Is that "everything" in your pocket?

FORMATTED FOR MOBILE PHONES

Many years ago Mike, George, Nick, Sam and Bob
were walking down a dirt path...

They came to a point where there were several paths
to choose from...

Each decided to take a separate route, occasionally
they would cross paths with one another...

Until one day they all emerged on a single narrow path and
begun to fight to be the first in line...

At which point it became clear that all paths lead to the same place...
in this case the place is the internet on ones phone...

First and foremost there is a paradox embedded in the mobile web...
Screen size and keyboard limitations and processing power demand simplicity...

However, common phone features (GPS)that are not present on desktops demand complexity...

So what does this mean to business...well for starters it means that companies can actually track the physical whereabouts of their customers...for instance...is it possible for BestBuy to inform a mailing list customer of a relevant sale...via their phone...as they walk past the store?

It also allows for a whole new arena of interaction...
Can consumer brands entice potential customers to scan QR codes and actually interact with the product before purchasing it?

Can an upset consumer get instant "public" customer support via Twitter?

The answer to all the questions is yes...and then some...for instance...a customer no longer needs to be consuming content (in front of a screen or on paper) to be hit with targeted ads.

Once again it should be noted that the existence of such technologies does not necessitate the realization of potential...rather each individual company has a responsibility to execute the use of such technologies in a manner that encourages the user actually engage...

Another quick thought...once we in North America can actually purchase items via phones...will Loblaws be able to link a Twitter message to a customer who just purchased some cheesecake? Time will tell...

As a parting gift I will leave you with some cool news relevant to the Canadian telecommunication publishing industry as well as Canadian media...

Shaw recently made some moves towards the purchase of Canwest...for their content!!!...so refreshing to see someone make a move in this market without resorting to complaining to the CRTC...some real strategy is so much cooler then complaining...

heres the real news...Goldman Sachs Surprised by Canwest Sale, National Post Reports...Why Shaw wants a piece of Canwest and Why Shaw wants CanWest

Podcast Added - AV and the Internet: One Persons Curse another Persons Blessing

Media in the digital age is a ridiculously broad topic...


It encompasses discussions of old copyright laws and new business models...It provides a platform for odd and obscure to compete against the established and mainstream...It allows for targeted advertising where viewers get to choose the commercials they watch...and most important to me...it creates an ecosystem where substance and hype compete for the attention of the masses...regardless of the resources behind it...


As what I write is largely restricted to the academic nature of this exercise I am going to look at a few examples of digital media that highlight the above...

Music is a funny thing in that most artists would kill just to have someone they don't know listen to their creations...while other artists and the businesses that enable them are concerned with income first...Enter the Creative Commons License a copy right alternative that does not assume full protection...but rather matches 'copyright clauses' with the intention of the artist...This combined with the decline of the traditional music business models allow for new business models of music distribution to emerge...some new models include LiveNations artist deals that focus on all revenue streams (concert ticket sales, merchandising etc.) related to an artist...Theres the iTunes model...Pandora's model...and then there's MySpace...

The latter two create low cost avenues for artists to give their material to the world...for example without the internet and Creative Commons we would never see this...


But the new way of doing things is not lost on big business...in the olden days a company like Nike would pay big bucks for the chance to roll dice on placing a commercial on TV hoping that the content and product resonate with the folks watching TV (assuming they are in fact watching and channel surfing while the networks get paid)...today if Nike has a commercial that's worth it's shit then people are likely to seek it out...wow sports fans seeking out commercials cause they actually offer some entertainment value...all without paying networks...


So it is clear that to date the internet and the AV avenues are democratic enough to have all sorts of players going at it on the same field...but the substance has to be there....

You can use all the tools recommended in the Social Media Bible...and gain zero...any content has to be worth it's shit in terms of production and quality (not necessarily at a hight cost) as well as relevance...while it's hard to find the looser's their is a consistent presence of the x-factor that is a necessary component of going viral in all that are worth watching...






Our Podcast:



podcastmt8425.mp3

The Business of Gaming

A game is a game is a game...until you throw it on a network...and...well then the game changes...

So what is the potential of virtual worlds and games?

Well that really depends on which games your talking about...

For instance Second Life is the most popular virtual world...it appears to have a decent size user base...it has enterprise applications...and the presence of some pretty big brands...

Without hindsight it's impossible to say if the success to date is based on substance or hype...but if I was a betting man I'd take the latter...

As a business on it's own I think that there is some substance...until some disruptive technology comes along Second Life should be able to maintain their user base...but corporate interest is another story...

I'd like to think that I'm more then just a hater so I'll throw down some  reasons...

On-line collaboration...it's cool to have avatars attend meetings in a virtual world...but does it add any value? is it really sensible or secure to hold conferences in a virtual world that is open to anyone and hosted on another businesses servers?

If I know one thing it's that a sustainable business cannot be everything to everyone...it's still early in the game...but Second Life is going to have to choose a direction...if they try to act as an enterprise solution...someones gonna start another social virtual world...directing all resources to the cause...but I digress...

A company could use Second Life to raise brand awareness and protect their name from slander...but it's impossible to target marketing efforts...with such a diverse group of people...from so many regions...with their real identity and location concealed...how can a company measure their investment?

I do think that their is massive potential in niche virtual worlds that attract a certain demographic or interest group...like maybe a MBA virtual world...or an student athlete virtual world...or a regional virtual world...

Having said that...there appears to be a trade off between the openness of such worlds and the commercial potential for third parties...

But limitless potential is less relevant to games then to virtual worlds...so gaming consoles sitting on a network is a whole different story...

Be it a sporting game or guitar hero...it is far easier to understand the interest of your users...additionally by tracking ip addresses and internet service providers...ads can be targeted according to real life geography...virtual worlds such as Second Life would loose major appeal if different people saw different things based on their real world location...with Guitar Hero and...say...NHL 2010 (or whatever it's called) the adds by the stage or on the boards is unlikely to affect game play in the slightest...meaning that a guitar store in  Ohio can advertise to someone in Ohio whose playing with someone in Toronto...while they are exposed to a Toronto based retailer...