Pylon Sounds

In Spain, breath mint brand Smint just launched a campaign offering people 'sensual' products in exchange for collecting points. A code is printed on each box of Smints; consumers register on Smint Me Hot, enter their code, and the points are added to their account. When they've saved up enough points, they can redeem them for adult toys. The selection includes a cellphone game that 'will make you vibrate with joy' (2 points), a small vibrator (10 points), a sensual candle (10 points) and a striptease set (20 points). Besides saving for gifts, each code also gives users a chance to win a trip to Bali. The campaign runs through February 2011, and participants must be 18 or over.

This isn't a racy effort by a niche company — Smint is one of Europe's most popular mints, from the makers of Chupa Chups lollipops. It's a mass brand connecting to the sensuous, adult side of its audience. Also, Smint Me Hot is mainly targeting women. As our spotter pointed out, the gifts on offer involve women taking the lead, which adds an appealing element of empowerment to a saucy marketing tool. Smint isn't the only brand that's taking a walk on the wild side; see our sister-site trendwatching.com's current trend briefing on maturialism for many more examples, including one by Chupa Chups itself.

Website: www.smintmehot.es

Spotted by: Leticia Pérez Prieto

Visualizing meteorological, astronomical and other data with woven reed sculptures

While artist Nathalie Emiebach's sculptures look like Sarah Sze got ahold of some tinker-toys, the conceptual underpinnings are far more complex. Drawing on data sets—like the distance between sun and earth or moon phases—that she collects herself, Emiebach uses the information to dictate the dimensions, shapes and position of her reed weavings.

Colorful sticks and constellations of beads represent other bits of data, like less easily quantifiable observations, such as the smell of the air.

via Information Aesthetics

I'm doing an interview today with Sarah Lacy of TechCrunch. It is the first episode of a new show on TechcrunchTV called Ask A VC. Sarah blogged about it early this week.

The interview is taking place at 2pm eastern today. I don't know if it will be broadcast live or delayed. But it will appear on TechcrunchTV sometime today. Once it airs, I will embed it here in this post.

If you have questions you want Sarah to ask me, you can email them to her at askavc(at)techcrunch(dot)com.

 

 

 

grab your tickets here

Presented by High Times Records, Cinematic Music Group and Jets Int’l

Friday October 1, 2010 // Opera House // Toronto, Ontario Canada

Saturday October 2, 2010 // Westcott Theatre | Syracuse, NY

Sunday October 3, 2010 // Jerky's Bar // Providence, RI

Monday October 4, 2010 // The Middle East // Cambridge, MA

Thursday October 7, 2010 // Club Life // Dallas, TX

Friday October 8, 2010 // Dreamz // Jackson, MS

Saturday October 9, 2010 // Lyric Oxford Llc // Oxford, MS

Sunday October 10, 2010 // Ace's // Austin, TX

Tuesday October 12, 2010 // Bottom Lounge // Chicago, IL

Wednesday October 13, 2010 // Jake's Nightclub Inc // Bloomington, IN

Friday October 15, 2010 // Mr. Smalls Theatre // Millvale, PA

 Tuesday October 5, 2010 // Santo's Party House // New York, NY

Wednesday October 6, 2010 // The Howlin' Wolf // New Orleans, LA

www.thesmokersclub.com

Google (and Yahoo) brought opportunities to the online retail. Location Based Services will bring promising opportunities to offline shopping.

Much has been said about recommendation sites and smart engines as Pandora, Netflix, Amazon and Google.
Looking back at the last ten years – recommendation engines started with item comparison. Personalized engines were then developed and offered suggestions (predictions) based on users past behavior, claimed preferences, or computer pre-defined identification systems.

When social parameters were added – users were exposed to other decisions made by anonymous shoppers (or popular search results).

Today, when social interactions are mainstream, and technology (smartphones adoption continue to rise ) enables location based services, we get new dimensions added to the equation.

According to the Social Comparison Theory people are especially prone to compare themselves to people they view as similar to them. Research has also shown a strong link between social comparison and peer communication about consumption.
Given a location system added to the social knowledge – users are exposed to practical and immediate choices.
Having a direct knowledge on friends buying decisions in times relevant to decision making will certainly influence decision making process. Acknowledging that, Facebook has established Places.

What will social networks and location based recommendations add to this eco-system of recommendation sites?

Following the entrance of location based networks as Foursquare and Gowalla, we have prepared a list of predictions and highlights for future research:

Prediction 1.
Multiple based recommendations might bring to consumer confusion:
Issues to be tested:
1. Will people be able to differentiate between location based recommendation (just because you are here) to a different recommendation type (their pass behavior for instance)?
2. Will people want to learn how to differentiate between parameters which influence their decision?
3. Assuming this given choice – will people really put efforts to chose their preferred recommendation parameter in real time?

