Take It Face To Face

So Guitar Hero started it all off.  Then Rock Band kicked it up several notches.  Now they both have all the same technology involved.  Although for some stupid reason Guitar Hero won’t be compatable with all the Rock Band equipment, but Rock Band will work with Guitar Hero instruments.  Doesn’t seem like a good way to get existing Rock Band players to buy your game.

I will admit that I like the marketing approach Guitar Hero is taking.  The ads are pretty cool and make good use of star power.  I think the ads would still be effective without the celebrities, but they do help garner a lot of attention.

The other interesting quirk is that while the Guitar Hero team went out and got Aerosmith, the Rock Band team trumped them by going out and getting a deal with the Beatles.  You don’t get any bigger than the Beatles.

As for sales, I think Guitar Hero will do very well for the holiday season.  And will be opposite Rock Band for quite a while.  At least until someone makes a game that allows you to upload any music you want, in which case both franchises are dead.

Personally, I like Rock Band better, but will end up playing both.  (And most likely getting schooled by my little cousins.)  Which do you prefer?

I was at an event not to long ago when I was approached by some guys with a local tech start-up. The idea they have is great, a very creative and intelligent way to move information socially. What it seems like they, and many others, are struggling with is the concept of taking a great idea and making it into a business. No one seems to focus on the fact that there should be money to be made after venture capital or a buyout. Why not strive to create a self sustaining business, as opposed to something that’s only success is to draw eyes to its new potential parent company?

I really think someone will fund anything regardless of how irrational it may be, so long as it is on the cutting edge of technology or includes the venture buzzword de’ jour. It is in this light that I present the 5 dumbest web 2.0 social media tech start ups yet to exist.

Snoozler - Wake or sleep at your friends’ hands!

Snoozler is the new social media platform that allows you to tie your alarm clock, cell alarm, or desktop alarm into your existing social profiles. Allow your friends to set your alarm, set custom alarm sounds or hit the snooze button for you! (And don’t worry about sleeping in too long - you can set the days it is accessible.)

RafflR - Enter all the online contest your friends do!

RafflR allows you to use your facebook and myspace pages to see what kind of online raffles, contest, and sweepstakes your friends have entered. From there you can select any of those that you would like to enter as well and RafflR signs you up. You can also invite friends to participate in a contest. Pick your top friends and RafflR will automatically sign you up for any contest they sign up for!

Tipster - Are you a cheapskate or a tipping heavyweight?

The Tipster platform lets you enter your bill and the tip you gave, as well as notes about service. Then your friends can vote on if the tip you gave them was too high, too low or dead on. You can also share tipping stories from the night out or the delivery guy bringing it in! Check out Tipster Pro if you’re a tip-dependent industry to see what Tipsters are saying about you.

Once Removed - No relation or bound by blood… or marriage?

Once Removed allows you to pick any friend through any of your networks, from bloggers, flickr, youtube, facebook, myspace and many others and see if and how you’re related. Using online available public records and genealogical research Once Removed will tell you if and how you may possibly be related to your friends.

WhoozShooz - Narrow or wide, low top or high, dress or casual shoes tell you a lot.

WhoozShooz is a survey application that matches you with people who have similar taste as you in footwear. Whether it is to match you up with a good friend for shoe shopping, or matching you up with someone who wears the same running shoes or cleats as you, WhoozShooz puts you in touch. And WhoozShooz works with all kinds of footwear, from heels and sandals to skis and skates!

The sad fact of the matter is that some of these ideas, or something very similar will inevitably become something you’ll see online someday. I think what may be even more depressing is the fact that in the course of writing this I thought of ways to monetize 4 out of 5 of these.

What dumb social media start ups do you envision coming to be in the future?

Southwest does flying right, from their marketing and messaging to execution and follow up they stick to one rule that I feel most other airlines fail to consider.  Treat others the way you would want to be treated.  The old golden rule should be seen more in business than anywhere, yet it seems as companies continue to grow they dismiss it - diffusion of responsibility at work.  Let’s break it down point by point.

1. Marketing

Their commercial, while lighthearted points out the very real fact that they aren’t out to nickle and dime you. I actually flew Southwest recently and someone in line actually Hallelujahed for me, which was pretty funny. It’s nice not to worry about paying for checked baggage.

2. Pricing / Booking

Of course most flights are booked the same way, online. Whether through an online broker like travelocity or expedia or directly through the airline itself. One thing I like, is that Southwest is straightforward about their pricing - what I see is what I pay. Other airlines will reduce their actual ticket fee and have it catch up with you when you actually fly, in the form of fees and little charges for each and every concession. They treat you like a person instead of seat number 16B.

3. Check In / Boarding

No one likes airport security, and I think it is the number one reason flying went from being considered a kind of novel traveling experience to a 4 hour excruciatingly boring exercise in dehumanization. But once you’ve run the gauntlet Southwest does what it can to make the experience more tolerable, or even enjoyable. Boarding is done in sections, and going back to what I said earlier about seat numbers, on Southwest you don’t have one. Sit where you like. I like that.

