Archive for 2004

The Southern Asian disaster has demonstrated how telephone text messaging can generate a source of income for charities and relief organizations:

• Italian mobile phone users were reported to have donated more than 11 million euros (15 million dollars) for the victims of the Asian tsunamis, AFP reports.
  • Italy: Send SMS ???? to 48580. ?? Euros a message (any info, anyone)
• Ericsson is setting up a special Internet Payment Exchange for SMS donations in Sweden and Thailand.
  • Sweden: Send SMS "Asien" to 72105. 30 Crona a message
  • Thailand: Send SMS "RC" to 452 0000. 10 Baht a message
• Organisers of Germany’s biggest New Year’s Eve party at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin will ask party-goers to make donations to the UN Children’s Fund by sending a text message to a special number.
• Wireless provider, Mobile Bridges has set up short codes for donations in the US, UK, Belgium and Holland which will go to Unicef, Red Cross and Novib. The numbers are as follows:
  • Belgium: Send SMS "GO AZIE" to 7222. 1,50 euro a message
  • The Netherlands: Send "GO AZIE" to 7222. 1,50 euro a message
  • United Kingdom: Send SMS "GO ASIA" to 89098. £1.50 a message
  • United States of America, Send SMS "GO ASIA" to 46898. $1.99

AFP News
Mobile Bridges
Textually Blog Tsunami/Cell Phone Posts

(Reminder: Please SMS now to donate. Thanks from PSFK)

There have been several commentaries about how the digital space is challenging the concept of traditional media. But how should people working in traditional media adapt to this trend?

On his blog, the journalist, editor and web publisher, Tim Porter, provides his list of 10 things traditional journalists, particularly those who work for newspapers, could learn from bloggers. Here’s a quick PSFK summary:

1. Get personal: deliver personal journalism

2. Explain why you do things.

3. Focus. The time is past for newspapers to be all things to all people.

4. Print the truth, not just the facts.

5. Don’t just report, teach. Become a resource and not just a product.

6. Get local, very local.

7. Give readers access to source material.

8. Add multiple RSS feeds to your web site.

9. Add email addresses to your stories.

10. Finally, adapt.

Tim Porter’s ‘10 Things Traditional Journalists Could Learn From Bloggers’ post
Steve Outings ‘What Journalists Can Learn From Bloggers’ post

Read the rest of this entry »

We love watching Coca-Cola grapple with what it considers a ‘health’ trend, one they reckon they missed the first time around. After we found out that C2 was dropped from launch in the UK we were surprised to find out about "Wellness from Coca-Cola" - a new line of "healthy drinks" popular in Japan. They’re stylish and feature exotic ingredients such as "bee-head secretions" and may be headed for America, reports The Wall Street Journal.

One of Coke’s new drinks (developed with cosmetics maker Shiseido Co) called Body Style Water and is positioned as a diet drink "helps speed metabolism through the combined effects of caffeine and grapefruit aroma."

Another drink called "Spring Mint Habit," contains an extract of mint that the company claims will help reduce the effects of hay fever. Sasso, is "a tea for lowering blood sugar."

Alternatives in the US already include Intelligent Nutrients from the creator of Aveda and even Borba Skin Balance waters from Fred Segal.

FT Article
PSFK Post On ‘CocaCola Looks At Its Health’

Some content via Reveries

Ten years ago, Kodak launched the first digital camera for consumers (the $749 QuickTake 100 from Apple) but by 2000 Sony had become the leading digital camera maker and Kodak was dropped to 5 percent of the market while the film business was drying up.

Kodak called in anthropologists and other social scientists, who observed camera users in an effort to learn how taking and printing pictures fit into their daily lives. They also followed prospective camera buyers into stores to understand how they chose certain models from the crowded shelves.

The research was part of Kodak’s effort to reorganize its digital camera product line by transforming product design, manufacturing and marketing, the New York Times reports. The company’s big decision was to focus on low-priced, easy-to-use cameras that would appeal to women, who take the majority of snapshots, rather than Sony’s forte of shiny toys for gadget-loving men.

That strategy paid off as digital cameras moved into the mass market. This year, Kodak’s EasyShare brand has almost 19 percent of digital camera sales in the United States, a very close second to Sony and ahead of Canon, according to IDC, a technology research firm.

New York Times Article

Based on billions of searches conducted by Google users around the world, it could be argued that Google’s 2004 Year-End Zeitgeist offers a quantifiable indicator of the year’s major events and trends.

The most popular guys, Orlando and Eminem, must look on in envy as they see that Britney and Paris are not only the most poplar girls but also the most popular subjects in the world this year.

As if they care but the French came top in the Country search queries in 2004, above China then India then Iraq. Maybe the French popularity was bolstered by the fact that Tour De France was the second Most Popular Sports query. The bike ride was trumped only by footballer David Beckham - his popularity driven, PSFK guesses, by the sport he plays on and off the field.

On a sadder note (and perhaps showing our caring side over celebrity obsession) slain businessman Nicholas Berg out queried Christopher Reeve and Marlon Brando. We hopes there weren’t darker reasons…

Meanwhile, the Zeitgeist shows signs that illegal file sharing and downloading isn’t dissipating: Kazaa came second in the ‘Popular Tech Stuff’ results and ‘mp3′ came third. Tut tut.

Maybe it’s the influence of the most popular women but by the look at the mentions in the Top 10 Clothing queries, girls aren’t planning to wear much these days: Bikinis, Mini Skirts, Lingerie, Little Black Dresses. But they are planning to stick some fat Ugg Boots on their feet for modesty (Most Popular Shoe Brands). We’re not too sure the guys will notice - the Top Hobby queries for poker chips and airsoft guns could show they are distracted. Then again, budget hotels like the Holiday Inn rank high in Top Hotel Chains - but maybe everyone’s just going round for a spa (Most Popular Entertainment) to recover from all that pizza (Most Popular Cuisine).

