Earlier in the week the guys at SEN Sports Radio asked me to come on the show and talk about Sports Apps. Which of course I was happy to do given my love of everything sport. In the interview we chatted about some of the better apps in the Australian market including recent apps developed by Cricket Australia and the Australian Open Tennis. I also discussed why I thought the AFL's app from last year was a disappointment. To listen to the interview, just click on the link below.

Perhaps the most exciting trend in digital marketing right now (in my opinion at least) is the convergence of digital content into real world experiences. For a long time, Augmented Reality and QR Codes have promised so much, yet delivered very little from a practical perspective. But it seems times are changing, because a bunch of ingenious campaigns have emerged this Christmas that utilise the technology in a brilliant manner. Whether it's the Christmas spirit or not, it seems marketers are now beginning to grasp how to use digital content to supplement real world experiences. Let's take a look at a couple of the best campaigns over the last month or so…

Ebay Give-A-Toy Campaign

This campaign really struck a chord with me because of its charitable nature. Donating gifts to underprivileged kids at Christmas isn't exactly a new concept. But using QR Codes to facilitate it certainly is, which is what Ebay did with their Give-A-Toy campaign. Two virtual shopfront were created with an array of gifts for people to view and buy. Each toy came with an associated QR Code, rather than a price tag. Users then scanned the QR Code to buy the gift for a child. Technology and philanthropy working hand-in-hand = awesome.

JC Penney Santa Tags

This campaign from JC Penney is simple, yet incredibly practical for people wanting to add a personal touch to their gifts this Christmas. When shopping at JC Penney, customers can pick up Santa Tags for their gifts. Each Santa Tag contains an individual QR Code. Once scanned, it allows the buyer to record a voice message for the recipient. The tag can then be stuck to the gift to replace or supplement the traditional card. The recipient then scans the QR Code to listen to the voice message. Superb!

Macy's Believe-O-Magic Campaign

Macy's Believe campaign is already a beautifully crafted digital execution, without considering the Augmented Reality application. The backbone of the campaign is the true story of an 8 year old girl who wrote to a New York newspaper to ask if Santa existed. The story became famous when the editor published a response that confirmed Santa existed to all those that truly believed. It was later translated into an animated Christmas special, called Yes Virginia. Macy's now use Virginia as the face of their Christmas campaign.

To supplement the campaign, Macy's created an iPhone app that uses Augmented Reality to bring the character of Virginia to life. Parents use the app at Believe Stations located within Macy's stores. When a photo is taken at a Believe Station with the app, a character from the show is integrated into the shot via Augmented Reality. Thus, kids can have photos with their favourite characters from the show. The photos can then be converted into a Christmas card to send to friends and family.

Waitrose Christmas Recipe Campaign

The publication of Christmas recipes is a pretty natural activity for a grocery chain to be doing at this time of year. But while those recipes are typically only available in-store, Waitrose have extended their reach via Augmented Reality app Blippar. The app works with both Waitrose's TV ads and print ads. Users simply need to point their phone in the direction of the ad to access recipes from chefs such as Heston Blumenthal and watch cooking classes on how to make them. 

Parrot Carrot Children's Book

This one isn't quite a Christmas campaign, but makes an excellent Christmas present nonetheless. Kids love books. And there's no question they get attached to the characters in their favourite books. Which is why they ask us to read them the same story over and over and over… Parrot Carrot is a children's book with a difference. The book is complimented by an Augmented Reality app for iPhone and iPad. Kids use the app to find and catch the characters from the book around their home in a game of virtual hide and seek. In essence, the app helps bring the characters from the book to life. I'm certain the kids will love it, and I've already bought a copy for my nephew for Christmas. Winning!

Forget Facebook vs Google+. There's another war being waged on the web right now that makes for far better viewing. It's the war to claim the mobile payment space. Yes… payments. It may not sound like the sexiest of battles, but there's some serious innovation at the moment from some of the digital industry's biggest players. From credit cards, to banks to Google, everyone wants a piece of the action. So sit back, take a seat (and maybe some popcorn), and let's take a look at what's happening!

