Closed social networks the next fad? Maybe so...

As social networking expands, the niche aspect and sexiness of "select" & "exclusive" takes on a whole new turn as businesses get more into the social media thing through the usual suspects of Facebook, MySpace, etc... to engage their customers with "special offers'' that you need to sign up on the page for. Exclusive clubs go back a long time, and there are many on-line now like Small World http://www.asmallworld.net/login.php, and Black Card Cirlce https://www.blackcardcircle.com/, but the opportunity for companies, specifically in this hotels, takes the business model to a whole new place.

It is a way to take the LinkedIn style of networking to a whole new place that allows for more interaction, such as what the Pod hotels are doing with exclusive meet-ups for people staybing in their hotels, in some cases, planning to meet weeks in advance. This same exclusive group model can lend itself to so many ideas, such as any thing that is a chain or linked in group that provides opportunities to get together in other cities, while keeping exclusive company.

B2B Conferences take hit in down economy

Bound to happen, conferences and trade shows take hit as B2B events downscale as less companies look for other ways to get businesses talking to each other. This decision will definitely have reverberation in many ways, not just opportunities for business people to meet on their specific industry, catering, hotels, et al...

This could also be one one of the big reasons that MAC World will make next year their last, with CES definetely happy as they happen at the same time.

As companies test and samples new ways to reach their core constituency, B2B will always be around but will re-engineer itself as it looks to new ways to engage companies and clients, with the most likely avenue being web seminars ona regular basis, less glamaourus meet-ups and scaled down events, and possibly bi-yearly conferences.

Any way that it goes, conferences and events targeted towards the B2B market and in connecting business are core to... well business. They are needed, but hopefully they return and remain in a way not just focused on digital models as those sponosred parties are always a nice place to meet and discuss business.

MINI continues to innovate in advertising

This is a great story. Innovation in advertising, which in some cases translates to content. A German advertising agency has created a MINI ad that brings to life - literally - the new convertible that MINI is launching in Europe. A German company created a technology called Metaio, which is a form of augmented reality. The user takes the advertising out of the magazine and places it in front of their webcam. The picture then appears on the screen, replicating what it looks like but in a convertible style in 3D. Truly amazing.

This has so much potential and not just for advertising but for content companies in terms of intricate story lines, on-line gaming, etc.. The biggets opportunity is to utilize old fashioned media in a way that maintain's it "sexiness" while embracing and promoting what is here and what is next. No word on what U.S. companies are embracing this technlgy but definetly something keep an eye out for in an advetising or media campaign sometime soon.

Mobile CPM's levarage in U.S. market

Mobile CPM's are starting to come down from the high of $50 to $ 60.00 to an average of $15.00. That's a big bump, what's the affect for the sudden change in elevation and downward spiral? Many people measured the 50 - 60 dollar avg. into their financial projections, so that will come as a shock as mobile spreads thinner in terms of video. While the projections may be less than expected and favoured, it still offers many, many opportunities. Those opportunities exist in WalMart looking to sell the iPhone, thousands of homes & customers cancelling their home internet and cable TV packages, with droves of people using their mobile device as their key avenue to the internet. Mobile is here and will grow an dengage the user in more ways than people are using now, while video and other kinds of media is included in that, tangible and functional applications like grocery shopping lists, Point of Purchase, and too many to list. While the CPM drops for mobile ROI, the need for robust and targeted mobile apps and content, much of it delivered through advertising, grows at a fevered pace as companies try to provide the services, technolgy companies try to create grounbreaking apps, and content cerators try to engage an uaindece on the move. This all points to positive and sutainable growth over the next 6 months, and which might even surpass expectations and revenue projections again.