We’ve just heard news that new social networking site All2gethr has received a video message from someone calling himself ‘AlligatorKiller’ who claims to have kidnapped their Head of Communications.

All2gethr (and their slogan ‘Anything Goes’) has already earned a reputation for attracting dodgy (and downright sinister) behaviour from its users.  Having just recovered and re-launched following a police investigation, they now face new accusations that their practice of selling user data for profit breaks various data protection guidelines.

Its no surprise they have received fresh threats from begrudged members and anti-All2gethr protest groups. But this latest threat is, apparently, very real as they have now confirmed that one of their staff is missing.

Video challenge for users

The ‘AlligatorKiller‘ (who can actually be found on Twitter!) has stated he will issue a series of tasks for All2gethr members over the next few weeks. He has promised to release the hostage once a significant amount of users have completed these tasks. It looks like a profile-raising exercise on his part (or maybe he’s trying to say something about social network users?!).

On advice from the police (amazingly), All2gethr has decided to accept his demands and appeal for help from their members to retrieve the hostage.

Reward offered

As if to admit their shallow nature, All2gethr will be giving away an iPad2 to the person who completes all the tasks and uncovers Mr. Stone’s whereabouts. 30 participants will also be offered an All2gethr ‘merchandise pack’.

Here is the @AlligatorKiller video in all it’s disturbing glory:

There are more video tasks still to come, which will be posted via the All2gethr site and their Twitter profile – @All2gethr.

Apparently the story for new horror film Panic Button is actually based on All2gethr – so I’m wondering which came first, the film or the network?!

For over 17 years CD Pool has been providing DJs with the most in-demand tracks ahead of commercial release. With the digital music moving from strength to strength, they launched their digital DJ service in 2010 – and Sixpack was born.

The premise is a simple one, receive six of the best tracks from your chosen genre each week. Busy DJs can pay a monthly subscription of £9.95 a month to receive their weekly packs, taking the hard work out of their music buying.

Since July this year React. Adapt. has supported CD Pool in developing the Sixpack digital strategy and launching the brand online, with a focus on developing the Sixpack social network communities. The best is yet to come however, with planned competitions and promotions coming soon.

Digital DJs can check out the Sixpack website for more info on what they offer and, of course, connect via Twitter or Facebook (where you will also find a regular stream of DJ-related tit bits!)

Keep an eye out for more client announcements coming up

Until now brand pages were only available to a handful of big players (and high spenders!), but this week Foursquare announced the launch of their ‘self-service’ brand page feature – open to all.

Not to be confused with venue pages, brand pages offer businesses the chance to behave more like people (in the same way they can now do on Facebook), without being tied to a location.  Users who’ve been appointed as ‘manager’ of the brand page can choose to use Foursquare ‘as a page’. This means the brand can check-in to venues, follow other users (& brand pages) and most importantly leave tips. So brands on Foursquare now have the opportunity to leave hyper-relevant, highly-targeted content at locations for people to discover.

This new feature may not seem like a huge deal, but what it offers in essence is the scope for businesses to take part in a much more ‘human’ way on the network (i.e. joining in the fun rather than selling stuff!). For the general public it means yet another way to connect with their favourite brands (local or otherwise) and seek out value over & above the product or service that the brand is selling. Twitter has already provided a lot of evidence in the last couple of years that there is demand from consumers for this kind of casual, opt-in, two-way communication between business & customer.

Some of the ways brands are already experimenting with Foursquare…

MTV leaves tips on local clubs & events

New York Times & Tiffany both offer tips on the best NY eateries, plus information on famous landmarks

NASA leave tips all over the US, creating a stream of space-related venue information on their Page

We’ve decided to have a bit of fun with our very own React. Adapt. brand page.  We reckon social media tips at local venues might be a nice way to start things off – keep an eye out (or follow us) if you are Bristol-based

“But who uses Foursquare?” we hear you whisper.  Well, it’s more popular than you may think… (it’s a cool infographic, in case you were wondering)

p.s. If anyone would like a hand setting up their own Foursquare brand page, feel free to comment below and we’ll endeavour to answer your questions!

Things have been bubbling away nicely here at React. Adapt. HQ for a while now with loads of lovely new clients joining us on our merry adventure through social-media-land (more on that soon!).  So we decided it was time to take on brand new Content & Communities Manager – Hannah-Jane Taskis.

We could have done the standard formal announcement along with CV blah, blah, blah, but that’s a bit boring so we decided to leave it to our new recruit to decide the format of her introduction.

