From around 330 Micro-Trends, that we identify every month we offer you a small selection of 5 micro-trends in our monthly newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading about world-wide trends & innovations!

APPSTORE FOR AUGMENTED REALITY APPLICATIONS

Layar, the Dutch company for mobile augmented reality technology, has announced the launch of an online platform for marketing mobile augmented reality applications. This will soon enable all app developers to use the platform to distribute their own applications. Layar will take care of the marketing side as well as the invoicing for the applications. Another service provided by Layar is to ensure that the apps are compatible with all the regular mobile operating systems.

LICENSING AND MONETIZING DIGITAL CONTENTS

In collaboration with Arvato Financial Services, the provider ImageSpan has developed a method for website owners to license and monetize digital contents. Photos and videos can be encoded using the software from ImageSpan and then tracked back through the web to see how often they were used. Website owners can purchase a license for this content. The ImageSpan software then decodes the number of clicks, which is then used to calculate the fee for the license. Arvato finally completes the picture by enabling payments to be made based on the transactional data.

EARNING VIRTUAL MONEY ONLINE

“Offerpal Tasks” is launching a new way to pay for goods on the internet. Instead of a real money transfer using credit cards or micropayment portals, virtual goods can now be purchased by performing a task that someone on the internet needs to get done. These “human intelligence tasks” are web-based jobs such as rating search results, categorizing websites or articles, and answering questions. The payment is structured according to the type of tasks performed, how long it takes to complete them and how complex they are.

LOCAL SEARCH MEETS LOCAL CONTENT

Citysearch, an online portal for local businesses, has recently developed the “CityGrid”. With this concept, Citysearch makes lists of local companies, user evaluations, photos and much more available to operators of other websites and mobile apps, with the result that a company with a Citysearch entry will show up in searches on many other providers. The system operates on a pay-per-action model. If a Citysearch entry, a video or an advertising banner with another provider is accessed, the profits are shared.

ESTORE: PROCTER AND GAMBLE ONLINE-TESTMARKET

Procter & Gamble is planning to introduce an online store in the USA and use it as a test market for marketing strategies and special campaigns. The beta version of this “eStore” is currently available to 5,000 invited customers, and the company is hoping to test out marketing tools such as e-coupons, digital ads and various delivery options. The so-called “Learning Lab” makes it possible to modify tactics in real-time so that the effects of the different versions can be compared directly.

From around 330 Micro-Trends, that we identify every month we offer you a small selection of 5 micro-trends in our monthly newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading about world-wide trends & innovations!

DISCOUNTS FOR FOURSQUARE MAYOR

The “Foursquare” location service has cooperated with local businesses to launch a marketing campaign to create new incentives for a more active participation in the network. Users receive points whenever they check in to a new location, and the player with the most check-ins is made mayor of a locality. As mayor, the player can now enjoy special discounts at restaurants and bars in the area, and possibly even free meals. The businesses taking part can benefit from free advertising within the application.

BARGAINING WITH LOCAL STORES

“Spreezio” is an internet platform that gives buyers and sellers the chance to contact each other and negotiate deals. The buyer first selects a product and is then shown all the shops in the local area where he can buy it. He can then tell the potential sellers how much he is willing to pay and what kind of discount he would expect. The sellers can either accept or reject the buyers demands, and also make additional services such as free gift wrapping or free delivery.

CASHBACK WITH BING

The Bing cashback deal is a great way to save money when shopping online. Customers earn a percentage of the price as cashback for all products featuring the “cashback” symbol. Products from different companies can be grouped together allowing people to compare the prices. The savings people can make, are rewarded to them on their Bing account, and after reaching a certain amount, they can then transfer the money to a bank or PayPal account.

SAFE CASH TRANSFERS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS
The British online payment service ClickandBuy has introduced an application for making secure cash transfers from social network sites. This include transfers made from one member of the site to another. For Facebook users to transfer money, they have to set up an account with ClickandBuy, thus enabling them to make payments of up to 50 euros or dollars.

WIDGET STORE FOR TV SETS

The company Oregan Networks has introduced an applications store for internet-enabled TV sets. Using the browser “Onyx”, which was specially developed for TVs, the widgetry store offers contents for users to select and download directly. The widgets can also be generated by TV stations and retailers. Applications such as Twitter, weather forecasts, sports news and other news are already integrated into the new system. Onyx Widgetry will offer both free and paid widgets, with pricing expected to vary depending on content.

As every month these Micro-Trends are a teaser for our Executive Trendreport filled with 330 innovations and best practice cases.

We hope you enjoy reading about trends & innovations! If you are interested in a free issue of our current Trendreport click here!

MUSIC ON THE STREETS

In collaboration with the hip hop artist SEEDA, the Japanese company System K has launched a campaign to promote its new album. In the week leading up to the CD release, fans could visit various sights in Japan, such as the Tokyo Tower, and listen to certain songs there – provided they had the Layar reality browser and had downloaded the SEEDA promotion Layar. Once the fans had finally visited all the sights, they would be the proud owners of the new album by SEEDA.

