Google – Favourite Places

I don’t know what’s happening with Google but there are definitely way too many things to demonstrate that they are going to be taking over the world very very soon!!! After Google Goggles, they’ve just launched a new marketing initiative together with Business Owners to integrate even more the offline/online brand experience, taking advantage of all their existing internal tools/resources. I am talking about the newly developed Google Favourite Places which allows users to scan a QR Code outside any participating business and receive reviews and ratings from the Google community.

Take a look at the demo-video below which will show you how it works in more details…

Overall I think this is an amazing idea and will hopefully increase QR codes’ penetration, however I am not really sure how it compares to augmented reality applications which do exactly the same and with an easier procedure (used on apps like Layar or the same Google Goggles)

What’s your thoughts?

E./

Lastminute iPhone App – Topsee

Last night I was rather pleased to attend an event organised by the peeps at Lastminute Labs to promote their latest iPhone application, TopSee.

The TopSee app allows you to experience London in a unique different way. It’s been populated by bloggers who mostly spend their own life exploring the hidden gems of the city. There are indeed a lot of apps out there that already provide you with the same functionalities, however the unique selling point for this app is that they are not recommending a specific venue (ie. the best bar in Soho) but a unique element (ie. the best mojito to have in London).

As you can see from the video-demo below, the interface has been beautifully designed. As soon as you open the app, you get geo-located, and through an awesome photo-feed you’ll be able to browse all ‘the top things’ for you to enjoy.

Once you find something interesting you want to experience, you can tweet it and post it to Facebook automatically from the app. The only thing that I’d make more clear within the interface is the ’shaking’ functionality. I downloaded the app without watching the video below, and I got stuck on the first page without knowing that I’d have to shake the iPhone to get more suggestions. I wonder how many people are going to download the app like me without watching the video and simply through WOM… so definitely something I would add!

You can follow the TopSee team on Twitter, through their blog and download the app below.

 

 

Overall, a great application chaps!

MINI iPhone App – OPENNESS

I am delighted to announce the launch of the new MINI iPhone application, OPENNESS

The app is part of the latest digital MINI activity to promote the new MINI convertible, Stay Open, and  something completely different from the run-of-the-mill motoring iPhone applications available within the iTunes Store.

Drivers of convertibles are more open to new experiences so the MINI Openness mobile application encourages users to explore the unexplored and try new things. By downloading the application, users will have access to an off-beat guide to the UK’s major cities, including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh and over 400 unusual and spontaneous experiences: from getting a Brazilian to attending a Mexican wrestling match with fetish cabaret, joining a literary salon to jumping on a coach to an unknown destination.

Here are a few quick words on what the application does:

• When launching the app on your iPhone, based on the level of open-mindedness you choose, the app will provide you with the most adventurous things to do, either closer to where you are or in a specific location (the app supports two geo-options: ‘Find My Location’ and ‘Insert Location’)
• The application also has a built-in Google Maps API, where you can find the venue or the exact location for each single ‘open-minded’ experience
• If the experience chosen doesn’t tickle your fancy, you can choose amongst many others, simply clicking on NEXT.
• Also, if you are not really sure on how adventurous you feel, a simple shake of the iPhone will provide you with a random experience.

The wider digital campaign, Stay Open, is supported by online banner activity, also centred on openness and spontaneity.

You can download OPENNESS simply clicking here!

Let me know what you think!

BestBuy CSR Wisdom = Social Media

I am so glad I was made aware of this video today!

What BestBuy has achieved is what majority of brands are struggling to understand and probably not brave enough to embrace. It’s what I call openness:

• give a chance to everyone in your company to speak up,
• make everyone within your company a stakeholder,
• everyone should be involved,
• let your employees feel they have a high level of impact into your business development

I have posted a link to the video below this paragraph for all of you to go and watch. It’s 30 minutes long, but if you have a bit of time it’s an incredible insight into how brands should adapt their business models to open up to their employees, with the ultimate objective to retain them for as long as possible, make the business a better place for  your customers to come back to, and last but not least, for your own company to constantly develop thanks to the people who make it such a good place…. It’s not rocket science, BUT STILL, I have no idea why only merely few companies have got it right so far!

Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson in conversation with Peter Hirshberg at Google Zeitgeist from peter hirshberg on Vimeo.

I am not anywhere close to being a business consultant, however I humbly reckon it’s part of an overall ‘Corporate Social Responsability’ vision which has a strong potential to let your business stand out from the others.

The only reason why I am giving the spotlight to BestBuy is because what they are doing is exactly what brands should also be doing with their customers!

BestBuy has launched an internal social network for their over 3000 employees across the US by the name of BlueShirtNation, an internal WIKI, a TradeTrending tool and a Product Development Forum. Within these spaces, employees are constantly coming up with new ideas, talking directly to the managers, getting funded by the company to take interesting concepts one step further, connect with each other from different stores etc… allowing a fully personal experience where they can feel meaningful to the company

That is exactly what customers want!

• They want to feel listened
• They want to get involved
• They want to be meaningful to the eyes of your brand

I would be extremely surprised if BestBuy doesnt open such tools to their customers. People could add even more ideas to what BestBuy employees have, it could actually generate even more conversations between employees and consumers to drive better service and more product development.

Also, at the moment they are talking about a mobile device which would allow customers to review their products right there at the moment of consideration/purchase. A custom software would allow reading a product barcode and let you retrieve all the reviews from the BestBuy online community website straight onto your mobile screen.

The ultimate point is : how would your customer feel through such an awesome shopping experience?

I could only say – satisfied? clear about his choice? glad about listening to what other people like him have to say about the product? More willing to buy?

As a brand, if you start engaging with your existing and potential users online, through building and maintaining open and meaningful conversations you might get the same results! Am I right?

Answers on a postcard please!?

E

PS

The slideshare below explains in more details their strategy

Gazza & Play

I am totally amazed by the Italian market at the moment and currently thinking I should probably look at my country in a much more positive light… moving back home maybe? If emerging technologies gets embraced and understood like it’s happening, we are IN for a surprise

The Italian audience has always been a very tech-savvy audience but the boom of social media in this market has definitely helped in making the Italian consumer a rather inviting ‘target’. Statistics from eMarketer have recently shown that after the US, Italians are the most active users in downloading  Applications into their iPhones – not surprising at all !

This must be the reason why Gazzetta.it decided to embrace the QR technology

The leading Italian sports’ title launched a new initiative by the name Gazza & Play. The activity involves embedding QR codes, both offline and online, mainly within the first page of their properties, however these are also visible across all pages. Once decoded, the user will be able to see scores, unique football footage and the best goals from the Italian Championship allowing a pretty cool integrated interaction with their content.

These are definitely some good first steps and I shall look forward to see where this will all go…

Thumbs Up Italia!