Most iPhone apps do not come with warnings - but Doodle Jump, the #2 paid application by Lima Sky, has built an advertising campaign around the addictive gameplay: Be warned: this game is insanely addictive!" The ad unit then cycles through anonymous iTunes reviews that highlight just how addictive the game is. Once clicked, the ads take you directly into iTunes so that you can download Doodle Jump for $0.99 and spend hours draining your iPhone's battery!
I recently purchased two Dell Inspiron Zino HDs: one to replace my 2004 home desktop (which at the time was the most powerful machine available... and now about as efficient as my iPhone) and one to power a display monitor at Dogpatch Labs (see here). These are terrific machines. They are slim (8" by 8"), powerful (8GB memory and 1TB hard drive), has plenty of ports (four USB 2.0, HDMI and VGA) and comes equipped with internal wifi, Windows 7, etc. Best of all: it starts at $249 - and, when fully loaded, it is still way under $1,000. They are perfect as media machines (in the home or office) - which is similarly how the Mac Mini is touted. But I decided to trade in my desktop for the Zino and, thus far, feel great about it. With the majority of my computer usage having moved to the web and web-based applications (Google Apps is a great example) - our machine needs have changed... this is the same reason that netbooks are so popular and will become increasingly effective and useful in the near-term.
I find the Zino noteworthy for two other reasons:
1. the price is staggering. I purchased a top of the line Dell desktop in 2004 - it was 2-3x the price and is much less powerful than this machine.
2. the Mac Mini is a celebrated, popular machine; meanwhile, the Dell Zino is relatively unknown or discussed. It is as powerful, cheaper and runs Windows - which appeals to a larger user base... so why isn't it well known / popular?
I am very surprised to see that just three of the top twenty grossing iPhone Apps include in-app purchases:
- The Sims 3 (#5) - Madden NFL 2010 (#8) - Tap Tap Revenge (#13) It wasn't long ago that free iPhone Apps were moving into the top grossing ranks due to in-application micro purchases. But just a couple months later, it appears as though there has been a shift in developer philosophy and/or consumer behavior... the latter of which I find difficult to believe (thanks to Zynga, Facebook and so on). It could very well be that iPhone development and mobile behavior make it difficult to fully capitalize upon in-app purchases. Of course, it could also be that the economics clearly suggest that it is in the developer's best interest to capture the revenue up front. In-app purchases obviously require significant and ongoing engagement - so this could also suggest that the lifecycle of an iPhone game is shorter than anticipated.
Earlier in the week, I got a lot of flack on Facebook for becoming a fan of the movie Dear John. I noted that it was for a purpose: my usual Facebook advertising and brand research.... and it was. The Dear John campaign is unique because it merges several of the Facebook ad formats in a way I have not yet seen before: Earlier in the week, I wrote that NBC ad campaign showcased the new 'become a fan' unit for users who RSVP'd as attending the Chuck premier. The Dear John ad behaves similarly and includes the "become a fan" and "like" functionality within the video button. Again, this is not new behavior (Chuck did it as well), but it shows significant evolution on the platform - it wasn't long ago that video, RSVP, invitations and "become a fan" ads were all separate formats and actions.
When combined, it creates a rich, comprehensive campaign that satisfies users' various interests or habits.
The ad unit as it appears in the right column
When you click the play button, the HD video plays and includes "like" and "become a fan" functionality"
When attending, you get the chance to invite friends and become a fan
Also interesting, the Dear John video units feature the actors (including Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried) speaking directly to viewers and encouraging them to become Facebook Fans. The video is also posted on the Dear John fan page and has its own public URL - but strangely, the video cannot be embedded (a probably next evolution of public content on Facebook).
The video of Channing Tatum had 2,250 likes and 275 comments:
In all the developer attention paid to mobile, Facebook and web-based applications, "desktop widgets" have been the big loser. They were thought to be a major selling point when Microsoft Vista was launching - and in part because Vista was not a success, and in part because they are inherently not viral (and we now live in a viral world), there has been no significant innovation or movement in the desktop widget space. In fact, the same batch of widgets from my first developer install of Vista years ago remains the most popular and useful widgets: calendar, clock, Weatherbug, RSS and eBay. As I set up my new Windows 7 machine yesterday (Dell Inspiron Zino HD = awesome), I was struck by the lack of innovation, creativity and inventory. I certainly understand it - if you had to develop against Facebook, Android, iPhone or the desktop, there is a clear fourth place for most companies / brands. The most important factor is the viral nature of Facebook and mobile - and the available toolsets / APIs to increase virality and therefore distribution. Nevertheless, the desktop represents something very valuable and important: persistence. Mobile applications can leverage push notifications (and other hooks) to encourage engagement - but the desktop is, by definition, always there. For the right applications (weather, calendaring, etc), this is an opportunity. Think about the recent Google Chrome extensions and how quickly developers produced great applications... in a Chrome world and a Chrome OS, what if they were also desktop widgets? They would be able to function similarly and it would be another distribution lever for the developers.
This picture is from Monday morning at 7am pst.... you might be able to make out one of the residents (to be held anonymous!) with his sleeping bag in the common area - which means that he was in Dogpatch Sunday evening working into the early hours of the next morning. I love the commitment and work ethic - its palpable and energizing!
On a related note: we are hosting a dinner and conversation with Bob Metcalfe at Dogpatch Labs San Francisco tonight. There is room for a few more attendees - if you are interested in joining, please write me!
These days, sponsors might not like Tiger Woods... but TMZ sure does. Steady at 3-4.5m daily pageviews, the news surrounding Tiger Woods over Thanksgiving doubled TMZ's traffic, propelled them to the 51st most visited website, and grew their audience to nearly 22m global uniques.
To put that in perspective, Hulu is 23.8m monthly uniques, Huffington Post is 25.5m, Pandora is 16m and LinkedIn is 31.7m (all are also directly measured via Quantcast).
The Tiger Woods scandal drove significant traffic for TMZ (and continues to do so as the story develops / continues) - and it drives traffic for other sites as well. But TMZ has become the leader in pop-culture gossip after breaking several key stories including Michael Jackson's passing... and they have clearly become the most trafficked gossip site (nearly twice the visitors of PerezHilton.com - although 2/5th of the pageviews per visitor).
Amidst their growth, TMZ has announced the upcoming launch of TMZ Sports site to expand the brand and reach new audiences.
.... This is what I get when researching ads on Facebook (and YES, I was researching! A blog post is indeed coming!!):
Aggressive ad campaign by SoBe Lifewater on SportsIllustrated.com that takes over almost all of the visible screen... but it is clever and unique enough that I can stomach the takeover (at least once or twice). The ad is meant to promote the upcoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit magazine with a: - integrated campaign of the swimsuit model holding a SoBe Lifewater - a rich video preview of the 2010 swimsuit magazine - a promotion of the upcoming website launch (models, videos, photographs, etc) - a promotion for the Lifewater Facebook sweepstakes: http://www.facebook.com/sobe ... oh yeah, there is a new drink to promote: SoBe's new zero calorie flavors that are spilling over the screen (and the videos, photos, etc). There is so much going on in the campaign that it is both interesting / exciting and overwhelming. That said - and despite the commotion - the two major takeaways are clear: SoBe's branding and the upcoming swimsuit magazine. If you make it through the messaging, you might also get to the a third takeaway: SoBe's zero calorie drinks are supposedly "slimming".