Prediction 2:
Location will improve personal voting behavior if it will be connected to real benefits.
Issues to be tested:
What benefits will influence personal voting behavior? (checkout discounts, product giveaways etc) and what will be the preferred form of benefits (first to come, coupons, accumulate loyalty ..)

Prediction 3:
Social presence (quantity: amount of friends / people) will count as quality.
To be tested:
1. Assuming many of ones friends visited a place or purchased a product – would this replace reading their reviews?
2. Are all friends come equal? Will people differentiate between friends (work friends. network friends) as the reliable source of influence?

Prediction 4:
Offline offerings will be more dominant than online offerings with LBS entering the decision making process:
Entertainment (restaurants and bars, events) and offerings made by physical stores will lead the local revolution.
Issues to be tested:
What offline industry sectors will better fit the local recommendation behavior (entertainment? fashion? electronics?)

Prediction 5:
With LBS, local cultures will define consumer behavior.
Consumer learning will shift from demographics (traditional behavior) and digital networking (global influence) to local communities.

To learn more on experimental marketing activities of brands using socio-location  incentives- follow the reviews made by Click, Read Write Web and ABI Research.

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There's no doubt businesses are starting to realize the broader marketing potential of location-based check-ins. We've seen hotels using Topguest, for example, to reward consumers for checking in at a variety of locations; we've also seen HBO rewarding “check-ins” to select TV shows. The latest spotting? Shopkick, an app that goes beyond check-ins to reward consumers for actually walking into a store.

Currently available for the iPhone, Shopkick's free app dispenses “kickbucks” reward points for a variety of consumer actions, including standard check-ins at or near the store. It also goes beyond the check-in, however, and rewards consumers further for actually entering the store. An audio transmitter in each participating store emits an inaudible signal that's nevertheless detected by the app on the consumer's phone, according to a report in the New York Times, thereby proving that he or she is in the store. That, in turn, entitles the shopper not just to kickbucks but to exclusive deals as well. Participating retailers currently include Best Buy, Macy's, American Eagle and Sports Authority in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, as well as assorted stores in Miami, Dallas and Minneapolis. Eligible visits per day, not surprisingly, are limited. Meanwhile, Shopkick also offers consumers additional rewards when they use their phones to scan products off the shelves. However they're earned, kickbucks can be redeemed for rewards like gift cards, Facebook credits, iPads, music downloads, donations to causes and more.

For each kickbuck a customer earns, Shopkick earns a small fee, the New York Times reported; for each purchase made after using the app, Shopkick gets a portion of the price. Stores, meanwhile, can integrate rewards-card numbers for targeting on an ever-more-granular level. It should be noted that privacy advocates have already expressed some concern over Shopkick's app, as the NYT reports. Nevertheless, an Android version of the app is reportedly coming soon, promising greater reach in the not-too-distant future. Retailers around the world: how does a little extra foot traffic sound to you? ;-)

Website: www.shopkick.com
Contact: support@shopkick.com

Spotted by: Oliver Pitt

Exploring Motor City's artistic renaissance through a Johnny Knoxville-led doc

The history of Palladium boots has always been one of exploration. Originally started as a tire brand in 1920, Palladium was known for tires so advanced that most European military aircrafts used them for their fleets. However, when the end of World War II saw the decrease of aircraft production, like many wartime businesses the company decided to take a different direction with the now-famous Palladium boot.

With the goal of producing footwear as durable as their tires, Palladium made boots tough enough for the French Legion to wear through their explorations of deserts in North Africa and the terrain of the Atlas Mountains.

Taking this concept of exploration, Palladium boots partnered up with Virtue (Vice's creative agency) to create a series of documentaries exploring and investigating the secret and forgotten spots in the cities we live in today. The short films (all living on the Palladium site) have so far taken viewers to see hidden oil drills in Hollywood, hidden espionage sites in Berlin, and uncovered secret antennas of radio pirates on London rooftops.

The most recent of the documentaries features Johnny Knoxville in "Detroit Lives," navigating through the gritty streets of Detroit revealing a Gen-Y led artistic revival of the city stereotypically known as an urban wasteland.

In the short film Knoxville meets with many of Detroit's young creatives (artists, musicians, fashion designers, restauranteurs and developers) who all show through their DIY mentality, the change they hope to bring to "the D." Through their creation of music, art, investment and development of land, and start-up businesses, the film unveils a hands-on wonderland where young individuals can actually have an impact on positive community change to rebuild the city that they love. During a short Q&A session with the cast, Bethany, a leading character and entrepreneur in the film, describes Detroit's DIY mindset as, "Not a great place for consuming, but a great place for producing", which further reinforces that there is no better time than now to bring the change the city needs.

