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How cool is it that I am in L.A. and can text a message to be displayed on the ABC digital billboard in Times Square – live and in real-time! Plus, with the flash widget embedded in MySpace, all of my friends can see my shout out as well. Or anyone can see it online here. A full 360 degree digital out-of-home, mobile, social media and micro site – all in one!

As part of what ABC calls “an outdoor global viewing event,” tourists and desk jockeys alike can project their voices in support of Obama (McCain’s supporters didn’t get on board for a campaign of their own) alongside the bright lights of Broadway. Enabled by LocaModa, the illuminated thoughts can also reverberate across the web.

Side note: They could have taken it to another level if the confirmation text message included a link to the Obama Minute with more details or the option to donate directly.

Keep your eye out too for Clear Channel Outdoor Digital’s live election updates on screens across the country.

The Gydget widget is a small viral application designed for fan use on social networking, and fan-based web sites. Gydgets allow music artists, record labels, and promoters to keep fans updated about event dates, news, and media with a customizable mini-page. These widgets can be placed on sites like MySpace, Facebook, Friendster or any blog site, with tabs for video and RSS. Fans can also promote and share the widget by using the “grab it” feature, enabling friends to copy the same widget for themselves. Gydget also allows artists to collect a fan email list through the “email” feature where users can leave their info.

The music world is not the only industry to benefit from Gydget. Professional sports teams such as the Cincinnati Bengals have also successfully adopted this viral technology as a tool for driving ticket sales.
Continue reading “Go, Go Gydget, Go!”

For the last couple of weeks I have had so much fun with a new game on our Ecast jukebox. The short, jib-jab style, whack-a-mole microsite, White House Wallop (play demo) was created by Ecast Network’s creative team to entice bar and restaurant patrons to engage with the interactive touch-screens. For the full effect, listen to a selection from the “Election Songs” playlist and begin play. Pick your candidate, Obama or McCain, then, start bonking the rival candidate with the touch of your finger – make sure you avoid hitting your candidate. I found it funny that in the bonus round, everyone whacks Bush, whether they’re an Obama or McCain supporter. The score leader board shows real-time percentages of where the candidates stand with other fellow Americans. White House Wallop is being played across the entire Ecast network including all 50 states, three territories (Guam, Saipan, Puerto Rico) and the District of Columbia (in more than 10,000 venues). With an average of 38,000 plays per week over the last 11 weeks, the current standings are Obama 57%, McCain 43%. Will it predict the outcome of next week’s elections? Continue reading “DOOH Networks Predict Presidential Winner”

Update to my Tuesday blog about MTV Music: According to AllthingsD, MTV is not actually rolling out a music site–which explains why they didn’t issue a press release about the new site.

Peter Kafka writes: “So why build that unless you wanted everyone to see it? MTV.com spokesman Tom Biro tried to explain, and if I understand him correctly, the site is supposed to be used as a sort of white-label archive that can be used both by MTV Networks, owned by Viacom (VIA), to build other video sites, as well as outsiders, both professionals and amateurs.” Read more on that here.

All I have to say is WT*?!

Original story:
I have not been a regular viewer of MTV since I was 12 and eating up U Cant Touch This, so it is safe to say the Music Television Network lost me awhile back when it switched to television programming instead of music videos. We all know the reasons why the music video industry imploded and how it’s emerging media’s fault, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less that it’s gotten so hard to see quality music videos and only music videos in one place. MySpace Music is working on it, YouTube’s got too many other things going on and isn’t there yet. Enter MTV…Finally! Where the hell you been all these years, love?

The new site is good looking and getting good reviews (though strangely MTV doesn’t seem to have issued a press release about their new online network). Happily, you can embed MTV Music vids on your blog or social network profiles, and there are comments and ratings functions.

But Silicon Valley Insider’s Dan Frommer asks this: Continue reading “MTV gets back to its roots…just kidding!”

Apple, thanks to its recently updated iPhone 3G, is now the third-best-selling mobile phone supplier in the world, next to Samsung and Nokia, in terms of revenue. The big news came on Tuesday, when Steve Jobs announced during Apple’s quarterly earnings call with investors, that Apple, for the first time, had outsold Research in Motion’s BlackBerry (RIM).

Apple sold a whopping 6.9 million devices, compared to RIM, who sold 6.1 million BlackBerry devices in the same three month period.

This is first for Apple, who has been battling RIM in sales since the iPhone launched 15 months ago. “This is a milestone for us,” said Steve Jobs, who made a surprise appearance on the company’s quarterly conference call. “RIM is a good company that makes good products and so it is surprising that after only 15 months in the market, we could outsell them in any quarter.”

Continue reading “iPhone hits new benchmark”

Layoffs coming to a tech company near you: Today the weekly sexy tech trifecta gets off to a somewhat downbeat start. The major tech news across the Web this week is not good: Layoffs are being announced at Yahoo, Ticketmaster, Nielsen Business Media, Veoh, and Circuit City, to name a few. That doesn’t include Texas Instruments who hasn’t cut any employees yet but announced a 27% drop in income and plans to sell part of its wireless operations. Ouch. The good news? Well, not much. Except that a Wired blog predicts a flagging economy will be a boon to blogging and personal websites as the folks who are out of work will invest in themselves until things take a turn for the better. If that doesn’t make you feel good about all the pink slips being handed out, check out this website that tracks startups that are, to ahem rephrase their site’s less polite name, really screwed.

Miley Cyrus’s hacker raided by FBI: This is likely my favorite tech-related story this week, if a little shallow. According to Wired.com, the hacker in question reportedly got access to the Disney teen idol’s Gmail and MySpace accounts, then posted photos of a bare-midriff Cyrus blowing kisses to the camera (probably an affectionate greeting intended for the Jonas Brothers). After bragging about his Miley Cyrus hack on digitalgangster.com, the FBI came calling. The Feds later left with three of the suspected hacker’s three computers and telephone.

Continue reading “Sexy tech trifecta”

In an earlier blog I discussed the fact that not all Hispanics are Spanish-language dominant, and pointed to the reality that the only growth segment within the Hispanic market in the next couple of decades is in the second-generation or US-born Hispanic segment. Today over 60% of the market is US born (a mix of second and third-generation immigrants). The influx of new immigrants has slowed down for multiple reasons: the “wall” separating Mexico and the US; the aftermath of 9/11; and, the US’s declining economic situation.

Marketers need to discern this new Hispanic market topography in order to effectively reach AND realize its full potential.

As a US born Hispanic, with a Cuban mother and Spanish father, I fall into an interesting category. When I was in my 20s I came to the realization that no matter how hard I tried, nor how long I lived, I would never truly be assimilated. Assimilation doesn’t happen in one’s life-time, but rather across multiple generations.
Continue reading “Marketing to different Hispanic generations”