Overall the searches seem to indicate a young, female, informed and franetic audience who just want to have their fun with their toys. What a nice change from what the we expected the audience to be.

Google 2004 Zeitgeist
Interactive Version

Honda have released news regarding the development of new technologies for the next-generation ASIMO humanoid robot, creating a "new level of mobility" that will better enable ASIMO to function and interact with people by quickly processing information and acting "more nimbly in real-world environments".

Key technologies include:

• "Posture Control" technology* making it possible to run in a natural human-like way
• “Autonomous Continuous Movement” technology enabling flexible route to destination
• Enhanced visual and force sensor technologies enabling smoother interaction with people

Press Release via What’s Next

The reaction to the absolute horror of the disaster that has taken place in the Southern Asia reflects how governments have been left behind by the digital age in effectively communicating real time information to their nationals.

Let me give my personal story:

I am a 33 year old Brit who works at an ad agency in New York City. My girlfriend on Monday took her flight from JFK on Monday to India for a holiday she had booked. She left very nervous. Before she departed, in view of the current situation, I thought the most reliable place to check the situation for travelers would be to check the British Foreign Office website.

The following travel advice is all I could find there (and on the British High Commission of India’s web site):

• Press Release re. Jack Straw’s condolences: British nationals are advised to look carefully at the Travel Advice before undertaking journeys to regions affected by the tragedy.
• India Travel Advice Page: Tidal waves have hit India following a major earthquake in the Indian Ocean. The FCO emergency telephone number is as follows: 0207 008 0000

Do you know dear readers how many people tried to call that number? 4,300 in the first hour. And probably a lot more of those calls were important that inquiry. Was the Foreign Office set up to deal with this? Of course not - but that’s because they elected to use the time honored ‘emergency telephone number’ rather than the digital tools they should have had available.

Let me add some context to this : In the aftermath of this tragedy hundreds of websites and weblogs have reported very important information that has helped document the tragedy and even aid the relief effort. Eyewitness accounts are here, here, here. Bloggers including World Changing are providing first-hand reports and helping to coordinate relief efforts and here. And that’s just a few - check what the New York Times has to say about the impact of the blog on the disaster: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/28/technology/28blogs.html. The BBC has even set up a site allowing people to post messages to find one another.

At the end of the day, my girlfriend being nervous about flying to Kerala is one thing but – if all these webmasters/bloggers/journos/regular folk around the world can provide all this information in real time - I wonder why the British Foreign Office failed all those British relatives looking to find information about the situation and loved ones in Southern Asia??!!

I think they have updated the information since I was looking, but it’s still not enough in this day and age.

After 9/11 and the lessons learned - we don’t understand that governments still fail to see that web as a mechanism to immediately convey important information to a needy and nervous public. Why could the Foreign Office only provide a (engaged) telephone number? I believe that it’s pretty appalling that there’s no web site with up to the minute information and a search database of nationals’ details.

It just goes to show - the digital revolution is charging ahead empowering the individual who in turn, as a collective group can help to change everything with or without the support of governments.

Donate Now (Please): Disaster Relief Via Amazon

Hugh at the Gaping Void brought to our attention the New York Times article about the ‘Determined Detractor’:

"Marketers have become fond of recruiting friendly trendsetters to promote their products, but modern technology may now force them to pay attention to another kind of agent of influence making the rounds: the determined detractor."

They cite well known detractors such as Morgan Spurlock (Super Sizer Me) but also point to the plenitude of web voices that have sprung up: MoveOn.org (Anti Bush), www.ipodsdirtysecret.com , www.ihatestarbucks.com and www.watchingmicrosoft.com.

But PSFK thinks this is just the tip of the iceberg. Think about all the blogs that feed off these sites, who originate their own reports and theories around brands and businesses. We think it even provides some counter argument to their previous article around buzz-agents, ‘The Hidden Persuaders’.

There’s a great quote in the article from Microsoft:

"We have daily face-to-face contact with our customers," said Walt Riker, a spokesman at McDonald’s in Oak Brook, Ill. "That’s a huge advantage. They let you know what they’re interested in. We don’t need detractors."

Does that seriously suggest that there is a sophisticated (and workable) system at McDonald’s that allows over-worked, under-paid counter staff at every McDonald’s frequently provide intuitive consumer feedback to the management team at HQ suggesting shifts in consumer opinion? We wonder when the last time Walt Riker and his peers stepped foot in one of their franchises.

This all reminds us a little about a piece we wrote on PSFK about how PR people don’t get the blogoshphere. If companies are really going to create conversations with their consumers then they’re going to have to shake up this department (with their familiar way of working and their cozy network of journo contacts) and make them realise that they are essential in the new world order. They (alongside many other customer facing people within the company) need to be the acolytes of the company - when and wherever they are needed - and that includes engaging this so called Determined Detractor.

A brand, we believe, is a company’s soul and is therefore everyone’s responsibility in how this manifests itself internally and externally. It’s a big challenge for any organisation - but the PR department is an easy win… if only they ‘got it’. Roll on BL Ochman and her crusade at www.whatsnextblog.com.

New York Times Article On The Determined Detractor
The Hidden Persuaders
PSFK Post On ‘PR Just Doesn’t Get Blogs’

Read PSFK’s 2005 Predictions in lovely PDF format. 18 pages to hide from your friends and colleagues. Just $10.

PSFK Trend Predictions In Lovely HTML Format