Being a fan of all things Twitter and loving a good natter, Hannah-Jane plumped for a Stephen Fry stylee Twitterview, which took place last week and was, as predicted, a much more entertaining way of announcing her arrival for all concerned!

For those of you who missed the live Twitterview – here it is in summary, links n’ all.  Expect to see more of Hannah-Jane’s musings on this very blog in the weeks and months to come.

.@HJFantaskis, welcome to @reactadapt! Tell us a bit about yourself (in 140 characters)

.@reactadapt Hello! I’m a graduate, moved to Bristol Jun ’10, tea-drinker, thinker, Tweeter, and #EthicalFashion clothes horse & advocate.

.@HJFantaskis …and what will you be doing here @reactadapt HQ?

Content & Communities Manager @reactadapt – looking after social profiles for our clients and thinking up lots of interesting things to say.

.@HJFantaskis Since joining Twitter, what’s been your favourite conjured hashtag?

.@reactadapt #CookingwithHJ! Tracking my disastrous cooking attempts via Twitter. Good for a LOL & what not to do next time…

What do you do @HJFantaskis, when you’re not @reactadapt being creative with social media?

.@reactadapt I work at @bishopstontrade, I bone up #SustainableFashion issues & amazing brands – and I stomp about in sky-scraper heels!

Fantastic, stomping is good (and so is #SustainableFashion) Time to show off @HJFantaskis what’s the best thing you’ve EVER done?

.@reactadapt My dissertation – went out on a limb & looked at fashion in ancient Rome. New way of thinking about old ideas > http://ow.ly/5CCY2

@HJFantaskis OK > List your 5 favourite things in your kitchen

.@reactadapt I LOVE my kitchen – my plants, bamboo chopping boards, Le Creuset saucepans & griddle, shell full of tea boxes and gin bottles!

Well @HJFantaskis you clearly enjoy your food. What is your favourite food?

.@reactadapt Cake. All cake. Any cake. I’ve even blogged about cake > http://ow.ly/5CDtY

Ah, yes, @HJFantaskis we like bloggers. Do you post often?

.@reactadapt I do! I’ve been guest-contributor for award-winning blogs & my own blog, writing about fashion, sustainability, cake & travel.

A little birdie tells me @HJFantaskis was in the Evening Post the other day – please tell us more…

.@reactadapt I was! Great to bring in so many stylish #SustainableFashion brands & also promote @bishopstontrade >http://twitpic.com/5lqnds

Your a local #sustainablefashion celeb! Ok next Q > hypothetically @HJFantaskis, what would you do if you were given £1m?

.@reactadapt Ooh – ensure my security & invest the rest into socially & environmentally responsible projects in the Amazon & Indonesia.

Very responsible of you To close @HJFantaskis, if you could combine any two animals to become a super hybrid animal, what would they be?

.@reactadapt BEST QUESTION EVER! A liger (that’s not cheating, right?) and a phoenix.

Brilliant answer @HJFantaskis

.@reactadapt Cheers! *stomps off in sky-scraper heels*

You can also find Hannah-Jane on LinkedIn

We’ve been on a bit of an adventure in the last few months saving children from burning buildings, foiling the dastardly plans of local criminals and generally doing good wherever we end up.

But we’ve found a place we’d like to call home here at Mariner House in Prince St (Bristol).  So we’d like to officially announce the new office and HQ for React. Adapt. to you all and offer a warm, cuddly welcome to our neighbours Stuff Advertising (@stuffbristol), Pretty Good Digital (@prettyg00d) and Blue Brand (@bbcreative).

View Larger Map

Feel free to pop in say hello & challenge us to a game of pool!

p.s. For those of you not old enough to remember the Littlest Hobo it was basically Lassie but mildly cooler

In his recent book ‘Delivering Happiness’, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh wrote about the moment in the early days of the business when he sat down with CFO Fred Lin and asked the question ’What do we want to be when we grow up’?

With an estimated 200 million now using Twitter and 65 million Tweets being sent per day some may argue that in the world of Social, Twitter is certainly no spring chicken. The heavy adoption amongst celebrities, politicians and the media has fast-tracked the network to stardom and engrained it in the global Zeitgeist.

But in business terms although Twitter has made some inroads in the US with the introduction revenue streams such as ‘Promoted Tweets’, it certainly has a way to go before it matches the behemoth that is Facebook on subscribers, ad revenue or turnover.

Will people accept ‘paid for’ Tweets?

The opportunity Twitter serves up for real-time mass conversation along with an open approach to the way people can develop their networks has given the platform massive appeal very quickly. But the character-limited, instant messaging format doesn’t naturally lend itself to sponsored content without inviting criticism.

