UpNext is a new application from the iTunes store that you may be familiar with if you caught a glimpse of last week’s Sunny Side Up Meeting in London (If you missed the whole thing catch it here). It’s an application that is sure to revolutionize how cities are experienced.

So, what makes this so different from the existing “Maps” application?
Well, if you throw in a dose of Maps, a hint of Grand Theft Auto, a pinch of Yellow Pages and a dash of TFL journey planner (A dash will do, anymore and the app will strike) then you’re close.

On activation, the software will lock on to your location and render a 3D representation of the city that surrounds you. The 3D image is completely interactive, allowing the user to travel and explore the virtual city provided. The level of interaction allows users to tap on a building/location of interest and extract information on the point of interest i.e. the user (commercial) of the building, contact information etc. UpNext is also interactive past street level, displaying the tube lines below, so you’ll never be lost again! It can be daunting and often frustrating being lost in an unfamiliar city, which can spoil the experience at times. Now a solution is here.

Availability of the application at this current time is limited to the US with other cities in the pipeline. It is rare to find an app that is totally unique and relevant to the real world whilst offering genuine longevity and this is surely going to be a cracker. UpNext is not only available for the iPhone and iPod Touch but you can also experience it fully via your web-browser!

A to Z? Nah, more like 3 to D.

Lets cross our fingers (and toes) in the hope that the London edition is UpNext

Video demonstrating UpNext on the iPhone

Ernesto in Profero Madrid has created this great new way of commenting on offline poster advertising and any offline content and, in some ways, has taken a bold step to merging non-digital and digital. By printing up stickers from the Offline Commenting website and attaching them to posters in the street, Ernesto is encouraging people to comment on what they think of the ads. People write their comments on the stickers, take a photo and then post their pics back up on the website

It’s an innovative and simple way of bringing off- and on-line together and creating a debate around what people think about content and ads they pass in the streets, on trains and all around towns and cities. The site has already been picked up and is hosted on the homepage of Designslices, the “platform for designers and design geeks” so go and check it out!

Really liking the new initiative by PEPSI

The site is called ‘Dear Mr. President’ and people are invited to upload personal videos for the 44th Elected US President Obama. The website is backed up by loads of celebrities, amongst who Eva Longoria and Lady Gaga

It’s a very simple idea which I am pretty sure did not have much thinking behind, although thumbs up to PEPSI to take advantage of the right moment to create such initiative, as a matter of fact the brand is definitely going to get loads of attention because of this

The YouTube channel ‘Refresh Everything’ is actually very well designed too. You can see all the videos uploaded by the users and a Google map to check which are the most active communities.

Also, Tumblr was the chosen platform to allow the shy ones to simply send in recommendations about the future of the United States, pretty well thought I’d say

We should wait and see what Coca-cola is going to do next…

Brand: BA
Initiative: METROTWIN
Markets: Global (UK & US centric)
Dates: Ongoing

Background
London-New York is the most frequent daily flight within British Airway’s transatlantic offering and as such it is a very important route for the company. BA have to work hard to defend market share for this route in a very competitive and aggressively price driven market.

Challenge
How can BA connect with the core audience, urban professionals who are frequent flyers between the two cities, in order to maintain brand loyalty amongst exciting customers and attract new ones.

Approach
As their target audience are the sorts of people who are always looking for new and interesting things to do, whether at home or away, on work or on business, BA developed a solution that would meet this need.

They also understood that their audience like to share this sort of information with like-minded people, and had high propensity to do so online.

They used these key insights to come up with an innovative marketing solution.

The Idea

• METROTWIN was launched with a clear strategy which aimed at giving their target audience something back, allowing them contribute to the collective knowledge of the two cities.  The idea was to create a central-hub for people to seek advice on what’s hot and what’s not between London and New York.
• The website is now managed and moderated by a few BA agency-staff members, however the majority of the content comes from the general audience and selected contributors who get to gain BA Miles based on the level of participation.
• The website includes a list of categories where people can add content, from Arts & Entertainment to Bars, Pubs and Clubs. Here, people are invited to leave comments, rate venues and events and add these to
• The website also has a blog to keep people up-to-date including key partnerships in both cities (i.e. famous mum bloggers, professional event organisers etc…), local events definitely not to miss and digital news on ‘cool stuff’
• The site also provides free media space for BA advertising, highlighting flight offers, driving sales of the back of the core brand experience.

