If you don’t spend any time reading publications out of England, you really are robbing yourself of visceral candy. Besides providing a more global perspective of current events, and poetically explaining why Americans are generally a bunch of wankers, every once in a while you get an outstanding little gem like this.
I mean, if you can’t get excited by reading about a 15 pound boby-builder, I don’t know what you are reading the paper for.
In the very early days of PC Casual games, you had to buy everything you wanted to try. But once the internet hit, and you could try out demo versions of the games for free, the market absolutely exploded.
Well, I think we’ve finally reached that moment in Mobile Games, thanks to our friends at Movaya. Here is their latest release:
The Movaya team is excited to announce the beta release of Movaya TryNBuy: the first off-deck, cross-carrier try-before-you-buy system for mobile game sales in the US.
Movaya TryNBuy is a patent pending licensing system that allows consumers to download games over-the-air to their mobile devices and try games on their handset. Upon purchase, the games are unlocked.
Try-before-you-buy was a major driver in the huge growth of casual games on the desktop and now Movaya is bringing this to the mobile marketplace.
Movaya TryNBuy is configurable on multiple levels including length of play, and number of plays.
Movaya TryNBuy is now available online at www.bustedthumbs.com and will be rolled out to Movaya’s publisher and merchant network over the coming weeks.
To get more information on Movaya TryNBuy, please visit our website.
So, I would love to go into detail about the NFL Experience, a giant travelling tradeshow attached to Super Bowl 42. And so I slogged out the 30 miles to God forsaken Glendale to file a report at 1:00pm on Friday.
However, much to my chagrin, the NFL didn’t have an experience for the public from 1:00 to 3:00pm. During those hour, it’s only experience is for season ticket holders and special guests. Since I had already burned a half day and $10 in parking, I gamely decided to see what else the NFL had for me.
Unfortunately, the only experience I was allowed, was Westgate Center.
Now I need to properly frame Glendale Stadium. And I think the best way to do this is to weave in a popular conspiracy theory. You see, 10 years ago there was this giant expanse of desert wasteland far west of Phoenix. The conspiracy theory is that a bunch of rich guys bought up this worthless property. Then, for some unexplained reason, a highway was built through this wasteland, a giant loop that ran around Phoenix, from I-10, all the way around the city and back to I-10 on the other side. Shortly thereafter, legislators decided all this open land with this convenient highway would be an ideal place for a new sports stadium. And since the stadium was so far removed from ANYTHING, the natural solution was to build a hockey arena as well, and build up the property around the stadium with hotels, bars, restaurants, condos and shops.So if you google Glendale, what you will see is 2 huge stadiums, a shopping mall, and then acres of empty land in all directions. Desert wasteland which is now worth a fortune.
But I digress.
Now I’m out amongst the cacti and my only option is to go hang out by the shopping mall and hope for the best. To be fair, Westgate is pretty cool if you are looking for a place to grab food and drink before a game. All the standard chain bars are there (Margaritaville, Bar Louie, Fox Sports, etc….)
But this really re-iterated the point that at Super Bowl Weekend, you need VIP or Insider Status if you want to do anything cool. Sure, they have parkinglot exhibits and stuff liek that, but without any kind of priority access, you are really getting about 10% of the total experience. That’s not a lament or complaint, just a realization. And now that I think about it, I kind of remember things like the NBA and MLB All-Star Game being the same way (but I had the access then, so I didn’t care…)
So, no great report from NFL Experience. I heard secondhand stories that it was crowded, there was no food and the exhibits were so so. So, i probably lucked out.
For years, we have all been hearing how Mobile Video would soon breakthrough and become a major part of our media consumption habits. And yet, for most of us, it’s rarely or ever something we use. So the question is, "Why aren’t we adopting Mobile Video at the rates we’re expected to?"
Last night at dinner some friends and I surmised the following, and I wonder if you agree. Mobile Video is a "Supply-Side" product. Some of the most powerful brands and industries – Mobile Carriers, Broadcasters, Sports Leagues, Ad Agencies and Media Distributors – would absolutely love if we were never disconnected from highly visual mediums where ads can be placed, or content can be charged for. There is a wealth, or excess supply, of content out there, and the only thing holding back their revenues is our ability to escape from that content. So of course, they look at us and say, "When Andy leaves his Living Room, we need a way that he can keep watching TV."
