Webremix Articles

Skrillex, Diplo & A-Trak: The Billboard Cover Story

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:15:00 GMT

Seven 2012 Grammy nods among them. Three record labels. Big-time synchs. Big brands onboard. Skrillex, A-TRAK and Diplo step from behind the decks to lead EDM's big push toward mainstream global domination.

Server-Side Mobile Web Detection Used by 82% of Alexa Top 100 Sites

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:14:00 GMT

About 82% of the Alexa 100 top sites use some form of server-side mobile device detection to serve content on their main website entry point. As you descend from the top 10 to the top 25 and top 100 sites the percentage of sites using server-side detection falls from 100% to 96% to 82%. This is an interesting fact given that all the recent discussion in the blogosphere is of responsive design using client-side techniques such as media queries. You can read more about these techniques in our article describing current mobile adaptation techniques.

How exactly did I measure this? I took five devices and visited the main entry points for the latest Alexa Top Global Sites list. I compared the size of the returned HTML document for each of the devices in question to see if server-side redirection and/or adaptation was being used. To avoid having to actually view the resulting page from each device I used the page byte size as a proxy measurement: if different user-agent strings resulted in significantly different returned HTML byte size for the same URL, I count this as server-side device detection at work. Where known, I used the full set of HTTP headers for each device in addition to the correct user-agent string.

Server-Side Mobile Web AdaptationTop 10 SitesTop 25 SitesTop 100 SitesNone0%4%18%Some20%8%8%Extensive (greater than 3 versions)80%88%74%Any adaptation at all100%96%82%

Google is the star performer, fine-tuning all of its properties in all territories. The most notable non-adapting sites in the top 25 are Apple and Craigslist (to be fair to Craigslist their site is quite efficient thanks to its spare use of images).

In conclusion, while the blogosphere is full of lively debate about new methods of achieving mobile adaptation using JavaScript, progressive enhancement and media queries, the data show that the giants in the web arena are using server-side device detection techniques to achieve this goal. The techniques are not mutually exclusive of course, but pragmatism suggests that the method used by the big brands is at least worth a look.

Testing Notes

A few of the Alexa top 100 sites are not sites designed to be browsed as such e.g. googleusercontent.com and t.co
The main entry point for the Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) does not use device detection but all of the language-specific entry points do e.g en.wikipedia.org and es.wikipedia.org etc. For this reason I counted this as a site that uses adaptation since search results usually send you to the language-specific entry point.
A bug in the library that I was using to crawl the sites caused failures for a handful of them so I checked these by hand.
This method of counting server-side device device detection probably under-counts if anything since some sites may use server-side image resizing as a means of adaptation without changing the containing HTML document.
Sites can use device detection simply to redirect browsers to a more mobile-friendly site and/or adapt the HTML to the particular device in question.

Mobile Devices Used

Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.7; rv:8.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/8.0.1
Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3
Nokia6300/2.0 (05.00) Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1
SAMSUNG-SGH-E250/1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 UP.Browser/6.2.3.3.c.1.101 (GUI) MMP/2.0
DoCoMo/2.0 N905i(c100;TB;W24H16)

Written by Ronan Cremin, Director of Engineering at dotMobi

Virender Sehwags 219 endorses him for big brands

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Nearly 800 messages have flooded his mobile phone inbox, Virender Sehwag said. Who knows how many of them were from the corporate world and advertisers!

Ad Man Pairs Big Stars With Big Brands

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:30:01 GMT

In today's media-saturated world, matching a celebrity to a brand is a fine art. The Michelangelo of that art is Steve Stoute, 40, a former music executive and manager who runs an advertising agency that specializes in pairing celebrities with advertisers.

Supershoes: Wonder Woman And Catwoman Shoes By Andre

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:03:12 GMT

As I told you yesterday, we’re in a festive mood here! We’ll keep the party going all weekend long because (wink) you’re worth it! (maaan, I hope I won’t get blasted by the big brands for using that slogan – wink) Not to mention it would appear that everyone is enjoying it! (wink) Also – [...]

Supershoes: Wonder Woman And Catwoman Shoes By Andre

South Africa: The Brand Connexion Activates Brands

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:28:50 GMT

The Media Connection, South Africa's community radio advertising specialist, has undertaken numerous activations for big brands via its activation subsidiary, The Brand ConneXion, over the past 12 months.

Big brands like H&M are listening to you

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:17:00 GMT

As fashion-lovers around the world ponder over which clothes to add to their Christmas wish-lists, news about a different list linked to the fashion industry has got the Detox team here at Greenpeace buzzing. I’m talking about H&M’s Restricted Substance List, a detailed version of which appeared for the first time on the company’s website this month.

Now I know what you’re thinking: “a list of chemicals, what’s so special about that”?

Well, the publication of this list is actually pretty remarkable – because you, our supporters, made it happen!

It’s thanks to you that H&M has listed in a publicly accessible way all of the chemicals it has banned or placed restrictions on due to their hazardous properties, as one of the short-term actions it pledged to make in its Detox commitment, published just last month.

This landmark commitment was a result of global pressure from concerned Greenpeace supporters, consumers and fans around the world, whose combined actions persuaded the fast-fashion retailer to take up the Detox challenge and commit to eliminate all hazardous chemicals from its supply chains and products.

H&M’s Restricted Substance List is just one example of the efforts that the brands taking part in the Detox challenge (Nike, Adidas, Puma and H&M) are making, to live up to their promise to become more open and transparent about the chemicals they are using and discharging into our rivers and waterways. It’s also an important first step in providing local communities, journalists and officials with the information they need to ensure that the local water supplies are not turned into public sewers for industry.

The publication of this list is just the beginning. As part of their Detox commitment, H&M has also promised to disclose the quantities of certain hazardous chemicals being discharged - facility by facility - in an online, searchable format by the end of 2012. This detailed disclosure – something revolutionary in the sector, particularly in countries such as China – will be vital in exposing the toxic truth about the clothes we wear, and the truth that local communities, policy makers and the brands’ consumers have a right to know about.

For the brands, coming clean will help them to earn and grow the trust of their consumers, providing a transparent way to demonstrate that they are living up to their promises, making real changes on the ground and taking a true leadership position on the issue of toxic water pollution.