So why the great land grab for the mobile payment gateway? Call it the Apple effect. Apple has redefined the music and entertainment industry by creating the channel through which  entertainment content is purchased. In essence, Apple built the new default payment gateway for the music industry (iTunes). Each time a song is sold via iTunes, Apple takes a cut. Now… imagine the possibilities (and riches) if an organisation could create the payment gateway through which every digital purchase was made, not just music…

And imagine the scale of that opportunity when you consider the fact that the physical and digital worlds are rapidly converging to become one. Smartphones are increasingly bringing digital experiences (and commerce) into the real world. We're not too far away from supplementing (and maybe one day replacing) cash & card transactions in the real world with a digital equivalent. And that is where the war is being waged. To create the digital payment gateway for the physical world. Let's take a look at what each player is dishing up…

Google Wallet

With so much at stake in the online payments industry, it's only natural that Google is making a major play. Google's initial foray into the payment space manifested into the launch of Google Wallet in August. The aim of Google Wallet is simple yet ambitious at the same time. It aims to replace a consumer's physical wallet with a virtual equivalent, powered by their smartphone. Rather than having to carry physical cards or cash, consumers simply need to integrate those card details into Google Wallet. Once the banking details have been entered, users simply swipe their phone, rather than their card, at associated payment terminals (limited to PayPass for now). NFC chips within the phone and the terminal allow the devices the speak and transfer the appropriate payment amount. For a demonstration of Google Wallet in action, check out the video below:

Personally, I'm excited about Google Wallet and hope it goes mainstream. Like many others, I check I've got three things before I leave the house – wallet, keys & phone. If I can reduce that to two, I'll be a happy man. In reality, that won't happen until Google Wallet integrates everything I carry in my wallet, not just my bank cards. But it's a good start.

PayPal

Naturally, PayPal is making a strong play to attempt to maintain their status as the leading online payment specialist. In the last few weeks alone PayPal has launched two separate products to attempt to expand their foothold in the industry. The first, PayPal Access, aims to create a Facebook Connect style experience for online payments. I can't see it working however as it requires retailers to sacrifice their customer data, which very few will be willing to do.

More interesting to me is the PayPal Wallet concept, which was launched recently. There are clear similarities towards Google Wallet. Indeed, PayPal is suing Google over the matter. The core difference is that the PayPal version still requires a physical card. In fact, it necessitates that the user carry another PayPal specific card. Which is where the concept falls down for me. While Google is lessening the load in my pocket, PayPal wants me to add another card to my wallet. The biggest advantage of PayPal Wallet is that it isn't reliant on NFC technology. Thus it require far less infrastructural advancement. But my feeling is that the advantage needs to be with the consumer rather than the merchant…

MasterCard

Neither MasterCard nor Visa are content to sit on the sidelines while their industry evolves at lightning page. Both are also developing proprietary mobile payment concepts of their own. Visa Wallet tows the line of Google Wallet, and doesn't seem to add a lot of new thinking to the table. MasterCard however, seems to have a far more developed vision for the future of online payments, even more so than Google Wallet.

MasterCard's Qkr application is an impressive concept which introduces a number of innovative new payment options:

• Users will be able to use Qkr to scan QR codes displayed during home-shopping television programs. Once scanned they will be able to to buy products featured in the program (via credit card details stored by the app)
• In the same way Shazam can scan audio to identify a song title, Qkr will be able to identify frequencies emitted during a specific ad, and allow the user to buy the product in the ad. Check out the demo below and I challenge you not to be blown away

Commonwealth Bank

It's exciting to see a local player getting active on the mobile payments front, even if it is a bank (my least favourite of all corporations). Last week, Commonwealth Bank announced that they too will be launching a solution called Kaching. Interestingly, Kaching is targeted solely towards the iPhone. At face value that doesn't seem a particularly strange decision given the iPhone is by far the dominant handset in Australia. What does make it interesting is that Kaching will use NFC technology, yet the iPhone doesn't support NFC. And given the iPhone 4S has just been released, we're probably around a year from having an NFC compatible iPhone.

To resolve this issue, the Commonwealth Bank will sell NFC enabled iPhone covers to power Kaching. Which is where the plan falls down in my opinion. I will jump all over mobile wallets once they're on the market, but I'm not particularly keen to pay for the privilege when solutions such as Google Wallet are on the horizon, which certainly won't charge customers for usage. Nevertheless, check out the demo below:

So who will win the battle royale?

It's clearly too early to say. And in reality, there will probably be multiple winners, just like we have Android and iOs in the operating system space. But for what it's worth, I'm rooting for Google. Some fear Google already has too much power, but in my opinion they are still far more customer oriented than the banks or credit card providers combined. They know that customer experience always needs to come first to reach mainstream adoption. And they also know that the best price is free.

Now… if only they could get Apple to release an NFC enabled iPhone!

Ahoy there. It's been a while between drinks. But I have finally got my ass in to gear and written another post. And it may just be my bravest yet. It's a confession you see. And one that I'm not proud of. But to find out what it is you'll have to head on over to Search Engine People, where it was recently published.

Making content sharable and creating sharable content are two very distinct skills. Of course, installing social plugins (such as a Facebook Like button) is the easy part. It takes almost no technical skill, as is evident considering even I've been able to manage it. But actually getting people to click those buttons and share your content is a much more difficult task. Which is why so many web sites sit idle with 0 Tweets/Likes. So how do you create content that people willingly share? To find out you're going to have to read my latest post over at Search Engine People – 'The 3 key ingredients to truly sharable content'.

