Virus writers target smart phones.

It wasn’t that long ago I was having a discussion with friends about the future of computer viruses, and the general consensus was that the next big frontier in virus development would be smart phones. Back then we had phones like the Nokia 3310, but we’ve all moved on from small ‘block’ phones with few applications to ‘wafer thin’ smart phones that are in essence, small computers with sophisticated applications.

On the one hand its great for the companies that write software programs to remove and protect against this malicious software (or malware for short), but not so good for the millions of users who just purchased their new smart phone. This has got to be a concern for Google, with a fresh wave of virus writers targeting the popular Android OS. Check out this link to read more http://bit.ly/aoSzhz

Two Rare Occurrences

Well here’s a bit of a turn up, or rather two of them.

Firstly me (Jake) writing a blog post.  This hardly ever happens as I’m not a natural ‘blogger’ and can’t help but think that most people won’t be terribly interested in my thoughts and opinions and those that would be interested I generally seek out and rant (or enthuse) at.

Anyway, the second rare occurrence is something very different in the world of music production.  We know about big record labels pouring millions into artists’ music with a consequential influence not unlike Steroids on a toddler.  We’ve also heard about about bands begging and borrowing to fund their own first tentative steps on the slippery music industry ladder but I’ve come across a third way which really took my fancy.

I really like the music of Emmy The Great (check her out on last.fm too) and subscribe to her email newsletter which is how I heard about something called Pledgemusic which she is using to raise money to fund her new album.

The concept is pretty simple and I think a great bridge between self finance and being owned by a record company.  As far as I can see it works like this…

• The artist comes up with a series of things to sell (Pledges), these are fun and meaningful things which have an intrinsic value, ranging from a copy of the album as a CD or download when it’s released, postcards sent to you from each location on a tour, a guitar or song writing lesson with the band right through to a gig in your own front room.
• You being a fan of the artist and keen on the success of the project (of course) buy up some of these pledges and so end up being a micro backer of the project.  You don’t own a slice of the band of course but then you have bought yourself a sweet limited edition poster or something so mustn’t complain.
• Oh and also a slice of the money goes to charity too.  In this specific case Amnesty, Wateraid, Samaritan’s Purse and the Enough Project.

The idea of losing the middle man – record companies and distributors appeals to me.  As much as what they do might serve a purpose I can’t help but think that the main relationship here lies between the artist who wants to make music and have people love that music and the music listener who also wants that.  Yes if the album never gets made and Emmy skips off to Brazil with a few thousand pounds we’ll all be fuming but then if she wanted easy money she may has well have sold her soul to a big fat record label.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes and can’t help but thing it’s a concept that has a boatload of potential.

Check out the project here and see what you think.

So much more than a pair of sneakers!

JTL is a man obsessed with sneakers. With over 90 pairs and a website to showcase them, people started to ask JTL questions, and not just about sneakers but totally random topics too, most of which don’t have anything to do with his huge collection. Its funny really, what started out as an outlet for his obsession has transformed into a centre  where people can get advice on topics like fruit and veg, sports and life choices! And some of the advice is pretty good too! Its great! Check it out here.

Part 2: An Applied Social Media Strategy.

Hello everybody I know it’s a few months late, but in this post I will look at how a well considered strategy is working for a business, and where it might be improved. This is the second part, following on from An Introduction to Social Media, so if you missed the first part and want to have a look, click here.

The Business

The business I’m looking at is called Luminaire, it’s a live music venue based in London. They actually utilise social media very well, and thus I have decided to use it as a case study. As a business they:

- Provide a venue for live music events (with catering service/ bar facilities).

- Sell tickets for those events.

- Sell music, related media and merchandise.

Their Approach

Luminaire harness social networking and sharing sites as part of a strategy which promotes bands/ artists, stimulates ticket sales, and sells music and similar merchandise. Their approach incorporates:

- Twitter. Luminaire use Twitter to inform followers of the latest bands that will be playing and the popularity of ticket sales. It is also used to share information about music and related merchandise they are selling. They have also used it as a vehicle to conduct a survey to identify their customer base more clearly, in terms of where they live and how they travel to get to a music event at Luminaire.

- Song Kick. Again, Luminaire use it well to promote the business, its location, forthcoming bands and videos/ pictures of the latest events. Song Kick is a highly appropriate social media site for Luminaire; which is important when considering what social media to use for your business.

We haven’t previously covered Song Kick so if you are not sure what it is, it’s a site where you can track and receive updates on live music events, and buy tickets.

- MySpace. Luminaire’s MySpace page is really a vehicle for advertising upcoming shows and interacting with their customers, business associates and artists. Its good for keeping in touch with them and, gives people visiting the MySpace page a real insight into what people think of the venue by their comments; whether they are positive or negative!

- Facebook. Similar to MySpace, in that they can promote events, show customer comments on their ‘wall’ and display photos of the latest gigs! Again the comments of people that have been to the Luminaire carry real weight and will encourage others to visit.

- Last FM. is a popular internet radio site for music. Luminaire has a profile, and each track it plays lets other users know something about what it likes. It allows Luminaire to recommend songs from their music collection to other users, as well as promoting its business venue and forthcoming events.

What can be taken from their strategy?

Strength in Numbers. Luminaire make use of a wide range of social sites, this is important as with more sites they have a greater presence on the internet and are more likely to drive people to their site.

The Right Kind. They have used the right sorts of social networking and sharing sites to reach the right target audience of people that will use their venue. For another company however, like Mole Valley Farmers, a retailer of agricultural supplies this strategy would not work because they are not in the music industry. So, the types of social media site you choose to incorporate into your strategy should be well thought out!

