Archive for the ‘Mobile’ Category

Digital Download – retail special

Friday, August 6th, 2010

A round-up the digital / social media stories from the last seven days that have caught our eye, this week focusing on news from the retail sector.

Supermarkets first, in the week that the battle for your mobile handset steps up a gear, with several of the biggest chains announcing new plans for their mobile shopping services. Tesco, for instance, have revealed plans to launch their first transactional app, which will allow shoppers to browse the store’s full range, and create / update shopping lists. Mobile commerce is likely to become a huge priority for all the players in this field, with Tesco having made £136m profit from online sales last year, and recent research suggesting that the number of people shopping via mobile handsets will reach 106.8m worldwide this year. The app will launch next week on the Nokia Ovi store, rather than via Apple’s App Store, in a bid to target a mainstream mum audience rather than the typical iPhone user.

Full story with additional info can be found here: www.nma.co.uk/news/tesco-brings-mobile-shopping-into-the-mainstream/3016603.article

In addition Asda have confirmed this week that they’re looking at ramping up their mobile offering, which will likely soon include an iPhone app, which will bring their services more in line with those of competitors such as Marks and Spencer, and Ocado, the latter of which has reported that their iPhone app has generated 4.4% of orders since it launched last year. Waitrose have also launched an iPhone app and mobile website following a rise in consumers accessing Waitrose.com via mobiles. Both will offer exclusive recipes from Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal, and details of latest in-store offers.

To add some context as to how lucrative mobile commerce is becoming, Amazon’s most recent earnings report revealed that the etailer has just become the first company to generate over $1bn solely through mobile channels. Crucially, as well as a dedicated iPhone app, Amazon has covered all bases with a mobile optimised website, to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. The site also now had Facebook Connect capability, allowing shoppers to share information on their purchases / wishlist with their friend network.

iPhone app vs mobile-optimised site? Story is from Feb but a useful snapshot: http://econsultancy.com/blog/5481-mobile-commerce-should-you-have-a-site-or-an-app

Sainsburys, meanwhile, unveiled their big digital campaign for the summer this week, which is taking place on their Facebook page on a new ‘Summer Ideas’ tab, and will see weekly recipe episodes showing the ‘Tiny Taste Team’ challenging shoppers to try new recipes. Clicking through to Youtube from the page, however, reveals the to date the first video has been viewed just 1,329 times, with only 258 of the views coming via the Facebook page, suggesting this one might be a slow-burner rather than instant hit.

If you need a ‘Scrummy Picnic Idea’ for the weekend the Facebook page can be found here: www.facebook.com/sainsburys

This week Argos have kicked off a London-only trial of a same-day delivery service, which claims to be able to deliver items from a 14,000-strong product range within 90 minutes. This follows a recent announcement that 22% of total sales were coming via customers using the online store and reserving items for pick-up, so can be seen as a natural extension of this offering. Curiously, this new development will put Argos on a similar footing to the high-end fashion retail site Net A Porter, who also offer a same day delivery service within London. So, if you wished, you could order a gorgeous Argos ring and a lovely Gucci snood in the morning, and have both delivered to wear around the office in the afternoon. Tempting I know.

And finally… not strictly a retail story, but one we wanted to include for the nostalgia factor: Nestlé has kicked off a major integrated campaign to launch a new version of Milkybar aimed at adults: Milkybar Raisin and Biscuit. The Ungrow Up campaign, which began this week, prompts adults to impersonate the iconic Milkybar Kid by uploading their own versions of the Milkybar theme to milkybar.co.uk. Visitors to the site can also record a version via a webcam which superimposes the Milkybar kid’s glasses and hat on them plus access downloadable content to advise on how to create the most distinctive videos.

The (very slow to load) website is here: www.milkybar.co.uk

Tags: brands, Digital download, Facebook, iPhone apps, Mobile, New Media Age, shiny red, social media
Posted in Digital download, Mobile | No Comments »

Shiny Red’s take on the iPad – is it worth the hype?

