Let this cool Alice eBook for iPad speak for itself

Most of the iPad apps we’ve seen so far have been along the lines of digital magazine apps. Granimator, a new app by ustwo, refreshingly, looks to make the most of the interactive touch screen and let users be creative with that functionality - rather than simply swiping a screen to get to another “page” (yawn).

The idea behind Granimator is that iPad owners using the app can play around with various graphic and illustrative elements onscreen to create musical wallpapers. ustwo has teamed up with a host of in-demand imagemakers – including Airside, James Joyce, Jon Burgerman and Pete Fowler – to supply graphic and illustrative assets for the app. Each of these collaborator’s Granimator assets will be available in signature artist packs, which will be released in packs of six on an ongoing basis through an in-app shop.

Users can select and drag different graphic elements onscreen to create interesting looking wallpapers. Each element in the composition represents a different sound that can be played by tapping it on the screen. A pinching action can tweak the sound’s pitch, thus enabling you to fine tune your wallpaper composition – both visually and melodically. Once you’re happy with your creation, you’ll be able to save it as iPad or iPhone wallpaper and share it with your friends via Flickr, Twitter and, but of course, a dedicated website at granimator.com

Courtesy of Creative Review

HERE’S a surprising prediction: China will be the world’s biggest tourism destination by 2015. Taleb Rifai, the secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), said recently that he expects China to overtake France, which is currently the top-ranked country.

“China is almost there,” Mr Rifai told Xinhua. “It is now the world’s fourth largest destination when it comes to incoming tourists, and the rates of growth are moving so quickly that we think this is a realistic target.”

Mr Rifai’s comments, though referring to 2015, appear to be based on projections that the UNWTO put together for 2020. China had almost 51m arrivals in 2009, including visitors from Hong Kong and Macau—just behind Spain and America, but still some distance from France, which welcomed 78m foreign visitors in 2008. Yet given that the numbers visiting China rose by 40m in the past decade, and the Chinese government shows no sign of losing interest in promoting tourism, it’s not hard to see the basis for the UNWTO’s projection.

This is not, moreover, a question of pure tourism. The UNWTO told me that, in general, these “tourists” actually comprise 50% holidaymakers, 30% visitors to friends and relatives, and 20% business travellers.

Source: The Economist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bk_nqUQ0fc&feature=player_embedded

1.) Its not translation, its localisation
- always use local translators as they have intimate knowledge and understanding of syntax and nuances unique to each country.
- always ask for a few paragraphs of localised samples and get a real consumer to read through (corridor test). Some research spending at the start can yield greater rewards after.

2.) Engage category experts to vet content, and propose terms/phrases unique to that category. If we want to write for the experts, we need to sound like experts.

3.) Recognise country-specific differences within languages
- Hong Kong Traditional Chinese vs. Taiwan Traditional Chinese. Enough said.
- English language messages also need to be localized for countries such as Canada, the UK and Australia. That includes differences in phrasing, such as “ring me” instead of “call me” or “petrol” instead of “gas,” as well as differences in spelling.

4.) Respect Cultural Differences
- US and UK markets tend to use a more aggressive, sales-oriented approach but the style will not play well in other parts of Europe and even in Asia
- No showing of skin pictorially in conservative countries like Middle East; Patriotism and flag imagery may work well in US but not so much in Canada.

5.) A picture says a thousand words
- British customers could tell their advertising photos were of US employees, due to slight differences in clothing, such as the way a tie was knotted
- Caucasian models might not always resonate well with Asian countries, especially Japan/China

https://www.mastercardmoments.com/edm/2010/02/monthly/chs/edm_spring.html

Credit goes to Marketing Sherpa for some of these great points

Brand/digital utility -> providing value and convenience to improve/enrich your consumers’ lifestyles

Zuji is doing it, and will pay $0.10 for every picture they “like”, on assumption that one will upload more than one picture. More unique “likes” will earn more money, increasing to $1 to a max of $100 for the top 10 pictures.

Good way to collect content, and a small reward to get content contributors to “park” their existing content in another space other than the established gathering holes like Flickr.

If the model can be refined further (like a quota for example) to target at a broader mass who will probably upload 2-3 pictures instead of the discount hunters who upload millions to cumulatively earn a decent paycheck, it may be worthwhile to see how other brands can also leverage on similar models to encourage some much needed UGC.

http://www.zuji.com.sg/site/travel_deals/photoshare/photoshare-facebook.htm

Skittles has relaunched its site a year after which it has basked in the spotlight both loved and hated by digital watchdogs. The new skittles.com tacks away from the social media transparency approach after being on fire for displaying an unedited slew of inappropriate, controversial feed posts rained by pranksters. The new site now invites visitors to “taste the rainbow” by scrolling down to discover (rather static) content aggregated from different social media sources including its Twitter account which has (sadly) slightly over 400 followers, and a new microsite, shareskittles.com, where users can contribute to a video montage of sharing the candy (a much poorer cousin compared to the execution of Uniqlo Map).

Well, despite the criticism, Skittles is one of the most popular brands in social media. Its Facebook page, which was prominently featured on the old site, boasts 3.6 million fans. And it didnt really incentivise with promotions or free products so to speak, alot of the updates are really just tongue-in-cheek messages which garnered thousands of “likes” from fans every single time. I wonder if all these buzz did actually increase sales, or brand affinity and how much. That will be interesting to measure and for us digital marketers to know.

http://skittles.com

As strange as it may sound, thousands of real-world employees are beginning to use avatars as part of their regular jobs. A research by Stanford University has shown how employees at American companies like IBM, Accenture, Cisco, State Farm, Intel, BP and Wells Fargo log into virtual worlds and use avatars to brainstorm with colleagues, recruit employees, sell to customers, attend leadership training, manage programs, direct operation centers, and collaborate with company groups around the world.

Read: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/01/avatars_at_work.html