It Achieves Goals. It promotes bands/ artists, stimulates ticket sales, and sells music and related merchandise. This is reflected by their followers on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.

What can be done better? This is a tricky one, as they currently operate a fairly sound strategy, and any improvements are certainly open to interpretation! Here is some food for thought… they currently use a lot of the mainstream social media sites. Tapping into some of the less conventional social media sites may offer opportunities to reach more niche groups; but this should be weighed up against the time and energy that goes into them. They need to publish content that is attractive and engaging. With an estimated 2.5 million tweets a day on Twitter alone, uploading content regularly that is interesting and often controversial will not only attract visitors but will work to engage them.

Where do I go from here?

Well you should begin by following this formula:

1. Identify the community you want to target. Think about the community you want to target. What is their age range, income range (and likely disposable income), their profession, gender and geographic location? These are just some of the questions you might want to ask. Another important question- Are my customers computer literate? If the majority are not or do not tend to use computers, then maybe a more traditional form of media is better for your business.
2. Define your objectives. So identify what it is that you want to achieve, and I don’t just mean make more money! While the profit motive will probably be your overall aim, increasing the quality and quality of traffic (i.e. the right sort of people and in large numbers) to your site, or promoting awareness of your brand are more interim targets.
3. Allocate Resources. Whilst social media networks and sharing sites are free, the effort that goes into putting a plan into action will cost money. So budgeting for training and labour costs is sensible.
4. Consider your social media platform(s). Here you need to consider your approach. Do you really need a MySpace account, or would a blog and Twitter account do the job more effectively?
5. Instigate your plan of action. Don’t let all that planning go to waste, get out there and make it happen! It’s important to remember that a social media strategy is not successful over night; it may take time to build interest in your FaceBook page, blog, twitter account, MySpace page or whatever else you use. So hang in there and generate interesting content. In the words of Kevin Costner ‘if you build it they will come.’

Final Thoughts.

Plan Plan Plan! Follow the method above, to layout what your strategy will do. Don’t waste time on social sites which are related to your business (i.e. If you sell farming supplies, the Last FM probably isn’t for your business).

Spend money to make money. If you only have a small amount of time and money to spend, you need to factor that into your strategy. As generating content, writing posts or engaging with an online community takes time, which is expensive, especially if you employ someone to do it.

Social media isn’t for everyone! Not all businesses will find a social media strategy conducive to achieving their business targets (i.e. their target audience do not tend to use the internet regularly, or are not following the latest developments via Twitter or Facebook, or networking through Linked In).

Social Media competes with other forms of communication. Social Media competes with other forms of communication such as talking face-to-face and traditional media like TV, radio and newspapers. It is therefore not always the best medium for communication as other more established forms may do the job better! Social media is great for real-time news events but again competes with mainstream media like BBC News 24.

Miller Countrywide plumb new depths of crass marketing desperation

You have to hand it to these estate agents’ marketing departments for their pathetic attempts to commoditise the property market and stimulate sales. Previous campaigns such as “buy one get one free” (for flats in various places) and Stratton Creber’s “End of year Sale” have now been out performed in totally crassness by Miller Countrywide who seem to think that sellers will be motivated to put their houses up with them so they can get-in on a viewing weekend to stimulate sales before the World Cup starts…

Obviously the same marketing manager, probably from an FMCG background, has been moving between these companies with his “new” ethos… “it’s just like selling fish fingers mate… you just got to tell them what to do… trust me I'm a marketer”…

Anyways nothing is more likely to make me blog than the total stupidity of a marketing campaign, and the national estate agents seem to be winning on goal difference.

Reduced plant diversity linked to bee numbers

I’ve been reading in the news about how the population of honey bees has been in decline in Europe and the US. It’s not a new story but there have been some interesting developments lately. Scientists have had trouble pinning down exactly why the bees are dying… until just recently that is. An article on the BBC news website says that the decline of bees may be linked to reduced plant diversity. If what they say is true, then it’s up to us to grow a more diverse range of plants, and surely it should be a priority since we rely on bees to play their part in pollinating certain plants so we can grow crops to eat. In any event, it would be good to see more varieties of plants out in the countryside, rather than just the typical staple crops and other fruits and vegetables grown to sell in the supermarkets. People that grow a range of flora in their gardens are creating an oasis of diversity for our insect friends; a garden with an artificially maintained pristine green lawn (like the ones you see on TV) and a few select shrubs on the other hand, might look good, but it’s pretty lacking in its variety of plant life. So everyone with a garden can do something! The farmers have got to play their part, so I guess we’ll wait and see what happens on that one. I suppose I could stereotype them into a group who get big subsidies (especially in France) and don’t give a monkey’s about the environment. But that would be unfair to the environmentally conscious ones out there. And they get money from the EU for doing environmentally friendly things on their land, so if a few more bob from the EU would help save the bees, then I think it would be worth doing.

Sonic 2D is back!

If you’re a bit of a geek, and loved to play your Mega Drive back in the mid 90s, then you will remember Sonic the Hedgehog! I remember spending hours as a kid running through these levels, collecting rings and chaos emeralds, and saving little woodland creatures captured by Dr Robotnik (who had seemed to have flipped his noodle at some point and decided to take over the world). Sonic 1, 2 and 3, had great game play but the later 3D versions were kind of lame. So if you preferred the 2D versions too, then you’ll be pleased to hear that Sega recently announced that a new 2D sonic game ‘Sonic 4’ is going to be released later in 2010 and will be available via the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Wii Ware. This is some real retro gaming folks and even if you’re not a keen gamer it’s definitely worth a look.