MAKE-UP SHOP ON FACEBOOK

Mark, a subsidiary of the cosmetics manufacturer Avon, has recently opened up a Facebook shop. At facebook.com/mark-girl, users can check out and compare make-up, ask for tips and order the products they like. It’s also possible to register as a “representative” – a status which is not granted to everyone but gives the selected users the chance to change the website, promote products and contribute to the sales process without having to leave the comfort of their homes. An iPhone app for the shop is also now available.

AMAZON: FREE VIDEOSTREAM WITH DVDS

Amazon has just launched a new service called “Buy Now, Watch Now” in the USA, enabling people who purchase a DVD or Blu-ray film disc to get an instant internet videostream of the same film on their computer at home or even directly on their TV, provided they have the right connection devices. With this step, Amazon is protecting itself from competition from video stores and online video portals, as customers will no longer have to wait for their films to be shipped.

PERSON-TO-PERSON CARSHARING

The online service “RelayRides” has launched the world’s first car rental system that is managed entirely by private individuals. Unlike conventional car rental companies, “RelayRides” has no cars of its own, but installs a device with a special card in members’ cars that allows other drivers to rent the car. Owners of top-of-the-range cars who wish to rent out their car when not using it can earn themselves up to $12,000 per year.

WEATHER-RELATED COUPONS

The company BlueSky Local has developed a marketing concept with which certain weather conditions lead to BlueSky Local customers handing out coupons to their target groups. The criteria for sending these coupons are based on seasonal, weather-related and time-of-day issues. The kind of companies dependent on such conditions can register with BlueSky Local, create a customer list and advertise for the times when their business is slow – for example, a restaurant or barbershop on a rainy day.

As every month these Micro-Trends are a teaser for our Executive Trendreport filled with 300 innovations and best practice cases.

We hope you enjoy reading about trends & innovations! If you are interested in a free issue of our current Trendreport click here!

OFFERS DIRECT TO THE MOBILE PHONE

AT&T has opened the door for service providers to send mobile coupons via text message to customers’ mobile phones. In contrast to pre-existing concepts, the consumer doesn’t have to first log into an area. The potential customer’s position is constantly updated via the AT&T network. If he enters a certain area, he will automatically receive a special offer. If he has set certain preferences beforehand, he will receive offers tailored to his requirements. The network provider profits from the incidental fee for sending the offer via text message.

MARKETPLACE IN SOCIAL NETWORKS

The online platform Bodega enables its users to trade virtual currencies and goods from various games and social networks. Users can decide if they wish to auction off their virtual goods or offer them to potential buyers at a fixed price. The platform even has its own currency known as “Bodega Bills”, which can be earned by completing transactions or bought by credit card. The Bodega offer can currently be used on Facebook and will soon be available on MySpace, Bebo, Twitter and in online games.

DIRECT FROM IN-VIDEO BANNER TO EBAY

The internet auction house eBay now advertises on various websites using rich media banners. There are a total of three different versions of the banner with the themes cooking, fashion and music. The products, available from eBay, are presented in the form of a cooking programme, a fashion show and in a music player. The viewer can also click on the advertised products in the banner and purchase them directly from eBay. The banners are a part of US advertising campaign “Come to think of it, eBay”, which was conceived in partnership with US advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein&Partners.

SPONSORS PAY FOR MUSIC DOWNLOADS

Guvera, the revolutionary Australian start-up, wants to satisfy consumers as well as the artists and industry by making sponsored music and films available free of charge. After the usual registering process stating personal details and preferences, consumers can select a song of their choice; the results appear in the form of a list of various channels featuring edited advertising. Customers can then choose one of the channels and the fees for the download will be paid to the rights owner by the sponsor.

DETERMINING IMPACT OF IN-GAME ADS

The market research company ComScore has collaborated with the Microsoft subsidiary Massive Inc. to develop a method of calculating the impact of in-game advertisements. This will make it possible for the first time to measure the effect of advertising on the behaviour of players. Using the so-called “ADD Effx Action Lift for Gaming” method, ComScore can determine if players subsequently visit a brand’s website, search brand-related terms or engage in other relevant online activities. The results are worked out by taking the players’ anonymous ID data from Xbox Live or Microsoft Web.

Moving closer towards Christmas and the end of the year new Micro-Trends are giving an outlook at what to expect in 2010.

The Text 2.0 prototype application – once installed in all e-readers and notebooks – will enable intelligent reading. Moreover from now on paid content can be distributed via freely available iPhone-Apps.

As every month these Micro-Trends are a teaser for our Executive Trendreport filled with 300 innovations and best practice cases.

We hope you enjoy reading about trends & innovations! If you are interested in a free issue of our current Trendreport click here!