Genuine and transparent interaction is one of the cornerstones of etiquette within the Twitter community so it remains to be seen whether advertising in the form of Sponsored Tweets will become an accepted norm or forever be perceived as an annoying dilution of the Twitter feed. After all, it’s one thing to be sitting opposite a billboard poster while eating your lunch, but quite another to then have a complete stranger park themselves next to you and chat about their latest 2-for-1 offer at Starbucks (whether you like coffee or not).

Advertising on Facebook on the other hand has not (yet) seemed to phase the average Facebook user despite heavy dependence on their data to service advertisers (possibly because it does, on the most part, lead to better targeting). But Facebook has been very proactive in developing its ad platform since the early days so users have always seen ads as an integral part of the network. The ads themselves also take the very familiar format of display units that use the real-estate of the page and don’t interfere too much with the overall experience (although this might change with the recent introduction of ‘sponsored stories’).

Twitter Brand Pages on their way?

No surprise, then, that Twitter has reportedly be considering the launch of Facebook-style ‘brand’ pages, as well as recently confirming the imminent opening of a new UK office to help develop sales from brands and businesses this side of the Atlantic.

The recent updates to Facebook features now allows Pages to behave more like personal Profiles, offering brands a much more ‘human’ and personal approach to Facebook engagement.  It’s probably no coincidence that this is one of the benefits of launching a brand profile on Twitter.

The format the new Twitter brand pages will take remains a mystery for now, but the introduction of a more comprehensive branded environment excites people like me because their obvious benefits are easily communicated to clients and provides much better scope for launching a consistent presence across both networks.

Let’s hope it’s a sign that Twitter is now ready to transform from moody adolescent to responsible adult.

There has been a long-running debate amongst many in the marketing world about the best way to harness the intrinsic value of Twitter conversation. I always argue that the value inherent in a spontaneous positive mention for your brand is pretty much priceless – but that’s because I’m a wishy-washy social media idealist.

None-the-less I work with businesses that, very understandably, require a much more defined return-on-investment than just a warm, happy glow in their hearts.  So I’m pleased that the clever people over at shrtn.co have come up with a very simple but fiendishly effective way for anyone to start making money from their tweets.

shrtn.co have used their long-standing relationships with affiliate services to create a link shortening tool that also allows the user to instantly generate affiliate links for a growing list of retail partners.  The basic principle is the same – pick a retailer and a product, generate the link and post it, then get a commission from any resulting sales.

Getting rid of the faff

Generally affiliate programmes are the remit of hardened sales bods because it’s a bit of a faff registering as a publisher, picking retailers & setting up affiliate links, not to mention all the different mediators you need to do it with.  The beauty of shrtn.co is it that the process isn’t prohibitively complex so anyone with a basic knowledge of link shortening can tap into the value of their influence.

Who does it benefit?

The thought of every Twitter user & their dog posting ‘buy this’ tweets may ring alarm bells.  But those who want to use Twitter in this way will do so regardless and their tweets will fall on deaf ears anyway (in the same way i’m-just-piping-in-random-reviews-to-a-wordpress-template-and-adding-buy-links.com does).  So taking a step back from the obvious – here are a few examples of the kind of people that shrtn.co could benefit:

1. The selfless blogger

There are thousands of enthusiastic young (& older) souls out in the blogging world who spend a lot of time providing people with insight, knowledge & general entertainment.  Most of these passionate, dedicated folk don’t get paid a penny for doing so and in fact are pretty keen to find a way to receive a bit of financial reward for their efforts.  shrtn.co is a great way for bloggers to generate revenue from their commentary and review of new products.  Yes of course this practice would need to go hand in hand with transparency, but it’s no different to buying something from the Guardian book club or nme.com really.  And anyway the revenue they generate may well just be enough to keep them in the business of providing us with all that lovely content.

2. The Charity fundraiser

shrtn.co are very keen to involve charities in their offering.  There’s already an option to donate your commission to a chosen charity, plus shrtn.co will throw in 20% of their commission as well.  Charities (or their agencies) could take this one step further by partnering with a retailer and tweeting affiliate links, so you are instantly donating money to the charity as well as buying the product.

3. Here’s an interesting one – the up-and-coming new band.

Music retailers take, by far, the largest share of revenue per sale despite the fact they are essentially now glorified warehouses (or databases).  What an excellent way for the musician to claim just a little bit more of the pie than the pennies they usually get paid for their beautiful creation. It would also rather poetically be a direct result of all the hard work they put in to building that loyal on-line fan base before evil Johnny Record-Label came along and slapped a contract on them.  (I used to be evil Johnny Record-Label by the way so don’t take this jibe too seriously please!).

