Hello and welcome to this week’s Espresso of Innovation; a roundup of the hottest news and strongest stories from the world of creativity and technology filtered into a quick shot of inspiration. This week we’re talking about newsjacking, but by the time you’ve read this, its timeliness might have expired. Read More
Google has launched a fascinating, and controversial, project – an augmented reality game called Ingress. In it, Android device users move through the real world collecting pockets of energy, which can then be applied, to real quests in the free game.
Ingress is an interesting prospect for advertisers. The link to real businesses and locations gives them substantial scope to reach people with highly localised, targeted advertising. If the prospect of a Foursquare on steroids doesn’t concern you, other potential developments of this product might.
From the 18th-20th May the worlds leading interactive golf event Golf Live was at the London Club. We partnered with Golf Live to develop an App that will be game changing for event organisers, marketers, exhibitors, sponsors, visitors and researchers. Together Ipsos & Golf Live pushed the boundaries of mobile technology and boldly went where no one has gone before….
The event features star players and celebrities. The world’s leading golf brands attend to showcase new products and engage with consumers. On average over 10,000 visitors attend each year over 3 days. This year’s star guest was 9 times major champion Gary Player.
The purpose of the App was to go way beyond what existing event apps provide: Read More
Ever wondered where Foursquare was launched, where Twitter hit the big time or where you can hear keynotes from the likes of Jimmy Wales, Guy Kawasaki, Craig Newmark, Evan Williams or even Mr Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, himself – well Austin, Texas is where it is at in March as SXSW comes to town.
And next week we will throwing ourselves into the madness of SXSW Interactive as part of the UKTI Trade Mission along with 39 other companies from the UK and over 25,000 others from round the Globe. We will endeavour to bring you daily updates as to themes, new ideas and creative technologies on show along with the weird and wonderful from Austin. Read More
The 70,000-strong army of volunteers who will be helping the London 2012 Olympic Games to run smoothly have been told that they mustn’t mention details of their location, their role or any backstage information about athletes, celebrities or “dignitaries” on social media.
Considering the nature of social media on sites like Twitter and Facebook is to share precisely that information the London Olympics organisers appear to be issuing rather optimistic social media guidelines for volunteers. Read More
Foursquare: more developments
Foursquare is the latest social network to look towards businesses to monetize its website, with a report in the New York Post saying it is planning to start charging registered merchants.
The newspaper interviewed Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai, who said: “[The check-in] comes back to me in forms of recommendations. It goes back to [users] in interesting ways.”
Foursquare: 500,000-plus businesses on board
As we know, geo-location social network Foursquare is operating in an increasingly tough market, with competition on two fronts: rival check-in sites like Facebook Places, and the increasingly popular coupon companies like Groupon.
Nonetheless, a fortnight after it revealed it had 10 million members, it has said that it has more than 500,000 merchants signed up – the companies that do special offers for people checking in or for people with ‘Mayor’ status (meaning they’ve checked in the most) and so on.
Foursquare: deal with Amex
In spite of predictions that Facebook Places would kill off Foursquare, the geo-location social network is still going strong, revealing this week that it has 10 million members and a new partnership with American Express.
The deal works in the United States and will see American Express users required to sync their cards with a Foursquare account in order to get discounts at retailers and restaurants.
Groupon: coupons that can be used instantly
Deals, coupons, discounts: it’s the big thing right now, and the most talked about brand in the market place, Groupon, has upped the stakes with discount coupons that can be used instantly, otherwise known as Groupon Now.
In the past, Groupon ‘deals’ usually had to be redeemed at a later point. Groupon Now, in case that name is too confusing for you, means that if you have a smartphone and are walking around Chicago (which is the only city currently testing Groupon Now) with nothing to do, you can find turn to Groupon to fill the hole in your life.
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