4. The Flight

I have numerous horror stories about sitting on the runway, or having a flight constantly delayed without notification and have heard even worse. I have never had that experience with Southwest, and to note my most recent flight, we actually confirmed everyone was at the terminal early, and boarded and took off early. I never knew that was even possible, but to avoid some upcoming bad weather they did it, and no one missed their flight. We landed back in DC over 40 minutes early.

Throughout the flight, one of the attendants we had may have very well been a practicing stand-up comedian. He made light of the normal passenger walk through and kept everyone entertained. It was probably the most enjoyable flight I’ve been on in a long time.

5. The Follow Up

Nothing says “I give a damn” like someone following up with you even after they have your money. You’ve probably experienced it before, you finally close a deal and hand over the check and don’t hear from the person who courted you for weeks on end. I can’t stand that and I will never do it to my clients (or even people who didn’t go with us.) That is why I like the follow up email I received from Southwest asking about my flight and letting me know that I got X reward points and some drink tickets for my next flight. It shows me they care about my business past each individual flight.

It’s the little things in business that make a difference and they add up quickly. Thanks Southwest!

AKA The Curse of The Lazy Audience, Why Do We Like What We Already Know?

Death Race 2000 (Circa 1975)

It certainly seems like we’re in an era of remakes and remixes.  From TV shows and movies to songs and fashion we get more of what we’ve already had than any generation before us.  I think the rerelease of 90210 helps demonstrate this very clearly.   They are redoing a show that hasn’t even had a decade in the grave yet.  The 10th, and until recently, final season aired in 2000.  Maureen Ryan has more on the premier itself.

My question is why the increase in reincarnations?  Is it the longing of an aging generation for the familiarities of their youth?  Perhaps it is simply an audience that would prefer not to learn about a new storyline - give us something we already know and build on it.  Maybe it is just humans getting closer to their roots, furthering the most ancient art of storytelling.  In the past the same story would be told time after time by different story tellers to the same audience.  It was each authors take and twist on the story that could make something we already know new again.

Death Race (Circa 2008)

Now I’m not arguing that this trend is good or bad.  I think just like new ideas, some remakes are winners and some shame their namesakes.  I for one loved Death Race, which was a new take on the 1970s classic Death Race 2000.  I truly enjoyed the Transformers movie, it was able to stand alone as a flick, but also got a huge boost by everyone who enjoyed the transformers shows as a child.

The same goes for music, from sampling old classics to creating entirely new takes on the same song.  I like to use Extreme’s rock ballad More Than Words and some of the various covers that have gained popularity as an example.  I for one like Frankie J’s take on the song - it stays true to the original in many ways, but really helped kick it into another realm with subtle changes.

I could go on and on listing all of the popular remixes that have come and gone over the last couple of years.  What do you think is the reason for their sudden resurgence?  Are there any remakes you’ve really enjoyed or despised?

Jeff Howe is well known for his work on the leading edge of crowdsourcing.  Crowdsourcing, for anyone who may not know, is essentially outsourcing a job to a crowd of people and then using the group itself as a filter for ideas.  You can see this through the plethora of “web 2.0″ sites that include commentary and voting systems, allowing the audience to upmod or downmod various stories, links, ideas and more.  The basic premise is that if 2 heads are better than 1, than two hundred heads are better than 2.

Jeff’s interview with Daniel Terdiman of Cnet goes a bit more in depth on how crowdsourcing is evolving and how it may begin to affect businesses and industries in the future.  This obviously raises a number of questions throughout a multitude of industries.  Courtney McColgan of Wokai ask can we put faith in the wisdom of the crowd?   JoeLogon puts fourth a pretty solid arguement in response to a Washington Post article about a new restaurant in the DC area called Elements.  It brings up a number of points, including the classic debate about participation inequality and the fact that most commentary is going to come from people who are unhappy about something, rather than people proposing praise.

While some media companies are built entirly upon the premise of crowdsourcing - istockphoto, wikipedia, digg, reddit, youtube and a multitude of others - most offline based business have used crowdsourcing on a per project basis.  Perhaps for an advertising campaign, product innovation, or new event.  One company however plans to crowdsource the entirety of the company.  Benrowesayshello of Digital Jury gives the scoop on BeerBankRoll - a company that plans to take everything from initial funding to end product decisions into the realm of crowdsourcing.

I believe there is a certain balance that will be found with crowdsourcing fitting in with other styles of working.  Some models, like iStockPhoto, have a great business plan that takes advantage of this crowdsourcing.  The Apple Apps store is another.  Situations where everyone can win, where the big company and the little individual share in the profit and satisfaction of delivering a usable and enjoyable product.

Management of these massive crowd operations will always be in demand, as will business plans that can be constantly supported by the masses.

All that being said, doesn’t it seem like crowdsourcing is just a natural progession of brainstorming and ideas banks?