MULTIMEDIA READING WITH TEXT 2.0

The German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence has developed a system which makes the process of reading less static. Using the eye trackers from Text 2.0, the written word and the readers’ eyes are interconnected. The system registers whatever the reader is currently reading and adds suitable atmospheric and subject-related effects in the form of images, music or sounds. In addition, the texts can be translated into other languages and complicated contents explained in intelligent footnotes.

GIVING MUSIC AS A GIFT ON FACEBOOK

Facebook and the music portal Lala are now launching a gift service, allowing users to buy songs and then send them to their friends as a gift. The chosen song titles are implemented in special birthday graphics and e-cards. The user who makes the gift has to pay a fee of 10 cents per song, and the payment is made as part of a credit system. It is possible to listen to each song via a stream within Facebook or to download the file as an MP3, although the fee is then higher, costing 90 cents (but still 10 cents less than iTunes).

ASK.COM OFFERS COUPONS

The search engine Ask.com has just started offering its users coupons and special offers. Besides a specially created website for this service featuring the daily offers, users are also given coupon suggestions based on their search queries. If a search is entered into the search screen for inexpensive iPods, for example, the user will also receive a list of coupons on the results page. With this step, Ask.com is seeking to distinguish itself from other search engines like Google and Yahoo.

DIGITAL BOOKS BY DISNEY

Disney has just started an online subscription service for over 500 digitalised Disney books. The website features a children-friendly user interface and the contents include cartoon classics as well as more recent Disney releases. The children can leaf through the books page for page, have unknown words read out to them, participate in the action with some stories and even invent Disney stories of their own. The online book subscription costs $79.95 per year and is aimed at children between three and twelve.

FREEMIUM CONTENT POSSIBLE IN IPHONE APPS

Apple is now making it possible to purchase premium content from free iPhone apps. This allows iPhone users to buy more digital services while using a free app. In this way, free apps can be used for promotional purposes and make money by offering premium services. For example, it would be possible to make a game available for downloading at no cost, but then charge a fee to access higher levels of the game. The publishing industry could also profit from new modes of revenue using this technique.

With the clock-change coming up on Sunday, we would like to help you stay ahead of time. Micro-trends appear in the limelight and impress you with an outstanding performance of real innovation. From our 300 micro trends, that we identify every month we offer you a small selection of 5 micro-trends in our monthly newsletter.
One of these is from the American company Udorse, which has developed a tool for Facebook that allows users to highlight recognised brands with a link, so that hotel operators, for example, can be endorsed from your holiday snaps, and Lichtblick who joined with Volkswagen to put the production of energy where it belongs to – in the houses where the ernergy is actually being used.

RECOMMENDATIONS VIA GPS & AUGMENTED REALITY

The iPhone app from the American website yelp.com for reviews and recommendations of all kinds of companies is now making it much easier for users to get the opinions of other users and send in their own views. Wherever users are, reviews of restaurants or shops in the area appear on the iPhone via the augmented reality mode “Monocle”. After using the app to find the company he was looking for, the user can directly send out a short, Twitter-like 140-character statement on the product he has consumed or purchased.

SWARM POWER THANKSTO GENERATOR IN THE CELLAR

Lichtblick, the Hamburg-based provider of environmentally-friendly electricity, has put forward a highly ambitious programme of using so-called “swarm power” in home-based power units to replace the power from two nuclear reactors within a single year. The plan is to install small, gas-fired power generators in homes, which can be connected to the main power network. As well as producing electricity, the generator – installed in the cellar of the building, could also provide the house’s necessary heating. By responsibly utilising the heat lost, approx. 60% less CO2 will be emitted than with the more conventional gas heaters.

AUCTIONS VIA INSTANT MESSAGING

The auctioning website “Auctionopia” is now mainly using Instant Messaging as a communication channel between buyers and sellers. As is customary, the sellers put up their wares on the website for bidding and set a calling price. Any interested buyers then have the chance to contact the seller via IM and haggle over the price. As soon as the price negotiations begin, the auction timer is set at 2 minutes and an agreement must be reached within this period. The timer is put back only if another interested buyer joins in the bargaining and makes a bid.

GOOGLE PRINTS BOOKS ON DEMAND
The Google Books virtual library is set to make its entry into the real world too. In collaboration with the New York company “On Demand Books”, Google is about to allow over two million different works to be printed. All users who in future wish to read one of the books found on Google in printed and bound form can simply order a copy of their own.

UDORSE – SOCIAL ADVERTISING VIA FACEBOOK

The company Udorse has developed a tool for Facebook that allows users to highlight brands on photos with a link, so that hotel operators, for example, can be endorsed from your holiday snaps. If anything is bought or booked via the link, the user who placed the link can choose to receive a part of the payment via PayPal or donate the money to charity. The first partners for this enterprise are the fashion labels Armani and American Apparel.