Interest in the Detox campaign is spreading rapidly across the fashion sector. Just last week, I was invited to speak at the “Beyond Fashion” summit in Berlin, and in the coming months members of the team will also be speaking at other industry events and to fashion schools. These students will help shape how the fashion sector innovates and reinvents itself to create a toxic-free future in the years to come, and their hunger for sustainable fashion is both insatiable and infectious.

Right now, the committed clothing brands are working with Greenpeace campaigners to develop their joint Detox Action Plan, which will outline how they will use their power and influence and work with their suppliers to completely eliminate the use of all hazardous substances from their clothing manufacturing processes and products.

So while the publication of the Restricted Substance List by H&M is just the first step, it’s the beginning of something much bigger that is resonating throughout in the fashion world.

Something that you – our supporters – are helping to make happen.

To read more about the campaign and the background research linking the fashion sector to toxic water pollution, visit our Detox homepage.

Big Brands Should Embrace New TLDs & Stop Giving Away Money

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:45:00 GMT

Advertisers have given Verisign a free gift worth billions of dollars over the past 10 years.

Sports Stadiums provide a great analogy…

What do office supplies have to do with basketball? What does oil have to do with football?

Yet, Staples will pay the Lakers $116 million dollars and Lucas Oil will pay the Indianapolis Colts about the same (over 20 years) to associate their company names with these stadiums. These companies understand the value of an audience; the value of millions of eyeballs… and they gladly pay to have their brand viewed by millions of people even though those eyeballs are mostly interested in the sports.

Yet those same advertisers don't consider the billions of dollars in aggregate cumulative advertising value that they are giving away for free… to Verisign when they advertise their dot.com domain names year after year after year on television, radio, billboards, and magazines… all around the world.

I've been trying to make the point on the value of new TLDs to advertisers for a long time and I think I can demonstrate it better by using the analogy of "sports stadium naming rights". When you consider the amount of money spent on stadium naming rights it's easy to see that smart brands consider it a successful strategy. In its simplest form, naming rights can be defined as the privilege of associating a sponsor's name with a building, project, or event by including the sponsor's name in the title of the item being named (see: Valuing Naming Rights). Millions are spent on naming rights and are generally just a part of large brand ad budgets.

So here is the comparison: Although the ways and means are different it's accurate to say that… sports teams attract attention… and large advertisers attract attention.

And a huge amount of valuable exposure inures to any TLD (.com / .net / .org / .whatever) that is attached to a large advertiser's brand. Dot.com (Verisign) has been the primary recipient of that benefit… without question… for free… for at least ten years. If you wanted to take this analogy further, brands might even suggest that Verisign pay them to advertise .com as part of their brand name. Even with the benefits of a short URL, I'm actually a bit surprised at the reported amount ($350K) that Overstock paid for o.co. They could likely, easily acquire their own TLD next year for a bargain price of $185K. There is no doubt that the dot.co registry wants famous brands to use their TLD and that they are benefiting greatly by Overstock's advertising dollars (The .co management team is one of the smartest and best in the domain name business).

All in all, considering the amounts that large brands spend on advertising every year, wouldn't they just be better off using their own TLD? If brands used and advertised their own TLDs, all of their ad dollars would inure to their own brands, and the need to protect a brand across every possible TLD in existence would also be reduced. This is especially true since there are now so many legal and procedural processes in place to protect brands online anyway.

And with the barrier to entry that new TLDs provide (a cost of $185K) there is a clear and obvious long-term benefit to brands acquiring their own new TLDs.

Finally, consider Paul Stahura's CircleID article in 2009. Paul's study showed that "the vast majority of trademark holders are not registering their trademarks in all the current generic TLDs, let alone all the TLDs." There is good reason for this. It doesn't necessarily pay to register your famous brand in anything else except for the most used (most advertised) TLDs. The only TLDs that are "typed in" by end users with regularity are .com and .org, and a few of the most significant ccTLDs like .us, and .de; country codes of the largest commercial economies of the world. This is because they are the only ones that are widely advertised. People know about them and use them, so brands need to be protected under them.

But the need to register a brand under every possible new TLD will be greatly diminished in a world of dot.brands. I wish that the ANA and other trade groups would begin sharing the opportunities rather than telling their members that the sky is falling. It will be too late very soon.

To learn more about this topic, dowload a copy of my free white paper on how brands can use new TLDs to stop cyber-squatters.

Disclaimer: Yes, I work for a registry and have an interest in new TLDs, but I wouldn't be promoting them if I didn't think they were a fantastic idea for big brands.

Written by Joe S Alagna, General Mgr

Big Brands Recognizing the Value of New gTLDs

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:18:00 GMT

Successful companies already understand the importance and impact of brand control in domain names. No company would ever consider using hotmail.com or gmail.com email addresses for official business. A decade ago, did companies invest in Geocities or Tripod URLs, or did they promote their own domain names? Today, if a company hosts its blog with WordPress.com, do they take the default brand.wordpress.com Web address, or do they upgrade to their own branded second-level domain name? If they want to be successful and continually reinforce their brand, they choose the latter.

Smart brand managers are now exploring the benefits of taking this degree of control one step further and are claiming ownership of the entire URL by applying to ICANN next year for a new generic top-level domain that matches their brand — a dot Brand gTLD.

While some may think of .com as a public utility, in reality it's a brand just as much as wordpress.com or geocities.com. Every time a .com URL is used in advertising, .com is also promoted, whether the advertiser likes it or not. The .com registry is like a clothing retailer that prints its brand on the T-shirts it sells and uses its customers as free walking billboards. Today, big brands are reduced to wearing the .com T-shirt; but in the world of new gTLDs, companies will be able to become the retailer, not just the billboard.

Everybody wants to control his or her identity on the Internet, but no one more than large brand-owners. A dot Brand gTLD will give a company full ownership of the entire domain name from beginning to end, as forward-thinking marketers have already realized. For one example, Pepsi appears to be so confident about dot Brand top-level domains that it's using ".pepsi" — before the gTLD has been applied for or awarded — in their advertising throughout India.

A dot Brand gTLD may not be appropriate for every company. Some brands may be too unwieldy to act as effective top-level domains. Others may lack broad consumer recognition, and some may not be immediately permitted by the rules in ICANN's Applicant Guidebook. Whether your organization ultimately chooses to pursue a new gTLD or not, investigating the marketing benefits enabled by dot Brands should be a top priority for every brand manager in the next few months.