So there you have it.  A very snazzy new service from the guys at shrtn.co – Happy Christmas to me! (and all of you lot)

Disclaimer – Sean @ shrtn.co is a friend of mine. But don’t worry, all I get for writing this post is a warm, happy glow in my heart

Those of you who are geeky enough to be keeping up with social media news lately will have noticed some potentially game-changing announcements from Facebook. The techies at Zuckerberg’s market-leading social platform have been very busy pushing out new user & developer features that open up massive potential for integration across mobile & web, not to mention influencing the way we use the service.

Recent announcements include <quick gasp of air!> the launch of single sign-on for mobile apps, access to the Facebook Search & Places database for app developers, a ‘Deals’ feature for Pages that can be linked to locations, plus the updated Facebook messaging and a possible homepage tool on the horizon.

Such a battery of updates might lead conspiracy nuts (and me) to wonder about their game plan.  Could it be that the future of the internet is Facebook-shaped?  Are we looking at Google 2.0 (.4.6.1v3)?

Faceweb

It’s now a standard and very sensible approach for brands to mirror their web presence on their Facebook Page.  This offers consistent user experience and content, but with all the connectivity and sharing potential that Facebook offers.  Combine this ‘mini-web’ with the level of all-encompassing integration that Facebook is pushing towards and what we are seeing unfold is a potential sea-change in the way both consumers and brands use Facebook to interface with the web (and each other).

The future is Jimmy Social-Pants

I’d like to illustrate things with a little story – please indulge me.

Imagine a near future where Jimmy Social-Pants is jauntily strolling down the high street with the intention of finding some shiny new Nike trainers.

What’s his first port of call?  Get the iPhone out and check where the nearest stockist is through his Nike app.  Joy!  There’s a place nearby that sells the limited edition ones so he pops in to the shop, checks-in through the app and receives his 20% off voucher (a benefit of Liking the Nike Facebook Page).

It’s a seamless process because he’s already signed in to the Nike app with his Facebook login and the app is integrated with Places so his check-in is instantly pushed out to all his friends.  As soon as he checks-in and redeems his voucher Facebook very kindly tells him that 3 of his mates have already bought those trainers nearby.  So despite his best efforts to be a trend-setter, Jimmy remains a laggard.

Whilst sitting (slightly disappointed) on the bus home Jimmy has some time to kill so he opens his Facebook iPhone app and does some emailing (no one is online to chat because they have better things to do).  He takes a photo of his new kicks and emails it to the 3 friends who’ve got the same pair in the vain hope they’ll tell him he’s the only lucky one with gold buckles on the toe.

An extension of self (Facebook approved)

Meanwhile Jimmy’s friend – Mary Bloggins is busy voting for her favourite talentless heart throb on ITV’s latest dance-off / celebrity stoning show.  She’s doing this through the ITV voting app embedded in her iFacebook homepage and (of course) each vote she casts is duly promoted to her friends, leading to a cascade of abusive comments in her feed for being loyal to such an obvious celebrity loser.

Just before she decides that enough is enough she notices that a mutual friend of theirs has just commented on one of Jimmy’s photos…something about Nike trainers.  Strangely, as if by magic, an advert for a limited edition pair has popped up in the corner of her screen.  50% off through the Nike Facebook Page online store apparently.

She looks longingly at that advert, which proudly displays an image of the trainers and their shiny golden buckles.  Mary poises over the mouse, ready to click on the ‘Like’ button.

I think you get my point.

Back in my music days I spent some time working for a Japanese company. Our primary role as UK office was to license UK club music, re-format into mobile-ready chunks and ship it out to Japan where it was being sold to cool kids and their new-fangled mobile devices.

Japan tends to be about 3-4 years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of mobile technology so I had the opportunity to read our future when it came to handsets and new trends. Hi-res, colour & touch-screen was old hat by the time I left the company and they’d already moved on to things like built-in barcode scanners & mobile TV.

This sneak peek into our tech-future also allowed me to pick up ideas for innovative marketing strategies that I could employ in the UK once we’d caught up with the technology.

The initiative that always resonated the most with me was using barcodes to attach value-added content to real-life objects. At the time, we used the system to offer free music downloads to anyone who visited the website or happened across a POS flyer in a high street shop.