Take a look at the creative film on Palladium's site where you'll find Knoxville and crew exploring an undiscovered Detroit as they visit art collectives, meet with creative entrepreneurs and talk with musicians. Look out for the Heidelberg Projects (previously featured on CH) as they drive through Motor City in search of untold stories.

A free jacket packaged like a burrito delights Portland recipients.

Joe Romm: The founder of 350.org and the author most recently of the must-read book Eaarth — has a great interview with David Letterman. Dave is more...

We take an all-new Japanese supercar on one of its first drives

Before this week I had never driven a supercar, but after two laps behind the wheel of the forthcoming 2012 Lexus LFA I've discovered a new source for an adrenaline fix. While I can't compare the LFA to other cars in its class, I can say that the buzz among enthusiasts at the Monticello Motor Club was quite favorable. Drivers seemed impressed and even surprised that this level of performance could come from Lexus.

The 553-horsepower LFA was incredibly easy to drive, combining strength, obedience and comfort in a package with aggression that can be dialed up or down on the fly. The six-speed Automated Sequential Gearbox has intuitive paddles for ultra-quick gear shifts (0.2 seconds) while in one of four driving modes—Auto, Sport, Normal and Wet.

Whether during the neck-snapping acceleration of 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds, on heart-racing straits at up to 202 mph or silky-smooth downshifts, the engine provided a perfect soundtrack. Crafted by a team of engineers, the LFA sound was created by emphasizing the secondary combustion frequency of the engine and then introducing primary, secondary and tertiary firing harmonics.

The cockpit is snug but with glove-like comfort and it features all the amenities of a Lexus. From the modal digital speedometer we previously featured to a rear-facing camera that makes reversing safer and a Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound system, the LFA has all the tech points covered as well.

Lexus is currently taking orders for this $375,000, V10 beauty and the hand-built production process begins December 2010. Only 500 will be made; customers can choose from 30 exterior colors, six brake caliper colors, and 12 interior colors. I'd go for matte black with green brakes, personally.

Photographs by Josh Rubin. See more in the gallery

WorldChanging Team: A zero-carbon heating initiative in Paris plans to harness hot air generated by underground travel to warm up nearby homes. by Shanta Barley Hot air...

A planning tool with roots in social psychology can help brands increase their local relevance across international markets.

Scott Adams offers a thought provoking idea for a future career.

There is a growing movement away from the entrenched model of cafe as temporary office or free Internet usage point.

Research In Motion recently filed two patent applications for special digital roadside ads.

Gap is using 2D barcodes to connect online user reviews with its physical retail locations. New in-store displays direct mobile users to a ScanLife mobile site where they can see a video of Gap’s Head of Design and read more about the featured Black Magic jean collection including tips and peer reviews.

People are now accustomed to doing product research online. They often do it before they go into a store, or just end up buying a product through an eCommerce site. However, consumers are increasingly going on their phones to search for product information while in stores as well. They might browse the mobile web or use apps like RedLaser and Stickybits. By optimizing a mobile presence for shoppers and making it easily accessible “offline” (at the point of sale) through a mobile path, a brick and mortar retailer can provide a lot of convenience and value. They can also create a more cohesive brand experience and direct the consumer to the information they want people to see. It makes sense that this “path” be through existing media; Gap is doing this by putting the codes on their in-store displays.

Gap, which seems to be getting more experimental with emerging media  lately, is not the first retailer to use this technology. Scanlife, just one of several barcode platforms, has been used by Sears, Nike and Volkswagen, among others. Best Buy is promoting barcodes at their locations. A few years ago, we worked with l.e.i. on a similar effort that employed image recognition technology through Mobot.

Other retailers continue to discover new ways to serve today’s mobile shopper. Target provides an official app and barcode scanner where users can find additional product information as well as ratings and reviews. More recently, Kmart has been taping videogame reviews from its online community to in-store displays.

[via 2dcode]

WorldChanging Team: Looking back one, two and five years ago today on Worldchanging: 2009 For The Love Of Water: H209 & The New Generation Competition Sean Conroe...

Yale Environment 360: A United Nations report says that the most effective way to protect fisheries and coral reefs is to establish networks of small marine protected...

A recent study conducted by Oxford University is indicating that large doses of vitamin B can help halt memory memory loss.

The Plumen 001 will last up to 8 years, and uses 80% less electricity than traditional versions.