The window to apply begins on January 12, 2012, and ends on April 12, 2012, and it may turn out to be a one-time opportunity. Dismissing new gTLDs without due attention may have unwelcome ramifications. In late April 2012, ICANN will publish the full list of gTLD applicants. Marketers who missed the boat and cannot adequately explain their involvement (or lack thereof) in the dot Brand revolution may find themselves having to answer some difficult questions.

Written by Roland LaPlante, Senior Vice President and CMO at Afilias

Latest Google Panda Update Favors Video, Big Brands, Google Properties

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:40:07 GMT

Will Google's latest Panda update get the attention of the antitrust investigators given the boost it gave their own properties? Are Google search results becoming just a list of big brands? These are just a couple of the questions being asked following the Panda update made late Wednesday last week.

Latest Google Panda Update Favors Video, Big Brands, Google Properties

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 09:49:51 GMT

Latest Google Panda Update Favors Video, Big Brands, Google Properties

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:45:00 GMT

3 Holiday SEO Projects: Microdata, Freebies & Harvesting Links

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:00:00 GMT

It’s that time of the year again. There are code freezes just around the corner for most online retailers and those big brands that aren’t focused on hitting holiday sales goals are getting their 2012 search engine marketing budgets al...

Big Brands Seek New Designers

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 06:14:09 GMT

A dozen European fashion labels have shaken up their design teams—more than at any point since the 1990s.

H&M can do much better

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:10:00 GMT

H&M's head of corporate social responsibility, Helena Helmersson, blogged yesterday about our Detox campaign's new focus on her company. Our campaigners are due to meet with H&M decision makers this Friday, but in the mean time we thought it would be good to share this open letter in reply.

Dear Helena,

This might seem like an unusual way to respond, but it was prompted by your blog that was shared yesterday on both the official H&M Twitter and Facebook accounts.

You say you were surprised and disappointed when you saw the Greenpeace website and the focus of the Detox campaign turning to H&M. I’m surprised that you’re surprised! Greenpeace Detox campaigners reached out to H&M well over two months ago regarding hazardous water pollution from factories linked to top clothing brands, including yours. Nike, Puma and Adidas have all since committed to a toxic-free future, but H&M has not. How can you say H&M is a concerned and conscious company, whilst continuing toxic practices behind closed doors?

Yes, Greenpeace, including myself, have had a close and constructive relationship with H&M in the past. H&M worked with Greenpeace on REACH (European chemicals legislation), supporting the principle that hazardous chemicals must be substituted with safer alternatives where they exist. But the problem does not stop with your products, or at EU borders. Our Detox campaign highlights the urgent problem of chemicals that are used in the manufacture of H&M products such as nonylphenol ethoxylates, which break down in water to become toxic nonylphenol.

H&M has shown signs of environmental leadership in the past, but right now it is failing to disclose important details about its restrictions of hazardous chemicals and suppliers used to make its clothing that others, like Nike and Adidas, share online. Given that we are all working towards the same goal (a toxic-free future) then why not share your tools and experience with others?

H&M’s success and influence means it is ideally and uniquely positioned to be a catalyst for wider change in the clothing industry. I believe H&M has a responsibility to its customers and to the environment to completely eliminate all releases of hazardous chemicals from its clothing and production processes, and to disclose where its factories are located and what chemicals these factories are discharging into our precious waterways around the world. People living near these factories and buying these products have the right to know what is in their clothing and the harmful effects these chemicals have when released into our rivers and waterways.

What exactly does H&M have to hide?

Let’s get serious about strengthening H&M’s policies. The sheer volume of clothing that is made for your company gives it considerable influence over its supply chain, and as past experiences teach us, H&M already has the will, the capacity and the corporate structure to bring about ambitious environmental change and to set the trends for others to follow. It is now the middle of September. Fashion season is upon us, and big brands such as Nike, Adidas and Puma have already sent out a clear message that a good “detox” is this season’s absolute "must-have" with their individual commitments to zero releases of all hazardous chemicals by 2020.

We look forward to our dialogue this week, but until H&M recognises the urgency of the situation, and the problems your insufficient chemical management policies are causing for people and wildlife in China and elsewhere, we will keep reminding you.

Sincerely
Martin Hojsik
Head of the Detox Campaign

Slideshow: Photos from H&M stores around the world, where activists this week have begun rebranding the shop windows with large "DETOX" and "DETOX the future" stickers.

Google Partners with Big Brands for Tablet Catalog Project

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:00:00 GMT

Google has launched a new tablet application that lets users browse through catalogs from big brands. The catalogs include rich media items and the ability to buy any item directly from the app. Google Steps into Catalogs Google has been bu...

War of Words - the gTLD Weaponry

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:26:00 GMT

Why would the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), representing 400 member organizations and their 10,000 brands that spend $250 billion annually, be so wrong about ICANN's generic top-level domain (gTLD) program? They're complaining as if new gTLDs are being sold overnight in dark alleys with a no questions asked policy in exchange of a large suitcase filled with newly printed currency. This is definitely not the case, so what did they miss?

ICANN has painstakingly issued the most stringent rules to acquire an ownership of any new gTLD application, akin to applying to host the Olympics. Even the most seasoned squatters, high on a $10 domain-name shuffling frenzy, would beg for mercy under the weight of cost and extreme due diligence.

What's missing in this heated debate are senior advertising and marketing executives articulating their side. Research by AARM shows that barely 2% of senior marketing executives have some understanding of gTLD while the remainder have no clue. The gTLD topic requires a minimum of 40 hours of study before a marketing executive can give any serious comment on the topic — anything less would be off the cuff. It is almost as difficult as explaining a domain name two decades ago. Half-knowledge is the worst kind of knowledge.

It has already been established that gTLD isn't for everyone and only well-established and qualified organizations can play this game. The 250-page application is complicated enough to discourage any fly-by-night concept. The so-called super expensive cost of a single gTLD application is $180,000 and can easily climb to half a million dollars — certainly huge compared to the old $10 domain space.

But it is miniscule to what big brands and their big advertising routinely spend on any given afternoon. ANA reinforces this claim by pointing that its 400 members alone already spend $250 billion annually in advertising.