I rarely plug internal projects on my personal blog as I think it can come across as a little vain. But as an avid sports nut who has written about digital sports marketing many times in the past (and rambles on constantly about AFL on Twitter), I think this one's probably relevant. Next Digital has been the digital partner for the MCG for at least 3 years, and late last week we helped them launch their first iPhone application:

The app provides a bunch of useful features for sports fans to enhance their experience when they visit the ground, including:

• A seating locator tool enabling patrons to find their seat, along with their friends' seats
• Real time car park updates, which anyone who has ever driven to the MCG on gameday will understand the value of
• A facility locator map (especially essential for those of us who need to find both a bar and a bathroom during the game!)
• Integrated social features including photo sharing and Facebook Places check ins (side note – with over 75,000 check ins the MCG in amongst Australia's most checked-in venues)

Aside from that there's a bunch of other standard features such as news, travel information & travel information.

If you're a sports fan like me, you can download the app from the App Store now.

I must say, when a client tells me that they want to create a viral campaign, my first reaction is to cringe. Viral marketing is an incredibly risky proposition, and for every hit there tends to be 99 misses. But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good viral campaign when I see it, especially when it's produced locally. So when Arthur Koulianos sent me the MyCarBudget case study I thought it was definitely worth featuring. What I like about the campaign is the fact that they've created an entertaining piece of branded content that has accrued over 125,000 views for what is essentially a boring product. First, take a look at the video, and then check out Arthur's commentary on how they went about creating the campaign…

Arthur's commentary

MyCarBudget is a product launched by FleetPartners earlier this year. It is essentially an employee benefit that we market to medium to large employers that can then be offered to their staff/employees. It provides an easy way to budget for the cost of your car expenses as well as access great savings on fuel, roadside assistance, servicing and tyres.

The sale process with these types of programs initially happens at the employer level (HR) and once approved, the bigger task of marketing to employees begins. The challenge with marketing within an employer environment is getting cut through. Whilst it might seem that you have a captive audience, in fact having employees read an email or a poster/flyer or even attend a presentation is quite difficult. If you think about the amount of material and information that passes your desk or work area in a given day it can be significant. In a white collar environment, the emails, paper and screens that you see all day mean most things just blend in. In a blue collar environment access to communication is really limited to breaks (tea and lunch).

Therefore our challenge was to develop something that could get cut through. We wanted it to be digital so that it could be viewed at work or at home. It didn't need to talk about the product but it needed to have a vehicle flavour to it. We also wanted it to generate discussion within the workplace, so that once the other material came around (email, posters, flyers and invites to a presentation) employees were more likely to read it. Finally we wanted it to have the potential to go viral.
 
We used a company called Snapper Screen Productions to create the video for us. They presented a few concepts and this is the one that looked to have the biggest impact. It was shot in Melbourne (near Queen Victoria Market). Within a day of the shooting, one of the extras had posted excerpts on YouTube "Day in the Life of an Extra". On seeing this we thought why not have it go viral.

The idea with going viral is really about generating leads and building some brand awareness. We started with distributing it to staff (our staff) and allowing them to have YouTube access for two weeks so that they could view it and send it on. We posted it via our Facebook and Twitter accounts. We also sent it to as many online vehicle magazines as we could find (all over the English speaking world).

The biggest impact came when we employed Rippling Media to help us. The video has been posted on several video sites and through the various video syndication networks that they are connected with.
 
The challenge now is to focus on local Australian viewing, as this is where any relevant leads will come from. Developing a "non corporate" video is a first for FleetPartners. Wanting it to go viral also raised a few eyebrows. Personally I think video can be very powerful in explaining complex stories and I hope our work can be used with other products that are offered.

We do have plans for a part 2…

You may not have known it, but a momentous day occured last week. It was Tell the Truth day of course. And to celebrate it, I had a little light hearted fun by exploring the secrets the world's top tech companies might be forced to reveal if they were to participate.

Check out 'The secrets of the world's top tech companies revealed' over at Search Engine People

I've long been a fan of the Essendon Football Club's online marketing efforts. Indeed, I've profiled their good work in the past. And it's not just because I'm a rabid fan of the club. I genuinely believe that they are a leader and pioneer within the digital arena. So much so that I almost applied for a marketing job I saw them advertise recently. Almost. And today they were at it again with a unique concept tied to Monday's massive Anzac Clash with Collingwood – the Anzac Day FanCam.

The premise, while not completely revolutionary in nature, is an Australian first. It utilised Gigpixel technology to create a 360 degree interactive photo of the stadium half an hour before the bounce of the ball. The quality of the photo is so precise that fans can zoom in to pinpoint themself in the crowd. All 90,000 of them. Cool!

