brand-e » -e.mobile

QR code from the Black stuff

admin — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:30:04 +0000

Guinness has rolled out a Guinness QR Cup, which is actually a pint glass. Filled with, say, Stella Artois, it remains a mere glass. But topped up with stout it reveals a QR code which, when scanned, tweets about your pint, updates your Facebook status, checks in you via foursquare, invites your friends, launches exclusive content, downloads coupons and cooks your supper. (Actually, we lied about the last bit, but it’s still a busy little social media code, for sure).

A short history of trunks

admin — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:16:51 +0000

Louis Vuitton has launched its 100 Legendary Trunks app for iPad. Why? The luxury wants to take consumers on a journey of discovery to uncover the secrets behind some of the most unique travel trunks created by Louis Vuitton for explorers, movie stars, maharajas and their ilk.

The app boasts 100 emblematic trunks – along with 360-degree views of 10 ‘very special’ trunks ones - more than 1,000 illustrations, 40 videos and sound clips, as well as a ‘chronological presentation of the trunks placed in the context of world history’.

All this and more for £13.49. At that price, we should all be tripping…

Making the message fit for mobile

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:11:14 +0000

More than one third of UK consumers now read marketing e-mails on their mobile devices, rising significantly to over half among 18-to-34 year olds, according to a new report published by digital agency Steel London. The research also finds that many people who read marketing mails on their mobiles do so to screen them for later reading on a PC or laptop. In light of this, Steel says brands need to rethink their marketing strategies to find the sweet spot that maximises consumer interest across both types of screen.

“The mobile has become the gatekeeper for further action and engagement with e-mails,” says Andy Hinder, Steel CEO. “With better targeted marketing e-mails, and the growth in mobile commerce, it is essential for brands to look at how they further adapt their e-mail marketing strategies for mobile.”

The agency finds a large degree of consumer dissatisfaction with reading e-mails on mobiles. With ‘too much scrolling’ cited by 42% of all respondents, spiking to 89% of consumers aged 55-plus. E-mails having the ‘wrong layout for mobiles’ are the next strongest area of dissatisfaction, cited by 29% of all consumers, and jumping to 45% of 18-to-34 year olds.

“Marketers must also bear in mind when and where the consumer is receiving their communication,” says Hinder. “This has massive implications for how they create the right messages for a highly personal device, and how they want consumers to react to, and interact with those messages.”

Men In Black, dunked

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:05:06 +0000

Dunkin Donuts has joined forces with Sony Pictures to launch the Men In Black 3 mobile app to coincide with the launch of the latest film in the Men In Black franchise. The marketing app features animated alien Spikey Bulba who is there to be captured and fed with Dunkin virtual iced coffee and donuts. In addition, the more fans play with Spikey Bulba, the more content becomes unlocked on the app.

Dunkin Donuts has also rolled out new menu items inspired by Men In Black 3, including Black Cocoa Creme Iced Coffee (served with a special pink and black straw), Undercover Black Cocoa Donut (a star-shaped yeast donut) and Chocolate Lunarmax Donut (with chocolate icing drizzle and star sprinkles).

Nokia, BlackBerry lag on smartphones

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:00:49 +0000

Samsung and HTC will increase their share of the UK smartphone market over the next year, but not BlackBerry and Nokia, whose diversified product portfolio strategies do not appear to be paying off, says YouGov.

The research firm points to BlackBerry’s well-documented problems both in the UK and worldwide. Nokia, despite currently having the lion’s share of the feature phone market, has been unable to convert this base to its Lumia smartphone models and may capture just 4% of feature phone converters within the next 18 months.

“This situation may be a case of Nokia coming to the smartphone party, too little and too late – their loss of share may be permanent”, says John Gilbert, Consulting Director of YouGov’s technology and telecoms team.

Wake up, it’s Uniqlo

admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:55:46 +0000

Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo has launched the Uniqlo Wake Up app for iPhone and Android smartphones. The marketing app checks the weather, the day of the week and the time, and then comes up with an appropriate song.

The brand says the social alarm app aims to make waking up every day an enjoyable experience, with music written by Grammy nominee Cornelius and Yoko Kanno. The app also allows users to share a record of their wake-up in the shape of the time, weather, and temperature at the moment they stop the alarm via social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, RenRen and Weibo.

Silicon Roundabout, apped

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:11:53 +0000

Now London’s Silicon Roundabout tech hub – where the Google Campus recently set up shop – has its own app. Tech City UK will use the Silicon Roundabout app act to aggregate the latest news, events and gossip from the capital’s start-up scene.

“Our aim is to carry news, reviews, comment and opinion on topics relevant to not only the people working in Silicon Roundabout but to anyone who wants to stay informed and discover latest trends and developments from the European capital of technology,” says Tech City. “We’ll be covering not only the major companies in the industry, but the little guys too – because one day they are going to turn into the big guys, and it’s all happening right here, right now.”

Women smarter with smartphone apps

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:08:00 +0000

Men in India may install more smartphone apps than women – 16 applications a month compared to just 11 – but there’s substantially higher usage of apps by Indian females, driven mainly by chat apps such as WhatsApp Messenger – which women use three times as much as men – Google Talk and Nimbuzz, according to Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights.

Men spend 50% more time browsing on their smartphones than women. The average number of websites visited by males is 20 in a month compared to just 14 among females. However, women prefer social sites more than men as 43% of web pages visited by women are social networking sites, compared to just 32% for men.