Cyber-squatting Friend or Foe?

One of ANA's objections comes from the alleged onset of cyber squatting. In reality, gTLD is a squatter killer. Take an example from a dot branding case: what would Canon, an applicant of gTLD, achieve by putting ".canon" on an open auction? What would the so called squatter do with "ibm.canon" or "microsoft.canon"? What purpose would it serve? The same applies for almost all major global names applying for dot-branded identities. ICANN will not permit anyone to take a well-protected trademark as there are too many screening procedures in place.

What about the dot generic brands? What will really happen to an open sale of ".rice"? Well, where is the money angle in squatting on "ibm.rice" or "microsoft.rice"? The myth that big trademark owners will have to fork over millions to avoid cyber squatting is wrong.

Squatting is the product of an easy and almost free model of the $10 domain name that is still readily available today. This type of thinking does not translate well in the new gTLD arena, as the buy-in for the game is highly selective.

Major names brands will have their dot brands as closed dot registries and the generic options will be successful in narrow and well defined and controlled distribution categories. Sure there will always be some unusual situations and for that well protected names will be well protected — that's why protection layers were created for them in the first place.

War of Words

The real unspoken problem with the 10,000 brands from ANA members lies in the fact that most of their name brands may not be able to pass the stringent rules of ICANN's evaluation. Basically when a successfully established regional name is stretched over multiple global areas, it starts showing its dis-functionalities — among other things the alpha-structure of the name falls part on suitability, marketability and usability.

The ICANN gTLD platform is more aligned to "one Internet, one world" thinking, and when applying the rules of global corporate nomenclature of "one name, one owner," often centuries old and successful regional name brands appear dysfunctional.

These names can become monstrous problems. On that note, take the dictionary term "Monster"; how would their owners prepare to pass the global test as a standalone brand?

Let's assume that nobody objects to the name Monster, rendering the lone applicant very lucky. You can equally imagine how hard this issue will be debated in boardrooms of all those monster-dependent name identities, ranging from the job listing service to the cable-maker, the cookies, the drink, the games, the trucks, the movies, the cartoons, the gyms and so forth.

This is a very small example. The implications multiply exponentially among names like United, National, First, Star, or Premier. The largest majority of global name brands and business names all over the world fall in this dictionary, descriptive, geographic or surname based problematic category. The big question should be are they just going to stay stuck where they are or do something about it, finally?

Last century's branding could live with this waste of name identity dilution, but not this new age of hyper dilution where name visibility is a strategic weapon, and market domination via name identity is the real test. AZNA is conducting a series of Executive Intelligence Briefings on this topic.

Of all the global trademark filings on behalf of organizations, less than 1% has achieved any true global umbrella of trademark protection and to provide them appropriate instruments to deal with any infringement issues. The biggest problem is that the majority of trademarks filed in their country of origin that eventually expand to neighboring countries are either unfit or unworthy of global protection.

Their entrapment into local thinking anchors them geographically, rendering global protection unattainable and unsuitable for these names. They are suspended in a state where they can neither enforce their rights nor safeguard their own turf.

Although global trademark wars periodically erupt in a frenzy to buy out all other identical diluted competitive "words," but most fizzle out, as the victor may only end up with a diluted name identity to begin with. Check out the trademark wars over Orange, Easy, Advantage, Entrepreneur or Monster — there are thousands others.

ABC Namebank's research on Global Dilution Trends points to a list of 100 most commonly used names based on geography, dictionary, descriptive or surnames by some 100 million businesses around the world. A simple review of a few trade directories will provide the solid proof. The gTLD provides an excellent window for management to encourage name evaluation as an opportunity to mount their brand on a thoroughbred horse and maneuver through the jackasses' names.

One Internet, One World

For trademark registrability issues, there are tens of thousands of well trained and qualified trademark attorneys to render a "professional letter of global registrability opinion." For another professional opinion letter on suitability, marketability and usability issues brand owners will have to go for deeper research and secure impartial analysis. As the legal profession does not offer creative services and tackle marketability, suitability and usability both evaluations and their simultaneous interactions are critical.

Worldwide, most trademark professional are uncomfortable with this gTLD program and rather take an aggressive approach to reevaluate naming of all currently filed and pending trademark portfolios, they are taking a defensive posture. Perhaps they may fear the implosion of millions of trademarks.

They also face the sudden realization that through traditional global trademark bureaucracy over newly hyper-accelerated digital controls to establish usage and acquire "secondary meaning," the new gTLD brands could slowly shift the course of managing trademarks.

The trademark profession basically inherited this global name dilution fiasco and unlike branding agencies do not have the mandate to offer creative naming services but to simply deal with compliance and enlarge the layers of protection.

Despite all this there are new complexities on the trademark scene fueled by cyber jurisdictional issues and multi-lingualization and there are brilliant trademark agents out there to dwell in this space. These issues also require solid debate and fresh insight and requires traditional trademark establishment to openly explore new frontiers and adopt more efficient procedures.

The post-meltdown world is moving much faster to global outreach programs as current domestic models are just not large or fit enough. Ecommerce is suddenly maturing faster than anticipated. ICANN brings in a higher-level experience on the Internet with the multi-lingualization of domain names and the new gTLD revolution.

The eventual goal of any serious commercial effort is to offer extreme value marketable with appropriate mark-ups and to achieve maximum image expansion to dominate the market. Last century the extreme image was delivered by the print media; this century via digital compression and global cyber-branding a space, where without a globally workable name, the organization will simply bleed.

As the world moves towards one Internet and one world, it has also clearly identified "one name, one owner" the winner in an age where market domination via name identity is most desired.

Written by Naseem Javed, Corporate Image & Global Naming Expert

MAX GO tops Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:30:00 GMT

Appolicious - Cinemax has landed in the Android Market, delivering movies, original programing and even some late-night content on-demand and on-the-go. LinkedIn added a nifty update to its Android app this week, enabling group discussions for mobile users. It’s been a great week for big brands seeking extended Android access. We’ve seen updates and launches from Box.net, BMW and OkCupid as well.

