Content Strategy for the Masses

While I do enjoy Foursquare for its multitude of uses, from a social game to a cool app for instant tips from locals, I do understand why people roll their eyes at me when I insist on checking into a place. For those people, they don’t see a purpose to this app. Their iPhone probably has a weather app, maybe a to-do list and maybe a news feed: all solid, informative apps that turn their phone into a tool of function rather than a tool of fun.

Well, here’s an app that puts the fun in function. Yes, I just wrote that. Marco is technically a game of Marco Polo, except this time you access the app to find out where your friends are located. Say you’re waiting for your friend to arrive for dinner. You access the app and enter your friend’s name – it sends a text message (using your address book) that says “Marco! Show (the sendee) your location on a map” with a link. Click the link, and your friend is taken to the Marco website, where he/she taps a button to send an SMS “Polo” back. You don’t need to have the Marco app on his or her phone for this to work. From there, you receive the SMS “Polo,” which tells you how far away your friend is from arriving.

Similar apps already exist. The most popular one is Loopt, which has partnerships with most U.S. mobile carriers as a social mapping device, that also works as a loyalty service. Yet it isn’t yet available outside of the U.S.

Marco Polo is technically a game, sure – but the developers have created an app that can appeal to those users who dislike social gaming.  And those who do like gaming can redefine their usage of this game at their own leisure.

Here’s a list of fun, cool things I’ve seen on my mobile of late – I have no professional connection to any of these items. I’m simply a nerd for cool apps. And since there are, at last count, 1,200,405,454,774 apps (approximately) on the iTunes store, tell me your faves too:

ARTS

- DJ Shadow launched an app not too long ago that has some fantastic community features and his latest music. This is a great example of what a band or any brand can do to generate mobile excitement with fans. The app encourages fans to take pictures from his tour and post them, chat about upcoming or current concerts, make comments about his uploaded music and see where his fans are across the globe. The only problem I found with it – and it appears to be a bug- is that it doesn’t turn off its locative services when you close out of the app.

- I downloaded the Amazon Kindle app for my iPhone. While the store doesn’t yet have the selection of Kobo, I appreciate Amazon’s approach to its userface. For example, I found this neato feature whereby it shows you the dictionary definition of a word if you press down on it with your finger.  And yes – this does mean I read books on my iPhone and no, it isn’t too small to read.

GAMES

- Cut the Rope is the new Angry Birds. Over 2000 5-star reviews in the app store and it’s now #1 in Canada.

- Singing Fingers lets you “finger paint with sound” and it comes from the MIT Media Lab. Drag your finger across the blank screen to create a colourful line, while also creating a sound. Play back this sound, create more sounds, harmonize with other parts of your drawing… it’s amazing.  This site explains it all.

LIFE

- Seth Godin’s app might make me look bad because he manages to update it everyday, but I can’t help but appreciate it for its simplicity AND the fact he manages to bestow something interesting each time I open it. I’m far too cynical for inspirational talk from “gurus,” but Godin somehow latches on to my brain and helps me rethink common approaches to everyday work.

- While I love the internet and my digital life, I cannot for the life of me use a calendar/to-do list online. I need to write my tasks in a Moleskine calendar or it’s too easy for me to click “dismiss.” Teux Deux, however, is the only app I’ve used that could potentially replace the pen and paper. It’s simple to use and clean.

Alright – tell me – what apps am I missing out on?

Today, a start-up company in Toronto called Fab Find decided to hold a sale for $10 iPads. It was an interesting way for the company to stand out amongst its many online coupon competitors such as Groupon. Unfortunately, this may have backfired.

Fab Find says 10 iPads were up for sale for $10, but talk on the very active Facebook group page suggests that number might be lower –  in the single digits. And those who did secure the $10 iPads aren’t owning up to their purchases – save for two: both from local media companies. The fact that few who wanted to could buy their $10 iPad while those who did appear to be from the ‘inside’ is a PR nightmare.

On top of that, the site kept breaking… or did it? Some Twitter comments suggested the site downtime was also part of the stunt as their staging server was working. Others are now contacting their server hosting company asking why there was downtime, making that company answer this PR game as well. Additionally, and for me most importantly, some people claimed to have entered in their credit card information only to be told the product was now sold out, raising sincere ethical questions.