Monday, May 17th, 2010

As iPad frenzy builds ahead of its UK launch on May 28 the Shiny Red team have been getting a sneak peek and playing with a rare US import. It’s fair to say we’re pretty divided here, with a few of us completely won over and planning to buy our own as soon as they hit the shops, but others less blown away.

Elements that have gone down particularly well with the admirers in the office include:

The overall design – the iPhone owners in the office all love the look and feel of the iPad, perhaps unsurprisingly, as it’s more or less a supersized version
The apps – from what we’ve seen the choice of apps is already very promising, with a great selection on offer for both fun and practical purposes, to keep gamers and less frivolous users happy

Having said that though, there’s some obvious potential problems that, in our view, may deter some potential purchasers from investing in a first-gen iPad. For example:

No Flash – thanks to the ongoing squabbles between Apple and Adobe, you won’t be able to access any content that requires Flash on your iPad, which means many websites end up full of holes when viewed, and perhaps more importantly: no iPlayer
No camera – the size and portability of the iPad mean it feels naturally suited for using with Skype video chat, but the lack of camera renders this impossible. A good reason to wait for later incarnations of the iPad for sure…

UK prices have just been announced and feedback has been less than enthusiastic, as we’ll be paying a fair bit more than iPad purchasers State-side. Even despite the cost difference, it’s worth comparing the cheapest iPad (£429) with a similarly priced netbook, as you quickly realise the netbook can actually do more.

So to help you decide whether to buy or not to buy here’s our guide to the iPad in action:

Tags: Apple, digital pr agency, iPad UK launch, iPad UK price, iPad video demo, shiny red, social media agency, social media marketing
Posted in Blogging, General, Mobile, New Media, Traditional Media, Video, iPad, social media | No Comments »

Is Foursquare now the hottest thing in social media?

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Interesting news from online traffic researchers Hitwise about the location based games social network Foursquare. Apparently the game, which is available on the iPhone, Google Android, Blackberry and other platforms, saw a 50% growth spurt in the US in January. There is also evidence that Foursquare is attracting users in the UK – it only launched here in October.

In case you missed the hype Foursquare is a location-based social network based around going out: users upload venues and places they like and can see what their friends have uploaded. The gaming aspect comes from making you the mayor of the places you upload or visit the most, and it gives you points and badges according to how often you go out.

If you’ve never played it then check it out. It really is quite addictive. Foursquare has made some really interesting moves recently too. Firstly it has partnered with augmented reality specialists Layar and developed a version of the gamer that adds Foursquare data into images of real world buildings. Sadly Layar isn’t working on the iPhone at the moment, but there should be a relaunch of the browser in a month or so.

Foursquare has also begun to do deals with brands. At the moment this is on small scale and the most high profile has been a deal with TV station Bravo which enables Foursquare players to compete for and win special badges. However with an API out for developers to work on their own uses for the game it can only be a matter of time before someone comes up with something special.

In some respects where Foursquare is now reminds me of the early days of Twitter. There’s a real buzz about the game and there is a group of very evangelical users who are utterly addicted (just like Twitter). Whether this is enough to drive the same kind of numbers as Twitter remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Foursquare became one of the buzz words of 2010.

Tags: Foursquare, Foursquare in the UK, Hitwise, iPhone apps, location based games, traffic growth
Posted in Mobile, social media | No Comments »

And the UK’s most popular iPhone app – Carling’s iPint

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

So what do you think is the most popular iPhone app in the UK. A Twitter client? A game? Skpe? Well Comscore, the agency which measures online traffic, has today revealed which are the most popular iPhone applications across the world. And while Facebook is the most downloaded app in the US and music service Shazam is top in Europe the most downloaded app in the UK is surprise, surprise, branded content.

The iPint was launched by Carling (a Red Consultancy client) a year and a half ago and since then has chalked up well over a million downloads. The app, which mimics a person drinking a pint of beer, has also been used by the brand to deliver information to consumers about Carling’s competitions and promotions.