Shopkick partners with Disney, other big brands (Reuters)

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:04:36 GMT

Reuters - Shopkick Inc, a mobile commerce company backed by Kleiner Perkins, Greylock Partners and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, has signed 12 major brands to its location-based shopping app, said co-founder Jeff Sellinger.

How light options 'have as many calories as ordinary foods'

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 07:32:43 GMT

Supermarkets and big brands have spent millions of pounds on formulating lower fat, sugar or salt versions of their most popular products.

Reasons for optimism

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:43:00 GMT

As scientists in Canada and Norway report that long-banned toxic chemicals are being released by melting Arctic sea ice, my initial despair is difficult to overcome as bad news appears to pile upon bad news. However, within this grim scenario unfolding in one of the most pristine regions of the world, there are – believe it or not – some rays of hope for the future.

And no, I’m not some environmental naïf or uninformed optimist; in fact, I’ve worked on the Greenpeace campaign to eliminate toxic chemicals since the 1980s. I know full well the problems we’re up against, though I’ve also seen how common-sense and responsibility can prevail.

As part of the campaign that resulted in the enactment of the Stockholm Convention – a global ban on the production and use of toxic chemicals that are persistent in the environment and accumulate in our food chains and, eventually, in our bodies – I witnessed first-hand the possibility for change.

However, many of the chemicals now being released from the sea ice – Dioxins, Lindane, PCBs and others – were manufactured and originally used before this treaty came into effect in 2004. Atmospheric currents carried them to the Arctic, where much of the pollution was trapped in the ice, thousands of miles from the point of manufacture and use. These noxious substances are long lived, and don’t easily break down in nature.

So where, you may ask, is the ray of hope in this story of the global warming related re-release of chemicals that were supposed to be dealt with by a United Nations treaty?

Well, I see two reasons for optimism here. The first is the reminder that an international agreement about urgent environmental issues is possible – even on measures that are opposed by industry and controversial with governments.

Many of the chemicals banned or restricted by the Stockholm Convention were first brought to the world’s attention by Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking book Silent Spring (1963). Initial skepticism gradually grew into a scientific and public consensus that governments could not fail to notice.

Photo: A Swedish representative preparing to sign a treaty to eliminate POPs at the Stockholm convention, Sweden, 2001.

Despite massive amounts of pressure and lobbying from industry – including obfuscation of scientific truth and that oh-so-familiar threat of economic catastrophe – governments eventually committed to protect people and the planet. Corporations dealt with the change, and subsequent improvements have been made to regulations in Europe and North America. I find this an inspiring model for international negotiations to prevent runaway climate change.

Spoof logo designed for the Detox logo competition at greenpeace.nl

Second, I find great hope in the power of corporations to make rapid changes in response to public expectations. In response to public expectation for action on this front, many of the world’s largest corporations now have public commitments to “cleaner production” and a growing number of companies are adopting a policy to phase out hazardous substances through substitution.

However, they have to be held accountable, and required to do more. It’s not acceptable to spout fine words and still create toxic pollution. Particularly, they cannot make goods in the South using chemical processes that would not be allowed in more developed countries.

Greenpeace is now campaigning to get these companies to clean up their acts and stop polluting water in the global South with poisons that they could not legally discharge in Europe or North America.

At the moment, the focus is on big name sportswear brands. What we expect from these companies is the complete elimination of hazardous chemicals from their production processes. To get there, they will need a plan of action along with a commitment to full transparency so that their customers can see that they’re living up to their promises. It’s a tough set of demands, we know; but, if sportswear brands aren’t up for a challenge, who is?

And, last week, our challenge was accepted! Puma – a company that blends sports and lifestyle – became the first of the big brands to step up to our challenge. With a firm time-frame, Puma declared its intention to completely eliminate the release of all hazardous chemicals from all of its production processes. There’s more to be done, of course, but Greenpeace applauds these commitments.

Indeed, it’s the speed of this change which is so inspiring. The Greenpeace Detox campaign was launched on 13 July and Puma has demonstrated that big and necessary change needn’t wait by making public their commitment in under two weeks.

Every day that companies continue to discharge toxic chemicals, more and more accumulate in the environment.

Corporations can change swiftly. Now the spotlight is on the biggest sporting goods manufacturers – Nike and Adidas – to Detox out water! To put it in terms they should certainly understand: If impossible is nothing, Just Do It!

Kevin Stairs is currently Greenpeace’s Chemicals Policy Director for the European Union. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Doctorate of Law. Between 1988 and 2007 he was Greenpeace’s Head of Delegation at international negotiations on toxics, including the Stockholm Convention.

Reasons for optimism

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:43:00 GMT

So where, you may ask, is the ray of hope in this story of the global warming related re-release of chemicals that were supposed to be dealt with by a United Nations treaty?

Photo: A Swedish representative preparing to sign a treaty to eliminate POPs at the Stockholm convention, Sweden, 2001.

Spoof logo designed for the Detox logo competition at greenpeace.nl

Greenpeace is now campaigning to get these companies to clean up their acts and stop polluting water in the global South with poisons that they could not legally discharge in Europe or North America.

Every day that companies continue to discharge toxic chemicals, more and more accumulate in the environment.

Corporations can change swiftly. Now the spotlight is on the biggest sporting goods manufacturers – Nike and Adidas – to Detox our water! To put it in terms they should certainly understand: If impossible is nothing, Just Do It!

Seagate GoFlex tops Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:30:00 GMT

Appolicious - Cloud storage and access is fast becoming a priority for mobile app developers and consumers alike. Android devices have become the perfect portals to access all the stuff we keep across devices, with Seagate’s newest Android app dedicated to cloud content delivery. Big brands like Capital One and Nissan are also leveraging the cloud to deliver mobile banking and car management directly from your Android.

InboxQ And New “Campaign Configurator” Move To The Web

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:10:25 GMT

InboxQ , the browser extension that attempts to turn Twitter into Quora by letting big brands like @Gap search for user questions to engage with, is launching its web interface today for all those that are browser extension shy. Previously the service, which searches for Twitter users asking "real" questions and allows people and brands to answer them, was only available through a Firefox and Chrome plugin.

Know your tablet PC

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 22:07:39 GMT

There are at least five big brands in the market that are selling tablet PCs. Here's what you should keep in mind while on tablet shopping.

