run, time spent in the apps increased 50%, showing that comments make videos much more engaging. Other social features include polls and ratings” - mashable 4/28
I feel theoretically it is a very interesting concept but will it replace the “hanging out with your REAL friends?” Or is this going to segway into a new NBC show called Friends 2.0?
Time will only tell - but what do you guys think???
The Russian-born Los Angeles resident has parlayed her educational background as a philologist (a linguist who also engages in literary studies) and an etymologist (someone who studies the roots and history of words) into over 100 millions views (views attached to $$$ - mind you, as her video feature banner ads) on YouTube. She records videos with an average length of about 1:30 on the history of a given word or phrase, which is requested by her fans on YouTube, Twitter, and her website hotforwords.com. Now of course not just any philologist could create the online empire that Ms. Orlova now rules, and yes, the factor that allows her to do so is her physical appearance. And there is exactly NOTHING wrong with this. She is bombarded with crude and insulting comments on YouTube, yet I’m sure she gets the last laugh. Read the rest of this entry »
Imagine you were completely paralyzed. You couldn’t speak. You couldn’t move your hands to write or type. You could barely blink your eyes. But in spite of that, your brain was working normally—you were totally cut locked in and cut off from communicating with the rest of the world.
Then imagine someone gave you a voice.
Adam Wilson, a doctoral candidate in biomedical research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is trying to do just that. He and his colleagues have been working for a long time now on developing an accessible means of communication for victims of “locked in syndrome.” These are people whose brains function normally, but they are trapped in bodies that cannot move or speak due to illness or injury. They could be suffering from ALS like Stephen Hawking, or they may have suffered a stroke or high spinal cord injury. Some have found slow, painstaking ways of communication, involving eye blinks or the like, but Wilson and his labmates are trying to make interacting with the rest of the world easier. Until recently, it seemed that such technology was at least a decade away—but then Wilson and his supervisor, Justin Williams, had an epiphany. Read the rest of this entry »
While most major sports leagues are dabbling in the digital space, the NHL is leading the charge which starts at the top. The entire league’s corporate offices seemingly are in the loop and continue to push the digital agenda further down the line. Read the rest of this entry »
Calling all dog lovers! A new version of the Honda Element SUV has arrived for you and your little (or big) dog too, with it’s own “dog friendly” tag on the back of the car, a mesh separator net, a spill-proof water bowl, an electric fan, a retractable ramp, and other features.
The floor mats are even embellished with imprints of dog bones! Incidentally Toyota will be offering similar dog accessories for its 2009 Venza model.
As a fellow dog owner, I love the concept and have to wonder what took so long?! Many pet owners have been known to pamper their pets with products such as Swarovski Louve designer dog collars, Pet Head by Bed Head bath products, Juicy Couture clothing, monogrammed Christian Audigier beds, and expensive pooch purses. So why not buy a car suited to make their life and their pets easier?! According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (2007-2008), there are 74.8 million dog owners in the US, with 39% of households owning one dog. 31,507,457 purchase Christmas gifts for their dogs and 9,849,021 celebrate their dogs’ birthday (American Pet Association, 2006). With these facts in mind, Toyota and Honda are leading the pack in an attempt to gain more market share by tapping into this niche market with huge potential.
We’ll leave it to the dogs to decide which company offers the better treat.
I just heard about a project a few friends of friends are doing – and I think it shows (or could show, depending on how the whole thing develops) the degree to which social media and its influence are progressing.
We’ve all seen city streets and municipal buildings covered in graffiti. Some of us lamented the lack of respect for public property, while others thought, “what a cool display of artistic freedom and self-expression.” Well finally, someone has thought of a way for those two camps to meet that doesn’t involve a mural on a library wall.
Designer Martin Lihs has invented WiiSpray, a way of turning a simple Nintendo Wii into a virtual spray can. With nothing but a Wiimote and a bit of Flash animation, you can tag to your heart’s content and then erase it all, as easily as if you were shaking an Etch-a-Sketch. I’ll let the video show you what that looks like, but meanwhile, think of the possibilities! Imagine putting up a screen in a subway station or a building lobby, or even the waiting room in the DMV. People can draw and doodle and make their marks without actually leaving a scratch! What a cool way to get a community art project going, and what great advertising for Nintendo, eh?
I went to watch a movie about urban poverty and the struggles of inner city life and found myself swimming through a sea of sneaker wearing, hoodie bearing, and skateboard toting tweens and teens to find a seat. Was I mistakenly in the theatre for a new Thrasher film? Nope, I was seeing the power of social media marketing first-hand.
An undeniably Media 2.0 savvy and sophisticated skateboarding multi-media web site(TheBerrics.com) had posted a request for the support of this particular indie film. Reward for going to see the movie was entrance into the private skateboarding park. Results: Sold out show times and gleeful young skateboarders clutching to ticket stubs with their buttery fingers. Read the rest of this entry »
If you love pizza and live around one of the 650 CiCi’s Pizza locations, don’t be embarrassed to pick up that lonely penny on the ground. Since March 30, one million pennies are being dispersed on the streets surrounding the nationwide restaurants that will be marked with CiCi’s Pizza promotional stickers touting free items and buy one get one free offers. They know how to do it right when it comes to promoting this campaign by mixing traditional, digital, and social media efforts including: 3 national commercials; a Facebook page; a unique url (www.BeAPennyPickerUpper.com) driving traffic to a page on their websitewhere a photo can be uploaded of your face to be posted on a digital “Proud Penny Picker Upper” bobblehead trophy; and other interactive elements. The overall campaign will boost sales, but I am interested to see how many pennies are actually redeemed. Sorry to say there are no CiCi’s Pizza restaurants in California, so best of luck to those of you fortunate to have a CiCi’s in your state!
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I am a complete foodie and keep these types of deals on my radar, yet I have to ponder is the offer worth the wait…and my health? 