Lots of people are claiming this stunt was a scam and as we all know, the loudest people on social media are those who complain. Between threats of sending this to the Better Business Bureau and claims of never shopping with them ever agin, FabFind.com is doing its best to respond – on Facebook and its Twitter account.

The fact is – I never heard about Fab Find until this sale… and their office is literally down the street from me. They’ll release their analytics tomorrow, but guaranteed they saw more traffic this morning than they have in the last month, at least. Anger about missing out on a $10 iPad may go away, but it’s their actions over the next few days that will speak to the long term success of this start-up. In fact, many of those people who are angrily leaving messages on their social media walls suggest there is wiggle room for Fab Find to make up for “misleading” their customers.

One great suggestion on Twitter – those who wished to buy an iPad for $10 may want to instead donate it to charity.

New things are being released everyday in an attempt to make us love the internet EVEN MORE (if that were even possible.) Here’s an overview of what’s being chatted about now so you can look smart in front of your colleagues:

- Google Instant: Before you even finish typing your search query, Google will provide the results. It’s predictive search without needing the return button.  It’s being rolled out now. If you have a site that is tracked by Google Analytics, you  might want to read and forward this post to the person in charge of its implementation on how to track Instant searches

- Apple Game Center: If you and your friends have Apple mobile products, such as iPod Touch, iPhone, etc, you can now turn some games in the “app store” into multiplayer challenges. The game plays are tracked with leaderboards and you can unlock achievements. You can also play against strangers in “auto match,” which will pair you up with someone else looking for a partner in a game. Apple suggests it’s a new social media tool for multiplayer gaming – sure. It’ll be interesting to see if all games currently in the Apple App store upgrade to be Game Center compatible, and if by doing so, they  make more money/achieve more downloads.

- Apple Ping: Another Apple product, this turns the iTunes app into a social device. Friends you follow get updates on what you’ve purchased, and there’s a Ping chart to show the top songs purchased by the people I know. It’s a way to recommend music without needing to talk to your friends. You can send 30 second clips of tunes you think your friends would like. Like Game Center, it’s main ROI will be more music downloads.

- Open Street Map: People around the world can build up content that should appear on a map. The world map is editable – meaning you can sign up and fix names of streets, redraw roads, add landmarks, a bike path, construction notices…  Remember when Wikipedia started? This type of collaboration tool, where everyone combines forces to create something, is really the base from which social media was built upon – and many have declared love for this site. I can’t wait to see how it develops.

So there you go – four things that have popped up in just the last few days.

Last night, the Emmys were on… including illegal online streaming before NBC glommed onto the fact.

As each stream was shut down, users complained they hated the fact the live feeds were being removed, mostly spewing vitriol directly at the broadcaster. “Hey NBC,” they’d say. “We’re watching the commercials! What else do you want?!”

Good question. What else do we in the TV and digital entertainment media want? Why aren’t broadcasters streaming live video more often? It happened, and quite successfully, during the World Cup – which I can only assume helped slow piracy. Why not the Emmys? Well, it usually comes down to rights.

PaidContent.org wrote a great post about how NBC had great opportunities to turn winning clips from the show into potential viral videos. Within seconds of the opening sequence with Jimmy Fallon singing Born to Run with some cast members of Glee, Tina Fey and Jon Hamm, NBC should have posted the video up on You Tube to catch the viral wave. But they didn’t – seemingly because of their inability to secure online rights. The rights for the show were cleared for TV, but not for online.

Looking back, a similar thing happened this season with an episode of Glee, where a potentially embarrassing video of Sue Sylvester singing “Let’s Get Physical” gets viral at the fictional high school. Sadly, that clip wasn’t posted to You Tube for it to get viral in real-life. Another issue with rights clearances? Or was it an oversight to not include social media in the experience?

Granted, rights clearances are more complicated and resource heavy than most people would ever understand. But as a user posted, what else do we want?  For live events like awards shows or big finales, do we want to fight for online rights or do we want the fans to post our stuff online to share between themselves? What’s the solution?