But very few of us look at our phone – which is our telecommunications device – and say, "Damn, it sucks that I can’t watch TV on this." Now, I have a high DEMAND for a phone that I can take with me wherever I go. I have similar high DEMAND for Text Messaging, a car that runs, laptops I can take anywhere, online services I can use to order anything, and hundreds of other things that I can’t make it through the week without.
But television on my phone? I don’t really demand that. I understand it’s available. I think it’s cool that it’s available. But I can’t think of a reason that I would demand it be available.
And I think that is the crux of the mobile video problem. The marketing campaigns are awesome. The technology is cool. I trust the people bringing it to me. And I love the shows that are available. But those are all supply issues. Until there’s a demand scenario that makes sense for me, I think it will continue to languish.
And so, as we head toward potential Web 2.0 bubbledom and a possible recession, I’m putting all companies into these two categories. Which companies are trying to create their own market out of an excess supply of something, and which companies are providing products and services that fill an already establish demand? I think the demand side companies will survive whatever economic blip we run into.
(Contributed by Garrett Galbreath, Snohomish Bureau Chief)
I always wonder what the "no comment" comment really means. I think in most cases, it means:
"Yeah, I was involved but I am not saying a thing" (the "screw you").
Or
"Yeah, I was involved in some manner, but I refuse to say anything because you are going to blow it way out of proportion" (pleading the Fifth)
But what about when you can’t be reached for comment? You aren’t necessarily a major player in a story, but it is obvious that you would have some insight that may prove enlightening. Of course there is the possibility that you might slip up and reveal something that you didn’t intend to. Hence, I give you this story from the Seattle Times:
The part that I am most interested in is the sixth paragraph from the bottom:
"Other prominent ex-Mariners, like Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and Dan Wilson, could not be reached for comment."
The smartest move these guys could make is to not answer the phone for six months or more. Screen all calls. Don’t let anyone get the chance to slip you up…
And by the way, if you were a steroid dealing low-life who had access to the Mariners locker room, would Raul Ibanez and Jamie Moyer be on your list of guys you had to contact? Probably not…
I have a question about Celebrity PR and I’d love if someone can feed me something that gets me closer to enlightenment.
The thought started when I was stuck in a Safeway line for what seemed like most of the holiday season. I couldn’t help but be distracted by the headlines screaming at me from the tabloids. Something about some girl named Heidi who I don’t know if I have ever heard of was calling off her wedding. And then I noticed that a lot of the magazines were missing the familiar faces – Brittney, Lindsey, Paris, Jessica, etc…What was going on?
So then I wondered about the whole PR strategy around these guys. For the sake of argument, let’s say Jessica, Lindsey, Brittney and Paris all have different PR teams. Are they cutthroat, trying to get every headline in every magazine every week? Or do they work together, so that one week OK gets Jessica and Us gets Brittney, but the next week they are covered in reverse? Does Jessica’s PR team tell Lindsey’s that she’ll be at the Cowboys game to see Tony Romo, but will get out of sight the next week if they’ll let her have a clean sweep across all the tabloid headlines? Or did Paris’ sudden trip somewhere for Xmas get unexpectedly bounced off the cover by Ms. Simpson?
How long is the PR calendar set up in advance? Do all the magazines already know which Super Bowl Party Lindsey will be at? Do they purposely split the gossip-getters up to go to different parties? Have the PR teams already set up which Hollywood leading man with a February release will be photographed with one of the girls on Valentine’s Day?
I mean, I really want to know these things. Do they do a photo shoot over a weekend at a mall, beach, store, park, house and club, then slowly leak the pics out in accordance with the PR plan? And what happens when little Spears got pregnant? Did the "news" from that week get tabled to another week? Or is it just forgotten?
Someone please, if you know the answers, you gotta let me know.
A new site (at least to me) for viral commercials has been brought to my attention. I think I like the site, called Dropkick Monkey, because it sounds like a band I would play guitar and bongos in (well, if I knew how to play guitar or had any percussion rhythm whatsoever). Nonetheless, when I can’t tell if something is a web site or a gig at the Showbox, then I will probably like it.
It’s basically just a site that shows great commercials from around the globe, but in terms of mindless diversions, that’s more than enough for me. And if you recognize the character highlighted in the commercial below, then you are indeed old enough to read my site.
I have been invited back for a return engagement on AirAmerica Radio, this time on Thursday at 8:30pm on the John Elliiott Show.
Seattle 1090 carries one hour of John’s 2 hour broadcast on a delay from 11:00 – Midnight, so I’m not sure if my segment will make it on Seattle’s airwaves or not. But, you can tune in live at www.airamerica.com to listen. More details to come…