The statistics were revealed by Comscore’s Alistair Hill during his presentation at the Mobile Games Forum in London earlier this week. More info here

Tags: Carling, iPint, most popular iPhone app, twitter
Posted in Mobile | No Comments »

Will 2010 be the year of DIY phone apps?

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Over the past twelve months we have seen a massive surge in number of brands developing mobile phone applications. Carling broke ground with its wonderful iPint a few years back and since then hundreds of other brands have attempted to engage with iPhone users through app content.

However the problem for some brands was that apps were expensive to produce with developers charging anything from £5k to deliver them.

Well 2010 could see all that change and become the year of DIY phone app. Hoping to lead the way is Tino which has just a launched a service that in theory means that anyone can build their own app. It certainly looks relatively easy to use and prices start at just £100.

“We are offering Tino as a low-cost entry to the mobile app marketplace, and can provide anyone with the tools to build a mobile app, with a process that takes less than an hour,” Golden Gekko CEO, Magnus Jern told Mobile Marketing Magazine . “Our Tino customers do not need to be technical experts, as they’ll get an easy step-by-step guide that allows them to self-develop a mobile app on the web.”

The drawback for the moment is that the 10% of phones that Tino doesn’t work with includes the iPhone and Google’s Android, but Jern hopes to make those available very soon.

Tags: apps for brands, Carling iPint, DIY iphone apps, Java apps, Tino
Posted in Mobile | No Comments »

Layar cake

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Our colleagues at Red have been working with Samsung for a few months now, and one of the exciting things they’re releasing shortly will be the Galaxy, the company’s first phone built for the Google Android platform. For tecchie types, Android phones are much anticipated, not just because of the inherent challenge to the iPhone, but also because of the opportunity to build more apps.

One of the coolest apps I’ve seen demoed is the Layar Reality Browser which “displays digital information layered on top of reality in the camera screen of the mobile phone”. Not a clear enough explanation?… well think how James Cameron depicts a Terminator view of the world, only instead of identifying human targets while looking through the phone’s camera lens, a user can see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, tourist information of the area. On top of this, global content from Flickr, Wikipedia, Yelp, Google local search, Qype, Brightkite, Yellowpages can also be added into the equation.

So Layar will turn you into a walking information bank, able to tell your friends what band is playing at a bar that evening simply by looking at it with your phone. Not only that, but think about what this means for social networking (now you’ll know who your nearest Twitter followers are geographically) and for advertising. Combine a layer of inventory and sales data with a profile of each user, and retailers will be able to let people know what they’ve got in stock in the right size and style. So when Layar announced global availability this week, the geek in me did a little skip. This is certainly one I can’t wait to get my hands on.

Tags: android, layar, Mobile, samsung galaxy, terminator
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Kudos where it’s due…and who’s your unsung tech hero?

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

Apologies for blowing our own trumpet, but I do so on behalf of people too modest to do it themselves…

Congratulations to Ashley, Chris and Katie, founders of Shiny Media and subsequently of Shiny Red, who’ve just been named among the 1,000 most influential Londoners by the Evening Standard. Also namechecked in the new media category are Apple’s Jonathan Ive (slightly stretching the definition as he hails from Chingford and now lives in California…), James Murdoch and, er, Lord Rothermere, chairman of the DMGT which owns the Evening Standard. Elsewhere Kate Moss, Stella McCartney and of course Boris Johnson also feature.

And Ashley’s also bigged up in T3’s list of 50 most influential people in technology alongside that man Ive again, Steve Ballmer, Sergey Brin and Jerry Yang among others.

As ever a depressingly small number of women make the cut – two suggestions from me would be Jemima Kiss of the Guardian, and former Microsoft exec Judy Gibbons, now at Accel Partners and heading up innovative UK start-ups like mobile content aggregator Mippin.

Any other unsung tech heroes out there who you think deserve a shout out?