The future is here – and it’s very sticky

I’ve been waiting a long time for barcode scanners to take off here, and now that they finally have I’m so pleased that someone has already seen the potential!

Enter StickyBits – a US-based start-up offering a solution for crossing that online/offline divide using the simple barcode.

The basic principle is the same, slap a barcode onto anything you like in the real world and anyone with the right mobile app can access to the content you’ve attached.

But something new has happened since my heady days in music licensing – social media.

The advent of that perpetual online chatter everyone accepts now as part of their life has given the term ‘content’ a whole new meaning.

‘Content’ is no longer just a free download here and there. With the aid of StickyBits, anyone can now attach their conversation to real world objects.  This offers a whole brave new world of possibility for the social-savvy.

Essentially a barcode can now enable brands to attach organic, user-generated and ever-evolving content to real-world objects, merging the virtual & real into one beautiful, self-perpetuating ball of social media loveliness.

Barcode apps unite

As well as offering their own StickyBits app (with iPhone & Android versions), which ultimately provides the most opportunity for users to interact, StickyBits have also cleverly allied themselves with popular barcode-scanning app RedLaser (now owned by eBay). This gives them access to a large market of mobile device users, which could help them gain critical mass much quicker and bypass the current ‘FourSquare effect’ where brands are shying away from new platforms.

Recognising the exciting potential in this concept, Pepsi have already signed up as the first sponsor of the StickyBits big brand-offering ‘OfficialBits’

So what possible use, I hear you ask, could this offer me?

Well, to that I reply – “use your imagination!”

But, here are some of StickyBits own ideas for starters:

- Attach a video of your personal message to a birthday card. The ultimate MoonPig!
- Attached your CV to your business card
- Attach extra content to your product (eg: a recipe to food packaging)
- Attach photos of what your selling to a flyer

You can also find more user-generated uses on the StickyBits Wiki

Here are a few ideas of my own

- Not keen on that new Walkers catfood flavour crisp? Attach your feedback to the packet to warn others of its offensive meatiness!

- Just been to see a film? Scan the ticket and write a review. Haven’t seen it yet? Scan a film poster to read the reviews as your stood waiting for the 45 bus (it’s always 10 minutes late).

- Going to a business conference? Fed up with hoiking around 3 bags of flyers and promotional bumf?  Scan the barcode at each stall you go to – instant info to your phone and better for the environment. Plus, then there will be no need for the organisers to give out those horrible & embarrassingly branded laptop bags at the door.

- Find it hard to break the ice?  Why not tattoo a barcode onto the back of your neck, attach info about your personal interests & marital status and invite people to quietly judge you in the comfort of their own home without ever having to meet or speak to you.

Oh no…wait a minute…that’s Facebook isn’t it.  But you get the picture.

It’s time to get out there and tag your world people.

This is a slightly belated post as the event took place in July.  But now the all the videos from the event have been uploaded onto their site I thought I would write a little bit about Ignite Bristol.

The concept originated in the US and allows any motivated group of people to organise their own local event under the Ignite banner.  Each event offers a line-up of speakers (vetted and chosen by the organiser using a pre-event application process) who each have 5 minutes to talk about a subject or an idea that is close to their heart.  But the catch is that it has to be done to a slide presentation that is set to automatically advance every 15 seconds.

Ignite us, but make it quick

On first glance you may be tempted to pass this off as yet another business networking evening stuffed with tedious talks on how to improve your bottom-line.  But the aim of Ignite is not to sell (in fact this is forbidden) and it’s certainly not an event that is focused on the business community. The quick-fire format also really helps the dynamic of the night giving it a pace and an energy more akin to stand-up comedy than a group of talks.

At the heart of the concept is the promotion and dissemination of ideas so what you get at Ignite (on the most part) is a platform for passion.

Variety is the spice of life

Speakers from Bristol’s first two events have included a cross-atlantic rower, Lindy Hop dancers, a 2000AD enthusiast, a cryptic crossword expert and a hypnotist, so I can pretty much guarantee that everyone who attends IgniteBristol #3 in October will learn at least one new thing (whether they like it or not).

Videos from the last two events are available on the Ignite Bristol website now if you’d like to see for yourself.

Victorian curiosities

I also have to give a quick plug to Simon Webb who’s talk from IgniteBristol #1 about Victorian inventions that never made the cut proved to be the funniest yet!

IgniteBristol #3 in October

The next event is on Sunday October 31st at The Tobacco Factory Theatre.  As tickets are limited & FREE I would recommend following IgniteBristol on Twitter to avoid disappointment.

If you fancy your chances at speaking you can also submit your idea online