Carry the can for your content capturing calamity and capitalise

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:51:49 GMT

WTForever21? Bloggers In Arms

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:27:48 GMT

When it comes to the blogosphere and the big brands, there’s two way to handle the blog heat: you either make friends with the devil – the lil’ bloggers are like ants – little but oh – so – many! Or you use whatever legal means at your disposal – authentic or fake like colored [...]

WTForever21? Bloggers In Arms

Telco 2.0 News Review

Tue, 31 May 2011 12:16:01 GMT

Telco 2.0 Top Stories

Strategy & Finance: 900 million subscribers in China
Online Video: BT backbone goes multicast ahead of 2012
Broadband Connectivity: VZW so confident in LTE they want you to run Netflix
Mobile Money: Google launches Google Wallet, Offers
Apps and App Stores: Apple, Nokia outpromote the Android Market

[Ed: New 'Roadmap to Telco 2.0' strategy report available now here.]

China has reached 900 million mobile phone subscribers in April, according to the Ministry of the Information Industry. So far, only 67 million of those are on a 3G network - this perhaps doesn't say much for the wisdom of the MII's massive reorganisation of the industry, forcing China Mobile to give up its UMTS network, etc. But the 900 million subs are there - a massive, undeniable demographic fact.

The UK market looks a bit pathetic compared to this. But there's already one of the world's biggest streamers of high-definition TV - the BBC iPlayer - and there's the 2012 Olympic Games coming up. So there's a good chance that whatever happens next in online video will happen right here. BT announced this week that it's going to (finally) deploy IP multicast throughout its backbone network.

Interestingly, BT says that it didn't do this before because it was relying on the DVB-T digital broadcast TV network to carry big TV events for its own BT Vision subscribers. Now, however, after they secured the right to offer live football on BT Vision, and in preparation for 2012, it looks like the cost of securing enough DVB-T bandwidth is prohibitive. Of course, without a very fancy set-top box solution, broadcast TV doesn't help shifting all that over-the-top video. Multicast, however, can do this and BT plans to offer the service commercially, as part of its Content Connect CDN product.

This may all be a bit late, though, as new entrants make an appearance on the UK fibre scene. Benoit Felten says HyperOptic, which is focusing on London, "could be another HKBN" if it plays its cards right.

Meanwhile, Adobe has released its Extensible Metadata Platform to the ISO in order to create an open standard for content metadata. And Samsung is trying to seed the market for its SmartHub 3D TVs and other gadgets by offering buyers some special 3D content.

Verizon Wireless, for its part, is obviously feeling confident about its LTE network, as they're bundling a Netflix streaming app with each HTC Revolution 'droid they ship. You'll need to get in quick to land one with an uncapped data plan, though. Of course, if Netflix is paying Verizon, that would both be impressively two-sided and also a good reason to push the content right to the base of the cell tower.

Google formally announced its much trailed NFC play this week. Google Wallet, a partnership with Citigroup, MasterCard, First Data, and Sprint, will provide an NFC mobile wallet application. They claim to have 300,000 merchant locations and to support various loyalty card systems.

The big issue here is whether this will be just another attempt to do "mobile wallet". NFC is regularly re-announced by various alphabet soup groups of vendors, operators, and banks as the next big thing, but so far, it's been a money pit. If you consider Google to be a vendor, this is the same setup and it's not obvious why it would work any better this time. NTT DoCoMo actually bought a chunk of one of Japan's biggest credit card issuers to try and get this going.

On the other hand, perhaps Google Offers, which was announced together with Google Wallet, might be worth having. This is Google's Groupon-clone. The combination of the two makes interesting things possible around localised/targeted advertising and marketing, and could also be a reason to actually bother with the NFC app from a user point of view. The Achilles heel of NFC and RFID has always been a lack of anything like a use case.

But wait! A solution! Meet the world's first home-shopping theme park, where the visitors will be able to query information about any object they meet using a "Technological Education Device" and then, of course, buy it. That device is, by the way, running Android.

In the wake of the announcement, it turned out that Google had originally considered using PayPal as a payments option for the Android Market and then - when this fell down - poached several key staff from PayPal to build their own. PayPal is now suing, alleging that Google stole trade secrets from them. It's more fun than a "home shopping theme park", any road.

Further, Google VP of Payments, Osama Bedier promised that they would "work with carriers" to get the handsets deployed rather than bypassing them. (Clearly the Nexus One experience left a mark.) That would be one of the chaps at the centre of the PayPal row, by the way.

Distimo reckons that the Android Marketplace is one of the hardest to make money in. As well as the structurally high level of free apps, it seems that it's far less likely for any given app to make it into the hit parade. This is something we discussed at the Americas Telco 2.0 event - apps, as far as the big two app stores go, are a hits business rather than a long tail business.

Fascinatingly, the number of individual apps that get promoted in the top 10 and top 300 lists is much higher for the Apple app stores (both iPhone and iPad) than it is for their competitors. RIM's App World comes off worst in this comparison, with Android doing just slightly better, while Nokia's Ovi was actually quite good at it, coming in second behind Apple. This may reflect a genuine difference in philosophy - a priori, you'd expect Google to think in terms of search and Apple to think in terms of big brands.

Google has also been booting apps off the market recently - there are quite a few, some very popular, that provide an emulator for classic game consoles. The problem is that the console, its software, and the games are very proprietary indeed and it's likely that Google is worrying about lawsuits.

Over at Apple, are they deliberately making local Web applications slow? It seems that the JavaScript engine used to run locally-hosted widgets (like WAC) is slower than the one in the iPhone's web browser and has some interesting bugs - almost as if Apple didn't want to let random web developers bypass the App Store.

Is Microsoft making more money from Android than from WP7? The story is that HTC has apparently settled a lawsuit with Microsoft by agreeing to pay them $5 per 'droid. There's more here, and both a sort-of confirmation and some more information here. If a comment there is believable, Microsoft is trying to assert patents regarding using a FAT32 filesystem on an SD card, which would be essentially everybody.

There's some talk about the announcement of "Mango", the long awaited WP7 update, here, and a review of progress with both WP7 and MeeGo here.

The non-smartphone market - it's stagnating and the fastest growing vendor is "Other".

Are 6% of UK Internet users relying on dongles? Telco 2.0 senior associate and sage of the UK broadband market, Keith McMahon, says no - rather, OFCOM's survey design means that some WLAN users are being counted in with the cellular-dongle people.

