From yelo.yelo.be

Earlier today, Telenet - a Belgian ISP that offers internet, telephony, mobile and digital TV services - announced Yelo. On their website they describe Yelo as "TV everywhere in your home".

If your wife wants to watch her favorite soap, you can watch the football game on your iPad while your kids watch the latest episode of their favorite cartoons on your iPhone via the VOD (video on demand) possibility. In other words: if you are a Digital TV and Telenet Internet customer, you can watch TV shows and even shows on demand on your TV, iPhone and iPad device (more devices to be supported in the future).

Why are we sharing this? Besides being an even happier Telenet customer, we believe this is a great example of generating word of mouth. Having cool commercials can generate a lot of consequential WOM, you can even set up a contest that has WOM built-in via all sorts of sharing mechanisms to generate intentional WOM, but giving your consumers an experience that they really like, even outperforming their expectations is sure to generate WOM that persuades people. This so-called experiential WOM is actually the only long-term successful WOM you should go after.

Earlier this year, Telenet launched the possibility to program your Digicorder (the set-top-box) from virtually anywhere in the world. Even from your mobile phone. It seems they get how business is done today.

As a conclusion: the Yelo service is the kind of service not too many people were asking for, nor expecting, yet is - if you think about it - a truly great service. The one that generates the right kind of WOM. And it's not just us saying, check out this McKinsey report.

 

We always talk about funny versus functional apps (or in a wider sense, this split can be used for every campaign/site/tool/etc. out there) and how the latter always beats offering plain fun. Sure, we created a funny AR case once, with no functional aspects whatsoever, because a funny case sure can work. But if you're going for a long term goal you have to focus on delivering true added value.

Word Lens is an app that is extremely functional and offers an enormous amount of added value. A dictionary would do, but enabling people to just point their camera at a sign, letter or any text and get instant translation is just great. A time saver and something you'll actually do (I, for one, wouldn't take out my phone to look up word by word to understand a sign).

I wonder when Google will buy those guys, because with this functionality added to their specific approach of translation, this is a real world-changer.

I am a runner myself. And a geek. And yet, I believe any non-geek runner would appreciate this clever idea Asics released for the New York Marathon.

Many people run the NY Marathon, most are not from around the area. And yet, it's at undertakings like "running a marathon" that support from friends and loved ones is extremely important.

Asics offered a website and live boots at the NY Marathon where visitors could record a webcam-movie or add pictures with a message for their friends. As soon as a runner passed an RFID-reader - placed at strategic points around the route - a large billboard with a major LED screen would play the movie or show the images with a message to that runner (and everyone around him/her).

After the Nike Chalkbot finally a runner's alternative ;-). And a great example of how sophisticated technologies like RFID can end up in ideas as simple as this one.

Google announced to widen its focus from purely digital and internet-related content (things their algorithms and crawlers have been focused on before) to not-so-easy-to-find-online data like prices for a dining table in your nearby local furniture shop.

Their take at it? They are partnering with large retailers (all over the US for now) to have detailed statistics from their local inventory, including direct phone numbers for easy ordering if you want that.

This rather manual (a deal needs to be closed) way of working seems strange for Google, but this clearly points out the fact that Google cannot be seen as an "websites" search engine, but as a front-end on top of an ever growing set of data.

Another threat for Yellow Pages all over the world. Another opportunity for retailers and local stores out there.

As promised: social media for students, use of social media in school and limitations of social media for marketing communication.

How are you going to pull together the people who are going to represent your company in the social media arena?

Social CRM, as explained on last Friday's (29-10-10) FollowFridays by Tijs & Franky.

Interesting article about measuring social commerce.

Last Friday, we presented our first (and only) #FollowFridays presentation of this year at Living Tomorrow, Vilvoorde.

Social media are "hot". They are a brand’s future, the ultimate channel for direct communications with your target audience and so on.

We heard plenty of that. And it’s all true. But is it really as great is it sounds? Aren’t there already too many advertisers fishing the same pond? How much sense makes a Facebook app when your customer decides to move over to yet another platform? And doesn’t "hide" take only as long as hitting "like"?

In this presentation we focused on what works and what doesn’t. What brands should do based on what’s in their genes. All based on recent and relevant research and cases.

Next week, all white papers, cases and stuff used during our presentation will be shared here as well.