The Digital Juice

90% Digital Specialist at Britvic Soft Drinks 10% Ninja (All opinions expressed are my own)

[futuramb]

[thedigitaljuice]

By Ken Dilanian, latimes.com

NATION

Might large groups be better predictors of wars and terrorism than analysts in government spy services?

WASH­ING­TON — Nine years ago, Con­gress blocked a Pen­ta­gon agency from set­ting up a web­site that would have allowed any­one wit…

[thedigitaljuice]

The Evolution of Digital- although it allows us to share information at a much faster pace and gives the way we communicate a sense of freedom, in the near future it will ultimately restrict us into self-censorship. -Gareth Dix 2012

[dbreunig]

They didn’t write Angry Birds and become a billionaire. They wrote Angry Birds and then got hired to be a programmer.

Horace Dediu on the writer behind Shit My Dad Says and the lack of innovation in old media.

The creators disrupting old media aim to be hired by the the film studios, television networks, publishing houses, and newspapers they challenge. Creative tweeters angle for sitcoms, bloggers dream of scoring gigs at magazines and newspapers (the Gawker career path of yesteryear was a position at New York Magazine), and single-serving Tumblrs still hope for book deals. Even passion projects of creative professionals take this route: Portlandia and Children’s Hospital started as internet shows before IFC and Cartoon Network declared them cable worthy.

Media companies turn to such proven online properties and talents to save on development costs. Yet nothing is done to improve their increasingly creaky forms of distribution, whose dwindling returns ate into the development budget in the first place. So sitcoms fail, coffee table books flop, magazines go under, and creators are fired. Unlike the developer that spins an app into a lasting business, these artists earn only a meager fee or a brief job.

The problem is there’s no App Store for writers, directors, photographers or comedians. They’re stuck a generation behind software developers, only now entering a shareware-esque era of free podcasts, blogs, and videos funded by donations from a small segment of their audience.

Glimmers of hope exist, like Louis CK’s self produced Beacon Theater show and Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo, but these are the exception not the rule.

Creators need an App Store equivalent, one which handles business details, provides an audience, and allows them to earn money for their work. There’s tremendous economic value waiting to be unlocked.

(via dbreunig)

[digitalbeautybuz-blog]

IKEA hosts sleepover for Facebook fans

After finding a Facebook group of almost 100,000 people called “I Wanna Have A Sleepover in IKEA”, IKEA took the opportunity to create a competition for 100 fans to make their dreams come true, with a giant sleepover at the Essex, UK IKEA store. A great PR stunt that reached out to and rewarded the brand advocates and gave them special attention and care (which usually lacks in IKEA stores)

[thedigitaljuice]

Kids using Technology?

Technology that we see as new and exciting, kids today are growing up with and see as part of everyday normal life.

No doubt you would have seen this video of kids being asked about “old technology" and what it was used for, but there’s a number of others more recently which highlight just how much things have changed for the next generation.

How about this video that show's a two year old using an iPad better than most adults I know?

Or this one where the baby getting confused by a paper magazine because it's not interactive? 

Scary? Some of the technology that we're dreaming of now will be just like Mobile phones were to our generation... they will change the way we work and live and will just be a normal part of life.

Next time you you're trying to work out whether your target market will understand how to use your digital campaign... give it to a child first and you might be surprised.

[helloyoucreatives]

I’m a creative. Dude, you’re a barista.

Samsung go for the gut with this latest advert for their smarty pants phones.

[thedigitaljuice]

Debenhams pop up store via mobile app, great idea but it's severely flawed. Consumer attention spans to digital marketing are mentioned in nano seconds, is a 20% discount going to drive people to use it?

This would have been great as an add on to an existing m-commerce app for Debenhams so that:

a) Some people would already have the app installed

b) The app would have prolonged use after the campaign

c) Integration from getting the discount to buying the item would be have been seamless

I bet most people won't even get through the whole tutorial video.

[thedigitaljuice]

7 Disruptive innovations Infographic from Mashable

[thedigitaljuice]

Disney show off innovation based on consumer insight

I'm not exactly Disney's biggest fan or even their target market but I love this.

Basically they've launched a set of toys that interact with an app on the iPad (as in the video above). Apart from the free play there's loads of games they can play on the app using the cars (e.g. racing).

It's not just because it's shiny and new, or that it's on the iPad but because it's born out of a really killer piece of insight that Disney have latched onto.

"To keep my kids entertained, I give them my iPad/iPhone to play games."

For me this is a real piece of innovation as it changes the way we look at how games can be played. It takes gesture control into a completely new space by using the example of how kids play with toys normally.

That being said, if I had kids I'm not sure I'd let them loose with something on the screen.

[thedigitaljuice]

[thedigitaljuice]

Innovation- an approach, idea, practice or technology which holds out the promise of being a smarter, better way of doing things. Not just new for the sake of being new, but a fresh take on solving a particular challenge or improving on the norm.

Ashley Friedlein - E-consultancy

[thedigitaljuice]

Augmented reality on an iPad with a difference (Vuzix Glasses)

[untanglingtheweb]

Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral.

Kranzberg 1st law of technology (via untanglingtheweb)

[thedigitaljuice]

"Digital isn't different it is just another media channel to use" (Explained with a Gartner Hype Curve)

The above statement isn't from anyone in particular but if you're in the area of Digital you will have come across someone (normally a traditional marketer) with this view fairly recently

To be honest I find it quite refreshing after the last 8 years of people being afraid of using anything digital as if it were some mystical being that only alchemists could create.

Gartner's hype curve seems to be able to explain the psychology behind the change in view from Digital being alchemy to Digital being nothing new (although I'm pretty sure they hadn't really envisioned this).

Technology Trigger - That digital stuff is alchemy or voodoo and I don't want it

Peak of inflated expectations - Digital is just another media channel and I can use it as such

Trough of Disillusionment - Why has no one gone to my facebook page?

Slope of enlightenment - Digital has changed the culture of our consumers

Plateau of productivity - It's not just a channel, it's a platform we can use across the mix

I think the easiest way to explain how I feel about this is to post this video of Microsoft CEO Steve Bullmer talking about the iPhone just after it's announcement:

[thedigitaljuice]

[dbreunig]

[thedigitaljuice]

dbreunig:

Patrick Wied cooked up a website that creates a heat-map of keyboard usage for a given text. Here is english compared with a few programming languages. (Via Patrick Wied)

[thedigitaljuice]

This image pretty much sums up why as Digital People we need to be mindful when showcasing the power of social media to the people higher up in corporate.