France Telecom is expecting a succession of hard years, as it faces intense competition and needs to finance €18.5 billion in capital investment. They are therefore not expecting over 1% growth before 2014.

AT&T has a 78 page questionnaire to fill in regarding the T-Mobile acquisition, as the FCC demands a wide range of information on their spectrum policies, pricing, numbering plans, and much more.

Here's an interesting story: Cox Communications, the US cable operator, has given up its effort to become a mobile network operator. This comes after a remarkably slow, although Huawei-powered, rollout. Instead, they're just going to go wholesale instead.

Skype announced this week that Skype for Asterisk is no longer going to be supported. Tim Panton has an interesting post on the limited extent to which Skype ever did really support integration with Asterisk.

Phil Wolff has a fine example of the art of data visualisation, reorganising charts from Skype's updated S-1 filings. The original shows that there is a significant drop-off in SkypeOut usage after the first year - but not that usage growth for the remaining users compensates for this after that.

Watch out for the phonetic VoIP hackers.

Voxbone has got the job of deploying the United Nations' +888 country code for their disaster relief activities.

Tropo is starting a new series of posts on developing voice applications with their API and Python's Django framework. Worth reading.

Voice & Messaging 1.0 watch: CIX, the storied bulletin-board service provider, is still going 25 years on and has just been sold to indie ISP ICUKnet, who want to radically overhaul it and (among other things) integrate it on smartphones.

Amazon Web Services pulls a One2One and brings about a self-inflicted denial-of-service attack. They offered cut-price Lady Gaga songs for anyone who wanted to move their stuff into Cloud Drive, which saturated their uplinks and brought the whole thing to a grinding halt.

In other AWS news, IPv6 support lands for Elastic Load Balancer, and Route 53 DNS goes generally available.

How Evernote scales up to handle enormous amounts of data.

Lockheed hacked. Apple iOS 4 hacked. The news, hacked. Sony, unhacked some time this week. KPN DPI in trouble with the law. Wall Street mispriced LinkedIn - downwards? South Tyneside Council: tougher than the Iranian secret police.

ITC plans launching one or more mass products to grow personal care and food businesses

Sun, 08 May 2011 22:14:35 GMT

Experts expect ITC to do well in food business where it already has two big brands - Sunfeast and Aashirvaad.

ITC plans launching one or more mass products to grow personal care and food businesses

Sun, 08 May 2011 22:14:35 GMT

Experts expect ITC to do well in food business where it already has two big brands - Sunfeast and Aashirvaad.

Six Scents: Half a Dozen Unforgettable Perfume Commercials

Tue, 03 May 2011 14:30:00 GMT

Every December, big brands aggressively roll out perfume commercials in hopes of enticing last-minute shoppers. Although we don't recommend buying anything without an in-store sniff, the advertisements are always a blast to watch.

Progress for our oceans: UK retailer gives tuna a break and US supermarkets are ranked

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:52:00 GMT

Credit: Alex Hofford/Greenpeace

Tuna caught in the Pacific Ocean

Great news! UK retailer Morrisons has announced a new policy on tinned tuna, committing to stop sourcing fish caught via destructive fishing methods: this means that now all major UK supermarkets have now changed their policy toward being more sustainable. This leaves John West as the last major UK tuna supplier left that still needs to change its tuna.

An amazing development, this news follows fast behind similar commitments by UK supermarket giants Tesco and Asda, plus leading tuna brand Princes. The move is also a direct result of the pressure brought on the major UK brands by Greenpeace, ably assisted by the great work of Hugh’s Fish Fight programmes on British television. Our latest win to clean up the UK's tinned tuna industry also features in today's Independent newspaper - described as 'one of the most successful environmental campaigns in years.'

Morrisons’ new commitment is great: not only will it apply to all tinned tuna, but also to all the tuna they use as ingredients - such as in sandwiches and ready meals. They are also moving fast, and aim to have these plans implemented by 2013 - a full year ahead of Asda and Princes.

In just a few months since our tuna league table launch in January, the UK has gone from a two tier tinned tuna marketplace (with progressive good guys like Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer blazing a trail, but the big brands being slow to engage), rapidly evolving to where just one brand (John West) now stands out on the shelf for all the wrong reasons.

After Morrisons move, now more than 70% of the major brands of tinned tuna in the UK have switched, or committed to, sustainable fishing methods. They've also recognised that the information they give customers just isn’t good enough; in months to come you'll be seeing more informative labelling on your cans of tuna, plus you'll know that the impact that these cans have on the oceans is much less.

The big issue is purse-seining using fish aggregating devices (FADs). When Fads are used, acting as lures for lucrative tuna, the amount of bycatch caught in the seine nets increases tenfold. That bycatch is not just wasteful, but also totally unacceptable as many of the species caught, killed, and chucked back over the side, are locally or globally threatened. No one picking up tin of tuna should have to worry about endangered sharks, turtles or even other species of tuna being the hidden cost of their lunch.

Above: tuna and bycatch caught in purse seining nets

Consumers in the UK are now very lucky when it comes to tinned tuna. Customer demand has meant that they are now leading the world in sourcing this international commodity sustainably. Many recognisable UK brands - like Asda, Princes and Tesco - are international, so this impact is felt far beyond our shores. We also have commitments from these retailers to support protected areas at sea, like the Pacific Commons, by not sourcing their fish from there. That means the changes UK supermarket shelves- the second largest tinned tuna market- are making a difference, half a world away in the ocean.

Also today, in the USA, Greenpeace is releasing its supermarket ranking, Carting Away the Oceans. This year's ranking, the fifth released by our office in the States, has some surprise winners. While no U.S. retailer receives a "green" ranking, many have taken important steps forward. U.S. retailers Safeway (which tops this ranking) and Wegman's have backed Greenpeace calls for a Ross Sea marine reserve and many supermarkets have removed vulnerable orange roughy from their shelves.

Greenpeace wants to ensure we have fish for the future, that the fishing industry will sustain itself instead of fishing itself out of existence, that consumers can continue to enjoy the fruits of the sea without being complicit in its destruction and the people who need fish, as food or sources of income, can survive.

