Ben Ayers

Here’s the latest news roundup from Rachel Filer at Dare Digital.

3D TV

‘So real it makes you feel sick’, say some. Orange, as well as leading the way with home digital TV in Europe, which will be coming to the UK as of November, have 3DTV up their sleeve too. Whilst on the subject of Orange, did you know that the Orange website was ranked amongst the top 25 most visited sites in the world in 2007? It does blend informative, fun and useful content together with advertising really well so worth taking a look…www.orange.co.uk. General Orange activity here. This is very informative on 3D TV.

Japanese avatar TV

A new Japanese TV show called Biggest Star, Power of Laughter Test (apparently it’s really punchy said in Japanese) is to launch on the 14^th June and involves a live on-screen 3D environment that interfaces with viewers’ mobile phones. Good ’ol Japan. See here and here for more.

Daily Mirror’s online panel

They’ve been actively using panels since 2003 and have now the Mirror have launched an online research community called Mirror Mouthpiece, which allows the Daily Mirror to get a better view of reader’s attitudes to advertising and editorial reports Brand Republic.

Coelho movie

Paulo Coelho is using MySpace to engage with his fans in a user generated competition giving then the chance to contribute to a short film about his latest book. He’s a big advocate of digital (I follow him on Twitter here) and even his publishers are ‘doing digital’ with HarperCollins offering free electronic previews of books on its website. Articles here and here.

Concept auction site

Sweemo  is a new site that auctions exclusive services in five main categories: entertainment, adrenaline, lifestyle, travel and groups. Users can bid for one-off experiences, such as exotic cooking lessons with renowned caterer Prue Dundas Petrie or a facial makeover with skin care advice from BBC One ‘Lottery Show’ presenter Sarah Cawood.

And just to let you know, according to the Urban Dictionary a Sweemo is a ’sweet moment’ involving an exciting activity, never before experienced by the individual involved! Perfect.

Wii web series

Nintendo is sponsoring an interactive web series called ‘Get Fit with Alyson’ that aims to motivate children and teenagers to regularly exercise. It’s ad activity is extensive combining digital, mobile and TV. More here, here and here.

Monetising YouTube

Interesting article looking at YouTube and advertising within the branded channel areas.

Mini cinema

Get ready for the smallest cinema in the world coming to Regents Park in the next few weeks as part of architecture week. Short films by a rather famous Swedish artist will be shown that reveal the lesser known activities that take place in Regent’s Park.

No more Kate Modern

Yes it’s confirmed, Kate Modern is to come to an end after a phenomenally successful online experience.

Urban gaming

Put stickers on surfaces and claim them as your own is what this mixed reality game encourages you to do. The game originated in Vienna, and takeovers are now being sighted on the Golden Gate Bridge and Google HQ. so grab your phone, get the stickers and get tagging. More here coutrsy of Laughing Squid.

Internet ballooning

Orange has created the world’s first internet balloon race to promote their pre-pay tariffs which are based on animals. Due to start in 16 days it will run for a week and is incentivised with daily prizes and a ‘once in a lifetime’ trip to Ibiza. (in a hot airballon perhaps?!) Very smart way of garnering free and subtle advertising space on disperate and interesting parts of the internet.

Honda live

The live ad that saw parachutists fall to earth spelling out H.O.N.D.A created an increase in viewers in the three minutes that it aired, from just over 2 million to 2.2 million viewers. Now that’s extreme innovation!  

iTunes Movies

iTunes is finally offering films for download in the UK with a starting library of 700 films. More here.

E4 viral game

E4 are using a viral seeding approach with an online game to help spread their brand message, reports Brand Republic. They’re hoping that the return on investment will be more effective than traditional approaches. Whether it actually becomes viral ultimately depends on the creative idea but from what I can see they’ve only had 27 top players and there’s no facility to make it embeddable so how it’s going to get whizzing around the web is an interesting one!  

E-newspapers

A reinvigoration of the newspaper market in France could be about to take place thanks to Orange. The Read and Go e-newspaper initiative is on trial at the moment and it will be interesting to see whether it takes off. More here.

TV viewing figures

IPA’s latest TV viewing figures report indicates that TV is still going strong, showing the highest viewing figures for four years. More here and here.

Social media growth

Ad spend on social networks is forecast to rise as 30% of UK internet users are making it a regular part of their own activity says Brand Republic.