Mobile: Where are We Now?

Today's WSJ reports on social networking by cellphone. It reports on more companies rolling out GPS services that can locate anyone with the service. It profiles Loopt, a service available by wireless operator Boost Mobile which is owned by Sprint Nextel. I could see where it makes some sense, but, uh, can't you just call your friends and ask them where they are?

I wonder if the privacy concerns outweigh the utility. Sure you can make all the promises you want that the info is not retained. I would also be concerned about stalkers using the service. Also, to be somewhat serviceable a greater number of online providers are going to have to offer the service.

In any event, the numbers are interesting. According to Gartner, 63% of mobiles sold in North America in 2007 will have some GPS utility. That's up from 55% last year.

Speaking of mobile, Steve Smith has an interesting column today in Media Post's Mobile Insider, entitled "User Generated Crap." That should give you a pretty good idea of what it's about. His main point is that the tech now far ahead of the content available. The long and short of it is that content that looks OK or at least passable on the the web is often totally unviewable on the really small screen. Also, where you may tolerate a lot of crap on the web where you have a fast connection and pretty good visibility, we're a lot less forgiving on our mobile devices. He draws an analogy to what content providers went through when they started may making material available on the web.

Newsweeklies Cheat Death
At least they're trying, according to this week's Crain's New York Business. The article discusses how Time has been shifting gears with more commentary and features to become less dependent on breaking news. This in an effort to shake up a stagnant (at best) ad market. Newsweek is, however, staying the course and sees an opportunity to break out of Time's shadow. Crain's points out that Newsweek got a much earlier start on the web and that its owner Washington Post Co. is largely controlled by the Graham family, thus easing the pressures exerted on Time by Wall Street.

Non-Traditional Advertising
Yesterday's Times lamented the loss of ad free space. I'm not sure what the big deal is. Granted, I don't need to see Al Roker in the back seat of a cab, but 1) I don't have to look; 2) I can turn down the volume; 3) It's better than looking at whatever is usually on a seatback in a cab. I am not talking about plastering scenic vistas with billboards, but about the creative employment of advertising. It's sometimes a better use of time and space than what's typically sold as entertainment.

Ad Pages
An interesting development . The New York Times Sunday Magazine has for the first time ever beat out all other pubs in ad pages. In 2006, it boasted 3,965 ad pages, a 5% increase over the previous year.

Alec Baldwin Busts a New Media Move

Today's New York Times reports an interesting marketing move by NBC, starring Alec Baldwin.

Tens of thousands of fans of the NBC show “30 Rock” (or their friends or colleagues) have had the unusual experience over the last week of picking up their phones to hear the voice of Alec Baldwin addressing them by name and wishing them a happy holiday.

The messages are recorded, but the recipients can hear Baldwin wish them a happy holiday while revealing personal information about things like hobbies, jobs, homes, and their personal appearance (e.g. "I am not above telling you that you have a nice behind.")

The Times likens the experience to a good ole game of Mad-Libs where those visiting the 30 Rock website are offered a variety of sound choices previously recorded by Baldwin (he recorded about 500 first names in a recording session).

The company behind this is Varitalk, and if the campaign sounds familiar, Samuel L. Jackson used it to promote this summer's film "Snakes on a Plane." Tyra Banks also recorded a similar campaign for the CW network. It also brings to mind the Ari Gold experience on HBO's Entourage web site.

Flipping Out

An interesting article in today's WSJ chronicles Conde Nast's efforts to get serious online. It focuses on the company's efforts to launch flip.com, a web site for teenage girls. The site will encourage girls to create "flip books," scrap books containing pictures, videos, music and more. Flip has apparently co-opted a group of girls to advise on what's cool, and the so-called "flip squad" has been meeting every other week with CondeNet executives.

The site is being seen by Conde as a complement to MySpace. Interestingly, Nielsen/NetRatings estimates that 5,719,000 girls, ages 12-17, visited MySpace in November. I think that roughly equates with visits to this blog. How to latch on successfully to this demo has had traditional media brands questioning everything. Earlier this year Teen People and ELLEgirl actually ceased offering printed versions of the publications.

Advertisers and sponsors are obviously being courted. There will be an "image bin" where advertiser logos will be available for inclusion in individual flip books. Of course, there's always a potential disaster on every page where brand images collide with user generated content. But it's a risk that brands appear willing to take on this site, which will be heavily monitored. Johnson & Johnson is interested in using the site because it will permit them to make use of user generated content under the umbrella of a tried and true media brand.

A Year End List Worth Checking.... The Bivings Report does a nice year ender of sites which you really should check out. Cool stuff.

Yours, Mine and Ours

In case you missed the drumroll and all of the excitement, YOU have been named Time's Person of the Year. Well, not YOU as in you, but really all of us. Time's editors decided that it has been the year of people powered media, and that all of us should give ourselves a collective pat on the back. Well, well done. Congratulations. If you ask me, it's a cop out, too clever by half.

Digg Video

In a major reconfiguration, Digg will be reformatted to accommodate serious video sharing. Viewers will be able to watch videos from YouTube, Google and Metacafe without leaving the Digg site.

FCC to Morse Code: See Ya'

In a late breaking development the FCC has determined that competency in morse code will no longer be a require to obtain an amateur radio technicians license. Boys, the pressure is off.

Apologies

As the year comes to an end, things have been getting a little hectic on the personal and professional fronts. The last entry for this year will be Thursday's. Then after a bit of R&R, we will come out swinging with original material, new info about companies, etc. Promise, New Year's resolution and all. Please pass the word about your media home away from home.

MySpace is Your Space

There are magazines out there looking for brand extensions. The latest maybe a trend of magazines starting branded MySpace pages. The Bivings Report recently cited a Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) website release with a mention of 36 magazines with a presence on MySpace. Here's the list...
ATV Rider
Blender

Bust Magazine
Catalyst
Complex
CosmoGirl!
Cosmopolitan
D Magazine
Drum Magazine
FHM
Filmmaker
Free skier
Guitar Player Magazine
Jane
Maxim
Metal Edge
Metal Maniacs
Mini truckin’
New York Magazine
Nylon
Paste
Seventeen
Shojo beat
Skateboarder
Skiing
Snowboarder
Star
Street Trucks
Stuff
Surfer
Tango
Tokion
Transworld snow
Transworld surf
URB
Vibe
YL

Some of the pages have been attracting enormous traffic. Bivings points out that Cosmopolitan has attracted 20,000 friends. Maxim has gained 46,000. Naked (more or less) models will do that for ya.

Internet Photo Magazine

Newly minted JPG Magazine has an interesting take on the connection between user generated content and print. The magazine is solicited photos on its website and putting them to a vote. The best ones, or the ones with the most votes anyway will appear in the magazine. Some interesting stuff.

The Future is Britain

Today the New York Times reports that we are seeing the future of Internet ads in Britain. The share of all Internet advertising there has shot up tremendously in the last couple of years. The paper reports that this year 10.5 percent of British advertising dollars will be directed to the Internet. The percentage in the U.S. will be 5.6 percent. The big loser in Britain is television where ad dollars are being pulled. Critics are saying that it can't happen here. TV is too ingrained in our culture. Oh, it's gonna happen. Internet advertising can be targeted more directly and is much cheaper than television. Television is more ingrained here and it will take longer, but, rest assured, it will happen.