Big brands cash in on China's bling obsession (3)

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:28:05 GMT

&$&$STATUS SYMBOL&$ &$ When people are celebrating social affluence as reflected by soaring luxury consumption, some caution that the Chinese people's obsession with luxury could indicate blindness and irrationality. Zhao Zhongxiu, professor of economics at University of International Business and Economics in China, said luxury is about an artistic way of life and there is a rich cultural connotation embedded in each of the luxury brands. "However, many ...

Big brands cash in on China's bling obsession (2)

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:13:05 GMT

&$&$BOOMING MARKET&$ &$ Gone are the days when luxury meant owning a colored TV set or dining out at a western fast food eatery such as McDonalds; Chinese consumers are now eyeing high-end luxury goods with ever more money in their once flat pockets. China's rapid evolution from a basic emerging market to a sophisticated economic powerhouse is ready to see the country become the world's largest luxury goods market over the next decade. CLSA Asia-Pacific M ...

Big brands cash in on China's bling obsession

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:58:05 GMT

Private jets, elite villas, vintage wines, one-of-a-kind jewelry, and glittering watches set with colored diamonds are transforming the Chinese beach resort into a luxury hot-spot. In Sanya City, south China's Hainan Province, a four-day event, the Hainan Rende-zvous, which kicked off on April 1, is providing Chinese luxury-hungry consumers an intimate interacting with world-class showoffs from 195 companies. Having been flirting with the idea of owning a yacht for almost two y ...

Big brands cash in on China's bling obsession

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:10:46 GMT

Retail for rural India

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:24:02 GMT

How mobile technology is getting big brands on the shelves of country shops

VIDEO: Big brands reach the smallest villages

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:20:01 GMT

Big brands reach the smallest villages

Zac Efron to turn action hero

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:24:12 GMT

The Bourne Legacy’s new hero may have a bit of competition on his hands – Zac Efron has just signed on to become a continent-hopping action star.

The former High School Musical crooner has been drafted in to star in an untitled romantic action film over at Mandate Pictures.

Written by Matt Drake (Project X), the script was originally titled The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman and made 2007's Blacklist– but that title now seems to have been dropped.

Probably because Efron’s last (critically mauled) film also had ‘death’ and ‘Charlie’ in the title (The Death And Life Of Charlie St. Cloud).

The plot follows a suburban kid (Efron) who travels to Eastern Europe on a quest for self-discovery. There, he meets an alluring young woman – but he’ll have to fight her dangerous criminal ex if he wants her.

Swedish director Fredrik Bond will make his feature directorial debut with the film, having helmed a variety of ads for big brands.

Big Business Has Been Using the New TLD Concept for Years

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 01:26:00 GMT

The recent practice of major corporations abandoning the use of forward slashes in domain names and placing the product or service in front of their corporate domain name reinforces the business case for why we need new Top-Level Domains.

By now we've all had a chance to digest the concept around the new TLD program and in some cases even come up with our own amazing ideas for the next .com or a niche TLD that will make us millionaires overnight!

Well maybe some of us have…

Others are taking a far more practical approach to the exciting new changes to the Internet and how it will be adopted and used, in particular within the corporate arena. While there is still much conjecture around rights protection and trademark issues, the biggest unknown I think is how and when the new .brand TLDs will be used.

Speaking with a number of corporate clients recently it has become painfully clear that not everyone is as excited about the prospect of .brand TLDs hitting the online marketplace as I am. Whilst there is a large number of forward thinking organisations out there that can see the future ahead, the reality is that there are still a number of companies who see the whole program as a waste of time and money and will only be applying purely as a brand protection mechanism or even worse, not at all!

It's these clients that ask me, how can a .brand do anything but hinder our marketing and strategic plans?

Well the answer to this question came to me as I was reading an industry publication over my afternoon coffee and biscuit. I saw an advertisement for a new shoe from global sporting powerhouse, Nike.

Now the product itself, although quite ingenious wasn't what caught my eye. What caught my eye was the web address — nikeid.nike.com

This got me thinking…

Why did Nike choose this address as opposed to the commonly used www.nike.com/nikeid?
Why didn't they choose www.nikeid.com?
Is this proving a more effective way to deliver their message?
Is anyone else doing this?

The first three questions are there for Nike to answer but I would guess they chose the structure to assist in message recall and easier direct type into the web browser, which all lead to a simpler and more effective way for their customers to interact with them.

I also looked at nikeid.com and it resolved to the nikeid.nike.com page — interesting.

The third question I can answer for you very simply — "yes" other companies are doing this. Taking just five minutes on Google I found four of the biggest brands in their respective industries doing exactly the same thing:

software.intel.com
podcast.bmw.com
ebookstore.sony.com
store.apple.com

As you can see the trend is to bring the product or service ahead of the TLD in order to enhance customer recall which leaves the .com as a superfluous suffix that is only utilized because current protocols and domain name infrastructure dictates that the address would not work without it.

How much easier would it be for customers to remember the promotions if it was simply;

software.intel
podcast.bmw
ebookstore.sony
store.apple

If you're having trouble noticing the difference, try saying it to yourself like you were listening to a television commercial or a radio advertisement!!

So what does this really mean?

In my humble opinion the take up time of .brand and its transition to main stream usage may not take as long as some may think. With these big brands already utilizing the product.brand way of addressing it's clear that the exercise of merely dropping the .com at the end is the only obstacle that needs to be overcome for the .brand way of thinking to revolutionise how we navigate the Internet.

That… and a few short sighted people looking beyond a digital marketing strategy that lasts a year or two!

Written by Michael Twist, Business Development Consultant, AusRegistry International

CashStar Raises $5 Million To Send You Gift Cards On Facebook

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:59:54 GMT

Digital gifting platform CashStar has raised $5 million today in a Series B round lead by Passport Capital and Allen and Company. In the same space as BlackHawk, First Data, Gift Tango and Swag, CashStar offers SaaS and white-label solutions for big brands who want to implement digital gifting systems. With "ten times" as many customers as anybody else and partnerships with hundreds of retail brands including Starbucks, Coach, Williams Sonoma, Staples, Cheesecake Factory and The Gap, CashStar helps partners sell tens of millions in giftcards annually. It also offers an extensive range of gift card deployment options, including eGift cards, via Facebook and through your mobile phone.

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