The Outcome

• METROTWIN is now one of the few key destination sites for people to find out what’s happening in the two cities of the world (the BA name behind it has definitely helped)
• During December 08, the website was visited from 46.000 unique visitors per day – which is pretty impressive if we compare it to a similar website like TIPPED (which had 60.000 UV.) or MySpace (which received 90.000 U.V.) …And this is solely UK results after only being launched for 2 months!
• Each user has spent on average 10min. and 52sec. on the site which is astonishing for any website (Facebook users spend on average 17min. per visit)
• BA is receiving a lot of free publicity from the site, of course free advertising space, and it has become an excellent benchmark for any brand’s use of social media (especially for the competitors).
• While we don’t have the data, it would be safe to assume, based on our experience with working on J&J and our understanding of babycentre,  that METROTWIN has had a positive effect on brand loyalty, while also helping to drive sales.

The Learnings

• Produce something your consumers will benefit from
• Open a two-way conversation and get people involved in creating the content within your branded space, they will feel more considered
• Crowd-sourcing and knowledge-sharing are strong communication techniques if used in the right way. You should offer a place where like-minded users can communicate and share information relevant to them, and somehow reflecting the values of the brand.
• Give something back: you don’t gain loyalty only with incentives. Think outside the box – You don’t have to offer money-off vouchers to retain your consumers, but you could easily connect at an emotional level.
• Just because you are marketing a specific audience, it doesn’t mean you have to limit the website’s usability to this niche audience. In fact, METROTWIN is not only visited by BA frequent flyers but also from anyone interested in the two cities

]]> http://www.thehiveblog.com/social/networks/profero-thumbsup-metrotwin/feed 2 http://www.thehiveblog.com/advertising/public-spaces/i-feel-london http://www.thehiveblog.com/advertising/public-spaces/i-feel-london#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:59:23 +0000 Jamiec http://www.thehiveblog.com/?p=30

This is a really nice idea from Andy Whitlock at Poke.  I Feel London allows people to tag places in London that reflect what they are feeling at the time like Naughty, Hungover, Energetic, Romantic, Sophisticated, Chilled, Girly, Manly or Broke.  I particularly like the cheeky short cut in tube station tip off, thanks.

No, it has nothing to do with Stephen Hawking, although apparently this theory generates a surprisingly positive effect in clients who are not very involved in social media, similar to what we feel when we hear about the possibility of time-travelling or things like that.
Personally, I love this theory; it explains two complex processes in an extremely simple way: Why social media in general, and social networks in particular, were generated by young people and why those who are in them react how they do when faced with advertising.
This is the story…
As adults, we experience three types of space in our everyday life: the public space, the controlled space and the private space.
The public space is one where the behavioural rules are established by general consent: the cinema, the street, the bar are public spaces.
The controlled space is one where the rules of behaviour are dictated by someone superior in the hierarchy: our jobs are a good example of this type of space.
And finally, the private space is one where the rules are set up by us: for instance, our own home.
What happens with very young people? Are they experiencing the social spaces in the same way that adults do?
In the public space, a young person –very often a minor- notes that if something happens between he and an adult, the one who dictates the correct behaviour is the adult (of course the young can choose to ignore the adult if he wish, but the rule still exists). This transforms the public space into a controlled one for him.
In college or university, he is surrounded by a very present hierarchy that rules the behaviour in this space; it is the equivalent to the job space for adults: a controlled space.
In their own home, a young person who lives with his parents must accept the rules set up by them; thus, what is private space for an adult becomes controlled space for the younger person once again. Many times he only has his own bedroom as a much reduced private space.

We can see that in their social life the young lose two essential types of space that adults enjoy: the public and the private spaces.

And here is where social media develops a crucial role: open a platform for the young, where they can re-build their lost spaces.
Social networking services like Facebook, Bebo or Myspace, MMOSG’s and microblogging platforms are the recovery of the public space (with its different scales and models of privacy), while the instant messengers and the chat extensions are depicting the non-physical private space.
In these new, recovered spaces is where a species of zeal is generated towards everything that can endanger its pure social sharing existence, for instance, advertising.
Here we have the key to understand the new function that, socially speaking, advertising possesses: to never cut off the dialogue flow and always boost it.
The burst of the advertising designed for mass media in social media generates instant rejection, whereas advertising that improves and diversifies the dialogue is very welcome.
Finally, it is just a question of common sense: when you want to enter into a space with its own rules, whether you choose to accept or break them, be sure to know the rules.