I love the concept because I think it will have true resonance with fans. Attendance at blockbuster matches is almost a badge of pride for fans. Indeed, during the match on Monday I found myself bragging to a mate about how he missed the best Anzac Day clash ever 2 years ago when Essendon won with the final kick of the day. The FanCam approach provides a great new way for attendees to commemorate and remember one of the biggest matches of the year. The only thing I don't like about FanCam is the fact I'm not in the photo because Melbourne's ever woeful public transport system couldn't get me there on time.

If early impressions are any indication, the initiative seems to have been a success with the fans. A quick visit to the site reveals that hundreds of fans have tagged themselves in the crowd (although I would have loved the ability to search for friends names/tags). And the page has already been shared on Facebook over 500 times at the time of publishing. My guess is that it will leapfrog 1,000 shares sooner rather than later.

Undoubtedly, the exact return on investment (and value) of the concept will be hard to quantify. Apparently, the cost of the exercise was close to $20,000. But when the name of the game is ongoing member satisfaction, this is an excellent gesture in my opinion. And I'm the target audience, which has to count for something.

Great work Essendon.

Australian retailers have been a long way behind the eight ball when it comes to online retail. But it seems as if 2011 may be the year that many finally jump on the bandwagon. Myer is in the development process of an offshore ecommerce web site. The anti-online retail spokesman himself Gerry Harvey has finally succumbed to a new reality, launching a daily deals site. And just last week, Westfield entered the equation by establishing Australia's largest online shopping centre. Which raised the question… does the web really need a shopping centre?

Why shopping centres exist

Physical shopping centres offer a win-win scenario for both consumers and retailers. For consumers, shopping centres provide a single location in which to conduct all (or at least most) of their shopping needs. The primary benefit is the convenience of a one-stop shop. And even in today's digital society, that benefit holds strong. I frequent my local shopping centre on at least a fortnightly basis. And I'm more likely than most to buy my goods online.

For retailers, the benefit is dead simple – foot traffic. Few other locations can deliver the scale of foot traffic of a shopping centre, aside from a handful of select shopping strips. So it's easy to see why shopping centres have become a core component of our retail infrastructure.

However, do those benefits translate across to the digital environment? Personally, I don't think so.

The Internet = the world's biggest shopping centre

While physical shopping centres offer a certain level of convenience, the web takes it into a whole new stratosphere. The size of a real-life shopping centre, and the retailers it houses, are limited by physical space. The Internet is limitless by nature. Consumers can shop for anything at any time, which makes it the world's biggest shopping centre. Now that's convenience!

Why would consumers need retailers to congregate under a single roof/domain when everything they need is a simple mouse click away?

The consumer offer

Westfield are clearly pushing the convenience angle as the primary benefit for consumers. Spokespeople celebrate the fact that the new online shopping centre enables consumers to 'select products from a variety of stores, but pay for them in a single transaction'. However, this outcome adds only an incremental benefit to the online shopping experience. Remember, online shopping is convenient by nature.

I can't see a benefit as incremental as this being able to sway existing consumer behaviour. The fact is that people primarily turn to the web seeking the best deal/lowest price. Westfield's incremental benefit in convenience will mean little if they don't offer the lowest price (which I doubt they will). Savvy online shoppers seeking convenience are likely to continue using shopping comparison engines to discover the lowest price available. Will anyone really pay more to save themselves a minute in the checkout process? 

I suspect not.

The retailer offer

While the consumer oriented offer seems somewhat weak, there is more substance to the proposition for retailers. In particular, small retailers stand to benefit by becoming involved with the Westfield venture. Westfield's online shopping centre offers a number of key benefits:

1. Businesses that can't afford their own online store now have a medium through which to sell goods online (although you could argue that already exists via Ebay)
2. Westfield will manage all online payments
3. I suspect Westfield will throw the online store in at a very low cost for retailers already occupying a physical presence within one of their centres

However, for larger retailers the benefit is less pronounced. By now, most larger brands have a well-established online presence, tailored to their audience and brand persona. I can't think of too many scenarios where a retailer would prefer to sell via a middle man as opposed to direct to the consumer (Apple being the obvious exception). And many would be downright angry to get into a bidding war with middle men aiming to attract their customer.

So can the online shopping centre concept actually work?

My gut instinct tells me no. The value just doesn't seem to exist at either end of the chain. But I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again. One thing that can be said with certainty is that the site itself is a marvel. From a design perspective it's clean. The functional capabilities are excellent. And the technical implementation is nothing short of outstanding. The scale and ambition of the project cannot be understated. I can't fathom the technical & logistical challenge of enabling content management across hundreds of brands. So from that perspective, the site is a winner.

But the jury is out on the business model itself…