Posted in Blogging, Mobile, New Media, Web 2.0 | No Comments »

Local news for local people

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

It’s good to see it’s not all doom and gloom at the UK’s regional papers. I enjoyed Jon Clements post about the way the 140 year old Manchester Evening News is integrating print, online and broadcast. Jon quoted Assistant News Editor, Paul Gallagher, explaining that the breadth of options gives them and their audience more choice and quality, as “decisions on news are very much based on its suitability for the medium“. Although good co-ordination is needed – “the paper tends to time the release of online news with the hard copy, so not to compete with itself.” . The delicate balance of timings required within an integrated sell-in, to optimise press and broadcast needs is something we’re well familiar with!

The variety of sources used by MEN journalists is also great. From memorial sites on social networks to mobile videos – something that is going to become ever more prevalent in the next year. The likes of Qik and Kyte allowing instant street-to-web streaming are going to speed up the news cycle even more. It reminded me of the recent post by fellow-PR Wadds, where he became a citizen journalist of his local flooding. As well as conversations I’ve had with Gary Andrews around the way Twitter can and is used by journalists to contact people live-twittering events for quotes, information and images. Gary’s post on The Chicago Tribune’s usage is a great example, as have been the recent hurricanes.

There are slip-ups to be made in this process, I think most people agreed that the Twittering of a funeral last week was in bad taste. But generally it’s great to see the way technology is allowing regional news to be reinvigorated and genuinely interact with their audience – potentially moving towards offering a sense of community hubbed online, that many of us have lost in our neighbourhoods.

Posted in Broadcast, Microblogging, Mobile, New Media, Print, User Generated Content | No Comments »

Girl Geek Dinner 3rd Birthday @ Google Towers

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

I went to the third birthday of the London Girl Geek Dinners last week which were at Google’s Victoria Offices. The Girl Geek Dinners are a fantastic networking community for women working in a special interest area, often tech, but other areas are welcome and present. They were initiated by Sarah Blow after she attended the original Geek Dinners franchise, and she’s now busy jet-setting around the world with Girl Geek Dinners happening in over 20 countries!

This event was a celebration of the last three years and Google laid on great food – see Neville Hobson’s slide show – and gorgeous branded cupcakes which are already rightly getting fan posts via Annie Mole!

Aside from getting a nose around Google Towers (very swish), and suffing our faces, there were some good presentations and a panel discussion. The panel looked at the work-life balance and some of the technologies that mean we can now work anywhere and everywhere. Especially relevant to the audience both because of what many of us do, but also due to the – in some ways – more isolated way we often work. One of the panel speakers ran a start up with ten people working across five countries, which is amazing, but the negatives of working without the traditional office, and the value of face-time were also emphasised by all. I guess that’s why sites like Twitter are increasingly important to many in niche worlds of work, because they replace the office banter you miss when working alone! (I know my colleagues would miss me really)

Some notes from the presentations…

Karen from Google ““ User-Centric Design

Digital products are rude eg: “˜Updates are complete, do you want to restart now or later?’ popping up, stopping you working and demanding an answer. It’s about designing smarter products which remember and learn
Everyone has an opinion on design because it’s visible, so it’s key to resist design-by committee, Google try to avoid this using personas
The persona’s help them design to goals not tasks as Sandrine covers, eg: people want to write a love letter, not create a word document!
The difference of designing for mobile web, eg: when designing the YouTube mobile app, they had to think about the distracted user and the greater focus on uploading videos rather than browsing them (Blog Til You Drop has more)

Digital Maverick ““ Drew Buddie

Drew is a secondary school IT teacher, and talked about technology “˜giving students wings’.

Drew uses Google docs for shared projects and wikis in school, letting his students engage in and create their own forums, online games and technologies
He’s a fan of Moodle – a free Open Source software package designed to help educators create effective online learning communities
Drew rightly believes in “˜digital natives’ and they’re already consuming, creating and building the web around us
He suggested we check out TED Talks ““ a huge database of inspirational speakers, that are yours to browse and use. – You could get lost in here, great content and very well-designed site, the way they divide up videos as you watch them is great (for my attention span)

A great, evening, massive thanks to Sarah and her team as usual – good to meet LJ Rich finally too!

Posted in Events and Conferences, Mobile, PR and Marcomms | 3 Comments »